འཕགས་པ་ཟ་མ་ཏག་བཀད་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད 3.31

3.31

they are not protectors, nor is theirs the conduct that is to be followed. All the hosts of deities—Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheśvara, Śakra, who is the lord of devas, Āditya, Candra, Vāyu, Varuṇa, Agni, Dharmarāja Yama, and the four mahārājas—constantly request the six-syllable queen of mahāvidyās.”

Sarva­nīvaraṇa­viṣkambhin asked him, “Bhagavat, how can we obtain the six-syllable queen of mahāvidyās, so that we can dedicate ourselves to liberation?”

The dharmabhāṇaka replied, “Sarva­nīvaraṇa­viṣkambhin, it is like this: Prajñāpāramitā is known to be the one who gave birth to all the tathāgatas. Even she places her palms together and pays homage to the six-syllable queen of mahāvidyās, let alone the tathāgatas, arhats, samyaksaṃbuddhas, and the hosts of bodhisattvas.

“Noble son, this is an essence, like rice. Noble son, through this you can obtain anything from within the Mahāyāna: many Mahāyāna sūtras, the geyas, the vyākaraṇas, the gāthās, the udānas, the nidānas, the avadānas, the itivṛttakas, the jātakas, the vaipulyas, the adbhutadharmas, and the upadeśas.²⁹¹ Simply repeating it will bring peace and liberation. Why say more about its other virtues?

“What does it mean that it is conceived of as a central essence? It can be conceived of as being like the essence of rice. We take it home and fill our pots with rice and keep it in there. And then, in accord with the sun, we dry it in the sun’s heat. When it is dried, we pound it with a pestle to remove the chaff. What is the essence?²⁹² The essence is the rice. In that way,