Praises To The 21 Taras
Offering of the 21 Homages
Recite each phrase once and/or offer prostrations with the following visualisations. With each praise and prostration, imagine that a replica of each respective Tara manifests, arising from the one before it like simultaneous sparks of fire, and sinks into you.
From your sublime abode at the Potala
O Tara – born from the green letter TAM
Whose light rescues all beings –
Come with your retinue, I beg you.
The gods and demi-gods bow
To your lotus feet, O Tara,
You who rescue all who are destitute
To you, Mother Tara, I pay homage.
OM JE TSUN MA PAG MA DROL MA LA CHAG TSEL LO
OM Homage to the Venerable Arya Tara.
1. Praising Tara by her life story
Homage to Tara, The Swift One, The Heroine,
Whose eyes are like a flash of lightning,
Who arose from the opening of a lotus,
Born from the tears of the Protector of The Three Worlds.
2. Praising Tara by the brightness and radiance of her face
Homage to you with a face like a hundred full moons in autumn,
Gathered together into one,
Blazing with brilliant light,
Like a thousand constellations.
3. Praising Tara by her colour, what she holds and her causes
Homage to you who are bluish gold,
Your hand perfectly adorned with a lotus flower;
Who arose from practicing Giving, Moral discipline,
Patience, Effort, Concentration and Wisdom.
4. Praising Tara by her being honoured by the Conquerors and the Bodhisattvas
Homage to you who surmount the Tathagathas’ Ushnishas,
Whose victorious actions are limitless
Who are greatly honoured by the Sons of Conquerors,
Who have attained every perfection.
5. Praising Tara by her subduing unfavourable conditions
Homage to you who with letters TUTTARA and HUM
Fill the realms of desire, direction and space.
With the seven worlds beneath your feet,
You are able to draw all beings to bliss.
6. Praising Tara by her being worshipped by the great worldly gods
Homage to you who are worshipped by Indra, Agni, Brahma,
Vayu, and the other mighty gods;
And before whom the host of evil spirits,
Zombies, smell eaters and givers of harm respectfully offer praise.
7. Praising Tara by her destroying opponents
Homage to you who by saying TRA (trey) and PHAT
Completely destroy the obstructions of the enemies.
You suppress with your right leg drawn in and your left extended,
And blaze with a fierce and raging fire.
8. Praising Tara by her purifying demons and the two obstructions
Homage to TURE, extremely fearsome one,
Who completely destroys the chief of demons,
With a wrathful expression on your lotus face
You vanquish all foes without exception.
9. Praising Tara by the object she holds in her right and left hands
Homage to you whose fingers adorn your heart
With the mudra symbolising the Three Precious Jewels,
Adorned with a wheel of all directions,
Whose radiant light outshines all.
10. Praising Tara by her crown ornament and the sound of her laughter
Homage to you whose very joyful and shining crown ornament
Radiates a garland of light.
Who with your mirthful laughter of TUTTARA,
Subdue the demons and worldly gods.
11. Praising Tara by her accomplishing divine actions through the ten directional guardians
Homage to you who are able to summon
All the directional guardians and their retinues.
Frowning and shaking, with the letter HUM,
You rescue all from their misfortune.
12. Praising Tara by her crown ornament
Homage to you with a crescent moon adorning your crown,
And all your ornaments shining brightly;
With Amitabha in your top-knot
Eternally radiating light.
13. Praising Tara by her wrathful posture
Homage to you who dwells amidst a garland of flames
Like the fire at the end of an eon.
With your right leg extended and left drawn in,
You destroy the hosts of obstructions of those who delight in the Dharma Wheel.
14. Praising Tara by the light that radiates from the letter HUM
Homage to you who strike the ground with the palm of your hand,
And stamp it with your foot.
With a wrathful glance and a letter HUM
You subdue all seven levels.
15. Praising Tara by her Dharmakaya Aspect
Homage to you who are happy, virtuous and peaceful,
Within the sphere of the peace of Nirvana,
Fully endowed with SOHA and OM,
You completely destroy heavy evil actions.
16. Praising Tara by her divine actions of peaceful and wrathful Mantras
Homage to you who completely subdue the obstructions
Of those who delight in the Dharma Wheel,
Rescuing with the array of the ten-letter mantra
And the knowledge letter HUM.
17. Praising Tara by her divine actions of wrathfully shaking the three worlds
Homage to TURE, stamping your feet
Born from the seed in the aspect of HUM
Who cause Mount Meru, Mandhara and Vindhya,
And all three worlds to shake.
18. Praising Tara by her divine actions of dispelling internal and external poisons
Homage to you who hold in your hand
A moon, the lake of the gods
Saying TARA twice and the letter PHAT,
You completely dispel all poisons.
19. Praising Tara by her divine actions of dispelling conflicts and bad dreams
Homage to you who are honoured by the kings of the hosts of gods,
And the gods and the kinnaras,
Through your joyful and shining pervasive armour,
All conflicts and bad dreams are dispelled.
20. Praising Tara by her divine actions of dispelling diseases
Homage to you whose two eyes are like the sun and the full moon,
Radiate a pure and clear light
Say HARA twice and TUTTARA
You dispel the most violent, infections diseases.
21. Praising Tara by her divine actions of subduing evil spirits and zombies
Homage to you who have the perfect power of pacifying
Through your blessings of the Three Thatnesses;
Subduer of the hosts of evil spirits, zombies and givers of harm
O TURE, most excellent and supreme!
Thus concludes this praise of the root mantra and the offering of the twenty–one homages.
Mantra: OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA
