Mahāmāyā Tantra

The Mahāmāyā Tantra (T. sgyu 'phrul chen po'i rgyud). A tantra belonging to the Yoginītantra and the Niruttara-yoga classes of tantra.

Title

Full title:

• Sanskrit: Śrī mahāmāyā tantra rāja nāma
• Tibetan: dpal sgyu ’phrul chen mo’i rgyud kyi rgyal po
• English: The King of Tantras, the Glorious ‌Mahāmāyā

Summary

The Dharmachakra Translation Committee states:

The Mahāmāyātantra, named after its principal deity Mahāmāyā, is a tantra of the Yoginītantra class in which Mahāmāyā presides over a maṇḍala populated primarily by yoginīs and ḍākinīs. The practitioner engages the antinomian power of these beings through a threefold system of yoga involving the visualization of the maṇḍala deities, the recitation of their mantras, and the direct experience of absolute reality. As well as practices involving the manipulation of the body’s subtle energies, the Mahāmāyātantra incorporates the transgressive practices that are the hallmark of the earlier tantric systems such as the Guhyasamājatantra, specifically the ingestion of sexual fluids and other polluting substances. The tantra promises the grace of Mahāmāyā in the form of mundane and transcendent spiritual attainments to those who approach it with diligence and devotion.

Text and translations

Sanskrit text

Recently the Sanskrit text of this tantra has been reconstructed, with the help of the Tibetan text and the extant Sanskrit commentaries, by Samdhong Rinpoche and published by the Central University of Tibetan Studies.

Tibetan translation

The Mahāmāyā Tantra was translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan by the Indian paṇḍita Jinavara and the Tibetan translator Gö Lhetsé ('gos lhas-btsas) (11th C CE).

Hindi translation

• Nyaupane, Kashinath (2016). Mahamaya Tantram (Sanskrit text with Hindi translation). Varanasi: Indica Books. 

English translation

• Dharmachakra Translation Committee (2026), The Mahāmāyā Tantra, 84000 Collection

External links

• Buddhist Deity: Mahamaya Main Page - at Himalayan Art Resources