Anantamukhasādhakadhāraṇī/Full text
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आर्यानन्तमुखसाधकनामधारणी
Anantamukhasādhakadhāraṇī
The Dhāraṇī of Accomplishing the Boundless Gateways (84000)
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Description
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)
| Reference | 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. |
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| People | Buddhabhadra, Buddhaśānta, Gongdezhi |
