The Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī
Chapter 9
Toh 138
Degé Kangyur, vol. 56 (mdo sde, na), folios 187.b–277.b
- Śilendrabodhi
- Yeshé Dé
Imprint
Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
First published 2020
Current version v 1.0.29 (2024)
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Table of Contents
Summary
The Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī is one of the core texts of the Mahāsannipāta collection of Mahāyāna sūtras that dates back to the formative period of Mahāyāna Buddhism, from the first to the third century ᴄᴇ. Its rich and varied narratives, probably redacted from at least two independent works, recount significant events from the lives, past and present, of the Buddha Śākyamuni and some of his main followers and opponents, both human and nonhuman. At the center of these narratives is the climactic episode from the Buddha’s life when Māra, the personification of spiritual death, sets out to destroy the Buddha and his Dharma. The mythic confrontation between these paragons of light and darkness, and the Buddha’s eventual victory, are related in vivid detail. The main narratives are interwoven with Dharma instructions and interspersed with miraculous events. The text also exemplifies two distinctive sūtra genres, “prophecies” (vyākaraṇa) and “incantations” (dhāraṇī), as it includes, respectively, prophecies of the future attainment of buddhahood by some of the Buddha’s followers and the potent phrases that embody the Buddha’s teachings and are meant to ensure their survival and the thriving of its practitioners.
Acknowledgements
This translation was produced by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the supervision of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche. Wiesiek Mical translated the extant parts from the Sanskrit and wrote the introduction. Timothy Hinkle compared the translation from the Sanskrit against the Tibetan translation and translated from the Tibetan the parts that are lost in the original Sanskrit.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The generous sponsorship of Twenty and family, which helped make the work on this translation possible, is gratefully acknowledged. They would like to dedicate their sponsorship to Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche.
Text Body
The Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī
from the Great Collection
Homage
Homage to the thus-gone Splendorous with the Gentle Glow of Light and Fragrance!
Homage to the one with the melodious voice of Mahābrahmā!
Having paid homage to him, one should employ the dhāraṇī called unharmed by the assemblies of Māra. May I accomplish the following mantra:11
Avāme avāme amvare amvare {TK4} parikuñja naṭa naṭa puṣkaravaha jalukha khama khaya ili mili kili mili kīrtipara mudre mudramukhe svāhā! {TK5}
Chapter 9
The blessed, thus-gone Śākyamuni then said, “O all you [F.258.a] blessed buddhas who have come here to this buddha field motivated by compassion to engage in discussion, please give these beings your attention. These noble children will satisfy others with clothing, food, drink, medicine, and supplies. They will use the female form to mature others for unsurpassed and perfect awakening. From the moment they developed the mind of awakening in order to mature others, they have been dedicated to emanating and providing clothing, food, drink, medicine, and supplies to fulfill their hopes—no matter what, why, or how these things are desired. These sublime beings will enact this great power and be able to serve beings with what is enjoyable and useful.”
Thereupon, bringing to mind the concordant cause that is adorned by {TK224} great compassion, merit, wisdom, and absorption, the blessed buddhas addressed these sublime beings, saying, “In order to fulfill your wishes and hopes, the blessed buddhas who course through the three times will grant you their blessings and bestow this mantra, which accords with the cause of all roots of virtue. It is:
jyotovava dhritivava munivava satyavava sūnya alaṅkaravava dhyānarasavava mahākāruṇavava mahāprativava amohavava rutivava kṣitivava salilavava khagavava bayavava vartavava adhiṣṭhānavava amavava ahannavava tathāvava bhūtakoṭivava nirvritivava triyalanavava traidhātukava [va] trivimokṣavava triśūklavava raṣṭi adhiṣṭhānavava vava vava vava samatrayananyasamatā ṭaṭa ṭaṭa ṭaṭa ṭaṣṭa siddhisarvakulaśalamula {TK225} adhiṣṭhānaya svāhā!421
“Sublime beings, you should take up this mantra of the sameness of all phenomena, [F.258.b] which fulfills all wishes, in order to accomplish the enjoyment, delight, and ripening of beings and the mastery of your awakened conduct.”
At that time, ten thousand bodhisattvas, including Flower Mendicant, Goddess of Glory, the medicine goddess Siddhimati, and the goddess Earth Holder, exerted themselves in female form to accomplish the enjoyment, delight, and ripening of beings. They said together with one voice, “Since this mantra has been spoken by the blessed buddhas in order to fulfill our hopes, we will be able to serve beings by means of this blessing. We will be able to accomplish unsurpassed wisdom. We will joyfully uphold this mantra {TK226} with great zeal in order to bring beings to maturity. Additionally, out of compassion for beings, we will each live by our own pledges that we made before the thus-gone ones. Should any god, nāga and so forth, or human being attempt to extinguish, destroy, or ruin this Dharma method which the thus-gone ones have blessed, then should we then fail to repel them or act assiduously against them so that the sacred Dharma may long remain, we will have deceived all the blessed buddhas who course through the three times. In that case, may we not fully awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood!
“Friends, should a god and so forth, or a human, harm a monk, nun, layman, or laywoman, if we [F.259.a] do not repel them or exert ourselves to quell the disturbance they are creating, then we will have deceived all the blessed buddhas who course through the three times. In that case, may we not fully awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood! Blessed ones, should any noble son or daughter who seeks awakening be threatened by fire, {TK227} water, poison, weapons, evil spirits, or infectious diseases that last one, two three, or four days or be threatened by or scared of any gods, nāgas, yakṣas, kaṭapūtanas, kṣatriyas, brahmins, vaiśyas, śūdras, lions, tigers, diseases, hunger, thirst, or harm of any kind, if they recall this dhāraṇī mantra, which fulfills all wishes and is blessed by all the buddhas, and we do not deliver them from such threats—except for those brought on by their own past karmic obscurations—then we will have deceived all the blessed buddhas who course through the three times. In that case, may we not fully awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood!”
At that moment, all the blessed buddhas gathered in this buddha field expressed their approval, saying, “Good, O sublime beings. You have made an excellent promise. Good! You will be able to enact this kind of great power that sublime beings possess.”
This concludes the chapter on compassion, the ninth in the “Ratnaketu” section of the Great Collection. {TK229} [B8]
Colophon
Tibetan Translators’ Colophon
This sūtra was translated by the Indian preceptor Śilendrabodhi and the translator-editor Yeshé Dé. It was later standardized in line with the new terminological register.
Bibliography
Primary literature (manuscripts and editions)
Sanskrit
Dutt, Nalinaksha, ed. Gilgit Manuscripts. Vols. 1–4. Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1984.
Kurumiya, Yenshu, ed. Ratnaketuparivarta: Sanskrit Text. Kyoto: Heirakuji-shoten, 1978.
Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī—the Gilgit manuscript. National Archives of India, New Delhi.
Tibetan
’phags pa ’dus pa rin po che tog gi gzungs shes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. Toh 138, Degé Kangyur vol. 56 (mdo sde, na), folios 187.b–277.b.
’phags pa ’dus pa rin po che tog gi gzungs shes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. 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. 56, pp. 509–734.
Kurumiya, Yenshu, ed. ’Dus Pa Chen Po Rin Po Che Tog Gi Gzungs, ’Dus Pa Chen Po Dkon Mchog Dbal Zes Bya Ba’i Gzungs: being the Tibetan translation of the Ratnaketu Parivarta. Kyoto: Heirakuji-shoten, 1979.
Denkarma (pho brang stod thang ldan[/lhan] dkar gyi chos ’gyur ro cog gi dkar chag). Degé Tengyur vol. 206 (sna tshogs, jo), folios 294.b–310.a.
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Phangthangma (dkar chag ’phang thang ma). Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2003.
Translations and secondary literature:
Braarvig, Jens (1993). Akṣayamatinirdeśasūtra. Vol. 2, The Tradition of Imperishability in Buddhist Thought. Oslo: Solum Verlag, 1993.
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