. amoghavajra 355
tutional affiliation than on personal recognition. Accorded honors,
titles, official rank, and fiefs, he consecutively sustained relationships
with Emperors Xuanzong, Suzong, and Daizong, which were shaped
by interests as diverse as the historical circumstances of their reigns
and by rather individual factors that are difficult to assess, involving,
for example, differences in age, loyalty, and friendship.
Known to the court as a disciple of Vajrabodhi who had been
assigned to carry out rituals preventing drought and to care for a fatally
ill princess (Weinstein 1987b, 55), Amoghavajra was ordered by Xuan-
zong to pray for rain and to grant him abhiṣeka soon after his return
to Chang’an in 746. As reward, Amoghavajra received the purple robe
(ziyi ), the most prestigious object that could be bestowed upon
a monk by an emperor. Alluding to the initial bestowal of the purple
robe on the Daoist priest Wang Yuanzhi (510–635 C.E.) in
620 for his contribution to the foundation of the Tang dynasty, the
honor represented the double function of monk and official who held
the right to participate in government assemblies and to access the
imperial chapel as well as the Government Hall (Forte 2003). Emulat-
ing a coronation ritual similar to the investiture of a prince into state
affairs, the abhiṣeka referred to the prerogative of the Brahmanic priest
to confirm the legitimacy of the king and bestow sanctity upon him
(see Strickmann 1990). This symbolic interaction institutionalized the
mutual recognition between the Son of Heaven (tianzi ) and the
ācārya with reference to state formation, and helped to define the stage
on which Amoghavajra was justified in taking further steps toward the
creation of a Buddhist state.
The apocryphal Scripture on Perfect Insight for Humane Kings became
a seminal text in this regard. Xuanzong commanded Amoghavajra to
lecture on the earlier version (Renwang boreboluomi jing
, T. 245, d. late fifth century, falsely ascribed to Kumārajīva,
344–413 C.E.; cf. T. 2035.49:456a). Years later, Amoghavajra initi-
ated a new “translation” of an allegedly expanded version; in fact, this
re-translation was a matter of thoroughly rewriting the earlier text in
order to give reasons for a grand ritual of state protection (T. 246;
cf. Orzech 1998; T. 2120.52:831b). He introduced the notion of the
“wheel of instruction and command” (jiaoling lun ), proper for
wrathful deities such as the vidyārāja Acala (Budong Mingwang
), which promised control over disorder and destruction to the
enemies of the Dharma (Orzech 2006a).