སྤྲིན་ཆེན་པོ།
The Great Cloud (2)
Notes
Mahāmegha
འཕགས་པ་སྤྲིན་ཆེན་པོ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ་ལས་ཆར་དབབ་པ་རླུང་གི་དཀྱིལ་འཁོར་གྱི་ལེའུ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་དྲུག་ཅུ་རྩ་བཞི་པ་ཆོ་ག་དང་བཅས་པ།
’phags pa sprin chen po theg pa chen po’i mdo las char dbab pa rlung gi dkyil ’khor gyi le’u zhes bya ba drug cu rtsa bzhi pa cho ga dang bcas pa
From the Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “The Great Cloud,” the Sixty-Fourth Chapter “The Array of Winds That Send Down Rainfall” Together with Its Ritual Manual [colophon title]
Āryamahāmegha
Toh 235
Degé Kangyur, vol. 64 (mdo sde, wa), folios 250.b–263.a
ᴛʀᴀɴsʟᴀᴛᴇᴅ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴛɪʙᴇᴛᴀɴ ʙʏ
- Śīlendrabodhi
- Jinamitra
- Bandé Yeshé Dé
Imprint
Translated by the Mahamegha Translation Team
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
First published 2023
Current version v 1.0.9 (2023)
Generated by 84000 Reading Room v2.26.1
84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha is a global non-profit initiative to translate all the Buddha’s words into modern languages, and to make them available to everyone.
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Table of Contents
Summary
This brief discourse is identified more precisely in its colophon as a supplementary chapter from The Great Cloud on “the array of winds that bring down rainfall.” It describes a visit from the Buddha Śākyamuni to the realm of the nāgas. The assembly of nāgas pays homage to the Buddha with a grand panoply of magically emanated offerings, and their king asks him to explain how the nāgas can eliminate their own suffering and aid sentient beings by causing timely rain to fall. The Buddha, in response, extols the benefits of loving-kindness and then teaches them a dhāraṇī that when accompanied by the recitation of a host of buddha names will dispel the nāgas’ suffering and cause crops to grow. At the nāga king’s request, the Buddha then teaches another long dhāraṇī that will cause rain to fall during times of drought. The discourse concludes with instructions for constructing an altar and holding a ritual rainmaking service.
Acknowledgements
This translation was produced by Joshua Capitanio for the Mahamegha translation team. It was further revised by the 84000 editorial team after comparing it with the available Sanskrit sources.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
Text Body
The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra
The Great Cloud
The Great Cloud
Notes
Mahamegha Translation Group, trans., The Great Cloud (1) (Mahāmegha), Toh 232 (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2022).
ldan dkar ma, folio 299.a. See also Herrmann-Pfandt 2008, pp. 193–94.
These are noted in Herrmann-Pfandt 2008, p. 193.
Bendall 1880 and Moriguchi 1980. We have also consulted a parallel passage in the manuscript of the Mahāpratyaṅgīrā Mahāvidyārājñī dhāraṇī (British Library, ref. EAP676/16/2).
Translated based on the Sanskrit śrīmaṇiratnagarbhamahāmeghamaṇḍalakūṭāgāra. The Tibetan could be rendered as “a palace made of a great multitude of śrīgarbha jewel clouds.”
Here the Sanskrit gives the name Mahāmaṇicūḍa (“Great Jewel Crest”), which appears at this position in the list of nāgas at 1.57.
Here the Sanskrit gives the name Śrīmat (“Fortunate” or “Eminent”), the Tibetan presumably reading śrīmati.
Here the Sanskrit gives the name Ābhāsa (“Light”).
Here the Sanskrit adds the name Mahākṣemaṃkara.
Here the Tibetan gives the name Great Scent or Great Stain (dri ma chen po), presumably reading mahābala as mahāmala.
The Sanskrit gives the name Phaluḍa, the meaning of which is not clear.
Here the Sanskrit gives the name Hastikarṇa (“Elephant’s Ear”).
Following the Sanskrit. The Tibetan gives the name chu stobs (“Water Power”), perhaps reading udakambala.
The Tibetan gives the name gser mdog sgra (“Golden Voice”), presumably a corruption of gser mdog skra (“Golden Hair”), which would match the Sanskrit.
Following the Sanskrit, which means “Cow’s Head.” The Tibet reads bla glang mgo (“Elephant Head”), presumably reading gajaśīrṣa.
Here the Sanskrit gives the name Masaka (“Mosquito”).
Following the Sanskrit. The Tibetan reads ngang pa’i gzi brjid, perhaps reading haṃsa (“duck” or “goose”) for saṃha (saṃhata meaning “solid” or “compact”).
Here the Sanskrit gives the name Jaradratha, which should perhaps be emended to the more plausible Jayadratha, which accords with the Tibetan.
Here the Sanskrit give the name Vidhura, which is equally plausible.
Here the Sanskrit gives the name Mahācaṇḍa (“Very Fierce”).
The Sanskrit repeats Mahāmeghāmbuda (“Great Water-Giving Cloud”) here.
Here the Sanskrit gives the name Kakuba, which is puzzling. Kakubha means something like “Space Region” or “Sky Quarter” but could also suggest a nāga who lives in a kakubha tree.
Here the Sanskrit has been emended from Meghasphūdita.
Following the Sanskrit (“Crow’s Cawing”). The meaning of the Tibetan gser ngad can is not clear.
Here the Sanskrit gives the name Vidyunnada (“Sound of Lightning”).
Here the Sanskrit gives the name Vikaṭa (“Monstrous,” implying an unusual or frightening appearance due to size or unusual body features).
Here the Sanskrit reads, “Headed by these, the most prominent among all nāga kings” (pramukhaiḥ sarvamahānāgarājapūrvaṃgamaiś).
The Sanskrit adds “garlands” (dāma).
The Sanskrit adds “trumpets” (tūrya).
The Sanskrit either omits this item (Tib. sil snyan) or combines it with the next (Skt. tāḍāvacāra).
The Sanskrit has “jeweled tassels” (ratnadāma).
The Sanskrit adds here “with murmuring and rumbling sounds, with gusts of wind, with loud sounds, making pleasing sounds of Dharma…” (garjanto guḍuguḍāyamāna mahāvātāṃ pravāyanto mahānādaṃ nadanto ramaṇīyamś ca dharmanādaṃ nadantaḥ).
The phrase “we make offerings” is added for clarification.
The word “blue” is added for clarification.
“We will fill the sky with emanations of” has been added here and below.
The Sanskrit repeats here “the great lord of the nāgas in the trichiliocosm” (trisāhasramahāsāhasriko mahānāgādhipatiḥ).
The Sanskrit repeats here “the great lord nāgas in the trichiliocosm” (trisāhasramahāsāhasriko mahānāgādhipatiḥ).
Here the Sanskrit reads “how can one eliminate all the sufferings specific to nāgas of all the nāgas and send, with joy and happiness, abundant rains to the continent of Jambudvīpa, time after time?” (sarvanāgānāṃ sarvanāgaduḥkāni pratipraśraṃbhyeyuḥ praharṣitāḥ sukhasamanvitāśceha jambudvipe kālānukālaṃ varṣadhāra utsṛjeyuḥ).
The Sanskrit repeats here “the great lord nāgas in the trichiliocosm” (trisāhasramahāsāhasriko mahānāgādhipatiḥ).
Based on the Tibetan transcript, on Bendall’s and Moriguchi’s editions of the Sanskrit text, and on the parallel passage in the manuscript of the Mahāpratyaṅgīrā Mahāvidyārājñī, this dhāraṇī could be conjecturally reconstructed as dharaṇidhāraṇi uttāraṇi sampratiṣṭhite vijayavarṇasatyapratijñāsahā jñānavati utpādani vināśani abhiśecani abhivyāhāra śubhāvati jīmūta ehi kavārāṇi vaha hara kleśān dhuna pāpaṃ śodhaya mārgān nirīhikadharmatā-śuddhāloka-vitimirarājasa-duḥkhaśamana-sarvabuddhāvalokana-adhiṣṭhite prajñājñānābhe svāhā. This could be rendered into English as “O maintainer of the earth, O savioress who stands firm. You appear [in the garb of] victory. With your courage, you are true to your promises. O possessor of gnosis! You are the creator and you are the destroyer. You who release showers, please make your [thunderous] sound. O beautiful cloud, please come, bring forth the lotuses, remove afflictive emotions, destroy what is evil, and clear up the paths. You who are empowered by the gaze of all the buddhas—the gaze that removes suffering with its pure light of the effortless dharmatā, free from the darkness of passion—you who shine with the light of insight-gnosis, svāhā!”
The beginning of this paragraph is omitted in the Sanskrit.
In the Sanskrit this clause reads “…who are a multitude of clouds of shining banners of gnosis, who swiftly bring on prosperity…”
The Sanskrit adds here “stop all killing of all sentient beings” (sarvasattvānaṃ sarvaghātanāḥ … nivāraya).
The Sanskrit add “prevent beings’ pain” (satva … pīḍāḥ … nivāraya).
Based on the Tibetan transcript and Bendall’s partial edition (only the first couple of lines) of the Sanskrit text and on the parallel passage in the manuscript of the Mahāpratyaṅgīrā Mahāvidyārājñī, this dhāraṇī could be conjecturally reconstructed as mahājñānāvabhāsani śrītejolakṣmi ḍṛḍhavikramavajrasaṁhatane paramavirājanirmalaguṇaketusūryaprabhe vimalāṅgayaṣṭi bhara bhara sambhara sambhara dudumbu hana hana mahāprabhe vibhūtamahāmaho ʼndhakāre prajñāgraśuddhe paripūrṇamaitri maitriviraṇaskandhamaitrāmbudhare jala jala jala jala jalāmbudhare bodhyaṅgakusume daśabale caturvaiśāradye aṣṭādaśāveṇikabuddhadharme śubhamati puṇyarāśi śukladharmasamanvite gambhīre virajase vimale viśeṣaprāpte nirāsravadharme sarvalokajyaiṣṭhajyeṣṭhaparapravare anuttare asaṇge dhara dhara dhiri dhiri dhuru dhuru śāntamate śāntavege cara cara cara cara ciri ciri curu curu paramabuddhānumate mahāprajñāpāramite svāhā. This dhāraṇī seems to be addressing a cloud filled with lightning, identified, because of its splendor, first with the goddess Lakṣmī and then with Prājñāpāramitā. It could be rendered into English as “O Lakṣmī of brilliant splendor, you shine with the light of great gnosis. Your thunderclaps steadily roll on. You are a supremely bright banner of qualities, as dazzling as the sun. Endowed with stainless wand-like limbs, maintain, maintain! Provide, provide! Make thundering sounds! Strike, strike! Intensely bright, you manifest your great power in the midst of darkness. Purified by your sharp insight, you are completely filled with love. O loving receptacle of water, you are the shoulder supporting the sounds of love. Water, water, water, water, O receptacle of water, you are the flower of the limbs of awakening. You are endowed with the ten powers, the four confidences, and the eighteen unique qualities of a buddha. With a sublime mind, you are a heap of merit, richly endowed with virtuous qualities. You are profound, stainless, and immaculate. You have attained excellence, and your dharmas are free from karmic inflows (āsrava). You are preeminent among those who are the most excellent among the excellent. You are the unsurpassed one free from attachment. Hold, hold! Be firm, be firm! Be unswerving, be unswerving! Your mind is peaceful and you quell agitation. Act, act! Ciri ciri curu curu! O great perfection of wisdom, beloved by the supreme Buddha, svāhā!”
This paragraph is omitted in Bendall’s edition of the Sanskrit.
Sara sara means “move, move!” Here, and all the way up to and including the paragraph at 1.47, only the first pair of the Sanskrit words is translatable. The subsequent two pairs are added for alliterative effect. Thus, in the phrase sara sara siri siri suru suru, only sara sara has a meaning. Siri siri and suru suru are alliterative variations of sara sara with (presumably) the same meaning.
Java java means “Be quick, be quick!”
Cara cara means “Act, act!”
Vara vara means “Surround, surround!”
Bhara bhara means “Maintain, maintain!”
The meaning of ghaḍa ghaḍa could not be determined. It possibly means “Cover, cover!” or “Spread over, spread over!”
Taṭa taṭa means “Rumble, rumble!”
Kala kala means “Murmur, murmur!”
The meaning of rala rala could not be determined.
The meaning of ghama ghama could not be determined.
The meaning of nara nara could not be determined.
The meaning of gaṭa gaṭa could not be determined.
The meaning of śara śara could not be determined.
Ghara ghara means “Sprinkle, sprinkle!” whereas the remaining words, apart from ghiriṇi ghiriṇi, which means “O sprinkler, sprinkler!” are just alliterative variations of ghara ghara.
In the parallel passage of the Mahāpratyaṅgīrā Mahāvidyārājñī, the preceding is not a list of independent names of goddesses, as it appear to be in the Tibetan, but all are epithets of one and the same deity, who is addressed in the vocative. The dhāraṇī would thus begin “O swift flowing one, the bearer of great clouds…” Here we have followed the Tibetan, as it presents divergences in this and other ways from the Sanskrit passage.
After amending pravarśa vignan to pramarda vighnān, the part daha daha … svāhā could be translated as “strike, strike, burn, burn, cook, cook, seize, seize, crush, crush, grind, grind the obstacle makers! So commands Maitreya, svāhā!”
In the Sanskrit text in the parallel passage in the manuscript of the Mahāpratyaṅgīrā Mahāvidyārājñī, this line is an unbroken continuation of the same dhāraṇī that starts with buddhe buddhe. It reads in Sanskrit sarvavarṣavighnaviṣkambhiye svāhā, which phrase should be appended after śāntamānase at the end of the previous paragraph. However, since the this passage is translated in the Tibet text, we have accordingly translated it into English here. According to the Sanskrit, this dhāraṇī could be conjecturally reconstructed as buddhe buddhe bubuddhe subuddhe hara pāpaṃ sarvasattvānām adhitiṣṭha puṇyaṃ sarvabuddhānāṃ dhariṇidhare śubhamate guṇāgraprāpaṇe mahājñānolke śukladharme satyapratijñā mahāyānādhyuṣite lokajyeṣṭhabhagavati buddhamaitre āpūraya sarvakṣetrāṇi śukleśvetāmbāre pāṇḍaravāsini dhudhure dhudhuru śama śama śāntamānase sarvavarṣavighnaviṣkambhiye. The dhāraṇī seems to be addressing a cloud that is bright with lightning and identified with the goddess Pāṇḍaravāsinī, the consort of Amitābha. It could be translated as “O realized one, utterly and profoundly realized! Remove what is evil and bless (invest?) all beings with the merit of all the buddhas. O maintainer (sustainer?) of the earth with a pure mind, you have attained the very best of qualities. O firebrand (meteor?) of great gnosis, your dharmas are white. You are true to your promises. You are a receptacle for the Great Vehicle. You are the most exalted lady(?) (bhagavatī) in the world. O rumbling one, make your rumbling sounds! Pacify, pacify, O tranquil-minded one who clears away all hindrances to rainfall.”
In the parallel passage in the manuscript of the Mahāpratyaṅgīrā Mahāvidyārājñī, this line is an unbroken continuation of the same dhāraṇī that starts with nāge nāge. Since this dhāraṇī is more corrupt than the previous ones, the reconstruction that follows is tentative. It is not completely clear whether the deity being addressed is female or male. Based on the Tibetan transcript and the parallel passage in the manuscript of the Mahāpratyaṅgīrā Mahāvidyārājñī, this dhāraṇī could be conjecturally reconstructed as nāge nāge mahānāge ghoramānase nāgahṛdayadhūmākule ugraroṣaṇe pracaṇḍatejoviṣāgre āśīviśe atighore kṛṣṇapiṇgale cañcale lalajihve mahāphaṇakare kālapāśe raudravāśini ḍuḍumbe mahāghane ghanaśikhini kaṇa kaṇa gaṇa gaṇa mahāgaṇagaṇe para para piri piri puru puru visphūrjane bhuru bhuru mahābhoge maṇidhare phiri phiri phuru phuru phara phara varṣa varṣa jalāmbudhare śambhu śambhu varaṭutame dhuddhu dhuddhumbe meghaprabhe meghavāhine ḍhaka ḍhaka ḍhaka ḍhuḍhumbe ghanaghanaśikhini kana kana gaṇa gaṇa mahānāgagaṇe †nirātraṇyavajradakāri† mahānāgādhipatnīye ghuma ghuma ghuma pāyasike jāṅgāribhujaṃgame vikaṭasaṅkate ghoravisphūrjani vijṛmbhante āvāhayāmi sarvanāgagaṇān sarvabuddhādhiṣṭhāna-sarvatryadhvagatathāgatasatyena mahāmaitramatinā pravarṣatha jambudvīpe svāhā. It could be translated, somewhat freely given the Sanskrit uncertainties, as “O nāga, nāga, great nāga with a vehement disposition! The essence of nāgas, surrounded by smoke and fiercely enraged! Your supreme venom has terrible potency. O supremely dreadful āśīviṣa snake, black and yellow, with a swaying [body], a quivering tongue, and a great hood! You [resemble] a black noose. You howl wildly and make thunderous sounds. O heavy cloud, with a streak of light amidst the dark, kaṇa kaṇa gaṇa gaṇa! You have many hosts of followers, para para piri piri puru puru! O thundering one, bhuru bhuru! You with the mighty coils and hood, adorned with a jewel, phiri phiri phuru phuru phara phara! Send rain, send rain, O receptacle of water! O kind one, kind one, the best †ṭutamā†! Make thunderous dhuddhu sounds, O thundering one! O cloud-colored bringer of clouds, ḍhaka ḍhaka ḍhaka! Make your thunderous ḍhuḍhu sounds. O heavy cloud, with a streak of light amidst the dark, kana kana gaṇa gaṇa! You with a great retinue of nāgas, †nirātraṇyavajradakāri†! O great lady-ruler of nāgas, ghuma ghuma ghuma. You are fond of milk, O slitherer in the jungle! With your huge form, you are pose a great danger. O terrible thunderer with a gaping mouth! I am summoning all the nāga hosts. By the blessing of all the buddhas, by the verity of all the tathāgatas of the three times, by their loving thoughts, do send rain in Jambudvīpa, svāhā!”
“Homage to all the buddhas! May the words of the mantra be effective!”
The Tibetan does not specify what is counted in this number, and although the intended meaning may possibly be chapters, we have taken it as referring to ślokas, “text units” consisting of thirty-two syllables, the same number found in anuṣṭubh verse, even though some parts of the sūtra are in prose—hence “lines” and not “verses” or “stanzas.” This is analogous to the numbers that identify the Perfection of Wisdom sūtras (also mostly in prose) according to their length.
Bibliography
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