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 wrathful deity Ugrotārā. The work provides a prescriptive sequence for the practitioner, beginning with the selection of a secluded location and moving into a detailed visualization of the goddess's iconography, specifically her fierce attributes such as bared fangs and her four arms holding a curved knife, skull cup, sword, and utpala flower. The core of the practice centers on the recitation of a specific Sanskrit mantra intended to bring peace, strength, and protection to all sentient beings, while incorporating offerings to the naga king Mahātakṣaka. The text commits the reader to a rigorous process of visualization and mantra repetition, concluding with the identification of signs of accomplishment, such as the discovery of treasures, and the standard Buddhist requirements of confession and the dedication of merit. By following this protocol, the practitioner aims to achieve a state of divine pride and spiritual realization.
Provenance
About this text
A sādhana for the ritual realization of the goddess Ugrotārā, the Ugratārādevīsādhana belongs to the classical Tibetan tradition. The work is attributed to the Indian author Vanaratnapāda. It was translated into Tibetan by Vanaratnapāda and chos ’khor lo tsa ba ’jam dpal ye shes, and is preserved in the Tengyur (vol. ཤ) within the collection of Other Wisdom Tantras. Spanning four pages in this edition, the text enacts a prescriptive liturgical sequence for the practitioner. It directs the individual to a solitary location, such as a charnel ground or empty house, to engage in the visualization of the deity. Ugrotārā is described as a blue, stout figure with bared fangs and four arms holding a curved knife, skull cup, sword, and utpala flower, crowned by Akṣobhya. The practice involves the recitation of a Sanskrit mantra to bring peace, strength, and protection to all sentient beings, alongside offerings to the naga king Mahātakṣaka. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the specific iconographic details and mantra repetitions required for the realization of this wrathful deity.
Sanskrit title
Ugratārādevīsādhana
Indian author
Vanaratnapāda
Tibetan translators
Vanaratnapāda, chos ’khor lo tsa ba ’jam dpal ye shes
Cite thisAnuvāda, “A Sādhana of the Wrathful Goddess Tārā” (Toh 1726), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1726
Summary & commentary
Significance
The text is significant as it illustrates the integration of wrathful iconography and naga propitiation within the Tārā tradition. It demonstrates the intersection of soteriological goals with the pursuit of tangible signs of accomplishment, reflecting a specific ritual current in Indo-Tibetan practice.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-2
Preliminary and Visualization
Instructions on the location of practice and the detailed visual construction of Ugrotārā's physical form and attributes.
3
Mantra and Offering
The presentation of the primary Sanskrit mantra and instructions for its repetition and accompanying offerings.
4
Accomplishment and Conclusion
Description of the signs of success, the process of confession, and the dedication of merit.
Themes
Wrathful Iconography (2)
Ritual Mantra and Propitiation (3)
Signs of Accomplishment (4)
Merit and Confession (4)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Ugrotāradevīsādhanam. In the language of Tibet: Lha mo ugra tā ra’i sgrub thabs (The Sādhana of the Goddess Ugrotārā). Homage to Ugrotārā, who clarifies insight.
A person who wishes to practice the realization of this very [deity] should go to a special location, such as a solitary place, a charnel ground, or an empty house. Sitting upon a fresh corpse or a comfortable cushion, one should visualize the three vajras at the three places. Light rays radiate from the three syllables, illuminating all the three realms of existence. One should then imagine that they gather back and dissolve [into oneself].
Then, one should contemplate the meaning of emptiness and recite: oṃ svabhāva śuddhāḥ sarvadharmāḥ svabhāva śuddho ’haṃ.
Then, from within the state of emptiness, in the expanse of space, a red syllable āḥ completely transforms into a red lotus. Upon that, a syllable tāṃ completely transforms into a skull-cup (kapāla) possessing the [auspicious] marks. Upon that, a blue syllable hūṃ completely transforms into a blue curved knife (kartṛ) marked with a hūṃ. From the complete transformation of that, one becomes the Venerable Lady Ugrotārā herself: her body is blue and terrifying, adorned with a garland of fresh human heads. Her right leg is tucked and her left is extended. Her body is stout and short, with a large belly, and she is adorned with a garland of utpala flowers. She has one face, possesses a divine form, and has a laughing, boisterous laugh. She is joyful, seated upon a corpse-cushion, and closely adorned by the eight great nāgas. Her three eyes are red and round, and she wears a lower garment of tiger skin. She is endowed with the fresh vigor of youth.
One should visualize the goddess’s body, perfectly adorned with the five mudrās, with her tongue curled and her fangs bared fiercely. With her two primary hands, she holds a curved knife and a skull cup at her heart; with the two lower hands, she holds a sword and an utpala flower. Amidst her single lock of orange-red hair, she is crowned by the Lord of the Family, Akṣobhya. By practicing the meditation on the goddess’s body in this way, the practitioner will become a great poet.
Then, one should perform the recitation: HRĪṂ TRĪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ. Visualizing these syllables at the heart center as possessing five-colored light rays, one should imagine that the five-colored light rays of the syllables burn the fuel of ignorance and generate the illumination of primordial wisdom (jñāna). While reciting, one should visualize holding a rosary of human bone in the position of the sword in the right hand. By merely reciting this mantra one hundred thousand times, one will attain mastery over the speech of Mañjughoṣa.
Through the very application of radiating and absorbing light rays, one should meditate with one-pointed concentration, maintaining the divine pride of thinking, "I am a great poet, a great paṇḍita of the five fields of knowledge." By remaining one-pointedly in such meditation, one will undoubtedly become a great poet and a great paṇḍita of the five fields of knowledge.
If one wishes to offer a torma (bali), one should cleanse and purify the torma. Visualizing a skull cup arising from ĀḤ and filled with the nectar of primordial wisdom arising from OṂ ĀḤ HŪṂ, one should offer the torma with this very mantra.
OṂ HRĪṂḤ EKAJAṬE MAMA UPANĪTĀYA SARVASATTVĀNĀṂ ŚĀNTIṂ KURU PUṢṬIṂ KURU RAKṢAṂ KURU MAHĀTAKṢAKA NĀGĀDHIPATAYE IMAṂ BALIṂ GṚHṆA GṚHṆA GṚHṆĀPAYA GṚHṆĀPAYA PARAVIDYĀKARṢAYA KARṢAYA TRAṬA TRAṬA CCHEDA CCHEDA CCHEDAYA CCHEDAYA OṂ ĀḤ HŪṂ PHAṬ SVĀHĀ. Recite this three or seven times. Having made the offerings, praise her with:
HŪṂ. Arisen from the syllable HŪṂ, blue, stout, and short, with a topknot of matted hair; trampling a human corpse with her eight left feet and possessing a most terrifying roar; holding a sword, an utpala, a curved knife, and a skull-cup, and adorned with the ornaments of the great nāgas; to you, the fierce Tārā who destroys the darkness of ignorance of wandering beings, I prostrate.
If, in actuality or in dreams and so forth, there occur harm from spirits, terrifying piśācas, extremely emaciated women, snakes, and the like, or if there is mental unease and a lack of desire to practice, these are obstacles. Therefore, offer the torma with this torma-mantra and, by placing your trust in the yoga of the Venerable Goddess, contemplate everything as emptiness; do not feel any anxiety or trepidation. All of these will naturally subside. If the practitioner is joyful, courageous, and firm in resolve regarding the practice, and if in dreams there appear groups of women adorned with ornaments—such as mothers, sisters, or mistresses—whose bodies are stout and majestic, and who possess fragrant scents, and who bestow hand-symbols such as volumes of scripture;
The signs of accomplishment are finding [treasures] oneself, the rising of the sun and moon, and so forth. Afterwards, one should confess faults with the hundred-syllable mantra and fully dedicate the roots of virtue in common with all sentient beings. Remaining in the divine pride of the goddess, one should maintain all modes of conduct. This concludes the Sādhana of the goddess Ugrotārā, composed by the great Paṇḍita of Eastern India, Śrī Vanaratna. It was translated and edited at Pal Khord Dechen by that very Paṇḍita and the translator Chos khor Lo tsā ba, Jampal Yeshe.
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.