Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
The Sādhana of the Seven Syllables is a ritual manual designed to guide the practitioner through a complex process of deity yoga and energetic manipulation. The text commits the reader to a rigorous sequence of visualization and recitation, beginning with the altruistic motivation of the bodhisattva vow and the offering of the body. The practitioner is instructed to transform their identity into the form of Heruka and Vārāhī, utilizing specific seed-syllables and mantras to construct a protected sacred space (the vajra canopy) and to summon obstructing spirits. The ritual integrates the use of 'six armors' visualized on the body, the recitation of a specific seven-syllable mantra, and the performance of mudras. The process culminates in the 'inner offering,' where the practitioner directs nectar through the central channel to the heart and lotus, effectively merging the physical body with the divine maṇḍala. By synthesizing mental visualization, mantra, and somatic control, the text aims to achieve a state of non-dual bliss and spiritual attainment.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual practice centered on the Seven Syllables, the Saptākṣarasādhana belongs to the classical Tibetan tradition. The work is attributed to the Indian author Kṛṣṇa Paṇḍita. It was translated into Tibetan by Vāgīśvara and klog skya shes rab brtsegs, and is preserved in the Tengyur (vol. ཝ) within the collection of the Śaṃvara and Related Tantras, where it extends over eight pages. The work enacts a process of deity yoga beginning with homage to Tārā and the glorious Heruka. It guides the practitioner through the altruistic motivation of offering the body for the benefit of all sentient beings and the recitation of a hundred-syllable mantra. Through the seed-syllable HŪṂ, the practitioner manifests in the form of Heruka, utilizing a hook at the heart to summon obstructing spirits from the ten directions and striking them with the ritual daggers of eight goddesses. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the specific visualizations, mantras, and ritual procedures used to transform the practitioner's identity and manage spiritual obstructions within this specific tantric framework.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “A Sādhana of the Seven Syllables” (Toh 1453), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1453
Summary & commentary
Significance
This work is significant as a representative example of Vajrayāna ritual technology, demonstrating the integration of Sanskrit mantras and Tibetan meditative structures. For the modern reader, it illustrates the precise intersection of visualization and physiology used in tantric practices to transform the practitioner's perceived reality.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-3
Preliminary Vows and Transformation
Homage to Tārā and Heruka, the bodhisattva vow, and the initial manifestation of the practitioner as Heruka.
4-7
Sacred Space and Protection
Construction of the vajra canopy and the visualization of the goddess Vārāhī and the six armors.
8-9
Mantra and Mudra Practice
Recitation of the seven-syllable and hundred-syllable mantras combined with specific finger-lock mudras.
10-11
Offerings and Dissolution
Sanskrit offerings to deities, the request for their departure, and the ritual of the inner offering involving nectar.
Themes
Deity Yoga (3, 5)
Protective Visualization (4, 7)
Mantra and Sound (4, 8)
Somatic Energetics (11)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Saptākṣarasādhana. In the language of Tibet: Yi ge bdun pa'i sgrub thabs (The Sādhana of the Seven Syllables). Homage to the Venerable Tārā.
First, by the mere recollection of these [syllables], the wise who have become excellent pay homage to the glorious Heruka. A practitioner who has gained mastery in meditating on this should rise from bed at dawn and visualize a black HŪṂ upon a sun maṇḍala arising from RAṂ at the heart. Having purified oneself through its light rays, one should invite the wisdom maṇḍala with its hook. One should gaze toward the direction of space at the assembly, together with the retinue, possessing the colors, hands, and implements that will be described, and present mental offerings. In their presence, one should perform the confession of misdeeds and so forth: "I individually confess all my misdeeds. I rejoice in the merit of all Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Āryas, and ordinary beings without exception. From now until I reach awakening, I take refuge in the Buddha, the supreme among two-legged beings. I take refuge in the Dharma of the Mahāyāna assembly. I take refuge in the Saṅgha of the irreversible Bodhisattva assembly. I shall generate the mind set upon unsurpassed, perfect, and complete awakening."
For as long as there is benefit and happiness for all sentient beings, in order to establish them in the supreme, ultimate nirvana of the awakening of a buddha, I offer my body to all buddhas and bodhisattvas without exception. Having said, "I shall dedicate all these virtues toward unsurpassed awakening," and having pleased the Blessed One by reciting the hundred-syllable mantra:
Oṃ śrī heruka samaya manupālaya herukatvenopatiṣṭha dṛḍho me bhava | sutoṣyo me bhava | anurakto me bhava | supoṣyo me bhava | sarvasiddhiṃ me prayaccha | sarvakarma suca me cittaṃ śreyaḥ kuru hūṃ | ha ha ha ha hoḥ bhagavān | sarvatathāgata vajra mā me muñca vajrībhava mahāsamayasattva āḥ vajra muḥ |
With these words, one should request the deities to depart. Then, one should meditate on love in the form of bestowing divine bliss upon all sentient beings, compassion in the form of removing all suffering, joy in the form of ensuring the continuity of divine bliss, and equanimity in the form of applying the path that serves as the antidote to the afflictions and secondary afflictions. Following that, one should mentally focus on all phenomena, examine them as being like an illusion or a dream, and realize all phenomena to be like the stainless center of the autumn sky at midday. Then, one should consecrate them with the mantra: Oṃ śūnyatājñānavajrasvabhāvātmako ’haṃ.
Following that, from the syllable HŪṂ, one should manifest oneself in the form of the glorious Heruka, as will be described, complete with his body color and weapons. With the hook of the seed-syllable at the heart, one summons the hosts of obstructing spirits (vighna) residing in the ten directions, causes them to enter a pit, and strikes them with the ritual daggers (kīla) of the eight goddesses, Kākāsyā and the others. These goddesses are brilliant, with blazing red bodies, two arms, and orange-red hair streaming upward. They hold curved knives (kartṛka), skull-cups (kapāla), and khaṭvāṅgas; their faces are contorted, their lower parts are shaped like spikes, and they are adorned with garlands of heads. The practitioner, reciting the mantra with wrathful eyes, causes the obstructing spirits to enter the pit and recites: OṂ SUMBHANI SUMBHA HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ; OṂ GṚHṆA GṚHṆA HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ; OṂ GṚHṆĀPAYA GṚHṆĀPAYA HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ; OṂ ĀNAYA HOḤ BHAGAVĀN VIDYĀRĀJA HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ. One should arrange them by circling counter-clockwise from the east and so forth, and clockwise from the southeast and so forth. Then: OṂ GHA GHA GHĀTAYA GHĀTAYA SARVA DUṢṬĀN HŪṂ PHAṬ; KĪLAYA KĪLAYA SARVA PĀPAṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ; HŪṂ HŪṂ HŪṂ; VAJRAKĪLA VAJRADHĀRO ĀJÑĀPAYATI SARVA DUṢṬĀN KĀYA VĀK CITTA VAJRAKĪLAYA HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ. With this, one should firmly place [the dagger] upon the crown of the head. OṂ VAJRAMUṄGARA VAJRAKĪLAYA ĀKOṬAYA HŪṂ PHAṬ. With this, one should strike with the vajra-hammer. Then, beneath the blazing light rays of the daggers, there is a vajra-nature ground, and on the sides, a vajra fence.
Above, one should meditate on a vajra canopy, a vajra awning, and a lattice of arrows, with vajra flames blazing on the outside, and stabilize it with the mantra: OṂ MEḌINI VAJRIBHAVA VAJRA BANDHA HŪṂ; OṂ VAJRA PRĀKĀRA HŪṂ BAṂ HŪṂ; OṂ VAJRA VITĀNA HŪṂ KHAṂ HŪṂ; OṂ VAJRA SARAJĀLA TRAṂ SAṂ TRAṂ; OṂ VAJRA JVALĀNALARKA HŪṂ RAṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ.
Visualizing the site as free from obstructing spirits (vighna), in its center, from the complete transformation of the vowels and consonants, upon a moon and sun, one should visualize a vajra arising from the syllable HŪṂ, with that very syllable HŪṂ at its hub. By emitting clouds of light rays from it, one should contemplate all beings as having the nature of heroes (vīra). Through their reabsorption, in an instant, upon a variegated lotus and sun surrounded by a crossed vajra, in the center of a six-spoked wheel, is the Hero who completely tramples Bhairava and Kālarātri. He has three faces and six arms, is like a dark blue rain cloud, and wears a tiger-skin loincloth. He stands in the posture with the left leg extended. He has a crown of skull garlands and a crescent moon as a head ornament. He holds a crossed vajra upon his crown. He is adorned with fifty severed heads. With his two hands holding a vajra and bell, he is intent on embracing Vārāhī. In his left hands are a skull cup and a khaṭvāṅga; in his right hands is a trident. With two [other hands] he holds a human-skin garment. The Sovereign is adorned with the six mudrās. His root face is a great blue; the right is like yellow; the left is green and very terrifying.
Adorned with ornaments of human bone, bearing the thirty-two major marks and adorned with the eighty minor marks, she is like the protector Vārāhī, yet she has cast off the human skin. The goddess holds a bow and arrow, possessing the form of innate joy. Then, upon the six spokes of the wheel, starting from the east and proceeding counter-clockwise: first is the goddess Helāki; second, Vajrabhairavī; third, the fierce and wrathful one; fourth, Vajrasūryā; fifth, Vajracaṇḍī; and sixth, Vajraḍākinī. Blue, yellow, red, green, conch-white, and white, respectively—these goddesses are extremely fierce, wearing the directions as their garments and with hair loose. All of them stand upon a sun seat of a preta, with four arms and three eyes, constantly holding a human skin, and properly grasping a bell and a hand-drum. They have crowns of skull garlands and stand with the left leg extended. All of them wear the five mudrās and are adorned with garlands of heads. Perfectly arisen from the seven syllables, they bestow all accomplishments.
Having thus visualized the completion of the transformed maṇḍala, one should summon the wisdom wheel with the hooks of the seed-syllables at the heart. Looking into the sky, with JAḤ HŪṂ BAṂ HOḤ, one performs the summoning, entering, binding, and subduing. One should contemplate the samaya and wisdom maṇḍalas as one, and then, with the hooks of the seed-syllables at the heart, invite all the Buddhas.
Having made offerings with the mind, one should offer this supplication in verse for the sake of the empowerment:
Just as the great offering was bestowed
Upon the Buddha, the Vajra of Awakening,
So, for the sake of my protection,
O Vajra of Space, bestow it upon me today.
Immediately after thus supplicating, those Buddhas assume the form of Heruka and, by their own power, confer the empowerment with the substances of empowerment, reciting:
"The empowerment is the great vajra,
Venerated by the three realms,
Arisen from the state of the three secrets;
It is bestowed by all the Buddhas."
And the mantra: Oṃ sarvatathāgata-abhiṣeka-samaya-śriye hūṃ. Having conferred the empowerment, one should visualize Akṣobhya at the crown of the lord of the maṇḍala. One should then imagine that the five Tathāgatas, beginning with Heruka and the others, seal [the deity] according to their respective order.
Next, one should understand the armor. At the heart, upon a sun maṇḍala, one should generate Oṃ hrīḥ ha ha hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ. Following that, at the heart, upon a vajra, one should visualize a white Ha: Oṃ ha vajrasattva hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ. At the crown, upon a moon and a wheel, one should look at a yellow Hi: Namaḥ hi vairocana hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ. At the top of the head, upon a sun and a lotus, one should look at a red Hu: Svāhā hu padmanarteśvara hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ. At the two shoulders, upon a sun and a vajra, one should look at a blue He: Vauṣaṭ he śrīheruka hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ.
In the eyes, visualize a yellow HO upon a jewel atop a sun disk: HŪṂ HŪṂ HO VAJRA SŪRYA HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ. In the forehead, visualize a green syllable HAṂ upon a crossed vajra: PHAṬ HAṂ PĀRMA AŚVA VAJRA HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ. These are the mantras of the six armors. Furthermore, the armor mantras of Vārāhī are as follows: at the hub of that vajra, visualize a red BAṂ upon a moon maṇḍala: OṂ BAṂ VAJRA VĀRĀHĪ HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ. At the heart, visualize a blue YOṂ upon a moon: HAṂ YOṂ YAMENĪ HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ. At the tongue, visualize a white HRĪṂ upon a lotus: HRĪṂ MOṂ MOHANĪ HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ. At the crown, visualize a green HREṂ upon a crossed vajra: OṂ HREṂ HRĪṂ SANCAḶANI HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ. At the top of the head, visualize a space-colored HŪṂ upon a jewel: HŪṂ HŪṂ SAṂ TRĀSANĪ HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ. In the forehead, visualize a smoke-colored syllable PHAṬ upon a crossed vajra: PHAṬ PHAṬ CAṆḌIKĀ HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ. Following that, at the crown, visualize OṂ upon a moon on a white lotus; at the throat, ĀḤ upon a dharmodaya on a red lotus; and at the heart, HŪṂ upon a sun on a multicolored lotus. By reciting OṂ ĀḤ HŪṂ, the body, speech, and mind are blessed. All the goddesses of the maṇḍala are likewise blessed in body, speech, and mind, and should be stabilized by reciting the hundred-syllable mantra. Since it is said that accomplishment comes through the recitation of the vidyāmantra, the recitation should be performed. At the heart, upon a lotus and sun, is a six-spoked wheel.
Arrange the seven syllables in their proper order. Recite the mantra as if it were being uttered mentally: OṂ HRĪḤ HA HA HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ. Recite this until one becomes weary; when weariness arises, recite the hundred-syllable mantra. Then, having dissolved the maṇḍala-cakra into the seed-syllable at the heart, arise and remain as comfortably as possible in the deity yoga. During the midday and evening sessions, enter the deity’s abode, sit upon a comfortable seat, and emanate the maṇḍala-cakra from the seed-syllable at the heart. Visualize it in its proper place, perform the entry of the wisdom-being (jñānasattva), the conferral of empowerment, and so forth, all as before. At the beginning and end of the meditation, one should offer the torma (bali).
The sequence for that is as follows: from the complete transformation of YAṂ and RAṂ, there arise the maṇḍalas of wind and fire. Upon these is a skull-cup born from the syllable ĀḤ. In its center are the substances marked by the syllable OṂ. Above that is a vajra born from HŪṂ. Then, from the union of the vajra and lotus, fire blazes, which causes those substances to be dispersed, cooked, and melted, becoming white like the autumn moon. By the hooks of its light rays, the amṛta from the seed-syllables at the hearts of all the buddhas is summoned and absorbed into that very place. Consecrate it with OṂ ĀḤ HŪṂ. Recite three times: OṂ SARVA VAJRA ḌĀKINĪ BHAKṢIME ŚODHAYA DUHYAṂ VAJRANI SVĀHĀ. Thus, it should be consecrated up to three times.
Gazing toward the direction of space at the maṇḍala-cakra, form the finger-lock with the index fingers and firmly join the middle fingers. Having firmly joined the thumbs as a vajra, place it in the center of the forehead. By turning it and turning it, one should circle it in every direction. Pressing down with the feet and looking upward, utter the sound "pheṃ" upward. Summon the heroes and yoginīs residing in the world-systems of the ten directions. Then, one should recite these verses:
"The goddesses are valid, the samaya is valid, and the words they have spoken are also the supreme validity. By this truth, may these goddesses become the cause for taking me under their care."
Following that, open the vajra-palms upward and place them properly upon the crown of the head. Recite "Oṃ āḥ ārali hoḥ jaḥ hūṃ vaṃ hoḥ vajraḍākinīya samayas tvaṃ dṛśya hoḥ" three, four, or five times, and offer it to the maṇḍala-cakra together with the principal deity. After that, having made offerings, recite these verses again:
"Having become existence and peace, you have conquered the waves of conceptual attachment. In that very state, you perceive all things without exception to be like space. O Protector, whose lotus-heart is blossomed by the water of most heavy compassion, may the goddesses show me the utmost affection!"
Having praised them with this, the remainder of the torma should be given to those who roam at night with this: "Oṃ kha kha khāhi khāhi sarva yakṣa rākṣasa bhūta preta piśāca unmāda apasmāra graha ḍākinīyāya."
Imaṃ baliṃ gṛhṇantu | samaya rakṣantu mama sarva siddhiṃ me prayacchantu | yatheṣṭaṃ bhuñjatha pivatha mā me atikramatha | mama sarvakāryāṇi satsukhaṃ vivṛddhaye sahāyakā bhavantu | oṃ āḥ hūṃ phaṭ svāhā |
Recite the hundred-syllable mantra ending with muḥ to request the deities to depart. At the time of eating, purify all food as before. Visualize a fire the size of a thumb at the pericarp of the navel lotus. By binding the vital winds (prāṇa) and effort (āyāma), kindle the fire and make offerings with mental worship. Visualize it becoming the form of a blazing flame. In the center of that blaze, generate the Blessed One from the seed-syllable at his heart, together with all the Tathāgatas. Visualize that his tongue emerges as a vajra from the syllable hūṃ, and perform the inner homa offering with that nectar. This is the ritual for the inner homa.
At the time of worship, in an instant, visualize yourself in the form of Vārāhī. Perform the entry of the wisdom-being (jñānasattva) from the sādhana and other texts, the conferral of empowerment, the two armors, and the blessing of the body and speech. Having done so, transform yourself likewise into the form of Heruka. From the syllable e, visualize the three-petaled lotus of the goddess, and from the syllable āḥ, the pericarp. From hūṃ arises the vajra, and from oṃ arises the [male] vajra. At its opening is phaṭ. Reciting the mantra oṃ sarvatathāgatānurāgayāmi, by moving [the organ] with the sound of intense joy, summon all the Tathāgatas.
Entering through the path of the mouth and reaching the heart, it melts into great bliss and descends into the lotus through the vajra path. Then, with that very nectar, one should make offerings to the maṇḍala circle of oneself. This is the ritual of the inner offering.
Then, for one who desires to stabilize the mind through the absorption of the completion stage:
Having first contemplated the vowels and consonants,
The great yogi should rest and meditate
Upon a moon maṇḍala, complete,
In the center of the navel.
One should contemplate that which dwells
In the center of the supreme abode of syllables.
Possessing the vajras of body, speech, and mind,
One should meditate on the form of the deity.
That which transcends form
Should be meditated upon as the nature of mind itself.
One should contemplate that which is inconceivable,
Yet not analyze it as the nature of mind.
If one contemplates that inconceivable state,
From it, the form will be attained.
Through the merit gained from striving in this sādhana of the seven-syllable mantra, the treasury of incomparable qualities, may the entire world, without exception, become one with the ultimate state, like the Lord of Heroes.
This concludes the sādhana of the seven-syllable mantra composed by the great paṇḍita Kṛṣṇācārya. It was translated by the Indian abbot Vāgīśvara and the Tibetan translator Lokya Sherab Tseg. Later, it was edited and finalized by the Tibetan translator Ācārya Marpa Chökyi Wangchuk.