The Vajrabhairava Tantra

"This book is a study and translation of the Vajrabhairava Tantra (henceforth, VBhT), a Buddhist tantric text in seven chapters that focuses on the means of attainment (såadhana) centered upon the wrathful tantric deity Vajrabhairava. The VBhT, composed in India in the eighth century and written in Sanskrit, is attributed to Lalitavajra (a.k.a. Låilåavajra), a Buddhist master (åacåarya) at Nåalandåa Monastery, who is said to have retrieved it from the land of Oòdòdiyåana. It is a work of great importance to the development of tantric Buddhism in India as well as to the understanding of Tibetan Buddhist history more generally. Like most tantras, it is a ritual text, dedicated in all of its seven chapters to the description of rites, such as the drawing of the sacred diagram (maònòdala), the ceremonies performed within it, as well as the performance of various rituals, such as magical rituals (karmas), fire offerings (homa), recitation of sacred spells (mantras), and so on. The VBhT deals with what might have been the earliest form of Vajrabhairava, the Solitary Hero (ekavåira), in the charnel ground surrounded by various mortuary objects, weapons, and eight zombies. All of these gruesome symbols clearly reflect the transgressive character of the tantra, associated with the tantric cult of the cremation ground and antinomian practices involving contact with impure places and substances as a means of attaining power. In the subsequent centuries, the pantheon of the Vajrabhairava maònòdala grew, giving rise to the Seventeen-and the Thirteen-Deity maònòdalas. The latter was directly influenced by the pantheon of the Guhyasamåaja Tantra, and could be seen as its direct evolution (Tanaka 2018, 323). Indeed, Thirteen-Deity Vajrabhairava gained widespread popularity also outside India-in Tibet, Mongolia, and China"--