Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This technical manual provides instructions for the creation and consecration of a protective wheel (yantra) and the performance of an averting ritual within the Yamāntaka tradition. The text outlines a precise geometric and linguistic architecture, specifying the placement of seed syllables within the wheel's center, cardinal directions, and spokes. Beyond the physical construction, the work commits the practitioner to a sophisticated meditative process: the visualization of a crossed vajra and the application of secret mantras to purify the space. Central to the text's argument is the transformation of obstacles; it posits that external interference and internal conceptual grasping are illusory. By applying the samādhi of mutual blending and the two yogas of primordial wisdom, the practitioner is instructed to transmute poisons into nectar and obstacles into wisdom. The work concludes by framing the entire process within the context of the dharmadhātu, asserting that the ritual's efficacy relies on the realization of the non-existent nature of arising and ceasing.
Provenance
About this text
An instruction on the blessing of the protective wheel and the ritual of averting, the Rakṣācakrādhiṣṭhānapṛṣṭhyopadeśa belongs to the Yamāntaka tradition. The work is attributed to the Indian author Śrīdhara, described as a learned lord of yogis who had attained accomplishment. It was translated into classical Tibetan by Anupamarakṣita and lo tsa ba dar ma yon tan. The text is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཙི, where it comprises six pages and is situated within the collection of Other Skillful Means Tantras. In practice, the work enacts the creation and consecration of a yantra, providing precise specifications for the placement of seed syllables—such as KṢE, MAYACCHA, and ME DO NA—within the center, cardinal directions, and intermediate spokes of the wheel. It further details the use of mantras and the performance of rites associated with slaying, paralyzing, and expelling. A scholar or serious reader consults this manual today to examine the technical intersection of geometric architecture and ritual linguistics used to achieve siddhis and perform protective functions within this specific tantric framework.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “Personal Instructions on Consecrating a Protection Wheel and Repelling [Interfering Spirits]” (Toh 2045), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2045
Summary & commentary
Significance
The text is significant for its integration of external ritual technology (the yantra) with internal tantric alchemy and Madhyamaka-style ontological analysis. It demonstrates how the Yamāntaka tradition employs specific seed syllables and visualizations to manage perceived spiritual interference. For the modern reader, it illustrates the Buddhist conceptualization of the boundary between internal psychological states and external spiritual entities.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-3
Technical Specifications
Introduction of the work's titles and the specific arrangement of seed syllables for the construction of the protection wheel, attributed to Śrīdhara.
4-5
Ritual Visualization and Purification
Instructions on using secret mantras and visualizing the crossed vajra and lotus to transform obstacles into wisdom.
6-7
Philosophical Grounding and Conclusion
A meditation on the illusory nature of existence and the application of the two yogas of primordial wisdom to achieve final aversion.
Themes
Yantra Construction (2-3)
Transmutation of Obstacles (5)
Ontological Illusion (6)
Primordial Wisdom (7)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaPersonal Instructions on Consecrating a Protection Wheel and Repelling [Interfering Spirits]·
In the language of India: Cakrarakṣādhiṣṭhānapratiṣṭhāyopadeśa-nāma. In the language of Tibet: Srung ba'i 'khor lo'i byin rlabs dang phyir bzlog pa'i man ngag ces bya ba (The Instruction on the Blessing of the Protective Wheel and the Ritual of Averting). Homage to the Blessed One, Yamāntaka, the Slayer of Hatred.
To the glorious Yamāntaka, who subdues and brings the three realms to the single taste of great bliss, I bow. To accomplish his enlightened activities, I shall explain the ritual of the yantra.
When a yogi who has completed the approach retreat performs the yantras according to the proper application, they are blessed by that power. One should then take up the materials and perform the practice. In a secluded place, having prepared a maṇḍala and so forth, one should perform the supreme yoga of the two stages, along with offerings, torma, vase recitation, and fire ritual. Likewise, having arranged the directional protectors within the source of phenomena (dharmodaya), one should give the yogic torma and issue the commands outside.
Then, the disciple, together with the master, having performed the ritual ablution and joined their palms, should be seated facing the guru. The refuge, the generation of bodhicitta, and so forth, as well as the vows of the five buddhas, should be bestowed. With the intention to accomplish the vast array of activities as they have been taught, one should visualize: upon a lotus arising from paṃ, there is a red Yamāri arising from hūṃ. One should meditate on the syllable ya at the heart and throat, and a nine-square grid at the navel.
Oṃ [name of person], śāntiṃ, puṣṭiṃ, vaśyaṃ, stambhanaṃ, māraṇaṃ—accomplish these according to one's desire, svāhā. This is for the center. Hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana, clockwise in the four directions. Hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ phaṭ in the four intermediate directions. The twelve spokes are yellow.
The syllable KṢE is to be placed in the center, the right, and the left. In the south is the syllable MAYACCHA; in the west is the syllable ME DO NA; and in the three northern [sections] is DO RU ṆA. The syllables arranged in the intermediate spokes are NA YO NI RA, repeated three times. Then, in the outer grid: OṂ YAMARĀJA SADO ME YA | YAME DORUṆAYODA YA | YADAYONI RA YAKṢE YA | YAKṢE YACCHA NIRAMAYA HŪṂ PHAṬ SVĀHĀ. Visualizing the two wheels joined together, through the application of emanation and reabsorption, gather all the activities, powers, and qualities of the Victors and cause them to enter the wheels of the heart and throat. Just as a single lamp is lit from another lamp without the original being diminished, and just as a fire is kindled from one fire, place the master’s red wheel upon the heart and throat of the disciple. Having bestowed the transmission of the fourteen kings of secret mantra and the twelve syllables that precede the root mantra, hand over the substances of the wheel that have been written and consecrated. To ensure stability, place a vajra upon the crown of the head: TIṢṬHA VAJRA CAKRA RAKṢA SAMAYA MUDRĀ HO. "From all the essence of the stable and the moving, this supreme wheel of the Unshakable One, for pacifying, magnetizing, and wrathful activities, is to be held in order to accomplish the infinite deeds. From this day forward, you must never be parted from it. This is the activity of the permission, which is unimpeded and swift; it will become the supreme companion for pleasing the deities and the two stages." Otherwise, those who are unskilled in composing the wheel will not achieve accomplishment.
Whatever siddhis were previously desired, they are like a heap of sand in water and so forth. This concludes the sequence of the blessing of the yantra, composed by the great and glorious Śrīdhara, the lord of yogis who was learned and had attained accomplishment.
Next, the authentic explanation is as follows: Whether one performs the rites of slaying, paralyzing, expelling, and so forth, or has them performed by another, the sequence of the reversal should also be made clear. When signs of fear, obstacles, or bad dreams and the like occur, one should perform the six reversals: substances, mantra, meditative absorption, wind, the peerless, and the protection of the unprotected.
In that regard, for the time being, the yogi should prepare a staff of khadira wood and combine musk, bezoar, sweet flag, guggulu, gandhī, sesame, white mustard, lapis lazuli, coral, saffron, red sandalwood and the like, as well as vermilion and white cinnabar. Having prepared these, one should generate the protection according to the thirteen [deities] of the fire [mandala] and place them in the thirteen locations.
HŪṂ KṢE MA ME DA JA SA DO RU YA TSCHA NI RA. One should touch the heart, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, navel, the two lower gates, the two thighs, the two shoulders, and likewise the crown of the head. One should meditate on the Lord of Death of Hatred and the others. Having pounded the substances, one should apply them to the body. Then, the vidyās of those who act perversely, such as Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and the ṛṣis, will never be able to affect one. This is the reversal by means of external material substances.
If there are no vidyādharas or others who act extremely maliciously, the ritual for reversing them is preceded by the immeasurable minds and so forth.
Purify with the three secret mantras: Oṃ śūnyatā-jñāna-vajra-svabhāva-ātmako ’haṃ. In the center of space, one should visualize: from Paṃ and Raṃ, a lotus and sun at the heart; from the complete transformation of a crossed vajra, one should meditate on the protection wheel, with ten spokes, a rim, and a hub. In the ten locations arising from Bhrūṃ, from the merging of the cause arising from Hūṃ, generate the wrathful deities as they appear. In the center is oneself as Yamāntaka, black and wrathful, upon a buffalo. Having generated him in that way, according to the ritual, perform the three vajras, the entry, the binding, and so forth. With countless Ḍākinīrāja [mantras], torment and summon the harm-doers and cause them to enter. Wearing the vajra armor, the object to be protected is visualized at the location of the sattva in the heart; by reciting [the mantra] while it revolves, [the protection is established]. From time to time, one should offer the torma. At midnight, perform the fire offering of suppression to be given to the ten wrathful deities. This is the reversal of external curses through mantras. If a practitioner on the path is distracted by conceptual thoughts and signs, the yoga for reversing that is to begin the practice of the winds: upatantra-dhāraṇa, ḍima-vyagra-musala. Holding the moving and entering winds, the wisdom wind that flows in the central channel destroys all conceptualizations. The force of the winds of afflictions and karma is transformed into great wisdom; by its power, one cannot be harmed by anything. This is the reversal of internal curses through the winds. All obstructing phenomena—demons, fears, curses, and diseases—[are thus averted].
Since they are external, through the samādhi of mutual blending, just as poison is turned into nectar, one should transform obstacles into great wisdom. If the demons of grasping and other conceptual thoughts arise, one should transform the grasper and the thoughts themselves into external spirits, and then expel whatever spirits they are. In that way, one views the harm-doer as a deity, and the same applies to the other. Then, by recollecting the guru, however many animate and inanimate beings, deities, and mantras there may be, whoever harms whomsoever, the signs of delusion are liberated in their own place. All grasping is demolished, and the great samādhi free from conceptual elaboration will arise. This is the reversal of internal sorcery through samādhi. Ultimately, that which becomes the demon of wisdom is the very movement of duality: the desire to discard the suffering of saṃsāra and the desire to adopt the nirvāṇa to be attained. To take that very thing as the path is explained according to the speech of Vajradhara. If one understands well even the hells and other realms of saṃsāra, they do not waver from Buddhahood itself, because they abide as the five aggregates. Because they are the five wisdoms, the five substances of the body, such as excrement and so forth, are the five Sugatas, the five nectars, and are to be introduced as the five consorts. Because they abide as the eight Bodhisattvas, because they abide as the six goddesses, and because they are the ten Bhairavas—thus, everything is of the nature of the Buddha’s maṇḍala alone. Just as some hold poison to be discarded even when it is a medicine that overcomes disease, so too do some hold this to be something to be rejected. Even if it is saṃsāra itself, saṃsāra has no beginning, middle, or end.
Abandoning all arising and ceasing,
And the parts of moments and atoms,
It is neither existent, nor non-existent,
Nor is it even the absence of both.
Just like an illusory elephant,
Since there is no arising in what arises,
It is like an illusory person
Discarding an illusory woman.
By meditating in this way, one is liberated
Even without abandoning the desire to leave saṃsāra.
If your mind delights in the uncontaminated expanse
Of your own bliss,
You should meditate on the union
Of non-dual, coemergent compassion.
A Buddha who has attained the two benefits
Does not act for their own sake alone.
If a king holds onto his kingdom only for his own pleasure
Without establishing his subjects in happiness,
He brings ruin to others and ruins himself as well.
Since there is not even a sesame seed’s worth of a "self,"
What is the use of pursuing one's own self-interest?
Through the coemergent wisdom of selflessness,
Having completely severed all craving for a self,
With a mind intent solely on the welfare of others,
One abides in the supreme, inexpressible, and all-appearing
Coemergent joy, which is the nature
Free from conceptual elaborations.
Like the colors appearing on a crystal,
The very form of diverse emptiness—
Blissful, empty, luminous, and non-conceptual—
Is the maṇḍala of the Buddhas of the animate and inanimate.
This all-pervasive nature
Abides as the unelaborated bodhicitta.
No matter where one searches, it cannot be found;
For the Bhagavān Red Yamāntaka
Is the coemergent joy of union,
Abiding from the very beginning.
Knowing this, the acceptance and rejection
Of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa
Will naturally subside like clouds in the sky.
Ultimately, it is averted by the two yogas of primordial wisdom. Thus, whatever has been obtained through the kindness of the guru, this secret pith instruction of the glorious Yamāntaka, has been clarified exactly as it is, free from stain. Since it is the dharmadhātu, it is right that the great ones of primordial wisdom grant forgiveness for all faults. May the innate state, moistened by the compassion of great bliss, be the glorious Red Yamāri himself who conquers the four māras. By the power of the virtue of having composed this, may all beings of the three realms without exception realize their own great primordial wisdom as one taste, like water merging with water. This most secret of secret pith instructions for averting, the oral instructions of the Blessed One, the Red Yamāntaka, composed by the great lord of yogins, the glorious Dhanaśrī who attained supreme siddhi, is hereby complete. It was translated and finalized by the Indian abbot Anupamavajra and the translator Darma Yönten. Later, at the two palaces of the Dharma King, it was translated and edited by the great scholar of Eastern India, Dharpaṇācārya, and the translator Lowo Sherab Rinchen. At the time of this manuscript, the lineage had been interrupted throughout India and Nepal, but later it emerged from the ḍākinī Sāgarāmbarā in Oḍḍiyāna, having been requested by the yogin Śrīvatāla.
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.