[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) › [Cundādevīdhāraṇī](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani) › [འཕགས་པ་ལྷ་མོ་སྐུལ་བྱེད་མ་ཞེས་བྱ་བའི་གཟུངས](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989) › The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā # The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā Translation of [འཕགས་པ་ལྷ་མ་སྐལ་བྱད་མ་ཞས་བྱ་བའ་གཟངས (འཕགས་པ་ལྷ་མོ་སྐུལ་བྱེད་མ་ཞེས་བྱ་བའི་གཟུངས)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989) - **Language:** English - **Translator:** [Adam C. Krug](https://indike.org/pramana/person/adam-c-krug) - **Extent:** 33 passages, 2,388 words - **Text:** complete digital text - **Source:** 84000 · Published by 84000 (v 1.0.2 2024). 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.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.intro) — 8 parts - [1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.1) - [2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.2) - [notes Notes](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.notes) — 23 parts ## Text ### 84000's introduction ### [intro.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.intro.1) The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā consists of an homage, invocation, and description of the Goddess Cundā followed by a request to Cundā for protection and good fortune. ### [intro.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.intro.2) The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā opens with homages to the Three Jewels, the Buddha Vairocana, and the Goddess Cundā, followed by a short homage and dhāraṇī in transliterated Sanskrit that reads namaḥ saptānām saṃyaksaṃ­buddhakoṭīnām | tadyathā | oṁ cale cule cunde svāhā. This combined homage and dhāraṇī also appears in the second section of The Basket’s Display (Toh 116)¹ when Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin has returned to join Śākyamuni’s assembly at Jetavana Monastery at the conclusion of his search for the great vidyā mantra of Avalokiteśvara.² Unlike The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā, this passage in The Basket’s Display does not provide any ritual instructions for reciting her dhāraṇī, any mention of the benefits of this recitation practice, or any description or mention of the goddess to whom this dhāraṇī is addressed. ### [intro.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.intro.3) This opening homage and dhāraṇī is followed by an extensive section praising the goddess that describes Cundā’s qualities, hand implements, and appearance. Here she is described as having the face of the Goddess Anantā, a form of the Goddess Umā or Parvatī, as having been blessed by all the thus-gone ones, and as the recipient of offerings from all the gods. These verses describing the goddess and praising her qualities describe many of Cundā’s attributes as either composed of vajras or modified by the term vajra, as the dhāraṇī emphasizes her invulnerability and indestructible power to protect beings. ### [intro.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.intro.4) The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā then introduces a second Sanskrit liturgy directed at “Blessed Cundā” (bhagavati cunde) requesting that Cundā protect the person reciting the dhāraṇī from a variety of hostile, demonic beings. The text concludes with a final benediction requesting Cundā to protect the person reciting the dhāraṇī and bring them good fortune. ### [intro.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.intro.5) We are not aware of any surviving Sanskrit witness of The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā at present, but there is strong textual and art historical evidence to suggest that Cundā enjoyed widespread popularity across the Indic Buddhist world from the eighth century onward.³ Cundā is mentioned in a number of tantras in the Kangyur and Nyingma Gyubum. In the Kangyur, she appears as a significant maṇḍala deity in the Guhyasamāja and Māyājāla traditions.⁴ Śāntideva refers to The Cundā Dhāraṇī in his Śikṣāsamuccaya, where he mentions reciting her dhāraṇī to purify misdeeds.⁵ She is featured in Abhayākaragupta’s Niṣpanna­yogāvali as a goddess in Vairocana Mañjuvajra’s maṇḍala,⁶ as one of twelve dhāraṇī goddesses in the Dharmadhātu Vagīśvara maṇḍala,⁷ and as Ṭakkirāja’s consort in the Kālacakra maṇḍala.⁸ Three short sādhanas to the Goddess Cundā appear in the Sādhanamāla,⁹ as well as a single Cundā sādhana in The “Hundred” Sādhanas translated by Patshab ¹⁰ and a single sādhana in The “Hundred” Sādhanas translated by Bari.¹¹ In Tāranātha’s History of Buddhism in India, Cundā appears as an important tutelary and protector deity who supports the ascension of Gopāla I (r.750–75 ce), the founder and first ruler of the Pāla Dynasty. Her close ties to the founding of the Pāla Empire undoubtedly played an important role in Cundā’s incorporation into the maṇḍala systems of several tantras, her rise in popularity during this period across the Indian sub-continent, and the promotion of the goddess throughout Asia.¹² ### [intro.6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.intro.6) The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā does not appear in either of the Imperial Tibetan catalogs of translated works, which suggests that the Tibetan translation was likely produced after the ninth century. The Kangyur witnesses for this text do not contain a translators’ colophon,¹³ so they do not provide any data on the translators who worked on this text or the time when The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā was translated into Tibetan. The text appears twice in the Degé Kangyur—once in the tantra section (rgyud ’bum) and once in the compendium of dhāraṇīs (gzungs ’dus).¹⁴ ### [intro.7](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.intro.7) The Taishō contains three Chinese translations of a single work devoted to the Goddess Cundā that differs in both length and content from The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā in the Tibetan Kangyurs. The earliest Chinese translation of a textual tradition for the Goddess Cundā in the Taishō was produced in 685 ce by the translator Divākara (Taishō 1077).¹⁵ A second Chinese translation in the Taishō was then completed in 723 ce by Vajrabodhi (Taishō 1075),¹⁶ and the third Chinese translation in the Taishō was completed in 1246 ce by Amoghavajra (Taishō 1076).¹⁷ These translations supported Cundā’s widespread popularity across East Asian Buddhist traditions, which continues to this day. ### [intro.8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.intro.8) This English translation was prepared using both Tibetan witnesses that are preserved in the Degé Kangyur, the Tibetan translation in the Stok Palace Kangyur, and the Comparative Edition of the Kangyur. ### [1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.1) Homage to the Three Jewels. Homage to the blessed, thus-gone, worthy, perfectly awakened buddha Vairocana. Homage to you, blessed Goddess Cundā, who has immeasurable power and strength, has magical powers and tramples enemies, and is celebrated and praised by all the thus-gone ones. Please bring me good fortune in every way and at all times. namaḥ saptānāṃ samyaksam­buddha­koṭīnāṃ | tadyathā | oṁ cale cule cunde svāhā Diligent one with pristine discipline. Great powerful one. Great conqueror of enemies. In your hands you hold a sword, a battle axe, a hook, and a noose. Great wrathful one. Queen of the great wrathful ones. Goddess with a fierce form,¹⁸ Anantā’s face, and one-thousand arms. Invincible one whom no enemy can withstand. Unfailing one, who is so difficult to tame. Goddess with a thousand eyes who is blessed by all the thus-gone ones. Goddess whom all gods venerate, and to whom they all make offerings. Goddess whose nails are vajras, who is a vajra filled with vajras,¹⁹ and who is armed with vajras. ### [2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.2) Goddess with a vajra body, vajra fists, and wrathful vajra eyes that dart about.²⁰ Fierce one who transforms into and displays a fierce form, and whose body is adorned with vajra and beryl ornaments. oṁ bhagavati cunde hūṁ hūṁ krūṁ krūṁ mrūṁ mrūṁ sruṁ sruṁ rūṃ rūṃ āveśaya gṛhṇa gṛhṇa gṛhṇāpaya gṛhṇāpaya hara hara bhañja bhañja sara sara mara mara māraya māraya paca paca daha daha gṛhṇa gṛhṇa—all manner of hostile grahas; one, two, three, four, and seven-day fevers; persistent and momentary fevers;²¹ bhūta, vetāla, preta, piśāca, yakṣa, rākṣasa, and kumbhāṇḍa grahas;²² beings who are born from a womb; beings who are born, transmigrate, and abide in a particular realm due to karma; any hostile beings who might harm me; and all manner of evil beings—saṃdhaya saṃdhaya mardaya mardaya śoṣaya śoṣaya tāpaya tāpaya utsādhaya utsādhaya hana hana vajreṇa sara sara daṇḍena māraya māraya khaḍgena²³ hūṁ hūṁ hūṁ cūṃ cūṃ cūṃ drūṃ drūṃ drūṃ oṁ cale cule cunde sarvārthasādhaya svāhā May the blessing and power of the blessed noble Goddess Cundā protect me from all harm and bring me good fortune svāhā. ### Notes ### [notes.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.notes.1) 1. The Basket’s Display , (Kāraṇḍa­vyūha, Toh 116). ### [notes.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.notes.2) 2. The Basket’s Display, Toh 116, translated by Peter Alan Roberts with Tulku Yeshi, . While the Sanskrit in the dhāraṇī refers to “seventy-million completely perfect buddhas” (saptānām saṃyaksaṃ­buddha­koṭīnām), the Tibetan translation of The Basket’s Display notes that “seventy-seven times ten million” completely perfect buddhas assemble and recite her dhāraṇī. Given that in Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit the usage of the genitive case, which functions as the dative in constructions with namaḥ (“salutation to…”), is common in mantras and dhāraṇīs, the use of the genitive here (namaḥ saptānām samyaksam­buddha­koṭīnām) prompts us to understand this as an homage to the seventy-million completely perfect buddhas, here reading the genitive plural as an honorific form for the dative. ### [notes.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.notes.3) 3. Shaw 2006, pp. 265–75. ### [notes.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.notes.4) 4. Numerous references to Cundā appear in Toh 453, The Beginning Chapter of the Supremely Great Vajra and in Toh 466, The Net of Magical Illusion. Cundā also appears as a goddess in the Heruka maṇḍala presented in chapter six of Emergence from Sampuṭa, See Emergence from Sampuṭa, Toh 381, translated by Dharmachakra Translation Committee (2020; 2024), . ### [notes.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.notes.5) 5. Śāntideva, Śikṣāsamuccaya, in Śikṣāsamuccaya of Śāntideva, edited by P. L. Vaidya, Buddhist Sanskrit Texts 11 (Darbhanga: Mithila Institute of Post-Graduate Studies and Research in Sanskrit Learning, 1960), p. 96. The Tibetan witnesses of The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā preserved in the various recensions of the Kangyur focus primarily on invoking Cundā for protection against various illnesses that are brought on by demonic beings. There is no true equivalent of an invocation to the goddess for the purification of one’s misdeeds. It is thus possible that the version of The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā that survives in the Tibetan Kangyurs is somewhat different from the text that Śāntideva references in his Śikṣāsamucchaya. ### [notes.6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.notes.6) 6. Chandra and Sharma 2015, p. 169. ### [notes.7](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.notes.7) 7. Ibid., p. 191. ### [notes.8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.notes.8) 8. Ibid., p. 294. ### [notes.9](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.notes.9) 9. Bhattacharyya 1925;1968, pp. 270–73. This Sanskrit edition of the Sādhanamālā corresponds to the Ocean of Sādhanas in the Degé Tengyur, which contains a collection of two hundred and forty-five sādhanas. All three of the Cundā sādhanas in Bhattacharyya’s edition of the Sādhanamāla also appear in the Tibetan translation of this collection. See Toh 3519 tsun+da’i sgrub thabs (Cundāsādhana), Toh 3519 Degé Tengyur vol. 77 (rgyud, mu), folios 165a–165b; Toh 3520 tsun+da’i sgrub thabs (Cundāsādhana) Toh 3520 Degé Tengyur vol. 77 (rgyud, mu) folio 165b; and Toh 3521 tsun+da’I sgrub thabs (Cundāsādhana) Toh 3521 Degé Tengyur vol 77 (rgyud, mu), folios 165b–166a. ### [notes.10](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.notes.10) 10. skul byed ma’i sgrub thabs (Cundāsādhana) Toh 3246 Degé Tengyur vol. 76 (rgyud, bu), folios 12a–12b. ### [notes.11](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.notes.11) 11. tsun+da’i sgrub pa’i thabs (Cundāsādhana). Toh 3346 Degé Tengyur vol. 77 (rgyud, mu), folios 33a–33b. ### [notes.12](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.notes.12) 12. For an excellent summary of this episode from Tāranātha’s History of Buddhism in India as well as additional data on the extent of the Goddess Cundā’s popularity in the Pāla Empire and the broader Indic world, see Shaw 2006, pp. 265–75. For an English translation of this episode in the life of Gopāla I from Tāranātha’s History of Buddhism in India, see Chattopadhyaya 1970; 1990, pp. 257–64. ### [notes.13](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.notes.13) 13. This assessment is based on the colophon data for The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā across twenty-five recensions of the Kangyur (see http://www.rkts.org/cat.php?id=607&typ=1) and the entry for this text in Tarthang Tulku, The Nyingma edition of the sDe-dge bKa’-’gyur and bsTan-’gyur Research Catalogue and Bibliography vol. 2 (Oakland, CA: Dharma Publishing, 1981), p. 231. ### [notes.14](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.notes.14) 14. This text, Toh 989, 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 989 version of this text within vol. 101 or 102 of the Degé Kangyur. See Toh 989, , for details. ### [notes.15](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.notes.15) 15. Lancaster, Lewis R. The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalogue. Accessed April 4, 2023. For e-texts of this version, see Qi juzhi fomu xin da zhunti tuoluoni jing 七倶胝佛母心大准提陀羅尼經 (Cundādevī­dhāraṇī), Taishō 1077 (CBETA; SAT). ### [notes.16](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.notes.16) 16. Lancaster, Lewis R. The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalogue. Accessed April 4, 2023. For etexts of this version, see Qi juzhi fomu zhunti daming tuoluoni jing 七倶胝佛母准提大明陀羅尼經 (Cundādevī­dhāraṇī), Taishō 1075 (CBETA; SAT). ### [notes.17](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.notes.17) 17. Lancaster, Lewis R. The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalogue. Accessed April 4, 2023. For e-texts of this version, see Qi juzhi fomu suo shuo zhunti tuoluoni jing 七倶胝佛母所說准提陀羅尼經 (Cundādevī­dhāraṇī), Taishō 1076 (CBETA; SAT). ### [notes.18](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.notes.18) 18. All Tibetan witnesses consulted for this translation read: drag po’i gzugs can ma. This phrase appears as the name of a goddess in The Hevajra Tantra, where it corresponds to the Sanskrit raudrarūpiṇī. ### [notes.19](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.notes.19) 19. Stok, Toh 613, and Toh 989 read: rdo rje rdo rjes ’dren ma. The Yongle and Kanxi Peking Kangyurs read: rdo rje rdo rje ’dren ma. This translation is tentative. The word ’dren ma is an old Tibetan term meaning “mixture” or “variety” that is related to the more common ’dres pa, and, following Negi, understood as corresponding to the Sanskrit saṃkīrṇa or kalmāṣa. The Tibetan ’dren ma as a translation of the Sanskrit nāyikā, referring to Cundā as the “leader” or “principal deity” is also possible, but this reading leaves the phrase rdo rje rdo rjes somewhat difficult to resolve. ### [notes.20](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.notes.20) 20. Following Stok, Toh 613, and Toh 989: rdo rje’i spyan gdangs pa’i stang stabs can ma. This translation is tentative. ### [notes.21](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.notes.21) 21. All Tibetan witnesses consulted for this translation read: rtag pa’i rims dang / yud tsam pa dang. This translation is tentative. The Tibetan term for “fever” (rims) does not actually occur here, but the proximity of the term yud tsam pa to the Tibetan for “persistent fever” (rtag pa’i rims) suggests that these two should be read in juxtaposition. It is possible, however, that the term yud tsam pa (Skt. \*muhūrta) should be included with the list of demonic and disease-causing beings (Skt. grahas), as is indicated in the Tibetan translation. However, it is not at all clear that the term yud tsam pa (Skt. muhūrta) can be read in this case as a noun referring to a specific class of demonic beings. ### [notes.22](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.notes.22) 22. All Tibetan witnesses consulted for this translation read: ’byung po dang / ro langs dang / yi dags dang / sha za dang / gnod sbyin dang / srin po dang / grul bum gyi gdon dang. The term graha has been distributed to all of the members of this list, but it is possible that it only applies to the final member, the kumbhāṇḍa graha. ### [notes.23](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000.notes.23) 23. All Tibetan witnesses consulted for this translation read: kha k+ke na. The reading in this translation amends the transliteration in the Tibetan to the proper form for the Sanskrit term for “sword” (Skt. khaḍga), which the text has already told us is one of the weapons that Cundā holds in her hands. --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.cundadevidharani*bo-d989~en-84000) · Pramāṇa