Nilakantha dharani (The Great Compassion Mantra)

The Nilakantha dharani (The Great Compassion Mantra) is a sutra that was widely circulated in the belief that reading and keeping it with a whole heart could ward off calamity. A dharani is held to be a phrase with the power to bring about wisdom and samadhi (a state of deep concentration achieved by casting aside distracting thoughts), each syllable said to carry boundless meaning and power. This edition was carved onto woodblocks and printed on mulberry paper, with the upper, middle and lower volumes bound together as a single book measuring 31 cm in height and 18.7 cm in width. A colophon by the monk Hakjo at the end of the book records that in 1485, the sixteenth year of King Seongjong, it was published by Queen Dowager Insu, using a Tang Chinese edition as her model. The main text is divided into upper and lower registers, with a byeonsangdo (a pictorial summary of the sutra's content) drawn above and the sutra text written below. Although later re-carved editions of this text have also survived, the copy designated a treasure is regarded as the finest of the versions of the Nilakantha dharani published by the royal court.

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Where it is

Region

Gwanak-gu, Seoul

Designation

Treasure · 보물