The Noble Dhāraṇī of Māṇibhadra is a short dhāraṇī text aimed at accomplishing worldly goals. The spell is offered by the yakṣa Māṇibhadra to the Buddha at Śrāvastī. The yakṣa promises to rush to the aid of a person who recites the dhāraṇī and to provide them with worldly necessities and success in all kinds of activities. The text closes with a short ritual meant for obtaining gold.
The text was translated from Tibetan by The Buddhapīṭha Translation Group (Gergely Hidas and Péter-Dániel Szántó).
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. Ryan Damron edited the translation and the introduction, and Laura Goetz copyedited the text. Sameer Dhingra was in charge of the digital publication process.
The Noble Dhāraṇī of Māṇibhadra opens in Śrāvastī, a frequent site of the Buddha’s teachings. There he is approached by the prominent yakṣa Māṇibhadra, who offers a spell, here styled a “heart mantra” (hṛdaya; snying po), and promises a range of worldly benefits to the person who recites it. The text closes with a short ritual to obtain gold, which is noteworthy for the fact that yakṣas are well-known as guardians of treasures.
The precise identity of Māṇibhadra is an open question, for which there could be two possibilities. The yakṣa Maṇibhadra, with a short a as the first vowel, is the lord of wealth and a prominent figure in the early Buddhist tradition. The Tibetan title, the transliterated Sanskrit title, and the translation’s colophon reflect this usage by rendering his name as nor bu bzang po. However, in the body of text he is identified as Maṇibhadra’s son (nor bu bzang po’i bu), which suggests the Sanskrit source text had the patronymic Māṇibhadra, with a long ā as the first vowel. This form of vowel gradation (vṛddhi) in Sanskrit in this case carries the meaning “someone belonging to Maṇibhadra” and is most naturally read as his son. This is likely the correct form, all the more so since the Sanskrit version of this text and a closely related Sanskrit text, described below, also transmit Māṇibhadra. Moreover, The Dhāraṇī of Compassionate Noble Jambhala, Lord of the Waters, Called “Peacemaker” is virtually the same text as this one, and there the yakṣa protagonist is identified in the title as none other than Jambhala, the celebrated deity of wealth. Thus the yakṣa here is also likely to be Jambhala, referred to by his patronymic.1 Alternatively, it is also possible that the referent of Maṇibhadra/Māṇibhadra is the same deity, and that we are dealing with a simple case of vowel fluctuation.
There are two closely related Sanskrit texts that have been transmitted in a Nepalese Compendium of Dhāraṇīs (Dhāraṇīsaṃgraha).2 The first, no. 73 in Hidas 2021, is virtually identical to the Tibetan text, whereas the second, no. 61 in Hidas 2021, differs in significant details. We have noted these differences in the translation.
The Tibetan translation is a product of the imperial period, as it is recorded in both extant imperial-period catalogs.3 In the Degé Kangyur, the text is included in both the Tantra (Toh 764) and Compendium of Dhāraṇīs (Toh 970) sections.44 The names of the translators are given in the colophon as the Indian Vidyākarasiṃha and the Tibetan Lui Wangpo, a well-known duo. This translation also provides the earliest date for the text’s circulation, which must have been before the early ninth century. We could not identify any Dunhuang fragments of the text.
The Chinese translation, The Dhāraṇī-sūtra of Māṇibhadra Proclaimed by the Buddha (foshuo baoxian tuoluoni jing 佛說寶賢陀羅尼經, Taishō 1285), was the work of Faxian (法显) sometime between 995 and 997
The English translation was made principally on the basis of the Tibetan translation of the text found in the Tantra Collection (rgyud ’bum) and the Compendium of Dhāraṇīs (gzungs ’dus) in the Degé Kangyur in consultation with the Stok Palace Kangyur and the two Sanskrit versions. Significant differences are discussed in the notes accompanying the translation.
Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was residing in Śrāvastī, in Prince Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park.6 At that time, the great yakṣa general Māṇibhadra went to where the Blessed One was residing.[F.86.b] Upon arriving, he honored the Blessed One’s feet with his head and sat down to one side. After sitting to one side, the great yakṣa general Māṇibhadra said this to the Blessed One:
“Noble sir,7 I will forever hasten to come to the service of anyone8—be they a monk, nun, layman, or laywoman—who recites this heart mantra9 three times a day. I will provide everything they need. I will furnish them with food, clothing, treasures, gold, jewels, grain, and silver.10 I will bring their every enterprise to success and make all beings obedient to their will.11 I will swiftly12 promote the success of all their various endeavors,13 unless they intend to cause strife.14
namo ratnatrayāya | namo māṇibhadrāya mahāyakṣasenāpataye |
syād yathedam | hili māṇibhadra hili hili māṇibhadra | kili māṇibhadra kili kili māṇibhadra | cili māṇibhadra cili cili māṇibhadra | culu māṇibhadra culu culu māṇibhadra | curu māṇibhadra curu curu māṇibhadra | turu māṇibhadra turu turu māṇibhadra | kuru māṇibhadra kuru kuru māṇibhadra | suru māṇibhadra suru suru māṇibhadra | sarvārthaṃ me sādhaya svāhā.15
tadyathā | pūtane supūtane surūpe sumate surate supuṣye hilike hili kāli pūrṇe siddhe bhadre hili hili svāhā | ehi koniṣke ehi soniṣke ehi goniṣke svāhā.16[F.56.b]
“If one recites this seven times, it will be accomplished.
“The ritual procedure for this is as follows. On the fifteenth day of the waxing fortnight, one should observe strict cleanliness and burn agarwood incense at the three junctures of the day. If one recites the mantra seven thousand times,17 gold18 will be obtained.”
Here ends the noble “Dhāraṇī of Māṇibhadra.”
This was translated by the Indian preceptor Vidyākarasiṃha and Lotsawa Bandé Lui Wangpo.
An updated version of Gergely Hidas’ edition of Dhāraṇī no. 73 in Cambridge University Library Ms. Add. 1326 (Hidas 2021, p. 146):
oṃ namo māṇibhadrāya | evaṃ mayā śrutam ekasmin samaye bhagavāñ śrāvastyāṃ viharati sma jetavane ’nāthapiṇḍadasyārāme | atha khalu māṇibhadro mahāyakṣasenāpatir yena bhagavāṃs tenopasaṃkrāntaḥ | upasaṃkramya bhagavataḥ pādau śirasā vanditvaikānte ’sthāt | ekānte sthito māṇibhadro mahāyakṣasenāpatir bhagavantam etad avocat |
idaṃ bhadanta mama hṛdayaṃ yaḥ kaścid bhikṣur vā bhikṣuṇī vopāsako vopāsikā vā triṣkṛtvā divase vācayiṣyati tasyāhaṃ satatānubaddho bhaviṣyāmi | sarvakāryāṇi kariṣyāmi | bhojanavastrahiraṇyasuvarṇadhanadhānyarūpyaṃ ca dāsyāmi | sarvārthaṃ cāsya kārayiṣyāmi | sarvasattvānāṃ ca mānasīkariṣyāmi | sarvacittaṃ cāsya kariṣyāmi sthāpayitvā maithunopasaṃhitaṃ sāvadyam |
namo ratnatrayāya | namo māṇibhadrāya mahāyakṣasenāpataye | hili māṇibhadra hili hili māṇibhadra | cili māṇibhadra cili cili māṇibhadra | culu māṇibhadra culu culu māṇibhadra | turu māṇibhadra turu turu māṇibhadra | kuru māṇibhadra kuru kuru māṇibhadra | suru māṇibhadra suru suru māṇibhadra | sarvārthaṃ me sādhaya svāhā |
tadyathā | pūtane supūtane surūpe susumate surate supuṣye hilike hili kāli pūrṇe siddhe bhadre hili hili svāhā | ehi koniṣke ehi soniṣke ehi goniṣke svāhā |
sapta vārān parijapya siddhir bhavati | asyopacāraḥ | śuklapañcadaśyāṃ triṣkālaṃ śucinā gugguludhūpaṃ dahamānenāṣṭasahasraṃ japet | suvarṇaghaṭo labhate || || āryamāṇibhadranāmadhāraṇī samāptā || ||
The Noble Dhāraṇī of Māṇibhadra is a short dhāraṇī text aimed at accomplishing worldly goals. The spell is offered by the yakṣa Māṇibhadra to the Buddha at Śrāvastī. The yakṣa promises to rush to the aid of a person who recites the dhāraṇī and to provide them with worldly necessities and success in all kinds of activities. The text closes with a short ritual meant for obtaining gold.
The text was translated from Tibetan by The Buddhapīṭha Translation Group (Gergely Hidas and Péter-Dániel Szántó).
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. Ryan Damron edited the translation and the introduction, and Laura Goetz copyedited the text. Sameer Dhingra was in charge of the digital publication process.
The Noble Dhāraṇī of Māṇibhadra opens in Śrāvastī, a frequent site of the Buddha’s teachings. There he is approached by the prominent yakṣa Māṇibhadra, who offers a spell, here styled a “heart mantra” (hṛdaya; snying po), and promises a range of worldly benefits to the person who recites it. The text closes with a short ritual to obtain gold, which is noteworthy for the fact that yakṣas are well-known as guardians of treasures.
The precise identity of Māṇibhadra is an open question, for which there could be two possibilities. The yakṣa Maṇibhadra, with a short a as the first vowel, is the lord of wealth and a prominent figure in the early Buddhist tradition. The Tibetan title, the transliterated Sanskrit title, and the translation’s colophon reflect this usage by rendering his name as nor bu bzang po. However, in the body of text he is identified as Maṇibhadra’s son (nor bu bzang po’i bu), which suggests the Sanskrit source text had the patronymic Māṇibhadra, with a long ā as the first vowel. This form of vowel gradation (vṛddhi) in Sanskrit in this case carries the meaning “someone belonging to Maṇibhadra” and is most naturally read as his son. This is likely the correct form, all the more so since the Sanskrit version of this text and a closely related Sanskrit text, described below, also transmit Māṇibhadra. Moreover, The Dhāraṇī of Compassionate Noble Jambhala, Lord of the Waters, Called “Peacemaker” is virtually the same text as this one, and there the yakṣa protagonist is identified in the title as none other than Jambhala, the celebrated deity of wealth. Thus the yakṣa here is also likely to be Jambhala, referred to by his patronymic.1 Alternatively, it is also possible that the referent of Maṇibhadra/Māṇibhadra is the same deity, and that we are dealing with a simple case of vowel fluctuation.
There are two closely related Sanskrit texts that have been transmitted in a Nepalese Compendium of Dhāraṇīs (Dhāraṇīsaṃgraha).2 The first, no. 73 in Hidas 2021, is virtually identical to the Tibetan text, whereas the second, no. 61 in Hidas 2021, differs in significant details. We have noted these differences in the translation.
The Tibetan translation is a product of the imperial period, as it is recorded in both extant imperial-period catalogs.3 In the Degé Kangyur, the text is included in both the Tantra (Toh 764) and Compendium of Dhāraṇīs (Toh 970) sections.44 The names of the translators are given in the colophon as the Indian Vidyākarasiṃha and the Tibetan Lui Wangpo, a well-known duo. This translation also provides the earliest date for the text’s circulation, which must have been before the early ninth century. We could not identify any Dunhuang fragments of the text.
The Chinese translation, The Dhāraṇī-sūtra of Māṇibhadra Proclaimed by the Buddha (foshuo baoxian tuoluoni jing 佛說寶賢陀羅尼經, Taishō 1285), was the work of Faxian (法显) sometime between 995 and 997
The English translation was made principally on the basis of the Tibetan translation of the text found in the Tantra Collection (rgyud ’bum) and the Compendium of Dhāraṇīs (gzungs ’dus) in the Degé Kangyur in consultation with the Stok Palace Kangyur and the two Sanskrit versions. Significant differences are discussed in the notes accompanying the translation.
Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was residing in Śrāvastī, in Prince Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park.6 At that time, the great yakṣa general Māṇibhadra went to where the Blessed One was residing.[F.86.b] Upon arriving, he honored the Blessed One’s feet with his head and sat down to one side. After sitting to one side, the great yakṣa general Māṇibhadra said this to the Blessed One:
“Noble sir,7 I will forever hasten to come to the service of anyone8—be they a monk, nun, layman, or laywoman—who recites this heart mantra9 three times a day. I will provide everything they need. I will furnish them with food, clothing, treasures, gold, jewels, grain, and silver.10 I will bring their every enterprise to success and make all beings obedient to their will.11 I will swiftly12 promote the success of all their various endeavors,13 unless they intend to cause strife.14
namo ratnatrayāya | namo māṇibhadrāya mahāyakṣasenāpataye |
syād yathedam | hili māṇibhadra hili hili māṇibhadra | kili māṇibhadra kili kili māṇibhadra | cili māṇibhadra cili cili māṇibhadra | culu māṇibhadra culu culu māṇibhadra | curu māṇibhadra curu curu māṇibhadra | turu māṇibhadra turu turu māṇibhadra | kuru māṇibhadra kuru kuru māṇibhadra | suru māṇibhadra suru suru māṇibhadra | sarvārthaṃ me sādhaya svāhā.15
tadyathā | pūtane supūtane surūpe sumate surate supuṣye hilike hili kāli pūrṇe siddhe bhadre hili hili svāhā | ehi koniṣke ehi soniṣke ehi goniṣke svāhā.16[F.56.b]
“If one recites this seven times, it will be accomplished.
“The ritual procedure for this is as follows. On the fifteenth day of the waxing fortnight, one should observe strict cleanliness and burn agarwood incense at the three junctures of the day. If one recites the mantra seven thousand times,17 gold18 will be obtained.”
Here ends the noble “Dhāraṇī of Māṇibhadra.”
This was translated by the Indian preceptor Vidyākarasiṃha and Lotsawa Bandé Lui Wangpo.
An updated version of Gergely Hidas’ edition of Dhāraṇī no. 73 in Cambridge University Library Ms. Add. 1326 (Hidas 2021, p. 146):
oṃ namo māṇibhadrāya | evaṃ mayā śrutam ekasmin samaye bhagavāñ śrāvastyāṃ viharati sma jetavane ’nāthapiṇḍadasyārāme | atha khalu māṇibhadro mahāyakṣasenāpatir yena bhagavāṃs tenopasaṃkrāntaḥ | upasaṃkramya bhagavataḥ pādau śirasā vanditvaikānte ’sthāt | ekānte sthito māṇibhadro mahāyakṣasenāpatir bhagavantam etad avocat |
idaṃ bhadanta mama hṛdayaṃ yaḥ kaścid bhikṣur vā bhikṣuṇī vopāsako vopāsikā vā triṣkṛtvā divase vācayiṣyati tasyāhaṃ satatānubaddho bhaviṣyāmi | sarvakāryāṇi kariṣyāmi | bhojanavastrahiraṇyasuvarṇadhanadhānyarūpyaṃ ca dāsyāmi | sarvārthaṃ cāsya kārayiṣyāmi | sarvasattvānāṃ ca mānasīkariṣyāmi | sarvacittaṃ cāsya kariṣyāmi sthāpayitvā maithunopasaṃhitaṃ sāvadyam |
namo ratnatrayāya | namo māṇibhadrāya mahāyakṣasenāpataye | hili māṇibhadra hili hili māṇibhadra | cili māṇibhadra cili cili māṇibhadra | culu māṇibhadra culu culu māṇibhadra | turu māṇibhadra turu turu māṇibhadra | kuru māṇibhadra kuru kuru māṇibhadra | suru māṇibhadra suru suru māṇibhadra | sarvārthaṃ me sādhaya svāhā |
tadyathā | pūtane supūtane surūpe susumate surate supuṣye hilike hili kāli pūrṇe siddhe bhadre hili hili svāhā | ehi koniṣke ehi soniṣke ehi goniṣke svāhā |
sapta vārān parijapya siddhir bhavati | asyopacāraḥ | śuklapañcadaśyāṃ triṣkālaṃ śucinā gugguludhūpaṃ dahamānenāṣṭasahasraṃ japet | suvarṇaghaṭo labhate || || āryamāṇibhadranāmadhāraṇī samāptā || ||
On Jambhala, Maṇibhadra/Māṇibhadra, Vaiśravaṇa, and Kubera see the entry “Bishamon” in Demiéville et al. 1929: 79–83.
Both are found in Cambridge University Library Ms. Add. 1326. See Hidas 2021, no. 61 (pp. 118–19) and no. 73 (p. 146).
Denkarma, folio 306.b, and Hermann-Pfandt 2008, p. 245, no. 428. For the Phangthangma, see Kawagoe 2005, p. 21, no. 381.
This text, Toh 970, and all those contained in this same volume (gzungs ’dus, waM), are listed as being located in volume 101 of the Degé Kangyur by the Buddhist Digital Resource Center (BDRC). However, several other Kangyur databases—including the eKangyur that supplies the digital input version displayed by the 84000 Reading Room—list this work as being located in volume 102. This discrepancy is partly due to the fact that the two volumes of the gzungs ’dus section are an added supplement not mentioned in the original catalog, and also hinges on the fact that the compilers of the Tōhoku catalog placed another text—which forms a whole, very large volume—the Vimalaprabhānāmakālacakratantraṭīkā (dus ’khor ’grel bshad dri med ’od, Toh 845), before the volume 100 of the Degé Kangyur, numbering it as vol. 100, although it is almost certainly intended to come right at the end of the Degé Kangyur texts as volume 102; indeed its final fifth chapter is often carried over and wrapped in the same volume as the Kangyur dkar chags (catalog). Please note this discrepancy when using the eKangyur viewer in this translation.
This is the homage inserted by the translators of the Tibetan text. The homage in Skt. no. 73 salutes Māṇibhadra himself, whereas the homage in Skt. no. 61 pays obeisance to Jambhala.
Skt. no. 61 describes the retinue, which there consists of “a great assembly of twelve thousand five hundred monks” (mahatā bhikṣusaṃghena sārdham ardhatrayodaśabhir bhikṣuśataiḥ).
The list in Skt. no. 73 differs slightly: “food, clothing, two types of gold, wealth, grain, and silver” (bhojanavastrahiraṇyasuvarṇadhanadhānyarūpyam). Skt. no. 61 states that, for one who upholds the dhāraṇī, Māṇibhadra will “aid in all business” (sarvakāryāṇi kariṣyāmi) and will “provide wealth, grain, two types of gold, and crockery for one who recites it three times during the day and three times during the night” (yo rātrau triṣkṛtvā divase triṣkṛtvā dhārayiṣyati vācayiṣyati tasya hi dhanadhānyahiraṇyasuvarṇabhājanaṃ ca prāpayiṣyāmi).
The formulation in Skt. no. 73 is somewhat different: “I will cause them to be held in regard by all beings” (sarvasattvānāṃ ca mānasīkariṣyāmi).
This translation follows Toh 970 and Stok Palace in reading mod la against med la as attested in Toh 764. Neither Sanskrit version reports this adverb.
This translation follows Toh 764 and Stok Palace in reading ’khrug pa dang ldan pa. Toh 970 and Narthang read ’khrig pa dang ldan pa, which aligns with the Sanskrit reading maithunopasaṃhitaṃ, referring to sexual desire.
The Sanskrit differs slightly with regard to the nonreferential words hili and so forth. We have retained what we assume to be the more complete version from the Tibetan. Skt. no. 61 differs even more in that regard and ends this initial passage differently; instead of “fulfill all my aims, svāhā” (sarvārthaṃ me sādhaya svāhā), it has “fulfill all wishes” (sarvāśāṃ paripūraya).
This transliteration is substantially informed by the Sanskrit, which resolves several ambiguities in the Tibetan transliteration. Additionally, Skt. no. 61 lacks the three invocations beginning with ehi. That version also ends at this point, without giving the instructions regarding the preliminary recitation and the ritual procedure for obtaining gold.
In Buddhist literature, this is an epithet applied to buddhas, most often to Śākyamuni. The Sanskrit term generally means “possessing fortune,” but in specifically Buddhist contexts it implies that a buddha is in possession of six auspicious qualities (bhaga) associated with complete awakening. The Tibetan term—where bcom is said to refer to “subduing” the four māras, ldan to “possessing” the great qualities of buddhahood, and ’das to “going beyond” saṃsāra and nirvāṇa—possibly reflects the commentarial tradition where the Sanskrit bhagavat is interpreted, in addition, as “one who destroys the four māras.” This is achieved either by reading bhagavat as bhagnavat (“one who broke”), or by tracing the word bhaga to the root √bhañj (“to break”).
A term of polite address in widespread use in India, used mainly for laywomen. It is also sometimes understood from the perspective of the Buddha’s redefining of noble birth as determined by an individual’s ethical conduct and integrity, so that a layperson who enters the Buddha’s Saṅgha is called a “son or daughter of noble family” and in this sense “good” or “noble.”
An epithet used for prominent yakṣas, here applied to Māṇibhadra.
A term for an essential mantra related to a particular deity.
A man who has taken the layperson’s vows.
A woman who has taken the layperson’s vows.
Active during the late eight and early ninth centuries, he was a co-translator of the Tibetan text of The Dhāraṇī of Māṇibhadra. His name means “lord of the nāgas.”
The term bhikṣu, often translated as “monk,” refers to the highest among the eight types of prātimokṣa vows that make one part of the Buddhist assembly. The Sanskrit term literally means “beggar” or “mendicant,” referring to the fact that Buddhist monks and nuns—like other ascetics of the time—subsisted on alms (bhikṣā) begged from the laity.
In the Tibetan tradition, which follows the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, a monk follows 253 rules as part of his moral discipline. A nun (bhikṣuṇī; dge slong ma) follows 364 rules. A novice monk (śrāmaṇera; dge tshul) or nun (śrāmaṇerikā; dge tshul ma) follows thirty-six rules of moral discipline (although in other vinaya traditions novices typically follow only ten).
The term bhikṣuṇī, often translated as “nun,” refers to the highest among the eight types of prātimokṣa vows that make one part of the Buddhist assembly. The Sanskrit term bhikṣu (to which the female grammatical ending ṇī is added) literally means “beggar” or “mendicant,” referring to the fact that Buddhist nuns and monks—like other ascetics of the time—subsisted on alms (bhikṣā) begged from the laity. In the Tibetan tradition, which follows the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, a bhikṣuṇī follows 364 rules and a bhikṣu follows 253 rules as part of their moral discipline.
For the first few years of the Buddha’s teachings in India, there was no ordination for women. It started at the persistent request and display of determination of Mahāprajāpatī, the Buddha’s stepmother and aunt, together with five hundred former wives of men of Kapilavastu, who had themselves become monks. Mahāprajāpatī is thus considered to be the founder of the nun’s order.
One of the first Buddhist monasteries, located in a park outside Śrāvastī, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Kośala in northern India. This park was originally owned by Prince Jeta, hence the name Jetavana, meaning Jeta’s grove. The wealthy merchant Anāthapiṇḍada, wishing to offer it to the Buddha, sought to buy it from him, but the prince, not wishing to sell, said he would only do so if Anāthapiṇḍada covered the entire property with gold coins. Anāthapiṇḍada agreed, and managed to cover all of the park except the entrance, hence the name Anāthapiṇḍadasyārāmaḥ, meaning Anāthapiṇḍada’s park. The place is usually referred to in the sūtras as “Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s park,” and according to the Saṃghabhedavastu the Buddha used Prince Jeta’s name in first place because that was Prince Jeta’s own unspoken wish while Anāthapiṇḍada was offering the park. Inspired by the occasion and the Buddha’s use of his name, Prince Jeta then offered the rest of the property and had an entrance gate built. The Buddha specifically instructed those who recite the sūtras to use Prince Jeta’s name in first place to commemorate the mutual effort of both benefactors.
Anāthapiṇḍada built residences for the monks, to house them during the monsoon season, thus creating the first Buddhist monastery. It was one of the Buddha’s main residences, where he spent around nineteen rainy season retreats, and it was therefore the setting for many of the Buddha’s discourses and events. According to the travel accounts of Chinese monks, it was still in use as a Buddhist monastery in the early fifth century ᴄᴇ, but by the sixth century it had been reduced to ruins.
A term of polite address in widespread use in India, used mainly for laymen. It is also sometimes understood from the perspective of the Buddha’s redefining of noble birth as determined by an individual’s ethical conduct and integrity, so that a layperson who enters the Buddha’s Saṅgha is called a “son or daughter of noble family” and in this sense “good” or “noble.”
During the life of the Buddha, Śrāvastī was the capital city of the powerful kingdom of Kośala, ruled by King Prasenajit, who became a follower and patron of the Buddha. It was also the hometown of Anāthapiṇḍada, the wealthy patron who first invited the Buddha there, and then offered him a park known as Jetavana, Prince Jeta’s Grove, which became one of the first Buddhist monasteries. The Buddha is said to have spent about twenty-five rainy seasons with his disciples in Śrāvastī, thus it is named as the setting of numerous events and teachings. It is located in present-day Uttar Pradesh in northern India.
Active in the early ninth century, he was a co-translator of the Tibetan text of The Dhāraṇī of Māṇibhadra. His name means “the lion (siṃha) who is a mine (ākara) of knowledge (vidyā).”
A class of nonhuman beings who inhabit forests, mountainous areas, and other natural spaces, or serve as guardians of villages and towns, and may be propitiated for health, wealth, protection, and other boons, or controlled through magic. According to tradition, their homeland is in the north, where they live under the rule of the Great King Vaiśravaṇa.
Several members of this class have been deified as gods of wealth (these include the just-mentioned Vaiśravaṇa) or as bodhisattva generals of yakṣa armies, and have entered the Buddhist pantheon in a variety of forms, including, in tantric Buddhism, those of wrathful deities.
nor bu bzang po’i gzungs (Māṇibhadranāmadhāraṇī). Toh 764, Degé Kangyur vol. 96 (rgyud, wa), folios 56.a–56.b.
nor bu bzang po’i gzungs (Māṇibhadranāmadhāraṇī). Toh 970, Degé Kangyur vol. 101 (gzungs ’dus, waM), folios 86.a–86.b.
nor bu bzang po’i gzungs. S 716, Stok Palace Kangyur vol. 109 (rgyud, tsha), folios 204.a–205.a.
Denkarma (pho brang stod thang ldan dkar gyi chos kyi ’gyur ro cog gi dkar chag). Toh 4364, Degé Tengyur vol. 206 (sna tshogs, jo), folios 294.b–310.a.
Phangthangma (dkar chag ’phang thang ma). Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2003.
Herrmann-Pfandt, Adelheid. Die lHan kar ma: ein früher Katalog der ins Tibetische übersetzten buddhistischen Texte. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2008.
Hidas, Gergely. Powers of Protection: The Buddhist Tradition of Spells in the Dhāraṇīsaṃgraha Collections. De Gruyter, 2021.
Demiéville, Paul et al., eds. Hôbôgirin: Dictionnaire encyclopédique du bouddhisme d’après les sources chinoises et japonaises; Premier fascicule: A—Bombai. Tokyo: Maison franco-japonaise, 1929.
Kawagoe, Eishin, ed. dKar chag ’Phang thang ma. Tōhoku Indo-Chibetto Kenkyū Sōsho 3. Sendai: Tohoku Society for Indo-Tibetan Studies, 2005.
