This article is about the genre of Buddhist chants. For other uses, see Dharani (disambiguation).
Part of a series on
Buddhism
Glossary
Index
Outline
History
Timeline
The Buddha
Pre-sectarian Buddhism
Councils
Silk Road transmission of Buddhism
Decline in the Indian subcontinent
Later Buddhists
Buddhist modernism
Dharma
Concepts
Four Noble Truths
Noble Eightfold Path
Dharma wheel
Five Aggregates
Impermanence
Suffering
Not-self
Dependent Origination
Middle Way
Emptiness
Morality
Karma
Rebirth
Saṃsāra
Cosmology
Buddhist texts
Buddhavacana
Early Texts
Tripiṭaka
Mahayana Sutras
Pāli Canon
Sanskrit literature
Tibetan canon
Chinese canon
Post-canon
Practices
Three Jewels
Buddhist Paths to liberation
Five precepts
Perfections
Meditation
Philosophical reasoning
Devotional practices
Merit making
Recollections
Mindfulness
Wisdom
Sublime abidings
Aids to Enlightenment
Monasticism
Lay life
Buddhist chant
Pilgrimage
Vegetarianism
Nirvāṇa
Awakening
Four Stages
Arhat
Pratyekabuddha
Bodhisattva
Buddha
Traditions
Theravāda
Pāli
Mahāyāna
Hinayana
Chinese
Vajrayāna
Tibetan
Navayana
Newar
Buddhism by country
Bhutan
Brazil
Cambodia
China
India
Indonesia
Japan
Korea
Laos
Malaysia
Mongolia
Myanmar
Russia
Singapore
US
Sri Lanka
Taiwan
Thailand
Tibet
Vietnam
Religion portal
v
t
e
Dharanis (IAST: dhāraṇī), also known as Parittas, are Buddhist chants, mnemonic codes, incantations, or recitations, usually the mantras consisting of Sanskrit or Pali phrases. Believed to be protective and with powers to generate merit for the Buddhist devotee, they constitute a major part of historic Buddhist literature.[1][2][3] Many of these chants are in Sanskrit and Pali, written in scripts such as Siddhaṃ[4] as well as transliterated into Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Sinhala, Thai and other regional scripts.[5][6][7] They are similar to and reflect a continuity of the Vedic chants and mantras.[8]
Dharanis are found in the ancient texts of all major traditions of Buddhism. They are a major part of the Pali canon preserved by the Theravada tradition. Mahayana sutras such as the Lotus Sutra and the Heart Sutra include or conclude with dharani.[1] Some Buddhist texts, such as Pancarakṣa found in the homes of many Buddhist tantra tradition followers, are entirely dedicated to dharani.[9] They are a part of the regular ritual prayers as well as considered to be an amulet and charm in themselves, whose recitation believed to allay bad luck, diseases or other calamity.[1][9][2] They were an essential part of the monastic training in Buddhism's history in East Asia.[10][11] In some Buddhist regions, they served as texts upon which the Buddhist witness would swear to tell the truth.[9]
The dharani-genre of literature became popular in East Asia in the first millennium CE,[9] with Chinese records suggesting their profusion by the early centuries of the common era. These migrated from China to Korea and Japan. The demand for printed dharani among the Buddhist lay devotees may have led to the development of textual printing innovations.[12] The dharani records of East Asia are the oldest known "authenticated printed texts in the world", state Robert Sewell and other scholars.[13][14][15] The early-eighth-century dharani texts discovered in the Bulguksa of Gyeongju, Korea are considered as the oldest known printed texts in the world.[16][17][18][note 1]
Dharani recitation for the purposes of healing and protection is referred to as Paritta in some Buddhist regions,[20] particularly in Theravada communities.[21] The dharani-genre ideas also inspired Buddhist chanting practices such as the Nianfo (Chinese: 念佛; Pinyin: niànfó; Rōmaji: nenbutsu; RR: yeombul; Vietnamese: niệm Phật), the Daimoku,[22] as well as the Koshiki texts in Japan.[23][24][25] They are a significant part of the historic Chinese dazangjing (scriptures of the great repository) and the Korean daejanggyeong – the East Asian compilations of the Buddhist canon between the 5th and 10th centuries.[26]
^ abcRichard McBride (2004). Robert Buswell (ed.). Encyclopedia of Buddhism. Macmillan Reference. pp. 21, 180, 217–218, 253. ISBN 978-0-02-865718-9.
^ abCite error: The named reference Winternitz1996p367 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Davidson 2009, pp. 101–102.
^Cite error: The named reference mullersiddhamtrans was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Helen J. Baroni (2002). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Zen Buddhism. The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-8239-2240-6.
^Robert Gimello (2010). Phyllis Granoff and Koichi Shinohara (ed.). Images in Asian Religions: Text and Contexts. University of British Columbia Press. pp. 229–231. ISBN 978-0-7748-5980-6.
^Silvio A. Bedini (1994). The Trail of Time: Time Measurement with Incense in East Asia. Cambridge University Press. pp. 69–84. ISBN 978-0-521-37482-8.
^Frits Staal (1991). Harvey P. Alper (ed.). Understanding Mantras. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 62–64. ISBN 978-81-208-0746-4., Quote: "[Wayman] stressed the continuity between Vedic and Buddhist mantras and has concluded his survey of Buddhist Tantric mantras by saying, it is... obvious from the present study that the later religious practices of India, such as the Buddhist Tantra, have a profound debt to the Vedic religion". [...] They [Buddhist Yogacara philosophers] distinguish [like Vedic ones], between artha-dharani, mantra-dharani, [...]
^ abcdK. R. van Kooij (1978). Religion in Nepal. BRILL Academic. pp. 25–27. ISBN 978-90-04-05827-9.
^Richard D McBride II (2005). "Dharani and Spells in Medieval Sinitic Buddhism". Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies. 28 (1): 113–114., Quote: "Buddhist intellectuals and eminent monks conceptualized dharani and spells as integral components of mainstream Sinitic Buddhism. Zhoushu, “spell techniques,” was one of the most
prevalent translations of dharani used by Buddhists in medieval China. Seminal Buddhist literature describes an ordinary monk as a student of spell techniques and the acquisition of dharani as a prominent quality of a bodhisattva. Dharani have a firmly established position in the Mahayana doctrine of the bodhisattva path. They were perceived to be part of an ordinary monk's religious cultivation and a by-product of meditation. In this respect they are closely associated with an advanced monk or bodhisattva's acquisition of the spiritual penetrations, supernormal powers and the ability to work miracles. [...] Dharani and spells were functional and fashionable in medieval
Sinitic Buddhism and their role in Chinese religion has continued to the present. They were understood and used as powerful practices to promote the Buddhist teaching and to protect the personal and spiritual welfare of believers. Yet, the very success of Buddhist spells was probably due to the long-standing value of spells and talismans in Chinese religion."
^Cite error: The named reference Abe1999159 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Peter Francis Kornicki (2018). Languages, Scripts, and Chinese Texts in East Asia. Oxford University Press. pp. 112–117. ISBN 978-0-19-879782-1.
^Ernst Wolff (1978). Allen Kent; Harold Lancour; Jay E. Daily (eds.). Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science: Volume 24 - Printers and Printing. CRC Press. pp. 76–79, 85–87. ISBN 978-0-8247-2024-7. The earliest extant examples of textual printing in Japan represent a remarkable eighth-century enterprise as well as the oldest authenticated printed texts in the world. The texts are part of the Hyakmano darani, or "One Million Pagodas and Dharani", consisting of miniature pagodas, each containing one printed Buddhist charm or prayer called dharani in Sanskrit.
^Peter Francis Kornicki (1998). "Empress Shōtoku as a Sponsor of Printing". The Book in Japan: A Cultural History from the Beginnings to the Nineteenth Century. BRILL Academic. pp. 114–116. ISBN 978-90-04-10195-1. JSTOR 10.1163/j.ctt1w8h246.9. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
^Hyakumantō Darani, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., Quote: "Hyakumantō Darani [The one million pagodas and Dharani prayers] is considered to be the oldest traceable publication in the world whose production date is clearly identified. In 764, the Empress Shōtoku (718–770) ordered the creation of one million small wooden pagodas, each containing a scroll printed with four Buddhist Dharani sutras."; One of the “One Million Pagodas” (Hyakumanto) and Invocation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Quote: "Each pagoda was painted white and contained a printed Buddhist text called a darani (Sanskrit: dharani), or invocation. The text displayed here came from the pagoda on known as the Jishin’in darani, the invocation is one of four from the sacred text Mukujōkōkyō (Sanskrit: Vimala Mirbhasa Sutra) found in the pagodas. These printed texts are among the oldest known in the world. They are likely to have been printed from bronze plates, but some scholars maintain that they were printed from woodblocks."; Ernst Wolff (1978). Allen Kent; Harold Lancour; Jay E. Daily (eds.). Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science: Volume 24 - Printers and Printing. CRC Press. pp. 78–79. ISBN 978-0-8247-2024-7.
^Robert E. Buswell (2004). Encyclopedia of Buddhism. Macmillan Reference. p. 676. ISBN 978-0-02-865720-2., Quote: "The earliest examples of Buddhist printing involve a type of charm or spell called a dharanI. To date, the oldest printed material that has been discovered is the Korean Mugu chong-gwang tae-darani kyong [dharani]"; Kornicki, Peter (2012). "The Hyakumanto Darani and the Origins of Printing in Eighth-Century Japan". International Journal of Asian Studies. 9 (1). Cambridge University Press: 43–70. doi:10.1017/s1479591411000180. S2CID 146242695.; Peter Kornicki; et al. (2016). "Empress Shōtoku as a Sponsor of Printing". In Hildegard Diemberger (ed.). Tibetan Printing: Comparison, Continuities, and Change. Brill Academic. pp. 47–48.
^Masayoshi Sugimoto; David L. Swain (2016). Science and Culture in Traditional Japan. Tuttle. pp. 184 footnote 36. ISBN 978-1-4629-1813-3.
^Mark Edward Lewis (2009). China's Cosmopolitan Empire. Harvard University Press. p. 238. ISBN 978-0-674-03306-1., Quote: "The earliest surviving printed texts are eighth-century samples of Buddhist charms preserved in Korea and Japan. The oldest is a scroll discovered in 1966 in a stone stupa in the Pulguk-sa temple in Kyongju, Korea. [...] Another specimen of the same scroll printed between 764 and 770 has been preserved in Japan."
^C. B. Walker; John Chadwick (1990). Reading the Past: Ancient Writing from Cuneiform to the Alphabet. University of California Press. pp. 345–347. ISBN 978-0-520-07431-6.
^Damien Keown; Charles S. Prebish (2013). Encyclopedia of Buddhism. Routledge. p. 389. ISBN 978-1-136-98588-1.
^Donald K. Swearer (2004). Becoming the Buddha: The Ritual of Image Consecration in Thailand. Princeton University Press. pp. 116–118. ISBN 978-0-691-11435-4.
^Rita M. Gross; Terry C. Muck (2003). Christians Talk about Buddhist Meditation, Buddhists Talk About Christian Prayer. A&C Black. pp. 81–82. ISBN 978-0-8264-1439-7.
^Allan Andrews (1987), Pure Land Buddhist Hermeneutics: Hōnen's Interpretation of Nembutsu, Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 7–25
^James Dobbins (2004). Robert Buswell (ed.). Encyclopedia of Buddhism. Macmillan Reference. pp. 137–139, 587–588. ISBN 978-0-02-865718-9.
^James L. Ford (2006). Jōkei and Buddhist Devotion in Early Medieval Japan. Oxford University Press. pp. 114–121. ISBN 978-0-19-972004-0.
^Robert E. Buswell Jr.; Donald S. Lopez Jr. (2013). The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton University Press. pp. 225–226. ISBN 978-1-4008-4805-8.
Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).
Dharanis (IAST: dhāraṇī), also known as Parittas, are Buddhist chants, mnemonic codes, incantations, or recitations, usually the mantras consisting of...
Dharani Dharan is an Indian film director and screenwriter, working primarily in the Tamil film industry. After quitting his IT job he worked as an assistant...
six piers in its seventh block showed signs of damage and leakage. The Dharani portal, an Integrated Land Records System launched by the incumbent BRS...
type of stone pillar engraved with dhāraṇī-sūtras or simple dhāraṇī incantations that is found in China. Dharani pillars were usually erected outside...
Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Dhāraṇī, sometimes called the Pure Land Rebirth Mantra, is considered an important mantra or dhāraṇī in Pure Land Buddhism and...
The Great Dharani Sutra is a copy of the Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī Sūtra, a scripture of Mahayana Buddhism, which is considered to be one of the oldest printed...
Pinyin: Shíxiǎozhòu) are a collection of esoteric Buddhist mantras or dharanis. They were complied by the monk Yulin (Chinese: 玉琳國師; Pinyin: Yùlín Guóshī)...
2008 Indian Tamil-language action comedy film written and directed by Dharani, and produced by Udhayanidhi Stalin. The film stars Vijay in the title...
Gutsy) is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language sports action film directed by Dharani and produced by Sri Suriya Movies. The film stars Vijay in the titular...
(Mantra) school. Influential esoteric dhāraṇī, such as the Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī Sūtra and the Nīlakaṇṭha Dhāraṇī, also begin to be cited in the literature...
diary contains the love story of Ravi, a paper boy and Dharani (Riya Suman), a rich girl. Dharani's parents have a problem with her choice and troubles arise...
parents Sundaram and Sampoornam were loving. She has two younger siblings, Dharani and Anjali. Sundharam arranges marriage for Sathya with Karthik, a businessman...
Compassion Mantra, the Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī from the Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī Sutra, the Mahāmāyūrī Vidyārājñī Dhāraṇī, the Heart Sutra and various forms...
Guts/Courage) is a 2001 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by Dharani. The film stars Vikram in the lead role, alongside Laila, Ashish Vidyarthi...
Sarvadurgatiparishodana dharani (Complete removal of all unfortunate rebirths), also known as Kunrig mantra in Tibetan Buddhism. This dharani is found in the...
cast as lead actor for the role of an MMA boxer in the crime drama film Dharani Mandala Madhyadolage. The film's title is inspired from the folk song "Punyakoti"...
4930 The Tangut dharani pillars (Chinese: 西夏文石幢; pinyin: Xīxiàwén shíchuáng) are two stone dharani pillars, with the text of a dhāraṇī-sutra inscribed...