Summary

The five dhāraṇīs presented here, which are to be recited in Sanskrit, are used to worship the buddhas and bodhisattvas, a common practice found throughout Mahāyāna Buddhism. The sequence of worship includes paying homage, offering praise, blessing the offerings, presenting clouds of limitless offerings, and worshiping the buddhas’ feet with the crown of one’s head.

Acknowledgements

This publication was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.

The text was translated, edited, and introduced by the 84000 translation team. Dylan Esler produced the translation and wrote the introduction. Laura Goetz edited the translation and the introduction, and Dawn Collins copyedited the text. Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.

Introduction

The five dhāraṇīs presented here are used to worship the buddhas and bodhisattvas, a common practice found throughout Mahāyāna Buddhist traditions. The five dhāraṇīs are often considered to be a single text, and hence they are presented together here. The order in which they appear provides an outline of the steps involved in the ritual worship of buddhas and bodhisattvas: the practitioner first pays homage and then offers praise, and then moves on to bless and then present the offerings before the buddhas and bodhisattvas, with the offerings imagined to be like clouds filling the immensity of space. The final dhāraṇī seems to be intended as an all-encompassing form of worship that concludes the set. While the five dhāraṇīs can constitute an essential form of ritual worship in their own right, they can also be integrated within wider ritual structures, and it is clear that several of them found their way, independently, into other Kangyur texts, as will be seen below.

There is unfortunately little historical information available about the genesis of these dhāraṇīs. Nonetheless, we can assume that they circulated widely and were practiced in India, probably as independent texts, and that this justified their eventual inclusion within the Kangyur. In the Degé Kangyur, the five dhāraṇīs are found within both the Action Tantra section (Toh 539 and Toh 539a–d) and the Compendium of Dhāraṇīs section (Toh 1069–1073).¹¹ The five dhāraṇīs are presented here in phonetically transcribed Sanskrit, as is common for dhāraṇīs in general. There is no accompanying text other than brief instructions on the function of each dhāraṇī and the number of times it should be recited. The dhāraṇīs lack both a title and a colophon, thus there is no information therein on how they were transmitted to Tibet. The titles used in the present translation have been drawn from the descriptions of the functions of the various dhāraṇīs, as has indeed been done in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) of the Action Tantra section, which follows the fourth chapter of the Degé Kangyur Catalog.²

The five dhāraṇīs are not found in all editions of the Kangyur. For instance, they are absent from the Lhasa Kangyur, as well as from the Kangyurs deriving from the Thempangma line, such as the Stok Palace Kangyur. Furthermore, they are not listed in the ninth-century catalogs of imperially sanctioned translations, the Denkarma and Phangthangma, which suggests that their transmission to Tibet, at least as a codified set, occurred at a later date. They are also not found among the dhāraṇīs reproduced in the Dunhuang manuscripts.

It will be noted that the penultimate dhāraṇī, The Dhāraṇī for the Arising of Clouds of Offerings (Toh 539c/1072), has a similar title to a dhāraṇī that is listed in the imperial catalogs³ and found among the Dunhuang manuscripts,⁴ The Dhāraṇī That Is a Cloud of Offerings (Pūja­megha­nāma­dhāraṇī, Toh 538/1068), but it is not identical. In several of the Kangyurs of the Tshalpa line, including the Degé, Urga, Qianlong, Choné, and Lithang Kangyurs, the five dhāraṇīs are placed immediately after The Dhāraṇī That Is a Cloud of Offerings. In the Compendium of Dhāraṇīs section of the Comparative Edition, the five dhāraṇīs are even presented as if they were an appendage of The Dhāraṇī That Is a Cloud of Offerings, giving the mistaken impression that they are part of the same text.

The first dhāraṇī, The Dhāraṇī for Homage (Toh 539/1069), has the same title as Toh 779/1049, although both texts are in fact distinct. Moreover, the dhāraṇī is found in identical form as the text of another dhāraṇī, The Dhāraṇī for Circumambulation (Toh 775/1075).⁵ There it is found together with an introductory Tibetan translation of the first part of the dhāraṇī (up to samyaksaṃbuddhāya) and is recited, as the dhāraṇī’s name suggests, while circumambulating stūpas or sacred sites.

The second dhāraṇī, The Dhāraṇī for Praise (Toh 539a/1070), is mentioned on several occasions in The Sovereign Tantra That Lays Out the Three Pledges (Toh 502). The tantra specifies the same number of repetitions (i.e., eight) as given in the present text.⁶ The last three dhāraṇīs do not appear to be present in other Kangyur texts.

Several of the dhāraṇīs are also mentioned in Indian treatises preserved in the Tengyur, an indication of their popularity in India, although some of these Indian treatises themselves are fairly late. Thus, The Dhāraṇī for Homage is mentioned in A [Stūpa] Rite Illuminating the Body of Reality by Kālacakrapāda (ca. eleventh century),⁷ and in A Ritual for Stamping Clay Images by Ajitamitragupta the dhāraṇī is incorporated within a larger mantra used to stamp clay images.⁸ Likewise, The Dhāraṇī for Praise is mentioned in The Compendium of Evocations by Kumudākaramati⁹ and Entering into the Maṇḍala of the Noble Tārā by Bhavabhaṭṭa (early tenth century).¹⁰ The Dhāraṇī for Blessing the Offerings is given in a slightly expanded form (with the addition of samanta svāhā at the end) in The Seminal Nucleus of the Actual Realization of the Glorious Hevajra by Śākyarakṣita.¹¹ It is also mentioned in Sahajalalita’s A Hālāhala Evocation, which exists in two translations in the Tengyur,¹² and, with an additional phaṭ syllable at the end, in the anonymous Offering Rite of the Noble Arapacana Mantra.¹³

All five dhāraṇīs are discussed in The Main Path to Enlightenment by Abhayākaragupta (d. 1125), who picks up and, in some cases, slightly expands on the instructions regarding their various functions.¹⁴ For example, he explains that The Dhāraṇī for Homage should be recited when paying homage to a stūpa,¹⁵ and he specifies that when pronouncing The Dhāraṇī for the Arising of Clouds of Offerings one should imagine that clouds of offerings spread before the buddhas and bodhisattvas (which is indeed the meaning of the dhāraṇī’s words).¹⁶

The five dhāraṇīs are also mentioned in Collected Dhāraṇīs from the Four Sections of the Secret Mantrayāna by Butön Rinchen Drup (bu ston rin chen grub, 1290–1364), the great Tibetan scholar who played an important role in the compilation of the Kangyur and Tengyur. In his text they are called mantras. However, the names (and hence, functions) assigned to them are not quite the same as those that we have in the Kangyur: while the first dhāraṇī is called The Mantra for Homage, the second, third, and fourth dhāraṇīs are all grouped together as a single Mantra for Praise, and the fifth dhāraṇī is called The Mantra for the Arising of Clouds of Offerings,¹⁷ which in the Kangyur is the function assigned instead to the fourth dhāraṇī.

This translation is based on the dhāraṇīs as preserved in the Action Tantra section and the Compendium of Dhāraṇīs section of the Degé Kangyur, the text being very close in both cases. Reference has also been made to the variants reported in the Comparative Edition, although the differences were found to be negligible. In the case of the fifth dhāraṇī, a reading from Butön’s Collected Dhāraṇīs was found to be preferable. The dhāraṇīs are given in transliterated Sanskrit, with a tentative translation being provided in the notes.

Summary

The five dhāraṇīs presented here, which are to be recited in Sanskrit, are used to worship the buddhas and bodhisattvas, a common practice found throughout Mahāyāna Buddhism. The sequence of worship includes paying homage, offering praise, blessing the offerings, presenting clouds of limitless offerings, and worshiping the buddhas’ feet with the crown of one’s head.

Acknowledgements

This publication was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.

The text was translated, edited, and introduced by the 84000 translation team. Dylan Esler produced the translation and wrote the introduction. Laura Goetz edited the translation and the introduction, and Dawn Collins copyedited the text. Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.

Introduction

The five dhāraṇīs presented here are used to worship the buddhas and bodhisattvas, a common practice found throughout Mahāyāna Buddhist traditions. The five dhāraṇīs are often considered to be a single text, and hence they are presented together here. The order in which they appear provides an outline of the steps involved in the ritual worship of buddhas and bodhisattvas: the practitioner first pays homage and then offers praise, and then moves on to bless and then present the offerings before the buddhas and bodhisattvas, with the offerings imagined to be like clouds filling the immensity of space. The final dhāraṇī seems to be intended as an all-encompassing form of worship that concludes the set. While the five dhāraṇīs can constitute an essential form of ritual worship in their own right, they can also be integrated within wider ritual structures, and it is clear that several of them found their way, independently, into other Kangyur texts, as will be seen below.

There is unfortunately little historical information available about the genesis of these dhāraṇīs. Nonetheless, we can assume that they circulated widely and were practiced in India, probably as independent texts, and that this justified their eventual inclusion within the Kangyur. In the Degé Kangyur, the five dhāraṇīs are found within both the Action Tantra section (Toh 539 and Toh 539a–d) and the Compendium of Dhāraṇīs section (Toh 1069–1073).¹¹ The five dhāraṇīs are presented here in phonetically transcribed Sanskrit, as is common for dhāraṇīs in general. There is no accompanying text other than brief instructions on the function of each dhāraṇī and the number of times it should be recited. The dhāraṇīs lack both a title and a colophon, thus there is no information therein on how they were transmitted to Tibet. The titles used in the present translation have been drawn from the descriptions of the functions of the various dhāraṇīs, as has indeed been done in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) of the Action Tantra section, which follows the fourth chapter of the Degé Kangyur Catalog.²

The five dhāraṇīs are not found in all editions of the Kangyur. For instance, they are absent from the Lhasa Kangyur, as well as from the Kangyurs deriving from the Thempangma line, such as the Stok Palace Kangyur. Furthermore, they are not listed in the ninth-century catalogs of imperially sanctioned translations, the Denkarma and Phangthangma, which suggests that their transmission to Tibet, at least as a codified set, occurred at a later date. They are also not found among the dhāraṇīs reproduced in the Dunhuang manuscripts.

It will be noted that the penultimate dhāraṇī, The Dhāraṇī for the Arising of Clouds of Offerings (Toh 539c/1072), has a similar title to a dhāraṇī that is listed in the imperial catalogs³ and found among the Dunhuang manuscripts,⁴ The Dhāraṇī That Is a Cloud of Offerings (Pūja­megha­nāma­dhāraṇī, Toh 538/1068), but it is not identical. In several of the Kangyurs of the Tshalpa line, including the Degé, Urga, Qianlong, Choné, and Lithang Kangyurs, the five dhāraṇīs are placed immediately after The Dhāraṇī That Is a Cloud of Offerings. In the Compendium of Dhāraṇīs section of the Comparative Edition, the five dhāraṇīs are even presented as if they were an appendage of The Dhāraṇī That Is a Cloud of Offerings, giving the mistaken impression that they are part of the same text.

The first dhāraṇī, The Dhāraṇī for Homage (Toh 539/1069), has the same title as Toh 779/1049, although both texts are in fact distinct. Moreover, the dhāraṇī is found in identical form as the text of another dhāraṇī, The Dhāraṇī for Circumambulation (Toh 775/1075).⁵ There it is found together with an introductory Tibetan translation of the first part of the dhāraṇī (up to samyaksaṃbuddhāya) and is recited, as the dhāraṇī’s name suggests, while circumambulating stūpas or sacred sites.

The second dhāraṇī, The Dhāraṇī for Praise (Toh 539a/1070), is mentioned on several occasions in The Sovereign Tantra That Lays Out the Three Pledges (Toh 502). The tantra specifies the same number of repetitions (i.e., eight) as given in the present text.⁶ The last three dhāraṇīs do not appear to be present in other Kangyur texts.

Several of the dhāraṇīs are also mentioned in Indian treatises preserved in the Tengyur, an indication of their popularity in India, although some of these Indian treatises themselves are fairly late. Thus, The Dhāraṇī for Homage is mentioned in A [Stūpa] Rite Illuminating the Body of Reality by Kālacakrapāda (ca. eleventh century),⁷ and in A Ritual for Stamping Clay Images by Ajitamitragupta the dhāraṇī is incorporated within a larger mantra used to stamp clay images.⁸ Likewise, The Dhāraṇī for Praise is mentioned in The Compendium of Evocations by Kumudākaramati⁹ and Entering into the Maṇḍala of the Noble Tārā by Bhavabhaṭṭa (early tenth century).¹⁰ The Dhāraṇī for Blessing the Offerings is given in a slightly expanded form (with the addition of samanta svāhā at the end) in The Seminal Nucleus of the Actual Realization of the Glorious Hevajra by Śākyarakṣita.¹¹ It is also mentioned in Sahajalalita’s A Hālāhala Evocation, which exists in two translations in the Tengyur,¹² and, with an additional phaṭ syllable at the end, in the anonymous Offering Rite of the Noble Arapacana Mantra.¹³

All five dhāraṇīs are discussed in The Main Path to Enlightenment by Abhayākaragupta (d. 1125), who picks up and, in some cases, slightly expands on the instructions regarding their various functions.¹⁴ For example, he explains that The Dhāraṇī for Homage should be recited when paying homage to a stūpa,¹⁵ and he specifies that when pronouncing The Dhāraṇī for the Arising of Clouds of Offerings one should imagine that clouds of offerings spread before the buddhas and bodhisattvas (which is indeed the meaning of the dhāraṇī’s words).¹⁶

The five dhāraṇīs are also mentioned in Collected Dhāraṇīs from the Four Sections of the Secret Mantrayāna by Butön Rinchen Drup (bu ston rin chen grub, 1290–1364), the great Tibetan scholar who played an important role in the compilation of the Kangyur and Tengyur. In his text they are called mantras. However, the names (and hence, functions) assigned to them are not quite the same as those that we have in the Kangyur: while the first dhāraṇī is called The Mantra for Homage, the second, third, and fourth dhāraṇīs are all grouped together as a single Mantra for Praise, and the fifth dhāraṇī is called The Mantra for the Arising of Clouds of Offerings,¹⁷ which in the Kangyur is the function assigned instead to the fourth dhāraṇī.

This translation is based on the dhāraṇīs as preserved in the Action Tantra section and the Compendium of Dhāraṇīs section of the Degé Kangyur, the text being very close in both cases. Reference has also been made to the variants reported in the Comparative Edition, although the differences were found to be negligible. In the case of the fifth dhāraṇī, a reading from Butön’s Collected Dhāraṇīs was found to be preferable. The dhāraṇīs are given in transliterated Sanskrit, with a tentative translation being provided in the notes.