Ye Dharma Hetu

The Dependent Origination Dhāraṇī in Ranjana and Tibetan scripts

ये धर्मा हेतु-प्रभवा हेतुं तेषां तथागतो ह्यवदत्
तेषां च यो निरोध एवं वादी महाश्रमण

In Roman transliteration this dhāraṇī is variously transliterated, depending on the language it was written in. In Sanskrit it appears as:

ye dharmā hetuprabhavā
hetuṃ teṣāṃ tathāgato hy avadat,
teṣāṃ ca yo nirodha
evaṃvādī mahāśramaṇaḥ

In Pāḷi:

ye dhammā hetuppabhavā tesaṁ hetuṁ tathāgato āha,
tesaṃ ca yo nirodho evaṁvādī mahāsamaṇo.

The meaning is:

Of those phenomena which arise from causes:
Those causes have been taught by the Tathāgata (Buddha),
And their cessation too - thus proclaims the Great Ascetic.

Ye Dharma Hetu has been found in Pali Canon of Tripitaka as shown in Maha Vag section of Vinaya Pitaka at Verse No. 68 with the same meaning as sanskrit version as shown here:[4]

ye dhammā hetuppabhavā

tesaṃ hetuṃ tathāgato (āha)

tesañca yo nirodho

evaṃvādī mahāsamaṇoti.

The Pāḷi commentaries take the first line as pointing to suffering (dukkha), the second to its cause (samudaya) and the third to its cessation (nirodha).

The mantra has been widely used. It has been used at Sarnath, Tirhut, Kanari Copperplate, Tagoung, Sherghatti, near Gaya, Allahabad column, Sanchi etc.

The mantra was often also carved below the images of the Buddha. A Buddhist screen (parikara) and accompanying Buddha image is now preserved at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. While the objects were found in South India, the mantra is given in north Indian 8-9th century script, perhaps originating from the Pala region.[5]

The Bukit Meriam inscription from Kedah includes two additional lines. The inscription is now in the Indian Museum, Calcutta. Other similar inscriptions were found in the Kedah region.[6]

ये धर्मा हेतु-प्रभवा हेतुं तेषां तथागतो ह्यवदत्
तेषां च यो निरोध एवं वादी महाश्रमण

अज्ञानाच्चीयते कर्म जन्मनः कर्म कारणम्
ज्ञानान्नचीयते कर्म कर्माभावान्न जायते

Ye dharmma hetuprabhavā hetun-teṣān-Tathāgata āha,
teṣān-ca yo nirodha evam-vādi Mahāśramaṇaḥ

Ajñānāc-cīyate karmma, janmanaḥ karmma kāraṇam
jñānān-na cīyate karmma, karmmābhāvān-na jāyate.

The additional lines can be translated as
Through ignorance karma is accumulated, the cause of birth is karma.
Through knowledge karma is not accumulated. Through absence of karma, one is not reborn.

Ye Dharma Hetu also found in Thailand including the stupa peak found in 1927 from Nakhon Pathom [7] along with a wall of Phra Pathom Chedi and a shrine in Phra Pathom chedi found in 1963,[8][9] a brick found in 1963 from Chorakhesamphan township, U Thong district of Suphanburi,[10] stone inscriptions found in 1964 [11][12] and the stone inscription found in 1980 from Srithep Archeological site.[13] All of them have been inscribed in Pallava scripts of Pali language dated 12th Buddhist century (the 7th Century in common era). Furthermore, there are Sanskrit version of Ye Dharma Hetu inscribed in Pallava scripts in clay amulets found in 1989 from an archaeological site in Yarang district of Pattani dated 12th Buddhist century (7th Century in common era).[14][15]

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• Ye dharmā hetuprabhava - Causation
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