The text is attested by the Japanese Shingon monk Jōgyō 常曉 (d. 865), who traveled in China from 838 to 839 and returned to Japan with a catalogue of Chinese Buddhist texts. Included in this catalogue is the title Essential Methods of the Power and Virtue of Prince Kumbhīra, in one scroll (Jōgyō kasho shōrai mokuroku 常曉和尙請來目錄, T 2163.55.1069c: 金毘羅童子威德要法). This is not quite the same as the 'scripture spoken by the Buddha'  佛說 that we have today, but that Jōgyō had the same or a similar text to hand is indicated by the brief content summary he provides in connection with a sculpted image of Kumbhīra 金毘羅 that he also catalogued. He writes that this image was one of Śākyamuniʼs bodily transformations, and then he quotes a 'scripture'  經 as saying that when the Buddha was preaching before a grand assembly he changed into this form of Prince Kumbhīra so as to defeat a pack of wild non-Buddhists (T 2163.55.1070b). This is the same story that opens the current Scripture on Kumbhīra, which therefore probably also dates to no later than the early ninth century.

Contents

The overall intent of the Scripture on Kumbhīra was apparently to draw together a broad spectrum of ritual practices prevalent in medieval China—those traditionally associated with both Buddhism and Daoism—and assert that they all originated with Śākyamuni (in the guise of the thousand-armed, thousand-headed Prince Kumbhīra) and the exalted bodhisattvas who step forth from his audience. These bodhisattvas include Aśvaghoṣa, Nāgârjuna , Avalokitêśvara 觀音, and Bhaiṣajyarāja, who offer their efficacious methods for the benefit of sentient beings mired in evil times.

The Scripture on Kumbhīra opens with the Buddha preaching the Dharma to a vast assembly of bodhisattvas, disciples, gods, asuras and other Indian mythological beings. The text exhibits the sort of rhetorical flourish that characterizes most Mahāyāna scriptural literature, elaborating in detail the wondrous qualities of the gathered beings and their august setting. 'Thus have I heard'  如是我聞 is announced at the beginning, claiming the authority of Ānandaʼs unparalleled memory in reciting the Buddhaʼs sermons, before the text goes on to describe the miraculous light issued from the Buddhaʼs palace in Trāyastriṃśa Heaven 三十三天 to illuminate the hells, heavens and others realms in all directions.

In this way the text describes the inconceivable wisdom and power of the Buddha Śākyamuni, as well as the throngs of bodhisattvas and other buddhas who have assembled around him. But then, just in time to crash this Buddhist orgy of self-congratulation, the textʼs evil antagonists appear on the scene. These are the masters of the six non-Buddhist teachings 六師外道 led by the standard Jain foil Nirgrantha 尼乾子. They brazenly accuse Gautama 瞿曇, as they call him, of blatantly deceiving the people in his claims of enlightenment and compassion for their plight within the realms of suffering. Nirgrantha reproves the stunned assembly of disciples by explaining that by believing in Gautamaʼs lies they are doomed to fall into hell (T 1289.21.367b-368a).

At this point a magical battle ensues, as the non-Buddhist masters demonstrate to Śākyamuniʼs assembly the power of their ways with a show of miraculous feats. Their bodies fly up into the sky, issue fire and conjure raging storms. They cause all the worlds to quake beneath them, make the earth split open and spring forth boiling water, and uproot the great tree in Trāyastriṃśa Heaven under which Śākyamuni sits. In this way the non-Buddhists generally run amok, to the amazement of Śākyamuniʼs onlooking disciples, whose faith in the power of their masterʼs teachings is thereby shaken and who then decide to become followers of the non-Buddhists.

With this, Śākyamuni springs into action; or, rather, he continues sitting right where he is, enters into samādhi and commences another of his spectacular light displays. This time within each of the thousand individual rays of light issuing from his head are 100,000 miniature buddhas, who each also emits a thousand light rays that illuminate the entire cosmos. And if this weren't enough, the earth shakes, beautiful flowers rain down, all the little buddhas make wonderful music, and even more buddhas and bodhisattvas gather around to create their own five-colored lights and further illuminate all the realms in the ten directions. At this, then, the blazing fire of the non-Buddhists is snuffed out, all of their other magic tricks fail in their designs, and they scurry off in defeat. Witnessing the Buddhaʼs superior powers and the non-Buddhists exposed as frauds, Śākyamuniʼs disciples return to the Buddhist fold and vow to follow the true teaching (T 1289.21.368a-b).

With his flock once again properly corralled, Śākyamuni then manifests the transformation for which the text is titled, changing his body into the thousand-armed and thousand-headed form of Prince Kumbhīra. In this guise he instructs the assembly that if they wish to alleviate the suffering of the world, becoming great healing kings, curing the sickness of the masses and defeating non-Buddhists and demons, they should construct a pure oratory according to certain specifications and temporal and behavioral strictures. On a full-moon day the practitioner should smear the ground with a mixture of incense-ash and mud, set up a ritual platform and place before it an assortment of fruits. S/he should make offerings of white flowers or cut cloth of five colors made to look like flowers; s/he should intone a spell three thousand times during the day and six thousand times at night; s/he should wear white clothes and wash them once every three days; columns of cypress must be placed at the four corners of the altar; banners are to be hung along one side, and incense burners set up all around; the practitionerʼs food cannot be prepared by a woman, and the water must be drawn from a pure spring, and so on. Kumbhīra then presents a collection of spells, a host of auspicious omens ensues, and the gathered disciples all attain enlightenment (T 1289.21.368c-369b).

At this point some of the great bodhisattvas within Śākyamuni/Kumbhīraʼs assembly step forth to add their own blend of ritual prescriptions to the foundation thus established. First is the Medicine King Bodhisattva (Yaowang pusa 藥王菩薩, Skt.: Bhaiṣajyarāja), who praises the power of the Buddhaʼs great dhāraṇī 陀羅尼 and describes the processes of spell recitation and elixir preparation that he has perfected over the eons, as well as the spectrum of benefits that these ritual methods provide (T 1289.21.369b-370a).

With the Medicine Kingʼs prescription thus filled—and after his heroic promise (following the Lotus Sutra 法華經) to burn his own body if his methods fail—the text turns to its next bodhisattva protagonist. This is Nāgârjuna 龍樹, who begins his exegesis by telling the Buddha about his own past life under the tutelage of the primordial Buddha Dīpaṃkara 燃燈. Now that Nāgârjuna is able to hear the Dharma from the present Buddha, he tells Śākyamuni, he wants to continue doing all that he can to aid in its dissemination (T 1289.21.370a-b).

With the Buddhaʼs exuberant approval, Nāgârjuna offers his own prescriptions for various alchemical elixirs, which together with the proper spells can produce a plethora of miraculous effects for sentient beings ensnared in this evil world of defilements. One must first procure twelve yellow myrobalan fruits, a measure of honey, and a certain type of partially boiled water, and blend them in a precise manner while reciting spells in order to create a medicinal elixir. If taken at the right time of night, this elixir will cause the practitioner to produce gold by coughing it out of his or her mouth. If the practitioner bathes in the elixir s/he will become invisible, and by adding a dash of cow milk and bathing once more s/he can become visible again. Then, the practitioner is instructed to blend in various other ingredients, bring the elixir before an image of Śākyamuni and infuse it with the power of six thousand spell recitations, fast for seven days and then ingest a large spoonful of it. That night Nāgârjuna will personally appear in a dream to clearly explain all of his ritual methods. Further, by employing Nāgârjuna ʼs elixirs in certain ways—smeared on parts of the body, ingested in specific amounts at specified times, sometimes while reciting spells—the practitioner can obtain extreme longevity, worldly riches and vast wisdom; s/he can cure various illnesses; raise the dead—from three-day-old to seven-day-old and hundred-day-old corpses—make ice in summer; conjure a dragon or white elephant; reverse the flow of a river; control the weather; travel one thousand li in a day; transform himself or herself into a snake, a lion king, a white rabbit, and so on. Finally, Nāgârjuna concludes by promising that if his above methods prove ineffective, he will gladly relinquish his status as bodhisattva and take the place of all sentient beings in their worldly suffering (T 1289.21.370b-371a).

After a similar presentation by the bodhisattva Avalokitêśvara (Ch.: Guanshiyin pusa 觀世音菩薩), the text then turns to Aśvaghoṣa. Like the preceding bodhisattvas, Aśvaghoṣa begins by telling the Buddha that he is also possessed of numerous wonderful methods for liberating the masses bound to this evil world of suffering. The Buddha praises Aśvaghoṣa profusely and entreats him to share his sublime techniques. Aśvaghoṣa then says that if sentient beings wish to depart from the realms of birth and death, they should first procure a variety of exotic ingredients in specific quantities and boil them in water within a temple or pagoda while reciting the above spells. The mixture is then placed within an unused vessel and buried underground for fourteen days (two sevens), before being unearthed and placed before an image of the Buddha. For three days the practitioner should pay obeisance to the Buddha, maintaining the strictest standards of purity, and after three thousand more spell recitations s/he should consume only a half portion of the elixir. Within the next seven days his or her body will ascend into the sky and s/he can fly around at will, eventually transforming into a bird and taking off into the heavens. Aśvaghoṣa then goes on to catalogue the variety of other uses that his elixirs are good for, given certain adjustments in ingredients, quantity and timing of ingestion, and accompanying spell recitation. By following his instructions one can attain great wisdom and knowledge of previous lives; one can eliminate retribution for past sins; cure various illnesses; become adorned with the thirty-two marks of perfection; reach three-thousand years of age; master the spell-arts or all the Mahāyāna scriptures; attain clairvoyance, invisibility, and all forms of worldly wealth (T 1289.21.372a-c).

The Scripture on Kumbhīra concludes with the 'great sage' (daxian 大仙, Skt.: Mahāśrī) Jīvaka, who was a famous physician of the Buddhaʼs time and who here offers a roster of prescriptions much the same as the bodhisattvas Bhaiṣajyarāja, Nāgârjuna , Avalokitêśvara 觀音 and Aśvaghoṣa before him.

Secondary Sources

Bussho kaisetsu daijiten 佛書解說大辭典 (Ono), vol. 3: 527a-b.

Bukkyō daijiten 佛教大辭典 (Mochizuki), vol. 2: 1375a.

Foguang dacidian 佛光大辭典, vol. 4: 3530b

Xiao Dengfu 蕭登福. Daojiao shuyi yu mijiao dianji 道教術儀與密教典籍 (Daoist Rites and Esoteric Buddhist Texts). Taipei: Xinwenfeng chuban gongsi, 1994, 320-327.

[Chinese Buddhist Canonical Attributions Database]