Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
The Explanation of the Eight Charnel Grounds is a descriptive manual that details the symbolic geography and inhabitants of the eight charnel grounds. The text functions as a guide for visualization, providing specific attributes such as colors, names, and physical forms of the entities residing in these spaces. It identifies various beings, including nāgas and directional lords like Vāyu, and associates them with specific botanical markers such as the Bilva and Siddhi trees. By detailing the precise iconography of these figures—such as the buffalo-faced Kīlikīla-ghoṣa or the black-colored Bhīmasena—the work commits the reader to a practice of diligent contemplation. The text is structured as a series of spatial descriptions that map the metaphysical landscape of the charnel grounds, concluding with a colophon that attributes the composition to a master named Yogin and the translation to Buddhakara Vajra and 'Gos.
Provenance
About this text
An explanation of the eight charnel grounds, the Aṣṭaśmaśāna is a work of the Non-dual Tantra tradition. The Sanskrit original is attributed to Ācārya Yogin. It entered the Tibetan tradition through the efforts of the translators Buddhākaravajra and ’gos, and is preserved in the Tengyur (vol. ཇ) as the dur khrod brgyad kyi bshad pa, spanning four pages in that edition. The work enacts a detailed mapping of a metaphysical landscape, identifying the specific names, colors, and physical forms of entities residing in the charnel grounds. It describes the directional lords, such as the black-colored Yama and the white-colored Vāyu, and associates them with botanical markers like the Bilva and Siddhi trees, alongside various nāgas. A scholar or serious reader consults this classical Tibetan translation today to examine the precise iconography and symbolic geography of these spaces, from the Fierce and Wrathful ground in the east to the inhabitants of the southern and western directions, providing a rigorous basis for the visualization of these figures and their attributes.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “An Explanation of the Eight Charnel Grounds” (Toh 1216), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1216
Summary & commentary
Significance
This work is significant for its preservation of specific tantric visualization details and the mapping of sacred or liminal spaces. It provides insight into the intersection of Indian and Tibetan Buddhist iconography regarding the charnel grounds, which serve as sites for transforming aversion and confronting mortality.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introduction
Provides the title in Sanskrit and Tibetan and opens with a formal homage.
2-3
Descriptions of Charnel Grounds
Details the colors, names, and forms of beings and deities associated with specific locations and trees.
4
Conclusion and Colophon
Instructs the reader on contemplation and identifies the author and translators.
Themes
Iconography and Visualization (2-3)
Sacred Geography (2-3)
Contemplative Practice (4)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaAn Explanation of the Eight Charnel Grounds·
In the language of India: Aṣṭaśmaśānakhyātanāma. In the language of Tibet: Dur khrod brgyad kyi bshad pa zhes bya ba (The Explanation of the Eight Charnel Grounds). Homage to the Blessed One, the Lord of the World (Lokanātha).
Regarding that, the eight charnel grounds shall be explained. The charnel ground in the eastern direction is called Gtum drag (Fierce and Wrathful). There, at the Arura tree, is the Great Being named Gtum drag, white in color, with the hue of an elephant. At the foot of the tree is the Lord of the Direction, Indra, yellow in color, holding a vajra and a threatening gesture (tarjanī) in his right and left hands, and riding a white elephant named Airāvaṇa. There, the nāga is Vāsuki, yellow in color, and the cloud is called Sgra sgrogs (Thundering), blue in color.
The charnel ground in the northern direction is called Tshang tshing can (Thicket). There, at the Bodhi tree, is the Great Being named Ba ga ra, with a human head, yellow in color. At the foot of the tree is the Lord of the Direction, Kubera, yellow in color, holding the gesture of fearlessness and a ghaṭa (vessel) in his right and left hands, and riding a dwarf treasure-guardian. There, the nāga is Takṣaka, red in color, and the cloud is called Rmugs pa (Obscuring), white in color.
The charnel ground in the western direction is called ’Bar bas ’khrigs pa’i keng rus (Blazing Skeletal Mass). There, at the Aśoka tree, is the Great Being named ’Bar bas ’khrigs pa’i keng rus, with the head of a makara, yellow in color. At the foot of the tree is the Lord of the Direction, Varuṇa, white in color, riding a makara, and holding a threatening gesture and a noose in his right and left hands.
There, the nāga is named Sthāman and is green in color; the cloud is named Raudra and is white in color. In the southern charnel ground is the one called Bhīmasena. There, at the Bilva tree, is the great being Bhīmasena, who has a human face and is black in color. At the foot of the tree is the directional lord Yama, black in color, holding a staff and a noose in his right and left hands, and mounted upon a buffalo. There, the nāga is Padma and is white in color; the cloud is named Saṃvarta and is yellow in color.
The charnel ground in the southeast is called Śrīvana. There, at the Karṇikāra tree, is the great being Śrīvana, who has the face of a goat and is white in color. At the foot of the tree is the directional lord Agni, red in color, holding a rosary and a water-pot in his right and left hands, and mounted upon a goat. There, the nāga is Mahāpadma and is white in color; the cloud is named Vivarta and is red in color.
The charnel ground in the southwest is called Bhīmadhvānta. There, at the Udumbara tree, is the great being Bhīma, who has the face of a buffalo and is black in color. At the foot of the tree is the directional lord Rākṣasa, the lord of the southwest, black in color, holding a threatening gesture and a human head in his right and left hands, and mounted upon a corpse. There, the nāga is Ananta and is blue in color; the cloud is named Ghoṣa and is yellow in color.
The charnel ground in the northwest is called Kilakilāravā.
There, at the tree called Siddhi, is the great being known as Kīlikīla-ghoṣa, who has the face of a buffalo and is the color of smoke. At the foot of the tree is the directional lord Vāyu, white in color, holding a banner of wind in his right and left hands, and riding a deer. There, the nāgas are Citra and Meghavāhana, who are green in color.
The northeastern charnel ground is called Ha-hā-raṭita. There, at the nyagrodha tree, is the great being known as Ha-hā-raṭita, who has the face of a bull and is white in color. At the foot of the tree is the directional lord Īśāna, pale blue in color, holding a trident and a skull-cup in his right and left hands, and riding a bull. There, the nāgas are Śaṅkhapāla, who is yellow, and the cloud named Caṇḍī, who is multicolored. All the directional lords have human faces and two arms. The directional nāgas have seven hoods, their fangs slightly bared, and they possess forms according to their desires. The clouds are also multicolored.
The fierce and violent, the dense thicket, the flaming heap of skeletons, and the terrifying hosts dwell, completely surrounding the directions starting from the east. Possessing the sound of "ha-hā" laughter, the Fire God is in the Glorious Forest; the terrifying darkness is in the southwest; and in the northwest is Kīlikīla-ghoṣa. These are the eight charnel grounds, which the glorious Vajrayoginī [places] within the vajra fence.
One should contemplate with great diligence.
The explanation of the Eight Charnel Grounds composed by the master Yogin is complete. It was translated by the Indian abbot Buddhakara Vajra and the Tibetan translator 'Gos.