Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This ritual manual provides technical instructions for performing the fire offering (homa) associated with the deity Vajrayoginī to achieve both mundane and supramundane accomplishments (siddhis). The text prescribes specific physical and mental preparations, beginning with the geometric construction of a triangular hearth based on precise proportional measurements. It further directs the practitioner to employ specific color visualizations of the deity to align the ritual with a desired outcome: yellow for enrichment, red for magnetizing or general siddhi, and black for wrathful activities. By linking the physical architecture of the hearth with the mental visualization of the deity's color, the text commits the reader to a disciplined synthesis of external ritual precision and internal meditative focus, culminating in the dissolution of the maṇḍala-cakra.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual guide for the fire offering of the intention of the glorious Vajrayoginī, this work belongs to the tradition of the Śaṃvara and Related Tantras. It is attributed to the Indian author Koṅkadatta. The text was translated into classical Tibetan by Vajrapāṇi and the lo tsa ba mtshur dz+nya na a ka ra, and it is preserved in volume འ of the Tengyur. Spanning three pages in this edition, the work enacts the technical requirements for achieving mundane and supramundane siddhis. It prescribes the precise geometric construction of a triangular hearth and the application of red pigment, while directing the practitioner to employ specific color visualizations of the deity—yellow for enrichment, red for magnetizing or general siddhi, and black for wrathful activities—before dissolving the maṇḍala-cakra into the body. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the disciplined synthesis of external ritual architecture and internal meditative focus, specifically how the physical proportions of the hearth and the chromatic visualization of the deity are coordinated to align the ritual with a desired outcome.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “A Ritual of Fire Offerings, The Intention of Glorious Vajrayoginī” (Toh 1576), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1576
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant as it illustrates the intersection of sacred geometry, color symbolism, and the goal-oriented nature of Vajrayāna ritual practice. For the modern reader, it demonstrates how specific ritual parameters are calibrated to produce distinct psychological or spiritual effects within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-2
Ritual Preparation and Visualization
Instructions on the construction of the fire hearth and the color-coding of the deity based on the intended ritual outcome.
Themes
Homa (Fire Offering) (1-2)
Siddhis (Accomplishments) (1-2)
Deity Visualization (2)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaA Ritual of Fire Offerings, The Intention of Glorious Vajrayoginī·
Homage to the Blessed One Mañjughoṣa.
First, in order to accomplish the mundane and supramundane siddhis of the intention of the glorious Vajrayoginī, a yogin who wishes to perform the activity of homa should construct a triangular hearth, with its height being half the width of its sides, complete with a rim. Having thoroughly smeared it with red pigment and the like, and having properly positioned himself facing west and so forth, he should make perfect offerings with the five offerings. Having piled firewood in the hearth, he should meditate on the Fire God (Agni) arising from the seed syllable HŪṂ, red in color, with a water-pot, the gesture of fearlessness, a staff, and a rosary in his hands. Then, having performed the entry of the wisdom-being and so forth, and having made perfect offerings, he should place the syllable RAṂ on the tip of the deity’s tongue and burn the substances, such as the five nectars and worldly substances, with the mantra OṂ AGNAYE SVĀHĀ. With this very mantra, he should offer the ladlefuls of oblation.
Then, in the center of the fire, which is the nature of the wisdom of suchness, he should visualize the maṇḍala circle with intense devotion. Having performed the offerings and so forth, he should burn with the mantras of the goddesses and gods using substances such as the five nectars. For pacifying, the burnt substances are ghee and so forth; for increasing, they are sweet substances; for magnetizing, sweet and salty substances; and for wrathful rites, salty, bitter, and so forth. For pacifying, the form is white.
For enrichment, one should visualize [the deity] as yellow; for magnetizing, it is said to be red; for wrathful activities, it is renowned as black. Furthermore, for the sake of accomplishing siddhis, one should also visualize [the deity] as red. Having done so, one should dissolve the maṇḍala-cakra into one’s own body, offer the torma, and perform the supramundane offerings according to the sequence of the gaṇacakra, thereby receiving the siddhi desired by oneself.
This homa should not be performed openly; it must be kept secret with diligence, for from that, siddhis will arise. Otherwise, there is no fortune for siddhis. As for the siddhis of Mahāmudrā and so forth, the mantra is like a wish-fulfilling jewel. If one follows it with authentic faith, mantras are equal to wish-fulfilling jewels. Therefore, for the sake of Mahāmudrā and the rest, one should make one’s faith firm through desire.
The Homa Ritual according to the Intention of Śrī Vajrayoginī, composed by the master Koṅka-dzin, is complete. It was translated by the paṇḍita Vajrapāṇi and the translator Tsur Jñānākara.