Toh 576, Toh 932 — The Dhāraṇī of “The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines”

Notes

1. Tatakaragupta has sunidharme.

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2. Here we prefer the reading of the Sanskrit in Mañjukīrti and Tatakaragupta against the Tibetan’s sārānu­graha­dharme.

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3. This is Mañjukīrti’s and Abhayākaragupta’s version; Tatakaragupta has vaiśravaṇadharme parivartita­dharme. The Tibetan reads vaiśravaṇa­parivartana­dharme.

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4. This is the reading of Mañjukīrti and Tatakaragupta. The Tibetan reads sarvakāryaparipramaṇadharme.

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5. This is Mañjukīrti’s version; Tatakaragupta has samatānu­parivartita­dharma. The Tibetan reads samantānu­parivartani­dharme (in the Tantra version) or samantānu­parivartana­dharme (in the Compendium of Dhāraṇīs version). Abhayākaragupta’s text transmits yet another reading: samatāpari­vartita­dharme.

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6. Up to here, a very similar dhāraṇī is transmitted in The Perfection of Wisdom “Kauśika” (Kauśika­prajñā­pāramitā, Toh 19), #UT22084-034-007-113.

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7. Tatakaragupta’s version adds mahādharme.

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8. This is Mañjukīrti’s version and the reading in item 8 in the Dhāraṇī­saṃgraha (see #UT22084-090-020-41), which do not transmit °mati° after °smṛti° as the Tibetan versions do. Tatakaragupta reads śrutismṛti­vimativijaye. We adopt the former reading, since it is the one attested by our best sources and several parallels. The second version of the Dhāraṇī­saṃgraha has °gati° instead of °mati° or °vimati°. The Tibetan also inserts a svāhā after this compound, but this reading is not attested in good Sanskrit sources either.

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9. The Tibetan reads dhīḥ dhāraṇī. Tatakaragupta’s manuscript has dhīḥ dhāriṇīye as a marginal addition.

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10. This sentence is not attested in any of the Sanskrit sources, with the exception of Tatakaragupta, which itself is not a perfect match, as it reads oṃ prajñā­vardhani svāhā. A tentative translation of the dhāraṇī is as follows: “It is thus, Oṁ O One with the Dharma (or “with the Characteristic”) of the Sages, O One with the Dharma of Friendly Disposition, O One with the Dharma of Favor, O One with the Dharma of Liberation, O One with the Dharma of Constant Favor, O One with the Dharma Set in Motion by Vaiśravaṇa, O One with the Dharma of Accomplishing All Activities, O One with the Dharma Set in Motion in Accordance with Nirvāṇa (or “Sameness,” if we read samatā°) svāhā. Oṁ O Wisdom, O One Victorious in/by Study and Recollection, O One Upholding Knowledge svāhā. Oṁ O One with the Power of the Perfection of Wisdom (or understood as feminine if we accept a correction to °bale) svāhā.”

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11. The Sanskrit sources end the text here. Instead of what we translate here as “to uphold” to capture the ambiguity of the original, Tatakaragupta is more explicit when he replaces the verb with kaṇṭhasthīkṛ (“to place it in one’s throat”), which is the Sanskrit idiom for “to learn by heart.” He also spells out the benefit as the “meritorious karmic fruit” (puṇyaphala) of memorizing the parent text. This sentence is then followed by a fascinating short discussion, which merits quoting in full: “Surely, this is an exaggeration! No, one should not say this. For countless thus-gone ones have empowered this dhāraṇī to serve as a method for gaining the equipment of merit for women, immature people, and simpletons, as well as for learned people whose minds are confused, just like the pole of a snake charmer[, which is prepared by the expert snake charmer to be effective even when he is no longer present,] for removing poison; however, it is not a method for gaining the knowledge conveyed by The [Perfection of Wisdom in] One Hundred Thousand Lines. This should be understood to apply in other cases [i.e., where the text is abbreviated into a dhāraṇī] as well” (nanv atyuktir eveti. na caitad vaktavyam. yataḥ strībāla­mūrkhān paryākulitamatīn paṇḍitān praty api puṇya­saṃbhāra­sādhana­tvenāsaṃkhyeya­tathāgatair adhiṣṭhiteyaṃ dhāriṇī, yathā viṣaharatvena gāruḍikaṃ stambhaḥ; na tu lakṣāpratipādita­jñāna­sādhanatvena. evam anyatrāpi boddhavyaḥ).

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