Toh 595Crown 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.

Following this pronouncement of the dhāraṇī proper, Amitāyus explains that the
dhāraṇī purifies the evil deeds of someone who is pursued by the Lord of Death, and he
describes some procedures through which the dhāraṇī can be used to extend such a
person’s lifespan. The text goes on to describe several additional rites for the dhāraṇī
that will restore health and bring about long life and other benefits.

Then, in response to a request from Avalokiteśvara, Amitāyus teaches the short
dhāraṇī of limitless life and explains rites for a caitya, a
short Amitābha sādhana together with some rites connected to it, a homa ritual, and a
number of additional applications of the dhāraṇī rite 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 second 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. The present text, in fact, is made up
entirely of parallel passages from the slightly longer Toh 594. Interestingly, the passages from
Toh 594 absent in the present text are precisely the passages that Toh 594 shares with
what we will call—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
).

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, including the present text, which
was translated into Chinese by Dharmadeva between 973 and 981 and is found in the
Chinese canonical collection as Taishō 978. 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 text,
and indeed in all but one of the uṣṇīṣavijayā works in this section of the Kangyur (Toh 598), 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, although it does not appear in the present text, is the frame story of Toh 597
and a secondary narrative element in Toh 594. But instead of the dhāraṇī of the Sanskrit
and Tibetan texts these Southeast Asian texts 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.

The present text lacks a translator’s colophon. However, as noted above, it is
made up entirely of passages that are parallel with Toh 594, with which it also shares
the same title. That work does have a translator’s colophon indicating that
it was translated into Tibetan by the Indian scholar Dharmasena and the Tibetan
translator 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 was completed on the basis of 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 (dpe bsdur ma). The text is stable across all the Kangyurs
consulted, with the same title and only minor variants; all recensions are alike in
lacking a colophon. We have also consulted 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 in Toh 594,
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 | uṣṇīṣavijayapariśuddhe |
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 | me sadā 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.

“Child of noble family, this dhāraṇī of the crown victory of all
tathāgatas is the destroyer of the great cudgel
of the Lord 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 into 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 Avalokiteśvara and Vajradhara holding white tail whisks on the right and the left
sides. 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 has 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
amṛtāyurdatte 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.”

Notes

Bibliography

Source Texts for This Translation

Other Tibetan and Sanskrit Sources

Secondary Sources