Hevajratantra

The Hevajratantra is the most important scripture The cult had among its initiates a number of
of the yoginītantra class. Shortly after its appear- monarchs and courtiers. In India, the ruler of Khasa,
ance around 900 ce in East India (Davidson, 2004, Aśokacalla is described as a worshipper of Hevajra
41), it engendered – or promoted in a codified on an inscription from Bodh Gaya dated 1194 ce by
form – a widespread and influential cult of its epon- one of his dependents (Vidyavinoda, 1913–1914, 30).
ymous deity and his retinue; its teachings became The Mongol rulers Godan and Qubilai were initi-
of such authority that there were hardly any eso- ated by the Tibetan masters Sa skya paṇḍita (1182–
teric Buddhist authors who could afford to ignore 1251 ce) and his nephew, ’Phags pa (1239–1280 ce)
them. While the text continued the antinomian respectively (Willemen, 1983, 16). A Čam inscription
tradition set out in the Guhyasamājatantra and from 1194 ce (Finot, 1904, 973, 975) celebrating the
the Sarvabuddhasamāyogaḍākinījālaśaṃvara, it also military victory of Vidyānandana, the future king
introduced a number of innovations – most impor- Sūryavarman, over a Khmer expedition, records
tantly the doctrine of the four blisses – and it is the building of a Heruka temple (śrīherukaharmya),
noted for skillfully blending the world of tantric which could possibly have been a Hevajra place of
ritual practice and n
­ on-esoteric Mahāyāna doctrine. worship.
Compared to the other emblematic yoginītantra, The Hevajratantra was the first yoginītantra to
the Herukābhidhāna, the Hevajratantra can be said be fully edited and translated by modern scholars.
to contain much more theological and philosophi- D.L. Snellgrove’s (1959) pioneering work was slightly
cal material, showing a confident grounding in the improved upon by G.W. Farrow and I. Menon (1992),
Buddhist world. and some progress towards a comprehensive criti-
The basic scripture was followed by vigorous cal edition, which remains one of the great desider-
exegesis in the form of further, explanatory scrip- ata of esoteric Buddhist studies, has been achieved
tures, commentaries proper, and a large body of by the awkwardly constituted but useful editions of
satellite texts. The tantra was translated into Chi- R.S. Tripathi and T.S. Negi (2001; 2006). R.F. Meyer’s
nese by *Dharmapāla (Fahu [法護]) in 1055 ce and German translation (2005–2006) is not based on
into Tibetan at roughly the same time by Gayādhara such an effort. For the time being, it would seem
and ’Brog mi Shā kya ye shes (D 417–418/P 10; the that the text was transmitted in a fairly stable form,
two main chapters are numerated separately in the although signs of redaction and possibly slightly dif-
Derge edition). While until the advent of the Yuan ferent recensions exist.
dynasty it failed to gain momentum in China, the
Hevajratantra inspired hundreds of further works in
Tibet (Sobisch, 2008). Structure and Synopsis of Contents
Judging from statuary and other material evi-
dence, the teachings of the Hevajratantra were The Hevajratantra consists of two main chapters
transmitted in some form to various parts of South- (or “books”, “parts”) called kalpas, which are usu-
east Asia (see Lobo, 1998, for the Khmer realm; for ally divided into 11 and 12 subchapters, and named
Sumatra, see Griffiths, 2014, 228–230, where the cult “The Chapter of the Awakening of Vajragarbha”
survived until the 14th century; Reichle, 2007, 139). (who is the petitioner of most of the text) and “The
That the Hevajratantra came to be the emblematic Chapter of Illusion,” respectively. (Below the kalpas
esoteric Buddhist scripture is suggested by the fact are indicated with upper case Roman I and II, the
that the Śaiva exegete Jayaratha (fl. c. 1213–1236 subchapters in lower case, and verses with Arabic
ce) quoted it with approval, though without actu- numerals.) Because of this feature, the text is very
ally naming the text (e.g. Tantrālokaviveka ad often referred to as “the king [of tantras] in two
­Abhinavagupta’s Tantrāloka 4.243, Shâstrî, 1921, 269; chapters” (dvikalparāja). Some ancillary tantras
there are two or three further possible quotations). and commentaries state that the two chapters were

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2015 BEB, vol. I

Also available online – www.brill
 Hevajratantra 335
extracted from a mythical Ur-tantra in 32 chapters. of body, speech, and mind, a protective spell to
There is a chance that the Hevajratantra itself refers purify the ground for ritual purposes, spells for vari-
to some such concept (I.xi.12). ous aggressive rites, and other minor rites such as
weather magic, martial magic, and chasing away
I.i: On the Vajra Family wild animals.
The text opens with a modified etiological passage: it
does contain the customary opening formula (evaṃ I.iii: On the Deity/Deities
mayā śrutam etc.), but here the lord is said to have This subchapter describes the deity Hevajra with
been abiding in the womb of vajra women. This some details for the procedure of visualization.
opening is inherited from the Guhyasamājatantra. He arises from the seed syllable hūṃ, which arises
Although the role of the petitioner is assumed from a vajra, he is dark in color, and is surrounded
mostly by the bodhisattva Vajragarbha (a role by eight goddesses who worship him. Their names
sometimes handed over to the consort of Hevajra are Gaurī, Caurī, Vetālī/Vettālī, Ghasmarī, Pukkasī,
and other goddesses), the first words are spoken Śavarī, Caṇḍālī, and Ḍombī. It is noteworthy that
by the lord himself. This is an exhortation to the the latter four are named after various outcaste
retinue to hear about Hevajra, who is the essence groups. There are only minor differences between
of three beings (sattva): vajrasattva, mahāsattva, this retinue and that of Heruka in the Sarvabuddha-
and samayasattva. Vajragarbha intervenes and samāyogaḍākinījālaśaṃvara. The symbolism of the
asks for clarification regarding these three, which is cremation ground, where the deity and its retinue
given. He then asks about the name Hevajra itself. reside, is prominent. The closing part gives the
The answer is that he means great compassion, particulars for two ectypes, a ­four-armed and a
whereas vajra means wisdom; the name symbolizes ­six-armed Hevajra. The former holds a skull bowl
the union of the two. A short overview of contents filled with blood, a vajra, and embraces his consort,
follows. The lord then teaches the philosophical here called Vajravārāhī (who is otherwise the con-
background with which Hevajra/Heruka should be sort of Śaṃvara). The latter has three faces, holds
visualized. Vajragarbha then asks about the tubes a trident, a vajra, a bell, a c­ hopping-flaying knife,
(nāḍī) that pervade the body. These are taught to and embraces his consort, who in this case is called
be 32 in number, among them three are the most Vajraśṛṅkhalā.
important ones (lalanā, rasanā, and the central
avadhūtī). The names of the four wheels (cakra) are I.iv: On Consecration by the Deities
also given: three are named after the three bodies The very short fourth subchapter describes the visu-
of the Buddha (nirmāṇa, saṃbhoga, dharma), the alization of being consecrated by the deities (i.e.
last is that of great bliss (mahāsukha). A further list buddhas and goddesses) once the visualization of
of items in sets of four follows, with the implication oneself as Hevajra is completed.
that all these sets are somehow correlated. It is to be
noted that the text displays a peculiar predilection I.v: On Reality
for sets of four. The subchapter closes with a single As the title suggests, here the subject matter is more
verse on the yogic practice of “inner heat” (caṇḍālī; doctrinal than practical. Some verses are metaphysi-
better known in its Tibetan rendering, gtum mo). cal statements reminiscent of the Prajñāpāramitā
This particular system of tubes and wheels, as well literature, several verses teach details concerning
as the practice of caṇḍālī, are innovations of the text. the yogin’s consort, but one also finds semantic
analyses of technical terms and names, both tantric
I.ii: On Mantras and ­non-tantric.
The second subchapter deals mostly with mantras,
which are given openly (that is to say, not through I.vi: On the Observance
encoding and decoding, although that process too is This subchapter describes the ­post-initiatory obser-
used later). The mantras given include that for food vance (caryā), in which the practitioner is to assume
offering (bali), the seed syllables of the tathāgatas, the physical appearance of the deity. He should first
the heart mantra of Hevajra, a spell to shake a city, gain a certain amount of mastery over yogic medi-
the seed syllables of the yoginīs, the mantras of the tation in a solitary place. Then he should acquire
­two-armed, ­four-armed, and ­six-armed ectypes of a young and beautiful consort, roam the land with
Hevajra, the seed syllables for the empowerment her, interact freely with all castes, eat and drink
336 Hevajratantra
whatever is found; in short, he should free himself between the tantric world of deities and the realm
of all restrictive social inhibitions. It is hinted that of Mahāyāna/Abhidharma doctrinal concepts. For
during the time of the observance (the exact time example, the four central goddesses with Nairātmyā
span is not given, otherwise typically six months), are said to be the aggregates (skandha), a further set
the initiate is free of all ritual obligations except rev- of four are paralleled with the gross elements begin-
erence to his guru. ning with earth, the 16 arms of Hevajra are taught to
correspond to the 16 kinds of emptiness, and so on.
I.vii: On Secret Gestures
The seventh subchapter is for the most part dedi- I.x: On initiation
cated to secret hand gestures (chommā) by which The penultimate subchapter deals mostly with mat-
male and female initiates can recognize and com- ters related to initiation (abhiṣeka). A diagram of the
municate with each other. The appropriate places deities (maṇḍala) is drawn with colored powders in
for such meetings (melāpakasthāna) are then listed, a carefully purified place. A consort is presented to
with the appropriate days for practice. Further the officiant, who copulates with her and makes the
doctrinal injunctions are given: the yogin is not to disciple ingest the resulting sexual fluids. After some
discriminate between right and wrong deeds, appro- elaboration on the four blisses, further details of the
priate and inappropriate diet, correct and incorrect diagram are given, such as the threads used to delin-
thought and speech. All movements and words are eate the diagram, its ornamentation, the symbols
to be considered mudrās and mantras of the deity used in lieu of the anthropomorphic representation
Heruka (i.e. Hevajra), for whose name a semantic of the deities, and so forth. The subchapter con-
analysis is given. cludes with a somewhat obscure passage concern-
ing the relationship between being embodied and
I.viii: On the Circle of Yoginīs innate bliss.
This subchapter gives further details about visual-
ization, especially about the retinue called the circle I.xi
of yoginīs (yoginīcakra). This consists of the main The last subchapter of the first kalpa is untitled;
consort, Nairātmyā in the middle, and 14 goddesses: some exegetes call it that “On Gazes” (that the prac-
Vajrā, another Gaurī, Vāriyoginī, and Vajraḍākinī in titioner should adopt according to the ritual he
the inner circle in the intermediate directions, the wishes to perform), which is indeed the first topic
octet already mentioned above in the outer circle, addressed. In addition, for each of the kinds of gazes,
with Khecarī above and Bhūcarī below. Their icono- phases of breath control and targets for practice,
graphic details are given. About halfway through such as grass and trees, are taught. A subsequent
the subchapter the text announces that thus far the passage describes a cannibalistic ritual performed
stage of generation (utpattikrama) has been taught, to obtain the power of flying; another, the practice
with teachings on the stage of the perfected/fully of the goddess Kurukullā for subjugation.
arisen (utpannakrama) to follow. This is described
in terms of sexual yoga, where the practitioner II.i: On Oblation into Fire
experiences the series of four blisses (ānanda): The first subchapter of the second kalpa does give
bliss (ānanda), supreme bliss (paramānanda), the various details about the oblation ritual (homa) –
bliss of cessation (viramānanda), and innate bliss the shape and size of the fire pit for example – but
(sahajānanda). The order is given thus, but later on it opens with a question about the consecration
in the text the last two are given in reverse order. (pratiṣṭhā) of images.
There were two schools of thought on this matter
and quite a lot of exegesis has been created around II.ii: On Ascertaining Accomplishment
this controversy (Isaacson & Sferra, 2014, 94–109). The main topic is the practitioner’s daily medita-
The subchapter closes with philosophical verses on tion: he should seek salvation by continuously culti-
meditation and its benefits. vating identity with the deity or deities. After a short
solitary practice he should obtain a suitable consort
I.ix: On Purification and continue with her. Various praises of the prac-
The ninth subchapter deals with the idea of viśuddhi tice are given and it is stated that all can benefit
(for an ­in-depth analysis of the term, see Sferra, from it, even the greatest sinners. The text reinforces
1999), broadly speaking a series of correlations the idea of gradual practice in two stages – that of
 Hevajratantra 337
generation (utpattikrama) and that of the perfected II.vii: On the Feast
(utpannakrama) – and explains the reason why it is The title again describes only about half of the
constructed thus (Isaacson, 2001, 468–472). subject matter covered. The subchapter opens with
details related to preparing and handling a book
II.iii: On the Fundamentals of All Tantras containing the Hevajratantra: it should be written
and Secret Language on birch bark 12 fingerwidths long with human blood
Here the yoginīs join Vajragarbha as addressees as ink and a stylus made of human bone. It, just as
and petitioners. The lord teaches elucidations on the painting, should not be seen by ­non-initiates
the initial word evaṃ, the four moments of bliss and it should be hidden on one’s body when trav-
and the blisses themselves, the four initiations, the eling. The second part describes a communal feast
maṇḍala, the vows binding the initiate, and further (gaṇamaṇḍala), which is to take place in a secluded
miscellaneous matters, some of which are reitera- area such as a cremation ground. Under the supervi-
tions. The last passage teaches the initiates’ secret sion of a guru, the initiates should sit on tiger hides,
codewords (sandhyābhāṣā). eat, and share liquor from a skull bowl.

II.iv: The Summary of the Entire Tantra II.viii: On Those to Be Trained

and Sealing The subchapter first teaches some physical and
Exceeding a century of verses, this is the longest behavioral characteristics that an ideal consort,
subchapter of the text; it is correspondingly com- who has already been described as young and beau-
plex and often puzzling. The lord is asked to provide tiful, should possess. The subsequent passage gives a
elucidations on topics only briefly mentioned in prayer (praṇidhāna) in which the yogin expresses his
previous subchapters. He addresses the questions hope to be continually reborn as a Hevajra initiate.
with due digressions. First, he proclaims songs in The final few verses describe an inclusivistic prope-
Apabhramsha, and then teaches various matters, deutic model to convert and train beings. First, they
such as elucidations about the communal feast, the should be instructed in standard Buddhist morality;
seed syllables of the yoginīs, the nature of semen/ then, they should be taught Vaibhāṣika doctrines,
resolve of enlightenment (bodhicitta), the sexual then Sautrāntika ones, then Yogācāra, and finally
practices with one’s consort, the bodies of a buddha, Madhyamaka; after this, esoteric Buddhism (Man-
further songs, philosophical aphorisms on libera- tranaya) in general, which culminates with the
tion, the food offering, and “sealing” (mudraṇa) – in Hevajra. (For this important verse and some exege-
essence, a kind of viśuddhi. sis on it, see Isaacson, 2007, 291–292.)

II.v: The Glory of Hevajra II.ix: On Decoding Mantras

Requested by Nairātmyā, Hevajra teaches the prac- The first topic to be addressed in this subchapter is a
tice of the ­sixteen-armed, ­eight-faced quadrupede rite to magically kill enemies of Buddhism. The text
Heruka and his retinue. This is the subchapter giv- continues with further viśuddhis and ends with the
ing most of the details related to visualization, daily system of decoding mantras (mantroddhāra).
practice, and incidental rituals. Details on the ini-
tiation rite are also taught; this passage includes a II.x: On Recitation
direct reference to the emblematic yogatantra, the The shortest subchapter of the text deals with the
Tattvasaṃgraha. various materials to be used for making the beads of
the rosary (again customized for various rituals), as
II.vi: On the Scroll Painting well as the corresponding diet.
After making love to his consort, Hevajra first
teaches the symbolism of the five bone ornaments II.xi: On That Which Has the Innate As Its
(mudrā) and only then details related to how a scroll Purpose
painting (paṭa) depicting the deities should be pre- The subchapter opens with teaching the bodily signs
pared. The text does not go into technicalities; it of affinity with deity clans and closes with instruc-
rather focuses on the ceremonial setting up of the tions on how to worship the physical consort (here
actual act of painting. mahāmudrā) sexually.
338 Hevajratantra
II.xii being only the Tibetan translation is available
The final subchapter is not named separately. It is (D 1186/P 2316).
very short and teaches verses that are to be used in A further ten commentaries are available only
sexual initiation. in Tibetan (D 1181–1182, 1184–1185, 1187–1188, 1190–
1193/P 2311–2312, 2314–2315, 2317–2318, 2320–2323),
including three that were possibly written in the
Commentaries on the Hevajratantra 10th century (those of Bhavabhaṭṭa, Durjayacandra,
and Padmāṅkuravajra).
At present we have access in some form to at least
16 Indian commentaries. Among those available in
the original, a pithy but most sophisticated exam- Satellite Texts
ple is Ratnākaraśānti’s Muktāvalī (ed. Tripathi
& Negi, 2001; a project to reedit the text has been In spite of there having been several initiation
announced by Isaacson), which “explicitly attempts manuals for this system, some of which now survive
to show that tantric practice of the kind taught in only in Tibetan, the only such work known to be
the Hevajratantra does not conflict with, but rather extant in Sanskrit is the anonymous and incomplete
is in perfect accordance with, the basic teachings of Hevajrasekaprakriyā (ed. and French trans. Finot,
(­non-tantric) Buddhism” (Isaacson, 2002, 151[80]). 1934, 19–48; ed. and notes Isaacson & Sanderson,
The author was active in the first half of the 11th cen- unpublished). The only such work partially trans-
tury (Isaacson, 2001, 457). lated into English, that of a *Prajñāśrī (Snellgrove,
Also available in the original is the Yogaratna­ 1987, 254–260), is very likely a canonized Tibetan
mālā of (a) Kāṇha/Kṛṣṇa (or *Samayavajra, or composition (Isaacson 2010, 273). Ratnākaraśānti’s
Śāntibhadra), who may have been a disciple of Hevajrābhyudayamaṇḍalopāyikā does not survive,
Ratnākaraśānti (Isaacson, 2001, 458) rather than a but the author himself refers to it (Isaacson, 2002,
commentator from as early as the 9th century (ten- 152[79]).
tatively dated so in Snellgrove, 1959, 13–14; accepted Among the practical manuals surviving in Sanskrit
without hesitation in Farrow & Menon, 1992, viii), (and also perhaps among all such works), the most
now available in two editions (Snellgrove, 1959; influential was Saroruhavajra’s Hevajrasādhanopāyikā/
Tripathi & Negi, 2006) and an English translation Hevajrasādhanopayikā (anonymous ed., 2003, badly
(Farrow & Menon, 1992). in need of revision; D 1218/P 2347). A commentary
Vajragarbha’s Ṣaṭsāhasrikā Hevajrapiṇḍārthaṭīkā on this text also survives, Jālandharipāda/Vajranātha/
is a commentary from the viewpoint of the Kālacakra Suratavajra’s Vajrapradīpā (the best ms. so far is
doctrine (ed. Shendge, 2004; Sferra has announced a NSUG Xc 14/38; D 1237/P 2366), which is yet another
new complete edition, some chapters of which have attempt to harmonize the meditation system proposed
already appeared accompanied by translations: the by Ārya exegesis and Hevajra practice. Continuing
first in Sferra 2009a; the tenth in Sferra 2009b). this tradition is Rāhulagupta’s Pañcakramānuttara­
There are at least two commentaries available in hevajraprakāśa (bar an apograph, the only known
Sanskrit, which have not been translated into Tibetan. manuscript is dated 1272 ce, microfilmed by the
Kamalanātha/Mañjuśrī’s Ratnāvalī (KLK 231), although Institute for the Advanced Study of World Religions,
the work of an obscure author, can be shown to have ­MBB-I-39, and the NGMPP, X 1504/1, this witness
been rather influential on the famous Abhayākaragupta. also contains an appendix on external worship; only
Kelikuliśa’s Trivajraratnāvalīmālikā pañjikā (a pho- partially matching translation D 1238/P 2367).
tographic copy is available at the NSUG Xc 14/36; Very carefully crafted practical manuals are
reported to have survived, KCDS, 146) is an attempt Ratnākaraśānti’s Bhramahara on the generation
to blend the Guhyasamājatantra doctrine and prac- stage (utpattikrama; ed. Isaacson, 2002; annotations
tice as taught in the Ārya school of exegesis with in Isaacson, 2007) and the same author’s Hevajra­
that of the Hevajratantra (Isaacson, 2009, 91). Not sahajasadyoga on the stage of the perfected (utpanna­
much else is known about this author; since the krama; ed. Isaacson, 2001); this latter work also
manuscript is dated to the 19th regnal year of (a) has a commentary, which survives only in Tibetan
Madanapāla, he must predate the ­mid-12th century. (Isaacson, 2001, 459).
The Vajrapadasārasaṃgraha of Yaśobhadra is A veritable treasure trove of practical manuals
suspected to be extant in Sanskrit, but for the time (but also hymns and other miscellanea) is an
 Hevajratantra 339
anthology preserved in a single, ­14th-century manu- inhabited (Kashmir, Jalandhar, Oddiyana, Bengal,
script from Nepal: the 272 folios preserve 45 works Assam are mentioned). A commentary on the open-
(including an exception, the Vajrajvālodayā by ing lines and various selected topics is by the Kash-
Ānandagarbha, which is a practical manual based miri *Prajñāśrīgupta (D 1201/P 2331), a disciple of his
on the Sarvabuddhasamāyogaḍākinījālaśaṃvara), famous compatriot Ratnavajra, who states that he
a large proportion of which has not been transmit- wrote to honor the request of a Tibetan, Rin chen
ted to Tibet. (For a description and list of contents, rgyal mtshan. However, careless editing suggests
see Isaacson, 2010.) that the text originally consisted of draft notes for
Among further surviving materials deserving himself and his disciples. Both were involved in sev-
close attention are Ḍombīheruka’s Sahajasiddhi eral Tibetan translations.
(Shendge, 1967), his Amṛtaprabhā (more likely a record A further, perhaps less significant ancillary scrip-
by a student, not a direct work; ed. Bhattacharya, ture is the *Jñānagarbha (D 421/P 13) in four chap-
1928, 443–449; D 1306/P 2436), and [an] Āryadeva’s ters, the opening of which explicitly refers to the
Pratipattisāraśataka (about half of the original Mahāmudrātilaka. Oddly, the Mahāmudrātilaka
survives in NAK 1–1679 bauddhastotra 14; D 2334/ also refers to the *Jñānagarbha; however, the con-
P 4695; perhaps complete in ms. reported in tent referred to is not to be found in the version
KCDS, 82). available to us, and therefore we must suspect that
this was a different text. The text as we have it deals
for the most part with topics related to initiation.
Ancillary Tantras and Their Exegesis A long, completely unstudied but perhaps impor-
Perhaps the earliest and certainly the most influen- tant, ancillary scripture is the *Jñānatilaka (D 422/
tial ancillary scripture inspired by the Hevajratantra P 14), on which two commentaries are available in
is the Ḍākinīvajrapañjara. A Sanskrit manuscript of Tibetan (D 1202–1203/P 2332–2333).
this work is reported to exist in China (KCDS, 140), This text, in turn, is referred to yet another, short
but for now we have access only to the Tibetan ancillary tantra, the *Tattvapradīpa (D 423/P 15), which
translation (D 419/P 11). A short commentary, the also contains a prophecy about the king Indrabhūti,
anonymous Ḍākinīvajrapañjaraṭippati (KLK 230) a seminal mythical figure who came to stand at
is available only in Sanskrit, whereas the original of the top of several initiation lineages. This text also
Mahāmatideva’s Tattvaviśadā survives in part (scat- attracted the attention of exegetes, whose works
tered: folio 1 in KLK 134; folios 2–15 in NAK 5–20; last are also available only in Tibetan: the *Ratnamālā
folio in NAK 5–23), and in full in Tibetan (D 1196/P of *Mahāsukhavajra (D 1205/P 2335) is a commen-
2326). Two further commentaries exist only in tary to the entire text, whereas *Prajñāśrīgupta’s
Tibetan translation (D 1194–1195/P 2324–2325). This *Ratnamañjarī (D 1217/P 2346) elaborates only on
scripture already states that there was an extensive the opening line.
Ur-tantra in 500,000 (units or verses) in 32 kalpas, The Sampuṭodbhava (on the constitution of
to which the commentator Vajragarbha, keeping which, see Szántó, 2013) is also mentioned by the
in line with a feature known to be that of Kālacakra Tibetan tradition as an ancillary scripture, but this
exegetes, claimed to have access. is perhaps merely on the account of the large num-
Another very important ancillary scripture, the ber of verses lifted over from the Hevajratantra and
Mahāmudrātilaka, survives in full in a codex unicus their compounding with passages from other texts.
(Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbe-
sitz, Orientabteilung, Hs.or. 8711, dated 1823/1824
ce); the Tibetan translation (D 420/P 12) is that of Bibliography
a different recension. This text also mentions the
same mythical source in 500,000 (units or verses). Bhattacharya, B., Sādhanamālā, vol. II, Baroda, 1928.
The main deity is similar to the ­16-armed Hevajra, Davidson, R.M., Tibetan Renaissance: Tantric Buddhism in the
but with 16 faces, some different implements and a Rebirth of Tibetan Culture, New York, 2004.
Farrow, G.W., & I. Menon, The Concealed Essence of the Hevajra
distinctive retinue of 32 goddesses. A commentary
Tantra With the Commentary Yogaratnamala, Delhi, 1992.
on the entire text is known only from Tibetan, that Finot, L., “Manuscripts sanskrits de sādhana’s retrouvés en
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Péter-Dániel Szántó