Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This ritual text outlines a procedure for purification through ablution, framing the practice as a means to dispel negativity based on Tantric authority. The author divides the process into two primary categories: outer and inner ablution. The provided fragments detail the commencement of the outer process and the subsequent transition to a meditative visualization. The practitioner is committed to a specific sequence of liturgical actions, including the summoning and absorption of wisdom beings using the seed syllables jaḥ hūṃ baṃ hoḥ. The ritual culminates in the visualization of nectar flowing from the secret place of Mañjuśrī to fill a vase, indicating a synthesis of physical ritualism and internal mental imagery designed to achieve a state of purity.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual of ablution designed to purify and dispel negativity, the khrus kyi cho ga belongs to the classical Tibetan tradition. The work is attributed to the Indian author Saṃvarabhadra. It was translated into Tibetan by ’bro lo tsa ba d+harma b+hi and is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཚི, where it is situated within the Other Skillful Means Tantras collection. Spanning two pages in this edition, the work enacts a purification process divided into outer and inner ablutions. The outer procedure requires the preparation of a maṇḍala and a vase, followed by the summoning and absorption of wisdom beings through the seed syllables jaḥ hūṃ baṃ hoḥ. This physical ritual is integrated with meditative visualization, specifically the imagining of nectar flowing from the secret place of Mañjuśrī to fill the vase, and the merging of samaya beings into the bathing water. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the synthesis of physical liturgical action and internal mental imagery used to achieve a state of purity according to Tantric authority.
The text is significant for its illustration of the intersection between physical ritual (ablution) and the internal visualization techniques characteristic of Vajrayana Buddhism. It demonstrates how specific deities, such as Mañjuśrī, are utilized as sources of purifying substances within a structured liturgical framework.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introduction to Ablution
Establishes the Tantric basis for purification and distinguishes between outer and inner ablution.
2
Ritual Procedure
Describes the summoning of wisdom beings and the visualization of nectar flowing from Mañjuśrī.
Themes
Purification (1-2)
Visualization (2)
Tantric Liturgy (1-2)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
Homage to the sublime gurus. One should perform the ritual of ablution. Regarding this, the Tantra states: "That which purifies and dispels negativity." Thus, the ritual of ablution is explained. It has two parts: the outer ablution and the inner ablution.
First, the outer ablution is performed. On a clean piece of ground, prepare a maṇḍala. Upon it, place a vase free of defects. Tie the neck of the vase with a cloth whose fringes are intact. Use a fruit-bearing tree branch as a vase ornament. Fill the vase with pure water. As for the five essences: the essence of grains is sesame; the essence of crops is butter; the essence of fruits is molasses; the essence of flowers is honey; and the essence of water is salt. As for the five grains: barley, wheat, sesame, millet, and rice. As for the five medicines: tag-tsher-ma, sea-foam, dbang-po-lag-pa, sweet flag (shu-dag), and sle-tres. As for the five incenses: agaru, white and red sandalwood, camphor, nutmeg (jāti), and musk. These are held to be the seeds of animals. Pour those substances into the vase and place it upon the maṇḍala.
Then, instantly generate yourself as Mañjuśrī. Recite the mantra of all-activity once and contemplate emptiness. From within that state, the syllable BHRŪṂ radiates and reabsorbs into the vase. Meditate that the exterior is a precious golden vase, while the interior is a celestial palace of the five precious substances, transparent from the outside looking in and transparent from the inside looking out. Visualize an eight-petaled lotus at the mouth of the vase. The Tantra states: "The perfect Buddha arises from A." Thus, from the syllable A, meditate on Mañjuśrī with JAḤ HŪṂ BAṂ HOḤ. The Tantra states: "The perfect Buddha arises from A."
Thus it is said. In that regard, one should perform the summoning and absorption of the wisdom beings with jaḥ hūṃ baṃ hoḥ. By reciting the mantra of all activities, one should visualize a stream of nectar flowing from the secret place of Mañjuśrī, filling the vase. Request the wisdom beings to depart. Visualize the samaya beings melting into light and merging with the bathing water.
As for the inner, profound mantra bathing: meditate on yourself as Mañjuśrī in an instant. At the end of the prostration and the mantra, recite the letter a twenty-one times. Then, by resting in the state of the mirror of wisdom, the five obscurations do not stain the nature of mind even as much as a speck of rust on gold. This is called the inner bathing. It is the washing away of outer stains; it is a symbol for washing away the stains of inner conceptual thoughts.
This concludes the outer and inner bathing according to the tradition of the master Samvarabhadra, translated by the translator Dro Lotsāwa 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.