Notes

n.1On dhāraṇī or “incantation,” see also Fischer-Schreiber et al. (1991), p. 54. On the different meanings of dhāraṇī and the Western scholarly reception of the term, see Davidson (2009).

n.2Others are the Ratnaketudhāraṇī (Toh 138) and Avikalpapraveśadhāraṇī (Toh 142).

n.3For the name Viśvā Purī (= sna tshogs zhes pa’i grong khyer), see Negi, vol. 7, p. 3212 s.v. sna tshogs.

n.4Chin kang shang wei t’o lo ni ching 金剛上味陀羅尼經 (Taishō no. 1344). For more information on this text, see the Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalogue, K 336.

n.5Chin kang ch’ang t’o lo ni ching 金剛場陀羅尼經 (Taishō no. 1345). For more information on this text, see the Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalogue, K 337.

n.6Denkarma (ldan dkar ma), Degé Tengyur, vol. 206, folio 301.b.7. See also Herrmann-Pfandt (2008), p. 185.

n.7Phangthangma (dkar chag ʼphang thang ma) (2003), p. 24.

n.8For details, see Herrmann-Pfandt (2008), p. 185.

n.9For example, it is quoted in the Great Stages of Doctrine treatise (bstan rim chen mo) of Trolungpa Lotrö Jungné (gro lung pa blo gros ’byung gnas), who flourished in the late eleventh to early twelfth century. (Trolungpa, p. 370.a). It is also cited in the work An Ornamental Explanation of the Bodhisattva Dhāraṇī (byang chub sems dpa’i gzungs kyi rgyan rnam par bshad pa) by Do Drupchen Jigmé Tenpai Nyima (1865–1926). Janet Gyatso (1992) studied this work, translating and analyzing part of the citation from The Dhāraṇī of the Vajra Quintessence. There also exists a Tibetan commentary on Do Drupchen’s work called A Commentary on the Explanation of Dhāraṇī (gzungs kyi rnam bshad kyi ’grel pa), composed by the more recent scholar Döndrup Dorjé (1993) p. 335.

n.10We have emended zab mo ma yin to zab mo as attested in S.

n.11yang dag par ’du ba. Edward Conze (1973), s.v. samavasaraṇa, explains yang dag par ’du ba as “come together in.” The basic idea in our text seems to be that the nonconceptual ultimate nature (i.e., the dhāraṇī of the vajra quintessence) is immanent in all things. The Sanskrit samavasarati/samavasaraṇa is explained in F. Edgerton (1993) as having the meanings “comes together,” “unites,” and “associates.”

n.12For the Sanskrit linking of the first letters of deva and dama to work, this passage has to read not ’dul ba’i sa but dul ba’i sa, where dul ba = dama (“discipline,” “self-restraint”).

n.13See Do Drupchen Tenpai Nyima’s explanation in gzungs kyi rnam bshad (pp. 114.4–117.4 = fol. 57.a–59.a). Cf. Janet Gyatso (1992) pp. 184–85, based on this passage. Here the Sanskrit name of each type of deity (deva, nāga , etc.) becomes a point of departure for referring to things with a name that begins with the same letter (but often negated), such as deva (“god”) and dama (“restraint”).

n.14S has btsal, “search for,” i.e., “investigate,” instead of bsal as in D.

n.15We have emended the las to la as attested in S.

n.16Here, ignorance is listed as the first link the chain of dependent origination. The text covers all but the final link in this series.

n.17We have emended the kyi to ni as attested in S.

n.18With the variant gis (Yongle, Kangxi, and S) instead of gi (D) this becomes “perverted by false notions.”

n.19We have emended the term pa’i to pa as attested in S.

n.20Note that in this sentence “gods” (lha) is repeated, but we have omitted the second instance.