Dharani
Dharani, the Buddhist genre of sacred incantations, once launched the art of mass printing. Long before Gutenberg, a Japanese empress ordered a million of these prayer texts produced and distributed through Buddhist temples across Japan. They were pressed onto thick paper strips, rolled up, and sealed inside miniature hollow wooden pagodas. That fact alone tells you something about what dharanis meant to the people who used them. They were not merely devotional curiosities. They were protective objects, memory tools, sworn testimony, healing instruments, and the texts upon which some Buddhist witnesses swore to tell the truth. How did recited phrases come to hold such a central place in nearly every major branch of Buddhism? What did scholars mean when they called dharanis "codes"? And what does any of this have to do with the oldest authenticated printed texts in the world?
The word dhāraṇī comes from a Sanskrit root meaning "to hold or maintain," and that root also gives us the word dharma. Paul Copp, a scholar of East Asian Buddhism, notes that outside India, Buddhist communities sometimes called dharanis by alternate names: mantra, hridaya, paritta, raksha, gutti, or vidya. Each of those words carried its own range of meanings in Buddhist usage, which is part of why scholars have struggled to pin down what a dharani actually is.
The 19th-century French Indologist Eugène Burnouf was among the first European scholars to grasp how widespread dharanis were in Buddhist literature. He described them as magical formulas that, to Buddhist devotees, were the most important parts of their books. Moriz Winternitz, writing in the early 20th century, agreed that dharanis made up a "large and important" portion of Mahayana Buddhism, calling them magic formulae and protective spells that also functioned as amulets.
Ronald Davidson, building on earlier work by Lamotte and Braarvig, offers a more pointed account. He describes some dharanis as "codes" that appear at the end of a Buddhist text and function as a distilled, encoded summary of the teachings in the chapters before them. The Vajrasamadhi-sutra, a Korean Buddhist text likely composed in the 7th century, places its dharani chapter eighth out of nine, just before a brief closing dialogue between the Tathagata Buddha and Ananda. That chapter, Davidson writes, encodes the important meanings, without forgetting them, and it reminds and codes the points to remember.
According to the writer Red Pine, mantra and dharani were once interchangeable terms, but at some point dhāraṇī came to refer to meaningful, intelligible phrases, while mantra came to refer to syllabic formulae not meant to be understood. Jan Nattier adds that the earliest Buddhist use of the word dharani was specifically for mnemonic devices used to retain certain elements of doctrine in memory. Jens Braarvig describes surviving dharanis as seemingly meaningless strings of syllables that, in later practice, were used less as summaries of doctrine and more as aids to concentration and magical protection.
According to Jan Nattier, Vedic mantras are older than Buddhist dharanis, but over time both converged into forms of incantation that are quite similar to each other. Frits Staal, the Indologist known for his scholarship on mantras and chants in Indian religions, argues that dharani mantras reflect a direct continuity with Vedic mantras. He cites Wayman's observation that Buddhist chants carry a "profound debt to the Vedic religion."
The Sanskrit root of dhāraṇī is itself derived from the historical Vedic religion of ancient India, where chants and melodious sounds were believed to have innate spiritual and healing powers, even when the sound carried no translatable meaning. Yogacara scholars followed the same threefold classification found in the Vedas, distinguishing arthadharani, dharmadharani, and mantradharani, while acknowledging, as the Vedas did, that some dharanis are meaningful and others are meaningless, yet all are effective for ritual purposes.
The Indologist Moriz Winternitz drew a parallel between dharanis and the incantations found in the Atharvaveda and Yajurveda of Hinduism. Étienne Lamotte, meanwhile, stressed that the dharani genre included mantra but also functioned as memory aids for chanting the Buddha's teachings, a practice linked to concentration, or samadhi, and to earning merit across both spiritual and material dimensions.
Dharanis carried material weight in Buddhist communities. They were worn as amulets, chanted for protection from evil spirits and disease, and inscribed on objects placed inside stupas. Brian Hodgson, writing during the colonial era, described dharanis as esoteric short prayers believed to function as amulets, constantly repeated or worn inside little lockets, something he said led to what he called "a charmed life."
The therapeutic dimension was substantial enough to attract legal regulation. A ritsuryo code for Buddhist clerics dated 718 CE, issued by the Nara government in Japan, explicitly forbade using dharanis for unauthorized medical treatment, for military purposes, or to fuel political rebellion. The same code carved out a specific exemption for "healing of the sick by chanting dharanis in accordance with the Buddha dharma." A document from 797 CE mentions monks described as "healer-meditation masters," or kanbyo zenji, chanting dharanis to protect the family of the ruler.
In the Mahayana tradition, dharanis were used for a wide range of purposes that went beyond healing. The historic Mahayana dharani texts that survived in Nepal and China include spells to end sickness, lengthen life, aid recovery from poison, bring luck in war, drive away demons and snakes, protect against ill-omened constellations, release a person from confessed sin, help a woman give birth to a son or daughter, and secure rebirth in Sukhavati. The snake-charm dharani appears in the Bower Manuscript, found in Western China.
The Chinese text known as the Wugou jing guangda tuoluoni jing, produced during the era of the influential Empress Wu from 683 to 705 CE, centers on the Buddha reciting six dharanis. Its instructions are precise: those performing the ceremony should walk around a pagoda seventy-seven times, recite the charm seventy-seven times, have the charm copied seventy-seven times, and place the copies inside the pagoda. The text promises that those who do so correctly will prolong their lives, and that all previous sins and evil deeds will be completely destroyed.
In Japan during the Nara and early Heian periods, dharanis were not supplementary knowledge but a core test of monastic competence. A monk or nun was examined specifically on their ability to recite dharanis from memory, and their appointment letters listed the sutras and dharanis they could perform. A recommendation letter dated 732 CE, written by a Japanese priest named Chishu, supports the ordination of his student Hata no kimi Toyotari by listing the dharanis the student could recite from memory after eight years of training. These included the Greater Prajna-paramita, Amoghapasa Avalokiteshvara, Eleven-faced Avalokiteshvara, the Golden Light, Akashagarbha, Bhaisajyaguru, dharanis for consecrating water, and dharanis for concealing ritual space.
A study of many such ubasoku koshinge recommendation letters from 1st-millennium Japan confirms that dharanis were an essential and core part of monastic training, though the specific group a given monk or nun memorized could vary. Dharanis were also a central component of the rokujikyoho, or six-syllable sutra liturgy, and remained greatly popular between the 11th and 15th centuries as part of broader ritual practice.
The Japanese Buddhist monk Kōbō Daishi drew a formal distinction between dharani and mantra and built a theory of language around it. He 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, or shunyata. Where others saw meaningless strings of syllables, Kōbō Daishi argued that dharanis were saturated with meaning at multiple levels simultaneously. He also distinguished them functionally: he said mantras were restricted to esoteric practice, while dharanis were present in both esoteric and exoteric Buddhist ritual.
Robert Sewell and other scholars describe the 8th-century East Asian dharanis as the "oldest authenticated printed texts in the world." The early-eighth-century dharani texts found in the Bulguksa temple of Gyeongju, Korea, are specifically identified as the oldest known printed texts in the world.
The earliest extant example of printing on paper is a fragment of a dharani miniature scroll in Sanskrit, unearthed from a tomb in Xi'an. Called the Great Spell of Unsullied Pure Light, it was printed using woodblock during the Tang dynasty, dated approximately 650 to 670 CE. A second print, the Saddharma pundarika sutra, dates to 690 to 699 CE. The oldest extant woodblock prints created for reading are portions of the Lotus Sutra discovered at Turpan in 1906, and character recognition methods date them to the reign of Empress Wu Zetian.
The Hyakumanto Darani, dharanis found inside wooden pagodas in Japan, are broadly accepted as having been printed between 764 and 770 CE. Then, in 1966, similarly printed dharanis were discovered in a stone pagoda at Pulguksa temple in Gyeongju, Korea. According to Tsien Tsuen-Hsuin, the Korean scrolls date no earlier than 704 CE, when the translation of the relevant sutra was finished, and no later than 751 CE, when the temple and stupa were completed. The printed Korean text consists of Chinese characters transliterated from Sanskrit.
According to Ernst Wolff, a scholar of ancient manuscripts and languages, "it was Buddhism, above all, that eminently stimulated and sustained printing activities." The demand for dharanis among Buddhist lay devotees may itself have driven the development of woodblock printing technology. By the 10th century, mass printing extended well beyond dharanis: the canonical Tripitaka and 84,000 copies of dharanis were mass printed, and the trade in printed books had grown to cover astrology, dream divination, alchemy, and geomancy.
Common questions
What is a dharani in Buddhism?
A dharani is a lengthier Buddhist mantra, incantation, or recitation, almost always composed in Sanskrit. Dharanis function as mnemonic codes, protective charms, amulets, and encoded summaries of Buddhist doctrine, and they appear in the texts of all major Buddhist traditions.
What does the word dharani mean?
The word dhāraṇī derives from the Sanskrit root meaning "to hold or maintain." The same root gives the word dharma. In early Buddhist usage, the term referred specifically to mnemonic devices used to retain elements of Buddhist doctrine in memory.
Why are dharanis important in the history of printing?
The 8th-century dharani texts from East Asia are described by scholars including Robert Sewell as the oldest authenticated printed texts in the world. The early-eighth-century dharanis discovered at Bulguksa temple in Gyeongju, Korea, are considered the oldest known printed texts. The demand for printed dharanis among Buddhist lay devotees is credited with stimulating the development of woodblock printing technology.
What were the million dharanis of Empress Shotoku?
Empress Shotoku of Japan ordered one million dharanis produced and distributed through Buddhist temples after an attempted coup against her court. Each dharani was a printed prayer or charm in Sanskrit on a thick paper strip, sealed inside a miniature hollow wooden pagoda. These are among the oldest known printed texts in the world, produced between 764 and 770 CE.
How were dharanis used for healing in Japan?
Dharani chanting was one of the common methods of healing during the Nara period in Japan. A ritsuryo code dated 718 CE explicitly permitted dharani chanting for healing the sick in accordance with Buddhist dharma, while forbidding unauthorized medical, military, or political uses. Monks described as healer-meditation masters are mentioned in a document from 797 CE chanting dharanis to protect the ruler's family.
What is the difference between a dharani and a mantra?
Eugène Burnouf noted that dharanis and mantras are very similar, with dharanis being much longer. According to the writer Red Pine, dhāraṇī came to refer to meaningful, intelligible phrases, while mantra referred to syllabic formulae not meant to be understood. The Japanese monk Kōbō Daishi classified mantras as a special class of dharanis and argued that dharanis appear in both esoteric and exoteric Buddhist ritual, while mantras are restricted to esoteric practice.
All sources
68 references cited across the entry
- 1bookEncyclopedia of BuddhismRichard McBride — Macmillan Reference — 2004
- 2bookThe Illustrated Encyclopedia of Zen BuddhismHelen J. Baroni — The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc — 2002
- 3bookImages in Asian Religions: Text and ContextsRobert Gimello — University of British Columbia Press — 2010
- 4bookThe Trail of Time: Time Measurement with Incense in East AsiaSilvio A. Bedini — Cambridge University Press — 1994
- 5bookUnderstanding MantrasFrits Staal — Motilal Banarsidass — 1991
- 6journalDharani and Spells in Medieval Sinitic BuddhismRichard D McBride II — 2005
- 7bookReligion in NepalK. R. van Kooij — BRILL Academic — 1978
- 8bookLanguages, Scripts, and Chinese Texts in East AsiaPeter Francis Kornicki — Oxford University Press — 2018
- 9bookEncyclopedia of Library and Information Science: Volume 24 - Printers and PrintingErnst Wolff — CRC Press — 1978
- 10bookThe Book in Japan: A Cultural History from the Beginnings to the Nineteenth CenturyPeter Francis Kornicki — BRILL Academic — 1998
- 11bookEncyclopedia of BuddhismRobert E. Buswell — Macmillan Reference — 2004
- 12bookScience and Culture in Traditional JapanMasayoshi Sugimoto et al. — Tuttle — 2016
- 13bookChina's Cosmopolitan EmpireMark Edward Lewis — Harvard University Press — 2009
- 14bookReading the Past: Ancient Writing from Cuneiform to the AlphabetC. B. Walker et al. — University of California Press — 1990
- 15bookEncyclopedia of BuddhismDamien Keown et al. — Routledge — 2013
- 16bookBecoming the Buddha: The Ritual of Image Consecration in ThailandDonald K. Swearer — Princeton University Press — 2004
- 17bookChristians Talk about Buddhist Meditation, Buddhists Talk About Christian PrayerRita M. Gross et al. — A&C Black — 2003
- 19bookJōkei and Buddhist Devotion in Early Medieval JapanJames L. Ford — Oxford University Press — 2006
- 20bookThe Princeton Dictionary of BuddhismRobert E. Buswell Jr. et al. — Princeton University Press — 2013
- 21bookThe Lankavatara Sutra A Mahayana TextDaisetz Teitarō Suzuki — Motilal Banarsidass (Original: 1932) — 2009
- 22journalDhárman In The RgvedaJoel P. Brereton — 2004
- 23bookA History of Indian Literature: Buddhist literature and Jaina literatureMoriz Winternitz — Motilal Banarsidass — 1996
- 24journalThe Raksha Literature of the SravakayanaPeter Skilling — 1992
- 25bookThe Buddha's Doctrine and the Nine Vehicles: Rog Bande Sherab's Lamp of the TeachingsJose Ignacio Cabezon — Oxford University Press — 2013
- 26harvnbNattier (1992) p. 201–202 note 9Nattier — 1992
- 27bookThe Formation of Ch'an Ideology in China and Korea: The Vajrasamadhi-Sutra, a Buddhist ApocryphonRobert E. Buswell Jr. — Princeton University Press — 2017
- 28bookBuddhist Insight: EssaysAlex Wayman — Motilal Banarsidass — 1990
- 29bookIntroducing BuddhismCharles S. Prebish et al. — Routledge — 2010
- 30bookSpells, Images, and MandalasKoichi Shinohara — Columbia University Press — 2014
- 31bookRuthless Compassion: Wrathful Deities in Early Indo-Tibetan Esoteric Buddhist ArtRobert N. Linrothe — Serindia Publications — 1999
- 32bookFigments and Fragments of Mahayana Buddhism in India: More Collected PapersGregory Schopen — University of Hawaii Press — 2005
- 33bookAnecdota Oxoniensia: Buddhist texts from Japan, edited by F.M. Müller. 1881-1884, Vol 1, Part 3F Max Muller et al. — Oxford University Press — 1881
- 34journalA Fragment of the Sanskrit "SUMUKHADHĀRAṆĪ"G. M. Bongard-Levin et al. — BRILL — 1968
- 35bookTibetan Printing: Comparison, Continuities, and ChangePeter Kornicki — Brill Academic — 2016
- 36bookDomesticating the Dharma: Buddhist Cults and the Hwa?m Synthesis in Silla KoreaRichard D. McBride — University of Hawaii Press — 2008
- 37journalThe Dharani Cult in Buddhism, Its Origin, Diefied Literature and ImagesLA Waddell — 1912
- 38bookTantric Buddhism in East AsiaRichard K. Payne — Simon and Schuster — 2006
- 39bookThe Religious Traditions of Asia: Religion, History, and CultureJoseph Kitagawa — Taylor & Francis — 2013
- 40journalPractical Buddhist Thaumaturgy: The "Great Dhāraṇī on Immaculately Pure Light" in Medieval Sinitic BuddhismRichard D. McBride II — 2011
- 41harvnbCopp (2014) p. 1–7Copp — 2014
- 42bookStudies in Hindu and Buddhist ArtP. K. Mishra — Abhinav Publications — 1999
- 43bookSource Elements of the Lotus Sutra: Buddhist Integration of Religion, Thought, and CultureKeisho Tsukamoto — Kosei — 2007
- 44bookAnecdota Oxoniensia: Buddhist texts from Japan, edited by F.M. Müller. 1881-1884, Vol 1, Part 3F Max Muller et al. — Oxford University Press — 1881
- 45journalA Textual Research on the Tangut Version of Mahākāruṇika-nāma-ārya-avalokiteśvara dhāraṇīDuan Yuquan — Harrassowitz Verlag — 2014
- 46bookIn the Mirror of Memory: Reflections on Mindfulness and Remembrance in Indian and Tibetan BuddhismJanet Gyatso — State University of New York Press — 1992
- 47bookThe Weaving of Mantra: Kûkai and the Construction of Esoteric Buddhist DiscourseRyûichi Abé — Columbia University Press — 1999
- 48bookIn the Mirror of Memory: Reflections on Mindfulness and Remembrance in Indian and Tibetan BuddhismJanet Gyatso — State University of New York Press — 1992
- 49bookRuthless Compassion: Wrathful Deities in Early Indo-Tibetan Esoteric Buddhist ArtRobert N. Linrothe — Serindia Publications — 1999
- 50bookChinese Magical MedicineMichel Strickmann — Stanford University Press — 2002
- 51journalDharani and Spells in Medieval Sinitic BuddhismRichard D McBride II — 2005
- 52bookIndian Serpent-loreJean Philippe Vogel — Asian Educational Services — 1995
- 53journalSigns of Power: Talismanic Writing in Chinese BuddhismJames Robson — University of Chicago Press — 2008
- 54bookThe Princeton Dictionary of BuddhismRobert E. Buswell Jr. et al. — Princeton University Press — 2013
- 57bookRebuilding Buddhism: The Theravada Movement in Twentieth-Century NepalSarah LeVine et al. — Harvard University Press — 2009
- 58bookLove Divine: Studies in 'Bhakti and Devotional MysticismKarel Werner — Routledge — 2013
- 59journalOn the Origin of Printing in the Light of New Archaeological DiscoveriesJixing Pan — 1997
- 60bookWriting and Literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese: Revised editionInsup Taylor et al. — John Benjamins — 2014
- 61journalThe Hyakumanto Darani and the Origins of Printing in Eighth-Century JapanPeter Kornicki — Cambridge University Press — 2012
- 62bookScience and Civilisation in China: Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology Part 1: Paper and PrintingTsien Tsuen-Hsuin — Cambridge University Press — 1985
- 65journalThe Hachiman Cult and the Dokyo IncidentRoss Bender — 1979
- 68bookThe Mongolian Manuscripts on Birch Bark from Xarbuxyn Balgas in the Collection of the Mongolian Academy of SciencesElisabetta Chiodo — Otto Harrassowitz Verlag — 2000
- 69journalThe Raksha Literature of the SravakayanaPeter Skilling — 1992