Toh 514The Noble Discourse of the Dhāraṇī of the Buddha’s Essence

Summary

The Discourse of the Dhāraṇī of the Buddha’s Essence is a short work in which the Buddha Śākyamuni, addressing an immense gathering of
bodhisattvas, teaches two dhāraṇīs to be recited as a complement to the practice of recollecting the Buddha, and then explains the beneficial results of reciting them. The
significance of the teaching is marked by miraculous signs, and by the gods offering flowers and ornaments. The text also provides a set of correspondences between the eight
ornaments offered by the gods and eight qualities that ornament bodhisattvas.

Acknowledgements

Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the supervision of Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche. The translation was produced by Adam Krug and then checked against the
Tibetan and edited by Ryan Damron.

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

Introduction

The Discourse of the Dhāraṇī of the Buddha’s Essence
opens with the Buddha and an immense assembly of bodhisattvas
gathered in a hermitage in the celestial realm Universal Radiance. The Buddha begins by telling the assembly that The Discourse of the Dhāraṇī of the
Buddha’s Essence has been taught by all the buddhas of the past, and then outlines the various benefits that accrue to a person reciting it. He pronounces two
dhāraṇīs, causing the whole earth and its oceans to tremble and inciting panic in Māra’s realm. The gods then offer flowers and ornaments.

Before the narrative concludes, the text lists a set of correspondences between the eight ornaments offered by the gods and eight qualities that are the ornaments of
bodhisattvas. The eight ornaments and their related qualities are as follows:

1. Short necklace (not forgetting bodhicitta)

2. Long necklace (investigation of all one has studied)

3. Perfumes (dependent origination)

4. Scented powders (knowing those who are of supreme acumen and those who are not)

5. Ointments (correctly discerning and analyzing the teachings as one has heard them and as one has understood them)

6. Clothing (non-apprehension of phenomena in order to bring all beings to ultimate fruition)

7. Jewelry (skill in methods due to the Buddha’s blessing)

8. Armlets (obtaining dhāraṇīs)

The text then concludes with instructions to recite this dhāraṇī while performing the practice of recollecting the Buddha, and mentions further benefits that will be
attained by anyone practicing in that way.

The translators’ colophon notes that this text was translated by the Indian preceptors Jinamitra and Dānaśīla along with the Tibetan translator Bandé Yeshé Dé (c. eighth
century). The text appears in the Phangthangma royal Tibetan catalogue of translated works among the collection of various dhāraṇī. In the
Denkarma inventory’s list of dhāraṇī, there are two texts entitled The Buddha’s Essence (’phags pa sangs rgyas kyi snying
po), and while neither
of them matches the full title of the present work, the first mention is the more likely to correspond to it judging by the recorded length of the text (fifty-five ślokas); the
second record (thirty-eight ślokas) probably corresponds to another, slightly shorter text with a similar title,
The Dhāraṇī of the Buddha’s Essence
(’phags pa sangs rgyas kyi snying po
zhes bya ba’i gzungs, Toh 515, 855). The two texts appear alongside each other in the Degé Kangyur both in The Tantra Collection (rgyud
’bum) and in The Compendium of Dhāraṇīs (gzungs ’dus). The two dhāraṇī mantras in this text are included in Butön’s Collection of Dhāraṇī of the Four Classes of Secret Mantra (gsang sngags rgyud sde bzhi’i gzungs ’bum).

The text was translated into Chinese in 650 ce by Xuanzang (Taishō 918), and again in the
late tenth century by Fatian (Taishō 919).

This translation is primarily based on the Tibetan translations of the text from the Tantra Collection and the Compendium of Dhāraṇīs in the Degé Kangyur in conjunction with the text as it appears in the Stok Palace Kangyur and the Comparative
Edition (dpe bsdur ma).

The Translation

The Noble Discourse of the Dhāraṇī

The Buddha’s Essence

Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was residing and teaching the Dharma within the palace called Universal Radiance—a secluded Dharma hermitage with a courtyard
arrayed with jewels that is the home of the thus-gone ones, a place where gnosis is perfectly analyzed, a place blessed by the buddhas of the past and praised by all beings, an
abode of the great bodhisattvas, a place endowed with the best of all
aspects
and in harmony with the sameness of all phenomena. He was surrounded and venerated by billions of bodhisattvas, all of whom had been prophesied to become buddhas, had assembled
from their separate world systems, were the heirs of the thus-gone ones who are the kings of the Dharma, and
had attained the various dhāraṇīs and absorptions.

The Blessed One addressed the great assembly of bodhisattvas, saying, “Sons of the lineage, The Discourse of the Dhāraṇī of the Buddha’s
Essence has been taught by as many thus-gone, worthy, perfect complete buddhas as there are sands in the river Ganges in order to benefit many beings, to bring
happiness to many beings, to express sincere love for the world, and to benefit, help, and bring happiness to the great multitude of gods and humans.
If sons or daughters of the lineage receive this Discourse of the Dhāraṇī of the
Buddha’s Essence, bear it in mind, recite it, master it, teach it correctly and
extensively to others, have faith in it, or generate exceptional devotion toward it, their progress toward unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening will never be reversed. They
will never part from holding all the teachings. They will never part company with the blessed buddhas. They will never part from seeing and serving the Thus-Gone One. They will
never part from listening to the Dharma. They will never part from honoring the saṅgha. They will demolish the ocean of saṃsāra for a thousand eons. They will remember the
successive lives they pass until they become buddhas who have completely manifested unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening. They will quickly become buddhas who have
completely manifested unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening. All the hordes of spirit beings will protect them. All human and nonhuman beings such as gods, nāgas, yakṣas,
gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas will be fond of them. Their bodies will not be afflicted by illness. They will not die because of harm done by others. They
will not die because of renouncing violence, spurning weapons, or neutralizing poisons. They will be impregnable to the evil Māra, invulnerable to the deities of Māra’s horde.
They will need only to direct their attention to the deities of Māra’s horde for them all to tremble, panic in fear, and scatter in the ten directions.

“These are the Buddha’s words, the Buddha’s great words, the great words that were given by the Buddha,
the words of all buddhas, the words of all the thus-gone ones:

tadyathā buddhe subuddhe mahābuddhe iha buddhe tatra buddhe buddhe buddhe
buddhamati buddhe sarvabuddhānumati sarvabuddhānujñāna te buddha buddha buddha buddha
buddha buddha buddha buddha buddha buddha

“Although the objects that the Buddha perceives and the Dharma that he has taught are infinite, the simplified instruction is that one should focus the mind on a single
thing.

“The following dhāraṇī has been taught by all the buddhas out of their sincere love for all beings. It is the seal of all qualities:

tadyathā śuddhe suśuddhe suśuddhe śodhani saṁśodhani saṁśodhani nirmale malāpagate gate
samatikranti krame samasare sarāsaraparyāśoke
viśoka śokaśamani śānte upaśānte praśānte avabhāse sarvapunye parimaṇḍite sarvadharmapratimaṇḍite
hara hara mala hara cara cara saṁcara cala cala saṁcala tala tala matala samatala riṇe riṇe suriṇe samariṇe riṇamatilokadhare lokadhariṇe dhara dhara ḍara ḍara rodha
rodha mahāvijaya vāhini hana hana sarvabuddhe hriphreṣi trasi sarvajñāpathe sarvajñāpāramite mahāpratibhānasaṃpanne samantāloke buddhe viṣaye
buddhapratimaṇḍite bhagavate sara sara prasara prasara visara visara prasara sarvaśokāpagate svāhā.”

As soon as the Blessed One had spoken this Discourse of the Dhāraṇī of the Buddha’s Essence, the mountains, the surrounding areas, and the
forests shook in the following six ways: the whole trichiliocosm shook, shook violently, and shook all over. The great ocean trembled, trembled violently, and trembled all
over. The supreme king of mountains trembled
and quaked. The entire abode of Māra was terrified, and all of the deities of Māra’s horde and the
wicked Māras were extremely distressed and miserable.

The beings who witnessed the great earth quaking prostrated to the thus-gone, arhat, perfect and complete buddha and recited the phrase “I prostrate to the thus-gone,
arhat, perfect and complete buddha” three times. The gods that had genuine faith in the Buddha
showered the Blessed One with divine mandārava flowers and great mandārava flowers, and by showering him with flowers brought joy to all who sought refuge in the Buddha. And
thus it was said that:

“When the lion of the Śākya clan,

The perfect, complete buddha and our refuge,

Spoke these two dhāraṇīs

Of the Buddha’s essence,

“The earth shook in six ways,

The ocean trembled, all of Māra’s realm

Shook violently, and the deities of Māra’s horde

Panicked and trembled.

“While the māras were overcome with sorrow and misery,

The gods witnessed this miracle

And rained mandārava flowers from the sky

As an offering to the world protector.

“Others who had true faith in the Buddha

Made offerings of short and long necklaces,

Perfumes, scented powders, ointments,

Clothing, jewelry, and armlets.

“These eight offerings became the ornaments of the beneficial advantages of their good qualities. The eight are as follows: (1) the ornament of not forgetting
bodhicitta; (2) the ornament of insatiable investigation of all one has studied; (3) the ornament of dependent origination, the definitive understanding of the profound Dharma;
(4) the ornament of knowing
those who are of supreme acumen and those who are not; (5) the ornament of correctly discerning and
analyzing the teachings as one has heard them and as one has understood them; (6) the ornament of
the non-apprehension of phenomena in order to bring all beings to ultimate fruition; (7) the ornament of skill in methods due to the Buddha’s blessing; and (8) the ornament of
obtaining dhāraṇīs. Those eight are the ornaments of the beneficial advantages of his good qualities.

“All beings should continually contemplate this dhāraṇī and meditate while recollecting the Buddha. If they contemplate the words of the dhāraṇī, all their karmic
obscurations will be purified, they will attain the meditative concentration called the lotus array, and they will be able to wash away all illnesses and
diseases with their hands. They should perform innumerable recitations of this dhāraṇī.”

When the Blessed One had spoken, the bodhisattva great beings, great śrāvakas, and the entire world with its gods, humans, asuras, and gandharvas praised the Blessed
One’s words.

This concludes the noble discourse of the dhāraṇī “The Buddha’s Essence.”

Colophon

Translated and edited by the Indian preceptors Jinamitra and Dānaśīla along with the chief editor and translator Bandé Yeshé Dé; later revised according to the new
language reform and then finalized.

Notes

Abbreviations

D
Degé Kangyur

S
Stok Palace Kangyur

Bibliography

Source Texts

Reference Works

Eighth-century Tibetan translator.