Arapacana
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arapacana (T. a ra pa tsa na) is the name of the alpha-syllabary of the Kharoṣṭhī script.[1]
This alpha-syllabary appears in many works of the Mahayana, including Prajnaparamita sutras, the Gaṇḍavyūha Sūtra, the Lalitavistara Sūtra, and the Avataṃsaka Sūtra.[2] It also appears in the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya, and the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya.[2]
The alpha-syllabary appears in both original Sanskrit texts and in Tibetan and Chinese translations.[2]
In most cases, the arapacana serves as a mnemonic for important Mahāyāna concepts.[2]
The arapacana also forms a central part of the root mantra of Manjushri.[2] For this reason, Arapacana is sometimes used as an alternate name for Manjushri.[2]
- Further reading
Arapacana, Wikipedia
Notes
- ↑
a ra pa tsa na, Christian-Steinert Dictionary
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Robert E. Buswell Jr., Donald S. Lopez Jr., The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism (Princeton: 2014), s.v. arapacana