A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts (Mahakala, Narasinha or Vishnu, and Vajrapani)
A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts (Mahakala, Narasinha or Vishnu, and Vajrapani)
Alexander Zorin
17 25 3
119
of Sciences
Alexander Zorin
One of the most valuable Tibetan manuscripts kept at the Institute of
Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences (hereafter, IOM
RAS) is the scroll -178, included in the collection of Tibetan manuscripts
from Dunhuang, where a library of Buddhist texts dated from the 5th to the
first years of the 11th century was found in early 20th century. This is a
clear mistake since at least two texts of the scroll were composed by the
famous 12th century Tibetan yogi and translator Dpal rga lo, or Rgwa
lotsawa. He spread some Tantric teachings such as those on Klacakra and
Mahkla in Tibet. The texts on the cult of Mahkla comprise the larger
part of the scroll and is further evidence of the later dating of the scroll,
since the cult of Mahkla was brought to and established in Tibet from the
mid-11th century when the famous Tibetan lotsawa Rin chen bzang po
translated an important sdhana1 of Mahkla by the great Indian yogi
baripda. During the 13th to 14th century, this cult was finally
established by the Yuan Mongol dynasty of Chinese emperors who
worshipped Mahkla as their divine protector, and later this conception
The study was supported by the Russian Foundation for the Humanities,
project No. 08-04-00128a. I would like to thank Dr. Simon Wickham-Smith for his
English proofreading.
1 Sdhana is a genre of Tantric literature describing the stages of the yogic
practices of various Tantric deities to be visualized and invoked to perform the
divine actions.
98
120 A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin)
was borrowed by the emperors of the Qing Manchu dynasty. The greatest
collection of Tantric texts in Tibetan from Dunhuang kept at the British
Library has no single text on Mahkla2. The codicological features of the
scroll are also rather different from those of the Dunhuang manuscripts.
Nevertheless, our predecessors had some reasons to include the scroll
into the Dunhuang collection. It is quite probable that it was sent to St
Petersburg along with Dunhuang scrolls. This issue remains somewhat
obscure. In 1913, a pile of Tibetan manuscripts from Dunhuang sent to the
St Petersburg Academy of Sciences by the Russian consul in rmqi N.N.
Krotkov was passed to the Asiatic Museum (now the IOM RAS) following
the suggestion by academician S.F. Oldenburg. Up to present, these
manuscripts are kept in the boxes marked with the date of the meeting at
the Academy of Sciences when the decision was taken, viz. March 13, 1913.
The scroll -178 is kept in the same box but without the inscription.
Hence, it is not quite clear if this text was also sent to St Petersburg by N.N.
Krotkov or if it was simply processed by the staff of the Asiatic Museum
around the same time as the Dunhuang scrolls3.
The scroll could be brought by Colonel P.K. Kozlov from his famous
Mongol Sychuan expedition, 1907-1909, during which he explored the dead
city of Khara Khoto and its library of Tangut texts and texts in some other
languages including Tibetan. In the collection of Tibetan manuscripts from
Khara Khoto kept at the British Library, there are some texts that vividly
reminds our scroll from the paleographic point of view (e.g. IOL Tib M 50
Dalton J., van Schaik S. Catalogue of the Tibetan Tantric Manuscripts from
Dunhuang in the Stein Collection. Second electronic edition. [London:] IDP, 2007:
2
http://idp.bl.uk/database/oo_cat.a4d?shortref=Dalton_vanSchaik_2005 [31.01.2013].
3 The history of the IOMs collection of Tibetan texts from Dunhuang is
scrutinized in my paper - Zorin A. The Collection of Dunhuang Tibetan Texts Kept at
the IOM RAS, in - Dunhuang Studies: Prospects and Problems for the Coming Second
Century of Research. Ed. by I. Popova and Liu Yi. St. Petersburg, Slavia Publishers
2012. Pp. 365-367.
97
A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin) 121
or Tib M 604). This may be an oblique indication of its Khara Khoto origin.
The fact that Dpal rga los teacher at Bodh Gaya, Rtsa mi lotsawa, was an
ethnic Tangut and that Dpal rga lo himself could relate to the Tanguts may
link the scroll to the Tangut area, too5.
Most of the Khara Khoto texts are dated from the 12th through 14th
century6 but, since Dpal rga lo died at the very end of the 12th century or
during the first years of the 13th century, we can assume that the scroll
could not have been produced earlier than the latter part of the 12th
century. On the other hand, its use of old Tibetan orthography indicates
that it must have been made no later than the 14th century. Hence, I
suppose it is most probable that the scroll -178 should be dated from the
late 12th to 13th century.
1. Codicology and paleography
By 2008, the scroll -178 appeared as eight separate long leaves, with
Dr. Sam van Schaik kindly drew my attention to these texts. Moreover, he was
the first one to doubt the Dunhuang origin of the scroll -178 and helped me with
some difficult issues connected with this study for which I am extremely grateful.
5 More details on this issue are contained in the papers - Sperling E. Rtsa-mi Lots-ba Sangs-rgyas grags and the Tangut Background to Early Mongol-Tibetan
Relations, in - Tibetan Studies: Proceedings of the 6th Seminar of the International
4
122 A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin)
A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin) 123
Each folio has vertical sidelines put on both the left and right sides: on
the recto sides - 4.5 to 4.8 cm on the left one, 2.5 to 2.7 cm on the right one, on
the verso sides of ff. 1-7 - 2 to 3 cm and 4.8-5.2 cm, f. 8 - 2.8 to 3 cm and 5.1
cm. It indicates that the scroll was intended to be unwrapped horizontally,
probably for some Chinese or Tangut text but the Tibetan text was written
in the opposite direction without any attention paid to the sidelines so that
it covers the entire space of the folia. The text is written with black ink, a
little bit darker than that of the sidelines. The space between the lines is as
follows: f. 1 recto - about 1 cm on, all the others - basically about 0.5 cm,
sometimes more. The lines are usually rather even. There are a number of
glosses between some lines.
The manuscript was probably written by three scribes - but writings
by two of them are only found on the first four pages of the verso side of the
scroll and they alternate with that of the main scribe. The semicursive dbu
med script is used, the writing is legible, there are not so many blots and
orthographic mistakes in the first and third parts of the scroll (concerning
the structure see below) but the texts of the second part are corrupted to a
greater extent, especially those of the mantras which can hardly be
reconstructed. Abridged forms of some words such as rdo rje, ye shes,
thams cad, yi ge are used. There is no colophon in the end of the scroll hence
we have no data on the names of the scribes, nor the time and
circumstances of its production.
Fig. 1. The ways the three scribes wrote the syllable go - at left the main one
124 A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin)
3) the last but rather long versified text on the mandala of Vajrapni
grug; the writing of the genitive particle i separately from the word it relates to (=
yi in modern orthography); the use of Tibetan ciphers for numerals, etc., sometimes
the follower sa is added to 2 thus meaning gnyis (two), or the Tibetan cipher for 1 can
be used as the Imperative particle cig; the prefix letter or follower ma can be
replaced with a special diacritical mark; etc.
10 The ngas are serpent-liked sentient beings in Indian mythology; in Buddhism
they are treated ambiguously - on the one hand, they are thought to have kept many
esoteric Buddhist texts preached by the Buddha and later brought back to the
93
A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin) 125
Three texts of twenty two presented are found in Bstan gyur, the
second part of the Tibetan Buddhist Canon, four (including the first of the
former ones) in the collection of texts on the cult of Mahkla and his
retinue preserved by the Phag mo gru pa subschool of Bka rgyud pa school
of Tibetan Buddhism11. In the following list these cases are indicated.
I. Mahkla
1) Dpal nag po chen poi bsgrub pai thabs / rmahklasdhana (The
Sdhana of r Mahkla), by rya Ngrjuna; in Bstan gyur - Beijing ed.,
P.2628, rgyud grel, la, ff. 275b3-276a8; Derge ed., D.1759, rgyud, sha, ff.
250b4-251a7; in the Phag mo gru pa edition - Vol. 2, pp. 763-767.
2) A brief commentary on The Sdhana of r Mahkla; in the Phag
mo gru pa edition - Vol. 5, pp. 409-410.
3) Dpal nag po chen poi las kyi cho ga (The Pj of r Mahklas
Rite); in the Phag mo gru pa edition - Vol. 5, pp. 359-361)12.
4) A description of the wrathful rite.
5) A group of fragments of ritualistic texts on the practice of Mahkla
and an invocation to him to perform divine actions.
humans by some great teachers and yogis such as Ngrjuna, etc., on the other hand,
the ngas can cause bad diseases and harm people.
11 Bya rog ma bstan srun
bcas kyi chos skor. Collected Tantras and Related Texts
Concerned with the Propitiation of Mahakala and His Retinue. Arranged according
to the traditions transmitted by Phag-mo-gru-pa. Reproduced from the manuscript
collection formerly preserved in the Khams-sprul Bla-bran
at Khams-pa-sgar Phuntshogs-chos-khor-glin
by the 8th Khams-sprul Don-brgyud-i-ma. Vol. 1-7. India:
Sungrab nyamso gyunphel parkhang, Tibetan Craft Community, 1973-1979.
Unfortunately, in the copy of this edition, kindly given to me by the representatives
of the TBRC electronic library, the sixth volume is omitted, hence I cannot ascertain
if there are some other texts from the scroll. -178 presented in this volume.
12 Edited and translated in - Zorin A. Texts on Tantric Fierce Rites from an Ancient
Tibetan Scroll Kept at the IOM RAS, in - Budhism and Society. Papers for the
International Conference on Buddhism and Society, 13-15 January 2013. Sarnath,
Varanasi: Central University of Tibetan Studies, 2013. Pp. 118-132.
92
126 A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin)
The text is represented in two versions, that of the scroll corresponds with the
second of them.
13
91
A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin) 127
11) An instruction on the killing of the enemy via the fire offering.
12) A description of the fierce rite, a hymn to the Raven Faced
Mahkla, an instruction on Mahklas invocation (may be different texts).
13) Bya rog gi sgrub thabs (The Sdhana of the Raven Faced
[Mahkla]).
II. Visnu Narasin
ha
14) Khyab jug myi i seng ge dad pai lha (Visnu Narasinha as the
torma offering and a hymn (see the Appendix); 2. a rite aimed at the
protection of ones son; 3. a rite aimed at the protection against a hailstorm (see the Appendix); 4. an instruction on the production of an amulet;
5. an instruction on the curing of a disease; 6. on the protection against
epidemic diseases.
16) A narrative about the killing of the asura Hiranyakaipu by Visnu
Narasin
ha to save the formers son Prahlda named here Thub rgyal nag
po in Tibetan14.
17) Khyab jug myii og gtor gyi cho ga (The Rite of Torma Offering
to Visnu with the Human Body [and the Lions Head])15.
18) Khyab jug gi dgra o gsod pai thabs (The Method of the Killing of
an Enemy by means of Visnu)16.
Edited and translated in - Zorin A. Hindu-Buddhist Syncretism in the TransHimalaya and Southeast Asia: An Attempt of Comparative Study of Religious
14
128 A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin)
19) Khyab jug myi i seng gei ser khrir dbab thabs kyi cho ga (The
Rite of Imposing of Visnu Narasinha on the Golden Throne); a description
Nos. 6, 8, 9 into No.7, hence these four Nos. would constitute No. 6 in the new list,
while No. 15 would be divided into two Nos. such as No. 12 of the new list, containing
a group of ritualistic fragments, and No. 13, entitled The Sdhana of the Raven Faced
One.
89
A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin) 129
with the head of the wild yak18 but the major forms were brought from
India along with the relevant texts including The Tantra of Mahkla19.
Two of them are represented in the scroll -178 but most texts are on one
of them, the Raven Faced One, which is described by de NebeskyWojkowitz as follows:
Las mgon bya rog gdong can The mGon po of karma, who has the
face of a raven; he is occasionally included among the more prominent
dharmaplas, depicted on the tshogs shing and his worship is supposed to
have been introduced by the Sa skya sect. The sadhana describes him as
possessing a fierce, terrifying body of a dark-blue colour, with one face and
two hands, his limbs being short and thick. He has the face of a raven, threeeyed and with a beak of meteoric iron. His right hand lifts a sacrificial knife
with a thunderbolt-hilt, and with his left hand he leads towards his mouth a
skull-cup filled with blood. His eyebrows and the hair of his face and head
are radiant and stand on end. His sharp, blood-dripping beak is widely open
and horrible shrieks as well as a fire-storm issue from it...20.
The iconography of the other form, the Four-Handed One, is
represented in the sdhana by Ngrjuna, No. 1 of the scroll, [Mahkla] whose name is Raven
[Has] one face, four hands, at right
[He holds] a red coconut with the first hand,
A sword with the second one,
At left [he] holds a skull
Full of blood with the first [hand],
de Nebesky-Wojkowitz R. Oracles and Demons of Tibet. The Cult and
Iconography of the Tibetan Protective Deities. Delhi, 1998. (Classics Indian
Publications.) P. 38.
19 Stablein W.G. The Mahklatantra: A Theory of Ritual Blessings and Tantric
Medicine. Columbia University, Ph. D., 1976.
20 de Nebesky-Wojkowitz R. Oracles and Demons of Tibet Pp. 48-49.
18
88
130 A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin)
Visnu Narasin
ha24, the deity with the human body and the lions head,
is the fourth of the ten avataras of the great Hindu God Visnu. This
some deities.
22 http://www.himalayanart.org/image.cfm/517.html [10.12.2012].
23 de Nebesky-Wojkowitz R. Oracles and Demons of Tibet P. 46.
24 The standard Sanskrit form of this name is Narasimha. The form Narasin
ha, as
used in the scroll, is more widespread in Nepal, and this might hint at the initial origin
of spread of the cult in Tibet.
21
87
A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin) 131
asura with the lower pair of hands (of 2 or 6 pairs) and exploding his belly.
According to No. 14 of the scroll that Visnu is with the body of white
color, one-faced, four-handed, with the orange rampant mane, [he] shakes
his hair, has three eyes, and bared fangs, holds an iron stick in his right
hand, grasps the enemy with his left hand and points his forefinger, presses
the demon merrily with his two lower hands, eats the bowels that come
from the [demons] belly, stands on the throne of the sun, moon and lotus in
the heroic ldha posture with his right leg extended and left leg bent, he is
some extent, are rare. It is possible that our scroll is the only extent source
containing any information about this. Of course, it is not surprising that the
cult of Visnu Narasin
ha might have come to Tibet. Buddhist-Hindu
three deities are treated almost the same way27. The Newari people of
Narasinha Purna (Text with English Translation). Edited & Translated by
Joshi K.L. Shastri & Dr. Bindiya Trivedi. India, Parimal Publishers 2003.
26 Sontheimer G.-D. Folk Deities in the Vijayanagara Empire: Narasimha and
Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Mahonar, 2004. Pp. 327-351.
27 Goudrian T., Hooykaas C. Stuti and Stava (Bauddha, aiva and Vaisnava) of
25
86
132 A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin)
Nepal worship both the Buddha and Ganea and sometimes even iva. In
the Tibetan canon there are some hymns and sdhanas dedicated to
Ganapati, one of the forms of Ganea, considered also by Buddhists as an
the eight great bodhisattvas, disciples of the Buddha and the major auditor
Balinese Brahman Priests. Verhandelingen der Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie
van Wetenschappen, afd. Letterkunde. Amsterdam, London: North-Holland Publishing Company, 1971.
28 1) Seng ge dang bya khyung dang khyab jug la bzhugs pai sgrub thabs /
Harihariharivhanasdhana. Peking ed.: P. 3983, rgyud grel, thu, ff. 223b3-223b8;
Derge ed.: No. 3162, rgyud, phu, ff. 181a7-181b4; Narthang ed.: rgyud, thu, ff.
211b6-212a4. 2) Seng ge dang bya khyung dang khyab jug la bzhugs pai sgrub thabs
/ Harihariharivhanasdhana. Peking ed.: No. 3984, rgyud grel, thu, ff. 223b8-224b8;
Derge ed.: No. 3163, rgyud, phu, ff. 181b4-182b2; Narthang ed.: rgyud, thu, ff.
212a4-213a4. Etc.
29 On this subject - Davidson R. Reflections on the Mahesvara Subjugation Myth
(Indic materials, Sa-skya-pa apologetics, and the birth of Heruka), in - Journal of the
International Association of Buddhist Studies, 14, 2, 1991. Pp. 197-235; Isaacson H.
Tantric Buddhism in India (from c. A.D. 800 to c. A.D. 1200), in - Buddhismus in
Geschichte und Gegenwart: Band II, Hamburg, 1998. Pp. 23-49. (Internal publication
of Hamburg University.); Sanderson A. Vajrayna: Origin and Function, in Buddhism into the Year 2000. International Conference Proceedings, Bangkok and
Los Angeles: Dhammakya Foundation, 1995. Pp. 89-102.
85
A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin) 133
and protector of Tantric texts received from the Buddha in the form of
Vajradhra. It is no surprise then that his image obtained an important
place in the Vajrayna tradition. The image of the Two-Handed Wrathful
Vajrapni is among the most wide-spread and familiar in Tibetan Buddhist
arts. It is hard to say in which text exactly he appears along with the eight
Nga Kings. Probably, it was in The Sarvadurgatipariodhana Tantra
belonging to the class of yoga-tantra30. The iconographic composition of the
Mandala of Vajrapni and the eight Nga Kings fixed in a Sa skya pa icon of
Nepalese style from the 15th century refers to this tantra. Vajrapni is
84
134 A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin)
4. Textology
There are not so many Tibetan manuscripts belonging to the period of
the formation of the Tibetan Buddhist canon, especially Tantric texts.
Hence, our knowledge of this process is primarily based on the later
editions and rather fragmentary. Therefore any new manuscript of this
kind has a great significance for Tibetology. The scroll -178 surely
belongs to this group of the Tibetan writings.
The three texts of the scroll having counterparts in the Bstan gyur
allow a comparison of the ancient scroll with the major later editions made
in Beijing and Derge. The ancient edition is sometimes quite different from
the canonical ones in respect of both separate words and entire passages.
There are 46 cases of orthographic (including mistakes) and semantic
-178
Beijing ed.
Derge ed.
bla ma la smod
bla ma la dmod
bla ma la smod
bstan la sdang
bstan la sdang
bstan la sdang
byas ste
byas te
byas te
de nas rang gi
thugs ka i
thugs yi
thugs ka yi
kyis
kyis
kyi
de bcol bya
de bcol bya
de rtsol bya
thob pa des
ma lus pa i
Correspondence
Dergeorth.
Dergesem.
Dergeorth.
Dergeorth.
Beijingorth.
Beijingsem.
different from
both but closer
to Beijing
sem.
83
A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin) 135
translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan, at least two of them have the
traditional heading, rgya gar skad du (in Sanskrit), although in one case it is
just Narasinha, in the other it is totally corrupted. Anyway, these texts
could not be included into the Tibetan Buddhist canon since they are of
manifestly syncretic nature. All the other texts were probably composed
by the Tibetan authors but it is clear only in respect of two texts attributed
to Dpal rga lo and the other one (No. 10) that mentions his poem.
Some fragments of the scroll (mostly the recto sides of ff. 1-7) use a
number of interlinear glosses (see fig. 2). They are almost absent in the
second part indicating that the commentator(s) did not have much to say
82
136 A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin)
understanding of the text. Thus, the main text of No. 3 states that an effigy
figure should be made of earth and, according to the commentator, that it
must be the earth from the place where the enemy walked; the fifth part of
No. 5 mentions the reciting of a mantra (to invite Mahkla as stated in a
gloss) and the consequent appearance of the emanation the Protector, and
the commentary describes the process in more details, viz. while reciting
the mantra one shines a ray of light from ones mouth which arrives in the
Protectors heart (and invites him to come); the text of No. 13 lists four
mantras which are labeled by the commentator as the life mantra of the
Wisdom Protector, the invocation and union mantra of the Karma
Protector, the mantra of taking life and liberating the enemy, and the
mantra of separation from a deity and liberating.
Some texts or fragments end up with the expression ati which is
written as one ligature in most of the cases but in three cases the two
syllables are given separately. It is hard to say what it actually refers to,
there are two well-known similar expressions, ati (attested in the ancient
atiyoga texts) and iti (Sanskrit mark for quotations, etc.), but the first
would be rather strange as a final particle, while the other one is too
different from ati; moreover, neither of them use the cerebral letter ta. I can
only suppose that this ati was meant to convey the idea of sacredness of the
texts.
A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin) 137
carefully prepared editions. The remaining texts are not found anywhere
else so far, hence their translation is often based on the translators intuition
and can be but tentative.
5. Stylistics
Though the majority of the texts of the scroll are ritualistic in
character and do not use any poetic devices some texts and fragments are
nonetheless interesting from this point of view. Thus, there are several
hymnal compositions such as parts ka and [kha] of No. 6, Nos. 7 and 8,
fragments of Nos. 12, 15, 21 and 22; functionally, the hymns combine
salutations and evocations so that even a simple description of divine deeds
carried out by the deities is in fact an implicit call for them to go on
performing their deeds31. The versified sdhana, No. 1, is stylistically plain
but the abovementioned change of meter in the last stanza, that of
dedication of the merits, reminds us of classical Indian poetics, in which
such a device is used to mark a new subject of discourse. Finally, there is a
narrative which is quite simple, although interesting as a rare piece of
prose writing in Tibetan Tantric literature.
The two canonical hymns, by Ngrjuna and Buddhakrti, were
translated into Tibetan with rather complicated 19-syllabled and 25syllabled meters corresponding to the 21-syllabled sragdhar meter and 25syllabled kraucapad or 26-syllabled bhujanga-vijrmbhita meters, although
I am not quite sure in the case of the second text, since this was, quite
unusually, translated from a Prkrit as is stated at the colophon.
Both texts were, most probably, rather elaborate poetical compositions
enriched with alliteration, word play, and sound symbolism. The Tibetan
More details on the Buddhist hymns are presented in my monograph (in
Russian) - Zorin A. U istokov tibetskoy poezii. Buddiyskie gimny v tibetskoy literature
VIII-XIV vv. St Petersburg, Peterburgskoe Vostokovedenie Publishers 2010. 332 p.
31
80
138 A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin)
translation could not keep all phonetic richness of Indian verses but
incorporated some elements of sound symbolism important for structuring
of the text, viz. Mahklas exclamations conveying the description of his
actions for the protection of the Doctrine or some features of his
iconography. They are found in 20 of 32 lines of the main part of the first
text such as in the first stanza HM HM PHAT! - with these fierce exclamations [you are]
Here is my English translation of this short hymn made from a small pamphlet
79
A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin) 139
rga lo starts with the general description of Mahklas figure (the name of
the location, his standing amid a great fire, his being raven faced, big and
black) and then focuses on some details (the bulging belly, snake
decoration, ferocious three-eyed face, attributes held in the two hands,
yellow plaits, garland of blood-soaked heads, mouth with grinning tusks,
tigers skin as a skirt, etc.). Lexically, this part, consisting of 24 lines, is
rather plain and standard. The next line indicates that Mahkla is followed
by a host of spiteful serpent demons (klu gdon) and after four lines of an
invocation a rather long passage consisting of seven lines follows that
describes another kind of Mahklas retinue such as an horde of yaksas
in his left [hands] he holds the skull, three-pointed khatvnga / And the hook with
which he catches [violators of the vows], / To Him whose face is fierce and grinning,
/ Who has three fierce eyes and rampant fiery hair, / Whose forehead is covered with
sindhra powder, / Whose crown is ornamented with the image of Buddha Aksobhya,
/ To Him who wears the necklace of fifty bleeding human heads, / Who is
ornamented with the crown of five dry skulls, / To Him who appeared out from the
tree and who received the torma, / To the Glorious Six-Armed One I bow down! / I
pray [you], the Wrathful One, to protect the Doctrine of the Buddha, / Glorify, the
Wrathful One, the high status of the Jewels, / Pacify all obscurations, bad
circumstances / Of us, the teacher and retinue of disciples, / Bestow [us] with all the
siddhis desired!
33 Both kinds of the retinue are mentioned by de Nebesky-Wojkowitz in the
relevant fragment on the Raven Faced Mahakala of his Oracles and Demons in Tibet
(p. 49).
78
140 A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin)
the earth, to liberate (i.e. cut off somebody from his evil karma), or even to
erase, is an essential quality of a Protector of the Doctrine who is invoked
by the yogi to accomplish his rite. So the composition of the properly
hymnal part consists of an iconographic depiction of the main figure, the
brief characteristics of his protective activity, ending with an invocation
(accomplish the rite) and a brief description of his retinue, which is
strangely split into two parts.
The second part of the text, a prayer, consists of 21 lines that start
with an invocation to Mahkla to follow his own vow and protect the
Doctrine. Then the most peculiar part of the text follows where wrathful
activities of Mahkla are compared with the severe forces of nature such
as thunderstorm, hailstorm, and blizzard.
Do not dally, do not dally, take the kila,
Drain the sea of blazing fire of sins
[With the sounds] UR UR CHEM CHEM, gather the clouds
And with every terrible thunder
Shine the intolerable light of lightning again and again,
From thunders above to blizzards below,
Strike down vajra all-embracing hail,
Pour rain of blood [from] the forehead,
Reduce to dust the violators of the vows!
The stylistics of this part seem to be inspired with original Tibetan
lore of the magical and spiritual tradition that is so brilliantly reflected in
the songs of Tibetan yogis such as Mi la ras pa. At the same time, the use of
sound symbolism such as UR UR CHEM CHEM for the sound of great fire,
etc. is a common feature of Indian Tantric hymns, too. In the first part of
the hymn, there also are two cases of sound symbolism, reflecting the
sounds with which Mahkla frightens the violators of vows and enemies of
the Doctrine. The text ends with a passage that repeats the invocations to
Mahkla to serve the Buddhist Doctrine and accomplish the rite according
77
A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin) 141
142 A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin)
each of them ending with either phyag tshal bstod or just bstod, e.g.
To the one who has rampant orange hair,
Three eyes and grinning mouth,
The white body and bone ornaments,
Who is seated on the throne of the sun, moon, lotus and corpse,
To you, Visnu, the great god, - [I pay] homage and raise the
praise!
No. 22 has a series of seven stanzas of praise to the eight Nga
Kings (the eighth one is missed) each of them ending with phyag tshal
bstod, too. This is a good example of a hymn to a group of objects
worshipped. The first stanza runs as follows To the great Nga King Vsuki,
Whose white body has no single spot,
Who rules over the ngas of the East,
The serpent-headed one, - [I pay] homage and raise the praise!
The ornate style of classical Sanskrit poetry borrowed by the Tibetans
is reflected in several passages of the same text, although not in a
particularly elaborate way In the land of the crooked lakes of the ngas
In the land of the crooked dark blue [of waters]
There are shores of four substances such as
75
A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin) 143
rare piece of prose literature among the Tantric texts. Though rather
simple in style, it combines narration, poetry and iconography of the deity Having failed to compose [a salutation], [a youth] wondered
everywhere in great sadness and met Visnu Narasinha. Who are you and
where are you going? - [Vishnu] scared him suddenly. I am a son of the
asura Hiranyakaipu named Thupgyel Nakpo34. My father told me - If you
dont homage and praise me variously I will kill you and eat. I failed to
compose verses of unexhausted praise to the father and am wondering now
being assured that I am going to be killed. Visnu Narasinha said: If I kill
your father can it displease you?. Thupgyel replied: Nobody can kill him.
The thing is that he has eight kinds of attributes and eight siddhis. When
answered by [Visnu] What are they like? - [he said:] The eight
attributes are never shown. The eight siddhis are as follows: [he] can be
killed during the day, cant be killed at night, [cant be killed inside the
doors], cant be killed outside the doors, a human cant kill [him], a nonhuman cant kill [him], [he] cant be killed with a weapon, cant be killed
with something that is not a weapon. Visnu uttered: I know a way [to
Thub rgyal nag po; it can hardly be equivalent to the Indian name of
Hiranyakaipus son, Prahlda.
34
74
144 A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin)
avoid them all], - and taught him the words of a salutation such as
The gods, the gods abide in the purity of the heaven,
The sages abide in the mountains, in the mountains,
The ngas live in the streams, in the streams,
All, all abodes are Visnu.
[The youth came to his father] and paid homage and praised not him
but he praised Vishnu. Well then, is here an abode of Visnu, either? - [the
father] asked shutting the precious door frame with an iron door. Of
course, here too - [the son] replied and in the frame the Protector
[Narasinha] appeared having a white human body and the lions head, three
eyes, rampant orange mane ablaze, one face, four hands, holding with the
first right hand an iron stick, with the left one grasping the demons neck,
with the lower two hands holding a garland of corpses at his waist,
devouring the bowels, adorned with the bone ornaments, trampling on a
corpse. Of course, here too - [he] said and killed [Hiranyakaipu], took his
eight attributes and obtained his eight siddhis and passed them all to the son
Thupgyel Nakpo.
The story is followed with a final passage which can be interpreted as
a colophon. It states that Thupgyel Nakpo (obviously the character of the
text) composed a sdhana of Visnu Narasin
ha (it is not clear if the text is
A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin) 145
from their childhood, first learning sacred texts by heart, then training in
the visualization of various deities so that they can finally imagine them in
the fullness of their iconography along with their retinue, sometimes rather
numerous, and other details of their mandala. The most highly qualified
146 A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin)
invite the real deity, jnasattva, from the Pure Land and place them into
the symbolic deity with the mantra JAH HM BAM HOH (each of the four
syllables corresponds with invitation, immersing, absorption and transmission acts respectively), and finally seal the deity in a virtually created
vessel. The visualization is outlined in The Sdhana of Mahkla by
Ngrjuna (No. 1) as follows One has to produce ones yidam this way Having seen in front of oneself
The black syllable HM placed on the lotus and sun,
Beyer S. Magic and Ritual in Tibet. The Cult of Tr. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass
Publishers, 2001. P. 29.
36 = to transmit here.
35
71
A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin) 147
heart, insert [the paper] into the torma, after which perform the invitation
On this subject - Gray D. Skull Imagery and Skull Magic in the Yogin Tantras, in
- Pacific World, 3 (8). Pp. 21-39.
38 The origins of linga figures in Tibetan Buddhism are studied in - Cuevas B. J.
Illustrations of Human Effigies in Tibetan Ritual Texts: With Remarks on Specific
Anatomical Figures and Their Possible Iconographic Source, in - Journal of the Royal
37
Asiatic Society. Third series, Vol. 21, Pt. 1, January 2011. Pp. 73-97.
39 OM! Mahkla, kill such-and-such! HM PHAT!
A special study of the mantras used in fierce rites is carried out in - Verhagen P. C.
Expressions of violence in Buddhist Tantric mantras, in - Violence denied: violence,
non-violence and the rationalization of violence in South Asian cultural history. Ed. by
J. E. M. Houben and K. R. Van Kooij. Pp. 275-286.
70
148 A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin)
and immersing [of the Protector]. Then one has to recite the mantra of the
invited [deity] and offer the torma. This fragment describes rather a
simple way to produce the linga. Some other texts suggest more
complicated methods using skulls, blood, poisons, etc., in which the effigy is
often oppressed physically: it can be cut into pieces and then burnt and the
ash scattered in the direction of the enemys place.
The fire offering is a special ritual performed for the same aims. It is
described in Nos. 11 and 21. According to the second one, the fire is lit with
use of special sticks made of sandalwood or juniper. The substances to be
burnt include butter, white sesame, wooden sticks, milk, curds, rice, kua
grass, a pen from the charnel ground, barley, wheat, rough barley, peas,
boiled rice, medicines; they are burnt in the fire along with special mantras
uttered and the god of fire is pleased with a hymn; the text ends up with a
mantra invoking the deity to kill the enemy40.
It would be a mistake to consider the texts describing fierce rites
found in many scriptural collections including the Tibetan Buddhist canon,
as indicating some hidden aggression of Buddhism. First, these texts belong
to the group of secret instructions, which resumes their unavailability to
the unauthorized. Second, it is claimed that mechanic performance of a rite,
without suitable preparation of the mind, is ineffective. Third, the
conception of the enemy may be interpreted in at least three different
ways, such as a Mara causing afflictions, i.e. ones own inner obstacles, an
evil demon harming the Buddhist Teaching, and corporeal people who
threaten the Dharma, or even its citadel of Tibet.
The fire offering is scrutinized by S. Beyer - Beyer S. Magic and Ritual in Tibet.
Pp. 264-274. Its comparative study in Tibetan and Japanese traditions is found in Payne R. K. A Comparison of the Tibetan and Shingon Homas, in - Pacific World.
40
Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies. Third Series Number 11. Fall 2009.
(Special Issue Celebrating the Sixtieth Anniversary of the Institute of Buddhist
Studies 1949-2009.) Pp. 417-450.
69
A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin) 149
*
*
thorough transliteration are to follow soon along with the entire translation
of the texts into Russian. Several texts of the scroll in my edition and
Some more details on the place of fierce rites in Tantric Buddhism are offered in
my paper - Zorin A. Texts on Tantric Fierce Rites from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll
Kept at the IOM RAS
41
68
150 A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin)
tentative English translation are included into the Appendix to this paper
and in some previous papers specified above.
APPENDIX.
Texts and Translations
1. Text No. 6 (two parts)
KA. The Hymn to Mahkla by Dpal rga lo
10
mtshal[]
jigs su rung bai bskal pa
yi42[]
me ltar bar bai klong dkyil
na[]
ma ha ka la bya rog gdong[]
hum la byung bai nag po
che[]
thung la sbrom bai gsus po
che[]
ha ha zhes sgrogs jigs par
byed[]
dug sbrul gdug pas sku la43
brgyan[]
gtum po spyan gsum bar ba
ste[]
phyag g.yas bar bai gri gug
phyar[]
Orig. pai. The corrections of this text specified in the notes are made according
to the Phag mo gru pa edition.
43 Orig. skul.
42
67
A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin) 151
dam nyams don snying tshal par
ges
pa []
klu gdon nag pai khor gyis49
bskor
20
Orig.
Orig.
46 Orig.
47 Orig.
48 Orig.
49 Orig.
50 Orig.
44
45
enemies,
With blood dripping from the mouth,
Grinning with sharp wrathful tusks,
Always rejoicing at flesh and blood,
Cutting off the enemies lives,
Having a shirt of tigers skin,
Bright [like] one hundred thousand
suns,
From [your] mouth, for the violators of
vows,
MRAYA HM HM PHAT sounds
break forth.
Surrounded by the retinue of black
nga demons,
[You] trample upon the earth,
Liberate everyone [or] reduce to dust,
gen.
slon (?).
phring (?).
mchi.
o (?).
gis.
tham.
66
152 A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin)
lhogs51
30
40
52
65
A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin) 153
50
57
bar
ma ha ka la phrin las62
mdzod
The Hymn to the Raven Faced Mahkla composed by the great Dpal rga lo at
the great charnel ground Stavana is
complete.
Mahkla!
Having eradiated light from the black
64
154 A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin)
dang nag po chen po dang sangs rgyas
dang byang chub sems dpa thams cad
spyan drangs lamchod de phyag
tshal nas
sdig pa thams cad jigs pas bshags
bgyid cing
SVABHAVA NYO
SARVADHARMA-SVABHAVA
NYO
HAM65, one meditates upon oneself
included into Bstan gyur [Dpal mgon po nag po bsgrub pai thabs / rmahklasdhana: the Derge edition, No.1764, rgyud, sha, f. 255b].
65 OM! All phenomena are empty by the nature, I am empty. In the edition of the
scroll the syllables shu do are used twice hinting at Sanskrit udho (pure), if this is
64
true then the translation would be OM! All phenomena are pure by the nature, I am
pure. But this is rather dubious, I preferred the more standard formula of the mantra.
63
A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin) 155
dang ka pa la dzin pa
go boi phreng
ba sku la brgyan padbu skra ser po
gyen du bar bajigs pai mche bas jigs
par byed pasku thams cad sbrul gyis
brgyan payan lag thung basbrom
zhing ge bazhal nas khrag gi rgyun
dzag pa skad cig gis bskyed do
dei
snying kar ye shes sems dpa mtshon
gang bsamdei snying kar gre gug gi
chang zungs la nyi ma yi steng du hum
VAJRA-MAHKLYA HM HM
PHAT67.
RATNATRAYYAPAKRINAM,
YADI
PRATIJAM
SMARASI
Jnasattva is an actual deity invited from their own Pure Land and placed into
their symbolic body visualized by a yogi beforehand.
67 OM to Vajra Mahkla! HM HM PHAT!
68 Amrta is, according to Indian mythology, the divine drink giving immortality to
Tantric context, some conventionally impure things can refer, too; thus, the five
kinds of amta are excrements, urine, blood, human flesh and sperm.
62
156 A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin)
na ha nada ha da hapa tsa pa tsa di
na me ke na
sa rva du shta ma ra ya
69
PHAT! - with this mantra the offering
is performed.
[This was] the instruction on the selfsufficient practice of Mahkla composed by the great Lord of Yogis,
Glorious Dpal rga lo.
ka re naya tig pra tig jnyasma ra si dhie mam du shta sa takha kha kha hyi
kha hyima ra ma raghre rna ghre rnabhan dha bhan dhaha na ha nada
69
Many parts of the mantra are supplied with glossas which translate Indian syllables
into Tibetan and the commentator made them according to the corrupted text, e.g.
the expression sma ri si dha (instead of the correct smarasi tad) is translated as
bzhes la dngos grub. My edition is based on the canonical text of The Tantra of
Mahkla [Dpal nag po chen poi rgyud / rmahklatantra: Derge edition, No.667,
rgyud, ba, f. 190b]. The English translation is as follows - Thus: OM to Mahkla, the
Protector of the Doctrine! This is the last hour for those harmful to the Three Jewels.
If you remember your vow, eat, eat, eat away, eat away this malevolent being! Kill,
kill! Grasp, grasp! Bind, bind! Destroy, destroy! Burn, burn! Roast, roast! During one
day, make all the evil die! HM HM PHAT! I thank my colleague, Dr V. Ivanov
(the IOM RAS) for his help in edition and translation of the mantra.
61
A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin) 157
la di btags la bul lo
m i dam bha li
te gri hna
kha kha kha hi kha hi
bha li te sv hazhes lan gsum am lan
bdun am bzlas bul logtor mas mchod
de bstod pa ni di ltar byao
hum kha dang sa kun72 khyab bai jug
pa bus
72 Orig. skun.
73 The original text has some excessive syllables and is probably corrupted - myi
dang myi yin gcig gis tshul thu?ol jun pa.
74 Some syllables are probably missing; I suppose the meaning is that the body of
Narasin
ha is stained with the rksasas blood.
75 Orig. g.ya 1.
76 Orig. ma ru sa.
70
71
60
158 A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin)
bstod
be praised!
pay] homage!
pay] homage!
To the one who beats thrice the
violators of the vows,
Who enjoys the bowels taken out [of
the enemys body],
Who uproots all the enemies, poisonous
demons,
To you, the Protector of the Doctrine, [I pay] homage!
To the one who has rampant orange
hair,
clear though if this term can be applied to the asura Hiranyakaipu defeated by
A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin) 159
spyan gsum stang myig zhal gdangs
mche ba gtsigs
substances,
And perform the divine actions in
accordance with the holy intentions! these are the words of [Visnu Nara
sin
has] invocation to perform the
divine actions.
58
160 A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin)
pai lcags la[s] gri grug byas pa gcig lag
de[s] thogs la sprin thams cad gdal par
bsam moslar nga i nad du dud pa
myed pai mye la rdzas brgyad po yang
bsreg par bsam byao
magic substances. This way any hailstorm caused by the eight gods and
rksasas, mighty gods, ngas, etc., will
be averted.
This was quickly uttered by the
Teacher Vairocana. ATI!
Actually, my (nga i). It may be the sign that the instruction was given from the
first-person point of view. Since it is somehow contrary to the style of the other parts
80
82 There is a clear mistake in the original text - zhabs brgyad (eight legs).
57
A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin) 161
thing nag bar bai sku mchog can
las
white snake,
The neck is beautiful with the Brhmana yellow snake,
The shoulder is beautiful with the
Vaiya red snake
The waist is beautiful with the dra
blue snake,
The feet are beautiful with the Candla
black snake;
Oppressing powerfully the ngas with
the two feet84,
Surrounded with the retinue of one
hundred thousand wrathful kings,
Holding a golden vajra in his right hand,
Resting a bell on his hip with the left
hand;
The mighty one, taming the ngas,
Come here, reside here, perform the
divine rites!
There seems to be a mistake in the original text - zhags gnyis (two lassos).
There is a clear mistake in the original text - sku brten (icon, image).
85 ? - nang (g)shed na.
86 Mnasarovar is the sacred lake at Kaila Mountain and the name of a nga who
abides in it.
83
84
56
162 A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin)
klu mtsho khril pai nang shed na
87
A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin) 163
spyon
88
164 A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin)
rgyu bsbyor yon kyi bdag po la
[me].
For the sake of the benefactor giver of
the offerings,
Avert the horrible poisonous Candla
snake!
Avert the horrible poisonous snakes of
the Vasu family!
Avert the horrible poisonous ngassabdaks89!
Avert the horrible poisonous rksasa
sabdaks!
Avert all the horrible poisonous
[beings]!
The Master of Mantras, listen to this!
If the infection does not release this
person tonight,
If the disease does not come down
tonight,
You will be shown the place of death.
The blessed [power] of the mantra of
samaya
And the flames of the fire of wrathful
yaksas
90
53
A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin) 165
dang
kings93,
And the poisons of touch,
Avert the poisons of looking,
Avert the poisons of union,
Avert the poisons of mind!
To the one who produces the five
poisons94 due to being poisonous,
Arouses the diseases from the five
poisons,
Commands over all the diseases,
To you, the Master of Mantras, I pay
homage and raise the praise!
is written makes me suppose that the scribe was going to add some subscribed letter
but did not do it for some reason; my choice of la btags follows the context, the other
possible variant, with ra btags, i.e. srog, seems to be less reasonable.
93 This line and the previous one seem to be on a wrong position here - they are
dubbed in the later fragment of the text, which corresponds with this one, in rather a
different way: the peacocks shine and the nga kings are invoked to avert the
diseases while here they are to be averted themselves.
94 The fifth poison, that of exhaling (kha rlangs dug), is missed in the list given
above but mentioned in the later part of the text. The subject of the five poisons, with
alternative terms for some of them, is treated by A. Wayman [Wayman A.
Researches on Poison, Garuda-birds and Nga-serpents based on the Sgrub thabs kun
166 A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin)
klu rgyal chen po jog po ni
skyon ma
[b]stod
gos
la
phyag
tshal
dug rnams
[b]stod
dul
la
phyag
tshal
51
A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin) 167
nad rnams dul la phyag tshal bstod
List of literature
Additional Tibetan texts
Dpal mgon po nag po bsgrub pai thabs / rmahklasdhana (The
Sdhana of r Mahkla), by Pindaptika; in Bstan gyur - Beijing ed.,
P.2633, rgyud grel, la, ff. 281a2- 282b2; Derge ed., D.1764, rgyud, sha, ff.
255a7-256b4.
Dpal nag po chen poi bsgrub pai thabs / rmahklasdhana (The
Sdhana of r Mahkla), by rya Ngrjuna; in Bstan gyur - Beijing ed.,
P.2628, rgyud grel, la, ff. 275b3-276a8; Derge ed., D.1759, rgyud, sha, ff.
250b4-251a7; in the Phag mo gru pa edition - Vol. 2, pp. 763-767.
Dpal nag po chen poi bstod pa rkang pa brgyad pa zhes bya ba /
rmahklastotra-padstaka-nma (The Hymn to r Mahkla in Eight
Stanzas), by rya Ngrjuna; in Bstan gyur - Beijing ed., P.2644, 2645, rgyud
grel, la, ff. 298a4-299a6, 299a6-300b1; Derge ed., D.1778, 1779, rgyud, sha, ff.
272a7-273a6, 273a6-274a6.
Bya rog ma bstan srun bcas kyi chos skor. Collected Tantras and
Related Texts Concerned with the Propitiation of Mahakala and His
Retinue. Arranged according to the traditions transmitted by Phag-mo-grupa. Reproduced from the manuscript collection formerly preserved in the
Khams-sprul Bla-bran
at Khams-pa-sgar Phun-tshogs-chos-khor-glin
by the
8th Khams-sprul Don-brgyud-i-ma. Vol. 1-7. India: Sungrab nyamso
gyunphel parkhang, Tibetan Craft Community, 1973-1979.
Rje btsun dpal rje nag po chen po la bstod pa / rbhattrakamahklas
The stanza in praise of the eighth Nga King, Ananta, the ruler of the ngas of
the South-West, is missed.
96
50
168 A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin)
Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, afd. Letterkunde. Amsterdam, London: North-Holland Publishing Company, 1971.
Gray D. Skull Imagery and Skull Magic in the Yogin Tantras, in Pacific World, 3 (8). Pp. 21-39.
Helman-Wany A. Fibre analysis of paper in Tibetan manuscript Dx
49
A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin) 169
178 (e-document).
Isaacson H. Tantric Buddhism in India (from c. A.D. 800 to c. A.D.
1200), in - Buddhismus in Geschichte und Gegenwart: Band II, Hamburg,
1998. Pp. 23-49. (Internal publication of Hamburg University.)
Menshikov L.N. Opisanie kitaiskoy chasti collektsii iz Khara-Khoto
(fond P.K. Kozlova). Moscow, Nauka Publishers, 1984. Pp. 61-62.
Narasinha Purna (Text with English Translation). Edited &
Translated by Joshi K.L. Shastri & Dr. Bindiya Trivedi. India, Parimal
Publishers 2003.
de Nebesky-Wojkowitz R. Oracles and Demons of Tibet. The Cult and
Iconography of the Tibetan Protective Deities. Delhi, 1998. (Classics Indian
Publications.)
Payne R. K. A Comparison of the Tibetan and Shingon Homas, in Pacific World. Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies. Third Series
Number 11. Fall 2009. (Special Issue Celebrating the Sixtieth Anniversary
of the Institute of Buddhist Studies 1949-2009.) Pp. 417-450.
Sanderson A. Vajrayna: Origin and Function, in - Buddhism into the
Year 2000. International Conference Proceedings, Bangkok and Los
Angeles: Dhammakya Foundation, 1995. Pp. 89-102.
Skorupsky T. The Sarvadurgatipariodhana Tantra. Elimination of
All Evil Destinies. Sanskrit and Tibetan texts with introduction, English
translation and notes. India: Motilal Banarsidass, 1983.
Sontheimer G.-D. Folk Deities in the Vijayanagara Empire: Narasimha
and Law. New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Mahonar,
2004. Pp. 327-351.
Sperling E. Rtsa-mi Lo-ts-ba Sangs-rgyas grags and the Tangut
Background to Early Mongol-Tibetan Relations, in - Tibetan Studies:
Proceedings of the 6th Seminar of the International Association of Tibetan
Studies. Fagernes 1992 Volume 2, edited by Per Kvarene. Oslo: Institute for
48
170 A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin)
based on the Sgrub thabs kun btus, in - Journal of the Tibet Society, 1987.
Pp. 63-80.
Zorin A. The Collection of Dunhuang Tibetan Texts Kept at the IOM
RAS, in - Dunhuang Studies: Prospects and Problems for the Coming
Second Century of Research. Ed. by I. Popova and Liu Yi. St. Petersburg,
Slavia Publishers 2012. Pp. 365-367.
Zorin A. Hindu-Buddhist Syncretism in the Trans-Himalaya and
Southeast Asia: An Attempt of Comparative Study of Religious Literature of
Tibet and Bali (forthcoming).
Zorin A. On an Unique Tibetan Manuscript Mistakenly Included into
the Dunhuang Collection, in - Talking about Dunhuang on the Riverside of
the Neva. Ed. by TAKATA Tokio. Institute for Research in Humanities,
Kyoto University, 2012. Pp. 39-51.
Zorin A. Texts on Tantric Fierce Rites from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll
Kept at the IOM RAS, in - Buddhism and Society. Papers for the International
Conference on Buddhism and Society, 13-15 January 2013. Sarnath,
Varanasi: Central University of Tibetan Studies, 2013. Pp. 118-132.
Zorin A. U istokov tibetskoy poezii. Buddiyskie gimny v tibetskoy
literature VIII-XIV vv. St Petersburg, Peterburgskoe Vostokovedenie
47
A Collection of Tantric Ritual Texts from an Ancient Tibetan Scroll (Zorin) 171
Publishers 2010.
Electronic catalogues
Dalton J., van Schaik S. Catalogue of the Tibetan Tantric Manuscripts
from Dunhuang in the Stein Collection. Second electronic edition. IDP, 2007:
http://idp.bl.uk/database/oo_cat.a4d?shortref=Dalton_vanSchaik_2005
[31.01.2013].
Himalayan Art Resources: http://www.himalayanart.org/image.cfm/
517.html [10.12.2012].
Researcher,
Institute of Oriental Manuscripts
Russian Academy of Sciences
Research Fellow,
International Institute
for Buddhist Studies
46