co.

Table of Contents

s.

Summary

s.­1

The Dhāraṇī of the Polished Gem includes a short dhāraṇī and instructions to polish a gemstone while reciting the dhāraṇī, and to imagine that this results in a rain of offering substances, which the reciter should then offer.

ac.

Acknowledgements

ac.­1

This publication was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.

ac.­2

The text was translated, edited, and introduced by the 84000 translation team. Catherine Dalton produced the translation and wrote the introduction. Andreas Doctor edited the translation and the introduction, and Ven. Konchog Norbu copyedited the text. Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.

i.

Introduction

i.­1

The Dhāraṇī of the Polished Gem includes a short dhāraṇī and instructions to polish a gemstone while reciting the dhāraṇī. This is said to result in a boundless rain of offerings, which the reciter is then meant to offer.

i.­2

The text is found twice in the Kriya Tantra section (Toh 539e1 and Toh 774) as well as in the Compendium of Dhāraṇīs section (Toh 1074)2 of the Degé Kangyur.

i.­3

The work lacks a Sanskrit title and a translators’ colophon, and it is not listed in any of the imperial catalogs, nor does it appear at Dunhuang, so it is difficult to assess when it was translated into Tibetan. We are unaware of any extant Sanskrit text or Chinese translation of The Dhāraṇī of the Polished Gem.

i.­4

This translation was made on the basis of the three Degé Kangyur recensions of the text, with reference to the Stok Palace edition as well as the notes to the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) of the Kangyur. There are no major discrepancies among the recensions consulted. The dhāraṇī itself is transcribed exactly as it appears in Toh 539e.

Text Body

The Dhāraṇī of the Polished Gem
1.

The Translation

[F.239.b]


1.­1

Homage to the Three Jewels.


oṃ smara smara| vismanaskara mahājava hūṃ|

1.­2

Say this as a gem is polished. Imagine that by doing this a boundless rain of jeweled parasols, banners, and the like fills the whole of the sky, and offer this.

1.­3

This completes “The Dhāraṇī of the Polished Gem.”

n.

Notes

n.­1

In the Toh 539e version of the text there is a slight discrepancy in the folio numbering between the 1737 par phud printings and the late (post par phud) printings of the Degé Kangyur. Although the discrepancy is irrelevant here, further details concerning this may be found in n.­1 of the Toh 539e version of this text.

n.­2

This text, Toh 1074, 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.

b.

Bibliography

rin po che brdar ba’i gzungs. Toh 539e, Degé Kangyur vol. 88 (rgyud, na), folio 83.b.

rin po che brdar ba’i gzungs. 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), 2006–9, vol. 88, p. 332.

rin po che brdar ba’i gzungs. Toh 774, Degé Kangyur vol. 86 (rgyud, wa), folio 112.b.

rin po che brdar ba’i gzungs. 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), 2006–9, vol. 96, p. 370.

rin po che bdar ba’i gzungs. Toh 1074, Degé Kangyur vol. 101 (gzungs ’dus, waṃ), folio 239.b.

rin po che bdar ba’i gzungs. 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), 2006–9, vol. 98, p. 825.

rin po che brdar ba’i gzungs. Stok Palace Kangyur vol 109 (rgyud, tsha), folio 277.b.

g.

Glossary

Types of attestation for names and terms of the corresponding source language

AS

Attested in source text

This term is attested in a manuscript used as a source for this translation.

AO

Attested in other text

This term is attested in other manuscripts with a parallel or similar context.

AD

Attested in dictionary

This term is attested in dictionaries matching Tibetan to the corresponding language.

AA

Approximate attestation

The attestation of this name is approximate. It is based on other names where the relationship between the Tibetan and source language is attested in dictionaries or other manuscripts.

RP

Reconstruction from Tibetan phonetic rendering

This term is a reconstruction based on the Tibetan phonetic rendering of the term.

RS

Reconstruction from Tibetan semantic rendering

This term is a reconstruction based on the semantics of the Tibetan translation.

SU

Source unspecified

This term has been supplied from an unspecified source, which most often is a widely trusted dictionary.

g.­1

dhāraṇī

  • gzungs
  • གཟུངས།
  • dhāraṇī

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The term dhāraṇī has the sense of something that “holds” or “retains,” and so it can refer to the special capacity of practitioners to memorize and recall detailed teachings. It can also refer to a verbal expression of the teachings‍—an incantation, spell, or mnemonic formula‍—that distills and “holds” essential points of the Dharma and is used by practitioners to attain mundane and supramundane goals. The same term is also used to denote texts that contain such formulas.

Table of Contents

Search this text

Spotted a mistake?

Please use the contact form provided to suggest a correction.

How to cite this text

The following are examples of how to correctly cite this publication. Links to specific passages can be derived by right-clicking on the milestones markers in the left-hand margin (e.g. s.1). The copied link address can replace the url below.

84000. The Dhāraṇī of the Polished Gem (rin po che brdar ba’i gzungs, Toh 1074). Translated by 84000 Associate Translators. Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024. https://84000.co/translation/toh1074.Copy
84000. The Dhāraṇī of the Polished Gem (rin po che brdar ba’i gzungs, Toh 1074). Translated by 84000 Associate Translators, online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024, 84000.co/translation/toh1074.Copy
84000. (2024) The Dhāraṇī of the Polished Gem (rin po che brdar ba’i gzungs, Toh 1074). (84000 Associate Translators, Trans.). Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. https://84000.co/translation/toh1074.Copy
Sponsor Translation