༄༅། །ས་རབ་་ཕ་ལ་་ན་པ་ང་ག་བ་པ་གངས།

The Dhāraṇī of “The Perfection of Wisdom in

One Hundred Thousand Lines”

Śatasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitādhāraṇī
 འཕགས་པ་ས་རབ་་ཕ་ལ་་ན་པ་ང་ག་བ་པ་གངས།
’phags pa shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong phrag brgya pa’i gzungs

The Noble “Dhāraṇī of ‘The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines’
”

Āryaśatasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitādhāraṇī

· Toh 576 ·
Degé Kangyur, vol. 90 (rgyud, pha), folios 202.b–203.a
 First published 2024

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co. TABLE OF CONTENTS
ti. Title
im. Imprint
co. Contents
s. Summary
ac. Acknowledgements
i. Introduction
tr. The Translation
1. The Dhāraṇī of “The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand
Lines”
n. Notes
b. Bibliography
· Tibetan Sources
· Other Sources
g. Glossary
s. SUMMARY
s.1 This text consists of a short dhāraṇī said to encompass the longest sūtra in
the Kangyur, The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines (Toh 8),
and the benefits of its recitation.
ac. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ac.1 The text was translated from Tibetan by the Buddhapīṭha Translation Group
(Gergely Hidas and Péter-Dániel Szántó).
ac.2 The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of
84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. Andreas Doctor edited the
translation and the introduction, and Laura Goetz copyedited the text.
Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.
i. INTRODUCTION
i.1 This text consists of a short dhāraṇī said to encompass the longest sūtra in
the Kangyur, The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines,1 and the
benefits of its recitation.
i.2 Such short texts served a variety of purposes, the primary one being that
by reciting them one could acquire the positive karmic benefits of reciting an
entire, sometimes extremely long, text. On a practical level, the recitation of
these short texts also served as an equivalent to the recitation of the parent
text, should a prescribed ritual so require.
i.3 The text lacks both a Sanskrit title and a translator’s colophon. In South
Asia, the text was transmitted within collections such as the Compendium of
Dhāraṇīs (Dhāraṇīsaṃgraha),2 but it is also embedded in some ritual manuals
such as the corpus of “rituals for beginners” (ādikarmika, las dang po pa) texts,
in our case the Ādikarmāvatāra by Mañjukīrti,3 the Ādikarmavidhi by
Tatakaragupta,4 and the *Bodhipaddhati by Abhayākaragupta.5
i.4 This translation was made principally on the basis of the Tibetan
translations of the text found in the Tantra Collection (rgyud ’bum) and the
Compendium of Dhāraṇīs (gzungs ’dus)6 in the Degé Kangyur in consultation
with the various Sanskrit sources mentioned above, especially the text of
Mañjukīrti, which is transmitted in a manuscript noted for its scribal
precision.
The Dhāraṇī of “The Perfection of Wisdom in One
Hundred Thousand Lines”
1. The Translation
[F.202.b]

1.1 Homage to the Blessed Lady, the Mother Perfection of Wisdom.

1.2 tadyathā—oṃ munidharme7 saṃgrahadharme anugrahadharme vimuktidharme

sadānugrahadharme8 vaiśravaṇaparivartitadharme9 sarvakāryapariprāpaṇadharme10
śamatānuparivartitadharme11 svāhā!12 oṃ prajñe13 śrutismṛtivijaye14
dhīdhāraṇīye15 svāhā!

1.3 oṃ prajñāpāramitābala svāhā!16

1.4 By upholding this, one will have upheld The Perfection of Wisdom in One
Hundred Thousand Lines.17
1.5 If one recites it continuously, the mind will become heedful. All karmic
obscurations will be purified. [F.203.a]

1.6 Here ends “The Dhāraṇī of ‘The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand
Lines.’ ”
n. NOTES
n.1 Śatasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā (shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong phrag brgya pa,
Toh 8). For a partial translation (Chapters 1–13), see The Perfection of Wisdom in
One Hundred Thousand Lines (https://84000.co/translation/toh8.html).

n.2 Hidas 2021, p. 76, item 8 in Cambridge University Library Ms. Add. 1326; p.
116, item 56 in the same. Note that the latter item describes the dhāraṇī as a
condensation of The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines (Toh 12).

n.3 The unique manuscript transmitting this text is currently being studied by
Szántó for a forthcoming publication, Buddhism for Beginners II: The Mañjukīrti
Corpus. The current location of the manuscript is not known with certainty. It
was first seen and identified by Rāhula Sāṅkṛityāyana at Ngor Monastery;
see Sāṅkṛityāyana 1935, p. 32. We are reading the text from the photographs
kept at the Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Göttingen,
shelf number Xc 14/50; for the catalog entry, see Bandurski 1994, pp. 86–87.
Little is known of the author; the manuscript is undated but was most likely
copied in Magadha during the twelfth century. The dhāraṇī can be found on
folio 7 verso within the context of installing caityas. A somewhat carelessly
produced edition of the text has now been published in Dhīḥ: Journal of Rare
Buddhist Texts Research Unit 62 (2022): 89–150. The dhāraṇī is on p. 102.

n.4 Unpublished, incomplete manuscript, currently at National Archives

Kathmandu, showcase 3/7, read from the microfilm images of the Nepal-
German Manuscript Preservation Project, reel no. A 1165/7. Little is known
of the author; the manuscript is undated but was probably copied in Bengal
during the thirteenth century. No Tibetan translation is known. The dhāraṇī
can be found on folios 32 verso–33 recto.

n.5 byang chub kyi gzhung lam (Toh 3766). See folio 120.b for the dhāraṇī. This text
depends heavily on Mañjukīrti.
n.6 Note that there is a discrepancy among various databases for cataloging the
Toh 932 version of this text within vol. 100 or 101 of the Degé Kangyur. See
Toh 932, n.6 (https://read.84000.co/translation/toh932.html# UT22084-090-
020-88), for details.

n.7 Tatakaragupta has sunidharme.

n.8 Here we prefer the reading of the Sanskrit in Mañjukīrti and Tatakaragupta
against the Tibetan’s sārānugrahadharme.

n.9 This is Mañjukīrti’s and Abhayākaragupta’s version; Tatakaragupta has

vaiśravaṇadharme parivartitadharme. The Tibetan reads vaiśravaṇaparivartana-
dharme.

n.10 This is the reading of Mañjukīrti and Tatakaragupta. The Tibetan reads
sarvakāryaparipramaṇadharme.

n.11 This is Mañjukīrti’s version; Tatakaragupta has samatānuparivartitadharma.

The Tibetan reads samantānuparivartanidharme (in the Tantra version) or
samantānuparivartanadharme (in the Compendium of Dhāraṇīs version).
Abhayākaragupta’s text transmits yet another reading: samatāparivartita-
dharme.

n.12 Up to here, a very similar dhāraṇī is transmitted in The Perfection of Wisdom

“Kauśika” (Kauśikaprajñāpāramitā, Toh 19), ap1.14.

n.13 Tatakaragupta’s version adds mahādharme.

n.14 This is Mañjukīrti’s version and the reading in item 8 in the Dhāraṇīsaṃgraha
(see n.2), which do not transmit °mati° after °smṛti° as the Tibetan versions do.
Tatakaragupta reads śrutismṛtivimativijaye. We adopt the former reading,
since it is the one attested by our best sources and several parallels. The
second version of the Dhāraṇīsaṃgraha has °gati° instead of °mati° or °vimati°.
The Tibetan also inserts a svāhā after this compound, but this reading is not
attested in good Sanskrit sources either.

n.15 The Tibetan reads dhīḥ dhāraṇī. Tatakaragupta’s manuscript has dhīḥ dhāriṇīye
as a marginal addition.

n.16 This sentence is not attested in any of the Sanskrit sources, with the
exception of Tatakaragupta, which itself is not a perfect match, as it reads oṃ
prajñāvardhani svāhā. A tentative translation of the dhāraṇī is as follows: “It is
thus, Oṁ O One with the Dharma (or “with the Characteristic”) of the Sages,
O One with the Dharma of Friendly Disposition, O One with the Dharma of
 Favor, O One with the Dharma of Liberation, O One with the Dharma of
Constant Favor, O One with the Dharma Set in Motion by Vaiśravaṇa, O One
with the Dharma of Accomplishing All Activities, O One with the Dharma Set
in Motion in Accordance with Nirvāṇa (or “Sameness,” if we read samatā°)
svāhā. Oṁ O Wisdom, O One Victorious in/by Study and Recollection, O One
Upholding Knowledge svāhā. Oṁ O One with the Power of the Perfection of
Wisdom (or understood as feminine if we accept a correction to °bale) svāhā.”

n.17 The Sanskrit sources end the text here. Instead of what we translate here as
“to uphold” to capture the ambiguity of the original, Tatakaragupta is more
explicit when he replaces the verb with kaṇṭhasthīkṛ (“to place it in one’s
throat”), which is the Sanskrit idiom for “to learn by heart.” He also spells
out the benefit as the “meritorious karmic fruit” (puṇyaphala) of memorizing
the parent text. This sentence is then followed by a fascinating short
discussion, which merits quoting in full: “Surely, this is an exaggeration! No,
one should not say this. For countless thus-gone ones have empowered this
dhāraṇī to serve as a method for gaining the equipment of merit for women,
immature people, and simpletons, as well as for learned people whose minds
are confused, just like the pole of a snake charmer[, which is prepared by the
expert snake charmer to be effective even when he is no longer present,] for
removing poison; however, it is not a method for gaining the knowledge
conveyed by The [Perfection of Wisdom in] One Hundred Thousand Lines. This
should be understood to apply in other cases [i.e., where the text is
abbreviated into a dhāraṇī] as well” (nanv atyuktir eveti. na caitad vaktavyam.
yataḥ strībālamūrkhān paryākulitamatīn paṇḍitān praty api puṇyasaṃbhārasādhana-
tvenāsaṃkhyeyatathāgatair adhiṣṭhiteyaṃ dhāriṇī, yathā viṣaharatvena gāruḍikaṃ
stambhaḥ; na tu lakṣāpratipāditajñānasādhanatvena. evam anyatrāpi boddhavyaḥ).
b. BIBLIOGRAPHY
· Tibetan Sources ·

shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong phrag brgya pa’i gzungs (Śatasāhasrikāprajñā-
pāramitādhāraṇī. Toh 576, Degé Kangyur vol. 90 (rgyud, pha), folios 202.b–
203.a.

shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong phrag brgya pa’i gzungs (Śatasāhasrikāprajñā-
pāramitādhāraṇī). Toh 932, Degé Kangyur vol. 100 (gzungs, e), folio 280.b.

sher phyin kau shi ka (Kauśikaprajñāpāramitā). Toh 19, Degé Kangyur vol. 19 (shes
rab sna tshogs, ka), folios 142.a–143.b. English translation The Perfection of
Wisdom “Kauśika” 2023.

shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa brgyad stong pa (Aṣṭasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā) [The
Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines]. Toh 12, Degé Kangyur vol. 33
(brgyad stong, ka), folios 1.b–286.b.

shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong phrag brgya pa (Śatasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā).
Toh 8, Degé Kangyur vols. 14–25 (’bum, ka–a), folios 1.b (ka)–395.a (a).
English translation (partial) The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred
Thousand Lines 2024.

Abhayākaragupta. byang chub kyi gzhung lam (*Bodhipaddhati). Toh 3766, Degé
Tengyur vol. 79 (rgyud, tshu), folios 119.b–127.a.

· Other Sources ·

84000. The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines

(https://84000.co/translation/toh8) (Śatasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā, shes rab kyi pha
rol tu phyin pa stong phrag brgya pa, Toh 8). Translated by Gareth Sparham.
Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024.
— — —. The Perfection of Wisdom “Kauśika” (https://84000.co/translation/toh19)
(Kauśikaprajñāpāramitā, sher phyin kau shi ka, Toh 19). Translated by the UCSB
Buddhist Studies Translation Group. Online publication. 84000:
Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2023.

Bandurski, Frank. “Übersicht über die Göttinger Sammlungen der von

Rāhula Sāṅkṛtyāyana in Tibet aufgefundenen buddhistischen Sanskrit-
Texte (Funde buddhistischer Sanskrit-Handschriften, III).” In
Untersuchungen zur buddhistischen Literatur, edited by Frank Bandurski,
Bhikkhu Pāsādika, Michael Schmidt, and Bangwei Wang, 9–126.
Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1994.

Hidas, Gergely. Powers of Protection: The Buddhist Tradition of Spells in the

Dhāraṇīsaṃgraha Collections. Beyond Boundaries 9. Boston: de Gruyter, 2021.

Sāṅkṛityāyana, Tripiṭakâcharya Rāhula. “Sanskrit Palm-Leaf MSS. in Tibet.”

Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society 21, no. 1 (1935): 21–43.
g. GLOSSARY

· Types of attestation for names and terms of the corresponding ·

source language

AS Attested in source text

This term is attested in a manuscript used as a source for this translation.

AO Attested in other text

This term is attested in other manuscripts with a parallel or similar context.

AD Attested in dictionary
This term is attested in dictionaries matching Tibetan to the corresponding
language.

AA 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.

RP Reconstruction from Tibetan phonetic rendering

This term is a reconstruction based on the Tibetan phonetic rendering of the
term.

RS Reconstruction from Tibetan semantic rendering

This term is a reconstruction based on the semantics of the Tibetan
translation.

SU Source unspecified
This term has been supplied from an unspecified source, which most often
is a widely trusted dictionary.

g.1 Blessed Lady

bcom ldan ’das ma

བམ་ན་འདས་མ།
bhagavatī AO

g.2 dhāraṇī
 gzungs

གངས།
dhāraṇī AS
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
The term dhāraṇī has the sense of something that “holds” or “retains,” and so
it can refer to the special capacity of practitioners to memorize and recall
detailed teachings. It can also refer to a verbal expression of the teachings —
an incantation, spell, or mnemonic formula—that distills and “holds”
essential points of the Dharma and is used by practitioners to attain
mundane and supramundane goals. The same term is also used to denote
texts that contain such formulas.

g.3 equipment of merit

bsod nams kyi tshogs

བད་ནམས་་གས།
puṇyasaṃbhāra AO
The progressive increase of virtuous karma. One of the two factors that come
together in creating momentum toward a practitioner’s spiritual awakening,
the other being the accumulation or equipment of wisdom.

g.4 karmic obscuration

las kyi sgrib pa

ལས་་བ་པ།
karmāvaraṇa AO
Persistent physical, mental, or emotional obstacles to spiritual progress
caused by past deeds.

g.5 Perfection of Wisdom

shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa

ས་རབ་་ཕ་ལ་་ན་པ།
prajñāpāramitā AO
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
The sixth of the six perfections, it refers to the profound understanding of
the emptiness of all phenomena, the realization of ultimate reality. It is often
personified as a female deity, worshiped as the “Mother of All Buddhas”
(sarvajinamātā).

g.6 thus-gone one

de bzhin gshegs pa

་བན་གགས་པ།
tathāgata AO
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
A frequently used synonym for buddha. According to different explanations,
it can be read as tathā-gata, literally meaning “one who has thus gone,” or as
tathā-āgata, “one who has thus come.” Gata, though literally meaning “gone,”
is a past passive participle used to describe a state or condition of existence.
Tatha(tā), often rendered as “suchness” or “thusness,” is the quality or
condition of things as they really are, which cannot be conveyed in
conceptual, dualistic terms. Therefore, this epithet is interpreted in different
ways, but in general it implies one who has departed in the wake of the
buddhas of the past, or one who has manifested the supreme awakening
dependent on the reality that does not abide in the two extremes of existence
and quiescence. It is also often used as a specific epithet of the Buddha
Śākyamuni.