Toh 613, Toh 989 — The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā
Cundādevīdhāraṇī
The Noble Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā
F.46.bF.143.a Homage to the Three Jewels.
Homage to the blessed, thus-gone, worthy, perfectly awakened buddha Vairocana.
Homage to you, blessed Goddess Cundā, who has immeasurable power and strength, has magical powers and tramples enemies, and is celebrated and praised by all the thus-gone ones. Please bring me good fortune in every way and at all times.
namaḥ saptānāṃ samyaksambuddhakoṭīnāṃ | tadyathā |
oṁ cale cule cunde svāhā
Diligent one with pristine discipline. Great powerful one. Great conqueror of enemies. In your hands you hold a sword, a battle axe, a hook, F.47.a and a noose. Great wrathful one. Queen of the great wrathful ones. Goddess with a fierce form,[1] Anantā’s face, and one-thousand arms. Invincible one whom no enemy can withstand. Unfailing one, who is so difficult to tame. Goddess with a thousand eyes who is blessed by all the thus-gone ones. Goddess whom all gods venerate, and to whom they all make offerings. Goddess whose nails are vajras, who is a vajra filled with vajras,[2] and who is armed with vajras. F.143.b Goddess with a vajra body, vajra fists, and wrathful vajra eyes that dart about.[3] Fierce one who transforms into and displays a fierce form, and whose body is adorned with vajra and beryl ornaments.
oṁ bhagavati cunde hūṁ hūṁ krūṁ krūṁ mrūṁ mrūṁ sruṁ sruṁ rūṃ rūṃ āveśaya gṛhṇa gṛhṇa gṛhṇāpaya gṛhṇāpaya hara hara bhañja bhañja sara sara mara mara māraya māraya paca paca daha daha gṛhṇa gṛhṇa—all manner of hostile grahas; one, two, three, four, and seven-day fevers; persistent and momentary fevers;[4] bhūta, vetāla, preta, piśāca, yakṣa, rākṣasa, and kumbhāṇḍa grahas;[5] beings who are born from a womb; beings who are born, transmigrate, and abide in a particular realm due to karma; any hostile beings who might harm me; and all manner of evil beings—saṃdhaya saṃdhaya mardaya mardaya śoṣaya śoṣaya tāpaya tāpaya utsādhaya utsādhaya hana hana vajreṇa sara sara daṇḍena māraya māraya khaḍgena[6] hūṁ hūṁ hūṁ cūṃ cūṃ cūṃ drūṃ drūṃ drūṃ oṁ cale cule cunde sarvārthasādhaya svāhā
May the blessing and power of the blessed noble Goddess Cundā protect me from all harm and bring me good fortune svāhā.
This concludes “The Noble Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā.”Notes
All Tibetan witnesses consulted for this translation read: drag po’i gzugs can ma. This phrase appears as the name of a goddess in The Hevajra Tantra, where it corresponds to the Sanskrit raudrarūpiṇī.
backStok, Toh 613, and Toh 989 read: rdo rje rdo rjes ’dren ma. The Yongle and Kanxi Peking Kangyurs read: rdo rje rdo rje ’dren ma. This translation is tentative. The word ’dren ma is an old Tibetan term meaning “mixture” or “variety” that is related to the more common ’dres pa, and, following Negi, understood as corresponding to the Sanskrit saṃkīrṇa or kalmāṣa. The Tibetan ’dren ma as a translation of the Sanskrit nāyikā, referring to Cundā as the “leader” or “principal deity” is also possible, but this reading leaves the phrase rdo rje rdo rjes somewhat difficult to resolve.
backFollowing Stok, Toh 613, and Toh 989: rdo rje’i spyan gdangs pa’i stang stabs can ma. This translation is tentative.
backAll Tibetan witnesses consulted for this translation read: rtag pa’i rims dang / yud tsam pa dang. This translation is tentative. The Tibetan term for “fever” (rims) does not actually occur here, but the proximity of the term yud tsam pa to the Tibetan for “persistent fever” (rtag pa’i rims) suggests that these two should be read in juxtaposition. It is possible, however, that the term yud tsam pa (Skt. *muhūrta) should be included with the list of demonic and disease-causing beings (Skt. grahas), as is indicated in the Tibetan translation. However, it is not at all clear that the term yud tsam pa (Skt. muhūrta) can be read in this case as a noun referring to a specific class of demonic beings.
backAll Tibetan witnesses consulted for this translation read: ’byung po dang / ro langs dang / yi dags dang / sha za dang / gnod sbyin dang / srin po dang / grul bum gyi gdon dang. The term graha has been distributed to all of the members of this list, but it is possible that it only applies to the final member, the kumbhāṇḍa graha.
backAll Tibetan witnesses consulted for this translation read: kha k+ke na. The reading in this translation amends the transliteration in the Tibetan to the proper form for the Sanskrit term for “sword” (Skt. khaḍga), which the text has already told us is one of the weapons that Cundā holds in her hands.
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