A Ritual Manual for the Uṣṇīṣavijayā Dhāraṇī
Toh 598
Degé Kangyur, vol. 90 (rgyud ’bum, pha), folios 248.a–250.a
- Lotsāwa Neten Palkyi Nyima Gyaltsen Sangpo
- Ne’u Khenpo
Imprint
Translated by Catherine Dalton
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
First published 2022
Current version v 1.4.9 (2023)
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
This text was translated by Catherine Dalton, who also wrote the introduction.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The generous sponsorship of May, George, Likai, and Lillian Gu, which helped make the work on this translation possible, is most gratefully acknowledged.
Introduction
A Ritual Manual for the Uṣṇīṣavijayā Dhāraṇī opens in Sukhāvatī, where the Blessed One Amitāyus is residing. Amitāyus addresses the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, informing him that there are beings who suffer from illnesses and short lifespans, and introducing the uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī as a remedy for such painful circumstances. Avalokiteśvara immediately asks Amitāyus to pronounce the dhāraṇī, which the Tathāgata does from within a state of samādhi.
After he pronounces the dhāraṇī, Amitāyus explains the benefits of reciting the uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī, noting that it purifies evil deeds and extends the lifespan of someone who recites it and follows the rite that is explained in the text.
The rite itself involves the creation of a maṇḍala in which the Tathāgata Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Natural Essence is drawn in the center of an eight-spoked wheel and surrounded by eight other uṣṇīṣa buddhas. These are surrounded by a sixteen-petaled lotus on which are drawn uṣṇīṣa buddhas with names correlated with the sixteen emptinesses. These are surrounded by four Uṣṇīṣavijayā goddesses and four other goddesses. The maṇḍala is to be surrounded with different types of offerings, with a thousand of each offering item set around the maṇḍala, and the dhāraṇī recited a thousand times. The text concludes by stating that the performance of this rite will extend one’s lifespan, cure illness, and prevent untimely death. The last line of the text mentions that this is the “first chapter,”1 but no further chapters appear.
This work is one among a group of texts in the Kriyātantra section of the Tibetan Kangyurs that contain the uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī and its related rituals (kalpa). The present text is one of four short dhāraṇī texts—three of which have the same title—that present the uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī with its ritual manual (kalpa).2 These four works share a similar narrative opening (nidāna) up through the presentation of the dhāraṇī proper, and several among them also share additional passages (though the present text does not). The present text, moreover, shows evidence of having been edited to improve upon some of the awkward readings found in the other members of this group of texts. These changes—which include using a more standardized spelling of Amitāyus’ name and the change of the name of a samādhi from an obscure name to one that is more common—along with the content of the ritual section describing a maṇḍala of eight uṣṇīṣa buddhas surrounding a central uṣṇīṣa buddha, confirm what we know from the colophon (see i.13) about the date of its translation: this work, in comparison to the other uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī works preserved in the Tibetan canon, began to circulate considerably later.
Evidence for the later circulation not only of the Tibetan translation but probably of its Sanskrit source, too, comes in its use of a greater number of oṁs in the main dhāraṇī. All the other texts in the Uṣṇīṣavijayā group—Toh 594, 595, 596, and 597/984, as well as the Dunhuang manuscripts—include only three oṁs in the dhāraṇī. In this text, and in the Sanskrit edition prepared by Gergely Hidas based on Nepalese manuscripts that date from the seventeenth century onwards, oṁ appears no less than nine times. The Tibetan translation of this text being of a significantly later date than the other works of the group, as its colophon indicates, may possibly demonstrate a change in the circulation of the uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī that is also reflected in extant Nepalese Sanskrit versions of the texts. This shift is described in the colophon of the version of Toh 597 found in the Phukdrak (phug brag) Kangyur,3 where a note stating that the texts with only three oṁs are to be considered more correct also claims that although there may have been Sanskrit sources with as many as nine oṁs, the twelfth-century translator Sumpa Lotsāwa reported that all the Sanskrit texts he had seen contained only three, and that the Sanskrit manuscripts of the texts held at Sakya monastery had no more than that. Because Sumpa Lotsāwa4 is known to have lived and studied in Nepal, his comment on the “correct” number of oṁs in the Sanskrit manuscripts available to him offers a glimpse into the evolution of the text in the Nepalese tradition.
There are many Sanskrit witnesses of the uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī proper.5 Moreover, what we will call—simply for the purpose of distinguishing it from the present group of dhāraṇī-kalpas—the “primary” uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī text (Toh 597, which is titled Sarvadurgatipariśodhana-uṣṇīṣavijayā-dhāraṇī rather than Uṣṇīṣavijayā-dhāraṇī-kalpasahitā)6 survives in at least one incomplete early manuscript.7
While our text seems no longer to be extant in Sanskrit, there is at least one surviving Sanskrit uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī work that is closely related to it and belongs to the same group of related dhāraṇī texts described above. This Sanskrit work shares the same opening narrative and some of the ritual material with the texts from this group.8
The primary uṣṇīṣavijayā text was first translated into Chinese by Buddhapāli in the late seventh century, and then at least five times subsequently.9 Several ritual manuals for the dhāraṇī’s recitation were also translated into Chinese, but our text does not appear to be among them.10 One ritual manual (Taishō 978), translated into Chinese by Dharmadeva between 973 and 981, is among the group of uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī texts to which the present work belongs.11 Another ritual manual surviving in Chinese is similar to our text in that it describes a maṇḍala of eight uṣṇīṣa buddhas. The eight buddhas themselves are, however, not the same as those described in the present text, a set that indeed appears unique within the Tibetan canon.12 The primary uṣṇīṣavijayā text was significant in East Asia, and one scholar has even identified it as the most important esoteric Buddhist scripture translated into Chinese in the seventh century.13 Practices connected with the uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī were important in China, in particular in conjunction with funerary rites, where the dhāraṇī was written on pillars near tombs, especially from the mid-Tang to Ming dynasties (ca. 800–1600 ᴄᴇ).14 In addition to its ritual uses, in China this dhāraṇī receives mention in poems and tales of miracles and is analyzed in philosophical commentaries.15
The uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī also appears to have been popular in Dunhuang. A number of Tibetan manuscripts from Dunhuang include just the dhāraṇī on its own, both in Tibetan transliteration (dhāraṇīs, like mantras, are commonly left untranslated in Tibetan texts) and in Tibetan translation. The primary uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī text (Toh 597) also appears in several Dunhuang manuscripts.16 Several drawings from Dunhuang show maṇḍala (altar) arrangements corresponding to uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī texts.17
In Nepal, uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī rituals continue to be performed as part of modern Newar Buddhist practice, where their practice is sometimes prescribed for Wednesdays in particular.18 Practices connected to the uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī likewise continue in modern Tibetan Buddhism. The so-called Tongchö (stong mchod)—the thousandfold offering practice of Uṣṇīṣavijayā, a version of which is mentioned briefly in our text—is currently performed in Tibetan monasteries, sometimes using a ritual manual composed by the nineteenth-century polymath Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo. Other notable Tibetan works on the uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī and its associated practices include commentaries by the great Sakya lama Butön (bu ston rin chen grub, 1290–1364) and the fourth Panchen Lama, Losang Chökyi Gyaltsen (blo bzang chos kyi rgyal mtshan, 1570–1662).
The question of what, or who, exactly, Uṣṇīṣavijayā is is a complex one that cannot be clearly answered here. In short, like a number of uṣṇīṣa deities, she is sometimes identified as a protective deity, in this case a goddess, emanated from the Buddha’s uṣṇīṣa. Indeed, Uṣṇīṣavijayā is clearly depicted as a goddess in a number of short sādhanas included in Indian anthologies such as the Sādhanamāla, compiled from the works of many authors probably during the period of the Pāla kings (eighth to twelfth century).19 Three closely similar sādhanas of a three-faced, eight armed form of the goddess are included in the Tengyur, one in each of the three related anthologies translated from the Indian collections into Tibetan in the eleventh to fourteenth centuries respectively,20 two of them translated earlier than this text. A variety of other forms are depicted or described in Chinese, Japanese, Tibetan, Mongolian, and Kashmiri sources.21 In the later Tibetan tradition Uṣṇīṣavijayā can even appear as one of a group of three long-life deities along with the Buddha Amitāyus and White Tārā. However, the present text is the only one of the uṣṇīṣavijayā works in this section of the Kangyur to use the name Uṣṇīṣavijayā to refer clearly to a goddess. The present text contains an homage to Uṣṇīṣavijayā (whereas the other texts in the series pay homage to the buddhas and bodhisattvas), and the maṇḍala described in the rite here includes four different Uṣṇīṣavijayā goddesses surrounding the central maṇḍala of uṣṇīṣa buddhas. In contrast, while the dhāraṇī itself does use the feminine vocative form throughout, in the other uṣṇīṣavijayā texts in this section of the Kangyur, the name uṣṇīṣavijayā is not rendered into Tibetan in the feminine, and the word uṣṇīṣavijayā is used only to refer to the name of the dhāraṇī—the dhāraṇī of the crown victory.22
The range of possible answers to the question of what the name Uṣṇīṣavijayā refers to is enlarged even further by the existence of a group of related texts widely used in Southeast Asia, sharing the Pali title Uṇhissa-vijaya-sutta (or in some cases simply Uṇhissa-vijaya) but found in a number of different forms, some in Pali but others in Siamese, Lao, Yuon, and Khmer. Some refer at least briefly to the story of the god Supratiṣṭhita (Pali Supatiṭṭhita) which, although it does not feature in the present text, is the frame story or a secondary narrative element in others of the group. But instead of the dhāraṇī of the Sanskrit and Tibetan texts these Southeast Asian texts contain a set of verses (gāthā) to be recited whose content is unrelated to that of the Sanskrit dhāraṇī. The gāthā are also found alone in several ritual compilations. Even in the vernacular versions, the verses are written in Pali. In these texts, in their own opening lines, it seems to be the verses themselves that are referred to as the Uṇhissa-vijaya.23
According to its colophon, this text was translated into Tibetan by Lotsāwa Neten Palkyi Nyima Gyaltsen Sangpo at Tharpa Ling in accordance with the instructions of Ne’u Khenpo. Tharpa Ling is a monastery near Zhalu in Central Tibet, and Tharpa Lotsāwa Nyima Gyaltsen, active in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, was one of Butön’s teachers. This translation was therefore among the last translations to be included in the canon. One Uṣṇīṣavijayā-dhāraṇī-vidhisahitā is listed in the ninth century imperial Phangthangma catalog. While the dating means that it cannot refer to the same Tibetan translation as the present text, it is certainly a work of a similar type, and its inclusion in the Phangthangma, along with the records of uṣṇīṣavijayā texts at Dunhuang, indicate the early presence in Tibet not just of the uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī, but also of some of its associated rites.24 Nonetheless, as noted above, its contents make it clear that the present text began to circulate later than the other similar uṣṇīṣavijayā texts included in the canon—even those that include associated rites.
The present translation is based on the Tibetan translation of the text found in the Tantra Collection (rgyud ’bum) section of the Degé Kangyur,25 in consultation with the Stok Palace Kangyur and the notes in the Comparative Edition of the Kangyur (dpe bsdur ma). The text is stable across all the Kangyurs consulted, with the same title and colophon and only minor variants. We also consulted Hidas’ edition and translation of the surviving Sanskrit Uṣṇīṣavijayā-dhāraṇī text for the passages that are parallel with the present text.
The main dhāraṇī is not identical in every detail across the five different versions in the Degé Kangyur (Toh 594–598), and the existence of further variations across different Kangyurs and versions in extra-canonical collections further complicates the picture. Reference to the dhāraṇī as presented in Hidas’ edition of the Sanskrit yields useful orthographic confirmation, but may be misleading as a model given that the ten different Nepalese Sanskrit manuscripts on which it is based are of much later date than any of the present Tibetan witnesses. Here and in the other works in the group we have therefore chosen to transcribe the dhāraṇī as it appears in the Degé version of each text, making only minor choices of orthography and adding annotations to point out the most significant discrepancies.
Over the centuries, the textual transmission of the dhāraṇī has preserved the major portion of it with remarkable fidelity. Nevertheless, the few anomalies to be seen across all these closely related texts are a reminder that here, as with other dhāraṇī works, some variations over time and place are to be expected.
Text Body
A Ritual Manual for The Uṣṇīṣavijayā Dhāraṇī
The Translation
Homage to Uṣṇīṣavijayā.
26Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was residing in Sukhāvatī. The blessed, thus-gone, worthy, perfectly awakened Buddha Amitāyus was staying joyfully in the grove of the excellent secret palace, Dharma Proclamation.27 He said to the bodhisattva, the great being, Noble Avalokiteśvara, “Child of noble family, there are beings who suffer, are afflicted with diseases, and have short lifespans. To help them, one should uphold this dhāraṇī called the crown victory of all tathāgatas and teach it extensively to others for the sake of long life.”
Then the bodhisattva, the great being, Avalokiteśvara arose from his seat, joined his palms, [F.248.b] and said to the Blessed One, “Blessed One, please teach the dhāraṇī called the crown victory of all tathāgatas. Well-Gone One, please teach it!”
Then the Blessed One looked upon the circle of his perfect28 retinue, entered the samādhi called the splendor beheld everywhere, and pronounced this dhāraṇī called the crown victory of all tathāgatas:
“oṁ namo bhagavate sarvatrailokyaprativiśiṣṭāya buddhāya te namaḥ |
tadyathā | oṁ bhrūṁ bhrūṁ bhrūṁ | śodhaya śodhaya | viśodhaya viśodhaya | asamasamantāvabhāsaspharaṇagatigaganasvabhāvaviśuddhe29 | abhiṣiñcantu māṃ sarvatathāgatāḥ sugatavaravacanāmṛtābhiṣekair mahāmudrāmantrapadaiḥ | oṁ30 āhara āhara mama31 āyuḥsandhāraṇi | śodhaya śodhaya | viśodhaya viśodhaya | gaganasvabhāvaviśuddhe | uṣṇīṣavijāyapariśuddhe | sahasraraśmisañcodite | sarvatathāgatāvalokini | ṣaṭpāramitāparipūraṇi | sarvatathāgatamāte32 | daśabhūmipratiṣṭḥite | sarvatathāgatahṛdayādhiṣṭhānādhiṣṭḥite | oṁ33 mudre mudre mahāmudre | vajrakāyasaṃhatanapariśuddhe | sarvakarmāvaraṇaviśuddhe | pratinivartaya mamāyurviśuddhe | sarvatathāgatasamayādhiṣṭhānādhiṣṭhite | oṁ muni muni mahāmuni | vimuni vimuni mahāvimuni | mati mati mahāmati | mamati mamati34 mahāmamati| sumati sumati mahāsumati35 | tathatābhūtakoṭipariśuddhe | visphuṭabuddhiśuddhe | oṁ36 he he | jaya jaya | vijaya vijaya | smara smara | sphara sphara | sphāraya sphāraya | sarvabuddhādhiṣṭhānādhiṣṭhite | oṁ37 śuddhe śuddhe | buddhe buddhe | vajre vajre mahāvajre | suvajre | vajragarbhe | jayagarbhe | vijayagarbhe | vajrajvālagarbhe | vajrodbhave | vajrasambhave | vajre | vajrini | vajram bhavatu me śarīraṃ sarvasatvānāñ ca kāyapariśuddhir bhavatu | me sadā38 sarvagatipariśuddhiś ca39 | sarvatathāgatāś ca māṃ40 samāśvāsayantu | oṁ41 budhya budhya | siddhya siddhya | bodhaya bodhaya | vibodhaya vibodhaya | mocaya mocaya | vimocaya vimocaya | [F.249.a] śodhaya śodhaya | viśodhaya viśodhaya | samantān mocaya mocaya | samantaraśmipariśuddhe | sarvatathāgatahṛdayādhiṣṭhānādhiṣṭhite | oṁ42 mudre mudre mahāmudre | mahāmudrāmantrapadaiḥ svāhā.43
“Child of noble family, this dhāraṇī of the crown victory of all tathāgatas is the destroyer44 of the great cudgel of death, the purifier, the destroyer of evil deeds. Anyone who wants a long lifespan should read this dhāraṇī aloud following the rite that I will explain here.
“Smear a wide clearing on the ground with earth and substances derived from a cow. Sprinkle it with saffron-infused water. Adorn it with a canopy45 above, and let that hang down. At the center draw46 an elaborately ornamented eight-spoked wheel with white powder. At the center of that is Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Natural Essence. Then, install these tathāgatas on each of the spokes of the wheel in order, starting in the east: Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Sky-Like Feast Gathering, Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Essence of the Earth, Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Essence of Jewels, Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from Nutritious Food, Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Boundless Essence, Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Essence of Splendor, Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Sound of a Drum, and Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from a Breeze.
“Draw a sixteen-petaled lotus directly on the outside of this and install, on each petal and in proper order, the following tathāgatas arisen from the sixteen drops: Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from Inner Emptiness,47 Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from Outer Emptiness, Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from Outer and Inner Emptiness, Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Emptiness of Emptiness, Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from Ultimate Emptiness, Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Emptiness of Compounded Phenomena, Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Emptiness of Uncompounded Phenomena, Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from Beginningless and Endless Emptiness, [F.249.b] Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Emptiness of Nonrejection, Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Natural Emptiness, Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Emptiness of All Phenomena, Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Emptiness of Own-Characteristics, Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Emptiness of the Unobserved, Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Emptiness of Nonentities, Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Emptiness of Own-Essence, and Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Emptiness of Own-Essence of Nonentities.
“Make a maṇḍala with seats for the tathāgatas and offer them whatever flowers are in season. Set up a throne in the upper half of it and place upon it a caitya of Vairocanagarbha in a water vessel. Also place there a piece of paper or a leaf with the syllables of the mantra and the practitioner’s name on it and a vase filled with water.
“Place four vases in the four directions surrounding the lotus and decorate them with silken tassels, parasols, and pennants. To the east place the goddess Uṣṇīṣavijayā Who Conquers All Obstacles. In the south is the goddess Uṣṇīṣavijayā Who Conquers Death. In the west is the goddess Uṣṇīṣavijayā Who Conquers Afflictive Emotions. In the north is the goddess Uṣṇīṣavijayā Who Conquers Illnesses of the Aggregates. In the southeast is Life-Granting Vajra Garland. In the southwest is Mahāmāyā. In the northwest is Golden Light. In the northeast is Life-Granting Golden Garland.
“Fill four vessels with perfumed water, hang flower garlands on them, and place them there also. Around these draw three images with colored powder. In the first line arrange one thousand molded images made with wet clay that is free from hairs and the like. If one thousand are not possible, it is essential to set out at least one hundred. Make offerings in the four directions with utmost honor and respect.
“A dharmabhāṇaka who maintains a vow [F.250.a] not to speak any other words should recite this dhāraṇī. Each time they recite the dhāraṇī, they should make offerings to the head of the caitya and consecrate it. After reciting one thousand times, they should wave their hand at the head of the central caitya and make offerings of flowers, incense, lamps, scented water, food offerings, and so forth. One thousand of each of these offerings should be arranged in lines around the caitya. Make sure that the line of lamps burns without being blown out by the wind for as long as it takes to finish the rite, and maintain equipoise and strict purity.
“If the rite is performed in this way, a lifespan of seven days will thereby become seven years, a lifespan of seven years will become a supremely long life, one will be free from illness and live for a hundred years, and one will never meet an untimely death. If one follows some other procedure to perform the rite, it will not work.”
Colophon
This ritual manual was translated in Glorious Tharpa Ling Temple by the learned Lotsāwa Neten Palkyi Nyima Gyaltsen Sangpo following the instructions of the genuine spiritual friend, the sublime monk and unparalleled teacher of the Vinaya Piṭaka, Ne’u Khenpo.
Notes
Bibliography
Source Texts for This Translation
de bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi gtsug tor rnam par rgyal ma’i gzungs zhes bya ba’i rtog pa (Sarvatathāgatauṣṇīṣavijayānāmadhāraṇīkalpa). Toh 598, Degé Kangyur, vol. 90 (rgyud, pha), folios 248.a–250.a.
de bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi gtsug tor rnam par rgyal ma’i gzungs zhes bya ba’i rtog pa. bka’ ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 2006–9, vol. 90, pp. 819–26.
de bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi gtsug tor rnam par rgyal ma’i gzungs zhes bya ba’i rtog pa. Stok Palace Kangyur vol. 104 (rgyud, pa), folios 220.b–223.b.
Other Tibetan and Sanskrit Sources
de bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi gtsug tor rnam par rgyal ba zhes bya ba’i gzungs rtog pa dang bcas pa (Sarvatathāgatauṣṇīṣavijayānāmadhāraṇīkalpasahitā). Toh 594, Degé Kangyur vol. 90 (rgyud, pha), folios 230.a–237.b.
de bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi gtsug tor rnam par rgyal ba zhes bya ba’i gzungs rtog pa dang bcas pa (Sarvatathāgatauṣṇīṣavijayānāmadhāraṇīkalpasahitā). Toh 595, Degé Kangyur vol. 90 (rgyud, pha), folios 237.b–242.a.
de bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi gtsug tor rnam par rgyal ba zhes bya ba’i gzungs rtog pa dang bcas pa (Sarvatathāgatauṣṇīṣavijayānāmadhāraṇīkalpasahitā). Toh 596, Degé Kangyur vol. 90 (rgyud, pha), folios 242.a–243.b.
’phags pa ngan ’gro thams cad yongs su sbyong ba gtsug tor rnam par rgyal ba zhes bya ba’i gzungs (Sarvadurgatipariśodhanauṣṇīṣavijayānāmadhāraṇī). Toh 597, Degé Kangyur vol. 90 (rgyud, pha), folios 243.b–248.a; Toh 984, Degé Kangyur vol. 102 (gzungs, waM), folios 120.a–124.b.
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.
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Dalton, Jacob P. (2016). “How Dhāraṇīs WERE Proto-Tantric: Liturgies, Ritual Manuals, and the Origins of the Tantras.” In Tantric Traditions in Transmission and Translation, edited by David Gray and Ryan Richard Overbey, 199–229. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.
———(forthcoming). Conjuring the Buddha: Ritual Manuals in Early Tantric Buddhism. New York: Columbia University Press, forthcoming.
Dalton, Jacob, and Sam van Schaik, ed. Tibetan Tantric Manuscripts from Dunhuang: A Descriptive Catalogue of the Stein Collection at the British Library. Brill’s Tibetan Studies Library 12. Leiden: Brill, 2006.
Hidas, Gergely (2014). “Two Dhāraṇī Prints in the Stein Collection at the British Museum.” Bulletin of SOAS 77, no. 1 (2014): 105–17.
———(2020). “Uṣṇīṣavijayā-dhāraṇī: The Complete Sanskrit Text Based on Nepalese Manuscripts.” International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Culture 30, no. 2 (December 2020): 147–67.
———(2021a). “Dhāraṇī Seals in the Cunningham Collection.” In Precious Treasures from the Diamond Throne: Finds from the Site of the Buddha’s Enlightenment, edited by Sam van Schaik et al., 87–94. London: The British Museum, 2021.
———(2021b). Powers of Protection: The Buddhist Tradition of Spells in the Dhāraṇīsaṃgraha Collections. Beyond Boundaries 9. Boston: de Gruyter, 2021.
Hodge, Stephen, trans. The Mahā-vairocana-abhisaṃbodhi Tantra: With Buddhaguhya’s Commentary. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003.
Lalou, Marcelle. “Les textes bouddhiques au temps du roi Khri-sroṅ-lde-bcan.” Journal Asiatique 241 (1953): 313–53.
Negi, J. S. Tibetan–Sanskrit Dictionary (bod skad legs sbyar gyi tshig mdzod chen mo). 16 vols. Sarnath: Dictionary Unit, Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, 1993.
Schopen, Gregory (2005). “The Bodhigarbhālaṅkāralakṣa and Vimaloṣṇīṣa Dhāraṇīs in Indian Inscriptions: Two Sources for the Practice of Buddhism in Medieval India.” In Figments and Fragments of Mahāyāna Buddhism in India, 314–34. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2005.
———(unpublished). “Sarva(dur)gatipariśodhani-uṣṇīṣavijaya: The Los Angeles Manuscript.” Unpublished transcription and English translation.
Schmid, Neil. “Dunhuang and Central Asia.” In Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia, edited by Charles D. Orzech, Henrik H. Sørensen, and Richard K. Payne, 365–78. Leiden: Brill, 2011.
Silk, Jonathan. “The Heart Sūtra as Dhāraṇī.” Acta Asiatica 121 (2021): 99–125.
Sørensen, Henrik (2011a). “On Esoteric Buddhism in China: A Working Definition.” In Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia, edited by Charles D. Orzech, Henrik H. Sørensen, and Richard K. Payne, 155–75. Leiden: Brill, 2011.
———(2011b). “Esoteric Buddhism in the Nanzhao and Dali Kingdoms (ca. 800–1253).” In Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia, edited by Charles D. Orzech, Henrik H. Sørensen, and Richard K. Payne, 379–92. Leiden: Brill, 2011.
Unebe Toshiya. “Bonbun Bucchō Sonshō daranikyō to shoyaku no taishō kenkyū” [Sarvadurgatipariśodhana-ūṣṇīṣavijayā nama dhāraṇī: Sanskrit text collated with Tibetan and Chinese translations along with Japanese translation]. Nagoya Diagaku Bungakubu Kankyū Ronshū 61 (2015): 97–146.
von Rospatt, Alexander. “Local Literatures: Nepal.” In Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism, edited by Jonathan Silk et al., vol. 1, Literature and Languages, 819–30. Leiden: Brill, 2015.
Glossary
Types of attestation for names and terms of the corresponding source language
Attested in source text
This term is attested in a manuscript used as a source for this translation.
Attested in other text
This term is attested in other manuscripts with a parallel or similar context.
Attested in dictionary
This term is attested in dictionaries matching Tibetan to the corresponding language.
Approximate attestation
The attestation of this name is approximate. It is based on other names where the relationship between the Tibetan and source language is attested in dictionaries or other manuscripts.
Reconstruction from Tibetan phonetic rendering
This term is a reconstruction based on the Tibetan phonetic rendering of the term.
Reconstruction from Tibetan semantic rendering
This term is a reconstruction based on the semantics of the Tibetan translation.
Source unspecified
This term has been supplied from an unspecified source, which most often is a widely trusted dictionary.
Amitāyus
- tshe dpag med
- ཚེ་དཔག་མེད།
- amitāyus
Avalokiteśvara
- spyan ras gzigs
- སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས།
- avalokiteśvara
blessed one
- bcom ldan ’das
- བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས།
- bhagavān
caitya
- mchod rten
- མཆོད་རྟེན།
- caitya
dhāraṇī
- gzungs
- གཟུངས།
- dhāraṇī
Dharma Proclamation
- chos yang dag par sdud pa
- ཆོས་ཡང་དག་པར་སྡུད་པ།
- dharmasaṃgīti
dharmabhāṇaka
- chos smra ba
- ཆོས་སྨྲ་བ།
- dharmabhāṇaka
Golden Light
- gser ’od ma
- གསེར་འོད་མ།
- —
kalpa
- rtog pa
- རྟོག་པ།
- kalpa
Life-Granting Golden Garland
- gser gyi phreng ba can tshe sbyin ma
- གསེར་གྱི་ཕྲེང་བ་ཅན་ཚེ་སྦྱིན་མ།
- —
Life-Granting Vajra Garland
- rdo rje phreng ba tshe sbyin ma
- རྡོ་རྗེ་ཕྲེང་བ་ཚེ་སྦྱིན་མ།
- —
Mahāmāyā
- sgyu ma chen mo
- སྒྱུ་མ་ཆེན་མོ།
- —
molded image
- sats+tsha
- སཙྪ།
- sāñcaka
Ne’u Khenpo
- ne’u mkhan po
- ནེའུ་མཁན་པོ།
- —
Nyima Gyaltsen Sangpo
- nyi ma rgyal mtshan bzang po
- ཉི་མ་རྒྱལ་མཚན་བཟང་པོ།
- —
samādhi
- ting nge ’dzin
- ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན།
- samādhi
sixteen emptinesses
- stong pa nyid bcu drug
- སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་བཅུ་དྲུག
- ṣoḍaśaśūnyatā
substances derived from a cow
- ba byung
- བ་བྱུང་།
- gavya
Sukhāvatī
- bde ba can
- བདེ་བ་ཅན།
- sukhāvatī
tathāgata
- de bzhin gshegs pa
- དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པ།
- tathāgata
uṣṇīṣa
- gtsug tor
- གཙུག་ཏོར།
- uṣṇīṣa
Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from a Breeze
- ser bu ’byung ba’i gtsug tor
- སེར་བུ་འབྱུང་བའི་གཙུག་ཏོར།
- —
Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from Beginningless and Endless Emptiness
- thog ma dang tha ma med pa stong pa nyid ’byung ba’i gtsug tor
- ཐོག་མ་དང་ཐ་མ་མེད་པ་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་འབྱུང་བའི་གཙུག་ཏོར།
- —
Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from Inner Emptiness
- nang stong pa nyid ’byung ba’i gtsug tor
- ནང་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་འབྱུང་བའི་གཙུག་ཏོར།
- —
Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from Nutritious Food
- ro bcud kyi snying po ’byung ba’i gtsug tor
- རོ་བཅུད་ཀྱི་སྙིང་པོ་འབྱུང་བའི་གཙུག་ཏོར།
- —
Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from Outer and Inner Emptiness
- phyi nang stong pa nyid ’byung ba’i gtsug tor
- ཕྱི་ནང་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་འབྱུང་བའི་གཙུག་ཏོར།
- —
Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from Outer Emptiness
- phyi stong pa nyid ’byung ba’i gtsug tor
- ཕྱི་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་འབྱུང་བའི་གཙུག་ཏོར།
- —
Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Boundless Essence
- snying po dpag med ’byung ba’i gtsug tor
- སྙིང་པོ་དཔག་མེད་འབྱུང་བའི་གཙུག་ཏོར།
- —
Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Emptiness of All Phenomena
- chos thams cad stong pa nyid ’byung ba’i gtsug tor
- ཆོས་ཐམས་ཅད་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་འབྱུང་བའི་གཙུག་ཏོར།
- —
Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Emptiness of Compounded Phenomena
- ’dus byas stong pa nyid ’byung ba’i gtsug tor
- འདུས་བྱས་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་འབྱུང་བའི་གཙུག་ཏོར།
- —
Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Emptiness of Emptiness
- stong pa nyid stong pa nyid ’byung ba’i gtsug tor
- སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་འབྱུང་བའི་གཙུག་ཏོར།
- —
Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Emptiness of Nonentities
- dngos po med pa stong pa nyid ’byung ba’i gtsug tor
- དངོས་པོ་མེད་པ་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་འབྱུང་བའི་གཙུག་ཏོར།
- —
Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Emptiness of Nonrejection
- dor ba med pa stong pa nyid ’byung ba’i gtsug tor
- དོར་བ་མེད་པ་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་འབྱུང་བའི་གཙུག་ཏོར།
- —
Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Emptiness of Own-Characteristics
- rang gi mtshan nyid stong pa nyid ’byung ba’i gtsug tor
- རང་གི་མཚན་ཉིད་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་འབྱུང་བའི་གཙུག་ཏོར།
- —
Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Emptiness of Own-Essence
- rang gi ngo bo nyid stong pa nyid ’byung ba’i gtsug tor
- རང་གི་ངོ་བོ་ཉིད་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་འབྱུང་བའི་གཙུག་ཏོར།
- —
Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Emptiness of Own-Essence of Nonentities
- dngos po med pa’i rang gi ngo bo stong pa nyid ’byung ba’i gtsug tor
- དངོས་པོ་མེད་པའི་རང་གི་ངོ་བོ་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་འབྱུང་བའི་གཙུག་ཏོར།
- —
Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Emptiness of the Unobserved
- mi dmigs pa stong pa nyid ’byung ba’i gtsug tor
- མི་དམིགས་པ་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་འབྱུང་བའི་གཙུག་ཏོར།
- —
Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Emptiness of Uncompounded Phenomena
- ’dus ma byas stong pa nyid ’byung ba’i gtsug tor
- འདུས་མ་བྱས་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་འབྱུང་བའི་གཙུག་ཏོར།
- —
Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Essence of Jewels
- nor bu’i snying po ’byung ba’i gtsug tor
- ནོར་བུའི་སྙིང་པོ་འབྱུང་བའི་གཙུག་ཏོར།
- —
Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Essence of Splendor
- gzi brjid snying po ’byung ba’i gtsug tor
- གཟི་བརྗིད་སྙིང་པོ་འབྱུང་བའི་གཙུག་ཏོར།
- —
Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Essence of the Earth
- sa’i snying po ’byung ba’i gtsug tor
- སའི་སྙིང་པོ་འབྱུང་བའི་གཙུག་ཏོར།
- —
Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Natural Emptiness
- rang bzhin stong pa nyid ’byung ba’i gtsug tor
- རང་བཞིན་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་འབྱུང་བའི་གཙུག་ཏོར།
- —
Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Natural Essence
- rang bzhin gyi snying po ’byung ba’i gtsug tor
- རང་བཞིན་གྱི་སྙིང་པོ་འབྱུང་བའི་གཙུག་ཏོར།
- —
Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Sky-Like Feast Gathering
- nam mkha’ ltar ’dus pa’i bza’ ston ’byung ba’i gtsug tor
- ནམ་མཁའ་ལྟར་འདུས་པའི་བཟའ་སྟོན་འབྱུང་བའི་གཙུག་ཏོར།
- —
Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from the Sound of a Drum
- rnga’i sgra dbyangs ’byung ba’i gtsug tor
- རྔའི་སྒྲ་དབྱངས་འབྱུང་བའི་གཙུག་ཏོར།
- —
Uṣṇīṣa Arisen from Ultimate Emptiness
- don dam pa stong pa nyid ’byung ba’i gtsug tor
- དོན་དམ་པ་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་འབྱུང་བའི་གཙུག་ཏོར།
- —
Uṣṇīṣavijayā
- gtsug tor rnam par rgyal ma
- གཙུག་ཏོར་རྣམ་པར་རྒྱལ་མ།
- uṣṇīṣavijayā
Uṣṇīṣavijayā Who Conquers Afflictive Emotions
- nyon mongs pa rab tu ’joms pa’i gtsug tor rnam par rgyal ba
- ཉོན་མོངས་པ་རབ་ཏུ་འཇོམས་པའི་གཙུག་ཏོར་རྣམ་པར་རྒྱལ་བ།
- —
Uṣṇīṣavijayā Who Conquers All Obstacles
- bgegs rab tu ’joms pa’i gtsug tor rnam par rgyal ba
- བགེགས་རབ་ཏུ་འཇོམས་པའི་གཙུག་ཏོར་རྣམ་པར་རྒྱལ་བ།
- —
Uṣṇīṣavijayā Who Conquers Death
- ’chi ba rab tu ’joms pa’i gtsug tor rnam par rgyal ba
- འཆི་བ་རབ་ཏུ་འཇོམས་པའི་གཙུག་ཏོར་རྣམ་པར་རྒྱལ་བ།
- —
Uṣṇīṣavijayā Who Conquers Illnesses of the Aggregates
- phung po’i nad rab tu ’joms pa’i gtsug tor rnam par rgyal ba
- ཕུང་པོའི་ནད་རབ་ཏུ་འཇོམས་པའི་གཙུག་ཏོར་རྣམ་པར་རྒྱལ་བ།
- —
well-gone one
- bde bar gshegs pa
- བདེ་བར་གཤེགས་པ།
- sugata