The dhāraṇī proper contains a number of titles associated with the Hindu gods Vishnu (e.g. Hare, Narasiṃha-mukha , gadā- / cakra- / padma-hastā 'the wielder of the mace / discus / lotus') and Shiva (e.g. Nīlakaṇṭha 'the blue-necked one', Śaṅkara, kṛṣṇa-sarpopavita 'the one who has a black serpent as a sacred thread'), suggesting that Nīlakaṇṭha was in origin Harihara - a fusion of Vishnu (Hari) and Shiva (Hara) - assimilated into Buddhism. This is more explicit in the longer version of the dhāraṇī, where Nīlakaṇṭha is invoked with more names and epithets associated with the two gods such as Tripūra-dahaneśvara 'the Lord (Īśvara) who destroyed / burnt down Tripūra' (Shiva) or Padmanābha 'lotus-naveled' (Vishnu), as well as a short description of the iconography of Nīlakaṇṭha Avalokiteśvara in Amoghavajra's version (T. 1111), which combines elements from depictions of Shiva and Vishnu.