The Dhāraṇī for Retaining the Six Perfections

Translation of Toh 580

Language: English
Translator: Paul G. Hackett
Extent: 19 passages, 979 words
Text: complete digital text
Source: 84000 · Published by 84000 (v 1.0.3 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…

intro 84000's introduction — 3 parts
1
notes Notes — 15 parts

Text

84000's introduction

intro.1

This text presents a series of dhāraṇīs for the attainment of each of the perfections.

This text presents a series of dhāraṇīs¹ for the attainment of each of the perfections, with no additional explanation. Although a common theme, there are no obvious parallels with other texts in the canon. No Sanskrit title is provided for this text, and its title is given on the basis of the Tibetan alone.

intro.3

This translation of the text into English relied primarily on the Degé recension while making reference to variant readings in other recensions as noted in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) and validated in the source texts—notably Narthang—as well as the Stok Palace and Phukdrak recensions.² No previous translation of this text into a language outside the Tibetan sphere of influence is known. Meisezahl (1957) provides a diplomatic edition of the dhāraṇīs found in the Linden Museum Tibetan collection.

1

Homage to the Three Jewels.

By hearing this essence mantra of giving, even one time, one will obtain the perfection of giving:

oṃ namas tasyai³ bhagavati dānādhipataye svāhā |⁴

By hearing this essence mantra of ethics, even one time, one will obtain the perfection of ethics:

namaḥ sarvatathāgatānāṃ mahākāmātmakānām⁵ | namo bhagavatyai | śīlaparipūrṇas īraye⁶ śīlaṃ me | sādhaya sādhaya | kiṃ tiṣṭha saṃbuddho bhagavan dharmasya samājñānapayati | svāhā |⁷

By hearing this essence mantra of patience, even one time, one will obtain the perfection of patience:

namaḥ sarvatathāgatāya acintya gocarya | namaḥ kṣantaye⁸ bahubhyaḥ | tathāgatānām bhūtakoṭibhiḥ parivartita ye rakṣa kuru turu turu samayam anusmara | śākyamuni sarvatathāgatānām pāramitājñānagocaro jñānagocaro 'jñānam apāyati⁹ | svāhā |¹⁰

By hearing this essence mantra of effort, even one time, one will obtain the perfection of effort:

namaḥ sarvatathāgatānām acintya visayānām | namo stute bhagavate viryapāramitā | viryan kuru vīrye vīrye mahāvīrye tathāgata sarvājñānam apayati¹¹ svāhā |¹²

By hearing this essence mantra of meditative concentration, even one time, one will obtain the perfection of meditative concentration:

namaḥ sarvatathāgatānām | oṃ vimale nirmale dhyāne dhyāne dhyānapriye hūṃ phaṭ |¹³

By hearing this essence mantra of wisdom, even one time, one will obtain the perfection of wisdom:

namas tathāgatāya aparimitājñānagocarāya | namo bhagavate jñānapāramitā | ye jñānam | me kuru kuru vigaṇa¹⁴ | tathāgatasya samayam anusmara | hi hi hi hi jñā jñā jñā jñā hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ |¹⁵

Notes

notes.1

1. Of the four types of dhāraṇīs described by the fourth-century scholar-yogi Asaṅga—Dharma dhāraṇīs (dharmadhāraṇī; chos kyi gzungs), meaning dhāraṇīs (arthadhāraṇī; don gyi gzungs), mantra dhāraṇīs (mantradhāraṇī; gsang sngags kyi gzungs), and bodhisattva forbearance dhāraṇīs (bodhisattvakṣāntilābhāyadhāraṇī; byang chub sems dpa’ bzod pa ’thob par byed pa’i gzungs)—this text falls into the category of bodhisattvakṣāntilābhāyadhāraṇīs, which enable one to progress along the path through the acquisition of the six perfections. Cf. Grounds of Bodhisattvas (Bodhisattvabhūmi; byang chub sems dpa’i sa; Toh 4037, folio 144.a). A discussion of various classifications of dhāraṇīs is given in Pagel 2007.

notes.2

2. This text, Toh 936, and all those contained in this same volume (gzungs ’dus, e), are listed as being located in volume 100 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 101. 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 936 version of this text within vol. 100 or 101 of the Degé Kangyur. See Toh 936, , for details.

notes.3

3. The Tibetan reads *namastrai.

notes.4

4. This dhāraṇī translates as, “Homage to you, O Bhagavatī, sovereign over giving. May auspiciousness abound.”

notes.5

5. The Tibetan reads *mahākānādamakānāṃ.

notes.6

6. The Tibetan reads *śīlaparipurṇaśireyai.

notes.7

7. This dhāraṇī translates as, “Homage to all the tathāgatas, those who are the embodiment of great bliss. Homage to the Bhagavatī. Cause my ethics to be elevated to fully complete ethics. Succeed. Succeed. Wherever it abides, cause all ignorance of the teachings of the perfect buddha bhagavāns to disappear. May auspiciousness abound.”

notes.8

8. The Tibetan reads *kṣantiyai.

notes.9

9. The Tibetan reads *jñānāpāyadi.

notes.10

10. This dhāraṇī translates as, “Homage to all the tathāgatas, inconceivable in their range. Homage to the one abounding in patience. O you who traverse the limits of the tathāgatas. Protect. Act. Perform. Perform. Remember the commitments. O Śākyamuni, the range of the perfection of wisdom and the range of the exalted wisdom of all tathāgatas is such that it causes ignorance to disappear. May auspiciousness abound.”

notes.11

11. The Tibetan reads *sarvājñānāpayati.

notes.12

12. This dhāraṇi translates as, “Homage to all the tathāgatas, inconceivable objects of knowledge. Homage and praise to the Bhagavātī, the perfection of effort. Engage in effort. Be heroic. Be heroic. Be greatly heroic. O Tathāgata, cause all ignorance to disappear. May auspiciousness abound.”

notes.13

13. This dhāraṇī translates as, “Homage to all the tathāgatas. oṃ. Stainless. Spotless. Concentration. Concentration. Beloved concentration. hūṃ phaṭ.”

notes.14

14. The Tibetan reads *vigāna.

notes.15

15. This dhāraṇī translates as, “Homage to the tathāgatas, limitless in their range of exalted wisdom. Homage to the Bhagavatī, the perfection of exalted wisdom. O Knowledgeable One. Take notice of me. Act. Act. Remember the commitments of the tathāgatas. Hi hi hi hi. Jñā jñā jñā jñā. Hūṃ phaṭ.” Meisezahl’s version adds mahākili curu curu mahācuru mili mili mahāmili tili tili mahātili dhume dhume mahādhume cale cale mahācale khiri khiri mahākhiri cili cili mahācili | svāhā.