Toh 704, Toh 912 — The Dhāraṇī of Siṃhanāda
The Dhāraṇī of Siṃhanāda
The Dhāraṇī of Siṃhanāda’s Promise
F.242.a Homage to Mañjuśrī.[1]
namo ratnatrayāya | nama āryāvalokiteśvarāya bodhisattvāya mahāsattvāya mahākāruṇikāya | tadyathā | oṃ akaṭe vikaṭe nikaṭe F.242.bkaṭaṃkaṭe karoṭe[2] karoṭavīrye svāhā ||
In front of the Blessed One, make eight individual maṇḍalas out of cow dung that has not fallen to the ground. Recite this thirteen times at each maṇḍala, then incant the resulting[3] dung with the mantra. When it is smeared on a sick person, all illnesses will be cured.
If this is not successful after seven, thirteen, or twenty-one days, even for someone who has carried out the five deeds of immediate retribution, then I[4] myself will have carried out the five deeds of immediate retribution.[5]
This completes the “Dhāraṇī of Siṃhanāda.” This completes the “Dhāraṇī of Siṃhanāda’s Promise.”Colophon
It was translated by the Indian preceptor Vāgīśvara and Lokya Sherab Tsek.[6]F.171.b
It was translated by the Indian preceptor Vāgīśvara and the translator Lokya Sherab Tsek.[7]
Notes
This opening homage is found only in Toh 912.
backHere we follow the Narthang, Lhasa, and Stok Kangyurs, as well as the Degé recension of Toh 703, all of which read karoṭe, rather than the Degé, which reads karoṭa. This is also supported by the dhāraṇī as it is found in the Siṃhanādadhāraṇī preserved in Sanskrit in the Sādhanamālā (Bhattacharyya 1925, vol. 1, p. 52).
backlhag ma. The parallel passage from The Dhāraṇī of Avalokiteśvara Siṃhanāda (Toh 703) includes an instruction to gather the incanted dung on which the maṇḍalas were previously inscribed and then to incant the “resulting dung” (Toh 703, #UT22084-093-018-90). This also seems to be indicated in the version of the dhāraṇī published by Hidas (2021, p. 138); there this cow dung is described as pratimaṇḍalalekhitaśeṣagomaya, which could be interpreted to mean “the cow dung that remains after inscribing the individual maṇḍalas.” The implication of the Tibetan and Sanskrit seems to be that this “remaining” dung is the same dung that was first inscribed with maṇḍalas and incanted before being collected together, incanted a second time, and applied to the patient. This would make logical sense insofar as this process would infuse the dung with healing potency. This interpretation is nonetheless tentative.
backIn the section of the longer Dhāraṇī of Avalokiteśvara Siṃhanāda (Toh 703, #UT22084-093-018-90), which closely parallels this text, it is made clear that this is Avalokiteśvara Siṃhanāda’s promise. However, in that text, it is Śākyamuni who articulates Siṃhanāda’s promise to Mañjuśrī.
backThis sentence appears to have been corrupted to the point of losing sense in this recension of the text, so we have translated the sentence following the Sanskrit text from the Sādhanamālā (which has also been transmitted correctly in the Tibetan of this text translation preserved in the Tengyur) and the Tibetan translation that is preserved in the Tengyur (Toh 3156). Toh 704 and Toh 912 read: gal te nyi ma bdun nam/ bcu gsum mam/ nyi shu rtsa gcig gi grub ste mtsham med pa lnga byas pa ni ma yin no/ de ltar ma grub na bdag gis mtsham med pa lnga byas par ’gyur ro/. The Sanskrit reads: yadi saptame divase trayodaśe vā ekavimśatitame va divase pañcānantaryakāriṇo ’pi na sidhyanti tadā aham pañcānantaryakārī syām iti. Toh 3156 reads: gal te mtshams med pa lnga byas pas kyang/ nyi ma bdun pa’am bcu gsum pa’am nyi ma nyi shu rtsa gcig pa la yang ma grub na de’i tshe de nyid kyis mtsham med pa lnga byas pa yin….
backToh 912 reads “the translator Lokya Sherab Tsek” (lots+tsha ba klogs skya shes rab brtsegs).
backThe term “translator” is omitted in Toh 704.
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