Toh 431 — The Tantra of Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa

Chapter 1

Introduction

F.304.bOṁ, homage to Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa!

Thus did I hear at one time. Lord Vajrasattva dwelt within the bhaga of the goddess of the Vajra Realm, which is the essence of body, speech, and mind of all tathāgatas. He dwelt there together with many hosts of vajra yogins and yoginīs, namely: White Acala vajra yogin, Yellow Acala vajra yogin, Red Acala vajra yogin, Green Acala vajra yogin, Delusion Vajrī vajra yoginī, Calumny Vajrī vajra yoginī, Passion Vajrī vajra yoginī, and Envy Vajrī vajra yoginī. He dwelt there with trillions of yogins and yoginīs, headed by those just mentioned.

Then Lord Vajrasattva, having entered the absorption of Black Acala, spoke:

Then the blessed goddess of the Vajra Realm, having entered the absorption of Hatred Vajrī, said this:

The lord Black Acala deeply kissed and firmly embraced Hatred Vajrī, F.305.a and said:

Chapter 2

The Maṇḍala

Then the blessed Hatred Vajrī tightly embraced Lord Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa and said:

The lord then said:

“Now comes the maṇḍala tutelage mantra:

“Oṁ, Blessed Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa, together with your retinue, come, come! Jaḥ hūṁ vaṁ hoḥ! Assume tutelage over this maṇḍala! Hūṁ phaṭ! Svāhā!^[1]

“With this mantra, one should summon, induct, bind, and enthrall Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa, and then worship him.

“Now comes the worship mantra:

Chapter 3

Empowerment

Then the goddess said:

The lord then said:

“This is the water empowerment:

“Visualizing the disciple to be pure and spotless like a crystal, one should draw some water from the victory jar with a mango blossom and sprinkle the disciple with it, with the words ‘Oṁ āḥ, for the one possessed of the glory of the pledge of the empowerment of all the tathāgatas, hūṁ.’^[6]

“This is the crown empowerment:

“One should first fashion a cloth crown that resembles a crown with many gems. Then one should visualize the disciple as a universal emperor, place the crown on his head, and sprinkle him as before. The mantra is ‘Oṁ, Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa, enter, enter into his heart! Hūṁ phaṭ!’^[7]

“This is the sword empowerment:

“One should place a sword made of iron or the like in the disciple’s right hand and sprinkle him as before. ‘Oṁ, strike, strike! Kill, kill all the enemies! O sword of knowledge! Hūṁ phaṭ!’^[8]

“This is the noose empowerment:

“One should place a noose made of copper or the like in his left hand, which should display the threatening gesture. Then sprinkle him as before. ‘Oṁ, seize, seize! Pull, pull all the evildoers with the noose! Bind, bind! To you, O great truth,^[9] to you, O Dharma,^[10]svāhā!’^[11]

“This is the name empowerment:

“One should invite the disciple, crowned with the seal of Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa, to sit down, visualizing him in Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa’s form. One should recite, ‘Oṁ, blessed lord Black Acala, you are an accomplished being! Hūṁ phaṭ!’^[12] Then one should anoint him as before. In this way, the name empowerment of the five Acalas, according to the color division of black and so forth, should be given to the sādhaka. This is the fivefold empowerment.

“To women, however, instead of the crown empowerment, a vermillion empowerment should be given:

“Visualizing the disciple in the form of the fierce great goddess, one should recite, ‘Oṁ, goddess, enter, enter into her heart! Hūṁ phaṭ!’^[13] One should place in her right hand a knife of iron or other material, and recite, ‘Oṁ, knife, cut, cut the flesh of all the māras! Hūṁ phaṭ!’^[14]F.307.b In her left hand, one should place a human skull, or one made of wood, and so on, and recite, ‘Oṁ, skull, hold, hold the blood of all the enemies! Hūṁ phaṭ! ’^[15] Then one should invite her to assume the goddess’s posture, and visualize her in the goddess’s form. One should recite, ‘Oṁ, blessed Hatred Vajrī, you are an accomplished being! Hūṁ phaṭ!’^[16] In this way, with the names of the five yoginīs according to the division of colors starting with the black, one should anoint women. To them, however, in place of the wisdom empowerment, the skillful means empowerment should be given.

“Now comes the secret empowerment.

“The disciple should first offer clothes and so forth to the teacher before presenting him with a girl who is young and beautiful and dear to his heart.

“The disciple should then bow to the teacher, leave the room, and recite the mantra, ‘Oṁ, Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa, hūṁ phaṭ!’

“The teacher should make offerings to himself with wine, meat, and so forth, and then satiate the wisdom consort. He should unite with her and place the semen and blood obtained from this in the fold of a leaf or such. He should then summon the disciple. Using his ring finger and thumb, the teacher should take the substance and use it to write the syllables hūṁ and phaṭ on the disciple’s tongue. He should then ask the disciple to recite, ‘Ah, pleasure.’^[17]

“Then the teacher should say, ‘Today I will cause the buddha-knowledge to arise, through which lord buddhas of the past, future, and present attain nonabiding nirvāṇa. But you must not speak of this in front of anyone who has not seen the maṇḍala. If you do speak of it, then…’

“Placing the sword against the disciple’s heart, the teacher should continue as follows:

“The teacher should fasten a blindfold across the disciple’s eyes and invite him to throw a flower onto the maṇḍala. As the teacher removes the blindfold, he should then point out the maṇḍala to the disciple and explain its symbolism. Then he should offer the same wisdom consort to the disciple, saying:

“Next the teacher should whisper into the disciple’s ear about the division of the four joys. Then the teacher should go out. The wisdom consort should undress and, lying on her back, point to her secret place, saying:

“The sādhaka should say:

“And she should say:

“Then the sādhaka, visualizing himself in the form of Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa and visualizing the wisdom consort in the form of Hatred Vajrī, should make love and note the four joys. When this is completed, he should offer the gaṇacakra feast with wine and meat, with the teacher as the guest of honor.

“This was the wisdom empowerment.”

Chapter 4

Deity

Then the goddess said:

The lord then said:

“ ‘Oṁ, I am of the nature of vajra, which is the wisdom of emptiness.’^[18]

“From Delusion Vajrī:

“From Calumny Vajrī:

“From Passion Vajrī:

“From Envy Vajrī:

Chapter 5

Mantra

“Now I will teach the complete collection of mantras.” So saying, the lord entered the absorption called Victory over All Māras, and presented the collection of mantras.

“The garland mantra:

“Oṁ hrāṁ hrīṁ hrauṁ, in your fierce form, expel, expel! Drive away, drive away! Pull, pull! Shake, shake! Blow up, blow up! Strike, strike! Swallow, swallow! Bind, bind! Crush, crush! Paralyze, paralyze! Delude, delude! Bind the mouths of all the enemies, bind! Frighten off all the ḍākinīs, grahas, bhūtas, piśācas, vyādhis, yakṣas, frighten! Kill, kill! Order death, order! O Rurucaṇḍaruk, protect such and such, protect! The general of a fierce army orders all this. Oṁ, Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa, hūṁ phaṭ!^[26]

“The second garland mantra:

“Homage to all the tathāgatas, the fulfillers of all wishes! You whose faces are completely motionless, naṭṭa, naṭṭa! Moṭṭa, moṭṭa! Saṭṭa, saṭṭa! Tuṭṭa, tuṭṭa! Remain, remain! Enter, enter! Āḥ, great crazed youth, dhūṇa, dhūṇa! Tiṇa, tiṇa! Eat, eat! Kill the obstacle makers, kill! Devour the rogues, devour! Accomplish everything, accomplish! Kiri, kiri! Great Vajra of Poison, phaṭ! Hūṁ, hūṁ, hūṁ, you with a threefold, ruddy curl between your eyebrows, hūṁ, hūṁ, hūṁ! Acala, ceṭa! Phaṭ! Injure, injure, hūṁ, hūṁ! Asamantikā, trāṭ! Great Strength, sāṭaya! Bring near, trāṁ, māṁ, hāṁ! May the worlds be purified! May the vajrin be pleased! Homage be to those possessing an unassailable strength! Set ablaze, trāṭ! Impatient One, homage to you, svāhā!^[27]

“The third garland mantra: F.311.a

“Homage to all the tathāgatas, the fulfillers of all wishes in every way, trāṭ! Unfailing Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa, split, split, hūṁ! Confuse, confuse, hūṁ, trāṭ, hāṁ, māṁ!^[28]

“These were the mantras common to the five Acalas. There are, however, mantras specific to each of them:

“There are also mantras common to the goddesses:

“There are also individual mantras:

“This is the common mantra of the oblation offering:

“Oṁ, homage to the blessed lord Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa, to him who frightens the gods, demigods, and humans, to him who destroys the entire army of māras, to him whose head is adorned with a jewel crest! Take this oblation, take! Kill all my obstacle makers, kill! Restrain the Four Māras, restrain! Frighten, frighten! Shake, shake! Chop, chop! Break, break! Destroy, destroy! Burn, burn! Wither, wither! Split, split! Smash the evil beings that obstruct my thoughts, smash! Turn them into ashes, turn! Phaṭ, phaṭ! Svāhā!”^[43]

Chapter 6

Completion Stage

Then the goddess Prajñāpāramitā embraced the lord tightly, rubbing her lotus against his vajra, and said:

The lord then said:

The goddess rejoiced in her heart, paid homage to and saluted the lord, saying, “O lord, is this means of accomplishment exclusively for humans, or is it also for other beings?”

The lord said:

When Śiva and other gods heard this, they grasped Gaurī, Lakṣmī, Śacī, Ratī, and other goddesses, and started to meditate. At that moment, all of them instantaneously attained the level of Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa and began to wander on the earth. Among them, Śiva became accomplished as Vajraśaṃkara; F.315.a Viṣṇu as Vajranārāyaṇa; Indra as Vajrapāṇi; Kāmadeva as Vajrānaṅga. In this way, the main gods, as numerous as grains of sand in the Ganges, became accomplished.

Chapter 7

Revitalizing the Body

Then the goddess said:

The lord said:

Chapter 8

Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa’s Nature

Then the lord made full prostrations to the goddess and said: F.316.a

The goddess then said:

Then the lord said to the goddess, Perfection of Wisdom:

The goddess said:

Chapter 9

Meditation

Then the goddess said, “How, O lord, should the wisdom and the means, the woman and the man, cultivate their identification with the deities?”

The lord said:

Then the goddess said, “In what way, O lord, does Great Bliss arise in the body through the union of wisdom and means?”

The lord said:

Chapter 10

In Praise of Women

Then the goddess said, “Is it possible, O lord, to attain the level of Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa even without a woman? F.318.b Or is it not possible?”

The lord replied, “It is not possible, O goddess.”

The goddess said, “Is it impossible, O lord, because bliss does not arise?”

The lord said:

Then the blessed lady Prajñāpāramitā said, “Who is that blessed one, the son of Māyādevī, and who is Gopā?”

The blessed lord said:

The Blessed Lady then said, “Why, O lord, do the listeners and their like belittle women?”

The blessed lord said:

Chapter 11

The Universality of Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa

Then the blessed lady said, “Are you, O lord, with or without passion?”

The blessed lord said:

Then the blessed lady said, “Are these forms only of you?”

The blessed lord said:

Chapter 12

Mantra Rituals

Then the blessed lady said:

The blessed lord said:

“At that moment, all wicked beings—bhūtas, pretas, vyāḍas, yakṣas, kumbhāṇḍas, mahoragas, and so forth—are made to flee. All the vyāḍas become frightened; all the grahas are burned by the power of the mantra’s light rays. All the siddhas^[70] come into one’s presence.

“Now comes the sādhana. One should recite the mantra 100,000 times, completing in this way the preliminary practice. Then, starting on the first day of the dark fortnight, one should recite every day at the three junctions of the day until the full-moon day. Then at the end, one should recite the whole night, offering a great pūjā from sunset until sunrise. This mantra will then be mastered. From then on, one can accomplish all actions.

“Now comes the sādhana of Lord Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa. One should commission someone to paint the lord on canvas, as before in the center of the four-cornered maṇḍala. One should have the conviction that the lord is of the nature of the ten syllables. Sitting in front of the image, starting on the first day of the dark fortnight, one should recite the mantra one thousand times at each of the three junctions. Then at the end, at the time of the full moon, one should offer a pūjā according to one’s means, and then recite from sunset till sunrise. Then terrors will arise, but one should not fear. One should recite quickly, very quickly. Then the lord Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa will come himself. One should then make a welcome offering of water for his feet, prostrate oneself, and stand up.

“Lord Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa will ask: ‘What boon shall I grant you?’ The sādhaka should reply: ‘Grant me the state of awakening.’ Then the lord will enter his body. As soon as he enters, the sādhaka obtains the bodily form of a sixteen-year-old and the six superknowledges. He becomes the master of the thirteenth bodhisattva level, living in a celestial mansion, with a retinue of hundreds of thousands of apsarases gracing him. He obtains an alluring form, becomes omniscient and just like the lord Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa.

“Alternatively one should request, according to one’s wish, the magical power of the sword, the ointment for invisibility, magical pills, shoes for sky-travel, foot ointment for fast walking, a kingdom, superhuman potency for sensual gratification, knowledge of spells, wealth, poetic skill, learning, yakṣas, yakṣiṇīs, longevity elixir, philosopher’s stone, the knowledge of alchemy, and so forth—the lord will give all of this. F.321.a

“Or else one could commission someone to paint Sole Hero on a canvas and practice as before. Here in the painting of Sole Hero, Black Acala is embraced by Hatred Vajrī; White Acala by Delusion Vajrī; Yellow Acala by Calumny Vajrī; Red Acala by Passion Vajrī; and Green Acala should be painted embraced by Envy Vajrī. Or else the lord should be painted alone, without a consort.

“As another option, the blessed lady should be painted on the canvas alone in the center, between the five Acalas. Then, imagining oneself as having the form of her husband, one should make her the object of one’s practice as previously described. Or, imagining one’s own wife as having the form of the goddess, one should do the practice. Being accomplished, she can grant even the state of awakening, let alone other accomplishments.

“Or one should do the practice of the lord standing with his left leg outstretched and the right slightly bent, and holding a sword and a noose. Or one should do the practice of innate Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa, sitting in the sattvaparyaṅka posture and holding a sword and a noose in his hands, with his wisdom consort of the same color pressed against his chest. The resulting accomplishment will be as previously described, and so also would be the accomplishment involving the lord painted on canvas. Alternatively one can also perform this practice using statues made of wood and so on.

“When the practice involves the sword, one should, when the moon is in the asterism of Puṣya, clean the sword—one made of either quality iron or hard wood—with the five products of a cow, and then anoint it with every fragrance. One should grasp it with both hands and recite the mantra at the three junctions of the day for one month. At the end of the month, one should offer extensive worship and recite for the entire night. In the morning, the sword will burst into flames. One then becomes the holder of the magical power of the sword, with the bodily form of a sixteen-year-old with curled hair. One enjoys the five sense objects until the end of saṃsāra. F.321.b

“In the same way, one should practice with a vajra scepter, a wheel, a trident, and so on. And so also with a noose made of copper and so on. Similarly, with cloth shoes,^[71] a brahmanical cord, clothes, a parasol, a Prajñāpāramitā text, a tantra text, and so forth. So too one can practice with a paṭaha drum, a mardala drum, a lute, and so forth. In the same way, one should practice with a golden yakṣa, starting with Jambhala, Maṇibhadra, Pūrṇabhadra, and Cibikuṇḍalin. They will carry out one’s every command.^[72]

“In the same way, one should practice with a gandharva made of bamboo; a garuḍa made of anthill clay; the gods Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheśvara, Indra, Kāmadeva, and so forth, made of deodar tree; a rākṣasa drawn with charcoal from the charnel ground; a preta drawn with potash of a burnt goldfish; a human made of beeswax; Gaṇapati made of ivory; the piśāca Pīlupāla made of the wood of toothbrush tree; the ḍākinīs Gaurī, Caurī, and so forth, drawn with potash of burnt pravāla fish ; the vetālas Rāmadeva, Kāmadeva, and so forth, made of human bone; the nāgas Vāsuki and so forth, also the nāginīs, made of nāgakesara wood; and the yakṣiṇīs Hārītī, Surasundarī, Naṭṭā, Ratipriyā, Śyāmā, Naṭī, Padminī, Anurāginī, Candrakāntā, Brahmaduhitā, Vadhū, Kāmeśvarī, Revatī, Ālokinī, Naravīrā, and so forth, made of the wood of the aśoka tree. One should practice with these.

“One should practice with the chief queen and the king made of banyan wood, F.322.a and with the group of apsarases—Tilottamā, Śaśidevī, Kañcanamālā, Kuṇḍalahāriṇī, Ārambhā, Urvaśī, Śrībhūṣaṇī, Ratī, Śacī, and so forth, made of deodar wood. In the same way, one should do the practice of the nine planets—the sun, the moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rāhu, and Ketu. Similarly the practice of the bodhisattvas, starting with Avalokiteśvara, Vajrapāṇi, and Mañjuśrī. Likewise the practice of the buddhas, starting with Vipaśyin and Śikhin. So too the practice of the bhūtas, starting with Aparājita. Also the messengers, starting with Yamāri. Similarly the servants, starting with Vajrakaṃkāla. In the same way, one should do the practice of all beings—women and men. All of them will carry out one’s orders.

“Now if one does not succeed the first time, one should do it for the second time. If this is likewise unsuccessful, one should do it for the third time. If one does not succeed even then due to previously committed evil acts, then, standing astride with one’s left knee and right foot on the ground, one should recite the mantra until one succeeds. After this, even a slayer of a brahmin would succeed.

“For the above practices of Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa, the following mantras apply:

“ ‘Oṁ, Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa, come, come! Hūṁ phaṭ!’^[73]

“If practicing with the sword and so on, one should add: ‘Make such and such respond to my practice!’^[74]

“When placing the feet astride, one should add: ‘Kill such and such, kill!’^[75]

“In this way, with a single recitation, one burns even the five inexpiable actions. One should add: ‘Destroy all my evil!’^[76]

“In this way, by a mere utterance, one effects the protection from all fears. One should add: ‘Protect me, protect!’^[77]F.322.b In this way, one effects protection in every respect.^[78]

“Then, visualizing the iron as if ablaze, one should incant mustard seeds, mung beans, or māṣa pulses with one’s personal mantra 108 times. One should then strike them as they are being seized by ḍākinīs and other beings.^[79] They will all flee. At the time of striking, one should add the mantra: ‘Make the ḍākinīs and the rest go away!’^[80]

“Then one should write the mantra with chalk inside an eight-petaled lotus and cover it with a lid in a pair of vessels of unbaked clay. One should wrap this in a fisherman’s net and have it suspended in a doorway—this effects protection of children. One should add the mantra: ‘Protect the child, protect!’^[81]

“One should make a beeswax effigy of the target, four finger-widths high. One should inscribe the mantra on birch bark, place it in the effigy’s heart, and strike the spot with black mustard seeds or similar substances. One should then nail the mouth with a thorn—the mouth of the opponent will be sealed. One should then add the mantra: ‘Nail the mouth of such and such!’^[82]

“One should bury the effigy at a crossroads. Similarly one should nail the feet, which will stop the target from moving about. One should add the mantra: ‘Nail the feet of such and such!’^[83] One should nail the heart, as this will immobilize the target’s body. One should then add the mantra: ‘Nail the heart of such and such!’^[84]

“Whichever limbs one nails with a nail of human bone, or an iron one, or a withered thorn,^[85] those limbs will become weak and in great pain. One should add the mantra: ‘Nail such and such body part of such and such a person!’^[86]

“By burying the effigy at someone’s entrance door, one will make the resident homeless. One should add the mantra: ‘Make such and such homeless!’^[87] By throwing incanted ashes from a charnel ground at someone’s doorway, one will expel him. One should add the mantra: ‘Expel such and such!’^[88]

“Having incapacitated the effigy with thorns, one should recite the mantra. One should add the mantra: ‘Kill such and such!’^[89]

“Having used one’s personal mantra to incant a sword or the like 108 times, one should engage in battle. One will meet with victory. F.323.a For whatever purpose one dedicates an oblation, that purpose will have a successful outcome.

“Having incanted a peacock’s feather with 108 recitations of one’s personal mantra, one should brush the place affected by a bad disease or sickness. One should add the mantra: ‘Destroy such and such disease of such and such a person!’^[90] There will be an appeasement of all ailments.

“In the same way, one should rub a snakebite wound with the palms of the hands. One should add the mantra: ‘Destroy the poison in such and such!’^[91] This will destroy the poison.

“Likewise one should contemplate a person who is one’s target as enthralled, being at one’s service, paying a visit at one’s own place, naked, with disheveled hair, in front of oneself. Visualizing him as fallen to one’s feet, one should recite the mantra. Then the enthrallment will take place. One should add the mantra: ‘Bring such and such to the state of enthrallment!’^[92]

“In the same way as before, one should recite the mantra while contemplating him as being drawn toward oneself. The target will be brought into one’s presence. One should add the mantra: ‘Draw such and such into my presence!’^[93]

“Visualizing oneself as being completely flush with valuables and grain, one should recite the mantra. One should add the mantra: ‘Bring prosperity to me!’^[94]

“One should write this mantra^[95] with a thorn on a betel leaf, in the center of a space delimited by two intersecting triangles, and chew the betel together with five grains of black pepper. One should add the mantra: ‘Destroy all the fevers!’^[96]

“At the time of a lunar or solar eclipse, one should fill a bowl with rice cooked with milk or curd, adding sugar and clarified butter. One should place that on top of seven leaves from the bodhi tree and cover it with another seven leaves. Holding it up with both hands, one should recite the mantra for as long as one is not liberated. By eating it, one will live for five hundred years.

“Following the same procedure, one should imbue with efficaciousness yellow orpiment, the pigment of bovine gallstones, realgar, or lampblack. If it bursts into flames, one will become a vidyādhara by applying it as a tilaka on one’s forehead or an ointment. If it produces smoke, one will attain invisibility. If it releases heat, an enthrallment will take place.

“Alternatively one should commission someone to make, from the wood of cobra’s saffron, the king of nāgas, Ananta. Having submerged him, face down, in water, one should recite the mantra while looking into the sky. One should employ the mantra: ‘Seize Ananta, seize! Cause him to send rain!’^[97]F.323.b The god will then send rain.

“Then one should take Ananta out of the water, bathe him in milk, and release him. Then, gazing at the clouds, one should recite the mantra.^[98] One should add the mantra: ‘Stop all the wind and rain!’^[99]

“These were the rites belonging to the first root mantra, which consists of ten letters with their inherent vowels. These rites belong also to the second and third root mantras. And only these rites belong to the heart mantras.

“One should write the first garland mantra with a thorn on an umbrella tree leaf and wrap it using blue cloth and blue string. Placing one’s left foot on the head, arm, throat, or shoulder of a person suffering from fever, one should tie this amulet there,^[100] saying, ‘With my angry mind, I will destroy the fever of such and such a person.’ This will destroy all fevers.

“At the time of tying the amulet, one should make the sick person face east and lustrate him with a bowl full of grilled fish, rice, wine, and so forth. One should say, ‘After eating this, may all fevers and diseases quickly go away. Lord Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa is ordering this. If you don’t go away, then the lord, angered, will chop you up with a sharp sword into smithereens as small as sesame seeds.’^[101] After saying this, one should offer an oblation in the southwestern quarter. The sick person will then become well.

“In the same way, an oblation should be offered in the event of any disease, attacks by ḍākinīs, or other misfortunes. One effects protection from all types of fear merely by reciting the mantra. Moreover, saying the root mantra will accomplish all. Only this ritual belongs to the second garland mantra.

“One should incant a cake of leftovers with the third garland mantra and offer it. This will bring fulfillment of wishes. One should incant a cake of rice and offer it at evening twilight in a secluded place. Then any objective one aims for will be accomplished. The remaining part of the ritual is as before. F.324.a Following the method previously described, one should start on the first day of the bright fortnight and proceed as before until the day of the full moon.

“The preliminary practice is completed with ten thousand recitations of the garland mantras. These rites, as was the case with the rites belonging to the root mantra, call for deity-specific mantras. Just as the mantra rituals of the lord are to be performed, so also are they to be performed for the goddesses. In particular, through reciting, poetic and scholarly skills will quickly arise.

“Now comes the ritual involving the third root mantra. One should climb on to one’s bed and, holding one’s penis with the left hand, recite 108 times. Whoever’s name one includes in the mantra, she will arrive. One should make love to her. The mantra to recite is: ‘Oṁ, Vauherī, may such and such come to me! Hūṁ phaṭ!’

“Having drawn a vulva on the ground with red chalk, one should cover the drawing with one’s left hand and recite the mantra 108 times. Whoever’s name one includes in the mantra, she will arrive.

“One should incant mustard seeds seven times and strike a person with them; he will become free from disease. One can also perform this mentally. Having incanted water, one should strike; blood will flow. Having incanted clothes, one should put them on; one will become dear to all people. Any person into whose food or drink one puts incanted salt will become enthralled.^[102]

“Any person around whose neck one ties a rope made of cow’s hair, having first incanted this rope, will become a cow. Whoever’s name one recites while facing the sun, one will bring that person into one’s presence. Any person around whose neck one ties a rope made of cat’s hair will become a cat. By using a rope made of crow’s sinews, that person will become a crow. With a rope of man’s hair, a woman will become a man. With a rope of woman’s hair, a man will become a woman.

“In this way, with whoever’s hair the rope is made, the target will turn into that respective form. Whoever’s name one should recite, one will draw that person’s blood. Whoever one looks at with unblinking eyes while reciting the mantra, that person will become enthralled.^[103]

“These were the rites belonging to the mantra of the goddess. F.324.b

“One should offer an oblation with the oblation mantra. All the obstacles in the form of calamities, disease, and the like, will be pacified. In whatever endeavor one may be involved, one should offer an oblation, and one will succeed in it. A bowl with white flowers, another one with milk, another with perfumed water, and another with rice—these four bowls and an offering of the main and auxiliary fruits—one should incant them in the quiet of the night by reciting 108 times, ‘Oṁ, Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa, take this oblation, take! Accomplish my task! Hūṃ phaṭ!’^[104] Having incanted, one should offer them in solitude. One’s wishes will come true.

“Then, with 108 recitations of the root mantra of the lord, one should rub white mustard oil inside the bhaga of a pregnant woman and also make her drink it. She will give birth with ease. By dressing a wound with this oil alone, the wound will heal. All these things can also be achieved by ingesting this oil.

“One should write the first garland mantra on birch bark, in the center of a sixteen-petaled lotus. One should wrap it with a blue cord and wear it on one’s body. One will be protected at all times. One should write the mantra with the pigment of bovine gallstones or red lac.

“This method can also be employed with the second garland mantra. So also can the methods described in other tantras and practice manuals be employed here. In the same way, all endeavors of a yogin, who relies on meditative cultivation, will be successful.”

Chapter 13

Conduct

The goddess then said:

The lord said:

The goddess Hatred Vajrī then asked the lord, “How, O lord, would you explain the inverted conduct?”

The lord then said:

Chapter 14

The Name Acala

Then in that gathering, a vajra yogin called Samantabhadra said this to the Blessed One, “May I ask, O lord, why do we use the names Acala (Immovable), as well as Ekallavīra (Sole Hero) and Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa (Great Fierce Angry One)?”

The Blessed One replied:

Samantabhadra then said:

The Blessed One said:

Chapter 15

Purities

Then the blessed lady, Delusion Vajrī, said, “How can Sole Hero be actualized? Tell me, O supreme lord!” F.327.a

The lord then said:

Then the Blessed Lady said:

The lord then said:

“On that topic, the four corners are the four immeasurable states. The four doors are the four truths. The four gateways are the four concentrations. The eight pillars are the noble eightfold path. The single chamber is the one-pointedness of mind. The lotus is the vulva. Its various colors are the various emanations. The nine deities^[110] are the nine sections of scripture. The redness in the cardinal directions is the great affection. The colors yellow, dark-green, white, and black in the intermediary directions are the priestly, merchant, warrior, and peasant castes. The moon and the sun are semen and menstrual blood. The sword in the center is the emblem of Black Acala. The knives and double vajras in the cardinal directions represent their respective deities, starting with White Acala in the east. F.327.b In the intermediate directions, they represent their respective goddesses, starting with Delusion Vajrī in the southeast. These are the purities of the maṇḍala.

“Now the purities of meditation are described.

The syllable hūṁ is the consciousness in the intermediate state, in between the mother and the father. Akṣobhya is the father, Māmakī is the mother. Seeing their mutual passion, one feels aversion for the father and attraction for the mother. Because of delusion, one enters as the consciousness of a new being. One emerges from the womb as a newborn. One kills the father in order to take his place, and seizes the mother because of motherly love received in one’s former births, and also for the sake of exquisite pleasure. One, too, begets sons and daughters, who are, respectively, White Acala, Delusion Vajrī, and so forth. The sons, for their part, are patricides, wholly intent on fornication, and nothing but enemies. One should therefore kill them. As for the daughters, one should make love to them because of motherly love received in one’s former births, and also for the sake of exquisite pleasure.

“The sword is wisdom, and the noose is skillful means. Or the noose is wisdom, and the sword is skillful means. Their both being of the same essence is represented by the threatening gesture. The left-downward glance signifies protecting the seven underground paradises. The right-upward glance signifies protecting the seven egg-of-Brahmā worlds. The left knee resting on the ground signifies protecting the earth. The right foot thrust forward signifies frightening all the māras—Brahmā is the māra of the aggregates, Śiva is the māra of the afflictions, Viṣṇu is the māra of death, and Śakra is the māra of the divine son.

“Every mortal girl represents earth. A young man represents enjoyment. F.328.aThe lotus seat signifies lasting for a long time. The sun-and-moon seat signifies being conceived in the womb. The male form born from sperm and menstrual blood is existence, whereas the female form is nonexistence. Blue Acala is consciousness, White is form, Yellow is sensation, Red is perception, and Green is formation.

“Alternatively Blue Acala is space, White is water, Yellow is earth, Red is fire, and Green is wind—as for the blessed lords, so too it is for the blessed ladies.

“Alternatively Blue Acala is the very pure wisdom of the sphere of phenomena, White is the mirror-like wisdom, Yellow is the wisdom of equality, Red is the wisdom of discrimination, and Green is the action-accomplishing wisdom.

Chapter 16

Dependent Origination

Then the Blessed Lady said:

The Blessed One then said:

Then the Blessed Lady said, “May the Blessed One present the analysis of ignorance, and so forth.”

Then the Blessed One said:

“With regard to this, ignorance is to be unaware of what to abandon and what to adopt. The meaning is that, directly after death, the insubstantial mind assumes a physical shape.

“From this ignorance arise formations of which there are three types: (1) the formations of the body are exhalation and inhalation, (2) the formations of speech are speculative knowledge and analytical knowledge, and (3) the formations of mind are attachment, hatred, and delusion. Ignorance, combined with these formations, exhales and inhales; it wanders to and apprehends material objects, and it analyzes and apprehends that which is immaterial; it becomes infatuated, hostile, or bewildered. F.329.a

“From these formations arises consciousness, which is sixfold: eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, body-consciousness, and mind-consciousness. When combined with these six, ignorance sees, hears, smells, tastes, feels, and cogitates.

“From this consciousness arise name and form. Name is the four aggregates, starting with sensation. Form is form alone. With these two put together and rolled into one, we have what is called name and form. The meaning is that ignorance takes on the form of the five aggregates that are grasped onto. Among these, sensation is threefold: pleasurable, painful, and neutral. Perception is the internal description of things after apprehending their particular forms. The formations are the primary and subsidiary mental states that apprehend the particular circumstances of general things. The consciousnesses have already been described. Form has the nature of four elements: (1) earth is characterized by heaviness and hardness; (2) water, by liquidity and fluidity; (3) fire, by heat and the ability to heat; and (4) wind, by its changing course, diffusiveness, and its being set into motion easily.

“From name and form arise six cognitive fields—eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind fields. When combined with these six, ignorance sees and so forth, as explained previously.

“From these cognitive fields arises contact—meeting with forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations, and the sphere of mentally cognized features.

“From contact arises craving, which is the desire for happiness.

“From craving arises grasping, which is seeking out the desired object.

“From grasping arises becoming, which is entry into the womb.

“From becoming arises birth, which is one’s visible emergence. This is the acquisition of the five perpetuating aggregates. F.329.b

“From this birth arises old age, which is being old and worn-out, and death, which is the cessation of mind and its contents.^[111] Then, reflecting on old age and death, one becomes overcome with grief. One laments, ‘I have not striven for liberation.’ Plagued by diseases, one is overcome by pain. Thinking about it again and again, one falls into depression. Even though one is already depressed, one is further assailed by misfortunes and becomes exasperated.

“The meaning is as follows. A being in the intermediate state after death possesses the full range of the six cognitive fields up to their furthest limit, which entails the fields governed by ignorance and so forth. Although remaining in just one place, that being will look at the three worlds and see a woman and a man making love. Driven by the karma created in his previous lives, he will perceive the couple making love in a form that corresponds to his future form of existence. Upon seeing them, the meeting occurs with great intensity.

“At that point, if one is going to be a man, one sees oneself in the form of a man. One feels extreme passion for one’s future mother and is overcome by intense hatred for one’s future father. The passion and the hatred are sensations of pleasure and pain respectively. Wondering how to have sex with the female, one is bewildered by that sensation, which is neither painful nor pleasurable.

“Then, out of great craving, which is impelled by the wind of one’s previous karma, one decides to make love to her. Upset, one thinks, ‘Who is that man having sex with my woman?’ Thinking this, one enters through the fontanel of one’s future father just like a falling star. Because one resides in the mind—the mind that abides in the father’s semen—one perceives oneself making love to one’s future mother and grasps at the pleasure. At that point, one has become essentially identical to the semen. Because of being excited with great passion, one passes through the central channel and emerges from the father’s vajra. Passing through the channel of the goddess of the Vajra Realm located in the orifice of the mother’s lotus, one is established in the birth channel of the womb. F.330.a Subsequently a new life begins by internalizing the secretions.

“In due order, the stages of conceptus, embryonic nucleus, compacted matter, lump, and fetus with limbs unfold, and eventually one is born within nine or ten months, emerging through the same way that one entered. Thus a birth takes place.

“If, however, one is going to be a woman, one feels passion for the future father and hatred for the future mother. One then sees oneself as having a female form. Entering through the fontanel of the future mother, one falls into the vagina, becomes fused with the semen, and remains in her birth channel. Then, in the same way as before, one emerges and is born.

“So in this way, people are born into the world through ignorance and the rest. And these people are only the five aggregates. These five aggregates circle unhappily around in saṃsāra. But those who seek liberation should not occupy themselves with this suffering.

“After the cessation of ignorance and the remaining links, the aggregates will also cease.^[112] This cessation, however, would be an empty state^[113] of no value to the seekers of liberation, who should not occupy themselves with useless things.^[114]

“For such seekers, existence is not liberation, but nor is nonexistence.^[115] They should instead practice the secret union of wisdom and means that is devoid of both existence and nonexistence. This union has the nature of great bliss;^[116] it is the glorious lord Acala himself; it is the mind that has the single form of the four joys; it abides in neither existence nor nirvāṇa; it is liberation.^[117]

Chapter 17

Increasing the Semen

Then the Blessed Lady said:

The Blessed One then said:

“When śevāla and black hellebore^[128] are smeared onto the penis with freshly churned buffalo butter, the penis will become healthy and strong.

“One should grind the root of winter cherry together with downy datura, and mix it with freshly churned buffalo butter. One should leave the mixture for one day and night in a hollowed fruit of downy datura.

“One should clarify buffalo butter in the powder of crushed fireflies and apply it to the interior of the vagina. A loose vagina will become firm.

“One should cook seeds of red lotus, seeds and fibers of blue lotus, khaskhas grass, and nut grass in sesame oil. By rubbing this mixture on the vagina, one will remove bad smells and the defects of looseness, wrong shape, or small size.

“One should rinse the vagina with an infusion from the bark of the nimb tree. One should also fumigate it with nimb bark. The vagina will become young, fragrant, and endowed with the qualities of good fortune and so forth.

“One should take five parts of yellow orpiment, one part of the potash of dhak, one part of the potash of barley, one part of the potash of plantain, F.331.b and blend them with water. By merely smearing the paste around the vulva, the armpits, or the penis, one will remove unwanted hair.

“Subsequently one should leave white mustard oil, mixed with the powdered tail of the halāhala snake, standing for seven days. One should rub it in around the penis and so on. Hair will not grow again.

“If one rubs the breasts and so on with the sweat and the fat of a buffalo, pig, elephant, and crab, the breasts will become healthy and strong.

“One should blend the flowers of jasmine with sesame oil, and rub this on the vulva. It will become refreshed.

“Rubbing the nipples with the mixture of freshly churned buffalo butter, sweet flag, costus, country mallow, and veronicalolia will make them healthy and strong. After rinsing them with warm water, they will resemble a swollen penis.^[130]

“One should drink the root of vernonia with clarified butter. Then one will become pregnant during the fertile period of the monthly cycle.

“One should drink the root of winter cherry with clarified butter. Then one will become pregnant.

“One should drink, together with honey, country mallow, Indian mallow, white sugar, and sesame. Then one will become pregnant.

“One should blend the root of country mallow with water and drink it. This will stop excessive flow of menstrual blood.

“If one smears barley flour, cow’s urine, oleogum resin, and Indian licorice on the body together with clarified butter, the whole body will become healthy.

“After tying the root of sensitive plant to one’s ear during the fertile period of one’s cycle, one will become pregnant.

“If one eats the leaf of water spinach, one’s semen will increase. It will also be increased by eating sweetened curds, or by ingesting semen and menstrual blood. Likewise one will increase semen by rolling woman’s feces and urine into a pill and swallowing it.

“In the evening, one should consume the powder of emblic myrobalan with water, or with clarified butter, or honey. Then one’s vision will become youthful, and one will be intelligent. One should eat the powder of emblic myrobalan and ground sesame with clarified butter and honey. Then the effect will be the same.

“One should eat bastard rosewood^[131] and the root of the rice plant together with winter cherry, sesame, and barley, having sweetened them with sugar to be of the same taste. Then one will become youthful again.

“One should eat powdered bark of the arjuna tree with milk and so on. After doing this for one year, one’s lifespan will be extended to three hundred years. F.332.a

“One should drink one pala of the juice of emblic myrobalan with one karṣa of powdered bawchan seed early in the morning. Having digested this mixture, one should drink milk. Within one month, one’s lifespan will increase to five hundred years.

“One should drink one karṣa of powdered bawchan seed with buttermilk, water, sour gruel, or milk. Then within six months, one will regain one’s youth.

“One should eat powdered black nightshade with clarified butter. Then one will obtain the form of a sixteen-year-old within twenty-one days.

“One should prepare one pala of powdered sunn hemp seeds and one pala of red rice, using two cups of milk from a single-colored cow. First one should reduce the milk to one cup, then add the sunn hemp seeds and the rice. After cooking this mixture one should eat it. When it has been digested, one should drink some milk. One will be free from excess wind and heat. Just as this method must be applied for twenty-one days, so too should the following method. Then the hair and so forth will fall out and grow again. One will be free from wrinkles and gray hair, and will live for five hundred years.

“One should eat a ‘cat’s paw’ of the root of red uccaṭā^[132] together with clarified butter and honey. The result will be exactly the same.

“One should prepare a pill, one karṣa in weight, from powdered emblic myrobalan, yellow myrobalan, false daisy, long pepper, black pepper, and iron, together with honey and sugar. One should then swallow a single pill each day.^[133] Within a month, one’s lifespan will increase to three hundred years.

“One should eat one pala of aloe vera together with clarified butter and curds. Within seven days, one’s lifespan will increase to three hundred years.

“One should eat a preparation of barley, sesame, winter cherry, veronicalolia, and kidney beans, with twice the amount of sugar. One will become very strong.

“One should eat powdered stinkvine with thrice the amount of yellow myrobalan. Or alternatively, with water or the like. One will become very strong.

“One should always visualize oneself in the form of the deity and empower the medicine by incanting it with the mantra.” F.332.b

Chapter 18

Preventing Disease

Then the lord said:

“One should blend the root of castor-oil plant with sour gruel, and rub it on the head. This will cure headache.

“One should fill the ear with lukewarm urine of a goat, cow, or human, with added salt. This will cure ear diseases. Alternatively one should place a dried spider into sesame oil.^[134]

“One should make a pill from clearing nut, long pepper, emblic myrobalan, turmeric, and sweet flag, mixed with dew water. If one anoints the eyes with it, all eye diseases will be cured. Alternatively one should anoint them with honey and long pepper.

“By applying earwax with honey to the eyes, one will cure night blindness.

“By applying an ointment of clearing nut with honey to the eyes, one will cure all eye diseases. One should blend sesame oil, salt, and the root of doob grass with sour gruel in a metal dish, and recite the mantra. That will cure pain in the eyeballs.^[135]

“One should sniff loofah fruit and drink the root of cubeb with rice water. One should also administer a sternutatory. One’s nose will stop bleeding.

“By chewing the root of śephālikā,^[136] one will remove uvular swelling.^[137]

“With the root of Indian licorice, one will kill worms in one’s teeth.

“One should cook clarified butter and milk, and crab’s feet. Rubbing this on one’s feet will kill the worms in one’s teeth.

“One should grind radish seeds, perfumed cherry, red sandalwood, and costus. Rubbing it in will remove itching^[138] and so forth.

“One should drink one pala of a broth from dried deer meat in goat’s milk. This will cure phthisis.

“Eating a dish of buffalo curds and rice porridge will stop dysentery. So will eating a dish of tamarind fruit and rice porridge.

“One should drink two parts of the bark of ivory tree and one part of black pepper, sugar, and Indian heliotrope with buttermilk. This will cure stomach bloat. F.333.a

“Eating emblic myrobalan, long pepper, leadwort, and fresh ginger with old sugar, clarified butter, and honey in equal parts, will cure night cough and asthma. So will eating yellow myrobalan with honey.

“Eating porridge of barley with the leaves of cutch tree will cure diseases of the abdomen.

“One should drink fresh ginger and cumin seeds with curds or the scum of boiled rice, together with salt. One will cure urinary infections.

“One should either eat sugar with barley potash in equal parts, or drink an infusion of the root of drumstick tree. Then kidney stones will be passed.

“One should drink yellow myrobalan, leadwort, and fresh ginger, with sour cream. This will cure diseases of the spleen.

“One should eat cumin seeds with sugar. This will cure fever and remove excess wind.

“One should drink barley potash with curds. This will cure constipation and flatulence.

“One should drink lukewarm milk cream having added the three spices, the fruit of false black pepper, and salt. The fire will burn and the parasites will die.

“Eating yellow myrobalan with sugar will cure hemorrhoids. Eating yellow myrobalan with dry ginger will cure constipation and flatulence.

“One should grind doob grass with turmeric and apply it. Then any boils will disappear. With this preparation, one will cure cutaneous eruptions and blisters, swellings caused by dog bites, and so on.

“One should grind the root of negro coffee with sour gruel and drink it. For the same effect, one should drink sugar and white mustard oil. This will cure asthma.

“Eating the bark of arjuna tree together with clarified butter will cure heart palpitations.

“One should roast bel fruit and eat it with sugar. This will cure dysentery.

“Drinking citron juice with sugar will cure aches and pains.

“One should apply an errhine of sugar with dry ginger. Then all the mucus will disappear.

“One should apply an ointment of umbrella tree with honey to the eyes. This will cure all eye diseases.

“One should blend together sour gruel, sesame oil, sea salt, and the root of doob grass F.333.b in a metal dish, and apply this to the eyes. This will cure pain in the eyeballs.

“One should eat sugar with clarified butter. This will cure excess wind, bile, and phlegm, as well as leprosy, and other diseases.

“One should eat the powder of the three myrobalan fruits with clarified butter and honey. This will remove all diseases.

“In the evening, one should ingest powdered yellow myrobalan with clarified butter and honey. This will remove excess wind and phlegm.

“One should dry out and pulverize the root, bark, leaf, flower, and fruit of Malabar nut, sweet flag, Indian pennywort, and long pepper, and make them into a pill with salt and honey. One should take it in the evening. This will remove excess wind and phlegm, and one’s voice will become melodious.

“One should prepare a pill of Indian pennywort, sweet flag, dry ginger, long pepper, yellow myrobalan, Malabar nut, and catechu with honey, and eat it. The result will be the same.

“One should eat, in equal parts, ajowan, dry ginger, and yellow myrobalan with salt. This will cure all indigestion.

“One should drink the juice of moonseed with honey to cure diseases causing excess urine within three months.

“One should drink milk and ground long pepper together with clarified butter and honey to cure fever, heart diseases, cough, and so on.

“One should grind the roots of sensitive plants and wild indigo with cold rice porridge,^[139] and smear this on a wound. One should also eat the root of moonseed. This will heal bleeding piles.

“One should eat dry ginger with barley potash. This will stimulate appetite.

“One should drink seeds of Indian sesbania with black pepper over the period of three days. This will cure smallpox.

“One should make a crust around one’s head with the three varieties of myrobalan, indigo plant, black earth, false daisy, the seeds of mango tree, the seeds of tamarind tree, rust of iron, and sour gruel. Then the hair should be fumigated and rubbed with bdellium. Finally one should tie the hair and leave it for seven days. Then one’s hair will be dyed red.

“One should cook clarified butter of a cow with peacock’s bile and the juice of false daisy, F.334.a and use this as an errhine. After seven days, one’s hair will become red.

“One should prepare an infusion of hogweed and raṇḍa in sixteen parts of water, reducing it by boiling to just one part. Having boiled the water away, one should add powdered white Indian licorice.^[140] Then one should cook it with one cup of sesame oil. After applying this to the hair, the hair will become red.

“One should pulverize and blend together bhūmividārī,^[141] the three spices, and sulphur. One should place the mixture in the center of a wick. Having turned the burning wick downward, one should gradually take white mustard oil.^[142] By applying two drops of this errhine regularly, one will remove wrinkles and gray hair.

“If one applies an ointment of costus together with the liquid essence of the above ingredients, it will alleviate pains.

“One should place in a kiln a lump consisting of one tolaka of quicksilver, sessile joyweed, and purslane, together with one māṣaka of freshly churned butter and ground sulphur—this lump should be sealed in a crucible together with some sand. After heating it up, the quicksilver will fuse with the other ingredients. Ingesting this will cure consumption and so on.^[143]

“One should obtain the first excrement of a newly born calf and prepare a pill. One should then grind the root of Indian valerian and enclose the pill in it. After eating one pill, one can eat poison without it taking any effect.

“One should grind seeds of black plum, seeds of citron, and seeds of flea tree, and then cook them in goat’s milk. One should eat this preparation with ghee. It will take a fortnight before one feels hungry again.

“Applied with a paste of emblic myrobalan, costus, blue lotus, Indian spikenard, and country mallow, thin hair will become thick.

“One should heat up a dog’s tooth above a smoky fire, add to it milk and clarified butter, and rub it on. Hair will grow even where it doesn’t normally grow.

“One should dip one’s penis, for some time, in coconut juice, and then apply the powder of sūrasūnna.^[144] This will cure diseases of the male organ. F.334.b

“If one mixes false daisy root with one’s seminal fluid and applies it to the penis during the month of Puṣya, the same thing will happen. Likewise if one mixes the creeper of white Indian oleander with the blood of a lizard and then mixes it with śmathai and false daisy, and applies it to the penis, it will have the same effect.”^[145]

Chapter 19

Retention of Semen and Similar Practices

Then the lord said:

“One should make a pill from the root of white butterfly pea with semen, and make a tilak mark on a woman’s forehead. Then she will become enthralled.

“One should smear one’s penis with tubeflower, sweet flag, and honey, and make love to a woman. One will enthrall her.

“One should administer to a woman costus and the root of vernonia, together with betel. Similarly one can administer tubeflower, false black pepper, sweet flag, costus, and cobra’s saffron, together with betel. She will become enthralled.^[146]

“One should blend together donkey’s semen and lotus filaments, rub this onto one’s penis,^[147] and make love to a woman. Then she will become enthralled.

“One should obtain the tongue from a toothless calf and cow’s bile, and blend it with menstrual blood. By giving a woman a tilak on the forehead, one will enthrall her. One will produce the same effect by using the root of false daisy and one’s semen.^[148]

“One should smear the vine of white Indian oleander mixed with the blood of a wolf and a vulture.^[149] One should then fumigate an effigy of the desired woman and strike it with the vine. She will become enthralled.

“A woman whose head is sprinkled with a preparation from a peacock’s crest, a crow’s tongue, and the pollen from a garland worn by a dead person, will become enthralled. The result will be the same if one makes love to her after smearing one’s penis with the root of dwarf morning glory.^[150]

“One should obtain, when the moon is in the asterism of Puṣya, the fruit of downy datura; when it is in Āśleṣa, the bark; when in Hasta, the leaves; when in Citrā, the flowers; when in Mūla, the root. One should take an equal portion of each and make a pill with honey. One should wrap it in cloth and dry it. One should offer it to a woman together with betel. With added shell-powder, she will become enthralled. F.335.a

“A woman, if her name is written with goat’s milk using the right paw of a dog in heat—‘May such and such come’—will arrive.

“One should heat up a peacock’s feather in a smokeless fire together with five impure substances,^[151] and serve it to a woman in her food and so on. She will become enthralled.

“One should dig out, when the moon is in the asterism of Puṣya, the root of butterfly pea and rub it onto a cloth. One should then place lampblack collyrium together with human fat in a human skull. By applying this oily ointment, one will enthrall a woman or a man.

“One should serve to a woman the root of vernonia together with the five impurities. This will bring her into a state of enthrallment.

“One should serve to a woman false black pepper, crape jasmine, and costus, together with wine. One will remove her lack of fidelity.

“One should apply to the eye realgar, powder of cobra’s saffron, perfumed cherry, and the pigment of bovine gallstones. The enthrallment will take place.

“One who wears a tilak made with musk, sensitive plant, downy datura, and vernonia, will bring the threefold universe to a state of enthrallment.

“Having placed on one’s penis red flowers of Indian oleander, one should recite one thousand times the mantra: ‘Oṁ, O fickle-minded^[152] one! Cili, cili! Culu, culu! Release your fluid, release! Svāhā!’^[153]

“To make a woman confused and enthralled, make an effigy of her; in front of it recite the mantra, including her name; and pierce the effigy with a copper needle.

“First one should do ten thousand recitations of the mantra without the name as the preliminary practice. Then, adding the name, one should recite: ‘Hail, Caṇḍālī! Enthrall such and such! Svāhā!’^[154]

“That practice should number ten thousand recitations. One should then incant, on the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight, the ashes from a charnel ground with 108 recitations of this mantra, and place these ashes on the woman’s head. She will become enthralled.

“One should light up a lamp made with pig’s fat, with a wick made of the white thread^[160] of giant milkweed dyed red with lac.^[161] This will arrest the semen.

“Alternatively one should heat up safflower oil^[162] and rub it on the soles of one’s feet. This will arrest the semen.^[163]

“By applying an ointment of the root of white panicled foldwing, the filamens of white lotus, and honey, one will arrest the semen.

“One should wrap the root of dwarf morning glory^[164] in a lotus leaf and fasten it to one’s hips. This will arrest the semen.^[165]

“One should grind yellow orpiment, collyrium made from the vitriol of copper, quicksilver, long pepper, sea salt, costus, and pigeon’s droppings. After rubbing this onto one’s penis in the upward direction, one will be able to arrest one’s semen.^[166]

“One should obtain an upward-growing ox horn,^[167] grind it, and rub it onto one’s penis. This will cause an erection.

“One should pulverize the root of cowitch together with goat’s urine, smear it on one’s penis, and rub it in. One should give the penis an upward jolt three times.^[168] The penis will become erect. Rinsing with warm water will cause detumescence.

“One should enclose quicksilver inside a cowrie shell and place it in one’s mouth. This will arrest the semen.

“One should steep bitter cucumber in goat’s urine for seven days. After applying this to the penis, it will become erect.

“One should grind the root of oṣaṇī,^[169] the root of black nightshade, and the downy datura seeds in camphor juice. After applying this to the penis, one should make love to a woman. Then she will drip. One should blend sea salt, borax, camphor, and the powder of loofah together with honey, and apply it to the penis. The result will be the same.

“One should blend pigeon’s droppings with honey, and after applying this to the penis, make love to a woman. Then she will drip.

“During lovemaking, one should feed the root of black nightshade with betel to a woman. Then she will drip.

“One should mix ripe tamarind fruit and sugar-cane juice with salt, and smear this onto one’s index finger. Then insert the finger into the vagina and excite the ‘nerve of Vajra­dhātvīśvarī’ until the woman drips.

“After applying an ointment of camphor, borax, quicksilver, and gajapippalī, the woman will drip.

“One should chew up the root of rāmadūtī^[170] together with the leaves, put this on the penis, and make love. Then she will drip. F.336.a

“One should grind the root of Indian sesbania, blending it with rice water. By applying this to the vagina during coition, the woman will surely not conceive.

“One should grind the seeds of dhak and apply the paste. Subsequently, if the woman drinks the juice of red leadwort with honey and clarified butter, she will surely not conceive.^[171]

“One should insert into the loose vagina the powder from locusts and moths. The vagina will then become firm.”

Chapter 20

Mantras and Yantras

Then the goddess requested the lord:

The lord then said:

“ ‘Oṁ, you with a flaming mouth and fangs bared, laugh, laugh! The vajra of the halāhala poison, the good vajra, break forth, break! Disperse, disperse! Stop all the rain and wind, stop! Rent asunder, rent! Yaḥ, yaḥ, yaḥ, dry up all the water, dry! Hūṁ phaṭ!’^[172] While reciting this mantra, one should direct one’s angry gaze into the sky. One will stop the wind and disperse the clouds.

“Here is the mantra of playing in the cemetery: ‘Oṁ, you who shout pheṭ! Pheṁ pheṁ, ha ha, hā hā, pheṭ!’^[173]

“Here is the mantra for entering a city area: ‘Oṁ, O lord of all magical powers for nullifying opposing yantras and mantras! Frighten off all the ḍākinīs, frighten! Bind, bind! Nail swiftly, nail!’^[174]

“To make snakes flee, one should incant some clay with this mantra and place it on the ground: ‘Oṁ, hili hili, phuḥ phuḥ!’^[175]

“With this mantra, tigers will flee: ‘Mammā, mammā!’

“With this mantra, elephants will flee: ‘Vedu ā, vedu ā!’

“With this mantra, rhinoceros will flee: ‘Terli ā, terli ā!’ F.336.b

“With this mantra, dogs will flee when threatened with one’s left index finger: ‘Oṁ hrīṁ, protector Baṭuka, Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa! Hūṁ phaṭ!’^[176]

“With this mantra, buffalos will flee: ‘Oṁ, Yamāntaka, hrīḥ strīḥ, hūṁ hūṁ hūṁ, phaṭ phaṭ! Frighten away, frighten away! O fierce one, very fierce! Hūṁ phaṭ!’^[177]

“With this mantra, any serious diseases will go away: ‘Oṁ, when crushing Yama, crush, crush! Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa, hūṁ phaṭ!’^[178]

“To make pain go away, one should administer water incanted with this mantra: ‘Oṁ, when there is crying or wailing, this is for removing it. Hūṁ phaṭ!’^[179]

“By tying this mantra into one’s knotted hair, one will be protected: ‘Oṁ, when there is terror, this is for confusing. Hūṁ phaṭ!’^[180]

“To nail the mouth of the adversary, one should make an effigy from beeswax, four fingers in size, write this mantra on birch bark with yellow orpiment, and stuff it into the effigy’s mouth. One should then nail the effigy and bury it at a crossroad. Then say: ‘Oṁ, whether he is moving or not, nail the mouth of such and such! Hūṁ phaṭ!’^[181]

“To stop the target from moving about, proceed as before and stick this mantra into the effigy’s heart, and nail its feet: ‘Oṁ, when destroying all the Māras, nail the feet of such and such! Hūṁ phaṭ!’^[182]

“To stop a hostile army from advancing, stuff this mantra into the effigy as before. Then nail the eight limbs of the general of the hostile army. One should bury the effigy with its face down in the middle of a hearth and say: ‘Oṁ, you with contorted face, when breaking the enemy’s army, break, break! Immobilize, immobilize! Bind such and such together with his army with a noose, bind! Hūṁ phaṭ! Khaḥ gaḥ, ha hā, hi hī, pheṁ pheṁ! Oṁ, Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa, hūṁ phaṭ!’^[183]

“To cause the enemy to burn with fever, one should draw the target, eight fingers tall on a cloth from a cemetery, with poison and mustard, encircle the drawing with the garland mantra, and stuff it into the heart of a beeswax effigy. One should then place the effigy inside a piece of common milk hedge wood. The mantra is: ‘Oṁ, burn, burn! Cook, cook! Torment, torment! Send the fever, send! Make them burn, do! Dry up, dry! Seize, seize! Burn, burn! Oṁ, Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa, hūṁ phaṭ! Svāhā!’^[184] And further: ‘Oṁ, Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa, let the fever seize such and such! Hūṁ phaṭ!’^[185] Reciting this, one should burn the effigy in the charnel ground fire, or in a fire of cutch tree or jujube wood. One will cause the enemy to burn with fever. F.337.a

“To obliterate the yantra of an enemy, one should write this mantra on a rag from a cemetery, wrap a blue string around it, and wear it on one’s arm, neck, head, or hips. Then say: ‘Oṁ, conquer, conquer and vanquish! Defeat the yantra! Hī hī, hā hā, break, break! Remove, remove! Act quickly, act! Oṁ, Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa, hūṁ phaṭ!’^[186]

“To kill the target within a week, one should write this mantra on a rag from a cemetery as before, put it inside the effigy, and nail it with a peg one finger long, made of bone or iron. One should then bury the effigy face down in a cemetery and say: ‘Oṁ, Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa, swallow, swallow! Kha kha! Eat, eat! Make such and such wither, do! Mara mara! Kill such and such, kill! Hūṁ phaṭ!’^[187]

“To banish the target, one should take a crow’s nest from a nimb tree and burn the nest in a fire from the charnel ground. One should incant the nest’s ashes with 108 repetitions of the above mantra, and throw the ashes at the door of the target’s house. One should visualize the target mounted on a camel, fettered in shackles, and tied up with lassos, being led in the southern direction. Then say: ‘Oṁ, Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa! Banish such and such! Hūṁ phaṭ!’^[188]

“To sow hatred among others, one should take some dust from where two dogs are fighting and strike the effigies of the two targets. Then say: ‘Oṁ, when causing hate, Vajra of Hatred, sow hatred between such-and-such and such-and-such! Oṁ, Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa, hūṁ phaṭ!’ ^[189]

“To immobilize the enemy with ease, one should draw on birch bark a tortoise, six fingers in size, with yellow orpiment, and write the syllable hrī on its four feet, the syllable plī in the center of its face, and the syllable hri at its navel. One should then depict feces at the tortoise’s anus and draw the sādhaka farther up on the tortoise’s back.^[190] One should surround this with the garland mantra and commence worship with offerings and praise. One should place the tortoise on top of a sacrificial brick, covering the brick with the tortoise’s belly. One should wrap a red string around the whole thing and throw it down by one’s feet.^[191]F.337.b One should kick it with one’s left foot while repeating ‘Please bring such and such under my control’ seven times. Then say: ‘Oṁ, Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa, hrīṁ hrīṁ hroṁ! In your wrathful form, kill! Slay, slay! Strike, strike! Smash, smash! Haha, haha! Lunge forward, lunge! Disperse, disperse! Nail, nail! Crush, crush! Immobilize such and such, immobilize! Hūṁ phaṭ!’^[192]

“This mantra cures the closing of the eyes: ‘Oṁ, cili, mili, when playing, hūṁ, phaṭ!’^[193]

“To stop the milk from flowing in cows, one should incant a peg made of cow’s bone, seven fingers long, with 108 recitations of this mantra, and bury it in a cow pen. Then say: ‘Oṁ cchrīṁ cchrīṁ cchrīṁ! Parch, parch! Stop the flow, stop! Oṁ, Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa, hūṁ phaṭ!’^[194]

“To destroy merchandise, one should incant a vajra made of clay from an anthill with 108 recitations of this mantra and bury it in a shop. Then say: ‘Oṁ, Vajriṇī, let your vajra fly!—so commands the master of gods. Set alight, set! Oṁ, Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa, hūṁ phaṭ!’^[195]

“To make a city shake, one should draw the lord on birch bark. He has two arms, is red in color, holds in his hands a noose and a goad, is intoxicated with lust, and terrifying. One should inscribe the letters of the mantra with elephant’s rut fluid, wine, lac, blood, menstrual blood, or saffron, arranged as follows: oṁ on the head, hrīṁ in the heart, klīṁ in the navel, and traṁ on the penis. One should then surround the drawing with the garland mantra and wrap everything with a red string. One should then throw it into a hollow filled with clarified butter and honey between the skulls of a woman and a man. Then enclose the whole thing in beeswax, wrap a red string around it, and bury it at a central location. Stepping on it with one’s left foot, one should recite the mantra 25,000 times. The mantra is: ‘Oṁ hrīṁ klīṁ traṁ yūṁ, when crushing Yama, be harsh, be! Shake, shake! For the consummation of all sense pleasures, hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ! Svāhā!’^[196]

“To enthrall a woman, one should pulverize intestinal worms into a fine powder and make it into a pill by adding semen and blood from the ring finger. One should incant the pill with the mantra and put it into the target’s food or drink. The mantra is: ‘Oṁ, summon, summon! Bewilder, bewilder! Enthrall such and such, enthrall! Svāhā!’^[197]

“To destroy any poison, say: ‘Oṁ, White Vulture, devour the poison and the harmful anger! Khaḥ khaḥ, ha ha, saḥ saḥ! Oṁ, the general of the great, fierce army commands. Svāhā!’^[200] Alternatively one can recite the mantra: ‘Oṁ, Śaṃkāriṇī, dhraṁ hāṁ hūṁ haṁ haḥ!’^[201]

“To stop snakes from entering one’s residence, place clay incanted with this mantra, or a piece of paper with this mantra, at the door.^[202] The mantra is: ‘Oṁ, enemy of snakes! Destroyer of Vāmana, phaṭ!’^[203]

“Giving a woman fragrant white flowers incanted with this mantra will enthrall her: ‘Oṁ, Āṇā, blind in one eye,^[204] enthrall such and such! Svāhā!’^[205]

“By rinsing the eyes with water incanted with this mantra, one will cure blindness: ‘Homage to Vītarāga, O Maitreya­siṃha­locanī, svāhā!’^[206]

“With this mantra, a saphara fish will not be able to approach: ‘Oṁ, saphara, khaḥ! Eat the powder!’^[207]

“With this mantra, one will destroy the poison of snakes, scorpions, crabs, and the like: ‘May the poison sink into the earth with the speed of the sun’s chariot, the power of Vāsudeva, and the flapping of garuḍa’s wings!’^[208]

“To prevent theft, one should cast a clod of earth incanted with this mantra seven times into the four directions: ‘Oṁ, Cāmuṇḍā, the unconquered, never conquered by another! Protect, protect! Svāhā!’^[209] One should then place one clod in one’s own home and recite: ‘Oṁ, the snapping one, the immobilizing one, the bewildering one, the one who suppresses all rogues! Svāhā!’^[210]

“Giving a flower, or something similar, incanted with this mantra will enthrall the target: ‘Homage to Fierce Great Anger. Kill, kill! Culu, culu! Remain, remain! Bind, bind! Bewilder, bewilder! Strike to kill, strike! Hūṁ phaṭ!’^[211]

“With this mantra written on a leaf of umbrella tree, one will destroy all fever: ‘Homage to the Three Jewels, oṁ ṭaḥ! When one is delirious, svāhā!’”^[212]

Chapter 21

Magical Practices

Then the lord said:

“One should perform all the following rituals with this mantra while visualizing Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa: ‘Oṁ, Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa, you who are a teacher of all magic! Teach all the magical methods to remove obstacles! Hūṁ phaṭ!’^[213]

“One should saturate a thickly woven cloth with the sap of cluster fig. Then one should blend sesame oil with oleogum resin, and throw it onto this cloth. One should make a wick from it. The lamp, with its glow, will burn steadily under water.^[214]

“By rubbing two flat pieces of stone^[215] together at night time while saying ‘Hūṁ,’ one will produce the brilliance of lightning. F.338.b

“One should light a wick that has been dyed red with lac mixed with powdered dead leeches. Upon seeing it, women will become naked.

“Anointing ears and eyes with clarified butter affords protection for oneself.

“One should cut off the tail of a halāhala snake. Naked and with loose hair, one should dance for as long as the snake writhes. One should obtain four māṣakas of powder from the crushed tail, and the root, bark, leaves, flowers, and fruit of downy datura, one māṣaka of each part. One should light a lamp whose wick is made of cloth that has been dyed red with lac mixed with the above ingredients. All who see this lamp will dance. As before, this affords protection for oneself.

“One should blend together the root of toothbrush tree and the root of belleric myrobalan, and leave this mixture in a house. A quarrel will ensue.

“One should throw the pollen, obtained from the center of a flower of downy datura, into the center of a pleasantly scented flower. With a mere whiff of it, one will get a headache. One will obtain relief by applying an errhine of sour gruel.

“A peacock’s feather, fumigated with and wrapped in the placenta of a bitch, will remove vitiligo if rotated to the right.^[216] This can be undone if it is rotated to the left.

“One should write the mantra with blood from the heart of a crow, on a leaf of a mango tree, with a stylus made from the crow’s pinion. The person into whose excrement one throws this leaf will be eaten by a crow. The mantra to say is ‘Oṁ, the deceitful angry crow hen! Cause such and such to be eaten by a crow! Svāhā!’^[217]

“One should make a hole in the ground in the shape of a vulva. Then throw into the hole a woman’s feces composed of Indian stinging nettle, and bury it. The woman’s path will become difficult.

“After rubbing into the hair the milky sap of common milk hedge and sesame oil, the hair will become white. One will remedy this by shaving.

“One should obtain the placenta of a female cat and the placenta of a woman.^[218] After fumigating with these two, any spots^[219] on the wall will no longer be seen. This can be undone by censing with honey incense.

“One should amply infuse yellow orpiment in the sweat and foam from camel’s jowls, and camel’s urine. One should then rub it on one’s hand and draw the hand in. Vitiligo will disappear. This can be remedied by washing the hand.

“After fumigating the affected skin with the placenta of a woman, one will remove vitiligo. This can be undone by fumigating with bdellium.

“By anointing the eyes with the fat of a frog, one will perceive the rafters of one’s house as snakes.

“When the flame of a lamp is extinguished, it can be relit after adding sulphur powder. F.339.a

“After smearing the feet with muṇḍirī, śevāla,^[220] leech, and the fat of a frog, and wrapping the feet in a banana leaf, one does not get burned when walking on glowing charcoal embers.

“One should eat the root of common milk hedge with sugar. This will induce sleep.

“One should tie the root of black nightshade to one’s hair. This will induce sleep.

“One should grind together the root of Indian bowstring hemp, the root of droṇapuṣpaka, turmeric, and rice, and rub this onto one’s body. One will win the water trial.

“By burying an asafetida pill at the root of a silk-cotton tree, one will cause its flowers to fall.

“To cause vomiting, one should serve gamboge with wine or betel.

“To make blood flow, one should feed the target sap of common milk hedge, seeds of giant milkweed, and powdered woodworm with sugar.

“To make a horse stop eating, one should rub its nose with the powder of a female shrew mouse. This can be remedied by rinsing the nasal passages with sandalwood.

“To avoid being struck by weapons, one should fasten the root of umbrella tree to one’s head, the root of date tree to one’s hand, and the root of toddy palm tree to one’s face. One should dig out a northern offshoot of each of these roots when the moon is in the asterism of Puṣya. Then, naked and with loose hair, one should grind these three roots and drink a little bit of their concoction.

“One should fashion a pair of shoes out of deerskin and fill them with the seeds of midnight horror. One will not sink in water.

“One should chew up oṣaṇī^[221] and keep it on one’s tongue. If one licks^[222] a heated plowshare, it will not burn one.

“Drinking Indian heliotrope mixed with quicksilver and potash will induce miscarriage.

“As protection from the danger of arrows and thieves, one should pull out the root of white wild indigo when the moon is in the asterism of Puṣya. Then one should soak it in the clarified butter of a cow and fasten it to one’s head or other body parts.

“When putting on leather shoes smeared with the fat of a vulture and an owl, one will be able to travel long distances.

“At sundown on an auspicious day, one should consecrate a mustard fruit not cut with a knife and, naked and with loose hair, hold it in one’s left hand. One should not put it on the ground. Protection will be afforded by saying the garland mantra of the lord. F.339.b

“With whoever’s blood one would wet this mustard fruit, that person’s blood will be spilled with many weapons. His flesh will be made into utthānaka,^[223] the bone marrow into oil, and the ashes into nourishment for the crops. In the cup made from his skull, one should sprinkle fat, blood, flesh, and so forth with his blood. One should repeatedly enact protection and oblation acts, assiduously performing fumigation, anointment, and the like.^[224]

“Having put in the mouth the transformed mustard fruit, one should imagine oneself as having his nature. One will become like him.^[225]

“By enclosing the mustard fruit in the three metals, one will become invisible. Here the three metals are prepared as follows: seven-and-a-half māṣaka, two-and-a-half māṣaka, four māṣaka, as well as five māṣaka are sun, moon, and fire, respectively.^[226]

“One should draw, on a human skull, the figure of the target with the pigment of bovine gallstones and blood. One should enclose there, using a second skull, her name written in combination with the mantra and anointed with perfumed water. One should wrap the sacred cord of a deceased Brahmin around the two skulls, seal this with beeswax, and recite the mantra. One should heat it up at night in the embers of a funeral pyre until the wax has melted. Then one will summon even a celestial girl. The mantra to recite is: ‘Oṁ, pull, pull! Bewilder, bewilder! Bring such and such, jaḥ! Svāhā!’^[227]

“One should grind the fruit of elephant wood-apple into powder and infuse it with buffalo curds seven times. One should add that powder to buttermilk kept in a new vessel. In a moment, it will turn to curds.

“One should crush the fruit of elephant wood-apple and use it to smear a new vessel. In there, one should let the milk separate. The curd will be fat free.

“One should let the milk that has been poured into a pot of unbaked clay set. When the curd has formed, one should carefully break the pot. The curds will be in the shape of the pot.

“After dousing a new pot repeatedly with the sap of giant milkweed, the water poured in there will appear as buttermilk.

“During the ten days after a woman has given birth for the first time, one should obtain some ash and put it under water using the pair of cupped hands, one below and one above. If the ash streaks upward, the water jar will dry up. If the ash streaks downward, the water jar will remain full.

“On a Sunday, one should pull out the root of sessile joyweed and the root of chaff tree. One should then smear the ends of two sticks, each with one of the roots, and wear them on one’s hips. One will then be fit for battle. F.340.a

“When throwing water onto a thickly woven cloth smeared with vaṅga, seeds of āra,^[228] and country mallow, the water will not drip. Riding in a coracle made of wicker and cloth smeared with this mixture, one will not sink in water.

“One should blend powdered earthworms and fireflies with sesame oil. Things smeared with this mixture will glow at night.

“One should mix emblic myrobalan with salt in a copper dish. After rubbing an iron dish with it, the dish will look like copper.

“After applying sulphur^[229] powder to a heated cow bone, a flame will blaze up.

“One should fix a laghu^[230] flower, or something similar, on top of a ṛṇṭaka^[231] seed. After putting water inside the flower, it will drip.

“One should place a bee in a sparrow’s nest made from kuṇṭḥīrā^[232] and then release it into the air. The bee will be confused.

“A dried fish will revive when placed in water after being soaked in the oil of marking nut.”

Chapter 22

Controlling Prāṇa

The lord then said:

Chapter 23

Signs of Death

Then the lord said:

“If one feels a prickling sensation in one’s navel when pricking the soles of the feet, death will come within three days. If one feels a prickling sensation in one’s eyes when pricking the soles of the feet, it will come within three months. If one feels a prickling sensation in one’s nose when pricking the soles of one’s feet, it will come within three months.

“If one sneezes at the time of bowel evacuation, it will come within a year. If one feels a prickly sensation in the hollow of one’s navel, it will come within five years. If one is not able to see the tip of one’s tongue, it will come within three days. If one feels a prickly sensation at the tips of one’s earlobes, it will come within four months; between one’s eyebrows, it will come within a day. If one sneezes during an orgasm or just after, one will die within a month. Similarly if one feels a prickly sensation in all four of the smallest fingers and toes, one will die within a month.

“Also if one feels a prickly sensation in one’s chest and throat, one will die within three fortnights; F.341.b in the soles of the feet or hands and the top of the head, one will die within three days. If during an orgasm, one hears the sound of a bell in one’s ears, one will die within three months. If one feels separate prickles at the root of one’s ears, between the eyebrows, and at the front of one’s head, one will die after one day. If one feels a prickling sensation from one’s toes to the navel, one will die within six months.

“If the flesh at the tip of the nose starts to sag, one will die within seven days. If the flesh of one’s cheeks starts to crack, one will die within five months. If no eye discharge can be seen, one will die within five months. If the nostrils become crooked, one will die within seven days. If one’s chest becomes hollow, one will die within a fortnight. If a line appears across the center of one’s tongue, one will die within two days. If no redness is seen in the fingernails, one will die within six months. If one’s teeth dry up, one will die within six months.

“If one cannot see the star Arundhatī, one will die within six months. If one sees, in the cold season and so on, a distorted image with holes everywhere, one will die within a fortnight. If one feels cold after uttering the sound haḥ, and hot after uttering the sound phūḥ, one will die within ten days. If no line can be seen across the base of the ring finger, one will die within eighteen days. If one cannot hear sounds during the rubbing of one’s body, and if one’s entire body feels cold, one will die within ten days. If one’s chest and feet dry up as soon as one has finished bathing, one will die within two months. If one’s body becomes malodorous, one will die within three days.

“If one’s body becomes paralyzed, one will die within one day. If the stream of one’s urine swirls counterclockwise, one will die within six months. If one’s navel should become inverted, one will die within five days. If one cannot see the tip of one’s nose, one will die within five months. If one doesn’t see flashes of light when pressing one’s eyes with one’s fingers, one will die within one hundred days. If one cannot hear sounds in one’s ears, one will die within one year. If one cannot see one’s own reflection in another person’s eyes, one will die within a fortnight.

“Knowing these signs, one should contemplate deceiving death and think of the hereafter.”

Chapter 24

Nature of the Body

Then the lord said:

Chapter 25

Deity Practice

Then the goddess said:

The lord then said:

“Standing on seats of sun disks,^[247] all of them have their left leg outstretched and the right slightly bent. All are angry and have their hair hanging loose.

“Now I will teach another meditation on Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa.

“By meditating on just that and offering grilled fish and so on, one can hold all the gods captive.^[249]

Lord Vajrasattva spoke this tantra, and the assemblies of yogins and yoginīs rejoiced at his words.