Toh 740The Noble “Sūtra of Mahāśrī”

Summary

The Sūtra of Mahāśrī is a short sūtra
revealed to Avalokiteśvara in the pure land of Sukhāvatī. In essence, it is a
dhāraṇī centered on twelve epithets of the goddess of wealth and a short ritual
instruction concerning its recitation. The spell is said to provide protection,
wealth, and good social standing.

Acknowledgements

The text was translated from Tibetan by the Buddhapīṭha Translation Group
(Gergely Hidas and Péter-Dániel Szántó).

The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of
84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. Andreas Doctor edited the
translation and the introduction, and Laura Goetz copyedited the text. Martina
Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.

Introduction

The Sūtra of Mahāśrī is a short sūtra
revealed to Avalokiteśvara in the pure land of Sukhāvatī. In essence, it is
a dhāraṇī centered on twelve epithets of the goddess of wealth and a short
ritual instruction concerning its recitation. Lists of the epithets of a
deity are a common type of dhāraṇī, and such texts can sometimes be very
long (for example, Reciting the Names of
Mañjuśrī). This text can be said to be an alternative version of The Twelve Names of the Goddess Śrī, from which it
differs in only minor details. One significant difference, however, is that
in that text the ritual instruction is not provided.

Mahāśrī, or simply Śrī, or commonly Lakṣmī, is a goddess who is
perhaps more prevalent in the brahmanical tradition, where she is said to be
the great god Viṣṇu’s consort. She is associated with well-being and
prosperity. Here her names constitute the inner core of the dhāraṇī, which
is then accompanied by a short ritual instruction about how to recite it.
The spell is promised to provide protection, wealth, and good social
standing.

The text is not present under this title in the imperial-period
catalogs, but its sibling text is. The colophon of the Tibetan translation
of this text attributes it to the famous translator-duo Jinamitra and Yeshé
Dé, dating it to sometime in the early ninth century. While the two texts
are nearly identical, we may observe that name-epithets in particular were
translated somewhat differently.

This translation was made principally on the basis of the Tibetan
translations of the text found in the Tantra Collection (rgyud ’bum) and the Compendium of Dhāraṇīs
(gzungs ’dus) in the Degé Kangyur in consultation with the Stok Palace Kangyur and
the various witnesses of the sibling text, The Twelve
Names of the Goddess Śrī.

The Translation

The Noble

Sūtra of Mahāśrī

Homage to all the buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was residing in
Sukhāvatī. Then the bodhisattva mahāsattva, the noble Avalokiteśvara, set
out to where the Blessed One was residing. Having arrived, he bowed his head
to the feet of the Blessed One, circumambulated the Blessed One thrice, and
sat down on one side.

Then the Blessed One looked at Mahāśrī and said this to the noble
Avalokiteśvara: “Whosoever, including monks and nuns, laymen and laywomen,
gets to know, upholds, recites, writes down, or commissions to have written
down these twelve names of Mahāśrī will escape destitution and become
wealthy.”

Then the entire host of spirits
said, “May it be so!”

Then the Blessed One spoke the twelve names of Mahāśrī: “It is
thus—Splendor, Welfare, She Who Is Wearing a Garland of Lotuses, Mistress of
Wealth, White One, She of Great Fame, Lotus-Eyed One, She of Great Radiance,
She Who Accomplishes, Bestower of Nourishment, She of Jewel-Like Gleam,
Great Splendor.

“One should recite this three times. Whosoever recites it at the
three junctures of the day will have all their adversities destroyed and
will become fortunate and of inexhaustible wealth. If one recites
this before going out to meet other people, those people will think of one
as their son, they will be pleased, and they will do whatever one instructs.
If one recites continuously, Brahmā and brahmins may perform aggressive
rituals, but one will not be harmed; rather, it will be as if one had
performed service to many buddhas.”

Thus spoke the Blessed One, and the bodhisattva, the noble
Avalokiteśvara, was gladdened and praised the speech of the Blessed One.

Here ends the noble “Sūtra of
Mahāśrī.”

Colophon

This was translated, checked, and redacted by the Indian preceptor
Jinamitra and the great editor-translator Bandé Yeshé Dé.

Notes

Bibliography

Tibetan Sources

Secondary Sources

laymen

laywomen