Notes

n.1This translation of the title follows the Lhasa, Narthang, Phukdrak, and Stok Palace versions in reading shes pa thams cad rather than shes pas thams cad as attested in the Degé version (and most others).

n.2von Hinüber 2018, pp. 229–30.

n.3Hidas 2021, pp. 88–94.

n.4Schopen 2012, pp. 283–84.

n.5Griffiths 2014, pp. 181–83.

n.6Scherrer-Schaub 1994, p. 712.

n.7Dorjee 1996, p. 23, n. 1.

n.8In fact, The Radiance of the Stainless Uṣṇīṣa contains two dhāraṇīs, long and short, the short one being introduced as the “essence” or “heart” (snying po) of the long one. The dhāraṇī in the present text corresponds to the shorter of the two.

n.9Scherrer-Schaub 1994, p. 722, n. 71; Bentor 2003, p. 24, n. 22.

n.10Kawagoe 2005, p. 19.

n.11Lalou 1953, p. 327.

n.12snga ’gyur bka’ ma shin tu rgyas pa, vol. 3 (ka), pp. 437–60 (BDRC W1PD100944).

n.13dpal spungs dpe rnying gsar bskrun las dkyil chog phyogs bsgrigs, vol. 10 (tha), pp. 373–96 (BDRC W3CN12210).

n.14Note that there is a discrepancy among various databases for cataloging the Toh 884 version of this text within vol. 100 or 101 of the Degé Kangyur. See Toh 884, n.­14, for details.

n.15In the context of Kriyātantra literature, the “three families” likely refers to the vajra, lotus, and tathāgata families.

n.16Tib. ri rab chen po sna lnga las grub pa. This translation is tentative.

n.17The term “pure abodes” (Skt. śuddhāvāsa; Tib. gtsang ris) typically refers to the five highest heavens in the form realm (Skt. rūpadhātu; Tib. gzugs khams). Here, however, the term appears to refer to a different set of heavens: the Sahā world, which is our own world, located at the base of Mount Meru and presided over by Brahmā; the Heaven of the Four Great Kings (Skt. Cātur­mahā­rājakāyika; Tib. rgyal chen rigs bzhi pa), located on the slopes of Mount Meru and presided over by Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Virūḍhaka, Virūpākṣa, and Vaiśravaṇa; and the Heaven of Thirty-Three (Skt. Trāyastriṃśa; Tib. sum cu rtsa gsum pa), located on the summit of Mount Meru and presided over by Śakra/Indra. The phrase “including” (Tib. la sogs pa) may indicate that gods from heavens higher than these are present as well.

n.18The exact number, taking brgya stong as a hundred thousand, khrag khrig as niyuta, i.e., a million, and bye ba as koṭi, i.e., ten million, would amount to 6 x 1018.

n.19The title of this dhāraṇī is left untranslated in the Tibetan text, a convention that is followed here. The name of the dhāraṇī would be translated as “the stainless uṣṇīṣa.”

n.20Emending the dative saṃśodhāya to the verbal imperative saṃśodhaya. This emendation is made in the subsequent formulas without further notation.

n.21This can be tentatively translated as “Oṁ, O you who have the innermost heart of all the tathāgatas of the three times, blaze! O you who have the essence of the dharmadhātu, gather vitality and purify negativity! You are pure, the stainless universal uṣṇīṣa of all tathāgatas, svāhā.” In the three repetitions of the spell that follow, an additional line is added, related respectively to the elements of earth, water, and space. With regard to the spell itself, see also Schopen 2005, pp. 334–38, von Hinüber 2018, p. 230, and Griffiths 2014, p. 182.

n.22In some of the extant Skt. witnesses of this dhāraṇī, the term here is saṃvara (“bind”).

n.23The lines appended here to the vimaloṣṇīṣa dhāraṇī can be tentatively rendered as “O great dustless one, enter into the deep essence of the dharmadhātu. Spread and expand. A a laṁ svāhā.” The remaining dhāraṇīs replicate this added line, changing only the final syllables to align with the respective element. This dhāraṇī uses a a laṁ for the earth element.

n.24The translation of this dhāraṇī is the same as above, with the addition of a māmaki to correspond with the water element.

n.25The translation of this dhāraṇī is the same as above, with the addition of a a e khaṃ ya to correspond with the space element.

n.26This spell can be tentatively translated as “Oṁ, suffuse the five used for a precious caitya, svāhā.”

n.27The eleventh stage (bhūmi) here refers to awakening, the stage of buddhahood. As is clear from the next line, this is not the final stage articulated in this text, as the “stage of Vajradhara” is considered distinct from the attainment of buddhahood.

n.28This can tentatively be translated as “It is so: Subtle, subtle, peaceful, peaceful, composed. Famous and bright. All buddhas. Bestow the blessing and rejoice, svāhā.” The precise meaning of anumide, which is attested in all versions, is not clear, and it is taken here as a corrupted form of anumode.

n.29This translation is tentative. It is unclear what the “five supports for offering” (mchod pa’i rten lnga) are. This may refer to a fivefold offering sequence for which Vajradhara assumes prior knowledge, or it may refer to the steps that follow immediately below. Both the narrative preamble to this text and the body of the main rite refer to a set of five caityas, thus the phrase mchod pa’i rten lnga could be read as “the five caityas.” However, the Tibetan translators were consistent in using mchod rten to render caitya , so the inclusion of the genitive particle in mchod pa’i rten suggests that they did not read the term caitya here.

n.30This can be translated as “Oṁ, vajra thread, hūṁ phaṭ.”

n.31This can be translated as “Oṁ, vajra stake! Drive in the stake! Bind all obstructing beings, hūṁ phaṭ!”

n.32This can be translated as “Oṁ, deathless one. Strike, strike, hūṁ phaṭ!”

n.33This can be translated as “Oṁ, vajra dig, dig, hūṁ phaṭ.”

n.34This translation is tentative and could also be read as “Press the seal (mudrā; phyag rgya) of Amṛtakuṇḍalin into a mallet using a three-pronged vajra.” This interpretation seems less likely, however, as the mudrā of Amṛtakuṇḍalin is more likely a physical gesture rather than an image or string of syllables to be inscribed on the mallet.

n.35This can be translated as “Oṁ, vajra mallet, flatten, flatten, hūṁ phaṭ.”

n.36This can be translated as “Oṁ, vajra knead, hūṁ phaṭ.”

n.37This can be tentatively translated as “Homage to the Three Jewels. It is thus: Subtle, subtle. Peaceful, peaceful. Calm, calm and composed. Fame, famous. Bright and pure, pure. All tathāgatas. Bestow the blessing. Ā, homage to you. May there be benefit.”

n.38This can be translated as “Oṁ, vajra life, svāhā.”

n.39These are the seed syllables of, respectively, the tathāgata, vajra, jewel, lotus, and karma families.

n.40This can be translated as “Oṁ, vajra essence, svāhā.”

n.41This can be translated as “Oṁ, dustless. Free of dust, svāhā.”

n.42This can be translated as “Oṁ, vajra mallet, flatten, flatten, hūṁ phaṭ.”

n.43This seems to refer to the different options of placing the mantra as stated above.

n.44This can be translated as “Oṁ, svāhā to the dharmadhātu, svāhā to the essence of the dharmadhātu.”

n.45It is not clear what ’khor lo gzugs pa refers to exactly. It has been interpreted here as a ring set above the caitya as a decorative frame on which other adornments are affixed.

n.46This can be translated as “Oṁ, measure, svāhā.”

n.47This can be translated as “Oṁ, pure nature of dharmadhātu, svāhā.”

n.48This describes a base marked with a grid that has squares equal in number to the caityas made. There is some confusion in the text here, as it first says that one should construct a stone base or platform (rdo’i stegs bu), before listing the different materials it can be made of.

n.49The idea here seems to be to first lay out the maṇḍala grid with thread, and then use the thread as a guide for drawing the grid lines.

n.50This can be translated as “Oṁ, remain firm, O stūpa, svāhā.”

n.51This can be translated as “Oṁ, arranged on vajra and lotus, svāhā.”

n.52This list refers to different types of ritual activities for which the caitya maṇḍala may be used.

n.53“Those places” (gnas de dag) seems to refer to places where the individual caityas are placed in the maṇḍala.

n.54This can be translated as “Oṁ, a, a moon disk, hūṁ phaṭ.”

n.55Equivalent, presumably, to the number of cells in the maṇḍala.

n.56The Tib. has the feminine term rdo rje dbyings ma, which is understood here to be feminine because it construes syntactically with the feminine term mudrā (“gesture”). This reading appears to be confirmed by the use of vajradhātu in the following mantra. Less likely, though not implausible, is that the Tib. term is equivalent to rdo rje dbying phyug ma, Vajradhātvīśvarī, a female Buddhist deity.

n.57This can be translated as “Oṁ, empowered as vajradhātu, hūṁ.”

n.58See Rospatt 1999, pp. 132–40 for other uses of the vajradhātu maṇḍala and dharmadhātu maṇḍala in caitya consecration rites.

n.59The syntax of this passage is challenging; thus its translation is tentative.

n.60This can be translated as “Oṁ, may there be complete worship with flowers, svāhā.”

n.61Oṁ hūṁ traṁ hrī āḥ, which was combined with the vimaloṣṇīṣa dhāraṇī and inserted into the clay, as described above.

n.62The main referent of this line is ambiguous. The line could plausibly read, “The rays of wisdom light return, strike the pinnacle and the heart of those caityas, and purify anything that obscures awakened activity and so forth. One should imagine that one now has the nature of vajra body, speech, and mind.”

n.63This can be translated as “Oṁ, deathless one, please accept this offering water, svāhā.”

n.64The Tibetan terminology and syntax in this line is challenging, thus the translation is tentative. The subject is not explicit but is taken here to be the pinnacles of the caityas because the rite is intended to consecrate them. It is entirely possible, however, that it is the ritual officiant who is the target of the ritual action, as the phrase dbu’i spyi bo, here translated as “pinnacles,” could naturally be read as “crown of the head.” There is also some ambiguity about the ritual action being described. The idea seems to be that one scents (bdugs) the pinnacles by pouring/sprinkling (sbrengs) the scented water over them three times.

n.65This reference is uncertain, thus the translation is tentative. More literally, the Tibetan phrase phyag rgya’i rgya mtsho’i sprin would read “the oceanic cloud of gestures (mudrā; phyag rgya).”

n.66Tib. ci mang du brjod pa. It is not clear what the number of recitations would correspond to. Perhaps it is the number of caityas in the maṇḍala.

n.67The source of this citation could not be identified.

n.68Please see the introduction about the use of this title.