The Maha^vairocana^bhisam!bodhi-vikurvita^dhis!t!ha^na-vaipulyasu^tra-indrara^jana^madharmaparya^ya， in Tibetan rNam par snang mdzad chen po mngon par rdzogs par byang chub pa rnam par sprul ba byin gyis rlob pa shin tu rgyas pa mdo sd'i dbang po rgyal po zhes bya ba'i chos gyi rnam grangs， and in English， Manifest Enlightenment of the Grand Resplendent One， His Transformations and Empowering Presence: Lord Indra of the Broader Su^tras; commonly abbreviated as 大日经. T.848.18.1-55， 7 fasc.， translated by Subha^karasim!ha 善无畏 with the assistance of Yixing 一行 in 724; commonly abbreviated as Vairocana^bhisam!bodhi 大日经. The primary theme of this work， which is of utmost importance in East Asian esotericism， is the realization of the mind seeking enlightenment 菩提心. This theme is addressed in the opening dialogue between Maha^vairocana 大日如来 and an assembly led by Vajrapa^n!i 执金刚秘密主， who inquires about omniscient knowledge （sarvajn~a^jn~a^na 一切智智）. The Bhagavan responds that "it is caused by the mind which seeks enlightenment， is founded on sympathy for others， and culminates in skilful methods" （karun!a^mu^lam! bodhicittahetukam upa^yaparyavasa^nam 悲为根本。菩提心为因。方便为究竟）. Enlightenment is defined as "knowing one's mind for what it really is" 谓如实知自心， and subsequent chapters are devoted to describing the skilful methods 方便 for its accomplishment. Foremost among these methods is entrance into the man!d!ala born from great compassion （maha^karun!a^garbhodbhava-man!d!ala 大悲胎藏生曼荼罗）， described at length in chapter two， The Relevant Equipment 具缘品.' Later chapters deal with the entire gamut of esoteric techniques: the practice of mantras 真言， the fire ceremony （homa 护摩）， the wheel of syllables （aks!a^racakra 字轮）， meditation on the stu^pa of five cakras 五轮塔， and so on. However， unlike many previous esoteric works， in this text such techniques are almost exclusively oriented towards the accomplishment （siddhi 成就） of enlightenment rather than worldly goals. Many early sources for these esoteric practices have been established: for example， the three-family （kula 部） system can be found in the Dha^ran!i^samuccaya 陀罗尼集经， and its man!d!ala is indebted to the Vajrapa^n!yabhis!eka-tantra 金刚手灌顶续 （To.496）. It is likely that the original text was composed in the mid-seventh century CE， when esotericism gained the status of legitimate "hot topic" among Buddhist monastics in India. while a Sanskrit version has never been found， fragments have been located in diverse sources: the Kriya^sam!graha （To.2531）， the Indonesian Sang Hyang Kamaha^ya^nan Mantranaya， the Bha^vana^krama， and the Pradi^poddyotana.
The Chinese text is based on a manuscript recovered from the belongings of the pilgrim Wuxing 无行 （d.674）， which， as with many tantras， is said to have been a condensed version （laghutantra 略本） abridged from a lengthy original （mu^latantra 广本） of 100，000 verses 迦陀.
An ambitious attempt at reconstructing the Sanskrit was made by Jiun 慈云 （1718-1804）， who made use of citations in the principal Chinese commentary， the Darijingshu 大日经疏 （T.1796）. This exhaustive and accessible commentary， along with a well-maintained ritual tradition， have contributed greatly to the text's continuing importance in the Japanese esoteric schools. By contrast， it seems to have attracted little attention in Tibet， where it was translated no later than the early ninth century by S/i^lendrabodhi and dPal-brtegs. Lucid and generous commentaries by the eighth-century pandit Buddhaguhya 佛密 （Sangs-rgyas-gsang-ba）， such as the Vairocana-abhisambodhitantrapin!d!artha （To.2662， P.3486）， were also translated into Tibetan. For scholastics such as mKhas-grub-rje 智法祖师 （1385-1438） the text's most noteworthy feature is its advocacy of a yoga without semiosis （animittayoga 无相三昧， mtshan ma med pa'i rnal byor）， a practice which qualifies its preeminent rank among the ca^rya 行 tantras in the Tibetan classification. The sequence of chapters in the Chinese and Tibetan editions differs slightly， suggesting that in later times chapters were reordered in accordance with exegetical tradition. Correspondences between chapter numbers are as follows: 1-5:1-5， 6+7:6， 8-12:10-14， 13:16， 14:15， 15-26:17-28， 27+31:29， 28-30:7-9. The seventh fascicle of the Chinese version is a ritualisation of the entire text， apparently composed later than the preceding chapters and circulated as a separate work in India. This short ritual text， the Maha^vairocana-abhisam!bodhisambaddhapu^ja^vidhi， was also translated by Vajrabodhi 金刚智 as the Abridged Recitation Su^tra 要略念诵经 （T.849）. For a preliminary English translation of the whole text， see Chikyo Yamamoto， Maha^vairocanasu^tra， Satapit!aka series 359， 1990.