The Nagaropamasūtra as the Deified Teacher -Its Apotropaic Function and the Translation of the Appendix-

The Nagaropamasutra stands out as one of several works containing a special form of the pratityasamutpada formula, namely a ten-fold origination process and a twelve - fold extinction process. This particular dependent origination theory in this text has been studied as an influential work to the development of the pratltyasamutpada doctrine of both Abhidharmic and Y ogacara Buddhism. Its augmentation with an appendix that argues for the apotropaic power of the sutra suggests that in at least some Buddhist circles, it was actually used in some magical application. The formula of the dependent origination is at the very core of Buddhist doctrine. However, the reasons for the widespread, non-didactic use of the pratltyasamutpada, particularly in the Buddhist cultic practice, are yet to be brought to light. We know, for example, that from at least second century C. E., reliquary caskets, bricks, etc. were inscribed with a version of the pratityasamutpada and were subsequently deposited within stupas. The deposition of the pratltyasamutpada formula at the cultic sites, seemingly intended as an act of consecration, is certanly a different aplication of a "magical" text than the protective benefits provided by either reciting or preserving a canonical siltra as our appendix advocates. The great reputation accorded to the pratityasamutpada by these nondidactic contexts may be closely tied to the great reputation of Bodh-gaya as a pilgrimage center, the very spot where Sakyamuni, in discovering the dependent origination, became the Buddha. One of the clearest expressions of a sense of the protective power radiating from Bodh-gaya can be seen in chapter three of the Astasahasrikaprajnaparamita-sutra. While this text of course stems from a different literary genre than concerns us here, it is also clearly aware of what must have been a widely held conception of Bodh-gaya as a powerful religious center, the pilgrimage center par excellence. The appendix to the Nagaropamasutra links the sutra not only to the enlightenment experience of the Tathagata Sakyamuni, but also to the former Buddhas as well, each of whom achieved enlightenment at the same spot under their respective Bodhi trees. There appears in fact to have been a special connection between the version of the pratltyasamutpada formula found in the Nagaropamasutra and the Buddha's enlightenment experience. Therefore, the relation makes the appendix preserve the idea that the Nagaropamasutra is the deified teacher (Sastr) per se. The redactor of our appendix believed himself to access and represent the power of the bodhimanda itself, a power that was known to protect one from harm