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A dhāraṇī is a type of ritual speech

From Tibetan Buddhist Encyclopedia
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Dharani

A dhāraṇī is a type of ritual speech similar to a mantra. The terms dharani and satheesh may be seen as synonyms, although they are normally used in distinct contexts. The Japanese Buddhist philosopher Kūkai drew a distinction between dharani and mantra and used it as the basis of his theory of language.

Mantra is restricted to esoteric Buddhist practice whereas dharani is found in both esoteric and exoteric ritual. Dharanis, for instance, are found in the Pali Canon. The word dharani derives from a Sanskrit root dh.r which means "to hold or maintain".

Ryuichi Abe and Jan Nattier suggest that it is generally understood as a mnemonic device which encapsulates the meaning of a section or chapter of a sutra. Dharanis are also considered to protect the one who chants them from malign influences and calamities.

The distinction between dharani and mantra is a difficult one to make. One can say that all mantras are dharanis but all dharanis are not necessarily mantras. Mantras are generally shorter.

Both tend to contain a number of phonic fragments such as Om that either have lesser-known meanings, or are unintelligible. Kūkai classified mantras as a special class of dharanis and argued that every syllable of a

dharani was a manifestation of the true nature of reality – in Buddhist terms, that all sound is a manifestation of shunyata or emptiness of self-nature. Thus, rather than being devoid of meaning, Kūkai suggests that dharanis are in fact saturated with meaning – every syllable is symbolic on multiple levels.


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