Notes

n.1Butön Rinchen Drup (Bu ston rin chen grub 1290–1364) includes a complete version of the Gaṇapati mantra as he received it in his Collection of Dhāraṇīs from the Four Classes of Tantras of the Secret Mantra (gsang sngags rgyud sde bzhi’i gzungs ’bum). The mantras that appear in The Tantra of Great Gaṇapati are scattered across a handful of different chapters. In this sense, they are not presented as a single Gaṇapati mantra, but as a collection of various Gaṇapati mantras. The Gaṇapati mantra, according to Bütön, is as follows: oṃ ha ratnadhi ratnasiddhi vināyaka baira hūṁ hri hūṁ phaṭ | oṃ hūṁ phaṭ | bhe bhi bha yakṣa mahābherabhe trireca śatrūṁ nṛja nija yakṣa kāma mahābhairave devayakṣam nāganāga thumarilaya yaya mahābhairave yakṣa nāśaya nāśaya | curṇa curṇa tralaya nāgayakatra māraya hana cakra vināyaka jīvaṃ tāntakara hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ oṃ vighnabhivabhi sarvavīryā viśvayahṛdam itaya hūṁ citu patu pramarutāya hana hana gṛhṇa gṛhṇa paca paca brahma brahma brahmāya brahmāya hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ || See Butön Rinchen Drup, gsang sngags rgyud sde bzhi’i gzungs ’bum, in gsung ’bum/ rin chen grub/ (zhol par ma/ ldi lir bskyar par brgyab pa/) vol. 16/ma (New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1965–71), 267.a–267.b. This important source was initially accessed through the AIBS database entry for The Tantra of Great Gaṇapati (Toh 666). See The Buddhist Canons Research Database. American Institute of Buddhist Studies and Columbia University Center for Buddhist Studies. Accessed May 31, 2019. http://databases.aibs.columbia.edu.

n.2The Aurangabad cave complex is not to be confused with the better-known and large cave complexes at Ajanta and Ellora, which are also located in the wider Aurangabad area. The Aurangabad cave complex is found on a hill just outside the city of Aurangabad and is know simply as the “Aurangabad cave complex.”

n.3This description is taken from Adam Krug’s first-hand observation and documentation of this cave vihāra site. For a thorough study of this important Buddhist archeological site, see Pia Brancaccio 2011.

n.4Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans., The Heart Mantra of Gaṇapati , Toh 665/Toh 1084 (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2023).

n.5dkar chag ’phang thang ma (Pe cin: mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2003), p. 30.

n.6Denkarma (pho brang stod thang ldan dkar gyi chos kyi ’gyur ro cog gi dkar chag). Toh 4364, Degé Tengyur, vol. 206 (sna tshogs, jo), folio 303.a. See also Shyuki Yoshimuri 1950, p. 154.

n.7This is based on Duquenne’s analysis of these materials. See Robert Duquenne 1988, pp. 321–54.

n.8Tarthang Tulku 1982, p. 270.

n.9Christopher Wilkinson 1991, pp. 235–75.

n.10Following D and S: lha yi longs spyod mnga’ ris las /’dod pa’i longs spyod ’byung bar ’gyur. This translation is tentative.

n.11Following D and S: lha chen tshogs bdag chen pos bya. This translation is tentative. It is also possible to translate this line as “Mahādeva and Gaṇapati will create.” However, since the chapter colophon does refer to Gaṇapati as a “great deity” (lha chen), this alternate reading is less likely.

n.12Following D and S: ba ra ta ka zla ba drug. Y, J, and C: ba ra ta ga zla ba drug. This translation is tentative and reads the Tibetan ba ra ta ka as a transliteration of the Sanskrit *vrataka.

n.13The phrase “this is how” has been added to the English translation for the sake of clarity. No equivalent of this phrase appears in the Tibetan witnesses.

n.14Following D and S: lha chen dngos grub sgrub pa. Readers should note that the term lha chen translates the Sanskrit mahādeva , which is a common epithet for the Hindu deity Śiva. In this case, however, it most likely refers to Gaṇapati.

n.15Following D and S: zla ba tshes pa. The Tibetan term zla ba tshes pa translates a number of Sanskrit terms such as “the new moon” (navacandra), “young moon” (abhinavendu), “lunar digit” (candralekhā), and “half moon” (ardhacandra). Here the term likely refers to the “new moon” as well as a “lunar digit,” or the individual phases that the moon passes through as it waxes and wanes. In this case, the description of Gaṇapati wearing a “lunar digit” in his crown describes the first lunar digit of the crescent waxing moon, which is a well-known iconographic component of deities like Gaṇapati who are directly related to the deity Śiva.

n.16Although it is not explicitly stated here, elsewhere in this “selection of mantra syllables” chapter we see that these instructions pertain to mentally writing Gaṇapati’s mantra, though it is also possible that these instructions would accompany the physical process of writing the mantra.

n.17Following Y, N, H, and S: gsum pa’i gsum pa. D: gsum pas gsum pa.

n.18Following D and S: nang gi cha ris sku khrus gsol. This translation is tentative.

n.19Following Y, J, N, C, H, and S: bum pa yis. D: bum pa yi.

n.20D: bzhun dang bro mchog che ba yin. S: bzhun dang bro mchog che ba yang. The translation of these two flavors is tentative.

n.21Following D and S: dza ra pa dang rkun ma ni. This translation is tentative and reads the Tibetan dza ra pa as a transliteration of the Sanskrit term cārapāla.

n.22Following D and S: bgegs kyi rgyal po thams cad kyis. While the term bgegs kyi rgyal po (Skt. vighnarāja) can function as an alternate name of Gaṇapati, in this case it likely refers to both human kings who act as obstacles and other non-human “kings of obstructing beings” who, like Gaṇapati, rule over retinues of non-human beings that bring about obstacles and misfortune.

n.23Following Y, K, J, C, and S: ma hA de ba. D: ma he de ba. .

n.24D: byi na ya ka; Y, J, K, N, C, U, H, and S: bi na ya ka. This transliteration amends the reading in the Tibetan witnesses to the proper Sanskrit spelling of this name, vināyaka .

n.25Following N, U, and H: skra zing ba. D: skra zed pa.

n.26The text breaks meter at this point and briefly resumes meter for the nāga mantra section that concludes this chapter.

n.27D: brgyad la hUM dang phaT kyis mtha’ brten pas srog gi snying po’i. Y, K: brgyad la hUM dang phaT kyis mtha’ brten pa’i srog gi snying po’i. S: brgyad po la hUM dang phaT kyis mtha’ rten pas srog gi snying po’i. The translation of this entire passage on the eight yakṣa mantras is tentative. The text shows some signs of corruption, and only lists seven of the eight opening mantra syllables.

n.28There are four great kings but the text only provides three mantra syllables.

n.29This reference to a “soul stone” (bla rdo), a term commonly associated with Tibetan mythology and sorcery that does not have any clear Indic correlate, suggests that this section of the text might derive from a non-Indic source.

n.30Following N, H, and S: rbad pa. D: sbad pa.

n.31Following U: bhai ra b+he. D and S: b+he ra b+he.

n.32Following C: thum rila ya. D and S: thum ril yang.

n.33D and S: b+he ra b+he. The transliteration is corrected here based on the standard spelling of this term.

n.34D: nA sha ya na lan gnyis so/ /sha ya tsUr na tsUr na ya. The transliteration and word order in these verses is corrupted and has been restored in this transliteration to the proper duplicate forms of nāśaya nāśaya (“destroy destroy”) and cūrṇaya cūrṇaya (“pulverize pulverize”).

n.35Following S: bi nA ya ka. D: bi na ya ga.

n.36Following N and H: drag po. D and S: drag pos.

n.37D and S: ka ka ki ku’i thod pa’i nang du blugs te. This translation “crow’s skull” for the Tibetan ka ka ki ku’i thod pa is tentative.