འཕགས་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་ལ་མ་འཇགས་པ་རབ་ཏ་སྦྱན་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བའ་གཟངས intro.3

intro.3

The Dhāraṇī That Fully Confers Freedom From All Dangers is set in Indra’s Rock Cave on Vaidehaka Mountain where Śakra requests the Buddha for a teaching to help him subdue the asuras, the famed adversaries of the devas. The Buddha instructs Śakra to employ the vidyāmantra that confers freedom from all dangers. A vidyāmantra is an esoteric formula used to accomplish a ritual goal and, in this text, is largely used interchangeably with dhāraṇī. This vidyāmantra specifically frees one from the dangers associated with disease, poisons, weapons, malevolent nonhuman beings, and conflicts. Among the harmful nonhuman beings, the text places a particular emphasis on grahas, a class of beings who “seize,” possess, or otherwise adversely influence other beings by causing a range of physical and mental afflictions, as well as various types of misfortune. After the Buddha recites the vidyāmantra, he offers Śakra ritual instructions on how to incant the vidyāmantra on threads, ritual substances, or armor that, when placed on the body, ensure protection and the successful outcomes of one’s rituals.