The Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra
Chapter 23
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 23
Next follows the chapter from the great sovereign Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra that contains detailed instructions on the sādhanas of the eight bhūtas.
[Their mantras are:]
Aparājita: Oṁ hrīḥ jaḥ!
Ajita: Oṁ hūṁ jaḥ!
Pūraṇa: Oṁ hrīḥ jaḥ!
Āpūraṇa: Oṁ hūṁ jaḥ!
Śmaśānādhipati: Oṁ śrūṃ jaḥ!
Kuleśvara: Oṁ rūṃ jaḥ!
Bhūteśvara: Oṁ hūṁ jaḥ!
Kiṃkarottama: Oṁ āṃ jaḥ!
“One should recite the mantra in front of Vajradhara361 100,000 times. This constitutes the preliminary practice. Then, on the full moon day, one should prepare an elaborate pūjā and offer cooked white rice, curds, molasses, and milk362 as prescribed. Burning bdellium incense, one should recite all night. Aparājita is certain to arrive at dawn. If he does not arrive, he will die right then. Once he arrives, he will request orders, saying, ‘What can I do?’363 The practitioner should reply, ‘Please be my servant.’ From then on he will perform the duties of a servant. He will offer the kingdom of the vidyādharas and will eliminate all one’s enemies. He will even bring the goddess Śaśī and offer her. Taking the practitioner upon his back, he will carry him to the realm of the gods, where he will bestow upon him the status of Indra. The practitioner will live for seven eons.
“Standing in front of a caitya,364 one should recite the mantra one thousand and eight times at night for seven days. On the seventh day one should prepare an elaborate pūjā and offer bali. Burning bdellium incense, [F.261.a] one should recite the mantra. Ajita is certain to arrive at the end of the recitation. He will say, ‘Hey practitioner! What can I do for you?’ The practitioner should reply, ‘Please be my servant.’ Ajita, taking him upon his back, will carry him around the four continents. Furthermore, he will give him a kingdom. The practitioner will live one thousand365 years.
“One should go to a temple of Vajradhara and recite the mantra one thousand and eight times for seven days. On the seventh day one should prepare an elaborate pūjā and offer cooked white rice and curds as prescribed. One should recite the mantra until midnight, when Pūraṇa is certain to arrive. One should give him a welcome offering of water with flowers. He will be pleased, offer a kingdom, and completely fulfill one’s every wish. One will live thousands of years, and for as long as one lives Pūraṇa will perform the duties of a servant. He can be induced to kill anyone or let them live. He can do anything.
“One should go to a caitya that contains relics and recite the mantra ten thousand times. This constitutes the preliminary practice. Then, on the day of the full moon, one should offer a pūjā according to one’s means and recite the mantra until midnight, at which time Āpūraṇa will swiftly arrive. When he arrives, he will stand in front of one and say, ‘What can I do for you, my dear?’ The practitioner should reply, ‘Please be my servant,’ and from then on he will perform the duties of a servant. He will bring a divine yakṣa maiden and offer her, disclose the location of every treasure hoard, and offer delicious divine food. Every day he will offer a pair of garments366 and five dinars. The practitioner will live five hundred years.
“The sādhana of Śmaśānādhipati:367
“One should go at night to a charnel ground and recite the mantra one thousand and eight times for seven days. On the seventh day one should follow the prescribed rite to offer fish, meat, sesame, rose apple, cooked white rice, curds, molasses, and milk to this great bhūta.368 [F.261.b] One should recite the mantra until midnight while burning bdellium incense. Then, the sound hā hā will be heard. One should not be afraid—Śmaśānādhipati has arrived with his retinue. One should offer bali to this visitor. He will be pleased, and all the bhūtas will become one’s servants. Śmaśānādhipati will offer eight dinars every day and will crush all one’s enemies. One will live a thousand369 years.
“One should go to a temple and, after offering red perfumes, red flowers, and bdellium incense, recite the mantra ten thousand times. This constitutes the preliminary practice. At night, on the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight, one should prepare fish, meat, sesame, rose apple, and cooked red rice as prescribed. Burning frankincense,370 one should recite until midnight. Kuleśvara will then arrive in a terrible, blazing form, but one should not be afraid of him. He will say, ‘What can I do for you, my dear?’ The practitioner should reply, ‘Please be my servant.’ He will then perform the duties of a servant for as long as the practitioner lives.371 Every day, three times a day, he will offer five dinars and delicious divine food. The practitioner will live five hundred years.372
“The sādhana of Bhūteśvara:
“One should go alone at night to a solitary Śiva liṅga and, for three days, offer cooked red rice, fish, meat, sesame, and rose apple. While burning incense made of goat meat and bdellium mixed with honey,373 one should recite the mantra one thousand and eight times. On the first day one will see Bhūteśvara in a dream. On the second day Bhūteśvara will promptly arrive in person and stand in front of the practitioner.374 He will say, ‘What can I do for you?’ The practitioner should reply, ‘Please be my servant.’ Bhūteśvara will remain in close attendance. He will bring an apsaras and offer her375 and will describe the past, present, and future. He will give clothes, adornments, and delicious divine foods. [F.262.a] The practitioner will live for three hundred years.376
“The sādhana of Kiṃkarottama:
“One should go to a temple of Vajradhara on the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight and recite the mantra ten thousand times for seven days. This constitutes the preliminary practice. Then one should burn bdellium incense377 and offer cooked white rice, ghee, and milk.378 Sitting on a seat of kuśa grass, one should light a butter lamp and recite the mantra into the night until, at midnight, Kiṃkarottama arrives in person. Upon arrival, he should be given a welcome offering of water scented with white sandalwood. He will be pleased and say, ‘Hey practitioner! What can I do for you?’ The practitioner should reply, ‘Please be my servant.’ From then on, Kiṃkarottama will perform the duties of a servant and will offer delicious divine food.379 Taking the practitioner on his back, he will take him to the heavenly realm. Moreover, he will give him a kingdom and a lifespan of five thousand years.”380
This concludes the chapter from the great sovereign “Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra” that contains detailed instructions on the sādhanas for servants.
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.