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Despite being the shortest of the three tantras, Toh 501 is somewhat broader in scope as it also includes rituals to tame beings above the ground.
We are unsure of these two lines: kun rten rab tu spyad dge can / rten can sbyor ba rab tu dben.
Translation based on the spelling in the Yongle, Peking, Narthang, and Lhasa Kangyurs: mer sbar. The Degé Kangyur has ner sba.
In a general sense, samādhi can describe a number of different meditative states. In the Mahāyāna literature, in particular in the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras, we find extensive lists of different samādhis, numbering over one hundred.
In a more restricted sense, and when understood as a mental state, samādhi is defined as the one-pointedness of the mind (cittaikāgratā), the ability to remain on the same object over long periods of time. The Drajor Bamponyipa (sgra sbyor bam po gnyis pa) commentary on the Mahāvyutpatti explains the term samādhi as referring to the instrument through which mind and mental states “get collected,” i.e., it is by the force of samādhi that the continuum of mind and mental states becomes collected on a single point of reference without getting distracted.
Another name of Śesa, the serpent upon whom Viṣṇu rests during the interlude between the destruction and recreation of the world.
This term in its broadest sense can refer to any being, whether human, animal, or nonhuman. However, it is often used to refer to a specific class of nonhuman beings, especially when bhūtas are mentioned alongside rākṣasas, piśācas, or pretas. In common with these other kinds of nonhumans, bhūtas are usually depicted with unattractive and misshapen bodies. Like several other classes of nonhuman beings, bhūtas take spontaneous birth. As their leader is traditionally regarded to be Rudra-Śiva (also known by the name Bhūta), with whom they haunt dangerous and wild places, bhūtas are especially prominent in Śaivism, where large sections of certain tantras concentrate on them.
A yakṣa.
Fire ritual.
“Conduct tantras,” the second, middle category of the three outer tantras according to the new translation (gsar ma) traditions; in old translation (rnying ma) classifications the term Upa- or Ubhaya-tantra is more often used.
The Sanskrit term vimāna can refer to a multistoried mansion or palace, or even an estate, but is more often used in the sense of a celestial chariot of the gods, sometimes taking the form of a multistoried palace; hence the Tibetan translation, khang brtsegs, literally “storied house.”
A tantric vow or commitment.
A bodhisattva in the Buddha Akṣobhya’s retinue in this tantra.
Used in several senses, elsewhere in this text translated as “incantation mantra,” but here referring to entire canonical texts used mainly for ritual purposes, structured around an incantation mantra in Sanskrit but also detailing its uses and the story of its origin.
A diagram drawn in tantric rituals.
Milk, yogurt, clarified butter, cow urine, and cow dung.
A type of evil spirit known to exert a harmful influence on the human body and mind. Grahas are closely associated with the planets and other astronomical bodies.
A yakṣa.
An epithet of the moon.
A type of incantation or spell used to accomplish a ritual goal. This can be associated with either ordinary attainments or those whose goal is awakening.
A type of dhāraṇī.
An alternate name for the yakṣa Kubera.
An alternate name for the yakṣa Jambhala.
A yakṣa.
A species of euphorbia used in burnt offerings to get rid of nāga influences.
A ritual offering of food and drink.
This is the object of ritual accomplishment, whatever is the focus and/or the goal of ritual activity. Also translated “target.”
This is the object of ritual accomplishment, whatever is the focus and/or the goal of ritual activity. Also translated “one to be accomplished.”
A yakṣa.
Derived from the Sanskrit verb √sādh, “to accomplish,” the term sādhana most generically refers to any method that brings about the accomplishment of a desired goal. In Buddhist literature, the term is often specifically applied to tantric practices that involve ritual engagement with deities, mantra recitation, the visualized creation and dissolution of deity maṇḍalas, etc. Sādhanas are aimed at both actualizing spiritual attainments (siddhi) and reaching liberation. The Tibetan translation sgrub thabs means “method of accomplishment.”
A yakṣa.
A yakṣa in this tantra. Although yang dag is normally translated as “Viśuddha,” we have rendered it here as “Samprajñāna” since this is the Sanskrit rendering of this particular yakṣa’s name in the list of name mantras at 2.14.
This is the object of ritual accomplishment, whatever is the focus and/or the goal of ritual activity. Also translated “target.”
This is the object of ritual accomplishment, whatever is the focus and/or the goal of ritual activity. Also translated “one to be accomplished.”
A bodhisattva in the Buddha Akṣobhya’s retinue in this tantra.
A yakṣa.
A bodhisattva in the Buddha Akṣobhya’s retinue in this tantra.
A bodhisattva in the Buddha Akṣobhya’s retinue in this tantra.
A bodhisattva in the Buddha Akṣobhya’s retinue in this tantra.
A bodhisattva in the Buddha Akṣobhya’s retinue in this tantra.
A bodhisattva in the Buddha Akṣobhya’s retinue in this tantra.
Lit. “Fierce Vajra.”
A class of nonhuman beings who inhabit forests, mountainous areas, and other natural spaces, or serve as guardians of villages and towns, and may be propitiated for health, wealth, protection, and other boons, or controlled through magic. According to tradition, their homeland is in the north, where they live under the rule of the Great King Vaiśravaṇa.
Several members of this class have been deified as gods of wealth (these include the just-mentioned Vaiśravaṇa) or as bodhisattva generals of yakṣa armies, and have entered the Buddhist pantheon in a variety of forms, including, in tantric Buddhism, those of wrathful deities.
bcom ldan ’das phyag na rdo rje gos sngon po can gyi rgyud ces bya ba (Bhagavannīlāmbaradharavajrapāṇitantranāma). Toh 498, Degé Kangyur vol. 87 (rgyud ’bum, da), folios 158a.6–167a.3.
bcom ldan ’das phyag na rdo rje gos sngon po can gyi rgyud ces bya ba. bka’ ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 2006–9, vol. 87, 469–90.
Dalton, Jacob. “How Dhāraṇis were Proto-Tantric: Liturgies, Ritual Manuals, and the Origins of the Tantras.” In Tantric Traditions on the Move, edited by David B. Gray and Ryan R. Overbey. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016.
Davidson, Ronald M. Indian Esoteric Buddhism: A Social History of the Tantric Movement. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002.
Isaacson, Harunaga. “Observations on the Development of the Ritual of Initiation (abhiṣeka) in the Higher Buddhist Tantric Systems.” In Hindu and Buddhist Initiations in India and Nepal, edited by Astrid Zotter and Christof Zotter, 261–80. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2010.
Mayer, Robert. “The Importance of the Underworlds: Asuras’ Caves in Buddhism, and Some Other Themes in Early Buddhist Tantras Reminiscent of the Later Padmasambhava Legends.” Journal of the International Association for Tibetan Studies 3 (December 2007): 1–31.
Williams, Paul. Buddhist Thought: A Complete Introduction to the Indian Tradition. London: Routledge, 2000.
In the Kangyur and Tengyur collections there are more than forty titles centered on the form of Vajrapāṇi known as the “Blue-Clad One,” a measure of this figure’s great popularity in both India and Tibet. This text, The Tantra of the Blue-Clad Blessed Vajrapāṇi, is a scripture that belongs to the Conduct tantra (Caryātantra) class, the third of the four categories used by the Tibetans to organize their tantric canon. It introduces the practice of Blue-Clad Vajrapāṇi, while also providing the practitioner with a number of rituals directed at suppressing, subduing, or eliminating ritual targets.
This translation was produced by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the supervision of Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche. Catherine Dalton and Andreas Doctor translated the text, with assistance from Ryan Damron and Wiesiek Mical.
This translation has been completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The Tantra of the Blue-Clad Blessed Vajrapāṇi is a scripture that, in the fourfold classification that the Tibetans employed to organize their tantric canon, belongs to the “Conduct” or Caryātantra class. The small number of tantras in this category were grouped together because of their similarities in philosophical view and ritualistic conduct. The Caryātantra class is the second of the “three outer tantras.” It adopts features from both Kriyātantra and Yogatantra (the first and third, respectively), being characterized by its attention to worldly rituals (as found in Kriyātantra) as well as more soteriological insights (as emphasized in Yogatantra). From an historical perspective, the Caryātantras can also be viewed as exemplifying the transition in Indian tantric practice from a role of predominantly protecting against worldly calamities to one of providing a path toward personal awakening, as the later tantric systems promise. Generally the texts of the Caryātantra class have been tentatively dated to the early seventh century
More specifically, the tantra presented in this translation concerns a form of Vajrapāṇi known as the Blue-Clad One. In this form Vajrapāṇi is dark blue, with one face, three eyes, and two hands. His clothing is blue and his thick matted hair streams upward. His body is adorned with eight serpents in various places, and in his right hand he brandishes a vajra. For the Tibetans, and no doubt for Indian tantric practitioners, this form of Vajrapāṇi was highly popular—to the extent that the Kangyur contains no fewer than seven tantras and two dhāraṇī texts centered on this awakened figure. Of the seven tantras, three (Toh 498, 499, 501) belong to the Caryātantra class, while the remaining four (Toh 454, 456, 457, 461) are found in the class called the “Unexcelled tantras” (bla na med pa’i rgyud) by Tibetan exegetes. Seen from an historical standpoint, it seems likely that the Blue-Clad Vajrapāṇi of the Caryātantras may have functioned as the prototype for the later Unexcelled tantras associated with this figure. As such, the tantra translated here is of particular importance for understanding the early developments of this tradition.
The popularity of Blue-Clad Vajrapāṇi can also be gleaned from the number of texts concerned with this figure in the Tengyur (the Indian commentarial collection in Tibetan translation), where we find no fewer than thirty-seven works that focus on Blue-Clad Vajrapāṇi. They are made up of actual commentaries as well as of several shorter practice manuals and of various rituals. Almost all of these texts, and importantly all of the commentaries, relate to the later tantras found in the Unexcelled Tantra section. We can therefore deduce that the tradition of this deity gained its primary popularity in the later days of the tantric movement in India, where it seems that a particularly colorful group of devotees took to wearing blue robes as the hallmark of their community. In the West, however, Blue-Clad Vajrapāṇi has remained surprisingly unexplored, and to date hardly any mention of the deity can be found in modern scholarship.
The text begins with the bodhisattva Vajrapāṇi requesting the Buddha Akṣobhya to teach a tantra that can tame all evil spirits that live beneath the ground. The notion that an underworld exists in which various forms of evil spirits flourish was well developed in Indian Buddhism since the very early days. Both of the two other Caryātantra tantras on Blue-Clad Vajrapāṇi (Toh 499 in seven chapters and Toh 501 in five chapters) share the same theme, unfolding as Vajrapāṇi requests the Buddha to teach the rituals that can tame the nāgas and yakṣas below the ground and, in the process, accomplish the wealth that they guard and repel the disease that they inflict on humans. These two other tantras thus appear to be slightly condensed (or perhaps earlier) versions of The Tantra of the Blue-Clad Blessed Vajrapāṇi.
The Buddha Akṣobhya agrees to Vajrapāṇi’s request, and then prepares to teach the tantra known as The Vajra That Subjugates the Evil Forces Below the Vajra Earth, which throughout this text is synonymous with the main title of the tantra. Before he begins, however, he first blesses Vajrapāṇi with the ability to tame the various serpent beings living in the environment below, headed by the nāga king Anantaka (another name for Śesa, the serpent associated with Viṣṇu). Once tamed in this way, the serpent beings join in the request being put to the Buddha that he teach the tantra. With the stage thus set, the Buddha Akṣobhya proceeds to teach.
The instructions begin with a short, unnumbered chapter (here included at the end of the prologue) called “Taming the Nāgas,” which details a very brief ritual practice for taming nāgas, grahas, and other evil forces that live beneath the earth. After this initial instruction, the remainder of the tantra is structured in thirteen chapters, all of which are numbered and given titles in the tantra itself.
Chapter 1, entitled “Accomplishing Peaceful Activity” or the “Chapter of the Gods,” presents the “ritual for the action deity,” which amounts to a succinct practice manual for the visualization of Blue-Clad Vajrapāṇi and the recitation of his mantra. The practice manual is well structured and simple, and contains the tantra’s main iconographic description of Blue-Clad Vajrapāṇi.
Chapter 2, “The Oblation,” describes the ritual for making an oblation and other offerings to Vajrapāṇi and his retinue. This contains the offering mantra for Blue-Clad Vajrapāṇi, as well as mantras for each of the nine yakṣas in his retinue named in this chapter.
Chapter 3 is entitled “Vaiśravaṇa,” and focuses on the yakṣa Vaiśravaṇa who, according to the previous chapter, is the first among Vajrapāṇi’s retinue. In this chapter Vaiśravaṇa is encouraged by the Buddha (one assumes this is still Akṣobhya, as in the opening of the tantra, but this is not made explicit) to give instructions on his own practice, in which Vaiśravaṇa himself is the main figure and the other eight yakṣas are members of his retinue. The practices described include making offerings to Vaiśravaṇa and his retinue, as well as a wrathful suppression ritual performed with an effigy.
Chapter 4, “The Wheel of Suppression,” describes a short ritual of suppression, connected with the yoga of Vajrapāṇi, which “strikes all wicked ones,” presumably clearing away evil or obstructing forces.
Chapter 5, entitled “The Ritual for Drawing the Diagram,” outlines a wrathful ritual for killing a person or subduing a place, and is taught by the Vajra Holder (Tib. rdo rje ’dzin pa), an epithet that probably refers to Vajrapāṇi. The appropriate target for such wrathful practices is not mentioned explicitly in this chapter, but chapter 3 describes such a ritual target as “those hostile toward the teachings.”
In chapter 6, “The Stages of the Fire Offering,” Vajrapāṇi asks the Blessed One (again, probably Akṣobhya) whether or not one is liberated through ritual practices such as the fire offering (Tib. sbyin sreg, Skt. homa). The Blessed One replies that one is indeed liberated through the performance of such ritual practices when they are combined with the maintenance of sacred commitments, and he proceeds to describe the stages of the fire-offering ritual.
Chapter 7, “The Wheel of Expulsion,” describes a short ritual in which the practitioner visualizes himself as the activity deity (presumably Vajrapāṇi) and summons the target into an effigy, which is burned and then discarded in water.
Chapter 8, entitled “Mantra,” is an extremely concise chapter that mentions Vajrapāṇi’s main mantra together with a claim that it “accomplishes all activity, even without practice.” The rest of the chapter is a list of activities that one might wish to accomplish (being affectionate toward all beings, killing all enemies, protecting against epidemics, accomplishing wealth, and so forth) and a concise statement of the method for accomplishing each of them.
Chapter 9, “Certainty and Purity,” initially focuses on the recitation of mantras. Here several mantras are mentioned that are used in the practice of the activity deity (presumably according to the same ritual manual outlined in the first chapter of the tantra), and concise advice is given on the recitation of Vajrapāṇi’s mantra and its attendant visualization. In its later stanzas, however, this chapter stands out from the rest of the text in its use of a much more abstract and almost poetic language to describe the intended results of practice, with a perceptible shift to a more soteriological focus. For example, the “nondual nature” that is the result to be obtained in a single lifetime is described as “inexpressible, nonconceptual, the meaning of thatness.” This contrasts rather sharply with the more ritualistic language of the other chapters, where the emphasis is mostly on suppressing, subduing, or killing ritual targets. Here the use of terms like “natural luminosity” and “supreme awakening” suggests an orientation transcending mere worldly ritual. It is true that throughout the other chapters there are hints to be found of a more soteriological orientation, such as in the introductory section of the tantra when the nāga kings are made to generate the mind of enlightenment; in chapter 1 when the goal of the “supreme attainment” is mentioned; in chapter 6 when Vajrapāṇi asks the Blessed One if it is possible to be liberated through a ritual such as the fire offering; and in the final chapter when Vajrapāṇi asks Vajradhara to explain the secret of enlightened mind. However, it is in this ninth chapter that the whole tenor of the text changes most perceptibly, with the language and content reflecting what is only hinted at in other parts of the text.
Chapter 10, “Protection,” describes a number of detailed protection rituals spoken by Vajradhara to Vajrapāṇi. Among the protection rituals described are those that seem intended to counteract possession—for “those beings who are seized by wicked ones”—as well as general negative influences, and to reverse obstacles.
Chapter 11, “The Arrangement of Mantras,” describes the ritual arrangement of mantra syllables within a triangular maṇḍala and explains their ritual recitation. The arrangement describes syllables from the “first” through the “seventh,” but then later mentions the “thirteen syllables,” which are presumably the thirteen syllables of Vajrapāṇi’s root mantra, taught earlier in the tantra. The relationship between this thirteen-syllable mantra and the arrangement of the seven syllables described earlier in the chapter, however, remains unclear.
Chapter 12, “Bestowing Empowerment on Students,” describes the ritual for performing initiation for the Vajrapāṇi practice. After discussing the preparation of the ground and the maṇḍala, the tantra mentions five initiations that are to be bestowed: the vase, vajra, bell, crown, and name initiations. These five initiations are characteristic of an early stage in the development of Buddhist initiatory rites (Tib. dbang, Skt. abhiṣeka) in which these five initiations as a group constituted the full initiatory procedure, and the later, now well-known set of four consecrations (in which these earlier five were condensed into the first of the four, the vase initiation) had not yet developed (Isaacson 2010, pp. 263–64). If, as it appears, the tantra is following this early system—which had, by this point, developed into the full form of the fivefold consecration—this might suggest a seventh-century or even early eighth-century date, since the continued development of initiations, starting with the “secret initiation” (Skt. guhyābhiṣeka), took place with the mid-eighth-century Guhyasamājatantra.
In chapter 13, the final chapter of the tantra, “Establishing the Secret,” Vajrapāṇi asks the Blessed One (again identified as Vajradhara, which we may assume here is a different name for Akṣobhya) to explain the secret of enlightened mind. The reply he receives is the instruction to generate the enlightened attitude and to gather the two accumulations of merit and wisdom, and then to perform a version of Vajrapāṇi’s ritual practice, which is described in brief and presented as a method for taming unruly beings and subduing obstructing forces. Then, after a brief verse lauding the qualities of this particular tantra, Vajrapāṇi and his retinue praise the words of the Blessed One, and the text concludes.
If we look at the structure of the tantra as a whole, the various chapters of The Tantra of the Blue-Clad Blessed Vajrapāṇi, with the exception of the ninth chapter, appear to be a collection of related ritual manuals centered on the figure of this particular form of Vajrapāṇi. The first chapter seems to be the foundational ritual manual for the visualization and mantra recitation of Blue-Clad Vajrapāṇi, while the later chapters describe ancillary rituals that, it seems, are to be connected with the framework of the main ritual manual. These ritual texts are all presented within the tantra’s larger narrative framework. While the initial introductory narrative framework (Tib. gleng gzhi, Skt. nidāna) of the tantra is somewhat detailed, its closing framework is very brief—a single sentence. Additionally, each of the chapters, again with the single exception of chapter 9, has its own short introductory narrative framework. These statements, ranging from a single sentence in some chapters to a few paragraphs in others, give the context for the rituals presented therein, stating what the ritual is for and who taught it, thus framing the actual ritual instructions as quotations of the words spoken by the teacher.
This presentation of teachings as a discourse by a particular teacher, or a dialogue between teacher and student, is a standard framework for both sūtras and tantras. What is interesting here, however, is that the content presented within this framework is almost entirely ritual instruction. In a recent article, Jacob Dalton has argued convincingly that ritual manuals were often a major source upon which the tantras themselves were based, rather than the other way around as traditional scholarship mostly holds (Dalton 2016, p. 4). Here we see what seems to be a clear example of this inversion, since apart from its narrative framework, the content of the tantra is nearly exclusively ritual instruction.
In this tantra, the ninth chapter is the single exception to both the presence of this narrative framework and the exclusive ritual content (here we include within “ritual content” laudatory words praising the efficacy of the ritual, which are commonly found within ritual works). This chapter names no teacher as the one imparting the instructions; it simply begins, “Then, moreover, the certainty of recitation / Will be taught now.”
As discussed above, the initial part of chapter 9 is a description of the visualization for mantra recitation, followed by a short list of the mantras required for the practice. This part of the chapter can be considered as ritual content, though it does not contain a full or self-contained ritual as the other chapters do; instead it appears to be a sort of supplemental instruction to be integrated into the practice described in chapter 1. The text then shifts, however, in both content and tone to an overtly soteriological orientation with the use of abstract language that is not found in other parts of the tantra. The lack of the narrative framework found in the other chapters combined with the overt soteriological orientation and abstract language single out chapter 9 as being, perhaps, a later addition to the tantra.
Although the language of the text is sometimes obscure and difficult, The Tantra of the Blue-Clad Blessed Vajrapāṇi represents a fascinating stage in the historical development of Buddhist tantra and offers a beautiful example of early tantric literature. We hope that this English translation will open the doors to further engagement with this and other tantras, by both practitioners and scholars of Buddhist tantra alike.
Thus did I hear at one time. Blessed Akṣobhya, the buddha of the vajra family, was residing in the palace in Alakāvatī together with a retinue of millions of bodhisattvas, including Vajrapāṇi, Vajra Regiment, Constant Vajra Holder, Vajra Tamer, Terrible Vajra Conqueror, Vajra Tamer of All Evil, Vajra Victor of Basic Space, Vajra Joyfully Abiding Protector, and others.
At that time, the great being, the bodhisattva Vajrapāṇi himself, brandished a vajra three times at his heart center. He made three circumambulations of the Blessed One and prostrated himself.
Then, kneeling on his right knee, Vajrapāṇi requested, “Blessed One, Thus-Gone One, Great Vajra Holder, please explain the great tantra called The All-Subjugating Vajra that subjugates all bhūtas and that tames the evil ones that dwell beneath the earth. Great Vajra Holder, I supplicate you to teach! Great Lord of All, I supplicate you to teach! Great Tamer of All Evil Forces, I supplicate you to teach! Great Dispeller of All Darkness, I supplicate you to teach!”
At this request from Vajrapāṇi, the Blessed One declared, “It is excellent that you, Great Vajradhara, Secret One, have, for the benefit of sentient beings, requested from me the tantra called The All-Subjugating Vajra. Lord of Secrets, that is excellent! Great Bodhisattva, that is excellent! Thus, you who share Vajrapāṇi’s lineage, listen and remember this! I will reveal and explain the tantra called The Vajra That Subjugates the Evil Forces Below the Vajra Earth. Receive it!”
After pronouncing these words, the Blessed One, by means of the absorption of the all-subjugating vajra, entered equipoise in the absorption called vanquishing all grahas and bhūtas from below the earth.
No sooner had the Blessed One entered equipoise than a multitude of wrathful subjugators of evil forces emanated from all the pores of his body and filled the space under the earth, on the earth, and above the earth. The entire land of the underground nāgas was filled with the horrible sound hūṃ. The eight nāga kings together with their retinues were tamed, and bowed before the Blessed One.
But the nāga king Anantaka then gave rise to an evil thought, intending to release a scalding breath. But the Blessed One knew his intention and blessed the Lord of Secrets, Vajrapāṇi, who spoke this mantra called the mantra that completely pacifies the anger of all nāgas: “Oṃ nīlavajra krodhanāga hūṃ phaṭ.”
Now the mind of the nāga Anantaka was completely pacified; he became endowed with the awakened mind, through which the minds of all the nāgas were completely pacified. Then all of the nāga kings like Anantaka, who live below the earth, supplicated the Blessed One, the Great Vajra Holder, with these words:
“Blessed One, we supplicate you to explain a ritual that will, in future times and onward, prevent the grahas that are living below the earth from making obstacles for sentient beings, and that will also pacify the evil of those spirits. We supplicate you to explain why we, the nāga kings and our retinues, are unable to create obstacles for that great being. We supplicate you to explain to us, the nāga kings, our purpose.”
The Blessed One, the Great Vajra Holder, glanced at the nāga kings and replied, “Nāga kings, that is excellent! Your request is timely. I will reveal this for the benefit of sentient beings. I will explain; listen!”
The nāgas and the others replied, “Excellent, Blessed One!”
They then listened appropriately. At that point, the Blessed One explained the following chapter called “Taming the Nāgas.”
Then the Blessed One explained the ritual for the action deity:
This was the first chapter from “The Glorious Tantra of the Vajra in the Underworld,” “Accomplishing Peaceful Activity” or the “Chapter of the Gods.”
Then the great bodhisattva, the great being Vajrapāṇi, supplicated the Blessed One with these words:
This was the second chapter of “The Tantra of the Vajra in the Underworld,” “The Oblation.”
Then, for the benefit of those who wish to attain worldly accomplishment, the Blessed One entered the absorption called the origination of all worldly wheels and emanated rays of light from the pores of his body. Vaiśravaṇa and his retinue were thus inspired and gathered around him. He prostrated to the Blessed One, scattered dust made from precious gems, and made this request:
“Blessed One, I am the Dharma-upholding king named Vaiśravaṇa. If I myself were to proclaim a secret in order to protect the Dharma of the pious and ensure that the Dharma abides for a long time, would the Blessed One grant me an opportunity?”
The Blessed One said, “Great King, excellent! Explain your secret well! I rejoice and give my blessings. May all vajra holders also bless you. Speak well!”
Then Vaiśravaṇa got up from his seat, prostrated to the Blessed One, and spoke his own incantation: “Oṃ vaiśravaṇāya hūṃ hūṃ paca paca chinda chinda svāhā.”
Once he had spoken these words, he said to the Blessed One, “O Blessed One, the accomplishment of this, my mantra, is excellent. Whoever wants to accomplish my state of being should arrange great offerings in the three times. To make the offering to me and my retinue, the practitioner should remain with one-pointed concentration in an isolated place. A practitioner of the blessed Vajrapāṇi must recite my mantra ten thousand times, and then accomplish the activities. One who thus accomplishes my state of being and my activity should offer an oblation and make vast offerings to me and to my retinue. The mantra to recite for making vast offerings and offering the oblation to me and my retinue is this:
“Know that these are the mantras both for making offerings and giving an oblation to me and my retinue.
“Then, with respect to accomplishing my activity, I requested the Blessed One to bless me with his explanation. The explanation of the activity is this:
Then Vaiśravaṇa and his retinue declared to the Blessed One, “Blessed One, whoever engages in the practices that we have explained here should continually worship the Blessed Vajrapāṇi and the yakṣas with the three white substances. He must completely avoid alcohol. He must acquire meats that are suitable and auspicious. If we fail to accomplish, properly and one-pointedly, the activities that are our accomplishments, then we will have insulted the Blessed One and we will have failed to protect the Dharma. This is our oath. Oṃ vaiśravaṇa arthakathama.”
“Great Vaiśravaṇa, that is excellent. So very excellent!” said the Blessed One. “So very excellent! The secret of which you have spoken will be of great benefit for the people of the future. In order that their benefit will certainly be accomplished, I also will pronounce this mantra. Listen!”
“Excellent!” said Vaiśravaṇa and the others to the Blessed One, and listened accordingly.
The Blessed One then said, “Oṃ vajrapāṇi nīlāmbaradhara vajrasphoṭa hūṃ phaṭ svāhā. This incantation is a mantra that brings control over activities. Great Vaiśravaṇa brings about possession of the secret just as he promised.”
“That is so,” said the yakṣas, and they vanished.
This was the third chapter of “The Tantra of the Vajra in the Underworld,” the chapter on Vaiśravaṇa.
Then, once again, the bodhisattva Vajrapāṇi requested the Blessed One, “Lord, for the sake of sentient beings of the future, please teach a wheel that strikes all wicked ones!”
The Blessed One mentally consented to this request, yet remained completely silent. Instead he projected an all-pervading light from his heart center that embraced all sentient beings with love.
Then he told Vajrapāṇi, “Vajrapāṇi, I shall now teach a wheel that strikes the obstructors within the ground below. So listen one-pointedly, and I will teach.”
Vajrapāṇi listened accordingly, and the Blessed One began to speak:
This was the fourth chapter on the wheel of suppression from “The Tantra of the Vajra in the Underworld.”
Nīlāmbaradharavajrapāṇi hūṃ phaṭ.
In the Kangyur and Tengyur collections there are more than forty titles centered on the form of Vajrapāṇi known as the “Blue-Clad One,” a measure of this figure’s great popularity in both India and Tibet. This text, The Tantra of the Blue-Clad Blessed Vajrapāṇi, is a scripture that belongs to the Conduct tantra (Caryātantra) class, the third of the four categories used by the Tibetans to organize their tantric canon. It introduces the practice of Blue-Clad Vajrapāṇi, while also providing the practitioner with a number of rituals directed at suppressing, subduing, or eliminating ritual targets.
This translation was produced by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the supervision of Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche. Catherine Dalton and Andreas Doctor translated the text, with assistance from Ryan Damron and Wiesiek Mical.
This translation has been completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The Tantra of the Blue-Clad Blessed Vajrapāṇi is a scripture that, in the fourfold classification that the Tibetans employed to organize their tantric canon, belongs to the “Conduct” or Caryātantra class. The small number of tantras in this category were grouped together because of their similarities in philosophical view and ritualistic conduct. The Caryātantra class is the second of the “three outer tantras.” It adopts features from both Kriyātantra and Yogatantra (the first and third, respectively), being characterized by its attention to worldly rituals (as found in Kriyātantra) as well as more soteriological insights (as emphasized in Yogatantra). From an historical perspective, the Caryātantras can also be viewed as exemplifying the transition in Indian tantric practice from a role of predominantly protecting against worldly calamities to one of providing a path toward personal awakening, as the later tantric systems promise. Generally the texts of the Caryātantra class have been tentatively dated to the early seventh century
More specifically, the tantra presented in this translation concerns a form of Vajrapāṇi known as the Blue-Clad One. In this form Vajrapāṇi is dark blue, with one face, three eyes, and two hands. His clothing is blue and his thick matted hair streams upward. His body is adorned with eight serpents in various places, and in his right hand he brandishes a vajra. For the Tibetans, and no doubt for Indian tantric practitioners, this form of Vajrapāṇi was highly popular—to the extent that the Kangyur contains no fewer than seven tantras and two dhāraṇī texts centered on this awakened figure. Of the seven tantras, three (Toh 498, 499, 501) belong to the Caryātantra class, while the remaining four (Toh 454, 456, 457, 461) are found in the class called the “Unexcelled tantras” (bla na med pa’i rgyud) by Tibetan exegetes. Seen from an historical standpoint, it seems likely that the Blue-Clad Vajrapāṇi of the Caryātantras may have functioned as the prototype for the later Unexcelled tantras associated with this figure. As such, the tantra translated here is of particular importance for understanding the early developments of this tradition.
The popularity of Blue-Clad Vajrapāṇi can also be gleaned from the number of texts concerned with this figure in the Tengyur (the Indian commentarial collection in Tibetan translation), where we find no fewer than thirty-seven works that focus on Blue-Clad Vajrapāṇi. They are made up of actual commentaries as well as of several shorter practice manuals and of various rituals. Almost all of these texts, and importantly all of the commentaries, relate to the later tantras found in the Unexcelled Tantra section. We can therefore deduce that the tradition of this deity gained its primary popularity in the later days of the tantric movement in India, where it seems that a particularly colorful group of devotees took to wearing blue robes as the hallmark of their community. In the West, however, Blue-Clad Vajrapāṇi has remained surprisingly unexplored, and to date hardly any mention of the deity can be found in modern scholarship.
The text begins with the bodhisattva Vajrapāṇi requesting the Buddha Akṣobhya to teach a tantra that can tame all evil spirits that live beneath the ground. The notion that an underworld exists in which various forms of evil spirits flourish was well developed in Indian Buddhism since the very early days. Both of the two other Caryātantra tantras on Blue-Clad Vajrapāṇi (Toh 499 in seven chapters and Toh 501 in five chapters) share the same theme, unfolding as Vajrapāṇi requests the Buddha to teach the rituals that can tame the nāgas and yakṣas below the ground and, in the process, accomplish the wealth that they guard and repel the disease that they inflict on humans. These two other tantras thus appear to be slightly condensed (or perhaps earlier) versions of The Tantra of the Blue-Clad Blessed Vajrapāṇi.
The Buddha Akṣobhya agrees to Vajrapāṇi’s request, and then prepares to teach the tantra known as The Vajra That Subjugates the Evil Forces Below the Vajra Earth, which throughout this text is synonymous with the main title of the tantra. Before he begins, however, he first blesses Vajrapāṇi with the ability to tame the various serpent beings living in the environment below, headed by the nāga king Anantaka (another name for Śesa, the serpent associated with Viṣṇu). Once tamed in this way, the serpent beings join in the request being put to the Buddha that he teach the tantra. With the stage thus set, the Buddha Akṣobhya proceeds to teach.
The instructions begin with a short, unnumbered chapter (here included at the end of the prologue) called “Taming the Nāgas,” which details a very brief ritual practice for taming nāgas, grahas, and other evil forces that live beneath the earth. After this initial instruction, the remainder of the tantra is structured in thirteen chapters, all of which are numbered and given titles in the tantra itself.
Chapter 1, entitled “Accomplishing Peaceful Activity” or the “Chapter of the Gods,” presents the “ritual for the action deity,” which amounts to a succinct practice manual for the visualization of Blue-Clad Vajrapāṇi and the recitation of his mantra. The practice manual is well structured and simple, and contains the tantra’s main iconographic description of Blue-Clad Vajrapāṇi.
Chapter 2, “The Oblation,” describes the ritual for making an oblation and other offerings to Vajrapāṇi and his retinue. This contains the offering mantra for Blue-Clad Vajrapāṇi, as well as mantras for each of the nine yakṣas in his retinue named in this chapter.
Chapter 3 is entitled “Vaiśravaṇa,” and focuses on the yakṣa Vaiśravaṇa who, according to the previous chapter, is the first among Vajrapāṇi’s retinue. In this chapter Vaiśravaṇa is encouraged by the Buddha (one assumes this is still Akṣobhya, as in the opening of the tantra, but this is not made explicit) to give instructions on his own practice, in which Vaiśravaṇa himself is the main figure and the other eight yakṣas are members of his retinue. The practices described include making offerings to Vaiśravaṇa and his retinue, as well as a wrathful suppression ritual performed with an effigy.
Chapter 4, “The Wheel of Suppression,” describes a short ritual of suppression, connected with the yoga of Vajrapāṇi, which “strikes all wicked ones,” presumably clearing away evil or obstructing forces.
Chapter 5, entitled “The Ritual for Drawing the Diagram,” outlines a wrathful ritual for killing a person or subduing a place, and is taught by the Vajra Holder (Tib. rdo rje ’dzin pa), an epithet that probably refers to Vajrapāṇi. The appropriate target for such wrathful practices is not mentioned explicitly in this chapter, but chapter 3 describes such a ritual target as “those hostile toward the teachings.”
In chapter 6, “The Stages of the Fire Offering,” Vajrapāṇi asks the Blessed One (again, probably Akṣobhya) whether or not one is liberated through ritual practices such as the fire offering (Tib. sbyin sreg, Skt. homa). The Blessed One replies that one is indeed liberated through the performance of such ritual practices when they are combined with the maintenance of sacred commitments, and he proceeds to describe the stages of the fire-offering ritual.
Chapter 7, “The Wheel of Expulsion,” describes a short ritual in which the practitioner visualizes himself as the activity deity (presumably Vajrapāṇi) and summons the target into an effigy, which is burned and then discarded in water.
Chapter 8, entitled “Mantra,” is an extremely concise chapter that mentions Vajrapāṇi’s main mantra together with a claim that it “accomplishes all activity, even without practice.” The rest of the chapter is a list of activities that one might wish to accomplish (being affectionate toward all beings, killing all enemies, protecting against epidemics, accomplishing wealth, and so forth) and a concise statement of the method for accomplishing each of them.
Chapter 9, “Certainty and Purity,” initially focuses on the recitation of mantras. Here several mantras are mentioned that are used in the practice of the activity deity (presumably according to the same ritual manual outlined in the first chapter of the tantra), and concise advice is given on the recitation of Vajrapāṇi’s mantra and its attendant visualization. In its later stanzas, however, this chapter stands out from the rest of the text in its use of a much more abstract and almost poetic language to describe the intended results of practice, with a perceptible shift to a more soteriological focus. For example, the “nondual nature” that is the result to be obtained in a single lifetime is described as “inexpressible, nonconceptual, the meaning of thatness.” This contrasts rather sharply with the more ritualistic language of the other chapters, where the emphasis is mostly on suppressing, subduing, or killing ritual targets. Here the use of terms like “natural luminosity” and “supreme awakening” suggests an orientation transcending mere worldly ritual. It is true that throughout the other chapters there are hints to be found of a more soteriological orientation, such as in the introductory section of the tantra when the nāga kings are made to generate the mind of enlightenment; in chapter 1 when the goal of the “supreme attainment” is mentioned; in chapter 6 when Vajrapāṇi asks the Blessed One if it is possible to be liberated through a ritual such as the fire offering; and in the final chapter when Vajrapāṇi asks Vajradhara to explain the secret of enlightened mind. However, it is in this ninth chapter that the whole tenor of the text changes most perceptibly, with the language and content reflecting what is only hinted at in other parts of the text.
Chapter 10, “Protection,” describes a number of detailed protection rituals spoken by Vajradhara to Vajrapāṇi. Among the protection rituals described are those that seem intended to counteract possession—for “those beings who are seized by wicked ones”—as well as general negative influences, and to reverse obstacles.
Chapter 11, “The Arrangement of Mantras,” describes the ritual arrangement of mantra syllables within a triangular maṇḍala and explains their ritual recitation. The arrangement describes syllables from the “first” through the “seventh,” but then later mentions the “thirteen syllables,” which are presumably the thirteen syllables of Vajrapāṇi’s root mantra, taught earlier in the tantra. The relationship between this thirteen-syllable mantra and the arrangement of the seven syllables described earlier in the chapter, however, remains unclear.
Chapter 12, “Bestowing Empowerment on Students,” describes the ritual for performing initiation for the Vajrapāṇi practice. After discussing the preparation of the ground and the maṇḍala, the tantra mentions five initiations that are to be bestowed: the vase, vajra, bell, crown, and name initiations. These five initiations are characteristic of an early stage in the development of Buddhist initiatory rites (Tib. dbang, Skt. abhiṣeka) in which these five initiations as a group constituted the full initiatory procedure, and the later, now well-known set of four consecrations (in which these earlier five were condensed into the first of the four, the vase initiation) had not yet developed (Isaacson 2010, pp. 263–64). If, as it appears, the tantra is following this early system—which had, by this point, developed into the full form of the fivefold consecration—this might suggest a seventh-century or even early eighth-century date, since the continued development of initiations, starting with the “secret initiation” (Skt. guhyābhiṣeka), took place with the mid-eighth-century Guhyasamājatantra.
In chapter 13, the final chapter of the tantra, “Establishing the Secret,” Vajrapāṇi asks the Blessed One (again identified as Vajradhara, which we may assume here is a different name for Akṣobhya) to explain the secret of enlightened mind. The reply he receives is the instruction to generate the enlightened attitude and to gather the two accumulations of merit and wisdom, and then to perform a version of Vajrapāṇi’s ritual practice, which is described in brief and presented as a method for taming unruly beings and subduing obstructing forces. Then, after a brief verse lauding the qualities of this particular tantra, Vajrapāṇi and his retinue praise the words of the Blessed One, and the text concludes.
If we look at the structure of the tantra as a whole, the various chapters of The Tantra of the Blue-Clad Blessed Vajrapāṇi, with the exception of the ninth chapter, appear to be a collection of related ritual manuals centered on the figure of this particular form of Vajrapāṇi. The first chapter seems to be the foundational ritual manual for the visualization and mantra recitation of Blue-Clad Vajrapāṇi, while the later chapters describe ancillary rituals that, it seems, are to be connected with the framework of the main ritual manual. These ritual texts are all presented within the tantra’s larger narrative framework. While the initial introductory narrative framework (Tib. gleng gzhi, Skt. nidāna) of the tantra is somewhat detailed, its closing framework is very brief—a single sentence. Additionally, each of the chapters, again with the single exception of chapter 9, has its own short introductory narrative framework. These statements, ranging from a single sentence in some chapters to a few paragraphs in others, give the context for the rituals presented therein, stating what the ritual is for and who taught it, thus framing the actual ritual instructions as quotations of the words spoken by the teacher.
This presentation of teachings as a discourse by a particular teacher, or a dialogue between teacher and student, is a standard framework for both sūtras and tantras. What is interesting here, however, is that the content presented within this framework is almost entirely ritual instruction. In a recent article, Jacob Dalton has argued convincingly that ritual manuals were often a major source upon which the tantras themselves were based, rather than the other way around as traditional scholarship mostly holds (Dalton 2016, p. 4). Here we see what seems to be a clear example of this inversion, since apart from its narrative framework, the content of the tantra is nearly exclusively ritual instruction.
In this tantra, the ninth chapter is the single exception to both the presence of this narrative framework and the exclusive ritual content (here we include within “ritual content” laudatory words praising the efficacy of the ritual, which are commonly found within ritual works). This chapter names no teacher as the one imparting the instructions; it simply begins, “Then, moreover, the certainty of recitation / Will be taught now.”
As discussed above, the initial part of chapter 9 is a description of the visualization for mantra recitation, followed by a short list of the mantras required for the practice. This part of the chapter can be considered as ritual content, though it does not contain a full or self-contained ritual as the other chapters do; instead it appears to be a sort of supplemental instruction to be integrated into the practice described in chapter 1. The text then shifts, however, in both content and tone to an overtly soteriological orientation with the use of abstract language that is not found in other parts of the tantra. The lack of the narrative framework found in the other chapters combined with the overt soteriological orientation and abstract language single out chapter 9 as being, perhaps, a later addition to the tantra.
Although the language of the text is sometimes obscure and difficult, The Tantra of the Blue-Clad Blessed Vajrapāṇi represents a fascinating stage in the historical development of Buddhist tantra and offers a beautiful example of early tantric literature. We hope that this English translation will open the doors to further engagement with this and other tantras, by both practitioners and scholars of Buddhist tantra alike.
Thus did I hear at one time. Blessed Akṣobhya, the buddha of the vajra family, was residing in the palace in Alakāvatī together with a retinue of millions of bodhisattvas, including Vajrapāṇi, Vajra Regiment, Constant Vajra Holder, Vajra Tamer, Terrible Vajra Conqueror, Vajra Tamer of All Evil, Vajra Victor of Basic Space, Vajra Joyfully Abiding Protector, and others.
At that time, the great being, the bodhisattva Vajrapāṇi himself, brandished a vajra three times at his heart center. He made three circumambulations of the Blessed One and prostrated himself.
Then, kneeling on his right knee, Vajrapāṇi requested, “Blessed One, Thus-Gone One, Great Vajra Holder, please explain the great tantra called The All-Subjugating Vajra that subjugates all bhūtas and that tames the evil ones that dwell beneath the earth. Great Vajra Holder, I supplicate you to teach! Great Lord of All, I supplicate you to teach! Great Tamer of All Evil Forces, I supplicate you to teach! Great Dispeller of All Darkness, I supplicate you to teach!”
At this request from Vajrapāṇi, the Blessed One declared, “It is excellent that you, Great Vajradhara, Secret One, have, for the benefit of sentient beings, requested from me the tantra called The All-Subjugating Vajra. Lord of Secrets, that is excellent! Great Bodhisattva, that is excellent! Thus, you who share Vajrapāṇi’s lineage, listen and remember this! I will reveal and explain the tantra called The Vajra That Subjugates the Evil Forces Below the Vajra Earth. Receive it!”
After pronouncing these words, the Blessed One, by means of the absorption of the all-subjugating vajra, entered equipoise in the absorption called vanquishing all grahas and bhūtas from below the earth.
No sooner had the Blessed One entered equipoise than a multitude of wrathful subjugators of evil forces emanated from all the pores of his body and filled the space under the earth, on the earth, and above the earth. The entire land of the underground nāgas was filled with the horrible sound hūṃ. The eight nāga kings together with their retinues were tamed, and bowed before the Blessed One.
But the nāga king Anantaka then gave rise to an evil thought, intending to release a scalding breath. But the Blessed One knew his intention and blessed the Lord of Secrets, Vajrapāṇi, who spoke this mantra called the mantra that completely pacifies the anger of all nāgas: “Oṃ nīlavajra krodhanāga hūṃ phaṭ.”
Now the mind of the nāga Anantaka was completely pacified; he became endowed with the awakened mind, through which the minds of all the nāgas were completely pacified. Then all of the nāga kings like Anantaka, who live below the earth, supplicated the Blessed One, the Great Vajra Holder, with these words:
“Blessed One, we supplicate you to explain a ritual that will, in future times and onward, prevent the grahas that are living below the earth from making obstacles for sentient beings, and that will also pacify the evil of those spirits. We supplicate you to explain why we, the nāga kings and our retinues, are unable to create obstacles for that great being. We supplicate you to explain to us, the nāga kings, our purpose.”
The Blessed One, the Great Vajra Holder, glanced at the nāga kings and replied, “Nāga kings, that is excellent! Your request is timely. I will reveal this for the benefit of sentient beings. I will explain; listen!”
The nāgas and the others replied, “Excellent, Blessed One!”
They then listened appropriately. At that point, the Blessed One explained the following chapter called “Taming the Nāgas.”
Then the Blessed One explained the ritual for the action deity:
This was the first chapter from “The Glorious Tantra of the Vajra in the Underworld,” “Accomplishing Peaceful Activity” or the “Chapter of the Gods.”
Then the great bodhisattva, the great being Vajrapāṇi, supplicated the Blessed One with these words:
This was the second chapter of “The Tantra of the Vajra in the Underworld,” “The Oblation.”
Then, for the benefit of those who wish to attain worldly accomplishment, the Blessed One entered the absorption called the origination of all worldly wheels and emanated rays of light from the pores of his body. Vaiśravaṇa and his retinue were thus inspired and gathered around him. He prostrated to the Blessed One, scattered dust made from precious gems, and made this request:
“Blessed One, I am the Dharma-upholding king named Vaiśravaṇa. If I myself were to proclaim a secret in order to protect the Dharma of the pious and ensure that the Dharma abides for a long time, would the Blessed One grant me an opportunity?”
The Blessed One said, “Great King, excellent! Explain your secret well! I rejoice and give my blessings. May all vajra holders also bless you. Speak well!”
Then Vaiśravaṇa got up from his seat, prostrated to the Blessed One, and spoke his own incantation: “Oṃ vaiśravaṇāya hūṃ hūṃ paca paca chinda chinda svāhā.”
Once he had spoken these words, he said to the Blessed One, “O Blessed One, the accomplishment of this, my mantra, is excellent. Whoever wants to accomplish my state of being should arrange great offerings in the three times. To make the offering to me and my retinue, the practitioner should remain with one-pointed concentration in an isolated place. A practitioner of the blessed Vajrapāṇi must recite my mantra ten thousand times, and then accomplish the activities. One who thus accomplishes my state of being and my activity should offer an oblation and make vast offerings to me and to my retinue. The mantra to recite for making vast offerings and offering the oblation to me and my retinue is this:
“Know that these are the mantras both for making offerings and giving an oblation to me and my retinue.
“Then, with respect to accomplishing my activity, I requested the Blessed One to bless me with his explanation. The explanation of the activity is this:
Then Vaiśravaṇa and his retinue declared to the Blessed One, “Blessed One, whoever engages in the practices that we have explained here should continually worship the Blessed Vajrapāṇi and the yakṣas with the three white substances. He must completely avoid alcohol. He must acquire meats that are suitable and auspicious. If we fail to accomplish, properly and one-pointedly, the activities that are our accomplishments, then we will have insulted the Blessed One and we will have failed to protect the Dharma. This is our oath. Oṃ vaiśravaṇa arthakathama.”
“Great Vaiśravaṇa, that is excellent. So very excellent!” said the Blessed One. “So very excellent! The secret of which you have spoken will be of great benefit for the people of the future. In order that their benefit will certainly be accomplished, I also will pronounce this mantra. Listen!”
“Excellent!” said Vaiśravaṇa and the others to the Blessed One, and listened accordingly.
The Blessed One then said, “Oṃ vajrapāṇi nīlāmbaradhara vajrasphoṭa hūṃ phaṭ svāhā. This incantation is a mantra that brings control over activities. Great Vaiśravaṇa brings about possession of the secret just as he promised.”
“That is so,” said the yakṣas, and they vanished.
This was the third chapter of “The Tantra of the Vajra in the Underworld,” the chapter on Vaiśravaṇa.
Then, once again, the bodhisattva Vajrapāṇi requested the Blessed One, “Lord, for the sake of sentient beings of the future, please teach a wheel that strikes all wicked ones!”
The Blessed One mentally consented to this request, yet remained completely silent. Instead he projected an all-pervading light from his heart center that embraced all sentient beings with love.
Then he told Vajrapāṇi, “Vajrapāṇi, I shall now teach a wheel that strikes the obstructors within the ground below. So listen one-pointedly, and I will teach.”
Vajrapāṇi listened accordingly, and the Blessed One began to speak:
This was the fourth chapter on the wheel of suppression from “The Tantra of the Vajra in the Underworld.”
Nīlāmbaradharavajrapāṇi hūṃ phaṭ.