Toh 729The Noble Dhāraṇī of Tārā

Summary

The Dhāraṇī of Tārā is a short dhāraṇī that invokes the goddess Tārā, seeking her intervention
in the face of obstacles and negative forces.

Acknowledgements

Translated by Samye Translations under the guidance of Phakchok Rinpoche. The translation and
introduction were produced by Stefan Mang and reviewed and edited by Ryan Conlon.

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

Introduction

The Dhāraṇī of Tārā is a short recitation formula that invokes the deity Tārā for the
purpose of dispelling obstacles and pacifying negative forces. As suggested by her name, which can be translated as
“Savior,” Tārā is revered as a deity who quickly responds in the face of worldly and spiritual dangers, and she is
commonly invoked for this purpose by diverse communities of Buddhists.

The worship of Tārā in India can be traced back to at least the sixth century, and since that time the goddess has
gained increasingly important status in the Buddhist pantheon. Tibetan histories recount that the worship and practice of Tārā was introduced to
Tibet as early as the seventh century via a sandalwood statue brought by the Nepalese princess Bhṛkutī as dowry for her
marriage to the Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo.
While a few texts dedicated to Tārā were translated in the following centuries, it is believed that the worship of Tārā did not take firm root in Tibet until
the eleventh century, when it was actively promoted by Atiśa.

The Dhāraṇī of Tārā begins with an homage to the Three Jewels and Avalokiteśvara. This is
followed by the main dhāraṇī, which was not translated into Tibetan but preserved in transliterated Sanskrit. The Tibetan text
lacks a colophon, so the Tibetan translators and editors of the dhāraṇī remain unidentified.

As cataloged in the Degé Kangyur, this dhāraṇī is
part of a cycle of eight Kriyātantra (bya rgyud) texts (Toh 724–731)
dedicated to Tārā. The same formula recorded in The Dhāraṇī of Tārā is also included in Tārā Who Protects from the Eight Dangers, a number of Tengyur texts dedicated to Tārā, and Butön Rinchen Drup’s (bu ston rin chen grub, 1290–1364) Dhāraṇī Collection (gzungs bsdus) from his Collected Works (gsung
’bum). The dhāraṇī appears to be the main dhāraṇī of the form
of Tārā known as Vajratārā, as confirmed by its use in sādhanas dedicated to Vajratārā preserved in the Tengyur and the Sādhanamālā. It is
not known if the dhāraṇī circulated independently, or if it was extracted and preserved separately as The
Dhāraṇī of Tārā because of its prestige and widespread incorporation into other texts and practice manuals.

The transcription and translation of the dhāraṇī below takes the Degé Kangyur as the primary witness, which was
compared with versions recorded in other Kangyur collections, as well as the above-mentioned Tibetan and Sanskrit sources.

The Translation

The Noble

Dhāraṇī of Tārā

Homage to the Three Jewels!

namo ratnatrayāya | nama āryāvalokiteśvarāya bodhisattvāya mahāsattvāya
mahākāruṇikāya |

tad yathā | oṁ tāre tuttāre ture sarvaduṣṭapraduṣṭān mama kṛte jambhaya
stambhaya mohaya bandhaya hūṁ hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ phaṭ sarvaduṣṭastambhani tāre svāhā |

A recitation of the The Dhāraṇī of Tārā

This concludes “The Noble Dhāraṇī of Tārā.”

Notes

Bibliography

Primary Sources

Secondary Sources

dhāraṇī
gzungs
གཟུངས།
dhāraṇī
The term dhāraṇī has the sense of something that “holds” or
“retains,” and as such can refer to the special capacity of practitioners to memorize and recall detailed teachings.
It can also refer to a verbal expression of the teachings—an incantation, spell, or mnemonic formula that distills and
“holds” essential points of the Dharma and is used by practitioners to attain mundane and supramundane goals. The same
term is also used to denote texts that contain such formulae.

617–650; a famous king from Tibet’s Imperial Period.