Darijing 大日經

Darijing 大日經, full title Da Piluzhena chengfo shenbian jiate jing 大毗盧遮那成佛神變加持經 "Extensive sutra on the empowering blessings of the Transformative perfect awakening of the Great Vairocana", also called Piluzhena chengfo jing 毗盧遮那成佛經, Da Piluzhena chengfo jing 大毗盧遮那成佛經, Da Piluzhena chengdao jing 大毗盧遮那成道經, Da Piluzhena jing 大毗盧遮那經 or Piluzhena jing 毗盧遮那經, is a central scripture of Esoteric Buddhism (Tantric Buddhism, Ch. Mizong 密宗). Together with the Vajraśekhara-sūtra (Jingangding jing 金剛頂經) and the Susiddhikara-sūtra (Suxidi jing 蘇悉地經), it came to be revered as one of the Three Great Scriptures of Esoteric Buddhism.

It was translated during the Tang period 唐 (618-907) by Śubhakarasiṃha (Ch. Shanwuwei 善無畏, 637-735). The term Maha-Vairocana means "Great Sun". According to Buddhist tradition, this sutra was expounded by Mahāvairocana Tathāgata (Ch. Dari Rulai 大日如來) in the Vajra Dharma Realm Palace (Ch. Jingang Fajie Gong 金剛法界宮) for Vajrapāṇi (Ch. Jingangshou Pusa 金剛手菩薩). Originally, the scripture existed in an extensive version of one hundred thousand verses. It is said that Nāgārjuna (Ch. Longshu 龍樹 or Longmeng Pusa 龍猛菩薩) entered the Iron Stupa of Southern India, where he personally received the transmission from Vajrasattva (Ch. Jingangsaduo 金剛薩埵) and then recited the text. Nāgārjuna later extracted the essential meaning of the hundred-thousand-verse version and compiled an abridged text of slightly more than three thousand verses.

In 716, Śubhakarasiṃha arrived in the Tang capital Chang'an 長安 (today's Xi'an 西安, Shaanxi) to propagate the Dharma (the Buddha's teachings). Accompanied by his disciple Yixing 一行 (683-727), he went to Huayan Temple 華嚴寺, where they selected the abridged version of the scripture transmitted by Nāgārjuna, which had been collected at Nālandā University (Ch. Nalantuo Si 那爛陀寺) in India by the itinerant monk Wuxing 無行 during his travels and studies in India. In 724, the first six fascicles of the sutra were translated at Fuxian Monastery 福先寺 in Luoyang 洛陽 under imperial patronage. The monk Baoyue 寶月 served as the oral translator, while Yixing acted as the scribe, also assisting in refining the wording and doctrinal coherence. In the following year, a Sanskrit text brought by Śubhakarasiṃha himself (according to one account, composed by him) was translated as the seventh fascicle of a scripture of thirty-six chapters. The first six fascicles, containing thirty-one chapters, are regarded as the main body of the scripture.

The contents of the Darijing are divided into two major parts. The first chapter constitutes the doctrinal section, while chapters two through thirty-one comprise the section on Esoteric practices. The doctrinal teachings primarily assert that the minds of all sentient beings inherently possess a pure bodhi mind (jingxin 淨心): one's own mind is all-knowing wisdom. Therefore, to realise bodhi (puti 菩提, i.e., Buddhahood) is to realise one's own mind. Truly and correctly knowing one's own mind as it is constitutes bodhi and the attainment of Buddhahood. The sutra extensively discusses such topics as thirty kinds of non-Buddhist paths (sanzhi zhong waidao 三十種外道), the eight minds of opposition and accord (wei-shun baxin 違順八心), the sixty mental states (liushi xin 六十心), the three kalpas (eons) and six fearlessnesses (sanjie liuwuwei 三劫六無畏), and the ten formulae of dependent arising (shi yuansheng ju 十緣生句). These various modes of mind are explained to discern and distinguish the true nature of one's own mind.

The Esoteric practices centre on the second chapter and primarily expound the Great Maṇḍala of the Womb Realm of Great Compassion (Dabei taicang da manchaluo fa 大悲胎藏大曼荼羅法), together with its causal conditions and subsidiary components. The text also teaches methods for cultivating the three mysteries (sanmi 三密: body, speech, and mind), secret maṇḍalas, the discipline of mantra-holders, and ritual procedures, including the homa fire offering (humo yigui 護摩儀軌).

Some exegetical traditions summarise the entire sutra in three key statements: the "bodhi-mind statement" (putixin jubiao 菩提心句表), representing the discussion of mind-nature in the first chapter; the "great compassion statement" (dabei jubiao 大悲句表), representing the Womb Realm practice theory centred on the second chapter; and the "skillful means statement" (fangbian jubiao 方便句表), representing the methodological teachings of the three mysteries found throughout the remaining chapters.

Doctrinally, this sutra is grounded in the thought of the middle-period Mahāyāna sutras and treatises. It systematises and synthesises the doctrinal teachings and ritual practices that had developed since the emergence of dhāraṇī (spell or mantra)-based Esoteric Buddhism (tuoluoni mijiao 陀羅尼密教). It was the first to organise and establish a coherent doctrinal system for Esoteric Buddhism, to elevate the Mahāvairocana Buddha as the supreme Dharmakāya Buddha (Ch. fashen fo 法身佛, i.e., the "absolute Buddha") and central teacher of Esoteric Buddhism, and to systematise Esoteric rituals by endowing them with a comprehensive theoretical foundation.

All the mantras (mizhou 密咒) in the sutra are written in Sanskrit, with each syllable transcribed individually using its corresponding Chinese phonetic equivalent.

Many commentarial and ritual works on the Vairocana Sutra were composed. Major examples include Darijing gongyang cidi fa 大日經供養次第法 by Śubhakarasiṃha and Darijing shu 大日經疏 by Yixing. In the Korean state of Silla 新羅, the monk Pulkasaŭi 不可思議 wrote the commentary Da Piluzhena jing gongyang cidi fa shu (Tae Piroch'ana-kyŏng kongyang ch'aje pŏpso) 大毗盧遮那經供養次第法疏. In Japan, Kūkai 空海 (774-835) wrote the Darijing kaiti (Dainichi-kyō kaidai) 大日經開題, and Ennin 圓仁 (794-864) the Da Piluzhena chengdao jing xinmu (Dai Birushana jōdō-kyō shinmoku) 大毗盧遮那成道經心目.