Introduction

i.1The Dhāraṇī of the Iron Beak [1] is the third of the “five beak dhāraṇīs” (mchu sde lnga, Toh 759–763), a cycle of texts related to the garuḍas, a race of eagle-like birds in Indian mythology. The word tuṇḍa or “beak” in the titles is a reference to the garuḍas’ sharp, owl-like beaks which they use for hunting nāgas, a class of snake-like beings associated with, among other things, weather patterns and rainfall. The dhāraṇī of the iron beak is thus a threatening spell used to coerce the nāgas into providing rainfall for favorable agriculture. The cycle of the five beak dhāraṇīs is, along with the Great Cloud sūtras (Mahāmegha, Toh 232-235), among the few scriptures in the Degé Kangyur concerned with weather control practices.

i.2The Dhāraṇī of the Iron Beak [1] takes place in Indra’s Rock Cave on Vaidehaka Mountain. There, Śakra requests the Buddha for the wrathful means with which to subdue asuras‍—the famed adversaries of the devas‍—and other beings who harm the Buddhist teachings. The Buddha instructs Śakra to employ the dhāraṇī of the iron beak which has the dual purpose of averting harm to the Buddhist teachings and controlling weather. This dual interest in agrarian concerns and protecting Buddhism might suggest that the dhāraṇī was originally a pan-Indian agricultural ritual spell that was later brought into the Buddhist fold, especially when we consider how rain rituals for good harvests have been a widespread concern of Indian religions since time immemorial. Among those who harm the Buddhist teachings, the text places a particular emphasis on grahas, a class of beings who “seize,” possess, or otherwise adversely influence other beings by causing a range of physical and mental afflictions, as well as various kinds of misfortune. After the Buddha recites the dhāraṇī, he provides short ritual instructions on how to use it to incant ritual substances and create rainfall or hailstorms. The Buddha’s discourse comes to a close with him advocating for the utmost secrecy of this esoteric formula.

i.3The Dhāraṇī of the Iron Beak [1] shares an identical title with another translation in the Degé Kangyur, Toh 762, which immediately follows it. These two texts furthermore share a great deal of intertextuality with The Dhāraṇī That Fully Confers Freedom From Dangers (Toh 609/925). These three works share an identical narrative structure, are set in Indra’s Rock Cave, and feature Śakra as their interlocutor. While the dhāraṇī formulas in Toh 761 and Toh 609/925 are, in most places, nearly in agreement, the much shorter formulas found in Toh 762 are altogether different. Many sections of the dhāraṇī formula were challenging to comprehend. We did not attempt to venture any conjectural emendations and, instead, presented it largely as it appears in the Tibetan.

i.4Hidas (2019) dates The Nāga Vow of the Vajra Beak (Vajra­tuṇḍanāga­samaya, Toh 759/964)‍—the longest and most central of the five beak dhāraṇīs‍—to the fifth century ᴄᴇ. Though the relationships between the five beak dhāraṇīs are still unclear, we may assume that The Dhāraṇī of the Iron Beak [1] also emerged around a similar time and amidst a similar Indian cultural and religious milieu. The text is bereft of a colophon that would provide information as to when and by whom it was translated into Tibetan. It is not listed in either of the two extant catalogs from the imperial period. As such, we are left with little basis on which to determine under what circumstances it was translated into Tibetan. The colophon to The Dhāraṇī That Fully Confers Freedom From Dangers, however, describes how it was translated by the prolific Tibetan translator Yeshé Dé in collaboration with the Indian masters Jinamitra and Dānaśīla. Though it may certainly be possible that the present text was translated during a similar time, given the degree of intertextuality between them, we cannot be sure. Like much of dhāraṇī literature, this work’s importance lies not in its study but in its ritual performance. As such, most of the references to the five beak dhāraṇīs we find in later Tibetan literature are not as scriptural citations but rather as a part of larger liturgies, alongside ritual elements such as nāga oblations (klu gtor), or as prescribed by astrological divinations.

i.5The Dhāraṇī of the Iron Beak [1] no longer survives in Sanskrit. The dhāraṇī was never translated into Chinese and, beyond its translation as a part of the Mongolian canon, it does not appear to have been translated into any other languages as far as we are aware. The text has also not been the subject of any sustained scholarly research. Our translation was based on the textual witness in the Degé Kangyur. We also consulted variant readings as attested in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) Kangyur as well as the Stok Palace Manuscript (stog pho brang bris ma) Kangyur.