Vajrasattva Mantra - 100 Syllable Vajrasattva mantra and short Vajrasattva mantra.

va jra sa ttva

Vajrasattva is pure white in colour and is sometimes known as the Prince of Purity. His name means "Adamantine Being", or more poetically "Embodying Reality". He is a member of the Vajra family of Akṣobhya which also includes Vajrapāṇi.

He is depicted as a young man in the prime of life, with all the silks and jewels of a wealthy prince. In his right hand he delicately balances a vajra at his heart. In his left had he holds a bell at his waist. The vajra represents Reality, and Compassion; while the bell represents Wisdom.

In some mandalas Vajrasattva represents the Ādibuddha or the Primordial Principle of Buddhahood; in others he changes places with Akṣobhya in the East. In Shingon Buddhism it is Vajrasattva that passes on the initiation of the Dharmakāya Buddha Mahāvairocana to Nāgārjuna, thereby creating the Vajrayāna lineage.

In the mūla-yogas the practitioner carries out a set of four pactices 100,000 times. One of these is visualising of Vajrasattva and repeating his 100 syllable mantra 100,000 times which helps to purify the karma of the person intending to go on to the tantra proper. Completing these practices is seen as essential prior to receiving initiations or ordination in some Tibetan lineages.

Seed Syllable

hūṃ
Siddhaṃ

The seed syllable hūṃ is shared by a number of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, especially those associated with the Vajra family of which Vajrasattva is the epitome. Other members are Vajrapāṇi, and Akṣobhya

hūṃ
Tibetan - Uchen

Audio Files

Hear the hundred syllable Vajrasattva mantra spoken,
and chanted FWBO style by Jayarava.

spoken	mp3
chanted	mp3

Mantras

Vajrasattva is associated with the hundred syllable mantra, the chanting of which is used in rituals of purification especially funerals (see below). There is also a short version of the Vajrasattva mantra. We'll start with the short mantra.

The short Vajrasattva mantra

Siddhāṃ

The short Vajrasattva Mantra in the Siddham script

Tibetan (Uchen)

The short Vajrasattva Mantra in the Tibetan Uchen script

Transliteration

oṃ va jra sa ttva hūṃ

oṃ vajrasattva hūṃ

A strict transliteration of the Tibetan would be: oṃ ba dzra sa tva hūṃ which is the Tibetan pronunciation of the Sanskrit.

The 100 syllable Vajrasattva mantra

Transliteration

oṃ va jra sa ttva sa ma yam a nu
pā la ya va jra sa ttva tve no pa
ti ṣṭha dṛ ḍho me bha va su to ṣyo
me bha va su po ṣyo me bha va a
nu ra kto me bha va sa rva si ddhiṃ
me pra ya ccha sa rva ka rma su ca
me ci ttaṃ śre yaḥ ku ru hūṃ ha ha
ha ha hoḥ bha ga van sa rva ta thā
ga ta va jra mā me mu ñca va jrū
bha va ma hā sa ma ya sa ttva aḥ
hūṃ phaṭ

Translation

oṃ vajrasattva samayam anupālaya
oṃ Vajrasattva! Preserve the bond!

Vajrasattvatvenopatiṣṭha
As Vajrasattva stand before me.

dṛḍho me bhava
Be firm for me.

sutoṣyo me bhava
Be greatly pleased for me.

supoṣyo me bhava
Deeply nourish me

anurakto me bhava
Love me passionately

sarva siddhiṃ me prayaccha
Grant me siddhi in all things,

sarvakarmasu ca me cittaṃ śreyaḥ kuru hūṃ
And in all actions make my mind most excellent. hūṃ

ha ha ha ha hoḥ
ha ha ha ha hoḥ

bhagavan sarvatathāgatavajra mā me muñca
Blessed One! Vajra of all the tathāgatas! Do not abandon me.

vajrū bhava mahāsamayasattva āḥ (hūṃ phaṭ)
Be the Vajra-bearer, Being of the Great Bond! āḥ (hūṃ phaṭ)

Tibetan - Uchen

Tibetan version of the Vajrasattva mantra carved in stone in a mani wall in Sikkhim

Photo courtesy of Dharmacari Abhayanaga.

This is the Tibetan version of the Vajrasattva mantra carved in stone, and placed in a mani wall in Sikkhim.

On the last line the first three characters are sa tva āḥ - which is the end of the 100 syllable mantra. It is followed by the short Vajrasattva mantra (oṃ ba dzra sa tva hūṃ) twice.

Notes

The Sanskrit version of the 100 Syllable mantra follows the edited text of the Sanskrit and English translation produced by Dharmacari Sthiramati (aka Dr. Andrew skilton) in his article: The Vajrasattva Mantra : notes on a corrected Sanskrit text. (Order Journal [of the Western Buddhist Order] vol.3 Nov. 1990). Note this is different from the version in the 1st ed. of the FWBO Puja book and this edited version was produced to fix problems with that version.

The basic mantra ends with āḥ. Hūṃ and phaṭ are traditionally added under specific circumstances - hūṃ when the mantra is recited for the benefit of someone dead, and the phaṭ when the mantra is recited to subdue demons. They are not present in the Tibetan example above, however in the WBO/FWBO they are routinely included.

I've adopted a practice which seems standard in Japanese calligraphy, but about which I am not certain, which is to write words like muñca as muṃ ca, instead of mu ñca, using the anusvāra to replace the nasal. This would appear to be related to the principle of economy of effort in Sanskrit literarture which reduces any writing to the minumum of words, characters and letters - and in this case pen strokes. It would still be possible to only use 100 syllables without using the anusvāra in this way, but would be less lovely.

My phaṭ is a bit of a bodge - I hadn't seen one in Siddham when I did this. Technically it is two characters pha + ṭ (with virama indicating no vowel), but I have combined the two into one character, again following the principle of economy. See the Visible Mantra page on phaṭ for more.

Selections on Vajrasattva by Sangharakshita from Free Buddhist Audio.