Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This text is a sādhana, a liturgical manual for the ritual realization of Mañjuśrī in a wrathful manifestation. The work functions as a guided visualization and meditative practice, directing the practitioner to conceptualize the deity's iconography, including his blue complexion, charnel ground attire, and specific implements such as the club and noose. The text transitions from the description of the deity's physical form to the construction of a complex mandalic environment involving seed syllables and the ten samaya substances. By integrating mantra recitation and offerings of praise to figures such as Vajrabhairava and the ten Bhairavas, the text commits the reader to a process of transforming ordinary perception into a divine state. The goal is the realization of the four wisdoms through the synthesis of visualization, mantra, and devotional praise, effectively utilizing the wrathful imagery to subdue malevolent forces and overcome the obstacles of existence.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual manual for the realization of the wrathful Mañjuśrī, the Mañjuśrīkrodhasādhana belongs to the genre of sādhana and is attributed to the Indian author Saṃvarabhadra. The work was translated into the Tibetan language by bla ma lo tsa ba d+harma b+hi and is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཚི, where it spans five pages. Within the Tibetan canon, it is situated among the Other Skillful Means Tantras. The text enacts a guided meditative practice centered on the deity Mañjuśrī Yamāntaka, directing the practitioner to visualize a blue-complexioned figure adorned in charnel ground attire—including elephant and tiger skins—who wields a club and a noose while treading upon the hearts of Māras. The practice further involves the generation of gatekeepers from seed syllables and the conceptualization of a mandalic environment amidst the blazing fire of the kalpa. A scholar or serious reader consults this classical Tibetan work today to examine the specific iconographic details and liturgical structures used to transform ordinary perception into a divine state through the synthesis of visualization and mantra.
The work is significant for illustrating the intersection between the wisdom deity Mañjuśrī and the wrathful traditions of the Bhairavas. It demonstrates how the Indo-Tibetan tradition employs aggressive iconography to represent the dynamic aspect of enlightened wisdom. For the modern reader, it provides a primary example of the technical precision required in tantric visualization practices.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-2
Invocation and Iconography
Initial homage and a detailed description of the deity's wrathful ornaments and attributes.
3-4
Visualization of the Form and Environment
Instructions on the deity's posture, color, and the construction of the ritual space using seed syllables and samaya substances.
5-6
Praise and Devotion
Liturgical offerings of praise to Vajrabhairava and the ten Bhairavas, emphasizing the realization of the four wisdoms.
Themes
Wrathful Iconography (1-3, 5-6)
Mandalic Construction (3-4)
Ritual Praise (5-6)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Mañjuśrī-krodha-sādhana-nāma. In the language of Tibet: ’Jam dpal khro bo’i sgrub thabs (The Sādhana of the Wrathful Mañjuśrī). Homage to the Blessed One, Mañjuśrī Yamāntaka!
To the one who subdues all hosts of the malevolent,
Who tramples the hearts of Māras with his feet,
I shall explain the sādhana of the Blessed Yamāntaka.
One who possesses the power of faith,
The practitioner, should rise at dawn.
Visualizing a hūṃ upon a sun disc at the heart,
Light rays like iron hooks radiate from it.
Having invited Mañjuśrī Yamāntaka himself,
The Guru, and the Buddhas,
One should please them with mandala offerings.
One should perform the seven-branch offering.
From the radiation and reabsorption of the hūṃ at the heart,
The Vajra Forceful One is emanated, and the boundary is sealed.
Then, recite: oṃ śūnyatā-jñāna-vajra-svabhāvātmako ’haṃ.
From the state of emptiness thus expressed,
One meditates on the hūṃ itself in the expanse of space.
From that, the seed syllables emerge.
Above that, from the radiation and reabsorption of bhrūṃ,
The palace, the crossed-vajra, and the wheel,
Along with the celestial mansion and four gates, are generated in their completion.
E yaṃ baṃ laṃ raṃ bhrūṃ.
Upon that, on a seat of sun, moon, lotus,
And the arrogant Mahiṣa, he resides.
From hūṃ, one visualizes Mañjuvajra.
He melts and becomes Yamāntaka.
He has six faces and twelve arms.
His body color is black with the luster of the sky.
The right face is blue, the left is red, and the one behind is smoke-colored.
The face above is yellow.
In his right hands are a curved knife, a sword, an arrow,
A wheel, a trident, and a three-pointed spear.
In his left hands are a skull-cup, a shield, and a bow.
Holding a club, a head, a threatening gesture, and a noose, he is adorned with an elephant hide, a tiger skin, and a great human skin, as well as snakes. He wears a crown of royal skulls, a brahmin’s ear-ornaments, a kṣatriya’s neck-ornament, and a commoner’s loose garland. With dried skulls as a head-ornament and fresh skulls as a necklace, his tawny hair and sharp, venomous fangs are bared, and he terrifies by roaring the sound of "Ha-la" from his mouth. Blazing like the fire at the end of an eon, his four legs are in a striding posture, the right extended and the left drawn in. He sits in a majestic, terrifying manner upon a seat of a sun, moon, lotus, and the male and female arrogant spirits, atop a majestic dark-blue buffalo.
The consort, generated from the syllable Baṃ, holds a curved knife in her right hand to embrace the Father, and a skull-cup of blood in her left to offer to the Principal. They abide in the manner of non-dual union. Within the crossed-vajra palace, from the point of the non-dual union of the Father and Mother, the deities arise: in the east, from Kṣe, he is white; in the south, from Ma, he is yellow; in the west, from Me, he is red; and in the north, from Da, he is green. All have three faces and six arms. They are the Yamāntaka of Ignorance and Pride, and the Yamāntaka of Desire and Jealousy. Their ornaments and attire accord with the Principal.
On the ten outer spokes, ten Hūṃ syllables radiate from the point of union. Through this radiation and reabsorption, they become ten Hūṃs. In the east is Prajñāntaka; in the south, Yamāntaka; in the west, Padmāntaka; and in the north, Vighnāntaka. In the southeast is Nīladaṇḍa; in the southwest, Acala; in the northwest, Takkirāja; and in the northeast, Uṣṇīṣacakravartin. Above is Hūṃkāra, and below is Mahābala.
One face, two arms, entirely blue. The right hand holds a variegated [vajra], the left raises the threatening gesture. With legs extended and tucked, adorned with the charnel ground attire, he sits upon a seat of haughty spirits amidst the blazing fire of the kalpa. From the jaḥ hūṃ baṃ hoḥ at the point of union, the four gatekeepers are generated in succession. At the heart is the wheel of insight with the syllable hūṃ. The three places are blessed by the three wisdoms. With jaḥ hūṃ baṃ hoḥ, the wisdom wrathful deities are summoned and absorbed. Then, the sequence of recitation is as follows: oṃ yamarāja sadomeya yamedoruṇayodaya yadayonirayakṣeya yakṣeyacchanirāmaya yataya yata—this is the root mantra. oṃ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ—this is the heart mantra. oṃ yamāntaka hūṃ phaṭ—this is the inner heart mantra. oṃ dveṣarati muta hūṃ jaḥ svāhā—this is for the Venerable Lady. Furthermore, the Tantra states: "The King of Wrathful Deities, six-faced and terrifying, with six eyes and six arms, endowed with power. He has a skeleton frame and bared fangs; his hair is a blazing vajra. He has a hundred eyes, vajra eyes, and a body with vajra body-hairs. Possessing the form of a wrathful body, he is the ten-fold one, the meaning of the ten meanings. With successive rows of frowns and so forth, he holds the great vajra hook and noose. He is the great terrifying Vajrapāśa, the Great Mañjughoṣa of great sound, who proclaims the great laughter 'ha ha.' Wearing the raw hide of an elephant as his garment, he is Yamāntaka, the King of Obstructors. He is the holder of the three families, the holder of secret mantra." Thus it is said. Then, for the offering of the torma: with saṃ and raṃ, the fire and wind are stirred.
From the three kaṃs as a tripod, a skull-cup arises from āḥ. Inside are go, ku, da, ha, na, bi, mu, ra, su, and khaṃ—the ten samaya substances. From āḥ, a moon-disk canopy appears. Through the radiation and reabsorption of hūṃ and jaḥ, the nectar is churned. Reciting oṃ sarvadharmā abhāva svabhāva viśuddho ’haṃ, contemplate that all defects are purified. Consecrate it with the three syllables. Recite: a ā sarvatathāgata hṛdaya hara hara oṃ hūṃ hrīḥ bhagavān jñānakāya vāgīśvara mahāpaca mañjuśrī pariśuddhe idaṃ baliṃ gṛhṇa gṛhṇa kha kha khāhi khāhi. Then, offer praise:
Hūṃ! Though you do not waver from the peaceful state of the nature of phenomena, you manifest in a wrathful form to subdue the malevolent. To the one with a body like the color of lapis lazuli, I praise the terrifying form that subdues the malevolent. Your buffalo face is extremely wrathful and black; your four faces to the right and left are terrifying; your upper face, baring its fangs, is utterly turbulent. To the terrifying face with six faces and three eyes, I bow. In your six right hands, you hold weapons: a curved knife, a sword, an arrow, a wheel, a trident, and a spear. In your left hands, you hold a skull-cup, a shield, a bow, a club, and a severed head. To the terrifying one with these threatening weapons, I prostrate and praise. With legs extended and tucked, your four feet are spread wide; you stand upon a seat of a dark blue buffalo. To the powerful and terrifying one, I prostrate and praise. You are adorned with the ornaments of an elephant, a tiger, a great human skin, and snakes; the six bone ornaments ring out with power. You wear a crown of dry skulls and a necklace of fresh skulls.
I offer supreme praise to Vajrabhairava, adorned with ornaments. His orange-red hair bristles upward; his sharp, venomous fangs are bared wide. Laughing "Ha Ha," he overwhelms the three realms of existence. To you, the King who proclaims the sound "Phem," I offer praise. From the center of an expanse blazing like the fire at the end of an eon, the hot sparks of the Vajra of Hatred radiate forth. You terrify all demons, enemies, and obstructors without exception. I prostrate and praise you who subjugate them all. Your majestic body is like pitch-black darkness, yet you possess the brilliance of a hundred thousand suns. Wielding various types of fierce weapons, I praise you, the King of Wrathful Deities who subdues the māras.
To the red Hūṃ, radiating the light of the sun, with one face and two beautiful arms: the right hand embraces the Father with a curved knife, while the left offers a skull-cup of blood to the Lord. Her three eyes emit sparks of fire, and from her mouth she proclaims "Ha Ha." Her orange-red hair blazes intensely. I prostrate and praise the Mother, Vārāhī.
To the Yamāntakas of ignorance and pride, and the Yamāntakas of desire and jealousy: with three heads, six arms, and four legs spread wide, you hold various fierce weapons. Adorned with the skins of an ox, a tiger, and a great corpse, and possessing the six ornaments including a necklace of skulls, fire blazes from your body as you subdue the wicked. I prostrate and praise the four Yamāntakas.
Having abandoned the ten non-virtues and traversed the ten grounds, the ten wrathful deities who subdue the māras of the ten directions: each with one face, two arms, and a blue-colored body, they hold various fierce weapons. With their left hands, they brandish the threatening gesture and hold nooses. They subdue all the gods and demigods.
Adorned with the six ornaments and the skull-ornament,
I prostrate and praise the ten Bhairavas.
Hūṃ! Perfectly realizing the four wisdoms,
Holding a skull-cup and khaṭvāṅga in the left hand,
The body is adorned with the five ornaments and fifty [bone ornaments].
With legs extended and tucked, laughing "Ha Ha," you overwhelm all.
To the four ḍākinīs—Aṅkuśī, Pāśī, Śṛṅkhalā, and Ghaṇṭā—
I prostrate and offer praise.
Any excess or omission is confessed with the hundred-syllable mantra.
Then, for the conclusion of the beginning:
Uttering the sound "Hūṃ,"
The one [deity] is absorbed into the Father.
The Father himself melts into light, becoming Hūṃ.
That Hūṃ gradually melts away,
And one abides in the state of uncontaminated bliss.
Thus, one is liberated from the extreme of permanence.
Meditating on the Vajra in an instant as the deity,
And reciting the mantra-circle,
One is liberated from the extreme of nihilism.
Thereafter, one may remain in whatever conduct is comfortable.
The Sādhana of Mañjuśrī the Wrathful, titled "The Stages of Vajra Light," the heart-practice of the Guru Sdom pa bzang po, translated by the Guru Translator Dharmabhadra.
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.