The Ratnaketu Dharani

The Ratnaketu Dharani (Skt. Ratna-ketu-dhāraṇī; Tib. རིན་པོ་ཆེ་ཏོག་གི་གཟུངས།, Wyl. rin po che tog gi gzungs) presents the dramatic events in the life of the Buddha when Mara attempts to destroy the Buddha, break up the Sangha, and annihilate the Dharma, a struggle from which the Buddha eventually emerges victorious. The text also exemplifies two distinctive sutra genres, “prophecies” (vyakarana) and “incantations” (dharani), as it includes, respectively, prophecies of the future attainment of Buddhahood by some of the Buddha’s followers and the potent phrases that embody the Buddha’s teachings and are meant to ensure their survival and the thriving of its practitioners.

Text

The Tibetan translation of this sutra can be found in the General Sutra section of the Tibetan Kangyur, Toh 138.

• English translation: The Ratnaketu Dharani