Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This text is a ritual manual (sādhana) for the practice of Red Yamāri, attributed to the master Śrī Virūpa and translated by Paṇḍita Dānaśīla. The work provides a comprehensive system for the practitioner to embody the deity through visualization and mantra. It begins with the generation of the deity's form—a red, two-armed figure holding a skull-cup and curved knife—and the establishment of a ritual environment including specific offerings and vases. The text transitions from these meditative constructions to the application of specific mantras for diverse purposes, including the invitation of the maṇḍala and the execution of harmful rites targeting specific individuals. Finally, it provides a symbolic interpretation of the deity's attributes, linking the skull-cup to emptiness and the staff to compassion. By following these instructions, the reader commits to a practice that blends the pursuit of liberation from the four māras with the employment of coercive ritual power.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual manual for the practice of Red Yamāri, the Raktayamārisādhana belongs to the genre of sādhana and is situated within the Other Skillful Means Tantras. The work is attributed to the Indian author Virūpa. It entered the Tibetan tradition through the translation of Dānaśīla (III), and is preserved in the classical Tibetan period within the Tengyur, specifically volume ཙི, where it extends over six pages. The text enacts a meditative process centered on the deity Yamāntaka, the fierce hero who destroys the four māras to perform liberation. It provides precise instructions for the practitioner to visualize the deity as a red figure with one face and two arms, holding a skull-cup of blood and a white staff or curved knife. The ritual further requires the establishment of a secluded space and the arrangement of specific offerings, including colored vases filled with gold water, kaṣṭūrī, sihlaka, and camphor. A scholar or serious reader consults this edition today to examine the specific visualization techniques and ritual requirements used to evoke the form and radiance of Red Yamāri.
The text is significant for its representation of the intersection between meditative deity yoga and the use of 'wrathful' or coercive rituals in the Indo-Tibetan tradition. It illustrates how the same deity system is used both for the internal realization of emptiness and compassion and for external ritual interventions.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-3
Introduction and Visualization
Homage to Red Yamāri and instructions for visualizing the deity's form and the surrounding ritual vases.
4
Ritual Offerings and Invitation
Preparation of liquid offerings and the use of mantras to invite the maṇḍala.
5-7
Coercive Rituals and Mantras
Instructions for performing rituals in solitary places and the use of specific mantras to cause harm or death to targets.
8-9
Symbolic Interpretation and Colophon
Exegesis of the deity's attributes as emptiness and compassion, followed by attribution to Śrī Virūpa and Dānaśīla.
Themes
Deity Yoga and Visualization (2-3)
Ritual Coercion and Harm (5-7)
Symbolism of Emptiness and Compassion (8)
Overcoming the Four Māras (1, 8)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Rakta-yamāri-sādhana. In the language of Tibet: Gshin-rje-gshed-dmar-po’i sgrub-thabs (The Sādhana of Red Yamāri). Homage to Red Yamāri!
I prostrate to Yamāntaka, the fierce hero who utterly destroys the four māras and performs liberation; having prostrated, I shall explain his sādhana.
First, in a secluded place, one should place a pill made of the five nectars and so forth in the mouth and sit while visualizing oneself upon a corpse. Endowed with the four immeasurables, one should make offerings to the sublime guru.
Oṃ svabhāva-śuddhāḥ sarva-dharmāḥ svabhāva-śuddho ’ham.
Oṃ yoga-śuddhāḥ sarva-dharmāḥ yoga-śuddho ’ham.
Oṃ śūnyatā-jñāna-vajra-svabhāva-ātmako ’ham.
From the total transformation of Yaṃ, there arises a blue wind maṇḍala marked by the syllable Yaṃ, shaped like a bow. Above that, from the total transformation of a red Raṃ, there arises a triangular fire maṇḍala, red in color and marked by blazing flames. From the total transformation of Vaṃ, there arises a circular water maṇḍala, white in color and marked by a vase. From the total transformation of Laṃ, there arises a square earth maṇḍala, yellow in color and marked by a vajra. From the total transformation of Suṃ, there arises Mount Meru, square in shape, composed of precious jewels, and adorned with eight peaks.
Below that, one should meditate on the maṇḍala wheel:
"Square with four doors,
adorned with eight pillars,
and decorated with lattices and half-lattices."
In its center, from the transformation of Paṃ, there is a multicolored lotus. In its hub, from the transformation of Hūṃ, there is a multicolored vajra.
From that, the staff born [from the seed syllable] together with the seed syllable in the center of the sun disk completely transforms. One should meditate on the hero Yamāntaka, with one face and two arms, red in color and possessing the radiance of ten million suns. In his left hand is a skull-cup filled with the blood of all māras without exception; in his right hand is a white staff that utterly destroys the three realms. He has the appearance of a sixteen-year-old, is adorned by the eight nāgas, and has bared fangs. His mouth is slightly open, and his tongue flickers with a wrathful laugh. His three eyes are round like the sun, and his face is furrowed with a frown. His body is stout, with broad ribs and a large belly. His body, limbs, and digits are short and blazing with light. His hair and beard are yellow and flaming. He wears a lower garment of tiger skin and a garland of fifty human heads. He is perfectly embraced by Vajravettālī. The goddess has one face, two arms, and three eyes, with loose hair. In the skull-cup held in her left hand, she holds the blood of the wicked māras; in her right hand is a vajra-knife. He stands upon a buffalo with his left leg extended.
On the eastern petal is Mohayamāntaka, white in color, embracing Vajracarcikā. On the southern petal is Piśunayamāntaka, yellow in color, embracing Vārāhī. On the western petal is Rāgayamāntaka, red in color, perfectly united with Sarasvatī. On the northern petal is Īrṣyāyamāntaka, green in color, perfectly united with Gaurī. Carcikā is black, Vārāhī is yellow, Sarasvatī is red, and Gaurī is green.
In the left hand is a skull-cup, and in the right a curved knife, adorned with the five mudrās. Just as the Hero has the form of hands and faces, one should meditate on a lapis lazuli vase filled with gold water in the southeast, a golden vase filled with kaṣṭūrī in the southwest, a coral vase filled with sihlaka in the northwest, and a silver vase filled with camphor in the northeast, each with a skull-cup as its lid.
Then, having performed the visualization of the samādhisattva, the empowerment, the summoning and absorption of the jñānasattva, and the recitation visualization as prescribed, one recites: Oṃ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā. This is the heart mantra of the Mind.
Oṃ hauṃ kṣauṃ kṣayaṃ kāraya gṛhṇa gṛhṇa hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ phaṭ. This is the near-heart mantra of the Mind.
Oṃ mahāyakṣasenādhipataye mahādurdaṇḍadāmaka nāśaya nāśaya vidrāvaya vidrāvaya hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā. This is the garland mantra.
Oṃ dveṣarati nudanuda truṭa truṭa hūṃ jaḥ svāhā. This is the mantra of the Venerable Lady.
Oṃ mohāntakṛt hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ. Oṃ piśunāntakṛt hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ. Oṃ rāgāntakṛt hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ. Oṃ īrṣyāntakṛt hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ. These are the mantras of the four Heroes.
Oṃ moharati hūṃ jaḥ. Oṃ piśunarati hūṃ jaḥ. Oṃ rāgarati hūṃ jaḥ. Oṃ īrṣyārati hūṃ jaḥ. These are the mantras of the four Heroine Sovereigns.
First, upon three human heads, in a lotus vessel, there is a fire like the fire of the kalpa or blazing like a vajra. Inside of that, one should mix rice and water.
One should visualize the gokuda-hana (cow, dog, elephant, horse, and human), milk, butter, and lac mixed together like a liquid, and contemplate them as becoming cool. Then, with the mantra jaḥ hūṃ baṃ hoḥ, invite the maṇḍala circle. After offering the water for the feet and so forth, one should present the cool offering cake (śītala-bali).
Oṃ rakta-mukuṭāya rakta-jaṭāya rakta-mukhāya rakta-śarīrāya rakta-bhujāya rakta-kamaṇḍala-mālā-bharaṇāya rakta-ratha-samārūḍhāya rakta-padmāsana rakta-bharaṇa-bhūṣaṇāya idaṃ baliṃ gṛhṇa gṛhṇa mama vighnān hara hara caturmāraṇa vivāraya bhramaya bhramaya chinda chinda bhinda bhinda nāśaya nāśaya śoṣaya śoṣaya cheda cheda bheda bheda hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā.
Then, one should offer to each individually:
Oṃ indrāya namaḥ hrīḥ | yamāya namaḥ ṣṭrīḥ | varuṇāya namo vi | kubērāya namaḥ kṛ | īśānāya namaḥ ta | agnaye namaḥ a | naiṛtyai namaḥ na | vāyave namo na | candrāya namo hūṃ | ārkāya namo hūṃ | brahmaṇe namaḥ phaṭ | vasundharāyai namaḥ phaṭ | vaimacitrāṇi namaḥ svā | sarvabhūtebhyo namo hā | ha ha hī hī hūṃ hūṃ pheṃ pheṃ svāhā.
Oṃ marme marme vigate hūṃ vajra-carcikā hara hara bhukkeṃ māraya māraya amukaṃ jaḥ jaḥ.
Oṃ ghoṇe sughoṇe vajra-māmakī bhara bhara sambhara sambhara vighna jaḥ jaḥ.
Oṃ marme marme kṣobhaṇī vajra-sarasvatyai hara hara thara thara para para kanya kanya.
DHUNA DHUNA HŪṂ HŪṂ AMUKAṂ JAḤ JAḤ | OṂ GAṂBHĪRA VAJRAKĀRAṬIKE GHAḤ GHAḤ HŪṂ RAKTAŚOṆA TAPRAYE GAURĪYE AMUKAṂ JAḤ JAḤ |
Having gone to a solitary tree, a charnel ground, or a mountain peak, and having stood naked facing the south, if one recites the HRĪḤ ṢṬRĪḤ mantra one hundred and eight times, then this will be accomplished without a doubt.
The mantra ritual is taught: staying in a solitary place, one should display a thangka of the Venerable One. Visualizing the gurus, buddhas, and bodhisattvas residing in the ten directions as being actually present, one should use a pen made of human bone and a mixture of "great blood" and crow blood to draw a twelve-spoked wheel on a surface twelve finger-widths in size. In the center of the wheel, one should write the seed syllable of wind, and in its hub, the name of the enemy together with the visarga (ḥ), joined face-to-face. Having tied this to the neck of a crow, if it is not untied, the enemy will not be able to escape.
The twelve seed syllables to be written there are: PHAṬ PHAṬ HŪṂ HŪṂ NA NA TĀKṚ VIṢṬRĪḤ HRĪḤ OṂ. Having made offerings as one can afford and fumigated with "great incense," if one casts it into a flowing river, the enemy will then be unable to remain.
Alternatively, if one consecrates a crow feather three times and hides it above the enemy's door, the enemy and their retinue will be destroyed immediately.
Likewise, in the center of that same twelve-spoked wheel, using a pen made of "great bone" and a mixture of the three pungent substances, poison, and mustard seeds, one should write the seed syllable of fire in the center, with two GHAs joined face-to-face together with the visarga.
If one encircles [the target] with the two tha syllables from the outside and heats it over a fire of firewood, the son, daughter, and their retinue will die immediately. Regarding this pith instruction, the two wheels should be joined face-to-face. Alternatively, if one recites the mantra seven times over a human bone four finger-widths long and buries it at the enemy's door, their lineage will be extinguished.
Likewise, with the twelfth seed-syllable completely encircling it, in the center of a twelve-spoked wheel, one should use a sprout of sandalwood, bodhī tree, or an invincible medicinal herb to place the two baṃ syllables in the center of the water seed-syllable. Encircling these with the three tha syllables from the outside, fill it with milk and recite the mantra one hundred and eight times; it will expand like the full moon.
Similarly, with that same twelfth seed-syllable completely encircling it, in the center of a twelve-spoked wheel, place the name inside the union of two hoḥ syllables encircled by the lacquer letter hūṃ. If it is filled with white mustard, ghee, and honey, gods, asuras, kinnaras, mahoragas, ḍākinīs, yakṣas, rākṣasas, malevolent kings, and so forth, will be brought forth like male and female servants.
Having drawn the wheel, draw a liṅga with charcoal from a cremation pyre and press it with the big toe of the left foot; by reciting the mantra, the mass will be summoned. Likewise, if one meditates on the heart being marked with a red hrīḥ and recites, the feet will be summoned.
OṂ HRĪḤ ṢṬRĪḤ VIKṚTĀNANA CĀLAYA PĀDA CĀLANE HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ PHAṬ. OṂ HRĪḤ ṢṬRĪḤ VIKṚTĀNANA PATYA DEVA DATTAṂ MĀRAYA MĀRAYA RA RAṂ RA RAṂ HAṂ HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ PHAṬ. OṂ HRĪḤ ṢṬRĪḤ VIKṚTĀNANA JIVAṂ VARATA HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ PHAṬ. OṂ RAKTA RŪPA SARVA SATVA DAMAKA STAMBHAYA MOHAYA BANDHAYA HRĪḤ ṢṬRĪḤ VIKṚTĀNANA HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ PHAṬ. HRĪḤ, [insert the name of] so-and-so, bring them under my power! The syllable HRĪḤ, together with the visarga, placed between two JAḤ syllables, is for summoning the feet. The words of the mantra should be understood according to their sequence. OṂ HRĪḤ ṢṬRĪḤ VIKṚTĀNANA BHRŪṂ AMUKAṂ GHAḤ GHAḤ HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ PHAṬ SVĀHĀ. Through a fire offering of rice mixed with curd and milk and so forth, there will be prosperity. OṂ HRĪḤ ṢṬRĪḤ VIKṚTĀNANA HE HE HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ PHAṬ. If one offers a torma in the direction of the village and performs a fire offering of sesame seeds in the center, all harm from Māras will be pacified. This is the pure speech: "Red" means the destruction of all afflictions such as attachment. The three eyes represent the three times: past, future, and present. The two hands represent the subduing of conceptualizations of existence and non-existence. Because he possesses the inseparability of emptiness and compassion, he embraces the Wisdom Consort. The eight nāgas represent the manifestation of the eight consciousnesses. The garland of fifty half-human heads represents the possession of the fifty letters.
The skull cup on the left, filled with the nectar of primordial wisdom, is the nature of emptiness. The staff in the right hand is the nature of compassion, having conquered the four māras: the aggregates, the afflictions, the son of the gods, and the lord of death. The left leg extended demonstrates the three realms. The skull cup in the goddess’s left hand is for experiencing the immeasurable essence and alchemy of the blood of the four māras. The curved knife in the right hand is for severing the conceptualizations of existence and non-existence. The wrathful form is for subduing the malevolent. The protruding belly signifies not passing into nirvāṇa. The yellow hair bristling upward demonstrates the truths of suffering, origin, cessation, and the path. The four gates terrify the four māras. The four corners are completely filled with the four immeasurable abodes. The eight pillars are for destroying the afflictions of existence and non-existence, being like a dream, a city of gandharvas, an echo, an illusion, a mirage, a reflection in a mirror, the moon in water, and a rainbow in the sky. The half-lattice is for destroying internal conceptualization. The four archways possess the four means of attraction—generosity, pleasant speech, purposeful conduct, and consistency—and the four abandonments.
Through whatever merit has been accumulated by composing this Sādhana of Red Yamāri, may all beings without exception be liberated from the four māras.
This concludes the Sādhana of Red Yamāri composed by the master Śrī Virūpa. It was translated into Tibetan by the Paṇḍita Dānaśīla of Eastern India himself.
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.