Summary

The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā consists of an homage, invocation, and description of the Goddess Cundā followed by a request to Cundā for protection and good fortune.

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. Adam C. Krug produced the translation and wrote the introduction. Rory Lindsay edited the translation and the introduction, and Dawn Collins copyedited the text. Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.

Introduction

The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā opens with homages to the Three Jewels, the Buddha Vairocana, and the Goddess Cundā, followed by a short homage and dhāraṇī in transliterated Sanskrit that reads namaḥ saptānām saṃyaksaṃ­buddhakoṭīnām | tadyathā | oṁ cale cule cunde svāhā. This combined homage and dhāraṇī also appears in the second section of The Basket’s Display (Toh 116) when Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin has returned to join Śākyamuni’s assembly at Jetavana Monastery at the conclusion of his search for the great vidyā mantra of Avalokiteśvara. Unlike The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā, this passage in The Basket’s Display does not provide any ritual instructions for reciting her dhāraṇī, any mention of the benefits of this recitation practice, or any description or mention of the goddess to whom this dhāraṇī is addressed.

This opening homage and dhāraṇī is followed by an extensive section praising the goddess that describes Cundā’s qualities, hand implements, and appearance. Here she is described as having the face of the Goddess Anantā, a form of the Goddess Umā or Parvatī, as having been blessed by all the thus-gone ones, and as the recipient of offerings from all the gods. These verses describing the goddess and praising her qualities describe many of Cundā’s attributes as either composed of vajras or modified by the term vajra, as the dhāraṇī emphasizes her invulnerability and indestructible power to protect beings.

The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā then introduces a second Sanskrit liturgy directed at “Blessed Cundā” (bhagavati cunde) requesting that Cundā protect the person reciting the dhāraṇī from a variety of hostile, demonic beings. The text concludes with a final benediction requesting Cundā to protect the person reciting the dhāraṇī and bring them good fortune.

We are not aware of any surviving Sanskrit witness of The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā at present, but there is strong textual and art historical evidence to suggest that Cundā enjoyed widespread popularity across the Indic Buddhist world from the eighth century onward. Cundā is mentioned in a number of tantras in the Kangyur and Nyingma Gyubum. In the Kangyur, she appears as a significant maṇḍala deity in the Guhyasamāja and Māyājāla traditions. Śāntideva refers to The Cundā Dhāraṇī in his Śikṣāsamuccaya, where he mentions reciting her dhāraṇī to purify misdeeds. She is featured in Abhayākaragupta’s Niṣpanna­yogāvali as a goddess in Vairocana Mañjuvajra’s maṇḍala, as one of twelve dhāraṇī goddesses in the Dharmadhātu Vagīśvara maṇḍala, and as Ṭakkirāja’s consort in the Kālacakra maṇḍala. Three short sādhanas to the Goddess Cundā appear in the Sādhanamāla, as well as a single Cundā sādhana in The “Hundred” Sādhanas translated by Patshab and a single sādhana in The “Hundred” Sādhanas translated by Bari. In Tāranātha’s History of Buddhism in India, Cundā appears as an important tutelary and protector deity who supports the ascension of Gopāla I (r.750–75 ᴄᴇ), the founder and first ruler of the Pāla Dynasty. Her close ties to the founding of the Pāla Empire undoubtedly played an important role in Cundā’s incorporation into the maṇḍala systems of several tantras, her rise in popularity during this period across the Indian sub-continent, and the promotion of the goddess throughout Asia.

The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā does not appear in either of the Imperial Tibetan catalogs of translated works, which suggests that the Tibetan translation was likely produced after the ninth century. The Kangyur witnesses for this text do not contain a translators’ colophon, so they do not provide any data on the translators who worked on this text or the time when The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā was translated into Tibetan. The text appears twice in the Degé Kangyur‍—once in the tantra section (rgyud ’bum) and once in the compendium of dhāraṇīs (gzungs ’dus).

The Taishō contains three Chinese translations of a single work devoted to the Goddess Cundā that differs in both length and content from The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā in the Tibetan Kangyurs. The earliest Chinese translation of a textual tradition for the Goddess Cundā in the Taishō was produced in 685 ᴄᴇ by the translator Divākara (Taishō 1077). A second Chinese translation in the Taishō was then completed in 723 ᴄᴇ by Vajrabodhi (Taishō 1075), and the third Chinese translation in the Taishō was completed in 1246 ᴄᴇ by Amoghavajra (Taishō 1076). These translations supported Cundā’s widespread popularity across East Asian Buddhist traditions, which continues to this day.

This English translation was prepared using both Tibetan witnesses that are preserved in the Degé Kangyur, the Tibetan translation in the Stok Palace Kangyur, and the Comparative Edition of the Kangyur.

Summary

The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā consists of an homage, invocation, and description of the Goddess Cundā followed by a request to Cundā for protection and good fortune.

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. Adam C. Krug produced the translation and wrote the introduction. Rory Lindsay edited the translation and the introduction, and Dawn Collins copyedited the text. Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.

Introduction

The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā opens with homages to the Three Jewels, the Buddha Vairocana, and the Goddess Cundā, followed by a short homage and dhāraṇī in transliterated Sanskrit that reads namaḥ saptānām saṃyaksaṃ­buddhakoṭīnām | tadyathā | oṁ cale cule cunde svāhā. This combined homage and dhāraṇī also appears in the second section of The Basket’s Display (Toh 116) when Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin has returned to join Śākyamuni’s assembly at Jetavana Monastery at the conclusion of his search for the great vidyā mantra of Avalokiteśvara. Unlike The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā, this passage in The Basket’s Display does not provide any ritual instructions for reciting her dhāraṇī, any mention of the benefits of this recitation practice, or any description or mention of the goddess to whom this dhāraṇī is addressed.

This opening homage and dhāraṇī is followed by an extensive section praising the goddess that describes Cundā’s qualities, hand implements, and appearance. Here she is described as having the face of the Goddess Anantā, a form of the Goddess Umā or Parvatī, as having been blessed by all the thus-gone ones, and as the recipient of offerings from all the gods. These verses describing the goddess and praising her qualities describe many of Cundā’s attributes as either composed of vajras or modified by the term vajra, as the dhāraṇī emphasizes her invulnerability and indestructible power to protect beings.

The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā then introduces a second Sanskrit liturgy directed at “Blessed Cundā” (bhagavati cunde) requesting that Cundā protect the person reciting the dhāraṇī from a variety of hostile, demonic beings. The text concludes with a final benediction requesting Cundā to protect the person reciting the dhāraṇī and bring them good fortune.

We are not aware of any surviving Sanskrit witness of The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā at present, but there is strong textual and art historical evidence to suggest that Cundā enjoyed widespread popularity across the Indic Buddhist world from the eighth century onward. Cundā is mentioned in a number of tantras in the Kangyur and Nyingma Gyubum. In the Kangyur, she appears as a significant maṇḍala deity in the Guhyasamāja and Māyājāla traditions. Śāntideva refers to The Cundā Dhāraṇī in his Śikṣāsamuccaya, where he mentions reciting her dhāraṇī to purify misdeeds. She is featured in Abhayākaragupta’s Niṣpanna­yogāvali as a goddess in Vairocana Mañjuvajra’s maṇḍala, as one of twelve dhāraṇī goddesses in the Dharmadhātu Vagīśvara maṇḍala, and as Ṭakkirāja’s consort in the Kālacakra maṇḍala. Three short sādhanas to the Goddess Cundā appear in the Sādhanamāla, as well as a single Cundā sādhana in The “Hundred” Sādhanas translated by Patshab and a single sādhana in The “Hundred” Sādhanas translated by Bari. In Tāranātha’s History of Buddhism in India, Cundā appears as an important tutelary and protector deity who supports the ascension of Gopāla I (r.750–75 ᴄᴇ), the founder and first ruler of the Pāla Dynasty. Her close ties to the founding of the Pāla Empire undoubtedly played an important role in Cundā’s incorporation into the maṇḍala systems of several tantras, her rise in popularity during this period across the Indian sub-continent, and the promotion of the goddess throughout Asia.

The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā does not appear in either of the Imperial Tibetan catalogs of translated works, which suggests that the Tibetan translation was likely produced after the ninth century. The Kangyur witnesses for this text do not contain a translators’ colophon, so they do not provide any data on the translators who worked on this text or the time when The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā was translated into Tibetan. The text appears twice in the Degé Kangyur‍—once in the tantra section (rgyud ’bum) and once in the compendium of dhāraṇīs (gzungs ’dus).

The Taishō contains three Chinese translations of a single work devoted to the Goddess Cundā that differs in both length and content from The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā in the Tibetan Kangyurs. The earliest Chinese translation of a textual tradition for the Goddess Cundā in the Taishō was produced in 685 ᴄᴇ by the translator Divākara (Taishō 1077). A second Chinese translation in the Taishō was then completed in 723 ᴄᴇ by Vajrabodhi (Taishō 1075), and the third Chinese translation in the Taishō was completed in 1246 ᴄᴇ by Amoghavajra (Taishō 1076). These translations supported Cundā’s widespread popularity across East Asian Buddhist traditions, which continues to this day.

This English translation was prepared using both Tibetan witnesses that are preserved in the Degé Kangyur, the Tibetan translation in the Stok Palace Kangyur, and the Comparative Edition of the Kangyur.