The Tantra of Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa
Signs of Death
Toh 431
Degé Kangyur, vol. 80 (rgyud ’bum, nga), folios 304.b–343.a
- Trakpa Gyaltsen
Imprint
Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
First published 2016
Current version v 2.28.21 (2024)
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Table of Contents
Summary
Written around the tenth or the eleventh century ᴄᴇ, in the late Mantrayāna period, The Tantra of Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa represents the flowering of the Yoginītantra genre. The tantra offers instructions on how to attain the wisdom state of Buddha Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa through the practice of the four joys. The tantra covers a range of practices and philosophical perspectives of late tantric Buddhism, including the development stage, the completion stage, the use of mantras, and a number of magical rites and rituals. The text is quite unique with its tribute to and apotheosis of women and, in this regard, probably has few parallels anywhere else in world literature. It is written in the spirit of great sincerity and devotion, and it is this very spirit that mitigates, and at the same time empowers, the text’s stark imagery and sometimes shocking practices. This text certainly calls for an open mind.
Acknowledgments
This translation was produced by Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the supervision of Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche. Wiesiek Mical translated the text from the Sanskrit manuscripts, prepared the Sanskrit edition, and wrote the introduction. The translation was then compared against the Tibetan translation found in the Degé Kangyur by James Gentry, and edited by Andreas Doctor.
The Dharmachakra Translation Committee is also indebted to Professor Harunaga Isaacson and Dr. Péter Szántó for their help in obtaining facsimiles of some of the manuscripts, and to Professor Isaacson for making available some of his personal materials.
This translation has been completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
Text Body
Signs of Death
Then the lord said:
“If one feels a prickling sensation in one’s navel when pricking the soles of the feet, death will come within three days. If one feels a prickling sensation in one’s eyes when pricking the soles of the feet, it will come within three months. If one feels a prickling sensation in one’s nose when pricking the soles of one’s feet, it will come within three months.
“If one sneezes at the time of bowel evacuation, it will come within a year. If one feels a prickly sensation in the hollow of one’s navel, it will come within five years. If one is not able to see the tip of one’s tongue, it will come within three days. If one feels a prickly sensation at the tips of one’s earlobes, it will come within four months; between one’s eyebrows, it will come within a day. If one sneezes during an orgasm or just after, one will die within a month. Similarly if one feels a prickly sensation in all four of the smallest fingers and toes, one will die within a month.
“Also if one feels a prickly sensation in one’s chest and throat, one will die within three fortnights; [F.341.b] in the soles of the feet or hands and the top of the head, one will die within three days. If during an orgasm, one hears the sound of a bell in one’s ears, one will die within three months. If one feels separate prickles at the root of one’s ears, between the eyebrows, and at the front of one’s head, one will die after one day. If one feels a prickling sensation from one’s toes to the navel, one will die within six months.
“If the flesh at the tip of the nose starts to sag, one will die within seven days. If the flesh of one’s cheeks starts to crack, one will die within five months. If no eye discharge can be seen, one will die within five months. If the nostrils become crooked, one will die within seven days. If one’s chest becomes hollow, one will die within a fortnight. If a line appears across the center of one’s tongue, one will die within two days. If no redness is seen in the fingernails, one will die within six months. If one’s teeth dry up, one will die within six months.
“If one cannot see the star Arundhatī, one will die within six months. If one sees, in the cold season and so on, a distorted image with holes everywhere, one will die within a fortnight. If one feels cold after uttering the sound haḥ, and hot after uttering the sound phūḥ, one will die within ten days. If no line can be seen across the base of the ring finger, one will die within eighteen days. If one cannot hear sounds during the rubbing of one’s body, and if one’s entire body feels cold, one will die within ten days. If one’s chest and feet dry up as soon as one has finished bathing, one will die within two months. If one’s body becomes malodorous, one will die within three days.
“If one’s body becomes paralyzed, one will die within one day. If the stream of one’s urine swirls counterclockwise, one will die within six months. If one’s navel should become inverted, one will die within five days. If one cannot see the tip of one’s nose, one will die within five months. If one doesn’t see flashes of light when pressing one’s eyes with one’s fingers, one will die within one hundred days. If one cannot hear sounds in one’s ears, one will die within one year. If one cannot see one’s own reflection in another person’s eyes, one will die within a fortnight.
“Knowing these signs, one should contemplate deceiving death and think of the hereafter.”
This concludes the chapter on the signs of death, twenty-third in the glorious Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa tantra called “The Sole Hero.”
Bibliography
Tibetan Manuscript of the Root Text
dpal gtum po khro bo chen po’i rgyud kyi rgyal po dpa’ bo gcig pa zhes bya ba. Toh 431, Degé Kangyur, vol. 80 (rgyud ’bum, nga), folios 304b–343a.
Sanskrit Manuscripts of the Root Text
Ekallavīranāmacaṇḍamahāroṣaṇatantram. London: Royal Asiatic Society. Ref.: Cowell 46/31.
Ekallavīranāmacaṇḍamahāroṣaṇatantram. Kathmandu: National Archives of Nepal. Ref.: NGMPP 3/687, Reel no. A 994/4.
Ekallavīratantram. Kathmandu: National Archives of Nepal. Ref.: NGMPP 5/170, Reel no. B 31/11.
Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇatantram. Göttingen: University of Göttingen Library. Ref.: Bandurski Xc 14/43–45.
Manuscripts of the Commentary
Mahāsukhavajra, Padmāvatīnāmā Pañjikā. Kathmandu: National Archives of Nepal. Ref.: NGMPP 3/502, Reel no. B 31/7.
Secondary Sources
de la Vallée Poussin, Louis. “The Buddhist ‘Wheel of Life’ from a New Source.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (New Series) 29, no. 3 (July 1897), pp 463–70.
Dharmachakra Translation Committee. The Tantra of Siddhaikavīra (Toh 544). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2016.
Gäng, Peter, trans. Das Tantra des Grausig-Groß-Schreklichen. Berlin: Stechapfel, 1981.
George, Christopher S., trans. and ed. The Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa Tantra, Chapters I–VIII: A Critical Edition and English Translation. New Haven, CT: American Oriental Society, 1974.
Isaacson, Harunaga (2010). The Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇatantra. Handout. Kathmandu: Rangjung Yeshe Institute, February 17, 2010.
——— (2006). Reflections on the Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇatantra. Handout. Kathmandu: Nepal Research Centre, August 25, 2006.
Snellgrove, David. Hevajra Tantra: A Critical Study. London: Oxford University Press, 1959.