Toh 665, Toh 1084 — The Heart Mantra of Gaṇapati
Gaṇapatihṛdaya
Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
The Noble Heart Mantra of Gaṇapati
F.192.bF.251.a Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas.
Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One F.251.b was dwelling at Rājagṛha on Vulture Peak Mountain with a great saṅgha of one thousand two hundred fifty monks as well as bodhisattvas who were all great beings. The Blessed One told venerable Ānanda, “Ānanda, when beings uphold the following heart mantra[1] of Gaṇapati, Lord of the Gaṇas, all their endeavors will succeed.[2] By upholding it, they will accomplish their goal and all their mantras will be effective.
tadyathā | namo ’stu te[3] mahāgaṇapataye svāhā |
oṃ kaṭa kaṭa maṭa maṭa dara dara vidara vidara hana hana gṛhṇa gṛhṇa dhāva dhāva bhañja bhañja stambha stambha jambha jambha moha moha dehi dehi dāpaya dāpaya dhādhānyaṃ siddhiṃ me prayaccha | | F.193.asamayam anusmara mahārudravacanīye svāhā |
oṃ kuru kuru svāhā |
oṃ turu turu[4]svāhā |
oṃ muru muru svāhā |
oṃ pāpaśāntivasupuṣṭiṃ kuru svāhā |
amṛta[5]bindukṣubhitacittamahāvidāraḥ samāgacchati mahābhaya mahābala mahāparākrama[6]mahāhasti mahādakṣiṇāya[7]pravedayāmi[8]svāhā |
tadyathā oṃ kuru kuru curu curu muru muru |
oṃ gaḥ gaḥ gaḥ gaḥ gaḥ gaḥ gaḥ gaḥ |
oṃ namo namaḥ svāhā |[9]
“Ānanda, if any sons of good family, daughters of good family, monks, nuns, male lay practitioners, or female lay practitioners, who write down this heart mantra of Gaṇapati, Lord of the Gaṇas, and perform the mantra practice, travel to another country to make offerings to the Three Jewels, or travel to a king’s court,[10] they should read this Gaṇapati heart mantra while making offerings to the blessed buddhas with flowers and incense, and all their endeavors will succeed—let there be no doubt! If they recollect it when they are in the midst of all manner of fighting, arguing, strife, and regional conflict, it will all be pacified. If they recite it every morning F.252.a when they get up, they will retain what they have learned. It will expel yakṣas, rākṣasas, and ḍākinīs, and these will no longer steal their vital energy.”
When the Blessed One said this, the entire retinue and the world with its gods, humans, asuras, and gandharvas rejoiced and praised what the Blessed One had said.
This concludes “The Noble Heart Mantra of Gaṇapati.”Notes
Following Toh 665 and Toh 1084: tshogs kyi bdag po tshogs kyi dbang phyug gi snying po, and S: tshogs kyi bdag po/ tshogs kyi dbang phyug gi snying po, where the term “heart mantra” (snying po) is rendered in the singular case. Iwamoto: imāni gaṇapatihṛdayāni, may be preferable, however, because it declines the term “heart mantra” in the plural (Skt. hṛḍayāni), and the passage that follows this introduction does in fact consist of a series of individual mantras.
backThis translation of the phrase las thams cad has been left broad enough here to include any activity, but in most cases this statement primarily refers to las/karma in its more technical sense as “ritual action.”
backFollowing Iwamoto: namo ’stu te, which includes the avagraha that is missing in the Tibetan witnesses.
backFollowing Toh 1084: tu ru tu ru. Toh 665 and S: su ru su ru. The Sanskrit of the heart mantra in Iwamoto reflects the transmission of a different textual tradition, but it is worth noting that Iwamoto arranges three similar lines of mantra as oṃ suru suru svāhā | oṃ turu turu svāhā | oṃ muru muru svāhā |.
backThe readings in Toh 665 and Toh 1084, oM ang+gu ta; the readings in N, H, and S, oM a b+hu ta; and the reading in Iwamoto, oṃ adbhuta, are amended here to reflect the reading *amṛtabindu. The readings adbhuta and aṅguta in the Tibetan witnesses and in Iwamoto are likely corruptions of the term amṛta, as the orthographies for this term in the Sanskrit sources could easily have been misread as either of these two options.
backFollowing N, H, and S: ma hA pa rA kra ma, which is supported in Iwamoto: mahāparākramāya. Toh 665 and Toh 1084: ma ha pa ra kra ma.
backFollowing H, S: ma hA dak+Shi NA ya. Toh 665 and Toh 1084: ma hA dak+Shi Ni ya. Iwamoto: mahāhastidhakṣiṇāya.
backThe transliteration of the verb in Toh 665 and Toh 1084, pra ci da ya mi, has been corrected from pra+√cid to pra+√vid and the spelling has been amended to reflect the correct causative form.
backThe following is a tentative English translation of The Heart Mantra of Gaṇapati:
Homage to Great Gaṇapati svāhāOṃ surround surround(?); intoxicate intoxicate(?); split split; cleave cleave; strike strike; seize seize; advance advance; rout rout; paralyze paralyze; crush crush; stupefy stupefy; give give; make them give make them give money and grain. Grant me siddhi. Remember the samaya! To the great Rudravacana, svāhāOṃ do it do it svāhāOṃ hurry hurry svāhāOṃ kill kill(?) svāhāOṃ pacify misdeeds and increase wealth svāhāApproach, great destroyer whose mind is stimulated by the ambrosial drops. Great Fearless One, Great Powerful One, Great Attacker, Great Elephant, I address this to you Great Clever One svāhābackOṃ do it, do it; take take(?); kill kill(?)Oṃ gaḥ gaḥ gaḥ gaḥ gaḥ gaḥ gaḥ gaḥOṃ svāhāFollowing Toh 665 and Toh 1084: gsang sngags sgrub pa/ dkon mchog gsum mchod du yul gzhan du ’gro’am/ rgyal po’i pho brang ’khor du ’jug na. S, N, H: gsang sngags bsgrubs pas/ dkon mchog gsum mchod du yul gzhan du ’gro’am/ rgyal po’i pho brang ’khor du ’jug na. Iwamoto: yaḥ kaścit kāryaṃ ālabhate mantrasādhanaṃ vā triratnapūjāṃ vā deśāntaragamanaṃ vā rājakulagamanaṃ vā. The alternative readings noted here are equally plausible. The reading in the Stok Palace, Narthang, and Lhasa Kangyurs translates, “[i]f any ... writes down this heart mantra of Gaṇapati, Lord of the Gaṇas, and has accomplished the mantra practice should travel to another country to make offerings to the Three Jewels or travel to a king’s court.” The Sanskrit witness in Iwamoto’s edition translates as “who endeavors to perform the mantra practice, make offerings to the Three Jewels, travel to another country, or go to a king’s court.”
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