The Dhāraṇī “Dream Visions” presents a dhāraṇī and a short ritual for producing visions in dreams.
This publication was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The text was translated, edited, and introduced by the 84000 translation team. Bruno Galasek-Hul produced the translation and wrote the introduction. Ryan Damron edited the translation and the introduction, and Dawn Collins copyedited the text. Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.
The Dhāraṇī “Dream Visions” is a dhāraṇī taught in conjunction with a short ritual. It is to be performed before going to sleep at night. The rite begins with an homage to the Three Jewels and Vajrapāṇi, who is here called “the great yakṣa general,” after which the dhāraṇī formula is taught. The attendant ritual is then explained, which consists of drinking water from one’s cupped hands after it has been incanted with the dhāraṇī. The text then concludes with the confirmation that Vajrapāṇi will cause one to have a dream when this rite is carried out.
The Dhāraṇī “Dream Visions” is located in the Unexcelled Yoga tantra section1 of the Degé Kangyur. Only the Kangyur editions of Degé (sde dge), Litang (li thang), Ragya (rwa rgya), as well as three Kangyurs from Bhutan, contain an additional copy of it in their respective Dhāraṇī sections.2
There are no known extant Sanskrit versions of this text, nor was it translated into Chinese. There are likewise no known references to this specific text in Indian commentaries. There is, however, a passage preserved in The Wish-fulfilling Virtuous Cow, composed by Nāgārjuna. This includes an almost identical dhāraṇī that is also used for eliciting dream visions.3 The rite that follows the dhāraṇī described in that text differs considerably and features Avalokiteśvara rather than Vajrapāṇi.
None of the extant versions of this Dhāraṇī include a translators’ colophon, nor is it recorded in the catalogs of translations from the Tibetan imperial period. It is therefore difficult to determine who translated this tantra and when it was translated.
This English translation is based on the two versions of the text preserved in the Degé Kangyur.44 In addition, we have also consulted the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) of the Degé Kangyur and the versions from the Narthang and Stok Palace Kangyurs. The dhāraṇī is rendered as it appears in the version from the tantra section of the Degé Kangyur without emendation.
oṁ mucini5 svāhā | mukhese6 svāhā | mohani svāhā | dantiri svāhā[F.46.a]
This rite is as follows: One should incant a handful of water and drink it. Then, when one falls asleep with intent, Vajrapāṇi will reveal a dream.
The Dhāraṇī “Dream Visions” is complete.
The Dhāraṇī “Dream Visions” presents a dhāraṇī and a short ritual for producing visions in dreams.
This publication was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The text was translated, edited, and introduced by the 84000 translation team. Bruno Galasek-Hul produced the translation and wrote the introduction. Ryan Damron edited the translation and the introduction, and Dawn Collins copyedited the text. Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.
The Dhāraṇī “Dream Visions” is a dhāraṇī taught in conjunction with a short ritual. It is to be performed before going to sleep at night. The rite begins with an homage to the Three Jewels and Vajrapāṇi, who is here called “the great yakṣa general,” after which the dhāraṇī formula is taught. The attendant ritual is then explained, which consists of drinking water from one’s cupped hands after it has been incanted with the dhāraṇī. The text then concludes with the confirmation that Vajrapāṇi will cause one to have a dream when this rite is carried out.
The Dhāraṇī “Dream Visions” is located in the Unexcelled Yoga tantra section1 of the Degé Kangyur. Only the Kangyur editions of Degé (sde dge), Litang (li thang), Ragya (rwa rgya), as well as three Kangyurs from Bhutan, contain an additional copy of it in their respective Dhāraṇī sections.2
There are no known extant Sanskrit versions of this text, nor was it translated into Chinese. There are likewise no known references to this specific text in Indian commentaries. There is, however, a passage preserved in The Wish-fulfilling Virtuous Cow, composed by Nāgārjuna. This includes an almost identical dhāraṇī that is also used for eliciting dream visions.3 The rite that follows the dhāraṇī described in that text differs considerably and features Avalokiteśvara rather than Vajrapāṇi.
None of the extant versions of this Dhāraṇī include a translators’ colophon, nor is it recorded in the catalogs of translations from the Tibetan imperial period. It is therefore difficult to determine who translated this tantra and when it was translated.
This English translation is based on the two versions of the text preserved in the Degé Kangyur.44 In addition, we have also consulted the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) of the Degé Kangyur and the versions from the Narthang and Stok Palace Kangyurs. The dhāraṇī is rendered as it appears in the version from the tantra section of the Degé Kangyur without emendation.
oṁ mucini5 svāhā | mukhese6 svāhā | mohani svāhā | dantiri svāhā[F.46.a]
This rite is as follows: One should incant a handful of water and drink it. Then, when one falls asleep with intent, Vajrapāṇi will reveal a dream.
The Dhāraṇī “Dream Visions” is complete.
See the knowledge base article on Compendium of Dhāraṇīs. See also Resources for the Kanjur and Tanjur Studies, University of Vienna. Accessed March 22, 2024, http://www.rkts.org/cat.php?id=946&typ=1.
Toh. 3067, folio 135.b. The dhāraṇī given in that text is oṁ mucili svāhā | mohani svāhā | dantini svāhā.
Note that there is a discrepancy among various databases for cataloging the Toh 952 version of this text within vol. 101 or 102 of the Degé Kangyur. See Toh 952, n.4, for details.
This text, Toh 952, and all those contained in this same volume (gzungs, 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.
The Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha—the three objects of Buddhist refuge. In the Tibetan rendering, “the three rare and supreme ones.”
Vajrapāṇi means “Wielder of the Vajra.” In the Pali canon, he appears as a yakṣa guardian in the retinue of the Buddha. In the Mahāyāna scriptures he is a bodhisattva and one of the “eight close sons of the Buddha.” In the tantras, he is also regarded as an important Buddhist deity and instrumental in the transmission of tantric scriptures.
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.
rmi lam mthong ba zhes bya ba’i gzungs. Toh 460a, Degé Kangyur vol. 83 (rgyud ’bum, ja), folio 39.b.
rmi lam mthong ba zhes bya ba’i gzungs. Toh 952, Degé Kangyur vol. 102 (gzungs, waM), folios 45.b–46.a.
rmi lam mthong ba zhes bya 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. 128.
rmi lam mthong ba zhes bya ba’i gzungs. Narthang Kangyur, vol. 85 (rgyud, cha), folio 56.a.
rmi lam mthong ba zhes bya ba’i gzungs. Stok Palace MS Kangyur, vol. 109 (rgyud, tsha), folio 84.a.
Nāgārjuna. dge ba’i ’dod ’jo (Kalyāṇakāmadhenu). Toh 3067, Degé Tengyur vol. 74 (rgyud ’grel, pu), folios 131.b–140.a.
N Nartang Kangyur
S Stok Palace Kangyur
