འཕགས་པ་ལྷ་མ་བརྒྱད་ཀྱ་གཟངས notes.4
The Dhāraṇī of the Eight Goddesses notes.4
- Language
- English
notes.4
4. Following Toh 497 and Toh 999: bcom ldan ’das ma ye shes chen por dbang bskur ldan pa zhes bya ba’i gzungs so. This translation reads the term “blessed” (bcom ldan ’das ma) strictly as a modifier for the term dhāraṇī (gzungs). The use of this term is indicative of this text understanding all these dhāraṇīs as dhāraṇī goddesses. Given the fact that none of these dhāraṇīs are explicitly referred to as goddesses, coupled with the fact that the depictions of each dhāraṇī in the source for this material, the Vajrapāṇyabhiṣeka, are aniconic, we have remained cautious in this translation and chosen to preserve the ambiguity in the source texts.