Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This ritual manual, attributed to the master Śāntijñāna, provides a technical procedure for performing wrathful activities within the Vajrabhairava tradition. The text establishes strict prerequisites for the practitioner, requiring the attainment of great accomplishment, proficiency in meditative absorption, or mastery of the mantra before proceeding. The ritual process involves the creation of a physical object using specific samaya-mantras and mudrās, followed by the collection of unconventional substances—including earth from anthills and riverbanks, royal excrement, and charnel ground charcoal—to construct a ritual apparatus. The practitioner is committed to a rigorous schedule of mantra recitation, specifically targeting a named individual, combined with the application of heat from poisonous tree leaves over a black triangular maṇḍala. By integrating physical materials, precise somatic gestures, and repetitive vocalization, the text aims to effect a 'fierce turning of the wheel,' utilizing the wrathful energy of the deity to achieve a specific, likely coercive, result.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual manual concerning the rotation of the wheel of wrathful activity, the dpal rdo rje 'jigs byed kyi rtog pa las 'khor lo bskor ba'i las drag po phyogs gcig pa belongs to the Vajrabhairava tradition. The work is attributed to the Indian author Śāntijñāna. It was translated into classical Tibetan by Amoghavajra (II) and is preserved in the Tengyur, volume མི, where it is situated within the Other Skillful Means Tantras collection. Spanning three pages in this edition, the text enacts a technical procedure for wrathful application, stipulating that the practitioner must first possess mastery of the mantra, proficiency in meditative absorption, or the attainment of great accomplishment. The ritual requires the use of a charnel ground or other desolate locations to fashion an effigy from substances such as royal excrement, charcoal, and earth from anthills and riverbanks. By combining these materials with a black triangular maṇḍala, poisonous tree leaves, and a rigorous four-day cycle of mantra recitation targeting a specific individual, the practitioner executes a precise spiritual operation. Scholars and serious readers consult this text today to examine the specific material requirements and meditative prerequisites associated with the performance of wrathful rituals in the Indo-Tibetan tradition.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “The One Section on Wrathful Activities That Turn the Wheel, From the Ritual Manual of Glorious Vajrabhairava” (Toh 1980), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1980
Summary & commentary
Significance
The text is significant as an example of the 'wrathful' category of Tibetan Buddhist ritual technology, demonstrating the use of taboo substances and coercive mantras. For the modern reader, it illustrates the intersection of meditative attainment and material magic in the Vajrayana tradition.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Prerequisites
Outlines the necessary spiritual qualifications for the practitioner.
2
Ritual Construction and Materials
Details the drawing of figures and the collection of specific physical elements.
3
Application and Mantra Recitation
Describes the assembly of the liṅga and the specific mantra cycles to be performed.
4
Colophon
Identifies the work as part of the Śrī-Vajrabhairava-kalpa by Śāntijñāna.
Themes
Ritual Prerequisites (1)
Materiality and Taboo Substances (2)
Mantra and Somatic Practice (2-3)
Wrathful Activity (3-4)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaThe One Section on Wrathful Activities That Turn the Wheel, From the Ritual Manual of Glorious Vajrabhairava·
Homage to glorious Mañjuvajra. It is said that whoever wishes to engage in the ritual application should do so when they have attained the great accomplishment (sādhana), or when they are proficient in meditative absorption (samādhi), or when they have mastered the mantra. Regarding that, the location should be a charnel ground, the foot of a solitary tree, a crossroads, or any place where spirits (bhūta) dwell. The time should be from the twenty-second day of the month until the new moon. First, one should satisfy the noble ones and the ḍākinīs with torma offerings and pure offerings. One should then please the local spirits of that area with sacrificial gifts, proclaim the truth, and command them to act as assistants. Then, one should perform a peaceful fire offering (homa).
Next, one should draw the wheel. Possessing the meditative absorption of one’s own deity, one should draw it while naked and facing south. To do this, take a cloth from a charnel ground and smear it with poison, blood, mustard seeds, neem, the juice of datura, the remains of what a crow has eaten, human excrement, and human ashes. Having thoroughly cleaned the cloth, make ink from the aforementioned substances and charcoal from a corpse. Then, using a crow’s quill, draw the wheel.
Regarding the sequence of the wheel: in the center, draw the eight ya syllables. Surrounding that, from the second circle outward, encircle it with the thirty-two syllables. In the center, between the ya and the ya, write the name of the person to be accomplished. On the outermost circle, write the ten-syllable mantra interspersed with the name of the person to be accomplished. Outside of that, write a garland of syllables. In the cardinal and intermediate directions, write eight hūṃ syllables. In the four corners, write phaṭ.
At that time, one should draw [the figure] using the samaya-mantra and mudrā. Once finished, prostrate to the deity and say, "May the word be made true!" Then, take earth from an anthill, earth from the two banks of a river, the excrement of a king, and charcoal from a charnel ground. At the midpoint of the day and night, knead these with urine and fashion an effigy of the target eight finger-widths in height. Roll the aforementioned wheel and insert it into the heart of that effigy. Then, having summoned the target through the application of the summoning rite, cause them to descend into the effigy. Strike the five points of the body with kīla-stakes of human bone and fill all the joints with sharp thorns.
Regarding the summoning: while abiding in the meditative absorption of the deity, visualize in front of you a wind mandala arising from the syllable yaṃ. Upon it is a moon seat, and upon that is Yama, holding a hook and a noose. Exhort him, saying, "Summon so-and-so! Come!" Recite the mantra, adding amukam ākarṣaya hūṃ phaṭ at the end, and dissolve the target into the effigy. Then, at the time of striking with the kīla, visualize Yama holding various weapons, striking and devouring [the target], and a host of wild beasts devouring and tearing [them] apart. Recite the mantra, adding amukaṃ māraya phaṭ at the end.
Next, place the liṅga inside a pair of joined skull-cups. On the back of the lower skull-cup, draw a wind maṇḍala. Inside, on an eight-petaled lotus, draw the essence-mantra of the descent. Inside the upper skull-cup, draw a fire maṇḍala. On its back, draw the Great Powerful One (Mahendra) together with Mount Meru.
Place the liṅga inside it and wrap it with black thread. Upon a black triangular maṇḍala, heat it over the leaves of a poisonous tree until it is merely warm, and apply the mantra. On the first day, recite "OṂ YAMARĀJA SADO MEYA [Name] BHŪRMA YA KURU HŪṂ PHAṬ" ten thousand times. Likewise, for the duration of four days, apply the mantra and the exhortation, reciting it exactly as prescribed.
The visualization is as follows: the hosts of messengers summon the target and place them inside the casket. There, they are scorched by the power of the mantra; their flesh and blood dry up, their consciousness departs, and one should imagine their bones being ground into ash. At that time, the ritual assistants should perform the torma, feast, and offerings three times a day. They should also exhort the Yamāntaka who abides by the samaya, as well as the mātṛkā and ḍākinīs, and entrust them with the activity.
Take earth from seven locations, such as an anthill, and fashion a figure of Yamāntaka one cubit in height. It should have bared fangs, be dark blue in color, hold a sword in the right hand, and a noose with a threatening gesture in the left. It should be naked with loose, disheveled hair. Place the casket in its heart. At midnight on the new moon, dig a deep pit in a charnel ground hearth, place the figure there, and invite Yamāntaka to dissolve into the form. Purify it with torma and offerings. Then, pointing the head south, place it face down, invoke the truth as a witness, entrust it to Yamāntaka, and leave it there. After returning to one's own home, one should continue to exhort the secret mantra.
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.