Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
The Seven Deeds of Wrathful Activities is a ritual manual detailing the execution of coercive and destructive rites within the Vajrabhairava tradition. The text prescribes a rigorous sequence of preparatory and active phases, beginning with offerings and the visualization of complex mandalas and deities, such as Mañjuśrīkumāra and Vajrabhairava. It commits the practitioner to a series of highly specific, transgressive actions, including the use of charnel ground materials, poisonous substances, and blood, to achieve particular results. The work is structured as a series of procedural instructions for different types of wrathful activities, including recitation, fire offerings (homa), and the construction of ritual wheels. By combining precise mantra recitation with physical offerings and visualization, the text provides a technical framework for directing wrathful energy toward specific targets, concluding with the necessary protocols for the dismissal of the deity and ritual purification.
Provenance
About this text
Explaining the seven activities of wrathful rites, the drag po'i las kyi bya ba bdun pa is a treatise belonging to the tradition of Vajrabhairava. The work is attributed to the Indian author Amogha the Younger. It is preserved in the classical Tibetan period within the Tengyur, specifically volume མི, where it comprises seven pages and is categorized under the Other Skillful Means Tantras. The text enacts a series of ritual procedures, beginning with offerings and charity to Noble Ones and wandering beings, followed by the invitation of the Guru. It prescribes complex visualizations involving the generation of wind and moon maṇḍalas from the syllables yaṃ and a, as well as the manifestation of the yellow Mañjuśrīkumāra from the syllable laṃ. The practitioner is directed to visualize a sun maṇḍala at the deity's heart to invite the Victors of the ten directions and their Sons, while employing a vast array of ritual implements, including the vajra, bell, and various weapons. A scholar or serious reader consults this work today to examine the technical specifications of wrathful ritualism and the precise iconographic and mnemonic requirements for directing such energies.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “The Seven Deeds of Wrathful Activities” (Toh 2002), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2002
Summary & commentary
Significance
This text is significant as a primary example of the 'wrathful' side of Indo-Tibetan tantric practice, illustrating the use of taboo materials and coercive rituals to overcome obstacles or enemies. For the modern reader, it provides insight into the intersection of visualization, mantra, and physical ritual in the technical application of tantric power.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-5
Preparatory Offerings and Visualization
Instructions on initial charity, the generation of wind and moon mandalas, and the visualization of Mañjuśrīkumāra and Vajrabhairava.
6-10
Wrathful Recitation and Fire Offering
Guidelines for performing the homa in charnel grounds or battlefields, including the construction of the hearth and specific mantra recitations.
11-13
Wrathful Wheel and Final Rites
The creation of ritual wheels using poisonous substances and blood, followed by multi-day mantra cycles and the final dismissal of the deity.
Themes
Ritual Visualization (2-5)
Transgressive Materials (4, 7, 9, 10)
Mantra and Recitation (4, 8, 9, 12)
Sacred Space and Geography (6, 7, 10)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
Homage to the glorious Vajrabhairava. I shall explain the seven activities of wrathful rites. First, the ritual of offering and charity should be performed: one should make offerings to the Noble Ones, give gifts to wandering beings, and invite the Guru and others. Having presented whatever qualities of wealth are available, one should receive their permission and the aspirational prayers. This is the first ritual, the procedure for offering and charity.
Now, the activity of the torma offering is explained. Then, on the second day, one should prepare as many torma offerings as possible, consisting of black flowers, incense of "great meat," lamps of "great sesame oil," scented water containing the five nectars, and pure food offerings made from the flesh of humans and the like, the flesh of various livestock such as horses, donkeys, and camels, the flesh of various predators such as dogs and foxes, and pure food offerings made from the flesh of various birds such as vultures and owls. Furthermore, a separate torma for the activity should be set aside, mixed with black grains, various poisons, the blood of humans, dogs, and goats, iron filings, stone filings, mustard seeds, and salt.
Then, the mantra practitioner, having dressed in black garments and facing the southern direction, should meditate on the deity in the form of a wrathful one, except for the nature of the offerings, which should be meditated upon according to the seven [previous] stages. In that regard, first one should recite: oṃ svabhāvaśuddhāḥ sarvadharmāḥ svabhāvaśuddho ’haṃ. Thus, one should meditate on all phenomena as being of the nature of selflessness.
Then, in the center of space, from the syllable yaṃ, a wind maṇḍala is formed. Upon that, one visualizes a moon maṇḍala arising from the syllable a. Above that, from the syllable laṃ, one generates Mañjuśrīkumāra, yellow in color and holding an utpala flower. At his heart, from a long ā, a sun maṇḍala is generated. Its rays of light invite the Victors of the ten directions and their Sons from the infinite reaches, who then re-enter that very [maṇḍala]. One should visualize that all of them become a sun maṇḍala with blazing rays of light pervading hundreds of thousands of yojanas.
Above that, a black hūṃ endowed with five-colored rays of light radiates and, as before, re-enters that very [maṇḍala], whereby it becomes a great, gaping vajra emitting rays of light. Through the synthesis of the condensed body-colors, one should transform into the body of Mahābhairava. Thus, Mahābhairava has nine faces, thirty-four arms, and sixteen legs. From his body, the fire of the kalpa blazes. From his mouths, he utters the terrifying pheṃ sound into the sky, with a resonance like the thunder of the kalpa. With his stride, he treads upon the earth. He is naked, adorned with a garland of human heads and a crown of skulls, with his sexual organ erect. Among his nine faces, the central face is that of a buffalo; the three right faces are blue, red, and yellow, and are wrathful. The three left faces are white, smoke-colored, and black. The face between the two horns is red. Above that is Samantabhadra, yellow. In his right hands, he holds a khaṭvāṅga, a bhṛṅgipāla staff, and a pestle.
He holds a dagger, a kana [knife], an axe, a spear, an arrow, a hook, a staff, a khaṭvāṅga, a wheel, a vajra, a vajra-hammer, a sword, and a small drum. In his left hands, he holds a pāla [skull-cup], a head, a shield, a foot, a noose, a bow, intestines, a bell, a hand, a cemetery cloth, a man pierced by a spear, a fire-pit, a skull-bowl, a threatening gesture, a three-pointed banner, and a wind-cloth. With two hands, he holds a fresh elephant hide. His right feet trample a human, a buffalo, a bull, a donkey, a camel, a dog, a sheep, and a fox. His left feet trample a vulture, an owl, a crow, a sukara [pig], a hawk, a great vulture, a madri [bird], and a swan; one should visualize him in this way.
Then, one should invite him from the abode of primordial wisdom (jñāna) with light rays from one's own heart, reciting: oṃ hrīḥ bho bho mahākrodha āgaccha āgaccha asmat pūjāṃ pratigṛhṇā prasādhya medhīṃ kuru svāhā. Having invited him, visualize him as being actually present. Then, with oṃ hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ phaṭ, bathe his body with water containing the five nectars (pañcāmṛta). Then, offer the red argha water with oṃ hrīḥ ṣṭriḥ ha. Then, offer flowers and so forth, reciting oṃ kumārarūpiṇi jaḥ jaḥ hūṃ hoḥ, and offer black flowers. Offer the incense of "great flesh" (mahāmāṃsa) with oṃ hrīḥ ha ha he he phaṭ.
OṂ DĪPTA LOCANI VIKṚTĀNANA MAHĀ AṬṬĀṬṬAHĀSANA DINI DĪPTA DĪPTĀYA SVĀHĀ. With this, offer a lamp of great sesame oil. A HRĪḤ HA HA HE HE PHAṬ PHAṬ. With this, offer the pure food (bali). OṂ VIKṚTĀNANA DUṢṬASATTVA DAMAKA GAḤ GAḤ. With this, offer the scented water containing the five nectars. Contemplate that they are pleased. Then, visualize that the entire surrounding area is completely filled with Yamas, vetālas, ḍākinīs, messengers, and so forth. With this secret mantra, give the torma: OṂ KĀLARŪPA SARVASATTVA DAMAKA MAHĀBHŪTAPATI IDAṂ BALIṂ GṚHṆA GṚHṆĀPAYA SVĀHĀ. With this, give it. Then, for the activity torma, recite: OṂ HRĪḤ ṢṬRĪḤ VIKṚTĀNANA SARVA ŚATRŪN NĀŚAYA STAMBHAYA HŪṂ PHAṬ. Visualize the target in front of you and offer the torma to them, imagining that they eat it. The torma and the light rays of the mantra become like smoke, enveloped in blue and red light, and turn into the nature of poison. Imagine that it dissolves into them like rotten meat, and then cast the torma. This is the second part, the activity of the wrathful torma. Now, the activity of the wrathful recitation is explained. First, visualize the yoga of Vajrabhairava exactly as previously described. Having offered the five offerings, such as flowers, and having performed the giving of gifts, one should engage in the recitation.
There, having generated oneself as Vajrabhairava according to the previously described sequence, one should meditate on the syllables of recitation upon a sun maṇḍala arising from a long Ā at the heart. From that, one should meditate on light rays blazing as dark blue fire, like being fiercely fanned by a black wind, extremely sharp, and radiating so intensely that even an iron boulder is destroyed in a mere instant.
One should then visualize the object of accomplishment standing before oneself, devoid of luster, separated from the gods, naked and unclothed, with hair hanging loose. All their limbs are bound by blazing meteoric iron, and they are covered with a succession of sores and pustules. Having visualized them in that way, one should burn their body like a heap of ashes and imagine their mind extinguished like a lamp doused with water, while reciting the secret mantra.
In this regard, the secret mantra is as follows: OṂ YAMARĀJA SADO MEYA | YAME DORUṆAYODA YA | YADAYONIRAYAKṢEYA | YAKṢEYACCHANIRĀMAYA | [Name] MĀRAYA PHAṬ PHAṬ. This is the root mantra, which accomplishes all activities. OṂ HRĪḤ ṢṬRĪḤ VIKṚTĀNANA [Name] MĀRAYA HŪṂ PHAṬ. This is the activity mantra, which accomplishes all activities.
Having performed the recitation, one should again present offerings and dissolve [the visualization] into the expanse of non-referentiality. These [practices] are performed while sitting upon a great corpse, facing south, and anointing the body with human excrement. One should practice while maintaining a fixed, wrathful gaze without wavering, observing the previous visualization, and remaining like an enraged buffalo. Holding a rosary of human skulls and wearing black garments, one should recite the secret mantra.
This is the third [section], the activity of wrathful recitation. Now, the activity of the wrathful fire offering is explained. Having gone to a charnel ground, a crossroads, the foot of a solitary tree, a battlefield, or a similar location during the waning moon at midnight, one should first perform the purification. First, while endowed with the meditative absorption of the deity, one should dedicate the torma and issue the command. Then, one should visualize all defects of the site being purified by the light rays of the intensely blazing syllable HŪṂ; this is the sequence for purifying the site.
Next, the hearth should be constructed. The hearth pit should be triangular, one cubit in width and half a cubit in depth. The rim should be four finger-widths wide, and in the center, one should place a single eight-finger-width black, blazing vajra. The inner perimeter should be smeared with a mixture of charnel ground charcoal, great ashes, and blood. The rim should be encircled by a vajra fence and human skulls, and the entire perimeter should be surrounded by a garland of dark blue [flowers]. This is the sequence for constructing the hearth.
Then, the substances for burning should be gathered. These include the five previously mentioned offerings such as black flowers, the five nectars, and the cleansing sprinkling water. One should also gather firewood from charnel ground logs and a four-finger-width śakateu (sacrificial ladle) made from the root of a poisonous thorny tree, which has been carved crookedly. This should be soaked in blood, great ashes, and pungent substances. Furthermore, one should gather black sesame oil, human bone, feces, donkey dung, thorns, hair, and fingernails, all mixed with black butter. This is the sequence for gathering the substances.
Then, the mantrin, dressed in black garments and facing the south, should construct a triangular hearth using firewood from the charnel ground. It should also be sprinkled with blood and hot butter. This is the sequence for the construction of the wood.
Then, the mantrin himself enters the meditative absorption of glorious Vajrabhairava according to the previously described sequence. He should take fire from a low-caste person or from a black vajra and kindle it with a bellows. In the center of that, from a black raṃ, he should generate the fire deity, black in color, seated upon a triangular fire, with one face and four arms, three eyes, hair bristling upward, dwelling amidst a swirling black wind, with black fire radiating from his body, wearing a black brahmin’s thread, and holding a vajra, a rosary, a staff, and a guṇḍī in his four hands.
Binding the hook mudrā, he recites: oṃ krodha agnaye āḥ. Then, light rays resembling hooks radiate from his heart, inviting a wisdom fire deity identical to that one, and he should cause him to enter from the southeast. Binding the hook mudrā, he recites: oṃ krodha agnaye āgaccha mama sarva śatrūn māraya hūṃ phaṭ. Having thus offered water for the face, he should cause the wisdom deity to enter and become non-dual with the samaya fire deity.
Then, he should present the five offerings, such as flowers and so forth: oṃ krodha agnaye vajra gandhe hūṃ for the incense; oṃ krodha agnaye vajra naivedye hūṃ for the pure food. Then, he should offer the substances for the fire ritual.
Recite the mantra oṃ krodha agnaye mama sarva śatrūn māraya hūṃ phaṭ one hundred and eight times while performing the fire offering (homa). Then, scatter white mustard seeds into the hearth and entrust the activity (karma) to the deity by means of that same secret mantra. Next, taking up the vajra and bell, recite these verses:
"Because existence is pure by nature,
It is purified by its very essence.
The beings who are pure by nature
Bring about the purity of existence."
Having recited this, circumambulate the fire hearth three times. This is the sequence for making offerings to the fire deity (agni-deva).
Then, visualize that the fire deity transforms into the nature of blazing fire. In the center of that, from a black syllable hūṃ, visualize the glorious Vajrabhairava, intensely wrathful, with his mouth wide open, seated in a triangular posture, and with three faces and a body from which dark-brown fire blazes. Then, light rays like iron hooks radiate from my heart, inviting the wisdom (jñāna) glorious Vajrabhairava. Forming the hook mudrā, recite: oṃ hrīḥ bho bho mahākrodha āgaccha āgaccha pūjā pratigṛhṇā prasādya ca me dhīmaṃ kuru svāhā. By reciting this, visualize him as non-dual within the center of the hearth.
Then, offer the mouth-cleansing water (ācamana) containing the five nectars (pañcāmṛta), and offer the ritual bath (snāna) with oṃ hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ phaṭ. Offer the red argha water with oṃ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ a. Then, offer the five types of offerings: oṃ kumāra rūpiṇi jaḥ jaḥ hūṃ haḥ for the black flowers. Oṃ hrīḥ ha ha he he phaṭ phaṭ for the incense of great meat.
OṂ DĪPTA LOCANĪ VIKṚTĀNANA MAHĀ AṬṬAṬṬAHĀSANA DINI DĪPTA DĪPTĀLA SVĀHĀ. This is the lamp of great sesame oil. VIKṚTĀNANA DUṢṬASATTVA DAMAKA GAḤ GAḤ. This is the fragrance mixed with the five nectars. Then, offer the pure food of meat and so forth. OṂ HRĪḤ ṢṬRĪḤ YA. Then, one should offer the burnt offerings of ghee and so forth: OṂ HRĪḤ ṢṬRĪḤ VIKṚTĀNANA HŪṂ. [Name] MĀRAYA PHAṬ. Recite this one hundred and eight times and offer it. Recite that same mantra over white mustard seeds and entrust the activity. Then, taking up the vajra and bell, praise with this verse:
Because the nature of existence is pure,
It is purified by its very essence.
Beings whose nature is pure
Engage in the sublime existence.
And:
The mind of the Dharmakāya’s essence,
The nature-body of all Buddhas,
The master of speech, the gentle nature of reality,
Primordially liberated by nature—
To the one who is the very self of great intelligence,
I offer with devotion and prostrate in praise.
Possessing a mind of great compassion,
You display the manner of the Great Terrifier.
To your terrifying speech,
I am deeply devoted with a fearless mind.
Having praised thus, offer the remaining burnt offerings to the Fire God and circumambulate. Then, request him to depart with this secret mantra: OṂ JAYA JAYA SUJAYA VIŚVARŪPADHĀRIṆI GACCHA SVA-STHĀNAṂ KṚTAṂ TENA TATHĀGATĀNĀṂ SARVABHŪTEBHYAŚCA VISARJAYA MAMA KĀRYAṂ KURU SVĀHĀ. Then, with OṂ MUḤ, dissolve the meditative absorption.
The hearth should be well-concealed and left there. This is the fourth section, the ritual of the wrathful fire offering.
Next, having performed the ritual of the wrathful wheel, one should take a cloth from a charnel ground and smear it well with poisonous substances, blood, mustard seeds, salt, feces, and other fumigant materials. The ink should also be prepared from those same substances, combined with the juice of the dadura tree, the juice of the kanaka tree, and charcoal from a charnel ground.
Facing south and endowed with the deity yoga, one should draw the wheel. In the center, there should be sixteen squares, surrounded by three concentric circles. Each of those circles should be drawn with thirty-two cells.
Regarding the arrangement of the syllables: in the center, write a large ya. Inside of that, surround it with the name of the person to be acted upon, accompanied by the words of exhortation. In the very center of that, write the first letter of the name. Then, in the second circle, in the four directions, write the four syllables ma ra kṣe. Then, in the third circle, write: rā dza sa do ru ṇa yo ni rā ya ca ni. One should draw the mudrā together with a club, using a crow’s feather or a large bone. One should recollect the ten-syllable secret mantra.
As for the syllables of the outer circle: first, arrange the vowels twice. In the middle circle, arrange the thirty-two consonants, excluding the letters ka, ṅa, and ña. In the outermost circle, arrange only the syllable phaṭ. In the second circle of the center, alternate a hūṃ with each of the four syllables ma and so forth, on their left and right. In the outermost circle, at the positions of the twelve syllables beginning with ra, write the twelve-syllable mantra alternating with the name of the person to be accomplished.
Having drawn those two wheels in that manner, the earth-circle should be drawn in reverse order and the sky-circle in the regular order. Furthermore, they should be drawn so as to be contained within the belly of Yama. Then, having presented the offerings and visualized the blessing of bliss, join them together and place them in a casket made of a skull or a new earthenware bowl with the lids joined. Inside the lower casket, on a wind maṇḍala, write: OṂ [Name] ĀVEŚA A A. On the back, draw a crossed vajra. Inside the upper casket, draw a fire maṇḍala marked with RAṂ. On the back, draw Mount Meru together with its surroundings, marked with eight peaks, and in the center, mark it with a crossed vajra. Leave a small opening between the two caskets and place them there. Later, when you see the casket has become heavy or has begun to move, close the opening. Wrap it with black thread, hang it, and place it upon a tripod. Heat it over a fire of various poisons until it becomes warm. Then, possessing the deity yoga, face south and recite the secret mantra. Regarding that, first, as previously described, generate yourself as the glorious Great Vajrabhairava, perform the invitation, the offerings, and the dedication of the torma as before. Holding the thread in your hand and grasping a rosary of "great conch" (human bone), perform the recitation. The visualization is as follows: from my secret mantra and the mantra of the wheel, light rays in the form of black poisonous men radiate out. They mix with the one being practiced upon who is staying there, so that they become like the great ashes of a charnel ground, and their mind becomes like a butter lamp extinguished by water. Furthermore, on the first day: OṂ YAMARĀJA SADO MEYA...
"Amukam pramāya kuru hūṃ phaṭ." Recite this ten thousand times without interruption. On the second day: "Yame doruṇa yoda ya amuka rakta tsarvaya hūṃ phaṭ." Recite this ten thousand times. On the third day: "Yada yonira yakṣe ya amuka murtṣapa ya hūṃ phaṭ." Recite this ten thousand times. On the fourth day: "Yakṣe yatscha nirā maya amuka māraya hūṃ phaṭ." Recite this ten thousand times. The supreme practice companion should offer worship and tormas at the three times of day. Then, at midnight on the fourth day, dig a pit one cubit deep in a charnel ground or a place where fierce spirits dwell, and having buried [the object], entrust it to Yama. The procedure for this is as follows: from the earth of an anthill, fashion a human figure of Yama one cubit in height, holding a sword and a noose in its hands. Place a casket in its belly, offer it a torma and a red argha, and command it as follows: "O King of Dharma, among the sentient beings of the three realms, there is none who does not come before you. Now, by the command of the Three Supreme Jewels, seize this being! This being destroys the teachings of the Victors of the three times; he blocks the path to liberation in the world and opens the path to the lower realms. Therefore, seize him! By doing so, the Blessed One Mañjuśrīkumāra and the glorious Vajrabhairava will also be pleased." Having said this, bury it face down with the head pointing toward the south. Then, return to your own abode.
One should then invoke the secret mantra. Once the activity is accomplished, the deity is dismissed; having washed it with milk and water, one should confess with pure offerings, request forbearance, and release it. During this stage of the activity, one should be equipped with black attire, the gaze of a wrathful deity, a wrathful mind, the exhaling of breath, and so forth. This concludes the activity of the fierce wheel.
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.