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ལྷ་མོ་སྐུལ་བྱེད་མའི་གཟུངས།

The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā

Cundādevī­dhāraṇī
འཕགས་པ་ལྷ་མོ་སྐུལ་བྱེད་མ་ཤེས་བྱ་བའི་གཟུངས།
’phags pa lha mo skul byed ma shes bya ba’i gzungs
The Noble Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā
Ārya­cundādevī­nāma­dhāraṇī

Toh 613

Degé Kangyur, vol. 91 (rgyud ’bum, ba), folios 46.b–47.a

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co.

Table of Contents

ti. Title
im. Imprint
co. Contents
s. Summary
ac. Acknowledgements
i. Introduction
tr. The Translation
+ 1 section- 1 section
1. The Noble Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā
ab. Abbreviations
n. Notes
b. Bibliography
+ 2 sections- 2 sections
· Tibetan Translations
· Other Sources
g. Glossary

s.

Summary

s.­1

The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā consists of an homage, invocation, and description of the Goddess Cundā followed by a request to Cundā for protection and good fortune.


ac.

Acknowledgements

ac.­1

This publication was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.

ac.­2

The text was translated, edited, and introduced by the 84000 translation team. Adam C. Krug produced the translation and wrote the introduction. Rory Lindsay edited the translation and the introduction, and Dawn Collins copyedited the text. Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.


i.

Introduction

i.­1

The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā opens with homages to the Three Jewels, the Buddha Vairocana, and the Goddess Cundā, followed by a short homage and dhāraṇī in transliterated Sanskrit that reads namaḥ saptānām saṃyaksaṃ­buddhakoṭīnām | tadyathā | oṁ cale cule cunde svāhā. This combined homage and dhāraṇī also appears in the second section of The Basket’s Display (Toh 116)1 when Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin has returned to join Śākyamuni’s assembly at Jetavana Monastery at the conclusion of his search for the great vidyā mantra of Avalokiteśvara.2 Unlike The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā, this passage in The Basket’s Display does not provide any ritual instructions for reciting her dhāraṇī, any mention of the benefits of this recitation practice, or any description or mention of the goddess to whom this dhāraṇī is addressed.

i.­2

This opening homage and dhāraṇī is followed by an extensive section praising the goddess that describes Cundā’s qualities, hand implements, and appearance. Here she is described as having the face of the Goddess Anantā, a form of the Goddess Umā or Parvatī, as having been blessed by all the thus-gone ones, and as the recipient of offerings from all the gods. These verses describing the goddess and praising her qualities describe many of Cundā’s attributes as either composed of vajras or modified by the term vajra, as the dhāraṇī emphasizes her invulnerability and indestructible power to protect beings.

i.­3

The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā then introduces a second Sanskrit liturgy directed at “Blessed Cundā” (bhagavati cunde) requesting that Cundā protect the person reciting the dhāraṇī from a variety of hostile, demonic beings. The text concludes with a final benediction requesting Cundā to protect the person reciting the dhāraṇī and bring them good fortune.

i.­4

We are not aware of any surviving Sanskrit witness of The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā at present, but there is strong textual and art historical evidence to suggest that Cundā enjoyed widespread popularity across the Indic Buddhist world from the eighth century onward.3 Cundā is mentioned in a number of tantras in the Kangyur and Nyingma Gyubum. In the Kangyur, she appears as a significant maṇḍala deity in the Guhyasamāja and Māyājāla traditions.4 Śāntideva refers to The Cundā Dhāraṇī in his Śikṣāsamuccaya, where he mentions reciting her dhāraṇī to purify misdeeds.5 She is featured in Abhayākaragupta’s Niṣpanna­yogāvali as a goddess in Vairocana Mañjuvajra’s maṇḍala,6 as one of twelve dhāraṇī goddesses in the Dharmadhātu Vagīśvara maṇḍala,7 and as Ṭakkirāja’s consort in the Kālacakra maṇḍala.8 Three short sādhanas to the Goddess Cundā appear in the Sādhanamāla,9 as well as a single Cundā sādhana in The “Hundred” Sādhanas translated by Patshab10 and a single sādhana in The “Hundred” Sādhanas translated by Bari.11 In Tāranātha’s History of Buddhism in India, Cundā appears as an important tutelary and protector deity who supports the ascension of Gopāla I (r.750–75 ᴄᴇ), the founder and first ruler of the Pāla Dynasty. Her close ties to the founding of the Pāla Empire undoubtedly played an important role in Cundā’s incorporation into the maṇḍala systems of several tantras, her rise in popularity during this period across the Indian sub-continent, and the promotion of the goddess throughout Asia.12

i.­5

The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā does not appear in either of the Imperial Tibetan catalogs of translated works, which suggests that the Tibetan translation was likely produced after the ninth century. The Kangyur witnesses for this text do not contain a translators’ colophon,13 so they do not provide any data on the translators who worked on this text or the time when The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā was translated into Tibetan. The text appears twice in the Degé Kangyur‍—once in the tantra section (rgyud ’bum) and once in the compendium of dhāraṇīs (gzungs ’dus).14

i.­6

The Taishō contains three Chinese translations of a single work devoted to the Goddess Cundā that differs in both length and content from The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā in the Tibetan Kangyurs. The earliest Chinese translation of a textual tradition for the Goddess Cundā in the Taishō was produced in 685 ᴄᴇ by the translator Divākara (Taishō 1077).15 A second Chinese translation in the Taishō was then completed in 723 ᴄᴇ by Vajrabodhi (Taishō 1075),16 and the third Chinese translation in the Taishō was completed in 1246 ᴄᴇ by Amoghavajra (Taishō 1076).17 These translations supported Cundā’s widespread popularity across East Asian Buddhist traditions, which continues to this day.

i.­7

This English translation was prepared using both Tibetan witnesses that are preserved in the Degé Kangyur, the Tibetan translation in the Stok Palace Kangyur, and the Comparative Edition of the Kangyur.


Text Body

The Noble Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā

1.

The Translation

[F.46.b]


1.­1

Homage to the Three Jewels.


Homage to the blessed, thus-gone, worthy, perfectly awakened buddha Vairocana.


Homage to you, blessed Goddess Cundā, who has immeasurable power and strength, has magical powers and tramples enemies, and is celebrated and praised by all the thus-gone ones. Please bring me good fortune in every way and at all times.


1.­2

namaḥ saptānāṃ samyaksam­buddha­koṭīnāṃ | tadyathā |

1.­3

oṁ cale cule cunde svāhā

1.­4

Diligent one with pristine discipline. Great powerful one. Great conqueror of enemies. In your hands you hold a sword, a battle axe, a hook, [F.47.a] and a noose. Great wrathful one. Queen of the great wrathful ones. Goddess with a fierce form,18 Anantā’s face, and one-thousand arms. Invincible one whom no enemy can withstand. Unfailing one, who is so difficult to tame. Goddess with a thousand eyes who is blessed by all the thus-gone ones. Goddess whom all gods venerate, and to whom they all make offerings. Goddess whose nails are vajras, who is a vajra filled with vajras,19 and who is armed with vajras. Goddess with a vajra body, vajra fists, and wrathful vajra eyes that dart about.20 Fierce one who transforms into and displays a fierce form, and whose body is adorned with vajra and beryl ornaments.

1.­5

oṁ bhagavati cunde hūṁ hūṁ krūṁ krūṁ mrūṁ mrūṁ sruṁ sruṁ rūṃ rūṃ āveśaya gṛhṇa gṛhṇa gṛhṇāpaya gṛhṇāpaya hara hara bhañja bhañja sara sara mara mara māraya māraya paca paca daha daha gṛhṇa gṛhṇa‍—all manner of hostile grahas; one, two, three, four, and seven-day fevers; persistent and momentary fevers;21 bhūta, vetāla, preta, piśāca, yakṣa, rākṣasa, and kumbhāṇḍa grahas;22 beings who are born from a womb; beings who are born, transmigrate, and abide in a particular realm due to karma; any hostile beings who might harm me; and all manner of evil beings‍—saṃdhaya saṃdhaya mardaya mardaya śoṣaya śoṣaya tāpaya tāpaya utsādhaya utsādhaya hana hana vajreṇa sara sara daṇḍena māraya māraya khaḍgena23 hūṁ hūṁ hūṁ cūṃ cūṃ cūṃ drūṃ drūṃ drūṃ oṁ cale cule cunde sarvārthasādhaya svāhā

1.­6

May the blessing and power of the blessed noble Goddess Cundā protect me from all harm and bring me good fortune svāhā.

1.­7

This concludes “The Noble Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā.”


ab.

Abbreviations

C Choné (co ne)
D Degé (sde dge bka’ ’gyur)
H Lhasa (lha sa / zhol)
J Lithang (li thang)
K Kanxi (kang shi)
N Narthang (snar thang)
S Stok Palace (stog pho ’brang)
U Urga (phyi sog khu re)
Y Yongle (g.yong lo)

n.

Notes

n.­1
The Basket’s Display, (Kāraṇḍa­vyūha, Toh 116).
n.­2
The Basket’s Display, Toh 116, translated by Peter Alan Roberts with Tulku Yeshi, 2.­79. While the Sanskrit in the dhāraṇī refers to “seventy-million completely perfect buddhas” (saptānām saṃyaksaṃ­buddha­koṭīnām), the Tibetan translation of The Basket’s Display notes that “seventy-seven times ten million” completely perfect buddhas assemble and recite her dhāraṇī. Given that in Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit the usage of the genitive case, which functions as the dative in constructions with namaḥ (“salutation to…”), is common in mantras and dhāraṇīs, the use of the genitive here (namaḥ saptānām samyaksam­buddha­koṭīnām) prompts us to understand this as an homage to the seventy-million completely perfect buddhas, here reading the genitive plural as an honorific form for the dative.
n.­3
Shaw 2006, pp. 265–75.
n.­4
Numerous references to Cundā appear in Toh 453, The Beginning Chapter of the Supremely Great Vajra and in Toh 466, The Net of Magical Illusion. Cundā also appears as a goddess in the Heruka maṇḍala presented in chapter six of Emergence from Sampuṭa, See Emergence from Sampuṭa, Toh 381, translated by Dharmachakra Translation Committee (2020; 2024), 6.­166.
n.­5
Śāntideva, Śikṣāsamuccaya, in Śikṣāsamuccaya of Śāntideva, edited by P. L. Vaidya, Buddhist Sanskrit Texts 11 (Darbhanga: Mithila Institute of Post-Graduate Studies and Research in Sanskrit Learning, 1960), p. 96. The Tibetan witnesses of The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā preserved in the various recensions of the Kangyur focus primarily on invoking Cundā for protection against various illnesses that are brought on by demonic beings. There is no true equivalent of an invocation to the goddess for the purification of one’s misdeeds. It is thus possible that the version of The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā that survives in the Tibetan Kangyurs is somewhat different from the text that Śāntideva references in his Śikṣāsamucchaya.
n.­6
Chandra and Sharma 2015, p. 169.
n.­7
Ibid., p. 191.
n.­8
Ibid., p. 294.
n.­9
Bhattacharyya 1925;1968, pp. 270–73. This Sanskrit edition of the Sādhanamālā corresponds to the Ocean of Sādhanas in the Degé Tengyur, which contains a collection of two hundred and forty-five sādhanas. All three of the Cundā sādhanas in Bhattacharyya’s edition of the Sādhanamāla also appear in the Tibetan translation of this collection. See Toh 3519 tsun+da’i sgrub thabs (Cundāsādhana), Toh 3519 Degé Tengyur vol. 77 (rgyud, mu), folios 165a–165b; Toh 3520 tsun+da’i sgrub thabs (Cundāsādhana) Toh 3520 Degé Tengyur vol. 77 (rgyud, mu) folio 165b; and Toh 3521 tsun+da’I sgrub thabs (Cundāsādhana) Toh 3521 Degé Tengyur vol 77 (rgyud, mu), folios 165b–166a.
n.­10
skul byed ma’i sgrub thabs (Cundāsādhana) Toh 3246 Degé Tengyur vol. 76 (rgyud, bu), folios 12a–12b.
n.­11
tsun+da’i sgrub pa’i thabs (Cundāsādhana). Toh 3346 Degé Tengyur vol. 77 (rgyud, mu), folios 33a–33b.
n.­12
For an excellent summary of this episode from Tāranātha’s History of Buddhism in India as well as additional data on the extent of the Goddess Cundā’s popularity in the Pāla Empire and the broader Indic world, see Shaw 2006, pp. 265–75. For an English translation of this episode in the life of Gopāla I from Tāranātha’s History of Buddhism in India, see Chattopadhyaya 1970; 1990, pp. 257–64.
n.­13
This assessment is based on the colophon data for The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā across twenty-five recensions of the Kangyur (see http://www.rkts.org/cat.php?id=607&typ=1) and the entry for this text in Tarthang Tulku, The Nyingma edition of the sDe-dge bKa’-’gyur and bsTan-’gyur Research Catalogue and Bibliography vol. 2 (Oakland, CA: Dharma Publishing, 1981), p. 231.
n.­14

Note that there is a discrepancy among various databases for cataloging the Toh 989 version of this text within vol. 101 or 102 of the Degé Kangyur. See Toh 989, n.­14, for details.

n.­15
Lancaster, Lewis R. The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalogue. Accessed April 4, 2023. For e-texts of this version, see Qi juzhi fomu xin da zhunti tuoluoni jing 七倶胝佛母心大准提陀羅尼經 (Cundādevī­dhāraṇī), Taishō 1077 (CBETA; SAT).
n.­16
Lancaster, Lewis R. The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalogue. Accessed April 4, 2023. For etexts of this version, see Qi juzhi fomu zhunti daming tuoluoni jing 七倶胝佛母准提大明陀羅尼經 (Cundādevī­dhāraṇī), Taishō 1075 (CBETA; SAT).
n.­17
Lancaster, Lewis R. The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalogue. Accessed April 4, 2023. For e-texts of this version, see Qi juzhi fomu suo shuo zhunti tuoluoni jing 七倶胝佛母所說准提陀羅尼經 (Cundādevī­dhāraṇī), Taishō 1076 (CBETA; SAT).
n.­18
All Tibetan witnesses consulted for this translation read: drag po’i gzugs can ma. This phrase appears as the name of a goddess in The Hevajra Tantra, where it corresponds to the Sanskrit raudrarūpiṇī.
n.­19
Stok, Toh 613, and Toh 989 read: rdo rje rdo rjes ’dren ma. The Yongle and Kanxi Peking Kangyurs read: rdo rje rdo rje ’dren ma. This translation is tentative. The word ’dren ma is an old Tibetan term meaning “mixture” or “variety” that is related to the more common ’dres pa, and, following Negi, understood as corresponding to the Sanskrit saṃkīrṇa or kalmāṣa. The Tibetan ’dren ma as a translation of the Sanskrit nāyikā, referring to Cundā as the “leader” or “principal deity” is also possible, but this reading leaves the phrase rdo rje rdo rjes somewhat difficult to resolve.
n.­20
Following Stok, Toh 613, and Toh 989: rdo rje’i spyan gdangs pa’i stang stabs can ma. This translation is tentative.
n.­21
All Tibetan witnesses consulted for this translation read: rtag pa’i rims dang / yud tsam pa dang. This translation is tentative. The Tibetan term for “fever” (rims) does not actually occur here, but the proximity of the term yud tsam pa to the Tibetan for “persistent fever” (rtag pa’i rims) suggests that these two should be read in juxtaposition. It is possible, however, that the term yud tsam pa (Skt. *muhūrta) should be included with the list of demonic and disease-causing beings (Skt. grahas), as is indicated in the Tibetan translation. However, it is not at all clear that the term yud tsam pa (Skt. muhūrta) can be read in this case as a noun referring to a specific class of demonic beings.
n.­22
All Tibetan witnesses consulted for this translation read: ’byung po dang / ro langs dang / yi dags dang / sha za dang / gnod sbyin dang / srin po dang / grul bum gyi gdon dang. The term graha has been distributed to all of the members of this list, but it is possible that it only applies to the final member, the kumbhāṇḍa graha.
n.­23
All Tibetan witnesses consulted for this translation read: kha k+ke na. The reading in this translation amends the transliteration in the Tibetan to the proper form for the Sanskrit term for “sword” (Skt. khaḍga), which the text has already told us is one of the weapons that Cundā holds in her hands.

b.

Bibliography

Tibetan Translations

’phags pa lha mo skul byed ma shes bya ba’i gzungs (Ārya­cundādevī­nāma­dhāraṇī). Toh 613, Degé Kangyur vol. 91 (rgyud ’bum, ba), folios 46.b–47.a.

’phags pa lha mo skul byed ma shes bya ba’i gzungs (Ārya­cundādevī­nāma­dhāraṇī). Toh 989, Degé Kangyur vol. 101 (gzungs ’dus, waM), folios 143.a–143.b.

’phags pa lha mo skul byed ma zhes bya ba’i gzungs. bka’ ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 2006–9, vol. 91, pp. 156–58.

’phags pa lha mo skul byed ma zhes bya ba’i gzungs. bka’ ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 2006–9, vol. 98, pp. 451–53.

’phags pa lha mo skul byed ma zhes bya ba’i gzungs. Stok Palace Kangyur vol. 104 (mdo sde, ta), folios 391.b–392.b.

Other Sources

84000. Emergence from Sampuṭa (Sampuṭodbhava, yang dag par sbyor ba, Toh 381). Translated by Dharmachakra Translation Committee. Online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2020.

84000. The Basket’s Display (Kāraṇḍavyūha, za ma tog bkod pa, Toh 116). Translated by Peter Alan Roberts with Tulku Yeshi. Online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2013.

Bhattacharyya, Benoytosh, ed. Sādhanamālā. 2 vols. Gaekwad’s Oriental Series 26. Baroda: Central Library, 1925; 1968.

Buswell, Robert E., Jr., and Donald S. Lopez, Jr. The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014.

Chandra, Lokesh and Sharma, Nirmala ed. and trans. Niṣpannayogāvalī:Sanskrit and Tibetan texts with English Translation. Śata-piṭaka Series Indo-Asian Literatures vol. 647. New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture and Aditya Prakashan, 2015.

Chattopadhyaya, Lama Chimpa Alaka trans. Tāranātha’s History of Buddhism in India. Edited by Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1970; 1990.

Edgerton, Franklin. Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary. Vol 1. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1953.

Gimello, Robert. “Icon and Incantation: The Goddess Zhunti and the Role of Images in the Occult Buddhism of China.” In Images in Asian Religions: Texts and Contexts. Edited by Phyllis Granoff and Kichi Shinohara, pp. 71–85. University of British Columbia Press, 2004.

Lancaster, Lewis R. The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalogue. Accessed April 4, 2023.

Monier-Williams, Monier. A Sanskrit–English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2005.

Negi, J. S. Tibetan–Sanskrit Dictionary (bod skad dang legs sbyar gyi tshig mdzod chen mo). 16 vols. Sarnath: Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, 1993–2005.

Resources for Kanjur & Tenjur Studies, Universität Wien. Accessed April 3, 2023.

Śāntideva. Śikṣā­samuccaya. In Śikṣāsamuccaya of Śāntideva, edited by P. L. Vaidya, Buddhist Sanskrit Texts 11. Darbhanga: Mithila Institute of Post-Graduate Studies and Research in Sanskrit Learning, 1960.

Shaw, Miranda. Buddhist Goddesses of India. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006.

Tulku, Tarthang. The Nyingma edition of the sDe-dge bKa’-’gyur and bsTan-’gyur Research Catalogue and Bibliography vol 2. Oakland, CA: Dharma Publishing, 1981.

The Buddhist Canons Research Database. American Institute of Buddhist Studies and Columbia University Center for Buddhist Studies, Accessed April 4, 2023. http://databases.aibs.columbia.edu.


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

Anantā

Wylie:
  • mtha’ yas ma
Tibetan:
  • མཐའ་ཡས་མ།
Sanskrit:
  • anantā AD

A name of the goddess Parvatī or Umā.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • 1.­4
g.­2

bhūta

Wylie:
  • ’byung po
Tibetan:
  • འབྱུང་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • bhūta AD

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.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­5
g.­3

Cundā

Wylie:
  • skul byed ma
Tibetan:
  • སྐུལ་བྱེད་མ།
Sanskrit:
  • cundā AD

The name of a Buddhist goddess whose dhāraṇī is associated with protection from disease and interference from demonic beings.

Located in 14 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­1-4
  • i.­6
  • 1.­1
  • 1.­6
  • n.­4-5
  • n.­9
  • n.­12
  • n.­19
  • n.­23
g.­4

dhāraṇī

Wylie:
  • gzungs
Tibetan:
  • གཟུངས།
Sanskrit:
  • dhāraṇī

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

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.

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • i.­1-6
  • n.­2
  • g.­3
g.­5

gods

Wylie:
  • lha
Tibetan:
  • ལྷ།
Sanskrit:
  • deva AD

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.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • 1.­4
g.­6

graha

Wylie:
  • gdon
Tibetan:
  • གདོན།
Sanskrit:
  • graha AD

A type of spirit that can exert a harmful influence on the human body and mind. Grahas are closely associated with the planets and other astronomical bodies.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­5
  • n.­21-22
g.­7

kumbhāṇḍa

Wylie:
  • grul bum
Tibetan:
  • གྲུལ་བུམ།
Sanskrit:
  • kumbhāṇḍa AD

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”).

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­5
  • n.­22
g.­8

piśāca

Wylie:
  • sha za
Tibetan:
  • ཤ་ཟ།
Sanskrit:
  • piśāca AD

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.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­5
g.­9

preta

Wylie:
  • yi dags
Tibetan:
  • ཡི་དགས།
Sanskrit:
  • preta AD

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.

They are sometimes said to reside in the realm of Yama, but are also frequently described as roaming charnel grounds and other inhospitable or frightening places along with piśācas and other such beings. They are particularly known to suffer from great hunger and thirst and the inability to acquire sustenance.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­5
g.­10

rākṣasa

Wylie:
  • srin po
Tibetan:
  • སྲིན་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • rākṣasa AD

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.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­5
g.­11

Three Jewels

Wylie:
  • dkon mchog gsum
Tibetan:
  • དཀོན་མཆོག་གསུམ།
Sanskrit:
  • triratna AD

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha‍—the three objects of Buddhist refuge. In the Tibetan rendering, “the three rare and supreme ones.”

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • i.­1
  • 1.­1
g.­12

Vairocana

Wylie:
  • rnam par snang mdzad
Tibetan:
  • རྣམ་པར་སྣང་མཛད།
Sanskrit:
  • vairocana AD

Chief of one of the five families of buddhas.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • i.­1
  • i.­4
  • 1.­1
g.­13

vajra

Wylie:
  • rdo rje
Tibetan:
  • རྡོ་རྗེ།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • 1.­4
g.­14

vetāla

Wylie:
  • ro langs
Tibetan:
  • རོ་ལངས།
Sanskrit:
  • vetāla AD

A class of beings that typically haunt charnel grounds and are most often depicted entering into and animating corpses. Hence, the Tibetan translation means “risen corpse.”

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­5
g.­15

yakṣa

Wylie:
  • gnod sbyin
Tibetan:
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
Sanskrit:
  • yakṣa AD

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.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­5
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    84000. The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā (Cundādevī­dhāraṇī, lha mo skul byed ma’i gzungs, Toh 613). Translated by 84000 Associate Translators. Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024. https://84000.co/translation/toh613.Copy
    84000. The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā (Cundādevī­dhāraṇī, lha mo skul byed ma’i gzungs, Toh 613). Translated by 84000 Associate Translators, online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024, 84000.co/translation/toh613.Copy
    84000. (2024) The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā (Cundādevī­dhāraṇī, lha mo skul byed ma’i gzungs, Toh 613). (84000 Associate Translators, Trans.). Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. https://84000.co/translation/toh613.Copy

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