Now Lord Śākyamuni again looked at the entire Pure Abode, and said this to Mañjuśrī, the divine youth:

“Listen, Mañjuśrī, to [the instructions] for the followers of your vidyā mantra who strive to benefit all beings—what mantras they should be made to recite, by whom these mantras are to be recited, and the attendant rosary rites that are methods for accomplishing all the common mantras of all tantras. Listen carefully and reflect on this well. I will teach this [now].”

At these words, Mañjuśrī, the divine youth, said this to the Blessed One:

“Good! May the Blessed One show us the favor of teaching this for the sake of all those who entered the samaya of mantra practice, as well as every other being.”

After Mañjuśrī, the divine youth, spoke thus, the Blessed One said this to him:

“Listen, Mañjuśrī, as I will teach at length and in detail how beings can accomplish all their aims by applying all the mantra conduct. And how [do they do this]? First there is [the following] mantra. Homage to all the buddhas whose forms are marvelous and inconceivable. It is:

“ Oṁ, act, act! Accomplish all aims, accomplish! O (female) sky dweller who dumbfounds all the wicked ones, effect the purification! Svāhā!

“One should employ this mantra in the rites of crafting all types of rosaries, those that involve cleaning, drilling, threading, separating, and so forth.

“First, when making a rosary, One should incant the tree Thirty-seven times. A vow holder should then perform the protection rite.

“One should then sleep one night And in one’s sleep one will see A nonhuman being, either beautiful Or ugly, and baring its teeth. This friendly being will say, ‘Bring me, as is proper, something of value.’

“The practitioner should then rise early And go to the tree that has been indicated, Unless one saw in one’s dream A tree that is huge and misshapen.

“One should avoid trees of this kind And go instead to another tree. A rudrākṣa tree is the best; The next best is an arjuna tree,

“A lucky bean tree, or another good tree That bears fruit suitable for beads. One should climb it together with companions Who are good at climbing trees.

“If such a mantra reciter has no companions, He should climb by himself. A lay vow holder should climb to the fruit Located on the uppermost branches.

“Never distracted from his task, He should pick fruits that issue from upper branches. Having thus obtained fruits from these branches, He should use them in superior rites.

“For it has been taught by the best of men That when a rite is superior, the accomplishment will be superior too; When it is middling, the accomplishment will be middling; And when it is minor, the accomplishment will be minor.

“If one takes fruit from them, One will never be disliked by sentient beings. If one takes seeds from the western branches, One’s mantras will be effective in the preparation of power substances.

“If the seeds are from the northern branches, One will always be able to summon yakṣa deities or those of similar stock. It is said that they should be summoned For the pacification of all beings.

“The gods, asuras, gandharvas, Kinnaras, and rākṣasas, on the other hand, Can be summoned in a properly performed rite In order to provide nourishment to all beings.

“One will make all the rites That are done on earth bear fruit. If the seeds originate from a branch That is in the eastern quarter,

“One should always employ them zealously As causes for bringing long life. Thus, one will always obtain a different mantra-accomplishment Depending on the type of seeds.

“If a branch extends in the southern direction And abounds in leaves, A mantra reciter should carefully avoid it, For the seeds from it will drain the vital force from living beings.

“If one recites using the seeds That are growing On branches extending south, One will destroy the life force of one’s enemies.

“One should carefully avoid such acts, though, For they are the cause of a great deal of negativity. Seeds that are described as hanging Underneath the lower branches

“Will enable one to reach Rasātala, The place where dānava women live, If one takes along a rosary made of them. So have these seeds been described.

“Seeds that cling to the lower branches Will enable one to reach Pātāla. Once he has entered there, Divine pleasures await a mantra reciter.

“He will remain united with asura women And stay there for an eon. A reciter will be able to descend there If he takes with him a complete set of such seeds.

“One should perform a protection rite And travel, with companions, to a place of one’s choice. Having thus traveled to a distant place, Which always must be clean,

“A mantra practitioner should stay there. He should purify the set of seeds, Taking each of the seed-beads And cleaning it thoroughly all over.

“Having cleaned them completely, The mantra adept should drill holes in them. Repeating the mantra three, seven, eight, One, or twenty-one times,

“One who knows the nature of mantra should purify the beads. Always using the same mantra as before, Repeated either seven or eight times, The purification will be ensured.

“Such a lay vow holder should prepare twine Using thread spun by a virgin Joined with five threefold strains Of fibers from a lotus stalk.

“One who knows the nature of mantra should string upon it Seeds that are fine, well rounded, Never damaged by worms, And without protrusions or other imperfections.

“They must be beautiful and of nice color, Without holes or cracks, And may be either from the rudrākṣa tree, Lucky bean tree, or arjuna tree.

“Applying himself to the task with care, A mantra practitioner should string a rosary of beads That is ever unspoiled, beautiful, Not deformed, and composed of identical beads.

“Alternatively, the beads Could be made of gold, silver, Rubies, crystal, Conch, musāragalva coral, or pearl.

“One can make different types of rosaries, Using coral or other precious substances, To create a divine rosary, Beautiful and auspicious.

“With a focused mind, one should string onto the thread Round beads made of earth, Or any other beads that are more or less round, Be they seeds or mineral in origin.

“Reciting the mantra with earnestness, One should string the beads using a sharp-pointed blade of grass, Either one hundred and eight of them, or twenty-five, Or the medium number of fifty.

“A rosary of this size should be strung By a well-focused mantra practitioner. The supreme kind of rosary Would consist of one thousand and eight beads.

“It is always a rosary of one of these four types That may be strung by the practitioners of mantra. When subsequently tying the knot, One should do it thrice, or at least twice.

“To keep the rosary tight (mālāsamāsataḥ), One should fasten [the knot] With rings made of flower-metal, gold, Silver, or copper.

“Finally, one should make a plaiting loop, Adding them in succession to form a plait. One should wrap the plait firmly and with care, So that it stays tight.

“One should fashion it well To make it resemble a maṇḍala With the shape of a snake’s hood Adorned by the wrapping.

“The rosary may have the form of a string of pearls, Fashioned as a neck ornament. One should wash it in pure water, Such as that of a clean river.

“Having washed it as described before, One should take it out of the water And perform the ablutions thoroughly oneself , Holding it as one does a string of beads.

“One should wipe it with the five products of the cow And, likewise, with powdered clay. One should then rinse it with clean water And smear it with fragrant unguents,

“Including those of auspicious colors, Such as white sandalwood and saffron. Having thus anointed it with care, One should go to one’s hut.

“One should walk up to the place Where the painting of the medium type is, With the supreme among the victorious ones, the chief sage, The best of men, the Lion of the Śākyas, painted in its center.

“One should always place the rosary Before the image of the Teacher that contains relics Of the victorious upon the earth; It should be placed close by.

“One should thus place the rosary on the canvas Before and near to the image of Śākyamuni And incant it 1000 times 108, Plus an additional 108 times.

“Having fasted the whole day and night, One should offer the rosary to the best of sages. One can also do the recitation as before, Identical in terms of numbers.

“Then, having incanted the rosary, One should leave it there for the night. A knower of mantras should sleep in the same place, On a bed of kuśa grass spread on the ground.

“Should he behold in his sleep Beautiful dream images, They indicate the results In which he will obtain accomplishment.

“If a practitioner of mantra should see in his dream Buddhas, śrāvakas, or pratyeka­buddhas, His ritual actions will definitely succeed, Bearing results for him.

“If he beholds in his sleep A wonderful, beautiful-looking boy In the form of the divine youth, He should offer the rosary to him. His mantras will succeed without fail, Accomplishing all his aims.”