Guānzìzài púsà dáwāduōlì suíxīn tuóluóní jīng 觀自在菩薩怛嚩多唎隨心陀羅尼經
Tvāritā-Tārā As-One-Wishes Dhāraṇī Sūtra of Avalokiteśvara (Tvarita-Tārā-hṛdaya-dhāraṇī) by 智通 (Zhìtōng, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle Tang Esoteric suíxīn dhāraṇī-sūtra translated by Zhìtōng (智通) of the Chángān Dà Zǒngchísì 大總持寺. The transliterated element 怛嚩多唎 (dáwāduōlì) corresponds to Skt. Tvaritā / Tvarita-Tārā — “Swift Tārā” — a wrathful and quick-acting form of Tārā in the developed Indian Tantric pantheon. The text is paired with KR6j0311 (T20n1103a) — both are Zhìtōng’s translations from related but textually distinct Indic vorlagen. The Taishō head-note observes: No. 1103 — i.e., the two texts share the same Taishō number, distinguished as a and b. The colophon: 唐大總持寺沙門智通譯.
Abstract
The discourse is set at Sukhāvatī (極樂世界), with Avalokiteśvara as the principal speaker. Avalokiteśvara approaches the Buddha (presumably Amitābha) and announces his suíxīn zìzài xīnwáng tuóluóní (隨心自在心王陀羅尼, “the As-One-Wishes Sovereign-Heart Dhāraṇī”) — capable of bringing great benefit to all sentient beings of the future. The text declares the siddhi-results of practice: the swift attainment of samādhi, the swift attainment of all dhāraṇī-gates, the purification of innumerable karmic obstructions, the accumulation of puṇya and jñāna resources, the increase of roots of merit, and the manifestation of innumerable wisdom-supernormal-power-realms.
The text expounds the mūla-mantra of Tvaritā-Tārā, the vidyā-formulae, the mudrā repertoire, and the siddhi-applications. As a “swift-acting” dhāraṇī, the text emphasises the kṣipraṃ (速能, “able to swiftly”) character of the practice — the Tvaritā emanation of Tārā being specifically conceived as the efficacious-and-rapid form. The Sukhāvatī-setting links this Esoteric text to the Pure-Land devotional tradition.
Translations and research
- Beyer, Stephan. The Cult of Tārā. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973 — Tvaritā-Tārā discussion.
- Bühnemann, Gudrun. “The Goddess Mahācīnakrama-Tārā (Ugra-Tārā).” BSOAS 59 (1996): 472–493.