Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This text is a tantric praise dedicated to the deity Yamāri (Yamāntaka), attributed to the primordial Buddha Vajradhara. The work functions as a ritualized visualization and glorification of the deity's wrathful manifestation of Mañjuśrī. It begins with a formal homage to Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta and proceeds to describe the iconographic details of Yamāri, specifically his three faces, six arms, and his mount, a fierce buffalo standing upon a sun-disc. The text emphasizes the deity's supreme power, asserting that his presence renders the weapons of other wrathful entities ineffective and earns the praise of the Buddhas of the three times. By detailing the terrifying nature of the deity's form and his ability to shake the fierce retinue, the text commits the reader to a practice of devotion and prostration toward the wrathful aspect of wisdom, framing the deity as the ultimate conqueror of death and ignorance.
Provenance
About this text
A tantric eulogy dedicated to the deity Yamāri, the Vajradhṛgyamāristutitantra serves as a ritualized glorification of the wrathful manifestation of Mañjuśrī. The work is attributed to the primordial Buddha Vajradhara. Preserved in the classical Tibetan tradition, the text appears in the Tengyur, volume མི, where it comprises four pages and is categorized within the Other Skillful Means Tantras. In the Tibetan canon, it is known as the rdo rje 'dzin pas gshin rje gshed po la bstod pa'i rgyud. The work enacts a vivid visualization of Yamāntaka, describing his three faces, six arms, and his mount—a fierce buffalo standing upon a sun-disc. It argues for the deity's supreme power, asserting that his presence renders the weapons of other wrathful kings ineffective and earns the praise of the Buddhas of the three times. By detailing the terrifying nature of the deity's form and his ability to shake the fierce retinue, the text invites a practice of devotion and prostration toward the wrathful aspect of wisdom. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the iconographic details and the devotional framework surrounding the conqueror of death.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “A Tantric Praise of Yamāri By Vajradhara” (Toh 1969), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1969
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant for its representation of the synthesis between the wisdom of Mañjuśrī and the wrathful imagery of Yamāntaka. It illustrates the tantric method of utilizing terrifying iconography to symbolize the transmutation of aggression and death into enlightenment. For the modern reader, it provides a primary example of the descriptive precision required for deity yoga in the Indo-Tibetan tradition.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introduction and Homage
Provides the Sanskrit and Tibetan titles and offers homage to Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta.
2
Iconographic Description
Describes the physical attributes of Yamāri, including his buffalo mount, his rain-cloud colored body, and his three faces and six arms.
3
Glorification and Prostration
Asserts the deity's superiority over other wrathful kings and records the author's prostration to Mañjuśrī Yamāntaka.
Themes
Wrathful Iconography (2-3)
Divine Supremacy (3)
Deity Yoga and Visualization (2)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Yamāritunottantravajradhṛk. In the language of Tibet: rDo rje 'dzin pas gshin rje gshed po la bstod pa'i rgyud (The Tantra of the Praise to Yamāntaka by Vajradhara). Homage to the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta.
Then, in the realm of Akaniṣṭha, within the bhaga of the consort, the King of Wrathful Deities, Yamāntaka, remained while praising his own greatness. At that time, Vajradhara, having expanded the bhaga of the consort, offered this praise to Yamāntaka:
HŪṂ! King of Wrathful Deities, Yamāntaka of hatred,
You abide in the dharmadhātu, the nature free from conceptual elaboration.
Without conceptual signs, your nature is spontaneously present.
You are the non-dual wisdom body that destroys the fierce Lord of Death.
Born from the force of stainless, pure compassion,
Bhagavān Yamāntaka, supreme blazing body,
You embrace non-dually in the great bliss of enjoyment.
In union, unstained by the fault of passion,
You tame wandering beings through the skillful means of compassion.
To subdue the fierce, you assume a terrifying, fierce form.
When other kings of wrathful deities behold you,
They are struck with wonder, terrified, and flee.
Your mind destroys the Lord of Death and hatred;
You are the protector of beings who acts as the demon of the afflictions.
Unwavering and non-conceptual, you abide in the dharmakāya.
You are Yamāntaka, who cuts the web of discursive thought.
Homage to the family of the mind of hatred!
Though you do not waver from the non-elaborated dharmadhātu,
To tame through fierce hatred, you manifest a blazing body.
You spread the male and female Lords of Death as your seat.
He dwells upon a buffalo, with his two legs in the posture of extension and contraction. The powerful buffalo runs fiercely, its iron hooves clattering. Its dewlap blazes, its horns are sharp, and it stands upon a sun-disc seat. Your body is like a rain cloud; with three faces and six arms, you are exquisitely beautiful. Your tawny hair and beard stand erect. Your head is beautifully adorned with the nāgas of the four families and the five mudrās. Seeing the space between your eyebrows, one is certain to be terrified. Your nine eyes, like glowing embers, are turned upward. From your upturned nostrils, poisonous snakes of hatred emerge. Your blood-drenched mouth is wide open. You bare your fangs, which are like blazing crescent moons. Uttering the fierce sound of HŪṂ, your tongue is curled upward. You wear the severed heads of flesh-eaters as ornaments for your body. You are a short and terrifying form that strips away all pride. You are the blazing wheel that subdues the four māras. With the sword of non-dual insight, you brandish the method. With the staff of karma, you destroy the Lord of Death. Skilled at burning away the afflictions, your hand threatens saṃsāra. Brandishing the axe of insight, you sever the afflictions. You bind wrong views into great bliss. You possess the family and the perfection of insight. With a large belly that hangs down and short, fierce limbs, you are terrifying to behold. You are adorned with a tiger-skin garment, the garment of an aged predator. Your five limbs are well-wrapped by the five nāgas. Pervaded by the bliss of the untainted, you dwell amidst the fire that destroys the eon. Your most beautiful body blazes with a mass of light. In the bliss of method and insight, you embrace in non-duality.
When the majestic form of Yamāntaka is seen, the weapons of other wrathful kings fall away. Even the Buddhas of the three times offer praise to you. To the one who causes the terrifying assembly of the fierce retinue to tremble, I prostrate and praise the body of Mañjuśrī Yamāntaka. The bliss of the four wheels abides in you; you perfectly proclaim the stainless, pure speech. With the mantra HRĪḤ ṢṬRĪḤ, you subdue the malevolent ones of the three realms. You are the one who brings great joy to Vajravārāhī. With the pride of your "Ha Ha" laughter, you bring joy; to the supreme speech of the Victorious One who devours the malevolent, the Victors of the ten directions praise you with one voice. To the Protector Yamāntaka, the pure wheel of the Victorious One’s speech, I prostrate and praise. You act for the benefit of beings as vast as the limits of space; your unimpeded activity pervades the ten directions. You sever the machinery of karma and perfect the wheel of the four activities. To the King of Wrathful Ones, the Yamāntaka of hatred, who perfects the body and speech, I prostrate and praise. To the Yamāntaka who devours the malevolent, the body of Mañjuśrī Yamāntaka, who has brought his activity to completion, I prostrate and praise. Whoever, throughout the three times, offers this praise with a mind of non-conceptual devotion, has praised all the Victors; in a single lifetime, they will become like Yamāntaka himself. This is the chapter on praise from the Tantra of the Praise to Yamāntaka by Vajradhara. It 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.