Praises to the Twenty-One Taras is a traditional prayer in

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

to the female

Bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools ...

Tara ( sa, तारा, ;

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...

སྒྲོལ་མ, Drolma) also known as Ārya Tārā, or Jetsun Dolma ( Wylie:''rje btsun sgrol ma''). It appears in the Derge Kangyur as "“Offering Praise to Tara through Twenty-One ersesof Homage” ( Wylie: sgrol ma la phyag 'tshal ba nyi shu gcig gis bstod pa)." The prayer is found in all four traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. Each of the twenty-one emanations of Tara has her own name, and a specific

mantra A mantra ( Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ...

with which she is associated, offering protection from various types of fears, harm, and calamities.

Translations

An early manuscript version, titled ''Twenty-One Hymns to the Rescuer Mother of Buddhas'' (二十一種救度佛母贊), described as an "Imperially commissioned translation of the hymn to the rescuer mother of Buddhas ... in Manchu,

, Mongolian, and

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

scripts", was created in the late 18th century by calligrapher

Yongrong Yongrong (28 January 1744 – 13 June 1790) was a Manchu prince and calligrapher of the Qing dynasty in China. He was born in the Aisin Gioro clan as the sixth son of the Qianlong Emperor; his mother was Imperial Noble Consort Chunhui. Bi ...

永瑢 (1744–1790). It is held by the

National Library of China The National Library of China (; NLC) is the national library of the People's Republic of China and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It contains over 41 million items as of December 2020. It holds the largest collection of Chines ...

Commentaries

Modern English language commentaries include 2007 works by Palden Sherab, and by Adeu Rinpoche and Urgyen Rinpoche a 2005 work by

Thubten Chodron Thubten Chodron ( — De Lin), born Cheryl Greene, is an American Tibetan Buddhist nun, author, teacher, and the founder and abbess of Sravasti Abbey, the only Tibetan Buddhist training monastery for Western nuns and monks in the United States. C ...

, a 1999 work by Bokar Rinpoche, and a 1992 work by Martin Willson. Online commentaries include a 1997 commentary by Khempo Yurmed Tinly Rinpoche, a 2004 commentary by Palden Sherab, and a 2013 commentary by Geshe Dawö. Extensive descriptions of traditional rituals associated with Tara, including the "Twenty-One Praises", can be found in Steven V. Beyer's 1978 book, ''The cult of Tārā: magic and ritual in Tibet''.

References

External links

* (illustrated, traditional) * (illustrated, modern) {{Buddhas in Buddhist Literature Tibetan Buddhist practices Tibetan Buddhist texts Taras