Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This text provides a set of specialized instructions for the sādhanā of the deity Kurukullā, derived from the Hevajra Tantra. The work functions as a manual for ritual practitioners, focusing on the manipulation of internal energies and the deployment of mantra for specific outcomes. It begins by describing the movement of the supreme life-wind from the heart center into the central channel, establishing the physiological basis for the practice. The text then details the purification of the practitioner's system through the application of amṛta and light rays to neutralize spiritual or physical poisons. The final section commits the reader to the recitation of a series of Sanskrit mantras designed to attract, subjugate, or protect the practitioner. By combining internal yogic visualization with external vocalization, the text aims to achieve a state of power and influence over others or the environment, characteristic of the vaśīkara (attraction/subjugation) category of tantric ritual.
Provenance
About this text
Offering five great pith instructions on the deity Kurukullā as arising from the Hevajra, the Hevajrodbhavakurukullāyāḥ pañcamahopadeśa is attributed to the Indian author Śāntarakṣita. The work entered the Tibetan tradition through the translation of Dānaśīla (II) and is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཏ, where it comprises three pages within the Non-dual Tantra collection. Written in classical Tibetan, the work enacts a ritual process beginning with the movement of the supreme life-wind from the heart center into the central channel and ascending to the crown. It details the use of light rays and amṛta to clear the poison of snakes and concludes with a series of Sanskrit mantras intended to attract, subjugate, or protect. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the intersection of internal yogic visualization and the deployment of vocalized mantra. By analyzing the instructions for manipulating internal energies alongside the specific Sanskrit formulas, the reader gains insight into the technical application of the Kurukullā practice as it was transmitted from India to Tibet.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “Five Important Personal Instructions on the Kurukullā Sādhana Taken From the Hevajra Tantra” (Toh 1316), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1316
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant as it demonstrates the integration of Hevajra's tantric framework with the specific deity practice of Kurukullā. For the modern reader, it illustrates the technical intersection of subtle body physiology and the use of seed syllables and mantras in Indo-Tibetan ritual technology.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introduction and Internal Energetics
Provides the title in Sanskrit and Tibetan and describes the movement of the life-wind.
2
Purification and Visualization
Describes the use of amṛta and light rays to clear poisons and the visualization of the moon center.
3
Mantra Recitations
A list of Sanskrit mantras for attraction, subjugation, and protection.
Themes
Subtle Body Physiology (1-2)
Ritual Purification (2)
Mantric Subjugation and Attraction (3)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaFive Important Personal Instructions on the Kurukullā Sādhana Taken From the Hevajra Tantra·
In the language of India: Hevajrod-bhava-kurukullāyā-pañca-mahopadeśaḥ. In the language of Tibet: The Five Great Pith Instructions of Kurukullā Arising from the Hevajra. Homage to the Blessed One, Hevajra.
Stirred by the supreme life-wind from the center of the heart, it enters the supreme central channel and ascends. Swiftly emerging from the center of the moon at the crown of the head, it proceeds clearly, circling the head to the left. Emerging from the right ear canal, it swiftly enters the aperture of the arrow. Having meditated on the Great Seal, the vajra swiftly [projects] the seed-syllable king, the self, ablaze with red light rays, which expands the aperture at the tip of the target’s arrow. Preceded by this, it enters the ear canal and proceeds clearly through the right nostril of the head. Carrying the Hrīḥ-mind swiftly, it follows that path in succession, and then emerges. Abiding firmly in the center of the heart, you subjugate the deity together with the earth-cakra. This is the summoning of the body.
As before, emerging from the arrow, it enters the left side of the target’s heart-lotus. Ascending, it gradually causes the moon at the crown to melt, and enters as before. By the yogi meditating firmly on that which abides in the anthers of the heart-lotus, through the action of melting with passion, the person of the Queen is intoxicated. This is the summoning of the feet.
Having clearly seen the one abiding in the center of the moon at the heart, seized by the snake...
Light Rays
Through the bathing of a continuous stream of abundant amṛta, the poison of the snake is cleared away. By the channels and orifices being filled with light rays, the poison is likewise overcome. Abiding in the center of the moon, which is radiant, O Goddess, through your loving-kindness, you destroy the poison of those seized by snakes. This is the clearing of snake poison.
With a mind that stably focuses on the form of a steady lamp, if one visualizes it at the tip of the tongue, the cataracts of ignorance will be dispelled. This is the increase of insight.
Abiding clearly within the maṇḍala of wind, piercing the heart with a hook, binding the neck with a lasso, with hair loose and naked, you are distracted. O Goddess, having summoned the Earth-holder (Dharaṇīdhara) by the power of yoga, she falls at my feet and constantly assumes the state of a servant. Bound by a network of light rays emanating in a red form, she falls at my feet with hair loose, and having struck with the arrow in her hand, she is drawn in by the left wind and bound. Placed within the utpala lotus, she enters the center of the navel lotus, full of devotion with palms joined. If the yogi meditates on the sattva dripping blood from the lotus and bathing the crown of the head with it, even the Lord of Gods will be brought under control. This is the subjugation.
The Great Instructions on Kurukullā arising from the Hevajra, composed by the master Śāntarakṣita, are complete. Translated by the paṇḍita Hanaśīla himself.
Oṃ kurukulle hrīḥ svāhā. Oṃ kurukulle amukyāḥ paṇḍim ākarṣaya hrīḥ svāhā.
Amukiṃ sādhyaṃ ākarṣaya! Amukiṃ vaśīnaya! Amukaṃ vaśyaṃ kuru! Amuka vaśyaṃ kuru! Mama ākṛṣṭaṃ kuru! Me ākṛṣṭiṃ kuru! Ātmakaṃ ākṛṣṭaṃ kuru! Namaḥ māṃ rakṣa! Namaḥ me rakṣa kuru namaḥ! Namaḥ me śāntiṃ kuru namaḥ! Vauṣaṭ me puṣṭiṃ kuru vauṣaṭ! Ho devadattaṃ me vaśyaṃ kuru hoḥ! Hrīḥ devadattaṃ me ākarṣaya hrīḥ! Jaḥ devadattaṃ me ākarṣaya jaḥ! Me ḍāki mama ḍāki ātmakam!