On the meanings of the terms dhāraṇī and mantra in the Buddhist written tradition

Abstract

The article comprises an analysis of some of the most important terms in the Buddhist religious tradition –dhāraṇīandmantra. It is based upon research of the Buddhist canonical and post-canonical texts. Among others, the article sets to clarify whether it is possible to identify the terms ofdhāraṇīandmantraalso as ‘spells’, ‘incantations’ or ‘invocations’. Special attention is paid to the study of the semantic areas of the terms in question. This aims to clarify whether thedhāraṇīandmantracan be considered synonyms. The article also examines the approaches of Russian and foreign scholarly traditions, which interpreted the meaning of these terms. On a parallel basis, it analyzes the meaning of the termdhāraṇīrecorded in Buddhist canonical and post-canonical texts. Additionally, the article comprises a research of the technical terms, which are synonymous fordhāraṇīandmantra, however, used in both authentic (Indian) and non-endemic zones and the relevant traditions, where the Buddhist teaching was also popular, i.e. in Tibet, China and Japan. As a result, the author concludes as follows. On the ‘popular level’ of the functioning of Buddhist doctrine (protection from illnesses, robbers, bites of poisonous snakes and insects, etc.) both termsdhāraṇī andmantracan be certainly bear the meaning as ‘spells’, ‘incantations’ or ‘invocations’. On the level of the meditative practice of the consciousness transformation, which aims to the final liberation from affects, bothdhāraṇīandmantrafunction as a ‘mental construct’. On the one hand, they protect the ascetic consciousness they protect the ascetic consciosness (manas-tra) from afflictions, on the other, they provide the mental comprehension ‘grasping’ and firm holding (dhāraṇa) in memory of the aspects of religious doctrine, that, ultimately, leads to the Nirvāṇa obtaining. In both cases,dhāraṇīand mantrafunction as synonyms, with the only difference thatdhāraṇīis a product of Buddhist ideologists who sought to identify a break from the previous religious tradition – Brahmanism.