In some of my published work I have identified the source of the Heart Sutra dhāraṇī as the Tuóluóní jí jīng «陀羅尼集經» (T 901), translated by Atikūṭa on 6th May 654 CE. Some recent correspondence has forced me to reconsider this. In particular, it became clear that on the evidence I had, I could not be confident of the direction of copying. And since I relied on this to date the Heart Sutra, the lack of confidence was problematic. This prompted me to go back to the sources (this time armed with ChatGPT4).
These are my edited notes on Atikūṭa and the Tuóluóní jí jīng. Another batch of notes will follow on the Tuóluóní jí jīng and the Heart Sutra dhāraṇī.
Atikuṭa
In Chinese, the name is transcribed as: Ā dì qú duō 阿地瞿多 which could conceivably represent Atikūṭa, Ādikūṭa, or even Atigupta. The name is also translated as Wújígāo 無極高 (無極 "unlimited" and 高 "Lofty" [especially lofty virtue, high-minded, etc]; esteem"). By comparison ati "very, excessively; superior", and ādi "beginning". Kūṭa can mean many things, but primarily it refers to prominence, as a horn on the head of an animal, the hump of a Brahmin bull (aṃsakūṭa), the crown of a king: This seems to support the transcription: Atikūṭa meaning something like "highest peak" or "ultimately high-minded". In one word, perhaps, Pinnacle.
Though note that words in -kūṭa are few and difficult to predict: utkūṭa "parasol", kālakūṭa "the black poison produced by churning the ocean", niṣkūṭa "guileless", parikūṭa "barrier, town gate", Atikūṭa could have a specific concrete meaning in a Buddhist context that is not apparent from the etymology.
Much of what we know about Atikūṭa comes from a Chinese story that is repeated almost verbatim in a range of sources, e.g.
- The anonymous preface to the Tuóluóní jí jīng (T 901; 18.785a5-b4) ~654 CE
- Dà Táng kāiyuán shìjiào lù «大唐開元釋教錄» (T 2154; 55.562c08-c22) ~730 CE
- Sòng gāosēng chuán 宋高僧傳 (T2061; 50.718b18-c2) - included as an appendix below. ~988 CE
Given the dates, it's likely that both the Kāiyuán lù and the Gāosēng chuán copied this story with only minor changes from the Tuóluóní jí jīng itself.
Shinohara (2014: 29) comments "Atikūṭa gave an oral translation of an original Sanskrit text, from which the author produced a summary in Chinese as a work in twelve fascicles."
The text and translation of Tuóluóní jí jīng preface (T 18.785a5-b4) follows:
有高德沙門厥號阿地瞿多(唐言無極高也)，是中天竺人也。法師聰慧超群、德邁過人，弱冠慕道，歷五竺而尋友，低心躍步而諮法要，故能精練五明、妙通諸部。
There was a venerable śramaṇa of great virtue named Ādìqúduō 阿地瞿多 [Atikūṭa] (in Tang speech: Wújígāo 無極高 "Unlimited Lofty"), who was a man from Central India (中天竺). The Dharma Master (法師) was exceptionally intelligent, surpassing others, and his virtue exceeded that of ordinary people. From a young age, he admired the Dharma, travelled through the Five Indias in search of companions, humbly approached and eagerly stepped forward to inquire about essential teachings. Thus, he became proficient in the Five Sciences and adept in various teachings.
意欲運西域之法水、潤東夏之渴仰，判身許于險難，務存弘道之心，跋山巖而不疲、涉沙流而無倦，頂戴尊經向斯漢地。永徽二年正月，屈于長安，奉勅住慈門寺。
He aspired to bring the Dharma waters of the Western Region to quench the thirst of Eastern Xia, committing himself to dangerous and difficult paths with a dedicated heart for the propagation of the Dharma. He traversed mountains and cliffs without weariness and crossed sandy streams without fatigue, carrying the revered sūtras to this Han land. In Yǒnghuī 永徽 2.1 (Feb 651), he arrived in Chang'an and was commanded by imperial decree to reside at Címén sì 慈門寺 "Cimen Monastery".
但法師含珠未吐，人莫別于懷珍，雅辯既宣，方知有寶(云云)，故能決眾疑，言皆當理。然則經律論業傳者非一，唯此法門未興斯土，所以丁寧三請，方許壇法。
However, the Dharma Master, who held pearls within but had not yet revealed them, kept his treasures unknown to others. Once his elegant explanations were proclaimed, it was realised that a treasure was present (and so on). Thus, he was able to resolve many doubts, and his words were always in accord with reason. Although many have transmitted works of sūtras, vinaya, and śāstras, this particular Dharma method had not yet been introduced to this land. Therefore, after three earnest requests, he was finally permitted to perform the altar rituals.
三月上旬赴慧日寺浮圖院內，法師自作普集會壇，大乘琮等一十六人，爰及英公、鄂公等一十二人，助成壇供，同願皇基永固，常臨萬國，庶類同沾，皆成大益，其中靈瑞恐繁不述(別在傳記)。
In the first ten days of the third lunar month (March 27-6 April 651), at the Fútú Yuàn 浮圖院 within Huìrì Sì 慧日寺, the Dharma Master personally established a universal assembly altar. Sixteen individuals, including the Mahāyāna monk Dàchéng Cóng 大乘琮, and twelve officials, including Yīng Gōng 英公 and È Gōng 鄂公, assisted in preparing the altar offerings. Together, they wished for the imperial foundation to be eternally stable, to always oversee the myriad nations, and for all beings to partake in great benefits. The numerous auspicious signs that appeared are not detailed here (but are recorded elsewhere in chronicles).
余慶逢此法，不勝忻躍，躬詣翻經，所悕翻廣本屢值事鬧，不及陳請，恐幻質遷謝失于大利，便請法師于慧日寺宣譯梵本，且翻要抄一十二卷，竪興國之洪基、存隆民之祕寶歟。
I was fortunate to encounter this Dharma, and my joy was beyond measure. Personally attending the sutra translation, I had hoped to translate the extensive version but was repeatedly hindered by various disturbances, unable to make the request. Fearing that my transient existence might end and miss out on the great benefit, I requested the Dharma Master at Huìrì Sì 慧日寺 to expound and translate the Sanskrit text, and to translate an essential extract of twelve scrolls, to establish a grand foundation for the nation and preserve the secret treasures that enrich the people.
從四年三月十四日起首，至永徽五年歲次甲寅四月十五日畢。以後頻頻勅追法師入內，邂逅之間無暇復校。此經出《金剛大道場經》，大明呪藏分之少分也；今此略抄擬勘詳定，奏請流通天下普聞焉。
Starting on Yǒnghuī 永徽 4.3.14 (16 April 653) and completed on 5.4.15 (6 May 654), in the year of Year of the Wood Tiger. Subsequently, repeated imperial edicts summoned the Dharma Master to the court, and amidst these encounters, there was no time to review again.
This sutra originates from the Jīngāng Dàdàochǎng Jīng «金剛大道場經» (*Vajra-mahābodhimaṇḍa-sūtra), a minor part of the Dàmíng Zhòucáng 大明呪藏 (*Mahāvidyākośa or Mahāvidyāpiṭaka). This current abridged extract (lüè chāo 略抄) is intended to be carefully examined and officially submitted for universal circulation throughout the world.
Chinese dates in the format: Regnal Era yy/mm/dd. Dates converted to Gregorian calendar using https://sinocal.sinica.edu.tw/
Shinohara (2014: 30) "Xuankai served as the recorder (bishou 筆受)"
Several passages, even a large part of the entry on the Eleven-Faced Avalokiteśvara in fascicle 4, were taken from existing Chinese translations of other texts.
T 2154 also retells the story above in similar terms (T 2154; 55.562c08-c22). Here, "he was ordered to reside at Cí'ēn Sì 慈恩寺" (T 2154; 55.562c13), rather than Címén sì 慈門寺 Sòng gāosēng chuán 宋高僧傳 has him dwelling at 慈門寺. However, far as I can tell there was no Címén sì 慈門寺 before the Yuan (13thC - 14thC), and Cí'ēn Sì 慈恩寺 was a prominent translation centre in the 650s.
Note also that the first Tantric ritual in Chinese was dedicated to promoting the empire.
Tuóluóní jí jīng «陀羅尼集經»
The preface of the Tuóluóní jí jīng is consistent with the idea of the text being a samucaya "anthology" or saṃgraha "collection" of extracts from a larger book of Tantric ritual. T 2154 includes the phrase "[Xuānxiē 玄揩 and others] extracted and translated essential parts from the Jīngāng Dàdàochǎng Jīng «金剛大道場經»." Two Chinese phrases catch my eye: cuō yào 撮要 "extract the essentials" and chāo yì 鈔譯 "copy and translate". This seems to compliment the phrase abridged extract (lüè chāo 略抄) in the Preface.
Unfortunately no text with the title Jīngāng dàdàochǎng jīng «金剛大道場經» *Vajramahābodhimaṇḍa Dhāraṇī is extant.
However, there is another independent extract from *Vajramahābodhimaṇḍa Dhāraṇī from ~two centuries earlier in the Fú shuō shíyī miàn Guānshìyīn shénzhòu jīng «佛說十一面觀世音神呪經» *Avalokiteśvaraikādaśamukhadhāraṇī sūtra (T 1070), translated ca. 564-572 CE. The colophon of which reads:
此經名金剛大道場神呪經，十萬偈成部，略出十一面觀世音一品。(T 1070 20.152a6-7)
This sūtra is named the Vajramahābodhimaṇḍa Dhāraṇī Sūtra, composed of 100,000 verses. This abbreviated version presents one section on the Eleven-Faced Avalokiteśvara.
Thus we have reason to believe that a text called Vajramahābodhimaṇḍa Dhāraṇī (Sūtra) existed at some point. And that is was already a compilation of various ritual texts or dhāraṇī sūtras with a Tantric flavour. As Joshua Capitanio (2017: 314) notes:
The Collected Dharani Sutras, though based on Indian manuscripts, was most likely compiled in its current form by Atikūṭa and his chinese collaborators. It consists of dozens of different ritual texts and short scriptures that are loosely organized across the text's twelve fascicles into five different groups or "families" of deities.
Though this appears to ignore the idea of the Vajramahābodhimaṇḍa Dhāraṇī Sūtra as a single source for the Tuóluóní jí jīng.
There are two other texts with similar names that are translations of the same source by different translators.
- T 1344 «金剛上味陀羅尼經» by Buddhaśānta 佛陀扇多.
- T 1345 «金剛場陀羅尼經» by Jñānagupta 闍那崛多
As well as Kāiyuán lù (T 2154), another catalogue records the Tuóluóní jí jīng with an interesting note. The Dà Zhōu kāndìng zhòngjīng mùlù «大周刊定衆經目錄» (T 2153), compiled 695 CE (also known as Dà Zhōu lù «大周錄»):
右大唐永徽五年四月十五日中天竺國三藏阿地瞿多(此云無極高)於西京慧日寺譯。天冊萬歲元年十月二十四日奉勅編行 (T 2153 55.379b2-4)
Translated on Yǒnghuī 永徽 5.4.15 (6 May 654) of the Tang Dynasty, by the Tripiṭaka master Aṭikūta 阿地瞿多, from Central India at Huìrì 慧日 Temple in the Western Capital. Compiled and published by imperial order on Tiāncè wànsuì 天冊萬歲 1.10.24 (5 December 695).
The text was "translated" (yì 譯) in 654 CE but also "compiled and issued" (biān xíng 編行) 41 years later in 695 CE. This later process doesn't seem to be accounted for by commentators.
The date "695 CE" and the reign name, Tiāncè wànsuì 天冊萬歲, tell us that Wǔ Zétiān 武則天 (r. 690–705 CE) was involved in the dissemination of this text. It's not clear to me what kind of process occurred here. FWIW... ChatGPT says:
The expression "biān xíng 編行" would typically appear in contexts where a compilation was not merely created but also sanctioned and actively disseminated as an authoritative or required text, such as historical records, legal codes, or other state-sanctioned works.
Note that Daoxuan's catalogue (T 2149, 55.301b19) includes a text named Tuóluóní jí 陀羅尼集 but it's not clear if this is the same text:
陀羅尼集(十卷一百八十七紙一名雜呪集九卷)
Collection of Dhāraṇī (Ten volumes, 187 sheets. Also called Zá zhòu jí 雜呪集 "Collection of Miscellaneous Incantations", Nine volumes)
Most scholars seem to believe that the Tuóluóní jí jīng «陀羅尼集經» contains Chinese elements overlaid on a Sanskrit substrate. For example, Davidson (2021: 81) asserts
...the text as it exists was clearly assembled from Indian texts and traditions in China rather than in India. This is evident from, among other places, the introduction to a short sūtra on the goddess Śrīdevī appended to chapter 15, which states that the text was transported to China by Atikūṭa and translated there.
The "introduction" he refers to is:
功德天法一卷 (中天竺國菩提寺僧阿難律木叉師、迦葉師等共瞿多法師於經行寺翻，流行於唐國。) (T. 901 18.874b25-6)
Dharma of Jíxiángtiān 功德天 [Śrīdevī or Lakṣmī], one scroll (Translated at Jīngxíng Sì 經行寺 by the monks Ānán Lǜmùchā 阿難律木叉師 and Kāshé 迦葉師 of Mahābodhi Monastery in Central India, together with Dharma Master Atikūṭa 瞿多法師, and circulated in the Tang Kingdom).
This does not appear to say that "the text was transported to China by Atikūṭa". It does, however, suggests that the text was translated in China by Indian monks (which is entirely unsurprising) and perhaps suggests that it circulated independently. This impression is confirmed by Shinohara (2014: 30), who adds "In fact, significant sections of this entry on Lakṣmī appear to have been taken from Dharmakṣema’s (385–433) translation of the Golden Light Sūtra."
Davidson also asserts that the Tuóluóní jí jīng contains "an alternative Heart Sūtra teaching śamatha in the contemplation of the goddess Prajñāpāramitā" which, as far as I can see, is simply not true. Stickman's (1996: 53) comments are more apposite:
Bien qu'étant tous deux décrits comme des traductions dans le canon bouddhique chinois, ils furent en fait rédigés directement en chinois. L'autorité de l'écrit en Chine a peut-être encouragé les ritualistes à transcrire leurs pratiques et traditions orales, qui n'avaient jusque-là jamais été consignées. Les textes produits dans ces circonstances sont peut-être entièrement fondés sur des pratiques indiennes, mais représentent néanmoins inévitablement des adaptations aux conditions chinoises. Bien que portant le stigmate d'apocryphes par rapport au bouddhisme indien, ces ouvrages constituent les sources les plus riches sur la pratique du bouddhisme dans la Chine médiévale.
Although both [the Book of Consecration (ca 457) and the Collection of Dharani-Sūtra (653-654)] are described as translations in the Chinese Buddhist canon, they were actually written directly in Chinese. The authority of writing in China may have encouraged ritualists to transcribe their practices and oral traditions, which had not previously been recorded. Texts produced under these circumstances may be entirely based on Indian practices, but they inevitably represent adaptations to Chinese conditions. Although bearing the stigma of being apocryphal compared to Indian Buddhism, these works constitute the richest sources on the practice of Buddhism in medieval China.
Strickman (1996: 153) again:
C'est le même esprit de tolérance qui est sans doute à l'origine de l'incorporation d'éléments indiscutablement chinois dans ce texte qui n'a d'indien que le nom. Nous avons déjà mentionné une certaine suggestio serica dans quelques-unes des cérémonies. Nous pouvons maintenant observer des traits d'origine nettement chinoise. Il y a par exemple un "monarques yakṣa bleu de l'est" que l'on invoque lors d'une cérémonie thérapeutique. C'est l'un des cinq monarques yakṣa des cinq directions, dont les noms et les couleurs symboliques trahissent l'origine chinoise. La plupart des drogues prescrites sont citées soit sous leur nom chinois, soit en transcription du sanskrit, accompagnées de gloses chinoises. On trouve aussi la mention occasionnelle d'heures et de jours correspondant au cycle sexagésimal chinois. Parmi les chinoiseries». citons une référence aux baguettes (x, 872b). Mais ce sont les références à l'argent, déjà mentionnées plus haut, qui sont le plus révélatrices. On attribue généralement les premières allusions aux offrandes en espèces à une collection d'anecdotes datant du milieu du vin siècle, le Ming-pao ki (Registre de récompenses de l'au-delà), de T'ang Lin. On peut donc se féliciter de posséder ces instructions rituelles concrètes datant de la même période.
It is likely the same spirit of tolerance that is behind the incorporation of unmistakably Chinese elements into this text, which is Indian in name only. We have already mentioned a certain suggestio serica in some of the ceremonies. We can now observe features of clearly Chinese origin. For example, there is a "blue yakṣa monarch of the east" invoked during a therapeutic ceremony. He is one of the five yakṣa monarchs of the five directions, whose names and symbolic colours betray their Chinese origin. Most of the prescribed drugs are cited either under their Chinese names or in Sanskrit transcription, accompanied by Chinese glosses. There are also occasional mentions of hours and days corresponding to the Chinese sexagenary cycle. Among the 'Chinese elements,' we find a reference to chopsticks (x, 872b). But it is the references to money, already mentioned earlier, that are the most revealing. The earliest references to offerings of money are generally attributed to a collection of anecdotes dating from the mid-fifth century, the Ming-pao ki (Register of Rewards from the Afterlife) by Tang Lin. Thus, we can be pleased to have these concrete ritual instructions dating from the same period.
I'm not sure that the association of blue and the east is Chinese however, as this combination is common in Tantras that feature Akṣobhya.
The process described is an added complication to the revised history, since the process of creating the Tuóluóní jí jīng appears to mirror the creation of the Heart Sutra, in having been composed in Chinese, abridged, but "entirely based on Indian practices".
Shinohara (2014: 31) gives an important caveat:
For the most part, though, the material in the Collected Dhāraṇī Sūtras does not exist elsewhere in independent translations. A large body of previously unknown Indian texts must have been translated for this compilation.
and
the Collected Dhāraṇī Sūtras presents a coherent and carefully worked out picture of one distinctive kind of maṇḍala. The Indian monk Atikūṭa must have brought this understanding of the maṇḍala ceremony and its guiding principles from India.
Shinohara (2014: 31) describes the Tuóluóní jí jīng as "carefully organized"
Note: The information on T901 in Lancaster's catalogue to the Korean Tripitaka, is largely correct but cites the source as "T. 2149-260c:16". The text on that line is unrelated. A similar title is recorded in T 2149, though not where Lancaster suggests, i.e.
- T 55.301b19：陀羅尼集(十卷一百八十七紙一名雜呪集九卷) "Dhāraṇī Collection" (10 scrolls, 187 sheets; also known as Zá zhòu jí «雜呪集» "Miscellaneous Spell Collection" in 9 scrolls).
- T 55.325a24：陀羅尼集(十卷一百八十七紙一名雜呪集九卷)"Dhāraṇī Collection" (10 scrolls, 187 sheets; also known as Zá zhòu jí «雜呪集» "Miscellaneous Spell Collection" in 9 scrolls).
~~oOo~~
Bibliography
Capitanio, Josh. (2017) "‘The Ritual Altar of Kuṇḍalī Vajra for Treating Illnesses’ from the Collected Dhāraṇī Sūtras." In Buddhism and Medicine - An Anthology of Premodern Sources, edited by P. Salguero, 314-321. New York: Columbia University Press.
Davidson, R.M. (2012). “Some Observations on an Uṣṇīṣa Abhiṣeka Rite in Atikūṭa’s Dhāraṇīsaṃgraha.” In Transformations and Transfer of Tantra in Asia and Beyond, edited by I. Keul, 77-79. Berlin: De Gruyter.
Giebel, Rolf W. (2015) "Tantric Ritual Manuals in East Asia". Brill's Encyclopedia of Buddhism.
Glucklich, Ariel. (1997). The End of Magic. New York, Oxford University Press.
Shinohara, K. (2014) Spells, Images, and Maṇḍalas: Tracing the Evolution of Esoteric Buddhist Rituals. New York: Columbia University Press.
Silk, J.A., “The Jifayue sheku tuoluoni jing: Translation, Non-translation, Both or Neither?,” JIABS 31/1–2, 2008, 369–420.
Strickmann, M. 1996. Mantras et mandarins: Le bouddhisme tantrique en Chine. Paris: Gallimard.
~~oOo~~
APPENDIX Sòng gāosēng chuán 宋高僧傳biography of Atikūṭa
T50n2061_p0718b18：釋無極高，中印度人，梵云阿地瞿多，華云
T50n2061_p0718b19：無極高也。出家氏族未憑書之。高學窮滿
T50n2061_p0718b20：字，行潔圓珠，精練五明，妙通三藏。永徽三
T50n2061_p0718b21：年壬子歲正月，自西印度齎梵夾來屆長
T50n2061_p0718b22：安，勅令慈門寺安置。沙門大乘琮等十六人、
T50n2061_p0718b23：英公李世勣、鄂公尉遲德等十二人，同請高
T50n2061_p0718b24：於慧日寺浮圖院建陀羅尼普集會壇，所須
T50n2061_p0718b25：供辦。法成之日，屢現靈異，京中道俗咸歎希
T50n2061_p0718b26：逢。沙門玄楷等固請翻其法本。以四年癸
T50n2061_p0718b27：丑至于五年，於慧日寺從《金剛大道場經》
T50n2061_p0718b28：中撮要而譯，集成一部，名《陀羅尼集經》一
T50n2061_p0718b29：十二卷，玄楷筆受。于時有中印度大菩提寺
T50n2061_p0718c01：阿難律木叉師、迦葉師等，於經行寺譯《功德
T50n2061_p0718c02：天法》，編在《集經》第十卷內，故不別出焉。
Wú Jí Gāo 無極高, a man from Central India, is called Atikūṭa 阿地瞿多 in Sanskrit, which translates to 'Supreme and Lofty' (無極高) in Chinese. His background and family details are not recorded. His studies were exhaustive, his conduct was pure and rounded like a perfect pearl. He was proficient in the Five Sciences and thoroughly versed in the Tripiṭaka.
In the third year of the Yǒnghuī 永徽 era, during the rénzǐ 壬子 year and the first month, he brought Sanskrit texts from Western India to Cháng’ān 長安 and was ordered by imperial decree to reside at Címén Sì 慈門寺. Sixteen śramaṇas, including Dàchéng Cóng 大乘琮, and twelve officials, including Duke Ying Lǐ Shìjí 英公李世勣 and Duke È Yùchí Dé 鄂公尉遲德, jointly invited Wú Jí Gāo to the Fútú Yuàn 浮圖院 at Huìrì Sì 慧日寺 to establish a universal assembly altar for dhāraṇī, providing all necessary offerings.
On the day the Dharma was accomplished, numerous auspicious signs repeatedly appeared, and the people, both lay and ordained, in the capital marveled at this rare event. The śramaṇa Xuānkǎi 玄楷 and others earnestly requested to translate the original Dharma texts. From the fourth year, guǐchǒu 癸丑, to the fifth year, at Huìrì Sì 慧日寺, they extracted and translated essential parts from the Vajra Great Altar Sūtra (Jīngāng Dàdàochǎng Jīng 金剛大道場經), compiling it into a single work named the Dhāraṇī Collection Sūtra (陀羅尼集經), consisting of twelve scrolls. Xuānkǎi 玄楷 transcribed the texts.
At that time, there were monks from Mahābodhi Monastery 大菩提寺 in Central India, such as Ānán Lǜmùchā 阿難律木叉師 and Kāshé 迦葉師, who translated the Sūtra on the Merit of the Deva Method 功德天法 at Jīngxíng Sì 經行寺. This was included in the tenth volume of the collected sūtra, so it was not separately published.
