Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This ritual text outlines the procedure for a fire offering (homa) dedicated to the deity Aparimitāyus. The work asserts that the ritual performance is a necessary condition for achieving the desired spiritual or material fruits. It is structured around the offering of specific physical substances—including ghee, sacrificial wood, sesame, curd, various grains, and grasses—accompanied by a series of Sanskrit mantras. The text establishes a direct correspondence between the material offerings and their intended outcomes: for instance, butter is linked to prosperity, sesame to the purification of misdeeds, and various grains to the increase of knowledge, diligence, and power, as well as the dispelling of disease. By following these prescriptions, the practitioner commits to a precise material and sonic discipline intended to transform the practitioner and other beings into the likeness of Amitāyus. The text attributes its composition to the Ḍākinī Siddharājñī and records its translation into Tibetan by Valācandra and Glan Darma Tshul-khrims.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual manual for the fire offering of Amitāyus, the Aparimitāyurhomavidhi belongs to the genre of ritual texts within the classical Tibetan tradition. The work is attributed to the Indian author Jñānaḍākinī Siddharājñī. It was translated into Tibetan by Bhadracandra and lo tsa ba glan dar ma tshul khrims, and is preserved in the Tengyur (vol. ཚི) as part of the Other Skillful Means Tantras collection, where it extends over three pages. The work enacts a homa, asserting that the fruit of the practice cannot be produced without the performance of the fire offering, which is described as the supreme of all activities. It prescribes the use of specific materials—such as ghee, sacrificial wood, sesame, curd, various grains, and dūrvā and kuśa grasses—paired with Sanskrit mantras to achieve particular ends. A scholar or serious reader consults this text to understand the precise correspondences between material offerings and their intended results, such as the use of butter for prosperity, sesame for the purification of misdeeds, and various grains for the increase of knowledge, diligence, and power, as well as the dispelling of disease and the attainment of long life.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “A Ritual of Fire Offerings for Aparimitāyus” (Toh 2144), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2144
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant as it demonstrates the integration of Vedic-style fire rituals into the Buddhist framework for longevity and merit. It illustrates the belief in the efficacy of material substances and mantras to produce specific ontological and physical results.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introduction and Invocation
Provides the title in Sanskrit and Tibetan and establishes the necessity of the ritual for producing results.
2
Ritual Offerings and Mantras
Lists the physical offerings and the corresponding Sanskrit mantras to be recited.
3
Efficacy of Offerings
Details the specific benefits associated with each substance offered in the fire.
4
Colophon
Identifies the author, the intended merit of the work, and the translators.
Themes
Ritual Efficacy (1-3)
Material-Spiritual Correspondence (3)
Longevity and Transformation (4)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaA Ritual of Fire Offerings for Aparimitāyus·
In the language of India: Aparimitāyur-homa-vidhi-nāma. In the language of Tibet: Tshe dpag tu med pa’i sbyin sreg gi cho ga zhes bya ba (The Ritual of the Fire Offering of Amitāyus). Homage to the Protector Amitāyus!
Without performing the fire offering, the fruit will not be produced. Through the fire offering, all activities are accomplished. The fire offering is the supreme of all activities.
There are the pacifying, the enriching, the magnetizing, the wrathful, and the destructive. The pacifying hearth is circular; the enriching is square; the magnetizing is semicircular; and the destructive should be triangular.
One cubit, two cubits, or one cubit in size; twenty finger-widths in depth; black in color for the destructive, and white, yellow, or red for the others.
The offering substances, such as the fuel wood and dūrvā grass, and the substances for the fire offering, are arranged in order to the right and left. The pacifying is in the east, the enriching in the north, the magnetizing in the west, and the wrathful in the south.
From the syllable RAṂ, the Fire God (Agni) appears, red in color. One should visualize him holding a staff, a water jar, and a ritual vessel in his left hands, and a rosary in his right. He has matted hair, a crown, and a large belly, and wears the sacred thread. Dissolve the wisdom beings into him. Once the lords of the families have adorned his head, present the water for the face, the water for the feet, and so forth.
Offer the ladle and examine the signs. Color, sound, shape, and smell: a full moon, smokeless, and free of disease, exhausts all misdeeds without exception. The sounds of a conch, a clay drum, and a lute cause all happiness to increase. Sandalwood, camphor, and agarwood are auspicious, long-life, and glorious. The eight auspicious substances, victory banners, and parasols are signs of virtue for practitioners. The opposite of these are the bad signs. The King Hayagrīva should provide protection. Then, offer the fire substances in succession.
Ghee, sacrificial wood, sesame, and curd; rice, barley, and peas; wheat, dūrvā grass, and kuśa grass—
OṂ AGNAYE SVĀHĀ | OṂ BODHIVṚKṢĀYA SVĀHĀ | OṂ SARVAPĀPAṂ DAHANA VAJRĀYA SVĀHĀ | OṂ SARVASAMPADE SVĀHĀ | OṂ VAJRAPUṢṬAYE SVĀHĀ | OṂ VAJRAVIJAYE SVĀHĀ | OṂ MAHĀVEGAYE SVĀHĀ | OṂ MAHĀBALAYE SVĀHĀ | OṂ VAJRAGHASMARĪYE SVĀHĀ | OṂ VAJRĀYUṢEYE SVĀHĀ | OṂ APRATIHATAVAJRĀYE SVĀHĀ.
Praise the Fire God and offer prayers. Then, within the heart of the Fire God, generate the maṇḍala and dissolve the wisdom beings. Offer the drinking water, the water for the feet, and so forth. Offer the liquid substances and so forth into the mouth. Offer the sacrificial wood and kuśa grass into the light. Offer the curd-rice and sprinkled water into the hands. Specifically, one hundred stalks of dūrvā grass should be offered for the sake of increasing longevity: ĀYUḤ PUṢṬIṂ KURU OṂ.
The substances mixed with milk, honey, sugar, and the five nectars: the master, with the little finger of the left hand, should grasp the little finger of the disciple. By circling three times, offer them to the deity. The remaining substances of the siddhi should be given to the disciples: OṂ VAJRĀYUṢE AMṚTA SIDDHI HŪṂ.
For pacifying, append SVĀHĀ; for enriching, OṂ; for magnetizing, HO; for wrathful, append MĀRAYA PHAṬ.
Offer to and praise the deities of the maṇḍala. Request the wisdom beings to depart and dissolve the samaya beings into oneself. The deities of the maṇḍala grant the offerings; the fire accomplishes the desired aims. The sacrificial wood bestows splendor.
With butter, prosperity increases; with sesame, misdeeds are purified; with curd-rice, knowledge increases; with barley, diligence will increase; with rice, power is increased; with groats, the harvest of grain increases; with wheat and peas, all diseases are dispelled; with dūrvā grass, there is long life and freedom from illness; with kuśa grass, obstacles are guarded against; with milk and honey, accomplishments are granted; and with firewood, glory increases. This is the method for the auspiciousness of the patron. The substances of the offering complete the two accumulations; the ladles are method and insight. What need is there for other offerings than to satisfy [the deities] with the nectar of butter?
First, in a secluded place, the method and offering substances are arranged. For pacifying, white sandalwood is used; for enriching, fruit-bearing trees; for magnetizing, red sandalwood; and for wrathful activities, thorny wood. On a maṇḍala with a width and height of one cubit, featuring a multicolored eight-petaled lotus, the master himself sits. On the eight petals to the right and left, the burnt offerings are placed in sequence on the right, and the vase and offering substances are arranged on the left. By generating the deity yoga and reciting the mantra, they are thoroughly satisfied. One should generate Hayagrīva in the vase and recite the mantra to guard against obstacles. Therefore, the brahmin should request and kindle the perpetual fire. First, the worldly fire deity is worshipped; second, the maṇḍala is satisfied with joy; third, the fire deity is offered a thanksgiving. Then, the wisdom beings depart and the samaya beings are dissolved. When the fire has subsided, the ashes are cast into a river. This is the way the fruit of the fire offering is produced.
Composed by the Ḍākinī Siddharājñī. By this merit, may all beings become like Amitāyus. Translated by the Indian abbot Valācandra and the translator Glan Darma Tshul-khrims.
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.