A Mongolian translation of the “Sutra of eight luminous” as dharai-sutra

The paper deals with one canonical Mongolian translation of a popular scripture of Mahayana Buddhism named the “Sūtra of Eight Luminous of Heaven and Earth”, included in Kagyur (Kanjur), a compilation of Buddhist canonical compositions circulated in Tibet and among Mongolian peoples. This sūtra, widely represented in Tibetan-Mongolian literature, was most likely originally composed in Chinese, so in Tibetan and Chinese traditions its authenticity, i.e. belonging to the authentic word of Buddha, or buddhavacana, was repeatedly questioned. Nevertheless, it was widespread among the Mongolian peoples as ritual text, which resulted in the significant number of its xylographic and manuscript reproductions in Mongolian collections. The reason why the “Sutra of Eight Luminous” was widely used in various rituals concerning to the life cycle is its genre character as dhāraṇī-sūtra. This kind of sūtras are always narratives constructed about the explanation of the sacral dhāraṇī formulas given by Buddha Sakyamuni. The main function of dhāraṇīs was to provide to human certain benefits and welfare (in some cases, attainment of the Enlightenment). The structure of Indian dhāraṇī-sūtras was analyzed in the publication by R. Davidson. He pointed out nine structural elements of the composition. An analysis of the Mongolian translation of the “Sutra of Eight Luminous” as example of dhāraṇī-sūtra undertaken here shows that almost all structural elements identified by R. Davidson, except the 7th (praise, confession), have been preserved, and there are some specific elements found only in this sutra - the explanation of the title and verses from the “Heart Sūtra”.