Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This ritual text provides a technical guide for performing hand offerings to the deity Cakrasaṃvara. The work instructs the practitioner to transform the physical body into a sacred space through a series of visualizations and somatic applications. Specifically, it directs the practitioner to visualize the deities or the three cakras on the palms and to conceptualize the physical elements of the hands as manifestations of specific tantric powers. The ritual involves the use of the left ring finger for purifying actions, the recitation of seed syllables associated with sacred sites (pīṭhas), and the application of purified liquor and earth to the heart, tongue, and head. By integrating these physical gestures with the recitation of syllables such as HŪṂ, ĀḤ, and OṂ, the practitioner is committed to a process of internalizing the deity's maṇḍala, effectively absorbing the external sacred geography into their own person.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual for the offering of one’s own hands according to oral instructions, the Śrīcakrasaṃvarahastapūjāvidhi belongs to the tradition of the Śaṃvara and Related Tantras. The work is attributed to the Indian author Prajñārakṣita. It was translated into the classical Tibetan language by Sumatikīrti and the monk translator Blo ldan shes rab, as preserved in volume ཞ of the Tengyur. The ritual enacts a process of somatic transformation, directing the practitioner to visualize the reflections of deities or the three cakras upon the palms of the hands. By conceptualizing the physical elements of earth, water, fire, wind, and space as the nature of Pāṭalā, Māraṇī, Ākarṣaṇī, Nṛtyeśvarī, and Padmajālinī, the practitioner utilizes the left ring finger to recite syllables representing the pīṭha and other sacred sites. Through the application of purified liquor and the drawing of a circular maṇḍala, the practitioner internalizes the deity's maṇḍala. Scholars and serious readers consult this four-page text to understand the technical application of visualizations and the integration of physical gestures with the recitation of seed syllables to transform the body into a sacred space.
Sanskrit title
Śrīcakrasaṃvarahastapūjāvidhi
Indian author
Prajñārakṣita
Tibetan translators
Sumatikīrti, sgra bsgyur gyi lo tsa ba dge slong blo ldan shes rab
Cite thisAnuvāda, “A Ritual for Making Offerings to the Glorious Cakrasaṃvara With One’s Hands” (Toh 1468), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1468
Summary & commentary
Significance
The text is significant for its illustration of the 'hand offering' (hastapūjā) tradition, where the body serves as the primary altar. It demonstrates the tantric method of substituting physical substances with visualized essences to achieve rapid spiritual transformation.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-2
Introduction and Visualization
Initial homage to Vajravārāhī and instructions for visualizing deities and cakras on the palms.
3
Purification and Site Activation
Instructions for using the left ring finger and specific syllables to represent sacred sites.
4
Somatic Application and Absorption
The application of earth to the body and the visualization of the maṇḍala being absorbed into the practitioner.
Themes
Somatic Visualization (2, 4)
Sacred Geography (Pīṭhas) (3)
Ritual Purification (3, 4)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaA Ritual for Making Offerings to the Glorious Cakrasaṃvara With One’s Hands·
In the language of India: Śrīcakrasaṃvarahastapūjāvidhināma. In the language of Tibet: Dpal 'khor lo sdom pa'i lag mchod kyi cho ga zhes bya ba (The Ritual of the Hand Offering of the Glorious Cakrasaṃvara). Homage to the glorious Vajraḍākinī!
Bowing to Vajravārāhī, the sovereign of yoginīs, I shall here collect the ritual for the offering of one’s own hands according to the oral instructions.
In that regard, during a gaṇacakra or similar occasion, a mantrin endowed with the yoga of the glorious Cakrasaṃvara should visualize the thumb, index finger, middle finger, ring finger, and little finger of the left hand, along with their nails, as being the nature of Vajrasattva, Vairocana, Amitābha, Akṣobhya, Ratnasambhava, and Amoghasiddhi, respectively. These are white, yellow, red, black, and green in color. One should then place the syllables OṂ HA, NAMO HI, SVĀHĀ HŪṂ, VAUṢAṬ HE, HŪṂ HŪṂ HOḤ, and PHAṬ HAṂ.
Furthermore, one should meditate on a red five-petaled lotus instantly formed in the palm of the hand. In the directions of the east and so forth, arranged counter-clockwise in order, are the syllables HAṂ YOṂ, HRĪṂ MOṂ, HREṂ HREṂ, and HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ PHAṬ, which are the nature of Yamī, Mohanī, Kṣobhaṇī, Bhīṣaṇī, and Caṇḍikā, and are black, white, yellow, green, and smoke-colored, respectively. In the center of the lotus, one should visualize the seed syllables OṂ VAṂ, which are the nature of Vajravārāhī and are red in color.
On the palms of the hands as well, one should visualize the reflections of these very [deities] or the three cakras in their entirety. Then, one should cultivate the conviction that the elements of earth, water, fire, wind, and space residing in the hands are the nature of Pāṭalā, Māraṇī, Ākarṣaṇī, Nṛtyeśvarī, and Padmajālinī. Then, having smeared the seed-syllables residing in the hands with the substance of the fluid, one should cultivate the conviction that the palms are the nature of the three cakras blessed by all the heroes and yoginīs. Then, one should offer that substance of the fluid and so forth with the mantra of the three syllables or the eight-line mantra. Then, having performed the perfect worship, one should recite the hundred-syllable mantra in order to purify any excesses or omissions in the ritual. Having made a supplication for the blessing of the gaṇacakra, one should set aside the other substances or otherwise; then, taking the substance applied to the palms with the ring finger, one should smear it on the heart, the navel, and the head, preceded by the recitation of the syllables HŪṂ, ĀḤ, and OṂ, and cultivate the conviction that those hosts of deities have entered into oneself. This ritual is also connected to the Saṃvarodaya Tantra. This is the ritual of hand worship.
Alternatively, using the left ring finger purified by the previously described ritual, one should recite the twenty-four syllables beginning with pu-ja and so forth, which represent the nature of the pīṭha, upapīṭha, and other sites. Having smeared two triangles with the previously purified liquor, one should draw a circular maṇḍala in their center. Visualizing that the Blessed One, together with the maṇḍala of the support and the supported, is summoned by light rays emanating from the seed syllable at one’s own heart, one should offer food, snacks, and so forth—which are established as the nature of the five nectars and so forth—using either the three syllables or the eight-line mantra. Then, taking the liquor contained in a lotus vessel, which has been consecrated as nectar, with the ring finger and thumb, one should satisfy the Blessed One and the Blessed Lady with their respective heart and near-heart mantras. Furthermore, one should satisfy all the deities from the ḍākinīs up to Yamamathani with their own respective mantras as appropriate. Then, having performed the perfect offerings, one should recite the hundred-syllable mantra to purify any omissions or excesses and make a supplication for the blessing of the gaṇacakra. Reciting oṃ yogaśuddhāḥ sarvadharmā yogaśuddho ’haṃ, one should please them with the lotus-turning mudrā. When withdrawing that mudrā, preceded by the gesture of embracing, one should touch the ground with the ring finger and, reciting oṃ vajra muḥ, request them to depart, and then dissolve the maṇḍala into oneself.
Then, taking the earth from that site with the ring finger of the left hand, one should smear it on the heart, the tongue, and the head, preceded by the recitation of the syllables HŪṂ, ĀḤ, and OṂ. One should also visualize the maṇḍala of deities residing in that hand as being absorbed into oneself.
This explanation of the hand offering to the Protector Cakrasaṃvara, who resides in the triangular maṇḍala, is for the benefit of yogins.
The ritual of the hand offering composed by the glorious Prajñārakṣita is complete. It was translated by the Indian abbot, the glorious Sumatikīrti, and the translator-monk, Loden Sherab.