Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This fragmentary text provides a technical instruction for a specific ritual visualization known as the hand offering within the context of the Red Yamāntaka practice. The text directs the practitioner to undergo a process of deity yoga, beginning with the identification of the self as the yidam. The procedure involves a precise spatial visualization where eight-petaled lotuses are projected onto the palms of the hands to serve as supports for the assembly of Yamāntaka deities. The text then outlines the ritual sequence of summoning and absorbing these deities into the practitioner's body. By committing the reader to this specific mental architecture, the text aims to collapse the distinction between the practitioner and the divine assembly, utilizing the hands as a focal point for the integration of the mandala. The fragment concludes mid-sentence during the description of the subsequent ritual action.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual manual concerning the hand offering, the lag pa'i mchod pa is a work of the classical Tibetan period. It is attributed to the Indian author Dānaśīla (III). The text is preserved in the Tengyur, specifically within volume མི, where it is categorized as part of the Other Skillful Means Tantras. This brief work, spanning two pages in its source edition, enacts a precise sequence of deity yoga centered on the Red Yamāntaka. It directs the practitioner to visualize themselves as the yidam and project eight-petaled lotuses upon their palms to support the assembly of Yamāntaka deities. Through the rites of summoning and absorbing these figures, the ritual utilizes the hands as a focal point for integrating the mandala. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the technical instructions for this specific visualization and the subsequent ritual actions, such as the sprinkling of nectar, which characterize the practice of the Red Yamāntaka.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “Offering with the Hand” (Toh 1967), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1967
Summary & commentary
Significance
The text is significant as it illustrates the complex visualization techniques used in Anuttarayoga Tantra to achieve non-duality. For the modern reader, it demonstrates the precise intersection of somatic focus and mental projection in Tibetan ritual technology.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Hand Offering Visualization
Instructions on self-visualization as the yidam and the projection of lotuses and deities onto the palms.
Themes
Deity Yoga (1)
Ritual Visualization (1)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
Homage to the Blessed One, Red Yamāntaka.
Regarding the hand offering: Again, visualize yourself as the yidam. On the palms of your hands, visualize eight-petaled lotuses. Upon these, visualize the assembly of Yamāntaka deities. Perform the rites of summoning and absorbing them. Then, draw forth your right hand from your heart center; sprinkle nectar with your ring and thumb fingers while reciting OṂ ĀḤ HŪṂ, and imagine that the deities are pleased. Then, imagine the deities dissolving downward into the crown of your head. Pour that hand-wine into a vessel.
Offer the first portions of the feast gathering as torma. Perform the ritual for the leftovers to be transformed into nectar, and present those tormas to the elemental spirits. Then, the male and female yogis should each make offerings to their own heart-commitments, meditate, and perform recitations. The ritual master should then lead them with the banner of "Behold!" and so forth, and with the iron hook. After that, enjoy the feast gathering. During that time, do not engage in idle chatter, quarreling, or questioning. If you must leave, perform three prostrations, request permission, and then depart. Finally, cast the remainder torma.
The Hand Offering, translated by Dānaśīla, is complete.
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.