Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This fragmented sādhana provides instructions for the ritual invocation and propitiation of Pretarāja, the Lord of Death, who is identified as the Mara of Death and the force linking the aggregates to rebirth. The text functions as a manual for a practitioner to achieve success in manifesting the deity through specific material and sonic means. It commits the reader to a series of transgressive and precise ritual actions, including the construction of a physical effigy using charnel ground charcoal, earth, and donkey urine, and the insertion of a skull into the figure's heart. The ritual process involves the offering of a great bali of flesh and the performance of a feast gathering (gaṇacakra). The text concludes with the recitation of complex mantras and the use of ritual wheels to direct the deity's power, emphasizing the technical precision required to manage the forces of death and rebirth.
Provenance
About this text
A sādhana for the ritual propitiation of the King of the Pretas, the Lord of Death, this work belongs to the classical Tibetan tradition. It is preserved in the Tengyur, volume མི, where it is situated within the Other Skillful Means Tantras and extends over three pages. The work enacts a series of precise and transgressive ritual operations designed to manifest the deity, who is identified as the Mara of Death and the force linking the aggregates to rebirth. The practitioner is instructed to offer a great bali of flesh and perform a feast gathering, while constructing a physical effigy from earth, donkey urine, and charcoal sourced from a charnel ground. A skull is inserted into the heart of this form, which is then suppressed in a charnel-house or charnel ground on specific lunar days. A scholar or serious reader consults this text to examine the technical requirements of the ritual process, the use of specific mantras, and the material culture of the charnel ground as employed to manage the forces of death.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “Sādhana of Pretarāja, the Lord of Death” (Toh 1966), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1966
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant for its representation of the intersection between Buddhist tantra and the propitiation of chthonic deities. It illustrates the use of 'wrathful' materials and transgressive substances to manipulate the processes of samsara, reflecting a specific stratum of ritual practice focused on the Lord of Death.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Theological Definition
Defines Pretarāja as the Mara of Death and the agent of rebirth.
2
Offerings and Manifestation
Details the near-approach, the offering of great flesh, and the feast gathering.
3
Ritual Construction
Instructions for creating a physical form of the deity using specific materials and a skull.
4
Mantras and Final Stages
Lists the specific mantras and the placement of ritual wheels for the final stages of the practice.
Themes
Ritual Construction and Materiality (3)
Propitiation and Offerings (2)
The Mechanics of Rebirth (1)
Mantra and Sonic Technology (2, 4)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
The Sādhana of the King of the Pretas, the Lord of Death
The King of the Pretas, the Lord of Death, is known as the Mara of Death. He is the demon of the bodies of all wandering beings, appearing to all beings like a shadow follows a body. He is the one who links the aggregates to rebirth. When one sees the form of that terrifying one, the foul odor of Yama arises. Then, the demon of one's own life-force resides in the northern direction; homage to the one with bared fangs.
In that regard, the form of the Lord of Death as a man should be drawn on a cloth one cubit in size, dressed in the raiment of a preta. He is black, with one face and two arms, terrifying, with matted hair and four bared fangs. He is unadorned, wearing a garland of bones. In his right hand he holds the staff of Yama, and in his left he carries a noose with the threatening gesture. He should be drawn as standing upon a buffalo.
There, the great yogi should remain in his presence and practice śamatha. Alternatively, from the three types of sandhi, from the syllable HŪṂ, the Great Black One arises. Having recited the eleven syllables, one should meditate on him just as he is drawn on the cloth. OṂ KĀLARŪPA YAMARĀJA HŪṂ PHAṬ. Then, the method for the approach retreat is taught: having gone to a charnel ground or a forest, through the manner of recitation, he should be known to arrive laughing "HA HA." Once he has become manifest, offer the bali. This is the essence mantra for the approach: OṂ KĀLARŪPA BHĪMA YAKṢA HŪṂ MAHĀROṢAṆAṂ NARASIDDHAYE SARVABHŪTĀDHIPATAYE YAMARĀJĀYA HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ PHAṬ SVĀHĀ. Possessing the beginning, middle, and end perfectly, the fourteen divisions constitute the approach. Without dividing them according to the sequence—
Know this to be the near-approach (upasevā). When success is achieved and [the deity] is manifest, offer a great bali of "great flesh" (mahāmāṃsa). OṂ KĀLARŪPA YAMARĀJA HŪṂ IDAṂ BALIṂ GṚHṆA KHA KHA KHĀHI KHĀHI. Present the feast gathering (gaṇacakra) and so forth directly. If success is thus achieved, perform the ritual activity: seek a skull (kapāla) with auspicious or inauspicious marks. Whether it has one or two segments, draw a line from the forehead to the nape of the neck. On a pure human skull or a shroud from a corpse, draw the form of the yakṣa Vaivasvata. Using ink made from crow's blood, charnel ground charcoal, and donkey urine, draw it well with a pen made of human bone. On the side of the crown, draw a wheel (cakra) on cloth. It should have three concentric circles; on the second circle, draw it with the measure of two spokes each. As for the arrangement of the secret mantra (mantra) there: MA MA ŚATRŪṂ AMUKAṂ. Write this in the center of the wheel's hub. Starting from the east, it is as follows: TRĀSA YA TRĀSA YA | ĀKAḌḌHYA ĀKAḌḌHYA | ŚOṢAYA ŚOṢAYA | HANA HANA | DAHA DAHA | PACA PACA | BANDHA BANDHA | CŪRṆA CŪRṆA. On the outermost circle, starting from the east, write as follows: CAKṢA VAJRA NAGHORA VĀTRA MAKṢETRAPĀLĀYA | CCHINDHA CCHINDHA MI | BHINDHA BHINDHA | THĀKAṂ VAJRAVĀDHI | RUDHIRARGHASA | OṂ MĀRAYA VAJRAYE STAMBHAYA HŪṂ PHAṬ. In the middle, write the name and clan of the enemy. On the back seams, write the secret mantra. Bind that skull with blue or black thread. Warm the skull over a fire of funeral wood. Having performed that for three days, [fashion] the Lord of Death of the ritual activity (karmayamāntaka) one cubit in height.
One-faced, baring fangs, with two hands. On the seventh lunar day, using earth, Vairocana, and charcoal from a charnel ground, one should fashion a form with the urine of a donkey. A skull should be inserted into its heart. Having written the mantra upon a wheel and recited it, on the fourteenth or eighth day of the waning moon, one should suppress it in a charnel ground or a charnel-house. Once the ritual is thus completed, whatever object is targeted will fall under the power of one's own Māra.
That Lord of the Dead, the King of Pretas, resides in the center of the Anavatapta Lake, at the edge of the Black Mountain, between the incense mountains and the peaks. There is a lake equal in length and breadth. Five hundred yojanas beneath that is the abode of the Lord of the Dead, the King of Pretas; he dwells in the region behind the necks of all beings. His consort is Cāmuṇḍī. Upon the skulls of a childless man and woman, between the two jawbones, one should draw her form on a shroud. Her face, hands, and feet should be drawn as before. There, the Lord of Death, Cāmuṇḍī, is black, with three eyes and a frowning brow. Her mouth is agape, her hair is disheveled, and her breasts hang down. She has a large belly and wears a garment of a kālarātri (time-walker). In her right hand is a trident, and in her left a skull. Joined with a human skull and bound with human sinew, a wheel should be inserted between them. Upon that, the wheel of the Lord of Death should be drawn as before. Regarding the wheel of the Mātṛs: on a cloth, in the manner of the Lord of Death, one should draw it with eighteen spokes, starting from the center and proceeding accordingly. In the center of the hub, one should write: mama sarva śatrūn. From the east, in this sequence: amukasya dhuna dhuna bandha bandha.
MATHA MATHA | PRAMATHA PRAMATHA | HŪṂ JVARA JA | JARENA VYA | DHIRIGE NAM | Regarding the final stages: starting from the east, it is as follows: NIGANA SHIVAṂ HAṂ YAṂ RI TSU SA YA | ABIŚAYA | JAṂ BAṂ HṚDAYAṂ | CHINDA MADE PAŚIGAṂ MĀRAYA NĀŚAYA HŪṂ PHAṬ | Furthermore, between the two wheels, insert the name and form of the one to be acted upon. The guru, having visualized the Lord of Death, should recite the life-essence mantra. Likewise, for the one wearing blue garments, the consort, or the heroic ritual assistant, one should arrange the ten life-essences of the consort: OṂ HRĪḤ CAMUṆḌĪYE HŪṂ PHAṬ SVĀHĀ | Whatever wheels of the father and mother there may be, they should be placed within the aforementioned skull-cup. With a cord made of the hair of the deceased, bound with human sinew, and using human intestines as the dhāraṇī-cord, one should hold it with the principal deity and the dhāraṇī, place it upon the maṇḍala, and perform the recitation. For the mantras of the upper and lower wheels, recite the principal deity and the form [mantra] one hundred thousand times. Then, once the recitation is complete, suppress it in a charnel ground, a temple, a mortuary, or a fierce abode of gods and nāgas. This demonstrates the death of the gods and so forth. Having made the places for that practice solitary, one should make offerings to the guru, father, and mother. Whosoever arises, they are to be liberated. If one does not perform the liberation at that time, then one will die oneself. Do not reveal this secret to others. This concludes the sādhana of the King of Pretas, the Lord of Death.
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.