notes

This item contains only one line: big kru prad nya pra ba'i no pyi ka ("thesādhanaofBhikṣu Prajñāprabhā"--note that the transcriptionno pyi kais derived from the Sanskritsādhanopāyika). Its relationship to the texts contained in the booklet is unclear--a similar partial inscription appears at the end of a text on27v.8:i ti/ prad nya pra. Furthermore, the same phrase appears in the middle of another manuscript,41v6.2:byi kru prad nya pra ba'i no pyi ka.Perhaps also relevant is the same distinctive writing which appears on the folio of another booklet,IOL Tib J 351/3, where it records the name of a scribe,Dge slong rdo rje. We may hypothesize that the present booklet and thesādhanacollection in41belonged to the same monk,Prajñāprabhā.

unidentified

The inner sides of the first and last pages of the booklet appear to contain the same text, although it remains to be verified whether the text is actually continuous from folios1v.7to28r.1. The whole text appears to be Tibetan transcription of Chinese.

dharani

This item comprises folios2rand28vof the booklet. The Tibetan title appears on28v.3along with a partial title in Tibetan transcription of Chinese:tshir kyu 'ji/ wur 'bu kye. The text on folio2r, which is written upside-down, contains an homage with much the same wording as the Tibetan title (2r.2), and more Tibetan transcription of Chinese:tshir kyu 'ji tse 'jin ding keg gyib she 'phun 'sing jung ning. Finally, on28v.1, above the titles, there is a transcription of a Sanskrit mantra, which includes an invocation ofKīlāya. These pages may be related to the Chinese text in item 2.

The relationship between this text and the Tibetan transcription of Chinese on1vand28rof the booklet is unclear.

ritual manual

This text is written upside-down and runs backwards from folios4vto2v. The text contains three rituals (cho ga); which seem to be parts of a single practice. The first ritual is a treatment for insanity based around a fire offering which begins with the throwing of various kinds of metal filings on the fire. Fivephur bas are used to mark out the five corners of the space. The practitioner visualized himself asVajrakhrodha,and recites the mantra:Om badzra ya ksha ma ne pad me hūm/ kar ma pad me hūm/ badzra tsag kra phaṭ(note the occurence of the elementmaṇi padme hūṃ, also found in the famous six syllable mantra ofAvalokiteśvara).

The second ritual (beginning on4r.7) is for "men with obstructed water and women with inverted wombs" (myi chus bgags sam/ bud myed mang la log pa'i cho ga). The ritual is enacted by the practitioner on the behalf of the sick person, and involves repeatedly knotting and untying a thread. The thread is wound around a shinbone (the gu), then mixed into agtor ma. Both the shinbone and thegtor maare cast away, symbolizing the casting out of the sickness.

The third ritual (beginning on2v.1) is for men under the influence ofnāgas, who suffer from aches and swellings or are crippled. The ritual involves moulding a frog from barley flour, making an ointment, and visualizing the overpowering of thenāgas by the deityHayagrīva.

ritual manual

This collection of rites can be identified by the occurance of themantraof the deityBhrukuṭithroughout:Om 'bur kur ti. This mantra is said to be derived from theno pyi ka(5r.3). Scattered references to fire offerings indicate that the rites are performed in the context of a fire offering. The rituals, all directed towards various worldly goals, are as follows:

5v.1: if you want a prophecy

6r.3: to bringgnod sbyinunder one's power

6v.2: to pacify malignant people

6v.5: to overcome wild animals

7r.1: to cause a spring to come forth to alleviate thirst

7r.4: to sharpen yourprajñā

7r.5: to accomplish various valuable objects

7r.7: to find a treasure

7v.5: to cure an illness

8r.2: to cure a severe illness up to the point of death

8r.5: to catch an illness-ghost (nad pa 'dre) with a trap

8v.1: to cut off curses and bad births

8v.5: to reverse water, making it flow upwards

9r.1: to make it flow downhill again

9r.3: to cure madness

9v.3: to not be bitten by a dog

9v.5: to bringsha druunder one's power

10r.3: to divide two lovers (pri ya)

10r.6: to reconcile two friends

10r.7: if you are unable to talk to others

10v.6: if you want to be friendly with another

11r.6: to bind someone

The rituals generally include a number of ritual activities, visualizations and recitation of the mantra.

ritual manual

This ritual manual centres on the practice of mirror divination (pra se na). The preliminary practices and visualizations (described from11v.3to12v.5) conclude with summoning the deities into the mirror. The divination ritual proper (12v.6to14v.8) begins with homage to "the noble bird khyung" (bya rje khyung). Then, pouring scented water into the vase is described as "being blessed as the sky-soaring deity" (nam ka lding gi lhar byin gyi rlabs); visualizing oneself as the deity is described as "resting in entering the sky-soaring samādhi" (bdag nyid nam ka lding gi ting nge 'dzin du bzhugs); and visualizing oneself sitting on a white lotus on a lake is described as "transforming oneself into the sky-soarer" (bdag nyid rnam ka lding gi bsgyur). A four-corneredmaṇḍalais set up (13v.4) for the ritual. The main ritual objects are the mirror (mye long), sword (ral gri) and fingernail (sen mo). Furthermore, an innocent child (byis pa gtsang ma) is required to take part in the ritual.

The third and final section of the ritual (14v.9to16r.6) is called "teaching the methods for being steady" (myi g.yo bar bya ba'i thabs bstan pa). This includes a ritual for bringing down a great rain which begins with settling in themahāmudrā(15v.1) and a ritual for throwing thegtor ma, which begins with settling in thesamādhiofVajrahūṃkara(16r.1). Note thesādhanainIOL Tib J 346, which is also focussed on the sky-soarer but bears little resemblance to this ritual.

ritual manual

This is a collection of rituals based around one deity, similar to Item 5 above. Here the deity isAvalokiteśvara. At the beginning of this collection, the deity can be invited with themantraofAvalokiteśvara(spyan ras gzigs dbang po), themantraof the thousand-armed form (phyag stong spyan stong) or themantraof the form calledAmoghapāśa(don yod zhags pa). Anothermantrawhich appears throughout these rituals, generally to be recited 21 times, isOm hri ha hum phat svā ha. Many of the rituals involve the concoction of medicines.

16r.10: when one is under the influence of spirits ('byung po), or under the influence of the tiger-headed demoness (stag srin)

16v.4: if you are under the influence of a curse

16v.8: if you are worried about the emnity of future enemies (dgra phyis)

16v.10: if you are afraid of the dark at night

17r.2: if a demon (gnod) arises in one's household

17r.5: if your crops or fruit are eaten by spirits (srin bu)

17r.8: if a women has a severe post-childbirth illness

17r.10: if you have a twitching eye,sha smaninside the eye, or cataracts

17v.3: if your eyeball is damaged, or cut, or veiled with red blood

18r.1: if you are trapped by a snake, scorpion or other poisonous creature

18v.1: if you are struck by misfortune and calamity

18v.3: if you are struck by silkworm sickness

18v.8: if you are struck by various minor illnesses

19r.5: if you have been burned by fire and the heat is unbearable

19r.9: if you have a headache

19v.2: if you have a earache

19v.3: if you have a fever

19v.5: if you have a'dreg na

20r.11: if you want theprajñāof a limitlessvidyādhara

20v.8: if you want to be freed from a prison

21r.1: reconciling influential planets (gza' shug) which are not reconciled

21r.3: again, if you are trapped by a snake

Note that in the pencilled roman numbers on the manuscript, folio18has been numbered 19, and all of the following folios are therefore numbered wrongly.

ritual manual

This ritual, which may be a continuation of the previous item, begins with instructions on the drawing of amaṇḍala. As the title indicates, this is a ritual for making rain. The ritual practice is centred onnāgas (Tib.klu), and variousnāgainvocation mantras are used, especiallyHuṃ na ga huṃ. TheKīlāyamantra is also employed (22r.5). As with Items 5 and 7, a number of rituals for specific purposes are then described.

24v.3: if one wishes for a child from a childless woman.

25v.8: to sharpen yourprajñā. This involves a visualization ofAvalokiteśvara, and a the recitation of adhāraṇīwhich is similar to thedhāraṇīof the thousand-armedAvalokiteśvara.

26r.3: to sharpen your focus (dmigs). This involves visualization of syllables, and then ofAvalokiteśvara.

26v.7: to protect yourself and cure the illness, when you are with a sick person

The ritual ends withmantras andmūdras to protect the body and remove illnesses.

prayers

A prayer toMañjuśrī, here addressed by the epithet "Youth with a Topknot" ( gzho [sic for /gzhon ]nu zurpud [sic for /phud ] ). The deity is entreated to be compassionate and to carry out the activities of an accomplished one (grub pa po'i las).