Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This ritual manual provides a method for spiritual protection against physical threats, specifically wild animals and robbers. The text outlines a praxis of purification and visualization centered on the deity Tārā, specifically the form known as Aśokakāntā. The practitioner is instructed to employ a combination of somatic purification, breath control (blending the winds), and the recitation of essence and dhāraṇī mantras. A central component of the ritual is the visualization of Mārīcī, depicted in the attire of Aśoka and riding a chariot drawn by seven pigs, who acts as a protective shadow to the right of the practitioner. By committing to these specific meditative and mantra-based disciplines, the reader is intended to create a psychic shield that neutralizes danger in hazardous environments such as wildernesses or deserts.
Provenance
About this text
Designed to protect the practitioner against robbers and the fears of wild men, tigers, and elephants, the Corabandha is a treatise belonging to the Other Wisdom Tantras. The work is attributed to the Indian author Tathāgatarakṣita. It entered the Tibetan tradition through the efforts of translators including Tathāgatarakṣita and cog gru lo tsa ba mya ngan med pa’i dpal, and is preserved in the classical Tibetan period within volume ཤ of the Tengyur, where it extends over two pages. The work enacts a ritual of spiritual protection for those traversing dangerous wildernesses or deserts. It prescribes a praxis of somatic purification using the vase of wind, the recitation of dhāraṇī and essence mantras, and the visualization of the Tārā who is Free from Sorrow. Central to this practice is the visualization of Mārīcī in the attire of Aśoka, seated upon a chariot drawn by seven pigs to the right of the practitioner, and the red Tārā to the left. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the specific meditative and mantra-based disciplines used to create a psychic shield against physical threats.
Sanskrit title
Corabandha
Indian author
Tathāgatarakṣita
Tibetan translators
Tathāgatarakṣita, cog gru lo tsa ba mya ngan med pa’i dpal
The text illustrates the intersection of Buddhist soteriology and apotropaic magic, where deities are invoked for immediate worldly security. It highlights the integration of Tārā and Mārīcī practices within the Indo-Tibetan tradition to address the anxieties of travel and physical vulnerability.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Preliminary Purification
Introduction of the ritual's purpose and the requirement for bodily purification.
2
Visualization and Mantra Practice
Instructions for visualizing Tārā and Mārīcī and the application of breath work and mantras in dangerous locations.
Themes
Apotropaic Protection (1-2)
Deity Visualization (2)
Mantra and Breath Work (2)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: caurabandhana. In the language of Tibet: chom rkun bcings ba (Binding of Thieves). Homage to the Tārā who is Free from Sorrow (Aśokakāntā).
To protect against the fears of elephants, tigers, and wild men, and to guard against robbers, one should purify the body with the vase of wind and worship the Tārā who is Free from Sorrow.
Furthermore, having fully pleased the assembly of Noble Ladies through the ritual procedures as explained in the Sādhana, one should sit in a sublime location such as a forest or a mountain retreat upon a well-tanned deer skin or a blue woolen cloth. Preceded by great love and compassion, one should visualize a paṃ at one’s heart, from which arises a lotus; upon that, from āḥ, arises a moon maṇḍala. Upon this is a yellow tāṃ. From it, light radiates to the ten directions, pleasing the Noble Ladies and accomplishing the welfare of sentient beings. As the light is reabsorbed, it dissolves into the tāṃ. One then visualizes oneself as the Tārā Free from Sorrow, with a body the color of refined gold, adorned with a crown and diadem of various jewels. She has three faces and six arms: the right face is blue and the left is red. Her right hands hold a sword, a battle-axe, and an arrow; her left hands hold a lasso, a bow, and a conch.
Recite the mantra: oṃ tāre tuttāre ture bhayaharaṇe rakṣa varāṇāṃ guptiṃ vidyāśyāmahe svāhā. On birch bark, using saffron and bezoar, draw a seven-spoked wheel. Write the essence mantra and the dhāraṇī on the hub and other parts as appropriate. Having made offerings through the rituals of fire sacrifice (homa) and bali, wrap the wheel—which is of the nature of mantra and light rays—and bind it to the neck or the upper arm.
Then, in dangerous places such as wildernesses or deserts, clearly visualize Tārā. Blend the winds as previously practiced and recite the essence and dhāraṇī mantras. Imagine that to your right, like your own shadow, is Mārīcī in the attire of Aśoka, seated upon a chariot drawn by seven pigs, adorned with the sound of fearlessness. To your left is the red Tārā with one face and two hands, her right hand in the threatening gesture (tarjanī) and her left sounding a ḍamaru. Naked, she proclaims the melody of fearlessness as she proceeds. Then, in the direction of your anxiety, offer praises such as "Liberation" and "Holding the Flower Garland."
"In a dense forest filled with many fierce beasts of prey, or a place where thieves and robbers gather, where I am left in a pathless and dangerous spot—by this very ritual, I am completely delivered."
The "Binding of Thieves" is complete.
Translation status: Not among 84000's published translations, and not in progress there. Translations published elsewhere have not been searched for, so one may exist. (source: 84000 catalogue + registry; checked 2026-11-10).
Set in Newsreader and EB Garamond; Tibetan in Noto Serif Tibetan; Chinese in Noto Serif SC.