Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This fragmentary text is a sādhana, a ritual manual for the propitiation and attainment of the deity Piśāca Maṇidhara (the Piśāca Jewel-Holder). The work begins with the standard formula of providing the title in both Sanskrit and Tibetan, followed by a devotional homage and a seed syllable mantra. The text commits the practitioner to a specific set of ritual actions involving the collection of materials; specifically, it instructs the user to obtain ash from the hands of a sleeping person, regardless of gender or age. This indicates that the ritual belongs to a category of esoteric practices that utilize unconventional or taboo substances to achieve supernatural results. The fragment cuts off during the description of the material requirements, leaving the subsequent visualization and meditative stages of the sādhana unrecorded.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual manual for the propitiation and attainment of the deity Piśāca Maṇidhara, the Piśācamaṇidharasādhana belongs to the genre of sādhana. The work is attributed to the Indian author Prajñārakṣita. It entered the Tibetan tradition through the translation efforts of 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. This classical Tibetan text enacts a specific set of esoteric ritual actions, beginning with a devotional homage and a seed syllable mantra. It instructs the practitioner to utilize unconventional materials, specifically requiring the collection of ash from the hands of a sleeping person regardless of age or gender, which is then combined with water and the recitation of a mantra. A scholar or serious reader consults this one-page fragment today to examine the use of taboo substances in esoteric practice and to analyze the ritual requirements for achieving supernatural results, though the text cuts off before the visualization and meditative stages are detailed.
Sanskrit title
Piśācamaṇidharasādhana
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 Maṇidhara” (Toh 2071), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2071
Summary & commentary
Significance
The text is significant as an example of the integration of folk-magical elements, such as the use of ash from sleeping individuals, within the formal structure of Indo-Tibetan ritual manuals. It illustrates the diversity of the Piśāca class of entities in Buddhist tantra, moving beyond their role as demons to figures of ritual power.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introductory Formulae and Initial Instructions
Contains the bilingual title, a mantra, and the beginning of the ritual requirements.
Themes
Ritual Materiality (1)
Deity Propitiation (1)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Piśācadharamaṇisādhana. In the language of Tibet: Sha za nor bu 'dzin pa'i sgrub thabs (The Sādhana of the Piśāca Jewel-Holder). Homage to the Blessed One, the Piśāca! Oṃ kakaṇa piśācadharamaṇi svāhā.
Taking a handful of ash from the hands of a sleeping woman, man, boy, or girl, one should recite the mantra over a heap of ash and filter water. Once the water has been filtered, one should pour that full handful of ash beneath the heap. Then, a naked man about the height of a palm tree will appear. One must not be afraid of him. One should say: "O boy, in the form of a letter, be a friend who enters the openings of the asuras and accomplish all siddhis!"
Having thus become a friend, he will go before one carrying a lamp, explain obstacles, and dismantle magical mechanisms. Within half a month, he will reveal himself. He will also perform other purposes. This concludes the Sādhana of the Intoxicated Spirit.
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.