Toh 577, Toh 933 — The Dhāraṇī of “The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines”

Notes

1. We adopted the reading of the Kauśika here, as the Tibetan prajñāprajñe did not seem satisfactory.

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2. Our conjectured reading for the Tibetan prajñāvalokati. The Kauśika has prajñālokakāri.

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3. Small corrections have been applied to this reading. The Tibetan has sarvadharmāndhakarabhidhamani (Degé Tantra version) or sarvadharmāndhakāravidhamani (Degé Compendium of Dhāraṇīs version). The Kauśika has ajñānavidhamane.

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4. The Kauśika has sidhyamane, which seems to be corrupt.

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5. A small correction to the Tibetan reading sarvajñānasandhari. The Kauśika has sarvāṅga­sundari (“beautiful in all limbs”). It is not inconceivable that the Tibetan reading is a distant corruption of this version.

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6. Our conjecture for the Tibetan bhagavati vadchela/vacchela. The Kauśika has bhaktivatsale (perhaps bhaktavatsale, “loving to the devoted”?). It is not inconceivable that the Tibetan reading is a distant corruption of this version.

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7. Our conjectured reading for the Tibetan prasaradhehasta, which is nonsensical. The Kauśika has a slightly better but still not satisfactory prasārahaste.

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8. The Kauśika has sidhya sidhya budhya budhya instead; this is possibly the better reading.

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9. A tentative translation of the dhāraṇī is as follows: “It is thus—Oṁ O Wisdom, O Great Wisdom, O One with the Splendor of Wisdom, O One Seen with Wisdom (or, according to the Kauśika version, “O One Who Produces the Light of Wisdom”), O One Who Destroys All Obscurations of the Dharma, O Accomplished One, O Well-Accomplished One, may I succeed. O Splendid One, O One Who Upholds All Knowledge, O Blessed Lady, O Kind One, O One with an Extended Hand, be an accomplisher of good for me. Succeed, succeed, awakened, awakened (or, according to the Kauśika, “awaken, awaken”), shake, shake (or “be compassionate”), protect, protect, uphold, uphold, cover, cover, roar, roar, come, come, O Blessed Lady, do not delay svāhā.”

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10. Instead of what we translate here as “to uphold” in order to capture the ambiguity of the original, Tatakaragupta, when discussing a similar dhāraṇī said to encapsulate The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines (see The Dhāraṇī of “The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines,” Toh 576/932), 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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