Nilakantha dharani (The Great Compassion Mantra) (1981)

The Nilakantha dharani (The Great Compassion Mantra) was published in the mid-Goryeo period. Its three fascicles — first, middle and last — are in an accordion-fold format that can be opened out like a screen; when fully unfolded it measures 5.3 cm in height and 275 cm in length. Following the three fascicles, the text also includes the Ilja-jeongnyunwang Dharani, the Jajaewang-chionttok Dharani, and the Universal Gate Chapter of the Avalokitesvara Sutra. The book was placed in a silver box gilded with gold, measuring 5.3 cm in height, 3.5 cm in width and 0.5 cm in thickness, which was in turn kept inside a wooden box measuring 13.8 cm in height, 12.8 cm in width and 6 cm in thickness. Rings attached to either side of the top of the silver case show that it served as a kind of accessory meant to be carried about. A note recorded at the end of the text shows that it was carved so that Choe Chung-heon and his son Choe U and grandson Choe Hyang could quickly overcome the difficulties they were then facing and enjoy long life. The top is slightly cut off and the carved characters and surface are not clean, making them hard to read, which suggests that this is a later reprint. It is a woodblock-printed edition produced as a protective talisman for the central figures of the Choe military regime of the mid-Goryeo period, and is valued as material for examining a type of religious belief current at that time.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yongsan-gu, Seoul

Designation

Treasure · 보물