四十二字门

(四十二字門, 四十二字门)

The doctrine of the forty-two [lang id =1028]悉曇 Siddham letters as given in the [lang id =1028]華嚴 76 and [lang id =1028]般若經 4. They have special meanings, independent of their use among the fourteen vowels and thirty-five consonants, i. e. forty-nine alphabetic signs. The forty-two are supposed by the [lang id =1028]智度論 47 to be the root or basis of all letters; and each letter has its own specific value as a spiritual symbol; Tiantai associates each of them with one of the forty-two [lang id =1028]位. The letters begin with [lang id =1028]阿 and end with [lang id =1028]荼 or [lang id =1028]佗.