Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This text provides a technical manual for the ritual application of the Red Yamāri (Yamāntaka) yantra, focusing primarily on rites of enrichment and aggression. The work instructs the practitioner in the precise construction of mandalas (wheels) using materials such as birch bark, cemetery ash, and poison, and the placement of target names within specific seed syllables. It commits the reader to a series of highly specific visualizations and mantra recitations designed to manipulate the target's state, ranging from protection and enrichment to the violent suppression and destruction of an enemy. The practitioner is directed to visualize themselves as the wrathful deity, employing imagery of physical mutilation and the consumption of the target by cemetery beings. The text concludes with instructions on dietary offerings to the deity, framing the ritual process as a combination of material alchemy, mental projection, and devotional maintenance.
Provenance
About this text
An elucidation of the suchness of the maṇḍala of Red Yamāri, the Raktayamāriyantratattvanirdeśaka is a treatise belonging to the classical Tibetan tradition. The work is attributed to the Indian author Bodhigarbha. It was translated into Tibetan by Niṣkalaṅkapāda and dpyal lo tsa ba dpal chos kyi bzang po, and is preserved in the Tengyur (vol. ཙི) within the collection of Other Skillful Means Tantras, where it extends over seven pages. The work enacts a series of ritual procedures centered on the Red Yamāri (Yamāntaka), providing technical instructions for the construction of yantras using materials such as birch bark, lac juice, or red sandalwood. It details rites for the protection of women, pacification, and enrichment, as well as aggressive rituals involving the placement of a target's name between seed syllables and the use of specific mantras. The practitioner is directed to visualize themselves as the red Yamāntaka, employing a noose and hook to bind and pierce the heart of a target. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the precise intersection of visualization, mantra, and material ritualism used to manipulate the state of a target, ranging from enrichment to violent suppression.
Sanskrit title
Raktayamāriyantratattvanirdeśaka
Indian author
Bodhigarbha
Tibetan translators
Niṣkalaṅkapāda, dpyal lo tsa ba dpal chos kyi bzang po
Cite thisAnuvāda, “Illuminating the Suchness of the Red Yamāri Yantra” (Toh 2034), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2034
Summary & commentary
Significance
The text is significant as an example of the 'wrathful' side of Indo-Tibetan ritual practice, specifically the use of yantras for coercive or protective purposes. It illustrates the intersection of Buddhist tantra with folk-magical elements and the specific use of cemetery materials to harness destructive energies.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-3
Rituals of Enrichment and Protection
Instructions on empowerment, specific mantras for enrichment, and the physical preparation of the target's name within ritual vessels.
4-6
Rituals of Suppression and Destruction
Guidelines for drawing wheels to suppress targets, detailed visualizations of the deity and the target's degradation, and the mental act of destroying the target.
7-8
Material Preparation and Offerings
The use of cemetery materials for drawing yantras and the final mantra and offering protocols for Yamāntaka.
Themes
Ritual Materiality (2-7)
Wrathful Visualization (3-6)
Mantra and Seed Syllables (2-8)
Coercive Magic (4-6)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaIlluminating the Suchness of the Red Yamāri Yantra·
In the language of India: Rakta-yamāri-cakra-tattva-nirdeśaka. In the language of Tibet: Gshin-rje-gshed-dmar-po’i ’khor-lo’i de-kho-na-nyid-kyi gsal-byed (The Elucidation of the Suchness of the Maṇḍala of Red Yamāri). Homage to the Blessed One, the Glorious Yamāntaka!
For the protection of women, for the rite of pacification, one should use bezoar on white cotton, birch bark, bamboo bark, or well-washed cloth. Having correctly drawn two wheels, write the name of the person to be protected inside the syllable namaḥ. Free from stains and the like, place them inside two joined clay bowls of a single color, fill them with ghee and honey, wrap them with white thread, and set them aside. Facing east, meditate for three sessions on Yamāntaka with a white body, making offerings of white flowers. Visualize the person to be accomplished residing upon a moon maṇḍala in front of you, and imagine them being consecrated by a white vase completely filled with the nectar-water of the moon. Recite: oṃ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ phaṭ namaḥ amuka-śāntiṃ kuru namaḥ. This is the ritual of pacification.
For the pacification of men, use saffron. For the rite of enrichment as well, clearly draw two wheels. Insert the name inside the syllable svāhā, place them in ghee and honey, and set them aside in two joined clay bowls, well-wrapped with yellow thread. Then, facing north, correctly visualize Yamāntaka in a yellow body. For three sessions, make offerings of yellow flowers, and visualize the person to be accomplished as yellow in color, residing upon a yellow moon.
One should perform the empowerment with the nectar-water of a yellow vase and recite the mantra: OṂ HRĪḤ ṢṬRĪḤ VIKṚTĀNANA HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ PHAṬ SVĀHĀ. Or alternatively: OṂ HRĪḤ ṢṬRĪḤ VIKṚTĀNANA HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ PHAṬ SVĀHĀ. BOṢAṬ [Name] PUṢṬIṂ KURU BOṢAṬ. This is the rite of enrichment.
On birch bark or cloth, one should draw two wheels using lac juice, red sandalwood, or the blood of the ring finger. Insert the name between the syllables HOḤ. Place them inside a pair of joined clay bowls that are free of stains and other impurities, fill them completely with ghee and honey, tie them with a red thread, and set them aside. Then, facing west and possessing the meditative absorption of Red Yamāntaka, one should offer red flowers during three sessions. Visualize the person to be accomplished as red in color, situated upon a red moon. Imagine that light rays radiating from one's own body completely fill them, causing them to become utterly intoxicated and fall prostrate at one's feet. While visualizing this, one should recite the mantra. If they are not brought under control, one should heat the wheels alone—omitting the ghee and honey—over a smokeless fire of acacia wood. The mantras for these are: OṂ HRĪḤ ṢṬRĪḤ VIKṚTĀNANA HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ PHAṬ HOḤ [Name] MAMA VAŚAṂ KURU HOḤ. OṂ HRĪḤ ṢṬRĪḤ VIKṚTĀNANA HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ PHAṬ BOṢAṬ [Name] VAŚAMĀNAYA BOṢAṬ. This is the rite of magnetizing.
On cloth from a charnel ground or cloth made of rājasā, one should clearly draw two wheels using dye.
Write the name of the target inserted between the syllables JA or HRĪḤ. Place it between two joined earthenware bowls or two joined human skulls, wrap it in red cloth, and worship it with red flowers. During the evening session, visualize yourself as the red Yamāntaka, who is like the sun and holds a noose and a hook. Imagine that the hook pierces the heart of the target and the noose binds their neck, drawing them forth. If they do not come, then heat the object in a fire of acacia wood.
OṂ HRĪḤ ṢṬRĪḤ VIKṚTĀNANA HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ PHAṬ JAḤ DEVADATTAṂ ĀKARṢAYA JAḤ. This is the ritual for summoning the feet.
On a cloth from a charnel ground, use orpiment or turmeric juice to draw two wheels. Write the name of the target inserted within the syllable LAṂ. Place this between two joined yellow earthenware bowls. On the bowls, draw seven square lines. Above them, visualize Mount Meru with its eight great peaks, containing the syllable HŪṂ, with the earth maṇḍala marked by LAṂ upon the peaks. Surround it with a crossed vajra and bind it with yellow thread. Visualize yourself as yellow Yamāntaka and the target as yellow, facing south and sitting upon the earth maṇḍala. Imagine them being pressed down by the seven golden mountains and Mount Meru, and further suppressed by a crossed vajra upon the earth maṇḍala. Then perform the recitation:
OṂ HRĪḤ ṢṬRĪḤ VIKṚTĀNANA HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ PHAṬ LAṂ DEVADATTAṂ SVA-STHĀNAṂ STAMBHAYA LAṂ. This is the ritual for suppression.
For one who wishes to suppress speech:
Likewise, having clearly drawn two wheels with the name inserted within them, one should perform the recitation and then suppress [the target]. The syllable laṃ is used as follows: laṃ devadattasya yathā ārambhakāraya kṛte nivārayato virūpakaṃ devadattayajñadattasya vākaṃ stambhani kuru laṃ. This is the ritual for suppressing speech.
For one who desires to render [a person] mute, one should clearly draw two wheels on a cloth from a charnel ground and insert the syllable baṃ within them: baṃ devadattasya mukhaṃ bandhaya baṃ. Through the application of Yamāntaka, one should place the target inside the heart of a sheep and enclose it in a casket-like manner using the four earth maṇḍalas. Having drawn the two wheels according to the ritual for the application of immobilization, one should meditate and suppress them, then perform the recitation: oṃ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ phaṭ baṃ devadattasya mukhaṃ bandha amukaṃ kuru baṃ. The local deities and others will be rendered deluded.
On a cloth from a charnel ground, one should prepare ink using white mustard seeds, salt, pungent oil, neem leaves, the juice of datura leaves, charcoal from a cremated corpse, and the blood from one's own ring finger. With a pen made from a crow's feather, one should clearly draw two wheels and insert the name of the target within the syllable hūṃ. Facing south, one should assume the form of the wrathful Yamāntaka, standing upon a sun maṇḍala with the left leg extended. One's face is hideous with bared fangs, extremely fierce, with a tongue flickering like lightning, possessing light rays like the fire at the end of an eon, and brandishing various weapons as hand-symbols.
One should visualize oneself like a rain-cloud, with a large belly and yellow hair and beard blazing upward, the hollow of the throat like lightning in a cloud and completely filled with the syllable HŪṂ. In front, one visualizes the target wearing dirty, tattered clothes, their entire body smeared with ashes and standing upon a maṇḍala of fire. Having stripped away the garments and protections created by the mantra-ritual at the crown, the top of the head, the heart, the base of the hands, and the knees, one draws in and gathers the deities residing in that body and causes them to enter one's own body. Then, viewing the [target's] body as if it were an empty house, one emanates various wrathful forms brandishing various weapons in their hands. Having struck and reduced [the body] to hundreds of thousands of pieces, one eats the flesh, fat, and bones, drinks the blood, and burns it to ashes. In front, one visualizes Yama, who has the color of a rain-cloud, standing upon a buffalo, holding a club and a noose, with a large belly, his mouth agape and fangs bared. One visualizes [the target] residing in his heart and being devoured by him, and then recites the mantra. By that very same ritual, one should clearly draw two wheels, inserting the name within the syllables HŪṂ and PHAṬ. Abiding in that same meditative concentration, the target is separated from the deities, becomes soot-stained, and stands upon a maṇḍala of fire. Various ugly wrathful forms [then attack] with swords, wooden stakes, battle-axes, spears, nooses, wheels, and tridents.
One should visualize striking [the target] with weapons such as iron hammers and so forth, and cutting them into a hundred pieces. Then, one should recite the mantra while visualizing various beings—crows, owls, vultures, jackals, rākṣasas, ḍākinīs, and others—devouring [the target].
OṂ HRĪḤ ṢṬRĪḤ VIKṚTĀNANA HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ PHAṬ DEVA DATTAṂ MĀRAYA HŪṂ PHAṬ. This is the ritual for killing.
Likewise, one should write the name of the target inside the syllable PHAṬ within the wheel. Place it inside two skull-cups joined together and wrap them with blue thread. At midday, dig a pit in a charnel ground and bury it. Then, while maintaining the yoga of Yamāntaka, visualize the two targets mounted on a horse and a buffalo, brandishing weapons in their hands. Together with a host of Vajra Wrathful Deities, they are emanated as being present and engaging in combat. Recite the mantra:
OṂ HRĪḤ ṢṬRĪḤ VIKṚTĀNANA HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ PHAṬ DEVA DATTAṂ YAJÑADATTAṂ VIDEŚAYA PHAṬ. This is the ritual for causing enmity and separation.
Write that same wheel inside the syllables HŪṂ PHAṬ PHAṬ within two skull-cups. Join the skull-cups together and wrap them with black thread. Bury them in a charnel ground. In front of oneself, while maintaining the yoga of Yamāntaka, visualize a wind mandala arising from YAṂ. Upon that, visualize a camel, and upon that, the form of the target, blue in color. Visualize being struck by the Vajra Wrathful Deities and departing toward the south; thus, they will be expelled.
OṂ HRĪḤ ṢṬRĪḤ VIKṚTĀNANA HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ PHAṬ DEVA DATTA UCCHĀṬAYA PHAṬ PHAṬ. This is the ritual for expulsion.
The wrathful Yamāntaka is extremely red. The preparation involves using cemetery ash, poison, salt, mustard seeds, and hot water to draw two wheels upon a cloth from a cemetery. Having taught and spoken of the ritual for the torma offering, if one anoints and endows the object of recitation with the five meats and five nectars on the fourteenth day of the month, it is the supreme means for causing intense torment. With ten thousand recitations, one slays the bhūtas; with one thousand, the ḍākinīs and the hosts of pretas. Through one hundred thousand recitations, the yogin performs all activities. Through ten million recitations, accomplishment is attained; what need is there to mention fifty million? One should not recite while eating alms, nor should one be attached to what is not solicited. One must always remain firm in the samaya and recite the mantra of the great yoga. All sentient beings who possess the knowledge of yoga should always maintain a mind of loving-kindness. Every day, or every month, or every year, one should constantly offer sixty-four sticks and present sixty-four tormas. For the sake of pacifying all obstructors and increasing merit, the ritual for the torma of the bhūtas shall be taught here. Having made a triangular maṇḍala with water mixed with feces and urine, one abides in the yoga of Yamāntaka and correctly summons the guardians of the directions. They are summoned with this mantra. The mantra is: Oṃ indrāya hrīḥ yamāya ṣṭrīḥ varuṇāya vi kuberāya kṛ īśānāya ta agnaye a.
Nairṛtye na | Vāyave na | Caṇḍāya hūṃ | Ārkāya hūṃ | Brahmaṇe phaṭ | Vasudhāraye phaṭ | Vemacitrāṇe svā | Sarvabhūtebhyo hā | Hī hī hī | Hūṃ hūṃ hūṃ | Phem phem phem | Svāhā. With this, one should always offer the first portion of whatever food and drink there may be to Yamāntaka. Having pleased them with these and requested their forbearance, one should request them to depart as they please.
By whatever merit I have accumulated through this, may all worlds without exception overcome their sorrows and become vessels for enlightenment. Having firmly established myself and all beings upon the path to enlightenment, may we attain the body of a Buddha, the sovereign of ultimate bliss.
This definitive sādhana, which is like the autumn moon, was composed by the Elder Bodhigarbha for the benefit of sentient beings. This concludes the sādhana titled The Clarification of the Suchness of the Wheel of Ritual Activities of Glorious Yamāntaka. It was translated by the translator Pyal Pal Chökyi Zangpo from the presence of the Paṇḍita Vajrāsana Niṣkalaṅka.
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.