666 clemente beghi
seventh century) or the Essential Incantation of the Eleven-faced One
(Avalokiteśvara-ekādaśamukha-dhāraṇī, Jūichimen-kanzeon-shinjushin-
kyō T. 1071) by Xuanzang.
It is interesting to note that among the sūtras to be recited we also
find texts that would later be important for Shingon and Tendai,
such as the Path of the Prajñāpāramitā Sutra (Adhyartha-śatikā-
prajñāpāramitā sūtra, (Dairaku-)kongō-fukū-shinjitsu-sanmaya-kyō
, often shortened to (Hannya)rishukyō ( )
T. 241) (Horiike 1994, 15–16; Yoshida 1988, 155–68; Abé
1999, 160).
Dhāraṇī texts were very much sought after, a fact further confirmed
by the circulars (chō ) between the court and the temples. One dated
751 includesa request from the Palace to the Agency for the Construc-
tion of Tōdaiji (Zō-Tōdaiji-shi ) for a copy of the eleventh
fascicle of the Dhāraṇī Sūtra Collection because it had gone missing. In
another letter, Tōdaiji informs the sūtra scriptorium that a copy of the
Dhāraṇī Sūtra of the Six Gates (Śaṇmukhī-dhāraṇī, Rokumon-darani-
kyō T. 1360) had been made, as it was needed for the
assembly reader (tokushi ).
The use of esoteric scriptures was in fact not limited to individual
training, as we can see from the temple records at Kōfukuji ,
in which it is recorded that in 733, together with the many Mahāyāna
texts read, were also the esoteric Abhiseka Sūtrạ (Bussetsu-kanjō-kyō
T. 1331), the Dhāraṇī Sūtra of the Great Cundī, Mother of
the Seven Koṭīs of Buddhas (Bussetsu-shichikutei butsumo shin dai Jun-
dei darani kyō T. 1077), the Dhāraṇī
Sūtra of Yamāntaka (Jpn. Daiitoku-darani-kyō
T. 1341), and the Dhāraṇī Sūtra of the Great Torch (Daihōju-darani-
kyō T. 1340) (Kushida 1964, 20). Interest was not
only on dhāraṇī scriptures but also on more complex theoretical texts.
In 722 we find an official request from Tōdaiji to the empress’s palace
(kongū ) to borrow the Mahāvairocana sūtra, the Vajraśekhara
sūtra, and some other esoteric sūtras (Kushida 1964, 21). Unfortu-
nately, we do not know why these two sūtras, so fundamental to later
Shingon, were requested at this time.
There is a relatively clear picture of the main centers of esoteric
knowledge during the Nara period. Before the foundation of Tōdaiji,
whose first abbot, Rōben (689–773), was very interested in eso-
teric scriptures and was a renowned practitioner of dhāraṇīs, the