Toh 594Crown Victory of All Tathāgatas: The Uṣṇīṣavijayā Dhāraṇī with Its Ritual Manual

Summary

The Uṣṇīṣavijayā Dhāraṇī with Its Ritual Manual is a
short work in which the Buddha Amitāyus teaches the uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī along with its benefits and a number of short rites for
its recitation.

Acknowledgements

This text was translated by Catherine Dalton, who also wrote the
introduction.

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

The generous sponsorship of May, George, Likai, and Lillian Gu, which helped make
the work on this translation possible, is most gratefully acknowledged.

Introduction

The Uṣṇīṣavijayā Dhāraṇī with Its Ritual Manual
opens in Sukhāvatī, where the Blessed One Amitāyus is residing. Amitāyus addresses the
bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, informing him that there are beings who suffer from
illnesses and short lifespans, and introducing the uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī as a remedy for such painful circumstances.
Avalokiteśvara immediately asks Amitāyus to pronounce the dhāraṇī, which the Tathāgata
does from within a state of samādhi.

After he pronounces the dhāraṇī, Amitāyus addresses Śakra and explains that
reciting it purifies all lower rebirths and obscurations and leads beings to higher
rebirths. Amitāyus lists a number of lower births that will be avoided by someone who
recites this dhāraṇī, as well as the various prominent families within the human realm
into which the reciter will be born on their way to attaining the state of awakening. As
he continues to elaborate upon the ways in which one can use the dhāraṇī to benefit
beings, Amitāyus explains that it can be hung from the top of a flagstaff, a mountain,
or a tall building so that those in the surrounding areas will be purified and prevented
from taking lower rebirths. He also notes that it may be carved into wood, placed at a
caitya, and worshiped. This inspires Yama, the Lord of Death, to pledge to Amitāyus to
protect beings who recite the dhāraṇī.

The Four Great Kings then request instructions on the rites associated with
the dhāraṇī, and Amitāyus proceeds to teach a number of rites, including ways the
dhāraṇī can be used to benefit the dead, animals, and those who are ill, as well as to
prevent lower rebirths and extend life. These rituals involve the preparation of a
maṇḍala in which the dhāraṇī is installed, making various offerings, the construction of
caityas, and hundreds, thousands, or even a hundred thousand recitations of the dhāraṇī.
In some cases the rituals involve fasting or performing the ritual at specific times of
the lunar month. Śakra is instructed to teach one of these rites to the god
Supratiṣṭhita to extend his life, which he does, and the god is delighted with the
results. Finally, Amitāyus teaches his own dhāraṇī along with its related sādhana and
fire offering rite, along with a number of additional applications of the dhāraṇī to
obtain results such as glory and kingship.

This work is one among a group of texts in the Kriyātantra section of the
Tibetan Kangyurs that contain the uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī and its
related rituals (kalpa). The present text is the
longest of four short dhāraṇī texts—three of which have the same title—that present the
uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī with its ritual
manual (kalpa). These four works
share a similar narrative opening (nidāna) up through the presentation of the dhāraṇī proper, and several
among them also share additional passages. Beyond its close relationship with the other
ritual manuals connected with the uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī, this text shares a number of parallel passages with
what we will call—simply for the purpose of distinguishing it from the present group of
dhāraṇī-kalpas—the “primary” uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī text
(Toh 597, which is titled Sarvadurgatipariśodhana-uṣṇīṣavijayā-

dhāraṇī

rather than Uṣṇīṣavijayā-dhāraṇī-kalpasahitā
). Despite these significant
textual parallels, that text has an entirely different opening narrative and,
unsurprisingly, lacks nearly all of the ritual instructions contained in our text.

There are many Sanskrit witnesses of the uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī proper, and the primary uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī text (Toh 597) survives in at least one, an
incomplete early manuscript.
While our text appears to no longer be extant in Sanskrit, there is at least one
surviving Sanskrit uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī
work that is closely related to it and belongs to the same group of related dhāraṇī
texts described above. This work shares the same opening narrative and some of the
ritual material with the texts from this group.

The primary uṣṇīṣavijayā text
(Toh 597) was first translated into Chinese by Buddhapāli in the late seventh century,
and then at least five times subsequently. Several ritual manuals for the dhāraṇī’s recitation were also
translated into Chinese, but our text does not appear to be among them. One ritual manual (Taishō 978), translated into Chinese by Dharmadeva
between 973 and 981, is among the group of uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī texts to which the present work belongs. The primary uṣṇīṣavijayā text was significant in East Asia, and one scholar has even
identified it as the most important esoteric Buddhist scripture translated into Chinese
in the seventh century. Practices connected with the uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī were important in China, in particular in conjunction
with funerary rites, where the dhāraṇī was written on pillars near tombs, especially
from the mid-Tang to Ming dynasties (ca. 800–1600 ce). In addition to its ritual uses, in China this
dhāraṇī receives mention in poems and tales of miracles and is analyzed in philosophical
commentaries.

The uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī also
appears to have been popular in Dunhuang. A number of Tibetan manuscripts from Dunhuang
include just the dhāraṇī on its own, both in Tibetan transliteration (dhāraṇīs, like
mantras, are commonly left untranslated in Tibetan texts) and in Tibetan
translation. The primary uṣṇīṣavijayā
dhāraṇī text also appears in several Dunhuang manuscripts. Interestingly, several drawings from
Dunhuang show maṇḍala (altar) arrangements corresponding to uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī texts, and one in particular,
which has labels written in Chinese, depicts a maṇḍala that is nearly identical to a
maṇḍala described in one of the rites in our text, even though no known ritual manual
surviving in Chinese describes such a maṇḍala. There is also a
woodblock print from tenth-century Dunhuang that has an image of Amitābha and a dhāraṇī
written in Sanskrit, but with Chinese writing on the side. The Amitābha dhāraṇī from
this print is very similar to (but not identical with) the second short dhāraṇī
transmitted in the present text. The records of uṣṇīṣavijayā-related works at Dunhuang, then, suggest a close relationship
between Tibetan- and Chinese-speaking Buddhist practitioners there.

In Nepal, uṣṇīṣavijayā
dhāraṇī rituals continue to be performed as part of modern Newar Buddhist practice,
where their practice is sometimes prescribed for Wednesdays in particular.
Practices connected to the uṣṇīṣavijayā
dhāraṇī likewise continue in modern Tibetan Buddhism. The so-called Tongchö (stong mchod)—the thousandfold offering
practice of Uṣṇīṣavijayā, a version of which is mentioned briefly in our text—is
currently performed in Tibetan monasteries, sometimes using a ritual manual composed by
the nineteenth-century polymath Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo. Other notable Tibetan works on
the uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī and its
associated practices include commentaries by the great Sakya lama Butön (bu ston rin chen grub, 1290–1364) and the fourth Panchen
Lama, Losang Chökyi Gyaltsen (blo bzang chos kyi rgyal
mtshan, 1570–1662).

The question of what, or who, exactly, Uṣṇīṣavijayā is is a
complex one that cannot be clearly answered here. In short, like a number of uṣṇīṣa
deities, she is sometimes identified as a protective deity, in this case a goddess,
emanated from the Buddha’s uṣṇīṣa. Indeed,
Uṣṇīṣavijayā is clearly depicted as a goddess in a number of short sādhanas
included in Indian anthologies such as the Sādhanamāla,
compiled from the works of many authors probably during the period of the
Pāla kings (eighth to twelfth century).
Three closely similar sādhanas of a three-faced, eight armed form of the goddess are included in the
Tengyur, one in each of the three related anthologies translated from the Indian collections into Tibetan in the eleventh to fourteenth centuries
respectively.
A variety of other forms are depicted or described in Chinese, Japanese, Tibetan, Mongolian, and Kashmiri sources.
In the later Tibetan tradition Uṣṇīṣavijayā
can even appear as one of a group of three
long-life deities along with the Buddha Amitāyus and White Tārā. However, in our Kangyur text,
and indeed in all but one (Toh 598) of the uṣṇīṣavijayā works in this section of the Kangyur, while the
dhāraṇī itself uses the feminine vocative form throughout, the name uṣṇīṣavijayā is not rendered into Tibetan in
the feminine, and the word uṣṇīṣavijayā
is not used to refer to anything apart from the name of the dhāraṇī—the dhāraṇī of
the crown victory. The single instance in this text in which we
could interpret uṣṇīṣavijayā to refer
to a goddess is a sentence in one of the rites for an Amitāyus sādhana that also
involves reciting the uṣṇīṣavijayā
dhāraṇī. After having properly followed the rite, the text notes that “in the early
morning at dawn you will see the face of the Bhagavatī, and she will give you whatever
accomplishments you desire.” The name of this Bhagavatī is not mentioned in our text,
but we might well presume that she is Uṣṇīṣavijayā herself.

The range of possible answers to the question of what the name Uṣṇīṣavijayā refers to is enlarged even further by
the existence of a group of related texts widely used in Southeast Asia, sharing the Pali
title Uṇhissa-vijaya-sutta (or in some cases
simply Uṇhissa-vijaya) but found in a
number of different forms, some in Pali but others in Siamese, Lao, Yuon, and Khmer.
Some refer at least briefly to the story of the
god Supratiṣṭhita (Pali Supatiṭṭhita) which, though somewhat secondary in the present text, is the central frame story of Toh 597. But instead of the dhāraṇī of the Sanskrit
and Tibetan texts they contain a set of verses (gāthā)
to be recited whose content is unrelated to that of the Sanskrit dhāraṇī. The
gāthā are also found alone in several
ritual compilations. Even in the vernacular versions,
the verses are written in Pali. In these texts, in their own opening lines, it seems to be the verses themselves that
are referred to as the Uṇhissa-vijaya.

This text was translated into Tibetan by the Indian paṇḍita Dharmasena and
Khampa Lotsāwa Bari Chödrak, and it is therefore an eleventh- or twelfth-century translation.
However, the imperial Phangthangma catalog lists one Uṣṇīṣavijayā-dhāraṇī-vidhisahitā, which, even if not the same as the present
text, is certainly a work of a similar type. Thus, along with the records of Uṣṇīṣavijayā texts at Dunhuang,
its presence in the Phangthangma catalog at the very least indicates the early presence
of parts of the Uṣṇīṣavijayā corpus, including not just the dhāraṇī but also some of its
associated rites, in Tibet.

The present translation is based on the Tibetan translation of the text found
in the Tantra Collection (rgyud ’bum)
section of the Degé Kangyur, in consultation with the Stok Palace Kangyur and the notes in the
Comparative Edition of the Kangyur (dpe bsdur
ma). The text is stable across all the Kangyurs consulted, with the same
title and colophon and only minor variants. We also consulted the Sanskrit from
Schopen’s transcription of the “Los Angeles Manuscript” of the primary dhāraṇī text and
Hidas’ edition and translation of the surviving Sanskrit Uṣṇīṣavijayā-dhāraṇī text for the passages that are parallel with the present
text.

The main dhāraṇī is not identical in every detail across the five different
versions in the Degé Kangyur (Toh 594–598), and the existence of further variations
across different Kangyurs and versions in extra-canonical collections further
complicates the picture. Reference to the dhāraṇī as presented in Hidas’ edition of the
Sanskrit yields useful orthographic confirmation, but may be misleading as a model given
that the ten different Nepalese Sanskrit manuscripts on which it is based are of much
later date than any of the present Tibetan witnesses. Here and in the other works in the
group we have therefore chosen to transcribe the dhāraṇī as it appears in the Degé
version of each text, making only minor choices of orthography and adding annotations to
point out the most significant discrepancies.

One noticeable difference across both Tibetan and Sanskrit versions of the dhāraṇī is
the presence or absence of the syllable oṁ at the beginning of certain phrases. In the
present work and Toh 595, 596, and 597 there are only three such oṁ syllables, while in
Toh 598 oṁ appears no less than nine times, as it does in Hidas’ edition from Sanskrit
sources and in extra-canonical liturgies. The Tibetan translation of Toh 598 was made at
a significantly later date than the other works of the group, and may possibly signal a
change in usage that is also reflected in the Nepalese Sanskrit texts of even later
date. This is corroborated by the absence of extra oṁ-s in the Dunhuang manuscripts. The
colophon of Toh 597 found in the Phukdrak (phug brag) Kangyur includes a note claiming
that the texts with only three oṁ-s are to be considered more correct. The note also states that although there may have
been Sanskrit sources with as many as nine oṁ-s, the twelfth-century translator Sumpa
Lotsāwa reported that all the Sanskrit texts he had seen
contained only three, and that the Sanskrit manuscripts of the texts held at Sakya
monastery had no more than that. Because Sumpa Lotsāwa is known to have lived and
studied in Nepal, his comment on the “correct” number of oṁ-s in the Sanskrit
manuscripts available to him offers a glimpse of the evolution of the text in the
Nepalese tradition. As Hidas’ edition of the Nepalese manuscripts suggests, the number
of oṁ-s in the dhāraṇī seem to proliferate, eventually reaching a total of nine.

Over the centuries, the textual transmission of the dhāraṇī has preserved the major
portion of it with remarkable fidelity. Nevertheless, the few anomalies to be seen
across all these closely related texts are a reminder that here, as with other dhāraṇī
works, some variations over time and place are to be expected.

The Translation

Crown Victory of All Tathāgatas

The Uṣṇīṣavijayā Dhāraṇī with Its Ritual Manual

Homage to
all buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Thus did I hear at one time. The blessed, thus-gone, worthy, perfectly
awakened Buddha Amitāyus was staying in the excellent secret palace, Dharma
Proclamation, in Sukhāvatī. He
said to the bodhisattva, the great being, Noble Avalokiteśvara, “Child of noble family,
there are beings who suffer, are afflicted with diseases, and have short lifespans. To
help them, one should uphold and recite this dhāraṇī called the crown victory
of all tathāgatas and teach it extensively to others for the sake of long
life.”

Then the bodhisattva, the great being, Avalokiteśvara arose from his seat,
joined his palms, and said to the Blessed One, “Blessed One, please teach! Well-Gone
One, please teach the dhāraṇī called the crown victory of all
tathāgatas.”

Then the Blessed One looked upon the circle of his perfect
retinue, entered the samādhi called the splendor beheld everywhere,
and pronounced this dhāraṇī called the crown victory of all
tathāgatas:

“oṁ namo bhagavate
sarvatrailokyaprativiśiṣṭāya buddhāya te namaḥ |

tadyathā | oṁ bhrūṁ bhrūṁ bhrūṁ | śodhaya śodhaya | viśodhaya viśodhaya |
asamasamantāvabhāsaspharaṇagatigaganasvabhāvaviśuddhe  |
abhiṣiñcantu māṃ
sarvatathāgatāḥ sugatavaravacanāmṛtābhiṣekair mahāmudrāmantrapadaiḥ | āhara āhara
mama āyuḥsandhāraṇi | śodhaya śodhaya | viśodhaya viśodhaya |
gaganasvabhāvaviśuddhe | uṣṇīṣavijāyapariśuddhe | sahasraraśmisañcodite |
sarvatathāgatāvalokini | ṣaṭpāramitāparipūraṇi | sarvatathāgatamāte  | daśabhūmipratiṣṭḥite | sarvatathāgatahṛdayādhiṣṭhānādhiṣṭḥite |
mudre mudre mahāmudre | vajrakāyasaṃhatanapariśuddhe | sarvakarmāvaraṇaviśuddhe |
pratinivartaya mamāyurviśuddhe | sarvatathāgatasamayādhiṣṭhānādhiṣṭhite | oṁ muni muni
mahāmuni | vimuni vimuni mahāvimuni | mati mati mahāmati | mamati | sumati |
tathatābhūtakoṭipariśuddhe | visphuṭabuddhiśuddhe | he he | jaya jaya | vijaya vijaya | smara smara | sphara sphara | sphāraya sphāraya | sarvabuddhādhiṣṭhānādhiṣṭhite |
śuddhe śuddhe | buddhe buddhe | vajre vajre mahāvajre | suvajre | vajragarbhe |
jayagarbhe | vijayagarbhe | vajrajvālagarbhe | vajrodbhave | vajrasambhave | vajre |
vajrini | vajram bhavatu mama śarīraṃ sarvasatvānāñ ca kāyapariśuddhir bhavatu | sadā
me sarvagatipariśuddhiś
ca  | sarvatathāgatāś ca
māṃ samāśvāsayantu | budhya budhya | siddhya siddhya | bodhaya bodhaya | vibodhaya
vibodhaya | mocaya mocaya | vimocaya vimocaya | śodhaya śodhaya | viśodhaya viśodhaya | samantamocaya mocaya | samantaraśmipariśuddhe |
sarvatathāgatahṛdayādhiṣṭhānādhiṣṭhite | mudre mudre mahāmudre | mahāmudrāmantrapadaiḥ
svāhā.

“Lord of the Gods, this dhāraṇī called
the crown victory completely purifies all lower rebirths,
completely purifies the obscurations resulting from evil deeds, leads to the path of
higher rebirths, and utterly destroys all lower rebirths. As many buddhas as there are
grains of sand in eighty-eight trillion Gaṅgā Rivers have taught, blessed, and
rejoiced in this dhāraṇī, and it is sealed by the wisdom mudrā of all the buddhas. It
was taught in order to place all beings on the path that leads to higher rebirths, to
bring back those who have fallen into lower rebirths, and to liberate all those in
painful and frightening existences—hell beings, those born into the animal realm, those
in the Realm of the Lord of Death, and all others who have plunged into the ocean of
suffering.

“Similarly, this dhāraṇī can benefit beings who have a short lifespan and
little fortune, who are despised, who have fallen into various unpleasant rebirths, whose thoughts
are corrupt, and who have strayed from the path. This dhāraṇī, along with its mudrās and mantras, has been entrusted to the beings of
Jambudvīpa, so you, Śakra, must keep it well!

“Lord of the Gods, hearing this dhāraṇī a single time immediately and
completely purifies the karmic obscurations accumulated over a hundred thousand eons.
Know that one will no longer take any of the various births in the hell realms, the
animal realm, the Realm of the Lord of Death, the realm of the pretas, and the realm of
the asuras. Likewise one will not be born into the class of creatures such as yakṣas,
rākṣasas, bhūtas, piśācas, pūtanas, kaṭapūtanas, apasmāras, dogs, tortoises, snakes,
fierce wild animals, birds, bees, flies, reptiles, and ants.

“Instead, I say that one will meet with the tathāgatas, be born into the family of the
bodhisattvas, or be born into a prominent family such as a brahmin family that is like a
great sāl tree, a kṣatriya family that is like a great sāl tree, a householder family
that is like a great sāl tree, or a merchant family that is like a great sāl tree.

“Lord of the Gods, the power of this dhāraṇī will allow one to obtain great
and completely pure rebirths until one finally reaches the seat of awakening.

“Lord of the Gods, this dhāraṇī is extremely powerful, beneficial, potent,
virtuous, and auspicious.

“Lord of the Gods, this dhāraṇī called the crown victory,
which completely purifies all lower rebirths, has been set forth for the benefit of
beings.

“Lord of the Gods, consider the utterly stainless precious jewel that is the
heart of the sun, completely pure like space, luminous, and blazing with light. This
dhāraṇī will render beings devoid of stains just like that jewel. Consider also the
perfectly stainless gold from the Jambu River that is pure, perfectly resplendent, and utterly lovely. Lord of the Gods, great beings such
as those are as utterly and completely pure as that gold, and they will continue to be
reborn like that from one lifetime to the next.

“Lord of the Gods, wherever this dhāraṇī is taught—and particularly wherever
it is written down, read aloud, recited, chanted, worshiped, studied, listened
to, and upheld—all rebirths will be thoroughly purified, and all rebirths in the hell
realms will cease.

“Lord of the Gods, this dhāraṇī should be written down and hung from the top
of a flagstaff. It should be placed on a high mountain, on top of a tall building, or
inside of a caitya. Śakra, should any monk or nun, layman or laywoman, or any other son
or daughter of noble family see it, live near it, pass under its shadow, or be touched
by a breeze carrying a particle of dust from this dhāraṇī when it is hung from the top
of a flagstaff, all of
that being’s evil deeds will be purified,
Śakra, and they will no longer have any fear of going to the lower realms. Know that
they will not be born as a hell being, they will not be born in the animal realm, they
will not be born in the Realm of the Lord of Death, they will not be born as a preta,
and they will not be born among the asuras. Lord of the Gods, know that such a being has
been prophesied by all the tathāgatas and will never turn back from unsurpassed,
complete, perfect awakening.

“Lord of the Gods, there are also great benefits if this dhāraṇī is carved
into wood. If someone worships and honors it, adorns it with flowers, incense, perfumes,
flower garlands, scented salves, parasols, banners, pendants, and ornaments—not to mention builds a caitya at a crossroads,
places this dhāraṇī there, and joins their palms together or prostrates or
circumambulates it—you should know, Śakra, that this being is indeed a great being! Know
them to be a child of the tathāgatas. Know them to be an abode of the Dharma. Know them
to be a caitya of the tathāgatas.”

Then, as that evening passed and dawn began to break, Dharmarāja Yama arose, went before the Blessed One, and worshiped the
Blessed One with divine flowers, cloth, ornaments, and other things, and he respectfully
circumambulated the Blessed One seven times. Then he touched the Blessed One’s feet and
said, “Blessed One, this dhāraṇī is very powerful. It is very beneficial. Blessed One, I will also continually pursue the benefit of those
beings, and I will always remain here to protect and defend them. I will turn those beings
away from all hell realms. Blessed One, I will do what I know is right, and I will not
do what I know is not right.”

Then the Four
Great Kings circumambulated the Blessed One three times and said to him, “Blessed One,
please give an extensive explanation of the detailed rite for this dhāraṇī and the way
to perform the rite.”

The Blessed One then addressed the Four Great Kings, “Listen, and I will
explain the way to perform the rite of this dhāraṇī.

“To help a being with a short lifespan, a son or daughter of noble family
should bathe on the full moon day, put on clean clothes, and fast as they recite this dhāraṇī one thousand times. If they do this, the
depleted lifespan of that being will be restored, and they will become free from
illness. All their obscurations will be purified, and they will be completely freed from
all lower rebirths, such as that of a hell being.

“One can even recite this dhāraṇī in the ear of any bird or living being that
has taken an animal birth and know that this will be their very last lower rebirth.

“If one does the same thing for someone who is extremely ill, even when the
doctors have determined that things have taken a turn for the worse and given up, they
will be completely freed from their illness and be cut off from all lower rebirths. When
they die, they will be born in the realm of Sukhāvatī. Know that this very life is their
last birth from a womb. From one lifetime to the next, they will only take miraculous
birth from the center of a lotus, and they will always remember the succession of their
past lives.

“For any being who has committed negative deeds and has died, recite the
dhāraṇī over white mustard seeds twenty-one times and scatter these over their bones.
Even if they have been born as a hell being, in the animal realm, in the Realm of the
Lord of Death, as a preta, or in some other lower rebirth, the power of this dhāraṇī
will free them from those lower rebirths, and they will be reborn as a god.

“Whoever recites this dhāraṇī completely twenty-one times each day will become
worthy to receive offerings from great worldly beings. Their lifespan will increase,
they will be free from illness, they will be happy, they will always be joyful, and they
will either attain great parinirvāṇa or, when they die, be reborn in the realm of
Sukhāvatī. From there they will travel to many different buddha fields and meet the
tathāgatas in each one. Those tathāgatas will reassure them and issue prophecies of
their awakening. In each of those buddha fields, they will illuminate the entire
world.

“Make the mudrā in this way: place the palms and ten
fingers together, bend the two index fingers, and interlace them with the two thumbs.
Then recall this dhāraṇī.

“Make a square maṇḍala, scatter it with multicolored flowers, and burn
different types of incense around it. Kneel with the right knee on the ground and, by
means of samādhi, visualize and pay homage to all the tathāgatas. Then, read the dhāraṇī
aloud eight hundred times. Even reading it in this way once is the same as having
worshiped, served, and honored tathāgatas equal to the grains of sand of eighty-eight
quintillion Gaṅgā Rivers. Having worshiped all those tathāgatas with great cloudbanks of
offerings, they will all say “Excellent!” That being should be known as a child born
from the very nature of all the tathāgatas. They will have unobscured wisdom and be
ornamented with the mind of great awakening.

“Through this method for the
rite for accomplishing this dhāraṇī, Lord of the Gods, all beings will be completely
freed from lower rebirths, such as that of a hell being. All their rebirths will be
completely pure, and they will have long lives.

“Lord of the Gods, go and teach and proclaim this dhāraṇī to the god
Supratiṣṭhita. Lord of the Gods, it
will purify all of the god Supratiṣṭhita’s rebirths in seven days, extend his lifespan,
and make him powerful.”

Śakra, Lord of the Gods, followed the Tathāgata’s instruction, went to the god
Supratiṣṭhita, and gave him this dhāraṇī. On the seventh day, after he had exerted
himself in reciting this dhāraṇī for six days and six nights, all his wishes were
fulfilled. He was completely liberated from lower rebirths, he was established on the
path to higher rebirths, and his
life was extended. He exclaimed, “How amazing is the Buddha! How amazing is the Dharma!
How amazing is it that a dhāraṇī like this has appeared in the world, one that has
completely freed me from such great fear!”

Śakra, Lord of the Gods, and the god Supratiṣṭhita, together with a great
retinue, gathered flowers, perfumes, incense, garlands, parasols, banners, pendants, and
beautiful silken canopies, used their divine powers to travel to where the Blessed One
was, and approached him. They worshiped the Blessed One, offering him hundreds of
thousands of essential offerings such as divine silks and jewels, circumambulated him,
and sat before the Blessed One. They expressed their joy in this way and then sat before
the Blessed One and listened to the Dharma.

The Blessed One extended his golden hand and comforted the god Supratiṣṭhita,
taught him the Dharma, and prophesied his awakening.

“Child of noble family, this dhāraṇī of the crown victory of all
tathāgatas is the destroyer of the great cudgel
of death, the purifier, the destroyer of evil deeds. If one writes this dhāraṇī on birch
bark or some other surface, places it in the center of a caitya, worships it extensively
by offering whatever one has, and then circumambulates it one hundred thousand times,
one will be granted an excellent lifespan and a sharp intellect. When this is done, a
lifespan of seven days will become seven years, and a lifespan of seven years will
become seventy years. Thus, one will obtain an excellent lifespan, a good memory,
freedom from illness, and the ability to remember previous lives.

“If someone installs this dhāraṇī in a caitya and binds a cloth on which the
dhāraṇī is written around its summit they will be freed from grave illness.

“Write the dhāraṇī together with one’s own name on a piece of cloth or bark
using yellow pigment derived from cow bile and install it in a sandalwood caitya. Then
place it at home and worship it with thousands of vast offerings. If one performs this
offering rite each month while reciting the dhāraṇī eight hundred times, one will be
free from illness and live for one hundred years. If a sandalwood caitya is not
available, follow the same procedure with a clay caitya.

“One can also draw on a clean piece of cloth a caitya that is resting on a
crossed vajra and ornamented with an encircling vajra garland. Write one’s own name and
the words of the dhāraṇī in the center of it with yellow pigment derived from cow bile.
When this is installed inside an enclosed vessel made of two clay cups, placed in the home, and worshiped with extensive
offerings, one will always be protected.

“An additional rite is as follows: make a square maṇḍala with cow dung that
has not fallen on the ground and scatter it with white flowers. Place four butter lamps
at the four corners. Burn incense made of aloeswood and frankincense. Fill a vessel with
perfumed water and adorn it with white flowers. Place in the center a caitya or statue
with the dhāraṇī in its inner chamber. Touch it with the left hand while holding a mālā
in the right hand, and recite the dhāraṇī twenty-one times at the three times of the
day.
One who drinks three
handfuls of that water will be free of illness and have a long life. Their enemies will
fall away, and they will gain a sharp intellect and noble speech. They will remember
their previous births from one lifetime to the next. If that water is sprinkled around a
house, a cattle barn or horse stable, or a royal residence, there will be no fear of
thieves, snakes, yakṣas, or rākṣasas, and no one will suffer from illness. If the water
is sprinkled over someone’s head, they will be freed from illness.

“There is also the extremely beneficial dhāraṇī of limitless
life, which brings great pacification wherever it is applied.
If it is recited in full twenty-one times over a toothbrush, one will not have any pain
when chewing, and one will have a sharp intellect and a long life. If it is recited over
three handfuls of water twenty-one times at the three times of the day, whoever drinks that water will be completely freed
from all illness and will live for a long time.”

Then the bodhisattva great being Noble Avalokiteśvara circumambulated the
Blessed One Amitāyus and said, “Blessed One, how should a son or daughter of noble
family perform the caitya ritual? How should they accomplish such tasks as making the
statue and so forth, and how should they perform the fire offering?”

The Blessed One replied:

“You have asked a good question.

Great hero, how excellent!

For the love and sake of all beings,

Listen with one-pointed attention!”

Then the Blessed One entered the samādhi called glorious limitless
light rays in all directions and spoke this dhāraṇī called
the limitless life of all tathāgatas:

“Recite this dhāraṇī as many times as possible while excavating the clay for
building a caitya, while
applying that clay, and all the way up until the canopy is raised.”

Then he taught the rite:

“Now I will properly explain

The supreme caitya rite.

“It should be twelve finger-widths in size, adorned with many ornaments made
of gold, lapis, silver, and rubies, and placed upon a lotus. Draw the Four
World-Protectors holding banners in the four directions, the gods of the pure abodes
holding flowers, incense, and perfumes, Śakra, Lord of the Gods, holding the parasol,
and, on the right and the left sides, Avalokiteśvara and Vajradhara holding white tail
whisks. Following proper procedure, draw these on the petals of the lotus, proceeding
clockwise around the caitya. Write down the dhāraṇī called the crown victory
of all tathāgatas and install it in the caitya’s interior relic
chamber. Then, sprinkle the caitya with
scented water and worship it with delightfully scented flowers. Perform a thousandfold
offering. Fast on the eighth day of the waxing moon and, with your mind set on the
benefit of all beings, make offerings for the bestowal of long life and
intelligence and recite the dhāraṇī one thousand times. If
this is done every month for six months, one will obtain a lifespan of a thousand years.
If it is done regularly for a year, one will obtain a lifespan of a hundred thousand
years. If it is performed in perpetuity, one will obtain an inexhaustible lifespan,
become powerful, be undefeatable by anyone, and obtain a supreme celestial uṣṇīṣa that
is unequaled by even the gods and asuras.

“Here is another rite. Take some earth from a very holy place, mix it with
delightful perfumes, and make a caitya. Start with one thousand, and make up to five
thousand caityas. Every day install the crown victory dhāraṇī in all the
caityas. Perform the extensive offering as instructed and read the dhāraṇī aloud starting with one thousand
times and for as many as seven thousand recitations. Perform this every day for the
dhāraṇī that bestows long life and intelligence, and dedicate one’s own roots of virtue
to the shared benefit of all beings. Give up such things as restraining and beating
beings. In each subsequent month make twice as many offerings and recite the dhāraṇī
eight hundred times. This should be performed by oneself or by someone else in one’s
stead.

“This ritual will allow one to avoid the eight types of untimely death. One
will have a sharp intellect, be free from illness, live for one hundred years, be
delightful to all beings, and recollect past lives. When the time comes to die, one will
leave one’s body behind just like a snake shedding its skin and be reborn into a
beautiful body in the world of Sukhāvatī. One will never be reborn into lower rebirths
as a hell being, in the animal realm, or in the Realm of the Lord of Death. One will not
even hear the word hell, so how could one experience the ripening
of such a karmic result? One will not go to those places.”

Then the Blessed One Amitāyus taught the following sādhana:

“A skillful person who wishes beings to have limitless lifespans and to bring
about their freedom from the pitiful state of saṃsāra should make a beautiful canvas
that is the proper size out of threads that have been spun by a young maiden. Then, using a variety of colors of pigment,
one should write the crown victory dhāraṇī inside a caitya that has
been emanated from the letters of the dhāraṇī.

“Draw Amitāyus garlanded by thousands of light rays and seated upon a lotus
and moon seat. He is luminous like the autumn moon and adorned with every ornament. He
has three faces, each with three eyes, and he has eight arms. His right face is peaceful
and radiant with golden light. His left face is fierce, with fangs biting down on his
lower lip, and radiant with light the color of a blue utpala. His central face is
charming and white. His
right hands hold a crossed vajra at his heart, Amitābha seated on a lotus, an arrow, and
the gesture of supreme generosity. His left hands hold a lasso with the threatening
gesture, a bow, the gesture granting freedom from fear, and a vase. On his head is the
syllable oṁ in a caitya, at his
throat is the syllable āḥ, and at his
heart the syllable huṁ. At his
forehead is hraṁ, at his navel
hrīḥ, and at his two feet aṁ aḥ. Arrange these syllables on his body
and include the phrase rakṣa svāhā with one’s own
name inside it.

“On either side of him are Padmapāṇi and Vajradhara holding white tail whisks.
Above, like a flow of nectar raining down, are a pair of gods from the pure abodes. In
the four directions are wrathful Acala, Kāmarāja, Nīladaṇḍa, and Mahābala. They hold a
sword, a hook, a club, and a vajra, respectively, and their left hands brandish the
threatening gesture to frighten malevolent beings.

“When one has completed it with careful attention to those details,
one should fast near a caitya that contains relics and worship it with a thousandfold
great offering while reciting the dhāraṇī one hundred thousand times. Recite the dhāraṇī
one thousand times each day from the first to the fifteenth day of the waxing moon.
Then, in the early morning at dawn you will see the face of the Bhagavatī, and she will
give you whatever accomplishments you desire.

“One can also install the painting in a location that has been anointed with
delightfully scented water, perform extensive worship, and recite the dhāraṇī eight
hundred times each day. Or, one can make a thousandfold offering and recite the dhāraṇī
a thousand times. If one does this, one’s lifespan will be limitless and one will be
able to suppress others with limitless power, be able to fly, and be free from great illness. This will make anyone able
to memorize and perfectly recite one thousand verses each day.

“Or if someone is unable to do that, they should install it in their home in a
place that has been anointed with scented water and make whatever offerings they have.
In all the coming months they should recite the dhāraṇī eight hundred times on the
eighth day of the month, and every day they should recite it twenty-one times at the
three times of the day. If they do this, they will have a sharp intellect and a long
life. They will be full of insight, free from illness, and happy. They will live for one
hundred years and remember their past lives.

“Or if one is unable to do this oneself and someone does it in one’s stead,
then one will have a long life and a sharp intellect.

“Now I will explain the fire offering rite for the benefit of all beings.
Build a round hearth one cubit in size and adorned with a garland of vajras. Smear it
with white sandalwood or white earth and scatter white flowers on it. Place a butter
lamp on each of its four sides, and worship it properly with incense and other
offerings. In each of the four directions place a well-decorated and beautiful vase
covered with white cloth with its openings adorned with boughs from a tree. Start a fire
with wood from a date palm, and summon Agni by asking him to approach as you give three
full ladles in the fire and sprinkle it with cleansing water. Visualize Amitāyus clearly
in the center of the hearth, recite the crown victory dhāraṇī, and
offer three full ladles. One can also perform the fire offering while reciting the
dhāraṇī together with the life-extending and intelligence-sharpening dhāraṇī
oṁ amṛtāyurdade svāhā eight
hundred times at the three times of the day.

“If one recites the crown victory dhāraṇī seven times,
one will have a long life, a sharp intellect, and happiness and be free from illness.

“Someone who wishes to live for a thousand years can also make an extensive
offering on the eighth day of the waxing moon and perform the homa at the three times of
the day, and supreme long life and a sharp intellect will be bestowed upon them.

“One should not disparage beings. With this rite, one’s body will not be
afflicted by illness.
One will live for five thousand years, be victorious over enemies, and have a sharp
intellect and a sweet voice.

“If one is unable to perform this oneself but someone performs it in one’s
stead, one will obtain great peace.

“If one seeks some other accomplishment, one can recite the great
crown victory dhāraṇī together with the life-extending and
intelligence-sharpening dhāraṇī while performing the fire offering one hundred thousand times. If one
performs the thousandfold worship and recites the dhāraṇī one hundred thousand times at
the beginning and end, one will live for a hundred thousand years. If one does this ten
million times, one will live for ten million years. Following the practice of this rite
will enable one to live for countless years, to fly, to be heroic, and to be victorious
over all enemies.

“If one seeks glory and performs a fire offering of one hundred thousand wood
apples, one will obtain
great glory. If one seeks to be king and performs a fire offering of one hundred
thousand lotuses, one will become a great king. If one performs that ten million times,
one will become a universal monarch.

“Or, if one wishes to obtain the sword siddhi and so forth, one should display
the painting in front of a caitya that contains relics, perform the great thousandfold
offering, and recite the dhāraṇī one hundred thousand times. If one recites it one
hundred thousand times over a sword made of the five metals and then holds the sword in
one’s right hand, one will be able to travel to whatever place one thinks of, take
whatever form one desires, be extremely powerful, and subdue others. One will be the
singular guide of all beings and then become the great, supreme physician with a
limitless lifespan. One can also perform the same sādhana over a vajra, cakra, trident,
and the like.

“This great dhāraṇī with limitless benefits that is the heart of all the
tathāgatas and supremely difficult to encounter will bring about the accomplishment of
any ritual action to which it is applied. Whoever recites this dhāraṇī called
the crown victory of all tathāgatas twenty-one times at the three
times of the day every day, makes a great caitya and hangs the dhāraṇī from it, and explains the dhāraṇī
to others at length will be happy, powerful, and free from illness, live for a hundred
years, have a sharp intellect, and remember their previous lives. When they die, they
will leave their body behind just like a snake shedding its skin and be born into the
world of Sukhāvatī. The word hell will never reach their ears, so
how could they experience the ripening of such a karmic result? They will always
remember their previous lives from one lifetime to the next.”

When the Blessed One spoke these words, his entire retinue and the world and
its gods, humans, asuras, and gandharvas rejoiced and praised what the Blessed One had
said.

This concludes “Crown Victory of All Tathāgatas:
The Uṣṇīṣavijayā Dhāraṇī with Its Ritual Manual.”

Colophon

It was translated, edited, and finalized by the scholar Dharmasena and by
Khampa Lotsāwa, the monk Bari.

Notes

Bibliography

Source Texts for This Translation

Other Tibetan and Sanskrit Sources

Secondary Sources

Khampa Lotsāwa Bari Chödrak
Khampa Lotsāwa

khams pa lo tsA wa ba ri chos grags
ཁམས་པ་ལོ་ཙཱ་ཝ་བ་རི་ཆོས་གྲགས།