Mahavairocana-Sutra (A. D. 725)

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Preface

The Mahavairocan-abhisambodhi-vikurvit-adhisthana-vaipulya-sutra was translated into Chinese by Subhakarasimha and I-hsing in A. D. 725 in the Ta-fu-hsien monastery at Tung-tu. Its Chinese title is: Ta-p'i-lu-che-na-ch'eng-fo shen-pien Chia-ch'ih ching. in Japanese pronunciation it reads: Daibirushana-Jobutsu-jimben-kaji-kyo (T848). This title was translated by Nanjio as "Sutra on Mahavairocana's becoming Buddha and the supernatural formula called yugandhara (? Lit. adding-holding)" (Nj 530). The terms can now be clarified with the help of the Sanskrit title preserved in the Tibetan Kanjur: becoming Buddha (jobutsu) = abhisambodhi
supernatural formula (jimben) = vikurvita yugandhara (lit. adding-holding) (kaji) = adhisthana.
The Tibetan translation was done by Silendrabodhi and Dpal-brtsegs under the title: Rnam-par-snan-mdzad-chen-po mnon-par-rdzogs-par-byan-chub-pa rnam-par-sprul-pa byin-gyis-rlob-pa- sin-tu-rgyas-pa mdo-sdehi dban-pohi rgyal-po zhes-bya-bahi chos-kyi-rnam-grans, a translation of the original Sanskrit title: Mahavairocan-abhisambodhi-vikurvit-adhisthana-vaipulya-sutrendraraja nama dharma-paryaya. In the Chinese text certain passages echo the word sutrendra-raja. It is noteworthy that the Enlightenment of Vairocana is abhisambodhi with the prefix abhi-in the sense of intensifying the action implied in the basic word Bodhi. It denotes the highest enlightenment, that is, a more evolved concept of Bodhi. Abhisambodhi is specifically applied to Vairocana of the carya-tantras. He is the Abhisambodhi-Vairocana, in contradistinction to the Vajradhatu-Vairocana. The reconstruction of the Chinese Hung-kuang-hsien-yao-p'u-ti-fo as Vairocanabhisambodhi by Walter Eugene Clark (Two Lamaistic Pantheons 1937:II. 150/5M5) has to be corrected to Abhisambodhi-Vairocana. In the Sino-Japanese tradition the new tern Garbhadhatu-Vairocana was coined for him.