Introduction

i.1The Tantra of Black Yamāri, the Body, Speech, and Mind of all Tathāgatas belongs to a corpus of related tantras that came to be known in Tibet as the dmar nag ’jigs gsum‍—the cycles of the Red (dmar) Yamāri, Black (nag) Yamāri, and Vajrabhairava (’jigs).” These three cycles featuring different aspects of the tantric deity Yamāntaka enjoyed great popularity in Indian and Tibetan tantric Buddhist circles. While Black Yamāri seems to have been favored in India, Vajrabhairava was practiced more widely in Nepal and Tibet. The popularity of Vajrabhairava in contemporary Tibet is reflected in the Geluk (dge lugs) school, which counts him as one of the three main deities of the Unexcelled Yoga Tantra class, together with Guhyasamāja and Cakrasaṃvara.

i.2It has been noted elsewhere that the primary maṇḍala featured in The Tantra of Black Yamāri shows considerable similarities with the maṇḍala of the Guhyasamāja Tantra and the text itself demonstrates a number of parallels with the Guhyasamāja Tantra. Based on these correspondences, it is likely that The Tantra of Black Yamāri was in circulation in India by the mid-ninth century ᴄᴇ. The root tantra forms the core of a broad corpus of Indic commentaries, practice manuals, and ritual texts that are too numerous to list here in full. There are four Indian commentaries on The Tantra of Black Yamāri extant in Sanskrit and in Tibetan translation. The Saha­jālokapañjikā composed by Śrīdhara, is available in Tibetan translation and in fragmentary form in Sanskrit. Kumāracandra’s Ratnāvalī­pañjikā is available in Tibetan translation and in multiple Sanskrit witnesses. The Ratnapradīpa composed by Ratnākaraśānti, the Prekṣaṇa­pathapradīpa composed by Kṛṣṇapāda, the Ratnāvalī composed by Avadhūta Kumāracandra, and the Kṛṣṇa­yamāri­tantra­pañjikā composed by Padmapāṇi are all extant in Tibetan translation and preserved in the Tengyur.

i.3The translators’ colophon of The Tantra of Black Yamāri reports that it was translated into Tibetan by the Indian master Atiśa Dīpaṅkaraśrījñāna (982–1054 ᴄᴇ) and the Tibetan translator Tsültrim Gyalwa (tshul khrims rgyal ba, 1011–64 ᴄᴇ), who is also known as Nagtso Lotsāwa (nag ’tsho lo tsA ba). The translation was subsequently revised twice, once by Darma Drak (dar ma grags) and then again by Ra Lotsāwa Dorjé Drakpa (rwa lo tsA ba rdo rje grags). That it was revised twice by these two individuals is noteworthy insofar as the two are recorded as having been rivals.

i.4As indicated by the translators’ colophon, The Tantra of Black Yamāri was translated during the later dissemination of the teachings in Tibet, which began in the tenth century ᴄᴇ. The tantra is not included in the catalogs of imperial-period translations, the Denkarma (ldan dkar ma or lhan kar ma) and the Phangthangma (phang ’thang ma), both of which were compiled in the early ninth century. The Denkarma lists only one Vajrabhairava-related text, the ’phags pa rdo rje ’jigs byed kyi snying po (Ārya­vajra­bhairava­hṛdaya), a Dhāraṇī. The Phangthangma records three titles which may be related to Black Yamāri. Taken together, the imperial catalogs report the earliest witnesses for the existence of the cult of Yamāri in Tibet, but it appears that The Tantra of Black Yamāri itself was not known in Tibet at that time. However, without knowing the contents of the texts recorded in the imperial catalogs, it is impossible to say how they may or may not be related to The Tantra of Black Yamāri and other Yamāri texts that reached Tibet in the tenth century and onwards.

Chapter Summary

i.5Chapter 1 begins with the standard Buddhist introductory formula “Thus did I hear at one time,” and sets the stage for the transmission of the tantra by telling us that the Bhagavat, in this case Mañjuśrī, “was dwelling in the bhagas of all vajra women, who are the essence of the body, speech, and mind of all tathāgatas…” Mañjuśrī’s main interlocutor in this tantra is Vajrapāṇi, who initiates the transmission of the tantra by asking Mañjuśrī to reveal the maṇḍala of Black Yamāri, the “enemy of the Lord of Death.” Mañjuśrī assents by first entering different meditative absorptions, and then gradually revealing the entire maṇḍala of Black Yamāri and teaching the seed syllables and mantras for the individual maṇḍala deities.

i.6Chapter 2 opens with verses of praise to the five main deities of the maṇḍala: Mohavajra, Piśunavajra, Rāgavajra, Īrṣyavajra, and Yamāri himself as “lord of the maṇḍala.” The rest of the chapter features instructions on how to arrange the primary maṇḍala for this tantra.

i.7Chapter 3 describes the summoning of the wisdom deities (jñānasattva; ye shes pa) and their merging with the five main male deities of a maṇḍala that features Mohavajra at its center. Following this, the text associates the maṇḍala deities with the primary ritual activities, and briefly describes the production of collyrium siddhi, swift-feet, pill, and sword siddhis.

i.8Chapter 4 describes the production of yantras and how to employ them in a range of different ritual actions, including pacifying, enriching, enthralling, summoning, paralyzing, and killing. This chapter on yantras is among the most extensive treatment of yantras in the Buddhist tantras.

i.9Chapter 5 continues from the previous chapter in presenting instructions on the use of yantras in the performance of various rites, with a specific emphasis on the yantras, mantras, and visualizations for the hostile rites of sowing discord, expelling, and killing.

i.10Chapter 6 is primarily concerned with the arrangement of the mantra syllables within the cells of the yantra. This chapter is also noteworthy for briefly describing the fourfold initiation of Black Yamāri, which consists of the crown initiation, sword initiation, vajra and bell initiation, and a fourth which is called “eating the moon.”

i.11The first part of chapter 7 offers instructions on how to perform the extraction of different substances from the world by meditating on the four goddesses in Yamāri’s maṇḍala, Carcikā, Sarasvatī, Vārāhī, and Gaurī. The chapter ends with a sequence of verses associated with the four initiations listed in the previous chapter.

i.12Chapter 8 begins with the preparatory rites for an initiation, including expelling obstructive forces and establishing the protection circle, bringing the disciple into the maṇḍala, making offerings and praises, and the mantras for demonstrating emptiness. Following this, the chapter offers instruction on the fire offering, and specifically the shape and dimensions of the fire pit used in different rites.

i.13Chapter 9 describes rites for the achievement of various worldly goals, such as making rain, healing snake bites, and so forth.

i.14Chapter 10 begins with a brief description of a ritual to locate, prepare, and resuscitate a corpse as a vetāla, presumably to be used in rites that are not explicitly mentioned. Following this, the chapter next details the creation of an effigy of Yamāri using various meats and other ingredients for the purpose of attracting a woman. The chapter then closes with a visualization of the different Yamāris and their respective association with the afflictive emotions.

i.15An eclectic chapter, chapter 11 initially continues from the preceding chapter by describing how each of the five aspects or forms of Yamāri manifest for the purpose of overcoming the corresponding afflictive emotions. It then proceeds to describe the practice of a number of different forms of Yamāri, sometimes quite briefly. This includes Vajra Yamāri, a hundred-armed form, a buffalo-faced form, Daṇḍa Yamāri, and a ten-million-armed form. The chapter then concludes with a description of potent ointments and beverages.

i.16Chapter 12 begins with songs sung in Apabhraṃśa to Yamāri by the four ḍākinīs Carcikā, Vārāhī, Sarasvātī, and Gaurī. A long passage on the characteristics of mantra recitation follows this, which includes a discussion of how mantras should be recited, what kinds of beads should be used for a recitation mālā, and the effect of different numbers of recitations. The chapter concludes with brief instructions on bali offerings and the appropriate gifts for one’s master.

i.17Chapter 13 presents the practices and mantras for Vajraḍākinī, Vajrapātāla, and Paramāśva, and describes the siddhis‍—remote, moving underground, and flight, respectively‍—resulting from their successful cultivation.

i.18Chapter 14 covers a range of topics associated with the maṇḍala used for the initiation. This includes the properties of the cord used to demarcate the maṇḍala, the dimensions of its various features, the colors of its cells, and the symbols that are to be drawn within them. This is followed by a description of the design and measurements of the ritual ladle and spoon used in the fire offering rite. After a statement about the efficacy of the maṇḍala, the ”vajra entry,” and the request made by the disciples, instructions are given on the creation of a physical representation of the deity. The chapter then concludes with instructions on the practices of Ekajaṭā, Pukkasī, and Mañjuvajra.

i.19Chapter 15 teaches the maṇḍalas and practices of Kurukullā, Jāṅgulī, and Vajrānaṅga. The latter is the Buddhist form of Kāmadeva, the god of love/desire.

i.20Chapter 16 focuses on the maṇḍala of the great Heruka, a wrathful deity associated with the charnel ground. Many of the primary deities in the Yoginī Tantras are considered herukas.

i.21Chapter 17 begins with the Apabhraṃśa songs of the four ḍākinīs, Cārcikā, Vārāhī, Sarasvatī, and Gaurī. They encourage Yamāri to arise from the nascent state of emptiness into his fully manifest form. This is followed by a succinct enumeration and description of the four stages of practice in this tantra: yoga, anuyoga, atiyoga, and mahāyoga. The chapter then lists the general samaya observed by the practitioner upon their initiation, and concludes with a series of praises to the realization of the ultimate state.

i.22The short final chapter, chapter 18, relates the origin of The Tantra of Black Yamāri.

About this Translation

i.23This English translation is based on the Tibetan text as preserved in the Degé Kangyur, in close consultation with the Sanskrit edition of the Kṛṣṇa­yamāri­tantra published together with Kumāracandra’s Ratnāvalī commentary. In the case of variant readings between the Sanskrit and Tibetan witnesses, the Tibetan reading was followed unless the Sanskrit clarified or improved the Tibetan. All other substantive variants have been noted. Our translation is also informed by the available commentarial literature, and specifically the commentaries extant in Sanskrit: Kumāracandra’s Ratnāvalī­pañjikā and the fragments of Śrīdhara’s Sahajāloka­pañjikā.

i.24In addition to the Degé version of the Tibetan translation we also consulted the versions preserved in the Stok Palace Kangyur, Phukdrak Kangyur, as well as the apparatus from the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) of the Degé Kangyur. The version found in the Phukdrak Kangyur was especially significant for preserving Dīpaṅkaraśrījñāna’s and Tsültrim Gyalwa’s original translation without the later revisions of Darma Drak and Ra Lotsāwa Dorjé Drak. Substantive differences between these two versions have also been noted. In the case of mantras, dhāraṇīs, and other passages rendered in transliterated Sanskrit in the Tibetan text, we have generally followed the text reported in the Degé Kangyur while allowing for minor revisions to clarify and improve the rendering, based on Sanskrit sources. Substantive variants have been noted here as well.