Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This text is a sādhana, a ritual manual for the propitiation and control of the entity Piśāca Pīlupaya. The work begins with a formal invocation and a series of mantras intended to summon and bind the deity. The text commits the practitioner to a specific ritual protocol to achieve a state of mastery over the entity, which is then leveraged for pragmatic and supernatural ends. Specifically, the text outlines the expected outcomes of a successful ritual: the entity is compelled to obey the practitioner's commands, which include the supernatural transport of women over great distances and the provision of alchemical substances, such as accomplished mercury and elixirs, alongside other desired material provisions. The work functions as a technical guide for obtaining worldly gains and occult powers through the subjugation of a flesh-eating spirit.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual manual for the propitiation and control of the entity Piśāca Pīlupaya, the Piśācapīlupayasādhana belongs to the genre of sādhana. 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, as part of the canonical collection known as The Wish-Fulfilling Jewel, a Sādhana Activity Garland of Red Yamāri. In the classical Tibetan tradition, the work is titled sha za pi lu'i sgrub thabs. The text enacts a specific ritual protocol, beginning with a formal invocation and mantras, requiring the practitioner to observe a fast on the fourteenth day to achieve mastery over a flesh-eating spirit. Once subjugated, the entity is compelled to obey commands, which include the supernatural transport of women over great distances and the provision of material goods, such as alchemical elixirs and accomplished mercury. A scholar or serious reader consults this two-page text today to examine the technical methods used to obtain worldly gains and occult powers through the ritual subjugation of a supernatural entity.
Sanskrit title
Piśācapīlupayasādhana
Indian author
Prajñārakṣita
Tibetan translators
Dānaśīla (III)
Canonical collection
The Wish-Fulfilling Jewel, a Sādhana Activity Garland of Red Yamāri
Cite thisAnuvāda, “A Sādhana of the Piśāca Pīlupaya” (Toh 2070), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2070
Summary & commentary
Significance
The text is significant as an example of the intersection between Buddhist ritual technology and folk practices involving the control of spirits for material gain. It illustrates the use of mantras and the pursuit of alchemical substances within certain esoteric traditions. The focus on the transport of women and the acquisition of wealth suggests a pragmatic, rather than purely soteriological, application of ritual power.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Invocation and Mantra
Contains the title in Sanskrit and Tibetan, a homage to the deity, and the specific mantra used for the ritual.
2
Ritual Outcomes
Describes the specific services and material objects the entity will provide once successfully bound.
Themes
Ritual Subjugation (1-2)
Alchemical and Material Gain (2)
Supernatural Command (2)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Piśācapilupa-sādhana. In the language of Tibet: Sha za pi lu’i sgrub thabs (The Sādhana of the Flesh-Eater Pilupa).
Homage to the Blessed One, Pilupa-Piśāca, who grants the desired object. It is as follows: HŪṂ LU HŪṂ LU PIŚĀCA VARA VARA, VARADA VARADA, CULU CULU, CUṬU CUṬU, NAMAḤ SVĀHĀ.
Then, on the fourteenth day, having observed a fast for a day and night, one should place unmixed pigments in a new vessel and draw [the image] with a brush. Beneath a Bodhi tree, [he is] with hair standing erect, naked, green in color, ugly, and with red eyes. His right hand is in the mudrā of supreme generosity, and his left hand grasps a Bodhi tree. One should smear his two eyes with one's own blood. In front of him, on a mat of kuśa grass, or otherwise, one should remain naked and perform the approach recitation of one hundred thousand [mantras]. Then, having recited the mantra once over each of eight thousand white mustard seeds, one strikes [the image] in the heart; after completing eight thousand [recitations], on the fourteenth day, one should offer a great torma and perform a great offering.
Then, either in an ugly form or smeared with fragrant scents, he will appear. One should not be afraid of him. One should ask, "Pilupa, friend, are you well?" and offer an arghya [water for the feet] mixed with white flowers and white sandalwood. Then, if he says, "What shall I do?", one should say, "Do as I say." When he says, "I shall do so," he will disappear.
Then, she will carry out whatever commands are given. At night, she will summon women even from a hundred leagues away, and she will transport them back and forth. She will also bestow accomplished mercury, alchemical elixirs, desired substances, and provisions. If she is remembered during times of distress, she will carry one on her shoulders and deliver one wherever one desires. She will also explain what is beneficial and what is harmful. In particular, if one practices this twice or thrice, success is certain even if one has killed a brahmin. This concludes the sādhana known as Pilupa.
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.