Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This text is a liturgical praise dedicated to the deity Heruka and his accompanying retinue. It functions as a devotional invocation designed to accumulate merit for the benefit of all sentient beings. The work is structured as a series of prostrations and descriptions of the deity's iconographic features, specifically highlighting the multi-colored aspects of Heruka's body—blue, yellow, green, and white—and his terrifying attributes, such as bared fangs. The author transitions from the central figure to the broader Buddhist pantheon, including Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and the nature of reality, before focusing on the specific attributes of the retinue of goddesses, such as the five skull-cups. By engaging in this praise, the reader is committed to a practice of visualization and veneration aimed at the ultimate goal of attaining the unsurpassed state of awakening for all beings.
Provenance
About this text
A eulogy dedicated to the glorious Heruka and his retinue, this work belongs to the tradition of the Other Wisdom Tantras. It is attributed to the Indian author Kāṇha, also known as Kāṇhapā. The text is preserved in the classical Tibetan period within the Tengyur, specifically in volume ཡ, where it extends over three pages. As a liturgical piece, the work enacts a devotional process of visualization and veneration. It begins with homage to the multi-colored, terrifying form of the deity and extends this praise to the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and the retinue of goddesses adorned with five skull-cups. By articulating these iconographic details and offering prostrations to the wisdom body, the work seeks to dispel the suffering of wandering beings and accumulate merit so that all sentient beings may attain an unsurpassed state of awakening. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the specific descriptive attributes of Heruka and the ritual structure of praise used to facilitate the path to awakening within this tantric framework.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “A Praise of the Glorious Heruka and His Entourage” (Toh 1639), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1639
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant as an example of Vajrayana iconography and the use of wrathful deities to represent the transformation of suffering into awakening. It illustrates the traditional Tibetan Buddhist synthesis of deity yoga and the bodhisattva vow to liberate all sentient beings.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Praise to Heruka
Homage to the physical form and colors of the central deity Heruka.
2
Universal Homage
Prostrations to the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and the wisdom body that dispels suffering.
3
Praise to the Retinue and Dedication
Veneration of the goddesses and a final dedication of merit for the enlightenment of all beings.
Themes
Deity Iconography (1, 3)
Universal Compassion and Awakening (2, 3)
Ritual Prostration (1, 2, 3)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaA Praise of the Glorious Heruka and His Entourage·
The Praise to the Glorious Heruka and His Retinue
Homage to the body of the Victorious One!
To the one whose blue body blazes intensely,
The terrifying one with bared fangs,
Whose right face is yellow, left green, and back white—
Homage to your peerless body!
Lord of the Tathāgata family,
Noble family, embracing the consort at the neck,
With the Lord of the Family residing upon your head—
Homage to your body of great bliss!
Lustful, heroic, and terrifying,
Fierce, laughing, and causing fear,
Compassionate, wrathful, and peaceful—
I bow to you, who possess the nine moods and qualities!
Pervading the light of space,
You strike terror even into the terrifying.
Adorned with the five mudrās,
Homage to the body of the Sugata!
The first right and left hands hold a bow and arrow;
The remaining hands hold a skull-cup and a khaṭvāṅga.
With a necklace of fifty severed heads,
Homage to you, the Protector!
Tawny hair bristling upward,
Adorned with five kapālas upon the head,
Wearing a human-skin upper garment and a tiger-skin loincloth—
Homage and prostration to you, the terrifying one!
The supreme nature of all phenomena,
Your body complete with the major and minor marks,
The performer of the welfare of beings—
I bow to you, the embodiment of the three kāyas!
With the corners of your wisdom eyes,
You terrify all discordant factors,
And restore them with the victory banner and bell.
Homage and prostration to the Compassionate One!
The embodiment of the three kāyas and five wisdoms,
The chief of all Sugatas,
The cutter of the ignorance of beings—
I bow to you, the essence of emptiness!
To the Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas,
To that very reality, including the stable and the moving,
To the great self of all these three realms, I bow.
Dispelling the suffering of wandering beings,
Bestowing all forms of excellence,
You who show the path to awakening—
To you, the wisdom body, I prostrate and praise.
Inconceivable, beyond analogy, and inexpressible,
The body of great bliss, unchanging and unconditioned,
Completely free from existence and non-existence, without apprehension—
To the Vajra Ḍākinī of Great Bliss, I prostrate and praise.
In the eastern direction, the goddess of the Vajra family,
The embodiment of loving-kindness, blue in color,
The nature of the earth element and the mirror-like wisdom—
To the Vajra Ḍākinī, I prostrate and praise.
In the southern direction, the goddess of the Ratna family,
The embodiment of compassion, yellow in color,
The nature of the water element and the wisdom of equality—
To the Ratna Ḍākinī, I prostrate and praise.
In the western direction, the goddess of the Padma family,
The embodiment of joy, white in color,
The nature of the fire element and discerning wisdom—
To the Padma Ḍākinī, I prostrate and praise.
In the northern direction, the goddess of the Karma family,
The nature of equanimity, green in color,
The nature of the wind element and all-accomplishing wisdom—
To the Viśva Ḍākinī, I prostrate and praise.
All have four faces and four arms,
Holding their respective symbols in their hands,
With the major and minor marks complete upon their bodies—
To the Buddhas of the five families, I prostrate and praise.
A garland of light radiates from their bodies,
They wear a necklace of blood-dripping human heads,
And with two legs in the half-lotus posture upon the sun—
To the goddesses of the retinue, I prostrate and praise.
They are endowed with the five types of mudrās.
Adorned upon the head with five skull-cups,
Possessing the moods of the graceful and so forth,
I prostrate to and praise the retinue of goddesses.
Through the merit of my praise to the Venerable One and his retinue,
May all sentient beings attain the unsurpassed state of the Venerable One.
The praise to the glorious Venerable Heruka and his retinue is complete.