The Dharani of the Six Gates

The Dharani of the Six Gates (Skt. Ṣaṇmukhīdhāraṇī; Tib. སྒོ་དྲུག་པའི་གཟུངས།, Wyl. sgo drug pa’i gzungs) is a short text that consists mainly of a dharani taught by Shakyamuni Buddha to an assembly of bodhisattvas. While the Buddha is abiding in the space above the Shuddhavasa realm with a retinue of bodhisattvas, he urges them to uphold The Dharani of the Six Gates and presents these gates as six aspirations that vanquish the causes of samsaric experience. He then presents the dharani itself to his listeners and instructs them to recite it three times each day and three times each night. Finally, he indicates the benefits that come from this practice, and the assembly praises the Buddha’s words. This is followed by a short dedication marking the conclusion of the text.

Text

The Tibetan translation of this text can be found in the General Sutra section of the Tibetan Dergé Kangyur, Toh 141. It is also catalogued as Toh 526 in the Action Tantra section of the Tantra Collection, and as Toh 916 in the Compendium of Dharanis of the Dharani collection.

• English translation: The Dhāraṇī of the Six Gates