bhai ṣa jya gu ru
Bhaiṣajyaguru the medicine Buddha is a slightly enigmatic figure. His mythology goes back to early Buddhism, but his origins are obscure, being perhaps related to texts where the historical Buddha is described as a physician come to cure the ills of the world. Bhaiṣajyarāja is the name of a Bodhisattva in the Saddharma Puṇḍarīka or White Lotus Sūtra who immolates himself as an offering to the Buddha.
He is depicted as deep blue in colour, dressed in bhikṣu's robes, holding his begging bowl in his left hand and with his right hand making the varada mudra. Varada means 'granting wishes, conferring a boon, ready to fulfil requests or answer prayers'. Sometimes, especially in East Asian iconography, the begging bowl is replaced by a medicine jar; in Tibetan images a myrobalan plant, thought to be a panacea, grows out of the bowl
Mantra
Transliteration
oṃ bhai ṣa jye bhai ṣa jye ma hā
bhai ṣa jya sa mu dga te svā hā
oṃ bhaiṣajye bhaiṣajye mahābhaiṣajya samudgate svāhā
Tibetan Uchen
Tibetan Pronunciation
om beh ka dze-yah beh ka dze-yah ma ha beh ka dze-yah la dza sah mo kyah deh sowa ha
Notes
There are many variations on this mantra, and some other mantras and dhāraṇī associated with Bhaiṣajyarāja.
In Sanskrit bhaiṣajya can mean: curativeness, healing efficacy; a ceremony performed as a remedy for sickness; any remedy, drug or medicine; the administering of medicines. Guru is teacher.
svāhā comes from Vedic ritual.
This mantra can be found the Sūtra of the Medicine Buddha [pdf file] (Taisho XIV, 450) where it is described as a great dhāraṇī.
This page constructed using Notepad 5.1