Abbreviated Sadhana of Thirteen-Deity Vajrabhairava
Colophon
Abbreviated Sadhana Method for Actualization of Thirteen-Deity Vajrabhairava Sadhana abbreviated by Dagyab Rinpoche from the Namgyal Monastery edition of the full sadhana translated by Alexander Berzin, May 2009.
The text was slightly edited by Wolfgang Saumweber and formatted it in 2009 with the expressed permission of the translator.
Line drawings were taken from traditional wood-prints,line drawings by Andy Weber, and illustrations by the editor.
The traditional painting on the front cover comes from the collection of the editor.
This edition has been created on the occasion of the Venerable Sharpa Chojay Rinpoche giving the 13-Deity Yamantaka (Vajrabhairava) empowerment at the Gyuto Vajrayana Center in San Jose, California in June 2009.
Main Body of the Practice
(Strengthening the Enlightening Networks of Positive Force and Deep Awareness:)
Calling Forth and Prostrating to the Field for Growing the Enlightening Networks
Radiant as a Vajrabhairava, with one face and two arms, I have in my heart, on a variegated lotus
and sun, a HUM, from which light-rays (stream forth), illumining the boundless realms of the
universe. They bring back in the space before me Vajrabhairava together with the gurus, encircled
by a host of Buddhas, bodhisattvas, furious figures, and pure awareness holders residing therein.
The light-rays dissolve back into my heart.
I bow at your lotus-feet,
O my vajra-holder jewel-like guru.
By your kindness, I instantaneously attain
A state of great bliss.
I prostrate to you, Vajrabhairava,
Supreme Form, Supremely Magnificent Ferocious One,
Hero having supreme objects of experience,
You act to tame those difficult to subdue.
Making Offerings to the Figures in This Field
From light-rays (emanating) from the seed-syllable at my heart,
Come white Charchika, blue Varahi,
Red Sarasvati, and green Parvati.
Holding various offering substances in their hands,
They make the offerings:
OM HRIH SHTRIH HA. (blood – of those with vicious intent whom we’ve vanquished –
used to rinse the mouth)
OM HUM HUM PHAT. (their blood, used to wash the feet)
OM VIKRITA-NANA DUSHTAM-SATTVA, DAMAKA GAH GAH. (blood from their hearts, used as refreshing cologne water)
OM KUMARA-RUPINI, JAH JAH HUM PHAT. (a crown made of their five sense-organs
strung together like a flower-garland)
OM HRIH HAH HAI PHAT. (incense made from their flesh and fat)
OM DIPTA-LOCHANA, VIKRITA-NANA, MAHA-ATTATTA,
HASA-NADINI, DIPTAYE SVAHA. (butter-lamp made from their melted grease)
OM VAJRA-NAIVIDYA, AH HUM SVAHA. (their five solid internal organs as food)
OM VAJRA-SHABDA, AH HUM. (music from instruments made from their bones)
Abbreviated Thirteen-Deity Vajrabhairava Sadhana
Offering Them the Rest of the Seven-Limb Prayer
I openly admit my negative acts,
Clearly revealing those that arose (in this lifetime)
And those that stemmed (from previous lives),
And, before your eyes, declare
That I shall never behave (like that) again.
(3 - admission of negative acts)
I likewise rejoice in (my own and everyone’s) positive deeds.
(4 - rejoicing)
I dedicate them for their ascent to bliss.
(5 - dedication)
I take safe direction from the Three Supreme Gems.
I shall liberate every limited being
And lead them all to a purified state.
I reaffirm purely my bodhichitta aim.
(6 - safe direction and bodhichitta)
To you, who are an ocean of excellent qualities,
I offer my body;
And thus to attain the three Buddha-Bodies
And (five types of) deep awareness,
I shall devote myself, with completely clearheaded belief,
To the methods of generosity and so forth,
Which have served as pathway minds
For the Fully Enlightened Buddhas and their spiritual offspring.
(7 - offering our bodies and reaffirming engaged bodhichitta)
Taking the (Three) Pathways for the Three Buddha-Bodies
Taking Death as a Pathway for Dharmakaya
OM SVABHAVA SHUDDHAH, SARVA DHARMAH SVABHAVA SHUDDHO ‘HAM.
(Everything) becomes devoid.
Common Protection Wheel
Within a state of voidness, is a vajra-base, a (round vajra) barrier wall, a (conical) tent-top (of
vajras), with a (flat vajra) canopy (beneath), (and all encircled by) a mountain of flames (and eight charnel grounds).
The Supporting Mandala
Inside it, is an immeasurably magnificent palace, square, with four portals. In its center is a seat
of variegated lotus, and symbolic disks of a moon and a sun.
Abbreviated Thirteen-Deity Vajrabhairava Sadhana
Taking Bardo as a Pathway for Sambhogakaya
On it, I arise in the bodily form of a Causal Vajra-Holder, Manjushri.
Taking Birth as a Pathway for Nirmanakaya
Arising in the Form of a Resultant Vajrabhairava from my heart, as a clearly (appearing) Hero
Manjushri, light-rays emanate and bring back before me all the Blissfully Gone Buddhas in the
aspect of Glorious Vajrabhairavas. They dissolve into me.
Description of the Father Deity
I transform, on a stand of a variegated lotus, a moon, and a sun, into a Resultant Vajra-Holder,
a glorious and mighty Vajrabhairava. My body is dark blue-black in color, with nine faces, thirtyfour
arms, and sixteen legs standing in the pose of right ones bent and left outstretched.
Able to devour (the lords of) samsara’s three planes of existence, diabolically, I chortle “HAHA,”
with my tongue darting, fangs bared, and (brow and nose furrowed) with creases of wrath.
To the sides of my wrinkles of fury, my eyebrows and eyes flare like an era of destruction, and my
(long) brown hair stands up on end.
(With all my hands), I make threatening mudras at both mundane and extra-worldly gods,
terrifying even the horrific ones, and scream, with an explosive thunder-like roar, the syllable
PHAIM.
I gobble human blood, grease, marrow, and fat, and have five gruesome dried skulls crowning
my head. Decked with a skull-garland of fifty fresh and dripping (human) heads, I’m equipped
with (two) black snakes as Brahmin threads and with ornaments of bone, such as wheel-shaped
crowns, earrings, and so forth, made from human bones.
My belly bulges; my body is naked; my organ towers erect. My eyelashes, eyebrows, whiskers,
and bodily hairs blaze like the fires of the end of time. My principal face is that of a black water
buffalo, extremely ferocious and having two sharp horns. On top of it, between my horns, I have a
red head, totally frightening, with blood dripping from its mouth. On top of that, I have a yellow
head of a Manjushri, stern-looking, but merely on purpose, adorned (with flowers behind its ears)
– the ornaments of a youth – and with its hair in five buns on its crown.
As for my faces to the right of the base of my horns, the primary (central) one is blue, the
face to its right is red, and the face to its left is yellow. As for my faces to the left of the base of
my horns, the primary (central) one is white, the face to its right is grey, and the face to its left is
black. These faces are extremely furious, and all nine faces have three eyes each.
With my first right and left hands, I hold the fresh dripping hide of an elephant stretched open
by the skin of its left front and hind legs, with its head to my right and its hairy back showing. As
for my other right hands, I hold in the first, a cleaver, in the second, a dagger with three peacock feathers on its end, in the third, a wooden pestle (shaped like an hourglass), in the fourth, a squiggly
fish-knife, in the fifth, a harpoon (with a rope on its end), in the sixth, an axe, in the seventh, a
spear, in the eight, an arrow.
Abbreviated Thirteen-Deity Vajrabhairava Sadhana
(In the back row, I hold), in the ninth, an elephant-hook, in the tenth, a skull-headed club, in
the eleventh, a khatvanga-staff, in the twelfth, a weapon-wheel of blades, in the thirteenth, a fivespoked
vajra, in the fourteenth, a vajra-hammer, in the fifteenth, a sword, and in the sixteenth, a
large damaru-like drum.
As for my other left hands, I hold in the first, a skullcup filled with blood, in the second, (by its
hair, a four-faced, yellow) head of Brahma, in the third, a shield, in the fourth, a (human) leg, in
the fifth, a grappling-rope, in the sixth, a bow, in the seventh, intestines, ind in the eight, a bell.
(In the back row, I hold) in the ninth, a (human) arm, in the tenth, a shroud, in the eleventh,
a man impaled on a stake, in the twelfth, (a triangular) fire stove, in the thirteenth, a (human)
scalp, in the fourteenth, a (hand in the) threatening mudra, in the fifteenth, a triple-pointed pennant
(tied to the end of a stick), and in the sixteenth, a cloth fan (tied by one side along the end of a
stick).
As for my right feet, (starting from the center and going back, I stand with) the first on a man,
the second, a buffalo, the third, a bull, the fourth, a donkey, the fifth, a camel, the sixth, a dog, the
seventh, a sheep, and the eighth, a fox.
As for my left feet, (starting from the center and going back, I stand with) the first on a vulture,
the second, an owl, the third, a crow, the fourth, a parrot, the fifth, a gull, the sixth, an eagle, the
seventh, a mynah bird, and the eighth, a swan.
(Beneath them) I also tread under my feet with their faces down, Brahma, Indra, Vishnu, and
Rudra (under my right), and six-faced Kumara, Ganesha, Chandra, and Surya (under my left), as I
stand in a whirlwind of a blazing mass of flames.
Description of the Triple Stack Heroic Minds
With myself as the commitment being, I have, at my heart, on a moon disk seat, as a being
for deep awareness, a Manjushri changed to a youth. His body is yellow in color and he’s sternlooking,
but merely on purpose. In his right hand, he wields a sword and in his left, he holds a
scriptural text at his heart. Sitting with his legs crossed in the vajra position, he is arrayed with the
thirty-two excellent signs and eighty exemplary features (of a Buddha), has five buns of hair (on
his head), and is adorned with all ornaments. In his heart, from an AH, comes a symbolic disk of
a sun. In its center, is a being for absorbed concentration: a dark-blue syllable HUM, emanating
five-colored rays of light.
Description of the Motherly Partner
In my lap is my motherly partner, Vajravetali (Rolangma), blue, with one face and two arms,
embracing me, the father, with her right hand holding aloft a cleaver and holding with her left a
skullcup filled with the blood of those having vicious intent. She has five dried skulls crowning
her head, is decked with a garland of fifty dry skulls, and adorned with five ornaments of bone.
Her right leg’s outstretched and with her left, she embraces me.
Abbreviated Thirteen-Deity Vajrabhairava Sadhana
Consecration of the Hidden and Space-like Organs
Within a state unaimed (at true existence), my secret organ, as the father, from a HUM, becomes
a blue vajra, having five spokes, with a gem, coming from an OM, and a PHAT blocking its
aperture.
Within a state unaimed (at true existence), the secret organ of my motherly partner, from a
HUM, becomes a red eight-petalled lotus, and from an AH, its anthers, with a PHAT blocking its
aperture.
(Sitting in union, with affection for each other, we experience joy.)
OM SARVA TATHAGATA ANURAGANA VAJRA SVABHAVA ATMAKO ‘HAM
(Saying this, hold the pride of affection, thinking, “I am the vajra self-nature of the affection of all
the Thusly Gone Buddhas.”)
AbbreviatedThirteen-Deity Vajrabhairava Sadhana
Generation of the Deities in the Lotus-Womb of the Motherly Partner
Hooks of light, from the HUM at my heart, hook back in all the Buddhas pervading space.
Having entered into my mouth and melted into light at my heart, they enter, through the path of
my vajra-organ, as a drop in my motherly partner’s lotus-womb.
One portion becomes a BHRUM, which transforms into an immeasurably magnificent palace,
complete with all features – square, four portals, and so on – together with its seats. One portion
turns into seventeen parts on top of those seats. They transform into seventeen seed-syllables,
then seventeen insignia, and then into the enlightening bodies of the thirteen-deity Vajrabhairava
(mandala):
In the center, Vajrabhairava with partner,
In the east, within (the ledge), Ignorance Yamantaka,
In the south, Miserliness Yamantaka,
In the west, Desire Yamantaka,
In the north, Jealousy Yamantaka,
At the eastern portal, Hammer Yamantaka,
At the southern portal, Club Yamantaka,
At the western portal, Lotus Yamantaka,
At the northern portal, Sword Yamantaka,
In the southeast, within (the ledge), Charchika,
In the southwest, Varahi,
In the northwest, Sarasvati,
In the northeast, Gauri.
All embrace a father or mother that is similar to them.
At the four corners, outside (the ledge), four syllables transform into four human skullcups filled
with nectar.
Emanation of the Deities
OM HRIH SHTRIH VIKRITA-NANA HUM PHAT
The principal father and mother, incited to action, multiply to an unfathomable number,
emanate out through the pores of my motherly partner, and stream forth to the ten directions.
Having purified the anger of all limited beings and set them in the deep awareness of reality, they
gather back into one and absorb into me and my motherly partner.
OM JINA-JIK
Ignorance Yamantaka, father and mother, incited to action, multiply to an unfathomable
number, emanate out through the pores of my motherly partner, and stream forth to the ten directions. Having purified the Ignorance of all limited beings and set them in mirror-like deep awareness, they gather back into one and settle on the seat in the east, within (the ledge).
Abbreviated Thirteen-Deity Vajrabhairava Sadhana
OM RATNA-DHRIK
Miserliness Yamantaka, father and mother, incited to action, multiply to an unfathomable
number, emanate out through the pores of my motherly partner, and stream forth to the ten directions.
Having purified the miserliness of all limited beings and set them in the deep awareness
of equalities, they gather back into one and settle on the seat in the south.
OM ARO-LIK
Desire Yamantaka, father and mother, incited to action, multiply to an unfathomable number,
emanate out through the pores of my motherly partner, and stream forth to the ten directions.
Having purified the Ignorance of all limited beings and set them into individualizing deep awareness,
they gather back into one and settle on the seat in the east.
OM PRAJNA-DHRIK
Jealousy Yamantaka, father and mother, incited to action, multiply to an unfathomable number,
emanate out through the pores of my motherly partner, and stream forth to the ten directions.
Having purified the jealousy of all limited beings and set them in accomplishing deep awareness, they gather back into one and settle on the seat in the north.
OM MUNGARA-DHRIK
Hammer Yamantaka, father and mother, incited to action, multiply to an unfathomable number,
emanate out through the pores of my motherly partner, and stream forth to the ten directions.
Having vanquished the mara of the aggregates of all limited beings and set them in the
force of belief in fact, they gather back into one and settle in the middle of the eastern portal.
OM DANDA-DHRIK
Club Yamantaka, father and mother, incited to action, multiply to an unfathomable number,
emanate out through the pores of my motherly partner, and stream forth to the ten directions.
Having vanquished the mara of the disturbing emotions of all limited beings and set them in the
force of joyful perseverance, they gather back into one and settle in the middle of the southern
portal.
OM PADMA-DHRIK
Lotus Yamantaka, father and mother, incited to action, multiply to an unfathomable number,
emanate out through the pores of my motherly partner, and stream forth to the ten directions.
Having vanquished the mara of death of all limited beings and set them in the force of mindfulness,
they gather back into one and settle in the middle of the western portal.
OM KHANGA-DHRIK
Sword Yamantaka, father and mother, incited to action, multiply to an unfathomable number,
emanate out through the pores of my motherly partner, and stream forth to the ten directions.
Having vanquished the mara of the son of the gods of all limited beings and set them in the force
of absorbed concentration, they gather back into one and settle in the middle of the northern portal.
Abbreviated Thirteen-Deity Vajrabhairava Sadhana
OM MOHA-RATI
Charchika, father and mother, incited to action, multiply to an unfathomable number, emanate
out through the pores of my motherly partner, and stream forth to the ten directions. Having
purified the earth elemental source of all limited beings and set them in immeasurable love,
they gather back into one and settle in the southeastern corner, within (the ledge).
OM DVESHA-RATI
Varahi, father and mother, incited to action, multiply to an unfathomable number, emanate
out through the pores of my motherly partner, and stream forth to the ten directions. Having
purified the water elemental source of all limited beings and set them in immeasurable compassion,
they gather back into one and settle in the southwestern corner within (the ledge).
OM RAGA-RATI
Sarasvati, father and mother, incited to action, multiply to an unfathomable number, emanate
out through the pores of my motherly partner, and stream forth to the ten directions. Having purified
the fire elemental source of all limited beings and set them in immeasurable joy, they gather
back into one and settle in the northwestern corner, within (the ledge).
OM VAJRA-RATI
Gauri, father and mother, incited to action, multiply to an unfathomable number, emanate out
through the pores of my motherly partner, and stream forth to the ten directions. Having purified
the wind elemental source of all limited beings and set them in immeasurable equanimity,
they gather back into one and settle in the northeastern corner, within (the ledge).
OM AH HUM
The four skullcups, incited to action, multiply to an unfathomable number, emanate out
through the pores of my motherly partner, and stream forth to the ten directions. Having purified
the stains from the six cognitive objects of all limited beings, they gather back into one,
outside (the ledge).
OM AH HUM
The immeasurably magnificent palace, incited to action, multiplies to an unfathomable number,
emanates out through the pores of my motherly partner, and stream forth to the ten directions.
Having purified the faults from the environment of all limited beings and secured them a
state of bliss, they gather back into one and dissolve into the immeasurably magnificent palace for
making a close bond.
Consecration of the Cognitive Sensors and Other Bases
On each of the two eyes of the principal one and the entire entourage is a white KSHIM, in the
nature of Kshiti-garbhas. On each of their ears, a black JRIM, in the nature of Vajrapanis. On their
nose, a yellow KHAM, in the nature of Kha-garbha. On their tongue, a red RAM, in the nature of
Avalokiteshvara. On their forehead, a green KAM, in the nature of Sarva-nirvarana-viskambhini.
And on their navel, a white SAM, in the nature of Samantabhadra. At the crown of their head is a
white OM, in the nature of Vajra-Body. At their throat, a red AH, in the nature of Vajra-Speech.
And at their heart, a blue HUM, in the nature of Vajra-Mind.
Abbreviated Thirteen-Deity Vajrabhairava Sadhana
Merging the Deep Awareness Ones and Receiving Empowerment
From the HUM at my heart, light-rays stream forth and bring back before me, from their
natural abodes, deep-awareness beings and empowering deities. The awareness ones dissolve into
me; the empowering deities confer the empowerments; my main face as the principal one comes
to have an Akshobhya, while for the other deities, those in the east and southeast, a Vairochana,
those in the south and southwest, a Ratnasambhava, those in the west and northwest, an Amitabha,
and those in the north and northeast, an Amoghasiddhi, as an adornment for the crowns
of their heads.
The empowering deities dissolve back into me.
Recitation of the Mantras
Reciting the Mantras
(For the principal deity, the root mantra and the other mantras are arranged clockwise around
the being for absorbed concentration. The other deities have at their heart a sun disk, in the center of
which is their respective insignia, marked with their seed-syllable and around which their respective
mantra is arranged clockwise. All mantra syllables are standing upright.)
For combined peaceful and furious activity, the mantra of Manjushri:
OM ARAPA-TSANA DHIH
The Root Mantra:
OM YAMA-RAJA SADO-MEYA / YAME-DORU NAYO-DAYA / YADA-YONI RAYAKSHAYA / YAKSHE YACCHA NIRAMAYA / HUM HUM PHAT PHAT SVAHA
The Actions Mantra:
OM HRIH SHTRIH VIKRITA-NANA HUM PHAT
Abbreviated Thirteen-Deity Vajrabhairava Sadhana
The Essence Manta:
OM YAMANTAKA HUM PHAT
The Mantra of the Motherly Partner:
OM VAJRA VETTALI, AGACCHA HUM JAH SVAHA
The Mantra of the Other Deities of the Mandala
OM JINA-JIK HUM PHAT
OM RATNA-DHRIK HUM PHAT
OM ARO-LIK HUM PHAT
OM PRAJNA-DHRIK HUM PHAT
OM MUDGARA-DHRIK HUM PHAT
OM DANDA-DHRIK HUM PHAT
OM PADMA-DHRIK HUM PHAT
OM KHADGA-DHRIK HUM PHAT
OM MOHA-RATI HUM PHAT
OM DVESHA-RATI HUM PHAT
OM RAGA-RATI HUM PHAT
OM VAJRA-RATI HUM PHAT
(Recite each of these as much as possible.)
Purification of Mistakes in the Mantra Recitation
OM YAMANTAKA SAMAYA MANU-PALAYA / YAMANTAKA TVENO-PATISHTA /
DRIDHO ME BHAVA / SUPOSHYO ME BHAVA / SUTOSHYO ME BHAVA / ANURAKTO
ME BHAVA / SARVA SIDDHIM ME PRAYACCHA / SARVA KARMA SUCHA ME / CHITTAM
SHRIYAM KURU HUM / HA HA HA HA HOH BHAGAVAN / YAMANTAKA MA
ME MUNCHA / YAMANTAKA BHAVA, MAHA SAMAYA SATTVA / AH HUM PHAT. (1x)
Abbreviated Thirteen-Deity Vajrabhairava Sadhana
Offerings of Thanksgiving and Praise to Ourselves as Vajrabhairavas
OM YAMANTAKA ARGHAM, PADYAM, GANDHE, PUSHPE, DUPE, ALOKE, NAIVIDYA,
SHABDA PRATICCHA HUM SVAHA
OM YAMANTAKA HUM PHAT, OM AH HUM
I prostrate to you, O Vajrabhairava,
Supreme Form, Supremely Magnificent Ferocious One,
Hero having supreme objects of experience,
You act to tame those difficult to subdue.
Concluding Practices
Abbreviated Prayer
By the constructive force arising from my efforts in this method with pure resolve, may all
wandering beings, beyond any number, never be parted, but always be cared for, n birth after
birth, by the peaceful and furious Manjushris.
Having manifested a supreme state of a united couple with seven features, having a nature of
the five Buddha-Bodies lasting as long as space, may I lead, in an instant, all endless wandering
beings quickly and easily to this very state.
Final Dissolution and Arising as a Simple Vajrabhairava
The charnel grounds, together with the protection wheel, dissolve into the immeasurably magnificent
palace. The immeasurably magnificent palace dissolves into my surrounding entourage.
My surrounding entourage, together with my motherly partner dissolve into me. As the commitment being, I dissolve into the deep-awareness being (Manjushri). The deep awareness being
dissolves into (the HUM), the being for absorbed concentration; the hook-like U (=shabkyu) of
the being for absorbed concentration into the HA; the HA into the head of the HA; the head into
the crescent moon; the crescent moon into the drop; and the drop dissolves into the squiggle. The
squiggle also becomes devoid, unaimed (at true existence).
Within a state of voidness, I clearly appear as a Vajrabhairava, with one face and two arms,
marked with an OM at my crown, an AH at my throat, and a HUM at my heart.
Verse for Propitious Conditions
May propitious conditions flow from the root and lineage gurus.
May propitious conditions flow from the yidams and their hosts of deities.
May propitious conditions flow from the dakinis and dakas,
May propitious conditions flow from the Dharma-protectors and safeguarding figures.
Abbreviated Thirteen-Deity Vajrabhairava Sadhana
1. Stage
The whole universe, the deities and
mandalas - melt into light and dissolve into one single deity.
Earth element dissolves into water element.
2. Stage
The outer deity dissolves into the syllable
HUM at the heart level.
Water element dissolves into �re element.
3. Stage
The bottom part (=shabkyu) dissolves into the middle
and upper part of the syllable HUM.
Fire element dissolves into wind element.
4. Stage
The middle part dissolves into the head
(= horizontal top bar) of the syllable HUM.
Wind element dissolves into consciousness.
5. Stage
The head (= horizontal top bar) dissolves into
the crescent (and drop and nada).
Inner sign: Clear White Appearance.
6. Stage
The crescent dissolves into the drop (and nada).
Inner sign: Radiant Red Increase.
7. Stage
The drop dissolves into the nada.
Inner sign: Black Near Attainment.
8. Stage
The nada dissolves into emptiness.
Clear Light.
