This octet of bhūtinīs appears to be different from the eight bhūtinīs who are part of the retinue in one of the Bhūtaḍāmara maṇḍalas.
Instead of “the comfort of good health” the Tib. omits “health” and says, “granting them with ease.”
Instead of “that you will be servants and helpers of the reciters of the Great Wrath,” the Tib. has “make sure that the results are achieved for the reciters of this [mantra] and show them respect and veneration.” “The Great Wrath” refers to the mantra of Great Wrath.
The translation of the last clause is based on the Tib. The Skt. adds “while providing them with every type of property beyond limit.”
Instead of “Speak truthfully! Say again and again,” the Tib. says, “Quickly listen! Quickly listen!”
It is not clear whether the last sentence is meant to be part of Aparājita’s promise, or whether Vajradhara himself is saying, “If they don’t grant success, I will split the heads of the vidyādharīs, etc.”
This translation is speculative; the line beginning, “may you, great bodhisattva,” is unclear in both the Skt. and the Tib.
“The lord of vidyādharas” is almost certainly a reference to Śiva, but it can sometimes refer to Cakradharman or other mythological figures.
Instead of “that you will be of service to those who recite of the glorious Vajradhara,” the Tib. has “You must serve and venerate the great king, glorious Vajradhara, and others like him.”
This paragraph seems to be out of place here, as it is not Aparājita and the other bhūta kings but the apsarases, etc. who have just been addressed by Vajrapāṇi and who will now offer him their heart mantras. Incongruous though it may be, no attempt has been made to relocate or replace it, as all the Sanskrit manuscripts and the Tibetan text have it in this position.
Skt. oṁ śrīmahābhūtakulasundari hūṁ. oṁ śrīvijayasundari hrīḥ. oṁ vimalasundari āḥ. oṁ śrīratisundari vāḥ. oṁ śrīmanoharasundari dhīḥ. oṁ śrībhīṣaṇasundari iḥ. oṁ śrīdhavalasundari maṃ. oṁ śrīcakṣurmadhusundari bhīḥ.
Normally, the term kulasādhana refers to the esoteric practices of the Śaiva Kaula sect for transmuting sexual fluids. Here, however, the term kula possibly refers to the family of female spirits that this mudrā is effective (sādhanī) in subduing.
It is not clear whether the compound akṣimūrdhni means the “eye [part of] the head,” i.e., the forehead, or “the eyeballs in the head,” or “the eyes and the head.” The Tib. reflects the last meaning.
Skt. oṁ kaḍḍa kaḍḍa sruṃ hrīḥ amukabhūtinī hūṁ phaṭ. The Skt. word amuka implies that the practitioner should supply the name of the spirit (bhūtinī) himself.
The clause “he should recite the mantra one thousand and eight times over seven days” is missing from the Tib.
Skt. oṁ hūṁ kaḍḍa kaḍḍa sarvabhūtinīnāṃ samayam anupālaya hana hana bandha bandha ākrama ākrama bho bho mahāraudrī śmaśānavāsinī āgaccha śīghraṃ dhruṃ phaṭ.
Skt. oṁ dhūna dhūna vidhūna vidhūna cala cala cālaya cālaya praviśa praviśa hana hana tiṣṭha tiṣṭha samayam anupālaya bho bho śmaśānapraveśini hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā.
Skt. oṁ cala cala dhaka dhaka mahābhūtini sādhakānukūlapriye sara sara visara visara kaḍḍa kaḍḍa jalpaya jalpaya bhañjaya bhañjaya raṅga raṅga gṛhṇa gṛhṇa hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ hrīḥ svāhā.
Skt. oṁ ghoramukhi śmaśānavāsini sādhakānukūle apratihatasiddhidāyike oṁ oṁ oṁ oṁ namaḥ svāhā.
The Tib. transliteration of the Skt. term, cintāveśa, suggests either being overcome with sorrow or being full of care. The Skt. seems to be saying “you who are worthy of worship in poetry.”
Skt. oṁ jarjaramukhi cira cira cintāveśa sarvaśatrubhayaṃkari hana hana daha daha paca paca māraya māraya mamākālamṛtyukṣayaṃkari sarvanāgabhayaṃkari aṭṭaṭṭahāsini sarvabhūteśvari thā thā thā thā dhā dhā dhā dhā oṁ oṁ oṁ oṁ svāhā.
Sādhakapriyā can mean either “one who is fond of practitioners” or “one who is dear to practitioners.”
Skt. oṁ kamalalocani manuṣyavatsale sarvaduḥkhavināśani sādhakapriye jaya jaya divyarūpiṇi hrīḥ gṛhṇa gṛhṇa jaḥ jaḥ hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ namaḥ svāhā.
Skt. oṁ vikaṭamukhi daṃṣṭrākarāli jvalitalocani sarvayakṣabhayaṃkari dhāva dhāva gaccha gaccha bho bho sādhaka kim ājñāpayasi svāhā.
Skt. oṁ dhudhuri karmapiśācini kaha kaha dhūna dhūna mahāsurapūjite chinda chinda bhinda bhinda mahākarmapiśācīni bho bho sādhaka kiṃ karomi hrīḥ hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā. In the Tib. transliteration the names karmapiśācini and mahākarmapiśācīni read, respectively, karṇapiśācini and mahākarṇapiśācīni.
Skt. oṁ dhūni dhūni sara sara kaḍḍa kaḍḍa bhañjaya bhañjaya stambhaya stambhaya mohaya mohaya vidyutkarāli apratihatavarasiddhidāyike ha ha ha hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā.
Skt. oṁ saumyamukhi ākarṣaya ākarṣaya sarvabhūtānāṃ jaya jaya bho bho mahāsādhaka tiṣṭha tiṣṭha samayam anupālaya sādhaka ājñāpayati svāhā. The structure of this mantra is confusing in both the Sanskrit and Tibetan sources.
“Who perform tasks” is not in the Tib. As in previous instances, the Tib. says karṇa instead of karma.
The Sanskrit compound raktabali can be translated as either “bali consisting of blood” or “red bali.” The context implies the former, but the Tibetan (gtor ma dmar po) reflects the latter, allowing for an alternative interpretation, namely that a substitute could be used instead of blood.
Skt. oṁ rudrabhayaṃkari aṭṭaṭṭahāsini sādhakapriye mahāvicitrarūpe ratnākari suvarṇahaste yamanikṛntani sarvaduḥkhapraśamani oṁ oṁ oṁ oṁ hūṁ hūṁ hūṁ hūṁ śīghraṃ siddhiṃ me prayaccha hrīḥ jaḥ svāhā.
Skt. oṁ yamanikṛntani akālamṛtyunivāraṇi khaḍgaśūlahaste śīghraṃ siddhiṃ dadāhi sādhaka ājñāpayati hrīḥ svāhā.
Skt. oṁ hemakuṇḍalini dhaka dhaka jvala jvala divyakuṇḍalabhūṣite rāvaṇamathani bhagavān ājñāpayati svāhā. Instead of “The crusher of Rāvaṇa!” the Tib. has “You, the tamer! You, the destroyer!”
In Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit, the term kaha could also correspond to the classical Sanskrit verb katha, “to speak.”
Skt. oṁ bhṛkuṭimukhi kaha kaha dhāva dhāva jvala jvala hutāśanamukhi āgaccha āgaccha vetāḍotthāpani āviśa āviśa hūṁ hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ phaṭ bhagavān ājñāpayati hrīḥ svāhā.
Skt. oṁ suratapriye divyalocane kāmeśvari jaganmohani subhage kāñcanamālāvibhūṣaṇi nūpuraśabdena āviśa āviśa pura pura sādhakapriye hrīḥ svāhā.
On this particular occasion, “mantra” is a translation of Skt. vidyā (Tib. rig sngags), a term that connotes magical power.
Paradoxically, this list includes the mantras of not eight but nine kātyāyanīs. Manuscript A omits Sumbhakātyāyanī. In the list of mudrās that follows, all the sources omit Sumbhakātyāyanī.
The Tib. only has “Extend both index fingers”; this clearly indicates that both hands are used.
“And bend” is influenced by the Tib. The Skt. suggests that the two thumbs should be bent, but is far from clear.
“Pillow” is conjectured on the basis of the Skt. (“the place of the head”) and the Tib. (“cushion”).
Skt. oṁ rāhu rāhu mahāceṭakānāṃ daridrāṇāṃ hitārthāya oṁ hūṁ hūṁ hūṁ hūṁ gṛhṇa gṛhṇa māṃsasiddhiṃ me prayaccha svāhā.
The Tib. seems to state that he grasps the index fingers with the ring fingers. The verbs used in this verse are, strangely, in the optative mode, making it sound like it is the practitioner who is supposed to form this mudrā.
In the list of the same eight goddesses found later in the text, Rambhā appears in this position instead of Devī.
The word for “poverty” is abhūti, reflecting a play on words in the Sanskrit text: the bhūtinī Bhūti is destroying abhūti. The Tib. seems to reflect the reading nāma (“name”) instead of nāśa (“destroying”): mi ’byung zhes bya’i ’byung mo ni = “bhūtinī by the name Abhūti.”
After this verse, the Tib. adds in prose, “One should then say, ‘O Great Wrath, divine being, remain as the pledge deity!’ ”
In this instance, bindu refers to a diacritical mark indicating the nasalization of the vowel.
The god of the sun; the sun personified.
The god of fire.
‟Unconquered,” one of the eight bhūta kings.
Aloeswood used as incense.
“One with the Face of Ananta.” One of the eight nāga queens.
One of the eight great yakṣiṇīs.
‟Never Conquered by Another,” one of the eight bhūta kings.
A celestial nymph.
One of the eight bhūta kings.
‟Horse-Faced,” one of the six kinnara queens.
An offering of edibles to nonhuman beings, usually including lower orders of spirits.
The name of an apsaras.
A class of spirits; in the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra this term can refer to all nonhuman beings, including gods.
‟Tamer of Spirits,” the titular deity of the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra; a wrathful form of Vajrapāṇi.
‟Lord of Bhūtas,” one of the eight bhūta kings.
‟Prosperity,” one of the eight goddesses of offerings in the Bhūtaḍāmara maṇḍala. Note that the Tibetan translation does not accord with the Sanskrit Bhūti.
A female bhūta or any nonhuman female being; in some mantras it seems to be used as a proper name.
Female bhūta.
A female bhūta or any nonhuman female being; in some mantras it seems to be used as a proper name.
Female bhūta.
A dye or paint prepared from the gall stones of cattle.
A high-ranking deity presiding over a divine world; he is also considered to be the lord of the Sahā world (our universe). Though not considered a creator god in Buddhism, Brahmā occupies an important place as one of two gods (the other being Indra/Śakra) said to have first exhorted the Buddha Śākyamuni to teach the Dharma. The particular heavens found in the form realm over which Brahmā rules are often some of the most sought-after realms of higher rebirth in Buddhist literature. Since there are many universes or world systems, there are also multiple Brahmās presiding over them. His most frequent epithets are “Lord of the Sahā World” (sahāṃpati) and Great Brahmā (mahābrahman).
One of the eight “queens of spirits.”
The Tibetan translates both stūpa and caitya with the same word, mchod rten, meaning “basis” or “recipient” of “offerings” or “veneration.” Pali: cetiya.
A caitya, although often synonymous with stūpa, can also refer to any site, sanctuary or shrine that is made for veneration, and may or may not contain relics.
A stūpa, literally “heap” or “mound,” is a mounded or circular structure usually containing relics of the Buddha or the masters of the past. It is considered to be a sacred object representing the awakened mind of a buddha, but the symbolism of the stūpa is complex, and its design varies throughout the Buddhist world. Stūpas continue to be erected today as objects of veneration and merit making.
‟Fierce Kātyāyanī,” one of the eight kātyāyanī spirits.
The god of the moon; the moon personified.
Son of the goddess Diti.
‟Terrible One with Bared Fangs,” one of the eight demonesses who inhabit the eight great charnel grounds.
One of the eight great bhūtinīs.
‟Impetuous One,” one of the eight demonesses who inhabit the eight great charnel grounds.
“Incense Mouth.” One of the eight nāga queens.
A gold coin of considerable value.
‟Sun Faced,” one of the six kinnara queens.
‟Lord of gaṇas,” an epithet of Gaṇeśa, the elephant-headed god invoked to remove obstacles.
A class of generally benevolent nonhuman beings who inhabit the skies, sometimes said to inhabit fantastic cities in the clouds, and more specifically to dwell on the eastern slopes of Mount Meru, where they are ruled by the Great King Dhṛtarāṣṭra. They are most renowned as celestial musicians who serve the gods. In the Abhidharma, the term is also used to refer to the mental body assumed by sentient beings during the intermediate state between death and rebirth. Gandharvas are said to live on fragrances (gandha) in the desire realm, hence the Tibetan translation dri za, meaning “scent eater.”
Female gandharva.
In Indian mythology, the garuḍa is an eagle-like bird that is regarded as the king of all birds, normally depicted with a sharp, owl-like beak, often holding a snake, and with large and powerful wings. They are traditionally enemies of the nāgas. In the Vedas, they are said to have brought nectar from the heavens to earth. Garuḍa can also be used as a proper name for a king of such creatures.
Female garuḍa.
‟One with the Terrible Face,” one of the eight demonesses who inhabit the eight great charnel grounds.
An epithet of Caṇḍakātyāyanī.
One of the epithets of Bhūtaḍāmara.
Semidivine beings closely related to or identical with yakṣas, who, like them, live in the realm of Kubera.
‟Laughing One,” one of the eight great bhūtinīs.
The lord of the gods in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three (trāyastriṃśa). Alternatively known as Indra, the deity that is called “lord of the gods” dwells on the summit of Mount Sumeru and wields the thunderbolt. The Tibetan translation brgya byin (meaning “one hundred sacrifices”) is based on an etymology that śakra is an abbreviation of śata-kratu, one who has performed a hundred sacrifices. Each world with a central Sumeru has a Śakra. Also known by other names such as Kauśika, Devendra, and Śacipati.
‟Ruler,” an epithet of Rudra.
‟Protectress of the World,” one of the eight great bhūtinīs.
The name of the southern continent in Buddhist cosmology, which can signify either the known human world, or more specifically the Indian subcontinent, literally “the jambu island/continent.” Jambu is the name used for a range of plum-like fruits from trees belonging to the genus Szygium, particularly Szygium jambos and Szygium cumini, and it has commonly been rendered “rose apple,” although “black plum” may be a less misleading term. Among various explanations given for the continent being so named, one (in the Abhidharmakośa) is that a jambu tree grows in its northern mountains beside Lake Anavatapta, mythically considered the source of the four great rivers of India, and that the continent is therefore named from the tree or the fruit. Jambudvīpa has the Vajrāsana at its center and is the only continent upon which buddhas attain awakening.
‟One with an Aged Face,” one of the eight demonesses who inhabit the eight great charnel grounds.
‟Kātyāyanī Face of Victory,” one of the eight kātyāyanī spirits.
Bhūtaḍāmaratantram. Rāya, Kṛṣṇa Kumāra, ed. Vārāṇasī: Prācya Prakāśana, 1933.
Bhūtaḍāmaratantra. University of Göttingen Library, Xc 14/50 I.
Bhūtaḍāmaramahātantrarāja. University of Tokyo Library, New 274/Old 567.
Bhūtaḍāmaramahātantrarāja. University of Tokyo Library, New 273/Old 483.
Bhattacharyya, Benoytosh, ed., Sādhanamālā (pp. 512−28). Baroda: Oriental Institute, 1968.
’byung po ’dul ba zhes bya ba’i rgyud kyi rgyal po chen po (Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra). Toh 747, Degé Kangyur vol. 95 (rgyud ’bum, dza), folios 238.a–263.a.
Bhattacharyya, Benoytosh. “The Cult of Bhūtaḍāmara.” Proceedings and Transactions of the Sixth All-India Oriental Conference: 349−70. Patna: Bihar and Orissa Research Society, 1933.
Bhattacharyya, Benoytosh. The Indian Buddhist Iconography Based on the Sādhanamālā and Other Cognate Sanskrit Texts and Rituals. Calcutta: Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay, 1958.
Bühnemann, Gudrun. “Buddhist Deities and Mantras in the Hindu Tantras I: The Tantrasārasaṃgraha and the Īśānaśivagurudevapaddhati.” Indo-Iranian Journal 42:4 (1999): 303–34.
Cabezón, José Ignacio. The Buddha’s Doctrine and the Nine Vehicles. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.
Pal, Pratapaditya. Hindu Religion and Iconology According to the Tantrasāra. Los Angeles: Vichitra Press, 1981.
+ plus signs replace illegible text
] a right square bracket marks the lemma, i.e., the adopted reading for which variants are adduced
conj. conjectured
em. emended
om. omitted
° an upper ring indicates truncation of a word
† daggers enclose unintelligible text
A Tokyo University Library (New 274 / Old 567)
B Tokyo University Library (New 273 / Old 483)
G Göttingen University Library (Göttingen Xc 14 / 50 I)
SM Sādhanamālā, the sādhana of Bhūtaḍāmara (sādhana no. 264)
Tib. Tibetan text of the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra in the Degé canon (Toh 747)
The Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra is a Buddhist esoteric manual on magic and exorcism. The instructions on ritual practices that constitute its main subject matter are intended to give the practitioner mastery over worldly divinities and spirits. Since the ultimate controller of such beings is Vajrapāṇi in his form of Bhūtaḍāmara, the “Tamer of Spirits,” it is Vajrapāṇi himself who delivers this tantra in response to a request from Śiva. Notwithstanding this esoteric origin, this tantra was compiled anonymously around the seventh or eighth century
This translation was produced by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the supervision of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche. Wiesiek Mical translated the text from the Sanskrit manuscripts, prepared the Sanskrit edition, and wrote the introduction. Thomas Doctor then compared the translation against the Tibetan translation found in the Degé Kangyur and edited the text. Special thanks are owed to Dr. Péter-Dániel Szántó for making available his transcript of the manuscript, “Göttingen Xc 14/50 I,” which was our default source for the reconstruction of the Sanskrit text.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
There are many uncertainties regarding the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra, one of them being its canonical classification. Although it is included in the Kriyā Tantra section of the Degé edition of the canon, some Tibetan sources describe it as a Caryā text. Based on the contents, which include both Kriyā and Yoga Tantra material, assigning it to the Caryā class is not entirely without justification. However, even though some rites have an unmistakable Yoga Tantra character, the soteriological aims common to the Yoga Tantras are never explicitly stated. As the elements of this tantra characteristic of Kriyā Tantra clearly predominate, its classification as such seems correct. Based on its affiliation with Vajrapāṇi, this text belongs to the Vajra family (vajrakula) among the sub-classes of the Kriyā Tantras, rather than the Tathāgata or Padma families.
Another uncertainty is the age of the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra. There are no titles of earlier works or names of historical figures to help us assess its date of composition. There appear to be, however, two strata of material in the text, corresponding to the division into the Kriyā and the Yoga Tantra content. The older stratum primarily contains non-Buddhist, pre-Vajrayāna magical lore not yet fully assimilated in formal Buddhist structures. This content likely belongs to the fourth or fifth century, its age being demonstrated by the recurrent use of the word dīnāra, a coin named after the Roman denarius. This type of coin was popular in India in the fourth and fifth centuries and is well attested in the literature of that period.
Features of Yoga Tantra can be found chiefly in chapter eight, where the visualization procedure, described as part of the main sādhana of Bhūtaḍāmara, includes most of the elements of deity yoga practice, including a sophisticated development stage (utpattikrama) practice. Based on the inclusion of these practices, it is unlikely that this section was composed prior to the seventh century. The mention of the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra in the Nāmamantrārthāvalokinī—Vilāsavajra’s commentary to the Mañjuśrīnāmasaṃgīti—which is probably the earliest reference to the text, sets the terminus ad quem to the late eighth century. Therefore, it seems most likely that the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra was composed some time during the seventh and the eighth centuries.
The central deity in this tantra is Bhūtaḍāmara, a wrathful form of Vajrapāṇi. In the tantra he is referred to by a variety of names, including Vajrapāṇi, Vajradhara, Guhyakādhipati, Mahākrodhādhipati, Mahākrodha, Krodharāja, Krodha, or simply by the title Blessed One (bhagavān). It needs to be noted, however, that in the Kriyā Tantras Vajradhara has not yet become a deity iconographically distinct from Vajrapāṇi, and so “Vajradhara” is used merely as an epithet for Vajrapāṇi. Likewise, guhyakādhipati—one of the most common titles of Vajrapāṇi in Buddhist literature—refers in the early Kriyā Tantras to Vajrapāṇi’s status as lord of the guhyakas, a class of semidivine beings, and not as the “Lord of Mysteries” as intended in later tantric systems. It is therefore a matter of doubt whether the Tibetan translators of the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra were correct in rendering this title as “Lord of Mysteries” (gsang ba’i bdag po). One could guess that, since they made their translation in the eleventh century, they opted for an interpretation which, by then, would certainly have been predominant. But since the “mysteries” or “secrets” (guhya), such as the “secret” body, speech, and mind, are never mentioned in the tantra, it is unlikely that the latter interpretation was originally intended here. On the other hand, the title “Lord of Guhyakas” seems to better fit the context of the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra, as guhyakas are high on the list of beings with magical abilities (perhaps not far behind vidyādharas) that yield to Bhūtaḍāmara’s power. The rest of Vajrapāṇi’s epithets all contain the word krodha (“wrath”), reflecting the wrathful nature of Bhūtaḍāmara.
There is also considerable confusion regarding the names of the principal deities and spirits featured in the tantra’s rituals. The lists of names presented in the individual recensions do not always align, and in some sources the number either falls short of or exceeds the expected set of eight deities. No attempt has been made in our translation to definitively standardize the lists of these names, as it is perhaps better to allow for some doubt than to venture arbitrary guesses.
Another ambiguity in the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra concerns the term bhūta, such as is found in the name of the titular deity, and its feminine equivalent bhūtinī. In the tantra this term first and foremost refers to the bhūta order of spirits who need to be tamed, such as the “eight great bhūtas” or the “eight great bhūtinīs.” We reserve the use of the Sanskrit bhūta and bhūtinī for this class of beings. The terms bhūta and bhūtinī are also applied to other classes of nonhuman beings in this text, including the gods of the highest orders. In these instances we have elected to translate bhūta and bhūtinī as “male spirits” and “female spirits” respectively.
Apart from the names of different classes of beings, several other Sanskrit words are retained throughout the translation. This applies primarily to those terms that have already entered English lexicons, such as maṇḍala, mudrā, sādhana, pūjā, or liṅga, and also some technical terms for certain similar rites that would be difficult to differentiate in English translation. A sādhana procedure, for example, may include several types of offering, such as pūjā (this is more properly a worship that involves offerings), argha (welcome offering), homa (oblation offered into the fire), and bali (offering of edibles, usually to nonhuman beings including those of the lower orders). Only the first of these, pūjā, which is included in English lexicons, and the last, bali, have been left untranslated.
The arrangement of the text’s contents indicates that many changes may have taken place throughout the tantra’s long textual history—possibly through corruption or intentional redaction—that present challenges for the modern reader. The reader may therefore find it helpful to think of the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra as a jigsaw puzzle that needs to be reassembled rather than try to find coherence in the arrangement of the extant recension of the text. As will be demonstrated in the summary that follows, these textual irregularities present themselves from the very beginning of the text and continue throughout. They include the omission of standard scriptural formulas, irregular use of section and chapter colophons, confusion in the names and number of sets of deities, and general incongruities in the content of the tantra.
The first irregularity comes at the very beginning of the text. The tantra begins not with the expected “Thus did I hear…” but with advice given by Vajrapāṇi, who begins with the standard Sanskrit phrase for introducing a new topic, athātas. What follows is not the usual scriptural formulation that introduces the context for the teaching, but rather a seemingly isolated piece of practical advice related to the practices that will be taught later on in the text.
The reader will also encounter colophons in unexpected or seemingly unnecessary places. Additionally, some of these colophons refer not to the main content of their given chapter, but to the content of a preceding section. As the colophons do not specify chapter numbers or provide other organizational information, it is possible that what had been section colophons in earlier versions of the text became chapter colophons in its later recensions. This confusion between section and chapter colophons is apparent in the different structures presented in the Buddhist and Śaiva versions of the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra. The extant Buddhist version has as many as twenty-eight chapters, some unnaturally short, while its Śaiva counterpart has only sixteen. No attempt has been made in this translation to restore chapter divisions or to re-order the contents sequentially, as this would amount to redacting rather than translating the text.
After Vajrapāṇi’s unusual opening statement we reach what could be considered the proper introductory scene: the subjugation of all nonhuman beings, including the highest orders of gods, and their pledge of allegiance to Vajrapāṇi to offer every form of help to those who recite Vajrapāṇi’s mantra. The first to come forward and make a pledge is Aparājita, the chief among the eight bhūta kings, whose sādhana s, among the most prominent in the tantra, are taught in its final sections. Reflecting his complete thraldom, Aparājita serves as a pedestal for the feet of Bhūtaḍāmara in his form as the “lord of the maṇḍala.”
When challenged by Śiva, Vajrapāṇi demonstrates his awesome power by using mantra to first kill and then revive all the worldly deities and spirits, including Brahmā, Indra, and Śiva himself. With the mantra “that slays all spirits,” vajra flames issue from the pores of Vajrapāṇi’s skin, causing everyone’s death. With the mantra “that brings back the consciousness of the dead,” a stream of vivifying air issues forth from Vajrapāṇi’s nostrils, restoring them to life. Following this demonstration, an augural comment is made by the tathāgatas that in future times, whenever necessary, Vajrapāṇi will be the one to tame and subjugate worldly divinities and spirits. And indeed, throughout Vajrayāna literature this function is more often assigned to Vajrapāṇi in his wrathful forms than to any other deity.
Following Vajrapāṇi’s utterance of a mantra specifically targeting higher-order beings, Mahādeva-Śiva himself is the next to come forward and pledge fealty. His pledge marks a fundamental change in the hierarchies of the spirit world, as, following his lead, all the worldly divinities and spirits who had been under Śiva’s control join their master as subordinates to Vajrapāṇi. Mahādeva is perhaps the most important character in the tantra after Vajrapāṇi. He becomes Vajrapāṇi’s interlocutor who prompts him with requests to teach throughout the tantra. He also occupies the most prominent position in the inner circle of deities in the maṇḍala of Bhūtaḍāmara—directly in front of the lord himself.
Following Śiva’s example, the leaders of the eight classes of powerful nonhuman beings, with female figures leading the way, recognize Vajrapāṇi, in his form Mahākrodha (Great Wrath), as their master. Even if the word śaraṇa (“refuge”) is not used, their act is, for all intents and purposes, one of taking refuge. Each of these female spirits offers her heart mantra to Vajrapāṇi, an act that, because of a poetic use of puns, also indicates they are giving him their heart. Each of the individual spirits’ pledges to Vajrapāṇi establishes a bond between the spirit and the deity and, by extension, between the spirit and the practitioner who recites the Vajrapāṇi mantra and performs the spirit’s sādhana. The sādhana is the means to summon these spirits and hold them to their pledge (samaya).
The spirits’ pledge to Vajrapāṇi is an important theme in the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra. Throughout the tantra it is stated again and again that a noncompliant spirit who breaks its pledge, or even fails to heed the summoning call, will perish. There is some ambiguity, however, as to whether it is the spirit or the practitioner that will perish if the sādhana goes awry. The language of most of the sādhana s found in the text clearly indicates that it is the spirit who will perish, but there are at least two instances in the Sanskrit sources of the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra that could be interpreted either way. A variant in one manuscript makes it clear that it is the practitioner who will die if they fail in their performance of the ritual. If it is in fact the case that the warning extends also to the practitioner, the threat of death could apply equally to the performance of all the sādhana s in the tantra. It would then serve as a reminder of the dangers inherent to practices intended to gain control over spirits. Once the spirit is brought under control, however, it will unfailingly provide for all the practitioner’s temporal needs and offer all kinds of protection.
From the spirits’ perspective, the threat of breaking the pledge is perhaps mitigated to some extent by the fact that the spirits benefit from pledging themselves to Vajrapāṇi and the practitioner. In a statement found in the introduction to the last two sādhana s in the text we are told that these sādhana s—and, by implication, possibly also all the preceding sādhana s—are mutually thrilling for the bhūtinīs and the practitioner, and that the bhūtinīs become filled with joy. This statement concludes the tantra’s collection of sādhana s on a cheerful note!
The sādhana s presented in the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra follow a consistent structure. One begins by going at night to a lonely place, offering oblations of prescribed articles into the ritual fire, and reciting the mantra a certain number of times. Sometimes the practitioner is directed to step upon an effigy of the spirit whom he is summoning. Within a specified time the spirit will arrive in person. After welcoming her with offerings, one should perform the prescribed duties associated with the role the spirit will take, either as a mother, sister, or wife. Pleased, she will henceforth perform her specific duties, and provide all the material necessities and comforts for the duration of one’s life, which is magically extended to hundreds or thousands of years. This procedural pattern seems to be typical of the apotropaic sādhana s of Kriyā Tantras. Only in later tantras would these methods become adapted to serve specifically soteriological purposes; in the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra this may be the case only inasmuch as it contains Yoga Tantra elements.
The divinities and spirits featured in the sādhana s in the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra typically come in groups of eight, reflecting their arrangement in the cardinal and intermediate directions. Their names are often given in a list or can be extracted from their respective sādhana s or mantras. And yet it is in the context of these lists of deities and their sādhana s that we again encounter irregularities in extant recensions of the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra. Both the names and the sequence in which they are given are fluid between Sanskrit and Tibetan sources, a fact that is surprising given the importance of assigning deities to specific directions or divisions within the maṇḍala.
The first such octet to appear in the tantra is that of the Sundarī goddesses. When we reach the passage containing the mantras of these eight goddesses, we are again reminded that the tantra consists of parts that, although thematically consistent, appear not to follow a logical order in the extant sources. In what seems to be a glaring inconsistency, the eight mantras are introduced with a statement that it is the eight bhūta kings, starting with Aparājita, who are now offering their heart mantras to Vajrapāṇi. Also, because of the lack of a clear structure of the text’s contents, it is impossible to be sure whether the mudrās and rituals associated with the eight Sundarīs and Aparājita’s pledge are specifically those of the Sundarīs, those of any spirits belonging to the bhūta class, or are meant for female spirits in general.
After the Sundarī goddesses, the next to come forward and pledge their allegiance to Vajrapāṇi are the eight great female spirits who dwell in charnel grounds. They also give him their hearts and offer their heart mantras, prompting Vajrapāṇi to teach their sādhana s and rituals. As expected, their sādhana s are to be performed at night in a charnel ground or a cemetery, with the interesting exception of the sādhana for a spirit given the task of helping with agricultural work—this sādhana is to be performed in a field. The eight charnel ground goddesses are followed by the set of eight kātyāyanīs, a class of extremely wild and dangerous female spirits. The text again appears to be corrupt here, as it includes the mantras not of eight but of nine kātyāyanīs. The goddess who should perhaps be struck off the list is Sumbhakātyāyanī, who is omitted in all the sources in the list of the eight mudrās that follows, and in one of the manuscripts is omitted altogether.
Next, following a short sādhana to be employed when trading black goat meat for gold with a female spirit inhabiting a charnel ground, Śiva requests Vajrapāṇi to teach the maṇḍala of Bhūtaḍāmara—the secret, all-accomplishing maṇḍala of the deity who “instils fear in all the bhūtas, nāgas, yakṣas, and vidyādharas; who removes all obstacles, afflictions, and pain; and who kills all the pretas, vetālas, and pūtanas dwelling in charnel grounds.” This maṇḍala is the first of two maṇḍalas of Bhūtaḍāmara taught in the tantra. The two differ in their composition and the arrangement of the retinue deities. These maṇḍalas and their associated sādhana s, which are elaborate and rich in ritual detail, are the main and most important rites taught in the tantra.
In the center of the first maṇḍala is Vajrapāṇi Great Wrath in his form as Bhūtaḍāmara. His iconography is described in full, and the deities and spirits comprising his retinue are listed, including the most important Hindu gods starting with Śiva. These gods, again in groups of eight, occupy the inner and outer circles of the maṇḍala, with the middle circle reserved for the eight goddesses of offerings. Following these iconographic details the ritual for initiating disciples into the maṇḍala is described, after which are presented the instructions on the main sādhana of Bhūtaḍāmara, including the mudrās and mantras of all the maṇḍala deities. This sādhana is the only one in the tantra that employs the stages of deity yoga practice typical of the Yoga Tantras, including the different stages of visualization, meditating on emptiness, generating oneself as the pledge being (samayasattva), donning the armor, and merging the pledge being with the wisdom being (jñānasattva). To conclude the section on the sādhana of Bhūtaḍāmara, the text explains its benefits: “By merely reciting the mantra of Vajradhara one will become equal to him. Should one fail in this, one will become a universal monarch of the four continents. If one merely utters the name of the glorious Vajradhara, the supreme master Great Wrath, all the spirits will become one’s servants.” The text then sets the rules and requirements for the preliminary practice, a practice sequence of prescribed duration that constitutes the necessary prelude before one can undertake a practice with a specific aim that varies according to the practitioner’s wish.
Because it includes the recitation of the mantras and use of the mudrās for the numerous deities of the Bhūtaḍāmara maṇḍala, as well as the other Yoga Tantra stages of practice just described, this sādhana is rather complicated and lengthy when performed in full. In comparison to the shorter Kriyā sādhana s, this sādhana is more like a complex work of art that weaves mental practices (visualization and meditation), sound (the mantras), and form (the physical gestures and the outer aspects of the ritual) into an elaborate tapestry.
Following this elaborate sādhana of Bhūtaḍāmara, the text transitions back to Kriyā Tantra-style sādhana s designed to gain control over worldly divinities and spirits. The implication could be that Kriyā Tantra sādhana s are to be employed with the goal of subjugating such spirits only after the practitioner has mastered the main practice of Bhūtaḍāmara that employs the stages of Yoga Tantra sādhana. The Kriyā Tantra sādhana s in this section all involve the use of effigies of the deities or spirits whom one is inducting into a bonded relationship (samaya) with oneself. The females again lead the way as the sādhana s of Umā, Śrī, Bhairavī, and Cāmuṇḍā come before the sādhana s of powerful worldly gods, including Mahādeva-Śiva, Viṣṇu, and Brahmā. Together, these deities form a formidable array of allies who can protect and help the practitioner in many different ways.
After some general advice and a few sādhana s that could be used for any female spirit, the text once again features female spirits who come in groups of eight. While there is some overlap in the names of the deities in the next two sets of bhūtinīs and apsarases, they must have been intended as different groups because their respective sections are separated by a scene of Vajrapāṇi asserting his power over the spirit world by pronouncing his invincible mantra. These two maṇḍalas are followed by sections presenting sets of yakṣiṇīs, nāginīs, and kinnarīs, the last of which are not eight but six (this time intentionally so). The sādhana s in the kinnarī section are five in number, each for an unspecified member of their group.
The next section contains a description of a different maṇḍala of Bhūtaḍāmara, including a detailed description of its many deities. Although this maṇḍala, its iconography, and its initiation ritual resemble those found in the Yoga Tantras, the sequence of deity yoga practice common to the Yoga Tantras is not included here as it was in the previous Bhūtaḍāmara maṇḍala. Instead, the text quickly moves on to sādhana s and rituals dedicated to individual spirits who, as before, come in groups of eight. These sādhana s, like all spirit sādhana s in the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra, demonstrate a strictly Kriyā Tantra character. In this section, the sets of deities differ from those presented in the previous Bhūtaḍāmara sādhana, including the addition of new groups. The first among them are the sādhana s of the eight bhūtas headed by Aparājita. Each of their sādhana s is followed by a description of their mudrās, separated by a very short chapter that sums up their practice. Two sādhana s dedicated to bhūtinīs are presented next, followed by instructions for offering bali.
The Tibetan version ends at this point, which was in all likelihood the end of the Sanskrit version from which the Tibetan translators worked. The extant Sanskrit sources, however, include additional mantras and mudrās associated with the bali ritual and, rather syncretically, list the eighteen types of emptiness. The Sanskrit version finishes by repeating the names of the eight bhūtas—Aparājita and so forth—possibly suggesting that these eight are the most important ones referred to by the element bhūta in the name of Bhūtaḍāmara. The last of the bhūtas has the name Kiṃkarottama (“Best Servant”), giving expression, as it were, to the ethos of mastery over spirits as found in this tantra. Looking at these final additions to the Sanskrit version through the eyes of a philologist, they could perhaps provide clues to the type of changes that the Bhūtaḍāmara must have undergone before it reached the form available to us today, and possibly even before it was translated into Tibetan.
The translation that follows is based on the Sanskrit text prepared by the translator from the extant Sanskrit witnesses. In cases when the Sanskrit sources differ from one another, either due to variant readings, through omission or addition, or based on differences in sequence, the translation follows, with only a few exceptions, the Sanskrit source that most closely agrees with the Tibetan translation. In some cases we have elected to privilege the Tibetan translation over all Sanskrit sources when it provided the most adequate reading. More information on these sources is given in the introduction that accompanies our edition of the Sanskrit text of the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra.
In the present translation the reader may find some expressions and phrases that sound odd in English, but nevertheless reflect certain ideas or principles that are conveyed more accurately if phrased as they are in the original Sanskrit. Phrases such as “reciting the Great Wrath,” “reciters of the Vajrapāṇi,” or “anyone who recites one of the tathāgatas” refer to reciting the respective mantras and reflect the notion that the name of the deity is also the name of its mantra. This notion seems ubiquitous throughout the tantras (not only Buddhist) and is frequently explained in the Kriyā Tantras. Another oddity is the use of the English “to incant” in the sense of reciting the mantra over an object in order to invest it with a magical power; one may, for example, incant a bali, or incant sandalwood a certain number of times.
The present translation is certainly not free from shortcomings, and could be improved through further, in-depth studies of the tantra. A quite obvious shortcoming concerns the translation of the descriptions of mudrā gestures—it is just as basic as the original Sanskrit, and therefore inadequate for those not already familiar with the gestures being described.
There is a Śaiva version of the tantra that was produced between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries. Just as in the Buddhist version, the teaching is delivered by the Buddha Vajrapāṇi who speaks in the first person. The discourse, however, is introduced by Unmattabhairava in response to a question by Unmattabhairavī (the wrathful aspects of Śiva and Pārvatī respectively). The hierarchy of deities remains unchanged, with Vajrapāṇi Bhūtaḍāmara still enjoying the same status as in the Buddhist version. This perhaps could be attributed to the fact that, unlike in other early Buddhist tantras that describe the “subjugation of Śiva,” no confrontation is involved here; Śiva is never forced into submission. Overwhelmed by the power that Vajrapāṇi displays when killing and then reviving all worldly beings, which he experiences firsthand, he asks Vajrapāṇi for protection. It is noteworthy that on one occasion in this version of the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra, Śiva is referred to as a “bodhisattva.” Consulting the Śaiva version of the tantra might have helped clear up some ambiguities, but unfortunately we were unable to gain access to the manuscripts.
Homage to Vajrasattva!
“I will now teach,” said the great lord Vajradhara, the supreme master of the triple universe, “the detailed rituals for mastery over all male and female spirits found in this great sovereign Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra.
“One should perform the sādhana at places such as the confluence of two rivers, a charnel ground, a lonely tree, a shrine of a deity, or a temple of the glorious Vajradhara. One will succeed instantly. If a male or a female spirit does not submit to the sādhana, it will perish along with its family and clan.”
Then Maheśvara-Mahādeva respectfully bowed his head to the feet of Lord Vajradhara and said, “May the lord, the supreme master Great Wrath, pronounce the words of the mantra that slays wicked spirits.”
The supreme master Great Wrath applauded Maheśvara-Mahādeva: “Well done! Well done, Mahādeva! This was rightly said!”
The lord then spoke the words of the mantra that slays all spirits:
“Oṁ, Vajrajvālā, kill! Kill all the spirits! Hūṁ phaṭ!”
As soon as this was said, many vajra flames issued forth from the pores of the glorious Vajradhara’s skin, and the bodies of all the male and female spirits dried up and withered. All the gods, headed by Indra, Brahmā, and Viṣṇu, were killed.
Amazed, all the tathāgatas said to the lord, “Excellent, Vajradhara! It is excellent, O supreme master Great Wrath, that you will at a later time, on future occasions, subjugate all the male and female spirits.”
Then the lord in turn pronounced a mantra of the goddess who summons the consciousness of the dead:
“Oṁ, Vajrāyuṣā, flow! Flow into him!”
As soon as this was spoken, a great stream of vivifying air issued forth from the glorious Vajradhara’s nostrils. As soon as it came out, it entered the bodies of all the male and female spirits. The male and female spirits immediately got up, reeling with great fear, and said, “May the lord protect us! May the bliss-gone one protect us! May the lord command us!”
Then, in this great gathering, Aparājita, the great lord of bhūtas, prostrated at the feet of the venerable lord Great Wrath and said to the lord, “Master Great Wrath! May you, the glorious conqueror of the triple universe, protect us! May you, the bliss-gone one, protect us!”
The lord said, “You, friends, and you, lord of bhūtas, must promise that you will grant every success to people on the four continents of the human realm; that you will give to the inhabitants of Jambudvīpa the elixir of long life, power substances, and the comfort of good health, as well as gold bullion and coins, pearls, beryls, rubies, sunstones, moonstones, clothes, fragrances, and desirable foods; that you will be servants and helpers of the reciters of the Great Wrath; that to anyone who recites one of the tathāgatas you will give every possible object without any reservation, including articles of worship such as fine jewels, clothes, fragrances, incense, flowers; and that you will dispel all fear of kings and enemies, and of lions and tigers.
“Ho, ho, Aparājita! Great lord of bhūtas! Speak truthfully! Say again and again that you will definitely grant success even to the slothful and the immoral, to evildoers and liars. Say that if they do not grant success, the vidyādharīs, bhūtinīs, nāginīs, yakṣiṇīs, śālabhañjikās, kinnarīs, mahoragīs, garuḍīs, piśācīs, and gandharvīs will have their heads split by a great invincible thunderbolt, and that you will cause them to fall into one of the eight great hells.”
All the tathāgatas remarked with amazement, “Well done! Well done, Vajrapāṇi! Well said! For the benefit of all may you, great bodhisattva, teach about the great Dharma king of the triple universe who has completely mastered energy, strength, and power, who is honored by all the gods, who exercises mastery over all the world spheres that comprise the four continents, who turns all Dharma wheels, who removes all suffering, and whose numerous mudrās and mantras are employed in different, elaborate rituals. Venerable king Great Wrath, speak!”
Then Vajradhara, the supreme master Great Wrath, again uttered a mantra that revives the dead:
“Oṁ, summon the consciousness, summon! Revive the dead! Hrīḥ, āḥ!”
The moment this was intoned, all the deities who were brought back to life collapsed in a swoon. Reeling with great fear, they got up again.
Mahādeva then said, “May the great bodhisattva protect me!”
Vajradhara, the supreme master Great Wrath, said, “Do not be afraid, do not be afraid, O lord of spirits! In order that you may be victorious over your adversaries, I will enthrall all gods and subjugate all spirits.”
Then all the apsarases, along with the lord of vidyādharas, said, “May the lord protect us! May the glorious Vajradhara protect us! Please protect us, O great king!”
Vajradhara, the supreme master Great Wrath, then said, “Make a promise, apsarases, that you will be of service to those who recite the glorious Vajradhara and give them all kinds of riches—gold, pearls, beryls, rubies, and so forth.”
Starting with the apsarases, each of the celestial maidens and yakṣiṇīs said, “I am willing to die, I am willing to die, O lord. Let me become a servant of anyone who recites the glorious Vajradhara. We shall become their attendants. If we do not become attendants of those who recite the glorious Vajradhara, we will bring ruin upon all our families and clans. We would be opposing the true Dharma and disparaging all tathāgatas. The lord should then split our heads with the thunderbolt of wrath. With our heads split into a hundred pieces, death would come very quickly and we would enter the eight great hells.”
Then the great bodhisattva Vajrapāṇi applauded all the apsarases, celestial maidens, nāginīs, and yakṣiṇīs, “Well done! Well done, apsarases, celestial maidens, nāginīs, and yakṣiṇīs! You must resolve that in the future, on future occasions, you will become helpers of anyone who recites the tathāgatas.”
Each of the bhūta kings who rule over servant bhūtas, starting with Aparājita, stood up in the midst of his retinue and, having bowed at the feet of the supreme master Great Wrath, the glorious Vajradhara, offered to him his heart mantra:
“Oṁ, the glorious Sundarī of the great spirit family, hūṁ! Oṁ, the glorious Sundarī of victory, hrīḥ! Oṁ, the stainless Sundarī, āḥ! Oṁ, the glorious Sundarī of pleasure, vāḥ! Oṁ, the glorious Sundarī that captivates the mind, dhīḥ! Oṁ, the glorious, terrifying Sundarī, iḥ! Oṁ, the glorious, brilliant white Sundarī, maṃ! Oṁ, the glorious Sundarī with the sweet look in her eyes, bhīḥ!”
“Thus are these eight spirit queens celebrated in glorious terms.”
Next is the sādhana procedure that grants every success as soon as it is recited. By merely saying the glorious Vajradhara’s name, all male and female spirits become one’s servants.
The lord said, “If you break your pledges I will immediately destroy the families and clans of every male and female spirit.”
Then Aparājita, the great lord of bhūtas, told the great Vajradhara, “I will keep the pledges of Mahādeva. To all ordinary people I will grant every success obtainable through mantra and mudrā. All they have to do is recite the glorious Vajradhara, and we will grant all accomplishments. If we do not, our families and clans will be destroyed. We will break our pledges to the teachings of all the tathāgatas, and the lord will split our heads with the thunderbolt of wrath. Our death would be quick, and we would enter the eight great hells.”
“Now I will describe the best places for practice.
“These are places for the practice of the eight spirit queens.
“Now I will describe the mudrās employed when practicing the eight female spirits.
“Place the fingers of one hand upon the other and, placing your right hand to the right of the groin, press your right hand down with your left. This is the ultimate essence—the pledge mudrā of female spirits.
“As soon as these mudrās are formed, the female spirits swiftly arrive. If they do not arrive quickly their foreheads will burst, and they will wither and die.”
At that moment the glorious Vajradhara, supreme master Great Wrath, said, “If these female spirits break their respective pledges, one should summon them by reciting the following wrathful mantra one hundred and eight times:
“Oṁ, summon, summon! Sruṃ hrīḥ! Summon such-and-such spirit, hūṁ phaṭ!
“The practitioner should recite the above wrathful mantra one hundred and eight times; she will soon arrive. If she does not arrive, she will burst at the forehead and will wither and die.
“The instructions for the formal practice are as follows:
“The practitioner should go to the confluence of two rivers, prepare a maṇḍala with sandalwood powder, and offer abundant flowers. He should burn bdellium incense and recite the mantra one thousand and eight times. His purpose will be achieved. At night, he should again recite the mantra one thousand times, and she is certain to come. When she has come, he should make love to her, and she will become his wife. She will depart at daybreak, leaving one hundred palas of gold on the bed. Doing this every day, he will definitely attain success within one month.
“The practitioner should go to the bank of a river and prepare a maṇḍala with sandalwood powder. After sponsoring a bali of curds and rice, he should recite the mantra one thousand and eight times over seven days. On the seventh day she is certain to arrive. When she does, he should give her a welcome offering of sandalwood-scented water. She will be pleased and say, ‘What can I do for you, my dear?’ The practitioner should say, ‘Grant me kingship.’ She will grant kingship and will protect the realm. In addition she will bestow clothes, adornments, food, and so forth.
“In a temple to Vajradhara, the practitioner should offer oleander flowers, burn bdellium incense, and recite the mantra one thousand and eight times. His purpose will be achieved. At night, he should again recite one thousand times; she is certain to come. When she does, he should prepare a seat of flowers for her and say, ‘Welcome.’ She will become his wife. She will offer divine elixirs of longevity and power substances and will topple all his enemies. Taking him upon her back, she will carry him to heaven. He will live ten thousand years.
“Having gone to the bank of a river, the practitioner should prepare a maṇḍala of sandalwood, offer white flowers and fragrant white substances, and burn frankincense. He should recite the mantra one thousand and eight times, and his purpose will be achieved. At night, he should again recite the mantra; she is certain to come. When she does, he should present her with a welcome offering of flowers and water and ask, ‘Please be my sister.’ She will offer elixirs of longevity and power substances. She will entice women, even from a thousand leagues away.
“The practitioner should go to an empty shrine and make a bali offering as just described. He should recite the mantra one thousand and eight times, and his purpose will be achieved. He should again recite the mantra one thousand times at night while making a bali offering. She is certain to come. When she does, he should make love to her, and she will become his wife. Every single day she will provide him with a thousand dinars. Taking him upon her back, she will carry him to Mount Sumeru. In addition, she can give him an entire kingdom and a princess. He will live five thousand years and will be reborn in a royal family upon his death.
“The practitioner should go to the confluence of two rivers and offer oleander flowers along with a dish of meat. He should burn bdellium incense and recite the mantra one thousand and eight times. His purpose will be achieved. At night, he should again offer an elaborate pūjā, light a butter lamp, and recite the mantra one thousand times. She will arrive surrounded by a retinue of five hundred. When she arrives, he should make love to her in silence, and she will become his wife. Should she fail to do so, she will perish. Taking him upon her back, she will carry him to heaven every single day. In addition, he will become a king and live five thousand years. He will be reborn in a royal family upon his death.
“The practitioner should go to a riverbank, draw a maṇḍala with saffron, and burn incense of aloeswood. He should offer a bali as previously described and recite the mantra one thousand and eight times. His purpose will be achieved. At night, he should again offer an elaborate pūjā and recite the mantra one thousand times. She will arrive in person glowing with a great light. He should give her a welcome offering of sandalwood-scented water. She will then be pleased and say, ‘What can I do for you, my dear?’ The practitioner should reply, ‘Please be my mother.’ She and her retinue of five hundred will then care for him like a mother, offering him food, ornaments, and clothes every day. He will live for ten thousand years and will be reborn in a brahmin family upon his death.
“At a confluence of two rivers, the practitioner should offer elaborate worship with a bali offering. He should light a butter lamp and recite the mantra all night. Consequently, she will arrive at midnight glowing with a magnificent light and say, ‘What can I do for you, my dear?’ The practitioner should reply, ‘Please grant me kingship!’ She will give him one hundred thousand dinars every single day. He will live for ten thousand years and, upon his death, be reborn as a king of the entire earth.”
This concludes the chapter on the eight great spirit queens.
Then, each of the great female spirits who roam charnel grounds stood up, bowed at the lord’s feet, and offered him her heart mantra.
The ultimate heart mantra:
Oṁ hrīḥ hūṁ aḥ!
The mantra for summoning the female spirits who inhabit charnel grounds:
Oṁ hūṁ! Summon them, summon! Guard the pledge of all female spirits! Kill, kill! Bind, bind! Trample them, trample them! Hey! Hey you, great wild one who inhabits charnel grounds, please come swiftly! Dhruṃ phaṭ!
The pledge mantra of all the female spirits who roam charnel grounds:
Oṁ, shake, shake! Shake thoroughly, shake! Run, run! Drive them on, drive them on! Enter, enter! Strike, strike! Stay, stay! Guard the pledge! Hey, hey you who roam charnel grounds! Hūṁ! Phaṭ phaṭ! Svāhā!
[Next are the mantras of each of the eight female spirits.]
Daṃṣṭrākarālī:
Oṁ, move, move! Burn them, burn! O great spirit, you who are fond of and well disposed toward practitioners! Go, go! Go in various directions, go! Summon the spirits, summon! Make them speak, make them speak! Break the evil demons, break them! Seize them, seize! Hūṁ hūṁ! Phaṭ phaṭ! Hrīḥ svāhā!
Ghoramukhī:
Oṁ, Ghoramukhī, you who inhabit charnel grounds! You who are favorably disposed toward practitioners and grant them indestructible accomplishments! Oṁ oṁ oṁ oṁ! Homage to you! Svāhā!
Jarjaramukhī:
Oṁ, Jarjaramukhī! Harm, harm! Overwhelm them with sorrow! You inspire fear in all enemies! Strike, strike! Burn, burn! Cook, cook! Murder, murder! You diminish the chances of my untimely death. You instill fear in all nāgas. You are the loud-laughing queen of all the spirits. Thā thā thā thā! Dhā dhā dhā dhā! Oṁ oṁ oṁ oṁ! Svāhā!
Kamalalocanī:
Oṁ, Kamalalocanī who is fond of humans! Dispeller of all suffering! Fond of practitioners! Conquer, conquer! You of divine beauty! Hrīḥ! Seize, seize! Jaḥ jaḥ! Hūṁ hūṁ! Phaṭ phaṭ! Homage to you! Svāhā!
Vikaṭamukhī:
Oṁ, Vikaṭamukhī with fangs bared and eyes ablaze! You instill fear in all yakṣas. Run, run! Go, go! “Hey! Hey practitioner! What do you command me to do?” Svāhā!
Dhudhurī:
Oṁ, Dhudhurī, the piśācī who performs tasks! Speak, speak! Shake them up, shake! You who are worshipped by great asuras, split them, split! Break, break! O great piśācī who performs tasks! “Hey! Hey, practitioner! What can I do for you?” Hrīḥ! Hūṁ hūṁ! Phaṭ phaṭ! Svāhā!
Vidyutkarālī:
Oṁ, shake them, shake! Move, move! Summon them, summon them! Break, break! Paralyze, paralyze! Bewilder, bewilder! You with fangs that flash like lightning! You who grant the best indestructible accomplishment! Ha ha ha! Hūṁ hūṁ! Phaṭ phaṭ! Svāhā!
Saumyamukhī:
Oṁ, Saumyamukhī! Summon them, summon them! Conquer all the spirits, conquer! “Hey! Hey, great practitioner!” The practitioner commands, “Remain, remain! Protect the pledge!” Svāhā!
These are the mantras of the eight great female spirits who roam charnel grounds.
“Now I will teach the characteristics of the mudrās of these great female spirits who roam charnel grounds.
“The pledge mudrā of the female spirits:
“Hold your fists together and extend both index fingers. This pledge mudrā should be used for the summoning.
“Next are the mudrās of the eight great charnel ground-roaming piśācīs who perform tasks.
“The mudrā of Ghoramukhī:
“Form your left hand into a fist and extend your index finger.
“The mudrā of Daṃṣṭrākarālī:
“Hold your fists together and extend both index fingers while enclosing the little fingers, and then position this mudrā at your mouth.
“The mudrā of Jarjarī:
“Form your left hand into a fist and extend your middle finger.
“The mudrā of Kamalalocanī:
“The mudrā is the same as before, but the middle finger should be bent at a sharp angle and the ring finger extended.
“The mudrā of Vikaṭamukhī:
“The mudrā is the same as before, but you should fold the ring finger inward while extending the little finger.
“The mudrā of Dhudhurī:
“Form your right hand into a fist and extend your index finger.
“The mudrā of Vidyutkarālī:
“The mudrā is the same as before, but the index finger should be bent and the middle finger extended.
“The mudrā of Saumyamukhī:
“Form your right hand into a fist and extend your little finger.”
This concludes the chapter that contains detailed instructions on the characteristics of the mudrās of the eight great female spirits who roam charnel grounds.
“The practitioner should go to a charnel ground and recite the mantra one thousand and eight times as a preliminary practice. Then he should start the main practice.
“He should go to a charnel ground at night and offer into a fire one thousand and eight oblations using sticks of cutch wood smeared with curds, honey, and ghee. A female spirit who roams charnel grounds will quickly arrive and offer her services. She will work the fields and will give one dinar every single day.
“He should go at night to a cultivated field and make the prescribed offerings of fish and meat that have been incanted twenty-one times. A piśācī who performs tasks will then do the work as described above.
“He should go at night to a charnel ground and recite the mantra one thousand and eight times. A female spirit of the piśācī class who performs tasks will soon arrive in her gentle aspect, eager to receive orders. She will do house chores, help resolve disputes, carry out fierce activities, and perform other tasks.
“He should go at night to a charnel ground and recite the mantra one thousand and eight times. A female spirit of the piśācī class who performs tasks will swiftly arrive surrounded by a retinue of one hundred. Once she has arrived, the practitioner should offer her a bali of blood following the procedure as required for fish and meat. She will be pleased and will perform the tasks of a servant. Every single day she will give, to the practitioner and four others, a pair of garments, one dinar, food, and ornaments. She will fetch and deliver a beautiful woman even from a distance of one hundred leagues. In short, she will perform the duties of a servant for as long as the practitioner lives.”
This concludes the chapter from the great “Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra” that contains detailed instructions on the rituals for piśācīs who perform tasks.
Then each of the fierce kātyāyanīs—very wild female spirits—stood up in the midst of the assembled audience, bowed to the feet of the glorious supreme master Great Wrath, and offered her heart mantra.
Surakātyāyanī:
“Oṁ, truṃ hūṁ hūṁ! Phaṭ phaṭ! Svāhā!”
Mahākātyāyanī:
“Oṁ, bhū! Blaze up! Hūṁ phaṭ!”
Raudrakātyāyanī:
“Oṁ oṁ. Hrīḥ hrīḥ. Hūṁ hūṁ. He he! Phaṭ phaṭ! Svāhā!”
Caṇḍakātyāyanī, the great queen of spirits:
“Oṁ, you who spread wild panic! Loud-laughing one who is fond of practitioners! Great one of many forms! Source of gems! One with gold in her hands! Destroyer of Yama! Appeaser of all suffering! Oṁ oṁ oṁ oṁ. Hūṁ hūṁ hūṁ hūṁ. Please swiftly grant me accomplishment! Hrīḥ, jaḥ, svāhā!”
Rudrakātyāyanī:
“Oṁ, Destroyer of Yama who prevents untimely death, bearing a sword and spear in your hands, please grant me swift accomplishment! So commands the practitioner. Hrīḥ svāhā!”
Kuṇḍalakātyāyanī:
“Oṁ, you with golden earrings! Burn, burn! Blaze up, blaze! You who are adorned with divine earrings! The crusher of Rāvaṇa! The lord commands you! Svāhā!”
Jayamukhakātyāyanī:
“Oṁ, you with knitted brows! Summon them, summon! Run, run! Burn, burn! You with a fiery mouth! Come, come! Rouser of vetālas! Enter, enter! Hūṁ hūṁ hūṁ! Phaṭ phaṭ phaṭ! The lord commands you! Hrīḥ svāhā!”
Sumbhakātyāyanī:
“Oṁ, the crusher of ancestral spirits! Summon them, summon! Conquer, conquer! You who are worshipped by all asuras! Hūṁ, jaḥ, svāhā!”
Śubhakātyāyanī:
“Oṁ, you who are fond of carnal delights! The divine-eyed queen of lovers! You who bewitch the world! O fortunate one adorned with a golden necklace! Please enter, enter with the sound of your anklets! Fulfill the needs, fulfill! You who are fond of practitioners! Hrīḥ, svāhā!”
One will achieve one’s aim merely by reciting the mantras of these eight kātyāyanīs, the queens of spirits.
“I will now teach that which is most secret among all that is secret in the great Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra, the characteristics of the mudrās of the eight kātyāyanī spirits.
“The mudrā of Surakātyāyanī:
“With the other fingers folded, extend your index finger, bending it slightly.
“The mudrā of Mahākātyāyanī that summons all female spirits:
“Folding the other fingers in, extend your index fingers in the shape of hooks.
“The mudrā of Raudrakātyāyanī, the spirit-queen of the family who is fond of practitioners but kills all female spirits and destroys their families:
“This mudrā is the same as the one before, except that the practitioner should join the tips of his middle fingers, enclosing the little fingers underneath. Simply by forming this mudrā the spirit will be quickly mastered.
“The mudrā of Rudrakātyāyanī:
“Clench both hands into fists and extend each of your index fingers. Make offerings of perfume, incense, flowers, and lamps, and also offer a bali of fish and meat. All female spirits will immediately become one’s servants.
“The mudrā of Kuṇḍalakātyāyanī that binds female spirits:
“Firmly clench both hands into fists, enclosing both index fingers.
“The mudrā of Caṇḍakātyāyanī, which can burst eyeballs, is the same. It brings mastery over all great female spirits.
“The mudrā of Jayamukhakātyāyanī that enthralls all female spirits:
“Form your left hand into a fist and extend your index finger. This mudrā masters all female spirits and brings their families and clans under control.
The Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra is a Buddhist esoteric manual on magic and exorcism. The instructions on ritual practices that constitute its main subject matter are intended to give the practitioner mastery over worldly divinities and spirits. Since the ultimate controller of such beings is Vajrapāṇi in his form of Bhūtaḍāmara, the “Tamer of Spirits,” it is Vajrapāṇi himself who delivers this tantra in response to a request from Śiva. Notwithstanding this esoteric origin, this tantra was compiled anonymously around the seventh or eighth century
This translation was produced by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the supervision of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche. Wiesiek Mical translated the text from the Sanskrit manuscripts, prepared the Sanskrit edition, and wrote the introduction. Thomas Doctor then compared the translation against the Tibetan translation found in the Degé Kangyur and edited the text. Special thanks are owed to Dr. Péter-Dániel Szántó for making available his transcript of the manuscript, “Göttingen Xc 14/50 I,” which was our default source for the reconstruction of the Sanskrit text.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
There are many uncertainties regarding the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra, one of them being its canonical classification. Although it is included in the Kriyā Tantra section of the Degé edition of the canon, some Tibetan sources describe it as a Caryā text. Based on the contents, which include both Kriyā and Yoga Tantra material, assigning it to the Caryā class is not entirely without justification. However, even though some rites have an unmistakable Yoga Tantra character, the soteriological aims common to the Yoga Tantras are never explicitly stated. As the elements of this tantra characteristic of Kriyā Tantra clearly predominate, its classification as such seems correct. Based on its affiliation with Vajrapāṇi, this text belongs to the Vajra family (vajrakula) among the sub-classes of the Kriyā Tantras, rather than the Tathāgata or Padma families.
Another uncertainty is the age of the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra. There are no titles of earlier works or names of historical figures to help us assess its date of composition. There appear to be, however, two strata of material in the text, corresponding to the division into the Kriyā and the Yoga Tantra content. The older stratum primarily contains non-Buddhist, pre-Vajrayāna magical lore not yet fully assimilated in formal Buddhist structures. This content likely belongs to the fourth or fifth century, its age being demonstrated by the recurrent use of the word dīnāra, a coin named after the Roman denarius. This type of coin was popular in India in the fourth and fifth centuries and is well attested in the literature of that period.
Features of Yoga Tantra can be found chiefly in chapter eight, where the visualization procedure, described as part of the main sādhana of Bhūtaḍāmara, includes most of the elements of deity yoga practice, including a sophisticated development stage (utpattikrama) practice. Based on the inclusion of these practices, it is unlikely that this section was composed prior to the seventh century. The mention of the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra in the Nāmamantrārthāvalokinī—Vilāsavajra’s commentary to the Mañjuśrīnāmasaṃgīti—which is probably the earliest reference to the text, sets the terminus ad quem to the late eighth century. Therefore, it seems most likely that the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra was composed some time during the seventh and the eighth centuries.
The central deity in this tantra is Bhūtaḍāmara, a wrathful form of Vajrapāṇi. In the tantra he is referred to by a variety of names, including Vajrapāṇi, Vajradhara, Guhyakādhipati, Mahākrodhādhipati, Mahākrodha, Krodharāja, Krodha, or simply by the title Blessed One (bhagavān). It needs to be noted, however, that in the Kriyā Tantras Vajradhara has not yet become a deity iconographically distinct from Vajrapāṇi, and so “Vajradhara” is used merely as an epithet for Vajrapāṇi. Likewise, guhyakādhipati—one of the most common titles of Vajrapāṇi in Buddhist literature—refers in the early Kriyā Tantras to Vajrapāṇi’s status as lord of the guhyakas, a class of semidivine beings, and not as the “Lord of Mysteries” as intended in later tantric systems. It is therefore a matter of doubt whether the Tibetan translators of the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra were correct in rendering this title as “Lord of Mysteries” (gsang ba’i bdag po). One could guess that, since they made their translation in the eleventh century, they opted for an interpretation which, by then, would certainly have been predominant. But since the “mysteries” or “secrets” (guhya), such as the “secret” body, speech, and mind, are never mentioned in the tantra, it is unlikely that the latter interpretation was originally intended here. On the other hand, the title “Lord of Guhyakas” seems to better fit the context of the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra, as guhyakas are high on the list of beings with magical abilities (perhaps not far behind vidyādharas) that yield to Bhūtaḍāmara’s power. The rest of Vajrapāṇi’s epithets all contain the word krodha (“wrath”), reflecting the wrathful nature of Bhūtaḍāmara.
There is also considerable confusion regarding the names of the principal deities and spirits featured in the tantra’s rituals. The lists of names presented in the individual recensions do not always align, and in some sources the number either falls short of or exceeds the expected set of eight deities. No attempt has been made in our translation to definitively standardize the lists of these names, as it is perhaps better to allow for some doubt than to venture arbitrary guesses.
Another ambiguity in the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra concerns the term bhūta, such as is found in the name of the titular deity, and its feminine equivalent bhūtinī. In the tantra this term first and foremost refers to the bhūta order of spirits who need to be tamed, such as the “eight great bhūtas” or the “eight great bhūtinīs.” We reserve the use of the Sanskrit bhūta and bhūtinī for this class of beings. The terms bhūta and bhūtinī are also applied to other classes of nonhuman beings in this text, including the gods of the highest orders. In these instances we have elected to translate bhūta and bhūtinī as “male spirits” and “female spirits” respectively.
Apart from the names of different classes of beings, several other Sanskrit words are retained throughout the translation. This applies primarily to those terms that have already entered English lexicons, such as maṇḍala, mudrā, sādhana, pūjā, or liṅga, and also some technical terms for certain similar rites that would be difficult to differentiate in English translation. A sādhana procedure, for example, may include several types of offering, such as pūjā (this is more properly a worship that involves offerings), argha (welcome offering), homa (oblation offered into the fire), and bali (offering of edibles, usually to nonhuman beings including those of the lower orders). Only the first of these, pūjā, which is included in English lexicons, and the last, bali, have been left untranslated.
The arrangement of the text’s contents indicates that many changes may have taken place throughout the tantra’s long textual history—possibly through corruption or intentional redaction—that present challenges for the modern reader. The reader may therefore find it helpful to think of the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra as a jigsaw puzzle that needs to be reassembled rather than try to find coherence in the arrangement of the extant recension of the text. As will be demonstrated in the summary that follows, these textual irregularities present themselves from the very beginning of the text and continue throughout. They include the omission of standard scriptural formulas, irregular use of section and chapter colophons, confusion in the names and number of sets of deities, and general incongruities in the content of the tantra.
The first irregularity comes at the very beginning of the text. The tantra begins not with the expected “Thus did I hear…” but with advice given by Vajrapāṇi, who begins with the standard Sanskrit phrase for introducing a new topic, athātas. What follows is not the usual scriptural formulation that introduces the context for the teaching, but rather a seemingly isolated piece of practical advice related to the practices that will be taught later on in the text.
The reader will also encounter colophons in unexpected or seemingly unnecessary places. Additionally, some of these colophons refer not to the main content of their given chapter, but to the content of a preceding section. As the colophons do not specify chapter numbers or provide other organizational information, it is possible that what had been section colophons in earlier versions of the text became chapter colophons in its later recensions. This confusion between section and chapter colophons is apparent in the different structures presented in the Buddhist and Śaiva versions of the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra. The extant Buddhist version has as many as twenty-eight chapters, some unnaturally short, while its Śaiva counterpart has only sixteen. No attempt has been made in this translation to restore chapter divisions or to re-order the contents sequentially, as this would amount to redacting rather than translating the text.
After Vajrapāṇi’s unusual opening statement we reach what could be considered the proper introductory scene: the subjugation of all nonhuman beings, including the highest orders of gods, and their pledge of allegiance to Vajrapāṇi to offer every form of help to those who recite Vajrapāṇi’s mantra. The first to come forward and make a pledge is Aparājita, the chief among the eight bhūta kings, whose sādhana s, among the most prominent in the tantra, are taught in its final sections. Reflecting his complete thraldom, Aparājita serves as a pedestal for the feet of Bhūtaḍāmara in his form as the “lord of the maṇḍala.”
When challenged by Śiva, Vajrapāṇi demonstrates his awesome power by using mantra to first kill and then revive all the worldly deities and spirits, including Brahmā, Indra, and Śiva himself. With the mantra “that slays all spirits,” vajra flames issue from the pores of Vajrapāṇi’s skin, causing everyone’s death. With the mantra “that brings back the consciousness of the dead,” a stream of vivifying air issues forth from Vajrapāṇi’s nostrils, restoring them to life. Following this demonstration, an augural comment is made by the tathāgatas that in future times, whenever necessary, Vajrapāṇi will be the one to tame and subjugate worldly divinities and spirits. And indeed, throughout Vajrayāna literature this function is more often assigned to Vajrapāṇi in his wrathful forms than to any other deity.
Following Vajrapāṇi’s utterance of a mantra specifically targeting higher-order beings, Mahādeva-Śiva himself is the next to come forward and pledge fealty. His pledge marks a fundamental change in the hierarchies of the spirit world, as, following his lead, all the worldly divinities and spirits who had been under Śiva’s control join their master as subordinates to Vajrapāṇi. Mahādeva is perhaps the most important character in the tantra after Vajrapāṇi. He becomes Vajrapāṇi’s interlocutor who prompts him with requests to teach throughout the tantra. He also occupies the most prominent position in the inner circle of deities in the maṇḍala of Bhūtaḍāmara—directly in front of the lord himself.
Following Śiva’s example, the leaders of the eight classes of powerful nonhuman beings, with female figures leading the way, recognize Vajrapāṇi, in his form Mahākrodha (Great Wrath), as their master. Even if the word śaraṇa (“refuge”) is not used, their act is, for all intents and purposes, one of taking refuge. Each of these female spirits offers her heart mantra to Vajrapāṇi, an act that, because of a poetic use of puns, also indicates they are giving him their heart. Each of the individual spirits’ pledges to Vajrapāṇi establishes a bond between the spirit and the deity and, by extension, between the spirit and the practitioner who recites the Vajrapāṇi mantra and performs the spirit’s sādhana. The sādhana is the means to summon these spirits and hold them to their pledge (samaya).
The spirits’ pledge to Vajrapāṇi is an important theme in the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra. Throughout the tantra it is stated again and again that a noncompliant spirit who breaks its pledge, or even fails to heed the summoning call, will perish. There is some ambiguity, however, as to whether it is the spirit or the practitioner that will perish if the sādhana goes awry. The language of most of the sādhana s found in the text clearly indicates that it is the spirit who will perish, but there are at least two instances in the Sanskrit sources of the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra that could be interpreted either way. A variant in one manuscript makes it clear that it is the practitioner who will die if they fail in their performance of the ritual. If it is in fact the case that the warning extends also to the practitioner, the threat of death could apply equally to the performance of all the sādhana s in the tantra. It would then serve as a reminder of the dangers inherent to practices intended to gain control over spirits. Once the spirit is brought under control, however, it will unfailingly provide for all the practitioner’s temporal needs and offer all kinds of protection.
From the spirits’ perspective, the threat of breaking the pledge is perhaps mitigated to some extent by the fact that the spirits benefit from pledging themselves to Vajrapāṇi and the practitioner. In a statement found in the introduction to the last two sādhana s in the text we are told that these sādhana s—and, by implication, possibly also all the preceding sādhana s—are mutually thrilling for the bhūtinīs and the practitioner, and that the bhūtinīs become filled with joy. This statement concludes the tantra’s collection of sādhana s on a cheerful note!
The sādhana s presented in the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra follow a consistent structure. One begins by going at night to a lonely place, offering oblations of prescribed articles into the ritual fire, and reciting the mantra a certain number of times. Sometimes the practitioner is directed to step upon an effigy of the spirit whom he is summoning. Within a specified time the spirit will arrive in person. After welcoming her with offerings, one should perform the prescribed duties associated with the role the spirit will take, either as a mother, sister, or wife. Pleased, she will henceforth perform her specific duties, and provide all the material necessities and comforts for the duration of one’s life, which is magically extended to hundreds or thousands of years. This procedural pattern seems to be typical of the apotropaic sādhana s of Kriyā Tantras. Only in later tantras would these methods become adapted to serve specifically soteriological purposes; in the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra this may be the case only inasmuch as it contains Yoga Tantra elements.
The divinities and spirits featured in the sādhana s in the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra typically come in groups of eight, reflecting their arrangement in the cardinal and intermediate directions. Their names are often given in a list or can be extracted from their respective sādhana s or mantras. And yet it is in the context of these lists of deities and their sādhana s that we again encounter irregularities in extant recensions of the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra. Both the names and the sequence in which they are given are fluid between Sanskrit and Tibetan sources, a fact that is surprising given the importance of assigning deities to specific directions or divisions within the maṇḍala.
The first such octet to appear in the tantra is that of the Sundarī goddesses. When we reach the passage containing the mantras of these eight goddesses, we are again reminded that the tantra consists of parts that, although thematically consistent, appear not to follow a logical order in the extant sources. In what seems to be a glaring inconsistency, the eight mantras are introduced with a statement that it is the eight bhūta kings, starting with Aparājita, who are now offering their heart mantras to Vajrapāṇi. Also, because of the lack of a clear structure of the text’s contents, it is impossible to be sure whether the mudrās and rituals associated with the eight Sundarīs and Aparājita’s pledge are specifically those of the Sundarīs, those of any spirits belonging to the bhūta class, or are meant for female spirits in general.
After the Sundarī goddesses, the next to come forward and pledge their allegiance to Vajrapāṇi are the eight great female spirits who dwell in charnel grounds. They also give him their hearts and offer their heart mantras, prompting Vajrapāṇi to teach their sādhana s and rituals. As expected, their sādhana s are to be performed at night in a charnel ground or a cemetery, with the interesting exception of the sādhana for a spirit given the task of helping with agricultural work—this sādhana is to be performed in a field. The eight charnel ground goddesses are followed by the set of eight kātyāyanīs, a class of extremely wild and dangerous female spirits. The text again appears to be corrupt here, as it includes the mantras not of eight but of nine kātyāyanīs. The goddess who should perhaps be struck off the list is Sumbhakātyāyanī, who is omitted in all the sources in the list of the eight mudrās that follows, and in one of the manuscripts is omitted altogether.
Next, following a short sādhana to be employed when trading black goat meat for gold with a female spirit inhabiting a charnel ground, Śiva requests Vajrapāṇi to teach the maṇḍala of Bhūtaḍāmara—the secret, all-accomplishing maṇḍala of the deity who “instils fear in all the bhūtas, nāgas, yakṣas, and vidyādharas; who removes all obstacles, afflictions, and pain; and who kills all the pretas, vetālas, and pūtanas dwelling in charnel grounds.” This maṇḍala is the first of two maṇḍalas of Bhūtaḍāmara taught in the tantra. The two differ in their composition and the arrangement of the retinue deities. These maṇḍalas and their associated sādhana s, which are elaborate and rich in ritual detail, are the main and most important rites taught in the tantra.
In the center of the first maṇḍala is Vajrapāṇi Great Wrath in his form as Bhūtaḍāmara. His iconography is described in full, and the deities and spirits comprising his retinue are listed, including the most important Hindu gods starting with Śiva. These gods, again in groups of eight, occupy the inner and outer circles of the maṇḍala, with the middle circle reserved for the eight goddesses of offerings. Following these iconographic details the ritual for initiating disciples into the maṇḍala is described, after which are presented the instructions on the main sādhana of Bhūtaḍāmara, including the mudrās and mantras of all the maṇḍala deities. This sādhana is the only one in the tantra that employs the stages of deity yoga practice typical of the Yoga Tantras, including the different stages of visualization, meditating on emptiness, generating oneself as the pledge being (samayasattva), donning the armor, and merging the pledge being with the wisdom being (jñānasattva). To conclude the section on the sādhana of Bhūtaḍāmara, the text explains its benefits: “By merely reciting the mantra of Vajradhara one will become equal to him. Should one fail in this, one will become a universal monarch of the four continents. If one merely utters the name of the glorious Vajradhara, the supreme master Great Wrath, all the spirits will become one’s servants.” The text then sets the rules and requirements for the preliminary practice, a practice sequence of prescribed duration that constitutes the necessary prelude before one can undertake a practice with a specific aim that varies according to the practitioner’s wish.
Because it includes the recitation of the mantras and use of the mudrās for the numerous deities of the Bhūtaḍāmara maṇḍala, as well as the other Yoga Tantra stages of practice just described, this sādhana is rather complicated and lengthy when performed in full. In comparison to the shorter Kriyā sādhana s, this sādhana is more like a complex work of art that weaves mental practices (visualization and meditation), sound (the mantras), and form (the physical gestures and the outer aspects of the ritual) into an elaborate tapestry.
Following this elaborate sādhana of Bhūtaḍāmara, the text transitions back to Kriyā Tantra-style sādhana s designed to gain control over worldly divinities and spirits. The implication could be that Kriyā Tantra sādhana s are to be employed with the goal of subjugating such spirits only after the practitioner has mastered the main practice of Bhūtaḍāmara that employs the stages of Yoga Tantra sādhana. The Kriyā Tantra sādhana s in this section all involve the use of effigies of the deities or spirits whom one is inducting into a bonded relationship (samaya) with oneself. The females again lead the way as the sādhana s of Umā, Śrī, Bhairavī, and Cāmuṇḍā come before the sādhana s of powerful worldly gods, including Mahādeva-Śiva, Viṣṇu, and Brahmā. Together, these deities form a formidable array of allies who can protect and help the practitioner in many different ways.
After some general advice and a few sādhana s that could be used for any female spirit, the text once again features female spirits who come in groups of eight. While there is some overlap in the names of the deities in the next two sets of bhūtinīs and apsarases, they must have been intended as different groups because their respective sections are separated by a scene of Vajrapāṇi asserting his power over the spirit world by pronouncing his invincible mantra. These two maṇḍalas are followed by sections presenting sets of yakṣiṇīs, nāginīs, and kinnarīs, the last of which are not eight but six (this time intentionally so). The sādhana s in the kinnarī section are five in number, each for an unspecified member of their group.
The next section contains a description of a different maṇḍala of Bhūtaḍāmara, including a detailed description of its many deities. Although this maṇḍala, its iconography, and its initiation ritual resemble those found in the Yoga Tantras, the sequence of deity yoga practice common to the Yoga Tantras is not included here as it was in the previous Bhūtaḍāmara maṇḍala. Instead, the text quickly moves on to sādhana s and rituals dedicated to individual spirits who, as before, come in groups of eight. These sādhana s, like all spirit sādhana s in the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra, demonstrate a strictly Kriyā Tantra character. In this section, the sets of deities differ from those presented in the previous Bhūtaḍāmara sādhana, including the addition of new groups. The first among them are the sādhana s of the eight bhūtas headed by Aparājita. Each of their sādhana s is followed by a description of their mudrās, separated by a very short chapter that sums up their practice. Two sādhana s dedicated to bhūtinīs are presented next, followed by instructions for offering bali.
The Tibetan version ends at this point, which was in all likelihood the end of the Sanskrit version from which the Tibetan translators worked. The extant Sanskrit sources, however, include additional mantras and mudrās associated with the bali ritual and, rather syncretically, list the eighteen types of emptiness. The Sanskrit version finishes by repeating the names of the eight bhūtas—Aparājita and so forth—possibly suggesting that these eight are the most important ones referred to by the element bhūta in the name of Bhūtaḍāmara. The last of the bhūtas has the name Kiṃkarottama (“Best Servant”), giving expression, as it were, to the ethos of mastery over spirits as found in this tantra. Looking at these final additions to the Sanskrit version through the eyes of a philologist, they could perhaps provide clues to the type of changes that the Bhūtaḍāmara must have undergone before it reached the form available to us today, and possibly even before it was translated into Tibetan.
The translation that follows is based on the Sanskrit text prepared by the translator from the extant Sanskrit witnesses. In cases when the Sanskrit sources differ from one another, either due to variant readings, through omission or addition, or based on differences in sequence, the translation follows, with only a few exceptions, the Sanskrit source that most closely agrees with the Tibetan translation. In some cases we have elected to privilege the Tibetan translation over all Sanskrit sources when it provided the most adequate reading. More information on these sources is given in the introduction that accompanies our edition of the Sanskrit text of the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra.
In the present translation the reader may find some expressions and phrases that sound odd in English, but nevertheless reflect certain ideas or principles that are conveyed more accurately if phrased as they are in the original Sanskrit. Phrases such as “reciting the Great Wrath,” “reciters of the Vajrapāṇi,” or “anyone who recites one of the tathāgatas” refer to reciting the respective mantras and reflect the notion that the name of the deity is also the name of its mantra. This notion seems ubiquitous throughout the tantras (not only Buddhist) and is frequently explained in the Kriyā Tantras. Another oddity is the use of the English “to incant” in the sense of reciting the mantra over an object in order to invest it with a magical power; one may, for example, incant a bali, or incant sandalwood a certain number of times.
The present translation is certainly not free from shortcomings, and could be improved through further, in-depth studies of the tantra. A quite obvious shortcoming concerns the translation of the descriptions of mudrā gestures—it is just as basic as the original Sanskrit, and therefore inadequate for those not already familiar with the gestures being described.
There is a Śaiva version of the tantra that was produced between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries. Just as in the Buddhist version, the teaching is delivered by the Buddha Vajrapāṇi who speaks in the first person. The discourse, however, is introduced by Unmattabhairava in response to a question by Unmattabhairavī (the wrathful aspects of Śiva and Pārvatī respectively). The hierarchy of deities remains unchanged, with Vajrapāṇi Bhūtaḍāmara still enjoying the same status as in the Buddhist version. This perhaps could be attributed to the fact that, unlike in other early Buddhist tantras that describe the “subjugation of Śiva,” no confrontation is involved here; Śiva is never forced into submission. Overwhelmed by the power that Vajrapāṇi displays when killing and then reviving all worldly beings, which he experiences firsthand, he asks Vajrapāṇi for protection. It is noteworthy that on one occasion in this version of the Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra, Śiva is referred to as a “bodhisattva.” Consulting the Śaiva version of the tantra might have helped clear up some ambiguities, but unfortunately we were unable to gain access to the manuscripts.
Homage to Vajrasattva!
“I will now teach,” said the great lord Vajradhara, the supreme master of the triple universe, “the detailed rituals for mastery over all male and female spirits found in this great sovereign Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra.
“One should perform the sādhana at places such as the confluence of two rivers, a charnel ground, a lonely tree, a shrine of a deity, or a temple of the glorious Vajradhara. One will succeed instantly. If a male or a female spirit does not submit to the sādhana, it will perish along with its family and clan.”
Then Maheśvara-Mahādeva respectfully bowed his head to the feet of Lord Vajradhara and said, “May the lord, the supreme master Great Wrath, pronounce the words of the mantra that slays wicked spirits.”
The supreme master Great Wrath applauded Maheśvara-Mahādeva: “Well done! Well done, Mahādeva! This was rightly said!”
The lord then spoke the words of the mantra that slays all spirits:
“Oṁ, Vajrajvālā, kill! Kill all the spirits! Hūṁ phaṭ!”
As soon as this was said, many vajra flames issued forth from the pores of the glorious Vajradhara’s skin, and the bodies of all the male and female spirits dried up and withered. All the gods, headed by Indra, Brahmā, and Viṣṇu, were killed.
Amazed, all the tathāgatas said to the lord, “Excellent, Vajradhara! It is excellent, O supreme master Great Wrath, that you will at a later time, on future occasions, subjugate all the male and female spirits.”
Then the lord in turn pronounced a mantra of the goddess who summons the consciousness of the dead:
“Oṁ, Vajrāyuṣā, flow! Flow into him!”
As soon as this was spoken, a great stream of vivifying air issued forth from the glorious Vajradhara’s nostrils. As soon as it came out, it entered the bodies of all the male and female spirits. The male and female spirits immediately got up, reeling with great fear, and said, “May the lord protect us! May the bliss-gone one protect us! May the lord command us!”
Then, in this great gathering, Aparājita, the great lord of bhūtas, prostrated at the feet of the venerable lord Great Wrath and said to the lord, “Master Great Wrath! May you, the glorious conqueror of the triple universe, protect us! May you, the bliss-gone one, protect us!”
The lord said, “You, friends, and you, lord of bhūtas, must promise that you will grant every success to people on the four continents of the human realm; that you will give to the inhabitants of Jambudvīpa the elixir of long life, power substances, and the comfort of good health, as well as gold bullion and coins, pearls, beryls, rubies, sunstones, moonstones, clothes, fragrances, and desirable foods; that you will be servants and helpers of the reciters of the Great Wrath; that to anyone who recites one of the tathāgatas you will give every possible object without any reservation, including articles of worship such as fine jewels, clothes, fragrances, incense, flowers; and that you will dispel all fear of kings and enemies, and of lions and tigers.
“Ho, ho, Aparājita! Great lord of bhūtas! Speak truthfully! Say again and again that you will definitely grant success even to the slothful and the immoral, to evildoers and liars. Say that if they do not grant success, the vidyādharīs, bhūtinīs, nāginīs, yakṣiṇīs, śālabhañjikās, kinnarīs, mahoragīs, garuḍīs, piśācīs, and gandharvīs will have their heads split by a great invincible thunderbolt, and that you will cause them to fall into one of the eight great hells.”
All the tathāgatas remarked with amazement, “Well done! Well done, Vajrapāṇi! Well said! For the benefit of all may you, great bodhisattva, teach about the great Dharma king of the triple universe who has completely mastered energy, strength, and power, who is honored by all the gods, who exercises mastery over all the world spheres that comprise the four continents, who turns all Dharma wheels, who removes all suffering, and whose numerous mudrās and mantras are employed in different, elaborate rituals. Venerable king Great Wrath, speak!”
Then Vajradhara, the supreme master Great Wrath, again uttered a mantra that revives the dead:
“Oṁ, summon the consciousness, summon! Revive the dead! Hrīḥ, āḥ!”
The moment this was intoned, all the deities who were brought back to life collapsed in a swoon. Reeling with great fear, they got up again.
Mahādeva then said, “May the great bodhisattva protect me!”
Vajradhara, the supreme master Great Wrath, said, “Do not be afraid, do not be afraid, O lord of spirits! In order that you may be victorious over your adversaries, I will enthrall all gods and subjugate all spirits.”
Then all the apsarases, along with the lord of vidyādharas, said, “May the lord protect us! May the glorious Vajradhara protect us! Please protect us, O great king!”
Vajradhara, the supreme master Great Wrath, then said, “Make a promise, apsarases, that you will be of service to those who recite the glorious Vajradhara and give them all kinds of riches—gold, pearls, beryls, rubies, and so forth.”
Starting with the apsarases, each of the celestial maidens and yakṣiṇīs said, “I am willing to die, I am willing to die, O lord. Let me become a servant of anyone who recites the glorious Vajradhara. We shall become their attendants. If we do not become attendants of those who recite the glorious Vajradhara, we will bring ruin upon all our families and clans. We would be opposing the true Dharma and disparaging all tathāgatas. The lord should then split our heads with the thunderbolt of wrath. With our heads split into a hundred pieces, death would come very quickly and we would enter the eight great hells.”
Then the great bodhisattva Vajrapāṇi applauded all the apsarases, celestial maidens, nāginīs, and yakṣiṇīs, “Well done! Well done, apsarases, celestial maidens, nāginīs, and yakṣiṇīs! You must resolve that in the future, on future occasions, you will become helpers of anyone who recites the tathāgatas.”
Each of the bhūta kings who rule over servant bhūtas, starting with Aparājita, stood up in the midst of his retinue and, having bowed at the feet of the supreme master Great Wrath, the glorious Vajradhara, offered to him his heart mantra:
“Oṁ, the glorious Sundarī of the great spirit family, hūṁ! Oṁ, the glorious Sundarī of victory, hrīḥ! Oṁ, the stainless Sundarī, āḥ! Oṁ, the glorious Sundarī of pleasure, vāḥ! Oṁ, the glorious Sundarī that captivates the mind, dhīḥ! Oṁ, the glorious, terrifying Sundarī, iḥ! Oṁ, the glorious, brilliant white Sundarī, maṃ! Oṁ, the glorious Sundarī with the sweet look in her eyes, bhīḥ!”
“Thus are these eight spirit queens celebrated in glorious terms.”
Next is the sādhana procedure that grants every success as soon as it is recited. By merely saying the glorious Vajradhara’s name, all male and female spirits become one’s servants.
The lord said, “If you break your pledges I will immediately destroy the families and clans of every male and female spirit.”
Then Aparājita, the great lord of bhūtas, told the great Vajradhara, “I will keep the pledges of Mahādeva. To all ordinary people I will grant every success obtainable through mantra and mudrā. All they have to do is recite the glorious Vajradhara, and we will grant all accomplishments. If we do not, our families and clans will be destroyed. We will break our pledges to the teachings of all the tathāgatas, and the lord will split our heads with the thunderbolt of wrath. Our death would be quick, and we would enter the eight great hells.”
“Now I will describe the best places for practice.
“These are places for the practice of the eight spirit queens.
“Now I will describe the mudrās employed when practicing the eight female spirits.
“Place the fingers of one hand upon the other and, placing your right hand to the right of the groin, press your right hand down with your left. This is the ultimate essence—the pledge mudrā of female spirits.
“As soon as these mudrās are formed, the female spirits swiftly arrive. If they do not arrive quickly their foreheads will burst, and they will wither and die.”
At that moment the glorious Vajradhara, supreme master Great Wrath, said, “If these female spirits break their respective pledges, one should summon them by reciting the following wrathful mantra one hundred and eight times:
“Oṁ, summon, summon! Sruṃ hrīḥ! Summon such-and-such spirit, hūṁ phaṭ!
“The practitioner should recite the above wrathful mantra one hundred and eight times; she will soon arrive. If she does not arrive, she will burst at the forehead and will wither and die.
“The instructions for the formal practice are as follows:
“The practitioner should go to the confluence of two rivers, prepare a maṇḍala with sandalwood powder, and offer abundant flowers. He should burn bdellium incense and recite the mantra one thousand and eight times. His purpose will be achieved. At night, he should again recite the mantra one thousand times, and she is certain to come. When she has come, he should make love to her, and she will become his wife. She will depart at daybreak, leaving one hundred palas of gold on the bed. Doing this every day, he will definitely attain success within one month.
“The practitioner should go to the bank of a river and prepare a maṇḍala with sandalwood powder. After sponsoring a bali of curds and rice, he should recite the mantra one thousand and eight times over seven days. On the seventh day she is certain to arrive. When she does, he should give her a welcome offering of sandalwood-scented water. She will be pleased and say, ‘What can I do for you, my dear?’ The practitioner should say, ‘Grant me kingship.’ She will grant kingship and will protect the realm. In addition she will bestow clothes, adornments, food, and so forth.
“In a temple to Vajradhara, the practitioner should offer oleander flowers, burn bdellium incense, and recite the mantra one thousand and eight times. His purpose will be achieved. At night, he should again recite one thousand times; she is certain to come. When she does, he should prepare a seat of flowers for her and say, ‘Welcome.’ She will become his wife. She will offer divine elixirs of longevity and power substances and will topple all his enemies. Taking him upon her back, she will carry him to heaven. He will live ten thousand years.
“Having gone to the bank of a river, the practitioner should prepare a maṇḍala of sandalwood, offer white flowers and fragrant white substances, and burn frankincense. He should recite the mantra one thousand and eight times, and his purpose will be achieved. At night, he should again recite the mantra; she is certain to come. When she does, he should present her with a welcome offering of flowers and water and ask, ‘Please be my sister.’ She will offer elixirs of longevity and power substances. She will entice women, even from a thousand leagues away.
“The practitioner should go to an empty shrine and make a bali offering as just described. He should recite the mantra one thousand and eight times, and his purpose will be achieved. He should again recite the mantra one thousand times at night while making a bali offering. She is certain to come. When she does, he should make love to her, and she will become his wife. Every single day she will provide him with a thousand dinars. Taking him upon her back, she will carry him to Mount Sumeru. In addition, she can give him an entire kingdom and a princess. He will live five thousand years and will be reborn in a royal family upon his death.
“The practitioner should go to the confluence of two rivers and offer oleander flowers along with a dish of meat. He should burn bdellium incense and recite the mantra one thousand and eight times. His purpose will be achieved. At night, he should again offer an elaborate pūjā, light a butter lamp, and recite the mantra one thousand times. She will arrive surrounded by a retinue of five hundred. When she arrives, he should make love to her in silence, and she will become his wife. Should she fail to do so, she will perish. Taking him upon her back, she will carry him to heaven every single day. In addition, he will become a king and live five thousand years. He will be reborn in a royal family upon his death.
“The practitioner should go to a riverbank, draw a maṇḍala with saffron, and burn incense of aloeswood. He should offer a bali as previously described and recite the mantra one thousand and eight times. His purpose will be achieved. At night, he should again offer an elaborate pūjā and recite the mantra one thousand times. She will arrive in person glowing with a great light. He should give her a welcome offering of sandalwood-scented water. She will then be pleased and say, ‘What can I do for you, my dear?’ The practitioner should reply, ‘Please be my mother.’ She and her retinue of five hundred will then care for him like a mother, offering him food, ornaments, and clothes every day. He will live for ten thousand years and will be reborn in a brahmin family upon his death.
“At a confluence of two rivers, the practitioner should offer elaborate worship with a bali offering. He should light a butter lamp and recite the mantra all night. Consequently, she will arrive at midnight glowing with a magnificent light and say, ‘What can I do for you, my dear?’ The practitioner should reply, ‘Please grant me kingship!’ She will give him one hundred thousand dinars every single day. He will live for ten thousand years and, upon his death, be reborn as a king of the entire earth.”
This concludes the chapter on the eight great spirit queens.
Then, each of the great female spirits who roam charnel grounds stood up, bowed at the lord’s feet, and offered him her heart mantra.
The ultimate heart mantra:
Oṁ hrīḥ hūṁ aḥ!
The mantra for summoning the female spirits who inhabit charnel grounds:
Oṁ hūṁ! Summon them, summon! Guard the pledge of all female spirits! Kill, kill! Bind, bind! Trample them, trample them! Hey! Hey you, great wild one who inhabits charnel grounds, please come swiftly! Dhruṃ phaṭ!
The pledge mantra of all the female spirits who roam charnel grounds:
Oṁ, shake, shake! Shake thoroughly, shake! Run, run! Drive them on, drive them on! Enter, enter! Strike, strike! Stay, stay! Guard the pledge! Hey, hey you who roam charnel grounds! Hūṁ! Phaṭ phaṭ! Svāhā!
[Next are the mantras of each of the eight female spirits.]
Daṃṣṭrākarālī:
Oṁ, move, move! Burn them, burn! O great spirit, you who are fond of and well disposed toward practitioners! Go, go! Go in various directions, go! Summon the spirits, summon! Make them speak, make them speak! Break the evil demons, break them! Seize them, seize! Hūṁ hūṁ! Phaṭ phaṭ! Hrīḥ svāhā!
Ghoramukhī:
Oṁ, Ghoramukhī, you who inhabit charnel grounds! You who are favorably disposed toward practitioners and grant them indestructible accomplishments! Oṁ oṁ oṁ oṁ! Homage to you! Svāhā!
Jarjaramukhī:
Oṁ, Jarjaramukhī! Harm, harm! Overwhelm them with sorrow! You inspire fear in all enemies! Strike, strike! Burn, burn! Cook, cook! Murder, murder! You diminish the chances of my untimely death. You instill fear in all nāgas. You are the loud-laughing queen of all the spirits. Thā thā thā thā! Dhā dhā dhā dhā! Oṁ oṁ oṁ oṁ! Svāhā!
Kamalalocanī:
Oṁ, Kamalalocanī who is fond of humans! Dispeller of all suffering! Fond of practitioners! Conquer, conquer! You of divine beauty! Hrīḥ! Seize, seize! Jaḥ jaḥ! Hūṁ hūṁ! Phaṭ phaṭ! Homage to you! Svāhā!
Vikaṭamukhī:
Oṁ, Vikaṭamukhī with fangs bared and eyes ablaze! You instill fear in all yakṣas. Run, run! Go, go! “Hey! Hey practitioner! What do you command me to do?” Svāhā!
Dhudhurī:
Oṁ, Dhudhurī, the piśācī who performs tasks! Speak, speak! Shake them up, shake! You who are worshipped by great asuras, split them, split! Break, break! O great piśācī who performs tasks! “Hey! Hey, practitioner! What can I do for you?” Hrīḥ! Hūṁ hūṁ! Phaṭ phaṭ! Svāhā!
Vidyutkarālī:
Oṁ, shake them, shake! Move, move! Summon them, summon them! Break, break! Paralyze, paralyze! Bewilder, bewilder! You with fangs that flash like lightning! You who grant the best indestructible accomplishment! Ha ha ha! Hūṁ hūṁ! Phaṭ phaṭ! Svāhā!
Saumyamukhī:
Oṁ, Saumyamukhī! Summon them, summon them! Conquer all the spirits, conquer! “Hey! Hey, great practitioner!” The practitioner commands, “Remain, remain! Protect the pledge!” Svāhā!
These are the mantras of the eight great female spirits who roam charnel grounds.
“Now I will teach the characteristics of the mudrās of these great female spirits who roam charnel grounds.
“The pledge mudrā of the female spirits:
“Hold your fists together and extend both index fingers. This pledge mudrā should be used for the summoning.
“Next are the mudrās of the eight great charnel ground-roaming piśācīs who perform tasks.
“The mudrā of Ghoramukhī:
“Form your left hand into a fist and extend your index finger.
“The mudrā of Daṃṣṭrākarālī:
“Hold your fists together and extend both index fingers while enclosing the little fingers, and then position this mudrā at your mouth.
“The mudrā of Jarjarī:
“Form your left hand into a fist and extend your middle finger.
“The mudrā of Kamalalocanī:
“The mudrā is the same as before, but the middle finger should be bent at a sharp angle and the ring finger extended.
“The mudrā of Vikaṭamukhī:
“The mudrā is the same as before, but you should fold the ring finger inward while extending the little finger.
“The mudrā of Dhudhurī:
“Form your right hand into a fist and extend your index finger.
“The mudrā of Vidyutkarālī:
“The mudrā is the same as before, but the index finger should be bent and the middle finger extended.
“The mudrā of Saumyamukhī:
“Form your right hand into a fist and extend your little finger.”
This concludes the chapter that contains detailed instructions on the characteristics of the mudrās of the eight great female spirits who roam charnel grounds.
“The practitioner should go to a charnel ground and recite the mantra one thousand and eight times as a preliminary practice. Then he should start the main practice.
“He should go to a charnel ground at night and offer into a fire one thousand and eight oblations using sticks of cutch wood smeared with curds, honey, and ghee. A female spirit who roams charnel grounds will quickly arrive and offer her services. She will work the fields and will give one dinar every single day.
“He should go at night to a cultivated field and make the prescribed offerings of fish and meat that have been incanted twenty-one times. A piśācī who performs tasks will then do the work as described above.
“He should go at night to a charnel ground and recite the mantra one thousand and eight times. A female spirit of the piśācī class who performs tasks will soon arrive in her gentle aspect, eager to receive orders. She will do house chores, help resolve disputes, carry out fierce activities, and perform other tasks.
“He should go at night to a charnel ground and recite the mantra one thousand and eight times. A female spirit of the piśācī class who performs tasks will swiftly arrive surrounded by a retinue of one hundred. Once she has arrived, the practitioner should offer her a bali of blood following the procedure as required for fish and meat. She will be pleased and will perform the tasks of a servant. Every single day she will give, to the practitioner and four others, a pair of garments, one dinar, food, and ornaments. She will fetch and deliver a beautiful woman even from a distance of one hundred leagues. In short, she will perform the duties of a servant for as long as the practitioner lives.”
This concludes the chapter from the great “Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra” that contains detailed instructions on the rituals for piśācīs who perform tasks.
Then each of the fierce kātyāyanīs—very wild female spirits—stood up in the midst of the assembled audience, bowed to the feet of the glorious supreme master Great Wrath, and offered her heart mantra.
Surakātyāyanī:
“Oṁ, truṃ hūṁ hūṁ! Phaṭ phaṭ! Svāhā!”
Mahākātyāyanī:
“Oṁ, bhū! Blaze up! Hūṁ phaṭ!”
Raudrakātyāyanī:
“Oṁ oṁ. Hrīḥ hrīḥ. Hūṁ hūṁ. He he! Phaṭ phaṭ! Svāhā!”
Caṇḍakātyāyanī, the great queen of spirits:
“Oṁ, you who spread wild panic! Loud-laughing one who is fond of practitioners! Great one of many forms! Source of gems! One with gold in her hands! Destroyer of Yama! Appeaser of all suffering! Oṁ oṁ oṁ oṁ. Hūṁ hūṁ hūṁ hūṁ. Please swiftly grant me accomplishment! Hrīḥ, jaḥ, svāhā!”
Rudrakātyāyanī:
“Oṁ, Destroyer of Yama who prevents untimely death, bearing a sword and spear in your hands, please grant me swift accomplishment! So commands the practitioner. Hrīḥ svāhā!”
Kuṇḍalakātyāyanī:
“Oṁ, you with golden earrings! Burn, burn! Blaze up, blaze! You who are adorned with divine earrings! The crusher of Rāvaṇa! The lord commands you! Svāhā!”
Jayamukhakātyāyanī:
“Oṁ, you with knitted brows! Summon them, summon! Run, run! Burn, burn! You with a fiery mouth! Come, come! Rouser of vetālas! Enter, enter! Hūṁ hūṁ hūṁ! Phaṭ phaṭ phaṭ! The lord commands you! Hrīḥ svāhā!”
Sumbhakātyāyanī:
“Oṁ, the crusher of ancestral spirits! Summon them, summon! Conquer, conquer! You who are worshipped by all asuras! Hūṁ, jaḥ, svāhā!”
Śubhakātyāyanī:
“Oṁ, you who are fond of carnal delights! The divine-eyed queen of lovers! You who bewitch the world! O fortunate one adorned with a golden necklace! Please enter, enter with the sound of your anklets! Fulfill the needs, fulfill! You who are fond of practitioners! Hrīḥ, svāhā!”
One will achieve one’s aim merely by reciting the mantras of these eight kātyāyanīs, the queens of spirits.
“I will now teach that which is most secret among all that is secret in the great Bhūtaḍāmara Tantra, the characteristics of the mudrās of the eight kātyāyanī spirits.
“The mudrā of Surakātyāyanī:
“With the other fingers folded, extend your index finger, bending it slightly.
“The mudrā of Mahākātyāyanī that summons all female spirits:
“Folding the other fingers in, extend your index fingers in the shape of hooks.
“The mudrā of Raudrakātyāyanī, the spirit-queen of the family who is fond of practitioners but kills all female spirits and destroys their families:
“This mudrā is the same as the one before, except that the practitioner should join the tips of his middle fingers, enclosing the little fingers underneath. Simply by forming this mudrā the spirit will be quickly mastered.
“The mudrā of Rudrakātyāyanī:
“Clench both hands into fists and extend each of your index fingers. Make offerings of perfume, incense, flowers, and lamps, and also offer a bali of fish and meat. All female spirits will immediately become one’s servants.
“The mudrā of Kuṇḍalakātyāyanī that binds female spirits:
“Firmly clench both hands into fists, enclosing both index fingers.
“The mudrā of Caṇḍakātyāyanī, which can burst eyeballs, is the same. It brings mastery over all great female spirits.
“The mudrā of Jayamukhakātyāyanī that enthralls all female spirits:
“Form your left hand into a fist and extend your index finger. This mudrā masters all female spirits and brings their families and clans under control.
