Cundi (Buddhism)
Cundi (Buddhism)
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Cundi (Buddhism)

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Cundi (Buddhism)

Cundī (Sanskrit, IPA: [t͜ɕʊndiː]; Chinese: 準提; pinyin: Zhǔntí; Japanese: Juntei; Tibetan: ལྷ་མོ་སྐུལ་བྱེད་མ།, Wylie: lha mo skul byed ma, THL: lha-mo kül-jé-ma) or Cundā (IPA: [t͜ɕʊndaː]; Ch: 羅馬化) is a female Indian Buddhist deity who remains popular in East Asian Buddhism. In Chinese Buddhism, she is associated with the practice of the well known Cundī dharani, which is performed along with a specific mudra (hand gesture), as well as the use of a circular mirror. She is considered to be able to purify negative karma, provide protection, support spiritual practice which allows one to quickly attain Buddhahood.

This deity is also called by various other names and epithets, including Cundavajrī, Saptakoṭi Buddha-bhagavatī ("The Blessed Buddha of the Seventy Million", 七俱胝佛母), "Zhunti Buddha Mother" (準提佛母, Zhǔntí Fómǔ) in Chinese and Saptakoṭibuddhamatṛ ("Mother of Seventy Million Buddhas", though this Sanskrit reconstruction of 佛母 is speculative).

Some depictions of Cundī share many iconographic and symbolic elements with another female Buddhist deity, Prajñāpāramitā Devi. As such, some images of these goddesses are difficult to identify.

In Tibetan Buddhism she is known by the name Lhamo Cunda, Chunde or Cundi ('Lhamo' in Tibetan is 'Devi' in Sanskrit, a term of veneration meaning 'goddess').

The name Cundī (along with other variations like Cundā, Cundrā, Candrā, Caṇḍā, and Cuṇḍrā) refers to an Indian Mahayana Buddhist deity found in numerous Indian sources such as the Śikṣāsamuccaya, Cundādhāriṇī Sūtra, Sādhanamālā, Niṣpannayogāvalī, Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa and the Guhyasamāja. Conze notes that the Tibetan terms for the goddess goes back to the Sanskrit: Cundī, Caṇḍī (a name for hindu goddess Durga), Cunda, Chundi, or Cuṇṭi. Benoytosh Bhattacharyya argues the correct Sanskrit name should be Cundā.

The deity's mantra, "oṃ cale cule cunde svāhā," seems to indicate the original name being Cundā. Peter Alan Roberts comments, in a note to a translation of the Tibetan version of the Kāraṇḍavyūhasūtra: "Cale cule cunde are the vocative forms of Calā, Culā, and Cundā, three variations of her name. Cundi is the vocative for Cundī."

The meaning of these names is not always clear. The name Cundī connotes a low caste woman, prostitute or other low class female position (such as a madam/procuress). Robert Gimello and the Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism claim that the deity may have emerged as a local yakshini that became important in Indian Buddhism in around the 8th century.

According to The Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary, the word Cuṇḍā in Sanskrit can also mean a small well or reservoir.

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