The Dhāraṇī of Vajrabhairava
Translation of འཕགས་པ་རྡ་རྗ་འཇགས་བྱད་ཀྱ་གཟངས་ཞས་བྱ་བ (འཕགས་པ་རྡོ་རྗེ་འཇིགས་བྱེད་ཀྱི་གཟུངས་ཞེས་བྱ་བ)
- Language
- English
- Translators
- Kaia Fischer, David Mellins
- Extent
- 35 passages, 1,785 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 — 5 parts
- 1
- 2
- 3
- notes Notes — 27 parts
Text
84000's introduction
intro.1
The Dhāraṇī of Vajrabhairava is a short text presenting both a series of “vajra statements” (Tib. rdo rje tshig), which it calls the “essence of all vidyā and mantra,” and a dhāraṇī, followed by instructions for the dhāraṇī's associated rites. These include rites for countering and repelling enemies, subjugating nāgas and preventing hail, curing illness, and even protecting liquor from spoilage.
intro.2
The Dhāraṇī of Vajrabhairava is a short text presenting a series of “vajra statements” followed by a dhāraṇī, both in transliterated Sanskrit, and instructions for the rites associated with the dhāraṇī. The series of vajra statements is generalized as being “for the accomplishment of all aims,” and the dhāraṇī targets a range of specialized ritual applications, from repelling enemy armies to protecting liquor from spoilage. Vajrabhairava’s name appears in the text’s title, in the dhāraṇī itself, and in the colophon, where he is identified as the speaker of the dhāraṇī. The colophon also states that this dhāraṇī is “the supreme dhāraṇī endowed with the seven protective acts” and “the most extraordinary yoga.”
intro.3
A Sanskrit version of the text is to our knowledge no longer extant, and there are no associated commentaries in the Tengyur. The first part of the dhāraṇī appears as a portion of a larger mantra in the tantra Orderly Arrangement of the Three Commitments (Trisamayavyūha, Toh 502).
intro.4
The Phangthangma imperial catalog lists a text in twenty-two ślokas called The Dhāraṇī of Vajrabhairava, while the Denkarma contains a text, likewise in twenty-two ślokas, called The Essence Mantra of Vajrabhairava.¹ These different entries probably refer to the same text, but it is uncertain whether they refer to the text presented in translation here. If they are the same, the two texts mentioned in the royal catalogs would have to be an earlier version, since the colophon to The Dhāraṇī of Vajrabhairava, which we have translated here, mentions that the Tibetan translation was produced by the eleventh-century Indian translator and lineage holder Amoghavajra and the Tibetan monk Kyo Öjung.² Amoghavajra was instrumental in the introduction of tantric practices such as those associated with Vajrabhairava (Yamāntaka). Kyo Öjung is likely the eleventh-century Tibetan Kyo Lotsawa, who was an important figure in the transmission of those practices and whose lineage has been transmitted within the Sakya school down to the present day.³
intro.5
This English translation is based on the Degé Kangyur version of the text found in the Tantra section (Toh 605), in consultation with the variant readings recorded in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) and the Stok Palace version. In addition, we have compared Toh 605 to Toh 956, its reiteration within the Dhāraṇī section of the Degé Kangyur.⁴
1
Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas!
The victors and their heirs are stainless and remove all stain. They are infinite, unbounded, beneficent, and vast. May they all kindly⁵ and constantly grant me the most supreme and illimitable boon.⁶
These are my vajra statements.
arara asama samatā anantadharmmatre⁷ khaṇā khaṇā mahāvire⁸ calesa mama āsahā⁹ mahābale kaṇa kaṇa mahābala āgrihe¹⁰ ha ha vajrā¹¹ vajrahāye¹² dhara dhara hūṃ hūṃ maṇḍala samapara-akravikrame kuru kuru turu turu sarvathā¹³ sarva hi jvala jvala akriṇi phaṭ svāhā¹⁴
When this essence of all vidyās and mantras has been recited a thousand times in the presence of the tathāgatas, all vidyās and mantras will have been recited a hundred thousand times.
It accomplishes all other ritual actions unfailingly and without obstacle, for this, among all the vidyās, mantras, heart mantras, and dhāraṇīs originating from The Ritual of the Three Commitments,¹⁵ is the one that accomplishes all ritual actions.
The violent rite is like a cast vajra
That cannot be destroyed by the Thirty-Three gods,
The nāgas, gods, or rākṣasas—
Due to its wrath even Śakra himself,
Who is worshiped by the very gods, trembles.
No bhūta would disparage it.
It is the most excellent of protections.
In the world with its gods,
There is no teacher like the Buddha—
By these words of truth may all beings be protected!
tadyathā | oṃ vajraprākāra vajraprākāra vajradaṃṣṭā¹⁶ bhayābhahā curu curu paricumbike culutele namo ratnatrayāya namo vajrabhairavasya
2
mahāgaṇapatisya vajraśakti parśupāśahastāya vajrakanka vajravaiḍūrya alaṅkṛtaśarīrāya vajrapāṇir anupālāya tadyathā bhuru bhuru ānayā ānayā mahāgaṇapati laghu laghu ehi ehi ākrama ākrama śarīraṃ gṛhītam graṃhītam¹⁷ daṃṣṭāmā¹⁸ daṃśṭrīmāvā¹⁹ attra viśatu śarīraṃ kiñ cirāyasi²⁰ vidhuna vadhana paṭa paṭa kampa kampa raṅga raṅga moda moda dhama dhama vijṛmabā vijṛmabā²¹ pūra pūra ghūrṇṇa ghūrṇṇa āviśa āviśa²² śīghraṃ śīghraṃ mahāvajrabhairabhe²³ gaṇapatir ājñāvayati svāhā²⁴
As for the rite, to paralyze all one’s enemies and counter all kākhordas, after a square maṇḍala has been prepared on cow dung and a weapon incanted seven times in a wrathful state of mind, all kākhordas will be disrupted the moment the weapon is stabbed into the ground.
When, wishing to repel an enemy army, one incants a rod seven times and hurls it in the army's direction, all the enemy soldiers will fall into a stupor.
If one wishes to subjugate nāgas, one should wrathfully incant a vajra seven times and thrust it at them. This will bring the nāgas under one’s control.
When, wishing to repel hail, one spins a vajra in utter absence of forcefulness while reciting the words at low pitch and in utter secrecy, the nāgas will refrain from sending down hail.
When, wishing to preserve liquor, one incants the ingredients and mustard seeds seven times, they will endure.
When, wishing to allay an illness, one incants the medicines appropriate to the illness seven times mixed in water and then drinks or applies it, one will be freed from illness.
When, wishing to perform any rite, one recites the dhāraṇī²⁵ seven times, one’s intention will be accomplished.
Though there are many dhāraṇīs that were spoken by the noble ones,
3
This dhāraṇī was spoken directly by Vajrabhairava.
It is the supreme dhāraṇī endowed with the seven protective acts,²⁶
The holiest dhāraṇī that is the most extraordinary yoga.
Colophon
Translated in the presence of the great lord of yogins Amoghavajra and given²⁷ to the Tibetan monk Kyo Öjung.
Notes
notes.1
1. Denkarma, folio 303.a; see also Hermann-Pfandt 2008, pp. 227–28. Phangthangma 2003, p. 28.
notes.2
2. The exact wording of the colophon, in which the text is said to have been translated “in the presence” (zhal snga nas) of Amoghavajra, appears to indicate the collaboration of the Indian master and his Tibetan disciple in producing the present Tibetan translation. For his part, Butön Rinchen Drup (1290–1364) identifies Amoghavajra as the translator in his History, and in his Catalog of the Tantras (rgyud ’bum gyi dkar chag) he lists both Amoghavajra and Kyo Öjung as the translators. See Hermann-Pfandt 2008, p. 227.
notes.3
3. See, for example, Dhongthog Rinpoche and van Schaik 2016, p. 175.
notes.4
4. This text, Toh 956, and all those contained in this same volume (gzungs 'dus waM), are listed as being located in volume 101 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 102. 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 956 version of this text within vol. 101 or 102 of the Degé Kangyur. See Toh 956, , for details.
notes.5
5. Tib. mthun par.
notes.6
6. It may seem odd that Vajrabhairava would beseech the buddhas “and their heirs” for the supreme boon. Perhaps we are meant to read this line as an homage that is not part of the discourse proper spoken by Vajrabhairava, which would begin with the line that follows.
notes.7
7. K, Y, N anantadharmatre; H anantadharmetre; J, C anantadharmma.
notes.8
8. Y and K add mahāvara.
notes.9
9. K, Y asahā; H: āsaha.
notes.10
10. K, Y, N, H aggrihe; C, J akrihe.
notes.11
11. K ha ha vajrai; H, N ha ha vajra.
notes.12
12. K, Y vajrāhāye.
notes.13
13. H, N sarvaṃthā.
notes.14
14. The above dhāraṇī appears as a portion of a larger mantra (sngags) in Orderly Arrangement of the Three Commitments (Toh 502) at folio 210.a.
notes.15
15. Tib. dam tshig gsum pa’i cho ga, apparently a reference to or alternative title for Toh 502, Orderly Arrangement of the Three Commitments. See .
notes.16
16. K, Y daṃṣṭraṃ; C, U daṃṣṭā; H, N daṃṣṭaṃ. Note that the Comparative Edition itself appears to read daṃṣṭwā.
notes.17
17. K and Y omit this. C, J gṛhītam; H, N, U grihītam.
notes.18
18. Here the Comparative Edition appears to read daṃṣṭrāmā.
notes.19
19. K, Y damṣṭramā damṣṭra; C daṃṣṭāmā daṃśṭrī; U daṃṣṭamā daṃśtri; H, N daṃṣṭama daṃṣṭa.
notes.20
20. Y adtra viśatu śariraṃ kin cirāyasi; U attā viśatu śarīraṃ kiñ cirāyasi; J attra viśatu riraṃ kiñ carāyasi; C attra viśatu riraṃ kiñ carāyasi; K attra viśatu śariraṃ kin cirāyasi.
notes.21
21. K, Y vijrimbā vijrimbā; C, J vijrima vijrima; U vijraṃma vijraṃma; H vajriṃbā vajriṃbā. More than likely, vijṛmbha vijṛmbha (“swell, swell”) is consistent with the subsequent imperative pair pūra pūra (“fill, fill”).
notes.22
22. K, Y ghurṇa ghurṇa aviśa aviśa; U ghārṇṇa ghūrṇṇa āviśa āviśa; H gurna gurna aviśa aviśa.
notes.23
23. H reads mahāvajrabhairawe, which is vocative. C, J, K, Y, and Toh 956 have mahāvajrabhairavo, which is nominative. The present text’s mahāvajrabhairabhe is probably a rendering of the Sanskrit mahāvajrabhairave.
notes.24
24. K, Y gaṇapatir adnyavayati svāhā; C, J gaṇapatir ājñāvayati svāhā; H gaṇapatir ajñāvayati svāhā.
notes.25
25. The Tibetan does not explicitly say “the dhāraṇī” here, but this has been inserted for the sake of clarity.
notes.26
26. Tib. bsrung bya’i las bdun. This term appears to be unique to the present text. It may therefore be assumed to refer to the ritual uses listed above, enumerated as (1) the paralysis of one’s enemies, (2) the countering of sorcery, (3) the repulsion of enemy armies, (4) the subjugation of nāgas, (5) the repulsion of hail, (6) the preservation of liquor, and (7) the allaying of illness, with the subsequent performance of any (other) activity treated separately. Alternatively, one might treat the first two above as they appear in the text, as a single item, in which case they could be enumerated as (1) the paralysis of one’s enemies and the countering of sorcery, (2) the repulsion of enemy armies, (3) the subjugation of nāgas, (4) the repulsion of hail, (5) the preservation of liquor, (6) the allaying of illness, and (7) the performance of any other such activities.
notes.27
27. Tib. gnang.