[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) › [Mahālakṣmīsūtra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.mahalaksmisutra) › [འཕགས་པ་དཔལ་ཆེན་མོའི་མདོ](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.mahalaksmisutra*bo) › [The Sutra of Mahashri](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.mahalaksmisutra*bo~en-84000) › intro # འཕགས་པ་དཔལ་ཆན་མའ་མད intro: 84000's introduction The Sūtra of Mahāśrī intro - **Language:** English ### 84000's introduction ### [intro.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.mahalaksmisutra*bo~en-84000.intro.1) The Sūtra of Mahāśrī is a short sūtra revealed to Avalokiteśvara in the pure land of Sukhāvatī. In essence, it is a dhāraṇī centered on twelve epithets of the goddess of wealth and a short ritual instruction concerning its recitation. The spell is said to provide protection, wealth, and good social standing. ### [intro.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.mahalaksmisutra*bo~en-84000.intro.2) The Sūtra of Mahāśrī is a short sūtra revealed to Avalokiteśvara in the pure land of Sukhāvatī. In essence, it is a dhāraṇī centered on twelve epithets of the goddess of wealth and a short ritual instruction concerning its recitation. Lists of the epithets of a deity are a common type of dhāraṇī, and such texts can sometimes be very long (for example, Reciting the Names of Mañjuśrī).¹ This text can be said to be an alternative version of The Twelve Names of the Goddess Śrī,² from which it differs in only minor details. One significant difference, however, is that in that text the ritual instruction is not provided. ### [intro.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.mahalaksmisutra*bo~en-84000.intro.3) Mahāśrī, or simply Śrī, or commonly Lakṣmī, is a goddess who is perhaps more prevalent in the brahmanical tradition, where she is said to be the great god Viṣṇu’s consort. She is associated with well-being and prosperity. Here her names constitute the inner core of the dhāraṇī, which is then accompanied by a short ritual instruction about how to recite it. The spell is promised to provide protection, wealth, and good social standing. ### [intro.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.mahalaksmisutra*bo~en-84000.intro.4) The text is not present under this title in the imperial-period catalogs, but its sibling text is. The colophon of the Tibetan translation of this text attributes it to the famous translator-duo Jinamitra and Yeshé Dé, dating it to sometime in the early ninth century. While the two texts are nearly identical, we may observe that name-epithets in particular were translated somewhat differently. ### [intro.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.mahalaksmisutra*bo~en-84000.intro.5) 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)³ in the Degé Kangyur in consultation with the Stok Palace Kangyur and the various witnesses of the sibling text, The Twelve Names of the Goddess Śrī. --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.mahalaksmisutra*bo~en-84000.intro](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.mahalaksmisutra*bo~en-84000.intro) · Pramāṇa