Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This brief liturgical fragment provides the foundational requirements for the sādhanā of the deity Kṛṣṇamukhī, identified as a Mahāpiśāci (Great Flesh-Eater). The text functions as a ritual instruction, establishing the identity of the practice through its Sanskrit and Tibetan titles before prescribing a specific mantra: OṂ TATILE TATILE KṚṢṆAMUKHE MAHĀPIŚĀCI DEHI DĀDAHI SVĀHĀ. The text commits the practitioner to a rigorous preliminary phase of accumulation, specifically the recitation of this mantra one hundred thousand times as an approach practice. By linking the linguistic identification of the deity with a quantitative requirement for mantra repetition, the text establishes the necessary spiritual preparation required before the primary ritual visualization or invocation can commence.
Provenance
About this text
A sādhanā for the deity Kṛṣṇamukhī, the Piśācīkṛṣṇamukhīsādhana 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, as part of the canonical collection known as The Wish-Fulfilling Jewel, a Sādhana Activity Garland of Red Yamāri. In the Tibetan canon, it appears under the title sha za kha nag ma'i sgrub thabs. This brief liturgical work enacts a ritual process centered on the Mahāpiśāci, or Great Flesh-Eater. It prescribes a specific mantra—OṂ TATILE TATILE KṚṢṆAMUKHE MAHĀPIŚĀCI DEHI DĀDAHI SVĀHĀ—and mandates a preliminary accumulation of one hundred thousand recitations as an approach practice, followed by specific ritual actions beginning on the fourteenth day of the lunar month. A scholar or serious reader consults this single-page text today to examine the precise requirements for the approach practice and the linguistic relationship between the Sanskrit and Tibetan designations of the deity and her ritual method.
Sanskrit title
Piśācīkṛṣṇamukhīsādhana
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 Piśācī Kṛṣṇamukhī” (Toh 2082), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2082
Summary & commentary
Significance
The text is significant as an example of the integration of Indian mantra tradition with Tibetan ritual practice, specifically concerning the propitiation of piśācī figures. It illustrates the standard Buddhist ritual requirement of mantra accumulation as a prerequisite for advanced sādhanā.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introduction and Preliminary Practice
Provides the Sanskrit and Tibetan titles of the sādhanā, the specific mantra for Kṛṣṇamukhī, and the required number of recitations for the approach practice.
Themes
Mantra accumulation (1)
Deity identification (1)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Viśvapi-kṛṣṇamukha-sādhana. In the language of Tibet: Sha za kha nag ma’i sgrub thabs (The Sādhana of the Flesh-Eater with the Black Face).
OṂ TATILE TATILE KṚṢṆAMUKHE MAHĀPIŚĀCI DEHI DĀDAHI SVĀHĀ.
Recite the mantra one hundred thousand times as the approach practice. Then, from the fourteenth day of the lunar month, recite the mantra seven times over a ball of leftover food and offer it for one month. Recite the mantra many times at midnight. Then, on the night of the fourteenth day, recite the mantra throughout the entire night. Success will be achieved at midnight or at dawn. Every day, ten dināras will be given.
The Sādhana of the Flesh-Eater with the Black Face 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.