Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia

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scripts and texts from as far abroad as Sri Lanka, Śrīvijaya, and Java.^51
With some one hundred and eleven translations, he was the most pro-
lific known translator after Amoghavajra,^52 and garnered numerous
accolades and honors.^53 Over half of his output could be classified as
Mahāyāna, the rest esoteric, much of it dhāraṇī texts. Perhaps his most
significant contributions were the Mahāsahasrapramardana sūtra,^54
the Guhyasamāja-tantra,^55 completed in 1002, and the first complete
translation of the Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha (STTS),^56 completed
between 1012 and 1015.


Fahu (Dharmapāla)


Dharmapāla was also a Kaśmīri monk who had studied the Vedas and
other Hindu literature before his conversion. Once fully ordained, he
attained the status of ācārya and studied Vinaya, Śabdavidyāśāstra,
and Mahāyāna works at Vikamaśīla. He arrived at the Chinese court
in 1004.^57 Like the other key monks for the Institute, he garnered vari-
ous honors.^58 He worked closely with Weijing (973–1051) who
had mastered Sanskrit, though he had never left China. The pair pro-
duced a Sanskrit-Chinese lexicon, the Jingyou Tianzhu ziyuan
, which garnered an imperial preface from Emperor Renzong.^59
In 1054–1055 Dharmapāla presented his translation of the Hevajra
ḍākinī-jala-saṃvara-tantra.^60 He died three years later in 1058.


(^51) SHY, 200 (daoshi 2): 7892a.
(^52) Sen 2002, 45.
(^53) Sen 2002, 46.
(^54) Shouhu da qian guotu jing ( T. 999) completed in 983. This
text had considerable influence beyond the capital and images drawn from it were
enshrined in the monumental sculpture of Baodingshan in Sichuan under the South-
ern Song.
(^55) Foshuo yiqie rulai sanye zuishang mimi dajiaowang jing
(T. 885).
(^56) Foshuo yiqie rulai zhenshi she dacheng xiancheng sanmei dajiaowang jing
(T. 882).
(^57) Fozu tongji, T. 2035.49:402c18–20. See also Sen 2002, 46; Willemen 1983,
27–28.
(^58) Jan 1966a, 40–41.
(^59) See Sen 2002, 46; van Gulik 1980, 91–96. The text is preserved in ZDJ, 72: 850-



  1. 60
    Foshuo Dabei kongzhi jin’gang dajiaowang yigui jing
    (T. 892).

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