妙法蓮華經 陀羅尼品第二十六
前面〈觀世音菩薩普門品〉說「以人護難」——一聲呼喚，就有大士來救；這一品接著說『以神呪法護難』:當有人在惡世裡讀誦、受持、講說這部《法華經》，就有無量的菩薩、天王、乃至本來害人的鬼神，一個個說出神呪，來守護這位說法的法師。兩品合起來，正是「護眾生諸難力」:一品護受苦的眾生，一品護弘經的人。
這一品從一個問答起。藥王菩薩問：受持《法華經》能得多少福？佛先反問：供養八百萬億那由他恒河沙諸佛的福多不多？答：非常多。佛卻說：可是受持這部經、哪怕只一句四句偈，讀誦解義、如說修行，功德更多——因為這部經所詮的，正是諸佛出世的本懷。正因這一句一偈有這樣的分量，底下才有五番說呪護持說法的人：藥王、勇施二位菩薩，毘沙門、持國二位天王，最後是十位羅剎女與鬼子母。每一番呪後都繫著同一句『若侵毀此法師，則為侵毀是諸佛』——護一個說法的人，竟等同護無量的佛，因為他傳的正是諸佛之法。
經文裡忽然出現一串串念不出意思的字——「安爾曼爾摩禰摩摩禰……」，這就是陀羅尼、神呪。它不像別處的話要你解義，而是存著原音、不翻的：它不靠字面義理，而靠佛力加持的音聲，摧邪護正。陀羅尼此方翻作「總持」，是一種能總攝一切法、任持無量義而不失的力量；這串密呪，其實是一部經的護身符。
最深的一筆在末一番。說呪的，是本來食人的羅剎女、本來噉人子的鬼子母；這些害人的惡神，如今連同眷屬一齊來到佛前發願：寧上我頭，莫惱法師——若有惱亂說法者，當獲如殺父母、破和合僧那樣的殃。本來害人的，被這部經轉過來，成了最猛烈的護法者。法之力，不是把惡消滅，是把惡迴轉、收作守護。佛讚歎說：你們只要護持一個受持此經名號的人，福就不可限量。說這一品時，六萬八千人得無生法忍——護經之人得護，聞經之人得道。
所以這一品的心，是一個「護」字：一個在惡世裡還肯持誦、講說這部經的人，天龍聖賢、乃至惡鬼，都來守護他。你護的不是一部書，是諸佛的心髓；護持它的人，就有無量的力量在暗中護持你。
且入此品，看無量聖天鬼神怎樣守護一位持經的法師；下一品〈妙莊嚴王本事品〉，說妙莊嚴王宿世因緣，二子以神變化度其父入於佛法。
The preceding chapter teaches protection from peril through a person: one cry, and a great being comes to the rescue. This chapter follows with protection from peril through the Dharma of divine spells. When someone reads, receives, upholds, and teaches the Lotus Sutra in an evil age, immeasurable bodhisattvas, heavenly kings, and even spirits that once harmed people each proclaim a divine spell and protect that Dharma teacher. One chapter protects sentient beings who suffer; the other protects the person who propagates the sutra.
The chapter begins with a question. The Bodhisattva Medicine King (Bhaiṣajyarāja) asks how much merit is gained by upholding the Lotus Sutra. The Buddha first asks in return: is the merit of making offerings to buddhas as numerous as the sands of eight hundred trillion nayutas of Ganges Rivers great or not? It is exceedingly great. Yet the Buddha says that the qualities gained by receiving and upholding even a single four-line verse, reading and reciting it, understanding its meaning, and practicing as taught are greater still—because what this sutra reveals is the original intent for which the buddhas appear. This is why five rounds of spells follow to protect those who teach the Dharma: the two bodhisattvas Medicine King and Brave in Giving (Pradānaśūra); the two heavenly kings Much-Hearing (Vaiśravaṇa) and Realm-Holder (Dhṛtarāṣṭra); and finally the ten rākṣasī women together with the Mother of Demon Children (Hārītī). After each spell comes the same declaration: to attack and harm this Dharma teacher is to attack and harm all those buddhas. Protecting one person who teaches the Dharma is equivalent to protecting immeasurable buddhas, because that person transmits their Dharma.
The sutra suddenly presents strings of sounds whose meanings cannot be read—the opening sounds of the first spell, for example. These are dhāraṇīs, divine spells. Unlike other words that ask you to understand their meaning, their received sounds are preserved without translation. They do not work through literal meaning, but through sound empowered by the Buddha’s strength to subdue what is wrong and protect what is right. Dhāraṇī is translated as “total retention,” a power able to gather all dharmas and retain immeasurable meanings without losing them. These secret spells are, in truth, a protective amulet for the sutra.
The deepest stroke comes in the final round. Those who proclaim the spell are rākṣasī women who once devoured people and a mother-spirit who once devoured children. These harmful spirits now come before the Buddha with their retinues and vow: may calamity fall upon our own heads; no one shall trouble this Dharma teacher. Whoever troubles one who teaches the Dharma will meet a calamity as grave as killing father and mother or splitting the harmonious Saṅgha. Those who once harmed others have been turned by this sutra into its fiercest protectors. The power of the Dharma does not destroy evil; it turns evil around and takes it into service as protection. The Buddha praises them: if you protect even one person who receives and upholds the name of this sutra, your merit is beyond measure. As the chapter is taught, sixty-eight thousand people attain patient acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas. The one who protects the sutra receives protection; the one who hears the sutra attains the Way.
The heart of this chapter is therefore a single word: protect. A person who still receives, recites, and teaches this sutra in an evil age is guarded by sages, heavenly beings, dragons, and even harmful spirits. What you protect is not a book, but the heart-essence of the buddhas; when you protect the one who upholds it, immeasurable powers quietly protect you.
Enter this chapter and see how immeasurable sages, heavenly beings, and spirits protect a single Dharma teacher who upholds the sutra. The next chapter, the Former Affairs of King Wonderful-Adornment, tells the king’s causes and conditions from a former life and how his two sons used supernormal transformations to lead their father into the Buddha-Dharma.
後秦龜茲國三藏法師鳩摩羅什奉詔譯《妙法蓮華經》卷七〈陀羅尼品第二十六〉· 大正藏 T09n0262〔起 T09 0058b09〕。段/行首〔T09 …〕＝大正藏頁·欄·行錨。
〔T09 0058b09〕爾時，藥王菩薩即從座起，偏袒右肩，合掌向佛，而白佛言：「世尊！若善男子、善女人，有能受持法華經者——若讀誦通利，若書寫經卷——得幾所福？」
佛告藥王：「若有善男子、善女人，供養八百萬億那由他恒河沙等諸佛。於汝意云何？其所得福，寧為多不？」
「甚多，世尊。」
佛言：「若善男子、善女人，能於是經，乃至受持一四句偈，讀誦、解義、如說修行，功德甚多。」
爾時藥王菩薩白佛言：「世尊！我今當與說法者陀羅尼呪，以守護之。」即說呪曰：
「安爾 曼爾 摩禰 摩摩禰 旨隷 遮梨第 賒咩 賒履多瑋 羶帝 目帝 目多履 娑履 阿瑋娑履 桑履 娑履 叉裔 阿叉裔 阿耆膩 羶帝 賒履 陀羅尼 阿盧伽婆娑簸蔗毘叉膩 禰毘剃 阿便哆邏禰履剃 阿亶哆波隷輸地 漚究隷 牟究隷 阿羅隷 波羅隷 首迦差 阿三磨三履 佛䭾毘吉利袠帝 達磨波利差帝 僧伽涅瞿沙禰 婆舍婆舍輸地 曼哆邏 曼哆邏叉夜多 郵樓哆 郵樓哆憍舍略 惡叉邏 惡叉冶多冶 阿婆盧 阿摩若那多夜
「世尊！是陀羅尼神咒，六十二億恒河沙等諸佛所說，若有侵毀此法師者，則為侵毀是諸佛已。」
時釋迦牟尼佛讚藥王菩薩言：「善哉，善哉！藥王！汝愍念擁護此法師故，說是陀羅尼，於諸眾生，多所饒益。」
爾時勇施菩薩白佛言：「世尊！我亦為擁護讀誦受持法華經者，說陀羅尼。若此法師得是陀羅尼，若夜叉、若羅剎、若富單那、若吉遮、若鳩槃茶、若餓鬼等，伺求其短，無能得便。」即於佛前而說呪曰：
「痤隷摩訶痤隷郁枳目枳阿隷阿羅婆第涅隷第涅隷多婆第伊緻柅韋緻柅旨緻柅涅隷𡎰柅涅犁𡎰婆底
〔T09 0059a04〕「世尊！是陀羅尼神呪，恒河沙等諸佛所說，亦皆隨喜，若有侵毀此法師者，則為侵毀是諸佛已。」
爾時毘沙門天王護世者白佛言：「世尊！我亦為愍念眾生、擁護此法師故，說是陀羅尼。」即說呪曰：
「阿梨那梨㝹那梨阿那盧那履拘那履
「世尊！以是神呪擁護法師，我亦自當擁護持是經者，令百由旬內無諸衰患。」
爾時持國天王在此會中，與千萬億那由他乾闥婆眾，恭敬圍繞，前詣佛所，合掌白佛言：「世尊！我亦以陀羅尼神呪，擁護持法華經者。」即說呪曰：
「阿伽禰伽禰瞿利乾陀利旃陀利摩蹬耆常求利浮樓莎柅頞底
「世尊！是陀羅尼神呪，四十二億諸佛所說，若有侵毀此法師者，則為侵毀是諸佛已。」
爾時有羅剎女等，一名藍婆，二名毘藍婆，三名曲齒，四名華齒，五名黑齒，六名多髮，七名無厭足，八名持瓔珞，九名睪帝，十名奪一切眾生精氣，是十羅剎女，與鬼子母，并其子及眷屬，俱詣佛所，同聲白佛言：「世尊！我等亦欲擁護讀誦受持法華經者，除其衰患。若有伺求法師短者，令不得便。」即於佛前，而說呪曰：
「伊提履伊提泯伊提履阿提履伊提履泥履泥履泥履泥履泥履樓醯樓醯樓醯樓醯多醯多醯多醯兜醯㝹醯
「寧上我頭上，莫惱於法師。若夜叉、若羅剎、若餓鬼、若富單那、若吉遮、若毘陀羅、若犍馱、若烏摩勒伽、若阿跋摩羅、若夜叉吉遮、若人吉遮，若熱病若一日、若二日、若三日、若四日乃至七日，若常熱病，若男形、若女形、若童男形、若童女形，乃至夢中，亦復莫惱。」即於佛前而說偈言：
「若不順我呪，惱亂說法者，
頭破作七分，如阿梨樹枝。
如殺父母罪，亦如壓油殃，
斗秤欺誑人，調達破僧罪。
犯此法師者，當獲如是殃。」
諸羅剎女說此偈已，白佛言：「世尊！我等亦當身自擁護受持、讀誦、修行是經者，令得安隱，離諸衰患，消眾毒藥。」
佛告諸羅剎女：「善哉，善哉！汝等但能擁護受持法華名者，福不可量，何況擁護具足受持，供養經卷——華、香、瓔珞，末香、塗香、燒香，幡蓋、伎樂；燃種種燈：酥燈、油燈、諸香油燈、蘇摩那華油燈、瞻蔔華油燈、婆師迦華油燈、優鉢羅華油燈，如是等百千種供養者。睪帝！汝等及眷屬應當擁護如是法師。」
說是陀羅尼品時，六萬八千人得無生法忍。
The canonical text stands in Chinese only. This edition renders the essence, the plain reading, the exposition and the apparatus into English — never the sūtra itself. Switch to 漢讀本 or 並行雙語 above to read it.
藥王啟問·校量受持之福
那時候，藥王菩薩隨即從座位上起身，偏袒著右邊的肩膀（露出右肩，以表恭敬），合起雙掌朝向佛陀，這樣稟白說：「世尊啊！倘若有善男子、善女人，能夠受持《法華經》的——不論是讀誦得純熟通利，還是書寫成經卷——能得到多少福德呢？」
佛陀告訴藥王菩薩說：「倘若有善男子、善女人，供養了像八百萬億那由他（極大的數目）恒河沙那樣多的諸佛。在你的意思怎麼樣？他所得到的福德，算不算多呢？」
藥王菩薩答道：「非常多，世尊。」
佛陀說：「倘若善男子、善女人，能夠對於這部經，哪怕只是受持其中的一句四句偈，讀誦它、解說它的義理、照著它所說的去修行，這功德就非常多了。」
藥王菩薩說神咒·守護法師
那時候藥王菩薩向佛陀稟白說：「世尊啊！我如今應當給那說法的人（弘傳此經的法師）一段陀羅尼神咒，用來守護他。」隨即宣說神咒道——
（以下是陀羅尼神咒。陀羅尼是梵音的真言，依古來譯經的通例，存其原音而不加翻譯——它不以字面的義理取勝，而是仗著佛菩薩神力加持的音聲來摧邪護正。今存其音如下：）
「安爾 曼爾 摩禰 摩摩禰 旨隷 遮梨第 賒咩 賒履多瑋 羶帝 目帝 目多履 娑履 阿瑋娑履 桑履 娑履 叉裔 阿叉裔 阿耆膩 羶帝 賒履 陀羅尼 阿盧伽婆娑簸蔗毘叉膩 禰毘剃 阿便哆邏禰履剃 阿亶哆波隷輸地 漚究隷 牟究隷 阿羅隷 波羅隷 首迦差 阿三磨三履 佛䭾毘吉利袠帝 達磨波利差帝 僧伽涅瞿沙禰 婆舍婆舍輸地 曼哆邏 曼哆邏叉夜多 郵樓哆 郵樓哆憍舍略 惡叉邏 惡叉冶多冶 阿婆盧 阿摩若那多夜」
「世尊啊！這一段陀羅尼神咒，是六十二億條恒河沙那樣多的諸佛所共同宣說的。倘若有人侵犯毀害這位（受持《法華經》的）法師，就等於是侵犯毀害了這麼多的諸佛了。」
那時候，釋迦牟尼佛稱讚藥王菩薩說：「好啊，好啊！藥王！你出於憐憫護念這位法師的緣故，宣說了這段陀羅尼，這對於眾生，實在有許多的饒益（利益）。」
勇施菩薩說神咒
那時候，勇施菩薩向佛陀稟白說：「世尊啊！我也要為了護念那讀誦、受持《法華經》的人，宣說一段陀羅尼。倘若這位法師得到了這段陀羅尼，那麼不論是夜叉（捷疾勇健的鬼）、羅剎（食人的惡鬼）、富單那（主熱病的臭餓鬼）、吉遮（起屍鬼）、鳩槃茶（噉人精氣的甕形鬼），還是餓鬼等等，一切窺伺、尋求他過失短處的，都沒有辦法得著下手的機會。」隨即在佛陀面前宣說神咒道：
「痤隷 摩訶痤隷 郁枳 目枳 阿隷 阿羅婆第 涅隷第 涅隷多婆第 伊緻柅 韋緻柅 旨緻柅 涅隷𡎰柅 涅犁𡎰婆底」
「世尊啊！這一段陀羅尼神咒，是恒河沙那樣多的諸佛所宣說的，這些佛也都一齊隨喜讚許。倘若有人侵犯毀害這位法師，就等於是侵犯毀害了這麼多的諸佛了。」
毘沙門天王說神咒
那時候，毘沙門天王（北方多聞天王，護持世間的護世者）向佛陀稟白說：「世尊啊！我也為了憐憫眾生、護念這位法師的緣故，宣說這段陀羅尼。」隨即宣說神咒道：
「阿梨 那梨 㝹那梨 阿那盧 那履 拘那履」
「世尊啊！我用這段神咒護念法師，我自己也應當親自護念這位受持此經的人，使他方圓一百由旬（由旬是印度計程的單位）之內，沒有種種的衰惱禍患。」
持國天王說神咒
那時候，持國天王（東方護世天王）正在這法會之中，帶領著千萬億那由他那樣多的乾闥婆（尋香而食、奏樂的天神）眾，恭恭敬敬地圍繞著，走上前來到佛陀的處所，合起雙掌向佛陀稟白說：「世尊啊！我也要用陀羅尼神咒，護念那受持《法華經》的人。」隨即宣說神咒道：
「阿伽禰 伽禰 瞿利 乾陀利 旃陀利 摩蹬耆 常求利 浮樓莎柅 頞底」
「世尊啊！這一段陀羅尼神咒，是四十二億尊諸佛所宣說的。倘若有人侵犯毀害這位法師，就等於是侵犯毀害了這麼多的諸佛了。」
十羅剎女·鬼子母說神咒·咒詛護法
那時候，有羅剎女（食人的女鬼）等等，第一名叫藍婆，第二名叫毘藍婆，第三名叫曲齒，第四名叫華齒，第五名叫黑齒，第六名叫多髮，第七名叫無厭足，第八名叫持瓔珞，第九名叫睪帝，第十名叫奪一切眾生精氣——這十位羅剎女，和鬼子母（訶利帝母，本噉人子、後受佛化為護法的母神），連同她的兒子以及眷屬，一齊來到佛陀的處所，同聲向佛陀稟白說：「世尊啊！我們也想要護念那讀誦、受持《法華經》的人，替他除去衰惱禍患。倘若有窺伺、尋求法師過失短處的，都叫他得不著下手的機會。」隨即在佛陀面前宣說神咒道：
「伊提履 伊提泯 伊提履 阿提履 伊提履 泥履 泥履 泥履 泥履 泥履 樓醯 樓醯 樓醯 樓醯 多醯 多醯 多醯 兜醯 㝹醯」
「（我們發願：）寧可讓災禍落到我們自己的頭上來，也絕不去惱害這位法師。不論是夜叉、是羅剎、是餓鬼、是富單那、是吉遮、是毘陀羅（赤色的起屍鬼）、是犍馱（黃色臭鬼）、是烏摩勒伽（黑色鬼）、是阿跋摩羅（青色鬼）、是夜叉吉遮、是人吉遮，是發熱病的——不論是一天發作、兩天發作、三天發作、四天發作，乃至七天發作的，還是經常發熱病的；也不論那作祟的現作男子形、現作女子形、現作童男形、現作童女形，乃至只在夢中出現的——一律都不許去惱害他。」隨即在佛陀面前宣說偈頌道：
「倘若有誰不順從我們的神咒，去惱亂那說法的人，
就叫他的頭破裂成七瓣，像那阿梨樹的枝條（一折就碎作七段）。
他的罪，就像殺害父母的罪一樣重，也像榨油（壓死油蟲）所招的殃禍，
像用斗、秤去欺騙誑惑他人的罪，也像調達（提婆達多）破和合僧的罪一樣。
凡是侵犯這位法師的人，就當招來像這樣的殃禍。」
眾位羅剎女宣說完這段偈頌，向佛陀稟白說：「世尊啊！我們也應當親自用自身護念那受持、讀誦、修行這部經的人，使他得到安穩，遠離種種的衰惱禍患，消解眾多的毒藥。」
佛讚羅剎女·聞品得益
佛陀告訴眾位羅剎女說：「好啊，好啊！你們只要能護念那受持《法華經》名號的人，福德就已經不可限量了，更何況是護念那具足受持全經、又供養經卷的人呢——他們以花、香、瓔珞（珠玉綴成的頸飾），末香（研成粉的香）、塗香（塗身的香）、燒香，幢幡、寶蓋、伎樂（歌舞音樂）來供養；又燃點種種的燈：酥燈、油燈、各種香油燈、蘇摩那華油燈、瞻蔔華油燈、婆師迦華油燈、優鉢羅華油燈，像這樣百千種的供養。睪帝啊！你們以及你們的眷屬，都應當護念這樣的法師。」
宣說這一品〈陀羅尼品〉的時候，大眾之中有六萬八千人，都證得了無生法忍（安住於諸法不生不滅之理的智慧）。
Kumārajīva's Chinese root text (T09n0262) is retained as a visual anchor for bilingual readers; the English below renders it in plain, continuous prose.
Medicine King Opens with a Question · Weighing the Merit of Upholding the Sutra
爾時，藥王菩薩即從座起，偏袒右肩，合掌向佛，而白佛言：「世尊！若善男子、善女人，有能受持法華經者——若讀誦通利，若書寫經卷——得幾所福？」 佛告藥王：「若有善男子、善女人，供養八百萬億那由他恒河沙等諸佛。於汝意云何？其所得福，寧為多不？」 「甚多，世尊。」 佛言：「若善男子、善女人，能於是經，乃至受持一四句偈，讀誦、解義、如說修行，功德甚多。」
At that time, the Bodhisattva Medicine King (Bhaiṣajyarāja) immediately rose from his seat, bared his right shoulder as a sign of reverence, joined his palms toward the Buddha, and addressed him: “World-Honored One! If good men and good women are able to receive and uphold the Lotus Sutra—whether they read and recite it fluently and without hindrance or copy out its scrolls—how much merit will they gain?”
The Buddha told Medicine King: “Suppose good men or good women were to make offerings to buddhas as numerous as the sands of eight hundred trillion nayutas of Ganges Rivers—an inconceivably vast number. What do you think? Would the merit they gained be great or not?”
“It would be exceedingly great, World-Honored One.”
The Buddha said: “Yet if good men or good women are able, with regard to this sutra, to receive and uphold even a single four-line verse, read and recite it, explain its meaning, and practice just as it teaches, their merit will be exceedingly great.”
The Bodhisattva Medicine King Speaks a Dhāraṇī Spell · Protecting the Dharma Teacher
爾時藥王菩薩白佛言：「世尊！我今當與說法者陀羅尼呪，以守護之。」即說呪曰： 「安爾 曼爾 摩禰 摩摩禰 旨隷 遮梨第 賒咩 賒履多瑋 羶帝 目帝 目多履 娑履 阿瑋娑履 桑履 娑履 叉裔 阿叉裔 阿耆膩 羶帝 賒履 陀羅尼 阿盧伽婆娑簸蔗毘叉膩 禰毘剃 阿便哆邏禰履剃 阿亶哆波隷輸地 漚究隷 牟究隷 阿羅隷 波羅隷 首迦差 阿三磨三履 佛䭾毘吉利袠帝 達磨波利差帝 僧伽涅瞿沙禰 婆舍婆舍輸地 曼哆邏 曼哆邏叉夜多 郵樓哆 郵樓哆憍舍略 惡叉邏 惡叉冶多冶 阿婆盧 阿摩若那多夜 「世尊！是陀羅尼神咒，六十二億恒河沙等諸佛所說，若有侵毀此法師者，則為侵毀是諸佛已。」 時釋迦牟尼佛讚藥王菩薩言：「善哉，善哉！藥王！汝愍念擁護此法師故，說是陀羅尼，於諸眾生，多所饒益。」
At that time, the Bodhisattva Medicine King addressed the Buddha: “World-Honored One! I will now give those who teach the Dharma (Dharma teachers who propagate this sutra) a dhāraṇī spell in order to guard and protect them.” He then proclaimed the spell.
What follows is a dhāraṇī spell. A dhāraṇī is transmitted through the sound of a true word. Following the ancient convention of the Chinese translators, its received sounds are retained without semantic translation: it does not work through literal meaning, but through sound empowered by the supernormal strength of buddhas and bodhisattvas to subdue what is wrong and protect what is right. Its transmitted sounds are preserved here:
「安爾 曼爾 摩禰 摩摩禰 旨隷 遮梨第 賒咩 賒履多瑋 羶帝 目帝 目多履 娑履 阿瑋娑履 桑履 娑履 叉裔 阿叉裔 阿耆膩 羶帝 賒履 陀羅尼 阿盧伽婆娑簸蔗毘叉膩 禰毘剃 阿便哆邏禰履剃 阿亶哆波隷輸地 漚究隷 牟究隷 阿羅隷 波羅隷 首迦差 阿三磨三履 佛䭾毘吉利袠帝 達磨波利差帝 僧伽涅瞿沙禰 婆舍婆舍輸地 曼哆邏 曼哆邏叉夜多 郵樓哆 郵樓哆憍舍略 惡叉邏 惡叉冶多冶 阿婆盧 阿摩若那多夜」
“World-Honored One! This divine dhāraṇī spell was taught by buddhas as numerous as the sands of sixty-two koṭis of Ganges Rivers. Anyone who attacks and harms this Dharma teacher (one who receives and upholds the Lotus Sutra) thereby has already attacked and harmed all these buddhas.”
At that time, Śākyamuni Buddha praised the Bodhisattva Medicine King: “Excellent, excellent, Medicine King! Because you compassionately remember and protect this Dharma teacher, you have proclaimed this dhāraṇī. It will bring sentient beings many benefits.”
The Bodhisattva Brave in Giving Speaks a Dhāraṇī Spell
爾時勇施菩薩白佛言：「世尊！我亦為擁護讀誦受持法華經者，說陀羅尼。若此法師得是陀羅尼，若夜叉、若羅剎、若富單那、若吉遮、若鳩槃茶、若餓鬼等，伺求其短，無能得便。」即於佛前而說呪曰： 「痤隷摩訶痤隷郁枳目枳阿隷阿羅婆第涅隷第涅隷多婆第伊緻柅韋緻柅旨緻柅涅隷𡎰柅涅犁𡎰婆底
「世尊！是陀羅尼神呪，恒河沙等諸佛所說，亦皆隨喜，若有侵毀此法師者，則為侵毀是諸佛已。」
At that time, the Bodhisattva Brave in Giving (Pradānaśūra) addressed the Buddha: “World-Honored One! In order to protect those who read, recite, receive, and uphold the Lotus Sutra, I too will proclaim a dhāraṇī. If this Dharma teacher obtains this dhāraṇī, then whether yakṣas—swift and valiant spirits—rākṣasas—man-eating evil spirits—pūtanas—foul-smelling hungry ghosts that bring fevers—kṛtyas—corpse-raising spirits—kumbhāṇḍas—pot-shaped spirits that devour human vital essence—or hungry ghosts and the rest watch for his faults and seek an opening, none will be able to find one.” He then proclaimed the spell before the Buddha:
「痤隷 摩訶痤隷 郁枳 目枳 阿隷 阿羅婆第 涅隷第 涅隷多婆第 伊緻柅 韋緻柅 旨緻柅 涅隷𡎰柅 涅犁𡎰婆底」
“World-Honored One! This divine dhāraṇī spell was taught by buddhas as numerous as the sands of Ganges Rivers, and all those buddhas rejoice in it as well. Anyone who attacks and harms this Dharma teacher thereby has already attacked and harmed all these buddhas.”
The Heavenly King Much-Hearing Speaks a Dhāraṇī Spell
爾時毘沙門天王護世者白佛言：「世尊！我亦為愍念眾生、擁護此法師故，說是陀羅尼。」即說呪曰： 「阿梨那梨㝹那梨阿那盧那履拘那履 「世尊！以是神呪擁護法師，我亦自當擁護持是經者，令百由旬內無諸衰患。」
At that time, the Heavenly King Much-Hearing (Vaiśravaṇa), guardian of the north and protector of the world, addressed the Buddha: “World-Honored One! Because I too compassionately remember sentient beings and protect this Dharma teacher, I will proclaim this dhāraṇī.” He then proclaimed the spell:
「阿梨 那梨 㝹那梨 阿那盧 那履 拘那履」
“World-Honored One! With this divine spell I will protect the Dharma teacher. I myself will also personally protect the one who upholds this sutra, so that within a hundred yojanas—a yojana being an Indian measure of distance—there will be no decline or calamity of any kind.”
The Heavenly King Realm-Holder Speaks a Dhāraṇī Spell
爾時持國天王在此會中，與千萬億那由他乾闥婆眾，恭敬圍繞，前詣佛所，合掌白佛言：「世尊！我亦以陀羅尼神呪，擁護持法華經者。」即說呪曰： 「阿伽禰伽禰瞿利乾陀利旃陀利摩蹬耆常求利浮樓莎柅頞底 「世尊！是陀羅尼神呪，四十二億諸佛所說，若有侵毀此法師者，則為侵毀是諸佛已。」
At that time, the Heavenly King Realm-Holder (Dhṛtarāṣṭra), guardian of the east, was present in the assembly. Surrounded in reverence by tens of millions of koṭis of nayutas of gandharvas—celestial musicians who feed upon fragrance—he came forward to the Buddha, joined his palms, and addressed him: “World-Honored One! I too will use a divine dhāraṇī spell to protect those who uphold the Lotus Sutra.” He then proclaimed the spell:
「阿伽禰 伽禰 瞿利 乾陀利 旃陀利 摩蹬耆 常求利 浮樓莎柅 頞底」
“World-Honored One! This divine dhāraṇī spell was taught by forty-two koṭis of buddhas. Anyone who attacks and harms this Dharma teacher thereby has already attacked and harmed all these buddhas.”
The Ten Rākṣasī Women and the Mother of Demon Children Speak a Dhāraṇī Spell · A Protective Curse
爾時有羅剎女等，一名藍婆，二名毘藍婆，三名曲齒，四名華齒，五名黑齒，六名多髮，七名無厭足，八名持瓔珞，九名睪帝，十名奪一切眾生精氣，是十羅剎女，與鬼子母，并其子及眷屬，俱詣佛所，同聲白佛言：「世尊！我等亦欲擁護讀誦受持法華經者，除其衰患。若有伺求法師短者，令不得便。」即於佛前，而說呪曰： 「伊提履伊提泯伊提履阿提履伊提履泥履泥履泥履泥履泥履樓醯樓醯樓醯樓醯多醯多醯多醯兜醯㝹醯 「寧上我頭上，莫惱於法師。若夜叉、若羅剎、若餓鬼、若富單那、若吉遮、若毘陀羅、若犍馱、若烏摩勒伽、若阿跋摩羅、若夜叉吉遮、若人吉遮，若熱病若一日、若二日、若三日、若四日乃至七日，若常熱病，若男形、若女形、若童男形、若童女形，乃至夢中，亦復莫惱。」即於佛前而說偈言： 「若不順我呪，惱亂說法者，
頭破作七分，如阿梨樹枝。
如殺父母罪，亦如壓油殃，
斗秤欺誑人，調達破僧罪。
犯此法師者，當獲如是殃。」
諸羅剎女說此偈已，白佛言：「世尊！我等亦當身自擁護受持、讀誦、修行是經者，令得安隱，離諸衰患，消眾毒藥。」
At that time there were rākṣasī women (man-eating female spirits). The first was named Lambā; the second, Vilambā; the third, Crooked Teeth; the fourth, Flower Teeth; the fifth, Black Teeth; the sixth, Many-Haired; the seventh, Insatiable; the eighth, Necklace-Bearer; the ninth, Kuntī; and the tenth, Robber of the Vital Essence of All Sentient Beings. These ten rākṣasī women, together with the Mother of Demon Children (Hārītī)—the mother-spirit who formerly devoured children and later, transformed by the Buddha’s teaching, became a protector of the Dharma—her children, and her retinue, all came before the Buddha and addressed him with one voice: “World-Honored One! We too wish to protect those who read, recite, receive, and uphold the Lotus Sutra and to remove their decline and calamities. If anyone watches for the Dharma teacher’s faults and seeks an opening, we will cause that person not to find one.” They then proclaimed the spell before the Buddha:
「伊提履 伊提泯 伊提履 阿提履 伊提履 泥履 泥履 泥履 泥履 泥履 樓醯 樓醯 樓醯 樓醯 多醯 多醯 多醯 兜醯 㝹醯」
“May calamity fall upon our own heads; we will never trouble this Dharma teacher. Whether yakṣas, rākṣasas, hungry ghosts, pūtanas, kṛtyas, vetālas—red corpse-raising spirits—gandhāras—yellow, foul-smelling spirits—umārakas—black spirits—apasmāras—blue spirits—yakṣa-kṛtyas, or human kṛtyas; whether a fever that comes for one day, two days, three days, four days, as many as seven days, or a constant fever; whether the one causing harm appears in male form, female form, the form of a boy, or the form of a girl, or appears even only in a dream—none may trouble the Dharma teacher.” They then spoke in verse before the Buddha:
“If anyone does not obey our spell and troubles one who teaches the Dharma,
his head shall split into seven parts, like the branch of an ari tree (which shatters into seven pieces when bent once).
His offense shall be like the crime of killing father and mother, and like the calamity incurred by crushing insects in an oil press;
like the crime of deceiving people with false bushel measures and scales, and like Devadatta’s crime of splitting the harmonious Saṅgha.
Whoever harms this Dharma teacher shall meet calamity such as this.”
When the rākṣasī women had spoken this verse, they addressed the Buddha: “World-Honored One! We ourselves will also personally protect those who receive, uphold, read, recite, and practice this sutra, causing them to gain peace, remain apart from every decline and calamity, and neutralize the many poisons.”
The Buddha Praises the Rākṣasī Women · The Assembly Gains the Benefit of Hearing
佛告諸羅剎女：「善哉，善哉！汝等但能擁護受持法華名者，福不可量，何況擁護具足受持，供養經卷——華、香、瓔珞，末香、塗香、燒香，幡蓋、伎樂；燃種種燈：酥燈、油燈、諸香油燈、蘇摩那華油燈、瞻蔔華油燈、婆師迦華油燈、優鉢羅華油燈，如是等百千種供養者。睪帝！汝等及眷屬應當擁護如是法師。」 說是陀羅尼品時，六萬八千人得無生法忍。
The Buddha told the rākṣasī women: “Excellent, excellent! If you are able merely to protect someone who receives and upholds the name of the Lotus Sutra, your merit will already be beyond measure. How much more so if you protect those who receive and uphold the complete sutra and make offerings to its scrolls—flowers, incense, jeweled necklaces; powdered incense, scented paste, and burning incense; banners, canopies, and music (song, dance, and music); and many kinds of lamps: ghee lamps, oil lamps, lamps of many fragrant oils, sumanā-flower oil lamps, campaka-flower oil lamps, vārṣika-flower oil lamps, and utpala-flower oil lamps—making hundreds of thousands of offerings such as these. Kuntī! You and your retinue should protect Dharma teachers such as these.”
As this Chapter on Dhāraṇī was taught, sixty-eight thousand people attained patient acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas—the wisdom that abides in the truth that dharmas neither arise nor cease.
前面〈觀世音菩薩普門品〉說的是「以人護難」——一位大士，眾生一聲呼喚，苦就有人來救。這一品接著說『以神呪法護難』:當有人在惡世裡讀誦、受持、解說這部《法華經》，就有無量的菩薩、天王、乃至本來害人的鬼神，一個個發願說出神呪，來守護這位說法的法師。兩品合起來，正是慈恩窺基所判的「護眾生諸難力」:一品護受苦的眾生，一品護弘經的法師。以下順經文次第，把這一品每一義講明；末後再以唯識一系的讀法，補一點旁照。
一句四句偈的分量
這一品從一個問答起。藥王菩薩問佛：若有善男子善女人能受持《法華經》，讀誦通利、書寫經卷，能得多少福？佛沒有直接答數目，卻先反問：若有人供養了八百萬億那由他恒河沙那樣多的諸佛，這福多不多？藥王答：非常多。佛這才說：可是若有人對於這部經，哪怕只受持其中一句四句偈，讀誦它、解說它的義理、照著它去修行，這功德就更多了。——供養無量諸佛，已是難以想像的福；而受持這部經的一句一偈，其福更在其上。這不是抬高一部書，是說這部經所詮的，正是諸佛出世的本懷、一乘的實理；受持它，就是受持諸佛的心髓。供養諸佛，是以財物承事在外的佛；受持此經，卻是把諸佛所證的法納在自己心中、依之修行——所以前者是有量的福，後者能生無量的功德。正因為這一句四句偈有這樣的分量，所以底下才有那麼多聖者、天神、乃至惡鬼，爭著要護持那持經、說經的人。
五番神呪·誰來護持說法的人
接著是五番說呪，一番一番地護持法師。先是二位菩薩：藥王菩薩起身說：我要給那說法的人一段陀羅尼神呪，用來守護他。說完那段長呪，他說了一句貫穿全品的話——『這段陀羅尼，是六十二億恒河沙諸佛所說的；若有人侵毀這位法師，就等於侵毀了這麼多的諸佛。』護一位說法的人，竟等同護無量的佛，因為他所傳的正是諸佛之法。佛當即讚歎藥王『愍念擁護此法師，多所饒益』。第二位是勇施菩薩，也說一段呪，護那讀誦受持之人，使夜叉、羅剎、餓鬼等一切伺求他過失的，都無法得便。
再來是二位天王。毘沙門天王——北方多聞天王、護世者——說呪護法師，並發願親自使法師方圓百由旬內無諸衰患。持國天王——東方護世天王——帶著千萬億乾闥婆眾，也說呪護持持經之人，並說這呪是四十二億諸佛所說。二菩薩、二天，一層一層地，把護持的圈子從聖者鋪到護世的天王。
陀羅尼是什麼·為什麼不翻
讀到這裡，讀經的人多半會停一下：經文裡忽然出現一串串念不出意思的字——「安爾曼爾摩禰摩摩禰……」，這是什麼？這就是「陀羅尼」，也叫神呪、真言。它和經中其他文句不一樣：別處的話是要你解義的，這串字卻是存著它的原音、不加翻譯的。古來譯經的規矩，凡是這樣的密呪都『存本音、不翻』——因為它不是靠字面的義理來起作用，而是靠佛菩薩神力加持的那個音聲，來摧伏邪惡、樹立正法。陀羅尼此方翻作「總持」:它是一種「持」的力量，總攝一切法、任持無量義而不失。所以這串念不出意思的字，不是咒術的花樣，而是一部經的護身符：它守護的，是這部經的法與義，不叫它在惡世裡被侵毀、被遺失。經自己也把它擺在「護持」的位置上——每一番呪後都繫著同一句『若侵毀此法師，則為侵毀是諸佛』。
十羅剎女與鬼子母·迴惡為護
最後一番，最耐人尋味。說呪的，是十位羅剎女——羅剎，本是食人的惡鬼；還有鬼子母，本是專噉人子的母神。這些本來害人的，如今卻連同眷屬一齊來到佛前，同聲發願：我們也要護持那讀誦受持《法華經》的人，替他除去衰患；若有伺求法師過失的，叫他得不著下手的機會。她們說了一段呪，又說了一段偈，把話說得極重：寧可讓災禍落到我們自己頭上，也絕不惱害這位法師；若有誰不順我們的呪、去惱亂說法的人，就叫他頭破作七分，像阿梨樹的枝條一折就碎；他的罪像殺父殺母、像榨油的殃、像斗秤欺人、像調達破和合僧那樣重。這偈聽來是詛咒，其實是護法的誓——本來害人的惡神，被這部經轉過來，成了最猛烈的護法者。法之力，能把噉人精氣的羅剎、噉人子的鬼母，都迴轉成守護說法者的力量。這正是這一品最深的一筆：惡不是被消滅，是被轉化、被收作護法。
護一個持經的名，福不可量
佛聽了諸羅剎女的誓，讚歎說：好啊，好啊！你們只要能護持那受持《法華經》名號的人，福就已經不可限量了，何況護持那具足受持全經、又以華香瓔珞、幢幡伎樂、種種香油燈來供養經卷的人呢——你們和眷屬都應當護持這樣的法師。護持一個持經之人，其福尚且不可量；可見在佛眼裡，一個在惡世裡還肯持誦、傳講這部經的人，是何等值得守護。說這一品的時候，大眾之中有六萬八千人，都證得了無生法忍——安住於諸法不生不滅的智慧。護持之品，說的是外護；而聞此品得無生忍的，卻是最深的內證：護經之人得護，聞經之人得道。
以唯識之眼：念與慧撐起來的「持」
上來是陀羅尼品自身的義。所借的那面唯識鏡（慈恩窺基所傳），在此品照見的並不多——這是《玄贊》裡很短、幾乎全是科判的一品，它的重量不在心性玄理，而在「總持」二字怎麼講。窺基不把陀羅尼看成神秘的咒術，他問的是：這「持」，是靠什麼撐起來的？答案是「念、慧為體」——憶念之力加上智慧之力，合成一種能總攝、能任持的心力。順著這個體，他又辨出「總持有四」——法持、義持、辨才持、詞持四無礙解；前面長行整部經所詮的，是其中的法持與義持，而這一品的神呪，是「呪持」，它的用處正在「護前二」——守護那法與義不失。這一照把一串看似只是驅鬼的密咒，接回到『持一部經的法與義』上：呪不是為驅鬼而驅鬼，是為護法護義而設。至於這品在全經的位置，窺基把它和前面的觀音品合判為「護眾生諸難力」:觀音以人護難、陀羅尼以神呪法護難，一力兩品。而末了那六萬八千人所得的無生忍，本身也是一種「總持」之果。
也有一事，三家讀法各異，值得記下——就是『這串呪，到底要不要翻、能不能釋』。智顗明說「皆存本音，譯人不翻」，只科其段落而不解咒義；窺基也是純科不釋。唯獨吉藏走了另一條路：他依竺法護《正法華經》把五番呪都義譯了的那個本子，試著把咒「髣髴翻」出來，並判這些咒文「多是明實相祕密法」。同一串密呪，一家存音不翻、一家純科不釋、一家髣髴翻作實相——古德於此並未歸一。這裡只據實誌之，不加裁斷：唯識這面鏡，照的是『總持即念慧、呪持護法義』這一層；它不是這一品的源頭，只是換一副眼，看那護持之力從何處生根。
The preceding Chapter on the Universal Gateway of the Bodhisattva Perceiver of the World’s Sounds (Guanshiyin; Avalokiteśvara) teaches “protection from peril through a person”: a great being comes to the rescue when sentient beings call but once. This chapter follows with “protection from peril through the Dharma of divine spells.” When someone reads, recites, receives, upholds, and explains the Lotus Sutra in an evil age, immeasurable bodhisattvas, heavenly kings, and even spirits that once harmed people each vow in turn to proclaim a divine spell and protect that Dharma teacher. Together, the two chapters form what Kuiji of the Cien tradition calls “the power to protect sentient beings from many perils”: one protects sentient beings who suffer; the other protects the Dharma teacher who propagates the sutra. We will follow the sequence of the sutra and make each meaning of this chapter clear; only at the end will we add a brief reflection from the Consciousness-Only tradition.
The Weight of a Single Four-Line Verse
The chapter begins with a question and answer. The Bodhisattva Medicine King (Bhaiṣajyarāja) asks the Buddha: if good men or good women are able to receive and uphold the Lotus Sutra, reading and reciting it fluently and copying its scrolls, how much merit can they gain? The Buddha does not answer with a number. Instead, he first asks in return: if someone made offerings to buddhas as numerous as the sands of eight hundred trillion nayutas of Ganges Rivers, would that merit be great or not? Medicine King answers: it would be exceedingly great. Only then does the Buddha say: yet if someone, with regard to this sutra, receives and upholds even a single four-line verse, reads and recites it, explains its meaning, and practices just as it teaches, the merit is greater still.
To make offerings to immeasurable buddhas is already a merit beyond imagination; yet the merit of receiving and upholding a single line or verse of this sutra rises above it. This does not exalt a book for its own sake. It says that what this sutra reveals is the original intent for which the buddhas appear and the real principle of the One Vehicle. To receive and uphold it is to receive and uphold the heart-essence of the buddhas. Making offerings to buddhas serves, with material things, buddhas who stand outwardly before us. Receiving and upholding this sutra takes the Dharma realized by the buddhas into one’s own mind and practices in accordance with it. The former is measurable merit; the latter can give rise to immeasurable qualities. Precisely because a single four-line verse carries such weight, so many sages, heavenly beings, and even harmful spirits below contend with one another to protect the person who receives, upholds, and teaches the sutra.
Five Rounds of Divine Spells · Who Protects the One Who Teaches the Dharma?
Next come five rounds of divine spells, each in turn protecting the Dharma teacher. First are two bodhisattvas. Medicine King rises and says that he will give the one who teaches the Dharma a dhāraṇī spell for protection. After proclaiming the long spell, he speaks a sentence that runs through the whole chapter: this dhāraṇī was taught by buddhas as numerous as the sands of sixty-two koṭis of Ganges Rivers; anyone who attacks and harms this Dharma teacher has thereby attacked and harmed all these buddhas. Protecting a single Dharma teacher is thus equivalent to protecting immeasurable buddhas, because what that teacher transmits is precisely the Dharma of those buddhas. The Buddha at once praises Medicine King for compassionately remembering and protecting the Dharma teacher and for bringing sentient beings many benefits. The second is the Bodhisattva Brave in Giving (Pradānaśūra), who also proclaims a spell to protect those who read, recite, receive, and uphold the sutra, so that yakṣas, rākṣasas, hungry ghosts, and all the rest who watch for their faults will be unable to find an opening.
Next are two heavenly kings. Much-Hearing (Vaiśravaṇa), the northern heavenly king and a protector of the world, proclaims a spell for the Dharma teacher and vows personally to keep the one who upholds this sutra free of every decline and calamity within a hundred yojanas. The Heavenly King Realm-Holder (Dhṛtarāṣṭra), guardian of the east, comes with tens of millions of koṭis of gandharvas and likewise proclaims a spell for the one who upholds the Lotus Sutra, saying that it was taught by forty-two koṭis of buddhas. Two bodhisattvas and two heavenly kings: layer by layer, the circle of protection widens from sages to the heavenly kings who guard the world.
What Is a Dhāraṇī · Why Is It Not Translated?
At this point, most readers will pause. The sutra has suddenly presented strings of characters whose meaning cannot be read: the opening sounds of the first spell, for example. What are they? They are dhāraṇīs, also called divine spells or true words. They differ from other passages in the sutra. Elsewhere, words ask you to understand their meaning; here, the received sounds are preserved and not translated. The ancient convention for translating Buddhist scriptures was to preserve the original sounds of such secret spells because their efficacy does not depend upon literal meaning. It depends upon sound empowered by the supernormal strength of the buddhas and bodhisattvas, subduing what is wrong and establishing what is right.
Dhāraṇī is translated as “total retention.” It is a power of retaining: gathering all dharmas and retaining immeasurable meanings without losing them. These strings of sounds whose meaning cannot be read are therefore no ornament of magic, but a protective amulet for the sutra. What they protect is the Dharma and meaning of this sutra, so that neither will be attacked, damaged, or lost in an evil age. The sutra itself places every spell in this position of protection. After each round, the same declaration returns: anyone who attacks and harms this Dharma teacher has thereby attacked and harmed all these buddhas.
The Ten Rākṣasī Women and the Mother of Demon Children · Turning Harm into Protection
The last round is the most thought-provoking. Those who proclaim the spell are ten rākṣasī women—rākṣasas being spirits that devour people—and the Mother of Demon Children (Hārītī), a mother-spirit who once devoured the children of others. These beings who once caused harm now come before the Buddha with all their retinues and vow together: we too will protect those who read, recite, receive, and uphold the Lotus Sutra and remove their decline and calamities; if anyone watches for the Dharma teacher’s faults, we will cause that person not to find an opening.
They proclaim a spell and then a verse in which they speak with the utmost severity. May calamity fall upon our own heads; we will never trouble this Dharma teacher. If anyone disobeys our spell and troubles one who teaches the Dharma, that person’s head shall split into seven parts like the branch of an ari tree; the offense will be as grave as killing father and mother, incurring the calamity of the oil press, deceiving people with bushel measures and scales, and Devadatta’s crime of splitting the harmonious Saṅgha. The verse sounds like a curse, but it is in fact a vow to protect the Dharma. Harmful spirits that once devoured people have been turned by this sutra into its fiercest protectors. The power of the Dharma can turn rākṣasī women who devour vital essence and a mother-spirit who devours children into powers that protect the one who teaches the Dharma. This is the chapter’s deepest stroke: evil is not destroyed; it is transformed and taken into service as a protector of the Dharma.
Protecting Even One Who Upholds the Sutra’s Name Brings Immeasurable Merit
After hearing the vow of the rākṣasī women, the Buddha praises them: excellent, excellent! If you are able merely to protect someone who receives and upholds the name of the Lotus Sutra, your merit will already be beyond measure. How much more so if you protect someone who receives and upholds the complete sutra and makes offerings to its scrolls with flowers, incense, jeweled necklaces, banners, canopies, music, and many kinds of fragrant-oil lamps? You and your retinues should protect Dharma teachers such as these.
If the merit of protecting even a single person who upholds the name of the sutra is beyond measure, then in the Buddha’s eyes someone who continues, in an evil age, to receive, recite, and transmit this sutra is profoundly worthy of protection. As the chapter is taught, sixty-eight thousand people attain patient acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas—the wisdom that abides in the truth that dharmas neither arise nor cease. The chapter’s protection concerns outward guardianship, while the patient acceptance gained by those who hear it is the deepest inward realization. The one who protects the sutra receives protection; the one who hears the sutra attains the Way.
Seen Through the Eyes of Consciousness-Only: The Retention Borne by Recollection and Wisdom
Everything above is the Chapter on Dhāraṇī in its own meaning. The Consciousness-Only mirror added here—the reading transmitted by Kuiji of the Cien tradition—does not disclose much in this chapter. Kuiji’s commentary is extremely short here and consists almost entirely of outline. Its weight does not lie in abstruse theories of mind and nature, but in the meaning of “total retention.” Kuiji does not treat dhāraṇī as mysterious magic. He asks instead: what bears up this power to retain? His answer is that recollection and wisdom are its substance. The power to remember, joined to the power of wisdom, forms a mental strength able to gather and retain.
Following this substance, Kuiji distinguishes four forms of total retention: retention of Dharma, retention of meaning, retention of eloquence, and retention of words—the four unobstructed understandings. The prose through which the whole sutra has expressed its teaching belongs to retention of Dharma and retention of meaning. The divine spells of the present chapter are spell-retention, whose function is to protect those former two: to guard the Dharma and meaning so that they are not lost. This reflection returns strings of secret sounds that might appear to do nothing more than drive away spirits to the work of retaining the Dharma and meaning of an entire sutra. The spells do not drive away spirits for the sake of driving away spirits; they are established to protect Dharma and meaning. Kuiji also joins this chapter with the preceding Guanshiyin chapter under the power to protect sentient beings from many perils: Guanshiyin protects from peril through a person; Dhāraṇī protects from peril through the Dharma of divine spells—one power across two chapters. The patient acceptance of non-arising attained at the close by sixty-eight thousand people is itself a fruit of total retention.
On one matter, however, the three ancient houses read differently and the difference deserves to be recorded: must these spells be translated, and can their meanings be explained? Zhiyi says plainly that their original sounds are all preserved and that the translators did not translate them; he classifies the passages without explaining the spells. Kuiji likewise supplies only an outline and does not explain their meanings. Jizang alone takes another path: relying on Dharmarakṣa’s True Dharma Lotus, in which all five spells are meaning-translated, he attempts to translate them approximately and judges that they mostly disclose the secret Dharma of the true mark. One house preserves the sounds without translating, one supplies only an outline without explaining, and one approximately translates them as the true mark. The ancient masters did not reach a single judgment. Their readings are recorded here as they stand, without adjudication. The Consciousness-Only mirror illuminates the layer in which total retention is recollection and wisdom, and spell-retention protects Dharma and meaning. Consciousness-Only is not the source of this chapter, only another set of eyes through which to see where its power of protection takes root.
考據Apparatus
本品為迹門流通第四品，與前〈觀世音菩薩普門品〉共屬「護眾生諸難力」二品——觀音以人護難（尋聲救苦），此品以神呪法護難（護持受持法華之法師）。藥王菩薩問受持《法華經》得幾所福；佛答校量：供養八百萬億那由他恒河沙諸佛之福，不如受持一四句偈、讀誦解義如說修行之功德甚多。次五番說陀羅尼神呪護法：藥王菩薩（六十二億恒河沙諸佛所說）・勇施菩薩（恒河沙諸佛所說）二聖，毘沙門天王・持國天王（四十二億諸佛所說）二天，十羅剎女與鬼子母（伊提履等咒）一眾；十羅剎女更說偈誓「若不順我呪，惱亂說法者，頭破作七分，如阿梨樹枝。如殺父母罪，亦如壓油殃，斗秤欺誑人，調達破僧罪」以警犯法師者，並願寧上己頭莫惱法師。佛讚諸羅剎女擁護持經者福不可量。說是品時，六萬八千人得無生法忍。慈恩窺基《玄贊》判此品於受命流通六品之「護眾生諸難力」（統觀音陀羅尼·來意「如前已釋」回指觀音）；釋名「梵云陀羅尼、此云總持，念慧為體，以少略密無義文字，神力加持威靈莫匹，摧邪殄惡樹正揚善」；解妨依《地持》四無礙持（法持・義持・辨才・詞）判「上來長行法義持、今此呪持為護前二」，全段純科文（品文分三·神呪五合三類），唯識心性論（三性・賴耶）落點全零。天台智顗判「化他流通·以總持乘乘」，釋名「總持·能持能遮」，於咒文明主「皆存本音、譯人不翻」（科而不釋咒義）；三論吉藏判「護難弘經·祕密門說法華」，釋名依《大智度論》『波若在菩薩心名陀羅尼』、依《地持論》四持，獨依竺法護《正法華經》義譯本「髣髴翻」咒文、判其「多是明實相祕密法」——陀羅尼之翻不翻、釋不釋，三家取向各異（智顗存本音不翻·窺基純科不釋·吉藏髣髴翻實相），並錄不判。三譯品名亦異：羅什／添品作「陀羅尼品」，竺法護作「總持品」（義譯）；五番咒羅什半音寫、添品音寫（冠「怛姪他」）、竺法護全義譯；添品獨將此品置於〈普門品〉之前（品序倒置）——並錄不判。
一、科判定位
| 科判系統 | 此品之位 |
|---|---|
| 羅什 T262 二十八品 | 第二十六 陀羅尼品（卷七；〔T09n0262 0058b08〕起）· 迹門流通第四·五番神呪護持法師 |
| 窺基《玄贊》科文（主錨·慈恩） | 品段〔T34n1723 0850a19〕三門分別：一來意、二釋名、三解妨〔0850a20〕。來意：「論云『為護眾生諸難』，如前已釋」〔0850a21〕——回指觀音品·統於受命流通六品之「護眾生諸難力」（觀音人護難·陀羅尼神呪法護難；六品受命流通判位見〈藥王品〉0843b18）· 釋名：「梵云陀羅尼，此云總持，念、慧為體，以少略密無義文字，神力加持威靈莫匹，摧邪殄惡、樹正揚善」〔0850a22〕· 解妨：「總持有四：為得法、義、辨才、詞無礙解……上來長行法、義持，今此呪持，為護前二所以明之。無得無生忍，總持也」〔0850a25〕· 品文分三（初持經之福〔初問後答·答中返問／直答／佛說〕·次神呪之方·後時眾獲益）〔0850a29〕；神呪之方有五、合為三類（初二聖：藥王・勇施·次二天：毘沙門・持國·後十神：羅剎女）〔0850b03〕 |
| 天台《文句》（旁證） | 〈釋陀羅尼品〉〔T34n1718 0146b29〕起（品段極短·約半欄）· 判化他流通·以總持乘乘：「〈陀羅尼〉以總持乘乘……於化他流通義便也」〔0143b04·流通總綱處繫屬〕·品內框「惡世弘經喜多惱難，以呪護之使道流通也」〔0146c25〕· 釋名「此翻總持……又翻能遮能持」〔0146c01〕· 請說呪科五番（藥王/勇施/毘沙門/持國/十女）〔0146c29〕 |
| 三論《義疏》（旁證） | 〈陀羅尼品第二十六〉〔T34n1721 0629b08〕起 · 判護難弘經·祕密門：「護難弘經二品，一以人護難，如〈觀音品〉說；今欲說神呪法護難，故有此品來也」〔0629b09〕·「今明神呪，謂祕密門說《法華》」〔0629b16〕· 品開為三（對藥王說經福重·眾人說呪擁護·時眾得益）〔0630a03〕 |
二、異譯·三譯對勘
本品三漢譯：羅什 T262〈陀羅尼品第二十六〉· 竺法護 T263《正法華經》〈總持品第二十四〉〔T09n0263 0129c26〕· 添品 T264〈陀羅尼品第二十一〉〔T09n0264 0186c11〕。品名之異：羅什／添品作「陀羅尼」（音寫·dhāraṇī），竺法護作「總持」（義譯）。品序之異：羅什㉕普門→㉖陀羅尼、竺法護㉓光世音→㉔總持（二本皆普門在陀羅尼前）；添品獨將陀羅尼品（㉑）置於〈普門品〉（㉔）之前〔陀羅尼 0186c11·在如來神力㉒⁰ 0185c16 後、普門 0191b23 前〕——品序倒置為添品所獨有。咒之體例三譯全異：羅什半音寫（無冠首）、添品音寫（每番冠「怛姪他」tadyathā·譯字翻新）、竺法護五番全作義譯（意譯）·無一音寫。番數三譯一致（皆五番：藥王／勇施〔妙勇〕／毘沙門／持國〔順怨〕／十羅剎女〔十魅〕）。
句一 校量受持之福（供養對象數異·一四句偈/頌）
| 版本 | 逐字（節） | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 羅什 T262 | 有能受持法華經者，若讀誦通利，若書寫經卷，得幾所福？……供養八百萬億那由他恒河沙等諸佛……乃至受持一四句偈，讀誦、解義、如說修行，功德甚多 | T09n0262 0058b10／0058b13／0058b15 |
| 添品 T264 | 〔近同羅什〕供養八百萬億那由他恒河沙等諸佛……乃至受持一四句偈……功德甚多 | T09n0264 0186c15／0186c18 |
| 竺法護 T263 | 供養八十億百千姟江河沙諸如來眾……執持書寫一四句頌……甚哉！法之供養，最為第一 | T09n0263 0130a02／0130a07／0130a09 |
異文所繫：添品逐字近同羅什（供養對象・一四句偈全同）。竺法護——供養對象作「八十億百千姟江河沙諸如來眾」（數系異·「江河沙」對「恒河沙」全品通用）·「一四句頌」（羅什／添品作「偈」）·福讚別立「甚哉！法之供養，最為第一」。
句二 五番陀羅尼（咒體例·佛數）
| 版本 | 藥王咒（起首節） | 毘沙門／持國佛數 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 羅什 T262 | 安爾 曼爾 摩禰 摩摩禰 旨隷……（音寫·無冠首）· 六十二億恒河沙等諸佛所說 | 持國：四十二億諸佛所說 | T09n0262 0058b19／0058c04·0059a20 |
| 添品 T264 | 怛姪他 安埿 曼埿 未泥 磨磨泥……（音寫·冠「怛姪他」）· 六十二億恒河沙等諸佛所說 | 持國：四十二億諸佛所說（同羅什） | T09n0264 0186c22／0187a07·0187b08 |
| 竺法護 T263 | 奇異所思，意念無意，永久所行，奉修寂然……（全義譯）· 是總持句，六十二江河沙諸佛所說 | 順怨天王：四千二百億諸佛所說 | T09n0263 0130a13／0130a21·0130b18 |
異文所繫：添品咒體例音寫、每番冠「怛姪他」（tadyathā·「即說呪曰」之義）·譯字系與羅什異（安埿／安爾）·佛數同羅什（六十二億・四十二億）。竺法護全作義譯（藥王「奇異所思意念無意」・勇施〔妙勇〕「晃耀大明炎光演暉」・毘沙門「富有調戲無戲」・持國〔順怨天王〕「無數有數曜黑持香」・十魅「於是於斯於爾於氏」）·佛數異：藥王「六十二江河沙」（缺「億」）・持國「四千二百億」（羅什／添品作四十二億·大異）。
句三 十羅剎女名（三譯名系：半音寫／純義譯／逐字同）
| 版本 | 逐字（節） | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 羅什 T262 | 一名藍婆，二名毘藍婆，三名曲齒，四名華齒，五名黑齒，六名多髮，七名無厭足，八名持瓔珞，九名睪帝，十名奪一切眾生精氣……與鬼子母，并其子及眷屬 | T09n0262 0059a22 |
| 添品 T264 | 〔十名逐字全同羅什〕一名藍婆，二名毘藍婆……十名奪一切眾生精氣……與鬼子母并其子及眷屬 | T09n0264 0187b10 |
| 竺法護 T263 | 名有結縛，復名離結，復名施積，復名施華，復名施黑，復名被髮，復名無著，復名持華，復名何所，復名取一切精……鬼子母與諸子俱 | T09n0263 0130b20／0130b23 |
異文所繫：添品十名逐字全同羅什（「鬼子母」三譯同）。竺法護——十名純義譯（有結縛＝藍婆・離結＝毘藍婆・施積＝曲齒・施華＝華齒・施黑＝黑齒・被髮＝多髮・無著＝無厭足・持華＝持瓔珞・何所＝睪帝・取一切精＝奪一切眾生精氣），與羅什半音寫全異。
句四 咒詛偈（頭破喻三譯異·調達之有無）
| 版本 | 逐字（節） | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 羅什 T262 | 若不順我呪，惱亂說法者，頭破作七分，如阿梨樹枝，如殺父母罪，亦如壓油殃，斗秤欺誑人，調達破僧罪 | T09n0262 0059b12 |
| 添品 T264 | 頭破作七分，如摩利闍迦（音寫）……如殺父母罪，亦如壓油殃，㪷秤欺誑人，調達破僧罪 | T09n0264 0187b27 |
| 竺法護 T263 | 犯頭破七分，猶如華菜剖，當致殺母罪，亦得害父殃……破壞佛寺罪，鬪亂聖眾殃，如合眾麻油……猶如稱載峻 | T09n0263 0130c08 |
異文所繫：三譯俱有此咒詛偈。頭破喻三譯各異——羅什「如阿梨樹枝」（半義譯·帶「樹枝」）、添品「如摩利闍迦」（純音寫）、竺法護「猶如華菜剖」（意象別·菜剖）。破僧喻：羅什／添品具名「調達（提婆達多）破僧罪」，竺法護作「破壞佛寺罪，鬪亂聖眾殃」（不名調達）。壓油喻竺法護鋪陳擴寫（如合眾麻油·放火燋然），斗秤喻竺法護作「猶如稱載峻」。
句五 結尾得益
| 版本 | 逐字（節） | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 羅什 T262 | 說是陀羅尼品時，六萬八千人得無生法忍 | T09n0262 0059b26 |
| 添品 T264 | 說此陀羅尼呪品時，六萬八千人得無生法忍〔品名多一「呪」字〕 | T09n0264 0187c11 |
| 竺法護 T263 | 佛說是總持品時，六萬八千人，逮得無所從生法忍〔「無所從生法忍」＝無生法忍之義譯〕 | T09n0263 0130c27 |
異文所繫：得益人數三譯全同（六萬八千人）。所得：羅什／添品「無生法忍」（字同），竺法護作「無所從生法忍」（義譯·無所從生對無生）。
三、唯識義之經據（眼）
本品玄贊全段純科文（三門分別＋品文分三＋神呪五合三類），義輕——唯識心性論落點全零。唯識-簽名形上語（三性・遍計・依他・圓成・阿賴耶・藏識・轉依・五性・種姓・二障・變化身）機掃全段〔T34n1723 0850a19–0850b19〕皆零。玄贊於此品之義理實質唯二端，皆屬瑜伽行派之「弘經力」與「總持」論，非三性心識：
(一) 護眾生諸難力（受命流通六品·統觀音陀羅尼）〔T34n1723 0850a19〕：陀羅尼品來意「論云『為護眾生諸難』，如前已釋」——回指〈觀音品〉「救眾生諸難力者謂觀世音，〈陀羅尼品〉示現」〔0846c09〕。窺基依世親《法華論》判受命流通六品〔藥王起·0843b18〕，觀音・陀羅尼共屬護眾生諸難力（觀音「人護難」·陀羅尼「神呪法護難」）；此屬弘經之行力（瑜伽行派判弘經之力用系），非心識論。
(二) 陀羅尼＝總持·念慧為體·四無礙持之呪持〔T34n1723 0850a22〕:
「梵云陀羅尼，此云總持，念、慧為體，以少略密無義文字，神力加持威靈莫匹，摧邪殄惡、樹正揚善……總持有四：為得法、義、辨才、詞無礙解……上來長行法、義持，今此呪持，為護前二所以明之。無得無生忍，總持也。」〔T34n1723 0850a22〕
→ 窺基以念、慧為體釋陀羅尼（總持＝念心所＋慧心所之持·屬心所法之持功能，非賴耶種子論），依《地持論》四無礙持（法持・義持・辨才・詞）判此呪為呪持，其用在護前二持（護長行所詮之法持、義持）——即神呪之義，在守護此經之法與義不失。得無生忍之六萬八千人，其忍亦是總持之果。此屬瑜伽行派之總持論（念慧・四無礙解），唯識三性・賴耶全不涉。
（按：本品玄贊義輕而在總持論・護眾生諸難力——同⑨授學無學・⑬勸持之義輕況。經文自身之凱唱＝五番神呪護持說法師、校量受持《法華》之福無量；窺基之科文與總持釋名是末節一鏡，不令鏡蓋經。各品軸：㉓純科判/㉔義薄/㉕瑜伽業道論·三業三通/㉖總持論·念慧·四無礙持（唯識心性論零）/⑯三佛菩提。）
四、諸家異釋（古德·標宗·誌錄不判）
同一「陀羅尼」「神呪」「五番說呪」，慈恩・天台・三論讀法各異；而本品之異判核心，在咒文之翻不翻、釋不釋。本編義疏鏡＝慈恩窺基《玄贊》；天台、三論並錄，誌其異而不判。
約詞辨:①「總持」為陀羅尼之通譯——三家皆訓「總持」，而所重各異（天台「能持能遮」·三論「念為主·波若同體」·慈恩「念慧為體·四無礙」）。②咒文釋義乃本品最顯異判：智顗明主「皆存本音、譯人不翻」〔T34n1718 0146c24〕、窺基純科不釋（品文分三·神呪五合三類），唯吉藏依《正法華經》「髣髴翻之」〔T34n1721 0630a12〕。③「鬼子母（訶利帝母）」專釋三家全無——智顗止於「十女」科＋鬼名訓詁、吉藏止於「羅剎女」四科＋奪精氣釋、窺基止於「十神」科。
慈恩·窺基《玄贊》T34n1723（鏡骨幹）
護眾生諸難力（統觀音陀羅尼·來意「如前已釋」）〔0850a21〕· 釋名「梵云陀羅尼此云總持·念慧為體·少略密無義文字·摧邪殄惡樹正揚善」〔0850a22〕· 解妨依四無礙持「總持有四：法義辨才詞·長行法義持今呪持護前二」〔0850a25〕· 品文分三〔0850a29〕· 神呪之方五合三類（初二聖·次二天·後十神）〔0850b03〕· 毘沙門「此云多聞·四天王中北方之天·常讚佛法」〔0850b10〕· 持國「此即東面天王」〔0850b13〕· 十神七科（標名/請說/正說/勸勿惱法師/更說偈喻罪/請身護/佛讚揚）〔0850b14〕。純科文·不釋咒義。詳目三。慈恩承衍：慧沼《法華玄贊義決》T34n1724 未及此品（全書「陀羅尼／羅剎／神呪」皆 0·目七）。
天台·智顗《文句》T34n1718（旁證）
品段極短〔0146b29 起·約半欄〕· 判化他流通·「〈陀羅尼〉以總持乘乘……於化他流通義便也」〔0143b04·流通總綱繫屬〕· 釋名「能持能遮」〔0146c01〕：「此翻總持，總持惡不起、善不失。又翻能遮能持，能持善、能遮惡」· 咒＝存本音不翻〔0146c24〕：「為此義故皆存本音，譯人不翻意在此也」(科而不釋咒義)· 『諸師論呪為何物』諸說並陳（鬼神王名／軍中密號／密默治惡／諸佛密語）〔0146c08–c24〕· 請說呪科五番〔0146c29〕· 鬼名訓詁「夜叉翻捷疾鬼・羅剎翻食人鬼・富單那熱病鬼・吉遮起尸鬼・毘陀羅赤色鬼・揵陀羅黃色鬼・烏摩勒烏色鬼・阿跋摩羅青色鬼」〔0147a03〕· 阿梨樹枝「墮地法爾破為七片」〔0147a07〕。
三論·吉藏《法華義疏》T34n1721（旁證）
品段〔0629b08 起·較詳〕· 判護難弘經·「護難弘經二品，一以人護難如〈觀音品〉·今說神呪法護難」〔0629b09〕·「祕密門說《法華》」〔0629b16〕· 釋名引未具名之論「波若在聲聞心名道品，在菩薩心名陀羅尼，在佛心名薩婆若……陀羅尼即波若、波若即一乘」〔0629b21〕·「總持以念為主」〔0629c16〕· 引《地持論》四持（法持聞慧・義持思慧・呪持修慧・忍持證行慧）〔0629c28〕· 咒含三義〔0629c04〕：「呪所論不出三義：一說極果勝德或因中萬行故聞者發心・二說三寶名字或大力鬼神之名召呼使魔耶驚退・三說諸法深理無相使聞者悟道得無生忍」· 依正法華髣髴翻〔0630a12〕：「今依《正法華經》髣髴翻之，多是明實相祕密法」· 五人說呪分三類「藥王勇施二是菩薩·次兩是天·後一是鬼神」〔0630a07〕· 奪精氣「眾生心中有七滴聒水」〔0630b15〕· 阿梨樹枝「此樹枝墮地即破為七分」〔0630b23〕。
三家並錄（誌·不判）
陀羅尼釋名：慈恩「念慧為體·四無礙持」、天台「總持·能持能遮」、三論「波若同體·念為主·地持四持」——三家皆訓總持，所重各異，並錄不判。咒文釋義（本品核心異判）：智顗「皆存本音·譯人不翻」（科而不釋）、窺基純科不釋、吉藏獨依《正法華經》髣髴翻·判「多是明實相祕密法」——不翻／髣髴翻·不釋／釋實相，並錄不判。五番分類：慈恩「五合三類」（二聖·二天·十神）、天台「五番」（藥王/勇施/毘沙門/持國/十女）、三論『五人分三類』（二菩薩·二天·一鬼神）——並錄不判。科判位：慈恩「護眾生諸難力」、天台「化他流通·總持乘乘」、三論「護難弘經·祕密門」——並錄不判。羅剎女釋：智顗重鬼名訓詁（夜叉/羅剎/富單那…）、吉藏重奪精氣七滴/阿梨樹枝——二家皆無鬼子母專釋，並錄不判。智顗（538–597)・吉藏（549–623)早於窺基（632–682)，並錄不判。
五、術語
| 漢 | 傳梵（羅馬字·發音輔助) | 古德所徵 | 義 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 陀羅尼 | dhāraṇī（系) | 〔本經 0058b17·品題 0058b08〕；窺基「此云總持·念慧為體·少略密無義文字」〔T34n1723 0850a22〕；智顗「翻總持·又翻能遮能持」〔T34n1718 0146c01〕；吉藏『波若在菩薩心名陀羅尼』〔T34n1721 0629b21〕；竺法護品題義譯作「總持」〔T09n0263 0129c26〕 | 總持（總一切法・持無量義）·念慧為體之持（三家所重各異） |
| 四無礙持 | — | 〔窺基釋名 T34n1723 0850a25〕「總持有四：法・義・辨才・詞無礙解」；吉藏《地持論》四持「法持・義持・呪持・忍持」〔T34n1721 0629c28〕 | 陀羅尼之四門；此品之呪＝呪持·護長行之法義持 |
| 神呪（呪） | — | 〔本經 0058b17〕；智顗「皆存本音·譯人不翻」〔T34n1718 0146c24〕；吉藏「呪語多含，此間無物以擬之；若欲翻之，於義不盡，又失其勢用」〔T34n1721 0629c09〕 | 護持說法師之陀羅尼真言（翻不翻三家異） |
| 羅剎女 | rākṣasī（系) | 〔本經 0059a22·十名〕；智顗「羅剎翻食人鬼」〔T34n1718 0147a03〕；竺法護十名純義譯（有結縛等）〔T09n0263 0130b20〕 | 十羅剎女·說咒護持法師（藍婆等十名） |
| 鬼子母 | Hārītī（系·訶利帝母) | 〔本經 0059a26〕；三家皆無專釋（止於眷屬同詣）〔T34n1718／T34n1721〕 | 本噉人子、後受佛化為護法之母神·與十羅剎女同詣護經 |
| 富單那·吉遮·毘陀羅 | pūtana・kṛtya・vetāla（系) | 〔本經 0058c11·0059b06〕；智顗「富單那熱病鬼・吉遮起尸鬼・毘陀羅赤色鬼・揵陀羅黃色鬼・烏摩勒烏色鬼・阿跋摩羅青色鬼」〔T34n1718 0147a04〕 | 諸鬼類·伺求法師短者（智顗訓其色相） |
| 無生法忍 | anutpattika-dharma-kṣānti（系) | 〔本經 0059b27〕；竺法護義譯作「無所從生法忍」〔T09n0263 0130c28〕 | 安住諸法不生之智·六萬八千人聞品所得 |
六、譬喻·修辭
本品修辭核在「陀羅尼」之密咒體與「咒詛偈」之警誡喻。（此品無法華七喻；咒詛五喻為護法誓願之警犯喻，非開權顯實之七喻系。）
(一) 陀羅尼「少略密無義文字」——〔T34n1723 0850a22·玄贊釋名〕：陀羅尼之修辭，在「以少略密無義文字，神力加持威靈莫匹」——不以義解取勝，而以簡略、祕密、無義之音，仗神力加持而「摧邪殄惡、樹正揚善」。三家於此密體之取態即成異判（存本音不翻·髣髴翻實相·純科不釋·詳目四）。
(二) 咒詛偈五喻（十羅剎女警犯法師者）——〔T09n0262 0059b12〕：「頭破作七分，如阿梨樹枝」（阿梨樹枝墮地法爾破七片〔智顗 0147a07·吉藏 0630b23〕）·「如殺父母罪」·「亦如壓油殃」（壓油殺蟲之殃）·「斗秤欺誑人」（斗秤欺誑之罪）·「調達破僧罪」（提婆達多破和合僧之逆罪）——五喻並舉以警惱亂法師之報。喻依皆世間極重之罪殃（弒逆・破僧・欺誑・殺業），喻體＝犯法師者當獲之殃。三譯頭破喻異（阿梨樹枝／摩利闍迦／華菜剖·詳目二句四）。
(三) 奪一切眾生精氣（十羅剎女之相）——〔T09n0262 0059a22〕：第十羅剎女名「奪一切眾生精氣」，吉藏釋「眾生心中有七滴聒水，取一滴二滴令人頭痛，三滴令人心悶，四滴五滴已下則死」〔T34n1721 0630b15〕——狀羅剎女本噉精氣之惡相，今迴此力以護持經者。
七、互讀·承衍
(一) 本品所依論（窺基《玄贊》骨幹):
- 世親《法華論》——護眾生諸難力（統觀音陀羅尼二品）〔T34n1723 0850a19·回指 0846c09〕· 受命流通六品之判〔藥王起 0843b18〕。吉藏亦以「護難弘經二品」對舉觀音（人護難）陀羅尼（神呪法護難）〔T34n1721 0629b09〕——慈恩三論同以二品為護難對偶。
- 窺基釋四無礙解〔0850a25〕；吉藏引未具名之論（波若三名）〔0629b21〕・《地持論》四持〔0629c28〕・《正法華經》（髣髴翻咒）〔0630a12〕；智顗引諸師論呪（軍中密號・先陀婆一名四實等）〔0146c08〕。
(二) 法華內互讀:
- 護眾生諸難力二品 → 觀音㉕（人護難·尋聲救苦）↔ 陀羅尼㉖（神呪法護難·護持法師）——共一力二品〔T34n1723 0846c09〕；吉藏「一以人護難如觀音品·今說神呪法護難」〔0629b09〕。
- 迹門流通六品遞進 → 藥王㉓（自行苦行力）→ 妙音㉔（教化眾生行苦行力）→ 觀音㉕・陀羅尼㉖（護眾生諸難力） → 妙莊嚴王㉗（功德勝力）→ 普賢㉘（囑累護法力）〔T34n1723 0843b18〕。
- 校量受持之福遙接 → 「受持一四句偈讀誦解義如說修行功德甚多」〔0058b15〕，遙應〈法師品⑩〉五種法師弘經之福・〈分別功德品⑰〉四信五品受持之校量；護法師即護此弘經之福。
- 無生法忍遙接 → 六萬八千人得無生法忍〔0059b27〕，同〈提婆達多品⑫〉龍女成佛眾生發心・〈勸持品⑬〉之得記脈絡（聞品得無生忍之流通利益）。
(三) 承衍：慈恩後學慧沼《法華玄贊義決》T34n1724 未及此品（誌);天台後學湛然《法華文句記》T34n1719、三論吉藏別有《法華玄論》T34n1720——各承其宗，誌不判。
八、校本定位
- 羅什 T262（底本):〈陀羅尼品第二十六〉〔T09n0262 0058b08〕起（卷七)。藥王問福 0058b09／校量「受持一四句偈」0058b15／藥王當說呪 0058b17／咒起首「安爾」0058b19／六十二億恒河沙諸佛 0058c04／釋迦讚藥王 0058c06 · 勇施菩薩 0058c09／勇施咒 0058c14／恒河沙諸佛 0059a04 · 毘沙門天王 0059a07／咒 0059a10 · 持國天王 0059a13／咒 0059a18／四十二億諸佛 0059a20 · 十羅剎女藍婆等十名 0059a22／羅剎女咒 0059b01／莫惱法師 0059b05／咒詛偈「頭破作七分如阿梨樹枝」0059b12 · 佛告羅剎女善哉 0059b19／擁護法名者福不可量 0059b20 · 結成時益「六萬八千人得無生法忍」迄 0059b27（次品〈妙莊嚴王本事品第二十七〉0059b28 起)。源檔：原典層（逐字校訖·五番咒逐字封）。
- 竺法護 T263《正法華經》〈總持品第二十四〉〔T09n0263 0129c26〕起：校量福「八十億百千姟江河沙·一四句頌·法之供養最為第一」0130a02 · 五番咒全義譯〔藥王 0130a13／六十二江河沙 0130a21・妙勇 0130b03・毘沙門 0130b09・順怨天王 0130b16／四千二百億 0130b18・十魅 0130b27〕· 十魅義譯名 0130b20／鬼子母 0130b23 · 咒詛偈「猶如華菜剖·破壞佛寺鬪亂聖眾」0130c08 · 迄「六萬八千人逮得無所從生法忍」0130c28（次品〈淨復淨王品第二十五〉0130c29)。
- 添品 T264〈陀羅尼品第二十一〉〔T09n0264 0186c11〕起（在如來神力品㉒⁰ 0185c16 後・普門品㉔ 0191b23 前·品序倒置）：校量福同羅什 0186c15 · 五番咒音寫冠「怛姪他」〔藥王 0186c22／六十二億恒河沙 0187a07・勇施 0187a17・毘沙門 0187a27・持國 0187b05／四十二億 0187b08・十羅剎女 0187b17〕· 十羅剎女名逐字同羅什 0187b10 · 咒詛偈『頭破如摩利闍迦』0187b27／調達破僧罪 0187b29 · 迄「六萬八千人得無生法忍」0187c11。
- 窺基《玄贊》T34n1723（義疏鏡):〈陀羅尼品〉〔0850a19〕—〔0850b19〕（前接〈觀音品〉0846c07–0850a18·後接〈妙莊嚴王品〉0850b20）。三門分別 0850a20／來意「為護眾生諸難如前已釋」0850a21／釋名「梵云陀羅尼此云總持念慧為體」0850a22／解妨「總持有四·呪持護前二·無得無生忍總持也」0850a25／品文分三 0850a29／神呪五合三類 0850b03／毘沙門多聞北方天 0850b10／持國東面天王 0850b13／十神七科 0850b14／時眾獲益 0850b18。義薄·純科文·唯識心性論零。
- 智顗《文句》T34n1718（旁證):〈釋陀羅尼品〉0146b29 起（極短·約半欄）· 釋名能持能遮 0146c01／諸師論呪 0146c08／存本音不翻 0146c24／呪護使道流通 0146c25／請說呪五番 0146c29／十女五科 0147a02／鬼名訓詁 0147a03／阿梨樹枝 0147a07 迄 0147a11。化他流通·總持乘乘繫屬 0143b04（流通總綱處)。
- 吉藏《義疏》T34n1721（旁證):〈陀羅尼品第二十六〉0629b08 起 · 護難弘經·祕密門 0629b09／波若同體三名 0629b21／三昧總持五異·念為主 0629c16／地持四持 0629c28／呪含三義 0629c04／依正法華髣髴翻·明實相祕密法 0630a11／品開為三 0630a03／五人分三類 0630a07／羅剎女四科 0630b11／奪精氣七滴 0630b15／阿梨樹枝華菜剖 0630b23 迄 0630b24。
- 成立史誌（咒不翻·三譯咒體例史）：品題羅什／添品「陀羅尼品」·竺法護「總持品」；品次羅什㉖・竺法護㉔・添品㉑（添品陀羅尼在普門前·品序倒置）。神呪不翻乃三家共許之譯例（智顗「皆存本音譯人不翻」0146c24・吉藏「呪語多含，此間無物以擬之；若欲翻之，於義不盡，又失其勢用」0629c09）；而三譯咒體例正見「不翻／音寫／義譯」之傳承史：羅什半音寫、添品音寫（冠 tadyathā「怛姪他」）、竺法護獨全義譯（吉藏即據以「髣髴翻」0630a12）。慧沼《義決》T34n1724 未及此品。
This is the fourth chapter in the transmission section of the Trace Gate. Together with the preceding Chapter on the Universal Gateway of the Bodhisattva Perceiver of the World’s Sounds (Guanshiyin; Avalokiteśvara), it forms the pair of chapters on 「護眾生諸難力」 tr. “the power to protect sentient beings from many perils”: Guanshiyin protects beings from peril through a person, seeking out their cries and rescuing them from suffering; the present chapter protects them from peril through the Dharma of divine spells, guarding Dharma teachers who receive and uphold the Lotus. The Bodhisattva Medicine King (Bhaiṣajyarāja) asks how much merit is gained by upholding the Lotus Sutra. The Buddha answers by comparison: the merit of making offerings to buddhas as numerous as the sands of eight hundred trillion nayutas of Ganges Rivers is not equal to—and falls short of—the exceedingly great qualities of receiving and upholding a single four-line verse, reading and reciting it, understanding its meaning, and practicing as taught. Five rounds of dhāraṇī spells are then proclaimed in protection of the Dharma: the two sages Medicine King and Brave in Giving (Pradānaśūra); the two heavenly kings Much-Hearing (Vaiśravaṇa) and Realm-Holder (Dhṛtarāṣṭra); and the single assembly of the ten rākṣasī women together with the Mother of Demon Children (Hārītī). The ten rākṣasī women further speak a warning verse: 「若不順我呪，惱亂說法者，頭破作七分，如阿梨樹枝。如殺父母罪，亦如壓油殃，斗秤欺誑人，調達破僧罪」 tr. “If anyone does not obey our spell and troubles one who teaches the Dharma, his head shall split into seven parts like the branch of an ari tree; his offense shall be like the crime of killing father and mother, the calamity of the oil press, deceiving with bushel measures and scales, and Devadatta’s crime of splitting the Saṅgha.” They vow that calamity may fall upon their own heads and that no one shall trouble the Dharma teacher. The Buddha praises them, saying that the merit of protecting those who uphold the sutra is beyond measure. As the chapter is taught, sixty-eight thousand people attain patient acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas. Kuiji’s Cien 《玄贊》 Fahua Xuanzan (Profound Praise of the Lotus) places this chapter within the six chapters that receive the command to transmit, under 「護眾生諸難力」 tr. “the power to protect sentient beings from many perils,” joining the Guanshiyin and Dhāraṇī chapters; its statement that the reason for the chapter’s coming is 「如前已釋」 tr. “as already explained above” points back to Guanshiyin. It explains the name: 「梵云陀羅尼、此云總持，念慧為體，以少略密無義文字，神力加持威靈莫匹，摧邪殄惡樹正揚善」 tr. “In Sanskrit it is called dhāraṇī; here it is rendered ‘total retention.’ Recollection and wisdom are its substance. Through brief, condensed, secret characters without semantic meaning, empowered by supernormal strength and unmatched in numinous might, it subdues the wrong, extinguishes evil, establishes the right, and promotes the good.” Resolving a difficulty through the four unobstructed retentions in the 《地持》 Treatise on the Bodhisattva Stages—Dharma, meaning, eloquence, and words—it judges: 「上來長行法義持、今此呪持為護前二」 tr. “The prose above is retention of Dharma and retention of meaning; the present spell-retention protects the former two.” The entire passage is an outline: three divisions of the chapter and five spells gathered into three classes. It contains no point at all concerning Consciousness-Only theories of mind and nature such as the three natures or the store consciousness. Zhiyi of Tiantai places the chapter within transmission for transforming others and says that it conveys the vehicle by means of total retention; he explains the name through 「總持·能持能遮」 tr. “total retention; able to retain and able to ward off,” and explicitly states that the spells 「皆存本音、譯人不翻」 tr. “all preserve their original sounds; the translators did not translate them,” classifying but not explaining their meanings. Jizang of Sanlun places it within propagating the sutra by protecting from perils and calls it teaching the Lotus through the secret gateway. Relying uniquely upon Dharmarakṣa’s meaning-translated 《正法華經》 True Dharma Lotus, he 「髣髴翻」 tr. “translates [the spells] approximately” and judges that they 「多是明實相祕密法」 tr. “mostly disclose the secret Dharma of the true mark.” On whether dhāraṇī should be translated or left untranslated, and whether its meaning should be explained, the three houses take different approaches: Zhiyi preserves the original sounds without translating; Kuiji supplies only an outline and does not explain; Jizang approximately translates them as the true mark. Their readings are recorded side by side without adjudication. The three Chinese translations also differ in their chapter titles: Kumārajīva and the supplemented edition use 「陀羅尼品」 tr. “Chapter on Dhāraṇī,” while Dharmarakṣa uses 「總持品」 tr. “Chapter on Total Retention,” a meaning-translation. Kumārajīva gives partial sound-transcriptions of the five spells; the supplemented edition gives sound-transcriptions introduced by 「怛姪他」 tr. “thus”; and Dharmarakṣa meaning-translates all five. The supplemented edition alone places this chapter before the Chapter on the Universal Gateway, reversing their sequence. These differences are recorded without adjudication.
I. Doctrinal-Outline Placement
| Outline system | Placement of this chapter |
|---|---|
| 羅什 T262 二十八品 — Kumārajīva T262, twenty-eight chapters | 第二十六 陀羅尼品 — Chapter 26, Dhāraṇī（卷七；〔T09n0262 0058b08〕起）· the fourth chapter in the transmission section of the Trace Gate · five rounds of divine spells protecting the Dharma teacher |
| 窺基《玄贊》科文（主錨·慈恩） — Kuiji’s outline in the 《玄贊》 (principal anchor · Cien) | At the chapter passage 〔T34n1723 0850a19〕 it makes 三門分別 tr. “a three-gateway analysis”: (1) the reason for its coming; (2) explanation of the name; (3) resolution of a difficulty 〔0850a20〕. Reason for its coming: 「論云『為護眾生諸難』，如前已釋」 tr. “The Treatise says, ‘to protect sentient beings from many perils’; this was already explained above” 〔0850a21〕—pointing back to the Guanshiyin chapter and placing both within 「護眾生諸難力」 tr. “the power to protect sentient beings from many perils” among the six chapters that receive the command to transmit (Guanshiyin protects from peril through a person; Dhāraṇī protects from peril through the Dharma of divine spells; the six-chapter placement begins at the Medicine King chapter, 0843b18). Explanation of the name: 「梵云陀羅尼，此云總持，念、慧為體，以少略密無義文字，神力加持威靈莫匹，摧邪殄惡、樹正揚善」 tr. “In Sanskrit it is called dhāraṇī; here it is rendered ‘total retention.’ Recollection and wisdom are its substance. Through brief, condensed, secret characters without semantic meaning, empowered by supernormal strength and unmatched in numinous might, it subdues the wrong, extinguishes evil, establishes the right, and promotes the good” 〔0850a22〕. Resolution of a difficulty: 「總持有四：為得法、義、辨才、詞無礙解……上來長行法、義持，今此呪持，為護前二所以明之。無得無生忍，總持也」 tr. “Total retention is fourfold: in order to obtain unobstructed understanding of Dharma, meaning, eloquence, and words. … The prose above is retention of Dharma and retention of meaning; the present spell-retention is explained in order to protect the former two. There is no attainment of patient acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas; this is total retention” 〔0850a25〕. It divides the chapter-text into three: first, the merit of upholding the sutra (question followed by answer; within the answer, a question in return, a direct reply, and the Buddha’s statement 〔初問後答·答中返問／直答／佛說〕); next, the method of divine spells; last, the assembly’s attainment of benefit 〔0850a29〕. The five methods of divine spells are gathered into three classes: first, the two sages Medicine King and Brave in Giving; next, the two heavenly kings Vaiśravaṇa and Realm-Holder; last, the ten spirits, the rākṣasī women 〔0850b03〕 |
| 天台《文句》（旁證） — Tiantai’s 《文句》 (parallel witness) | 〈釋陀羅尼品〉 tr. “Explanation of the Chapter on Dhāraṇī” begins at 〔T34n1718 0146b29〕; the chapter-passage is extremely short, roughly half a column. It places the chapter within transmission for transforming others and says, 「〈陀羅尼〉以總持乘乘……於化他流通義便也」 tr. “The Dhāraṇī [chapter] conveys the vehicle by means of total retention … this accords with the meaning of transmission for transforming others” 〔0143b04·流通總綱處繫屬〕. Within the chapter it states, 「惡世弘經喜多惱難，以呪護之使道流通也」 tr. “Those who propagate the sutra in an evil age often meet many troubles and perils; spells protect them so that the Way may circulate” 〔0146c25〕. It explains the name as 「此翻總持……又翻能遮能持」 tr. “This is rendered ‘total retention’ … it is also rendered ‘able to ward off and able to retain’” 〔0146c01〕, and divides the request to proclaim spells into five rounds—Medicine King, Brave in Giving, Vaiśravaṇa, Realm-Holder, and the ten women 〔0146c29〕 |
| 三論《義疏》（旁證） — Sanlun’s 《義疏》 (parallel witness) | 〈陀羅尼品第二十六〉 tr. “Chapter 26, Dhāraṇī” begins at 〔T34n1721 0629b08〕. It places the chapter within propagating the sutra by protection from perils and the secret gateway: 「護難弘經二品，一以人護難，如〈觀音品〉說；今欲說神呪法護難，故有此品來也」 tr. “There are two chapters that propagate the sutra by protecting from perils. The first protects from perils through a person, as taught in the Guanshiyin chapter; now the Dharma of divine spells is to be taught for protection from perils, and therefore this chapter comes” 〔0629b09〕; 「今明神呪，謂祕密門說《法華》」 tr. “The divine spells now disclosed are the teaching of the Lotus through the secret gateway” 〔0629b16〕. It opens the chapter into three: teaching Medicine King the weight of merit from the sutra; the assembly proclaiming spells in protection; the assembly’s attainment of benefit 〔0630a03〕 |
II. Alternate Translations · Collation of the Three Translations
This chapter has three Chinese translations: Kumārajīva’s T262, 〈陀羅尼品第二十六〉 tr. “Chapter 26, Dhāraṇī”; Dharmarakṣa’s T263 《正法華經》 True Dharma Lotus, 〈總持品第二十四〉 tr. “Chapter 24, Total Retention” 〔T09n0263 0129c26〕; and the supplemented T264, 〈陀羅尼品第二十一〉 tr. “Chapter 21, Dhāraṇī” 〔T09n0264 0186c11〕. Difference in chapter title: Kumārajīva and the supplemented edition use 「陀羅尼」 tr. “dhāraṇī,” a sound-transcription; Dharmarakṣa uses 「總持」 tr. “total retention,” a meaning-translation. Difference in chapter order: Kumārajīva has Chapter 25, the Universal Gateway, followed by Chapter 26, Dhāraṇī; Dharmarakṣa has Chapter 23, Radiance of the World’s Sounds, followed by Chapter 24, Total Retention. In both, the Universal Gateway precedes Dhāraṇī. The supplemented edition alone places Dhāraṇī, Chapter 21, before the Universal Gateway, Chapter 24 〔陀羅尼 0186c11·在如來神力㉒⁰ 0185c16 後、普門 0191b23 前〕, uniquely reversing the chapter order. The form of the spells differs in all three translations: Kumārajīva gives partial sound-transcriptions without an introductory formula; the supplemented edition gives new sound-transcriptions, each introduced by 「怛姪他」 tr. “thus” (tadyathā); Dharmarakṣa meaning-translates all five, with no sound-transcription at all. The number of rounds agrees in all three: five—Medicine King; Brave in Giving 〔妙勇〕, named Wondrous Bravery in Dharmarakṣa; Vaiśravaṇa; Realm-Holder 〔順怨〕, named Heavenly King Calmer of Enmity in Dharmarakṣa; and the ten rākṣasī women 〔十魅〕, named the ten enchantresses in Dharmarakṣa.
Passage One · Weighing the Merit of Upholding the Sutra (Different Numbers of Buddhas Offered To · A Single Four-Line Verse)
| Version | Verbatim Chinese (excerpt) and translation | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 羅什 T262 | 有能受持法華經者，若讀誦通利，若書寫經卷，得幾所福？……供養八百萬億那由他恒河沙等諸佛……乃至受持一四句偈，讀誦、解義、如說修行，功德甚多 tr. “If someone is able to receive and uphold the Lotus Sutra, whether reading and reciting it fluently and without hindrance or copying out its scrolls, how much merit will that person gain? … making offerings to buddhas as numerous as the sands of eight hundred trillion nayutas of Ganges Rivers … receiving and upholding even a single four-line verse, reading and reciting it, understanding its meaning, and practicing as taught—the merit is exceedingly great.” | T09n0262 0058b10／0058b13／0058b15 |
| 添品 T264 | 〔近同羅什〕供養八百萬億那由他恒河沙等諸佛……乃至受持一四句偈……功德甚多 tr. “[Nearly identical to Kumārajīva:] making offerings to buddhas as numerous as the sands of eight hundred trillion nayutas of Ganges Rivers … receiving and upholding even a single four-line verse … the merit is exceedingly great.” | T09n0264 0186c15／0186c18 |
| 竺法護 T263 | 供養八十億百千姟江河沙諸如來眾……執持書寫一四句頌……甚哉！法之供養，最為第一 tr. “Making offerings to an assembly of tathāgatas as numerous as eighty koṭis of hundreds of thousands of gai of river-sands … receiving, upholding, and copying a single four-line verse … Wondrous indeed! The offering of Dharma is foremost.” | T09n0263 0130a02／0130a07／0130a09 |
What the variants bear upon: the supplemented edition is nearly word-for-word identical to Kumārajīva; the number offered to and 「一四句偈」 tr. “a single four-line verse” agree completely. Dharmarakṣa gives the number of those offered to as 「八十億百千姟江河沙諸如來眾」 tr. “an assembly of tathāgatas as numerous as eighty koṭis of hundreds of thousands of gai of river-sands,” a different numerical system, and uses 「江河沙」 tr. “river-sands” where the other versions use 「恒河沙」 tr. “sands of the Ganges” throughout the chapter. It has 「一四句頌」 tr. “a single four-line verse,” where Kumārajīva and the supplemented edition use 「偈」 tr. “verse,” and adds the separate praise 「甚哉！法之供養，最為第一」 tr. “Wondrous indeed! The offering of Dharma is foremost.”
Passage Two · The Five Dhāraṇīs (Form of the Spells · Numbers of Buddhas)
| Version | Medicine King’s spell (opening excerpt) | Numbers for Vaiśravaṇa / Realm-Holder | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 羅什 T262 | 安爾 曼爾 摩禰 摩摩禰 旨隷…… tr. “[Sound-transcription retained without semantic translation]” (no introductory formula) · 六十二億恒河沙等諸佛所說 tr. “taught by buddhas as numerous as the sands of sixty-two koṭis of Ganges Rivers” | 持國：四十二億諸佛所說 tr. “Realm-Holder: taught by forty-two koṭis of buddhas” | T09n0262 0058b19／0058c04·0059a20 |
| 添品 T264 | 怛姪他 安埿 曼埿 未泥 磨磨泥…… tr. “[Sound-transcription introduced by tadyathā]” · 六十二億恒河沙等諸佛所說 tr. “taught by buddhas as numerous as the sands of sixty-two koṭis of Ganges Rivers” | 持國：四十二億諸佛所說（同羅什） tr. “Realm-Holder: taught by forty-two koṭis of buddhas, agreeing with Kumārajīva” | T09n0264 0186c22／0187a07·0187b08 |
| 竺法護 T263 | 奇異所思，意念無意，永久所行，奉修寂然…… tr. “Wondrous and extraordinary in thought; thought mindful of no thought; practiced forever; reverently cultivating quiescence …” (entirely meaning-translated) · 是總持句，六十二江河沙諸佛所說 tr. “these phrases of total retention were taught by buddhas as numerous as sixty-two river-sands” | 順怨天王：四千二百億諸佛所說 tr. “Heavenly King Calmer of Enmity: taught by four thousand two hundred koṭis of buddhas” | T09n0263 0130a13／0130a21·0130b18 |
What the variants bear upon: the supplemented edition gives sound-transcriptions, each introduced by 「怛姪他」 tr. “thus” (tadyathā, corresponding in meaning to “he then proclaimed the spell”), and uses a system of transcription different from Kumārajīva’s, as the forms 安埿／安爾 tr. “[two different sound-transcriptions]” show. Its numbers agree with Kumārajīva: sixty-two koṭis and forty-two koṭis. Dharmarakṣa meaning-translates every spell: Medicine King begins 「奇異所思意念無意」 tr. “wondrous and extraordinary in thought; thought mindful of no thought”; Brave in Giving 〔妙勇〕, named Wondrous Bravery, begins 「晃耀大明炎光演暉」 tr. “blazing radiance, great brilliance, fiery light spreading its rays”; Vaiśravaṇa begins 「富有調戲無戲」 tr. “richly endowed, playfully trained, without play”; Realm-Holder 〔順怨天王〕, named Heavenly King Calmer of Enmity, begins 「無數有數曜黑持香」 tr. “numberless and numbered, black radiance bearing fragrance”; the ten enchantresses begin 「於是於斯於爾於氏」 tr. “here, herein, there, and among these.” The numbers differ: Medicine King has 「六十二江河沙」 tr. “sixty-two river-sands,” without 「億」 tr. “koṭis”; Realm-Holder has 「四千二百億」 tr. “four thousand two hundred koṭis,” markedly different from the forty-two koṭis in Kumārajīva and the supplemented edition.
Passage Three · The Names of the Ten Rākṣasī Women (Three Systems of Names: Partial Sound-Transcription · Pure Meaning-Translation · Word-for-Word Agreement)
| Version | Verbatim Chinese (excerpt) and translation | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 羅什 T262 | 一名藍婆，二名毘藍婆，三名曲齒，四名華齒，五名黑齒，六名多髮，七名無厭足，八名持瓔珞，九名睪帝，十名奪一切眾生精氣……與鬼子母，并其子及眷屬 tr. “The first was named Lambā; the second, Vilambā; the third, Crooked Teeth; the fourth, Flower Teeth; the fifth, Black Teeth; the sixth, Many-Haired; the seventh, Insatiable; the eighth, Necklace-Bearer; the ninth, Kuntī; and the tenth, Robber of the Vital Essence of All Sentient Beings … together with the Mother of Demon Children, her children, and her retinue.” | T09n0262 0059a22 |
| 添品 T264 | 〔十名逐字全同羅什〕一名藍婆，二名毘藍婆……十名奪一切眾生精氣……與鬼子母并其子及眷屬 tr. “[All ten names agree word for word with Kumārajīva:] the first was named Lambā; the second, Vilambā … the tenth, Robber of the Vital Essence of All Sentient Beings … together with the Mother of Demon Children, her children, and her retinue.” | T09n0264 0187b10 |
| 竺法護 T263 | 名有結縛，復名離結，復名施積，復名施華，復名施黑，復名被髮，復名無著，復名持華，復名何所，復名取一切精……鬼子母與諸子俱 tr. “They were named Bound in Knots, Free from Knots, Bestowing Accumulation, Bestowing Flowers, Bestowing Blackness, Disheveled-Hair, Unattached, Flower-Bearer, What Place, and Taker of All Vital Essence … the Mother of Demon Children together with her children.” | T09n0263 0130b20／0130b23 |
What the variants bear upon: the supplemented edition’s ten names agree word for word with Kumārajīva; all three translations use 「鬼子母」 tr. “Mother of Demon Children.” Dharmarakṣa gives all ten names in pure meaning-translation: 「有結縛」 tr. “Bound in Knots” corresponds to Lambā; 「離結」 tr. “Free from Knots” to Vilambā; 「施積」 tr. “Bestowing Accumulation” to Crooked Teeth; 「施華」 tr. “Bestowing Flowers” to Flower Teeth; 「施黑」 tr. “Bestowing Blackness” to Black Teeth; 「被髮」 tr. “Disheveled-Hair” to Many-Haired; 「無著」 tr. “Unattached” to Insatiable; 「持華」 tr. “Flower-Bearer” to Necklace-Bearer; 「何所」 tr. “What Place” to Kuntī; and 「取一切精」 tr. “Taker of All Vital Essence” to Robber of the Vital Essence of All Sentient Beings. This differs throughout from Kumārajīva’s partially sound-transcribed set.
Passage Four · The Warning Verse (Three Different Similes for the Splitting Head · Presence or Absence of Devadatta)
| Version | Verbatim Chinese (excerpt) and translation | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 羅什 T262 | 若不順我呪，惱亂說法者，頭破作七分，如阿梨樹枝，如殺父母罪，亦如壓油殃，斗秤欺誑人，調達破僧罪 tr. “If anyone does not obey our spell and troubles one who teaches the Dharma, his head shall split into seven parts like the branch of an ari tree; his offense shall be like the crime of killing father and mother, the calamity of the oil press, deceiving people with bushel measures and scales, and Devadatta’s crime of splitting the Saṅgha.” | T09n0262 0059b12 |
| 添品 T264 | 頭破作七分，如摩利闍迦（音寫）……如殺父母罪，亦如壓油殃，㪷秤欺誑人，調達破僧罪 tr. “His head shall split into seven parts like malijaka (sound-transcription) … like the crime of killing father and mother, the calamity of the oil press, deceiving people with bushel measures and scales, and Devadatta’s crime of splitting the Saṅgha.” | T09n0264 0187b27 |
| 竺法護 T263 | 犯頭破七分，猶如華菜剖，當致殺母罪，亦得害父殃……破壞佛寺罪，鬪亂聖眾殃，如合眾麻油……猶如稱載峻 tr. “The offender’s head shall split into seven parts, like a flowering vegetable split open. That person shall incur the crime of killing the mother and the calamity of harming the father … the crime of destroying a buddha-shrine and the calamity of throwing the holy assembly into disorder, like pressing a mass of sesame for oil … like a scale weighed down.” | T09n0263 0130c08 |
What the variants bear upon: all three translations contain this warning verse. The simile for the splitting head differs in all three: Kumārajīva has 「如阿梨樹枝」 tr. “like the branch of an ari tree,” a partially meaning-translated form containing “tree branch”; the supplemented edition has 「如摩利闍迦」 tr. “like malijaka,” a pure sound-transcription; Dharmarakṣa has 「猶如華菜剖」 tr. “like a flowering vegetable split open,” a different image. The simile of splitting the Saṅgha: Kumārajīva and the supplemented edition name 「調達（提婆達多）破僧罪」 tr. “Devadatta’s crime of splitting the Saṅgha”; Dharmarakṣa has 「破壞佛寺罪，鬪亂聖眾殃」 tr. “the crime of destroying a buddha-shrine and the calamity of throwing the holy assembly into disorder,” without naming Devadatta. Dharmarakṣa unfolds and expands the oil-press simile—pressing a mass of sesame and setting it ablaze—and gives the bushel-and-scale simile as 「猶如稱載峻」 tr. “like a scale weighed down.”
Passage Five · The Benefit at the Close
| Version | Verbatim Chinese (excerpt) and translation | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 羅什 T262 | 說是陀羅尼品時，六萬八千人得無生法忍 tr. “As this Chapter on Dhāraṇī was taught, sixty-eight thousand people attained patient acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas.” | T09n0262 0059b26 |
| 添品 T264 | 說此陀羅尼呪品時，六萬八千人得無生法忍〔品名多一「呪」字〕 tr. “As this Chapter on Dhāraṇī Spells was taught, sixty-eight thousand people attained patient acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas [the chapter title contains the additional character ‘spell’].” | T09n0264 0187c11 |
| 竺法護 T263 | 佛說是總持品時，六萬八千人，逮得無所從生法忍〔「無所從生法忍」＝無生法忍之義譯〕 tr. “When the Buddha taught this Chapter on Total Retention, sixty-eight thousand people attained patient acceptance of dharmas as arising from nowhere [‘patient acceptance of dharmas as arising from nowhere’ is a meaning-translation of ‘patient acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas’].” | T09n0263 0130c27 |
What the variants bear upon: the number of people benefiting agrees in all three translations: sixty-eight thousand. As to what they attain, Kumārajīva and the supplemented edition have the same characters, 「無生法忍」 tr. “patient acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas”; Dharmarakṣa has 「無所從生法忍」 tr. “patient acceptance of dharmas as arising from nowhere,” using 「無所從生」 tr. “arising from nowhere” as a meaning-translation of 「無生」 tr. “non-arising.”
III. Scriptural Grounds for the Consciousness-Only Meaning (the Point of the Eye)
The entire chapter-passage in the 《玄贊》 is a pure outline: three gateways of analysis, a threefold division of the chapter-text, and five divine spells gathered into three classes. Its doctrinal weight is light, and it contains no point concerning Consciousness-Only theories of mind and nature. A mechanical scan of the entire passage 〔T34n1723 0850a19–0850b19〕 finds none of the signature metaphysical vocabulary of Consciousness-Only—the three natures, wholly-imagined, other-dependent, perfectly-accomplished, store consciousness, transformation of the basis, five lineages, the two obstructions, or emanation body. The doctrinal substance of Kuiji’s explanation in this chapter has only two parts. Both concern the Yogācāra account of the power by which the sutra is propagated and of total retention, not the three natures or consciousness theory.
(1) The power to protect sentient beings from many perils (the six chapters that receive the command to transmit · joining Guanshiyin and Dhāraṇī) 〔T34n1723 0850a19〕 — the reason given for the Chapter on Dhāraṇī is 「論云『為護眾生諸難』，如前已釋」 tr. “The Treatise says, ‘to protect sentient beings from many perils’; this was already explained above.” It points back to the Guanshiyin chapter: 「救眾生諸難力者謂觀世音，〈陀羅尼品〉示現」 tr. “The power to rescue sentient beings from many perils means Guanshiyin and is manifested in the Chapter on Dhāraṇī” 〔0846c09〕. Following Vasubandhu’s 《法華論》 Treatise on the Lotus Sutra, Kuiji places the six chapters that receive the command to transmit beginning with Medicine King 〔藥王起·0843b18〕; the Guanshiyin and Dhāraṇī chapters together belong to the power to protect sentient beings from many perils. Guanshiyin protects from peril through a person; Dhāraṇī protects from peril through the Dharma of divine spells. This belongs to the active power by which the Yogācāra tradition propagates the sutra, not to a theory of mind and consciousness.
(2) Dhāraṇī = total retention · recollection and wisdom as its substance · spell-retention among the four unobstructed retentions 〔T34n1723 0850a22〕:
「梵云陀羅尼，此云總持，念、慧為體，以少略密無義文字，神力加持威靈莫匹，摧邪殄惡、樹正揚善……總持有四：為得法、義、辨才、詞無礙解……上來長行法、義持，今此呪持，為護前二所以明之。無得無生忍，總持也。」
tr. “In Sanskrit it is called dhāraṇī; here it is rendered ‘total retention.’ Recollection and wisdom are its substance. Through brief, condensed, secret characters without semantic meaning, empowered by supernormal strength and unmatched in numinous might, it subdues the wrong, extinguishes evil, establishes the right, and promotes the good. … Total retention is fourfold: in order to obtain unobstructed understanding of Dharma, meaning, eloquence, and words. … The prose above is retention of Dharma and retention of meaning; the present spell-retention is explained in order to protect the former two. There is no attainment of patient acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas; this is total retention.” 〔T34n1723 0850a22〕
Kuiji explains dhāraṇī, or total retention, with recollection and wisdom as its substance: it is the retaining function of the mental factors of recollection and wisdom, not a theory of seeds in the store consciousness. Following the four unobstructed retentions in the 《地持論》 Treatise on the Bodhisattva Stages—retention of Dharma, meaning, eloquence, and words—he judges the spells in the present chapter to be spell-retention, whose function is to protect the former two retentions: to guard the Dharma and meaning expressed in the prose so that they are not lost. The patient acceptance of non-arising attained by the sixty-eight thousand people is likewise a fruit of total retention. This belongs to the Yogācāra account of total retention—recollection, wisdom, and the four unobstructed understandings—and does not involve the three natures or the store consciousness.
Scope note: the meaning of the 《玄贊》 in this chapter is light and lies in the account of total retention and the power to protect sentient beings from many perils, like the light doctrinal weight of Chapters 9 and 13. The chapter’s own proclamation is the protection of the Dharma teacher through five rounds of divine spells and the immeasurable merit of upholding the Lotus. Kuiji’s outline and explanation of total retention form a final mirror; the mirror does not cover the sutra. Across the surrounding chapters, the axes are: Chapter 23, pure outline; Chapter 24, light doctrine; Chapter 25, the Yogācāra account of karma-paths, the three actions, and three superknowledges; Chapter 26, total retention, recollection and wisdom, and the four unobstructed retentions, with no Consciousness-Only theory of mind and nature; Chapter 16, the awakening of the three buddha-bodies.
IV. The Explanations of the Various Masters (the Ancients · Their Traditions Stated · Recorded without Adjudicating)
On the same dhāraṇī, divine spells, and five rounds of spells, Cien, Tiantai, and Sanlun read differently. The core difference in this chapter concerns whether the spells should be translated or left untranslated, and whether their meanings should be explained. The expository mirror of this edition is Kuiji’s Cien 《玄贊》; Tiantai and Sanlun are recorded alongside it, their differences stated without adjudication.
Qualification concerning summary terms: (1) 「總持」 tr. “total retention” is the general translation of dhāraṇī. All three houses gloss it as total retention, but their emphases differ: Tiantai stresses 「能持能遮」 tr. “able to retain and able to ward off”; Sanlun, that recollection is primary and that dhāraṇī is of one substance with wisdom; Cien, that recollection and wisdom are its substance and that it comprises the four unobstructed retentions. (2) Explaining the spells is the most conspicuous difference in this chapter: Zhiyi explicitly holds that they 「皆存本音、譯人不翻」 tr. “all preserve their original sounds; the translators did not translate them” 〔T34n1718 0146c24〕; Kuiji gives only an outline and does not explain them; Jizang alone relies on the 《正法華經》 and 「髣髴翻之」 tr. “translates them approximately” 〔T34n1721 0630a12〕. (3) None of the three houses gives a distinct explanation of 「鬼子母（訶利帝母）」 tr. “the Mother of Demon Children, Hārītī”: Zhiyi stops with the outline of the ten women and glosses the names of the spirits; Jizang stops with a fourfold outline of the rākṣasī women and explains the robbing of vital essence; Kuiji stops with the outline of the ten spirits.
Cien · Kuiji’s 《玄贊》 T34n1723 (the Principal Mirror)
Kuiji gives: the power to protect sentient beings from many perils, joining Guanshiyin and Dhāraṇī under the reason for coming 「如前已釋」 tr. “as already explained above” 〔0850a21〕; the name, 「梵云陀羅尼此云總持·念慧為體·少略密無義文字·摧邪殄惡樹正揚善」 tr. “In Sanskrit it is called dhāraṇī; here it is rendered ‘total retention’; recollection and wisdom are its substance; its brief, condensed, secret characters are without semantic meaning; it subdues the wrong, extinguishes evil, establishes the right, and promotes the good” 〔0850a22〕; the resolution of a difficulty through the four unobstructed retentions, 「總持有四：法義辨才詞·長行法義持今呪持護前二」 tr. “Total retention is fourfold—Dharma, meaning, eloquence, and words; the prose is retention of Dharma and meaning, and the present spell-retention protects the former two” 〔0850a25〕; a threefold division of the chapter-text 〔0850a29〕; the five methods of divine spells gathered into three classes—first two sages, next two heavenly kings, last ten spirits 〔0850b03〕; Vaiśravaṇa as 「此云多聞·四天王中北方之天·常讚佛法」 tr. “here rendered ‘Much-Hearing’; among the Four Heavenly Kings, the king of the north, who constantly praises the Buddha-Dharma” 〔0850b10〕; Realm-Holder as 「此即東面天王」 tr. “this is the Heavenly King of the eastern quarter” 〔0850b13〕; and seven divisions concerning the ten spirits—naming them, requesting and proclaiming, proclaiming the spell itself, warning against troubling the Dharma teacher, speaking another verse to illustrate the offense, requesting to protect in person, and the Buddha’s praise 〔0850b14〕. It is pure outline and does not explain the meanings of the spells. See Heading III. In Cien’s carrying forward, Huizhao’s 《法華玄贊義決》 T34n1724 does not reach this chapter; throughout the work, 「陀羅尼／羅剎／神呪」 tr. “dhāraṇī / rākṣasa / divine spell” have zero occurrences. See Heading VII.
Tiantai · Zhiyi’s 《文句》 T34n1718 (Parallel Witness)
The chapter-passage is extremely short, beginning at 〔0146b29 起·約半欄〕. Zhiyi places it within transmission for transforming others and says, 「〈陀羅尼〉以總持乘乘……於化他流通義便也」 tr. “The Dhāraṇī [chapter] conveys the vehicle by means of total retention … this accords with the meaning of transmission for transforming others” 〔0143b04·流通總綱繫屬〕. He explains the name through the ability to retain and ward off 〔0146c01〕: 「此翻總持，總持惡不起、善不失。又翻能遮能持，能持善、能遮惡」 tr. “This is rendered ‘total retention’: in total retention, evil does not arise and good is not lost. It is also rendered ‘able to ward off and able to retain’: able to retain the good and able to ward off evil.” He says that the spells preserve their original sounds and are not translated 〔0146c24〕: 「為此義故皆存本音，譯人不翻意在此也」 tr. “For this reason they all preserve their original sounds; the translators did not translate them, and their intent lies here.” He presents side by side various explanations of what spells are—the names of spirit kings; secret watchwords in an army; secret silence that cures evil; secret words of the buddhas 〔0146c08–c24〕. He divides the request to proclaim spells into five rounds 〔0146c29〕 and glosses spirit-names: 「夜叉翻捷疾鬼・羅剎翻食人鬼・富單那熱病鬼・吉遮起尸鬼・毘陀羅赤色鬼・揵陀羅黃色鬼・烏摩勒烏色鬼・阿跋摩羅青色鬼」 tr. “Yakṣa is rendered ‘swift spirit’; rākṣasa, ‘man-eating spirit’; pūtana, ‘fever spirit’; kṛtya, ‘corpse-raising spirit’; vetāla, ‘red spirit’; gandhāra, ‘yellow spirit’; umāraka, ‘black spirit’; apasmāra, ‘blue spirit’” 〔0147a03〕. Of the ari-tree branch he says, 「墮地法爾破為七片」 tr. “when it falls to the ground, by its nature it splits into seven pieces” 〔0147a07〕.
Sanlun · Jizang’s 《法華義疏》 T34n1721 (Parallel Witness)
The chapter-passage begins at 〔0629b08 起·較詳〕. Jizang places it within propagation of the sutra by protection from perils: 「護難弘經二品，一以人護難如〈觀音品〉·今說神呪法護難」 tr. “There are two chapters that propagate the sutra by protection from perils: one protects from perils through a person, as in the Guanshiyin chapter; now the Dharma of divine spells is taught to protect from perils” 〔0629b09〕; and calls it the secret gateway, 「祕密門說《法華》」 tr. “teaching the Lotus through the secret gateway” 〔0629b16〕. In explaining the name, he cites an unnamed treatise: 「波若在聲聞心名道品，在菩薩心名陀羅尼，在佛心名薩婆若……陀羅尼即波若、波若即一乘」 tr. “Prajñā in the mind of a śrāvaka is named the factors of the path; in the mind of a bodhisattva it is named dhāraṇī; in the mind of a buddha it is named all-knowledge. … Dhāraṇī is precisely prajñā; prajñā is precisely the One Vehicle” 〔0629b21〕. He says, 「總持以念為主」 tr. “total retention takes recollection as primary” 〔0629c16〕, and cites the four retentions of the 《地持論》—Dharma-retention as wisdom born of hearing; meaning-retention as wisdom born of reflection; spell-retention as wisdom born of cultivation; acceptance-retention as wisdom of realized practice 〔0629c28〕. A spell contains three meanings 〔0629c04〕: 「呪所論不出三義：一說極果勝德或因中萬行故聞者發心・二說三寶名字或大力鬼神之名召呼使魔耶驚退・三說諸法深理無相使聞者悟道得無生忍」 tr. “What spells set forth does not go beyond three meanings: first, they teach the supreme qualities of the ultimate fruit or the myriad practices within the cause, so that hearers arouse the mind; second, they teach the names of the Three Jewels or of spirits of great power, calling them so that Māra and the wrong retreat in fear; third, they teach the profound principle and signlessness of all dharmas, causing hearers to awaken to the Way and attain patient acceptance of non-arising.” Relying upon the True Dharma Lotus, he translates approximately 〔0630a12〕: 「今依《正法華經》髣髴翻之，多是明實相祕密法」 tr. “Now, relying upon the True Dharma Lotus, I translate them approximately; for the most part they disclose the secret Dharma of the true mark.” He divides the five proclaimers into three classes: 「藥王勇施二是菩薩·次兩是天·後一是鬼神」 tr. “Medicine King and Brave in Giving are two bodhisattvas; the next two are heavenly beings; the last one is a class of spirits” 〔0630a07〕. Of robbing vital essence, he writes, 「眾生心中有七滴聒水」 tr. “within the heart of a sentient being are seven drops of vital fluid” 〔0630b15〕. Of the ari-tree branch, he says, 「此樹枝墮地即破為七分」 tr. “when this tree branch falls to the ground, it immediately splits into seven parts” 〔0630b23〕.
The Three Houses Recorded Together (Recorded without Adjudication)
Explanation of the name dhāraṇī: Cien says “recollection and wisdom are its substance; the four unobstructed retentions”; Tiantai says “total retention; able to retain and able to ward off”; Sanlun says “one in substance with prajñā; recollection primary; the four retentions of the Treatise on the Bodhisattva Stages.” All three gloss dhāraṇī as total retention, with different emphases, recorded side by side without adjudication. Explaining the spells—the core divergence of this chapter: Zhiyi says the original sounds are all preserved and the translators did not translate them, classifying without explaining; Kuiji gives a pure outline and does not explain; Jizang alone relies on the True Dharma Lotus to translate them approximately and judges that they mostly disclose the secret Dharma of the true mark. Untranslated and approximately translated, unexplained and explained as the true mark: these are recorded side by side without adjudication. Classification of the five rounds: Cien has “five gathered into three classes”—two sages, two heavenly kings, ten spirits; Tiantai has “five rounds”—Medicine King, Brave in Giving, Vaiśravaṇa, Realm-Holder, ten women; Sanlun has “five people divided into three classes”—two bodhisattvas, two heavenly beings, one class of spirits. These are recorded side by side without adjudication. Placement in the outline: Cien has “the power to protect sentient beings from many perils”; Tiantai, “transmission for transforming others, conveying the vehicle through total retention”; Sanlun, “propagation of the sutra by protection from perils, the secret gateway.” These are recorded side by side without adjudication. Explanation of the rākṣasī women: Zhiyi emphasizes glosses on spirit-names—yakṣa, rākṣasa, pūtana, and the rest; Jizang emphasizes the seven drops of vital fluid and the ari-tree branch. Neither gives a distinct explanation of the Mother of Demon Children. These are recorded side by side without adjudication. Zhiyi (538–597) and Jizang (549–623) precede Kuiji (632–682); they are recorded side by side without adjudication.
V. Terminology
| Chinese | Ancient-transmitted Sanskrit (romanization · pronunciation aid) | Attestation by the ancient masters | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 陀羅尼 | dhāraṇī (form attested through the ancient transmission) | 〔本經 0058b17·品題 0058b08〕; Kuiji: 「此云總持·念慧為體·少略密無義文字」 tr. “here rendered ‘total retention’; recollection and wisdom are its substance; brief, condensed, secret characters without semantic meaning” 〔T34n1723 0850a22〕; Zhiyi: 「翻總持·又翻能遮能持」 tr. “rendered ‘total retention’; also rendered ‘able to ward off and able to retain’” 〔T34n1718 0146c01〕; Jizang: 『波若在菩薩心名陀羅尼』 tr. “prajñā in the mind of a bodhisattva is named dhāraṇī” 〔T34n1721 0629b21〕; Dharmarakṣa’s chapter title meaning-translates it as 「總持」 tr. “total retention” 〔T09n0263 0129c26〕 | Total retention: gathering all dharmas and retaining immeasurable meanings; the retaining power whose substance is recollection and wisdom, with different emphases in the three houses |
| 四無礙持 | — | Kuiji’s explanation of the name 〔窺基釋名 T34n1723 0850a25〕: 「總持有四：法・義・辨才・詞無礙解」 tr. “Total retention is fourfold: unobstructed understanding of Dharma, meaning, eloquence, and words”; Jizang cites the four retentions in the 《地持論》—「法持・義持・呪持・忍持」 tr. “Dharma-retention, meaning-retention, spell-retention, acceptance-retention” 〔T34n1721 0629c28〕 | The four gateways of dhāraṇī; the spells in this chapter are spell-retention, protecting the Dharma-retention and meaning-retention of the prose |
| 神呪（呪） | — | 〔本經 0058b17〕; Zhiyi: 「皆存本音·譯人不翻」 tr. “all preserve their original sounds; the translators did not translate them” 〔T34n1718 0146c24〕; Jizang: 「呪語多含，此間無物以擬之；若欲翻之，於義不盡，又失其勢用」 tr. “Spell-language contains many meanings, and here there is nothing with which to match it; if one wished to translate it, the meaning would not be exhausted, and its power and function would also be lost” 〔T34n1721 0629c09〕 | A divine dhāraṇī spell that protects the Dharma teacher; the three houses differ on whether it should be translated |
| 羅剎女 | rākṣasī (form attested through the ancient transmission) | 〔本經 0059a22·十名〕; Zhiyi: 「羅剎翻食人鬼」 tr. “rākṣasa is rendered ‘man-eating spirit’” 〔T34n1718 0147a03〕; Dharmarakṣa gives the ten names in pure meaning-translation, beginning with 「有結縛」 tr. “Bound in Knots” 〔T09n0263 0130b20〕 | The ten rākṣasī women, Lambā and the rest, who proclaim a spell to protect the Dharma teacher |
| 鬼子母 | Hārītī (form attested through the ancient transmission · 訶利帝母) | 〔本經 0059a26〕; none of the three houses gives a distinct explanation, stopping with her coming before the Buddha together with her retinue 〔T34n1718／T34n1721〕 | The mother-spirit who formerly devoured children and, after being transformed by the Buddha’s teaching, became a protector of the Dharma; she comes with the ten rākṣasī women to protect the sutra |
| 富單那·吉遮·毘陀羅 | pūtana · kṛtya · vetāla (forms attested through the ancient transmission) | 〔本經 0058c11·0059b06〕; Zhiyi: 「富單那熱病鬼・吉遮起尸鬼・毘陀羅赤色鬼・揵陀羅黃色鬼・烏摩勒烏色鬼・阿跋摩羅青色鬼」 tr. “pūtana, fever spirit; kṛtya, corpse-raising spirit; vetāla, red spirit; gandhāra, yellow spirit; umāraka, black spirit; apasmāra, blue spirit” 〔T34n1718 0147a04〕 | Classes of spirits that watch for the faults of the Dharma teacher; Zhiyi glosses their forms and colors |
| 無生法忍 | anutpattika-dharma-kṣānti (form attested through the ancient transmission) | 〔本經 0059b27〕; Dharmarakṣa meaning-translates it as 「無所從生法忍」 tr. “patient acceptance of dharmas as arising from nowhere” 〔T09n0263 0130c28〕 | Patient acceptance grounded in the wisdom that abides in the non-arising of dharmas; attained by sixty-eight thousand people who hear the chapter |
VI. Similes · Rhetoric
The rhetorical core of this chapter lies in the secret-spell form of the dhāraṇīs and the warning similes of the curse-verse. This chapter contains none of the seven parables of the Lotus. The five warning similes are admonitions within a vow to protect the Dharma, not part of the seven-parable cycle that opens the provisional to reveal the real.
(1) The dhāraṇī’s 「少略密無義文字」 tr. “brief, condensed, secret characters without semantic meaning” — 〔T34n1723 0850a22·玄贊釋名〕: the rhetoric of dhāraṇī lies in 「以少略密無義文字，神力加持威靈莫匹」 tr. “using brief, condensed, secret characters without semantic meaning, empowered by supernormal strength and unmatched in numinous might.” It does not work through explanation of meaning, but through its condensed, secret sounds, empowered by supernormal strength, to 「摧邪殄惡、樹正揚善」 tr. “subdue the wrong, extinguish evil, establish the right, and promote the good.” The three houses’ approaches to this secret form themselves create the divergence recorded under Heading IV: preserve the original sounds without translating; approximately translate them as the true mark; or supply only an outline without explanation.
(2) The five similes of the warning verse (the ten rākṣasī women warning anyone who harms a Dharma teacher) — 〔T09n0262 0059b12〕: 「頭破作七分，如阿梨樹枝」 tr. “his head shall split into seven parts, like the branch of an ari tree” (the ari-tree branch naturally splits into seven pieces when it falls to the ground 〔智顗 0147a07·吉藏 0630b23〕); 「如殺父母罪」 tr. “like the crime of killing father and mother”; 「亦如壓油殃」 tr. “like the calamity of the oil press,” the calamity incurred by crushing insects in an oil press; 「斗秤欺誑人」 tr. “deceiving people with bushel measures and scales”; 「調達破僧罪」 tr. “Devadatta’s crime of splitting the Saṅgha.” The five are brought together to warn of the recompense for troubling a Dharma teacher. Their standards of comparison are all offenses and calamities of the greatest gravity in worldly life—killing parents, splitting the Saṅgha, deceit, and killing. What is illustrated is the calamity that one who harms the Dharma teacher will incur. The three translations differ in their simile for the splitting head—ari-tree branch, malijaka, or a flowering vegetable split open; see Heading II, Passage Four.
(3) Robber of the Vital Essence of All Sentient Beings (the character of the tenth rākṣasī woman) — 〔T09n0262 0059a22〕: the tenth rākṣasī woman is named 「奪一切眾生精氣」 tr. “Robber of the Vital Essence of All Sentient Beings.” Jizang explains: 「眾生心中有七滴聒水，取一滴二滴令人頭痛，三滴令人心悶，四滴五滴已下則死」 tr. “Within the heart of a sentient being are seven drops of vital fluid. Taking one or two causes a headache; taking three causes oppression in the heart; taking four, five, or more brings death” 〔T34n1721 0630b15〕. This describes the rākṣasī woman’s former harmful character of devouring vital essence; now that very power is turned around to protect those who uphold the sutra.
VII. Cross-Reading · Carrying Forward
(1) Treatises upon which this chapter relies (the backbone of Kuiji’s 《玄贊》):
- Vasubandhu’s 《法華論》 — the power to protect sentient beings from many perils, joining the Guanshiyin and Dhāraṇī chapters 〔T34n1723 0850a19·回指 0846c09〕; the classification of the six chapters that receive the command to transmit, beginning with Medicine King 〔藥王起 0843b18〕. Jizang likewise pairs the two chapters as propagation of the sutra by protection from perils: Guanshiyin protects from peril through a person; Dhāraṇī protects from peril through the Dharma of divine spells 〔T34n1721 0629b09〕. Cien and Sanlun thus both treat the two chapters as a pair for protection from perils.
- Kuiji explains the four unobstructed understandings 〔0850a25〕. Jizang cites an unnamed treatise on the three names of prajñā 〔0629b21〕, the four retentions of the 《地持論》 〔0629c28〕, and the 《正法華經》 for approximately translating the spells 〔0630a12〕. Zhiyi records various masters’ explanations of spells, including secret watchwords in an army and the one term “saindhava” bearing four meanings 〔0146c08〕.
(2) Cross-Reading within the Lotus:
- The two chapters of the power to protect sentient beings from many perils → Guanshiyin, Chapter 25, protects from peril through a person, seeking out cries and rescuing suffering ↔ Dhāraṇī, Chapter 26, protects from peril through the Dharma of divine spells and guards the Dharma teacher—one power in two chapters 〔T34n1723 0846c09〕. Jizang writes, 「一以人護難如觀音品·今說神呪法護難」 tr. “The first protects from perils through a person, as in the Guanshiyin chapter; now the Dharma of divine spells is taught to protect from perils” 〔0629b09〕.
- The progression of the six Trace-Gate chapters of transmission → Medicine King, Chapter 23, the power of arduous practice in one’s own conduct → Wonderful Sound, Chapter 24, the power of teaching and transforming sentient beings through arduous practice → Guanshiyin, Chapter 25, and Dhāraṇī, Chapter 26, the power to protect sentient beings from many perils → King Wonderful-Adornment, Chapter 27, the power of surpassing qualities → Universally Worthy, Chapter 28, the power of entrusting and protecting the Dharma 〔T34n1723 0843b18〕.
- The distant echo of weighing the merit of upholding the sutra → 「受持一四句偈讀誦解義如說修行功德甚多」 tr. “Receiving and upholding a single four-line verse, reading and reciting it, understanding its meaning, and practicing as taught—the merit is exceedingly great” 〔0058b15〕 echoes from afar the merit of the five kinds of Dharma teacher in Chapter 10 and the weighing of the four kinds of trust and five grades of practice in Chapter 17. To protect the Dharma teacher is to protect this merit of propagating the sutra.
- The distant echo of patient acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas → sixty-eight thousand people attain patient acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas 〔0059b27〕, in the same current as the arousing of the mind when the dragon girl becomes a buddha in Chapter 12 and the bestowal of predictions in Chapter 13: a benefit of transmission gained by hearing the chapter.
(3) Carrying Forward: Huizhao’s Cien 《法華玄贊義決》 T34n1724 does not reach this chapter; Zhanran’s Tiantai 《法華文句記》 T34n1719 and Jizang’s separate Sanlun 《法華玄論》 T34n1720 each carry forward the reading of their own tradition. This is recorded without adjudication.
VIII. Placement of the Editions
- 羅什 T262 (base text): 〈陀羅尼品第二十六〉 begins at 〔T09n0262 0058b08〕（卷七）. Medicine King asks about merit 0058b09 · weighing the merit through 「受持一四句偈」 tr. “receiving and upholding a single four-line verse” 0058b15 · Medicine King says that he will proclaim a spell 0058b17 · the spell begins 「安爾」 tr. “[sound-transcription retained without semantic translation]” 0058b19 · buddhas as numerous as the sands of sixty-two koṭis of Ganges Rivers 0058c04 · Śākyamuni praises Medicine King 0058c06 · the Bodhisattva Brave in Giving 0058c09 · Brave in Giving’s spell 0058c14 · buddhas as numerous as Ganges sands 0059a04 · Heavenly King Vaiśravaṇa 0059a07 · spell 0059a10 · Heavenly King Realm-Holder 0059a13 · spell 0059a18 · forty-two koṭis of buddhas 0059a20 · the ten rākṣasī women, Lambā and the other nine names 0059a22 · their spell 0059b01 · do not trouble the Dharma teacher 0059b05 · the warning verse, 「頭破作七分如阿梨樹枝」 tr. “his head shall split into seven parts like the branch of an ari tree” 0059b12 · the Buddha tells the rākṣasī women, “Excellent” 0059b19 · immeasurable merit from protecting those who uphold the sutra’s name 0059b20 · the benefit at the close, 「六萬八千人得無生法忍」 tr. “sixty-eight thousand people attained patient acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas,” through 0059b27 (the next chapter, 〈妙莊嚴王本事品第二十七〉 tr. “Chapter 27, the Former Affairs of King Wonderful-Adornment,” begins at 0059b28). Source file: the Source-Text layer, verified word for word, with all five spells sealed character for character.
- 竺法護 T263 《正法華經》 〈總持品第二十四〉 begins at 〔T09n0263 0129c26〕: weighing merit through 「八十億百千姟江河沙·一四句頌·法之供養最為第一」 tr. “eighty koṭis of hundreds of thousands of gai of river-sands · a single four-line verse · the offering of Dharma is foremost” 0130a02 · all five spells entirely meaning-translated 〔藥王 0130a13／六十二江河沙 0130a21・妙勇 0130b03・毘沙門 0130b09・順怨天王 0130b16／四千二百億 0130b18・十魅 0130b27〕 · the meaning-translated names of the ten enchantresses 0130b20 / Mother of Demon Children 0130b23 · warning verse, 「猶如華菜剖·破壞佛寺鬪亂聖眾」 tr. “like a flowering vegetable split open · destroying a buddha-shrine and throwing the holy assembly into disorder” 0130c08 · through 「六萬八千人逮得無所從生法忍」 tr. “sixty-eight thousand people attained patient acceptance of dharmas as arising from nowhere” 0130c28 (the next chapter, 〈淨復淨王品第二十五〉 tr. “Chapter 25, King Pure and Pure Again,” begins at 0130c29).
- 添品 T264 〈陀羅尼品第二十一〉 begins at 〔T09n0264 0186c11〕 (after the Chapter on the Supernormal Powers of the Tathāgata, Chapter 20, at 0185c16, and before the Chapter on the Universal Gateway, Chapter 24, at 0191b23; the chapter order is reversed): weighing merit agrees with Kumārajīva 0186c15 · all five spells are sound-transcribed and introduced by 「怛姪他」 tr. “thus” 〔藥王 0186c22／六十二億恒河沙 0187a07・勇施 0187a17・毘沙門 0187a27・持國 0187b05／四十二億 0187b08・十羅剎女 0187b17〕 · the names of the ten rākṣasī women agree word for word with Kumārajīva 0187b10 · warning verse, 『頭破如摩利闍迦』 tr. “his head shall split like malijaka” 0187b27 / Devadatta’s crime of splitting the Saṅgha 0187b29 · through 「六萬八千人得無生法忍」 tr. “sixty-eight thousand people attained patient acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas” 0187c11.
- 窺基《玄贊》T34n1723 (the expository mirror): 〈陀羅尼品〉〔0850a19〕—〔0850b19〕 (preceded by the Guanshiyin chapter 0846c07–0850a18; followed by the King Wonderful-Adornment chapter from 0850b20). Three-gateway analysis 0850a20 · reason for coming, 「為護眾生諸難如前已釋」 tr. “to protect sentient beings from many perils, as already explained above” 0850a21 · explanation of the name, 「梵云陀羅尼此云總持念慧為體」 tr. “In Sanskrit it is called dhāraṇī; here it is rendered ‘total retention’; recollection and wisdom are its substance” 0850a22 · resolution of a difficulty, 「總持有四·呪持護前二·無得無生忍總持也」 tr. “Total retention is fourfold; spell-retention protects the former two; there is no attainment of patient acceptance of non-arising; this is total retention” 0850a25 · threefold division of the chapter-text 0850a29 · five divine spells gathered into three classes 0850b03 · Vaiśravaṇa, Much-Hearing and the northern heavenly king 0850b10 · Realm-Holder, the eastern heavenly king 0850b13 · seven divisions concerning the ten spirits 0850b14 · the assembly’s attainment of benefit 0850b18. Its doctrine is light; it is pure outline and has no Consciousness-Only theory of mind and nature.
- 智顗《文句》T34n1718 (parallel witness): 〈釋陀羅尼品〉 begins at 0146b29 (extremely short, roughly half a column) · explanation of the name, able to retain and able to ward off, 0146c01 · the explanations of spells by various masters 0146c08 · preservation of original sounds without translation 0146c24 · spells protect so that the Way may circulate 0146c25 · five rounds requesting the proclamation of spells 0146c29 · five divisions concerning the ten women 0147a02 · glosses on spirit-names 0147a03 · ari-tree branch 0147a07 through 0147a11. Its attachment to transmission for transforming others and conveying the vehicle through total retention occurs at 0143b04 in the general outline of transmission.
- 吉藏《義疏》T34n1721 (parallel witness): 〈陀羅尼品第二十六〉 begins at 0629b08 · propagation of the sutra by protection from perils, the secret gateway, 0629b09 · the three names of prajñā as one in substance 0629b21 · five differences between samādhi and total retention, with recollection primary, 0629c16 · the four retentions of the Treatise on the Bodhisattva Stages 0629c28 · three meanings contained in spells 0629c04 · approximate translation following the True Dharma Lotus, disclosing the secret Dharma of the true mark, 0630a11 · threefold division of the chapter 0630a03 · five people divided into three classes 0630a07 · four divisions concerning the rākṣasī women 0630b11 · seven drops of vital fluid 0630b15 · ari-tree branch and flowering-vegetable split 0630b23 through 0630b24.
- Record of formation (the history of untranslated spells and the three translated forms): Kumārajīva and the supplemented edition title the chapter 「陀羅尼品」 tr. “Chapter on Dhāraṇī”; Dharmarakṣa titles it 「總持品」 tr. “Chapter on Total Retention.” The chapter numbers are Kumārajīva 26, Dharmarakṣa 24, and supplemented edition 21; the supplemented edition places Dhāraṇī before the Universal Gateway, reversing their sequence. The three houses all recognize the translation convention that divine spells are not translated: Zhiyi says, 「皆存本音譯人不翻」 tr. “all preserve their original sounds; the translators did not translate them” 0146c24; Jizang says, 「呪語多含，此間無物以擬之；若欲翻之，於義不盡，又失其勢用」 tr. “Spell-language contains many meanings, and here there is nothing with which to match it; if one wished to translate it, the meaning would not be exhausted, and its power and function would also be lost” 0629c09. Yet the three Chinese translations display a history of leaving untranslated, sound-transcribing, and meaning-translating: Kumārajīva gives partial sound-transcriptions; the supplemented edition gives sound-transcriptions introduced by tadyathā, 「怛姪他」 tr. “thus”; Dharmarakṣa alone meaning-translates all five, and Jizang relies on that version to translate them approximately 0630a12. Huizhao’s 《義決》 T34n1724 does not reach this chapter.