co.

Table of Contents

s.

Summary

s.­1

The Noble Queen of Incantations: The Great Amulet, one of five texts that constitute the Pañcarakṣā scriptural collection, has been among the most popular texts used for pragmatic purposes throughout the Mahāyāna Buddhist world. As its title suggests, The Great Amulet prescribes the use of amulets into which the incantation is physically incorporated. These devices are then worn around the neck or arm, attached to flags, interred in stūpas and funeral pyres, or otherwise used anywhere their presence is deemed beneficial. Wearing or encountering the incantation promises a range of effects, including the prevention and healing of illness, the conception and birth of male offspring, and control over the world of nonhuman spirit entities. The text also protects against consequences of negative deeds, delivering evildoers from negative rebirths and ensuring their place among the gods. The promise of augmenting merit even extends in one passage to an increase of mindfulness and liberation from saṃsāra.

ac.

Acknowledgements

ac.­1

Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the guidance of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche. The translation was produced by James Gentry, who also wrote the introduction. Andreas Doctor compared the translation with the original Tibetan and edited the text.

ac.­2

The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.

ac.­3

The translation of this text has been made possible through the generous sponsorship of DJKR, Herlintje, Hadi Widjaja, Lina Herlintje, Ocean Widjaja, Asia Widjaja, Star Widjaja and Gold Widjaja.

i.

Introduction

i.­1

The Noble Queen of Incantations: The Great Amulet is the third scripture in a series of five works that are widely popular in the Buddhist world for their power to bring about practical and liberative benefit. In addition to The Great Amulet, the other four texts are Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm (Mahā­sāhasrapramardanī­sūtra, Toh 558),1 The Great Peahen (Mahāmāyūrīvidyārājñī, Toh 559),2 The Sūtra of the Great Cool Grove (Mahā­śītavatī­sūtra, Toh 562),3 and Great Upholder of the Secret Mantra (Mahā­mantrānusāriṇī­sūtra, Toh 563).4 Together these scriptures have been apotheosized in the Mahāyāna tradition as five goddesses known collectively as the Pañcarakṣā, or the Five Protectresses. In the Tibetan tradition this collection is known as the gzungs chen grwa lnga, the Five Great Dhāraṇīs.

i.­2

Tibetan redactors of Kangyur collections have cataloged these five texts together within the Kriyātantra section of the Collected Tantras (rgyud ’bum) division of the canon. Indeed, these scriptures do contain elements that resonate with standard Kriyātantra practice as understood in Tibet: the use of powerful incantations, an emphasis on external ritual hygiene, the pragmatic application of ritual and mantra, and so forth. Yet, nearly absent from the five Pañcarakṣā texts are detailed descriptions of the contemplative visualization exercises, specialized ritual gestures (mudrā), elaborate maṇḍala diagrams, and initiation ceremonies typical of full-blown Buddhist tantra. A close perusal of these five texts might then lead the reader to construe them as Mahāyāna texts with a preponderance of elements‍—magical mantra formulas, ritual prescriptions, pragmatic aims, and so forth‍—that developed into a tantric practice tradition with its own unique view, meditation, and conduct. To complicate things further, core features of texts in this collection are rooted in Indian Buddhist traditions that are not specifically esoteric or even explicitly part of the Mahāyāna tradition. The great peahen incantation, for example, appears as a remedy for snakebites in the Mūla­sarvāstivāda­vinayavastu.5 This accords with Gregory Schopen’s general observation, based on inscriptional evidence, that “Dhāraṇī texts were publically [sic] known much earlier and much more widely than the texts we think of as ‘classically’ Mahāyāna.”6

i.­3

The rites and incantations found in the Pañcarakṣā texts have long functioned as important techniques for addressing pragmatic concerns throughout the Mahāyāna-Vajrayāna world. While it seems certain that these texts each developed independently and were only later combined into a five-text corpus, their popularity is attested by their eventual spread from India to Nepal, Tibet, Central Asia, China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan, and Indonesia.7 In East Asia, the textual tradition associated with The Great Peahen in particular was instrumental in integrating Buddhist and indigenous notions of divine kingship.8 Moreover, the tradition of all five goddesses and their texts still to this day occupies a place of central importance in the Vajrayāna Buddhism practiced by the Newar population of the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. Newar Buddhist communities have even translated the texts of the Five Protectresses into the modern vernacular, based on which they continue to stage a number of annual rites for a broad range of pragmatic purposes.9

i.­4

The designation “Five Protectresses” denotes the set of texts, the incantations presented therein, and the five goddesses presiding over each. It is believed that all these texts, specifically their incantations, provide special protection from a wide range of illnesses and misfortunes for those who memorize, recollect, read, copy, teach, wear, or otherwise come into contact with them. Each text promises protection from specific misfortunes, with considerable overlap witnessed between the texts. Despite the pragmatic thrust of these scriptures, each text also contains numerous allusions to doctrinal notions, the range of effects described therein sometimes, though rarely, extending beyond the pragmatic sphere to include the purification of negative karma, deliverance from the lower realms, and even the attainment of buddhahood.

i.­5

The Great Amulet represents what became the most popular scripture throughout the Mahāyāna world prescribing, as its title suggests, the production and use of protective threads and amulets (pratisara). The tradition of using protective threads or amulets for a broad range of goals is most likely rooted in the Atharvaveda and was only later integrated within a specifically Buddhist framework.10 Eventually, the dispensation of magically potent amulets became a staple component of the Buddhist community’s medicinal and ritual intercessions on behalf of the monastic and lay community. Indeed, The Great Amulet stipulates that it should be painted or written down and worn around the neck or arm of anyone and everyone, regardless of gender or ordination status. The Great Amulet can be attached to flags, interred in stūpas or funeral pyres, or otherwise used in circumstances for which it is deemed to be especially beneficial. The text also outlines the ritual procedures and material protocols that must be followed precisely when writing and affixing the scripture to ensure its efficacy. The effects promised by wearing the scripture include the prevention and alleviation of illnesses and nonhuman interference; the conception and birth of male offspring; the protection of travelers and seafarers; the protection of persons and fields from natural disasters, from unwanted creatures and pests, and from the elements in general; protection against military invasion and corporal punishment; and control over the world of nonhuman spirit entities. Wearing and otherwise coming into physical contact with The Great Amulet is even claimed to protect from the consequences of negative deeds, delivering evildoers from negative rebirths and ensuring their place among the gods. The promise of augmenting merit even extends in one passage to an increase of mindfulness, liberation from saṃsāra, and the attainment of nirvāṇa.

i.­6

The Great Amulet is structured according to its two dhāraṇīs and four mantra formulas and a series of nine narrative vignettes and two ritual procedures. The narratives are presented as proof of the scripture’s power and efficacy and often provide the background for the ritual preparations described in each episode. The text first unfolds without the dialogic structure of the Buddha responding to the questions of his entourage. Rather, after illuminating the universe with his brilliance, the Buddha simply states his desire to teach the scripture out of his compassion for beings, and without further ado he begins to dispense The Great Amulet. Only later in the text does a certain “great brahmin” emerge as the Buddha’s main interlocutor. Like The Great Peahen but with much less elaboration and specificity, The Great Amulet stipulates the invocation of the pantheon of Indian gods and goddesses, including the profusion of place-deities who dwell throughout the subcontinent. These litanies have the effect of hierarchically ordering the categories of nonhuman entities, rendering them all subordinate to the command of the Buddha and his community. Appeals to the pantheon are framed as methods both to protect against the violence of its members and enlist their protection in confronting other threats.

i.­7

The popularity of The Great Amulet is attested by the significant number of surviving Sanskrit witnesses, the earliest among which are manuscript fragments discovered in Gilgit that date to approximately the early seventh century. Also among the earliest Sanskrit versions are four manuscript fragments dating to the latter half of the second millennium that were found in East Turkestan. The majority of Sanskrit witnesses comprises manuscripts from eastern India, which can be dated to the tenth and eleventh centuries, and a large number of manuscripts that were scribed in Nepal beginning in the ninth century and continuing into modern times. In addition to manuscript sources, the main Sanskrit incantations from The Great Amulet have been found on amulets, copper plate inscriptions, and bricks that date between the eighth and eleventh centuries. These material applications of the incantations were discovered across a wide geographic range, from Central and East Asia to the Philippines and Indonesia.11 Comparisons of these surviving Sanskrit versions of The Great Amulet indicate that this text may have gone through two major recensions‍—once in the sixth century and another in the late seventh century‍—before it was grouped with the other four Protectresses in the early eighth century.12

i.­8

The Great Amulet was first translated into Tibetan under Tibetan imperial patronage sometime during the early ninth century by a team that included the translator-editor Bandé Yeshé Dé (ban+de ye shes sde, ca. late eighth–early ninth centuries) and the Indian scholars Jinamitra and Dānaśīla. Their translation is listed in the Denkarma (ldan kar ma) catalog, along with the other Pañcarakṣā texts, under the category “the Five Great Dhāraṇīs” (gzungs chen po lnga).13 The translation was revised several centuries later by Gö Lotsāwa Shönu Pal (’gos lo tsA ba gzhon nu dpal, 1392–1481), who based his work on a Sanskrit manuscript that had been in the possession of Chak Lotsāwa Chöjé Pal (chag lo tsA ba chos rje dpal, 1197–1263/64). The Stok Palace Kangyur contains another recension of Yeshé Dé’s translation that was revised by Butön Rinchen Drup (bu ston rin chen grub, 1290–1364) based on two Sanskrit manuscripts from India.14

i.­9

The Great Amulet was translated into Chinese twice. The earlier of the two translations is the Foshuo suiqiu jide dazizai tuoluoni shenzhou jing (佛說隨求即得大自在陀羅尼神呪經, Taishō 1154),15 which was translated by Ratnacinta (Baosiwei 宝思惟, ca. seventh–eighth centuries) in 693. The second, the Pubian guangming qingjing chicheng ruyibao yinxin wunengsheng damingwang dasuiqui tuoluoni jing (普遍光明淸淨熾盛如意寶印心無能勝大明王大隨求陀羅尼經, Taishō 1153),16 was prepared in the eighth century by Amoghavajra (Bukong 不空, 705–74). Hidas notes evidence that a third translation was made by Vajrabodhi (Jingang zhi 金刚智, ca. seventh–eight centuries) but is now lost.17

i.­10

This English translation is based primarily on the Degé edition of the Tibetan translation, with close consultation of Gergely Hidas’ Sanskrit editions of the Gilgit fragments and Indian/Nepalese manuscript sources.18 We have also consulted his English translation and study of the incantation. In addition to these sources, we have relied on the Stok Palace version of the Tibetan translation and on the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) of the Degé Kangyur. Unless otherwise noted, the transcriptions of the Sanskrit incantations and mantras follow those given in the Degé edition. Minor orthographic emendations have not been noted.

Text Body

The Noble Queen of Incantations
The Great Amulet
1.

The Translation

[F.117.b]


1.­1

I pay homage to Mahāpratisarā, queen of incantations,19 and to all buddhas and bodhisattvas!


1.­2

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was dwelling on the summit of great vajra Mount Meru, in a mansion resting on the ground of great vajra meditative absorption. The site was beautifully adorned with great vajra wish-fulfilling trees and illuminated by the luster of the jewels and lotuses in a great vajra pond. The ground was strewn with great vajra sand and consecrated as a great vajra. The site had a surrounding courtyard made of great vajras and was bedecked with billions of great vajra lion thrones of Śakra, lord of the gods. The site was consecrated by the blessings of all buddhas as a place of miracles where Dharma was taught, where the equality of all phenomena is entered, and that was perfected20 by omniscience. [F.118.a]

1.­3

The Blessed One was dwelling there together with eighty-four hundred sextillion21 bodhisattvas. They all had one rebirth remaining, had become irreversible from unexcelled, completely perfect awakening, and had attained great power. Through their great vajra liberation and their meditative absorption, they could manifest in numerous buddhafields and display great miracles. With the minutest moment of thought they could, with breadth and eloquence, give various Dharma teachings that were melodious, vast, and profound, and that were appropriate for the mentalities and conduct of all beings. Possessing miraculous powers, they could worship thus-gone ones in multiple buddhafields with clouds of great offerings. Their mindstreams were replete with the gates of liberation, retention, meditative absorption, control, higher knowledges, the unique qualities, and the aspects of awakening, with the paths, levels, and perfections, with skillful means, and with the means of magnetizing, as well as with love, compassion, joy, and impartiality, with the power of love, and with truth and complete purity.

1.­4

These eighty-four hundred sextillion bodhisattvas included, among others, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Vajragarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Vajragātra, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Vajramati, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Vajrahasta, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Vajrasaṃhata, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Vajranārāyaṇa, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Vajravikurvita, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Vajrakūṭa, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Vajrarāśi, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Suvajra, and the bodhisattva mahāsattva Vajraketu.

1.­5

There were also many great śrāvakas present. They were all arhats whose defilements had been exhausted and whose bonds to existence had been completely severed. Their minds were liberated through perfect knowledge. They had attained the great powers of magical prowess and the ability to create manifestations through inconceivable miracles, and they had a view free of desire. They had all attained freedom from stains and had completely scorched the seeds of afflictive habitual patterns.

1.­6

They included, among others, [F.118.b] venerable Śāriputra, venerable Pūrṇo Maitrāyaṇī­putraḥ, venerable Kaphina, venerable Subhūti, venerable Mahā­maudgalyāyana, venerable Cunda, venerable Nanda, venerable Kāśyapa, venerable Mahākāśyapa, and venerable Uruvilvākāśyapa.

1.­7

There were also the gods from the pure abodes, immeasurably limitless and beyond description, led by the god Maheśvara; many gods from the Brahmā realm, led by Brahmā, lord of the Sahā world; the god Suyāma along with his retinue of gods from the Heaven Free from Strife; and the gods Santuṣita, Nirmāṇarati, and Paranirmitavaśavartin as well as Śakra, lord of the gods, and his many entourages of gods.

1.­8

There were infinite, innumerable, and limitless asura lords, including Vemacitrin, lord of the asuras, Balin, Prahlāda, Rāhu, and Vairocana.

1.­9

There were infinite, innumerable, and limitless nāga kings led by Sāgara, king of the nāgas, Takṣaka, Vāsuki, Śaṅkhapāla, Karkoṭaka, Padma, and Mahāpadma.

1.­10

The kinnara king Druma and his entourage of many kinnara kings were there, as were the gandharva king Pañcaśikha with his entourage of many gandharva kings, the vidyādhara king Sarvārthasiddha along with his entourage of many vidyādhara kings, the garuḍa king Suparṇākṣa with his entourage of many garuḍa kings, and the yakṣa kings Vaiśravaṇa, Māṇibhadra, Pūrṇabhadra, and Pāñcika along with their entourages of many yakṣa kings.

1.­11

Hārītī and her entourage of five hundred children22 were there, as were the seven mothers of the world, the seven great rākṣasīs, and the seven great and foremost ṛṣis. [F.119.a]

1.­12

Also in attendance were the lunar mansions that course in the sky, the gods of all the planets, the gods of the cardinal and intermediate directions, Pṛthivī, Sarasvatī, bhutās, vighnas, vināyakas, pretas and bhūtas with great magical powers, all the mountain kings, and Varuṇa, protector of the world, along with his entourage of ocean gods.23

1.­13

Also present were Virūḍhaka, Virūpākṣa, Daṇḍapāṇi, Nairṛta, Jātavedas,24 the seven great wind gods, and Īśāna with his wife and billionfold entourage. Nārāyaṇa and his entourage were present, as were Dattaka, Dāmaka, Śaśin,25 and Lohaka. Mahāgaṇapati was present, as was Megholka, the lord of vināyakas, with his entourage of many vināyakas and vighnas. The sixty koṭarās26 were present, as were as the Four Bhaginīs and their brother. Also present were Vajrasaṅkalā, the sixty-four vajradūtīs, Vajrasena, Subāhu, and Mūrdhaṭaka, together with their manifold entourages of members of the vajra family.

1.­14

There were, moreover, infinite, innumerable, and limitless gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, bhūtas, pretas, piśācas, chāyās, unmādas, apasmāras, skandas, sādhyas, vyālagrāhas,27 and ostārakas, all with intense faith in the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha. Also present were the god of the sun, the god of the moon, the god of the dusk, the god of the dawn, all the gods of the seasons, and the god of the earth.

1.­15

The Blessed One, turner of the wheel of Dharma, had fully perfected the deeds of a buddha. He had completed the accumulations of merit and wisdom, [F.119.b] had fully taken hold of omniscience, and had mastered the perfections and levels for the sake of awakening. His body, adorned with the thirty-two marks of a great being, blazed brightly. His limbs and extremities were decorated with the eighty sublime characteristics, the top of his head was beyond the sight of all beings, and he understood all the activities of Māra. He comprehended the mentality and conduct of all beings and possessed the five eyes. He was replete with the most supreme of all characteristics and the wisdom of omniscience. He possessed all the qualities of a buddha, had defeated all the hordes of māras and foes, and was exalted in his use of speech, words, and verses.28 He roared with the roar of a bull and a lion and had completely removed the darkness of ignorance. He had been unflagging for immeasurable, countless billions of eons in the practice of the perfections of generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, concentration, insight, means, power, aspiration, and wisdom, as well as in the performance of austerities. His body was beautiful, adorned with the thirty-two major marks and the eighty sublime characteristics of a great being.

1.­16

He took his seat on a great lion throne that sat at the heart of a lotus upon a vajra and jewel.29 The throne chimed with the sound of many vajras, jewels, pearls, and lattices of bells. It sat solidly on a plinth made of many vajras and jewels and was arrayed with a pile of cushions bound with strings of red pearls that issued from the mouths of numerous sea monsters made of vajra and jewels. The throne sparkled brilliantly with the luster of jewels‍—chrysoberyl, great chrysoberyl, sapphire, great sapphire, and topaz‍—that were affixed to the pericarps of many jeweled lotuses. It was entirely alluring and was completely shaded with billions of parasols whose shafts were festooned with many sprigs of vajras and jewels.30 [F.120.a] It was also abundantly beautified with many wish-fulfilling trees.

1.­17

As the Blessed One sat on the vajra-jewel lotus throne the size of Mount Meru, his splendor blazed forth like the king of golden mountains. The area was engulfed31 in an orb of light brighter than a thousand suns. Like a full moon, he shone pleasingly throughout all worlds. He taught the Dharma while, like a great wish-fulfilling tree, he was in full blossom with the qualities of a buddha. He gave instructions on religious life that were virtuous in the beginning, middle, and end, excellent in word and meaning, and unique, perfect, pure, pristine, and genuine.32

1.­18

Then, from the hair between the eyes of the Blessed One streamed a matrix of light rays called the revealer of the fields of all buddhas.33 This matrix of light rays flooded the entire trichiliocosm with its brilliance. It flooded with its brilliance as many buddhafields as there are grains of sand in the Ganges, where many blessed buddhas, seated on their lion thrones in celestial palaces, were teaching the Dharma to śrāvakas, bodhisattva mahāsattvas, monks, nuns, male and female laypeople, gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas.

1.­19

Then the Blessed One spoke to the vast assembly:

1.­20
“Out of sympathy34 for all beings,
I will teach this dhāraṇī of the amulet
That completely destroys
All wrongdoing and offenses.
1.­21
“Just by hearing this,
All misdeeds will be exhausted.
It grants happiness to all beings
And delivers them from all illnesses.
1.­22
“Out of compassion for all beings,
The lord of the world taught it [F.120.b]
To protect all embodied beings
Destined for the lower realms.
1.­23
“When protected by this,
One can enter the asura realm
And, likewise, travel to Aḍakavatī
And the dwelling place of rākṣasas.
1.­24
“When engaged in fierce and terrifying battle35
With bhūtas, nāgas, and piśācas,
One will not be defeated by one’s enemies
Or by all the hordes of bhūtas.
1.­25
“Memorizing just the title and uttering it
Vanquishes all grahas
As well as skandas, unmādas,
Apasmāras, ḍākinīs, and piśācas.
1.­26
“The radiant power of the amulet
Paralyzes all the powerful beings
Who devour vitality
And bring harm to people.
1.­27
“It destroys violent kākhordas
And the hordes of enemy armies.
One will not be harmed by mantra rites
And will be freed from root magic.36
1.­28
“One will not be affected by poison, poisonous compounds, and fire.
One will not be affected by weapons and water.
One will not be affected by lightning bolts.
One will not be harmed by seasonal winds.
1.­29
“The radiant power of this queen of incantations
Will utterly defeat all foes.
It will accomplish all one’s aims,
And one will always be triumphant.
1.­30
“Whoever keeps the incantation fastened
Around their neck or arm
Will have all their needs fulfilled‍—
Of this there is no doubt.
1.­31
“They will always be protected
By courageous37 bodhisattvas,
Buddhas, and solitary guides,38
And likewise by nāga kings and lords of gods.
1.­32
“Whoever holds the dhāraṇī of the great amulet
Will always be protected
By all śrāvakas and buddhas
And by the incantation goddess with her great magical powers.
1.­33
“Vajrapāṇi, the lord of yakṣas,
And likewise the Four Great Kings,
Will protect one day and night‍—
Of this there is no doubt.
1.­35
“All the hordes of mātṛs,
And likewise the class of māras,
Ṛṣis with radiant power,
And the gods with miraculous powers‍—
1.­36
“Will all protect the one who holds
The dhāraṇī of the amulet.
1.­37
“The buddhas, who are great beings,
The goddesses of incantations with their might,
Māmakī, Bhṛkuṭī,
The goddess Tārā, and Aṅkuśī,
1.­40
“The great goddess Aparājitā,
The mighty Kālakarṇī,
The opulent Mahābhāgā
And Padmakuṇḍali,
1.­41
“Puṣpadantī, Maṇicūḍā,
Svarṇakeśī, Piṅgalā,
The goddess Mahātejā,
And the opulent goddess Vidyunmālinī,
1.­42
“The rākṣasī Ekajaṭā,
The protector named Buddhā,41
The auspicious Kāpālinī,
And the opulent Laṅkeśvarī,42
1.­43
“And many more goddesses43
Who look after beings
Will protect the one
In whose hand the incantation is placed.
1.­44
“Hārītī and Pāñcika,
Śaṅkhinī, Kūṭadantinī,
And Sarasvatī, goddess of good fortune,
Will follow and always protect one.
1.­45
“Any woman who continually wears
This great amulet
Will accomplish all her wishes
And will always conceive sons.
1.­46
“Her pregnancy will proceed comfortably,
And she will comfortably deliver.
All illnesses and misdeeds
Will be vanquished, without a doubt.
1.­47
“A person will become meritorious and powerful.
Their wealth and their grain yield will always increase.
Their words will be agreeable,
And they will be worthy of veneration.
1.­48
“A pure person who keeps it,
Be they a man or a woman,
Will exert great effort [F.121.b]
To liberate all beings.
1.­49
“They will always be happy
And free of all illness.
Even kings, with their harem and court,
Will fall under their control.
1.­50
“They will perpetually shine with success.
Their bounty of merit will increase.
Their wishes will all be accomplished.
They will enter all maṇḍalas.
1.­51
“They will always know the commitments,
As taught by the victorious ones,
And nightmares will not occur.
The amulet is the supreme vanquisher of misdeeds.
1.­52
“Along with negative deeds,
Foes, too, will be destroyed.
It was taught by the lords of wisdom
In order to destroy all grahas.
1.­53
“It bestows all desires.
Thus, it should be worn continually!
Listen to me, host of bhūtas!
I will now speak it!44
1.­54
I pay homage to all thus-gone ones!
I pay homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas!
I pay homage to the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha!
1.­55

Tadyathā oṁ vipula vipulagarbhe vipulavimale vipulagarbhe vimale jayagarbhe vajrajvālāgarbhe gatigahane gaganaviśodhane sarvapāpaviśodhane oṁ guṇavati gaganavicāriṇi gagariṇi gigi giri giriṇi giriṇi gamari gamari gaha gaha gargari gargari gagari gagari gambhari gambhari gabhi gabhi gahi gahi gamani gamani gari gari gubha gubha guha guha guru guru guruṇi cale guhaṇi guhaṇi guruṇi culu culu cale cale mucele mucele jaye vijaye sarvabhayavigate satva sarvagarbhasaṃrakṣaṇi siri siri bhiri bhiri miri miri miri miri giri giri ghiri ghiri ghiri ghiri samantaparṣaṇi.

1.­56

Blessed lady, guide of beings, universal guide, vanquisher of all foes, protect me from all dangers, threats, plagues, and illnesses! Protect me! [F.122.a]

1.­57

Ciri ciri viri viri dhiri dhiri vigatāvaraṇe viśodhane vividhāvaraṇavināśani muri muri muci muci muli muli cili cili kili kili mili mili kamale vimale jaye vijaye vijayāvahe jayavati viśeṣavati.

1.­58

Blessed lady who wears a jeweled crown and garland45 and who wears manifold types of garments! Blessed lady, great goddess of incantations who purifies all evil! Fully protect me everywhere! Protect me!

1.­59

Huru huru muru muru rakṣa rakṣa mama.

1.­60

I have no protection, refuge, or recourse! Protect me! Protect me! Deliver me from all suffering!

1.­61

Caṇḍe caṇḍe caṇḍe caṇḍe caṇḍeni caṇḍeni vegavati sarvaduṣṭanivāriṇi vijayavāhini huru huru muru muru curu curu turu turu āyuḥpālani suravarapramathani sarvadevagaṇapūjite ciri cirri dhiri dhiri samantāvalokite prabhe prabhe suprabhe suprabhaviśuddhe sarvapāpaviśuddhe sarvapāpaviśodhane dhuru dhuru dharaṇi dhare dhare dhara sumu sumu sumu sumu musu musu ruru cale cālaya.

1.­62

You of splendorous body, protect me from the ill intentioned! Fulfill my wishes!

1.­63

Jayakamale kṣiṇi kṣiṇi varadāṅkuśe oṁ padmaviśuddhe śodhaya śodhaya śuddhe śuddhe bhara bhara bhiri bhiri bhuru bhuru maṅgalaviśuddhe pavitramukhi khaḍgini khaḍgini khara khara jvalitaśikhare samantāvalokitaprabhe suprabhaviśuddhe samantaprasāritāvabhāsitaśuddhe jvala jvala sarva­deva­gaṇa­grahanakṣatrasamākarṣaṇi satyaprati oṃ hrī traṃ tara tara tāraya tāraya. [F.122.b]

1.­64

O lady who peers with an elephant’s gaze! Deliver me from harm by humans!

1.­65

Lahu lahu hulu hulu hutu hutu turu turu kiṇi kiṇi kṣiṇi kṣiṇi huṇi huṇi sarva­graha­bhakṣaṇi piṅgali piṅgali mucu mucu cumu cumu suvicare tara tara.

1.­66

O lady who peers with an elephant’s gaze! With the binding of the directions and the binding of the vajra fence and vajra lasso, deliver me from the eight great dangers, everywhere and in all ways!

1.­67

Vajra­jvālāviśuddhe bhuri bhuri dhara dhara tiri tiri turu turu bhagavati garbha­viśuddhe garbha­saṃsodhaṇi kukṣisampūraṇi jvala jvala cala cala jvālani.

1.­68

May divine water pour down everywhere!

1.­69

Amṛtavarṣaṇi deva­tāvatāraṇi.

1.­70

O you with the body composed of the supreme ambrosia of the Sugata’s sublime speech, please anoint me! Purify all strife, contention, quarrels, disputes, nightmares, bad omens, inauspiciousness, and evil! Vanquish all yakṣas, rākṣasas, and nāgas! Protect me, always and everywhere, from all threats of harm and from all fears, calamities, epidemics, and illnesses! Protect me!

1.­71

Bala bala balavati jaya jaya vijaya vijaya.

1.­72

Grant me victory always and everywhere! May this great incantation be successful for me! Accomplish the great maṇḍala! Accomplish the secret mantras! Destroy all obstructions!

1.­73

Jaya jaya siddhi siddhi sidhya sidhya budhya budhya sūcaya sūcaya pūraya pūraya pūraṇi pūraṇi.

1.­74

Fulfill my wishes! O blessed lady whose body has risen from all incantations, triumphant one, supremely triumphant one who is the pristine essence of the thus-gone ones, please remain! [F.123.a] Please remain! Honor your commitment! See me through the dreadful eight great dangers!

1.­75

Sara sara prasara prasara sarvāvaraṇaviśodhani samantākāramaṇḍalaviśuddhe vigate vigate vigatamale sarvamalaviśodhani kṣiṇi kṣiṇi sarvapāpaviśuddhe malavigati jayavati tejo tejovati vajra vajravati svāhā.

1.­76
To he who is blessed throughout the three worlds, svāhā!
To he who is anointed by the crowns of the thus-gone ones,46 svāhā!
To he who is anointed by all bodhisattvas, svāhā!
To he who is anointed by all deities,47 svāhā!
To he who is blessed by the essence of all thus-gone ones, svāhā!
To he who has fulfilled the commitments of all thus-gone ones,48 svāhā!
To he who is like Indra and is beheld by Indra, svāhā!49
To Brahmā, who dwells in his Brahmā realm,50 svāhā!
To he who is honored by Viṣṇu, svāhā!
To he who is honored and worshiped by Maheśvara, svāhā!
To he who is blessed by the power and vigor of the vajra-bearing Vajrapāṇi, svāhā!
To Dhṛtarāṣṭra, svāhā!
To Virūḍhaka, svāhā!
To Virūpākṣa, svāhā!
To Vaiśravaṇa, svāhā!
To he who is honored by the Four Great Kings, svāhā!
To Yama, svāhā!
To he who is worshiped and honored by Yama, svāhā!
To Varuṇa, svāhā!
To Māruta, svāhā!
To Mahāmāruta, svāhā!
To Agni, svāhā!
To he who is beheld by nāgas, svāhā!
To the assemblies of gods, svāhā!
To the assemblies of nāgas, svāhā!
To the assemblies of yakṣas, svāhā!
To the assemblies of Yama, svāhā!51
To the assemblies of rākṣasas, svāhā!
To the assemblies of gandharvas, svāhā!
To the assemblies of asuras, svāhā!
To the assemblies of garuḍas, svāhā!
To the assemblies of kinnaras, svāhā!
To the assemblies of mahoragas, svāhā!
To the humans, svāhā! [F.123.b]
To all nonhumans, svāhā!
To all grahas, svāhā!
To all bhūtas, svāhā!
To the pretas, svāhā!
To the piśācas, svāhā!
To the apasmāras, svāhā!
To the ostārakas,52 svāhā!
To the kumbhāṇḍas, svāhā!
1.­77

Oṁ dhuru dhuru svāhā turu turu svāhā muru muru svāhā hana hana sarvaśatrūn svāhā daha daha sarvaduṣṭānāṃ svāhā paca paca sarva­pratyarthika­pratyamitrānāṃ svāhā.

1.­78

Let the body of all those wicked-minded beings who are hostile to me blaze, svāhā!53

1.­79
To the blazing one, svāhā!
To the brilliant one, svāhā!
To the blazing vajra, svāhā!
To the blazing flame, svāhā!
To the pervasively blazing one, svāhā!
To Māṇibhadra, svāhā!
To Pūrṇabhadra, svāhā!
To Mahākāla, svāhā!
To the assembly of mātṛs, svāhā!
To the yakṣiṇīs, svāhā!
To the rākṣasīs, svāhā!
To the mātṛs of the sky, svāhā!
To those who live in the oceans, svāhā!
To those who move at night, svāhā!
To those who move during the day, svāhā!
To those who move during the three periods of the day, svāhā!
To those who move at the proper time, svāhā!
To those who move at the improper time, svāhā!
To those who devour wombs, svāhā!
To those who seize wombs, svāhā!
1.­80

Hulu hulu svāhā oṁ svāhā svaḥ svāhā bhūḥ svāhā bhūvaḥ svāhā bhūr bhuvaḥ svāhā ciṭi ciciṭi svāhā viṭi viṭi svāhā dhāraṇi svāhā dhāraṇi svāhā agni svāhā tejovayuḥ svāhā cili cili svāhā mili mili svāhā sili sili svāhā budhya budhya svāhā sidhya sidhya svāhā maṇḍalabandhe svāhā sīmābandhe svāhā dhāraṇibhandhe svāhā sarvaśatrūṇāṃ bhañjaya svāhā jambhaya jambhaya svāhā stambhaya stambhaya svāhā chinda chinda svāhā bhinda bhinda svāhā bhañja bhañja svāhā bandha bandha svāhā mohaya mohaya svāhā maṇiviśuddhe svāhā sūrye svāhā sūryaviśuddhe svāhā śodhani svāhā viśodhani svāhā caṇḍe caṇḍe paripūrṇacaṇḍe svāhā grahebhyaḥ svāhā nakṣatrebhyaḥ svāhā śivibhyaḥ svāhā śāntibhyaḥ svāhā puṣṭibhyaḥ svāhā svastiyanebhyaḥ svāhā garbhadhare svāhā śivaṅkari svāhā śaṅkari svāhā śāntiṅkari svāhā puṣṭiṅkari svāhā balavardhani svāhā balavardhinikari svāhā [F.124.a] śrīkari svāhā śrīvardhani svāhā śrījvālini svāhā muci svāhā namuci svāhā muruci svāhā vegavati svāhā.

1.­81

“Oṁ, blessed lady, stainless supreme body of all thus-gone ones! Pacify all my evil! May auspiciousness be mine!

1.­82

Oṁ muni muni vimuni vimuni dhari cala calani bhagavati bhayavigate bhayahariṇi bodhi bodhi bodhaya bodhaya buddhili buddhili cumbuli cumbuli svāhā sarvatathāgatahṛdayajuṣṭe svāhā. Oṁ muni muni munivare.

1.­83

May I be consecrated with the consecrations of the incantations of all thus-gone ones, all of which have been sealed with the great vajra armor seal!54

1.­84

Sarva­tathāgata­hṛdayādhiṣṭhānādhiṣṭita­vajre svāhā.

1.­85

A great brahmin and his retinue then entered into the assembly. The Blessed One addressed the great brahmin,55 “Great brahmin, this is the queen of incantations, the great amulet, a dhāraṇī that is an invincible essence-seal, a wish-fulfilling gem that sparkles all around with a pristine garland of flames.

1.­86

“A son or daughter of noble family is freed from all their misdeeds as soon as they hear this dhāraṇī. Great brahmin, the body of a person in whose heart this incantation resides should be understood to be a vajra. Fire cannot harm their body. How do I know? Once, in the great city of Kapilavastu, the child Rāhulabhadra resided in his mother’s womb. At that time the Śākya girl Gopā threw herself into a fire, but a lotus appeared within it. Rāhulabhadra had brought this incantation to mind while he was dwelling in the womb, and he instantly quelled the fire by simply recollecting it. The fire did not touch the body of the Śākya girl Gopā. Why? This incantation has been blessed by all the thus-gone ones. That is why, great brahmin, the fire did not burn her.

1.­87

“Poison, too, cannot separate one from life. How so? Well, great brahmin, once, in the city called Śūrpāraka, [F.124.b]56 a wealthy and powerful merchant had a son who cast incantations. Through the power of his incantation he summoned the nāga king Takṣaka, but he was careless after summoning him and failed to control him. The nāga king angrily bit him, causing a painful sensation. He thought, ‘This is how my life ends.’ Although several magicians were called, none could cure him of the poison.

1.­88

“A very compassionate woman with lay vows named Vimalaviśuddhi lived in the city of Śūrpāraka. She knew to recite this great queen of incantations, so she went to where the man was staying and uttered this great incantation. By just reciting it to him once, the poison vanished and he regained consciousness. After he was delivered from that intense suffering, the merchant’s son took the mantra of the great incantation to heart, precisely according to the prescribed procedure.

1.­89

“But how do we really know, great brahmin? In the great city of Vārāṇasī, during the reign of a king known by the name Brahmadatta,57 the monarch who ruled the land along the eastern border amassed a four-division army and surrounded Vārāṇasī in preparation for attack. The ministers said to King Brahmadatta, ‘Your Majesty, if the enemy army should take the city, what tactic could we employ to defeat them? Please tell us!’ The king then declared, ‘Do not worry! I have a queen of incantations called the great amulet. With it I will defeat and pulverize this four-division army!’ The ministers all bowed their heads and said, ‘O great king! What is this thing about which we have never before heard?’ The king replied, [F.125.a] ‘I will demonstrate it.’ Thereupon, King Brahmadatta washed his head with various perfumes, donned clean clothes, and wrote down the great queen of incantations precisely as prescribed. Placing it inside his topknot, he used the great queen of incantations as his armor and entered into battle. He then singlehandedly defeated the entire four-division army. Defeated, the enemy monarch was released once he took refuge in the incantation.

1.­90

“Great brahmin, this directly reveals the great power of the queen of incantations, which has been blessed by the essence and seal of all thus-gone ones. Given this evidence, it should be upheld. It should be seen as equal to all thus-gone ones. It should be viewed as something that at a future time, in future contexts, will benefit beings who have short lifespans, little merit, and meager possessions. Great brahmin, anyone who writes the great amulet, queen of incantations precisely as prescribed and fastens it around their arm or around their neck should be understood to be blessed by all thus-gone ones. They should be understood to have the body of all thus-gone ones. They should be understood to have a great vajra body. They should be understood to possess the essence of the relics of all thus-gone ones. They should be understood to have the eye of all thus-gone ones.58 They should be understood to have a great vajra body. They should be understood to possess a body of blazing flame. They should be understood to possess indestructible armor. They should be understood as one who vanquishes all foes. They should be understood as one who overcomes all obscurations and misdeeds. They should be understood as one who purifies migration to the hells.

1.­91

“Why? This can be understood from a previous event. Great brahmin, in another land there was a monk [F.125.b] who lacked faith, had lapsed in his training in the family of the Thus-Gone One, and had become a thief. He stole from the communal supplies59 and consumed the articles amassed by the saṅgha from the four directions, taking them all as his own.60 Later, he was afflicted with a severe illness and experienced intense pain.

1.­92

“Distressed, and with no recourse or protection, he wailed loudly. Then, great brahmin,61 a man with lay vows who lived in the area heard his wailing. He approached the monk, wrote down the queen of incantations, the great amulet, and fastened it around the monk’s neck. As soon as he attached the queen of incantations, the great amulet, around the monk’s neck, the monk’s painful sensations were completely soothed, and he was released from every illness. He spent that night restored to health, and then he died in a state of mindfulness. When he discarded his body, he was born in the great Avīci Hell. The other monks placed his corpse on the funeral pyre, with the queen of incantations, the great amulet, still fastened to his neck. As soon as the monk was born in the Avīci Hell, all the painful sensations of the beings there were completely quelled, and they were satiated with every comfort. All the roaring fires in the Avīci Hell went out completely. Yama’s minions were all surprised and reported in detail to Yama, king of the law:62

1.­93
“ ‘The unbearable suffering of beings,
Caused by their karmic actions, has been totally quelled.
It is completely amazing, Your Majesty,
What is being witnessed in the narrow confines of hell!
1.­94
“ ‘The burning coals,
Ever present on the bodies of beings, have gone out.
The saws no longer work.
The razorblades do not cut. [F.126.a]
1.­95
“ ‘The iron-trunked śālmali trees have split.
All the iron cauldrons have cooled.
In the forest of sword leaves,
The leaves born from karma do no harm.
1.­96
“ ‘Yama, King of the Law,
You govern people with justice.
It is right for you to tell us‍—
The reason for this is no trifling thing!’
1.­97
“When the embodiment of the Law,
The King of the Law, resolute in justice,
Heard such words
From those bereft of compassion,
He said, ‘Tell me immediately what happened!
Tell me what it is like!’
1.­98
“Then Yama’s cruel minions,
Wicked in their disposition,
Said to Yama,
King of the Law:
1.­99
“ ‘A great being, Your Majesty,
Was born in the narrow confine of this Avīci Hell.
Avīci is its name,
And so it is called a narrow confine.
1.­100
“ ‘This person, who made beings happy‍—
We see he has diverse karma.
Being happy everywhere,
He is now going to a divine realm.’
1.­101
“When Yama perceived this,
The King of the Law was amazed and said:
1.­102
“ ‘In a previous lifetime,
The body of this miraculous person
Was beautified by the amulet
Fastened around his neck,
Just as the caitya of the Teacher was beautified
By many hundreds of physical remains.’
1.­103

“Then the yakṣa guardians of hell said to Yama, King of the Law: ‘Your Majesty, why is this called an amulet?’

“The King of the Law replied:

1.­104
“ ‘One who recollects it, word for word,
Will not go to the lower realms.
The insightful who meditate on the amulet
Go to pleasant realms.
1.­105
“ ‘You guardians of hell‍—
Go to Puṣḳalāvatī!
Look at the tall pyre there,
Surrounded by gods!
After seeing it,
You will feel love for all beings!’
1.­106

“Yama’s minions went that very night to Puṣḳalāvatī.

1.­107
“There and then, [F.126.b]
Close to the king’s palace,
They saw a pyre engulfed
In a single blazing light.
1.­108
“They also saw a human corpse
With the amulet fastened around its neck.
Gods, nāgas, gandharvas,
Yakṣas, rākṣasas, and kinnaras
1.­109
“Were all around it,
Performing unexcelled worship.
The yakṣas then named it
The Amulet Pyre.
1.­110

“Then, when they understood what Yama, King of the Law, had recognized, the yakṣas returned and reported everything in detail, saying, ‘Your Majesty, it is exactly as you said.’

1.­111

“As soon as the yakṣas spoke their final word, the great being discarded his hell-realm body and was born among the gods of the Thirty-Three. For that reason he was called the god Pratisarāpūrvin.

1.­112

“Great brahmin, such was fully understood in the past. Consequently, this great amulet should definitely be memorized. It should be written down. It should be recited aloud. It should always be attached to the body as prescribed and be worn. It continuously frees one from all suffering and misfortune. It delivers from all the terrors of the lower realms. One can no longer be struck down by lightning. How is it that one cannot be struck by lightning? Great brahmin, this is understood from the past.

1.­113

“In the prominent city of Hiṅgumardana lived a prominent merchant named Vimalaśaṅkha. He was very wealthy with much gold, and his treasury and granary were abundantly full. He was also renowned as a trader. At one time this great trader procured a large ship and set out on the ocean, where sea monsters seized his vessel. Nāgas, wishing to destroy the vessel, became agitated, bellowed roars of thunder, hurled bolts of lightning and meteors, and began to cast down thunderbolts. The merchants were plunged into distress. Seeing the violently agitated nāgas, the bolts of lightning [F.127.a] and meteors, and the rain of thunderbolts, and seeing their vessel seized by sea monsters, they began to wail. They prayed to their respective deities, but none came to their aid. They then approached their stable-minded captain and woefully said, ‘O great being, please protect and deliver us from this great danger.’ The stable-minded and intelligent captain then said to the distraught merchants:

1.­114
“ ‘Fear not! Fear not, O merchants!
Come to your senses!
I will deliver you
From the sea of great suffering!’
1.­115
“Then, having regained their composure,
The merchants said:
1.­116
“ ‘O great being, please promptly tell us
What will free us from the obstructors!
Keen one, it is on your power
That our lives depend.
Tell us about your deep insight
And what you will do next.’
1.­117
“Then, the leader of the traders
Said these words to them:
“ ‘I have a great incantation
That is renowned as an amulet.
1.­118
“ ‘Powerful and mighty,
It dispels all harm doers.
With it, I will deliver us
From the great danger of intense suffering.’
1.­119

“Then the great trader wrote down this great queen of incantations and fastened it to the tip of a flag. As soon as he fastened the great amulet, the great queen of incantations, to the tip of the flag, the sea monsters all saw the vessel become a single flame. The nāgas, adopting a loving attitude, approached them and began to offer worship. The sea monsters were burned by the power of the great amulet, queen of incantations, and they dispersed and disappeared. The great nāgas even transported the group of travelers to an island of jewels. [F.127.b]

1.­120

“Thus, the great amulet, a great queen of incantations replete with wisdom, is blessed by all thus-gone ones. Great brahmin, this is why it is called a great incantation. It should surely be fastened to the tip of a flag and carried. It pacifies all wind, cold, unseasonable clouds, lightning, and thunderbolts. It helps one escape from conflicts and disputes with gods, humans, and asuras. All biting flies, mosquitoes, locusts, rats, and other types of creatures, in their various forms, that are injurious to crops will be rendered powerless and be pacified. All hostile beasts, birds, and predators will vanish. All flowers, fruits, leaves, trees, medicinal plants, grain, and so forth will increase and become juicy, delicious, and tender. They will all ripen to perfection. Disasters from excess or inadequate rain will not occur. It will rain seasonably, not unseasonably. The great nāgas who live in the area will pour down torrents of rain perfectly, season after season. In any land the great amulet, queen of incantations, circulates, beings will come to know it, worship and revere it with various perfumes, incenses, and flowers, wrap it in various fabrics, fasten it to the tips of flags, and circumambulate it while singing and playing instruments and cymbals. These great people will then have their expectations fulfilled by the gods, such as Śakra and Brahmā, precisely in accordance with their wishes. The more accurately it is done as prescribed, the more effective it will be.

1.­121
“A person who wants a son gets a son.
The pregnant woman63 will be well. [F.128.a]
The fetus will develop nicely,
And the child will be born easily.
The fetus will develop according to the proper stages
And be born at the proper time.
1.­122

“How can I be sure? Listen as before, great brahmin! Right here, in the land of Magadha, there was a king named Prasāritapāṇi who did not have a son. Why was he called Prasāritapāṇi?64 As soon as the king was born, he extended his hands, grabbed his mother’s breasts, and suckled to his satisfaction. Once he touched the two breasts, they turned a golden color, and their milk consistently increased.65 The king was thus named Prasāritapāṇi. Moreover, when beggars came to the king, the king would extend his right hand into the sky. Because the king was a bodhisattva, the gods with strong devotion for the Buddha would fill his hand with gold, gems, and special divine jewels. The king thus gave liberally to all the beggars who approached him. With a mere thought, the king gave every comfort and wealth to all beggars in accordance with their wishes.

1.­123

“Because he wanted a son, the king performed extensive worship and paid great homage to the gods, but no son was granted to him. He began to pay homage before the reliquaries of the previous thus-gone ones. There he worshiped and paid homage, presented gifts, maintained temporary vows, and performed great meritorious deeds. The gifts he offered were inexhaustible. Why was that?

1.­124

“Previously, great brahmin, in the prominent market town66 of Kuśinagara in the Malla region, right here in the land of Magadha, there lived a prominent merchant named Dharmamati. He was a great being whose mind was set on the Dharma and who followed the doctrine of the Blessed One Prabhūtaratna. Driven by deep compassion for all beings, he taught the Dharma, beginning with the queen of incantations, the great amulet. [F.128.b] Once, a pauper heard those teachings and told the wealthy merchant, ‘I will work in your lordship’s house as a servant and listen to the Dharma. When I earn something, I will honor the Dharma with it!’ He thus worked in the merchant’s house and listened to the Dharma. Later, the wealthy merchant gave him a gold coin.67 The pauper formed the motivation to awaken in order to protect all beings, regarded all beings as equal, offered a handful of jewels to the great amulet,68 and made the aspiration, ‘Through the great fruition of this generosity, may my poverty and the poverty of all beings be totally eradicated!’ That is why Prasāritapāṇi’s generosity is inexhaustible.

1.­125

“Prasāritapāṇi thus performed many diverse meritorious deeds. He worshiped everyone from gods up to the blessed buddhas. When he did, the gods of the pure abodes appeared to him in a dream and declared, ‘O great king! There is a great dhāraṇī, a queen of incantations called the great amulet. It is a wish-fulfilling gem, glittering all around with a pristine garland of flames, whose seal and essence are invincible. If you write it as prescribed, as it is taught in the ritual manual, and fasten it as prescribed to the body of the principal queen who has been observing a fast, you will then have a son.’

1.­126

“When the king awoke and the night passed, he assembled all the brahmin diviners versed in calculations, writing, lunar mansions, and celestial bodies. Then, on the day of Puṣya, the king of constellations, they meticulously washed the body of the principal queen, precisely in accordance with the ritual manual. She observed a fast, after which this amulet, a great queen of incantations, was written as prescribed and fastened around her neck. The king then performed extensive worship to the caityas of the buddhas and gifted many spectacular gems to beings. [F.129.a] When nine months had passed, a handsome, good-looking, and attractive boy was born, replete with a fine complexion and a perfect figure. Knowing this, great brahmin, this great queen of incantations, revered by all thus-gone ones, is renowned as a wish-fulfilling and invincible great jewel amulet.

1.­127

“It is the perpetual crown jewel of Śakra. When Śakra, lord of the gods, wishes to wage war on the asuras, he uses it as armor and fastens it to the crown of his head and then defeats them all. Having defeated the enemy, he successfully, easily, and happily enters the city of the gods. He remains undefeated by all the asuras.

1.­128

“Thus, great brahmin, a bodhisattva who wears the great amulet, great queen of incantations, is unaffected by all māras from the moment he first engenders the intent to awaken. A person who fastens it to their body or neck will be blessed by all thus-gone ones. They will be fully protected by all bodhisattvas, and they will always and continually be venerated, worshiped, and honored by all gods, humans, kings, ministers, brahmins, and householders. They will be respected and worshiped by all gods, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas. Even the Blessed One, the vanquisher of demonic hordes, will call them a great being. They will be free of all illness, and all infectious diseases, disasters, and epidemics will be quelled. This great being will be free of all anguish and will be forever guarded, protected, and concealed by all the gods. [F.129.b]

1.­129

“Once one has written down these essential syllables of this invincible great mantra, one should constantly wear them fastened to the body. They should be continually brought to mind and be recited. One should meditate upon them intently. All suffering, nightmares, bad omens, and inauspicious events will be vanquished, and every sublime joy will occur.

“Here is the mantra formula, which brings about any effect and accomplishes virtue:

1.­130

Tadyathā oṁ amṛte amṛtavare vare vare pravare viśuddhe hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā.

1.­131

Oṁ amṛtavilokini garbhe saṃrakṣaṇi ākarṣaṇi hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā.

“That was the invincible essence mantra.

1.­132

Oṁ vimale vipule jayavare jayavāhini amṛte viraje hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā.

1.­133

Oṁ bhara bhara sambhara sambhara indriyabalaviśodhani ruru cale hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā.

“That was the quintessence incantation.

1.­134

Oṁ maṇidhari vajriṇi mahāpratisare hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā.

“That was the supremely secret essence mantra.

1.­135

“These dhāraṇī-mantra formulas were uttered in unison, as a single utterance, by all the buddhas and bodhisattvas. These mantras are the essence and armor of the great amulet, great queen of incantations. They are sealed by the seal of all thus-gone ones. If even hearing them is rare, how much more so is writing them down, reciting them, reading them, memorizing them, or teaching them to others? These activities should be understood as fulfilling the aims of the Buddha. This dhāraṇī has been praised, rejoiced in, and prophesied by all thus-gone ones.

1.­136

“This invincible dhāraṇī, the great amulet, is exceptionally rare. It is exceedingly difficult even to hear the name of this great amulet. This great dhāraṇī purifies all evil. It is strong, mighty, [F.130.a] splendorous, and shining. Its good qualities are extolled widely. It is the powerful vanquisher of all the gods of the māra realm. It severs Māra’s noose, which binds habitual patterns together. It neutralizes those with harmful intent who use rival mantras and mudrās, poison, kākhordas, the enlistment of kiraṇas, and hostile magic. It protects those who take great pleasure in making the finest offerings to all buddhas, bodhisattvas, and noble assemblies. It protects those dedicated to comprehending, writing down, reading, reciting, speaking, listening to, and memorizing the Great Vehicle. Great brahmin, this great amulet, queen of incantations, which perfects one all the way to the complete awakening of buddhahood, is utterly unassailable. Just like me, the teacher, the vanquisher of foes, it receives great reverence everywhere.

1.­137

“How do we know this? We know from the past that this queen of incantations vanquishes all vighnas and vināyakas. Once, when the blessed, thus-gone, worthy, completely perfect Buddha named Vipula­praha­sita­vadanamaṇi­kanakaratnojjvalaraśmi­prabhāsābhyudgata­rāja first reached full awakening, he approached the seat of awakening with the intention to turn the wheel of Dharma that is exalted by all buddhas. At that time, many billions of māras along with their helpers surrounded the Blessed One. They magically appeared and approached him in many hideous forms, terrifying to behold, while emitting cacophonous noises and wielding the power specific to māras to create myriad miraculous appearances and rain down many types of weapons. [F.130.b] They surrounded the Blessed One on all four sides and began to create obstacles. Vipula­praha­sita­vadanamaṇi­kanakaratnojjvalaraśmi­prabhāsābhyudgata­rāja remained silent for a moment as he mentally repeated the queen of incantations, the great amulet, seven times.

1.­138

“As soon as he had recited the great amulet, great queen of incantations, all the evil māras instantly saw many billions of men wearing armor and carrying blazing swords, axes, nooses, clubs, and tridents emerge from each of the Blessed One’s pores. The men said, ‘Capture! Capture! Bind! Bind the hostile māras attempting to harm the Blessed One! Vanquish all the hostile māras! Pulverize the life force of all the hostile grahas, vighnas, and vināyakas!’ Once all the demons had been tamed by the sword of love, some took up the foundational training, others were even prophesied to reach unexcelled, perfect, and complete awakening, while others took up practices in between.69

1.­139

“Other powerful beings who witnessed the great men emerge from the Thus-Gone One’s pores cowered in the city. With their miraculous power diminished and their confidence, strength, and courage lost, their bows and arrows broke and they fled. Once the Thus-Gone One had vanquished all vighnas, vināyakas, and evil māras, he turned the wheel of Dharma as other buddhas had done before. He then crossed over and reached the far shore.

1.­140

“Great brahmin, by simply recollecting the great amulet, queen of incantations, [F.131.a] its fierce strength and its transcendent, miraculous power will deliver beings with both pure and hostile intentions from all suffering and danger. Therefore, great brahmin, it should be brought to mind by constantly recollecting it. And it should be written down and always fastened to the body so it can be worn.

1.­141

“How do we know? Listen as before! In the city of Ujjayani, in the land of King Brahmadatta, there was a man who committed a crime. King Brahmadatta ordered the executioners to kill him, so they led the man away as the king had ordered. They reached a mountain cavern, drew their swords from their scabbards, and were preparing to execute the man when he recollected the great amulet, queen of incantations, which had been written down and fastened around his right arm. Through the power of that great man’s incantation, the swords became a single flame and shattered to pieces that scattered like dust. The executioners reported in detail what they had witnessed to the king. Enraged, the king commanded them, ‘Hey, men, elsewhere there is a yakṣa cave in which there are many hundreds of thousands of yakṣas who eat raw flesh. Take him there and leave him!’ The executioners thus left the man in the yakṣa cave. The moment he was left in the yakṣa cave, the yakṣas were delighted and rushed at him, thinking they were going to get to eat human flesh. Yet, by the power of the amulet, they saw the man as a single flame blazing with light. Seeing that, they all became frightened. Then they saw that their own bodies were being burned. Amazed, they led the man outside the cave and began to circumambulate him.

1.­142

“As before, the executioners reported this in detail to the king. The king grew even angrier. [F.131.b] Outraged, he commanded them, ‘Well then, go right away! Chain him up and toss him into the river!’ The executioners led the man away and tossed him into the river. The moment the man was tossed in the river, it was as though he were sitting in a field: the river had disappeared, and the chains had broken into pieces. When the king heard about this, he was shocked, stared with wide eyes, and said, ‘Wow! This man is amazing! I wonder why.’ Then the king summoned the man and said, ‘Man! What do you know?’ The man replied, ‘Great King! I do not know anything at all other than to wear the great amulet, the great queen of incantations. This, Your Majesty, is its power.’ The king said, ‘This is spectacular! It is a well-spoken, great incantation!

1.­143
“ ‘It confounds the cudgel of the Lord of Death.
It is blessed by all buddhas.
It delivers all beings.
It frees from all sickness and pain.
1.­144
“ ‘This majestic great incantation
Saves from untimely death.
It cures severe illness.
It was uttered by the compassionate lords.’
1.­145

“Then, in an ecstatic mood, the king worshiped and praised the great amulet, queen of incantations. He elevated the man to high rank,70 and in front of his own people he anointed the man as lord of the city.

1.­146

“Thus, great brahmin, this queen of incantations, the great amulet, receives great honor everywhere. It cannot be transgressed by any wicked being. Therefore, this great queen of incantations, which has been previously understood,71 is utterly unassailable. It should thus always and without a doubt be worn fastened on the body. Great brahmin, this queen of incantations should be written down as prescribed during an auspicious constellation.”

1.­147

Then the great brahmin, in an ecstatic mood, prostrated to the Blessed One with his five limbs touching the ground and asked, “O venerable Blessed One, [F.132.a] what is the procedure for writing down this great queen of incantations?”

1.­148
The Blessed One said,
“Listen, great brahmin!
Out of compassion for all beings
I will explain it to you.
1.­149
“It can make beings happy,
Deliver beings from their confining karma,
Free them from their illnesses,
Bring pregnancy to women,
And heal the wounds
Of all beings’ poverty.
1.­150
“During the constellation called Puṣya,
One should observe the temporary vows
And, immersed in the worship of the Buddha,
Engender the motivation to awaken.
1.­151
“With a heart moistened by compassion
And replete with kindness,
One constantly makes effort
To bring benefit to all beings.
1.­152
“One should first bathe
In a solution of sandal, saffron,72 and musk,
Then don clean garments
That have been scented with incenses.
1.­153
“Next, a maṇḍala should be fashioned
Out of a mixture of earth and dung.
1.­154
“Four full vases should be set out,
With a fifth placed at the maṇḍala’s center.
1.­155
“Valuable flowers, incenses, and perfumes
Should be placed on the maṇḍala.
Incense made of five ingredients‍—
Sandal, fenugreek, aloeswood, frankincense, and sugar‍—
Should be offered as prescribed
And according to season.
The maṇḍala should be decorated
With various grains, flowers, fruits, seeds, and perfumes.
1.­156
“The oblation vases should be filled
With ghee, honey, milk,
Porridge, rice pudding, and so forth.
Adorned with auspicious symbols,
They should be placed in the four directions.
A fifth vase should be placed in the middle,
And bowls filled with perfumes
Should be placed in the four corners.
1.­157
“Four stakes of cutch tree wood,
Tied tightly all around
With strings of five different colors, [F.132.b]
Should be planted outside the maṇḍala.73
1.­158
“Once that is done, brahmin,74
One who seeks their own attainment should write it down.
One who desires its benefits
Should write it while eating only white foods.
It can be written on cloth, fabric, birch bark,
Or anything else that is suitable.
1.­159
“For women who desire sons,
It should be well written with cow bile.
In the center should be painted a boy
Who is adorned with every ornament.
1.­160
“He should likewise be holding
A vase full of gems in his left hand
And be sitting on a lotus
Ornamented and in full bloom.
1.­161
“He should be depicted as invincible
And adorned with gems, pearls, gold,
And a variety of different jewels.
Mountains should be drawn in the four corners.75
1.­162
“If one wants to live happily,
It should be carefully drawn like that.
1.­163
“When specifically for a man,
It should be drawn in saffron.
Then his desired aims
Will be fulfilled‍—of this there is no doubt.
1.­164
“One should draw two, three,
Four, or even five lotuses.
The great variety of symbolic insignia
Should be drawn on the lotus.
1.­165
“The lotuses should likewise be drawn
With their filaments all around.
They should be drawn with petals open
And a silk ribbon tied to their stem.
1.­166
“A lotus drawn with a trident on it
Has eight petals and is bound with silk ribbon.
Likewise, a lotus with an axe
Is drawn with eight petals.
1.­167
“When a sword is drawn with a lotus,
That lotus should be white.
A conch shell can also be depicted on a lotus,
Which should be elaborate in all ways.
1.­168
“In all cases an adept should draw
The attributes as they are prescribed.
1.­169
“In contexts of harmful intent,
Images of children should not be drawn.
There should be drawn the form of a god
That is adorned with various ornaments.
1.­170
“For monks, the vajra holder should be drawn
Energetically threatening yakṣas.76
The Four Great Kings should be drawn
On each of the four sides.
1.­171
“Īśvara should be painted for brahmins,
Maheśvara for kṣatriyas;
For śūdras the ever-peaceful Viṣṇu
Should be well drawn. [F.133.a]
For vaiśyas should be drawn Vaiśravaṇa
And Indra, the lord of the gods.
1.­172
“Prajāpati, the wise one,
Should be drawn for boys.
1.­173
“For women of dark complexion,
A wrathful figure should be drawn.
For the fair complexioned,
One beautiful and famous should be drawn.
1.­174
“For large women, Māṇibhadra
Should be carefully drawn,
For slight women, Pūrṇabhadra,
As I, the self-existing one, have taught.
1.­175
“For pregnant women, Mahākālī
And the brahmā gods should be drawn.
Other deities should also be drawn
According to the prescriptions outlined above.
1.­176
“When drawn correctly,
After carefully following the protocols,
An amulet that is constantly tied to one’s neck
Will bring about good fortune.
1.­177
“One should paint a flaming wish-fulfilling gem
Atop a flag with the lotus at the tip.
A lasso or similarly a wheel
Should be drawn at the center of a lotus.
1.­178
“One should draw a vajra above the lotus,
And a hammer at the lotus’s center.
A spear should be drawn atop the lotus,
Just as it occurs in the rite.
1.­179
“As stipulated in the rite,
One should draw all gems
With tips aflame, aglow with light
And bound with silk.
1.­180
“Hooded nāgas with nine heads
And flaming gems
Should be carefully drawn,
Each with vajras in their hearts.77
1.­181
“The adept should always paint
Bala and Sārthavāha for kings.
1.­182
“For all vidyādharas,
The vidyā goddess should be drawn.
The sun and moon with the lunar mansions,
The eight planets,78 Rāhu, and Ketu should also be drawn.
1.­183
“If painted carefully as prescribed
And worn by an intelligent person,
Even the impotent and eunuchs
Will obtain a son.
1.­184
“The amulet accomplishes all aims,
Brings auspiciousness, and quells all misdeeds.
As the self-existing one has taught,
The most sublime state will be attained.
1.­185
“One will have supreme happiness in this world,
And one will have supreme happiness in the next world too.
The god realms, such as the Heaven of the Thirty-Three,
Will become one’s home. [F.133.b]
1.­186
“The great being will be born
In beautiful and pleasant Jambudvīpa
In an exalted, renowned family,
In a leading kṣatriya family,
Or in a leading brahmin family
And will always have the incantation and be happy.
1.­187
“The amount of merit obtained
By a person wearing the amulet
Is a quantity of merit
All the buddhas cannot describe.
1.­188
“The gates to the hells are closed.
The gates to the heavens are opened.
One will be prosperous and happy
And highly intelligent.
1.­189
“One will constantly be encouraged
By buddhas and bodhisattvas,
Experience intense physical pleasure,
And have great strength.
1.­190
“Just as the Victorious One has said,
One will become a universal monarch,
Be encouraged by gods and humans,
And strike fear in the evil minded.
This will not take long,
Because of the well-spoken incantation.
1.­191
“One will not be harmed by weapons,
By poison, or even by fire.
Even the misfortunes of untimely death
Will stay far away.
1.­192
“In every situation,
Encounters with bhūtas and grahas,
Disputes, the dangers of water and fire,
Predators, snakes, lions,
Nāgas, and unbearable illness
Will be prevented for those
Who have this well-spoken incantation,
Whether it is heard, seen, or touched.
1.­193
“They will be supreme among all beings
And will be the object of worship
By all māras in every way.
Listen! I will explain this properly.”
1.­194

This concludes the ritual procedure of “the great amulet,” the queen of incantations.


1.­195

“Out of compassion for all beings, I will next explain the ritual procedure for protecting the vidyādhara.

1.­196
“The ritual of protection,
Which brings great accomplishment,
Is effective, without a doubt,
For whatever it is used to protect.
1.­197
“It frees from fear, prevents fevers, [F.134.a]
Wards off the influence of celestial bodies,
Brings harmony with the lunar mansions,
And breaks the chain of karma.
1.­198
“Indigestible food, traversed hexes,
The actions of one’s enemies,
The evil eye, written hexes,
And dreadful kākhordas,
1.­199
“Mantra-infused powders,
Poisonous compounds, and poisoned food‍—
All of these will be pacified
For one who wears the protection.
1.­200
“One who transgresses the incantation
Will bear the consequence of retribution.79
Threatened by the amulet’s curse,
Dreadful rival armies
And fearsome enemies will flee.
1.­201
“Omniscient buddhas and gentle bodhisattvas
Will afford their protection.
Śrāvakas of great austerity
And pratyekabuddhas will afford protection.
1.­202
“Moreover, gods and nāgas
With miraculous powers and myriad forms
Offer protection to those
Who always make use of it.
1.­203
“The Sage has said,
‘Merely by hearing
This queen of incantations,
The best of humans is always fearless.’
1.­204
“Nightmares, misdeeds,
Severe epidemics,
Contagions, severe illness,
Royal consumption,80
1.­205
“The other myriad types of illness,
Including, boils, rashes, scabs,
And the infectious diseases
That grip all people,
1.­206
“And perniciously harmful beings
Who seize humans‍—
None of these will occur
When one has powerful protection.
Even prisoners will be freed
When protected by it.81
1.­207
“Drawing the amulet
Will also increase the lifespan
Of one who is snared by the lasso of time
And led to Yama’s realm.
1.­208
“One whose lifespan has run out,
Or who will die in a week, [F.134.b]
Will continue to live, without a doubt,
Simply by writing it down.
1.­209
“By performing the protection as prescribed,
Or even by merely hearing it,
One attains auspiciousness in all situations
And lives happily according to one’s wishes.
1.­210
“The one hundred billion
Sixty-eight thousand
Gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three,
Who all dwell at the court of Śakra,
Will follow and dwell near such a being
So that they can protect them.
1.­211
“The four protectors of the world
And mighty Vajrapāṇi,
Along with hundreds of classes of vidyā deities,
Will be present to continually provide protection.
1.­212
“The benevolent Candra, Sūrya,
Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Maheśvara,
Māṇibhadra and Yama,
The mighty Baladeva,
1.­213
“The great hero Pūrṇabhadra,
Hārītī with her children,
Pāñcāla and Pāñcika,
Kārttikeya and Gaṇeśvara,
1.­214
“The great goddess Śrī,
Vaiśravaṇa and Sarasvatī,
Śaṅkhinī and Puṣpadantī,
And likewise Ekajaṭā
And Dhanyā the great yakṣī82
Will always provide protection.
1.­215
“Even the impotent will produce sons,
And the child will be healthy in the womb.
For as long as that child lives
This incantation will be their great protector.
1.­216
“The amulet always grants victory to heroes
Waging battle against fierce armies.
Gods with confidence in the Dharma
Use this amulet to grant boons.83
1.­217
“If drawn with reverence
In order to vanquish evil deeds,
The thus-gone ones will watch over one,
As will bodhisattvas.
1.­218
“One’s fame will spread,
And merit and lifespan will increase.
One’s wealth and grain
Will also be abundant, without doubt.
1.­219
“One will sleep easily
And wake up easily.
One will be invincible to the hosts of bhūtas
And the rest of one’s foes too.
1.­220
“Even when in the midst of battle,
Employing this incantation
Offers unexcelled protection
That always ensures victory. [F.135.a]
1.­221
“The incantation is easily accomplished;
There will be no impediment to it.
It fulfills all wishes
And is an entry point to all maṇḍalas.
1.­222
“One will, in all lifetimes,
Quickly learn the samayas.
One will inspire confidence
In upholding the qualities of the victors.
1.­223
“Every auspiciousness will be perfected.
Every wish will be fulfilled.
By simply drawing this amulet,
Every happiness will be achieved.
1.­224
“Having died happily,
One will travel to higher realms.
1.­225
“ ‘In quarrels and arguments,
And in battles that are extremely violent,
One will be free of all fears.’
So the Victorious One has said.
1.­226
“One will always remember previous lives,
In life after life, without a doubt.
Kings, with their queens and courts,
Will fall under one’s control.
1.­227
“One will be famed as virtuous in the world
And will always be in harmony.
One will be loved by everyone,
Be they gods or humans.
1.­228
“One will always be protected
Throughout both the day and the night.
This incantation contains the complete mantra formula
Uttered by the completely perfect buddhas.
1.­229
“I pay homage to the Buddha!
I pay homage to the Dharma!
I pay homage to the Saṅgha!
I pay homage to the blessed, thus-gone, worthy, completely perfect Buddha, the compassionate Sage of the Śākyas!
I pay homage to all the completely perfect buddhas!
1.­230
“After reverentially paying homage to them,
So that the Buddha’s teaching will spread,
I will now teach it
Out of compassion for all beings.”
1.­231
As soon as this magnificent incantation,
Which defeats powerful opponents,
Was uttered by the Sage
As he sat on the vajra seat,
1.­232
The māras and their kin,
And all the grahas, vināyakas,
And vighnas that exist, [F.135.b]
Dispersed that very moment.
1.­233

Tadyathā oṁ giri giri giriṇi giriṇi girivati guṇavati ākāśavati ākāśaviśuddhe sarvapāpavigate ākāśe gaganatale ākāśavicāriṇi jvalitaśikhare maṇimauktikakhacitamaulidhare sukeśe84 suvaktre sunetre suvarṇe suvarṇagauri atīte anutpanne anāgate pratyutpanne85 namaḥ sarveṣāṃ buddhānāṃ jvalitatejaṣāṃ buddhe subuddhe bhagavati surakṣaṇi sukṣeme suprabhe sudame sudānte vare varte bhagavati bhadravati bhadre subhadre vimale jayabhadre pracaṇḍe caṇḍe pracaṇḍe pracaṇḍe vajracaṇḍe mahācaṇḍe mahācaṇḍe ghori gāndhāri ghauri cauri caṇḍāli mātaṅgi varcasi pukkasi sumati śāvari śāvari śaṅkari dramiḍi drāmiḍi raudriṇi sarvagrahavidāriṅi arthasādhani hana hana sarvaśatrūṇāṃ daha daha sarvaduṣṭān pretapiśācaḍākinīnāṃ manuṣyāmanuṣyāṇāṃ ca paca paca hrīdayaṃ.

1.­234

Crush the life force of all wicked grahas! Blessed lady, destroy, destroy all my misfortunes! Protect, protect me everywhere from all perils and disasters! Bind all wicked ones!

1.­235

Sarvakilbiṣanāśani mārtaṇḍe mṛtyudaṇḍanivāraṇi mānadaṇḍe mānini mahāmānini mahāviṇiṭi cale cale ciṭi ciṭi viṭi viṭi niṭi niṭi tiṭi tiṭi natuṭi gauriṇi vīriṇi pravarasamare caṇḍāli mātaṅgi rundhasi sarasi varcasi sumati pukkasi śavari śāvari śaṅkari dramiḍi drāmiḍi dahani pacani mathani mardani sarale sarale saralambhe hīnamadhyotkṛṣṭavidāriṇi vidhāriṇi vidhāriṇi mahile mahile mahāmahile nigaḍe nigaḍabhañje matte mattini dānti [F.136.a] cakre cakravākini jvale jvale jvāle jvāle jvalini śavari śavari śāvari śāvari sarvavyādhiharaṇi cūḍi cūḍi cūḍini cūḍini mahācūḍiṇi nimi nimi nimindhari trilokadahani trilokālokakari traidhātukavyavalokini vajra­para­śupāśamudgarakhaḍgaśaṅkha­cakratriśūla­cintāma­ṇimahāvidyā­dhāriṇi.

1.­236

Protect me, protect me everywhere, any place I may be, from all wicked ones, all dangers from humans and nonhumans, all illnesses, and all dangers!

1.­237

Vajre vajre vajavati vajrapāṇidhare hili hili mili mili kili kili cili cili vili vili sili sili vara vara varade sarvatra jayalabdhe svāhā sarvapāpavidāriṇi svāhā sarvatra sarvavyādhiharaṇi svāhā sarvatra sarvaśatrubhayaharaṇi svāhā sarvabharaṇi svāhā svastir bhavatu māṃ svāhā śāntiṅkari svāhā puṣṭiṅkari svāhā balavardhani svāhā jayatu jaye jaye jayavati kamale vimale vipule svāhā sarvatathāgatamūrte svāhā oṁ bhūri mahāśānti svāhā oṁ bhūri bhūri vajravati sarvatathāgatahṛdayapūraṇi āyuḥsandhāraṇi bala bala balavati oṁ jayavidye hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā.

1.­238

“Great brahmin, this dhāraṇī, the mantra formula for the incantation, is the body of the Thus-Gone One. Anyone who is protected and safeguarded by it, who is embraced and cared for, who becomes peaceful and fortunate through it, and who uses it to escape punishment and weapons will see their lifespan increase, even after it has run out, and will live a long, happy life. They will have perfect memory. Through exorcism alone, and by simply being rubbed with a vajra, they will be delivered from untimely death and severe illness. All their ailments will be pacified. [F.136.b] Even chronic illness will cease simply by being rubbed. If one recites it every day, one will become very smart. One will become rich in charisma, strength, vigor, and confidence. All one’s misdeeds and karmic obscurations that must surely be experienced will be entirely exhausted. All buddhas, bodhisattvas, gods, nāgas, yakṣas, and so forth will augment one’s physical vitality, strength, and vigor. One will become very joyful.

1.­239

“Great brahmin, if the syllables of the mantra formula of this great incantation so much as enter the ears of beings who have taken animal births‍—such as beasts and birds‍—those beings will all become irreversible from unexcelled, perfectly complete awakening. Thus, what need is there to speak of what will happen when the dhāraṇī of the great amulet is heard just once by sons and daughters of noble families, monks and nuns, men and women observing lay vows, kings, ministers, brahmins, kṣatriyas, or others with faith in it who, after hearing it, with great faith, reverence, and lofty intentions write it down, commission others to write it down, memorize it, recite it aloud, meditate upon it intensively, or explain it to others in detail. Then, great brahmin, they will not face the eight kinds of untimely death. Their bodies will not incur severe illness, nor will they be harmed by fire, poison, weapons, poisonous compounds, kākhordas, kiraṇas, mantra rituals, or powdered concoctions. They will not experience pain in their limbs, will not be afflicted with fever, and will not have headaches. [F.137.a] Their bodies will not be beset by one-day, two-day, three-day, four-day, or seven-day fevers. They will sleep lucidly and comfortably and awaken easily and lucidly. They will reach great nirvāṇa. They will immediately attain great supremacy aligned with the Dharma. They will recollect each and every lifetime in which they have been born. They will become loved by all beings and be objects of veneration. They will be delivered from all dark migrations into the hells and births as animals or pretas. They will illuminate all beings with their light, just as the orb of the sun does. They will soothe the minds of all beings with the ambrosia of the Dharma, just as the orb of the moon soothes the bodies of all beings with the power of its ambrosia.

1.­240

“Through the power of the great amulet, the great queen of incantations, one cannot be hurt by any wicked yakṣas, rākṣasas, bhūtas, pretas, piśācas, unmādas, apasmāras, ḍākinīs, and grahas or by vināyakas, vighnas, and the like. When they approach, one should recollect this great queen of incantations.

1.­241

“It is also the case that the power of this great amulet, the great queen of incantations, will bring all those wicked beings under the control of the vidyādhara so they will obey his command. He will fear no enemy and will not be overcome by any enemy troops, kings, eminent ministers, brahmins, or householders. Even when a condemned man is being borne down on by executioners, their weapons will break into pieces, as though they were made of dust. [F.137.b] At that very moment all phenomena will become manifest to him, and the power of his mindfulness will increase.

1.­242
“A supreme destroyer of rākṣasas,
This amulet purifies and removes misdeeds.
It brings prosperity, produces intelligence,
And enhances all good qualities.
1.­243
“It provides every auspiciousness
And destroys every inauspiciousness.
It causes good dreams
And removes nightmares.
1.­244
“This mighty incantation
Is the best protection for women and men.
It always instantly delivers them
From remote and impassable places.
Just as the perfect Buddha has said,
They attain all their wishes.
1.­245
“If, having lost one’s way,
One recollects this incantation,
One will quickly find the road,
Along with the best food and drink.
1.­246
“However much nonvirtue
Of body, speech, and mind
Has been committed in previous lives,
It will all be purified.
1.­247
“Through recollecting, wearing,
Comprehending, writing down,
Chanting, reading,
Reciting, or teaching this incantation to others,
One will, before long,
Come to comprehend all phenomena.
1.­248
“When thus discovering the taste of Dharma,
All misdeeds will be exhausted.
All aims, each and every thing desired,
Will be fulfilled.
1.­249
“It will completely protect one
From every fear of death,
From kings, fire, and water,
From lightning, and likewise from thieves.
1.­250
“Armies confronted in battle, opponents,
And fearsome carnivorous beasts
Will all flee the incantation
When it is recited a hundred thousand times.
1.­251
“This incantation, this accomplishment most sublime,
Was taught by all the buddhas.
When spoken it allows no resistance
To completing the requisites for awakening.86
1.­252
“If one uses this incantation,
In any situation, [F.138.a]
For the sake of oneself or others,
The incantation will surely fulfill
Whatever activity is desired
Without any need for effort.
1.­253
“Now I will explain
How to heal the sick.
A square maṇḍala87 should be formed
Using a mixture of soil and dung.
1.­254
“A beautiful maṇḍala should be painted
With powders of five different colors.
On it the adept88 should place
Four full vases as prescribed.
1.­255
“It should be strewn with flower petals
And scented with sublime incense.
To subdue a great being,
An oblation rite should also be performed.89
1.­256
“As before, flowers and perfumes
Should be offered as prescribed.
Four arrows, bound with cloth,
Should be set in the maṇḍala’s four corners.
1.­257
“Next, the patient’s body
Should be bathed with fragrant perfume,
Dressed in clean clothes,
And laid in the center of the maṇḍala.
1.­258
“Then, seated facing east,
The adept should speak the incantation.
By reciting it seven times,
He should effect the patient’s protection.
1.­259
“If this incantation is then recited
Twenty-one times
On behalf of the patient,
All illness will be cured.
1.­260
“Next, the oblation vase
Should be infused with mantra seven times.
The food, too, should be infused with mantras,
And the oblations and flowers as prescribed.
1.­261
“They should be scattered seven times
On the southern side,
Precisely seven times to the west,
And precisely seven times to the north.
1.­262
“Seven times below and above
Will effect the protection.
When this is done, best of brahmins,90
One is delivered from all suffering.
1.­263
“This protection was perfectly explained
By the protector, the Lion of the Śākyas.
There is no better protective incantation
In the three realms than this.
1.­264
“One will not die, grow old, get sick,
Encounter the unpleasant, or part from loved ones.
1.­265
“If one vigorously applies
This incantation to their own body, [F.138.b]
The army of the Lord of Death will revere them.
Even Yama, the sublime King of the Law,
Will reverentially pay homage.
1.­266
“ ‘Experience my hell briefly,’ he will say,
‘Then go to the city of gods!’
This one with great miraculous power
Will use many palatial crafts91
To travel to the beautiful abode of the gods.
There, they will thus always be revered
By gods, humans, yakṣas, and rākṣasas.
1.­267
“One will always be followed and protected
By Vajrapāṇi, lord of the yakṣas,
Indra, husband of Śacī,
Hārītī and Pāñcika,
The protectors of the world with their great miraculous powers,
The moon, the sun, the lunar mansions,
The celestial bodies who are supremely cruel,
All the great nāgas,
The gods, and likewise the ṛṣis,
Asuras, garuḍas, gandharvas,
Kinnaras, and mahoragas.
1.­268
“The wise one who writes
The mighty incantation of great miraculous power
And wears it fastened to their arm
Will receive great reverence
And always have good fortune.”
1.­269

This concludes the noble queen of incantations “The Great Amulet.”

c.

Colophon

c.­1

This was translated by the Indian preceptors Jinamitra and Dānaśīla and the translator-editor Bandé Yeshé Dé. It was then finalized after revising it based on the new lexicon. Later, the lotsāwa Shönu Pal revised it based on a Sanskrit manuscript that had been in the possession of the Dharma lord Chak Lotsāwa.

ab.

Abbreviations

C Choné Kangyur
H Lhasa (Zhol) Kangyur
J Lithang Kangyur
K Peking Kangxi Kangyur
N Narthang Kangyur
S Stok Palace Kangyur
Y Peking Yongle Kangyur
n.

Notes

n.­1
Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans., Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm, Toh 558 (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2016).
n.­2
Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans., The Queen of Incantations: The Great Peahen , Toh 559 (84000: Translating the Words of the
 Buddha, 2023).
n.­3
Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans., Great Cool Grove , Toh 562 (84000: Translating the Words of the
 Buddha, 2023).
n.­4
Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans., Great Upholder of the Secret Mantra, Toh 563 (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2016).
n.­5
Pathak 1989, p. 32.
n.­6
Schopen 1989, p. 157.
n.­7
Hidas 2007, p. 189.
n.­8
Orzech 2002, p. 58.
n.­9
Lewis 2000, pp. 119–64.
n.­10
Hidas 2007, pp. 187–88.
n.­11
Hidas 2012, pp. 7–8.
n.­12
Hidas 2007, pp. 189–91.
n.­13
Herrmann-Pfandt 2008, p. 182.
n.­14
The colophon to the Stok Palace version reads, “Later, the great lotsāwa Butön revised [the translation] to correct the mantras in consultation with two manuscripts from Magadha” (slar yang yul dbus kyi rgya dpe gnyis dang bstun nas sngags rnams dag par bu ston lo ts+tsha chen pos bcos pa la phyi mo).
n.­15
Foshuo suiqiu jide dazizai tuoluoni shenzhou jing 佛說隨求即得大自在陀羅尼神呪經 (Mahā­sāhasrapramardanī­sūtra), Taishō 1154 (CBETA; SAT).
n.­16
Pubian guangming qingjing chicheng ruyibao yinxin wunengsheng damingwang dasuiqui tuoluoni jing 普遍光明淸淨熾盛如意寶印心無能勝大明王大隨求陀羅尼經 (Mahā­sāhasrapramardanī­sūtra), Taishō 1153 (CBETA; SAT).
n.­17
Hidas 2012, p. 9.
n.­18
Gergely Hidas created two separate Sanskrit editions, one for the Gilgit fragments and another comprising eastern Indian and Nepalese manuscripts. We have primarily consulted the latter, unless otherwise noted.
n.­19
That is, to Mahāpratisarā as the deified “great amulet.” The homage to Mahāpratisarā is absent in the Sanskrit edition.
n.­20
See Edgerton (1998, p. 303) for this meaning of niryāta/nirjāta (nges par byung ba).
n.­21
This number is based on the attested Sanskrit cutraśītibhir koṭīniyutaśatasahasraiḥ. The Tibetan reads bye ba khrag khrig ’bum phrag brgyad cu rtsa bzhi.
n.­22
Here we follow the Sanskrit in reading pañca­putraśata­pari­vārāya instead of the Tibetan bu lnga brgya’i du ma can. The Sanskrit compound lacks an equivalent of du ma (“many”).
n.­23
The Sanskrit reads sarva­samudra­parivāra (“his entourage of all oceans”).
n.­24
We follow the Sanskrit reading of jātavedas, which is a name for the Agni, the god of fire. The Tibetan has me’i lha.
n.­25
This name is absent from the Skt. edition.
n.­26
Skt. ṣāṣtyā koṭarayā; Tib. shing gseb kyi lha drug cu. The referent for this set of sixty divinities is uncertain. The term koṭara (masc.) indicates the hollow of a tree or other kind of cavity, but this may not be intended literally. The feminine koṭarā is the name of figure associated with Skanda, the son of Śiva.
n.­27
Tib. sbrul ’dzin. The Sanskrit edition reads mahallaka.
n.­28
Skt. udgatakīrtiśabda­śloka; Tib. grags pa dang sgra dang tshigs su bcad pas ni ’phags. This translation is tentative and takes kīrti to refer broadly to “speech,” rather than the more common sense of “fame.” The term kīrti is used in the sense of “speech” elsewhere in the Sanskrit text.
n.­29
Skt. mahā­vajra­ratna­padma­garbha­siṃhāsana; Tib. rdo rje rin po che’i pad+ma’i snying po’i seng ge’i khri chen po.
n.­30
This translation is based on the Sanskrit compound aneka­vajra­ratna­śālākāvibhūṣitadaṇḍāta[em. ºvibhūṣitoddaṇḍātaº]patrakoṭīniyutaśatasahasrakṛtachāyāparikara. We follow this instead of the Degé reading, gdugs rtsa ba dang bcas pa/ rdo rje rin po che’i shar bu du mas rnam par brgyan pa/ bye ba khrag khrig ’bum phrag du mas rnam par brgyan pa/ bye ba khrag khrig ’bum phrag du mas kun nas bskyabs pa.
n.­31
Translating the Skt. virājita, rather than the Tib. rnam par brgyan pa (“adorned”).
n.­32
This translation follows the syntax of the Sanskrit edition.
n.­33
In the Sanskrit this matrix of light is named revealer of all buddhas (sarva­buddha­sandarśana).
n.­34
Skt. anukampayā; Tib. snying rje’i phyir.
n.­35
The translation of this line follows the Sanskrit syntax.
n.­36
Skt. mūlakarman; Tib. rtsa ba’i las. The precise meaning of this term is ambiguous but seems to refer to a specific form of magical rite, possibly involving concoctions made from the roots of plants. In the Mānavadharma­śāstra (Olivelle 2005, pp. 205 and 801) the term is used together with other terms for hostile magic, including abhicara, and commentators on that text describe mūlakarman as a type of magical rite to bring another person under one’s control (vaśīkaraṇa). For this use of the term and for similar uses in secular Sanskrit literature, see Olivelle 2005, p. 340, note 11.64. The term is used in what appear to be similar contexts in Chapter 14 of the Guhya­samāja Tantra; (Matsunaga 1978, p. 63) and Chapter 18, verse 51 of the Mañjuśrīmūla­kalpa (Vaidya 1964, p. 134).
n.­37
Skt. mahāvīrya; Tib. chen po.
n.­38
Skt. pratyekanāyaka; Tib. rang ’dren.
n.­39
The Sanskrit reads “Śakra with his thirty [gods]” (śakraś ca tridaśaiḥ sārdham).
n.­40
It is unclear whether these names are intended to be feminine, as given here, or are the nominative singular form of the masculine names Supaśin and Vajrapaśin.
n.­41
Tib. sangs rgyas bsrungs shes bya ba. The Sanskrit reads buddhā kṣitikanāyikā, “Buddhā, the leader of earth dwellers”. Hidas (2012 p. 207 n. 107) notes that the Sanskrit could also be read to refer two separate figures, Buddhā and Kṣitikanāyikā. He further suggests that the problematic kṣitika is a metrical lengthening of kṣiti. The term kṣitikanāyikā would then mean “leader of/on the earth.” Hidas also plausibly argues that the Tibetan text is a translation of buddhā rakṣati nāmakā or a similar phrase.
n.­42
Here we follow the Sanskrit in reading this name as feminine. The Tibetan reads lang ka’i bdag po, which indicates a male deity.
n.­43
The Sanskrit reads vidyā (“incantation goddess”).
n.­44
In the following passage we have followed the convention of the Tibetan translators in rendering some passages in transliterated Sanskrit while translating others.
n.­45
This translation follows the Sanskrit edition, H, N, and S in reading ratna­makuṭamālādhari (Tib. rin po che’i cod pan dang phreng ba mnga’ ba). The Degé reads rig pa chen po’i cod pan dang phreng ba mnga’ ba.
n.­46
The syntax of the Tibetan is ambiguous. The Degé reads de bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyis spyi bo nas. The equivalent Sanskrit is in compound: sarva­tathāgata­mūrdhābhiṣikte.
n.­47
Skt. sarvadevatā; Tib. lha thams cad.
n.­48
We follow C, J, K, and Y in reading de bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi. The Degé reads de bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyis.
n.­49
This translation is tentative. Here we interpret indravat not as a possessive but as a comparative. The Tibetan translators preferred the former, reading it as dbang po dang ldan pa. The Sanskrit is also ambiguous, reading indre indravati indravyavalokite svāhā.
n.­50
We follow the Sanskrit reading, which allows for these two phrases to be read in apposition. The Tibetan reads tshangs pa dang tshang pa la gnas pa (“Brahmā and he who lives/those who live in the Brahma [realm]”).
n.­51
This line is absent in the Sanskrit, as well as in H, N, and S.
n.­52
We follow H, K, Y, N, and S in reading gnon po. Degé reads gnod byed. This line is absent in the Sanskrit.
n.­53
The terms for “all those who are wicked minded” and the verb “blaze” are rendered in transliterated Sanskrit in the Tibetan text, but the rest of the line is translated into Tibetan. The entire line has been translated into English for clarity, but the syntax of both the Sanskrit and Tibetan is ambiguous; thus the translation is tentative.
n.­54
This translation is tentative. In the Sanskrit edition “all thus-gone ones” (sarvatathāgatāḥ) is the subject of the optative verb “consecrate” (abhiṣiñcantu). The Tibetan translation aligns more closely with the Gilgit fragments in reading “all thus-gone ones” not as the subject of the main verb but in compound with “consecrations of the incantation” (vidyābhiṣekaiḥ).
n.­55
For the sake of narrative clarity, these initial lines are taken from S, which uniquely preserves material found in some Sanskrit manuscripts but not incorporated in the Sanskrit edition. These lines are absent in the Degé and other Tibetan sources. See Hidas 2012, p. 127 for the Sanskrit sources that include this statement.
n.­56
This folio is missing from the BDRC edition of the Degé text. We therefore base the translation of this folio on the Comparative Edition.
n.­57
Skt. brahmadatta iti saṅkhyāṃ gacchati; Tib. tshangs pas byin zhes bya ba’i grangs su chud pa.
n.­58
This translation follows the syntax of the Sanskrit, which omits an existential verb equivalent to the Tibetan yin pa. The Sanskrit compound sarva­tathāgatanetra[ḥ] is interpreted as a genitive bahuvrīhi.
n.­59
Skt. sukhāyadvara; Tib. bza’ ba ’du ba’i sgo.
n.­60
This translation of this sentence follows the Sanskrit syntax.
n.­61
In the Sanskrit, the vocative address “great brahmin” is absent, and the term brāhmaṇa refers instead to the local layman who intervenes to help the monk.
n.­62
Skt. dharmarāja; Tib. chos kyi rgyal po. Here dharma/chos does not refer to the Buddhist teachings specifically, but broadly to normative socio-cultural rules, expectations, and obligations.
n.­63
Skt. garbhasandhāraṇī; Tib. mngal na ’dzin pa. The translation follows the Sanskrit, which uses the feminine gender, in taking this line to refer to the woman bearing the child. The Tibetan could be interpreted to refer to the child in the womb.
n.­64
Prasāritapāṇi means “He with Outstretched Hand.”
n.­65
The Sanskrit can be read to say that the king grew steadily from the abundant milk (nityakālaṃ ca mahākṣīreṇa pravardhate).
n.­66
Skt. mahāpattanavara; Tib. tshong dus chen po’i mchog.
n.­67
To be precise, he gave him a dīnāra (Tib. di na ra), a unit of currency used in India around the turn of the Common Era and into the first half of the first millennium. This type of currency would likely have been in circulation at the time this text was compiled.
n.­68
The Sanskrit deviates from the Tibetan translation here. After generating the motivation to awaken and then regarding all beings as equal, the pauper commissions (niryātita) a jewel replica of the great amulet.
n.­69
The phrase “took up practices in between” renders the term yāvat (Tib. bar du), which is used to elide a longer list of statements that would have been well known to the text’s original audience and thus did not need be stated in full.
n.­70
Skt. paṭṭabandhaṃ kṛtvā; Tib. blon thabs byin te. The Sanskrit term paṭṭabandha, which literally means to “tie on a headband,” refers to what was a way of marking one’s formal entrance into royal service. A king’s conferral of paṭṭabandha was considered a highly prized achievement in royal circles.
n.­71
This translation follows the Sanskrit and S in reading pūrvam . . . parijñātā (sngon yongs su shes). Degé omits pūrvaṃ/sngon (“previously”).
n.­72
The Sanskrit edition has camphor (karpura), rather than saffron as reported in the Tibetan (gur gum).
n.­73
The Sanskrit includes a pāda of verse not found in the Tibetan sources that states that these four stakes are used to measure the maṇḍala into sections of uniform size (samabhāgena māpya).
n.­74
Tib. bram ze; Skt. vipra.
n.­75
Based on the syntax of the Sanskrit, it is the mountains that are “invincible” (durdharṣa), not the boy as suggested by the Tibetan syntax.
n.­76
The Sanskrit has duṣṭaº where the Tibetan reads yakṣa (gnod sbyin).
n.­77
The Sanskrit can be interpreted to say that these nāgas sit on a vajra at the center of the lotus (te ’pi sarve prayatnena hṛdi vajrapratiṣṭhitāḥ).
n.­78
Here the term graha (Tib. gza’) is translated as “planet,” rather than “celestial bodies” as it is elsewhere. Typically the term refers to nine celestial bodies: the sun, moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the eclipse (Rāhu), and comets/meteors (Ketu). Because the sun, moon, eclipse, and comets/meteors are listed separately here, the remaining “eight” are all likely planets. It is unclear what the eighth planet would be in this case.
n.­79
The Tibetan term yan lag rnam has been translated as “retribution” following the attested Sanskrit term pratyaṅgirāḥ.
n.­80
“Royal consumption,” rājayakṣman in Sanskrit, is translated into Tibetan with khrag skyugs (“vomiting blood”). According to Daud Ali (2006, pp. 242–43), who cites the classic Āyurvedic treatise Carakasaṃhitā, rājayakṣman is primarily a mental disorder that afflicts kings who are excessively fixated on sex and other indulgences.
n.­81
This translation follows the syntax of the Sanskrit edition, which reads anena kṛtarakṣas. This reading is followed by S, which has ’di yis bsrung ba byas. Degé reads ’di las bsrung ba byas.
n.­82
This translation follows the Sanskrit edition and H, N, and S in understanding this deity to be female. Degé reads snod sbyin chen po dpal yon can.
n.­83
Skt. anena vardā bhonti; Tib. ’dis ni snang ba sbyin par byed.
n.­84
We follow the Sanskrit, H, K, Y, N, and S in omitting me ke she su sha attested in the Degé.
n.­85
We follow the Sanskrit, K, Y, N, and S in omitting nama following pratyutpanne.
n.­86
The translation of the final two lines follows the Sanskrit syntax.
n.­87
The term maṇḍala (Tib. dkyil ’khor) is used here and below to describe both the square base made of earth and dung and the colored image to be painted on it.
n.­88
We follow the Sanskrit in reading “adept” (Skt. budha; Tib. mkhas pa) in the singular. The Tibetan has the plural mkhas pa rnams.
n.­89
Where the Tibetan reads “in order to tame a great being” (sems can chen po gdul ba’i phyir), the Sanskrit has “destroyer of the great trichiliocosm” (mahāsahasrapramardanam), which corresponds closely to the title of one of the Pañcarakṣā texts, The Sūtra “Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm” (Toh 558, Mahāsāhasrapramardanīnāma­sūtra). This is perhaps meant to indicate which oblation rite is to be performed. See Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans., Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm, Toh 558 (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2016).
n.­90
The Sanskrit reads dvijaśreṣṭha (“best of twice borns”).
n.­91
Skt. vimāna; Tib. gzhal med khang pa. A vimāna is a type of flying palace used by gods and other powerful beings for transport.
b.

Bibliography

Primary Sources

rig pa’i rgyal mo so sor ’brang ba chen mo (Mahā­prati­sarāvidyārājñī). Toh 561, Degé Kangyur vol. 90 (rgyud ’bum, pha), folios 117.b–138.b.

rig pa’i rgyal mo so sor ’brang ba chen mo. 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. 90, pp. 355–420.

Denkarma (pho brang stod thang ldan dkar gyi chos kyi ’gyur ro cog gi dkar chag). Toh 4364, Degé Tengyur vol. 206 (sna tshogs, jo), folios 294.b–310.a.

Matsunaga, Yukei, ed. Guhyasamāja Tantra. Osaka: Toho Shuppan, 1978.

Vaidya, P. L., ed. “Ārya­mañjusri­mūlakalpa.” In Mahāyānasūtrasaṁgraha: Part II, 1–558. Darbhanga: Mithila Institute, 1964.

Secondary Sources

Ali, Daud. Courtly Culture and Political Life in Early Medieval India. Cambridge Studies in Indian History and Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans. The Queen of Incantations: The Great Peahen (Toh 559). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2023.

‍—‍—‍—(2023). trans. Great Cool Grove (Toh 562). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2023.

Edgerton, Franklin. Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary. Vol. 2, Dictionary. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1998.

Herrmann-Pfandt, Adelheid. Die lHan kar ma: ein früher Katalog der ins Tibetische übersetzten buddhistischen Texte. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2008.

Hidas, Gergely (2007). “Remarks on the Use of the Dhāraṇīs and Mantras of the Mahā­pratisarā-Mahā­vidyārājñī.” In Indian Languages and Texts through the Ages: Essays of Hungarian Indologists in Honour of Prof. Csaba Töttössy, edited by Csaba Dezső, 187–208. New Delhi: Manohar, 2007.

‍—‍—‍—(2010). “Mahā­prati­sarāvidyāvidhi: The Spell-Manual of the Great Amulet.” Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hung 63, no. 4 (2010): 473–84.

‍—‍—‍—(2012). Mahāpratisarā-Mahāvidyārājñī: The Great Amulet, Great Queen of Spells; Introduction, Critical Editions and Annotated Translation. Śata-piṭaka Series: Indo-Asian Literatures 636. New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture and Aditya Prakashan, 2012.

Lewis, Todd. Popular Buddhist Texts from Nepal: Narratives and Rituals of Newar Buddhism. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2000.

Olivelle, Patrick. Manu’s Code of Law: A Critical Edition and Translation of the Mānava-Dharmaśāstra. London: Oxford University Press, 2005.

Orzech, Charles D. “Metaphor, Translation, and the Construction of Kingship in The Scripture for Humane Kings and the Mahā­māyūrī Vidyā­rājñī Sūtra.” Cahiers d’Extrême-Asie 13 (2002): 55–83.

Pathak, Suniti K. “A Dharani-Mantra in the Vinaya-vastu.” Bulletin of Tibetology 25, no. 2 (1989): 31–39.

Sanderson, Alexis. “Religion and the State: Śaiva Officiants in the Territory of the King’s Brahmanical Chaplain.” Indo-Iranian Journal 47, no 3/4 (2004): 229–300.

Schopen, Gregory. “A Verse from the Bhadracari­pranidhana in a 10th Century Inscription Found at Nalanda.” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 12, no. 1 (1989): 149–57.

Sørensen, Henrik H. “The Spell of the Great, Golden Peacock Queen: The Origin, Practices, and Lore of an Early Esoteric Buddhist Tradition in China.” Pacific World: Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies, n.s., 8 (Fall 2006): 89–123.

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

Agni

  • me lha
  • མེ་ལྷ།
  • agni

The god of fire.

g.­2

aloeswood

  • a ga ru
  • ཨ་ག་རུ།
  • agaru

An ingredient used to make incense.

g.­3

Amṛtakuṇḍalin

  • bdud rtsi thab sbyor byed pa
  • བདུད་རྩི་ཐབ་སྦྱོར་བྱེད་པ།
  • amṛtakuṇḍalin

An incantation goddess in this sūtra

g.­4

Aṅkuśī

  • lcags kyu
  • ལྕགས་ཀྱུ།
  • aṅkuśī

A goddess in this sūtra.

g.­5

Aparājitā

  • gzhan gyis mi thub
  • གཞན་གྱིས་མི་ཐུབ།
  • aparājitā

A goddess in this sūtra.

g.­6

apasmāra

  • brjed byed
  • བརྗེད་བྱེད།
  • apasmāra

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A class of nonhuman beings believed to cause epilepsy, fits, and loss of memory. As their name suggests‍—the Skt. apasmāra literally means “without memory” and the Tib. brjed byed means “causing forgetfulness”‍—they are defined by the condition they cause in affected humans, and the term can refer to any nonhuman being that causes such conditions, whether a bhūta, a piśāca, or other.

g.­7

arhat

  • dgra bcom pa
  • དགྲ་བཅོམ་པ།
  • arhat

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

According to Buddhist tradition, one who is worthy of worship (pūjām arhati), or one who has conquered the enemies, the mental afflictions (kleśa-ari-hata-vat), and reached liberation from the cycle of rebirth and suffering. It is the fourth and highest of the four fruits attainable by śrāvakas. Also used as an epithet of the Buddha.

g.­8

aspects of awakening

  • byang chub kyi yan lag
  • བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་ཡན་ལག
  • bodhyaṅga

Mindfulness, discrimination, diligence, joy, pliability, absorption, and equanimity.

g.­9

asura

  • lha ma yin
  • ལྷ་མ་ཡིན།
  • asura

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A type of nonhuman being whose precise status is subject to different views, but is included as one of the six classes of beings in the sixfold classification of realms of rebirth. In the Buddhist context, asuras are powerful beings said to be dominated by envy, ambition, and hostility. They are also known in the pre-Buddhist and pre-Vedic mythologies of India and Iran, and feature prominently in Vedic and post-Vedic Brahmanical mythology, as well as in the Buddhist tradition. In these traditions, asuras are often described as being engaged in interminable conflict with the devas (gods).

g.­10

Avīci Hell

  • mnar med pa
  • མནར་མེད་པ།
  • avīci

The lowest hell, the eighth of the eight hot hells.

g.­11

Balin

  • stobs can
  • སྟོབས་ཅན།
  • balin

An asura lord.

g.­12

Bhṛkuṭī

  • khro gnyer
  • ཁྲོ་གཉེར།
  • bhṛkuṭī

A goddess.

g.­13

bhūta

  • ’byung po
  • འབྱུང་པོ།
  • bhūta

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

This term in its broadest sense can refer to any being, whether human, animal, or nonhuman. However, it is often used to refer to a specific class of nonhuman beings, especially when bhūtas are mentioned alongside rākṣasas, piśācas, or pretas. In common with these other kinds of nonhumans, bhūtas are usually depicted with unattractive and misshapen bodies. Like several other classes of nonhuman beings, bhūtas take spontaneous birth. As their leader is traditionally regarded to be Rudra-Śiva (also known by the name Bhūta), with whom they haunt dangerous and wild places, bhūtas are especially prominent in Śaivism, where large sections of certain tantras concentrate on them.

g.­14

Brahmā

  • tshangs pa
  • ཚངས་པ།
  • brahmā

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A high-ranking deity presiding over a divine world; he is also considered to be the lord of the Sahā world (our universe). Though not considered a creator god in Buddhism, Brahmā occupies an important place as one of two gods (the other being Indra/Śakra) said to have first exhorted the Buddha Śākyamuni to teach the Dharma. The particular heavens found in the form realm over which Brahmā rules are often some of the most sought-after realms of higher rebirth in Buddhist literature. Since there are many universes or world systems, there are also multiple Brahmās presiding over them. His most frequent epithets are “Lord of the Sahā World” (Sahāṃpati) and Great Brahmā (Mahābrahmā).

g.­15

Brahmadatta

  • tshangs pas byin
  • ཚངས་པས་བྱིན།
  • brahmadatta

A king of Vārāṇasī.

g.­16

Buddhā

  • sangs rgyas
  • སངས་རྒྱས།
  • buddhā

A goddess.

g.­17

caitya

  • mchod rten
  • མཆོད་རྟེན།
  • caitya

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The Tibetan translates both stūpa and caitya with the same word, mchod rten, meaning “basis” or “recipient” of “offerings” or “veneration.” Pali: cetiya.

A caitya, although often synonymous with stūpa, can also refer to any site, sanctuary or shrine that is made for veneration, and may or may not contain relics.

A stūpa, literally “heap” or “mound,” is a mounded or circular structure usually containing relics of the Buddha or the masters of the past. It is considered to be a sacred object representing the awakened mind of a buddha, but the symbolism of the stūpa is complex, and its design varies throughout the Buddhist world. Stūpas continue to be erected today as objects of veneration and merit making.

g.­18

Candra

  • zla ba
  • ཟླ་བ།
  • candra

The moon personified.

g.­19

celestial body

  • gza’
  • གཟའ།
  • graha

Astronomical bodies that are believed to exert influence on individuals and the world according to Indic astrological lore. There are traditionally nine: the sun, the moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the eclipse (Rāhu), and comets/meteors (Ketu).

g.­20

chāyā

  • grib gnon
  • གྲིབ་གནོན།
  • chāyā

A class of nonhuman beings.

g.­21

Cunda

  • skul byed
  • སྐུལ་བྱེད།
  • cunda

A great śrāvaka disciple of the Buddha Śākyamuni known for possessing miraculous powers.

g.­22

ḍākinī

  • mkha’ ’gro ma
  • མཁའ་འགྲོ་མ།
  • ḍākinī

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A class of powerful nonhuman female beings who play a variety of roles in Indic literature in general and Buddhist literature specifically. Essentially synonymous with yoginīs, ḍākinīs are liminal and often dangerous beings who can be propitiated to acquire both mundane and transcendent spiritual accomplishments. In the higher Buddhist tantras, ḍākinīs are often considered embodiments of awakening and feature prominently in tantric maṇḍalas.

g.­23

Dāmaka

  • phreng ba can
  • ཕྲེང་བ་ཅན།
  • dāmaka

A member of the audience in this sūtra.

g.­24

Dānaśīla

  • dA na shI la
  • དཱ་ན་ཤཱི་ལ།
  • dānaśīla

An Indian scholar who was resident in Tibet during the late eighth and early ninth centuries.

g.­25

Daṇḍapāṇi

  • lag na be con
  • ལག་ན་བེ་ཅོན།
  • daṇḍapāṇi

A member of the audience in this sūtra.

g.­26

Dattaka

  • byin pa po
  • བྱིན་པ་པོ།
  • dattaka

A member of the audience in this sūtra.

g.­27

Dhanyā

  • dpal yon can
  • དཔལ་ཡོན་ཅན།
  • dhanyā

A great yakṣī.

g.­28

dhāraṇī

  • gzungs
  • གཟུངས།
  • dhāraṇī

Literally “retention” (the ability to remember) or “that which retains, contains, or encapsulates,” this term refers to mnemonic formulas or codes possessed by advanced bodhisattvas that contain the quintessence of their attainments, as well as to the Dharma teachings that express them and guide beings toward their realization. They are therefore often described in terms of “gateways” for entering the Dharma and training in its realization, or “seals” that contain condensations of truths and their expression. The term can also refer to a statement or incantation meant to protect or bring about a particular result.

g.­29

Dharmamati

  • chos kyi blo gros
  • ཆོས་ཀྱི་བློ་གྲོས།
  • dharmamati

A prominent merchant in Kuśinagara.

g.­30

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

  • yul ’khor srung
  • ཡུལ་འཁོར་སྲུང་།
  • dhṛtarāṣṭra

One of the Four Great Kings, he presides over the eastern quarter and rules over the gandharvas.

g.­31

Druma

  • ljon pa
  • ལྗོན་པ།
  • druma

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The kinnara king Druma is a well-known figure in canonical Buddhist literature, where he frequently appears, mostly in minor roles. For example, King Druma appears in The White Lotus of the Good Dharma (Toh 113), where he is one of the four kinnara kings attending the Buddha’s teaching. He is also included in The King of Samādhis Sūtra (Toh 127), where he arrives with his queens to make an offering of his music to the Buddha. He is also a bodhisattva who teaches and displays a profound understanding of the doctrine of emptiness in The Questions of the Kinnara King Druma (Toh 157), where his future awakening is also prophesied by the Buddha.

(His name has been translated into Tibetan both as “sdong po” and “ljon pa.”)

g.­32

dūtī

  • pho nya mo
  • ཕོ་ཉ་མོ།
  • dūtī

A female “messenger” deity.

g.­33

eight great dangers

  • ’jigs pa chen po brgyad
  • འཇིགས་པ་ཆེན་པོ་བརྒྱད།
  • aṣṭamahābhaya

The danger from or fear of (1) drowning, (2) thieves, (3) lions, (4) snakes, (5) fire, (6) threatening spirits, (7) imprisonment, and (8) elephants.

g.­34

eighty sublime characteristics

  • dpe byad bzang po brgyad cu
  • དཔེ་བྱད་བཟང་པོ་བརྒྱད་ཅུ།
  • caturaśītyanuvyañjana

The eighty secondary physical characteristics of a buddha and of other great beings (mahāpuruṣa), they include such details as the redness of the fingernails and the blackness of the hair. They are considered “minor” in terms of being secondary to the thirty-two marks of a great being.

g.­35

Ekajaṭā

  • ral pa gcig pa
  • རལ་པ་གཅིག་པ།
  • ekajaṭā

A rākṣasī.

g.­36

five eyes

  • spyan rnam pa lnga
  • སྤྱན་རྣམ་པ་ལྔ།
  • pañcavidhacakṣus

The five kinds of “eye” or vision possessed by a buddha. They are (1) the physical eye, (2) the divine eye, (3) the wisdom eye, (4) the Dharma eye, and (5) the eye of the buddhas.

g.­37

five limbs

  • yan lag lnga
  • ཡན་ལག་ལྔ།
  • pañcamaṇḍalaka

The two arms, two legs, and head.

g.­38

foundational training

  • bslab pa’i gzhi
  • བསླབ་པའི་གཞི།
  • śikṣāpada

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

These basic precepts are five in number for the laity: (1) not killing, (2) not stealing, (3) chastity, (4) not lying, and (5) avoiding intoxicants. For monks, there are three or five more; avoidance of such things as perfumes, makeup, ointments, garlands, high beds, and afternoon meals. (Provisional 84000 definition. New definition forthcoming.)

g.­39

Four Bhaginīs

  • sring mo bzhi
  • སྲིང་མོ་བཞི།
  • caturbhaginī

Jayā, Vijayā, Ajitā/Jayantī, and Aparājitā. Along with their brother Tumburu (a form of Śiva), they comprise an important cult in the Vidyāpiṭha tradition of tantric Śaivism. This set of deities appears frequently in Buddhist literature, especially in Dhāraṇīs and Kriyātantras.

g.­40

Four Great Kings

  • rgyal po bzhi
  • rgyal po chen po bzhi
  • རྒྱལ་པོ་བཞི།
  • རྒྱལ་པོ་ཆེན་པོ་བཞི།
  • caturmahārāja

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Four gods who live on the lower slopes (fourth level) of Mount Meru in the eponymous Heaven of the Four Great Kings (Cāturmahā­rājika, rgyal chen bzhi’i ris) and guard the four cardinal directions. Each is the leader of a nonhuman class of beings living in his realm. They are Dhṛtarāṣṭra, ruling the gandharvas in the east; Virūḍhaka, ruling over the kumbhāṇḍas in the south; Virūpākṣa, ruling the nāgas in the west; and Vaiśravaṇa (also known as Kubera) ruling the yakṣas in the north. Also referred to as Guardians of the World or World Protectors (lokapāla, ’jig rten skyong ba).

g.­41

four-division army

  • dmag rnam pa gzhi dang ldan pa
  • དམག་རྣམ་པ་གཞི་དང་ལྡན་པ།
  • caturaṇgabala
  • caturaṇgabalakāya

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The ancient Indian army was composed of four branches (caturaṅga)‍—infantry, cavalry, chariots, and elephants.

g.­42

gandharva

  • dri za
  • དྲི་ཟ།
  • gandharva

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A class of generally benevolent nonhuman beings who inhabit the skies, sometimes said to inhabit fantastic cities in the clouds, and more specifically to dwell on the eastern slopes of Mount Meru, where they are ruled by the Great King Dhṛtarāṣṭra. They are most renowned as celestial musicians who serve the gods. In the Abhidharma, the term is also used to refer to the mental body assumed by sentient beings during the intermediate state between death and rebirth. Gandharvas are said to live on fragrances (gandha) in the desire realm, hence the Tibetan translation dri za, meaning “scent eater.”

g.­43

Gaṇeśvara

  • tshogs kyi dbang
  • tshogs dbang
  • ཚོགས་ཀྱི་དབང་།
  • ཚོགས་དབང་།
  • gaṇeśvara

Another name of Gaṇeśa, the elephant-headed god invoked to remove obstacles.

g.­44

garuḍa

  • nam mkha’ lding
  • ནམ་མཁའ་ལྡིང་།
  • garuḍa

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

In Indian mythology, the garuḍa is an eagle-like bird that is regarded as the king of all birds, normally depicted with a sharp, owl-like beak, often holding a snake, and with large and powerful wings. They are traditionally enemies of the nāgas. In the Vedas, they are said to have brought nectar from the heavens to earth. Garuḍa can also be used as a proper name for a king of such creatures.

g.­45

gates of liberation

  • rnam par thar pa’i sgo
  • རྣམ་པར་ཐར་པའི་སྒོ།
  • vimokṣamukha

There are three, namely emptiness as a gateway to liberation, signlessness as a gateway to liberation, and wishlessness as a gateway to liberation. Among them, emptiness is characterized as the absence of inherent existence, signlessness as the absence of mental images, and wishlessness as the absence of hopes and fears.

g.­46

god

  • lha
  • lha’i bu
  • ལྷ།
  • ལྷའི་བུ།
  • deva
  • devaputra

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

In the most general sense the devas‍—the term is cognate with the English divine‍—are a class of celestial beings who frequently appear in Buddhist texts, often at the head of the assemblies of nonhuman beings who attend and celebrate the teachings of the Buddha Śākyamuni and other buddhas and bodhisattvas. In Buddhist cosmology the devas occupy the highest of the five or six “destinies” (gati) of saṃsāra among which beings take rebirth. The devas reside in the devalokas, “heavens” that traditionally number between twenty-six and twenty-eight and are divided between the desire realm (kāmadhātu), form realm (rūpadhātu), and formless realm (ārūpyadhātu). A being attains rebirth among the devas either through meritorious deeds (in the desire realm) or the attainment of subtle meditative states (in the form and formless realms). While rebirth among the devas is considered favorable, it is ultimately a transitory state from which beings will fall when the conditions that lead to rebirth there are exhausted. Thus, rebirth in the god realms is regarded as a diversion from the spiritual path.

g.­47

Gopā

  • sa ’tsho ma
  • ས་འཚོ་མ།
  • gopā

A Śākya girl.

g.­48

graha

  • gdon
  • གདོན།
  • graha

A type of nonhuman being known to exert a harmful influence on the human body and mind, they are thought to be responsible for epilepsy and seizures.

g.­49

Hārītī

  • ’phrog ma
  • འཕྲོག་མ།
  • hārītī

A yakṣī or rākṣasī. Once an eater of children, she was converted by the Buddha to become a protector.

g.­50

Heaven Free from Strife

  • ’thab bral
  • འཐབ་བྲལ།
  • yāma

One of the six heavens of the desire realm.

g.­51

Heaven of the Thirty-Three

  • sum cu rtsa gsum
  • སུམ་ཅུ་རྩ་གསུམ།
  • trayastriṃśa
  • trāyastriṃśa

One of the six heavens of the desire realm.

g.­52

higher knowledges

  • mngon par shes
  • མངོན་པར་ཤེས།
  • abhijñā

A reference to six extraordinary powers gained through spiritual training: divine sight, divine hearing, knowledge of the minds of others, remembrance of past lives, the ability to perform miracles, and the ability to destroy all mental defilements.

g.­53

Hiṅgumardana

  • mchog shing kun rdzi
  • མཆོག་ཤིང་ཀུན་རྫི།
  • hiṅgumardana

A city in the past.

g.­54

hundred sextillion

  • —
  • —
  • koṭīniyutaśatashasra

A number calculated by multiplying a koṭi (bye ba), or ten million, by a niyuta (khrag khrig), or a hundred billion according to the Abhidharma system (although it is only one million in Classical Sanskrit), and by a śatasahasra (brgya stong), or one hundred thousand, all of which together equals ten to the twenty third power or a hundred sextillion. This term is often used as to express a number so large as to be inconceivable.

g.­55

incantation

  • rig pa
  • རིག་པ།
  • vidyā

A sacred utterance or spell made for the purpose of attaining worldly or transcendent benefits.

g.­56

indigestible food

  • bza’ nyes
  • བཟའ་ཉེས།
  • durbhukta

Food that is made indigestible through hostile magical rites.

g.­57

Indra

  • dbang po
  • དབང་པོ།
  • indra

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The lord of the Trāyastriṃśa heaven on the summit of Mount Sumeru. In Buddhist sūtras, he is a disciple of the Buddha and protector of the Dharma and its practitioners. He is often referred to by the epithets Śatakratu, Śakra, and Kauśika.

g.­58

Īśāna

  • dbang bdag
  • དབང་བདག
  • īśāna

A form of Śiva. One of the eight guardians of the directions, Īśāna guards the northeast quarter.

g.­59

Īśvara

  • dbang ldan
  • དབང་ལྡན།
  • īśvara

One of the most frequently used names for Śiva. A deity of the jungles, named Rudra in the Vedas, he rose to prominence in the Purāṇic literature at the beginning of the first millennium.

g.­60

Jambudvīpa

  • ’dzam gling
  • འཛམ་གླིང་།
  • jambudvīpa

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The name of the southern continent in Buddhist cosmology, which can signify either the known human world, or more specifically the Indian subcontinent, literally “the jambu island/continent.” Jambu is the name used for a range of plum-like fruits from trees belonging to the genus Szygium, particularly Szygium jambos and Szygium cumini, and it has commonly been rendered “rose apple,” although “black plum” may be a less misleading term. Among various explanations given for the continent being so named, one (in the Abhidharmakośa) is that a jambu tree grows in its northern mountains beside Lake Anavatapta, mythically considered the source of the four great rivers of India, and that the continent is therefore named from the tree or the fruit. Jambudvīpa has the Vajrāsana at its center and is the only continent upon which buddhas attain awakening.

g.­61

Jātavedas

  • —
  • —
  • jātavedas

A name of Agni, the god of fire.

g.­62

Jinamitra

  • dzi na mi tra
  • ཛི་ན་མི་ཏྲ།
  • jinamitra

A Kashmiri scholar who was resident in Tibet during the late eighth and early ninth centuries. He worked with several Tibetan translators on the translation of several sūtras. He is also the author of the Nyāya­bindu­piṇḍārtha (Toh 4233), which is contained in the Tibetan Tengyur collection.

g.­63

kākhorda

  • byad
  • བྱད།
  • kākhorda

A term used in hostile magical rites that can alternatively refer a class of nonhuman being or type of magical device employed against the target of the rite.

g.­64

Kālakarṇī

  • rna ba nag mo
  • རྣ་བ་ནག་མོ།
  • kālakarṇī
g.­65

Kāpālinī

  • mi thod can
  • མི་ཐོད་ཅན།
  • kāpālinī
g.­66

Kaphina

  • ka pi na
  • ཀ་པི་ན།
  • kaphina

A great śrāvaka disciple of the Buddha Śākyamuni, he was a principal teacher of the monastic saṅgha.

g.­67

Kapilavastu

  • ser skya’i gnas
  • སེར་སྐྱའི་གནས།
  • kapilavastu

The capital city of the Śākya kingdom, where the Buddha Śākyamuni grew up.

g.­68

Karkoṭaka

  • stobs kyi rgyu
  • སྟོབས་ཀྱི་རྒྱུ།
  • karkoṭaka

A nāga king.

g.­69

Kārttikeya

  • smin drug bu
  • སྨིན་དྲུག་བུ།
  • kārttikeya

A god of war, the son of Śiva and Pārvatī. Also known as Skanda.

g.­70

Kāśyapa

  • ’od srung
  • འོད་སྲུང་།
  • kāśyapa

A great śrāvaka disciple of the Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.­71

Ketu

  • mjug rings
  • མཇུག་རིངས།
  • ketu

Comets or meteors, themselves or in deified form.

g.­72

kinnara

  • mi ’am ci
  • མི་འམ་ཅི།
  • kinnara

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A class of nonhuman beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name‍—which means “is that human?”‍—suggests some confusion as to their divine status. Kinnaras are mythological beings found in both Buddhist and Brahmanical literature, where they are portrayed as creatures half human, half animal. They are often depicted as highly skilled celestial musicians.

g.­73

kiraṇa

  • g.yengs byed
  • གཡེངས་བྱེད།
  • kiraṇa

A type of nonhuman being.

g.­74

kṣatriya

  • rgyal rigs
  • རྒྱལ་རིགས།
  • kṣatriya

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The ruling caste in the traditional four-caste hierarchy of India, associated with warriors, the aristocracy, and kings.

g.­75

kumbhāṇḍa

  • grul bum
  • གྲུལ་བུམ།
  • kumbhāṇḍa

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A class of dwarf beings subordinate to Virūḍhaka, one of the Four Great Kings, associated with the southern direction. The name uses a play on the word aṇḍa, which means “egg” but is also a euphemism for a testicle. Thus, they are often depicted as having testicles as big as pots (from kumbha, or “pot”).

g.­76

Kuśinagara

  • grong khyer ku sha
  • གྲོང་ཁྱེར་ཀུ་ཤ།
  • kuśinagara

A prominent market town and the capital of the Malla kingdom.

g.­77

Kūṭadantinī

  • so brtsegs ma
  • སོ་བརྩེགས་མ།
  • kūṭadantinī

A goddess in this sūtra.

g.­78

level

  • sa
  • ས།
  • bhūmi

The stages a bodhisattva must traverse before reaching perfect buddhahood; traditionally ten in number, though some systems present more.

g.­79

Lohaka

  • lcags can
  • ལྕགས་ཅན།
  • lohaka

A member of the audience in this sūtra.

g.­80

lunar mansion

  • rgyu skar
  • རྒྱུ་སྐར།
  • nakṣatra

The twenty-seven or twenty-eight sectors along the ecliptic that exert influence on individuals and the world according to Indic astrological lore.

g.­81

Magadha

  • ma ga d+hA
  • མ་ག་དྷཱ།
  • magadha

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

An ancient Indian kingdom that lay to the south of the Ganges River in what today is the state of Bihar. Magadha was the largest of the sixteen “great states” (mahājanapada) that flourished between the sixth and third centuries ʙᴄᴇ in northern India. During the life of the Buddha Śākyamuni, it was ruled by King Bimbisāra and later by Bimbisāra's son, Ajātaśatru. Its capital was initially Rājagṛha (modern-day Rajgir) but was later moved to Pāṭaliputra (modern-day Patna). Over the centuries, with the expansion of the Magadha’s might, it became the capital of the vast Mauryan empire and seat of the great King Aśoka.

This region is home to many of the most important Buddhist sites, including Bodh Gayā, where the Buddha attained awakening; Vulture Peak (Gṛdhra­kūṭa), where the Buddha bestowed many well-known Mahāyāna sūtras; and the Buddhist university of Nālandā that flourished between the fifth and twelfth centuries ᴄᴇ, among many others.

g.­82

Mahābalā

  • stobs po che
  • སྟོབས་པོ་ཆེ།
  • mahābalā

A goddess in this sūtra.

g.­83

Mahābhāgā

  • skal chen
  • སྐལ་ཆེན།
  • mahābhāgā

A goddess in this sūtra.

g.­84

Mahāgaṇapati

  • tshogs kyi bdag po chen po
  • ཚོགས་ཀྱི་བདག་པོ་ཆེན་པོ།
  • mahāgaṇapati

An epithet of Gaṇeśa, the elephant-headed god invoked to remove obstacles.

g.­85

Mahākāla

  • nag po che
  • nag po chen po
  • ནག་པོ་ཆེ།
  • ནག་པོ་ཆེན་པོ།
  • mahākāla

One of Śiva’s wrathful manifestations and an important Buddhist protector deity.

g.­86

Mahākālī

  • nag mo che
  • ནག་མོ་ཆེ།
  • mahākālī

A goddess in this sūtra.

g.­87

Mahākāśyapa

  • ’od srung chen po
  • འོད་སྲུང་ཆེན་པོ།
  • mahākāśyapa

A great śrāvaka disciple of the Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.­88

Mahā­maudgalyāyana

  • maud gal gyi bu
  • མཽད་གལ་གྱི་བུ།
  • mahā­maudgalyāyana

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

One of the principal śrāvaka disciples of the Buddha, paired with Śāriputra. He was renowned for his miraculous powers. His family clan was descended from Mudgala, hence his name Maudgalyā­yana, “the son of Mudgala’s descendants.” Respectfully referred to as Mahā­maudgalyā­yana, “Great Maudgalyāyana.”

g.­89

Mahāpadma

  • pad+ma chen po
  • པདྨ་ཆེན་པོ།
  • mahāpadma

A nāga king.

g.­90

mahāsattva

  • sems dpa’ chen po
  • སེམས་དཔའ་ཆེན་པོ།
  • mahāsattva

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The term can be understood to mean “great courageous one” or "great hero,” or (from the Sanskrit) simply “great being,” and is almost always found as an epithet of “bodhisattva.” The qualification “great” in this term, according to the majority of canonical definitions, focuses on the generic greatness common to all bodhisattvas, i.e., the greatness implicit in the bodhisattva vow itself in terms of outlook, aspiration, number of beings to be benefited, potential or eventual accomplishments, and so forth. In this sense the mahā- (“great”) is close in its connotations to the mahā- in “Mahāyāna.” While individual bodhisattvas described as mahāsattva may in many cases also be “great” in terms of their level of realization, this is largely coincidental, and in the canonical texts the epithet is not restricted to bodhisattvas at any particular point in their career. Indeed, in a few cases even bodhisattvas whose path has taken a wrong direction are still described as bodhisattva mahāsattva.

Later commentarial writings do nevertheless define the term‍—variably‍—in terms of bodhisattvas having attained a particular level (bhūmi) or realization. The most common qualifying criteria mentioned are attaining the path of seeing, attaining irreversibility (according to its various definitions), or attaining the seventh bhūmi.

g.­91

Mahāśvetā

  • dkar mo chen mo
  • དཀར་མོ་ཆེན་མོ།
  • mahāśvetā

A goddess in this sūtra.

g.­92

Mahātejā

  • gzi brjid chen mo
  • གཟི་བརྗིད་ཆེན་མོ།
  • mahātejā

A goddess.

g.­93

Maheśvara

  • dbang phyug chen po
  • dbang phyug che
  • dbang chen
  • དབང་ཕྱུག་ཆེན་པོ།
  • དབང་ཕྱུག་ཆེ།
  • དབང་ཆེན།
  • maheśvara

An epithet of Śiva, it sometimes refers specifically to one of the forms of Śiva or to Rudra.

g.­94

mahoraga

  • lto ’phye chen po
  • ལྟོ་འཕྱེ་ཆེན་པོ།
  • mahoraga

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Literally “great serpents,” mahoragas are supernatural beings depicted as large, subterranean beings with human torsos and heads and the lower bodies of serpents. Their movements are said to cause earthquakes, and they make up a class of subterranean geomantic spirits whose movement through the seasons and months of the year is deemed significant for construction projects.

g.­95

Malla

  • gyad
  • གྱད།
  • malla

A kingdom in ancient India, during the time of the Buddha Śākyamuni, it was situated to the north of Magadha and contained the city of Kuśinagara.

g.­96

Māmakī

  • bdag gi ma
  • བདག་གི་མ།
  • māmakī

A goddess.

g.­97

Māṇibhadra

  • nor bu bzang
  • ནོར་བུ་བཟང་།
  • māṇibhadra

A yakṣa king.

g.­98

Maṇicūḍā

  • nor bu gtsug
  • ནོར་བུ་གཙུག
  • maṇicūḍā

A goddess in this sūtra.

g.­99

Māra

  • bdud
  • བདུད།
  • māra

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Māra, literally “death” or “maker of death,” is the name of the deva who tried to prevent the Buddha from achieving awakening, the name given to the class of beings he leads, and also an impersonal term for the destructive forces that keep beings imprisoned in saṃsāra:

(1) As a deva, Māra is said to be the principal deity in the Heaven of Making Use of Others’ Emanations (paranirmitavaśavartin), the highest paradise in the desire realm. He famously attempted to prevent the Buddha’s awakening under the Bodhi tree‍—see The Play in Full (Toh 95), 21.1‍—and later sought many times to thwart the Buddha’s activity. In the sūtras, he often also creates obstacles to the progress of śrāvakas and bodhisattvas. (2) The devas ruled over by Māra are collectively called mārakāyika or mārakāyikadevatā, the “deities of Māra’s family or class.” In general, these māras too do not wish any being to escape from saṃsāra, but can also change their ways and even end up developing faith in the Buddha, as exemplified by Sārthavāha; see The Play in Full (Toh 95), 21.14 and 21.43. (3) The term māra can also be understood as personifying four defects that prevent awakening, called (i) the divine māra (devaputra­māra), which is the distraction of pleasures; (ii) the māra of Death (mṛtyumāra), which is having one’s life interrupted; (iii) the māra of the aggregates (skandhamāra), which is identifying with the five aggregates; and (iv) the māra of the afflictions (kleśamāra), which is being under the sway of the negative emotions of desire, hatred, and ignorance.

g.­100

Māruta

  • rlung lha
  • རླུང་ལྷ།
  • māruta

God of the wind.

g.­101

mātṛ

  • ma mo
  • མ་མོ།
  • mātṛ

A class of female deities, normally seven or eight in number.

g.­102

means of magnetizing

  • bsdu ba’i dngos po
  • བསྡུ་བའི་དངོས་པོ།
  • saṅgrahavastu

These are traditionally listed as four: generosity, kind talk, meaningful actions, and practicing what one preaches.

g.­103

meditative absorption

  • ting nge ’dzin
  • ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན།
  • samādhi

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

In a general sense, samādhi can describe a number of different meditative states. In the Mahāyāna literature, in particular in the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras, we find extensive lists of different samādhis, numbering over one hundred.

In a more restricted sense, and when understood as a mental state, samādhi is defined as the one-pointedness of the mind (cittaikāgratā), the ability to remain on the same object over long periods of time. The Drajor Bamponyipa (sgra sbyor bam po gnyis pa) commentary on the Mahāvyutpatti explains the term samādhi as referring to the instrument through which mind and mental states “get collected,” i.e., it is by the force of samādhi that the continuum of mind and mental states becomes collected on a single point of reference without getting distracted.

g.­104

Megholka

  • sprin ta la la
  • སྤྲིན་ཏ་ལ་ལ།
  • megholka

A lord of the vināyakas.

g.­105

mudrā

  • phyag rgya
  • ཕྱག་རྒྱ།
  • mudrā

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A seal, in both the literal and metaphoric sense. Mudrā is also the name given to an array of symbolic hand gestures, which range from the gesture of touching the earth displayed by the Buddha upon attaining awakening to the numerous gestures used in tantric rituals to symbolize offerings, consecrations, etc. Iconographically, mudrās are used as a way of communicating an action performed by the deity or a specific aspect a deity or buddha is displaying, in which case the same figure can be depicted using different hand gestures to signify that they are either meditating, teaching, granting freedom from fear, etc. In Tantric texts, the term is also used to designate the female spiritual consort in her various aspects.

g.­106

Mūrdhaṭaka

  • gtsug gis ’gro
  • གཙུག་གིས་འགྲོ།
  • mūrdhaṭaka

A member of the audience in this sūtra.

g.­107

nāga

  • klu
  • ཀླུ།
  • nāga

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A class of nonhuman beings who live in subterranean aquatic environments, where they guard wealth and sometimes also teachings. Nāgas are associated with serpents and have a snakelike appearance. In Buddhist art and in written accounts, they are regularly portrayed as half human and half snake, and they are also said to have the ability to change into human form. Some nāgas are Dharma protectors, but they can also bring retribution if they are disturbed. They may likewise fight one another, wage war, and destroy the lands of others by causing lightning, hail, and flooding.

g.­108

Nairṛta

  • bden bral
  • བདེན་བྲལ།
  • nairṛta

One of the eight guardians of the directions, Nairṛta guards the southwest quarter.

g.­109

Nanda

  • dga’ byed
  • དགའ་བྱེད།
  • nanda

A great śrāvaka disciple of the Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.­110

Nārāyaṇa

  • sred med kyi bu
  • སྲེད་མེད་ཀྱི་བུ།
  • nārāyaṇa

One of the ten incarnations of the deity Viṣṇu, he is known for his superhuman strength.

g.­111

Nirmāṇarati

  • ’phrul dga’
  • འཕྲུལ་དགའ།
  • nirmāṇarati

The chief god in the Heaven of Delighting in Emanations (Nirmāṇarati).

g.­112

ostāraka

  • gnon po
  • གནོན་པོ།
  • ostāraka

A class of nonhuman beings 

g.­113

Padma

  • pad+ma
  • པདྨ།
  • padma

A nāga king.

g.­114

Padmakuṇḍali

  • rna cha gdub kor pad+ma ’dra
  • རྣ་ཆ་གདུབ་ཀོར་པདྨ་འདྲ།
  • padmakuṇḍali

A goddess in this sūtra.

g.­115

Pañcaśikha

  • zur phud lnga pa
  • ཟུར་ཕུད་ལྔ་པ།
  • pañcaśikha

A gandharva king.

g.­116

Pāñcika

  • lngas rtsen
  • ལྔས་རྩེན།
  • pāñcika

A yakṣa king.

g.­117

Paranirmitavaśavartin

  • gzhan ’phrul dbang byed
  • གཞན་འཕྲུལ་དབང་བྱེད།
  • paranirmitavaśavartin

The chief god in the Heaven of Making Use of Others’ Emanations (Paranirmitavaśavartin).

g.­118

path

  • lam
  • ལམ།
  • mārga

The five paths that lead to complete awakening: the path of accumulation (sambhāramārga), the path of preparation (prayogamārga), the path of seeing (darśanamārga), the path of cultivation (bhāvanāmārga), and the path of nothing left to learn (aśaikṣamārga).

g.­119

perfections

  • pha rol tu phyin pa
  • ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ།
  • pāramitā

As a set of six perfections, they are generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, concentration, and insight. As set of ten, a further four are added to the previous six: means, power, aspiration, and wisdom.

g.­120

Piṅgalā

  • kham pa mo
  • ཁམ་པ་མོ།
  • piṅgalā

A goddess in this sūtra.

g.­121

piśāca

  • sha za
  • ཤ་ཟ།
  • piśāca

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A class of nonhuman beings that, like several other classes of nonhuman beings, take spontaneous birth. Ranking below rākṣasas, they are less powerful and more akin to pretas. They are said to dwell in impure and perilous places, where they feed on impure things, including flesh. This could account for the name piśāca, which possibly derives from √piś, to carve or chop meat, as reflected also in the Tibetan sha za, “meat eater.” They are often described as having an unpleasant appearance, and at times they appear with animal bodies. Some possess the ability to enter the dead bodies of humans, thereby becoming so-called vetāla, to touch whom is fatal.

g.­122

poisonous compound

  • dug sbyar
  • sbyar ba’i dug
  • དུག་སྦྱར།
  • སྦྱར་བའི་དུག
  • gara

A type of poison composed of multiple ingredients, either through deliberate mixing or unintentional combination. Such poisons are typically ingested and take time show their effect.

g.­123

Prabhūtaratna

  • rin chen mang
  • རིན་ཆེན་མང་།
  • prabhūtaratna

A buddha in the past.

g.­124

Prahlāda

  • rab sim
  • རབ་སིམ།
  • prahlāda

An asura lord.

g.­125

Prasāritapāṇi

  • lag brkyang
  • ལག་བརྐྱང་།
  • prasāritapāṇi

A bodhisattva king in Magadha in the past, his name means “He with Outstretched Hand.”

g.­126

Pratisarāpūrvin

  • sngon so sor ’brang ba
  • སྔོན་སོ་སོར་འབྲང་བ།
  • prati­sarāpūrvin

“He Who Previously Had an Amulet.” The name of a god who had previously been a monk saved from the fruit of his negative deeds by wearing the great amulet.

g.­127

pratyekabuddha

  • rang sangs rgyas
  • རང་སངས་རྒྱས།
  • pratyekabuddha

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Literally, “buddha for oneself” or “solitary realizer.” Someone who, in his or her last life, attains awakening entirely through their own contemplation, without relying on a teacher. Unlike the awakening of a fully realized buddha (samyaksambuddha), the accomplishment of a pratyeka­buddha is not regarded as final or ultimate. They attain realization of the nature of dependent origination, the selflessness of the person, and a partial realization of the selflessness of phenomena, by observing the suchness of all that arises through interdependence. This is the result of progress in previous lives but, unlike a buddha, they do not have the necessary merit, compassion or motivation to teach others. They are named as “rhinoceros-like” (khaḍgaviṣāṇakalpa) for their preference for staying in solitude or as “congregators” (vargacārin) when their preference is to stay among peers.

g.­128

preta

  • yi dags
  • ཡི་དགས།
  • preta

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

One of the five or six classes of sentient beings, into which beings are born as the karmic fruition of past miserliness. As the term in Sanskrit means “the departed,” they are analogous to the ancestral spirits of Vedic tradition, the pitṛs, who starve without the offerings of descendants. It is also commonly translated as “hungry ghost” or “starving spirit,” as in the Chinese 餓鬼 e gui.

The pretas live in the realm of Yama, the Lord of Death, where they are particularly known to suffer from great hunger and thirst and the inability to acquire sustenance.

g.­129

Pṛthivī

  • sa’i lha
  • སའི་ལྷ།
  • pṛthivī

The goddess of the earth.

g.­130

Pūrṇabhadra

  • gang ba bzang
  • gang ba bzang
  • གང་བ་བཟང་།
  • གང་བ་བཟང་།
  • pūrṇabhadra

A yakṣa king.

g.­131

Pūrṇo Maitrāyaṇī­putraḥ

  • byams ma’i bu gang po
  • བྱམས་མའི་བུ་གང་པོ།
  • pūrṇo maitrāyaṇīputraḥ

One of the ten principal śrāvaka disciples of the Buddha, he was the greatest in his ability to teach the Dharma.

g.­132

Puṣpadantī

  • me tog so can
  • me tog
  • མེ་ཏོག་སོ་ཅན།
  • མེ་ཏོག
  • puṣpadantī

A goddess in this sūtra.

g.­133

Puṣya

  • rgyal
  • རྒྱལ།
  • puṣya

The name of a constellation.

g.­134

Rāhu

  • sgra gcan
  • སྒྲ་གཅན།
  • rāhu

An asura lord said to causes eclipses. Also refers to the deified eclipse itself.

g.­135

rākṣasa

  • srin po
  • སྲིན་པོ།
  • rākṣasa

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A class of nonhuman beings that are often, but certainly not always, considered demonic in the Buddhist tradition. They are often depicted as flesh-eating monsters who haunt frightening places and are ugly and evil-natured with a yearning for human flesh, and who additionally have miraculous powers, such as being able to change their appearance.

g.­136

rākṣasī

  • srin mo
  • སྲིན་མོ།
  • rākṣasī

A female rākṣasa.

g.­137

retention

  • gzungs
  • གཟུངས།
  • dhāraṇī

See “dhāraṇī.”

g.­138

ṛṣi

  • drang srong
  • དྲང་སྲོང་།
  • ṛṣi

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

An ancient Indian spiritual title, often translated as “sage” or “seer.” The title is particularly used for divinely inspired individuals credited with creating the foundations of Indian culture. The term is also applied to Śākyamuni and other realized Buddhist figures.

g.­139

Śacī

  • bde sogs
  • བདེ་སོགས།
  • śacī

The wife of the god Indra.

g.­140

sādhya

  • sgrub pa
  • སྒྲུབ་པ།
  • sādhya

A class of nonhuman being.

g.­141

Sāgara

  • rgya mtsho
  • རྒྱ་མཚོ།
  • sāgara

A nāga king.

g.­142

Sahā world

  • mi mjed
  • མི་མཇེད།
  • sahā

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The name for our particular world system, the universe of a thousand million worlds, or trichiliocosm, in which our four-continent world is located. Although it is sometimes said that it can refer only to our own four-continent world around Mount Meru, the sūtras largely seem to equate it with this trichiliocosm, and this is confirmed by scholars like Jamgön Kongtrul (see The Treasury of Knowledge, Book One). Each trichiliocosm is ruled by a god Brahmā; thus, in this context, he bears the title of Sahāṃpati, Lord of Sahā. Our world system of Sahā, or Sahālokadhātu, is also described as being the buddhafield of the Buddha Śākyamuni. He teaches the Dharma here to beings who adhere to inferior ways and perceive this universe as an impure buddhafield contaminated with the five degenerations (pañcakaṣāya, snyigs ma lnga): the degeneration of time, sentient beings, place, lifespan, and mental afflictions (see The Teaching of Vimalakīrti, Toh 176). It is also mentioned as the field of activity of all the thousand buddhas of this Fortunate Eon (see The White Lotus of Compassion, Toh 112).

The name Sahā possibly derives from the Sanskrit √sah, “to bear, endure, or withstand.” It is often interpreted as alluding to the inhabitants of this world having to endure suffering. The Tibetan translation, mi mjed, follows along the same lines. It literally means “not unbearable,” in the sense that beings here are able to bear the suffering they experience.

g.­143

Śakra

  • brgya byin
  • བརྒྱ་བྱིན།
  • śakra

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The lord of the gods in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three (trāyastriṃśa). Alternatively known as Indra, the deity that is called “lord of the gods” dwells on the summit of Mount Sumeru and wields the thunderbolt. The Tibetan translation brgya byin (meaning “one hundred sacrifices”) is based on an etymology that śakra is an abbreviation of śata-kratu, one who has performed a hundred sacrifices. Each world with a central Sumeru has a Śakra. Also known by other names such as Kauśika, Devendra, and Śacipati.

g.­144

śālmali

  • shal ma li
  • ཤལ་མ་ལི།
  • śālmali

Also known as the red cotton tree. It has red flowers and ripened capsules that contain cotton-like fibers. In particular, the trunk is covered in spikes to deter climbing animals, and therefore it is an iron version of this tree that is found in the hells.

g.­145

Śaṅkhapāla

  • dung skyong
  • དུང་སྐྱོང་།
  • śaṅkhapāla

A nāga king.

g.­146

Śaṅkhinī

  • dung can
  • དུང་ཅན།
  • śaṅkhinī

A goddess in this sūtra.

g.­147

Santuṣita

  • yongs su dga’ ldan
  • ཡོངས་སུ་དགའ་ལྡན།
  • santuṣita

The chief god in the Heaven of Joy (Tuṣita).

g.­148

Sarasvatī

  • dbyangs can
  • དབྱངས་ཅན།
  • sarasvatī

The goddess of speech and of learning. Here also described as the goddess of good fortune.

g.­149

Śāriputra

  • shA ri’i bu
  • ཤཱ་རིའི་བུ།
  • śāriputra

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

One of the principal śrāvaka disciples of the Buddha, he was renowned for his discipline and for having been praised by the Buddha as foremost of the wise (often paired with Maudgalyā­yana, who was praised as foremost in the capacity for miraculous powers). His father, Tiṣya, to honor Śāriputra’s mother, Śārikā, named him Śāradvatīputra, or, in its contracted form, Śāriputra, meaning “Śārikā’s Son.”

g.­150

Sarvārthasiddha

  • don thams cad grub pa
  • དོན་ཐམས་ཅད་གྲུབ་པ།
  • sarvārtha­siddha

A vidyādhara king.

g.­151

Śaśin

  • zla ba can
  • ཟླ་བ་ཅན།
  • śaśin

A member of the audience in this sūtra.

g.­152

seven mothers of the world

  • ’jig rten gyi ma bdun
  • འཇིག་རྟེན་གྱི་མ་བདུན།
  • saptalokamātṛ

A set of Indic goddesses, most typically comprised of Brāhmī, Māheśvarī, Kaumārī, Vaiṣṇavī, Vārāhī/Yāmī, and Aindrī. They correspond to a similar set of seven brahmanical deities: Brahmā, Śiva, Skanda, Viṣṇu, Varāha/Yama, and Indra.

g.­153

skanda

  • skem byed
  • སྐེམ་བྱེད།
  • skanda

A class of nonhuman being.

g.­154

śrāvaka

  • nyan thos
  • ཉན་ཐོས།
  • śrāvaka

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The Sanskrit term śrāvaka, and the Tibetan nyan thos, both derived from the verb “to hear,” are usually defined as “those who hear the teaching from the Buddha and make it heard to others.” Primarily this refers to those disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain the state of an arhat seeking their own liberation and nirvāṇa. They are the practitioners of the first turning of the wheel of the Dharma on the four noble truths, who realize the suffering inherent in saṃsāra and focus on understanding that there is no independent self. By conquering afflicted mental states (kleśa), they liberate themselves, attaining first the stage of stream enterers at the path of seeing, followed by the stage of once-returners who will be reborn only one more time, and then the stage of non-returners who will no longer be reborn into the desire realm. The final goal is to become an arhat. These four stages are also known as the “four results of spiritual practice.”

g.­155

Śrī

  • dpal can
  • དཔལ་ཅན།
  • śrī

“Glorious One,” a name of Lakṣmī, the goddess of fortune and beauty.

g.­156

Subāhu

  • lag bzang
  • ལག་བཟང་།
  • subāhu

A member of the audience in this sūtra.

g.­157

Subhūti

  • rab ’byor
  • རབ་འབྱོར།
  • subhūti

One of the ten great śrāvaka disciples of the Buddha Śākyamuni, known for his profound understanding of emptiness. He plays a major role as an interlocutor of the Buddha in the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras.

g.­158

śūdra

  • dmangs rigs
  • དམངས་རིགས།
  • śūdra

One of the four castes, that of commoners or servants.

g.­159

sugata

  • bde bar gshegs pa
  • བདེ་བར་གཤེགས་པ།
  • sugata

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

One of the standard epithets of the buddhas. A recurrent explanation offers three different meanings for su- that are meant to show the special qualities of “accomplishment of one’s own purpose” (svārthasampad) for a complete buddha. Thus, the Sugata is “well” gone, as in the expression su-rūpa (“having a good form”); he is gone “in a way that he shall not come back,” as in the expression su-naṣṭa-jvara (“a fever that has utterly gone”); and he has gone “without any remainder” as in the expression su-pūrṇa-ghaṭa (“a pot that is completely full”). According to Buddhaghoṣa, the term means that the way the Buddha went (Skt. gata) is good (Skt. su) and where he went (Skt. gata) is good (Skt. su).

g.­160

Suparṇākṣa

  • gser mig
  • གསེར་མིག
  • suparṇākṣa

A garuḍa king.

g.­161

Śūrpāraka

  • bde bar pha rol tu ’gro ba
  • བདེ་བར་ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་འགྲོ་བ།
  • śūrpāraka

A city.

g.­162

Sūrya

  • nyi ma
  • ཉི་མ།
  • sūrya

The sun personified.

g.­163

Suvajra

  • rdo rje bzang po
  • རྡོ་རྗེ་བཟང་པོ།
  • suvajra

A bodhisattva mahāsattva.

g.­164

Suyāma

  • rab ’thab bral
  • རབ་འཐབ་བྲལ།
  • suyāma

The chief god in the Heaven Free from Strife.

g.­165

Śvetā

  • dkar
  • དཀར།
  • śvetā

A goddess in this sūtra.

g.­166

Takṣaka

  • ’jog po
  • འཇོག་པོ།
  • takṣaka

A nāga king.

g.­167

Tārā

  • sgrol ma
  • སྒྲོལ་མ།
  • tārā

A goddess whose name can be translated as “Savior.” She is known for giving protection and is variously presented in Buddhist literature as a great bodhisattva or a fully awakened buddha.

g.­168

thirty-two marks of a great being

  • skyes bu chen po’i mtshan sum cu rtsa gnyis
  • སྐྱེས་བུ་ཆེན་པོའི་མཚན་སུམ་ཅུ་རྩ་གཉིས།
  • dvātriṃśanmahāpuruṣalakṣaṇa

The main identifying physical characteristics of both buddhas and universal monarchs, to which are added the eighty sublime characteristics.

g.­169

traversed hex

  • sgom nyes
  • སྒོམ་ཉེས།
  • durlaṅghita

In Dhāraṇī literature, the term is frequently used to denote a type of hostile magic. Given the use of verb for “stepping over” or “passing over” (Skt. √laṅgh; Tib. sgom), it would appear that the negative effect is triggered when the object in question is traversed in some way.

g.­170

trichiliocosm

  • stong gsum gyi stong chen po
  • སྟོང་གསུམ་གྱི་སྟོང་ཆེན་པོ།
  • tri­sāhasramahāsāhasra­lokadhātu

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The largest universe described in Buddhist cosmology. This term, in Abhidharma cosmology, refers to 1,000³ world systems, i.e., 1,000 “dichiliocosms” or “two thousand great thousand world realms” (dvi­sāhasra­mahā­sāhasra­lokadhātu), which are in turn made up of 1,000 first-order world systems, each with its own Mount Sumeru, continents, sun and moon, etc.

g.­171

Ujjayani

  • ’phags rgyal
  • འཕགས་རྒྱལ།
  • ujjayani

A city in the land of King Brahmadatta.

g.­172

unique qualities

  • ma ’dres pa
  • མ་འདྲེས་པ།
  • āveṇika

This term is typically used to refer to the eighteen unique qualities of a buddha (āveṇika­buddha­dharma), thus it is not clear what qualities it would refer to in this context describing bodhisattvas.

g.­173

universal monarch

  • ’khor los sgyur ba
  • འཁོར་ལོས་སྒྱུར་བ།
  • cakravartin

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

An ideal monarch or emperor who, as the result of the merit accumulated in previous lifetimes, rules over a vast realm in accordance with the Dharma. Such a monarch is called a cakravartin because he bears a wheel (cakra) that rolls (vartana) across the earth, bringing all lands and kingdoms under his power. The cakravartin conquers his territory without causing harm, and his activity causes beings to enter the path of wholesome actions. According to Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakośa, just as with the buddhas, only one cakravartin appears in a world system at any given time. They are likewise endowed with the thirty-two major marks of a great being (mahāpuruṣalakṣaṇa), but a cakravartin’s marks are outshined by those of a buddha. They possess seven precious objects: the wheel, the elephant, the horse, the wish-fulfilling gem, the queen, the general, and the minister. An illustrative passage about the cakravartin and his possessions can be found in The Play in Full (Toh 95), 3.3–3.13.

Vasubandhu lists four types of cakravartins: (1) the cakravartin with a golden wheel (suvarṇacakravartin) rules over four continents and is invited by lesser kings to be their ruler; (2) the cakravartin with a silver wheel (rūpyacakravartin) rules over three continents and his opponents submit to him as he approaches; (3) the cakravartin with a copper wheel (tāmracakravartin) rules over two continents and his opponents submit themselves after preparing for battle; and (4) the cakravartin with an iron wheel (ayaścakravartin) rules over one continent and his opponents submit themselves after brandishing weapons.

g.­174

unmāda

  • smyo byed
  • སྨྱོ་བྱེད།
  • unmāda

A class of nonhuman being.

g.­175

Uruvilvākāśyapa

  • lteng rgyas ’od srung
  • ལྟེང་རྒྱས་འོད་སྲུང་།
  • uruvilvākāśyapa

A great śrāvaka disciple of the Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.­176

Vairocana

  • rnam par snang byed
  • རྣམ་པར་སྣང་བྱེད།
  • vairocana

An asura lord.

g.­177

Vaiśravaṇa

  • rnam thos kyi bu
  • rnam thos bu
  • རྣམ་ཐོས་ཀྱི་བུ།
  • རྣམ་ཐོས་བུ།
  • vaiśravaṇa

One of the Four Great Kings, he presides over the northern quarter and rules over the yakṣas.

g.­178

vaiśya

  • rje’u rigs
  • རྗེའུ་རིགས།
  • vaiśya

One of the four castes, that of commoners or servants.

g.­179

vajra

  • rdo rje
  • རྡོ་རྗེ།
  • vajra

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

This term generally indicates indestructibility and stability. In the sūtras, vajra most often refers to the hardest possible physical substance, said to have divine origins. In some scriptures, it is also the name of the all-powerful weapon of Indra, which in turn is crafted from vajra material. In the tantras, the vajra is sometimes a scepter-like ritual implement, but the term can also take on other esoteric meanings.

g.­180

vajradūtī

  • rdo rje’i pho nya mo
  • རྡོ་རྗེའི་ཕོ་ཉ་མོ།
  • vajradūtī

A type of female “messenger” deity. In The Great Amulet, they are said to number sixty-four.

g.­181

Vajragarbha

  • rdo rje’i snying po
  • རྡོ་རྗེའི་སྙིང་པོ།
  • vajragarbha

A bodhisattva mahāsattva.

g.­182

Vajragātra

  • rdo rje’i lus
  • རྡོ་རྗེའི་ལུས།
  • vajragātra

A bodhisattva mahāsattva.

g.­183

Vajrahasta

  • lag na rdo rje
  • ལག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ།
  • vajrahasta

A bodhisattva mahāsattva.

g.­184

Vajraketu

  • rdo rje’i tog
  • རྡོ་རྗེའི་ཏོག
  • vajraketu

A bodhisattva mahāsattva.

g.­185

Vajrakūṭa

  • rdo rje brtsegs pa
  • རྡོ་རྗེ་བརྩེགས་པ།
  • vajrakūṭa

A bodhisattva mahāsattva.

g.­186

Vajramālā

  • rdo rje phreng
  • རྡོ་རྗེ་ཕྲེང་།
  • vajramālā

A great incantation goddess.

g.­187

Vajramati

  • rdo rje’i blo gros
  • རྡོ་རྗེའི་བློ་གྲོས།
  • vajramati

A bodhisattva mahāsattva.

g.­188

Vajranārāyaṇa

  • rdo rje mthu bo che
  • རྡོ་རྗེ་མཐུ་བོ་ཆེ།
  • vajranārāyaṇa

A bodhisattva mahāsattva.

g.­189

Vajrapāṇi

  • lag na rdo rje
  • ལག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ།
  • vajrapāṇi

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

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.

g.­190

Vajrapāśī

  • rdo rje zhags
  • རྡོ་རྗེ་ཞགས།
  • vajrapāśī

A goddess in this sūtra.

g.­191

Vajrarāśi

  • rdo rje phung po
  • རྡོ་རྗེ་ཕུང་པོ།
  • vajrarāśi

A bodhisattva mahāsattva.

g.­192

Vajrasaṃhata

  • rdo rje ’dus pa
  • རྡོ་རྗེ་འདུས་པ།
  • vajrasaṃhata

A bodhisattva mahāsattva.

g.­193

Vajrasaṅkalā

  • rdo rje’i lu gu rgyud
  • རྡོ་རྗེའི་ལུ་གུ་རྒྱུད།
  • vajrasaṅkalā

A member of the audience in this sūtra.

g.­194

Vajrasena

  • rdo rje’i sde
  • རྡོ་རྗེའི་སྡེ།
  • vajrasena

A member of the audience in this sūtra.

g.­195

Vajravikurvita

  • rdo rje rnam par ’phrul pa
  • རྡོ་རྗེ་རྣམ་པར་འཕྲུལ་པ།
  • vajravikurvita

A bodhisattva mahāsattva.

g.­196

Vārāṇasī

  • bA rA Na sI
  • བཱ་རཱ་ཎ་སཱི།
  • vārāṇasī

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Also known as Benares, one of the oldest cities of northeast India on the banks of the Ganges, in modern-day Uttar Pradesh. It was once the capital of the ancient kingdom of Kāśi, and in the Buddha’s time it had been absorbed into the kingdom of Kośala. It was an important religious center, as well as a major city, even during the time of the Buddha. The name may derive from being where the Varuna and Assi rivers flow into the Ganges. It was on the outskirts of Vārāṇasī that the Buddha first taught the Dharma, in the location known as Deer Park (Mṛgadāva). For numerous episodes set in Vārāṇasī, including its kings, see The Hundred Deeds, Toh 340.

g.­197

Varuṇa

  • chu lha
  • ཆུ་ལྷ།
  • varuṇa

The Vedic deity understood in later periods to be the lord of waters.

g.­198

Vāsuki

  • nor rgyas kyi bu
  • ནོར་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་བུ།
  • vāsuki

A nāga king.

g.­199

Vemacitrin

  • thags bzangs ris
  • ཐགས་བཟངས་རིས།
  • vemacitrin

An asura lord.

g.­200

vidyā

  • rig pa
  • རིག་པ།
  • vidyā

A class of deities identified with their spells.

g.­201

vidyādhara

  • rig sngags ’chang ba
  • rig pa ’dzin pa
  • རིག་སྔགས་འཆང་བ།
  • རིག་པ་འཛིན་པ།
  • vidyādhara

A term used to refer to a practitioner of Buddhist rituals that feature the use of incantations (vidyā) and mantras as a means to bring about mundane and transcendent goals.

g.­202

vidyādhara

  • rig sngags ’chang
  • རིག་སྔགས་འཆང་།
  • vidyādhara

Meaning those who wield (dhara) spells (vidyā), the term is used to refer to both a class of nonhuman beings who wield magical power and human practitioners of the magical arts. The latter usage is especially prominent in the Kriyātantras, which are often addressed to the human vidyādhara. The Tibetan Buddhist tradition, playing on the dual valences of vidyā as “spell” and “knowledge,” began to apply this term more broadly to realized figures in the Buddhist pantheon.

g.­203

Vidyunmālinī

  • glog phreng can
  • གློག་ཕྲེང་ཅན།
  • vidyunmālinī

A goddess.

g.­204

vighna

  • bgegs
  • བགེགས།
  • vighna

A class of beings who create obstacles.

g.­205

Vimalaśaṅkha

  • dri med dung
  • དྲི་མེད་དུང་།
  • vimalaśaṅkha

A prominent merchant in the past.

g.­206

Vimalaviśuddhi

  • dri ma med par dag pa
  • དྲི་མ་མེད་པར་དག་པ།
  • vimalaviśuddhi

A lay woman in Śūrpāraka.

g.­207

vināyaka

  • log ’dren
  • ལོག་འདྲེན།
  • vināyaka

A class of beings who mislead or have a corrupting influence.

g.­208

Vipula­praha­sita­vadanamaṇi­kanakaratnojjvalaraśmi­prabhāsābhyudgata­rāja

  • rgya cher rab tu bzhad pa’i zhal nor bu dang gser dang rin po che ’bar ba’i ’od zer snang ba mngon par ’phags pa’i rgyal po
  • རྒྱ་ཆེར་རབ་ཏུ་བཞད་པའི་ཞལ་ནོར་བུ་དང་གསེར་དང་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་འབར་བའི་འོད་ཟེར་སྣང་བ་མངོན་པར་འཕགས་པའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།
  • vipula­praha­sita­vadanamaṇi­kanakaratnojjvalaraśmi­prabhāsābhyudgata­rāja

A buddha from the distant past whose name means “Widely Smiling, Exalted King Whose Widely Smiling Face Shines with the Splendor of Gems, Gold, and Jewels.”

g.­209

Virūḍhaka

  • ’phags skyes po
  • འཕགས་སྐྱེས་པོ།
  • virūḍhaka

One of the Four Great Kings, he presides over the southern quarter and rules over the kumbhāṇḍas.

g.­210

Virūpākṣa

  • mig mi bzang
  • མིག་མི་བཟང་།
  • virūpākṣa

One of the Four Great Kings, he presides over the western quarter and rules over the nāgas.

g.­211

Viṣṇu

  • khyab ’jug
  • ཁྱབ་འཇུག
  • viṣṇu

One of the eight great gods in the Indian pantheon.

g.­212

vyālagrāha

  • sbrul ’dzin
  • སྦྲུལ་འཛིན།
  • vyālagrāha

A class of beings whose name literally means “snake catcher.”

g.­213

yakṣa

  • gnod sbyin
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • yakṣa

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

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.

g.­214

yakṣī

  • —
  • —
  • yakṣī

A female yakṣa.

g.­215

yakṣiṇī

  • gnod sbyin mo
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན་མོ།
  • yakṣiṇī

A female yakṣa.

g.­216

Yama

  • gshin rje
  • གཤིན་རྗེ།
  • yama

The Lord of Death, he judges the dead and rules over the underworld inhabited by the pretas.

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84000. The Great Amulet (Mahāpratisarā, so sor ’brang ba chen mo, Toh 561). Translated by Dharmachakra Translation Committee. Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024. https://84000.co/translation/toh561.Copy
84000. The Great Amulet (Mahāpratisarā, so sor ’brang ba chen mo, Toh 561). Translated by Dharmachakra Translation Committee, online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024, 84000.co/translation/toh561.Copy
84000. (2024) The Great Amulet (Mahāpratisarā, so sor ’brang ba chen mo, Toh 561). (Dharmachakra Translation Committee, Trans.). Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. https://84000.co/translation/toh561.Copy
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