Diamond Wisdom - Vajrayana

Indian monk. His Sanskrit name was Vajrabodhi. He is said to have been a prince of Central India or to have been a Brahmin from the Maurya Kingdom in South India. He became a monk at the Nalanda Temple at the age of 10, where he studied Mahayana Buddhist treatises such as the Prajnaparamita Treatise, the Hundred Treatises, the Twelve Gates Treatise, the Yogacara Treatise, the Yogacara Treatise, and the Benchuhen Treatise. He further studied esoteric Buddhism based on the Vajrapani Sutra in South India, and traveled to India, Sri Lanka, and other places before sailing to China and arriving in Luoyang in 720 (8th year of the Kaiyuan era). Under the patronage of Emperor Xuanzong, he lived in Luoyang and Chang'an and translated scriptures and rituals mainly from the Vajrapani sutra system, including the four volumes of the Abridged Recitation of the Vajrapani Yoga Sutra, over a period of about 20 years from 723. His introduction of esoteric scriptures from the middle period of Indian esoteric Buddhism, such as the Vajrapani sutra, one after another marked the beginning of the establishment of esoteric Buddhism in China, along with Shanmuwei's translation of the Mahavairocana Sutra. Later, at the request of his disciple Amoghavajra, he was given the posthumous title of Daigukyo Sanzo (Great Tripitaka Master). He was the fifth patriarch of the Shingon sect. It is said that there was contact between Shanmuwei, who is from the Vajrapani sutra, and Vajrapani, who is from the Vajrapani sutra, but this is unclear.

[Izumi Onozuka, November 18, 2016]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

インドの僧。サンスクリット名はバジラボディVajrabodhi。中インドの王子とも、南インド、マウルヤ国のバラモンの出身ともいわれる。10歳でナーランダ寺で出家し、ここで大乗仏教の論書『般若燈論(はんにゃとうろん)』『百論』『十二門論』『瑜伽(ゆが)論』『唯識(ゆいしき)論』『辨中辺(べんちゅうへん)論』を学んだ。さらに南インドで『金剛頂経(こんごうちょうぎょう)』系の密教を修め、インド、スリランカなどを巡ったのち、航路で中国に行き、720年（開元8）洛陽(らくよう)に入った。玄宗の庇護(ひご)のもと、洛陽と長安にあって、723年から約20年間に『金剛頂瑜伽中略出念誦(りゃくしゅつねんじゅ)経』4巻をはじめ、おもに『金剛頂経』系統の経典、儀軌(ぎき)を翻訳した。『金剛頂経』などのインド密教中期の密教経典を次々に紹介したことは、善無畏(ぜんむい)による『大日(だいにち)経』の翻訳とともに、中国密教確立の端緒となった。のち、弟子の不空(ふくう)の奏請により、大弘教三蔵(だいぐきょうさんぞう)の諡号(しごう)を賜る。真言宗付法の第五祖。『大日経』系の善無畏と、『金剛頂経』系の金剛智との間に交渉があったといわれるが、不明である。

［小野塚幾澄　2016年11月18日］

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