Loading translation...
A deity mantra, regarded as the heart essence of the deity, is “coextensive” with the mind. Cf. the Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa (Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans., The Root Manual of the Rites of Mañjuśrī [Toh 543], 38.43–38.44): “The mantra is coextensive with the mind / And never separate from the mind. / One who employs the mantra, / Blending it with the mind, will succeed.”
The first chapter, at the time an independent work called Amoghapāśahṛdayasūtra, was translated into Chinese by Jñānagupta in 587 as Bukong juansuo zhou jing (不空胃索咒經 = Amoghapāśa Dhāraṇī Sūtra, Taishō 1093). It was translated again by Xuanzang in 659 (Taishō 1094), by Bodhiruci in 693 (Taishō 1095), and by Dānapāla in the tenth century (Taishō 1099), with the titles varying slightly as Xuanzang and Bodhiruci called their translations not dhāraṇī- but hṛdaya-sūtra. The remainder of the work was translated by Bodhiruci from 707–9 as Bukong juansuo shenbian zhenyan jing (不空胃索神變真吉經 = Amoghapāśa Supernatural Display Mantra Sūtra, Taishō 1092); however, this Chinese version diverges significantly from the Sanskrit manuscript and Tibetan translation (Toh 686) that have been used in our translation.
The mantra taught repeatedly is numbered in the text as 1, 167, and 310. The differences between these three are small enough to be safely dismissed as inevitable scribal corruptions. Mantra 256 is the same mantra with minor adaptations to make it into a mantra of Padmoṣṇīṣa. Mantra 168 is again the same mantra, this time much shortened and made into a mantra of Krodharāja that serves as a mantra of consecration.
Like other Kriyātantras, the AP recognizes four tathāgata families: the tathāgata, lotus (padma), vajra, and jewel (maṇi) families. Alternative classifications in this group of tantras mention six, seven, or eight families, sometimes with a stipulation that the number of families is, in fact, infinite.
Uṣṇīṣa deities, such as the celestial tathāgatas or cakravartin deities, are inaccessible to ordinary senses. They are sometimes described as emanating from the uṣṇīṣa of the Buddha, and they themselves are depicted with an uṣṇīṣa on their head, signifying complete and perfect buddhahood.
Some of these terms and phrases could be unique to the AP, but this could only be ascertained after a comprehensive study of all Kriyātantras. The Kriyātantras are the least studied genre of Buddhist tantric literature, despite being by far the largest group in terms of both number and volume.
We use the masculine pronoun “he” to reflect the masculine gender of vidyādhara, the term referring to the practitioner. The feminine form would be vidyādharī.
This undated manuscript was written in the Māgadhī script, possibly in Nepal, and appears to be not more than a few hundred years old. It was once kept at the Shalu (zhwa lu) monastery in Tibet, where it was discovered by the Indian scholar Rāhula Sāṅkṛtyāyana in 1936 and described in his Second Search of Sanskrit Palm-Leaf Mss. in Tibet (see Sāṅkṛtyāyana 1937, p. 42, entry 29). It was later appropriated by the government of China and is now held at the China Library of Nationalities (中国民族図書館) in Beijing.
The numbers correspond only to the part of the text included in Kimura 1998 (later superseded by Kimura 2015), which is about half of the text. For the remaining part, the numbers continue sequentially from those in the first part. Unlike in Kimura’s edition, where the numbers are inserted before the mantra’s homage, they are here inserted before the section to be repeated during recitation.
These tree species could be, respectively, Shorea robusta, Garcinia xanthochymus, Michelia champaka, Jonesia asoka, and Dalbergia oojeinensis.
The phrase “heart essence (hṛdaya) of Amoghapāśa,” which on this occasion is simply called “heart essence,” recurs throughout the text and can variously refer to the AP as a whole, to an individual rite within the text, or to the mantra that is central to that rite and constitutes the “heart” of the deity. This multivalent usage gives rise to many ambiguities; here at the beginning of the text, however, it is reasonable to assume that this phrase is meant to refer to the text as a whole.
The Tib. presents the title as The Heart Essence of Amogharāja. Despite this difference, both seem intended as an alternate title of Amoghapāśakalparāja, the title of this text.
The Tib. reads “seven,” possibly mistranslating the Skt., which says, literally, “seven minus one.”
Avalokiteśvara calls the “heart essence of Amoghapāśa” his own, as Amoghapāśa is his own emanation. “My” is omitted in the Tib.
Here and in the following section “heart essence” seems to refer to the mantra (or rather the set of mantras) about to be given.
“Twenty-one” is the Tib. reading. The Skt. reads “twenty.” As these benefits were introduced as twenty-one, the Tib. reading is probably correct. Any discrepancy could easily arise because some pairs of items could be regarded not as two but as one.
The Sanskrit ācāryamuṣṭi (literally “closed fist of a teacher”) is a stock phrase that implies the teacher’s stinginess and, in particular, his refusal to lend books.
The Tib. reads, “These two dharmas are obtained exclusively for the sake of benefiting sentient beings. If the Blessed One permits, I will chant this heart mantra in front of him, the Tathāgata, for the benefit, welfare, and happiness of the fourfold assembly and the others who commit evil.”
Piri piri, viri viri is the Tib. reading. The Skt. repeats here the preceding siri siri, ciri ciri.
Skt. cala cala saṃcala saṃcala vicala vicala eṭuṭu eṭuṭu bhara bhara bhiri bhiri bhuru bhuru ehy ehi mahākāruṇika.
Skt. mahāpaśupativeṣadhara dhara dhara sara sara cara cara hara hara hāhā hāhā hīhī hīhī hūhū hūhū.
The phrase dhara dhara means “wear, wear!” It has been kept here in Sanskrit for the sake of alliteration.
Skt. oṁkārabrahmaveśadhara dhara dhara dhiri dhiri dhuru dhuru tara tara sara sara para para cara cara.
Skt. yamavaruṇakuberabrahmendrariṣidevagaṇābhyarcitacaraṇa suru suru curu curu muru muru puru puru.
The phrase dhara dhara means “wear, wear!” It has been kept here in Sanskrit for the sake of alliteration.
Skt. sanatkumārarudravāsavaviṣṇudhanadadevariṣināyakabahuvividhaveṣadhara dhara dhara dhiri dhiri dhuru dhuru thara thara ghara ghara yara yara lara lara hara hara mara mara para para vara vara.
Skt. varadāyakasamantāvalokitavilokitalokeśvaramaheśvara muhu muhu muru muru muya muya muñca muñca.
Manuscript A reads, strangely, “in the glorious goddess of the three worlds.” The Tib. reads “gods of the three worlds and all beings.”
Skt. bhagavann āryāvalokiteśvara rakṣa rakṣa śrītribhuvanadevyāṃ māṃ sarvasatvāṃś ca sarvvabhayebhyaḥ sarvopadravebhyaḥ sarvopasargebhyaḥ sarvagrahebhyaḥ badhabandhanatāḍanatarjanarājacorataskarāgnirudakaviṣaśastraparimocaka kaṇa kaṇa kiṇi kiṇi kuṇu kuṇu cara cara.
Skt. indriyabalabodhyaṅgacaturāryasatyasaṃprakāśaka tapa tapa dama dama sama sama masa masa.
Skt. mahātamo ’ndhakāravidhamana ṣaṭpāramitāparipūraka mili mili ṭaṭa ṭaṭa ṭhaṭha ṭhaṭha ṭiṭi ṭiṭi ṭuṭu ṭuṭu.
The Sanskrit grammar allows also for a different interpretation, namely “You are the destroyer of the hosts of bhūtas [subordinate] to [Śiva] Maheśvara.”
Skt. īśvaramaheśvarabhūtagaṇabhañjaka kuru kuru para para kara kara kaṭa kaṭa maṭa maṭa.
Skt. viśuddhaviṣayanivāsina mahākāruṇika śvetayajñopavīta ratnamakuṭamālādhara sarvvajñaśirasikṛtamakuṭamālādhara mahādbhūtakamalakṛtakarataladhyānasamādhivimokṣāprakampya bahusatvasantatiparipācaka mahākāruṇika sarvakarmāvaraṇaviśodhaka sarvavyādhipramocaka sarvāśāparipūraka sarvasattvasamāśvāsaka namo ’stu te svāhā. The same mantra given in the APH does not end here but includes several more clauses.
The Tib. reads “aloe incense or ashes” rather than “ashes of aloe incense” as in the Sanskrit.
The Skt. here is not completely clear; the “form of a buddha” probably implies that the figure is sitting rather than standing. The Tib. interprets this as “the Buddha and Noble Avalokiteśvara,” meaning that one should paint both figures.
In the context of this text, bathing (snāna) specifically implies ritual bathing or ablutions.
The Tib. reads, “After this had been spoken by the Blessed One, the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, the gods of the Pure Abode, Brahmā the Lord of the Sahā World, Maheśvara, and the divine son of Maheśvara all rejoiced and praised what was said by the Blessed One.”
The Amoghapāśa, which is referred to throughout part 1 as The Heart Essence of Amoghapāśa, constitutes the first part of the Amoghapāśakalparāja, which also exists as a separate work.
The Tib. text includes an homage at the beginning of this part: “Homage to the entire vast ocean of tathāgatas.”
The Tib. interprets siddha not as a separate class of beings but as an epithet (“accomplished”) of the vidyādhara s.
The Tib. reads, “The blessed Buddha Śākyamuni then said, “Pure being, explain the secret rite you have recited (emending bklags pa; Degé bklag pa) and the vast realization of reality.”
“Hells will no longer exist for him, and his wrongdoings will be purified” is omitted in the Tib.
The “heart mantra of the secret amogha samaya” is oṁ padmahasta mahāmoghapāśa sādhaya samayahṛdayaṃ cara cara hūṁ, as given above. In contradistinction, the heart mantra (or essence) of Amoghapāśa is the long dhāraṇī given in part 1 that starts with oṁ, cara cara, ciri ciri.
Although this is not completely clear, it seems that Avalokiteśvara and Amoghapāśa are one and same figure in the painting.
The Tib. reads, “As if in a dream [the vidyā holder] will see the golden hands of hundreds of thousands of millions of billions of tathāgatas, as numerous as the grains of sand in the Gaṅgā river, touch his head.”
In place of “keep his heart and mind completely pure,” the Tib. reads “bathe himself well and don clean clothes.”
Prātihāra is, as indicated by the usage in the Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa, a particularly auspicious bright fortnight, but the true meaning of this term is lost, as pointed out in Edgerton 1970, pp. 391–92. As in this text, the term is consistently translated into Tibetan with cho ’phrul gyi zla ba (“the month of miracles”).
“One hundred and eight” is the Tib. reading. The Skt. reads “twenty-one.” The Tibetan reading has been adopted because of the dubious Sanskrit syntax.
“Intensely Pleasurable,” the paradise of Akṣobhya.
A magical power or accomplishment; any accomplishment in general.
See “accomplishment.”
See “five acts of immediate retribution.”
The name of a city on Mount Sumeru, and the main palace in that city.
A unit of weight equal to seven or eight pounds.
Another name of Sūrya, the god of the sun, or the sun personified.
The essentially pure nature of mind is obscured and afflicted by various psychological defilements, which destroy the mind’s peace and composure and lead to unwholesome deeds of body, speech, and mind, acting as causes for continued existence in saṃsāra. Included among them are the primary afflictions of desire (rāga), anger (dveṣa), and ignorance (moha). It is said that there are eighty-four thousand of these negative mental qualities, for which the eighty-four thousand categories of the Buddha’s teachings serve as the antidote.
Kleśa is also commonly translated as “negative emotions,” “disturbing emotions,” and so on. The Pāli kilesa, Middle Indic kileśa, and Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit kleśa all primarily mean “stain” or “defilement.” The translation “affliction” is a secondary development that derives from the more general (non-Buddhist) classical understanding of √kliś (“to harm,“ “to afflict”). Both meanings are noted by Buddhist commentators.
The god of fire.
The elephant of Indra (also called Airāvata).
Literally “goat devourer,” ajagara is the name of a mythical snake or the Sanskrit term for a boa constrictor.
The highest of the heavens.
The tathāgata who dwells in the eastern realm of Abhirati.
The buddha of the western buddhafield of Sukhāvatī, where fortunate beings are reborn to make further progress toward spiritual maturity. Amitābha made his great vows to create such a realm when he was a bodhisattva called Dharmākara. In the Pure Land Buddhist tradition, popular in East Asia, aspiring to be reborn in his buddha realm is the main emphasis; in other Mahāyāna traditions, too, it is a widespread practice. For a detailed description of the realm, see The Display of the Pure Land of Sukhāvatī, Toh 115. In some tantras that make reference to the five families he is the tathāgata associated with the lotus family.
Amitābha, “Infinite Light,” is also known in many Indian Buddhist works as Amitāyus, “Infinite Life.” In both East Asian and Tibetan Buddhist traditions he is often conflated with another buddha named “Infinite Life,” Aparimitāyus, or “Infinite Life and Wisdom,”Aparimitāyurjñāna, the shorter version of whose name has also been back-translated from Tibetan into Sanskrit as Amitāyus but who presides over a realm in the zenith. For details on the relation between these buddhas and their names, see The Aparimitāyurjñāna Sūtra (1) Toh 674, i.9.
A celestial tathāgata closely connected with and often regarded as identical with Amitābha. The two, however, have a different iconographic form.
This seems to be a short form of Amoghapāśa, or perhaps an epithet of Avalokiteśvara emphasizing the “unfailing” aspect of his activity.
The quality of being unfailing, and also the unfailing quality of Avalokiteśvara and the deities related to him, such as Amoghapāśa; in the latter sense, the term can appear before nouns in much the same way as “vajra,” when used adjectivally or adverbially.
Another name for the wrathful aspect of Amoghapāśa, usually referred to simply as Krodharāja.
Seems to be an elaboration of the name Krodhāṅkuśa.
The name of a dhāraṇī, referring to the deity Amoghapāśa. When amogha and pāśa are separated by maṇipadma, the phrase evokes the image of Avalokiteśvara holding a jeweled rosary and a lotus.
The name of a lotus king.
One of the goddesses associated with Amoghapāśa.
“Unfailing Lotus Uṣṇīṣa,” this seems to be a highly esoteric emanation of Amoghapāśa. Here he is also called Padmoṣṇīṣa.
Amoghapadmoṣṇīṣapāśa seems to be another variant of the name Amoghapāśa-Padmoṣṇīṣa.
Amoghapāśakrodha is another paraphrase of the name of Krodharāja as the wrathful form of Amoghapāśa (Amoghapāśa-Krodharāja). When the name refers specifically to the deity’s mantra, it has been translated as “Wrathful Amoghapāśa.”
The longer version of the name Amoghāṅkuśa.
Possibly refers to Amoghapāśa-Padmoṣṇisa.
Another paraphrase of the name Amoghakrodharāja, usually referred to simply as Krodharāja.
Another paraphrase of the name Amoghakrodharāja, usually referred to simply as Krodharāja.
Amoghakṣānti (“Unfailing Forbearance”) seems to be here another epithet of Amoghapāśa.
The name of one of the emanations (“Unfailing Goad”) of Avalokiteśvara. Also, the name of a dhāraṇī mantra that is referred to in the text as “the heart dhāraṇī of precious amogha offerings.”
Seems to be an elaboration of the name Krodhāṅkuśa.
A goddess associated with Amoghapāśa.
One of the goddesses associated with Amoghapāśa.
This seems to be another name for Amoghapāśa. However, it is often impossible to determine whether amoghapadma should be taken as a proper name or in its literal meaning of “amogha lotus.”
This seems to be another name of Amoghatārā.
“Unfailing Noose,” an emanation of Avalokiteśvara.
“Unfailing King” is used as an epithet of Amoghapāśa and any of his forms and is also used for some of his mantras. Arguably, it can also refer to the text of the Amoghapāśakalparāja as a whole, especially in the opening paragraphs where this text is introduced.
“Unfailing Success” seems to be an epithet applied to some emanations of Avalokiteśvara, especially to Amoghapāśa.
Amoghaśīla (“Unfailing Morality”) seems to be a context-specific epithet of Amoghapāśa.
“Unfailing Savioress” seems to be the name of the female counterpart of Amoghapāśa and of her vidyā mantra.
Another name of Amoghapāśa, associated with a particular mantra, whose meaning implies that it is his gaze that constitutes the “unfailing” noose.
“Unfailing Gaze” seems to be a short form of Amoghavilokitapāśa.
A paraphrase of the name Amoghāvalokitapāśa. It is also the name of a mantra. The name translates literally as “Unfailing-Gaze-Noose,” a phrase too vague to venture a definitive interpretation.
“Unfailing Vastness.” Seems to be here an epithet of Avalokiteśvara/Amoghapāśa.
A goddess associated with Amoghapāśa; a goddess with the same name is also found in the Śaiva Western Kaula tradition, associated with the goddess Kubjikā.
Amoghoṣṇīṣa must be a short form of Amoghapāśa-Padmoṣṇīṣa.
A deity, one of the five kings of vidyās (vidyārāja).
One of the goddesses.
A gesture of salutation in which the palms are joined together.
It is not clear who Aṅkuśarāja is; this could be a name variant of Amoghāṅkuśa.
Kimura, Takayasu, ed. (1979). “Āryāmoghapāśanāmahṛdayaṃ Mahāyānasūtram.” Taisho Daigaku Sogo Bukkyo Kenkyujo Kiyo 1 (1979): 1–15.
Manuscript no. 69 in the Catalogue of Sanskrit Palm-Leaf Manuscripts Preserved in the China Library of Nationalities. Beijing.
Kimura, Takayasu et al., eds. (1998–2011). “Transcribed Sanskrit Text of the Amoghapāśakalparāja.” Taishō Daigaku Sōgō Bukkyō Kenkyūjo Nenpō (大正大學綜合佛教研究所年報) [parts 1–7:] 20 (1998): 1–58; 21 (1999): 81–128; 22 (2000): 1–64; 26 (2004): 120–83; 32 (2010): 170–207; (2011): 32–64.
Kimura, Takayasu et al., eds. (2015–17). “Amoghapāśakalparāja: A Preliminary Edition and Annotated Japanese Translation.” Taishō Daigaku Sōgō Bukkyō Kenkyūjo Nenpō (大正大學綜合佛教研究所年報) [parts 1–3:] 37 (2015): 41–68; 38 (2016): 95–126; 39 (2017): 79–97.
不空羂索神變眞言經 (Bukong juansuo shenbian zhenyan jing). [Facsimile edition of the manuscript owned by the China Library of Nationalities, Beijing.] Tokyo: Taisho University, 1997.
don yod pa’i zhags pa’i cho ga zhib mo’i rgyal po (Amoghapāśakalparāja). Toh 686, Degé Kangyur vol. 92 (rgyud, ma), folios 1.b–316.a; vol. 93 (rgyud, tsa), folios 1.b–57.b.
don yod pa’i zhags pa’i cho ga zhib mo’i rgyal po. bka’ ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 2006–9, vol. 92, pp. 3–928.
don yod zhags pa’i snying po (Amoghapāśahṛdayasūtra). Toh 682, Degé Kangyur vol. 106 (rgyud, ba), folios 1.b–515.b.
’jam dpal gyi rtsa ba’i rgyud (Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa). Toh 543, Degé Kangyur vol. 88 (rgyud ’bum, na), folios 88.a–334.a (in 1737 par phud printing); 105.a–351.a (in later printings). English translation in Dharmachakra Translation Committee 2020.
ting nge ’dzin gyi rgyal po (Samādhirāja). Toh 127, Degé Kangyur vol. 55 (mdo sde, da), folios 1.b–170.b. English translation in Roberts 2018.
sdong po bkod pa (Gaṇḍavyūha). Toh 44, ch. 45, Degé Kangyur vol. 37 (phal chen, ga), folios 274.b–336.a; vol. 38 (phal chen, a), folios 1.b–363.a. English translation in Roberts 2021.
mdzangs blun gyi mdo (Damamūkasūtra). Toh 341, Degé Kangyur vol. 74 (mdo sde, a), folios 129.a–298.a.
Barua, Ankur, and M. A. Basilio. Amoghapāśa: The Bodhisattva of Compassion. Riga: VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, 2010.
Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans. The Root Manual of the Rites of Mañjuśrī (Toh 543, Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2020.
Meisezahl, R. O., ed. and trans. “The Amoghapasahrdaya-Dharani. The Early Sanskrit Manuscript of the Reiunji Critically Edited and Translated.” Monumenta Nipponica 17, no. 1/4 (1962): 265–328.
Monier-Williams, Monier. A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2005.
Otsuka, Nobuo et al. 『不空羂索神変真言経楚文写本影印版』序 [Introduction to the Facsimile Edition of the Amoghapāśakalparāja Sanskrit Palm-Leaf Manuscript]. Includes a summary in English. Tokyo: The Institute for Comprehensive Studies of Buddhism, Taisho University, 1997.
Pal, Pratapaditya. “The Iconography of Amoghapāśa Lokeśvara.” Oriental Art 7, no. 4 (1966): 234–39.
Reis-Habito, Maria. “The Amoghapāśa Kalparāja Sūtra: A Historical and Analytical Study.” Studies in Central and East Asian Religions 11 (1999): 39–67.
Roberts, Peter Alan, trans. (2018). The King of Samādhis Sūtra (Toh 127, Samādhirājasūtra). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2018.
Roberts, Peter Alan, trans. (2021). The Stem Array (Toh 44-45, Gaṇḍavyūha). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2021.
Sāṅkṛtyāyana, Rāhula. “Second Search of Sanskrit Palm-Leaf Mss. in Tibet.” Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society 23, no. 1 (1937): 1–57.
Shinohara, Koichi. Spells, Images, and Maṇḍalas: Tracing the Evolution of Esoteric Buddhist Rituals. New York: Columbia University Press, 2014.
A Sanskrit manuscript of the AP (China Library of Nationalities)
AP Amoghapāśakalparāja
APH Amoghapāśahṛdaya
F Tibetan Degé translation of the AP
T Kimura 1998 and Kimura 2015
[#] Mantra numbers in Kimura 1998
[B] Bampo
° (ring above) truncated text
• (middle dot) lack of sandhi or partial sandhi
The Amoghapāśakalparāja is an early Kriyātantra of the lotus family. Historically, it is the main and largest compendium and manual of rites dedicated to Amoghapāśa, one of Avalokiteśvara’s principal emanations, who is named after and distinguished by his “unfailing noose” (amoghapāśa). The text is primarily soteriological, with an emphasis on the general Mahāyāna values of compassion and loving kindness for all beings. It offers many interesting insights into early Buddhist ritual and the development of its terminology.
This translation was produced by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the supervision of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche. Wiesiek Mical translated the text from a complete Sanskrit manuscript and wrote the introduction. Anna Zilman compared the translation draft against the Tibetan versions found in the Degé and other editions of the Kangyur. The project is greatly indebted to Prof. Ryugen Tanemura and his team of scholars at Taisho University, Tokyo, for making available to us a copy of the Sanskrit manuscript and its transcript.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The generous sponsorship of Sun Ping, Tian Xingwen, and Sun Fanglin, which helped make the work on this translation possible, is most gratefully acknowledged.
The Amoghapāśakalparāja (AP) is a ritual text dedicated entirely to the deity Amoghapāśa, a form of Avalokiteśvara who appears in both peaceful and wrathful iconographies. He is sometimes referred to in the text as Avalokiteśvara-Amoghapāśa, as the two are considered identical. One could perhaps say that Amoghapāśa is distilled from Avalokiteśvara, with certain qualities of the latter being enhanced in the former, in particular his “unfailing” (amogha) ability to rescue beings drowning in the ocean of saṃsāra by means of his namesake “noose” (pāśa). The form of Amoghapāśa who, in addition to a noose, holds a goad is similarly called Amoghāṅkuśa (Unfailing Goad). As is true of the Kriyātantras in general, the names of Amoghapāśa apply equally to the mantras that correspond to the different deities. Thus, in the AP we find mantras that include expanded or paraphrased renderings of the name Amoghapāśa, depending on the specific form and function of the deity, such as Amoghāvalokitapāśa (Amogha-Gaze-Noose), Amoghavilokita (Amogha-Gaze), or Adbhutāvalokitāmogha (Wondrous-Amogha-Gaze).
As a Kriyātantra, the AP firmly adheres to Mahāyāna principles and declares itself, explicitly and implicitly, to be part of the Mahāyāna system. The Mahāyāna philosophical tenets reflected in the tantras of this class tend to fall into the category of Yogācāra rather than Madhyamaka, as it is the illusory aspect of things and its corollary, the ability to produce miraculous displays, that is prominent in these texts. The efficacy of the Kriyā ritual is itself founded upon the notion of the indivisibility of mind, mantra, and deity. The AP’s Yogācāra affiliation is also confirmed by explicit statements such as “If [the practitioner] casts the seeds among the leaders of assemblies, they will become followers of Yogācāra.”
The exact date when the AP began circulating is unknown. The dates of its Chinese translations, however, provide us with the terminus ante quem: the second half of the sixth century
Dating the AP in its present form is complicated by the fact that it may be a compilation of Amoghapāśa materials that originally existed as independent but closely related ritual texts. The section of the AP referred to as part 1 in our translation still exists as an independent but slightly different text that is included in the Tibetan canon with the title ’phags pa don yod zhags pa’i snying po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Toh 682, Skt. Āryāmoghapāśahṛdayanāmamahāyānasūtra). It is possible that this work originally circulated independently of the AP and was later compiled along with other materials into the text’s current form. That the various rites recorded in the AP were once independent of one another is further supported by the fact that the main dhāraṇī mantra is taught in the text no less than three times, each time with a preamble presenting it as if for the first time. It is taught in part 1 and another two times in the remaining part of the text, suggesting that the entire text could be a compilation of at least three independent works. As they all are centered around the same dhāraṇī, they could almost be regarded as different variations on the same theme. On all three occasions, the dhāraṇī in question is referred to as Amogharāja (Amogha King), the “heart essence of Amoghapāśa” (amoghapāśahṛdaya), and a “maṇḍala of liberation.” But the structure of the text is far more complex than this, with hundreds of minor rites grouped in larger interrelated units. The compiled materials seem to be not always fully integrated, nor is it always clear where a particular set of rites ends and another begins. Another indicator that the text is likely a compilation is the distribution of certain technical terms—for example, the recurrent term “sameness of families” (kulasāmānya) is completely absent in the first half of the text. The composite nature of the text thus makes it difficult to arrive at anything but an approximate date of its origin.
The Amoghapāśakalparāja comprises a teaching on the practices of Amoghapāśa delivered by various speakers as part of a dialogue. The main speaker is Noble Avalokiteśvara who delivers the majority of the teachings, with contributions from Noble Tārā as well. Avalokiteśvara teaches the practices and rites of the peaceful and wrathful emanations of Amoghapāśa, who are ultimately his own heart essence (hṛdaya). Tārā gives a short teaching on the dhāraṇī of Amoghatārā, the female counterpart of Amoghapāśa. Both Avalokiteśvara and Tārā are exhorted to teach by the Buddha Śākyamuni—the supreme spiritual authority in the text—who blesses the speakers and authenticates their teachings. The fourth interlocutor is Vajrapāṇi, referred to throughout the text as the “great general of the yakṣa army.” He elicits additional teachings with his questions and makes a pledge to protect Amoghapāśa practitioners in the future.
The venue, fittingly, is Potala Mountain, the paradise of Avalokiteśvara, who is the true identity of Amoghapāśa. The practice consists of individual but mutually dependent and interconnected rites (kalpa) that, along with their doctrinal framework, constitute a “sovereign” (rājan) standard to follow. The phrase kalparāja has been variously translated below as “sovereign ritual,” when used to refer to the entire text of the AP, or “sovereign rite,” when referring to an individual rite. This phrase is repeated throughout the text, sometimes referring to the entire text, sometimes to an individual rite, and often to both at the same time.
Indeed, the spirit of “sovereignty” or independence pervades the work as a whole. Each rite, often extolled as “supreme” (uttama) or “unsurpassable” (anuttara), is considered sufficient on its own for accomplishing all worldly goals and the attainment of buddhahood. The quality of “sovereignty” extends even further; although all the rites of the AP belong, just like the titular deity, to the lotus family, the realization attained thereby transcends the family divisions, applying to all tathāgata families. This is expressed by the recurrent phrase, “the sameness/equality of all families” (sarvakulasāmānya). Thus, by accomplishing any “sovereign ritual” of Amoghapāśa, the practitioner establishes a bond (samaya) with not just the lotus family but all the tathāgata families equally (sarvakulasāmānyasamaya).
The concept of the “sameness of families” (kulasāmānya), ubiquitous in all Kriyā rites and practices of the supramundane (lokottara) type, deserves special attention, as it is prominent in the AP and is possibly one of the most important concepts in the Kriyātantras. As this concept is absent in the (possibly older) part 1 but prominent in part 2 of the AP, it probably entered the Kriyā practice system around the time when part 2 was being composed and might have been introduced in this text for the first time. The term defines the Kriyā pantheon of tathāgatas and other uṣṇīṣa deities, who are otherwise grouped according to specific families, by introducing an essential cohesion among them and among all supramundane Kriyā practices. The term kulasāmānya has two functions, one classificatory and the other hermeneutic. As a qualifier, the term is most often combined with ritual terms such as “accomplishment,” “maṇḍala of liberation,” or “rite” (karman). The concept is intrinsically soteriological inasmuch as all tathāgata families share in the same ultimate nature, the dharmakāya, and so are subsumed within buddhahood. Thus, regardless of which deity family or practice one accomplishes, one automatically accomplishes all tathāgata families, is blessed by all of them, and enters the samaya bond with all of them. This convergence is called the “sameness of all tathāgata families” (sarvatathāgatakulasāmānya) or, in short, the “sameness of families” (kulasāmānya). Any deity or mantra practice that leads to full buddhahood is, by definition, kulasāmānya, and, inversely, any practice that is kulasāmānya leads to full buddhahood. The broadness of the concept allows for variations in translating sāmānya (“sameness”) depending on context. For example, kulasāmānyatattvasiddhi could be translated as “the realization of the reality of the sameness of all the families.” Kulasāmānyasamayānupraveśa could be translated, descriptively, as “entering the samaya bond with all the families equally.” The term becomes more difficult to translate when used strictly as an adjective, as, for example, in the phrase “sarvatathāgatakulasāmānya rite” that describes a rite (kalpa) that simply falls into the category of kulasāmānya. One way out of the problem is to translate this phrase as “a rite that is shared by all tathāgata families.” This translation, however, could be misleading, as most practices and rites described as kulasāmānya are actually family-specific, as is the case in the AP, where virtually all of them belong to the lotus family. It is helpful to understand that being family-specific does not preclude being kulasāmānya—a family-specific rite or practice is kulasāmānya if it results in an accomplishment that establishes the samaya bond with all the families. Thus, it is only when a practice is fully accomplished that family divisions are transcended, and one truly realizes the kulasāmānya.
The AP employs technical vocabulary and stock phrases that are common to the Kriyātantras and need some introduction to be properly understood in the context of this genre of tantric literature. One such term is vidyādhara, which means “vidyā holder” when it refers to the practitioner of the rites described in this text. Vidyā implies that he is a follower of the mantra method, while dhara (“holder”) implies that he is an upholder of this method and also partakes of the magical power (vidyā) that the method bestows. We have used the phrase “vidyā holder” to translate vidyādhara when it refers to the practitioner and left it untranslated as “vidyādhara” when referring to the eponymous class of nonhuman beings. In fact, there is a connection between the two: the vidyā holder who accomplishes the vidyā ascends to the vidyādhara realm and becomes an “emperor of the vidyādhara s” (vidyādharacakravartin).
Another term prominent in the AP is maṇḍala of liberation, which can refer to the text of the AP as a whole or to any section of it that contains rites or procedures that lead to liberation. It can also refer to any individual rite or procedure, as long as this procedure is in itself sufficient for attaining liberation. It can refer to an individual dhāraṇī mantra, and less frequently to an exceptionally powerful mudrā-gesture. In the context of the AP, it has a similar range of applications as the term “heart essence of Amoghapāśa” (amoghapāśahṛdaya); indeed, any mantra, rite, practice, or section of the text referred to as amoghapāśahṛdaya itself constitutes a maṇḍala of liberation.
The term amogha also requires some discussion. It generally means “unfailing” or “unerring” but is often extended to describe a quality of buddhahood; amogha can be used to complement terms, such as vajra or jewel, that describe unique qualities or aspects of buddhahood. Thus, when the term is applied to the lotus family, it refers specifically to the “unfailing” activities associated with this family. When the term is used in this sense in the AP, we have left it, in some instances, untranslated. The specific use of amogha to refer to unfailing activity eventually becomes personified in the higher tantras as the Tathāgata Amoghasiddhi, who presides over the karman (“activity”) family of buddhas. On at least two occasions, Amogha is simply used in the text as a short form of the deity’s name, Amoghapāśa.
The text of the AP exists today in Sanskrit and in Tibetan and Chinese canonical translations. There is only one complete Sanskrit manuscript (China Library of Nationalities, manuscript 69), which has been published as a transcript (Kimura 1998) and as an edition (Kimura 2015). The transcript, however, covers only part of the manuscript, from the beginning to folio 97 (out of the 162 folios), and the edition, still in process, consists only of a short section from folio 97 to folio 101. The names of the Tibetan translators of the AP, described in the final colophon of the Tibetan translation as the “four learned translators of the past,” are not available. The same colophon gives the names of two later translators, both active in the fourteenth century, Chödrak Pel Sangpo and Rinchen Drup. These two lotsāwa s added and translated additional material not found in the existing canonical translation.
The present translation is based on the extant Sanskrit text, in consultation with the Tibetan canonical translation. The English draft was prepared from the Sanskrit manuscript and its partial transcript and edition mentioned above, and it was later checked against the Tibetan translation in the Degé Kangyur and in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma). The Sanskrit text was carefully compared to the Tibetan witnesses so that the resulting English translation reflects the most plausible readings available. All substantive variants have been recorded in the notes.
The translation that follows is of the complete text of the AP as preserved in the extant Sanskrit manuscript. The Tibetan canon preserves a version of the text that is substantially longer, consisting of about 102 Degé folio sides of material, that has not been included in full in our translation. At several points the Tibetan is rendered in verse while the corresponding Sanskrit is not, in which case we have followed the Sanskrit and translated as prose. Our translation does include passages from the Sanskrit manuscript that are absent in the Tibetan, but these are rather short, the longest being about two folios of the Sanskrit manuscript, and the junctures where the two versions fall out of alignment are indicated in the notes. The Chinese canonical translation represents a version of the AP that is shorter than both the Sanskrit and Tibetan versions. The differences in composition between all three versions are listed in the collation tables in Kimura 1997.
One particular challenge in preparing this translation was the precise identification of the various mantras that are repeatedly referred to in the text by a name or a descriptive phrase shared by more than one mantra—the same name or epithet, notably “heart essence of Amoghapāśa,” may refer to different mantras. Some of the confusion should perhaps be attributed to the fact that the AP is a compilation with a cumulative nomenclature that had not been completely integrated or fully harmonized. For ease of cross-referencing, the mantras are given the numbers corresponding to those in Kimura 1998, but without a comprehensive table of mantra concordances it would be impossible to consistently decide which specific mantra is referred to in a particular context.
So that readers can correlate our translation with passages in the Sanskrit and Tibetan texts, we have included page numbers from the published Sanskrit edition (Kimura 1998 and Kimura 2015) using the siglum T, with Ti–Tvii referring to Kimura 1998, and Tviii–Tix to Kimura 2015. Folio numbers using the siglum A refer to the Sanskrit manuscript held in the China Library of Nationalities, and folio numbers from the Degé edition of the Tibetan are indicated with F. Because of their alignment with some sections of the Tibetan text, the page numbers from Kimura do not always appear in sequential order.
The Noble Sovereign Ritual of Amoghapāśa
[V92] [B1] [A.1.b] [Ti.14] Homage to all the buddhas and bodhisattvas! Homage to Noble Avalokiteśvara, the great bodhisattva being!
Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One stayed on Potala Mountain, in the palace of Avalokiteśvara adorned with various trees such as sal, tamāla, campaka, aśoka, and atimuktaka. He stayed there together with the congregation of eight thousand monks, surrounded and attended upon by nine hundred and ninety quadrillion crores of bodhisattvas and many hundreds of thousands of gods of the Pure Abode. He was explaining the Dharma, chiefly to the gods such as Īśvara, Maheśvara, and Brahmā.
At that time, Noble Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva great being, rose from his seat, draped his upper garment over one shoulder, knelt with his right knee on the ground, and bowed toward the Blessed One with folded hands. Smiling, he said to the Blessed One, “Ninety-one eons ago, in the world sphere called Vilokitā, I obtained from the Tathāgata Lokendrarāja this heart essence of Amoghapāśa called Amogharāja. Through this heart essence, many thousands of gods of the Pure Abode, the chief of them being Īśvara and Maheśvara, were established in perfect supreme awakening, and I myself obtained tens of hundreds of thousands of samādhis, the most important being the display of unconfused knowledge. The place where this heart essence is introduced, O Blessed One, will be known as one where twelve thousand gods, headed by Īśvara, Maheśvara, and Brahmā, remain in order to guard, protect, and preserve it, and where the Blessed One remains, worshiped in the form of a caitya, and causes this heart essence, the unfailing cause of good fortune, to spread.
“Any being who hears this heart essence of Amoghapāśa, O Blessed One, will have roots of virtue planted in them by hundreds of thousands of millions of billions of buddhas. O Blessed One, any follower of an evil doctrine who speaks ill of the noble ones, rejects the true Dharma, opposes the buddhas, the bodhisattvas, the śrāvakas, and the pratyekabuddhas, and is headed for the Avīci hell because of the offenses he commits will be stricken with remorse and will later [Ti.15] take up the conduct of restraint. If he occasionally fasts and recites this mantra, he will purify, exhaust, and purge his karma in this very life. He will thus exhaust the karma of fever that returns every day, or every two, three, four, or six days; the karma of sore eyes, earache, sinusitis, toothache, sore lips, tongue, or palate, chest pain, stomachache, back pain, or pain in the flanks [A.2.a] or in the limbs and extremities; the karma of asthma attacks, dysentery, problems with the hands, feet, or nose, headache, leprosy, white leprosy, black leprosy, scabies, lice, pus boils, fistula, or blisters; the karma of epilepsy or attacks by kākhordas or other evil spirits; and the karma of being killed, imprisoned, beaten, threatened, or falsely accused. In short, O Blessed One, he will completely remove any karma of physical or mental pain or of nightmares. How much more will this be true for beings who are pure and have faith and trust!
“My heart essence of Amoghapāśa, O Blessed One, will become the cause of virtue for any beings in the fourfold assembly or among the four castes, even the crafty and the guileful, who hear it, uphold, preserve, and propagate it, write it down, commission a copy of it, study it, recite it close to an animal’s ear, or contemplate its words the way one should contemplate the Buddha, that is, without distraction, form, concepts, arising, duration, causality, stains, indifference, or the five skandhas. It will become the cause of virtue for any beings who visualize thousands of buddhas from the ten directions appearing before them and confess to them their wrongdoings … and so on up to ‘write this mantra in the form of a book and keep it safe in their homes.’ Even if, O Blessed One, as anyone learned would know, they listen to the heart essence because they fear their master, have to comply with someone else, or fear ridicule, the words of the heart essence will fall on their ears through the blessing of Noble Avalokiteśvara.
“As an analogy, O Blessed One, if a person swears or curses over sandalwood, camphor, or musk [Ti.16] and then grinds it on a stone and smears it on themselves, they should not think that the sandalwood, camphor, or musk will not make them fragrant due to the swearing or cursing. Rather, they will still be fragrant. Blessed One, the same is true for my heart essence of Amoghapāśa. As for any being who laughs at or makes fun of my heart essence of Amoghapāśa … and so on until ‘worships it, even if done with guile,’ for such unruly beings this heart essence will become the cause of virtue. Those for whom this heart essence arises become inseparable from it. It makes them fragrant with moral discipline, as they gather the accumulations of merit and wisdom through discipline and samādhi.
“As for any son or daughter of noble family, a monk or nun, a male or female lay practitioner, or anyone else who performs, on the eighth day of the bright fortnight, a ritual fast dedicated to the heart essence of Amoghapāśa and recites the heart essence of Amoghapāśa seven times while refraining from conversation, such a person will see twenty-one beneficial, much-desired qualities. What are these twenty-one?
“They are as follows: (1) No disease [A.2.b] will occur in the body. Should it occur because of the power of karma, it will soon disappear. (2) One’s body will become smooth and beautiful. (3) One will be loved by many people. (4) One will be able to control one’s senses. (5) One will acquire things, and when one has thus accumulated wealth, (6) no thief will be able to take it. (7) One’s wealth cannot be burned by fire, borne away by flood, or forcefully seized by the king. (8) One’s endeavors will be successful. (9) There will be no danger from fire or water. (10) There will be no danger from wind or rain. (11) If one incants ash or water seven times with the heart mantra of Amoghapāśa and demarcates the borders of an area, thus delimiting the cardinal and intermediate directions and above and below, all calamities will be pacified. (12) No life-draining spirits will be able to steal one’s vitality. (13) One will be dear to and captivate all beings. (14) There will be no danger from enemies, and should such danger arise, it will soon fade away. (15) There will be no danger from nonhuman beings, (16) kākhordas, or (17) ḍākinīs. (18) No acute afflictions and their subsidiaries will arise. (19) One will not die by fire, weapons, or poison. [Ti.17] (20) The deities will stand by to guard, protect, and defend. (21) Wherever one may be born, one will never be separated from loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity. These are the twenty-one benefits that are highly desirable.
“One will obtain, in addition, eight qualities. What are these eight? (1) At the time of one’s death, Noble Avalokiteśvara will appear before one in the garb of a monk. (2) One will die with ease. (3) One will not stray from the right view. (4) When dying, one’s hands and feet will not thrash about, one will not soil oneself with excrement, and one will not fall off the bed. (5) One will remain completely lucid. (6) One will not die face down. (7) One’s presence of mind will not fail. (8) One will be reborn in whatever buddha field one aspires to, and there one will not be separated from a virtuous friend.
“A serious practitioner should recite the heart mantra of Amoghapāśa three times, at the three junctions of the day, every day. He should avoid food that contains alcohol, meat, onions, leeks, or garlic, as well as stale food. Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of sentient beings, he should teach to them the heart mantra of Amoghapāśa as part of a Dharma discourse. The teacher must not be tight fisted, as only those who are free from greed and jealousy can become bodhisattvas who bring benefit to beings; they attain the realization of the Buddha and are then counted among the bodhisattvas. Bodhi is said to be wisdom, and sattva is the means. Lest sentient beings not obtain these two qualities, may the Blessed One permit me to chant in front of the Tathāgata this heart mantra for the benefit, welfare, and happiness of the fourfold assembly and the others who commit evil.”
The Blessed One then replied to the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, [A.3.a] “Please recite it, O pure being, if you think that the time is right! The Tathāgata will happily assume the duties of a father toward the followers of the Bodhisattva Vehicle during the final period and the final time.”
The noble bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, his eyes unblinking, said to the Blessed One, “Please listen, O Blessed One, to my maṇḍala of liberation that is revered by all the bodhisattvas; listen for the welfare and happiness of many people, in order to embrace the world with compassion and to [Ti.18] benefit vast numbers of people!
“Homage to all the buddhas and bodhisattvas of the three times! Homage to all the past, present, and future pratyekabuddhas and congregations of noble śrāvakas! Homage to those who are set on and follow the right path! Homage to Śāradvatīputra! Homage to the bodhisattvas headed by Maitreya and to the hosts of great bodhisattvas! Homage to the noble Tathāgata Amitābha, the worthy one, the fully realized Buddha! Homage to the Three Jewels! Homage to Noble Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva great being of great compassion! The mantra is:
[1] “Oṁ, cara cara, ciri ciri, curu curu! O great compassionate one! Ciri ciri, miri miri, curu curu! O great compassionate one! Siri siri, ciri ciri, piri piri, viri viri! O great one with a lotus in your hand! Kala kala, kili kili, kulu kulu! O great pure being! Awaken, awaken! Cleanse, cleanse! Kaṇa kaṇa, kiṇi kiṇi, kuṇu kuṇu! O supremely pure being! Kara kara, kiri kiri, kuru kuru! You who attained great fortitude! Cala cala, saṃcala saṃcala, vicala vicala, eṭṭaṭṭa eṭṭaṭṭa, bhara bhara, bhiri bhiri, bhuru bhuru! Come, come, O great compassionate one! You who wear the garb of great Paśupati! Wear, wear! Sara sara, cara cara, hara hara, hāhā hāhā, hīhī hīhī, hūhū hūhū! You who wear the garb of Brahmā, the syllable oṁ! Dhara dhara, dhiri dhiri, dhuru dhuru, tara tara, sara sara, para para, cara cara! You with the body adorned with hundreds of thousands of light rays! Shine, shine! Heat up, heat up! O blessed sun and moon! You whose feet are worshiped by the hosts of ṛṣis and gods, by Yama, Varuṇa, Kubera, and Great Indra! Suru suru, curu curu, muru muru, puru puru! You who wear many various garbs of ṛṣis and gods, of Sanatkumāra, Rudra, Vāsava, Viṣṇu, and Dhanada! Dhara dhara, dhiri dhiri, dhuru dhuru, thara thara, ghara ghara, yara yara, lara lara, hara hara, mara mara, para para, vara vara! O boon giver who sees all around you! O great lord of the world who perceives precisely! Muhu muhu, muru muru, muya muya! Save beings, save! You are the lord Noble Avalokiteśvara! Protect, protect me and all beings in the three worlds from every danger, every misfortune, every calamity, and from all grahas! O savior from bondage, imprisonment, beatings, threats, the king, [A.3.b] [Ti.19] thieves, robbers, fire, water, poison, and weapons! Kaṇa kaṇa, kiṇi kiṇi, kuṇu kuṇu, cara cara! You teach about the sense faculties, the strengths, the limbs of awakening, and the four truths of the noble ones! Scorch, scorch! Tame, tame! Pacify, pacify! Masa masa! O great being! Dispeller of darkness! Fulfiller of the six perfections! Mili mili, ṭaṭa ṭaṭa, ṭhaṭha ṭhaṭha, ṭiṭi ṭiṭi, ṭuṭu ṭuṭu! You who wear a tunic of antelope skin! Come, come! You are the great lord who crushes the hordes of bhūtas! Act, act! Para para, kara kara, kaṭa kaṭa, maṭa maṭa! You abide in the pure domain, O great compassionate one! You wear a white sacred thread and a diadem with a row of jewels—the diadem of omniscience atop your head. The palms of your hands are adorned with marvelous lotuses. Your meditative concentration, samādhi, and liberation are unshakable. You mature the mindstreams of many beings completely. O great compassionate one! Purifier of all karmic obscurations! Deliverer from all illness! Fulfiller of all wishes! Comforter of all beings! Homage be to you! Svāhā.
“He who completes the recitation will accomplish his activities. If he recites this mantra three times, he will purify the five acts of immediate retribution and every karmic obscuration.
“One should delimit a sacred area using water infused with ashes of aloe incense, mustard seeds, and pegs made of cutch tree wood. To cure any type of fever, one should use a thread, and for all other diseases use ghee, oil, or water, incanting them and then giving them to the patient. To destroy the kākhordas, one should use an incanted weapon, and for stomachache, a protection thread. To neutralize poison, one should use water with fresh salt, clay, or just water. If one suffers from eye ailments, one should tie an incanted white thread around one’s ear. If one has a toothache, one should use an incanted tooth stick made from oleander wood.
“To delimit a large sacred area, one should incant a five-colored thread twenty-one times and tie it on the four pegs of cutch-tree wood nailed in the four corners. Using thread, water, or ashes affords protection against anything. For all types of epileptic seizures, one should use a five-colored thread; for all fevers, a white thread; and for all types of insects, ringworm, pus boils, and asthma attacks, a mixture of honey and black pepper. For eye ailments, one should use perfumed water, water with flame-of-the-forest, or water infused with licorice. For an earache one should use oil. In the case of quarrels, disputes, discord, disagreements, or false accusations, one should incant water and rinse one’s mouth with it.
“To protect a country, a kingdom, or a realm from an army, one should arrange ritual jars and, after donning clean white garments, offer a large pūjā. If one recites the Amoghapāśa mantra over them, [Ti.20] there will be lasting peace. If one sprinkles them with incanted water, all beings will be protected. All misfortunes and calamities will cease for those afflicted by them if they smear on their chest sandalwood paste incanted twenty-one times. The karma of all the acts of immediate retribution will be purified if one recites the mantra continually. A homa of lotuses will ensure the protection of the house. A homa of sandalwood will ensure a means of livelihood for all beings and protect them against all bhūtas and grahas. [A.4.a]
“If one incants jayā, vijayā, nākulī, gandhanākulī, vāruṇī, abhayapāṇi, indrapāṇi, mahaleb cherry, tagara, cakrā, mahācakrā, viṣṇukrāntā, somarājī, or sunandā one hundred and eight times, makes it into a pill, wears it tied onto one’s head or arm, or ties it around a child’s neck or a woman’s waist, it will bring prosperity and pacify bad luck. With the pill tied on, one becomes protected in every way. One will not meet with fire or poison and will not be poisoned. If one is, it will not cause any distress and will soon go away. Using an incanted vine of araṇī, one can pacify grahas and arrest winds, hailstorms, and flooding. This heart mantra of Noble Avalokiteśvara can do anything, including producing the supreme accomplishment. If it is mastered, it can certainly accomplish these acts.
“The vidyā holder who wishes to accomplish this heart mantra should follow this procedure: Using uncontaminated paints and a piece of cloth, he should paint Noble Avalokiteśvara in his form of a buddha and wearing the garb of Paśupati that includes a diadem upon his topknotted hair, a tunic of antelope skin, and all the ornaments. The painting should be done by a painter observing the ritual fast. The vidyā holder should then make a maṇḍala in front of it with cow dung, bestrew it with white flowers, and place eight jars filled with eight offerings there. He should also offer a bali made of another sixty-four articles, but without meat or blood. Burning incense of agarwood, he should recite the vidyā one thousand and eight times. He should fast for one day and night, or for three days, eat three white things, bathe three times a day, and wear clean clothes. Avalokiteśvara will then arrive in person and fulfill every wish.
“If he incants realgar or collyrium and anoints his eyes with the paste, he will become invisible, will be able to travel through space, [Ti.21] and will attain the samādhi called the display of unfailing knowledge. He will then act as he pleases and accomplish whatever he does.”
So spoke the Blessed Lord, the noble bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, his mind transported with joy. The gods of the Pure Abode, such as the great lord Brahmā Sahāmpati, rejoiced at his words.
Thus concludes the “Amoghapāśa.”
Noble Avalokiteśvara, the great bodhisattva being, rose from his seat, draped his upper garment over one shoulder, knelt with his right knee on the ground, and bowed with folded hands in the direction of the Blessed One, whose body blazed with thousands of light rays of different colors, bright as the sun. He smiled, his face resembling the orb of the full moon, and, reflecting on the power of loving kindness and compassion, he addressed the Blessed One for the benefit of and to show compassion to the members of the four castes and for the sake of obtaining all the supreme accomplishments of vidyā holders, such as the accomplishments of the true nature, and obtaining the boons that these accomplishments bestow.
“This Amogharāja, O Blessed One, [A.4.b] is the quintessence of my sovereign ritual. In it, there is a very secret, quintessential part that teaches the secret samaya practice of the great maṇḍalas, mudrās, and mantras that together constitute an ultimate maṇḍala of liberation. It brings the realization of reality that arises out of the great essence of reality itself by the means of the great lotus maṇḍala. I will now proclaim these teachings before the Blessed One.
“I will proclaim these teachings here, in the midst of this great assembly, before the devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas, and before the circle of the accomplished vidyā deities. I will proclaim them before the deities such as Īśvara, Maheśvara, and Brahmā, before Yama, Varuṇa, Kubera, the hosts of ṛṣis, Candra, Sūrya, stars and stellar constellations, siddhas, and celestial vidyādharīs. I will proclaim them before the Blessed One, who embodies the transcendent accomplishment of the true essence of reality that is won through the successful practice of recitation and visualization. I will proclaim them before the retinue-hosts of the great vidyādhara s. I will teach the supreme secret of the essence of reality.”
The blessed Tathāgata Śākyamuni, adorned with hundreds of thousands of merits and splendorous with the major and minor marks of perfection, extended his golden arm, which was fragrant like a rutting elephant and haloed with many light rays, [Ti.22] placed his hand on the head of Noble Avalokiteśvara, the great bodhisattva being, and stroked him, saying, “Please speak, O great compassionate, supremely pure being! You are blessed by the tathāgatas, and now also by me. Teach the most secret samaya that is delighted in and blessed by all the tathāgatas in the ten directions as numerous as atoms in the universe or the hundreds of thousands of millions of billions of sand grains in the Gaṅgā river. They rejoice and cheer you on.”
Blessed Avalokiteśvara, the great bodhisattva being, looked in the ten directions, and then, facing the Blessed One, spoke the following mantras that are his own secret reality and essence:
[2] “Oṁ, you with a lotus in your hand, great Amoghapāśa, activate the essence of samaya! Go ahead, do! Hūṁ!”
This mantra is the essence and innate nature of Amoghapāśa; it is a secret heart mantra of Noble Avalokiteśvara, the great bodhisattva being. As soon as it was spoken, Potala, the king of mountains, quaked in six different ways, along with all the mountains, forests, and groves, including Mount Sumeru with its inner and outer encircling ranges. All the palaces of gods swayed, as did the dwellings of nāgas, yakṣas, and rākṣasas. The great oceans swelled with waves, and the bodies of water shook.
The buddhas throughout the ten directions applauded: “Good! Good it is, O son of the victors! The secret heart mantra of Amogha was beautifully presented. If it is recited, it will bring supreme accomplishments.”
The blessed Tathāgata Śākyamuni said, “Good! Good it is, Avalokiteśvara! When recited, this secret amogha mantra will bring the realization of reality.”
Avalokiteśvara replied, “It is so, O Blessed One! This secret heart dhāraṇī, even if it is repeated just once, will cause each and every single tathāgata everywhere in the ten directions, [A.5.a] equal in number to millions of billions times the number of sand particles in the Gaṅgā river, to extend his arm and hold the reciter’s head, giving him comfort. The reciter will perceive every tathāgata. By merely pronouncing this mantra, he will be freed from disease for hundreds of thousands of eons. Hells will no longer exist for him, and his wrongdoings will be purified. All his diseases and ailments will cease, as will all wickedness. Wicked beings, enemies, and adversaries will perish; there is no doubt about this. [Ti.23] Noble Avalokiteśvara will grant him boons and appear to him continually.
“For this vidyā, there is the following worship procedure and the samaya of conduct.
“The vidyā holder should purify himself, bathe thoroughly, and put on clean clothes. He should give rise to loving kindness and compassion and be solely motivated by kindness for all beings. He should make offerings before a cloth painting of Noble Avalokiteśvara, with flowers, incense, perfume, garlands, scented oils, and lamps, on either the eighth or the fifteenth day of the bright fortnight. The recitation procedure requires the vidyā holder to recite the heart mantra of Amoghapāśa one hundred and eight times while sitting in a cross-legged posture in front of the painting and refraining from other talk. He should then recite the mantra of Krodharāja one hundred and eight times, while sprinkling the painting with water and mustard seeds and forming his mudrā twenty-one times in succession. One thus performs the mantra and mudrā empowerments of the painting.
“After that, he should recite the heart mantra of the secret amogha samaya one thousand and eight times. When this mantra is thus repeated one hundred thousand times together with the heart mantra of Amoghapāśa and the mantra of Krodharāja, the recitation procedure is complete. Upon its completion, the cloth painting will blaze with light and the earth will quake. Light rays of various colors will radiate from the body of Noble Avalokiteśvara. The noose held in Amoghapāśa’s hand will also blaze with light. The vidyā holder will be thrilled, his body hair will bristle, and the top of his head will emit light. This is the sign of success—the ritual seal of the heart mantra of Amoghapāśa has been accomplished.
“Subsequently, all activities and all tasks will be accomplished by merely pronouncing the mantra. Hundreds of thousands of millions of billions of tathāgatas, as numerous as the grains of sand in the Gaṅgā river, will simultaneously appear before the vidyā holder and place their golden hand on his head. Noble Avalokiteśvara will appear in his body of secret essence, which is by nature completely pure, without stains or blemishes. Standing before the vidyā holder, he will grant all desirable things and all accomplishments, including the accomplishment of the ritual seal of the heart mantra of Amoghapāśa. They will protect the vidyā holder as their heart son, until he has attained the awakening of a buddha.
“A vidyā holder who wishes to see the world system named Sukhāvatī in its entirety, adorned with perfect buddha fields, and to see Noble Amitābha, the best of victors, with the retinue-hosts of bodhisattvas and [A.5.b] [Ti.24] sitting on a lion seat in an ornamented palace, his body ablaze with hundreds of thousands of billions of light rays as he teaches the Dharma, should purify himself as required for a vidyā holder, keep his heart and mind completely pure, and cultivate, throughout the prātihāra fortnight, thoughts of loving kindness, faith, respect, a heart of compassion, and regard for his master. He should offer to the great cloth painting of Noble Avalokiteśvara whatever articles are available, such as flowers, incense, perfume, garlands, unguents, scented powders, robes, cloth, and banners. From the eighth day of the bright fortnight through the thirteenth, he should live on the three ‘white’ foods and recite daily, and he should recite the secret heart mantra of Amoghapāśa twenty-one times in front of the painting. He should refrain from other talk. He should likewise recite the heart and the auxiliary heart mantras of Krodharāja one hundred and eight times in front of the painting. A welcome offering of water, placed in front of the painting, should be offered at the three junctions of the day. The vidyā holder should, at that time, ‘wake up’ the deity using the incense of agarwood, sandalwood, olibanum, and bdellium, together with essential flower-oils and musk, and recite the summoning mantra one thousand and eight times.
“If one uses the supreme king of incense called unfailing purity in the three worlds, all the world systems in the ten directions of the great trichiliocosm will fill, as soon as the incense is lit, with great clouds of incense, including all the buddha fields where all the buddhas and bodhisattvas dwell and the realms of the devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, and other human and nonhuman beings. As soon as the incense reaches them during the performance of the incense worship with this great king of fragrances, all diseases will cease, and all nightmares and bad dreams will be completely pacified. Even animals who smell the fragrance of the incense will have the wrongdoings and karmic obscurations that lead to rebirth in the lower realms completely purified. All disputes, quarrels, famines, wars, riots, public unrest, nightmares—all such misfortunes, calamities, and annoyances, including all diseases and ailments—will be completely pacified. So will all hurricanes, hailstorms, heat, and cold waves. All nonvirtue will be destroyed, including all the mantras that employ kākhordas and kiraṇas, and all poisons both liquid and powdered. All grahas, apasmāras, fevers, indigestion, eating disorders, and evil eye will be cleared up or dispelled when they smell the fragrance of the incense. They will disappear and will never recur [Ti.25] up until the final attainment of the seat of awakening. One should always use this king of incense.
“Then, on the fourteenth lunar day, the vidyā holder should fast for the whole day and night, recite the heart mantra of Amoghapāśa one hundred and eight times, and recite the mantra of Krodharāja the same number of times. He should offer a bali of three ‘white’ foods, as available, and burn a lamp with fragrant oil while reciting the heart and auxiliary heart mantras of Krodharāja. He should sleep in front of the painting until, at dawn, he sees golden treasures in his dreams. He will see the world system of Sukhāvatī with its palaces, jeweled trees, [A.6.a] and jeweled mountains, and also Puṣkiriṇī with its residences, temples, palaces, and all its magical and marvelous displays. He will see the Tathāgata Amitāyus sitting inside his palatial temple, surrounded by the retinue-hosts of bodhisattvas, and also the congregations of devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas.
“The blessed Tathāgata Amitāyus, a worthy, fully realized buddha, will, for his part, encourage and applaud the vidyā holder by saying, ‘Great! It is great, O good man! You have performed many honorable acts, O vidyā holder, and planted many roots of virtue. By performing what is worth performing, you have acquired much authority. You have accomplished, O vidyā holder, the essence of Amoghapāśa, the maṇḍala of liberation, the great seal, the essence of the mantra speech, and buddhahood itself. This is your last birth from a womb; when this birth runs its full course, you will be reborn in a buddha field and will pass on from one buddha field to another, until you finally attain the seat of awakening.’ Amitāyus will then place his right hand on the vidyā holder’s head, granting him all the mundane accomplishments and the accomplishment of the path that leads beyond this world.
“This is the supreme practice, whereby the vidyā holder, thrilled with joy, will see for himself that he is fully realized. With all his karmic obscurations dispelled, he will be completely pure. Noble Avalokiteśvara, in the garb of a brahmin, will remain in front of him and provide all desirable things. The cloth painting will blaze and emit light. He will also obtain hundreds of thousands of other benefits and worldly splendor. [Ti.26] All people, kings, ministers, brahmins, and householders will remain in his thrall, and he will be greatly venerated. In return, he will receive great amogha accomplishment from monks and brahmins. To bring this about, he should form the mudrā three times a day, and then, on the fourteenth day, he should make whatever offerings of money and food are available to monks and brahmins, and only then should he himself eat.
“If the vidyā holder seeks to see a buddha, a bodhisattva, or a deity, he should incant the king of incense twenty-one times with the mantra of summoning and offer the incense to the blessed Buddha. The summoned being will show itself as the result of merely burning the incense. It will explain what is auspicious and what is not, and what will bring loss and what will bring gain. It will explain everything, including the duration of the vidyā holder’s life and its own death and rebirth.
“I will now teach, as is proper, the mantra procedures for the successful performance of aim-specific rites:
[3] “Oṁ, O lotus holder who grants unfailing victory! Curu curu, svāhā!
“This is the auxiliary heart mantra to the heart mantra called Amogharāja.
[4] “Oṁ, O holder of a lotus noose who grants amogha boons! Arouse the buddhas, hūṁ!
“This is the impelling mantra. One should incant mustard seeds with it twenty-one times, mix them with water, and throw the water in the ten directions. All the tathāgatas, bodhisattvas, devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, and other human and nonhuman beings everywhere will become aroused when fumigated with the king of incense and sprinkled with this water. [A.6.b]
[5] “Oṁ, O lotus-eyed Amoghapāśa! Traverse the three worlds and come to the earth! Suru suru suru! O pure being, hūṁ!
“This is the summoning mantra. One should incant bdellium incense with it one hundred and eight times, mix the incense with water and flowers, and throw the water in the ten directions. This is supremely effective in summoning from anywhere.
[6] “Oṁ, O lotus-armed one who holds the great noose! I invite you, one of unfailing power, to come to Earth! Muru muru, hūṁ!
“This is the invitation mantra—a vidyā of invitation from anywhere—for all the tathāgatas, bodhisattvas, śrāvakas, and pratyekabuddhas, for all the deities who dwell in the maṇḍalas, and for the devas, nāgas, and so forth. One should fumigate the vase, the water, the flowers, and the tooth sticks with the king of incense incanted with this mantra one hundred and eight times. [Ti.27]
[7] “Oṁ, Padmāmogha, get on, get on with vajra-securing the ground! Svāhā!
“This is the mantra of securing the maṇḍala on the ground. One should incant water and mustard seeds with this mantra one hundred and eight times and cast them to the ground. This will consecrate a circular maṇḍala on the ground, one hundred leagues in diameter, so that the ground is composed of vajras, everything there is protected, and the beings there become stable minded. The vidyā holder will become invisible to all the enemies—to all the vighnas, vināyakas, yakṣas, rākṣasas, bhūtas, piśācas, and apasmāras, and to the ḍākinīs who can assume any shape at will. He will become invisible and as inviolable as vajra.
[8] “Oṁ, the throne of Amoghapāśa upon lotuses! Oṭi, miri miri, hūṁ!
“Using this mantra for the seat, one should incant some mustard seeds one thousand and eight times and cast them at the ground. This will magically create a great lotus and consecrate it as a seat. The seat, made of the seven precious jewels and blessed by all the tathāgatas, is a supreme offering. The vidyā holder should also sprinkle his own seat with water and mustard seeds incanted twenty-one times with this mantra. This will purify the seat, making it into a lotus seat of an accomplished vidyā holder.
[9] “Oṁ, great compassionate Amoghapāśa! You are founded upon a firm vajra! Bhuru bhuru, in this best of places, svāhā!
“With this mantra the vidyā holder can completely purify the entire maṇḍala, including houses, forests, pleasure groves, monasteries, shelters, walking areas, and secret retreat places in the forest. He can completely purify all places by sprinkling them with perfumed water and mustard seeds incanted one hundred and eight times. All the wicked vighnas, vināyakas, yakṣas, rākṣasas, and bhūtas will be warded off. This mantra is for purifying the place.
[10] “Oṁ, secure the border surrounding the ten directions with the unfailing lotus rope! Turu turu, hūṁ!
“The vidyā holder should wind a five-colored thread onto five iron stakes that are eight fingers long, incant them with this mantra one thousand and eight times, and drive them into the ground in the four corners, with the center being the fifth. This will create an enclosing outer boundary at the distance of seven leagues. This great boundary will remain until the stakes are pulled out. [A.7.a]
[11] “Oṁ, amogha maṇḍala! Secure the borders all around with lotuses and great lotuses! Dhuru dhuru, svāhā!
“This is the mantra for securing the maṇḍala. One should incant water and mustard seeds with it one hundred and eight times and sprinkle the entire maṇḍala, including above and below. [Ti.28] This will secure a great outer maṇḍala. No vighnas, vināyakas, yakṣas, rākṣasas, bhūtas, or piśācas will be able to cross it. All the wicked beings there are, such as wicked gods or nāgas, will be prevented from coming. All worldly or unwholesome activities, defective mantras, and the vile acts of wicked beings will be completely eradicated.
[12] “Oṁ, amogha purity! Purify the entire area! Dhiri dhiri! O pure being! O great lotus! Hūṁ!
“The vidyā holder should use this mantra to incant, one thousand and eight times, water prepared with the five products of the cow, and then sprinkle the entire area, whether it is a monastery, a forest hermitage, a secret cave, a hidden place in a thicket, a walking area, a grove, a tended garden, a pleasure grove, a residence, a shelter, or a house. All swamps and cesspools, whether filled on not, will be cleared of any bhūtas, piśācas, pretas, and so forth who feed on refuse, as well as any savages. They will be expelled, and the area will become pure.
“If the vidyā holder sprinkles himself with the same water, he will be free from problems such as indigestion, eating disorders, or the evil eye. Unhealthy residences and dwelling places will become pure. Those who are dirty will become clean, the impure will become pure, the sexually incontinent will become continent, and those who do not fast will begin to do so. All the deities will stand by to guard, protect, and defend the vidyā holder. Īśvara, Maheśvara, Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheśvara, Yama, Varuṇa, Kubera, and so forth will remain attentive in guarding, protecting, and defending him. He will be loved and venerated by the entire world, and his speech will be treated as command. All his diseases will clear up, and he will be freed from his nonvirtue, obscurations, wrongdoings, and so forth.
“If the vidyā holder sprinkles all four quarters, all quarrels, disputes, fights, disagreements, famines, and pestilence—all such misfortunes, calamities, and troubles—will be completely pacified. If he sprinkles himself or sips the water every day, he will obtain great success in the rites involving vidyās, mudrās, and maṇḍalas. He will obtain great amogha accomplishment. Wherever he goes, he will be honored and his progress never obstructed. Every night he will have splendorous dream-visions of great places and many extraordinary things.
“The vidyā holder will obtain great boons on all occasions. All monks, brahmins, kṣatriyas, householders, kings, ministers, royal harems, and attendants will fall under his thrall. Always maintaining perfectly pure conduct, he will be greatly venerated. [Ti.29] He will be able to see Noble Avalokiteśvara any time, whenever he wishes, and will obtain all the most desirable boons. In his sleep he will perceive the Tathāgata Amitābha, [A.7.b] the worthy, fully realized Buddha. When he dies, he will be reborn in the world system of Sukhāvatī.
[13] “Oṁ, flow within the lotus, flow! Remain, remain! O great amogha samaya! Svāhā!
“This is the mantra of the secret great samaya.
[14] “Oṁ, great lotus, amogha-expand! May he enter! Act, act, svāhā!
“This is the mantra of entry.
[15] “Oṁ, amogha-settle within the circumference of the great lotus, hūṁ!
“This is the mantra of the disciple.
[16] “Oṁ, amogha lotus in the topknot! Turu turu! Remain in the vajra knot, svāhā!
“This is the mantra for binding the topknot. It should be recited twenty-one times.
[17] “Oṁ, toss the lotus water of Amogha! Bhiri bhiri, hūṃ!
“This is the mantra for tossing the water. It should be recited twenty-one times.
[18] “Oṁ, amogha deformed water-container on a lotus seat! Full of water! Act, act, hūṁ!
“This is the mantra for the water pitcher. It should be recited one hundred and eight times.
[19] “Oṁ, amogha purity within the expanse of the lotus! Carry, carry, svāhā!
“This is the mantra for containing water. It should be recited twenty-one times.
[20] “Oṁ, amogha lotus, the auspicious pure lotus that brings fulfillment! Viri viri, svāhā!
“This is the mantra for the hands. One should incant both hands with it one thousand and eight times and commence whatever activities need to be accomplished that involve maṇḍala, mantra, and mudrā procedures. This procedure will make all practices successful, and it should always be included in all rites.
[21] “Oṁ, amogha purity that purifies the tip of the tongue! Tender as lotus, please purify the tongue! Keep it so, keep! Auspicious purity, svāhā!
“This is the mantra for purifying the tongue. The vidyā holder should incant perfumed water with it one thousand and eight times and rinse the front of his mouth. It will remove all impurities from the tongue, which will then become delicate like the petal of a pink or red lotus. Similarly, it will purify the teeth, the palate, and the throat.
[22] “Oṁ, fragrant Amogha! Suru suru, prabhuru! Divine fragrance with the glow of a lotus! Svāhā!
“With this mantra, the vidyā holder should prepare a fragrant pill to be kept at the front of the mouth. He should grind sandalwood, nalada, fenugreek, water lily, saffron, and musk into a fine powder and, [Ti.30] adding honey, make a pill the size of an eyeball. Reciting the above mantra with full voice, he should place the pill in a copper container, place the container in the mouth, and keep it there until he completes one thousand and eight recitations. After a while, the pleasant fragrance of a water lily will continually issue forth from his mouth for hundreds of yards. There is no doubt about this.
“All the tathāgatas and bodhisattvas will rejoice, and Noble Avalokiteśvara, the boon-granting lord, will be extremely pleased. [B2] This supreme vidyā of Amoghapāśa will be easily accomplished through recitation. The vidyā holder who recites it will always be free from bad odor, bile, phlegm, and nasal mucous, which will all be swiftly cleared away, and divine fragrance will issue forth from his mouth. Whomever he targets with this formula will quickly be enthralled. All the gods including Śacī’s husband Indra, Yama, Varuṇa, Kubera, Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheśvara, the Four Guardians of the World, Candra, and Sūrya will remain in his thrall.
“If the vidyā holder keeps this pill in his mouth, Sarasvatī will dwell at the tip of his tongue. His words will become clear, and his voice will be like that of kinnaras. He will always be free from dirt and blemish, and he will be able to memorize one thousand verses after the first recitation. [A.8.a] If he utters the syllable hūṁ, all the deities will arrive, including those who dwell within the maṇḍala. With the syllable phaṭ, all the wicked vighnas and vināyakas will perish, and all yakṣas, rākṣasas, pretas, apasmāras, bhūtas, and guhyakas will immediately flee and fall with their faces down. If he holds the pill in his mouth, he will be a scholar at all times. He will swiftly obtain all accomplishments, including long life. While carrying the pill in this way, his speech will be endearing, sweet, and soft. The magical accomplishment of this pill is called the lotus-like amogha purity.
[23] “Oṁ, free from impurities in the inner space of the lotus! Roam through and merge with the sky, hūṁ! Amogha-accomplished! Purify, hūṁ!
“The vidyā holder should take some bark of nāgapuṣpa, the root of khas-khas, sandalwood, lotus filaments, cloves, the kākolaka plant, spikenard, tagara powder, saffron, white lotus root, and cardamom and mix them together with an equal amount of ugrasugandhi. He should grind all this into a fine powder, make it into a pill, and incant the pill with this mantra one thousand and eight times. He should then wash the pill well and mix it with rainwater. [Ti.31] By simply heating up and then bathing in this water, he will be released from previously accumulated terrible karma, remove all diseases, and effectively destroy all ailments. He will be freed from terrible afflictions, desire, hatred, and the darkness of ignorance; they will be removed. All impurities will be pacified by merely bathing; there is no doubt. Divine splendor will shine forth, and his store of merit will increase. The vidyā holder will always glow with an abundance of vital energy, a radiance resembling the sun. His body will be radiant and pure.
“An unclean vidyā holder will become clean; an impure one, pure. One who is sexually incontinent will become continent, and one who breaks one’s vow of silence will restore it. The vidyā holder’s hair will never turn grey, and he will never fall ill. His body will emit a divine fragrance that will precede him by the length of an arrow; there is no doubt. The body will emit a divine fragrance of sandalwood and will be as lovely as lotuses or water lilies. He will always fall asleep with ease and wake up with ease. No wicked beings such as yakṣas, rākṣasas, bhūtas, asuras, miscreant vināyakas, and vighnas will be able to harm him. There will be no dread of enemies.
“The vidyā holder should therefore purify his body in this way and perform the recitation well, as this will accomplish the activities. The vidyā holder will accomplish them with ease and will be able to see the truth exactly as it is. All the tathāgatas and bodhisattvas will swiftly arrive, as will all the deities, including those that inhabit the maṇḍala. The vidyā holder will accomplish whatever he desires. Having thus completed the procedure for the purification of the body, he should commence the preliminary mantra practices.
[24] “Oṁ, you with amogha lotus eyes and divine vision, completely pure! Suru suru! O lotus-eyed one, bhuru bhuru! You direct your gaze everywhere! Svāhā!
“The vidyā holder should prepare realgar, bovine bezoar, bones of cuttle fish, lotus, and honey into a mixture that can be applied with an eye brush. He should incant them by reciting this mantra one thousand and eight times, thrice. The tathāgatas praise this eye ointment as divine. It is the lord of the world [A.8.b] and the auspicious granter of boons. With it, the vidyā holder will pacify all eye diseases. He will experience divine visions in his dreams, he will never see unpleasant sights or anything ugly, and his vision will never be distorted. He will never see cruel murderers or savages. All spirits that cause dyspepsia, [Ti.32] overeating, indigestion, eating disorders, or unhealthy complexion, and all yakṣas, rākṣasas, and pannagas, will stay away all day and night; there is no doubt. One will perceive what is auspicious with one’s physical eyes and will dream auspicious dreams. Within one month of practice, one will obtain the divine eye. This mantra is for the purification of the eyes.
[25] “Oṁ, wake up, wake up! Wake up lucidly, facing Padmāmogha! Choose, choose any boon! Svāhā!
“The vidyā holder should incant bovine bezoar one thousand and eight times with this vidyā, twenty-one times with the Amogharāja, seven times with the Krodharāja, and one hundred and eight times each with the heart and auxiliary heart mantras of Amoghapāśa. When still reciting, he should take the bezoar and make a single bindi mark on the forehead between the eyebrows. Above it on the forehead he should make another bindi in the form of a star. All wicked beings will come under his control, and all yakṣas, bhūtas, rākṣasas, vighnas, and vināyakas will perish; there is no doubt. Unable to bear the power of the bindi, all these beings with evil intentions will disappear together. Like a moth to a flame, kings will fall under the control of the vidyā holder, along with their attendants, retinues, ministers, priests, and harems. They will all remain in his thrall. Also, all ordained monks, brahmins, kṣatriyas, and śūdras will come under his control, and he will be greatly revered. All the vidyā deities, including those who dwell within the maṇḍala, will abide by their samayas and, guarding the ten directions, will protect beings. They will grant the supreme accomplishment.
“The vidyā holder should apply this bindi when imperiled on merchant trips. All dangers will disappear—there is no doubt—as will all thieves, robbers, mercenaries, skirmishes, and fights. All ferocious and frightening lions, tigers, wolves, elephants, jackals, and other troublesome creatures, as well as all snakes, such as āśīviṣa snakes and vipers, and other venomous creatures, will hide and not appear again. Lightning, fires, downpours, danger from weapons, floods, kākhordas, and house collapses will all pass without causing harm to one’s body, if one wears the bindi. All the undertakings and endeavors of the vidyā holder will be accomplished auspiciously and in full; there is no doubt.
“As soon as the vidyā holder remembers the essence of Amogharāja, I will, O Blessed One, immediately appear before him [Ti.33] and fulfill all his hopes and wishes, grant all the boons previously described, and accomplish all his activities. I will grant him the amogha accomplishment and faithfully protect the samaya. I have been authorized to do this, O Blessed One, by the Tathāgata’s words and blessings. I will deliver all this. [A.9.a]
“If, O Blessed One, the vidyā holder performs the ritual practices as described, and displays the dhiṇi mudrās, he will, because of the way the mudrās function, accumulate a lot of merit. He will be blessed by all bodhisattvas, who will prophesy his future awakening. He will be protected by all deities, be worshiped as unique by the entire world, and become the one and only teacher of every living being. He will obtain the samaya for all rites and for their maṇḍalas and mudrās. Furthermore, he will obtain long life and amogha accomplishments. His words will be heeded, and he will develop good memory, intelligence, and fearlessness. The power of his intellect will be invincible.
“Noble Avalokiteśvara will confer boons upon the vidyā holder—he will appear to him whenever wished for and grant boons generously. He will grant him victory in every way, so that the vidyā holder will always be victorious over all his enemies, opponents, and adversaries and over all wicked beings. He will be invisible to all yakṣas, rākṣasas, bhūtas, piśācas, vighnas, vināyakas, asuras, and nāgas. He will become fearless like all noble ones. All kings and royal ministers with their harems and retinues will come under his control. He will be universally idolized and be treated as everyone’s favorite teacher. He will live a long life free of disease and all the impurities of hatred, envy, and jealousy. His memory will be excellent and his body pure.
“At the time of death, he will really see the tathāgatas. Noble Avalokiteśvara will also appear to him. They will all comfort him, saying, ‘Come son, follow us to the realm of Sukhāvatī!’ He will thus die fully aware of where he is going. The gates of all the hells will be closed, he will be saved from all unhappy destinies, and his current birth will be his last. He will have complete recall of his successive past births. [Ti.34] Wherever he steps, a lotus will spring up under his shoe. He will pass from one buddha field to another until he reaches ultimate and final awakening. [Ti.35]
“However, if someone has failed to accomplish the practices of a vidyā holder, it is not me who will be at fault. For this reason, as a vidyā holder, one should engage in the formal practice that involves the mantra and the mudrā according to the ritual procedure as described. One will then magically accomplish all one’s tasks; there is no doubt about this.
“One should repeat the following mantras:
[26] “Oṁ, holder of the amogha treasury! Unfold, expand, hūṁ!
“This is the mantra of the sacred thread. One should incant a thread spun by a young girl with this mantra one hundred and eight times and wind it around one’s neck three times.
[27] “Oṁ, amogha garments! Muru muri! Become divinely soft! Tara tara, svāhā!
“This is the mantra for the garments; it should be recited twenty-one times.
[28] “Oṁ, amogha clothes! I cast off clothes within the lotus that brings awakening, svāhā!
“This is the mantra for casting off clothes; it should be recited twenty-one times.
[29] “Oṁ, collecting the rainwater, you flow along the amogha banks! Consecrate! Hūṁ!
“This is the mantra for bathing; it should be recited twenty-one times.
[30] “Oṁ, amogha lotus seat of nectar, raining down! Curu curu, svāhā!
“This is the mantra for ablutions; it should be recited twenty-one times.
[31] “Oṁ, amogha protection! Take effect, do!
“The vidyā holder should perform the protection of his body by sprinkling it with mustard water incanted twenty-one times.
[32] “Oṁ, amogha samaya! Remain within the great lotus, hūṃ!
“This is the samaya mantra; it should be repeated seven times.
[33] “Oṁ, you who never fail in any way! Remain and protect, hūṁ!
“One should perform the protection of disciples and assistants by marking a bindi on their forehead with ashes incanted with this mantra seven times.
[34] “Oṁ, you who overstep the three worlds with amogha lotus steps! Mili mili, svāhā!
“This is the mantra for positioning the feet in a stride; it should be recited twenty-one times.
[35] “Oṁ, unfold within the lotus, the great lotus! Surround everything with the unfailing noose! Huru huru, svāhā!
“One should incant a five-colored thread seven times with this mantra and wind the thread.
[36] “Oṁ, bright multicolored amogha cloth! Effect purification! kiṇi kiṇi, [A.10.a] hūṁ!
“This is the mantra for the banner; it should be recited seven times.
[37] “Oṁ, diamond-tipped amogha arrow! [Ti.36] Thara thara, svāhā!
“This is the mantra for the arrow; it should be recited seven times.
[38] “Oṁ, the great, completely pure, broad amogha gate! Siri siri, svāhā!
“This is the mantra for the gate; it should be recited twenty-one times. By merely passing through this gate, one enters the gate of heaven. All wrongdoings and obscurations become completely purified.
[39] “Oṁ, you are filled and surrounded with various splendid amogha flowers and fruits! Para para, hūṁ!
“This is the mantra for the full jar; it should be recited seven times.
[40] “Oṁ, jewel amogha palace, consecrated with the sacrificial vessel, you are divinely fragrant and radiating light everywhere! Shine, shine, svāhā!
“This is the mantra for the sacrificial incense vessel; it should be recited seven times.
The Amoghapāśakalparāja is an early Kriyātantra of the lotus family. Historically, it is the main and largest compendium and manual of rites dedicated to Amoghapāśa, one of Avalokiteśvara’s principal emanations, who is named after and distinguished by his “unfailing noose” (amoghapāśa). The text is primarily soteriological, with an emphasis on the general Mahāyāna values of compassion and loving kindness for all beings. It offers many interesting insights into early Buddhist ritual and the development of its terminology.
This translation was produced by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the supervision of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche. Wiesiek Mical translated the text from a complete Sanskrit manuscript and wrote the introduction. Anna Zilman compared the translation draft against the Tibetan versions found in the Degé and other editions of the Kangyur. The project is greatly indebted to Prof. Ryugen Tanemura and his team of scholars at Taisho University, Tokyo, for making available to us a copy of the Sanskrit manuscript and its transcript.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The generous sponsorship of Sun Ping, Tian Xingwen, and Sun Fanglin, which helped make the work on this translation possible, is most gratefully acknowledged.
The Amoghapāśakalparāja (AP) is a ritual text dedicated entirely to the deity Amoghapāśa, a form of Avalokiteśvara who appears in both peaceful and wrathful iconographies. He is sometimes referred to in the text as Avalokiteśvara-Amoghapāśa, as the two are considered identical. One could perhaps say that Amoghapāśa is distilled from Avalokiteśvara, with certain qualities of the latter being enhanced in the former, in particular his “unfailing” (amogha) ability to rescue beings drowning in the ocean of saṃsāra by means of his namesake “noose” (pāśa). The form of Amoghapāśa who, in addition to a noose, holds a goad is similarly called Amoghāṅkuśa (Unfailing Goad). As is true of the Kriyātantras in general, the names of Amoghapāśa apply equally to the mantras that correspond to the different deities. Thus, in the AP we find mantras that include expanded or paraphrased renderings of the name Amoghapāśa, depending on the specific form and function of the deity, such as Amoghāvalokitapāśa (Amogha-Gaze-Noose), Amoghavilokita (Amogha-Gaze), or Adbhutāvalokitāmogha (Wondrous-Amogha-Gaze).
As a Kriyātantra, the AP firmly adheres to Mahāyāna principles and declares itself, explicitly and implicitly, to be part of the Mahāyāna system. The Mahāyāna philosophical tenets reflected in the tantras of this class tend to fall into the category of Yogācāra rather than Madhyamaka, as it is the illusory aspect of things and its corollary, the ability to produce miraculous displays, that is prominent in these texts. The efficacy of the Kriyā ritual is itself founded upon the notion of the indivisibility of mind, mantra, and deity. The AP’s Yogācāra affiliation is also confirmed by explicit statements such as “If [the practitioner] casts the seeds among the leaders of assemblies, they will become followers of Yogācāra.”
The exact date when the AP began circulating is unknown. The dates of its Chinese translations, however, provide us with the terminus ante quem: the second half of the sixth century
Dating the AP in its present form is complicated by the fact that it may be a compilation of Amoghapāśa materials that originally existed as independent but closely related ritual texts. The section of the AP referred to as part 1 in our translation still exists as an independent but slightly different text that is included in the Tibetan canon with the title ’phags pa don yod zhags pa’i snying po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Toh 682, Skt. Āryāmoghapāśahṛdayanāmamahāyānasūtra). It is possible that this work originally circulated independently of the AP and was later compiled along with other materials into the text’s current form. That the various rites recorded in the AP were once independent of one another is further supported by the fact that the main dhāraṇī mantra is taught in the text no less than three times, each time with a preamble presenting it as if for the first time. It is taught in part 1 and another two times in the remaining part of the text, suggesting that the entire text could be a compilation of at least three independent works. As they all are centered around the same dhāraṇī, they could almost be regarded as different variations on the same theme. On all three occasions, the dhāraṇī in question is referred to as Amogharāja (Amogha King), the “heart essence of Amoghapāśa” (amoghapāśahṛdaya), and a “maṇḍala of liberation.” But the structure of the text is far more complex than this, with hundreds of minor rites grouped in larger interrelated units. The compiled materials seem to be not always fully integrated, nor is it always clear where a particular set of rites ends and another begins. Another indicator that the text is likely a compilation is the distribution of certain technical terms—for example, the recurrent term “sameness of families” (kulasāmānya) is completely absent in the first half of the text. The composite nature of the text thus makes it difficult to arrive at anything but an approximate date of its origin.
The Amoghapāśakalparāja comprises a teaching on the practices of Amoghapāśa delivered by various speakers as part of a dialogue. The main speaker is Noble Avalokiteśvara who delivers the majority of the teachings, with contributions from Noble Tārā as well. Avalokiteśvara teaches the practices and rites of the peaceful and wrathful emanations of Amoghapāśa, who are ultimately his own heart essence (hṛdaya). Tārā gives a short teaching on the dhāraṇī of Amoghatārā, the female counterpart of Amoghapāśa. Both Avalokiteśvara and Tārā are exhorted to teach by the Buddha Śākyamuni—the supreme spiritual authority in the text—who blesses the speakers and authenticates their teachings. The fourth interlocutor is Vajrapāṇi, referred to throughout the text as the “great general of the yakṣa army.” He elicits additional teachings with his questions and makes a pledge to protect Amoghapāśa practitioners in the future.
The venue, fittingly, is Potala Mountain, the paradise of Avalokiteśvara, who is the true identity of Amoghapāśa. The practice consists of individual but mutually dependent and interconnected rites (kalpa) that, along with their doctrinal framework, constitute a “sovereign” (rājan) standard to follow. The phrase kalparāja has been variously translated below as “sovereign ritual,” when used to refer to the entire text of the AP, or “sovereign rite,” when referring to an individual rite. This phrase is repeated throughout the text, sometimes referring to the entire text, sometimes to an individual rite, and often to both at the same time.
Indeed, the spirit of “sovereignty” or independence pervades the work as a whole. Each rite, often extolled as “supreme” (uttama) or “unsurpassable” (anuttara), is considered sufficient on its own for accomplishing all worldly goals and the attainment of buddhahood. The quality of “sovereignty” extends even further; although all the rites of the AP belong, just like the titular deity, to the lotus family, the realization attained thereby transcends the family divisions, applying to all tathāgata families. This is expressed by the recurrent phrase, “the sameness/equality of all families” (sarvakulasāmānya). Thus, by accomplishing any “sovereign ritual” of Amoghapāśa, the practitioner establishes a bond (samaya) with not just the lotus family but all the tathāgata families equally (sarvakulasāmānyasamaya).
The concept of the “sameness of families” (kulasāmānya), ubiquitous in all Kriyā rites and practices of the supramundane (lokottara) type, deserves special attention, as it is prominent in the AP and is possibly one of the most important concepts in the Kriyātantras. As this concept is absent in the (possibly older) part 1 but prominent in part 2 of the AP, it probably entered the Kriyā practice system around the time when part 2 was being composed and might have been introduced in this text for the first time. The term defines the Kriyā pantheon of tathāgatas and other uṣṇīṣa deities, who are otherwise grouped according to specific families, by introducing an essential cohesion among them and among all supramundane Kriyā practices. The term kulasāmānya has two functions, one classificatory and the other hermeneutic. As a qualifier, the term is most often combined with ritual terms such as “accomplishment,” “maṇḍala of liberation,” or “rite” (karman). The concept is intrinsically soteriological inasmuch as all tathāgata families share in the same ultimate nature, the dharmakāya, and so are subsumed within buddhahood. Thus, regardless of which deity family or practice one accomplishes, one automatically accomplishes all tathāgata families, is blessed by all of them, and enters the samaya bond with all of them. This convergence is called the “sameness of all tathāgata families” (sarvatathāgatakulasāmānya) or, in short, the “sameness of families” (kulasāmānya). Any deity or mantra practice that leads to full buddhahood is, by definition, kulasāmānya, and, inversely, any practice that is kulasāmānya leads to full buddhahood. The broadness of the concept allows for variations in translating sāmānya (“sameness”) depending on context. For example, kulasāmānyatattvasiddhi could be translated as “the realization of the reality of the sameness of all the families.” Kulasāmānyasamayānupraveśa could be translated, descriptively, as “entering the samaya bond with all the families equally.” The term becomes more difficult to translate when used strictly as an adjective, as, for example, in the phrase “sarvatathāgatakulasāmānya rite” that describes a rite (kalpa) that simply falls into the category of kulasāmānya. One way out of the problem is to translate this phrase as “a rite that is shared by all tathāgata families.” This translation, however, could be misleading, as most practices and rites described as kulasāmānya are actually family-specific, as is the case in the AP, where virtually all of them belong to the lotus family. It is helpful to understand that being family-specific does not preclude being kulasāmānya—a family-specific rite or practice is kulasāmānya if it results in an accomplishment that establishes the samaya bond with all the families. Thus, it is only when a practice is fully accomplished that family divisions are transcended, and one truly realizes the kulasāmānya.
The AP employs technical vocabulary and stock phrases that are common to the Kriyātantras and need some introduction to be properly understood in the context of this genre of tantric literature. One such term is vidyādhara, which means “vidyā holder” when it refers to the practitioner of the rites described in this text. Vidyā implies that he is a follower of the mantra method, while dhara (“holder”) implies that he is an upholder of this method and also partakes of the magical power (vidyā) that the method bestows. We have used the phrase “vidyā holder” to translate vidyādhara when it refers to the practitioner and left it untranslated as “vidyādhara” when referring to the eponymous class of nonhuman beings. In fact, there is a connection between the two: the vidyā holder who accomplishes the vidyā ascends to the vidyādhara realm and becomes an “emperor of the vidyādhara s” (vidyādharacakravartin).
Another term prominent in the AP is maṇḍala of liberation, which can refer to the text of the AP as a whole or to any section of it that contains rites or procedures that lead to liberation. It can also refer to any individual rite or procedure, as long as this procedure is in itself sufficient for attaining liberation. It can refer to an individual dhāraṇī mantra, and less frequently to an exceptionally powerful mudrā-gesture. In the context of the AP, it has a similar range of applications as the term “heart essence of Amoghapāśa” (amoghapāśahṛdaya); indeed, any mantra, rite, practice, or section of the text referred to as amoghapāśahṛdaya itself constitutes a maṇḍala of liberation.
The term amogha also requires some discussion. It generally means “unfailing” or “unerring” but is often extended to describe a quality of buddhahood; amogha can be used to complement terms, such as vajra or jewel, that describe unique qualities or aspects of buddhahood. Thus, when the term is applied to the lotus family, it refers specifically to the “unfailing” activities associated with this family. When the term is used in this sense in the AP, we have left it, in some instances, untranslated. The specific use of amogha to refer to unfailing activity eventually becomes personified in the higher tantras as the Tathāgata Amoghasiddhi, who presides over the karman (“activity”) family of buddhas. On at least two occasions, Amogha is simply used in the text as a short form of the deity’s name, Amoghapāśa.
The text of the AP exists today in Sanskrit and in Tibetan and Chinese canonical translations. There is only one complete Sanskrit manuscript (China Library of Nationalities, manuscript 69), which has been published as a transcript (Kimura 1998) and as an edition (Kimura 2015). The transcript, however, covers only part of the manuscript, from the beginning to folio 97 (out of the 162 folios), and the edition, still in process, consists only of a short section from folio 97 to folio 101. The names of the Tibetan translators of the AP, described in the final colophon of the Tibetan translation as the “four learned translators of the past,” are not available. The same colophon gives the names of two later translators, both active in the fourteenth century, Chödrak Pel Sangpo and Rinchen Drup. These two lotsāwa s added and translated additional material not found in the existing canonical translation.
The present translation is based on the extant Sanskrit text, in consultation with the Tibetan canonical translation. The English draft was prepared from the Sanskrit manuscript and its partial transcript and edition mentioned above, and it was later checked against the Tibetan translation in the Degé Kangyur and in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma). The Sanskrit text was carefully compared to the Tibetan witnesses so that the resulting English translation reflects the most plausible readings available. All substantive variants have been recorded in the notes.
The translation that follows is of the complete text of the AP as preserved in the extant Sanskrit manuscript. The Tibetan canon preserves a version of the text that is substantially longer, consisting of about 102 Degé folio sides of material, that has not been included in full in our translation. At several points the Tibetan is rendered in verse while the corresponding Sanskrit is not, in which case we have followed the Sanskrit and translated as prose. Our translation does include passages from the Sanskrit manuscript that are absent in the Tibetan, but these are rather short, the longest being about two folios of the Sanskrit manuscript, and the junctures where the two versions fall out of alignment are indicated in the notes. The Chinese canonical translation represents a version of the AP that is shorter than both the Sanskrit and Tibetan versions. The differences in composition between all three versions are listed in the collation tables in Kimura 1997.
One particular challenge in preparing this translation was the precise identification of the various mantras that are repeatedly referred to in the text by a name or a descriptive phrase shared by more than one mantra—the same name or epithet, notably “heart essence of Amoghapāśa,” may refer to different mantras. Some of the confusion should perhaps be attributed to the fact that the AP is a compilation with a cumulative nomenclature that had not been completely integrated or fully harmonized. For ease of cross-referencing, the mantras are given the numbers corresponding to those in Kimura 1998, but without a comprehensive table of mantra concordances it would be impossible to consistently decide which specific mantra is referred to in a particular context.
So that readers can correlate our translation with passages in the Sanskrit and Tibetan texts, we have included page numbers from the published Sanskrit edition (Kimura 1998 and Kimura 2015) using the siglum T, with Ti–Tvii referring to Kimura 1998, and Tviii–Tix to Kimura 2015. Folio numbers using the siglum A refer to the Sanskrit manuscript held in the China Library of Nationalities, and folio numbers from the Degé edition of the Tibetan are indicated with F. Because of their alignment with some sections of the Tibetan text, the page numbers from Kimura do not always appear in sequential order.
The Noble Sovereign Ritual of Amoghapāśa
[V92] [B1] [A.1.b] [Ti.14] Homage to all the buddhas and bodhisattvas! Homage to Noble Avalokiteśvara, the great bodhisattva being!
Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One stayed on Potala Mountain, in the palace of Avalokiteśvara adorned with various trees such as sal, tamāla, campaka, aśoka, and atimuktaka. He stayed there together with the congregation of eight thousand monks, surrounded and attended upon by nine hundred and ninety quadrillion crores of bodhisattvas and many hundreds of thousands of gods of the Pure Abode. He was explaining the Dharma, chiefly to the gods such as Īśvara, Maheśvara, and Brahmā.
At that time, Noble Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva great being, rose from his seat, draped his upper garment over one shoulder, knelt with his right knee on the ground, and bowed toward the Blessed One with folded hands. Smiling, he said to the Blessed One, “Ninety-one eons ago, in the world sphere called Vilokitā, I obtained from the Tathāgata Lokendrarāja this heart essence of Amoghapāśa called Amogharāja. Through this heart essence, many thousands of gods of the Pure Abode, the chief of them being Īśvara and Maheśvara, were established in perfect supreme awakening, and I myself obtained tens of hundreds of thousands of samādhis, the most important being the display of unconfused knowledge. The place where this heart essence is introduced, O Blessed One, will be known as one where twelve thousand gods, headed by Īśvara, Maheśvara, and Brahmā, remain in order to guard, protect, and preserve it, and where the Blessed One remains, worshiped in the form of a caitya, and causes this heart essence, the unfailing cause of good fortune, to spread.
“Any being who hears this heart essence of Amoghapāśa, O Blessed One, will have roots of virtue planted in them by hundreds of thousands of millions of billions of buddhas. O Blessed One, any follower of an evil doctrine who speaks ill of the noble ones, rejects the true Dharma, opposes the buddhas, the bodhisattvas, the śrāvakas, and the pratyekabuddhas, and is headed for the Avīci hell because of the offenses he commits will be stricken with remorse and will later [Ti.15] take up the conduct of restraint. If he occasionally fasts and recites this mantra, he will purify, exhaust, and purge his karma in this very life. He will thus exhaust the karma of fever that returns every day, or every two, three, four, or six days; the karma of sore eyes, earache, sinusitis, toothache, sore lips, tongue, or palate, chest pain, stomachache, back pain, or pain in the flanks [A.2.a] or in the limbs and extremities; the karma of asthma attacks, dysentery, problems with the hands, feet, or nose, headache, leprosy, white leprosy, black leprosy, scabies, lice, pus boils, fistula, or blisters; the karma of epilepsy or attacks by kākhordas or other evil spirits; and the karma of being killed, imprisoned, beaten, threatened, or falsely accused. In short, O Blessed One, he will completely remove any karma of physical or mental pain or of nightmares. How much more will this be true for beings who are pure and have faith and trust!
“My heart essence of Amoghapāśa, O Blessed One, will become the cause of virtue for any beings in the fourfold assembly or among the four castes, even the crafty and the guileful, who hear it, uphold, preserve, and propagate it, write it down, commission a copy of it, study it, recite it close to an animal’s ear, or contemplate its words the way one should contemplate the Buddha, that is, without distraction, form, concepts, arising, duration, causality, stains, indifference, or the five skandhas. It will become the cause of virtue for any beings who visualize thousands of buddhas from the ten directions appearing before them and confess to them their wrongdoings … and so on up to ‘write this mantra in the form of a book and keep it safe in their homes.’ Even if, O Blessed One, as anyone learned would know, they listen to the heart essence because they fear their master, have to comply with someone else, or fear ridicule, the words of the heart essence will fall on their ears through the blessing of Noble Avalokiteśvara.
“As an analogy, O Blessed One, if a person swears or curses over sandalwood, camphor, or musk [Ti.16] and then grinds it on a stone and smears it on themselves, they should not think that the sandalwood, camphor, or musk will not make them fragrant due to the swearing or cursing. Rather, they will still be fragrant. Blessed One, the same is true for my heart essence of Amoghapāśa. As for any being who laughs at or makes fun of my heart essence of Amoghapāśa … and so on until ‘worships it, even if done with guile,’ for such unruly beings this heart essence will become the cause of virtue. Those for whom this heart essence arises become inseparable from it. It makes them fragrant with moral discipline, as they gather the accumulations of merit and wisdom through discipline and samādhi.
“As for any son or daughter of noble family, a monk or nun, a male or female lay practitioner, or anyone else who performs, on the eighth day of the bright fortnight, a ritual fast dedicated to the heart essence of Amoghapāśa and recites the heart essence of Amoghapāśa seven times while refraining from conversation, such a person will see twenty-one beneficial, much-desired qualities. What are these twenty-one?
“They are as follows: (1) No disease [A.2.b] will occur in the body. Should it occur because of the power of karma, it will soon disappear. (2) One’s body will become smooth and beautiful. (3) One will be loved by many people. (4) One will be able to control one’s senses. (5) One will acquire things, and when one has thus accumulated wealth, (6) no thief will be able to take it. (7) One’s wealth cannot be burned by fire, borne away by flood, or forcefully seized by the king. (8) One’s endeavors will be successful. (9) There will be no danger from fire or water. (10) There will be no danger from wind or rain. (11) If one incants ash or water seven times with the heart mantra of Amoghapāśa and demarcates the borders of an area, thus delimiting the cardinal and intermediate directions and above and below, all calamities will be pacified. (12) No life-draining spirits will be able to steal one’s vitality. (13) One will be dear to and captivate all beings. (14) There will be no danger from enemies, and should such danger arise, it will soon fade away. (15) There will be no danger from nonhuman beings, (16) kākhordas, or (17) ḍākinīs. (18) No acute afflictions and their subsidiaries will arise. (19) One will not die by fire, weapons, or poison. [Ti.17] (20) The deities will stand by to guard, protect, and defend. (21) Wherever one may be born, one will never be separated from loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity. These are the twenty-one benefits that are highly desirable.
“One will obtain, in addition, eight qualities. What are these eight? (1) At the time of one’s death, Noble Avalokiteśvara will appear before one in the garb of a monk. (2) One will die with ease. (3) One will not stray from the right view. (4) When dying, one’s hands and feet will not thrash about, one will not soil oneself with excrement, and one will not fall off the bed. (5) One will remain completely lucid. (6) One will not die face down. (7) One’s presence of mind will not fail. (8) One will be reborn in whatever buddha field one aspires to, and there one will not be separated from a virtuous friend.
“A serious practitioner should recite the heart mantra of Amoghapāśa three times, at the three junctions of the day, every day. He should avoid food that contains alcohol, meat, onions, leeks, or garlic, as well as stale food. Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of sentient beings, he should teach to them the heart mantra of Amoghapāśa as part of a Dharma discourse. The teacher must not be tight fisted, as only those who are free from greed and jealousy can become bodhisattvas who bring benefit to beings; they attain the realization of the Buddha and are then counted among the bodhisattvas. Bodhi is said to be wisdom, and sattva is the means. Lest sentient beings not obtain these two qualities, may the Blessed One permit me to chant in front of the Tathāgata this heart mantra for the benefit, welfare, and happiness of the fourfold assembly and the others who commit evil.”
The Blessed One then replied to the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, [A.3.a] “Please recite it, O pure being, if you think that the time is right! The Tathāgata will happily assume the duties of a father toward the followers of the Bodhisattva Vehicle during the final period and the final time.”
The noble bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, his eyes unblinking, said to the Blessed One, “Please listen, O Blessed One, to my maṇḍala of liberation that is revered by all the bodhisattvas; listen for the welfare and happiness of many people, in order to embrace the world with compassion and to [Ti.18] benefit vast numbers of people!
“Homage to all the buddhas and bodhisattvas of the three times! Homage to all the past, present, and future pratyekabuddhas and congregations of noble śrāvakas! Homage to those who are set on and follow the right path! Homage to Śāradvatīputra! Homage to the bodhisattvas headed by Maitreya and to the hosts of great bodhisattvas! Homage to the noble Tathāgata Amitābha, the worthy one, the fully realized Buddha! Homage to the Three Jewels! Homage to Noble Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva great being of great compassion! The mantra is:
[1] “Oṁ, cara cara, ciri ciri, curu curu! O great compassionate one! Ciri ciri, miri miri, curu curu! O great compassionate one! Siri siri, ciri ciri, piri piri, viri viri! O great one with a lotus in your hand! Kala kala, kili kili, kulu kulu! O great pure being! Awaken, awaken! Cleanse, cleanse! Kaṇa kaṇa, kiṇi kiṇi, kuṇu kuṇu! O supremely pure being! Kara kara, kiri kiri, kuru kuru! You who attained great fortitude! Cala cala, saṃcala saṃcala, vicala vicala, eṭṭaṭṭa eṭṭaṭṭa, bhara bhara, bhiri bhiri, bhuru bhuru! Come, come, O great compassionate one! You who wear the garb of great Paśupati! Wear, wear! Sara sara, cara cara, hara hara, hāhā hāhā, hīhī hīhī, hūhū hūhū! You who wear the garb of Brahmā, the syllable oṁ! Dhara dhara, dhiri dhiri, dhuru dhuru, tara tara, sara sara, para para, cara cara! You with the body adorned with hundreds of thousands of light rays! Shine, shine! Heat up, heat up! O blessed sun and moon! You whose feet are worshiped by the hosts of ṛṣis and gods, by Yama, Varuṇa, Kubera, and Great Indra! Suru suru, curu curu, muru muru, puru puru! You who wear many various garbs of ṛṣis and gods, of Sanatkumāra, Rudra, Vāsava, Viṣṇu, and Dhanada! Dhara dhara, dhiri dhiri, dhuru dhuru, thara thara, ghara ghara, yara yara, lara lara, hara hara, mara mara, para para, vara vara! O boon giver who sees all around you! O great lord of the world who perceives precisely! Muhu muhu, muru muru, muya muya! Save beings, save! You are the lord Noble Avalokiteśvara! Protect, protect me and all beings in the three worlds from every danger, every misfortune, every calamity, and from all grahas! O savior from bondage, imprisonment, beatings, threats, the king, [A.3.b] [Ti.19] thieves, robbers, fire, water, poison, and weapons! Kaṇa kaṇa, kiṇi kiṇi, kuṇu kuṇu, cara cara! You teach about the sense faculties, the strengths, the limbs of awakening, and the four truths of the noble ones! Scorch, scorch! Tame, tame! Pacify, pacify! Masa masa! O great being! Dispeller of darkness! Fulfiller of the six perfections! Mili mili, ṭaṭa ṭaṭa, ṭhaṭha ṭhaṭha, ṭiṭi ṭiṭi, ṭuṭu ṭuṭu! You who wear a tunic of antelope skin! Come, come! You are the great lord who crushes the hordes of bhūtas! Act, act! Para para, kara kara, kaṭa kaṭa, maṭa maṭa! You abide in the pure domain, O great compassionate one! You wear a white sacred thread and a diadem with a row of jewels—the diadem of omniscience atop your head. The palms of your hands are adorned with marvelous lotuses. Your meditative concentration, samādhi, and liberation are unshakable. You mature the mindstreams of many beings completely. O great compassionate one! Purifier of all karmic obscurations! Deliverer from all illness! Fulfiller of all wishes! Comforter of all beings! Homage be to you! Svāhā.
“He who completes the recitation will accomplish his activities. If he recites this mantra three times, he will purify the five acts of immediate retribution and every karmic obscuration.
“One should delimit a sacred area using water infused with ashes of aloe incense, mustard seeds, and pegs made of cutch tree wood. To cure any type of fever, one should use a thread, and for all other diseases use ghee, oil, or water, incanting them and then giving them to the patient. To destroy the kākhordas, one should use an incanted weapon, and for stomachache, a protection thread. To neutralize poison, one should use water with fresh salt, clay, or just water. If one suffers from eye ailments, one should tie an incanted white thread around one’s ear. If one has a toothache, one should use an incanted tooth stick made from oleander wood.
“To delimit a large sacred area, one should incant a five-colored thread twenty-one times and tie it on the four pegs of cutch-tree wood nailed in the four corners. Using thread, water, or ashes affords protection against anything. For all types of epileptic seizures, one should use a five-colored thread; for all fevers, a white thread; and for all types of insects, ringworm, pus boils, and asthma attacks, a mixture of honey and black pepper. For eye ailments, one should use perfumed water, water with flame-of-the-forest, or water infused with licorice. For an earache one should use oil. In the case of quarrels, disputes, discord, disagreements, or false accusations, one should incant water and rinse one’s mouth with it.
“To protect a country, a kingdom, or a realm from an army, one should arrange ritual jars and, after donning clean white garments, offer a large pūjā. If one recites the Amoghapāśa mantra over them, [Ti.20] there will be lasting peace. If one sprinkles them with incanted water, all beings will be protected. All misfortunes and calamities will cease for those afflicted by them if they smear on their chest sandalwood paste incanted twenty-one times. The karma of all the acts of immediate retribution will be purified if one recites the mantra continually. A homa of lotuses will ensure the protection of the house. A homa of sandalwood will ensure a means of livelihood for all beings and protect them against all bhūtas and grahas. [A.4.a]
“If one incants jayā, vijayā, nākulī, gandhanākulī, vāruṇī, abhayapāṇi, indrapāṇi, mahaleb cherry, tagara, cakrā, mahācakrā, viṣṇukrāntā, somarājī, or sunandā one hundred and eight times, makes it into a pill, wears it tied onto one’s head or arm, or ties it around a child’s neck or a woman’s waist, it will bring prosperity and pacify bad luck. With the pill tied on, one becomes protected in every way. One will not meet with fire or poison and will not be poisoned. If one is, it will not cause any distress and will soon go away. Using an incanted vine of araṇī, one can pacify grahas and arrest winds, hailstorms, and flooding. This heart mantra of Noble Avalokiteśvara can do anything, including producing the supreme accomplishment. If it is mastered, it can certainly accomplish these acts.
“The vidyā holder who wishes to accomplish this heart mantra should follow this procedure: Using uncontaminated paints and a piece of cloth, he should paint Noble Avalokiteśvara in his form of a buddha and wearing the garb of Paśupati that includes a diadem upon his topknotted hair, a tunic of antelope skin, and all the ornaments. The painting should be done by a painter observing the ritual fast. The vidyā holder should then make a maṇḍala in front of it with cow dung, bestrew it with white flowers, and place eight jars filled with eight offerings there. He should also offer a bali made of another sixty-four articles, but without meat or blood. Burning incense of agarwood, he should recite the vidyā one thousand and eight times. He should fast for one day and night, or for three days, eat three white things, bathe three times a day, and wear clean clothes. Avalokiteśvara will then arrive in person and fulfill every wish.
“If he incants realgar or collyrium and anoints his eyes with the paste, he will become invisible, will be able to travel through space, [Ti.21] and will attain the samādhi called the display of unfailing knowledge. He will then act as he pleases and accomplish whatever he does.”
So spoke the Blessed Lord, the noble bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, his mind transported with joy. The gods of the Pure Abode, such as the great lord Brahmā Sahāmpati, rejoiced at his words.
Thus concludes the “Amoghapāśa.”
Noble Avalokiteśvara, the great bodhisattva being, rose from his seat, draped his upper garment over one shoulder, knelt with his right knee on the ground, and bowed with folded hands in the direction of the Blessed One, whose body blazed with thousands of light rays of different colors, bright as the sun. He smiled, his face resembling the orb of the full moon, and, reflecting on the power of loving kindness and compassion, he addressed the Blessed One for the benefit of and to show compassion to the members of the four castes and for the sake of obtaining all the supreme accomplishments of vidyā holders, such as the accomplishments of the true nature, and obtaining the boons that these accomplishments bestow.
“This Amogharāja, O Blessed One, [A.4.b] is the quintessence of my sovereign ritual. In it, there is a very secret, quintessential part that teaches the secret samaya practice of the great maṇḍalas, mudrās, and mantras that together constitute an ultimate maṇḍala of liberation. It brings the realization of reality that arises out of the great essence of reality itself by the means of the great lotus maṇḍala. I will now proclaim these teachings before the Blessed One.
“I will proclaim these teachings here, in the midst of this great assembly, before the devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas, and before the circle of the accomplished vidyā deities. I will proclaim them before the deities such as Īśvara, Maheśvara, and Brahmā, before Yama, Varuṇa, Kubera, the hosts of ṛṣis, Candra, Sūrya, stars and stellar constellations, siddhas, and celestial vidyādharīs. I will proclaim them before the Blessed One, who embodies the transcendent accomplishment of the true essence of reality that is won through the successful practice of recitation and visualization. I will proclaim them before the retinue-hosts of the great vidyādhara s. I will teach the supreme secret of the essence of reality.”
The blessed Tathāgata Śākyamuni, adorned with hundreds of thousands of merits and splendorous with the major and minor marks of perfection, extended his golden arm, which was fragrant like a rutting elephant and haloed with many light rays, [Ti.22] placed his hand on the head of Noble Avalokiteśvara, the great bodhisattva being, and stroked him, saying, “Please speak, O great compassionate, supremely pure being! You are blessed by the tathāgatas, and now also by me. Teach the most secret samaya that is delighted in and blessed by all the tathāgatas in the ten directions as numerous as atoms in the universe or the hundreds of thousands of millions of billions of sand grains in the Gaṅgā river. They rejoice and cheer you on.”
Blessed Avalokiteśvara, the great bodhisattva being, looked in the ten directions, and then, facing the Blessed One, spoke the following mantras that are his own secret reality and essence:
[2] “Oṁ, you with a lotus in your hand, great Amoghapāśa, activate the essence of samaya! Go ahead, do! Hūṁ!”
This mantra is the essence and innate nature of Amoghapāśa; it is a secret heart mantra of Noble Avalokiteśvara, the great bodhisattva being. As soon as it was spoken, Potala, the king of mountains, quaked in six different ways, along with all the mountains, forests, and groves, including Mount Sumeru with its inner and outer encircling ranges. All the palaces of gods swayed, as did the dwellings of nāgas, yakṣas, and rākṣasas. The great oceans swelled with waves, and the bodies of water shook.
The buddhas throughout the ten directions applauded: “Good! Good it is, O son of the victors! The secret heart mantra of Amogha was beautifully presented. If it is recited, it will bring supreme accomplishments.”
The blessed Tathāgata Śākyamuni said, “Good! Good it is, Avalokiteśvara! When recited, this secret amogha mantra will bring the realization of reality.”
Avalokiteśvara replied, “It is so, O Blessed One! This secret heart dhāraṇī, even if it is repeated just once, will cause each and every single tathāgata everywhere in the ten directions, [A.5.a] equal in number to millions of billions times the number of sand particles in the Gaṅgā river, to extend his arm and hold the reciter’s head, giving him comfort. The reciter will perceive every tathāgata. By merely pronouncing this mantra, he will be freed from disease for hundreds of thousands of eons. Hells will no longer exist for him, and his wrongdoings will be purified. All his diseases and ailments will cease, as will all wickedness. Wicked beings, enemies, and adversaries will perish; there is no doubt about this. [Ti.23] Noble Avalokiteśvara will grant him boons and appear to him continually.
“For this vidyā, there is the following worship procedure and the samaya of conduct.
“The vidyā holder should purify himself, bathe thoroughly, and put on clean clothes. He should give rise to loving kindness and compassion and be solely motivated by kindness for all beings. He should make offerings before a cloth painting of Noble Avalokiteśvara, with flowers, incense, perfume, garlands, scented oils, and lamps, on either the eighth or the fifteenth day of the bright fortnight. The recitation procedure requires the vidyā holder to recite the heart mantra of Amoghapāśa one hundred and eight times while sitting in a cross-legged posture in front of the painting and refraining from other talk. He should then recite the mantra of Krodharāja one hundred and eight times, while sprinkling the painting with water and mustard seeds and forming his mudrā twenty-one times in succession. One thus performs the mantra and mudrā empowerments of the painting.
“After that, he should recite the heart mantra of the secret amogha samaya one thousand and eight times. When this mantra is thus repeated one hundred thousand times together with the heart mantra of Amoghapāśa and the mantra of Krodharāja, the recitation procedure is complete. Upon its completion, the cloth painting will blaze with light and the earth will quake. Light rays of various colors will radiate from the body of Noble Avalokiteśvara. The noose held in Amoghapāśa’s hand will also blaze with light. The vidyā holder will be thrilled, his body hair will bristle, and the top of his head will emit light. This is the sign of success—the ritual seal of the heart mantra of Amoghapāśa has been accomplished.
“Subsequently, all activities and all tasks will be accomplished by merely pronouncing the mantra. Hundreds of thousands of millions of billions of tathāgatas, as numerous as the grains of sand in the Gaṅgā river, will simultaneously appear before the vidyā holder and place their golden hand on his head. Noble Avalokiteśvara will appear in his body of secret essence, which is by nature completely pure, without stains or blemishes. Standing before the vidyā holder, he will grant all desirable things and all accomplishments, including the accomplishment of the ritual seal of the heart mantra of Amoghapāśa. They will protect the vidyā holder as their heart son, until he has attained the awakening of a buddha.
“A vidyā holder who wishes to see the world system named Sukhāvatī in its entirety, adorned with perfect buddha fields, and to see Noble Amitābha, the best of victors, with the retinue-hosts of bodhisattvas and [A.5.b] [Ti.24] sitting on a lion seat in an ornamented palace, his body ablaze with hundreds of thousands of billions of light rays as he teaches the Dharma, should purify himself as required for a vidyā holder, keep his heart and mind completely pure, and cultivate, throughout the prātihāra fortnight, thoughts of loving kindness, faith, respect, a heart of compassion, and regard for his master. He should offer to the great cloth painting of Noble Avalokiteśvara whatever articles are available, such as flowers, incense, perfume, garlands, unguents, scented powders, robes, cloth, and banners. From the eighth day of the bright fortnight through the thirteenth, he should live on the three ‘white’ foods and recite daily, and he should recite the secret heart mantra of Amoghapāśa twenty-one times in front of the painting. He should refrain from other talk. He should likewise recite the heart and the auxiliary heart mantras of Krodharāja one hundred and eight times in front of the painting. A welcome offering of water, placed in front of the painting, should be offered at the three junctions of the day. The vidyā holder should, at that time, ‘wake up’ the deity using the incense of agarwood, sandalwood, olibanum, and bdellium, together with essential flower-oils and musk, and recite the summoning mantra one thousand and eight times.
“If one uses the supreme king of incense called unfailing purity in the three worlds, all the world systems in the ten directions of the great trichiliocosm will fill, as soon as the incense is lit, with great clouds of incense, including all the buddha fields where all the buddhas and bodhisattvas dwell and the realms of the devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, and other human and nonhuman beings. As soon as the incense reaches them during the performance of the incense worship with this great king of fragrances, all diseases will cease, and all nightmares and bad dreams will be completely pacified. Even animals who smell the fragrance of the incense will have the wrongdoings and karmic obscurations that lead to rebirth in the lower realms completely purified. All disputes, quarrels, famines, wars, riots, public unrest, nightmares—all such misfortunes, calamities, and annoyances, including all diseases and ailments—will be completely pacified. So will all hurricanes, hailstorms, heat, and cold waves. All nonvirtue will be destroyed, including all the mantras that employ kākhordas and kiraṇas, and all poisons both liquid and powdered. All grahas, apasmāras, fevers, indigestion, eating disorders, and evil eye will be cleared up or dispelled when they smell the fragrance of the incense. They will disappear and will never recur [Ti.25] up until the final attainment of the seat of awakening. One should always use this king of incense.
“Then, on the fourteenth lunar day, the vidyā holder should fast for the whole day and night, recite the heart mantra of Amoghapāśa one hundred and eight times, and recite the mantra of Krodharāja the same number of times. He should offer a bali of three ‘white’ foods, as available, and burn a lamp with fragrant oil while reciting the heart and auxiliary heart mantras of Krodharāja. He should sleep in front of the painting until, at dawn, he sees golden treasures in his dreams. He will see the world system of Sukhāvatī with its palaces, jeweled trees, [A.6.a] and jeweled mountains, and also Puṣkiriṇī with its residences, temples, palaces, and all its magical and marvelous displays. He will see the Tathāgata Amitāyus sitting inside his palatial temple, surrounded by the retinue-hosts of bodhisattvas, and also the congregations of devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas.
“The blessed Tathāgata Amitāyus, a worthy, fully realized buddha, will, for his part, encourage and applaud the vidyā holder by saying, ‘Great! It is great, O good man! You have performed many honorable acts, O vidyā holder, and planted many roots of virtue. By performing what is worth performing, you have acquired much authority. You have accomplished, O vidyā holder, the essence of Amoghapāśa, the maṇḍala of liberation, the great seal, the essence of the mantra speech, and buddhahood itself. This is your last birth from a womb; when this birth runs its full course, you will be reborn in a buddha field and will pass on from one buddha field to another, until you finally attain the seat of awakening.’ Amitāyus will then place his right hand on the vidyā holder’s head, granting him all the mundane accomplishments and the accomplishment of the path that leads beyond this world.
“This is the supreme practice, whereby the vidyā holder, thrilled with joy, will see for himself that he is fully realized. With all his karmic obscurations dispelled, he will be completely pure. Noble Avalokiteśvara, in the garb of a brahmin, will remain in front of him and provide all desirable things. The cloth painting will blaze and emit light. He will also obtain hundreds of thousands of other benefits and worldly splendor. [Ti.26] All people, kings, ministers, brahmins, and householders will remain in his thrall, and he will be greatly venerated. In return, he will receive great amogha accomplishment from monks and brahmins. To bring this about, he should form the mudrā three times a day, and then, on the fourteenth day, he should make whatever offerings of money and food are available to monks and brahmins, and only then should he himself eat.
“If the vidyā holder seeks to see a buddha, a bodhisattva, or a deity, he should incant the king of incense twenty-one times with the mantra of summoning and offer the incense to the blessed Buddha. The summoned being will show itself as the result of merely burning the incense. It will explain what is auspicious and what is not, and what will bring loss and what will bring gain. It will explain everything, including the duration of the vidyā holder’s life and its own death and rebirth.
“I will now teach, as is proper, the mantra procedures for the successful performance of aim-specific rites:
[3] “Oṁ, O lotus holder who grants unfailing victory! Curu curu, svāhā!
“This is the auxiliary heart mantra to the heart mantra called Amogharāja.
[4] “Oṁ, O holder of a lotus noose who grants amogha boons! Arouse the buddhas, hūṁ!
“This is the impelling mantra. One should incant mustard seeds with it twenty-one times, mix them with water, and throw the water in the ten directions. All the tathāgatas, bodhisattvas, devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, and other human and nonhuman beings everywhere will become aroused when fumigated with the king of incense and sprinkled with this water. [A.6.b]
[5] “Oṁ, O lotus-eyed Amoghapāśa! Traverse the three worlds and come to the earth! Suru suru suru! O pure being, hūṁ!
“This is the summoning mantra. One should incant bdellium incense with it one hundred and eight times, mix the incense with water and flowers, and throw the water in the ten directions. This is supremely effective in summoning from anywhere.
[6] “Oṁ, O lotus-armed one who holds the great noose! I invite you, one of unfailing power, to come to Earth! Muru muru, hūṁ!
“This is the invitation mantra—a vidyā of invitation from anywhere—for all the tathāgatas, bodhisattvas, śrāvakas, and pratyekabuddhas, for all the deities who dwell in the maṇḍalas, and for the devas, nāgas, and so forth. One should fumigate the vase, the water, the flowers, and the tooth sticks with the king of incense incanted with this mantra one hundred and eight times. [Ti.27]
[7] “Oṁ, Padmāmogha, get on, get on with vajra-securing the ground! Svāhā!
“This is the mantra of securing the maṇḍala on the ground. One should incant water and mustard seeds with this mantra one hundred and eight times and cast them to the ground. This will consecrate a circular maṇḍala on the ground, one hundred leagues in diameter, so that the ground is composed of vajras, everything there is protected, and the beings there become stable minded. The vidyā holder will become invisible to all the enemies—to all the vighnas, vināyakas, yakṣas, rākṣasas, bhūtas, piśācas, and apasmāras, and to the ḍākinīs who can assume any shape at will. He will become invisible and as inviolable as vajra.
[8] “Oṁ, the throne of Amoghapāśa upon lotuses! Oṭi, miri miri, hūṁ!
“Using this mantra for the seat, one should incant some mustard seeds one thousand and eight times and cast them at the ground. This will magically create a great lotus and consecrate it as a seat. The seat, made of the seven precious jewels and blessed by all the tathāgatas, is a supreme offering. The vidyā holder should also sprinkle his own seat with water and mustard seeds incanted twenty-one times with this mantra. This will purify the seat, making it into a lotus seat of an accomplished vidyā holder.
[9] “Oṁ, great compassionate Amoghapāśa! You are founded upon a firm vajra! Bhuru bhuru, in this best of places, svāhā!
“With this mantra the vidyā holder can completely purify the entire maṇḍala, including houses, forests, pleasure groves, monasteries, shelters, walking areas, and secret retreat places in the forest. He can completely purify all places by sprinkling them with perfumed water and mustard seeds incanted one hundred and eight times. All the wicked vighnas, vināyakas, yakṣas, rākṣasas, and bhūtas will be warded off. This mantra is for purifying the place.
[10] “Oṁ, secure the border surrounding the ten directions with the unfailing lotus rope! Turu turu, hūṁ!
“The vidyā holder should wind a five-colored thread onto five iron stakes that are eight fingers long, incant them with this mantra one thousand and eight times, and drive them into the ground in the four corners, with the center being the fifth. This will create an enclosing outer boundary at the distance of seven leagues. This great boundary will remain until the stakes are pulled out. [A.7.a]
[11] “Oṁ, amogha maṇḍala! Secure the borders all around with lotuses and great lotuses! Dhuru dhuru, svāhā!
“This is the mantra for securing the maṇḍala. One should incant water and mustard seeds with it one hundred and eight times and sprinkle the entire maṇḍala, including above and below. [Ti.28] This will secure a great outer maṇḍala. No vighnas, vināyakas, yakṣas, rākṣasas, bhūtas, or piśācas will be able to cross it. All the wicked beings there are, such as wicked gods or nāgas, will be prevented from coming. All worldly or unwholesome activities, defective mantras, and the vile acts of wicked beings will be completely eradicated.
[12] “Oṁ, amogha purity! Purify the entire area! Dhiri dhiri! O pure being! O great lotus! Hūṁ!
“The vidyā holder should use this mantra to incant, one thousand and eight times, water prepared with the five products of the cow, and then sprinkle the entire area, whether it is a monastery, a forest hermitage, a secret cave, a hidden place in a thicket, a walking area, a grove, a tended garden, a pleasure grove, a residence, a shelter, or a house. All swamps and cesspools, whether filled on not, will be cleared of any bhūtas, piśācas, pretas, and so forth who feed on refuse, as well as any savages. They will be expelled, and the area will become pure.
“If the vidyā holder sprinkles himself with the same water, he will be free from problems such as indigestion, eating disorders, or the evil eye. Unhealthy residences and dwelling places will become pure. Those who are dirty will become clean, the impure will become pure, the sexually incontinent will become continent, and those who do not fast will begin to do so. All the deities will stand by to guard, protect, and defend the vidyā holder. Īśvara, Maheśvara, Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheśvara, Yama, Varuṇa, Kubera, and so forth will remain attentive in guarding, protecting, and defending him. He will be loved and venerated by the entire world, and his speech will be treated as command. All his diseases will clear up, and he will be freed from his nonvirtue, obscurations, wrongdoings, and so forth.
“If the vidyā holder sprinkles all four quarters, all quarrels, disputes, fights, disagreements, famines, and pestilence—all such misfortunes, calamities, and troubles—will be completely pacified. If he sprinkles himself or sips the water every day, he will obtain great success in the rites involving vidyās, mudrās, and maṇḍalas. He will obtain great amogha accomplishment. Wherever he goes, he will be honored and his progress never obstructed. Every night he will have splendorous dream-visions of great places and many extraordinary things.
“The vidyā holder will obtain great boons on all occasions. All monks, brahmins, kṣatriyas, householders, kings, ministers, royal harems, and attendants will fall under his thrall. Always maintaining perfectly pure conduct, he will be greatly venerated. [Ti.29] He will be able to see Noble Avalokiteśvara any time, whenever he wishes, and will obtain all the most desirable boons. In his sleep he will perceive the Tathāgata Amitābha, [A.7.b] the worthy, fully realized Buddha. When he dies, he will be reborn in the world system of Sukhāvatī.
[13] “Oṁ, flow within the lotus, flow! Remain, remain! O great amogha samaya! Svāhā!
“This is the mantra of the secret great samaya.
[14] “Oṁ, great lotus, amogha-expand! May he enter! Act, act, svāhā!
“This is the mantra of entry.
[15] “Oṁ, amogha-settle within the circumference of the great lotus, hūṁ!
“This is the mantra of the disciple.
[16] “Oṁ, amogha lotus in the topknot! Turu turu! Remain in the vajra knot, svāhā!
“This is the mantra for binding the topknot. It should be recited twenty-one times.
[17] “Oṁ, toss the lotus water of Amogha! Bhiri bhiri, hūṃ!
“This is the mantra for tossing the water. It should be recited twenty-one times.
[18] “Oṁ, amogha deformed water-container on a lotus seat! Full of water! Act, act, hūṁ!
“This is the mantra for the water pitcher. It should be recited one hundred and eight times.
[19] “Oṁ, amogha purity within the expanse of the lotus! Carry, carry, svāhā!
“This is the mantra for containing water. It should be recited twenty-one times.
[20] “Oṁ, amogha lotus, the auspicious pure lotus that brings fulfillment! Viri viri, svāhā!
“This is the mantra for the hands. One should incant both hands with it one thousand and eight times and commence whatever activities need to be accomplished that involve maṇḍala, mantra, and mudrā procedures. This procedure will make all practices successful, and it should always be included in all rites.
[21] “Oṁ, amogha purity that purifies the tip of the tongue! Tender as lotus, please purify the tongue! Keep it so, keep! Auspicious purity, svāhā!
“This is the mantra for purifying the tongue. The vidyā holder should incant perfumed water with it one thousand and eight times and rinse the front of his mouth. It will remove all impurities from the tongue, which will then become delicate like the petal of a pink or red lotus. Similarly, it will purify the teeth, the palate, and the throat.
[22] “Oṁ, fragrant Amogha! Suru suru, prabhuru! Divine fragrance with the glow of a lotus! Svāhā!
“With this mantra, the vidyā holder should prepare a fragrant pill to be kept at the front of the mouth. He should grind sandalwood, nalada, fenugreek, water lily, saffron, and musk into a fine powder and, [Ti.30] adding honey, make a pill the size of an eyeball. Reciting the above mantra with full voice, he should place the pill in a copper container, place the container in the mouth, and keep it there until he completes one thousand and eight recitations. After a while, the pleasant fragrance of a water lily will continually issue forth from his mouth for hundreds of yards. There is no doubt about this.
“All the tathāgatas and bodhisattvas will rejoice, and Noble Avalokiteśvara, the boon-granting lord, will be extremely pleased. [B2] This supreme vidyā of Amoghapāśa will be easily accomplished through recitation. The vidyā holder who recites it will always be free from bad odor, bile, phlegm, and nasal mucous, which will all be swiftly cleared away, and divine fragrance will issue forth from his mouth. Whomever he targets with this formula will quickly be enthralled. All the gods including Śacī’s husband Indra, Yama, Varuṇa, Kubera, Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheśvara, the Four Guardians of the World, Candra, and Sūrya will remain in his thrall.
“If the vidyā holder keeps this pill in his mouth, Sarasvatī will dwell at the tip of his tongue. His words will become clear, and his voice will be like that of kinnaras. He will always be free from dirt and blemish, and he will be able to memorize one thousand verses after the first recitation. [A.8.a] If he utters the syllable hūṁ, all the deities will arrive, including those who dwell within the maṇḍala. With the syllable phaṭ, all the wicked vighnas and vināyakas will perish, and all yakṣas, rākṣasas, pretas, apasmāras, bhūtas, and guhyakas will immediately flee and fall with their faces down. If he holds the pill in his mouth, he will be a scholar at all times. He will swiftly obtain all accomplishments, including long life. While carrying the pill in this way, his speech will be endearing, sweet, and soft. The magical accomplishment of this pill is called the lotus-like amogha purity.
[23] “Oṁ, free from impurities in the inner space of the lotus! Roam through and merge with the sky, hūṁ! Amogha-accomplished! Purify, hūṁ!
“The vidyā holder should take some bark of nāgapuṣpa, the root of khas-khas, sandalwood, lotus filaments, cloves, the kākolaka plant, spikenard, tagara powder, saffron, white lotus root, and cardamom and mix them together with an equal amount of ugrasugandhi. He should grind all this into a fine powder, make it into a pill, and incant the pill with this mantra one thousand and eight times. He should then wash the pill well and mix it with rainwater. [Ti.31] By simply heating up and then bathing in this water, he will be released from previously accumulated terrible karma, remove all diseases, and effectively destroy all ailments. He will be freed from terrible afflictions, desire, hatred, and the darkness of ignorance; they will be removed. All impurities will be pacified by merely bathing; there is no doubt. Divine splendor will shine forth, and his store of merit will increase. The vidyā holder will always glow with an abundance of vital energy, a radiance resembling the sun. His body will be radiant and pure.
“An unclean vidyā holder will become clean; an impure one, pure. One who is sexually incontinent will become continent, and one who breaks one’s vow of silence will restore it. The vidyā holder’s hair will never turn grey, and he will never fall ill. His body will emit a divine fragrance that will precede him by the length of an arrow; there is no doubt. The body will emit a divine fragrance of sandalwood and will be as lovely as lotuses or water lilies. He will always fall asleep with ease and wake up with ease. No wicked beings such as yakṣas, rākṣasas, bhūtas, asuras, miscreant vināyakas, and vighnas will be able to harm him. There will be no dread of enemies.
“The vidyā holder should therefore purify his body in this way and perform the recitation well, as this will accomplish the activities. The vidyā holder will accomplish them with ease and will be able to see the truth exactly as it is. All the tathāgatas and bodhisattvas will swiftly arrive, as will all the deities, including those that inhabit the maṇḍala. The vidyā holder will accomplish whatever he desires. Having thus completed the procedure for the purification of the body, he should commence the preliminary mantra practices.
[24] “Oṁ, you with amogha lotus eyes and divine vision, completely pure! Suru suru! O lotus-eyed one, bhuru bhuru! You direct your gaze everywhere! Svāhā!
“The vidyā holder should prepare realgar, bovine bezoar, bones of cuttle fish, lotus, and honey into a mixture that can be applied with an eye brush. He should incant them by reciting this mantra one thousand and eight times, thrice. The tathāgatas praise this eye ointment as divine. It is the lord of the world [A.8.b] and the auspicious granter of boons. With it, the vidyā holder will pacify all eye diseases. He will experience divine visions in his dreams, he will never see unpleasant sights or anything ugly, and his vision will never be distorted. He will never see cruel murderers or savages. All spirits that cause dyspepsia, [Ti.32] overeating, indigestion, eating disorders, or unhealthy complexion, and all yakṣas, rākṣasas, and pannagas, will stay away all day and night; there is no doubt. One will perceive what is auspicious with one’s physical eyes and will dream auspicious dreams. Within one month of practice, one will obtain the divine eye. This mantra is for the purification of the eyes.
[25] “Oṁ, wake up, wake up! Wake up lucidly, facing Padmāmogha! Choose, choose any boon! Svāhā!
“The vidyā holder should incant bovine bezoar one thousand and eight times with this vidyā, twenty-one times with the Amogharāja, seven times with the Krodharāja, and one hundred and eight times each with the heart and auxiliary heart mantras of Amoghapāśa. When still reciting, he should take the bezoar and make a single bindi mark on the forehead between the eyebrows. Above it on the forehead he should make another bindi in the form of a star. All wicked beings will come under his control, and all yakṣas, bhūtas, rākṣasas, vighnas, and vināyakas will perish; there is no doubt. Unable to bear the power of the bindi, all these beings with evil intentions will disappear together. Like a moth to a flame, kings will fall under the control of the vidyā holder, along with their attendants, retinues, ministers, priests, and harems. They will all remain in his thrall. Also, all ordained monks, brahmins, kṣatriyas, and śūdras will come under his control, and he will be greatly revered. All the vidyā deities, including those who dwell within the maṇḍala, will abide by their samayas and, guarding the ten directions, will protect beings. They will grant the supreme accomplishment.
“The vidyā holder should apply this bindi when imperiled on merchant trips. All dangers will disappear—there is no doubt—as will all thieves, robbers, mercenaries, skirmishes, and fights. All ferocious and frightening lions, tigers, wolves, elephants, jackals, and other troublesome creatures, as well as all snakes, such as āśīviṣa snakes and vipers, and other venomous creatures, will hide and not appear again. Lightning, fires, downpours, danger from weapons, floods, kākhordas, and house collapses will all pass without causing harm to one’s body, if one wears the bindi. All the undertakings and endeavors of the vidyā holder will be accomplished auspiciously and in full; there is no doubt.
“As soon as the vidyā holder remembers the essence of Amogharāja, I will, O Blessed One, immediately appear before him [Ti.33] and fulfill all his hopes and wishes, grant all the boons previously described, and accomplish all his activities. I will grant him the amogha accomplishment and faithfully protect the samaya. I have been authorized to do this, O Blessed One, by the Tathāgata’s words and blessings. I will deliver all this. [A.9.a]
“If, O Blessed One, the vidyā holder performs the ritual practices as described, and displays the dhiṇi mudrās, he will, because of the way the mudrās function, accumulate a lot of merit. He will be blessed by all bodhisattvas, who will prophesy his future awakening. He will be protected by all deities, be worshiped as unique by the entire world, and become the one and only teacher of every living being. He will obtain the samaya for all rites and for their maṇḍalas and mudrās. Furthermore, he will obtain long life and amogha accomplishments. His words will be heeded, and he will develop good memory, intelligence, and fearlessness. The power of his intellect will be invincible.
“Noble Avalokiteśvara will confer boons upon the vidyā holder—he will appear to him whenever wished for and grant boons generously. He will grant him victory in every way, so that the vidyā holder will always be victorious over all his enemies, opponents, and adversaries and over all wicked beings. He will be invisible to all yakṣas, rākṣasas, bhūtas, piśācas, vighnas, vināyakas, asuras, and nāgas. He will become fearless like all noble ones. All kings and royal ministers with their harems and retinues will come under his control. He will be universally idolized and be treated as everyone’s favorite teacher. He will live a long life free of disease and all the impurities of hatred, envy, and jealousy. His memory will be excellent and his body pure.
“At the time of death, he will really see the tathāgatas. Noble Avalokiteśvara will also appear to him. They will all comfort him, saying, ‘Come son, follow us to the realm of Sukhāvatī!’ He will thus die fully aware of where he is going. The gates of all the hells will be closed, he will be saved from all unhappy destinies, and his current birth will be his last. He will have complete recall of his successive past births. [Ti.34] Wherever he steps, a lotus will spring up under his shoe. He will pass from one buddha field to another until he reaches ultimate and final awakening. [Ti.35]
“However, if someone has failed to accomplish the practices of a vidyā holder, it is not me who will be at fault. For this reason, as a vidyā holder, one should engage in the formal practice that involves the mantra and the mudrā according to the ritual procedure as described. One will then magically accomplish all one’s tasks; there is no doubt about this.
“One should repeat the following mantras:
[26] “Oṁ, holder of the amogha treasury! Unfold, expand, hūṁ!
“This is the mantra of the sacred thread. One should incant a thread spun by a young girl with this mantra one hundred and eight times and wind it around one’s neck three times.
[27] “Oṁ, amogha garments! Muru muri! Become divinely soft! Tara tara, svāhā!
“This is the mantra for the garments; it should be recited twenty-one times.
[28] “Oṁ, amogha clothes! I cast off clothes within the lotus that brings awakening, svāhā!
“This is the mantra for casting off clothes; it should be recited twenty-one times.
[29] “Oṁ, collecting the rainwater, you flow along the amogha banks! Consecrate! Hūṁ!
“This is the mantra for bathing; it should be recited twenty-one times.
[30] “Oṁ, amogha lotus seat of nectar, raining down! Curu curu, svāhā!
“This is the mantra for ablutions; it should be recited twenty-one times.
[31] “Oṁ, amogha protection! Take effect, do!
“The vidyā holder should perform the protection of his body by sprinkling it with mustard water incanted twenty-one times.
[32] “Oṁ, amogha samaya! Remain within the great lotus, hūṃ!
“This is the samaya mantra; it should be repeated seven times.
[33] “Oṁ, you who never fail in any way! Remain and protect, hūṁ!
“One should perform the protection of disciples and assistants by marking a bindi on their forehead with ashes incanted with this mantra seven times.
[34] “Oṁ, you who overstep the three worlds with amogha lotus steps! Mili mili, svāhā!
“This is the mantra for positioning the feet in a stride; it should be recited twenty-one times.
[35] “Oṁ, unfold within the lotus, the great lotus! Surround everything with the unfailing noose! Huru huru, svāhā!
“One should incant a five-colored thread seven times with this mantra and wind the thread.
[36] “Oṁ, bright multicolored amogha cloth! Effect purification! kiṇi kiṇi, [A.10.a] hūṁ!
“This is the mantra for the banner; it should be recited seven times.
[37] “Oṁ, diamond-tipped amogha arrow! [Ti.36] Thara thara, svāhā!
“This is the mantra for the arrow; it should be recited seven times.
[38] “Oṁ, the great, completely pure, broad amogha gate! Siri siri, svāhā!
“This is the mantra for the gate; it should be recited twenty-one times. By merely passing through this gate, one enters the gate of heaven. All wrongdoings and obscurations become completely purified.
[39] “Oṁ, you are filled and surrounded with various splendid amogha flowers and fruits! Para para, hūṁ!
“This is the mantra for the full jar; it should be recited seven times.
[40] “Oṁ, jewel amogha palace, consecrated with the sacrificial vessel, you are divinely fragrant and radiating light everywhere! Shine, shine, svāhā!
“This is the mantra for the sacrificial incense vessel; it should be recited seven times.