Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This short ritual manual provides instructions for the Sādhana of Aluk, a practice centered on a specific mantra intended for a piśācinī (flesh-eating spirit). The text functions as a prescriptive guide, beginning with the identification of the practice in both Sanskrit and Tibetan. It commits the practitioner to a rigorous preliminary phase consisting of one hundred thousand recitations of the approach mantra. Following this accumulation, the text directs the practitioner to apply the mantra to their own food. The structure is linear and instructional, moving from the naming of the deity and mantra to the specific quantitative requirements for recitation and the initial steps of the ritual application. The text focuses on the technical execution of the practice rather than providing a theoretical or philosophical justification for the ritual's efficacy.
Provenance
About this text
A sādhanā focused on the ritual practice of Aluka, the Ālukanāmasādhana 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 situated within the canonical collection known as The Wish-Fulfilling Jewel, a Sādhana Activity Garland of Red Yamāri. Spanning a single page in this edition, the work enacts a prescriptive ritual process centered on a specific mantra intended for a piśācinī. The practice requires the practitioner to first recite an approach mantra one hundred thousand times before applying the mantra to their own food and casting it behind them for seven days to elicit a response. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the technical execution of this specific ritual activity, as the work prioritizes the precise quantitative requirements and linear steps of the practice over theoretical or philosophical justification.
Sanskrit title
Ālukanāmasādhana
Indian author
Prajñārakṣita
Tibetan translators
Dānaśīla (III)
Canonical collection
The Wish-Fulfilling Jewel, a Sādhana Activity Garland of Red Yamāri
The text is significant as an example of the integration of Indian mantra traditions into Tibetan ritual practice, specifically regarding the propitiation of non-human entities. It illustrates the common Buddhist ritual pattern of combining massive mantra repetition with concrete offerings to achieve a specific result.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introduction and Instructions
Provides the title in Sanskrit and Tibetan, the mantra, the required number of preliminary recitations, and the start of the food offering ritual.
Themes
Mantra Recitation (1)
Ritual Offerings (1)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Aluka-nāma-sādhana. In the language of Tibet: The Sādhana known as Aluka. Oṃ aluke peluke gṛhṇa piṇḍaṃ piśācini svāhā. Recite the approach mantra one hundred thousand times. Then, begin the practice: recite the mantra seven times over the first portion of your own food and cast it behind you. After seven days, someone will come to speak into your ear. If it does not occur during the first practice, do not become discouraged; if it does not occur during the second practice, there is no doubt that success will be achieved even if a Brahmin were to be killed. Otherwise, by violating the command of the glorious Vajradhara, your head will split or you will die. The Sādhana known as Aluka 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.