Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This text is a sādhana, a liturgical manual for deity yoga, centered on the figure of the Glorious Red Yamāri. The provided fragments outline the ritual architecture and the practitioner's meditative trajectory. It begins with formal titles and an invocation to Mañjughoṣa, establishing the lineage and intent of the practice. The text then shifts to a detailed visualization of the sacred environment, describing a ritual space characterized by specific architectural elements such as vajra beams and a multicolored lotus seat. Finally, the text addresses the transition from the meditative state to post-meditation activity, framing the attainment of the state of the glorious Yamāntaka as the culmination of accumulated virtue. By following these instructions, the reader is committed to a process of imaginative transformation, moving from the physical world into a visualized union body to realize the enlightened qualities of the deity.
Provenance
About this text
A sādhana focused on the Glorious Red Yamāri, the Śrīraktayamārisādhana is a liturgical manual for deity yoga. The work is attributed to the Indian author Buddhaśrījñānapāda. It entered the Tibetan tradition through the efforts of the translators Ānandabhadra and bod kyi lo tsa ba se tsha bsod nams rgyal mtshan, and is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཙི, where it occupies three pages within the Other Skillful Means Tantras collection of the classical Tibetan period. The work enacts a meditative process of imaginative transformation, beginning with an invocation to Mañjughoṣa and moving through the detailed visualization of a ritual environment—complete with vajra beams and a multicolored lotus seat—to the realization of the union body. By guiding the practitioner from the meditative state into post-meditation activity, the text seeks the attainment of the state of the glorious Yamāntaka to establish wandering beings on the level of omniscience. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the specific ritual architecture and the meditative trajectory required to achieve the embodiment of union as described in this tradition.
Sanskrit title
Śrīraktayamārisādhana
Indian author
Buddhaśrījñānapāda
Tibetan translators
bod kyi lo tsa ba se tsha bsod nams rgyal mtshan, Ānandabhadra
Cite thisAnuvāda, “A Sādhana of the Glorious Red Yamāri” (Toh 2084), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2084
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant as a representative example of the complex visualization techniques used in Vajrayāna Buddhism to transform the practitioner's perception of reality. It illustrates the integration of Indian ritual terminology with Tibetan translation practices. The emphasis on the 'body of union' suggests a focus on the non-dual nature of the meditative experience.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introduction and Invocation
Provides the title in Sanskrit and Tibetan and offers homage to Mañjughoṣa.
2
Visualization of the Mandala
Describes the physical and symbolic architecture of the ritual space, including the roof, pillars, and seat.
3
Attainment and Post-Meditation
Discusses the transition to the body of union and the aspiration to attain the state of Yamāntaka.
Themes
Ritual Architecture (2)
Deity Yoga and Transformation (1, 3)
Accumulation of Virtue (3)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Śrī-rakta-yamāri-sādhana-nāma. In the language of Tibet: dPal gshin rje’i gshed dmar po’i sgrub thabs zhes bya ba (The Sādhana of the Glorious Red Yamāri). Homage to Mañjughoṣa!
He who first conquered the four māras, and for the sake of beings through various emanations, protects like the sun rising in a cloudless sky; he whose enlightened activity is never lax, and who casts those stained by the mud of various sufferings to the far shore of the ocean of saṃsāra—entering here into this union of the generation and completion stages, I shall strive with a compassionate mind.
Any yogin who wishes to practice that very [sādhana] should, in a secluded place, first perform the taking of refuge and the generation of the bodhicitta. Then, from the state of emptiness of conventional phenomena, in the center of a protection wheel and a source of phenomena (dharmodaya), there is a water-born lotus with sixty-four petals. Above it is a crossed vajra formed from the union of the four elements. From the syllable BHRŪṂ at its center arises the palace of liberation, square and equal in height and width, with four doors, door-frames, door-sills, and walls. Upon sixteen pillars are beautiful archways with tiered moldings, where kinnara maidens and others, adorned with lovely ornaments, sing songs. With sun and moon moved by the wind, many jewel garlands, canopies, banners, elephant and lion capitals, parasols, victory banners, and deer [motifs] adorn the sides. From the tips of the wheels, various jewels [emanate].
The perimeter is adorned with bricks and the like, and the offering ledge is accompanied by goddesses. Upon a roof supported by eight pillars and four vajra beams, and beautified on all sides by suns, moons, and vajras, is the foundation below. Upon a seat of a multicolored lotus, sun, and buffalo, the Blessed One arises from the syllable HŪṂ. He is the color of ruby, with one face and two arms. In his right hand, he brandishes a staff topped with a human head and a vajra, marked in sequence with the syllables OṂ and so forth, raised toward the sky. With his left, he holds a skull-cup filled with nectar, embracing a consort who resembles himself. His right leg is extended, and he wears a garland of dry skulls, casting aside the ash. His left leg is bent and the right extended, treading upon the horns and haunches of the buffalo to overwhelm the hosts of Māra. With mouth agape and fangs bared, drops of blood drip from him; his three eyes are red and turbulent. His hair, beard, and eyebrows are bristling upward. Possessing the nine dramatic moods, all his ornaments are red. Clothed in silks, tiger skins, and the like, he dwells in the midst of a blazing mass of wisdom fire, inseparable from all the Buddhas. Through the radiation and reabsorption of the HŪṂ at his heart, the wisdom beings are invited and absorbed. The Buddhas confer empowerment upon him, and the excess water becomes Akṣobhyavajra. The goddesses arising from his own body perform offerings and praises, and he is satiated with nectar. Through the recitation of the radiation and reabsorption arising from HŪṂ, the welfare of all sentient beings is perfected. Once again, everything is reabsorbed into the HŪṂ, and the seal is applied through the four types of subtle yoga.
Just as a fish leaps from the water, so too, arising in the body of union, to perform all the activities of the post-meditation period is the path of the Buddha. Having gathered this virtue and all other virtues without exception into one, may I attain the state of the glorious Yamāntaka, the embodiment of union, and establish all wandering beings on the level of omniscience.
The Sādhana of the Blessed One, Red Yamāntaka, titled The Essence of the Path, was obtained directly from Ḍākiśvarī Vajravārāhī herself at the Blazing Cave by the great yogin Buddhajñānapāda, who was learned and had attained realization. With a completely pure superior intention, he committed it to writing. This is complete.
The Indian paṇḍita Ānandabhadra and the Tibetan translator Se-tsa Bsod-nams-rgyal-mtshan translated, edited, and finalized this in accordance with an Indian manuscript at the site of the Self-Arisen Pure Stūpa to the south of the great city of Tirahuti. Furthermore, it was translated again in the presence of the mahāsiddha Karṇaśrī by the elder Nyi-ma-rgyal-mtshan at the monastery of Śrī Nālandā.
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.