Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This sādhana provides a ritualized procedure for the 'Emergence of the Samvara,' guiding the practitioner through a complex process of visualization and somatic engagement. The text directs the practitioner to construct a cosmic environment by establishing colored directional bodies and a mandala of deities emerging from the seed-syllable HŪṂ. Central to the practice is the identification of the self with a divine figure possessing specific dramatic sentiments, accompanied by the visualization of Vairocanī and a retinue of ḍākinīs characterized by transgressive imagery, such as garlands of human heads and the offering of menses. The ritual commits the reader to a rigorous sequence of mantra recitation, the execution of specific mudrās (such as the 'Blazing Mudrā'), and the management of internal energies through the nāda. The process concludes with the dissolution of the mandala and the absorption of the deities back into the practitioner, emphasizing a cycle of emanation and reabsorption.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual manual for the emergence of the Samvara, the Śrīsaṃvarodayasādhana belongs to the genre of sādhana and is situated within the collection of the Śaṃvara and Related Tantras. It was translated into the Tibetan language by Kṣāntiśrīpāda and the monk Shong Lotsawa, and is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཞ, where it extends over ten pages. This classical Tibetan text enacts a complex ritual process, beginning with an invocation to the Glorious Emergence of the Samvara and the sequential visualization of colored bodies across the cardinal directions. The practitioner is guided to establish a mandala from the seed-syllable HŪṂ, perform confession and the practice of equanimity, and realize the nature of emptiness through the formula oṃ svabhāvaśuddhāḥ sarvadharmāḥ svabhāvaśuddho ’haṃ. Scholars and serious readers consult this work to examine the precise meditative instructions and the use of seed-syllables such as oṃ, āḥ, and hūṃ in the construction of the divine domain.
Sanskrit title
Śrīsaṃvarodayasādhana
Indian author
not recorded
Tibetan translators
Kṣāntiśrīpāda, bod kyi lo tsA ba dge slong shong blo brtan
Cite thisAnuvāda, “A Sādhana of the Glorious “Arising of Saṃvara”” (Toh 1515), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1515
Summary & commentary
Significance
The text is significant as a representative example of the Anuttarayoga Tantra tradition, specifically within the Samvara cycle, illustrating the use of 'wrathful' or transgressive imagery to transform ordinary perception. For the modern reader, it documents the precise intersection of mantra, mudrā, and visualization used in Indo-Tibetan ritual technology.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-3
Preliminary Setup and Purification
Establishment of the ritual space, directional colors, and the practice of equanimity and emptiness.
4-6
Generation of the Mandala
Visualization of the seed-syllable HŪṂ, the emergence of the Blessed One, Vairocanī, and the ḍākinīs.
7-10
Ritual Activation and Recitation
Placement of mantras, summoning the wisdom wheel, and the recitation of mantras for the Heroines.
11-12
Physical Mudrās and Circumambulation
Detailed instructions for the Blazing Mudrā and the ritual circumambulation of the deities.
13-14
Dissolution and Colophon
The absorption of the mandala into the self and the record of the translation by Shong Blo-bstan.
Themes
Deity Yoga and Visualization (4-6, 13)
Somatic Ritual (Mudrā and Mantra) (7-12)
Transgressive Imagery (5-6)
Emptiness and Non-duality (3)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaA Sādhana of the Glorious “Arising of Saṃvara”·
In the language of India: Śrī-saṃvarodaya-sādhana. In the language of Tibet: dPal sdom pa ’byung ba’i sgrub thabs (The Sādhana of the Glorious Emergence of the Samvara). Homage to the Glorious Emergence of the Samvara!
Pure, peaceful, and pervasive as space, the domain of yogis for whom realization is difficult, peerless, non-dual, and without cause—to you, the Glorious Emergence of the Samvara, I offer protection. I shall here correctly condense the stages of the sādhana taught in the Saṃvarodaya Tantra, so that through meditation, people may be liberated from the harm of delusion.
First, regarding the practice of meditation: facing south with hair loosened, having offered the torma and stabilized the samaya, one should think, "I am the glorious Cakrasaṃvara," in order to cause all the aggregates of sentient beings to attain the body of Cakrasaṃvara. In an instant, through emptiness, one abandons ordinary pride. Then, possessing the yoga of the two-armed Cakrasaṃvara together with Prajñā, one recites the mantra: Oṃ, beginning with the letter A and ending with the letter Kṣa, followed by Hūṃ Hūṃ Phaṭ, three times. Visualizing the garland of letters arranged counter-clockwise, emitting five-colored rays of light that destroy the hosts of vighnas, one should cultivate the conviction that the aggregates of form and so forth are the purities of Vairocana and the other deities. Then, recite the four mantras: Oṃ sumbhani sumbha hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ; oṃ gṛhṇa gṛhṇa hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ; oṃ gṛhṇāpaya gṛhṇāpaya hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ; oṃ ānaya ho bhagavān vidyārāja hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ. Recite these four mantras.
One should sequentially place the great bodies, which blaze and pervade from the black, green, red, and yellow [colors] up to the egg of Brahmā and the subterranean realms, in the directions of the east, north, west, and south. By their light rays, the four walls of their respective colors are formed, and simultaneously, from the syllable HŪṂ, there arises the ground of the nature of a crossed vajra, blessed by it, extending down to the subterranean realm. By the light rays of that vajra, there is a wall of five-pronged vajras and a lattice of arrows above. Below that is a vajra tent, and below that, one should also visualize a vajra canopy. Then, reciting the four mantras beginning with sumbha and snapping the fingers in the various directions, the seven classes of malevolent spirits are expelled, and one should cultivate the conviction that all beings are entirely free from obstacles. Then, visualizing a blue syllable HŪṂ resting upon a moon disc born from OṂ at one's own heart, one should summon [the deities] into the space in front by means of iron hooks of light rays radiating out to pervade the ten directions from that [HŪṂ]. They are to be worshipped by the sixteen goddesses—Flower, Incense, Lamp, Perfume, Lute, Flute, Drum, Kettledrum, Laughter, Grace, Song, Dance, Mirror, Taste, Touch, and Dharma—who emerge from the seed syllable at one's own heart, [offering to] the maṇḍala circle that is about to be explained.
Following that, one should offer praise with the eight-line mantra and perform the confession of misdeeds and so forth, up to the practice of equanimity. Then, realizing the meaning of oṃ svabhāvaśuddhāḥ sarvadharmāḥ svabhāvaśuddho ’haṃ, one should view the three realms as being of the nature of emptiness. One should meditate on the three syllables oṃ āḥ hūṃ—along with the u, ha, the half-moon, and the bindu—in sequence, ending with the nāda. By reciting the meaning of oṃ śūnyatājñānavajrasvabhāvātmako ’haṃ within, one should clarify this and completely discard even the conceptualization of the mere nāda.
Through the power of previous aspirations and so forth, one’s own mind, abiding as its respective seed-syllable, is placed in space in the form of a nāda. From yaṃ arises a blue wind mandala, bow-shaped and with a banner. From raṃ arises a red fire mandala, triangular and with seven tongues of flame. From vaṃ arises a white water mandala, circular and with a vase. From laṃ arises a yellow earth mandala, square and with half-vajras at the corners. Upon this, from suṃ arises Mount Meru, of the nature of various jewels. Upon that, from vaṃ arises a multicolored lotus, and upon its anthers, from hūṃ arises a multicolored vajra. At its hub, from the doubled āli and kāli circling to the left and right, a moon mandala arises like a reflected image. From the nāda previously placed there, rays of light are gradually emitted, completing the [deity].
Through the process of gathering, one should meditate on the maṇḍala of deities as the nature of Vajrasattva in the form of the syllable HŪṂ. From the complete transformation of the moon and the seed-syllable, there arises the Blessed One together with the eight charnel grounds, the celestial mansion, and the deities of the maṇḍala. He stands with his two legs extended, trampling upon a variegated lotus, a sun disk, Bhairava, and Kālarātri. His root, right, and left faces are black, white, and red, respectively, and each face has three eyes. He wears a lower garment of tiger skin and has six arms. With a pair of hands holding a vajra and bell, he embraces Vajradhātvīśvarī. With his second pair of hands, he stretches out and holds the white, blood-dripping skin of an elephant behind his back. With his third pair of hands, he holds a ḍamaru, a khaṭvāṅga, and a skull-cup. A garland of fifty fresh human heads hangs from his neck. He is adorned with the six mudrās: a necklace, earrings, bracelets, a wheel on the crown of his head, a belt, and ash consisting of human bone. He wears a sacred thread of human sinew and is decorated with a garland of five skulls above his forehead. To the left of the jewel is a crescent moon, and his crown of matted hair is pressed down by a crossed vajra. His face is slightly distorted, with bared fangs, and he displays the nine dramatic sentiments: the amorous, the heroic, the repulsive, the fierce, the laughing, the terrifying, the compassionate, the marvelous, and the peaceful.
One should meditate on oneself as possessing the nine dramatic sentiments. The Blessed Lady Vairocanī is red, with three eyes and one face, her hair loose and flowing. She is naked, adorned with a garland of skull fragments, and embraces with her left hand a tilted skull-cup, offering her menses to the principal deity. Her right hand, with the threatening gesture, extends a vajra upward to menace the malevolent ones. Being devoid of blood, she wears a garland of dry human heads. Radiant with the light of a solar maṇḍala, she possesses the five mudrās. With her two calves entwined around the two thighs of the Blessed One, she remains in an embrace of joyful horripilation.
Then, on the petals of the cardinal directions are the ḍākinīs: Khecarī, Lāmā, Khaṇḍarohā, and Rūpiṇī. They are black, green, red, and yellow in color, with three eyes, one face, and loose hair. With two hands, they hold a khaṭvāṅga and a skull-cup in the left, and a vajra-flaying knife in the right. Naked and standing with the right leg extended, they are positioned there. On the petals of the intermediate directions are lotus vessels filled with the five nectars. At the gates are Kākāsyā, Ulūkāsyā, Śvānāsyā, and Sūkarāsyā, who are like the ḍākinīs and others, their other faces following their respective names. At the corners are Yamadāḍhī, Yamadūtī, Yamadaṃṣṭriṇī, and Yamamathānī, who have human faces and are half-bodied. These eight are seated upon corpse seats.
All the goddesses, such as the ḍākinīs and others, also have garlands of human heads hanging from their necks. Their foreheads are marked with vajra garlands, and they are endowed with the five mudrās. They are beautifully adorned with small bells that ring upon their girdles. At the forehead, throat, and heart, they are blessed by the three syllables. At the heart of the Blessed One is a blue syllable HŪṂ resting upon a sun disk, which is the absorption being (samādhisattva). At its heart, one should visualize a drop (bindu) together with the nāda, the nature of which is the nectar of great bliss.
One should recite: OṂ ĀḤ HŪṂ OṂ SARVA VĪRAYOGINĪNĀṂ KĀYAVĀKCITTA SVABHĀVĀTMAKO ’HAṂ. OṂ VAJRA ŚUDDHAḤ SARVADHARMĀ VAJRA ŚUDDHO ’HAṂ.
Following that, with OṂ HA, NAMO HI, SVĀHĀ HU, VAUṢAṬ HE, HŪṂ HŪṂ HO, and PHAṬ HAṂ, one should perform the protection of the heart, crown, crown of the head, both shoulders, and all the limbs by means of the essence of the six Tathāgatas.
With OṂ BAṂ HAṂ YOṂ HRĪṂ MOṂ, HREṂ HRIṂ HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ PHAṬ, one should also don the armor upon the navel, heart, mouth, crown of the head, and all the limbs by means of the heart mantras of the six heroines.
Following that, having purified the vajra and lotus, one should apply the goddess’s heart and near-heart mantras to the navel and heart, and the Blessed One’s and Blessed Lady’s own heart and near-heart mantras to the throat and forehead. Thus, the Blessed One and the Blessed Lady, and...
Having placed the heart and near-heart mantras of the Blessed One at the throat and the forehead, one should initiate the joy with the three syllables. Then, having summoned the wisdom wheel (jñānacakra) with the light rays of the seed-syllable at one’s own heart, the blazing mudrā, and the syllable PHEṂ, one should offer worship with the sixteen goddesses.
Having caused the deities to enter oneself in the appropriate manner, one should recite: oṃ yogaśuddhaḥ sarvadharmā yogaśuddho ’haṃ, and perform the lotus-turning and embracing gestures. One should then consecrate [the deities] with the three mantras beginning with oṃ āḥ hūṃ.
Then, the Vajrayoginīs who arrived together with the wisdom wheel—holding skull cups and ḍamaru drums filled with the nectar of wisdom—and the offering goddesses such as the flute-player emanated from the seed-syllable at the heart, should perform the empowerment. Reciting: "Just as at the very moment of birth, all the Tathāgatas were bathed with pure divine water, so too do I perform the bath," they hold skull cups filled with the nectar of wisdom slightly tilted in their left hands and confer the empowerment upon oneself. One should meditate on [oneself] as being of the nature of great bliss. The Tathāgatas formed from the excess water also appear upon the crowns of oneself and the deities. One should recite: oṃ sarvatathāgatābhiṣekasamayaśriye hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ. In that regard, Akṣobhya resides upon the Blessed One’s crossed-vajra (viśvavajra).
The Blessed Lady is Vairocana; the ḍākinīs and so forth are Ratneśvara; Kākāsyā and so forth are Amoghasiddhi. Then, having made offerings to the principal deity of the maṇḍala together with the maṇḍala deities by means of the samayas and so forth of the goddesses emanated from the seed-syllable at one’s own heart, one should draw [the nectar] up with the recitation of "ro ma" and taste the amṛta. With the eight-line mantra and the emanated goddesses, one should praise the Blessed One and the Blessed Lady. Having entered into the realization that all these spoken words and the entirety of the three realms are the single taste of emptiness and compassion, one should, through the light rays of the breath, cause the beings summoned from the charnel grounds, Kākāsyā and so forth, the ḍākinīs of the wheel of great bliss, the Blessed Lady, the Blessed One, the sun, the syllable HŪṂ, the syllable ĀḤ, the syllable HA, the head, the half-moon, the drop, and the nāda to dissolve into the clear light in the sequence of their differentiation, like the condensation of breath upon a mirror. Then, arising in an instant, one should view the entire circle of deities as the nature of the ultimate non-duality of emptiness and compassion. Then, one should recite the mantra of the defects: at the lotus of the navel, upon a white and red nāda on the moon, together with the circle of deities, the entry of the wind—
Through the processes of abiding and arising, the internal recitation of "Oṃ Āḥ Hūṃ" is the vajra recitation. In that very same way, from that [state], one should recite the heart and near-heart mantras preceded by the emanation and reabsorption of the assembly of deities from the nāda. When the recitation of the mantra of each individual deity is complete, there is the emanation and reabsorption of each one. This is the samaya recitation to be practiced.
Through the conviction in the equality of all phenomena, the mantra garland enters one's own mouth, passes through the vajra path into the lotus, and emerges through the path of the avadhūtī. It exits from the mouth of the Blessed Lady and enters through the gateway of one's own mouth. Meditating in that very way on the cycle [of the mantra], one should recite the garland mantra; this is the swing recitation.
In that regard, the heart mantra is: Oṃ śrī vajra he he ru ru kaṃ hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ ḍākinī jvalasambhara svāhā. The near-heart mantra of the Blessed One is: Oṃ hrīḥ ha ha hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ. The near-heart mantra of the Blessed Lady is: Oṃ vajra vairocanīye hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ svāhā. The heart mantra is: Oṃ sarvabuddhaḍākinīye vajravarṇanīye hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ. Other garland mantras for the Blessed One and the Blessed Lady should be understood from other sources.
The mantras are: Oṃ ḍākinīye hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ; Oṃ lāme hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ; Oṃ khaṇḍarohīye hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ; Oṃ rūpiṇīye hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ; Oṃ kākāsyāye hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ; Oṃ ulūkāsyāye hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ.
OṂ ŚVĀNĀSYĀI HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ | OṂ ŚŪKARĀSYĀI HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ | OṂ YAMADĀDHĪ HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ | OṂ YAMADŪTĪ HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ | OṂ YAMADAṂṢṬRIṆĪYE HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ | OṂ YAMAMATHANĪYE HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ | These are the mantras of the Heroines.
Then, in front, upon a wind arisen from YAṂ, is a fire arisen from RAṂ. Upon a tripod of three human heads resting on that fire is a white syllable A, from which arises a lotus vessel. In its center, one generates the five nectars and five lamps, consecrated by the syllables OṂ ĀḤ TRAṂ KHAṂ HŪṂ and LĀṂ MĀṂ PĀṂ TĀṂ VĀṂ, together with the food and so forth. The wind stirs, the fire is kindled, and by heating, the seeds and so forth melt. One should visualize them as having the color of the rising sun and the form of liquid.
Above that, one should meditate on a khaṭvāṅga of the nature of nectar arising from a syllable HŪṂ, which is like quicksilver and faces downward, melting into the vessel. One should meditate on it becoming of one taste. One should visualize the syllables OṂ ĀḤ HŪṂ, arisen from the vowels and consonants, situated one above the other. From these, the deities of the maṇḍala circle are emanated. Having performed the benefit of beings, they enter into union and melt. Just as they have melted, they are absorbed into the three syllables, and those too are gradually visualized as melting into nectar. By those very [syllables], one should consecrate it for as long as desired. Following that, one should press the right foot with the left foot.
Looking at the torma with the left hand, with the palms facing downward, join the tips of the thumbs together. Then, bind the tips of the two index fingers like an iron chain, bring the tips of the middle fingers together, and extend the ring and little fingers. Rotate this mudrā, the "Blazing Mudrā," clockwise and counter-clockwise above the forehead. Then, visualizing that the pheṃ syllable invites the heroes and yoginīs residing in the ten directions, those deities should be pleased with the torma, preceded by the firm conviction that the object of offering, the offerer, and the offering are inseparable. While rotating clockwise and counter-clockwise with the left and right hands, recite: samayas tvaṃ samaya hoḥ.
indra yama varuṇa kubera īśa agni rākṣasa pāyucandra sūrya brahma ādi vemacitra prathividevatāḥ saparivāra ākarṣaya jaḥ hūṃ baṃ hoḥ saṃtṛptaḥ sarvadevatāḥ sādhaka śāntiṃ kuru sarvakāryaṃ kuru siddhir bhavatu yathāsukhaṃ.
oṃ kara kara kuru kuru bandha bandha trāsaya trāsaya kṣobhaya kṣobhaya hrāṃ hrāṃ hraḥ hraḥ pheṃ pheṃ phaṭ phaṭ daha daha paca paca bhakṣa bhakṣa vasarudhirāntarmālāvalambini gṛhṇa gṛhṇa saptapātālagatabhujaga sarvabhūta tarjaya tarjaya ākaṭṭaya ākaṭṭaya hrīṃ hrīṃ jñauṃ jñauṃ kṣmāṃ kṣmāṃ haṃ haṃ hiṃ hiṃ hūṃ hūṃ kili kili sili sili hili hili.
Dhili dhili hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā. By reciting this once, the Blessed One together with Prajñā, the ḍākinīs, and so forth, up to the end of the Yamāntakas, should be circumambulated in their proper order.
Oṃ vajra aralli hoḥ jaḥ hūṃ vaṃ hoḥ vajra ḍākinī samaya stvaṃ dṛśya hoḥ. By reciting this once, twice, thrice, four times, and five times, the offering should be presented. Then, the eight charnel grounds, the guardians of the directions, and so forth, should be circumambulated as before.
Oṃ kha kha khāhi khāhi sarva yakṣa rākṣasa bhūta preta piśāca unmāda apasmāra ḍāka ḍākinīnāṃ daya imāṃ baliṃ gṛhṇantu samayaṃ rakṣantu sarva siddhiṃ me prayacchantu yathepsitaṃ bhunja tha piba tha jighra tha mātikrama tha mama sarva kāryaṃ satsukhaṃ vṛddhaye sāhāyika bhavantu hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā. With this, the offering should be presented.
Then, having praised perfectly with the eight-line mantra and requested the desired accomplishments, one should recite the hundred-syllable mantra and make the cchoma hand gesture. Then, saying:
Oṃ yoga śuddhaḥ sarva dharmā yoga śuddho ’haṃ, one should please them with the lotus-circling mudrā (padakora). When withdrawing the mudrās, one should first perform the gesture of embracing and then snap the fingers with the ring and little fingers.
Oṃ, you have accomplished the welfare of all sentient beings; grant the accomplishments in accordance with their needs. Depart for the buddha-fields, and may you remain in bliss as you please.
Reciting "Oṃ vajra muḥ," one should dismiss [the deities] and cause the entire maṇḍala to be thoroughly absorbed into oneself. If one wishes to arise, one should dissolve the four [ḍākinīs] such as Ḍākinī into the filaments of the lotuses at the heart, throat, navel, and forehead; the four such as Khaḍgānanā into the mouth, the left nostril, the anus, and the right nostril; and the four such as Yamadāḍhī into the right and left ears and the eyes. Having understood that they abide in the form of the gates of speech and so forth, one should know from the oral instructions that the great bliss of the mind, which is the joy of being perfectly embraced by the Blessed One Bodhicittavajra—who resides below the crown of the head and is perfectly embraced by Vajravārāhī, who is born from the secret lotus—will naturally arise.
One should repeatedly cultivate firm conviction in the maṇḍala of the body and, through intense visualization, examine oneself as being identical to the body whose nature is great bliss—the single taste of emptiness, which is the essence of insight, and compassion.
Thus, from the Abridged Cakrasaṃvara Sādhana:
"By the stainless merit born from this,
May these infinite beings
Swiftly attain the state of Vajreśvara."
The Sādhana of the Glorious Saṃvarodaya is complete.
This was translated in the Nepalese region of Gautamabhiri by the Tibetan translator, the monk Shong Blo-bstan, from the presence of the great Nepalese Paṇḍita Kṣāntiśrī. || || ||