The Short Commentary on the Tantra of Twenty-one Homages to Tārā called “The Treasure Vase of

Benefit and Happiness”

by Thupten Shedrub Gyatso.

The Victorious Lady

4

Introduction

Benefits

namas tathāgatôṣṇīṣa-vijayânanta-cāriṇī |

aśeṣa-pāramitā-prāpta-jina-putra-niṣevite ||

namaḥ (n/V) – adoration, homage; tathāgata (m) – the thus gone (i.e. the Buddha); uṣṇīṣa (m, n) – an excrescence on the head of the Buddha, a turban; vijaya (m) – victory, triumph; ananta – boundless, infinite; cāriṇī (f/V) – moving, walking about; aśeṣa – without remainder, perfect, all; pāramitā (f) – leading to the opposite shore, perfection; prāpta – attained, reached; jina (m) – victor, a Buddha; putra (m) – son; niṣevite (f/V) – visited, frequented, practised.

Homage to you born from the Tathāgata’s crown

Who enjoys boundless total victory,

Relied upon by the Sons of Conquerors

Who have achieved perfection.

The forth praise is to Namgyalma,^Tib the “Victorious Lady”, the “One Who Has Accomplished Immortality.” The “Wisdom Goddess” of wisdom mantra, who emanates from the crowns of the Tathāgatas¹, enjoys total victory over the boundless disruptive forces. Her complexion is golden, and she holds a vase of longevity. Bodhisattvas who have achieved the ten bhūmis ², the essence of the ten transcendent perfections, without exception, rely on her guidance as their spiritual mother. She enriches practitioners by dissolving the fourteen subtle essences of the animate, inanimate, and other subtle essences of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa³. In reality, she has achieved the sacred, unchanging body of eternity through the intention of Atiyoga⁴, the crown of nine yānas ⁵.