The Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra
Chapter 11
Toh 747
Degé Kangyur, vol. 95 (rgyud ’bum, dza), folios 238.a–263.a
- Buddhākaravarma
- Chökyi Sherab
Imprint
Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
First published 2020
Current version v 1.0.15 (2024)
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Table of Contents
Summary
The Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra is a Buddhist esoteric manual on magic and exorcism. The instructions on ritual practices that constitute its main subject matter are intended to give the practitioner mastery over worldly divinities and spirits. Since the ultimate controller of such beings is Vajrapāṇi in his form of Bhūtaḍāmara, the “Tamer of Spirits,” it is Vajrapāṇi himself who delivers this tantra in response to a request from Śiva. Notwithstanding this esoteric origin, this tantra was compiled anonymously around the seventh or eighth century ᴄᴇ, introducing for the first time the cult of its titular deity. Apart from a few short ritual manuals (sādhana), this tantra remains the only major work dedicated solely to Bhūtaḍāmara.
Acknowledgements
This translation was produced by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the supervision of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche. Wiesiek Mical translated the text from the Sanskrit manuscripts, prepared the Sanskrit edition, and wrote the introduction. Thomas Doctor then compared the translation against the Tibetan translation found in the Degé Kangyur and edited the text. Special thanks are owed to Dr. Péter-Dániel Szántó for making available his transcript of the manuscript, “Göttingen Xc 14/50 I,” which was our default source for the reconstruction of the Sanskrit text.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
Text Body
Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra
Chapter 11
Then Vajrapāṇi, the supreme master Great Wrath, said, “By merely seeing this maṇḍala one will obtain sovereignty over the three realms. By merely reciting Vajradhara one will become equal to him. Should one fail in this, one will become the universal monarch of the four continents. If one merely utters the name of the glorious Vajradhara, the supreme master Great Wrath, all spirits will become one’s servants.
“Further, if mantra practitioners merely become angry, all worldly deities will immediately be shattered into a hundred pieces. All gods,178 nāgas, and yakṣas will die if merely looked upon. All worldly deities will flee at the mere sound of the syllable hūṁ.”
“Next is the preliminary practice of the glorious Vajradhara, the supreme master Great Wrath.
“The practitioner will swiftly achieve his purpose if he recites the mantra of self-protection179 100,000 times.
“If he wants to attain mastery in the practice of Vajradhara, he should recite Vajradhara’s mantra one thousand times at the three junctions of the day for one month. Then, at the time of the full moon, he should make offerings according to his means. Forming Great Wrath’s mudrā, he should recite all night. The following morning the ground will shake and the mudrā will emit flames. As soon as the flames spring forth, he will be like Vajradhara: ageless, deathless, and divinely beautiful.
“If he wants to attain mastery in the practice of the goddess Umā, he should step on her180 with his left foot and recite the mantra ten thousand times. Umā will then arrive in person and present all precious substances, including the elixir of long life. She will become his wife. If he is not successful, he should smear her effigy with poison and blood.181 Stepping on the effigy with his left foot,182 he should recite [F.250.a] the mantra of Great Wrath, ‘Oṁ, kill kill! Vajra-kill183 so-and-so! Hūṁ hūṁ, phaṭ!’184 He should recite this wrathful mantra one thousand and eight times. By merely reciting it, the head of the target will burst and they will wither and die.185 The practitioner should employ this wrathful mantra in all acts of killing.
“If he wants to attain mastery in the practice of the goddess Śrī, he should step on her effigy with his left foot and recite the mantra ten thousand times. Śrī will then arrive. When she does, he should offer her a seat of flowers, say ‘Welcome!’ and then ‘Please be my wife.’ He can make love to her as much as he likes. She will offer him a kingdom.
“The practitioner should place his left foot upon the effigy of Bhairavī and recite the mantra ten thousand times. She will arrive in person in her natural form and perform the tasks of a servant.
“He should place his left foot upon the effigy of Cāmuṇḍā and recite the mantra ten thousand times. Cāmuṇḍā will swiftly arrive and submit to his control.
“In this way, he will swiftly be successful in the various practices of all mother goddesses.”
This concludes the first chapter of the great sovereign “Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra” that contains detailed instructions on the sādhana practice.
Abbreviations
Abbreviations Used in the Sanskrit Appendix
Critical apparatus
| + | plus signs replace illegible text |
|---|---|
| ] | a right square bracket marks the lemma, i.e., the adopted reading for which variants are adduced |
| conj. | conjectured |
| em. | emended |
| om. | omitted |
| ° | an upper ring indicates truncation of a word |
| † | daggers enclose unintelligible text |
Sigla or acronyms of textual witnesses
Manuscripts
| A | Tokyo University Library (New 274 / Old 567) |
|---|---|
| B | Tokyo University Library (New 273 / Old 483) |
| G | Göttingen University Library (Göttingen Xc 14 / 50 I) |
Published Works
| SM | Sādhanamālā, the sādhana of Bhūtaḍāmara (sādhana no. 264) |
|---|---|
| Tib. | Tibetan text of the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra in the Degé canon (Toh 747) |
Bibliography
Sanskrit and Tibetan Sources
Bhūtaḍāmaratantram. Rāya, Kṛṣṇa Kumāra, ed. Vārāṇasī: Prācya Prakāśana, 1933.
Bhūtaḍāmaratantra. University of Göttingen Library, Xc 14/50 I.
Bhūtaḍāmaramahātantrarāja. University of Tokyo Library, New 274/Old 567.
Bhūtaḍāmaramahātantrarāja. University of Tokyo Library, New 273/Old 483.
Bhattacharyya, Benoytosh, ed., Sādhanamālā (pp. 512−28). Baroda: Oriental Institute, 1968.
’byung po ’dul ba zhes bya ba’i rgyud kyi rgyal po chen po (Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra). Toh 747, Degé Kangyur vol. 95 (rgyud ’bum, dza), folios 238.a–263.a.
Secondary Sources
Bhattacharyya, Benoytosh. “The Cult of Bhūtaḍāmara.” Proceedings and Transactions of the Sixth All-India Oriental Conference: 349−70. Patna: Bihar and Orissa Research Society, 1933.
———. The Indian Buddhist Iconography Based on the Sādhanamālā and Other Cognate Sanskrit Texts and Rituals. Calcutta: Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay, 1958.
Bühnemann, Gudrun. “Buddhist Deities and Mantras in the Hindu Tantras I: The Tantrasārasaṃgraha and the Īśānaśivagurudevapaddhati.” Indo-Iranian Journal 42:4 (1999): 303–34.
Cabezón, José Ignacio. The Buddha’s Doctrine and the Nine Vehicles. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.
Pal, Pratapaditya. Hindu Religion and Iconology According to the Tantrasāra. Los Angeles: Vichitra Press, 1981.