千手千眼观世音菩萨之“二十八部众”护法神众考释

A Textual Research on the“Twenty-eight Groups”of Dharma-protecting God Attached to the Thousand Hands Thousand Eyes Avalokiteśvara

《大悲心陀罗尼经》是源自印度的汉译经典,须结合印度文化与佛教文化来索解其教义。《千手观音造次第法仪轨》是在此经汉译文句基础上,对护法神众给出坛城的制作规范,将五十余位护法神众化约为“二十八部众”。本文运用佛教藏经与印度神话资料对《大悲心陀罗尼经》偈颂所列护法神众进行逐一考释,辨析他们的身份及探索其宗教形象与护法职能。析分出来的五十三位护法神众,除了常见的梵天、帝释、四大天王与天龙八部,印度宗教的许多神祇与鬼类也被纳入体系,在佛教经典中给出佛教立场的描写。还原《大悲心陀罗尼经》偈颂所含摄的护法神众,并无损于“二十八部众”的既成佛教文化观念,而是提供另一种依据经典及宽广视域的解读方式,拓展对千手观音菩萨经典与文化的理解。

The Great Compassion Mind Dhāraṇī Sūtra is a Chinese Buddhist scripture originated in India,and its teachings should be understood in the context of ancient Indian and Buddhist culture.The Ritual for the Thousand Hands Avalokiteśvara and Steps for Setup was compiled on the ground of the Chinese version of this sūtra to guide the methods for constructing the maṇḍala of dharma-protecting gods,that reduce the classification of more than 50 gods into“Twenty-eight Groups”.This article is based on a textual research,which was done with reference to the Buddhist texts and the literature of Indian mythology,on the dharma-protecting gods in the Great Compassion Mind Dhāraṇī Sūtra to clarify each of their identity,appearance and role.A total of 53 dharma-protecting gods are identified.Besides the familiar gods,such as Brahma,Śakra,four Heavenly Kings and the eight groups of demi-gods and dragons,many other Indian gods and devils are included in this pantheon,and descripted from the standpoint of Buddhism.To restore these dharma-protecting gods to their original Indian identities might not impair the existing cultural conception of the“Twenty-eight Groups”of dharma-protecting god.it could on the contrary make us have a broader and scripture-based vision with regard to the understanding of these gods,and also enhance the comprehension of the text and culture about Thousand Hands Thousand Eyes Avalokiteśvara.