འཕགས་མ་ད་བཞན་གཤགས་པའ་གཙག་ཏར་ནས་བྱང་བའ་གདགས་དཀར་པ་ཅན་གཞན་གྱས་མ་ཐབ་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བའ་གཟངས intro.7

intro.7

The dangers Sitātapatrā can capably avert are enumerated in great detail and include a litany of physical illness and mental disorders, a vast demonology of supernatural forces that cause illness and distress, threats from kings, poisons, and animals, and even a detailed list of rival magical traditions whose spells pose a potential threat. Given this exhaustive treatment of the benefits of the spell, it is noteworthy that the path to liberation and the attainment of buddhahood are never mentioned. While it can be implicitly understood that averting disease, calamity, and supernatural dangers are requisites for the pursuit of awakening, spiritual goals are clearly subordinated in these texts to the goal of alleviating the worldly anxieties shared by all beings, Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike.