Palden Lhamo Sri Devi Sanskrit Mantra | Riding the Ocean of Suffering to Save All Beings
🎵 3 Gems Band presents a fierce, loving invocation to the Great Dharmapala Palden Lhamo — the Glorious Goddess, Wrathful Form of Tara, who wears the black sky as her cloak.
This mantra is a call to the unwavering protector who rides across the ocean of blood, collecting diseases and obstacles, transforming the sea of suffering into a radiant valley of peace — seen at the end of the video story.
She is our champion in the dark — riding as OUR champion — facing the dangers, demons and suffering we ourselves fear. See our Story Synospsis below.
Video to follow (for now we’re adding the streaming audio):
📿 THE MANTRA (Sanskrit)
Chanted in pure Sanskrit by 3 Gems Band:
bhyo rakṣa mo
bhyo bhyo rakṣa mo
tṛuṁ bhyo
kha-kṛṣṇa-vastrā
rakṣa mo
avyāt tṛuṁ bhyo
rulu rulu
hūṁ bhyo hūṁ
Devanagari:
भ्यो रक्ष मो भ्यो रक्ष मो भ्यो भ्यो रक्ष मो
तृं भ्यो ख–कृष्ण–वस्त्रा रक्ष मो
अव्यात् तृं भ्यो रुलु रुलु हूं भ्यो हूं
TIBETAN Sanskrit Hybrid (we do not chant this in Tibetan, this is for reference):
Jho Rakmo Jho Rakmo Tun Jho Kalarak Chenmo Rakkmo Adja Tadja Tun Jho rulu rulu hung Jhno Hung
📖 STORY SYNOPSIS
A visual journey through the mantra of Palden Lhamo
The video opens in a quiet shrine room. A full moon shines through the window, casting silver light across the space. The camera pans left, slowly revealing a thangka of Palden Lhamo hanging on the wall — her fierce eyes watching from the darkness.
Dramatically, the camera moves forward and enters the doorway of the thangka itself. Suddenly, we are transported — an aerial view looking down at Palden Lhamo riding her mule at full gallop across a vast, churning sea.
A tidal wave of blood rises before her — the ocean of suffering itself. The camera drops to a close-up of her mule’s hooves as they thunder across the crimson surface, untouched by the chaos below.
We see her disease bag — the sacred pouch that collects all suffering and obstacles. In close-up, we witness her dramatically gathering diseases into the bag: plagues, fears, anxieties, and negativities rising from the blood-sea like smoke, drawn into her orbit. Her hands, fierce and steady, close the bag securely — sealing away all harm.
Throughout the journey, the camera lingers on sacred details:
- The eye in the mule’s flank, blinking slowly — the all-seeing witness of every being’s suffering
- Palden Lhamo’s wrathful posture — her crown of five skulls and peacock feathers, her third eye blazing, her vajra club raised to cut through ignorance, a skull cup of blood representing transformation and impermanance.
- The mo dice hanging from her waist — the divination tool symbols of her prophetic power
The riding continues — dramatic, relentless, unstoppable — until we approach a stone arch in ruins against the horizon.
And then: transformation.
As we pass through the arch, the world begins to lighten. The sea of blood shimmers, then shifts — becoming a green valley surrounded by mountains. Wildflowers bloom. The sky opens. The stone arch, now whole, stands at the center of a growing field of green.
We pull back, exiting the thangka once more, and find ourselves in the shrine room. The camera pans around for a frontal view — the full moon still shines, the thangka now glowing with quiet radiance.
The ocean of suffering has become the valley of peace.
She has done what she promised. She always does. Protecting all sentient beings.
🔍 LINE-BY-LINE COMMENTARY & TRANSLATION
bhyo rakṣa mo
“O Goddess, protect me!”
A fierce, vocative particle addressing Palden Lhamo directly. Rakṣa (protect) is an urgent, heart-felt command offered with devotion. Mo reminds us she is the divine feminine protector — motherly yet wrathful.
bhyo bhyo rakṣa mo
“O Goddess, O Goddess — protect me!”
tṛuṁ bhyo
“Hear me, O Goddess!”
Tṛuṁ is the heart-seed of her power, the condensed essence of her ability to overcome all forces that harm the dharma. It vibrates at the point where compassion meets fierceness.
kha-kṛṣṇa-vastrā
“She whose garment is the black sky”
This phrase replaces the Tibetan kha la rak chen mo with pure Sanskrit. Kha (sky), kṛṣṇa (black/dark/unmanifest), vastrā (garment). She does not wear a black cloak — she wears space itself. Her robe is the night sky, infinite and empty, yet utterly present. Wherever you are, she is already there.
rakṣa mo
“Protect me, O Goddess”
The plea returns, strengthened by the vision of her sky-cloak. Renewed devotion.
avyāt tṛuṁ bhyo
“May she never depart — O Goddess of the heart-seed!”
A vow-seal. May the tṛuṁ in her heart and mine never fade. May she abide with me until enlightenment.
rulu rulu
Meaning “Hahaha! / The rattle of the reins / The thunder of her laughter”
The fierce, mocking laughter of Palden Lhamo as she tramples ego and fear.
hūṁ bhyo hūṁ
“So be it! O Goddess! So be it!”
Hūṁ is the vajra seed syllable of enlightened wrathful compassion. Hūṁ — it is done. Hūṁ — it is sealed.
📖 COMPLETE ENGLISH TRANSLATION (Flowing Summary)
“O Goddess, protect me. O Goddess, protect me. O Goddess, O Goddess, protect me.
Seed of power, O Goddess — She whose robe is the black sky — protect me, O Goddess.
May she never depart. Seed of power, O Goddess.
Hahaha! The laughter of space! Hūṁ — O Goddess — Hūṁ!”
🕯️ WHO IS PALDEN LHAMO?
Palden Lhamo means “Glorious Goddess” — the Tibetan name for Śrī Devī in Sanskrit.
She is the wrathful form of Tara, specifically the 11th Tara, who in her peaceful aspect is known as Vasudhara (the Goddess of Abundance).
In Chinese Buddhism, her peaceful form appears as Mahāśrī Devī (Great Goddess of Good Fortune), and her mantra is included among the Ten Small Mantras.
Though she appears wrathful, she is fully enlightened. Her fierce appearance is the compassionate expression of her power to:
- Cut through fear
- Dispel obstacles
- Protect all beings in the ocean of suffering
She is the one “who wears the black sky as her cloak” — in Sanskrit: kha-kṛṣṇa-vastrā, in Tibetan: kha la rak chen mo.
🙏 HOW TO PRACTICE
Who can chant this mantra?
Anyone as a Puja or Offering or supplication practice. As a Tara — albeit wrathful — she is an Enlightened Goddess. Anyone can make offerings and chant her mantra with her visualized in front of them.
How to visualize:
- Normally, she is not a Yidam for self-generation
- Begin with your own Yidam practice — for example, visualizing yourself as Tara or Avalokiteśvara
- Visualize Palden Lhamo appearing in front of you as you make offerings
- See her dark cloak expanding to cover the horizon — feel held, hidden, and guarded by her power
Offerings:
- Black tea is traditional and preferred
- Offer with devotion, visualizing it transforming into nectar
✨ CREDITS
3 Gems Band, written by Kongchok Namkha
May all beings find protection in the Glorious Goddess. May the ocean of suffering become the valley of peace.
TASHI DELEK 🙏
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Lee Kane
Author | Buddha Weekly
Lee Kane is the editor of Buddha Weekly, since 2007. His main focuses as a writer are mindfulness techniques, meditation, Dharma and Sutra commentaries, Buddhist practices, international perspectives and traditions, Vajrayana, Mahayana, Zen. He also covers various events.
Lee also contributes as a writer to various other online magazines and blogs.
