다라니를 탑에 봉안하는 법사리신앙은 인도에서 기원을 찾을 수 있지만, 동아시아에서 본격적으로 발전하는 것은 8세기 통일신라시대부터이다. 이후 각종 다라니들은 법사리로서 혹은 불교 의례용으로 탑내에 봉안되었다. 여기에서는 이러한 다라니의 탑내 봉안의 의미와 변천과정을 8-11세기경의 동아시아, 특히 한국과 중국을 중심으로 고찰하였다.Until now, the dhāraṇīs found in East Asian stūpas have been generally regarded as dharma relics, which are thought to have the same power and meaning as the Buddha’s relic. However, the question arises whether all the dhāraṇīs found in stūpa deposits can be identified as dharma relics. This essay challenges the prevalent assumption that all of them were dharma relics. Some of the dhāraṇīs found in stūpa deposits can be regarded as dharma relics, but after the eleventh century, most of the dhāraṇīs in stūpas were deposited as ritual materials for chanting rites. Moreover, some dhāraṇīs functioned simultaneously both as dharma relics and as ritual objects. Thus, in this paper, I have examined the changing role and function of dhāraṇīs in stūpa deposits in relation to the ritual of relic veneration in eighth to eleventh-century East Asia. The role of dhāraṇīs in stūpa deposits has changed from that of dharma relics, originally equivalent to the Buddha’s bodily relic, to that of mere ritual votive objects for the Buddha’s bodily relic with which they were enshrined together during the tenth and eleventh centuries in East Asia. This implies that East Asian Buddhists in the eleventh century considered the Buddha’s bodily relic more valuable and sacred than the dharma relic or dhāraṇī sūtras despite the latter's increase in quantity. From this view, the dhāraṇīs in stūpa deposits after the eleventh century in East Asia should be regarded as the subordinate to the Buddha’s relic veneration.