Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This ritual text, titled Stūpavidhināma in Sanskrit and mChod rten gyi cho ga zhes bya ba in Tibetan, provides technical instructions for the construction of a caitya (stūpa). The text is specifically framed for practitioners of Hevajra yoga, positioning the act of construction as a spiritual practice intended for the benefit of both the practitioner and others. The provided fragments indicate that the work begins with a devotional invocation to Hevajra and proceeds to detail the material requirements for the project, specifically the preparation of clay from mixed earth. By linking the physical act of building a monument to a specific tantric yoga tradition, the text commits the reader to a synthesis of ritual art and meditative practice, where the material creation of the stūpa serves as a vehicle for merit and spiritual attainment.
Provenance
About this text
Providing instructions for the construction of a caitya, the Stūpavidhi is a work associated with the tradition of Hevajra yoga. The text is attributed to the Indian author Kṛṣṇa Paṇḍita. It entered the Tibetan tradition through the work of the translators Jetakarṇa and the Śākya monk Nyima Gyaltsen Palzangpo, appearing in the classical Tibetan period. The work is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཉ, where it is situated within the Non-dual Tantra collection and spans two pages. Under the Tibetan title mchod rten gyi cho ga, the work enacts a ritual process for the benefit of oneself and others, beginning with an invocation to Hevajra and detailing the preparation of materials such as scented water and clay mixed with precious substances. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to understand the specific technical and meditative requirements for creating a stūpa, as the work synthesizes the physical act of construction with the spiritual framework of Hevajra yoga.
Sanskrit title
Stūpavidhi
Indian author
Kṛṣṇa Paṇḍita
Tibetan translators
Jetakarṇa, lo tsa ba shakya’i dge slong nyi ma rgyal mtshan dpal bzang po
The work is significant as it demonstrates the intersection of Hevajra tantra and the physical architecture of the stūpa. It illustrates how specific material preparations are codified within ritual manuals to ensure the efficacy of the resulting sacred object.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-2
Introduction and Material Preparation
Contains the title in Sanskrit and Tibetan, an invocation to Hevajra, the intended audience of Hevajra yoga practitioners, the initial instructions for clay preparation, and a colophon identifying the translator Nyima Gyaltsen Palzangpo.
Themes
Ritual Construction (1)
Hevajra Yoga (1)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Stūpavidhināma. In the language of Tibet: mChod rten gyi cho ga zhes bya ba (The Ritual of the Caitya). Homage to Hevajra!
If a practitioner of Hevajra yoga wishes to construct a caitya for the benefit of oneself and others, first, one should prepare clay from earth mixed with precious substances, scented water, and so forth, and place it before oneself. Visualizing oneself clearly as the chosen deity, one should meditate on the four immeasurables.
Then, with the mantra of the utterly pure nature of phenomena—oṃ svabhāvaśuddhāḥ sarvadharmāḥ svabhāvaśuddho ’haṃ—one should meditate on the clay as being without objective reference. Through the three rituals, one transforms it into the body of Hevajra with consort.
Then, with light rays from the hrīḥ or hūṃ at the heart, one summons all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Hevajra and consort enter into union and melt into light, becoming the bodhicitta. This is then consecrated by reciting the twenty-one heart mantras of Hevajra, or by striking it with the mantras oṃ picuvajra hūṃ hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ svāhā or oṃ āḥ hrīḥ hūṃ.
Visualizing each caitya as an individual Hevajra, one should contemplate that from each of these, many Hevajras emanate and reabsorb, thereby perfecting the welfare of oneself and others. Finally, one should perform the consecration with the essence of dependent origination and conclude the rite.
This concludes "The Ritual of the Caitya," composed by the great master Kṛṣṇapāda. [This was] heard from the great grammarian Gyalwai Nyen Zangpo.