Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This text provides a ritual manual for the visualization and empowerment process associated with the Oḍḍiyāna tradition of Tārā. It functions as a technical guide for the practitioner, moving from the detailed iconographic description of the central deity to the arrangement of the surrounding retinue and the specific placement of seed syllables. The text describes a wrathful form of Tārā, characterized by a red body, four faces, and eight arms, surrounded by a host of yoginīs and four specific gatekeepers. By detailing the precise visual attributes and the corresponding mantra syllables (such as bhrūṃ and hūṃ) to be placed on the body and ritual implements, the work commits the reader to a rigorous meditative discipline. The ultimate goal is the transition from visualization to the conferral of empowerment, integrating the practitioner's consciousness with the wisdom of the five Tathāgatas.
Provenance
About this text
A treatise detailing the stages of clear realization of the Glorious Tārā of Oḍḍiyāna, the Śrīuḍḍiyānatārābhisamayakrama originates from the Oḍḍiyāna tradition. The work is attributed to the Indian author Parahita. It was translated into the Tibetan language by Saṅghabhadra and bod kyi lo tsa ba ’jam dpal sgeg ba’i rdo rje, and is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཤ, where it is categorized within the Other Wisdom Tantras. Spanning four pages in this edition, the work enacts a ritual process of visualization and empowerment. It provides a technical guide for the practitioner, beginning with the iconographic description of a wrathful, red-bodied Tārā with four faces and eight arms, surrounded by a host of yoginīs and four gatekeepers: Kāñcī, Pukkasī, Ḍombinī, and Matangī. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to understand the rigorous meditative discipline required to transition from detailed visualization to the conferral of empowerment, integrating the practitioner's consciousness with the wisdom of the five Tathāgatas through the precise arrangement of deity attributes and ritual implements.
Sanskrit title
Śrīuḍḍiyānatārābhisamayakrama
Indian author
Parahita
Tibetan translators
Saṅghabhadra, bod kyi lo tsa ba ’jam dpal sgeg ba’i rdo rje
Cite thisAnuvāda, “An Arrangement of the Clear Realization of Tārā According to the Oḍḍiyāna Tradition” (Toh 1707), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1707
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant as it preserves a specific wrathful manifestation of Tārā attributed to the Oḍḍiyāna lineage, contrasting with more common peaceful depictions. For the modern reader, it illustrates the complex intersection of iconography, seed-syllable placement, and empowerment rituals in Indo-Tibetan Vajrayāna Buddhism.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-2
Introduction and Iconography
Titles in Sanskrit and Tibetan, followed by the physical description of the red, four-faced, eight-armed wrathful Tārā.
3
The Retinue
Description of the four gatekeepers—Kāñcī, Pukkasī, Ḍombinī, and Matangī—and their ritual implements.
4
Syllable Placement and Empowerment
Instructions on the placement of seed syllables on the body and ritual objects, and the subsequent conferral of empowerment.
5
Colophon
Identification of the translator, Mañjuśrī-lalita-vajra.
Themes
Wrathful Iconography (2-3)
Seed Syllables and Mantra (4)
Ritual Empowerment (4)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaAn Arrangement of the Clear Realization of Tārā According to the Oḍḍiyāna Tradition·
In the language of India: Śrī Oḍḍiyāna Tārā Kramābhisamaya-nāma. In the language of Tibet: dpal u rgyan gyi sgrol ma'i mngon par rtogs pa'i rim pa zhes bya ba (The Stages of the Clear Realization of the Glorious Tārā of Oḍḍiyāna). Homage to the Noble Tārā!
To her who dispels the darkness of suffering existence with the light of the sun, whose heart is moistened with compassion—to her I perpetually pay homage.
First, a yogin or yoginī should sit upon a soft cushion in a meditation cell that is pleasing to the mind. At one's own heart, upon a moon maṇḍala arising from the syllable A, one should meditate on a red syllable TĀṂ from which masses of light rays radiate, pervading the entire expanse of space without exception.
Then, having visualized all the gurus, yidam deities, and tathāgatas who are to be seen by the light rays, one should mentally make offerings to them. Reciting the refuge in the Three Jewels and so forth, one should then view the stable and moving world of beings as being of the nature of emptiness. One should recite the mantra: OṂ ŚŪNYATĀ-JÑĀNA-VAJRA-SVABHĀVA-ĀTMAKO 'HAṂ.
Following that, one should expel obstructing spirits with the wrathful vajra born from the syllable HŪṂ, which resides upon a lotus and sun in the sky. Within the center of the source of phenomena (dharmodaya) situated inside a celestial palace, one meditates on a syllable HAṂ in the center of a moon. Then, from the syllable HAṂ, one should emanate all the tathāgatas and meditate on oneself in the form of Tārā.
Her body is red, with four faces and eight arms, performing a dance. She wears a garland of skulls and is adorned with all the ornaments. Her lower body is draped in a tiger skin, and she dwells in the midst of a host of yoginīs. She has three eyes and a wrathful, frowning expression. Her first face is red, the right black, the left green, and the upper face is peaceful and yellow. In her right hands, she holds a ḍamaru, a skull-cup, a sword, and a vajra. In her left hands, she holds an utpala lotus, a jewel, a bell, and a khaṭvāṅga.
Then, upon a lotus in the assembly, are the eight goddesses: Suratiśvarī, Suratasundarī, Suratacandrā, Suratamālinī, Suratabhakṣī, Suratakāminī, Suratogra, and Suratottamā. They are white, green, blue, yellow, white, red, blue, and yellow. Just as the [central deity], they hold a ḍamaru and a skull-cup in their right hands, and a bell and a khaṭvāṅga in their left hands. They have frowning expressions, wear garlands of skulls, and are adorned with all the ornaments.
Outside of that, upon a twelve-spoked wheel, are Śikhibhīma, Śikhaṇḍī, Karālī, Jaṭālī, Raudrī, Jotrī, Candrī, Madhukarī, Vikata, Utkata, Kirīṭī, and Nartakī. All of them have the left half of their bodies red and the right half green. In their right hands, they hold a wheel and a vajra; in their left hands, they hold a skull-cup and a khaṭvāṅga. They have frowning expressions and are adorned with all the ornaments. Their hair is loose, and they perform the dance with the right leg bent and the left extended, or the left bent and the right extended. They move to the right, then to the left, and then to the right.
Furthermore, outside of that are the four gatekeepers: Kāñcī, Pukkasī, Ḍombinī, and Matangī. They hold a curved knife and a skull-cup in their right hands, and a severed head and a khaṭvāṅga in their left hands. Their faces have bared fangs, they are adorned with snake ornaments, and they stand upon sun seats in the posture of left leg bent and right leg extended, circling to the left atop the four Māras. One should meditate on them as being of various colors.
Then, the ritual of the locations should be performed. For that, [one assigns the syllables] to the crown of the head, the top of the head, the left ear, the nape of the neck, the shoulder blades, the right ear, the space between the eyebrows, the two eyes, the two shoulders, the two armpits, the two breasts, the navel, the tip of the nose, the mouth, the heart, below the navel, the secret place, the anus, the two thighs, the two shins, the heels of the feet, the soles of the feet, the big toes, and the two knees, in their respective order:
PU JA O A | GO RA DE MA | KĀ O TRI KO | KA LA KĀ HI | PRE GRI SAU SU | NA SI MA KU | PULLĪRAMALAYAM | JĀLANDHARAM | OḌḌIYĀNAM | ARBUDAM | These are the four locations.
Godāvarī | Rāmeśvara | Devīkoṭi | Mālava | These are the four near-locations.
Kāmarūpa | Oḍra | These are the two fields.
Triśakuni | Kosala | These are the two near-fields.
Kaliṅga | Lampāka | These are the two meeting places.
Kāñcī | Himālaya | These are the two near-meeting places.
Pretapurī | Gṛhadevatā | Malaya | These are the two charnel grounds.
Saurāṣṭra | Suvarṇadvīpa | These are the two near-charnel grounds.
Nagara | Sindhu | These are the two charnel grounds.
Marudeśa | Kulutā | These are the two near-charnel grounds.
The crown of the head, the heart, the navel, the secret place, and the two thighs.
Regarding the calves, in sequence, bhrūṃ bhrūṃ a hriṃ khaṃ is the armor. In the center of the vajra, lotus, and wheel are hūṃ āḥ oṃ. Thus, the one possessing wisdom should meditate on wisdom. Then, the empowerment should be conferred. Upon the heads of the goddesses are the five Tathāgatas: on suratiśvārī and so forth, Ratnasambhava is on the head; on śikhī and so forth, Vairocana is on the head; on kaṃbuñci and so forth, Akṣobhya is on the head. Then, the arghaṃ offering should be presented. Then, the nectar should be tasted. In that regard, from yaṃ and raṃ, upon two maṇḍalas, a lotus vessel is filled with the five nectars and meat. It is consecrated with go ha a ma oṃ āḥ hūṃ. Then, as for the mantra recitation: the ten syllables with phaṭ at the end and svāhā at the end are omitted. For all recitations of the goddesses, one recites the mantra beginning with oṃ, followed by the syllables of the name, and ending with hūṃ phaṭ. For the goddesses of the gates, it is accompanied by jaḥ hūṃ baṃ hoḥ. Having arisen from meditation, one should meditate on assuming the form of the goddess. Offerings should be made according to one's ability. The torma should be given. In that regard, this is the torma mantra: oṃ akāro mukhaṃ sarvadharmāṇām ādyanutpannatvāt oṃ āḥ hūṃ phaṭ svāhā. If this is performed constantly, accomplishment will be attained. Do not have any doubt about this. This concludes the stages of the visualization of the Bhagavatī Tārā of Oḍḍiyāna. [It was translated] by the paṇḍita Saṃghaśrībhadra, a disciple of the mahāsiddha Vinītadeva, who was empowered three times by the Great Compassionate One.
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.