dharani

Recto-verso reversed. Incomplete at beginning. To cover the missing sections, one may look to another copy of the work found atIOL Tib J 458, 1r.1-6r.2(=Tib. fol. nos. 1r.1-7r.2). Also note that the folio preceding our first is probably the final folio of the entire manuscript and seems to have been attached wrongly. The manuscript as a whole contains two items, the other being a copy of theAparimitāyur-nāma-mahāyāna-sūtra. Both items have colophons indicating that they were both copied by the same monk, named'dru hu rin 'chen. In theAparimitāyur-nāma-mahāyāna-sūtracolophon (seeVf.1v.2-5), the merit accrued from copying the two sutras is dedicated to the monk's dead parents.

This is the longest of the eight incomplete copies of theSnang brgyadfound in the Stein collection. There is also a version found in the canon (693). The tantric classification of this work in the canon seems to be due solely to the presence of amantrathe Buddha teaches which causes a troublemaker's head to split into seven pieces (seeVf.13r.3-5or693: 242b.3-5). The Dunhuang versions are all closely related, and they all vary in generally similar ways from the canonical version. Of these six versions, however, the present manuscript andIOL Tib J 459are closer to the canonical edition on at least one point: All three place the passages on the senses being empty (Vf.4v.3-6r.1) and on the necessity of believing in karma (Vf.6r.1-3) later in the text. CompareIOL Tib J 459, Rf.1v.2-4r.5and693: 241a.6-8, where the passages come later, withIOL Tib J 458, 5r.1-6v.3andIOL Tib J 462/1, Vf.6r.3-7r.3, where the passages come earlier.

Much of the canonical edition is devoted to self-promotion, describing the many benefits that derive from listening to, reading, copying, and otherwise propogating the text. The Dunhuang versions include these self-promotions, but they also contain a number of passages missing from the canonical version. Two such passages criticize theBon pofor being overly concerned with worldly benefits and divinations. They read as follows:

‘ Vf.8v.2gzhan yang bon po la gsod pa dang/ gnan pa dag
dang dgar bar bya 'a'o zhes tha snyad btags ste/ lha dang gdon la gsol ba 'debs pa dang cho ga byed pa ni/ bdag la gnod zhing gzhan
la yang gnod pa byed pa dang/ nyon mongs pa'i kha lo byed par zad de/ de lta bu dag ni gnam gyi dus tshod dang sa'i gzhung lugs la 'gal
zhing/ gnyis zla 'od la rgyab kyis phyogs pa yin te ’ ‘ Vf.8v.2Furthermore, thoseBon powho label something "murder," "oppression," or "imprisonment," then pray to the gods and spirits and perform their rituals--they are only harming themselves and others too; they are nothing but leaders for the afflicted. Those who are like that violate the hour in the sky and the laws of nature. They turn their backs to the light of the sun and the moon. ’ ‘ Vf.11v.2rigs kyi bu gang glen ba shesr myed pani/ mo bon la yid ches te/ bkra shis su re bas/ mo bon byed pas dge
ba ni myi byed ste/ sdig pa sna tshogs 'byes pa’i rgyen kyIs ni/ shi nas phyir yang myI lus thob pa ni/ sen mo’i steng na sa yod ba dang
‘dra ’a'o/ sems can dmyal bar ltung ba dang/ yid dags dang byol 'tshongs su skye zhIn 'khor ba nI sa chen po dang ‘dra 'a’o ’ ‘ Vf.11v.2Son of good lineage, any idiot with no wisdom who believes inBondivinations and makesBondivinations in the hope of good luck, he does not practice virtue. Practicing such sins makes one's [chance for] obtaining another human rebirth upon dying like a mere speck of dust on a fingernail; [the chance] that such beings will fall into the hells or be born and revolve as a ghost or an animal is like a vast field full with dirt. ’

Here the Tibetan termBonis used to translate the Chineseya shi("heretical teacher").

In another passage of possible interest that is missing from the canonical version, the Buddha mentions a number of sutras that emanated from hisālaya-vijñāna(Tib.kun gzhi rnam shes) and hiskliṣṭa-manas(Tib.nyon yid):

‘ Rf.2v.4kun gzhi'I rnam par shes pA’I gnas las nI/ phyIr myi ldog pa'I mdo dang//mi ngan las
'das pa chen po'I mdo ste/ 'byung ngo/ nyen mongs pa can kyI yid kyI rnam par shes pa'I gnas las nI/ shes rab kyI pha rol du phyinRf.3ryin te/ ’ ‘ Rf.2v.4From the place of the basic consciousness will arise the Phyir mi ldog pa'i mdo and theMahā-parinirvāṇa-sūtra. From the afflicted mind consciousness will arise thePrajñā-pāramitā. ’

The Phyir mi ldog pa'i mdo is probably the same as the 'Phags pa phyir mi ldog pa'i 'khor lo zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo (906). Note that this same passage as it appears in the other Dunhuang manuscripts has a different list of sutras, sometimes emanating from theālaya-vijñānaand themano-vijñāna(Tib.yid kyi rnam shes). CompareIOL Tib J 460/1, Rf.6v.3-5andIOL Tib J 463, Rf.2v.4-3r.1.

References

sutra

On the colophon to this item, see entry to item 1.