内容提要梵语“阿剎罗”（akṣara）一词在印度古代文化背景中具有哲 学、语言学两个方面的意义。从哲学层面言之，akṣara 一词具有不灭、不朽之义，因而用来指称常住不灭的终极存在；就语言 学层面而言，其义项为不可分析、不可拆分之义，通常指音节、字母，即梵语言文字最根本的拼读、书写单位。在汉译佛 典中，“阿剎罗”通常被译作声字、字、字本、字母，以陀罗尼、真言、明、咒、秘密语等形式，在以《般若经》为代表的大乘 佛教经典中有广泛应用。《般若经》是出现最早的大乘佛典，是大乘佛教成立的标 志；自公元前后起般若类经典一直在不断地增广，到十三世纪 前后仍有相应的新经典产生，堪为大乘佛教发展演变的活化 石。在早期般若经典中，声字是以陀罗尼的形式出现的。其中 最根本、最典型的陀罗尼，即是被称为陀罗尼门的四十二字 门。从其语言学属性来看，四十二字是犍陀罗语的根本字母或 字母表，这种字母最初是用佉卢文来书写的；从义理层面来 看，四十二字门诠表的法义是初期大乘佛教义的浓缩与集粹。六、七世纪以后，随着秘密佛教的兴起，梵语声字在新出现的 般若类经典中应用的更为普遍，其形态也更为多样，其功能也 越来越丰富。在初期的密教经典《金刚大道场经》中，编纂者 将此期依据般若类经典发展出的印咒法门都为一集。伴随着佛 教秘密化倾向的加剧，七、八世纪出现了依般若经成立的秘密 经法，如理趣经法、仁王经法等。在理趣经法中，梵语声字以多种形态出现，如陀罗尼、真言、种子字、字门、字轮、布 字、曼陀罗等，几乎遍及整个秘密行法的各个环节。从梵语声 字的前后变化中，可以看出它在般若经典的形态经历了一个由 简单到复杂、由单一到多样化的过程，其功能与属性也经历了 一个由方法到本体，即由方便到究竟的过程。
 The Sanskrit ‘akṣara’ is loaded with both philosophy and linguistics significances in the ancient Indian culture. Philosophically, ‘akṣara’ means immortality, and thus is used to refer to the ultimate existence of immortality. From a linguistic point of view, itmeans‘unanalyzable’ and ‘inseparable’, usually referring to syllables or letters, which are the most fundamental units of spelling and writing in Sanskrit. In the Chinese Buddhist scripture translations, ‘akṣara’ is usually translated into “声 字“（phonetic words/śabda-varṇa?), “字”（words/varṇa）, “字本”（fundamental letters, and “ 字母” (letters/ mātṛkā-varṇa) . In the Mahayana Buddhist scriptures represented by Prajñā-pāramitā-Sūtras, akṣara is widely used in the form of dhāraṇī, mantra, vidyā, spells, guhyavāc, etc. Prajñā-pāramitā-Sūtra is the earliest Mahayana Buddhist scriptures and symbolizes the establishment of Mahayana Buddhism. From around the A.D., this kind of scriptures have been continuously enlarged until around the 13th century. Prajñā-pāramitā-Sūtras deserve to be considered as the fossils of the development of Mahayana Buddhism. In the early Prajñā-pāramitā-Sūtras, akṣara appeared in the form of the dhāraṇī. The most fundamental and typical dhāraṇī is the ‘forty-two dhāranī-mukha’( 四十二字门), which is generally called dhāranīmukha（陀罗尼门）. From the perspective of its linguistic attributes,‘forty-two dhāranīmukha’ is the component letters, or alphabet, of Gandhari，which were originally written in Kharosthi. Regarding Buddhist theory, the doctrines interpreted by ‘forty-two dhāranīmukha’ represents the genesis and essence of the early Mahayana Buddhist doctrines. After the 6th and 7th Centuries, akṣara was more commonly used in the emerging Prajñā-pāramitā-Sūtras with the prosperity of Esoteric Buddhism. Its forms were more diversified and its functions became more and more abundant. In the early Esoteric Buddhist scripture Vajramahābodhimaṇḍala-sūtra, the compilers integrated all mudrā and spells (印咒法门 mudrā-mantra-dharma-paryāya) into one volume, which were developing during this period according to Prajñāpāramitā-Sūtras. Along with the intensification of the tendency of Buddhist secretization, 秘密经法 established on Prajñā-pāramitā-Sūtras like “理趣经法“、“仁王经法”appeared in the 7th and 8th centuries. In Prajñā-pāramitā-nayaśata-pañca-śatikā-kalpa/viddhi, the akṣara appears in various forms, such as dhāraṇī, mantra, bīja, the Word Wheel，nyāsa, maṇḍala, etc., and they are present almost throughout the entire esoteric practices. From the evolution of the akṣara, it can be seen that it has gone through a process from simplicity to complex, from singularity to diversification. And its functions and attributes have also gone through method to the ontology, from convenient methods(upāya) to ultimacy(satya).
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Jul 10, 2024
Ritika Sharma 
