Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This text is a praise (stotra) dedicated to the deity Mahākāla, attributed to the scholar Tsami Sangye Drak. The work functions as a ritual invocation and descriptive hymn, characterizing the deity through a series of wrathful iconographic markers and sonic manifestations. The text details Mahākāla's physical attributes—including the tiger-skin belt, a garland of heads, and the presence of Akṣobhya on his crown—while emphasizing his role as a subduer of demons, gods, and asuras. By describing the deity's dance in charnel grounds and his utterance of specific seed syllables, the text establishes Mahākāla as a powerful force of incineration and protection. Ultimately, the work commits the reader to a vision of the deity as a means of establishing all sentient beings upon the vajra ground, bridging the gap between terrifying appearance and the soteriological goal of liberation.
Provenance
About this text
A eulogy dedicated to the deity Mahākāla, the Śrībhaṭṭārakamahākālastotra is a work of classical Tibetan tradition. It is attributed to the Indian author rtsa mi sangs rgyas grags pa. The text was translated into Tibetan by se lo tsa ba and is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཤ, where it comprises three pages within the Other Wisdom Tantras collection. The work enacts a ritual invocation through a descriptive hymn, characterizing the Great Black One via wrathful iconographic markers and sonic manifestations. It details the deity's physical attributes—including a tiger-skin belt, a garland of heads, and the presence of Akṣobhya upon his crown—while emphasizing his role as a subduer of demons, gods, and asuras. By describing the deity's dance in charnel grounds and his utterance of specific sounds such as torkena and tora-kiṇi-ki, the text establishes Mahākāla as a powerful force of incineration and protection. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the intersection of terrifying appearance and soteriological goals, specifically how the deity functions as a means of establishing sentient beings upon the vajra ground.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “A Praise of the Venerable Mahākāla” (Toh 1776), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1776
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant for its synthesis of Indian Prakrit origins and Tibetan translation, reflecting the transmission of tantric liturgy. It provides a precise iconographic blueprint of Mahākāla in both Crow-Faced and Face-Bearing forms, which is essential for understanding the visualization practices of the Indo-Tibetan tradition.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-2
Invocation and Iconography
Initial homage and a detailed description of Mahākāla's physical form, ornaments, and the presence of Akṣobhya.
3
Ritual Activity
Description of the deity's sonic utterances, his dance in the charnel grounds, and his destruction of obstructive forces.
4
Conclusion
Statement of the deity's purpose regarding sentient beings and colophon identifying the author and linguistic origins.
Themes
Wrathful Iconography (1-2)
Sonic Manifestation (3)
Soteriological Subjugation (1, 3-4)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Śrī-bhaṭṭāraka-mahākāla-stotra. In the language of Tibet: rje btsun dpal nag po chen po la bstod pa (Praise to the Glorious Great Black Lord). Homage to the glorious Mahākāla!
The Great Black One, who swiftly subdues and slays all demons and those on the side of the demons without exception, and drinks their streams of blood; who is terrifying, dark in color, short in stature, with a protruding belly and orange-red hair dwelling amidst a mass of fearsome fire; who, with a wrathful laugh of ha hūṃ pheṃ, causes the hosts of gods and asuras to tremble and bow, surrounded by a retinue that suppresses them in a fierce manner.
The Great Black One, who swiftly subdues and slays all demons and those on the side of the demons without exception, and drinks their streams of blood; who, with the tinkling of his belt-bells and small bells, and the ḍamaru sounding miṭiṭi hūṃ ha like lightning within lightning, proclaims these sounds; who dances in equal and unequal steps, surrounded by hosts of gods and goddesses, and sports in the charnel grounds.
The Great Black One, who swiftly subdues and slays all demons and those on the side of the demons without exception, and drinks their streams of blood; who is short and stout, with three eyes as red as the bandhūka flower that terrify and strike fear into obstructors, and a tongue that flickers like lightning; who, with fangs bared, crunches the flesh and bones of the wicked and malevolent with the sound krūṃ krūṃ, and sucks the marrow and fat.
The Great Black One, who swiftly subdues and slays all demons and those on the side of the demons without exception, and drinks their streams of blood.
Adorned with the five mudrās and the eight nāgas, with a tiger-skin belt wrapped around his lower body, Akṣobhya resides upon his crown. He emanates hosts of tathāgatas from his body, and a garland of heads strung together with human intestines hangs down as a necklace. Having swiftly subdued and slain all māras and the sentient beings on the side of the māras without exception, the Great Black One (Mahākāla) drinks the streams of their blood. He devours the hosts of Rudra and Varuṇa who are difficult to repel; with his left hand he holds a trident and drinks from a skull-cup of blood. In his right hands he wields a curved knife like the tongue of Yama and a sword. He destroys the malevolent and causes them to abandon their sins far away. The Great Black One, who swiftly subdues and slays all māras and the sentient beings on the side of the māras without exception and drinks the streams of their blood, is the venerable Vajra Mahākāla who sports with the eight goddesses known as the Vedas. At the request of Buddhakīrti, may the purposes of whoever recites this constantly, day and night, be accomplished, and may all sentient beings without exception be established in the special stages.
Homage to the glorious Vajra Mahākāla! Short in stature, with a protruding belly, dark in color, and tawny-black hair bristling upward, he burns all asuras, enemies, and obstructors without exception with his mass of blazing flames. With his fierce face, he partakes of nectar and severs heads. Laughing in a wrathful manner, he strikes terror into malicious enemies. From his waist and thighs, a multitude of bells and tinklets resound, proclaiming the sounds of "ṭi ṭi," "hūṃ haṭ," and "ru."
From his mouth, he utters the sounds torkena, tora-kiṇi-ki, and ṣṭraṇi. Dancing with his feet in both even and uneven positions, he sports in the charnel grounds, completely surrounded by hosts of mātṛkā goddesses. With the sounds of haka, hūṃka, and pheṃka, he incinerates the gods and asuras. He swiftly seizes the life-force of the entire assembly of enemies and obstructors without exception. He drinks the streams of blood from the enemies and obstructors of the dark side into his mouth. O Mahākāla, swiftly fulfill the intentions of the practitioner!
His three eyes are red like coral flowers, and his eyebrows are arched. His tongue flickers like lightning, terrifying and striking fear into the hosts of obstructors. With fangs bared from his mouth, he devours the flesh, bones, and marrow of all enemies and obstructors without exception, making the krūṃ-krūṃ sound and sucking out their vital essence. His lower body is completely wrapped in a tiger-skin skirt. Adorned with the five mudrās and the eight nāgas, from his crown, the Tathāgatas such as Akṣobhya radiate forth. He wears a necklace of intestines and a garland of fresh human heads. The fierce Black One devours the Lord of Waters and others into his mouth. In his left hands, he holds a trident and a skull-cup filled with the blood of the wicked. In his right hands, he holds a curved knife and a sword, like the tongue of a yakṣa. You, who cast away and destroy the wicked enemies from afar, dwell here in the manner of a dance, surrounded by the eight goddesses. Day and night, you accomplish all the aims of the practice without exception. Thus, the Buddha Yaśas requested this of the Protector of the World.
You establish all sentient beings without exception upon the vajra ground. This praise of the venerable and glorious Mahākāla, known as the Crow-Faced and the Face-Bearing, composed by the great scholar Tsami Sangye Drak, is hereby complete. These verses, which originally existed in the Prakrit language, were translated into the Tibetan language by Se Lotsāwa.
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.