[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) › [Mahāyāna sūtras](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra) › [Sūtras of the Avataṃsaka cycle](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.avatamsaka-cycle) › [\*Vataṃsakadhāraṇī](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.avatamsaka-cycle.vatamsakadharani) › [Toh 584](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.avatamsaka-cycle.vatamsakadharani*bo) › The Dhāraṇī for Retaining the Noble Avataṃsaka # The Dhāraṇī for Retaining the Noble Avataṃsaka Translation of [Toh 584](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.avatamsaka-cycle.vatamsakadharani*bo) - **Language:** English - **Translator:** [Paul G. Hackett](https://indike.org/pramana/person/paul-g-hackett) - **Extent:** 8 passages, 535 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… ## Contents - [intro 84000's introduction](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.avatamsaka-cycle.vatamsakadharani*bo~en-84000.intro) — 3 parts - [1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.avatamsaka-cycle.vatamsakadharani*bo~en-84000.1) - [notes Notes](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.avatamsaka-cycle.vatamsakadharani*bo~en-84000.notes) — 4 parts ## Text ### 84000's introduction ### [intro.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.avatamsaka-cycle.vatamsakadharani*bo~en-84000.intro.1) This text presents a single dhāraṇī to enable the retention of the Avataṃsakasūtra. ### [intro.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.avatamsaka-cycle.vatamsakadharani*bo~en-84000.intro.2) This text presents a single dhāraṇī¹ to enable the retention of the Avataṃsakasūtra², with no additional explanation. The text appears similar in nature to the sort of dhāraṇī presented to enable retention in The Dhāraṇī for the Retention of the Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra in One Hundred Thousand Lines (). No Sanskrit title is provided for this text, and its title is given on the basis of the Tibetan alone. ### [intro.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.avatamsaka-cycle.vatamsakadharani*bo~en-84000.intro.3) This translation of the text into English relied primarily on the Degé recension while referring to variant readings in other recensions as noted in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) and validated in the source texts—notably Narthang.³ 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 dhāraṇī found in the Linden Museum Tibetan collection. ### [1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.avatamsaka-cycle.vatamsakadharani*bo~en-84000.1) Homage to the Three Jewels. oṃ nthiṃ | nāmaḥ sarvabuddhānām | oṃ māṃ bhrūṃ mūṃ | tadyathā | oṃ bhrūm |⁴ By taking up this dhāraṇī, one will retain the noble Avataṃsaka. One will be like someone who has written it and recited it. ### Notes ### [notes.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.avatamsaka-cycle.vatamsakadharani*bo~en-84000.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 dharmadhāraṇīs, which enable one to retain knowledge of words, that is, Dharma teachings, that have been heard. 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](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.avatamsaka-cycle.vatamsakadharani*bo~en-84000.notes.2) 2. See the 84000 Knowledge Base article, “Ornaments of the Buddhas.” ### [notes.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.avatamsaka-cycle.vatamsakadharani*bo~en-84000.notes.3) 3. This text, Toh 940, 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 940 version of this text within vol. 100 or 101 of the Degé Kangyur. See Toh 940, , for details. ### [notes.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.avatamsaka-cycle.vatamsakadharani*bo~en-84000.notes.4) 4. This dhāraṇī translates as, “oṃ nthiṃ. Homage to all the buddhas. oṃ māṃ bhrūṃ mūṃ. It is thus. oṃ bhrūṃ.” --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.avatamsaka-cycle.vatamsakadharani*bo~en-84000](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.avatamsaka-cycle.vatamsakadharani*bo~en-84000) · Pramāṇa