The Tantra of Great Gaṇapati
Toh 666
Degé Kangyur, vol. 91 (rgyud ’bum, ba), folios 193.a–199.a
- Dīpaṁkaraśrījñāna
- Gyalwé Jungné
Imprint
Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
First published 2023
Current version v 1.0.6 (2023)
Generated by 84000 Reading Room v2.25.1
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
This text was translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the supervision of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche. The translation was produced by Adam C. Krug and then checked against the Tibetan and edited by Ryan Conlon.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
Introduction
The Tantra of Great Gaṇapati is a compendium of ritual instructions for the performance of offering rites, mantra recitation, and meditation practices related to the elephant-headed deity Gaṇapati. The text is divided into fifteen chapters. The topics covered in these chapters include instructions for the construction of Gaṇapati’s maṇḍalas, instructions for making various images of Gaṇapati, the ritual applications that correspond to those images, descriptions of various forms of Gaṇapati and the deities that accompany him in his maṇḍala, and a handful of instructions on the “selection of mantra syllables” (Skt. mantroddhāra; Tib. sngags btu ba), for mantras associated with Gaṇapati.1
Gaṇapati enjoys a rich mythology in purāṇa literature, where he is identified as one of two primary sons of the divine couple Śiva and Pārvatī. As a result of his popular identification with Hindu traditions, Gaṇapati’s important role as a Buddhist deity is often overlooked. There is archeological evidence at the Buddhist cave vihāra complex outside of Aurangabad, Mahārāṣṭra2 of Gaṇapati’s involvement in Buddhist ritual life in South Asia from as early as the sixth and seventh centuries ᴄᴇ. Here, in a small chapel at the entrance to a Buddhist monastic complex carved into the rock cliffs outside of the city, Gaṇapati appears flanked by Durgā in her forms as the buffalo demon-slaying goddess (mahiṣāsuramardinī) and a semi-wrathful form of the goddess Cāmuṇḍā. He is also accompanied by depictions of the Seven Mothers (Saptmātṛkā) and two Buddha images.3 The level of Buddhist participation in the Gaṇapati cult in India requires more research, but it is supported by the existence of Gaṇapati shrines such as the one found at the Aurangabad cave complex. Both works devoted to this deity in the Tibetan Kangyurs—The Tantra of Great Gaṇapati (Toh 666) and The Heart Mantra of Gaṇapati (Toh 665)4 —provide additional textual evidence of his importance to Indian Buddhist traditions.
While The Heart Mantra of Gaṇapati appears in the Phangthangma5 and Denkarma6 royal catalogs of Tibetan translations under the abridged title ’phags pa tshogs kyi snying po, neither of these catalogs contains any mention of The Tantra of Great Gaṇapati. The Tantra of Great Gaṇapati also does not appear to be included among the various works on Gaṇapati that were incorporated into the compendia of dhāraṇīs translated into Chinese from the seventh century.7
Tarthang Tulku’s catalog to The Nyingma Edition of the sDe-dge bKa’-’gyur and bsTan-’gyur notes that Bütön (Bu ston rin chen grub, 1290–1364) questioned the authenticity of this text.8 This may explain why the text’s colophon does not follow the usual conventions but is rendered instead in verse as follows:
The emphasis placed here on the fact that Atiśa arrived with this text from India (rgya gar yul nas) appears to be some form of response to the text’s contested status, as noted by Bütön, and to justify including it in the Kangyur as an authentically Indic work.
This translation is based on the version of The Tantra of Great Gaṇapati that appears in the “Tantra Collection” (rgyud ’bum) of the Degé Kangyur, in consultation with the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) and the Stok Palace Kangyur. Unfortunately, no known Sanskrit version of the text appears to have survived. Christopher Wilkinson’s English translation of the text was also consulted.9
Text Body
The Translation
Chapter 1: The Arising of Siddhi
This is chapter 1 in “The Tantra of the Great Deity Gaṇapati,” “The Arising of Siddhi.”
Chapter 2: Instructions on the Mantra for the Deity’s Siddhi
Chapter 3: A Description of Gaṇapati
Chapter 4: The Practice of One-Faced, Four-Armed Gaṇapati
A skilled person should pick white flowers on a day during the lunar month Puṣya and draw the image of Gaṇapati, depicting him with a white complexion and the head of an elephant, holding a radish in his right hand and a precious jewel in his left hand, with a big belly, adorned with all his ornaments, and seated on his throne atop a rat and a lunar disk. Then one should place the image in the center of the maṇḍala facing oneself, adopt the form of Vināyaka, and perform the offering.
Chapter 5: A Teaching on Gaṇapati’s Mudrā
Gaṇapati is in the northeast. He has a white complexion, the head of an elephant, a rat for his mount, and three eyes. He wears a crescent moon. His right hands hold a radish and battle-axe, and his left hands hold a trident and skull bowl.
For the Gaṇapati mudrā, the left hand is clenched in a fist with the forefinger and middle finger extended and the forefinger is bent so that it grasps the joint of the middle finger.
Chapter 6: A Teaching on Great Gaṇapati’s Mantra
This is chapter 6, “A Teaching on Great Gaṇapati’s Mantra.”
Chapter 7: A Teaching on the Name Mantra
This is chapter 7, “A Teaching on the Name Mantra.”
Chapter 8: The Gaṇapati Offering
For the mantra, one should present a bali offering to Gaṇapati consisting of radishes, laḍḍus, water, and the three white offerings, and also offer incense and flowers. After it is performed in this way, nothing can pose an obstacle.
Chapter 9: A Description of the Food for Attaining Siddhi
Place the statue of Gaṇapati in the palm of your right hand and recite the mantra one hundred thousand times without allowing your mind to wander. [F.195.b] If one incants the radish with the mantra and offers it to Gaṇapati, one’s merit in this lifetime will equal to that of a universal emperor. If one offers white flowers, one will not be defeated by kings and the like. One will gain a high rank such as king, and kings, ministers, and others will be brought under one’s control.
This is chapter 9 on “A Description of the Food That Grants Siddhi.”
Chapter 10: Practices for Becoming a King and the Like
This is chapter 10 in “The Tantra of Great Gaṇapati,” “Practices for Becoming a King and the Like.”
Chapter 11: Great Gaṇapati’s Maṇdala
The Lord of the Three Realms is in the eastern section, which is yellow. He holds a radish and a sword.
The great yakṣa Vajratuṇḍa is in the southern section, which is blue. He has the face of Mahādeva,23 holds a mace and hammer, and is black.
The yakṣa king Lord of Clouds is in the western section, which is red. He is red and holds a noose and a billowing cloud full of water. [F.197.a]
The yakṣa lord Abode of Wealth is in the northern section, which is green. He is green and holds a mace and a jeweled khaṭvāṅga.
Vināyaka,24 the Lord of Obstructing Beings, is in the northeastern section, which is white. He has the face of an elephant, holds a trident and a radish, and is black.
Rudra, Lord of Pretas, is in the southeast section, which is red. He holds an axe and an intact skull, and he is black.
Cloud Light is in the southwest section, which is black. He holds a billowing cloud with a flashing thunderbolt beneath it with both hands.
Curved Trunk Vināyaka, the King of Obstructing Beings, has an elephant trunk and is in the northwest section, which is black. He holds a trident and a dry skull that has a radish inside and is full of flesh.
The eight nāga kings who obey these deities are the nāga kings Abala, Varuṇa, Śaṅkhapāla, Takṣaka, Kulika, Ananta, Padma, and Mahāpadma.
The great king Dhṛtarāṣṭra is at the eastern gate, Virūḍhaka is at the southern gate, Virūpākṣa is at the western gate, and Vaiśravaṇa is at the northern gate. The colors of their bodies are white, blue, red, and green, respectively, and each of them holds a precious jewel and a sword. Their consorts are not depicted.
Make a wax effigy of the enemy that is thin, black, and has disheveled hair,25 and place it inside a triangular killing maṇḍala to the northeast of the drawing. Smear it with sesame oil, write the family name in the center, place it there, and tie a cord made from the hair of a corpse around its neck.
After you have done that, set up bali offerings of laḍḍu and radishes for each of the eight great yakṣas as well as red bali offerings that contain fish and onions for each of the eight great yakṣas. Prepare a single large bali offering for the eight great nāgas and one for each of the four great kings. If one cannot afford that, prepare a single large bali. Present divine food offerings to each of them. One should also set out wrathful substances such as [F.197.b] a wolf’s skull, black cumin, mustard seed, white mustard seed, and black mustard seed.
This is chapter 11, “Great Gaṇapati’s Maṇdala.”
Chapter 12: The Meditation System
This is chapter 12, “The Meditation System.”
Chapter 13: The Arising of the Secret Mantras of the Great Yakṣas
Chapter 14: The Fierce Killing Mantra
This is chapter 14, “The Fierce36 Killing Mantra.”
Chapter 15: Praising Gaṇapati
There is also the following fierce mantra:
oṃ bhighābhivabhyi sarvavidyāviśayahṛdam itaya | hūṁ citu vatu | traṃ pramarutāya | hana hana | gṛhṇa gṛhṇa | paca paca | bhrahma bhrahma | bhrahmaya bhrahmaya | hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ |
Make a statue of Gaṇapati out of sandalwood or jewels, consecrate it, and make offerings to it. If one wants to stop a hailstorm, make a statue of Vāyu and Varuṇa, the Lords of Hail. Make an effigy of a cloud and a statue of a dragon and press it down as Gaṇapati’s seat. Imagine yourself trampling it as well while reciting the mantra that begins hika candra and the hail will stop. One should scatter white mustard seeds in the directions.
If one wants to cause hail, make a clear drawing of a water and cloud maṇḍala, visualize Gaṇapati riding a dragon, and imagine them as one’s servants.
Form it into hailstones the size and shape you desire, anoint them with blood, and do this many times over for forty-nine days. Place them inside a crow’s skull,37 cover the crow’s skull with clouds, and write the mantra on it.
For the third stage, set out the materials to support the rite. Recite the mantra that begins bruṃ bruṃ bhariśaya one hundred thousand times. Three, seven, or eight of the hailstones inside the crow’s skull will emerge. One should bring them to the enemy’s territory. [F.199.a] Recite the mantra after the repelling mantra and it will fall on the enemy. If it does not hail, hide the Gaṇapati statue in the middle of the enemy’s territory with its head facing down and its feet facing up, and it will immediately hail. Hail the size of kalandaka bird eggs and red-colored hail the size of deer testicles will fall for a long time. This will happen because bruṃ is a mantra that destroys crops.
If you want to eliminate them, do not remove the statue and the crow skull. It will hail every day, and they will leave. Present offerings to the Gaṇapati statue. Perform one hundred and eight mantra recitations that are flawless from start to finish using a jewel rosary. Bathe, and ask Gaṇapati to be present in the center of one’s own maṇḍala.
This concludes “The Gaṇapati Tantra: Arising of Siddhi.”
Colophon
Notes
oṃ ha ratnadhi ratnasiddhi vināyaka baira hūṁ hri hūṁ phaṭ | oṃ hūṁ phaṭ | bhe bhi bha yakṣa mahābherabhe trireca śatrūṁ nṛja nija yakṣa kāma mahābhairave devayakṣam nāganāga thumarilaya yaya mahābhairave yakṣa nāśaya nāśaya | curṇa curṇa tralaya nāgayakatra māraya hana cakra vināyaka jīvaṃ tāntakara hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ oṃ vighnabhivabhi sarvavīryā viśvayahṛdam itaya hūṁ citu patu pramarutāya hana hana gṛhṇa gṛhṇa paca paca brahma brahma brahmāya brahmāya hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ ||
Bibliography
Source Texts
tshogs kyi bdag po chen po’i rgyud (Mahāganapatitantra). Toh 666, Degé Kangyur vol. 91 (rgyud ’bum, ba), folios 193.a–199.a.
tshogs kyi bdag po chen po’i rgyud (Mahāganapatitantra). Stok Palace Kangyur vol. 105 (rgyud, pha), folios 168.a–175.b.
tshogs kyi bdag po chen po’i rgyud (Mahāgaṇapatitantra). 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. 707–25.
Reference Works
Butön Rinchen Drup (bu ston rin chen grub). gsang sngags rgyud sde bzhi’i gzungs ’bum. In gsung ’bum/ rin chen grub/ (zhol par ma/ ldi lir bskyar par brgyab pa/) vol. 16/ma. New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1965–71.
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.
dkar chag ’phang thang ma. Pe cin: mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2003.
Edgerton, Franklin. Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 2004.
Lancaster, Lewis R. The Korean Buddhist Canon, accessed May 31, 2019, http://www.acmuller.net/descriptive_catalogue/index.html.
Monier-Williams, Sir Monier. A Sanskrit-English Dictionary Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 2005.
Negi, J.S. Tibetan-Sanskrit Dictionary (Bod skad legs sbyar gyi tshig mdzod chen mo). Sarnath: Dictionary Unit, Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, 1993.
Resources for Kanjur and Tanjur Studies, Universität Wien, accessed May 31, 2019. http://www.rkts.org.
The Buddhist Canons Research Database. American Institute of Buddhist Studies and Columbia University Center for Buddhist Studies. Accessed May 31, 2019. http://databases.aibs.columbia.edu.
Tulku, Tarthang. The Nyingma Edition of the sDe-dge bKa’-’gyur/bsTan-’gyur Research Catalogue and Bibliography, vol. 2. Oakland, CA: Dharma Press, 1982.
Yoshimuri, Shyuki. bka’ bstan dkar chag ldan dkar ma/ dbu can bris ma/. Kyoto: Ryukoku University, 1950.
Western Languages
Brancaccio, Pia. The Buddhist Caves at Aurangabad: Transformations in Art and Religion. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2011.
Duquenne, Robert. “Gaṇapati Rituals in Chinese,” Bulletin de l’École française d’Éxtrême-Orient, 77 (1988): 344–45.
Wilkinson, Christopher. “The Tantric Gaṇeśa: Texts Preserved in the Tibetan Canon.” In Robert L. Brown, ed. Gaṇeśa: Studies of an Asian God. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1991, pp. 235–75.
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
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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
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Abode of Wealth
- nor gnas
- ནོར་གནས།
- —
activating syllable
- las kyi yi ge
- ལས་ཀྱི་ཡི་གེ
- —
Cloud Light
- sprin gyi sgron ma
- སྤྲིན་གྱི་སྒྲོན་མ།
- —
crescent moon
- zla ba tshes pa
- ཟླ་བ་ཚེས་པ།
- —
Curved Trunk Vināyaka
- log ’dren sna yon
- ལོག་འདྲེན་སྣ་ཡོན།
- —
Dīpaṁkaraśrījñāna
- dI paM ka ra shrI dz+nyA nas
- དཱི་པཾ་ཀ་ར་ཤྲཱི་ཛྙཱ་ནས།
- dīpaṁkaraśrījñāna RP
eight gaṇas
- tshogs brgyad
- ཚོགས་བརྒྱད།
- —
eight supreme flavors
- ro mchog brgyad
- རོ་མཆོག་བརྒྱད།
- —
fierce mantra syllable
- gsang sngags drag po’i yi ge
- གསང་སྔགས་དྲག་པོའི་ཡི་གེ
- —
first syllable of the Tathāgata’s name
- de bzhin gshegs pa’i mtshan dang po
- དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་མཚན་དང་པོ།
- —
Gaṇapati
- tshogs kyi bdag po
- tshogs bdag
- ཚོགས་ཀྱི་བདག་པོ།
- ཚོགས་བདག
- —
glorious and auspicious
- bkra shis dpal dang ldan
- བཀྲ་ཤིས་དཔལ་དང་ལྡན།
- —
Glorious Gaṇapati
- dpal ldan tshogs bdag
- དཔལ་ལྡན་ཚོགས་བདག
- śrimadgaṇapati AD
Glorious Great Gaṇapati
- dpal ldan tshogs bdag che
- དཔལ་ལྡན་ཚོགས་བདག་ཆེ།
- śrīmanmahāgaṇapati AD
Great Gaṇapati
- tshogs kyi bdag po chen po
- ཚོགས་ཀྱི་བདག་པོ་ཆེན་པོ།
- mahāgaṇapati AD
Great God of Wealth
- nor lha chen po
- ནོར་ལྷ་ཆེན་པོ།
- —
Gyalwé Jungné
- rgyal ba’i ’byung gnas
- རྒྱལ་བའི་འབྱུང་གནས།
- —
impelling mantra
- sbad pa’i gsang sngags
- rbad pa’i gsang sngags
- སྦད་པའི་གསང་སྔགས།
- རྦད་པའི་གསང་སྔགས།
- —
killing maṇḍala
- gsad pa’i dkyil ’khor
- གསད་པའི་དཀྱིལ་འཁོར།
- —
killing mantra
- bsad pa’i gsang sngags
- བསད་པའི་གསང་སྔགས།
- —
King of Obstructing Beings
- bgegs kyi rgyal po
- བགེགས་ཀྱི་རྒྱལ་པོ།
- —
Lord of Clouds
- sprin gyi bdag
- སྤྲིན་གྱི་བདག
- —
Lord of Obstructing Beings
- bgegs kyi rgyal po
- བགེགས་ཀྱི་རྒྱལ་པོ།
- vighnarāja AD
Lord of Pretas
- yi dags kyi bdag po
- ཡི་དགས་ཀྱི་བདག་པོ།
- —
Lord of the Three Realms
- khams gsum gyi bdag po
- ཁམས་གསུམ་གྱི་བདག་པོ།
- —
Lords of Hail
- ser ba’i bdag po
- སེར་བའི་བདག་པོ།
- —
precious syllable
- rin chen yi ge
- རིན་ཆེན་ཡི་གེ
- —
red bali offering
- dmar gyi gtor ma
- དམར་གྱི་གཏོར་མ།
- —
six-month observance
- ba ra ta ka zla ba drug
- བ་ར་ཏ་ཀ་ཟླ་བ་དྲུག
- —
solar syllable
- nyi ma’i yi ge
- ཉི་མའི་ཡི་གེ
- —
soul stone
- bla rdo
- བླ་རྡོ།
- —
syllable for attaining siddhi
- dngos grub bsgrub pa’i yi ge
- དངོས་གྲུབ་བསྒྲུབ་པའི་ཡི་གེ
- —
syllable that grants siddhi like a wish fulfilling jewel
- yid bzhin nor bu lta bu yi/ dngon grub ster byed yi ge
- yid bzhin nor bu
- ཡིད་བཞིན་ནོར་བུ་ལྟ་བུ་ཡི། དངོན་གྲུབ་སྟེར་བྱེད་ཡི་གེ
- ཡིད་བཞིན་ནོར་བུ།
- —
syllable that is like the sun
- nyi ma lta bu’i yi ge
- ཉི་མ་ལྟ་བུའི་ཡི་གེ
- —
three white offerings
- dkar gsum
- དཀར་གསུམ།
- —
two pacification seed syllables
- zhi ba’i yig ’bru gnyis pa
- ཞི་བའི་ཡིག་འབྲུ་གཉིས་པ།
- —
universal emperor
- ’khor los sgyur ba
- ’khor los sgyur wa’i rgyal po
- འཁོར་ལོས་སྒྱུར་བ།
- འཁོར་ལོས་སྒྱུར་ཝའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།
- —
Vaiśravaṇa
- rnam thos bu
- rnam thos sras
- རྣམ་ཐོས་བུ།
- རྣམ་ཐོས་སྲས།
- vaiśravaṇa AD
Vajra Sow-Faced One
- rdo rje phag gdong ma
- རྡོ་རྗེ་ཕག་གདོང་མ།
- —
vital energy heart mantra
- srog gi snying po
- སྲོག་གི་སྙིང་པོ།
- —
wind element syllable
- ’byung ba rlung gi yi ge
- འབྱུང་བ་རླུང་གི་ཡི་གེ
- —
wish-fulfilling jewel
- yid bzhin
- ཡིད་བཞིན།
- —