Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
The text, titled Svapnānuśāsana in Sanskrit and Rmi lam brtag pa in Tibetan, serves as a manual for the interpretation of dreams. It operates on a system of divination where specific dream imagery is linked to predictable future outcomes, ranging from the attainment of worldly wealth and political power to imminent death. The author establishes a temporal framework for these predictions, noting that dreams occurring during the first watch of the night manifest their results within a year. The work is structured as a series of conditional correlations: the consumption of specific foods, the sighting of auspicious objects like victory banners or parasols, and the interaction with figures in specific colored garments act as omens. By engaging with this text, the reader is committed to a deterministic view of the subconscious, where the dream state functions as a diagnostic tool for forecasting one's social status, longevity, and material prosperity.
Provenance
About this text
An examination of the various dreams that arise, the Svapnohana is a treatise belonging to the Other Wisdom Tantras. It was translated into the Tibetan language by Vibhūticandra and is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཤ, where it extends over four pages. The work enacts a system of dream divination, establishing a temporal framework where the timing of a dream during the night's watches determines when its fruit will be produced. It argues that specific imagery—such as the consumption of certain foods, the sighting of victory banners or parasols, or the embracing of women in garments of different colors—serves as a diagnostic tool for predicting future outcomes, ranging from the attainment of unsurpassed glory and political power to imminent death. A scholar or serious reader consults this classical Tibetan text today to understand the deterministic correlations between the subconscious state and worldly forecasts as conceptualized within this specific canonical tradition.
This work is significant as it demonstrates the integration of Indian dream divination practices into the Tibetan tradition. It reflects a period where Buddhist scholarship encompassed not only soteriology but also the mundane sciences of omen reading and predictive astrology.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introduction and Temporal Framework
Provides the title in Sanskrit and Tibetan and establishes the timeframe for the fruition of dreams occurring in the first watch.
2-4
Auspicious Omens
Lists specific images, foods, and encounters that correlate with the attainment of glory, wealth, and knowledge.
3
Inauspicious Omens
Identifies specific dream imagery, such as women in red garments, as indicators of imminent death.
Themes
Divination and Prediction (1-4)
Material and Social Status (2, 4)
Mortality and Omens (3)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Svapnānuśāsana. In the language of Tibet: Rmi lam brtag pa (An Examination of Dreams). Homage to the Buddha!
I shall explain the examination of the various dreams that arise.
If a dream occurs during the first watch of the night, its fruit will be produced within one year.
During the second watch, within eight months; during the third watch, within three months;
and during the fourth watch, within half a month—there is no doubt that it will be seen.
If it occurs at the very time the dawn breaks, its fruit will be produced within ten days.
Listen now to the detailed explanation of virtuous and non-virtuous deeds:
Riding on vehicles such as oxen and elephants, or upon palaces, mountain peaks, and forest trees;
sitting in a boat and playing the lute, or eating food and laughing—these things are always obtained.
Being struck by weapons, the body being covered by tiny insects,
likewise, the body being cleansed of filth, following after excrement, and blood flowing from the body—
in dreams, entering what is forbidden is auspicious.
Whoever sees at the end of sleep a king, an elephant, a noble horse,
cowries, oxen, or cows, their kinsmen will become numerous.
Whoever climbs alone upon a tree laden with milk and fruit,
and having sat there, wakes from sleep, will quickly obtain wealth.
Whoever sits in a palace and eats, or likewise crosses the great ocean,
even if born into a lowly caste, they will become a king.
Whoever is in the middle of a pond, within the petals of a great lotus...
Those who eat curd and milk porridge will undoubtedly become lords of the earth. Whoever sees a lamp, a victory banner, a chariot, or a parasol, or a girl, leaves, fruit, or food at the end of their sleep, will attain unsurpassed glory. Listen to the qualities of those who eat the flesh of humans in a dream, whether it be cooked or raw: if they eat the feet, they will gain five hundred; if they eat the hands, one thousand; if they eat the head, they will obtain a hundred thousand or a kingdom. Whoever sees their own intestines wrapping around a village or a city—if they wrap around a single village, they will obtain a minor kingdom; if they wrap around a city, they will obtain a kingdom. Whoever wakes from sleep having obtained a pair of shoes, a parasol, or a stainless, sharp sword, it is said they will travel the path. Whoever, having boarded a boat, is truly ferried across even if it is dilapidated, should know they are traveling the path, yet they will certainly return quickly. Whoever dreams of the earth crumbling or shaking violently, their wealth will be lost, or they will suffer physical illness. If those with horns or tusks, or monkeys or pigs, appear and cause harm to someone, they will face danger from their lord. Whoever is smeared with sesame oil, or anointed with milk or butter, or anything similar, is explained to be afflicted by disease. Whoever alone mounts a chariot drawn by donkeys or camels, and wakes while sitting upon it, will quickly meet with death.
If one dreams of embracing a woman wearing red garments, adorned with red garlands and ointments, that person will have no further nights of life. If one embraces in a dream a woman wearing white garments, adorned with white ointments and garlands, all glory will arise for that person. If one dreams of embracing a woman wearing black garments, adorned with black garlands and ointments, one's glory will increase. If one embraces in a dream a woman wearing yellow garments, adorned with yellow garlands and ointments, one will obtain a kingdom. If anyone sees the maṇḍala of the sun or the moon in a dream, if they are ill they will be freed from disease, and if they are healthy they will become glorious. If one's right hand is seized by a white snake, one will certainly obtain wealth within ten days. If one wakes from sleep after obtaining a mare, a domestic fowl, or a kra-uñci bird, one will obtain a beloved at that time. If one is seized and bound by a wife, a relative, or a talkative woman, or if one's hand is struck by a lasso, one will obtain a son, or else attain a great position. Cattle, elephants, and gods are auspicious for a Brahmin; others, such as black things, are very inauspicious. Skulls, cotton, ashes, and bones are inauspicious, while other white things are highly pleasing. If one seizes a horse, a she-goat, a bhujaṅga (serpent/boa), or an aquatic creature, one will achieve victory or obtain wealth; it is explained that one will also obtain a son. If one drinks a beverage of blood, or drinks liquor, [it is a sign of success].
If one is a Brahmin, one will attain knowledge; otherwise, one will obtain wealth. If in a dream one drinks milk or milks a cow and drinks it, one will obtain a drink of milk or perform a fire sacrifice. Seeing curd brings happiness; seeing a village brings wealth. One should understand that an offering of barley brings success, while white mustard seeds bring attainment. If there are flowers, one will understand flowers; if there are fruits, one will gain intelligence. If one sees a blazing fire with smoke, that blazing fire is explained as a sign of fear. If one wakes up while a seat, a bed, a mount, the body, a chariot, or a house is on fire, one's prosperity will increase. If one sees a linga being worshipped, one's intentions will be fulfilled. Specifically, if one sees a statue, one will be victorious in legal disputes. Whatever the gods, Brahmins, fathers, or women with auspicious marks say in a dream is explained as being exactly so. If one sees a deity dancing, flirting, or running, it is explained as a journey to foreign lands. One should perform a fire sacrifice with red sandalwood wood anointed with ghee. By reciting the Gayatri mantra a thousand times, one will attain peace. This is the intention of Vagishvara; whoever recites this in the morning will avert bad dreams. The Examination of Dreams is complete. Translated by the Pandita Vibhutichandra of Eastern India into his own language.
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.