The Viśuddhaprabhā Dhāraṇī (Dhāraṇī of Pure Light), also known by its full title Raśmi-vimala-viśuddhaprabhā-dhāraṇī (The Dhāraṇī of the Pure Stainless Light Rays; Chinese: Wugou Jing Guang Da Tuoluoni 無垢淨光大陀羅尼; Korean: Mugujeonggwangdaedaranigyeong 무구정광대다라니경(無垢淨光大陀羅尼經); T 1024), is a Buddhist ritual text belonging to the dhāraṇī genre of protective and transformative formulas.Chandra, Lokesh. "Dhāraṇī of Pure Radiance (Viśuddha-Prabhā)." The Journal of Oriental Studies. Volume, v.32. Date, 2023. Pages, 162 - 192. This text is preserved in multiple versions and sutras within the Tibetan Kanjur and Chinese Buddhist canons. The dhāraṇī centers on the worship of Amitāyuṣ (the Buddha of Infinite Life) and the invocation of Viśuddhaprabhā (Pure Light), a goddess which personifies Amida's compassionate light. Its main function is the purification of karma, healing, the extension of lifespan (āyuṣ), and the assurance of rebirth in Sukhāvatī, Amida's Pure Land. This dhāraṇī was cited by the Japanese Pure Land Buddhist scholar Genshin as part of thirteen texts conducive to birth in the Pure Land.
The Viśuddhaprabhā Dhāraṇī became popular during the 8th century, and it quickly spread throughout East Asia due to the use of woodblock printing. It was widely employed in Korean Buddhism during the middle and late Silla (668–935), as well as in Japan during the same time. The Great Dhāraṇī Sūtra, a Korean copy of the Dhāraṇī, is considered to be one of the oldest printed texts in the world.
The Dhāraṇī
History The Viśuddhaprabhā Dhāraṇī is part of the Dhāraṇī genre, an important class of Buddhist text in India and beyond. A core theme in these works is the idea that a dhāraṇī contains the accumulated blessings of the buddhas. Consequently, constructing a stūpa and enshrining within it a promoted dhāraṇī is said to generate merit equivalent to building stūpas for a buddha relic. Etymologically linked to the Sanskrit root √dhṛ and the word dhāraṇa, the term conveys meanings of holding, retaining, and memory. One of its primary functions is to assist in memorizing Buddhist teaching. Beyond this mnemonic role, dhāraṇīs also serve protective and soteriological aims, since they were seen as promoting the ability to remember the Dharma and to contain special powers.
The Viśuddhaprabhā Dhāraṇī's transmission from India to East Asia illustrates the dynamics of medieval Buddhist exchange. The dhāraṇī initially arrived in the Kingdom of Khotan from India, where it was copied at Gomatī Monastery, which was a stronghold of the Buddhism in Central Asia. The Khotanese title of the dhāraṇī is Nirmala-vibhāsa-koṭi-pariśuddha Sarvatathāgata-samast-āśā-pratiṣṭhita-mudrā, which Lokesh Chandra translates to "Meditation for consummating all one’s wishes by the supremely pure immaculate radiance of the Omnipotent Tathāgata", translating mudrā-dhāraṇī as "dhāraṇī for meditation." Furthermore, according to Chandra, Nirmala-vibhāsa-koṭi-pariśuddha refers to Amitābha Buddha, the Buddha of Infinite Light.
The dhāraṇī sutra was translated into Chinese in 704 CE by the monk Mituoshan (possibly *Mitraśānta, or *Mitrasena) and the prominent Huayan master Fazang during the final year of Empress Wu Zetian's reign. Chandra writes that Mituoshan simplified the title in Chinese to 無垢淨光大陀羅尼經: Wu-kou (vimala) ching (viśuddha) kuang (prabhā) ta t‘o-lo-ni (mahā-dhāraṇī) ching (sūtra).
Mitrasena presented it at the court of Empress Wu Zetian (r. 690 to 705) of the Tang Dynasty. The Empress, seriously ill and seeking both healing and a favorable rebirth, became a key patron of the text, and many copies were made and ritually enshrined during her reign. Research suggests the sūtra may have been disseminated throughout East Asia as part of a relics-distribution campaign intended to serve as a propaganda tool for Empress Wu's dynasty. After Wu Zetian's death, her son Emperor Zhongzong disseminated printed copies of the dhāraṇī widely around China and in neighboring states in an effort to purify her karma and provide her with a good rebirth as well as pacify the nation.Lepekhova, Elena. The Wugou jingguang da tuoluoni jing (Sutra of the Great Dhāraṇī of Pure Light) and Its Role in the Religious Policy of Chinese and Japanese Empresses (Wu Zetian and Koken [Shotoku-tenno]) in the Seventh–Eighth Century. The text was also inscribed on dhāraṇī pillars.Liying Kuo. Dhāraṇī Pillars in China: function and symbol. China and Beyond in the Early Medieval Period : Cultural Crossings and Inter-Regional Connections, Manohar Publishers; Cambria Press Inc., pp.351-385, 2014. ⟨hal-01660613⟩ The text spread throughout East Asia quickly, reaching Korea in a few years, where it was used for similar ritual purposes. The most famous Korean example of the text is the Great Dhāraṇī Sūtra of Bulguksa (see below).
The dhāraṇī saw another major wave of promotion in 8th-century Japan under Empress Kōken (r. 749–758; 764–770). Following a period of political struggle and depression, she commissioned the production of one million miniature wooden pagodas (Hyakumantō), each containing a printed scroll of the dhāraṇī, in a monumental act of merit-making that sought to secure her health, political authority, and karmic destiny. These events cemented the text's reputation as an especially potent rite for those facing illness, old age, or political peril. Empress Kōken's Hyakumantō Darani project in the 760s-770s represents one of the world's earliest large-scale printing endeavors, predating the Diamond Sūtra. Thousands of these printed dhāraṇī slips survive in Japanese temple collections like Hōryū-ji, providing crucial evidence for early printing technology. The text also inspired artistic and architectural programs, with its descriptions of multi-tiered, multi-cakra pillars influencing stūpa design in East Asia. It remains studied as a prime example of how Buddhist ritual practices were mobilized for personal, political, and communal ends in medieval Asia.
A second and longer version of the dhāraṇī sutra was translated translated by Shihu (Skt. Dānapāla?) between 982 and 1017.
The text was also translated into Tibetan and is contained in the Tibetan Kangyur under the Kriyātantra section with the title 'Od zer dri ma med pa rnam par dag pa'i gzungs (Toh 510 / 982). It is still used as a ritual text in Tibetan Buddhism, mainly for the construction and consecration of stupas.
The texts
The Viśuddhaprabhā dhāraṇīs are found in several versions. The Sūtra of the Great Dhāraṇī of Pure Stainless Light Rays (Ch: 無垢淨光大陀羅尼經) is text number 1024 in the Taisho Tripitaka. This sutra was translated into Chinese by the Indian monk Mitrasena in 704 CE. Set in Kapilavastu, the narrative begins with a Brahmin named Jiebiluozhancha 劫比羅戰茶 (*Kapilacanda?), who is prophesied to die in seven days and descend into the Avīci Hell. Seeking refuge in the Buddha, he is instructed to repair an ancient, ruined stupa, deposit specific sacred formulas in it and chant dhāraṇī. This framework establishes the sutra's primary concern with death, pure land rebirth, karmic purification, illness and life extension, which is tied to ritual incantations and the worship of stupas. In particular, rebirth in the Pure Land of Sukhavati is mentioned four times in the sutra.
Ritually, the Viśuddhaprabhā Dhāraṇī is structured as a complete system for the construction, consecration, and use of a stūpa or ritual pillar (yaṣṭi/dhvaja). The canonical Chinese version of the Dhāraṇī Sūtra contains seven distinct dhāraṇīs, each with a specific liturgical function: (1) a root mantra for purification and life-extension; (2) a formula for sanctifying the central pillar (yaṣṭi) which absent in the Tibetan versions; (3) a dhāraṇī for repairing a damaged pillar; (4) for the sanctification of the pillar linked to the bodhisattva Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin; (5) an invocation for worship at the consecrated site; (6) a concluding rite (visarjana) of farewell to the invoked goddess; and (7) a reiterated great dhāraṇī. Dhāraṇī 7 is a "mahādhāraṇī" which is very similar to the first dhāraṇī with a few minor variations. The Tibetan version of the sutra has six dhāraṇīs (the text calls them mantras, Tib. sṅags).
According to Chandra, the number seven is symbolic, seven being associated with the sun deity in Indian thought, who is called Saptāśva ‘having seven horses’ in the Rigveda, and Saptasapti in the Mahābhārata. In the Brahmanas, the sun is "that which shines, protects everything" (Skt. ya eṣa tapaty eṣa hīdaṃ sarvaṃ gopāyati), it is "the soul of all the gods" (devānām ātmā), the sun "is life" (prāṇa-ādityaḥ), and "saves us from evil" (pāpmano ’pahantā). In a Buddhist context, the solar imagery signifies the light of Amitabha Buddha and its salvific power. Furthermore, Chandra adds that "the seventh dhāraṇī in the Chinese sutra begins with a salutation to sapta-saptati ‘seventy-seven’ in the Siddham script....Sapta-saptati seems to be an error for Saptasapti which means Sun in the Mahābhārata and kāvyas." Thus, the dhāraṇī may have originally referred to Amitabha by an epithet of the Indian sun god.
The root dhāraṇī (or mūla-mantra), which is the first one presented in the sutra, is the following: namo saptasaptatibhyaḥ ǀ samyak-sambuddha-koṭīnām ǀ pariśuddha-mānasa-vāk-citta-pratiṣṭhitānām ǀ
namo bhagavate amitāyuṣasya tathāgatasya ǀ
oṁ tathāgata-śuddhe āyur-viśodhani saṁhara-saṁhara ǀ
Sarvatathāgata-vīrya-balena pratisaṁhara āyu ǀ smara-smara Sarvatathāgata-samayaṁ ǀ
bodhi-bodhi budhya vibudhya bodhaya-bodhaya ǀ
sarva-pāpa-āvaraṇa-viśuddhe vigata-mara-bhayaṁ subuddha-buddhe ǀ hulu hulu svāhā ǀTranslation: Salutation to the Seventy-seven of the Supreme (koṭi) Perfectly Enlightened Ones, worshipped with purity of the mind, speech, and conscience. Salutation to Lord Amitāyuṣa Tathāgata. Om. You purified by the Tathāgata, purify my life, sustain [me]. Sustain [my] life by virtue of the powers of the Omnipotent Tathāgata (i.e., Amitāyuṣa). Think of the vow of the Omnipotent Tathāgata. You the Enlightenment, being enlightened, enlighten me. You are purified of all sins and ailments, make me devoid of the dread of death and supremely enlightened. Hasten, hasten, svāhā. According to the sutra, those who hear the first dhāraṇī will eliminate the evil karma from the five evil acts as well as "flaws caused by jealously, arrogance, greed, envy, and so forth," and their lifespan will also be extended. Birth in the Pure Land of Amitabha is also a key benefit. The sutra also attributes apotropaic and protective powers to the physical presence of the dhāraṇī. The Buddha explains that kingdoms which contains stupas with copies of these dhāraṇī will be shielded from evil creatures (like raksasa, yaksas, etc.) invaders, thieves, disease, and disasters. These kingdoms will be protected by the four heavenly kings and other Buddhist deities. This dhāraṇī can also protect the nation from all sorts of troubles. Regarding the second dhāraṇī, the sutra states that it can help the sick and the dying, and it describes a ritual used for this purpose. The deity Vinayaka is associated with this ritual. The third dhāraṇī, called the “wheeled canopy or finial dhāraṇī ” (Ch. xianglun tuoluoni, Kor. sangnyuntarani 相輪陀羅尼), can purify the kleshas, extend lifespan and lead to rebirth in Sukhavati. The fourth dhāraṇī helps with purification and spiritual development, and the sutra promotes the extensive mental chanting of the fourth dhāraṇī.