Illustrations and texts from the Buddhist Great Dharani Sutra of Immaculate and Pure Light (Mugujeonggwang daedarani)

These three handscrolls [2002.12.1-.3] contain the same Buddhist text, The Great Dharani Sutra of Immaculate and Pure Light, in Chinese (left), Sanskrit (middle), and Korean (right). The sutra is about a Brahman priest asking the Buddha for salvation and longevity, who is in turn instructed to memorize the prayer (dharani) and to enshrine it inside a pagoda. Thus, according to the teachings of this sutra, a believer would be able to eliminate all sins and ensure long life by depositing a copy of the text inside a pagoda. In 1966, the sutra’s popularity among Koreans soared when one of the earliest woodblock-printed versions, dating from before 751, was found in a pagoda at the well-known Bulguksa Monastery.

Although the contents of the texts are the same, the images on each handscroll depict different scenes of the Brahman priest seeking salvation and of the Buddha’s instructions.

While most Buddhist texts in Korea were written on dark-blue paper, the artist-monk took a break from such a tradition by writing the script on white paper and mounting the scrolls on blue backing.