Notes

n.1Parts of this dhāraṇī are also found in other dhāraṇīs to Tārā such as the Sādhanamālā mantra of Vajratārā (Bhattacharyya 1925, p. 178) and The Dhāraṇī of Tārā (Toh 729, sgrol ma’i gzungs), to give only two examples.

n.2For various iconographic descriptions of Tārā Who Protects from the Eight Dangers, see for example Shin 2010, pp. 20–22 and Shaw 2006, pp. 319–322.

n.3The Kangyur manuscripts suggest that the Sanskrit title of this text was *Ārya­tārāṣṭa­ghoretāsvī­sūtra or a variant thereof. We have followed the Tōhoku catalogue, amending the title to *Ārya­tārāṣṭa­ghora­tāraṇī­sūtra. It is worthwhile to note that the Sanskrit term *aṣṭaghora appears to be a unique way to refer to the eight dangers. The commonly used Sanskrit term is aṣṭamahābhaya. Both terms are very similar in meaning and both can be translated into Tibetan as ’jigs pa [chen po] brgyad.

n.4Interestingly, the text is only found in Kangyur collections of the Tshalpa (tshal pa) group, such as the Degé, Lhasa, Lithang, and Choné Kangyurs. It is not included in any of the Thempangma (them spangs ma) group, the Ladakh/Mustang Kangyur collections, or the Dunhuang collections.

n.5See Willson 1996, pp. 87–93. Willson’s translation is based on the Peking Kangyur version of the sūtra.

n.6Quintessence (hṛdaya, snying po) here refers to a dhāraṇī that is considered to encapsulate the essence of a deity, in this case Tārā.

n.7The first part of this dhāraṇī is an homage to Tārā. Since the Tibetan translators chose to render this part into Tibetan, it is also translated into English here.

n.8The second part of this dhāraṇī presents a standard homage to Avalokiteśvara. We have amended namo to nama following the homage as given in the Vajra­tārā­sādhanas in the Sādhana­mālā (see e.g. Bhattacharyya 1925, p. 178) and The Dhāraṇī of Tārā. A tentative translation of it is as follows: “ oṁ! Homage to Noble Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva mahāsattva, the great compassionate one!”

n.9Tadyathā, literally “it is like this,” is used to indicate the beginning of a mantra.

n.10The third part of this dhāraṇī is a request to Tārā to dispel obstacles. This part is found as an independent dhāraṇī in, for example, the Sādhanamālā as the mantra of Vajratārā (Bhattacharyya 1925, p. 178), The Dhāraṇī of Tārā, and elsewhere (Beyer 1978, pp. 280–281). A tentative translation of it is as follows: “It is like this: oṁ! Deliverer! Savior! Swift One! Crush, suppress, confound, restrain all the wrong and evil beings for me! hūṁ hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā!”

n.11The fourth part of this dhāraṇī is a request to Tārā to purify one’s obscurations. We have amended the first two beginning syllables mama to nama following the dhāraṇī as given in Butön’s Dhāraṇī Collection (gzungs bsdus) in his Collected Works (gsung ’bum). The remaining part of the dhāraṇī appears to be corrupted. The letters bha and ka are very similar and often confused in old Newar and other scripts, so āryāvalobha- probably was originally āryāvaloka-. This is probably a reference to Āryāvalokiteśvara, whose name might have been followed by the standard bhodhisattvo mahāsattvaḥ. A tentative translation is as follows: “Homage to you, [Tārā,] empowered with the blessing of Noble Avalokita, the great bodhisattva mahāsattva! Purify, completely purify, cleanse, and completely cleanse all my karmic obscurations! hūṁ phaṭ svāhā !”

n.12This is a tentative rendering of the phrase: de nas sangs rgyas nyid kyis su/ /lha mo nyid la rab tu bstod.

n.13The title listed here differs from the title given on the first page as “Noble” (’phags ma) is missing. Instead, “Venerable Lady” (rje btsun ma) is added. The Comparative Edition notes that the Lithang and Choné versions add yang zhus ste/te skar to the end of the colophon (p. 601). The phrase could be rendered as “re-edited and sorted.”