Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This technical manual provides instructions for the extraction of mantras associated with the deity Red Yamāri. The text begins by establishing the necessary ritual conditions, requiring the practitioner to be in a secluded and pure environment to perform the extraction alongside offerings. The bulk of the provided fragments consists of a coded system of alphanumeric or positional references. By referencing specific sequences—such as the Noble Path, Dependent Origination, Liberations, Directions, and Truths—the text guides the practitioner through a precise combinatorial process to derive the mantra's syllables. The reader is committed to a rigorous, almost cryptographic method of assembly, where the mantra is not simply read but reconstructed through a series of specific coordinates. This suggests that the text functions as a mnemonic or protective device, ensuring that the mantra is only accessible to those initiated into this specific system of extraction.
Provenance
About this text
A treatise concerning the extraction of mantras for the deity Red Yamāri, the Raktayamārimantrasaṃgraha is attributed to the Indian author Śrīdhara. It was translated into the Tibetan language by Dānaśīla (III) and bsod nams seng ge, and is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཙི, where it is situated within the Other Skillful Means Tantras collection. Spanning three pages in this edition, the work enacts a ritual process for deriving mantras through a complex, coded system of positional references. After establishing the necessity of a secluded and pure environment for the practitioner and the inclusion of offerings, the text provides a series of coordinates involving the Noble Path, Dependent Origination, Liberations, Directions, and Truths. A scholar or serious reader consults this work today to examine this cryptographic method of assembly, wherein the mantra is not presented as a linear string of text but must be reconstructed through a precise combinatorial process. This suggests the text served as a mnemonic or protective device, ensuring the mantra was derived through a rigorous and specific set of coordinates.
Sanskrit title
Raktayamārimantrasaṃgraha
Indian author
Śrīdhara
Tibetan translators
Dānaśīla (III), bod kyi lo tsa ba bsod nams seng ge
Cite thisAnuvāda, “A Compendium of Red Yamāri Mantras” (Toh 2046), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2046
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant as an example of the 'extraction' (btu-ba) genre in Tibetan Buddhism, where sacred syllables are hidden within coded instructions. For the modern reader, it illustrates the intersection of ritual secrecy and the technical systematization of mantra construction within the Anuttarayoga Tantra tradition.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introduction
Provides the Sanskrit and Tibetan titles, an invocation to Mañjuvajra, and the prerequisite conditions for the ritual.
2-3
Extraction Instructions
A series of coded references to numerical positions within various Buddhist categories used to derive the mantra.
Themes
Mantra Extraction (1-3)
Ritual Purity (1)
Coded Mnemonics (2-3)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Rakta-yamāri-mantra-saṃgraha-nāma. In the language of Tibet: Gshin-rje-gshed-dmar-po’i-sngags-btu-ba-zhes-bya-ba (The Extraction of the Mantra of Red Yamāri). Homage to Mañjuvajra!
In a most secluded and very pure place, one should extract the mantra together with offerings. Regarding the wheel of the supreme awakening, which is the support for the truths, the immeasurables, the perfections, the noble path, the liberations, the directions, and dependent origination: begin with the first truth, the letter ka, and proceed through the sequence of the vowels and consonants (āli-kāli) until the supreme letter at the end of dependent origination.
First, provide the sixth liberation; then, the fifth liberation. Then, for the seventh liberation, it is adorned by the eighth of the directions. For the second perfection, it is adorned by the eighth of the directions. Then, one should take the fourth of the directions. For the sixth of the noble path, provide the ninth of dependent origination. For the fifth liberation, provide the seventh of dependent origination. Then, provide the sixth liberation; then, provide that very same one again. For the fifth liberation, provide the seventh of dependent origination. For the sixth of the noble path, it should be adorned by the ninth of dependent origination. For the seventh liberation, it is adorned by the first of dependent origination. For the third of the noble path and the sixth liberation, it is adorned by the ninth of dependent origination. Then, provide the sixth of the noble path; then, provide the sixth liberation. Then, provide that very same one again. Then, once more, provide the sixth of the noble path. For the sixth liberation, it is adorned by the ninth of dependent origination.
On the eighth of the Noble Path, it is adorned by the third of the Dependent Origination. Then, the seventh of the Liberations is given; then again, the sixth of that very same is given. Then, on the sixth of the Directions, it is adorned by the seventh of the Dependent Origination. Then, the sixth of the Liberations is given; then again, that very same is to be given. Then, on the sixth of the Directions, it is adorned by the seventh of the Dependent Origination. Regarding this, if one conforms to the well-known traditions of most contemporary scholars, it appears that the eighth of the Noble Path should be adorned by the ninth of the Directions; the wise should examine this.
The sixth of the Liberations is given. On the fourth of the Immeasurables, it is adorned by the first of the Perfections. On the final of the Noble Path, it is adorned by the third of the Dependent Origination. On the seventh of the Liberations, it is adorned by the eighth of the Directions. Then, the fifth of the Liberations is given; then again, the sixth of that is given. These are the thirty-two syllables; they are the action mantras of the two inner rows. By being modified by their respective functions, all activities are easily accomplished. In this case as well, it seems one must say it is adorned by the ninth of the Directions, so it should be examined as before.
On the ninth of the Dependent Origination, the fifth of the Liberations adorns the crown. Then, on the fifth of the Directions, the seventh of the Liberations adorns from below. Then, the tenth of the Directions is given. Then, the end of the sixteen Sovereigns. Then, on the third of the Directions, the fifth of the Perfections adorns from below. To that, the seventh of the Liberations is given; the third of the Dependent Origination adorns the crown.
Then, at the end of the sixteenth sovereign, and then at the first of the directions, it is adorned by the third dependent origination. At the first of the truths, it is adorned from below by the seventh liberation. Then, it is adorned by the third dependent origination. Then, at the fourth of the noble paths, it is adorned by the eighth of the directions. Then, as for the final of the noble paths—according to the currently well-known recitations and practices, the wise should examine whether the third dependent origination is not applied except for the last of the ninth of the directions. It should be bestowed twice. The seed-syllable of Vajrasattva should be bestowed twice in between. Then, at the second liberation, the fifth of the perfections is joined; the wise should do that twice as well. Then, at the fourth of the directions, the first of the directions is examined below. That is adorned by the eighth of the directions. Then, at the fifth of the directions, it should be adorned by the eighth of the directions. The fourteen fierce syllables are on the exterior of the yantra. Regarding the recitation and the yantra, the extraction of the mantra must first be performed correctly. Otherwise, it is like an enemy of the senses. Having performed the great offering, the permission is granted to the disciple. If it is not done in that way, there is no power; if it is done in that way, it is very swift. The extraction of the mantra of Red Mañjuśrī Yamāntaka composed by the master Śrīdhara is complete. Translated by the Paṇḍita Dānaśīla and the Tibetan translator Sönam Sengé.
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.