Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This ritual manual details the procedure for a pacification fire offering (homa) dedicated to Black Yamāri. The text functions as a technical guide for the practitioner, prescribing the physical construction of the ritual space and the specific materials required for the ceremony. It mandates the use of green kuśa grass, honey, milk, and fragrant water for the hearth, while specifying sandal-wood for the sacrificial fuel (samidh) to achieve magnetizing results. The work commits the reader to a precise sequence of physical preparations, circumambulation, and the offering of flowers, followed by the study of scriptures. By integrating these material requirements with visualization and sādhanā, the text aims to facilitate the attainment of spiritual accomplishments (siddhis) and the ultimate benefit of all sentient beings, framing the ritual as a means of both personal achievement and universal altruism.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual manual for the peaceful fire offering of Black Yamāri, this work belongs to the classical Tibetan tradition. It is attributed to the Indian author Kṛṣṇa Paṇḍita. The text was translated into Tibetan by Prajñājñānakīrti and is preserved in the Tengyur, volume མི, where it is situated within the Other Skillful Means Tantras. Spanning three pages in this edition, the work enacts a precise technical procedure for a homa, detailing the construction of the hearth with green kuśa grass, honey, milk, and fragrant water, and specifying the use of sandalwood for sacrificial fuel to achieve magnetizing results. It prescribes a sequence of physical preparations, circumambulations, and flower offerings, alongside the reading of scriptures and the use of visualization and sādhanā. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to understand the material and meditative requirements necessary to attain spiritual accomplishments and the supreme common goal for all beings.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “A Pacification Ritual of Fire Offerings for Black Yamāri” (Toh 1956), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1956
Summary & commentary
Significance
The text is significant as it illustrates the synthesis of Indian homa traditions with Tibetan Vajrayāna practice, specifically regarding the deity Yamāri. It provides insight into the material culture of Buddhist ritualism, emphasizing the role of specific substances in manipulating spiritual energy for pacification and magnetization.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introduction
Provides the title in Sanskrit and Tibetan and includes an opening homage to Mañjuśrī and Yamāntaka.
2
Ritual Preparation
Details the construction of the fire pit and the specific materials required for the fuel and hearth.
3
Closing Procedures
Prescribes circumambulation, offerings, and scriptural study, concluding with a dedication of merit.
Themes
Ritual Materiality (2)
Siddhis and Accomplishment (3)
Universal Compassion (3)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaA Pacification Ritual of Fire Offerings for Black Yamāri·
In the language of India: Kṛṣṇayamāriśāntihomavidhi-nāma. In the language of Tibet: Gshin rje gshed nag po’i zhi ba’i sbyin sreg gi cho ga zhes bya ba (The Ritual for the Peaceful Fire Offering of Black Yamāri). Homage to the Protector Mañjuśrī!
I prostrate to Yamāntaka, the embodiment of body, speech, and mind, whose color is like a youthful rain cloud, the self-arisen lord free from conceptual thought. In order to pacify misdeeds, increase merit, to subjugate and to suppress, and to swiftly attain the siddhis, I shall explain the fire offering.
Having first completed the approach retreat of the Sugatas’ dharmakāya, in a delightful location upon an auspicious and excellent site, one should purify the ground according to the characteristics. The fire pit should be one cubit in width and half a cubit in depth. Leaving a rim of four finger-widths, it should be built to a height and width of four finger-widths. On each side, two finger-widths should be marked with the forms of a lattice, a crescent moon, and a vajra. It should be made white in color, smeared with the milk of white sandalwood, and white flowers should be scattered there three times a day. Inside, a white eight-petaled lotus should be drawn, and the mudrās of the wheel, vajra, jewel, lotus, and sword should be arranged. Inside is a vajra garland, and the rim is completely surrounded by a mountain of fire. This is the description of the fire pit.
The fuel should be one cubit in length, dry and old, free from rot and living organisms. It should consist of nyagrodha, pālaśa, śamī, and fragrant woods, as well as bodhi trees, sandalwood, and other trees of excellent, sweet fragrance.
Around the perimeter of the hearth, upon a bed of spread green kuśa grass, the fire pit should be well-constructed low and smeared with honey, milk, and fragrant water. This is the procedure for the firewood used for the rite of magnetizing. The sacrificial fuel (samidh) should be made from sandalwood or other fragrant woods; it should be taken from the tips of the branches, fresh and with their leaves, and is said to be ten finger-widths in length. It should be soaked in fragrant water and milk. One must strictly avoid wood that is split at both ends, broken, eaten by insects, infested with living creatures, barkless, withered, crooked, rotten, thick, or of improper length or girth. Having attached the ritual labels, one should perform the burning. This concludes the specific categories and groups.
Namaḥ śāntiṃ kuru svāhā | amukasya sarvatrehāṃ | sarvavighnān | sarvajvāraṃ | sarvavyādhiṃ | sarvarogaṃ | sarvaviṣaṃ | sarvāmaṅgalaṃ | sarvadurnimittaṃ | sarvapāpaṃ karmāvaraṇaṃ | śāntiṃ kuru svāhā |
For the sake of purifying misdeeds, one should burn sesame and white mustard seeds, the king of such substances. Oṃ sarvapāpaṃ dahana vajrāya hūṃ phaṭ svāhā |
Then, one should offer worship, praise, and supplications. Having offered the ladlefuls (āhuti), one should perform the burning. The wisdom beings depart and the samaya beings are reabsorbed. Oṃ āḥ hūṃ muḥ |
Then, having purified the fire, all the remaining burnt offerings should be offered to the fire deity with mantras. One should perform the worship, praise, ladle-offerings, and the request for forgiveness. The wisdom fire deity is requested to depart, and the samaya deity is dissolved into the form of the blazing fire. Then, by releasing my own great mudrā and the manner of reabsorbing it into the heart, I abide as the king of samaya.
Circumambulate the hearth and offer flowers. Then, engage in activities such as reading the scriptures, in whatever manner is appropriate. I have composed these sādhanas and visualizations in order to attain the accomplishments (siddhis). By whatever merit is gained through this, may all beings attain the supreme common goal. This concludes the ritual for the peaceful fire offering of the glorious Black Yamāri.
To the great feet of the Guru Kṛṣṇa, the yogi Guṇajñāna of Suvarṇadvīpa sent the Brahmin Karmacandra and had this fire offering composed for the sake of the yogis at the glorious Vajrāsana, the supreme seat. It is as beautiful as the light of the sun for the Mahāyāna. This was translated into Tibetan by the mendicant yogi 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.