Dharani

thumb|upright=1.25|11th-century Buddhist Pancaraksa manuscript in Pāla script. It is a dharani genre text on spells, benefits and goddess rituals.

Dharanis (IAST: ), also known as (Skt.) vidyās and paritas or (Pal.) parittas, are lengthier Buddhist mantras that function as mnemonic codes, incantations, or recitations. Almost all were composed in Sanskrit, although there are some Pali dharanis. Believed to generate protection and the power to generate merit for the Buddhist practitioner, they constitute a major part of historic Buddhist literature. Most dharanis are in Sanskrit written in scripts such as Siddhaṃ as can be transliterated into Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Sinhala, Thai and other regional scripts. They are similar to and reflect a continuity of the Vedic chants and mantras.