Table of Contents
Raktayamāri (Red Yamāri) - Red Enemy of Death / The Red Slayer of Yama - གཤིན་རྗེ་གཤེད་དམར་པོ་
This query has entries in the MITRA Lexicon: Tibetan (1) (https://dictionary.dharmamitra.org/?q=raktayam%C4%81ri&par=bo&ui=en)
Translation
Raktayamāri (The Red Enemy of Death / The Red Slayer of Yama)
Analysis and Introduction
Raktayamāri (Tibetan: gshin rje gshed dmar po, གཤིན་རྗེ་གཤེད་དམར་པོ་) is an important Anuttarayoga Tantra meditational deity (yi dam) belonging to the Yamāri cycle of the Father Tantra (pha rgyud) class, closely associated with the wrathful manifestation of Mañjuśrī. Standing as a central counterpart to Kṛṣṇayamāri (the Black Yamāri), Raktayamāri specifically embodies the transformation and transmutation of passion, attachment (rāga), and death into enlightened pristine awareness. Within textual traditions such as the Raktayamāritantra (Śrī-raktayamāri-tantrarāja-nāma) and the Sādhanamālā, Raktayamāri is invoked as a supreme subjugator of Yama—the personification of mortality and cyclic suffering—and as an ultimate remedy against the afflictive poisons (kleśas). Textual sources from the Dharmamitra Database (https://dharmamitra.org/db) preserve both Sanskrit tantric literature and canonical Tibetan translations demonstrating Raktayamāri's liturgical procedures, visualization practices (sādhana), and symbolic iconography. Ascribed masters of his transmission lineage include the Indian mahāsiddha Virūpākṣapāda (Virūpa), who is credited with specific sādhana rituals invoking Raktayamāri wielding the iron hook (aṅkuśa) and noose (pāśa), surrounded by retinue deities including Carcikā, Vārāhī, Sarasvatī, and Gaurī. The practices synthesize the recitation of wrathful seed syllables (such as hrīḥ, ṣṭrīḥ, and hūṃ) with internal yogic techniques involving vital winds (prāṇa), fierce offerings, and the vanquishing of the Lord of Death. References from the Dharmamitra Database Sanskrit See more Sanskrit results (https://dharmamitra.org/explore?search_input=Raktayam%C4%81ri%20&filter_source_language=sa&search_target_lang=english) Raktayamāritantra
Original: (18a4) vajrāmṛtaṃ tathā | eṣa yogavaraḥ śreṣṭha \ svayambhukusumapānavat || ༄ || (18a5) sarvvatathāgatakāyavākcittavajraraktayamāritantre caryyāsamayasādhanapaṭalaḥ ||
Translation: …likewise the vajra-nectar. This supreme yoga is the most excellent, like drinking the self-arisen flower. In the tantra of the Vajra-Raktayamāri of the Body, Speech, and Mind of all the Tathāgatas, this is the chapter on the accomplishment of the conduct commitments. Raktayamāritantra · SA_K12_Āgama_Raktayamāritantra-diplomatic:129 View segment Parallel — Śrī-raktayamāri-tantrarāja-nāma (Tibetan):
Original: རྡོ་རྗེ་ཆེན་པོའི་བདུད་རྩི་བཞིན། ། རང་འབྱུང་མེ་ཏོག་བཏུང་བ་བཞིན། ། འདི་ནི་རྣལ་འབྱོར་རབ་མཆོག་གོ། ། དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་སྐུ་དང་གསུང་དང་ཐུགས་གཤིན་རྗེ་གཤེད་དམར་པོའི་རྒྱུད་ལས་སྤྱོད་པའི་དམ་ཚིག་སྒྲུབ་པའི་རིམ་པར་ཕྱེ་བ་སྟེ་བཅུ་བཞི་པའོ། །
Translation: Like the nectar of the great vajra, like drinking the naturally arisen flower, this is the most sublime yoga. In the tantra of Raktayamāri, the Body, Speech, and Mind of all the Tathāgatas, this is the fourteenth chapter on the accomplishment of the conduct commitments. དཔལ་གཤིན་རྗེ་གཤེད་དམར་པོ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་རྒྱུད་ཀྱི་རྒྱལ་པོ། (śrī-raktayamāri-tantrarāja-nāma) · BO_K12_D0474:208a-29 View segment
Raktayamāritantra
Original: (18a6) || || atha bhagavān mahāpuruṣasamaya caccikākārā samādhiṃ samāpadya vajra- (18b1) vārāhyākārāṃ \ samādhiṃ samāpadya \ sarasvatyākārāṃ samādhiṃ samāpadya \ gauryyā- (18b2) kārāṃ samādhiṃ samāpadaṃ pūjāgītam udānayām āsuḥ || aḍeḍe \ raktayamāri gu-
Translation: Then the Bhagavān, the commitment of the Great Being, entered into the meditative absorption having the form of Carcikā, entered into the meditative absorption having the form of Vajravārāhī, entered into the meditative absorption having the form of Sarasvatī, and entered into the meditative absorption having the form of Gaurī, and uttered this song of praise: “Aḍeḍe! O Raktayamāri…” Raktayamāritantra · SA_K12_Āgama_Raktayamāritantra-diplomatic:129 View segment Parallel — Śrī-raktayamāri-tantrarāja-nāma (Tibetan):
Original: ། ། དེ་ནས་བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས་སྐྱེས་བུ་ཆེན་པོའི་དམ་ཚིག་ཙརྩི་ཀཱའི་རྣམ་པའི་ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན་ལ་སྙོམས་པར་ཞུགས་པ་དང་། ། རྡོ་རྗེ་ཕག་མོའི་རྣམ་པའི་ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན་ལ་སྙོམས་པར་ཞུགས་པ་དང་། གཽ་རཱི་མའི་རྣམ་པའི་ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན་ལ་སྙོམས་པར་ཞུགས་པ་ལས་མཆོད་པའི་གླུ་འདིས་གསོལ་བ་གདབ་བོ། །
Translation: Then the Bhagavān, the pledge of the Great Being, entered into meditative absorption in the form of Carcikā, entered into meditative absorption in the form of Vajravārāhī, and entered into meditative absorption in the form of Gaurī, making aspiration through this hymn of offering. དཔལ་གཤིན་རྗེ་གཤེད་དམར་པོ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་རྒྱུད་ཀྱི་རྒྱལ་པོ། (śrī-raktayamāri-tantrarāja-nāma) · BO_K12_D0474:208a-33 View segment
Raktayamāritantra
Original: | svecchayā jā- (37b3) yate viśvaṃ \ yatheṣṭaṃ sacarācaraṃ | apānaṃ guḍamedrāntaṃ \ sṛṣṭvā nābhau sumārabhe- (37b4) t | hṛtkaṃṭhagataṃ prāṇaṃ \ prāṇarandhrād vinirggamet || || sarvvatathāgatakāyavā- (37b5) kcittaraktayamāritantre parapurapraveśapaṭalaḥ samāptā || || śubhaḥ || ||
Translation: By one's own will, the entire universe of moving and unmoving things is born at desire. Having directed the downward-clearing wind (apāna) to the rectum and penis, one should properly apply it at the navel. The vital wind (prāṇa) residing in the heart and throat should then be projected outward through the cranial aperture (prāṇarandhra). In the Tantra of Raktayamāri, the Body, Speech, and Mind of all Tathāgatas, the chapter on entering the body of another is concluded. May it be auspicious! Raktayamāritantra · SA_K12_Āgama_Raktayamāritantra-diplomatic:281 View segment
Sādhanamālā
Original: raktapuṣpairabhyarcya sandhyārkanibhaṃ yamāntakarūpamātmānaṃ raktavarṇāṅkuśapāśadhāriṇaṃ dhyātvā tasya hṛdayaṃ aṅkuśena viddhvā pāśena galake baddhvā āgacchantaṃ cintayet | yadi nāgacchati tadā khadirāgniṣu tāpayet mantraṃ japet | iti karmaprasarāṇi tantre jñātavyāni | || raktayamārisādhanaṃ samāptam ||
Translation: Having worshipped with red flowers, one visualizes oneself in the form of Yamāntaka, resembling the sun at dawn or dusk, holding a red-colored iron hook and noose. One should envision piercing his heart with the hook, binding his neck with the noose, and drawing him forward. If he does not come, one should torment him in fires of khadira wood and recite the mantra. These ritual activities are to be understood from the tantra. Thus concludes the Raktayamārisādhana. benoytosh bhattacharya: benoytosh bhattacharya: sādhanamālā Vol. 2 · SA_MB_saadhanamaalaa-IIHK:3723 View segment
Sādhanamālā
Original: ādhiṣṭhānamantraḥ | oṃ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hū& hū& phaṭ phaṭ svāhā mūlamantraḥ | oṃ yamāntaka hū& hṛdayamantraḥ | || āryaraktayamārisādhanam ||
Translation: The blessing mantra is: [OM AH JIH KHA VUH HUM]. The root mantra is: oṃ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā. The heart mantra is: oṃ yamāntaka hūṃ. The Ārya-Raktayamārisādhana [composed by the master siddha Virūpākṣapāda] is complete. benoytosh bhattacharya: benoytosh bhattacharya: sādhanamālā Vol. 2 · SA_MB_saadhanamaalaa-IIHK:3630 View segment
Sādhanamālā
Original: nābheradhaḥ sadraktāṣṭadalakamalopari raktahrī&kāraṃ jvalantaṃ cintayet | tataḥ vu& ā& ji& kha& hū& iti mantrākṣaraiḥ samayadravyasevāpūrvakaṃ dvitricatuḥsandhyaṃ bhāvayet iti | mantrajāpaḥ - tadyathā oṃ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hū& hū& phaṭ svāhā | oṃ yamāntaka hū& | || āryaraktayamārisādhanaṃ samāptam ||
Translation: Below the navel, upon a red eight-petaled lotus, one should visualize a blazing red syllable hrīḥ. Then, preceded by the consumption of commitment substances with the mantra syllables vuṃ āḥ jiḥ khaṃ hūṃ, one should meditate during the two, three, or four periods of the day. The recitation of the mantra is as follows: oṃ hrīḥ ṣṭrīḥ vikṛtānana hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ svāhā | oṃ yamāntaka hūṃ |. Thus concludes the Ārya-Raktayamārisādhana. benoytosh bhattacharya: benoytosh bhattacharya: sādhanamālā Vol. 2 · SA_MB_saadhanamaalaa-IIHK:3649 View segment
Tibetan See more Tibetan results (https://dharmamitra.org/explore?search_input=Raktayam%C4%81ri%20&filter_source_language=bo&search_target_lang=english) bcom ldan 'das 'jam dpal gshed dmar gyi gzhung pod
Original: སུ་འཆར་བར་བྱེད་པའོ་༎ ཡང་ན་གཤིན་རྗེའི་གཤེད་དམར་པོ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་སྟེ་ཁམས་གསུམ་གྱི་སེམས་ཅན་ཉོན་མོངས་པ་དུག་ལྔ་དུག་གསུམ་དང་བཅས་པ་དེའི་ཚེ་སྲོག་ལ་དབང་བསྒྱུར་ཞིང་སྲིད་པ་བར་མ་དོར་དགེ་སྡིག་གི་ཤན་འབྱེད་པའི་བདག་པོ་འཆི་བདག་ལས་ཀྱི་གཤིན་རྗེ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་དེ་འདུལ་བའི་གཉེན་པོར་གྱུར་པས་ན་གཤིན་རྗེའི་གཤེད་བྱའོ་༎
Translation: …causes to arise. Alternatively, he is named “Raktayamāri” (the Red Slayer of Death) because he serves as the direct antidote to tame the so-called “Lord of Death, the Karmic Yama”—the ruler who holds sway over the life-force of sentient beings across the three realms bound by the five and three poisons, and who separates virtue from non-virtue in the intermediate state (bardo). Therefore, he is called the Slayer of Yama (gshin rje'i gshed). bcom ldan 'das 'jam dpal gshed dmar gyi gzhung pod yongs rdzogs bstan pa bsrung ba'i lcags ri chen po pod dang po/ · BO_NK007_(ja)001:6521 View segment
Ba ri brgya rtsa'i rgya gzhung
Original: ། བོད་སྐད་དུ། འཕགས་པ་གཤིན་རྗེ་གཤེད་དམར་པོའི་སྒྲུབ་པའི་ཐབས། འཕགས་པ་གཤིན་རྗེ་དམར་པོ་ལ་ཕྱག་འཚལ་ལོ། དེ་ཁོ་ན་བཞིན་དུ་སྡིག་པ་བཤགས་པ་ལ་སོགས་པ་སྔོན་དུ་འགྲོ་བས། སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་དུ་རྣམ་པར་བསམས་ལ་ཨྃ་དམར་པོ་ལས་སྐྱེས་པའི་ཉི་མའི་དཀྱིལ་འཁོར་ལ་ཧཱུྃ་དམར་པོ་སྟེ་དེ་ཡོངས་སུ་གྱུར་པ་ལས་མགོ་བོ་རློན་པ་སེར་པོས་མཚན་པའི་དབྱུག་པ་དཀར་པོ་ལ་ཧཱུྃ་གིས་བྱིན་གྱིས་བརླབས་པ་བསྒོམ་པར་བྱའོ།
Translation: In the Tibetan language: 'phags pa gshin rje gshed dmar po'i sgrub pa'i thabs (The Sādhana of Noble Raktayamāri). Homage to the noble Red Yamāri! Preceded as such by the confession of non-virtues and so forth, one contemplates emptiness. Upon a sun disc arisen from a red aṃ, there is a red syllable hūṃ. From the complete transformation of that syllable, one should visualize a white club marked by a fresh yellow head, blessed by the syllable hūṃ. ལྷག་པའི་ལྷ་རྣམས་ཀྱི་སྒྲུབ་ཐབས་ཀུན་ལས་བཏུས་པ་བ་རི་བརྒྱ་རྩའི་རྒྱ་གཞུང་རྣམས་བཞུགས་སོ · BO_S07_DBTU309:3784 View segment
Sa skya gong ma bka' 'bum
Original: རངས་ཤིང༌། ཨོཾ་ཤྲཱི་རཀྟ་ཡ་མ་ཨ་རི་ས་པ་རི་ཝཱ་ར་ཨཱ་ཀརྵ་ཡ་ཛཿ་ཛཿཧཱུྃ་བྃ་ཧོཿ་ཞེས་བརྗོད་པས་གཉིས་སུ་མེད་པར་བསྟིམ་པ་ལ། གཏོར་མ་ཕུལ་བས་གསོལ་བར་བསམ་ཞིང༌། རྡོ་རྗེ་ཐལ་མོ་ཁ་ཕྱེ་ལ། ཨོཾ་རཀྟ་མུ་ཀུ་ཊཱ་ཡ། རཀྟ་ཛ་ཊཱ་ཡ། རཀྟ་མུ་ཁཱ་ཡ། རཀྟ་ཤཱ་རི་རཱ་ཡ། རཀྟ་བྷུ་ཛཱ་ཡ།
Translation: …delighted. Saying oṃ śrī-raktayamāri saparivāra ākarṣaya jaḥ jaḥ hūṃ vaṃ hoḥ, they dissolve non-dually [into the practitioner]. One visualizes offering the torma (bali) and their partaking of it. Then, opening the vajra-palms, one recites: oṃ rakta-mukuṭāya, rakta-jaṭāya, rakta-mukhāya, rakta-śārīrāya, rakta-bhujāya (Om, to the one with the red crown, the red matted hair, the red face, the red body, the red arms!). sa skya gong ma :: SKYA462 · BO_S09_SKYA462:297 View segment