A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c42.s2.46

v3.c42.s2.46

Parts VI and VII contain two portions of the Mahāmāyūrī Vidyārājñī,⁹³ a well-known Buddhist charm (dhāraṇī). Part VI opens with a story about the Buddha who gives the Mahāmāyūrī spell to Ānanda in order to save the life of the young bhikṣu Svāti who was bitten by a snake.⁹⁴ The Mahāmāyūrī forms part of the Pañcarakṣā, a collection of five dhāraṇīs.⁹⁵ The version in the Pañcarakṣā is much longer than the earlier one, represented by the portions preserved in parts VI and VII of the Bower MS. The expanded version appears to have developed in the course of the fifth or sixth centuries A.D. Three of the six translations in the Chinese Tripiṭaka⁹⁶ are based on the expanded recension, while the three others show a more primitive form. The latter three belong to the fourth century A.D. Originally, the Mahāmāyūrī seems to have been a separate work, independent of the Pañcarakṣā.⁹⁷