Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This ritual text outlines a specific liturgical procedure for the authorization and remembrance of the deity Vajrayoginī, specifically in her form as the Disguised or Playful Vidyādharī. The work functions as a technical manual for the practitioner, prescribing a sequence of physical and mental actions designed to achieve spiritual accomplishment. The process begins with ritual purification of the body and the use of substances like wine and nectar, followed by the visualization of the Goddess and the recitation of specific supplications for self-awareness. The ritual culminates in the symbolic reception of the vajra and skull-cup, representing the five wisdoms and five nectars, and concludes with offerings, the recitation of a hundred-syllable mantra, and the formal dismissal of the deities. By following these instructions, the reader commits to a disciplined practice of deity yoga aimed at the liberation of all sentient beings from the ocean of existence.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual for the authorization of the Vidyādharī Playful Vajrayoginī, the Vidyādharīkelivajrayoginyanujñāvidhi belongs to the collection of the Śaṃvara and Related Tantras. The work is attributed to the Indian author Jayasena. Preserved in the classical Tibetan tradition, the text appears in volume འ of the Tengyur, where it extends over four pages under the Tibetan title rig pa 'dzin ma rtsen ma'i rdo rje rnal 'byor ma'i rjes su gnang ba'i cho ga. The work enacts a technical liturgical procedure for the practitioner, prescribing a sequence of physical and mental actions to achieve spiritual accomplishment. This process begins with the purification of the left hand and the use of wine and nectar, followed by the visualization of the Goddess and the recitation of supplications for self-awareness. The practitioner is instructed to draw in the wisdom goddess through the light rays of the seed syllable at the heart and prepare a maṇḍala in the four directions. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the specific ritual requirements and meditative visualizations necessary for the authorization of the deity Vajrayoginī in her form as the Playful Vidyādharī.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “A Ritual for Remembering Vajrayoginī, the Disguised Vidyādharī” (Toh 1588), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1588
Summary & commentary
Significance
The text is significant as it provides a concrete example of the intersection between somatic practice, mantra recitation, and visualization in the Vajrayāna tradition. It illustrates the specific iconography and ritual requirements associated with the Vidyādharī cycle of practices. For the modern reader, it demonstrates the precise nature of Tibetan Buddhist ritual technology and its goal of transforming the practitioner's consciousness.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-2
Preliminary Purifications and Visualization
Initial homage and the purification of the body and hand using mantras and ritual substances.
3
Supplication and Mandala Preparation
Recitation of prayers for self-awareness and the preparation of the ritual space.
4
Empowerment and Symbolic Action
The reception of ritual implements and the symbolic act of striking the ground to benefit all beings.
5
Conclusion and Dismissal
Final offerings, the use of the hundred-syllable mantra, and the formal departure of the deities.
Themes
Ritual Purification (2)
Deity Yoga and Visualization (2, 4)
Compassion and Universal Liberation (2, 4)
Mantra and Liturgical Recitation (2, 3, 5)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaA Ritual for Remembering Vajrayoginī, the Disguised Vidyādharī·
In the language of India: Vidyādharīkelivajrayoginī-ājñāvidhiḥ. In the language of Tibet: Rig pa 'dzin ma rtsen ma'i rdo rje rnal 'byor ma'i rjes su gnang ba'i cho ga (The Ritual for the Authorization of the Vidyādharī Playful Vajrayoginī). Homage to the glorious Vajrayoginī!
I bow with devotion to Vajrayoginī, whose body is the nature of the coemergent. I shall explain the ritual that perfectly bestows [the authorization], which has descended from the lineage of gurus.
A yogin who wishes to take a disciple through the stages of the glorious Vidyādharī Vajrayoginī should, on the tenth day of the dark fortnight, go to a delightful, secluded place. Having thoroughly sprinkled the site with nectar and other substances, it should be adorned with canopies and the like. One should prepare a square maṇḍala with sindhūra powder, and in its center, an eight-petaled lotus. Upon a stainless mirror filled with fine sindhūra powder, placed atop a vessel of Vajradhara, one should use the left hand and a golden stylus to clearly draw the form of the Blessed Lady.
Outside the wheel, one should place five vases—or alternatively, kapālas filled with nectar—adorned with foliage and their necks wrapped in cloth, filled with water mixed with the five nectars, and consecrated with the mantra of the Blessed Lady, arranging them in the four directions. Then, the yogin who has previously completed one hundred thousand recitations of the approach retreat should face west and place a pill of the five nectars in his mouth.
First, having purified the left hand with the armor mantra and then transformed it into nectar by reciting the three syllables, one should wash the limbs with wine and meditate on the yoga of the Goddess, desiring to lead all beings without exception out of the ocean of existence. Then, having drawn in the wisdom goddess through the light rays of the seed syllable at one’s own heart and caused her to enter the Blessed Lady depicted on the mirror, one should perfectly worship her with food, feasts, drinks, wine, meat, various kinds of juices, diverse fruits, water-born and land-born flowers, torma offerings, divine cakes, and many rows of lamps. Having offered praise and recited the eight-line mantra, one should satisfy her with nectar and then make a supplication to the Blessed Lady for the sake of admitting the disciple who is devoted to the way of the Yoginī:
“Blessed One, supreme wisdom vajra,
Homage to the Queen of Vidyādharas!
In the maṇḍala, the embodiment of compassion,
I request to admit the disciple.
Just as all the Victorious Ones
Blessed you with the ocean of wisdom,
Likewise, it is right to bless this sentient being
With the flavor of wisdom.”
Then, the Yoginī, accompanied by her yogic consort, leads the disciple into the maṇḍala house. Having had them perform three maṇḍalas, one should make the supplication:
“Just as Vajrasattva
Is the method for accomplishing the awakening of beings,
To the Wisdom Vajra Yoginī, [I pray].”
"O Protector, just as you have bestowed self-awareness upon all, it is right that you bestow it upon me this very moment." This should be recited three times. Then, having had the maṇḍala prepared in the four directions, the disciple should also make a supplication to the Blessed Lady:
"O Goddess, to you, the King of Wisdom, I prostrate with body, speech, and mind. Just as the Buddhas of great power, through the blessing of all-encompassing wisdom, have acted, so too, I pray that you act upon my purified continuum with the stream of wisdom."
Then, having sprinkled the disciple with water from the vase, one should visualize them in the form of the Goddess. Fully protected by the mantra of the ritual, the body, speech, and mind are blessed, and the eyes and other faculties are also blessed. Having made perfect offerings, one should bestow the hook and have them drink the amṛta. Then, sitting near the western part of the maṇḍala, the disciple visualizes themselves in the form of the Goddess, and the yoginī should bless their head with the root mantra using her left hand.
The Guru also sprinkles them with the water of wisdom, their body becomes completely filled with great bliss, and preceded by the recitation of the root mantra, they ring the bell and bless them with wisdom according to the Guru’s oral instructions. If by doing so even those who have committed the acts of immediate retribution are blessed with wisdom, what need is there to mention those who already possess merit? Then, the disciple should remain with the right knee placed on the ground.
Having bestowed the vajra, the essence of the five wisdoms, into the right hand, and having also bestowed the skull-cup completely filled with the five nectars into the left hand, one should strike the left foot against the ground. By this, great bliss descends upon all beings, transforming them into nectar. Visualizing this as entering the skull-cup like mercury, one should have them drink the nectar residing within the skull-cup.
Then, the pith instructions for the sādhana of the Blessed Lady, as transmitted through the lineage of gurus, should also be explained. Following that, the Blessed Lady should be made to enter the sindhūra. From her, light radiates forth, and one should please the forms of the five ḍākinīs with offerings, praises, and the tasting of nectar. One should also please them with torma offerings, as well as with food and feasts. The torma vessel, completely filled with fish and other offerings, is blessed with the three syllables, thereby transforming it into nectar.
The mantra for this is as follows:
OṂ VAJRA HERUKA MAHĀVAJRA ĀKARṢAYA ĀKARṢAYA / PRAVEŚAYA PRAVEŚAYA / TOṢAYA TOṢAYA / SARVA ḌĀKINĪNĀṂ HṚDAYAṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ /
OṂ SARVA BUDDHA ḌĀKINĪ PRATĪCCHA MAṂ BALIṂ HŪṂ OṂ /
OṂ VAJRA ḌĀKINĪ PRATĪCCHA MAṂ BALIṂ HŪṂ HŪṂ /
OṂ RATNA ḌĀKINĪ PRATĪCCHA MAṂ BALIṂ HŪṂ TRĀṂ /
OṂ PADMA ḌĀKINĪ PRATĪCCHA MAṂ BALIṂ HŪṂ HRĪḤ /
OṂ VIŚVA ḌĀKINĪ PRATĪCCHA MAṂ BALIṂ HŪṂ AḤ /
OṂ SARVA YOGINĪ PRATĪCCHA MAṂ BALIṂ HŪṂ HŪṂ HA HA HI HI OṂ JAḤ HŪṂ BAṂ HOḤ / VAJRA YOGINĪ SAMAYA STVAṂ DṚŚYA RAKṢA HOḤ.
Then, having performed the offerings, the praise, and the tasting of the amṛta, one should request forbearance. Having pleased [the deities] with the hundred-syllable mantra, one should take the desired accomplishments and request them to depart with the mantra oṃ vajra muḥ. The wisdom goddesses should then be absorbed into oneself. Thereafter, one should perform a great feast, such as a gaṇacakra, according to one's ability.
From the explanation of the ritual for granting the site: "By whatever merit has been gathered through this, may all beings without exception be absorbed into the wisdom of the goddess."
This was written by the great scholar known as Gyalwai De, also called Khangpa Sarpa, following the sequence of the oral instructions of the lineage gurus. This concludes the ritual for granting the permission for the mālā-vidyādharī-krama.