གཤིན་རྗེ་གཤེད་ནག་པོའི་རྒྱུད།

The Tantra of Black Yamāri

Kṛṣṇayamāritantra

དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་སྐུ་གསུང་ཐུགས་གཤིན་རྗེ་གཤེད་ནག་པོ་ཞེས་བྱ་བའི་རྒྱུད།

de bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi sku gsung thugs gshin rje gshed nag po zhes bya ba’i rgyud

The Tantra of Black Yamāri, the Body, Speech, and Mind of all Tathāgatas

Sarvatathāgatakāyavākcittakṛṣnayamārināmatantra

Toh 467

Degé Kangyur, vol. 83 (rgyud, ja), folios 134.b–151.b

First published 2025

Current version v 1.0.1 (2025)

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co.

Summary

s.1

The Tantra of Black Yamāri features the three-faced, six-armed black form of the tantric deity Yamāri, as well as the maṇḍalas of several ancillary maṇḍala deities associated with him, all of which can be employed for a diverse array pacifying, enriching, enthralling, and hostile rites. The tantra describes the stages of initiation and practice for these deities and provides extensive details on the preparation of their maṇḍalas, associated ritual implements, and specific magical diagrams (yantra) that can be employed for various ritual goals.

ac.

Acknowledgements

ac.1

This publication was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.

ac.2

The text was translated, edited, and introduced by the 84000 translation team. Bruno Galasek-Hul produced the translation and wrote the introduction. Ryan Damron edited the translation and the introduction, and Dawn Collins copyedited the text.

Introduction

i.1

The Tantra of Black Yamāri, the Body, Speech, and Mind of all Tathāgatas1 belongs to a corpus of related tantras that came to be known in Tibet as the dmar nag ’jigs gsum‍—the cycles of the Red (dmar) Yamāri, Black (nag) Yamāri, and Vajrabhairava (’jigs).”2 These three cycles featuring different aspects of the tantric deity Yamāntaka enjoyed great popularity in Indian and Tibetan tantric Buddhist circles. While Black Yamāri seems to have been favored in India, Vajrabhairava was practiced more widely in Nepal and Tibet.3 The popularity of Vajrabhairava in contemporary Tibet is reflected in the Geluk (dge lugs) school, which counts him as one of the three main deities of the Unexcelled Yoga Tantra class, together with Guhyasamāja and Cakrasaṃvara.4

i.2

It has been noted elsewhere that the primary maṇḍala featured in The Tantra of Black Yamāri shows considerable similarities with the maṇḍala of the Guhyasamāja Tantra and the text itself demonstrates a number of parallels with the Guhyasamāja Tantra.5 Based on these correspondences, it is likely that The Tantra of Black Yamāri was in circulation in India by the mid-ninth century ᴄᴇ.6 The root tantra forms the core of a broad corpus of Indic commentaries, practice manuals, and ritual texts that are too numerous to list here in full.7 There are four Indian commentaries on The Tantra of Black Yamāri extant in Sanskrit and in Tibetan translation. The Sahajālokapañjikā composed by Śrīdhara, is available in Tibetan translation and in fragmentary form in Sanskrit.8 Kumāracandra’s Ratnāvalīpañjikā is available in Tibetan translation and in multiple Sanskrit witnesses.9 The Ratnapradīpa composed by Ratnākaraśānti, the Prekṣaṇapathapradīpa composed by Kṛṣṇapāda, the Ratnāvalī composed by Avadhūta Kumāracandra, and the Kṛṣṇayamāritantrapañjikā composed by Padmapāṇi10 are all extant in Tibetan translation and preserved in the Tengyur.

i.3

The translators’ colophon of The Tantra of Black Yamāri reports that it was translated into Tibetan by the Indian master Atiśa Dīpaṅkaraśrījñāna (982–1054 ᴄᴇ) and the Tibetan translator Tsültrim Gyalwa (tshul khrims rgyal ba, 1011–64 ᴄᴇ), who is also known as Nagtso Lotsāwa (nag ’tsho lo tsA ba). The translation was subsequently revised twice, once by Darma Drak (dar ma grags) and then again by Ra Lotsāwa Dorjé Drakpa (rwa lo tsA ba rdo rje grags). That it was revised twice by these two individuals is noteworthy insofar as the two are recorded as having been rivals.11

i.4

As indicated by the translators’ colophon, The Tantra of Black Yamāri was translated during the later dissemination of the teachings in Tibet, which began in the tenth century ᴄᴇ. The tantra is not included in the catalogs of imperial-period translations, the Denkarma (ldan dkar ma or lhan kar ma) and the Phangthangma (phang ’thang ma), both of which were compiled in the early ninth century. The Denkarma lists only one Vajrabhairava-related text, the ’phags pa rdo rje ’jigs byed kyi snying po (Āryavajrabhairavahṛdaya), a Dhāraṇī.12 The Phangthangma records three titles which may be related to Black Yamāri.13 Taken together, the imperial catalogs report the earliest witnesses for the existence of the cult of Yamāri in Tibet, but it appears that The Tantra of Black Yamāri itself was not known in Tibet at that time. However, without knowing the contents of the texts recorded in the imperial catalogs, it is impossible to say how they may or may not be related to The Tantra of Black Yamāri and other Yamāri texts that reached Tibet in the tenth century and onwards.

Chapter Summary

i.5

Chapter 1 begins with the standard Buddhist introductory formula “Thus did I hear at one time,” and sets the stage for the transmission of the tantra by telling us that the Bhagavat, in this case Mañjuśrī, “was dwelling in the bhagas of all vajra women, who are the essence of the body, speech, and mind of all tathāgatas…” Mañjuśrī’s main interlocutor in this tantra is Vajrapāṇi, who initiates the transmission of the tantra by asking Mañjuśrī to reveal the maṇḍala of Black Yamāri, the “enemy of the Lord of Death.” Mañjuśrī assents by first entering different meditative absorptions, and then gradually revealing the entire maṇḍala of Black Yamāri and teaching the seed syllables and mantras for the individual maṇḍala deities.

i.6

Chapter 2 opens with verses of praise to the five main deities of the maṇḍala: Mohavajra, Piśunavajra, Rāgavajra, Īrṣyavajra, and Yamāri himself as “lord of the maṇḍala.” The rest of the chapter features instructions on how to arrange the primary maṇḍala for this tantra.

i.7

Chapter 3 describes the summoning of the wisdom deities (jñānasattva; ye shes pa) and their merging with the five main male deities of a maṇḍala that features Mohavajra at its center. Following this, the text associates the maṇḍala deities with the primary ritual activities, and briefly describes the production of collyrium siddhi, swift-feet, pill, and sword siddhis.

i.8

Chapter 4 describes the production of yantras and how to employ them in a range of different ritual actions, including pacifying, enriching, enthralling, summoning, paralyzing, and killing. This chapter on yantras is among the most extensive treatment of yantras in the Buddhist tantras.

i.9

Chapter 5 continues from the previous chapter in presenting instructions on the use of yantras in the performance of various rites, with a specific emphasis on the yantras, mantras, and visualizations for the hostile rites of sowing discord, expelling, and killing.

i.10

Chapter 6 is primarily concerned with the arrangement of the mantra syllables within the cells of the yantra. This chapter is also noteworthy for briefly describing the fourfold initiation of Black Yamāri, which consists of the crown initiation, sword initiation, vajra and bell initiation, and a fourth which is called “eating the moon.”

i.11

The first part of chapter 7 offers instructions on how to perform the extraction of different substances from the world by meditating on the four goddesses in Yamāri’s maṇḍala, Carcikā, Sarasvatī, Vārāhī, and Gaurī. The chapter ends with a sequence of verses associated with the four initiations listed in the previous chapter.

i.12

Chapter 8 begins with the preparatory rites for an initiation, including expelling obstructive forces and establishing the protection circle, bringing the disciple into the maṇḍala, making offerings and praises, and the mantras for demonstrating emptiness. Following this, the chapter offers instruction on the fire offering, and specifically the shape and dimensions of the fire pit used in different rites.

i.13

Chapter 9 describes rites for the achievement of various worldly goals, such as making rain, healing snake bites, and so forth.

i.14

Chapter 10 begins with a brief description of a ritual to locate, prepare, and resuscitate a corpse as a vetāla, presumably to be used in rites that are not explicitly mentioned. Following this, the chapter next details the creation of an effigy of Yamāri using various meats and other ingredients for the purpose of attracting a woman. The chapter then closes with a visualization of the different Yamāris and their respective association with the afflictive emotions.

i.15

An eclectic chapter, chapter 11 initially continues from the preceding chapter by describing how each of the five aspects or forms of Yamāri manifest for the purpose of overcoming the corresponding afflictive emotions. It then proceeds to describe the practice of a number of different forms of Yamāri, sometimes quite briefly. This includes Vajra Yamāri, a hundred-armed form, a buffalo-faced form, Daṇḍa Yamāri, and a ten-million-armed form. The chapter then concludes with a description of potent ointments and beverages.

i.16

Chapter 12 begins with songs sung in Apabhraṃśa to Yamāri by the four ḍākinīs Carcikā, Vārāhī, Sarasvātī, and Gaurī. A long passage on the characteristics of mantra recitation follows this, which includes a discussion of how mantras should be recited, what kinds of beads should be used for a recitation mālā, and the effect of different numbers of recitations. The chapter concludes with brief instructions on bali offerings and the appropriate gifts for one’s master.

i.17

Chapter 13 presents the practices and mantras for Vajraḍākinī, Vajrapātāla, and Paramāśva, and describes the siddhis‍—remote, moving underground, and flight, respectively‍—resulting from their successful cultivation.

i.18

Chapter 14 covers a range of topics associated with the maṇḍala used for the initiation. This includes the properties of the cord used to demarcate the maṇḍala, the dimensions of its various features, the colors of its cells, and the symbols that are to be drawn within them. This is followed by a description of the design and measurements of the ritual ladle and spoon used in the fire offering rite. After a statement about the efficacy of the maṇḍala, the ”vajra entry,” and the request made by the disciples, instructions are given on the creation of a physical representation of the deity. The chapter then concludes with instructions on the practices of Ekajaṭā, Pukkasī, and Mañjuvajra.

i.19

Chapter 15 teaches the maṇḍalas and practices of Kurukullā, Jāṅgulī, and Vajrānaṅga. The latter is the Buddhist form of Kāmadeva, the god of love/desire.

i.20

Chapter 16 focuses on the maṇḍala of the great Heruka, a wrathful deity associated with the charnel ground. Many of the primary deities in the Yoginī Tantras are considered herukas.

i.21

Chapter 17 begins with the Apabhraṃśa songs of the four ḍākinīs, Cārcikā, Vārāhī, Sarasvatī, and Gaurī. They encourage Yamāri to arise from the nascent state of emptiness into his fully manifest form. This is followed by a succinct enumeration and description of the four stages of practice in this tantra: yoga, anuyoga, atiyoga, and mahāyoga. The chapter then lists the general samaya observed by the practitioner upon their initiation, and concludes with a series of praises to the realization of the ultimate state.

i.22

The short final chapter, chapter 18, relates the origin of The Tantra of Black Yamāri.

About this Translation

i.23

This English translation is based on the Tibetan text as preserved in the Degé Kangyur, in close consultation with the Sanskrit edition of the Kṛṣṇayamāritantra published together with Kumāracandra’s Ratnāvalī commentary.14 In the case of variant readings between the Sanskrit and Tibetan witnesses, the Tibetan reading was followed unless the Sanskrit clarified or improved the Tibetan. All other substantive variants have been noted. Our translation is also informed by the available commentarial literature, and specifically the commentaries extant in Sanskrit: Kumāracandra’s Ratnāvalīpañjikā and the fragments of Śrīdhara’s Sahajālokapañjikā.

i.24

In addition to the Degé version of the Tibetan translation we also consulted the versions preserved in the Stok Palace Kangyur, Phukdrak Kangyur, as well as the apparatus from the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) of the Degé Kangyur. The version found in the Phukdrak Kangyur was especially significant for preserving Dīpaṅkaraśrījñāna’s and Tsültrim Gyalwa’s original translation without the later revisions of Darma Drak and Ra Lotsāwa Dorjé Drak. Substantive differences between these two versions have also been noted. In the case of mantras, dhāraṇīs, and other passages rendered in transliterated Sanskrit in the Tibetan text, we have generally followed the text reported in the Degé Kangyur while allowing for minor revisions to clarify and improve the rendering, based on Sanskrit sources. Substantive variants have been noted here as well.

The Tantra of Black Yamāri, the Body, Speech, and Mind of all Tathāgatas

The Translation

[F.134.b]

1.1

Homage to Mañjuśrī-Yamāri!15

Chapter 1: The Practice Sequence

1.2

Thus did I hear at one time. The Bhagavat was dwelling in the bhagas of all vajra women, who are the essence of the body, speech, and mind of all tathāgatas. He was there with Yamāri’s large assembly, which included Yamāri Mohavajra, Yamāri Piśunavajra, Yamāri Rāgavajra, Yamāri Īrṣyāvajra, Yamāri Dveṣavajra, Mudgara Yamāri, Daṇḍa Yamāri, Padma Yamāri, Khaḍga Yamāri, and, standing in the four intermediate directions, Vajracarcikā, Vajravārāhī, Vajrasarasvatī, and Vajragaurī. Then, Vajrapāṇi supplicated the Bhagavat,16 the vajra-being,17 the lord of all tathāgatas, prompting the Bhagavat, the lord of all tathāgatas, to emerge from the meditative absorption called the vajra that conquers all māras, the state of his own vajra body, speech, and mind.

1.3

“In order to pacify the māras

And eliminate all hatred,

One should visualize Yama’s Slayer

By uniting the vajra and the moon.

1.4

“For protection, one should visualize a vajra

Enveloped by five-colored rays of light18

And likewise the outer boundary, the vajra ground,

The walls, and the canopy.”

1.5

Then the Bhagavat, the father of tathāgatas, entered the meditative absorption known as the tamer of māras19 and emitted the seed-syllables of all the deities beginning with Yamāri Mohavajra from20 his own vajra body, speech, and mind. In the center is ya, and then kṣe, ma, me, da, ya, ca,21 ni, rā, jā, sa, do, ru, ṇa, yo, ni, and ra.

1.6

“The first among the syllables ya and the rest22 becomes Yama’s Slayer.

The syllable kṣe expresses Moha, [F.135.a]

The syllable ma23 describes Piśuna,

The syllable me24 becomes Rāga,

And the syllable da is Īrṣyā.

These are known as the five Yamāris.

1.7

“The syllable ya becomes Mudgara,

From the syllable ca comes lord Daṇḍa,

Padmapāṇi comes from the syllable ni,

And Khaḍgapāṇi comes from the syllable rā.

1.8

“The syllable ja25 expresses Carcikā,

From sa comes Vārāhī,

Do is declared to be Sarasvatī,

And ru recalls Gaurī.

1.9

“Ṇa, yo, ni, ra, in the four corners

Are held to be four skulls.

A terrifying crossed vajra

Should be imagined in the middle of the sky-vajra.

1.10

“One should visualize Yamāri, black and blazing,26

Standing in its center.

In the east27 is Mohavajra

And, likewise, Piśuna is in the south.

1.11

“Rāgavajra is in the west

And, likewise, Īrṣyā is in the north.

One should visualize Carcikā and the others

On the four prongs of the vajra in the corners.

1.12

“On the four prongs of the vajra in the doors

One should visualize Muḍgara and the rest.

In the four corners of the crossed vajra

Are four human heads.”

1.13

Then, the Bhagavat, the lord of all tathāgatas, entered the meditative absorption called yamāri vajra and pronounced the mantra of the family of great hatred:

oṁ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā |

1.14

The Bhagavat, the lord of all tathāgatas, next pronounced the mantra of the great Mohavajra:

oṁ jinajīk |

1.15

The Bhagavat, the lord of all tathāgatas, next pronounced the mantra of Piśunavajra:

oṁ ratnadhṛk |

1.16

The Bhagavat, the lord of all tathāgatas, next pronounced the mantra of Rāgavajra:

oṁ ārolīk |

1.17

The Bhagavat, the lord of all tathāgatas, next pronounced the mantra of Īrṣyāvajra:

oṁ prajñādhṝk |

1.18

The Bhagavat, the lord of all tathāgatas, next pronounced the mantra of Mudgaravajra:

oṁ muḍgaradhṝk |

1.19

The Bhagavat, the lord of all tathāgatas, next pronounced the mantra of the Daṇḍavajra: [F.135.b]

oṁ daṇḍadhṝk |

1.20

The Bhagavat, the lord of all tathāgatas, next pronounced the mantra of Padmavajra:

oṁ padmadhṝk |

1.21

The Bhagavat, the lord of all tathāgatas, next pronounced the mantra of Khaḍgavajra:

oṁ khaḍgadhṝk |

1.22

The Bhagavat, the lord of all tathāgatas, next pronounced the mantra of Vajracarcikā:

oṁ moharati |

1.23

The Bhagavat, the lord of all tathāgatas, next pronounced the mantra of Vajravārāhī:

oṁ dveṣarati |

1.24

The Bhagavat, the lord of all tathāgatas, next pronounced the mantra of Vajrasarasvatī:

oṁ rāgarati |

1.25

The Bhagavat, the lord of all tathāgatas, next pronounced the mantra of Vajragaurī:

oṁ vajrarati |

1.26

The Bhagavat, the lord of all tathāgatas, next pronounced the mantra that empowers body, speech, and mind:

oṁ sarvatathāgatakāyavajrasvabhāvātmako ’haṃ |

oṁ sarvatathāgatavākvajrasvabhāvātmako ’haṃ |

oṁ sarvatathāgatacittavajrasvabhāvātmako ’haṃ |

1.27

Then, the Bhagavat, the Lord of all Tathāgatas, described the body of great wrath:28

1.28

“An adept29 should visualize Yamāri

As wrathful, with three faces and six arms.

He is the color of a sapphire

And holds a vajra in his hand.30

1.29

“Mohavajra should be visualized

As peaceful, with three faces and six arms.

He has a luminous, crystal-clear form,

And holds a wheel in his hand.31

1.30

“Piśunavajra should be visualized

As enriching, with three faces and six arms.

He has a luster like that of gold32

And holds a jewel in his hand.33

1.31

“Rāgavajra should be visualized

As enthralling, with three faces and six arms.

He shines like a ruby

And holds a lotus in his hand.34

1.32

“Īrṣyāvajra should be visualized

As universal,35 with three faces and six arms.

He has a luster like that of an emerald

And holds a sheathed sword in his hand.”36 [F.136.a]

1.33

This was the first chapter, “The Practice Sequence,” from The Tantra of Black Yamāri, the Body, Speech, and Mind of All Tathāgatas.

Chapter 2: The Great Maṇḍala

1.34

Then, all the blessed tathāgatas praised the blessed great vajra being:

1.35

“Homage to you, vajra body.

You are the fearsome Yamāri,

The essence of Mohavajra,

The teacher with the nature of all buddhas.37

1.36

“Homage to you, vajra jewel.

You are the fearsome Yamāri,

The essence of Piśunavajra,

Who is equal to the vajra mind.

1.37

“Homage to you, vajra speech.

You are the fearsome Yamāri,

The essence of Rāgavajra,

Who is equal to vajra speech.38

1.38

“Homage to you, with sword in hand.

You are Yamāri who serves all functions,

The essence of Īrṣyāvajra,

Who is equal to vajra desire.39

1.39

“Homage to you, lord of the maṇḍala.

You are the nature of all buddhas,

The confluence of all buddhas,

The most eminent of all buddhas.”

1.40

The Bhagavat then said, “Vajra eyes, vajra ears, vajra nose, vajra tongue, vajra body, and vajra mind.” This is the rite 40 for empowering the eyes and the other senses.

1.41

“Next, I will explain in detail

The fearsome maṇḍala of Yamāri,

Which appears just like Yamāri

And fulfills every purpose.41

1.42

“The learned practitioner42 should tie

The maṇḍala of Yamāri’s host43

With a new, tightly woven thread,

One that is well measured and elegant.

1.43

“All of its features are complete

And it eliminates all obstructive forces.

This maṇḍala, shaped as a circle,

Is used to pacify and so forth.44

1.44

“In that maṇḍala one should draw

A karmavajra with five prongs on each end.45

A vajra engulfed in a blaze of vajras46

Should be drawn in its center.

1.45

“One should draw a sword in the north

And in the east a wheel,

Engulfed in wheel-shaped light.47 [F.136.b]

1.46

“One should draw a jewel in the south

That emits halos of light.

One should draw a lotus in the west

That shines with ruby-colored light.48

1.47

“One should draw a wheel in the southeast49

That is engulfed in five-colored light.50

One should draw a vajra in the southwest,51

A lotus flower in the northwest52

Radiantly blossoming upon its stalk,

And a water lily53 in the northeast

That radiates halos of light.

1.48

“There should be a hammer in the eastern gate

And, likewise, a cudgel in the southern gate,

A lotus is in the western gate,

And, in the north, a vajra-sword.

1.49

“Knowing the maṇḍala to be complete

One should make special offerings.

One should fearlessly worship54

Using the five sense pleasures.”

1.50

This was the second chapter, “The Great Maṇḍala,” from The Tantra of Black Yamāri, the Body, Speech, and Mind of All Tathāgatas.

Chapter 3: Ritual Activities

1.51

Then, all the blessed tathāgatas made a request using this king of praises:55

1.52

“Protector, let the maṇḍala be drawn‍—

The fearsome maṇḍala of Yama’s Slayer.

It is the lord of all maṇḍalas

That eradicates all misdeeds.

1.53

The great vajra bearer then issued the rite with the taste of nectar from his own body, speech, and mind:56

oṁ āḥ hūṁ |

1.54

The vajra holders57 are pleased

By its contact with their vajra tongues.58

It then enters all the buddhas

In their wisdom aspect, their intrinsic form.

1.55

“One should then summon them,

Draw them in, bind them and master them,

And then remain in meditative absorption

Using the four mantras of Muḍgara and the rest.59

1.56

“After visualizing the vajra buffalo,60

One should visualize the lord of the maṇḍala.

Mohavajra should be visualized standing

In the center of a moon disk.

1.57

“One should imagine the one named Piśuna

Standing in the middle of the seven-horsed one.61

Rāgavajra should be visualized

Standing in the center of the sublime disk.62

Karmavajrin63 should be visualized,

Standing in the center of the karma disk.64

1.58

“Mohavajra is for pacifying.

Accordingly, Piśuna is for enriching, [F.137.a]

Rāgavajra is for enthralling,

And Karmavajra is universal.

1.59

“Using the yoga of Karmavajra,

One should put human fat in a human skull,

Make a wick out of human hair,

And collect the soot while in a charnel ground.65

1.60

“One should visualize Karmavajra 66

In the collyrium and likewise on the collyrium.67

The collyrium siddhi will result

When combined with Karmavajra’s recitation.

1.61

“One produces the foot-salve68

Using saffron and blood.

One produces the swift-feet siddhi

By applying the practice of Karmavajra.

1.62

“If one gathers the five nectars,

Combines them with the five meats,

And coats them with the three metals,

The siddhi is gained through the practice of Karmavajra.

1.63

“The magnetic iron sword siddhi,

Can be accomplished with the yoga of Karmavajra.

While applying the practice of Karmavajra,

One can accomplish Karmavajra’s sword.”

1.64

This was the third chapter, “Ritual Activities,” from The Tantra of Black Yamāri, the Body, Speech, and Mind of All Tathāgatas.

Chapter 4: The Rites for Killing and so forth using the Yantras, Mantras, and Medicines Related to the Procedure for Vajra Killing69

1.65

Then, all the blessed tathāgatas made a request to the blessed great vajra bearer using this king of praises:70

1.66

“How should beings proceed,

Through the different categories of ritual action?

Great Vajra, please explain!

May the oceans of qualities listen!”71

1.67

Then, the vajra-bearing king

Who has accomplished all ritual actions,

And has himself remedied all faults,

Spoke the following words.

1.68

The blessed tathāgatas, through the power of their vajra minds, bowed to, worshiped, made offerings to, and circled the Bhagavat three times. They bowed to him, again and again, and listened to what the Bhagavat said.

1.69

The vajra-bearing king

Taught the yantra for enthralling.72

“The supreme circles of Yamāri 73

Have not appeared, nor will they appear.

1.70

“In order to enthrall women,

And likewise for protection,

In the pacifying rite 74 use bovine bezoar75

To draw a double circle

On birch or bamboo bark. [F.137.b]

1.71

“Append the target’s name with namaḥ.

And place it in two conjoined bowls

That are not black and lack a base.

The bowls should be filled with ghee and honey

And wrapped with a white thread.

1.72

“At the three junctures, facing east,

One should scatter white flowers,

And focus on being Yamāntaka

Appearing like a candrakānta.

One should visualize the target on a moon disk before oneself

And confer the initiation.76

1.73

“Imagine a multitude of perfect buddhas

Washing the target with a moon-white vase

Filled with the five nectars,

While reciting this mantra:

1.74

oṁ namaḥ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ devadattāya77 śāntiṃ kuru namaḥ svāhā |78

1.75

This is the rite for pacification.

1.76

“One should write with red saffron

When pacifying a man or when enriching.

The double circle is drawn with Kashmiri saffron 79

With the target’s name appended to svāhā.

1.77

“It should be placed inside conjoined bowls

That have been filled with ghee and honey.

They should be wrapped with yellow thread

And strewn with yellow flowers at the three junctures.

1.78

“One should imagine themselves as Yama’s Slayer,

Yellow in color and facing north.80

The target, standing on a dark-yellow moon disk,

Should be cleansed using a yellow vase.

1.79

“Once the target has been initiated,

One should recite the enriching mantra while radiating light:81

oṁ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā | devadatta puṣṭiṃ kuru svāhā |82

oṁ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ vauṣaṭ devadattasya puṣṭiṃ kuru vauṣaṭ svāhā |83

1.80

This is the enriching rite taught by the Bhagavat.

1.81

“On birch bark or a rag,84

One should use lac fluid, red sandalwood,

Or blood from their own ring finger, as available,

To draw a double circle

With the syllable hoḥ appended.85

1.82

“The circle86 should be placed in conjoined bowls,

That are not black and so forth,

And that are filled with ghee and honey,

Then wrapped with a red thread.

Facing west one should make

Offerings of red flowers.

1.83

“One should imagine themselves as Yama’s Slayer,

Red in color and blazing fiercely,

And that the target stands

On a red moon disk.

1.84

“One should visualize the target being drawn in

With hooks of red light rays

That emerge from one’s body, [F.138.a]

And recite the mantra ten thousand times as they spread.

1.85

“Imagining that the target is distressed,

Their legs are crippled,

And they are naked with their hair loose,

Begin the recitation.

1.86

“If the target is not enthralled,

The practitioner87 should heat the circle88

Over a smokeless fire of acacia wood,

Omitting the ghee and the rest.”

1.87

oṁ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā | ho devadatta vaśaṃ kuru hoḥ |89

1.88

oṁ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā | vauṣaṭ devadattasya vaśamānaya vauṣaṭ |90

1.89

This is the enthralling rite taught by the Bhagavat.

1.90

“On cloth from a charnel ground

Or a rag smeared with menstrual blood,

One should draw a double circle

With a mixture of blood and lac.

1.91

“The target’s name should be framed

With the syllables jaḥ and hrīḥ,

And the circle placed in conjoined skull cups

Made from the skulls of women.

This should be wrapped with red thread

And presented with offerings of red flowers.

1.92

“Imagining themselves as Yama’s Slayer,

Red like the setting sun,

One should imagine

Seizing the target with red iron hooks.

1.93

“After hooks strike their heart

And a noose binds their neck,

One should imagine they arrive,

Naked, hair loose,

Seated on a red lion,

Accompanied by circle of wind,

And are cleansed with the five substances.91

1.94

“If the target does not arrive,

The vow-holder should recite the mantra

While heating the circle

In a fire of acacia wood.

1.95

oṁ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ | hrīḥ amukam ākarṣaya hrīḥ |92

1.96

oṁ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ jaḥ devadatta ākarṣaya jaḥ |93

1.97

This is the summoning rite taught by the Bhagavat.

1.98

“The adept should draw a double circle

On cloth from a charnel ground,

Using a decoction of turmeric,

And write the target’s name

Appended to the syllable laṁ.

1.99

“The adept should place it

Inside conjoined bowls,

Place this on top of a yellow bowl,

And draw lines on it.

1.100

“The adept, in a state of meditative focus, [F.138.b]

Should draw seven or four lines.

Above that they should draw

The eight-peaked Mount Sumeru.

1.101

“The syllables hūṁ and vaṃ

Frame Mount Meru,94

And, above that, Indra’s maṇḍala95

Should be drawn with the syllable laṃ.

1.102

“It96 should be stamped with a crossed vajra

And wrapped with a yellow thread.

One should imagine themselves

As the yellow Yama’s Slayer.

1.103

“One should imagine the target to be yellow97

And standing on Indra’s maṇḍala.

They are being crushed by Mount Sumeru

And crushed by Vajrapāṇi as well.98

1.104

“One should imagine the target is crushed

By Mandara and the like,

And other various mountains

That are beneath Indra’s maṇḍala.

1.105

“While maintaining this visualization, recite the mantra:99

1.106

oṁ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ laṁ devadatta sthāne stambhaya kuru laṁ |100

1.107

This is the paralyzing rite taught by the Bhagavat.

1.108

“One who wishes to paralyze speech

Should draw a similar double circle,

Add the target’s name,

And recite the pulsating mantra:101

1.109

oṁ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ laṁ devadattasya yathāprārabdhakāryakṛte tannivārayato virūpakaṃ vadato yajñādattasya vākstambhanaṃ kuru laṃ huṃ phaṭ |102

1.110

This paralyzing rite was taught by the Bhagavat.

1.111

“This must be performed exactly as taught

And with the utmost secrecy.

Using the practice of Black Yamāri

One will gain accomplishment in a single day.

1.112

“As before, the vow holder should draw

A double circle on a charnel ground rag.

Taking black mustard seeds, salt,

Poison, as well as neem,

1.113

“The three hot spices, white mustard oil,

Charcoal from a charnel ground,

Juice from datura leaves,

And likewise datura seeds, saline soil,

1.114

“Blood from the index finger,

And soot from a caṇḍāḷa’s pot,103

And using a quill from a starved bird,104

The vow holder should draw it on the fourteenth day,105

At midday, with a wrathful mind,

In order to slay106 evil beings.

1.115

“To the syllable hūṁ one should append

The name of the person to be slain.

The yogin, facing south,

Should embody Yama’s Slayer. [F.139.a]

1.116

“Of wrathful form and intensely fierce,

He is adorned with severed heads.107

He stands on a buffalo, his tongue lolls,

He has a large belly, and is terrifying.

1.117

“He is frightening,108 his blazing hair rises upward.

His beard and eyebrows are similarly yellow.

His first right hand holds a large vajra.

In his second is a sword,

And, in the third, a knife.

Now, to draw the left hands:

A wheel, a large lotus,

And a skull cup, are in his left hands.

1.118

“His main face is deep black,109

His right like fine moonlight,

His left face is declared to be red,

And he is adorned with vajra ornaments.

1.119

“From his pores emanate

The fearsome one, lord of his own family.110

He stands on a sun disk

With his left leg extended.

He haughtily bares his fangs

And resembles the apocalyptic fire.

1.120

“Embodying this oneself,

One should imagine111 the target placed in front.

By striking with a poisoned blade,112

The target becomes filthy and diseased.

1.121

“They become naked, shake, grow depressed,

And speak pleading words.113

Their body is covered with pus-filled sores‍—

The result of being sliced with a blade.

1.122

“After being tormented by frigid wind,

They find themselves in the midst of fire.

The wicked one, fearful of the host of buddhas,

Will be consumed by buffaloes,

Tigers, dogs, and crows.114

1.123

“The target stands in Yama’s stomach,115

Their body rife with thorns,

And their feet clasped in wooden stocks.

They are chopped into pieces,

Their skin is flayed,116

They are smeared with salt and mustard,

And utter the syllable hūṁ117

1.124

“Imagine them in one’s presence,118

Their physical protections gone,

Stripped of their armor,

Their body completely vacant.119

1.125

“Wrathful deities emanate from one’s own body

Similar in form to oneself as Yamāri.

They strike the target’s body

And suck their fat and marrow.

1.126

“One should imagine Yama in front of them,

Powerful, with a cudgel in hand.

The cruel one strikes them, [F.139.b]

As vultures take to the sky

Carrying off their entrails and the like.

From below the ground,

Nāgas and asuras strike at them.120

1.127

“Experiencing the target in this way,

One should, while steeped in compassion,

Lift them from their saṃsaric state,

And lead them to a buddhafield.”

1.128

Then, all the blessed tathāgatas uttered these words with a particular intention in mind:121

1.129

“How amazing indeed is this killing‍—

Killing that is not killing

Because it frees from evil.

The one who was killed was not truly killed.122

1.130

“One who has committed a thousand evil deeds

Will not be born in the Avīci Hell or others.

How amazing is the greatness of the Buddha,

That being killed leads to awakening.

1.131

“The killing of the murderous being123

Is done by cultivating great compassion.

How amazing is supreme compassion.

Success will not come through weak compassion.124

1.132

oṁ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ | hūṁ devadatta māraya hūṁ phaṭ | oṁ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ | devadatta māraya phaṭ |125

1.133

This was the fourth chapter, “The Rites for Killing and so forth using Yantras, Mantras, Medicines, Related to the Procedure for Vajra Killing,” from The Tantra of Black Yamāri, the Body, Speech, and Mind of All Tathāgatas.126

Chapter 5: The Procedure for Drawing Yantras

1.134

“Next, one should draw a double circle

And append the syllable phaṭ.

One should write the target’s name

And put it into conjoined skull cups.

1.135

“This should be wrapped with a blue thread

And buried in a charnel ground at midday.

1.136

“While focused on being Yamāri,

One should place the target before themselves.

There are two targets, weapons in hand,

Mounted on a horse and a buffalo.127

1.137

“One should imagine that, on both sides,

Are emanated hordes of wrathful beings.

With a mind steeped in wrath,

One should recite the mantra while visualizing

The two, powerful and fierce, in protracted battle.128

1.138

oṁ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ | devadatta yajñādatte vidveṣāya hūṁ phaṭ |129

1.139

This is the rite for sowing discord taught by the Bhagavat. [F.140.a]

1.140

“Following the same rite as before,

One should draw a double circle,

Augment it with the syllables hūṁ and phaṭ,

And put it inside conjoined skull cups.

1.141

“It should be wrapped with a black cord

And buried in an ancestor’s grove.130

Maintaining the practice of Yamāri,

One should imagine the target before oneself.

1.142

“Visualize a black wind maṇḍala,

Born from yaṁ and shaped as a bow,

With a blue camel on it.

On it is the evildoer, facing south,

Being beaten by a furious horde.

Even a buddha would find this hard to reverse.

1.143

oṁ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ devadattam ucchāṭaya hūṁ phaṭ |131

1.144

This is the expelling rite taught by the Bhagavat.

1.145

“The fierce yogin, facing south,

Should draw a double circle on charnel ground cloth

Using a decoction of goat blood,132 corpse ash,

Poison, salt,133 black mustard, and datura,

Following the ritual sequence.

1.146

“To kill, one should place the target on Yama’s body;

To sow dissent, on a horse and a buffalo;

To expel, standing on a camel;

To pacify, on a moon disk;

To enrich, on a yellow moon disk;

To enthrall, in a woman’s heart;

To summon,134 mounted on a goat;

To paralyze, in a ring of mountains;135

And to summon, on a śarabha lion.136

The other rites are defined in a similar manner.

1.147

“One should draw with bovine bezoar,137

Lac, or Kashmiri saffron,138 as specified,139

On birch bark in order to enthrall.

If one’s mind is focused on virtue,140

There is no doubt it will be successful.

1.148

“The circles should be placed in conjoined bowls.

After midday, one should write with a raven feather141

On a cremation pyre or conjoined skull cups.

While focused on being Yamāri,

One should recite the mantra oṁ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ…,

With the target of suppression facing south.142

1.149

“For pacifying, the syllable ya at the edge is effaced,

As well as both the ni syllables.

Next, efface the syllable ya in the center,

And the remaining syllables as desired.143

1.150

“One should do ten thousand preparatory recitations,

Which results in successful ritual action.

This is to be done with vajra wisdom

While focused on being Yamāri.144

1.151

“There will be continuous strife

In a house where this terrifying circle remains

After it has been drawn, [F.140.b]

With all the syllables still written.”145

1.152

This was the fifth chapter, “The Sequence for Drawing Yantras,” from The Tantra of Black Yamāri, the Body, Speech, and Mind of All Tathāgatas.

Chapter 6: Drawing the Circle146

1.153

Then, the lord of all the blessed tathāgatas supplicated the Bhagavat, the great vajra holder, using this king of praises:147

1.154

“By applying the mudrā of anger,148

Which delights the vajra holders,

And then sealing it with the vajra mudrā,

A vast array of siddhis are attained.”

1.155

The vajra holder, the king,

Then made this statement:

“Visualize Yama’s Slayer

On the heads of all the maṇḍala deities.

1.156

“Continually draw the maṇḍala.

Continually satisfy with fire offerings.

Continually uphold the samayas.

Continually maintain the vows.

1.157

“First is the crown initiation.

Second, the sword initiation should be given.149

Third, the vajra and bell initiation.

The eating of the moon is fourth.150

1.158

“These are the four great initiations,

Sprung from the Black One’s mouth.

Through the uniqueness of these four initiations,

The children of the jinas attain awakening.151

1.159

“Next, I will explain the mantra,

The means for offering bali to all spirits.

By merely reciting the great mantra

All spirits will tremble.

1.160

1.161

“Once the triangular maṇḍala is made,

Using a mixture of urine, feces, and water,

The yogin154 should satisfy the deities,

And should call to mind the syllables hā hā.155

1.162

“The adept should draw

Three concentric circles,156

With eight, twelve, and sixteen cells

And place the mantra syllables throughout.157

1.163

“The vow-holder should place

The perfected syllables in the twelve cells158

The vow-holder will be victorious in every way

Over the three worlds, the animate and inanimate. [F.141.a]

1.164

ya ma rā jā sa do me ya ya me do ru ṇa yo da ya | ya da yo ni ra ya kṣe ya ya kṣe ya ccha ni rā ma ya

1.165

“Ya is to be placed in the center, kṣe to the east,

In the south, Mañjuvajra,159

The syllable me is drawn in the west,

And in the north, dantadhāvanam.160

1.166

“The target’s name should be added

In the empty intermediate directions.161

By framing it with two hūṁs,

All ritual actions will be successful.

1.167

“The syllables ya, ccha, ni, rā, jā,

Sa, do, ru, ṇa, yo, ni, ra, and the rest,

Should be drawn outside, from the left.162

This will fulfill all aims.

1.168

“In the third ring,163 from the east,

One should draw the syllables

Of the mantra beginning oṁ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ164

In every other cell.165

1.169

“In each of the eight intermediate cells,166

One should write, from the left

Mūkaṃ kuru,167 uccāṭaya,168 vaśīkuru,

vidveṣaya, śāntiṃ kuru, or puṣṭiṃ kuru,

Depending on the specific rite.

1.170

“Oṁ is at the beginning and then namaḥ after that,169

And then, after that, vauṣaṭ.

Furnishing these seeds with hūṃ and phaṭ170

Effects the pacifying, enriching, and enthralling rites.

1.171

This was the sixth chapter, “Drawing the Circle,” from The Tantra of Black Yamāri, the Body, Speech, and Mind of All Tathāgatas.

Chapter 7: The Procedures for Extraction and So Forth

1.172

“For the procedure to extract blood

The adept should meditate on Carcikā.

She has three faces, six arms, is emaciated,171

Holds a wheel in her hand, and shines like the light of the moon.

1.173

“For the procedure to extract alcohol

The adept should meditate on Vārāhī.

She has three faces, six arms, the face of a sow,

Is dark blue, and holds a vajra in her hand.

1.174

“To increase knowledge

The vow-holder should meditate on Sarasvatī.

She has three faces, six arms, is red,

Peaceful, and holds a lotus in her hand.

1.175

“For the procedure to draw semen

The adept should meditate on Gaurī.

She has three faces, six arms, wields a sword,

And appears like an emerald.”172

1.176

Then, the blessed Vajra Yama’s Destroyer 173 entered the meditative absorption called killing and extracting174 and spoke the mantra of Carcikā: [F.141.b]

1.177

oṁ carcike siddhendranīlahāriṇi ratnatrayāpakāriṇo rudiram ākarṣaya jaḥ |

1.178

“One should open their mouth

And then call this mantra to mind.175

The great blood176 from the three worlds

Will be extracted, there is no doubt.”

1.179

Then, the blessed great Vajra Yamāri entered the meditative absorption called extracting alcohol177 and spoke Vajravārāhī’s mantra for extracting alcohol:178

1.180

oṁ vajraghoṇe sughoṇe vajramāmakī bhara bhara sambhara sambhara traidhātukāryam ākarṣaya jaḥ |179

1.181

“One should make a pot with a beautiful mouth180

Using clay from a potter’s hand,181

Place it on a base of thief’s hair,

And call the mantra to mind.

1.182

“The great quality of this mantra

Was demonstrated at Caityapattana.182

One should exert effort with gentle persistence

And the alcohol extraction will be successful.”183

1.183

Then the blessed Vajra Yama’s Slayer, the great samaya,184 entered the meditative absorption called the vajra perfection of wisdom and spoke the mantra of Sarasvatī:

1.184

oṁ picu picu prajñāvardhani jvala jvala medhāvardhani dhiri dhiri buddhivardhani svāhā |

1.185

“Beginning on the first day

And every day until the full moon,

One should speak Sanskrit,

And continue, following the phases of the moon.

1.186

“With the regular185 completion of one hundred ślokas

One will succeed in becoming a lord of speech.186

One will find success throughout the three worlds,

Entirely and in every way.”

1.187

Then, the blessed Vajra Yama’s Destroyer 187 entered the meditative absorption called the extraction of semen188 and spoke Gaurī’s189 mantra for the extraction of semen:

1.188

oṁ ākarṣaṇi ākarṣaṇi gaurī hrīḥ duṣṭāya duṣṭāya śukram ākarṣaya jaḥ jaḥ jaḥ hūṁ hūṁ hūṁ svāhā |190

1.189

“From the mouth of the lotus and from the vajra,191

Through the application of the bell, hook, and wind,

An abundance of semen is extracted

By employing mantra and meditation.

1.190

“These rites, eagerly employed

Over the course of seven nights

In a forest or isolated place,

Bring success, of this there is no doubt.”

1.191

Then the blessed great Vajra Yamāri entered the meditative absorption called the vajra that terrifies death192 and set forth the samaya of the supreme initiation from his vajra body, speech, and mind. [F.142.a]

1.192

“Dear child, take garlands

Of udumbara, mandāra, pārijāta,193

And karṇīkāra flowers,

And be consecrated.

1.193

“Take the great sword of the triple world

That is venerated by all buddhas

And summons all spirits.194

This sublime sword of activity

Is victorious over all māras.

1.194

“Take the perfected vajra and bell,

The nature of insight and method,

And accept the disciple.195

1.195

“This most precious of drinks

Perfects the vajra body.

Dear child of omniscient wisdom,

Drink it so wisdom may arise.’196

1.196

“It should then be poured into the disciple’s mouth,

In order to accomplish Yamāri.197

The eminent vajra disciple

Should cultivate feeling of great joy.”198

1.197

This was the seventh chapter, “The Procedures for Extraction and So Forth,” from The Tantra of Black Yamāri, the Body, Speech, and Mind of All Tathāgatas.

Chapter 8: The Fire Offering Rite

1.198

Then, the vajra-bearing king

Employed the protection circle procedure

And spoke in order to expel

Vighnas, vināyakas, and wicked beings.

1.199

“I, the glorious sword bearer,

Employ the protection circle procedure

Using the naturally blazing sword.

I offer worship through the three knowledges.199

1.200

“Devī, you serve as witness

To the mode of conduct

That protects all beings,

Especially to the bhūmis and perfections.200

1.201

“I, the master, will draw

The maṇḍala of Yamāri.

1.202

“After covering the disciple’s face with cloth,

They should enter the door of the maṇḍala.201

They should be asked, ‘Who are you?’

To which they reply, ‘I am a fortunate one.’

1.203

“The keen disciple who makes the request

Should be given access behind the curtain.

In order to receive initiation they should

Make this request devotedly three times:

1.204

“ ‘Just as the Buddha initiated the vajra-being [F.142.b]

By means of the great Dharma,

I ask the protector to also initiate me,

And grant me a boon.’202

1.205

“The disciple should offer song and music,

As well as respectfully anoint

With bathing water and unguents,

And sing praises at that time.”203

1.206

Then, the vajra-bearing king spoke the mantra of emptiness:

1.207

oṁ śūnyatājñānavajrasvabhāvātmako ’ham |

1.208

oṁ pūjavajrasvabhāvātmako ’ham |204

1.209

oṁ dharmadhātuvajrasvabhāvātmako ’ham |

1.210

“Next, I will explain the fire offering,

Based on its use in pacifying and other rites.

It is through fire offering that one gains the siddhi

That accomplishes all rites.

1.211

“Pacifying rites require a peaceful mind,

Enriching rites, an expansive mind,

Enthralling rites, a mind that has let go,205

And this too for killing and expelling.206

1.212

“For the pacifying, the fire pit is circular,207

For enriching, like a water tank,208

For enthralling, crescent-shaped,

And like the space element for killing.209

1.213

“For pacifying, it should measure one cubit,

For enriching, two cubits,

As for enriching, so for enthralling,

And for killing, twenty finger-widths.210

1.214

“For pacifying, half a cubit up,211

For enriching, one cubit,

Ten finger-widths for killing,

And for enthralling, the same as summoning.212 213

1.215

“Pacifying should be performed on the first day,

Enriching on the full moon,

The fourteenth day for hostile rites,

And enthralling rites on the eighth day.”

1.216

This was the eighth chapter, “The Fire Offering Rite,” from The Tantra of Black Yamāri, the Body, Speech, and Mind of All Tathāgatas.

Chapter 9: Fearsome Yamāri

1.217

“One should take soil from the ocean,

Make an image of a single nāga,

Place214 the syllables hūṁ puḥ215 at its heart,

And recite the mantra that begins hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ.

Rain will fall at times of drought

By reciting the mantra ten thousand times,

1.218

“The vow-holder should mix cobra meat

With leaves of the neem tree,

Roll the mixture into a pill,

Throw it into the ocean,

And recite the mantra ten thousand times.

This is the supreme means for arresting waves.

1.219

“One should take one hundred datura seeds,

Mixed with beans and rice grains,

And perform a fire offering with 800,000 recitations.216

One will then behold the deity.217

1.220

“The vow-holder should draw an effigy218

With charred stick from a cremation pyre219 [F.143.a]

And smear it with datura fluid.

After reciting the mantra 10,000 times the target will develop leprosy.

1.221

“One should take white mustard seeds,

Recite the mantra 400,000 times,

And scatter them over a person collapsed from snake bite.220

That person will recover‍—there is no doubt.

1.222

“One should take clay from a gulch

And recite the mantra 100,000 times.

Any headache will be cured

By smearing this on one’s head.

1.223

“When one incants their hand seven times

And uses it to rub their head,

There will be no head pain‍—

About this there is no doubt.

1.224

“One should make an effigy of Yamāri

From the flesh of a brahmin

And ash and soil from a charnel ground.

He should have two arms and one face,

Hold a large vajra221 in his right hand,

And a human head in his left.

He should be white and very frightening.

All wicked beings can be destroyed with this.

1.225

“The yogin should offer bali daily,

Using the five meats and the five nectars,

And the make the request,

‘Annihilate my enemies!’

1.226

“When this is said at night, before sleep,222

The enemy will be dead at dawn.

Or they will suffer from urinary blockage

Or fall sick with another illness.

1.227

“One should take the enemy’s vairocanā

And fill a human bone with it.

Once full, and once the mantra is recited 100,000 times,

One will be like a preta moving through treetops.223

One will attain every excellent siddhi

And achieve the various goals.224

1.228

This was the ninth chapter, “Fearsome Yamāri,” from The Tantra of Black Yamāri, the Body, Speech, and Mind of All Tathāgatas.

Chapter 10: Cultivating the Recollection for Mastering Vetālas225

1.229

“Next, I will perfectly explain

The sādhana of the great vetāla.

It effects every excellent siddhi

And leads to the achievement of the various goals.226

1.230

“The vow-holder should find a corpse227 hanging from a tree‍—

A corpse that is clean, unspoiled, and without wounds.

They should take it down, wash it well,

And incant it with mantra where it lays.

1.231

“Amazing, the power of mantra

Whereby the insensate228 cries out!

The one who practices the yoga of Yamāri

Should be entirely without fear.

Whatever it is the yogin seeks229 [F.143.b]

Will be bestowed in full.

1.232

“One should craft an effigy

Of Yamāri’s terrifying form,

From the flesh,230 of a buffalo and crocodile,231

As well as a tiger,

A bear, a monkey,

And specifically, a dog.

One should also use poison, black mustard seeds, salt,

The three hot spices, and the moringa tree.

1.233

“The yogi should make a request of this effigy

Using the mantra beginning hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ

And saying, ‘I seek so-and-so.’

Her father will then present her.

1.234

“If this does not come to pass,

If the yogin sees Yamāri strike her in a dream,

And carry her off to the south,

Her father will present her when the yogin wakes.

1.235

“The vow-holder should visualize232 Mudgara Yamāri

As fearsome, with three faces and six arms.

He has the appearance of a sapphire

And has a hammer in his hand.233

1.236

“Daṇḍa Yamāri has three faces and six arms,

And is red, wrathful, and terrifying.

Terrifying even to the terrifying.

The adept should place a cudgel in his hand.

1.237

“The adept should visualize the one called Padma Yamāri.

He has three faces, six arms, and is red in color;

He is extremely frightening, terrifying,

And holds a red lotus in his hand.234

1.238

“One should visualize the one called Khaḍga Yamāri,

Who has three faces, six arms, and is green.

He accomplishes all activities

And holds a sword in his hand.

1.239

“With one’s liṅga in the bhaga,

One should visualize the lord of the maṇḍala.235

The yogin who has brought anger to mind236

Should cultivate the recollection of ignorance.

1.240

“After making ignorance the object of recollection,

One should cultivate the recollection of miserliness.

The one absorbed in recollecting miserliness

Should next cultivate the recollection of desire.

1.241

“The vow-holder immersed in recollecting desire

Should recollect the one called jealousy.

Clouds of deities from each of their families

Emanate from their pores.237

1.242

“The four wrathful ones should be visualized238

Standing in the center of sun disks.

The four goddesses should be visualized239

Standing on moon disks.

1.243

This was the tenth chapter, “Cultivating the Recollection for Mastering Vetālas,”240 from The Tantra of Black Yamāri, the Body, Speech, and Mind of All Tathāgatas.

Chapter 11: Revealing the Conduct

1.244

“Seeing that beings are overcome with hatred,

The Bhagavat, taking the form of Dveṣa Yamāri, [F.144.a]

Brings Yama under control

And lays waste to all hatred.241

1.245

“Seeing that beings are overcome with ignorance,

The Bhagavat, taking the form of Moha Yamāri,

Brings Yama under control

And lays waste to all ignorance.242

1.246

“Seeing that beings are overcome with miserliness,

The Bhagavat, moved by compassion,

Takes the form of Piśuna Yamāri

And lays waste to all miserliness.

1.247

“Seeing that beings are overcome with desire,

The Bhagavat, moved by compassion,

Takes the form of Rāga Yamāri

And lays waste to all desire.

1.248

“Seeing that beings are overcome with jealousy,

The Bhagavat, moved by compassion,

Takes the form of Īrṣyā Yamāri

And lays waste to all jealousy.

1.249

“Carcikā is said to be love,

Vārāhī is compassion,

Sarasvatī is joy,

While Gaurī embodies equanimity.

1.250

“The yogin, themselves perfected

As all those present in the maṇḍala,

Radiates from the seed syllable and their hearts;243

Success ensues, there is no doubt.244

1.251

“I will now explain

The supreme qualities of the conduct

That perfects body, speech, and mind

Through Yamāri’s terrifying form.245

1.252

“In a vastly forested area,

One should call and mount a supreme buffalo,

Adorn themselves with snakes,

And take up an iron vajra.246

1.253

“One should also turn their hair yellow,

Which should specifically flow upwards.

Skulls should ring their head

And their beard should be turned yellow.247

1.254

“While brandishing the iron vajra,

One should recite the mantra beginning hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ

And roar a lion’s roar,

While applying the practice of Vajra Yamāri.

1.255

“Once a little power develops,

One should playfully enter a village.

One should dance and ecstatically sing

Songs using ṣāḍava and other scales.248

1.256

“Seeing a row of banners,249

One should perfect the milk there.

By focusing one-pointedly on the milk,

One will attain mahāmudrā.250

1.257

“By embracing any woman

Who has taken the form of Vārāhī,251 [F.144.b]

The courageous one252 acts like a lion

And accomplishes all desired aims.

1.258

“Next, I will explain

The method for the Hundred-Armed One253

And will describe the recitation

Of the great one-syllable mantra.

1.259

“One should visualize the Buffalo-Faced One254

Manifesting from the syllable hrīḥ.

He stands on a vajra maṇḍala255

And is mounted on a buffalo.

1.260

“The adept who practices

The mantra of the Buffalo-Faced One256

Should imagine him holding various weapons‍—

Those that cut and those that pierce.257

1.261

“Next, I will explain,

The practice of Daṇḍa Yamāri.

The syllable hrīḥ is his great mantra

And he has a buffalo as his mount.

1.262

“He is arrayed with two-hundred-thousand arms

And his body, smeared with human ashes,

Is as high as Mount Sumeru

And reaches down to the golden ground.258

1.263

“Next, I will explain

The method for the Ten-Million-Armed One.

He is the lord arisen from the syllable hūṁ

And vikṛtānana is his great mantra.

1.264

oṁ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ ha hā hi hī hu hū he hai ho hau haṁ haḥ phaṭ svāhā |

1.265

“I will explain the samaya practice

That accomplishes all aims.

The food for those exhausted by the mantra

Is easy to obtain and beyond reproach.

1.266

“One should mix great flesh,259

With horse and especially elephant,

As well as cow and dog,

Donkey, camel, jackal,

1.267

“And the indigo plant,260

And then rub it on one’s body with great oil.261

One can enthrall the world

Simply by rubbing it on one’s body.

1.268

“One should mix vairocana262 and sinduvāra,

As well as bilva leaves,

A mixture of powdered brick,

And the juice of kanaka leaves.263

1.269

“Simply by rubbing this on their limbs264

One will enthrall the three worlds.

Poison, blisters, as well as leprosy

Are cured when one is smeared with it.

1.270

“One should drink the great urine

As well as vajra nectar.

This is the highest, best yoga,

As is drinking the self-arisen flower.265 [F.145.a]

1.271

This was the eleventh chapter, “Revealing the Conduct,”266 from The Tantra of Black Yamāri, the Body, Speech, and Mind of All Tathāgatas.

Chapter 12: All the Unique Ancillary Rites

1.272

Then, the blessed Mahāpuruṣasamaya, Vajrasattva in essence,267 entered the meditative absorption of Carcikā’s form, then Vārāhī’s form, then Sarasvatī’s form, then Gaurī’s form, and performed these songs of offering: 268

1.273

“Hey, Black Yamāri! Master!

You have the nature and form of a rākṣasa.

I am terrified when I look at you,

Please cast off this wrathful nature!

1.274

“The heavens, earth, and underworld

Quake from your dance.

Wrathful one, black as collyrium,

You dance to appease the vetālas.269

1.275

“Of dark, complex, and dwarfish stature,

You emanate a variety of different forms.

Essence of great bliss, dance!

I, Vajrasarasvatī, supplicate you.270

1.276

“With the hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ mantra and your dance,

You cut through the confusion of the three existences.

Your liberating dance of compassionate wrath

Fills the world with faith and wonder.271

1.277

“Next,272 I will explain

The supreme characteristics of mantra recitation.

Those who apply this mantra recitation

Will attain vast siddhis.

1.278

“Neither too quickly nor too leisurely,

Neither too long nor too short,

For the master of Yama, the supreme person,273

The recitation should be barely audible.

1.279

“The recitation mālā should be made

From buffalo or human bones,

Or those of an elephant, cow, horse,

Donkey, or camel.

1.280

“On the fourteenth day of the first month,

One should gather the five meats

Mixed with the five nectars.

Recitation then leads to the supreme siddhi.274

1.281

“The yogi should visualize

Yamāri inside each bead.

Or, the adept can visualize them

As human heads covered in blood.

1.282

“When applying the practice of Vajra Yamāri,

Bhūtas will die after 10,000 recitations.

Ḍākinīs will die after one thousand,

As will the hosts of māras and pretas.275

1.283

“After 100,000 recitations, the one immersed in yoga 276 [F.145.b]

Can perform any of the ritual activities.

After ten million repetitions, they will be granted siddhis,

To say nothing of fifty million.

1.284

“Every day, every month,

Or even every year,277

The adept278 should make sixty-four bali offerings

At the sixty-four daṇḍas.279

1.285

“Whenever one has a little something to eat,

When they have little something to drink,

Or when they enjoy a full meal,

The best part should be offered to Yamāri.

1.286

“Now, I will explain the gifts

That are to be offered to the master

In order to accomplish all activities

And to pacify oneself.

1.287

“The vow-holder should offer themselves,

As well as a horse, cow,280 or elephant,

Or gold,281 and beyond that,

Their own spouse and children,

Their mother, sisters, and nieces,

As well as their brothers.282

1.288

“One should offer different articles of clothing,

A parasol and elegant tail whisk,

A home, a seat, and fragrances,

As well as songs and music,

A sword and jewelry.

1.289

This was the twelfth chapter, “All Unique Ancillary Rites,” from The Tantra of Black Yamāri, the Body, Speech, and Mind of All Tathāgatas.

Chapter 13: Identifying the Siddhis

1.290

“Now, the knife that severs

The evil deeds of beings,

However many there are,

Is the sword that cuts through anger.283

1.291

“Next, I will explain

The practice of Vajraḍākinī,

In order to accomplish remote hearing.284

1.292

“One should imagine a sublime sun disk

Located in the center of the sky.

A five-pronged vajra285 should be visualized there,

And a palace286 placed on top of that.

1.293

“One should visualize her

In a dark-blue, terrifying form.287

She is six-armed and fearsome,

With a vajra in one hand and the others in the rest.288

1.294

“In the east is Buddhaḍākinī,

Six-armed and resembling Mohavajra.

Terrifying with a wheel in hand,

She is visualized in the center of a yoga-maṇḍala.289

1.295

“In the south is Ratnaḍākinī,

Six-armed and resembling Piśuna.290

Blazing brightly with a jewel in hand,

She is visualized on the disk of the sun.

1.296

“In the west is Padmadākinī, [F.146.a]

Six-armed and holding a lotus.

In the north is Karmaḍākinī,

On a bhaga maṇḍala holding a sword.291

1.297

“In the four corners, beginning in the west,

The vow-holder should visualize the goddesses,

Specifically Lāsyā and Mālyā,

As well as Nṛtyā and Geyā.

1.298

“They should then focus on the door guardians

By following the prescribed method:

Mudgara, Daṇḍa, Padma,

And the other one, Khaḍga.292

1.299

1.300

And for the corners: laṁ naṁ gaṁ maṁ |

1.301

oṁ mudgara jaḥ | oṁ daṇḍa hūṁ | oṁ padma vaṁ | oṁ khadga hoḥ |

1.302

This is the practice of Vajraḍākinī taught by the blessed vajra bearer.

1.303

“To accomplish remote hearing

One should visualize Vajraḍākinī.

In that way the mantra siddhi is attained.293

1.304

oṁ ākāśacara ḍākinīye hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā |294

1.305

“Next, I will explain

The practice of Vajrapātāla.

To attain the siddhi of moving underground

One should visualize Śumbhavajra.

1.306

“He has six arms, is blue and fearsome,295

Holds a pestle aloft in his hand,

And is in the middle of the garbhamaṇḍala.296

This is how he is to be arranged.

1.307

“Locanā should be placed in the east,

Māmakī in the south,

The goddess Pāṇdarā in the west,

And Tārā in the north.

1.308

“Puṣpā, Dhūpā, Gandhā, and Dīpā

Should be placed in the east and so forth.

Mudgara and the rest stand in the doors,

All wearing snakes as belts.

1.309

“One should visualize the maṇḍala in this way,

Following the prescribed method.

Those who train in Vajrapātāla

Will see a path in their dreams.

1.310

“Next, I will explain

The maṇḍala of the King of the Seven.297

In order to attain the power of flight,

One should perfect Paramāśva.

1.311

“He has two arms, one face,

A dark-colored body, and is terrifying.

He stands on a sun disk

And is beautiful, with face of a horse.298

His right hand holds bean pods in a fist,299

And his left, a skull cup.

1.312

oṁ phuṁ phuṁ phuṁ hi hi hi |300

1.313

“The adept should recite this mantra [F.146.b]

For the renowned Paramāśva.301

1.314

“In the east, visualize Vaḍavā,

In the south Turaṅgamā,

In the west Saptarājñī,

And in the northern space, Paramāśvā.302

1.315

“One should visualize their faces and arms

To be like those of the central deity.

The request for them to arrive

Resounds everywhere through this mantra.

1.316

“In each of the corners one should place

Bamboo and reed flutes, a lute, drum, and tabor.303

1.317

“Gokarṇa, Hastikarṇa, Sumukha, Durmukha,

Muśāla, Paraśu, Aṅkuśa, and Pāśa

Should be continuously visualized in the four doors,

Engaged in dance and other dramatic acts.304

Green shoots should be visualized in their left hands

And, similarly, their emblems in their right.

The mantra of Paramāśva

Is the same as Vajrapātāla’s.

By cultivating the practice of Paramāśva

One becomes the space of the three worlds.305

1.318

This was the thirteenth chapter, “Identifying the Siddhis,” from The Tantra of Black Yamāri, the Body, Speech, and Mind of All Tathāgatas.

Chapter 14: The Practice of Mañjuvajra

1.319

“This is the supreme rite for the measuring cord:

1.320

oṁ akāro mukhaṃ sarvadharmāṇām ādyanutpannatvāt oṁ āḥ hūṁ phaṭ svāhā |306

1.321

“One should visualize themselves as glorious Yamāntaka

And the disciple as Vairocana.

Then, while meditatively composed,

Set the supreme, preeminent wisdom cord.

1.322

“This is the supreme samaya of the great maṇḍala:307 oṁ āḥ hūṁ |

1.323

“The adept308 should prepare a cord

That is smeared with the five cow products

And is twice as long as the maṇḍala,

With the doors being a twentieth of that.

1.324

“This is the rite for the great vajra request:

1.325

“O great master, a buddha,

Lord of the Dharma assembly,309

Grant me the true samaya!

Grant me the bodhicitta!

1.326

“This is the rite for the erecting the great site. Once the earth goddess has been summoned, one should say:

1.327

‘Devi, you bear witness

To the unique conduct

Of all the buddhas, the protectors, [F.147.a]

And to their perfections and levels.

1.328

“Supreme beings should know310

The doors to be an eighth of the maṇḍala,

Excluding the great main hall,

Which is pleasing and lavishly decorated.311

1.329

“The crests should be known312 to be like the doors,

As are the celestial moldings,

Which are affixed with vajra apsarases313

Who are singing, playing instruments, and dancing.

1.330

“The altar 314 is half the measure of the doors,

As are the cheek moldings 315 and the sides.

It also has long and short pearl strands,

Moons, suns, flower garlands,

Cloth hangings, and ribbons.

1.331

“The colored ground is half of that316

And the base line is outside the grounds.317

1.332

“Now, the great essence:318

1.333

“One’s own circle should be set

And one should embrace their mudrā.

The wisdom enters the samaya‍—319

Thus should the maṇḍala be established.320

1.334

“The east should be colored bright white,

The south, yellow,

The western portion, red,

The north green in color,321

And the central space like the light of a sapphire.

1.335

“Then the implements should be placed

In accordance with the prescribed rite.

The implements are always sky-like

And are always drawn in this way.322

1.336

In the center one should draw a vajra,

In the east, a wheel should be drawn,

And so forth for the other directions.

The implements should always resemble the main face.323

1.337

Now, for the ladle:324

1.338

“One should fashion a stick

That it is one cubit in length.

Its end should be rounded

And measure four finger-widths around.

The bottom325 should be two finger-widths deep

And fashioned with a spout half a finger-width wide.

1.339

“A spoon, shaped like a lotus petal,

With a bowl one thumb-width high

And one finger-width deep,326

Is praised in this tantra.

1.340

“People who have not entered the maṇḍala,

Who have committed the five acts with immediate retribution,

Who have taken a life,

Who eat fish and other meats,

1.341

“Who indulge in wine,327

Who uphold the ways of nihilists,

Who have not been initiated,

Who wander about begging,328

1.342

“And who delight in country ways,329 [F.147.b]

And yet devote themselves to Yamāri’s tantra,

Will doubtlessly become accomplished,

According to words of the Dark One.”330

1.343

Once all the buddhas and the bodhisattvas, headed by Maitreya, heard331 this vajra statement,332 they fell silent and remained seated.

1.344

This is the rite for vajra entry:

1.345

“The four circles333 should be formed

From the great seed syllables of the four elements.

By connecting them to the four places,334

One can move through the sky.

1.346

“The syllable yaṁ is on the bottom of the feet, the syllable raṃ is at the navel, the syllable laṃ is at the heart, and the syllable vaṃ is at the head.

1.347

“The wind maṇḍala is bow-shaped, pitch-black,335

The form of fierce and fearsome wind.

The fire maṇḍala is triangular, blazes like fire,

And appears as red as the sun.336

1.348

“The earth maṇḍala is a bright yellow square,

The imperishable base of the vajra ground.

It should be imagined as the very earth

Upon which stand Sumeru and its mountain range.

1.349

“The water maṇḍala is white, round, intensely cold,

And carries water like a bank of clouds.

It is like the ocean filled by a thousand streams

And cool like snow-covered mountains.

1.350

“One should visualize the vajra-holding disciple,

Using the method of these four places,

And with Amitābha in their mouth,337

And then bring them quickly into the maṇḍala.338

1.351

“This is the rite for the request:339

1.352

“ ‘Vajradharma, Great Protector,

Amitābha, Great Bliss!

Please speak, you who have great desire for the Dharma.

I ask about virtue and nonvirtue.’

1.353

“Great disciples rise up

From just one cubit,

Up to one thousand cubits.

This is based on the rite of entering.340

1.354

“Now I will explain

The features of the plaster image.341

The vow holder should take wet clay

And perform the mantra recitation.

1.355

“Beans, milk, meat, and molasses,

Should be mixed with tamarind and the like,

With oil, neem leaves,

As well as nāḍīka seeds.342

1.356

“One should first apply a white layer

And then decorate it with other colors.343

Using chalk and red ocher

Results in a color similar to lac.

1.357

“Turmeric and indigo

Similarly yield dark green.

Blue mixed with indigo,

Or with eye black, yields black.

1.358

“Mixing pale yellow with realgar,

Or vermillion, yields red. [F.148.a]

Add to that a drop of bilva,

But just a little, not too much.

1.359

“If one adds too much it turns black,

If too little, it becomes grey.

The image can be either wrathful or peaceful.

The characteristics of both will now be described.

1.360

“The peaceful is described as playful,

The wrathful as rotund and short.

Its nose should measure four finger-widths.

Its forehead, chin, jaws, throat, and neck,344

1.361

Should also be four finger-widths.

The image should be twenty-four cubits and twenty finger-widths tall.

Its hands, feet and mouth are all the same size.

And its eyes are a single thumb width.

1.362

“Its ears are described as two finger-widths

And its two testicles each four.

Its lips together are two finger-widths

And its navel one finger-width.

1.363

“Its face is one of third its body

And has no neck.345

Its crown of matted hair is the length of its face346

And bears a crown that is six finger-widths.

1.364

“Now I will explain

The practice of Ekajaṭā.

One who seeks the siddhis of a yakṣiṇī

Should train in Ekajaṭā.

1.365

“One should visualize her in the maṇḍala’s center,

With one face and two arms,

Holding a knife and a skull cup,

Her body stout347 and blue.

1.366

“Jambhalā should be imagined in the east

And Vasudhārā in the south.

Jalendrā is to be placed in the west

And Cibikuṇḍalī in the north.348

1.367

“In the four corners, the southeast first,

One should visualize the four yakṣiṇīs‍—

Kuntalā, Dehinī, Gehā, and Vasundarī,349

And arrange them according to the rite.

1.368

“One should then visualize the doors,350

With Mudgara and the rest all around.351

One should use the same colors

As in the previous maṇḍala.

1.369

“Seeing themselves as the maṇḍala deity,352 bearing emblems,

The adept should then recite her mantra:

1.370

oṁ ekajaṭi vasudhāriṇi svāhā |353

1.371

“Next, I will explain

The practice of Pukkasī.

By merely visualizing her

One is able to harm354 the three worlds.

1.372

“One should imagine her [F.148.b]

As yellow, with four faces and arms,

And riding on a donkey.

She should be visualized holding a bow,

Noose, hammer, and arrow.

1.373

“The mantra to recite is: oṁ pukkasī aṃ |355

1.374

“Now I will explain

The maṇḍala of Mañjuvajra.

Once Mañjuvajra is accomplished,356

Invisibility instantly ensues.

1.375

“He has three faces and six arms,

And is yellow, like the luster of gold.

One should train in this protector with a youthful form

In order to make oneself invisible.

1.376

“Sundarī should be placed in the east

And Keśinī in the south.

Vihvalā 357 should be imagined in the west

And Upakeśinī in the north.

1.377

“A sword should be placed in their right hands

And a wheel and the rest358 in all the others.

They all have three faces and six arms

And are adorned with various ornaments.

1.378

“Arising from the seed syllable maṁ,

They stand in the maṇḍala’s core,

All standing on moon disks

With their left legs extended.359

1.379

“Mārīcī, Parṇaśabarī,

Vasudhārā, and Cundrikā

Are placed in the four corners, southeast first,

As a gathering of the essence.360

1.380

“They are visualized holding aśoka leaves and branches,

As well as the stalks of clusters of grain.

Their bodies are yellow and green,

Yellow again, and white.

1.381

“They all have three faces and six arms,

And are known as the maṇḍala deities.361

Mudga and the rest are visualized in the doors.

Thus will one become invisible.

1.382

This was the fourteenth chapter, “The Practice of Mañjuvajra,” from The Tantra of Black Yamāri, the Body, Speech, and Mind of All Tathāgatas.

Chapter 15: The Practice of Vajrānaṅga

1.383

“Next, I will explain

The practice of the noble Jāṅgulī.

One can walk on water

Merely by visualizing her.

1.384

“Born from the seed syllable phuḥ,

She is yellow, with three faces and six arms.

Mighty in form, she holds a snake in her hand

And rides a peacock as her mount.

1.385

“One should place Māyūrī in the east,

Bhṛkuṭī in the south,

Parṇaśabarī in the west,

And Vajraśṛṅkhalā in the north.

1.386

“They should be visualized with peacock feathers,

Water pitchers, sprigs,362 and vajra chains. [F.149.a]

Their colors are yellow, red,

Green, and blue, respectively.

1.387

“The adept should visualize in this way

And then recite her mantra:

1.388

oṁ phuḥ jaḥ |

1.389

“Mudgara and the others are placed in the doors,

And Puṣpā and the others in the corners.

Through the yoga of Jāṅgulī,

One will always walk on water.

1.390

“Next, I will explain

The practice of Kurukullā.

Merely by visualizing her

One can summon a female nāga.

1.391

“She is red, has four faces,

And is arrayed with eight arms.

She arises from the syllable hrīḥ

And is capable of summoning nāgas.

1.392

“Nāgas from the eight families, Ananta first,

Should be placed in her eight hands.

The vow holder should imagine her graceful body

To be beautifully adorned with snakes.363

1.393

“The mantra is:

1.394

oṁ kurukulle hrīḥ phuḥ svāhā |

1.395

“Now I will relate the secret,

In brief, not extensively.

Merely knowing it enables one

To summon Apsarases.

1.396

“One should visualize Vajrānaṅga 364

With two arms and one face,

And an arrow and a bow in hand.

His mighty body is yellow in color.

1.397

“Rati should be visualized in the east,

Madanasundarī in the south,

Kāmadevī in the west,

And Madanotsukā 365 in the north.

1.398

“All of these love goddesses

Should be imagined holding a bow and arrow

And visualized as yellow,

Red, green, and pink.366

1.399

“Aniruddha and Uṣāpati 367

Are always placed in the corners.

Vasanta and Makaraketu

Are said to be in the doors.

1.400

“Yama’s slayer should be visualized

On the heads of all the deities

Kandarpa and Darpaka,

Smara, and Bāṇāyudha.368

1.401

“Vajrānaṅga should be visualized

Standing inside a woman’s lotus.369

Arisen from the syllable śīt370

He emits light in all directions.

1.402

“One should imagine the desired woman

Trembling, beside herself with anxious desire, [F.149.b]

She has fallen at one’s feet,

Wrapped in a red garment.371

1.403

“This is the moment to recite the mantra,

Pronouncing the mantra-syllable śīt

Extending from the syllable oṁ,

With svāhā placed at the end.372

1.404

“If one continuously meditates,

‘May the woman so-and-so be enthralled,’

The yogin will obtain her through desire,

Just as the Dark One declared.”373

1.405

This was the fifteenth chapter, “The Practice of Vajrānaṅga,” from The Tantra of Black Yamāri, the Body, Speech, and Mind of All Tathāgatas.

Chapter 16: The Practice of Heruka

1.406

“Next, I will explain

The practice of the great Heruka,

Knowing which, the yogin

Will quickly be liberated from saṃsāra’s fetters.

1.407

“One should visualize him with two arms and one face,

Blue in color, and in the half-dancing posture.374

He should be visualized with a vajra in one hand

And a skull cup in the other.

1.408

“He has three eyes, his hair flows upward,

And he is adorned with the five mudrās.

He has a khaṭvāṅga at his left side

And his feet are adorned with anklets.375

1.409

“He has emerged from the syllable hūṁ

And should always be placed standing on a preta.376

The five skulls on his head

Are related to the five buddhas.

One should visualize Akṣobhya on their crown‍—

This is how one visualizes the one called Heruka.

1.410

“In the east is Dharmacakrā,

In the south, Buddhabodhi,

In the west, Sarvakāmalatā,

And in the north, the one resembling Heruka.377

1.411

“They are adorned with every ornament

And are arrayed in their respective colors.378

They are alluring, stand on pretas,

And destroy all delusion.

1.412

“They are to be drawn in the midst379 of a Dharma wheel,

An aśvattha sprig, and a wish-fulfilling tree.

A vajra should be visualized

In the goddesses’ right hands.

They should be visualized on a circular disk,

With a human skull in their other hand.380

1.413

“The enchanting Locanā, Māmakī, Tārā, and Pāṇḍarā

Are in the four corners, beginning in the southeast,

And Yamāntaka is in the outer circle.

1.414

One should visualize Prajñāntaka, Hayagrīva, Sarvakuṇḍali,

And the maṇḍala’s door guardians as well, [F.150.a]

Imagining them following the proper rite.”

1.415

This was the sixteenth chapter, “The Practice of Heruka,” from The Tantra of Black Yamāri, the Body, Speech, and Mind of All Tathāgatas.

Chapter 17: Bodhicitta

1.416

“After visualizing the five aspects,381

The adept should visualize an image of the Buddha.382

After visualizing the image of the Buddha,

They should visualize the wheel bearer.383

1.417

“The performance of the four songs

Initiates the emergence of the wheel bearer.

Cārcikā and the others offer songs

In the ṣāḍava and other scales.384

1.418

“ ‘Rise, lord of compassionate wrath,385

And remove the ignorance of the three worlds!’

1.419

“ ‘I beg you, Lord, do not linger but rise,

Be victorious over the māras!’386

1.420

“ ‘World protector, how can you dwell in emptiness?

Arise, Lord, through the power of the world’s merit!’

1.421

“ ‘Why do you remain in emptiness?

The world moves toward the nature of awakening.’387

1.422

“Bodhicitta should be reached,

Like the trajectory of a shooting star.

The vajra holder himself has melted,

Through a mind suffused with compassion.388

1.423

“First one should cultivate yoga,

Second, anuyoga,

Third, atiyoga,

And fourth, mahāyoga.

1.424

“The completion of Vajrasattva

Is what is meant by yoga.

The melting of the deity’s body389

Is known as anuyoga.390

1.425

“The completion of the entire circle

Is called atiyoga.

1.426

“The empowerment of the divine eyes,391

As well as body, speech, and mind,

Entry into the wisdom circle,

The tasting of the nectar,

And the extensive offerings and praises,

Are known as mahāyoga.392

1.427

“The teacher should not be disparaged.

The sugatas commands should not be transgressed.

Likewise, one should not grow angry with their brethren

And should not reveal their faults.393

1.428

“One should never abandon bodhicitta

Or dishonor their own or others’ Dharma.

One should never relinquish

Their love for other beings.

1.429

“One should not teach secrets

To those who are not yet ripened. [F.150.b]

One should not revile their own aggregates

Nor disparage village ways.394

1.430

“One should always avoid those enamored with wickedness395

And not take the measure of meritorious acts.396

One should not deceive beings who have faith

And should always honor their samaya.

1.431

“Deprecating women, the nature of wisdom,

Is considered an offence.

Yogins should never go out for alms,

Nor should they forsake their yoga.

1.432

“They should always and continuously recite mantra

And always honor their samayas.

If, in a moment of carelessness,

One damages the samaya with their teacher,

They should draw a maṇḍala

And confess their faults to the sugatas.

1.433

“The compassionate should, without rationalization,397

Faithfully guard the samaya with their master.

They should continuously venerate their master

Through great effort in meditation, recitation, and the rest,

All with a mind that has relinquished its faults.398

1.434

“The vow holder 399 should ripen the disciple

Who is steadfast, disciplined, singularly compassionate,

Who endures with faith and determination,

Who is devoted to their master,

And is faithfully devoted to Yamāri.”

1.435

Once all the blessed tathāgatas heard the words of the vajra bearer,400 the embodiment of supremely great bliss, they fell silent. Then, they spoke this praise:401

1.436

“Just as the great skull cup is the ultimate expression of the vow,

The yantras are the ultimate expression of Yamāri’s tantras.

The ultimate expression of the tantras is the assembly.

Nothing else has been or will be.

1.437

“How amazing, the Dharma of great peace!

How amazing, the wrathful terrifier!

How amazing, the supreme nirvāṇa!

How amazing, the pacifier of saṃsāra!402

1.438

“How amazing! This is truly marvelous!

Faults become qualities.

There is no awakening, no realization,

No being and no becoming.403

1.439

“There are no elements and no consciousness,

All is equal to the element of space.

Devoid of self, just like the sky,

This Dharma is great bliss. [F.151.a]

1.440

“There is no earth, no water,

No fire, no wind, and no space.404

Once generated and consecrated,

Through the method of the vajra-being,

All that exists is said to not exist

And no claim is made about the nonexistent.

1.441

“Through the connection between yoga and being a yogin,405

There is neither cessation nor permanence.

There are no arms406 and no colors.

Beginning, middle, and end are abandoned,

And all existents disappear‍—

This is the quality of supreme joy.”

1.442

Then, the blessed great Carcikā and the others spoke this praise:407

1.443

“Unrelated to both merit and evil,

Supreme joy is the stainless, pure protector.

It is the singular great treasure of thusness,

A protector as the universal compassionate mind.

1.444

“All phenomena have the nature of great bliss.

Supreme joy is its intrinsic nature.408

It has no form, merit, or evil,

Nor does it undergo arising and ceasing.”

1.445

This was the seventeenth chapter, “Bodhicitta,”409 from The Tantra of Black Yamāri, the Body, Speech, and Mind of All Tathāgatas.

Chapter 18

1.446

“Now I will relate the history of this tantra.

1.447

“When the Bhagavat was about to attain awakening, a great army of māras approached, displaying fearsome terrors in order to interfere with the awakening of the blessed Great Sage. At that time, the Bhagavat entered the meditative absorption called victory over great māras and emanated the wrathful great Yamāri from the vajras of his body, speech, and mind. Once emanated, the King of Sages gave this command to Vajrapāṇi:410

1.448

“Vajrapāṇi! Assume this form of the wrathful Yamāri 411 and destroy, bind, and kill412 the māras, nāgas, yakṣas, asuras, and devas!”413 [F.151.b]

1.449

The great Lord of the Guhyakas, the head of the vajra family, and father of Nalakūbera,414 then said:

1.450

“At that time, I heard the words of the Bhagavat, instantly grasped and understood the meaning, compiled it, and took it to heart.”415

1.451

This was the eighteenth chapter of the Tantra of Black Yamāri, which was extracted from the King of Tantras in seven hundred thousand lines and revealed in the land of Oḍḍiyāna, and which produces all siddhis.

1.452

The Tantra of Black Yamāri, the Body, Speech, and Mind of all Tathāgatas, is complete.

Colophon

c.1

This was translated, edited, and finalized by the great Indian preceptor Dīpaṅkaraśrījñāna and the Tibetan translator, the monk Tsültrim Gyalwa.416 Later, the translation was revised by the monk and translator Darma Drak, and then again by the monk Dorjé Drak.

ab.

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	Kangxi kang shi
N	Narthang snar thang
S	Stok Palace stog pho ’brang
Skt.	1992 Sanskrit edition published by the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies.
Tib.	All Tibetan Sources
Y	Yongle g.yong lo

Notes

n.1

The title in F reads in (reconstructed and revised) Sanskrit, *guhyaguhyakṛṣṇayamārinamatantrarāja (gu hya gu hya kri rna ya ma a ri na ma tan tra rA dza) and in Tibetan, gsang ba bas kyang ches gsang ba gshin rje’i dgra nag po zhes bya ba rgyud kyi rgyal po. This title could be translated as “The King of Tantras: The Black Yamāri, the Secret of Secrets.”

n.2

For general description and short summary of the content of these cycles, see Cuevas 2021, pp. 14–27. The Black Yamāri cycle will be discussed below. For an overview of the Vajrabhairava cycle, see The Tantra of Vajrabhairava the Great, and for Red Yamāri see The Tantra of Red Yamāri. According to Tāranātha, however, the tantras of Red Yamāri, Black Yamāri, and Vajrabhairava are all independent tantras belonging to different tathāgata-families. See Sparham 2009, p. 45.

n.3

See Tanaka 2018, p. 192.

n.4

Vajrabhairava and other forms of Yamāntaka feature in many Tibetan lineages, even if the Geluk tradition has placed the greatest emphasis on them. For an overview of the lineages of Vajrabhairava in particular, see Cuevas 2021, pp. 33–83, and the introduction to The Tantra of Vajrabhairava the Great.

n.5

On the relationship between the maṇḍalas of The Tantra of Black Yamāri and the Guhyasamāja Tantra, See Tanaka 2018, pp. 189–93. On the parallels between the two texts, see Kuranishi 2023, passim.

n.6

The Guhyasamāja Tantra if approximately dated to the mid-eighth century, and commentary composed by Dīpaṅkarabhadra (fl. late eighth/early ninth century) also suggests The Tantra of Black Yamāri was in circulation at that time (Kuranishi 2023, p. 1, notes 1 and 2).

n.7

For list of the Indic texts featuring Black Yamāri, see Samdhong Rinpoche and V. Dwivedi 1992, pp. 12–16. Kenichi Kuranishi (2009, p. 267) counts nearly two hundred texts related to Black Yamāri in the Kangyur and Tengyur.

n.8

For discussion of Śrīdhara’s commentary and an edition of the Skt. fragments, see Kuranishi 2023.

n.9

This commentary has been published along with the root text in Samdhong Rinpoche and V. Dwivedi, 1992.

n.10

This commentary is not least interesting for the fact that it was translated Rongzom Chökyi Sangpo (rong zom chos kyi bzang po). His exact dates are not known, but he was a contemporary of Atiśa who lived 982–1054 ᴄᴇ.

n.11

On Ra Lotsāwa, see Ra Yeshé Sengé 2015 and Cuevas 2021, pp. 55–64; on his potentially conflicted relationship with Darma Drak, see Cuevas 2021, p. 47, n. 91, and Ra Yeshé Sengé 2015, pp.187–88 and 249–51.

n.12

See Herrmann-Pfandt 2008, p. 227. This is likely The Dhāraṇī of Vajrabhairava (Toh 605, Vajrabhairavadhāraṇī), which was translated by the same Indian master and Tibetan translator and preserved in the Kangyur under a slightly different title. See i.1 to the translation of The Dhāraṇī of Vajrabhairava for more on that text and its translators.

n.13

See Kawagoe 2005, p. 43. These are the ’jam dpal gshin rje gshed kyi rtog pa phyi ma’i yang phyi ma spyir le’u bcu bdun, de’i brjed byang, and khro bo’i rgyal po zhal drug pa’i rtog pa.

n.14

Samdhong Rinpoche and V. Dwivedi, 1992.

n.15

Tib. gshin rje’i gshed. While this Tibetan term is also used to translate the Sanskrit yamāntaka, comparison with the extant Sanskrit witnesses suggests it was used consistently here to translate yamāri. The homage in F reads, “Homage to the glorious one who is terrifying and wrathful” (dpal khro bo ’jigs pa can la phyag ’tshal lo).

n.16

Skt. and F take bhagavat as an epithet of Vajrapāṇi (bhagavān vajrapāṇir; bcom ldan ’das phyag na rdo rje).

n.17

This reading follows Skt. and F in including “vajra being” (vajrasattvam). D and S read only “vajra” (rdo rje).

n.18

D] ’od ser lnga yis ’khrigs pa yis rdo rje; F] ’od zer lnga dang ni ldan pa’i rdo rje; S] ’od ser lnga yis ’khrigs pa yi rdo rje; Skt.] vajram pañcaraśmisamākulam. This translation follows the Skt., F, and S.

n.19

Skt. and F read “the meditative absorption called the vajra that eliminates all māras (sarvamāravidhvaṃsanavajraṃ nāma samādhim; bdud med pa’i rdo rje zhes bya ba’i ting nge ’dzin).

n.20

This translation follows F, H, N, S, and Skt. in reading this in the ablative case. D is in the locative (’di nyid kyi sku gsung thugs rdo rje rnams la).

n.21

D] yats+tsha; F] ya tsa; S] ya ts+tsha; Skt.] ya ca. This translation follows the Skt. and F.

n.22

Skt. and F read “the first among the syllables including ra…” (rephasyādi; ra yi gong ma)

Skt. has sa.

Skt. has mam.

Skt. has jā.

Skt. reads “black-colored and cruel” (kāladāruṇam).

n.27

Skt. reads “in the eastern door” (pūrvadvāre) and F reads “eastern spoke” (shar rtsib).

n.28

Skt. mahādveṣatanu. Kumāracandra indicates this to be “the body of Dveṣa Yamāri” (dveṣayamārikāya).

n.29

This translation follows Skt. and F in supplying the syntactical subject adept (budhaḥ; mkhas pa).

n.30

According to Kumāracandra, this is held in the first of his right hands. Yamāri holds a sword and knife in his remaining right hands, and a wheel, red lotus, and skull cup in his three left hands.

n.31

According to Kumāracandra, this is held in the first of his right hands. Mohavajra holds a sword and knife in his remaining right hands, and a jewel, lotus, and skull cup in his three left hands.

n.32

Both Skt. and F read “molten” or “refined” gold (taptacāmīkara; gtso ma gser).

n.33

According to Kumāracandra, this is held in the first of his right hands. Piśunavajra holds a sword and knife in his remaining right hands, and a wheel, lotus, and skull cup in his three left hands.

n.34

According to Kumāracandra, this is held in the first of his right hands. Rāgavajra holds a sword and knife in his remaining right hands, and a wheel, jewel, and skull cup in his three left hands.

n.35

Kumāracandra glosses sarvam (“universal”) with sārvakarmikam, “appropriate for all actions.” Whereas the preceding deities are all linked to a single ritual action (wrathful, pacifying, enriching, and enthralling, respectively), Īrṣyāvajra is associated with all ritual applications.

n.36

According to Kumāracandra, this is held in the first of his right hands. Īrṣyavajra holds a vajra and knife in his remaining right hands, and a wheel, lotus, and skull cup in his three left hands.

n.37

The Skt. reads “Peaceful, comprised of all buddhas…” (sarvabuddhamayaḥ śāntaḥ).

n.38

Skt. and F read “the most eminent of all sounds” (sarvaghoṣavarāgrāgrya; dbyangs kun gyi ni mchog gi mchog).

n.39

Skt. and F read “Who resembles the vajra body” (kāyavajrapratīkāśa; sku’i rdo rje rab snang ba).

n.40

Here and elsewhere in D and S, the Sanskrit term samaya is translated with cho ga, which typically means “rite” or “procedure.” F reports the more expected dam tshig. While we take cho ga to be equivalent to the Skt. samaya and not a variant reading, we follow the Tibetan to translate the valence of the term in this context. This is followed throughout the text without further notation.

n.41

According to Kumāracandra, this refers to the various ritual activities of pacifying and so on (śāntikādi). As he indicates in his commentary on the next verse, this refers to the set of four ritual categories that also includes enriching (pauṣṭika; rgyas pa), enthralling (vaśya, dbang byed) and hostile rites (abhicāra; mngon spyod).

n.42

This translation follows Skt. F, K, N, S, and Y in including prajña / shes pa as the syntactical subject.

n.43

Skt. and F read “the maṇḍala of Yama’s Slayer” (yamaghnasya maṇḍala; gshin rje sgrol pa’i dkyil ’khor).

n.44

Here again Kumāracandra identifies as including the fourfold set of ritual activities: pacifying, enriching, enthralling, and hostile rites (śāntikapauṣṭikavaśyābhicārādikarmakāraika).

n.45

Kumāracandra glosses karmavajra with viśvavajra (sna tshogs rdo rje) “a crossed vajra,” and states that “on each end” (samantatas) refers to the prongs in the cardinal directions (catasṛṣv api dikṣu).

n.46

Kumāracandra states that this refers to “light rays in the form of vajras” (vajrākāraraśmi).

n.47

Skt. and F omit the first line and begin this verse with, “On the eastern prong one should draw a wheel / That is engulfed in wheel-shaped light” (pūrvaśūle likec cakraṃ cakraraśmisamākulam; ’khor lo ’od kyi kun ’khrigs pa’i / ’khor lo shar kyi rtsibs la khri).

n.48

Following this line Skt. reads, “One should draw a sword in the north / That is engulfed in a multi-colored blaze” (uttareṇālikhet khaḍgam viśvajvālāsamākulam). F reads, “One should draw a sword in the north / That is engulfed in the gleam of the sword” (ral gri ’od ’bar snang ba yi / ral gri byang du bri bar bya).

n.49

Skt. pūrvakoṇe; Tib. shar gyi mtshams. Kumāracandra identifies this as “the direction of Agni” (āgneya), the southeast.

n.50

This line is absent in Skt. and F.

n.51

Skt. dakṣine; Tib. lho ru. We follow Kumāracandra in reading understanding “south” as “the direction of Nirṛti” (nairṛtya), the southwest.

n.52

Skt. paścime; Tib. nub tu. We follow Kumāracandra in understanding the term “west” as “the direction of Vāyu” (vāyavye), the northwest.

n.53

The Skt. specifically identifies this as a “yellow” (pīta) water lily (utpala). F reads “A vajra sword blazes in the north” (byang du ro rje ral gri ’bar).

n.54

Skt. and F read “fearlessly worship the buddhas” (buddhān pūjayed abhiśaṅkitaḥ; mi ’jigs sangs rgyas kun la mchod).

n.55

F adds “to the Bhagavat, lord of all blessed tathāgatas” (bcom ldan ’das de bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi bdag po la). We understand the Tibetan bstod pa’i rgyal po ’dis bstod nas as equivalent to anena stotrarājena.

n.56

Skt. and F read “his own vajra body, speech, and mind” (svakāyavākcittavajraº;’di nyid kyi sku dang gsung dang thugs rdo rje).

n.57

Kumāracandra states that this refers to the deities in Yamāri’s maṇḍala (maṇḍaleśvaramaṇḍāleya).

n.58

The translation of this line ambiguous line is informed by Kumāracandra, who states that the nectar samaya, in the form of the mantra, enters the deities’ tongues, which are shaped like single-pronged vajras.

n.59

Kumāracandra states that Muḍgara’s mantra is jaḥ, Daṇḍa’s is hūṁ, Padma’s is vaṃ, and Kaḍga’s is hoḥ, thus yielding the standard mantra for this visualization sequence jaḥ hūṁ vaṃ hoḥ.

n.60

The “vajra buffalo” is Yamāri’s mount.

n.61

According to Kumāracandra, this refers to the sun.

n.62

According to Kumāracandra, this also refers to the sun.

n.63

Kumāracandra states that this is Īrṣyāyamāri.

n.64

According to Kumāracandra, this also refers to the sun.

n.65

Though not stated here explicitly, in similar rites one lights the wick to burn away the fat, thus producing the soot inside the skull. This whole procedure takes place within a charnel ground.

n.66

Here and in the next three verses we follow Kumāracandra in reading karma as Karmavajra/Īrṣyāyamāri.

n.67

Kumāracandra interprets this ambiguous phrase to refer to “the collyrium that is smeared on one’s index finger” (tatkajjalamrakṣitatarjanyām), perhaps referring to applying the collyrium around the eyes.

n.68

This translation follows Skt. (pādalepanam tu sādhayet). The reading in D is unclear, but could be interpreted as “One perfects the perfected salve…”

n.69

For a general overview of the yantras presented in this and other chapters of The Tantra of Black Yamāri, see Kuranishi 2009. Some of the descriptions in this chapter bear a striking resemblance with some of those in chapter ten of The Tantra of the Arising of Śaṃvara. About this see Tsuda 1970, pp. 106–13 (Sanskrit) and pp. 191–7 (Tibetan).

n.70

F reads “to the blessed lord of all tathāgatas, the great vajra beater” (bcom ldan ’das de bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi bdag po rdo rje ’dzin pa chen po la). As above, we understand the Tibetan bstod pa’i rgyal po ’dis bstod nas as equivalent to the Sanskrit anena stotrarājena.

n.71

Skt. and F read “May the oceans of wisdom listen” (śṛṇvantu jñānasāgarāḥ; ye shes rgya mtsho gnyan par ’tshal. Kumāracandra states that this refers to bodhisattvas (jñānena sāgarā bodhisattvāḥ).

n.72

We follow Kumāracandra in understanding the direct speech of the Bhagavat to begin with the next line.

n.73

Skt. reads, tentatively, “The yantras supreme to Yamāri” (yamāryantāni yantrāṇi). Here and below the Tibetan translation at times uses the word “circle” (’khor lo) as a synonym for yantra, and other times to the lines used to draw the yantra. The Sanskrit text sporadically does the same, but not in this instance.

n.74

Kumāracandra explains that both enthralling and protecting are ultimately aimed at the pacification of the targets, thus both activities fall under the category or the rite of pacifying.

n.75

D and S read ro tsa nas, F has gi wang, and Skt. rocanā. We take rocanā to be synonymous with gorocanā, as indicated by F.

n.76

Kumāracandra comments that, after imagining oneself as Yamāri appearing like candrakānta‍—indicating a translucent white color‍—one places Mohayamāri before themselves and imagines the previously drawn yantra in the form of a moon disk and the target of the rite on it.

n.77

This term indicates the place where the target’s name is to be inserted.

n.78

Skt. reads oṁ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛānana hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā | oṁ namo devdattāya śāntiṃ kuru namaḥ svāha.

n.79

“Saffron” is tentatively inserted. The source texts read only “Kashmiri” (kāśmira; kha che yi).

n.80

In the Skt., “facing north” is most clearly read with the previous line, so that one is facing north while scattering flowers on the conjoined bowls.

n.81

The Skt. reads, “In order to enrich, one should radiate light while reciting” (puṣṭiṃ kartuṃ sphuran japet).

n.82

Skt. reads oṁ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā [|] oṁ laṃ devadattasyapuṣṭiṃ kuru kuru svāhā. The Skt. also adds vauṣaṭ vā at the end of this mantra, meaning the mantra can end in vauṣaṭ instead of svāhā.

n.83

Skt.reads oṁ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā [|] oṁ vauṣaṭ devadattasya puṣṭiṃ kuru vauṣaṭ hūṁ phaṭ svāhā.

n.84

According to Kumāracandra, this should specifically be a cotton cloth stained with menstrual blood.

n.85

Kumāracandra explains that the syllable hoḥ is appended (vidarbhaṇa) to the syllable vauṣaṭ from the mantra.

n.86

Skt. reads yantra.

n.87

Skt. and F read “vow-holder” (vratī; rtul zhugs can).

n.88

Skt. reads yantra.

n.89

Skt. reads oṁ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ ho devadattasya yajñadattaṃ vaśīkuru hoḥ.

n.90

Skt. reads oṁ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā vauṣaṭ devadattasya yajñadattaṃ vaśamānaya vauṣaṭ.

n.91

Kumāracandra identifies these five as urine, feces, blood, semen, and flesh (pañcadravyeṇeti mūviraśumena).

n.92

Skt. reads oṁ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā | oṁ hrīḥ amukīm ākarṣaya hrīm hrīṃ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā hrīḥ.

n.93

This line is absent in Skt.

n.94

Kumāracandra explains that the syllable hūṁ should be drawn to the left of Mount Meru and the syllable vaṁ to the right, from the perspective of the practitioner (meror adau hūṁkāro draṣṭavyaḥ | bhāvakaśarīrāpekṣayā vāmabhage | parabhāge tu vaṃkāraḥ | bhāvakaśarīrāpekṣayā dakṣiṇabhāge).

n.95

According to Kumāracandra this is the earth maṇḍala, which is a yellow square with three-pronged vajras in the corners (pṛthvīmaṇḍalaṃ caturasraṃ pītavarṇaṃ koneṣu triśukavajrāṅkam).

n.96

Presumably the conjoined bowls, but the referent is not entirely clear. Kumāracandra states only that the crossed vajra is “below the ground/base” (bhūmer adhastāt).

n.97

Before this line, Skt. reads “the yogin, facing south.” (dakṣiṇābhimukho yogī).

n.98

This line is absent in F and Skt.

n.99

Skt. reads “Imagine the target being crushed by a crossed vajra, / Beneath Indra’s maṇḍala, / By Mandara and other fearsome mountains / That resemble unmoving ice, / And then recite the mantra.” (viśvavajrasamākrāntam māhendramaṇḍalād adhaḥ | mandarādinagair ghoraiḥ prāleyācalasannibhaiḥ | ākrāṇtam bhāvayet sādhyaṃ japam tatraiva kārayet).

n.100

Skt. reads oṁ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ laṁ devadattasya sthānaṃ stambhaya laṁ.

n.101

Translation tentative. D, S] der ni sngags kyang spros la bzlas; F] de nas sngas ni ’phro bar bzlas; Skt.] tato mantram sphu[ṭ]aṃ japet.

n.102

Due to corruptions in the Tibetan transliteration, this mantra follows Skt. D has oM hrIH STrIH wi kri tA na na hUM hUM phaT phaT laM de ba dat+ta+sya ya thA sra ra thA / kar krit te nan ti bi ra ya thA a vi rU pa kaM de ba dat+ta ya dz+nyA dat+ta ya sya wAk stam+b+ha na ku ru laM.

n.103

Though not explicit, the context suggests these are the ingredients for making the ink used in this rite.

n.104

According to Kumāracandra, this is a quill taken from an old crow (vṛddhakākapakṣalekhinyā).

n.105

According to D. The Skt. differs only slightly with regard to the syntax, and after “blood from your index finger” adds “or leadwort juice” (citrakasya rasena). F omits “saline soil,” and reads, “at noon of the tenth [lunar] day” (tshes bcu pa’i nyi ma phed na).

n.106

Skt. reads “in order to bind…” (baddhahetunā).

n.107

Translation tentative. Skt. reads khaṇḍamuṇḍavibhūṣitam.

n.108

Skt. reads “tawny” (kaḍāra).

n.109

Skt. and F read “[like] a large black bee” (mahābhṛṅga; bung ba che).

n.110

This translation is tentative. Kumāracandra states that this refers to “a mass of yamāris bearing his likeness” (svamūrtidharayamārisamūha).

n.111

“One should imagine” (bsgom par bya; dhyāyāt) appears at the end of this sequence in the Tibetan and Sanskrit, but has been moved here for clarity in English.

n.112

This line is absent in Skt. and F. Instead Skt. reads “[The target] becomes filthy and diseased, / And they collapse, crippled and wracked with illness” (malinaṃ jarjaraṃ rogair duṣṭagātraiś ca pātitam).

n.113

The Skt. reads “their body is rife with lesions” (kāyavraṇānvitam).

n.114

This translation follows Kumāracandra in understanding the term dīrghatuṇḍaka (mchu rings can), which means “long-beaked” or “long-snouted,” as referring to crows (dīrghatuṇḍaiḥ kākaiḥ).

n.115

This translation is tentative and follows Skt. and F (antakodaramadhyastham; mthar byed lto ba’i snying kar bzhug). We understand the term lhor reported in D and S to be a scribal corruption of ltor.

n.116

Skt., as emended by its editors, reads “is made destitute” (nirāśrayīkṛta).

n.117

Skt. reads “And utter the syllable śīt” (śītkāram uccaran).

n.118

This is absent in Skt.

n.119

This is translated following Kumāracandra, who says “ ‘their body completely vacant’ means it is as if they are dead” (śūnyadehavad iti mṛtavat).

n.120

Skt. reads, “They are drawn down to the underworld by the nāgas, / And vexed by urinary blockages” (pātāle kṛṣyate nāgair aśmaryādinipīḍitam). Kumāracandra confirms that “ ‘urinary blockage’ is the condition of blocked urine” (aśmarī mūtranirodhaḥ rogaḥ).

n.121

Skt. and F read, “Then, all the blessed tathāgatas uttered these words with delight” (ata khalu bhagavantaḥ sarvatathāgatāḥ prahṛṣṭamanasa idaṃ vākyam; de nas yang bcom ldan ’das de bzhin gshegs pa tams cad thugs rab tu dges nas).

n.122

This translation follows Skt. because of its greater syntactical clarity.

n.123

Kumāracandra states that “ ‘the murderous being’ is one who injures the master, buddhas, and so on” (sattvaghātim iti gurubuddhādyāpakārakam).

n.124

Translation tentative.

n.125

Skt. reads oṁ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ devadattaṃ māraya māraya hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ. After the mantra, Skt. adds, “This is the rite (samaya) for vajra slaying, the yantra, mantra, tantra and the rest for killing, the great procedure that was taught by the Bhagavat” (ityāha bhagavān mahāvikalpaḥ ghātavajrayantramantratantramāraṇādisamayaḥ). The translation of this additional line is tentative.

n.126

Skt. reads, “This is the fourth chapter, “The Rite (samaya) for the Yantras, Mantras, and Tantras for Killing’ from The Tantra of Black Yamāri, the Body, Speech, and Mind of All Tathāgatas.” (Sarvatathāgatakāyavākcittakṛṣṇayamāri[tantre] yantramantratantramāraṇādisamayaḥ caturthaḥ paṭala).

n.127

Translation tentative. Because this rite concerns sowing discord (vidveṣa), we understand this verse to indicate that a second target is needed to effectively visualize the discord being sown. Whether this is a real second target or one visualized for the purpose of the rite is unclear, though the mantra below suggests two actual targets.

n.128

This translation is informed by the structure and syntax of the verse as reported in Skt.

n.129

Skt. reads oṁ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ devadattaṃ yajñadattena saha vidveṣaya hūṁ phaṭ svāhā.

n.130

This translation follows Skt. and F (pitṛvane; pha sa’i nags la). Kumāracandra says that an “ancestor’s grove” is a “charnel ground” (pitṛvane śmaśāne). D and S read “Concealed in the manner of a piśāca” (sha za’i tshul du sba bar bya).

n.131

This mantra follows Skt. because it resolves a number of minor issues with the Tibetan transliteration. D reads oṁ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ | hūṁ phaṭ devadatta ucchāṭaya naṁ hūṁ phaṭ.

n.132

Skt. reads “one’s own blood” (svarakta) while F has “menstrual blood” (rang ’byung khrag).

n.133

We take dug (“poison”) and tshwa (“salt”) to be separate ingredients, and not as “poison salt” as indicated by D and S. The corresponding Skt. compound viṣalavaṇa allows for this interpretation.

n.134

Skt. reads “to praise” (praśastam).

n.135

Skt. and F read, “For paralyzing, in the center of Mount Meru” (stambhanam merumadhyataḥ; rengs pa ri rabs dbu si bzhag). Kumāracandra glosses the Skt. merumadhyataḥ with “surrounded by mountains on all sides” (merumadhyata iti samantāt parvatamālayā veṣṭitam).

n.136

This translation follows Skt. (śarabhasiṃhastham), and specifically Kumāracandra, who understands the compound śarabhasiṃha to refer to a single creature, an “eight-legged lion” (śarabhasiṃhaḥ aṣṭapadasiṃham). D reads “a śarabha or a lion” (sha ra b+ha ’am seng ge).

n.137

As above, we understand rocanā as gorocanā per Kumāracandra (rocaneti gorocanā).

n.138

As above, “saffron” is tentatively inserted. The source texts read only “Kashmiri.”

n.139

Kumāracandra explains this phrase (khyad par gyi; viśeṣataḥ) to mean that either of these substances is to be used depending on whether the target is a woman or a man and whether the rite to be carried out is pacifying, enriching, or enthralling. Although the verse only mentions enthralling, the other two rites are implied (vaśyam ityupalakṣaṇaṃ).

n.140

In Sanskrit., this line describes the state of mind for one performing the following rite.

n.141

Translation tentative. Kumāracandra comments that this line indicates that one should write whatever is appropriate for the rite being performed (lekhanyā māraṇavidveṣaṇoccaṭanādiṣu likhitavyam iti śeṣaḥ). In Skt. these lines read, “[The circles] should be placed in conjoined bowls; / While holding them with a virtuous mind, / One should etch them with a raven feather, / And bury them at midday” (śarāvasampuṭe sthāpya saṃgrāhya śubhacetasā | dhāṅkṣapakṣasya lekhanyā madhyāhne avaropayet).

n.142

Translation tentative.

n.143

According to Kuranishi (2009, pp. 275–7), this instruction pertains to a situation in which one wishes to keep a yantra after its employment in a rite. Usually, yantras are destroyed after the rite.

n.144

Kumāracandra, explains “vajra wisdom” as “the mind free from subject, which is like a shadow, an illusion” (jñānavajreṇeti grāhyagrāhakabhāvarahitacittena chāyamāyopamākāreṇa).

n.145

The translation of this verse follows the Sanskit. (idaṃ cakram mahāraudraṃ likhitaṃ yatra tiṣṭhati | gṛhe ’pi klaho nityam bved akṣaralekhanāt).

n.146

As above, the term “circle” (cakra; ’khor lo) is synonymous with yantra.

n.147

Skt. reads, “Then, all the blessed tathāgatas supplicated the Bhagavat, the lord of all tathāgatas, the great vajra bearer, using this king of praises” (atha khalu bhagavantaḥ sarvatathāgatā bhagavantaṃ sarvatathāgatādhipatim mahāvajradharam anena stotrarājenādhyeṣayāmāsuḥ).

n.148

Skt. reads “Teach the mudrā method…” (deśa mudrāprayogam)

n.149

According to Kumāracandra, this corresponds to the vajra initiation (vajrābhiṣeka).

n.150

According to Kumāracandra, this is the wisdom-method initiation (prajñopāyābhiṣeka).

n.151

Skt. reads, “Through the power of these initiations, they are bodhisattvas, children of the jinas” (etatsekaprabhāveṇa bodhisattvā jinorasāḥ).

n.152

D and S add phaṭ phaṭ here.

n.153

This transliteration follows Skt. as it resolves a number of ambiguities in the rendering given in D.

n.154

“Yogin” is absent in D and S and is supplied here from Skt. and F.

n.155

The Skt. includes an additional line here: “Then the Bhagavat, the lord of all tathāgatas, taught the wheel for the wide range of ritual activities” (atha bhagavān sarvatathāgatādhipatiḥ karmaprasaracakram udājahāra).

n.156

Kumāracandra explains that this means that the first circle is enclosed by the second, and the second by the third, thus forming concentric circles. For a contemporary reconstruction of what is described in this text, see Kuranishi 2009, p. 276.

n.157

For detailed explanation of this method according to Kumāracandra’s commentary, see Kuranishi 2009, pp. 272–75.

n.158

That is, the cells between the innermost and second concentric circles.

n.159

As Kumāracandra indicates, “Mañjuvajra” refers to the syllable ma (mañjuvajram makāram).

n.160

This follows the Skt., which gives the correct spelling of the Skt. term. D reads da ste da ma na. As Kumāracandra indicates, this term refers to the syllable da (dantadhāvanam dakāram).

n.161

That is, the four corners of the nine cells of the innermost circle of the yantra. See Kuranishi 2009, p. 276.

n.162

According to Kumāracandra, this is “outside the first concentric circle, in the second concentric circle” (bāhyata iti prathamakuṇḍalikāyā bahiḥ dvitīyakuṇḍalyām ityarthaḥ). The syllables are drawn from the left, meaning “that one draws [the syllables] in the order given in the text, starting with the eastern syllable kṣe and progressing in a rightward direction” (yathā ślokothānam bhavati tathā ārabhya likhet | tataḥ kṣekārāt pūrvatḥ prabhṛti dakṣiṇāvartenetyarthaḥ).

n.163

Kumāracandra explains that this is “the third concentric circle” (tṛtīyakoṣṭhaka iti tṛtīyakuṇḍalikāyāḥ).

n.164

It seems that two syllables need to be placed in each field in this way. See Kuranishi 2009, p. 274.

n.165

This translation follows Skt. (ekāntaritakoṣṭhake).

n.166

The eight cells that were left empty per the preceding instructions. See Kuranishi 2009, p. 274.

n.167

D, S] a mu kaM ku ru; Skt.]. This transliteration follows Skt. mukam kuru, which means “render mute.” D reads a mukam kuru, which does not make clear sense but implies adding the name of the target (amukam).

n.168

In Skt., this is preceded by marāya, “kill.”

n.169

This translation follows Skt. (praṇavādi namontānte). D reads “in between the name and namaḥ” (ming dang na maH tha ma’i bar), K, N, and S read “in between the homage and nama[ḥ] (phyag ’tshal na ma tha ma’i bar). F reads dang por phyag ’tshal mthar phyag tshogs, which does not make clear sense.

n.170

This interpretation is based on Kumāracandra’s commentary, where he states that “ ‘These seeds’ refers to the syllables of the mantra oṃ hrīḥ and the rest, which are like seeds” (bījā iti bījam iva bījā oṃ hrīḥ ityādimantrākṣarāṇi).

n.171

Skt. and F read “white” (śukla; dkar).

n.172

The Sanskrit adds, “she is dwarfish” (kharvāṃ), and that she appears like an “emerald-green water lily” (marakatotpala).

n.173

D and S read bcom ldan ’das rdo rje gshin rje gshed po, and the Skt. reads mahāyamamathanavajro. We understand D and S to be equivalent to Skt., and so have followed the Sanskrit terminology.

n.174

Skt. reads “the meditative absorption called the vajra drawing of blood” (raktākarṣaṇavajram nāma samādhim).

n.175

D and S read sngags ’di dag ni dran byas na / kha gdangs pa dag byas pa yin; F reads kha na gdangs pa byas nas su / bsngags ’di rjes su dran pa yis; and, Skt. reads vaktram prasāritaṃ kṛtvā imam mantram anusmaret. This translation follows the sequence indicated in Skt. and F.

n.176

Kumāracandra comments that “great blood” means “a large quantity of blood” (mahāraktaṃ raktasamūham).

n.177

Skt. reads “the meditative absorption called vajra alcohol extraction” (madyākarṣaṇavajraṃ nāma samādhim).

n.178

The phrase “extracting alcohol” is absent in Skt.

n.179

Skt. reads oṁ vajraghoṇe sughoṇe vajramāmakī bhara bhara sambhara sambhara traidhātukamahāmadyam ākarṣaya jaḥ.

n.180

The phrase “beautiful mouth” (kha mdzes) is absent in Skt. and F.

n.181

Kumāracandra explains that this refers to clay that has been wiped from a potter’s hand and then discarded (hastam proñchayitvā yām mṛttikāṃ kumbhakāras tyajati).

n.182

Kumāracandra comments, “There is a place in the north called Caityapattana. In that maṇḍala of vīras and vīra queens, the Bhagavat extracted alcohol from the three worlds with this very sequence” (uttaradeśe ’sti caityapattanaṃ nāma sthānam | tatra vīravīreśvarīmaṇḍale bhagavatāmunaiva vidhānena trailokyamadyam ākṛṣṭam).

n.183

This translation follows Skt. and F (prasiddhyate; rab tu ’grub).

n.184

D and S read bcom ldan ’das dam tshig chen po’i gshin rje’i gshad; F reads bcom ldan ’das gshin rje’i gshad chen po; and, Skt. reads mahāsamayayamaghnavajra. We understand D and S to be equivalent to Skt., and so have followed the Sanskrit terminology.

n.185

There is no equivalent for this term in Skt. and F.

n.186

Skt. reads “a queen of yoga” (yogīśvarīº).

n.187

D] gshin rje’i gshed rdo rje; F] gshin rje mthar byed chen po; S] gshin rje gshed rdo rje; Skt.] mahāyamamathanavajra. We understand D and S to be equivalent to Skt., and so have followed the Sanskrit terminology.

n.188

Skt. and F read “the samādhi called the vajra extraction of semen” (śukrākarṣaṇavajraṃ nāma samādhi; khu ba ’gugs pa’i rdo rje).

n.189

Skt. reads “Vajra Gauri” (vajragauryā).

n.190

Skt. reads oṁ kaṭṭani karṣaṇi gauri jaḥ jaḥ jaḥ hrīḥ duṣṭaduṣṭayoḥ śukram ākarṣaya jaḥ jaḥ jaḥ hūṁ svāhā.

n.191

Skt. and F read “from the mouth of the sky-goer and the path of the vajra” (khagamukhāt vajramārgāc ca; rdo rje’i lam dang ’dab chags mchu). Kumāracandra clarifies that the “mouth of the sky-goer” is the vaginal opening (khagamukhād iti bhāgamārgāt) and the “path of the vajra” is the penis’ urethra (vajramārgad iti puruṣendriyarandhrāt).

n.192

This translation follows D and S, but understands nag po to be a translation of kāla as attested in Skt., and takes it to mean “death/time” rather than “black” as it was translated into Tibetan. Skt. reads “the samādhi called the vajra that destroys death” (kālanikṛntanavajra nāma samādhi). Kumāracandra glosses kālanikṛntana with kleśanikṛntana, “destroys the afflictions.” Śridhāra, in his Sahājalokapañjikā (Kuranishi 2023, p. 10) glosses kāla with yama, in which case this samādhi could also be read as the vajra that destroys the Lord of Death.

n.193

Skt. includes tamālaka flowers.

n.194

This line is absent in Skt. and F.

n.195

Skt. reads, “To attain siddhi, take up the vajra and bell, / The nature of insight and method. / You are vajra, dear one, / Enter the embrace of the disciple” (prajñopāyasvabhāvaṃ tu vajraghaṇṭāṃ ca siddhaye | gṛhāṇa vatsa vajras tvaṃ kuru śiṣyasya saṃgraham). Both Kumāracandra and Śrīdhara gloss “enter the embrace of the disciple” (kuru śiṣyasyasaṃgraham) with “give consent” (anujñādānam).

n.196

Skt. reads, tentatively, “This precious drink of yours / Perfects the vajra body. / Drink this water mentally; / You, dear one, always understand” (idaṃ te pānaratnaṃ vai dehavajraprasādhakam | pīyatām mānasaṃ vāri jñātas tvaṃ vatsa sarvadā).

n.197

This translation follows Skt. and F (yamamāriprasiddhaye; gshin rje dgra ni rab bsgrub pa). D reads “This was proclaimed by Yamāri” (gshin rje’i gshed kyis bsgrags pa yin).

n.198

Skt. and F read “confidence” (sauṣṭhava; nga rgyal).

n.199

Skt. reads, tentatively, “I, the sword-bearing king, / Employ the procedure of the protection circle / And with the sword, elegantly ablaze, / Shatter that which is born from the three bodies” (ahaṃ kaḍgadharo rājā rakṣācakraprayogataḥ | khaḍgenādīptavapuṣā sphālayāmi trikāyajān).

n.200

This translation follows the verse given in D and S, which apart from the first line includes three additional lines not attested in the Sanskrit. Skt. reads “You, Devī, are a direct witness, / For all the buddhas who protect. / I, the master of the maṇḍala, / Will draw the maṇḍala of Yama’s Slayer.”

n.201

D reads mdun skor; C, H, J, N, K, S, and Y read mdun sgor; F reads pho brang dkyil ’khor sgo drung du; and, Skt. reads maṇḍalāgāradvārataḥ. This translation follows C, H, J, K, N, S, and Y.

n.202

Skt. reads, “For the sake of my own protection, / Please also grant me this boon” (mamāpi trāṇārthāya varaṃ vā me prayacchatu).

n.203

Skt. reads “The disciple should respectfully offer / Song, music, and worship, / As well as reception and foot-washing water, / And sing praises at that time” (gītaṃ vādyaṃ tathā pujām argham pādyaṃ tathaiva ca | ḍhaukayed gauravād śiṣyaḥ stutiṃ vā tatra kārayet).

n.204

Skt. reads, oṁ sarvatathāgatapūjāvajrasvabhāvātmako ’ham.

n.205

Skt. and F read “with a longing mind” (utkaṇṭhacitta; ’dod dang chags pa’i yid).

n.206

Skt. reads “And killing, with an uneasy mind” (udvignena tu mārane). Kumāracandra interprets udvignena as “wrathfully” (sakrodhena).

n.207

D reads dkyil ’khor zlum por; F reads zlum po’i rnam pa; N and S read dkyil ’khor rnam pa; and, Skt. reads maṇḍalākāram. This translation follows Skt., F, N, and S. D reads “round maṇḍala.”

n.208

As Kumāracandra notes, this describes a quadrangle (vāpyākāraṃ caturasram), most likely a square or rectangle.

n.209

Kumāracandra identifies this shape as “triangular” (khadhātur iti trikoṇam).

n.210

Kumāracandra indicates these are the measurements for the width (vistāra) of the fire pit.

n.211

The Sanskrit is a bit clearer: “Dig a half cubit for pacifying” (hastārdhaṃ vedhayet śāntau).

n.212

Skt. reads “And for enriching, the same as enthralling” (yathā puṣṭau tathā vaśe).

n.213

Kumāracandra indicates these are the measurements for the depth to which the respective fire pit should be excavated (khāta).

n.214

Following nyasya from Skt. and bgod from F. There is no verb supplied in D or S.

n.215

Skt. and F reads oṁ phuḥ.

n.216

D and S read ’bum phrag brgya; F reads ’bum phrag brgyad; and. Skt. reads aṣṭalakṣa. This translation follows Skt. and F. We regard the reading in D and S as a potential scribal corruption.

n.217

Kumāracandra states that this refers to Yamāri (deva iti bhagavān yamāri).

n.218

D and F read brtul zhugs can gyi; H, N, and S read brtul zhugs can gyis; and, Skt. reads vratī; This translation follows Skt., H, N, and S.

n.219

Kumāracandra clarifies that this means one should use the blackened end of a half-burnt stick taken from the fire used to burn a corpse (gañjaneneti mṛtasya dehānalād ekārdhadagdhakāṣṭhāṅgāreṇa).

n.220

D and S read sbrul gyis bzung nas ’gyal ba; F reads nyal ba slang ba’i dgos pa la; and, Skt. reads suptakotthānam. Skt. and F read “[When] someone unconscious needs to arise.”

n.221

According to Kumāracandra, this is a five-pronged vajra.

n.222

Skt. reads “saying this for seven nights” (ityuktvā saptarātreṇa).

n.223

Kumāracandra glosses Skt. vṛkṣāgre with several Indian tree species, in the tips of which pretas are said to dwell. Sanskrit here adds the line, “Now I will teach another sādhana, that of the great Vetāla.” (athānyat sampravakṣyāmi mahāvetālasādhanam). This is the first line of the next chapter in D, F, S.

n.224

A slightly variant version of these same two lines is given as the second two lines of the first verse in the next chapter of the Tibetan translation.

n.225

This title follows the Skt. vetālasādhanānusmṛtibhāvanāº. D and S read “Recollection” (rjes su dran pa), and F has “Cultivating Recollection” (rjes su dran pa sgom pa).

n.226

This verse is found only in the Tibetan translation. In Skt., this is the final verse of the previous chapter, though this is likely a corruption. Kumāracandra does not reference this verse in either location.

n.227

The word “corpse” is not found in the Sanskrit or Tibetan, but has been supplied for clarity.

n.228

We emend bsam pa med pa’i ’o dod ’bod (D, S) to bsam pa med pa ’o dod ’bod to reflect the Skt. reading nādam muñcati suptakaḥ.

n.229

D and S read rnal ’byor lam ni gang ’dod pa; F reads ji ltar ’dod pa’i rnal ’byor pa’i; and, Skt. reads yad yan mārgayate yogī. This translation follows Skt. The Tibetan term lam attested in D and S is likely a misinterpretation or misunderstanding of the Sanskrit causative verb mārgayate “to strive after; seek.”

n.230

“Flesh” has been provided for clarity; there is no equivalent for it in the Skt. or Tib.

n.231

D and S read ku be ra; F reads chu srin; and, Skt. reads kumbhīra. This translation follows Skt. and F. D reads “Kubera.”

n.232

The verb “visualize” (bhāvayet) is supplied from Skt. There is no verb in the Tibetan translation.

n.233

This translation of this verse follows Skt. and F, as the Tibetan translation in D and S appears corrupt.

n.234

Translated according to the Skt. The Skt. terms mahābhīma “extremely frightening,” and bhayānaka “terrifying,” which are here translated with their literal senses, might also be interpreted in their technical senses as “Mahābhīma” (a fierce deity in Śiva’s retinue) and “exhibiting the sentiment of terror” (one of the nine rasas “sentiments according to Skt. poetic theory). The Tib. of D literally says, “Three faces, six arms, red-colored; extremely terrifying; holding a red lotus in his threatening hand [alternatively, his hand which shows the threatening mudrā]‍—[like that] the adept should visualize the one called Padma.”

n.235

Kumāracandra identifies this as “the great Dveṣa Yamāri” (maṇḍaleśam mahādveṣayamārim).

n.236

Kumāracandra clarifies that this refers to one who has perfected their practice of Dveṣa Yamāri (dveṣānusmṛtimān iti dveṣayamāriniṣpattimān). The remaining lines then refer to Moha Yamāri (ignorance), Piśuna Yamāri (miserliness), Rāga Yamarī (desire), and Īrṣya Yamāri (jealously).

n.237

Translation tentative. We understand these to line to refer to the deities just recollected.

n.238

D and S read gtum po’i khro bo bsgom par bya; F reads khro bo bzhi ni rnam bsam bya; and, Skt. reads catuḥkrodhaṃ vibhāvayet. This translation follows Skt. and F. D and S indicate only one figure. Kumāracandra states that these four are Mudgara Yamāri, Daṇḍa Yamāri, Padma Yamāri, and Khaḍga Yamāri (catuḥkrodham iti mudgarādicatuṣṭayam).

n.239

These four are unidentified, but presumably could be Gaurī, Vārāhī, Sarasvatī, and Carcikā.

n.240

As noted above, this chapter title follows the Skt.

n.241

Skt. reads, “Seeing that beings are overcome with hatred / The Bhagavat, through his compassion, / Appears in the form of Dveṣa Yamāri / Who lays waste to all hatred” (dveṣākrāntaṃ jagad dṛṣṭvā sarvadveṣakṣayaṅkaram | dveṣayamārisadrūpam bhagavatā kṛpayā kṛtam).

n.242

As in the previous verse D an S read “brings Yama under control” where Skt. and F read “through his compassion.”

n.243

The root text does not clarify what is being emanated. Kumāracandra, referring to his own comments on verse 10.14, states that this describes the mass emanation of various deities belonging the same families as the maṇḍala deities.

n.244

This translation is tentative and follows Skt. because the Tibetan translation in D and S is syntactically ambiguous. Kumāracandra explains that this means one maintains the recognition that they are indivisible from the maṇḍala deities (nānārūpatve ’pi na bhedabuddhiḥ kartavyety āha ātmanetyādi | aham eva maṇḍalādikaṃ sarvam ity adhimoktavyam | sarvam ātmanā na bhinnam ity arthaḥ).

n.245

Skt. reads “In order to perfect the body, speech, and mind / Of Yamāri’s terrifying form” (yamārer bhīmarūpasya kāyavākcittasiddhaye).

n.246

This translation follows Skt. and F. D and S read “take the form of an iron vajra” (lcags kyi rdo rje gzugs par bya).

n.247

According to the Sanskrit. The meaning of Tibetan lkog (“secretly/concealed”) is unclear in this context.

n.248

This translation interprets the term ṣāḍava to refer to the classical Indian musical scale of that name. The term can also refer to a kind of sweet confection or dish, which is how Kumāracandra seems to understand the term. He writes, “Śāḍava means ‘like śāḍava,’ in that śāḍava consists of various flavors. This means ‘to yearn for various desires” (ṣāḍavād iti ṣāḍavam iva ṣāḍavam anekarasam | nānārāgānurāgata ityārthaḥ).

n.249

This translation is tentative and is informed by the terminology of Skt. (dhvajavīthīm tato drṣṭvā). Kumāracandra says this refers to people who have been hanged (dhvajavīthīm udbaddhanaram).

n.250

According to Kumāracandra, the “milk” refers the immediate use of fluid from the hanged person’s flesh that has filled a vessel. One does this through the stages of meditating on the taste of nectar (kṣīram iti tanmāmsapātragatam amṛtasvādabhāvanākrameṇa sākṣād dravam prasādhayet).

n.251

Kumāracandra explains that one focuses on Vārāhī while imagining themselves as Dveṣa Yamāri (yathoktavārāhīrūpam adhimucya svayaṃ ca dveṣayamārirūpeṇa bhavitavyam ity arthaḥ).

n.252

D reads dpa’ mo; F, H, N, and S read pa’ bo; and, Skt. reads vīraḥ. This translation follows Skt., F, H, N, and S.

n.253

D and S read phyag rgya ma; F reads phyag rgya pa; and, Skt. reads śatabāhoḥ. This translation follows Skt., as we understand phyag rgya ma (D, S) and phyag rgya pa (F) as corruptions of phyag brgya pa (śatabāhu).

n.254

D and S read ma he; F reads ma he gdong pa rnams; and, Skt. reads mahiṣāsyam. This translation follows Skt.. D and S read “buffalo,” while F reads “buffalo-faced ones.”

n.255

According to Kumāracandra, this is a crossed vajra (viśvavajra).

n.256

D reads ma he sna tshogs bsgrub pa yi; F reads ma he gdong pa’i bsgrub pa la; and Skt. reads māhiṣe mantrasādhane. This translation follows Skt. and F. D reads “[the adept] who practices the various [aspects such as] the buffalo.”

n.257

Skt. reads “[weapons] such as are found on earth” (ye kecid bhuvi vidyante).

n.258

Skt. reads “and reaches deep below the earth” (samākrāntarasātalam).

n.259

This term typically refers to human flesh.

n.260

Skt. reads, “…and cooks [those ingredients] mixed with indigo” (nīlīmiśreṇa pākayet).

n.261

Here Kumāracandra explicitly identifies this as “human oil” (nṛtaila).

n.262

Kumāracandra also understands rocanā to here refer to vairocana, where as in previous instances he glossed rocanā with gorocanā, “bovine bezoar.” Vairocana can also be used as a code word for feces.

n.263

Kumāracandra identifies this as datura leaf (kanakaṃ dhuttūram).

n.264

“Limbs” is supplied by Skt. and F (gātram; lus). D and S lack a syntactical object.

n.265

Kumāracandra identifies “the great urine” as human urine (mahāmūtram nṛmūtram), “vajra nectar” as semen (mahāvajrāmṛtam bodhicittam), and the “self-arisen flower” as menstrual blood (strīrajas).

n.266

The title of this chapter in Skt. is “The Practice of the Samaya of Conduct” (Caryāsamayasādhana).

n.267

“Vajrasattva in essence” is absent in the Sanskrit, but Kumāracandra does identify this bhagavat as Vajrasattva (mahāpuruṣasamayaḥ śrīvajrasattvaḥ). A bhagavat named Mahāpuruṣasamaya is also an interlocutor in Chapter 13 of The Guhyasamāja Tantra.

n.268

The following songs are sung in Apabhraṃśa. As indicated by Kumāracandra, they are sung by Carcikā, Vārāhī, Sarasvātī, and Gaurī, respectively. This songs also appear in The Raktayamāri Tantra, and in that context have been studied by Péter Dániel Szántó (2006, pp. 31–38).

n.269

This translation is tentative and follows D and S. F reads, tentatively, “You dance, free of concepts” (gar byed khyod ni rnam mi rtog). The Apabhraṃśa reads ṇaccahi tuhu veālu, for which Kumāracandra does not provide a complete Sanskrit equivalent. In his study of these verses from The Raktayamāri Tantra, Szántó (2006, pp. 34–35) interprets this as “you, a vetāla, dance.”

n.270

This translation is tentative and is informed by Kumāracandra’s commentary on this verse.

n.271

This translation is tentative and follows D and S. F reads, tentatively, “You dance to the mantra hṛīḥ ṣṭriḥ, / And free the three existences of doubt. / Compassionate wrathful lord, / All beings watch as you dance” (hriH sTi sngags kyis gar mdzad de / gnas gsum the tshom med par bgyis / snying rje khro bo rje btsun gyis / ’gro ba kun gyis gar mdzad mthong). The Apabhraṃśa verse, following Kumāracandra’s commentary, tentatively reads “Attack (?: spheṭaya) the confusion of the three existences / With the hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ mantra. / Do this, compassionate wrathful lord / The world is watching” (hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ manteṇa pheḍahi kehu tihuaṇa bhānti | karuṇākoha bharāḍu taha kuru jagu pekkhanti). It is clear, however, that Kumāracandra was reading a slightly different version of the verse than is preserved in the extant Sanskrit witnesses. See Szántó 2006, 37–8.

n.272

The speaker is now the Bhagavat and the verses are in Sanskrit.

n.273

F reads “By Yamāri, the supreme person…” (gshin rje’i dgra ni mi mchog gis). Skt. reads “the supreme person engaged in recitation” (jāpamāṇo narottamaḥ).

n.274

Skt. reads, “Every month on the fourteenth day / One should smear the five meats. / The recitation māla combined with the five nectars. / Is the best for granting siddhi” (māsi māsi caturdaśyām pañcamāmsena lepayet / pañcāmṛtasamāyuktaṃ jāpyaṃ siddhikaram param). This translation of the Sanskrit follows Kumāracandra in reading jāpyam as jāpyamālā, the “recitation mālā” (jāpyam iti jāpyamālā).

n.275

Skt. reads “Bhūtas should die after 10,000 recitations, / And ḍākinīs after a thousand. The host of pretas [are killed] / Through the practices of Yama’s enemy” (ayutamātreṇa bhūtānāṃ ḍākinīnāṃ sahasrake | mārayet pretsaṃghātaṃ yamamāriprayogataḥ).

n.276

Kumāracandra, glosses yogātmā, “the one immersed in yoga,” with devatāyogavān, “the one who is united with the deity.”

n.277

According to Kumāracandra, this is determined by one’s ability to obtain the requisites for the bali offering.

n.278

In D and S “the adept,” or more literally “the wise one” (budhaḥ) is translated with shes, which would appear to be a verb (“to know/understand”) without access to the Sanskrit witness. We have followed the Sanskrit in English translation.

n.279

While there are typically sixty daṇḍas in a twenty-four hour period, Kumāracandra states that “sixty-four daṇḍas” comprises “one day and night” (ahorātra). Thus it would appear that, in this system and by this count, one would make sixty-four bali offerings spaced evenly across a twenty-four hour period.

n.280

The Sanskrit reads gorūpa “[an offering] in the shape of a cow.”

n.281

Skt. and F also include “grain” (dhānya; so ba).

n.282

This line is absent in the Sanskrit.

n.283

Skt. reads, “Is the sword, because it cuts through the afflictions” (kośaḥ kleśādicchedanāt). F reads, ““Is the sword, because it cuts through the enemy, the afflictions” (shubs ni nyon mongs dgra gcod pa).

n.284

This line is absent in Skt.. F. reads, “In order to bring ease from afar” (ring du ngal so grub pa’i don).

n.285

Kumāracandra identifies this as a crossed vajra (viśvavajra).

n.286

D and S read de yi steng du gnas dgod bya; F reads de’i steng du gnas bkod bya; and, Skt. reads padam tasyopari nyaset. Kumāracandra glosses padam (gnas) with kuṭāgāra, “palace.” As the meaning of padam/gnas is ambiguous in this context, our translation follows Kumāracandra’s interpretation.

n.287

Skt. and F read “in an attractive form” (cārurūpiṇīm; bzhin bzangs mdzes pa’i gzugs ’chang ba).

n.288

As Kumāracandra explains, the hand in which she holds the vajra is her main right hand (dakṣiṇamūle haste), while the remaining five hold a sword, knife, wheel, lotus, and skull cup (śeṣān pañcakān iti khaḍgakartricakrapadmakapālāni).

n.289

The meaning of this term is uncertain. Kumāracandra does not comment on this line.

n.290

That is, like Piśuna Yamāri.

n.291

The precise meaning of bhagamaṇḍala is unclear, but it may refer to a triangular shape. This translation follows the Skt. D and S read ral gri ’dzin pa’i dkyil ’khor rim pa’o, the meaning of which is ambiguous. F has the equally ambiguous ral gri dkyil ’khor ral gri ma.

n.292

Though the Sanskrit here reads koṣa, which also means “sword” (F: shubs), we have used the name of the deity as given in the following mantra. D and S read ral gri, which is the term used to translate khaḍga elsewhere in the text.

n.293

The Sanskrit reads, “These are the words of the mantra….” (tatremāni mantrapadānī bhavanti).

n.294

The transliteration of this mantra follows Skt. D reads oṁ ākiśacara vajraḍākinī svāhā.

n.295

This line is absent in Skt.

n.296

D and S read dkyil ’khor gyi ni dkyil dag tu; F reads dkyil ’khor snyig po’i dbu si ni; and, Skt. reads garbhamaṇḍalamadhye. This translation follows Skt. and F. D and S read “in the middle of a maṇḍala.” It is unclear precisely what garbhamaṇḍala refers to, but could be the innermost core of the maṇḍala.

n.297

As Kumāracandra, notes, this is an epithet of Paramāśva, who is described below.

n.298

Skt. and F read “Is fearsome, with the face of a horse” (aśvamukham subhīkaram; rta yi zhal ni rab tu ’jigs).

n.299

Translation tentative for māṣamuṣtim (Skt.) and khu tshur mon sran ldan (F). D and S read “a cord in a fist” (sran bu khu tshur bcas).

n.300

Skt. reads oṁ phu phu phu hi hi hi.

n.301

Skt. and F read “The adept should recite this mantra / To accomplish Paramāśva” (japet prajñaḥ paramāśvaprasiddahye; shes rab can sngas ’di bzlad pas / rta mchog rab tu grub pa’o).

n.302

The names of the deities in this verse are based on the attested Sanskrit forms.

n.303

Skt. includes an additional line here, which tentatively reads “With bowls of monkey and goat meat all around” (sapatrādi [emending sapatrādi] harinmāṃsam [emending harinmāṣam] chāgamāṃsam ti sarvataḥ).

n.304

This translation is tentative. The terms in the second line, here translated as proper names, typically identify implements: the pestle (muśala), axe (paraśru), goad (aṅkuśa), and noose (pāśa). If these four relate to the preceding set of figures‍—perhaps as implements they hold‍—it is not clear from the Sanskrit or Tibetan syntax. Additionally, it seems that all are engaged in “dance and other dramatic acts” (nṛtyābhinayayogataḥ; gar la sogs pa’i rnal ’gyis). Kumāracandra does not comment on these lines.

n.305

Skt. reads “One moves through space” (khadhātukam paribhramet). F reads, “One moves through the space of the three worlds” (khams gsum nma mkha bskor ba’o).

n.306

This transliteration follows Skt. D omits the initial oṁ and the final oṁ āḥ hūṁ phaṭ svāhā.

n.307

Skt. and F read, “This is the samaya for entering the great maṇḍala” (tatredam mahāmāṇḍalapraveśanasamayam; (de la ’di ni dkyi ’khor chen por zhugs pa’i dam tshig go).

n.308

D and S read sangs rgyas kyis; F reads mkhas pas; and, Skt. reads buddhaiḥ. This translation follows F and understands buddhaiḥ to be in error for budhaiḥ.

n.309

Following the Skt. dharmagaṇaḥ. D and S read “master of the Dharma and the assembly” (chos dang tshogs kyi gtso).

n.310

The following translation of the measurements of the various features of the maṇḍala is tentative, as the architectural features referenced by the terminology is not always clear, and measurements do not always seem proportional. A number of sources on classical Indian architecture were consulted for this section, and have been listed in the bibliography.

n.311

This translation follows Skt., in which this line describes the qualities of the central base (vedī) of the maṇḍala. In D and S, this line appears to be syntactically grouped with the following verse.

n.312

D] shes par bri; J, K, S, Y] shes par bya.; Skt.] jñeyā. This translation follows Skt., J, K, S, and Y.

n.313

We understand the Tibetan rdo rje lha mo (D, S) to be equivalent to Skt. vajrāpsaras.

n.314

Tentative for mchod snam. Skt. reads vedī, which has a wide range of possible meanings.

n.315

Kumāracandra describes a kapola (’gram) as “above the molding, horizontal, and consisting of five lines” (kapola iti niryūhopari pañcarekhās tiryak ca kapolaḥ).

n.316

Kumāracandra states that this is “half the measure of the doors” (tadardheneti dvārārdhena).

n.317

This translation is tentative, and generally follows Skt. The reading in D is unclear and appears to be corrupt. Kumāracandra states that “outside the grounds” means “outside the inner sanctum’s garland of vajras, outside the lines” (garbhapuṭavajrāvalībahi rekhāto bahiḥ).

n.318

Skt. mahāhṛdaya. According to Kumāracandra, the following passage describes entering the maṇḍala.

n.319

According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan seems to read, “One inserts samaya [into] wisdom. In this way one will / should accomplish the maṇḍala.”

n.320

This translation follows D and S, and appears to refer to merging of the visualized samaya maṇḍala with presence of the deities in the wisdom maṇḍala. Skt. reads “Through the imperishable samaya alone, / Is the maṇḍala established” (samayākṣareṇaiva maṇḍalasya prasādhanam). Kumāracandra notes that the “imperishable samaya” is the bodhicitta that has been produced (samayākṣareṇeti utpāditabodhicittena), which “establishes,” or “consecrates” (prasādhanam prokṣaṇam), the maṇḍala of colored powder (rājomaṇḍala), once it has fully merged with the summoned wisdom maṇḍala (ānītajñānamaṇḍalena sahaikakṛtya).

n.321

Skt. reads, “the north is like an exquisite emerald” (marakatottarasasannibham).

n.322

The translation of these final two lines is tentative. They are absent in Skt. and F.

n.323

According to the parallel Skt (Kumāracandra, p. 105, verse 13c,d). D, F read nam mkha’ mtshungs “equal to space/ the sky.”

n.324

Skt. reads “Now, for the specifics of the ladle and spoon” (tatredam pātrīśruvātmānam).

n.325

Referring to the rounded end of the ladle.

n.326

Skt. states that the bowl end of the spoon rises one thumb-width and is two finger-widths deep (aṅguṣṭhaparvato nimnam adho dvayaṅgulamānakam).

n.327

Skt. reads, “Who indulge in wine and women” (madirākāminīsakto).

n.328

Skt. reads “Who engage in all manner of depravity” (tadvadvyasakārinaḥ).

n.329

This translation is tentative and follows Skt. The meaning of D is ambiguous.

n.330

Likely a reference to the “black” (kṛṣṇa; nag po) Yamāri.

n.331

This translation follows Skt. and F. D and S read “saw” (mthong nas).

n.332

Kumāracandra states that the “vajra statement” are the words of Vajrasattva (vajrasattvasya niruktim), and comprise the verses above beginning with the line translated as “People who have not entered the maṇḍala…”

n.333

According to Kumāracandra, the “circles” are the maṇḍala shapes associated with the four elements.

n.334

According to Kumāracandra, the four places are the soles of the feet (pādatala), the navel (nabhi), the heart (hṛdaya), and the head (śiras).

n.335

“The wind maṇḍala” has been supplied for clarity, as have the names of the maṇḍalas in the lines that follow. They are only implied in the Sanskrit and Tibetan sources. This translation of this line follows Skt. and F. D and S read “the syllable ya is pitch black…” (yi ge ya ni nag chen po).

n.336

This translation of this verse follows the syntax and structure of Skt., as it provides a clearer reading than D and S, which are possibly corrupt.

n.337

According to Kumāracandra, a red syllable hrīḥ on a sun disk, representing Amitābha, is visualized on the disciple’s tongue (āviṣṭaśiṣyasya jihvāyāṃ raktākārapariṇatasūrye hrīḥkāraṃ raktam dṛṣṭvā tenāmitābho draṣṭavyaḥ).

n.338

This translation follows D, but is informed by the structure of Skt., which offers a slightly clearer reading.

n.339

D] de la ’di ni spro ba’i cho ga’o; N, S] de la ’di ni dri ba’i cho ga’o F] ’di ni rab tu ’byor ba’i dam tshig chen po’o. Skt.] tatredam praśnasamayam. This translation folios N, S, and Skt.

n.340

Translation tentative. This last line is translated based on the Skt. (idam aveśavidhānataḥ). D reads “This is the rite of entry.”

n.341

This translation follows the Skt. and F (lepacitra; ldug so’i ri mo). D reads “the image of the terrifying form.”

n.342

This ingredient could not be identified.

n.343

This translation follows Skt. and F (lāñchayet; byug par bya). D and S have “visualize” (bsgom).

n.344

Skt. also includes “penis” (meḍhre).

n.345

According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan could also be interpreted to mean “three faces” (gdong ni gsum ’gyur).

n.346

This translation follows Skt. The Tibetan syntax is ambiguous.

n.347

Skt. reads “extremely terrifying” (mahābhīmāṃ).

n.348

The Tibetan (rna cha kos ko) appears to be a very literal translation of Sanskrit cibikuṇḍalī.

n.349

This translation follows Skt., F, and S. D has “Vasudharī” (ba su dha ri).

n.350

Skt. and F read “door guardians” (dvārapāla; sgo bsrung).

n.351

This translation follows the Skt. and F (mudgarādin samantataḥ; tho ba la sogs kun du’o), which offers a clearer reading.

n.352

This translation follows Skt., N, and F. D and S read phyag mtshan badag ni ltar ’dzin pa, the meaning of which is ambiguous.

n.353

Skt. reads oṁ ekajaṭe vasusādhani svāhā.

n.354

Skt. reads pukkaset, which verbalizes the name of deity. Kumāracandra states that pukkaset means she “attracts fine quality” (pukkased iti pukkam ākarṣayet). The translation in F suggests a similar interpretation: “One instantly brings increase to the three worlds” (skad cig ’jig rten gsum lbos ’dzin).

n.355

Skt. reads oṁ pukkasi pukkasi yuṃ oṁ phaṭ.

n.356

Following the Skt. prasiddhe.

n.357

Following the Sanskrit and F. D and S read ser po, which typically means “yellow.”

n.358

Kumāracandra states this means the remaining arms hold implements matching Moha Yamāri and the rest, respectively (cakrādīn apare nyased iti aparaśeṣabhujeṣu mohayamāryādivat cihnabhutaḥ).

n.359

That is, the pratyālīḍa posture as indicated in Skt.

n.360

Translation tentative. Skt. reads ratnasamuccayāḥ, “as a collection of jewels,” but Kumāracandra cites the variant sārasamuccayāḥ, which aligns with the Tibetan translation. He says this means they are “the most essential” (sārasamuccayāḥ sārabhūtāḥ).

n.361

This translation is tentative and follows the Sanskrit maṇḍaleyāś ca kirtitāḥ. The meaning of the Tibetan is ambiguous.

n.362

D and S read lo ma; Skt reads śākhā. Kumāracandra states that this refers to a sprig of the āśvattha tree (Ficus religiosa), the “bodhi tree” (śākhāṃ aśvatthasya śākhām).

n.363

Skt. reads “The vow holder should imagine [her] graceful limbs, / To be adorned with every ornament” (sarvābharaṇabhuṣitāṅgān surūpān bhavayed vratī).

n.364

The name Vajrānaṅga indicates this deity to be a Buddhist form of Kāmadeva, who bears the epithet anaṅga, “the bodiless one” because his physical body was burned to ash by Śiva. Other epithets and iconographical features of Kāmadeva are used in the practice described below.

n.365

This follows the Skt. D and S read ’dod pa’i lcags kyu, “the hook of desire.”

n.366

Skt. lists their colors as yellow, red, green, and white (pītāṃ raktāṃ tathā śyāmāṃ śulkavarṇāṃ ca bhāvayet), though the Skt. edition notes that a number of manuscripts align with the Tibetan in reporting śuklaraktām (“pink”) in place of śuklavarṇāṃ.

n.367

This follows Skt. D and S read mtshams kyi bdag, the precise meaning of which is unclear. F reads mtshan mo bdag, “lord of the night,” which is approximately equivalent to uṣāpati.

n.368

These are all names or epithets of Vajrānaṅga/Kāmadeva.

n.369

Skt. and F read “standing in the mouth of a bird” (khagamukhāntastham; bya mchu’i bar).

n.370

Here we have followed the Skt. because śīt is attested later in both the Tibetan and Sanskrit. D reads hrīḥ; F reads si yig; S reads yi ge yid.

n.371

This translation is informed by the Sanskrit, which offers a syntactically clearer reading.

n.372

Kumāracandra explains that, according to the oral instructions (upadeśāt), the mantra begins with the syllable oṁ hrīḥ (oṁ hrīḥkārādi), has śīt in the middle (śīṭkāram madhye dattvā), and svāhā at the end (ante svāhāśabdo deyaḥ) He then provides the full mantra: oṁ hrīḥ amukī me vaśībhavatu śīt svāhā.

n.373

Skt. reads “Once should meditate for seven days: / ‘May the women so-and-so come under my control.’ / The yogin will obtain the desired woman, / Just as the Dark One declared” (amukī me vaśībhavatu bhāvayet saptavāsaram | vāñchitāṃ labhate yogī kṛṣṇasya vacanaṃ yathā).

n.374

Skt. reads tāṇḍavam, which indicates a wild mode of dance most commonly associated with Śiva.

n.375

Skt. reads, “adorned with pearl anklets” (hāranūpurabhūṣitam).

n.376

Skt. reads “He stands on a preta, and is ever-laughing” (pretasthaṃ sasmitaṃ sadā).

n.377

Translation tentative. Skt. reads, tentatively “Dharmacakra should be drawn in the east, / In the south, Buddhabodhi, / In the west, Sarvakāmalatā, / And in the north, the one resembling Heruka” (dharmacakraṃ likhet pūrve buddhabodhiṃ tu dakṣiṇe | sarvakāmalātām paścād uttare herukasannibhām). In Skt., the term dharmacakra is masculine, not feminine as reported in D and S (chos kyi ’khor lo ma).

n.378

According to Kumāracandra, these are: white, yellow, red, and green (nānārūpāḥśuklapītaraktaśyāmavarṇāḥ).

n.379

This is supplied by Kumāracandra’s commentary; without it this line is contextually and syntactically ambiguous (eṣāṃ madhye tadyoginyo lekhyāḥ).

n.380

This translation is tentative and follows Skt. and F, which offer a clearer reading. D reads, “Visualized on all Dharma wheels, / They have a skull in their left hand.”

n.381

According to Kumāracandra, this describes a sequence of five preliminary visualizations that correspond to the five wisdoms: mirror-like wisdom (ādarśanajñāna), wisdom of equality (samatājñāna), discriminating wisdom (pratyavekṣaṇajñāna), all-accomplishing wisdom (kṛtyānuṣṭhānajñāna), and the wisdom of the pure dharmadhātu (suviśuddhadharmadhātujñāna).

n.382

Kumāracandra comments that this refers to Vajrasattva.

n.383

Kumāracandra reads “vajra bearer” (vajrinam) where the Sanskrit and Tibetan sources all read “wheel bearer” (cakrinam). He then comments that this refers to the primary form of one’s chosen deity as it is encouraged to arise through the following four songs (caturgītisaṃcodanāyābhimatadevatārūpam pradhānam).

n.384

The following verses are sung in Apabhraṃśa by the four ḍākinīs Cārcikā, Vārāhī, Sarasvatī, and Gaurī, respectively.

n.385

This translation follows Skt. and F. Kumāracandra glosses the Apabhraṃśa term bharaiu with bhaṭṭāraka, which aligns with bdag po as attested in F. D and S read dad sgrol, the meaning of which is ambiguous.

n.386

Skt. and F read, tentatively, “Regal one, after conquering the four māras, / Arise Lord, because [my] mind is anxious!” See Kumāracandra’s commentary for his Sanskrit interpretation of the Apabhraṃśa.

n.387

This translation is tentative, and follows Skt. and F. The reading in D is unclear.

n.388

This translation follows Skt. and F because D is syntactically ambiguous.

n.389

Skt. reads, “The melting and arising of the deity” (tanniṣyandodayo deva).

n.390

According to Kumāracandra, this refers to the arising of the Black Yamāri once Vajrasattva has melted and then been encouraged to arise (tasmin drute vajrasattve sañcodyothāpito devaḥ kālayamāriḥ).

n.391

We understand lha yi spyan (D, S) as equivalent to the attested Sanskrit compound divyacakṣus.

n.392

Kumāracandra explains each of these yogas at great length in the Ratnāvalī. See pp. 123–29 (Sanskrit) and pp. 251–64 (Tibetan).

n.393

Skt. reads, “One should likewise not, out of anger, / Point out their brethren’s faults” (bhrātṛṇāṃ ca tathā kopān na doṣaṃ samprakāśayet).

n.394

Kumāracandra states that this refers to things that are unclean (pūti), to alcohol (vikṛti), etc. The term grāmyadharma / grong pa’i chos is also used as a euphemism for sex.

n.395

Translation tentative for duṣṭamaitrī / gdug la byams pa.

n.396

“Meritorious acts” translates dharma (chos), which is understood here to not refer exclusively the Buddha’s teachings, but virtuous or meritorious acts more broadly.

n.397

For apratarkyam (mi brtag par).

n.398

Skt. reads, tentatively, “One should always venerate the venerable master, the master with faith who guards samaya without rationalizing, / Who is compassionate, whose mind is free of any fault, / Who is meditatively composed, and is the object of guru-recitation” (śrāddhaṃ guruṃ samayapālakam apratarkyaṃ kṛpānvitaṃ sakaladoṣavihīnacittam | dhyānānvitaṃ sagurujāpaparāyaṇaṃ ca kuryāt sadā taṃ gurvad gurutvaṃ). This translation is informed by Kumāracandra’s commentary.

n.399

“Vow holder” (brtul zhugs ldan) is absent in Skt.

n.400

D and S read rdo rje ’chang; Skt. reads vajrasattva.

n.401

This translation is informed by Skt., which offers a syntactically clearer reading.

n.402

Skt. reads, “the stream of saṃsāra” (saṃsārasaṃtatiḥ).

n.403

This translation is based on the terminology attested in the Sanskrit (na bhāvo na ca bhāvanā), which we understand to be the basis for the Tibetan translation in D and S. This could also be translated as “no existence and no meditation.”

n.404

Skt. appears to have “fire” twice, first as tejas and then again as hutāśana (“the oblation eater”). F omits a reference to either “space” or a second instance of “fire.”

n.405

This translation is informed by the attested Sanskrit yogayogitvasambandhāt.

n.406

Skt. reads “There are no arms, no face, no colors…” (na bāhur na mukhaṃ varṇam).

n.407

The following verses are in Apabhraṃśa in the Sanskrit text. The English translation generally follows D.

n.408

Skt. reads, “Supreme joy has no intrinsic nature” (paramānanda sai asahāva).

n.409

Skt. reads, “Describing bodhicitta” (bodhicittanigadanaº).

n.410

This translation follows the Sanskrit syntax.

n.411

Skt. adds, “the body of the great Vajrabhairava” (mahāvajrabhairavakāyam).

n.412

This follows Skt. and F in reading “kill” (māraya; bsod pa). D reads rtogs shig, (“realize!”) which makes little sense in this context and is possibly corrupt.

n.413

Skt. reads, “scare, terrify, and kill the māras, nāgas, asuras, devas, yakṣas, and rākṣasas” (mārān nāgān asurān devān yakṣān rākṣasān trāsaya bhīṣaya mārayety uktam).

n.414

According to Skt. D and S read nA da ku be ra.

n.415

Skt. reads, “and took it to heart as good and excellent” (suṣṭhu ca sādhu ca cittam utpāditam).

n.416

Cuevas (2021, p. 36, note 58), lists this tantra as one of the translations of Atīśa’s close students, Naktsho Lotsāwa Tsültrim Gyalwa (nag tsho lo tsa ba tshul khrims rgyal ba; 1011–64), who is considered an important early holder of Yamāri and Vajrabhairava lineages. See The Treasury of Lives, “Naktso Lotsāwa Tsultrim Gyalwa,” https://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Naktso-Lots%C4%81wa-Tsultrim-Gyelwa/5801.

Bibliography

Root Text: Sanskrit

Samdhong Rinpoche and V. Dwivedi. Kṛṣṇayamāritantra. Edited, together with Kumāracandra’s Ratnāvalī, by Samdhong Rinpoche and V. Dwivedi [and others], Rare Buddhist Text Series 9, Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarnath, 1992.

Root Text: Tibetan

de bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi sku gsung thugs gshin rje gshed nag po zhes bya ba’i rgyud (Sarvatathāgatakāyavākcittakṛṣnayamārināmatantra). Toh 467, Degé Kangyur vol. 83 (rgyud, ja), folios 134.b–151.b.

de bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi sku gsung thugs gshin rje gshed nag po zhes bya ba’i rgyud (Sarvatathāgatakāyavākcittakṛṣnayamārināmatantra). S 429, Stok pho brang Kangyur vol. 97 (rgyud, cha), folios 72.a–96.b.

gsang ba bas kyang ches gsang ba gshin rje’i dgra nag po zhes bya ba rgyud kyi rgyal po (= gshin rje’i dgra nag po’i rgyud). (guhya-guhya-krirna-yama-ari-nāma-tantra-rāja). F 426, Phugdrag Kangyur vol. 101 (rgyud, ga), folios 751.b–101.a.

Other Sources: Sanskrit

Kumāracandra. Ratnāvalīpañjikā. In Kṛṣṇayamāritantram with Ratnāvalīpañjikā of Kumāracandra, Edited by Samdhong Rinpoche and V. Dwivedi. Sarnath: Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, 1992.

Bhattacharya, Benoytosh, ed. Guhyasamāja Tantra : Or Tathāgataguhyaka. Gaekward Oriental Series No. 53. Second edition (Reprint). Baroda: Oriental Institute, 1967.

Other Sources: Tibetan

84000. The Dhāraṇī of Vajrabhairava (Vajrabhairavadhāraṇī; ’phags pa rdo rje ’jigs byed kyi gzungs). Translated by the Tibetan Classics Translators Guild of New York. Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024.

Padmapāṇi. gshin rje dgra nag po’i rgyud kyi dka’ ’grel. bstan ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Tengyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripiṭaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 120 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 1994–2008, vol. 23, pp. 1555–1615. [BDRC bdr:MW1PD95844_0825]

Other Sources

Acharya, Prasanna Kumar. A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture. London: Oxford University Press, 1946.

Acharya, Prasanna Kumar. An Encyclopaedia of Hindu Architecture. Mānasāra Series. New Delhi: Oriental Books Reprint Corporation, 1979.

Cuevas, Bryan J. The “Rwa Pod” and Other ‘Lost’ Works of Rwa Lo Tsā Ba’s Vajrabhairava Tradition: A Catalogue of Recently Acquired Tibetan Manuscripts from Mongolia and Khams and Their Significance. Wien: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien Universität Wien, 2021.

Gonsalez, David, trans. Source of Supreme Bliss. Heruka Chakrasamvara Five Deity Practice & Commentary. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion, 2010.

Herrmann-Pfandt, Adelheid. Die lHan kar ma: ein früher Katalog der ins Tibetische übersetzten buddhistischen Texte. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2008.

Isaacson, Harunaga. “Tantric Buddhism in India (From c. A.D. 800 to c. A.D. 1200).” In Buddhismus in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Band II. Hamburg, Buddhismus in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Band 2. Vortragsmanuskript Universität Hamburg, Asien-Afrika-Institut, Abteilung für Kultur und Geschichte Indiens und Tibets. (Weiterbildendes Studium), 1998. https://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/pdf/4-publikationen/buddhismus-in-geschichte-und-gegenwart/bd2-k02isaacson.pdf.

Kawagoe, Eishin, ed. dKar chag ’Phang thang ma. Tōhoku Indo Chibetto Kenkyū Sōsho 3. Sendai: Tohoku Society for Indo-Tibetan Studies, 2005.

Kuranishi, Kenichi (Kenryo). “Yantras in the Buddhist Tantras‍—Yamāritantras and Related Literature.” In Puṣpikā. Tracing Ancient India, through Texts and Traditions. Contributions to Current Research in Indology. Edited by Nina Mirnig, Péter-Dániel Szántó, and Michael Williams, 265–81. Volume 1. Oxford: Oxbow Books, September 2009.

Kuranishi, Kenichi (Kenryo). “Fragments of the Sahajālokapañjikā. A Critical Edition of the IASWR Manuscript.” In 豊山学報 (Journal of Buzan studies. Buzan gakuhō), no. 66, 550–527. Taisho University Toyoyama Society, 2023.

Mills, Elizabeth. Temple Design in Six Early Śaiva Scriptures: Critical Edition and Translation of the Prāsādalakṣaṇa Portions of the Bṛhatkālottara, Devyāmata, Kiraṇa, Mohacūrottara, Mayasaṃgraha, and Piṅgalāmata. Pondicherry: Institut Français de Pondichéry, 2019.

Ra Yeshé Sengé, Bryan Cuevas, trans. The All-Pervading Melodious Drumbeat: The Life of Ra Lotsawa. Translated with an Introduction and Notes by Bryan J. Cuevas. New York: Penguin Classics, 2015.

Szántó, Péter Dániel. “Tantric Buddhism in the 9-11th Centuries.” MA Thesis, ELTE-BTK Indoeurópai nyelvtudományi tanszék, 2006.

Tanaka, Kimiaki. An Illustrated History of the Maṇḍala: From its Genesis to the Kālacakratantra. Somerville, MA: Shambhala Publications, 2018.

Tsuda Shin’ichi. “The Saṁvarodaya-Tantra : Selected Chapters.” PhD diss., Australian National University, 1970.

Wenta, Aleksandra Bozena. Vajramahābhairavatantra: Its Origins, Intertextuality, and Transmission. Wisdom Publications, 2024 (Forthcoming).

Glossary

Types of attestation for names and terms of the corresponding source language

Attested in source text

This term is attested in a manuscript used as a source for this translation.

Attested in other text

This term is attested in other manuscripts with a parallel or similar context.

Attested in dictionary

This term is attested in dictionaries matching Tibetan to the corresponding language.

Approximate attestation

The attestation of this name is approximate. It is based on other names where the relationship between the Tibetan and source language is attested in dictionaries or other manuscripts.

Reconstruction from Tibetan phonetic rendering

This term is a reconstruction based on the Tibetan phonetic rendering of the term.

Reconstruction from Tibetan semantic rendering

This term is a reconstruction based on the semantics of the Tibetan translation.

Source unspecified

This term has been supplied from an unspecified source, which most often is a widely trusted dictionary.

g.1

acacia wood

seng ldeng

སེང་ལྡེང་།

khadira AS

g.2

aggregate

phung po

ཕུང་པོ།

skandha AS

g.3

altar

mchod snam

མཆོད་སྣམ།

vedī AS

g.4

Amitābha

snang ba mtha’ yas

སྣང་བ་མཐའ་ཡས།

amitābha AS

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The buddha of the western buddhafield of Sukhāvatī, where fortunate beings are reborn to make further progress toward spiritual maturity. Amitābha made his great vows to create such a realm when he was a bodhisattva called Dharmākara. In the Pure Land Buddhist tradition, popular in East Asia, aspiring to be reborn in his buddha realm is the main emphasis; in other Mahāyāna traditions, too, it is a widespread practice. For a detailed description of the realm, see The Display of the Pure Land of Sukhāvatī, Toh 115. In some tantras that make reference to the five families he is the tathāgata associated with the lotus family.

Amitābha, “Infinite Light,” is also known in many Indian Buddhist works as Amitāyus, “Infinite Life.” In both East Asian and Tibetan Buddhist traditions he is often conflated with another buddha named “Infinite Life,” Aparimitāyus, or “Infinite Life and Wisdom,”Aparimitāyurjñāna, the shorter version of whose name has also been back-translated from Tibetan into Sanskrit as Amitāyus but who presides over a realm in the zenith. For details on the relation between these buddhas and their names, see The Aparimitāyurjñāna Sūtra (1) Toh 674, i.9.

g.5

Ananta

mtha’ yas

མཐའ་ཡས།

ananata AS

g.6

ancestor’s grove

pitṛvana AS

g.7

Aniruddha

ma ’gags pa

མ་འགགས་པ།

aniruddha AS

g.8

anuyoga

rjes kyi rnal ’byor

རྗེས་ཀྱི་རྣལ་འབྱོར།

anuyoga AS

g.9

apsaras

lha mo
lha yi bu mo

ལྷ་མོ།
ལྷ་ཡི་བུ་མོ།

apsaras AS

g.10

aśoka

mya ngan med

མྱ་ངན་མེད།

aśoka AS

g.11

asura

lha ma yin

ལྷ་མ་ཡིན།

asura AS

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A type of nonhuman being whose precise status is subject to different views, but is included as one of the six classes of beings in the sixfold classification of realms of rebirth. In the Buddhist context, asuras are powerful beings said to be dominated by envy, ambition, and hostility. They are also known in the pre-Buddhist and pre-Vedic mythologies of India and Iran, and feature prominently in Vedic and post-Vedic Brahmanical mythology, as well as in the Buddhist tradition. In these traditions, asuras are often described as being engaged in interminable conflict with the devas (gods).

g.12

aśvattha

a shwat+tha

ཨ་ཤྭཏྠ།

aśvattha AS

g.13

atiyoga

shin tu rnal ’byor

ཤིན་ཏུ་རྣལ་འབྱོར།

atiyoga AS

g.14

Avīci Hell

mnar med

མནར་མེད།

avīci AS

g.15

bali

gtor ma

གཏོར་མ།

bali AS

g.16

Bāṇāyudha

mda’ gri can

མདའ་གྲི་ཅན།

bāṇāyudha AS

g.17

base line

rtsa ba sa yi thig

རྩ་བ་ས་ཡི་ཐིག

mūlasutra AS

g.18

bhaga

bha+ga

བྷྒ།

bhaga AS

g.19

Bhagavat

bcom ldan ’das

བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས།

bhagavat AS

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

In Buddhist literature, this is an epithet applied to buddhas, most often to Śākyamuni. The Sanskrit term generally means “possessing fortune,” but in specifically Buddhist contexts it implies that a buddha is in possession of six auspicious qualities (bhaga) associated with complete awakening. The Tibetan term‍—where bcom is said to refer to “subduing” the four māras, ldan to “possessing” the great qualities of buddhahood, and ’das to “going beyond” saṃsāra and nirvāṇa‍—possibly reflects the commentarial tradition where the Sanskrit bhagavat is interpreted, in addition, as “one who destroys the four māras.” This is achieved either by reading bhagavat as bhagnavat (“one who broke”), or by tracing the word bhaga to the root √bhañj (“to break”).

g.20

Bhṛkuṭī

khro gnyer can

ཁྲོ་གཉེར་ཅན།

bhṛkuṭī AS

g.21

bilva

bil ba

བིལ་བ།

bilva AS

g.22

black mustard seed

ske tshe

སྐེ་ཚེ།

rājikā AS

g.23

Black Yamāri

gshin rje’i gshed nag po

གཤིན་རྗེའི་གཤེད་ནག་པོ།

kṛṣṇayamāri AS

g.24

bodhicitta

byang chub sems

བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས།

bodhicitta AS

g.25

Buddhaḍākinī

sangs rgyas mkha’ ’gro ma

སངས་རྒྱས་མཁའ་འགྲོ་མ།

buddhaḍākinī AS

g.26

Caityapattana

ba ta mchod rten

བ་ཏ་མཆོད་རྟེན།

caityapattana AS

g.27

caṇḍāḷa

gdol ba

གདོལ་བ།

caṇḍāḷa AS

g.28

candrakānta

chu shel

ཆུ་ཤེལ།

candrakānta AS

g.29

Carcikā

tsartsi kA

ཙརྩི་ཀཱ།

carcikā AS

g.30

charnel ground

dur khrod

དུར་ཁྲོད།

śmaśāna AS

g.31

cheek molding

’gram

འགྲམ།

kapola AS

g.32

children of the jinas

rgyal ba’i sras

རྒྱལ་བའི་སྲས།

jinorasa AS

g.33

Cibikuṇḍalī

rna cha kos ko

རྣ་ཆ་ཀོས་ཀོ

cibikuṇḍalī AS

g.34

cloth hanging

’phan

འཕན།

paṭṭika AS

g.35

collyrium

mig sman

མིག་སྨན།

añjana AS

g.36

conjoined

kha sbyar

ཁ་སྦྱར།

sampuṭa

g.37

crest

mu khyud

མུ་ཁྱུད།

niryūha AS

g.38

crossed vajra

las kyi rdo rje

ལས་ཀྱི་རྡོ་རྗེ།

karmavajra AS

g.39

crown initiation

cod pan dbang

ཅོད་པན་དབང་།

mauliseka AS

g.40

Cundrikā

skul byed ma

སྐུལ་བྱེད་མ།

cundrikā AS

g.41

ḍākinī

mkha’ ’gro ma

མཁའ་འགྲོ་མ།

ḍākinī AS

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A class of powerful nonhuman female beings who play a variety of roles in Indic literature in general and Buddhist literature specifically. Essentially synonymous with yoginīs, ḍākinīs are liminal and often dangerous beings who can be propitiated to acquire both mundane and transcendent spiritual accomplishments. In the higher Buddhist tantras, ḍākinīs are often considered embodiments of awakening and feature prominently in tantric maṇḍalas.

g.42

daṇḍa

dbyug gu
dbyug pa

དབྱུག་གུ
དབྱུག་པ།

daṇḍa AS

g.43

Daṇḍa Yamāri

dbyug pa gshin rje’i gshed

དབྱུག་པ་གཤིན་རྗེའི་གཤེད།

daṇḍayamāri AS
daṇḍa AS

g.44

Daṇḍavajra

rdo rje dbyug pa

རྡོ་རྗེ་དབྱུག་པ།

daṇḍavajra AS

g.45

dantadhāvana

da ste da ma nA

ད་སྟེ་ད་མ་ནཱ།

dantadhāvana AS

g.46

Darma Drak

dar ma grags

དར་མ་གྲགས།

g.47

Darpaka

’gying bag can

འགྱིང་བག་ཅན།

darpaka AS

g.48

datura

smyon pa
d+ha dura

སྨྱོན་པ།
དྷ་དུར།

dhuttūra AS
umattaka AS

g.49

Datura seeds

tsan da li ’bras bu
tsan da li ’bras

ཙན་ད་ལི་འབྲས་བུ།
ཙན་ད་ལི་འབྲས།

caṇḍabīja AS

g.50

Dehinī

kye hi ni

ཀྱེ་ཧི་ནི།

dehinī AS

g.51

deva

ལྷ།

deva AS

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

In the most general sense the devas‍—the term is cognate with the English divine‍—are a class of celestial beings who frequently appear in Buddhist texts, often at the head of the assemblies of nonhuman beings who attend and celebrate the teachings of the Buddha Śākyamuni and other buddhas and bodhisattvas. In Buddhist cosmology the devas occupy the highest of the five or six “destinies” (gati) of saṃsāra among which beings take rebirth. The devas reside in the devalokas, “heavens” that traditionally number between twenty-six and twenty-eight and are divided between the desire realm (kāmadhātu), form realm (rūpadhātu), and formless realm (ārūpyadhātu). A being attains rebirth among the devas either through meritorious deeds (in the desire realm) or the attainment of subtle meditative states (in the form and formless realms). While rebirth among the devas is considered favorable, it is ultimately a transitory state from which beings will fall when the conditions that lead to rebirth there are exhausted. Thus, rebirth in the god realms is regarded as a diversion from the spiritual path.

g.52

Dharmacakrā

chos kyi ’khor lo ma

ཆོས་ཀྱི་འཁོར་ལོ་མ།

dharmacakrā RS

g.53

Dhūpā

spos

སྤོས།

dhūpā AS

g.54

Dīpā

mar me

མར་མེ།

dīpā AS

g.55

Dīpaṅkaraśrījñāna

dI paM ka ra shrI dz+nyA na

དཱི་པཾ་ཀ་ར་ཤྲཱི་ཛྙཱ་ན།

dīpaṅkaraśrījñāna RS

g.56

door guardians

sgo skyong

སྒོ་སྐྱོང་།

dvārapāla AS

g.57

Dorjé Drak

rdo rje grags

རྡོ་རྗེ་གྲགས།

The accomplished translator and tantric master Ra Lotsāwa Dorjé Drakpa (rwa lo tsA ba rdo rje grags pa, c. 1016–1128) who is credited with having established the dmar nag ’jigs gsum “The three [cycles] of red [Yamāri], black [Yamāri], and [Vajra-]Terrifier,” and particularly the third, in Tibet. Ralo, as he is often called, was notorious as a tantric sorcerer who used black magic and his yogic powers attained through Vajrabhairava practice to overcome and even kill some of his opponents. His biography, written by his grandnephew Ra Yeshé Sengé (rwa ye shes seng ge), flourished c. 1150 ᴄᴇ), is translated in Cuevas 2015. The colophon of The Tantra of Black Yamāri dates that he was the editor who last revised the translation from Sanskrit.

g.58

drum

rnga zlum

རྔ་ཟླུམ།

mukunda AS

g.59

Dveṣa Yamāri

zhe sdang gshin rje’i gshed

ཞེ་སྡང་གཤིན་རྗེའི་གཤེད།

dveṣayamāri AS

g.60

eating of the moon

zla ba bza’ ba

ཟླ་བ་བཟའ་བ།

candrabhakṣaṇa AS

g.61

Ekajaṭā

ral pa gcig ma

རལ་པ་གཅིག་མ།

ekajaṭā AS

g.62

emblem

phyag mtshan

ཕྱག་མཚན།

cihna AS

g.63

empower

byin gyis brlab

བྱིན་གྱིས་བརླབ།

adhiṣṭhāna AS

g.64

enriching

rgyas pa

རྒྱས་པ།

pauṣṭika AS

g.65

enthralling

dbang byed pa
dbang du byas
dbang du bya ba
dbang

དབང་བྱེད་པ།
དབང་དུ་བྱས།
དབང་དུ་བྱ་བ།
དབང་།

vaśya AS

g.66

expelling

bskrad pa

བསྐྲད་པ།

uccāṭana AS

g.67

extracting alcohol

chang ’gugs pa

ཆང་འགུགས་པ།

g.68

extraction of semen

khu ba ’gugs pa

ཁུ་བ་འགུགས་པ།

g.69

fire offering

sbyin sreg

སྦྱིན་སྲེག

homa AS

The casting of a prescribed offering into a ritual fire. The practice of homa is first attested in pre-Buddhist Vedic literature and serves as a core, pervasive ritual paradigm in exoteric and esoteric rites in both Buddhist and non-Buddhist traditions into modern times. In Buddhist esoteric rites, the ritual offerings are made repeatedly, with each throw accompanied by a single repetition of the respective mantra.

g.70

five acts with immediate retribution

mtshams med lnga

མཚམས་མེད་ལྔ།

pañcānantaryakarman AS

g.71

five cow products

ba yi rnam lnga

བ་ཡི་རྣམ་ལྔ།

pañcagavya AS

g.72

five meats

sha lnga

ཤ་ལྔ།

pañcamāṃsa AS

g.73

five mudrās

phyag rgya lnga

ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ལྔ།

pañcamudrā AS

g.74

five nectars

bdud rtsi lnga

བདུད་རྩི་ལྔ།

pañcāmṛta AS

g.75

five sense pleasures

’dod pa’i yon tan lnga

འདོད་པའི་ཡོན་ཏན་ལྔ།

pañcakāmaguṇa AS

g.76

flight

mkha’ spyod nyid

མཁའ་སྤྱོད་ཉིད།

khecaratva AS

g.77

flute

gling bu

གླིང་བུ།

bāṇa AS

g.78

Gandhā

དྲི།

gandhā AS

g.79

Gaurī

gau rI
gau rI ma

གཽ་རཱི།
གཽ་རཱི་མ།

gaurī AS

g.80

Gehā

kyi haM

ཀྱི་ཧཾ།

gehā AS

g.81

Geyā

glu ma

གླུ་མ།

geyā AS

g.82

gift

ཡོན།

pradakṣiṇā AS

g.83

great sage

thub pa chen po

ཐུབ་པ་ཆེན་པོ།

muni AS

g.84

Hayagrīva

rta mgrin

རྟ་མགྲིན།

hayagrīva AS

g.85

Heruka

he ru ka

ཧེ་རུ་ཀ

heruka AS

g.86

hostile rites

mngon spyod

མངོན་སྤྱོད།

abhicāra AS

g.87

implement

phyag rgya

ཕྱག་རྒྱ།

mudrā AS

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A seal, in both the literal and metaphoric sense. Mudrā is also the name given to an array of symbolic hand gestures, which range from the gesture of touching the earth displayed by the Buddha upon attaining awakening to the numerous gestures used in tantric rituals to symbolize offerings, consecrations, etc. Iconographically, mudrās are used as a way of communicating an action performed by the deity or a specific aspect a deity or buddha is displaying, in which case the same figure can be depicted using different hand gestures to signify that they are either meditating, teaching, granting freedom from fear, etc. In Tantric texts, the term is also used to designate the female spiritual consort in her various aspects.

g.88

indigo

rams
sngon po

རམས།
སྔོན་པོ།

nīlī AS
nīlīka AS

g.89

initiation

dbang bskur ba

དབང་བསྐུར་བ།

abhiṣikta AS
abhiṣeka AS
abhiṣincayet AS
seka AS

g.90

Īrṣyā Yamāri

phrag dog gshin rje’i gshed

ཕྲག་དོག་གཤིན་རྗེའི་གཤེད།

īrṣyāyamāri AS

g.91

Īrṣyāvajra

phrag dog rdo rje

ཕྲག་དོག་རྡོ་རྗེ།

īṛṣyāvajra AS

g.92

Jalendrā

chu dbang

ཆུ་དབང་།

jalendrā AS

g.93

Jambhalā

dzam+b+ha la

ཛམྦྷ་ལ།

jambhalā AS

g.94

Jāṅgulī

dzi gu li

ཛི་གུ་ལི།

jāṅgulī AS

g.95

Kāmadevī

’dod pa’i lha mo

འདོད་པའི་ལྷ་མོ།

kāmadevī AS

g.96

Kandarpa

’dod pa ’gying

འདོད་པ་འགྱིང་།

kandarpa AS

g.97

Karmaḍākinī

las kyi mkha’ ’gro ma

ལས་ཀྱི་མཁའ་འགྲོ་མ།

karmaḍākinī AS

g.98

Karmavajra

rdo rje las
las kyi rdo rje
las

རྡོ་རྗེ་ལས།
ལས་ཀྱི་རྡོ་རྗེ།
ལས།

karmavajra AS

g.99

Keśinī

skra can ma

སྐྲ་ཅན་མ།

keśinī AS

g.100

Khaḍgapāṇi

ral gri gshin rje’i gshed

རལ་གྲི་གཤིན་རྗེའི་གཤེད།

khadgapāṇi AS

g.101

Khaḍgavajra

rdo rje ral gri

རྡོ་རྗེ་རལ་གྲི།

khaḍgavajra AS

g.102

khaṭvāṅga

kha T+wA~M ga

ཁ་ཊྭཱྃ་ག

khaṭvāṅga AS

g.103

killing

gsad pa

གསད་པ།

māraṇā AS

g.104

killing and extracting

gsad pa dang dgug pa

གསད་པ་དང་དགུག་པ།

g.105

King of the Seven

bdun pa’i rgyal po

བདུན་པའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།

saptirāja AS

g.106

Kuntalā

ku ta la

ཀུ་ཏ་ལ།

kuntalā AS

g.107

Kurukullā

ku ru kulle

ཀུ་རུ་ཀུལླེ།

kurukullā AS

g.108

lac

rgya skyegs

རྒྱ་སྐྱེགས།

alaktaka AS
lākṣā AS

g.109

ladle

blugs gzar

བླུགས་གཟར།

śruva AS
sruva AS

g.110

Lāsyā

lA sye

ལཱ་སྱེ།

lāsyā AS

g.111

level

ས།

bhūmi AS

g.112

liṅga

mtshan ma

མཚན་མ།

liṅga AS

g.113

Locanā

spyan ma

སྤྱན་མ།

locanā AS

g.114

Lord of the Guhyakas

gsang ba’i bdag po

གསང་བའི་བདག་པོ།

guhyakādhipati AS

g.115

love

byams pa

བྱམས་པ།

maitrī AS

g.116

lute

pi bang

པི་བང་།

vīṇā AS

g.117

Madanasundarī

’dod pas mdzes ma

འདོད་པས་མཛེས་མ།

madanasundarī AS

g.118

Madanotsukā

’dod pa’i lcags kyu

འདོད་པའི་ལྕགས་ཀྱུ།

madanotsukā AS

g.119

mahāmudrā

phyag rgya chen po

ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོ།

mahāmudrā AS

g.120

Mahāpuruṣasamaya

skyes bu chen po’i dam tshig

སྐྱེས་བུ་ཆེན་པོའི་དམ་ཚིག

mahāpuruṣasamaya AS

g.121

mahāyoga

rnal ’byor chen po

རྣལ་འབྱོར་ཆེན་པོ།

mahāyoga AS

g.122

main hall

khyams chen

ཁྱམས་ཆེན།

mahāvedī AS

g.123

Makaraketu

spre’u’i rgyal mtshan

སྤྲེའུའི་རྒྱལ་མཚན།

makaraketu AS

g.124

Mālyā

mA le

མཱ་ལེ།

mālyā AS

g.125

Māmakī

mA ma kI

མཱ་མ་ཀཱི།

māmakī AS

g.126

Mandara

man dA ra

མན་དཱ་ར།

mandara AS

g.127

Mañjuvajra

’jam pa’i rdo rje

འཇམ་པའི་རྡོ་རྗེ།

mañjuvajra
mañjuvajraka AS

g.128

Māra

bdud

བདུད།

māra AS

g.129

Mārīcī

’od zer can

འོད་ཟེར་ཅན།

mārīcī AS

g.130

Māyūrī

rma bya

རྨ་བྱ།

māyūrī AS

g.131

meditative absorption

ting nge ’dzin

ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན།

samādhi AS

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

In a general sense, samādhi can describe a number of different meditative states. In the Mahāyāna literature, in particular in the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras, we find extensive lists of different samādhis, numbering over one hundred.

In a more restricted sense, and when understood as a mental state, samādhi is defined as the one-pointedness of the mind (cittaikāgratā), the ability to remain on the same object over long periods of time. The Drajor Bamponyipa (sgra sbyor bam po gnyis pa) commentary on the Mahāvyutpatti explains the term samādhi as referring to the instrument through which mind and mental states “get collected,” i.e., it is by the force of samādhi that the continuum of mind and mental states becomes collected on a single point of reference without getting distracted.

g.132

Moha Yamāri

gti mug gshin rje’i gshed

གཏི་མུག་གཤིན་རྗེའི་གཤེད།

mohayamāri AS

g.133

Mohavajra

gti mug rdo rje

གཏི་མུག་རྡོ་རྗེ།

mohavajra AS

g.134

molding

snam bu

སྣམ་བུ།

paṭṭikā AS

g.135

moringa tree

so pany+dza

སོ་པཉྫ།

śobhāñjana AS

g.136

Mount Sumeru

ri rab

རི་རབ།

meru AS
sumeru AS

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

According to ancient Buddhist cosmology, this is the great mountain forming the axis of the universe. At its summit is Sudarśana, home of Śakra and his thirty-two gods, and on its flanks live the asuras. The mount has four sides facing the cardinal directions, each of which is made of a different precious stone. Surrounding it are several mountain ranges and the great ocean where the four principal island continents lie: in the south, Jambudvīpa (our world); in the west, Godānīya; in the north, Uttarakuru; and in the east, Pūrvavideha. Above it are the abodes of the desire realm gods. It is variously referred to as Meru, Mount Meru, Sumeru, and Mount Sumeru.

g.137

moving underground

sa ’og

ས་འོག

pātāla AS

g.138

Mudgara Yamāri

tho ba gshin rje’i gshed

ཐོ་བ་གཤིན་རྗེའི་གཤེད།

mudgarayamāri AS
mudgara AS

g.139

Mudgaravajra

rdo rje tho ba

རྡོ་རྗེ་ཐོ་བ།

mudgaravajra AS

g.140

mudrā

phyag rgya

ཕྱག་རྒྱ།

mudrā AS

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

g.141

nāga

ཀླུ།

nāga AS

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A class of nonhuman beings who live in subterranean aquatic environments, where they guard wealth and sometimes also teachings. Nāgas are associated with serpents and have a snakelike appearance. In Buddhist art and in written accounts, they are regularly portrayed as half human and half snake, and they are also said to have the ability to change into human form. Some nāgas are Dharma protectors, but they can also bring retribution if they are disturbed. They may likewise fight one another, wage war, and destroy the lands of others by causing lightning, hail, and flooding.

g.142

Nalakūbera

nA da ku be ra

ནཱ་ད་ཀུ་བེ་ར།

nalakūbera AS

g.143

nectar

bdud rtsi

བདུད་རྩི།

amṛta AS

g.144

neem

nim pa

ནིམ་པ།

nimbaka AS

g.145

nihilist

chad lta

ཆད་ལྟ།

nāstika AS

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The extreme philosophical view that rejects rebirth and the law of karma by considering that causes (and thus actions) do not have effects and that the self, being the same as one or all of the aggregates (skandhas), ends at death. Commonly translated as “nihilism” or, more literally, as “view of annihilation.” It is often mentioned along with its opposite view, the extreme of eternalism or permanence.

g.146

Nṛtyā

གར།

nṛtyā AS

g.147

Oḍḍiyāna

auD+yan

ཨཽཌྱན།

oḍḍiyāna AS

g.148

one cubit

khru
]khru gang ba
khru gang

ཁྲུ།
]ཁྲུ་གང་བ།
ཁྲུ་གང་།

hasta AS

g.149

pacifying

zhi ba

ཞི་བ།

śāntika AS

g.150

Padma Yamāri

pad+ma gshin rje’i gshed

པདྨ་གཤིན་རྗེའི་གཤེད།

padmayamāri AS

g.151

Padmadākinī

pad+ma’i mkha’ ’gro ma

པདྨའི་མཁའ་འགྲོ་མ།

padmaḍākinī AS

g.152

Padmapāṇi

lag na pad ma

ལག་ན་པད་མ།

padmapāṇi AS

g.153

Padmavajra

rdo rje pad+ma

རྡོ་རྗེ་པདྨ།

padmavajra AS

g.154

Pāṇḍarā

gos dkar mo
gos dkar

གོས་དཀར་མོ།
གོས་དཀར།

pāṇḍarā AS

g.155

paralyzing

rengs par byed pa
rengs bya

རེངས་པར་བྱེད་པ།
རེངས་བྱ།

stambhana AS

g.156

Paramāśva

rta yi mchog
rta mchog

རྟ་ཡི་མཆོག
རྟ་མཆོག

paramāśva AS

g.157

pārijāta

pa ri dza ta ka

པ་རི་ཛ་ཏ་ཀ

pārijāta

g.158

Parṇaśabarī

ri khrod ma

རི་ཁྲོད་མ།

parṇaśabarī AS

g.159

perfection

pha rol phyin pa

ཕ་རོལ་ཕྱིན་པ།

pāramitā

g.160

pill

ril bu

རིལ་བུ།

guṭikā AS

g.161

Piśuna Yamāri

phra ma gshin rje’i gshed

ཕྲ་མ་གཤིན་རྗེའི་གཤེད།

piśunayamāri AS

g.162

Piśunavajra

phra mo rdo rje

ཕྲ་མོ་རྡོ་རྗེ།

piśunavajra AS

g.163

Prajñāntaka

shes rab mthar byed

ཤེས་རབ་མཐར་བྱེད།

prajñāntaka AS

g.164

preparatory recitation

sngon du bsnyen

སྔོན་དུ་བསྙེན།

pūrvasevā AS

g.165

preta

yi dags

ཡི་དགས།

preta AS

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

One of the five or six classes of sentient beings, into which beings are born as the karmic fruition of past miserliness. As the term in Sanskrit means “the departed,” they are analogous to the ancestral spirits of Vedic tradition, the pitṛs, who starve without the offerings of descendants. It is also commonly translated as “hungry ghost” or “starving spirit,” as in the Chinese 餓鬼 e gui.

They are sometimes said to reside in the realm of Yama, but are also frequently described as roaming charnel grounds and other inhospitable or frightening places along with piśācas and other such beings. They are particularly known to suffer from great hunger and thirst and the inability to acquire sustenance. Detailed descriptions of their realm and experience, including a list of the thirty-six classes of pretas, can be found in The Application of Mindfulness of the Sacred Dharma, Toh 287, 2.1281– 2.1482.

g.166

protection circle

srung ba’i ’khor lo

སྲུང་བའི་འཁོར་ལོ།

rakṣācakra AS

g.167

Puṣpā

me tog

མེ་ཏོག

puṣpā AS

g.168

rag

རས།

karpaṭa AS

g.169

Rāga Yamāri

’dod chags gshin rje’i gshed

འདོད་ཆགས་གཤིན་རྗེའི་གཤེད།

rāgayamāri AS

g.170

Rāgavajra

’dod chags rdo rje

འདོད་ཆགས་རྡོ་རྗེ།

rāgavajra AS

g.171

rākṣasa

srin po

སྲིན་པོ།

rākṣasa AS

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A class of nonhuman beings that are often, but certainly not always, considered demonic in the Buddhist tradition. They are often depicted as flesh-eating monsters who haunt frightening places and are ugly and evil-natured with a yearning for human flesh, and who additionally have miraculous powers, such as being able to change their appearance.

g.172

Rati

dga’ ma

དགའ་མ།

rati AS

g.173

Ratnaḍākinī

rin chen mkha’ ’gro

རིན་ཆེན་མཁའ་འགྲོ།

ratnaḍākinī AS

g.174

realgar

ldong ros

ལྡོང་རོས།

tālaka AS

g.175

recitation mālā

bzlas pa’i phreng ba

བཟླས་པའི་ཕྲེང་བ།

jāpamālā AS

g.176

remote hearing

ring ba’i thos pa

རིང་བའི་ཐོས་པ།

dūraśravaṇa AS

g.177

rite

cho ga

ཆོ་ག

samaya AS

g.178

rocanā

ro tsa na

རོ་ཙ་ན།

rocanā AS

g.179

ṣāḍava

drug las skyed

དྲུག་ལས་སྐྱེད།

ṣāḍava AS
ṣaḍja AS

g.180

saffron

gur gum
gur kum

གུར་གུམ།
གུར་ཀུམ།

kuṃkuma AS

g.181

samaya

dam tshig

དམ་ཚིག

samaya AS

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Literally, in Sanskrit, “coming together.” Samaya refers to precepts given by the teacher, the corresponding commitment by the pupil, and the bond that results, which can also be the bond between the practitioner and the deity or a spirit. It can also mean a special juncture or circumstance, or an ordinary time or season.

g.182

Saptarājñī

bdun pa’i rgyal po

བདུན་པའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།

saptarājñī AS

g.183

śarabha

sha ra b+ha

ཤ་ར་བྷ།

śarabha AS

g.184

Sarasvatī

dbyangs can

དབྱངས་ཅན།

sarasvatī AS

g.185

Sarvakāmalatā

’dod pa kun gyi ’khris ma

འདོད་པ་ཀུན་གྱི་འཁྲིས་མ།

sarvakāmalatā AS

g.186

Sarvakuṇḍali

’khyil bar bcas pa

འཁྱིལ་བར་བཅས་པ།

sarvakuṇḍalin AS

g.187

siddhi

dngos grub

དངོས་གྲུབ།

siddhi AS

g.188

sinduvāra

si du ba ra

སི་དུ་བ་ར།

sinduvāra AS

g.189

skull cup

thod pa

ཐོད་པ།

kapāla AS

g.190

Smara

dran

དྲན།

smara AS

g.191

sowing discord

dbye ba

དབྱེ་བ།

vidveṣaṇa AS
vidveṣa AS

g.192

spirits

’byung po

འབྱུང་པོ།

bhūta AS

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

This term in its broadest sense can refer to any being, whether human, animal, or nonhuman. However, it is often used to refer to a specific class of nonhuman beings, especially when bhūtas are mentioned alongside rākṣasas, piśācas, or pretas. In common with these other kinds of nonhumans, bhūtas are usually depicted with unattractive and misshapen bodies. Like several other classes of nonhuman beings, bhūtas take spontaneous birth. As their leader is traditionally regarded to be Rudra-Śiva (also known by the name Bhūta), with whom they haunt dangerous and wild places, bhūtas are especially prominent in Śaivism, where large sections of certain tantras concentrate on them.

g.193

spoon

dgang gzar

དགང་གཟར།

pātrī AS

g.194

Śumbhavajra

gnod mdzes rdo rje

གནོད་མཛེས་རྡོ་རྗེ།

śumbhavajraka AS

g.195

summoning

’gugs pa
dgugs par byed
dgug pa

འགུགས་པ།
དགུགས་པར་བྱེད།
དགུག་པ།

ākarṣaṇa AS

g.196

Sundarī

ba su dha ri

བ་སུ་དྷ་རི།

sundarī AS

g.197

supreme joy

mchog tu dga’ ba

མཆོག་ཏུ་དགའ་བ།

paramānanda AS

g.198

swift-feet

rkang mgyogs

རྐང་མགྱོགས།

g.199

sword initiation

ral gri

རལ་གྲི།

kaḍga AS

g.200

tabor

rnga bran

རྔ་བྲན།

muraja AS

g.201

tail whisk

rdul yab

རྡུལ་ཡབ།

cāmara AS

g.202

tamer of māras

bdud ’dul ba

བདུད་འདུལ་བ།

g.203

Tārā

sgrol ma

སྒྲོལ་མ།

tārā AS

g.204

tathāgata

de bzhin gshegs pa

དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པ།

tathāgata AS

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A frequently used synonym for buddha. According to different explanations, it can be read as tathā-gata, literally meaning “one who has thus gone,” or as tathā-āgata, “one who has thus come.” Gata, though literally meaning “gone,” is a past passive participle used to describe a state or condition of existence. Tatha(tā), often rendered as “suchness” or “thusness,” is the quality or condition of things as they really are, which cannot be conveyed in conceptual, dualistic terms. Therefore, this epithet is interpreted in different ways, but in general it implies one who has departed in the wake of the buddhas of the past, or one who has manifested the supreme awakening dependent on the reality that does not abide in the two extremes of existence and quiescence. It is also often used as a specific epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.205

teacher

slob dpon

སློབ་དཔོན།

ācārya AS

g.206

three hot spices

tshwa gsum

ཚྭ་གསུམ།

trikaṭu AS

g.207

three junctures

dus gsum

དུས་གསུམ།

trisandhya AS

g.208

three metals

lcags gsum

ལྕགས་གསུམ།

triloha AS

g.209

three worlds

’jig rten gsum
khams gsum
srid pa gsum

འཇིག་རྟེན་གསུམ།
ཁམས་གསུམ།
སྲིད་པ་གསུམ།

trailokya AS

g.210

thusness

de bzhin nyid

དེ་བཞིན་ཉིད།

tathatā AS

g.211

Tsültrim Gyalwa

tshul khrims rgyal ba

ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས་རྒྱལ་བ།

g.212

Turaṅgamā

rim gro ma

རིམ་གྲོ་མ།

turaṅgamā AS

g.213

turmeric

yung ba

ཡུང་བ།

haridrā AS

g.214

Upakeśinī

nye ba’i skra can ma

ཉེ་བའི་སྐྲ་ཅན་མ།

upakeśinī AS

g.215

Uṣāpati

mtshams kyi bdag

མཚམས་ཀྱི་བདག

uṣāpati AS

g.216

Vaḍavā

ba da biM

བ་ད་བིཾ།

vaḍavā AS

g.217

vairocanā

bai ro tsa na
snang mdzad

བཻ་རོ་ཙ་ན།
སྣང་མཛད།

vairocanā

g.218

Vairocana

rnam snang mdzad

རྣམ་སྣང་མཛད།

vairocana AS

g.219

vajra and bell

rdo rje dril bu

རྡོ་རྗེ་དྲིལ་བུ།

vajraghaṇṭā AS

g.220

vajra that conquers all māras

bdud thams cad rnam par ’joms pa’i rdo rje

བདུད་ཐམས་ཅད་རྣམ་པར་འཇོམས་པའི་རྡོ་རྗེ།

sarvamāranikṛntanavajra AS

g.221

vajra that terrifies death

rdo rje nag po ’jigs pa

རྡོ་རྗེ་ནག་པོ་འཇིགས་པ།

g.222

Vajra Yama’s Destroyer

gshin rje’i gshed rdo rje

གཤིན་རྗེའི་གཤེད་རྡོ་རྗེ།

yamamathanavajra AS

g.223

vajra-being

rdo rje sems dpa’

རྡོ་རྗེ་སེམས་དཔའ།

vajrasattva AS

g.224

Vajracarcikā

rdo rje tsar rtsi kA

རྡོ་རྗེ་ཙར་རྩི་ཀཱ།

vajracarcikā AS

g.225

Vajraḍākinī

rdo rje mkha’ ’gro ma

རྡོ་རྗེ་མཁའ་འགྲོ་མ།

vajraḍākinī AS

g.226

Vajragaurī

rdo rje gau rI ma

རྡོ་རྗེ་གཽ་རཱི་མ།

vajragaurī AS

g.227

Vajrānaṅga

rdo rje lus med

རྡོ་རྗེ་ལུས་མེད།

vajrānaṅga AS

g.228

Vajrapāṇi

lag na rdo rje
phyag na rdo rje

ལག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ།
ཕྱག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ།

vajrapāṇi AS

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Vajrapāṇi means “Wielder of the Vajra.” In the Pali canon, he appears as a yakṣa guardian in the retinue of the Buddha. In the Mahāyāna scriptures he is a bodhisattva and one of the “eight close sons of the Buddha.” In the tantras, he is also regarded as an important Buddhist deity and instrumental in the transmission of tantric scriptures.

g.229

Vajrapātāla

rdo rje sa ’og

རྡོ་རྗེ་ས་འོག

vajrapātāla AS
vajrapātālaka AS

g.230

Vajrasarasvatī

rdo rje dbyangs can ma

རྡོ་རྗེ་དབྱངས་ཅན་མ།

vajrasarasvatī AS

g.231

Vajraśṛṅkhalā

rdo rje lcags sgrog ma

རྡོ་རྗེ་ལྕགས་སྒྲོག་མ།

vajraśṛṅkhalā AS

g.232

Vajravārāhī

rdo rje phag mo

རྡོ་རྗེ་ཕག་མོ།

vajravārāhī AS

g.233

Vārāhī

phag mo

ཕག་མོ།

vārāhī AS

g.234

Vasanta

g.yi

གཡི།

vasanta AS

g.235

Vasudhārā

ba su dha ra

བ་སུ་དྷ་ར།

vasudhārā AS

g.236

Vasudhārā

nor ’dzin

ནོར་འཛིན།

vasudhārā AS

g.237

vermillion

mtshal

མཚལ།

hiṅgulaka AS

g.238

vetāla

ro langs

རོ་ལངས།

vetāla AS

g.239

vighna

bgegs
bar chad

བགེགས།
བར་ཆད།

vighna AS

g.240

Vihvalā

ser po

སེར་པོ།

vihvalā AS

g.241

vināyaka

log par ’dren pa

ལོག་པར་འདྲེན་པ།

vināyaka AS

g.242

vow

sdom pa

སྡོམ་པ།

saṃvara AS

g.243

vow holder

brtul zhugs can

བརྟུལ་ཞུགས་ཅན།

vratin AS

g.244

white mustard oil

tsha ba’i mar

ཚ་བའི་མར།

kaṭutaila AS

g.245

white mustard seed

grub pa’i yungs kar

གྲུབ་པའི་ཡུངས་ཀར།

siddhārthabīja AS
sarṣapa AS

g.246

wisdom

ye shes

ཡེ་ཤེས།

jñāna AS

g.247

yakṣa

gnod sbyin

གནོད་སྦྱིན།

yakṣa AS

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A class of nonhuman beings who inhabit forests, mountainous areas, and other natural spaces, or serve as guardians of villages and towns, and may be propitiated for health, wealth, protection, and other boons, or controlled through magic. According to tradition, their homeland is in the north, where they live under the rule of the Great King Vaiśravaṇa.

Several members of this class have been deified as gods of wealth (these include the just-mentioned Vaiśravaṇa) or as bodhisattva generals of yakṣa armies, and have entered the Buddhist pantheon in a variety of forms, including, in tantric Buddhism, those of wrathful deities.

g.248

yakṣiṇī

gnod sbyin mo

གནོད་སྦྱིན་མོ།

yakṣiṇī AS

g.249

Yama

gshin rje

གཤིན་རྗེ།

yama AS

g.250

Yamāri

gshin rje’i gshed

གཤིན་རྗེའི་གཤེད།

yamāri

g.251

Yamāri Dveṣavajra

zhe sdang rdo rje gshin rje’i gshed

ཞེ་སྡང་རྡོ་རྗེ་གཤིན་རྗེའི་གཤེད།

dveṣavajrayamāri AS

g.252

Yamāri Īrṣyāvajra

phrag dog rdo rje gshin rje’i gshed

ཕྲག་དོག་རྡོ་རྗེ་གཤིན་རྗེའི་གཤེད།

īṛṣyāvajrayamāri AS

g.253

Yamāri Mohavajra

gti mug rdo rje gshin rje’i gshed

གཏི་མུག་རྡོ་རྗེ་གཤིན་རྗེའི་གཤེད།

mohavajrāyamāri AS

g.254

Yamāri Piśunavajra

phra ma rdo rje gshin rje’i gshed

ཕྲ་མ་རྡོ་རྗེ་གཤིན་རྗེའི་གཤེད།

piśunavajrayamāri AS

g.255

Yamāri Rāgavajra

’dod chags rdo rje gshin rje’i gshed

འདོད་ཆགས་རྡོ་རྗེ་གཤིན་རྗེའི་གཤེད།

rāgavajrayamāri AS

g.256

yamāri vajra

gshin rje’i gshed po rdo rje

གཤིན་རྗེའི་གཤེད་པོ་རྡོ་རྗེ།

yamārivajra AS

g.257

Yama’s Slayer

gshin rje mthar byed pa

གཤིན་རྗེ་མཐར་བྱེད་པ།

yamaghna AS
yamaghāṭa AS

g.258

yantra

’khrul ’khor

འཁྲུལ་འཁོར།

yantra AS

g.259

yoga

rnal ’byor

རྣལ་འབྱོར།

yoga AS

The Tantra of Black Yamāri

Toh 467

Imprint

Text Body

Attested in source text

Attested in other text

Attested in dictionary

Approximate attestation

Reconstruction from Tibetan phonetic rendering

Reconstruction from Tibetan semantic rendering

Source unspecified

acacia wood

aggregate

altar

Amitābha

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Ananta

ancestor’s grove

Aniruddha

anuyoga

apsaras

aśoka

asura

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

aśvattha

atiyoga

Avīci Hell

bali

Bāṇāyudha

base line

bhaga

Bhagavat

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Bhṛkuṭī

bilva

black mustard seed

Black Yamāri

bodhicitta

Buddhaḍākinī

Caityapattana

caṇḍāḷa

candrakānta

Carcikā

charnel ground

cheek molding

children of the jinas

Cibikuṇḍalī

cloth hanging

collyrium

conjoined

crest

crossed vajra

crown initiation

Cundrikā

ḍākinī

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

daṇḍa

Daṇḍa Yamāri

Daṇḍavajra

dantadhāvana

Darma Drak

Darpaka

datura

Datura seeds