Religion:Pan̂carakṣā

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An 11th-century Buddhist Pancaraksa manuscript. It is a text on spells, prayer benefits, and goddess-related rituals.

Pancaraksa means "Five Protections", and it is the title of a Buddhist text in Sanskrit. It is an early work in the Dharani genre of Buddhist literature, with Tibetan records mentioning it by about 800 CE. The Pancaraksha manuscripts survive in Tibet, Nepal and India in many divergent versions. The text includes spells, a list of benefits by its recitation, and the ritual instructions on how and when to use it. In the Buddhist tradition, each of the "Five" protections that are mentioned in the Pancaraksa are Buddhist deities (goddesses), though the text itself does not mention any of these goddesses by name.[1][2][3]

References

  1. K. R. van Kooij (1978). Religion in Nepal. BRILL Academic. pp. 25–27. ISBN 90-04-05827-3. https://books.google.com/books?id=etUPA-arhwMC&pg=PA25. 
  2. Adalbert J. Gail; Gerd J. R. Mevissen; Richard Salomon (2006). Script and Image: Papers on Art and Epigraphy. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 57–58. ISBN 978-81-208-2944-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=QwkOdPtZmVcC&pg=PA57. 
  3. Thomas E. Donaldson (2001). Iconography of the Buddhist Sculpture of Orissa: Text. Abhinav Publications. pp. 295–296. ISBN 978-81-7017-406-6. https://books.google.com/books?id=DbxE8zOuRbUC&pg=PA295.