陀羅尼被=Dharani blankets; 往生被; 五大陀羅尼=The five great dharanis; 《滅惡趣本續》; 金剛界三十 七尊=The thirty-seven deities in the “Vajradhātu maṇḍala”; Sarvadurgati pariśodhana tantra
The dharani blanket, also known as the funeral covers, is often used to cover the body of the deceased among the Chinese society. It is commonly applied in religious rites and can be traced way back to Qing Dynasty, which is usually granted exclusively to the meritorious royals at first. Yet somehow it is used by the public and hence widely spread throughout the whole country. While the original version of the blanket is missing, the Sanskrit letters on it became blureed, obscure or even illegible due to its reproduction. In order to restore the authentic version, we need to find out the original sutras from which the Sanskrit was derived. There are two main versions of the dharani blankets. One is the current version used by the public. The other is the “collected version” which can be found in antique shops or museums. The graphics of these two versions share the similar outlook which consists of a central stupa surrounded by dozens of round wheels. But the contents may slightly differ from each other. The “collected version” specificly mentioned that the dharani blankets were made according to the instructions of Sarvadurgati pariśodhana tantra, namely Sarvadurgati pariśodhana tejorājasya tathāgatasya arhato samyaksambuddhasya kalpa-nāma. However this declaration did not appear in any current versions. Inspired by the revelation, this article focuses on comparing the Sanskrit of the current version with the Sarvadurgati pariśodhana tantra. The contents of the round wheels in the funeral covers were all based on the Sarvadurgati pariśodhana tantra and its related commentaries. The round wheels encircled the central stupa along with the corresponding dharani of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas were arranged in a form of our body parts, such as the parietal, frontal, glabella, nose, right eye, left eye, right ear, left ear, right shoulder, left shoulder, legs, right knee, left knee, right pedal, left pedal, right ankle, left ankle, etc. Besides, the four sides of the funeral covers were surrounded by 37 equal sized round wheels. Their contents and the arrangements were based on the thirty-seven deities in the “Vajradhātu maṇḍala” which could be also found in Sarvadurgati pariśodhana tantra. Whereas the contents of the central stupa in the funeral covers were not mentioned in any of the Sarvadurgati pariśodhana tantra or its related commentaries, the dharanis and the Sanskrits of the stupa were found in the five great dharanis: Uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī, Vimaloṣṇīṣa dhāraṇī, Guhyadhātu dhāraṇī, Bodhigarbhālaṃkāralakṣa dhāraṇī and Pratītyasamutpādahṛdaya dhāraṇī. These dharanis might be derived from different sutras, yet they all indicated the same method of practice of the chanting dharanis in the stupa. This could be the origin of the central stupa on the dharani blankets. In conclusion, this study finds out that the graphics and contents on the dharani blankets were based not only on the Sarvadurgati pariśodhana tejorājasya tathāgatasya arhato samyaksambuddhasya kalpa-nāma but also on the five great dharanis and their related sutras.
