co.

Table of Contents

s.

Summary

s.­1

This text consists of a short dhāraṇī said to encompass the longest sūtra in the Kangyur, The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines (Toh 8), and the benefits of its recitation.

ac.

Acknowledgements

ac.­1

The text was translated from Tibetan by the Buddhapīṭha Translation Group (Gergely Hidas and Péter-Dániel Szántó).

ac.­2

The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. Andreas Doctor edited the translation and the introduction, and Laura Goetz copyedited the text. Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.

i.

Introduction

i.­1

This text consists of a short dhāraṇī said to encompass the longest sūtra in the Kangyur, The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines,1 and the benefits of its recitation.

i.­2

Such short texts served a variety of purposes, the primary one being that by reciting them one could acquire the positive karmic benefits of reciting an entire, sometimes extremely long, text. On a practical level, the recitation of these short texts also served as an equivalent to the recitation of the parent text, should a prescribed ritual so require.

i.­3

The text lacks both a Sanskrit title and a translator’s colophon. In South Asia, the text was transmitted within collections such as the Compendium of Dhāraṇīs (Dhāraṇī­saṃgraha),2 but it is also embedded in some ritual manuals such as the corpus of “rituals for beginners” (ādikarmika, las dang po pa) texts, in our case the Ādikarmāvatāra by Mañjukīrti,3 the Ādikarmavidhi by Tatakaragupta,4 and the *Bodhipaddhati by Abhayākaragupta.5

i.­4

This translation was made principally on the basis of the Tibetan translations of the text found in the Tantra Collection (rgyud ’bum) and the Compendium of Dhāraṇīs (gzungs ’dus)6 in the Degé Kangyur in consultation with the various Sanskrit sources mentioned above, especially the text of Mañjukīrti, which is transmitted in a manuscript noted for its scribal precision.

Text Body

The Dhāraṇī of “The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines”
1.

The Translation

[F.280.b]


1.­1

Homage to the Blessed Lady, the Mother Perfection of Wisdom.


1.­2

tadyathā‍—oṃ munidharme7 saṃgraha­dharme anugraha­dharme vimukti­dharme sadānu­graha­dharme8 vaiśravaṇa­parivartita­dharme9 sarvakāryapariprāpaṇadharme10 śamatānu­parivartita­dharme11 svāhā!12 oṃ prajñe13 śrutismṛtivijaye14 dhīdhāraṇīye15 svāhā!

1.­3

oṃ prajñā­pāramitābala svāhā!16

1.­4

By upholding this, one will have upheld The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines.17

1.­5

If one recites it continuously, the mind will become heedful. All karmic obscurations will be purified.

1.­6

Here ends “The Dhāraṇī of ‘The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines.’ ”

n.

Notes

n.­1
Śatasāhasrikā­prajñā­pāramitā (shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong phrag brgya pa, Toh 8). For a partial translation (Chapters 1–13), see The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines.
n.­2
Hidas 2021, p. 76, item 8 in Cambridge University Library Ms. Add. 1326; p. 116, item 56 in the same. Note that the latter item describes the dhāraṇī as a condensation of The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines (Toh 12).
n.­3
The unique manuscript transmitting this text is currently being studied by Szántó for a forthcoming publication, Buddhism for Beginners II: The Mañjukīrti Corpus. The current location of the manuscript is not known with certainty. It was first seen and identified by Rāhula Sāṅkṛityāyana at Ngor Monastery; see Sāṅkṛityāyana 1935, p. 32. We are reading the text from the photographs kept at the Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Göttingen, shelf number Xc 14/50; for the catalog entry, see Bandurski 1994, pp. 86–87. Little is known of the author; the manuscript is undated but was most likely copied in Magadha during the twelfth century. The dhāraṇī can be found on folio 7 verso within the context of installing caityas. A somewhat carelessly produced edition of the text has now been published in Dhīḥ: Journal of Rare Buddhist Texts Research Unit 62 (2022): 89–150. The dhāraṇī is on p. 102.
n.­4
Unpublished, incomplete manuscript, currently at National Archives Kathmandu, showcase 3/7, read from the microfilm images of the Nepal-German Manuscript Preservation Project, reel no. A 1165/7. Little is known of the author; the manuscript is undated but was probably copied in Bengal during the thirteenth century. No Tibetan translation is known. The dhāraṇī can be found on folios 32 verso–33 recto.
n.­5
byang chub kyi gzhung lam (Toh 3766). See folio 120.b for the dhāraṇī. This text depends heavily on Mañjukīrti.
n.­6

This text, Toh 932, and all those contained in this same volume (gzungs, e), are listed as being located in volume 100 of the Degé Kangyur by the Buddhist Digital Resource Center (BDRC). However, several other Kangyur databases‍—including the eKangyur that supplies the digital input version displayed by the 84000 Reading Room‍—list this work as being located in volume 101. This discrepancy is partly due to the fact that the two volumes of the gzungs ’dus section are an added supplement not mentioned in the original catalog, and also hinges on the fact that the compilers of the Tōhoku catalog placed another text‍—which forms a whole, very large volume‍—the Vimala­prabhā­nāma­kālacakra­tantra­ṭīkā (dus ’khor ’grel bshad dri med ’od, Toh 845), before the volume 100 of the Degé Kangyur, numbering it as vol. 100, although it is almost certainly intended to come right at the end of the Degé Kangyur texts as volume 102; indeed its final fifth chapter is often carried over and wrapped in the same volume as the Kangyur dkar chags (catalog). Please note this discrepancy when using the eKangyur viewer in this translation.

n.­7
Tatakaragupta has sunidharme.
n.­8
Here we prefer the reading of the Sanskrit in Mañjukīrti and Tatakaragupta against the Tibetan’s sārānu­graha­dharme.
n.­9
This is Mañjukīrti’s and Abhayākaragupta’s version; Tatakaragupta has vaiśravaṇadharme parivartita­dharme. The Tibetan reads vaiśravaṇa­parivartana­dharme.
n.­10
This is the reading of Mañjukīrti and Tatakaragupta. The Tibetan reads sarvakāryaparipramaṇadharme.
n.­11
This is Mañjukīrti’s version; Tatakaragupta has samatānu­parivartita­dharma. The Tibetan reads samantānu­parivartani­dharme (in the Tantra version) or samantānu­parivartana­dharme (in the Compendium of Dhāraṇīs version). Abhayākaragupta’s text transmits yet another reading: samatāpari­vartita­dharme.
n.­12
Up to here, a very similar dhāraṇī is transmitted in The Perfection of Wisdom “Kauśika” (Kauśika­prajñā­pāramitā, Toh 19), ap1.­14.
n.­13
Tatakaragupta’s version adds mahādharme.
n.­14
This is Mañjukīrti’s version and the reading in item 8 in the Dhāraṇī­saṃgraha (see n.­2), which do not transmit °mati° after °smṛti° as the Tibetan versions do. Tatakaragupta reads śrutismṛti­vimativijaye. We adopt the former reading, since it is the one attested by our best sources and several parallels. The second version of the Dhāraṇī­saṃgraha has °gati° instead of °mati° or °vimati°. The Tibetan also inserts a svāhā after this compound, but this reading is not attested in good Sanskrit sources either.
n.­15
The Tibetan reads dhīḥ dhāraṇī. Tatakaragupta’s manuscript has dhīḥ dhāriṇīye as a marginal addition.
n.­16
This sentence is not attested in any of the Sanskrit sources, with the exception of Tatakaragupta, which itself is not a perfect match, as it reads oṃ prajñā­vardhani svāhā. A tentative translation of the dhāraṇī is as follows: “It is thus, Oṁ O One with the Dharma (or “with the Characteristic”) of the Sages, O One with the Dharma of Friendly Disposition, O One with the Dharma of Favor, O One with the Dharma of Liberation, O One with the Dharma of Constant Favor, O One with the Dharma Set in Motion by Vaiśravaṇa, O One with the Dharma of Accomplishing All Activities, O One with the Dharma Set in Motion in Accordance with Nirvāṇa (or “Sameness,” if we read samatā°) svāhā. Oṁ O Wisdom, O One Victorious in/by Study and Recollection, O One Upholding Knowledge svāhā. Oṁ O One with the Power of the Perfection of Wisdom (or understood as feminine if we accept a correction to °bale) svāhā.”
n.­17
The Sanskrit sources end the text here. Instead of what we translate here as “to uphold” to capture the ambiguity of the original, Tatakaragupta is more explicit when he replaces the verb with kaṇṭhasthīkṛ (“to place it in one’s throat”), which is the Sanskrit idiom for “to learn by heart.” He also spells out the benefit as the “meritorious karmic fruit” (puṇyaphala) of memorizing the parent text. This sentence is then followed by a fascinating short discussion, which merits quoting in full: “Surely, this is an exaggeration! No, one should not say this. For countless thus-gone ones have empowered this dhāraṇī to serve as a method for gaining the equipment of merit for women, immature people, and simpletons, as well as for learned people whose minds are confused, just like the pole of a snake charmer[, which is prepared by the expert snake charmer to be effective even when he is no longer present,] for removing poison; however, it is not a method for gaining the knowledge conveyed by The [Perfection of Wisdom in] One Hundred Thousand Lines. This should be understood to apply in other cases [i.e., where the text is abbreviated into a dhāraṇī] as well” (nanv atyuktir eveti. na caitad vaktavyam. yataḥ strībāla­mūrkhān paryākulitamatīn paṇḍitān praty api puṇya­saṃbhāra­sādhana­tvenāsaṃkhyeya­tathāgatair adhiṣṭhiteyaṃ dhāriṇī, yathā viṣaharatvena gāruḍikaṃ stambhaḥ; na tu lakṣāpratipādita­jñāna­sādhanatvena. evam anyatrāpi boddhavyaḥ).
b.

Bibliography

Tibetan Sources

shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong phrag brgya pa’i gzungs (Śatasāhasrikā­prajñā­pāramitā­dhāraṇī. Toh 576, Degé Kangyur vol. 90 (rgyud, pha), folios 202.b–203.a.

shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong phrag brgya pa’i gzungs (Śatasāhasrikā­prajñā­pāramitā­dhāraṇī). Toh 932, Degé Kangyur vol. 100 (gzungs, e), folio 280.b.

sher phyin kau shi ka (Kauśika­prajñā­pāramitā). Toh 19, Degé Kangyur vol. 19 (shes rab sna tshogs, ka), folios 142.a–143.b. English translation The Perfection of Wisdom “Kauśika” 2023.

shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa brgyad stong pa (Aṣṭasāhasrikā­prajñā­pāramitā) [The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines]. Toh 12, Degé Kangyur vol. 33 (brgyad stong, ka), folios 1.b–286.b.

shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong phrag brgya pa (Śatasāhasrikā­prajñā­pāramitā). Toh 8, Degé Kangyur vols. 14–25 (’bum, ka–a), folios 1.b (ka)–395.a (a). English translation (partial) The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines 2024.

Abhayākara­gupta. byang chub kyi gzhung lam (*Bodhi­paddhati). Toh 3766, Degé Tengyur vol. 79 (rgyud, tshu), folios 119.b–127.a.

Other Sources

84000. The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines (Śatasāhasrikā­prajñā­pāramitā, shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong phrag brgya pa, Toh 8). Translated by Gareth Sparham. Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024.

‍—‍—‍—. The Perfection of Wisdom “Kauśika” (Kauśika­prajñā­pāramitā, sher phyin kau shi ka, Toh 19). Translated by the UCSB Buddhist Studies Translation Group. Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2023.

Bandurski, Frank. “Übersicht über die Göttinger Sammlungen der von Rāhula Sāṅkṛtyāyana in Tibet aufgefundenen buddhistischen Sanskrit-Texte (Funde buddhistischer Sanskrit-Handschriften, III).” In Untersuchungen zur buddhistischen Literatur, edited by Frank Bandurski, Bhikkhu Pāsādika, Michael Schmidt, and Bangwei Wang, 9–126. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1994.

Hidas, Gergely. Powers of Protection: The Buddhist Tradition of Spells in the Dhāraṇīsaṃgraha Collections. Beyond Boundaries 9. Boston: de Gruyter, 2021.

Sāṅkṛityāyana, Tripiṭakâcharya Rāhula. “Sanskrit Palm-Leaf MSS. in Tibet.” Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society 21, no. 1 (1935): 21–43.

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

Blessed Lady

  • bcom ldan ’das ma
  • བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས་མ།
  • bhagavatī AO
g.­2

dhāraṇī

  • gzungs
  • གཟུངས།
  • dhāraṇī AS

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.

g.­3

equipment of merit

  • bsod nams kyi tshogs
  • བསོད་ནམས་ཀྱི་ཚོགས།
  • puṇyasaṃbhāra AO

The progressive increase of virtuous karma. One of the two factors that come together in creating momentum toward a practitioner’s spiritual awakening, the other being the accumulation or equipment of wisdom.

g.­4

karmic obscuration

  • las kyi sgrib pa
  • ལས་ཀྱི་སྒྲིབ་པ།
  • karmāvaraṇa AO

Persistent physical, mental, or emotional obstacles to spiritual progress caused by past deeds.

g.­5

Perfection of Wisdom

  • shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa
  • ཤེས་རབ་ཀྱི་ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ།
  • prajñāpāramitā AO

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The sixth of the six perfections, it refers to the profound understanding of the emptiness of all phenomena, the realization of ultimate reality. It is often personified as a female deity, worshiped as the “Mother of All Buddhas” (sarva­jina­mātā).

g.­6

thus-gone one

  • de bzhin gshegs pa
  • དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པ།
  • tathāgata AO

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A frequently used synonym for buddha. According to different explanations, it can be read as tathā-gata, literally meaning “one who has thus gone,” or as tathā-āgata, “one who has thus come.” Gata, though literally meaning “gone,” is a past passive participle used to describe a state or condition of existence. Tatha­(tā), often rendered as “suchness” or “thusness,” is the quality or condition of things as they really are, which cannot be conveyed in conceptual, dualistic terms. Therefore, this epithet is interpreted in different ways, but in general it implies one who has departed in the wake of the buddhas of the past, or one who has manifested the supreme awakening dependent on the reality that does not abide in the two extremes of existence and quiescence. It is also often used as a specific epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni.

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84000. The Dhāraṇī of “The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines” (Śatasāhasrikā­prajñā­pāramitā­dhāraṇī, shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong phrag brgya pa’i gzungs, Toh 932). Translated by Buddhapīṭha Translation Group. Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024. https://84000.co/translation/toh932.Copy
84000. The Dhāraṇī of “The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines” (Śatasāhasrikā­prajñā­pāramitā­dhāraṇī, shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong phrag brgya pa’i gzungs, Toh 932). Translated by Buddhapīṭha Translation Group, online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024, 84000.co/translation/toh932.Copy
84000. (2024) The Dhāraṇī of “The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines” (Śatasāhasrikā­prajñā­pāramitā­dhāraṇī, shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong phrag brgya pa’i gzungs, Toh 932). (Buddhapīṭha Translation Group, Trans.). Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. https://84000.co/translation/toh932.Copy
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