Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This short liturgical text, titled The Eight-Line Praise to the Glorious Mahākāla, functions as a ritual invocation of the wrathful deity Mahākāla. The text is structured as a series of verses interspersed with seed syllables and mantras (such as KṢĀṂ, YAM, and KLAṂ), which serve to activate the deity's power. The author depicts Mahākāla through traditional wrathful iconography, emphasizing his dark blue complexion, ornaments of human flesh, and his role as a destroyer of afflictions and a subjugator of the wicked. By combining descriptive praise with sonic elements, the text commits the practitioner to a ritual engagement intended to harness the deity's fierce energy for the purpose of removing obstacles and harming those who disrupt the world. The work portrays the deity as a paradoxical figure who employs a lasso of compassion to seize targets, blending destructive violence with a soteriological purpose.
Provenance
About this text
A eulogy in praise of the wrathful deity Mahākāla, the Śrīmahākālāṣṭamantrastotra is an Indian work attributed to Nāgārjuna. It entered the Tibetan tradition through the work of the translators Vairocanavajra and bod kyi lo tsa ba ban+de ldi ri chos grags, appearing in the classical Tibetan language. The text is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཤ, where it spans three pages and is categorized within the Other Wisdom Tantras. Rather than presenting a philosophical argument, the work enacts a ritual invocation. It utilizes a series of verses interspersed with seed syllables and mantras—such as KṢĀṂ, YAM, and KLAṂ—to activate the power of the deity. The imagery emphasizes Mahākāla's dark blue complexion and ornaments of human flesh, depicting him as a figure who destroys afflictions and subjugates the wicked while employing a lasso of compassion. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the intersection of descriptive praise and sonic elements in liturgical practice, observing how the work blends destructive violence with soteriological intent to harness fierce energy for the removal of obstacles.
Sanskrit title
Śrīmahākālāṣṭamantrastotra
Indian author
Nāgārjuna
Tibetan translators
Vairocanavajra, bod kyi lo tsa ba ban+de ldi ri chos grags
Cite thisAnuvāda, “A Praise of the Glorious Mahākāla in Eight Verses” (Toh 1779), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1779
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant as an example of the integration of Sanskrit mantras within Tibetan liturgical praise, reflecting the Indo-Tibetan synthesis of tantric practice. It illustrates the role of wrathful deities in the Buddhist pantheon as protectors who utilize aggression to eliminate spiritual and worldly hindrances.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-3
Invocation and Iconography
The text opens with formal titles and homages, followed by a description of Mahākāla's appearance, his sonic manifestations, and his actions in subjugating negative forces.
Themes
Wrathful Iconography (2-3)
Ritual Sound and Mantras (1-3)
Subjugation of Afflictions (2-3)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaA Praise of the Glorious Mahākāla in Eight Verses·
In the language of India: Śrīmahākālasyaṣṭamantrastotra-nāma. In the language of Tibet: dPal nag po chen po la bstod pa rkang pa brgyad pa zhes bya ba (The Eight-Line Praise to the Glorious Mahākāla). Homage to the Glorious Mahākāla! Oṃ, may it be accomplished!
Hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ! With this fierce sound, you are able to fill the entirety of the three realms of existence without exception. Ha ha ṭa ṭa! With this sound of laughter, you who at all times cause extreme terror; kaṃ kaṃ kaṃ! Adorned with a garland of skulls upon your head, your body is equal in power to the Black One. Bhrūṃ bhrūṃ bhrūṃ! With the terrifying frown of the supreme wrathful one, you who cause fear with a gaping, terrifying crow-like mouth and eat flesh; with hair and beard intensely yellow, you who enjoy the sensory fields, O Protector of the Field, please protect us!
Raṃ raṃ raṃ! With eyes agitated and rolling, you who gaze with eyes proclaiming krūṃ krūṃ krūṃ; with yellow eyebrows and bared fangs, you who delight in a corpse-seat, O Protector of the Field, please protect the field! Ha ha hūṃ and kīli kīli! Proclaiming these, your left hand holds a skull-cup together with a khaṭvāṅga; ru ru ru! Holding a stream of flowing blood in your hand, you who delight in drinking and consuming it; khaṃ khaṃ khaṃ! With your fierce right hand, you who sport with a curved knife and a sword against obstructors; ṭaṃ ṭaṃ ṭaṃ! With this ḍamaru, O Protector of the Field together with your retinue, please protect those to be tamed!
Extremely fierce, your terrifying body is adorned with a garland of heads, equal to Yama.
"KṢĀṂ KṢĀṂ KṢĀṂ"—uttering this, you seize the wicked who shout with clamor, possessing a mind of patience. Alone, you trample the manifold; having trampled them, you utter "HAKA HAKA," the color of a dark blue rain cloud. Your body is completely adorned with ornaments of human flesh and entrails, and you devour them. With your fierce hands, you seize the entire host of bhūtas, vetālas, and those with desirable or repulsive forms, and you drink the flowing streams of blood from the heads of those swiftly slain. "HRĪṂ KṢIṂ ŚRĪṂ"—with this mantra-speech, you utterly incinerate obstructors with the "PACA PACA" mantra. Dispelling play through play, you, the Field Protector, guard the lake filled with humans. Residing in the midst of a great mass of fire, stirred by the sounds "PHEṂ PHEṂ PHAṬ," you protect the bodies of the [four] families; protect the fields of the practitioners. Like the sun in water, you obtain the stainless [state] that destroys obstructors and sins for the cattle day by day. "CAṂ CAṂ CAṂ"—stirred by the force of the Fierce One, you illuminate the world with wondrous light. "KRIṂ KRIṂ KRIṂ"—by your departure, you utterly destroy the enemies and the afflictions. "SAṂ SAṂ SAṂ"—you who hear, hold, and protect the pure nature of the assembly, protect us! "BAṂ BAṂ BAṂ"—moving like Yama, you gaze like stainless, manifold water.
YAM YAM YAM: moving swiftly with the force of wind, you who know how to destroy the afflictions that harm the world. KLAṂ KLIṂ KLUṂ: in the form of a fierce nāga, you who cause the three realms to be afflicted throughout all day and night. PAṂ PAṂ PAṂ: with the lasso of compassion, you who seize the animals and protect those to be trained with your hands. Lord of Mantras, you who possess a mantra-body, you grant the peerless fruit of wisdom to the mantra-practitioners. You who protect the realms, please protect the bodies of all wandering beings without exception for a long time. Some practitioners of the path, possessing samaya and endowed with an intelligent and respectful mind, who recite these eight mantras twice a day, shall become possessed of merit. They will attain an incomparable increase in longevity, glory, fame, power, wealth, and majesty. On this earth and even in the higher realms, the hosts of obstacles for such a person will always be destroyed. This is the "Eight-Line Praise to the Glorious Mahākāla," composed by the great master, the noble Nāgārjuna. It was translated, edited, and finalized by the Indian abbot Śrī Vairocanavajra and the Tibetan translator, the monk Ldi ri Chos grags.
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.