Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This fragmentary text is a sādhanā, a ritual manual designed to invoke or propitiate the deity Ratirāgā (the Joy of Passion). The text provides a specific mantra—Oṃ surata priye svāhā—and prescribes a precise ritual protocol for its activation. The practitioner is committed to a spatial and temporal discipline, requiring them to travel to the confluence of two rivers at night to perform a repetitive recitation of the mantra eight thousand times. The fragment suggests a causal link between the completion of this ritual labor and a subsequent manifestation or result occurring on the first day. By combining a Sanskrit seed phrase with specific environmental conditions and a high volume of repetition, the text functions as a prescriptive guide for achieving a particular spiritual or mundane outcome through the focused application of sound and place.
Provenance
About this text
A sādhanā designed for ritual practice, the Ratirāgāsādhana belongs to the classical Tibetan tradition. The work is attributed to the Indian author Prajñārakṣita. It was translated into Tibetan by Dānaśīla (III) and is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཙི, where it is included within the canonical collection known as The Wish-Fulfilling Jewel, a Sādhana Activity Garland of Red Yamāri. Under the Tibetan title 'dod chags dga' ma'i sgrub thabs, the text enacts a specific ritual protocol for invoking the deity Ratirāgā. It prescribes that a practitioner travel at night to the confluence of two rivers to recite the mantra Oṃ surata priye svāhā eight thousand times, a process intended to bring about a manifestation of the deity over a period of three days. A scholar or serious reader consults this single-page fragment today to examine the precise intersection of mantra, spatial discipline, and repetitive recitation used to achieve a specific spiritual or mundane outcome.
Sanskrit title
Ratirāgāsādhana
Indian author
Prajñārakṣita
Tibetan translators
Dānaśīla (III)
Canonical collection
The Wish-Fulfilling Jewel, a Sādhana Activity Garland of Red Yamāri
The work is significant as an example of the intersection between mantra practice and geomancy in the Indo-Tibetan tradition. It illustrates the belief that specific geographic locations, such as river confluences, amplify the efficacy of ritual speech. For the modern reader, it provides insight into the technical requirements of sādhanā practice beyond mere meditation.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Ritual Instructions
Provides the Sanskrit and Tibetan titles, the mantra, and the specific requirements for location, timing, and repetition.
Themes
Mantra Recitation (1)
Ritual Space and Timing (1)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Ratirāgasādhanam. In the language of Tibet: ’Dod chags dga’ ma’i sgrub thabs (The Sādhana of the Joy of Passion). Oṃ surata priye svāhā.
Having gone at night to a place where two rivers meet, one should recite [the mantra] eight thousand times. On the first day, she will certainly reveal herself. On the second, she will remain in front of one. On the third, having engaged in passion, she will act as a wife. Every day she will give eight hundred pieces of wealth and two bolts of cotton cloth. Furthermore, one should also accomplish the kinnaras. The mudrās for these have already been explained above. The Sādhana of the Joy of Passion is complete.
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.