Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This sādhanā, titled "The Precious Wish-fulfilling Jewel," provides a ritual manual for the practice of the deity Cakrasaṃvara. The text guides the practitioner through a complex process of visualization and mental transformation, beginning with the generation of the guru and the mandala from seed-syllables and culminating in the practitioner's own transformation into the deity. The ritual architecture involves the construction of a celestial palace on Mount Meru, the invocation of the Heruka and other deities, and the use of specific mantras and mudrās to achieve a state of Great Bliss. By committing to these precise visualizations—including the manipulation of seed-syllables and the offering of nectars—the practitioner seeks to transcend ordinary perception. The text concludes by framing the transition to the celestial realm of Khecara as a conceptualization of death, suggesting that the ritual serves as a method for navigating the transition between states of existence through the lens of tantric deity yoga.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual manual for the practice of the deity Cakrasaṃvara, the Śrībhagavaccakrasaṃvarasādhanaratnacintāmaṇināma is attributed to the Indian author Vajraghaṇṭa. It entered the Tibetan tradition through the work of the translators Sumatikīrti and Mar pa chos kyi dbang phyug, appearing in the classical Tibetan language. The work is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཝ, where it spans nine pages and is situated within the collection of the Śaṃvara and Related Tantras. The text enacts a process of visualization and mental transformation, guiding the practitioner to generate the guru, the deities of the maṇḍala, and various buddhas and bodhisattvas from seed-syllables to fill the entirety of space. It further details the emergence of the goddesses of the five senses and the two-armed deity of Great Bliss from the syllables E and HŪṂ, incorporating specific mantras and the use of mudrās. A scholar or serious reader consults this work today to examine the precise ritual architecture of the Cakrasaṃvara tradition, specifically the manipulation of seed-syllables and the invocation of deities to transcend ordinary perception.
Sanskrit title
Śrībhagavaccakrasaṃvarasādhanaratnacintāmaṇināma
Indian author
Vajraghaṇṭa
Tibetan translators
Sumatikīrti, bod kyi lo tsa ba mkhas pa mar pa chos kyi dbang phyug
Cite thisAnuvāda, “A Sādhana of the Bhagavan Cakrasaṃvara called “The Precious Wish-fulfilling Jewel”” (Toh 1437), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1437
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant as a representative example of the Anuttarayoga Tantra tradition, specifically the Cakrasaṃvara cycle, illustrating the integration of mantra, mudrā, and visualization. For the modern reader, it demonstrates the technical precision required in Indo-Tibetan ritual technology to transform the practitioner's identity into that of a Buddha.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-2
Preliminary Visualizations and Offerings
Homage to Vajraḍāka and the visualization of the guru and mandala deities filling space.
3-5
Mandala Construction and Deity Emergence
The emergence of the source of phenomena from seed-syllables and the detailed visualization of the palace and the deity's physical attributes.
6-8
Ritual Technicalities and Empowerment
Instructions on the binding of the vajra chain, the use of seed-syllables, and the request for empowerment from the Tathāgatas.
9-10
Mantras and Self-Transformation
Recitation of heart mantras for the Goddess and other entities, followed by the practitioner's transformation into the deity.
11
Conclusion and Transition
The transition to the celestial realm of Khecara and the conceptualization of death.
Themes
Deity Yoga and Transformation (3, 10)
Seed-Syllable Visualization (2, 3, 4, 6, 8)
Ritual Empowerment (7)
Mantra Recitation (3, 7, 9)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaA Sādhana of the Bhagavan Cakrasaṃvara called “The Precious Wish-fulfilling Jewel”·
In the language of India: Śrībhagavaccakrasaṃvarasādhanaratnacintāmaṇināma. In the language of Tibet: bCom ldan ’das dpal ’khor lo bde mchog sgrub pa’i thabs rin po che yid bzhin gyi nor bu zhes bya ba. Homage to the Blessed One, the Glorious Vajraḍāka!
Like the Śrī ocean, inseparable; like the unconditioned sky, the gathering of He; like the divine drum of Ru, the principal and retinue; like the wish-fulfilling jewel of Ka, fulfilling all needs and desires. To the one who has entered the bhaga, the nature of the five wisdoms, liberation, the three times, the four Māras, the twelve links of dependent origination, the two truths, and so forth—to that, I prostrate.
At the request of the noble and wealthy, I shall properly explain the method for accomplishing Cakrasaṃvara, exactly according to the meaning of what has been taught. On a mountain, in a dense forest, a medicinal valley, on the banks of a great river, or in a primordial charnel ground, one should construct the maṇḍala there.
The yogi himself is supreme merit; it purifies and destroys negativity. Through the recitation of secret mantras and through meditative concentration, accomplishment will be attained. The four offerings and the great hero fulfill the heart’s desires; it is taught that if one is empowered in this tantra, all will be accomplished.
Regarding looking, laughing, holding hands, embracing, and sexual union, one becomes empowered. This is the most sublime of all tantras. Rising early in the morning, the self of the mind, one should recite while abiding in the body and purify the body.
With light rays from one’s own seed-syllable,
One should visualize the guru, the deities of the maṇḍala,
All the buddhas, bodhisattvas, and so forth,
Filling the entirety of space, present before one.
Prostrating with various bodies,
One should offer them for the sake of wandering beings.
From the light rays of the syllable HŪṂ, there arise
The goddesses of Form, Sound, Smell, Taste, and Touch,
The goddess of Dharma, and the goddess of Peace.
White, blue, yellow, red, green, and white,
Each with one face and four arms, holding a skull-cup and ṭaṃka in the left,
And in the right hands: a mirror, a lute,
Supreme fragrance, supreme taste, fine garments,
The source of phenomena (dharmodaya), and a ḍamaru.
OṂ ĀḤ VAJRA ĀDARŚE HŪṂ. OṂ ĀḤ VAJRA VĪṆE HŪṂ. OṂ ĀḤ VAJRA GHAṆṬE HŪṂ. OṂ ĀḤ VAJRA RASE HŪṂ. OṂ ĀḤ VAJRA SPARŚE HŪṂ. OṂ ĀḤ VAJRA DHARME HŪṂ.
With the goddesses to be described below,
The deities are filled with the five nectars (amṛta).
This is the innate joy of meditative union.
The goddesses are delighted by these offerings.
One should confess misdeeds, restrain them, and rejoice;
Dedicate all virtue and take refuge.
One should request the turning of the wheel of Dharma and the request to remain.
One should generate the bodhicitta of aspiration and application, and perform confession.
Supreme bliss is loving-kindness (maitrī);
Great compassion is the wish for beings to be free from the causes of suffering;
Joy is the wish for them not to be separated from happiness;
Equanimity is the wish for them to be free from both afflictions (kleśa) and secondary afflictions.
All phenomena are without intrinsic nature;
One should know conceptual thought to be like an illusion.
OṂ SVABHĀVAŚUDDHĀḤ SARVADHARMĀḤ SVABHĀVAŚUDDHO ’HAṂ.
The light from the seed-syllable purifies the stable and the moving;
Through the drop and the mantra, there is no focal point.
OṂ ŚŪNYATĀJÑĀNAVAJRA-SVABHĀVĀTMAKO ’HAṂ.
All phenomena are utterly without abiding.
The luminous, stainless sky, from the syllable E arises the source of phenomena (dharmodaya). From the transformation of HŪṂ, the two-armed [deity] of Great Bliss appears. In the east and so forth, in both the reverse and the natural order, the left index finger snaps its fingers. OṂ SUMBHANI SUMBHA HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ. OṂ GṚHṆA GṚHṆA HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ. OṂ GṚHṆĀPAYA GṚHṆĀPAYA HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ. OṂ ĀNAYA HO BHAGAVĀN VAJRA HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ. Kākāsyā and the others, two-armed, red, with the left leg extended, on sun seats, holding a thousand similar daggers in the left hand, and holding a mallet in the right. One should construct the vajra fence, the ground, the tent, the canopy, and the lattice of arrows. OṂ VAJRA PRĀKĀRA HŪṂ PAṂ HŪṂ. OṂ MEDINI VAJRIBHAVA VAJRA BANDHA HŪṂ. OṂ VAJRA PAÑJARA HŪṂ BAṂ HŪṂ. OṂ VAJRA VIDĀRAṆA HŪṂ KHAṂ HŪṂ. OṂ VAJRA SARAJĀLA TRAṂ SAṂ TRAṂ HŪṂ. Having transformed into these eight substances, the obstructors are placed inside and the daggers are driven in. OṂ GHAḤ GHAḤ GHĀTAYA GHĀTAYA SARVA DUṢṬĀN HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ. KĪLAYA KĪLAYA SARVA PĀPAṂ HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ. HŪṂ HŪṂ HŪṂ VAJRA KĪLAYA VAJRA DHARA ĀJÑĀPAYATI KĀYA VĀK CITTA VAJRA KĪLAYA HŪṂ PHAṬ. OṂ VAJRA MUDGARA VAJRA KĪLAYA ĀKOṬAYA HŪṂ PHAṬ. Striking with the mallet and driving in the daggers, the obstructors are led to perfect awakening. The goddesses transform into light, and from their bodies radiate vajras, lotuses, wheels, and fire. OṂ VAJRA PRĀKĀRA HŪṂ. OṂ PADMA PRĀKĀRA HŪṂ. OṂ CAKRA PRĀKĀRA HŪṂ. OṂ VAJRA JVALĀNALARKA HŪṂ HŪṂ HŪṂ. The cow-pen, the pond, the remainder, the dry, and from that channel.
One should make it of the nature of a great conch, or else of tortoise bone. Upon Mount Meru, at the center of a multicolored lotus, the syllable HŪṂ completely transforms into a great crossed vajra. At its center, the syllable BHŪṂ completely transforms into a palace composed of various precious gems. It is square with four stories and four doors, beautifully adorned with four archways and eight pillars. The lutes and other musical instruments are placed upon the divine pedestals; it is adorned with the seven types of ornaments such as garlands, and twelve banners fluttering in the wind. The directions are filled with trees, fields, wind, and clouds, and the charnel grounds surround it. Inside the palace are eight petals of a multicolored lotus, surrounded by three circles of curved knives. Upon the lotus, Bhairava and Kālarātri are stacked; at the heart is the seat of the Lord of Day. On the petals of the directions are the life-force, the heart, and the rabbit; above the intermediate directions is the moon. The vase and skull-cup contain nectar. Upon the mountain is a multicolored lotus; at its center, from the vowels and consonants, is born the Mistress White, who tramples her lord and embraces his body with a vajra and bell. Together with the assembly of twenty-four heroes and yoginīs, one should meditate on the supreme state of the great king Śrī Heruka. The Blessed One Cakrasaṃvara is blue in color, with four faces and twelve arms. He stands in the posture with the right leg extended, adorned with the two sets of six. His central face is a blazing dark blue; the left is the color of a ruby; the right blazes like gold; and the upper face blazes like a sapphire. His eyes are red and round, with three eyes and bared fangs.
With matted locks and a topknot adorned with silk streamers, his head is crowned with five skull-cups, beautified by a crescent moon and a crossed vajra. He is the Victorious One over untimely death. His limbs are joined with a khaṭvāṅga. In a skull-cup vessel of offering water, weapons are certainly applied to his mouth. Youthful and full of majestic pride, he bears the thirty-two major marks and is adorned with the eighty minor signs. He possesses the nine dramatic sentiments, such as the erotic. He wears a lower garment of tiger skin and is exquisitely adorned with the six mudrās. He wears a great necklace of a garland of heads and holds a white parasol well above his head.
In front of him resides the goddess, the terrifying Vajravārāhī. Facing the glorious Heruka, she has three eyes and a fierce form. Her skull-cup is filled with blood, and from her mouth drips blood. She makes the threatening gesture toward the gods, asuras, and humans in all directions. Her body is red and blazing intensely; she has one face and two arms. With her left hand, she embraces the Consort in a skull-cup of blood; with her right, she holds a vajra and a curved knife. Her hair is loose and beautiful, and she wears the five ornaments. Graceful, with full and firm breasts, her left leg is extended.
Her posture is joined with the method. Her right hand embraces the thigh of the Father. At the heart, she is the transformation of wisdom itself. Upon a variegated lotus, sun, and vajra is the syllable HŪṂ. The body, speech, and mind are blessed as vajras. These three sets are the three syllables. The mantras that accomplish them are explained in their respective divisions. The secret mantras that are interwoven are distinguished by their objects. When they are joined in union, [the practice is complete].
This is the binding of the vajra chain. Having omitted the middle syllables of the seed syllables of the eight classes of consonants and likewise the twelve vowels, they are described as the six limbs of Heruka. Each syllable abides perfectly: Oṃ, Namaḥ, Svāhā, Vauṣaṭ, Hūṃ, Hūṃ, and Phaṭ. Phaṭ, Hūṃ, Hrīṃ, Hrīṃ, Haṃ, and Oṃ; the syllables Vaṃ, Yoṃ, Moṃ, and Hrīṃ itself, joined with Hūṃ and Phaṭ—these are explained as the six yoginīs. They are the armor of method and insight. Each ḍākinī is surrounded by tens of millions of countless [attendants]. The ḍākinī, Lāmā, Khaṇḍarohā, and Rūpiṇī, who thoroughly accomplish all siddhis, are to be placed in the directions of the lotus. Blue, green, red, and yellow; each with one face, loose hair, and four arms; the left hands hold a skull-cup and a khaṭvāṅga, the right hands hold a curved knife and a ḍamaru; with three eyes, in the full bloom of youth; wrathful, with matted hair and bared fangs. Furthermore, the application of mindfulness of the body is Ḍākinī; the application of mindfulness of feeling is Lāmā; the application of mindfulness of phenomena is Khaṇḍarohā; the application of mindfulness of the mind is Rūpiṇī; and the perfect absorption is the glorious Heruka Vajra. By the light rays of the Hūṃ at the heart, the wisdom maṇḍala, the empowerment deities, and the goddesses of outer and secret offerings are invited. Expelling the obstructors, the water for the mouth is offered: Oṃ arghaṃ pratīccha svāhā. With "Jaḥ Hūṃ Vaṃ Hoḥ," they are summoned, entered, bound, and pleased.
"Please bestow empowerment upon me, all Tathāgatas," he requested. Then the Tathāgatas, with vases of precious jewels filled with the liquid of the five nectars (amṛta), conferred empowerment, saying: Oṃ sarvatathāgata-abhiṣekasamaya-śrīye hūṃ.
The central deity of the maṇḍala is marked with the seal of Vajrasattva; Vajrayoginī with Akṣobhya; the ḍākinīs Lāmā, Khaṇḍarohā, and Rūpiṇī with Vairocana, Amoghasiddhi, Amitābha, and Ratnasambhava, respectively. These six goddesses and four [others] perfectly worship with outer and secret offerings. Having praised the deities of the maṇḍala, they depart instantly to their respective abodes.
Then, the great offering of the mudrā and the arrangement of the mantra are proclaimed. This offering of the mudrā undoubtedly brings about swift accomplishment. One applies the mantra to the two signs; the ḍākinī and the hero are non-dual. Likewise, with the heart mantra, the mantrin unites with the ḍākinī: Oṃ śrī mahāsukha vajra he he ru ru kaṃ āḥ hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ. Through the joy of the coemergent (sahaja), one pleases the maṇḍala and its inhabitants.
Even for the sake of external great joy, these blessings of the lotus and vajra occur. In front, from the syllable yaṃ, arises a wind maṇḍala, blue in appearance like a bow, with banners at both ends. Above that, from the syllable raṃ, arises a fire maṇḍala, triangular and marked by blazing red. Above that, from a, arises a lotus vessel, a single piece, red within. Hūṃ oṃ khaṃ aṃ trāṃ. [These are] the urine, feces, and great flesh.
The self-arisen flower of bodhicitta: LĀṂ, MĀṂ, PĀṂ, TĀṂ. The cow, dog, elephant, horse, and lamp are all endowed with the seed syllables. The wind fans the fire, melting the nectar into red. A white HŪṂ cools the white khaṭvāṅga. By reciting the vowels and consonants with their initial and final [syllables], they settle upon the multicolored nectar. These completely transform into the three syllables OṂ ĀḤ HŪṂ, stacked one above the other. Masses of light rays radiate, summoning the wisdom nectar of the Sugatas from the reaches of space. They dissolve into the three syllables, and by that, the three are blessed.
The Blessed Ones and the yoginīs have tongues that are three-pointed vajras arising from the syllable HŪṂ. Visualize a white [vajra] the size of a barley grain placed [therein], and [the nectar] is drawn up through the tube. By partaking of the nectar, the assembly of deities is seen to be satisfied. One should perform the recitation of the vidyā-mantra, including the vajra-recitation. Regarding the syllables of the mantra to be recited: from the seed syllable at one’s own heart, the [mantra] emerges from the lower [aperture] and is ejected from the tip of one’s own vajra into the bhaga of the mudrā. Again, visualize it entering the mouth of the goddess and then entering one’s own seed syllable. One should meditate that all the faces and all the yoginīs are also reciting it. One should also perform the wrathful recitation.
By this sequence, being free from the faults of recitation, one should perform the recitation while the mind is in meditative equipoise, for as long as one does not become weary. These are the secret mantras for the recitation: OṂ VAJRA HE HE RU RU KAṂ HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ ḌĀKINĪ JĀLASAṂVARA SVĀHĀ. OṂ HRĪḤ HA HA HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ. These are the heart mantra and the near-heart mantra of the deity.
From the complete transformation of that HŪṂ, I myself appear with one face and two hands, standing in a posture with the right leg extended. Youthful and majestic, endowed with the [major] marks, I hold the six mudrās and the bell and vajra. Then, having performed the dedication, the making of aspiration prayers, and the recitation of the hundred-syllable mantra, one should abide in the divine pride.
During the midday and afternoon sessions, sit on a comfortable cushion in a meditation cell. One transforms oneself into light, which becomes the syllable HŪṂ. From the complete transformation of that, the maṇḍala of the Blessed One Cakrasaṃvara, the five-deity maṇḍala, is formed from a multi-storied palace of precious jewels, surrounded by the eight charnel grounds. Visualizing this clearly, one should perform all the rituals, such as the conferral of empowerment.
During the final session, one should practice all the rituals previously explained. Following the recitation, through the light rays of the HŪṂ, everything is transformed into light and absorbed into the lord of the maṇḍala. The principal deity of the maṇḍala, together with the mudrā, also becomes light and dissolves into the Father and Mother at the heart, who are the supreme insight. That too dissolves into the HŪṂ at the heart together with the sun, and the sun dissolves into the vowel U, the head-stroke, the crescent moon, the drop, and finally the nāda. Then, one enters into sleep without mental focus. At dawn, one should imagine being awakened by the song of Vajrayoginī, and perform all the rituals just as on the previous day.
By meditating in this way with devotion and without interruption, when the mind has become stable, one should meditate on the absorption of the completion stage. When yogins transfer at the time of death, the glorious...
Yogins such as Heruka and others, holding various flowers in their hands, with various victory banners and streamers, and with the sounds of various musical instruments and various offerings of song, lead one to the celestial realm of Khecara. This so-called "death" is a conceptual construction. For those who possess the samaya, who are devoted to the guru, and who are diligent in meditation and practice, all accomplishments arise. They will attain a perfect lifespan and wealth, and they will achieve glory, majesty, sovereignty, and all activities. They will become great authors, learned in all the treatises, and will swiftly attain the state of the Great Vajradhara himself. Through whatever merit is gained from composing this sādhana of the Blessed One Cakrasaṃvara according to the proper method, may all beings become Vajradhara Kings.
The Sādhana of the Blessed One Cakrasaṃvara, titled The Precious Wish-Fulfilling Jewel, composed by the great learned master Vajraghaṇṭāpa, is hereby complete. It was translated, edited, and finalized by the Indian abbot Sumatikīrti and the learned Tibetan translator Marpa Chökyi Wangchuk.