Narayanapariprccha: Sanskrit and Tibetan Texts

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Descriptionངོ་སྤྲོད།

Sanskrit text of the Nārāyaṇaparipṛcchādhāraṇī with Tibetan translation and an English introduction.

Summary by Anukul Chandra Banerjee, Narayanapariprccha: Sanskrit and Tibetan Texts, 1941:

The present text is a mantra dhāraṇī, the efficacies of which are described as follows:

(i) Security against the action of enemies, evil spirits and thieves,
(ii) gaining happiness and fortune in life, and
(iii) gaining the pawer of recollection of previous births. . . .

It is said that once the Exalted Buddha was living in the house of Vaiśravaṇa on the summit of the golden mountain. He delivered there a discourse called Dharmālokamukha, 'an Introduction to the light of the Element of Existence', eulogised alike by the gods, the Garuḍas, Kiṇṇaras, Yakṣas and the rest. Once Nārāyaṇa, having been overpowered by the demons, approached the Buddha and said, "Oh Lord, take pity on me and kindly give me that charm whereby men, gods, demi-gods, etc., would be free from all evils and gain victory in battle." At this the Lord said to him, "Oh Nārāyaṇa, you know many deceptive artifices and possess sufficient power. Why are you asking me for this?" Then Nārāyaṇa said to Him, "Oh Lord, I have been vanquished by the lord of the demons through his stratagem in battle. Some of the gods died instantly in the battle-field while others fled away in fear of death. So, Lord, kindly teach me that charm out of compassion for me, so that all beings would be victorious in the battle and the pride of the demons also humbled down." The Lord said to him, "Oh Nārāyaṇa, there was, in days of yore, a king named Ratnaśrī in the hill called Rohita in Magadha. Then there was born at that time a Tathāgata named Sarveśvara who was all-enlightened, endowed with supreme knowledge, and a leader of gods and men. I have learnt this charm from that Tathāgata and have explained this to others elaborately. Again, Oh Nārāyaṇa, through the influence of this charm one can have no fear from enemies and thieves, and one gains mastery over all evils and this king too reigned for many hundred years in righteousness through its efficacy. Afterwards he was born as a Bodhisattva called Māndhāṭr and became a monarch in his next birth. He gave away for the good of all beings all his riches due to his perfection in charity in his previous births and the gods, the demi-gods, the Nāgas, men, etc., carried out his orders at his very bidding. After spending sixty four thousand kalpas (aeons) thus, he became a Buddha 'fully enlightened,' unparallel in the world and the teacher of gods in one of his births and was like the king of serpents freed from the fear of the king of birds (Garuḍa). Hence, Oh Nārāyaṇa, learn this charm called Mahāmāyāvijayavāhinīdhāraṇī which commences with the words namo 'stvadhvānugatapratiṣṭhitebhyaḥ sarvabuddhabodhisattvebhyaḥ and closes with the words phaṭ phaṭ svāhā (vide the text, pp. 3-4). Having learnt this charm, Oh Nārāyaṇa, kindly explain this to others in full. Now this charm being put in five wheels kept in five models of chariots is to be placed in five places of the battle-field. There one is to think of the 'Queen of Secret Sciences' (Vidyārājñī) called Mahāvijayavāhinī, possessing many hundred thousand forms and hands, three eyes, black-red colour and four bright faces devouring the enemies while staying in this chariot placed in front of the enemy. The king himself is to make a wheel and write this charm in saffron on this in the mid-day and thus he conquers his enemy with his prowess. Such is the efficacy, Oh Nārāyaṇa, of this charm. This charm could be worn by the pure as well as by the impure and even by one observing fast or not. If a man recites this charm thrice daily, he becomes free from five heinous offences, attains happiness and can also recollect his previous births. He devotes all his life for the cause of the good religion and the happiness of the beings and never falls a prey to evils. And moreover, Oh Nārāyaṇa, a noble son, a noble daughter, a monk, a nun, a lay man, a lay woman, a king, a prince or a Brahmin who wears this charm can recollect his or her previous births."
At this Nārāyaṇa got up from his seat and saluted Him with a smiling face saying, "Thou art the Lord of the gods and men and so thou explaineth the true doctrine. I bow down to Thee." Nārāyaṇa again saluted Him saying, "Oh Lord, thou art my Lord," and so saying he went away with this charm. (Banerjee, Narayanapariprccha: Sanskrit and Tibetan Texts, xiii–xvii)

Citation

Banerjee, Anukul Chandra, ed. Narayanapariprccha: Sanskrit and Tibetan Texts. Calcutta: University of Calcutta, 1941. https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.484775/mode/2up.

Table of contents

Prefacev
Introductionxi
Nārāyaṇaparipṛcchā
- Sanskrit Text1
- Tibetan Text7

Interconnections

Works related to this item

1 Recension of

Nārāyaṇaparipṛcchāryamahāmāyāvijayavāhinīdhāraṇī [नारायणपरिपृच्छार्यमहामायाविजयवाहिनीनामधारणी]. sred med kyi bus zhus pa 'phags pa sgyu ma chen mo rnam par rgyal ba thob par byed pa zhes bya ba'i gzungs [སྲེད་མེད་ཀྱི་བུས་ཞུས་པ་འཕགས་པ་སྒྱུ་མ་ཆེན་མོ་རྣམ་པར་རྒྱལ་བ་ཐོབ་པར་བྱེད་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བའི་གཟུངས།]. [The Incantation, The Questions of Nārāyaṇa (84000)]. Translated by Tai Situpa, 8th. Kangyur, RKTSK 678 http://www.rkts.org/cat.php?id=678&typ=1.

Classical WorksAbout this item

Summary by Anukul Chandra Banerjee, Narayanapariprccha: Sanskrit and Tibetan Texts, 1941:

The present text is a mantra dhāraṇī, the efficacies of which are described as follows:

(i) Security against the action of enemies, evil spirits and thieves,
(ii) gaining happiness and fortune in life, and
(iii) gaining the pawer of recollection of previous births. . . .

It is said that once the Exalted Buddha was living in the house of Vaiśravaṇa on the summit of the golden mountain. He delivered there a discourse called Dharmālokamukha, 'an Introduction to the light of the Element of Existence', eulogised alike by the gods, the Garuḍas, Kiṇṇaras, Yakṣas and the rest. Once Nārāyaṇa, having been overpowered by the demons, approached the Buddha and said, "Oh Lord, take pity on me and kindly give me that charm whereby men, gods, demi-gods, etc., would be free from all evils and gain victory in battle." At this the Lord said to him, "Oh Nārāyaṇa, you know many deceptive artifices and possess sufficient power. Why are you asking me for this?" Then Nārāyaṇa said to Him, "Oh Lord, I have been vanquished by the lord of the demons through his stratagem in battle. Some of the gods died instantly in the battle-field while others fled away in fear of death. So, Lord, kindly teach me that charm out of compassion for me, so that all beings would be victorious in the battle and the pride of the demons also humbled down." The Lord said to him, "Oh Nārāyaṇa, there was, in days of yore, a king named Ratnaśrī in the hill called Rohita in Magadha. Then there was born at that time a Tathāgata named Sarveśvara who was all-enlightened, endowed with supreme knowledge, and a leader of gods and men. I have learnt this charm from that Tathāgata and have explained this to others elaborately. Again, Oh Nārāyaṇa, through the influence of this charm one can have no fear from enemies and thieves, and one gains mastery over all evils and this king too reigned for many hundred years in righteousness through its efficacy. Afterwards he was born as a Bodhisattva called Māndhāṭr and became a monarch in his next birth. He gave away for the good of all beings all his riches due to his perfection in charity in his previous births and the gods, the demi-gods, the Nāgas, men, etc., carried out his orders at his very bidding. After spending sixty four thousand kalpas (aeons) thus, he became a Buddha 'fully enlightened,' unparallel in the world and the teacher of gods in one of his births and was like the king of serpents freed from the fear of the king of birds (Garuḍa). Hence, Oh Nārāyaṇa, learn this charm called Mahāmāyāvijayavāhinīdhāraṇī which commences with the words namo 'stvadhvānugatapratiṣṭhitebhyaḥ sarvabuddhabodhisattvebhyaḥ and closes with the words phaṭ phaṭ svāhā (vide the text, pp. 3-4). Having learnt this charm, Oh Nārāyaṇa, kindly explain this to others in full. Now this charm being put in five wheels kept in five models of chariots is to be placed in five places of the battle-field. There one is to think of the 'Queen of Secret Sciences' (Vidyārājñī) called Mahāvijayavāhinī, possessing many hundred thousand forms and hands, three eyes, black-red colour and four bright faces devouring the enemies while staying in this chariot placed in front of the enemy. The king himself is to make a wheel and write this charm in saffron on this in the mid-day and thus he conquers his enemy with his prowess. Such is the efficacy, Oh Nārāyaṇa, of this charm. This charm could be worn by the pure as well as by the impure and even by one observing fast or not. If a man recites this charm thrice daily, he becomes free from five heinous offences, attains happiness and can also recollect his previous births. He devotes all his life for the cause of the good religion and the happiness of the beings and never falls a prey to evils. And moreover, Oh Nārāyaṇa, a noble son, a noble daughter, a monk, a nun, a lay man, a lay woman, a king, a prince or a Brahmin who wears this charm can recollect his or her previous births."
At this Nārāyaṇa got up from his seat and saluted Him with a smiling face saying, "Thou art the Lord of the gods and men and so thou explaineth the true doctrine. I bow down to Thee." Nārāyaṇa again saluted Him saying, "Oh Lord, thou art my Lord," and so saying he went away with this charm. (Banerjee, Narayanapariprccha: Sanskrit and Tibetan Texts, xiii–xvii)

1 Scholarship on

Nārāyaṇaparipṛcchāryamahāmāyāvijayavāhinīdhāraṇī [नारायणपरिपृच्छार्यमहामायाविजयवाहिनीनामधारणी]. sred med kyi bus zhus pa 'phags pa sgyu ma chen mo rnam par rgyal ba thob par byed pa zhes bya ba'i gzungs [སྲེད་མེད་ཀྱི་བུས་ཞུས་པ་འཕགས་པ་སྒྱུ་མ་ཆེན་མོ་རྣམ་པར་རྒྱལ་བ་ཐོབ་པར་བྱེད་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བའི་གཟུངས།]. [The Incantation, The Questions of Nārāyaṇa (84000)]. Translated by Tai Situpa, 8th. Kangyur, RKTSK 678 http://www.rkts.org/cat.php?id=678&typ=1.

Classical WorksAbout this item

Summary by Anukul Chandra Banerjee, Narayanapariprccha: Sanskrit and Tibetan Texts, 1941:

The present text is a mantra dhāraṇī, the efficacies of which are described as follows:

(i) Security against the action of enemies, evil spirits and thieves,
(ii) gaining happiness and fortune in life, and
(iii) gaining the pawer of recollection of previous births. . . .

It is said that once the Exalted Buddha was living in the house of Vaiśravaṇa on the summit of the golden mountain. He delivered there a discourse called Dharmālokamukha, 'an Introduction to the light of the Element of Existence', eulogised alike by the gods, the Garuḍas, Kiṇṇaras, Yakṣas and the rest. Once Nārāyaṇa, having been overpowered by the demons, approached the Buddha and said, "Oh Lord, take pity on me and kindly give me that charm whereby men, gods, demi-gods, etc., would be free from all evils and gain victory in battle." At this the Lord said to him, "Oh Nārāyaṇa, you know many deceptive artifices and possess sufficient power. Why are you asking me for this?" Then Nārāyaṇa said to Him, "Oh Lord, I have been vanquished by the lord of the demons through his stratagem in battle. Some of the gods died instantly in the battle-field while others fled away in fear of death. So, Lord, kindly teach me that charm out of compassion for me, so that all beings would be victorious in the battle and the pride of the demons also humbled down." The Lord said to him, "Oh Nārāyaṇa, there was, in days of yore, a king named Ratnaśrī in the hill called Rohita in Magadha. Then there was born at that time a Tathāgata named Sarveśvara who was all-enlightened, endowed with supreme knowledge, and a leader of gods and men. I have learnt this charm from that Tathāgata and have explained this to others elaborately. Again, Oh Nārāyaṇa, through the influence of this charm one can have no fear from enemies and thieves, and one gains mastery over all evils and this king too reigned for many hundred years in righteousness through its efficacy. Afterwards he was born as a Bodhisattva called Māndhāṭr and became a monarch in his next birth. He gave away for the good of all beings all his riches due to his perfection in charity in his previous births and the gods, the demi-gods, the Nāgas, men, etc., carried out his orders at his very bidding. After spending sixty four thousand kalpas (aeons) thus, he became a Buddha 'fully enlightened,' unparallel in the world and the teacher of gods in one of his births and was like the king of serpents freed from the fear of the king of birds (Garuḍa). Hence, Oh Nārāyaṇa, learn this charm called Mahāmāyāvijayavāhinīdhāraṇī which commences with the words namo 'stvadhvānugatapratiṣṭhitebhyaḥ sarvabuddhabodhisattvebhyaḥ and closes with the words phaṭ phaṭ svāhā (vide the text, pp. 3-4). Having learnt this charm, Oh Nārāyaṇa, kindly explain this to others in full. Now this charm being put in five wheels kept in five models of chariots is to be placed in five places of the battle-field. There one is to think of the 'Queen of Secret Sciences' (Vidyārājñī) called Mahāvijayavāhinī, possessing many hundred thousand forms and hands, three eyes, black-red colour and four bright faces devouring the enemies while staying in this chariot placed in front of the enemy. The king himself is to make a wheel and write this charm in saffron on this in the mid-day and thus he conquers his enemy with his prowess. Such is the efficacy, Oh Nārāyaṇa, of this charm. This charm could be worn by the pure as well as by the impure and even by one observing fast or not. If a man recites this charm thrice daily, he becomes free from five heinous offences, attains happiness and can also recollect his previous births. He devotes all his life for the cause of the good religion and the happiness of the beings and never falls a prey to evils. And moreover, Oh Nārāyaṇa, a noble son, a noble daughter, a monk, a nun, a lay man, a lay woman, a king, a prince or a Brahmin who wears this charm can recollect his or her previous births."
At this Nārāyaṇa got up from his seat and saluted Him with a smiling face saying, "Thou art the Lord of the gods and men and so thou explaineth the true doctrine. I bow down to Thee." Nārāyaṇa again saluted Him saying, "Oh Lord, thou art my Lord," and so saying he went away with this charm. (Banerjee, Narayanapariprccha: Sanskrit and Tibetan Texts, xiii–xvii)