Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This text provides a technical manual for the ritual production of milk, a specific type of siddhi known as Kṣīrasādhana. The work instructs the practitioner to utilize a bannered surface and a mind habituated to the substance to facilitate its descent. The process is linked to the attainment of Mahāmudrā, suggesting that the physical manifestation of milk is a byproduct of entering a state of non-appearance. The text incorporates citations from the Śrī-Ḍākinī-vajra-jāla-tantra and the Śrī Kṛṣṇayamāri Tantra to authorize its methodology. It commits the reader to a precise calibration of wisdom; the practitioner must maintain a slight mastery over wisdom rather than complete mastery, as the author argues that excessive wisdom would hinder beginners and discourage those at the third and fourth levels of practice. The text thus positions the accomplishment of material siddhis as a balanced exercise between mental habituation and a specific degree of cognitive control.
Provenance
About this text
A sādhana for the accomplishment of milk, the Kṣīrasādhana is a work attributed to the Indian author Jimuṭapātāla. The text was translated into the Tibetan language by Vajrapāṇi and lo tsa ba dge slong chos kyi shes rab. It is preserved in the Tengyur, volume མི, where it comprises three pages and is situated within the Other Skillful Means Tantras collection of the classical Tibetan period. The work enacts a method for the ritual production of milk, instructing the practitioner to utilize a bannered surface and a mind habituated to the substance to facilitate its descent. This process is linked to the attainment of Mahāmudrā and the state of non-appearance, drawing authority from citations of the Śrī-Ḍākinī-vajra-jāla-tantra and the Śrī Kṛṣṇayamāri Tantra. The author argues for a precise calibration of wisdom, suggesting that a slight mastery is preferable to complete mastery to avoid impairing beginners or discouraging those at the third and fourth levels of practice. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the technical intersection between the manifestation of material siddhis and the realization of Mahāmudrā.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “Sādhana [Causing the Descent] of the Milky Sap” (Toh 1963), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1963
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant for its representation of the intersection between material siddhi (the production of substances) and high-level meditative states like Mahāmudrā. It illustrates the tantric belief in the malleability of physical reality through mental mastery. For the modern reader, it provides evidence of the specific pedagogical concerns regarding the 'dosage' of wisdom required for different levels of practitioners.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Instruction and Ritual Setup
Provides the Indian and Tibetan titles, an invocation to Vajrasattva, and the initial physical and mental requirements for the practice.
2
Attainment of Siddhi
Describes the transition into a non-apparent state and the resulting attainment of Mahāmudrā, supported by a citation from the Śrī-Ḍākinī-vajra-jāla-tantra.
3
Guidelines on Wisdom
Discusses the necessary level of wisdom mastery required for the practice, citing the Śrī Kṛṣṇayamāri Tantra.
Themes
Material Siddhi (1-2)
Mahāmudrā (2)
Calibration of Wisdom (3)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaSādhana [Causing the Descent] of the Milky Sap·
In the language of India: Kṣīrasādhana. In the language of Tibet: ’o ma sgrub pa’i thabs (The Method for Accomplishing Milk). Homage to the glorious Vajrasattva!
One should look at a bannered surface and there accomplish the milk. Through the mind itself, which is habituated to milk, one thoroughly accomplishes Mahāmudrā.
A woman born of the family of Vajravārāhī and others, adorned with outer and inner qualities, should be taken by the yogin who has gained some mastery over wisdom. Having bathed her well, anointed her with fragrant scents, and adorned her with every ornament, one then proceeds with the preliminary of selflessness. One should visualize her as Vajravārāhī, arisen from the seed-syllable sa and a vajra, and oneself as Vajrasattva.
Then, having meditated on the five maṇḍalas within the body of one’s own mudrā: in her secret bhaga, from hrīḥ arises an eight-petaled lotus; at its center, from bhrūṃ, is a pearl-like [vagina]. One’s own secret [organ] is also a five-pronged [vajra] from hūṃ; at the jewel is the syllable oṃ; and at the opening is the yellow syllable phaṭ.
Then, with the mantra oṃ sarvatathāgatānurāgaṇavajrasvabhāvātmako ’haṃ, one enters into union. Having performed the scratching with the nails, one repeatedly rubs with the hand of intoxication and repeatedly [probes] with the probe of the tongue-tip. Then, once the Mistress of the Three Worlds has expanded, one enters into union with the previously explained mantra. When moving slowly and gently, the milk will flow. Once it has flowed, one should bind it with the syllable phaṭ and enter into the non-apparent. By habituating oneself to the repeated flowing of milk in this way,
[the practice is complete].
When the moment arrives, one enters into the non-apparent in an instant; at that time, the siddhi of Mahāmudrā will be attained. As it is said in the Śrī-Ḍākinī-vajra-jāla-tantra:
"With the network of sinews and all its limbs,
Though the body appears to be absent,
In that very instant,
One will assume the body of Hevajra."
This [Hevajra] is an illustration; all the modes of achieving Mahāmudrā are to be understood from the oral instructions in this way. This very point is also taught in the Śrī-Guhyasamāja and other tantras:
"When the vajra-sun has set,
One should begin the practice.
At the time of the rising dawn,
Success will be achieved; of this there is no doubt."
And:
"Repeatedly and slightly stimulate
With the fingers and the tongue-tip.
The channels will fully expand,
And the single supreme [essence] will emerge.
The mantrin, without interruption,
Should stimulate it slightly, steadily.
That which arises from the mind, residing in the jewel,
Should be bound with the syllable PHAṬ.
If the bodhicitta is not lost,
Supreme bliss will arise.
Through the proliferation of its nature,
Everything appears without exception.
Pervasive, peaceful, and blissful,
The supreme state is certainly attained.
If the bodhicitta dies,
It is not attained here through fainting."
Such an activity belongs to the yogi who delights in the path of the messenger (mudrā) from among the two paths, who has attained mastery over the speech and mind of that very [deity], and who has transcended the stage of a beginner.
One should practice with mastery over wisdom, yet not with complete mastery over wisdom, but with a slight mastery over wisdom. It is not otherwise; for the beginner would be impaired by it, and the third and fourth [levels] would not strive for it. From the Śrī Kṛṣṇayamāri Tantra, this is the instruction for accomplishing milk, composed by Ācārya Jimutavāha. The instruction for accomplishing milk is complete. Translated by Ācārya Vajrapāṇi and the translator, the monk Chos kyi shes rab.
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.