Indian Tantric Buddhist ritual contains a water-offering ritual to the deities. This water-offering ritual is also performed as a part of the abhiseka ceremony and the homa ritual. Abhayakaragupta (11c-12c) describes this ritual elaborately in his famous ritual compendium, the Vaircivali-niima-mandalopayika, and in his homa treatise, the Jyotirmailjari. Similar descriptions can be found in Jagaddarpana's Vajracciryakriyasamuccaya. This article outlines the water-offering ritual mainly on the basis of these works and studies its characteristics. The water offered to the deities is of four kinds, viz., arghya (water offered at the reception of an honoured guest), padya (water for washing the feet), acamana (water for sipping) and proksana (water for sprinkling). Abhayakaragupta and Jagaddarpana describe the materials for the water vessels, the substances added to the water, the position of the vessels, the method of offering each kind of water and the mantras recited during the offering. Abhayakaragupta also mentions some variant opinions about the order of the water-offering and the body parts of the deities to which the four kinds of water are offered. Two points are of special importance in this ritual. 1) Only three vessels are used for four kinds of water, since one vessel is used for both acamana and proksana. 2) The water jar called Varvakrtkalaia (jar for all purposes)' contains water which is not offered to the deity, but sprinkled on the performer and the ritual implements. The water-offering ritual has its origin in the ceremonial reception of special guests already described in the Grhyasatras, and its counterpart can be found in the puja ritual (worship service) performed in Hinduism. Three kinds of water, arghya, padya and acamana, are offered at the reception of a guest and in the puja. The proksana water is sprinkled not on the deity, but on the performer and the ritual implements. The acamana water is offered to the deities for sipping and is also sipped by the performer. The water used in these rituals is of two types, water for offering to the deities and water for the performer's purification. Arghya and padya belong to the former type and proksana originally forms part of the latter type. Acamana belongs to both types. While in Hindu ritual the act of proksana refers to sprinkling water on the performer, in the water-offering ritual described by Abhayakaragupta and Jagaddarpana, proksana refers to the water sprinkled on the deity, and for this purpose water from the acamana vessel is used. Sprinkling water on the performer is called abhyuksana and is performed with water from the sarvakrtkalaia. The proksana water is offered along with three other kinds of water. However, there is no separate vessel for proksana, and the water in the camana vessel is used.
