Toh 750The Dhāraṇī “Vajra Conqueror”

Summary

In this concise text, Vajrapāṇi, through the power and blessings of the Buddha and all bodhisattvas, proclaims a series of
powerful dhāraṇī-mantras. The text concludes with verses on the benefits of the dhāraṇī and a simple ablution ritual.

Acknowledgements

This text was translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the supervision of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche. It was
translated by Nicholas Schmidt with consultation from Kashinath Nyaupane and Ryan Damron. Andreas Doctor compared the translation
with the original Tibetan and edited the text. Wiesiek Mical subsequently provided editorial feedback.

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

Introduction

Vajra Conqueror
is a short dhāraṇī text with an illustrious
history in several different Buddhist communities. The text begins with a brief narrative introduction and a sweeping
statement on the qualities and function of the dhāraṇī. After a series of three dhāraṇī-mantras, the text concludes with ten
verses, which first extol the benefits of the practice and finally outline a concise purification ritual. In the narrative
introduction, set abstractly “in the vajra” (Skt. vajreṣu, Tib. rdo rje la), Vajrapāṇi, through the power of the Buddha Śākyamuni, reveals the
dhāraṇī. The elaborations on this narrative found in the Indic commentarial tradition inform us that the dhāraṇī was revealed
in order to cure the ailments afflicting King Ajātaśatru of Magadha after he had usurped the throne of his father, King
Bimbisāra, and terrorized the Gangetic basin with his martial adventurism.

The Sanskrit dhāraṇī is popular among Newar Buddhists in Nepal, where it is included in a set of daily dhāraṇī practices referred to collectively as the Saptavāra (Seven Days), of which the National Archives in Kathmandu today holds more than two
hundred Sanskrit witnesses.

The fourteenth-century Tibetan Chronicles of Padma (padma bka’
thang) mentions that the dhāraṇī was first translated into Tibetan during the imperial period and was included in
the Ten Royal Sūtras (Tib. rgyal po mdo bcu), the recitation of which was prescribed by
Padmasambhava to the Tibetan king Trisong Detsen (Tib. khri srong lde bstan,
755–97 ce) to prolong his life. It is also traditionally placed in a subset, the “Five Royal
Sūtras.” According to the colophon of the Tibetan translation, it was translated by the Indian
preceptors Jinamitra and Dānaśīla, along with the Tibetan translator Yeshé Dé. The dhāraṇī is also listed in the Denkarma
(Tib. ldan kar ma) catalog of 812 ce, which confirms its transmission to Tibet prior to that date. During the early period of Tibetan Buddhist
history, such luminaries as Padmasambhava, Vimalamitra, Buddhaguhya, and Smṛtijñānakīrti wrote commentaries on the
dhāraṇī. During the later diffusion of
Buddhism in Tibet (tenth to fourteenth century), many other commentaries on the dhāraṇī and its rituals were translated into
Tibetan. Since that time, it has remained important to all traditions of Tibetan Buddhism down to the
present day, mainly for its use as a dhāraṇī to purify and heal illnesses arising due to karmic obscurations. Major scholars
of all four schools have composed commentarial and practice literature on this dhāraṇī.

This translation is based on the Degé Kangyur xylograph, while the Comparative Edition (Tib. dpe bsdur ma) and Stok Palace Kangyurs were consulted to clarify problematic
readings. Within the Degé canon, the dhāraṇī is included twice: once in the Tantra section (Tib. rgyud, Toh 750), and once in the Dhāraṇī section (Tib. gzungs
’dus, Toh 949). The two
versions are generally equivalent, preserving the same translation colophon and very few variant readings. This translation is
also informed by the earliest and most extensive commentary, attributed to Buddhaguhya (Toh 2680), as well as the Sanskrit edition presented in Dhīḥ (2005).

The Sanskrit retained here was compiled by comparing the Sanskrit transliteration of the Degé edition (Toh 750) with
the two editions of the Sanskrit Vajra Conqueror dhāraṇī—those of Iwamoto (1937) and Dhīḥ (2005). Finally, we referred to a late Devanāgarī manuscript witness (NGMCP: E 1414/8). For
assistance in interpreting and translating the Sanskrit of the dhāraṇī-mantras, we have also consulted Ju Mipham’s (’ju mi pham, 1846–1912) synthesis of the commentarial traditions of Buddhaguhya,
Padmasambhava, Smṛtijñānakīrti, and Vimalamitra.

Following the Tibetan precedent of leaving the syllables of mantras (Skt. mantrapada) in transliteration and untranslated, we have reproduced the mantric syllables as they appear in the
Degé Tibetan version in the translation’s main body, while noting the variants found in the consulted Sanskrit editions. Note
that within Sanskrit editions, numerals following Sanskrit terms indicate a repetition of the last term. In the endnotes,
following the three constituent dhāraṇī-mantras, we have included an English interpretative translation of the Sanskrit
mantras as edited by Iwamoto.

The Translation

The Dhāraṇī

Vajra Conqueror

Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas!

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was abiding in the vajra. Through the power of the Buddha, Vajrapāṇi consecrated his entire body as vajra and entered the vajra
absorption. Then, through the power of the Buddha, the blessings of all buddhas, and the blessings of all bodhisattvas,
Vajrapāṇi proclaimed the vajra essence that emanated from vajra wrath. It is invulnerable, indivisible, indestructible, true, durable, stable, completely
indestructible, and completely invincible. It routs all beings, expels all beings, interrupts all spells, subdues all spells,
counters all activities, and routs all actions. It destroys all grahas, liberates all grahas, summons all bhūtas, and
annihilates all bhūtas. It enacts the activities
of all spells, accomplishes what has not been accomplished, and preserves what has been accomplished. It fulfills all desires
and protects all beings. It pacifies and enriches. It paralyzes all beings and stupefies all beings. Through the power of the
Buddha, Vajrapāṇi proclaimed this exceedingly powerful mantra:

“namo ratnatrayāya | namaś caṇḍavajrapāṇaye | mahāyakṣasenāpataye |
tadyathā | oṁ truṭa
truṭa  | troṭaya troṭaya | sphuṭa sphuṭa  | sphoṭaya sphoṭaya | ghūrṇa ghūrṇa  | ghūrṇapaya ghūrṇapaya  | sarvasatvāni | bodhaya bodhaya  | saṃbodhaya saṃbodhaya |   bhrama bhrama | saṃbhramaya saṃbhramaya  |
sarvabhūtāni kuṭa
kuṭa | saṃkuṭaya saṃkuṭaya | sarvaśatrūn ghaṭa ghaṭa | saṃghaṭaya saṃghaṭaya | sarvavidyā vajra vajra |
sphoṭaya vajra vajra | kaṭa vajra vajra | maṭa vajra vajra | matha vajra vajra | aṭṭahāsanīla
vajra  |
suvajrāya svāhā | he phullu  | niruphullu | nigṛhṇa kullu | mili cullu  | kurukullu  | vajravijayāya svāhā | kīli kīlāya svāhā  | kaṭa kaṭa | maṭa maṭa | raṭa raṭa |
moṭana pramoṭanāya svāhā | caranicara  | hara hara | sara sara māraya | vajravīdārāya svāhā | chinda chinda |
bhinda bhinda | mahākīlikīlāya svāhā | bandha bandha | krodha krodha | kīlikīlāya svāhā | curu curu caṇḍalakīli kīlāya svāhā | trāsaya trāsaya  | vajrakīli kīlāya | hara hara vajradharāya svāhā | prahara prahara | vajraprabhañjanāya svāhā |
matisthira vajra | śrutisthira vajra | pratisthira vajra |
mahāvajra | apratihata vajra | amogha vajra | ehi vajra  | śīghraṁ vajrāya
svāhā | dhara dhara dhiri dhiri dhuru dhuru
sarvavajrakulamāvartāya svāhā | amukam māraya phaṭ  | namas samantavajrānām  | sarvabalam āvartaya | mahābale | kaṭabale | tatale  | acale |
maṇḍalamāye  | ativajra | mahābale | vegaraṇa  | ajite | jvala jvala | ti
ṭi ti ṭi | piṅgale | daha daha  | tejovati | tili tili  | bandha bandha  | mahābale |
vajrāṃkuśajvālaya svāhā |

“
namo ratnatrayāya | namaś caṇḍavajrapāṇaye | mahāyakṣasenāpataye |
tadyathā | oṁ hara hara vajra | matha matha vajra  | dhuna dhuna vajra  | daha daha vajra | paca paca vajra  | dhara dhara vajra  | dhāraya dhāraya vajra  | dāruṇa dāruṇa vajra  | chinda chinda vajra  | bhinda bhinda vajra  | hūṁ phaṭ ||

“Purifying all negativity

And annihilating all suffering,

This, the root of all tantras,

Is well adorned by every kind of splendor.

“All beings with declining faculties,

Those whose longevity is diminished or weakened,

Those in poverty or beset with desire,

Those whom the deities have abandoned,

“Those who are at odds with their families,

Oppressed servants and slaves,

Parties in disagreement with each other,

Those harmed by loss of wealth,

“Those who are pained by weariness and grief,

Fearful and destitute people,

Those harmed by planets, constellations, curses,

And unbearable grahas,

“And even those who have nightmares

Born from their weariness and grief—

This will cleanse them completely;

All should listen to this sacred discourse.

“Those whose minds are virtuous and pure

And who are dressed in clean clothes

Should listen to this discourse—

The profound domain of the buddhas.

“Then, through the splendor of this discourse,

Even the most unbearable diseases

Of all living beings

Will be quelled.

“Beings’ lifespans and merit will increase,

And they will be liberated from all negativity.

Gather jewels, mustard seeds, doob grass,

Gems, flawless sandalwood,

“Crystals, diamonds, and flowers,

And use water to fill a vase of proper material,

Such as gold or silver,

And wrap it in clean cloth.

“After reciting the vajra conqueror

Twenty-one or one hundred and eight times,

A king should, in this way,

Always perform ablutions.

This concludes the dhāraṇī “Vajra Conqueror.”

Colophon

This text was translated, edited, and finalized by the Indian preceptors Jinamitra and Dānaśīla, along with the
Tibetan translator Bandé Yeshé Dé.

Notes

Abbreviations

*
Uncertain translation from Sanskrit.

((+))
Uncertain reading of manuscript.

Fx

rdo rje rnam par ’joms pa’i gzungs zhes bya
ba (Vajravidāraṇanāmadhāraṇī), Toh 750.

Fy

rdo rje rnam par ’joms pa’i gzungs zhes bya
ba (Vajravidāraṇanāmadhāraṇī), Toh 949.

E

Vajravidāraṇahṛdayamantradhāraṇī.
NGMCP: E 1414/8.

Ia

Dhāraṇī Sammulung
(Manuscript A), consulted in Iwamoto (1937).

Ib

Dhāraṇī Sammulung
(Manuscript B), consulted in Iwamoto (1937).

S
Stok Palace Kangyur.

Bibliography

Sanskrit Sources

Tibetan Sources

Secondary Sources

A prolific Tibetan translator active during the late eighth and early ninth centuries.

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