[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Buddhist Sanskrit literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit) › [Protective spells and dhāraṇī-sūtras](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani) › [Dhāraṇīs of goddesses](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess) › [Aṣṭadevīdhāraṇī](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani) › [འཕགས་པ་ལྷ་མོ་བརྒྱད་ཀྱི་གཟུངས](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani*bo) › The Dhāraṇī of the Eight Goddesses # The Dhāraṇī of the Eight Goddesses Translation of [འཕགས་པ་ལྷ་མ་བརྒྱད་ཀྱ་གཟངས (འཕགས་པ་ལྷ་མོ་བརྒྱད་ཀྱི་གཟུངས)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani*bo) - **Language:** English - **Translator:** [Adam C. Krug](https://indike.org/pramana/person/adam-c-krug) - **Extent:** 22 passages, 1,597 words - **Text:** complete digital text - **Source:** 84000 · Published by 84000 (v 1.0.2 2025). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha,… · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha). Shown whole and unaltered, with its notes, on a… ## Contents - [intro 84000's introduction](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani*bo~en-84000.intro) — 14 parts - [1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani*bo~en-84000.1) - [2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani*bo~en-84000.2) - [3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani*bo~en-84000.3) - [notes Notes](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani*bo~en-84000.notes) — 5 parts ## Text ### 84000's introduction ### [intro.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani*bo~en-84000.intro.1) The Noble Dhāraṇī of the Eight Goddesses is a teaching that was given by the bodhisattva Vajrapāṇi to the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī on a set of dhāraṇīs that corresponds to an eight-goddess maṇḍala. The text consists of material extracted from the work that precedes it in the Degé Kangyur, the Vajra­pāṇyabhiṣeka. ### [intro.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani*bo~en-84000.intro.2) The Dhāraṇī of the Eight Goddesses is a teaching given by the bodhisattva Vajrapāṇi to the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī on a set of dhāraṇīs in an eight-goddess maṇḍala. The eight dhāraṇī goddesses in this maṇḍala are as follows: ### [intro.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani*bo~en-84000.intro.3) 1. Consecrated in Great Gnosis ### [intro.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani*bo~en-84000.intro.4) 2. Vajradhātvīśvarī ### [intro.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani*bo~en-84000.intro.5) 3. Mahāpratisarā ### [intro.6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani*bo~en-84000.intro.6) 4. Unconquered Vajra ### [intro.7](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani*bo~en-84000.intro.7) 5. Relinquishing All Misdeeds ### [intro.8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani*bo~en-84000.intro.8) 6. Durdāntā ### [intro.9](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani*bo~en-84000.intro.9) 7. Destroying All Māras ### [intro.10](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani*bo~en-84000.intro.10) 8. Anantamukhasādhakā ### [intro.11](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani*bo~en-84000.intro.11) After Vajrapāṇi recites the dhāraṇīs for each of these goddesses, he tells Mañjuśrī that anyone who has the maṇḍala for these dhāraṇī goddesses placed in their hand, or simply recites these dhāraṇīs one time every morning, will be protected in this life and liberated from rebirth in the lower realms. ### [intro.12](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani*bo~en-84000.intro.12) There is no known Sanskrit witness for The Dhāraṇī of the Eight Goddesses, and the text does not appear to have been translated into Chinese. It appears in both the Denkarma¹ and Phangthangma² imperial Tibetan catalogs of translated works, and the translators’ colophon to the Tibetan witness in the Degé Kangyur notes that it was translated by the Indian preceptor Śīlendrabodhi and the Tibetan translator Bandé Yeshé Dé. These data suggest that The Dhāraṇī of the Eight Goddesses was translated into Tibetan during the eighth century. ### [intro.13](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani*bo~en-84000.intro.13) Nearly all the material in The Dhāraṇī of the Eight Goddesses is extracted from the Vajra­pāṇyabhiṣeka­tantra (Ārya­vajra­pāṇyabhiṣeka­mahā­tantra, ’phags pa lag na rdo rje dbang bskur ba’i rgyud chen po), which immediately precedes the version of this dhāraṇī in the Tantra Collection (rgyud ’bum) of the Degé Kangyur. The Vajra­pāṇyabhiṣeka provides instructions on the construction of a version of “the maṇḍala of consecration in great gnosis” (ye shes chen por dbang bskur ba’i skyil ’khor), but the maṇḍala described in the Vajra­pāṇyabhiṣeka is far more complex than the eight-goddess maṇḍala that is suggested (but never described) by the title of the present work, The Dhāraṇī of the Eight Goddesses. While it is very likely the case that each of these dhāraṇīs are considered goddesses in the Vajra­pāṇyabhiṣeka, they are only depicted in aniconic form as dhāraṇīs and symbols, and they are not once explicitly referred to as goddesses. They are accompanied in that text, however, by a set of very well-known male bodhisattvas who also only appear in the maṇḍala in aniconic form, and who all have very well-known iconic forms. Whatever ambiguity there may be in the Vajra­pāṇyabhiṣeka around whether these dhāraṇīs are in fact understood as goddesses is resolved in the current text, where the title suggests that the eight members of this maṇḍala are known as a set of dhāraṇī goddesses. Elements of this ambiguity have been preserved in the English translation of the current text to reflect the relationship of this material to the passages in the Vajra­pāṇyabhiṣeka from which it derives. ### [intro.14](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani*bo~en-84000.intro.14) This English translation was produced based on the Tibetan witnesses in the Tantra Collection (rgyud ’bum) and the Compendium of Dhāraṇīs (gzungs ’dus)³ in the Degé Kangyur, in consultation with the Tibetan witnesses in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) of the Kangyur and the Stok Palace Kangyur. ### [1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani*bo~en-84000.1) Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas. Then, Vajrapāṇi taught this supreme queen of great dhāraṇī mantras that is the mother of the thus-gone ones, that purifies all misdeeds, that cures all illnesses, that frightens off all vighnas, and that brings all manner of prosperity. namaḥ sarva­tathāgatebhyaḥ sarva­mukhebhyaḥ sarvathā he buddha­mātari sarva­pāpanāśani garja garja bhañja bhañja marda marda gambhari gambhari hasa hasa dama dama matha matha vidhvaṃsaya vidhvaṃsaya sarva­śatrūn taramati vimale pūraya pūraya prati­jñāna sarva­buddha­paryupasiti bhagavati gana gana jahi jahi vimasani kramaṇi dhavani ramaṇi mātaṅgi ge svāhā | This is the blessed dhāraṇī called Consecrated in Great Gnosis.⁴ namaḥ sarva­tathāgatebhyaḥ sarva­mukhebhyaḥ sarvathā amari amari taṭa bhañja bhañja jha jha mici mici sphoṭaya sphoṭaya matha matha durdāntadamaka svāhā | namaḥ sarva­tathāgatebhyaḥ sarva­mukhebhyā sarvathā he he kinade sarva­tathāgata­bhaneke bhodhiṃ dada trāṭa trāṭa hūṁ phaṭ hūṁ phaṭ⁵ garja garja paramati vihurike svāhā | namaḥ sarva­tathāgatebhyaḥ sarva­mukhebhyaḥ sarvathā bhagavati prajñā­pāramite a sarva­pāpakṣayaṅkari jñānārcisparaṇi bhañja bhañja matha matha dama dama ānaya ānaya sara sara māraya māraya sarva­buddha­janetrīyai svāhā | namaḥ sarva­tathāgatebhyaḥ sarva­mukhebhyaḥ sarvathā garja garja matha matha dama dama bhañja bhañja dundubhi sarva­nirghoṣe hana hana vidhvaṃsaya vidhvaṃsaya moṭaya moṭaya daha daha vipulanirma­lanirjāte āhara āhara gaccha gaccha sarva­buddha­paryupasatim mā vilamba svāhā | ### [2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani*bo~en-84000.2) This is the blessed dhāraṇī called Vajradhātvīśvarī. namaḥ sarva­tathāgatebhyaḥ sarva­mukhebhyaḥ sarvathā oṁ bhagavati sarva­tathāgata­janika pūraya prati­jñāna taṭa taṭa marda marda āhara āhara hūṁ hūṁ jati svāhā | This is the blessed dhāraṇī called Mahāpratisarā. namaḥ sarva­tathāgatebhyaḥ sarva­mukhebhyaḥ sarvathā hūṁ hrī sarva­buddha­mātiri bhañja bhañja matha matha damani damani gargāri gargāri hrī svāhā | This is the blessed dhāraṇī called Unconquered Vajra. namaḥ sarva­tathāgatebhyaḥ sarva­mukhebhyaḥ sarvathā trāṭa trāṭa muhu muhu sarva­pāpaviśodhani svāhā | This is the blessed dhāraṇī called the Relinquishing All Misdeeds. namaḥ sarva­tathāgatebhyaḥ sarva­mukhebhyaḥ sarvathā dhaka dhaka moṭa moṭa daha daha sarva­tathāgata­jñāna­nirjāte svāhā | This is the blessed dhāraṇī called Durdāntā. namaḥ sarva­tathāgatebhyaḥ sarva­mukhebhyaḥ sarvathā ha ha mihu mihu dama dama khāhi khāhi dhuna dhuna mici mici durdāntada­mani svāhā | This is the blessed dhāraṇī called Destroying All Māras. namaḥ sarva­tathāgatebhyaḥ sarva­mukhebhyaḥ sarvathā mici mici garja garja sphoṭaya sphoṭaya matha matha dama dama svāhā | This is the blessed dhāraṇī called Anantamukhasādhakā. “Manjuśrī, anyone in whose hand the maṇḍala of consecration in great gnosis is placed will be free from afflictions and free from peril. Even if they find themselves in the midst of thieves, in the midst of rākṣasas, in the midst of enemies, or in the midst of conflict, their bodies will not be pierced by weapons, they will not be killed by thieves and rākṣasas and the like will not harm them. They will have no fear of dying an untimely death, they will always have good fortune, and all their misdeeds ### [3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani*bo~en-84000.3) will be purified. In a single day, they will come to possess the root of virtue equal to that accumulated by one hundred thousand one hundred million tens of millions of buddhas. When their time of death has come, the buddhas and bodhisattvas will care for them, and, after they die, they will be born in Sukhāvatī. “Thus, it goes without saying that the obscurations of whoever upholds, recites, focuses upon, and maintains it without relenting will be purified. They will close the doors to the lower realms and they will be very far away from lower rebirths and the lower realms. “Any person who recites it once In the morning when they wake, And who fears the next life, Will be free from all the misdeeds they have committed. “Rākṣasas and the like, thieves, Weapons, and enemies will not strike them, They will be liberated from untimely death, And they will always have good fortune. “When their time of death has come, They will be very far from the lower realms, The buddhas will care for them, and They will be reborn in Sukhāvatī.” When he had said that, the world with its gods, humans, asuras, and gandharvas rejoiced and praised him. Colophon This was translated, edited, and finalized by the Indian preceptor Śīlendrabodhi and the chief editor and translator Bandé Yeshé Dé. ### Notes ### [notes.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani*bo~en-84000.notes.1) 1. Denkarma, folio 302.b; Herrmann-Pfandt 2008, pp. 224–25. ### [notes.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani*bo~en-84000.notes.2) 2. Phangthangma 2003, p. 27. ### [notes.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani*bo~en-84000.notes.3) 3. This text, Toh 999, and all those contained in this same volume (gzungs ’dus, waM), are listed as being located in volume 101 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 102. 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. Note that there is a discrepancy among various databases for cataloging the Toh 999 version of this text within vol. 101 or 102 of the Degé Kangyur. See Toh 999, , for details. ### [notes.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani*bo~en-84000.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. ### [notes.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani*bo~en-84000.notes.5) 5. This follows Toh 497. Toh 499 reads hUM hUM phaT phaT. --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani*bo~en-84000](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.astadevidharani*bo~en-84000) · Pramāṇa