[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) › [Tārādhāraṇī](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.taradharani) › [Toh 1001](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.taradharani*bo-d1001) › The Dhāraṇī of Tārā # The Dhāraṇī of Tārā Translation of [Toh 1001](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.taradharani*bo-d1001) - **Language:** English - **Translator:** [Stefan Mang](https://indike.org/pramana/person/stefan-mang) - **Extent:** 21 passages, 1,105 words - **Text:** complete digital text - **Source:** 84000 · Translated by Samye Translationsunder the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the… · 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.taradharani*bo-d1001~en-84000.intro) — 6 parts - [1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.taradharani*bo-d1001~en-84000.1) - [notes Notes](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.taradharani*bo-d1001~en-84000.notes) — 14 parts ## Text ### 84000's introduction ### [intro.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.taradharani*bo-d1001~en-84000.intro.1) The Dhāraṇī of Tārā is a short dhāraṇī that invokes the goddess Tārā, seeking her intervention in the face of obstacles and negative forces. ### [intro.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.taradharani*bo-d1001~en-84000.intro.2) The Dhāraṇī of Tārā is a short recitation formula that invokes the deity Tārā for the purpose of dispelling obstacles and pacifying negative forces. As suggested by her name, which can be translated as “Savior,”¹ Tārā is revered as a deity who quickly responds in the face of worldly and spiritual dangers, and she is commonly invoked for this purpose by diverse communities of Buddhists. ### [intro.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.taradharani*bo-d1001~en-84000.intro.3) The worship of Tārā in India can be traced back to at least the sixth century, and since that time the goddess has gained increasingly important status in the Buddhist pantheon.² Tibetan histories recount that the worship and practice of Tārā was introduced to Tibet as early as the seventh century via a sandalwood statue brought by the Nepalese princess Bhṛkutī as dowry for her marriage to the Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo.³ While a few texts dedicated to Tārā were translated in the following centuries,⁴ it is believed that the worship of Tārā did not take firm root in Tibet until the eleventh century, when it was actively promoted by Atiśa.⁵ ### [intro.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.taradharani*bo-d1001~en-84000.intro.4) The Dhāraṇī of Tārā begins with an homage to the Three Jewels and Avalokiteśvara. This is followed by the main dhāraṇī, which was not translated into Tibetan but preserved in transliterated Sanskrit. The Tibetan text lacks a colophon, so the Tibetan translators and editors of the dhāraṇī remain unidentified. ### [intro.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.taradharani*bo-d1001~en-84000.intro.5) As cataloged in the Degé Kangyur,⁶ this dhāraṇī is part of a cycle of eight Kriyātantra (bya rgyud) texts (Toh 724–731) dedicated to Tārā. The same formula recorded in The Dhāraṇī of Tārā is also included in Tārā Who Protects from the Eight Dangers,⁷ a number of Tengyur texts dedicated to Tārā,⁸ and Butön Rinchen Drup’s (bu ston rin chen grub, 1290–1364) Dhāraṇī Collection (gzungs bsdus) from his Collected Works (gsung ’bum).⁹ The dhāraṇī appears to be the main dhāraṇī of the form of Tārā known as Vajratārā, as confirmed by its use in sādhanas dedicated to Vajratārā preserved in the Tengyur¹⁰ and the Sādhanamālā.¹¹ It is not known if the dhāraṇī circulated independently, or if it was extracted and preserved separately as The Dhāraṇī of Tārā because of its prestige and widespread incorporation into other texts and practice manuals. ### [intro.6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.taradharani*bo-d1001~en-84000.intro.6) The transcription and translation of the dhāraṇī below takes the Degé Kangyur as the primary witness, which was compared with versions recorded in other Kangyur collections, as well as the above-mentioned Tibetan and Sanskrit sources. ### [1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.taradharani*bo-d1001~en-84000.1) Homage to the Three Jewels! namo ratna­trayāya | nama āryāvalokiteśvarāya bodhisattvāya mahā­sattvāya mahā­kāruṇikāya |¹² tad yathā | oṁ tāre tuttāre¹³ ture sarva­duṣṭa­praduṣṭān mama kṛte jambhaya stambhaya mohaya bandhaya hūṁ hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ phaṭ sarva­duṣṭa­stambhani tāre svāhā |¹⁴ ### Notes ### [notes.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.taradharani*bo-d1001~en-84000.notes.1) 1. Tārā’s name is a causative derivation from the Sanskrit root √tṝ (“to cross”), meaning “to cause to cross,” i.e., “to rescue.” ### [notes.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.taradharani*bo-d1001~en-84000.notes.2) 2. In her PhD dissertation, Rachael Stevens (2010) provides a comprehensive introduction to the goddess Tārā via a literary review (pp. 11–21) and an exploration of the history of Tārā worship (pp. 20–45), the Tārā pantheon (pp. 46–56) and key Buddhist texts relating to Tārā (pp. 57–62). ### [notes.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.taradharani*bo-d1001~en-84000.notes.3) 3. Beyer 1978, pp. 5–6. We find this episode in Butön Rinchen Drup’s History of Buddhism (Obermiller 1932, vol. 2, p. 184) and dramatized in Sonam Gyaltsen’s The Clear Mirror (Sonam Gyaltsen 1996, pp. 124–27). ### [notes.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.taradharani*bo-d1001~en-84000.notes.4) 4. The Denkarma (ldan dkar ma) catalog of early translations, for example, lists only two works dedicated to Tārā that were translated during this time. Following Herrmann-Pfandt’s edition (2008), these are no. 439: ’phags pa lha mo sgrol ma’i mtshan brgya rtsa brgyad pa ( Tāra­devī­nāmāṣṭa­śataka , Toh 728) and no. 454: ’phags pa lha mo sgrol ma ’jigs pa thams cad las sgrol bar bstod pa (according to Herrmann-Pfandt, the identification of this title remains uncertain). One could further include no. 388: ’phags pa spyan ras gzigs kyi yum (Avalokiteśvara­mātā­dhāraṇī, The Dhāraṇī “The Mother of Avalokiteśvara” ), which does not mention the goddess Tārā but was nevertheless included within the Degé Kangyur section of Tārā-related scriptures (Toh 724–731) as Toh 725. ### [notes.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.taradharani*bo-d1001~en-84000.notes.5) 5. Beyer 1978, pp. 5–13; Landesman 2008, p. 59; Stevens 2010, pp. 36–37. ### [notes.6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.taradharani*bo-d1001~en-84000.notes.6) 6. Note that there is a discrepancy among various databases for cataloging the Toh 1001 version of this text within vol. 101 or 102 of the Degé Kangyur. See Toh 1001, note 6, for details. This text, Toh 1001, and all those contained in this same volume (gzungs, 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. ### [notes.7](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.taradharani*bo-d1001~en-84000.notes.7) 7. Toh 731, ’phags ma sgrol ma ’jigs pa brgyad las skyob pa’i mdo. See translation in Samye Translations, Tārā Who Protects from the Eight Dangers , 2020. ### [notes.8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.taradharani*bo-d1001~en-84000.notes.8) 8. E.g., Toh 1686, 1688, 1697, and 1705. ### [notes.9](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.taradharani*bo-d1001~en-84000.notes.9) 9. Butön Rinchen Drup, gsung ’bum, folio 218.b.6–7; Beyer 1978, pp. 280–81. ### [notes.10](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.taradharani*bo-d1001~en-84000.notes.10) 10. E.g., Toh 1324, 1325, 1326, 1327, etc. ### [notes.11](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.taradharani*bo-d1001~en-84000.notes.11) 11. No. 93, Bhattacharyya 1925, pp. 178–83. ### [notes.12](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.taradharani*bo-d1001~en-84000.notes.12) 12. This can be translated as “Homage to the Three Jewels! Homage to Noble Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva mahāsattva, the great compassionate one!” ### [notes.13](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.taradharani*bo-d1001~en-84000.notes.13) 13. As noted above, tārā is a causative derivation from the Skt. root √tṝ, “to cross,” thus meaning “to cause to cross,” that is, “to deliver” or “rescue.” It can be argued that the term tuttāre consists of tārā prefixed with ud (ud + √tṝ = uttārā), which is then further prefixed with the consonant t- to avoid a morphological fusion of final vowel of tāre and the initial vowel in uttārā. The addition of the prefix ud conveys a sense of “pulling up,” and thus “saving.” In the translation below, the vocative forms tāre and tuttāre are respectively translated as “deliverer” and “savior.” ### [notes.14](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.taradharani*bo-d1001~en-84000.notes.14) 14. This can be tentatively translated as “Oṁ! Deliverer! Savior! Swift One! Crush, paralyze, confound, restrain all wicked and evil beings for me! hūṁ hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ phaṭ! Homage to Tārā, the suppressor of all evil beings!” --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.taradharani*bo-d1001~en-84000](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.dharani.goddess.taradharani*bo-d1001~en-84000) · Pramāṇa