Toh 440 — Mahākāla’s Sovereign Tantra

Chapter 1: An Elucidation of Ultimate Reality

F.45.b Homage to Glorious Mahākāla.

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was residing in the company of the goddesses. The Goddess asked him, “What method saves beings who are drowning in the ocean of cyclic existence, and how does the deity liberate them from cyclic existence?” F.46.a

The Blessed One replied, “I will address those points in terms of the means by which wisdom^[1] is present during the generation and completion stage yogas. Listen well, Goddess. The generation stage leads one to abide in cessation and reveals the correct path that grants the result. Then one should perform with certainty the type of consecration that involves the use of a consort. One should then practice the elimination of movement^[2] and then focus on that. The generation stage is endowed with the correct path through correlation with the physical person.

“Blessed One,” asked the goddess, “what is required to generate the vajra being, and why are the individual vases necessary?”

The Blessed One replied, “The fact of arising refutes nonexistence; this is the space vajra. It is utterly devoid of self and is the moment of bliss. It arises like the expansive feeling of happiness that arises when the entire population of a city that has been oppressed by force is released from bondage.”

“Blessed One,” asked the Goddess, “why is it necessary to stabilize the body?^[3] Is it not the case that it is no longer present after the blood and bodhicitta have combined in the pathway and one has been liberated from false appearances? Does it grant the result, or did you describe it in terms of practical application for those who wish to reveal it?”^[4]

The Blessed One replied, “The body is called ‘vajra.’ This is similar to the correlation between the illusory being^[5] and the physical person. ‘The blood after it has combined in the pathway’ means that blood has combined in the vajra’s pathway at the time that understanding of complete equality dawns through the movement of blood in the five aggregates via the lalanā, rasanā, and avadhūtī. ‘The functional body’ refers to the body that moves, lacks endurance, and is subject to impulses. That is the functional body. I spoke of having performed a function for those who are confused about functionality.”

“What is the Dharma?” asked the Goddess. “What teachings have you given from the collection of Dharma? Was this done for the happiness and welfare of human beings, F.46.b for a specific purpose, or so that they might gain the desirable result of eliminating disease?”

The Blessed One replied, “I will explain how beings who have taken a human birth can easily attain the siddhis for whatever Dharma they practice. The eight great siddhis are the sword, collyrium, pill, and swift feet siddhis, together with rendering medicines effective, competence in mantras, and mercury and alchemy. In addition to attaining the eight great siddhis, a person can attain any other siddhi using the tantras of Mahākāla, and they will surely do so with ease.”^[6]

The Goddess requested, “Please speak, however briefly, about binding the target when it is employed for the collyrium siddhi.”

The Blessed One replied, “Its concealing is widely described as an excellent means of protection and the proper way to conceal oneself, even from the drumming of horse hooves.”^[7]

“Blessed One,” the Goddess asked, “how many channels are there in the vajra body, and how many moments of inhalation and exhalation are there?”

The Blessed One replied, “There are thirty-two channels. There is restraining inhalation and exhalation and releasing the breath that has arisen within the body, which is set in motion by the sun and the moon. To express the exact calculation, there are twenty-one thousand six hundred movements of breath, with a moment consisting of an inhalation and exhalation.”

“Blessed One,” asked the Goddess, “did you sanction what Kāmadeva revealed, the conditions that ensued^[8] when Nārāyaṇa, the fulfiller of desire, took on an illusory form and, for the sake of Lakṣmī and Sarasvatī, became a protector deity who delivered the destitute from darkness?”

“Goddess,” the Blessed One replied, “as the beings of Jambudvīpa cycle through cyclic existence, they give rise to delusion, desire, jealousy, and slander. Since that is the case, and since they have faith in what glorious Mahākāla has taught, F.47.a like Nārāyaṇa, I have taught the practice of generating Kāmadeva and his retinue of sixty-four ḍākinīs.”

“Blessed One,” asked the Goddess, “what is the significance of the term mahākāla?”

The Blessed One replied, “The term mahākāla^[9] refers to the long duration of time that it takes to visualize and remain as Mahākāla, as well as the fact that one performs this every day and at the best time for doing so. Alternately, the term mahākāla refers to something that requires a long time, namely, performing the rites for Mahākāla in their entirety.”

“What do the syllable ma and the syllables hā and kāla signify?” asked the Goddess.

The Blessed One replied, “Ma refers to the fact that he is a compassionate being, and hā refers to the fact that he possesses insight, and to insight itself. Kāla is a combination of two syllables that together mean ‘time’ and that signify method and insight in union as great compassion.

“There are eight yoginīs who appear in this tantra and are respectively identified as the queens of the yogas^[10] of paralyzing, expelling, paralyzing an army, and hostile rites. They are generated through the visualization of Caṇḍeśvarī, Carcikā, Kālikā, Kulikeśvarī, Khaṇḍaruhī, Dantotkaṭī, Pracālī, and Maheśvarī.

“Someone with insight into grasping, for whom time is essential,^[11] seeks liberation. For them, there is no meditator and no object of meditation. The visualizations are not produced by anything. Then, through mastery over the afflicted mind, the mind is freed of imputation. They can assume the form of Vetāli^[12] without generating it, and, when moving among the five families, they can accomplish any rite just as it was taught. They can pursue one after the other whether or not it is the appropriate particular lunar day, F.47.b guaranteeing the attainment of any siddhi. Such are the fruits of this Dharma instruction.”

Chapter 2: The Features of the Fire Pits

“Now I will present a chapter on the features of the fire pits.”^[13]

“My Lord,” the Goddess asked, “how should one accomplish, for the sake of beings, the rites associated with the eight siddhis that eliminate suffering?”

The Blessed One replied, “The exhalation is blocked as it flows in the lunar channel and then held. By doing this one will undoubtedly attain the eight great siddhis. When someone intent on bringing this to fruition does this, they will attain siddhi.

“For a killing rite, one should perform a fire offering with dark-blue flowers in a square fire pit that is one cubit wide. For a paralyzing rite, the pit should be circular and two cubits wide. For an enthralling rite, one should build a triangular fire pit one cubit high in a hole one cubit deep that has been excavated from purified ground. The fire offering, made using red flowers, should be performed by well-trained officiants who are seated on a bearskin.

“The explanation of the specifications for the fire offering pit used to attain the foot salve siddhi are to purify the ground^[14] for a circular pit measuring one cubit high and then excavate to a depth of five cubits. The explanation of the fire offering for the collyrium siddhi are to purify the ground^[15] in the shape of a snake’s head measuring two and a half cubits and excavate to a depth of seven cubits. This is the fire pit for the collyrium siddhi. The instructions for the pill siddhi are to purify the ground measuring the size of an elephant’s foot and excavate to a depth of ten cubits. This is the fire pit for the pill. For the alchemy siddhi, one should purify an area of ground measuring two and a half cubits and shaped like an earring and then excavate to a depth of three cubits. This is the fire pit for the alchemy siddhi. The fire pit for becoming a king is one cubit high and circular in shape. Once the ground has been purified, one should excavate to a depth of eight cubits. This is done to accomplish the siddhi. By following these procedures, the siddhis are certain. If one uses white flowers for any of the fire offering rites described here, one will gain the results related to each of these siddhis.”

Chapter 3: The Mantras

“Now I will present the chapter on the mantras. F.48.a Of the two types of mantras, the system of mantras related to Śiva^[16] are identified in this tantra by the syllable oṁ. These mantras represent Śiva’s delight as a protector of the Buddha’s teachings. He pronounced the following mantras of great wisdom as part of his promise to the Buddha:

“The mantra for the two-armed form is oṁ mahākāla hūṁ phaṭ svāhā.

“The mantra for the four-armed form is oṁ hrīṃ hrīṃ hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ.

“The mantra for the six-armed form is oṁ mahābhairava sarva­siddhi­dāyaka ḍaṃ hūṁ kuṃ dhvaṇṭaḥ.

“The mantra for the eight-armed form is oṁ āḥ hūṁ phaṭ hrīḥ haḥ.

“The mantra for the ten-armed form is oṁ hī kaṃ hūṁ kīla kīla mahānādākārāla­vikarāla­kṣīgṛīhaḥ daha daha paca paca siddhi­dākāya svāhā.

“The mantra for the twelve-armed form is oṁ daṃṣṭrotkaṭabhair avāya saṃ saṃ saṃ ru ru ru ru hūṁ hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ svāhā.^[17] It can be used for any rite, is revered by all the buddhas, is effective throughout the threefold world, and will accomplish whatever one wishes.

“Present a bali offering every day with this mantra of the fourteen-armed form to attain any siddhi: oṁ yama jagata­kṣobhaya kṣobhaya tāla patāla khāhi khāhi gṛhṇa bali grahāḥ grahāḥ | oṁ maṁ caṁ mahābhairavāya svāhā.

“The mantra for protecting oneself is oṁ maṁ maṁ raṁ hūṁ hūṁ maṃ rakṣa pālāya hūṁ vajra phaṭ.

“The mantra for protecting others is oṁ dharaṇī dhara dhara hūṁ hūṁ [insert name]^[18]rakṣā kuru svāhā.

“The mantra for the sixteen-armed form is oṁ hrāṃ hrāṃ yaṃ maṃ karāla virālākṣa vaṃ karāla mahāyogeśvara sarva­dāyaka svāhā.

“One should thoroughly cook black gram, fill it generously with alcohol, meat, and blood, and present it every evening as a bali offering while reciting the following mantra:^[19]

oṁ śrīṃ kṣīṃ gṛhṇa baliṃ hūṁ phaṭ | madyamāṁ­sapuṣpa­dhūparaktatala­pātale aṣṭanāga­deva­yakṣa­rākṣasa gṛhna idaṃ baliṃ hā hā hā hūṁ khāhi khāhi kha kha hūṁ jaḥ pheṃ pheṃ haṃ haṃ mahāḍa­dharahāsa garjja garjja kṛṣṇavarṇī ehe hūṁ svāhā.

“If one does this for twenty-one days, an auspicious sign will appear. If one does this for one month, siddhi will be granted. If one does this for a year, one will be granted whatever one wants. F.48.b

“All one’s misdeeds will be exhausted by simply reading the king of mantras oṁ hrīṃ hrīṃ hūṁ phaṭ, and if one continually recites it, one will easily attain any siddhi.^[20] If one recites it five thousand times, one will accomplish the pacification rite. If one recites it ten thousand times, one will enthrall a woman. If one recites it one hundred thousand times, one can enthrall a king. If one recites it five hundred thousand times, one can undoubtedly enthrall any of the gods and yakṣas. If it will attract them, it goes without saying that one can use it on a man or woman. This is the enthralling mantra.

“The general mantra is oṁ mahākāla hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā.

“The fire mantra is^[21]oṁ mahānandeśvara hūṁ phaṭ svāhā. If one visualizes the target in the mouth of the flames, they will die.

“The mantra for killing is oṁ kṣīṃ śrīṃ ho kṣaḥ [insert name]^[22]māṁsamāraya^[23] phaṭ.

“Caṇḍeśvarī’s mantra is oṁ kṣīṃ he caṇḍeśvarī^[24] hūṁ śrī svāhā.

“Kulikeśvarī’s mantra is oṁ lāṃ kaṃ^[25]kulikeśvarī he pheṃ svāhā.

“Maheśvarī’s mantra is oṁ māṃ maheśvarī hūṁ śrī heṃ pheṃ.

“Kālikā’s mantra is oṁ kili vikarāla śrīḥ kṣīṃ kṣīṃ hūṁ phaṭ svāhā.

“Carcikā’s mantra is oṁ caṁ carcaya carcaya hūṁ hrīḥ.

“The goddess Khaṇḍā’s^[26] bali-offering mantra is oṁ camuṇḍe daha daha paca paca idaṃ baliṃ gṛhṇa gṛhṇa hūṁ pheṃ heṃ phaṭ svāhā.

“The Goddess Umā’s mantra is oṁ hrī hāḥ hūṁ śrī phaṭ svāhā.

“The mantra for consecrating body, speech, and mind is oṃ āḥ hūṃ.^[27]

“The mantra for any act of killing is oṁ hūṁ kṣiṃ śrīṃ oṁ ghaṃ [insert name] hi māraya māraya hūṁ phaṭ.^[28]

“The expelling mantra is oṁ kṣiṃ ha hāṁ [insert name] ucchaṭaya hūṁ phaṭ.

“The mantra for paralyzing an enemy is oṁ maṁ jaṁ kṣaṁ.

“One should incant a mouse’s tail seven times with the mantra oṁ jaṁ hūṁ hastistaṃbhaya phaṭ. An elephant will be paralyzed when struck with it.

“One should incant the flesh of a cow with the mantra oṁ khaḥ haḥ phaṭ ghoṭa­kastam­bhanam. A horse will be paralyzed when struck with it.

“One should incant tiger skin with the mantra oṁ muḥ hāṁ sarvapaśūn^[29] staṁbhāya mohāya hūṁ phaṭ. Buffalo, dogs, elephants, cows, jackals, tigers, and bears will undoubtedly be paralyzed when struck with it. F.49.a

“The snake-paralyzing mantra is oṁ mahānanta hūṁ haḥ. If one incants silver with this mantra seven times and hits a snake with it, the snake will be paralyzed.^[30]

“The mantra for rendering a person mute^[31] is oṁ mukhaṃ stambhaya [insert name] vaṃ phaṭ.

“The mantra for paralyzing swords and the like is oṁ hrīḥ maṁ raṁ camuṇḍa haḥ śrī hūṁ phaṭ.

“The mantra for paralyzing a dice player is oṁ mahilala bhilala bhilala ha hoḥ.

“The mantra for bewildering a woman is oṁ ghaṃ hūṁ.

“The great bali offering mantra that subdues enemies is oṁ haḥ kaha kaha malinimukhe prasādhaya prasādhaya mahākāla buddhajñāṃ prahitosi māraya māraya kāraya kāraya sarva­duṣṭāṃ praduṣṭān gṛhṇa gṛhṇa mara mara kha kha khāhi khāhi śīghraṃ daha daha paca paca hūre hūre maṃ raṃ hūṁ phaṭ | idaṃ baliṃ graha graha śrī svāhā.

“This is for hostile and contentious people who act in opposition to the Buddha’s teaching. One should incant a bowl make of a human skull and full of food with this mantra and present the bali offering on the eighth day of the waning moon, and they will instantly die, contract a deadly fever, or be incinerated, or their head will split open. This great bali offering mantra overcomes enemies.

“The killing mantra is oṁ camuṇḍe hana hana daha daha hūṁ phaṭ.

“The mantra for killing enemies is oṁ hūṁ māṁ maṃ māraya svāhā.

“hūṁ phaṭ | atha bhagavān bodhi­sattvā mahā­sattvā mahā­kāruṇikā | tadyathā | oṁ kārāla­vikaṭeśvara hūlu hūlu kili kili mahākaṅkālahala kṣāṁ śrīṁ vaṁ caṁ maṁ haṁ hūṁ mahānan­deśvarāya svāhā. This mantra should be recited seven times a day while washing the face, and one will be attractive to everyone. All one’s enemies will be pacified, all one’s actions will succeed, and whatever one desires will be granted twofold. This is the mantra for Mahākāla, the dhāraṇī that brings delight in every sādhana.^[32]

“oṁ mahākāla hūṁ hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ svāhā. One brings about the result by accomplishing the entire collection of ritual actions.”

Chapter 4: Consecration

“Now I will present the chapter on consecration. The disciple must first recite the mantra for the two-armed form of Mahākāla ten thousand times and then receive initiation. The sage is first consecrated with the vase following the specific set of five consecrations in which they are furnished with a bell and vajra, sprinkled with water, and so forth. The sixth consecration is bestowed according to the vajra stages. The seventh consecration is the specific point at which they unite with an insight consort. The disciple copulates with the yoginīs during the eighth consecration, during the ninth semen is produced, and during the tenth they are consecrated with sky water. Accomplishing the sequence of these eleven consecrations in the correct way^[33] will give rise to the respective states. Just like those slain by the tawny-colored one,^[34] the sage should secretly maintain this sequential accomplishment of quiescent wisdom^[35] using the five ambrosias and the insight consorts.

One should perform this practice with a mother, a sister, a woman with deformed legs,^[36] a dwarfish woman, or a hunchbacked woman. All these designations should be understood as instructed.^[37]

“Once all that is complete, one should approach the eminent master for the appropriate consecration. The guru should examine the disciple and then give it. Then the disciple should say, ‘Master, since you possess the method, and since, Your Eminence, we have acted according to your every word, please teach us the correct path for abandoning the suffering of beings. Blessed One, please grant us the proper understanding of the consecration rite through its specific stages so that it might benefit beings, and so we might have the correct understanding of the time and duration of the rite.’ ”

Chapter 5: The Deity Consecration

^[38]“Now I will present the deity consecration. First, the goddesses and the like perform the vase consecration, and the eight goddesses grant the ambrosia. After water to drink and water to cool one’s feet are offered and praises are made, F.50.a the vases are empowered with the mantra oṁ kalaśābhina­yanaṃ^[39] snānaṁ oṁ śūnyatādhiṣṭhite svāhā.

“The goddesses, who are given the water consecration and the five ambrosias, will be filled with the six perfections. The goddesses will then let forth a rain of flowers. One will smell musk and sweet fragrances. Then one will be consecrated by Nārāyaṇa and the rest. One will be protected by all these deities’ samayas, and they will not abandon them even if it costs them their lives.”

Chapter 6: The Practice

At that point, the foremost goddesses such as Vajrabhūtinī and the others experienced doubt and were disheartened. They all asked the Blessed One, “Blessed One, please clear away our doubts. We have doubts about reaching accomplishment through song and the nine dramatic sentiments as explained in this chapter.^[40] What is the purpose of song and dance? What is conduct for one who is consecrated as the deity? How are they represented by the mudrās of anger and the like? How do you explain all the seed syllables in the chapter on mantras? What doubts have arisen about the seed syllables of these goddesses? What power do the seed syllables of the embodied beings have? Blessed One, how do samaya holders act?”

The Blessed One responded, “a ko yi gha ṇa pi ṭa ṭa yi ra hā hā kā re ma hā kā la | uccha la ya yi kakko le gha ṇa ḍa ma ru vajra ji yā yi | kā ru ṇe yā yi | na ro li yā yi | ta hiṃ ma hā māṃ sa ni ba bha re khā hi yā yi | pi ba yi ma ya ṇā ghaṇṭe | ha re kā li jñā ja ra pa yi sa yi bā yi yā yi | duṃ du ta ra mā ga pa i patte | ka stu ra kā ta tha ri sihla ca u sa ma lā gā bi yā yi | si li ni | bha ra māṃ sa kī ta hi la hi yā yi | nā ṭe gīṃ taṃ e ko na mu yi | lī lā bha ra ṇa mā lā gha ri yā yi | ta hiṃ pa ṇi yā yi | sa hā gā thi ṇa kun du ru pa yi yā yi | F.50.b ḍā ma ru nā da uccha li yā yi.^[41]

“ ‘Dancing’ means to be in union with Mahākāla, in whatever manner is pleasing, at dawn and with a mind immersed in meditative concentration. The mind steeped in familiarity^[42] refers to nothing other than the mother yoginīs^[43] who are the suchness of all buddhas. These dances and songs give rise to supreme bliss. This is precisely what protects oneself and protects the gathering. It is the five ambrosias, and it is the mantra focused on power, the recitation of which effortlessly performs activities in the world.^[44] One should therefore always receive the siddhi.

“They should dance in the middle, over and over.^[45] The lord of the assembly himself first apprehends the smell of a vulture, and second the smell of Lakṣmī and Nārāyaṇa wafting toward his nose. Third, he enjoys the various smells of musk, saffron, and the like. This is the stage of a lord of yoga. After that, the song’s blessings create the sounds of bees, geese, cuckoos, and frogs. If one dances, all the sounds will be the same.^[46]

“Then there is the song’s^[47] blessing for the assembly. External beings, beginning with kinnaras and Nārāyaṇa, should follow samaya.^[48] All the symbols should be continuously displayed at the edge of a town, in a grove, or in a forest. The siddhis will then be certain.”

“Blessed One,” the Goddess asked, “please explain how those who are interested in benefiting the beings of Jambudvīpa and those who are interested in practicing alchemy make correct use of the methods for enthralling rites and so forth.”

The Blessed One replied, “One must correctly understand the four mudrās of the goddesses. I will teach everything only after that.”

The Goddess again said, “Please give a trustworthy explanation of the correct stages. Blessed One, will this not allow beings to gain great benefit?” F.51.a

“Goddess, I will explain this beginning in chapter eight. Those dwelling among the five families are guaranteed to attain their siddhis every day.”

Chapter 7: The Emergence of the Deities

“First, one should perform the ritual offering, confess one’s misdeeds and so forth, cultivate the four abodes of Brahmā, and the rest. Then, using the mantra oṁ śūnyatājñāna­vajra­svabhāvātmako ’haṃ, one should purify all illusory phenomena.

Chapter 8: Locating Openings in the Earth

At that point the Goddess asked, “Is there some method for poor beings who seek worldly wealth and possessions?” F.55.b

The Blessed One replied, “I will explain the procedures for the various siddhis in Jambudvīpa so that yogins who might perform them^[75] will attain all the earthly siddhis. The mantras used should follow the explanation given in the chapter on mantras.^[76]

“At night, in a vajra dwelling, one should consume various substances such as fish, meat, and blood and offer them as a bali to pacify vighnas.

“One who is oppressed by enemies should write the mantra on the leaf of a crown flower with yellow orpiment. Then, while employing it, one should write the target’s name and bury the leaf in the ground. Trample it with the left foot while reciting the mantra and visualizing Mahākāla’s form.

“Yogins who want to pacify them should wash a metal vessel with milk while incanting it with the mantra oṁ mahākālakāruṇika sarvaśatrūn mukhaṃ^[77] bandhaya stambhaya mohaya hūṁ heṃ phaṭ. They should make a finely ground mixture of the three hot spices, marking nut, fresh ginger, and costus root, and pour it into the vessel. They should then eat this with some honey. No enemy will be able cause bodily harm, and the body of the benefactor of the rite will increase in size.^[78]

“When this process is repeated for twenty-one days, the weak fire in the stomach will strengthen, at which point one should boil sap from a bodhi tree and yellow myrobalan with the roots of scarlet leadwort, long pepper, sudarśana root, and mustard oil and eat it with salt. When made into a pill over the course of twenty-one days, it will restore one’s previous physical form, one’s fire will be hot, and the siddhi will be indicated through a strong body.

“First, one should combine equal amounts of belleric myrobalan, Indian valerian root, emblic myrobalan, and sesame oil.^[79] Then make a large nāga, place this mixture in its mouth, and daub both eyes with owl’s blood. An opening under the earth will appear. Additionally, after placing the mixture in the nāga’s mouth, one should smear a mixture of mercury bonded with the sap of Indian mallow leaves, F.56.a blood, and camphor one one’s eyes. An opening under the earth will appear.

“One should mix mahākāla fruit, bitter gourd, rosary peas, and pomegranate seeds, combine the mixture with the three hot spices and honey, and cook it with black sesame. It should be used to purify the body, and then following the prescription for beans,^[80] it should be eaten. Within five days an opening under the earth will appear. If one carefully rubs it on their body they will be able to see as far as Mount Kailāsa and the like. If one washes with spring water, they will be as before.

“After combining balañjarī sap,^[81] vulture meat, and black sesame oil, one should consume it for twenty-one days. After that, one should use their own urine as a collyrium, and buried treasure will become visible.

“One should combine equal parts honey from an underground hive, fat from a nonvenomous snake, and cow bezoar and mix it into spring water. When applied to both eyes as a collyrium, one will be able to see any buried treasure within five cubits with perfect clarity.

“One should allow ambirolī sap,^[82] blood, cow bezoar, tannin,^[83] and cloth from a charnel ground to dry out^[84] and then fashion them into a wick. It should then be made into eye-black by burning it^[85] in goat fat in the skull of a brahmin. Afterward, it should be applied to the eyes to purify defilements. Additionally, one will still be able to see when their eyes are blindfolded.

“During the lunar mansion Svāti, one should purify themselves with a string of lotuses and sandalwood and daub a cloth eye-covering^[86] with saffron powder and musk. It should then be made it into eye-black by fashioning it into a wick and burning it^[87] in jackal fat within a human skull. Once it has cooled, it should be used as a collyrium, and an opening under the earth will appear. Afterward, one should rinse one’s eyes.

“One should cook the fat of a cow, then human fat, and then buffalo butter in a mixture of mercury, lead,^[88] and the three metals. After that, one should place the pill in one’s mouth and fast for three days. Then one should use one’s own saliva as a collyrium, and openings under the earth will appear.

“First, one should cleanse one’s bowels and fast for one day. F.56.b Cook onions and bhūmilatā oil,^[89] make fourteen pills, and eat them on the first day. Then one should eat twenty-one pills on the third day, thirty-three on the fourth day, thirty-five on the fifth day, and thirty-five again on the sixth and seventh days. Drink milk each day: goat milk on the eighth day, buffalo milk on the first and second days, the milk of a yellow cow on the third day, and ordinary milk through the nostrils on the fourth day. Then, during the fifth watch of the day, one should use their own urine as a collyrium, and an opening into the seven subterranean levels will appear.

“One should wash with water containing the three myrobalan fruits, bdellium, and cow urine. Then one should consume a mixture of white mustard oil, honey, molasses, the three hot spices, onions, and ghee and then drink goat’s milk. After seven days have passed, one should cook bhūmilatā in black sesame oil. One should take an amount equal in size to five twigs^[90] and eat it together with sesame oil and barley for an additional seven days. For an entire day and night on the twenty-first day, one will certainly see openings under the earth appear.

“On the eighth day of the lunar month, one should recite the mantra of four-armed Mahākāla five thousand times, consume alcohol, meat, fish, the five thorns,^[91] and so forth, and then worship the goddess. Next, by applying the collyrium to the eyes one will see terrestrial beings such as yakṣas. If this eminent procedure does not work, it would be as if I have committed the five actions entailing immediate retribution.^[92] If Mahākāla has not arisen, it will not be my authentic collyrium.

“One should cook with joyweed,^[93] Chinese wedelia, false daisy, bamboo shoots, the three hot spices, dhak tree bark, and black nightshade, and then cook that mixture seven times together with kumuḍa flesh.^[94] One should then cleanse their bowels with black sesame oil and, while subsisting only on barley meal,^[95] eat two portions^[96] on the first day, F.57.a three portions on the second day, five portions on the third day, six portions on the fourth day, eight portions on the fifth day, ten portions on the sixth day, and fifteen portions on the seventh day. On the eighth day, one should smear both eyes with honey from an underground hive, and an opening under the earth will appear.

“One should drink milk for twenty-one days by taking goat’s milk through the left nostril. Then one should make a collyrium with cow bezoar and honey and smear it on both eyes. All buried treasure will then be visible.

“One should pulverize a mixture of khoṭī seeds, sesbania seeds, the juice of waved-leaf fig leaves, the juice of water lettuce, cow bezoar, menstrual blood,^[97] datura juice, juice from the roots and leaves of spider lily,^[98] and garlic together with medicinal herbs, honey from an underground hive, and bile from a nonvenomous snake. It should be made into pills and, after two days, applied as a collyrium at dusk. An opening under the earth will appear.

“One should combine honey from an underground hive with ghilaka grains, then muddle^[99] them with butter from a yellow cow, cow bezoar, semen, and blood. One should then fast until hungry and then use this as a collyrium. An opening under the earth will appear. Know that if one writes the mantra fourteen times on birch bark, places it their mouth, and then applies the aforementioned collyrium to their eyes during the daytime, all buried treasures will become visible.

“One can properly employ the collyrium siddhi to the extent that these procedures are correctly followed. Yogins should employ the procedure based on the result they seek. They should always develop the specific intent in relation to what is gained. They should visualize Mahākāla’s circle while residing in a charnel ground for five days and consuming the five ambrosias to pacify vighnas.

“No matter where the treasure^[100] was permanently interred, they will see it there as it was before. F.57.b The ground should be purified and blessed by bali offerings, offerings of attractive foods, and mantra and then carefully excavated. Otherwise the siddhi will not be attained.”

“Blessed One,” the Goddess asked, “what are the characteristics of places where treasures^[101] that eliminate the suffering of beings are located?”

The Blessed One replied, “The characteristics of such a place are as follows: whatever medicinal substances that are appropriate and inappropriate to speak of are present. All the food and provisions needed for rites of protection and so forth will be available. Yogins who truly possesses the siddhi described in this chapter can see whatever they are looking for day or night and can be as confident in it as if it were a water lily or other flower, or smoke and so forth. If they hear the sound of mice in an empty house, there is definitely a treasure in that spot. Or, if they see a cloud before them out in the countryside that stops where flowers are scattered about, there is a treasure. If they incant a banyan tree with the sixteen-arm Mahākāla mantra seven times and supplicate the deity, they will definitely see the treasure while dreaming there. Any spot where they place some of the hair of their head will contain a treasure. A jewel can be found on the spot where the sound of a peacock is heard. It can be used to fulfill the aims of beings.”

Chapter 9: A Dialogue with the Goddess About the Pill Siddhi

“Now, for the benefit of all yogins,^[103] I will teach a chapter on the pill siddhi.”

The Blessed One continued, “The term guṭikā, or “pill,” expresses the combination of body, speech, and mind. Gu refers to being based in the body, ṭi refers to the nature of speech, and kā refers to the mind. When all three are combined, it spells the word guṭikā, or “pill.” This pill, a small mass that is the single taste of all three, is the nature of the wisdom of equality related to the two organs, the blazing fire that consumes the world at the end of an eon. It is the primary cause of the consummate bliss of beings.” F.58.a

“Blessed One,” the Goddess asked, “what do you mean when you say that it is the primary cause of the consummate bliss of beings?”

The Blessed One responded, “One should gather some Indian valerian root and the root of utpalamadhika during a lunar eclipse^[104] and store them. Then, during a solar eclipse in the lunar mansion of Kṛttikā, one should wrap them well in the three metals and place them in one’s mouth. The pill siddhi will certainly be attained.

“Following the daily sequence, one should use banyan root on the first day, the root of a palmyra tree that has been struck by lightning^[105] on the second day, coconut palm on the third day, rosary pea on the fourth day, menstrual blood on the fifth day, and, on the sixth, the supreme siddhi. The Blessed One then engages the samaya of the pill. Otherwise, the siddhi will not come about.

“On the fourteenth day of the waning moon during Puṣya, one should blend viḍāla root and the flowers of touch-me-not. When smeared on the body in the proper sequence the appropriate pill siddhi will be attained.

“One should make a pill at dusk using jalu root,^[106] then mix it with mercury and apply it. One will then be invisible.

“On the eighth day of the waning moon, one should take the flesh and blood of a person who has died from a knife wound and perform the visualization of six-armed Mahākāla.^[107] At sunrise, one should place a pill made of the five ambrosias^[108] in their mouth and become invisible.

“On a Tuesday one should mix mahugaga seeds^[109] with one’s own semen, then mix that with a powder consisting of the three metals. One should then combine the mixture with the juice of pattrapiśācī,^[110] make a pill using cat’s bile, hide it in a charnel ground for seven days, and then retrieve it at night. To eliminate any vighnas, one should recite the mantra for the sixteen-armed Mahākāla, reciting it seven times to effect protection while presenting a bali offering. This will pacify vighnas in the area. When one inserts the pill into their rectum they will be invisible while traveling on a road.

“One should take an unspoiled spotted śakula fish^[111] and some embers from a charnel ground and perform five hundred fire offerings with menstrual blood while chanting the oblation mantra oṁ karāla vikarāla mahānanda hūṁ gṛhṇa gṛhṇa kaṭakī svāhā.^[112]F.58.b This is the siddhi mantra. One will become invisible if they take an eye from this fish and place it in their mouth. A person who uses this siddhi method, which is difficult to find in Jambudvīpa, is certain to succeed.

“One should take the tongue of a child born on a Monday and leave it in sour gruel for one day and in goat butter for two days. One should then remove it and leave it in menstrual blood for three days, make it into a pill, cook it in human fat, and place it in quicksilver^[113] for seven days. One should next leave it in honey for five days and in the skull of a low caste person for one day, then take it out, coat it with cat’s blood, and let it dry. One should muddle it with the flesh of a bhadra bird and the flesh of a jackal, shape it into a pill, and cook it. If one places it in their mouth they will become invisible. Goddess, this is astonishing.

“One should crush śika,^[114] camphor, dried ginger, clear liquor,^[115] hārā,^[116] and the juice of datura leaves and form it into a pill. This is the supreme pill.

“There is also a recipe that combines sixteen ingredients. One should take human fat^[117] and fat from someone who died the previous day^[118] and crush it in the skull of a six- or four-year-old brahmin. One should then mix giṅheka fat^[119] with the juice of simbi leaves^[120] and smear it on their body. One will certainly become invisible.

“One should make a wick from a cloth eye-covering in a brahmin’s skull filled with human fat and cow fat that has been rendered in a copper vessel from Nepal. One should then remove it, mix it with the juice of jantupiśācī,^[121] and use it as a collyrium and a forehead mark. One will become invisible.”

“Blessed One, you have taught this to benefit the beings of Jambudvīpa. I will also explain a little bit about pills.

“If one recites the mantras described in the chapter on mantras seven times while offering supplications, one will attain the supreme pill siddhi. There is no other way. One will be successful if everything is perfectly complete. F.59.a The various things that have been explained will lead to success.

“First, one should powder nisundara petals,^[122] mix equal parts sedakaṇḍā powder,^[123] sheep’s urine, and human flesh, grind the mixture, and make it into a pill. One will become invisible to the eye.^[124] Whenever one wants to be visible again, one should simply consume a sour gruel, and one will become visible.

“One should harvest banyan root during the lunar mansion Citrā, valerian root during the lunar mansion in Bharaṇī, soapberry root during the lunar mansion Pūrvabhadrapadā, and star jasmine root during the lunar mansion Mṛgaśirā. Then, one should make a pill following the proper sequence on the fifth lunar day by combining these in equal amounts, crushing them, and mixing them with rainwater. Once the goddess’ mantra has been recited, one will be invisible. To do this on a regular basis, one should place it in black milk until it dissolves. One will then succeed. If ones does not have any black milk, one will be successful by performing the sādhana with the five families, offering gifts of food and curd to a brahmin, and offering the preceptor alcohol.

“One should crush sweet flag, costus, long pepper, dried ginger, yellow myrobalan, emblic myrobalan, neem, vetiver root, and soapberries with the flesh of a stork, an owl, and a man’s testicles.^[125] This should be placed in sour gruel along with goat butter for seven days. One will become invisible. Whenever one wants to be visible again, they should consume sour gruel and become visible.

“One should combine lotus anther pollen, earth from a termite mound, and the dirt on a uraria plant, make a pill, and place it in their rectum.^[126] One will then become invisible.

“If these procedures do not work, it will be as if I had committed the five actions entailing immediate retribution.^[127] One should repeatedly maintain the five families as the true state of the five senses. One should take the five families, coat it with the three metals,^[128] go to a charnel ground, and embrace the consort. One should recite the mantra aloud, and if people hear the sound filling the air and emerge from their homes, one should apply the collyrium in order to not be seen.

“One should take fresh neem and rub it on their body. On a Sunday one should rub sumāgadhā^[129] on their body with the left hand and then rub their body with human fat on the eighth day of the lunar month. If one follows this exact procedure, one will become invisible. F.59.b

“On a Tuesday one should take rubies from a river.^[130] On Wednesday, one should take a jeweled sword and sever the nāga Śeṣa’s tongue, take it, and first place it in a golden vessel. Later, one should remove it and coat the outside with copper and the three metals. If one places it in their mouth they will become invisible.

“One should incant śravanti root^[131] and tie it with string. One should then retrieve it on an auspicious day, cook it with sea salt and human fat, and eat it. One will then become invisible.

“One should incant sesbania leaves with the Goddess’ mantra seven times and leave them in some sour gruel for one day. One should remove them and hide them in a neem tree, then remove them again and place them in a banyan tree. After that, one should pulverize them on the thirteenth day of the waning moon in Mṛgaśirā and rub them on their body. One will be invisible for as long as an entire year.

“For the Goddess’ great pill, one should make twenty-one pills the size of five soapberries out of the seven pollen flowers, coconut flowers, kaṭaka leaves, samayagola,^[132] cobra saffron, piṇḍatagara root,^[133] the roots of tripura and datura, and the three myrobalan fruits. Then, one should make twenty-one pills out of piṇḍatagara, menstrual blood,^[134] and sorghum^[135] and combine them with twenty-one mahākāla fruit pills. One should crush them with honey and make five pills. One should place the first pill in their mouth, the second in their rectum, and the third and fourth in their right and left hands, and one should use the fifth as a forehead mark. One will certainly become invisible.

“Then, one should pick the roots of a distilling grain on a Tuesday that falls on the twelfth day of the waning moon and cook them with human fat. F.60.a One should make pills with the juice of a distilling root^[136] and the juice of the bhagini plant, incant them seven times with the Goddess’ mantra, make them into a pill, and place it in their rectum. One will become invisible.

“If one recites the Goddess’ mantra for seven days and then eats incanted lizard meat^[137] and drinks alcohol, one will become entirely invisible.”

Then the Blessed One said, “Goddess, what you have said about the power of all siddhis has revealed them as they are. A capable person who performs them can manifest any of the respective siddhis.”

“Blessed One,” the Goddess replied, “may this be taught just as you have said here, so that it may be of benefit and bring happiness to the beings of Jambudvīpa.”

Chapter 10: The Foot-Salve Siddhi

“Now I will explain the various utterly inconceivable characteristics related to the swift feet siddhi.”

The Blessed One continued, “For swift feet, one will attain the highest siddhi if they recite the mantra of the twelve-armed form five hundred thousand times. On the first day one should grind mercury, menstrual blood, the juice of dhak tree roots, and śabarī,^[138] make a paste using camel urine, and rub it on their feet. One can then move through the air. When prepared and combined with lunar water, one will attain the eight siddhis. One should infuse it with moonlight in the same manner and^[139] add five extra parts of grain. When one smears it on their feet they will be able to move through the air.

“Should a lunar eclipse occur, at that time one should take one one-thousandth and incant it until the eclipse has run its course. One should then smear honey on their feet, and they will be able to move through the air.^[140] When worshiped by a samaya holder, the Blessed One will grant them the unequaled siddhi.

“During a solar eclipse one should collect sea salt, salt, and kodo millet, incant it with the mantra of the sixteen-armed form seven times, and smear it on one’s feet. One will be able to move through the air. F.60.b

“One should combine a girl’s first menses, olibanum, and boiled water and incant it with the previously mentioned mantra. One should use this to wash their feet as they please, and the siddhi will attained. It will gradually subside over the course of the night.

“One should evenly mix piṇḍagolaka, dried ginger, yellow myrobalan, and marking nut and smear it on their feet. One will be able to move through the air. If this does not work, it means that one has committed one or more of the five acts entailing immediate retribution.

“One should take an appropriate amount of ghee, mix it with the twenty-five flowers, star jasmine flowers, and human fat and offer this into a fire while reciting the mantra oṁ dhamu dhamu kṣamu kṣa svāhā. One should then muddle cobra saffron, wet-flower,^[141] the fat of a yellow cow, and human fat and rub it on their feet. One will be able to move through the air in relation to each or all the flowers.^[142]

“One should rub their feet with śilapataka incanted one hundred times with the mantra oṁ maṇidhāriṇī mahākāliṇī kha kha khāhi khahi ghana ghana^[143] ghātaya ghātaya cala cala hūṁ hrīḥ hrīḥ haḥ. One will be able to move through the air.

“A person who wants to move above the surface of the earth should take bala root, cow’s tongue root, śopagalikā,^[144] yellow myrobalan root, and turmeric, increase them threefold, and muddle them with a mixture of elephant musk and yellow arsenic. When one rubs the mixture on their feet with honey, one will certainly soar above the surface of the earth.”

Then the Goddess said, “I would like to faithfully explain five procedures that ensure success when properly given.^[145] One should gather velvet bean juice on the first day, beleric myrobalan juice on the second and third days, five sahor fruits on the fourth day,^[146] and banyan leaves on the fifth day. One should pour goat urine over them and let them soak for five days, leave them in buffalo milk for five days, F.61.a and then leave them in camel urine for five days. Then one should grind them with yellow arsenic and vetiver root and combine the two with mercury. After that, one should add sacrifice tree to make a pill, place it in some mother of pearl with one’s own semen, and rub it on both feet. One will then be able to move through the air.

“One should combine lunar water with spider lily, two phaṇikiraṇa leaves, śilapataka juice, a fragrant and extremely bitter plant,^[147] a pleasant-sounding plant, hiraṇyaparikara,^[148] and sugatramutramukhi^[149] and soak them in white mustard oil. If one smears them on their entire body, one will move through the air for a single watch.

“If this fails during a lunar eclipse, one should collect a black cat’s bile on the fifth day of the waxing moon during Puṣya and the saliva and bile of a peacock and a ram’s blood on the seventh day and rub them on the big toe of each foot. One will move through the air for a single watch.

“If nothing happens, then the person pursuing that practice has harmed all the teachings, and I myself will have spoken deceptively.

“One should take spider lily root and sarvadhalī,^[150] crush them with cow meat, rub the mixture on their feet, and then rinse it off with vetiver root. One will then move through the air.

“One should combine purple fleabane,^[151] vetiver root,^[152] cutch tree sap, sukhaṭa, castor oil, and Siamese rough-brush and pulverize them with the three metals, indarī,^[153] bilva fruit seeds, vatava seeds,^[154] neem seeds, and satani^[155] root and leaf and rub the mixture on their feet. One will then move through the air. If it does not work, then the practitioner has committed one of the actions entailing immediate retribution. I^[156] will also have committed a violation due to attachment to the entire Dharma and the tantras, and I will have spoken falsely and been deceptive. F.61.b

“Additionally, one should sit on a hilltop and recite the Goddess’ mantra seven times. One should crush realgar powder, daub tree leaves, and royal jasmine leaves and seeds and rub them on their feet. They will then move through the air.

“Also, if one rubs on their feet a pill made from a juice made from seven roots and camphor water^[157] on their feet, they will certainly move through the air.

“This supreme means of bestowing the various siddhis was composed for the sake of those people who understand ultimate reality. Such a person has been adorned with various verses.^[158]

Chapter 11: Adorning the Goddess with Power

Then the dialogue turned to the topic of having power over all phenomena.

The Goddess asked, “If all phenomena are like space, does one produce the nature of a respective siddhi in the same way that a goose, the king of birds, moves on the ocean, or does it come about through remaining in the form of the tutelary deity?”

“Goddess,” the Blessed One responded, “those who, through their white light, bestow the desired stainless siddhi on those who would otherwise seek pure siddhi through the momentary presence and absence of thoughts should practice on the first day, and while so doing they should gain stability through repetition until it becomes easy.”^[159]

“Blessed One,” the Goddess asked, “is it possible for a person who is momentarily confused through the presence of thought to be successful by correctly engaging with the five families and the like? How is it possible for realms to be protected by a single mantra? Does this allow for accomplishment of the resultant siddhi, the final great siddhi?”

The Blessed One responded, “Goddess, why do you say that? Swift feet indicates familiarity with the great meditation practice that is definitive for all siddhis. The pill siddhi indicates the union that is a great assembly.^[160]F.62.a The collyrium siddhi indicates the characteristic qualities of samaya. The sword siddhi indicates union with the supreme state. As long as there is no conceptual thought, it is not the peace associated with proponents of existence. That would be confusion. The stainless mantra surely leads to the attainment of siddhi. The mercury siddhi indicates the state of supreme joy. Because people seek them, the rest, including the siddhis of moving through the sky and on the earth, also come about. One can also attain a long life. One who makes effort in the practices from this chapter will become a king. The king among subtle channels is the avadhūtī.”

“Blessed One,” the Goddess asked, “how does consuming everything and perceiving it in conformity with suchness lead one to attain siddhi?”

“Goddess,” the Blessed One replied, “I will explain how the meeting of the two is the cause for attaining the corresponding bliss. The sign of sexual arousal is nothing other than the sexual arousal that comes from the two organs conjoined. This bliss is bestowed upon someone when their mind is in equipoise.

“The sovereign tantra should be written down by yogins bearing the sign of being consecrated through visualizing the sixteen-armed form and by those who are drawn to the five families. The head of anyone who doubts what I have said will burst open like the top of a wild basil plant, or they will contract many illnesses, have a short lifespan, and become blind.”

Chapter 12: The Collyrium Siddhi

“Now I will present a chapter on the collyrium siddhi. The collyrium is said to be the single taste that follows the union of the vajra and lotus.^[161] Externally, the collyrium allows one to fly like a vulture.

“One should gather the bones of a rat on the eighth day of the waning moon. Then on a Sunday one should make them into wicks in an earthen bowl using the cloth of an eye covering.^[162]F.62.b After that, one should use dog fat in a brahmin’s skull to decoct the collyrium. When one rubs it on their eyes, they will move through the air like the eye of a raven.

“Next, one should make two pills from high-quality iron.^[163] Once that is complete, one should consume them on a Tuesday and then lead a black bull to a designated place and strike it until it cries out. One should then ride the bull while eating food, and at dawn one should recite the mantra for the sixteen-armed form. Apply the collyrium and dismount from the bull, and one will certainly move through the air and dwell among the families.

“On the fourteenth day of the dark half of the lunar month, one should gradually crush sulfur, lead oxide, saffron, musk, sandalwood, jamun, and olibanum on a stone mortar and make the mixture into a pill. Combine it with honey to make a collyrium. One will then drift about anywhere like a cloud.

“I will explain. Yogins who have spots on their heart and throat,^[164] are devoted to Mahākāla, and have a long nose^[165] are certain to possess the collyrium siddhi. This is the supreme siddhi for those beings with inferior or middling faculties.”

Then the Goddess said, “One should grind up śabarī root and honey, mix them together, and smear them on their eyes. This results in the siddhi that allows one to drift through the sky like a cloud and move about as desired.

“One should gather some datura root on a Friday, sunflower on Saturday, sesbania root on Sunday, and the bile of a black cat on Monday. One should then muddle them with yellow arsenic and honey and use the mixture as a collyrium on the eyes. One will drift about like a cloud.

“On a uniformly colored stone, one should muddle jayara fruit^[166] extract with sunflower, bilva flowers, F.63.a black salt, peacock^[167] bile, and honey and apply the mixture to both eyes as a collyrium. That person will soar through the air like a vulture. Goddess, this is like the swift feet siddhi, except that it is the easier siddhi.”

Chapter 13: The Mercury Siddhi^[168]

“Now, for those in Jambudvīpa who seek the supreme joy,” the Blessed One continued, “I will explain the mercury siddhi that liberates beings. One should use mercury that is highly potent and productive. The secret use^[169] of clear language, as well as esoteric language, coarse language, and signs, expresses the attainment of the great joy of supreme bliss. Yogins who understand the science of mercury will fully generate its immeasurable power. It has potency as a mercury pill when it has been collected together. The two syllables of the term rasa, “mercury,” are received during the stage in which the two are unified.^[170]

“First, a person preparing mercury should grind it in goat’s milk and combine it with the juice of datura leaves, sea salt, salt, and cow urine. Add starfruit juice, let it sit in the sun for three watches of the day, and then rinse it with rainwater and spring water. Take human blood and pomelo juice, one portion of gold dust, twenty-four portions of quicksilver, and leave them in a juice made from velvet bean leaves for one month. Then grind it and rinse it again in the same way.

“One should place the letter in the middle of the second consonant group before the first letter of the name. At what is identified as the end, place the first letter of the fourth consonant group and ornament it with the fourth vowel. One should then write the first letter of the sixth consonant group at what is identified as the middle, and the final letter of the fourth consonant group at the end of that. F.63.b Ornament the two previous syllables with the vowel a, and it spells jayantī.^[171]

“After heating the juice from that plant’s leaves over hot coals, the adept should prepare one pala and three portions of white mica powder, stabilize it, and mix it so that it increases fourfold. Skilled yogins should refine it for one month while observing it each day. They should then add the mica to copper. If it has transformed into gold by the twenty-first day, then it is fit for human consumption.

“If one has abstained from leafy vegetables, sour foods, and women for the entire twenty-one-day period^[172] during which it is consumed, then any food one desires will come to them. Their wrinkles and grey hair will clear up, they will live for one thousand years, and they will avoid all lower rebirths. One will have a healthy body and an extremely sharp intellect.

“If one adds tin, it will become silver following the above procedure.

“The mantra to recite during this procedure when performing the bali offering is:^[173]

oṁ balimaṇi raṃ hūṁ jaḥ rakṣaṇi rakṣami rakṣami kha kha ghṛṇa ghṛṇa baliṃ mahābhīṣaṇaṃ prasādhaya prasādhaya hulu hulu phaṭ svāhā.

“A large bali offering should be performed three times every day for seven days using black gram and rose apple, human flesh, alcohol, fragrances, incense, garlands, lamps, powders, parasols, bells, banners, and the like along with blood and rice. Then one should recite the mantra for the sixteen-armed form while performing this mercury rite, and the siddhi will undoubtedly be attained before long.

“One should take mercury and add the juice of chimili^[174] leaves and the juice of boiled oṣaṇa leaves.^[175] One should then take some alambu^[176] and progressively combine it with snake’s tongue, gorakṣataṇḍula^[177] leaves, and sunflower and then grind all of it with black mica. It should be all be covered well, above and below, in a vessel, placed on a fire pit the size of an elephant’s foot, and allowed to harden in the vessel. F.64.a One should take individual palas of hardened white tin and add them to each of the portions so that they turn into silver. The adept should then consume all of it.

“One should take mercury, combine it with cat’s bile, and then rinse it with the juice of a plantain. It should be crushed with powdered red ocher, plantain tree, alkali, and the saturated earth beneath a burned corpse. One should then rinse it with the fat of a jackal and rosary pea juice, place it in sour gruel and vetiver root, and let it sit for six watches over the course of a day. After that one should remove it, rinse it with hot water, and leave it in rose apple juice for two days. It should then be rinsed, first in human fat and then in a solution of water from a rain-fed spring, and left for one watch of the day. Know that this is how it is properly prepared.^[178]

“Now for the preparation of firewood:^[179] Between the light and dark halves of the lunar month, one should take a single leaf and leave it in a mixture of sour gruel, buffalo curd, and goat’s milk for one day. Then one dips it in a mixture of liquified cow dung, fluid excreted from an elephant, and sour gruel and removes it. One should grind it with rohita carp bile and a dog’s bile and let it dry for five full days.^[180] Kardoñjana^[181] should be added, and the mixture allowed to dry for one day. An adept should then use it to refine mica, and they will master what has been described in this tantra.

“Someone who has purified it through these two refining procedures and is well equipped with all requisites should take one pala of powdered mercury^[182] and four palas of powdered tin and place them in a vessel with double the amount of mica. They should add the juice of kurchi root and then take raja juice,^[183] juice from sesbania leaves, and sweet flag and let the mixture break down over a fortnight until it becomes granular. Next they should light a fire and infuse one portion of that granular powder into one pala of tin. It will then transform into mercury.^[184]F.64.b

“A yogin who takes that same prepared mercury and consumes it each time he has sex^[185] will, by following the aforementioned procedure, perfect the corporeal siddhi.

“One should cook the juice of pomelo leaves with black sesame oil in a copper vessel, apply mercury, and allow it to dry out for three watches of the day. It should then be muddled with the juice of velvet bean leaves and poured into a vessel with the roots of boswellia and coconut palm, bhadrapatralatā, lodhra, mung bean, and gagana. One should next pour these ingredients into a vessel, apply clay to the top and bottom, and cook the mixture in a hole the size of an elephant’s foot until it solidifies. Yogins who eat this will become Śiva’s equal and be unrivaled,^[186] and they will be successful within one month. If it does not work, then I am not Mahākāla. One can also infuse the preparation with a portion of copper following the above instructions, and it will certainly turn into gold.”

“Blessed One,” the Goddess asked, “there is some doubt regarding the day on which the siddhi and mercury will be produced. In that case, Blessed One, if someone considered exalted such as myself is indifferent to kakkola^[187] and adopts the conduct of wandering the earth, are they certain to attain the mercury siddhi?”

“Goddess,” the Blessed One replied, “the mere fact that you are a goddess means you will always clearly understand. To the extent that someone lacks that capacity, they cannot ward off virulent disease, nor prevent being stricken with ocular distortions, liver diseases, and bone marrow diseases. That is why people who carry out this practice should also focus on the eight siddhis.

“When someone brings about liberation from the horrors of the great ocean of cyclic existence while regarding it as an illusion and thus acts free from plurality, they abandon their previously accumulated wicked behavior and effortlessly attain these various siddhis here on this earth.” F.65.a

Chapter 14: Mercury Sādhanas

The Goddess said, “Based on what you said, how can the full complement of obstructing beings be overcome, so that skilled yogins can perform this practice in its entirety from the start? They should make a single leaf that contains the black and white substances,^[189] grind it with sour gruel, and again divide it into two portions with sona juice.^[190] Then they should use the juice of dhak tree leaves, the juice of white Chinese hibiscus, cow urine, and rohita carp bile that has been refined nine times,^[191] followed by karuli^[192] and pomelo. If this is completed by the end of the day they will certainly attain siddhi.

“A person with faith should mix together samudra, datura leaf juice, earth from a cremation pyre, yellow orpiment, and malabar nut and place it in the sunshine. They should then repeatedly immerse it in a mixture of lemon juice that has been soaked in mercury for one night. Whatever one desires will come to pass. This should be performed by an adept.

“If, when undertaking a mercury procedure, an obstacle suddenly arises and creates problems, or if an obstructive person with brown or white hair disrupts the process, then at that time one should perform a bali offering to the best of their ability. One should offer meat, alcohol, flowers, incense, perfumes, garlands, and the flesh of domestic fowl to the incarnation of a protector deity that has arrived. If a person with a dark complexion manifests, they are an incarnation of a yakṣa and should be given the previously mentioned bali offering as well.

“If they arrive within seven days to contaminate the mercury, one should call to mind the following mantra:

oṁ yakṣa kīlikīli­nāma phaṭkāra rakṣa rakṣa diśam bandha mukham bandha hastam bandha bandha sarvāṅgaṃ hūṁ hūṁ raṁ hūṁ phaṭ svāhā.^[193]

“This mantra will protect one from any manifestation. Yogins who know it and use it at that time to subjugate the obstructing beings will definitely attain siddhi. F.65.b

“If incarnations of yakṣiṇīs manifest before one’s eyes when undertaking the procedure or manifest suddenly, they can be recognized as a woman with a dark complexion and red eyes, one who is slight, short in stature, eloquent, and has a sweet voice. One should respectfully give her some jujube and perform the bali offering to attain siddhi.

“If the one who is present has a yellow complexion, is tall, has long calves and limbs, is very attractive, and has features such as eyebrows that flow upward and are of two colors, she will create obstacles, disrupt the mercury procedure, and act violently.

“If a woman taking the form of one’s mother or wife or likewise the form of one’s niece, paternal grandmother, mother-in-law, mistress, and so forth appears at night, one should protect oneself with the mantra oṁ kaṭī me jaḥ hūṁ. One should touch the mercury with chalk while incanting it with the mantra seven times, pierce it, and continue speaking the mantra to the extent desired. Using one’s perfect vision, one should check one’s dreams and then, based on that, make the mercury correctly and perform the practice of receiving it. If there appears a negative sign or one indicating not to do it, one will know that it will not work.

“One should grind menstrual blood,^[194] bottle gourd, and mercury. One should then take one pala of that mixture, add a sixth of a portion of gold, place it in a stone vessel, and mix in black-cat bile and mercury. Later, the thin mixture should be poured out and muddled with buffalo urine on the third day, human flesh on the fourth day, a droṇa of emblic myrobalan on the fifth day, marking nut on the sixth day, and the three myrobalan fruits on the seventh day. After that, one should rinse it with human urine, add lemon juice, and leave it in the sun for one watch of the day. Next it should be removed and placed on a stick along with juice made of velvet bean, three-leaved caper, kurchi, himaraṅga,^[195] Indian leadwort, and mung bean. One should rinse it with velvet bean and sesbania juice and let it dry out for three days.F.66.a One should then take four palas of white mica that has undergone the aforementioned purification, process it every day for twelve months, refine it for a month in juice made from emblic myrobalan and sudarśana leaves,^[196] and finish it by stirring it to the right for as long as possible. At that point Brahmā and the gods of his realm will grant the incomparable siddhi. If one eats it every day and night for fifteen days, one can invariably turn the eight metals to gold simply by touching them. If both the sun and moon disappear,^[197] at that very moment one will produce whatever one desires.

Moreover, one will be able to enthrall women from within the midst of a great army.”

Chapter 15: An Account of Royal Lineages

^[198]“Blessed One,” the Goddess said, “please describe those places where people live and are reborn, and those places where the mortal and immortal lords and yoginīs dwell.”

The Blessed One replied, “North of Mount Sumeru there is a city called Bālabhañja, where in this eon there is a nāga king named Bogadhiga,^[199] who has attained the mahāmudrā siddhi. The nāga line in that city will continue through a thousand of his descendants. He performed ten million recitations of the venerable Mañjuśrī’s heart mantra, and he will attain siddhi after a series of rebirths^[200] as numerous as the needles of the sarala pine. After that, the city will fall into the sea.

“An asura king named Andra^[201] will be born on the island of Varika. A rākṣasa named Gardhava will be born seven generations after him and live for one hundred twenty thousand years. After that, it is taught that an incarnation of the noble Avalokiteśvara will assume all the various forms through which the Dharma can be taught there.

“North of that, on the island of Uttarāṅkura, the power of samaya, meditation, and complete understanding will result in an eon of renowned activity that will last for ten million two hundred twenty thousand twenty-seven years. F.66.b Then, periods celebrated for being joyous^[202] will pass for one hundred ten million, one hundred seventy-one thousand, twelve thousand, and one hundred one years, followed by one hundred fifty-one velas^[203] and then a period of one million six hundred thousand years. During all these times, it will be known as Uttarāṅkura.

“South of Mount Sumeru, on the border of Laṅka, there is a mountain called Vahura,^[204] where a horde of rākṣasas has lived for as long as there has been a sun and moon. South of that there is a city named Samori,^[205] where there is a king is named Rasana.^[206] South of that there is a city called Kāmarūpa, where there will be a king named Saptalakṣaṇa.^[207] In the place where the king will appear there will be females with attractive forms who had not been there before, nor would be there.^[208] Caṇḍikā was prophesied to appear as well.

“A fisherman will be eaten by a fish, die, and then be reborn as a yogin named Dārika.^[209] He will live in Vadaha, where he will cause alcohol to pour forth in the Ganges River for one ghaṭikā and bind the ḍākas and ḍākinīs as a result of his mantra practice.

“There will be a great astrologer named Varaha in that country, and King Suvāha and his son and grandsons will also appear there. He will begin building one hundred thousand temples by the age of twenty-four and complete them when he is fifty. Eight years later there will be one hundred fifty thousand more, and ten thousand yogins and one thousand buddhas will reside there over the course of three eons.

“To the east there is a king of mountains, one that has been flooded by the ocean and reemerged three times, where a yakṣa named Dhṛta will reside for two yugas. F.67.a After that, he will be born as the wife of a leader of the Baṅgala tribespeople and make offerings to the goddess Cundā. Eight lives later, she will be born as the king of Kāmarūpa. He will have four hundred queens, nine palaces, abundant grain harvests, and an abundance of black aloeswood.

“There will be a market town to the south named Magandhari that will remain for one hundred thousand years. Later it will be known as the market town Śrī. When he goes there, one-fifth of the town will see its cow dung, white kuśa grass, and fresh black aloeswood increase a hundred thousandfold^[210] over the following three thousand two hundred years.

“On the southern border of Kāmarūpa is a mountain where Hanumān lives called Kuhara, which has been there for as long as there has been a sun and moon. To the south, after Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa’s father Daśaratha, along with Ajati’s sons Vālin and Sugrīva and their followers,^[211] have brought desire, delusion, and anguish to the bhujaṅgapodadhikas,^[212] there will be a king named Samarthin.

“To the west of that location will be an emanation of Vāsudeva named Pāṇḍu who bears the five insignia and is able govern without wielding the staff of the law. He will be succeeded by the asura king Bali. Their country will be surrounded by ocean, and its central region will be called Paṭṭikeraka. His sons, grandsons, and so forth will reign there and make offerings to the Lord of Cattle as their tutelary deity for five hundred fifty years. The kings during that period will bear the name Pāla, and there will be fifty of them in the lineage.

“To the southwest of that location will be the royal seat of the city of Bhaṇḍapurī, where Jambhala’s blessing will allow a king named Vikramāditya to attain siddhi and live for four hundred years. In that city all the specific siddhis will be attained, F.67.b and one-fifth will have sons. The bhūtas and gods will protect them for fifty years.

“One thousand years after they have been conquered, there will be a king named Kūrma, who will live for two hundred years. He will rule over Baṅgala for one hundred eighty years, and his dynasty, which will be known to be like the prominent teeth of a tawny-colored divine bull,^[213] will reign as the kings of Āvalakā. His son, grandson, and so forth will reign, and during the reign of those kings there will be five yogins and two yoginīs who attain siddhi. That country will rival the country of Oḍra. The people born there will be extremely diligent, and it will be like the tale of the Rāmāyaṇa. One lord of yoga whose name begins with the first member of the first consonant class ornamented with the first vowel (ka) and the fourth member of the seventh consonant class (ha) will attain the eight great siddhis. There has never been one like him in Jambudvīpa in the past, nor will there be in the future. The six yogins who are his disciples will attain mahāmudrā free from corporeality.

“Then a royal dynasty with the name Candra will become the guardians of that kingdom. When that lineage declines, a brahmin’s son named Candra and a śūdra named Nāmbhapālita will become king. Then a disciple whose name is spelled with the second member of the first consonant class ornamented by the third vowel (khi) and the first member of the fourth consonant class ornamented with the thirteenth vowel (tau)^[214] and with the name Candra at the end will become king.^[215] That will be the result of his twelve million recitations of the honorable Mañjuśrī in a previous lifetime.

“Varmāsana^[216] will be king after that, and then his son, grandson, and great-grandson will be yogins. F.68.a Another with the name Pāla will follow, and he will have a single male heir. After he is gone, Datta, Ghoṣa, Dama, Siṃha, Nandi, Ambara, Āditya, and Senā will all rule in succession for a time. The kings that follow them will have little merit.

“There will be a sea to the north of Paṭṭikeraka that will later become a desert. In that country, there will be a place called Maḍa with a king named Kamboja. His son named Kośāmba will be king, and there will be a city named Kauśāmbi. Later in Paṭṭikeraka there will be one named Sārabhū,^[217] and his son will become king. In the middle of that country is a place called Vikramapūri, where yoginīs will come and attain siddhi. A yoginī will serve as queen over the middle of that country, and due to her merit, the lineage of her son, grandson, and so forth will purify Baṅgala.

“It is said that when the earth there is depleted it will be the Kaliyuga. Once it passes, the buddha known as Lord Maitreya will appear and teach by means of his intellect, which sees the inherent nature that is non-existent. The nāga kings will bring timely rains to the lands of Oḍra, Coḍa, and Siṁhaladvīpa. In the land of Radhā a line of men named Pāla will continue for thirty generations. The last descendant of that dynasty will conquer Saphala, the king of Oḍra, along with his divine retinue, and conquer the yoginīs. He will then attain the state of a preeminent yogin, a lord of yoga whose vow equals that of the buddhas, and he will perform twelve million mantra recitations. He will have two disciples, and his two disciples will have three disciples, and those three will also have yogin disciples. F.68.b They will have a disciple, the renowned Dharmakīrti, who is preeminent among yogins and scholars. He and six other people who benefit the teachings and have adopted the spiritual life will attain siddhi.

“Later, protectors named Matila, Pāgara, Bhavyaghoṣa, and Sahāsrakārṇa will attain siddhi over the course of thirty years. The Kūrma lineage will conclude with the yogins Sarma, Hastin, Garmuka, Pacana, Samveda, Buddhahāsa, and Patela.^[218]

“Farther west will be a city named Mālavī,^[219] a place where siddhi is attained. After the time of the renowned Bhojyadeva, two sage-kings named Khotika and Pālita and their courts will rule there for one thousand years.

“West of that city there will be a city called Sambuka,^[220] where a line of kings named Govardhana^[221] will rule for five thousand years, followed by Kale and Mala, both of whom will attain siddhi.

“To its south will be a city called Ajarayoginī, where the yogin named Nāgārjuna will give his kingdom to Gopāla, who will have climbed a sala tree. After his son dies, that line of kings will proceed from Vahna’s grandson, who will reach perfection as a glorious lord of yoga and attain the eight great siddhis associated with being king of the threefold world. That king’s son, Kaivartaputra,^[222] will be killed by a member of the merchant caste, and those among his sons and grandsons who travel west will reach Vajra.

“Even farther west is a temple called Tripāṭana, to the south of which one of his sons, named Ārka, will reside. At its southwestern border is a city named Bhaṭakunire, where the intelligent citizens are ruled by a king named Bandhadeva. Following his sons and grandsons, F.69.a the next in line will move to Sindhu, and upon his death the line will appear in a place named Gar.^[223] For the next seven generations they will be recognized yogins and will not be associated with any country. After that, the next in line will leave that city for a place named Bhandani, where he will unite with Caṇḍa­mahāroṣaṇa and become king. He and his entire court will attain the fruit of buddhahood in that lifetime.

“To the south there is a town called Sarṣibhañjikā,^[224] where the blessing of the buddhas is always present. A venerable buddha will rule there for one thousand years, surrounded by a court of people who have all attained siddhi. The lord who sits upon the vajra throne^[225] fashioned by the gods will live to the north, and the venerable noble Avalokiteśvara will appear in the land named Khasarpāṇi^[226] along the eastern frontier.

“In the west there will be a city called Mahābhañjapuri, where a king named Vasubhadhana will rule. It is said that the line of his descendants will last for eight generations, and then the entire town will fall into the sea.

“Countries such as Lāṭa, Coḍa, Gauḍa, Baṅgala,^[227] Oḍiyāna, Jālandhara, Paṭṭikeraka, Kāmarūpa, and so forth will be continually blessed by the buddhas. In these lands, renowned as Jambudvīpa, every desire will be available, and the kings, royal courts, yogins, siddhas, and the like will fulfill their aims.

“To the east of the ocean is the mountain Hura, which is home to an unfathomable number of asuras. To the south is the home of the crow-faced people, who are all known to be eminently skillful. To the south of the ocean live the triangular-faced people, rākṣasas, F.69.b kinnaras, asuras, and the like, monkeys and other animals whose cries sound like laughter, and Hanumān. To the west of the ocean live people with faces shaped like half-moons, and to the west of them live the gods and the like.

“The home of the people who live around the ocean is called Godānīya. The people there have circular faces, and the king who lives there rules over the entire region. He is not subject to the process of death, transmigration, and rebirth.

“To the west is a city called Rasalandhi, where an asura king will reign during its initial period. He will be followed by a king named Devāṅgana, and when he dies he will be followed by his son Kāmpisiṃha and by his grandson. After that, seven generations of men with the surname Bhaiṣajyasena will rule, followed by a king named Pāla. After that, a king called Sahadevakaivartaputra will enter the town to the west.^[228]

“There is a city named Maṇḍa to the east of Kāñcana, where the original inhabitants were people with broad faces adorned with peacock feathers. They completed the accumulation of merit and wisdom by reciting the mantra oṁ sumukhinī sarva and consuming only saliva as food. Their king will be the serpent who beautifies the four directions, and a rākṣasa will rule after him. After the line of his sons and grandsons comes to an end, everything will fall into the sea.”

The Goddess asked, “Blessed One, why have you not described all the places there are? And in those you did describe, why did you leave out the bodhisattvas associated with them? Is there anything about what you have said that is false?”

“Listen closely, Great Goddess,” the Blessed One replied. F.70.a “Each of the places I described has been blessed by buddhas. There are other places that have been created by deities who are not buddhas, and all such places have been named after someone who has attained siddhis. A samādhi exists in each of these places that brings about the purification of every wicked deed. There are places where the three vases and the like are known to be the body wherein the five aggregates are present.^[229] Kings, kingdoms,^[230] yogins, and yoginīs are purified with each exhalation and inhalation, as exemplified by the sense faculties and sense objects.

“Any being who goes for refuge in those connected with the path of the sugatas will accomplish everything they have set out to accomplish in this lifetime, and anyone who recites this account of royal lineages will receive its hidden wisdom.

“In chapter thirty-six^[231] I will explain the wisdom of calculation, which will correctly engage the knowledge of the past, future, and present. In chapter twenty-five^[232] and elsewhere, Goddess, I will explain the names that have the capacity to engender omniscience, and I will explain the wisdom that arises on that occasion. In this way, no one will ever be deceived by Māra.”

Chapter 16: Sādhanas for Acquiring a Servant

The Blessed One continued, “If someone is interested in attaining kingship, they should focus on kingship; if someone is interested in attaining the mercury siddhi, they should focus on the mercury siddhi; if someone is interested in attaining the corporeal siddhi, they should focus on the corporeal siddhi; if someone is interested in attaining ultimate reality, they should focus on ultimate reality; and if someone is interested in attaining the sense objects, they should focus on the sense objects. Goddess, once they have attained one of those goals, they can easily be successful in all of them, while those who attempt to succeed in other goals without them will find their efforts fruitless. F.70.b

“At a solitary liṅga, a cremation ground, or a riverbank, one should sit on top of an intact corpse that has not begun to decompose. After the mantra has been recited one hundred eight times, the corpse will stick out its tongue at the end of the mantra recitation, at which point one should cut it out and hold it in their right hand. One will then attain the sword siddhi.

“I will explain some other procedures.

“One should take some salt and hit the corpse with it. It will spit out six or eight pieces of gold.

“On the eighth, tenth, or fourteenth day of the lunar month, one should take their own catuḥsama^[233] and anoint their body with it. They should then take a seat on a brahmin’s skull and light lamps to the five goddesses and so forth along with mutaka^[234] and olibanum and recite the mantra one thousand times within a vajra dwelling. The king of mantras that one should recite for this rite is oṁ mahācaṇḍa hūṁ hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā.

“Then, on the eighth day of the waning moon, one should go to a riverbank and make a maṇḍala using butterfly-pea flowers. Then, on the sand at that riverbank one should make an image in the likeness of the yakṣa Kelīkīla and smear its body with various perfumes. Next, one should recite the mantra oṃ suḥ ṣaḥ hūṁ five thousand times while sitting in that maṇḍala. The yakṣa will approach and say, ‘I am going to eat you,’ but the practitioner should not be afraid and should say to him, ‘Servant, you must do my bidding.’ When offering water is poured on his head he will give five hundred palas of gold every day, as well as the mercury siddhi and alchemy siddhi. If this does not happen, one should take sulfur, mica, and suparṇamakṣī^[235] with the left hand and slap the top of his head three times, and he will surely come. If he does not come, his head will burst open like the flowering top of a wild basil plant. If the practice was performed following the proper procedure, he will do whatever one wants. The eight yakṣas will also come if one performs that practice.

“The yogin should go to edge of a city and recite the mantra for the four-armed Mahākāla five thousand times. After that he should set up Mahākāla’s maṇḍala, grind rattleweed root, jataka bark, F.71.a and timira root, and rub it on the body. After Mahābhairava arrives with a great roar, he should present offering water that has been infused with sandalwood and rainwater. The yogin should not be afraid when he sees him. This practitioner’s assistant should be seated in the north and addressed as ‘son.’^[236] Once the yogin issues a command three times,^[237] he will do whatever the yogin wants.

“Alternatively, one should go to a park and take a seat on a tiger skin under an aśoka tree, naked and with their topknot undone. One should perform everything up to the self-protection rite as before and rub their body with a juice from the leaves of a sūpāśimbī tree. They should then recite the mantra of the two-armed Mahākāla one thousand times and perform a bali offering that is well supplied with ghee, honey, cooked grains, black gram, beleric myrobalan fruits, alcohol, and meat. After that, they should brandish a sword and utter ‘approach’ three times. Mahānanda will clap his hands and approach. A yogin who seeks siddhi should look at him without being frightened, and he will grant one thousand palas of gold.

“One should go to a solitary liṅga, face east, and recite Mahākāla’s mantra one thousand times or more while rubbing their body with the five ambrosias. After reciting the mantra one hundred more times, one should rub their body with sūpāśimbī juice. While seated on a corpse, one should recite the mantra oṁ muḥ hūṁ jaḥ vaṃ hīḥ for three watches, and a yakṣiṇī taking one among a number of forms will arrive bearing an excellent offering of various substances. She will become one’s companion and no one else’s, will provide five palas of gold every day, and will protect one as if one is at the foot of a protective tree or at the foot of a flowering tree.^[238]

“I will now thoroughly explain another rite. To summon Candra and Sūrya, one should go to a place where there is an image of the Buddha and make a large bali offering. One should then smear their body with lac mixed with water and sandalwood, F.71.b sit on a corpse while facing east, smear their body with the five ambrosias, and recite the mantra in a loud voice five thousand times. Sūrya will come, and once he has arrived the practitioner should sit in the north and offer him water infused with cow bezoar and sandalwood. Sūrya will ask, ‘What can I do for you?’ at which point the practitioner should say, ‘Please grant me the alchemy siddhi’^[239] three times.^[240] If one leaves a bali offering furnished with the seven root plants beneath star jasmine following the proper ritual procedure and then sits on scattered lotus flowers while reciting the mantra, Candra will certainly come and do whatever one wishes.

“A yogin should enter meditative equipoise in a vajra dwelling^[241] and rub their body with vermillion and perfumed water. While seated on a human skull, they should recite the mantra eight thousand times before a painting of Mahākāla, and Kālikā will come. If she does not come, then they should perform the head-slapping mudrā,^[242] and she will surely come. She will provide one hundred gold coins each day and become one’s servant. Additionally, in order to gain accomplishment through Carcikā, one should use the left-hip mudrā. She will come and provide one with gems and precious jewels.

“There are additional ways to gain accomplishment through them. Someone who wants the two yoginīs to grant the mercury and alchemy siddhis should recite the invoking mantra oṁ kṣaḥ hūṁ phaṭ.^[243] The yoginīs will make the sound cha cho,^[244] and they will come with great sound of phaṭ.^[245] The practitioner should look at them without fear, and while seated in the north they should say, ‘You should act as my servants.’

“One should go to a charnel ground, take a seat on a buffalo skull before a painting of Mahākāla, enter equipoise, and recite the mantra for one week. After the third watch has passed, Mahākāla will come with his retinue. One should not be afraid when seeing them. When he says, ‘Hey practitioner, I am going to eat you,’ the practitioner, seated in the north, should say ‘Hūṁ kill!’ while offering water infused with cow bezoar and sandalwood. F.72.a After that, Mahākāla will ask, ‘Great hero, why did you summon me?’ The practitioner, seated in the north, should respond, ‘Carry out the task I require, whenever I ask of you.’ Then he will say, ‘I will grant whatever siddhi you wish.’ If the practitioner then displays the lion mudrā, they will obtain the form of a lion that is so difficult to gain. Through this they will be granted various substances and siddhis. The mantra for that practice is oṁ āgaccha mahā hūṁ ho ho.”

Chapter 17: Enthralling Rites

“Now I will explain the chapter on enthralling rites.

“Goddess,” the Blessed One said, “I will explain the medicinal substances, mantras, and mudrās.”

“Blessed One,” the Goddess replied, “please describe the most effective medicines.”

The Blessed One replied, “On the eighth day of the lunar month, one should follow the rites for a fire offering. Then one should take some fibers from giant milkweed fruit and wrap them with a strip of cloth from a cremation ground. Grind cow bezoar, the five ambrosias, and a human tongue into powder. Fashion this into a wick, place it in a copper bowl in human fat, and it will produce a collyrium. Then one should mix it with their own semen and use it as a forehead mark. Any girl that one looks at will fall under one’s spell. If she does not fall under one’s spell, then Mahākāla is not present. He will have committed an act entailing immediate retribution by abandoning his vow to protect the Buddha’s teachings.

“One should perform five thousand fire offerings using velvet bean leaves while reciting the mantra oṃ hrīḥ kṣaḥ [insert name] āgacchantu yaṃ,^[246] then one should meditate with an unwavering mind with their clothes off and hair loose. The power of the mantra will surely make her come and fall at one’s feet. That female servant will have a pleasing appearance, and she will not belong to someone else. If she does not come, one should reverse the order of the mantra and recite it one hundred eight times. Her head will burst open, she will die, F.72.b and one will be granted the supreme siddhi.

“On the fourteenth day of the waning moon during the lunar month of Māgha, one should display the red form of Mahākāla and perform an elaborate offering to him. One should face east while performing five hundred fire offerings with alcohol and red water lilies. After midnight one will enthrall even the king’s daughter, so it goes without saying that one can also enthrall someone else’s daughter. If this does not work, one should enthrall her using the mantra oṁ vajra hūṁ phaṭ svāhā, which can enthrall even the most intractable beings in Jambudvīpa.

“One should stir lotus root, cow’s tongue, sandalwood, aloeswood, and the five ambrosias in sesame oil and incant it twenty-one times with the mantra for the sixteen-armed form. One should then use it to rinse their face, and, when present in the king’s palace, even one’shostile and irreverant speech toward the king will be regarded as agreeable.

“This astonishing method has been praised by all the buddhas. One should combine vulture meat with cow bezoar, stir it together with their own semen, and give it to a young girl. She will become one’s servant if one combines this method with mantra recitation.

“This is the method for the great enthrallment rite: One should stir the fat of a cow, the fat of a parrot, and sesame oil with kakkola seeds and hit a young girl with the mixture. After that, the liquid will trickle down, and she will offer her body and remain at one’s side for as long as one lives.

“One should stir together birch bark, cow bezoar, red lac, and vermillion with emblic myrobalan juice and use the mixture to draw a circle with a triangle consisting of three parts. In the center, one should draw the first member of the third consonant group mounted slightly above the syllable ra and adorned with a nasal in the middle. The following mantra should be arranged outside of it:

oṁ joṁ [insert woman’s name] kāmadevī [insert man’s name in genitive] hāḥ haḥ haḥ phaṭ svāhā.

Wrap it in cloth from a charnel ground, place it in water infused with sandalwood, and leave it there for one watch of the day. At that point the target will certainly be enthralled, and they will do whatever one wishes. One can also incant the seeds of a bundle of datura every day with this mantra five thousand times and hit her with them, and in five days she will be coerced into marriage. F.73.a

“A yogin should perform five hundred fire offerings on the eighth or eleventh day of the waning moon with a mixture of dark blue water lilies, ghee, honey, and molasses while chanting the mantra oṃ strī kṣīḥ [insert name] asyā pitā vivāhena mahyaṃ dāpaya svāhā.^[247] Within a week, the yogin will enthrall that girl. If she is not enthralled, he should recite the mantra one hundred more times, and she will definitely be enthralled.

“One should stir soil from a charnel ground, realgar, barley potash, and molasses with their own semen and rub it on their body. This will certainly enthrall any animal.”

Chapter 18: Counteracting an Enemy’s Ritual

“Now I will present a chapter on counteracting an enemy’s ritual. One should gather some amuha^[248]—an extremely potent medicine that will kill anyone who acts as an adversary—dry it, and scatter it. The ritual will certainly be counteracted. If one scatters realgar, it will certainly be counteracted. If one scatters a woman’s blood, the ritual will certainly be counteracted. And if one wears the clothes of someone who is recently deceased, it will certainly be counteracted.”

Chapter 19: Paralyzing Rites

“In cities such as Trikāmadevī, where the those who bear the marks of a buddha are in a state of paralysis, this is what should be done.^[250] At such times one should visualize the wrathful form of Mahākāla, who contains all buddhas. His single face is white and extremely terrifying. He stands with his right leg forward and is trampling a black asura underfoot. He holds a hooked knife and a skull bowl, has three eyes, and is adorned with all his ornaments. The mere act of visualizing him will paralyze anything.

“When one has performed the visualization practice to the point of exhaustion, if it is followed by reciting the mantra oṁ maḥ jaḥ [insert name] stambhāya hūṁ phaṭ ten thousand times as the preliminary practice, anything will be paralyzed.

“On the eighth or fourteenth day of the lunar month, one should draw the lord of the deities on a piece of cloth stained by menses. F.73.b One should then place the five ambrosias in its mouth every day and imagine the paralysis. Using this, a person who practices another sādhana may paralyze four-legged creatures and the like. The wise practitioner should make a concoction by pulverizing rat meat, tortoise meat, and snake meat. Any animal they strike with it will be paralyzed.

“Additionally, if one mixes quicksilver, fruit, and the head of a tortoise with sesbania and scatters the mixture, it will certainly paralyze any human being.

“If one combines equal parts white bdellium, a mixture of sulfur, wild leadwort, velvet bean,^[251] and phulaṭi^[252] and then scatters the mixture, it will paralyze a snake.

“If one hits something with a mixture of sweet flag, aloe, and velidha,^[253] it will be paralyzed.

“If one strings together a garland of velvet bean, kalaḍa, kakṣatvi,^[254] and menstrual blood and ties it to their waist, seeds will be neutralized and clouds immobilized.

“I will explain how to release immobilized clouds: Combine equal parts sijiṭa,^[255] betel, samaṇḍā,^[256] and tortoise, and use that mixture to release clouds that have been paralyzed.”

Chapter 20: Killing Rites

“I will explain more about this. One should meditate on Mahābhairava for the purposes of ensuring happiness in the world once evildoers are killed. He has one face, is black in color, and has a large protruding belly. He holds a hooked knife and skull, is mounted on a buffalo, and is ornamented with the eight nāgas. He bears his fangs, his blazing hair flows upward, and he is extremely terrifying. He has the features of a sixteen-year-old, his penis is erect, and he is naked, rotund, and short. Simply imagining the deity with these qualities radiating from the seed syllable hūṃ will destroy and disrupt any enemy and cause their head to burst. F.74.a

“One should perform the worship rite by reciting the mantra oṁ māṃ hūṃ [insert name] sruṁ phaṭ ten thousand times. Draw the deity on a cloth stained by menses on the auspicious great eighth day of the waning moon,^[257] and visualize placing the five ambrosias in its mouth.

“The image should then be consecrated as follows. On the evening of the fourteenth lunar day, twenty-one yogins and five yoginīs who have been purified with samaya fluid and are committed to protecting the samaya should recite the mantra one thousand times. After the ācārya recites the mantra seven times, an offering of one hundred eight lotus flowers is made and a triangular maṇḍala constructed. It should be encircled by a garland of vajras, furnished with a sword and hooked knife, and washed with blood. Then Mahābhairava should be consecrated by being struck with the five ambrosias while reciting the mantra oṃ būṃ āḥ bhairava svāhā.^[258] That night everyone should drink blood and alcohol and eat all the food until it is finished. After each of them has offered six gold pieces, they will be blessed by Mahābhairava and should sing and dance.

“When the time comes to perform a killing rite, one should display a cloth image on the eighth or fourteenth day of the lunar month and apply blood, alcohol, and meat. One should supply the enemy’s name, recite the mantra one hundred eight times, and step on image’s neck at night. This will surely cause the target to contract a severe fever and inflict them with excruciating intestinal disease. In their dreams, Mahābhairava will appear to them and say, ‘Beg for forgiveness, because you have shown contempt to bodhisattvas!’ If they then beg for forgiveness, their illness will be immediately and completely cured.

“The yogin should perform a bali offering with the five meats and so forth to the cloth image every day while reciting the mantra oṁ maḥ hūṁ kha kha khāhi khāhi māra māra sarva­śatravaḥ mahābhairava prayaccha tu svāhā.^[259] The target will develop a severe headache, a fever, and an intestinal disease. F.74.b

“Then, after the first day of the month or on the eleventh,^[260] one should smear the image^[261] with mahākāla fruit followed by a powder made from white mustard, kakali seeds, black pepper, dried ginger, vajra milk, and the seven thorns.^[262] Then, if it is placed in a pile of cow dung, the target will die from a complicated illness. If it is placed in a human skull, the target^[263] will die from an intestinal disease. If it is placed in urine, the target will die from a severe headache. If it is placed in water, the target will die from a severe fever. If it is hidden in a cattle pen, the target will go blind. If it is left out in the sun, the target’s skin will crack. If it is placed in a fire, the target’s head will burst open. It is extremely rare to encounter this procedure in Jambudvīpa.

“For those yogins who pursue such extraordinary rites, it should be performed after first completing the pacification rite. One should take some salt, soil from a charnel ground, Indian sandalwood, the thorns from emetic nut, and varaya fruits^[264] and place them in buffalo milk. Then the mantra should be recited seven times during the lunar mansion Rohiṇī. The target will die. If one immediately submerges the mixture in honey, the target will be revived. This procedure is miraculous.

“On the eighth or fourteenth day of the waning moon, one should mix some white mustard and cow meat, fashion it into an effigy that looks like the target, and incant it with the mantra one thousand times. If it is pricked with the thorns of Indian sandalwood, the target will surely die within seven days. There will be nothing that anyone can do after their life force is gone. A person born during the lunar conjunction Bhadrapada will be burned, and a person born during the lunar conjunction Kṛttikā will surely die.

“On a Tuesday one should make an effigy out of feces, Indian mustard, and radish and coat it with cow’s blood. Then one should place feces in its mouth while reciting the mantra seven times, and the target will immediately contract mahendra fever and die after six months. If it is rinsed with goat’s milk, the target’s health will be restored.

“On a Sunday one should draw Āditya on a piece of birch bark using lac liquid and feces. Hūṁ should be drawn on his forehead, F.75.akhaṁ on his eyes, tha on his two breasts, hṛīḥ at his navel, the target’s name on his stomach, and the syllable hā on both his thighs. When the image is roasted over a fire made from cluster fig,^[265] the target will first contract a fever and then surely die. If the image is rinsed with vajra water, the affliction will be cured.

“On a Monday one should draw Soma with yellow orpiment on rattleweed leaf. Hūṁ should be drawn on his tongue, kṣaḥ on his forehead, and the target’s name should be inserted in the mantra on his stomach. If this drawing is placed in a boar’s tusk^[266] and then placed in water, the target will contract leprosy.

“On a Tuesday one should draw Maṅgala on birch bark using cow bezoar and blood. Khaṁ should be drawn on the crown of his head, haṁ on his forehead, ra on his eyes, the target’s name on his stomach, and hrīḥ on both his feet. When this drawing is roasted in an iron kettle, the target will dry out and die. If it is rinsed with milk, they will be revived.

“On a Wednesday one should draw Budha on a stone using red ocher. Śaṁ should be drawn on his ears, haṁ on his forehead, muṁ on his nose, jaṁ on his throat, the target’s name on his stomach, vaṁ and jaṁ on both his thighs, and hūṁ on his navel. All should be the color of fire. If the drawing is left in the sun, the target will dry out, contract an unbearable fever, vomit blood, and die. If one follows the same procedure as above, the target will be cured.

“On a Thursday one should draw Bṛhaspati on a flower petal using blood. Kṣaṁ should be drawn on his forehead, hūṁ on his neck, and the target’s name on his stomach. When the drawing is placed in a pot, the target’s stomach will swell, and they will die. If the pot is broken, they will be cured.

“On a Friday one should draw Śukra with semen on white birch. Hūṁ should be drawn on his mouth, he on his forehead, and ṭaṁ at his heart. When the drawing is covered and hit with a hammer, the target will become hunchbacked. F.75.b

“On a Saturday one should draw Śaniścara on the leaf of giant milkweed. Laṁ should be drawn on his forehead, daṁ on his lips, maṁ on his two hands, the target’s name on his heart, and saḥ on his navel. Then, if the drawing is roasted in a fire, the target will contract a lung disease.

“On the eleventh day one should draw a monkey on a banyan leaf using blood. One should then draw vaṃ on both its hands, place the drawing in a cobra saffron tree, and slap it with their hand. This will sow perpetual discord.

“The mantra for all these rites is oṃ māṃ hūṃ [insert name] sruṃ phat. Recite this out loud, and the rite is certain to work. One should understand that all these rites will inflict pain.

“On the eighth day of the waning moon, one should draw Rāhu with lac and yellow orpiment on a piece of birch bark. Raṃ should be drawn three times on the ground,^[267] then hṛiḥ on his forehead and the target’s name on his head. When the drawing is roasted in a fire, the target will develop a headache and suffer from mahendra fever for three weeks. When it is placed in water, they will be cured.

“One should draw a lion on a giant milkweed leaf using yellow orpiment. Daṃ should be drawn four times on its teeth,^[268] and a hūṃ followed by the target’s name and the mantra on its tongue. When the drawing is placed in cow urine, the target will develop pustules. When rinsed with milk, they will be cured.

“One should draw Vāsuki with rhinoceros blood on a banyan leaf. The mantra should be drawn on his stomach, hliṃ on his tongue, and jaṃ along with the target’s name on his head. When the drawing is placed in a river, the target will be killed by a snake. Someone who wants to heal them should hold it aloft with their hand.

“On the fifth or thirteenth day, one should use semen to draw an old hunchbacked man on a banyan leaf. Trāṃ should be written on his chest and the target’s name at his heart. When it is placed in water, the target will certainly develop a hunched back.

“The instructions provided by the Venerable One make success easy. Someone who follows them will be successful in a manner that corresponds to what was practiced. Why is the main subject matter the killing of corporeal beings? So that practitioners who oppose the buddhas are more rarely encountered. F.76.a

“Moreover, a yogin who continually consumes the five ambrosias and sulfur,^[269] which challenge those who have adopted false suffering and who fondle breasts without knowing their own purpose, should proclaim ha hūṁ as he moves about, and he should maintain constant conviction that he is a bodhisattva who has brought an end to transmigration.”^[270]

Chapter 21: Guaranteeing Siddhi

The Blessed One continued, “Goddess, the goddess I embrace is a woman with the complete set of all characteristics. She is the one who accomplishes bliss on this earth.”

“Blessed One,” the Goddess replied, “On which day can one attain siddhi?”

“Listen Goddess,” the Blessed One replied, “it is the day that ensures success for the practitioner. In this case, practitioners will surely attain the eight siddhis if they perform the practice on the eighth day of the waning moon during the lunar month of Māgha as it occurs in Jambudvīpa.^[271] Let there be no doubt about this. A person who performs the sādhana on the fifth day of the lunar month of Vaiśākha will quickly gain accomplishment. If one performs it on the fourteenth day of the waning moon during the lunar month of Śrāvaṇa, one will attain the great siddhi, and likewise during the lunar month of Kārtika.

“Statues, texts, and paintings should be started on the eleventh day of the waxing moon during the lunar month of Āśvin. The yogin who makes them should also consecrate them on that day, because blessings are sure to enter them.

“One can make use of blood, the five meats and the like, alcohol, various types of meat, food, drink, and whatever else one wishes. All siddhis will be received.”

Chapter 22: Rites for Causing and Halting Rainfall

“Now I will present the chapter on breaking up and gathering clouds. When there is a substantial amount rain, one should go to a charnel ground and recite the mantra for the eight-armed form five thousand times, incant five thousand blue water lilies, and perform the fire offering. F.76.b The rain will surely subside.

“One should go to the edge of town, sit on a cow’s skull, and smear their body with human fat. One should set up an image of Mahābhairava and focus on it while performing a fire offering with five thousand dark blue water lilies. One should satiate themselves with meat, alcohol, blood, drink, and food.

The mantra is:

oṁ kṣaṁ ū ū ū sphoṭaya sphoṭaya māraya maraya garjja garjja ruta ruta haḥ hūṃ phaṭ | aṣṭanāgānāṃ kha kha khāhi khāhi ūḥ ūḥ.^[272]

“When recited, the clouds will surely disperse, and the rain will subside. If one washes themselves with offering water and then recites the mantra well, all manner of good qualities will result.

“One should go to a place with a solitary liṅga, sit beneath a tree, place their left forefinger in their mouth, and recite the mantra of the sixteen-armed form five thousand times while imagining a lion in their hand.^[273] The clouds will certainly disperse and depart.

“One should go to a pavilion, sit on a lion skin, and fill their mouth with blood from their calves.^[274] If one incants dung^[275] one thousand times with the mantra for the sixteen-armed form, the deluge will certainly cease.

“One should mix dark blue butterfly-pea flowers, molasses, and sesame and perform five thousand fire offerings as before. The mantra is:

oṁ mahājñānā samaya hūṁ hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ phaṭ meghaṃ sphoṭaya^[276] hūṁ phaṭ.

“After reciting only this, this procedure for dispersing clouds, which is wondrous in the human realm, will certainly end the rain.

“When there is a drought, one should go to an empty house, dig a pit one cubit deep in the middle of a square maṇḍala, and offer one thousand flowers as a fire offering. The mantra is:

oṁ hūṁ pravarṣaya pravarṣaya^[277] jaḥ jaḥ jaḥ haḥ haḥ haḥ phaṭ.

“After reciting only this, it will surely rain.”

The Blessed One next taught an advanced procedure: “On the outskirts of town, one should take a seat on a monkey’s skull, rub their body with human fat, and drink alcohol according to the proper procedure. A yogin who craves food and drink will undoubtedly succeed. F.77.a One should perform five thousand fire offerings with butterfly-pea flowers, or otherwise visualize themselves in the form of a lion and aggressively recite the following mantra after an initial roar:

oṁ muḥ haḥ^[278] pravarṣaya pravarṣaya ha ha hīṃ svāhā.

“One should then cup their hands and say, ‘Rain on me,’ while imagining the rain spreading from their own dwelling to fall on the entire vessel-like world.”

Chapter 23: Bringing Relief to All Beings Encountering Difficulties

“Now, to benefit all beings, I will present a chapter on expelling Śaniścara.^[279] During difficult times,^[280] yogins should visualize themselves in the form of Mahākāla and perform one thousand fire offerings using bilva fruit while reciting the mantra oṁ khaḥ hūṁ vajrāgraye^[281] svāhā. Things will then become easier.

“If one uses the mantra oṁ cītili hili hūṁ mahāśanaiścaraṃ kha kha hūṁ phaṭ while smearing kadalasundala^[282] with cow fat and performing one hundred fire offerings, this will cause Śaniścara to flee, and things will get easier. If he is killed permanently, the entire city will have an abundance of food and wealth.

“One should set up an image of the twelve-armed form and worship it by supplying it with alcohol. One should then recite his mantra five thousand times and perform one thousand fire offerings with pomegranate. Śaniścara will surely flee or die. If this does not happen, one should perform an additional mantra recitation, and he will surely flee.

“In the evening of the eighth day of the waning moon, one should take a seat on a tiger skin and recite the mantra oṁ ketu khaṃ hūṁ phaṭ with five yoginīs. Ketu will then flee. If one recites the previously stated mantra one thousand times on the fourteenth day while consuming various types of food and alcohol with five yoginīs, Rāhu will surely flee. F.77.b

“During a plague of insects,^[283] one should perform a fire offering with alcohol and five thousand datura flowers, and the insects will flee and die. The mantra for the rite is oṁ hṛīḥ hūṁ pataṅga nu cchedaya^[284] kṣiḥ phaṭ. When these steps are complete, all calamities^[285] will be pacified.

“One should go to a water source and first incant milk from a red cow one thousand times with mantra oṁ jala ham jaḥ. One should then perform a fire offering with five thousand jasmine flowers. The milk will surely restore the water.

“When an entire crop of grain has been lost, one should perform a fire offering with five thousand dried emblic myrobalan fruits and alcohol and then offer food, drink, song, and alcohol to the goddess. The grain crop will be restored by the mantra oṁ stuṃ vaṃ śāntim prakuru svāhā.

“If that does not work, then I will have committed the five actions entailing immediate retribution and lied about the entire Dharma. Therefore, yogins must be consistent in reading and listening. If they do not read and listen, yogins will not have the slightest success in relation to the dying, the crippled, and the hunchbacked.^[286] If they act exactly as the Blessed One taught, they will quickly accomplish anything.

“When a meteorite falls on the residents of a city, one should recite this mantra before a painting or statue of four-armed Mahākāla while performing five hundred fire offerings with datura seeds. One should offer food and drink to the five yoginīs, followed by a bali offering. The effects will be mitigated through this sequence, and none other.

“If there is an outbreak of a severe fever, one should recite the mantra oṁ hrīḥ sarva­sattvānu­kampayā hrīḥ hūṁ phaṭ^[287] while making five thousand fire offerings with jasmine flowers. The five yoginīs will pacify it so that things are as they were before.

“In the case of boils, dysentery, or jaundice, the five yoginīs should eat and drink as much of the five meats as they like. F.78.a Then, one should recite the preceding mantra one thousand times and perform five thousand fire offerings. They will surely be pacified.

“All that has been taught in this tantra is not taught anywhere else. Even the most trifling explanation has been presented here just as it was taught.”

Chapter 24: Interpreting Signs of Whether or Not One Will Be King

“Now I will explain omens that indicate whether or not someone will become king if they perform the sixteen-armed visualization and recite the mantra one thousand times in order to become king. The signs of whether or not kingship will be achieved are as follows:

“If a brahmin with a dark complexion approaches, asks for alms, and wants to create an obstacle, he will surely grant the siddhi. After the obstacle is correctly pacified, the process is complete, and success will follow.

“If an old woman repeatedly approaches and begs for four cowrie shells, she is an emanation of Vajrayoginī. This means one will undoubtedly be successful.

“If a butcher^[288] approaches holding a flower, one will face a terrifying obstacle.

“If one sees a vulture eating intestines in a dream,^[289] it is a sign that one will become king. The same is true if one sees a vast plain.”

Chapter 25: Rites to Become King

“There is more to say about this. When a person who desires accomplishment using methods, such as are given here, to attain what they seek first sets out on the road, Goddess, people will recognize them and declare them a king upon the earth. Should one ask about this when traveling on the road or at another time, if they practice continually on the eighth, tenth, or fourteenth day at the end of the lunar month of Vaiśākha,^[290] the outcome is certain, without any doubt.^[291]F.78.b

“One should go to a mountaintop and perform the previously mentioned visualization of Mahākāla, recite the mantra five hundred thousand times, place the three metals in their mouth, and then perform a fire offering with five thousand lotuses. Success is ensured.

“A yogin should go to a charnel ground and sit on a corpse while holding a sword. They should first scatter golden fragrances, flowers, and other beautifully colored items and then leave the sword on top. Through this the yogin will undoubtedly succeed in whatever they wish.

“One should set up a painting of Carcikā in an empty house and recite the mantra five thousand times. After that, one should recite the mantra oṁ vaṃ khaṇḍālini svāhā while offering eight thousand blue water lilies into a fire and then drink milk infused with the eight medicinal roots. One will certainly become a king.

“On the fifth day of the lunar month of Bhādrapada,^[292] one should paint the four-armed Mahākāla and perform an elaborate offering to it. One should then make a pill out of gold and the eight metals, place it in their mouth, recite Mahākāla’s dhāraṇī one thousand times, and consume meat and alcohol. When all that is complete, recite this dhāraṇī: oṁ sumukhī suparva^[293] dehi dehi hūṁ hūṁ caṭa caṭa riṭa riṭa rāṃ kuṭa kuṭa hūṁ phaṭ svāhā. If one applies this practice for six months they will become king, and not otherwise. If one spends a year pretending to have the major marks of a universal ruler, one will come to possess the major marks of a great universal ruler.

“If one mixes soil from a riverbank, pulverized conch shell, and pork together into the shape of a lion, imagines the syllable vaṃ on its mouth, and recites the mantra ten thousand times, one will become a king. If that does not work, one should perform a fire offering using one thousand lotuses. One will then succeed and will undoubtedly achieve everything in this lifetime.

“If one goes to a place with a solitary liṅga or a charnel ground, sits on top of a corpse, and while holding a sword in their hand F.79.a strikes the three saline substances, one will become a king.

“A wise person performs these rites in order to use insight to pursue what they desire. One should perform the pacification rite mentally and then perform the bodily rite.”

Chapter 26: The Consort Maṇḍala

Then the bodhisattva great being Prajñābala and the Goddess both asked, “Please teach us, Blessed One. Help us understand the nature of desire and delusion.”

The Blessed One responded, “A person who has received the consecration for the five goddesses should adopt the following rite. On the eighth or fourteenth day, one should pulverize one pala of gold, sprinkle it on a square maṇḍala,^[294] draw the Goddess within the four corners, and perform a fire offering. One who is well-versed in insight and wisdom should unite with the consort and indulge in food and drink. They will surely be successful—this is guaranteed, venerable noble Prajñā!”

Chapter 27: Guidelines for Training

“Now I will present a chapter on training. One who wishes to train in a way that illuminates training should, at all times while training, maintain the use of alcohol, meat, and the insight that the guru is Vajrasattva. By doing so, the water sprinkled on their crown is called insight, and a yoginī is explained as being oriented toward the benefit of self and other. When addressed by the ritual officiant, there is no doubt she is called mudrā, the vajra state, and noble lady. Training refers to the mind being free of movement.”^[295]

Chapter 28: Ultimate Reality

The Blessed One continued, “Ultimate reality is the nature of the mind engaged in the pursuit of sameness. It unfolds when there is no mental engagement. F.79.b That which has those qualities is nonexistent.

u ṇu a ra nā hi tatta ha lu e he ṇi ja hi ka ha vi nā saṃ ho | ci a ra go ca ra i citta ta ha thaṃ vi na su ha la pa ri bhā si o mha re kha ṇa pi na thakka | o ujja ṇi e le kha sa ṇo | bha ṇa i bhe o sa va ratta ka hi vi ṇa cchi ṭṭhi o.

bhaṃ bā lo a go a ra cintā gha raṃ gha ra gha re ṇi he ṭa mu kṣa hi o | ma hā ja nan de vi a so hi ṇa bha ṇi o | bi ha ha da te pa ri bha vaṃ te | ka ha vi na ja i.^[296]

“These lines explain ultimate reality in a base language.”

Chapter 29: Those Born from Sacred Spaces

“Now I will describe those born from sacred spaces.^[297] A woman who is born into the brahmin caste and who is tall, has large eyes, and either a pale or dark complexion should be dignified as a yoginī.

“A woman born in the śūdra caste who has crooked legs, whose complexion is bluish, pale, or dark, who has curly hair, and who has a raspy voice is a ḍākinī and is likewise in the vajra family.

“People with the complete set of features of one born from an untouchable caste and who are born during the lunar mansions Pūrvabhadra, Citrā, Svāti, Ārdrā, Pūrvāṣāḍhā, Punarvasu, Bharaṇī, and Kṛttikā will attain the siddhi of Mahābhairava, as will those born during Rohiṇī, Mṛgaśirā, Maghā, and Āśleṣā.”

Chapter 30: The Arising of Protector Deities

“Now, I will discuss the protector deity. One should go to the location where an obstructing being is present and perform the appropriate generation practice. First, one should visualize the syllable hūṁ, perform the various offerings, confess their misdeeds, and so forth. One should then imagine that a hooked knife emerges from the syllable hūṃ at the heart and that one is empowered by the syllables kṣaṃ and hūṁ. From these transformations one should visualize themselves as the protector deity with two arms. He holds a hooked knife and skull and stands with the right leg forward, trampling a dog. F.80.a He shouts phaṭ and bares his fangs. He has a blue-black complexion, three eyes, and upward-flowing, reddish-brown hair. He wears a tiger skin, drinks blood, and is flanked by two yoginīs.^[298] Continue reciting the mantra after the visualization.

“One should make a mālā with clay from a riverbank strung on rattleweed fiber and use it to recite the mantra oṁ hūṁ caṃ sarvasiddhidāyakāya^[299] svāhā. A yogin will achieve whatever he desires.

“One should prepare dough balls made of black gram that have blood, alcohol, and fresh meat in them, and use them every day as a bali offering at the base of a tree, in a charnel ground, or at a riverbank. Three pale protector deities will emerge from the seed syllable caṃ. The yogin will always be able to perform any virtuous or nonvirtuous action and attain siddhi.”

Chapter 31: The System of Channels

“Now I will discuss the system of channels. A great bodhisattva who acts as an ācārya who has mastered mixing the three^[300] and trains in relinquishing selfish desires should summarize the avadhūtī, lalanā, and rasanā. An enumeration that has the capacity to demonstrate the sixty-four channels is as follows: the lalanā is understood as the nature of insight, the rasanā is understood as equivalent to the nature of physical bliss, and the avadhūtī is understood as including the nature of great bliss. This refers to the production of semen and of the three realms.

aṭṭha u hā nā hā i a | sa a la saṃ mo he | ca ca ci u ha rā ja ne tāṃ bhānti o | nā ha ha nā dha saṃ ku la bha va i sva ra ha bha na i kā la | kā la ha ka ri ci a naṃ pa i svā hā.^[301]

Chapter 32: Describing Virtue and Nonvirtue

Then, the blessed Bodhicittavajra addressed the Lord, saying, “The inherent nature of the mind, which arises in sixteen moments, F.80.b is the inherent nature that is the cause of great wisdom. It subsumes the two legs of consciousness and its object. Thus, to long for the girl who cuts them off—a girl who bears the sixteen moments—is like something hot to the touch and something cold to the touch.^[302]

a ha ka ha re | i ṇi bud dha sva bhā ve | citta va ḍanti bo | bha vā na si la u pa lakkha ma ja jheṃ | cī a pa la vi pa phā ra ṇā kāṃ ti ma ṇā | bhanti ka tha naṃ.”^[303]

Chapter 33: The Sarasvatī Ritual That Establishes Meditative Concentration

“Now I will explain the establishment of mediative concentration. Those who know how to undo the suffering of beings should use a mixture of feces, urine, and blood to draw on birch bark a circle consisting of the target’s name between the syllables maṁ and raṁ followed by hūṁ phaṭ. They should then then roll it up and roast it over a fire. The procedure will bring instant death.

“One should rise early in the morning and wash their face. Then they should anoint themselves fifteen times while reciting oṁ maṇibhadrāya mahākāla­prākriti­senapataye | oṁ mili mili māndhanām dhadadāpaye svāhā.

“One should then make a circular maṇḍala and while reciting the mantra oṁ nandīmahākālāya vajrapuṣpe hūṁ offer butterfly-pea flowers to the center.

“While reciting oṁ kālāya yakṣāya^[304] vajrapuṣpe hūṃ, offer them to the east.

“While reciting oṁ vidālamukhāyakṣāya vajrapuṣpe hūṁ, offer them to the south.

“While reciting oṃ asvamukhāyakṣāya vajrapuṣpe hūṃ, offer them to the west.

“While reciting oṁ krimimukhāyakṣāya vajrapuṣpe hūṃ, offer them to the north.

“One should recite the following mantra in the ordinal directions, adding svāhā each time:

dahumukhīyakṣī yakṣinyai maṃ | sūkaramukhī yakṣinyai hūṁ | ulūkamukhī svadhita­yakṣīnyai draṃ | ardhasucati­yamukhīyakṣinyai vaṃ.

“After that, one should offer flowers to the center again with:

oṁ mukta mukta mahākālaya svāhā | oṁ sphoṭaka mahākālāya svāhā | oṁ kurukita mahākālāya svāhā | oṁ gāḍhacakra mahākālāya svāhā | oṁ khiṭakuru mahākālāya svāhā.

“The dhāraṇī should be recited one hundred eight times.

“After that, one should ask for forgiveness and then request the deity to approach with oṁ sugarbha­padma­mahākālāya muḥ. F.81.a

“At this point, one should set up a seat under a neem tree, put on blue clothes, and present gifts to a cloth image of each of the seven kumārīs every day. One should offer butterfly-pea flowers to the Lord and then eat and drink the previously mentioned foods and drinks. When one does all this at the three times, they have worshiped all the buddhas.

“One should get up when the crows are not cawing and make this maṇḍala. The practitioner should set up an image of sixteen-armed Mahākāla at the final watch of the night, drink alcohol, and perform the consecration procedure with the dhāraṇī-mantra throughout each period of the day. Once they have done so, the lord Mahākāla will appear in a dream in three months, and they are certain to attain siddhi. He will take the form of a great meditator and give three and a half palas of gold. In six months, one will attain the siddhi of flight and gradually attain all the siddhis. One will definitely attain the mudrā siddhi. If one does not even attain one siddhi, then I will have certainly committed one of the five actions entailing immediate retribution and am the same as someone who has killed all the gods.

“This tantra contains all the core elements of the yoga rites. If one practices by closely following the procedure in this chapter, one will not experience the instantaneous, pervasive consequences of the five actions entailing immediate retribution.

“The wood used in the sacrificial rite one intends to employ should be slightly shorter than the specific dimensions of the fire pit. For pacification rites, one should use dung from an empty plain. Enhancement rites require that one construct the appropriate hearth in front of the Lord, one with a low fire pit atop a base made of fruit-bearing wood.”

“My Lord,” the Goddess asked, “please tell us which of the many types of wood selected and burned for a fire offering is the best. Please tell us so that beings will benefit from this and be happy.”

The Blessed One replied, F.81.b “The best wood of all for a sacrificial rite is free of insects, dry, and slightly smaller than the fire pit. The wood of the previously mentioned fruit-bearing trees used in the fire pit for enhancement rites should not have any cow dung on it. For hostile rites, if one uses wood that is bitter to the taste and has thorns, fragrant wood or wood from a cremation ground, or dried dung from a horse, donkey, and so forth, the rite will certainly be successful. Enthralling rites employ fragrant mango wood^[305] with flowers and fruits. For summoning rites one should use wood with thorns and so on. Each stage of the fire offering uses a specific type of wood.”

The Goddess said, “Yogins who want to attain the eight great siddhis should construct the maṇḍala, as previously described, on the eighth or tenth day of the lunar month and recite the mantra five thousand times while consuming meat and alcohol. When they go to bed, they should perform one hundred eight offerings of alcohol, wash their face, and go to sleep. The favorable and unfavorable will be revealed in their dreams.

“The mantra for these procedures is oṁ mu svapnaṃ kathaya^[306] hūṁ.

“If that does not happen, one should recite the mantra while immersing the meat of a jackal and the like in alcohol and then perform ten thousand fire offerings in a fire that has been kindled with wet wood. Then, when one goes to sleep, they should recite the mantra one hundred times over ghee from a lamp and then smear it on their feet. Once asleep and dreaming, they will clearly know what will and will not happen.

“The procedure to observe while awake is as follows. One should recite oṁ maṇidhāriṇī nandaya nandaya svapnaṃ kathaya kathaya hūṁ phaṭ svāhā fifty thousand times, wash their face with their urine, and concentrate on their goal. Once asleep, the good or ill that will or will not come to pass will be revealed.

“Additionally, one can seek accomplishment by applying that mantra and the correct ritual sequence to first gather together camels and the like, cows, or buffalo and incant them with the supreme mantra given above. One will undoubtedly be successful.

“One should go to the outskirts of a town, an orchard, a solitary liṅga, or a charnel ground F.82.a at any time and feast on alcohol and meat with a group of three or five yogins. One should then go home, perform sexual yoga, make a bali offering using whatever substances one’s wealth allows, prepare themselves mentally, and go to sleep. Mahābhairava will surely reveal a favorable or unfavorable dream and will directly bestow the pill siddhi, an auspicious state, and medicines that allow one to live for five hundred years.

“If one is overcome by fever, they should recite the syllable hūṁ while eating sesbania root. The fever will undoubtedly be cured. One can also recite the following mantra:

oṁ amoghariti­mahākāla hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ kili kili māra māra kāraya kāraya sama sama cama cama damadama jvara me kāhi kaddhyahi kaddhyahi kaṃ catur­thakam māsikam madhāmāsikam paittikaṃ kleṣmikaṃ hūṃ tajaṃ grahajaṃ vaitāḍāṃ hana hana śāntiṃ [insert name] kuru ha hā hi hī hu hū he hai ho hau haṃ haḥ.

They should then take a half breath,^[307] tie a knot on twined threads, and fasten it in their hair. The virulent illness will be cured.

“To reach accomplishment by reciting the seventeen-syllable great king of mantras, oṁ mahākāla śuciraspura­bandhana^[308] hūṁ phaṭ svāhā, one hundred thousand times, a yogin should acquire the following forty ingredients:^[309] galarṭa, supalana, mahāntara, ikkharayava, samaṭiraṇa, alawu, nīrakala, kāṇṭāhāvīkaja, bananas, honey, ṭasurī, mutiri, sapta, bell metal, aṅgavalī, raṇasāsura, pheṭavāra, ghaṇṭaka fruit, sumuri, candramasuri, ubhaktaci, laṭakī, tenaha, carṭapri, pukṣayā, caraṭa, madira seeds, sumbhā fruit, haghoradravyanehara, suddhamuṇiprācārya fruit, mango, prahari, kundhalicilī, jalacaraḍivva, māgaṭa, bumalaha, F.82.b ayanta fruit, kañjaru, betel, amugala, and ghanpāramānasā.

“Then, during a lunar or solar eclipse, the yogin should combine them in equal parts and swallow them on an empty stomach, reciting the mantra until they are gone. At that very moment the yogin will no longer be subject to death and will gain the siddhi of flight. If that does not work, the practitioner should repeat it during the half-moon. They will live for one thousand years and gain any of the eight great siddhis they want.

“Someone who performs the above rite after a lunar or solar eclipse will undoubtedly attain the omniscient state of the buddhas. If one does not attain this siddhi, it means one has debased the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha.

“There is thus no need for me to say more. One should know that the person who observes this rite among the others but does not follow it will be like a heap of wickedness and will not be able to attain liberation in this lifetime.

“One should not openly explain this chapter to those who have little faith. If someone openly explains it, that ācārya will have defiled the five thus-gone ones. Just seeing this chapter is extremely rare.

“If one eats bhandu, kīra, makira, sumita, and prabhaṇḍaṃ during a lunar or solar eclipse, one will become a lord of speech.

“If one consumes punala tree root, sagara leaves, and parada with warm oil during an eclipse, one will gain the ability to learn something just by hearing it, the ability to learn something just by reading it, and, undoubtedly, the ability to compose verse.

“If one drinks a concoction of prahmicuṭa, bhoṭārālā, and sarala pine sap, one will become a paṇḍita. If one combines sweet flag, mārgani, F.83.a ginger, cumin, and kardavajramali with honey and eats it, one will instantly become a great paṇḍita.

“During an eclipse, one should place some badara in their mouth and recite the mantra oṁ māṁ hrīḥ until it is gone. One will then be able to learn hundreds of verses every day. If one recites the mantra one thousand times while performing worship, crushes the badara in the palm of their hand,^[310] and drinks it with a handful of water, one will attain the goddess Sarasvatī’s siddhi and learn anything simply by hearing it. If one performs ten thousand fire offerings with this mantra, one will gain a loud voice and clear pronunciation.”

Chapter 34: Prognostication Using Young Girls

^[311]“Now I will present a chapter on prognostication using young girls.^[312]

majjhe ha ri pu ha u ra ha r io | ante a ru ju u ra pa si o | ja jā ja ta tha ma jā i o ta kgha ṇa ho | i ṇu pā vi o ka ha nam | a ra vā ra ṇi utti a nā hi o | su ti o pa i ṭi u se sa vakkā na te sa ka khu sa hi o | jaṃ ha u dā tha a ha o | ka ha ka ha ta ga kha ṇu ka hi o.”^[313]

Chapter 35: Combination

^[314]“Additionally, the two movements of the nose should be gradually combined as one, because when woven together, even the gods will die. For example, this is like ignorant citizens who break laws and flee the country. They run away out of fear and anxiety and eventually lose their lives.”^[315]

Chapter 36: Complexion

^[316]“Additionally, if one combines equal parts cow bezoar, sāṣṭa,^[317] coṇa, and preta, places them in their mouth, and recites the mantra, one will surely come to perceive past and future events.

“If someone who adopts difficult practices mixes equal parts cow bezoar, sukhadāyī, parasodhānī, hapuri,^[318] and arudūni, makes them into pills, F.83.b and swallows them, they will instantly know past and future events.

“Or, if one smears a fluid comprised of turmeric, sena, and raṇapaṇa on both eyes, they will know and see everything present in the threefold world.

“During a lunar or solar eclipse, one should grind ākāśamūli,^[319] sesbania root, and piṇḍatagara root^[320] into a paste, make all the ritual preparations, place it in one’s mouth, and recite the mantra. After that, if they place it in their mouth or rectum,^[321] they will surely know past and future events. If they do not, then I have committed the five actions entailing immediate retribution.

“If one grinds various tree roots with dew and smears it all over their body,^[322] they will have an excellent complexion.”

Chapter 37: Mantras for Paralyzing Rites

“Now I will explain the mantras for paralyzing rites.

“If one recites the mantra oṁ jalayavanā hūṁ one hundred thousand times, they will know past and future events.

“If one recites the mantra oṁ vara vara pravara pravara hūṁ ten thousand times, incants water seven times,^[323] washes their face with it, and drinks it, they will be able to learn something simply by hearing or reading it.

“The mantra for the summoning rite is oṁ pravara hraḥ.

“The mantra for the expelling rite is oṁ pāsugayali hūṁ.^[324]

“The mantra for the killing rite is oṁ khaṭ pacatra hraḥ.

“The mantra for the bewildering rite oṁ ruasvāsavidupaḥ.

“The mantra for the attracting rite oṁ haḥ haḥ jaḥ.

“The mantra for binding ḍākinīs is oṁ hi tiṣṭha he vaḥ hūṁ.

“The mantra for binding bhūtas is oṁ māṃ raṃ hā.

“The mantra for binding garuḍas is oṁ āḥ svāhā.

“The mantra for expelling birds is oṁ māṃ hūṁ.

“The mantra for stopping fire is oṁ jvaṃ raṃ.

“The mantra for stopping water is oṁ jaṃ jaṃ jaṃ.

“The mantra for stopping a sword is oṁ haṃ jaṃ yaṃ svāhā.

“The mantra for stopping semen oṁ jaṃ maṃ raṃ.” F.84.a

The Blessed One said, “In an isolated place, vajra dwelling, or empty house, and nowhere else, one should prepare everything needed to visualize Mahākāla’s maṇḍala. The yogin should consume alcohol, meat, blood, and cow meat and then sexually unite with his maternal aunt, paternal aunt, sister, niece, stepmother, daughter, or maternal uncle’s wife. First he should embrace her neck, bite her lips, mark her breasts with his fingernails, and then place his finger in her genitals. He should then stimulate and kiss her bhaga.

“The mantra for the yoginī’s blessing is oṁ gauri heṃ bandha muhraṃ sarva­gaurita jñānaṃ dadā maṇḍala sphoṭaya hūṁ hūṁ hūṁ phaṭ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā.

“An intelligent person who does all this will surely attain all types of bliss. The yoginīs, together with the goddess Umā, will surely be enticed to eat and drink. If one wears a crown of bandhūka flowers during the winter months, they will be invited.”

Chapter 38: The Fire Offering

“Now I will explain the fire offering that pacifies human beings. One should dig a square fire pit half a cubit deep and perform seven thousand fire offerings with whatever flowers are available while reciting the mantra oṁ kṣaṃ samasiddhi­dhapaya hrāṃ svāhā without distraction. One should offer water and make offerings of butter and honey throughout the fire offering. If this does not work, the rites that benefit beings that are explained in all the tantras would be untenable.

Chapter 39: Being Purified by the Feast and the Insight Consort

“Blessed One,” the Goddess then asked, “When a practitioner who strives to learn about the true nature of the vehicles that bring happiness to people indulges in food and drink to perfect their body, is wise to not retaliate against those who chastise them?” F.84.b

The Blessed One responded, “If someone says, ‘You have been drinking alcohol, embracing your sister, and eating human flesh,’ one should crush some moringa root, steep it in alcohol, and make an effigy of the target. One should pour alcohol into its mouth and then draw the following mantra on the effigy’s stomach: oṁ kamale vimale ratvāṃ smarāmi [insert name]^[325]ūrdhomantra­madyāmāṃsaṃ haṃ haṃ haḥ haḥ. Simply bringing this mantra to mind will surely make the target vomit alcohol and meat. As a result, the target of the rite will not be able to accuse anyone of embracing their sister and the like, and one’s own body will be purified.”

Chapter 40: The Ocean of Music

The Blessed One continued, “Once someone who has established a foundation through the religious life, beginning with the system of the śrāvakas, has indulged, then as the sun sets and illuminates everything by its great size, one should remain among samaya holders and complete all the songs and dances using the various rhythmic systems of the great drum, kettle drum, large kettle drum, clay drum, large clay drum, tambura, and reed flute and the songs of gandharvas and the like. After that, one should recite the initiation mantra oṁ aśruṇi pra hūṁ. One will surely receive Mahākāla’s blessing and henceforth succeed in all things.”

Chapter 41: The Method

“Now I will present a chapter on the method. Those with knowledge of time are defeated because they think they can preside over all there is to know. F.85.a How can knowledge lead to the attainment of bliss? One must be certain until the final, inconceivable, and stable practice that is free of meditation, meditator, and object of meditation.”

Chapter 42: Rites to Disperse Animals

“Now, I will explain the mantras that will disperse animals. If one calls to mind the mantra oṁ jaṃ jaṃ, an elephant will flee. If one calls to mind the mantra haṃ raḥ, a dog will flee. If one calls to mind the mantra praḥ praḥ, a horse will flee. If one calls to mind the mantra ṭa hūṁ, a lion will flee. If one calls to mind the mantra ehi ṭaṃsaṇa haḥ, a snake will flee. If one calls to mind the mantra muḥ, a monkey will flee. If one calls to mind the mantra gauva gaḥ, a bull will flee. If one calls to mind the mantra saḥ kulu kulu, a king will no longer be able to cause the slightest harm.”

Chapter 43: Sexual Embrace

“The Lord gained realization through sexual embrace. When immersed in the supremely profound inherent nature, supreme bliss arises. Therefore, the bliss one attains is not the mind or a product of the mind. Narrow-minded fools^[326] who lack awareness of existence and nonexistence—people who know nothing of the supremely profound—will not recollect even a word about nondual wisdom.”

Chapter 44: Yoga

“Now I will present a chapter on yoga. One should press down above and below and visualize a moon in the middle of their navel. One will be successful within six months. If one blocks their nostrils and then visualizes a drop, one will be successful within twenty-one days. If one presses their tongue upward they will be free from old age and death. F.85.b If one correctly recollects the sequence of inhalation, exhalation, and breath retention, they will succeed in flight within a fortnight. When the afflicted mind is killed by the vital wind, one should perform lunar union.^[327] One should seize it through mantra yoga and let it crumble in their hand.”^[328]

Chapter 45: Defeating an Enemy Army

“After mastering the Graha Lords, a yogin should perform a fire offering that makes perfect bliss completely pervasive. They should rub saffron powder, chaste tree, semen, and mercury on their body, and they will defeat an enemy army.”

Chapter 46: Accepting and Rejecting

“Blessed One,” the Goddess said, “tell us about the days on which the power of mantras and medicines will be potent. We want to hear about it.”

The Blessed One said, “Any day is good. Nevertheless, it is commonly understood to depend on a particular time, so I will explain those times. Sūrya is on the fifth, Candra is on the second, and the Graha Lords are on the seventh. Mantrin is on the fourth, Budha is on the third, Maṅgala is on the sixth, and Śaniścara is on the first. One will surely be successful at each of these times.”

Chapter 47: Lunar Mansions

“Now I will discuss how the system of planets, stars, and lunar days are engaged at the proper times devoid of the delusions of beings, time at which a person can internally analyze their dreams. On the fourteenth, eighth, or tenth day of the waning moon or the first day of the new moon one can engage Svāti, Pūrvāṣāḍhā, Hasta, Āśleṣā, Maghā, Citrā, Aśvinī, Bharaṇī, and Kṛttikā.” F.86.a

Chapter 48: Contemplating Virtue

“When an adept is sure that night has fallen, they should suppress the two fluctuating channels and approach the state of utter joy and so forth. Then, if they suppress all objects of knowledge in the navel maṇḍala, they will undoubtedly attain the bliss possessed by beings. The sensory objects will be burned by the fire of wisdom, and all will be illusion. In the future, they will be born in an excellent buddha field that is pure, stainless, and inconceivable to beings. A yogin who drinks milk will be as stainless as a bubble. When he expels the vital wind and is purified, he will achieve the virtue he has contemplated.”

Chapter 49: The Ritual Stages for the Path

“Blessed One,” the Goddess asked, “please speak about the ritual stages for the path. What should be burned with what for fire offering? How can a compassionate person establish all beings in happiness?”

The Blessed One replied,^[329] “One should first recite the mantra for the siddhi they seek, and then perform the fire offering. If impermanence is quickly revealed to them,^[330] they will comprehend the wisdom that is the nature of bliss. At that very moment, embodied beings will attain wisdom.”

Chapter 50: Atharvaśabarī’s Mantra

“Now I will present a chapter on Atharvaśabarī’s mantra. This king of mantras is oṁ sarva­mantra­ṇidānaṃ kṣemaṃ raṁ hūṁ kṣaḥ haḥ. A practitioner who simply reads this mantra once will effortlessly exhaust all misdeeds.”