Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This sādhana provides a ritual manual for the practice of White Vajravārāhī, focusing on the transformation of the practitioner's consciousness and the environment through visualization and mantra. The text directs the practitioner to engage in complex deity yoga, involving the visualization of the goddess's iconography—such as the khaṭvāṅga and skull-cup—and the assembly of a mandala featuring the eight deities of the body wheel. The ritual process commits the reader to a disciplined regimen of mental cultivation, including the realization of the dream-like nature of appearances and the use of seed syllables to invoke wisdom goddesses. Beyond internal meditation, the text prescribes specific physical behaviors, such as ritualized sleep and the consecration of objects, claiming that successful accomplishment of the mantra grants supernatural abilities, including the transmutation of food into nectar and the ability to influence others' cognitive capacities. The work functions as a comprehensive guide for achieving spiritual realization through the synthesis of visualization, mantra recitation, and ritual offerings.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual manual for the practice of White Vajravārāhī, the Śuklavajravārāhīsādhana belongs to the genre of sādhana and is situated within the collection of the Śaṃvara and Related Tantras. The work is attributed to the Indian author Koṅkadatta. It was translated into the Tibetan language by Rakṣitapāda and lo tsa ba khams pa ba ri d+harma ki rti, and is preserved in the Tengyur (vol. འ) as the rdo rje phag mo dkar mo'i sgrub thabs, spanning nine pages. The work enacts a process of deity yoga and mental cultivation, directing the practitioner to realize the dream-like nature of appearances and employ seed syllables to transform consciousness. It prescribes the visualization of the goddess Vajravārāhī and the eight deities of the body wheel—including Koṅka, Cakravarmanī, and Subīrā—who are depicted with specific colors, mudrās, and attributes. A scholar or serious reader consults this classical Tibetan text to examine the detailed iconographic instructions and the ritualized regimen of visualization and mantra intended to liberate beings from poison and grant supernatural abilities, such as the transmutation of food.
Sanskrit title
Śuklavajravārāhīsādhana
Indian author
Koṅkadatta
Tibetan translators
Rakṣitapāda, lo tsa ba khams pa ba ri d+harma ki rti
Cite thisAnuvāda, “A Sādhana of White Vajravārāhī” (Toh 1573), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1573
Summary & commentary
Significance
The text is significant as a representative example of Vajrayāna sādhanas, illustrating the integration of somatic visualization, mantra, and the pursuit of siddhis. For the modern reader, it demonstrates the technical precision required in Tibetan ritual practice to bridge the gap between ordinary perception and the realized state of the deity.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-4
Invocation and Iconography
Homage to White Vajravārāhī, description of the body wheel deities, and the detailed physical attributes of the central goddess.
5-7
Ritual Practice and Meditation
Instructions on invoking wisdom goddesses, making offerings, mantra recitation, and ritualized sleep and waking procedures.
8-10
Accomplishments and Mandalas
Descriptions of the supernatural benefits of the mantra, the visualization of consonant-based mandalas, and the use of the vajra hook for ritual attraction.
Themes
Deity Yoga and Visualization (2, 4, 9)
Mantra and Supernatural Power (3, 6, 8, 10)
Ritual Offerings and Invocation (5, 7)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Śuklavajravārāhīsādhanam. In the language of Tibet: rDo rje phag mo dkar mo’i sgrub thabs (The Sādhana of White Vajravārāhī). Homage to Vajravārāhī!
She who diligently burns away the evil mind and destroys unpleasantness, who effortlessly liberates the masses of beings tormented by poison—the goddess Vajravārāhī, endowed with supreme equanimity and bliss. Bowing to Koṅkaṇa, I shall write this sādhana.
In that regard, when half the night remains, one should rise according to the ritual procedure. In a place agreeable to the mind, such as a charnel ground, one should smear it with sandalwood and the like, and adorn it with various kinds of flowers. Seated comfortably upon an actual corpse-seat, preceded by the cultivation of loving-kindness and the other [immeasurables], one should visualize a white syllable Hrīḥ upon a sun maṇḍala arising from the syllable Aṃ at one’s own heart. Illuminated by a mass of light rays from that syllable, one should clearly visualize the Guru, the Yoginīs, the Bodhisattvas, and the Tathāgatas in their respective positions in front of oneself.
From the seed syllable at the heart, there arise the eight [goddesses] of the Mind Cakra: Pracaṇḍā, Caṇḍākṣī, Prabhāvatī, Mahānāsā, Vīramatī, Kharvarī, Laṅkeśvarī, and Drumacchāyā. Then the eight of the Speech Cakra: Airāvatī, Vajrabhīṣaṇī, Vāyuvegā, Surābhakṣī, Śyāmādevī, Subhadrā, Hayakarṇā, and Khagānanā. Then the eight of the Body Cakra: Cakravegā, Khandarohā, Śauṇḍinī, and...
Cakravarmanī, Subīrā, Mahābalā, Cakravartinī, and Mahāvīryā are the eight [deities] of the body wheel. Their colors are blue, red, and white. They bear Akṣobhya, Amitābha, and Vairocana upon their crowns; they have three eyes, rest upon moon seats, and hold the five mudrās. They are adorned with a vajra, a lotus, a wheel, and a garland of skulls bound to their heads. Their branches of arms, holding a curved knife, a skull-cup, and a khaṭvāṅga, are joined by offerings.
Having first performed the offerings of the vowels and so forth, one should prostrate, confess misdeeds, vow not to commit them again, rejoice in merit, take refuge in the Three Jewels, generate the awakening mind, show the path, offer oneself, make supplications, and exhort [the deities] according to the ritual. Then, having performed the complete dedication of merit, in order to accomplish the wisdom of emptiness, one should join the palms at the head and, preceded by the recitation of the words, make supplication to all the Tathāgatas.
The words are: OṂ SARVA TATHĀGATA SAṂŚRITĀḤ SARVA SATVĀNI SARVA SIDDHI AḤ SAṂPARYANTI SARVA TATHĀGATAŚCA ADHIṢṬHĀNTI. OṂ SVABHĀVA ŚUDDHAḤ SARVA DHARMĀḤ SVABHĀVA ŚUDDHO ’HAṂ. Then, [one contemplates] that the object of offering, the offering, the offerer, and all phenomena are emptiness and the absence of marks.
One should cultivate intense conviction in that which is to be personally realized, like the cognition of a dream, through the aspect of wishlessness. Having rendered appearances non-existent by means of a mass of light rays from the heart, one should take the pride of reciting: oṃ śūnyatājñānavajrasvabhāvātmako ’haṃ. Then, one’s own mind is established in the form of a red syllable paṃ. From its complete transformation, one meditates on a slightly red vajra marked by a white hrīḥ situated upon a sun maṇḍala born from a atop a red lotus.
Preceded by the radiation and reabsorption [of light], from its complete transformation, [one arises as] the form of a sixteen-year-old, white as the autumn moon, with three eyes that are red and round, and a face with slightly bared fangs, beautiful with half-bound and half-loose hair adorned with various flowers. Between two black vajra garlands, a crown is bound with three skulls. One is adorned with a wheel, earrings, a necklace, bracelets, and a belt. With a majestic bearing, the right hand holds a blazing silk scarf. Possessing the three [qualities] as previously taught, the vajra strikes fear into the person of ignorance. In the left hand, below a single-pointed vajra, is a five-pointed vajra; following a white staff, there is a dry and a fresh head, and from the base of a crossed vajra, a small bell rings with a sound emerging from a golden vase.
She holds a khaṭvāṅga that touches her shoulders, which are adorned with various silk streamers. She holds a skull-cup vessel filled with the blood of the four Māras. A garland of twenty-five fresh, blood-dripping heads, strung together with intestines, hangs down. She stands upon a sun disk atop a red lotus, with her right leg extended, treading upon the personification of ignorance. She is naked, radiating the intense light of the sun, and her body is covered in a network of body hairs. She possesses the graceful expressions of charm and so forth, which are like reflections. She is the supreme one who benefits beings through various emanations in the ten directions. One should visualize oneself as Vajravārāhī, marked at the heart by a vajra bearing the syllable Hrīḥ upon a sun disk.
Then, by the mass of light rays from the seed syllable at one’s own heart, those sentient beings are generated in form and absorbed into oneself. One should generate the divine pride of being the Blessed Lady Vajravārāhī. Then, at one’s navel, upon a multicolored lotus and a white-red sun maṇḍala, one visualizes a white syllable Hrīḥ. The mantra garland, appearing like a white rosary, is projected outward from the opening of the mouth in the manner of a rotating wheel. Having gathered the qualities of the Buddhas, medicines, mantras, jewels, stars, written treatises, arts, and so forth—namely, the sciences—one draws them in through the navel aperture. One should meditate on this as the nature that burns away the ignorance of oneself and all others.
Then, visualizing the wisdom goddesses dwelling in space, who are invoked by the light of the seed-syllable at the heart, one should first perform the offerings of argha and so forth, preceded by the previously mentioned assembly. Reciting the mantra in the form of phaṭ, one should bind the blazing mudrā as before, circling it to the left at the forehead and then inserting it. Meditating that [the deity and oneself] have become one, one should maintain the pride of the mantra. The mantra for this is: oṃ yogaśuddhaḥ sarvadharmā yogaśuddho ’haṃ.
Stirred by that seed-syllable at the heart, one invites the Tathāgatas, such as Akṣobhya and the rest, who dwell in space. They hold vases filled with the five nectars (amṛta), which are the nature of the five Tathāgatas. With various emanated drums, conchs, clay drums, small drums, lutes, flutes, and songs, the gods and asuras perform a grand celebration. A rain of saffron, camphor, musk, and fragrant flowers falls profusely. One should recite verses such as: "Just as the Tathāgatas were bathed immediately upon birth, so shall I be bathed by the pure waters of the gods," and so forth, while the empowerment is conferred. With the mantra oṃ sarvatathāgatābhiṣekasamayaśrīye hūṃ, one should perform the consecration and visualize that one is blessed at the crown of the head by Akṣobhya, who stands upon a variegated lotus and vajra.
Then, having made offerings to oneself with the various types of offerings emanated by the goddesses such as Caṇḍākṣī and the others, one should meditate for as long as desired after tasting the amṛta according to the sequence that follows. One should recite the mantra, free from defects such as haste, distraction, or contraction. The mantra is as follows: Hrīḥ. If one wishes to arise, one should visualize the mantra garland at the navel, place it within the syllable Hrīḥ, and preceded by offerings, make aspiration prayers. Having performed the dedication of merit, recite the hundred-syllable mantra three times. Possessing the divine pride of the goddess, one should view all phenomena as being complete in her form and remain as comfortably as possible. The hundred-syllable mantra is as follows: Oṃ vajrasattva samayam anupālaya | vajrasattva tvenopatishtha | dṛḍho me bhava | sutoṣyo me bhava | anurakto me bhava | supoṣyo me bhava | sarvasiddhiṃ me prayaccha | sarvakarma suca me cittam śreyaḥ kuru hūṃ ha ha ha ha hoḥ bhagavān sarvatathāgata vajra mā me muñca | vajrībhava mahāsamayasattva āḥ hūṃ phaṭ. During other sessions as well, one should manifest the form of the goddess in an instant, perform the offerings and so forth, meditate for as long as desired, and perform everything as previously explained. During the midnight session, one should perform everything as before.
At the time of sleep, one should gaze upon the Buddha, the guru, and the bodhisattvas and make perfect offerings. Then, with the intention of performing prostrations with the eight limbs, one should lie down upon a lion throne. Then, at the dawn session, being exhorted by the goddesses, one should perform everything as before.
Alternatively, in one part of the dwelling, sitting on a comfortable seat in the bodhisattva posture, one should focus on sentient beings with compassion. Having performed the confession of misdeeds and so forth, preceded by the generation of the mind of supreme awakening, one should meditate for as long as desired on the syllable Hrīḥ blazing with light upon one’s own tongue, which has the form of a lotus petal, arising from the complete transformation of the syllable A. Having stabilized this, one should make a rosary of fifty beads and perform the recitation during three or four sessions. The yogi should sleep at the time of sleep according to the previous ritual.
A yogi who possesses such meditation and recitation, who has received the authorization according to the ritual, who is liberated from the eight worldly dharmas, who possesses faith, who abides by the samaya and vows, who possesses compassion, and who honors the spiritual friend, will become skilled in the collection of all treatises and arts by reciting [the mantra] seven hundred thousand times. With a sharp intellect and a fearless heroism, they will be unsurpassed and will become a debater. They cannot be overcome by fevers, compounded poisons, ḍākinīs, and the like.
Whatever one eats will turn into nectar. If this mantra recitation is accomplished, then by that mantra, one should consecrate a piece of chalk; if it is placed in someone's hand, even if they are deluded, they will become a great poet. By its mere scent, snakes and the like will not approach. For others who are afflicted by those harms, all their needs will be fulfilled. What is the use of saying more? Even I, a fool, have composed this "Lamp of Insight" without having studied the treatises, with an undistracted mind, by reciting this mantra two hundred thousand times. Furthermore, those with a stable mind will possess the qualities previously described, and all of them will be accomplished very swiftly.
Regarding the ritual of the sādhana of the Lamp of Insight, for the sake of sentient beings, the ritual for bringing them under one's power is described in order to lead them to enter the four truths of the noble ones. In that regard, according to the sequence of the previously taught ritual, one should meditate on the Blessed Lady in her complete form. However, from the red seed-syllable hrīḥ and the transformation of the hand-symbol, one meditates on the red-colored [deity], makes perfect offerings, and offers praise with the verse: "Akṣobhya is great wisdom." From those three [syllables], three skull-cups facing downward arise; upon them, from a red syllable āḥ, a lotus vessel is born, into which the samaya [substances] are placed. [Then] the sixteen vowels and...
Visualize the forty-four consonants, such as kāli and so forth, as being blessed. Below, from the complete transformation of yaṃ and raṃ, the maṇḍalas of wind and fire are made to blaze and heat. By means of the seed syllable of the arranged samaya, the hosts of Tathāgatas are summoned and caused to enter within. Upon a moon maṇḍala born from the first vowel, a white five-pronged vajra born from hūṃ and resting upon a moon is blessed by the syllable hūṃ. From this, a mass of light rays is emanated, summoning Vajradhara as well. Through the moon and vajra dissolving therein, it becomes utterly purified, free from defects such as fear and the like. Visualize the syllable oṃ upon that; by its light rays, the Tathāgatas are established in the nature of amṛta, and the amṛta residing in the various world systems is also absorbed into it. Visualize that oṃ also dissolves there, becoming amṛta perfectly complete just as it is. Bless it three times with the three syllables and taste the amṛta according to the ritual. Having meditated for as long as desired, visualize the object of accomplishment in front of you, arisen from the complete transformation of the first letter of their name. Imagine that light rays arising from the mantra garland take them up and dissolve into them. Visualize the mind as a moon maṇḍala, extremely red, arisen from the complete transformation of the syllable a. From that mantra garland, a red goddess arises, holding in her left hand a noose in the form of the syllable dhīḥ.
In her right hand, she holds a vajra hook in the form of a red, open blossom. Visualizing the object of accomplishment before her, the yogi should issue the command: Oṃ āḥ dhīḥ [name] citta ākarṣaya hūṃ jaḥ. Then, that goddess enters according to the ritual procedure; she firmly seizes [the object] with this noose, summons them with the hook, and causes them to enter her own mind exactly as it is. One should visualize them entering into the mantra garland of the goddess. Then, with hair loosened, intoxicated and unable to move, and having become solely under the power of desire, she joins her palms and faces the practitioner, saying, "What shall I do?"
This concludes the Sādhana of White Vajravārāhī, composed by the master Koṅka Dāsa. It was translated and finalized by the Indian preceptor Paṇḍita Rakṣita and the translator, the Khampa Bari Dharmakīrti.