འཕགས་པ་འཇམ་དཔལ་གྱ་རྩ་བའ་རྒྱད 140

140

“The steadfast heroes of the noble family,
Who are kind hearted and pleasant to behold,
Who understand the distinction between right and wrong,
Will gain accomplishment without difficulty.

“A mantra adept, conducting himself as described,
Should enter a village in order to seek alms.
He should go to a place as previously described
That is pleasing to him.

“Having gone there,
He should eat proper . . .⁸²⁷
Once he has settled in a clean place,
Living on alms and keeping his thoughts pure,⁸²⁸

“He should wipe his feet⁸²⁹
And go out of his dwelling once again.⁸³⁰
Using water free of living organisms,
He should place his right hand⁸³¹ on his right calf

“And his left hand on his left calf,
And rub them.
To prepare his right hand,
He should cleanse it by wiping it⁸³²

“Seven times with pure and clean clay
That has been prepared before.⁸³³
Then he should place,
In a clean and stainless pot,⁸³⁴

“Some fresh cow dung excreted from a brown cow
And purified by the mantra.⁸³⁵
He should add to it water that is free of living organisms
And draw with this mixture the maṇḍala of the Teacher.⁸³⁶

“Thus, one should first draw the maṇḍala of the best of sages,
Which should be, preferably, one cubit in diameter;
Then second, the maṇḍala of the lord of one’s own mantra;⁸³⁷
And third, of one’s family deity.

“The mantra practitioner should always draw the maṇḍala
Of that deity whose mantra he is reciting.
The fourth maṇḍala is said to be
For the enjoyment of all sentient beings.⁸³⁸

“On the right, one should always draw
The maṇḍala of the lord of the world,
Which is for all the Three Jewels,
And should be square in shape.

“Second is the maṇḍala for pratyeka­buddhas,
And the third for the sons of those endowed with the ten powers.⁸³⁹
These seven maṇḍalas
Should all have four corners.

“One should draw them either one cubit,
Or half a cubit in diameter, every single day,
In a secret place. Then, reciting every day,
One will be able to purify one’s sins.

“When rising after the ritual,
The mantra practitioner should wash his hands carefully.
He should perform ritual ablutions in clean and pure water,
Free of living organisms.

“The water should be taken, carefully,
From a spotlessly clean and pure dish,