Introduction
i.1The Dhāraṇī of the Buddha’s Essence is structured as a dialogue between the Buddha and a retinue of gods from the Śuddhāvāsa realm. The dialogue revolves around the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa and the role that the gods of Śuddhāvāsa can play in continuing to guide beings in his absence until the next tathāgata appears in the world. The Dhāraṇī of the Buddha’s Essence is then introduced as the specific instruction that the gods of Śuddhāvāsa should preserve and propagate after Śākyamuni has departed. The Buddha then provides a list of benefits that members of the saṅgha can accrue by reciting this dhāraṇī.
i.1《佛陀精華陀羅尼》的結構是佛陀與來自淨居天的一群天神之間的對話。這場對話圍繞著佛陀的般涅槃展開，並探討淨居天的天神在佛陀圓寂之後、下一位如來出現於世之前，能夠如何繼續引導眾生。《佛陀精華陀羅尼》隨後被介紹為淨居天的天神應當在釋迦牟尼圓寂後保存並傳播的具體教導。佛陀接著提供了一份清單，列舉僧伽成員通過誦持這部陀羅尼所能獲得的利益。
i.2The translators’ colophon tells us that The Dhāraṇī of the Buddha’s Essence was translated by the Indian preceptors Jinamitra and Dānaśīla along with the Tibetan translator Yeshé Dé (ca. eighth and ninth centuries). The text appears in the Phangthangma imperial Tibetan inventory 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 second mention is the more likely to correspond to it judging by the recorded length of the text (thirty-eight ślokas); the first record (fifty-five ślokas) probably corresponds to another, slightly longer text with a similar title, The Dhāraṇī Discourse on the Buddha’s Essence (’phags pa sangs rgyas kyi snying po zhes bya ba’i gzungs kyi chos kyi rnam grangs, Toh 514, 854). These works appear alongside each other in the Degé Kangyur in both the Tantra Collection (rgyud ’bum) and the Compendium of Dhāraṇīs (gzungs ’dus).
i.2翻譯者的跋文告訴我們，《佛陀本質陀羅尼》是由印度法師勝友和施戒，以及藏族譯者智德（約在八、九世紀）共同翻譯的。這部典籍出現在龐塘嘛皇家藏文譯作目錄中，被列在各種陀羅尼的收藏裡。在敦喀瑪目錄的陀羅尼清單中，有兩部題為《佛陀本質》（'phags pa sangs rgyas kyi snying po）的典籍，雖然這兩部都與現今這部著作的完整標題不符，但根據所記載的典籍長度（三十八頌），第二個提及的更可能對應於它；第一條記錄（五十五頌）可能對應於另一部標題相近但稍長的典籍，即《佛陀本質陀羅尼教說》（'phags pa sangs rgyas kyi snying po zhes bya ba'i gzungs kyi chos kyi rnam grangs，編號514、854）。這些著作在德格版藏經中並列出現，同時出現在《密教部》（rgyud 'bum）和《陀羅尼集》（gzungs 'dus）兩處。
i.3The Dhāraṇī of the Buddha’s Essence does not appear in the Kangyurs of mainly Thempangma lineage, but it is present in the predominantly Tshalpa Kangyurs and in a number of mixed, Bhutanese, and Mongolian Kangyurs, and is mentioned in the catalog of the old Mustang Kangyur. Butön recorded the mantra from this text in his Collection of Dhāraṇī of the Four Classes of Secret Mantra (gsang sngags rgyud sde bzhi’i gzungs ’bum).
i.3《佛陀本質陀羅尼》沒有出現在主要是法滂瑪傳統的版本中，但在以察爾巴傳統為主的版本、以及許多混合版本、不丹版本和蒙古版本中都有收錄，並在古代穆斯坦版本的目錄中被提及。布頓在他的《密教四部陀羅尼集》中記錄了這部經文的咒語。
i.4The text was translated into Chinese in 650 ᴄᴇ by Xuanzang (Taishō 918) and again in the late tenth century by Fatian (Taishō 919). No Sanskrit witness to this text has been identified to date.
i.4本文在西元650年由玄奘譯為中文（大正藏918），並在十世紀晚期由法天再次譯為中文（大正藏919）。迄今為止，尚未發現該文本的梵文文獻。
i.5This translation is 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 Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) of the Kangyur.
i.5本翻譯以德格版藏經密教部和陀羅尼集中的藏文譯本為基礎，並參考了藏經對比版（dpe bsdur ma）中的文本。