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śmaśāna-vidhi-nāma

The ritual of burning a corpse

    I prostrate before the blessed Vajradakini!
    In the [tantra] of Vajrapanjara it is said as follows.
    Put a vajra and a bell in your hands and place a tiara on your head. Having done so, fulfill the [previously taken] vajra vows and realize initiation by means of vajra initiation. Since the eyes, etc. [manifesting] dullness, etc., set up three vajras in three places. Through the bestowal of the vajra and the place of burning, the gathering of the true, which is composed in balance, is realized.
    Once seven days have passed, completely collect all the accumulations of bones. Wash them with milk and water with a pleasant odor. Make special stupas. When there for the sake of this primary perform ablution, bring the diadem, robes, etc., to the stupa. When you draw the appropriate mandala, practice the mandala and so forth. Realize initiation by water, tiara, vajra, lord, name and vase. When you conceive the form of the meditation deity, devata, introduce the jnyanasattva. Due to the preliminary actions, realize the blessing, etc., for the eyes, etc.. When you have done so, repeat the garlands of the mantra many times. Having made offerings, hymns, and nectar eating, repeatedly repeat the mantra. When you have done so, conceive a fire deity in the appropriate fire hearth. When you do so, ask the jnyanasattva of the deceased to come into his heart, into the chakra of Vajrasattva or the deity of meditation, devata. When you present the joining in unity in the chakra and corpse of his jnanasattva and the surroundings-svita, the essence of such a thing is called “Gathered as True.” If one does not otherwise do so, it is a mistake to destroy the stupa. Those who possess heart commitments proclaim such a ritual of burning a corpse on the basis of Vajrapanjara.
    Translated and verified by: the Indian preceptor Acharya Avadhutipa and the Tibetan translator monk Bari.
    Such are the precepts compiled by the great sage. In accordance with the lines about these, perform ablution after 49 days. It is not acceptable for a disciple to perform the burning of a teacher-acharya. If there is no one else, then visualize that the burning is performed by all the Tathagatas. If you perform the ablution for the bones, then conceive of yourself as a meditation deity, a devata. When you do so, by the light emitted from your own heart, the jnyanasattva is grasped. When you do so, enters the bones. Even then look at the space and the assembly of goddesses [ that are gathered] by rays of light from the heart. When you do so, all of them grasp the vessel and then visualize doing ablution. Proclaim the mantras and prayers “Wherever one is born...” and perform the ablution. Having realized the bestowal of initiation, wash the deceased. When begotten as a deity, bring forth the jnanasattva. To realize the bestowal of initiation upon him at the same time proclaim the clarification of the stanzas. Also in this way the approach of his disciple's heart is realized. Wash the bones [of the deceased] every day with water from a vase for seven days. Act in this way seven times seven, [performing actions] in three [time periods] three times. It is also said of practicing the recitation of one hundred syllables.
    Translated by Karma Paljor (O.E. Filippov).