(Note by Soh: The root dhāraṇī of Mahāpratisarā is one of the main mantras taught and practiced by Yuan Yin Lao Ren). 

Key take-aways (one-paragraph overview)

Mahāpratisarā (Ch: 大随求菩薩; pinyin: Dàsuíqiú; Jp: Daizuigu)—literally “Great Amulet / Great Wish-Fulfiller”—is the central protectress of the Pañcarakṣā corpus of dhāraṇī-sūtras, and is a female Buddhist deity in East Asian Buddhism and Vajrayana Buddhism. Mahāpratisarā (Ch: 大随求菩薩; pinyin: Dàsuíqiú; Jp: Daizuigu) is a female Buddhist deity in East Asian Buddhism and Vajrayana Buddhism. She is sometimes presented as the consort of Vairocana or as an emanation of Ratnasambhava Buddha. Mahāpratisarā is the main deity of the fivefold Pañcarakṣā set of protector deities and thus she is often shown surrounded by the other four protector goddesses. In the Indian Tantric Buddhist Sadhanamala, she is depicted as yellow in complexion, with three faces with three eyes each, ten arms, carrying various implements and weapons. 

In East Asian Esoteric Buddhism, this deity is found in the Garbhadhatu Mandala and is associated with protection. She is invoked through her mantra which is believed to fulfill the wishes of sentient beings, especially in eliminating defilement and averting calamities. In Japan, Mahāpratisarā was popular during the Heian period. She is sometimes depicted with a yellow body and eight arms, though the iconography varies. There are various texts associated with Mahāpratisarā in the East Asian Buddhist canon, including two dharani sutras and two ritual manuals. Several Japanese Buddhist temples contain images of this deity, including Kanshin-ji, Kiyomizu-dera and Ishite-ji.

 Two early Chinese translations (T 1153, 1154) by Amoghavajra and Ratnacinta, a Sanskrit–Tibetan scripture preserved as Ārya­mahāpratisarāvidyārājñī (Toh 561), and an independent Mahāpratisarā-vidyā-vidhi ritual manual lay out her mantra, ritual, and vast benefits: extinguishing past karma, armouring the body against fire, weapons, poison, and guaranteeing safe childbirth, victory in disputes, and swift wish-fulfilment. In Esoteric iconography she appears deep yellow, eight-armed, atop the second tier of the Lotus Court in the Womb-World (Garbha­dhātu) Mandala, each hand brandishing one of eight implements that encode her bodhisattva vows to “cut, bind, wheel, and banner” beings toward liberation. Manuscript, print, and sculptural evidence shows her cult flourishing from 8ᵗʰ-century India and China to Heian-period Japan, Java’s Borobudur, and modern Tibetan and Chinese Buddhist practice.

1 Names, Etymology, and Doctrinal Role

• Sanskrit: Mahā­pratisarā (“Great Refuge / Great Amulet”) 

• Chinese: 大隨求, “She who completely fulfils requests.” 

• Japanese: 大随求菩薩 (Daizuigu Bosatsu).

Early tantric compendia already style her a vidyārājñī (“Queen of Spells”) and, by the Pāla period, link her either to Ratnasambhava or as consort to Mahāvairocana—explaining her placement next to Vairocana in the Garbha­dhātu Mandala.(Wikipedia, Wisdom Library)

Within the fivefold Pañcarakṣā, she occupies pride of place; surviving Sanskrit manuscripts describe her as the “first and foremost” of the protectresses.(Cambridge Digital Library, Rigpa Wiki)

2 Scriptural Foundations

A verse quoted in ritual manuals—and widely repeated in East Asia—summarises her vow: “The moment one hears this mantra, past misdeeds are gone; with constant recitation one becomes indestructible—fire, sword, and poison cannot prevail.”(Tibetan Buddhist Encyclopedia)

3 Mantras and Dhāraṇī

Ritual sections instruct writing either mantra in Siddhaṃ script on silk strips or copper plaques, folding them into amulets, and wearing them on the upper right arm or hanging them atop banners.(84000)

4 Iconography and Mandala Placement

4.1 Eight-armed form

Most East-Asian depictions follow the Garbha­dhātu Mandala: yellow body, one head, eight arms.(Wikipedia, UW Libraries) Indian Sādhanamālā texts expand to ten arms or three faces in later variants.(Wisdom Library)

4.2 Mandala Location

She sits at the top centre of the second lotus row in the Lotus Court, immediately above Avalokiteśvara, reflecting her role as “Wish-Fulfilling Vajra.”(Wikipedia, UW Libraries)

5 Ritual Functions and Promised Powers

• Karmic purification: hearing or wearing the mantra “cuts all past evil deeds as a sword cuts lotus fibres.” T. 1153 lists thirty categories of sin thereby neutralised.

• Physical invulnerability: immunity to fire, water, weapons, poison, thieves, wild beasts, and epidemics—the famous “indestructible” claim.(Tibetan Buddhist Encyclopedia)

• Childbirth & health: the dhāraṇī worn on the womb “prevents miscarriage and eases delivery.”(84000)

• Victory & litigation: installing a banner inscribed with her mantra “subdues hostile armies and reverses unjust lawsuits.”(Academia)

• Daily protection: Amulet culture in medieval China, Korea, and Japan shows the spell printed in bilingual Siddhaṃ-Chinese booklets and carried on the body.

6 Historical Transmission

7 Scholarship & Further Reading

• Hidas, G. “Mahāpratisarāvidyā-vidhi: Critical Edition,” Acta Orientalia 63 (2010).(Academia)

• McBride, R. “Wish-Fulfilling Spells and Talismans,” Pacific World 20 (2018) – on Korean amulet culture.

• 84000 Translation Committee. The Great Amulet (Toh 561), 2023.(84000)

• Bhattacharyya, B. Indian Buddhist Iconography – figs. 184-196 detail her weapons.(Wisdom Library)

Concluding note

Across Sanskrit, Chinese, Tibetan, and Japanese ritual worlds, Mahāpratisarā epitomises the tantric faith that sound (dhāraṇī), image (mandala), and compassionate vow can literally transform the body and destiny of any being who invokes her—a theme that continues to shape protective liturgies across contemporary Buddhist traditions.