The outer edge of the tsa tsas bears the opening lines of the mantra of the Buddhist creed. The text is written in Tibetan script but is linguistically based on the ancient Indian language Sanskrit. The characters begin at the bottom left and extend to Vajrapani’s forearm. The text is clearly legible and can be unambiguously identified as this mantra.
The rest of the text [starting to the left, above the »Dorje«] is no longer part of this mantra.
The following comparison of the photo with the clearer Tibetan letters illustrates this:
The transliteration of
ཡེ་དྷརྨ་ཧེ་ཏུ་པྲ་བྷ་ཝ། is: »ye dharma hetu prabhava«
The first letter in this mantra, ཨོཾ [»Oh«] is not part of the mantra itself. It is common practice to place this symbol at the beginning of mantras.
A bit more precisely, according to the Tibetan pronunciation
- ཡེ་ → ye
- དྷརྨ་ → dharma
- ཧེ་ཏུ་ → hetu
- པྲ་བྷ་ཝ་ → prabhava
A literal translation reads: »Of all things [dharmas] that arise from causes, the Tathāgata has taught their causes; and the Great Ascetic has also taught their cessation«.
Another, more understandable translation: »All phenomena arise from causes. The Buddha has explained these causes and likewise the path to their cessation. This is the teaching of the Great Ascetic«.
This text is also frequently found in the literature in the ancient Indian language Sanskrit:
»Ye dharmā hetu-prabhavā hetuṃ teṣāṃ tathāgato hy avadat, teṣāṃ ca yo nirodha evaṃ vādī mahāśramaṇaḥ«
This short Sanskrit mantra summarizes the core teaching of Buddhism:
- Ye dharmā - all phenomena, appearances, or things
- hetu-prabhavā - arise due to causes and conditions
- hetuṃ teṣāṃ - these causes
- tathāgato hy avadat - the Buddha [the Tathāgata] taught
- teṣāṃ ca yo nirodhaḥ - and also their cessation or end
- evaṃ vādī mahāśramaṇaḥ - thus teaches the Great Ascetic [the Buddha]
This text is one of the best-known and most significant in Buddhism and is known as the »Pratītyasamutpāda-gāthā« [Verses on Dependent Origination] or the Mantra of Dependent Origination. It summarizes the very essence of the Buddha’s teachings on cause, effect, and liberation. Nothing exists independently or of its own accord. Everything arises through causes and conditions - and when these causes cease, their effects also cease.
That is why this verse is frequently found on Buddhist stupas, relics, amulets, tsa tsas, and Buddha statues in Tibet, Nepal, India, and many other Buddhist countries.