Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This text is a ritual praise dedicated to the maṇḍala of Black Yamāri (Black Yamāntaka), attributed to the Ācārya Kīrti. The work functions as a descriptive liturgy, systematically detailing the iconographic attributes of the central deity and the surrounding figures within the maṇḍala. It describes the physical characteristics of the central figure—including his three faces, colors, and ornaments—and identifies the specific deities occupying the cardinal and ordinal directions, such as Īrṣyā-Yamāntaka and the goddess Sarasvatī. By linking these visual forms to the trikāya (dharmakāya, saṃbhogakāya, and nirmāṇakāya) and specific wisdoms, the text transforms a visual map into a meditative tool. The reader is committed to a practice of prostration and praise, utilizing the precise visual details of the maṇḍala to engage with the underlying nature of the dharmadhātu-jñāna and the removal of cognitive obscurations.
Provenance
About this text
A eulogy praising the maṇḍala of Black Yamāntaka, the Kṛṣṇayamārimaṇḍalastuti belongs to the tradition of the Other Skillful Means Tantras. The work is attributed to the Indian author Kīrtipāda. Preserved in the classical Tibetan period, the text appears in the Tengyur, volume མི, where it extends over five pages under the Tibetan title gshin rje gshed nag po'i dkyil 'khor gyi bstod pa. The work enacts a ritual of prostration and praise, systematically detailing the iconography of the central deity—characterized by three faces, six arms, and vajra ornaments—and the surrounding figures of the maṇḍala. By identifying these forms as manifestations of the saṃbhogakāya and nirmāṇakāya arising from the dharmakāya, the text transforms visual description into a meditative engagement with the nature of the dharmadhātu-jñāna. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to understand the precise descriptive liturgy used to subdue hatred and to analyze the relationship between the physical attributes of the deity and the underlying Buddhist philosophical framework of the trikāya.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “A Praise of the Black Yamāri Maṇḍala” (Toh 1968), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1968
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant as it provides a precise iconographic blueprint for the Black Yamāntaka practice, illustrating the intersection of deity yoga and Buddhist philosophy. For the modern reader, it demonstrates how complex visual symbolism is used in the Indo-Tibetan tradition to represent the transmutation of negative states, such as envy and desire, into wisdom.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-3
Introduction and Central Deity
Opening homage and a detailed description of the central Black Yamāntaka's physical form and his ontological nature as the trikāya.
4-6
Maṇḍala Deities
Descriptions of the deities located in the north and northeast, including their colors, implements, and the specific obscurations they subdue.
7
Colophon
Attribution of the work to Ācārya Kīrti.
Themes
Iconography and Symbolism (2-5)
Trikāya and Dharmadhātu (3)
Subjugation of Obscurations (4-6)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Kṛṣṇayamārimaṇḍalastuti-nāma. In the language of Tibet: Gshin rje gshed nag po’i dkyil ’khor gyi bstod pa zhes bya ba (The Praise of the Maṇḍala of Black Yamāntaka). Homage to the Blessed One, Black Yamāntaka!
Carcikā and the others, through love and the rest,
Exhort the Lord of the Maṇḍala.
Having seen the nature of the vajra song
As a perfect, inseparable experience,
The form of the seminal fluid completely transforms.
From the blue syllable Māṃ arising from the sun,
He is fierce, wrathful, and blue in color,
Completely adorned with bone ornaments.
With sharp, blazing horns and bristling hair,
Dug into by his hooves and inspiring terror,
He stands upon the back of a buffalo.
With a blue vajra and its radiance,
Together with the seed-syllable itself,
He strikes fear into all of time without exception,
And perfectly absorbs it into himself.
He causes even the great terrors to be afraid.
This is the yoga of the buffalo and the vajra.
From the purification of the aggregate of consciousness,
The Lord of the Maṇḍala, Yamāntaka,
Scatters the hosts of Māras of the three worlds
By emitting fierce rays of light.
With a fierce form like dark gloom,
He gathers the stains of the afflictions
Of all wandering beings; thus he is Black.
He is the end of eternal saṃsāra and nirvāṇa.
Because he tames Yama, he is Yamāntaka.
Since he tames those who cannot be tamed by peaceful means,
He is therefore the Great Wrathful One.
With his tongue curled and emitting light,
His fangs are deeply bared.
His eyebrows, mustache, and hair are yellow.
Standing with his left leg extended,
He renders the world unconscious.
He is the very three doors of liberation.
Through complete purity, he has three faces: the central face is a great black, the right is like the light of the moon, and the left is like blood. He is fully adorned with vajra ornaments; he is short, with a protruding belly and a stout build. He is adorned with a garland of heads. Because he has fully perfected the six perfections, he has six arms. In his right hand, he holds a curved knife that cuts through all the sinful karma of every sentient being. In his left hand, he holds a skull-cup that preserves bliss. Because he has perfected the two accumulations, he is embraced by a consort of equal nature through insight. Embracing her in bliss, he desires the welfare of others. He is the very essence of the coemergent. In the remaining right hands, he holds a vajra that destroys avarice and the like; because he utterly destroys the enemies of the afflictions, he holds a blazing sword. In the remaining left hands, he holds a wheel that cuts and purifies, and he holds a lotus unstained by defects. Because he destroys the affliction of hatred, he is adorned with the lord of serpents. With the blue nāga king Nanda, he binds his hair, appearing most terrifying. With the red nāga Takṣaka, he wears earrings and bracelets, which are fearsome. With the variegated Kulika, he wears armlets. The yellow nāga known as Śaṅkhapāla serves as his bracelets. With the white Padma, he wears a necklace. The green Karkoṭa is his sash, which makes him beautiful. With the nāga Vāsuki, who is like the color of nectar, he wears a belt. The lotus-colored Padma is as white as the moon.
The great lotus is the anklet; all of them proclaim the fierce sound of phuṭ. Having double tongues and garlands of fangs, because they are the very nature of the dharmakāya, they manifest in the forms of the saṃbhogakāya and nirmāṇakāya. Through the nature of the dharmadhātu-jñāna, I prostrate and praise the one who subdues hatred.
In the east, from kṣe and a wheel, through the complete purity of the aggregate of form, is the eternal white one with six arms. His central face is white, the right black, and the left red. In his right hands he holds a wheel and a sword; in his left, he holds a jewel and a lotus. He treads upon a moon maṇḍala. Through the ādarśa-jñāna, I prostrate and praise the one who subdues delusion.
In the south, from ma and a jewel, through the complete purity of the aggregate of feeling, is the arisen Piśuna Yamāntaka. He is like the color of refined gold. His central face is yellow, the right black, and the left white. In his right hands he holds a jewel and a sword; in his left, a wheel and a lotus. Through the samatā-jñāna, I prostrate and praise the one who subdues divisive speech.
Arisen from fire and a lotus, in the west is Rāgavajra, the complete purity of the aggregate of perception. His light is like a ruby. His central face is red and gaping, the right black, and the left white. In his right hands he holds a lotus and a sword; in his left, a jewel and a wheel. Through the pratyavekṣaṇā-jñāna, I prostrate and praise the one who subdues desire.
Arisen from da and a sword, through the complete purity of the aggregate of formations...
In the north is Īrṣyā-Yamāntaka, with light like an emerald utpala. His central face is green, the right black, and the left white. In his right hands he holds a sword and a wheel; from the beautiful jewel and lotus, through the wisdom of kṛtyānuṣṭhāna, he who subdues envy—to him I prostrate and offer praise. All those with wrathful forms likewise share the characteristics of Dveṣa-Yamāntaka. In their two pure hands they hold a curved knife and a skull-cup. In non-dual play with the body of their own insight and the nature of bliss, they tread upon the solar maṇḍala. Seated at the edge of the vajra spokes, they destroy the extreme of nirvāṇa and act for the benefit of sentient beings—to them I prostrate and offer praise. At the eastern gate, from the syllable ya and a hammer, there arises one with a blue form, the very purity of the view of the transitory collection. His right face is white, the left red, and the central face blue. In his right hands he holds a hammer and a sword; in his left, a supreme jewel and a lotus. The hammer is Dveṣa-Yamāntaka; through the nature of the power of diligence, he destroys the māra of the aggregates—to him I prostrate and offer praise. In the south, from the syllable ca and a staff, there arises Daṇḍa-Yamāntaka, white in color, the very purity of the view of grasping at extremes. His right face is blue, the left red, and the central face white. In his right hands he holds a staff and a sword; in his left hands, a lotus and a wheel. Through the nature of the power of the faculties, he destroys the māra of the afflictions—to him I prostrate and offer praise. In the west, from the syllable ni and a lotus, there arises Padma-Yamāntaka himself, the very purity of the view of wrong paths. His right face is black, the left white, and the central face red.
In the right hand, he holds a lotus and a sword; in the left hand, a jewel and a wheel. Through the nature of the power of mindfulness, I prostrate and praise the one who subdues the Māra of the Lord of Death.
From the syllable RA and a sword, in the north, is the sword-bearing Yamāntaka. He is the complete purity of the view of supreme grasping. His right face is black, his left is white, and his central face is green. In the right hands, he holds a sword and a wheel; in the left, a beautiful jewel and a lotus. Through the nature of the power of meditative concentration, I prostrate and praise the one who subdues the Māra of the gods.
All are adorned with snakes and terrify with a terrifying laugh. Their hair is blazing and stands upright, burning and radiating like the fire at the end of an eon. They abide upon sun maṇḍalas, with bared fangs and terrifying faces, holding curved knives and skull-cups. I prostrate and praise the one who destroys the extremes of conceptualizing saṃsāra and liberates without abiding.
In the four intermediate directions of the crossed vajra, goddesses sit upon moon seats. In the southeast, from the syllable JA and a wheel, is the goddess Vajracarcikā. She is the purity of the earth element and the mistress of skillful means. She is a white, highly wrathful dancing goddess, similar to Mohayamāntaka. Through the essence of great loving-kindness, I prostrate and praise the one who subdues the obscuration of afflictions.
Likewise, in the south, from the syllable SA and a vajra, is Vajravārāhī. She is the purity of the water element and the mistress of power. She is wrathful with the face of a sow, similar to Dveṣayamāntaka. Through the essence of great compassion, I prostrate and praise the one who subdues the obscuration of karma.
In the intermediate direction of the west and north is the principal lady, born from the syllable DO, who is intensely red.
I prostrate and praise the goddess Sarasvatī of Utter Peace, the master of the pure fire element, who is equal to the Yamāntaka of Desire and, through the essence of great joy, destroys the obscurations of the knowable.
In the northeast corner is the green Gaurī, born of the syllable RU, the master of the pure wind element, the Yamāntaka of Jealousy and the Terrifier. She holds supreme forms and signs; I prostrate and praise her who, through the essence of great equanimity, destroys the obscurations of birth.
I prostrate and praise the assembly of goddesses who liberate one from the two extremes, who benefit the sovereign self-awareness, and who are the indivisible nature of method and wisdom.
From the syllables ṆA, YO, NI, and RA in the four intermediate directions, the external forms are perfected through purity. Within the maṇḍala, skull cups are situated, filled with the five kinds of nectar because the dharmadhātu is all-pervading. Having thus conquered the assembly of discordant factors, these are the signs of supreme victory; I prostrate and praise the essence of the four skull cups, which is great bliss.
To the terrifying form endowed with the five wisdoms of body, speech, and mind, which arises from great merit and wisdom, I prostrate with the power of my own faith, seeing but a mere fraction of the qualities of your body. By praising you with the melody of devotion, may the sufferings of those who have fallen into the ocean of the three realms of saṃsāra and are tossed in ten directions by the winds of conceptual thought be abandoned. Having cast off birth, aging, sickness, and death, may they cross the ocean of saṃsāra and attain unsurpassed enlightenment.
This is the praise of the maṇḍala of Black Yamāntaka, a concise summary of the intention of the master Śrīdhara.
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.