Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This sādhana provides a concise set of instructions for a self-empowerment practice centered on the deity Heruka. The text guides the practitioner through a process of visualization and meditative absorption, beginning with a philosophical negation of the deity's nature as neither existent nor non-existent. The practitioner is instructed to visualize Heruka in a flax-colored form, embracing Prajñā atop a sun maṇḍala within a lotus. The work commits the reader to a state of meditative equipoise, utilizing a specific verse to dissolve the duality of the grasper and the grasped. By transcending the conceptual poles of emptiness and non-emptiness, the practitioner aims to realize the deity as a force that overcomes afflictions and Māras. The text functions as a manual for transforming ordinary perception into a pure, divine manifestation through the synthesis of visualization and non-dual awareness.
Provenance
About this text
A sādhana providing instructions for a self-empowerment practice, the Svādhiṣṭhānakramopadeśakasādhana is attributed to the Indian author Yogeśvara Kumāraśrī. Preserved in the Tengyur (vol. ཟ) within the collection of the Śaṃvara and Related Tantras, the work appears in the classical Tibetan tradition under the title rang byin gyis brlab pa'i man ngag gi sgrub thabs. Spanning three pages in its source edition, the text enacts a meditative process centered on the deity Heruka. It guides the practitioner through a visualization of the flax-colored Heruka embracing Prajñā upon a sun maṇḍala, while trampling Mahābhairava and Kālarātri. The practice begins with a philosophical contemplation of a nature that is neither existent nor non-existent, moving toward a state of meditative equipoise. For those of inferior faculties, the text prescribes the recitation of a specific mantra to maintain focus. A scholar or serious reader consults this work today to examine the synthesis of non-dual philosophy and deity yoga, specifically how the practitioner is directed to transform ordinary perception into a divine manifestation through the integration of visualization and meditative absorption.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “A Sādhana in the form of Personal Instructions on Self-Empowerment” (Toh 1523), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1523
Summary & commentary
Significance
The text is significant for its focus on self-empowerment, suggesting a tradition where the practitioner can initiate their own ritual transformation. It reflects the intersection of Tantric visualization and Madhyamaka philosophy, specifically the transcendence of binary conceptualizations.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Preliminary and Invocation
Titles in Sanskrit and Tibetan followed by an homage to the deity and a description of its non-dual nature.
2
Visualization
Detailed description of the mandala and the physical form of Heruka embracing Prajñā.
3
Meditative State
Instructions on entering meditative equipoise and the perception of the deity's pure body.
4
Ritual Verse
A verse intended to eliminate duality and evoke the presence of Heruka to overcome afflictions.
Themes
Non-duality (1, 4)
Deity Visualization (2, 3)
Overcoming Afflictions (4)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaA Sādhana in the form of Personal Instructions on Self-Empowerment·
In the language of India: Svādhiṣṭhānakramopadeśakasādhana. In the language of Tibet: Rang byin gyis brlab pa’i man ngag gi sgrub thabs. Homage to my own deity!
To the one whose nature is difficult to realize, equal in taste like space, neither existent nor non-existent; who is neither one nor many, the source from which the excellence and benefit of self and others arise; the non-dual great bliss, the glorious Heruka, the King of the Terrifying, whose body blazes; the Lord of Sages, whose compassion is vast, the King who perfectly accomplishes the welfare of others without interruption.
First, the practitioner, with a completely pure superior intention, should precede the practice by reciting the mantra: Oṃ svabhāvaśuddhāḥ sarvadharmāḥ svabhāvaśuddho ’ham. Thereby, one should momentarily manifest all phenomena as emptiness, naturally pure from the beginningless start, such that there is no grasping subject because there is no grasped object.
Following that, from within the state of the utterly pure dharmadhātu, one should instantly visualize the Blessed One seated upon a lotus and sun disk at the heart, as the syllable Hūṃ. This is blue in color, the nature of Vajrasattva, emitting immeasurable rays of light, and should be visualized in its entirety in the manner of the support and the supported. Upon the four-sided Mount Meru, the king of mountains, composed of the four kinds of precious gems, at its summit—
In the center of a multicolored lotus, complete with a central hub and filaments, is a sun maṇḍala. Upon it resides the Blessed Lord, the venerable and glorious Heruka, whose body is the color of a fresh flax flower. He has one face and three eyes, and with his two arms he embraces the Prajñā while holding a vajra and a bell. His right leg is extended, trampling Mahābhairava and Kālarātri. His fangs are bared and his face is contorted. He wears a crown of matted locks adorned with a crest-jewel, and holds a crossed vajra and a crescent moon upon his head. He is crowned by Akṣobhya and beautified by silk streamers and crowns that curve in three graceful folds. He wears a garland of skulls and possesses the nine dramatic sentiments, such as the erotic. He is the supreme one who wears a tiger-skin garment and is adorned with a necklace of fresh human heads. He is encircled by a garland of stainless light and possesses the six mudrās.
In front of him is the Blessed Lady Vajrayoginī. Her body is red, youthful, beautiful, and in the prime of youth. She has one face and three eyes. With her right hand, she brandishes a vajra with the threatening gesture (tarjanī) to intimidate all malevolent beings. With her left hand, she embraces the Father and holds a skull-cup filled with the blood of Māra and others. Her forehead is adorned with five skulls, and her mass of black hair is loose. She wears a garment of space and possesses the five mudrās. She wears a garland of dry human heads, embraces the Father with her right leg, and with her left leg extended, she is the very embodiment of great bliss.
One should meditate on the Blessed One, adorned with the joy of having entered such meditative equipoise, possessing a great majesty blazing like the fire at the end of an aeon. These are the pure bodies of the Blessed One together with insight. If weariness should arise from that, one should recite the mantra: OṂ HRĪḤ HA HA HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ. This is the object of focus for those of inferior faculties.
Now, the absorption of those of middling faculties, which involves entering the clear light, shall be explained. Furthermore, through the radiance of the syllable HŪṂ residing at one's heart—the essence of all the Tathāgatas—all elements of the stable and moving world are transformed into the nature of light. Then, by the stage of sequential dissolution, just as breath vanishes into a mirror, they are gathered and dissolved in successive order up to the nāda. That too gradually becomes subtle, and one should behold the state of indivisible abiding: the nature of Vajrasattva, the essence of the clear light Dharmakāya.
Once again, through the power of the merit of those to be trained and one's own aspirations, one arises in the essence of the unified Saṃbhogakāya. From that, immeasurable emanations radiate forth to accomplish the welfare of the entire realm of sentient beings. "Total apprehension" is another method. Furthermore, for those of the most excellent faculties:
The unified Saṃbhogakāya,
The essence of emptiness, great bliss,
Abandoning truth just as it appears,
Like a reflection in a mirror.
Grasped and grasper shall cease to be;
Having utterly abandoned all apprehension,
Transcending both the empty and the non-empty,
He is the one who terrifies the hosts of Māras and afflictions.
The Sugata’s retinue, a swirling mass of blazing garlands,
Arises as the great and renowned Heruka.
Delighting in meditation through the grace of the Guru,
May the light of the insight of primordial wisdom
Spontaneously illuminate the ten directions.
The Sādhana of the Pith Instructions on the Stages of Self-Consecration, composed in the Sanskrit language by the great lord of yogins, Kumāraśrī, at the glorious Nālandā Monastery, is hereby complete.