Yamari (gshin rje gshed) is a male wrathful meditational deity (yidam, ishtadevata) of the

Anuttayoga Class of Tantric literature. There are three divisions or sections of literature and deity
forms: Rakta (red) Yamari, Krishna (black) Yamari and Vajrabhairava (terrifying). The Krishna
Yamari can be divided first into two main types: New Tantras (Sarma) and Old Tantras (Nyingma).
Both of these traditions have numerous forms and appearances of the deity as well as numerous
lineages of practice descending from those forms. In the Nyingma Tradition the two terms 'Yamari'
(gshin rje gshed) and 'Yamantaka' (gshin rje thar byed) are often used interchangeably and the
majority, if not all, of the different forms of Krishna Yamari arise from the 'Revealed Treasure'
Tradition (Terma) rather than the Oral Tradition (Kama). For the Sarma Traditions of Sakya,
Kagyu, Jonang, etc., the Krishna Yamari lineages of practice arise from the Tantric literature of
India, namely the Krishna Yamari Tantra [Toh 467].

According to the Sarma Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism there are three principal forms of Krishna
Yamari. The descriptions for the three found below are composed by Ngorchen Konchog Lhundrub
(1497-1557) based on the Bari Gyatsa of Bari Lotsawa Rinchen Drag.