Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
The provided fragment of the Ratnamālā (The Jewel Garland) functions as a ritual instruction or sādhana rather than a philosophical treatise. The text specifies the precise methodology for invoking a female deity, requiring the practitioner to recite a mantra eight thousand times within a visualized divine abode. It commits the reader to a rigorous discipline of repetition and visualization to achieve a specific supernatural result: the arrival of the deity at midnight. The text promises that this ritual process culminates in the deity appearing with the auditory signifier of anklets to grant the practitioner the fulfillment of all sensory pleasures. Consequently, the text positions itself as a practical manual for attainment through mantra yoga and deity invocation, focusing on the intersection of disciplined practice and the manifestation of material or sensory rewards.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual manual for the invocation of a deity, the Ratnamālā (Tibetan: rin chen phreng ba ma) belongs to the tradition of the Wish-Fulfilling Jewel, a Sādhana Activity Garland of Red Yamāri. The work is attributed to the Indian author Prajñārakṣita. It was translated into the Tibetan language by Dānaśīla (III) and is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཙི, where it extends over two pages. Rather than presenting a philosophical argument, the work enacts a specific sādhana; it instructs the practitioner to recite a mantra eight thousand times within a divine abode to ensure the arrival of a female deity at midnight. Accompanied by the sound of anklets, the deity is said to bestow all sensory pleasures of the gods and grant the practitioner a lifespan of a thousand years. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the practical application of mantra yoga and the specific methodologies used in deity invocation to achieve supernatural results and sensory rewards.
Sanskrit title
Ratnamālā
Indian author
Prajñārakṣita
Tibetan translators
Dānaśīla (III)
Canonical collection
The Wish-Fulfilling Jewel, a Sādhana Activity Garland of Red Yamāri
Cite thisAnuvāda, “The Precious Garland” (Toh 2048), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2048
Summary & commentary
Significance
This text is significant as it illustrates the application of mantra-based sādhana in the Indo-Tibetan tradition to achieve specific worldly or transcendental goals. For the modern reader, it provides a primary example of the ritual mechanics and the role of visualization in Buddhist tantric practice.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Ritual Instructions
Provides the title in Sanskrit and Tibetan and outlines the mantra repetition and conditions necessary for the deity's arrival.
Themes
Sādhana and Mantra (1)
Sensory Fulfillment (1)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Ratnamālā. In the language of Tibet: Rin chen phreng ba ma (The Jewel Garland). Oṃ Hūṃ. As for its sādhana: by reciting [the mantra] eight thousand times in a divine abode, she will then arrive at midnight accompanied by the sound of anklets, bestowing all the sensory pleasures of the gods, and one will live for a thousand years together with her. Following the tradition of others, one should also accomplish Apacāra. Forming the lotus mudrā with both hands is the samaya mudrā of Apacārī. This concludes the sādhana of Apacārī.
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.