Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This ritual teaching provides instructions for the preparation and application of samaya substances intended for the mantra practitioner. The text argues that the consistent use of specific combined elements—including metaphorical or esoteric substances such as tortoise milk, leaves of light, dry clay, the essence of fire, and sound-appearance—leads to a natural result for the practitioner. The text outlines a precise pharmacological or ritual process involving the layering of substances in a vessel for three days. It prescribes a stratified use of the resulting mixture: the upper layer is for oral anointing, the middle layer serves as the nectar, and the lower layer is discarded. By identifying these components as the powders of the three ordinary fruits, the text commits the reader to a disciplined regimen of substance manipulation and application to achieve a specific ritual transformation.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual manual concerning the preparation of substances for the mantra practitioner, the dam rdzas rmad du bsgyur te bstan pa'i cho ga belongs to the classical Tibetan tradition. The work was translated into Tibetan by zhang lo tsA ba shes rab bla ma and is preserved in the Tengyur, volume མི, where it is situated within the Other Skillful Means Tantras. Spanning two pages in this edition, the text enacts a specific ritual process for combining esoteric elements—such as tortoise milk, leaves of light, dry clay, the essence of fire, and sound-appearance—to ensure the practitioner remains free from disease, long-lived, and in the prime of youth. It prescribes a precise method of layering these substances in a vessel for three days, designating the upper portion for anointing the mouth and the middle portion as nectar, while the lower portion is discarded. Scholars and serious readers consult this text to understand the ritual application of the powders of the three ordinary fruits and the disciplined regimen of substance manipulation intended to produce specific physical and spiritual results for the practitioner.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “A Ritual Teaching on the Marvelous Transformation of Samaya Substances” (Toh 2005), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2005
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant for its illustration of the intersection between ritual alchemy and the concept of samaya substances in Vajrayana practice. It demonstrates how physical materials are transformed into spiritual catalysts through specific temporal and spatial arrangements.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Ingredients and Benefits
Lists the necessary substances and the general outcome of their constant use.
2
Preparation and Application
Details the three-day vessel process, the stratification of the resulting nectar, and the identification of the powders.
Themes
Samaya Substances (1-2)
Ritual Alchemy (2)
The Three Ordinary Fruits (2)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaA Ritual Teaching on the Marvelous Transformation of Samaya Substances·
Furthermore, I shall explain another matter: that which the mantra practitioner should always rely upon. Known as "tortoise milk," as well as the "leaves of light," dry clay, the essence of fire, and the substances of the "sound-appearance"—if these are combined and used constantly, one will naturally be free from disease, long-lived, with flourishing faculties, and always in the prime of youth. All the gods will grant their blessings. This should not be consumed [ordinarily]; rather, it should be drunk through the "sun-tube" [method]. If it is blessed with meditative concentration and mantra, it purifies the ripening of karma and establishes one on the level of a Vidyadhara. Thus, one should rely [on these] according to the ritual.
At dawn on the first day of the waxing moon, the "tortoise curd" should be taken from its vessel without touching it; it should be drunk while the warmth has not faded, or else drunk through the sun-tube. On the first day of the waning moon, having sought out the "leaves of light," one should take them from that very time. After three days of rain, those leaves should be cut and eaten, or else drunk through the sun-tube. Having mixed dry clay and soaked it in water for three days, one should take it out and dry it again. Then, taking a portion the size of a cat's paw of the powder and mixing it with cow's milk, the mantra practitioner should drink it constantly.
The yellow "fire-stalk" should be wrapped in "earth-butter," joined in a sealed union, and then squeezed with fire, water, and earth. It should be drunk, or drunk through the sun-tube. For those free from salt, the mantra practitioner should take the substance of the "echo of death" at the time of night for three days.
Place the three portions in a vessel for three days. The upper portion is for anointing the mouth; the middle portion is the nectar itself; and the lower portion is to be discarded. When these are explained individually, they are the powders of the three ordinary fruits. These should be mixed in the measure of a cat's paw; however, there is no fault if they are not mixed. Having explained them as a collection, one should recite [the mantra]. There is also no fault in relying on them individually. This concludes the ritual for transforming and presenting the marvelous samaya substances.
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.