The Glorious Sovereign Tantra of Mahākāla
Chapter 20: Killing Rites
Toh 440
Degé Kangyur, vol. 81 (rgyud ’bum, ca), folios 45.b–86.a
Imprint
First published 2025
Current version v 1.0.2 (2025)
Generated by 84000 Reading Room v2.26.1
84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha is a global non-profit initiative to translate all the Buddha’s words into modern languages, and to make them available to everyone.
Warning: Readers are reminded that according to Vajrayāna Buddhist tradition there are restrictions and commitments concerning tantra. Practitioners who are not sure if they should read this translation are advised to consult the authorities of their lineage. The responsibility for reading this text or sharing it with others who may or may not fulfill the requirements lies in the hands of readers.
This work is provided under the protection of a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution - Non-commercial - No-derivatives) 3.0 copyright. It may be copied or printed for fair use, but only with full attribution, and not for commercial advantage or personal compensation. For full details, see the Creative Commons license.
Table of Contents
Summary
The Glorious Sovereign Tantra of Mahākāla consists of a dialogue between Mahākāla and the Goddess on a broad range of topics including the consecration rites, deity generation practices, and rituals for attaining various siddhis associated with the deity Mahākāla. The opening section of the tantra focuses on topics related to the Unexcelled Yoga Tantras (yoganiruttaratantra, bla na med pa’i rgyud kyi rnal ’byor), such as how one generates the deity, how the consecration rites are performed, and how the advanced practitioner manipulates the vital winds of the subtle body to attain perfect spontaneous union as Mahākāla. The conversation then turns to ritual instructions for the attainment of siddhis as it integrates mastery of the two-stage union practices associated with the Unexcelled Yoga Tantras with those rituals more commonly associated with the Action Tantras (kriyātantra, bya ba’i rgyud) and Conduct Tantras (caryātantra, spyod pa’i rgyud).
Acknowledgements
This publication was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The text was translated, edited, and introduced by the 84000 translation team. Adam Krug produced the translation and wrote the introduction. Ryan Damron edited the translation and the introduction, and Laura Goetz copyedited the text.
We would like to thank Paul Hackett for providing copies of the two Sanskrit witnesses of the Mahākālatantrarāja held at the University of Tokyo and Péter-Dániel Szántó for providing a copy of the twelfth-century Sanskrit manuscript discovered in Tibet by Rāhul Sāṅkṛtyāyana and for pointing us in the right direction to access additional Sanskrit witnesses located in the Royal Asiatic Society’s Hodgson Collection and the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Thank you also to Wiesiek Mical for kindly sharing his list of materia medica from his translation of The Tantra of Caṇḍamahāroṣana (Toh 431).1
The generous donation that made the translation work on this text possible was dedicated to DJKR, HH Dodrupchen IV, Khenchen Pema Sherab, Choje Togdan, Gyalse Tulku, Dagpo Tulku, Dorje Bhum, Khenpo Hungtram, and Gakar Tulku by the sponsors Herlintje, Lina Herlintje, Hadi Widjaja, Ocean, Asia, Star and Gold Widjaja.
Text Body
Chapter 20: Killing Rites
“I will explain more about this. One should meditate on Mahābhairava for the purposes of ensuring happiness in the world once evildoers are killed. He has one face, is black in color, and has a large protruding belly. He holds a hooked knife and skull, is mounted on a buffalo, and is ornamented with the eight nāgas. He bears his fangs, his blazing hair flows upward, and he is extremely terrifying. He has the features of a sixteen-year-old, his penis is erect, and he is naked, rotund, and short. Simply imagining the deity with these qualities radiating from the seed syllable hūṃ will destroy and disrupt any enemy and cause their head to burst. [F.74.a]
“One should perform the worship rite by reciting the mantra oṁ māṃ hūṃ [insert name] sruṁ phaṭ ten thousand times. Draw the deity on a cloth stained by menses on the auspicious great eighth day of the waning moon,275 and visualize placing the five ambrosias in its mouth.
“The image should then be consecrated as follows. On the evening of the fourteenth lunar day, twenty-one yogins and five yoginīs who have been purified with samaya fluid and are committed to protecting the samaya should recite the mantra one thousand times. After the ācārya recites the mantra seven times, an offering of one hundred eight lotus flowers is made and a triangular maṇḍala constructed. It should be encircled by a garland of vajras, furnished with a sword and hooked knife, and washed with blood. Then Mahābhairava should be consecrated by being struck with the five ambrosias while reciting the mantra oṃ būṃ āḥ bhairava svāhā.276 That night everyone should drink blood and alcohol and eat all the food until it is finished. After each of them has offered six gold pieces, they will be blessed by Mahābhairava and should sing and dance.
“When the time comes to perform a killing rite, one should display a cloth image on the eighth or fourteenth day of the lunar month and apply blood, alcohol, and meat. One should supply the enemy’s name, recite the mantra one hundred eight times, and step on image’s neck at night. This will surely cause the target to contract a severe fever and inflict them with excruciating intestinal disease. In their dreams, Mahābhairava will appear to them and say, ‘Beg for forgiveness, because you have shown contempt to bodhisattvas!’ If they then beg for forgiveness, their illness will be immediately and completely cured.
“The yogin should perform a bali offering with the five meats and so forth to the cloth image every day while reciting the mantra oṁ maḥ hūṁ kha kha khāhi khāhi māra māra sarvaśatravaḥ mahābhairava prayaccha tu svāhā.277 The target will develop a severe headache, a fever, and an intestinal disease. [F.74.b]
“Then, after the first day of the month or on the eleventh,278 one should smear the image279 with mahākāla fruit followed by a powder made from white mustard, kakali seeds, black pepper, dried ginger, vajra milk, and the seven thorns.280 Then, if it is placed in a pile of cow dung, the target will die from a complicated illness. If it is placed in a human skull, the target281 will die from an intestinal disease. If it is placed in urine, the target will die from a severe headache. If it is placed in water, the target will die from a severe fever. If it is hidden in a cattle pen, the target will go blind. If it is left out in the sun, the target’s skin will crack. If it is placed in a fire, the target’s head will burst open. It is extremely rare to encounter this procedure in Jambudvīpa.
“For those yogins who pursue such extraordinary rites, it should be performed after first completing the pacification rite. One should take some salt, soil from a charnel ground, Indian sandalwood, the thorns from emetic nut, and varaya fruits282 and place them in buffalo milk. Then the mantra should be recited seven times during the lunar mansion Rohiṇī. The target will die. If one immediately submerges the mixture in honey, the target will be revived. This procedure is miraculous.
“On the eighth or fourteenth day of the waning moon, one should mix some white mustard and cow meat, fashion it into an effigy that looks like the target, and incant it with the mantra one thousand times. If it is pricked with the thorns of Indian sandalwood, the target will surely die within seven days. There will be nothing that anyone can do after their life force is gone. A person born during the lunar conjunction Bhadrapada will be burned, and a person born during the lunar conjunction Kṛttikā will surely die.
“On a Tuesday one should make an effigy out of feces, Indian mustard, and radish and coat it with cow’s blood. Then one should place feces in its mouth while reciting the mantra seven times, and the target will immediately contract mahendra fever and die after six months. If it is rinsed with goat’s milk, the target’s health will be restored.
“On a Sunday one should draw Āditya on a piece of birch bark using lac liquid and feces. Hūṁ should be drawn on his forehead, [F.75.a] khaṁ on his eyes, tha on his two breasts, hṛīḥ at his navel, the target’s name on his stomach, and the syllable hā on both his thighs. When the image is roasted over a fire made from cluster fig,283 the target will first contract a fever and then surely die. If the image is rinsed with vajra water, the affliction will be cured.
“On a Monday one should draw Soma with yellow orpiment on rattleweed leaf. Hūṁ should be drawn on his tongue, kṣaḥ on his forehead, and the target’s name should be inserted in the mantra on his stomach. If this drawing is placed in a boar’s tusk284 and then placed in water, the target will contract leprosy.
“On a Tuesday one should draw Maṅgala on birch bark using cow bezoar and blood. Khaṁ should be drawn on the crown of his head, haṁ on his forehead, ra on his eyes, the target’s name on his stomach, and hrīḥ on both his feet. When this drawing is roasted in an iron kettle, the target will dry out and die. If it is rinsed with milk, they will be revived.
“On a Wednesday one should draw Budha on a stone using red ocher. Śaṁ should be drawn on his ears, haṁ on his forehead, muṁ on his nose, jaṁ on his throat, the target’s name on his stomach, vaṁ and jaṁ on both his thighs, and hūṁ on his navel. All should be the color of fire. If the drawing is left in the sun, the target will dry out, contract an unbearable fever, vomit blood, and die. If one follows the same procedure as above, the target will be cured.
“On a Thursday one should draw Bṛhaspati on a flower petal using blood. Kṣaṁ should be drawn on his forehead, hūṁ on his neck, and the target’s name on his stomach. When the drawing is placed in a pot, the target’s stomach will swell, and they will die. If the pot is broken, they will be cured.
“On a Friday one should draw Śukra with semen on white birch. Hūṁ should be drawn on his mouth, he on his forehead, and ṭaṁ at his heart. When the drawing is covered and hit with a hammer, the target will become hunchbacked. [F.75.b]
“On a Saturday one should draw Śaniścara on the leaf of giant milkweed. Laṁ should be drawn on his forehead, daṁ on his lips, maṁ on his two hands, the target’s name on his heart, and saḥ on his navel. Then, if the drawing is roasted in a fire, the target will contract a lung disease.
“On the eleventh day one should draw a monkey on a banyan leaf using blood. One should then draw vaṃ on both its hands, place the drawing in a cobra saffron tree, and slap it with their hand. This will sow perpetual discord.
“The mantra for all these rites is oṃ māṃ hūṃ [insert name] sruṃ phat. Recite this out loud, and the rite is certain to work. One should understand that all these rites will inflict pain.
“On the eighth day of the waning moon, one should draw Rāhu with lac and yellow orpiment on a piece of birch bark. Raṃ should be drawn three times on the ground,285 then hṛiḥ on his forehead and the target’s name on his head. When the drawing is roasted in a fire, the target will develop a headache and suffer from mahendra fever for three weeks. When it is placed in water, they will be cured.
“One should draw a lion on a giant milkweed leaf using yellow orpiment. Daṃ should be drawn four times on its teeth,286 and a hūṃ followed by the target’s name and the mantra on its tongue. When the drawing is placed in cow urine, the target will develop pustules. When rinsed with milk, they will be cured.
“One should draw Vāsuki with rhinoceros blood on a banyan leaf. The mantra should be drawn on his stomach, hliṃ on his tongue, and jaṃ along with the target’s name on his head. When the drawing is placed in a river, the target will be killed by a snake. Someone who wants to heal them should hold it aloft with their hand.
“On the fifth or thirteenth day, one should use semen to draw an old hunchbacked man on a banyan leaf. Trāṃ should be written on his chest and the target’s name at his heart. When it is placed in water, the target will certainly develop a hunched back.
“The instructions provided by the Venerable One make success easy. Someone who follows them will be successful in a manner that corresponds to what was practiced. Why is the main subject matter the killing of corporeal beings? So that practitioners who oppose the buddhas are more rarely encountered. [F.76.a]
“Moreover, a yogin who continually consumes the five ambrosias and sulfur,287 which challenge those who have adopted false suffering and who fondle breasts without knowing their own purpose, should proclaim ha hūṁ as he moves about, and he should maintain constant conviction that he is a bodhisattva who has brought an end to transmigration.”288
This is chapter twenty in The Glorious Sovereign Tantra of Mahākāla, “Killing Rites.”
Colophon
This work was translated, edited, and finalized by the scholar Samantaśrī and the great editor and translator Ra Gelong Chörap, at the request of the at the request of the vagabond Pha in the miraculous great temple Ramoché in Lhasa.349
Abbreviations
| C | Choné (co ne) |
|---|---|
| D | Degé (sde dge bka’ ’gyur) |
| F | Phukdrak (phug brag) |
| H | Lhasa (lha sa / zhol) |
| J | Lithang (li thang) |
| K | Kanxi (kang shi) |
| N | Narthang (snar thang) |
| S | Stok Palace (stog pho ’brang) |
| Y | Yongle (g.yung lo) |
| BnFS 84 | Bibliothèque national de France (Mahākālatantrarāja) |
|---|---|
| BnFS 85 | Bibliothèque national de France (Mahākālatantrarāja) |
| ND 44-5 | NGMCP D 44-5 (Mahākālatantrarāja) |
| RASH 47 | RAS Hodgson (Mahākālatantra) |
| RST15 | Sāṅkṛtyāyana collection (Patna); Bandurski Xc 14/15 (Mahākālatantrarāja) |
| UTM 286 | Tokyo No. 286 (Mahākālatantrarāja) |
| UTM 288 | Tokyo No. 288 (Mahākālatantrarāja) |
Bibliography
Tibetan Sources
nag po chen po zhes bya ba’i rgyud kyi rgyal po (Mahākālatantrarājanāma). Toh 440, Degé Kangyur vol. 81 (rgyud ’bum, ca), folios 45.b–86.a.
nag po chen po zhes bya ba’i rgyud kyi rgyal po. bka’ ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House) 2006–9, vol. 81 (rgyud ’bum, ca), pp. 154–277.
nag po chen po zhes bya ba’i rgyud kyi rgyal po. Phukdrak Kangyur vol. 119 (rgyud ’bum, zha), folios 1.b–61.a.
nag po chen po zhes bya ba’i rgyud kyi rgyal po. Stok Palace Kangyur vol. 95 (rgyud ’bum, nga), folios 439.b–496.b.
kye’i rdo rje’i rgyud (Hevajratantra). Toh 417–18, Degé Kangyur vol. 80 (rgyud ’bum, ka), folios 1.a–30.a.
mgon po gsang ba dngos grub byung ba’i rgyud (Vajramahākālakrodhanātharahasyasiddhibhavatantra). Toh 416, Degé Kangyur vol. 79 (rgyud, ga), folios 263.b–292.a.
nag po chen po’i gzungs rims nad thams cad las thar byed. Toh 669, Degé Kangyur vol. 91 (rgyud ’bum, ba), folio 202.a. English translation The Mahākāla Dhāraṇī: A Cure for All Diseases and Illnesses 2023.
dpal dgon po nag po zhes bya ba’i gzungs (Śrīmahākālanāmadhāraṇī). Toh 668, Degé Kangyur vol. 91 (rgyud ’bum, ba), folios 201.b–202.a. English translation The Dhāraṇī of Glorious Mahākāla 2023.
dpal nag po chen po’i rgyud (Śrīmahākālatantra). Toh 667, Degé Kangyur vol. 91 (rgyud ’bum, ba), folios 199.a–201.b. English translation The Tantra of Glorious Mahākāla 2023.
Aśvaghoṣa. dpal nag po chen po’i rgyud drag po’i brtag pa dur khrod chen po zhes bya ba’i ’grel pa (*Śrīmahākālatantrarudrakalpamahāśmaśānanāmaṭīkā). Toh 1753, Degé Tengyur vol. 28 (rgyud ’grel, sha), folios 158.a–214.a.
Sanskrit Sources
Mahākālatantra. B: Xc 14/15 (S: 81, Ṅor XI.6). c. 1148.
Mahākālatantrarāja. NGMPP D 44/5. Kathmandu: Nepal National Archive. c. 1633.
Mahākālatantrarāja. UT M 286. General Library, University of Tokyo.
Mahākālatantrarāja. UT M 288. General Library, University of Tokyo.
Mahākālatantrarāja. RAS Hodgson MS 47. Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. c. 1800.
Mahākālatantrarāja. BnF S 84. Bibliothèque nationale de France. Départment des Manuscrits. Sanskrit 84. c. 1829.
Mahākālatantrarāja. BnF S 85. Bibliothèque nationale de France. Départment des Manuscrits. Sanskrit 85.
Secondary Sources
84000. The Dhāraṇī of Glorious Mahākāla (Śrīmahākālanāmadhāraṇī, dpal dgon po nag po zhes bya ba’i gzungs). Translated by the Dharmachakra translation committee. Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2023.
84000. The Mahākāla Dhāraṇī: A Cure for All Diseases and Illnesses (nag po chen po’i gzungs rims nad thams cad las thar byed). Translated by the Dharmachakra translation committee. Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2023.
84000. The Tantra of Glorious Mahākāla (Śrīmahākālatantra, dpal nag po chen po’i rgyud). Translated by the Dharmachakra translation committee. Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2023.
Bandurski, Frank. “Übersicht über die Göttinger Sammlungen der con Rāhula Sāṅkṛtyāyana in Tibet aufgefundenen buddhistischen Sanskrit-Texte (Funde buddhistischer Sanskrit-Handschriften, III).” In Sanskrit-Wörterbuch der buddhistichen Texte aus den Turfan-Funden: Undersuchungen zur buddhistischen Literature. Göttingen: Vandenhoek & Ruprecht, 1994.
Klebanov, Andrey. “The *Nepalese Version of the Suśrutasaṃhitā and Its Interrelation with Buddhism and the Buddhists.” MA thesis, Hamburg University, 2011.
Meulenbeld, G. Jan (1999). A History of Indian Medical Literature. 5 vols. Groningen: Egbert Forsten, 1999.
Meulenbeld Sanskrit Names of Plants. Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries. Based on Meulenbeld, G. J. The Mādhavanidāna and Its Chief Commentary: Chapters 1–10. Leiden: Brill, 1974. Accessed October 29, 2024.
Monier-Williams, Monier. A Sanskrit–English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2005.
Orofino, Giacomella. “Divination with Mirrors: Observations on a Simile Found in the Kālacakra Literature.” Tibetan Studies 2 (1994): 612–28.
Pandanus Database of Indic Plants. Accessed October 29, 2024.
Sanderson, Alexis. “The Śaiva Age.” In Genesis and Development of Tantrism, edited by Shingo Einoo, 41–350. Tokyo: Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo, 2009.
Sāṅkṛtyāyana, Rāhul (1935). “Sanskrit Palm-Leaf Mss. in Tibet.” Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society 21, no. 1 (1935): 21–43.
Sāṅkṛtyāyana, Rāhul (1937). “Second Search of Sanskrit Palm-Leaf Mss. in Tibet.” Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society 23, no. 1 (1937): 1–57.
Singh, Thakur Balwant, and K. C. Chunekar. Glossary of Vegetable Drugs in Brhattrayī. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Amarabharati Prakashan, 1999.
Smith, Frederick M. The Self Possessed: Deity and Spirit Possession in South Asian Literature and Civilization. New York: Columbia University Publications, 2006.
Stablein, William George. “The Mahākālatantra: A Theory of Ritual Blessings and Tantric Medicine.” PhD diss., Columbia University, 1976.
Vasudeva, Somadeva. “Prasenā, Prasīnā & Prasannā: The Evidence of the Niśvāsaguhya and the Tantrasadbhāva.” Cracow Indological Studies 16 (2014): 369–90.