Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm is one of five texts that together constitute the Pañcarakṣā scriptural collection, popular for centuries as an important facet of Mahāyāna-Vajrayāna Buddhism’s traditional approach to personal and communal misfortunes of all kinds. Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm primarily addresses illnesses caused by spirit entities thought to devour the vitality of humans and animals. The text describes them as belonging to four different subspecies, presided over by the four great kings, guardians of the world, who hold sovereignty over the spirit beings in the four cardinal directions. The text also includes ritual prescriptions for the monastic community to purify its consumption of alms tainted by the “five impure foods.” This refers generally to alms that contain meat, the consumption of which is expressly prohibited for successful implementation of the Pañcarakṣā’s dhāraṇī incantations.
Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the guidance of Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche. The translation was produced by James Gentry, who also wrote the introduction. Andreas Doctor compared the translation with the original Tibetan and edited the text.
This translation has been completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm is the first scripture in a series of five; the other four texts are The Great Peahen, Queen of Incantations (Mahāmāyūrīvidyārājñī, Toh 559),1 The Noble Great Amulet, Queen of Incantations (Mahāpratisarāvidyārājñī, Toh 561), The Sūtra of Great Cool Grove, (Mahāśītavana, Toh 562),2 and Great Upholder of the Secret Mantra (Mahāmantrānudhāraṇi, Toh 563).3 Together these scriptures have been apotheosized in the Mahāyāna tradition as five goddesses known collectively as the Pañcarakṣā, or the “Five Protectresses.” In the Tibetan tradition this collection is known by the moniker gzungs chen grwa lnga, “The Fivefold Great Dhāraṇī.” In the Degé Kangyur collection these texts constitute 49, 60, 43, 25, and 12 folios respectively, making a total of 189 folios.
Tibetan redactors of Kangyur collections have catalogued this set of five texts together within the final Action (kriyā) tantras section of the “tantra collection” (rgyud ’bum) division. Indeed, these scriptures do contain elements—powerful incantations, an emphasis on external ritual hygiene and other material details such as auspicious dates, and so forth—that resonate with standard Kriyāyoga practice as understood in Tibet. Yet missing from nearly all these texts is any extensive mention of the contemplative visualization exercises, specialized ritual gestures (mudrā), elaborate maṇḍala diagrams, and initiation ceremonies so typical of full-blown Buddhist tantra. A close perusal of these five texts might then lead the reader to construe them as standard Mahāyāna texts with a preponderance of elements—magical mantra formulas, ritual prescriptions, pragmatic aims, and so forth—that only later coalesced and developed into a typically tantric practice tradition with its own unique set of view, meditation, and conduct. To complicate things further, the core of the Mahāmāyūrī, for one, is rooted in Indian Buddhist traditions that predate even the rise of Mahāyāna.4 The Mahāmāyūrī also appears as a remedy for snakebites in the earlier Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinayavastu.5 This accords with Gregory Schopen’s general observation, based on inscriptional evidence, that “dhāraṇī texts were publically known much earlier and more widely than texts we think of as ‘classically’ Mahāyāna”.6
Regardless of their bibliographical position in the Tibetan canon, the Five Protectresses have been among the most popular texts used for pragmatic purposes throughout the Mahāyāna-Vajrayāna Buddhist world. While it seems certain that these texts each developed independently and were only later combined into a five-text corpus, their popularity is attested by their eventual spread to Nepal, Tibet, Central Asia, China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan, and Indonesia (Hidas 2007: 189). In East Asia, the textual tradition associated with the Mahāmāyūrī in particular was instrumental in integrating Buddhist and indigenous notions of divine kingship.7 Moreover, the tradition of all five goddesses and their texts still occupies a place of central importance today in the Vajrayāna Buddhism practiced by the Newar population of the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. Newar Buddhist communities of Kathmandu have even translated the texts of the Five Protectresses into the modern vernacular, based on which they continue to stage a number of annual rites for a broad range of pragmatic purposes.8 Newars often propitiate the Five Protectresses together by means of a five-section maṇḍala and other tantric elements that do not necessarily feature in the scriptures themselves. This tradition reflects a specifically tantric ritual treatment of the texts, which, judging by the presence of tantric sādhana practices associated with these five texts in the Tibetan Tengyur collections, had already developed by the time the Tibetan translations were executed. This helps account for why Tibetan redactors construed these five texts as belonging to the category of Kriyātantra, and not to the Dhāraṇī or Sūtra sections. Indeed, the Tibetan translation of the Mahāpratisarā reflects a recension of the Sanskrit text, which, Gergely Hidas suggests, “most likely served the better integration of this text into the Vajrayāna, changing the historical locus of the nidāna to a mythical Vajrayānic setting.”9
The designation Five Protectresses denotes the set of five texts, the incantations presented therein, and the goddesses presiding over each. It is believed that all these texts, particularly their incantations, provide special protection against a wide range of illnesses and misfortunes for those who memorize, recollect, read, copy, teach, wear, or otherwise come into contact with them. Each text promises protection against specific misfortunes, with considerable overlap witnessed between the texts. Despite the pragmatic thrust of these scriptures, each text also contains numerous allusions to doctrinal notions. The range of effects described therein sometimes, though rarely, extends beyond the pragmatic sphere to include the purification of negative karma, deliverance from the lower realms, and even the attainment of buddhahood.
Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm was translated into Tibetan under Tibetan imperial patronage sometime during the early ninth century by a translation team that included the translator-editor Bandé Yeshé Dé (ca. late eighth to early ninth centuries) and the Indian preceptors Śīlendrabodhi, Jñānasiddhi, and Śākyaprabha. The Degé edition, which forms the basis of this English translation, was re-edited several centuries later by Gö Lotsāwa Zhönnu Pal (’gos lo tsā ba gzhon nu dpal, 1392–1481), based on a Sanskrit edition that had been in the possession of Chojé Chaglo (chag lo tsā ba chos rje dpal, 1197–1263/64).
The text primarily addresses illnesses caused by spirit entities, collectively referred to as graha or bhūta throughout the text, which are thought to devour the vitality of men, women, children, and animals. The text describes these graha or bhūta as belonging to four different subspecies of beings, each of which is presided over by one of the four great kings, guardians of the world, who hold spiritual sovereignty over the territories and resident spirit beings present throughout the four cardinal directions. According to the cosmology presented in the text, the great king Kubera (who is also called Vaiśravaṇa in some passages) dwells in the north, where he presides over the yakṣa variety of graha. The great king Dhṛtarāṣṭra dwells in the east, where he reigns over the gandharva grahas. The great king Virūḍhaka rules in the south, where his entourage consists of kumbhāṇḍa grahas. And the great king Virūpākṣa reigns in the west, where his entourage is nāga grahas. Each group of grahas, moreover, is responsible for a particular category of illness, with its own unique set of physical symptoms.
The narrative of this sūtra revolves around Buddha Śākyamuni’s gradual dispensation of a series of incantations and rituals centered upon formulas intended to prevent violent grahas from striking, or to heal those already afflicted. These prescriptions unfold in the context of the Buddha’s conversations with the four great kings and the god Brahmā about their mutual concern to control the grahas after their boundless greed has plagued Vaiśālī and its Licchavi people with a natural disaster and an epidemic of cosmic proportions. The text also includes ritual prescriptions for the monastic community to purify their consumption of alms tainted by the “five impure foods.” This refers generally to alms that contain meat, the consumption of which is expressly prohibited for successful implementation of the dhāraṇī incantations. In this final section of the text all five Protectresses are mentioned, suggesting that Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm emerged only after the other four scriptures of the group, despite its position as first in the collection.
This English translation is based primarily on the Degé edition, with close consultation of Yutaka Iwamoto’s (1937) edited Sanskrit edition, as obtained electronically through GRETIL: Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages. When encountering variant readings between Tibetan and Sanskrit editions, we tended to select the Tibetan Degé readings and note the variations. This choice was made based on the profusion of variant Sanskrit witnesses that postdate the ninth-century Tibetan translation, and our own ignorance of the witnesses and criteria employed in the creation of Iwamoto’s edited Sanskrit edition.
[F.63.a]I pay homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas!
Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was dwelling in Rājagṛha, on the southern slope of Vulture Peak Mountain in the luminous grove of jewel trees, the domain of the Buddha, together with a large monastic assembly of 1,250 monks. This assembly included venerable Śāriputra, venerable Mahāmaudgalyāyana, venerable Mahākāśyapa, venerable Gayākāśyapa, venerable Nadīkāśyapa, venerable Ājñātakauṇḍinya, venerable Nandika, venerable Mahākātyāyana, venerable Bakkula, venerable Vāṣpa, venerable Koṣṭhila, venerable Vāgīśa, venerable Aśvajit, venerable Subhūti, venerable Suvāhu, venerable Aniruddha, venerable Uruvilvākāśyapa, venerable Revata, and venerable Ānanda, among others.
At that time, the Blessed One and his monastic assembly were venerated, revered, honored, and worshipped by Ajātaśatru, king of Magadha, son of Vaidehī, who offered them clothes, food, bedding, medicine, and other material necessities. Just then, the earth shook tremendously, a massive cloud formation appeared, there was an untimely wind, strong hail began to fall, and a heavy rain fell from the massive cloud. Thunder roared and lightning flashed. Chaos erupted throughout the ten directions. A thick darkness then settled, such that the stars disappeared and even the sun and moon were dimmed.[F.64.a] No longer gleaming and luminous, they ceased to shine.
With his pristine, divine vision, superior to that of humans, the Blessed One saw those frightening things occur in the city of Vaiśālī. He saw that villages belonging to certain Licchavi people of Vaiśālī were afflicted with elemental spirits. He saw that some of the village youth, astrologers, councilors, prime ministers, court members, servant men and women, laborers, messengers, and attendants were also afflicted with elemental spirits. He saw that the monks and nuns and the men and women with lay vows throughout the entire land of Vaiśālī were all frightened, looking up to the sky, and crying out in horror. They paid homage to the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha. He saw that from among the brahmins and householders without particular devotion toward the Buddha’s teachings, some paid homage to Brahmā; some paid homage to Śakra; some paid homage to the guardians of the world; and still others paid homage to Maheśvara, Māṇibhadra, Pūrṇabhadra, Hārītī, the sun, the moon, the planets, the stars, or those spirits that dwell in mountains, forests, thickets, trees, rivers, fountains, ponds, pools, wells, and reliquaries. He saw that everyone was sitting and wondering, “How can we be freed from the peril of such a calamity?”
The Blessed One then manifested a miraculous feat by which a sound was heard throughout all realms of the trichiliocosm, causing the world of gods, humans, and demigods to have faith and assemble.[F.64.b]
At that point, Brahmā, master of the world; the gods of the Brahma realm; Śakra, lord of the gods; the gods of the realm of the Thirty-Three; the four great kings and the gods of their realm; the twenty-eight yakṣa generals; the thirty-two great yakṣa warriors; and Hārītī with her sons, together with their retinues, all with sublime complexions, used their respective complexions and powers to bathe Vulture Peak Mountain in bright light, like a pristine dawn once the night has passed. Approaching the Blessed One, they bowed their heads to his feet, sat to one side, then praised the Blessed One in verses of unified phrasing, cadence, and meter:
The Blessed One remained silent for a moment, then said to the four great kings, “Great Kings! It would be improper to think that your assembly could harm my assembly. That is because[F.65.a] it is in this world of humans that the Buddha has appeared, the sublime Dharma has been eloquently taught, and the Saṅgha has excellently practiced it. The seed planted from this has yielded buddhas, pratyekabuddhas, arhats, and śrāvakas in the world. Based on generating the roots of virtue with respect to them, beings of the world are born into any of the thirty-two divine realms. And kings, moreover, with their four-division army, become cakra-ruling kings with dominion over the four continents. They exercise righteous rule over the entire earth all the way to the oceans. They also come to possess a thousand sons, valiant, courageous, handsome in all respects, with the impetuousness of the power of great champions, who vanquish opposing groups and take possession of the seven kinds of precious substances. Thus, you should worry little about such a thing happening in this world.”
Then, the great king Vaiśravaṇa arose from his seat, draped his upper robe on one shoulder, and knelt on his right knee. Bowing to the Blessed One with palms joined, he said to him, “Blessed One, we have houses, abodes, and estates, including villages, gardens, mansions, apartments, and residences scented with incense censers and strewn with flowers, with porticos, archways, and small windows. Everywhere is festooned with beautiful and bright multi-colored silk streamers and studded with bell and pearl lattice. There we dwell, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of girls, fully10 embroiled in the five sense pleasures. Venerable Blessed One, since we are intoxicated and thus remain without a care, our entourages venture out everywhere throughout the ten directions in search of food and drink.[F.65.b] They thus steal life force, harm, obstruct, murder, and take the lives of men, women, boys, girls, newborns, and animals.
“We will reveal the physical characteristics of our own respective entourages before the fourfold retinue, in the presence of the Venerable Blessed One. There should be formed a magnificent image, along with a shrine, of the great king to whom a particular graha belongs. The patient should proclaim the name of that great king and scent with his own hand the image and the shrine with various fragrances. Having strewn the earth with flower petals and offered burning butter-lamps, the patient should then perform worship at that shrine.
“The symptoms of being afflicted by a yakṣa graha belonging to my entourage, Venerable Blessed One, are as follows:
syād yathedam siddhe susiddhe satve are araṇe bale mahābale jambhe jaṭile akhane makhane khakhane kharaṭṭe kharaṅge haripiṅgale temiṅgile temiṅgile temiṅgile temiṅgile nimaṃgalye svāhā |
“May my mantra syllables be fulfilled! May the name, power, sovereignty, and might of the great king Vaiśravaṇa bring me well-being! Svāhā!”
Next, the great king Dhṛtarāṣṭra arose from his seat, draped his upper robe on one shoulder, and knelt on his right knee. Bowing to the Blessed One with palms joined, he said to him, “The symptoms of being afflicted by a gandharva graha from my entourage, Blessed One, are as follows:[F.66.a]
syād yathedam akhe nakhe vinakhe bhandhe varāṅge capale vakhe vakhane akhiṇe nakhene vahule bhakhe bhagandale vaśe vaśavartīna svāhā |
“Through the name, power, sovereignty, and might of the great king Dhṛtarāṣṭra, may I be free of all grahas and misfortunes! Svāhā!”
Then it was the great king Virūḍhaka who arose from his seat, draped his upper robe on one shoulder, and kneeled on his right knee. Bowing to the Blessed One with palms joined, he said to him, “The symptoms of being afflicted by a preta kumbhāṇḍa from my entourage, Blessed One, are as follows:
syād yathedam khakhakhami khalane khalami kharāli kharali karakhe kaśani karaṭe kāli kāmini vivale vidheyaśayanisamavate śama śamini svāhā |
“Through the name, power, sovereignty, and might of the great king Virūḍhaka, may all grahas and misfortunes be pacified for me! Svāhā!”
The great king Virūpākṣa now arose from his seat, draped his upper robe on one shoulder, and kneeled on his right knee.[F.66.b] Bowing to the Blessed One with palms joined, he said to him, “The symptoms of being afflicted by a fine-winged nāga graha from my entourage, Blessed One, are as follows:
syād yathedam krakami kragamaṇi kragase krugraśe krakra śami kruśrumi kruśrume krukka krukluma kruge agale nagale samagale kuhume gume alake kaluke kalamale galale kalaṭake irimire dhire arugavati svāhā |
“Through the name, power, sovereignty, and might of the great king Virūpākṣa, may I have well-being!”
At this, the Blessed One sounded a lion’s roar before the whole assembly:
“I, replete with the ten powers and emboldened by the four types of fearlessness, will perfectly roar out a great lion’s roar like the leader of the pack amid the assembly. I will turn the wheel of Brahmā.
syād yathedam asaṅge khaṅgavate balavate balanirghoṣe śūre śūravatve vajrasme vajragame vajradhare stambhe jambhe dṛḍhasāre viraje vighośe varāgraprāpte araṇe araṇe dharmmayukte diśi vighuṣṭe svāhā |
“May the name, power, sovereignty, and might of the Thus-Gone One bring me well-being! Svāhā!”
Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm is one of five texts that together constitute the Pañcarakṣā scriptural collection, popular for centuries as an important facet of Mahāyāna-Vajrayāna Buddhism’s traditional approach to personal and communal misfortunes of all kinds. Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm primarily addresses illnesses caused by spirit entities thought to devour the vitality of humans and animals. The text describes them as belonging to four different subspecies, presided over by the four great kings, guardians of the world, who hold sovereignty over the spirit beings in the four cardinal directions. The text also includes ritual prescriptions for the monastic community to purify its consumption of alms tainted by the “five impure foods.” This refers generally to alms that contain meat, the consumption of which is expressly prohibited for successful implementation of the Pañcarakṣā’s dhāraṇī incantations.
Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the guidance of Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche. The translation was produced by James Gentry, who also wrote the introduction. Andreas Doctor compared the translation with the original Tibetan and edited the text.
This translation has been completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm is the first scripture in a series of five; the other four texts are The Great Peahen, Queen of Incantations (Mahāmāyūrīvidyārājñī, Toh 559),1 The Noble Great Amulet, Queen of Incantations (Mahāpratisarāvidyārājñī, Toh 561), The Sūtra of Great Cool Grove, (Mahāśītavana, Toh 562),2 and Great Upholder of the Secret Mantra (Mahāmantrānudhāraṇi, Toh 563).3 Together these scriptures have been apotheosized in the Mahāyāna tradition as five goddesses known collectively as the Pañcarakṣā, or the “Five Protectresses.” In the Tibetan tradition this collection is known by the moniker gzungs chen grwa lnga, “The Fivefold Great Dhāraṇī.” In the Degé Kangyur collection these texts constitute 49, 60, 43, 25, and 12 folios respectively, making a total of 189 folios.
Tibetan redactors of Kangyur collections have catalogued this set of five texts together within the final Action (kriyā) tantras section of the “tantra collection” (rgyud ’bum) division. Indeed, these scriptures do contain elements—powerful incantations, an emphasis on external ritual hygiene and other material details such as auspicious dates, and so forth—that resonate with standard Kriyāyoga practice as understood in Tibet. Yet missing from nearly all these texts is any extensive mention of the contemplative visualization exercises, specialized ritual gestures (mudrā), elaborate maṇḍala diagrams, and initiation ceremonies so typical of full-blown Buddhist tantra. A close perusal of these five texts might then lead the reader to construe them as standard Mahāyāna texts with a preponderance of elements—magical mantra formulas, ritual prescriptions, pragmatic aims, and so forth—that only later coalesced and developed into a typically tantric practice tradition with its own unique set of view, meditation, and conduct. To complicate things further, the core of the Mahāmāyūrī, for one, is rooted in Indian Buddhist traditions that predate even the rise of Mahāyāna.4 The Mahāmāyūrī also appears as a remedy for snakebites in the earlier Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinayavastu.5 This accords with Gregory Schopen’s general observation, based on inscriptional evidence, that “dhāraṇī texts were publically known much earlier and more widely than texts we think of as ‘classically’ Mahāyāna”.6
Regardless of their bibliographical position in the Tibetan canon, the Five Protectresses have been among the most popular texts used for pragmatic purposes throughout the Mahāyāna-Vajrayāna Buddhist world. While it seems certain that these texts each developed independently and were only later combined into a five-text corpus, their popularity is attested by their eventual spread to Nepal, Tibet, Central Asia, China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan, and Indonesia (Hidas 2007: 189). In East Asia, the textual tradition associated with the Mahāmāyūrī in particular was instrumental in integrating Buddhist and indigenous notions of divine kingship.7 Moreover, the tradition of all five goddesses and their texts still occupies a place of central importance today in the Vajrayāna Buddhism practiced by the Newar population of the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. Newar Buddhist communities of Kathmandu have even translated the texts of the Five Protectresses into the modern vernacular, based on which they continue to stage a number of annual rites for a broad range of pragmatic purposes.8 Newars often propitiate the Five Protectresses together by means of a five-section maṇḍala and other tantric elements that do not necessarily feature in the scriptures themselves. This tradition reflects a specifically tantric ritual treatment of the texts, which, judging by the presence of tantric sādhana practices associated with these five texts in the Tibetan Tengyur collections, had already developed by the time the Tibetan translations were executed. This helps account for why Tibetan redactors construed these five texts as belonging to the category of Kriyātantra, and not to the Dhāraṇī or Sūtra sections. Indeed, the Tibetan translation of the Mahāpratisarā reflects a recension of the Sanskrit text, which, Gergely Hidas suggests, “most likely served the better integration of this text into the Vajrayāna, changing the historical locus of the nidāna to a mythical Vajrayānic setting.”9
The designation Five Protectresses denotes the set of five texts, the incantations presented therein, and the goddesses presiding over each. It is believed that all these texts, particularly their incantations, provide special protection against a wide range of illnesses and misfortunes for those who memorize, recollect, read, copy, teach, wear, or otherwise come into contact with them. Each text promises protection against specific misfortunes, with considerable overlap witnessed between the texts. Despite the pragmatic thrust of these scriptures, each text also contains numerous allusions to doctrinal notions. The range of effects described therein sometimes, though rarely, extends beyond the pragmatic sphere to include the purification of negative karma, deliverance from the lower realms, and even the attainment of buddhahood.
Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm was translated into Tibetan under Tibetan imperial patronage sometime during the early ninth century by a translation team that included the translator-editor Bandé Yeshé Dé (ca. late eighth to early ninth centuries) and the Indian preceptors Śīlendrabodhi, Jñānasiddhi, and Śākyaprabha. The Degé edition, which forms the basis of this English translation, was re-edited several centuries later by Gö Lotsāwa Zhönnu Pal (’gos lo tsā ba gzhon nu dpal, 1392–1481), based on a Sanskrit edition that had been in the possession of Chojé Chaglo (chag lo tsā ba chos rje dpal, 1197–1263/64).
The text primarily addresses illnesses caused by spirit entities, collectively referred to as graha or bhūta throughout the text, which are thought to devour the vitality of men, women, children, and animals. The text describes these graha or bhūta as belonging to four different subspecies of beings, each of which is presided over by one of the four great kings, guardians of the world, who hold spiritual sovereignty over the territories and resident spirit beings present throughout the four cardinal directions. According to the cosmology presented in the text, the great king Kubera (who is also called Vaiśravaṇa in some passages) dwells in the north, where he presides over the yakṣa variety of graha. The great king Dhṛtarāṣṭra dwells in the east, where he reigns over the gandharva grahas. The great king Virūḍhaka rules in the south, where his entourage consists of kumbhāṇḍa grahas. And the great king Virūpākṣa reigns in the west, where his entourage is nāga grahas. Each group of grahas, moreover, is responsible for a particular category of illness, with its own unique set of physical symptoms.
The narrative of this sūtra revolves around Buddha Śākyamuni’s gradual dispensation of a series of incantations and rituals centered upon formulas intended to prevent violent grahas from striking, or to heal those already afflicted. These prescriptions unfold in the context of the Buddha’s conversations with the four great kings and the god Brahmā about their mutual concern to control the grahas after their boundless greed has plagued Vaiśālī and its Licchavi people with a natural disaster and an epidemic of cosmic proportions. The text also includes ritual prescriptions for the monastic community to purify their consumption of alms tainted by the “five impure foods.” This refers generally to alms that contain meat, the consumption of which is expressly prohibited for successful implementation of the dhāraṇī incantations. In this final section of the text all five Protectresses are mentioned, suggesting that Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm emerged only after the other four scriptures of the group, despite its position as first in the collection.
This English translation is based primarily on the Degé edition, with close consultation of Yutaka Iwamoto’s (1937) edited Sanskrit edition, as obtained electronically through GRETIL: Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages. When encountering variant readings between Tibetan and Sanskrit editions, we tended to select the Tibetan Degé readings and note the variations. This choice was made based on the profusion of variant Sanskrit witnesses that postdate the ninth-century Tibetan translation, and our own ignorance of the witnesses and criteria employed in the creation of Iwamoto’s edited Sanskrit edition.
[F.63.a]I pay homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas!
Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was dwelling in Rājagṛha, on the southern slope of Vulture Peak Mountain in the luminous grove of jewel trees, the domain of the Buddha, together with a large monastic assembly of 1,250 monks. This assembly included venerable Śāriputra, venerable Mahāmaudgalyāyana, venerable Mahākāśyapa, venerable Gayākāśyapa, venerable Nadīkāśyapa, venerable Ājñātakauṇḍinya, venerable Nandika, venerable Mahākātyāyana, venerable Bakkula, venerable Vāṣpa, venerable Koṣṭhila, venerable Vāgīśa, venerable Aśvajit, venerable Subhūti, venerable Suvāhu, venerable Aniruddha, venerable Uruvilvākāśyapa, venerable Revata, and venerable Ānanda, among others.
At that time, the Blessed One and his monastic assembly were venerated, revered, honored, and worshipped by Ajātaśatru, king of Magadha, son of Vaidehī, who offered them clothes, food, bedding, medicine, and other material necessities. Just then, the earth shook tremendously, a massive cloud formation appeared, there was an untimely wind, strong hail began to fall, and a heavy rain fell from the massive cloud. Thunder roared and lightning flashed. Chaos erupted throughout the ten directions. A thick darkness then settled, such that the stars disappeared and even the sun and moon were dimmed.[F.64.a] No longer gleaming and luminous, they ceased to shine.
With his pristine, divine vision, superior to that of humans, the Blessed One saw those frightening things occur in the city of Vaiśālī. He saw that villages belonging to certain Licchavi people of Vaiśālī were afflicted with elemental spirits. He saw that some of the village youth, astrologers, councilors, prime ministers, court members, servant men and women, laborers, messengers, and attendants were also afflicted with elemental spirits. He saw that the monks and nuns and the men and women with lay vows throughout the entire land of Vaiśālī were all frightened, looking up to the sky, and crying out in horror. They paid homage to the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha. He saw that from among the brahmins and householders without particular devotion toward the Buddha’s teachings, some paid homage to Brahmā; some paid homage to Śakra; some paid homage to the guardians of the world; and still others paid homage to Maheśvara, Māṇibhadra, Pūrṇabhadra, Hārītī, the sun, the moon, the planets, the stars, or those spirits that dwell in mountains, forests, thickets, trees, rivers, fountains, ponds, pools, wells, and reliquaries. He saw that everyone was sitting and wondering, “How can we be freed from the peril of such a calamity?”
The Blessed One then manifested a miraculous feat by which a sound was heard throughout all realms of the trichiliocosm, causing the world of gods, humans, and demigods to have faith and assemble.[F.64.b]
At that point, Brahmā, master of the world; the gods of the Brahma realm; Śakra, lord of the gods; the gods of the realm of the Thirty-Three; the four great kings and the gods of their realm; the twenty-eight yakṣa generals; the thirty-two great yakṣa warriors; and Hārītī with her sons, together with their retinues, all with sublime complexions, used their respective complexions and powers to bathe Vulture Peak Mountain in bright light, like a pristine dawn once the night has passed. Approaching the Blessed One, they bowed their heads to his feet, sat to one side, then praised the Blessed One in verses of unified phrasing, cadence, and meter:
The Blessed One remained silent for a moment, then said to the four great kings, “Great Kings! It would be improper to think that your assembly could harm my assembly. That is because[F.65.a] it is in this world of humans that the Buddha has appeared, the sublime Dharma has been eloquently taught, and the Saṅgha has excellently practiced it. The seed planted from this has yielded buddhas, pratyekabuddhas, arhats, and śrāvakas in the world. Based on generating the roots of virtue with respect to them, beings of the world are born into any of the thirty-two divine realms. And kings, moreover, with their four-division army, become cakra-ruling kings with dominion over the four continents. They exercise righteous rule over the entire earth all the way to the oceans. They also come to possess a thousand sons, valiant, courageous, handsome in all respects, with the impetuousness of the power of great champions, who vanquish opposing groups and take possession of the seven kinds of precious substances. Thus, you should worry little about such a thing happening in this world.”
Then, the great king Vaiśravaṇa arose from his seat, draped his upper robe on one shoulder, and knelt on his right knee. Bowing to the Blessed One with palms joined, he said to him, “Blessed One, we have houses, abodes, and estates, including villages, gardens, mansions, apartments, and residences scented with incense censers and strewn with flowers, with porticos, archways, and small windows. Everywhere is festooned with beautiful and bright multi-colored silk streamers and studded with bell and pearl lattice. There we dwell, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of girls, fully10 embroiled in the five sense pleasures. Venerable Blessed One, since we are intoxicated and thus remain without a care, our entourages venture out everywhere throughout the ten directions in search of food and drink.[F.65.b] They thus steal life force, harm, obstruct, murder, and take the lives of men, women, boys, girls, newborns, and animals.
“We will reveal the physical characteristics of our own respective entourages before the fourfold retinue, in the presence of the Venerable Blessed One. There should be formed a magnificent image, along with a shrine, of the great king to whom a particular graha belongs. The patient should proclaim the name of that great king and scent with his own hand the image and the shrine with various fragrances. Having strewn the earth with flower petals and offered burning butter-lamps, the patient should then perform worship at that shrine.
“The symptoms of being afflicted by a yakṣa graha belonging to my entourage, Venerable Blessed One, are as follows:
syād yathedam siddhe susiddhe satve are araṇe bale mahābale jambhe jaṭile akhane makhane khakhane kharaṭṭe kharaṅge haripiṅgale temiṅgile temiṅgile temiṅgile temiṅgile nimaṃgalye svāhā |
“May my mantra syllables be fulfilled! May the name, power, sovereignty, and might of the great king Vaiśravaṇa bring me well-being! Svāhā!”
Next, the great king Dhṛtarāṣṭra arose from his seat, draped his upper robe on one shoulder, and knelt on his right knee. Bowing to the Blessed One with palms joined, he said to him, “The symptoms of being afflicted by a gandharva graha from my entourage, Blessed One, are as follows:[F.66.a]
syād yathedam akhe nakhe vinakhe bhandhe varāṅge capale vakhe vakhane akhiṇe nakhene vahule bhakhe bhagandale vaśe vaśavartīna svāhā |
“Through the name, power, sovereignty, and might of the great king Dhṛtarāṣṭra, may I be free of all grahas and misfortunes! Svāhā!”
Then it was the great king Virūḍhaka who arose from his seat, draped his upper robe on one shoulder, and kneeled on his right knee. Bowing to the Blessed One with palms joined, he said to him, “The symptoms of being afflicted by a preta kumbhāṇḍa from my entourage, Blessed One, are as follows:
syād yathedam khakhakhami khalane khalami kharāli kharali karakhe kaśani karaṭe kāli kāmini vivale vidheyaśayanisamavate śama śamini svāhā |
“Through the name, power, sovereignty, and might of the great king Virūḍhaka, may all grahas and misfortunes be pacified for me! Svāhā!”
The great king Virūpākṣa now arose from his seat, draped his upper robe on one shoulder, and kneeled on his right knee.[F.66.b] Bowing to the Blessed One with palms joined, he said to him, “The symptoms of being afflicted by a fine-winged nāga graha from my entourage, Blessed One, are as follows:
syād yathedam krakami kragamaṇi kragase krugraśe krakra śami kruśrumi kruśrume krukka krukluma kruge agale nagale samagale kuhume gume alake kaluke kalamale galale kalaṭake irimire dhire arugavati svāhā |
“Through the name, power, sovereignty, and might of the great king Virūpākṣa, may I have well-being!”
At this, the Blessed One sounded a lion’s roar before the whole assembly:
“I, replete with the ten powers and emboldened by the four types of fearlessness, will perfectly roar out a great lion’s roar like the leader of the pack amid the assembly. I will turn the wheel of Brahmā.
syād yathedam asaṅge khaṅgavate balavate balanirghoṣe śūre śūravatve vajrasme vajragame vajradhare stambhe jambhe dṛḍhasāre viraje vighośe varāgraprāpte araṇe araṇe dharmmayukte diśi vighuṣṭe svāhā |
“May the name, power, sovereignty, and might of the Thus-Gone One bring me well-being! Svāhā!”
Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans., The Queen of Incantations: The Great Peahen, Toh 559 (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2023).
Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans., Great Cool Grove, Toh 562 (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2023).
For all four, see bibliography under Dharmachakra (2016) and Dharmachakra Translation Committee (2023).
Pathak (1989), p 32. The story comes at the very end of the Bhaiṣajyavastu (Toh 1 ch. 6); see Yao (2021), 11.217.
Tib. sha bkra. While the Sanskrit edition reads citra, Negi equates the Tibetan sha bkra with the Sanskrit terms kilāsa, or śvitra, synonyms for “white leprosy,” in which white spots form on the skin. It is quite possible that citra in the Sanskrit edition might be more correctly read as śvitra.
The Tibetan term mchod sdong renders the Sanskrit terms yaṣṭiḥ, stambhaḥ, and yūpaḥ (Negi). The context here suggests yūdaḥ as the correct reading, although it is unattested in the Iwamoto edition, which has tapta instead.
The ṭīka (F.31.b.6–7) glosses the phrase “bound by the five fetters” (bcings pa lnga yis bsdams pa yis) as “being bound by the noose of the five wisdoms” (ye shes lnga’i zhags pas bsdams pa…).
Tib. mi ldan pa. We are unsure of this designation. The Sanskrit edition reads Mātali, which would translate into Tibetan as ma ldan pa, a name that appears below, indicating that mi ldan pa is probably not a scribal error. Negi includes no proper name in his entry for this term. However, Monier-Williams mentions that vikala, one of Negi’s entries, is a possible proper name.
This reading is based on the Sanskrit khaṇḍa, “broken” (Monier-Williams), rather than the Tibetan rno ba (“sharp”).
The verses that follow, 1.250 down to 1.265, correspond (with some additional phrases) to a passage in chapter 29 of the Sanskrit Mahāvastu (see bibliography for Sanskrit text and translation in Jones 1949), as well as to the whole of the Pali Ratana-sutta (Khuddakapāṭha 6 and Suttanipāta 2.1). Both texts place the verses in the same narrative context as here, the great epidemic afflicting Vaiśālī, but the Pali commentaries relate that the Buddha instructed Ānanda to recite them in the streets of the city. This verse passage, with the addition of the four and a half stanzas 1.310 down to and including the first two lines of 1.314, are reproduced as a standalone text in the section of dedications at the end of the Tantra Collection, Toh 813 (and duplicated in the Compendium of Dhāraṇīs as Toh 1098), with the title stong chen mo rab tu ’joms pa las gsungs pa’i smon lam.
Narthang and Lhasa Kangyurs read mi gnyis (“non-dual”); Degé reads mig gnyis (“two eyes”). The former reading is also supported by the Sanskrit edition, which reads advayamārgadarśinā.
The Sanskrit edition further modifies “jewel vessels” as “filled with scented water, flowers, and fruits” (ratnabhājanāni gandhodakapuṣpaphalaparipūrṇāni).
The term kākhorda is rendered by the Tibetan as byad or byad stem (Negi). In indigenous Tibetan literature byad ka is a general term for “malevolent sorcery.” According to Sanderson (2004), pp 290–292, kākhorda is a Mahāyāna Buddhist variant of the word khārkhoda. Sanderson remarks that in the case of Kṣemarāja’s commentary to the Śaiva Netratantra, the term specifically denotes a yantra, or some other “supernatural device employed by an enemy for such effects as killing or expulsion.” The term might also refer, according to Sanderson, to a class of supernatural beings associated with such harmful sorcery. The occurrence of this term with the term vetāḍa, a variant of vetāla, suggests that kākhorda refers here to a class of pernicious spirits.
Yongle and Peking Kangyurs read kyis (instrumental/agentive particle); Degé has kyi (genitive particle).
The following four and a half stanzas, down to and including the first two lines of 1.314, are reproduced, preceded by the verses 1.250 down to 1.265 (which correspond to the well-known Pali Ratana-sutta, Khuddakapāṭha 6 and Suttanipāta 2.1, see n.16) as a standalone text in the section of dedications at the end of the Tantra Collection, Toh 813 (and duplicated in the Compendium of Dhāraṇīs as Toh 1098), with the title stong chen mo rab tu ’joms pa las gsungs pa’i smon lam.
In some copies of the Degé Kangyur, including the scanned W22084 on TBRC, folio 83.b appears to have been erroneously inserted from another work and the correct text of this folio side is missing. It can, however, be seen in the dpe bsdur ma (Comparative Edition), vol. 90, pp 225-226.
Cone, Lithang, Narthang, Peking, and Yongle Kangyurs read ma (“mother”); Degé reads mi (“human”).
Lhasa Kangyur reads pha wang (“bat”); Degé reads pha bang (“boulder”). This reading is supported by Negi’s identification of pha wang as an attested translation for the Sanskrit term jatukā, “bat.”
The ṭīka (F.86.b) glosses “On the eighth lunar day people of the four great kings” as follows: “Worship should be performed in the form of a king.”
The Tibetan here reads smig bcud, a term unrecorded in Negi, whereas the Sanskrit edition reads rocanā.
Tib. reng bu; Skt. vartī. This term can refer to a pill, paste, or medicinal bandage (Monier-Williams). Judging by the context, it seems to refer here to a paste or ointment.
Tib. zas sna lnga; Skt. pañcāmiṣa. The ṭīka (F.89.b.7) here describes the “five kinds of food” as “food that is mixed with meat, which is the very nature of desire and so forth.”
Śrīgupta, as the ṭīka (F.91.a) states, is the name of a previous king of Magadha (the first of the Guptas). However, the story referred to here is no doubt the one related in detail in the Śrīguptasūtra (Toh 217), in which a wealthy householder called Śrīgupta, at the instigation of his Jain teacher, plots to kill the Buddha in a firepit and with a poisoned meal; he fails, repents, and receives teachings. See Liljenberg (2021).
The name of a city on Mount Sumeru, and the main palace in that city.
Lit. “Not Disturbed” or “Immovable One.” The buddha in the eastern realm of Abhirati. A well-known buddha in Mahāyāna, regarded in the higher tantras as the head of one of the five buddha families, the vajra family in the east.
Emblic myrobalan, Phyllanthus emblica.
The buddha of the western buddhafield of Sukhāvatī, where fortunate beings are reborn to make further progress toward spiritual maturity. Amitābha made his great vows to create such a realm when he was a bodhisattva called Dharmākara. In the Pure Land Buddhist tradition, popular in East Asia, aspiring to be reborn in his buddha realm is the main emphasis; in other Mahāyāna traditions, too, it is a widespread practice. For a detailed description of the realm, see The Display of the Pure Land of Sukhāvatī, Toh 115. In some tantras that make reference to the five families he is the tathāgata associated with the lotus family.
Amitābha, “Infinite Light,” is also known in many Indian Buddhist works as Amitāyus, “Infinite Life.” In both East Asian and Tibetan Buddhist traditions he is often conflated with another buddha named “Infinite Life,” Aparimitāyus, or “Infinite Life and Wisdom,”Aparimitāyurjñāna, the shorter version of whose name has also been back-translated from Tibetan into Sanskrit as Amitāyus but who presides over a realm in the zenith. For details on the relation between these buddhas and their names, see The Aparimitāyurjñāna Sūtra (1) Toh 674, i.9.
A major śrāvaka disciple and personal attendant of the Buddha Śākyamuni during the last twenty-five years of his life. He was a cousin of the Buddha (according to the Mahāvastu, he was a son of Śuklodana, one of the brothers of King Śuddhodana, which means he was a brother of Devadatta; other sources say he was a son of Amṛtodana, another brother of King Śuddhodana, which means he would have been a brother of Aniruddha).
Ānanda, having always been in the Buddha’s presence, is said to have memorized all the teachings he heard and is celebrated for having recited all the Buddha’s teachings by memory at the first council of the Buddhist saṅgha, thus preserving the teachings after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa. The phrase “Thus did I hear at one time,” found at the beginning of the sūtras, usually stands for his recitation of the teachings. He became a patriarch after the passing of Mahākāśyapa.
A nāga king whose domain is Lake Anavatapta. According to Buddhist cosmology, this lake is located near Mount Sumeru and is the source of the four great rivers of Jambudvīpa. It is often identified with Lake Manasarovar at the foot of Mount Kailash in Tibet.
Lit. “Unobstructed.” One of the ten great śrāvaka disciples, famed for his meditative prowess and superknowledges. He was the Buddha's cousin—a son of Amṛtodana, one of the brothers of King Śuddhodana—and is often mentioned along with his two brothers Bhadrika and Mahānāma. Some sources also include Ānanda among his brothers.
Achyranthes aspera; the chaff tree.
A class of nonhuman beings believed to cause epilepsy, fits, and loss of memory. As their name suggests—the Skt. apasmāra literally means “without memory” and the Tib. brjed byed means “causing forgetfulness”—they are defined by the condition they cause in affected humans, and the term can refer to any nonhuman being that causes such conditions, whether a bhūta, a piśāca, or other.
Ferula nartex, or Ferula foetida.
A type of nonhuman being whose precise status is subject to different views, but is included as one of the six classes of beings in the sixfold classification of realms of rebirth. In the Buddhist context, asuras are powerful beings said to be dominated by envy, ambition, and hostility. They are also known in the pre-Buddhist and pre-Vedic mythologies of India and Iran, and feature prominently in Vedic and post-Vedic Brahmanical mythology, as well as in the Buddhist tradition. In these traditions, asuras are often described as being engaged in interminable conflict with the devas (gods).
The son of one of the seven brahmins who predicted that Śākyamuni would become a great king. He was one of the five companions with Śākyamuni in the beginning of his spiritual path, abandoning him when he gave up asceticism, but then becoming one of his first five pupils after his buddhahood. He was the last of the five to attain the realization of a “stream entrant” and became an arhat on hearing the Sūtra on the Characteristics of Selflessness (Anātmalakṣaṇasūtra), which was not translated into Tibetan. Aśvajit was the one who went to meet Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana so they would become followers of the Buddha.
One of the “eight close sons of the Buddha,” he is also known as the bodhisattva who embodies compassion. In certain tantras, he is also the lord of the three families, where he embodies the compassion of the buddhas. In Tibet, he attained great significance as a special protector of Tibet, and in China, in female form, as Guanyin, the most important bodhisattva in all of East Asia.
Ocimum gratissimum.
This term in its broadest sense can refer to any being, whether human, animal, or nonhuman. However, it is often used to refer to a specific class of nonhuman beings, especially when bhūtas are mentioned alongside rākṣasas, piśācas, or pretas. In common with these other kinds of nonhumans, bhūtas are usually depicted with unattractive and misshapen bodies. Like several other classes of nonhuman beings, bhūtas take spontaneous birth. As their leader is traditionally regarded to be Rudra-Śiva (also known by the name Bhūta), with whom they haunt dangerous and wild places, bhūtas are especially prominent in Śaivism, where large sections of certain tantras concentrate on them.
A high-ranking deity presiding over a divine world; he is also considered to be the lord of the Sahā world (our universe). Though not considered a creator god in Buddhism, Brahmā occupies an important place as one of two gods (the other being Indra/Śakra) said to have first exhorted the Buddha Śākyamuni to teach the Dharma. The particular heavens found in the form realm over which Brahmā rules are often some of the most sought-after realms of higher rebirth in Buddhist literature. Since there are many universes or world systems, there are also multiple Brahmās presiding over them. His most frequent epithets are “Lord of the Sahā World” (sahāṃpati) and Great Brahmā (mahābrahman).
Negi identifies the Tibetan ru rta as a translation of the Sanskrit kuṣṭhaṃ, Saussurea costus (McHugh, 2008, p 233).
One of the “four great kings, guardians of the world,” he is held to dwell in the east, presiding over the gandharva spirits that live there.
Eighteen special features of a buddha’s behavior, realization, activity, and wisdom that are not shared by other beings. They are generally listed as: (1) he never makes a mistake, (2) he is never boisterous, (3) he never forgets, (4) his concentration never falters, (5) he has no notion of distinctness, (6) his equanimity is not due to lack of consideration, (7) his motivation never falters, (8) his endeavor never fails, (9) his mindfulness never falters, (10) he never abandons his concentration, (11) his insight (prajñā) never decreases, (12) his liberation never fails, (13) all his physical actions are preceded and followed by wisdom (jñāna), (14) all his verbal actions are preceded and followed by wisdom, (15) all his mental actions are preceded and followed by wisdom, (16) his wisdom and vision perceive the past without attachment or hindrance, (17) his wisdom and vision perceive the future without attachment or hindrance, and (18) his wisdom and vision perceive the present without attachment or hindrance.
stong chen mo rab tu ’joms pa zhes bya ba’i mdo (Mahāsahasrapramardanasūtra). Toh 558, Degé Kangyur, vol. 90 (rgyud ’bum, pha), folios 63a–87b.
stong chen mo rab tu ’joms pa zhes bya ba’i mdo (Mahāsahasrapramardanasūtra). bka’ ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 2006–2009, vol. 90, pp 177–253.
Mahāsāhasrapramardanī, digital edition (GRETIL: Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages). Based on the edition by Yutaka Iwamoto: Mahāsāhasrapramardanī, Pañcarakṣā I, Kyoto: 1937 (Beiträge zur Indologie, 1).
stong chen mo rab tu ’joms pa’i mdo’i ’bum ’grel pa (Mahāsahasrapramardanīsūtraśatasahasraṭīkā). Toh 2690, Degé Tengyur vol. 70 (rgyud, du), folios 1a–93a.
Mahāvastu. Sanskrit text online in GRETIL. Based on Émile Senart, ed. Mahāvastu-Avadāna. 3 vols. Paris, 1882–97. Chapter 29 starts at Mvu_1.290. For translation, see Jones 1949.
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Dharmachakra Translation Committee, tr. (2023b). The Great Amulet (Mahāpratisarāvidyārājñī, Toh 561). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2023.
Dharmachakra Translation Committee, tr. (2023c). Great Cool Grove, (Mahāśītavana, Toh 562). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2023.
Dharmachakra Translation Committee, tr. (2020). The Aspiration Prayer from “Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm” (Toh 813, 1098). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, (2020).
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