The text presents a simple dhāraṇī in the form of a mnemonic expression consisting of homages to the three bodies of a buddha, the six perfections, and their underlying philosophical understanding. The benefits of the dhāraṇī are also listed.
This publication was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The text was translated, edited, and introduced by the 84000 translation team. Paul G. Hackett produced the translation and wrote the introduction. Rory Lindsay edited the translation and the introduction, and Dawn Collins copyedited the text. Sameer Dhingra was in charge of the digital publication process.
This text consists of a series of homages—to Prajñāpāramitā and the Three Jewels—followed by the dhāraṇī itself and a list of its benefits. The dhāraṇī consists of homages to the three bodies of a buddha leading into the dhāraṇī proper, which is a mnemonic expression listing the six perfections and concluding with a statement about the emptiness of all phenomena. It is similar, in an abbreviated form, to a much longer and more inclusive mantra given by Kulika Puṇḍarīka in his Kālacakra commentary, the Explanatory Commentary on the Abridged Kālacakra, King of Tantras, That Conforms to the Root Tantra in Twelve Thousand Verses Called ‘Stainless Light’ (Vimalaprabhānāmamūlatantrānusāriṇīdvādaśasāhasrikālaghukālacakratantrarājaṭīkā; bsdus pa’i rgyud kyi rgyal po dus kyi ’khor lo’i ’grel bshad, rtsa ba’i rgyud kyi rjes su ’jug pa stong phrag bcu gnyis pa dri ma med pa’i ’od ces bya ba; Toh 1347, folios 143.b.1–3). If there is a connection between the two texts beyond mere similarity, it remains unstated. No Sanskrit title is provided for this text, and its title is given on the basis of the Tibetan alone.1
This translation of the text into English relied primarily on the Degé recension while referring to variant readings in other recensions as noted in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) and validated in the source texts—notably Narthang—as well as the Stok Palace and Phukdrak recensions.22 No previous translation of this text into a language outside the Tibetan sphere of influence is known. Meisezahl (1957) provides a diplomatic edition of the dhāraṇī as found in the Linden Museum Tibetan collection.
By taking this up, one will retain the six perfections, and emptiness will have been established in one’s mind. When one verbally recites this constantly, one will understand all the aphoristic and extensive teachings,4 one will purify the five deeds of immediate retribution, and one will also overcome all bad views.
This completes[F.203.b] “The Dhāraṇī of the Essence of the Six Perfections.”
The text presents a simple dhāraṇī in the form of a mnemonic expression consisting of homages to the three bodies of a buddha, the six perfections, and their underlying philosophical understanding. The benefits of the dhāraṇī are also listed.
This publication was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The text was translated, edited, and introduced by the 84000 translation team. Paul G. Hackett produced the translation and wrote the introduction. Rory Lindsay edited the translation and the introduction, and Dawn Collins copyedited the text. Sameer Dhingra was in charge of the digital publication process.
This text consists of a series of homages—to Prajñāpāramitā and the Three Jewels—followed by the dhāraṇī itself and a list of its benefits. The dhāraṇī consists of homages to the three bodies of a buddha leading into the dhāraṇī proper, which is a mnemonic expression listing the six perfections and concluding with a statement about the emptiness of all phenomena. It is similar, in an abbreviated form, to a much longer and more inclusive mantra given by Kulika Puṇḍarīka in his Kālacakra commentary, the Explanatory Commentary on the Abridged Kālacakra, King of Tantras, That Conforms to the Root Tantra in Twelve Thousand Verses Called ‘Stainless Light’ (Vimalaprabhānāmamūlatantrānusāriṇīdvādaśasāhasrikālaghukālacakratantrarājaṭīkā; bsdus pa’i rgyud kyi rgyal po dus kyi ’khor lo’i ’grel bshad, rtsa ba’i rgyud kyi rjes su ’jug pa stong phrag bcu gnyis pa dri ma med pa’i ’od ces bya ba; Toh 1347, folios 143.b.1–3). If there is a connection between the two texts beyond mere similarity, it remains unstated. No Sanskrit title is provided for this text, and its title is given on the basis of the Tibetan alone.1
This translation of the text into English relied primarily on the Degé recension while referring to variant readings in other recensions as noted in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) and validated in the source texts—notably Narthang—as well as the Stok Palace and Phukdrak recensions.22 No previous translation of this text into a language outside the Tibetan sphere of influence is known. Meisezahl (1957) provides a diplomatic edition of the dhāraṇī as found in the Linden Museum Tibetan collection.
By taking this up, one will retain the six perfections, and emptiness will have been established in one’s mind. When one verbally recites this constantly, one will understand all the aphoristic and extensive teachings,4 one will purify the five deeds of immediate retribution, and one will also overcome all bad views.
This completes[F.203.b] “The Dhāraṇī of the Essence of the Six Perfections.”
Of the four types of dhāraṇīs described by the fourth-century scholar-yogi Asaṅga—Dharma dhāraṇīs (dharmadhāraṇī; chos kyi gzungs), meaning dhāraṇīs (arthadhāraṇī; don gyi gzungs), mantra dhāraṇīs (mantradhāraṇī; gsang sngags kyi gzungs), and bodhisattva forbearance dhāraṇīs (bodhisattvakṣāntilābhāyadhāraṇī; byang chub sems dpa’ bzod pa ’thob par byed pa’i gzungs)—this text falls into the category of dharmadhāraṇīs, which enable one to retain knowledge of words, that is, Dharma teachings, that have been heard. Cf. Grounds of Bodhisattvas (bodhisattvabhūmi; byang chub sems dpa’i sa; Toh 4037, folio 144.a). A discussion of various classifications of dhāraṇīs is given in Pagel 2007.
This text, Toh 935, and all those contained in this same volume (gzungs ’dus, e), are listed as being located in volume 100 of the Degé Kangyur by the Buddhist Digital Resource Center (BDRC). However, several other Kangyur databases—including the eKangyur that supplies the digital input version displayed by the 84000 Reading Room—list this work as being located in volume 101. This discrepancy is partly due to the fact that the two volumes of the gzungs ’dus section are an added supplement not mentioned in the original catalog, and also hinges on the fact that the compilers of the Tōhoku catalog placed another text—which forms a whole, very large volume—the Vimalaprabhānāmakālacakratantraṭīkā (dus ’khor ’grel bshad dri med ’od, Toh 845), before the volume 100 of the Degé Kangyur, numbering it as vol. 100, although it is almost certainly intended to come right at the end of the Degé Kangyur texts as volume 102; indeed its final fifth chapter is often carried over and wrapped in the same volume as the Kangyur dkar chags (catalog). Please note this discrepancy when using the eKangyur viewer in this translation.
Note that there is a discrepancy among various databases for cataloging the Toh 935 version of this text within vol. 100 or 101 of the Degé Kangyur. See Toh 935, n.2, for details.
This dhāraṇī translates as, “Homage to the Truth Body, the Enjoyment Body, and the Emanation Body. It is thus: There is the perfection of giving, the perfection of ethics, the perfection of patience, the perfection of effort, the perfection of meditative concentration, and the perfection of wisdom. There is the emptiness of all phenomena. May auspiciousness abound.”
The term dhāraṇī has the sense of something that “holds” or “retains,” and so it can refer to the special capacity of practitioners to memorize and recall detailed teachings. It can also refer to a verbal expression of the teachings—an incantation, spell, or mnemonic formula—that distills and “holds” essential points of the Dharma and is used by practitioners to attain mundane and supramundane goals. The same term is also used to denote texts that contain such formulas.
Acts for which one will be reborn in hell immediately after death, without any intervening stages; they are killing an arhat, killing one’s father, killing one’s mother, causing a schism in the monastic community, and maliciously drawing blood from a tathāgata.
The six practices or qualities that a follower of the Great Vehicle perfects in order to transcend cyclic existence. They are generosity (dāna, byin pa), discipline (śīla, tshul khrims), patience or acceptance (kṣānti, bzod pa), diligence (vīrya, brtson ’grus), meditative concentration (dhyāna, bsam gtan), and insight (prajñā, shes rab).
pha rol tu phyin pa drug gi snying po’i gzungs. Toh 579, Degé Kangyur vol. 90 (rgyud, pha), folios 203.a–203.b.
pha rol tu phyin pa drug gi snying po’i gzungs. Toh 935, vol. 100 (gzungs ’dus, e), folio 281.a.
pha rol tu phyin pa drug gi snying po’i gzungs (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. 652–53.
pha rol tu phyin pa drug gi snying po’i gzungs. Stok Palace Kangyur vol. 104 (rgyud, pa), folios 194.b–195.a.
pha rol tu phyin pa drug gi snying po’i gzungs. Phukdrak Kangyur vol. 118 (rgyud, wa), folios 150.a–150.b.
Meisezahl, Richard O. “Die tibetischen Handschriften und Drucke des Linden-Museums in Stuttgart.” Tribus 7 (1957): 1–166, 103 (item 71 607, Nr. 1).
Pagel, Ulrich. Mapping the Path: Vajrapadas in Mahāyāna Literature. Tokyo: The International Institute for Buddhist Studies, 2007.
