Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This ritual text, titled Bali-vidhiḥ in Sanskrit and Gtor-ma'i cho-ga in Tibetan, provides a liturgical procedure for offering a torma cake to the deity Dhūmāvatī. The text instructs the practitioner to assume the identity of the Lord of the Mandala and execute a specific offering sequence. This process is centered on a Sanskrit mantra designed to command the deity to accept the offering and consume negative influences or harmful entities. Beyond the mantra, the ritual commits the practitioner to a cycle of offerings, the recitation of praise, and a formal request for forgiveness regarding any errors in understanding or execution. The work concludes with a colophon attributing the translation to the monk Sonam Gyatso De, framing the ritual as a source of universal joy. The text functions as a prescriptive manual, blending mantra recitation with devotional requests to ensure the correct propitiation of the deity.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual manual for the offering of torma, the gtor ma'i cho ga belongs to the classical Tibetan tradition. The work is attributed to the Indian author Vanaratnapāda. Its transmission into the Tibetan language is credited to Vanaratnapāda and ’tsho ba’i btsun pa bsod nams rgya mtsho’i sde. This ritual is preserved within the Other Wisdom Tantras collection of the Tengyur, appearing in volume ཤ across three pages. The text enacts a liturgical procedure wherein the practitioner, embodying the nature of the Lord of the Mandala, offers a torma to the Bhagavatī Dhūmāvatī. This process involves the recitation of a specific Sanskrit mantra to command the deity to accept the offering and consume harmful entities, followed by praise and a formal request for forgiveness for any deficiencies in the ritual's execution. A scholar or serious reader consults this work today to examine the prescriptive intersection of mantra and devotional practice, as well as the specific ritual requirements for propitiating Dhūmāvatī.
Sanskrit title
not recorded
Indian author
Vanaratnapāda
Tibetan translators
Vanaratnapāda, ’tsho ba’i btsun pa bsod nams rgya mtsho’i sde
The text is significant for its focus on Dhūmāvatī, a deity often associated with the marginal or the destructive, indicating the inclusion of specific tantric propitiations within the Tibetan tradition. It demonstrates the linguistic intersection of Sanskrit and Tibetan in ritual technology. The emphasis on asking for forgiveness suggests a tradition concerned with the precise execution of ritual protocols to avoid negative consequences.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introduction and Invocation
Provides the title in Sanskrit and Tibetan, an homage to Yogācāra-ākāśa, and the initial instruction for the practitioner's identity.
2
Ritual Execution
Contains the primary Sanskrit mantra for the offering and instructions for subsequent praise and requests for forgiveness.
3
Colophon
Notes the emotional effect of the ritual and identifies the translator as Sonam Gyatso De.
Themes
Ritual Propitiation (1-2)
Mantra and Language (1-2)
Atonement and Forgiveness (2)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Bali-vidhiḥ. In the language of Tibet: Gtor-ma'i cho-ga (The Ritual of the Torma Offering). Homage to the glorious Yogācāra-ākāśa!
Following that, the practitioner who is the nature of the Lord of the Mandala should offer a torma to the Bhagavatī Dhūmāvatī. Regarding that, either the torma prepared in the manner previously described, or else, during the occasion of the leftovers, the portions of the leftovers of the mandala deities should be collected and poured into a large vessel. Having placed it before the principal deity of the mandala, one should offer a small amount of cooked rice, vegetables, intoxicants, and so forth upon it. Then, one should visualize Yogācāra-ākāśa Dhūmāvatī in the expanse of space in front of oneself.
Preceded by the offering of the drinking water and so forth, one should worship perfectly with flowers and the like. With the syllables jaḥ hūṃ baṃ hoḥ, one should perform the summoning and so forth upon the leftovers. Then, having poured the melted nectar into the mouth, one should recite the ho-panḍi mantra: oṃ sumi śuddha dharmā hūṃ a ā aṃ āḥ svāhā. Binding the two vajra-fists, bending the two elbows, and raising the little fingers, one should form the mudrā of the white-colored fangs. With this mantra, the torma should be offered: oṃ kuru kuru baṭali baṭali siṃhamukhi śmaśānavasini pratimukhi caṇḍakāri rudhirapriya samayarakṣitā yogāmbari kili kili rāve pitṛvanamadhye bhuñja ha bhakṣa ha jighrasa ha gaṇa.
Dūte dhāmāṅgārī caṇḍakārali tiṣṭha svīkuru hūṃ gṛhṇa sarvaduṣṭāṃ bhakṣā phuṃ phuṃ phiṃ phaṭ svāhā. Thus it is said. Once again, one should make offerings and offer perfect praise. Then, one should ask for forgiveness and make this request:
"O Mistress, whatever I have not understood,
Or what I have failed to find due to a lack of ability,
Whatever has become excessive or incomplete—
O Protector, it is right that you forgive all of this.
The Perfect Buddhas and their Sons,
Brahmā and the other gods, and the World Protectors:
For whatever faults have been committed in the rituals of the Supreme Vehicle,
Please grant forgiveness and bestow peace,
Prosperity, and well-being upon me
And all the patrons." Thus one dedicates the merit.
Then the mantra practitioner should remain as they please in the state of non-conceptuality. This is the ritual of the torma offering.
Whatever faults have occurred through forgetting the guru’s oral instructions,
Or whatever errors have arisen here from the confusion of ignorance,
I confess them perfectly to the assembly of glorious Vajra Ḍākinīs,
Whose pure compassion is utterly peaceful and gentle.
Through whatever merit I have gained from composing this pure
Sādhana of the Yoginī of Space,
May the world, through that merit, attain happiness without hardship
And become the perfectly endowed Samantabhadra.
This is the ritual of Dhūmāṅgārī, composed by the glorious Vanaratnapāda.
He who is intoxicated by the honey of the Siddha’s speech,
And who dances—the one known as the glorious Sāgarasena—
Upon the auspicious lotus of the fearless sṛkkaṇī (corner of the mouth).
This song, which brings universal joy through passion, was sung. It was translated by the monk Sonam Gyatso De, who lives by the grace of that very great Paṇḍita.
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.