The Dhāraṇī for Deliverance from the Eight Types of Fear

The Dhāraṇī “Freedom from the Eight Great Perils” is a succinct dhāraṇī consisting of four sections: the homage, the dhāraṇī, the benefits, and a closing dhāraṇī. The opening homage is made to eight deities‍—seven buddhas and one bodhisattva‍—presumably correlating to the eight great perils. Following the primary dhāraṇī the text describes the benefits of dhāraṇīs, namely freeing beings from the eight great perils. Distinct from the standard enumeration of the eight great perils or “fears,” the eight great perils here are those of the hell realm, the animal realm, the world of Yama, the hungry ghost realm, evil states, and birth, sickness, and death. The text closes with a shorter dhāraṇī.