Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This fragmentary text provides a ritual procedure for the propitiation of the deity Khar-mukhī (the Donkey-Faced Piśācī). The work functions as a concise instructional manual, beginning with the identification of the deity's name in both Sanskrit and Tibetan, followed by the presentation of a specific seed syllable mantra. The text commits the practitioner to a precise ritual action: the recitation of the mantra twenty-one times over a ball of leftover food. By linking a specific numerical repetition of a mantra with a particular material offering, the text outlines a method for invoking the deity's influence through a focused, material-based practice. The fragment cuts off during the description of the ritual's temporal or procedural requirements, but it establishes a clear relationship between the sonic element of the mantra and the physical element of the food offering.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual manual for the propitiation of the deity Khar-mukhī, the Kharamukhīsādhana belongs to the genre of sādhana and 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, as part of the canonical collection known as The Wish-Fulfilling Jewel, a Sādhana Activity Garland of Red Yamāri. Spanning two pages in this edition, the text enacts a concise ritual procedure centered on the deity known in Tibetan as the One with the Face of a Donkey. It prescribes the recitation of a specific mantra twenty-one times over a ball of leftover food for a duration of one month to secure the gift of twenty paṇas. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the precise relationship between sonic elements and material offerings in Indo-Tibetan ritual practice, specifically how the repetition of a mantra combined with a physical offering is intended to invoke the influence of a piśācī.
Sanskrit title
Kharamukhīsādhana
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 Donkey-Faced Piśācī” (Toh 2077), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2077
Summary & commentary
Significance
The text is significant as an example of the integration of Indian tantric elements into Tibetan ritual practice, specifically regarding the propitiation of piśācīs. It illustrates the use of leftover food as a ritual substance, which is characteristic of practices involving deities associated with the fringes of purity and pollution.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Ritual Instructions
Provides the Sanskrit and Tibetan names of the deity, the associated mantra, and the initial steps for the food offering ritual.
Themes
Mantra recitation (1)
Ritual offerings (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: Khar-mukhī-sādhana. In the language of Tibet: The Sādhana of the One with the Face of a Donkey. Oṃ kha-ra-mu-khī pi-śā-cinī hi hi da da pa ya svā-hā. Thus it is said. If one performs the practice by reciting the mantra twenty-one times over a ball of leftover food for one month, twenty paṇas will be given. The Sādhana of the One with the Face of a Donkey 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.