VIDEO: Vajrapani Vajra Armor Mantra: Supreme Protection of Dorje Godrab Vajrakavaca from Padmasambhava

Why is the great Vajra Armor Mantra, the Kavica or armor of Padmasambhava, famous for helping remedy 404 types of diseases? In what way can it provide protection from violence, sicknesses, bad omens, curses, and bad luck, especially those caused by spirits and evil harm-doers? What is the actual mantra, and can anyone use it? We explain the mantra and its power and how to practice, and end with a short Vajrapani Vajrakavaca or Dorje Godrab mantra.

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Benefits of Vajra Armor

Vajra Armor Mantra is a powerful and profound practice of protection. In Sanskrit this is the Vajrakavaca mantra. In Tibetan it is called Dorje Go-drab. The sacred sounds of the mantra manifests an impenetrable armor of five colors of pure light around your body: white, red, blue, yellow and green. This is the light of the Five Buddha families. With this mantra, you are protected not only by Vajrapani, but by all Five Buddha Families.

Especially, in years of strife, natural disaster, disease, and war, the protection of Vajra Armor mantra is recommended by teachers of many lineages.

Guru Padmasambhava Lineage

This sacred mantra, linked to Guru Padmasambhava, is renowned for its remarkable ability to provide a shield against negative influences and potential health threats. When recited with sincere intention and deep focus, the Vajra Armor Mantra is believed to harness divine energy, encasing you in an unseen layer of protection.

Regular practitioners often experience a revitalizing effect on both the physical and subtle body. This can promote well-being, serenity and a feeling of safety. The mantra protects the chakras and vital channels of the inner body from harm.

Vajra Armor for Bodily Protection

Just as physical armor guards against physical threats, the Vajra Armor Mantra defends the body from spirit threats, which are, in Buddhist tradition, often responsible for both illness and bad luck or misfortune. It can also protect against the negative intentions and curses of others.

By tradition, it creates an energetic barrier, a spiritual safeguard that also harmonizes the mind and body. If you find yourself drawn to this practice, integrating the Vajra Armor Mantra into your daily routine can be transformative, strengthening your resilience against both seen and unseen adversities and adversaries.

Although the practice originates from Guru Rinpoche and from a terma discovery of great Treasure Master, Dorje Lingpa, it was originally transmitted as just the mantra, and became famous for bodily protection against all harm.

In various lineages, the same mantra has yidam practices or sadhanas with either a form of Vajrapani, or as blue wrathful Guru Dragtro, who rides a nine-headed sow. The mantra is also associated with red Guru Dragpo, the wrathful emanation of Padmasambhava. Whether we visualize with the yidam Vajrapani, or Blue Guru Dragtro, or Red Guru Dragpo, the mantra is the same, as are the powerful benefits.

Vajrapani Practice of Vajra Armor: No Permission Required

If we practice with the Great Bodhisattva Vajrapani, generally no permission is required, and for this reason, we cover this as a practice here. In the Sadhana, Lama Zopa writes:

“When doing the short practice, unless one has received the empowerment of this aspect of Vajrapani, one cannot visualize oneself as the deity. Instead, visualize the deity in the space in front of you, of one nature with all your Gurus.”

In other Terma lineages, the practices may instead visualize Guru Dragtro. This is a great wrathful yidam with fire and light flashing everywhere. He is laughing and pins our obstacles with a great and powerful purba. He rides a nine-headed sow, and is surrounded by an entourage including Hayagriva, Vajrapani and Manjushri. This practice normally requires empowerment.

For the simple practice here, as instructed by Lama Zopa, we visualize wrathful Vajrapani in front of us, as a merit practice, with ourselves making offerings. He appears as dark blue Vajrapani, very ferocious, holding a vajra and lasso in his hands, standing on a lotus, surrounded by blazing wisdom light and wisdom fire. If you have the empowerment of this form, you can self-generate as you were instructed.  If you are visualizing Guru Dragtro or Guru Dragpo, you visualize them instead, as instructed by your teacher.

Visualization for Protection

You visualize powerful five colors of light emanating from five main chakras of Vajrapani’s body, and entering the same five places on your body, surrounding you in a wall of protective light.

As you recite the mantra, five-colored light comes to your five places separately: white from the forehead, red from the throat, blue from the heart, yellow from the navel, and green from four finger widths below the navel.

You can visualize any negativities, illness, negative karmas and obstacles fleeing your body as the powerful five lights enter, seeing them as dark shadows or black sludge. Vajrapani’s power washes them away, then surrounds you with a protective armor of pure light.

Mantra

The mantra itself, three times is:

Hum vajra phat. Om padma shvavari phat. Nan par shik. Na ga nan.

Tayatha, sarva virita hana hana vajrena raksha raksha svaha.

Meaning of Mantra

The first part of the mantra recitation is a suplication to remove diseases and negativities. Everything after Tadyatha is the actual activity mantra:

The mantra itself is a medicine and also armor. If you feel threatened you can chant it. Otherwise, if you’re seeking protection from harm or sickness through the day, or because you are ill, chant 108 times, as recommended by Lama Zopa, then blow on the surface of a glass of water, imagining the blessing flowing into the water. The water transforms into nectar. Then drink the water and visualize the purified nectar filling your body, and especially your inner body and channels.

When you do 108 repetitions, mentally dedicate the merit of 87 repetitions for purifying and protecting or armoring yourself, and the other 21 for the benefit of all sentient beings.

The shortest practice would be to Take Refuge in the Three Jewels, chant the mantra 108 times, blow on water, drink it at least three times a day, and dedicate the merit for the benefit of all sentient beings. A more formal practice, from Lama Zopa Rinpoche follows. If you do not have empowerment visualize Vajrapani in front of you. Recite along with us now.

I go for refuge until I am enlightened To the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly By my practice of giving and the other perfections, May I become a Buddha to benefit all sentient beings.

In front of me, arises glorious dark blue Vajrapani, the power of all the Buddhas, very ferocious, holding a vajra and lasso in his hands.

With his holy feet spread widely on a lotus and sun disc, he stands amidst a blazing transcendental wisdom fire. Now we accumulate merit with the 7 limbs of practice.

Vajrapani Vajra Armor Practice Recitation

 I Prostrate and Take Refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, and to Vajrapani, until I attain Enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings.

I offer real and imagined flowers, incense, butter lamps, scent, food, music, and so forth. Assembly of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, please accept them.

I confess all my faults from beginningless time until now, committed with a mind under the sway of the afflictions, such as the ten nonvirtues.

I rejoice in whatever merit has been accumulated in the three times by Hearers, Solitary Realizers, Bodhisattvas, ordinary beings, and others.

Please turn the wheel of the Dharma according to the intentions and mental dispositions of sentient beings.

Until Samsara is emptied, please do not pass into Nirvana but look with compassion upon sentient beings that are drowning in the ocean of suffering.

May whatever merit I have accumulated become the cause of Enlightenment for the benefit of sentient beings.

May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness. May they be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. May they not be separated from the sublime happiness that is free from suffering. May they rest in the great equanimity that is free of the duality of attachment and aversion.

Thus we gather the accumulations through prostrating, offering, confessing, and generating the two types of bodhichitta of the preliminaries.

Now I accumulate wisdom, compassion and activity with the Vajra Armor mantra, visualizing the five colors of lights emanating from Vajrapani’s five chakras: white from the forehead; red from the throat; blue from the heart; yellow from the navel; and green from four finger widths below the navel. The light enters my own forehead, throat, heart, navel and lower chakra, blessing and protecting me.

Hum vajra phat. Om padma shvavari phat. Nan par shik. Na ga nan. Tayatha, sarva virita hana hana vajrena raksha raksha svaha.

By the power of praising and supplicating you, wherever I and others reside may illness, obstructive spirits, poverty, and fighting be pacified, and may the Dharma and auspiciousness flourish.

Vajrapani, Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and the Sangha, please heed me. From the great, beginningless Samsara, I and all beings have performed the virtue of cultivating generosity and ethical discipline and have rejoiced in the expression of these deeds. By the virtue practiced thus, with the mind of holy generosity, and for the sake of our parents, teachers, masters, and all sentient beings, may we achieve Buddhahood. By the merit arisen from this virtue, may we acquire all the perfections such as life, merit, enjoyment, a retinue, and virtuous practice, and may all obstacles be pacified without exception.

May I attain Enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings.

We dedicate the merit of this presentation to the benefit of all sentient beings.