Tuesday, February 08, 2011

The Twenty-One Praises of Tara


OM: To Mother Arya Tara I prostrate.

Homage to Tara swift and fearless
With eyes like a flash of lightning
Lotus-born in an ocean of tears
Of Chenresig, three worlds' protector.

Homage to you whose face is like
One hundred autumn moons gathered
And blazes with the dazzling light
Of a thousand constellations. 

Homage to you born from a gold-blue lotus
Hands adorned with lotus flowers
Essence of giving, effort and ethics,
Patience, concentration and wisdom.

Homage to you who crown all Buddhas
Whose action subdues without limit
Attained to every perfection
On you the bodhisattvas rely.

Homage to you whose TUTTARE and HUM
Fill the realms of desire, form and space.
You crush seven worlds beneath your feet
And have power to call all forces.

Homage to you adored by Indra,
Agni, Brahma, Vayu and Ishvara.
Praised in song by hosts of spirits,
Zombies, scent-eaters and yakshas.

Homage to you whose TREY and PEY
Destroy external wheels of magic.
Right leg drawn in and left extended,
You blaze within a raging fire.

Homage to you whose TURE destroys
The great fears, the mighty demons.
With a wrathful frown on your lotus face,
You slay all foes without exception.

Homage to you beautifully adorned
By the Three Jewels' gesture at your heart.
Your wheel shines in all directions
With a whirling mass of light.

Homage to you, radiant and joyful
Whose crown emits a garland of light.
You, by the laughter of TUTTARE
Conquer demons and lords of the world.

Homage to you with power to invoke
The assembly of local protectors.
With your fierce frown and vibrating HUM,
You bring freedom from all poverty.

Homage to you with crescent moon crown
All your adornments dazzling bright.
From your hair-knot, Amitabha
Shines eternal with great beams of light.

Homage to you who dwells in a blazing wreath
Like the fire at the end of this age.
Your right leg outstretched and left drawn in,
Joy surrounds you who defeats hosts of foes.

Homage to you whose foot stamps the earth
And whose palm strikes the ground by your side.
With a wrathful glance and the letter HUM,
You subdue all in the seven stages.

Homage to the blissful, virtuous, peaceful one
Object of practice, nirvana's peace
Perfectly endowed with SOHA and OM
Overcoming all the great evils.

Homage to you with joyous retinue
You subdue fully all enemies' forms
The ten-letter mantra adorns your heart
And your knowledge-HUM brings liberation.

Homage to TURE with stamping feet
Whose essence is the seed-letter HUM
You cause Merus, Mandara and Vindaya
And all three worlds to tremble and shake.

Homage to you who holds in your hand
A moon like a celestial lake
Saying TARA twice and the letter PEY
You dispel all poisons without exception.

Homage to you on whom the kings of gods,
The gods themselves and all spirits rely.
Your armor radiates joy to all
You soothe conflicts and nightmares as well.

Homage to you whose eyes, the sun and moon,
Radiate with pure brilliant light
Uttering HARA twice and TUTTARE
Dispels extremely fearful plagues.

Homage to you, adorned with three natures
Perfectly endowed with peaceful strength
You destroy demons, zombies and yakshas
O TURE, most exalted and sublime!

Thus the root mantra is praised
And twenty-one homages offered.



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5 reader comments:

Drums of Dharma said...

Thank you for posting this! We could all use a hug from Tara right about now.

May Mother Tara look after all sentient beings, especially sentient beings that are suffering due to illness, no food, shelter or refuge. Mother Tara, please take them up in your loving arms, comfort and protect them. Om Tare Tuttare Ture Svaha!

Unknown said...

Thank you for keeping us up todate with bot the news and your view concerning HH Orgyen Trinlay Dorje Karmapa XVII. Here is a message from him.

Dear Dharma Friends,

With the tremendous outpouring of messages of support from people around the world wishing to contribute positively to the current situation, His Holiness the Karmapa has advised the international Dharma centers, students and supporters around the world that the following practices would be good to do in the current situation:

Prayers to the 21 Taras 21度母禮讚文
Seven-Limb Supplication to Padmasambhava 蓮師七句祈請文
Dharma Protector Practice, such as Mahakala and others 護法儀軌修持(如瑪哈嘎拉等)

His Holiness also mentioned that if people wish to contact other Dharma friends from other centers in their area -- not only Karma Kagyu, but practitioners of all schools of Tibetan Buddhism - and join with them to do group practice sessions together, that would also be very auspicious.

Thanks very much,

Anonymous said...

thank you! i went to bed last night thinking of green tara and repeating her mantra in my mind..it felt somewhat necessary at the time. also, eric- will do

Anonymous said...

audio
Praises to the 21 Taras
English
Tibetan
Mandarin


texts
Praises to the 21 Taras
English
Tibetan
French

http://www.lamrim.com/prayers/index.html

Don Croner said...

See Zanabazar’s 21 Taras.