Comments on: The Mahashri Sutra

By: pema kunzang SINGAPORE

pema kunzang SINGAPORE — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 02:12:53 +0000

hi all, thanks for responding to my post, i was doing further research and found the āryaśrīmahādevīvyākaraṇam at this website of the digital sanskrit buddhist cannon, under the section of Dharani. the whole thing is in sanskrit and there is also a devanagiri version. do read carefully and see the rendition of the mantra. there are many names of the devi including the 108 names that i posted earlier. but i could not find the 12 distinctly by itself but another website mentioned that this text is the same as the palchenmo do.

http://www.uwest.edu/sanskritcanon/dp/index.php?q=node/35&textID=4c5482009fe1b816d

By: Hamish Johnson

Hamish Johnson — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:43:18 +0000

Sorry to take up so much space, but I thought some interpretations on the words of the mantra might be helpful.
ji ni gri ni – (she who is) the victorious leader/guide, the leader/guide (who) holds (wealth)
shashin – moon. Associated with female deities, compassion, skillful means. The full moon is always used as a symbol of plenitude, abundance, fertility.
From a hymn praise to Tara by Suryagupta:

“Full Moon! Pleasant since bearing the hare of virtues!
With full-moon face ‘misdst constellations of servitors,
Free of bad planets, you clear obscurations’ poor vision,
Your rays of morality cool for those scorched by defilements.
(from Willson, M., In Praise of Tara)

So one could possibly render ’sarva artha sadhani shashin’ as ‘ grant me all the aims, (oh) Moon.

I am not a Sanskrit scholar, so make no claims to the veracity of the above, but it may be a useful starting point for further work.

By: Hamish Johnson

Hamish Johnson — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:13:56 +0000

Re: dpal/shri
My kind Tsawi Lama, whenever discussing this term, always emphasized its two-fold meaning. Yes, this being appears glorious/resplendent in a worldly sense, but one should always recollect its true glory: having transcended samsara. Especially in a case like this, of a wealth deity, to whom beings petition for worldly success, her ‘true wealth’ should not be forgotten, which I think is emphasized by the placing of Shri and Maha Shri at the beginning and end of her 12 names.

By: sherabzangpo

sherabzangpo — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:35:18 +0000

Yes, I’ve been meaning to change the mantra to a better rendering of Sanskrit, such as changing the “dz”s to “j”s.
Your suggestion of finding the Sanskrit names is excellent, and any help in this regard would be appreciated by anyone who has the knowledge. I could come up with some things myself as well, but it would be good to have a Sanskrit expert look it over.

As for “resplendent”, I don’t see the point you are trying to make. “Resplendent” is not a Tibetan word, so it doesn’t have the correlations you imply. I think you giving the highest meaning of shri/dpal in the Buddhist context, but I don’t see how this applies to dpal’s use in this context.

By: sherabzangpo

sherabzangpo — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:30:55 +0000

Thanks again for the Sanskrit info!

By: sherabzangpo

sherabzangpo — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:30:23 +0000

1) No.
2) Either one or both. If you had to pick one I would recommend Tibetan since it’s basically a mantra, although not technically, it serves the same function. But that’s just me.
3) The mantra and the 12 Names is what the Buddha is referring to when he says “three times”. Perhaps I should clarify this in the translation, although it just says “this” in the Tibetan. Of course reciting the whole sutra three times would be even better.
4) If you have faith in the practice and think that it’s benefitting you, then on a daily or regular basis would be good. It doesn’t recommend a daily recitation in the text, but you can do it either for a certain period or forever.

By: sherabzangpo

sherabzangpo — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:25:35 +0000

Thank you for the Sanskrit help.

By: Hamish Johnson

Hamish Johnson — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:08:26 +0000

ji – victorious
ni – leader
gri – hold, grasp
ni – leader

shashin ‘containing a hare’ = the moon

By: Hamish Johnson

Hamish Johnson — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:00:17 +0000

As for the first syllables of the mantra, the best I can come up with is
syad tathe dana. Syad is a variation of syat, ‘it may be, perhaps’, tathe may be a grammatical variant (or typo) of tatha ‘thus’ and dana ‘giving, generosity’. Syat is an ellipsis of tatha and thus often omitted, from what I can gather.
Sarva artha sadhani usually translated as ‘grant me all the aims’ (traditionally four: dharma – righteousness, arhta – wealth, kama – desire, moksha – liberation).

By: Stephen

Stephen — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:02:54 +0000

Questions :

(1) is any form of transmission absolutely necessary for this practice ?

(2) must the 12 Names of Mahashri be recited in Tibetan AND in English ? If not, in which language must they be recited ?

(3) Must the entire sutra be recited 3 times, or just the mantra ?

(4) Must this practice be performed for a certain period, or indefinitely ?

Thank you