Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This fragmentary text provides ritual instructions for the propitiation of a specific deity identified as the Crow-Faced One or the Black Balance-Beam (Kha-gdong-ma sraṅ-mda’ nag-po). The text functions as a procedural guide, prescribing the necessary environmental and temporal conditions for the rite, specifically designating the charnel ground and the day of the Māra-sun as the appropriate setting. It directs the practitioner to establish a maṇḍala and assemble the required ritual substances to manifest the goddess. Furthermore, the text commits the practitioner to a specific psychological state, requiring the maintenance of divine pride—the identification of the self with the deity—as a central component of the meditative process. The fragment focuses on the preparatory phase of the ritual, emphasizing the intersection of external ritual geometry and internal mental discipline.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual treatise concerning the Crow-Faced One, the Black Balance-Beam (khwa gdong ma srang mda' nag po), this work belongs to the Other Wisdom Tantras. It is attributed to the Indian author Śāśvatavajra. Preserved in the classical Tibetan tradition, the text is found in volume ཤ of the Tengyur. The work enacts a specific ritual procedure set within the terrifying environment of the charnel ground during the day of the Māra-sun. It prescribes the preparation of a maṇḍala and the gathering of ritual substances to manifest the goddess Balance-Beam, while requiring the practitioner to maintain the divine pride of the principal deity. The fragment further details the completion of the work of the egg and the casting of a mantra upon the ritual substances. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the intersection of external ritual geometry and internal mental discipline, specifically how the practitioner is directed to align their psychological state with the deity through the maintenance of divine pride during the preparatory phases of the rite.
The text is significant for its depiction of the intersection between tantric ritualism and the iconography of the charnel ground. It illustrates the use of divine pride as a mechanism for transformation within the Indo-Tibetan tradition. The specific mention of the Black Balance-Beam suggests a focus on deities associated with judgment or karmic weighing.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Ritual Preparation
Instructions on the timing, location, and mental state required for the invocation of the Crow-Faced One.
Themes
Ritual Space and Timing (1)
Divine Pride (1)
Deity Invocation (1)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
The Crow-Faced One: The Black Balance-Beam, entitled Kha-gdong-ma sraṅ-mda’ nag-po.
In the terrifying place of the charnel ground, on the fierce day of the Māra-sun, prepare the maṇḍala and gather the ritual substances. Having prepared the goddess Balance-Beam, one should maintain the divine pride of the principal deity. Once the work of the egg is complete, cast this mantra upon the ritual substances:
OṂ KHĀTARVARTI RBAD JA JA.
Recite this for seven days and place these ritual substances in the northern direction of the maṇḍala. Then, upon the egg itself, generate the goddess from the syllable KHA and strike it with this fierce, wild mantra:
HE KHĀTA HE VAJRA MANU SARVA THANG RBAD.
Strike the egg with a fierce mind for half a month. When the egg falls into the pit, pierce it with a curved knife, strike it with the ritual substances, and kill it with this mantra:
DZA DZA THANG THANG RBAD. HE MUGS SROG MĀRAYA THUN NI RBAD HŪṂ HŪṂ SROG LA HE KHATA VAJRA RBAD.
Strike it with the ritual substances up to eleven times. Then perform the suppression and the fire ritual. The goddess is thus applied to the activities of the lower realms.
This Crow-Faced One: The Black Balance-Beam was composed by the master Rtag-pa’i Vajra.
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.