Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This text is a sādhanakrama, a structured ritual manual for the propitiation and deployment of the protector deity Mahākāla. It functions as a technical guide that integrates visualization, mantra recitation, and physical ritual action to achieve specific spiritual and worldly outcomes. The work begins with the iconographic specification of the deity's multi-armed, wrathful form, establishing the visual focus necessary for the practitioner. It then transitions into liturgical praise, framing Mahākāla as a bodhisattva who subdues malevolent forces. Finally, the text commits the reader to the practice of ritual magic, detailing the creation of effigies from charnel ground materials and the use of toxic substances to incapacitate enemies or compel powerful entities like Śakra. By combining devotional praise with aggressive ritual technology, the text positions the practitioner as an agent of power capable of manipulating the environment and opposing forces through the mediation of the protector.
Provenance
About this text
A sādhana for the propitiation of the protector Mahākāla, the Śrīnāthamahākālasādhanakrama belongs to the classical Tibetan tradition. The work is attributed to the Indian author Nāgārjuna. It was translated into Tibetan by Trilakṣa and lo tsa ba dge slong dar ma grags, and is preserved in the Tengyur (vol. ཤ) within the collection of Other Wisdom Tantras, where it extends over five pages. The work enacts a ritual process that begins with the detailed iconographic visualization of the deity—depicting a black, multi-armed figure holding a curved knife, skull-cup, club, elephant hide, battle-axe, and lasso—and proceeds through liturgical praise. It frames Mahākāla as a bodhisattva and subduer of malevolent forces, integrating mantra recitation and the song of solitude. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the technical integration of visualization and devotional praise used to engage the protector deity. The work functions as a manual for the practitioner to transition from the visual specification of the wrathful form to the active deployment of ritual praise and spiritual technology.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “An Arrangement of the Sādhana for the Glorious Protector Mahākāla” (Toh 1752), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1752
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant as an example of the intersection between Buddhist soteriology and the tradition of ritual magic and coercion. It illustrates how wrathful deities are utilized not only for internal spiritual transformation but for external control and protection. For the modern reader, it provides primary evidence of the use of 'five nectars' and toxic powders in historical Tibetan ritual praxis.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-2
Introduction and Iconography
Provides the title in Sanskrit and Tibetan and describes the physical attributes and implements of Mahākāla.
3
Liturgical Praise
A hymn identifying the deity as a bodhisattva and a subduer of malevolence.
4-5
Ritual Application
Instructions for creating effigies and using pharmacological substances to subdue enemies or influence deities.
Themes
Wrathful Iconography (2)
Ritual Coercion and Magic (4-5)
Protector Deities as Bodhisattvas (3)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaAn Arrangement of the Sādhana for the Glorious Protector Mahākāla·
In the language of India: Śrīnāthamahākālasādhanakramanāma. In the language of Tibet: dPal mgon po nag po chen po’i sgrub thabs kyi rim pa zhes bya ba. Homage to the glorious protector Mahākāla!
Having prostrated to that Black One who terrifies the hosts of fearsome ones, I shall explain the condensed meaning of his sādhana for those who desire it. Those who despise the guru, harm sentient beings, revile the samaya, and destroy the teachings—these are to be liberated; otherwise, one should never act.
First, one should seek and examine a location: a birthplace, a gateway, a place of the powerful deity, a mountain, a dense thicket, a cave, a charnel ground, a crossroads, or a solitary landmark.
From the visualization of the syllable HŪṂ at one’s heart, through its radiation and reabsorption, the assembly of deities arises as one’s own manifestation. One should perform the three types of diverse offerings, the confession, the taking of vows, the dedication, and abide in the path. Then, one should meditate on love, compassion, joy, and equanimity.
Then, having meditated on emptiness, one should stabilize it with this mantra: OṂ ŚŪNYATĀ-JÑĀNA-VAJRA-SVABHĀVA-ĀTMAKO ’HAṂ. That mind becomes a sun from RAṂ; from PAṂ, a variegated lotus is generated. Above that, from a dark blue HŪṂ, a blue curved knife (kartṛkā) arises. Through its radiation and reabsorption, upon a seat of the prostrate victim, there is the great terrifying one, black in color, who devours the three realms without exception. His feet trample the earth, and he threatens the gods and asuras. He has four faces and six arms; the right is white and the left is red.
The back is endowed with a lion’s face. The root face is black. In the root hands, he holds a curved knife and a skull-cup filled with blood. In the two middle hands, he holds a club and an elephant hide. In the third pair, he holds a battle-axe and a lasso. His lower body is wrapped in a tiger skin, and he wears a necklace of dripping heads, appearing utterly terrifying. To the right is the blue Caṇḍālī, holding a skull-cup in her right hand and a black silk scarf in her left. To the left is the red Ḍombī, holding a lasso of linked chains. Rakṣasī and Siṅgalā are in the manner of black Mon women. Light radiates from the HŪṂ at the heart, inviting [the deity] from the natural abode. Having arrived from that place, they dissolve into him. With JAḤ HŪṂ BAṂ HOḤ, perform the summoning and absorption. With the five-pronged vajra mudrā, perform the blessing of stabilization. In a black skull-cup (kapāla) arisen from the syllable A, between a moon and a sun, are the five seed-syllables and the five hooks. Below, the blazing of fire and so forth completely purifies the stains. Having purified the unpleasant odors and conceptual thoughts with HA, HRĪḤ, and HO, then taste it according to the ritual. The mantra for offering to that is: OṂ VAJRA GIṄ NI JAḤ HŪṂ BAṂ HOḤ. OṂ MAHĀKĀLA IDAṂ DHŪPA PUṢPA DĪPAṂ GANDHAṂ IDAṂ BALIṂ KHA KHA KHĀHI KHĀHI TIṢṬHA TIṢṬHA BANDHA BANDHA PACA PACA HŪṂ PHAṬ. With this mantra, make the offering. Holding the vajra and bell, the Hero—
Sing the song with the mantra of solitude, and offer this perfect praise:
HŪṂ! In the form of a rākṣasa, you are the subduer of the malevolent; you are a bodhisattva who destroys the triple-layered city. To you, the Excellent One (Sugata), I prostrate and offer praise! I praise you as a venerable lord who has attained sovereignty in this world. Just as the brahmins of old have declared, you are the one who accomplishes supreme auspiciousness; you are renowned everywhere as the swift-minded embodied one. You act as a protector and guard the world; in battle, you are always victorious. I offer praise to the Lord of Death (Yama) and the Mātṛkās. Wearing a blue silk upper garment, you manifest both beautiful and hideous forms. With your eyes, you cause all to tremble with awe; you bring peace of mind to those who accomplish the supreme. Possessing a compassionate heart and being exceedingly brave, I always praise you.
Within the center of my sun [disk], abiding in the manner of a garland, within the center of my own heart, from the syllable RAṂ, the light of the sun and a lotus arise. From the center of the curved knife (kartṛkā), form the garland. In the manner of circling from the mouth to the navel, recite the mantra as much as possible, such as one hundred thousand times. From that, the mantra becomes a curved knife; imagine that it cuts and hacks [the enemy].
OṂ MAHĀKĀLA GUṆAHR̥DA EKAJAṬĪ HŪṂ PHAṬ. Then, the signs will arise. Once the signs have become stable, engage in the activity of slaying. By means of the aforementioned mantra and application, smear a triangular maṇḍala and draw a sword and a curved knife. Make the triangle, the spear-tip, the arrow, and the bow black in color.
Whatever the form of the enemy may be, one should fashion an image from clay mixed with water, or from the dust of a charnel ground, flour, the five nectars, and blood, measuring eight finger-widths. Having made it, one should insert a wheel into its heart. By means of the light rays of the mantra, the yakṣas and female spirits should be summoned. Once summoned, they should be struck against the malevolent one. Alternatively, in the skull of one whose lineage is extinct, one should draw a wheel with blood. In its center, one should draw a curved knife. Interspersing the mantra with the name, one should fill it with poison. If buried in a place where nāgas dwell, the victim will be seized by leprosy. If filled with blood and buried in a cemetery, the family lineage will be cut off at the root. If buried in a field, the crops will not grow. By striking it with a kīla and placing it between the sun and moon, or in the form of an owl atop a swastika, one will kill with a murderous intent. If one anoints the entire body with blood, poison, mustard seeds, the three hot spices, intoxicants, and nectar, one will be afflicted by all types of infectious fevers. Filling a skull with blood and reciting the mantra one hundred thousand times, one should strike it with a kīla at a shrine; the city will certainly be thrown into turmoil. Filling it thoroughly with blood and poison and burying it at the foundations of the city walls, there is no doubt the city will be destroyed. On the days of the sun, if one applies hot melted butter to the feet and ties a large crow’s neck-feather around the waist, one will be expelled. Taking earth from an anthill, saffron, bezoar, and turmeric, one should mix them with the blood of the ring finger. Having carefully drawn a wheel and inserted a wax effigy (liṅga) within it,
Facing west, through a ritual performed for seven days, even Śakra will be brought under one's power. By mixing the powder of datura with the powder of wood-eating insects and applying it to "great meat" (mahāmāṃsa), if it is placed in the mouth, one will certainly become insane. Having cut and chopped [the substance] with a knife, one should perform the fire offering (homa) ritual in a sacrificial pit. Having established a support upon a stone and wrapped it in silk, one should dwell in a secluded place and make offerings of black flowers and so forth, along with "great meat," incense, and bali offerings. If this is performed by one possessing the samaya, whatever the mind desires will be accomplished. Through the benefits of composing this sādhana of the glorious protector Kṛṣṇa, one will delight in the practice and swiftly attain the siddhis. This concludes the stages of the sādhana of the glorious protector Kṛṣṇa, composed by the master Nāgārjuna. It was translated by the Paṇḍita Trilakṣa and the translator, the monk Darma Drak.
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.