Amida Dhāraṇī Sūtra and Jñānagarbha's Commentary

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Amida Dhāraṇī Sūtra and Jñānagarbha's Commentary: An Annotated Translation from Tibetan of the Anantamukha-nirhāra-dhāraṇi Sūtra and ṭikā

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Sutras (Sanskrit)

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Descriptionངོ་སྤྲོད།

Edition of the Sanskrit fragment (romanized) of the dhāraṇī, Hoernle No.143d.S.A.11, with complete English translation from the Sanskrit and Tibetan of the root text and commentary. (Source: Columbia AIBS, See pop-up for English translations of the text)

Citation

Inagaki, Hisao, trans. Amida Dhāraṇī Sūtra and Jñānagarbha's Commentary: An Annotated Translation from Tibetan of the Anantamukha-nirhāra-dhāraṇi Sūtra and ṭikā. Ryūkoku sōsho 7. Kyōto: Ryūkoku Gakkai, 1999.

Table of contents

Prefacev
Table of contentsvii
Abbreviations and Bibliography Introductionx
- Notes20

TRANSLATION

Prelude27
Chapter 1 Introductory section30
Chapter 2 Origin of the discourse34
Chapter 3 Assembling of the audience39
Chapter 4 The great significance50
Chapter 5 Śāriputra's inquiry59
Chapter 6 Śāriputra's request to the Buddha60
Chapter 7 The Buddha's consent to expound the discourse62
Chapter 8 Śāriputra's attention to the Buddha's teaching65
Chapter 9 Anantamukhanirhāra-dhāraṇī65
Chapter 10 The essence of the Dhāraṇī69
Chapter 11 Benefits of the Dhāraṇī87
Chapter 12 Gāthās94
Chapter 13 Method of attaining the Dhāraṇī111
Chapter 14 Benefits of practicing the Dhāraṇī146
Chapter 15 Past events149
Chapter 16 Greatness of the teaching174
Chapter 17 Request for the name of this teaching195
Chapter 18 Names of this teaching197
Chapter 19 The audience's joy200
Conclusion202
- Notes to the Translation203

- - APPENDICES
    - 1 . Synopsis257
    - 2 . Glossarial index267

Interconnections

Works related to this item

1 Full translation of

Anantamukhasādhakadhāraṇī [आर्यानन्तमुखसाधकनामधारणी]. 'phags pa sgo mtha' yas pa sgrub pa zhes bya ba'i gzungs [འཕགས་པ་སྒོ་མཐའ་ཡས་པ་སྒྲུབ་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བའི་གཟུངས།]. [The Dhāraṇī of Accomplishing the Boundless Gateways (84000)]. Translated by Buddhabhadra, Buddhaśānta, Chih-ch'ien, Guṇabhadra, Kung Te-chih, Saṅghabhara, Jñānagupta, Chih-yen. Kangyur, RKTSK 140 http://www.rkts.org/cat.php?id=140&typ=1.

Classical WorksAbout this item

The Anantamukhasādhakadhāraṇī (also called The Incantation for Achieving the Boundless Gate) is an important Buddhist dhāraṇī text from the Mahāyāna tradition. It belongs to the early dhāraṇī literature that eventually developed into full tantric practices.

The text likely dates to around the 3rd-4th century CE, originating during the later development of Mahāyāna Buddhism in India. Like many dhāraṇī texts, its specific author is unknown, as these works were typically attributed to the Buddha himself or were considered to have emerged from collective spiritual practice rather than individual authorship.

The text contains mantras and incantations believed to possess spiritual power. It focuses on the concept of "unimpeded" or "infinite entrances" (anantamukha) to dharma realization. The dhāraṇī is recited to remove obstacles to spiritual practice and to gain insight into the nature of reality.

The Anantamukhasādhakadhāraṇī was influential in several ways:

It was translated into Chinese multiple times, including versions by Zhiyan in the 5th century and later by Xuanzang.
It contributed to the development of esoteric Buddhist practices in East Asia
It served as an important text in the transition from earlier Mahāyāna Buddhism to later tantric forms.
Elements of its practices were incorporated into various Buddhist rituals across Asia. (Generated by Claude.ai Apr 4, 2025)

1 Scholarship on