འཕགས་པ་གྲགས་ལྡན་མའ་གཟངས intro.3

intro.3

There are numerous figures in the Kangyur and Tengyur with the name Yaśovatī or with a name approximating or synonymous to Yaśovatī.¹ A goddess (or goddesses) by the name grags ldan ma appears in The Root Manual of the Rites of Mañjuśrī,² The Tantra of the Complete Enlightenment of Vairocana,³ The Root Manual for the Rites of the Blessed Noble Tārā,⁴ The Great Upholder of the Secret Mantra,⁵ The Tantra of Subhāhu’s Questions,⁶ and The Section on Propitiation Rituals [in The Great Tantra, Susiddhikara].⁷ A goddess (or goddesses) with the name grags ldan ma also appears in the Tengyur among the maṇḍala retinues of the deities Heruka and Cakrasaṃvara, as well as in Gayādhara’s Instructions on the Arising of Gnosis.⁸ None of the passages in the Kangyur and Tengyur that mention a goddess named grags ldan ma, however, provide any description or broader information about this goddess, or any indication that she is at all related to the Yaśovatī associated with this dhāraṇī. As a result, the identity of Yaśovatī who appears in the title of this dhāraṇī remains uncertain.