The Tantra of Subāhu’s Questions
Chapter 1
Toh 805
Degé Kangyur, vol. 96 (rgyud ‘bum, wa), folios 118.a–140.b
Imprint
Translated by Dr. Lozang Jamspal, Kaia Fischer, and Erin Sperry of the Tibetan Classics Translators Guild of New York, under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
First published 2022
Current version v 1.1.17 (2025)
Generated by 84000 Reading Room v2.26.1
84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha is a global non-profit initiative to translate all the Buddha’s words into modern languages, and to make them available to everyone.
Warning: Readers are reminded that according to Vajrayāna Buddhist tradition there are restrictions and commitments concerning tantra. Practitioners who are not sure if they should read this translation are advised to consult the authorities of their lineage. The responsibility for reading this text or sharing it with others who may or may not fulfill the requirements lies in the hands of readers.
This work is provided under the protection of a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution - Non-commercial - No-derivatives) 3.0 copyright. It may be copied or printed for fair use, but only with full attribution, and not for commercial advantage or personal compensation. For full details, see the Creative Commons license.
Table of Contents
Summary
The Tantra of Subāhu’s Questions is a Kriyātantra scripture that presents a series of practices and rites that can be employed in diverse Buddhist ritual contexts, rather than for a specific deity or maṇḍala. The tantra records a conversation between the Buddhist deity Vajrapāṇi and the layman Subāhu, whose questions prompt Vajrapāṇi to share a wealth of instructions on ritual practices primarily intended to bring about the accomplishment of worldly goals. The rites described in The Tantra of Subāhu’s Questions address concerns about health, spirit possession, the accumulation of wealth and prosperity, and warding off destabilizing and obstructing forces. Special attention is given to rites for animating corpses and using spirits and spirit mediums for divination purposes. Despite the generally worldly applications for the rites explained to Subāhu, Vajrapāṇi is careful to establish the Mahāyāna orientation that must frame them: the quest for complete liberation guided by ethical discipline, insight into the faults of saṃsāra, and the motivation to alleviate the suffering of other beings and assist them in reaching awakening.
Text Body
Tantra of Subāhu’s Questions
Chapter 1
Homage to the Omniscient One.
Bibliography
Primary Sources
’phags pa dpung bzang gis zhus pa zhes bya ba’i rgyud (Āryasubāhuparipṛcchānāmatantra). Toh 805, Degé Kangyur vol. 96 (rgyud, wa), folios 118.a–140.b.
’phags pa dpung bzang gis zhus pa zhes bya ba’i rgyud (Āryasubāhuparipṛcchānāmatantra). bka’ ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 2006–9, vol. 96, pp. 434-508.
’phags pa dpung bzang gis zhus pa zhes bya ba’i rgyud (Āryasubāhuparipṛcchānāmatantra). Stok Palace Kangyur vol.109 (rgyud ’bum, tsha), folios 398.a–420.b.
’phags pa dpung bzangs gis zhus pa’i rgyud ces bya ba (Āryasubāhuparipṛcchānāmatantra). Phukdrak Kangyur vol.111 (rgyud, pa), folios 196.a–229.b.
’phags pa lag bzangs kyis zhus pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Āryasubāhuparipṛcchānāmamahāyānasūtra). Toh 70, Degé Kangyur vol. 43 (dkon brtsegs, ca), folios 154.a–180.b.
Anonymous. ’phags pa dpung bzangs gis zhus pa’i rgyud tshig gi don bshad pa’i brjed byang bzhugs. Toh 2672, Degé Tengyur vol. 7 (rgyud ’grel, thu), folios 54.b–100.b.
Anonymous. ’phags pa dpung bzangs gis zhus pa’i rgyud kyi bsdus pa’i don dgrol ba’i brjed byang (Āryasubāhuparipṛcchānāmatantrapiṇḍārthavṛtti). Toh 2673, Degé Tengyur vol. 7 (rgyud ’grel, thu), folios 100.b–116.b.
Buddhaguhya. ’phags pa dpung bzangs gis zhus pa’i rgyud kyi bsdus pa’i don (Āryasubāhuparipṛcchānāmatantrapiṇḍārtha). Toh 2671, Degé Tengyur vol. 7 (rgyud ’grel, thu), folios 38.a–54.b.
Secondary References: Indo-Tibetan
Denkarma (pho brang stod thang ldan [/ lhan] dkar gyi chos ’gyur ro cog gi dkar chag). Toh 4364, Degé Tengyur vol. 206 (sna tshogs, jo), folios 294.b–310.a.
sba bzhed. Edited by mGon po mrgyal mtshan. Beijing: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang.
Nāgārjuna. bshes pa’i spring yig (Suhṛllekha). Toh 4182, Degé Tengyur, vol. 173 (mdo ’grel, nge), folios 40.b–46.b.
Nāropā. Sekodeśaṭikā: Being a Commentary on the Sekoddeśa Section of the Kālacakra Tantra. Edited by Mario E. Carelli. Baroda: Oriental Institute, 1941.
Somadeva. The Kathāsaritsāgara of Somadevabhatta. Edited by Pandit Durgāprasād and Kāśīnāth Pāndurang Parab. Bombay: Pāndurang Jāwajī, 1930.
Suśruta. The Suśrutasaṃhitā of Suśruta: with the Nibandhsangraha Commentary of Śrī Dalhaṇācārya. Edited by Vaidya Jādavji Trikamji ācāryā, revised second edition, Bombay: Pāndurang Jāṃajī, 1931.
Secondary References: Contemporary
Dezső, Csaba. “Encounters with Vetālas: Studies on Fabulous Creatures I.” Acta Orientalia Acadamiae Scientiarum Hungary 63, no. 4 (2010): 391–426.
Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans. The Root Manual of the Rites of Mañjuśrī (Toh 543). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2022.
Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans. The Sovereign Ritual of Amoghapāśa (Toh 686). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2022.
Goodall, Dominic and Harunaga Isaacson. “On the Shared ‘Ritual Syntax’ of the Early Tantric Traditions.” In Tantric Studies: Fruits of a Franco-German Collaboration on Early Tantra. Edited by Dominic Goodall and Harunaga Isaacson, pp. 1–72. Pondicherry: Institut Français de Pondichéry, 2016.
Granoff, Phyllis. “Other People’s Rituals: Ritual Eclecticism in Early Medieval Indian Religions.” Journal of Indian Philosophy 28 (2000): 399–424.
Gyatso, Janet. “One Plus One Makes Three: Buddhist Gender, Monasticism, and the Law of the Non-excluded Middle.” History of Religions 23, no.2 (2003): 89–115.
Halkias, Georgios. “Tibetan Buddhism Registered: A Catalogue from the Imperial Court of ’Phang Thang.” The Eastern Buddhist 36 (2004): 46–105.
Herrmann-Pfandt, Adelheid. Die lHan kar ma: ein früher Katalog der ins Tibetische übersetzten buddhistischen Texte. Wien: Verlag der österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2008.
Huang, Po-Chi. “The Cult of Vetāla and Tantric Fantasy.” In Rethinking Ghosts in World Religions, edited by M. Poo, 211–35. Leiden: Brill Publications, 2009.
Meulenbeld, G. Jan. A History of Indian Medical Literature. Groningen: Egbert Forsten, 1999.
Orofino, Giacomella. “Divination with Mirrors: Observations on a Simile Found in the Kālacakra Literature.” Tibetan Studies vol. 2 (1994): 612–28.
Sanderson, Alexis. “Śaivism and the Tantric Traditions.” In The World’s Religions, edited by Stewart Sutherland, et al, 660–704. London: Routledge, 1988.
Slouber, Michael. Early Tantric Medicine: Snakebite, Mantras, and Healing in the Gāruḍa Tantras. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.
Smith, Frederick M. The Self Possessed: Deity and Spirit Possession in South Asian Literature and Civilization. New York: Columbia University Publications, 2006.
Vasudeva, Somadeva. “Prasenā, Prasīnā and Prasannā: The Evidence of the Niśvāsaguhya and the Tantrasadbhāva.” Cracow Indological Studies 16, Special Issue (2015): 369–90.
Vienna Buddhist Translation Studies Group, trans. Summary of Empowerment (Toh 361). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2022.