Tārā

Abstract

This article explores the enlightened female figure of Tārā within Buddhist tradition. Tārā means “star,” derived from the Sanskrit verbal root “to cross” (tṛ). An unproven yet popular theory is that Tārā originated from an ancient Indian star cult protecting seafarers as they crossed dangerous waters under the night sky. Buddhism reinterpreted Tārā’s role as protectress of devotees crossing the ocean of suffering (worldly life) toward the far shore of enlightenment. In this “spiritualized” role, a boat still serves as her rescue vehicle. Although Tārā worship has obscure beginnings in India, c. 6th century, her cult was firmly established by the 8th century, based upon three bodies of evidence. The first is her initial appearance in the early Indian Buddhist ritual texts (tantras) Mañjuśrī-mūla-kalpa, Vairocana-abhisaṃbodhi-tantra, and Tārā-mūla-kalpa. The second are Tārā’s depictions in Buddhist rock art in India (c. 6th–8th centuries). Last are the 8th-century translations and inscriptions documenting the spread of Tārā worship to Tibet and Southeast Asia. During the formative period of her cult, Tārā was worshipped alongside Avalokiteśvara, bodhisattva of compassion, from whom she inherited the role of compassionate savior from danger. Over time, Tārā was envisioned in a growing spectrum of forms, each associated with a specific function, ranging from benevolent goddess, mother, and female Buddha to protectress and savior (in peaceful and wrathful forms). Texts used to worship Tārā, composed in Sanskrit c. 6th century ce or later, include esoteric scriptures (tantras), praises (stotra), songs (stava), and visualization meditations (sādhana). Nine of ten sacred syllables used to summon Tārā’s presence today are recorded in 7th-century rituals from the Tārā-mūla-kalpa, Tā re tut tāre tu re svā hā (O Tārā, who rescues from pain, the quick one, Hail!). The renowned monk-scholar Atīśa played a key role in the transport and transmission of Tārā texts and ritual practices from India to Tibet in the 11th century. As Tārā’s popularity grew, she became venerated as the spiritual mother of the Tibetan people, alongside Avalokiteśvara, bodhisattva of compassion and Tibet’s spiritual father, who is presently embodied by the fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet, Tenzin Gyatso. In China, the transformation of the male bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara into the female bodhisattva Guanyin did not necessitate the migration there of his female companion Tārā. This partially explains why Tārā is a minor figure in China known as To-luo. In Japan, Tārā is also a minor female deity known as Tārā Bosatsu.