Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This fragmentary text is a sādhana, or ritual manual, dedicated to the deity Black Yamāntaka (Kṛṣṇayamāri). The work begins with traditional bilingual titling in Sanskrit and Tibetan and an invocation of Vajrasattva and Yamāntaka. The surviving passages focus on the technical application of mantras within a ritual sequence. Specifically, the text provides two distinct mantra strings and prescribes their precise deployment in relation to ritual offerings and stages of approach, such as the torma offering and the near-approach. By following these instructions, the practitioner commits to a structured liturgical process where specific numerical markers in the mantra sequence trigger particular ritual actions. The text functions as a prescriptive guide for the practitioner to achieve ritual accomplishment through the correct synchronization of sound and action.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual manual for the practice of Black Yamāntaka, the Kṛṣṇayamārisādhana belongs to the genre of sādhana and is situated within the classical Tibetan tradition. The work is attributed to the Indian author Atīśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna. It was translated into Tibetan by Prajñāśrījñānakīrti and is preserved in the Tengyur, volume མི, where it is categorized under the Other Skillful Means Tantras and spans two pages. The work enacts a precise liturgical process, beginning with invocations to Vajrasattva and Yamāntaka and proceeding to the technical application of mantras. It prescribes the synchronization of specific mantra strings with ritual actions, such as the near-approach and the offering of torma, to ensure the practitioner achieves ritual accomplishment. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the prescriptive synchronization of sound and action within the Kṛṣṇayamāri tradition, observing how specific numerical markers in the mantra sequence trigger distinct stages of a structured liturgical sequence.
The text is significant as it illustrates the technical precision of Vajrayana ritualism, specifically the use of mantra-based triggers for liturgical movements. It provides a primary example of the Black Yamāntaka tradition, a wrathful manifestation used for overcoming obstacles and death.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introduction and Invocation
Contains the Sanskrit and Tibetan titles and homages to Vajrasattva and Yamāntaka.
2
Ritual Instructions
Lists specific mantras and instructions for their use during torma offerings and the near-approach.
Themes
Ritual Liturgy (2)
Deity Invocation (1)
Mantra Application (2)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Kṛṣṇayamārisādhana-nāma. In the language of Tibet: Gshin rje gshed nag po’i sgrub thabs (The Sadhana of Black Yamāntaka). Homage to the glorious Vajrasattva!
I bow to the venerable Vajrasattva, the mantra of the self, and to the heroic Yamāntaka, the Black Enemy. Having found this from the lineage stages, I shall explain it so that accomplishments may arise.
In the heart of one’s own perfected form, one should purify the world from the syllable Ya. Having purified it with the seven [syllables], one should place it in the abodes of Brahmā. One should clearly visualize the essence of emptiness. Within the protection of the lotus, there is a water-born moon, sharp and keen. This is Yamāntaka, the cause of enlightenment, distinguished by his root face. The melting drop is the bodhicitta; from Ya, the signs are gathered. From that, Mañjuśrī-Yamāntaka appears like a sapphire, with right and left faces white and red. He is embraced by Vārāhī, who is similar to him. In his root hands he holds a curved knife and a skull-cup; in the middle and last [hands] he holds a vajra and a sword. In the others, he holds a wheel and a lotus. He is adorned with a crown of five skulls, with tawny hair and nine eyes rolling and turning. A necklace of fifty [skulls] hangs evenly. His body is adorned with the eight [types of] fierce beings and ornaments of bone, and he is graceful with fragments. One should visualize him brandishing twelve weapons, seated upon a buffalo, blazing to the peak of existence.
Through the stages of body, speech, and mind, the sense bases, empowerment, blessing, offering, and praise; through tasting the nectar, the radiation and reabsorption, and the instructions on the stages of recitation, one will achieve accomplishments through knowledge. Oṃ kālarūpa hūṃ.
OṂ YAMARĀJA SADO MEYA YAME DORU ṆAYODA YA YADAYONI RAYAKṢEYA YAKṢEYACCHA NIRĀMAYA HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ PHAṬ SVĀHĀ. OṂ HRĪḤ ṢṬRĪḤ VIKṚTĀNANA HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ PHAṬ SVĀHĀ. With the sixth [mantra], the torma should be approached; with the thirty-eighth, the near-approach; with the fifteenth, all should be accomplished. One should turn the wheel of activity. Having found this from the Kṛṣṇayamāri Tantra and its Utpatti, I have written this sādhana. May my mind become utterly pure, and may I become Yamāntaka. The Sādhana of Black Yamāntaka, composed by the great learned master, the glorious Dīpaṃkara, is complete. It was translated by the yogin Prajñāśrījñānakīrti himself.
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.