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Table of Contents

s.

Summary

s.­1

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.

ac.

Acknowledgements

ac.­1

Translated by Dr. Lozang Jamspal, Kaia Fischer, and Erin Sperry of the Tibetan Classics Translators Guild of New York.

The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.


Text Body

The Translation
The Noble
Tantra of Subāhu’s Questions
6.

Chapter 6

6.­1
“As the siddhis near, the mind delights in recitation
And takes no joy in evil.
It never wavers, even when beset with severe sufferings
Such as hunger and thirst, heat, cold, wind, and weariness.
6.­2
“One is not menaced by bees, biting flies, worms, or ants,
By reptiles, centipedes, snakes, or bears,
Or by piśācas and pūtanas‍—
Not even by their shadows.
6.­3
“Mantrins’ words will be memorable, their minds keen;
They will be skilled in literature and the art of inquiry.
They will take joy in the Dharma, perceive hidden treasures,
And their bodies will be free of illness and odor.
6.­4
“When a person so much as sees or hears them
They will be immediately filled with joy.
Women who beguile even the devas of the desire realm166
Will invite them to experience pleasure.167
6.­5
“Whenever a learned person168 feels delight
In seeing or hearing the forms and voices
Of devas, yakṣas, gandharvas, or apsarases,
At that moment the siddhis are close at hand.
6.­6
“Recognizing their bodies as stainless and pure,
One who maintains the poṣadha vows,
should give up food and maintain a fast
For one day, two days, or even three.
Once those days have passed,
They should begin to practice for their own prosperity.
6.­7
Upon hearing this, Subāhu raised another question:
“It has been said that food does not purify.
Why then, venerable one, have you said
We should endure fasts to purify the body? [F.128.a]
For what reason did the Sugata, who reached the end of existence,
Say that one can even eat a chariot’s axle grease?”169
6.­8
The vajra bearer, hearing Subāhu’s words,
Spoke with a voice that rumbled like thunder:
“Only son, though the Sugata never taught
Fasting to purify the body, the body is unclean.
6.­9
“It is flesh, muscle, blood, marrow,
Brain, intestines, spleen, liver, kidneys,
Fat, bile, phlegm, sexual fluids, feces,
Urine, snot, head hair, body hair, and bone.
It has eyes, ears, a nose, and mouth,
An anus and sex organs‍—nine orifices in all,
Holes from which myriad impurities
Constantly ooze in streams.
6.­10
“The collection of all these parts,
Made of earth, water, fire, wind, and space,
Comprises the material for the whole human body,
In accordance with the specifics of karma.
6.­11
“Fasting is said to rid the body
Of its feces, urine, snot, saliva, and phlegm.
The body is pure when rid of these pollutants,
Making it is easy to accomplish one’s prosperity.
6.­12
“Should one be tormented by desire,
Concentrate the mind and reflect
On all these different parts of the body,
Examining each with the eye of wisdom.
6.­13
“After such conclusive self-examination,
The desire to fixate on one’s body and health
Will be utterly uprooted and pacified,
Just as the sun fully dispels darkness.
6.­14
“After preparing for mantra with these beneficial practices,
Mantrins, now aware of their own body,
Should begin their recitation on the fifteenth,
Eighth, or fourteenth day of the waxing moon.
6.­15
“To prepare the ground where the deity will rest,
They smear it with a mixture of soil, cow dung, and so forth.
With faith they make offerings to all the sugatas,
Using garlands, foods, flowers, fragrance, and lamps.
6.­16
“Next, they should worship the vajra holder and his retinue,170
And then make offerings to the mantra deities.171
6.­17
“After singing the praises of the praiseworthy buddhas, [F.128.b]
They should reflect on bodhicitta
And cultivate compassion, in any suitable way,
For beings tormented by birth, old age, sickness, and death.
6.­18
“They should then sequentially read The Sūtra of the Great Assembly,172
The Auspicious Verses,173 The Supreme Wheel of Dharma,174
The Secret of the Thus-Gone Ones,175 The Great Lamp,176
Or other texts deemed suitable.
6.­19
“Once the directions are secure, including zenith and nadir,
And once the armor has been donned,177
They should use colored pigments to draw
One of the maṇḍalas mentioned before.
6.­20
“In it they should draw concentric circles,
Of vajras, fire, water, wind, and spears.
Drawing the outer enclosure will vex the minds
Of devas, asuras, and any hostile beings.
6.­21
“The mantrins should take a seat, consecrated as a lion throne,
And place it at the center of the maṇḍala.
After performing the rites of self-protection, they should sit,
Pick up the ritual substance, swiftly complete the recitation,
And perform a thousand incense homas.
6.­22
“Next, they wash the substance with scented water,178
Dispel the many types of vighnas,
Place it on top of three bodhi leaves,179
And cover it with four more.
6.­23
“They recite the mantra for as long as necessary,
Until they see the three signs:
The substance will grow warm, smoke, or blaze with fire.
Even if the order is reversed, accomplishment is said to be reached.
6.­24
“Warmth indicates control over any being,
Smoke indicates the power of invisibility,
And fire indicates the ability to fly through the sky
In a human body that shines like a god.
6.­25
“Just as a chill enters the body,
Just as a gandharva enters a womb,180
Just as fire springs from the sunlight stored in a sunstone,
So the siddhis enter the body.
6.­26
“Should a lamp’s flame grow and blaze intensely,
Appearing as a bright, golden tendril
That continues to burn even after the oil is spent,
Then the mantrin has obtained the siddhi.
These are the siddhis born from the ritual substance.
6.­27
“A person has reached attainment
If the painted image shakes;
If a garland, eyebrow, eye, fly whisk,
Or ornaments begin to move;181 [F.129.a]
If flowers rain down or a squall strikes;
If the earth shakes rapidly;
If a disembodied voice calls from the sky,
Saying, ‘Sole child, request the sublime boon you desire’;
If divine drums sound, causing their hair to bristle;
If a great rain of ornaments falls;
Or if they see with their own eyes
A deva, asura, or an image of the mantra182 in the sky.
6.­28
“They should mix fresh flowers, refined gold, and water,
And arrange183 offering water while uttering praises.
They should then bow their heads with a focused mind
And request the boon aligned with their faith and effort.
6.­29
“The boon received, they should bow with joy,
Sing praises and present offering water with faith,
Speak the mantra, and request the deity to depart.
This is the procedure for all mantras.
6.­30
“A mantrin of outstanding mental strength
Should now perform a fearsome rite.
A piśāca would take the chance
To ruin a person with feeble mental strength.
6.­31
“An armor-clad hero skilled with weapons,
Riding atop a fine, equipped elephant,
Can conquer an entire host of enemies
By hoisting a bow and letting one mighty arrow fly.
6.­32
“Likewise, a person of great mental strength,
Armored in discipline and astride the elephant of protection,184
Hoists the bow of mantra and lets fly the arrow of recitation,
To conquer creatures of the night like bhūtas and the rest.
6.­33
“A person with a bent back, extra or missing limbs,
One who too short, too tall, or obese,
One born from a loathsome womb, or a paṇḍaka‍—
Corpses of these types should be rejected.
6.­34
“When a corpse is found of someone who died
Of indigestion, intense fever, diarrhea vomiting,
Confinement,185 water, or impaling;
Who was killed by a snake; died of poisoning,
Bile, wind,186 and so forth; or another observable cause;
Or else one with its limbs intact, an uninjured face,187
Or one free of open wounds,
Take a sword or club in hand
And keep guard over it throughout the day.
6.­35
“In a charnel ground, an empty house, at a lone tree,
Crossroads, near a river or stream,
At a lake, ocean, or on a mountain, [F.129.b]
Raising a corpse will instantly succeed.
6.­36
“Once a suitable location is determined,
It should be smeared with a mixture of earth, cow dung, and so forth.
In that clean place draw the samaya188
Using white, red, black, and other various pigments.
6.­37
“Reflecting on the maṇḍalas already described,
Select the one that best suits the intended aim,
And draw the sublime mother of the clan,
After assiduously reciting with great faith.
6.­38
“A fearless assistant should retrieve the corpse,
Carry it over, and place it on some kuśa grass.
Its head and body should be shaved of hair,
And immediately anointed with grain oil.
6.­39
“Take four vases whose bases are not black,
Fill them with clean water, and use them to scrub the corpse.
Dress it in a set of white clothes,189
And place it on kuśa grass at the maṇḍala’s center.
6.­40
“Place a fresh flower on the corpse,
And orient its head either to the east or south.
Anoint it with fragrance, cense it with incense,
Drape it with a garland, and scatter flower petals on it.
6.­41
“To the extent possible, procure a number of cakes
Made of mixed meat, fish, ghee, sesame, and the like.
Give them to the bhūtas, nāgas, piśācas, yakṣas,
And other spirits above, below, and throughout the directions.
6.­42
“One should protect oneself and one’s excellent assistant,190
And with a focused mind recite the mantra.
As the moment of the corpse’s animation nears,
All manner of frightful vighnas will appear.
6.­43
“Incant ash, whole mustard seeds, and the like
With an uṣṇīṣarāja mantra191 and scatter them about.
When vighnas approach from the four directions,
Drive them off with the power of mantra.
6.­44
“To pacify them wrathfully,
Use the forceful rites of Amṛtakuṇḍalin.
Once the vighnas have been defeated,
The corpse will swiftly rise through the power of mantra.
6.­45
“Anything found among the ritual procedures of mantra
Can be accomplished without any limitation.
But if the corpse has risen
And its mantra rite is not known, [F.130.a]
One can still receive the siddhi
Using rites taught elsewhere upon the risen corpse.192
6.­46
“The corpse will grant the siddhis
Of locating treasure, entering openings in the earth,
A sword, eye ointment,193 a mount, a servant,
mines, metallurgy, alchemy, and flight.
6.­47
“A weak-minded person who seeks siddhis from corpses
While lacking the power of protection and mantra,
And the power of observances and the mind,
Will be killed by the creatures of the night.”
6.­48

This was the sixth chapter of the noble “Subāhu’s Questions.”

ab.

Abbreviations

C Choné
F Phukdrak
H Lhasa (Zhol)
J Lithang
K Peking/Kangxi
N Narthang
S Stok Palace
U Urga
Y Peking Yongle
b.

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84000. The Tantra of Subāhu’s Questions (Subāhu­paripṛcchā­tantra, dpung bzang gis zhus pa’i rgyud, Toh 805). Translated by Tibetan Classics Translators Guild of New York. Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2025. https://84000.co/translation/toh805/UT22084-096-054-chapter-6.Copy
84000. The Tantra of Subāhu’s Questions (Subāhu­paripṛcchā­tantra, dpung bzang gis zhus pa’i rgyud, Toh 805). Translated by Tibetan Classics Translators Guild of New York, online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2025, 84000.co/translation/toh805/UT22084-096-054-chapter-6.Copy
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