The Tantra of Siddhaikavīra
Chapter 1

[F.1.b] [S1]

Oṁ, homage to Mañjughoṣa!

This king of mantras, when correctly recited, will stop a hailstorm. Merely to remember it, using incanted ashes, can stop snow5 falling, or make it fall wherever one wishes. In the same way, one can also stop lightning, hurricanes, thunderbolt strikes, etc. [S2]

The mere thought of this king of mantras will stop a hailstorm. By inscribing it on a kettle drum with chalk and chanting over the drumstick, one can then use the sound of the drum to stop a hailstorm. The same can be done with the sound of a conch, etc.

One should write the name of the enemy, in combination with this mantra, on a palm leaf, and place it in the burrow of a crab. That will bind the enemy’s mouth. It will also stop others’ evil designs, etc.7 This king of mantras, when recited 100,000 times according to the procedure of the preliminary practice, will bring success. By merely remembering this mantra one will be able to stop lightning, wind, thunderbolt strikes, hail, snow, and so forth. One will also stop torrential rain.8

By using incanted ashes and mustard seeds, one will bind the snouts of mice, the stylets of mosquitoes, etc. This will also stop attacks on a garden or field by birds, worms, locusts, and other pests. One should inscribe this mantra on a rag that has been discarded in a charnel ground, together with the name of a pregnant woman, enclose it in beeswax, place it in a charnel ground in a pot, seal it, and bury it. This will make the woman unable to give birth. Digging it up again, rinsing it with milk,9 and floating it on water will alleviate the problem. [F.2.b]

One should write this mantra on birchbark or cloth10 with turmeric or yellow orpiment. One should make an effigy11 using clay from an anthill, and place the mantra, enclosed in beeswax, in the effigy’s heart. One should fill its mouth with ash and bury it.12 In case of a dispute, one will be able to paralyze the mouth of one’s opponent. Also, in case of a lawsuit, one should incant the tongue of the effigy seven times and pierce it with seven thorns.13 That will bind the opponent’s mouth.

One should write this mantra on a clay pot with chalk, fill the pot with ashes, seal it, and bury it‍—that will paralyze the mouths of slanderers. With clay wiped off the hand of a potter, one should make an effigy of a ram, and place in its heart this mantra inscribed on birchbark with turmeric or yellow orpiment, tied up with a yellow string, and enclosed in beeswax.14 That will put an end to their anger and paralyze their mouths.15

When this mantra is written with saffron16 and worn on one’s neck or arm, one will be able to stop the enemy’s weapons in battle. This king of mantras, placed at the feet of an effigy of Gaṇapati made of clay from an anthill and buried at a crossroads, [S3] will stop all coming and going. It will interrupt all daily activities. When this king of mantras, written on birchbark or cloth and enclosed in beeswax, is put in the Gaṇapati’s abdomen and placed in a new jar filled with cool17 water, it will stop all daily activities.

While traveling, one will stop thieves and the like by tying a knot on the border of one’s upper garment and recalling the mantra. In a forest, one will stop animals with horns,18 or those with fangs. By throwing a lump of clay, incanted with this mantra seven times, into water, one will bind the teeth of water animals.

One should write this mantra on a rag from a charnel ground, in combination with the names of the commanders of an opposing army, in the center of a double vajra. Outside the double vajra, one should write eight laṁ syllables, and around the outside of these, one should draw a double19 maṇḍala of Indra. The mantra should then be placed in the abdomen of a Gaṇapati made of beeswax who is adorned with the double vajra.20 When it is buried next to an opposing army, it will stop that army. [F.3.a]

One should place this mantra, enclosed at both ends by a syllable oṁ flanked by two ṭha syllables, adorned by eight laṁ syllables, covered with a maṇḍala of Indra, and embellished with a double vajra, in the abdomen of the effigy of Gaṇapati made of clay from an anthill. One should then place it in a cremation urn and bury this urn in a cemetery.21 That will stop an opposing army.

If a city is on fire, one should offer a chaff homa and, facing the fire, throw on seven double handfuls of water, having first incanted it with the mantra. One will then be able to protect any house one wishes.

By tying ashes to one’s neck, one will put an end to vomiting. One should pronounce the mantra while firmly pressing the tip of one’s little finger; that will stop hiccups. With incanted ash one can cure blindness.22

When afflicted with blistering leprosy, one should draw a cirikā23 on a piece of cloth.24 Placed at any doorstep, it will prevent diseases such as blistering leprosy in that house.

Outside a village one should offer a great bali of fish, meat, alcohol, sour gruel, etc. In the center of the village, one should prepare a fire pit for the rite of pacifying, with five types of sacrificial wood and five types of grain smeared with ghee, and perform a homa offering. This will stop all death-causing demons and accidents. A village, etc., can be protected from being handed over to another owner by simply reciting the mantra.

By reciting the mantra continuously, one will become unassailable25 by gods, demi-gods, humans, and nāgas.26

This king of mantras emerged from the ūrṇā hair between the eyebrows of the venerable lord Buddha at the time of his awakening in order to conquer the four māras. It is therefore called the jewel of the ūrṇā.

To drive away snakes one should scatter gravel that has been incanted, or write the mantra on the wall of a house with incanted chalk. [F.3.b] Alternatively, one should engrave the mantra with a chisel on a stone tablet and bury it. That will bind the teeth of wild animals and poisonous snakes in a house, village, or town for [S4] as long as one desires. One breaks the spell by digging it up. This mantra accomplishes all endeavors even when it has not been fully mastered.

All mantras should be written, together with the name of the intended person, in the center of the double vajra surrounded by a maṇḍala of Indra.

By hiding eight27 splinters from a funeral pyre, incanted seven times, above an entrance door, one will interrupt the livelihood of all who live there. One can break the spell by taking the splinters out.

This king of mantras accomplishes all the previously mentioned acts even if it is not fully mastered. Moreover, it will accomplish all other tasks that may be desired by the mantrin.28 Making a homa offering of salt and black mustard, or a chaff homa will certainly put an opposing army to flight.

This king of mantras will remove all fear in all those who constantly recite it, even before it is fully mastered. By making a tika on one’s forehead29 with vajra water incanted seven times, one will confuse all of one’s adversaries and appease their anger. If one is imprisoned, constant recitation of it will set one free. When one meets with misfortune, one will be without fear.

This king of mantras brings peace to all those afflicted by the scourge of quarrels and disputes, even when recited just once.30 [F.4.a] Performing a chaff homa will pacify everything. By reciting this mantra over whatever flowers one may find and letting them float on water, one will surely pacify all and gain victory. If a city is on fire, one should stand facing the blaze, incant seven double-handfuls of water and throw them into the fire. Thus one will be able to protect any house one wishes by keeping it safe from the flames. By offering a chaff homa one will pacify epidemics among bipeds and quadrupeds.31

Having32 incanted some ash with this mantra, one should apply it to the eyes, making a dressing33 with it; by wiping the eyes, one will remove blindness. By gazing at an angry person with an eye incanted seven times, one will appease him. To have everybody’s adoration, one should rinse one’s face with water incanted seven times. By writing this mantra, interspersed with the beneficiary’s name, on a wall with chalk, one will cure all eye diseases.

In a place where there are no people, one should one-pointedly incant one’s eyes seven times and stand with a one-pointedly focused mind. In the case of a man,34 if the left eye throbs, it foretells the successful accomplishment of a task according to his wishes. If the right eye throbs, it announces something bad.

When a pregnant woman’s birth canal is anointed with incanted sesame oil, she will give birth with ease.

Facing a bound person, one should throw seven double-handfuls of incanted water toward him in the three periods of the day. The bound person will then become free from his bondage. One should write this mantra with saffron or bovine orpiment on birchbark, and tie it to the head of someone who is bound; it will release him from bondage.

Having incanted a piece of chalk, one should repeatedly write this mantra on the ground and rub it out in the opposite direction. Then a bound person will be freed from bondage. Alternatively, one should write the mantra and the person’s name on a slip of birchbark35 and wear it on one’s head. Then a bound person will be freed from bondage.

This king of mantras, correctly recited, will accomplish all actions.

One should anoint a pregnant woman’s birth canal with sesame oil incanted seven times. Then she will give birth with ease. A pregnant woman will also give birth easily after drinking a handful of water incanted seven times. By reciting the mantra continuously, one will free oneself and others from bondage. Wearing a leaf with the mantra on one’s neck or arm will release one from bondage.

This king of mantras accomplishes all previously mentioned actions. One should write this mantra, interwoven with the beneficiary’s name, with saffron on a piece of birchbark, surround it with beeswax, place it inside a new jar filled with scented water, and worship it in the three periods of the day with offerings of fragrant flowers and so forth. The person whose name has been interwoven with the mantra will be victorious in all quarrels and disputes.

One should give the messenger who has arrived a drink of three handfuls of water incanted with this mantra seven times. Then the pregnant woman will give birth with ease.

This king of mantras, duly recited, can accomplish all endeavors. After water incanted with it has been drunk, blisters will not appear.

One should incant turmeric, yellow myrobalan, costus, etc., and rub it into a wound caused by a venomous spider, a monkey, or skin eruptions.36 Then one will become well. [F.5.a] At the onset of any type of illness, one will become well by tying a mantra knot.

A person who is about to die will, by reciting the mantra continuously, live one hundred years. By offering a homa of [incanted] sesame and ghee, one will pacify all ailments. By drinking an herbal remedy incanted with this mantra, one will become free from all diseases.

One should besmear an ailing body part with [incanted] butter, clarified one hundred times. Then the part will become well. If one has a headache, one should incant sesame oil and rub it onto one’s head. One will become well.

One should make a dressing of [incanted] water over a festering wound and it will heal. In the case of enlargement of the spleen, one should split an eggplant with an [incanted] machete. This will make the enlargement disappear.

One should bring together a root of the five-leaved chaste tree, a root of the margosa tree, and a peacock’s feather, and incant them one hundred and eight times and add incense.37 This will cure fevers‍—a one-, two-, three-, or four-day fever, etc. It will also chase away ghosts, spirits of the deceased, ghouls, gods, and demons.

A woman whose child has died can bring that child back to life by bathing it from a jar incanted with the mantra one hundred and eight times. [S7] A woman who carries this mantra, written on birchbark, on her waist or arm will have her fetus protected.

When one recalls this mantra in battle, one will meet with victory.

By using the mantra for cleansing38 one will remove all diseases.

This king of mantras, when fully mastered, will accomplish all endeavors after the prescribed preliminary practice. When one is in danger of developing the blisters of leprosy, one should drink water incanted with it and the leprosy will not appear. If this mantra is written on a leaf39 and placed by the door, the leprosy will not come. In all dangers, a homa oblation of sesame mixed with ghee will afford great protection.

One should incant a crow’s wing, holding it in one’s hand. Throwing it onto the roof of any house will then drive out its owner. [F.5.b]

This great mantra removes all misfortunes that afflict bipeds and quadrupeds and accomplishes all endeavors, even when it has not been fully mastered.

A homa offering, mantra recitation, meditation,40 a mantra knot, a drink of incanted water, or cleansing with incanted water will remove all diseases.

One should write the mantra with turmeric on birchbark and wear it on one’s arm or neck. Thus one will obtain success in business transactions.41 One will be cured even of the quartan fever and other recurring fevers. One will be rid of the danger of rākṣasas, etc. One will be victorious in quarrels and disputes. One will become invisible to tigers, alligators, mahoragas, thieves, etc. By reciting it non-stop, one will be adored by everyone.

On whichever lunar day one’s sight deteriorates, the name of that day should be written with chalk on a wall or a tablet. It should be enclosed three times with three ṭhaḥ syllables.42 The visual problem will be cured.

This king of mantras, pronounced once, burns all evil. It affords protection in every way. One will remove the danger of43 spirits, etc., by pelting them with beans, etc.44

Having written this mantra with chalk on a platter, one should hang it by the door. [S8] This will protect newborn babies.

One should make a beeswax effigy, four fingers long, and insert this mantra, written along with the name of the person targeted, into its heart. If one pierces its mouth with a thorn the opponent’s mouth will be nailed. If one pierces its feet, one will stop him moving. If one pierces its heart, it will quell his anger. Whichever body parts one seizes and pierces with a splinter of human shinbone or an iron nail, his equivalent body parts will decay. If one buries the effigy under an enemy’s door, one will drive him out. [F.6.a] One can also drive an enemy out by throwing incanted ashes from a charnel ground on the lintel of his door.

Incanting one’s sword will bring victory if one goes into battle.

To fulfil any need need, one should offer a bali, and that need will be fulfilled. Whatever the follower of Mantrayāna desires, whether wholesome or unwholesome, he will accomplish it all merely by reciting the mantra.

For conjunctivitis, relief will come after wiping the eyes.

By rinsing one’s face with water incanted seven times with this king of mantras early in the morning before crows start to caw, one will be adored by everyone.

When the moon is in the asterism of Puṣya, one should take some lampblack with a garland of white lotuses and cow’s ghee45 and incant it 108 times. Anyone whose eyes have been anointed with this substance will steal the hearts of all wanton46 women.

One should blend sandalwood with the root of adhaḥpuṣpikā and make a tika with this substance. When the mantra is incanted 108 times, a capable practitioner will be able to appease others’ anger, and will be victorious in disputes and quarrels. One who recites the mantra continuously according to the ritual will be able to make a city tremble.

This heart mantra of Locanā will remove all fear.