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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
www.kobatirth.org
Acharya Shri Kailassagarsuri Gyanmandir
66
SARVATATHAGATĀDHIȘTHĀNAVYOHAM The above extract indicates a natural end. In view of the fact that after this a new Dhāraņi is being recited, it may be easily concluded that the rest of the manuscript is a later addition.
The Tibetan version is a verbatim rendering of the whole of the Sanskrit Ms. and hence it is much larger in size than the Chinese. Nanjio has not taken note of this fact in his Catalogue.
Date of the Work The safest data for ascertaining the time of composition of the work are the dates of the Tibetan and Chinese translations. The Tibetan translation was made in the ninth century while the Chinese in the seventh (about 701 A.C.). Hence there can be no doubt about the existence of this work in the 7th or 6th century. If it be held that the Chinese translators worked with a Sanskrit original, which is earlier in date than the present one, then its ‘date may be pushed further back, say, by a century, and we may place this text in the 5th or 6th century A.C.'
Its Contents Section I—The text opens as usual with an account of Buddha's residence which is here located at Potalaka, the abode of Avalokiteśvara, and his audience consisted of gods, men, bodhisattvas and other beings. There, at the request of all these beings Buddha delivered the Sūtra, containing the principal Dhārani, for the benefit of beings, present and future.
Section II—What follows after Section I is really superfluous. It is only another dhārani called Abhayatejam, delivered by Vajrapāni Bodhisattva; the only reason for its inclusion is perhaps that it is also a Buddhādhisthāna and that the merit of learning this dhārani is similar to that conferred by the recital of the previous one.
Section III--After the conclusion of this dhārani as also an account of a ceremony, Manjusri appears on the scene and
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