At that time the blessed Śākyamuni again directed his gaze at the realm of the Pure Abode and said to Mañjuśrī, the divine youth:

“Listen Mañjuśrī, divine youth, as I teach about the ways of spirits who possess other beings, and the accompanying auspicious and inauspicious signs.”

Mañjuśrī, the divine youth, rose from his seat, prostrated at the feet of the Blessed One, folded his hands, and said to the Blessed One:

“Good it is, O Blessed One! Please teach about the thoughts and actions (cittacaritāni) of beings who enter other beings’ bodies—the noble and divine siddhas, gandharvas, yakṣas, rākṣasas, piśācas, mahoragas, and so forth, and the human and nonhuman beings whose bodies are generated by different types of karma and who have taken different types of birth and have different forms and characteristics. Now it has come to pass, O Blessed One! Now it has come to pass, O Sugata, if you think that the time is right!”

Having thus spoken, Mañjuśrī, the divine youth, became silent. Having made his request, he now remained in his seat, waiting for Gautama, the supreme Victor, the guide of the world, the seventh of the victorious ones. Blessed Śākyamuni, for his part, taught the knowledge of the thoughts, actions, external aspects, and characteristics of such beings, and also the time when the possession occurs.

“A being who entered the body of another Can be drawn forth by the application of mantras. Some such beings seize a human being on earth Because of their desire for food.

“Others do this because of their cruel disposition; Others yet, because of previous enmity. Very fearsome, they seize human beings On the surface of the earth.

“Others again, themselves free from desire And bound by the pledge of compassion, May descend into this world of mortals And seize pure human beings.

“Among people, those who are praiseworthy, Pure, not deformed, and of clear complexion Are taken possession of, it is said, When the sun is rising.

“On such an occasion, the descent occurs In the evening when the sun sets, Or during the first watch of the night, When the moon is waxing.

“Such a descent is known to occur for the mediums Who are praiseworthy because of their pure actions, Always live in accord with the Dharma, And engage in virtuous and skillful pursuits.

“If they are as described, mortals can be entered By powerful beings who have extinguished their passions, If the place and the person are pure And the stars and nakṣatras are auspicious.

“Their descent may be observed On an auspicious day of the week And an auspicious lunar day of the bright fortnight Whose lunar asterism is governed by auspicious planets And perfect conjunctions. It can also occur when the moon is completely full.

“When powerful, desire-free beings have thus descended, They will be indicated by the following signs: They will remain floating above the ground At the height of a fan-palm tree.

“They will appear sitting unsupported In a cross-legged position, Saying various divine and peerless words, As pleasant to the ears as Brahmā’s.

“These great beings will speak About matters that cause them concern. Drawn by the uṣṇīṣa mudrās, They will come down to the ground.

“One should wait for the moment before the great beings touch the ground, And immediately present them with a welcome offering Consisting of water mixed with flowers of royal jasmine, White sandalwood, and saffron.

“One should thus promptly offer Water for the feet, prepared [as described]. The mantra practitioner should prostrate themself on the ground And, motivated by kindness, should supplicate the great beings,

“Who, for their part, Without any selfishness, Will say divine words With a pure voice pleasant to the ears.

“One who knows the mantras with confidence Should ask them whatever one wants. One should not be afraid at this time, But remember Mañjughoṣa.

“Forming the mudrā five-crested, Or another one that arises from the uṣṇīṣa, One should bind the directions, Including the ones above and below.

“The great beings will then tell everything From the middle to the end, And from the beginning to the middle, Truthfully, about the past, the future,

“And the present, as it really is. Such splendorous beings will express it. With unblinking eyes and without moving, They will look on without fear or hatred.

“Whatever they say is true And will not turn out to be otherwise. Regarding accomplishing what is to be accomplished, Whether it is power substances, the course of rebirth, the destinies,

“Or the attainment of pratyeka­buddhahood, bodhisattvahood, Arhatship, or the great awakening, it will inevitably come to pass. Similarly, they will correctly ascertain the buddha family Or the bodhisattva lineage.

“The period without the Buddha lineage And the powerful beings in the future — All this they will truthfully describe, Indicating also the time of their occurrence. The practitioner should speak, taking advantage of the moment, And not wait for another occasion.

“Whatever one requests at that particular moment, Motivated by good intentions, Will all be swiftly obtained— In particular, the mantra accomplishment. One will obtain all good fortune According to one’s desires and hopes.

“Having requested the great beings to depart With a prompt offering that is agreeable to them, The mantra practitioner should perform The bowl protection rite, following the prescribed procedure.

“One should place the collapsed body On a bed on the ground, And employ the mantra as taught by the victorious ones In conjunction with the uṣṇīṣa mudrā.

“Using this mudrā, or the five-crested, One should perform the protection rite. Then the being left behind on the ground Will become well in their body.

“This protection is prescribed For all possessed beings. Evil beings will not then be able To harm those used as such vessels. This protection is indeed great For people who become vessels.

“If the words of the [medium] are heard in midair, And the language is that known in Madhyadeśa, It indicates that [the possessing being] is of divine birth, From the Akaniṣṭha or other heavens in the realm of form. Other signs indicating their origin In the realm of form will also be observed.

“For the lords of the desire realm, Ruling over the gods of this realm, The signs will indicate their [relatively] inferior birth, And their speech will be very sweet.

“If they are divine yakṣas dwelling in palaces Manifested here on earth, The language of these yakṣas will be the same As that of Vārāṇasī along with Magadha.

“Similarly, the language of Aṅga Is known to be that of mahoragas. The language of Pūrvī Is that of the powerful garuḍas.

“Similarly, the same language That is spoken in Vaṅga Is also known to be the speech of kinnaras, And, as such, indicates them [as the possessing beings].

“The language of Oḍra is invariably That of the sword-wielding siddhas, the masters of magic. This language of the vidyādharas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“The language of Kāmarūpa is the language Of the sages who can assume any form. It indicates that [the possessing beings] Are the sages with the five superknowledges.

“The language of Samataṭa And the language of Harikela Are based on the sound ḍ And are indistinct and unclear.

“Languages where the sound l abounds Are said to be piśāca. They are found on the islands Of Karmaraṅga, Nārikela,

“Vāruṣaka, Nagna, and Bali, And also among the inhabitants Of the island of Java and other islands.

“Indistinct languages where The sound r abounds, Both wispy and harsh, Are spoken by the angry pretas.

“They are found in the southern countries, Among the inhabitants of Andhra, Karnāṭaka, Drāviḍa, Kośala, Aḍavi, And on the island of Siṃhala.

“Languages that abound in the sound ḍ, In combination with the guttural ra, are known as rākṣasa. They are spoken by people Inhabiting other islands.

“The language of the mātṛs of great vigor Is the same as the one just described; The languages that indicate [these mātṛs as the possessing beings] Are the western languages of Vidiśa and Mālava.

“If the language [spoken by the medium] Is recognized as that of Vatsa­matsārṇava, Śūrasena, Daśārṇava, The hilly Śrīkaṇṭha, or Gurjara,

“This indicates that [the possessing beings] Are the chief grahas, Āditya and so forth. If the language is recognized as that of Pāriyātra, [The possessing beings] are other grahas.

“If the languages resemble those spoken By the mountain dwellers in Arbuda, Sahya, or Malaya, Or those spoken by the inhabitants Of Khaṣadroṇi,

“They indicate that [the possessing beings] Are kuṣmāṇḍas and so forth. These languages are based on the sounds Śa, ra, ṣa, and sa; and ya, ra, la, and va.

“Languages abounding in the sound gha Indicate that [the possessing beings] are dānavas. Such languages are found In the countries of Kaśmīra and Kāviśa.

“All languages originate from the buddha families, [And the previously mentioned] belong to the family of Vajrapāṇi. For each of the main mantras There is one language that suits the best.

“Similarly, the Lotus family belongs in Madhyadeśa, [And the languages there] originate from this family. These languages, along with the outward manner of acting [Of the medium], will indicate an origin from the Lotus family.

“It has been explained earlier [how] to recognize [The possessing beings] as the sons of victors; The signs that betoken their freedom from desire Belong to [the family of] the victorious ones.

“The manner of acting [of the medium] will be particular To the place where the language [they use] comes from. This alone will indicate the [type of] the possessing being, As a sign that reveals everything.

“The languages of the people living In the foothills of the Himalayas North of the river Gaṅgā Indicate the yakṣas, gandharvas, and ṛṣis.

“[The languages of] the people living in the foothills Of the Vindhya Mountains south of the Gaṅgā, As well as of those who live In the Śrīparvata Mountains,

“Indicate the rākṣasas, ostārakas, pretas, The misshapen mātṛs, The great vighnas with terrible forms, And the fearsome grahas.

“[The languages spoken by these] greedy stealers of the others’ life force Derive from the languages of the people just mentioned. The signs that indicate the country Include the mode of acting particular to that country.

“The evil beings that speak these languages Express themselves through the possessed mediums. There are many such beings—those [mentioned] and others That act in manners consistent with their modes of existence.

“They have many different forms And many different characteristics. The different types of [possessing] beings Each have their respective type of birth.

“The symptoms observed in the possessed medium Thus indicate the type [of the possessing being]. One should truly endeavor to Bring happiness to all people.

“For protection, one should employ [the mantras] Of the divine youth who is the origin of everything. The mantra reciter can do this By means of the six-syllable mantra.

“Used in combination with the great mudrā And placed upon the five locks of hair, This mantra will afford great protection.”