Introduction
i.1The Discourse of the Dhāraṇī of the Buddha’s Essence opens with the Buddha and an immense assembly of bodhisattvas gathered in a hermitage in the celestial realm Universal Radiance. The Buddha begins by telling the assembly that The Discourse of the Dhāraṇī of the Buddha’s Essence has been taught by all the buddhas of the past, and then outlines the various benefits that accrue to a person reciting it. He pronounces two dhāraṇīs, causing the whole earth and its oceans to tremble and inciting panic in Māra’s realm. The gods then offer flowers and ornaments.
i.1《佛陀本質陀羅尼的開示》以佛陀和無量菩薩在天界普光宮的隱修處聚集開始。佛陀向大眾說明《佛陀本質陀羅尼的開示》曾被過去所有的佛陀宣說過，隨後詳述了誦持此經的人所獲得的各種利益。他宣誦了兩部陀羅尼，導致整個大地及其海洋震動，並在魔的領域中引起了恐慌。諸天隨後奉獻鮮花和莊嚴品。
i.2Before the narrative concludes, the text lists a set of correspondences between the eight ornaments offered by the gods and eight qualities that are the ornaments of bodhisattvas. The eight ornaments and their related qualities are as follows:
i.2在故事敘述結束前，經文列出了眾天供奉的八種裝飾品與菩薩八種莊嚴品質之間的對應關係。這八種裝飾品及其相關的品質如下：
1. Short necklace (not forgetting bodhicitta)
1. 短項鍊（不忘失菩提心）
2. Long necklace (investigation of all one has studied)
2. 長項鍊（對所有所學進行深入研究）
3. Perfumes (dependent origination)
3. 香料（緣起）
4. Scented powders (knowing those who are of supreme acumen and those who are not)
4. 香粉（了知誰具有最高的智慧根器，誰則沒有）
5. Ointments (correctly discerning and analyzing the teachings as one has heard them and as one has understood them)
5. 藥膏（正確辨別和分析所聽聞與所理解的教法）
6. Clothing (non-apprehension of phenomena in order to bring all beings to ultimate fruition)
6. 衣服（不執著現象以引領眾生達到究竟果位）
7. Jewelry (skill in methods due to the Buddha’s blessing)
7. 珠寶飾品（由於佛陀的加持而具備善巧方便）
8. Armlets (obtaining dhāraṇīs)
8. 臂釧（獲得陀羅尼）
i.4The text then concludes with instructions to recite this dhāraṇī while performing the practice of recollecting the Buddha, and mentions further benefits that will be attained by anyone practicing in that way.
i.4之後，文本以念誦此陀羅尼的指示作為結尾，同時進行憶念佛陀的修持，並提及任何以此方式修習的人都將獲得進一步的利益。
i.5The translators’ colophon notes that this text was translated by the Indian preceptors Jinamitra and Dānaśīla along with the Tibetan translator Bandé Yeshé Dé (c. eighth century). The text appears in the Phangthangma royal Tibetan catalogue of translated works among the collection of various dhāraṇī. In the Denkarma inventory’s list of dhāraṇī, there are two texts entitled The Buddha’s Essence (’phags pa sangs rgyas kyi snying po), and while neither of them matches the full title of the present work, the first mention is the more likely to correspond to it judging by the recorded length of the text (fifty-five ślokas); the second record (thirty-eight ślokas) probably corresponds to another, slightly shorter text with a similar title, The Dhāraṇī of the Buddha’s Essence (’phags pa sangs rgyas kyi snying po zhes bya ba’i gzungs, Toh 515, 855). The two texts appear alongside each other in the Degé Kangyur both in The Tantra Collection (rgyud ’bum) and in The Compendium of Dhāraṇīs (gzungs ’dus). The two dhāraṇī mantras in this text are included in Butön’s Collection of Dhāraṇī of the Four Classes of Secret Mantra (gsang sngags rgyud sde bzhi’i gzungs ’bum).
i.5譯者的跋文記載，這部經文由印度戒師寂友和達磨尸羅，以及藏傳譯者班智達喜饒得（約八世紀）共同翻譯。該文本出現在藏傳皇家目錄《巴唐瑪》所收錄的各種陀羅尼譯作中。在《頓卡瑪》目錄的陀羅尼清單中，有兩部經文題為《佛陀的本質》，雖然都不完全符合現存作品的完整標題，但根據記載的經文長度（五十五頌），第一部更有可能與之相應；第二部記載（三十八頌）可能對應另一部略短的同名經文《佛陀本質陀羅尼》（藏文編號515、855），這部經文在德格《大藏經》中同時出現在《密續部》和《陀羅尼匯編》中。本經文中的兩個陀羅尼咒語被收錄在布頓的《密乘四部續之陀羅尼匯編》中。
i.6The text was translated into Chinese in 650 ᴄᴇ by Xuanzang (Taishō 918), and again in the late tenth century by Fatian (Taishō 919).
i.6該文本在公元650年由玄奘翻譯成漢文（大正918），並在十世紀末由法天再次翻譯（大正919）。
i.7This translation is primarily based on the Tibetan translations of the text from the Tantra Collection and the Compendium of Dhāraṇīs in the Degé Kangyur in conjunction with the text as it appears in the Stok Palace Kangyur and the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma).
i.7本翻譯主要以德格版《大藏經》中《密續部》和《陀羅尼匯編》內的藏文譯本為基礎，並參考了斯托克宮版《大藏經》和《對勘版》的文本。