The Dhāraṇī of Vajrabhairava
Toh 605
Degé Kangyur, vol. 91 (rgyud, ba), folios 36.a–37.a
- Amoghavajra
- Kyo Öjung
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Table of Contents
Summary
The Dhāraṇī of Vajrabhairava is a short text presenting both a series of “vajra statements” (Tib. rdo rje tshig), which it calls the “essence of all vidyā and mantra,” and a dhāraṇī, followed by instructions for the dhāraṇī's associated rites. These include rites for countering and repelling enemies, subjugating nāgas and preventing hail, curing illness, and even protecting liquor from spoilage.
Acknowledgements
Translated and introduced by David Mellins and Kaia Fischer under the auspices of the Tibetan Classics Translators Guild of New York.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. Nathaniel Rich edited the translation and the introduction, and Laura Goetz copyedited the text. Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.
Introduction
The Dhāraṇī of Vajrabhairava is a short text presenting a series of “vajra statements” followed by a dhāraṇī, both in transliterated Sanskrit, and instructions for the rites associated with the dhāraṇī. The series of vajra statements is generalized as being “for the accomplishment of all aims,” and the dhāraṇī targets a range of specialized ritual applications, from repelling enemy armies to protecting liquor from spoilage. Vajrabhairava’s name appears in the text’s title, in the dhāraṇī itself, and in the colophon, where he is identified as the speaker of the dhāraṇī. The colophon also states that this dhāraṇī is “the supreme dhāraṇī endowed with the seven protective acts” and “the most extraordinary yoga.”
A Sanskrit version of the text is to our knowledge no longer extant, and there are no associated commentaries in the Tengyur. The first part of the dhāraṇī appears as a portion of a larger mantra in the tantra Orderly Arrangement of the Three Commitments (Trisamayavyūha, Toh 502).
The Phangthangma imperial catalog lists a text in twenty-two ślokas called The Dhāraṇī of Vajrabhairava, while the Denkarma contains a text, likewise in twenty-two ślokas, called The Essence Mantra of Vajrabhairava.1 These different entries probably refer to the same text, but it is uncertain whether they refer to the text presented in translation here. If they are the same, the two texts mentioned in the royal catalogs would have to be an earlier version, since the colophon to The Dhāraṇī of Vajrabhairava, which we have translated here, mentions that the Tibetan translation was produced by the eleventh-century Indian translator and lineage holder Amoghavajra and the Tibetan monk Kyo Öjung.2 Amoghavajra was instrumental in the introduction of tantric practices such as those associated with Vajrabhairava (Yamāntaka). Kyo Öjung is likely the eleventh-century Tibetan Kyo Lotsawa, who was an important figure in the transmission of those practices and whose lineage has been transmitted within the Sakya school down to the present day.3
This English translation is based on the Degé Kangyur version of the text found in the Tantra section (Toh 605), in consultation with the variant readings recorded in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) and the Stok Palace version. In addition, we have compared Toh 605 to Toh 956, its reiteration within the Dhāraṇī section of the Degé Kangyur.
Text Body
Dhāraṇī of Vajrabhairava
The Translation
Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas!
The victors and their heirs are stainless and remove all stain. They are infinite, unbounded, beneficent, and vast. May they all kindly4 and constantly grant me the most supreme and illimitable boon.5
These are my vajra statements.
arara asama samatā anantadharmmatre6 khaṇā khaṇā mahāvire7 calesa mama āsahā8 mahābale kaṇa kaṇa mahābala āgrihe9 ha ha vajrā10 vajrahāye11 dhara dhara hūṃ hūṃ maṇḍala samapara-akravikrame kuru kuru turu turu sarvathā12 sarva hi jvala jvala akriṇi phaṭ svāhā13
When this essence of all vidyās and mantras has been recited a thousand times in the presence of the tathāgatas, all vidyās and mantras will have been recited a hundred thousand times.
It accomplishes all other ritual actions unfailingly and without obstacle, for this, among all the vidyās, mantras, heart mantras, and dhāraṇīs originating from The Ritual of the Three Commitments,14 is the one that accomplishes all ritual actions.
tadyathā | oṃ vajraprākāra vajraprākāra vajradaṃṣṭā15 bhayābhahā curu curu paricumbike culutele namo ratnatrayāya namo vajrabhairavasya [F.36.b] mahāgaṇapatisya vajraśakti parśupāśahastāya vajrakanka vajravaiḍūrya alaṅkṛtaśarīrāya vajrapāṇir anupālāya tadyathā bhuru bhuru ānayā ānayā mahāgaṇapati laghu laghu ehi ehi ākrama ākrama śarīraṃ gṛhītam graṃhītam16 daṃṣṭāmā17 daṃśṭrīmāvā18 attra viśatu śarīraṃ kiñ cirāyasi19 vidhuna vadhana paṭa paṭa kampa kampa raṅga raṅga moda moda dhama dhama vijṛmabā vijṛmabā20 pūra pūra ghūrṇṇa ghūrṇṇa āviśa āviśa21 śīghraṃ śīghraṃ mahāvajrabhairabhe22 gaṇapatir ājñāvayati svāhā23
As for the rite, to paralyze all one’s enemies and counter all kākhordas, after a square maṇḍala has been prepared on cow dung and a weapon incanted seven times in a wrathful state of mind, all kākhordas will be disrupted the moment the weapon is stabbed into the ground.
When, wishing to repel an enemy army, one incants a rod seven times and hurls it in the army's direction, all the enemy soldiers will fall into a stupor.
If one wishes to subjugate nāgas, one should wrathfully incant a vajra seven times and thrust it at them. This will bring the nāgas under one’s control.
When, wishing to repel hail, one spins a vajra in utter absence of forcefulness while reciting the words at low pitch and in utter secrecy, the nāgas will refrain from sending down hail.
When, wishing to preserve liquor, one incants the ingredients and mustard seeds seven times, they will endure.
When, wishing to allay an illness, one incants the medicines appropriate to the illness seven times mixed in water and then drinks or applies it, one will be freed from illness.
When, wishing to perform any rite, one recites the dhāraṇī24 seven times, one’s intention will be accomplished.
This completes “The Noble Dhāraṇī of Vajrabhairava,” which repels malevolence.
Colophon
Translated in the presence of the great lord of yogins Amoghavajra and given26 to the Tibetan monk Kyo Öjung.
Notes
Bibliography
rdo rje ’jigs byed kyi gzungs (Vajrabhairavadhāraṇī). Toh 605, Degé Kangyur vol. 91 (rgyud, ba), folios 36.a–37.a
rdo rje ’jigs byed kyi gzungs (Vajrabhairavadhāraṇī). Toh 956, Degé Kangyur vol. 101 (gzungs, waM), folios 50.b–51.b.
rdo rje ’jigs byed kyi 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. 91, pp. 106–9; vol. 98, pp. 148–50.
rdo rje ’jigs byed kyi gzungs. Stok Palace Kangyur vol. 104 (rgyud, pa), folios 375.b–377.a.
dam tshig gsum bkod pa’i rgyal po zhes bya ba’i rgyud (Trisamayavyūharājanāmatantra) [Orderly Arrangement of the Three Commitments]. Toh 502, Degé Kangyur vol. 87 (rgyud, da), folios 181.a–247.a.
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.
Phangthangma (dkar chag ’phang thang ma). Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2003.
Butön Rinchen Drup (bu ston rin chen grub). chos ’byung (bde bar gshegs pa’i bstan pa’i gsal byed chos kyi ’byung gnas gsung rab rin po che’i gter mdzod). In The Collected Works of Bu-Ston, vol. 24 (ya), pp. 633–1055. New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1965–71. BDRC W22106.
———. rgyud ’bum dkar chag. In The Collected Works of Bu-Ston, vol. 26 (la), pp. 365–99. New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1965–71. BDRC W22106.
Dhongthog Rinpoche, and Sam van Schaik, trans. The Sakya School of Tibetan Buddhism. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2016.
Herrmann-Pfandt, Adelheid. Die lHan kar ma: ein früher Katalog der ins Tibetische übersetzten buddhistischen Texte. Vienna: Verlag der österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2008.
Glossary
Types of attestation for names and terms of the corresponding source language
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Attested in other text
This term is attested in other manuscripts with a parallel or similar context.
Attested in dictionary
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Approximate attestation
The attestation of this name is approximate. It is based on other names where the relationship between the Tibetan and source language is attested in dictionaries or other manuscripts.
Reconstruction from Tibetan phonetic rendering
This term is a reconstruction based on the Tibetan phonetic rendering of the term.
Reconstruction from Tibetan semantic rendering
This term is a reconstruction based on the semantics of the Tibetan translation.
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Amoghavajra
- don yod rdo rje
- དོན་ཡོད་རྡོ་རྗེ།
- amoghavajra
bhūta
- ’byung po
- འབྱུང་པོ།
- bhūta
Butön Rinchen Drup
- bu ston rin chen grub
- བུ་སྟོན་རིན་ཆེན་གྲུབ།
- —
dhāraṇī
- gzungs
- གཟུངས།
- dhāraṇī
kākhorda
- byad stems
- བྱད་སྟེམས།
- kākhordha
Kyo Öjung
- skyo ’od ’byung
- སྐྱོ་འོད་འབྱུང་།
- —
mantra
- sngags
- སྔགས།
- mantra
nāga
- klu
- ཀླུ།
- nāga
rākṣasa
- srin
- སྲིན།
- rākṣasa
Śakra
- brgya byin
- བརྒྱ་བྱིན།
- śakra
tathāgata
- de bzhin gshegs pa
- དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པ།
- tathāgata
Thirty-Three gods
- sum cu gsum lha
- སུམ་ཅུ་གསུམ་ལྷ།
- trāyastriṃśa
vajra
- rdo rje
- རྡོ་རྗེ།
- —
vajra statement
- rdo rje’i tshig
- རྡོ་རྗེའི་ཚིག
- vajrapada
Vajrabhairava
- rdo rje ’jigs byed
- རྡོ་རྗེ་འཇིགས་བྱེད།
- vajrabhairava
victor
- rgyal ba
- རྒྱལ་བ།
- jina
vidyā
- rig pa
- རིག་པ།
- vidyā