Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This ritual manual outlines the procedure for a fire offering (homa) dedicated to the blue-clad form of Vajrapāṇi. The text prescribes a sequence of preparatory and active ritual stages, beginning with the practitioner's identification with the deity through deity yoga and the consecration of ritual substances. It specifies the procurement of fire from unconventional sources—such as corpses, stones, or ground cracks—which must then be purified and ignited using a specific mantra. The ritual concludes with the dismissal of the wisdom being and the fire deity, following the offering of substances to the hearth. By following these instructions, the reader commits to a precise set of tantric actions designed to harness the wrathful energy of Vajrapāṇi to achieve specific spiritual or mundane aims, emphasizing the necessity of purification and the formal invitation and departure of supernatural entities.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual manual for a fire offering dedicated to the blue-clad form of Vajrapāṇi, the Nīlāmbaradharavajrapāṇihomavidhi belongs to the classical Tibetan tradition. The work is attributed to the Indian author Jabaripa. It was translated into Tibetan by Devapūrṇamati and lo tsa ba dge slong chos kyi bzang po, and is preserved in the Tengyur (vol. ཚི) as part of the Other Skillful Means Tantras. Spanning three pages in this edition, the work enacts a precise sequence of tantric procedures. It begins with the practitioner's identification with the deity through deity yoga and the consecration of substances, followed by the procurement of fire from sources such as corpses, stones, or ground cracks. After purifying the fire and igniting it with a specific mantra, the ritual proceeds through the generation of the hearth and the offering of substances, concluding with the formal dismissal of the wisdom being and the fire deity. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the specific technical requirements of the homa, particularly the methods of purification and the formal invitation and departure of supernatural beings used to harness the wrathful energy of Vajrapāṇi.
Sanskrit title
Nīlāmbaradharavajrapāṇihomavidhi
Indian author
Jabaripa
Tibetan translators
Devapūrṇamati, lo tsa ba dge slong chos kyi bzang po
Cite thisAnuvāda, “A Ritual of Fire Offerings for Blue-Clad Vajrapāṇi” (Toh 2161), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2161
Summary & commentary
Significance
The text is significant for its illustration of the 'wrathful' side of Vajrayana practice, specifically the use of cemetery-associated elements like corpse-fire to signify transcendence of mundane taboos. It provides a primary example of the homa tradition's integration into Tibetan Buddhist ritual technology.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introduction
Provides the title in Sanskrit and Tibetan and an opening homage.
2
Preparatory Rites and Ignition
Details deity yoga, substance consecration, the sourcing of fire, and the ignition mantra.
3
Conclusion and Dismissal
Describes the purification of the hearth and the formal request for the wisdom being and fire deity to depart.
Themes
Ritual Purification (2-3)
Deity Yoga (2)
Fire Offerings (Homa) (1-3)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaA Ritual of Fire Offerings for Blue-Clad Vajrapāṇi·
In the language of India: Nīlāmbaradhara-vajrapāṇi-homa-vidhi-nāma. In the language of Tibet: Phyag na rdo rje gos sngon po can gyi sbyin sreg gi cho ga zhes bya ba (The Ritual of the Fire Offering of Vajrapāṇi Clad in Blue). Homage to the glorious Vajrapāṇi!
Since that which is absent does not arise, one should therefore begin the engagement in that [ritual]. In this context, within a triangular hearth facing south, one should place an eight-finger-width wrathful vajra. It should be smeared black with ashes and charcoal, and further anointed with urine, donkey dung, and camel dung.
There, one should pile together firewood from charred logs, thorny trees, or dry wood. Blood, cow urine, nectar, and black flowers constitute the water for the offering. Unpleasant-smelling substances, bitter-tasting substances, and blue flowers are used. Incense is prepared from the five nectars. A lamp is made of "great ghee" (human fat). Perfumed water is a mixture of urine and black sesame. The food offering consists of excrement mixed with human flesh; these should be placed to the right.
Poison, blood, mustard seeds, salt, neem, datura, and mustard oil mixed with the five nectars should be poured into the offering ladle, turned into blood, and offered. The fuel sticks are from thorny trees. The substances for the fire offering are black ghee, blood, excrement, urine, human bone, hair, fingernails, poison, mustard seeds, salt, footprints, chicken eggs, crow flesh, donkey dung, and camel dung; these should be visualized as flesh and bone. These are to be placed on the left.
Perform the yoga of oneself as the deity and consecrate the substances, then expel the obstructing spirits. Take fire from a crack in the ground, or from a corpse, or from a stone, or from a mountain fire, and purify it. Light the fire with: OṂ VAJRAPĀṆI MAHĀKRODHA JVALA JVALA HŪṂ HŪṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ PHAṬ PHAṬ SVĀHĀ. Within the blazing fire, generate the hearth from RAṂ. Inside that, from HŪṂ, upon a sun disk, OṂ ĀḤ HŪṂ transform into a wheel, a lotus, and a vajra. Then, visualize the wrathful fire god, extremely fierce, with tawny hair bristling upward, emitting immeasurable rays of light, with one face and four arms. In his right hands are a vajra and the gesture of granting protection; in his left hands are a bell and a staff. Visualize the maṇḍalas of fire and wind from RAṂ, and then summon, cause to enter, bind, and subjugate the wisdom being (jñānasattva). Having bestowed blessings and empowerment, and performed the ritual bathing, offer the offering substances and the burnt offerings into his open mouth with: OṂ VAJRAPĀṆI MAHĀBHŪTA JVALĀYA SARVA BHASMIṂ KURU SARVA DUṢṬĀṂ MAMA [Name] MĀRAYA HŪṂ PHAṬ. Thus, one should perform the rite of slaying. Then, either with the blazing fire as the causal basis, or else, generate the glorious Vajrapāṇi clad in blue robes within the heart of that fire, abiding upon a sun maṇḍala exactly as described in the sādhana. Dissolve the wisdom being as before, and likewise perform the consecration and empowerment. Then, with the garland mantra including MĀRAYA, offer the offering substances as before. Furthermore, offer the ladle of filling (pūrṇāhuti).
The wisdom being is requested to depart. Then, having purified the hearth and offered the remaining substances to the fire deity, one requests the fire deity to depart with these words: "Oṃ! Having accomplished the aims of myself and others, and having accepted this burnt offering, please return once more and grant me the siddhis of mantra." Following that, the commitment being is dissolved into oneself, and the torma should be given. If one wishes for a concise version, one should engage in this according to what was spoken from the mouth of the Guru. This concludes the "Concise Ritual for the Burnt Offering of Vajrapāṇi," composed by the accomplished master Javāripa, who was born of the Kṛttikā lineage. It was translated by the Nepalese Paṇḍita Devapūrṇamati and the translator, the monk Chökyi Zangpo.
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.