Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This fragmentary text provides the opening instructions for a sādhanā, a ritual practice for the realization of the deity Vajragaruḍa. The text begins with the standard formula of providing the title in both Sanskrit and Tibetan, followed by a formal homage to Vajracaṇḍa. The ritual procedure commences with the prerequisite of taking refuge in the Three Jewels, which serves as the ethical and spiritual foundation for the subsequent visualization. The practitioner is then instructed to engage in a deity yoga practice, specifically the visualization of themselves as the black-colored Vajragaruḍa. The fragment concludes mid-sentence while describing the deity's iconography, specifically the act of devouring a snake. By following these instructions, the reader commits to a process of identity transformation, shifting from an ordinary sense of self to the form of a powerful, wrathful protector deity to achieve a specific spiritual result.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual manual for the realization of the deity Vajragaruḍa, the Vajragaruḍasādhana belongs to the genre of sādhana and the tradition of classical Tibetan Buddhism. The work is attributed to the Indian author Vajrapadma. It was translated into Tibetan by Kṣitigarbhapāda and lo tsa ba rma ban, and is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཛི, where it is situated within the collection of Other Skillful Means Tantras. Spanning two pages in this edition, the work enacts a process of identity transformation through deity yoga. After taking refuge in the Three Jewels and offering homage to Vajracaṇḍa, the practitioner is instructed to visualize themselves as the black-colored Vajra Garuḍa, depicted devouring a snake with two hands and possessing eyes like boiling liquid and wings of flaming meteoric iron swords. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the specific iconographic details and ritual procedures associated with the Vajra Garuḍa, as well as the translation methods employed by Kṣitigarbhapāda and lo tsa ba rma ban in rendering the Sanskrit original into the Tibetan rdo rje khyung gi sgrub thabs.
The text is significant as an example of the synthesis of Indian tantric models and Tibetan ritual translation. It illustrates the use of deity yoga and the specific iconography of the Garuda, which in the broader tradition typically symbolizes the transmutation of poisons and the overcoming of obstacles.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introduction and Visualization
Contains the title in two languages, a homage, and the initial steps of refuge and self-visualization as Vajragaruḍa.
Themes
Deity Yoga (1)
Iconography (1)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Vajragaruḍasādhana. In the language of Tibet: Rdo rje khyung gi sgrub thabs (The Sādhana of the Vajra Garuḍa). Homage to Vajracaṇḍa!
Having taken refuge in the Three Jewels, one should visualize oneself as the Vajra Garuḍa, black in color, devouring a snake with his two hands. His wings and feathers are meteoric iron swords ablaze with fire, and his eyes are like boiling molten bronze. Visualizing him as a massive form, one should constantly recite: OṂ VAJRA GARUḌA CAṆḌA MAHĀ NĀGA MĀRAYA SODA SODA | NĀGA MĀRAYA THUM RIL RBAD RBAD HŪṂ PHAṬ. One should practice without distraction.
This is the mantra for all activities. For any purpose, fill a vase with water, generate the Garuḍa within it, and recite the mantra one hundred and eight times. Then, add white mustard seeds and perform an ablution. One should also apply it to the site of any illness. One must not eat the flesh of birds, nor their eggs, nor strike at birds. One should always meditate on the deity.
The pith instructions for the practice of the Vajra Garuḍa, composed by the master Padmasambhava, are complete. Translated by the Paṇḍita Kṣitigarbha and the translator Ma-ban.
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.