Toh 805The Noble Tantra “Subāhu’s Questions”

Summary

The Tantra of Subāhu’s Questions is a
Kriyātantra scripture that presents a series of practices and rites that can be
employed in diverse Buddhist ritual contexts, rather than for a specific deity or maṇḍala. The tantra records a conversation
between the Buddhist deity Vajrapāṇi and the layman
Subāhu, whose questions prompt Vajrapāṇi to share a wealth of instructions on
ritual practices primarily intended to bring about the accomplishment of worldly
goals. The rites described in The Tantra of Subāhu’s
Questions address concerns about health, spirit possession, the
accumulation of wealth and prosperity, and warding off destabilizing and
obstructing forces. Special attention is given to rites for animating corpses
and using spirits and spirit mediums for divination purposes. Despite the
generally worldly applications for the rites explained to Subāhu, Vajrapāṇi is
careful to establish the Mahāyāna orientation that must frame them: the quest
for complete liberation guided by ethical discipline, insight into the faults of
saṃsāra, and the motivation to alleviate the suffering of other beings and
assist them in reaching awakening.

Acknowledgements

Translated by Dr. Lozang Jamspal, Kaia Fischer, and Erin Sperry of the
Tibetan Classics Translators Guild of New York.

The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of
84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.

Introduction

The Tantra of Subāhu’s Questions
(henceforth
Subāhu
) is a record of a conversation between Vajrapāṇi
and the layman Subāhu on a wide range of doctrinal, ethical, ritual, and
magical topics. The text is classified as a Kriyātantra and is further
categorized as a “general tantra” in the Kriyātantra section of the Kangyur.
As a Kriyātantra, the text focuses on an array of ritual practices that are
intended to secure physical and mental health, the acquisition of wealth,
comfort, and pleasure, and freedom from hostile and disruptive supernatural
forces. Because it is a general Kriyātantra, it does not focus on a single
deity or ritual system, but rather contains instructions that are applicable
in any ritual context explained elsewhere in the Kriyātantras. Vajrapāṇi’s
teachings include a body of exoteric instructions to ensure that a
practitioner of mantra, a mantrin, is
properly oriented in the Mahāyāna as they carry out the elaborate esoteric
rituals and transgressive rites outlined in the tantra.

Kriyātantra is the largest category of tantric literature in the
Kangyur and consists of a diverse array of texts featuring an extensive
pantheon of Buddhist deities and complex ritual practices aimed at both
worldly and transcendent goals. The Kriyātantras preserved in the Kangyur
are broadly organized into “clans” or “families” (Skt. kula) depending on the deity featured in their respective texts. The tathāgata clan is
organized around the maṇḍalas of specific buddhas, including the Uṣṇīṣa
class of deities and Pañcarakṣā protectresses. This clan also includes what
is perhaps the most well-known and highly regarded work of the Kriyātantra
class, the Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa (Toh 543:
’jam dpal gyi rtsa ba’i
rgyud), featuring Mañjuśrī.
The lotus clan section includes works focused on the tathāgata
Amitābha/Amitāyus, as well as on Avalokiteśvara and Hayagrīva. Perhaps the
most widely known tantra of this category is the Amoghapāśakalparāja (Toh 686: don yod pa’i zhags pa’i cho ga zhib mo’i rgyal po), which presents a
large body of rites for Avalokiteśvara’s form as Amoghapāśa, the “Unfailing
Noose.” The vajra clan section contains texts featuring Vajrapāṇi, the Lord
of Yakṣas, including the Bhūtaḍāmara
Tantra (Toh 747: ’byung po ’dul
ba) and the Vajrapāṇyabhiṣeka Tantra (Toh 496: lag na rdo rje dbang bskur ba). This category
of Kriyātantras also includes ritual manuals dedicated to the goddess Tārā
and Vajravidāraṇa. Beyond these three primary clan distinctions, the
Kriyātantra section of the Kangyur also contains ritual manuals for wealth
deities such as Maṇibhadra and Jambhala, rites for enhancement (Skt.
pauṣṭika; Tib. rgyas pa) featuring Mekhalā, and an array of
miscellaneous works that do not readily fall into a clan-based organization
scheme, including those associated with worldly deities. The final category
of Kriyātantras preserved in the Kangyur is a “general class” (Tib. bya ba spyi’i rgyud), the texts of which do
not focus on any one deity or maṇḍala system, but
rather present instructions on rites that can be used in the context of the
other Kriyātantra systems. It is in this category that we find The Tantra of Subāhu’s Questions.

As a part of the general class of Kriyātantra, the
Subāhu
offers a
broad ethical and doctrinal framework within which the practices of
Kriyātantra should be employed and it describes a variety of rites
applicable in a range of clan-based ritual contexts. The
Subāhu
is somewhat
unique among Kriyātantras for its sustained emphasis on the exoteric
Mahāyāna principles that should guide mantrins in their practice: the
motivation to awaken, showing kindness and compassion to all beings,
maintaining rigorous ethics based in prātimokṣa discipline, rejecting hedonistic tendencies
through reflection on the impurity of the body, and so forth. These
fundamental principles are particularly apt in the context of the
Subāhu
, as the text
outlines some of the most transgressive rites found in the Kriyātantras,
including the necromantic practices of bartering human flesh and animating
corpses, and divination practices that utilize young children as spirit
mediums. The steady oscillation between exoteric and esoteric content
grounds the reader in the fundamental principles of the Mahāyāna while
exposing them to the range of ritual practices expounded throughout the
Kriyātantra corpus.

The Tantra of Subāhu’s Questions shares
the short version of its Sanskrit title (Subāhuparipṛcchā, and its possible English rendering as
“Subāhu’s Questions”) with a sūtra in the Heap of Jewels section of the
Kangyur, the Subāhuparipṛcchā, which like the tantra
is also the record of a conversation between the layman Subāhu and a
realized being, in this case the Buddha Śākyamuni. There is not much else
that is similar between the two texts, however, so it would appear they were
not meant to be understood to take place in the same setting. The sūtra,
which is rendered primarily in prose, includes the traditional introductory
passage (Skt. nidāna; Tib. gleng gzhi) that establishes the setting for
the discourse. In the sūtra, the Buddha is staying at the Bamboo Grove near
Rājagṛha, where he is approached by Subāhu and his retinue of servants.
Subāhu then poses a question that compels Śākyamuni to offer detailed
teachings on the six perfections. Like many Buddhist tantras, the Subāhuparipṛcchā Tantra lacks the traditional
scriptural introduction and is composed entirely in verse. It begins
immediately with Subāhu’s questions and offers no information on the setting
in which the discourse takes place. We can presume that we are meeting the
same Subāhu in the sūtra and the tantra, as many Buddhist scriptures share
the same protagonist, but beyond this one detail there is no evidence that
these two works were ever regarded as part of the same dialogue or otherwise
contextually related.

Vajrapāṇi’s instructions to Subāhu in the tantra unfold over eleven
chapters and cover a wide range of exoteric and esoteric topics in a
somewhat unstructured and digressive manner. Subāhu speaks very little,
asking only a brief series of questions at the outset of the tantra on the
efficacy of mantra recitation, and then again in chapter 6 when he wonders
about the relevance of fasting as a spiritual practice. In both cases,
Subāhu raises doubts about esoteric practice in general, and specifically
about its relevance to reaching liberation. The general nature of Subāhu’s
questions allows for Vajrapāṇi to offer a general response. Rather than
articulating a series of specific rites, presenting a catalog of mantras,
and detailing formulas for ritual substances as is typical in the
Kriyātantras, Vajrapāṇi instead establishes the doctrinal and ethical basis
for mantra practice and outlines the necessary preparatory practices before
providing ritual instructions and descriptions of rites that are applicable
in a variety of esoteric contexts.

In presenting a general survey of Kriyātantra ritual, the
Subāhu
grounds
itself in key ritual paradigms and ideological orientations that are
fundamental to tantric practice in general and the elaborate rites of
Kriyātantra specifically. The core ritual paradigm operative in the
Subāhu
and in many
other categories of Buddhist ritual—exoteric and esoteric alike—is the
homa offering: the practice of
making repetitive ritual offerings into a fire that is specially prepared
for specific ritual purposes. The homa rite is not uniquely Buddhist, but
rather is a shared ritual framework that was originally developed within a
Vedic context and later evolved to become the basic ritual format for a vast
catalog of rituals employed in India’s many religious traditions. The
performance of a homa typically involves preliminary steps of purification
and preparation for both the practitioner and the ritual space, followed by
the building of a ritual fire, the drawing of a maṇḍala, the placement of a
central image, and the arrangement of offerings. Once these steps have been
completed, the homa is performed wherein the mantrin accumulates a set
number of mantra recitations while casting the same number of oblations into
the fire. The mantra to be recited and the oblations to be used vary based
on the deity being invoked and the purpose of the
rite; the Kriyātantras contain a wealth of specific mantras, ritual
liturgies, recipes, and formulas to be used within the basic framework of
the homa rite.

At the heart of Buddhist tantric rites is the nexus of the
practitioner, deity, and mantra. Unlike in
tantras of the Yoga (Tib. rnal ’byor),
Mahāyoga (Tib. rnal ’byor chen po), and
Yoganiruttara (Tib. bla na med pa’i rnal
’byor) classes, the practitioner of Kriyātantra—usually called
a mantrin, sādhaka, or
vidyādhara
—does not
identify themselves with the deity, but rather
propitiates the deity as an external agent to
bring about a desired goal. This goal, often generically referred to as
siddhi, can include the “worldly”
siddhis such as flight, invisibility, and so forth, can refer more broadly
to the successful outcome of the rite, or can indicate progress toward or
the attainment of liberation. Whatever the final goal, the method for
reaching it often involves intricately coordinated rituals using a complex
menu of ingredients in combination with the core practice of mantra
recitation and homa offerings.

An idea essential to this process, and to understanding the
Kriyātantras (and the tantras in general), is the complete indivisibility of
deity and mantra. A deity is its mantra and the mantra is itself the deity; there is no distinction between them
whatsoever. Thus, in esoteric works such as the
Subāhu
, the term mantra can be read synonymously as “mantra
deity” in many contexts. Mantras are
classified in various ways and are typically specific to a deity and the ritual purpose for which the deity is
being invoked. A broad distinction can be made between a vidyā and a mantra, with the term vidyā reserved for female deities and mantra for male deities, but this
categorization is only loosely applied. Often the terms vidyā and mantra are essentially synonymous in Kriyātantra literature.
However these terms are understood and differentiated in a given text, the
basic structure is the same: when mantrins recite the mantra of a deity, they are directly invoking and instantiating
the deity within the framework of the rite. A successful rite is therefore
one in which the practitioner and ritual space are properly prepared and the
recitation of mantra and the homa performed precisely so that the deity is enjoined to act on the practitioner’s
request.

The goals for which a mantrin performs the rites described in the

Subāhu
and
other Kriyātantras are manifold, and there is a distinct emphasis on
securing health, safety, and prosperity through magical means. The
Subāhu
articulates
rites for treating physical and mental illnesses, remedying snakebites,
exorcising spirits that have taken possession of the body, gaining wealth,
procuring pleasures, summoning spirits to act as servants, thwarting enemies
both human and supernatural, and using divination to clarify events of the
past, present, and future. In many of these ritual applications, a given
disease, disruptive influence, or obstructing force is embodied in the form
of one of the myriad classes of nonhuman beings that populate the Indic
landscape. These beings are often identified using broad categories such as
graha, bhūta, vighna, and
vināyaka, but can also be referred
to more specifically as piśācas,
pūtanas, rākṣasas, nāgas,
yakṣas and the like. Many of the
rites in the
Subāhu
and other Kriyātantras seek to banish or
eradicate such beings to achieve their goal of health and well-being.
However, because many of these classes of beings can also be benevolent
forces, we find many rites in the
Subāhu
that call upon such beings to
assist the practitioner in achieving their aim. This is especially true of
yakṣas and yakṣiṇīs, but can also be true of nāgas, vetālas, and other
spirit beings that can be ritually summoned for a variety of purposes. The
embodiment of malevolent and benevolent forces as supernatural beings, and
using rites to either oppose or cultivate their power, is a central concept
in Kriyātantra rites.

Among the diverse rites Vajrapāṇi explains in the
Subāhu
, two stand
out for special attention: the related rites of the bartering of human flesh
and corpse animation, and the prasenā
divination rite in which a deity is summoned into
a reflective surface or the body of a young child. These two rites are
treated with exceptional detail in the
Subāhu
, more so than in other Buddhist
works. These rites are not unique to Buddhism, but are mentioned in the
scriptures of other religions, including Śaiva and Jain sources, and are referenced
in the popular secular literature of India. Though these rites are
articulated in a distinctively Buddhist framework in the
Subāhu
, they share
much in common with their practice in non-Buddhist sources and serve as
compelling evidence of the inter-sectarian ritual repertoire shared by
India’s many religious traditions.

The necromantic practices of animating corpses and bartering human
flesh are described at the end of chapter 6 and the beginning of chapter 7
in the
Subāhu
.
Such practices typically feature vetālas, a type of supernatural being that
haunts charnel grounds and possesses tremendous power. Among their many
powers, they are perhaps most renowned and utilized for their ability to
enter and animate corpses, which is perhaps why they are often
mischaracterized as “zombies,” as seen in the Tibetan term used to translate
vetāla, ro langs, “animated corpse.”
Vetālas are much more than that, however, and have earned a special place in
Indic lore for their supernatural power and frightful nature. Vetālas
feature prominently in Sanskrit and Prakrit literature, including the
Harṣacarita, the Kathāsaritsāgara and its famous excerpt, the
Vetālapañcaviṃśatikā, and in the
Jain Vasudevahindi and Kuvalyamāla. A rite very similar to the one
found in the
Subāhu
is reported in an esoteric Śaiva work, the
Niśvāsaguhya, again pointing to the ritual repertoire shared by
Buddhists and Śaivas. The
Subāhu
is not alone among Buddhist
scriptures to describe the practice, as similar rites are recorded in the
Amoghapāśakalparāja and
referenced in the Vinaya of the Sarvāstivāda school.

The ritual use of vetālas and corpses can take many forms and serve
many purposes in esoteric ritual literature, but in the
Subāhu
it is
primarily used to employ the vetāla-possessed corpse as a servant, or as the
catalyst for acquiring the mundane siddhis. The outcome of the Subāhu’s corpse-raising rite is only
mentioned briefly, whereas the bulk of the rite’s richly detailed
description focuses on identifying the right kind of corpse to use,
preparing it for the rite, and ensuring that other types of spirits do not
disrupt the process.

Though it follows Vajrapāṇi’s description of the corpse animation
rite, the instructions for bartering human flesh appear to be a preliminary
activity for the rite. In this practice, the mantrin dices human flesh into
small pieces, fills small bowls with them, dresses in a grotesque manner,
and wanders through a charnel ground calling out, “Flesh for sale!” with the
intention of attracting a vetāla or other spirit for ritual use.
Vajrapāṇi gives precise instructions on how to negotiate with the vetāla or
spirit who appears, and how to protect oneself with mantras to mitigate the
dangers inherent in the rite. Like much else in the
Subāhu
, the instructions for
this rite appear to be meant as general instructions that can be applied in
the diverse ritual contexts utilizing vetālas and corpses.

Another topic of the Kriyātantras in general and the
Subāhu
specifically
is spirit possession. The possession of the human body by supernatural
beings is regarded as a primary cause of disease and mental instability.
Thus, a regular purpose of Kriyātantra ritual is to drive them out of the
body or otherwise weaken and arrest their influence on an individual. The
mode of spirit possession in which a deity or spirit takes possession of a
person against their will is known broadly as the “opportunistic” (Skt.
āgantuka) mode of possession. The

Subāhu

provides a list of conditions under which a person might become possessed by
a spirit—typically referred to as a graha, vighna, or
vināyaka—and offers a general set
of remedies against it. This “involuntary” mode of possession is a common
topic in the Kriyātantras, so that many contain specific and elaborate rites
to combat it.

There is another mode of spirit possession that is described in
detail in the
Subāhu
: the voluntary possession of a healthy person
(Skt. svāsthāveśa) to serve as a medium
for the purposes of prognostication. While the
involuntary mode of possession and remedies against it are well known in
esoteric Buddhist literature, descriptions of the use of spirit mediums are
much rarer. This body of practices is also known to us through Śaiva and
Jain texts, as well as secular literature, and thus appears to be a
widespread Indic phenomenon that was assimilated by several religious
traditions and their specific ritual systems.

The voluntary method of possession is described in chapter 7 of the

Subāhu
and
includes key features that are shared across religious traditions,
specifically the use of a reflective surface in which omens and visions are
read and the use of a young boy or girl as the medium of possession who will
answer questions about missing items or about the events of the past,
present, or future. Though the
Subāhu
does not use the term, this mode of
possession involves a type of spirit or deity known as a prasenā, which
is invited into the ritual environment by the mantrin. The practice was
known in Pali sources, as we find proscriptions against the practice of
employing a prasenā (Pali: pañha) in the Brahmajāla Sutta of the Dīghanikāya. The rite of prasenā divination appears most
frequently in esoteric scriptures, including brief references in the Cakrasaṃvara and Kālacakra corpuses. Beyond Buddhist sources, the term prasenā and its variants, as well as
descriptions of similar rites, are recorded in the Śaiva Niśvāsaguhya, Tantrasadbhāva, and Jayadrathayāmala among others, the Jain Paṇhāvāyaraṇa, and works of secular literature
including the ninth-century Kapphiṇābhyudaya and the eleventh-century Kalāvilāsa of Kṣemendra. It would appear that
the description of prasenā divination in chapter 7 of the
Subāhu
is one of
the most detailed in Indic literature, adding to the great value of this
Buddhist scripture among such works.

As indicated by the use of pan-Indic ritual techniques and the
inclusion of rites shared in common by other Indic religious communities,
the
Subāhu

specifically, and the Kriyātantras in general, reveal the eclectic and
inclusive ritual environment in which esoteric Buddhist teachings were
transmitted and practiced. When Vajrapāṇi instructs Subāhu in these
practices, he draws not only upon the large body of Buddhist lore, but the
collective knowledge transmitted within several of India’s most prominent
religious systems. All of the rites expounded in the
Subāhu
and other
Kriyātantras are taught and performed within a distinctly Buddhist framework
but draw from a pan-Indic repertoire grounded in the homa rite. This shared
ritual foundation allows for rituals developed within one religious
tradition to be adapted for use in other religious contexts, a fact that is
apparent in the Kriyātantras and the
Subāhu
in ways both explicit and
implicit. Implicitly, we have a wealth of textual evidence that reveals the
commonalities between the rites recorded in the Kriyātantras and those
employed by other religious communities. Explicitly, the
Subāhu
and other
Kriyātantras openly acknowledge the validity of other mantras and ritual
systems, and in some cases declare that Buddhists can adopt the rites and
mantras of other religions by assimilating them into established Buddhist
frameworks. Thus, in studying the Subāhuparipṛcchā Tantra we not only gain
access to the Kriyātantras and their wealth of Buddhist ritual lore, but
also open a door into the dynamic and eclectic environment of India’s
diverse ritual systems.

The translation presented here is the first complete translation of
the
Subāhu
into
English. It is based solely on the translations preserved in the Tibetan
canon, with the Degé, Stok Palace, and Phukdrak versions serving as the
primary witnesses. The Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) of the Degé translation was also
closely consulted. Among the canonical Tibetan translations, the Phukdrak
version stands out as a potentially unique witness, as it seems to represent
a distinct branch among the extant Tibetan translations. The Phukdrak
version was very likely consulted when later versions of the canon were
compiled and edited, but differences in terminology and translation style
suggest that it preserves an alternate Tibetan translation to the one that
served as the primary basis for the versions preserved in other Kangyurs. It
is also, unfortunately, the most corrupt of the versions consulted, one rife
with errors and omissions that make it impossible to take as the primary
basis for an English translation.

Except for the Phukdrak witness, all of the canonical Tibetan
versions of the
Subāhu
lack a translator’s colophon, presenting a
challenge for determining the precise date and provenance of the
Subāhu
’s
transmission to Tibet. We can be confident that the translation was produced
during Tibet’s Imperial Period, as the translation is recorded in the
imperial-period catalogs, the Denkarma (ldan/lhan dkar ma) and
Phangthangma (’phang thang ma), which
were compiled in the ninth century. The translation
preserved in the Phukdrak Kangyur uniquely includes a colophon that states
that the translation was made by the Indian master Buddhaguhya (ca. second
half of the eighth century) and the Tibetan translator Mañjuśrīvarman (ca.
eighth century). There is good reason to doubt the veracity of this single
record, but it does conform to a general milieu for the
Subāhu
’s
transmission and translation in Tibet that is supported by additional
evidence discussed below. The Subāhuparipṛcchā
Tantra was translated into Chinese twice, first by
Śubhakarasiṃha 善无畏 in 726 (Taishō 895), and then later by Fatian 法天 sometime
in the tenth century (Taishō 896). Given that the earlier translation
prepared by Śubhakarasiṃha predates the Tibetan translation by approximately
a century, it is reasonable to conclude that the Subāhuparipṛcchā Tantra was circulating widely in India by at
least the beginning of the eighth century, and likely much earlier. There is
at present no known Sanskrit witness for the text.

Returning to the question of the
Subāhu
’s translation and transmission
in Tibet, we are on firm footing when dating that process to no later than
the mid-ninth century. The strongest evidence we have for this is the
inclusion of the translation in the imperial catalogs, but links between the

Subāhu
and
the Indian tantric exegete Buddhaguhya also corroborate that estimation and
provide us with additional evidence for the context of its reception and
translation. As mentioned above, the Phukdrak version of the Tibetan
translation is the only version that includes a translator’s colophon, one
that attributes the translation to Buddhaguhya. This attribution is
problematic, however, because it is reasonably well-established that
Buddhaguhya declined to visit Tibet when invited by King Trisong
Detsen. The fact that the colophon recorded in
the Phukdrak Kangyur is not preserved in other Kangyurs indicates that later
compilers and editors did not find this attribution accurate and so excluded
it.

Though Buddhaguhya does not seem to have set foot on Tibetan soil
himself, he did send his own commentarial works to Tibet instead, and many
of his other treatises reached Tibet by other means during the Imperial
Period. Among his numerous works that have been translated into Tibetan we
find the Summary of the Tantra of Subāhu’s
Questions (Toh 2671: Āryasubāhuparipṛcchānāmatantrapiṇḍārtha; Tib. ’phags pa dpung bzang kyis zhus pa’i rgyud kyi bsdus
pa’i don), a short
topical outline of the
Subāhu
. The Tengyur also contains two additional
commentaries on the
Subāhu
, both of which explicitly take Buddhaguhya’s
text as their basis. The first of these is the Notes on
the Meaning of the Tantra of Subāhu’s Questions (Toh 2672:
’phags pa dpung bzangs kyis zhus pa’i rgyud kyi
tshig gi don bshad pa'i brjed byang), which lacks a
Sanskrit title, statement of authorship, and translator’s colophon. The
commentary, which treats the
Subāhu
in great detail, opens by stating that its
purpose is to elaborate on what Buddhaguhya only summarized. This commentary
is recorded in the Denkarma catalog, which dates it to no later than the
ninth century, but its lack of Sanskrit title, attribution of authorship,
and translator’s colophon suggests the possibility that it was a Tibetan
composition intended to augment Buddhaguhya’s commentary, perhaps during the
same period the root text was being translated. The third and final
commentary on the
Subāhu
in the Tengyur is the Commentary on the Summary of the Tantra of Subāhu’s Questions
(Toh 2673: Āryasubāhuparipṛcchānāmatantrapiṇḍārthavṛtti; Tib.
’phags pa dpung bzangs kyis zhus pa’i rgyud kyi
bsdus pa’i don dgrol ba’i brjed byang), which, as
suggested by both the title and the opening statement by its author, is also
meant to augment the commentary of Buddhaguhya. Though the Commentary on the Summary includes a Sanskrit
title, it too lacks a statement of authorship and translator’s colophon,
suggesting that it may also be the work of a Tibetan author. Unlike Notes on the Meaning, it is not recorded in the
Denkarma or other catalogs, thus the precise circumstances of its authorship
are unknown.

Because Notes on the Meaning treats
the root text in substantial detail, it is cited frequently in the English
translation offered here. The other two commentaries are largely summaries
or treatments of tangential topics, and so have not been cited here despite
their great value in deciphering the complexities of the The Tantra of Subāhu’s Questions. Careful study
and translation of these three commentaries will shed considerable light not
only on the enigmatic content of the The Tantra of
Subāhu’s Questions, but potentially also on the conditions of
its transmission and translation in Tibet.

The Translation

The Noble

Tantra of Subāhu’s Questions

Chapter 1

Homage to the Omniscient One.

Subāhu paid respectful homage to the Lord of Yakṣas,

Brilliant like a thousand suns

And deeply immersed in compassion,

Then asked him how to master the collections of vidyā and mantra.

“I have not seen anyone on earth

Who has reached perfection through persistence

In recitation, fasting, or restrictive austerities.

Sole Father, do austerities not serve any purpose?

“Your Eminence, you are brilliant as sun-fire,

Supreme among those who purify and destroy evil.

If you spoke words of truth,

Why have the mantras not borne fruit?

“People superior, middling, and inferior have practiced,

But even still have found no results through mantra.

If preparatory rites accomplish nothing at all,

Accomplishment is only affliction, so what is the point?

“If the Victor previously taught

Pacifying wisdom to soothe afflictions,

How then are they relieved

When mantra and vidyā are not mastered?

“Out of compassion you explained

Myriad mantras meant to heal beings.

How could they not be accomplished,

Through recitation, homa, the
observances, and preparatory rites?

“Are the rites corrupt or devoid of power?

Was the timing correct? Did evil interfere?

Were the mantras altered? Were the offerings switched?

May the Blessed One tell all, omitting nothing.”

After listening to the words of his child,

The vajra holder reflected for a moment,

Opened his long eyes, brandished a flaming vajra,

And spoke these words:

“Wonderful that you ask these questions that serve beings,

Moved by compassion radiant as moonlight.

With such a pristine state of mind

You will reach perfection among the Sugata’s children.

“Bodhisattvas are not attached to their own happiness,

Nor are they crushed by their own sufferings.

They suffer because others suffer,

And find joy in others’ happiness.

“Child, because of your good nature

You posed these questions to benefit beings.

Quickly then, focus your attention and listen,

As I will answer in accord with the scriptures of mantra.

“I will first explain the observances

For the mantra recitations I previously taught.

A practitioner should first arouse faith
in the Sugata,

And with that, arouse bodhicitta.

“They should cast aside greed, arrogance, and conceit,

And faithfully serve the Three Jewels.

They should delight in and have faith in me,

And in what is widely known as the vajra clan.

“They should consistently forsake

Harsh speech, slander, and useless talk,

Visiting the woman of another, lying, stealing,

Killing, doing harm, and using alcohol.

“A deluded person who gathers

The merit of body, speech, and mind

Will destroy it through their wrong views,

And experience the ripening of unwanted results.

“Just as a burnt seed will never produce a sprout,

Even if given soil, water, and time,

A mind ruined by wrong views and ignorance

Will not give rise to virtuous qualities.

“Thus wrong views should be cast aside,

And the correct view adhered to.

It is best if the mind always follows

The Dharma path of the ten virtues.

“Devas, asuras, piśācas, and herukas

And all the terrible creatures of the night

Move through the world harming beings

And distracting those intent on recitation.

“Because they are a countermeasure against them,

When these beings see my collection of mantra and vidyā

They grow anxious, thinking ‘This is terrifying,’

And distract the mind from recitation.

“In the maṇḍalas I have taught

To crush harm-doers and enrich oneself,

Reside devas and asuras who, according to samaya,

Keep watch over meritorious
deeds.

“Where the myriad types of grahas are present,

There are maṇḍalas that employ various activities

That are intended to crush these harmful beings.

People should strive hard to enter them.

“They should use the maṇḍalas taught in the Vidyottama Tantra,

As well as the maṇḍalas of wrathful deities.

There I have explained the various samayas,

So study them carefully to dispel evil.

“When they observe the recitation

Of the main goddess of the vajra clan,

Whom the host of dūtīs and the many vidyās serve,

The obstructors will be ruined, filled with fear and rage.

“To the extent one beholds the maṇḍala,

One serves the vajra clan.

The merit of serving the host of vidyās

Causes all their blessings to enter one’s body.

“Devas, nāgas, asuras, yakṣas, and siddhas

Will flee in fear from those reciting,

Upon seeing their invulnerable vajra nature,

And believing the whole area to burn with vajra fire.

“Those of my children who observe samaya

Will easily succeed in using mantras

Taught by the mundane and transcendent;

All obstructors will be brought to ruin.

“If they do not see the vidyā or observe samaya,

If they lack compassion or do not arouse bodhicitta,

If they lack faith in the Buddha and rely on other deities,

Recitation of my mantras will bring them to ruin.

“If those unable to look upon any of these maṇḍalas

Because they are disheartened and lack the means,

Instead view just one among the maṇḍalas with faith

While maintaining their observances,

“The host of yakṣas and creatures of the night,

Nāgas, and all the grahas
that float above the ground,

Devas and the like, vighnas, and vināyakas

Will find no chance to harm them.

“Just as any crop depends on its soil

To grow up free from blight,

It is in dependence on discipline

That virtuous deeds grow, watered with compassion.

“From the complete Vinaya, the pure discipline of prātimokṣa,

Taught with certainty by the Victor,

A householder mantrin should abandon the outer signs and rites,

And train in all the rest.

“Thus freed from nonvirtuous dharma,

They are imbued with the Sugata’s eloquent Dharma,

Which is pure and brings liberation.

When weary of recitation, they should read scripture.

“To purify nonvirtue they should continuously erect,

In a clean and secluded place,

Caityas to the Sugata made of either sand or clay

That contain the Essence of Dependent Arising.

“Before relic-filled caityas and statues

They should sing praise and offer fragrances, garlands, and lamps.

With deep faith they should perform worship,

Using parasols, banners, flags, and music.

“A one-wheeled chariot will never move along a path

Even when harnessed to a horse.

Neither will a practitioner lacking an assistant

Gain siddhi in this life.

“Such assistants are intelligent, attractive, and fastidiously clean.

They hail from a venerable line and are inclined toward Dharma.

They are eloquent, courageous, have tamed their senses,

And are pleasant of speech, generous, and compassionate.

“Patient in the face of hunger, thirst, and emotions,

They do not worship brahmins or other gods.

They are enthusiastic, skilled in the arts, talented,

And have faith in the Three Jewels.

“Someone with all these good qualities

Is rare to find in this age of strife.

A mantrin should thus rely on an assistant

With half, a quarter, or even an eighth of these qualities.”

This was the first chapter of the noble “Subāhu’s
Questions.”

Chapter 2

“Places of pratyekabuddhas and the sugatas’ heirs,

Those where the Victor previously lived,

Places that are pleasant and steeped in merit,

Or venerated by devas and asuras —

Those with vows purified through the restoration rite

Should perform the approach in order to purify themselves.

“If such places are not to be found, there are others:

Accessible rivers, brooks, and streams,

Lakes adorned with lotuses and utpalas,

Places unfrequented by people,

Or those abundant with clean water;

Places unknown to terrible grahas;

Those with fresh flowers and fruit,

Rich in medicinal plants, or thick with different trees;

Places with clean spots to sleep upon the ground,

Those free of tiger, leopard, and lion,

Or places pleasing, level, and without brambles—

These are places people celebrate for siddhi.

Avoid places with ravines, anthills, ash, or hair,

Rubbish, charcoal, salt deposits, or excrement.

“The earth should be excavated, and a hut built there,

One that is warm, strong, and plastered with clay.

The door can be to the east, north, or west,

But should never face to the south.

“To one side of the shrine chamber

Hang the cloth image to be used in the rite,

One showing the Victor revealing the sublime path,

Or set out a beautiful wooden image to worship.

“A cloth image will grant a person siddhi

When a weaver weaves it soft and smooth,

When it is tightly woven and free of hairs,

Properly proportioned, undamaged, and with its fringe intact.

“On that cloth, sprinkled with clean, fragrant water,

Persons bathed, clean, and observing poṣadha

Should use pigment from clean pots and free of cow bile

To artfully draw using hair from a cow.

“Abundant offerings should be made to the image:

Offerings of garlands, incense, lamps, food, and fragrance.

It should be set up securely, facing west;

In its presence they begin their quest for siddhi.

“Their hair should be tied in a topknot and shaved,

And the color of their clothes changed with mineral dyes.

They should wear either white garb,

Or clothing made of leaves, hemp, flax, or bark.

“They should hold an attractive alms bowl,

One made from gourd, iron, or clay.

It should be shapely, not rough but smooth,

And be undamaged, round, and free of cracks and holes.

“They should live near a pleasant town, not too close or too far,

Where food and drink are available, and śūdras predominate.

It should be hospitable to guests,

And without brahmins of other traditions.

“Brahmins overcome with pride

Are arrogant about their lineage and lack compassion.

They create problems whenever they see

People worshiping at shrines to the Sugata.

“How are brahmins inferior to the Buddha’s followers?

They say, ‘Those of the śūdra caste

Exist to serve and venerate brahmins.

How could śūdras ever be fit to recite mantra?

“ ‘We worship gods and guests, perform the six activities,

Serve the king and the god of fire,

And do what we must for our sons—

This is what concerns brahmins.

“ ‘Kṣatriyas and vaiśyas also do their duty,

Therefore do not harbor any doubt.’

Speaking a slew of deceptive fallacies,

They burn their minds and the minds of others.

“Upholders of the eightfold path

Should always take their food before noon.

Brahmins eat in the afternoon,

So do not visit a brahmin’s home then.

“For those who understand virtue and nonvirtue,

There is no difference between a brahmin and a śūdra.

A person may think, ‘This is a brahmin, this is a śūdra,’

But those are concepts, nothing more.

“By focusing on the true path and following virtue,

Śūdras too will pass beyond aging and death.

By following a false path and behaving badly,

Brahmins too will fall into unbearable hells.

“Those who are embodied, rife with impurity

Cannot now be made pure by some other means.

They are cleansed by ridding themselves of evil,

And embracing only the meritorious.

“Just as medicines are given to the ill

To allay and heal their ailments,

The Victor taught that eating food

Is meant to dispel the pains of hunger.

“Base-minded yogis should not eat

While obsessed with their longevity,

As if a weary traveler beset with hunger and thirst,

Who consumes the flesh of their own child.

“When too much is added, a scale rises effortlessly;

Too little and it likewise falls.

When proportionate, it instantly comes into balance—

This is how an embodied being should eat their food.

“A person will set a sturdy pillar, for example,

To keep an old house from collapsing.

So too food stabilizes the machine of the body,

And is like grease for a chariot’s axle.

“ ‘Food perpetuates the desire realm’—

So said the Victor in one of his teachings.

One should know the body to be
like a plantain tree;

Thus the mind should not desire food, drink, and the like.

“Using knowledge gained from the words of the Sugata,

One should guard against the interactions of the six senses and sense
objects.

Taking up one of the various kinds of alms bowls,

One should go for alms, gazing a plow’s length ahead.

“Smiling as she walks, speaking with sidelong glances,

Her shapely body captivates the mind—

A woman’s body strikes like a weapon,

Stealing away men’s minds.

“Better that he covers his eyes

With a red-hot iron plowshare

Than to look upon the long eyes of a woman,

Which cause his mindfulness to come undone.

“One goes where they please, free of clinging.

With their minds mentally disciplined,

Rejecting concerns of high, middling, or otherwise,

They go to other people’s homes in silence.

“Wherever there are calves and young cows,

Wherever people are drinking alcohol,

Wherever young women serve and play,

Wherever young men sport,

“At any feast where dog meat is served,

Wherever many people gather,

And wherever music is played,

There a person should never go.

“They should return bringing all the alms received,

And share the first portion as they please.

After washing their feet, they should give some to guests,

Then eat the food to care for their body.

“After eating at the appropriate time and bathing on the
three occasions,

They should make offerings of garlands, lamps, and incense,

Sing praises, and present food that is free of meat and alcohol.

Mantrins then sit on a mat of kuśa grass and recite.

“If incense, fragrant unguents, and the rest are not available,

They should offer a variety of fragrant flowers,

But avoid buka, arka bilva, bṛhatī, and kuśa,

As they smell bad and are unappealing.

“When standing, seated, lying down, or asleep,

Or when moving, reclining, eating, reading, and reciting,

They should bring to mind the six recollections,

Remaining aware of their respective qualities.”

This was the second chapter of the noble “Subāhu’s
Questions.”

Chapter 3

“Beset with the host of afflictions, desire and the like,

The mind itself is said to be saṃsāra.

When free of affliction, when crystalline and moon-like,

It is declared the end of the ocean of existence.

“In the same way that, for example, clean water

Is instantly polluted by dirt and the like,

So too the pure, pristine mind

Is polluted by the faults of desire and the like.

“One should select a mālā

With 108 beads of bodhi seed,

Conch, crystal, rūdrākṣa, soapberry,

Lotus seed, lead, copper, or bronze.

“Holding it carefully in their left hand,

Or gripping it carefully in their right,

Mantrins should complete their recitation,

Counting the beads gradually, one by one.

“Once seated, with senses restrained,

Their body straight and steady,

They should move their lower lip gently

To recite the mantra of their choice.

“The mind is like lightning, clouds, and the
wind;

It is similar to waves upon the great ocean.

It is deceptive and delights in desirable things;

It wavers and wanders and needs to be tamed.

“Delighting in recitation,
the mind is at peace,

But should it lead to a dull state of drowsiness,

Mantrins should stand, move, look around,

And splash water on their face.

“Impelled by past actions

Without master, protector, or support,

Moving from life to life in a succession of bodies,

Aligned with virtue and nonvirtue,

“Filled with longing, separated from kith and kin,

Meeting with unpleasantness, beset with desire,

Suffering from adversity and birth, old age, sickness, and death—

No one lacks these, no matter where they are.

“Stinging bugs, heat, cold, hunger, fatigue—

No matter where one goes such miseries persist.

Thus, when the mind feels delight for an object,

Use these ideas to ward it off:

“Repel strong desire by noting the impurity

Of muscle, fat, skin, and bones.

Douse anger with the water of affection and compassion,

And against stupidity use the path of interdependence.

“Enemies suddenly become friends,

And friends change into enemies.

Likewise, some will become neutral,

And the neutral change into enemies.

“One should know that relationships change—

A rational person should not become attached.

Warding off affectionate feelings for relations,

One should rest easily in virtue.

“Once recitation begins, and until it is finished,

Mantrins should not speak with brahmins,

Not with kṣatriyas, vaiśyas, or farmers,

Nor with women, paṇḍakas, or young boys and
girls.

“They can speak as needed with their attendant,

And can talk a little once recitation is complete.

After speaking, and after expelling mucus, feces, or urine,

They should immerse themselves in water to bathe.

“To the highest awakening of the unexcelled buddhas

They should make lofty dedications of all their virtue

Accrued through offerings of flowers, bowls of fragrance, and
lamps,

And through their discipline, diligence, and austerities.

“Just as, for example, a river that reaches the sea

Merges with it and takes on the taste of salt,

So too merit dedicated to the highest awakening

Becomes one with it, and takes on the flavor of the victors.

“As an analogy, a person will grow rice

For the sake of its grain, not for its straw.

And yet, when harvesting their rice,

They effortlessly and incidentally gain bundles of straw.

“Similarly, merit is cultivated not for pleasure,

But out of desire for the fruit of awakening.

And yet, it brings people pleasure

As effortlessly as gaining those bundles of straw.

“They should dedicate
to obtain a long life,

To find places conducive to the Dharma,

To freedom from weariness,

And to always fulfill the hopes of beings.

“They should mentally thwart the worldly concerns—

Fame and infamy, gain and loss,

Happiness and misery, and praise and blame—

And avoid any evil states.

“Just as, for example, a human corpse

Will not stay beneath the ocean for even an instant,

So too mantrins should not spend even a moment

Creating evil with their conceptual mind.

“Just as, for example, inside a windless house

A lamp will not flicker but burn brightly,

So too the Dharma will shine brightly

In the body of one who delights in focused recitation.

“Abstain from posturing, jumping about, dancing,

Singing, beating drums, and earning people’s derision.

Avoid arrogance, deception, and excessive desire,

As well as gambling and seeking social events.

“Give up ill-timed sleep, pointless talk,

Reading and reciting literature or false treatises,

Attachment, spite, haughtiness, and conceit,

As well as resentment, laziness, and cunning.

“Do not consume meat or alcohol,

Garlic, wild garlic, or onions,

Grain oil, sesame, radishes, or yams,

Or food for bhūtas, food offerings, or oblations to Paśupati.

“I have said that a mantrin should consume

The three white foods, roots,
stalks, fruits, and vegetables,

Yogurt, barley, milk, and ghee,

Oil cakes, buttermilk, boiled milk, and broth.

“For the subduing of piśācas and rākṣasas,

Of ostārakas, vetālas, and masters of terror,

Or of an asurī’s magical device,

I have praised oil cakes as the best food.

“Practitioners engaged in such recitation

Should, after a day full of activity, offer recitation,

Request departure as the
ritual specifies,

Then lay down at night upon a spread of kuśa grass.

“Full of love, compassion, joy, and equanimity,

They should bring to mind the Sugata, Dharma, and Saṅgha,

Join their palms, bow to me and Śāriputra, and sleep;

This is how mantrins should fully exhaust their evil.”

This was the third chapter of the noble “Subāhu’s
Questions.”

Chapter 4

“Next to be explained are the vajras

A practitioner should be sure to wield.

They can measure ten, twelve, sixteen, or eighteen finger-widths,

But the best measures twenty finger-widths.

“Gold vajras are recommended to obtain

The state of a vidyādhara, or any lands.

Silver is the best for kingship,

While copper is for nāgas, the source of jewels.

“To destroy the magical devices of asura lords,

Or enter openings in the earth, use a stone vajra.

For success in all aims, a triple-alloy is best,

While iron is used to smash guhyaka armies.

“For other malevolent forces use khadira wood;

Use bilva for glory, prosperity, health, and riches;

For success with yakṣas and mātṛkās
use madu wood;

And for the Dharma, one made of aśvattha is
recommended.

“Use human bone to assail murderers,

And enemies wielding sharp spears.

Use one made of crystal for great illusions,

While one made of neem is
recommended for separation.

“To kill or desiccate use beleric myrobalan,

Which is always good for
success with piśācas too.

For success with devas, yakṣas, and gandharvas

Use a vajra made from cedar.

“If mastery over nāgas is desired,

Use one made from the root of a nāga tree.

For shapeshifting use one made of earth,

And for success with vetālas, use kadamba wood.

“For wealth use a vajra made of punnāga wood,

Or the wood of rājārka or the aśvattha tree.

Is used for victory when battling humans.

“To attain anything pleasing and desirable

Use a vajra made of white or red sandalwood.

One should wield a vajra that is solid and five-pronged,

Well formed, smooth, and free of wear.

“When recitation begins, pick the vajra up;

When complete, immediately bow with faith,

Make offerings of fragrance and the like,

And place the vajra at the Victor’s feet.

“Anyone practicing the mantras of my clan

Will not succeed without a vajra.

Those who cannot find one

Should make a fist and recite with focus.

“Realgar, bovine bezoar, a sword, collyrium,

Copper sulfate, yellow orpiment, a noose, vermillion,

Ochre, ghee, calamus, a wheel, a
vajra,

A spear, skin, armor, and a trident—

“These seventeen renowned substances

Bring the attainment of the three kinds of siddhi.

Look to the explanations in your own mantra rituals

To learn about the three kinds of siddhi.

“Vighnas and vināyakas who dislike siddhis

Flit about the host of vidyās,

Seeking myriad ways

to thwart industrious vidyādharas.

“There are four clans of vighnas,

Of vināyakas arrayed upon the earth:

The destroyer, jackal, mongoose, and one-tooth clans.

Limitless are these four and their emanations.

“Upon the earth are the four world guardians,

In whose retinue is found Aśoka.

Their retinue, numbering seventy million,

Creates obstacles for practitioners of mantra.

“The jackal clan numbers 180 million,

And serves as the retinue of Maheśvara.

Their general is the mighty Gajamukha,

And together they create obstacles all over the earth.

“The general of the one-tooth clan is Dangling Locks,

Who controls sixty million vināyakas.

With Brahmā, Indra, Viṣṇu, Sūrya, Candra, and Vāyu

They create obstacles for instruction and mantra.

“The mongoose clan is vast,

Numbering thousands of millions of billions.

With their general, Born from a Topknot,

They create obstacles for my clan and mantras.

“Nandika, with long, lotus-like eyes,

And Pāñcika create obstacles for the mantra lineage.

The son of Maṇicara and father of Pūrṇa

Also create obstacles for one’s own mantra line.

“Unhappy with practitioners’ wealth and bereft of kindness,

They create obstacles according to their respective clans.

They take the form of one’s own mantra deities

And abscond with garlands and oblations.

“Seeing what the vināyakas, as deities, have done,

A mantrin will grow angry and turn away in disgust.

Motivated as they are by avarice and delusion,

Vighnas and vināyakas devise this way of appearing
as a deity.

“No deva, nāga, or siddha can undermine this,

Not even the gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three.

The terror wrought by vināyakas

Can be overcome by what I have already taught.

“When recitation is complete, rites of protection should be
performed,

The maṇḍala rites repeated, and the maṇḍala entered.

Otherwise, in the absence of a rite of worship,

And lacking rites for recitation and homa,

A person will constantly wonder,

‘Which vidyā should I recite?’

“Fixated on tales of kings, kingdoms, and the like,

The body becomes easy to possess.

Pulled here and there in this way,

The mind that chants vidyā is
led to distraction.

“Like a shadow falling on water,

Vighnas enter a person’s body.

They enter some when bathing,

Some when reciting,

And some when sleeping.

They enter some when offering

Flowers, fragrance, and lamps,

And some when performing homa.

“Just as, for example, a sunstone charged with sunlight

Produces fire without need for specific conditions,

So a vighna can enter the body

And spark the intense fire of passion.

“The vighnas named shaking and
trembling

Take hold when a person is bathing in water.

They cause hunger, fatigue, and deep sleep,

As well as lethargy and anger in the extreme.

“Likewise, the vighnas called gandharvas

Enter the body when fragrance is offered.

People dream of kings, kingdoms, family, and wealth;

They grow fatigued and become fixated on women.

“A being with a large black body will burst from the
earth

And enter a person’s body during offerings of incense.

Acting wickedly, it incites avarice and deceit,

And terrorizes
those with strong desire so that semen spills.

“One-Braid will create obstacles
during lamp offerings,

Causing heat in the heart, sharp pain, and mental decline.

Dangling Locks enters when a person is standing,

Inflicting intense fever, diarrhea, and vomiting.

“Great Flower Array will find a chance

To enter the body while one offers flowers.

He will cause fevers, colds, and joint pain,

As well as separation from companions.

“Those who are possessed by a vighna

Take what is not the path as the path.

They are wracked with desire, behave erratically,

Speak impulsively, and stumble profitlessly through their readings.

“Those with purpose are rendered ambivalent.

With their minds overcome by wrong view,

They constantly say frivolous things like,

‘There is no mantra, there are no heavens,

There is no merit nor the slightest evil,

There is no liberation, and no cause of bondage.

Life is pointless, rife with afflictions, and a hardship.’

“Those who are possessed pick at grass with their nails,

Smash dirt clods, and grind their teeth at night.

Also possessed are women who want a spouse but find none,

Men who want a spouse but find none,

People who ignore the meaningful and do what is not,

And those who go where they please and never sleep.

“Also possessed are those who dream

Of tigers, leopards, lions, dogs, or pigs;

Of donkeys, camels, cats, or flesh-eating jackals;

Of vultures, owls, herons, small people, or snakes;

Of people who are naked, ash-covered, or black-colored;

Of dry wells or heaps of skulls and bones;

Of iron, stone quarries, or houses old and unclean;

Or of changing faces or of people bearing swords and spears.

“Carry out the ritual activities of fierce Amṛtakuṇḍalin

To destroy these vighnas and vināyakas.

Mantrins who follow the path of his mantra,

Are not vulnerable to vighnas and vināyakas.

“At a solitary tree, in a cattle pen or shrine,

At a crossroads, empty house, or in a forest,

Use a variety of paints to draw a maṇḍala,

One that is four cubits square.

“Surround it with places for the directional deities,

And spread kuśa grass at the four gates.

Present many oblations of fruit and cooked grain,

Along with other food, meat, alcohol, radishes, and so forth.

“Take four vases that are the color of a red lotus,

Unblemished, and adorned with jewels,

Fill them with medicines, grain, and fragrant water,

Adorn their mouths with stalks, and tie cloth around their necks.

“After reciting one hundred recitations

Of the mantras for Raktāṅga, Kīlikīla, Dramiḍa, and so forth,

Place the vases around the maṇḍala

And make offerings of fragrant unguents, incense, and so forth.

“Place someone possessed by a vighna in the center of the maṇḍala,

On a comfortable seat that faces toward the east.

Once the mantra is recited and they are washed with each vase,

They are thereby freed from the vināyaka.

“Destroying vighnas is not only of benefit

To people who are practitioners.

It is also suitable for the royal court and childless women,

For young women and musicians,

Sex workers and
merchants,

Farmers, the poor and destitute,

Those seized by grahas and those stricken with fever,

Young grahas, and those who steal flowers and fruit.

This washing brings purity;

It clears away poison, nightmares, and distractions.”

This was the fourth chapter of the noble “Subāhu’s
Questions.”

Chapter 5

“Vighnas exhaust all merit,

So that people do not succeed in mantra.

Those freed from vighnas shine,

Like the moon emerging from a cloud.

“Just as no fruit, flower, or sprout will grow from a vase

Without soil and water, or out of season,

Sprouts, leaves, stalks, flowers, and fruit

Will grow when such conditions are present.

“When the rites are corrupted, vowels and syllables missing,

Offerings are lacking, recitation is sloppy,

Or when vowels and syllables are added,

Mantras will not grant abundant siddhi.

“The rain clouds of summer, for example,

Release rain favorably according to people’s fortune.

So, too, it is in light of a person’s fortune

That mantras bestow the desired siddhi.

“Seeing the proper time, place, and ritual steps,

Seeing that evil is cleansed and merit gathered,

Seeing proper respect and complete recitation,

Mantras will then bestow their fruits.

“The extent to which mantrins are suffused with evil,

The extent to which they do not gather merit and pure deeds,

And the degree to which they recite without proper rites,

To that degree they will not receive the siddhis.

“Should a rite be corrupted or interrupted, a different mantra recited,

Recitation abandoned or dedicated to a different purpose,

Then worship should be made fervently three times a day

And another hundred thousand recitations completed.

“After ten, eight, seven, or four thousand recitations,

They should perform a homa using ghee,

Or perform a homa using a mixture of ghee

And whole barley, black sesame, or mustard seeds.

“Locate fresh wood for the homa that is twelve finger-widths long.

Uḍumbara,
khadira, aśvattha, apamara,

Arka, aśoka, rājārka,

Nyagrodha,
bilva, or amraśa.

Smear them with yogurt, ghee, and honey,

And continuously offer them into the fire as homa.

Doing this, the siddhis are quickly attained.

“If it seems that a mantra

Has been disrupted, restricted, or suppressed by another mantra,

Make an effigy of it from clay

And place it before my feet.

“The mantrin should use an essence mantra such as Kīlikīla,

While washing the effigy with milk and ghee.

After doing this for seven days the mantras will be freed

From all restrictions and suppressions.

“If the rites of worship and so forth are complete,

But the mantra still does not bear fruit,

Anoint an effigy with poison and black mustard seed,

And recite the Kīlikīla, Dramiḍa, or similar mantra.

“Using the mantra along with mustard oil and salt,

Perform a homa three times a day for seven days.

The mantra deity will then appear in a dream

To reveal the corrupted rite, or the syllables added or omitted.

“I have already taught about upholding the way of
mantra:

Just as ocean tides never fail,

Mantras should never be used to suppress another mantra,

Nor to restrict or disrupt it.

“A loved one might tell a person,

‘You shouldn’t visit so-and-so’s house anymore,

Even just to look,’ and present them with good reasons.

That person, hearing what they have to say,

Will not go there for conversation or even to look.

So too mantrins should never

Recite any mantra to suppress the mantra of another.

“They should not disrupt or restrict a mantra,

Nor should they add or omit mantra syllables.

They should not change the purpose of a rite

And should never torment local beings.

“Mantrins should possess,

Restrain, strike, and confuse,

But not crush limbs nor bring a family to
ruin.

They should not banish nāgas,

Nor grahas, nor other similar beings.

“They should not eradicate, banish, or kill,

Nor fail to heal a child possessed by grahas.

They should never use nets, traps, snares, or decoys

To cause harm to any being.

“It is said there are ten requisites for siddhi:

The mantrin, their mantra, an attendant, a ritual substance,

Perseverance, a direction, a site, time,

A deity with complete iconography, and mental fortitude.

“Others speak of the vidyādhara
and assistant,

Others specifically of the direction, perseverance, and time,

Yet others say they are the ritual substance, site, deity, and
mantra,

And some say it is mental fortitude.

“Each explains the science of mantra according to their own
understanding,

Stating that success requires ten, eight, or five,

Or that it requires four, three, or only one.

But in the tantras, buddhahood is reached through two rites.

“Practitioners perfect their own qualities;

They maintain the strongest perseverance,

Feel no envy toward another’s gain,

Desire nothing, and tolerate physical affliction.

“With a proper rite and clear mantra—

With vowels, nasalizations, and punctuation
complete and clear—

Recitation in places frequented by buddhas and bodhisattvas

Brings the most wondrous of siddhis.

“Just as the king of beasts, when hungry,

Uses its great might to slay an elephant,

And likewise can swiftly kill wolves,

As well as pigs, deer, and jackals,

“So a mantrin, in a leonine way,

Has great perseverance

And draws upon the highest effort,

In activities high, middling, and low.

“The sound of clay drums, conches, and other drums;

The fearful sounds that humans make;

Peals of laughter, whistled tunes, sounds of song and dance;

Flutes, vīnās, and large clay drums as well;

“Chirping flocks of different birds, the sound of water,

And the tinkling sound of women’s jewelry;

And the harms of biting insects, heat, cold, and wind—

These distract and agitate a person’s mind.

“Recitation should be neither quick nor slow

It should be neither loud nor too soft.

It should not be done while conversing or distracted,

And the vowels, nasalizations, and punctuation should be correct.

“Just as the water of a river flows

Continuously, all day and all night,

So the merit of embodied beings increases

Through reverence, recitation, and observances.

“A lazy, desirous, nonvirtuous mind,

Distractedly wandering here and there,

Is swiftly reined in from wherever it was

To prepare an offering of the mantra’s syllables.

“One focuses on the tip of the nose and gives up thoughts.

Even when there is movement, one remain undistracted.

One has then reached stability on the object,

Certain that the mind is now poised and ready.

“A person with a focused mind

Experiences joy arising in the mind,

A joy that brings about a pliant body,

A pliant body that brings a wealth of happiness.

“Through physical ease, a focused mind, and samādhi

Recitation becomes unhindered.

Completing the recitation entirely purifies

Any evil done in previous lives.

“Once recitation has purified all evil,

The mind, now clear, will attain siddhis.

This why the blessed Lord of Victors said,

‘The mind is the root of all these phenomena.’

“The clear mind gains happiness both human and divine,

As well as of the heavens and the liberation of awakening.

The faults of mind bring birth among animals,

Among the hells, or among the ugly and destitute.

“A person whose mind has cleared

Avoids all harm, in the middle and end,

From earth, water, fire, aging, sickness, death, and the rest,

And attains the happiness and peace of liberation.

“The mantra siddhis that are common to all —

Which bring limited happiness and myriad sufferings,

And are fleeting and rife with toxic afflictions—

Are obtained with a clear mind.

“Beings do not arise at random, not from time,

Nor do they arise from prakṛti or a
powerful god.

They do not arise without cause nor are they made by a person.

Beings arise from karma and the afflictive emotions.

“Matter consists of the four major elements,

But it is not the self, and the self is not matter.

There is no self in matter, and no matter in the self.

Matter is empty—know this about the other four aggregates as well.

“Matter is like foam;

Sensations are impermanent, like bubbles.

To see them this way is said to be an excellent view;

To regard them otherwise is said to be a poor view.

“As the time of mantra recitation draws near,

One will see the following at night, in dreams:

A mansion, a tree, a banner, a lion, or a horse,

A mountain, a chariot, a thundercloud, or a nāga.

“One may dream of joyfully riding

A tiger, rhinoceros, elephant,
or bull,

Or of flower garlands, clothing, fragrances,

Meat, alcohol, fish, fruit, or books.

“One may dream of a divine form or a red utpala,

Of a milk-cow and calf, a loaded chariot,

A white parasol, fly whisk, shoes, or a sword,

A fan of gold and turquoise, or a mālā.

“One may dream of jewels, pearls, mother-of-pearl, conch, or silver,

Of a beautiful woman or a lovely young girl,

Of an ornament bedecked with a variety of jewels,

Or of discovering a white bedspread.

“At the break of dawn one may dream of a river or stream,

Of a waterfall, ocean, or pond,

Of drinking from or swimming in a pool,

Or of bathing one’s body in blood.

“One may dream of an image of the Victor in a shrine or caitya,

Of a sublime bodhisattva or a pratyekabuddha,

Of the undefiled community of monks, nuns, and laypeople,

Or of the deities who rule the area.

“One may dream of a pleasant brahmin man, worthy of worship,

Or of fire, an eminent person, or a young man wealthy and
prosperous,

Or of one’s parent, friends, kin, or a yakṣa,

Or of a powerful deity or a gathering of youths.

“One may dream one is eating the sun and moon,

Moving within the earth, drinking a seed,

Walking on fire, eating meat,

Or that a fire burns within one’s body.

“Those who have these excellent dreams

Will reach attainment before too long;

In a month, half a month, one day,

Or a single moment, ever do they draw nearer.”

This was the fifth chapter of the noble “Subāhu’s Questions.”

Chapter 6

“As the siddhis near, the mind delights in recitation

And takes no joy in evil.

It never wavers, even when beset with severe sufferings

Such as hunger and thirst, heat, cold, wind, and weariness.

“One is not menaced by bees, biting flies, worms, or ants,

By reptiles, centipedes, snakes, or bears,

Or by piśācas and pūtanas—

Not even by their shadows.

“Mantrins’ words will be memorable, their minds keen;

They will be skilled in literature and the art of inquiry.

They will take joy in the Dharma, perceive hidden treasures,

And their bodies will be free of illness and odor.

“When a person so much as sees or hears them

They will be immediately filled with joy.

Women who beguile even the devas of the desire realm

Will invite them to experience pleasure.

“Whenever a learned person feels delight

In seeing or hearing the forms and voices

Of devas, yakṣas, gandharvas, or apsarases,

At that moment the siddhis are close at hand.

“Recognizing their bodies as stainless and pure,

One who maintains the poṣadha vows,

should give up food and maintain a fast

For one day, two days, or even three.

Once those days have passed,

They should begin to practice for their own prosperity.

Upon hearing this, Subāhu raised another question:

“It has been said that food does not purify.

Why then, venerable one, have you said

We should endure fasts to purify the body?

For what reason did the Sugata, who reached the end of existence,

Say that one can even eat a chariot’s axle grease?”

The vajra bearer, hearing Subāhu’s words,

Spoke with a voice that rumbled like thunder:

“Only son, though the Sugata never taught

Fasting to purify the body, the body is unclean.

“It is flesh, muscle, blood, marrow,

Brain, intestines, spleen, liver, kidneys,

Fat, bile, phlegm, sexual fluids, feces,

Urine, snot, head hair, body hair, and bone.

It has eyes, ears, a nose, and mouth,

An anus and sex organs—nine orifices in all,

Holes from which myriad impurities

Constantly ooze in streams.

“The collection of all these parts,

Made of earth, water, fire, wind, and space,

Comprises the material for the whole human body,

In accordance with the specifics of karma.

“Fasting is said to rid the body

Of its feces, urine, snot, saliva, and phlegm.

The body is pure when rid of these pollutants,

Making it is easy to accomplish one’s prosperity.

“Should one be tormented by desire,

Concentrate the mind and reflect

On all these different parts of the body,

Examining each with the eye of wisdom.

“After such conclusive self-examination,

The desire to fixate on one’s body and health

Will be utterly uprooted and pacified,

Just as the sun fully dispels darkness.

“After preparing for mantra with these beneficial practices,

Mantrins, now aware of their own body,

Should begin their recitation on the fifteenth,

Eighth, or fourteenth day of the waxing moon.

“To prepare the ground where the deity will rest,

They smear it with a mixture of soil, cow dung, and so forth.

With faith they make offerings to all the sugatas,

Using garlands, foods, flowers, fragrance, and lamps.

“Next, they should worship the vajra holder and his retinue,

And then make offerings to the mantra deities.

“After singing the praises of the praiseworthy buddhas,

They should reflect on bodhicitta

And cultivate compassion, in any suitable way,

For beings tormented by birth, old age, sickness, and death.

“They should then sequentially read The Sūtra of the
Great Assembly,

The Auspicious Verses,
The Supreme Wheel of Dharma,

The Secret of the Thus-Gone Ones,
The Great Lamp,

Or other texts deemed suitable.

“Once the directions are secure, including zenith and nadir,

And once the armor has been donned,

They should use colored pigments to draw

One of the maṇḍalas mentioned before.

“In it they should draw concentric circles,

Of vajras, fire, water, wind, and spears.

Drawing the outer enclosure will vex the minds

Of devas, asuras, and any hostile beings.

“The mantrins should take a seat, consecrated as a lion throne,

And place it at the center of the maṇḍala.

After performing the rites of self-protection, they should sit,

Pick up the ritual substance, swiftly complete the recitation,

And perform a thousand incense homas.

“Next, they wash the substance with scented water,

Dispel the many types of vighnas,

Place it on top of three bodhi leaves,

And cover it with four more.

“They recite the mantra for as long as necessary,

Until they see the three signs:

The substance will grow warm, smoke, or blaze with fire.

Even if the order is reversed, accomplishment is said to be reached.

“Warmth indicates control over any being,

Smoke indicates the power of invisibility,

And fire indicates the ability to fly through the sky

In a human body that shines like a god.

“Just as a chill enters the body,

Just as a gandharva enters a womb,

Just as fire springs from the sunlight stored in a sunstone,

So the siddhis enter the body.

“Should a lamp’s flame grow and blaze intensely,

Appearing as a bright, golden tendril

That continues to burn even after the oil is spent,

Then the mantrin has obtained the siddhi.

These are the siddhis born from the ritual substance.

“A person has reached attainment

If the painted image shakes;

If a garland, eyebrow, eye, fly whisk,

Or ornaments begin to move;

If flowers rain down or a squall strikes;

If the earth shakes rapidly;

If a disembodied voice calls from the sky,

Saying, ‘Sole child, request the sublime boon you desire’;

If divine drums sound, causing their hair to bristle;

If a great rain of ornaments falls;

Or if they see with their own eyes

A deva, asura, or an image of the mantra in the sky.

“They should mix fresh flowers, refined gold, and water,

And arrange offering water while uttering
praises.

They should then bow their heads with a focused mind

And request the boon aligned with their faith and effort.

“The boon received, they should bow with joy,

Sing praises and present offering water with faith,

Speak the mantra, and request the deity to depart.

This is the procedure for all mantras.

“A mantrin of outstanding mental strength

Should now perform a fearsome rite.

A piśāca would take the chance

To ruin a person with feeble mental strength.

“An armor-clad hero skilled with weapons,

Riding atop a fine, equipped elephant,

Can conquer an entire host of enemies

By hoisting a bow and letting one mighty arrow fly.

“Likewise, a person of great mental strength,

Armored in discipline and astride the elephant of protection,

Hoists the bow of mantra and lets fly the arrow of recitation,

To conquer creatures of the night like bhūtas and the rest.

“A person with a bent back, extra or missing limbs,

One who too short, too tall, or obese,

One born from a loathsome womb, or a paṇḍaka—

Corpses of these types should be rejected.

“When a corpse is found of someone who died

Of indigestion, intense fever, diarrhea vomiting,

Confinement, water, or impaling;

Who was killed by a snake; died of poisoning,

Bile, wind, and so forth; or
another observable cause;

Or else one with its limbs intact, an uninjured face,

Or one free of open wounds,

Take a sword or club in hand

And keep guard over it throughout the day.

“In a charnel ground, an empty house, at a lone tree,

Crossroads, near a river or stream,

At a lake, ocean, or on a mountain,

Raising a corpse will instantly succeed.

“Once a suitable location is determined,

It should be smeared with a mixture of earth, cow dung, and so forth.

In that clean place draw the samaya

Using white, red, black, and other various pigments.

“Reflecting on the maṇḍalas already described,

Select the one that best suits the intended aim,

And draw the sublime mother of the clan,

After assiduously reciting with great faith.

“A fearless assistant should retrieve the corpse,

Carry it over, and place it on some kuśa grass.

Its head and body should be shaved of hair,

And immediately anointed with grain oil.

“Take four vases whose bases are not black,

Fill them with clean water, and use them to scrub the corpse.

Dress it in a set of white clothes,

And place it on kuśa grass at the maṇḍala’s center.

“Place a fresh flower on the corpse,

And orient its head either to the east or south.

Anoint it with fragrance, cense it with incense,

Drape it with a garland, and scatter flower petals on it.

“To the extent possible, procure a number of cakes

Made of mixed meat, fish, ghee, sesame, and the like.

Give them to the bhūtas, nāgas, piśācas, yakṣas,

And other spirits above, below, and throughout the directions.

“One should protect oneself and one’s excellent assistant,

And with a focused mind recite the mantra.

As the moment of the corpse’s animation nears,

All manner of frightful vighnas will appear.

“Incant ash, whole mustard seeds, and the like

With an uṣṇīṣarāja mantra and scatter them about.

When vighnas approach from the four directions,

Drive them off with the power of mantra.

“To pacify them wrathfully,

Use the forceful rites of Amṛtakuṇḍalin.

Once the vighnas have been defeated,

The corpse will swiftly rise through the power of mantra.

“Anything found among the ritual procedures of mantra

Can be accomplished without any limitation.

But if the corpse has risen

And its mantra rite is not known,

One can still receive the siddhi

Using rites taught elsewhere upon the risen corpse.

“The corpse will grant the siddhis

Of locating treasure, entering openings in the earth,

A sword, eye ointment, a mount, a servant,

mines, metallurgy, alchemy, and flight.

“A weak-minded person who seeks siddhis from corpses

While lacking the power of protection and mantra,

And the power of observances and the mind,

Will be killed by the creatures of the night.”

This was the sixth chapter of the noble “Subāhu’s
Questions.”

Chapter 7

“Those hoping to sell human flesh

Should visit a charnel ground during the waning moon,

And at night, feeling no fear,

Take the calf, thigh, neck, or head

From someone killed by a wood or stone weapon,

Poison, beating, medicine, or a vighna.

“It should be chopped into pieces

And generously placed in clean new bowls or pots.

They should mark their body with a bloody handprint

And wrap their head and neck with intestines.

“Clothed in fresh human skin,

They should hold a pot of flesh in their left hand

And grip a bloody sword in their right,

Brandishing it aloft.

“They should call out in a loud voice,

‘Who among you wants to buy this flesh?’

Repeating the words while quickly circling

To the east, west, north, and south.

“A figure visible or invisible will ask,

‘What is it you seek? Wealth? Knowledge?

To be an alchemist? A village? A kingdom?

Or perhaps to enter openings in the earth?’

They should only respond with their original purpose in mind,

But otherwise say nothing else.

“ ‘To this charnel ground, a haunt of many vidyās,

I came with this purpose, impelled by intense suffering.

So if you have flesh, bring it and give it to me.

If the amount of flesh does not suffice when weighed upon a scale,

You make up the difference using your own flesh.

If this charnel ground is empty,

Go elsewhere, penniless child.’

“If a creature of the night makes such a demand,

Ask it, ‘Where should I go?’

The mantrin should consider their response carefully,

Leave the flesh behind, and depart.

“The rites of flesh that I have taught

Should not be used without mantra recitation.

I have taught about protection in charnel grounds,

“Use a wrathful mantra for flesh-eaters

When performing a homa of human flesh in a charnel ground.

Chop the flesh into two- or three-finger-width pieces with a knife,

And offer it into the fire a thousand times.

“The charnel ground should be arrayed

With fresh flowers, parched grain, meat, blood, fish,

Honey, sweet liquor, sesame, incense, garlands,

Unguents, lamps, porridge, food, and oblations.

“To possess, banish, or put someone to sleep,

Crush an army, or lay waste to a town,

One should offer a homa of flesh

To fierce flesh-eating mātṛkās, the host of rākṣasīs, and to yakṣas.

“If human flesh cannot be found,

A homa using cow flesh is also recommended.

The flesh of a buffalo or dog mixed with ghee

Can be used in a homa on specific dates after fasting.

“The ritual procedure involving a yakṣiṇī

Will grant its achievement once she is satisfied with mantra.

She will act as one’s mother, mother-in-law, aunt,

Companion, daughter, wife, or new bride.

“A mother, mother-in-law, and aunt

Are the highest attainments, like wish-fulfilling jewels.

A pleasing companion or daughter are middling,

And a wife or new bride are considered lesser attainments.

“One should make offerings three times a day

Of flowers, garlands, fragrances,

Lamps of ghee or oil, and fragrant incense of sandal or agarwood.

A variety of oblations should be offered at night.

The yakṣiṇī will then gladly approach,

Granting what is sought and drawing forth seed.

“Women consumed with desire

Are certainly a cause of harm.

One should not flee when women cause harm,

Nor hope for any gain, be it great or small.

“Once a mantrin has blocked his semen at night,

He should arouse his diligence and take up the practice.

If those who are ignorant were to exert themselves otherwise,

They would be swiftly annihilated by the yakṣiṇī.

Even the very thought of it is ruinous.

“This is what is done for the flesh-eating yakṣiṇī herself;

There are additional rites to perform apart from this:

“Flesh, alcohol, radishes, vegetables, balls of rice,

Fish, and preparations of barley, beans, and rice—

These oblations should all be censed with incense and offered.

“An empty house or charnel ground is an auspicious site.

Offerings of flowers should be made, including those of śirīsa,

Kunduru,
arka, bilva, bṛhatī, kuśa, rājārka, akas,

Utpala, turuṣka, pomegranate, aśoka, and
so forth.

“To nāgas offer a fragrant incense made of molasses, milk, and ghee.

Offer them fragrant sandalwood and agarwood,

Garlands and various fragrant flowers,

Porridge, yogurt, parched grain, and fruit.

“To uragas offer, to the extent they can be found,

Blue banners, blue vases, and blue clothes,

As well as blue food, oblations, fragrances,

Garlands, flowers, and unguents.

“An oracle always appears

In a thumbnail, mirror, sword, water, crystal,

In a lamp, the ground, iron, the sky,

A jeweled bowl, or a blazing fire.

“The oracle knows the
past, present, and future,

And all the virtuous and nonvirtuous deeds

In the heavens, on earth, and beyond time,

As well as those of the devas and asuras.

“If the rite deteriorates or is half-recited,

If syllables are added or syllables are omitted,

If recitation is not performed or faith is lacking,

If there is no worship or the site is unclean,

“If the sun’s rays are blocked by clouds,

If the child has deformed limbs, or too many,

Then the oracle will not enter the person,

And what is sought will not be revealed.

“So that the oracle descends, recite according to the prescribed
rite:

On an auspicious date the mantrin should complete a fast,

And in the evening smear the ground with soil and cow dung

To create an area the size of a cow’s hide.

“They should offer scented unguents,

Flowers, incense, and lamps.

Ritually prepare the young child.

“Then, in the morning, perform the rite in full:

After bathing, the mantrin should dress in clean white clothes,

Sit facing east upon a seat of kuśa grass,

And then bring the mantra to mind.

“The mirror should be wiped with clean ash,

Seven, eight, or even ten times.

While the mantra is recited one-pointedly,

The young child, facing west,

Looks with a divine eye

And sees past, present, and future.

“For all rites designated mirror rites,

The oracle should use a sword.

Lac should be applied to the thumbnail,

Which is then smeared with fragrant oils.

“The mantrin sets out a stable, clean vase filled with water,

And fills a jeweled bowl sitting on the ground
with water.

After offering fragrant unguents and flowers to the image,

The young child should look into it.

“Through the oracle or in dreams and so forth,

One should look for signs of the siddhis and then recite.

If the mantrin is not confident,

Recite a vidyā mantra that is not malevolent.

“Once a poṣadha fast has been observed,

The mantrin concentrates intently on one of my pure mantras,

And recites it before a caitya containing relics of the Victor,

Or in the presence of an undamaged image.

“Restraining the movement of body, speech, and mind,

As well as the hands, eyes, brow, and limbs,

They turn their mind toward the mantra

And sit on a mat of kuśa grass while cultivating love.

“Maintaining focus for as long as possible,

They should recite 100,000 or 200,000 times.

My mantra hūṁ can even enter wood,

So no need mention that it can enter a person.

“Next, the vessel of possession should be examined.

It can be a girl aged ten or twelve,

Or ten, eight, seven, four, or three.

A boy is also suitable, one who is two or five years of age.

“They should be attractive, their joints, bones, and veins not
visible.

They should have all their limbs, and long, white eyes.

Their face should be like the moon, their incisors even and sharp,

Their fingers elegant and compact, and their ankle bones sunken.

“They should have a deep, beautiful navel and well-proportioned
chest,

Each strand of their hair should be thick and black,

Their stomach should not sag, but have the three folds,

And they should have a good complexion and striking appearance.

“They should be consistently pleasing to look at,

Such that one never tires of seeing them,

And they should be a vessel for possession

That is indifferent to other deities.

“On an auspicious date, the mantrin should fast all day,

And make offerings of incense, garlands, sandalwood, flowers, and lamps.

They should present many oblations of food, porridge, and the like

To all the devas, asuras, and yakṣas.

“The vessels to be possessed should be bathed and dressed in white.

Facing east, all their ornaments should be removed.

They should be given fragrant unguents, flowers, and the like,

And be censed with incense—then the recitation should commence.

“After first reciting the mantra hūṁ,

Say the words ‘gṛhṇa āveśaya.’

If the child opens their eyes and does not smile,

Know the possession to be complete

And ask any questions without fear.

“Present offering water and incense,

Call to mind the mantra of the supreme vidyā,

Then bow to them and ask,

‘What class of deity are you?’

Issue the directive,

‘Consider well my aims in the three times,

Tell me if I will be happy or suffer,

And if I will obtain siddhis or not.’

Once these are properly ascertained,

Release the oracle right away.

“A malevolent person will use these mantra rites

To cause a human to enter the vessel of possession.

One thus led astray by the deluded

Will become an object of everyone’s ridicule.

“When a deity enters the vessel of possession,

They will be serene, lucid, broad, and tall,

Appear resolute, radiant, bright, and flush,

And will smile, be constant, and have eyes like a deity.

“If their eyes are deep red and round,

Wide open, ugly, and terrifying,

Or if they do not smile and look about fearlessly,

These are the eyes of one possessed by a rākṣasa, mahoraga, or yakṣa.

“If the vessel of possession is not released,

One should intently recite The Auspicious
Verses,

The Mahābala, The
Laughter, or The Hook.

Alternatively, one should read the Mahāsannipāta.

“One should burn one hundred sticks of firewood

Of arka or palaśa smeared with ghee
and stacked like a lion throne.

One should then wrathfully perform twenty-one homas

Using unbroken sesame mixed with honey and ghee.

“By carrying out the mantra rites as prescribed,

And by keeping their samaya perfectly,

Mantrins will attain siddhis aligned with my intent,

And will long be free from the afflictions.”

This was the seventh chapter of the noble “Subāhu’s
Questions.”

Chapter 8

“The Buddha taught the eightfold path:

Right livelihood, right action, right samādhi, right speech,

Right effort, right intention, right attention, and right view.

A mantrin should correctly rely on each and every one.

“Through this path one finds success in mantras,

And likewise the higher realms and liberation.

The victors of the past and the victors’ heirs

Have gone along it to become thus-gone ones.

“Those who, with an insatiable mind,

Reverentially gather merit with body, speech, and mind

Will cultivate that path of virtue

If they embrace the true path spoken by the Sugata.

“Relinquishing all grasping,

Content with simple robes,

Meager alms and medicines, and plain bedding,

They will receive merit.

“They should never praise themselves,

Nor should they disparage other beings.

Regarding the world as a tiger, snake, or fire,

They should forsake it and take joy in solitude.

“They give up scrutinizing the features of men and women,

Medicine, and elephants, and investigating the stars.

They give up examining weapons, scrutinizing horses,

And the study of base literature and treatises.

“They should neither observe nor instigate fights

Between elephants, horses, cattle, cocks, dogs,

Grouse, partridges, owls, men, women,

Boys, girls, children, sheep, and so forth.

“They should not gossip about the realm or serve
kings,

Nor trade stories of war, wrestlers, or young women,

Nor tell fantastical tales or weave histories,

And should not speak of their desires or discuss sex work.

“Mantrins intent on mantra recitation should not frequent

Towns, cities, homes, or monasteries,

Caityas, mountain hermitages, the haunts of ascetics,

Pleasure gardens, ponds, or pools.

“If unable to find the places previously described,

They should reside and recite in empty shrines,

At a tree, mountain, river, stream, or waterfall,

In an empty forest, empty land, or any suitable place.

“If they cannot settle on a place,

They can stay in any suitable place

For a span of eight months.

In the months of winter and spring

Mantrins can make their home

At an isolated lake, tree, mountain,

Pond, house, or riverbank,

And remain there alone through the summer.

“Just as the Victor taught monks the custom

Of not traveling during the three summer months,

So the Blessed One said that mantrins

Should stay in one place for three months.

“In the summer mantrins should not seek accomplishment,

But rather spend their time only on recitation.

When the summer has passed, they should harness the might of mantra,

Perform the self-protection rites, and take up their practice.

“They should make well-formed fire pits:

One round, one triangular, one square, and one like a lotus.

They should be smooth and even,

And well-daubed with soil and cow dung.

“A round pit is best suited for pacification rites,

And those for generating power, attracting wealth, and invitation.

A triangular pit is used for fierce activities:

Those for isolating, banishing, killing, and other hostile acts.

“A square pit is for sapping the life force

Or crushing the limbs of nāgas and guhyakas.

A lotus pit is suited to accomplish any aim,

And for acquiring women, girls, a village, or a kingdom.

“The fire pits should be smeared with pure cow dung,

Then kuśa grass spread around them as the final step.

“The mantrin should follow the ritual to make offerings

Of all available garlands, incense, fragrances, and fresh flowers,

Offering them faithfully to the Three Jewels,

Vajrapāṇi, and the main female deity.

“They should place abundant firewood near the fire pit,

Stoke the fire using a fan, and bow to the buddhas.

For wrathful rites they should use Amṛtakuṇḍalin,

Making oblations by casting into the fire

Seven, eight, ten, or twenty fresh lotuses or whole black mustard
seeds.

“The mantrin should sit facing east

On a bed or bolster of kuśa grass, or a grass mat.

After smearing the ritual substance with ghee, honey, and milk,

They should perform a homa to perfect their mantra.

“The fire will reveal certain signs:

Sparks, smoke, a tongue of flame, and sound.

With these the fire, empowered by mantra,

Will show what has been accomplished and what has not.

“If the fire is smokeless, shines with a golden color,

Has tremendous flames that swirl to the right,

Is colored like a rainbow, is white,

Or has the color of crushed coral;

If it is very oily, or has flames radiating from its base;

If it shines brightly like the rays of the sun,

Takes the shape of a vase, banner, or parasol,

Or resembles the śrīvatsa mark,
lotus, or ritual ladle;

If its flames appear like a trident, vajra, or sword,

Fine chariot or fly whisk;

If it sounds like a clay drum, large drum, or flute;

If its smoke and flames are fragrant and give off good sparks;

Or if the fire burns without being lit,

At that moment extensive siddhis are achieved.

“If there is a lot of smoke and wild sparks;

If the fire burns with difficulty or burns very low;

Or if its flames die out, are without luster, or rough,

If they are the color of a dark cloud or of palāśa,

If they resemble a spike, appear to be very fine,

Or resemble the coarse hairs on the head of an animal,

If the flames spread and burn the one performing homa,

Or if they smell like a corpse, it is a sign that there are no
siddhis.

“Upon seeing flames with features like these,

Perform a homa of Mahābala using ghee.

“A mantrin should not pluck the hairs

Of their calves or armpits by hand,

Singe them with fire, shave them with a razor,

Or apply medicines to make themselves hairless.

“Just as a person holding a sword by the blade

Will cut their hand if not holding it carefully,

If a mantra is not recited with care,

There will either be no result, or one will fall to ruin.

“It is not the mantra deity that will harm

A person lacking discipline or ritual purity,

It is those among the deity’s retinue,

Who seize the chance to bring ruin upon them.

“The first step in pursuit of any accomplishment

Is to always make abundant offerings of food oblations.

Even after the mantra activity is complete,

One should always offer everything they are moved to offer.

“The mantrin should say:

‘Devas, asuras, yakṣas, uragas, and kumbhāṇḍas,

Garuḍas, suparṇas, and kaṭapūtanas,

Gandharvas, rākṣasas, and various classes of grahas,

All magical beings who live upon the earth,

Along with your families and households,

I kneel with folded hands and supplicate you—

Please come here from your homes and bring benefit.

“ ‘Bhūtas who dwell atop Mount Meru,

In pleasure groves and the divine realms,

Mountains of the east and west,

The houses of the sun and moon, and upon any mountain;

“Who live in rivers or at their confluence,

Dwell in jeweled abodes,

In lakes, ponds, pools, at the water’s edge,

Or in the many small rivulets;

“ ‘Who live in towns, cattle pens, and deserted cities,

Vacant houses and shrines to the gods,

Monasteries and caityas,

The haunts of ascetics, and in elephant stalls;

“ ‘Who live in the treasuries of kings,

In narrow lanes, assembly halls, and at crossroads,

Along the great highways, under lone trees,

In the great charnel grounds, and in vast forests;

“ ‘And who live among lions, bears, and beasts of prey,

In the great and fearsome wilds,

On the sublime continents, Mount Sumeru,

Or within a charnel ground—

“ ‘Delight, be glad, and accept these respectful offerings

Of garlands, flowers, scents, incense, praise, oblations, and lamps.

Drink them and keep them,

And let these activities bear their fruit.’

“Once such offerings have been made to the grahas,

The mantrin should make offerings to the directional guardians:

‘Iśāṇa and your host of bhūtas,

Please accept the oblations I offer!

“ ‘Agni, Yama, Nirṛti, Varuṇa,

Vāyu, Kubera and your bhūtas and grahas,

Sūrya and Candra above, great Brahmā,

All devas and the nāgas on earth,

Mountain devas, and hosts of yakṣas,

Delightfully accept these oblations,

Offered to each of you in turn.

Happily remain each in your directions,

And join your families, kith and kin,

Households, and soldiers in your army

In partaking of these offerings

Of flowers, fragrance, oblations, and unguents.

Be grateful, and let my activities bear fruit!’

“Those who perform this ritual act

Of giving oblations to the creatures of the night

Will swiftly attain siddhi, be free of obstacles,

And receive all that they desire.”

This was the eighth chapter of the noble “Subāhu’s
Questions.”

Chapter 9

“Slaying an arhat or one’s parents,

Creating discord in a harmonious saṅgha,

Or, with malicious intent,

Drawing blood from a tathāgata—

“These heinous acts the Victor called

The five deeds with immediate consequences.

Deluded people who commit just one of them

Will not reach attainment in their present aggregates.

“Destroying a caitya, slaying a bodhisattva,

Violating a woman who has exhausted her afflictions,

Killing a novice student, or coveting and then stealing

Something owned by the saṅgha, however great or small—

“These the Tathāgata called the five secondary deeds with
immediate consequences.

A person with corrupt discipline who commits them

Will experience an eon of suffering in Avīci Hell,

And though they strive for mantra siddhis, will not attain them.

“Those who commit evil in the human realm

By mistreating, consigning to flames,

Or with ill intent throwing into water

The volumes of the Tathagata’s words,

By forsaking the body of teachings,

By killing a monk or nun adorned

With the full code of training,

By killing a holder of lay vows, male or female,

Or by burning a temple with ill intent

Will never reach attainment, no matter their austere practice.

“Those who intend harm to the Three Jewels,

And then commit even a small amount of harm,

Will be cooked in the hells due to their evil nature.

Passing on from there, the force of their actions

Will lead to rebirth as a human of low caste or an animal —

all this I have explained to you in brief.

“If someone who has adopted bodhicitta,

in delusion worships the host of worldly gods,

They will find no joy in it,

And weaken their mantra siddhis.

“When, in the realm of humans,

Those of lucid mind adopt bodhicitta,

It is they, thenceforth, who are worthy of worship

By devas, asuras, and all the world.

“A person who adopts all exalted precepts in full,

And who grants fearlessness to all beings,

Is a representative of the lineage of the Three Jewels.

“Mantrins should not perform heinous acts, kill a sage,

Disrupt or cause harm to a vidyā mantra,

Fail to venerate the mantra assembly out of ill intent,

Pointlessly pick at grass with their nails,

Rub their legs together,

Pierce the noses of cattle herds and the like,

Fail to respect the noble saṅgha,

Or eat gifts to the bhūtas, oblations to the gods,

Or food that has a fallen on the ground.

They should not, when overcome with desire,

Approach animals or prohibited women.

They should not tame elephants or handle snakes,

Nor whip the flanks of the horse they ride.

Those who perform such actions

Will never receive the siddhis.

“Mantrins should always cultivate affection

For beings who suffer or are beset with disease.

“Just as the extent of the boundless sky

Cannot be measured in arm spans,

So it is impossible to gauge the extent of virtue and evil

Of the benefit and harm done by those supported by the Three Jewels.

“If they use nets, traps, or snares

To kill beings such as dogs and the like,

Or if they trap crows and other birds in cages,

They will not reach accomplishment in this life or the next.

“They should neither trample on, nor adorn their heads with,

The old, discarded flowers of Māra’s Foe,

Nor should they eat the food offered to them,

Even when they are beset with hunger.

“Not even in fear should they pay homage to

Brahmā, Śakra, Viṣṇu, Rudra, Vāyu, and the rest.

They should not follow the teachings they propound,

Practice their austerities, or worship their symbols.

They should not harbor animosity to their doctrines,

But should never delight in their practice either.

They should never praise them or recite their mantras.

“When giving a gift they should give with compassion.

They should venerate places visited by the Sugata,

And pay homage to the heirs of the Victor.

Pratyekabuddhas and the Victor’s own śrāvakas

Should be the object of their constant veneration.

“Just as people who venerate a phase of the moon

Do not venerate the moon in all its fullness,

So those who faithfully venerate the Victor’s heirs

Are not venerating the Sugata himself.

“One who holds the most exalted of all the world’s precepts

Is the very embodiment of compassion, taking birth for beings’ sake.

Why would we not venerate them all,

They who are as if an only child?

“A wicked person who does not bow before

An astonishing person, rich in miraculous power,

Will be distrusted by the victors,

And will not be granted their mantra siddhis.

“Just as a tree’s flower will at first beguile,

And only later transform into fruit,

Know sublime beings to be like flowers,

And the victors to be their fruit.

“Homage to those who uphold the awakened way,

Who are naturally free of attachment,

Yet show compassion to the kind,

Anger to the angry, and desire to the desirous.

“Homage to the guides of mantra,

Who with knowledge of actions and results

Assume the form of mantras

That are most suited to every being.”

This was the ninth chapter of the noble “Subāhu’s
Questions.”

Chapter 10

“For the benefit of devas, asuras, and humans,

The Victor taught The Vidyādhara’s Basket,

Various types of vidyā and mantra

Numbering thirty million, five hundred thousand.

“To conquer guhyakas

And remove poverty’s misery,

I taught seventy million mantras

Along with their maṇḍalas and mudrās.

“I have described in detail all who belong to the vajra clan:

The ten dūtīs, the seven vidyā kings,

The sixty-four servants,

My eight supreme essences,

The powerful lords of vidyās,

Such as Amṛtakuṇḍalin and Vidyottama,

And all who are aligned with their mantras.

“Avalokiteśvara has likewise taught mantras

Numbering three million, five hundred thousand,

Including his lord of vidyās Hayagrīva,

And the maṇḍalas that bear his name.

“Seven forms of Amoghapāśa are taught—

One with twelve arms, one with six, an uṣṇīṣa form,

One with a diadem, a fulfiller of wishes, and a four-faced form.

The mantras shine like seven suns upon the earth.

These maṇḍalas and mantras of Hayagrīva

Grant people boons and are revered in the three worlds.

“Tārā, Śvetā, Pāṇḍaravāsinī,

Vipaśyinī,
Ekajaṭā, Gaurī,

Yaśovatī, and Bhṛkuṭī—

These are the supreme vidyā queens of the lotus clan.

“Within the vast system of mantra, train in Mekhalā,

Sovereign of vidyās and master of mantras,

Who takes the form of these diverse maṇḍalas

And possesses the various types of mudrās.

“Her mantra grants people boons,

And even Pāñcika delights in her.

Always in accord with that lord of yakṣas,

Her words describe the collection of mantra.

“Pāñcika teaches twenty thousand;

His wife explains half of that.

The lord of wealth teaches thirty thousand,

While the father of Pūrṇa explains a hundred thousand.

“Devas, asuras, and the rest, who have faith in the Victor,

Have explained mantras infinite in number.

Some are included within my clan,

Some are included in the lotus clan,

Some are included in the jewel clan,

And yet others are circumstantial and variable.

“The one named Māṇicara is said to be of the jewel clan,

I am declared to be of the so-called vajra clan,

Avalokiteśvara is of the lotus clan,

And Pāñcika is in the fourth clan.

“All I have explained in mantra scriptures

Can be coordinated with these four.

However, some things are circumstantial,

And vary in dependence on the sugatas.

“Everything in this scripture

Can be used by those desiring wealth.

Mantrins who follow this specific path

Will attain the siddhis aligned with their mind.

“Within the three existences, the Victor is rare and supreme.

The Dharma then sprung from him,

And his Saṅgha consisted of the eight great people.

Within the three existences, the Three Jewels are preeminent.

“Because these three are the cause of merit’s increase,

Those seeking siddhi should begin their mantras with:

‘For the sake of merit and to confound vināyakas,

I pay homage to Vajrapāṇi most fierce.’

“I, lord of yakṣas, have taught this,

Which is to be placed at the beginning of mantras.

It can govern one’s own mantra,

Even if it is of the jewel or lotus clan.

“Those who are not sugatas,

Who follow the paths of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas,

Who are bereft of faith or are selfish and sanctimonious,

Should never wield my vajra.

“Any monk, nun,

Male or female lay devotee,

Or any worldly person

Who is hostile to the supreme vehicle,

Says it is the teaching of māras,

In ignorance asserts that I am a yakṣa,

Or does not bow before a bodhisattva

Will see their body swiftly destroyed

When they recite my mantras.

“The grahas who belong to my clan,

The bhūtas, yakṣas, nāgas, and piśācas too,

Will angrily bring them to ruin

When they see them reciting my mantra or bearing my vajra.

“Those who study the vast supreme vehicle,

Have faith in it, are enthusiastic in its explication,

Have great diligence, and are resolute in their bodhicitta

Will be granted the boons of my mantras.

“Broadly and extensively I have explained

The mantras belonging to the awakened ones.

Listen now as I briefly explain

Those that are of a worldly type.

“Rudra has taught ten million,

Vāsudeva thirty thousand,

Brahmā sixty thousand,

And Sūrya three hundred thousand.

Garuḍa has taught eighteen thousand,

Caṇḍālī eight thousand,

Agni seven hundred,

And Triśaṅku one thousand.

The king of nāgas has taught five thousand,

Niśācarapati twelve thousand,

And the four lords of the world

Taught four thousand to benefit beings.

“Daityendra has taught two hundred thousand,

And Devendra three hundred thousand.

The mantras have various mudrās and rites,

And each has maṇḍalas from their respective treatise.

“Those with faith in their own mantra scriptures

Will doubtlessly succeed as if without effort.

When the opposite is true, siddhis are not obtained;

They will endure much suffering instead.”

This was the tenth chapter of the noble “Subāhu’s
Questions.”

Chapter 11

“There are eight famed instructions:

Alchemy, locating treasure, entering openings in the earth,

Metallurgy, locating mines, mantra,

Mineral refinement, and the granting of immeasurable wealth.

“Mantra, entering openings in the earth, and alchemy—

These are supreme because they lead to the abandonment of evil.

The granting of wealth, locating treasure, and locating mines are
middling.

Mineral refinement and metallurgy are the lesser among them.

“People of strong mind, with zeal for the Dharma

And rich in austerities, are vessels for the first of these.

The middling are for those in whom passion predominates,

While the inferior are for those beset with dullness.

“Those who aspire to foster the supreme

Should first abandon those taught as inferior.

Those wracked by a painful craving for wealth

Should make use of the middling set.

“Through the force of their austerities they will achieve

Divine happiness, riches, longevity,

Strength, a perfect form, erudition,

Radiant complexion, singular intelligence, and great influence.

“People who are free of attachment, delight in virtue,

Who are naturally inclined toward the Three Jewels,

And who forsake evil and engage in recitation

Are never far from divine attainments.

“Powerful as an adamantine weapon, fire, or meteor,

Mantras grant boons to the human realm.

They are unrivaled, both in this world and the next,

For dispelling suffering and destroying evil.

“For some they are like a wish-fulfilling tree,

For some they grant siddhis, for some they bring merit,

And for others physical strength and happiness—

Mantras grant people the results their minds desire.

“A mantra, emanating a diversity of forms,

Protects the entire mass of beings

Who suffer, live in fear,

Or are terrified of kings, thieves, and lightning.

“Whatever their land and wherever their home,

Those who recite mantra a little every day,

With uncorrupted austerities and focused minds,

Will eventually succeed in their mantras.

“First completing one hundred thousand recitations specified by the
rite,

Mantrins should next begin the main practice.

They will then swiftly obtain the siddhis,

And through the rite long be free from affliction.

“They should smear their bodies with earth,

Step into water that is free of dirt,

And bathe themselves for as long as they wish.

They should emerge facing the east or north,

Wash their hands and feet with water,

Squat with their legs open and hands between them,

And cup water noiselessly, without making bubbles.

“They should take three sips of water,

Use the water to wipe their lips twice,

Close their teeth, and touch them with their tongue.

If they cough, they need to rinse their mouth again.

“Renunciants, men, women, boys, girls,

The elderly, and
brahmins—

These a mantrin should never touch,

Nor should a mantrin think about them.

“Should a practitioner touch them,

Or be touched by them,

The practitioner should bathe again,

Rinse their mouth ritually, and resume the recitation.

“The mantra will enter the body

Of those who delight in ritual purity and recitation,

Have compassion, have counteracted their greed,

Eat alms food, and are diligent in solemn activity.

“Should someone offer them any amount

Of women, clothing, wealth, conveyances,

Adornments, unguents, food, drink, or bedding,

Those who are engaged in practice should refuse them.

“They should clean their anus five times with a heap of earth,

Their genitals three times, their left hand three times, and both hands
seven.

Or, they can use soil and water for as long as it takes,

To make themselves free of filth and odor.

“Just as the flames of a summertime forest fire

Burn through a whole wilderness with ease,

So does the fire of recitation, stoked by the wind of discipline,

Send out flames of intense diligence to burn away evil.

“Just as snow, unable to withstand the glare,

Melts when struck by rays of sunlight,

So the snow of evil dissolves when struck

By the sunlight of discipline and recitation.

“Just as a lamp lit in deep darkness

Dispels every hint of gloom,

So the lamp of recitation quickly clears

The gloom of evil amassed in a thousand
lifetimes.

“If the mantra is effected through recitation and homa,

But the siddhis are still not achieved,

A thousand caityas can be cast from clay

Or from sand found at a riverbank.

“Once this practice has extinguished the evil

Committed over many previous lives,

In this very life the mantrin will receive

The fruits of merit through mantra’s power.

“The fundamental root of mantra is discipline,

Followed by diligence and patience,

Faith in the victors, bodhicitta,

The mantra, and an absence of laziness.

“Just as a ruler possessing the seven requisites

Has no trouble subduing any kind of being,

So a mantrin possessing these seven requisites

Will quickly subdue any evil.

“After first completing most of the recitation,

The mantrin should then perform a homa.

Through homa the boons of mantra are bestowed,

And all one’s desires are granted.

“The power of mantra can summon a woman

From a distance of a hundred leagues away.

She will not be a woman but a young yakṣiṇī,

Who will serve the mantrin in body and deed.

“When performing a practice focused on desire,

It is the young yakṣiṇī who bestows the result.

Manifesting in the body of that woman,

She will serve the desires of the night.

“Just as men will exhaust their wealth

To serve a woman out of desire,

So a young yakṣiṇī or servant girl

Can be summoned with mantra and made to serve.

“Someone fixated on another person’s wife

Is compelled to seek her, tormented by desire.

Ignorantly he indulges his desire for another’s wife,

And receives all manner of evil.

“Devas, nāgas, asuras, yakṣas, gandharvas, and siddhas,

Who have faith in the Victor, help others, and explain mantra,

Are empowered by śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, tathāgatas, and bodhisattvas,

Who have seen the beings of the future who lack a protector.

“Three categories of result are taught:

Superior, middling, and inferior.

Flight, entering glorious openings in the earth,

Shapeshifting, invisibility, marrying a young yakṣiṇī,

Alchemy, magical conjuration, and nocturnal activities

Are considered to be superior.

“The middling is becoming a lord of the earth,

While the wise have deemed inferior

The acquisition of cities and wealth,

Dividing, summoning, confining, banishing, killing,

Healing those stricken by hostile nāgas,

And all related activities.

“More specifically, displaying might

To embodied beings like nāgas, yakṣas,

And children possessed by grahas

Is considered exceedingly minor.

“Ritual rubbing, punching, slapping, hair pulling,

Reciting into the ear, transferring,
banishing,

Killing, binding, and other acts of subjugation,

Invocation, using the clothing of vidyā and mantra,

Stomping, shaking, staring with a poisoned eye,

Piercing with a needle, inducing someone to vomit,

Blowing air, destroying limbs, summoning
uragas,

Repeatedly restricting and suppressing, confounding,

Feeding poison, transferring poison elsewhere,

Guiding with an iron hook, expelling poison stuck in the body,

Feeding someone or depriving them of food,

Ritually securing the space, sending a messenger,

Dispelling, signaling a nāga,

And rousing with the sounds of conches and clay drums—

These procedures are explained in the scriptures on poison.

“There are eighty types of snakes on earth,

Roaming about causing harm to others.

Among them twenty are hooded,

Six are spotted, twelve are nonvenomous,

Thirteen are fierce, and thirty are crossbreeds.

“There are many other types of poisonous creatures,

Including frogs, lizards, scorpions, and spiders.

Poison can be transmitted by urine, feces,

Saliva, physical contact, sight,

And through the bite of fangs.

Those learned in scriptures on poison

Classify those as high, middling, and low.

“Creatures bite when intoxicated with poison,

Driven by anger, afraid,

Startled,
hungry, provoked,

Impelled by Yama, or when stepped on.

“There are four ways of biting,

Which means seized by fangs or cut by teeth.

“Being bitten by a single fang with blood drawn

Is called a ‘bite’ because it results in mild poisoning.

“When struck by two fangs with blood drawn,

This is called ‘being eaten.’

“When three fangs break the skin,

This is called ‘being cut.’

“When the body is struck by four fangs,

And then eaten by the snake,

This is called ‘being struck and eaten.’

“In that case even medicine is a poor antidote.

The poison tears through the vital organs like fire.

It is the same as a weapon, fire, or piercing heat.

Mantra is able to pacify it

In ways a healer’s art cannot.

“Just as falling rain instantly dampens

An inferno steadily burning its fuel,

So poison, like that inferno,

Is pacified by the use of mantra.

“If a mantrin understands a poison’s potency

And earnestly completes the recitation from the mantra rite,

This approach will eliminate poisons,

So that like a lion among a herd of cattle

They can move freely, fearlessly among venomous snakes.

“Devas, nāgas, asuras, yakṣas, siddhas,

Gandharvas, bhūtas, pitṛs, guhyakas,

Pretas, piśācas, kaṭapūtanas,

Unmadas, ojohāras, chāyas,

And the many grahas that haunt the earth

Eat the fatty meat of humans

And drink their blood.

They take advantage of those made weary

By sorrow, strong desire, and
anger,

Which allow them to enter their bodies.

“People in their grasp roam around,

Sing songs, dance, laugh, and grow angry.

They feel joy, euphoria, and become talkative,

Become erratic and imagine they are devas and asuras,

Inviting everyone’s mockery.

“Whether out of desire for oblations or merely for sport,

These beings possess bodies with an intent to kill.

Vajrāṅkuśa can eradicate guhyakas—

He a supreme vidyā, boon-granting and powerful.

The vidyās of my lineage are also a remedy,

Those such as fierce Amṛtakuṇḍalin and the rest.

“Grahas do not fear fire or wind,

The destroyer of the triple city,

Shining Sūrya or Pitāmaha,

Varuṇa or the asuras,

The lord of wealth or the king of yakṣas,

Garuḍa the king of birds,

Nor the rider of Airāvaṇa and destroyer of cities

In the same way they fear a person who wields mantra.

“Seeing all these vidyā mantras used for bhūtas,

And knowing every behavior of the grahas,

A mantrin will thenceforth tame them free from doubt,

And never again have need to fear them.

“Mantras are taught by he who has strengthened the three knowledges,

Transcended the three existences, cast off the three faults, and mastered
the three paths.

They are also taught by his heirs and by the devas and asuras who follow
his path.

Those who are empowered by the mantras of the eminent one, the dispeller
of darkness,

And receive the power of the mantras praised by the host of worldly gods,
will never falter.”

Brahmā and the gods who heard the vajra bearer
speak,

As well as the asuras, yakṣas, siddhas,

Vidyādharas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas,

Guhyakas, pitṛs, and bhūtas,

Bowed their heads with faith at his feet,

Pressed their hands together in devotion, and said,

“Amazing that you have such compassion for all beings!

Amazing is your manifold activity!

“Because of this, some see you as a blazing vajra,

Some as bearing a club, others and holding a
disc,

Yet others as holding a trident or lasso,

Or as bearing a sword, bow, or cudgel.

For some you take a frightening form, bristling with weapons,

While others see you in a state of peace.

“We bow to you who is venerated by devas and yakṣas,

Who takes many forms but whose form is imperceptible.

We bow in homage to you whose feet are honored by asuras and devas,

And to whom the supreme bodhisattvas pay homage.

Lord of vidyās with bowstring drawn, we bow to you.

We all pay homage and bow to you.

From this day forward we take refuge in you.

“People who act with integrity,

In alignment with all you have said,

Will swiftly dispel the gloom of poverty

And blaze as brightly as the sun.

Limbs that do not fail, minds that do not decline,

Freedom from illness, suffering, and physical degeneration—

These are attained by those with faith in you.”

After they had spoken these words together,

They paid homage again and again to the vajra bearer.

They then promptly entered their aerial palace

And departed through the sky just as they arrived.

Once the devas had departed,

Vajrapāṇi said to Subāhu,

“The devas have understood this sūtra,

but you must make it known in the world.”

After these words had been spoken,

Subāhu rose, bowed respectfully, and said,

“I will spread it far and wide in the human realm,

For it purifies, destroys evil, and is rich in good fortune.”

This was the eleventh chapter of the noble “Subāhu’s
Questions.”

This completes the noble tantra “The Subāhu’s
Questions.”

Notes

Abbreviations

C
Choné

F
Phukdrak

J
Lithang

Y

Peking Yongle

K
Peking/Kangxi

N
Narthang

U
Urga

Bibliography

Primary Sources

Secondary References: Indo-Tibetan

Born from a Topknot

Dangling Locks

gtsug ’phyang
གཙུག་འཕྱང་།

Great Flower Array

One-Braid

Trisong Detsen