Also known as the Mother who Loves Her Children. An ancient Rakshasas (a female Rakshasa {रा॑क्षस} ) who for millenia would follow women from the moment of conception until birth, then bloodily devour the infant, before returning home to her brood of five-hundred infant demons. Each day she would leave her realm and wander the earth, eating infants until nightfall when she would return home to her own family. One day Sakyamuni Buddha hid her children while she ate, and upon her return she was terrified and saddened by the loss of her children. The Buddha then returned them to her, and she converted to Buddhism at that very moment. After her conversion she became a protector of the Teachings, and of children, who she had for so long victimized, becoming a protective spirit invoked by mothers.
In the Lotus Sutra the Joyful Mother and her children, along with her entourage of ten lesser Rakshasas, in gratitude for reciving the excellent Sutra recite the following Dharani (spell or incantation).
The Dharani of the Joyful Mother:Iti me, iti me, iti me, iti me, iti me; ni me,ni me,ni me,ni me,ni me,ni me; ruhe ruhe ruhe ruhe ruhe; stuhe, stuhe, stuhe, stuhe, stuhe, svaha.