Song · Source text translated by 天息災
90,015 · about 300 min
The *Mahāvaipulya Bodhisattva Piṭaka Mañjuśrī Root Tantra* is an important Buddhist esoteric scripture translated during the Northern Song dynasty by the master Tianxizai. Tianxizai was an eminent Indian monk who came to China during the Taiping Xingguo era of the Northern Song dynasty and participated in the translation of scriptures. This sutra belongs to the core canon of the esoteric Mañjuśrī practice, systematically expounding the rituals, mantra dhāraṇīs, and methods for establishing maṇḍalas related to the cultivation of Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, emphasizing the essential principle of uniting wisdom and compassion in practice. The sutra records the various manifested forms of Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī and their corresponding methods of offering and recitation, embodying the characteristic of esoteric Buddhism in transforming Buddhist principles into concrete practices. This scripture holds a significant position within Chinese esoteric Buddhism and is a key text for studying the dissemination of esoteric teachings during the Song dynasty and the faith in Mañjuśrī, having also exerted a profound influence on later Mañjuśrī practices within Tibetan Buddhism.