曼殊室利菩薩咒藏中一字咒王經

At that time the Buddha Śākyamuni dwelt in the Heaven of the Pure Abode (Śuddhāvāsa). Seated in the full-lotus posture amid the assembly of devas, with right mindfulness he contemplated the whole great assembly, and then declared: "All of you Devaputras should listen single-mindedly to the sublime and wondrous practice of the Youth Mañjuśrī (Mañjuśrī Kumāra). It is the Maṇḍala-platform, the Divine Mantra, and the Ritual Methods—for the curing of illness and the protection of the body. It is the Heart of the Mantra, supreme and foremost in secrecy, which all the Tathāgatas alike proclaim, extol, and praise as the Great Mantra King. If there be a good son or a virtuous woman who can recite this Mantra, this is to receive and uphold all the Divine Mantras.

"All of you of the assembly of devas! This Great Mantra King is such that none can oppose or contravene it; moreover, it can direct and command the Youth Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva. This Mantra can also, according to the Mind and with sovereign freedom, draw in and govern the future and command what is present, so as to accomplish all manner of works—how much more so the other Bodhisattvas. All the Divine Mantras of the worldly and the world-transcending realms, and all obstructions, are entirely removed and dispelled. It possesses great valor, great majestic power, and is foremost in spiritual efficacy.

Among all the mantras, it is offered up as the Honored One within a single syllable. This single syllable can accomplish all undertakings and can fulfill every wholesome Dharma. It ever stands above all the mantra-arts of the worldly and world-transcending realms and cannot be destroyed. It is the Heart of all Buddhas and can satisfy in full every prayer and wish.

All of you of the assembly of devas, with one mind listen to this supreme Divine Mantra, possessed of great majestic power, inconceivable and beyond discussion."

Then he spoke the Mantra, which is:

Án, sất lạc hứ diệm

(Here there are four Chinese characters combined to form a single syllable; therefore the two forms, Sanskrit and Chinese, are both preserved.)

OMÏ ‘SRHYIMÏ

"All of you of the assembly of devas! This is the Triumphant One-Syllable Mantra King among all secret teachings. All sentient beings dare not oppose or contravene it; all ghosts and spirits dare not draw near it; all the Buddhas perform good and auspicious works through it.

Among all mantras it is most able to establish, and it acts according to one's intent, becoming the Great Honored Victor among all worlds. For one who seeks wealth it can bring riches; amid all wrath it brings forth loving-kindness and charity. Toward all conscious beings it makes compassion its nature; those who harbor enmity and opposition will all become compliant.

To state the essential: whatever one undertakes will all be accomplished. Even if one does not perform the ritual or enter the maṇḍala-platform, but simply recites and upholds it directly, or touches the object with one's hand, then one will at once obtain whatever one wishes.

When one enchants the robe one wears, all people will love and cherish one, and all who behold one will rejoice.

If one enchants a tooth-stick (a twig for cleaning the teeth), then when used to clean the teeth, the affliction of toothache will at once be cured.

If at a time of eye affliction, take Saindhava salt (long-aged salt), grind it into a powder, enchant it seven times, take a small amount and place it in the eye, and that affliction of pain will at once cease.

If a person suffers from earache: take dung of elephants and horses from the surface of the ground, mushrooms, oil of Cūrṇa (oil pressed from the leaves of the lettuce plant), and long-aged salt—take a little of each, enchant it seven times, place them together in one spot, grind them fine, and press out the warm essence. Then drip it into the ear-hole, and that affliction of pain will at once cease.

If there be a woman who, at the time of giving birth, has the fetus stirring and producing a knotted pain within the belly so that it cannot come forth swiftly: take the root of Aṭāru, or the root of Pṛśniparṇī (Ngưu Tất), place it in water free of insects, then pound and grind it so that it is crushed fine. Then enchant it seven times and smear it just below the navel, and she will give birth with ease.

If a person has been shot, and the sharp point of an arrow is lodged in the body and cannot be drawn out: one may take butter, enchant it one hundred and eight times, then have that person drink it, and that sharp point will at once come forth.

If one suffers from food eaten the night before that has not been digested, producing knotted pain within the belly, vomiting above and purging below, in confusion and fearing death: one may take black salt, or long-aged salt, or various kinds of mixed salt, enchant it seven times, grind it fine, place it in warm water, and have one drink it, and one will at once be cured.

Or if one suffers from dysentery that cannot be stopped: take the root of the Quất Dữu tree (the small mandarin tree) together with the root of the Minh Tra tree, grind and pound them very fine, blend with water, and drink it, and one will at once be cured.

If a barren woman has no means of bearing children and yet wishes to seek a child: one should take the root of the Aśvagandha tree, cook it thoroughly in butter, then pound and beat it until it is crushed fine, blend it with the milk of a yellow-colored cow, and enchant it twenty-five times. Wait until that woman's body is pure and clean, then have her drink that medicine. If the wife does not transgress with another man, and the husband does not transgress with another woman, then before long she will conceive.

Or if a woman has no offspring to continue the line, having passed fifteen years or yet many years—whether bound by another's binding-mantra, or through curses and burnings, or owing to various illnesses, or to other afflictions, or having been poisoned; meeting with such evil conditions she has no children or descendants—one should take a little of the tail-feather down of a peacock, place the sharp tip in butter, boil it up, then grind it fine to suit, and cast in a piece of rock-honey (Śilā-honey) as large as a jujube. Then enchant it twenty-one times and have her drink it all; with each enchanting of seven times, she drinks once. Then that woman becomes pure and clean, all her illnesses are cured, and she will conceive.

If there be a woman suffering from incessant uterine hemorrhage: one should use the root of the Ālambu tree, or use the root of the indigo plant; take a handful, pound and grind it, blend it with milk, and cook it thoroughly. Then enchant it one hundred and eight times and give it to her to drink, and she will at once be cured of the illness.

If a person suffers from headache: take the feather of a crow, enchant it seven times, then brush and sweep the place of pain, and one will at once be cured of the illness forever.

If a person suffers from malarial fever—whether the disease arises once every day, every two days, every three days, or every four days; or whether it is a constant fever-illness, or a temporary fever-illness—one should take milk-gruel blended with butter, enchant it one hundred and eight times, and give it to be eaten, and one will at once be cured.

If a person has been struck by another's Yāmya-bewitchment or Kākhorda-poison (Cổ Độc): one should employ the Mind that turns back conditions (the Reverting Mind), enchant one's own face one hundred and eight times, then contemplate that sick person, and he will at once be cured.

If a person has been afflicted by evil ghosts, by the ghosts of the host of Kaṭapūtana and the like, so as to bring about illness; or if a child falls ill; or if it be simply that all the non-humans (amanuṣya) together bring about affliction—one should enchant one's own palm one hundred and eight times, then stroke the head of the patient, and all illnesses will at once be cured.

If a person has been bitten by a snake or a scorpion, or wounded by a mad dog: blow one's breath swiftly upon the sore, then enchant it forty-nine times, and one will at once be cured.

If there be a person suffering from leprosy or from wasting emaciation: one should bathe and cleanse oneself thoroughly, dwell in a quiet and pure place, and ever recite this Mantra, and all will be entirely removed and cured.

In general, one who recites this Mantra should ever keep far from evil people and from defiled, unclean places; should not come near wine and meat, nor the five pungent herbs (the five pungent plants); and upholding it single-mindedly, there is nothing that will not prove efficacious.

If in a single day one ever recites it once, then one can protect one's own body.

If one recites it twice, then one can protect one's companions.

If one recites it three times, then one can protect a single household.

If one recites it four times, then one can protect a single village.

If one recites it five times, then one can protect a single city.

If one recites it one hundred times, then one can protect a single country.

If one recites it one thousand times, then one can protect the four continents under heaven.

To use essential words and speak in brief, thus it is: for curing illness and protecting the body, it brings benefit according to the occasion. And if there yet be other works to be done, all may be done according to one's intent, and there is nothing that will not be accomplished.

At that time the devas and the great assembly, having heard the Buddha speak this Sūtra of the One-Syllable Mantra King, all rejoiced and reverently put it into practice.

(If, moreover, there be a person who earnestly seeks Liberation, who longs for great benefit and aspires in this present life for the fruit of realization, then one may with utmost mind, in accordance with the Mantra within the Canon, perform the Great Mantra Method, expounded at length as in the Sūtra.)

THE BUDDHA SPEAKS THE SŪTRA OF THE ONE-SYLLABLE MANTRA KING (The End)