Recollecting the Common Essence of the Tathāgatas
Toh 536
Degé Kangyur, vol. 88 (rgyud, na), folio 83.a (in par phud printings), 100.a (in later printings)
Imprint
First published 2025
Current version v 1.0.0 (2025)
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.
This work is provided under the protection of a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution - Non-commercial - No-derivatives) 3.0 copyright. It may be copied or printed for fair use, but only with full attribution, and not for commercial advantage or personal compensation. For full details, see the Creative Commons license.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
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. Catherine Dalton produced the translation and wrote the introduction. Nathaniel Rich edited the translation and the introduction, and Dawn Collins copyedited the text. Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.
Introduction
Recollecting the Common Essence of the Tathāgatas includes a short dhāraṇī that is identified as the common essence of all tathāgatas, along with a statement that reciting it even once brings an end to the obscurations of eight hundred million eons.
The text is found in the Degé Kangyur in both the Tantra section, where it is classed as an action tantra (bya rgyud, kriyātantra), and in the Compendium of Dhāraṇīs section.
The work lacks a Sanskrit title as well as a colophon and is not listed in any of the imperial-period catalogs. However, a text bearing the same title does appear at Dunhuang, suggesting that the text was translated into Tibetan and circulated in Tibet in a relatively early period.1
We are unaware of any extant Sanskrit recension or Chinese translation of Recollecting the Common Essence of the Tathāgatas.
This translation was made on the basis of the two Degé Kangyur recensions of the text (Toh 5362 and Toh 8693), with reference to the Stok Palace edition as well as the notes to the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma). There are no major discrepancies among the recensions consulted. The dhāraṇī itself has been transcribed exactly as it appears in Toh 536.
Text Body
Notes
Two sets of folio references have been included in this translation due to a discrepancy in volume 88 (rgyud ’bum, na) of the Degé Kangyur between the 1737 par phud printings and the late (post par phud) printings. In the latter case, an extra work, Bodhimaṇḍasyālaṃkāralakṣadhāraṇī (Toh 508, byang chub snying po’i rgyan ’bum gyi gzungs), was added as the second text in the volume, thereby displacing the pagination of all the following texts in the same volume by 17 folios. Since the eKangyur follows the later printing, both references have been provided, with the highlighted one linking to the eKangyur viewer.
Note that there is a discrepancy among various databases for cataloging the Toh 869 version of this text within vol. 100 or 101 of the Degé Kangyur. See Toh 869, n.3, for details.
Bibliography
Source Texts
de bzhin gshegs pa spyi’i snying po rjes su dran pa. Toh 536, Degé Kangyur vol. 88 (rgyud, na), folio 83.a.
de bzhin gshegs pa spyi’i snying po rjes su dran pa. Toh 869, Degé Kangyur vol. 100 (gzungs ’dus, e), folio 89.a.
de bzhin gshegs pa spyi’i snying po rjes su dran pa. 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. 322.
de bzhin gshegs pa spyi’i snying po rjes su dran pa. 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. 97, p. 255.
de bzhin gshegs pa spyi’i snying po rjes su dran pa. S496. Stok Palace Kangyur vol. 102 (rgyud, da), folio 102.b.
Secondary Sources
Dalton, Jacob, and Sam van Schaik, eds. Tibetan Tantric Manuscripts from Dunhuang: A Descriptive Catalogue of the Stein Collection at the British Library. Brill’s Tibetan Studies Library 12. Leiden: Brill, 2006.
Glossary
Types of attestation for names and terms of the corresponding source language
Attested in source text
This term is attested in a manuscript used as a source for this translation.
Attested in other text
This term is attested in other manuscripts with a parallel or similar context.
Attested in dictionary
This term is attested in dictionaries matching Tibetan to the corresponding language.
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.
Reconstruction from Tibetan phonetic rendering
This term is a reconstruction based on the Tibetan phonetic rendering of the term.
Reconstruction from Tibetan semantic rendering
This term is a reconstruction based on the semantics of the Tibetan translation.
Source unspecified
This term has been supplied from an unspecified source, which most often is a widely trusted dictionary.