Toh 987The Glorious Tantra of the Play of the Goddess Uṣṇīṣā

Summary

The Tantra of the Play of the Goddess Uṣṇīṣā is a
short tantra concerning a series of disease-causing spirits and the incantations that
avert them.

Acknowledgements

This publication was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000:
Translating the Words of the Buddha.

The text was translated, edited, and introduced by the 84000 translation team.
Catherine Dalton produced the translation and wrote the introduction. Ryan Damron edited
the translation and the introduction, and Dawn Collins copyedited the text. Martina Cotter
was in charge of the digital publication process.

Introduction

The Tantra of the Play of the Goddess Uṣṇīṣā is a
short text concerning a series of disease-causing spirits and the incantations that
avert them. Though titled a “tantra,” the text internally refers to itself as a
“demon-averting dhāraṇī-sūtra” (gdon zlog pa’i mdo’i
gzungs). The text lacks the introductory narrative framework (nidāna) typical of sūtras and tantras and,
indeed, has no narrative elements at all. Rather, the tantra begins with a list of names
of these spirits, all female, who are organized into two main groups: grahīs (gdon) and a set comprised of “rulers” (dbang byed) of thirteen tents (gur). Despite being divided into these groups, both sets of
female deities are identified as emanations of the goddess Ekajaṭī. The tantra proceeds
to describe different illnesses and conditions associated with the specific grahīs and
“tent rulers,” and to teach incantations for the particular deities that serve as
remedies for these afflictions. In the instructions for each incantation, the
practitioner is directed to employ a specific type of ritual dagger (kīla), and the text provides an extensive list
of the different daggers suitable for each purpose. The final incantations in the tantra
are distinct for being written in a mixture of Tibetan and Sanskrit. Following the list
of incantations and remedies, the tantra concludes with a statement of the benefits of
reciting the text and following the proper ritual procedures (which are not taught in
the tantra). The tantra proclaims that someone who does so will accomplish all of their
wishes, be victorious on the battlefield, and defeat their enemies.

The grahīs that form the core subject of The Tantra of
the Play of the Goddess Uṣṇīṣā are a class of disease-causing spirits that
appear in Buddhist and non-Buddhist Indic texts alike.
These spirits, who can be either male (graha) or female (grahī), are understood to cause physical and mental illnesses by
means of possessing the person. Indeed, the very name of this class of spirits
comes from the Sanskrit verbal root √grah, which signifies grasping or seizing. While it seems that the lists of
such grahas remained fluid in Indic literature, the members of the list found in
The Tantra of the Play of the Goddess Uṣṇīṣā do not map
onto any known set of grahīs in either the Indian or the Tibetan tradition.

The Tibetan term for such disease-causing spirits, dön
(gdon), is also an important term in
Tibetan medicine, where it is used not just to refer to the spirits themselves, but also
as a technical term for certain types of diseases associated with
dön, including types of mental illness, stroke, paralysis, and
skin disorders. Similar to its Indic counterpart, the Tibetan medical
tradition describes dön as “grasping” or “taking hold of” those
afflicted by their influence. In both traditions, the causes for such spirit-induced illnesses are
associated with ethical transgressions, as well as offenses committed against the
specific afflicting spirit, and the symptoms of illness often share similar
characteristics with the afflicting spirit. While both
traditions typically prescribe medical and ritual means in the treatment for such
afflictions,
The Tantra of the Play of the Goddess Uṣṇīṣā focuses solely
on ritual means: the use of incantations and the wielding of ritual daggers. The tantra
does not reference the cause of being afflicted by such spirits, but it does establish a
relationship between the offending spirits and the deity whose mantra is indicated as
their remedy. For example, the afflictions caused by the grahī Black Yamā are overcome
by the incantation of Mañjuśrī Yamāntaka, and the afflictions caused by the grahī Black
Indrāṇī are overcome by the incantation of Indra.

The other type of disease-causing spirits described in The Tantra of the Play of the Goddess Uṣṇīṣā are the Tent-Ruling Ladies
(gur la dbang byed ma). They do not
appear elsewhere in the Kangyur or Tengyur and comprise one of several features of this
text that suggest it may have been compiled in Tibet, on the basis of both Indic and
Tibetan elements, rather than translated from an Indic source. There is no single aspect
of the text that would definitively indicate a Tibetan rather than an Indic provenance
for this work. However, there are a number of such features which, when taken in
aggregate, do rather strongly suggest this to be the case. This includes the unusual
title of the work, which appears to be a back-translation from Tibetan into Sanskrit;
the absence of a translator’s colophon; unusual mantras that include many seemingly
non-Indic words and rough approximations of Sanskrit terms; the inclusion of several
spirit types like the terang (te rang; te’u
rang), tsen (btsan), and gongpo (’gong po) that are indigenous to Tibet and lack Indic
equivalents; the reference to the terang spirts of the sky, the
“middling” area, and the earth (gnam,
bar, and sa); the “tent-ruling ladies,” whose tents are made of
turquoise, coral, crystal, ox-wool, silk, or leather, all of which convey a Tibetan,
rather than Indic, feel; the reference to a mountain-top yak spirit; and the inclusion
of a spirit named the Lord of Order who Carries a White Staff (skos rje drang dkar), one of the nine male
ancestors (srid pa ’pho dgu) from the
indigenous Tibetan Bonpo mythology.

The Tantra of the Play of the Goddess Uṣṇīṣā is
only included in the Kangyurs from the Tshalpa line. It is found in the Compendium of
Dhāraṇīs (gzungs ’dus) section of the Kangyurs that
have one, as the Degé does, and in the Tantra section of those Tshalpa Kangyurs that do
not. It is not found in any of the Kangyurs of the Thempangma line. The canonical
recension of this tantra, moreover, appears to be the only form in which it is extant—we
find neither a Sanskrit text nor a Chinese translation, no record of this work in
Dunhuang or in the imperial Phangthangma (’phang thang
ma) or Denkarma (ldan kar ma) catalogs, and
the tantra does not appear in any extracanonical collections.

The Dunhuang manuscript archive may, nonetheless, provide some clues that help
us understand the context of this tantra. There are several collections of dhāraṇīs
(dhāraṇīsaṃgraha, gzungs ’dus) found at Dunhuang in which the
compiled dhāraṇīs are preceded by a short version of The Threefold
Invocation Ritual (spyan ’dren rgyud gsum pa,
or just rgyud gsum pa) that includes
the invocation of a number of worldly deities and spirits to witness the ritual
recitation of dhāraṇīs. This is followed by the main collection of texts, which then
concludes with a series of closing prayers and dedications. This same tripartite
structure maps on to the Compendium of Dhāraṇīs sections found in the Kangyurs; in fact,
the versions of The Threefold Invocation Ritual in these
canonical dhāraṇī collections are precisely the same as those found at the head of such
collections from the Dunhuang archive. It is in these shared structural
features of Tibetan dhāraṇī collections that we find interesting parallels with The Tantra of the Play of the Goddess Uṣṇīṣā.

First, both The Tantra of the Play of the Goddess
Uṣṇīṣā and The Threefold Invocation Ritual are
among just a dozen works in the Compendium of Dhāraṇīs section of the Degé Kangyur that
are not additionally found elsewhere in that Kangyur. The remaining 237 texts in the
Compendium of Dhāraṇīs section are also found in either the Sūtra or Tantra sections of
the Degé Kangyur. Moreover,
the translators of The Threefold Invocation Ritual suggest
that this work may have been compiled in Tibet on the basis of Indic elements. Indeed, in the Dunhuang
archive we find a commentary on The Threefold Invocation
Ritual, IOL Tib J 711, in which, in addition to the many Indic gods and
spirits who are mentioned, there is also a short discussion of
terang spirits—a category of spirits indigenous to Tibet—in a
section of the text where the three worlds in Indic cosmology (khecara, bhūcara, and nāgaloka) are likened to the three worlds from pre-Buddhist Tibetan
cosmology: the sky, the “middling” area, and the earth (gnam, bar,
and sa). We will recall
that terang spirits from the sky, the “middling” area, and the
earth appear in The Tantra of the Play of the Goddess
Uṣṇīṣā as one of its seemingly Tibetan, rather than Indic, features. This
suggests that some of the texts included in Tibetan dhāraṇī collections may have been a
locus where Indic demonologies were merged with Tibetan demonologies. It would appear
that this is particularly true for those texts that are unique to the Tibetan canonical
dhāraṇī collections and not duplicated in other sections of the Kangyur.

While there are no known versions of The Tantra of the
Play of the Goddess Uṣṇīṣā outside of Kangyur canonical collections, the text
shares a significant portion of its content with another dhāraṇī text preserved under
two different titles: The Play of Uṣṇīṣādevī (gtsug tor lha mo rol ma; henceforth TLR) and The Dhāraṇī Called Uṣṇīṣā of the Playful Goddess Mahākālī
(lha mo nag mo chen mo rol par byed pa’i gtsug tor zhes bya
ba’i gzungs). This text is found in several extracanonical collections as well
as in the small canonical collections kept in four Western Tibetan monasteries. However,
it is not included in any of the larger Kangyur or Tengyur collections. Given the
fact that both of these two largely parallel works have limited canonical inclusion, it
may be that some redactors of canonical collections considered them to be Indic texts,
while other redactors did not.

The present English translation of The Tantra of the Play
of the Goddess Uṣṇīṣā was produced on the basis of the Degé
recension of the text, in consultation with the recension found in the Qianlong Kangyur
as well as the notes from the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur
ma) of the Kangyur. The text is stable across all of the Kangyurs consulted,
with the same title and only minor variants; all recensions are alike in lacking a
translators’ colophon. The tantra appears to have some textual problems that are likely
the result of textual corruption. As a result of this, it is sometimes difficult to
decipher. Where applicable, the parallel passages in The Dhāraṇī
Called Uṣṇīṣā of the Playful Goddess Mahākālī were consulted for clarity, but
given that that Dhāraṇī is not strictly
parallel with this tantra, emendations on the basis of that text were made sparingly, and such instances are noted in the footnotes to the translation. A number of
passages display verse segments in which one or more lines of verse have a slightly
uneven syllable count, or where an occasional line break is not shown on the page with a
shad, despite the segment being
properly metered. We have chosen to render these passages in verse despite these
anomalies, because the versified structure of the passages is nonetheless clear, and we
presume the periodic uneven syllable count and lack of shad are textual corruptions that have crept into the text over
time. Because the provenance of this text is uncertain, and because the mantras and
dhāraṇīs found herein include many non-Indic elements, we have rendered the mantra
formulas in individual syllables rather than speculatively combining them into longer
strings, even in cases where the intended Sanskrit term is clear. Finally, many of the
deities and spirits listed in this text are unknown outside the witnesses identified
above, so many of the identifications remain speculative until further resources come to
light.

The Translation

The Tantra of the Play of the Goddess Uṣṇīṣā

Homage to the
glorious self-arisen goddess!

These are the eighteen emanations: the grahī
Black Vetālī, the grahī Black Piśācī, the grahī Black Unmadā, the grahī Black Obscurer,
the grahī Black Defeater, the grahī Black Seer, the grahī Black Rākṣasī, the grahī Black
Vāyu, the grahī Black Indrāṇī, the grahī Black Revatī, the grahī Black Kumbhāṇḍī, the
grahī Black Nāginī, the grahī Black Yakṣiṇī, the grahī Black Revatī Protectress Vetālī,
the grahī Great Revatī the Lion-Faced Defeater, the grahī Great Revatī the Garuḍa-Winged
Ḍākinī, the grahī Great Revatī Who Extends One Hand, the grahī One-Toothed One-Eyed
Great Revatī, and the grahī Donkey-Riding Great Revatī.

There are also the additional emanations, the thirteen Ladies of the Tent who
are great heart emanations: the grahī Ruler of the First Tent, the grahī Ruler of the Second Tent, the grahī Ruler of the Third Tent, the grahī
Ruler of the Fourth Tent, the grahī Ruler of the Fifth Tent, the grahī Ruler of the
Sixth Tent, the grahī Ruler of the Seventh Tent, the grahī Ruler of the Eighth Tent, the
grahī Ruler of the Ninth Tent, the grahī Ruler of the Tenth Tent, the grahī Ruler of the Eleventh Tent, the
grahī Ruler of the Twelfth Tent, and the grahī Ruler of the Thirteenth Tent.

There are the re-emanations emanated by the heart emanations: the Ruler of
Epidemics, the Ruler of Strife, the Ruler of All Mārā Armies, the Ruler of Illness and
Fever, the Ruler of Headaches, the Ruler of Mouth Disease, the Ruler of Blood and Throat
Disease, the Ruler of Heart Disease, the Ruler of Internal Illness, the Ruler of Painful
Larynx Diseases, the Ruler of Painful Thigh Diseases, the Ruler of Painful Calf
Diseases, the Ruler of Ulcers, the Ruler of Wasting Diseases, the Ruler of Bladder
Disease, the Ruler of Skin Diseases, the Ruler of Painful Limb Diseases, the Ruler of
Rashes, the Ruler of Pox, the Ruler of Burning Itch, the Ruler of Abscesses, the Ruler
of Toxic Potions, the Ruler of Poison-Derived Diseases, the Ruler of
Dysentery, the Ruler of Stomach Illness, the Ruler of Plague, the Ruler of Latent Brain
Disease, and the rest.

Know that the rulers of the four-hundred forty-four types of illnesses are
emanations of Ekajaṭī. Eliminate them all with the vidyāmantra blessed by the true vidyāmantra.
Stab with the dagger that violently repels.

Eliminate a harmful graha by reciting the vidyāmantra of Black Vetālī Rākṣasī,
destroyer of the triple city. Stab with the dagger.

Eliminate a harmful graha, an insanity-causing drum-riding graha, the graha of
a dead person, and so forth with the vidyāmantra of Mule
Lady, since these are due to the grahī Unmadā. Recite the vidyāmantra and stab with the dagger.

oṁ a ka ra pra ma ni bhyaḥ phaṭ | śa
tu ma ki li ki la ya huṃ phaṭ ||

Appearing as a black woman

Who sullies the yogin’s eyes

Is the grahī Black Obscurer.

Therefore, eliminate her with the vidyāmantra of the ascetic Lekden and stab
with the dagger of the preeminent goddess Mule Lady.

sarva pra ma ni bhyaḥ phaṭ | ro ti
baṃ ki li ki la ya hūṁ phaṭ ||

If someone is afflicted by a latent brain disease or an illness where their
hands and feet are burning, this is due to the graha Black Bhūta. Therefore, eliminate
him with the vidyāmantra of the powerful Great Glorious One and stab with the dagger of
the great Mule Lady.

ja lar ye bhyaḥ phaṭ | pra ma ki li
ki la ya hūṁ drūṁ ||

If someone feels heavy or is afflicted by illness, or has an illness involving
dullness, sleepiness, or forgetfulness, this is due to the grahī Black Defeater. Therefore,
eliminate her with the vidyāmantra of the Victory Bringer and stab with the dagger of
Madhukara.

ru tra ya na vyi śa bhyaḥ phaṭ | ka
pa la ki li ki la ya phaṭ ||

If nothing that one does ever works out and one’s actions do not achieve their
desired ends, this is due to the grahī Majestic Seer. Therefore eliminate her with the
vidyāmantra of Skull Holder and stab with the dagger of Naked Mendicant.

ca ya ma me bhyaḥ phaṭ | ro ti pa ma
ki li ki la ya hūṁ drūṁ ||

If the yogin is afflicted by an illness that causes his mind to be unstable,
unsteady, and emotional, this is due to the grahī Black Rākṣasī. Therefore, eliminate her
with the vidyāmantra of Vajrapāṇi and stab with the dagger of the protector Indra.

An illness that involves increased wind is due to the grahī Black Vāyu.
Therefore, eliminate her with the vidyāmantra of the Seven Mothers and stab with the
dagger of the Four Sisters.

ha sa ya ni ra re bhyaḥ phaṭ | du ya
ka sa ya ni ki li ki la ya hūṁ drūṁ ||

If someone is afflicted by an illness that makes them angry, furious,
talkative, and enraged, and their arms and legs move or cramp a lot, this is due to the grahī Black Indrāṇī.
Therefore, eliminate her with the vidyāmantra of the preeminent Indra and stab with the
wrathful dagger of the Wrathful One from the family.

de va lo yā bhyaḥ phaṭ | de va ki li
ki li ya hūṁ drūṁ ||

Being unable to sleep in the middle of the night,

The occurrence of powerful sorcery,

And bees appearing as pigs

Are due to the grahī Black Revatī.

Therefore, eliminate her with the vidyāmantra of the preeminent Great Glorious One

And stab with the dagger of the Wrathful One from the family.

de va ki li ki la yā bhyaḥ phaṭ | de
va dra ti ki li ki la ya hūṁ hūṁ ||

If one is afflicted by an illness where their limbs are burning and painful,
or if one has little appetite and feels nauseous, this is due to the grahī Black Yamā.
Therefore, eliminate her with the vidyāmantra of Mañjuśrī Yamāntaka and stab with the
dagger of the Splendorous Invincible One.

ya ma rā ja hriḥ ṣṭi bi kri kri nad
ma hā hūṁ drūṁ | ca ya raṃ ba ni ki li ki la ya bhyaḥ phaṭ ||

When half the body becomes withered or paralyzed,

When crippled, when the body is bruised and tender,

Or the eyes turn dark and itchy,

This is leprosy caused by sorcery

And is due to the grahī Black Nāgiṇī.

Therefore, eliminate her with the vidyāmantra of Garuḍa He

And stab with the dagger of the Old Seer.

nā ga le ya hūṁ hūṁ | ca ya ka bhyaḥ
phaṭ ||

If someone is afflicted by an illness that causes their mind to feel unstable
and vacuous, to feel pressure on their torso, experience a sense of futility, or feel as
if their teeth are falling out, this is due to the grahī Black Yakṣiṇī. Therefore,
eliminate her with the vidyāmantra of Vaiśravaṇa and stab with the dagger of the
Emanatress.

ti ti ma ye bhyaḥ phaṭ | ku ku rā ja
ye hūṁ drūṁ ||

If someone is afflicted with skin disease, rashes, and their body itches, this
is due to the grahī Black Revatī Protectress Vetālī. Therefore, eliminate her with the
vidyāmantra of unimpeded Yama and stab with the dagger of the Red Lady of Desire.

va ren he ya hūṁ hūṁ | ku ma la gur
dang bhyaḥ phaṭ ||

If someone is afflicted by an illness of the blood, feels heavy, cannot see
far, or has an unstable and vacuous mind, this is due to the grahī Garuḍa-Winged Revatī.
Therefore, eliminate her with the vidyāmantra of the powerful Great Glorious One and
stab with the dagger of blazing wrathful Hūṁchen.

du ya kula hūṁ phaṭ | ma ma ku du ye
bhyaḥ phaṭ ||

If someone is afflicted by an illness that cripples their right arm or causes rib pain, this is
due to the grahī Revatī Who Extends One Hand. Therefore, eliminate her with the
vidyāmantra of Expanse of Wrath and stab with the dagger of the Powerful Red Lady.

ma ma ri haya hūṁ hūṁ | ka pa la ya
he bhyaḥ phaṭ ||

If someone feels intoxicated, hemorrhages blood, and sees all sorts of forms
appear before their eyes, this is due to the grahī One-Toothed One-Eyed Revatī.
Therefore, eliminate her with the counteractive vidyāmantra of Lekden and stab with the
dagger of the Principal Ascetic.

rākṣa se hūṁ drūṁ | rākṣa laṁ ki la
ye bhyaḥ phaṭ ||

As for the twelve grahīs of the lesser demons—

Inside a white silken tent

Is the magical emanation of the sovereign woman

Arisen from the White Inauspicious Lady,

The powerful lady ornamented with gold and turquoise,

The grahī Wisdom Samantabhadrī.

Eliminate untimely rain, strife, frost, and hail caused by sorcery with the
dharmadhātu vidyāmantra and stab with the dagger of samādhi.

ni dhar ma dhā tu sa ma ya hūṁ druṁ |
ka ma la ca ga ye sa ma ye bhyaḥ phaṭ ||

The Lady who rules the second turquoise tent

Is the great and powerful Dark Blue Lady.

Riding an ox, mule, or horse.

She brings disaster upon worldly yogas.

Eliminate her with the vidyāmantra of the great and powerful Lady and stab
with the dagger of the great all-pervasive Lady.

a ra li bhyaḥ phaṭ | ra du hūṁ
druṁ ||

The Lady who rules the third coral tent

Is the ruler of the heart inside the tent.

Eliminate her with the offering vidyāmantra of the yellow tent and stab with
the dagger of the Principal Ascetic.

tiṣṭa tiṣṭa ni bhyaḥ phaṭ | va pā ma
hūṁ drūṁ ||

The Lady who rules the fourth golden tent rules over all illnesses of the
throat and ulcers. Eliminate her with the vidyāmantra of Mañjuśrī Roten and stab with the dagger of the Splendorous
Invincible One.

ro ro baṁ hūṃ druṃ | ku ku ye bhyaḥ
phaṭ ||

The Lady who rules the fifth dark blue tent

Is the rending spike woman.

Eliminate bladder and internal diseases,

Blood diseases, and abscesses

With the vidyāmantra of playful Yama,

And stab with the dagger of the Playful Invincible One.

ya go le hūṁ drūṁ | phra do phra ye
bhyaḥ phaṭ ||

The Lady who rules the sixth tent of the inconceivably large field

Is the goddess of symptoms such as

Vomiting blood from the mouth,

The feeling of fever in the body,

And contraction of the limbs.

Eliminate her with the vidyāmantra of compassionate Yama and stab with the
dagger of attachment-inducing Yama.

ca ga ya baṁ bhyaḥ phaṭ | gur la de
hūṁ drūṁ ||

Inside the seventh oxen-hair tent

Is the Mother who strikes those who speak falsely.

She inflicts illness where blood comes from the mouth,

Kindles fever in the body like a great fire,

And acts while brandishing a copper knife.

Eliminate her with the vidyāmantra of Blazing Great Garuḍa

And stab with the dagger of the Eliminator of Poison.

da he ya ya hūṁ dṛūṁ | me ca ye bhyaḥ
phaṭ ||

Inside the eighth elephant tent,

The woman who rides a mule

Rules over ulcers and lung and foot diseases.

Eliminate her with the heart vidyāmantra of Yama

And stab with the dagger of Powerful Blazing Lady.

ca kra ki li ki la ye bhyaḥ phaṭ | ā
ko laṁ hūṁ drūṁ ||

Inside the multicolored ninth leather tent—

Are the nine preeminent Dabren
Medicine Ladies,

Who cause hail, frost, spell-caused illness,

Personal ruin, house collapse,

Swelling, nasal irritation,

And illnesses of the nine black ones.

Therefore, eliminate them with the vidyāmantra of the preeminent Lady of the Expanse

And stab with the dagger of the Conqueror of Saṃsāra.

ku ma la ya hūṁ drūṁ | śa ma ma ye
bhyaḥ phaṭ ||

Inside the dark blue tenth tent—

Are the ten Rulers of the Tent,

Who cause leprosy and itchy lesions,

Make poison, cause conflict,

And kill with knives.

Eliminate them with the vidyāmantra of wrathful Yaśodharā

And stab with the dagger of the All-Pervasive Mother.

a ko śa me ra ra hūṁ drūṁ | pra du le
bhyaḥ phaṭ ||

Inside the eleventh tent of the secret lotus—

Is the powerful eleventh tent-ruling Lady.

A great all-pervasive lady, powerful in form,

She obstructs the passage of rainfall in the world by means of the planets

And does not grant rainfall.

Eliminate her with the vidyāmantra of Great Glorious Expanse

And stab with the dagger of beautiful Gāndhārī.

a ko muna bhyaḥ phaṭ | ca ye ma hūṁ
drūṁ ||

Inside the camphor crystal twelfth tent—

Is the mother of space, the sole mother Mukhale.

The twelve and the fourteen are complete in you.

In order to heal all beings everywhere

You reside in the essence of nectar.

You hold the heart-stalk of knowledge in your hand

And illuminate all of existence in a single moment.

Within the heart-maṇḍala of blazing clarity, the four māras śantiṃ ku ru svā hā ||

The gongpo yak of the mountain peak
śāntiṃ ku ru svā hā ||

The twelve male māras śāntiṃ ku ru svā hā ||

The thirteen female mārās śāntiṃ ku ru svā
hā ||

The Lord of Order who Carries a White Staff śāntiṃ ku ru
svā hā ||

White Sky Terang śāntiṃ ku ru svā hā ||

Colorful Terang of Intermediate Space śāntiṃ ku ru svā
hā ||

Black Earth Terang śāntiṃ ku ru svā hā ||

Red grahas, tsen, and red gongpo in the northeastern direction śāntiṃ ku ru svā hā ||

Lady who Rules Epidemic and Illness śāntiṃ ku ru svā
hā ||

Medicinal and local deities
śāntiṃ ku ru svā hā ||

If someone clearly reads aloud three times this fundamentally beneficial
dhāraṇī-sūtra of the Glorious Black Goddess Uṣṇīṣa that averts grahas and swears to
perform a difficult action, they will achieve whatever they wish. If one makes five
oblations inside a leather cup and performs the ritual according to the text, then they
will achieve whatever they wish.

If someone properly upholds this graha-averting ritual for the glorious
goddess Uṣṇīṣa, recites it again and again, follows the ritual correctly, and carries
oblations to a great river or the top of a high mountain, then when engaged in a great
conflict they will be victorious in battle. When performing hostile rites, direct this
toward the heart of the enemy. If this is directed to the Rulers of the Nine Tents, the
enemy will be defeated and destroyed.

This completes “The Glorious Tantra of the Play of
the Goddess Uṣṇīṣā.”

Notes

Abbreviations

C
Choné

D
Degé

J
Lithang

K
Peking 1684/1692

Y
Yongle

TLR

Bibliography

Source Texts

Other Sources

Secondary Sources