Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This ritual text outlines the procedural requirements for the samādhi of Red Yamāri, a deity associated with the subjugation of obstacles and the transformation of consciousness. The work functions as a technical manual, directing the practitioner through a sequence of physical offerings, complex visualizations, and empowerment rites. It commits the reader to a rigorous process of mental projection, where the practitioner uses mantras and symbolic objects—such as white mustard seeds transformed into vajras—to conceptually wound and then dissolve the subjects to be accomplished into a wisdom consort. This process culminates in the manifestation of Akṣobhyavajra and the administration of a water vase empowerment. By integrating the physical act of sprinkling water with specific Sanskrit incantations, the text seeks to transition the candidate into a state of spiritual stability and realization, moving from the destructive phase of subjugation to the constructive phase of empowerment.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual manual detailing the samādhi of Red Yamāri, the Raktayamārisamādhividhi belongs to the tradition of the Other Skillful Means Tantras. The work is attributed to the Indian author Śrīdhara. It was translated into the Tibetan language by Dānaśīla (III) and is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཙི, where it extends over four pages. The text enacts a technical procedure for the purification of a subject through a sequence of physical offerings, such as bali cakes, and complex visualizations. The practitioner is directed to use mantras and symbolic objects, including white mustard seeds transformed into vajras, to conceptually wound the subject and expel disease entities and obstructive spirits. This process involves dissolving the subjects into a wisdom consort and visualizing their transformation into Akṣobhyavajra to receive empowerment. A scholar or serious reader consults this classical Tibetan work today to examine the specific procedural requirements of the ritual, the integration of mental projection with physical offerings, and the methodology used to transition a candidate toward spiritual stability and realization through the administration of empowerment rites.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “A Samādhi Ritual for Red Yamāri” (Toh 2029), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2029
Summary & commentary
Significance
The text is significant for its illustration of the 'wrathful' methods of transformation within the Indo-Tibetan tradition, where aggression is ritualized to achieve liberation. For the modern reader, it provides a primary example of how samādhi is not merely a quietistic state but can be an active, ritualized process involving external implements and deity yoga.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Preparations and Purification
Initial arrangements of offering cakes and the start of purification rites.
2
Visualization of Subjugation
The use of mantras and the visualization of mustard seeds as vajras to inflict symbolic wounds on the subject.
3
Transformation and Integration
The dissolution of subjects into the wisdom consort and their subsequent emergence as Akṣobhyavajra.
4
Water Vase Empowerment
The physical application of water to the candidate accompanied by a specific empowerment mantra.
Themes
Ritual Visualization (2-3)
Empowerment (Abhiṣeka) (4)
Deity Yoga (3)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Rakta-yamāri-samādhi-vidhiḥ. In the language of Tibet: Gshin-rje-gshed-dmar-po’i-ting-ṅe-’dzin-gyi-chog (The Ritual of the Samādhi of Red Yamāri). Homage to Red Yamāri!
First, having arranged the offering cakes (bali) in accordance with the root text, the purification of the subject to be accomplished is as follows: gather two white earthen bowls together with divine food offerings (naivedya), two lumps of dung with sprouts, two portions of dough-wine, white mustard seeds, fragrant scents, and charcoal fire. Then, meditate on oneself as the clear realization of Red Yamāri according to the sādhana. From the state of emptiness, visualize in front of you a wind maṇḍala, upon which is a fire maṇḍala, and upon that, the subject to be accomplished—such as a patient—standing.
Then, from the light rays of the seed syllable at one’s own heart, wrathful Yamāntakas holding iron hooks and nooses emerge. Imagine that they summon all the demons of the three realms and cause them to dissolve into a single demon. Visualize that single demon as naked, with disheveled hair, his genitals hanging down, heedless, blue in color, and hideous. Imagine that he then dissolves into the subject. At the crown of the subject’s head, from the syllable HŪṂ, visualize a crossed vajra, and on each of its two sides, from a HŪṂ, visualize a five-pronged vajra. Imagine that the subject is suppressed by those vajras and scorched from below by fire. Recite: OṂ ĀḤ VIGHNĀNTAKṚT HŪṂ.
Reciting the mantra hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ and so forth, one should visualize that the white mustard seeds, having been transformed into vajras from the syllable hūṃ, strike [the subject], causing immeasurable wounds to appear on the body of the one to be accomplished. One should then imagine that all the entities of disease and obstructive spirits (graha) emerge from the mouth. Alternatively, one should imagine that the remaining traces of disease and obstructive spirits are incinerated by the striking of the white mustard seeds, and that the remnants transform into black dogs and exit through the mouth.
Following that, reciting oṃ sarvapāpaṃ dahana vajrāya vajrasattvasya sarvapāpaṃ daha svāhā, one should hold the white mustard seeds—over which the syllable hūṃ has been recited—in the right and left fists. Striking [the subject] twice with each fist in a counter-clockwise direction, one should cast them into a fire of charcoal. Likewise, one should perform the same with water, using the left and right hands. The same applies to earthenware bowls and so forth, as well as with cloth. However, the earthenware bowls and such should not be cast into the fire.
One should anoint the heart with fragrant water over which the essence mantra for dispelling obstructors has been recited, and then fumigate with guggulu incense. Furthermore, following that, one should meditate on oneself as the Lord of the Family, and having invited the wisdom being (jñānasattva) according to the ritual, one should visualize the five Tathāgatas together with their consorts in the space before. Through their non-dual union, the Tathāgatas and their consorts melt with great passion and dissolve into the aperture at the crown of one's head. They then enter through the spinal column, emerge through the vajra path, and...
As they dissolve into the face of one’s own wisdom consort, the subjects to be accomplished abide within her lotus. Simultaneously, following the realization of emptiness, one should visualize that they take the form of Akṣobhyavajra, arising from the syllable HŪṂ and a vajra, together with a wisdom consort, and become inseparable from the wisdom-being (jñānasattva) while receiving empowerment. Then, the subjects are drawn out from the lotus and remain there. From the sky, goddesses such as Locanā and the Tathāgatas confer empowerment from vases filled with nectar. Furthermore, Rūpavajrā and the others recite:
"Whatever auspiciousness dwells in the hearts of all sentient beings, the supreme wisdom that is the self-nature of all and the lord of all families, the great bliss that gives birth to all beings without exception—by that auspiciousness, may you receive this supreme empowerment.
Possessing perfect excellence like a mountain of gold, the protector of the three worlds who has abandoned the three stains, the Buddha with lotus-like eyes and fully blossomed petals—by that auspiciousness, may you be pacified today.
The supreme, unwavering teaching revealed by him, renowned throughout the three worlds and honored by gods and humans—may the supreme Dharma, which brings peace to all living beings, be auspicious and grant peace to all beings today.
The sublime Saṅgha, endowed with the Dharma and rich in the auspiciousness of learning, the object of worship for gods, humans, and asuras, the supreme assembly, possessing a sense of shame and the foundation of glory—by that auspiciousness, may you be pacified today."
One should visualize while reciting these words.
Regarding the water vase empowerment: from the lotus vessel, one takes water with the right hand using a vajra together with a leaf and sprinkles it upon the clothing and so forth of the candidate. One recites: oṃ mahāsukha vajrasattva abhiṣekas tvaṃ abhiṣiñcāmi sarvatathāgatādhipatena dṛḍho me bhava. Furthermore, with the tip of the vajra together with a leaf, one pours [water] upon the body of the candidate and recites: "The empowerment of the great vajra, which is venerated by those of the three realms, the secret of all buddhas, arising from the source, I bestow." Reciting oṃ āḥ vajrodaka abhiṣiñca hūṃ suratas tvaṃ ahaṃ, one should confer the empowerment. At that time, the water empowerment is conferred while entering into meditative equipoise with great bliss. Then, having performed the ritual of the torma in accordance with the root text, the substances for purifying the torma should be carried to a solitary tree, a crossroads, or the bank of a great river, and subsequently one should cut [the connection] with water. This concludes the ritual of the samādhi of Red Yamāri composed by the master Śrīdhara. It was translated by the great paṇḍita of Eastern India, Dānaśīla, into his own language.
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.