The Twenty-one Taras

Names of the Twenty-one Emanations of Tara

1. Pravīratārā ( rab tu dpa' ba'i sgrol ma / myur ma dpa' mo) - Tārā Swift and Heroic
2. Candrakāntitārā (dkar mo zla mdangs sgrol ma) - Tārā White as Autumn Moon
3. Kankavarṇatārā (gser mdog can gyi sgrol ma) - Golden coloured Tārā
4. Uṣṇīṣavijayatārā (gtsug tor rnam rgyal ma) - Tārā the Victorious Uṣṇīṣa
5. Hūṃsvaranādinītārā (h'uM sgra sgrog pa'i sgrol ma) - Tārā Proclaiming the Sound of Hūṃ
6. Trailokyavijayatārā ('jig rten gsum rgyal sgrol ma) - Tārā Victorious over the Three Worlds
7. Vādipramardakatārā (rgol ba 'joms pa'i sgrol ma) - Tārā Crushing Adversaries
8. Mārasūdanāvaiśitottamadatārā (dbang mchog ster ba'i sgrol ma) - Tārā who crushes all māras and bestows supreme powers.
9. Varadatārā ('phags ma mchog stsal sgrol ma) - Tārā Granter of Boons
10. Śokavinodanatārā (mya ngan sel ba'i sgrol ma) - Tārā Dispeller of Sorrow
11. Jagadvaśīvipannibarhaṇatārā (phongs pa sel ba'i sgrol ma) - Tārā summoner of Beings, Dispeller of Misfortune
12. Kalyānadatārā / Maṇgalalokatārā (bkra shis sbyin pa'i sgrol ma) -
13. Paripācakatārā (yongs su smin mdzad sgrol ma) -
14. Bhṛkuṭītārā ( khro gnyer gyo ba'i sgrol ma) -
15. Mahāśāntitārā (zhi ba chen po'i sgrol ma) -
16. Rāganiṣūdanatārā (chags pa 'joms pa'i sgrol ma) -
17. Sukhasādhanatārā ([[]]) -
18. Sitavijayatārā (rnam par rgyal ba'i sgrol ma) -
19. Duḥkadahanatārā (sdug bsngal bsreg ba'i sgrol ma) - Tārā Burner of Suffering
20. Siddhisaṃbhavatārā (dngos grub byung ba'i sgrol ma)- Tārā Source of Attainments
21. Paripūraṇatārā (yongs rdzogs byed pa'i sgrol ma) - Tārā the Perfector

SA phyag 'tshal nyer gcig

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The Twenty-One Taras described by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo

1. The Tara practice involves the praises to the twenty-one Taras to protect against twenty-one types of harmful influences. Here is a list of the twenty manifestations of Tara based on Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo’s writings.
   
2. The White Pacifying Tara: She protects from general decline in the world and beings, adversity, attack from both physical and immaterial beings, all sickness, evil influence, curses, black magic, strife, and conceptual thinking.
   
3. Bhagavati Vajra Tara who Protects Against Harm from the Earth: She protects from earthquake and avalanche in the outside world, as well as inner sickness and evil influence caused by the negative emotion pride.
   
4. The Red Tara who Protects Against Harm from Water: She protects from all harm from water in the outside world, including flooding, shipwreck, polluted drinking water, and drowning, as well as sickness and evil influence caused by the negative emotion desire.
   
5. The Tara who Protects Against Harm from Fire: She protects from harm from fire in the outside world, including wildfire and arson, as well as sickness and evil influence caused by the negative emotion of anger.
   
6. The Tara who Protects Against Harm from Wind: She protects from harm from wind in the outside world, hurricanes and storms caused by evil spirits, as well as sickness and evil influence caused by the negative emotion of jealousy.
   
7. The Yellow Tara of Enrichment: She increases all kinds of prosperity and wealth in the world, as well as intelligence and eloquence.
   
8. The Tara who Protects Against Harm from Meteors, Lightning and Hailstorms: She protects from harm caused by evil spirits or curses in the form of meteors, hailstorms, lightning, violent rainstorms, and snow damage, as well as sickness and evil influence caused by the negative emotions of desire, hatred, and envy.
   
9. The Tara who Protects Against Harm from Weapons: She protects from warfare and fighting in the outside world, persecution from an oppressor, as well as sickness and evil influence caused by the negative emotions anger and jealousy.
   
10. The Tara who Protects Against Harm from Tyrants: She protects from hostility, imprisonment and punishment by rulers, governors, and chieftains in the outside world, as well as sickness and evil influence caused by the negative emotions hatred, conceit, craving, and envy.
    
11. The Tara who Protects Against Harm from Banditry: She protects from robbery, theft, and murder by bandits, robbers or thieves in the outside world, as well as sickness and evil influence caused by the negative emotions jealousy, desire, anger and greed.
    
12. The Tara of Magnetizing: She protects from suffering by mastering external phenomena and the prana-mind within, and gives mastery over all needs and aims.
    
13. The Tara who Protects Against Harm from Spirits: She protects from the three types of evil spirits in the outside world, as well as sickness and evil influence caused by the eight classes of demons.
    
14. The Tara who Protects Against Harm from Elephants: She protects from attacks by fierce and powerful animals, elephants, horses, buffaloes, and domestic and wild animals, as well as sickness and evil influence caused by the negative emotions arrogance and ferocity.
    
15. The Tara who Protects Against Harm from Lions: She protects from attacks by lions, tigers, leopards, bears, wolves and jackals in the outside world, as well as sickness and evil influence caused by the negative emotions anger, craving, envy, and haughtiness.
    
16. The Tara who Protects Against Harm from Snakes: She protects from attacks by vipers, spiders, scorpions, rabid dogs and other kinds of poisonous creatures, as well as sickness and evil influence caused by the negative emotions dullness, ill will, covetousness, and wrong views.
    
17. The Black Subjugating Tara: She protects against all kinds of black magic, curses, spells, epidemics, and all evil forces, material as well as immaterial.
    
18. The Tara who Protects Against Harm from Disease: She pacifies sickness caused by the environment, plants, and so forth, and especially diseases caused by imbalance in the elements in the body, as well as protecting against illness, contagious disease and evil influences created by the 21,000 inner disturbances.
    
19. The Tara who Protects Against Fear of Death: She protects from direct and indirect attacks by opponents in the outside world that prevent one from maintaining a spiritual life, as well as the inner flow of deluded thinking that creates the fear of not being able to sustain oneself.
    
20. The Tara who Protects Against Fear of Poverty: She protects from decline in prosperity, economy and the ten virtuous actions in the outside world, as well as from the suffering of poverty created by miserliness, envy and craving.
    
21. The Tara who Protects Against Fear of Failure: She protects from unsuccessful endeavors in business, farming or any other project in the outside world, as well as the worry, misery, and mental pain caused by attachment and anger, competitiveness and indecision.
    

These were extracts from the Chokling Tersar empowerment manuals written by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo. EPK

• Included in Skillful Grace

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Images:

• |Tara (Atisha Lineage) - 21 Forms at HimalayanArt.org

References:

• Willson, Martin. In Praise of Tārā: Songs to the Saviouress. Wisdom, London, 1986; Wisdom Publications, Sommerville 1996; ISBN 0861711092