Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This text is a liturgical praise dedicated to the deity Vajraḍāka, characterized by the use of wrathful imagery to signify spiritual power. The work functions as a descriptive invocation, employing a series of epithets to establish the deity's omnipotence and terrifying aspect. By detailing physical attributes such as the garland of skeletons, lightning-like tongue, and a voice capable of shaking Mount Meru, the text situates Vajraḍāka as a cosmic force that transcends ordinary existence. The narrative arc moves from the depiction of frightening form to the assertion of the deity's capacity for rapid spiritual liberation, specifically the instantaneous perfection of countless buddhas and the distribution of the nectar of wisdom. The reader is committed to a visualization practice where the wrathful form is understood not as malevolence, but as the dynamic energy required to dismantle ignorance and facilitate immediate enlightenment.
Provenance
About this text
A eulogy dedicated to the deity Vajraḍāka, this work belongs to the classical Tibetan tradition. It is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཟ, where it comprises two pages and is situated within the canonical collection of the Śaṃvara and Related Tantras. The work enacts a descriptive invocation of the deity, employing wrathful imagery to establish a cosmic force capable of dismantling conceptual constructions. Through a series of epithets, it depicts Vajraḍāka as a figure of terrifying power—characterized by a garland of skeletons, a lightning-like tongue, and a voice that shakes Mount Meru—who simultaneously possesses the capacity to bring ten million billion buddhas to perfection in a single instant and distribute the nectar of wisdom. A scholar or serious reader consults this text to examine the use of wrathful iconography as a means of signifying spiritual omnipotence and the dynamic energy required for rapid liberation.
The work is significant for its representation of the wrathful tradition within Vajrayana Buddhism, where terrifying iconography is used to symbolize the transmutation of negative emotions. For the modern reader, it illustrates the specific aesthetic and theological intersection of destruction and compassion in Indo-Tibetan tantric practice.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Physical Description
Detailed depiction of the deity's wrathful form, including his fangs, eyes, and skeletal adornments.
2
Cosmic Power and Efficacy
Description of the deity's voice and his ability to bring millions of buddhas to perfection and dispense wisdom.
Themes
Wrathful Iconography (1-2)
Rapid Enlightenment (2)
Cosmic Sovereignty (1-2)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
The Praise in Forty-Eight Verses
Glorious Vajraḍāka, great hero, lord of heroes, who causes the three worlds to tremble and shake; who bares his fangs, terrifying and causing fear; who possesses hundreds of thousands of eyes and a tongue like lightning; whose body is adorned with a garland of skeletons; who possesses hundreds of millions of arms; who is touched by a circle of blazing fire; who brandishes a battle-axe, a noose, and a trident; whose body is like the fierce smoke at the end of an eon; whose gaping mouth proclaims the sound "Ha Ha"; whose mantra is surrounded by hosts of mamos; who is intimate with the beautiful Sahaja; whose face proclaims "Hūṃ Hūṃ"; who delights in the great charnel grounds; who terrifies all bhūtas; who possesses the splendor of the fire at the end of an eon; who wears a crown of matted locks; who holds a throne, a skull-cup, and a radiant spear; who has the great ocean as a belt; who wears a garment of tiger skin; who subdues hosts of vetālas; who protects from great obstacles; who inflicts certain harm upon enemies; who dwells within a single curl of body hair of the great trichiliocosm; who possesses hundreds of thousands of faces; whose face is an ocean of wisdom; who consumes great flesh, blood, and fat; who destroys the power of all Māras; who performs the acts of emanation and withdrawal; who withers, paralyzes, and digests all nāgas; who holds a garland of intestines.
Possessing a voice that causes Mount Meru to tremble, holding the form of a wrathful deity, the nature of the bindu of the great opportunity, who in a single instant brings to perfection ten million billion buddhas, who causes the rain of the nectar of wisdom to fall, who causes all activities to proceed, who binds, who destroys all conceptual constructions, whose body is touched by a mass of heads, who destroys the mechanical devices and mantras created by others, who provides great protection, who utterly destroys those who are hostile, who causes the source of phenomena to arise, who emanates and causes the wrathful ones to emanate, the nature of all sentient beings within the net of the senses, to the one of great intelligence in combat, dispute, and intense debate, I prostrate. This is the praise in forty-eight verses. Translated by Śrī Jayasena and the glorious Darma Yönten. There also appears a translation into verse. By this merit, as a representation, may the contaminated and uncontaminated virtues accumulated by sentient beings throughout the three times be dedicated to unsurpassed great awakening. May all beings attain omniscience.