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Dhāraṇī Series

English (5) | བོད་ཡིག (5)


Stūpa image containing mantras and dhāraṇī

Courtesy of Himalayan Art Resources

Further Information:

A selection of texts related to dhāraṇī (gzungs), mantric formulae or incantations:

Blazing Wheel

This terma (gter ma), which Tulku Zangpo Drakpa revealed and passed on to Rigdzin Gödem (1337–1408), presents a sūtra-like scenario in which Buddha Śākyamuni reveals a dhāraṇī for subduing enemies and demonic forces.

Vajrapāṇi

A popular text (Tōh. 748) teaching the incantantion (dhāraṇī) and rituals associated with the Blue-Clad (nīlāmbaradhara) form of the deity Vajrapāṇi. According to Karmavajra’s commentary (Tōh. 2676), the dhāraṇī is at once a powerful protection against, and remedy for, spirits, demons and disease.

Vajravidāraṇa

Vajravidāraṇa (rdo rje rnam ‘joms) is a semi-wrathful form of Vajrapāṇi and the deity’s dhāraṇī (gzungs), counted as a kriyā-tantra, is known for its healing and purifying effect. The dhāraṇī has inspired a large number of ritual liturgies and commentaries, both Indic and Tibetan, and is commonly recited by Tibetan and Newar Buddhists. In Tibetan it is preserved mainly in two forms, one in the Kangyur and the Nyingma version presented here, which is said to be a reconstruction based on commentarial literature.

Vajraṇakhī

Vajraṇakhī (rdo rje sder mo), 'Vajra Claw', is a wrathful ḍākinī whose mantra has a long history and can be found in various forms in, e.g., the Guhyasamāja, Vajravārāhī, and Vajrakīla traditions. In this text, her independent dhāraṇī, Vajraṇakhī is invoked as to protect the practitioner's domestic space, family, friends, and allies, and to avert any obstacles that might threaten them. Although her dhāraṇī is here attributed to Buddha Śākyamuni, it is not found in any of the extant Kangyur collections but is preserved in various dhāraṇī compendia (gzungs ‘dus).

A brief version of the Vajraṇakhī dhāraṇī (rdo rje sder mo’i gzungs) arranged for daily recitation, invoking Vajraṇakhī to protect the practitioner's domestic space, family, friends and allies and to avert any obstacles that might threaten them.

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