Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This text provides a ritual procedure, or sādhana, for the realization of the deity Vajravārāhī. It begins with a formal invocation and homage to the deity, establishing the practitioner's intent to engage with a profound method of realization. The text then transitions into a prescriptive sequence of meditative practice, committing the reader to a specific cognitive and somatic discipline. This process involves the recitation of a mantra focused on the purity of all phenomena (yogaśuddha) and the subsequent visualization of the deity's form. The practitioner is instructed to conceptualize the pure mind as the body of the deity, who is described as red in color, possessing one face and two hands, and holding specific ritual implements including a curved knife, a skull-cup, and a khaṭvāṅga. By integrating mantra and visualization, the text aims to transform the practitioner's ordinary perception into the pure vision of the deity.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual procedure for the realization of the deity Vajravārāhī, the Vajravārāhīsādhana belongs to the genre of sādhana and is situated within the system of the Saṃvara Tantra. The work is attributed to the Indian author Kamalaśīla. Preserved in the classical Tibetan tradition, the text appears in the Tengyur, volume ཞི, where it comprises two pages and is categorized within the General Unexcelled Yoga Tantra Works. The record does not name the translators responsible for its passage into Tibetan. The work enacts a prescriptive sequence of meditative discipline, beginning with homage to the glorious Vajraḍākinī and the recitation of a mantra concerning the purity of all phenomena. It directs the practitioner to visualize the pure mind as the red body of the deity, who is depicted with one face and two hands, holding a curved knife, a skull-cup, and a khaṭvāṅga while treading upon Kālarātri. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the specific cognitive and somatic requirements of the realization process, specifically how the integration of mantra and visualization is used to transform the practitioner's ordinary perception through the detailed conceptualization of the deity's form and attributes.
The work is significant as a representative example of Anuttarayoga Tantra practice, specifically the deity yoga associated with Vajravārāhī. It demonstrates the technical integration of mantra and visualization used to achieve a non-dual state of purity. For the modern reader, it illustrates the precise iconographic and liturgical requirements of Tibetan Buddhist ritual technology.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introduction
Provides the title in Sanskrit and Tibetan and offers homage to Vajraḍākinī.
2
Practice Instructions
Details the mantra recitation and the specific visualization of the deity's form and attributes.
Themes
Deity Yoga (2)
Purity of Phenomena (2)
Iconography (2)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Vajravārāhīsādhana. In the language of Tibet: rDo rje phag mo’i sgrub thabs (The Sādhana of Vajravārāhī). Homage to the glorious Vajraḍākinī!
Having bowed deeply to the glorious Vajraḍākinī, the sovereign of the wheel, I shall explain the profound method for her realization in accordance with the system of the Saṃvara (Net) Tantra.
In this regard, one who wishes to practice the sādhana of Vajravārāhī should sit on a comfortable seat in a place such as a charnel ground, facing west. First, having preceded the practice with the generation of the awakening mind (bodhicitta), one should take faith as the foundation and accumulate the collection of merit.
Then, as appearances gradually arise, one should meditate on the guru at the crown of the head. Having blessed the hands with the three-syllable mantra, one dons the armor by reciting: Oṃ vaṃ, haṃ yoṃ, hrīṃ moṃ, hrīṃ hrīṃ, hūṃ hūṃ, phaṭ phaṭ. Then, one recites this mantra that pacifies all obstructing spirits: Oṃ hrīṃ gha gha ghātaya ghātaya sarva-duṣṭān phaṭ svāhā.
Thereafter, since the supreme and common accomplishments will arise, one should become skillful in means through body, speech, and mind. By reciting Oṃ svabhāva-śuddhāḥ sarva-dharmāḥ svabhāva-śuddho ’haṃ, one visualizes the body as completely pure, the celestial palace of the deity in the center of the source of phenomena (dharmodaya). By reciting Oṃ vajra-śuddhāḥ sarva-dharmā vajra-śuddho ’haṃ, one visualizes speech as completely pure, the wheel of mantra: Oṃ oṃ oṃ sarva-buddha-ḍākinīye, oṃ vajra-varṇanīye, oṃ vajra-vairocanīye, hūṃ hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā. Thus one recites.
Recite: Oṃ yogaśuddhaḥ sarvadharmā yogaśuddho ’haṃ. Meditate on the completely pure mind as the deity’s body, with one face and two hands, holding a curved knife, a skull-cup, and a khaṭvāṅga. The body is red in color, adorned with the charnel ground ornaments, and the right leg is tucked while the left is extended, treading upon Kālarātri. One should meditate on her abiding with the nine dramatic expressions. From the water seed-syllable at her secret place, light radiates, and through the four mudrās, the wisdom goddess is summoned, absorbed, and so forth. Then, having invited one who is just like oneself, prostrate, present offerings, confess misdeeds, rejoice, request the turning of the wheel of Dharma, make supplications, dedicate the virtue, receive blessings, and be empowered. The four ḍākinīs praise me. Offer the torma with this mantra: Oṃ vajrayoginī kāmabūpa yoginī jvalamukhiṇi kha kha khāhi khāhi hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ phaṭ, and praise with the eight-line verse. Then, through the unsurpassed method, one attains perfect enlightenment; thus, the instruction on the non-duality of existence and non-existence should be understood from the mouth of the guru.
From the glorious knot of the heart of all who have been my mothers,
The drop of the profound essence has emerged.
May those fortunate ones, like precious jewels,
Accomplish Vajravārāhī.
The Sādhana of Vajravārāhī, composed by the venerable Kamalaśīla, is complete.
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.