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 Pure Abode, sitting in the full lotus posture amid the heavenly assembly. With right mindfulness he contemplated the entire great assembly and then declared: "You celestial sons should listen single-mindedly to the sublime and wondrous Practice of Mañjuśrī, the Youth. It is the Ritual Altar, the Divine Mantra, the performance of the Rite… the means of curing illness and protecting the body, the supreme and foremost secret Heart of the Mantra, which all the Tathāgatas alike proclaim, extol, and praise as the Great King of Mantras. If there be a good son or a virtuous woman who can recite this Mantra, that is to receive and uphold all Divine Mantras.

"You celestial assembly! No one is able to oppose this Great King of Mantras; moreover, it can command Mañjuśrī, the Youth, the Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva. This Mantra can also, following the mind and with sovereign mastery, draw in and govern what is to come, and command what is present, so as to accomplish all matters — how much more so the other Bodhisattvas. All the Divine Mantras of the world and beyond the world, and every obstruction, are entirely dispelled and driven away. It possesses great valor, great majestic power, and is foremost in efficacy.

Among the mantras, what is offered up to the Honored One is contained in a single syllable. This single syllable can accomplish all undertakings, can fulfill every wholesome Dharma, and stands forever above all the mantra-arts of the world and beyond the world; it cannot be destroyed. It is the Heart of all Buddhas, and can satisfy every prayer and supplication.

You celestial assembly, all of you, with one mind, listen to this supreme Divine Mantra, endowed with great majestic power beyond conceiving and discussing."

Then he uttered the Mantra:

Oṃ, śra-hyiṃ

(Here four characters combine into one character; therefore both the Sanskrit and Chinese forms are set down together)

OMÏ ‘SRHYIMÏ

"You celestial assembly! This is the Victorious One-Syllable King of Mantras among all secrets. No sentient being dares to oppose it, no ghost or spirit dares to draw near it; it is the auspicious work of all the Buddhas.

Among all mantras it most readily establishes accomplishment; it acts according to one's intent, becoming the Great Victorious Honored One among all worlds. For one who seeks wealth, it can make him rich; amid all anger, it brings about kindness and charity. Toward all conscious beings it takes compassion as its nature; those who bear enmity and opposition all come into accord.

To speak of the essentials: whatever is undertaken is wholly accomplished. Even if one does not perform the rite or enter the Ritual Altar, but merely recites and upholds it directly, and touches the object with one's hand, then one immediately obtains what one wishes.

When the mantra is cast upon a worn garment, everyone loves the wearer, and all who behold him are delighted.

If the mantra is cast upon a tooth-wood (a toothpick), then when used to clean the teeth, the toothache is at once cured.

If one is suffering from sore eyes, take Saindhava salt (long-aged salt), grind it into powder, recite the mantra over it seven times, and place a little within the eye; then that aching pain at once ceases.

If a person suffers from earache: take from the ground a heap of dung of elephants and horses, fungus, and the oil of Tila (oil pressed from the lettuce plant), and long-aged salt — take a little of each, recite the mantra over them seven times, place them together in one spot, grind them to fine bits, and squeeze out the warm essence-fluid. Then drip it into the ear-canal, and that aching pain at once ceases.

If a woman, while giving birth, has the fetus stirring and binding into a knotted pain within the womb so that it cannot quickly come forth: take the root of Aṭarūṣa or the root of Ṛkṣa (oxknee), place it in water free of insects, then pound and grind it until it is crushed to bits. Then recite the mantra over it seven times and rub it directly below the navel, and she will give birth easily.

If a person has been shot, and the sharp point of the arrow is lodged in the body and cannot be drawn out: one may take butter, recite the mantra over it 108 times, and have that person drink it; then that sharp point will at once come out.

If one has eaten food that, kept overnight, will not digest, and it binds into a knotted pain within the belly, with vomiting above and purging below, in confused dread of death: one may take black salt, or long-aged salt, or various mixed salts, recite the mantra over them seven times, grind them to bits, place them in warm water, and have him drink it; then he is at once cured.

Or again, if one suffers dysentery that will not stop: take the root of the Quất Dữu tree (a small mandarin tree) together with the root of the Minh Tra tree, grind and pound them very fine, mix them with water, and then drink it; one is at once cured.

If a barren woman has no means of bearing children, yet wishes to seek offspring: she should take the root of the Aśvagandhā tree, cook it well with butter, then pound and grind it until it is broken to bits, mix it with the milk of a yellow cow, and recite the mantra over it twenty-five times. Wait until that woman's body is pure, 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 again, if a woman has no offspring to continue the line — whether for fifteen years or for many more years; or because she has been bound by another's Forbidding Mantra; or through cursing and burning; or owing to various illnesses; or from some other affliction; or from being poisoned — and meeting with these evil conditions she has therefore no children and grandchildren: she should take a little of the tail-feathers of a peacock, place the sharp tips in butter, boil it up, then grind it fine until suitable, and cast in a piece of Rock-honey as large as a jujube. Then recite the mantra over it twenty-one times and have her drink it all; each time recite the mantra seven times for one drinking. Then that woman becomes pure, all her illnesses are cured, and she at once conceives.

If a woman suffers from hemorrhaging that will not stop: she should use the root of the Ālambu tree, or use the root of the indigo plant; take a handful, pound and grind it, mix it with milk, and cook it well. Then recite the mantra over it 108 times and give it to her to drink, and she is at once cured of the illness.

If a person suffers from aching headache: take the feathers of a crow, recite the mantra over them seven times, and brush and sweep the aching place; then the illness is at once cured forever.

If a person suffers from malarial fever — whether the fever breaks out once every one day, two days, three days, or four days; or it is a constant feverish illness; or it is a temporary feverish illness: take milk-gruel, mix it with butter, recite the mantra over it 108 times, and have him eat it; he is at once cured.

If a person has been struck by another's bewitching spell or by Gu poison: he should use the Mind that Turns Back Conditions, recite the mantra upon his own face 108 times, and then contemplate the sick person; the latter is at once cured.

If a person has been afflicted by evil ghosts — the ghosts of the Kaṭapūtana band and the like causing illness, or a child taken ill — indeed by any non-human beings together causing affliction: recite the mantra upon one's own palm 108 times and then rub the head of the patient; then all the illnesses are cured.

If a person is bitten by a snake or scorpion, or wounded by a mad dog: blow the breath sharply upon the sore, then recite the mantra over it forty-nine times, and one is at once cured.

If a person suffers from leprosy or from a wasting, emaciating illness: he should bathe and cleanse himself thoroughly, dwell in a quiet and pure place, and constantly recite this Mantra; then all of it is removed and cured.

In general, one who recites the Mantra should always keep far from evil people and from defiled, unclean places; he should not go near wine and meat or the five pungent herbs (the five acrid roots), and should uphold it single-mindedly; then there is nothing that is not efficacious.

If, each day, one constantly 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 an entire country.

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

To speak the essentials and state it in brief thus: For curing illness and protecting the body, it brings benefit according to the occasion. If there be still other matters to be done, they may all be done according to one's wish, and there is nothing that is not accomplished.

At that time the devas and the great assembly, having heard the Buddha expound this Sūtra of the One-Syllable King of Mantras, all rejoiced and reverently practiced it.

(If, further, there be a person who single-mindedly seeks Liberation, hopes for great benefit, and presently hopes for the fruit of realization, he may, with utmost mind, follow the Mantra within the Canon and perform the Great Mantra Rite, expounded at length as in the Sūtra.)

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