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ཚེ་དང་ཡེ་ཤེས་དཔག་ཏུ་མེད་པའི་སྙིང་པོའི་གཟུངས།

The Dhāraṇī “Essence of Immeasurable Longevity and Wisdom”

Aparimitāyur­jñāna­hṛdaya­dhāraṇī
འཕགས་པ་ཚེ་དང་ཡེ་ཤེས་དཔག་ཏུ་མེད་པའི་སྙིང་པོ་ཞེས་བྱ་བའི་གཟུངས།
’phags pa tshe dang ye shes dpag tu med pa’i snying po zhes bya ba’i gzungs
The Noble Dhāraṇī “Essence of Immeasurable Longevity and Wisdom”
Āryāparimitāyur­jñāna­hṛdaya­nāma­dhāraṇī

Toh 676

Degé Kangyur, vol. 91 (rgyud ’bum, ba), folios 220.b–222.b

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Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha

First published 2021

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co.

Table of Contents

ti. Title
im. Imprint
co. Contents
s. Summary
ac. Acknowledgements
i. Introduction
tr. The Translation
+ 2 sections- 2 sections
1. Essence of Immeasurable Longevity and Wisdom
c. Colophon
n. Notes
b. Bibliography
+ 2 sections- 2 sections
· Tibetan Sources
· Reference Works
g. Glossary

s.

Summary

s.­1

The Dhāraṇī “Essence of Immeasurable Longevity and Wisdom” opens at a pool by the Ganges, where the Buddha Śākyamuni is seated with five hundred monks and a great saṅgha of bodhisattvas. The Buddha begins with a short set of verses on the Buddha Aparimitāyus, who dwells in the realm of Sukhāvatī, telling the gathering that anyone who recites Aparimitāyus’ name will be reborn in that buddha’s realm. He then provides a unique description of Sukhāvatī, followed by instructions for two practices, related to the text’s dhāraṇī, that can grant rebirth in Sukhāvatī in the next life.


ac.

Acknowledgements

ac.­1

This text was translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the supervision of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche. The translation was produced by Adam Krug and then checked against the Tibetan and edited by Andreas Doctor.

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



i.

Introduction

i.­1

The Dhāraṇī “Essence of Immeasurable Longevity and Wisdom” opens at a pool by the Ganges, where the Buddha Śākyamuni is seated with five hundred monks and a great saṅgha of bodhisattvas. The Buddha begins his teaching with a short set of verses on the Buddha Aparimitāyus and the realm of Sukhāvatī in which that buddha dwells, telling the gathering that anyone who recites Aparimitāyus’ name will be reborn there.

i.­2

He then begins a summary of the circumstances of Aparimitāyus’ lifetime as an awakened one. We learn that, like Śākyamuni, Aparimitāyus was born into a kṣatriya family. The Buddha then enumerates the names of Aparimitāyus’ father (a universal ruler), mother, queen, son, and attendant, and then those of his two foremost disciples in terms of insight and miraculous powers‍—the equivalent of Śākyamuni’s disciples Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana‍—and the extent of his saṅgha of hearers. This account, in following the classic paradigm that the life stories and deeds of all buddhas conform to the same template of analogous events and participants, goes further than even the best-known work of the genre, the Bhadrakalpika (Toh 94),1 by adding the names of figures in Aparamitāyus’ realm who are the equivalents of Māra and Devadatta in Śākyamuni’s realm.

i.­3

The beautiful and wondrous qualities of Sukhāvatī, well known from texts such as the Sukhāvatīvyūha (Toh 115)2 and Amitābhavyūha (Toh 49), are described in very little detail in this text, but are subsumed in the statements that all the beings there are miraculously born from a jeweled lotus and that there is no female gender,3 and in the descriptions later in the text of Aparimitāyus’ lotus seat and Bodhi tree.

i.­4

The Buddha then provides a set of instructions for visualizing Aparimitāyus that include performing prostrations three times a day and three times a night for ten days while reciting the dhāraṇī of Dundubhisvararāja. The successful performance of this practice will result, he says, in visions of Aparimitāyus and of all the buddhas of the ten directions. After the Buddha has recited the dhāraṇī, he provides instructions for a further practice that consists of visualizing Aparimitāyus on his lotus seat under his particular Bodhi tree, accompanied by the bodhisattvas Avalokiteśvara and Mahāsthāmaprāpta. In addition to bringing visions of Aparimitāyus, these practices will result in practitioners being reborn in Sukhāvatī in their next life.


i.­5

The Tibetan translation that survives to this day in the Kangyur dates to the eleventh century ᴄᴇ, but the text must have been in circulation in India considerably earlier, since a Chinese translation (Taishō 370) had been completed by an unknown translator during the Liang dynasty in the early half of the sixth century.4 The Tibetan translation was made by the Indian preceptor Puṇya­sambhava and the Tibetan Lotsāwa Patsap Nyima Drak (b. 1055). Almost nothing is known of Puṇya­sambhava, while Patsap Lotsāwa was responsible not only for bringing to Tibet the philosophical works for which he is best known, but also for introducing new lineages of a few tantric practices from Kashmir, where he studied for twenty-three years.

i.­6

In most Kangyurs the text translated here is included in the section of works classified as tantras belonging to the Action (kriyā) class, and is grouped with eight texts (Toh 673A–680) corresponding to the principal buddha (rigs kyi gtso bo) of the padma (lotus) family. This group, in addition to the present dhāraṇī (Toh 676), and the four works on Amitābha that follow it (Toh 677–80),5 also contains the very widely used The Aparimitāyur­jñāna Sūtra (1) (Toh 674) and The Aparimitāyur­jñāna Sūtra (2) (Toh 675)‍—the two versions of the text commonly known as the “Sūtra of Long Life” or, in Tibetan, Tsédo (tshe mdo)‍—and a dhāraṇī related to it, The Essence of Aparimitāyus (Toh 673A).6 The names of the buddha or buddhas on which this group of texts focus are variable: Amitābha, Amitāyus, Aparimitāyur­jñāna, and‍—both in the present text‍—Aparimitāyus and Dundubhi­svara­rāja. The finer distinctions between these figures have not always been entirely clear. In India, the names Amitāyus and Amitābha appear to have been almost synonymous, but distinctions of role and perhaps even identity seem to have arisen later in both China and Tibet. Alternatively, some of the figures in these texts may derive from originally independent textual traditions that later came to be grouped together. In discussing these distinctions, Tibetan scholars used such terms as “the Amitāyus of Sukhāvatī” (bde ba can gyi tshe dpag med), “the Amitāyus of the Zenith” (steng gi tshe dpag med), “the Amitāyus of Akaniṣṭha” (’og min gyi tshe dpag med), and “the Amitāyus of the Immortal Sound of the Drum” (’chi med rnga sgra’i tshe dpag med). The need for such terms suggests that in Tibetan the rendering Tsépamé (tshe dpag med) as a short form of both Aparimitāyur­jñāna and Aparimitāyus, as well as of Amitāyus, may have contributed to some blurring of differences between them.

i.­7

These terms also demonstrate that the clearest basis on which distinctions may be made is the buddha field in which these buddhas dwell. In the present text, the explicit focus is on the buddha who presides over the pure realm of the western direction known as Sukhāvatī (bde ba can). He is referred to in the Tibetan text as Tsépamé (tshe dpag med), and although this could be back translated as Amitāyus, and must surely here be identified with Amitābha, we have chosen to render it instead as Aparimitāyus. This is in deference to the title, which is a little problematic in that it appears to identify the text instead with Aparimitāyur­jñāna, the buddha of the pure realm in the zenith who is the focus of the Aparimitāyur­jñāna­sūtra texts (or Tsédo, Toh 674 and 675) mentioned above.7

i.­8

Perhaps as one result of potential ambiguity regarding the exact reference of its title, the text translated here, The Dhāraṇī “Essence of Immeasurable Longevity and Wisdom,” is also referred to in some Tibetan works as The Sūtra [or Dhāraṇī] of the King of the Sound of the Drum (rnga sgra’i rgyal po’i mdo/gzungs), which in Sanskrit would be *Dundubhi­svara­rāja­sūtra. Indeed, the name of the dhāraṇī that this work contains is explicitly stated in the text to be Dundubhi­svara­rāja, or Amṛta­dundubhi­svara­rāja, and tradition has taken this to be yet another moniker of Amitābha or Amitāyus of Sukhāvatī. As a name, Dundubhi­svara is not uncommon in Indian literature, and other Mahāyāna works list Dundubhi­svara­rāja (or the alternatives Dundubhi­svara and Dundubhi­svara­nirgoṣa) as names of a former buddha, a series of former buddhas, and the buddha who dwells in the northern quarter,8 but in this context, no doubt on the basis of the mentions in this text, Tibetan Buddhist tradition equates the names Dundubhi­svara­rāja (rnga sgra’i rgyal po) and Amṛta­dundubhi­svara­rāja (’chi med rnga sgra’i rgyal po) most frequently with Amitābha or Amitāyus of Sukhāvatī.

i.­9

This translation was completed based on the Tibetan translation of the text found in the “Tantra Collection” (rgyud ’bum) and “Compendium of Dhāraṇī” (gzungs ’dus) sections of the Degé Kangyur9 in consultation with the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) and the Stok Palace Kangyur.


Text Body

The Noble Dhāraṇī
Essence of Immeasurable Longevity and Wisdom

1.

The Translation

[F.220.b]


1.­1

Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas.


1.­2

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was seated on the banks of the Gaggarā lotus pond10 with a great monastic saṅgha of five hundred monks and a great saṅgha of bodhisattvas. The Blessed One addressed the monks, the monks gave the Blessed One their full attention, and the Blessed One [F.221.a] said to them:

1.­3
“A perfect buddha,
The Thus-Gone Aparimitāyus,
Lives to the west of here
In the realm of Sukhāvatī.
1.­4
“Those who recite his name
Will be reborn there.
At the moment of death they will see
The teacher with his monastic saṅgha.
1.­5
“There are no women there,
And no gestation in a womb.
Beings with great magical power
Are born there from lotuses made of jewels.
1.­6
“As soon as one thinks about
Food, clothing, medicines,
Robes, bedding, and alms bowls
They instantly appear.
1.­7
“The buddhas dwelling in all ten directions
Sing the praises of Sukhāvatī.
Since the Buddha is inconceivable,
The Buddha’s Dharma is inconceivable,
1.­8
“And the Noble Saṅgha is inconceivable too.
When one has generated faith in the inconceivable,
The ripened result is inconceivable‍—
One is reborn in a pure realm.11
1.­9

“Monks, the Thus-Gone, worthy, perfect Buddha Aparimitāyus’ palace, called Having a Retinue, is ten thousand leagues wide. He was born into a kṣatriya family. Monks, the Thus-Gone, worthy, perfect Buddha Aparimitāyus’ father was a universal ruler named Most Gracious, and his mother was named Splendorous. His kṣatriya queen was named Gracious Protector. Monks, the Thus-Gone Aparimitāyus’ son was named Moonlight, and his attendant’s name was Stainless Renown. Monks, the Thus-Gone Aparimitāyus’ disciple foremost in insight was called Pinnacle of Grace, and his disciple foremost in miraculous powers and foremost in great endeavor was named Great Array.

1.­10

“Monks, the Thus-Gone Aparimitāyus’ Māra was called King of Offerings, and the name of his Devadatta was Gracious Gift. [F.221.b] Monks, the Thus-Gone Aparimitāyus’ great gathering of hearers contains sixty thousand great hearers.

1.­11

“Monks, all the beings who think well of him should bear in mind the name of the Thus-Gone Aparimitāyus, practice for ten days with an undistracted mind that recollects the Buddha, and continually think of the Thus-Gone Aparimitāyus who dwells in the realm of Sukhāvatī.

1.­12

“They should also continually recite the dhāraṇī of Śrī Amṛta­dundubhi­svara­rāja.12 If all beings, three times a day and three times a night, prostrate with the five points of the body to the Thus-Gone Aparimitāyus while thinking of him, after ten days they will have a vision of the Thus-Gone Aparimitāyus and a vision of all the blessed buddhas dwelling in the ten directions. If they dedicate all their roots of virtue to rebirth in the realm of Sukhāvatī, when they die the Thus-Gone Aparimitāyus will be present before them, and they will be reborn in the buddha field of the Thus-Gone Aparimitāyus.


1.­13

“Monks, this is the dhāraṇī called Amṛta­dundubhi­svara­rāja:

tadyathā śavale avale sañjale nirdeśe nirjāte nirukte nirmukhe jvala­paricchedani sukhavati­nirdeśe amṛte āyurgarbha13nirhāni amṛte ayuḥ­prasādhane nirbuddhi ākāśa­nirdeśe ākāśa­nirjāte14 ākāśa­nirkuśale ākāśa­nirdarśane ākāśādhiṣṭhāne sukhavati ādhiṣṭhāne rūpa­nirdeśe catvāri­dharma­prasādhane catvāri ārya­satya­prasādhane catvāri­mārga­bhavana­prasādhane15 bala16vīrya­prasādhane dharmācchedane kuśale kuśala­nirdeśe kuśala­pratiṣṭhāne buddhākuśale viśuddha­prabhā17sa dharma­karaṇe nirjati nirbuddhe vimale viraje rājase rasāgre rasāgrabale rasāgrādhiṣṭhite kule pratikule vikule dānte sudānta18citte supraśānta­citte supratiṣṭhite sule sumukhī­dharme ca dharme bale ca bale anuśābale buddhākāśa­guṇe buddhākāśa­nirguṇe amṛta­dundubhiḥ­svare svāhā

1.­14

“Monks, faithful [F.222.a] sons or daughters of good family who recite this Amṛta­dundubhi­svara­rāja dhāraṇī as it has been taught should dress in clean clothes and, in a place that is pure and unspoiled, make offerings of flowers and perfumes to the Thus-Gone Aparimitāyus. They should imagine the lotus seat at the seat of awakening and the perfect Bodhi tree. They should arouse longing to be there, and if they have such longing and faith they will be reborn in the buddha field of the Thus-Gone Aparimitāyus.

1.­15

“Monks, the Thus-Gone Aparimitāyus’ king of trees is the tree called Radiating Jeweled Lotus, and it is covered in flowers and fruit. The lotus seat, which is pure, bright, and fine, is called Brilliant Light Ray. The Thus-Gone Aparimitāyus is seated there surrounded by many precious jewels. The bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara is to his right, the bodhisattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta is to his left, and they are all surrounded by an incalculable gathering of bodhisattvas. Faithful sons or daughters of good family who have great devotion, faith, and reverence will be reborn there. They will take miraculous birth on great lotuses made of the seven precious jewels situated on the great golden ground.

1.­16

“Monks, any monk, nun, male lay practitioner, or female lay practitioner who bears in mind the name of the Thus-Gone Aparimitāyus will never have to face any dangers from fire, dangers from water, dangers from poison, dangers from weapons, dangers from yakṣas, and dangers from rākṣasas, except for those that arise due to the ripening of previous actions.”

1.­17

When the Blessed One had spoken these words, the monks, the entire retinue, and the world with its gods, humans, asuras, and gandharvas rejoiced and praised what the Blessed One had said. [F.222.b]

1.­18

This concludes the noble dhāraṇī “Essence of Immeasurable Longevity and Wisdom.”


c.

Colophon

c.­1

Translated by the Indian preceptor Puṇya­sambhava and the translator Patsap Nyima Drak.


n.

Notes

n.­1
See Dharmachakra Translation Committee, The Good Eon (2022).
n.­2
See Sakya Pandita Translation Group, The Display of the Pure Land of Sukhāvatī (2011).
n.­3
Disregarding, it seems, the Buddha’s own mention, noted above, of Aparimitāyus’ mother and queen.
n.­4
Emituo gu yinsheng wang tuoluoni jing (阿彌陀鼓音聲王陀羅尼經), see Lancaster (2019).
n.­5
For a translation of Toh 679, see Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans. The Dhāraṇī Praising the Qualities of the Immeasurable One, 2020.
n.­6
Of the two versions of the sūtra, Aparimitāyur­jñāna­sūtra (1) (Toh 674) was probably translated by the same translators as the present text, Puṇya­sambhava and Patsap Nyima Drak. This is the version most widely used today. The other, Aparimitāyur­jñāna­sūtra (2) (Toh 675) represents‍—but is not identical to‍—a translation made during the early translation period, as attested in numerous Dunhuang manuscripts and the mention in the early-ninth-century Denkarma (ldan dkar ma) and Phangthangma (phang thang ma) inventories of, respectively, a tshe dpag tu med pa’i gzungs, with 110 ślokas, and a tshe dpag tu med pa, with 120 ślokas. For more details on the complex issue see the introductions to Toh 674 and 675, i.9 and i.21 in Toh 674, Roberts and Bower 2021 (1), and i.15 in Toh 675, Roberts and Bower 2021 (2).
n.­7
There is another problem around the correct rendering of the title of the present text. The Sanskrit title indicates that this is the essence (hṛdaya) that is the wisdom (jñāna) of Aparimitāyus (aparimitāyur). The Tibetan translation of the title, however, reads the compound in the Sanskrit title as the essence (snying po) of immeasurable (dpag tu med pa) longevity and wisdom (tshe dang ye shes). It is thus possible that the Tibetan rendering of the title of this work is somewhat misleading, and that the Sanskrit title Aparimitāyur­jñāna­hṛdaya­dhāraṇī might be more accurately translated into English as The Dhāraṇī of the Essence of the Wisdom of Aparimitāyus, or even The Dhāraṇī of the Essence of Knowing Aparimitāyus. Because this translation is based on the Tibetan version of the text, however, it follows the title as rendered in the Tibetan translation.
n.­8
Edgerton (1953), p. 266.1.
n.­9

Note that there is a discrepancy among various databases for cataloging the Toh 850 version of this text within vol. 100 or 101 of the Degé Kangyur. See Toh 850, n.­9, for details.

n.­10
Both versions of the Degé read gang gA tas bskor ba’i rdzing bu’i ’gram na; the Stok Palace Kangyur reads gang ga tas bskor ba’i rdzing bu’i ’gram na. We are indebted to Alexander O’Neil for providing us with the correct identity of this location. The Tibetan is likely a problematic Tibetan transliteration of the term gaggarāpokkharaṇī, or “the Gaggarā lotus pond.” As O’Neil informed the editorial team, the Chinese translation of this text transliterates this term as 伽伽靈池 or “gagara,” and thus offers a helpful correction to the Tibetan transliteration. For more on this location see the entries on Gaggarā and Campā in Malalasekara’s Dictionary of Pāli Proper Names.
n.­11
The six lines above, starting with “Since the Buddha is inconceivable,” are frequently cited in later Tibetan literature, often using the alternative title rnga sgra’i rgyal po’i mdo (The Sūtra of the King of the Sound of the Drum).
n.­12
See i.­8.
n.­13
Degé Toh 676, Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, Choné, and Stok Palace read bha; Degé Toh 850 reads ba.
n.­14
Degé Toh 850 and Stok Palace read ākāśa­nirdeśe/ ākāśa­nirjāte; Degé Toh 676 reads ākāśa­nirjāte/ ākāśa­nirdeśe.
n.­15
Degé Toh 676 reads prasādhane; Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, and Choné read prasādana; Degé Toh 850 and Stok Palace read prasādhani.
n.­16
Degé Toh 676 and Stok Palace read bala; Degé Toh 850 reads pala.
n.­17
Degé Toh 676 and Stok Palace read bhā; Degé Toh 850, Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, and Choné read bha.
n.­18
Degé Toh 850 reads dānte sudānta; Degé Toh 676 and Stok Palace read dante sudante.

b.

Bibliography

Tibetan Sources

’phags pa tshe dang ye shes dpag tu med pa’i snying po’i gzungs (Āryāparimitāyur­jñāna­hṛdaya­dhāraṇī). Toh 676, Degé Kangyur vol. 91 (rgyud ’bum, ba), folios 220.b–222.b.

’phags pa tshe dang ye shes dpag tu med pa’i snying po’i gzungs (Āryāparimitāyur­jñāna­hṛdaya­dhāraṇī). Toh 850, Degé Kangyur vol. 100 (gzungs ’dus, e), folios 62.a–64.a.

’phags pa tshe dang ye shes dpag tu med pa’i snying po’i gzungs (Āryāparimitāyur­jñāna­hṛdaya­dhāraṇī). 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), 2006–2009, vol. 91, pp. 808–15.

’phags pa tshe dang ye shes dpag tu med pa’i snying po’i gzungs (Āryāparimitāyur­jñāna­hṛdaya­dhāraṇī). 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), 2006–2009, vol. 97, pp. 154–60.

’phags pa tshe dang ye shes dpag tu med pa’i snying po. Stok Kangyur 105 (rgyud, pha), folios 202.b–205.a.

bcom ldan ’das snang ba mtha’ yas kyi gzungs sngags (Bhagavadamitābha­dhāraṇī­mantra). Toh 677, Degé Kangyur vol. 91 (rgyud, ba), folio 222.b; Toh 864, vol. 100 (gzungs ’dus, e), folios 87.b–88.a.

bde ldan gyi snying po. Toh 690, Degé Kangyur vol. 91 (rgyud, ba), folio 223.a; Toh 889, vol. (gzungs ’dus, e), folio 165.b.

’phags pa bde ba can gyi bkod pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Ārya­sukhāvatī­vyūha­nāma­mahāyāna­sūtra). Toh 115, Degé Kangyur vol. 51 (mdo sde, ja), folios 195.b–200.b. English translation in Sakya Pandita Translation Group (2011).

’phags pa bskal pa bzang po pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Ārya­bhadra­kalpika­nāma­mahāyāna­sūtra). Toh 94, Degé Tengyur vol. 45 (mdo sde, ka), folios 1.b–340.a. English translation in Dharmachakra Translation Committee (forthcoming).

’phags pa ’od dpag med kyi bkod pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Āryāmitābha­vyūha­nāma­mahāyāna­sūtra). Toh 49, Degé Kangyur vol. 39 (dkon brtsegs, ka), folios 237.b–270.a.

’phags pa tshe dang ye shes dpag tu med pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Āryāparimitāyur­jñāna­nāma­mahāyāna­sūtra). Toh 674, Degé Kangyur vol. 91 (rgyud, ba), folios 211.b–216.a; Toh 849, vol. 100 (gzungs ’dus, e), folios 57.b–62.a. English translation in Roberts and Bower (2021a).

’phags pa tshe dang ye shes dpag tu med pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Āryāparimitāyur­jñāna­nāma­mahāyāna­sūtra). Toh 675, Degé Kangyur vol. 91 (rgyud, ba), folios 216.a–220.b. English translation in Roberts and Bower (2021b).

’phags pa tshe dpag med kyi snying po. Toh 673a, Degé Kangyur vol. 91 (rgyud, ba), folio 211.b. English translation in Roberts and Bower (2021c)

’phags pa yon tan bsngags pa dpag tu med pa zhes bya ba’i gzungs (Āryāparimita­guṇānuśāṁsa­nāma­dhāraṇī). Toh 679, Degé Kangyur vol. 91 (rgyud, ba), folio 223.a; Toh 851, vol. 100 (gzungs ’dus, e), folio 64.a. English translation in Dharmachakra Translation Committee (2020).

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

snang ba mtha’ yas rjes su dran pa. Toh 678, Degé Kangyur vol. 91 (rgyud, ba), folios 222.b–223.a; Toh 867, vol. 100 (gzungs ’dus, e), folio 88.b.

Reference Works

dkar chag ’phang thang ma. Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2003.

Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans. (2020). The Dhāraṇī Praising the Qualities of the Immeasurable One (Āryāparimita­guṇānuśāṁsa­nāma­dhāraṇī, Toh 679, 851). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2020.

Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans. (2022). The Good Eon (Ārya­bhadra­kalpika­nāma­mahāyāna­sūtra, Toh 94). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2022.

Edgerton, Franklin. Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary. 1953. Reprint, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 2004.

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

Lancaster, Lewis R. The Korean Buddhist Canon. Accessed May 9, 2019.

Malalasekera, G. P. Dictionary of Pāli Proper Names. Vol. 2. London: John Murray, 1938.

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). 16 vols. Sarnath: Dictionary Unit, Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, 1993.

Resources for Kanjur and Tanjur Studies. Universität Wien. Accessed May 9, 2019.

Roberts, Peter Alan, and Emily Bower, trans. (2021a) The Aparimitāyurjñāna Sūtra (1) (Āryāparimitāyur­jñāna­nāma­mahāyāna­sūtra, Toh 674, 849). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2021.

Roberts, Peter Alan, and Emily Bower, trans. (2021b) The Aparimitāyurjñāna Sūtra (2) (Āryāparimitāyur­jñāna­nāma­mahāyāna­sūtra, Toh 675). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2021.

Roberts, Peter Alan, and Emily Bower, trans. (2021c) The Essence of Amitāyus (Toh 673a). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2021.

Sakya Pandita Translation Group, trans. The Display of the Pure Land of Sukhāvatī (Ārya­sukhāvatīvyūha­nāma­mahāyāna­sūtra, Toh 115). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2011.


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

Amitābha

Wylie:
  • ’od mtha’ yas
Tibetan:
  • འོད་མཐའ་ཡས།
Sanskrit:
  • amitābha

“Infinite Light,” the name of the buddha who presides over Sukhāvatī, also called Amitāyus or Aparimitāyus. Traditionally equated, too, with Dundubhi­svara­rāja.

Located in 6 passages in the translation:

  • i.­6-8
  • g.­2
  • g.­4
  • g.­10
g.­2

Amṛta­dundubhi­svara­rāja

Wylie:
  • ’chi med rnga sgra’i rgyal po
Tibetan:
  • འཆི་མེད་རྔ་སྒྲའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • amṛta­dundubhi­svara­rāja

The name of the dhāraṇī that confers rebirth in Sukhāvatī taught by the Buddha Śākyamuni in The Noble Dhāraṇī “Essence of Immeasurable Longevity and Wisdom.” Also the name of a buddha traditionally equated with Amitābha or Amitāyus. Also called Dundubhi­svara­rāja.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • i.­8
  • 1.­12-14
g.­3

Aparimitāyur­jñāna

Wylie:
  • tshe dang ye shes dpag tu med pa
Tibetan:
  • ཚེ་དང་ཡེ་ཤེས་དཔག་ཏུ་མེད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • aparimitāyur­jñāna

“Unlimited Life and Wisdom,” the name of the tathāgata who resides in the buddha field Aparimitaguṇasaṃcaya at the zenith; it can also be rendered Amitāyus.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • i.­6-7
g.­4

Aparimitāyus

Wylie:
  • tshe dpag med
Tibetan:
  • ཚེ་དཔག་མེད།
Sanskrit:
  • aparimitāyus

“Unlimited Life,” the name of the tathāgata who resides in the buddha field Sukhāvatī in the west; it can also be rendered Amitāyus and is synonymous with Amitābha.

Located in 31 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­1-4
  • i.­6-7
  • 1.­3
  • 1.­9-12
  • 1.­14-16
  • n.­3
  • n.­7
  • g.­1
  • g.­7
  • g.­11
  • g.­12
  • g.­13
  • g.­15
  • g.­16
  • g.­22
  • g.­23
  • g.­25
  • g.­28
  • g.­31
  • g.­32
  • g.­33
g.­5

Avalokiteśvara

Wylie:
  • spyan ras gzigs dbang phyug
Tibetan:
  • སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས་དབང་ཕྱུག
Sanskrit:
  • avalokiteśvara

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

One of the “eight close sons of the Buddha,” he is also known as the bodhisattva who embodies compassion. In certain tantras, he is also the lord of the three families, where he embodies the compassion of the buddhas. In Tibet, he attained great significance as a special protector of Tibet, and in China, in female form, as Guanyin, the most important bodhisattva in all of East Asia.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • i.­4
  • 1.­15
g.­6

Bodhi tree

Wylie:
  • byang chub kyi shing
Tibetan:
  • བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་ཤིང་།
Sanskrit:
  • bodhivṛkṣa
  • bodhidruma

The name of the tree under which the Buddha Śākyamuni attained awakening. The same term is used to describe the trees under which other tathāgatas, both in this realm and others, attain awakening.

Located in 6 passages in the translation:

  • i.­3-4
  • 1.­14
  • g.­17
  • g.­28
  • g.­30
g.­7

Brilliant Light Ray

Wylie:
  • bkra ba’i ’od zer can
Tibetan:
  • བཀྲ་བའི་འོད་ཟེར་ཅན།
Sanskrit:
  • —

The name of the lotus seat on which the Tathāgata Aparimitāyus sits.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­15
g.­8

Devadatta

Wylie:
  • lhas byin
Tibetan:
  • ལྷས་བྱིན།
Sanskrit:
  • devadatta

The name of the Buddha’s cousin and brother-in-law who defected from the Buddha’s saṅgha, causing the very first schism, and went on to compete against and even attempt to kill the Buddha Śākyamuni.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • 1.­10
  • g.­11
g.­9

dhāraṇī

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

A formula invoking a particular deity for a particular purpose; dhāraṇīs are longer than most mantras, and their applications are more specialized.

Located in 10 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­4
  • i.­6
  • i.­8-9
  • 1.­12-14
  • 1.­18
  • g.­2
g.­10

Dundubhi­svara­rāja

Wylie:
  • rnga sgra’i rgyal po
Tibetan:
  • རྔ་སྒྲའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • dundubhi­svara­rāja

The name of a buddha traditionally equated with Amitābha or Amitāyus. Also called Amṛt­adundubhi­svara­rāja.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • i.­6
  • i.­8
  • g.­1
  • g.­2
g.­11

Gracious Gift

Wylie:
  • dang ba
Tibetan:
  • དང་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • —

The name of the person who occupies the role of Devadatta in the Tathāgata Aparimitāyus’ realm.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­10
g.­12

Gracious Protector

Wylie:
  • bzang skyong ma
Tibetan:
  • བཟང་སྐྱོང་མ།
Sanskrit:
  • —

The name of the Tathāgata Aparimitāyus’ queen.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­9
g.­13

Great Array

Wylie:
  • bkod pa chen po
Tibetan:
  • བཀོད་པ་ཆེན་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • —

The name of the Tathāgata Aparimitāyus’ disciple foremost in miraculous powers and endeavor.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­9
g.­14

great hearer

Wylie:
  • nyan thos chen po
Tibetan:
  • ཉན་ཐོས་ཆེན་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • mahāśrāvaka

A term denoting the primary disciples of a buddha.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­10
g.­15

Having a Retinue

Wylie:
  • ’khor dang bcas pa
Tibetan:
  • འཁོར་དང་བཅས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • —

The name of the Tathāgata Aparimitāyus’ palace in the realm Sukhāvatī.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­9
g.­16

King of Offerings

Wylie:
  • mchod pa’i rgyal po
Tibetan:
  • མཆོད་པའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • —

The name of the being who acts as Māra in the Tathāgata Aparimitāyus’ realm.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­10
g.­17

king of trees

Wylie:
  • shing gi rgyal po
Tibetan:
  • ཤིང་གི་རྒྱལ་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • drumarāja

A generic term for a tree under which a tathāgata sits and a synonym for the Bodhi tree.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­15
g.­18

kṣatriya

Wylie:
  • rgyal rigs
Tibetan:
  • རྒྱལ་རིགས།
Sanskrit:
  • kṣatriya

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

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

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • 1.­9
g.­19

Mahāsthāmaprāpta

Wylie:
  • mthu chen thob pa
Tibetan:
  • མཐུ་ཆེན་ཐོབ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • mahāsthāmaprāpta

The name of an important bodhisattva in the Mahāyāna pantheon.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • i.­4
  • 1.­15
g.­20

Māra

Wylie:
  • bdud
Tibetan:
  • བདུད།
Sanskrit:
  • māra

The name of the being who maintains the illusions of the world that bind beings in cyclic existence.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • 1.­10
  • g.­16
g.­21

Maudgalyāyana

Wylie:
  • maud gal gyi bu
Tibetan:
  • མཽད་གལ་གྱི་བུ།
Sanskrit:
  • maudgalyāyana

Along with Śāriputra, one of Buddha Śākyamuni’s two main disciples, known as the foremost in miraculous powers and endeavor.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • g.­29
g.­22

Moonlight

Wylie:
  • zla ba’i ’od
Tibetan:
  • ཟླ་བའི་འོད།
Sanskrit:
  • —

The name of the Tathāgata Aparimitāyus’ son.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­9
g.­23

Most Gracious

Wylie:
  • bzang po’i mchog
Tibetan:
  • བཟང་པོའི་མཆོག
Sanskrit:
  • —

The name of the Tathāgata Aparimitāyus’ father.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­9
g.­24

Patsap Nyima Drak

Wylie:
  • pa tshab nyi ma grags
Tibetan:
  • པ་ཚབ་ཉི་མ་གྲགས།
Sanskrit:
  • —

The name of a famous Tibetan translator (b. 1055). He studied in Kashmir for twenty-three years and is best known for introducing into Tibet the philosophical works of Candrakīrti and other Indian scholars, but also brought the transmissions of new practice rituals and tantric deities.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • i.­5
  • c.­1
  • n.­6
  • g.­27
g.­25

Pinnacle of Grace

Wylie:
  • bzang po’i tog
Tibetan:
  • བཟང་པོའི་ཏོག
Sanskrit:
  • —

The name of the Tathāgata Aparimitāyus’ disciple foremost in insight.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­9
g.­26

prostrate with the five points of the body

Wylie:
  • yan lag lngas phyag
Tibetan:
  • ཡན་ལག་ལྔས་ཕྱག
Sanskrit:
  • pañcāṅga­praṇāma

The term literally means “prostrating with five limbs.” The five limbs consist of the head, two arms, and two legs.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­12
g.­27

Puṇya­sambhava

Wylie:
  • puN+ya saM b+ha wa
Tibetan:
  • པུཎྱ་སཾ་བྷ་ཝ།
Sanskrit:
  • puṇya­sambhava

The name of an Indian preceptor and translator (ca. 11th century). Little is known about him except that he was responsible with Patsap Nyima Drak for the translation of this text, and possibly for Toh 675.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • i.­5
  • c.­1
  • n.­6
g.­28

Radiating Jeweled Lotus

Wylie:
  • rin po che’i pad+ma rnam par snang ba
Tibetan:
  • རིན་པོ་ཆེའི་པདྨ་རྣམ་པར་སྣང་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • —

The name of the Bodhi tree under which the Tathāgata Aparimitāyus sits.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­15
g.­29

Śāriputra

Wylie:
  • shA ri’i bu
Tibetan:
  • ཤཱ་རིའི་བུ།
Sanskrit:
  • śāriputra

Along with Maudgalyāyana, one of Buddha Śākyamuni’s two main disciples, known as the foremost in insight.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • g.­21
g.­30

seat of awakening

Wylie:
  • byang chub kyi snying po
Tibetan:
  • བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སྙིང་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • bodhimaṇḍa

The name for the platform under the Bodhi tree that marks the location where the Buddha Śākyamuni attained awakening. The same term is used to signify the platform under the Bodhi trees on which all tathāgatas, both in this realm and in others, attain awakening.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­14
g.­31

Splendorous

Wylie:
  • gzi brjid can
Tibetan:
  • གཟི་བརྗིད་ཅན།
Sanskrit:
  • —

The name of the Tathāgata Aparimitāyus’ mother.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­9
g.­32

Stainless Renown

Wylie:
  • snyan pa dri ma med
Tibetan:
  • སྙན་པ་དྲི་མ་མེད།
Sanskrit:
  • —

The name of the Tathāgata Aparimitāyus’ attendant.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­9
g.­33

Sukhāvatī

Wylie:
  • bde ba can
Tibetan:
  • བདེ་བ་ཅན།
Sanskrit:
  • sukhāvatī

The realm where the Tathāgata Aparimitāyus resides.

Located in 15 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­1
  • i.­3-4
  • i.­6-8
  • 1.­3
  • 1.­7
  • 1.­11-12
  • g.­1
  • g.­2
  • g.­4
  • g.­15
g.­34

the banks of the Gaggarā lotus pond

Wylie:
  • gang ga tas bskor ba’i rdzing bu’i ’gram
Tibetan:
  • གང་ག་ཏས་བསྐོར་བའི་རྫིང་བུའི་འགྲམ།
Sanskrit:
  • —

The Gaggarā lotus pond was excavated by Queen Gaggarā of Campā, the capital of Aṅga, and the groves of flowering trees along its banks became a popular location for wandering teachers and ascetics to take up residence. The Pāli dictionary of proper names notes that the Buddha took up residence on the banks of the Gaggarā pond several times, and a number of discourses in the Pāli nikāya tradition were taught in this location. Pāli: gaggarāpokkharanī; Chinese: 伽伽靈池.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­2
g.­35

universal ruler

Wylie:
  • ’khor los sgyur ba’i rgyal po
Tibetan:
  • འཁོར་ལོས་སྒྱུར་བའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • cakravartin

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

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

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

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • 1.­9
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    84000. The Dhāraṇī “Essence of Immeasurable Longevity and Wisdom” (Aparimitāyur­jñāna­hṛdaya­dhāraṇī, tshe dang ye shes dpag tu med pa’i snying po’i gzungs, Toh 676). Translated by Dharmachakra Translation Committee. Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2025. https://84000.co/translation/toh676.Copy
    84000. The Dhāraṇī “Essence of Immeasurable Longevity and Wisdom” (Aparimitāyur­jñāna­hṛdaya­dhāraṇī, tshe dang ye shes dpag tu med pa’i snying po’i gzungs, Toh 676). Translated by Dharmachakra Translation Committee, online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2025, 84000.co/translation/toh676.Copy
    84000. (2025) The Dhāraṇī “Essence of Immeasurable Longevity and Wisdom” (Aparimitāyur­jñāna­hṛdaya­dhāraṇī, tshe dang ye shes dpag tu med pa’i snying po’i gzungs, Toh 676). (Dharmachakra Translation Committee, Trans.). Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. https://84000.co/translation/toh676.Copy

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