The Mārīcī Dhāraṇī
Acknowledgements
Toh 988
Degé Kangyur, vol. 101 (gzungs ’dus, waM), folios 142.a–143.a
- Amoghavajra
- Bari Rinchen Drakpa
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Table of Contents
Summary
The Mārīcī Dhāraṇī opens at Prince Jeta’s Grove in Śrāvastī, where the Buddha Śākyamuni introduces a saṅgha of monks and bodhisattvas to the goddess Mārīcī by listing her unique qualities and powers. The Buddha then teaches the saṅgha six dhāraṇī mantras related to the goddess Mārīcī.
Acknowledgements
This text was translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the supervision of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche. The text was translated, checked against the Sanskrit and Tibetan, and edited by Adam C. Krug.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
Introduction
The Mārīcī Dhāraṇī opens in Śrāvastī in Prince Jeta’s Grove, where the Buddha Śākyamuni is residing with a saṅgha of monks and bodhisattvas. The Buddha introduces his saṅgha to the goddess Mārīcī by describing her unique qualities and powers. He notes that whoever knows and recites her dhāraṇī heart mantra will have the same powers as Mārīcī, and he then pronounces six separate dhāraṇī mantras.
The colophon to this version of The Mārīcī Dhāraṇī indicates that the text was translated into Tibetan in the eleventh century by the Indian paṇḍita Amoghavajra and the Tibetan translator Bari Rinchen Drakpa (1040–1112). However, the Denkarma1 royal Tibetan catalog of translated works also contains a dhāraṇī titled simply Noble Mārīcī (Skt. Āryamārīcī; Tib. ’phags pa ’od zer can), which suggests that some version of The Mārīcī Dhāraṇī was translated into Tibetan at some time before the early ninth century. In the Phangthangma2 royal Tibetan catalog of translated works we also find the text listed under its full title, The Noble Dhāraṇī of Mārīcī (Skt. Āryamārīcīnāmadhāraṇī; Tib. ’phags pa ’od zer can gyi gzungs). One witness of The Mārīcī Dhāraṇī survives among the Dunhuang manuscript collection, which supports the existence of some version of the text either during the Imperial period or shortly after the end of the Tibetan Empire.3 It is likely, however, that this early translation of The Mārīcī Dhāraṇī belonged to a different textual tradition than The Mārīcī Dhāraṇī translated in the eleventh century by Amoghavajra and Bari Rinchen Drakpa.4
The Mārīcī Dhāraṇī is included in the Tantra Collection (rgyud ’bum) and the Compendium of Dhāraṇīs (gzungs ’dus) sections of the Degé Kangyur. There are also thirty-seven sādhanas for the goddess Mārīcī in the Tengyur, seven of which were, like this text, translated by Amoghavajra and Bari Rinchen Drakpa. The Mārīcī Dhāraṇī itself, along with ritual manuals, sādhana practices, and even terma related to the goddess, has appeared in the collected works of numerous Tibetan authors since at least the thirteenth century, and Mārīcī has remained an important deity in Tibetan Buddhist traditions to this day.
The earliest Chinese translation of The Mārīcī Dhāraṇī was completed by an unknown translator in the sixth century during the Liang dynasty (Taishō 1256).5 Later, Bukong translated two works titled Mārīcīdhāraṇī in the late eighth century (Taishō 12546 and Taishō 12557). While Taishō 1254 differs significantly from the present text in content and length, Taishō 1255 has some parallels with it. The final canonical Chinese translation, which also has parallels with the current work, was completed by Tian Xizai during the late tenth century (Taishō 1257).8
We are fortunate that a relatively large number of Sanskrit witnesses of The Mārīcī Dhāraṇī have survived.9 In 2006, a diplomatic edition of a Sanskrit witness for The Mārīcī Dhāraṇī from one of the many dhāraṇī collections (dhāraṇīsaṅgraha) in the National Archives in Kathmandu, titled A Compendium of Dhāraṇī and Other Works (Dhāraṇyādisaṅgraha), was published by the Rare Buddhist Texts Project at the Central University for Tibetan Studies in Sarnath, India.10
There is also one unpublished manuscript from Nepal titled Mārīcīkalpatantra, or simply Mārīcīkalpa, that contains Sanskrit versions of all three works in the cycle of texts in the Kangyur on the goddess Mārīcī. The fact that this witness contains all three texts in the exact order in which they appear in the Degé Kangyur suggests it is related to the textual tradition from which the translations of Toh 564, The King of Ritual Manuals from the Tantra of Māyā Mārīcī’s Arising (Toh 565), and The Maṇḍala Rites of Noble Mārīcī (Toh 566) were produced. The Sanskrit manuscript unfortunately cuts off at the material corresponding to the middle of Toh 566.11 The fragment of scribal colophon that survives notes that the text was copied by one Vajrācārya Ravṛndrabhadra (perhaps a misspelling of Ravīndrabhadra), but it does not note when or where the text was copied.12 The Sanskrit manuscript comes from the private collection of Manavajra Vajrācārya and was microfilmed and cataloged by both the Nepal-German Manuscript Preservation Project (NGMPP)13 and the International Association for the Study of World Religions (IASWR).14 The readings in this Sanskrit witness reflect a relatively close relationship to these texts as they are received in the Tibetan Kangyur recensions, and it has proved a valuable resource for this translation.
This translation was produced in consultation with both versions of The Dhāraṇī of Mārīcī preserved in the Degé Kangyur15 (Toh 56416 and 988), the Tibetan translation preserved in the Stok Palace Kangyur, the Sanskrit edition published by the Rare Buddhist Texts Project at CUTS in Sarnath, India, and the Sanskrit manuscript witness cataloged in the NGMCP microfilm collection under the title Mārīcīkalpa (NGMCP E 1480/9) and the IASWR microfilm collection under the title Mārīcīkalpatantra (MBB II 112). All instances in which the English translation deviates from the reading in the Degé Kangyur in favor of a reading in the Sanskrit witness or another Tibetan witness are noted in the translation.
The Translation
Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was in Śrāvastī in Prince Jeta’s Grove, at Anāthapiṇḍada’s park, with a large saṅgha of 1,250 monks and a great number of bodhisattva great beings.
“Monks,” said the Blessed One, “there is a certain goddess named Mārīcī who arrives just before the sun and moon. She cannot be seen, cannot be seized, cannot be bound, cannot be stopped, cannot be opposed, cannot be enchanted, cannot be cut by a blade, cannot be decapitated, cannot be injured, cannot be burned, and cannot be brought under an enemy’s control.
“Monks, whoever knows the goddess Mārīcī’s name also cannot be seized, cannot be bound, cannot be stopped, cannot be opposed, cannot be enchanted, cannot be cut by a blade, cannot be decapitated, cannot be injured, cannot be burned, and cannot be brought under an enemy’s control.
“Since I know the name of the goddess Mārīcī, may I, too not be seen, not be seized, not be bound, not be stopped, not be opposed, not be enchanted, not be cut, not be decapitated, not be injured, not be beaten, not be burned, and not be brought under an enemy’s control. These are the mantra verses:
“tadyathā oṃ padākramasi18 parākramasi udayamasi [F.142.b] nairamasi arkamasi markamasi urmamasi vanamasi gulmamasi cīvaramasi19 mahācīvaramasi 20 antardhānamasi21 svāhā.
“Oṃ goddess Mārīcī, protect me on the path. Protect me from the wrong path. Protect me from perils related to people. Protect me from perils related to kings. Protect me from perils related to elephants. Protect me from perils related to robbers. Protect me from perils related to nāgas. Protect me from perils related to lions. Protect me from perils related to tigers. Protect me from perils related to fire. Protect me from perils related to water. Protect me from perils related to serpents. Protect me from perils related to poison. Protect me from all adversaries and enemies. Protect me when there is conflict and calm and when there is disorder and order. Protect me from lions.22 Protect me from tigers. Protect me from nāgas. Protect me from serpents,23 svāhā. Protect me from all perils and from all manner of harm, infectious disease, and conflict. Protect me!
“namo ratnatrayāya tadyathā oṃ ālo tālo kālo sacchalo sattvamudrati24 rakṣa rakṣa māṃ. Protect me and all beings and from all manner of injury, peril, and illness, svāhā.
“Homage to the Three Jewels. I will recite the heart mantra of the goddess Mārīcī:
“tadyathā oṃ vattāli vadāli varāli varāhamukhī25 sarvaduṣṭapraduṣṭānāṃ26 cakṣurmukhaṃ bandha bandha bandha mukhaṃ jaṃbhaya staṃbhaya mohaya svāhā.
“oṃ mārīcyai svāhā.
“oṃ varāli vadāli vattāli varāhamukhi27 sarvaduṣṭānāṃ28 praduṣṭānāṃ cakṣurmukhaṃ [F.143.a] bandha bandha svāhā.”
When the Blessed One said this, the entire retinue of monks and bodhisattvas and the entire world with its gods, humans, asuras, and gandharvas rejoiced and praised the words of the Blessed One.
This concludes “The Noble Dhāraṇī of Mārīcī.”
Colophon
This work was translated by the paṇḍita Amoghavajra and the lotsāwa-monk Bari Rinchen Drakpa.
Notes
This text, Toh 988, and all those contained in this same volume (gzungs ’dus, waM), are listed as being located in volume 101 of the Degé Kangyur by the Buddhist Digital Resource Center (BDRC). However, several other Kangyur databases—including the eKangyur that supplies the digital input version displayed by the 84000 Reading Room—list this work as being located in volume 102. This discrepancy is partly due to the fact that the two volumes of the gzungs ’dus section are an added supplement not mentioned in the original catalog, and also hinges on the fact that the compilers of the Tōhoku catalog placed another text—which forms a whole, very large volume—the Vimalaprabhānāmakālacakratantraṭīkā (dus ’khor ’grel bshad dri med ’od, Toh 845), before the volume 100 of the Degé Kangyur, numbering it as vol. 100, although it is almost certainly intended to come right at the end of the Degé Kangyur texts as volume 102; indeed its final fifth chapter is often carried over and wrapped in the same volume as the Kangyur dkar chags (catalog). Please note this discrepancy when using the eKangyur viewer in this translation.
Bibliography
Tibetan Sources
’od zer can zhes bya ba’i gzungs (Mārīcīnāmadhāraṇī). Toh 564, Degé Kangyur vol. 90 (rgyud ’bum, pha), folios 157.a–158.b.
’od zer can zhes bya ba’i gzungs (Mārīcīnāmadhāraṇī). Toh 988, Degé Kangyur vol. 101 (gzungs ’dus, waM), folios 142.a–143.a.
’od zer can zhes bya ba’i gzungs. bka’ ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House) 2006–9, vol. 90, pp. 477–81.
’od zer can zhes bya ba’i gzungs. bka’ ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House) 2006–9, vol. 98, pp. 446–50.
’od zer can zhes bya ba’i gzungs (Mārīcīnāmadhāraṇī). Stok Palace Kangyur vol. 104 (rgyud, pha), folios 131.b–132.b.
sgyu ma’i ’od zer can ’byung ba’i rgyud las phyung ba’i rtog pa’i rgyal po (Māyāmārīcījātatantrād uddhṛtakalparāja) [The King of Ritual Manuals from the Tantra of Māyā Mārīcī’s Arising]. Toh 565, Degé Kangyur vol. 90 (rgyud ’bum, pha), folios 158.b–165.b. English translation in Dharmachakra Translation Committee 2024a.
’phags ma ’od zer can gyi dkyil ’khor gyi cho ga (Āryamārīcīmaṇḍalavidhi) [The Maṇḍala Rites of Noble Mārīcī]. Toh 566, Degé Kangyur vol. 90 (rgyud ’bum, pha), folios 165.b–186.a. English translation in Dharmachakra Translation Committee 2024b.
Pelliot tibétain 428. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris.
Sanskrit Sources
Abhayākaragupta. Niṣpannayogāvalī. Edited and translated by Lokesh Chandra and Nirmala Sharma. New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture and Aditya Prakashan, 2015.
“Āryamārīcī-nāma-dhāraṇī.” Dhiḥ 42 (2006): 155–58.
Mārīcīkalpa. Nepalese-German Manuscript Cataloguing Project (NGMCP) no. E 1480/9. Kathmandu: Nepal National Archive.
Mārīcīkalpatantra. Institute for the Advanced Study of World Religions (IASWR) no. MBB II 112.
Reference Works
Bhattacharyya, Benoytosh, ed. Sādhanamālā. Vol. 1. Baroda: Oriental Institute, 1968.
Butön Rinchen Drup (bu ston rin chen grub). The Collected Works of Bu-Ston. Edited by Lokesh Candra. 28 vols. Śata-piṭaka Series 41–68. New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1965–71.
Denkarma (pho brang stod thang ldan dkar gyi chos kyi ’gyur ro cog gi dkar chag). Toh 4364, Degé Tengyur vol. 206 (sna tshogs, jo), folios 294.b–310.a.
Edgerton, Franklin. Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary. 2 vols. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2004.
Herrmann-Pfandt, Adelheid. Die lHan kar ma: ein früher Katalog der ins Tibetische übersetzten buddhistischen Texte. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2008.
Lancaster, Lewis R. The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalogue. Accessed January 31, 2019.
Monier-Williams, Monier. A Sanskrit–English Dictionary Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2005.
Negi, J. S. Tibetan–Sanskrit Dictionary (bod skad dang legs sbyar gyi tshig mdzod chen mo). 16 vols. Sarnath: Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, 1993–2005.
Phangthangma (dkar chag ’phang thang ma). Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2003.
Resources for Kanjur and Tanjur Studies. University of Vienna. Accessed November 9, 2018.
Secondary Sources
Bhattacharyya, Dipakchandra. “An Interesting Image of the Godess [sic] Marici.” Proceedings of the Indian History Congress 26, part 1 (1964): 91–94.
Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans. (2024a). The King of Ritual Manuals from the Tantra of Māyā Mārīcī’s Arising (Māyāmārīcījātatantrād uddhṛtakalparāja, Toh 565). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024.
Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans. (2024b). The Maṇḍala Rites of Noble Mārīcī (Āryamārīcīmaṇḍalavidhi mārīcījātadvādaśasahasrād uddhṛtakalpahṛdayasaptaśatanāma, Toh 566). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024.
Donaldson, Thomas Eugene. “Orissan Images of Vārāhī, Oḍḍiyāna Mārīcī, and Related Sow-Faced Goddesses.” Artibus Asiae 55, no. 1/2 (1995): 155–82.
Hall, David A. The Buddhist Goddess Marishiten: A Study of the Evolution and Impact of Her Cult on the Japanese Warrior. Boston: Global Oriental, 2014.
Hummel, Siegbert. “Notizen zur Ikonographie der Mārīcī.” Monumenta Serica 37 (1986–87): 227–32.
Glossary
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Attested in dictionary
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Reconstruction from Tibetan phonetic rendering
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Anāthapiṇḍada’s park
- mgon med zas sbyin gyi kun dga’ ra ba
- མགོན་མེད་ཟས་སྦྱིན་གྱི་ཀུན་དགའ་ར་བ།
- anāthapiṇḍadasya ārāma AS
Bari Rinchen Drakpa
- ba ri rin chen grags pa
- བ་རི་རིན་ཆེན་གྲགས་པ།
- —
Bukong
- —
- —
- amoghavajra
- 不空