Dharani

Dharani (Skt. dhāraṇī; Tib. གཟུངས་, zung; Wyl. gzungs) — long mantras, which are placed inside sacred statues and stupas. Dharanis are seen as goddesses in themselves. Thus, although the Dharani may address Avalokiteshvara and thus we may think that we invoke a male deity, we actually invoke a female deity, that is the Dharani of Avalokiteshvara.

The difference between a Mantra and a Dharani

All dharanis are mantras, but not all mantras are dharanis. A dharani consists of a homage or invocation of the deity, followed by a request to act. Therefore, a dharani is usually longer than a mantra. Dharanis may contain words such as bandha, bandha, which means bind, bind: these words are the request to act. Mantras on the other hand just consist of mantric syllables and possibly the name of the deity, without words of homage or a request to act.

Structure of Dharanis

• teyata (Skt. tadyathā; Eng. it is like this) indicates the main mantra. What is written before teyata is the homage and what follows teyata is the main mantra or dharani. Traditionally in India, the homage was recited only once and the main mantra or dharani would be repeated many times. However, in Tibet this was neglected and the whole is considered as a mantra or dharani and recited repeatedly.
• om and hung. When writing om and hum quickly in Sanskrit manuscripts they only write the anusvara (Skt. anusvāra), that is ṃ. However, both syllables in its full form take the anunāsika (Skt. anunāsika), that is the half-moon. The anunasika causes a nasalization of the syllable. Thus, when the Tibetan say hung, they are quite close to the actual sound. Regarding om, although it also takes the anunasika it is not pronounced as strong. Thus, om stays om in terms of pronunciation. To indicate the anunasika it is good write the syllables as oṁ and hūṁ rather than oṃ and hūṃ.
• om is an old vedic syllable of address and is usually followed by a vocative, that is, the name or names of the deity in the vocative case.
• soha (Skt. svāhā), coming from su ahā, well said, takes the dative case in the mantra or dharani.
• Many mantras and dharanis follow a Buddhist hybrid Sanskrit grammar. In particular, a peculiar construction happens when it is a dharani. In this case, since the dharani is feminine, although the main deity addressed may be male, the grammar will follow the feminine stem.

Further Reading

In Tibetan

• Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thayé, rten la nang gzhug 'bul ba'i lag len lugs srol kun gsal dri bral nor bu chu shel gyi me long

In English

• Banks Findly, Ellison. “Mántra kaviśastá: Speech as Performative in the Ṛgveda” in Understanding Mantras, edited by Alper, Harvey P.. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990.
• Coward, Harold. “The Meaning and Power of Mantras in Bhartṛhari's Vākyapadīya” in Understanding Mantras, edited by Alper, Harvey P.. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990.
• Padoux, André. Vac: The Concept of the Word in Selected Hindu Tantras. Translated by Jacques Gontier. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990.
• Padoux, André. “Mantras – What are they?” in Understanding Mantras, edited by Alper, Harvey P.. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990..
• Gyatso Janet, 'Letter Magic: A Peircean Perspective on the Semiotics of Rdo Grub-chen's Dhāraṇī Memory' in J. Gyatso, In the Mirror of Memory: Reflections on Mindfulness and Remembrance in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, SUNY, 1992
• Yael Bentor, 'On the Indian Origins of the Tibetan Practice of Depositing Relics and Dhāraṇīs in Stūpas and Images', Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 115, No. 2, pp. 248-261

Internal Links

• Five classes of great dharanis