《碧霞元君护国庇民普济保生妙经》

The greatly compassionate celestial immortal and holy sage attained the station of the Supreme Perfected at the very beginning of heaven and earth. She manifests in transformed form to rescue those in suffering, sets forth her vows, and universally delivers celestial beings and humankind.

She surveys calamity and good fortune and distinguishes good from evil. The suffering and joy that people experience all correspond to their own karmic conditions. She commands the troops and generals of the Marchmount Office, bringing relief to people of the visible world and also liberating those sunk in the dark underworld.

If any prayer arises in the heart, none fails to be answered; sincere recollection brings a spiritual response. May all single-mindedly pray for blessings and protection, and take refuge in reverent homage to this true scripture (Jing).

The Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning proclaims the Wondrous Scripture of Bixia Yuanjun, Primordial Sovereign of the Azure Clouds, for Protecting the Nation, Sheltering the People, Universally Succoring, and Preserving Life.

At that time, the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning arrived at the Upper Realm of Primal Azure and ascended the spontaneously arisen hundred-treasure Dharma seat upon the green-jade jasper terrace. There he expounded, for the perfected immortals attending at his side, the supremely mysterious Great Dao (the Way) of the wondrous transformation of the Primordial Unity.

Then the radiance of the Celestial Worthy illumined the myriad heavens. Immortal music arose of itself, heavenly flowers spread everywhere, and rare fragrances drifted in all directions. The celestial emperors of the various heavens and the host of perfected immortals of the Three Realms gathered below the terrace. After making obeisance, they encircled the Dharma seat and listened reverently to the teaching. The Five Marchmounts offered fresh flowers, and the Four Rivers presented precious treasures.

Among the ranks of immortals and perfected ones listening to the teaching was a Perfected named Yuluo. He stepped out from the ranks, knelt with due propriety, and addressed the Celestial Worthy: "Your servant does not know what karmic conditions were accumulated in former lives, that I might attend at the Celestial Worthy's side and have the good fortune to hear the supreme Dao, receiving such profound grace. Regarding the work of teaching and transformation under my charge, there are still matters that remain unclear to me.

"The common people of the lower realm arise in endless succession, each under the charge of spirits and deities. The recording and judgment of mortal destinies are all administered by Bixia Yuanjun of the Eastern Marchmount. She also presides over Mount Tai. Your servant wishes to ask: by what cause did she attain this divine office? I earnestly request that the Celestial Worthy explain the principle therein."

The Celestial Worthy (Tianzun) said, “A good question. Return to your original place, and I shall explain it for you.

After Heaven and Earth had separated, the Five Sacred Mountains each settled in its own place. The myriad things grow forth in spring, and all transformations begin in the East. The Eastern Peak presides over the vitality of life, harmonizing and governing the fundamental patterns by which Heaven and Earth revolve and transform.

People of high antiquity were endowed with upright and kindly natures and were able to fulfill loyalty and filial piety; for this reason they often lived long. After death they were quickly reborn, without offense or enmity, and no longer underwent the sufferings of the dark underworld. They were able to preserve their original nature and take rebirth in good paths.

In the latter age, people’s conduct turned against the ancient Dao (the Way), and all manner of cunning arose in their hearts. They were disloyal to their rulers, unfilial toward their parents, disrespectful to their teachers, and unkind to their brothers. Relying on power, they bullied the weak and recklessly sought to seize wealth. They killed living beings, stole, and committed sexual misconduct, offending the sun, moon, and stars—the Three Luminaries—and showing no reverence for the gods and spirits. Some women, not knowing the karmic conditions of former lives, received such a bodily destiny in this life, yet did not repent, letting greed and anger grow unchecked. They likewise killed living beings, stole, and committed sexual misconduct, offending the Three Luminaries and showing no reverence for the gods and spirits; not knowing the karmic conditions of former lives, they did not repent, and let greed and anger grow unchecked. They desired wealth and rank and loathed poverty, resenting Heaven and hating Earth. They insulted their parents-in-law and humiliated their sisters-in-law—the wives of their husbands’ brothers. They could bring themselves to do unkind things and harm their own children. They sacrificed to deviant spirits and secretly practiced curses. Evil deeds of every kind followed one upon another, and retribution likewise never ceased.

At that time the Primordial Lady (Yuanjun) had already realized the station of Taiyi Qingxuan, an exalted rank among Daoist divinities. Seeing living beings sunk in such straits, she was filled with compassion and resolved to instruct women and universally deliver all beings. On the eighteenth day of the fourth month she differentiated her true Qi (vital energy), manifested a kindly countenance, came and went upon Mount Tai, and dwelt in stillness in the upper realm. She further cultivated primordial truth and, after passing through a hundred million kalpas, brought her merit and practice to completion. Her compassionate light shone through what is dark, hidden, and subtle. Conforming to the Nine Qi—the nine kinds of primordial energy that constitute Heaven, Earth, and the myriad things—she caused the myriad things to be generated without cease; embodying the One Origin, the common source of all things, she transformed and nurtured the myriad things. Her numinous powers and meritorious achievements could not be fathomed; her vast De (Virtue/Power) and grace were hard to measure; and her kindness reached all the people under Heaven.

She submitted to and received the Jade Emperor’s edict, realized the station of celestial immortal, took command of the divine troops of the Eastern Peak Office, and inspected good and evil, guilt and blessing, in the human world, so that retribution and sympathetic response appeared swiftly.

The Perfected One (Zhenren) bowed and asked, ‘The wicked and deceitful are skilled at fraud: their mouths say one thing while their hearts think another. How can the gods and spirits discern this?’”

The Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun) said: A person’s primordial spirit (Yuanshen)—the spiritual nature innately received from Prior Heaven—comes from Heaven. The moment a good thought or an evil thought begins to arise, the divine beings perceive it; even when a person is in a hidden place, the thoughts within the heart and the traces of conduct are revealed.

When a single good thought arises, it appears as clearly as light and shadow. The person may not see it, yet the divine beings have already perceived it, and the spirit who oversees good deeds records it in the register of good. When a single evil thought arises, it answers at once like an echo in a mountain valley. The person may not hear it, yet the divine beings have already heard it, and the spirit who oversees evil deeds records it in the register of evil.

Although good and evil deeds differ, the speed of their resonance and of the fulfillment of retribution is equally swift.

The Perfected (Zhenren) bowed once more in reverence and asked, “I have not yet heard of the ways in which retribution comes to be fulfilled.”

The Celestial Worthy (Tianzun) said: The workings of spirits leave neither sound nor visible trace, yet they make use of events that arise in the human world to reveal, in secret, their marvelous arrangements. When people meet with good fortune in the course of everyday action, it is the recompense brought by good deeds; when they meet with misfortune, it is the recompense brought by evil deeds.

Some suffer the overturning of carriages and horses or the foundering of boats; some are harmed by raging fire or flood; some are suddenly killed by the calamities of war or by bandits; some are injured by tigers, wolves, insects, or snakes. Others endure the sufferings of lawsuits and imprisonment, or are entangled by ghosts and baleful spirits, or contract plagues difficult to cure, or come under the influence of inauspicious stars and malignant luminaries, or are injured by gu poison or toxic drugs, even to the point of violent death and early demise. Although these many sufferings appear as chance encounters, the scriptures hold that their root lies in every case in evil causes.

There are also those who do good yet meet with unfortunate events; in the end, however, they encounter good people who come to their aid and resolve their difficulties. This is the protection of the spirits.

Do not suppose that those who commit the Five Rebellions and the Ten Evils—a Buddhist classification of grave misdeeds—can go on escaping punishment forever merely because they presently enjoy peace and blessings. In every locality there are spirits who oversee lifespan and local affairs, such as Siming (the Director of Fate), Tudi (the Earth God), Sheling (the Altar Command), and Chenghuang (the City God). They report a person’s conduct to the divine lords of the mountains under whose charge they stand; these in turn record it and memorialize the Jade Emperor (Yudi). The Jade Emperor orders the Fire Bureau and the Thunder Office to investigate and verify the matter clearly; when the time is ripe, punishment is carried out. The Jade Emperor has also commanded the Great Spirit of Execution and Judgment of Rebellion to patrol the human world.

If anyone plots to murder parents or elders, even though the matter has not yet come to light, as soon as the evil intention has arisen the spirits put that person to death at once. The hun and po souls are sent to Fengdu—the underworld of which Daoism speaks—and subjected to every kind of bitter punishment, with no pardon granted and no return to the human world permitted.

Good men and faithful women, after death, do not pass through the hells but proceed directly to the heavenly realms. Should they be reborn in the human world, they will be born in China as males, intelligent and wealthy, and blessed with long life.

The Perfected (Zhenren) asked: How can the karmic retribution of good and evil be discerned in the world?

The Celestial Worthy (Tianzun) said: “If you wish to know the circumstances of past lives, look at this present life; if you wish to know the circumstances of lives to come, look at the life one is living now. If in this life a person is born into a royal palace or a noble household, or dwells in surroundings that are pure and quiet, peaceful and secure, where blessings run deep, with body and mind free from toil, living in ease and joy, healthy and fortunate, this is the good cause accumulated over the past three lifetimes.

“Though born a human being in this life, one may be blind or have damaged eyes, the body bound about with malignant sores that do not heal despite long treatment, reduced to begging along the streets; the body aches for no apparent reason, and one weeps and cries out in grief. This is retribution received in the present life for having in the past failed to revere Heaven and Earth and the sun, moon, and stars—which the scripture (Jing) calls the ‘Three Luminaries’—for not believing in the Three Treasures (in Daoism commonly referring to the Dao (the Way), the Jing, and the Master), and for slandering the scriptures.

“Some have ulcerated lips and mutilated noses, with hands and feet curled or lame, and are shunned by others. This is retribution in the present life for having in the past cursed the wind and rain, reviled their parents and parents-in-law, and, relying on their own strength, bullied others.

“Some meet with difficult childbirth and deliveries that do not go smoothly; in some cases the child lives while the mother dies, and in others both mother and child perish. This is retribution in the present life for having in the past mishandled, aborted, and cast away infants, abandoned their children, and obstructed living beings from taking birth.

“Some are dull-witted, deaf, blind, or mute and unable to speak. This is retribution in the present life for having in the past exhausted their ingenuity in deceiving and beguiling the foolish and ignorant.

“Some have clothing that cannot keep out the cold and food insufficient to fill the stomach, and in the end they die in ditches and ravines, their corpses left exposed in the wild. This is retribution in the present life for having in the past failed to cherish grain and squandered silks and fine brocades.

“Some are born as women into lowly households, or are seized and carried off by bandits or foreign peoples. This is retribution in the present life for having in the past relied on ferocity and superior force, and craftily bullied the good. The varieties of karmic retribution are more than can be told. All of these arise from the causal conditions of former lives, and the judgment admits no error.

“If one does not awaken and repent of past faults, and does not cease from evil and cultivate good, one will be reborn as fish, crustaceans, birds, or beasts, or become animals bearing claws and fangs, hooves and horns. Most such lives must suffer whipping, slaughter, and cooking, and afterward they are transformed into minute insects, so that it is very hard to obtain a human body again.”

Hearing these evil retributions, the Zhenren (Perfected Person) bowed his head to the ground in reverence and said: “The common people are ignorant, like young children. How ought one to cultivate and accumulate goodness so as to be spared these retributions? We earnestly beg the Celestial Worthy to extend compassion widely and to cherish life, and to show us the path of doing good.”

The Celestial Worthy said: Bixia Yuanjun, the goddess of Mount Tai venerated in Daoism, is said in the scriptures to punish the wicked, yet her true intent is to save and deliver the people of the world. Whoever is willing to mend past faults and begin anew can receive her aid; no one is beyond help. Yuanjun’s divine incantation can dissolve transgressions committed in the past. I now proclaim it for you:

At the beginning, the Great Dao (the fundamental Way of the cosmos) had no form and could not be described in words. After Heaven and Earth were opened, the many deities each took charge of their own offices.

Mount Tai, honored as Daiyue, steadies the foundation of the earth. Within the mountain is a Yuanjun titled a celestial immortal.

She first attained the rank of Imperial Perfected and dwelt in the azure void. In order to teach and transform living beings, she manifested a compassionate countenance.

She broadly displays numinous powers; both her majestic authority and her De (Virtue) are plainly evident. She pacifies the people and protects the state, and by this she also warns the world, so that people become sincere, honest, and upright.

She assists the loyal and filial and helps the upright and worthy. She grants health and peace, lengthens the span of life, and causes sons and grandsons to continue without end.

She removes calamities and resolves dangers, helping people pass through misfortune and dissolve their faults. She drives out epidemics, subdues poisonous harm, sweeps away baleful spirits, and unties knots of grievance.

The officials and commanders of the divine administration of Mount Tai issue strict and clear commands. Those who lack benevolence and righteousness, violate the moral order, are vicious and refractory, or do not honor the correct Dao are punished and reduced to fine dust. Those who dare to curse and do evil are escorted to Mount Feng, the netherworld of Daoist legend. Their souls are detained in the offices of the underworld and, through myriad kalpas, receive no pardon.

When the people of the world come to pray, so long as what they seek accords with what is reasonable, their wishes are fulfilled. Yuanjun answers prayer with great compassion and widely relieves beings of the human world and the heavenly realms.

The Celestial Worthy proclaimed once more: Those who lack benevolence and righteousness, violate the moral order, are vicious and refractory, or do not honor the correct Dao are punished and reduced to fine dust. Those who dare to curse and do evil are escorted to Mount Feng. Their souls are detained in the offices of the underworld and, through myriad kalpas, receive no pardon. When the people of the world come to pray, so long as what they seek accords with what is reasonable, their wishes are fulfilled. Yuanjun answers prayer with great compassion and widely relieves beings of the human world and the heavenly realms.

The Celestial Worthy said to the Perfected Yuluo: “If someone, in a single thought, turns the heart back and takes refuge in the orthodox Way (Dao), settling mind and spirit (Shen) and clearing away long-accumulated habits, that person may invite Daoist priests who keep the pure regulations to set up a purification altar neatly, whether in a Daoist temple or at home. With a sincere heart given to good deeds, one recites this scripture (Jing)—three times, five times, or seven times, or even a hundred or a thousand times. Taking refuge in Bixia Yuanjun, one burns incense in repentance and concentrates in contemplation upon her compassionate countenance, as if she were present before one’s eyes. Then, prostrating with the whole body and bowing a hundred times to pray for her gracious protection, one can bring karmic offenses to an end, so that they are no longer entered in the registers of the underworld, and faults are likewise removed from the Yuefu (the office that governs the souls of the dead and the affairs of the netherworld). In this way, oneself and one’s family will be peaceful and fortunate, and calamities will disperse; one’s comings and goings will go smoothly, and both movement and dwelling will be safe and favorable; the nine mystic ancestors and seven progenitors (nine generations of ancestors and seven generations of clan kin) will all likewise attain ease and freedom.”

Hearing of these benefits, the Perfected Yuluo rejoiced without end. He said: “I am now fortunate to have received this scripture, and I am willing to spread it throughout the human world, so that the people may all turn toward the teaching of benevolence and Virtue (De), together raising a custom of compassion and yielding, and protecting the peace and order of the state.” The Perfected bowed once more and composed a hymn of praise:

Taking refuge in the Bixia Jing, karmic obstructions accumulated in the past can be dissolved across the three lifetimes (past, present, and future). Reciting the Bixia Jing again and again, calamity will not come upon one’s person.

Revering and realizing the teachings of the Bixia Jing, one is honored even by ghosts and spirits in the unseen realm. Bowing in reverence to the Bixia Jing, one’s family will be peaceful and at rest.

Contemplating the Bixia Jing causes the radiance of essence (Jing), vital energy (Qi), and spirit to interpenetrate. Honoring and admiring the Bixia Jing, good fortune, prosperity, and longevity all increase.

Wearing the Bixia Jing upon one’s person, evil dares not encroach. Expounding and lecturing on the Bixia Jing, fields and dwellings grow ever more prosperous.

Making offerings to the Bixia Jing, fire and thieves never arise. Praising the Bixia Jing, every wish is fulfilled according to one’s heart.

The Celestial Worthy said: “Yuluo, how truly benevolent you are! You enable beings of heaven and the human world to obtain benefit and ease. Your merit is measureless, and your immortal rank ought to be raised.”

When the Celestial Worthy had finished expounding the scripture, he mounted his carriage and returned to Qingdu (the celestial realm of the immortals). The immortal hosts of all the heavens together made obeisance.

After the Celestial Worthy had finished expounding the scriptural teachings, he mounted the clouds and returned to Qingdu (the celestial realm). The immortal hosts of the various heavens bowed in farewell to the Celestial Worthy, rejoicing in their meeting in a way beyond the power of words to describe. At that time the Zhenren (Perfected Person) transmitted the scripture to the human world, so that it might be widely proclaimed and the people instructed and transformed.

With this, the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning’s narration of the Wondrous Scripture of Bixia Yuanjun (Primordial Sovereign of the Azure Clouds) on Protecting the State, Sheltering the People, Universally Relieving, and Preserving Life comes to an end.

The precious invocation (baogao) of Bixia Yuanjun—in Daoism, a hymn that praises a deity and prays for protection—reads as follows.

Bixia Yuanjun dwells at the summit of Mount Tai, in the inner palace of the Eastern Peak. In the past she manifested in the form of a Jade Maiden; her root is the essence of a Dizen, a venerable deity of the celestial realm. Receiving the nine Qi (nine kinds of primordial vital energy), she compassionately relieves the world and manifests her divine form; she commands the hundred spirits, and her wisdom is perfectly complete and all-penetrating. Her cultivation extends throughout the ten directions, and her merit has passed through hundreds of millions of kalpas. She is honored as a celestial immortal and invested with the title Bixia Yuanjun. She leads the divine troops of the spirit bureau of the Eastern Peak and oversees good and evil in the human world; hearing a prayer, she goes forth in response, protecting the state and bringing peace to the people. She is supremely sacred and compassionate, supremely filial and humane.

Her honorific title is “Celestial Immortal Jade Maiden, Vastly Numinous and Kindly Beneficent, Respectfully Compliant and Universally Relieving, Zhenren Who Preserves Life, Protector of the State and Shelter of the People, Great-Virtued Bixia Yuanjun.”