Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This text is a sādhana, a liturgical manual for the ritual realization of the Wisdom Ḍākinī (Jñānaḍākinī), attributed to the Paṇḍita Abhayākaragupta. The work provides a technical blueprint for the practitioner to construct a complex mental landscape, beginning with the generation of the elemental ground and the establishment of a maṇḍala featuring five sun discs. It details the precise iconographic attributes, facial expressions, and implements of the central deity and the surrounding Ḍākinīs, such as Ākarṣaṇī and Kaṃpōjī. By integrating specific mudrās and mantras with the visualization of these forms, the text commits the reader to a disciplined somatic and mental practice designed to transform the practitioner's ordinary perception into the fearless form of the deity. The ritual concludes with the conferral of empowerments linked to the five Tathāgatas, framing the practice as a means for all beings to achieve spiritual liberation through the merit of the Wisdom Ḍākinī.
Provenance
About this text
A sādhana for the ritual realization of the Wisdom Ḍākinī, the Jñānaḍākinīsādhana belongs to the classical Tibetan tradition. The work is attributed to the Indian author Abhayākaragupta. It was translated into Tibetan by dge slong rin chen rgyal mtshan and is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཡ, where it is situated within the Other Wisdom Tantras collection. Spanning five pages in this edition, the text enacts a complex meditative process designed to lead the practitioner toward an unsurpassed state. It provides precise instructions for the generation of a ritual environment, beginning with the elemental ground and Mount Meru, and the establishment of a maṇḍala featuring five sun discs. The practitioner is guided through the visualization of a central deity with three faces and six arms—holding implements such as the khaṭvāṅga, bell, and sword—alongside figures like the white Vajraḍākinī in the east. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the technical requirements of the visualization process and the specific iconographic details of the Ḍākinī cycle as preserved in the Tibetan canon.
The work is significant as a representative example of the highly structured visualization and mudrā systems characteristic of Indo-Tibetan Vajrayāna Buddhism. Its attribution to Abhayākaragupta suggests it belongs to a tradition of scholarly ritual composition that emphasizes precise iconometric and liturgical detail.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-2
Invocation and Ground Generation
Opening homage and the sequential generation of the elemental base and the maṇḍala.
3-4
Iconography of the Deities
Detailed descriptions of the central deity's faces and implements, and the specific forms of the directional Ḍākinīs.
5-6
Ritual Praxis
Instructions for specific mudrās, mantras, and the distribution of empowerments via the five Dhyani Buddhas.
7
Colophon
Dedication of merit and attribution of authorship to Abhayākaragupta.
Themes
Visualization and Maṇḍala Construction (2-4)
Somatic Ritual (Mudrā and Mantra) (5)
Tathāgata Empowerment (6)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Jñānaḍākinīsādhanam. In the language of Tibet: Ye shes mkha’ ’gro’i sgrub thabs (The Sādhana of the Wisdom Ḍākinī). Homage to the glorious Vajrayoginī!
May the goddess Jñānaḍākinī, who assumes various forms for the sake of others, bring joy to all beings through the feast of nectar, like a night-blooming lily.
Here, in order to attain the unsurpassed state, one should rely upon Vajravārāhī, the inconceivable Vajrayoginī, who is the embodiment of the Vajra-holder.
In a certain location that is pleasing to the mind, facing west and with hair loosened, one should first offer a torma. Then, in an instant, one should cultivate the intense conviction that oneself is the form of the Wisdom Ḍākinī. With light rays from the seed syllable at one’s heart, one summons the Wisdom Ḍākinī and her retinue into the sky. Goddesses born from the seed syllable at the heart present outer and inner offerings to them perfectly. Having meditated on the sequence from the confession of misdeeds up to equanimity, one should mentally recite: Oṃ svabhāvaśuddhāḥ sarvadharmāḥ svabhāvaśuddho ’ham. Having realized the meaning, one should abide in the emptiness of all phenomena.
Then, with the mantra Oṃ hūṃ svāhā, one meditates on the ground as being of the nature of vajra. With Oṃ jambhani hūṃ phaṭ, one meditates on the vajra fence. With Oṃ jriṃ svāhā, one meditates on the vajra canopy. With Oṃ hūṃ phaṭ, one should strike the obstructors with the ritual stake. In the center of that:
Upon the wind, fire, water, earth, and Mount Meru, generated in sequence by the syllables yūṃ, kṣūṃ, sūṃ, hūṃ, and hūṃ, is a multicolored lotus and a multicolored vajra. In its center and in the four directions, from the transformation of oṃ hūṃ phaṭ, there are five sun maṇḍalas resting upon multicolored lotuses atop five lions, adorned with the seven precious substances and composed of gold. In the center, from a lion, arises a white parasol. In the center of that, between a moon and sun born from the āli and kāli vowels and consonants, is a hūṃ from which a vajra is visualized as being blessed. Reciting oṃ vajraśuddhaḥ sarvadharmā vajraśuddho ’haṃ, the Tathāgatas and goddesses arising from that perform the benefit of sentient beings. Then, having visualized the wisdom ḍākinīs generated by the guru and others assembled there, and simultaneously the deities of the maṇḍala generated by their respective seed-syllables, one should assume the divine pride with oṃ yogaśuddhaḥ sarvadharmā yogaśuddho ’haṃ.
There, the Vajra-ḍākinīs and others are positioned in sequence upon their respective seats of multicolored lotuses and suns, with the seed-syllables hūṃ hūṃ hūṃ, āṃ, īṃ, ūṃ, ṛṃ, ḷṃ, aiṃ, and auḥ. Among them, the Wisdom ḍākinī is blue; her crown is marked with a vajra, and she is adorned with silk streamers bound with the radiating five Buddhas.
The central face is wrathful and accompanied by a roar of laughter; the right face is white and smiling; the left face is red and seductive. Each face is endowed with three eyes. In the three right hands, he holds a khaṭvāṅga held aloft, a battle-axe, and a vajra. In the three left hands, he holds a bell, a skull-cup filled with blood, and a sword.
In the east is white Vajraḍākinī, with a seductive expression. In the north is golden Bhairavaḍākinī. In the west is blue Vetālī. In the south is red Caṇḍālī; these four are adorned with a khaṭvāṅga and a skull-cup filled with blood held in their two upper hands.
In the northeast is Siṃhī, with the face of a lioness, her left and right halves white and yellow, mounted upon Indra, who is white. In the southeast is Vyāghrī, with the face of a tigress, her left and right halves blue and white, mounted upon the seven precious jewels. In the southwest is Śrgālī, with the face of a jackal, her right and left halves red and black, mounted upon a buffalo. In the northwest is Ulūkī, with the face of an owl, her left and right limbs yellow and red, mounted upon the tails of the eight lords of the nāgas. These four are adorned with a vajra hook and a lasso with a threatening gesture in their right and left hands.
Then, at the eastern gate is white Jayavatī, with her two hands placed in a proud gesture within her mouth. In the north is yellow Jvālāmukhī, holding a lamp like a flame with her palms joined above her head.
In the west is the red Ākarṣaṇī, holding a cup filled with blood above her head and bringing it close to her mouth to drink the stream of blood. In the south is the black Kaṃpōjī, joining the tips of the two thumbs of the vajra-palms and placing the two index fingers like needles at the site of the bhaga, thereby displaying her own bhaga. These four reside in the hearts of pretas. The twelve [deities] beginning with Vajraḍākinī have one face and three eyes. All thirteen goddesses wear the supreme divine garments of red, have garlands of five skulls upon their heads, and are endowed with the five mudrās. They sit in the sattvaparyaṅka posture, are beautified by the eight kings of serpents, and should be meditated upon as terrifying with masses of blazing light rays like the fire at the end of an eon.
Following that, one should arrange the ritual syllables: KṢŪṂ at the head, HŪṂ at the eyes, YŪṂ in the ears and nose, SUṂ at the tongue, NHR̥ŪṂ at the throat, YMR̥ŪṂ at the heart, and KṢMR̥ŪṂ at the navel. Then, by means of OṂ ĀḤ HŪṂ, one blesses the body, speech, and mind. With light rays from the seed syllable at one’s own heart, one invites the wisdom wheel into the sky, makes offerings as before, and presents the samaya. Regarding that, one should bind the two vajra-fists and join the tips of the two fully extended middle fingers, saying OṂ HŪṂ SVĀHĀ, to present it to the Wisdom Ḍākinī. Then, having formed the vajra-palms...
The mudrā for [Vajraḍākinī] is to touch and move the two middle fingers with the two thumbs. Recite: Oṃ vajraḍākinī hūṃ svāhā.
For Bhairavī, bind the two fists evenly and extend the two thumbs. Recite: Oṃ gaurī hūṃ.
For Vetālī, bind this same mudrā and extend the two little fingers. Recite: Oṃ vetālī hūṃ.
For Caṇḍālī, bind this same mudrā and extend the two middle fingers. Recite: Oṃ caṇḍālī hūṃ svāhā.
For the four [goddesses] beginning with Siṃhī, bind the two vajra-fists and join the tips of the two extended index fingers. Recite: Oṃ āṃ svāhā, Oṃ īṃ svāhā, Oṃ ūṃ svāhā, and Oṃ ṛṃ svāhā.
For the four [goddesses] beginning with Jālandharī, display their respective mudrās. Recite: Oṃ lṛṃ svāhā, Oṃ aiṃ svāhā, Oṃ auṃ svāhā, and Oṃ āḥ svāhā.
Following that, preceded by the lotus-circling gesture (padmakoṛa), the wisdom wheel (jñānacakra) should be absorbed into the commitment wheel (samayacakra) as appropriate. Then, one should visualize the continuous sealing [of the deities] by the Tathāgatas and goddesses invited by the light rays from the seed-syllable at the heart, performing the empowerment.
In that regard, the wisdom ḍākinīs and so forth are, in order, Akṣobhya, Vairocana, Ratnasambhava, and Amitābha.
[The empowerment is conferred] by Amoghasiddhi. For Siṃhī and the others, it is by Akṣobhya, Vairocana, Ratnasambhava, and Amitābha. For Jayavatī and the others, it is by Vairocana, Ratnasambhava, Amitābha, and Amoghasiddhi. Following that, the offering goddesses who emanate from him make offerings and offer praise to the self. Having tasted the nectar (amṛta) thus presented, one should visualize a stream of nectar dripping from the drop (bindu) raised in the center of the eyebrows and the syllable HŪṂ, which is situated upon a moon maṇḍala in the lotus of great bliss and facing downward. At the conclusion of meditating on the yoga of the drop, one should meditate on the subtle yoga for a long time. If weariness arises, one should recite the mantra. In that regard, the mantra of Jñānaḍākinī is OṂ HRĪḤ SVĀHĀ; one should recite this three hundred thousand times. The mantras of Vajraḍākinī and the others are also: OṂ VAJRAḌĀKINĪ HŪṂ PHAṬ SVĀHĀ; OṂ GAURĪ HŪṂ SVĀHĀ; OṂ BETĀLĪ HŪṂ SVĀHĀ; OṂ CAṆḌĀLĪ HŪṂ SVĀHĀ; OṂ VAJRA SIṂHANI ĀṂ SVĀHĀ; OṂ VAJRA VYĀGHRI Ī SVĀHĀ; OṂ VAJRA JAMBUKĪ ŪṂ SVĀHĀ; OṂ VAJRA HŪLUKĀSĪ R̥IṂ SVĀHĀ; OṂ VAJRA ḌĀKINĪ L̥IṂ SVĀHĀ; OṂ VAJRA DĪPATAJE AIṂ SVĀHĀ; OṂ VAJRA CUṢṆĪ CUṢA SARVA SATTVĀNĀṂ AUṂ SVĀHĀ; OṂ SARVA KAṂPOJI AḤ SVĀHĀ. By reciting these, one will attain the desired accomplishments (siddhi).
Through the merit of this sādhana that clearly elucidates the practice of the glorious Wisdom Ḍākinī, may all beings swiftly attain her fearless form. Thus ends the sādhana of the Wisdom Ḍākinī, composed by the great Paṇḍita Abhayākaragupta. This was translated, edited, and corrected from the Sanskrit manuscript by the monk Rinchen Gyaltsen at the great monastic college of glorious Sakya. Through this, may it be of benefit to many beings.
The mantra of the Wisdom Ḍākinī is: OṂ HRĪḤ SVĀHĀ. One should recite this three hundred thousand times. One should also recite the mantras of Vajraḍākinī and the others. The seed syllables of the goddesses, such as the Wisdom Ḍākinī and the rest, are: HŪṂ, HŪṂ, HŪṂ, Ā, ĪṂ, UṂ, ṚIṂ, LṚIṂ, AIṂ, AUṂ, and A.