Introduction

i.1The Dhāraṇī “The Mother of the Grahas” records a teaching by Śākyamuni Buddha on a dhāraṇī recitation practice for making offerings to the nine celestial grahas. The aim of this practice is to win the grahas’ favor and be protected from harmful influences and beings. The introduction tells us that the Buddha taught this dhāraṇī in the city of the yakṣa lord Aṭavika, where he was surrounded by a host of bodhisattvas and a large gathering of supernatural beings. Seated among them are the nine celestial grahas‍—Sūrya, Candra, Aṅgāraka, Budha, Bṛhaspati, Śukra, Śani, Rāhu, and Ketu‍—who have joined this assembly of supernatural beings to praise the Buddha and listen to his teaching.

i.2As the Buddha concludes his teaching, the bodhisattva Vajrapāṇī approaches the Buddha to ask him to teach a Dharma discourse that will pacify both the celestial and harmful grahas. The Buddha teaches The Dhāraṇī “The Mother of the Grahas” and provides instructions on a recitation practice for making offerings to the celestial grahas.

i.3There is no known Sanskrit witness of The Dhāraṇī “The Mother of the Grahas” (Toh 661/998). This text is closely related, but not identical to, The Noble Dhāraṇī “The Mother of the Grahas” (Toh 660/997). Unlike Toh 660/997, Toh 661/998 (the present text) does not contain a translators’ colophon and is not mentioned by its specific title in either of the imperial Tibetan catalogs of translated works. Given that the colophon to Toh 660/997 indicates that it was translated during the reign of King Tri Songdetsen (Khri srong lde btsan, r. 755–797/804), it is possible that work, and not Toh 661/998 corresponds to the version of this text that appears in the Denkarma and Phangthangma imperial catalogs.

i.4There are two Chinese versions of this text included in the Taishō canon, and one of these versions, Taishō 1302, clearly corresponds to Toh 661/998. Many lines in Taishō 1302 and Toh 661/988 match each other word-for-word, and the overall structure of these two texts is identical. Interestingly, Taishō 1302 was translated by Facheng, alias Gö Chödrup (ca. 755–849), who was a prolific Sino-Tibetan translator active in the Dunhuang region during the ninth century. It is possible, then, that Toh 661/998 was the source for Taishō 1302, or that Gö Chödrup produced both Toh 661/998 and Taishō 1302 based on a third source. A closer examination of these texts with reference to the Dunhuang manuscripts will shed further light on the connections between these sources. The other canonical Chinese translation, Taishō 1303, was translated by Fatian in the thirteenth century. This text noticeably differs from Toh 660/997 and Toh 661/998 in its structure and contents.

i.5This English translation was prepared based on the witnesses for The Dhāraṇī “The Mother of the Grahas” in the Tantra Collection (rgyud ’bum) and the Compendium of Dhāraṇīs (gzungs ’dus) in the Degé Kangyur in consultation with the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) of the Degé Kangyur. A version of this text preserved in the Stok Palace Kangyur was also consulted, but this witness is only a partial match for the witnesses in the Degé Kangyur. An additional early Tibetan witness is preserved among the collection of Tibetan manuscripts from Dunhuang presently housed in the Indian Office Library in London, but this witness has not yet been digitized and was unfortunately not available to us at the time that this translation was prepared.