Toh 596Đà-la-ni Uṣṇīṣavijayā cùng Nghi Quỹ — Toh 596

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 short rite 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 explains the benefits of reciting
the dhāraṇī for oneself, as well as for animals, as a method for purification and for
cutting off lower rebirths.

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 shortest 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 is made up of content
that is entirely parallel—even if some of it appears abbreviated and rearranged—with the
longer Toh 594.

There are many Sanskrit witnesses of the uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī proper. Moreover, 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
) survives in at least one incomplete early
manuscript. While the present 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
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 (Toh 597) also appears in several Dunhuang manuscripts. Moreover, several
drawings from Dunhuang show maṇḍala (altar) arrangements corresponding to uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī texts.

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 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 not included 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 versions 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 of content that is almost entirely 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 Bari Lotsāwa, 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 translator’s
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,
595, 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
looked out at the circle of his retinue and said to Noble Avalokiteśvara, “Alas,
bodhisattva great beings and sons and daughters 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 |
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 | samantān mocaya mocaya |
samantaraśmipariśuddhe | sarvatathāgatahṛdayādhiṣṭhānādhiṣṭhite | mudre mudre
mahāmudre | mahāmudrāmantrapadaiḥ svāhā.

“Write down this dhāraṇī called the crown victory, which
purifies all evil deeds and obscurations and eliminates all lower rebirths, and place it
at the summit of the life-pillar of a caitya. If one bathes and recites this dhāraṇī
eight thousand times on the full moon day, one’s life force that has been exhausted will
instead be replenished. One will be swiftly freed from lower rebirths, one’s
obscurations will be purified, and one will thus attain unsurpassed awakening.

“If animals hear this dhāraṇī, this will be their final lower rebirth. Until
they attain awakening, they will be born into kṣatriya, brahmin, merchant, and
householder families as prominent as the great sāl tree.

“If someone is touched by the shadow of that caitya, or even if they are
touched by a particle of dust from it, they will not take lower rebirths.”

This concludes “The Uṣṇīṣavijayā Dhāraṇī with Its
Ritual Manual.”

Notes

Bibliography

Source Texts for This Translation

Other Tibetan and Sanskrit Sources

Secondary Sources