Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This ritual manual outlines the procedural requirements for a fire offering (homa) dedicated to the deity Vajrabhairava. The text functions as a technical guide for the practitioner, specifying the precise spatial arrangement of offerings and the sourcing of ritual materials. It commits the reader to a practice that deliberately incorporates transgressive and impure substances—such as human meat, blood, feces, and dung—to align with the wrathful nature of the deity. The ritual process involves the ignition of fire from unconventional sources, the recitation of Sanskrit mantras to summon and bind the deity, and the visualization of Vajrabhairava trampling various animals and humans. The text concludes by detailing specific oblation mixtures tailored to different goals, such as the subjugation of women, thereby framing the ritual as a tool for achieving specific worldly or spiritual outcomes through the manipulation of symbolic and material offerings.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual manual for the fire offering of the Great Vajrabhairava, the Mahāvajrabhairavahomavidhi belongs to the classical Tibetan tradition. The work is attributed to the Indian author Amoghavajra (II). It was translated into Tibetan by rwa rdo rje grags and is preserved in the Tengyur, volume མི, where it is situated within the Other Skillful Means Tantras collection. Spanning seven pages in this edition, the text enacts a complex homa dedicated to the deity Vajrabhairava. It provides technical instructions for the spatial arrangement of offerings and the sourcing of ritual materials, specifically mandating the use of transgressive substances such as human meat, blood, and feces, alongside fuel derived from thorny trees. The ritual further specifies that the fire be ignited from unconventional sources, including cremation grounds or from butchers and outcasts. A scholar or serious reader consults this work today to understand the precise procedural requirements of a wrathful fire offering and the deliberate incorporation of impure elements to align the practitioner with the nature of the deity.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “A Fire Offering Ritual for the Great Vajrabhairava” (Toh 1997), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1997
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant for its illustration of the 'wrathful' dimension of Indo-Tibetan ritual, where the use of taboo substances serves to transform impurity into a means of spiritual power. For the modern reader, it provides primary evidence of how tantric praxis integrates elements of cremation ground aesthetics and subjugation rites into a structured liturgical framework.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-3
Preparations and Materials
Introduction of the ritual title and instructions on the placement of offerings and the sourcing of firewood and fire.
4-6
Invocation and Visualization
The use of mantras to summon the deity and the detailed visualization of Vajrabhairava's form and his act of trampling various creatures.
7-8
Offerings and Specific Activities
Instructions on creating a liṅga for offering and the use of specific substances to achieve particular results, such as subjugation.
Themes
Ritual Impurity and Transgression (2-3, 7)
Deity Visualization and Iconography (5-6)
Subjugation and Power (4, 8)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaA Fire Offering Ritual for the Great Vajrabhairava·
In the language of India: Mahāvajrabhairavahomavidhināma. In the language of Tibet: rDo rje ’jigs byed chen po’i sbyin sreg gi cho ga zhes bya ba (The Ritual of the Fire Offering of the Great Vajrabhairava). Homage to the glorious Vajrabhairava!
To the glorious Vajrabhairava, who subdues all obstructors without exception, I prostrate with total devotion and shall explain the ritual of his fire offering. In all the tantras, if the ritual of the fire offering is absent, the accomplishments (siddhis) will not arise; therefore, one should engage in the fire offering.
Regarding the stages of the fire offering: a master who possesses the empowerments, is great in compassion, endowed with diligence, and respectful toward the guru, should dwell in a pleasing location such as a charnel ground as taught in the tantras. Abiding in the divine pride of the deity, he should perform the recitation of the mantra; thus, the preliminary service is performed.
As for the manner of the hearth, there are two types: one made from the earth of a cremation ground, or else a hearth should be constructed in a corner of the house. To construct a hearth in the house, it should be triangular, one cubit in width and half that in height, surrounded on all sides by a rim three finger-widths wide. It should be made black in color with the ashes and charcoal of a cremation, marked with the wrathful vajra, and smeared with human excrement, donkey dung, and camel dung to accomplish activities such as killing. This concludes the section on the hearth.
Regarding the placement of substances in the cremation ground or the hearth-chamber: the offering substances are black flowers with an unpleasant odor, the scent of meat or blood, incense, a lamp with a large wick, and scented water made from urine.
One should place to one’s left the meat offerings of humans and so forth, as well as the water vessels for the drinking water and other offerings, including blood, fat, marrow, and grease. To the right, one should place the human bone, the great fragrance (feces), the dung of donkeys and camels, thorny wood, funeral pyre wood, hot black oil, and the substances for the fire offering, such as hair and fingernails. This is the sequence for arranging the substances.
Then, having performed the yoga of one’s own deity according to the sequence taught in the sādhana, one should consecrate all the offering substances and the fire offering substances. One should recite "Oṃ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ a" three or seven times over the drinking water and then pour it in. Likewise, one should perform the sprinkling of purification with "Oṃ hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ phaṭ." One should consecrate the flowers with "Oṃ kumāra rūpiṇi ja ja," the incense with "Oṃ hrīḥ ha ha he phaṭ phaṭ," the lamp with "Oṃ dīptalocanī vikṛtānana mahāṭṭahāsani dīpta dīptāya svāhā," and the fragrance with "Oṃ vikṛtānana duṣṭasattvadamaka ghaḥ ghaḥ." One should consecrate the meat offering with "Oṃ kālarūpa sarvasattvadamaka mahābhūtavati idaṃ baliṃ gṛhṇa gṛhṇāpaya svāhā," and likewise consecrate the torma with suchness. One should then perform the sprinkling of purification over all the substances, the hearth, and so forth, using the aforementioned sprinkling of purification. This is the sequence for consecrating the substances.
Then, one should take the fuel and the fire. As for the fuel, it should be pieces of wood from a funeral pyre, or...
[The firewood] is derived from the roots of thorny trees. Thorny trees include the nimba, khadira, kovidāra, baladaka, and so forth. As for the fire, it may be produced from a cremation ground, from a caṇḍāla [outcaste], from a butcher, or from stone; it should be thoroughly ignited. This is in terms of the fuel and the fire to be sought. Then, having performed the sprinkling of purification (saṃprokṣaṇa) as appropriate, one should ignite the fire, consecrating it with the mantra: oṃ jvala jvala hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ phaṭ. One should also visualize that below, from the complete transformation of the syllable yaṃ, a bow-shaped [wind] element fans the flame. This is the ignition of the fire.
Then, having generated the hearth with hūṃ, one should generate the samaya fire deity in this way: from ja comes a sun maṇḍala; upon that, from the complete transformation of raṃ, a triangular fire maṇḍala marked with a wheel, a lotus, and a vajra by means of oṃ āḥ hūṃ. From the complete transformation of that, the wrathful fire deity appears, extremely fierce and wrathful, making even those who are terrifying become utterly terrified. His tawny hair blazes upward, adorned with many hundreds of thousands of light rays, and he has three faces. He possesses six arms: the central face is black, the right is white, and the left is red. In his right hands, he holds a vajra, a water-pot (kamaṇḍalu), and the gesture of granting protection (abhaya). In his left hands, one should meditate that he holds a bell, a staff, and a rosary. One should invite the resident fire deity with this mantra:
Reciting "Oṃ ehyehi mahābhūta deva ṛṣi satvama ahuti rasmin sannihito bhava krodha agne mama śatrūn māraya phaṭ phaṭ," place [the deity] to the right of the hearth and perform the rites of summoning, entering, binding, and subjugating. Having performed the ritual ablution, visualize [the deity] in the center of the hearth. This is the procedure for the Fire God.
Then, one should present the offerings, such as the water for the mouth and so forth. Having perfectly worshipped with all the offerings according to the sequence explained above, one should offer three or seven ladlefuls of clarified butter along with mustard oil into the wide-open mouth. The mantra for this is: "Oṃ anala mahābhūta jvalaya sarva bhasmiṃ kuru sarva duṣṭān [name] māraya hūṃ phaṭ." With this, one should make the offering.
Next, one should offer the burnt offerings (homa). Reciting this mantra over the six-finger-long fuel sticks of thorny wood, which are black in color, and over the substances such as mustard oil, one should perform the rite of killing: "Oṃ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana mama śatrūn māraya hūṃ phaṭ."
"Bhideśaya" means to expel. "Ucchaṭaya" means to drive away. "Mohana" means to delude. "Stambhaya" means to paralyze. "Unmādaya" means to madden. "Ākarṣaya jaḥ" means to summon. "Raṣṭavadaśaya" means to agitate a city. "Vaśīṃ kuru" means to subjugate. One should empower these with either the root mantra, the essence mantra, or the near-essence mantra, and insert the name [of the target].
One should accomplish all the activities and finally offer three or seven full ladles. The offering is the ritual for worshipping the fire deity; this is the sequence for worshipping the mundane fire deity. Then, in the heart of that fire deity, one should meditate on the Blessed One Vajrabhairava, possessing the body color and hand implements as previously described. He arises from the complete transformation of the syllable HŪṂ situated upon a solar maṇḍala, having nine faces, sixteen legs, and thirty-four arms. The root face is that of a buffalo. The three faces on the right side of the horns should be visualized as blue, red, and yellow, and extremely wrathful. The three faces on the left side of the horns are white, black, and smoke-colored. The face between the two horns is red, and the face above that should be visualized as yellowish and slightly wrathful. In the right hands, he holds a curved knife, a spear, a pestle, a cleaver, a single-pointed vajra, an axe, an arrow, a hook, a club, a khaṭvāṅga, a wheel, a vajra-hammer, a sword, and a hand-drum. In the left hands, he holds a skull-cup, an akotsa, a shield, a leg, a noose, a bow, intestines, a bell, a hand, a cemetery cloth, a stake, a fire-pit, a skull-fragment, a threatening gesture, a three-pointed banner, and a wind-cloth. With the first two hands, one should visualize him holding an elephant hide.
With his right feet, he tramples upon a human, a buffalo, a donkey, a camel, an ox, a dog, a sheep, and a fox. With his left feet, one should meditate that he tramples upon a vulture, an owl, a crow, a lion, a hawk, a great bird, an owl, and a crane. Then, one should invite the wisdom-being (jñānasattva) with this mantra: OṂ HRĪḤ BHO BHO MAHĀKRODHA ĀGACCHA YA ĀGACCHAYA SMAD PŪJA PRATIGṚHṆA PRASĀDHAME DHIMANKURU ŚATRŪN MĀRAYA HŪṂ PHAṬ. Then, having performed the sprinkling of purification (prokṣaṇa), one should perform the summoning, the entering, the binding, and the non-dualization. This is the ritual for generating the supramundane fire deity (lokottara-hutāśana).
Then, one should present the offerings of the drinking water (argha) and so forth as before, and offer the ladlefuls (āhuti). Then, one should visualize the fuel sticks and other burning substances as the bones of the target to be accomplished, and imagine them being consumed in the blazing light. One should visualize the melted substances such as butter as the blood of the target and offer them into the mouth. One should visualize the substances such as the great fragrance (vimala) as the "great flesh" (mahāmāṃsa) and offer them into the hands. The sequence is as follows: first, the ladleful of mustard oil mixed with poison, blood, black mustard, salt, neem, and datura. Then, the sequence of the burnt offerings (homa) consists of fuel sticks, black butter, blood, the great fragrance, urine, powdered human bone, poison, black mustard, salt, a donkey, and—
One should fashion a liṅga from camel dung and the like, dissolve the target into it, and then cut it with a curved knife to offer to the glorious Vajrabhairava. Then, having offered three or seven ladlefuls of the oblation and perfectly worshipped with the five offerings, one should receive the desired siddhi at the time of the ladle-offering and perform the accomplishment with black flowers. This is the offering to the supramundane fire deity.
Next, one should perform the accomplishment from the perspective of suchness (tattva). For killing, one should mix poison, blood, mustard seeds, salt, nimba, and datura, and burn them while interspersing them with the mantra. For the forehead [mark], use the flesh or skin of a crow, an owl, a snake, or a mongoose. For expulsion, mix the flesh of a crow with camel dung and alcohol. For stupefying, one should combine orpiment, turmeric, red orpiment, and gorocana. For paralyzing, use realgar, turmeric, orpiment, and gi-wang. For causing insanity, use the nest of an owl and "great flesh" (mahāmāṃsa). For agitating a city, make pills from equal parts of the flesh of a dog, a frog, and a tortoise, camel dung from a barren she-camel, and cat blood; then recite the ten-syllable mantra. For subjugating a king, use equal parts of horse flesh and "great fragrance" (mahāgandha). For subjugating ordinary people, use elephant flesh together with bodhicitta.
To subjugate women, one should use fish meat mixed with alcohol. To summon, one should use the five nectars. Thus are the individual activities accomplished. Once the activities have been performed in this way, offer the full and ladle offerings, worship with the various offerings, and request the deities to depart with this mantra:
OṂ JAYA JAYA SUJAYA VIŚVARŪPADHARI GACCHA GACCHA SVASTHĀNAṂ KṚTATE TATHĀGATANAMAḤ SARVABHŪTAVISARJAYA MAMA KARYAṂ KURU SVĀHĀ.
This is the mantra for requesting departure. It is the request for the wisdom deities to depart. Then, offer the remaining substances to the fire deity and request the resident fire deity to depart:
OṂ, you have accomplished all the welfare of beings; having bestowed the siddhis just as they are, please depart for the realm of the Buddhas. Please return once again.
Thus one should say. This is the request for the worldly fire deity to depart. Then, having condensed the samaya, offer a torma consisting of various fish and meats to the glorious Yamāntaka and his retinue. Circumambulate three times from the left and remain.
Through whatever virtue has arisen from performing these actions, may all wandering beings be freed from negativity, may their virtue greatly increase, and may they become just like the glorious Bhairava.
The ritual for the wrathful fire offering of the glorious Vajrabhairava, composed by Amoghavajra, is complete. Translated by Ra Dorje Drak.
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.