Toh 546The Noble Dhāraṇī “Mañjuśrī’s Sworn Oath”

Summary

Mañjuśrī’s Sworn Oath provides instruction in an incantatory practice focused on Mañjuśrī, in the form
of a vidyā that Mañjuśrī himself pronounces. The vidyā unfolds in a series of forceful imperatives suggestive of battle, conquest, and
celebration, and after enunciating it, Mañjuśrī explains that its recitation will lead to virtuosity in the memorization of scriptural
verses. The benefits of recitation are then enumerated in more detail, relative to the number of times it is recited and whether the
recitation is accompanied by ritual performance. As indicated by the title, Mañjuśrī then swears an oath to assure the vidyā’s efficacy,
pledging to take on the karmic burden of the five misdeeds with immediate retribution should its promised benefits fail to ensue.

Acknowledgements

Translated by David Mellins and Kaia Fischer, with Geshé Lobsang Dawa and Phakyab Rinpoche (Geshé Ngawang Sungrab), under the
auspices of the Tibetan Classics Translators Guild of New York. Introduction by David Mellins and Kaia Fischer. Special thanks to Paul
Hackett for generously sharing his bibliographic expertise and resources. This translation would not have been possible without the kind and
dedicated tutelage of Gen Lozang Jamspal, Executive Director, Tibetan Classics Translators Guild of New York.

The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.

Introduction

Mañjuśrī’s Sworn Oath is the second of six short dhāraṇī scriptures (Toh 545–550) gathered together
within the Tantra section of the Degé Kangyur that provide instruction in incantatory practices that feature the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī.
Five of these scriptures (Toh 547 omitted) also appear in the Dhāraṇī section of the Degé Kangyur as Toh 892–896.

The scripture begins with a salutation to the Three Jewels and to Mañjuśrī under the epithet “Gentle Protector.” It then
presents a narrative of the dhāraṇī’s revelation: Mañjuśrī bows to the Blessed One and suggests that the sublime vidyā be spoken. The
Blessed One and the assembled retinue agree and request Mañjuśrī to speak it. Mañjuśrī bows to “all dharmas, the essence of all buddhas”
and, having qualified that his recitation is empowered by the Blessed One himself, commences the vidyā. In form and content, this
petition resembles framing narratives found in The Root Manual of the Rites of Mañjuśrī (Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa), which likewise preface Mañjuśrī’s recitation and instruction of various vidyās,
mantras, and associated rites.

The vidyā itself begins with salutations to the tathāgatas and to Mañjuśrī himself, even as the vidyā is spoken by Mañjuśrī, and
then unfolds in a series of forceful imperatives suggestive of battle, conquest, and celebration. After his utterance of the vidyā,
Mañjuśrī explains that its recitation will lead to virtuosity in the memorization of scriptural verses. The benefits of recitation are
then enumerated in more detail relative to the number of recitations and whether the recitation is supported by ritual performance.

The Dhāraṇī “Tārā’s Own Promise,”
all of which include
the Tibetan term dam bcas pa in their titles. A more complete expression of this vow
also appears in a handful of Sanskrit practice manuals in the Sādhanamālā. Bhattacharyya 1968, pp. 47–48, 52, 54. The statement can be found in two works with the title Siṃhanādasādhana (sādhana nos. 17 and 21) and the Siṃhanādadhāraṇī
(no. 23). An example of this statement from the Siṃhanādadhāraṇī reads, “If this is not
accomplished after seven, thirteen, or twenty-one days, even for one who has committed the five misdeeds with immediate retribution,
I myself will be one who has committed the five misdeeds with immediate retribution” (yadi
saptame divase trayodaśe divase ekaviṃśatitame vā divase pañcānantaryakāriṇo ’pi na sidhyaty ayaṃ tadā ’ham eva
pañcānantaryakārī bhaviṣyāmi).

The Oath Sworn by Mañjuśrī bears no Sanskrit title, and no Sanskrit version of the text is to our
knowledge extant. It also appears that the text was never translated into Chinese. The Tibetan translation lacks a colophon, so we have
no information about the history of its transmission or the identity of its translators. Its absence from the Denkarma and Phangthangma
imperial catalogs Three of the six texts in this series (Toh 545, Toh 548, and Toh 549)
are listed in the Denkarma and Phangthangma catalogs, while three (Toh 546, Toh 547, and Toh 550) are not. suggests that it
was translated into Tibetan later than the beginning of the ninth century ce
The Denkarma catalog is usually dated to ca. 812 ce. but earlier than
the flourishing of the scholar Butön Rinchen Drup (1290–1364), who listed the titles of all six dhāraṇī scriptures in this collection in
his History of Buddhism.
Butön Rinchen Drup (bu ston rin chen grub), chos ’byung, folio 172.a/p.
975.

This English translation is based on the two versions in the Degé Kangyur, one in the Tantra section (Toh 546) and the other in
the Dhāraṇī section (Toh 893),

This text, Toh 893, and all those contained in this same volume (gzungs ’dus,
e), are listed as being located in volume 100 of the Degé Kangyur by the Buddhist Digital Resource Center (BDRC).
However, several other Kangyur databases—including the eKangyur that supplies the digital input version displayed by the 84000
Reading Room—list this work as being located in volume 101. This discrepancy is partly due to the fact that the two volumes of
the gzungs ’dus section are an added supplement not mentioned in the original catalog, and
also hinges on the fact that the compilers of the Tōhoku catalog placed another text—which forms a whole, very large volume—the
Vimalaprabhānāmakālacakratantraṭīkā (dus ’khor ’grel bshad
dri med ’od, Toh 845), before the volume 100 of the Degé Kangyur, numbering it as vol. 100, although it is almost
certainly intended to come right at the end of the Degé Kangyur texts as volume 102; indeed its final fifth chapter is often
carried over and wrapped in the same volume as the Kangyur dkar chags (catalog). Please
note this discrepancy when using the eKangyur viewer in this translation.

Note that there is a discrepancy among various databases for cataloging the Toh 893 version of this text within vol.
100 or 101 of the Degé Kangyur. See Toh 893,

, for details.

in consultation with the variant readings recorded in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma)
and with the Stok Palace Kangyur. Where divergences may point to a plausible or significant alternative reading, they appear in the
notes.

The Translation

The Noble Dhāraṇī

Mañjuśrī’s Sworn Oath

Homage to the Three Jewels!

Homage to the Gentle Protector!

Thereupon Mañjuśrī the ever youthful rose from his seat, draped his upper garment over one shoulder, and knelt down on his right
knee, and bowing toward the Blessed One with palms joined, he lowered his head to the Blessed One’s feet and enjoined the Blessed One
thus:

“Blessed One, I have seen the vidyā—how wonderful if this sublime vidyā were to be spoken!”

The entire retinue applauded the bodhisattva mahāsattva Mañjuśrī, “Very good, Mañjuśrī, very good indeed. O Mañjuśrī, speak the
vidyā!”

“It is by means of the Blessed One’s speech that I shall do so,” he said. Then the bodhisattva mahāsattva Mañjuśrī bowed to all
dharmas, the essence of all buddhas, Or perhaps “the entire Dharma, which is in essence
all the buddhas.” and spoke the vidyā:

namaḥ sarvatathāgatebhyo | namo mañjuśriye bodhisattvāya || oṁ mañjuvara mañjughoṣa hana
hana | paca paca | mata mata | matha matha | vidhvaṃsaya vidhvaṃsaya | kara kara | truṭa truṭa | bhañja bhañja | āviśa āviśa | tuṭa
tuṭa | truṭa truṭa | sphuṭa sphuṭa | hṛdayabandhani namaḥ sambodhani praveśa praveśa | lota lota | kṛta kṛta | krida krida | krīḍa
krīḍa Toh 846 reads kṛta kṛta krida krida krīṭa
krīṭa. Toh 893 reads krida krida kṛta kṛta, exchanging the order
of these combinations and omitting krīṭa krīṭa. | hasa hasa | prabandha prabandha | āviśa āviśa | hūṁ hūṁ hūṁ | phaṭ phaṭ phaṭ
svāhā ||
Provisional translation: “Homage to all the tathāgatas, homage to
the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī! Oṁ, Mañjuvara Mañjughoṣa, strike, strike, cook, cook, mata mata, churn, churn, crush, crush, act, act, split, split, break, break, possess, possess,
tuṭa tuṭa, split, split, burst, burst! O captivator of hearts, homage to you! You who cause
to understand, enter, enter, lota lota, cut, cut, krida
krida, play, play, laugh, laugh, tightly bind, bind, possess, possess, hūṁ hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ
phaṭ phaṭ, svāhā!”

“Those who recite this thrice at midnight, or alternatively seven times during the day, will acquire the great vidyā. Such
persons will be able to memorize three hundred ślokas.

“As for the associated ritual, having made a maṇḍala from sandalwood and offered lamps of clarified butter, if one recites the
vidyā eight thousand times, it will be accomplished. Even if it is not accomplished, one will memorize two hundred stanzas each day.

“O Blessed One, if what I have declared does not ensue even for someone who has committed the five misdeeds with immediate
retribution, then I, too, will have committed the five misdeeds with immediate retribution.”

This concludes the noble dhāraṇī “Mañjuśrī’s Sworn Oath.”

Notes

Bibliography

Tibetan Sources

Sanskrit Sources

Western Language Sources

An epithet used for the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī.

An epithet of Mañjuśrī.

This term may, according to context, refer to exoteric or esoteric knowledge, a goddess, her associated dhāraṇī, or some
combination of these. In the body of this scripture, the dhāraṇī is referred to as a vidyā. In tantric literature these two terms are frequently used interchangeably.

Literally a “disk” or “circle,” in the ritual context maṇḍala is a sacred space on the ground or a raised platform, arranged
according to a pattern that varies from rite to rite.

The five most negative actions. Upon death, those who have committed one or more of these immediately proceed to the hells
without first experiencing the intermediate state. They are (1) killing an arhat, (2) killing one’s mother, (3) killing
one’s father, (4) creating a schism in the saṅgha, and (5) maliciously drawing blood from a tathāgata’s body.

A type of stanza with four lines of eight syllables.