Text of the Prajñā (般若) Dharma Assembly praying for the warding off of epidemic疾疫祈禳般若法席文
云云。三千界之慈悲父。無如我釋尊。十二部之殊勝經。斯謂之般若。宣揚苟切。饒潤滋多。顧吾軍皆效於從征。何一士不思其努力。禍生所忽。病莫能興。凡司統領之權。宜急鎭禳之術。張皇梵采。召集名緇。特於軍壘之四隅。閱此眞詮於七日。一毫所締。圓鑑卽通。伏願化謳歌於呻吟。勿藥有喜。策疲駑爲趫捷。所向無前。盡覆賊巢。遄還京輦。云云。
And so forth. For a compassionate father of the three thousand worlds there is none like our Shakyamuni, the World-Honored One; and of the twelve branches of the teaching, the most excellent scripture is the one called the Prajñā (般若). If the spreading abroad of it be truly earnest, its ample moistening is very great.
Looking back, our soldiers have all given their strength to following out to battle; and what single soldier's labor should go unconsidered? Calamity arises out of neglect, and once a man falls ill he cannot rise. Whoever bears the authority of command ought to make haste and use the means of holding sickness down and driving it off.
We have set out a great Buddha-rite and called together renowned monks, and at the four corners of the army camp in particular they read these true words for seven days. If sincerity be bound up to the measure of a single hair, the Buddha's all-illumining regard gets through to us at once.
Prostrate we pray that you turn the sound of their groaning into the sound of song and let them mend without the use of medicine; and that you whip the worn and sluggish horses into swiftness, so that wherever we turn there be nothing to block the way before us. Let the brigands' nests be all overturned, and let us hasten back to the capital. And so forth.