. mudrā, mantra, mandala 77
even a “signet-ring,” i.e. for sealing.^5 It also means a certain art or
craft and the practitioner is therefore called a muddiko. Hence it is
obvious that even in the early sources, the term was used for ritual
hand-gestures in a manner that approaches its use in the later, esoteric
Buddhist material. However images of buddhas and bodhisattvas from
Gandhāra and Mathura, all dating from the beginning of the Common
Era, feature distinct hand-gestures, which may indicate the beginning
of a more conscious focus on ritualized use of mudrās in Buddhism. In
any case, it is clear that the ritual use of mudrās in Indian Buddhism
was the result of the adaptation of a then common South Asian prac-
tice with a long cultural pedigree.
One of the earliest esoteric Buddhist scriptures in China to intro-
duce the ritual use of mudrās is the Mahāmaṇivipulavimāna.^6 It fea-
tures the use of mudrās and spells as well as a fairly developed ritual
for homa.^7 Although we cannot know for certain, it does not appear
that mudrās as ritual hand-gestures were widely used until the seventh
century.
The usage of the term yin for both mudrā (i.e. a ritual hand-
gesture) and seal in Chinese Buddhism, has allowed for some creative
ambiguity in the interpretation of esoteric Buddhist scriptures in
China. It is evident that the common understanding of “seal” as a tool
for stamping a name on a short piece of text on paper or cloth influ-
enced the way some Chinese Buddhists understood the word. This
may have been bolstered by the widespread use of magical seals in
Daoism. Whether creative misreading or simply a lack of clarity, the
slippage is evident in various, early esoteric Buddhist scriptures. One
of the more historically intriguing examples is the Guanding jing
(Consecration Scripture, Fo shuo guanding qiwanerqian shenwang
hu bichiu zhou jing T. 1331) that
appeared in China as a composite text during the late fifth century.^8
(^5) See Rhys Davids 1899, 289, n119.
(^6) T. 1007 Mou li mantuoluo zhou jing , said to have been trans-
lated during the Liang by an unknown author. As it is first mentioned in Zhisheng’s
Kaiyuan Catalogue of 730 (Kaiyuan shijiao lu T. 2154.55:667a), the
Chinese version may have been produced later than the Liang. However, it does not
appear to post-date 600 C.E.
(^7) Mudrās are here called by a rare, archaic name; mutuoluo. See
T. 1007.20:661a. The text states: “Seeing the mudrā and hearing the spell will cause
one to receive advantages.” 8 T. 1007.20:661c.
For a study of the text see Strickmann 1990, 75–118. Davidson has noted however
that the “consecration” or abhisekạ the text takes its name from is for the transmission