Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This text is a ritual praise directed toward the deity Vajramahākāla, structured as a series of eight verses interspersed with seed syllables and mantras. The work functions as a devotional invocation that characterizes the deity through his wrathful iconography and protective capacities. It emphasizes the deity's role as a subduer of spiritual obstacles, specifically mentioning the crushing of bhūtas and the subjugation of māras and vetālas. By detailing the deity's blood-red appearance and his possession of ritual implements like the curved knife and lasso, the text presents Vajramahākāla as a powerful guardian of the dharma. The reader is committed to a vision of the deity as the essence of mantra, whose fierce activity is directed toward dispelling the afflictions of beings across the three realms of existence. The text blends descriptive imagery with sonic elements to create a ritualized atmosphere of power and protection.
Provenance
About this text
A eulogy in praise of the deity Vajramahākāla, the Vajramahākālāṣṭakastotra is a work attributed to the Indian author Nāgārjuna. Preserved in the classical Tibetan tradition, the text appears in the Tengyur, volume ཤ, where it extends over three pages and is situated within the Other Wisdom Tantras collection. Under its Tibetan title, rdo rje nag po chen po'i bstod pa brgyad pa, the work enacts a ritual invocation through eight verses interspersed with seed syllables and mantras. It characterizes the deity through wrathful iconography—such as garlands of intestines and blood-red eyes—and describes his capacity to crush bhūtas and subdue māras and vetālas. By invoking the deity's possession of a curved knife and lasso, the text presents a powerful guardian who dispels the afflictions of beings across the three realms of existence. A scholar or serious reader consults this work today to examine the intersection of descriptive imagery and sonic elements, viewing the deity as the essence of mantra whose fierce activity is directed toward the protection of the field and the granting of the bliss of peace.
The work is significant as a representative example of the wrathful protector tradition in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, where fierce imagery is employed to symbolize the transformation of aggression into protective energy. For the modern reader, it illustrates the intersection of mantra, iconography, and ritual function in the Buddhist tantric tradition.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-3
Invocation and Iconography
A series of verses describing the deity's sounds, physical appearance, retinue, and his role in protecting practitioners and dispelling afflictions.
Themes
Wrathful Protection (1-2)
Ritual Iconography (2-3)
Dispelling Afflictions (3)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Vajramahākālāṣṭakastotra. In the language of Tibet: rDo rje nag po chen po’i bstod pa brgyad pa (The Eight-Verse Praise of Vajra Mahākāla).
Oṃ, homage to Mahākāla!
With the sound of "hā hā hūṃ" and the resonance of "kili kili," you utterly crush the hosts of bhūtas. With faces roaring "hūṃ hūṃ," your body is agitated by garlands of intestines and human flesh. In your hands, you hold a khaṭvāṅga and a short spear marked with a human hand, your form beautiful. With an ugly appearance, red-orange eyes and hair, you delight in the charnel grounds; protect us, guardians of all!
From mouth to mouth, you roar "pheṃ pheṃ phaṭ," generating great masses of fire. You dwell in the midst of these intensely blazing garlands, your limbs beautifully adorned with ornaments. With fierce, slaying hands, you constantly drink streams of dripping human blood, adorned with garlands of snakes. You dispel the burning of hell and protect the realms upon the earth; enjoy and grant us enjoyment!
Though you have attained stainless, perfect enlightenment, you are able to fill the three realms of existence. With the cries of "hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ," you daily destroy the obstacles of the world’s cattle—the wicked enemies. With the laughter of "hā hā aṭṭa," you make all times utterly terrifying. With hair and beard blazing intensely red-orange, protect us, guardians of the realms!
Possessing the grace of a playful, seductive charm, with a protruding belly, you hold a sword and the sound "khaṃ khaṃ khaṃ."
With eyes and hands red as blood from drinking rakta, raṃ raṃ ti and ru ru ru! Wondrous Illuminator, possessing fierce power, frown with a wrathful gaze, kruṃ kruṃ kruṃ! You and your retinue, protectors of the field, subduing all māras and vetālas, ṭaṃ ṭaṃ ṭaṃ! Holding a curved knife that cuts through the māras who definitely cause harm and the afflictions and habitual tendencies, hriṃ hriṃ hriṃ! Your body, like the beak of a black bird, seizes disputes and faults, wearing a garland of skulls, kaṃ kaṃ kaṃ! With marvelous light, you cause the world to tremble and appear, possessing fierce power, caṃ caṃ caṃ! Supreme deity endowed with samaya, protect the supreme assembly and the fields, saṃ saṃ saṃ! Having seen the various beings as stainless as water, you definitely obstruct Yama, yaṃ yaṃ yaṃ! Moving swiftly like the force of the wind, you illuminate the world of afflictions, baṃ baṃ baṃ! Though you cause fear by knitting your brows with a frown of curved eyebrows, you liberate from fear, bhrūṃ bhrūṃ bhrūṃ! Bringing benefit and bliss to practitioners, you protect the gates of harm, the field-protector kṣaṃ kṣaṃ kṣaṃ! With the body of patience, kṣiṃ kṣiṃ kṣiṃ, you roar a clamor difficult for the wicked to endure. With the continuous speech of "kahaha kahaha" and a body like a dark rain cloud, you alone suppress all. With the mantras hriṃ klīṃ śrīṃ and the mantras paca paca, you reduce embodied beings to ashes. Great field-protector, please pacify all obstacles that completely hinder practitioners!
Klaṃ klaṃ klaṃ! You who constantly dispel the afflictions of the beings of the three realms of existence whose bodies are perpetually afflicted, and who protect and guard them with the lasso of your hand—Paṃ paṃ paṃ! You who are the essence of mantra, whose body is mantra, who are intoxicated by mantra, and who grant the bliss of peace through mantra with your fruit-bearing hands; you who are as beautiful as the bodies of all the Victors, protect those who guard the realms!
Any practitioner or master who, possessing the wisdom of the supreme virtue of the samaya, recites these eight praises of mantra three times a day, will become endowed with merit and victory. Their lifespan, glory, fame, and wealth will increase, and their majesty will expand, overwhelming all with peerless power. Knowing all, they will cause the hosts of obstructors to be intoxicated and destroyed day and night.
This is the "Eightfold Praise of Vajra Mahākāla," composed by the great master Nāgārjuna.
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.