Summary
s.1Great Upholder of the Secret Mantra is one of five texts that together constitute the Pañcarakṣā scriptural collection, popular for centuries as an important facet of Mahāyāna-Vajrayāna Buddhism’s traditional approach to personal and communal misfortunes of all kinds. It addresses a range of human ailments, as well as misfortunes such as robbery, natural disaster, and criminal punishment, thought to be brought on especially through the animosity of non-human spirit entities. The sūtra stipulates the invocation of these spirit entities, which it separates into hierarchically ordered groups and thus renders subordinate to the command of the Buddha and members of his saṅgha. The Buddha stipulates that just “upholding” or intoning their names and the mantra formula for each will quell the violent interventions of non-human entities and even hasten them to provide for the pragmatic needs of the saṅgha and its surrounding communities.
s.1《大咒隨持經》是五種護摩經典合集中的一部，這個合集在大乘金剛乘佛教中已經流傳了數百年，是應對各種個人和社群不幸的重要傳統做法。這部經典涵蓋了各種人類的疾病，以及搶劫、自然災害和刑罰等不幸，這些被認為是由非人類的靈體實體的敵意所引起的。該經規定了對這些靈體實體的祈請，並將它們分為有等級的群體，使它們服從佛陀和其僧伽成員的命令。佛陀規定，僅僅「受持」或誦念這些靈體的名字以及各自的咒語，就能平息非人類實體的暴力干擾，甚至促使它們為僧伽及其周邊社區的實際需求提供幫助。