Toh 143The Two Stanza Dhāraṇī

Summary

The Two Stanza Dhāraṇī consists of two initial
verses that enumerate eight obscurations and their antidote—the Mahāyāna
teachings—followed by a dhāraṇī and three verses that list the ten beneficial results of
reciting the text.

Acknowledgements

This text was translated by the Pema Yeshé Dé Translation Team. Giuliano Proença
translated the text from Tibetan into English and prepared the introduction, the glossary,
and the notes.

The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000:
Translating the Words of the Buddha. Andreas Doctor edited the translation and the
introduction, and Dawn Collins copyedited the text. Martina Cotter was in charge of the
digital publication process.

Introduction

The Two Stanza Dhāraṇī consists of two initial
verses that enumerate eight obscurations and their antidote—the Mahāyāna
teachings—followed by a dhāraṇī and three verses that list the ten beneficial results of
its recitation.

The Sanskrit text of The Two Stanza Dhāraṇī is
extant in several manuscripts from Nepal. Two of these manuscripts have been edited by
Gergely Hidas in his editions of two dhāraṇī collections. Kazuo Kano has also published a critical edition of
the Sanskrit text of The Two Stanza Dhāraṇī, together with a translation into
Japanese. According to Kano, The Two Stanza Dhāraṇī has its
origin in verses XII.19–23 of the Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkārakārikā (Toh 4020) and originally consisted of
these verses without the dhāraṇī, which corresponds to the translations found at Dunhuang.
Its intermediate form with the dhāraṇī and five verses, as presented in the Kangyur, was
likely formed between the eleventh and the early fifteenth century, at least before the
publication of the Yongle Kangyur in 1410. According to Kano, its
developed form, as now extant in the Nepalese collections, reached Nepal between the
eleventh and fourteenth centuries. It integrated two verses from The Secrets of the Realized Ones (Toh 47) that are not found in any Tibetan version.

Kano concludes that The Two Stanza Dhāraṇī formed
part of a set of five texts used for recitation in India. These also included The Dhāraṇī of the
Six Gates (Toh 141, 526, 916),
The Single Stanza (Toh 323),
The Four Stanzas (Toh 324), and The Prayer of
Good Conduct (Toh 1095).
Initially, these five texts circulated individually but became popular in India as a set
by the time of Advayavajra or Ratnākaraśānti (eleventh century). Later, they were
incorporated in the dhāraṇī collections in Nepal.

The Degé Kangyur contains three recensions of The Two
Stanza Dhāraṇī, one in the General Sūtra section, one in the Tantra section,
and one in the Dhāraṇī section. Likewise, all other Kangyurs of the Tshalpa line include three recensions of
The Two Stanza Dhāraṇī. The Thempangma
Kangyurs classify The Two Stanza Dhāraṇī exclusively as a
tantra, with only one recension. In the Lhasa and Narthang Kangyurs, we find two
recensions of The Two Stanza Dhāraṇī in the Sūtra and
Tantra sections. The Phukdrak Kangyur contains three recensions, two in the Sūtra
section and one in the Tantra section. The first version in the Sūtra section (Phukdrak
142) is noteworthy because it comprises only the first two verses and the dhāraṇī. It is
then followed by another text, the Traigāthā (tshigs su bcad pa gsum pa, Phukdrak 143), which corresponds
to the last three stanzas of the usual recensions of The Two Stanza
Dhāraṇī.

The Two Stanza Dhāraṇī is also found among the
Dunhuang manuscripts. There exists one fragment and two complete manuscripts
with colophons. The two complete manuscripts are almost identical to the canonical Two Stanza Dhāraṇī, yet they omit the dhāraṇī and have a
different title: The Presentation of The Two Stanzas together with
Their Benefits. Though none of the versions in the Kangyur include a
translator’s colophon, both complete Dunhuang manuscripts state that Paltsek Rakṣita was
the translator and editor. If this attribution is correct, The Two
Stanza Dhāraṇī must have been translated at some point in the late eighth or
early ninth century when Paltsek Rakṣita was active as a translator.

The Tengyur includes a commentary on this text: An
Explanation of The Two Stanza Dhāraṇī (Toh 4002) by Sundaravyūha. The Tibetan scholar
Tāranātha (1575–1634) composed a commentary on The Two Stanza
Dhāraṇī as well as sequential commentaries on three of the other five texts in
the above-mentioned set, corroborating Kano’s view that these texts were seen as
related.

The importance of The Two Stanza Dhāraṇī and the
other texts in the set for recitation is evident, for in Tibet they are included in
extracts from sūtra and tantra (gces
btus), collected liturgical texts (chos spyod), collections of mantras and dhāraṇīs for recitation, and
collections of sādhanas. They are also sometimes mentioned as texts for recitation in
preliminary practices. The first complete modern translation of The
Two Stanza Dhāraṇī was published in 1883 by the French Orientalist Léon Feer
in his Extraits du Kandjour.

The main source of the present translation is the Tibetan text as found in the
Sūtra section of the Degé Kangyur (Toh 143) and Kano’s annotated Sanskrit edition. We
also consulted the versions found in the Tantra and Dhāraṇī sections of the Degé Kangyur
(Toh 611 and Toh 918, respectively), in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma), and in the Stok Palace and Phukdrak Kangyurs,
as well as the two complete Tibetan manuscripts from Dunhuang. The most significant
variants are mentioned in the notes. The transcription of the dhāraṇī was based on Degé
(Toh 143), with major variants from Kano’s Sanskrit edition and the two other versions
from the Degé recorded in the notes. A tentative English translation of the dhāraṇī is
provided in a note. On occasion, we consulted Sundaravyūha’s commentary
and Vasubandhu’s Sūtrālaṃkārabhāṣya (Toh 4026)
for clarification.

The Translation

The Two Stanza Dhāraṇī

Homage to
Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta.

Contempt toward the Buddha and the Dharma,

Laziness, contentment with small amounts,

Acting with desire and pride,

Regret, and parting due to being uncertain—

Such are beings’ obscurations.

The antidote is the teaching of the supreme vehicle

Through which all the faults

That cause hindrances are abandoned.

Whoever practices The Two Stanza Dhāraṇī,

With respect to either the words or the meaning,

Is a wise sublime being

Who will attain ten benefits—

Complete development of the elements,

Perfect joy at the moment of death,

Rebirth according to one’s wish,

Total recollection of former lives,

Meeting with buddhas,

Hearing the supreme vehicle from them,

Interest, along with intellect,

The two gates, and swift
awakening.

Thus ends “The Two Stanza Dhāraṇī.”

Notes

Bibliography

Source Texts

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