Toh 431The Glorious Caṇḍa­mahā­roṣaṇa Tantra “The Sole Hero”

Summary

Written around the tenth or the eleventh century ce, in
the late Mantrayāna period, The Tantra of Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa
represents the flowering of the Yoginītantra genre. The tantra offers instructions on how
to attain the wisdom state of Buddha Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa through the practice of the four
joys. The tantra covers a range of practices and philosophical perspectives of late
tantric Buddhism, including the development stage, the completion stage, the use of
mantras, and a number of magical rites and rituals. The text is quite unique with its
tribute to and apotheosis of women and, in this regard, probably has few parallels
anywhere else in world literature. It is written in the spirit of great sincerity and
devotion, and it is this very spirit that mitigates, and at the same time empowers, the
text’s stark imagery and sometimes shocking practices. This text certainly calls for an
open mind.

Acknowledgments

This translation was produced by Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the
supervision of Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche. Wiesiek Mical translated the text from the Sanskrit
manuscripts, prepared the Sanskrit edition, and wrote the introduction. The translation
was then compared against the Tibetan translation found in the Degé Kangyur by James
Gentry, and edited by Andreas Doctor.

The Dharmachakra Translation Committee is also indebted to Professor Harunaga
Isaacson and Dr. Péter Szántó for their help in obtaining facsimiles of some of the
manuscripts, and to Professor Isaacson for making available some of his personal
materials.

This translation has been completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000:
Translating the Words of the Buddha.

Introduction

Like most Buddhist tantras, the Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇatantra (CMT) is regarded within the Vajrayāna tradition
as a divinely revealed text, with its teachings delivered directly from the level of
the saṃbhogakāya, that is, the bliss body of Lord Buddha. In such tantras, the
saṃbhogakāya deity who delivers the original discourse varies—it could be
Avalokiteśvara, Vajrapāṇi, or others. In this case, it is Lord Vajrasattva. The
teaching itself takes the form of a dialogue between Vajrasattva and his consort. Lord
Vajrasattva here assumes the identity of the deity Acala (Immovable One), which is
another name for the deity of the title, Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa (Fierce Great Angry One).
His consort is Vajradhātvīśvarī (Goddess of the Vajra Realm).

As is the case with all tantras, the person who put the CMT into writing chose
to remain anonymous in conformity with the tradition, which no doubt saw the author
merely as a medium for conveying this secret teaching. However, in the search for the
earthly origin of this text, the circumstantial evidence seems to point to a Nepalese
origin, most likely Newar. Of the more than one hundred extant manuscripts of the CMT,
ranging in date from 1380 up to the twentieth century, all were written in Nepal, as
were the only two known manuscripts of the CMT commentary, the Padmāvatī.

Although the tradition of this tantra and its title deity never became
widespread or popular outside the Kathmandu Valley, it flowered and thrived for almost
a millennium among Kathmandu’s Newar Buddhist community, leaving a rich legacy still
evident today. There is at least one active shrine of Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa in the
Kathmandu Valley; it is part of the sacred Hiraṇyavarṇa Mahāvihāra complex in Patan.
Most shops that sell Buddhist art in Kathmandu offer a selection of Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa
paintings, and the CMT is still being taught by Newari Bajracharyas—themselves part of
its unbroken spiritual heritage—such as Yagnyaman Pati Bajracharya, who traces his
family line back to the eighth-century Buddhist master Vilāsavajra.

The CMT appears to have drawn on a number of earlier scriptures, including the
Guhyasamājatantra (Toh 442), the Hevajratantra (Toh 417),
the Siddhaikavīratantra (Toh 544), and the Cittaviśuddhiprakaraṇa of Āryadeva (Toh 1804). In turn, it influenced other works, such as the Vidyādharavinodatantra. However, among all the works devoted to the deity
Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa, the CMT is unquestionably the most important. Other works centered
on this deity include sādhana, dhāraṇī, and stotra compositions—all of them, as their
genres might suggest, much shorter than the CMT.

One should note, however, that the CMT was not the first scripture to introduce
its main deity. There is at least one earlier occurrence of the name
Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa, found in the first chapter of the Siddhaikavīratantra as part of the mantra oṁ
caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa hūṁ phaṭ. Moreover, the deity
himself seems to predate the name Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa. Under his other name, Acala, he
has a tantra devoted to himself, the Acalakalpa. This
is one of the core Kriyātantras of the Tathāgatakula group, predating the CMT by a few
or even several hundred years. The name Acala is also found in the Vairocanābhisambodhi (Toh 494), one of the two known Caryātantra texts extant in Sanskrit. Although the cult of this deity under the name
Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa was more or less confined to the Kathmandu valley, it spread farther
afield under the name Acala, reaching as far as Japan, where the practice of Acala
(“Fudō” in Japanese) became important in Shingon Buddhism.

The text of the CMT exists in the original Sanskrit and in translations. Only
parts of the Sanskrit text have been edited and published. Since no previous edition exists of the complete
text, we had to reconstruct the Sanskrit text of the remaining chapters from
manuscripts, revising the existing editions in the process. The resulting Sanskrit
text of the complete tantra that appears as the appendix to this translation is a
half-critical, half-diplomatic edition chiefly based on the oldest and the most
correct of the CMT manuscripts.

The Tibetan canonical translation, according to its colophon, was the work of
one Trakpa Gyaltsen (grags pa rgyal
mtshan) and the Indian scholar Ratnaśrī. As the translation was
sponsored by Sherab Senge (shes rab seng
ge), 1251–1315, we can safely conclude that the first of the two
translators was Sherab Senge’s disciple, Trakpa Gyaltsen from Yarlung (yar klungs pa grags pa rgyal mtshan),
1242–1346, and not the celebrated Sakya scholar of the same name. It was completed at the monastery of Sakya (sa skya), in a year of the Snake, probably during
Sherab Senge’s lifetime or soon after his death. This translation, which is the only
one known to exist in Tibetan, is included in all the major editions of the Tibetan
Kangyur.

There are also two partial translations from recent years: an English
translation by Christopher George and a German translation by Peter Gäng. George translated chapters 1–8,
whereas Gäng translated the whole tantra except chapters 17–21, which he abridged into
one short chapter. The translation presented here is therefore the first complete
translation of this text since the Tibetan appeared. In general, it follows the
Sanskrit edition, although it does at times incorporate the Tibetan; such instances
are listed in the endnotes. However, as there are literally hundreds of minor
differences between the Sanskrit and the Tibetan, not all variations have been noted;
only major discrepancies have been included.

The translation also attempts to reflect the exegesis found in the Padmāvatī, the only extant commentary on the CMT, which
was written by one Mahāsukhavajra. The Padmāvatī is
preserved in two Nepali manuscripts, one of which is a direct copy of the other. The
older of the two, used for this translation, can be dated to 1297. This commentary has
never been edited or translated, except the part corresponding to chapters 9–12 of the
CMT, which was edited by Harunaga Isaacson to accompany his edition of the root text
of these four chapters. Professor Isaacson’s edition, along with text-critical and
analytical notes, was kindly made available for the present translation. The Padmāvatī covers select chapters only, and even then
tends to skip lengthy parts of the text. This Sanskrit text, which was never
translated into Tibetan, is in many places corrupt and fraught with ambiguities, and
the manuscript is unfortunately not always legible. Nevertheless, a provisional
transcript of the complete text was prepared to help interpret the root text in the
course of this translation.

The text of the CMT presumes the reader’s prior knowledge and understanding of
Buddhism’s main principles, including the tenets of Vajrayāna. Further, it requires
that the reader has faith and devotion, which is so indispensable for the intuitive
grasp of, and the eventual awakening to, the true nature of things—the nature that is
described as empty (śūnya). According
to the CMT, this awakening is irreversible and is therefore termed
indestructible awakening (vajrabodhi). It can only take place when all dualistic
concepts, such as “pure” and “impure,” fall away. And it is here that the seemingly
revolting practices found in our text become significant: they are a call to give up
our deluded dualistic notions, while at the same time constituting a touchstone for
the direct experience of reality, a reality where even what may seem revolting to the
conceptual mind can now be experienced as the deity. The inclusion of such “extreme”
practices is a testimony to the fact that the CMT presents us not with mere
sophistries, but with practices rooted in actual experience.

One needs to assume that the practice of Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa is secret to the
same extent that all the Yoginītantra deity practices are. The CMT distinguishes
between two types of conduct: the first, which is for everybody to see and which
accords with Buddhism’s ten wholesome practices, is described as
open (prakaṭa), and the other, which is secret, is termed
inverted (viparīta). The motto of inverted conduct is:

By passion, passion is killed;

A conflagration is killed by fire.

One should destroy poison with poison,

Applying the instructions. (CMT,

)

The text clearly states that the master must not give instructions on the
“inverted” practices to someone who has not first been initiated into the maṇḍala of
Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa. The initiation itself would not be effective unless the pupil has
realized the empty nature of mind, and the practices must not be undertaken by someone
who has not achieved sufficient control over his prāṇa-mind
(vāyucitta). However, as there
are currently no lineage masters who could give the Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa empowerment or
even the reading authorization (Tib. lung) for the formal Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa sādhanas, or who could give
instruction in other Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa practices found in the CMT, it would be
difficult, if not impossible, to become initiated into these practices. As for simply
reading the CMT, one should proceed at one’s own risk—with the prerequisite, at the
least, of an open and respectful frame of mind.

To facilitate the arising of nondual awareness, the tantras, especially those
of the Yoginī class, bring in another essential element. This is the overwhelming
intensity of experience that obliterates mental acts of self-reference. When this
experience is founded on an exclusively benevolent frame of mind, such as the feeling
of great affection (mahārāga), there
is a chance that dualistic fixations can melt away, bringing on an irreversible
change. This brings us closer to the specific content of the Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇatantra, namely its sexual practices. When used
skillfully, sexuality becomes a powerful tool. The ritual union engages the two
partners on all levels—the physical level; the level of the five senses (the senses
constituting a bridge between the body and consciousness); and all the different
levels of consciousness. The partners, perceiving each other as deities, generate
strong love and devotion for one another. Their union allows for an intense
experience, which brings the mind effortlessly into focus and sharpens the awareness.
After the intensity peaks, there is a brief natural gap, when the three kleśas—desire, aversion, and indifference,
which normally drive one’s conceptual thinking—completely cease. All that is needed at
this point is recognition. This recognition can be arrived at and stabilized through
the repeated practice of ritual union.

The theory and practice of this union as presented in the CMT revolves around
the four joys (caturānandāḥ). One
observes these four as they arise during the ritualized lovemaking, and one learns to
discern the “gap”—an ineffable state of nondual awareness at the point at which
supreme joy (paramānanda) gives way
to innate joy (sahajānanda). This gap
can be discerned during the innate joy phase, which, as the commentary tells us,
corresponds in the male to the period between the moment when semen reaches the tip of
the penis, to the moment when all of the semen has entered the vagina. Once this
gap—an interruption in the continuum of the subject, the object, and grasping—is
recognized, one gradually learns to prolong this state of mind until one attains
stability. The four joys are, in fact, the foundation stone for the practice of the
deity Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa, and also the central theme of the soteriological part
(roughly the first sixteen chapters) of the CMT.

Readers not familiar with the social customs of the period might feel
surprised at the young age of girls—sometimes as low as twelve—accepted as consorts in
the practice of sexual yoga. Sexual initiation early in life was the norm of the day
and certainly not unique to the tantras. In India, the ancient norm-setting law books
(smṛtiśāstras), which remained
authoritative throughout the entire Indian phase of Vajrayāna Buddhism, were concerned
not so much with the youngest age at which sexual activity was permissible, but rather
with the oldest before which the girl must become sexually active in
order not to miss her first opportunity to conceive. One law book warns of
consequences if this opportunity is missed: “When she reaches twelve…, the forefathers
(pitṛ) of the girl who has not
yet been given in marriage will themselves drink her menstrual discharge every month”
(Parāśarasmṛti, 7:5–6). Another
book concurs: “A girl who sees her own menstrual blood in her father’s house shall be
known as an outcaste” (Viṣṇusmṛti,
24:41). The purpose of the sexual act as espoused in different literary genres may
have varied (from the reproductive in the smṛtiśāstras to the soteriological in the Yoga- and Yoginītantras), but
the early sexual initiation is evidenced throughout the whole spectrum of Indian
literature. That said, one must add that the age most often recommended by the tantras
was actually not twelve but sixteen; this is paralleled by the age of the deity forms
visualized during the sādhana.

The sexual practices, however, are far from being the only content of the CMT,
which is varied and rich. This tantra aims to be a guide, complete in itself, which
takes care of both our soteriological and mundane needs. Since the CMT includes all
the standard elements of a classical Buddhist tantra of the later period, it may be
unnecessary to describe, or even list, all these elements here. Instead a brief
mention of some of its salient features might be of benefit. (For a full list of
topics, please consult the chapter headings in the contents section.)

One such feature is the exalted position of women. This thread, present
throughout the text, starts from the premise that the man and the woman are
deities—Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa and Vajradhātvīśvarī, respectively—and both should worship
each other as such. The text, however, dwells on the service rendered by a man to a
woman, rather than the other way around. The woman is the one who grants the ultimate
beatitude and the final awakening, and she is the one who deserves infinite gratitude
and devout service. This may be best illustrated by a quotation:

Women are heaven, women are the Dharma,

And women are truly the supreme austerity.

Women are the Buddha, women are the Saṅgha,

Women are the Perfection of Wisdom. (CMT,

)

The word used for “service” is sevā, which in Sanskrit means “attending to” (as a servant would to a
master). It also means “sexual intercourse,” which—being in itself a form of
service—here takes a ritualized form. Again a quotation summarizes it all:

For a woman, the man is a deity;

For a man, the woman is a deity.

They should honor each other

By uniting the vajra and the lotus. (CMT,

)

The content of the CMT thus ranges from soteriological, through magical (which
combines soteriological and mundane elements), to practical. Consequently the text
becomes, in turn, a manual of deity practice with its development (utpatti) and completion (utpanna) stages, a compendium of magical
practices comprising the four types of tantric (not necessarily “enlightened”)
activity, and a do-it-yourself manual offering instruction on various practical
subjects, some as mundane as waterproofing cloth or dying one’s hair. Among the
different types of magic, prominence is given to the rites of enthrallment (vaśīkaraṇa); and among the magical
remedies, to those enhancing sexual experience during lovemaking. The CMT is also a
rich source of materia medica; it contains a wealth of ritual
prescriptions and recipes in which magic blends with folk medicine.

The plant names and other materia medica presented a
particular difficulty during the translation work. There are discrepancies between the
traditional sources as regards plant names, and sometimes several plant species
contend for the same name. Modern scholars of āyurveda or ethnobotany do not always
agree among themselves concerning the correct identification of some plants. A certain
amount of care was taken, however, to identify every plant by the names found in the
Sanskrit and the Tibetan texts. A number of reference works and specialized websites
were consulted, but, needless to say, not all the plants and substances have been
identified reliably, and some could not be identified at all. Some passages in the
sections containing such recipes still remain unclear.

The mantras and dhāraṇīs have been translated, for the most part, as they
often take the form of a request or a prayer, and their semantic content is usually
related to the ritual in which they are employed. This particularly applies to the
longer formulae, such as garland mantras or dhāraṇīs. However, because they are meant
to be recited in their original Sanskrit form, which is believed to possess liturgical
and magical significance, their full Sanskrit text has been given in notes.
Translation of these formulae, again, presented a problem, and the reader should note
that many words that are not standard Sanskrit have not been identified with
certainty, and some have not been identified at all.

Technical Sanskrit terms that do not have English equivalents have either been
translated descriptively, or the original term was used with a link to the glossary.
As the ritual jargon of the tantras is often incompatible with modern English in terms
of semantics and usage, the reader will find that certain English words in our
translation have been used in a somewhat unconventional way. For example, in our
translation the direct object of the verb to incant can be not only the
mantra but also, just as in Old English, the object over which the spell or the mantra
is to be recited. Although there is a significant precedent for this particular usage
in modern English, in genres ranging from academic works to the Harry Potter novels,
this could still seem “incorrect” to many readers.

As already mentioned, the CMT includes instructions that are not intended as
spiritual per se. Among the methods of the do-it-yourself type, the tantra
distinguishes a special category that it refers to as kutūhala, that is, “curious” or “odd.” As this name
suggests, these methods—such as setting a cow bone ablaze, making things glow at
night, or causing iron to appear as copper—might have been included in the tantra
because of their curiosity rather than their practical value. Obtaining the necessary
requisites for some of these practices might require killing animals or performing other acts conventionally regarded as
unwholesome. A few of these practices might appear, by society’s norms, as frivolous,
if not gratuitously harmful. These “odd” elements are, however, neither unique to the
CMT (many tantras include a chapter or section devoted to them), nor do they purport
to be part of this tantra’s main message. The aim and purpose of the CMT’s profound
teachings lies in the realization of nondual awareness through the practice of the
four joys. As such its unique beauty is in the love and devotion experienced in the
union of the two partners—the wisdom and the means.

The Translation

The Tantra of Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa

Chapter 1

Introduction

Oṁ, homage to
Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa!

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

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

“Freed from existence and nonexistence,

Solely devoted to the four joys,

I am naturally without mental elaboration

And devoid of all mental constructs.

“I am endowed with five forms

In order to benefit the fools

Who don’t know me as present

In the body of every man.”

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

“Inseparable from emptiness and compassion,

Abiding in pleasure with divine lust,

Devoid of all mental constructs am I,

Free from mental elaboration and undistracted.

“I am endowed with five forms

In order to benefit those women

Who don’t know me as present

In the body of every woman.”

The lord Black Acala deeply kissed and firmly embraced Hatred Vajrī, and said:

“Goddess, goddess! Very enjoyable,

Secret and extremely hard to come by,

More essential than the essence, supreme,

Beautifully taught by all the buddhas—

“Hear it: I will teach this great tantra,

The lord of kings of tantras, the supreme,

Called Sole Hero,

For beings’ swift accomplishment.

“This tantra must not be revealed

To one who has not seen its maṇḍala.

Nor should one explain this king of tantras

To someone who has entered a different maṇḍala.

“To the one who has entered the maṇḍala of Caṇḍaroṣa,

Who is abiding in absorption,

Who possesses supreme faith and diligence, O fierce goddess,

To him one should explain this tantra.

“To the one who is devoted to the teacher, compassionate,

Wholly engaged in the Mantrayāna,

And always devoted to Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa,

To him should one explain this tantra.

“However, should any yogin,

Despite knowing this, corrupted by greed,

Explain the supreme tantra of Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa

To someone who has not seen his maṇḍala,

“He will be seized by severe illnesses,

Soiled by stool and urine,

And experience the suffering of death

Within six months.

“Then, seized by the messengers of Yama,

Overpowered by the noose of Time,

To hell will he, the evil one, be led,

Even if he is protected by buddhas.

“If, after the exhaustion of his karma,

Having experienced suffering for a hundred thousand years,

He attains a human birth,

He will be destroyed in that birth by a bolt of lightning.

“So therefore, a lay vow-holder who knows the path of mantras

Should draw a beautiful maṇḍala.

He should cause the disciples—

Only those previously examined—to enter there,

“And should then explain this tantra,

Difficult to find in the three worlds.

Anyone who would explain it to one who hasn’t studied

Will follow a downward course.

“He will suffer inflammation of the mouth,

Even though he may be equal to buddhas.

Or else, if a disciple without faith

Listens to the explanation out of a mere desire to know,

“His head will be split by a thunderbolt,

Without any doubt, during the rainy season.

This truth, O goddess,

I have taught, O beautiful-faced one,

“In this, the well-guarded

Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa tantra called The Sole Hero.”

This concludes the first chapter, the introduction to the tantra, in
the glorious Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa tantra called “The Sole
Hero.”

Chapter 2

The Maṇḍala

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

“What is the size of the maṇḍala,

And with what materials should it be drawn?

And also, what is to be written in its center?

Tell me, O lord!”

The lord then said:

“The size of the maṇḍala

Should be one cubit, two cubits,

Three cubits, four or five—

But not more than five cubits in measure.

“It should be made with powders of whatever substances

And of different colors,

With four corners, four doors,

And adorned with four archways.

“One should draw the door the size of

One-eighth of the whole maṇḍala,

The portico the same size as the door,

And the cupola one-half of that.

“And also, of such measure, the side, the altar,

The garland, the half-garland, and the paṭṭikā.

The rajobhuva, however, outside of
the base line,

Should be one-half of the paṭṭikā.

“One should draw the row of vajras of the same size

And also the eight pillars.

One should make the chief gateway

Three times as big as the door.

“A double vajra should be drawn below,

Surrounded by the vajra-enclosure.

The maṇḍala of Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa

Should be adorned with wish-fulfilling trees, and so on.

“One should also demarcate an inner enclosure

In the round shape of a circle.

In its eight directions, starting from the east,

One should draw a multicolored lotus of eight petals,

“With the space in the middle being the ninth.

In the center of the ninth, a deep-blue sword should be drawn

Marked with a vajra and placed together with

A vajra-knife and a skull cup.

“In the east, one should draw

A sword of white color marked with a wheel.

In the south, one should draw

A yellow sword, inlaid with a jewel.

“In the west, one of red color,

Marked with a red lotus.

In the north, one should draw

A plain sword of dark-green color.

“In the southeast corner, one should draw

A white knife, marked with a wheel.

In the southwestern corner, one should draw

A yellow one, nicely marked with a jewel.

“In the northwestern corner, similarly,

A red one, nicely marked with a red lotus, should be drawn.

In the northeastern corner,

A dark-green one with a blue lotus.

“One should arrange all these signs

In position above the sun and the moon.

I have taught this maṇḍala of powders

To accomplish the benefit of the world.

“Alternatively one should prepare a maṇḍala

In the form of a canvas-picture, nicely painted.

The maṇḍala should be drawn as before.

In the center, one should draw Black Acala,

“Embraced by Hatred Vajrī.

In the east, one should draw White Acala;

Similarly Yellow Acala in the south.

In the west, one should draw Red Acala;

“In the north, one should draw Green Acala.

In the southeast, white Delusion Vajrī;

In the southwest, one should draw

Yellow Calumny Vajrī.

“In the northwest, one should draw

The red goddess Passion Vajrī;

In the northeast, draw dark-green Envy Vajrī.

So one should draw the canvas-maṇḍala.

“Now comes the maṇḍala tutelage mantra:

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

“Now comes the worship mantra:

Oṁ, White Acala, accept this flower!
Hūṁ phaṭ!

Oṁ, Yellow Acala, accept this flower!
Hūṁ phaṭ!

Oṁ, Red Acala, accept this flower!
Hūṁ phaṭ!

Oṁ, Green Acala, accept this flower!
Hūṁ phaṭ!

Oṁ, Delusion Vajrī, accept this flower!
Hūṁ phaṭ!

Oṁ, Calumny Vajrī, accept this flower!
Hūṁ phaṭ!

Oṁ, Passion Vajrī, accept this flower!
Hūṁ phaṭ!

Oṁ, Envy Vajrī, accept this flower!
Hūṁ phaṭ!

“The flowers, and likewise the light, the incense,

The perfumes, and the food—

With these five offerings,

One should worship the maṇḍala.

“When, however, White Acala is in the center,

Together with Delusion Vajrī,

The maṇḍala should be known as his.

So would be the case with Yellow Acala and so forth.

“One should prepare the five maṇḍalas

According to the division of the five yogins,

With one-pointed mind,

Having made an effort to do the prior worship first.

“Only after offerings to the maṇḍala have been made,

Can one offer refreshments of wine and meat

To the yoginī embraced by the yogin

And praise her again and again.”

Chapter 3

Empowerment

Then the goddess said:

“How should the student be prepared,

And how should he be engaged in this tantra?

How are his doubts resolved?

Please explain this, O great lord!”

The lord then said:

“First one should give him the triple refuge,

The five disciplines, and the fast.

Then the five empowerments,

The secret empowerment, and lastly the wisdom-consort empowerment.

“Then the disciple will be fit.

One should explain this tantra to him alone;

One should keep others far away,

Otherwise one will go to Raurava Hell.

“This is the verse of the triple refuge:

“I go to the Buddha, my refuge,

Until I attain the essence of awakening.

I go to the Dharma, my refuge,

And to the Saṅgha, with undivided faith.

“This is the verse of the five disciplines:

“Killing and also stealing,

Seducing another’s wife, false speech—

I abandon all of that like a snake.

Also the fifth, the intoxicants.

“This is the verse of the observance of the fast:

“I will not kill living beings,

Nor steal another’s property.

I will practice celibacy

And avoid false words.

“I will never drink wine—

The cause of intoxication—

And will avoid dance, song,

And ornaments, along with merriment,

“High bed, grand bed,

And also eating at inappropriate times.

In this way, I will keep pure

The eightfold vow of the fast,

“In agreement with the instructions for the arhats,

Just as instructed by the Buddha.

When I have conquered the wicked Māra in this way

And attained the ultimate buddhahood,

“I shall become a refuge for all beings

Suffering in saṃsāra.

For as long as I circle in saṃsāra,

For so long, I, a male offspring of the buddhas,

“Shall be one who associates with good people,

Is wise, and delights in the good of the world.

“This is the water empowerment:

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

“This is the crown empowerment:

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

“This is the sword empowerment:

“This is the noose empowerment:

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

“This is the name empowerment:

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

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

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

“Now comes the secret empowerment.

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

“ ‘This girl that I offer you

Grants all the pleasures of love;

Accept her for the sake of your pleasure.

Please have compassion, O lord.’

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

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

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

“ ‘This sword, which is in Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa’s hand,

Is very sharp indeed.

Whoever breaches the samaya,

This sword is dedicated to cutting him up.

“In billions of lives,

There will be people with swords in their hands,

Cutting off all his limbs,

Eager to chop off his head—

“For you also, it will be the same

If you break the samaya.’

Then the student should say:

‘So be it.’

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

“ ‘She is your delightful supporter;

She is to be served as taught by the buddhas.

A fool who transgresses against this

Will not attain the highest accomplishment.’

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

“ ‘My dear, are you eager

To eat my impurities,

Even if they were feces, urine, and blood,

And suck the interior of my bhaga?’

“The sādhaka should say:

“ ‘Why wouldn’t I be eager, O mother,

To eat your impurities?

I should practice devotion to women

Until I attain the essence of awakening.’

“And she should say:

“ ‘Ah, whoever serves,

According to procedure, this lotus of mine,

Which is endowed with every pleasure,

To him I will grant accomplishment.

“ ‘Do what needs to be done in the lotus,

Steadily, applying forethought,

For Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa himself

Dwells here—the great bliss.’

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

“This was the wisdom empowerment.”

This concludes the chapter on empowerments, the third in the glorious
Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa tantra called “The Sole Hero.”

Chapter 4

Deity

Then the goddess said:

“How should he meditate,

The meditator on Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa?

What mantra should he recite?

Please tell me, O great lord!”

The lord then said:

“In a place pleasing to the mind

And free from all distractions,

One whose mind is in equipoise

Should prepare a pleasant seat.

“First one should cultivate loving kindness;

Second, compassion;

Third, sympathetic joy;

And, to complete the lot, equanimity.

“Then one should visualize the seed syllable in one’s heart,

Standing on the sun, which is on the moon, which is on the lotus.

One should visualize Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa in front,

Arisen from light rays of the seed syllable.

“The wise practitioner should mentally worship him

With flowers, incense, and the rest.

In front of him, he should confess his sins

And rejoice in the virtues of all beings.

“One should take the triple refuge, supplicate the buddhas not to enter
nirvāṇa,

And request them to turn the wheel of Dharma.

Having then offered one’s body,

One should dedicate the merit.

“One should form a firm resolution

And turn one’s mind to awakening.

Then one should pay homage to Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa,

And, again, absorb him with the rays of light.

“Reciting the following mantra,

One should meditate on emptiness.

“One should carefully visualize

The syllable hūṁ burned by the light rays,

Then visualize it burning like camphor,

And then one should not visualize even the light rays.

“Having visualized everything, for a short while,

To be like space,

One should visualize one’s own body

To be translucent like a pure crystal.

“One after the other one should visualize

Four syllables—yaṁ raṁ vaṁ
laṁ—

Transforming into, respectively,

Wind, fire, water, and earth.

“Having then visualized the syllable bhruṁ,

One should visualize the temple-palace

That has four corners, four doors,

And is adorned with eight pillars.

“One should visualize at its center

A multicolored lotus with eight petals,

Arisen from the seed syllable paṁ,

And on it, the moon, born from the syllable aṁ.

“On it again, the sun born from the syllable raṁ,

And above it the syllable hūṁ.

One should visualize, born from this,

Akṣobhya in union with Māmakī.

“The lord of yogins should enter there,

Through the crown aperture of Akṣobhya,

By the method of a shooting star,

Intent on the bhaga of Māmakī.

“Having then become the essence of semen,

He should fall inside her bhaga.

However, he should subsequently emerge from there

In the complete form of Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa.

“One should kill Akṣobhya, the father,

With the sword, and later eat him.

One should then visualize him

Being eaten also by Māmakī.

“Then, having seized Māmakī, the mother,

One should make love to her.

One should visualize oneself embraced by her,

In her form of Hatred Vajrī.

“His right hand is terrifying with a sword in it,

His left is holding a noose;

He is making a threatening gesture with his index finger,

And bites his lower lip with his fangs.

“Kicking with his right foot,

He is smashing the four Māras.

His left knee is on the ground.

Squint eyed, he inspires fear.

“He points a threatening gesture at Vasudhā,

Kneeling on the cap of his left knee.

He has Akṣobhya for his crest jewel;

He is of blue color and wears a jewel diadem.

“A princely youth, Wearing Five Braids of Hair,

Adorned with all the ornaments,

He appears to be sixteen years old,

And his eyes are red—he, the powerful one.

“One should meditate with a steadfast mind:

‘I am the accomplished being, Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa.’

Then, by a churning method,

One should emanate White Acala in the east.

“One should emanate Delusion Vajrī in the southeast,

Of the color of autumnal white lotus.

One should emanate Yellow Acala in the south,

And Calumny Vajrī in the southwest.

“One should emanate Red Acala in the west,

And the red Passion Vajrī in the northwest.

In the north, one should emanate Green Acala,

And in the northwest, green Envy Vajrī.

“Later one should invite

The manifestation of wisdom.

Subsequently these goddesses rouse the lord

With songs coming from their own throats.

“From Delusion Vajrī:

“ ‘Lord, do not abandon loving kindness

And do not become void by nature!

If separated from you, I will perish,

And so will all beings—each and every one of them.’

“From Calumny Vajrī:

“ ‘Do not abandon the mind of compassion!

O lord, do not become void,

Lest my suffering body

Becomes devoid of life!’

“From Passion Vajrī:

“ ‘Why, O virtuous one, should you abandon sympathetic joy

And enter the void?

You have made a promise!

The entire world rests in your heart.’

“From Envy Vajrī:

“ ‘If you consider me, youthful as I am,

The view of the void is fruitless.

Abandon the nature of void!

Please make love to me!’

“Having heard these four songs as if in a dream,

Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa quickly rises, instantaneously complete.

One should visualize him in his exact previous form,

In sexual embrace.

“Then, having killed White Acala,

One should make love to Delusion Vajrī.

Assuming the form of White Acala,

One should, in turn, kill Yellow Acala.

“One should make love to Calumny Vajrī,

Oneself having turned into Yellow Acala.

Having, in the same way, killed Red Acala,

One should make love to Passion Vajrī.

“Having turned into Red Acala,

One should, in turn, kill Green Acala.

One should then make love to Envy Vajrī,

Having oneself turned into Green Acala.

“Having impassioned the four goddesses,

One should absorb the entire maṇḍala.

The devotee should ardently visualize

Just oneself, embraced.

“He should then assume an identity as follows:

‘I am an accomplished one without any doubt.’

A yogin of black complexion

Should meditate on Black Acala.

“A yogin of white complexion

Should meditate on White Acala.

A yogin of yellow complexion

Should meditate on Yellow Acala.

“A yogin of red complexion

Should meditate on Red Acala.

A yogin of green complexion

Should meditate on Green Acala.

“A woman who is of black complexion

Should meditate on Hatred Vajrī.

A woman who is of white complexion

Should meditate on Delusion Vajrī.

“A woman who is of yellow complexion

Should meditate on Calumny Vajrī.

A woman who is of red complexion

Should meditate on Passion Vajrī.

“A woman who is of green complexion

Should meditate on Envy Vajrī.

Every man is a vajra yogin,

And every woman is a vajra yoginī.

“One should do all these assignations

According to the division of colors—the black and so forth.

Alternatively, following the division of the types of action,

There would be the fivefold assignation as follows:

“Black color is for killing and hatred;

White is for the tranquility of mind.

Yellow is for paralyzing and enriching;

Red is for enthralling and attracting.

“Dark green is said to be for expelling.

As for the division corresponding to one’s caste,

The musician is black, the brahmin is white,

And the butcher is known to be yellow.

“The dancer is red,

The washerman is regarded as green—so it goes.

One of black nature should make love

To a black girl with elongated eyes.

“One of white nature should make love to a white girl;

One of distinctly yellow nature, to a yellow girl.

One of red nature should make love to a red girl;

One of green nature, for his part, to a green girl.

“Or else, whatever girl one finds,

Engaged in meditation according to that,

One should make love to her with a steadfast mind,

In such a way that nobody knows.

“They are girls who can grant true accomplishment

After merely a fortnight’s application.

Their sexual fluid is vajra—

One should lick it all with one’s tongue.

“One should drink their urine as one pleases,

Placing one’s face on their bhaga.

Or, indeed, placing the face on the lotus of their anus,

One should eat, as one pleases, their feces.

“One must not feel any disgust, not even a little,

Otherwise one will lose one’s accomplishment.

This private food is the best,

Eaten by all the buddhas.”

Chapter 5

Mantra

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

“The root mantra:
Oṁ, Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa, hūṁ phaṭ!

The third root mantra: Oṁ hūṁ phaṭ!

The heart mantra: Hūṁ

The second heart mantra: Āṁ

The third heart mantra: Haṁ.

“The garland mantra:

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

“The second garland mantra:

“The third garland mantra:

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

“
Oṁ, Black Acala, hūṁ, phaṭ!

Oṁ, White Acala, hūṁ, phaṭ!

Oṁ, Yellow Acala, hūṁ, phaṭ!

Oṁ, Red Acala, hūṁ, phaṭ!

Oṁ, Green Acala, hūṁ, phaṭ!

“There are also mantras common to the goddesses:

“The root mantra:
Oṁ, Vajrayoginī, hūṁ, phaṭ!

The second root mantra:
Oṁ, Prajñāpāramitā, hūṁ, phaṭ!

The third root mantra:
Oṁ, Vauherī, hūṁ, phaṭ!

“There are also individual mantras:

“
Oṁ, Hatred Vajrī, hūṁ, phaṭ!

Oṁ, Delusion Vajrī, hūṁ, phaṭ!

Oṁ, Calumny Vajrī, hūṁ, phaṭ!

Oṁ, Passion Vajrī, hūṁ, phaṭ!

Oṁ, Envy Vajrī, hūṁ, phaṭ!

“This is the common mantra of the oblation offering:

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

Chapter 6

Completion Stage

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

“How should one meditate

According to the practice of the completion stage?

Please elaborate on this question

For the good of the yoginīs.”

The lord then said:

“Immersed in the practice of the completion stage

And wholly devoted to his practice, a yogin

Should visualize my form,

With one-pointed mind, day and night.

“He should visualize his woman

In your form, incisively.

Through intensive practice like this,

He will achieve mastery.

“The mother, and also the daughter,

The younger sister, the niece,

Or any other female relative,

And likewise a female musician or a brahmin,

“A sweeper, a dancer,

A washerwoman, a prostitute,

A lay vow holder, and also a yoginī,

Or a female kāpālika,

“Or another woman, as available,

Well-endowed with feminine beauty—

One should make love following the prescribed way,

In such a way that the secret is not disclosed.

“Should the secret be disclosed, angry Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa

Will kill the practitioner

And will make him fall into Avīci Hell,

Terrifying him with a sword and a noose.

“There will be no attainment for him in this world,

Nor in the afterlife.

Therefore one should maintain absolute secrecy

And stay out of the range of anyone’s sight.

“Like the mantra of the ḍākinī,

The sādhana of Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa should be kept secret—

It was for the sake of insatiable lovers

That I, the Buddha, taught it.

“In a place pleasing to the mind,

Free from all distractions,

One should secretly start out with her—

The one who is pleasing to the mind.

“Thinking, ‘I am the buddha Acala,

A perfected being, and my beloved is Prajñāpāramitā,’

The wise practitioner should visualize

Their respective divine forms deeply in his mind.

“Ensuring that one’s hermitage is private

And provided with food and other requisites as available,

One should meditate incisively,

Engaging in the union of two lovers.

“One should place the woman in front

And make her sit facing oneself.

With mutual passion, the two

Should gaze at each other intensely.

“Then, focusing on the pleasure of gazing,

One should remain with one’s mind focused one-pointedly.

At precisely that time, she should say the following words,

Which bring on an intensification of pleasure:

“ ‘You are my son, my husband;

You are regarded as my brother and father.

I am your mother, wife,

Sister, and niece.

“ ‘In your seven incarnations as a man,

You have been my lowly servant.

I have bought you with cowrie shells;

I should be regarded as your owner.’

“One should fall to her feet,

With one’s hands joined in fervent supplication.

One should say at that point the supreme words

That intensify the pleasure:

“ ‘You are my mother, my father’s wife.

You are also my niece,

My younger sister, and my daughter-in-law.

You are my sister and my maternal aunt.

“ ‘I am your slave in every respect,

Filled with ardent devotion.

Please look at me with compassion, O mother,

With glances of your loving gaze.’

“Then she should embrace the man

And kiss him again and again.

She should place the three syllables on his head

And the sweet juice from her mouth in his mouth.

“She should make him suck her lotus

And look at him with eyes of love.

She should apply color to her lips

And press with her breast against his chest.

“Looking at his face facing her,

She should scratch him in the right place.

She should say to him these words:

‘Eat my Vairocana,

“ ‘Drink the water of Akṣobhya, O son;

Be my slave as well as my father.

For my part, I am your master

And also your mother of royal descent.

“ ‘Go for refuge to my feet,

O child, continually.

Since you have been brought up by me,

You have become priceless.

“ ‘Be grateful, O child!

Give me the pleasure derived from the vajra!

Look at my three-petaled lotus,

Adorned in the middle with a stamen.

“ ‘Ah, this is the field of Sukhāvatī,

Adorned with the red buddha,

Giving pleasure to impassioned lovers,

Tranquil and free from all mental constructs.

“ ‘As I lie on my back,

Intoxicated from passion,

You should place my feet on your shoulders

And look me up and down.

“ ‘Then you should insert your throbbing vajra

Into the opening in the center of my lotus.

You should give one thousand strokes,

Many hundreds of thousands, many millions of thousands

“ ‘In my three-petaled lotus,

Endowed with a fleshy circle.

You should place your vajra there

And offer pleasure to the mind.

“ ‘O wind, wind, my fine lotus

Is the unsurpassed quintessence of the quintessence,

Awakened by the tip of the vajra,

It is red like a bandhūka flower.’

“One should concentrate on her while she says that,

Reaching an erection with one-pointed mind.

One should meditate on the pleasure arising thence,

Motionless, with the incisiveness of mind.

“One should give this reply to her:

‘Wait a moment, my dear,

As I consider for a while

The nature of your female body.

“ ‘The foul-mouthed ones, steeped in evil acts,

Who out of enmity, revile, in this world,

A woman, the sole mother of the three worlds,

A gentle giver of true pleasure,

“ ‘They, because of this alone, will remain

In a far-off, deep hell called Terrible,

Tormented forever, crying,

Their bodies burned by many fires, for three eons.

“ ‘On the other hand, women’s virtue,

Which embraces all beings, should be spoken of—

Be it the compassion or the protectiveness,

Which is established in their minds.

“ ‘Whether one is a friend or a stranger,

She nourishes one with alms.

If she has such nature,

The woman is no other than Vajrayoginī.

“ ‘Be it her sight, her touch, or her caress

By a mere remembrance of her

When she is far away,

At that moment, pleasure is obtained.

“ ‘The five objects of senses, as found in women,

Are endowed with divine forms.

After marrying her,

Men enjoy pleasure.

“ ‘So hail to you, who is free from faults,

Adorned with all good qualities,

Virtuous, virtuous, of great virtue,

Be gracious to me, O mother!’

“Then, gazing intensely at her,

One should bite one’s lower lip with one’s teeth.

Then, making the sound sīt,

The yogin should undress her.

“One should perform the position the arising of pleasure,

The position rocking of a swing,

The position holding the knees,

And the position rubbing the thighs.

“The position moving the feet,

And the position pressing the ground;

The position even teeth,

And the position called variegated.

“The position honeycomb,

And the position mounted on a device with the feet upward.

Similarly the tortoise position,

And the one called good in every respect.

“There, with the woman squatting

In the middle of the bed,

One should make her clasp her arms

Firmly around one’s shoulders.

“One should extend one’s own arms

To the middle of her waist

And insert one’s vajra into her lotus—

This position is called the arising of pleasure.

“With their arms joined,

Entwined like braids in union,

One should make the two of them rock gently—

This position is called the rocking of a swing.

“One should put her knees, joined together,

Against one’s chest, and place one’s hands as

In the rocking of a swing position—

This position is called holding the knees.

“One should put the soles of her feet

Against the base of one’s thighs,

With the hands placed as in the arising of pleasure
position—

This position is called the kneading of the thighs.

“With the soles of her feet on one’s navel,

Then on one’s chest, and then the flanks;

And with the hands as in the rocking position—

This position is called moving the feet.

“One should place her buttocks on the ground,

Opposite one’s lap

And place the hands as in the arising of pleasure
position—

This position is called pressing the ground.

“Placing her in a squatting position,

One should make her extend her two feet.

This position is known as even teeth;

One should make her extend them one at a time.

“One should position her two feet into a pointed shape

And join them to one’s left flank,

Then the right flank, and then the front.

Then, with one’s chest, one should touch her back.

“One should massage her with one’s hands and so on.

This position is called variegated.

Having again assumed the position of the arising of
pleasure,

One should lay her on her back.

“And with one’s right hand, one should

Insert one’s vajra into the lotus.

Holding her under her knees,

One should push one’s elbows upward.

“When their hands are entwined together like a braid of hair—

This position is known as honeycomb.

When one puts her two feet

Firmly on one’s shoulders—

“This position is called mounted on a device,

As it employs repetitive thrusting motion.

With her left foot on one’s shoulder,

And the right foot at the base of one’s left thigh,

“Or with her right foot on one’s shoulder,

And her left foot at the base of one’s right thigh—

This position is called with the feet upward;

It offers genuine pleasure and dispels suffering.

“One should place the soles of her feet

Evenly in the middle of one’s chest,

And should press with one’s arms against her knees—

This is called tortoise position.

“One should place the soles of her feet

On one’s eyes, ears, and head—

This position is called good in every respect;

It gives complete sexual satisfaction.

“One should perform all these various positions,

Up to the variegated.

One should press against her firmly with one’s chest,

As this is the practice of Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa.

“One should kiss her mouth

For as long as one likes, again and again;

One should lift up her face and look at her,

Saying sweet nothings of one’s choice.

“One should lick her tongue

And drink the saliva produced in her mouth.

One should eat the gunk licked off her teeth,

Cultivating the feeling of pleasure.

“One should press one’s mouth gently onto her teeth and tongue,

And her lower and upper lips.

With one’s tongue, one should clean

Her nostrils and the corners of her eyes.

“Also her teeth and her armpits—

One should eat all the filth produced there.

One should kiss her head, eyes, neck, ears,

Flanks, armpits, hands, and breasts.

“One should scratch her,

Avoiding her two eyes.

One should rub the nipples with one’s hand,

Then suck and bite them.

“As she lies on her back,

One should kiss her beautiful abdomen,

Recollecting again and again,

‘I was in this very place before.’

“One should touch her lotus with one’s hand,

While saying, ‘O wind, this is beautiful.’

One should give kisses and rub her there with one’s fingers;

Then, taking one’s hand away, one should look at it.

“Smelling the scent, one should clean

The woman’s orifice with one’s tongue.

‘As I have entered through this,

So also have I emerged many times.’

“Words such as the above should one say in that situation.

This very path is a nose-rope that,

If applied without knowledge,

Will lead to the six destinies.

“However, if applied with knowledge

It will lead to the accomplishment of Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa.

Therefore, making the sound of pleasure sīt,

One should eat the semen or blood that is in the lotus.

“Looking at her face,

Again and again

One should scratch her thighs with fingernails

And rub her feet like a slave.

“One should place the three syllables on her head

And give a light blow with a fist on her chest.

Then, after the variegated, the yogin,

With a focused mind, should do other positions.

“One should intently pay attention there,

With the mind focused one-pointedly on pleasure.

One may ejaculate or not, as one pleases,

With the mind focused solely on pleasure.

“If one does ejaculate, one should lick the lotus,

Falling down to one’s knees.

One should consume the semen and the blood

That are in the lotus using one’s tongue.

“One should drink these substances through one’s nose,

Using a straw, in order to increase one’s power.

Having cleaned the lotus with one’s tongue,

One should make the wisdom get up and then kiss her.

“Having embraced her, one should later

Eat fish and meat.

One should drink milk or wine

In order to make one’s desire arise again.

“Then, when the fatigue has worn off,

One should comfort her and make her excited.

Again, by the method previously described,

One should start the union.

“By doing this practice,

Great bliss is attained.

One who knows this practice attains,

In this very birth, the level of Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa.

“I have taught this practice

In order to grant accomplishment to the passionate ones.

One should place the right shin, with ease,

Above the left shin—

“This is called sattvaparyaṅka posture;

It grants complete sexual satisfaction.

When one places, with ease, the left shin

On top of the right shin—

“This is called lotus posture;

It grants complete sexual satisfaction.

Assuming the lotus posture,

One should extend, above one’s left shin,

“With ease, one’s right shin—

This is known as vajra posture.

One should place the soles of one’s feet on the ground,

Each in the same way, parallel—

“This posture, known to give complete sexual satisfaction,

Is called the squatting posture.

One should place the soles of one’s feet on the ground,

With the feet at an oblique angle, extended sideways —

“This is known as the half-moon posture;

It gives complete sexual satisfaction.

One should place both knees flatly on the ground,

With the buttocks between the ankles—

“This is called bow posture;

It gives heavenly sexual pleasure.

Sattva, lotus, and
vajra

Are considered postures.

“Squatting, half-moon, and
bow

Are regarded as seats.

One should make the woman sit in the half-moon posture,

And then, without pausing,

“Fall down and lick her lotus,

Marking the three syllables on her secret place.

Having again made her assume the bow posture,

One should lower one’s face

“To the center of her anus and lick it,

Stroking it also with one’s nose.

One should meditate on the thence-derived pleasure,

As this is the practice of Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa.

“Subsequently the yogin will become liberated,

Free from all mental constructs.

One should make one’s mind free from indifference

And make love to the mother.

“Merit is acquired through passionate affection;

Sins are acquired by indifference.

There is no greater evil than the absence of passion,

And no merit greater than pleasure.

“One should therefore focus one’s mind

On the pleasure arising from desire.”

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

The lord said:

“Those who are impassioned with affection,

Who reside in all quarters of the universe—

Gods, demigods, humans, nāgas—

They also succeed as practitioners.”

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

Endowed with the qualities of the five sensual desires,

Fulfilling the aims of all beings,

All possessed of different forms—

They are victors adept in magic.

Just as a lotus, growing out of mud,

Is not soiled by dirt or mud,

So also they, arisen through experiencing passion,

Are not soiled by faults.

This concludes the chapter on the practice of the completion stage,
the sixth in the glorious Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa tantra called “The
Sole Hero.”

Chapter 7

Revitalizing the Body

Then the goddess said:

“The fatigue of any person practicing

Sexual intercourse would be great.

Please deign to explain, O lord,

For everybody’s sake, how to remove this fatigue.”

The lord said:

“When one has noticed, with one’s own senses,

That the pleasure given by the woman has died out,

One should eat fish and meat,

And drink wine, being focused.

“Other food too, as available,

Boiled grain and so on,
milk and water.

First he should give to the woman,

And eat only what has been left by her.

“One should always eat

From her dish of leftovers.

One should drink the water with which she washes her mouth

And the water with which she washes her lotus.

“One should take the water with which she washes her anus

And rinse one’s mouth with it, and so on.

One should also eat her vomit

And her excreta,

“And one should drink water born from her vulva,

And eat lumps of her phlegm.

Just as, after applying compost,

The tree will bear more fruit,

“In exactly the same way, by partaking of these impurities,

People will obtain the genuine fruit of pleasure.

For such people, there is neither

Old age, nor disease, nor death.

“Whoever applies himself to these impurities will succeed,

Even if he does not practice yoga.

One should never think whether

Something is edible or not.

“Likewise a yoga adept should not think in terms of something being

Proper or improper to do, or someone being suitable or unsuitable for making love
to.

There is neither merit nor sin;

One should not think about higher realms or liberation.

“Instead one should remain of one nature

With innate joy, well focused.

The yogin who practices yoga in this way,

Wholly devoted to his meditation,

“And maintaining the right identification

Through the practice of being one with Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa,

Would not be stained by sin

Even if he were to kill one hundred brahmins.

“One should therefore meditate on Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa,

A protector such as described,

And violent acts,

That would lead ordinary people to hell,

“Will, when joined with this skillful means,

Lead him to liberation without a doubt.

All this is preceded by mind;

And judged nonvirtuous or virtuous.

“Forms created by the mind

Vary according to one’s place of birth,

In the same way that, if one eats a poison

Not incanted with the mantra, one’s life will wane,

“But after incanting the same poison with a mantra,

One’s happiness and lifespan will increase.”

Then, at that moment,

The supreme goddess, Perfection of Wisdom,

With a knife and a skull cup in her hands,

And with Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa as the seal upon her head,

Vajra-fierce, very angry,

Spoke these highest words:

“Meditating on my form

And identifying perfectly with me,

She will not be stained by sin,

Even if she should kill one hundred brahmins.

“Having assumed my form,

With great wrath alone in her mind,

The yoginī may kill fish and birds,

And she will not be stained.

“For all women are generally

Without compassion, fickle and irritable,

With their thoughts on the profits derived from killing—

For their sake, this explanation was made.”

Thus concludes the chapter on revitalizing the body, the seventh in
the glorious Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa tantra called “The Sole
Hero.”

Chapter 8

Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa’s Nature

Then the lord made full prostrations to the goddess and said:

“How should a yogin

Perceive your form, dear?

And by what means should the goddess

Be honored by the yogins?”

The goddess then said:

“Whenever a female form is seen

In the world of the three abodes,

It should be regarded as my form,

Be it of low or respectable family.

“A goddess or demigoddess,

Or a yakṣiṇī, a rākṣasī,

A nāginī, a bhūtinī,

A kinnarī, or a human girl,

“A gandharvī, even a female hell-being,

A she-animal, a female hungry ghost,

A woman from the priestly, warrior, or merchant caste,

Or a peasant woman, or one of endless other groups,

“A scribe, a princess,

A woman of distinction, a tax collector,

A merchant, a guard, a prostitute,

A boat-woman, a leather worker,

“A kulatriṇī, a
hatriṇī, a musician,

A sweeper, also a tribeswoman,

A washerwoman, a wine merchant,

A perfume seller, a laborer,

“A barber, a dancer,

A bronze smith, a goldsmith,

A fisherwoman, a marriage arranger,

Also a pot maker, a garland maker,

“A female kāpālika, also a conch
worker,

A parasol maker, a house builder,

A cowherd, a fletcher, a betel seller,

A butcher, a stoneworker,

“A carpenter, also a hairdresser,

A woman of any mixed caste,

A mother, a sister, a wife,

A maternal aunt, a niece,

“A paternal aunt, also a mother-in-law,

And any other woman of any caste,

A lay vow-holder, also a yoginī,

Or a widow, or a female ascetic.

“These and all other women

Possess my form.

They exist for the welfare of all beings,

Each identified by her own individual function.

“Among them, whichever woman one may obtain,

She should be served by the yogin,

With kisses, embrace, and the like,

And with the union of the vajra and the lotus.

“Women who are served will, for their part, instantly grant

Accomplishment to all those seeking

To benefit living beings.

One should therefore serve women.

“Women are heaven, women are the Dharma,

And women are truly the supreme austerity.

Women are the Buddha, women are the Saṅgha,

Women are the Perfection of Wisdom.

“They can be divided according to the five colors,

With their names assigned accordingly—

A woman who is of blue color

Has been proclaimed as Hatred Vajrī.

“A woman who is white

Is known to be Delusion Vajrī;

A woman who is yellow

Is the goddess Calumny Vajrī.

“A woman who is pink

Is said to be Passion Vajrī;

A woman who is dark-green

Is said to be Envy Vajrī.

“There is only one goddess, wisdom,

Abiding in five forms.

One should worship her with flowers, incense, and so forth,

Clothes, prose, poetry, body ornaments,

“Conversation, bowing,

Folding one’s hands,

Beholding and touching her,

Thinking of her and talking to her,

“With kissing, embrace, and the like,

One should regularly worship Vajrayoginī.

If one is able, one should honor her physically,

If not, one should do so verbally or mentally.

“Worshiped by him, pleased,

I shall grant complete attainment.

I am none other than the form

Found in every woman’s body.

“Apart from worshiping women,

There can be no other worship of me.

By this propitiation, I will be satisfied

For the sake of the practitioner’s accomplishment.

“Everywhere, always and invariably,

I will be within his sight.

One should make love to one’s woman

Visualizing her in my complete form.

“By the union of vajra and lotus,

I grant awakening.

Therefore, if someone wholly dedicated

To propitiating me in all forms

“Should commit theft,

Or kill living beings,

Or if one should speak false words,

Break deity statues,

“Or eat food belonging to the Saṅgha,

To a stupa, or to someone else,

The practitioner who is dedicated to propitiating me

Will not be stained by sin.

“He may crush, with his fingernail,

A louse in his clothes, even kill it—

Through this very means

A lay vow-holder will propitiate me.

“He should neither be afraid of nonvirtue,

Nor of difficult rebirths—in hell and so on.

He should, however, be afraid of people

For as long as he does not obtain power.

“There is no evil whatsoever,

Nor is there any merit—

The conventional distinction between virtue and nonvirtue

Is for ordinary people, to be guarded in their minds.

“Since everything is only mind,

And its duration is only momentary,

Who is it that goes to hell,

And who is it that goes to heaven?

“Just as one meets one’s death in distress,

Thinking that it is caused by poison

Even when there is no poison,

So too one goes to heaven or the lower realms.

“Nirvāṇa is attained by the wise ones

As the result of a complete understanding of the way things are.

Nirvāṇa has the nature of emptiness,

Like that of a candle blown out by the wind.

“But when it is interrupted, one goes on suffering;

One does not attain the level of awakening.

Therefore, having renounced everything,

A vow-holder should only propitiate me.

“I grant, instantaneously, the accomplishment of

Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa, there is no doubt.”

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

“Of what form is Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa,

And of what kind is his accomplishment?”

The goddess said:

“The yoginīs are said to be of five types,

Corresponding to the five colors.

And they have their respective husbands,

According to the division of five colors.

“And in truth, each of them is Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa—

They will now be described by me, the yoginī.

The husband who is of blue color

Is known as Blue Acala.

“The husband who is of white color—

He is called White Acala.

The husband who is of yellow color—

He is said to be Yellow Acala.

“The husband who is of pink color—

He is said to be Red Acala.

The husband who is of dark-green color—

He is said to be Green Acala.

“There is only one Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa,

Abiding in five forms.

He is called Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa,

As his accomplishment is unflagging.

“Until the farthermost reaches of space,

There is, in the divine form, his presence.

Just as the accomplishment of Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa is described here,

So too can the accomplishment of Caṇḍī be gained.”

Thus concludes the chapter on Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa’s nature, the eighth
in the glorious Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa tantra called “The Sole
Hero.”

Chapter 9

Meditation

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

The lord said:

“A yogin should place the woman in front

And look deeply in her eyes.

He should make his body straight

And meditate with one-pointed mind.

“Because of the nature of the four bodies,

There is no separation, not even in the slightest.

However, without understanding,

A distinction is perceived between wisdom and means.

“Death is said to be the dharmakāya;

saṃbhogakāya is the intermediate state after death;

Nirmāṇakāya has the form of the six modes of existence;

The pleasure of sex is Great Bliss.

“This male form, in the three realms,

Has the nature of the four bodies;

The female form, in the three realms,

Also has the nature of the four bodies.

“The man is the Buddha,

Because he has the nature of the four bodies.

The woman, present in all directions,

Is the Perfection of Wisdom.

“The man should do the deity-identification in the following way:

‘I am an accomplished one,

Abiding in my own nature—

The nature of Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa.

“ ‘My lover is an accomplished being in every way,

Having fully assumed the form of Caṇḍī.’

In this way should one meditate with reverence,

For a long time, understanding this reality.

“Having abandoned all activity,

Wholly devoted to serving women,

One should remain with one’s mind focused solely on pleasure,

Until one attains accomplishment.

“When the yogin has attained accomplishment,

He will become pure and unassailable.

He is invisible to people

When merged with the prāṇa-mind.

“Omniscient, omnipresent, all-pervading,

Free from all afflictions,

For him there is no disease, nor old age;

Death does not exist for him.

“Poison has no effect on him,

Nor does water, nor wind.

Neither weapons nor enemy hordes

Can ever prevail over him.

“Yet all the objects of desire arise for him

Merely through a mental wish.

At that moment, one becomes, effortlessly,

The same as a wish-fulfilling gem.

“In all the realms of the world,

Wherever one may happen to be,

There palaces will arise for him

With all desired things.

“Delightful, heavenly women,

Adorned with beauty and youth,

As numerous as stars in the sky,

Will without doubt be his.

“The gods, such as Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva,

Śakra, Kāmadeva, and so forth,

Will be his servants;

And so will all the beings living in the six realms.

“Just as the yogins attain accomplishment,

In exactly the same way do the yoginīs.

The men have the form of Vajradhara,

The women that of the vajra-woman.”

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

The lord said:

“The lalanā channel, with the nature of wisdom,

Is located on the left.

And the rasanā, with the nature of means,

Is located on the right.

“In the center between the lalanā and the rasanā

Is located the avadhūtī.

When the wind in the avadhūtī has become

Of the same essence with semen,

“It will descend from the fontanel of the skull,

Passing through the opening of the penis, inside the bhaga of the woman.

By the union of the wisdom and the means,

Caṇḍālī, who is located at the navel,

“Burns like a lamp—through this

The best semen is caused to flow.

Through this arises a lesser bliss,

If the effort applied is small.

“With big effort, the bliss is intense—

For this is the nature of things.

Whoever can engender this bliss

Through regular practice,

“Will become glorious Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa

In this very life.”

Chapter 10

In Praise of Women

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

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

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

The lord said:

“The highest awakening is not attained

Merely by the arising of bliss.

Only by the arising of a particular kind of bliss

Can it be reached, not otherwise.

“And this bliss is not felt without doing what needs to be done—

It is produced only through the right cause.

And the cause is union with a woman;

There is no other cause, ever.

“Among all illusions,

Only the illusion of a woman is praised.

Whoever would transgress against her

Will not attain accomplishment.

“Therefore separation from women

Must never take place.

So if there should occur suffering,

Death, bondage, or fear—

“One should put up with all of this,

Rather than abandon a woman,

Since all women can cause one

To attain buddhahood by means of the four joys.

“Without modesty, fickle, impudent,

Wholly in pursuit of desires—

Yet they alone grant accomplishment;

They should be served with all one’s being.

“What can be said of the nature of woman—

They can even die from love

By merely being separated from their husbands.

What more can be said than this?

“Therefore all women should be viewed

As goddesses on all occasions.

Even wood, stone, and other objects

Should be imagined, in one’s mind, as such.

“For a woman, the man is a deity;

For a man, the woman is a deity.

They should honor each other

By uniting the vajra and the lotus.

“No other god should one worship,

Allowing him to take control.

Therefore the yogin, filled with compassion,

Should set up the maṇḍala in front;

“Then he should lead the woman there

In her form, which is none other than Perfection of Wisdom.

One must worship her with flowers,

Lamps, incense, and so forth.

“Later one should pay obeisance to her,

Prostrating with one’s whole body.

Then one should circumambulate her clockwise—

This will complete the worship of Caṇḍī.

“In the same way, a woman should worship a man—

With respect, and with the mind filled with devotion.

She should perform the worship, in reciprocity,

As has been taught by the victorious ones.

“One must not scold a woman,

Nor can one abandon her when being asked for a favor.

One should speak nice words

And give her things according to need.

“One should praise her with all one’s heart,

So that she does not perceive one as a villain.

One must never abandon a woman wherever one may be,

After hearing this teaching of the Buddha.

“Whoever should act otherwise,

That evildoer will end up in hell.

Apart from causing his own death,

Does he achieve anything by separating himself from women?

“This practice of Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa

Can never be accomplished by religious austerities.

It would be fruitless due to the net of delusion—

The pure mind would be blocked.

“A lover must not abandon lust,

Lest he would be living a lie.

By living a lie, evil is incurred;

And from evil, a rebirth in hell.

“He who lives a lie will meet his death,

There is no doubt.

Through this lust alone, accomplishment is won—

Only through lust—by the sons of the victorious ones.

“So one should not torment oneself with austerities,

Abandoning the five sense-objects.

One should notice beauty as it comes along,

And listen to the sound.

“One should smell the odor

And savor the supreme taste.

One should experience the sensation of touch,

Pursuing the five types of sense-objects.

“One will quickly become awakened,

Being wholly devoted to Caṇḍaroṣa.

There is no greater deception,

And no greater delusion,

“Than a man spending his entire youth

Without bringing enjoyment to women.

No reward will be yours to see,

But you will have incurred the greatest loss.

“Those who are wholly devoted to desire

Serve their lovers regularly.

Having seen that the seat of Caṇḍaroṣa

Is nestled within the vulva of a woman,

“How would they be able to sleep, eat, or laugh,

If they abandoned it?

In order to destroy the wickedness of the world,

The son of Māyādevī—the wise teacher—

“Abandoned his 84,000 wives

And his entire harem,

And went to the bank of Nairañjanā.

He manifested the accomplishment of a buddha

“By turning away the advancing Māras,

But this was not so from the perspective of the absolute truth.

This was not so, since it was in the female quarters, that the Buddha,

Experiencing pleasure in the company of Gopā, became accomplished.

“It is from the union of the vajra and the lotus

That true pleasure is derived.

Awakening is attained through pleasure,

And there is no pleasure in being separated from women.

“However, he who enacts separation

In order to remove the wickedness of the world—

Namely the victorious master of illusory displays—

Enacts his part in that very form

“Through which the people will come

To him, the awakened one, for guidance.

By criticizing women

In all the sūtra and Abhidharma literature,

“He would teach different levels of training,

His words concealing the truth.

He would also explain nirvāṇa

As being the result of the cessation of the five aggregates.”

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

The blessed lord said:

“I am the son of Māyādevī,

Who has now become Caṇḍaroṣaṇa.

And you are the blessed lady Gopā,

In the form of Prajñāpāramitā.

“As many women as there are,

All are known to possess your form.

Men, on the other hand, are all said

To be endowed with my form.

“So also does this world exist in a twofold mode,

Being of the nature of wisdom and means.”

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

The blessed lord said:

“They all abide in the realm of desire—

Those who are called listeners and so forth.

They do not know the path to liberation

And always see the woman as an ordinary being.

“In a situation where saffron and so on is close by

And easy to obtain,

It is not fit for a welcome offering.

What is far away, however, is suitable for a great welcome offering.

“Because of their ignorance that had no beginning,

Those people are devoid of faith;

They do not turn their minds to the truth—

I, for my part, have concealed it very well.

“But still, during this dark age,

If there is any being among the infinite numbers,

Counted one by one,

For whom devotion and exertion are paramount,

“It is for the sake of that being that I have explained all this—

For the sake of its swift attainment of awakening.”

Thus concludes the chapter on the praiseworthiness of women, the tenth
in the glorious Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa tantra called “The Sole
Hero.”

Chapter 11

The Universality of Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa

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

The blessed lord said:

“I am everyone, and I pervade everything,

Creating everything and destroying everything.

I possess all forms, I am the awakened one;

I am the creator, the destroyer, a powerful lord full of bliss.

“Through whatever form

Beings may be guided,

In that very form, I abide

For the benefit of the world.

“Sometimes I am the Buddha, sometimes a siddha,

Sometimes the Dharma, sometimes the Saṅgha,

Sometimes a hungry ghost, sometimes an animal,

Sometimes I assume the form of a hell being.

“Sometimes I am a god, sometimes a demigod,

Sometimes I assume a human form,

Sometimes the form of an inanimate object—

I possess all forms, there is no doubt.

“I am a woman and also a man,

Sometimes I have a genderless form.

Sometimes I am affectionate, sometimes hateful,

Sometimes deluded, sometimes pure,

“Sometimes I have an impure form.

I exist essentially as mind;

It is my mind that is perceived—

Nothing else exists at all.

“I can be categorized as a thing or a no-thing;

I am one that can be generated, and also one who generates.

I am an obstacle and I am an accomplishment,

Abiding in every form.

“I am birth and I am death,

I am disease and I am old age.

I am virtue and I am nonvirtue,

And I am the karmic result of these two.

“This entire world consists of the Awakened One,

And all these forms are of myself—

They should be known as forms, in essence the same,

By the yogins reflecting on truth.”

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

The blessed lord said:

“Such forms are of yourself, as well;

All that has been explained.

All this is permeated by you—

The inanimate and animate worlds.”

Thus concludes the chapter of the universality of Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa,
the eleventh in the glorious Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa tantra called “The
Sole Hero.”

Chapter 12

Mantra Rituals

Then the blessed lady said:

“Please explain about applying mantras—

The pacifying and the enriching;

The practices of enthralling and summoning;

The killing, the driving away, and so forth.

“The removing of poison, the removing of disease,

The stopping of a fire or a sword.

Also the victory in battle

And the most eminent scholarship.

“The sādhana of yakṣiṇīs that inducts them into service,

The sādhanas of dūtas and bhūtas—

These skills and arts of many types—

Please explain them to me, O lord, with a firm motive.”

The blessed lord said:

“One established in the absorption of Caṇḍaroṣaṇa

Should take up the practice of mantra.

First one should practice the essence—

It comprises ten letters with inherent vowels—

“It is called the root mantra;

It brings the accomplishment of all mantras.

Wherever it is written,

Good fortune will be present.

“Whoever has others recite it for him,

His sins will be completely removed.

By merely remembering this mantra,

The māras will flee in the ten directions.

“One should therefore, with every effort,

Strive for mastery of this mantra.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“ ‘
Oṁ, Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa, come, come! Hūṁ phaṭ!’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“These were the rites belonging to the mantra of the goddess.

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

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

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

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

Thus concludes the chapter on all the rites involving mantras, twelfth
in the glorious Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa tantra called “The Sole
Hero.”

Chapter 13

Conduct

The goddess then said:

“What conduct should be followed by a yogin?

Tell me, O lord!

And what practice ought to be done?

By what means is accomplishment speedily attained?”

The lord said:

“Killed should be the evil ones—

Those who disparage the Buddha’s teaching.

Having seized their wealth,

One should perform the benefit of beings.

“All widows should indeed be attended upon;

Female ascetics, one’s mother or daughter.

One should consume fish and meat,

And drink wine, in a state of mental equilibrium.

“Using deception, one devoted to concentration

Should keep one’s own and others’ offenses secret.

One free from dualistic mental constructs

Will succeed by applying this secret discipline.

“By whatever wickedness

Beings go to lower states of existence,

By the very same wickedness

A yogin quickly attains success.”

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

The lord then said:

“By passion, passion is killed;

A conflagration is killed by fire.

One should destroy poison with poison,

Applying the instructions.

“Contemplating the world to be devoid of independent existence,

Cultivating the thought, ‘I am an accomplished one,’

One should keep all one’s practice very secret,

So that nobody knows.

“Having extinguished all one’s negativity,

One succeeds by means of the inverted conduct alone.

A yogin, solely devoted to yoga,

Who does not keep it secret,

“Will not have success

In this inverted conduct.

There is neither evil nor virtue,

Since both are, by nature, devoid of independent existence.

“In order to destroy the wickedness of the world,

I have not disclosed this earlier.

Only now do I teach it in truth,

In the form of Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa, O beloved.

“In order to induct beings into the ranks of yogins—

A cause serving the purpose of all beings—

I will now explain the conduct that is for all to see.

Listen now, O beloved!

“One should not kill living beings

Or take another’s property.

One should never steal another’s wife

Or speak untruthful words.

“For the sake of abandoning the vices of the world,

A wise one should never drink wine.

It is with decorum that one should take up

This public level of training.

“That which has just been taught is the outward conduct;

Now, however, the secret practice will be taught.

One should place a diadem on one’s head

And a pair of earrings on one’s ears.

“Having prepared different adornments,

One should wear them on one’s body—

Anklets should be placed around one’s ankles,

And likewise a girdle around one’s waist.

“In one’s right hand, one should hold a sword;

In the left, a noose.

On the head, a crown-seal should be placed,

Representing the five buddhas.

“One should attach to one’s head the five strips of colored cloth

And shave off one’s hair and beard.

One should procure a girl who is older than ten years

And embark upon one’s practice.

“One should prepare this girl

According to the previously explained division of families.

One should always bedeck her with adornments

Suitable for a girl.

“One should place in her right hand a kartri knife,

And in the left, a skull cup.

A paramour of a select category should arrange such requisites

On his partner’s body according to the division of families.

“One should take a wisdom-consort from one’s own spiritual family,

Or any other spiritual family, keeping a focused mind.

One should collect the objects of worship as one wishes

And commence the practice itself.

“In the absence of jewels and the like,

One should make do with other precious things.

Alternatively one should create things mentally

If they cannot be physically obtained.

“One should practice the five pledges

According to the fivefold family division.

Using the method as previously described,

One should make love with both lovers taking part.

“The yogin will succeed in every way;

There should be no doubt about this.

After the union of the wisdom and the means,

One should scratch her and inscribe the three syllables.

“One should give kisses and embraces,

As well as all of one’s semen.

The perfection of giving becomes thus fulfilled—

There is no doubt.

“One’s body, speech, and mind wholly engaged

And controlled in concordance with one’s intense pleasure—

This should be known as the perfection of discipline.

The nail-wound, patiently endured—

“The suffering of the inscribed three syllables—

This alone is the perfection of patience.

With reverence and for a long time

Should one make love, with a focused mind—

“This should be known as the perfection of diligence,

Because of engaging one’s mind in the pleasure of it.

As this is the reality of everything,

It is regarded as the perfection of concentration.

“Meditating on a woman’s form—

This is proclaimed to be the perfection of wisdom.

Merely by this single method of exquisite pleasure,

The six perfections become fulfilled.

“If the five perfections are merit,

The knowledge is wisdom—so it is said.

When united in the union of exquisite bliss,

The yogin has completed the two accumulations already.

“One who is endowed with merit and wisdom

Will succeed in an instant,

Just like a fruit growing on a creeper

Is endowed with a flower.

“A full awakening will happen within a moment

With the two accumulations already completed.

One becomes master of the thirteen stages,

There is no doubt.

“The stages should be known as Joyful,

Pure, Beacon of Light,

Resplendent, Invincible,

Facing Directly, Going Far, Immovable,

“Auspicious Intelligence, Cloud of Dharma,

All Luminous,

Matchless, Possessed of Wisdom—

These are the thirteen names.”

This concludes the chapter on practice, the thirteenth in the glorious
tantra of Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa called “The Sole Hero.”

Chapter 14

The Name Acala

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

The Blessed One replied:

“Because of the union of wisdom and skillful means,

It is immovable and by nature blissful.

It is the wisdom and skillful means itself,

And therefore cannot be swayed by dispassion.

“For this very reason is it called Acala—

One with the nature of Vajrasattva,

Two-armed and single-faced, tranquil,

Pellucid, of invincible mind,

“Holding a sword and a noose in his two hands,

Supremely devoted to embracing the Wisdom,

Sitting in sattvaparyaṅka posture

On top of a lotus, a moon, and a sun.

“He will remain until the end of saṃsāra,

Abiding happily in divine bliss!

It is for this reason that he is called Acala

And is worshiped by all the buddhas.

“Cultivating themselves just as this Acala,

All the victorious ones of the three times

Enact, verily, the benefit of beings

Until all is destroyed by the final deluge.”

Samantabhadra then said:

“What is expressed by the syllable a

What by the syllable ca,

And what by the syllable la?

Of what are they an abridgement?”

The Blessed One said:

“By the syllable a is expressed

The unfabricated innate nature.

The syllable ca expresses joy,

Supreme joy, the joy of cessation, and innate joy.

“This syllable expresses

The nature of the thus-named four joys.

The la expresses the playfulness of a wanton woman,

The exquisite pleasure of lovemaking.

“The syllable a expresses wisdom,

The syllable ca expresses means,

The syllable la, because of its indicating pleasure,

Expresses the union of wisdom and means.

“He himself is the Sole Hero,

One and alone.

Because he destroys dispassion, he is a hero

Called Ekalla (Alone).

“Caṇḍa means that he is exceedingly fierce,

Known as Mahāroṣaṇa (Great Angry One).

Roṣaṇa should be understood as angry—

The one who crushes all the māras.

“Strong dispassion indeed goes by the name Caṇḍa (Fierce One),

Because it destroys affection and so forth.

Roṣaṇa is angry at him—

At this enemy, dispassion, difficult to tame.

“Focused in absorption,

Controlling the brahmanical cord with one’s left ankle,

With fangs showing between the lips, angry,

One should destroy dispassion.

“By means of the above mudrā, the yogin,

Tightly embracing the wisdom,

Will attain the accomplishment of Buddha,

Having completely destroyed dispassion.”

This concludes the chapter on how to construe the name Acala, the
fourteenth in the glorious Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa tantra called “The
Sole Hero.”

Chapter 15

Purities

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

The lord then said:

“Starting from the syllable ā,

One should instantly visualize Black Acala.

Then, merely by the power of stability,

The yogin will certainly become a buddha.

“One should meditate on White Acala,

Or the yellow one, or the red one.

Or one should meditate on the green one,

Embraced by Hatred Vajrī, and so forth.

“One should visualize him alone,

Assuming him to be the central figure among the five Acalas.

The wisdom should belong to his spiritual family,

Or alternatively one should visualize her as being from another spiritual family.

“By this method, the yogin

Will swiftly attain success, there is no doubt.

Or else one should visualize him, with a focused mind,

Without the wisdom-consort.

“When the power of this meditation manifests in full,

One will obtain the kingdom of awakening.”

Then the Blessed Lady said:

“Concerning the purities of the deity’s domain—

I would like to hear about it, O guide.

Also the purities of the previously described maṇḍalas—

Please tell me about them, O lord.”

The lord then said:

“I will now explain about

The purities that purify everything.

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

“Now the purities of meditation are described.

“First the worship with offerings, which is the accumulation of merit, is the pure
aspect of action.

Emptiness, which is the accumulation of wisdom, is an apotheosis of death.

The luminous body represents the body of the intermediate state.

The full extent of the temple-palace represents the Buddha’s abode.

The lotus represents the vulva.

The moon and the sun represent semen and menstrual blood.

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

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

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

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

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

“There is only one victorious teacher

Abiding in five forms.

Prajñāpāramitā, too, is one

Abiding in five forms.”

Chapter 16

Dependent Origination

Then the Blessed Lady said:

“How does the world come into being?

How does it meet its end?

How does accomplishment come about?

Tell me, O supreme lord!”

The Blessed One then said:

“Formations have ignorance for their cause.

Consciousness has formations for its cause.

Name and form have consciousness for their cause.

The six cognitive fields have name and form for their cause.

Contact has the six cognitive fields for its cause.

Sensation has contact for its cause.

Craving has sensation for its cause.

Grasping has craving for its cause.

Becoming has grasping for its cause.

Birth has becoming for its cause.

Old age, death, grief, lamentation, pain, despair, and turmoil have birth for their
cause—in this way arises this whole great heap of suffering.

“In the same way, when ignorance ceases, there is the cessation of formations.

When formations cease, there is the cessation of consciousness.

When consciousness ceases, there is the cessation of name and form.

When name and form cease, there is the cessation of the six cognitive fields.

When the six cognitive fields cease, there is the cessation of contact.

When contact ceases, there is the cessation of sensation.

When sensation ceases, there is the cessation of craving.

When craving ceases, there is the cessation of grasping.

When grasping ceases, there is the cessation of becoming.

When becoming ceases, there is the cessation of birth.

When birth ceases, old age, death, grief, lamentation, pain, despair, and turmoil
also cease—in this way, this entire great heap of suffering ceases.

“The world arises dependently;

It ceases always dependently.

When one understands these two modes

And contemplates them as nondual, one will become accomplished.”

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

Then the Blessed One said:

“This wheel has three divisions

Corresponding to the three times.

The Dharma is said by the victorious ones

To have twelve forms.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“The world comes into being through passion;

It meets its end when passion ends.

By knowing the meaning of Acala fully through passion,

The accomplishment of Buddha will blossom forth.

“The mind that rejoices in the essence of pleasure

And does not stray during union with the wisdom-consort,

That mind, shaking off the great demon of cessation,

Is referred to by the name Acala.”

This concludes the chapter on dependent origination, sixteenth in the
glorious tantra of Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa called “The Sole
Hero.”

Chapter 17

Increasing the Semen

Then the Blessed Lady said:

“Lord, this sexual union

Can increase and vitalize

The semen, menstrual blood, penis, vagina, and breasts,

Since it prevents the development of diseases.

“As there are methods for bringing the woman’s mind to the state of
enthrallment,

And also for treating barrenness,

For arresting the semen, and causing the menstrual blood to flow—

Please explain these methods.”

The Blessed One then said:

“Well done! Well done, O goddess,

That you have made this request to me!

“I will explain various methods,

So please listen for the sake of mundane accomplishments.

At the beginning, one should purify one’s body,

And afterward, start the rites.

“A dye placed on a white cloth

Will stand out the most.

One should prepare an infusion of the three myrobalan fruits,

Barley potash, and dhak;

“By eating it and drinking molasses,

One will clear worms and indigestion completely.

Mixing the sap of umbrella tree, sesame oil,

The juice of buffalo spinach, and sea salt,

“One should drink it and rub it on, exposing the body to strong sunshine;

Once the whole body is covered, all lice will die.

The sap of the umbrella tree and sesame oil—

One should drink them mixed with salt.

“If one walks in strong sunshine,

Salt will diminish.

Some juice of buffalo spinach

Mixed with sea salt

“Should be kept in the shade

And consumed to remove excess bile.

The sap of the umbrella tree, sesame oil,

And cow’s milk from the root of the udder—

“By drinking them, one will remove fat;

There is no doubt.

One should drink the sap from the blossom of the white gourd melon

Seasoned with salt;

“Coriander will destroy tiny worms;

Honey removes phlegm.

One should use these, one after the other, over two days;

Later one should start the treatment.

“Only this will produce the result;

Doing it any other way will be fruitless, my beloved.

One should powder some bark of the silk-cotton tree

And eat it together with the hot scum of boiled rice.

“One should incant it seven times and eat it

Either early in the morning or at mealtime.

Doing this every day for the rest of one’s life

Will increase one’s semen or blood.

“Fermented coconut,

Also freshly churned buffalo butter,

The fat of a pig

Mixed with the scum of vāsya

“If one rubs them on the penis, the ears,

The breasts, and the vulva,

Or rubs them on the whole body,

The organs will surely become healthy and strong.

“One should cut the nail on one’s index finger

And smear the finger with the above substances.

One should insert the finger inside the vagina
until one makes it throb—

This will strengthen the vagina.

“One should cook the resin from the bark of a pomegranate
tree

Together with mustard oil—

When this is applied to a woman’s breasts, they will become healthy and strong.

One should also apply a sternutatory of the infusion of muṇḍirī.

“Should one smear the penis, or breasts, or ears

With the paste prepared from white mustard,

Sweet flag, winter cherry, and large eggplant—

These organs will become healthy and strong.

“Similarly, when a preparation

Of gajapippalī and white butterfly pea

Is smeared onto the penis together with freshly churned buffalo butter,

The penis will become healthy and strong.

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

“Then, after rubbing the penis firmly

With buffalo dung,

One should smear and rub it with the previously described preparation

For three days, and it will become healthy and strong.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This concludes the chapter on the increasing of semen, the seventeenth
in the glorious Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa tantra called “The Sole
Hero.”

Chapter 18

Preventing Disease

Then the lord said:

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

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

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

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

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

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

“By chewing the root of śephālikā, one will remove uvular swelling.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This concludes the chapter on preventing diseases, the eighteenth in
the glorious Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa tantra called “The Sole
Hero.”

Chapter 19

Retention of Semen and Similar Practices

Then the lord said:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“One should take a ram’s penis

And fasten it to one’s hips with strings from a charnel ground;

Alternatively one should fasten a lizard’s tail.

Then one will be able to retain one’s semen.

“Focused one-pointedly on genuine pleasure,

While performing coitus with firm application,

And always immobilizing one’s prāṇa-mind

By so doing, one will achieve the ultimate retention of semen.

“One should fasten to one’s hips the root of white marsh barbel,

Or one should fasten the northern root-branch of downy datura,

Or the root of wild indigo—

Then one will be able to retain one’s semen.

“If one eats the root of sunn hemp

Or the root of spiked ginger lily,

Or surasunnaka,
before coitus,

One will be capable of the ultimate retention of semen.

“Having hollowed out a seed of pongam oil tree,

One should fill it completely with quicksilver.

After tying it to one’s hips with strings,

The retention of semen will be supreme.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“One should chew up the root of rāmadūtī together with the leaves, put this on the penis, and make love.
Then she will drip.

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

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

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

This concludes the chapter on the retention of semen and related
issues, the nineteenth in the glorious Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa tantra called “The Sole Hero.”

Chapter 20

Mantras and Yantras

Then the goddess requested the lord:

“I would like to learn about other things,

Which are equally interesting, O lord!

Namely about the proficiency in mantra and yantra,

Which have been described as being of many types.

“Also everything about the practice of winds

And the signs of death.

Also about the nature of the body as an instrument—

Please do me this favor, right now!”

The lord then said:

“Well done, O goddess, well done! It is good that

You have asked me about this.

Accordingly I will now deliver

A complete summary of the disciplines.

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

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

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

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

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

“With this mantra, rhinoceros will flee: ‘Terli ā,
terli ā!’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Two tremulous leaves, two wings of a bee,

Two human teeth, a garland from a dead man—

When her limbs have been sprinkled with this powder,

She runs, her body swooning with every step.

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

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

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

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

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

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

This concludes the chapter on various yantras and mantras used for
inserting in effigies, the twentieth in the glorious Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa tantra called
“The Sole Hero.”

Chapter 21

Magical Practices

Then the lord said:

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

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

“By rubbing two flat pieces of stone together at
night time while saying ‘Hūṁ,’ one will produce the
brilliance of lightning.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thus concludes the chapter on magical marvels, the twenty-first in the
glorious Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa tantra called “The Sole
Hero.”

Chapter 22

Controlling Prāṇa

The lord then said:

“Prāṇa is in the heart, apāna in the anus,

Samāna in the navel area,

Udāna in the area of the throat,

And vyāna in the entire body.

“The most important among them is

The prāṇa, located in the heart.

Through the cycle of breathing in and out,

It sustains the life of all beings.

“With the system of sixteen saṃkrānti,

Each breath is one daṇḍa in duration.

With the passing of the four maṇḍalas,

There are 21,600 breaths.

“Breathing through the right nostril—

This is called the maṇḍala of fire.

Breathing through the left nostril—

This is called the maṇḍala of wind.

“Breathing, equally, through the left and right nostrils—

This is the maṇḍala of the earth.

That same one, flowing gently,

Is the maṇḍala of water.

“Lalanā is the left channel;

Rasanā is positioned on the right.

Avadhūtī is in the central area—

It conducts prāṇa in the moment of innate joy.

“Creation takes place during the surge of energy after inhalation,

Concordant with the motionless nature of the resting breath;

Destruction takes place when the air has been exhaled.

This continues for as long as one is alive.

“When the air enters, this is known as kumbhaka;

When it is retained, this is called pūraka.

When it is exhaled, this is known as recaka;

When there is no movement, this is stambhaka.

“One should take Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa for the object of one’s absorption

And begin the practice with a consort.

One should keep track of air as it enters

By counting breaths up to one hundred thousand or more.

“One will succeed at that very moment,

As Lord Buddha has explained.

He who counts the air by its unit,

While tightly embracing the wisdom,

“Will succeed within a fortnight,

In the form of Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa.

Endowed with divine knowledge,

He will acquire the five superknowledges.

“Remaining in the absorption of Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa

And embracing one’s consort tightly,

One should press at her heart with one’s heart,

And unite one’s secret part with her secret part.

“Uniting the two mouths,

Without thoughts and wholly devoted to bliss,

One should visualize the moon

Together with the sun, in one’s heart.

“Through the force of stability in that alone,

A person will become omniscient.

“Merely through bringing on the state of stillness,

One will know the past, the future, and the present,

And also the thoughts of others.

I am telling the truth.

“Similarly, through the same method,

One should cultivate the stillness inside the ears.

One will be able to hear sounds from every place,

As if they were nearby.

“Just so, having empowered the eyes,

One will see far into the triple universe.

Similarly, by focusing on the nose,

One will be able to perceive all smells.

“Focusing, likewise, on the tongue,

One will perceive distant tastes;

And focusing on the tip of one’s sex organ,

One will experience touching every woman.

“By focusing, in the same way, in the center of one’s head, one will increase all
one’s abilities.

“Wherever one merges

One’s mind with prāṇa

And arrests it there, at that very place

That same mind will be reflected.

“Pacifying, enriching, and enthralling;

Likewise summoning, killing,

And expelling—anything at all

Will one accomplish through meditation alone.

“One should combine the practice of kumbhaka and so forth

With the four gazes:

Leftward gaze combined with kumbhaka

Should effect enthralling.

“Rightward gaze, known as one that pulls in,

Should be combined with pūraka.

A gaze that rests on the forehead—

The killing one—should be combined with recaka.

“A gaze that rests on the tip of the nose—

One that drives the enemies away—is combined with
stambhaka.

When doing kumbhaka, one gazes at a distant flower;

When doing pūraka, one gazes at a bush of common milk hedge.

“When doing recaka, one gazes at a resinous tree;

When doing stambhaka, one gazes at swaying grass.

One should allow six months for this practice of each

In combination with the respective previously described gaze.

“Possessed of all abilities, one will be successful

If one can arrest the movements of the mind.

By arresting the mind, prāṇa is arrested;

And by arresting the prāṇa,

“The mind will become arrested,

For their movements are reciprocally related

In the single union of wisdom and means,

Which is the meeting of the vajra and the lotus.

“Through enjoying the pleasure with one’s mind arrested,

One will succeed—a master over suffering.

The buddhas, Vajrasattva and so forth,

Become helpers of such a mantra adept.

“What need then to mention worldly gods,

The celebrated Śiva and so forth.

The lord, the Acala of Reality,

Is well concealed by me in all the tantras.

“Those who have honored him

Have become buddhas, equal to the sky.

Those of great magical powers

Will be as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges.

“This even goes for the buddhas of the present time

Endowed with buddha knowledge.

Therefore a yogin should always

Meditate regularly on Lord Acala.

“He who does not know Acala

Will have a fruitless life.

For without him, no success,

Not even a small one, can be achieved.”

Thus concludes the chapter on prāṇa practices, twenty-second in the
glorious Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa tantra called “The Sole
Hero.”

Chapter 23

Signs of Death

Then the lord said:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This concludes the chapter on the signs of death, twenty-third in the
glorious Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa tantra called “The Sole
Hero.”

Chapter 24

Nature of the Body

Then the lord said:

“After the mother and the father unite,

The moon has the nature of the five elements and

The sun has the nature of the five elements.

Through the meeting of these two,

“A being is born again—

One of the nature of wisdom and means.

Bones and sinews will be formed from the moon;

And flesh, and other matter, from the sun.

“It becomes a body, which is devoid of self,

And is produced by the beings’ karma.

By nature it is like a magical display,

Similar to a city of gandharvas.

“It is the same as a rainbow and said to be like the moon reflected in
water.”

This concludes the chapter on the nature of the body, twenty-fourth in
the glorious Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa tantra called “The Sole
Hero.”

Chapter 25

Deity Practice

Then the goddess said:

“I want to hear more

About the arising of the perfection of wisdom.

Please grant me this favor, my lord;

Speak briefly, without elaborating too much.”

The lord then said:

“I will now teach

The arising of Perfection of Wisdom—

The goddess who sits in sattvaparyaṅka posture,

With the body of a sixteen-year-old.

“She is blue, greatly exalted in merit,

Crowned with Akṣobhya.

In her raised right hand, she holds a red lotus;

In her left hand, which is in the playful attitude,

“There is a treatise on lovemaking.

She sits on a moon that rests on a lotus,

With firm, swollen breasts, boldly confident,

With elongated eyes, speaking alluringly.

“One should meditate on this goddess

While focused on the innate Acala.

As for the yoginī Viśvavajrī,

Arisen from the gnosis of the syllable hūṁ,

“One should visualize her in one’s heart—

One will surely attain success.

Alternatively one should meditate on the white Sarasvatī,

Arisen from the syllable dhīḥ,

“And crowned with Vairocana.

Or the yellow Vajradhātvīśvarī,

Arisen from vaṁ, crowned with
Ratnasambhava.

Or the red Kurukullā—

“The goddess crowned with Amitābha

And arisen from the gnosis of the syllable hrīṁ.

Or the green Tārā,

Arisen from the gnosis of the syllable tāṁ,

“Crowned with Amoghasiddhi.

The man, for his part, in the form as previously described,

Should sit in the sattvaparyaṅka posture,

Maintaining a gentle frame of mind.

“Holding a sword and a noose, full of splendor,

Enacting the embrace—a skilled practitioner

Should find a girl from his own spiritual family or that of another,

And meditate while holding her.

“Through this, there is no doubt

That a yogin will succeed by means of a consort.

Alternatively one should make a lifelike effigy

And do practice with ‘her’—made of clay and so on.

“Immersed in absorption of innate Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa,

One should recite the mantra, with one-pointed mind.

“And these are the respective mantras to be recited:

“ ‘
Oṁ, Viśvavajrī, come, come! Hūṁ svāhā!’

‘
Oṁ, Vajrasarasvatī, come, come! Dhīḥ svāhā!’

‘
Oṁ, Kurukullā, come, come! Hrīṁ svāhā!’

‘
Oṁ, Tārā, come, come! Tāṁ svāhā!’

“Now I will teach

The maṇḍala of the Sole Hero.

It has four corners, four doors,

And is adorned with four gateways.

“It should be colored yellow,

With a four-petaled lotus in the center.

Its southeastern petal should be white,

The southwestern red,

“The northwestern yellow,

And the northeastern green.

In the center, one should draw

Acala of black color,

“Situated, optionally, on a sun disk.

He could be white, yellow, red, or green.

One should imagine him

To be identical in nature with the five buddhas.

“In the southeast corner is Locanā.

She holds, in her left and right hands,

A moon and an aśoka twig,

And has the radiance of the autumn moon.

“In the southwest is the supreme goddess Pāṇḍarā,

Holding a bow and an arrow, who is of red color.

In the northwest corner

Is Māmakī of yellow color,

“With a vase and a bunch of rice twigs in her hands.

In the northeast corner is green Tārā,

Making a boon-granting gesture with her right hand

And holding a blue lotus in her left.

“All of them have a seat of a moon disk

And sit in the ardhaparyaṅka posture.

One should place Passion Vajrī at the eastern gate,

Standing on a seat fashioned from Śakra.

“She holds a sword and a skull and is of red complexion.

In the south, one should place the blue Hatred Vajrī;

Holding a kartri knife, she makes a threatening gesture

And stands on a seat fashioned from Yama.

“In the west, one should place Conceit Vajrī,

Holding a sickle and a vajra,

Dressed in peacock’s feathers,

And standing on top of Varuṇa.

“In the north, one should place Delusion Vajrī,

With a threatening gesture,

Holding an aśoka twig,

And standing on yellow Kubera.

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