《太上洞淵神咒經》Vol. 13

In ancient times, the Supreme Dao Ancestor (the highest deity in Daoism) gazed upon the mortal realm from the triple celestial realms and witnessed widespread plagues, rampant diseases among the people, and severe droughts causing complete crop failures. When humanity stood helpless, the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning (one of the Three Pure Ones in Daoism) descended upon earth riding five-colored auspicious clouds, manifesting divine powers with radiant light stretching ten thousand zhang. Leading over 7,200 dragon kings from the celestial realms along with immortal youths and jade maidens, he propagated the Orthodox Dao to universally deliver all beings. Immediately, sweet rain fell from heaven, ending the drought. The Dao Ancestor admonished the people: "Those who harbor doubt toward this teaching shall not only bring calamity upon themselves but also trap their ancestors' souls for nine generations in the underworld, suffering through countless kalpas without liberation. Yet those who sincerely recite this scripture shall obtain immeasurable merit—common folk will be spared disasters and attain longevity."

The Dao Ancestor further revealed: "When nations face war, famine, or even the tragedy of cannibalism, when celestial phenomena turn aberrant—establish altars at blessed locations such as beside palaces or sacred springs to venerate the Nine Directional Dragon Kings and Five Directional Sacred Truths. Chant this scripture while paying homage to the Empyrean Sovereign (a Daoist deity) and the Nation-Protecting Celestial Dragons. Thus shall warfare cease, rulers and ministers become wise, dragon spirits offer protection, and the world return to peace." Hearing this teaching, the assembled immortals and perfected beings profoundly benefited, each bowing in reverence to uphold this Dao.

The scripture then enumerates thirty-six categories of dragon kings: the Five Directional Dragon Kings (Blue, Red, White, Black, Yellow) governing spatial realms; those presiding over sun, moon, stars, celestial palaces, and earthly domains including the Five Sacred Peaks; and specialized kings like the Ghost-Slaying Dragon King, Medicine Dragon King, and Nation-Stabilizing Dragon King—each maintaining cosmic order. Among them, the "Kāla Ghost-Devouring Dragon King" specializes in consuming malevolent spirits; the "Yin-Yang Qi Dragon King" governs the balance of celestial and earthly energies; while the "Golden Light Dragon King" purifies worldly defilements.

This scripture expounds upon the powers of various Dragon Kings (water deities) in Daoism and methods to summon their protection. The text first enumerates over twenty Dragon Kings with specialized functions, including the "Wealth Dragon King" overseeing finances, the "Well and Hearth Dragon King" guarding domestic water sources, and the "Five Grains Dragon King" presiding over harvests—each governing different aspects of human affairs.

The scripture states that by burning incense and reciting this Divine Incantation Scripture of the Celestial Dragon Kings continuously for three days and nights, one can summon the heavenly Dragon Kings. During droughts, they will immediately bring rain without harmful thunderstorms. These Dragon Kings can fulfill diverse petitions—bestowing blessings, ensuring safety, curing illnesses, resolving feuds, or settling legal disputes. Should malevolent spirits hear this scripture yet refuse to depart, their skulls will be shattered and they will be utterly vanquished.

A special passage explains that for areas plagued by frequent fires, households should first inscribe the names of the Four Seas Dragon Kings (East, South, West, and North Sea Dragon Kings) at the four corners of their dwellings before burning incense and reciting the scripture. Water dragons will then arrive to protect them. The Four Great Dragon Kings will soar from their respective cardinal directions, manifesting supernatural powers to instantly spew massive waters that extinguish flames—even fire spirits (Jing of Fire) will burrow a thousand feet underground upon witnessing this. The Great Water Dragon King guards the central方位 (direction), eliminating all inauspicious energies.

The teaching emphasizes that devotees may enshrine Dragon Kings at home by writing their sacred names on paper and placing them in storerooms or other key locations, offering clean water and fresh fruits regularly. Particularly on the first and fifteenth days of each lunar month—auspicious dates for dragon worship—reciting this scripture summons their presence to ensure household prosperity, filled granaries, and prevention of unnecessary losses. The miraculous efficacy of this scripture is beyond measure. Upon hearing these teachings, the assembled audience rejoiced with profound delight.

This scripture depicts the scene where Lord Daojun (one of the highest deities in Daoism) dispatches divine dragons and disciples to deliver sentient beings. Eighty-four thousand dragon kings manifest simultaneously, shaking heaven and earth as torrential rains descend to aid all creatures, while celestial beings praise this act with reverence and devout prostrations.

Lord Daojun reveals that he was sent by the Most High Lord Lao (Laozi) and has spent fifty-three years traversing the Five Sacred Mountains and journeying across the land, seeking to establish an era of Great Peace. Yet now the hearts of people have become corrupt—the virtuous are few while the wicked abound. From this moment until the Renwu year (a specific calendrical cycle), he will send seventy-two disciples to travel the world teaching humanity, bestowing upon them the Dao's Qi (vital energy of cultivation). However, these individuals grew greedy for wealth and lust, posing as sages to deceive common folk—uttering countless words without a single promise fulfilled. Thus, from the Jiazhi year onward, Lord Daojun began eliminating them through mystical arts, eventually leaving only thirty-six who were granted the Dao's Qi to protect the people.

During those troubled times, wickedness prevailed. On the third day of the third month in the Jisi year, Lord Daojun dispatched ghostly armies from all directions to purge evildoers, beginning at Mount Hua (Western Sacred Peak). They have now reached Mount Huo (Southern Sacred Peak), where nearly all malefactors have been eradicated—corpses litter the land with none to bury them. Annually on this date, he commands a million ghost soldiers to be sent from Mount Song (Central Sacred Peak) to continue cleansing the regions of southern Jizhou, Dingguo, Huangbao, and the Han River. Presently, the area around Mount Heng (Northern Sacred Peak) nears complete purification.

Lord Daojun laments how people, narrow in vision and unrighteous in conduct, yet presume to comprehend past and present—such foolishness is truly pitiable. From Qingzhou and the lands south of Qi to Yangzhou, extending to northern Yan, lie blessed territories where devotees must diligently observe purification rituals, maintain altars with care, and never slacken. By the Jiashen year, he will use great floods to utterly cleanse the remnants of the wicked, when multitudes shall be swept away. He specifically warns the virtuous and sincere to understand this divine arrangement, instructing Daoist communities to cultivate with earnest hearts. Finally, he rebukes those who misuse temple offerings for worldly sustenance, betraying the true purpose of spiritual practice.

This passage from the Taishang Dongyuan Shenzhou (Great Supreme Cavern Abyss Divine Incantations), an important Daoist scripture, contains divine admonitions to practitioners:

The deities warn those lacking sincerity to genuinely repent, urging them to aid the impoverished and refrain from squandering ill-gotten wealth. Poverty and prosperity alike are ordained by divine will, as the gods' power manifests through Dao-Qi (the fundamental energy of Daoist cultivation), their majesty permeating all existence. These formless deities move unseen, equally capable of soaring through celestial spheres and dwelling close to human form, perceiving all phenomena in the mundane world.

These divine beings traverse the starry heavens without personal desire, moved solely by compassion for mortal suffering. When calamities arise and wickedness prevails, they manifest visions of Great Peace. The text admonishes Daoist priests, female adepts (nüguan), and virtuous people: cosmic tribulations follow predetermined cycles, so one must seize the moment for spiritual practice without negligence.

The deities prophesy that in the Ren-Shen year (Water-Monkey), all diseases will be eradicated and evildoers punished; during the Gui-You year (Water-Rooster), three disciples will be sent bearing a million divine talismans (fulu) to traverse the Five Sacred Mountains, granting protective charms to the virtuous. By the Jia-Xu year (Wood-Dog), yellow-robed envoys of ambiguous morality will appear—practitioners must maintain focused devotion without being misled.

Finally, it emphasizes that during apocalyptic tribulations, priests and female adepts must mutually instruct one another, frequently performing purification rituals (zhaijiao) while keeping altars immaculate. On the first day of the lunar new year, the deities will dispatch ghostly armies to punish the wicked—some wielding crimson clubs for execution, others spreading plagues targeting those harboring malice.

This scripture describes a series of calamitous diseases brought by demonic spirits, along with the salvation methods of the Supreme Lord of the Dao (the highest deity in Daoism). It mentions sixty thousand ghost soldiers spreading green poisonous drugs that cause symptoms like curled limbs, chest congestion, and loss of speech; ten thousand ghost soldiers carrying white poison inducing dizziness, deafness, and death by inversion; twenty thousand with black poison causing high fever, delirium, and fatal insomnia; and five thousand with red poison leading to sudden death. On the third day of the third lunar month, the Supreme Lord dispatches ten million divine youths riding thunder chariots to execute the wicked.

The scripture then instructs humanity: when disasters arise, one should pray sincerely before incense lamps and avoid being misled by deceivers. The Supreme Lord sends thirty-six disciples to the Nine Provinces and Five Sacred Mountains (core regions in ancient Chinese geography) to educate people. These disciples manifest special halos (in yellow, red, blue, and white) above their heads—those who witness this should venerate them devoutly.

A prophecy follows: when the Great Peace era arrives, thirty-six thousand people will become transcendent guests (adepts who achieve Daoist cultivation), accompanied by one thousand white-robed youths bearing fifty-eight thousand dragon-emblazoned banners. They will lead fifty-eight thousand warriors and one thousand one hundred female officials holding incense burners, all robed in three types of yellow ritual garments. Universal peace will prevail, with sacred virtue spreading widely and no grievances among the people. The Supreme Lord declares this golden age will begin from Mount Meng, restoring governance through primordial simplicity.

Finally, it admonishes Daoist practitioners (both male priests and female adepts) against laxity. The Supreme Lord incarnates three times yearly to inspect the mortal world—perhaps appearing as a wandering scholar, urgent courier, or destitute person to test cultivators. Emphasizing that celestial destiny has fixed measures and covenants are already established, all should diligently pursue spiritual refinement.

This mysterious elder (referring to the supreme Daoist deity Lord Lao, the Most High) often manifests as a destitute old man or an orphaned child—who among mortals can discern his true form? I frequently descend to your ritual altars (places for Daoist ceremonies) on the first day of the lunar year, surveying the four directions. How could you ordinary people know which altars I have visited or which quiet chambers I have entered? Every altar I pass leaves behind a sacred presence.

My frequent descents to the mortal realm stem from concern that you might stray from the right path. I witness people abandoning the true Dao (the Way) to follow false practices, gathering in crowds to commit evil. Though the era of Great Peace has yet to arrive, the law of cause and effect is already clear: Yellow-Robed Messengers (celestial envoys) follow the virtuous to bestow blessings, while the wicked bring ruin upon themselves—even extending calamity to three generations of their kin. Do you know whom to blame for these grievances?

From my abode atop the Nine Heavens, I sometimes ride clouds and cranes, other times astride crimson dragons, touring the Five Sacred Mountains' grotto-heavens (immortal abodes within Daoism's five holy peaks) and the world's famed mountains, or withdrawing into the mundane world to cultivate. Mortals struggle to distinguish wisdom from folly—I may appear as an ignorant child or a white-haired elder, observing the people's hearts by night while hiding by day. Alas, the masses have yet to turn their hearts toward virtue, and the age of Great Peace remains unrealized.

When the ocean's treasures are revealed and the Hongzhou realm trembles, golden drums will resound between heaven and earth. I shall dispatch Daoist priests to return to the celestial palaces, where you will witness nine-tiered lotus canopies, immortal chambers where white deer roam, phoenixes perched on sunlit slopes, and qilin beasts paying homage, with banners gleaming like sun and moon. Who would not submit before such splendor? But to behold my true form, one must first cultivate the realm of emptiness.

Though dwelling in the Nine Heavens, I still roam the Five Sacred Mountains. When immortals gather at Mengjin (legendary meeting place of deities), they see the plains of Lu running red with blood, white bones piled into hills. Floods ravage Qing, Qi, Ji, and Ding, while refugees from Dunhuang to Hanzhong number in the millions. I have personally endured the ten great calamities of antiquity, tempering this body through countless trials. Reflecting on such suffering, why cling to past grievances?

When the ocean's treasures open and primordial chaos returns, I shall pacify the Nine Provinces in one stroke. The Eastern Sea will become mulberry fields, and lofty towers rise in Yuzhou. Those who witness this Great Peace will rejoice without sorrow. I wander the sacred peaks—Taiheng, Huahuo, Songyue—but if you seek the vast realm of the Dao, search among the ruins of Mengjin. There, jade maidens weave by the Milky Way—if you doubt, ask Zhang Qian (Han dynasty explorer) or Dongfang Shuo (Han dynasty mystic). When heaven and earth harmonize Yin-Yang, immortal gatherings will arise naturally. Even if ghostly armies number in the millions, what could they achieve by piling stones to fill Mount Kunlun? I alone commune with heaven, erecting gold and silver altars in the Great Void, their corners anchored by white jade, as celestial officials stand in ranks to witness the Dao Ancestor ascending the platform to bestow blessings.

At that time, the Supreme Venerable Lord (Taishang Laojun, one of the highest deities in Daoism) expounded this sacred scripture of divine incantations in Chang'an, with the purpose of inspiring all who heard it to sincerely turn toward goodness. The thirteenth scroll of the Scripture of the Supreme Cavernous Abyss Divine Incantations (Taishang Dongyuan Shenzhou Jing) records these teachings.

Through reciting these sacred incantations, the Supreme Venerable Lord guides all beings to return to their original heart and pursue virtue. These "divine incantations" (shenzhou) are not ordinary spells, but sacred language possessing special spiritual power capable of purifying the mind and eliminating karmic obstacles. In Daoist practice, the recitation of such divine incantations constitutes one of the essential cultivation methods.

This scripture emphasizes the paramount importance of turning toward goodness, maintaining that sincere devotion to virtue will secure the protection of divine beings. This concept embodies the fundamental Daoist purpose of exhorting virtue and delivering beings, which forms the core teaching throughout the entire Scripture of the Supreme Cavernous Abyss Divine Incantations.