Introduction

i.1The Mahāsūtra “The Crest Insignia” (2), which we will refer to hereafter by its Sanskrit title, Dhvajāgrasūtra [2], is a short work in which the Buddha instructs his monks at Śrāvastī on how to alleviate fear by recollecting the Buddha (and, in the concluding verses, the Dharma and Saṅgha as well) and outlines the benefits and efficacy of doing so.

i.1《大經「幢頂」(2)》，我們以下簡稱為其梵文名稱《幢頂經》(2)，這是一部篇幅較短的著作。其中佛陀在舍衛城向僧眾開示如何通過憶念佛陀（在結尾的偈頌中也包括憶念法和僧伽）來消除恐懼，並闡述了這樣做的益處和效用。

i.2The Dhvajāgrasūtra [2] has the same Sanskrit title as the closely related Mahāsūtra that immediately precedes it in the Degé Kangyur (The Crest Insignia (1), Toh 292, hereafter Dhvajāgrasūtra [1]). In Tibetan, the titles of these two Mahāsūtras are differentiated by alternative translations of the word agra (as dam pa in the present text, Toh 293, and mchog in Toh 292), but we have translated the title in the same way in both texts based on the identical Sanskrit title Dhvajāgra. The term dhvajāgra itself refers to a symbol or insignia that was mounted at the end of a long pole, which was employed as a martial ensign on the battlefield in ancient India.

i.2《幢頂經》(2) 在德格版大藏經中與其緊密相關的上一部大經《幢頂經》(1)（編號292，以下簡稱《幢頂經》(1)）具有相同的梵文標題。在藏文中，這兩部大經的標題是通過詞語 agra 的不同翻譯來區分的（在本文編號293中為 dam pa，在編號292中為 mchog），但基於相同的梵文標題 Dhvajāgra，我們在兩個文本中採用了相同的翻譯方式。dhvajāgra 這個詞本身指的是一種符號或標誌，它被安裝在長桿的末端，在古代印度被用作戰場上的軍事旗幟。

i.3In the prose portion of the sūtra, the Buddha advises his monks, should they become afraid wherever they happen to be, to recollect him using a formula composed of a set of epithets that describe his qualities, traditionally said to be nine in number but with some differences between versions of the text. By recollecting him in this way, he assures them, all their fears will be allayed. He intercalates his teaching in this prose section with a story centered on Śakra and the gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three that illustrates and encourages this practice. When the gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three are faced with the fearsome prospect of battle against the asuras, Śakra tells them to recollect his crest insignia, or military ensign, and this, he says, will alleviate their fear. If the gods trust Śakra and are indeed relieved of their fear through engaging in the practice he advises, the Buddha continues, how much more so should the monks likewise trust the Buddha and know that the practice he advises will be efficacious, for he is superior to Śakra in all ways.

i.3在這部經文的散文部分中，佛陀勸誡他的弟子們，如果他們無論在何處感到害怕，應當運用一個由描述他的品質的頌詞組成的公式來憶念他。這些頌詞傳統上說有九個，但在經文的不同版本中有所差異。他向他們保證，通過這樣憶念他，他們所有的恐懼都將被消除。他在這個散文部分中穿插了一個以釋迦提桓因和三十三天的天神為中心的故事，用來說明和鼓勵這種修行。當三十三天的天神們面臨與阿修羅作戰的可怕前景時，釋迦提桓因告訴他們要憶念他的幢頂，即軍事徽章，他說這將減輕他們的恐懼。佛陀繼續說，如果天神們信任釋迦提桓因，確實通過修行他所勸誡的方法而消除了恐懼，那麼弟子們就更應當信任佛陀，並知道佛陀所勸誡的修行將是有效的，因為佛陀在各方面都勝過釋迦提桓因。

i.4The work concludes with a modified reiteration of the teaching in verse. The verse summary advises the recollection not solely of the Buddha but of the Dharma and the Saṅgha as well. Recollecting the Three Jewels, leading as it does to the four truths of the noble ones and hence knowledge of the path, and ultimately to nirvāṇa, is the supreme refuge.

i.4這部經典以韻文形式對教法進行了修改後的重述作為結尾。韻文總結建議不僅要憶念佛陀，還要憶念法和僧伽。憶念三寶能夠導向四聖諦，進而導向對道路的認知，最終導向涅槃，這是最究竟的皈依。

i.5The inclusion of this work in the group of canonical texts known as the Mahāsūtras (literally “Great Sūtras”) reflects its status in early Buddhism as a “text recited for protection” (paritta in Pali or rakṣā in Sanskrit). An extensive study of this and the other Mahāsūtras has been published by Peter Skilling. The nine or ten texts that belong to this collection have a long and complex history, and the recensions that are preserved in Tibetan translation have many parallels in Buddhist literature as a whole.

i.5這部經典被列入被稱為《大經》（字面上是「偉大的經」）的正典文獻集合中，反映了它在早期佛教中作為「保護性誦文」（巴利文為護經，梵文為護衛）的地位。彼得·斯基林已出版了關於這部經典及其他大經的廣泛研究。屬於這個集合的九或十部文獻具有悠久而複雜的歷史，藏文翻譯中保存的不同版本在佛教文獻中有許多相似之處。

i.6Versions of the present sūtra are extant in Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese, and Tibetan. A Pali work with the title Dhajaggasutta is found in the Sakkasamyutta in the first part of the Samyutta Nikāya (11.3). A Sanskrit work with the title Dhvajāgra(mahā)sūtra is known through manuscript fragments found in Central Asia. There are two Chinese translations. One is a translation produced in the mid-fifth century ᴄᴇ by Guṇabhadra as part of the Samyuktāgama (Taishō 99, no. 981). Another is a translation by Dharmanandi (曇摩難提) made as part of the Ekottarāgama (Taishō 125, ch. 24.1) and edited by Gautama Saṅghadeva in 397–98 ᴄᴇ. The Tibetan translation was produced in the late eighth or early ninth century by Yeshé Dé, Jinamitra, and Prajñāvarman. Along with the other eight Mahāsūtras likewise produced by this translation team, it is listed in both the Denkarma and Phangthangma imperial catalogs of translated texts.

i.6目前存在多個語言版本的本經，分別是巴利文、梵文、漢文和藏文。巴利文版本名為《幢頂經》，收錄在《相應部》中的《帝釋相應》裡（11.3）。梵文版本名為《幢頂（大）經》，通過在中亞發現的手稿殘篇得以保存。漢文版本有兩個翻譯。其中一個是由求那跋陀羅在五世紀中葉翻譯的，作為《雜阿含經》的一部分（大正藏99，編號981）。另一個是由曇摩難提翻譯，作為《增一阿含經》的一部分（大正藏125，第24.1章），並由瞿曇僧伽提婆在公元397-98年編訂。藏文版本由益西德、勝友和般若鎧在八世紀末或九世紀初翻譯而成。這個翻譯小組同時翻譯的其他八部大經，都被列入《丹噶目錄》和《芳唐目錄》這兩份帝國譯經目錄中。

i.7According to Peter Skilling, the present work is “one of the most popular of Buddhist sūtras” on account of its content‍—the recollection of the Buddha, or of all Three Jewels, being a common theme throughout Buddhist literature‍—and its ritual use. The work is quoted or otherwise referenced in a small handful of Buddhist commentarial works: Buddhaghoṣa’s Sāratthappakāsinī, for example, and Sthiramati’s Pañcaskandhaprakaraṇavaibhāṣya (Toh 4066). The well-known formula for recollecting the Buddha is found in a wide variety of canonical texts and ritual works, including a short standalone scripture in the Kangyur with the title Buddhānusmṛti (Toh 279), of unknown origin but possibly derived in part from the two Dhvajāgrasūtras and their parallels.

i.7根據彼得·斯基林的說法，現在這部經典是「最受歡迎的佛經之一」，原因在於它的內容——念佛或念三寶是貫穿整個佛教文獻的常見主題——以及它的儀軌用途。這部經典在少數幾部佛教注疏著作中被引用或以其他方式提及：例如覺音的《相應部義疏》，以及安慧的《五蘊論廣釋》（Toh 4066）。著名的念佛公式出現在各種經藏文獻和儀軌著作中，包括大藏經中一部獨立的簡短經典《念佛經》（Toh 279），其來源不明，但可能部分源自兩部幢頂經及其平行文獻。

i.8The Dhvajāgrasūtra [2] had not been translated into English until recently, when it appeared alongside Dhvajāgrasūtra [1] and the Pali Dhajaggasutta in Skilling 2024.

i.8《幢頂經》[2]直到最近才被翻譯成英文，當時它與《幢頂經》[1]和巴利文《幢頂經》一起出現在斯基林2024年的著作中。

i.9This translation was made from the version of the Tibetan text in the Degé Kangyur, in consultation with the critical edition published by Skilling based on twelve Tibetan versions, including the Peking, Lithang, Degé, and Narthang xylographs, the Stok palace manuscript, and two “independent editions” from monasteries that “do not reproduce any other single Kanjur, and do not have any significant descendants.” While there are quite a few differences between the sources and parallel texts that Skilling compared in his comprehensive study of this work, none of them much affects the meaning of the translation presented here.

i.9本譯文是以德格版大藏經中的藏文本為基礎製作，並參考了由斯基林發表的關鍵版本，該版本涵蓋十二個藏文版本，包括北京版、理塘版、德格版和納唐版的木刻本、斯托克宮藏本，以及來自兩個不對應任何其他大藏經且沒有重要後代傳本的寺院的「獨立版本」。雖然斯基林在這部著作的全面研究中比較的文獻來源和平行文本之間存在相當多的差異，但這些差異都不會對這裡呈現的譯文的意義產生實質影響。