Toh 521The Noble “Essence of Dependent Arising”

Summary

This brief dhāraṇī text presents a translation and transliteration of the
well-known Sanskrit ye dharma formula, the essence of
the Buddha’s teachings on dependent arising. The text also describes several benefits of
reciting this dhāraṇī, including the purification of negative actions.

Acknowledgements

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

The text was translated, edited, and introduced by the 84000 translation team.
Bruno Galasek-Hul produced the translation and wrote the introduction. Ryan Damron edited
the translation and the introduction, and Ven. Konchog Norbu copyedited the text. Sameer
Dhingra was in charge of the digital publication process.

Introduction

The short dhāraṇī The Essence of Dependent Arising
presents a Tibetan translation and transliteration of the well-known ye dharma formula, which is considered the essence of
the Buddha Śākyamuni’s teachings on dependent arising. The dhāraṇī then concludes with
a statement of the specific benefits that accrue from its recitation: the purification
of all negative actions, the neutralization of adversity, and the multiplication of
offerings. As the formula is considered to contain the very essence of the Buddha’s
teaching and to represent the Buddha himself, the text states that any object
visualized while reciting the dhāraṇī will become either the body of the Buddha or a
stūpa.

This verse on the essence of dependent arising is closely associated with the
conversion of Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana to the Dharma. In the Vinaya of the
Mūlasarvāstivādins, Upatiṣya, the ascetic who would later be known as
Śāriputra, encounters the Buddha’s disciple Aśvajit, who summarizes for him the
essence of Buddha’s teaching with the ye dharma
verse. Upatiṣya gains deep insight into the Dharma through this formula, and
subsequently shares it with his fellow ascetic Kaulita, who later became known as
Maudgalyāyana. In the Pali canon, a version of this story of the transmission of the
ye dharma formula is found in the Mahāvagga of the Khandhaka section of the Vinaya. Here
again Śāriputra (Pali Sāriputta) and
Maudgalyāyana (Pali Moggallāna) hear the verse
from Aśvajit (Pali Assaji), who presents it as a
summary of his understanding of the Buddha’s teachings. Yet another version of the
story occurs in The Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī (Toh 138). In this
text, the essence of the Buddha’s teaching on dependent arising is verbalized in an
alternative, extended version of the ye dharma
formula. In
The Sūtra on Dependent Arising (Pratītyasamutpādasūtra, Toh 520), the verse was taught
by the Buddha himself in Heaven of the Thirty-Three to an audience of gods,
bodhisattvas, and śrāvakas, among whom was the great śrāvaka Aśvajit.

The ye dharma formula has evolved to
become a popular and widespread Buddhist dhāraṇī formula that is frequently used as an
auspicious and benedictory refrain appended to the end of texts, inscribed on votive
plaques and statues, and written down and deposited in caityas, stūpas, and other
structures throughout the Buddhist world.

The topic of dependent arising is explained at length in sūtras such as The Rice Seedling Sūtra (Śālistambhasūtra, Toh 210) and The Sūtra Teaching the Fundamental Exposition and Detailed Analysis
of Dependent Arising (Pratītyasamutpādādivibhaṅganirdeśasūtra, Toh 211), which
detail the twelve links of dependent arising. Additional presentations of the ye dharma verse as a dhāraṇī formula can be found in
works such as The Sūtra on Dependent Arising (Toh 520) and The Dhāraṇī Containing the Rite of the Essence of Dependent
Arising (Toh 519). These latter texts, and The Essence
of Dependent Arising (Toh 521) translated here, are categorized as Action
Tantras (kriyātantra, bya rgyud) in the Degé Kangyur, thus
underscoring the development of this famous verse into an esoteric, spell-like formula
that can bring material and spiritual benefits through its recitation.

Two virtually identical versions of The Essence of
Dependent Arising are found in the Degé Kangyur, one in the Tantra section
(rgyud sde, Toh 521) and the other in the
Dhāraṇī section (gzungs ’dus, Toh 981). It is likewise included in both the Tantra and Compendium of Dhāraṇīs sections
in the other Tshalpa Kangyurs that have a separate Dhāraṇī section, and is found in
the Tantra section of Tshalpa Kangyurs that do not contain a Dhāraṇī section. It is not
included in any of the Thempangma Kangyurs. It thus appears this text may have been
added to some Kangyurs specifically because it was included in the Compendium of
Dhāraṇīs, which may have been compiled on the basis of an earlier collection or
collections of dhāraṇīs and associated ritual texts. Since
both iterations of the text (Toh 521 and Toh 981) lack a translator colophon, we have
no information about who translated it and when. A Sanskrit source of The Essence of Dependent Arising does not seem to have
survived, and it has no Chinese translation.

English translations of The Essence of Dependent
Arising, along with The Sūtra on Dependent
Arising have been published in Peter Skilling’s anthology Questioning the Buddha. The
English translation presented here is based on the two Degé witnesses (Toh 521 and Toh
981) in consultation with the variant readings recorded in the Comparative Edition
(dpe sdur ma) and the Narthang Kangyur.

The Translation

The Noble

Essence of Dependent Arising

Homage to the blessed Buddha!

“The Tathāgata explained the cause

Of dharmas that arise from causes,

And he taught their cessation.

Thus the Great Śramaṇa has instructed.

ye dharmā hetuprabhavā hetuṃ teṣāṃ
tathāgato hy avadat | teṣāṃ ca yo nirodha evaṃvādī mahāśramaṇaḥ ||

By reciting this essence once, all negative actions will be purified and all
adverse conditions will be pacified and averted. Any object that one envisions while reciting it will become the body of the Buddha or a stūpa, and
any offering one envisions while reciting it will be offered as if they fill an entire
world realm.

The Essence of Dependent Arising is
complete.

Notes

Bibliography

Tibetan Sources

Modern Works