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Yoga of the Guhyasamaja Tantra

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YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA


The Arcane Lore of Forty Verses A Buddhist Tantra Commentary


ALEX WAYMAN

MOTILAL BANARS1DASS

Delhi Varanasi :: Patna


Professor Murray B. Emencau, Who set the standard difficult to sustain



PREFACE


The work here presented to the public is an organization of materials from the Guhyasamajatantra cycle, stressing the aspect of yoga, with sufficient introductory treatments to enable the reader to place this remarkable literature within the general frame of Indian thought and religious practice, which has already made world-wide contributions to the theory of yoga.

The set of forty verses was memorized for centuries by followers of the 'Arya' 6uhyasamaja tradition, which claims that these verses explain the entire ( Guhyasamaja) Tantra. I made up a title, the 'Guhyasamaja-nidana-karika, for those verses

(karika) which go with each syllabic of the initial sentence (nidana) of the Guhyasamajatantra. The verses stem from the Explanatory Tantra Vajramiila, and were extant in the original Sanskrit by reason of being cited in the Pradipoddyotana manuscript.

As the synthetic commentary on the verses became increasingly technical, considerable introductory material was indicated; and this grew to three introductions before I was satisfied with the standard of clarification. Thus the reader has a bridge to the verses, which in turn have been sufficiently annotated to bring out their individual character.


Having long ago become aware of the hazards of speculating on the intricate subject of the Tantra, I have tried at every point to bring forward the authentic and reliable passages, whether in Sanskrit or Tibetan. But I do not deny my own contribution of selecting, translating, and organizing this material ; and especially the decision to group the forty verses according to the steps of yoga.


Since most of the material in this book has not hitherto appeared in Western sources, certainly as far as English is concerned, I have preferred to give the original passages. However, I have omitted the Tibetan for Tsori-kha-pa's Mchan ligrel on the forty verses, because the interlinear form of this annotation renders it difficult to cite separately; and there arc some other omissions of Tibetan. The reader will soon notice my overwhelming use of Tsori-kha-pa's works. His writing is like the


personal message of a guru, for it is always to explain, not to conceal. The Tibetan chronicle called The Blue Annals has a most eloquent tribute to Tson-kha-pa for his authoritative works on the Guhyasamaja system.

The concluded research is the outcome of a long-time aspiration. My original delving into the major theories is found in my first major published article, "Notes on the Sanskrit term Jfiana" (1955). Already I knew about the forty verses and that they are quoted in the Pradipoddyotana because they arc mentioned in an important context in Mkhas grub rje's Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tantras; the late Professor F.D. Lessing and myself collaborated on a

translation of tnis Tibetan book during the 1950's even though it was not published until 1968. I realized that to do anything scholarly with the forty verses I would have to obtain the original Sanskrit, which was presumably in the Pradipoddyotana manuscript of the Bihar Research Society. During my faculty research in India from February 1963 to January 1964, sponsored by the American Institute of Indian Studies, it bccamc part of a wonderful memory

of 1963 Divali days in Patna that the Bihar Research Society in conjunction with the K.P. Jayaswal Institute graciously arranged for me to secure an enlargement of the Pradipoddyotana manuscript, for which I am most grateful. On December 24, 1963, the author was granted an interview with the Dalai Lama at Dharamsala (Punjab, India) during which His Holiness expressed delight to learn that the forty 'revelation' verses explaining the initial sentence of

the Guhyasamaja were extant in that unique manuscript. He mentioned a Tibetan tradition that there had been an Indian commentary on these forty verses not translated into the Tibetan language, and asked to be informed if such a Sanskrit commentary were to turn up. It is a spccial pleasure of this research that the present modest incursion into the vast Guhyasamdja lore leads to the publication in India of this commentary on the nidana verses, which thus

becomes an 'Indian commentary' in a sense. If an old Sanskrit commentary ever turns up, the contents should overlap, but the fact that the data has been silted through a Western consciousness will have brought many changes of outer form. Upon returning to my position of those days in Madison Wisconsin, with the help of the Tibetan version I edited the


forty verses in Sanskrit, which along with the Tibetan and English translations, heads the 'Documents'. As time went on, I collected materials for a synthetic commentary, on which account I must pay tribute to the remarkably convenient Japanese photographic edition of the Peking Kanjur-Tanjur and of

Tson-kha-pa's collected works, all of which has contributed so much to this endeavor. The early integrating labor was pursued in part-time research in the Fall of 1965 supported by Ford Area funds of The University of Wisconsin; and I tried out some of the subject matter in my seminars on tantric Buddhism at Madison in Spring 1966 and at Columbia (as a visitor) in Fall 1966. In Summer 1966,


I put together a manuscript that had considerable information on the subject. The Department of Indian Studies in Madison kindly afforded me secretarial assistance for typing up these technical materials. During the next academic year I decided to include even more new data while publishing such a book. During the Summer 1967 in a special teaching and research arrangement I>v my department in Madison, I selected from the photographic edition of the Tibetan canon a great amount of works or portions of works dealing with these and kindred topics. My assistant, Mr. Kio Kanda, duplicated all those pages on the excellent machine of the University-Industry Research Program in Madison by the cooperation of the ladies in that office. This provided me maximum ease of consulting texts as desired. In my new position at Columbia University starting in Fall 1967 I found some leisure from time to time for perusing more of

the relevant texts, and for making more use of the I'radipnddyolana manuscript, which however, is only of interest to me for completing this book. The sabbatical year (1969-70) allowed me by Columbia University afforded me some leisure for further improvements and corrections. I am confident that the delays have considerably strengthened the contribution to knowledge of this tantric system, and that any future investigator of this or associated Buddhist tantric literature will find in this a rich reference work. An important observation of comparing the basic text of the Cuhyasamajulanlm with its commentaries, and in particular, with the kind of ideas found in the forty verses and their annotation, is that the commcntarial literature brings forth an array


of data that is not at all apparent in the basir Tantra. This observation leads to the surprising conclusion that one rannot evaluate the Guhyasamajatantra in its edited Sanskrit form simply by reading it, which is the premise of the modern-day condemnation of the Tantra. Adding to the difficulty is the loss

in original Sanskrit of most of the commentarial works; which, fortunately, are almost all available in fine Tibetan translations. But few specialists arc prepared to exploit these Tibetan works. For example, the only published paper that I know of as employing Tson-kha-pa's Mchan hgrel to any extent is Giuseppe Tucci's "Some glosses upon the Guhyasamitjn." Tucci also explored the Guhyasamaja mandala in his lndo-Tibetica and in his work translated into English under the title The Theory and Practice of the Mandala. Without any reflection on those previous efforts, it still follows that the subject of the Guhyasamaja has an importance deserving its own book. I believe it fair to say that the very effort of integrating materials from the vast sources has brought this system into a focus not hitherto possible with those—other than Professor Tucci—who only brushed against it in the dark and then praised or blamed.


It is a pleasure to recall the helpful conversations with Dr. Rasik Vihari Joshi about some of the Sanskrit verses included in this book. An explanation is due the readers who experted this work to appear some years ago, since it was submitted to a publisher in South India late in 1960.

N. P. Jain of Motilal Banarsidass to have undertaken this work and given it a speedy processing. However, those who appreciate the appendixes should thank the publishing delay. Also, in the meantime Samuel Wciscr, Inc . of New York, published another work of mine on the Buddhist Tantras, with materials mostly different from the content of the present work , just as this one is so different from .\lkhas grub rje's Fundamentals ,f the Huddhiit Tantras. This should point attention to the almost inexhaustible character of the Buddhist Taniras.


I. The Guhyasamaja-nidana-karika (Sanskrit-Tibetan-English)



DOCUMENTS


THE PURPOSE OF placing the documents first is to expose the Guhyasamajatantra on its literal level. This was always the initial step in the traditional understanding of Buddhism, pursuant to the 'three instructions' (fikfa-traya), 'insight consisting of hearing', 'insight consisting of contemplation,' 'insight consisting of cultivation (or putting into practice)'. That is to say, Buddhism always acknowledged a kind of 'insight' (prajna) for the elementary step of exposure to the text when it was accompanied by devotion even if necessitating personal discomfort. The subsequent introductions,

annotation of the forty verses, and appendices, all represent the 'pondering' level for this study. While the documents provide the most elementary level of 'insight', the form in which they arc exhibited here has some advantage over their service to the reader of edited Sanskrit texts. In particular, a number of corrections have been made to the Sanskrit text of Chapters Six and Twelve, Guhyasamdja-tanlra,

prior to their translation. Again, a portion of the Pradi-poddyotana commentary on Chapter Twelve is presented from an unedited work, and the same holds for the forty verses themselves, here edited in Sanskrit. Also, the translations of the two chapters and the extract of comment on Chapter Twelve have been slightly expanded by the use of commentarial and subcommentarial materials, mainly available in Tibetan. Of course, the theory of 'insight consisting of hearing' takes for granted that the text itself is correct. Thus considerable care has been taken with the Documents to meet this condition laid down for 'insight'.

I. The Guhyasamaja-nidana - karika (Sanskrit - Tibetan- English). This section of the 'documents' exhibits samples of the languages employed: Sanskrit and Tibetan for research purposes , and English for translation and communication purposes.


Yoga of the Guhyasamaja Tantra

The nidana is the formula at the outset of the Guhyasa-maja tantra : Evam maya srutam ekasmin samayc bhagavan ijAjvatathagatakayavakcittahrdaya-vajrayosiclbhagi'su vijahara.

The word nidana is being employed in the sense of 'primary cause', that is to say, the cause of the entire Guhyasamdjatantra. The forty syllables of that formula serve mnemonic purpose as initials of forty verses (karika) :(1)E, (2) vam, (3) ma, (4) ya, (5) *ru, (6) tam. (7) e, ,8) ka, (9; smin, (10) sa, (II) ma, (12) ye, (13) bha, (14) ga, (15) van, (16) sa, (17)


rva, (18) ta, (19) tha, (20) ga, (21) ta, (22) ka, (23) ya, (24) vak, (25) cit, (26) ta, (27) hr, (28) da, (29) ya, (30) va, (31) jra, (32) yo, (33) sid, (34) bha, (35) ge, (36) su, (37) vi, (38) ja, (39) ha, (40) ra.


The original Sanskrit of the forty verses is here edited from the Pradipoddyotana manuscript, the Tibetan translation from the Derge Tanjur edition of the Pradipoddyotana and from the version of the Tantra Vajramald in the Peking Tibetan Tripijaka edition. There are relatively few textual problems. The Sanskrit manuscript gives the syllables ci and tta for nidana verses 25 and 26, but I followed the Tibetan phonetic transcription, since cit and ta

correspond more closely to the initial words of the Sanskrit verses. Nidana verse 20 has a defective pada in the manuscript, gacchaty indriyas tat tat. But the scribe had erased a syllable, leading to my solution : gacchann asty indriyas tat tat. The correction gacchann asty is justified by the Tibetan equivalence hgro bar hgyur ba.


The Tibetan text here presented follows the Vajramala except for some obvious corruptions remedied with the Pradipoddyotana version. The translation snaii ba gsal ba is the old one for nidana verse 4's dlokabhasa; the standard translation is snan ba mched pa.


II. Chapters VI and XII of the Guhyasamajatantra, translated into English

These two chapters arc selected for translation because they arc the most important in terms of commentarial literature for stating explicitly the steps of yoga underlying the entire GuhyasamSjatantra.

The portions of the two chapters which especially apply to steps of yoga arc repeated with explanations in Part Two (III. Introduction to the Yoga of the Guhyasamaja system). Here we may say by way of introduction that the two stages,


Stage of Generation and Stage of Completion, are represented by verse blocks in both chapters, while other blocks may go with both stages. In Chapter Six, verses 3-5 belong to the


Stage of Completion, verses 6-14 represent the prdndyama of the Stage of Generation, and 15-18 show the advancement to the pranaytima of the Stage of Completion. In the case of Chapter Twelve the Pradipoddyotana, inaugurating its commentary on verse 50 in that chapter says : "Having taught the mundane siddhi by way of the deeds of the yogin belonging to the 'Stage of Generation', now in order to teach the means of accomplishing the siddhi of mahamudra of

those situated in the 'Stage of Completion', there are the words 'i-ajrasamaya' and so on (of verse 50). Presumably these 'Stage of Completion' verses continue through 59. Then verses 60-63 show the steps of achieving those siddhis of the 'Stage of Generation'; while the verse 64 (on which Candrakirti has

the long commentary which is edited in the next section is understood to allude to the steps of achieving the siddhis of the 'Stage of Completion'. The subsequent verses can be understood to indicate both stages, by use of the four expressions of sadhana (elucidated in Part Two) which can be construed as the 'shared' (sadharana) terminology of the two stages.

The translations are made from the Bhattacharyya edition of the Tantra with the verse numbering in Dr. S. Bagchi's edition, and with some minimum expansion based on Candra-kirti's Pradipoddyotana commentary in the Tibetan edition with Tson-kha-pa's tippani Ml ban hgrel) thereon. Since the Sanskrit is readily available in Bagchi's edition and in the reprint of Bhattacharyya's edition, there is no reason to reproduce the entire Sanskrit text for the two chapters.


However, it has been necessary to correct the Sanskrit in certain places with the help of the Tibetan translation in the Kanjur and the Pradipoddjotana. And in Chapter XII, the lines of verses 39-41 have been grouped differently from the edited text. After this manuscript was being printed, I received from Professor Yukei Matsunaga his work, "The GuhyasamSjatantra : A New Critical Edition." Upon comparing his readings for Chapters VI and XII, I find confirmation for most of my corrections, in some cases from the readings he accepts, and in the remainder from the variants given in the footnotes. Following are the corrections which arc observed in the translation :



CHAPTER SIX


first 1 Incorrect reading Suddham Correct reading guhyam

3 manah santosanapriyam manahsarntosanam priyam

4 vaca kaya- vacakaya-nispadayanti samyogam nispadayet trisamyogam

5 bodhicitte ca bhavana bodhir vina ca bhavanam

6 vidhisaipyogam bodhisamyogam

9 jfianadain jnanapadam

17 mantra sarva

25 para karmakrt padakarmakrt

26 darSanenaiva darsane naiva

laksitam langhitam


CHAPTER TWELVE


Vers* Incorrect reading

2 prade£esu

4 siddhatma

5 martjusri

12 cintyadharma

15 vajra

16 trisahasram mahasuio brahma narottamah

25 cakragrasadhanam cakrakayagrayoga t ah

40 parakarmakrt

41 jarvasiddhinam

45 sattvarp

48 vajrasattvatvam apnuyat

50 siddhyartham

51 siddhyante

53 sarvasiddhinam


Correct reading prade>'e ca suddhatma maftju vajradharma tri vajra

trisahasram ckaiuro guhy adharo 11 amah j n a u a gra sad h a nam buddhakayagrayogatah padakarmakrt sarvabuddhanam sarvam trivajratvam avapnuyat siddhyagre siddhyagre sarvabuddhanam



58 karyaih drdhagra kayaih rddhyagra

59 vajrapani vajrapado

64 sarvamantrartha mantratattvartha

66 mantrena samcna

68 abdam ardham

72 dharmo vai vakpathah dharmatavakpathah


CHAPTER SIX Then the Tathagata Aksobhya-vajra entered the samadhi callcd 'Secret Diamond of the Body, Speech, and Mind of all the Tathiigatas' and pronounced this mantra which empowers the mind :

Om sarvatathagatacittavajrasvabhavatmako 'ham/

"Oni. I am the self-existence of the cittavajra of all the Tathagatas."

Then the Lord, the Tathagata Vairocana-vajra, entered the samadhi callcd 'Dustless Diamond Abode' and pronounced this mantra which empowers the body : Om sarvatathagatakdyavajrasvabhavdtmako 'ham/

"Orri. I am the self existence of the kayavajra of all the Tathagatas." Then the Lord, the Tathagata Amitayur-vajra, entered the samadhi called 'Nondual Diamond which is the Sameness of all Tathagatas' and pronounced this mantra which empowers speech:

Om sarvatathagataidgvajrasvabhavitmako 'ham/ "Om. I am the self-existence of the vagvajra of all the Tathagatas."

(1) One may perfect by these preeminences the triple diamond which has the Tathagata-secrets and the (absolute) abode which contemplates the (conventional) abode and is symbolized by the characteristic of mantras . Then the Lord, the Tathagata Ratnaketu-vajra, entered the samadhi called 'Diamond which is the Lamp of Knowledge* and pronounced this mantra which impassions:

Om sarvatathdgatdiiurdganavajrasvabhdvdtmako 'ham/

"OITI. I am the self-existence of the anuraganavajra of all the Tathagatas." Then the Lord, the Tathagata Amoghasiddhi-vajra,


entered the samadhi called 'Unwastcd Diamond' and pronounced this mantra of worship: (hp sarvatathSgatapujavajrasvabhavattnako 'haml

"Om. I am the self-existence of the pujavajra of all the Tathagatas."

(2) One should continually and methodically worship the Buddhas with the five strands of desire ( = sense objects). By the five kinds of worship he would speedily achicvc Buddhahood.

So spoke the Lord Vajradhara, master of the Body, Speech, and Mind diamonds of all the Tathagatas. Then the Lord Vajradhara, master of the Body, Speech, and Mind diamonds of all the Tathagatas, pronounced this secret mantra of all the Tathagatas: Orjt sarvatath&gatakayavakciltavajrasiabhaiiitmakn 'haml

"Om. I am the self-existence of the Body, Speech, and Mind diamonds of all the Tathagatas."

(3) The one who has body as the mantra visualized should accomplish, exhorted by speech in the mind, the 'surpassing one', 'successful one', 'one satisfying the mind,' 'beloved one'. (4) He should accomplish the selflessness of citta being visualized, (then) the contemplation of speech (vaca) and body, (then) the triple conjunction, (finally) the abode equal to space.

(5) The self-existence of body-, speech-, and mind-visualization is not reached by the praxis of mantra-body, nor is revelation in the absence of contemplation.

(6) Having pondered in brief this characteristic of body, speech, and mind, he should contemplate the samadhi 'Conjunction to revelation' as constructed by mantra.

(7) Then the glorious Vajradhara, accompanied by all the Tathagatas, and most omniscient oneamongall the Buddhas, proclaimed the supreme contemplation.

(8) One should imagine a moon disk in the midst of the sky. Having contemplated an image of the Buddha, he should begin the 'subtle yoga' (suk}ma-yoga).

(9) One should imagine a (minute) mustard seed at the tip of the nose and the moving and non-moving (worlds) in the mustard seed. He should contemplate the joyful realm of knowledge as ihc (highest) secret thai is imagined by knowledge.

(10) He should contemplate a solar disk in the midst of the sky, and having contemplated an image of the Buddha, superimpose it on that abode. Hiiml

(11) One should contemplate a bright disk in the middle of the sky. (Then,) he should contemplate a lotus and a diamond in contact in the manner of an eye. (12) He should contemplate a ratna disk in the middle of the sky and should perseveringly contemplate upon it the 'original yoga' (the syllables Om, Ah, Hum).

(13) [—omitted in Tibetan translation of the miilalanlra and in the explanatory tantra Sandhivyakarana—]

(14) He should contemplate a light disk in the middle of the sky. He should project (thereon) a Buddha mark which is mild and in differentiation the retinue.

(15) He should imagine with perseverance at the tip of his nose a five-pronged (thunderbolt) appearing like a blue lotus petal and in the advanced degree the size of a tiny barley grain.

(16) With enlightenment his sole aim, he should contemplate vividly at the tip of his nose an eight pctalled lotus with filaments and the size of a chick-pea.

(17) In the extraordinary case, he would construct therein (i.e. in the 'chick-pea') the contemplation of wheel and so on. (Then, he would accomplish the ecstatic basis of enlightenment—the store ofall (mundane) siddhis and the (eight supramundane gunas. ,


(18 He would project there in condensed manner what has been placed in the Buddha's enlightenment. He would draw forth the Dharma Word marked with body, speech, and mind.

(19; Then the glorious Vajradhara, the rcvealer of all the meaning of reality, expressed the sublime secret that issues from all the best praxis (carya).

(20) The wise man, provided with forms, sounds, and tastes, should contemplate for six months; and should also contemplate by offering the great offering to the secret reality.

(21) The one desiring siddhis as fruit should perform by using excrement and urine as (imaginary; food. He would accomplish the supreme reality and immaculate mind of enlightenment.


(22) He should imagine the great flesh as flesh for food. He would accomplish the mysterious body, speech, and mind that are in all siddhis.

(23) He should eat as food, the sublime flesh of elephant, horse, and dog, and not partake of other food.

(24) The wise Bodhisattva becomes dear to the Buddhas. Indeed, by this praxis one would quickly attain Buddhahood.

(25) He would become in the world Lord of the Realm of Desire (kama-dhdtu), the doer of deeds of the rank; the radiant, powerful leader, his handsome features gratifying the sight.


(26) He would assent to the world on sight, without being exhorted. This is what for all the Buddhas is the secret, the supreme enlightenment. This secret mantra is the reality transcending (the ordinary) body, speech, and mind. Ended is chapter six, entitled 'Empowerment of Body, Speech, and Mind* in the Mahaguhyatantra 'Guhyasamaja' of the secret and the greater secret belonging to the Body, Speech, and Mind of the Tathagatas.


CHAPTER TWELVE


Then the teacher Vajradhara, who has accomplished the supreme Jiiana, proclaimed the diamond of speech which is the reality of the three diamond pledges. (1) One should imagine this dance (nataka) among the natures pure by intrinsic nature, which are equal to the sky and have the intrinsic nature devoid of discursive thought.

(2) One may accomplish the sum of all siddhis both in a spot of a great forest and in a secluded mountain adorned with flowers and fruits.

Mam

(3) The contemplation of the maftjuvajra in the diamonds of (one's own) body, speech, and mind, is comparable to the maftjuvajra which radiates in the body, speech, and mind (of the three realms).

(4) The pure self, adorned with all adornments, shines with a light of blazing diamond for a spread of a hundred yojanas.


(5) The gods Brahma, Rudra, and so on, never see it. (Thus) the samadhi called 'Causing the disappearance of the highest samaya of the mafljuvajra.'


(6) Having caused what proceeds from the triple hook (i.e. the three lights) by means of the five samayas of excrement ( = sense object) and urine ( = sense organ) which arise from the inseparable triple vajra (i.e. the mind), he should contemplate it as cast into his mouth (=thc Clear Light).


(7) He should contemplate therein the citta as inseparable from all the Buddhas. It would have from that moment a light like that of the manjuvajra.


(8-9) Having contemplated by way of one's own mantra (Om), and having imagined the wheel with the light of a firebrand as the abode of all the Buddhas, one would be like a Buddha. As many as be the atoms of the 36 Sumerus corresponding to that (wheel), they are all like Vajradhara. (Thus) the samadhi called 'Pledge of the Wheel'.

(10-11) Having contemplated by way of one's own mantra (Hum), and (having contemplated) the Mahavajra in the middle of the mandala as the abode of all the vajras, one' would be equal to the Cittavajra. As many as be the atoms of the 36 Sumerus, that many will be the ladies (yofit) who are its abode of merits

(guna). Having made the obeisance of Rudra, he would be the Mahavajra of the three realms. (Thus) the samadhi called 'Diamond equality'. (12-13) Having contemplated by way of one's own mantra (Ah) the great eight-pctalled lotus, one would be the store of all dharmas equal to Vajradharma. As many as be the atoms of the 36 Sumcrus, the pure self causes them to take shape in the supreme mandala of Buddha offerings. (Thus) the samadhi called 'Lotus equality'.

(14-17) He stays serving the triple-aeon pledge of the five knowledge-bearers. He meditatively worships the three secrets of all the Buddhas of the ten directions. He should contemplate his own mantra (Ha) as the sword with a light equal to the five rays. Holding it in his hand, wide-eyed, he would be a vidyadhara of the triple vajra. Worshipping with the great (mystic powers)of the three realms, having bowed to Brahma, Indra and the Daityas, he, the solitary hero in the chiliocosm, would be the highest Guhyadhara. What one


wishes with his mind of the vajrins of Body, Speech, and Mind-it confers such a siddhi created from the cittavajra. Thus the samadhi called 'Best of all swords'.

(18-19) Having meditated 011 the pellet of Om, the size of a pea kernel, one should contemplate in its center the image of one's deity, imagining it in the 'mouth' the brahmarandhia). Immediately he would have the same light as the bodhisattva. the same light as the Jambu river, appearing like the 1 ism sun.


(20-21) Having meditated on the pellet of Ah, the size of a pea kernel, one should contemplate in iis center the image of one's deity, imagining it in the 'mouth'. Immediately lie would have the same light as the revelation-knowledge, the same light as the Jambu river, appearing like the risen sun.

(22-23) Having meditated on the pellet of Hunt, the size of a pea kernel, one should contemplate in its center the image of one's deity, imagining it in the 'mouth'. Immediately he would have the same light as the diamond body, the same light as the Jambu river, appearing like the risen sun.


(24-25) One should contemplate Vairocana stationed in the center of a clear sky. Having imagined a wheel in his hand, one would be a cakra-Vidyadhara. Having imagined the 'Great Wheel' family as the best praxis of Buddha body, one would enact with the knowledge diamond the best evocation (stidhana) of knowledge.


(26-27) One should contemplate a knowledge Aksobhva stationed in the center of a diamond in the sky. Having imagined a thunderbolt in his hand, one would be a vajra-Vidyadhara. Having imagined the 'Great Diamond' family as the best praxis of Diamond body, one would enact with the knowledge diamond the best evocation of diamond.

(28-29) One should contemplate a Ratnavajra stationed in the center of a jewel in the sky expanse. Having imagined a ratna in his hand, one would be a ratna-Vidvadhara. Having imagined the 'Great Jewel' family as the best praxis of Jewel body, one would enact with the knowledge diamond the best evocation of jewel.


(30-31) One should contemplate an Amitabha stationed in the center of the dharma in the sky. Having imagined a lotus in his hand, one would be a padma-Vidyadhara. Having imagined the 'Great Lotus' family as the best praxis of Dharma- 31 DOCUMENTS kaya, one would enact with the knowledge diamond the best evocation of lotus. (32-33) One should contemplate an Amoghagra stationed in the center of the samaya in the sky. Having imagined a sword in his hand, one would be a khadga-Vidyadhara. Having imagined the 'Great Samaya' family as the best praxis of kayasa-maya, one would enact with the knowledge diamond the best evocation of samaya.

1,34) The trident ( of Mahabala ), the knowledge-hook (of Takkiraja), and the other (symbols of the Krodha-raja-s), to be evoked by diversification of the vajra, are evoked with

meditation of that (Aksobhya) by means of the evocations of body, speech, and mind.

Thus spoke the Lord who is the vajra of siddhi-(revelation) belonging to the Great Pledge 'mahasamaya —the Diamond Vehicle). (35) As a special (or distinguished) case, the performer should continually evoke the diamond attraction (of four lineages of goddesses at a crossroads, a solitary tree, an ekalinga, or in a calm place.


(36-37 , Having contemplated the 'incantation person' of triple yoga (= born from the 3 syllables, Om, Ah, Hunt) as the vajrin of triple yoga ( having the stack of three sattvas), the hook for the ordinary body, speech, and mind, on the part of the 'Buddhas' (the jewel-like persons) who have jriana-buddhis i.e. seek the non-dual know ledge ; and having attracted, with the vajra arisen from the symbols ( =goddesses) of the ten directions, the supreme Buddha attraction that abides in the best windy mandala, he would partake of that. (.Thus) the attraction by the diamond of'symbols in the sky' (khadhatu-samaya = the goddesses).

(38) Having meditated on Vairocana, the 'Great Wheel' with the hook 'store of Buddhas', he should engage in the supreme attraction of the 'pledges' (samaya = the goddesses) by means of the thunderbolt (vajra), lotus (padma), and so on. (Thus) the attraction of the samaya (the yaksinis, etc.) of the three realms ('below the earth', "upon the earth', 'above the earth'). (*39) He should contemplate a Buddha image endowed with the best of all asppcts. And he should contemplate in


its hand the hook and so on (the differentiation of the hook) of body, speech, and mind. Indeed, with this yoga he would be a performer of the rites of the 'place' (the rank of Vajra-sattva).

(*40) He should contemplate the 'diamond of body' (one's own transfigured body) as endowed with the best of all aspects. Having meditated with the praxis (recitation of mantras) of diamond tongue, he would be equal to the Vag-vajra (i.e. Amitabha). When he offers the offering (i.e. one's own body) which is the best offering of the 'pledge' of the three secrets, he would be consummated.


(*41) This is the quintessence, the sum of secrets of all the Buddhas. Thus spoke the Lord, the great secret pledge.

(42) He should perfect the supreme triple vajra by the best pledge of 'great flesh' (the human corpse). He would become the Vidyadhara Lord by the best pledge of excrement and urine.


(43-44) He would obtain the five supernormal powers by the pledge-flesh of elephant. He would become the master of disappearance by the pledge-flesh of horse; the achiever of all siddhis by the pledge-flesh of dog, the supreme attraction of vajra by the best pledge of cow flesh. (45) When he is unable to obtain any (such) (dead) flesh, having meditated upon any one (of them), he should mentally construct (the flesh). By this diamond praxis he would become empowered by all the Buddhas.


(46-47) He should contemplate the Vajrin of Body, Speech, and Mind (-the samayasattva) endowed with the best of all aspects; then in its heart (on a moon-disk) the Jfiana pledge (= the jftanasattva); and on (the lattcr's) crown, the holder of the best vajra ( the samadhisattva). This gratification of all the Buddhas is the supreme method of pledge. Enacting it by the best pledge (yields) the finest creation of every siddhi. (Thus) the samadhi callcd 'Partaking of all the vajras of samaya and jftana'.


(48-49) Having meditated on the Vajrin (i.e. Aksobhya) of Huqi when there is the best pledge-diamond of the tongue, and having enjoyed by the praxis of the five ambrosias, one may obtain the triple vajra. This (same) pledge of Ah (for Amitabha) and Om (for Vairocana) is the supreme diamond


method. Indeed, by this praxis one would become equal to Vajrasattva. (Thus) the samadhi called 'Ambrosia-garland of Vajrasamaya.' (50) When he has the superior siddhi whose symbol (samaya) is the triple vajra (of Body, Speech, and Mind-the three lights), lie would become the vajrin (possessor of the vajra) of three bodies (the Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya, and Nitmanakaya). He would become the sea of wish-granting jewels belonging to all the Buddhas of the ten directions.


(51) The Diamond-soul shines on the worldly realm on all levels. When there is the superior siddhi of cakrasamaya (associated with Vairocana), it (the Diamond soul) becomes equal to the body of a Buddha.


(52) He would sport successful on all levels, numbering the Ganges sands. When there arc all the superior samayas (dakinis and dakas), he would become the Vidyadhara Lord.

(53) He shines alone in the chiliocosm during all disappearances (of speech activity and bodily members), he steals (the mystic powers) from all the Buddhas, enjoys the daughters of the best gods (such as Indra)—when he has the superior siddhi of all the samayas by reason of the potency of the kaya-vajra f = the Mahamudra'i.

(54) He sees with the diamond eye (the pure, refined divine eye), like a single myrobalan fruit in his hand, the Buddhas in the number of the Ganges sands, who arc stationed in the triple vajra abode.


55) He hears through the influence of supernormal faculty as though all around gathered to his car as many sounds as are revealed in fields numbering the Ganges sands.


(56) He knows, in the form of a drama, the thought- announced character (the 160 prakrtis) of body, speech, and mind of all the sentient beings in fields numbering the Ganges sands.


(57) He remembers, as though of three-days duration, the incidents of former lives occurring as he dwelt in sanisara through aeons numbering the Ganges sands.

(58 He emanates through the vajrin of magical power (rddhi) with bodies numbering the Ganges sands and adorned with clouds of Buddhas, for aeons numbering the Ganges sands. Thus spoke the Lord who has the supernormal faculty of


samaya, namely : the diamond eye, the diamond hearing, the diamond consciousness, the diamond abode, and the diamond magical power. (59) When one has the success of goal that is the Buddha's ( supernormal faculty, then he becomes equal to the v Buddha's body. He, the diamond of body and

speech (and mind), would roam the worldly realm on all levels, surrounded by retinues as numerous as the Ganges sands. (60-61 A) There are four (steps): I. occupation with the pledge of service, 2. arising of near-evocation, 3. evocation goal and the symbol, and 4. great evocation. Having understood them as a division of vajra, then one should accomplish the rites.


(61B-62-63) 1. He should contemplate the samadhi-praxis of service as the supreme revelation. 2. The deliberation on the bases of the vajras when there is foremost success is the niar-evocation. 3. The contemplation of the lords of the mantras is said to be the exhortation when there is evocation. 4. At the time of great evocation, when he imagines the form of his own mantra-vajrin as the lord on the crown of his head, he is successful because of the jftana-vajrin.


(64) One should create, everywhere and always, just with the knowledge nectar of scrvicc. For this brings to success the aim of mantra and of tattva, of all mantras.


(65) Success is always attained in spots of a great forest, places entirely clear of (other) persons, and abodes of mountain caves. Thus spoke the Lord with the diamond of Mahasadhana.


(66) Thus, the one of firm devotions (vrala) should perform the service by means of four vajras (the four in Chap. XVIII beginning with the'revelation of voidness'). Contemplating through equality (of oneself) with the three vajra bodies (of Vajradhara), he reaches success.


(67) The wise man, having contemplated with the knowledge diamond of reciting Om, that is, by union with the four temporal junctures (-the four goddesses) in five places (=the distinguished kind of the five sense objccts), engages in the vow ( = bliss). (68) The siddhi is easily attained when one relies on the vajrasamaya (the Clear Light in sense objects) for seven days


(by one of superior organs), hair a month (medium organ), a month or a half more (inferior organ).

(69) I have explained extensively by stressing the difference of days (for accomplishing siddhi in the Stage of Generation); (now) the siddhi that takes a half-month (the Mahamudra), is stated by sources 'the Tathagatas) of the high secret (the Clear Light). Herein is the domain of the Upasadhana-vow :

(70-71 ) May the glorious bolder of Buddha Body contemplated as the inseparable triple vajra, create for me today the place of blessing by way of the Diamond-bolder of Body (Vairocana i. May the Buddhas of the ten directions contemplated as the inseparable three vajras, create for me today the placc of blessing characterized as body. Herein is the domain of the Sadhana-vow :


(72-73 May the glorious speech-path of true-nature, contemplated as the inseparable triple vajra, create for me today the place of blessing by way of the Diamond-holder of Speech Amitabha . May the Buddhas of the ten directions, contemplated as the inseparable three vajras, create for me today the place of blessing arising from the path of speech. Herein is the domain of the Mahasadhana-vow :


(74-75 May the glorious holder of the Cittavajra, contemplated as the inseparable triple vajra, create for me today the place of blessing by way of the Diamond-holder of Mind Aksobhya . May the Buddhas of the ten directions contemplated as the inseparable three vajras, create for me today the placc of blessing, arising from mind.

76* Thercis no doubt that if there is a Buddha (=»yogin of Vairocana), a Vajradharma yogin of Amitabha), or a Vajrasattva yogin of Aksobhya . then if the deluded self

(mohdtman) would go beyond, it would become rent asunder.

Ended is chapter twelve, entitled "Instruction on the best evocation of the pledge' in the Mahaguhya-tantra 'Guhya-samaja' of the secret and the greater secret belonging to the Body, Speech, and Mind of all the Tathagatas.


III. Edited Pradipoddyotana commentary on Chapter XII, 60-64, and English translation

This portion of Candrakirti's commentary is devoted to defining the four steps of \dtlhana constituting the 'Stage of Generation' and then to explaining in detail the six members of yoga (fadaiiga-yoga) constituting the 'Stage' of Completion'. The part of the commentary on the six members of yoga is almost the same as is found in a work attributed to Nagarjuna, the fadangayoga-nama (PTT, Vol. 85). Therefore, this comment by Candraklrti may well have been a traditional commentary on the six members. At the end of the work ascribed to Nagar-juna (meaning of course the tantric author), there is presented the lineage of the fadahgayoga of the Guhyasamaja-. "Buddha Vajradhara; Arya-Nagarjuna; Nagabodhi; Candrakirli; Arya-deva; Sakyaraksita; Ratnamitra;

Dharmabhadra; Gunamati; ManjuiS rijflana; Amoghas ri; Vlrama t i: Vijayakirti; Varaprajna-dharmabhadra; Srlbhadra; Dharmapiila; Sakyadhvaja; Vagis-varakirti; Ratnakirti; Mahasthavara ; Srivanaratna; those arc the chief ones. Also, from Srivanaratna to (the Tibetan) Gnam-gan-rin-po-che; the chief one is Dharmabuddhi." However, the Karmantavibhuga cited within the commcnt is by Kluhi bio (*Nagabuddhi) who might be the same person as the Nagabodhi in the above lineage list.


Here I omit the verse numbers assigned in Bagchi's edition to the block of verses which Candraklrti cites from the Guhyasamaja, Chap. XVIII. Candraklrti docs not include the verse line (Bagchi, XVIII, 144A) : guhyatantrefu sarvefU vividhah parikirtitah; and the verse grouping thereafter diverges from the edited Sanskrit text. Otherwise, Candrakirti's citation of the verses agrees for the most part with the edited text. But his line guhyatrayam vitarkaS ca vicdras tatprabhogatah appears to be an improvement over the line guhyani tarkodayam tarkam vicdram tat prayogatali (Bagchi, XVIII, 144B). Naropa's Sekoddciafika (p. 30), when quoting the block of verses from Chap. XVIII, gives the line guhyalrayodayas tarko vicdras tatprayogata, which at least verifies the reading guhyatraya.


The translation is somewhat expanded by extracts within parentheses of Mchan hgrel comments by Tson-kha-pa, PTT, Vol. 158, pp. 87-5 to 92-1. Edited Commentary on Chapter XII, 60-64. Idanim utpattikramasadhanaiigam punah spastayann aha/ levetyadi/sevyate alambyata iti seva/tathatam eva samayal.i/


tatah bhiibhagadinam samyojanaip nispadanah / scva-samayasamyogam / prathamam arigam / Siinyatalambanaip siiryadyalambanam upasadhanam / tad eva mantravinya-saparyantam sambhavatity upasadhanasambhavo dvitiyam / sadhanartham ca samayam iti/sadhanopasthapanayas tah adhvcsanam sadhanarthah samaye sameti gacchatiti samayah samadhi-sattvah jftanasattvai ca sadhanarthai ca samayas ca trtlyam / avajistasya mandalarajagri karmarajagri paryan-tasya maliatah pararthasya sadhanam mahasadhanam tac caturthakam /


cvam angacatustayam vijnaya vajrabhedena kulabhedena tatas tadantaram karmani vaksyamanani purvanyeva/sadhayed ity uddcsah/sevasamadhilyadina uddistany arigani nirdiSate/ bodhicitialambanam/seva saiva samadhiyate cetasi sthapyata iti samadhih / samyojanam samyogah / kim tat bhubhagadiip mandalacakram paryantam yadhimuktya nispadayah / scva-samadhiA ca samyogas ca scvasamadhisamyogain / tat krtva om jSunyateti mantrarthapravicaran [otpaditam] sambodhim tathatalaksanam bhavaved iti/


suryacandrapadmadikramcnaiva paryupari\yavasthapya tadu-pari tryaksaram vinyasya sarvopagralianena jasahka-mandalam tadupari punas tryaksaram tadparavrttya cihnam cihnaparavrttya mabamtidrarupanispadam upasadhanam ya samipe sadhya nispadva ta ity uktva / siddhir maha-mudrasiddhih tasya agratmadibliutah pranavadayo mantra})/ yasmin tad upasadhanam ity agram ' vinyastasamantamantra [ksaram] mahamudrarupas ta>min vajram / vairocanadisum-bhaparyantah tesam ayatanani rupaskandhadayah /


tcsam trtivavyavasihatikramcna nirniya karyakarana-parijnanam vicarani-sadhya tenadhis(hanayaradhyate yena tat sadhanc codanamproktam itiparyayakathanamkiip tu buddhakayadhara ityadi/gathadvayah mantradhipativibhavanam

iti mantra omkaradayah / samadhisattvah adhipatayah jnana-sattvah mantradhipatinam kulabhedcna yathasambhavaip dhyanam mantradhipativibhavanam iti/ mahasadhanctyadi yad uddistam mahasadhanam lat sampadanakalcsu jnanavajrinah / svadhidaivatayogavan mantri vajrapadmasainskarapurvikam / samapattim krtva svaman-travajradrgadayah . tatsambhuta vajrinas tcsam visvam maha-mudrarupam dhyatva mukutc 'dhipatim dhyatvcti/paftcata-


thagatanam mahamudrarupasya jatimukute mahavajradharam adhipatim pari&sic tatkulinanam mukufc vairocanadih / dliyii-tva siddhyatc siddhim apnoti 'vatharutani


evam caturyogakramena vajrasattvasamaradhanam prati-padyedanim sadangakramcna mahavajradharanispattim aha/ Samajottare : saman\ottamabh(dena sevd tu d; i: id ha bhavet vajracatufkena samanyam uttamam fadbhir angatali, seva jftanamrtcnaiva kartavyctyadi scvyaie mumuksubhir abhyasyata iti seva kim tat parivis'uddhadcvatamurtih sa

jfianamrtenaiva sadarigayogcnaiva kartavya nispadva sarvatah/ sarvatmana / sada sarvakalam ' sarveryapathesu evakaro 'vadh-arane eso hi jftanamrtakhyah sadarigayogah sarvaniantra-nam sarvatathagatanam mantrah / sarpadayah tattvam dcva-tatattvam [*tesam arthah phalam] tatsadhanan mantrarp


tattvarthasadhakah hi yasmad arthe yasmad nam sadariga-yogah I tasmat tcnaiva scva karyeti/tani pratyahai adini sadan-gani nirdistani Samajottare : sevam fadangayogtna krtva sddlianani ultaman; sadhaytd anyalhd naiva jdyate siddhir uthumij pratyaharas lalha dhyanam prdmiyumai ca dhdiainl; anusmrtiyoga(h) samadhii ca fadanga ucyatc ity uddeSapadanam niidcsain aha / daidnam indriydndm tu svavrttistham tu sarvatah I pratydhara iti proktah kdmaharam prali prati pancakamas samdsena paiicabuddhaprayogatah kalpanaqi dhydnam ucytta tad dhydnam paficadhd bharet' [ vitarkas ca vicdras capritii

caiva sukham latha cittasyaikdgratd caiva paiicaitc dhydnasamgraha li guhyatrayam vitarkas ca vicdras tatprabhogatah trtiyampritisankafam caturtham sukhasanigraham / svacittam paiicamamJiieyamjiidnajiieyodayakfayam / saroibuddhamayam iantam sarvakdmapratiffhitam pancajiidnamayam ivdsam pancabhutasiabhavakam / niicdrya pdmandsagre pindaruptna kalpayet / paiicavarnam maharatnam prandydmam ili smrtam / siamantram hrdaye dhy&tva pranam bmdugatam nyaset! niruddhe svendriyt ratne dharaytd dha'anam smrtam , nirodhaiaJravate citte nimittodgraha h Jdyatc J pancadhd tam nimittam tu bodhivaJrena bhdfitam J


prathamam maricikakdram dhumrakdram dvitiyakam / trtiyam khadyotakakdram caturlham dipavajjealam / paiicamam lu sadalakam nirabhragaganopamam / sthiram vai vajramdrgena spharayet lam khadhatufu I vibhavya yad anusmrtya taddkdram tu samspharet / awismrlir iti jneyam .pratibhasas lalra jayatt j prajiiopdyasarndpattyd sarvabhavan samacatah samlirtya pindayogena bimbam madhve vibhdvayet / rtiti jiidnani<pattili samadhii iti samjiiitam / iti pratinirdesam aha / da.<anam ityadi / indriyani indriy-arthag ca indriyani tesam dasanam indriyanam visaya- visayinam svavrttih / yatha svagrahyagrahakasvarupena pravrttih / svavrttis tatra sthitam svavrttistham / sarvatah hinamadhyottamabhedcna kamaharam prati pratiti /


kamyante abhilasvanta iti kama rupadayas tesam indriyair yadaharanam grahanam prati prati punah punah tadgrahyahara ityadyangasya pratinirdesam / pratyaharaviSodhanaya dvitiyam arigam aha / pancetyadi/— paftca kama rupadayah / indriyani visayabhutah samasena / indriyair cklbhavena paricabuddhah caksuradayah tam tesam samyojanam vojanam / paricabuddhapravogatah / tasmad rupadayah ye pancabuddha (h) itycvatnvidham yat pariSud-dhakalpanam tad dhyanam/tad vitarketyadibhedena parica-vidham bhavati vitarketyadi tadbhcdakathanam

I guhyatra-yetyadi I indriyavisayendriyajfianani guhyatrayam jf partcen-driyani / indriyajnanani / tadvisayaj ca paftcatatfiagatatma-keti yat parikalpanam sa vitarkah / tasminn eva vicaranam stbitivicarah / evam vicarayat sa tattvapravegabhimukhyena yat saumanasyalaksanam tat prititi samkajaip tattve

'bhinivescna kavaprasrabdhyadilaksanam I yat praptam sukham tat sukha-samgraham / evam abhyasyatah prakarsaparyantagamanat/ jrianasya caksuradi satpravrttir vijnanasya jnevc rupadidhaima-dhatuparyante udavo juanajneyodavah / tasya ksayah/cittasya-grahyagr"ihakasunyatvaparijnanalaksana cittaikagrata sva-


cittam ityuktah tadevamvidham svatittam yogena sarva-buddhamayarn bantam iti grahyadivikalpaAamanat/iantam/ bhasamatrani tat sarvasunyataikanistham jay ate/pa Acapra-bhcdam dvitiyam arigam .' pancetyadi I adarSadipancajrianasvabhavam adhahivasam/ tam eva prthivyadvatmakam svavajravivaran niscarya padma-


nasagre pimjarupena bodhicittabindurupena dhyayat / tarn «vordhvapravrtta£vasam paAcavarnam paiicatathagatatmakam tam eva maharatnam pranojjivitam ayameti dirgha (m) vistar-yateyenetisa pranayama iti smrtafr jiiata(vya)h/tam cva prave-ladisvabhavcnaharn i< am japamana t vat /svaman tram hrday c sva-hrtpundarike dhyatva pranam bindugatam samahitam aksatam nyaset iti trtiyam arigam /

niruddhetyadi svarupadaya indrive caksuradayah asmin dvendriyc nirodhe viline tato visavendriyadharabhute ratnc cittaratne ca pranayamena saha nirodhe 'stamgatc yad dharayet tad dharanam /kirn tat/bhutako?ih/nirodhavajragate citte nimittodgraha (h) jayata iti/nirodhavajram prabhasvararp tadbhute tajjate citte nimittanam udgraho/nimittapratibhasah jayate utpadyate / paftcadhatunimittam tu bodhivajrena bha$itam iti prthivya 'mbhasi layanan maricikakaram pratibhasate/prathamam nimittam / evam ambhasas tejasi jayanad dhumrakaram dvitiyam / tejasc vayau layanat


khadyotakakaram trtlyam/suksmadhator abhasatrayagamanad dipavadalokapuiljasvabhava (111) caturtham / prakrtyabhasa-layanan nirabhragaganavat satatalokaprabhasavaramatram bhavati paflcamarp / etani pancanimittani nirvana (m) prapayanti/, yathoktam Karmantaiibhage:

pran mahi salilam gacchtj jalam gacchati pavakam j pdvako vdyum anveti vdyur vijfianam aviset / vijnanam dhdrananviliam prabhasvaram opy ovifedjilil sthiram ityadina / vajramargena 'langhaniyam pancanimittanu-purvena prabhasvarapravesena khadhatusu lokadhatusu spha-rayed vyapayed dharmakayarupena/etad dharanarigam iti catur-tham I


evam atmanaip prabhasvaragatam vibhavya saksatkrtva yat purvam anusmftya maricikadyakarena bhutakotim prapi-tam I tadakarena tenaiva kramena samspharet/ufpada\vt/ciad anantaroktam anusmrtir iti jiieyam jftatavyam / pratibhasa saipvit tatra paflcamam angam anusmrtir jayate [*nanyatra]/ sarvabhavalj prajftopayasamapattya sanivrtiparamai thasa-tyayogena jthavarajangamam sthitipindarupena maha- mudrarupena ekilq-tya tasya sthavarajangamasya madhye yuganaddhatmakamahavajradharabiinbam vibhavayet/janiyat/ anena kramena rpti ksanena jftanani?pattih / jflanadehani$-pattifc I samadhir iti ?a?tham arigani kathyate /


Sri-Maydjale' pi mam ova devatanispattibhedam udddyotayann aha yogas lu triridho jileyo 'dhifthanali parikalpai ca' nifpannair cittabimbasya yogo buddhais lu varnitah/ adhi\thdnamdtr [d]liainkdro yoga 'dhifthdna aerate/ bodhicittaviiuddhis tu mantrabijodayo mahdnj kramdn nifannabimbas In mudraganesu kalpitah/ talkalpiteti kathitayogah kalpita ucyatej <ar:dkdra:aropetali sphard samharakarakahl rtili jiiananifpanno yogo nifpanna ucyala iti/ Vairocandbhisainbodhitantre 'pi/dvividhadevatayogam nirdisate/ devatariipam api guhyakadhipate dvividham parisuddham asuddhamca iti / tatpariVuddham adhigatarupam sarvanimitta-pagatam apari[suddha]m sarvanimittam rupavarnasam-


sthanas ca/tatra dvividhena devatarupena dvividhakaryanis-pattir bhavati/sanimittena sanimitta siddhir upajayatc/animit-tonanimitta siddhir ista jinavaraih sada animitte sthitva vai sanimittarp prasadhyato/tasmat san-aprakarena vinimittani scvyata iti/samdhya bhasa//


Translation


The Stage of Generation:

Now iddnim so as to clarify the four 'i evocation member(s) of the Stage of Generation, he says 'Service* and so on. Because one serves and envisages, it is serviccyseva), namely, just toward reality, as the 'pledge' (samaya). Pursuant to that, the undertaking and generation of the diamond) spot of earth, etc. (generation of the palace from BHRUM, up to the Clear Light of conviction' is the 'occupation with the pledge of service' sevdsamayasamyoga , the first member.

Having (in that way voidness as meditative object, the meditative object of sun, and so on. is Near Evocation \upasa-dhana). Precisely the bringing to conclusion the depositing (in the body of mantras (Om, etc.* is the arising of Near Evocation (upasadhana-sambhaia), the second (member). Concerning 'the aim of the sadhana, and the symbol' (sddhanartham ca samayam 1, the aim of the sadliana means to solicit for establishing the evocation (of one's own three doors as the Buddha's Bodv. Speech, and Mind). Symbol' (samaya) means 'to get together', i.e. the symbol (one's own Symbolic Being), along with the Samadhisattva and the Jnanasattva, to

wit, both the aim of the sddhana and the symbol are the third (member).


The accomplishment of the great aim of others, (accomplishment) which is the 'best victorious mandala' and the 'best victorious rite' belonging to the remaining conclusion, is the Great Evocation (mahasadhana). That is the fourth (member).

Having thus understood the four members as a division of vajra, i.e. as a division of 'family' (kula the five families), then, i.e. next, one should accomplish the rites to be stated subsequently precisely as the first.


(The first member :) Starting with the lines 'Sevasamadhi ..., he expands upon the (four) members which were touched upon. The bodhicitta (in the void) as meditative object is service (seva). Precisely that concentrates, i.e. halts in the mind, hence 'samadhi'. Praxis (samyoga) means right application. That (imaginative) generation, by means of conviction {adhimukti), from the (diamond) spot of earth, ctc. up to the mandala-circle, which is both the service-samadhi and the praxis, is the sevasamadhisaipyoga. Having done that (much), he should contemplate the supreme revelation, possessing the character of thusness, which has arisen from pondering the meaning of the mantra, 'Oipgunyata. .

(The second member:) (Then,) in the sequence of sun, moon, lotus, etc., one stacks successively higher, places the three syllables (a. c, ha) upon that; then consolidates all that, and again imagines the moon-disk, and upon that the three syllables (Om, Ah, Hum). Then from the transformation of that, there arise the hand symbol (s) (of the six families).


From the transformation of the hand symbol(s), there are completed the form(s) of Mahamudra (of the six families'). What accomplishes and completes nearby, that is said to be (definition of) Near Evocation {upasadhana). The siddhi is the siddhi of mahumudrd (body from the five abhisambodhis). Its 'foremost' is the initial ones, the mantras Om, etc. When that is present, the Near Evocation is foremost. Having placed all the mantra-syllables, there arc the form(s) of the Maha-mudra. Therein is the vajra. to wit, the (32) deities from Vairocana down to Sumbha(raja). Their bases (ayalarm) are the skandhas of form. etc.



(The third member :) Of those (members), one becomes certain by the stage of the third series (the Atiyoga) and accomplishes through pondering with thorough knowledge of cause (the placement of deities in the body) and fruit (of contemplating after that placement). Whereby (by inviting the deity host of the triple vajra and drawing them into oneself) one has pleased (the deities) for the sake of blessing (one's own three doors), thereby that 'is said to

be the exhortation when there is evocation.' That is related by way of synonym (of evocation and exhortation). But why (the exhortation) ? The two verses (Nos. 70-71) beginning 'buddhakayadhara'. The 'contemplation of the lords of the mantras' refers to the syllables Om, etc. (i.e. when Vajradhara and Aksobhya are the mandala-rulers, Hum; and the remaining four samddhi-sattvas by Om, Sva, Ah, Ha). The Samadhisattvas are the lords; the Jfianasattvas belong to the lords of the mantras. The meditation on the various families according to their arising is the 'contemplation of the lords of the mantras.'


(The fourth member :) Regarding 'the great evocation (Mahasadhanav...', what is pointed out as the great evocation belongs to the jnanavajrin-s at the time of generating it. The mantrins possessing the yoga of presiding deity, having aroused samapatti preceded by instigation of the vajra andpadma (of their own family), are their own mantras Vajradrg, etc. (32 in no.), i.e. the vajrin-s arisen therefrom (i.e. as in a womb from the syllables Om, etc.). To

have imagined their totality as the form of Mahamudra (of the Victorious Mandala), is stated as 'having imagined the lord on the crown of his head', that is, having imagined the lord Mahavajradhara on the crown and twisted hair of the Mahamudra form of the five Tathagatas, and (having imagined) Vairocana and the other Buddhas on the remaining crowns of their family deities (Locana, etc.), one is successful, i.e. attains siddhi. yatharutam I


The Stage of Completion:

Having thus explained the delighting of Vajrasattva (for the purpose of mundane siddhis) by the stages of four yogas (but with no treatment of 'Victory of the Rite, which belongs to Mahasadhana), now (idanim) he alludes to the completion


of Mahavajradhara by the stages of six members in the Uttara-Iantra (Chap. XVIII) of the Guhyasamdja : By the distinction of'shared' and 'superior', one posits two kinds of service: the 'shared' one by the four vajras, the 'superior' one by members six in number. (Cf. XII, 64 :

One should create, everywhere and always, just with the knowledge nectar of service. For this brings to success the aim of mantra and of lattva, of all mantras. )


As to the words, 'One should create just with the knowledge nectar of service', and so on. "One servi v. having been studying with desire for liberation tlu- highest siddhi)", is (the definition of) 'service' (sevd'i. And why (the desired liberation)? The (yuganaddha} body of deity completely pure (of the two obscurations). That is to be created, i.e. completed, just with the knowledge nectar of service, i.e. just with the six-membcrcd yoga. 'Everywhere'

means in the nature of all. 'Always' means (those six' at all times and in all good postures. The expression 'just' (eia) is in the sense of restriction (to the particular instance). 'For this' e.<o hi) refers to the knowledge nectar, i.e. the six-mcmbercd yoga. 'Of all mantras' means 'of all Tathagatas'. 'Mantras' arc SARPA ('serpent'N and so on (diamond muttering of both neyartha and nitartha mantras). 'Reality' tattva) means the god reality i,of ultimate yuganaddlia . Their aim (arlha) is the fruit (phala). By accomplishing that (fruit, by means of the six members' one accomplishes the reality aim for the mantra. 'For', means wherefore in the sense of aim. For the reason the six-mcmbcred yoga is that way, for that reason the service is to create just with that (yoga .


Those six members, pratyahara, etc. are set forth in the Uttara-tanlra of the Guhjasamija: When one does the service with the six-membcrcd yoga, he wins the supreme succcss. In no other way does the supreme siddhi arise. Pratyahara, dhvana, pranayama, dharana, anusmrti, and samadhi, arc the six members. He expands upon those brief indications as follows Chap.


XVIII, verses 141, ff. in Bagchi's numbering):


The dwelling upon intcriorization of the ten sense bases on all levels severally directed toward the taking of desires, is callcd Withdrawal (pratyahara). The five desires are in condensation through the application to the five Buddhas. Meditation (dhyana) is said to be imagination.*! And that Meditation is fivefold: Primary Conception"A (vitarka)is the secret triad, from the enjoyment of which comes Secondary Conception (vicara). The vicinity of A


joy is the third, and the sum of pleasure is the fourth. One's own consciousness with removal of the upsurge of knowledge and knowablcs, is known as the fifth, with a peace composed of all Buddhas and abiding in all desires. Drawing forth the breath made of five knowledges and which is the self-existence of the five elements, one should imagine it in the form ofa tiny ball on the tip of the lotus nose.


The great jewel of five colors is said to be pranayama. Having meditated on one's own mantra in the heart, one should place the prima in its bindu form. When one's sense organ and the jewel have ceased (to operate) one should retain. (That is) called Retention (dharana). When consciousness goes toward the diamond of cessation, the apprehension of signs arises.


Those signs have been explained by the diamond of enlightenment as fivefold. The first has the aspect of a mirage, the second the aspect of smoke. The third has the aspect of fire-flies, the fourth shines like a lamp, and the fifth is a steady light like a cloudless sky. One should radiate that firm thing by the vajra path into the regions of the sky. Contemplating w hich, by Recollection (anusmrti) one should radiate those aspects. One should know about Recollection that there is the shining appearance, and that it (Recollection) is engendered therein. Having drawn together by the equipoise of insight and means all states in condensation by the yoga of the small ball, one should contemplate the image in their middle. Instantly there is the consummation of knowledge called 'Samadhi'.


Explaining in detail, he states the verse 'of the ten' and

so on. 'Sense bases' arc the (personal sense bases of eye,

etc.) and the objects (forms, etc. of the sense bases. The


'interiorization' fsvavrtli) is of those ten sense bases which are the sense objects and the senses grasping them, to wit : according to the engagement with the intrinsic feature of the individual apprehended object and apprehending organ, there is interiori-zation. Theabidingin that, is the dwelling upon interiorization. 'On all levels' means according to the distinctions of inferior, middling, and best (for each sense object . that is, 'severally directed toward the taking of desire*'. 'Desire*' ar< irding to the passage, "They desire and are attached to", are form, and so on (the five sense objects . 'Severally directed', i.e.


again and again, toward that taking, i.e. apperception, of those (sense objects) by the sense organs, their apperception is the 'taking'. That is the detailed explanation of the initial member (which is thcarcanc body of purification 'afterwards obtained'". With the aim of purifying the Withdrawal, he states the

second member with the verse 'the five' and so on. The five desires' are the sense bases of form, etc., i.e. thc(five) sense objects. 'In condensation' means by unification of the sense objects) with the sense organs. The 'five Buddhas' are the eye and other sense organs. The right conjunction of them (to their respective Buddha, Aksobhya, etc. i< the conjunction 'through the application to the five Buddhas'. As a result, form and so on, arc (also) those five Buddhas. In that fashion (of conjunction), whatever is the imagination purified of ordinary appearance) is the 'Meditation'. That becomes


fivefold by the division into 'Primary Conception' and so on. The verse 'Primary Conception' and so on. has the setting forth of its division. As to the verse 'the secret triad' and so

on, the sense organ, the sense object, and the knowledge based on the sense, are ihe sccret triad. The rough imagination that the five sense organs, the (five) knowledges based on the senses, and their sense objects have the nature of the five Tatha-gatas, is Primaiy Conception. The deliberating in detail) just on that, is Secondary Conception in location those two arc also arcane body of purification 'afterwards obtained' . When one is so deliberating (with those two), what has the characteristic of contentment through facing the entrance into


reality, is the vicinity called Joy (prili). What has attained the pleasure possessing the characteristic of body-cathartic and so on (the mind-cathartic), through adherence to reality, that is the sum of pleasure (sukha-samgraha). The one who thus has applied himself repeatedly so as to go to the pinnacle of excellence, has the removal of upsurge of knowledge and knowablcs, where the upsurge of knowledge is the six cvolve-mcnts as eye, and so on, of perception (vijiiana), and where the upsurge in the knowables is in (the six) from form up to the dhannadhiitu (which is the object of the sixth 'sense'); and where

its removal is called 'one's own consciousness' (svacitta) as the voidness in consciousness of both appcrceivcd and apper-ception,and as the one-pointedncss of mind with the characteristic of complete knowledge.' One's own consciousness' of such fashion by reason of yoga is 'with a peace composed of all Buddhas'. The 'Peace' is through pacifying the discursive thought of the appcrceived and so on. It is engendered (by successive dissolution of the three voids) as light-only and the ultimate that is one with universal void (the fourth void, the Symbolic Clear Light . That is the fivefold division of the second member.


Regarding the verse 'five' and so on, the downward breath has the intrinsic nature of the five knowledges, beginning with mirror-like, and is the individualizing factor of earth and the other elements' . Drawing it forth from the nostril of one's vajra, one should imagine it in the form of a liny ball, i.e. in the form of the bndhicitta-bindu, on the tip of the lotus-nose (of the sacral place . Precisely that is the breath proceeding upward with five colors, the nature of the five Tathagatas. Precisely that is the great jewel' the 'drop of light' at the nose of the face, and which recited] 'Prana' is what


envigoratcs; 'ayama' is that by which it is spread far:—thus the explanation of pranayama to be known, because one should recite during day and night by way of the own-nature of making that pranayama) enter and so on. 'Having meditated on one's own mantra drop in the heart', i.e. at (the nose of) the lotus (8-pctalkd of one's heart, one should place' (njrasel) 'the Prana in its bindu form' the letter A, etc.) deposited, inviolable (ak?ata . That is the third member.

Concerning the verse 'has ceased' and so on, the sense bases are one's form, and so on (the five sense objects), as well as the eye, and so on (the five sense organs . When the pairs of sense bases have ceased, i.e. arc not in evidence (as in death's sequence), then when the jewel which is the basis of sense objects and sense organs,

and the jewel of consciousness the manovi-ja&na, the sixth sense) have ceased along with pramhiima, i.e. have set (astamgala), what one would retain, that i* Retention. Why that ? The True Limit (the gnosis ofthe Clear Light . (The verse states) "When consciousness goes toward the diamond of cessation, the apprehension of signs arises." The 'diamond of cessation'is the Clear Light (prabhasvara . When consciousness has gone to it. it is born in it. The apprehension of signs i.e. the manifestation of signs arises, i.e. occurs as prior signs). Regarding the passage, the signs of the five realms have been explained by the diamond of enlightenment the


details arc as follows) : Through dissolution into water by earth (in the performer's body), theaspect of a mirage mani-fests—the firstsign. Through the dissolution into fire on the part of water, the aspect of smoke—the second. Through the dissolution into wind of fire, the aspect of fire-flics—the third. Through the going into the three lights on the part of the subtle element (i.e. wind), the self-existence of the set of lights like a lamp—the fourth.

Through the (sequential dissolution of the (three) Arair/i-light(s), there is only the Clear Light, a lasting light like a cloudless sky -the fifth. Those five signs bring (consciousness) to Nirvana, as is said in the Karmantavibhaga : "First, earth goes into water. Water goes into fire. Fire passes into wind. Wind enters perception (vijiiana). Perception accompanied by Retention


in turn enters the Clear Light". Thcnthcvcrse "that firm thing' (purified in the Clear Light) and soon (is as follows 'By the vajra path', (expansion of buddhi to the whole sentient world) i.e. by entering the Clear Light preceded by the indispensable ('non-evadible', alanghaniya) five signs, one should radiate, i.e. pervade with the form of the Dharmakaya, in the regions of the sky, i.e. the worldly realms. That, explaining Retention, is the fourth member.

'Contemplating', i.e. realizing in immediacy, that oneself has in that way gone into the Clear Light, 'by Recollection' that previously one has reached the True Limit by means of


the aspects of mirage and so on, one should radiate, i.e. engender, in a sequence which is precisely by those aspects (in reverse order). Immediately after that was told, one should know, i.e. it should be known, about 'Recollection' that there is the shining appearance (pralibhasa), which is right understanding (the gnosis of the Clear Light) and that therein is engendered the fifth member, Recollection, not anywhere else.

Having unified 'by the equipoise of insight and means', i.e. by the union of absolute and conventional truths, all states {bhdva), whether stationary (the receptacle worlds, bhajana-loka) or moving (the sentient life, satlvaloka), in the form of a tiny ball in location, i.e. in the form of Mahamudra (the divine body), (then) one should contemplate, i.e. should know, the image of Mahavajradhara with the nature of yuganaddha in the middle of that, the stationary- and the moving. In this sequence, instantly, i.e. in a moment, there is the consummation of knowledge, i.e. the consummation of the knowledgebody (the yuganaddha body), called 'Samadhi', i.e.explained to be the sixth member.

Besides, in the Sri-M&yajala, he clearly states the varieties in the generation of dcitv :

Yoga should be known as of three kinds: with blessing and with imagination on the Stage of Generation), and the yoga (on the Stage of Completion) of the cilia image which is extolled by the perfected Buddhas.

The ego of Blessing-onlv is said to be the yoga with blessing. When there is the pure bodhicitta, and the great source of mantra-seeds; and in sequence the perfected image, imagined in the set of mudras—and when that (image is imagined with the thought, "That is imagined", it is called the yoga with imagination. Endowed with the best of all aspects, and having consolidated (the deities one should radiate (them). Instantly, there is the consummation of knowledge, called the completed yoga.


Also, in the I airocamibhisambodhi he sets forth the devata-yoga as of two kinds:

O master of the secret folk, there arc two kinds of divine form—pure and impure. The pure kind is understood form, free from all signs. The impure kind has all signs,


with color-and-shape forms. Now, two purposes go with those two kinds of divine form. The kind with signs generates siddhi with signs; the kind without signs, the siddhi without signs. Besides, the holy Jinashave maintained that when one is always stationed in the signless kind, he can also bring to success (the siddhi) with signs. Therefore, by all means one should take recourse to the non-signed. Samdhya bhasa/.



I INTRODUCTION TO BUDDHIST TANTRISM

A. Tantra (generalities)


WHAT IS AN introduction to the ideas and practices of the Buddhist Tantras? Let me allude to the leading literature on the subject. It is well known that S. B. Dasgupta wrote a

book entitled An Introduction to Tantric Buddhism (University of Calcutta, 1950). This has certainly been a helpful book for persons interested in the Buddhist Tantras. The Japanese scholars appreciated it especially since the kinds of Tantras , which had been continued in Japan were of a quite different character from the works consulted by S. B. Dasgupta, and those scholars were also interested in the philosophical tenets which Dasgupta found in the tantric manuscripts which he consulted. It must alsobe admitted that Dasgupta was himself attracted to certain features of the manuscripts which he

consulted, such as verses about the cakras (mystic centers) in the body, and the special way in which the male and female are regarded, suggestive of being compared with the S.'ikta movements that have been strong in Bengal. All the material which he brought forward is indeed authoritative data from those texts. Naturally he did not thoroughly represent the works he consulted; and besides they arc replete with ritual details that are often tedious. Bcnoytosh

Bhattacharyya made giant strides in opening up this subject by his various text editions; and of course he was well prepared to explain elements of the system, which he did in various publications with sympathy. I have frequently recommended to my students to consult G. Tucci's Tibetan Painted Scrolls for its Vajrayana chapter; but this is an expensive work of restricted distribution. Then the late Professor F. D. Lessing of Berkeley and myself collaborated in the translation from Tibetan of the work now published (1968) as Mkhas grub ije's Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tantras. In conversations I have freely admitted that this is not an introduction lor Westerners as it was for Tibetans, even though it


presents the fundamentals of the four Tantra literature divisions with a considerable and convenient fund of information not hitherto available in any Western language. To answer the question posed above, an introduction should show what the Tantra is all about, the underlying suppositions, the leading instructions, to the extent of recreating the Tantra as a viable entity to be liked or disliked. The trouble with so much of the present writing on the

Tantra is that the reader is, or should be, left with a feeling of distancy or bewilderment: he is neither genuinely for or against it, because he does not understand it. It is on this point that one can praise S. B. Dasgupta's work: he was not simply reproducing citations from texts: he tried to explain as he went along. But he could only explain when his own background allowed him, namely when these Buddhist Tantras overlapped the Hinduism with which he had a natural knowledge through his birthright and training.

Now, what is the relation of the Buddhist Tantra to Hinduism ? This is hardly a one-dircctional influence. In fact, the Buddhist Tantra goes back in many of its leading ideas to the Brahmanism of the older Upanisads, and some of its ritual (e.g. the homa, or burnt offering ' can be traced to old Vedic rites. In short, the Buddhist Tantra incorporated a large amount of the mystical ideas and practices that have been current in India from most ancient times, and

preserved them just as did the Hindu Tantra in its own way, while both systems had mutual influence and their own deviations. The Buddhist Tantra is deeply indebted to certain later Upanisads such as the Yoga Upanisads, which were probably composed in the main form about 1st century B. C. to the beginning of the Gupta period, and which arc a primitive kind of Hinduism. But these mystical practices were so thoroughly integrated with Buddhist dogma, that it is a most difficult matter to separate out the various sources of the Buddhist Tantra.

Then, with regard to the chronology, it is not my original idea to put the revealed Buddhist Tantras in the period of 4th" and 5th centuries, A. D. (B. Bhattacharyya maintained such an early date for the Guhyasamajatar.tra). This certainly requires justification, and in the section 'Introduction to the Guhyasa-majatantra' 1 shall present some arguments in its case. For the others I shall simply assert that there is no where else in Indian


chronology to put the bulk of them: exactly in the same period which was the creative period of Hinduism and which cast the mold for the forms of Indian religion in the subsequent centuries. There are some notable exceptions just as there arc for Hin- duism; and in the case of the Buddhist Tantra certainly the expanded Kdlacakralanlra was composed much later. The Tannic revelations were kept in esoteric cults—for there must have been a tension between the orthodox Buddhist sects and these far-out tantric groups. This strict secrecy was continued up to around the 8th century when commentaries by named persons appear. Those commentaries continue through the 12th century, more and more coloring the public forms of Buddhism in its last Indian phase. However, we must look to other reasons for the disappearance of Buddhism; after all, the Hindus themselves arc fond of Tantra and this has not caused Hinduism to disappear !


These tantric cults were introduced into China from India during the T'ang Dynasty but did not take root until the 8th century which saw the activity of the Indian masters Vajra-bodhi and Amoghavajra (cf. Chou Yi-liang, Tanlrism in China). The kind of Buddhist Tantras which prevailed in China gave rise to the two forms of Buddhist mysticism in


Japan—the form handed down by the Tcndai school (in which the Tantra is one of the topics of study) and that handed down by the Shingon School in which the Tantra is the main thing). Buddhist Tantrism called the Diamond Vehicle, was brought to completion in Japan by Kobo Daishi, founder of the Shingon. Japanese Tantrism is especially based on the works called the Xiahdiairocanasittra, also known as the Vairocanabhisambodhi (which yields the 'Gat bha-mandala') and the Tatlrasamgraha (referred to in Japan as "Tip of the Thunderbolt" which yields the 'Vajramandala' . Forms of Tantra were also introduced and once apparently flourished in what is now called Java,

where as Paul Mus has shown, the five levels of Borobudur symbolise the five Buddhas. But more than anywhere else the Buddhist Tantras came to flower in Tibet, starting with their implantation in the 8th century by the teachers Padmasambhava and santaraksita. After the cessation of composition in Sanskrit of the commentaries, they continued in the Tibetan language in an enormous literature.



There are serious problems in studying the Tantric literature. Because of the syncretic and deliberately mystifying nature of such texts as the Guhyasamajalantra, their sentences, although relatively simple in language complexity, continually need the guru's oral expansion and authoritative commentary. The problem is not with the individual words, which indeed mean what they ought; but rather in the fact that so many words, besides meaning what they ought, are employed in a range, of acceptable usages and then intend other senses in arbitrary analogical systems. Again, these texts are

essentially practical, are concerned with doing things such as rites. And recipe books, even on the mundane level, arc notorious for • requiring a teacher to tell the missing steps. Then, in the case of the Tantras, the gurus have taken vows not to reveal the Tantras to the uninitiated ('immature') persons, and so the difficulty is compounded, even for those persons who are initiated. The style of writing is conducive to corruptions in the texts, certainly a fault in manuscripts of the Guliyasamajatantra.


It is understandable that the numerous difficulties of the literature might result in some unwarranted judgments. In fact, eminent authorities of the Tantras during their India period had disagreements with each other, and later investigators, sucK as the Tibetan gurus, decided that certain earlier authorities had misunderstood this or that important point. Therefore, it is right for us to be charitable in the event of

seeming misinterpretations; but still they should be pointed out. In illustration, some questionable terms have been applied to the Buddhist Tantras. (1) There is no expression 'Dhyani Buddhas' in the texts; one finds instead the words Tathagata, Buddha or Jina, as in the compound pancatathagata ('five

Tathagatas'), (2) There is no terminology 'right and left hand paths' in the Buddhist Tantras, and no classification of the Tantras on that basis, insofar as classification by the tan-trics themselves is concerned. The standard classification is into four classes. Kriya-tantra, Carva-tantra, Yoga-tantra. and Anuttarayoga-tantra. Of course, some Westerners may feel that certain Buddhist Tantras such as the Guhyasamaja Tantra teach practices which fit the category of 'left hand path' and there are statements in those Tantras which lend credence to such a theory. We should observe that the Hindu Tantras themselves use such terminology but in different ways, as shown


in Chintaharan Chakravarti's work, The Tantra: Studies on their Religion and Literature. (3) The texts do not use the word sakti in the sense of the female consort power of a deity (of course, the word Sakti can he and is used in the other meaning of a certain weapon). In the article, "Female Energy and Symbolism in the Buddhist Tantras" I gave the following list of generic words used for the goddesses or females in the class of Anuttara-yogatantra prajud ('insight'), yogini ('female yogin'), vidyS ('occult science' or 'know how'), devi ('goddess' or 'queen'), matr ('mother'), indtrkd ('mother' or'letters'), dakini ('fairy'), diiti ('female messenger'), Siiri ('heroine'), and mudra ('seal' or 'gesture'). Of course, that use of the word £akti for the female


consort of the Buddhist Tantras implies that this is what the tantrics mean by their consort. Later on. various scholars (S. B. D.isgupta especially' protested against the use of the word on the grounds that in these Buddhist Tantras, the 'prajila' (one of the most frequent of the words) is passive, not

active like the Saivitic sakti. That is one reason for my writing that article "Female Energy. .", because when one goes into the texts he will find for the usage of the word prajiia that in the ordinary person who docs not control his mind this is indeed a passive function, while the aim of the Buddhist

praxis is to arouse the fiery potentiality of this function. How is it aroused ? The Mahavairocana Sutra has a celebrated verse about this matter, and which is correlated with mantra steps in the Shingon sect. Fortunately it is in Sanskrit, as cited in Kamalasila's (Firsi > Blidvanakrama (G. Tucci's Minor Buddhist Texts, Part II, p. 196 : vairocanabhisambodhau coktam/tad etat sarvajnn jn;" nam karunamftlam bodhicittahctukam upaya-parvavasanam iti' "And it is

said in the Vairocanabhisambodhi : '(Master of secret folk . The omniscient knowledge has Compassion for a root, has the Mind of Enlightenment for a motive, and has the Means for a finality'." In that passage 'omniscient knowledge" is equivalent to the Buddha's Perfection of Insight (prajiidparamila . Compassion provides this Insight with a root in the phenomenal world. The Mind of Enlightenment provides this Insight with a motive, the vow as cause. The Means provides this Insight with a finality, its fulfilment. At the first two levels, the Insight is still passive; it is with the Means lhat it appears in full flowering, its true active form.


When Insight (prajna) is combined with the Means (upaya), it is no longer passive. Therefore, while it is not strictly corrcct to call Prajna a Sakti, the persons who applied this expression— and Benoytosh Bhattacharyya and Giuseppe Tucci had read widely in both Hindu and Buddhist Tantras—were closer to the truth than those who insist on the 'passive' interpretation.


This general problem of explaining the Tantras is so crucial that it is germane to dwell upon it some more. Fortunately, there is a master who expressed himself on this very point, the V~8th century teacher Lilavajra, the teacher of Buddhas rijnana • . who heads one of the two lineages of Guhyasamaja interpre-)• tation. Lilavajra has written a commentary on the Sri-guhya-\garbha-mahdtantrardja (the /ikd-nama) (PTT, Vol. 82, pp. 248 and 249). He soon begins a section 'Method of Explaining the Tantra', which he says has three aims, in the sense of aims for the superior, intermediate, and inferior among candidates Ajjtd sense organs. In the course of explaining for the aim of I the superior candidate or sense organ, he includes that which


I is related to the form of meaning, which "has certainty about the I reality of the guhyagarbha" (gsan bahi shin po de kho na Aid tries J paho), regarding the chief words in the title of the Tantra on -ovhich he is commenting. Then he states that there arc three kinds of guhya and three kinds of garbha. The three of guhya ('secret')) are (l)of the self existent (ran bzhin = svabhava), (2) pregnant (sbas pa-garbhin), and (3) profound (gab pa - gam-bhira). In explanation of the first kind, that of the self existent, he cites the text:


Aho ! The dharma which is the utmost secret is the intrinsic secret (behind) diverse manifestation, highly secret through self existence; than which there is nothing more secret !

In summary of his commentary on this verse, it turns out that the utmost secret is the non-dual, self-originated Wisdom (jUdna), an effortless fount of good qualities while its own aspect is incognizable. It is an element located in the stream of consciousness (the sarjitana or sariilali), an incessant fountain of entities self appearing, but this clement is obscured by discursive thought; it is both cause and effect as both consciousness and the imagined objective domain; there is nothing more central, and it appears through introspection (svasamve-


(Iana) but by reason of obscurations, men have sought it else- \ where. (This is certainly the 'embryo of the Tathagata' J theory from one stream of non-tantric Buddhism). The second kind of secret is the 'pregnant', so called because it is like the !


woman impregnated by another and with the embryo growing ,

in privacy. This sccret is deliberately given or withheld by the guru, and concerns the secret practice ofthe Tantra. Lila-vajra says, "If one practices by praxis according to the word (of the Tantra) but lacks the /Md/i/ra-prccepts, this is a grievous fault" (snags kyi man nag mcd pa dan/sgra bzhin spyod pa mams kyis spyad na/$in tu ftes pa che bas/ ). The third kind, j the profound, is the perfect meaning of the Tantra (rgyud kyi don phun sum tshogs pa), and this is conferred by oneself through j the two pramdnas. He must mean Direct Perception (pratyaksa\_ \ and Inference (anumdna). In summary of the three kinds of I

secret, the first of the self-existent is nature's secret, the second of 1 'pregnant' is conferred by another, the third of profound is—1 conferred by oneself. When we think over Lilavajra's precepts, it \ strikes us that it is easy to be irrelevant about the Buddhist \ Tantra by treating as doctrine what in fact is a practice: as far. as human secrecy is concerned, in Tantrism there is only 'pregnant' practice and

profound doctrine. And that it is easy to go wrong by interpreting the literal words of the Tantra as the practice, while lacking the precepts of the guru which clarify what the practice should be. I have been told that this point is also stressed in the Shingon sect of Japan, and so this is a matter independent of whether the passage in question has 'sexual' symbolism. Lately some persons have found only a sexo-yogic topic to set forth as characteristic of the Anuttarayoga-tantra, but Lilavajra informs us that the most important issue and aim of the Tantras is that element hidden in the stream of conscions-ness, obscured by discursive thought (which plagues us all).


That man becomes interested in finding the element hidden in the stream of consciousness is probably the reason for the non-tantric teaching that Buddhahood is attainable only through a human body, which is a teaching continued in the Tantras ISliags rim, f. 460a-2): /dri mcd l.tod las/ skye ba hdi la sans rgyas Aid kyi hbras bu rab tu ster ba rgyud kyi rgval poho/lha la sogs pa hgro ba lnahi skyc ba la ni ma yin no/zhes dan/It says


in the Vimalaprabhd : 'The phrase "grants the Buddha-hood fruit in this life" means—the King of Tantras grants the Buddhahood fruit in this birth, which is a human birth; not in the birth which is one of the five (other) destinies(gali), god and the like.' B. Definitions and varieties of Tan tras


The way of the Tantras is especially called the Vajrayana ('Diamond Vehicle') or the Mantrayana ('Mantra Vehicle ). Tson-kha-pa in his Snags rim cites the Vimalaprabhd : "The diamond (vajra) is the great 'insplittable' and unbreakable'; and the Great Vehicle (mahdyana) which is precisely so, is the Vajrayana : it combines the Mantra-way and the Prajiia-paramita-way, which arc (respectively) the 'effect' (or'fruit') and the 'cause' " ( / rdo rje ni mi phyed pa

dan mi chod pa chen po yin la de Aid theg pa chen po yin pa ni rdo rje theg pa ste/ shags kyi tshul dari pha rol lu phyin palii tshul hbras bu dan rgyuhi bdag Aid gcig tu hdres par gyur palm . Hence in Tsori-kha-pa's reform, non-tantric Buddhism paramitd-yanj) must be mastered in preparation for the Tanttas. Concerning the expression 'Mantrayana', the standard explanation is that in the Guhyasamdjatantia, Chap. XVIII, p. 156 (two theoretical corrections with asterisks, : The theoretical corrections were made by Professor Rasik Vihari Joshi and myself putting our heads together on this when he was teaching at Columbia University, Fall 1969. Compare S. Bag< hi Guhxisa-mdjatantra, XVIII, 70A, and Yukei Matsunaga, "The Guhjasa-mijatantra: A New Critical Edition, XVIII, 70B.


pratityotpadyatc yad yad ind'iyair vifayair manah tanmano *man-itikliydtam *trakdram trdnanarthalah lokacdravinirmuktam yad uktam samayasambaram pdlanam sarvavajiais lu mant>aca*yeti kathyate // Whatsoever mind arises in dependence on sense organs and sense objects, that mind is explained as the 'man'. the 'tra' in the meaning of (its) salvation. Whatever pledge and vow said to be free from worldly conduct has protection by all the vajras. that is explained as the mantra practice. Nagirjuna's Aftadaia-patala-vistara-vyakhya PTT. Vol. 60. p. 9-4, 51 explains the 'sense organs' and 'sense objects' as


union ofupaya and prajfta; and explains the words 'free from worldly conduct' as 'leaving off discursive thought about the ordinary body, and taking on the contemplation of the divine body' (tha mal pahi lus mam par rtog pa dan bral ba lhafoi skur bsgom pa blans nas). He does not comment on the words

'all the vajras'. In this literature, the multiplicity of vajras refers to the five Tathagatas or Buddhas. Besides, various Tantras may define the word 'Vajrayana' in a way that characterizes the special subject matter of that Tantra. So we arc led to understand Guhyasamajatantra,


Chapter XVIII, p. 154:


molio dve/as I a! lid ragah sadd vajre ratih sthita / upayas tena buddhdndm vajrayanam iti smrtamll Delusion, hatred, and lust arc always the repose lying in the vajra,

Whereby the means of the Buddhas is called Vajrayana ('Diamond Vehicle'). That verse presumably refers back to Chapter VIII, verse 2: ragadvefamohavajra vajrayanapradtSaka\ akasadhatukalpagra ghosa pujam jinalayal! May Thou, the diamond of lust, hatred, and delusion, who reveals the Vajrayana;

Thou, the best like the sky, the womb of the Tathagatas— proclaim the worship (pujd): Candraktrti's Pradipoddyotana, and Mchan hgrel (PTT.


Vol. 158, p. 62-1,2] first explain the passage according to the ncyartha comment with the usual meanings of the words (Athe literal translation), and then go on to the nitartha comment as follows : 'lust' is means (updya), the 'spread of light' and its 40 prakrtis: 'hatred' is insight (prajiid), the 'light' and its 33 prakrtis; 'delusion' is nescience (atidyd), the 'culmination of light' and its 7 prakrtis ; 'worship' is the yuganaddha with nondual knowledge. That terminology of the nitartha comment will be explained in later sections.


As has been mentioned, the usual classification of the Buddhist tantra works is into four classes cailcd Kriya-tantra, Carya-tantra, Yoga-tantra, and Anuttaravoga-tantra. This is the classification of the main corpus of Tantras translated into Tibetan and included in the collcction called the Kanjur. The orthodox way of explaining this classification is either in


terms of the candidates or in terms of the deities. Mkhos grub rje's Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tantras (p. 219) presents the candidate different iat ion:

Now, there are two methods laid down in the four Tantra divisions, namely, outer action (*bahya-kriya , such as bathing, cleaning, etc.; and inner yoga (*adhyatma-yoga). The Kriya Tantra was expressed for subduing the candidates (rineya) who delight in outer action, while the Carya Tantra was expressed for subduing the candidates who delight in practicing outer action and inner yoga in equal measure. The Yoga Tantra was expressed for subduing the candidates who delight in the yoga of inner samddhi with minimal outer ritual, while the Anuttara Yoga Tantra is the incomparable Tantra for subduing the candidates who delight in inner-yoga.

Mkhas grub rje alludes to the deity differentiation as the 'four Passion Families' (pp. 168-169), detailed in the notes thereto on the basis of the Snags rim :


The mutual attraction of Insight (prajna) and the Means {upaya) finds : some deities laughing some deities gazing some deities embracing some deities in coition


Kriya Tantra;

Carya Tantra; Yoga Tantra;

Anuttara Tantra.


Tsoh-kha-pa emphasizes that this is not a description of the candidates of these Tantra divisions;... Besides, it can be speculated that the fourfold grouping of Tantras (there were earlier groupings of six or more) is made with an eye to the four Siddhantas. In later Indian Buddhism,


it was standard to divide up Buddhist metaphysics into four viewpoints, called Siddhanta, that of the Vaibhasikas, Sautra-ntikas, Yogacarins, and the Madhyamikas. That could be the implication of Pandit Smrti s commentary called Vajravi-ddrana-nama-dharani-vrtti Tohoku no. 2684) to the cffcct that the four Tantras constitute four kinds of washing by four kinds of persons, namely, Sravakas, Pratyekabuddhas. Yogacarins, 'and Madhyamikas, in the given order. In Mahayana terminology, the Sravakas and Pratyekabuddhas constitute the Hina-ySna saints, while Yogacarins and Madhyamikas are followers of the two main philosophical Mahayana schools constituting


INTRODUCTION TO BUDDHIST TANTRISM

the last two Siddhantas. Also the first two Siddhantas, those of the Vaibhasika and the Sautrantika, arc classified as Hina-yana, with the Sautrantika considered preparatory for the rise of Mahayana viewpoints. The relation set up by Paridit Smrti (also called Smrtijilanakirti) has an artificial tone, at best is an ovcrgcncralization, and at the same time is suggestive.


In the Anuttarayoga-tantra, there is also a principal division into Father Tantras, such as the Gnhyasamajatantra ; and Mother Tantras, such as the Sri-Cakrasanwara, a division which. Mkhas-grub-rje explains following Tson-kh-pa. In brief, a Father Tantra emphasizes the 'Means' side of the 'meansinsight' union, and so deals especially with the topics so prominent in the present work of evoking the three lights followed by the Clear Light, and of introducing

the Illusory Body into the Clear Light. A Mother Tantra puts emphasis on the 'Insight' side of the 'means-insight' union, and so treats the indissoluble bliss and void; in fact, insofar as material dealing with this topic is included in the present work, it was derived from the Mother Tantra literature. Besides, the Guhyasamdja-tantra if considered the chief Tantra of the Father class, as is the Sri- Cakrasanwara of the Mother class, for the reason that the literature and cult for the two Tantras is the most extensive anddeve-loped among the Tantras found in theKanjurand Tanjur.


The Guhyasamajatantra (Chap. XVIII, 153, 6-7) also has its own definition and classification of tantra: '"Tantra* is explained as 'continuous scries' (prabandha). That continuous! series is threefold through the division—adhara, prakrti, and asaitihdrya." The succeeding verse explains that prakrti is the hetu, asamharya is the phala, and ddlidra is the updya. According to Mkhas-grub-rje, the Tantra of Cause (hetu) is the chief of candidates for the high goal of the Tantra. The Tantra of Means (updya) is the Tantra of Path. The Tantra of Fruit (phala) is the rank of Vajradhara. Those explanations clarify the definition of 'Tantra' as

'continuous series'. Apparently what is meant is that the Tantra shows the continuous progress of a superior candidate (Tantra of Cause) along the Tantric Path (Tantra of Means) to the high goal of Vajradhara (Tantra of Fruit). Nagarjuna's Aslddasa-patala-vistara-iyakhyd (PTT, Vol. 60, p. 6-1) sets forth on the same basis three kinds of Vajradhara, causal Vajradhara, fruitional Vajradhara, and


Vajradhara of the means. The causal Vajradhara is Maha-vajradhara, the adinatho. The fruitional Vajradhara is Akso-bhya and (he other Tathagatas. The Vajradhara of the means is of three kinds, guarding of the place, guarding of oneself, and guarding of yoga. Guarding of the place is the frightening away of the demons through emanation of the ten Krodha deities. Guarding of oneself is the contemplation of only Paramartha-satya (supreme truth), by recollecting such mantras as "Om Sunyaui. .". Guarding of yoga is of two kinds; the collection of merit (arousing compassion and contemplating the four Brahma-vihara-s) and the collection of knowledge (contemplation of the four doors to liberation). C. Some fundamentals of the Tantras


Here we shall consider four fundamentals: analogical thinking, the subtle body, the three worlds, and initiation by the hierophant. The first fundamental is analogical thinking : "As without, so within" (yatha bdhyam tathii 'dhydtmam iti . The Sanskrit is from Abhayakaragupta's Mispannayogdrali (cd. by B. Bhatta-charyya, p. 4), where it applies to the mandala of the 'Stage of Generation* (utpatti-krama . Sec Mkhas grub rje's

Fundamentals. ., Index under 'mandala' : the self existent mandala is in the mind, and the reflected image mandala is drawn outside in conformity. The outer rite must conform to the inner rite, and vice ;crsa. One must clear defiled thoughts from a space within the mind l and erect the meditative image in this space. In the external mandala-rite, first one drives away the evil spiritsfron. the selected area; in this consecrated space one willdraw the mandala. In Mkhas-grub-rje's work, probably the most intricate set of analogies is found in the chapter on the Yoga tantra. In the present work, the most remarkable analogies arc those in the treatment of the 'hundred lineages' under the commentary of the 'Bhagavan Sarva' and 'Tathagata' verses in Part

Three. But the analogies are ubiquitous in the Tantras. The most important analogy of all is that of affiliation: thecandidate should affiliate his body, speech, and mind with the Body, Speech, and Mind of the Buddha, called the three mysteries. According to Mkhas grub rje, it is this affiliation which establishcs the superiority of the Diamond Vehicle (the Tantras) over non-tantric Buddhism. One affiliates his body by gesture (mudrd), his speech by incantation (mantra) and his mind by


deep concentration (samadhi). .Mkhas grub rj'e's Fundamentals... states, "In the Kriya and Carya (Tantras) one intensely contemplates the body as Great Seal (mahamudra), speech as Incantation (mantra), and mind as Reality (tattva)." This is the 'Quick Path' because all avenues of the being are operating for a common goal : the body, speech, and mind arc not working at cross purposes.

In such a case, we might say of mbody, speech, and mind, what Arya-Sura wrote in his Jataka-mdla in description of King Sibi (but in his case meaning the three types, kama, artha, and dharma).

tasmims Irivargdnuguna gunaughah samharsayogdd iva samnivifldhj samastar ufxi vibabhur na casu lirodhasanikfobhavipannaio-bhdftll

In him all forms having multitudes of virtues consistent with the three types appeared with common residence as though from merger of rivalries, and they had no loss of brilliance due to opposition and commotion.

In Hinduism it is believed that those three types when in harmony yield the fourth one, liberation (mokfa).

To understand any system of Buddhist Tantra one must find out the basic correspondence system or systems and carry through accordingly. Fourfold correspondences arc especially prevalent in the Voga-tantra. Among Anuttarayoga-tantras, the Guhya\amdjatantra regularly employs fivefold correspondences based 011 the five Buddhas, the five knowledges, the five personality aggregates, .ind so on. The h'dlacakra-tantra uses sixfold corrcspondcnci , wherein the dements arc increased to six by addition of 'knowledge element' to the five of earth, water, fire, wind, and space. Sevenfold correspondences can be

noticed in < ommcntarics of the Sri-Cakrasamvara-tantra. An example especially pertinent to the present work is the Guhya-samaja sit of four sups of sadhand or spiritual culture. Once the praxis is established in four steps, then some other principal entities arc put in correspondence; thus the four goddesses arc identified with the four steps. This very principle is employed


in the present work for grouping the forty verses which expand the nidana of the Guhyasamajatanlra. Is there a particular philosophical position of Buddhism that fits this kind of analogical thinking? Mkhas-grub-rje reports the thesis of the school founded by his teacher Tsori-kha-pa that the Prasarigika Madhyamika underlies all four classes of Tantra. This appears to stem from the acceptance <• of all fourpramanas by the non-tantric Candrakirti in his Pra-sannapada commentary on the Mula-madhyamaka-karika. There (in the commentary on the first chapter) Candrakirti says, in agreement with the Hindu Naiyayikas, that the four sources ,'ofknowledge {pramana) provide a foundation for the knowledge \ of worldly objects. Therefore, this Buddhist school accepts LMpamdna (analogy) as an independent source of knowledge.


However, the epistemology of this school may differ from that of the Naiyayikas. Thus Candrakirti (text, p. 75) goes on to modify his acceptance of the pramanas by insisting on their relativity,or mutual dependence: "There being the cognitions (pramana), there are the cognizable objects (prameyartha): and there being the cognizable objects, there are the cognitions. But, indeed, there is no intrinsic-nature kind of establishment for either the cognition or the cognizable object" (satsu prama-nesu prameyarthah/ satsu prameyesv arthesu pramanani/na tu khalu svabhaviki pramanaprameyayoh siddhir iti..). In f -

contrast, Asariga (as I pointed out in "The Rules of Debate According to Asariga") accepts only three pramanas, direct perception, inference, and testimony of authoritative persons. This appears to be consistent with Asariga's Yogacara idealism, wherein the subjective consciousness has the upper hand over the objective domain. Because idealist philosophy does not admit an equal status of subject-object, it does not agree with the precept "As without, so within" , and so docs not admit r analogy as an independent source of knowledge. The Buddhist \ logicians, as well known, accept only two pramanas, direct pcrccp-| tion and inference.


A fundamental metaphysical postulate is that of the subtle cody, which of course is a basic idea of the Hindu systems as well. Tson-kha-pa explains in his commentary on the Pailcakrama (PTT, Vol. 159, p. 41-5) that there are two kinds ( of 'mind-only bodies' (stms Isam gyi lus, cittamatra-drha), namely


the body of'states' (gnas skabs, avastha) and the'innatebody* (g'lug ma pa hi lus, nija-deha ). The first of these is the 'body of maturation' (vipakakaya) formed during the ten states (avastha), which arc the lunar months of intrauterine life, and which is born, matures, and dies. The second of these is the

body formed of winds and mind only, the 'mind only' including no five outer-sense based perception (vijiiana) and the 'winds' including only the basic five winds (prana, etc.) and not the secondary five (naga, etc.). According to Mkhas grub rje's Fundamentals. ., the 'uncommon means body' (asadharana-upa-yadtha), a kind of subtle body, is the basis for the tantric machinations; this body seems to be a development of the innate body ' (nija-deha). The Tantras believe that by praxis involving mystic winds and mental muttering, this innate body gradually becomes defined as separate though within the coarse body.

A more advanced stage is when this body can appear separately] as an illusory body and be made to enter an ultimate state'


called the Clear Light, thus returning to a condition from which it had fallen, and which is anterior to the male-female divisions4 As this innate body is strengthened, first it brings out exceeding acuity of one or more senses. The supernormal sharpness of smell is a topic in the celebrated Lotus Sutra (Saddharma-Pundarika) chapter XVIII on advantages of a religious preacher. Xon-tantric Buddhism speaks of six supernormal faculties (abhijiia), while tantric Buddhism adds more, for example, the eight siddhis.


The remarkable occult physiology of the tantric books is really based on their theories of this subtle body. This body is said to have 72,000 'veins' (nadi), of which three are the chief one* located in the position of the backbone. These three, the chief conduits of the 'winds', are differently named in the Hindu and Buddhist Tantras:


Hindu

Buddhist right

Pingala Rnsana

middle

Susumn.i

Avadhuti

left

Ida Lalana


Besides, the Buddhist T;:n:r:> uperimpose on those three ehanncl: four cakra -> •• • ii.i! bow four-fold analogies may be superimposed on the three-fold one- . However, ikw ar*


two systems, earlier and later. One primary group of Tour cakras, important for what is callcd the 'Stage of Completion' (sampanna-krama) and having affinities with Upanisadic teachings, corresponds to four of the Hindu system as follows: head neck heart navel


Hindu Ajna Visuddha Anahata Manipura


Buddhist Mahasukha Sambhoga Dhanna Nirmana


Here I may cite my article "Female Energy and Symbolism in the Buddhist Tantras" for observations stemming from Tson-kha-pa's commentary on the Guhyasamaja Explanatory Tantra Caturdevipariprcchd :

The primacy in this system of four cakras for physiological manipulation in ascetic practices may well go back to the old Upanisadic theories of the four stales of consciousness. The Brahmopanisad, one of the Sainnyasa Upanisads, later than the early Upanisads but preceding the Tantric literature as we now have it, tcachcs that the Purusa has those four states when dwelling in the four places, namely, waking state in the navel, sleep ( i.e. dream) in the neck, dreamless sleep in ihe heart, and the fourth, Turiya, in the head. In agreement, Tsori-kha-pa writes : 'When one has gone to sleep, there is both dream and absence of dream. At the time of deep sleep without dream the white and red elements of the bodhi- citla, which is the basis of mind, stay in the heart, so


mind is held in the heart. At the time of dreaming, those two elements stay in the neck, so mind is held in the neck. At the time when one is not sleeping, they stay at the navel, so mind is held there. When the male and female unite, those two stay in the head.

The later system of four cakras is correlated with the theory of four elements deified as goddesses, and is important for the practice during the 'Stage of Generation' (utpatti-krama). Following the indications of the Manimdld commentary on Nagarjuna's Paacakrama (PTT, Vol. 62, p. 178-2) and the Sarvarahasya-ndma-tantrardji, verses 37-39 (PTT, Vol. 5), the fire-disk at the throat (or neck) is shaped like a bow; the water-


disk at the heart is circular in shape; the wind-disk at the navel is triangular; and the earth-disk in the sacral place is square. These arc also the shapes of the four altars for rites of burnt offering (homa) aimed at certain mundane siddhis (sec niddna verse 15), and they arc also the shapes of the four continents of Puranic mythology (compare the printed geometrical forms in the edition of the Guhyasamaja, Chap. XV). The elements supply the names for these cakras (frequently mahendra for earth, and vfiruna for water). According to the Snags rim (Peking blockprint, 441a-5). jkha sbyor las/ /me hid gaii dan rlttn daft nil hlban chtn dan ni bzhin chuj /hkhor lor sems kyi kun spyod [>a\ I Urn dan nos dan bran hog hgrol zhes gsuns pas me steii dan rlun bsegs dan sa thad kar dan cliu hog lu hgroho /

It says in the Samputa : 'Fire, wind, earth (mahendra), and water, are each the cxccutors of consciousness in a (given) cakra, and move (respectively) upwards, at acute angles, forward, and downwards.' This means that the fire (vibration) moves upwards; the wind, at acute angles to the wave (tiryak); the earth, straight fonvard; and the water, downwards.


The earth disk is equivalent to the Hindu Mulddhdra-cakra, said to lie below the root of the sex organs and above the anus. The series is increased in the Hindu Tantras with Sahasrara at the crown of the head, where Buddhism places the Buddha's Ufnifa (sometimes said to be outside the body); and with Sva-dhisthana at the root of the penis, called in some Buddhist Tantras the 'tip of the gem' (*many-agra). Then we must take for granted that there are three worlds full of gods and demons. In the Cuhyasamajalanlra, Chap. IV, p. 17, there is the line alha vajradharah fasta Irilokas lu tridhi-tukah, on which Pradipoddyotana (,Mchan hgrel edition, FIT., Vol. 158, p. 38.5) explains triloka as being sa hog (pdlala), sa steii (bhumi). and mtho ris (svarga.); and explains Iridhdtuka as being the 'realm of desire' {kdmadhatu), etc. The correspondences can be tabulated as follows:


Old Vedic Hindu period Tibetan Possibly the words Buddhist three Dyaus Svarga sabla = mtho 'formless

ris ('superior realm (arupa

world') dhatu)

Antariksa Bhumi sa steri ('above 'realm of form

the earth') (rupa dhatu)

Prthivi Patala sa hog ('earth 'realm of desire'

and below') (kamadhatu)


The Vedic mantras of the three worlds are also employed in the Buddhist Tantras, as in this passage of Tsori-kha-pa's Snagsrim (f. 311b.4) : jbhur ni rtun gi dkyil hkhor la sogs pa hkhor daii bcas pa hi sa (iog go\bhuvah ni sa sten gi hjig rten nojsiah zhes pa ni mtho ris te srid rise mlhar thug pahoj.

Bhur is the underworld accompanied by the circles of the wind disk (vayu-mandala) and so forth. Bhuvah is the 'perishable receptacle' (loka) of 'above the earth'. Svah is the ultimate pinnacle of existence, the superior world.

The females or goddesses in terms of the three worlds are especially treated in the Sri-Cakrasamiara-tantra and its commentaries. How does one come in contact with any of those

gods or goddesses? Mircea Eliade (Yoga : Immortality and Freedom, p. 208) cites the proverb 'a non-god docs not honor a god' (nddevo devam arcayet). That means that one must awaken the senses of that particular realm and learn the rules. The child cannot make his way in the human world without human senses and without learning the human rules. Thus first one generates oneself into deity ('sclfgeneration' in Mkhas-grub rje's work). The last of these fundamentals is the topic of initiation (abhiffka) meant to confer power, explained as maturing the stream of consciousness. The power, including the permission to continue that tantric lineage, is conferred by the hierophant {vajracarya). The Pradipoddyotana on Chapter XVII (Mehan hgr<l, p. 157-4) contains this passage :


/ tathd caha / mahamahiiydnaratnanijasutre // bhasaian vajrapanih / uddiyanaparratr nifannahjsaridmS (a lajra-yanaSiksitan amantraydmdsaH {inula nikhilavajrayana-


sikfitah tathdgatani parinirvrlaiji na paiyatijSdsldram api tu vajrdcdryo vajraguiuli / so'ya rp iasta bhavatitij And it is also said in the MahamahdydnaratnardjasOtra: The Lord Vajrapani was seated on the mountain of Oddiyana, and addressed all the trainees of the Vajra-yana : "All you trainees in the Vajrayana, listen! When one does not see the Teacher, the Tathagata entered into Parinirvana, then the hierophant, the diamond guru, will serve as his teacher."

Various passages stress that one should look upon the hierophant as upon the Buddha, to disregard his faults and notice only his virtues, in that way, he is able to play the role of master for the disciple.

Initiations are conferred in mandalas and are accompanied by vows (samvara) and pledges (samaya). The 'Stage of Generation' has the five vidya initiations as described in Mkhas-grub rje's work. They are callcd the 'vidyd' because they are adversaries for the five forms of 'avidyd' (nescience), also because they are in reality conferred by the goddess consorts of the five Buddhas. Mkhas grub rjc points out that although

the 'preceptor' and the 'hierophant' lift up the flask (all five rites arc accompanied with 'sprinkling'), in fact the goddesses Locana and soon hold the flask and conduct the initiation. In the transition to the Stage of Completion, there is the hicro-phant's initiation. Then there are three initiations proper to the Stage of Completion, the Secret Initiation, the Insight Knowledge Initiation, and the 'Fourth'. The initiating goddess is sometimes called

the 'seal' <mudrd). The notes to Mkhas grub rje cite the verse: "The seal pledge is explaincdas solidifying the 'body made of mind' manomayakdya); because it solidifies all the body, it is callcd a 'seal' {mudrd)." The fact that in each instance the goddess is imagined as the initiator, or is the female element behind the sccncs, indicates the initiations as the step-wise progress in the solidification of the innate body of the tantras which non-tantric Buddhism calls the 'body made of mind', meaning the progress of that body to the prege-netic androgyne state and then to the Clear Light. D. Winds and mantras A fundamental of the Buddhist Tantras that deserves 70


special treatment is the practice of mantras and machinations with winds. Such practices arc very ancient in India, ccrtainly of Vedic character. The doctrine of life winds is first worked out in the old Upanisads. The basic five winds arc mentioned in Chdndogya Up., III. 13 and V. 19, in the order ptdna, vyana, apdna. samana, uddna. The winds arc the 'breaths' resulting from 'water', as in the well-known 'Three-fold development' discussion of the

Chdndogya; this is made clear in Brhaddranyaka Up., 1.5.3. The functions ascribed to these winds continued to be speculated upon, and so came into the Buddhist Tantras in the theory of breath manipulation through yoga practice. Also a theory of five subsidiary winds developed, clarified later in The Toga Upanisads; in the Buddhist Tantras these latter five are accorded the function of relating external sensory objects to the five sense organs, while the former five are attributed

various internal functions. When ten breaths (prdna) are mentioned in Brhaddranyaka Up., III. 9.4, Vedanlic commentarial tradition takes them to be the ten sensory and motor organs (jrlanakarmendriydni), thus explaining away the palpable reference to winds: but we can infer the real meaning to be that


those winds vivify the sensory and motor organs. In the latter Brhaddranyaka Up. passage, modern translators have rendered the verb rodayanli with causative force ('make someone lament'), thus requiring an unexpressed object. Agood Sanskrit grammar, such as the one by William Dwight Whitney, readily shows that the causative infix-aivj-does not necessarily confer causative force upon a Sanskrit verb. So my translation of the Sanskrit passage:


kalame rudra iti. daieme puruy brand h dlmaikadaiah: te yadasmal farirdn marlydd ulkrdmanli, atha rodayanli. tadyad rodayanli, lasmdd rudrd ili. 'What are the Rudras ?' 'These ten breaths in the person with the alman as the eleventh. When they depart from this mortal frame, they cry out : and because they cry out, they arc callcd Rudras.' In the Satapathabrahmana's celebrated account of the birth of Rudra (Eggeling's translation, SBE, Vol. XL1, pp. 157161) we read : 'bccausc he cried (rud) therefore he is Rudra.' The teaching that the winds make a sound as they depart is continued into the Buddhist Tantras, as in Tson-kha-pa's


commentary Bzhiszhus on the Guhyasamaja Explanatory Tantra Caturdt'iiiparifircchii (Collected Works, Lhasa, Vol. Ca, 13b-5,6): "The reality of mantra tone which each wind has, is not revealed to the 'child' bdla : it* form, that is, its self-cxistencc (si-abhava) or identity (<itmaka . is revealed to thc yogm" (/rlun dehi ran


gdaus snags kvi de Aid du byis pa la mi gsal ba rnal hbyor pa la

gsal bahi gzugs to/ran bzhin nam bdag Aid can/).

In the (iiih)nMiin<ljatantra tradition, the Vajramala Explanatory Tantra, chapter 48 t,PTT, Vol. 3, p. 221) holds that the phenomenal world is due to the two winds prdna and apdna identified with two mantra syllables A and HAM (aham. or egotism , which form the 'knot of the heart' :


VI nni srox »/ ilu i du biadj

/,/,• bzhin lit.n scl HAM du brjodl

I de giiis grig gyur likhoi ba stej

A is explained as the prana wind.

Likewise, apiina is said to be HAM

When those two unite, there is samsara (the cycle of phenomenal existence).

In the full system of human life, there are. as was said, five principal and five subsidiary winds, generically 'vaxu or 'prdna'. The five prim ipal winds have the respective natures of the five Buddhas and are associated with the five mantra- syllables and body-ra/.>"< a* follows:


Orn Vairo —vvana —all over th body, or head

Ah —Amitabha —udana —throat

Hum —Aksobln.i prana —heart

Sva —Ratnasambhava apana —sacral region

Ha —Ainoghasiddhi —samana —navel


The four winds, leaving om :-.i:na, arc held in basic time or ordinary life to breathe in and out cyclically through one or other -iostril or both. Hi ::<••• these four are prdndyama. This word d'> * not ordinal i:\ -ii_'iin the Buddhist Tantra, 'res-

traint 'if breath' but rather / > • a. in-breathing, and drama. out-bicathim;: • >r ' >. the pasAaye ofwinds through theorificcs, and aydma, the • • J ing mental component that 'rides on the wind'. The Pa-\ i/.rama. in i;s first krama. called Vajrajapa, cites the Vajramdla in regard to the ordinary outward passage of the winds:


19. Dakfindd vinirgato raSmir hutabhunmandalam ca tall Raklavarnam idam vyaktam padmandtho 'Ira devatd/l The ray leaving via the right nostril is the fire mandala. This distinguished one of red color (i.e. the udana wind) is the deity Padma-Lord (i.e. Amitabha).


20. Vamad vinirgato raSmir vdyumandalasamjiiitabl HaritaSyamasamkas'ab karmandlho 'Ira devalall The ray leaving via the left nostril is called 'wind mandala'. With a yellowish-green appearance (i.e. samana wind) it is the dcitv Karma-Lord (i.e. Amo-ghasiddhi).


21. Dvdbhydm vinirgato raSmih pitavarno mahadyutihj Mahendramandalam caitad ratiiandtho 'ha dcvatdll The ray leaving via both nostrils is the great radiance of yellow color—the earth mandala (i.e. apana wind) and this is the deity Ratna-Lord (i.e. Ratnasambhava).


22. Adho mandapracdras lu sitakiindendiisaninibliahl Mandala iji vdrunatji caitad vajrandtho 'Ira devoid// Moving slowly downwards (but also leaving via both nostrils) is the water mandala white like the Jasmine (i.e. the prana wind), and this is the deity Vajra-Lord (i.e. Aksobhva).


23. Sarvadehanugo vdyuh sarvaccftdpraiartakahl Voirocanasiabhaio 'sau mrtakayad vinikaretjj The wind that proceeds throughout the body and evolves all activity (i.e. the vyana wind) has the nature of Vairocana and departs only) from the dead body (with blue color).

Recitation of the wind in the Stage of Generation (nidana verse 12) means reciting according to the natural cycle of the winds. This recitation of winds is indicated, according to the Pradipoddyotana commentary, as the meaning of the verses 9-14 (omitting 13) in Chapter Six ('Documents' . Verse 9 deals with meditation on the tip of the nose of the face; at this stage one must take the passage of the winds on faith. Then verse 10 mentions an image of the Buddha, which is Vairocana. But as the Vairocana wind, vyana, docs not enter into the inbreathing and outbreaking, the diamond recitation intended by the verse is in fact Amitabha's fiery udana-wind. The text of Chapter Six interposes a 'Hum' before verse 11, hinting at the recitation


of Aksobhva's watery prana-wind. Verse 12 mentions a ratna-disk which enables the knower of the system to assign here the recitation of Ratnasambhava's earthy apana-wind. Then verse 14 involves recitation of Amoghasiddhi's wind and black samana-wind which is yellow green when passing out through the left nostril.


Then in Chapter Six, verses 15-18 state the advanced level of that recitation, as practiced in the Stage of Completion (nidana verse 241. In the latter stage, the yogin moves those winds from their usual location in basic time to extraordinary combinations in fruitional time, as I summarized from Tson-kha-pa's Rdor bzlas in "Female Energy...", p. 88: Om, the prana wind of the heart cakra, the udana wind of the neck cakra, and the bindu in the position of the ufnifa, is the thunderbolt of body at the Mahasukha-cakra of the forehead. Ah, the initial prana of the heart cakra, the apana wind of the sacral center, along with the udana of the neck center, is the thunderbolt of speech at the neck cakra. Hum, the apana


wind of the sacral center, the udana wind of the neck center, and the pervasive prana (i.e. vyana) normally in the forehead, is the thunderbolt of mind at the nave of the heart lotus. And the winds mixed that way dissolve the knots (mdud) of those centers. Accordingly, in fruitional time, the mantras have been reduced from five to three. This is meant to achieve three photism experiences callcd 'light', 'spread of light', and 'culmination of light'. The further reduction from three to one corresponds to the experience of the Clear Light which is free from the three. Also, the Stage of Completion increases to three the noses meant by 'tip of nose', a teaching found in the Vajramdla, summarized in Tson-kha-pa, "Dkah gnad", Lhasa collected works, Vol. Ca, 8a-2 :


The three 'tips of nose' (nasagra) are 1. the 'tip of nose* of the sacral place; 2. 'tip of nose'of the face' ; 3. 'tip of nose' of the heart (sna rtse gsum ni/gsan bahi sna rtse, gdori gi sna rtse, sfiiri gi sna rtse). Idem: The three 'drops' (bindu) are 1. drop'of substance, 2. 'drop'of light, 3. 'drop' of mantra (thig le gsum ni/rdzas kyi thig Ie, Ijod kyi thig le, shags kyi thig le), Ibid., f. 8a-6: The lustful person contemplates the 'substance drop' on the 'tip-of-


nose' at the sacral placc; the hating person, the'mantra drop' on the 'tip-of-nosc' of the heart; the deluded person, the 'drop of light' on the 'tip of nose' of the face (/hdod chags can gjis gsai: bahi sua riser rdzas kyi Ihig le dan 11 zht sdaA can gyis sfliii gi sna riser snags kyi Ihig le dan II gli mug can gj-is gdoii gi sna riser hod kyi ihig le bsgom par b.tad ciri /)


See in this connection the explanation of pranayama among the six members of yoga in the Pradipoddyotana commentary ('Documents", where the contemplation of the three 'noses' seems not to go with three different persons but with the successive contemplation of a single person. The relation between prdna and mantra is brought out in the discussion about the 'reality' (taltva) of the mantra. Thus Paiicakrama. 1st krama, verse 66; Sri Laksmi, Vol . 63. p. 21-5 and 22-1 :


mantralatli-am idam vyaktam vagvajrasya prasadhanamj jUSnatrayaprabhedena ciltamalre niyojayel // This clear reality of mantra as the accomplishment of the speech diamond, is applied to 'Mind Only' by the variety of three gnoses. Sri Laksmi explains that mantra has two aspccts, by distinction of cause and effect. "The cause is prdna, the cffcct is mantra -. and their reality is the 'reality of mantra' " 'de la rgyu ni srog rlun dan / hbras bu ni snags ste/de dag gi de iiid ni snags kvi dc Aid de/ . The 'three gnoses' mean the three lights.

But then, do mantras have meaning ? See the discussion in The Calcutta Review, 137-1 (Oct. 1955 , a portion of the serial translation by J. V. Bhattacharyya of the Xydyamaiijari. here (pp. 7-13 discussing the validity of mantras. The opponents hold that the mantras do not convey meaning p. 8 : "A mantra renders its assistance to a Vcdic rite only by its recitation." Among their illustrations is the mantra. "Hear, oh slabs of stone !" (srnola grdvdnah . They say pp. 8-9 "This meaning is absurd since unconscious slabs of stone arc never employed to listen to something." The author of the Xydya-maiijari, when replying to their arguments, says of this particular example (p. 12) : "Srnota gravanah is.. a miraculous act by the influence of which slabs of stone can even hear." His chief answer is that the opponents have not taken .. .pains


to find out the meaning. In conclusion he states (p. 13) : "Mantras, revealing their senses, render assistance to a sacrificial rite. But they do not help a rite by their mere recitation like the muttering of a mantra........." The viewpoint of the Nydyama:)jari is quite consistent with that of the Buddhist Tantras, where the mantras do indeed have meaning. For example, one need only consult the Tanjur commentaries on the Vajra-viddrana-ndma-dharani. to learn that cach one of the mantra expressions is given its

explanation in terms of functions of the various deities involved. The Buddhist Tantra also insists that mere muttering of the mantra is useless, since one must simultaneously make a mudrd and concentrate the mind accordingly. And it also agrees when the Buddhist Tantra speaks of success in the incantation as the state when the mantra seems to pronounce itself, thus assuming the role of a deity's body (mantra-miirti . An interesting example of this is in the last chapter of the Sri Paramadya tantra (PTT, Vol. 5, p. 171-5'. understood with the help of Anandagarbha's commentary (PTT, Vol. 73, p. 127-5). The Tantra states: "How is the Bhagavat the master of the deeds of "diamond pride' ? Bccausc the best mudrd belongs to the great lord (maheivara) who has the best of great siddhis and she greatly praises the diamond lord, the one who says


'I am the master of diamond pride' is tlx- Bhagavat. the supreme primordial person.'" de la rdo rje bsftems byahi bdag po bcom ldan hdas ci liar yin zhe na // kun mchog duos grub chen po vi ! dbah phyug chcn po phvag rgyahi mchog // rdo rjc dbah phyug chcr bstod pas // rdo rjc bshems pahi bdag po bdag ces bya ba ni bcom ldan lidas mchog dan pohi skyes buho /) .


The idea here, as gleaned from Anandagarbha's comments, is that 'diamond pride' is the name of a goddess and she is the best mudrd. Since she praises the Bhagavat, he is her master (pati). This alludes to the state when the mudrd coalesces with the mantra to reveal i - sense as the Xydyania^jari would say : and since its sense is'diamond pride' (vajragar; a the mind united with that mudrd can be proud. She praises without any prompting :t he

incantation sounds by itself. She has her own deeds or functions. However, some Western scholars have quite missed the point of how mantras acquire meaning. Take ti e celebrated mantra of the Buddhist Bodhisattva Lord Avalokiie vara, Orp manipadmc hum. Scholars have ascribed this and that meaning


to it; for example, "Om, the jewel in the lotus, hum." The implication of such an explanation is that the mantra has a meaning independent of the recitation, which is denied both by the Hindu Nyayamailjari and the Buddhist Tantras. When one goes into this cult of Avalokitcs vara, he finds out readily that this is called the six-syllabled formula. The six syllables are recited in the six times of day and night, along with fasting and correlated with

gestures (mudra), and the imagined six destinies of gods, men, etc. as associated with six colors. The meaning is the six Buddhas corresponding respectively to the syllables. By continual application to the cult with proper recitation of the six syllables in a correlation of body, speech, and mind, the yogin experts to identify himself with the Lord Ava-lokitegvara who looks with compassion at the beings in the six destinies. Gradually the meaning is evoked by the recitation. While such a translation as "Om, the jewel in the lotus, hum" does not convey any intelligence of the cult; nevertheless, if one

insists on a translation anyway in such form, it is proper to translate the 'mani padmc' portion as "jewel in the lotus" because one would understand mani as the Middle Indie form equal to Sanskrit manilh), the nominative. In terms of mantra construction, because the initial and final syllables arc Om and

Hum, the middle portion 'mani padmc' isequivalcnl to thcsyllablc Ah, for these arc the three heart syllables of the Buddhas corresponding to Body, Speech, and Mind, respectively Vairocana, Amitabha, and Aksobhya. Accordingly, the middle portion stands for the Buddha Amitabha in the heaven Sukhavati.


The gods arc literally expressed into manifestation: that is, they are called into phenomenal forms by mantra. In the Anuttarayoga-tamra cult, the syllables E-VA M serve for this expression. 'Evam' i Thus) is the first word in the Buddhist scriptures, which normally begin "Thus by me it was heard" (evam maya srulam). Mchan hgrel, PTT, Vol. 158, p. 13-3, states : "The syllabic E is like a mother. Therefore, the 'insight' (prajiia) syllabic (E) is symbolized as the sixteen vowels (svara). Va is like a father. The 'seminal drop' (bindu, Ihig le, ip) of Vam makes manifest the vowels. Hence the means' (upaya) syllabic (Vam ] is symbolized as the thirty-three consonants (vyaiijana). Through their union arises, like sons, the



host of words. Thus E is the womb (alaya, kun gzhi) and Vam the progenitor, of pravacana (the Buddhist scripture)." The bindu is also called in this literature the bodhicitta (mind of enlightenment)


The world of light

In the article "Notes on the Sanskrit term Jnana" I first tried to correlate the Guhyasamaja tradition of four lights (three light stages leading to or emerging from the Clear Light) with other systems of thought. Already it was apparent to me that the theory involved a reinterpretation of the old Buddhist formula of Dependent Origination (pratitya-samutpada). With the researches of the present work behind me it is easier to detect the Upanisadic precursors of this theory (it would be hazardous to try to trace it back to the Rg-veda).


Perhaps the most discussed Upanisadic passage is the Chdndogya Upanifad from VI.2 to VI.6. This teaches a development order of 1. heat, becoming speech; 2. water, becoming breath; 3. food, becoming mind. By their respective colors of red, white, and black, they were later (Hindu period) identified with the three gunas (employed extensively in the Buddhist Tantras), to wit: rajas (activity, passion), sattva (buoyancy, clarity), tamas (immobility, darkness), although the guna


applicability to the Chandogya text has been questioned. The Brhaddranyaka Upanifad 1.5 portrays Prajapati's production of the world as food for himself; and this suggestion of'food' as the first produced is consistent with 1.5.3: "Mind, speech, breath, these he made for himself" (tnano vacant pranam, tany atmane kuruta), since we learn from the Chdndogya that 'food'becomes 'mind'. The Brhaddranyaka order is consistent with a tantric interpretation of

Buddhist Dependent Origination, with my understanding of the Yardhopanisad, and with the Guhvasamaja-V nidana doctrine of three lights or three gnoses (jiidnatraya). The Varahopani.-ad is translated by T. R. Srinivasa Ayyangar and edited by G. Srinivasa Murti in The Toga Upanisads. In the I 'ataha we icad: "For says the Sruti, 'These are the five essential features, viz., Asti there is),Bhati (there shines forth), Preyas (whatever pleases), Rupa (form > and Kaman (name). The first three are of the form of the Brahman. The two there-



after are the characteristics of the phenomenal world.' " If we rearrange the order of the Chdndogya terms and employ these other sources, a tabular comparison can be made as shown in Table I.


i. THE WORLD OF LIGHT : BRAHMANICAL & BUDDHIST Brahmanism

Old terminology of Chdndogya Up. Later terminology of Vardha Up.

1. Black Food "It is" (asti) (krsna-anna)

2. Red Heat "It shines forth" (rohita-tejas) (bhati)

3. White Water Whatever pleases(£ukla-apas) (prcyas)

4. Fire, Sun, Moon, 4, 5. Name and Form

Lightning

Buddhism

Old terminology of Later tantric terminology

Dependent Origination


1. Nescience Culmination-of-Light (avidya) S (alokopalabdhi)

2. Motivations Sprcad-of-light (sarnskara) (alokabhasa)

3. Perceptions Light (aloka) (vijfiana)

4. Namc-and-Form Phenomenal World (nama-rupa)

Moreover, the relation of the tantric three lights to the first three members of Dependent Origination is plainly stated by Mchan hgrtl on Pradipoddyotana (Chapter III) in PTT, Vol. 158, p. 38-1. The Pradipoddyotana quotes the Samdhirydkarana's remark, 'said to be the doctrinc of Dependent Origination' (rten cin hbrtl l/byu« chos su grags), to which Mchan ligrrl adds, 'arising from the wind and mind only of the Clear Light' (hod gsal gyi rluft stms isam las skyes pahi).

Maryla Falk wrote a book entitled Noma Rupa and Dharma-Rupa. It is undeniable that she hit upon the basic division by appreciating the significance of the research by the Gcigcrs (p. 71, n.):


One of the principal results of the long and detailed inquiry made by Mrs. M. Geigcr and Prof. W. Geiger into the use of the term dhamma in the Pali Canon (Ptili Dhamma, vornehmlich in der kannnisehen Literatur, Abh. de Bayer. Ak. d. VViss., Philos.-philol. u. hist. Kl., XXXI, 1. Munich 1921) is the conclusion that 'the concept dhamma takes in Buddhism the place of the brahman of older Vedanta' (p. 77). We have shown above that in Upanishadic thought, ever since its Vedic beginnings, the equivalence of both terms reflects the sameness of the entity they designate. In short, the equivalence of Pali dhamma and the old Indian term brahman leads to the equivalence Dharma-rupa =- Brahma-rupa. This Dharma-rupa is therefore the pre-genetic world, anterior to the phenomenal world denoted by Xama-rupa. The Satapatha-brahmana (Eggeling's translation as quoted by Surendranath Dasgupta, A History of Indian Philosophy, I, p. 20) has the celebrated passage:


Then the Brahman itself went up to the sphere beyond. Having gone up to the sphere beyond, it considered, 'How can I descend again into these worlds ?' It then descended again by means of these two, Form and Name. Whatever has a name, that is name; and that again which has no name and which one knows by its form, 'this is (of a certain) form,' that is form: as far as there are Form and Name so far, indeed, extends this (universe). These indeed are the two great forces of Brahman; and, verily, he who knows these two great forces of Brahman becomes himself a great force.

The equivalent statement involving the equation Dharma = Brahman, and taking into account the Paiicakrama list of eighty prakrtis in three sets (seven, forty, and thirty-three), each set constituting momentary dark spots obscuring three light realms, also called the triple vijnana, can be expressed by Vijftana (the (Latkdvatara's 'body of the Tathagata') descending into the womb by means of namc-and-form, the fourth member of Dependent Origination. So also, when Gautama was meditating under the tree of Enlightenment, and according to the tradition found out the formula of Dependent Origination by working backwards from Old Age and Death, in each case


thinking, 'What is the indispensable condition for this to arise?', he proceeded this way : That No. 11 'birth' is the indispensable condition for No. 12 'old age and death, and the whole mass of suffering'; and for No. 11 'birth'—No. 10'gestation' (bhava); for the latter, No. 9 'indulgence' (upadana ; for

the latter, No. 8 'craving' (trfna); for the latter, No. 7 'feelings' (vedana > (and 'ideas', samjha); for the latter, No. 6, 'sensory contact' [sparfa); for the latter, No. 5 'six sense bases' (faddyatana : for the latter, No. 4, 'name-and-form' (ndma-a.nd-rupa . And then, as we can see from the foregoing, in order for Gautama to answer the question 'What is the indispensable condition for nanic-and-form to arise ?' he had to go to the sphere beyond, himself

the Brahman, hence obtaining the Dharma-kaya. In this pre-genetic sphere, Gautama decided that 4. 'name-and-form' has 3. 'perception' (vijiidna) as its indispensable condition; the latter, No. 2 'motivations' (samskara)-. and the latter, No. 1 'nescience' (avidyd). And—the Guhyasamaja tradition suggests— this is his way of stating in psychological terms, the 'white water', 'red heat', and 'black food' of the Chdndogya Up. vision, the atomic triad of the superior realm.


Since the correlation of the supramundane light stages of the Guhyasamaja commcntarial tradition is associated with the first members of Dependent Origination, and with the developmental order of the Brhaddranyaka Upani>ad (rather than with the Chdndogya order), it follows that if we arc to acknowledge a feasibility that the formula of Dependent Origination is based on the Upanisads, we have to further admit that the Brhaddran-yaka Up. is the one with which the Buddhist formula has the most affinity.


Even if we accept that these three light stages may be traceable to such ancient sources as the old Upanisads, it must still be acknowledged that the theory of 80 prakrtis superimposed on the three lights is a development after the rise of the Buddhist Tantras. The Pailcakrama commentary Monitndld cited under nidana verse 6 explicitly mentions that the thirty-three female natures are generated by the wind in the left channel, the forty male natures by the wind in the right channcl. and the seven neuter natures by the wind in the middle. This method of allotting mental states to three groups sc ems to be a development of the assignment of qualities to the three gunas as wc find



in the BhagavadgitS, Chapter 14, but of course in the present form a number of centuries after this Hindu classic. In contrast, as John Woodroffe, Introduction to Tantra Shastra, pp. 49, ff., points out, there are six vrtti associated with the Svadhisthana-cakra, ten vrtti with the Manipura, twelve vrtti with the Ana-hata, twelve vrtti with the Viguddha, sixteen kala with the Sahasrara, four ananda with the Muladhara, with no sets mentioned for the Ajfta-cakra. Thus, this kind of Hindu tantra assigns vrttis to cakras rather than to the three nadi; and very few of the vrttis can be identified with the prakrtis.


As I perused the various commentaries on the Paiicakrama available in the Tibetan Tanjur, I tried to find some explanation for the numbers 'thirty-three' etc., and any suggestions of internal grouping within the three sets of natures, but to little avail. However, the Pancakrama commentary called Manimala attempts to rationalize the eighty prakrtis in terms of the Buddhist Abhidharma set of fifty-one caitasikadharmas ('derivative mentals'), so in PTT, Vol.

62, pp. 186-187. I studied these pages with the help of the collaborated article by Dr. P. Cordier and L. de La Vallee Poussin, "Lcs soixantc-quinze et les cent dharmas." For example, when this commentary analyses the set of thirty-three prakrtis (sec the list under nidana verse I) it includes nos. 1-3, three degrees of aversion, under kaukrtya ('regret'); 4-5 (thinking) future and past, under vitarka and vicara ('searching state of mind'and 'deciding state of mind')— —kaukrtya, vitarka, and vicara being among the list of aniyata-bhumikas ('indeterminate caitasikas'). It includes 11-13,


thrcc«degrees of fear, under the three virtuous roots (kuSalamCla)— non-clinging i alobha), non-hating (advefa), and non-delusion (amoha), which are in the list of ku<alamahdbhumikas (mental elements present in every good conception); and so on. The attempt is obviously forced, but is significant for showing this author's belief that the dharmas arc identical with the prakrtis. This is a common theory that the conscious mind does not create a thought, but that the thought (here a dharma or a prakrti) flows into the mind. Where docs the thought come from ? The Guhyasamaja system holds that the thought comes from one other of three light realms. In terms of 'channels' (nadi), the archetypal world is callcd 'left', 'right', and 'middle'. A consistent theory was earlier stated in the Bhagavadgita (Chap.


X, 4-5): ". . the different states of being proceed from me alone." Moreover, there is a curious resemblance between the thirty-three female prakrtis and the five sthayi-bhaias as discussed by Edward C. Dimock, Jr., The Place of the Hidden Moon, and earlier in his article "Doctrine and Practice Among the Vai-navas of Bengal." There are informative annotations concerning them in Saraswati Goswami Thakur, Shri Brahma-Sun.i.ltd. pp. 10-3, 159-62, which

represents the five as devotion of different individuals. The only source in the English language to my notice which presents these five in the form of stages of a single person to union with the LordKi-na. is Y. Jagannatham, Divine Love and Amorous Sentiment, a modern pamphlet picked up at Jayavclu's in Madras. When I studied these passages and added the advice of Mr. Kirpal Singh N'arang about the five stages of the Sikhs (stated in his very words below on the occasion of his Madison, Wisconsin visit on April 18, 1966, it occurred to me that the thirty-three prakrtis of female consciousness to be

presented under nidana verse no.l arc roughly in five groups the fleeting moments of consciousness in the five stages of the devotee's 'female' soul becoming a Gopi (cow-girl) in union with the Lord. I give here in outline my merely ten- tative solution, observing that should it prove applicable, this would indeed provide a most important link between the Pafica-krama tradition and the early Vaisnava Sahajiya cult.


Sthayi-bhava (or Rasa) Sikh Stages Female Prakrtis


1. Santa, pacification of longing for the external world

2. Dasya, servicc to the Lord

Vairagya ('aversion')

Doing what is pleasing to the Lord

Sakhya, being a friend to the Lord

Vatsalya, the Lord as a child

Fear and Love

Knowing the

Lord's Will


Madhurya or <rrigara, Union the Lord Krsna as a lover


1-3. degrees of aversion

4-9. thinking of future and past, sorrow and calmness

10-22. vikalpa,

fear, down to feelings

23-30, intuition, down to affection

31-33. worry, collccting, and jealousy


In a comparable way, I noticed that the forty prakrtis listed under nidana verse no. 2 seem to be the very characteristics attributed to the Lord Krsna in his various exploits, ranging from the Child Krsna to the Divine Lover, and that the list seems easily to fall into five groups. Perhaps the forty prakrtis of maleconsciousnes* derive from a Vaisnava prototype.

The only way that occurs to me to reconcile the division of the eighty prakrtis into three groups, with what seems to me to be an obvious division of the male and female ones into five groups, is to associate them with the right and left in five cakras starting with no. 1 at the base of the spine, no. 2 at the navel, and moving upward to union in the djiid-cakra or mahasukha-cakra. Admittedly, I have found no textual passage to support this theory.


II. INTRODUCTION TO THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA

A. Texts, commentators, and history

The Guhyasamaja literature falls into two distinct groups— the revealed texts in the Tibetan Kanjur and the excgetical literature in the Tibetan Tanjur. In A Complete Catalogue of the Tibetan Buddhist Canons (Tohoku catalog), the Kanjur works have numbers 442-447 (and disputed works 448-453), the Tanjur works 1784-1917 (cf. Alex Wayman, "Analysis of the Tantric Section of the Kanjur Correlated to Tanjur Exegesis," p. 121).

The chief revealed works in the Tibetan language with catalog titles arc :


No. 442. Guhyasamaja mulatantra : Sanatathagatakaya-vakcittarahasya-guhyasamdja-ndma-mahdkalpardja. Chaps. 1-17 of the Sanskrit text. No. 443. Guhyasamaja uttaratantra : Sanskrit text. Chap. 18 of the No. 444. Guhyasamaja-vyakhyatantra karana-nama-tantra. Sandhivyd- No. 445. Guhyasamaja-vyakhyatantra : Srivajramdlabhi-dhanamahayogatanlra-sanatantrahrdayarahasyavi-bhanga-ndma. No. 446. Guhyasamaja-vyakhyatantra prccha. Caturdevipari- No. 447. Guhyasamaja-vyakhyatantra I'ajrajiidna-


samuccaya-nama-tantra (However, from the Tibetan translation one would expect *Jilanavajra-). Tsori-kha-pa writes in his commentary on the Pafuakrama callcd Gsal bahi sgron me (Vol. 158, p. 175-5) : "Five Explanatory Tantras (vydkhydtantra) have been specifically mentioned by the 'noble father and sons' (i.e. the tantric Nagarjuna as 'father' and the tantrics Aryadeva and Candrakirti as 'sons'), that is, Caturdevipariprccha, Sandhivydkarana, and Vajramdld arc stated to be Explanatory Tantras in the Paiicakrama; VajrajAdnasamuccaya is also said to be an Explanatory Tantra in the Caryamddpaka-pradipa; and while the first two syllables of the niddna (i.e.


E-VAM) are being explained in the Pradipoddyotana, the Devendrapariprccha is specifically mentioned as the source;.. the Explanatory Tanira Devendrapariprcchd was not translated (into Tibetan)." That passage in Tibetan : / hdus pahi b<ad rgyud du hphags pa yab sras kyis dnos su gsuns pa na lna ste / rim lna las lha mo bzhis zhus dan / dgons pa luh ston pa dan / rdo rje hphren ba b<ad rgyud du gsuns la / spyod bsdus las ye ses rdo rje kun las btus kyan bsad rgyud du gsuns Sin / sgron gsal las glen gzhihi yi ge dan po gnis hchad pa na lhahi dbah pos zhus pahi khuns dnos su smos §in... /lhahi dbah pos zhus pa bsad rgyud du gsuhs te hdi ma hgyur ro / . The reason the Tibetan tradition accepted the Dtvendrapariprcchd as an Explanatory Tantra is that immediately after the quotation from that work by title 'reproduced in the materials for nidana verses


Evam maya..), Candrakirti continued with a verse citation (reproduced in section B, next) which he introduced by the remark (Pradipoddyotana MSA: / mayetyadi vajrapadanam apy artho vyakhyatantrad avataryatc / "One can understand from the Explanatory Tantra the meaning of the diamond words 'maya' etc." Tson-kha-pa in his Mchan hgrel (p. 14-1) on the Pradipoddyotana mentions, "Skal-ldan-grags-pa examined the Vajramala carefully and could not find this therein." The thrust of the decision lies in the fact that the Vajramdta presents the forty nidana verses in its chapter 59. Its brief chapter 58 is


devoted to a treatment of the two syllables E-vam. 11 is precisely the Vajramala which should have had, but lacked the cited verses. Candrakirti preceded his citation of the forty verses by citation of verses about the nidana sentence but used other sources, first the named Dcirndrapariprccha. and then an unnamed work he calls an 'Explanatory Tantra'. The Tibetans (Tson-kha-pa, in any case) decided that Candrakirti had treated the Devcndrapariprcchd with the authority ordinarily accorded an Explanatory Tantra. and identified that work accordingly. But that Tantra had not itself been translated; the Pradipoddyo-tana passage apparently is the full extant portion of Sanskrit of this work the Subhafita-samgraha, Part II. pp. 32-3, quotes the Devcndrapariprcchd-tanha by lines contained within the Pradi-poddyotana citation).


The Vajrajnana also has a difficulty of literary history. It is a curious feature of Candrakirti's Pradipoddyotana that his


classifying terminology used throughout this commentary on the Guhyasamajatantra, namely the 'Seven Ornaments' (sapid-lamkdra), is ascribed several times near the outset of his work to an Explanatory Tantra which he does not name, but which is none other than the Vajrajfianasamuccaya; and so Tson-kha-pa in turn cannot specify the Pradipoddyotana for containing the name of this Explanatory Tantra. This silence regarding the title ofthe work from which he drew the material he popularized may mean that Candrakirti had a hand in composing the Vajrajnanasamuccaya, the latter portion of it, or the expanded version (Toh. 450;, to justify his commentarial position, as has been suggested by Yukei Matsunaga in his article, "A Doubt to Authority of the Guhyasamaja-Akhyana-tantras."


Another mystery of Explanatory Tantras occurs in Catidi akirti's Pradipoddyotana at the very end of chapter Four: / yathoktani bhagavatd vydkhydtantre j sarvdngabhavandtitam kalpanakalpavarjitam / mStrabindusamdtitam elan mandalam uttamam // As was said by the Bhagavat in the Explanatory Tantra: Transcending the contemplation of all portions (i.e. color and shape), free from both imagination and lack of imagination, transcending the upper sign and its bindu ', that is the supreme mandala.

Tsoh-kha-pa in his Mchan hgrel (p. 41) mentions that an almost identical verse is found in the Candraguhyatilaka (another quotation from this work in the Pradipoddyotana is reproduced in the initiation remarks in the section 'The two stages, initiations, and the clear light'; and Aryadeva appeals to this Tantra for the expression '100 lineages'). The only difference is where in the verse the compound mdtrdbindu is translated in Candrakirti's work as gug

skytd thig le, the Candraguhyatilaka Tibetan version has the words hdren dan tshig ('guide and letter'). Since the expression mdlrabindu is difficult to interpret, it is possible that it is the original for those Tibetan words, with hdren -- bindu, and tshig - matrd. Tson-kha-pa left the matter open; lie appears not to accept the evidence of one similar verse as final proof that Candrakirti had this Tantra in mind. However, it so happens that this same verse is cited by Indrabhuti in his Jiidna-liddhi (GOS ed., p. 83), and attributed to a chapter thirteen. On the preceding page he has cited the Adoayasamatdvijaya, and


his immediately succeeding quotation from a chapter nine, as well as that citation of chapter thirteen are presumably from that Tantra. According to George Rocrich, The Blue Annals, Part Two, p. 417, Bu-ston considered the Advayasamatavijaya to be an Explanatory Tantra of the Guhyasamajatantra; he translated a version of that work in 22 chapters that was incomplete in the middle. Possibly this is the reason that Tsori-kha-pa apparently ignores this work. Several centuries after his time, the Chinese version of this Tantra was used to fill out the missing portion of Bu-ston's translation, accounting for the present version in the Tibetan Kanjur. But if Bu-ston was serious about this Advaya-samatavijaya as an Explanatory Tantra, I can find no confirmation of this in his own Pradipoddyotana commentary in Collected Works (Part 9), where he freely cites the Sandhivyakaraiut (in an older translation preceding the one now officially in the Kanjur), the Vajramala, the Vajrahrdayalamkara, Yoga-tantras (on which he was the great authority), Aryadeva's various works, and other works, but not, as far as I could notice, the Advayasamatavijaya.


Again, in his Pradipoddyotana on chapter XIV, Candra-kirti quotes from an unnamed Vyakhya-tantra an interesting prose passage with Vajrapani as interlocutor (included in this work under 'Van' Finally, having mystified sufficiently the 'Explanatory Tantras,' Candrakirti in his commentary on Chapter XVII cites the 'Mula-tantra', which Tson-kha-pa identifies as the Mula-tantra of the Yoga-tantra, namely the Tattvasamgraha (cf. the passage in the

treatment of initiation). According to The Blue Annals, Book VII ('The Preaching of the Tantras'), there was a distinction of'Outer' Yoga-tantra and 'Inner'Yoga-tantra, with the 'inner' variety becoming separately called 'Anuttarayoga-tantra'. One can therefore understand Candrakirti's citation as indicating his adherence to this terminology, since the Tattvasamgraha is the mula-tantra of the'outer' Yoga-tantra. Indeed, there is much in common between the Yoga-tantra (such works as the Tattvasamgraha, the Mayajala, Sarvarahasya-tantra, and Sri Paramiidya) and the 'Father' class of Anuttarayoga-tantra. Both classes of Tantra use the terminology of 'three samadhis', clarified in our Introduction III. C., although there are differences in definitions.


Candrakirti's citation of both the Sandhirydkarana and the Vajramila as 'Arya-vyakhyana' shows that he took for granted the knowledge in his readers of those two works. By implication, when he cites a verse from the Sarvarahasya-tantra without any indication of source, those same readers arc expected to know the work. Then, when he cites by name some other Tantras, such as the Mayajdlatantra, the I'ajro/nifatanlra, the Vairocanabhisambodhi, and the Vajrahrdayalamkdra, we may infer that he gives the names because he cannot expect the followers of the Guhyasamaja to know those other Tantras by heart. But if this is indeed the ease, it would also have to apply to his quotations from the named works Devendrapariprcchd and the Candraguhyatilaka. So there are certainly many difficulties about the literary history of these works. Tsoh-kha-pa (PTT, Vol. 158, p. 175-6) rejccts the view advanced by some that the Vajrahrdayd lamkdra and the Maydjdla are Explanatory Tantras, since some consistency with the Guhyasamdja docs not qualify those works as 'Explanatory'. However, Tsoh-kha-pa, as Bu-ston before him, often cites the Vajrahrdaydlamkdra-tantra in commentarial material on theGuliyasamdjatantra. Hisjustification is suggested in his Paiicakrama commentary, PTT Vol. 158, p. 186-5, where he refers to the Vajrahrdaydlamkara as a 'consistent means (updya) tantra' (phyogs mlhun gyilhabs gyi rgyud), that is to say consistent with one side of Guhyasamaja teaching.


According to Tsoh-kha-pa PTT, Vol. 158, p. 177-1), while the Explanatory Tantra Vajramald discusses some other matters, it principally teaches the'arcane body', 'arcane speech', and 'arcane mind', and the illusory body (mdyd-dtha). He further explains (ibid., p. 177-1, 2)) that the Caturdevipariprcchd principally teaches extensively the essentials of prdnaydma: and that the Sandhivyakarana is consistent with the sequence of chapters of the mBla-tantra and is an Explanatory Tantra for the first twelve chapters of the Guhyasamdja and not for the remaining ones. He also mentions (ibid., p. 176-1) that a larger and a smaller version of the Vajrajiianasamuccaya arc stated in the commentary on the Vajramala; these are numbered respectively 450 and 447 in the Tohoku catalog based on the Derge edition of the Kanjur-Tanjur (but the Peking edition of the Kanjur omits the larger version). The principle of the 'explanatory tantras' seems to be a


consistency of terminology. Such works should employ the same names of deities and treat some major subjects of the basic tantra of the Guhyasamaja. The one which most qualifies as such is of course the Sandhivyakarana because it does expand on the Guhyasamaja chaptcr by chapter for the first twelve chapters, and then itself comes to an end. Of course, other Tantras of the Anuttarayoga-tantra class have much material in common, but their departure in terminology makes it difficult to equate their subject matter. Tsori-kha-pa, who commented on the chief Father Tantra, the Guhyasamaja, and the chief Mother Tantra, the Sri-Cakrasamvara, frequently has remarks which correlate these two extensive sets of tantric literature. I made a modest attempt at this too in my "Female Energy....." article, showing

the equivalence of the Father Tantra vocabulary 'Mother,' 'Sister,' 'Daughter' with the Mother Tantra vocabulary 'Together-born female,' 'field-born female,' and 'incantation-born female'.

As we pass from those revealed tantric works to the exege-tical literature, wc should note that the former are written in strict anonymity and attributed to divine authorship, while in the case of the latter, the writers are pleased to attach their names to commcntarial literature and elaborate rituals which have taken centuries to develop. Before it is possible even tentatively to ascribe dates to the revealed literature, we must do the same for the commentarial works, and here we note that some scholarly confusion already has set in. It simply is not possible yet to pinpoint with accuracy the date of Nagarjuna as 645 A.D., the date given by 15. Bhattacharyya in the introduction p. xxx ; to his edition of the Guhyasamdja. A helpful attempt is Rahula Sankrtyavana's gcneological tree of the eighty-four Siddhas and list of the Siddhas in journal Asiatique, Oct. Dec., 1934, pp. 218-225. Professor Giuseppe Tucci has given his lists and tentative dates of Siddhas in Tibetan Painted Scrolls, I, pp. 227-232. The Japanese scholar Hakuyu Hadano, in Tohoku Daigaku Bungaku-bu h'enkyu-ncmpo, No. 9 (1958), pp. 58-18, thoroughly discusses the traditions of King Indrabhuti.


Although the attempt involves trepidation, some chronological layers can be worked out through textual analysis and other considerations. I. First come the revealed texts Guhyasamajatantra, the


three Explanatory Tantras named in the Pancakrama, and the (uncertain) Vajrajhdnasamuccaya. In a negative way, noworks are extant composed with their names by the first persons in the Guhyasamaja lineage list (Tibetan tradition), namely Indra-bhuti the Great, Nagayogini, and King Visukalpa (per Tsoh-kha-pa, Vol. 158, p. 178-1, 2): i-ndra-bhu-ti chen po dan kluhi rnal hbyor ma dan sa bdag bi-su-ka-lpas gzhuh mdzadpa ni hdi na mi snan la/). There is a legendary account in The Blue Annals (I, pp. 359-60) :

The adepts of the (Guhya )samaja agree that the Guhya-samajatantra had been preached by the Munindra himself, following a request of Indrabhuti, the great king of Oddiyana, at the time when the Buddha had manifested himself in Oddiyana and initiated (the king). Thereupon the king and his retinue practised the Tantra by means of the prapanca-carya (spros spyod) and became initiates (Vidyadhara—one who has attained spiritual realization or siddhi, grub pa), and the country of Oddi-yana became deserted. After that a yogini, who had descended from the realm of the Nagas, heard it (i.e. the Tantra) from (king) Indrabhuti and taught it to king ViSukalpa of the Southern country. The maha-brah-mana Saraha heard it from him and taught it to acarya Nagarjuna. The latter had many disciples, but the chief ones were the four: Sakyamitra, Aryadeva, N'agabodhi, and Candrakirti.


Tsoh-kha-pa (op. cit., p. 178-2), right after the mention of those first persons whose Guhyasamaja works do not exist (at least under their names), goes on to mention, what in this context should be the first work by an historical personnagc, the Guhya-siddhi, whose authorship he assigns to Sri-Mahasukhanatha (dpal mgon po bde ba chen po). This name is undoubtedly drawn from the verse cited from a manuscript of this work by S. B. Dasgupta, An Introduction to Tantric Buddhism, p. 156, note: frl-mahasukha-nathasya pada-padmopajivina / racitah padma-vajretia sarvasattvanukampaya // . The author is well known by the name Padmavajra (who also has the name Devacandra, per Tucci, Vol. I, p. 232). He might be different from the disciple of Buddhaguhya (2nd half, eighth century) whocom-mented on the Yoga-tantra. Tsoh-kha-pa states that the


Guhyasiddhi establishes the meaning of the Samaja. It principally establishes the nidana of the Guhyasamaja; and it teaches about the stages of the path : first, the Stage of Generation of placing syllables; second, on the basis of 'Victory of the Rite', one's own intrinsic nature symbolizing reality; third, for the sake of relying on that, the contemplation with recourse to the Jftana-tnudra; fourth, the contemplation of mahamudra and abhisambodhi togetherwith the fourfold praxis. The Blue Annals, I, p. 363, mentions besides this Guhyasiddhi, the work by King Indrabhuti, the Jnanasiddhi, as also based on the Guhya-samaja. Hence this must be a different Indrabhuti from the one who has no works on the Guhyasamaja. Tson-kha-pa also mentions that there exist no works by Saraha on the Guhya-samdjalantra. About his time begin two lineages of Guhya-samaja commentarial tradition—the Arva school (hphags lugs) and the Jnanapada school (ye fes zhabs lugs).


(a) The Arya school is headed by the tantric Nagarjuna, whose most important works in the tantric field are his own compositions, the Pindikria-sadhana (especially for the Stage of Generation) and thePaiicakrama for theStagcofCompletion), which became authoritative for the sequence of yoga. Besides, his commentary Affadaia-pa(ala-vistara-vydkhyd on the 18th chapter (the Uttara-tantra) remained the most important of any commentary on that chapter, probably bccausc Candra-kirti's Pradipoddyotana does not cover this part. His commentary Tantratikd on the mula Guhyasamajatantra was overshadowed by the Pradipoddyotana. His Pindikrta-sadhana and Paiicakrama were based on the Guhyasamajatantra, first 12 chapters, especially chapter Six and Twelve ('Documents') and the Explanatory Tantras Sandhivyakarana and Vajramald (although he also refers to the Caturdevipariprcchd). He stressed the three lights and the Clear Light, the theory of eighty prakrtis or vikalpas going with three oijiianas, interpreted with Yogacara-type vocabulary probably adopted from the Lahkdvatara-sulra. Nagarjuna's Tantra-(ika is an attempt to explain the Guhyasamdjalantra on the basis of the utpatti-krama and sampanna-krama, as well as his five stages, to which lie refers repeatedly, the latter under the title Prakarana (rab tu byed pa) rather than Paiicakrama. So in PTT, Vol. 59, he mentions all five krama by name at p. 200-5 and again all five beginning with 'from the Prakarana' (rab tu byed pa las


kyah) at p. 239-4;and has numerous quotations from Prakarana at pp. 214-4, 218-5, 226-5, 236-2, 243-5, 289-1, 300-3, etc. Also, Bhavyakirti's 'PrakdSika' commentary on Pradipoddyotana, PTT Vol. 60, quotes the Paiicakrama twice on p. 257-4, 5 as 'Prakarana', suggesting that he was consulting Nagarjuna's Tantratikd while writing his commentary on Candrakirti's work. But the commentators on the Paiicakrama itself do not call it 'Prakarana'. An extensive commentarial literature arose on the basis of the Paiicakrama. I have mainly employed Sri Laksmi's commentary, because it adheres closely to the text commented upon without wild speculations, has a beautiful flow of language, and uses the nidana verses which arc the basis of the present work. Another commentary which has supplied some important passages is the Manimala which the colophon and accordingly the catalogs ascribe to Nagabodhi. But this is hardly possible, because Nagabodhi is among the earliest in the lineage. The Manimdld is the most developed of the Indian commentaries I examined. It employs the 'six alternatives' (satkoti) terminology, which was popularized by Candrakirti. It is full of opinionated speculations, such as (PTT, Vol. 62, p. 160-2) equating Nagarjuna's five stages, oajrajdpa, etc., with the five paths (marga), prayoga, etc. of the Prajiiaparamita exegesis. The fact that the

respective descriptions in the two different literatures have virtually nothing in common does not bother the author of the Manimdld, who makes up five reasons which need not be cited. A clue of identification is a certain frankness of language which the author has in common with Bhavvakirti, the author of the PrakaSika commentary on Candrakirti's

Pradipoddyotana (sec below). Thus in the Manimdld (op. cit. p. 155-3, 4, 5 and next page) the author takes up the problem of what is meant by the 'woman', 'man', and 'androgyne' of this literature. He mentions and rqects various opinions before giving his own. His remark about the usual theory of the 'woman' is precisely the remark given by Bhavyakirti in the PrakdSikd (PTT, Vol. 61, p. 3-2), with alternate translation into Tibetan, where he rejects the view

that a 'woman' is described by breasts and hair : If the feminine gender (stri-linga) has breasts and hair, then mala ('garlands') and *svapnasani ('beds') would not have feminine gender, because they do not have


breasts and hair. And even when the (female) zones that do have hair are shaved, they have feminine gender. And it reduces to the absurdity that an actor impersonating a woman by means of attached breasts and wig, would have feminine gender" (/ gal te nu mal dan skra can mo rtags yin na / dchi Is he phreii ba dan Hal khri la sogs pa dag mo rlags sit mi hgvur tejdc mains nu ma dan skrar mi Idan pahi phyir ro // hbreg pahi skra da it Idan pahi sa phyogs dag kyari mo rtags su hgyur ro I sbyar halii nu ma dan skrahi cha lugs hdzin pahi gar mkhan skyes pa yan mo rtags Hid du thai bar hgyur rol)

There are other commentators on the Guhyasamaja system who are equally scornful of the vulgar interpretation of tantric symbols, of which our own generation has no monopoly. But it would lake the same person to make the identical remark, given above, in two books.


In the Arya school, the tantric Candrakirti wrote the most eminent commentary on the mula Guhyasamajatantra, called the Pradipoddyotana. Its main contribution is to classify commentarial statements on the Guhyasamdjatantra by a rigorous application of subdivisions of 'Seven Ornaments', a terminology stemming from the I'ajrajiianasamuccaya, but which is merely referred to by Candrakirti as the 'Explanatory Tantra' (see the Section C, infra, for a summary exposition of the full twenty-eight subdivisions) and to avoid Yogacara terminology. The first commentary on his work may have been the primitive one by Laksmin-kara, sister of Indrabhiiii, callcd the 'Vifamapada-paiijika'. The main commentary on the Pradipoddyotana, the 'Prakdsika' of Bhavyakirti (according to the Tohoku catalog; PTT catalog incorrectly gives author's name as Aryadeva . seems intent on rebuking Candrakirti by restoring the Yogacara vocabulary pursuant to the indications of Nagarjuna's works.


In this tradition the greatest work on important phases of tantric praxis is Aryadcva's Carydmeldpaka-pradipa. Aryadeva is a tantric writer, no more to be identified with the celebrated Madhyamika author of the same name than are the tantrics Nagiirjuna and Candrakirli. This tantric author Aryadeva also wrote a number of brief summary works of which now the most well-known is the Ciltavisuddhiprakarana by reason of Prabhubhai B. Patel's edition. Of all the later writers of this



(b) The Jnanapada school is named after Buddhas rijftana, whose teacher Lilavajra composed in the Guhyasamaja class) only the Jv'idanagurupadesa and does not appear to have made a distinction between the 'Stage of Generation' and the'Stage of Completion' (PTT, Vol. 158, p. 178-3; slob dpon sgeg pahi rdo rjes

rgyud kyi glen gzhihi bsad pa tsam mdzad kyan/ rim gftis kyi lam gyi srol zur pa mi snan ho . Buddha-jrijftana (see his legend in Roerich. The Blue Annals, I, pp. 367, ff.) wrote works exemplifying both Stages: the Stage of Generation in the Samantabhadra-nama-sadhana (Tohoku No. 1855) and the Stage of Completion in the revealed Mukhagama Toh. No. 1853) and Muktitilaka (Toh. No. 1859) based on that revelation (PTT, Vol. 158, p. 178-3). Buddhasrijnana studied the Prajfiaparamita under the celebrated specialist Haribhadra, and this part of his training is quite evident in his tantric works. He adopted an

interpretive position in which at each point the explanations of the Guhyasamaja are tied in with Mahayana Buddhism, particularly of the Prajnaparamita type. That kept obviously Brahmanical doctrines from flowing into the syncretic tantric literature of his school. Perhaps partly due to his Buddhist piety, Buddhasrijnana had great fortune of disciples. One of his direct disciples, Buddhaguhya, became a celebrated commentator on the Carya-and Yoga-Tantra classes of tantric literature. Another one, Dipahkarabhadra is credited with a work of highest importance on ritual in the Stage of Generation, the

Guhyasamajaman data; id hi (Toh. 1865), often referred to as the "Four-hundred-and-fifty verses," which has a (ika on it by Ratnakarasanti (Toh. No. 1871). This Dipahkarabhadra as well as Rahulabhadra and some other direct disciples are credited in legend with advanced success in the yoga of the Guhya-samaja, it being hinted that they did better than Buddhasri-jftana himself, who tried without success to generate the 'diamond body' (vajrakaya). Another disciple, named Vitapada. wrote lengthy commentaries on the main works of the master. This school, at least as far as its literary products are concerned,

docs not bother with the topics of three lights and the Clear Light so prevalent in the works of the 'Arya' school. If the jAanapada school comcs across a term in the Guhyasamajat antra


like 'prakrtiprabhdsvara', it would be prone to explain it just as in non-tantric Buddhism, to wit 'intrinsically clear' (said of the pure consciousness); while a writer of the Ana school would be likely to say it means (in what is callcd the 'pregnant sense') 'the Clear Light along with the (80 )prakrtis (of the three lights'). However, it may well be the case that thejnanapada school does not deny that pregnant sense' but reserves it for the oral tradition, rigorously kept apart from the written works. The emphasis on the guru's precepts is shown by the very title of that work of Buddhasrijiiana's, the

Alukhagoma 'the tradition from the mouth'. Yitapada's commentary on the master's Muktitilaka carries on this same stress by a number of consistent remarks (PIT, Vol. 65, p. 134-5): "from the mouth of one's own guru" (rah gi bla mahi kha nas ); ibid, p. 135-2; " 'arisen in the lineage chain' means recourse to the errorless path of the illustrious gurus" (brgyud rims las byun zhes pa ni bla ma dam pahi ma nor bahi lam du brten paho). Various commentaries on the mula-tanlra belong to thejnanapada school; probably the freedom from Candrakirti's classifying terms in the later commentaries is the best indication of inclusion in that school. The Jnanapada school took greater care with literary polish than the Arya school. It has been preeminent in works on the Guhyasamaja ritual, especially on the praxis of prdnaydma; and the writer Smrtijiianakirti of this school wrote a commentary on the Caturdevipariprcchd, which is mainly devoted to prandydma. The towering tantric commentator of the last period of Indian Buddhism, Abhayaka-ragupta, is said to have belonged to the Jnanapada lineage.


The author Ratnakaraganti freely used both lineages in his own works, and his attitude is about what is found in Tibetan tantrism, where the followers of the Guhyasamaja cycle were glad enough to understand the Tantra and practice it in proper fashion, no matter which of the two lineages would contribute the most. In fact, both schools have an extensive literature on this Tantra, as extant in Tibetan translation. In the present work, products of the 'Arya' school are chiefly utilized for the simple reason that it is this school which is built around the position found in the forty nidana verses that are the main instigation of the current research. On the other hand, some important



passages have been selected from texts of the Jnanapada school. The above summary prepares us to make some chronological observations. Tucci (I, p. 232) argues that we should accept the Tibetan tradition which makes Padmasambhava (middle eighth century) the disciplc of a King Indrabhuti who therefore would fall in the period end of seventh to first half of eighth

century. But Hadano (op. cit. placcs Indrabhuti in the ninth century and Buddhajfianapada in the eighth century. Of course, to reconcile the positions we should posit two Indrabhuti's. The first Indrabhuti would be the one associated with Oddiyana, who has no works on the Guhya-samaja, but could well be the author of the great commentary on the Samputa-tilaka in the Mother Tantra tradition, just as Saraha, his junior, wrote commentaries on other Tantras, such as the Buddhakapiila-Tantra, but no distinguishable work on the Guhyasamaja. Saraha is placed by Sarikrt* ayana as a contemporary of King Dharmapala (769-

809). The lama Taranatha, in his talcs of the Siddhas, calls the second Indrabhuti 'Indra-bhuti the junior'. He could be the Indrabhuti of Orissa (Odivisa) whom Sankrtyayana considered to be the only Indrabhuti. His master is Anangavajra, and the latter's teacher Padmavajra. This would be the Padmavajra who wrote the Guhyasiddhi. His spiritual grandson Indrabhuti would be the one who wrote the Jiidnasiddhi. Padmavajra would fall in the second half of the eighth century, just as do both the tantric Nagarjuna of the Arya school and Buddhagrijiiana of thejnana-piida school. In the ninth century

comes Candrakirti, author of Pradipoddyotana, as well as the second Indrabhuti who has a sister Laksminkara ; and also, probably, Aryadeva. This is easily the first half of the ninth, as maintained by (Miss) Malati J. Shendge, ed. Advayasiddhi (Baroda, 1964), p. 11, in agreement with Snellgrovc and Sankrtyayana. The Kashmirian Sri LaksmI is probably not the same person as Laksmiri-kara. Tilopa belongs to the tenth century because he is the guru ofNaropawhodiedin 1027, and the latter is a con temporary of Ratnakaraganti. Guhyasamaja commentaries continued to be written through the twelfth ccntury, as is deducible from translations into Tibetan. Thus, the Tanjur Guhyasamaja cycle of commentarial literature is composed between the eighth and twelfth centuries.



. Oncc wc place the commentarial literature, the way is open to approach the more tenuous clues for solving the problem of the revealed Tantras of the Kanjur. The tradition reported from Taranatha that the Tantras were transmitted in utmost secrccy for 300 years before being rendered somewhat more public by the Siddhas (cf. B. Bhattacharyya, Intro, xxxv), would lead us to a fifth century A.D. time which is not unreasonable, even though we should be unhappy to have so little data to go on. The early fifth century is the creative period of Asahga (circa 375-430 A.D.), but I have rejected the never-substantiated

attribution of the Guhyasamajatantra to his authorship in my Analysis of the Sravakabhumi Manuscript, p. 39, on the basis of my studies in his known works (which include the Sanskrit prose commentary on the Sutralamkdra, but not the basic verses) and repeat my rejection here as a consequence of the intervening investigation of the Guhyasamaja literature. Not for the reason that the Guhyasamajatantra is unworthy of Asahga, rather that it is impossible of Asahga, and further—to mention an extrinsic reason—tantric commentators do not quote from Asahga's or his brother Vasubandhu's works to justify basic

tantric ideas! Rather they quote the Lankdvatdra-s&tra for their Yogacara-type vocabulary, and this sOtra was first translated into Chinese in 443 A.D. and in the fifth century had become so popular among Indian Buddhists that it was the chief text of Bodhidharma when he came to China in either 520 A.D. or 527 A.D. (the alternate dates of the Sino-Japanese tradition).


We can strengthen this tentative attribution to the fifth century by considering some further materials of the Vajramdla which, besides being the source of our nidana verses, contains many other passages of supreme importance for understanding the Guhyasamaja cult. In my "Studies in Yama and Mara," pp. 70-73,1 show from a work ofTson-kha-pa that the Vajramdla converts the Visnu Avatar doctrine, at least the first five Avatars, into a kind of esoteric embryology, namely that in the first five lunar months of uterine existence, the body has successively the forms offish, tortoise, boar, lion, and dwarf. Now this doctrineisset forth in Vajramdla's Chapter XXXII, which also contains Yogacara vocabulary tied in with the terminology of the Laiikdvatdra-sutra. As an example of this terminology in the Vajramdld, I may cite PTT, Vol. 3, p. 214-5, line 6 : "the


secret state of the eight-ryriana set" (/ mam its brgyad kyi tshogs dben pa / ). In that articlc, p. 71. note. I mention, "Miss Kamala Ray, 'The Ten Incarnations of Visnu in Bengal', I HQ., Vol. XV (1941), pp. 370-85, explains that while the Avatara theory is very ancient, the standard list is more modern, and (p. 373) 'Epigraphic evidences testify to the existence of this theory from the 5th century A.D. onwards (in Bengal).'" This suggests that at the time the standard list often Incarnations became publicized, an esoteric tradition was developing concerning these incarnations as represented, at least the first five, by intra-uterine states.


Furthermore, in the previous introductory section, 'The world of light', I put forward the striking hypothesis that both the set of thirty-three female prakrtis and forty male prakrtis listed under nidfina verses nos. 1 and 2 can be interpreted as breaking down into five groups in each set, the first set

especially going with the five stages of the Vaisnava path to union with the Lord Krsna (presuming there was once a faith in such a 'path'). If the sets of prakrtis have their origin in a syncretism With Vaispavism, then the fact that later on the commentators on the Pancakrama (from which the lists of

prakrtis are drawn) have no inkling, as far as the texts are concerned, of how to subdivide the sets of prakrtis, indicates that some time must have elapsed between the adoption of this vocabulary in an esoteric oral way and the more public commentarial tradition. We must grant that any conclusion about

this matter must be of a highly speculative nature, since the early syncretisms of Buddhism and Vaisnavism are obscure, and since the erotic type of Krjna worship is usually placed at a considerably later date than what we are now considering (fifth century, A.D.).


What I do maintain is that the Vajramala has the earmarks of having been composed centuries before the tantric Nagar-juna quoted it in his Paiicakrama, and I tentatively place it in the fifth century. The Sandhivyakarana should tentatively be placed at about the same time, since it shows the same definite style of authoritative revealed literature. The other explanatory tantras can be roughly placed there also, subject to later investigations.


The above considerations leave open a date for the Guhya-MMajatantra itself. This problem cannot be separated from the


of all the main revealed Buddhist Tantras preserved in Tibetan translation in the Kanjur, because there is certainly a great deal of common material to be found in all these Tantras; as well as from the dating of the Saivitic and Vaisnava dgamas. I see no reason for denying it a century's priority to the Vajramdla; and so, on a purely tentative basis, ascribe the Gufryasamdjatantra to the fourth century, A.D. But a decision on this matter requires solution of other problems of Indian literary history.

I am well aware that the kind of reasoning employed above might be challenged by the scholars who insist on a later date for the Guhyasamajatantra, in fact placed just prior to the historical commentaries on it. Therefore, I take the liberty of quoting extensively from my article in the Golden Jubilee Volume of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, "Early Literary History of the Buddhist Tantras, especially the Guhya-samaja-tantra":

"What is significant about the two commentarial traditions is precisely that there are two, with many differences within each of these traditions. Just as the Sautrantika and Vaibha-sika of non-tantric Buddhism could not have arisen fully-grown, in the form in which we know them, in the century immediately following the passing of the Buddha, so also the 'Arya School* and the 'Jfianapada School' could not have arisen in the century immediately following the composition of the Guhyasamdja, let alone the very same ccntury ! Indeed, any one who even


partially surveys the Guhyasamdja literature as extant in Tibetan and notes the remarkable variance in explanation of a given passage of the basic Tantra, would experience at least a mild shock at the flimsy reasons given for a late dating of the Guhya-samdja. One example will be given to show what is meant, and this case is particularly chosen for a context where one would expect minimal variation between the commentaries because the expression to be explained is merely the 'three kinds' of each sense object as mentioned without explanation in the basic tantra of Guhyasamdja, Chap. 7:


Arya school:

Nagarjuna's / antrafikd on Guhyasamdja (Derge ed., Sa, f. 105b-7); (form, the object of sight) 'has the nature of outer, inner, and both' (phyi dan nan dan giii gain rail bzhin).


Candrakirti's Pradipoddyotana on Guhyasamaja (Dcrgc ed., Ha, f. 49a-5): (form, the object of sight) 'should be perceived and comprehended as inferior, intermediate, and superior' (dman pa dan bar ma dan mchog gsum du mam par its Sin. rtogs pa\ ; in Tsori-kha-pa's Mchan-hgrel on the Pradipoddyotana (PTT, Vol. 158, p. 55-3 , we learn that the superior kind is the Buddha going with that sense object, e.g. Vairocana as form; (p. 56-1, form is also of three kinds, pleasurable, repulsive or displeasing, and neutral). Jnanapada School:

PraSantajnana's Upadesa-niscaya on Guhyasamaja (PTT, Vol. 63, p. 64-5); the three kinds arc superior (lust), intermediate (delusion), and inferior (hatred:.


Celu-pa's Ratnavrksa-nima-rahasya-samdja-vrtti (PTT, Vol. 63, p. 183-5): inferior, intermediate, and superior. Jinadatta's Paiijikd-ndma on Guhyasamdja (PTT, Vol.63, p. 259-1) : "Because one discerns it as having the nature of superior, and so on, there are three kinds; having the nature of outer, inner, and both, means "non-apprehen-sion" (anupalabdhi), so one should understand it by the nature of three gates to liberation, of voidness, etc.' (mchog la sogs palii rari bzhin du brtags pahi phyir rnam gsum mo / phyi dari nari dan grii gahi bdag riid mi dmigs pa ste / stori pa riid la sogs pahi rnam par thar pahi sgo gsum gyi no bos rtogs par byaho /).


Ratnakarasanti's Kusumdiijali-guhyasamdja-nibandha-noma (Vol. 64, p. 127-1): the three kinds mean the respective offerings by the three kinds of yogins, the one of lust, of delusion, and of hatred. Smrtijftanakirti's Sriguhyasamdja-tantrardja-vrtti (PTT, Vol. 66, p. 132-3): 'The "three kinds" means that one-knows (the object) as the three gates to liberation, the signless, etc.'


Anandagarbha's Sri-guhyasamdja-mahdlantraraja- tikd (PTT, Vol. 84, p. 127-4, 5): 'The three kinds are outer, inner, and secret. That was explained by Arya-Jftanapada to mean fifteen in an external set,fifteen in a personal set,and fifteen in a secret set. Having cited hiswords,



[[INTRODUCTION TO THE OUH YASAMAjATANTRA]]

I should here explain clearly his meaning.' (mam pa gsum ni phyi dan nan dan gsaii bafoo / / de hphagj pa ye ges zhabs kyis phyifci bye brag bco lrta dan / naA gi bye brag bco lna dan / gsan bahi bye brag bco lAar biad pahi don hdir sgrar drans nas gsal bar Wad par bya ste /). He goes on to take the outer as three, which multiplied by the five sense objects yields the number fifteen, and does the same for the inner or personal, and for the secret which involves the prajildupaya union. In each case, the three arc the Buddha, the Bodhisattva, and the Devi, associated with that object by the triad of perception, sense organ and sense object, i.e. for form, the three are the Buddha Vairocana, the Bodhisattva K§itigarbha, and the Devi Rupavajra. "There are three main sources for the various comments cited above. One is the Explanatory Tantra Samdhivyakarana, which is a verse paraphrase, with slight enlargement, of the first twelve chapters of the Guhyasamajatanlra. In its treatment of Chap. 7, it states (PTT, Vol, 3, p. 240-3): I nail da A de bzhin phyi rol dan / ghi ga rjes su mi dmigs pal


I gzugs la sogsgsum deyin te / lha mams la ni dbul bar bya 11 The three kinds of form and other sense objects are the non-apprehension of inner, outer, and both; one should offer those to the gods.

"The next source is the Explanatory Tantra Vajramdla, which states in what I call the 'nidana-kdrikd', no. 19 : sthataiyam vifaytfU asmadyoginadrayadarSind / hinamadhyapranilefu jiianatrayanidarSandl 11 Afterwards the yogin who sees the non-duality should be dwelling upon sense objects 'inferior', 'intermediate', and 'superior' by seeing the triple gnosis. "The third source is the uttara-tanlra (18th chap, of the Sanskrit text, p. 158) :

rQpafabdadayali kdmdh sukhaduhkhobhaydtmakdh / janayanti hrdaye nityatji ragadvefatamodayam 11 ' The 'desires' (i.e. the 5 strands of desire, parieakdmaguna) 'form', 'sound', etc.—pleasurable, painful, and neutral— continually generate in the heart, (respectively), thesource of 'lust', 'hatred', and 'delusion'.

"With all that information at hand, it is easy to see that



»ome commentators relied especially on the Vajramala, some especially on the Samdhivyakarana, some especially on the uttara-lantra; and then some commentators tried to harmonize two different terminologies of 'three kinds" by taking it as 'three times three', i.e. three each of each three. The Samdhivyakarana expression 'non-apprehension' suggested to some commentators the non-tantric doctrines of 'Perfection of Insight' (/>rajiia-paramita) with

its stress on voidness (funyata), so they saw an opportunity to make contact with non-tantric Buddhism by the well-known set of Buddhism, the three gates to liberation (trini vimokfa-mukhani), that is, the voidness (Sunyatd-), the undirected (apranihita-), and the signless (animilla-) gates. When one takes into account that these commentaries vary much more in most other places, where the Guhyasamaja passages arc not restricted by such concrete objects as the sense objects, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that some centuries of oral tradition have intervened between the basic Guhyasamdjatantra and the eighth century when the 'historical' writers began to appear on the scene. Of course, if the basic Tantra had been concocted by the first commentator, or had been composed just prior to his writing activity, there should not have been any question of what the 'three kinds' were. Instead the commentators might have differed only in their metaphorical interpretation of the standard 'three kinds'."


Another conclusion one may draw from the evidence of the above extract is that it is hazardous to try to understand the Guhyasamdjatantra just from reading it. Who, reading the phrase 'three kinds of form', would know what the three kinds arc, unless someone told him ? Now turning our consideration to the forty nidana verses, since they arc a part of the Vajramala, and no evidence has turned up to suggest their later addition, we may, pursuant to the above reasoning, place these verses also in the fifth century, A.D. Alaipkakalasa's commentary on the Vajramdla, which is extant in the Tanjur, docs not comment all the way up to the chapter which contains the forty verses. The verses arc citcd in the Pradipoddyotana without further explanation except for the classifying term 'pregnant sense' (garbhy-artha). The only Indian commentary on the Pradipoddyotana translated into Tibetan that generously treats these verses with comments is Bhavya-


kirti's PrakdJikd. This is a highly opinionated commentary, but I found it worthwhile citing in several places. Later, in Tibet, Candrakirti's work was highly prized, A commcntarial tradition arose which did not neglect the 40 verses. The Tibetan Bu-ston's commentary on the Pradipod-dyotana (Vol. Ta of his collected works, published by Lokesh Chandra in Part Nine) must have been eagerly greeted by Tibetan monks when it first appeared, probably as the first native commentary on that work by an eminent authority on the Tantras. He continues the Madhyamika tone of commentary in the same manner as the Pradipoddyotana itself, that is, in a negative way by avoidance of the typical Yogacara vocabulary found in many other

commentaries, especially in the Pancakrama tradition. Bu-ston has various disagreements with Bhavya-kirti's commentaries (the main one and the smaller one) and with Kumara's commentary on the Pradipoddyotana, as also with unnamed teachers ("Some persons say..."). Bu-ston comments topically, not sentence by sentence in the order of occurrence in Candrakirti's work. This mode of commentary is not original, for some of the Indian commentaries are of this type. In line with this sort of commentary, he docs not comment on the 40 verses in their order, but topically. So after some remarks for the first four verses, going with E-vani ma-ya, he begins to jump around, although in the end accounting for almost all the verses. The Tibetan commentary on the Guhya-samaja by

Kun-dgah-don-hgrub (the "Man nag rim gfiis gter mdzod"), reccntlv reprinted in India, contains the 40 verses almost at the beginning, and in section KA, f. 37a-b (pp. 73-74), also treats the 40 verses topically and with extreme brevity. These topical groupings are of no help to me in the present work, because I shall treat the verses in their order, to fully bring out the author's intentions as an individual composition. The commentarial tradition on Candrakirti's work culminated in Tsoft-kha-pa's Mchan hgrel (annotation in smaller writing in between the words or phrases) in the early fifteenth century. The Pradipoddyotana had been first translated by the Indian pandit Sraddhakaravarma and the great Tibetan translator Rin-chen-bsari-po (958-1055); Tsori-kha-pa used this translation as well as 'the two new translations' (Mchan hgrel, p. 91-4). Tsori-kha-pa's annotation has evidence that he had


read Bu-ston's work and continued many of his ideas, but Tsoh-kha-pa's treatment is far advanced. He knew that in order for a commentary to be useful, it had to follow the order of the original work. So does his annotation Mchan hgrtl on the Pradipoddyotana, and his Mlhakgcod on the individual chapters.

His Don gsal ba on the Guhyasamaja follows the order of the three mandalas ; and his Dbai. gi don follows the order of the mandalarite. Thereby his works were of great convenience for me to consult, and it must have been the same for the Tibetans. There can be little doubt that the Guhyasamdjatantra reached an advanced and mature interpretation in Tibet at the hands of the great teachers Bu-ston, Tsoh-kha-pa, and others.* •After (he present work was completed, I became indebted to Serkong Rimpoche, Assistant Tutor to H.H. the Dalai Lama, for allowing me to secure a copy of a text just reprinted in North India for restricted circulation. This is by Ses-rab-sen-ge, a disciple of Tson-kha-pa—a commentary on Candrakirti's Pradipoddyotana in its Tibetan version. This native work is a remarkable piece of popularization of a Tantric topic, which I believe was composed after the death of Tson-kha-pa, his teacher. The author


appears to have taken as basis Tson-kha-pa's Mchan fatfl annotation on the Pradipoddyotana, incorporating the annotation into the text commented upon in a lucid paraphrase which, however, omits thorny points and then adds citations from other works, Tanlric anil non-Tantric. The author constantly rationalizes with remarks like "don ni" ("the meaning is as follows'" . ID illustration, in the course of Chap. One commentary, his explanation of the forty verses is approximately a paraphrase of Tson-kha-pa's Mchan bgrtl on those verses, but omits mention of Tson-kha-pa's diflicull comment «n Sru. In Sec. Ka, f. 45 b to 46a-6, he has various ways of grouping the venes (which Tson-kha-pa did not present in his commentary , but gives DO solution for the order of the verses from 1 to 40. In Sec. Nga, f. 41 a, he poinu out that pratyahara and dhyana (the first two of the six-membctrd yoga) are included in "arcane body" (T. I us dhen)—which is Tson-kha-pa's position. It ii this position that is the chief clue for solving the order of the


forty verses, that is,if one tries to accommodate this position within the forty veries, especially with the Ki-Ya (Body) verses. It is good that this fascinating work is receiving its due appreciation from the Gelugpa Lamas who specialize in Tantra. Besides, the Tibetans have recently reprinted works by Mkhas-grub-rje and by the First Panchcn Lama on aspects of the Cuhyasamajc cull. I have made an important observation about the latter two works in my Appendix 2. In any case, my policy of relying on the Master Tsoh-kha-pa, rather than on the derivative literature of his followers, should be appreciated by the presenl-dav Gelugpa monks, who can scarcely deny that Tson-kha-pa was as much a Lama guru ' as any that can be met today.



B. The title of the work and its opening sentence (nidana) The full title as found at the ends of chapters in the edited text is: SarvatathdgatakdyavdkcittarahasydtirahasyaguhyasamajamahS,' guhyatantrardja. The following translation of the title will be justified: Great-secret King of Tantras—the 'Secret Union' of the secret and the greater secret belonging to the Body, Speech and Mind of all the Tathagatas.

Vitapada's commentary Mukhagama-vrtti (PTT, Vol. 65, p. 66-4) explains some of the construction of the title: "'Tantra of samdja by all the Buddhas' means Vajradhara because it is the union (samdja) by all the Buddhas in the manner of para-


mart ha and sarrivrti. To show that, there is 'Thus' (evaift). "Great secret' (mahdguhya) means the illusory (mdyopama). "Secret' (rahasya) means the Stage of Generation. 'Greater secret' (atirahasya) means the thusness of all modes. The great 4gama which incomparably shows those matters, is the Samdja" (/ sans rgyas kun gyis hdus pahi rgyud ces pa ni / sans rgyas thams cad don dam pa dan kun rdzob kyi tshul du hdus pahi phyir rdo rje hchari baho / de ston par byed pa la yah de skad ces byaho / gsan chen ies pa ni sgyu ma lta buho / gsari la ies pa bskyed pahi rim paho / ches gsah ba £es pa ni dnos po thams -cad kyi de biin hid do / de rnams ston par byed pahi gon na med pahi lun chen po ni hdus paho / ).


This commentary makes it clear that the compound rahasydtirahasya is a dvandoa, to be understood by such pairs as sanivrti-salya and paramdrtha-satya; Stage of Generation and Stage of Completion. By bringing in the expression 'Thus' (<«<im))Vitapada also indicates the relation between the title and the first sentence of the Tantra which begins with evam.

The most important part of the title is the expression guhyasamaja, because this is the standard abbreviated fonn of the title, which in turn is abbreviated to samdja. Some light is shed on the abbreviated title by its chapter one, verse 3:

Bhafasva bhagavan tattvam vajrasarasamuccayam / sarvatathagatam guhyam samajam guhyasambhavam // Lord, pray explain the samdja, the reality, sum of diamond essences, the all-tathagata secret, and wfijat arises from the secret ! The Pradipoddyotana comments with various of its classifying signals, 'invariant sense' (akfararthah), and so on: / bhdfasva


samajam iti sambandhah / samajain ili dvayor ekibhavah samajam / aksararthah // vajrapadmasamayogam samajam/ samastarigam II prajnopayasamayogain samajain / garbhi // laipvrtiparamarthasatyayor inilanah samajam / guhyasambha-vam iti saiva vifesanah / guhyam prabhasvaram tasmat / sambhutam advayajnanaimakain 111 ahavajradharam ili yavad/ kolikah // sarvatathagatam guhyam iti sarvatathagatanain *pa-ramparycna gopaniyam guliyam ' vajrasaras tathagatah lesam ekibhavalaksanam samuccayam/ tattvam yathabhutam I'rans-lation (Mchan hgrel, p. 24 : 'Pray explain the samdja' is the application. Concerning 'samiija , the unification of a pair is samaja with invariant sense. The union of diamond and lotus is sdrnoja with shared sense. Insight, the means, and their union is samaja with pregnant sense. The merger of the two truths, conventional and absolute, is samiija; what arises from the secret is precisely that as the extraordinary case, to wit, the secret is the Clear Light, and what arises therefrom goes up 10 Maha-vajradhara who is the non-dual knowledge; samaja) with ultimate sense. The all-tathagata secret is the secret, to be preserved of all the tathagatas, handed down in succession (of master and disciple). The diamond essences are the Tathagatas; their sum has the characteristic of unification. The reality is as it really is.


The words 'Body, Speech, and Mind' run through a gamut of usages, of which the most comprehensive list is ten in number (see Ratnakarasanti's exposition in C, below V The invariant sense is that the Diamond of Body is Vairocana, the Diamond of Speech is Amitabha, and the Diamond of Mind is Aksobhya. To these three Tathagata families arc added Amoghasiddhi and Ratnasanihhava to make a total of five Tath&gatas, the usual meaning of 'all the Tathagatas'. In the second paragraph after verse 3 of chapter one, there occurs the expression sarvalathagatanam kiyavakcillaguhyam, on which the Pradipoddyotana comments (Mchan hgrrl, p. 24): I sarvatathagatanain k.iyavakcittaguhyam samayasam-varadikulatrayaparinamah / aksararthah // sarvatathaga-tanain kayavakcittaguhyam vyanjana [trayam] / samas-tai'igah II sarvatathagatanain kayavakcittaguhyam jftana-trayaprakrtyabhasav.iyuvahanam / garbhi // sarvatalha-gatanam kayavakcittaguhyam jftananiayadehah/kolikah/.



'The secret of the body, speech and mind of all theTathi-gatas* means the extending to the three families of pledges, vows,and so on; invariant sense.'The secret of the body...' means the three syllables (for generating the deities); shared sense. 'The secret of the body...', means the windvehicle for the appearance of the (eighty) prakrlis upon the three lights; pregnant sense. 'The secret of the body...', means the body made of knowledge; ultimate sense. The foregoing should demonstrate the multiple levels of interpretation that can be, and were extended to the words of the title. The length of the opening sentence (nidana) is established by theory that it demonstrates the 'five perfections', that is to say, of the teaching, the retinue, the time, the teacher, and the placc. Naturally we give much weight to the tradition of the Explanatory Tantra Vajramala, as found in AlamkakalaSa's Sri -vajramdld-mahdyogatantra-tikd-gambhirarthadipikd (PTT, Vol. 61, p. 164-1):


I bsdus don tcs bya ba ni phun sum tshogspa lha dan Idan pa ste I de la hdi skad ccs bya ba la sogs pas bstan pahi bya ba phun sum tshogs paho // bdag gi thos pa 2es bya ba la sogs pas ni hkhor phun sum tshogs pa mdor bstan pahoII dus gcig na ccs bya ba la sogs pas ni dus phun sum tshogs paho // bcom Idan hdas ces bya ba la sogs pas ni ston pa po phun tshogs paho / / dc b2in gsegs pa thams cad kyi sku dan gsuri dan thugs kyi sfiin po rdo rj'e btsun mohi bha-ga rnams bcugs ste / 2es bya ba la sogs pas ni gnas phun sum tshogs pa gsuns so / The 'concise meaning' is possession of five perfections. Among them, by way of evam, there is the perfection of what is to be taught. By way of maya Srutam, there is the perfection of the retinue, in brief. By way ofekasmin samaye, there is the perfection of time. By way of bhagavan, there is perfection of the teacher. By way of sarvatatha-gatakayavakcittahrdayavajrayofidbhagefu vijahara, there is perfection of the place.

On the other hand both Vajrahasa's Tantrardja-Sriguhyasamaja-(ika and Lilavajra's Guhyasamdjatantra-nidana-gurupadesabhdfya (PTT, Vol. 66, p. 75-5 and p. 97-2) explain the application of five perfections (phun sum tshogs) in this manner : 1. the teacher


(ston pa) indicated by bhagaidn; 2. compiler (sdud pa po), by evam maya Srutam ekasmin samaye; 3. place (gnas), by sarvatathi-gata. .vijahara; 4. retinue hkhor by ariabhilapydnabhildpyaih (text, chap. I, p. 1, line 3) down to saqidrSyate una (text, p. 2, line 12); 5. tantra, i.e. the discourse >yud , by evam. Therefore, the intention of these two authors (obviously closely affiliated) is to extend the nidana dow n through the naming of all auditors to the discourse. The same allotment of the text to perfection of the retinue is apparently given by the writer Kumara in his Pradipadipa-tippani-hrdayadaria PTT, Vol. 60, p. 220-1 . However, as the niddna verses are found in the Vajramdld, I accept Alamkaka lava's explanation especially since the forty syllables going with the kdrikds amount to the length as stated by Alamka-kalasa. The niddna thus established is as follows :


Evarn maya srutam ekasmin samaye bhagavan sarvatathagata-kayavakciitahrdaya-vajrayosidbhagesu vijahara. Thus by me it was heard—on an occasion—the Bhagavat ('the Lord') was dwelling in the bhagas of the diamond ladies of the heart belonging to the Body, Speech, and Mind of all the Tathagatas.


Smrtijilanaklrti's Sri-guhyasamdja-tantraraja-vrtti (PTT. Vol. 66, p. 125-5) makes a distinction of 'shared' and 'unshared' sense to apply to defining the niddna itself. He says, "Among those words, evam comprises all aspects of sound ; hence it is the form of the 'unshared' niddna, which symbolizes the adamantine state of the'mind of enlightenment' (bodhicittaY' ( / de la hdi skad ces pa ni sgrahi mam pa mthah dag bsdus pa stc/ des thun moh ma yin pahi glen gjihi ho bo byah chub kyi sems rdo rje hid mtshon paho / . Furthermore, "The words mayd Srutam, etc. express the form of the 'shared' niddna" ( bdag gis thos pa ies pa la sogs pas ni thun mohgi glen giihi ho bo gsuns te /). His subsequent comments show that by 'shared niddna' he means the part which succinctly expresses the five perfections. According to his commentary, 'by me' mayd) is the perfection of the auditor (in other texts, the perfection of the retinue); 'was heard' (irutam), the perfection of the teaching; 'on an occasion' (ekasmin samaye), the perfection of the time; 'the Bhagavat' {bhagaidn , the perfection of the teacher ; and the remaining words down to 'was dwelling in the bhagas'



(...bhagefu vijahara), the perfection of theplacc. His explanation leaves the nidana the same length as my acccptancc. However, no other commentary that I examined mentions such a divison of the words as made by Pandit Smrti.

The meaning of the nidana as a coherent sentence can be considered on several levels. There is the simple paraphrase, with a few words added, as in Tson-kha-pa's Mchan hgrel on the Pradipoddyotana (bracketted expressions from Mchan hgrel, pp. 11 and 12):

Thus by me it was heard (directly, not from an intermediary; but not yet comprehended)—on an occasion (not with another element of consciousness; not at another time; and in a single instant)—theBhagavat (having the six allotments, lordliness, etc.) was dwelling (with the dress of a cakravartin) in the bhagas (destruction of defilement) of the diamond ladies (the prajAa view of voidncss attended with great ccstasy, mahasukha) of the heart (Mahavajradhara) belonging to the Body, Speech, and Mind of all the Tathagatas. That paraphrase is consistent with Indrabhuti'sexplanation in his J

ildnasiddhi (GOS, p. 81): / evam maya Srutam ekasmin samayc bhagavan sarvatathagatakayavakcittahrdayavajrayo-sidbhagesu vijahara ckasminn cva kale / bhagavan aisvaryadi-gunayuktatvat / hrdayatn jftanam tad eva vajrayosit abhedya-prajfiasvabhavatvat, tad eva bhagaip sarvakleSabhafljanat, tesu sarvatathagatakayavakcittahrdayavajrayosidbhagesu


vijahara / "Thus by me it was heard—upon an occasion—the Lord was dwelling in the bhagas of the diamond ladies of the heart belonging to the Body, Speech, and Mind of all the Tatha-gatas" :—'on precisely that occasion, the Lord, because endowed with the (six) merits of lordliness and so on; was dwelling in those bhagas of the diamond ladies of the heart belonging to the Body, Speech, and Mind of all the Tathagatas, where the diamond ladies arc precisely the heart-knowledge, because of the self-existence of non-dual insight, and where the bhaga is precisely the same, because of destroying all defilement." The Explanatory Tantra of the Guhyasamdja called Sartidhi-vydkarana rc-tells the niddna in this revealing manner (PTT, Vol. 3, p. 231-4), labelled lkolika' (ultimate sense) for the portion citcd in Pradipoddyotana (Mchan hgrel, p. 17-5 to p. 18-1):



I punar aparam arya-vyakhyanam aha / evam maya Srutam tattvam ekasmin samaye sphute / bhagavan guhyavajreSas trivajrasamayottama(h) // sarvatathagate jftane acintyagunasampadi / sadasadubhayatite asthanasthitisamjnini // akaiaikasvabhavc'smin sarvajftajiianabhavini / jagaddhrdi viSuddhakhye vijahara mahamunih // (end of quotation).


I ma rig pa dan hdu byed dan /

I rnam par $es dan mih dan gzugs /

I skye mched drug dan reg pa dan /

I tshor ba dan ni sred pa dan //

I fter len srid pa skye ba dait /

I rga Si Ses bya rig ma yin 11

I na rgyal che bahi ha rgyal dan /

I naho sham ha rgyal mnon ha rgyal /

I gzan yah ha rgyal las ha rgyal /

/ cun zad ha rgyal log par bcas //


Furthermore, the 'Arya-Vyakhyana' states :


Thus, the Reality, was heard by me on a certain time extraordinary.

The Bhagavat, diamond lord of mysteries, with the supreme pledge of the triple vajra,

Was dwelling as the Mahamuni in the pure heart of the world, in this unique self-existence of sky having the modes of omniscient knowledge, in the all-Tathagata gnosis having the inconceivable perfection of merits; beyond existence, non-existence, and both, called 'place of no location'. The wisdom (vidya) (there) is the knowable of nescience (aoidya), motivations (samskdra), perceptions (vijildna), name-and-form (nama-rupa), six sense bases {faddyatana), contact {sparSa), feelings (vedand), craving (Ir/nd), indulgence (upddana), gestation {bhava), birth (jati), old age and death (jard-marana); and (that'place of no location') has pride (mdna), haughty pride (atimana), ' I am'-pride (asmimana), assuming pride (abhimana), pride over pride (mdnalimdna), begrudging pride (iinamdna), along with the perverse kind (mithydmdna).


The Samdhivyakarana represents the place where the Bhagavat was dwelling to be the'Nirvarta without fixed abode' (apratif (hi-tanirvana); his consort, the vidya, to be the instantaneous vision of all twelve members of Dependent Origination (pratitya-samutpdda) headed by nescience (avidya)\ and his pride, the standard seven kinds mentioned by Abhidharma-kofa (V. 10). Apparently what is meant is that ordinary persons can have one pride or several in combination, but it is superhuman to have all seven. The pride thereby becomes the 'divine pride' (divata-garva). Another re-telling of the nidana is quoted by Candrakirti from an (unnamed) Explanatory Tantra (understood in Tibetan tradition to be the Devendrapariprccha)—it was immediately preceded by the Devendrapariprccha passage on E-vam—and is here edited from the Pradipoddyotana manuscript and translated with some Mchan hgrel (p. 14-1,2) expansion :


maya Srutam iti proktam cakravartisvarupina / bijarupena yat srstam devatacakram uttamam // paramanandakalo'sau ckam samaya ucyate / astaisvaryena bhagavan mahasukhapade sthitah // sarvatathagatah proktah paficaskandha jinair iha / tadatmakayavakcitto hrdvajro'sau mahasukhah // yositsusamskrta mudra bhagam padmam susamskrtam/ vijahara sthitas tatra bindurupena vajradhrk // The words 'by me was heard* arc pronounced by the true form (the bodhicitta in father-mother union) of the Wheel-turner (cakravartin). What is emitted by that seed-form is the chief divinity-circle (—the Vijaya- mandala generated in the mother-lotus).


That time of supreme bliss is said to be 'on an occasion*. The Lord abides in the place (the bhaga) of great ecstasy with the eightfold lordliness. 'AH the Tathagatas' arc pronounced by the Conquerors to be the five personality aggregates in this world. That 'diamond of the heart' with great ecstasy has the 'body, speech, and mind' of the (practitioner's) self. The 'lady' is the well-finished Mudra (i.e. the karma-or jUana-mudra as a result of having been generated into a goddess and having had the gods placed in her). The bhaga is the well-finished lotus. The Vajra-holder 'was


dwelling' therein (i.e. in the bhaga), abiding in the form of the bindu. A pregnant implication of the'winds'is brought in by the formulation in the Sri-Vajrahrdayalamkuratantra (PTT, Vol. 3, p. 255-5) : "Thus by me it was heard—on an occasion— the Bhagavat was dwelling in five-part manner within the circle of the ten ladies of the heart belonging to the Body, Speech, and Mind of all the Tathagatas." (/ hdi skad bdag gis thos pa dus gcig na / bcom Idan hdas de Win gsegs pa thams cad kyi sku dan gsuris dan thugs kyi sniri po bud med bcuhi dkyil na cha £as lna bahi tshul du b£ugs so / ). 'In five-part manner' presumably means as five Tathagatas; and 'circleof teh ladies', the five principal and five ancillary winds. The pregnant sense of the nidana in terms of 'winds' is further borne out by Guhyasamaja, Chap. I, p. 3: / atha khalu aksohhyas tathagatah sarvatathagata-kayavakcittahrdaya-vajrayosidbhagesu caturas-raip virajaskarp mahasamayamandalam adhisthapayam asa /

I svaccham ca tatsvabhavam ca nanarupam samantatah / / buddhameghasamakirnam sphulirigagahanajvalam /

I svacchadimandalair yuktarn sarvatathagataip puram 11 The translation is aided by Mchan hgrel (p. 20-4, 21-1, 2, and 81-4) :

Then, you know, (the officiant=) Aksobhya Tathagata (= oijnana-skandha and lord of the three lights or the three jiidnas) blessed the four-cornered dustless mandala of 'Great Pledge' in the bhaga-s ( = the Clear Light resorted to by illustrious persons) of the diamond ladies ( — the Clear Light) of the heart belonging to the Body, Speech, and Mind of all the Tathagatas—'on all levels with diverse forms, both clear and the self-existence, of clarity, pervaded by a Buddha-cloud that thickly blazes with (five) tongues of flame (= the five ancillary winds), (each) full of all the (five) Tathagatas associated with the mandalas of clarity ( = Light), etc. (=Spread-of-Light and Culmination-of-Light).' Here the rays of the five ancillary winds arc each multiplied by five, to be compared with the twenty-five twisted threads called jnana-sulra in the mandala-rilc described in Mkhas grub rje's Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tantras. Each Buddha is associated with a certain color and symbolized by a thread of that color.


A On the other hand, the literal form of the nidana is doubtlessly challenging, since the word bhaga often has the meaning of 'female organ'. Therefore, the Vajrajiidnasamuccaya (PTT, Vol. 3, p. 253-1) has this passage :

The Bhagavat spoke: 'The Sravakas andso on, unliberated from the discursive impressions of practising the law free from passion (viragadharma), became astonished to hear the diamond words (vajrapada) of the Maha-yoga-tantras—"was dwelling in the bhaga ($)oi the ladies" —which exemplify the doctrine of lust (rdgadharma). The explanation which docs not conflict with their aspirations is said to be the explanation as the shared sense.


The last sentence (smon par byed pa de rnams dan mi hgal bahi sgo nas bSad pa dc ni spyihi don du bSad pa gsuns paho) can be clarified with CandrakTrti's classifying terms, as set forth below. The Tantra is here alluding to the sense shared with non-tantric Buddhism. Assuming an explanation of the niddna is forthcoming concordant with ordinary Buddhism, we assume such is the explanation in Tson-kha-pa's paraphrase presented above and Indrabhuti's brief expansion. The Samdhivyakarana's re-telling seems also to represent the 'shared sense'. The explanations in terms of winds and in terms of the three lights and Clear Light should be considered as the unshared sense, especially unshared with non-tantric Buddhism.


C. The seven ornaments and subdivisions


Also fundamental to his tantric system is that there are levels of interpretation of the basic Tantra, a difference of explanation in accordance with the listeners, and a determined categorization of the sentences of the Tantra. Herein lies the great contribution of Candrakirti's 1'iadipoddyotana employment of the classificatory twenty-eight subdivisions of the 'Seven Ornaments', a terminology stemming from the Vajrajndna-samuccaya-tantra. Some examples of this classification have already been presented in the foregoing sections, especially pregnant sense . At the end of the Pradipoddyotana, Candra-kirti suggests the reason for adopting this terminology by recalling the Buddha's dilemma immediately after his enlightenment, when he hesitated to teach his doctrine since it was too profound for people at large. Yet the Buddha did begin to teach


on the basis that persons were like lotuses—some were still in the mud, others had a stem reaching up, and a few had blossoms on the surface which needed sun warmth. So also, in the case of the Tantra, one had to adapt the explanation to the particular stage of the candidate. Accordingly, the master had to know multiple explanations, so he could answer a disciple to his temporary satisfaction.


For presenting below the gist of the classification, I employ the Pradipoddyotana manuscript which is somewhat chaotic at the beginning, Tson-kha-pa's Mchan hgrel on that work, and Sraddha-karavarman's *VajrajHdnasamuccaya-tantrodbhara-saptdlamkdra-vimocana (restored title) (PTT, Vol. 60, pp. 138-139). Yukei Matsunaga has also studied this terminology in an article in Japanese, "On the Saptalamkara" (March 1963).


The seven ornaments are :

1. Introduction (T. glen bslan ba),

2. Way (T. tshul),

3. Alternatives (T. mthah),

4.Ex-planation (T. bSadpa),

5. Grouping (the auditors) (T. bsdus pa),

6. Persons (T. ganzag),

7. Purpose (T. dgos pa).


The first ornament, of Introduction, has five sections :


1. name, i.e. Mahayogatantra (the commentarial reference to the Guhyasamdjatantra, which however lacks that appellation in its formal title);

2. for whom, i.e. for the ocean of candidates (vineya);

3. composer, i.e. Vajrasattva, thesixth Buddha;

4. extent, i.e. seventeen chapters and twenty rites (cho ga Hi Su), continuation tantra (ultara-tantra) in one chapter, and explanatory tantras of such-and-such extent;

5. requirement, i.e. the'Stage of Generation' (utpatti-krama), the 'Stage of Completion' (sampanna-krama), the ordinary and the superior, etc. The second ornament, of Way, constitutes two interpretations of four parts,


1. lineage (sanUdna, rgyud),

2. underlying cause (niddna, glen gSi),

3. true word (nirukti, nes pahi tshig),

4. impulse (hetu, rgyu).


As to the two interpretations, the Pradipoddyotana passage (Mchan hgrel, Vol. 158, p.

4) states that there are four parts to the Way of be coming a Buddha according to the doctrine free from lust (virdgadharma) and four parts according to the doctrine of lust (ragadharma), as in the following tabulation:


four parts as viragadharma

1. lineage birth of the man (in a fortunate place)

2. underlying cause rearing in the circle of women

3. true word j the teaching according to the Vinaya

4. impulse (zestful) practice of the Law with desire for the fruit (Enlightenment)


as ragadharma generating the Buddhas of the five families in the Stage of Generation unification of those families in the Stage of Completion dharanis such

The Viragadharma is of course based on the biography of Gautama Buddha. In his case, the 'sanitaria' is the solar lineage (suiyaoamfa) through his father King Suddhodana and mother Queen Maya. The 'niddna' is his early life in the palace, reared by the nurses and then surrounded by the harem women, toward whom he had 'viraga' (aversion) and from whom he left for the religious life. The four parts seem to agree with the order of superintendence of the four goddesses who in chapter XVII implore the Lord to emerge from the Clear Light (see the section 'Diamond Ladies of the Heart'); that is, they implored in the order Mind, Body, Speech, Acts.


The third ornament, of Alternatives, amounts to six (talkofi) in three pairs, which are 'hinted meaning' (neydrtha, dran bahidon) and 'evident meaning' (nitartha, fits pahi don); 'twilight language' (samdhya bhd>d) and 'non-twilight language' (no samdhya bhdfd); 'standard terminology' (yalharuta), e.g. 'mandala', and coined terminology (no yalharuta), e.g. 'kotdkhya' (pseudonym for one of the ten winds). There has been much scholarly discussion in the past on the meaning of the term sarpdhya bliafd (of which samdhi-bhdfd is a form), and in the Renou memorial volume I defended my interpretation that it is "'twilight language'.


The fourth ornament, of Explanation of the sense of a given passage, is of four kinds (1) 'invariant sense' (akfardrtlia, yigdon), (2)'shared sense' (samastdrigdrtha, spyi don), (3)'preg-nant sense' (garbhy-artha, sbas don), (4) 'ultimate sense' (koli-kartha, mthar thug don), in further explanation and breakdown as follows :


1. 'invariant sense', i.e. literal meaning.

2. 'shared sense', of two sorts :


(a) sense shared with non-tantric Buddhism,

(b) sense shared with the three lower Tantras.


3. 'pregnant sense', of three sorts :

(a) pregnant sense clarifying the doctrinc of lust (ragadharma-prakasana-garbhin),

(b) pregnant sense revealing 'conventional truth' (-Illusory Body) (samvrti-satya-sambo-dhagarbhin),

(c) pregnant sense considering the three gnoses (jftanatraya-vicintana-gai bhin).


4. 'ultimate sense', of two sorts :

(a) ultimate sense clarifying the Clear Light (prabhasvara-prakaia-kolika),

(b) ultimate sense revealing the paired-union (yuganaddha-prabodhana-kolika).


The fifth ornament, of Grouping (the auditors), is of two kinds :—an assembly, to which 'invariant sense' and 'shared sense' among the four Explanations are taught; and disciples, to whom 'pregnant sense' and 'ultimate sense' among those four are taught.

The sixth ornament, of Persons, means the five kinds of persons who receive initiation (abhi}eka) and adhere to pledges (samara) and vows (samvara). They are called 'jewel-like person' (ratna-pudgala), the 'blue-lotus' (utpala), the 'white-lotus (pundarika), the 'red-lotus' (padma), and the 'sandalwood' (candana), each of which is defined in the Pradipoddyotana. In the notes to Mkhas grub rye's Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tantras, pp. 218-9, Bhavyaklrti's

commentary was cited : "The 'sandal-wood-likc' is in the family of fools; the 'blue-lotus-like' has inferior faculty (indriya); the'white-lotus-like' has intermediate faculty; the 'red-lotus-like' has keen faculty ; the 'jewel-like', has the most excellent of faculties." The notes also cited the Thobyig gsal

bahi me Ion (of Bio bzari hphrin las) showing the difference of instruction in terms of the six alternatives: the evident meaning, standard terminology, and twilight language are expressed to the 'jewel-like person'. The other three alternatives are expressed to the other four types of persons. In

Sraddhakaravarman's terminology of three kinds of Tantra, the five persons are called 'causal tantra' (hetu-tantra) because they are like seeds. Upon receiving initiation, they enter the 'tantra of means' (upaya-tantra). First they attentively listen to the Tantra with 'listening insight' (Srutamayi

prajna) then study to attach meanings to the words with 'thinking insight' (cintamayiprajna), whereupon with 'cultivation insight' (bhdvani-mayi prajila) they conceptualize in the 'Stage of Generation' and then do the praxis in the 'Stage of Completion'. The discussion about these persons in Tsori-kha-pa's Mthah good (on Chapter One) (PTT, Vol. 156, p. 33-2, 3) makes it clear that it is precisely in terms of these three levels of 'insight' that the terminology of 'faculty' (inferior, etc.) is employed.



The seventh ornament, of purpose (karya), is the third kind of Tantra, called 'fruitional tantra' (phala-tanlra), and is of two kinds, ordinary and superior. The ordinary kind is the attainment by the four kinds of persons, exclusive of the 'jewellike person', of the eight great siddhis at the limit of

the Stage of Generation, whereupon they go no further. The superior kind is the attainment by the 'jewel-like person' of the rank of Vajra-dhara, because that person having arrived at the limit of the Stage of Generation, rejects the ordinary siddhis, and goes on to the Stage of Completion for the high goal. Ratnakarasanti illustrates the classificatory vocabulary of the Pradipoddyotana in the Pindikrta-sadhanopdyikd-vrtti-ratndvali, PTT, Vol. 62, p. 69-3, 4 :


I sku rdo rje ni mam par snari mdzad do / / gsuii rdo rje ni hod dpag tu med pahi / / thugs rdo rje ni mi bskyod pa ste H yi gelti don to 11 sku rdo rje niyi ge om mo / / gsuii rdo rje ni yi ge ah ho 11 thugs rdo rje niyi ge hum ste / / spyihi don to I I sku rdo rje ni rus sbal gyi rtsa dan / gsuii rdo rje ni zla bahi rtsa dan / thugs rdo rjc hdod pahi gdugs kyi rtsa ste / sbas palio / / sku rdo rje ni chags pa dan / gsun rdo rje ni chags pa daii bral ba daiij thugs rdo rje chags pa bar ma ste / mthar thugs pa ho 11 sku rdo rje ni khrag dan / gsun rdo rje ni Su-kra daii / thugs rdo rje ni dri chab ste /

dgons pas bSad paho / / sku rdo rje ni snail bahoj [ gsun rdo rje ni snail ba melted paho / / thugs rdo rje ni snaii ba fie bar thob pa ste / dgo its pa mayin paho 11 sku rdo rje khru ni Su pahi dkyil hkhor dan / gsun rdo rje ni khru bcu drug pahi dkyil hkhor dan / thugs rdo rje ni khru bcu giiis pahi dkyil hkhor te I sgraji btin paho / / sku rdo rje ni tshaiis paho / / gsun rdo rje ni dbaii phyug chen po daii / thugs rdo rje ni khyab hjug ste / sgraji biin ma yin paho / / sku rdo rje ni ii ba daii / gsuii rdo rje ni dbaii daii / thugs rdo rje ni miion spyod de / draii bahi don to 11 skuhi rdo rje ni skuhi dkyil

hkhor dah / gsuns rdo rje ni gsun gi dkyil hkhor / dan thugs rdo rje ni thugs kyi dkyil liklior te I nes pahi don to / The Diamond of Body is Vairocana; the Diamond of Speech is Amitabha; the Diamond of Mind is Aksobhya; invariant sense. The Diamond of Body is the syllable Om; the Diamond of Speech is the syllabic Alt; the Diamond of Mind is the syllabic Hunt; shared sense. The Diamond of Body is the vein of the tortoise (kurmaka) (the right nddi);


the Diamond of Speech is the vein of the moon (iaJiiika) (the left nadi) the Diamond of Mind is the vein oflove'* umbrella (madandtapatra) (the middle n&4i) \ pregnant sense. The Diamond of Body is desire; the Diamond of Speech is aversion; the Diamond of Mind is indifference; ultimate sense. The Diamond of Body is blood; the Diamond of Speech is semen; the Diamond of Mind scented water; twilight language. The Diamond of Body /


is Light; the Diamond of Speech is Spread-of-Light; the/ Diamond of Mind is Culmination-of-Light; non-twilight language. The Diamond of Body is the mandala of twenty-hasta size; the Diamond of Speech is the mandala of six-tecn-Aaj/a size; the Diamond of Mind is the mandala of twelve-Aaj/a size; standard terminology. The Diamond of Body is Brahma; the Diamond of Speech is Mahegvara; the Diamond of Mind is Visnu; coined terminology. The Diamond of Body is an appeasing rite (Santika); the

Diamond of Speech is a controlling rite (raSikara); the Diamond of Mind is a destroying rite (abhicarika); hinted meaning. The Diamond of Body is the mandala of Body; the Diamond of Speech is the mandala of Speech; the Diamond of Mind is the mandala of Mind; evident meaning.


D. Importance of the forty verses


Perhaps no more eloquent testimony can be made on behalf of the verses than what is presented in the Pradipoddyotana itself immediately after its citation of the forty verses from the Vajramald. Insofar as I can make out the manuscript at this point (Plate 2A, fol. 1, line), it appears to read : I vijahdrapadam so'rthah srisamdjaparisphufeh / I vydkhydtah maiijughofena vajramdldm uparata iti I There is a verse : "To the sentence vijahdra, this meaning resting on the Vajramdla has been explained by Maflju-ghosa so as to elucidate the Glorious Samdja." The Prakdiikd-ndma-vyakhyd-lika (PTT, Vol. 60, p. 296-1) comments : "explained the meaning to the sentence vijahdra, i.e. the meaning to the sentence of the niddna" (bfugs pahi tshig don ni glen giihi tshig don b$ad pa yin 2cs pa ni). The verse represents the Bodhisattva Mai\jugho?a as the pronouncer of the forty karikas in the Vajramdla to elucidate the niddna and



therefore the whole Guhyasamajalantra. Tson-kha-pa explains it this way in his commentary on the Paiicakrama called Gsal bahi sgron me (PTT, Vol. 158, p. 176-5 to p. 177-1) : "(But) the main thing is that the Pradipoddyotana has stated that all the meaning of the (Guhyasamaja) Tantra is comprised by the nidana of forty syllables E-vam ma-ya, etc., and that in this (Vajramala Explanatory Tantra) the meaning of each syllabic is explained respectively by forty verses starting with the verse ' "E" signifies the Noble Woman (salt) Prajna'." ( / glso bo ni E-vani ma-ya la sogs pahi yi ge hi\ bcuhi glen g2is rgyud kyi don thams cad bsdus par sgron gsal las gsuhs pa de rgyud hdir / E ni Ses rab dam pa ste / / ies sogs tshigs bead bii bcuhi tshigs bead res yi ge rehi don hchad pa hdi yin no / ).

While I am indeed far from having mastered the various Tanjur commentaries and sub-commentatrics on the Guhya-samajatantra, on its Pradipoddyotana, or on the Paiicakrama, 1 did scan a considerable number for the research embodied in the present work; and the only quotations of the forty verses I could find were in the beautiful Tanjur commentary on the Paiicakrama by Sri Laksmi,"called Pancakrama-likd-kramdrtha-prakdsikd. She quotes at least verses nos. 7, 12, 18, and 40— the nos. 7 and 18 as from the Vajramald, the other two without name of source; and at other places uses language reminiscent of still other verses among the forty. The reason, the quotations are easy to recognize, is that the translator into Tibetan of her text, recorded as Mantrakalasa, who is not the translator of the Vajramdld or of the Pradipoddyotana wherein the translation of the forty verses into Tibetan differs triflingly and in only a few cases, has employed the identical translation of those four verses as among the forty verses cited in the Pradipoddyotana. Presumably Mantrakalasa (12th

cent., A.D. ?) had memorized the whole group of verses, as many Tibetan followers of the Guhyasamdjatantra still do today. And in consideration of the kind of passages Sri Laksmi ordinarily quotes, namely famous, well stated, and appropriate lines, I draw the conclusion that when she quotes niddna verses 12 and 40 without naming the original work, she expects the reader to know the forty verses by heart, as she herself obviously docs. Candrakirti also knows them well since he quotes the block of forty verses in Chapter One of his great work. This does not prove that all Indian


followers of the Guhyasamaja memorized the forty verses and then received explanation of them from the gurus, but it does suggest this to be the case for followers of the Guhyasamdja in the light of the Vajramdla, and subsequently in the light of the Pradipoddyo-tana, hence for followers of the 'Arya' school or tradition.

If this memorization of the forty verses for centuries took place as stated above, there must be a good reason to be ascertained from the content or implications of the verses themselves. The section 'Introduction to the Yoga of the Guhyasamdja-tantra' leads up to the solution that the niddna verses can be grouped in conformity with the major steps of the Stage of Generation and the Stage of Completion. One must therefore admit that, given sufficient insight into each verse and into the groupings of the verses, it would be theoretically possible to arrange underneath these verses, or to present in introductions to groups of the verses, every important statement of Guhyasamdja 'pregnant' practice. And since the Tantras arc a practice rather than a philosophy, the verses thereby elucidate the entire Guhyasamajatantra.

It might be objected, that if this is so, why are not these verses more widely quoted, and a number of independent commentaries written ? The answer is that their very breadth of coverage renders these verses less practical for the candidates of the cult, who need specialized treatises or explanations for the particular phase of the cult in which they are engaged. A similar situation is found with the celebrated formula of Dependent Origination in non-tantric Buddhism. It is admitted that this formula sums up Buddhist doctrine, and theoretically everything of doctrinal importance can be arranged under one or other of the twelve members of the formula. But in practice the Buddhist monks wanted specialized treatises; and there are a number of important works of Buddhist doctrine that barely take account of Dependent Origination.

There is another reason. It turned out in the course of gathering materials for the present commentary on the verses that they touch upon a number of disputed points in terms of the steps ofyoga. It may well be the case that in classical times the commentators did not wish to argue for their respective positions while writing such a commentary. Candrakirti takes the lead in this silence about the verses, since he refrains from making any comments on them other than appending his signal


'pregnant sense' and adding the verse cited at the opening of the present section. But since the present work is not meant to teach anyone how to proceed through the intricacies of the Guhyasamaja cult, but rather to show what the Guhyasamajatantra is all about, these forty verses with appropriate introductions serve admirably to advance this understanding. It may well be the case during the time when this cult flourished in India, that the master would expect the disciples to understand these verses'more and more as they progressed in the praxis (carya), and that the guru would provide oral explanation coordinated with the disciple's level of attainment. As soon as the Guhyasamaja literature was rendered out of its original Indie language into Tibetan, the necessity to have 'bird's eye' views of the literature made the niddna verses even more important, and led to Tson-kha-pa's invaluable annotation.


E. The mandala of the Guhyasamdja


The word mandala is uniformly defined as an inner content (imanda) bounded by an enclosing clement [-la). For example, the extract from the Samdhiryakarana in this sub-section illustrates the meaning of the word by the inner content as "knowledge' with an enclosing element as the non-tantric statement of the path. There is also a ritual sequence of two kinds of mandala, the mandala of residence (adhara-mandala) and the mantfala of the residents (adheya-mandala); the former is the palace and the seats for the gods; the latter is the group of gods who take their places in that palace. The palace is the inner sanctum of the mandala. In the case of the Guhyasamaja-mandala, the full complement of deities seated in the palace totals thirty-two. They are the cast of the Guhyasamaja drama.

The dramatis personae amount to the following characters; and any other deities mentioned in the Guhyasamaja cycle arc held to be aspects or aliases of these thirty-two primary ones:


5 Buddhas :

Aksobhya,

Vairocana,

Amitabha,

Ratna-sambhava,

Amoghasiddhi.


Bodhisattvas :

Maitrcya, 

Ksitigarbha,

Vajrapuni,

Khagarbha, Lokeivara, Sarvanivaranavi$kambhin„ Manjushri (or Mai\jugho?a),

Samantabhadra.


Yosits :

Locana,

Mamaki,

Piindara,

Tara; and Ru pa vajra,

Sabdavajra,

Gandhavajra,

Rasavajra,

Sparta vajra.


Krodhas :

Yamantaka,

Prajflantaka,

Padmantaka,

Vighnantaka,

Acala,

Takkiraja,

Niladanda,

Mahakala,

Usnlsacakravartin,

Sumbharaja.



The following diagram of the Guhyasamaja mandala deities with assigned numbers shows their places in the palace in the event of the Aksobhya-mandala:


In the center :

1. Aksobhya and

10. SparAavajra.


In the inner circle :

2. Vairocana (E.),

3. Ratnasambhava (S.)„

4. Amitabha (W.),5.

Amoghasiddhi (N.);

6. Locana (S.E.)

7. Mamaki (S.W.),

8.Pandara (N.W.),

9. Tara (N.E.). 


In the second circle :

1 1. Rupavajrii (S. E.),

12. Sabdavajra (S.W.),

13. Gandhavajra (N.W.),

14. Rasavajra (N.E.).


In the third circle :

15-16. Maitreya and Ksitigarbha,

on the two sides of the East Gate on the Eastern (white)

palfika; 17-18.

Vajrapani and Khagarbha,


on the two sides of the South Gate on the Southern (yellow) paffikd ;

19-20. Loke-ivara and

Mafijughosa,


on the two sides of the West Gate on the Western (red) paftikd;

21-22. Sarvanivaranaviskambhin and

Samantabhadra, on the two sides of the North Gate on the Northern (green) pattika.


In the four gates : 23. Yamantaka (E.), 24. Prajftantaka (S.), 25. Padmantaka (W.), 26. Vighnantaka (N.). In the intermediate directions : 27. Acala (S.E.), 28. Takkiraja (S.W.), 29. Niladanda (N.W.), 30. Mahabala (N. E.).

In the zenith : shown between Maitreya and Ksitigarbha, 31. U?rtl?acakravartin.

In the nadir : shown between Lokcsvara and Mafijughosa, 32. Sumbharaja.

When the Guhyasamaja-mandala is painted and Aksobhya i« the chief deity; then in accordance with Tucci's indications in his article, "Some Glosses upon the Guhyasamaja," p. 343, Vairocana, being in the east and in front of the Aksobhya image, has to be represented in the painting upside down; and accordingly with the other deities. Ratnasambhava (south) is to the right of the image.


In the Guhyasamaja cult, there are several different deities that are taken as the central deity. While the Aksobhya-mandala is predominant, there is also the Guhyasamaja Mafljuvajra (the first mandala in Abhayiikaragupta's NifPannayogdvali), based on Mafijusri (Mafijughosa). Also the Buddhairijfiana school had rites in which AvalokiteSvara was the chief deity. Fortunately, the most important mandala, the Akjobhya-mandala, exists in Sanskrit in a precise form, namely the second mandala in the Nifpannayogavali.

In his introduction (pp. xvii-xix) to the edition of the Guhyasamajatanlra, B. Bhattacharyya has well stated with brevity from the first chapter the procedure by which the Lord (as Mahavajradhara) first emanated the deities. In the terminology of the Pradipoddyolana, this is a 'restricted circle of deities' (pratibaddhadrvatacakra), because only the five Buddhas, four yo?its, and four krodhas arc specifically indicated in that emanation. According to Ratnakarasanti's Kusumdnjali-guhyasamaja-


nibandha-niima (PTT, Vol. 64, p. 96-1), this involves the three secrcts of the Buddha, the secret of Body, of Speech, and of Mind. "In brief, the secret of body is the lord Vairocana, and so on; the secret of speech is Locana, and so on; the secret of mind is Yamantaka, and so on" ( /de la mdor bsdu na / skuhi gsah ba ni beom Idan lidas rnam par snari mdzad la sogs paho // gsun gi gsan ba ni / spyan la sogs paho / / thugs kyi gsan ba ni gginrjcgged la sogs pa ste/). In that emanating role Maha-vajradhara is callcd'Bodhicittavajra' (Diamond ofthe Enlightenment Mind') because all the deities emanate from bodhicitta. But, as was mentioned, in the present case, only thirteen of the deities are emanated. Also G. Tucci, The Theory and Practice ofthe Mandala, has included his translation of chapter one from the beginning. Therefore, it is not necessary to repeat here the whole process; but the essential details should be mentioned.


The Lord first shifted from the role of Vairocana and adopted the role of Aksobhya Tathagata, in which form he blessed the four-cornered dustless mandala of 'Great Pledge* in the bhaga-s of the diamond ladies, according to the passage translated with annotation in our preceding discussion of the nidana sentence. Then the Lord Mahavajradhara in the center of this mandala began the emanation. The Lord's first samadhi involved a mystical generation callcd

'the body of the great incantation person' (mahaiidydpurufamiirti) (the passage is translated with annotation under nidana verses on 'Tathagata'). When the Lord blessed this body, the Lord was seen by all the Tathagatas to have three heads. This is the stage called Maha-sadhana, and according to Tson-kha-pa, the phase of it called 'Victorious mandala' (vijaya-mandala). The Lord thus appeared in the role of the hicrophant to tcach the procedure to the disciples (in this case, the Tathagatas). Then, the Lord, in the appropriate samadhi, uttered the heart-mantra 'Vajradhrk* of the Hatred Family and took on the

black, red, and white (headed) appearance of Aksobhya, thus situated in the center of the mandala. In another samadhi the Lord, uttering the heartmantra Jinajik' of the Delusion Family, transformed himself into Vairocana, also black, red, and white, seated in front (east). He continued with 'Ratnadhrk'of the Cintamani Family and Ratnaketu (= Ratnasambhava), seated in the south ;'Arolik' of the Vajraraga Family and Amitabha, seated behind (west); 126 YOCA OF THE GfHYASAMAJ ATANTRA


and 'Prajfladhrk of the Samaya Family and Amoghavajra, ( = Amoghasiddhi), seated in the north. The Lord, in another samadhi, emanated five goddesses as consorts of the five male deities. They are all called rati ('love') because they love their particular lord (whose family purifies the respective defilement of hatred, etc.). Thus he first transformed himself into the goddess Dvesarati ( = Mamaki) in the center with Aksobhya; then Moharati ( =

Buddha-Locana) in the east with Vairocana, Irsyarati ( = Mamaki again) in the south with Ratnasambhava, Ragarati (=Pandara) in the west with Amitabha and finally, Vajrarati( =Samayatara) in the north with Amoghasiddhi. Then the Lord, through a series of four samadhis, transformed himself successively into the Krodha deities, fierce directional guardians: by the mantra 'Yamantakrt', the fierce Yamantaka at the east gate;'Prajftantakrt', Prajiiantaka at the south gate; "Padman-takrt', Padmantaka at the west gate; 'Vighnantakrt'. Vighnan-taka at the north gate. The basic mandala was now complete: the Lord had finished his masterful show to the assembly.


While that projection or spill-out of the deities is the goal to be achieved (step four), the human performer has to start in a more humble manner. He is given a meditational sequence in which he first ascends to the plane of the void (step one). There he imagines germ syllables, which transform themselves into hand symbols (step two), and finally into the bodies of the deities (step three), thus the 'body mandala'. He can then proceed with his own spill-out as a mandala (the utsarga-mandala, infra) (step four). For the human performer the full set of thirty-two deities is stipulated in the case of the Aksobhya-mandala, available in Sanskrit, as was mentioned, in the Nifpan-nayogdvali. This mandala is based on Nagarjuna's Pindikrama (or Pindikrtasadhana). Following is my translation of Abhaya-karagupta's text :



The Aksobhya mandala

Concerning the mandala stated in the Pindikrama it (involves procedures) like the foregoing (Martjuvajra-mandala) up to (creation of) the palacc. Now we shall mention the particulars of the fierce deities. In the middle of the palacc is a fierce black Aksobhya ; his right and left face (resp.) white and red; holding in his right hands the kula ( =Krodhavajra), wheel,

holding in his left hands the bell, the wishing-gcro, and sword ; and embracing a Spar£avajra like himself. In the directions east, etc., of him arc Vairocana, etc., and in the intermediate directions south-east (agneya), etc. are Locana, etc.

Among them, Vairocana is white, mild; has white, black, and red faces ; holds the wheel, vajra, white lotus, bell, gem, and sword. The hand symbols (cihna) in four hands, as abovementioned (for Vairocana) and below stated for other Buddhas are in the respective order, in the upper, then the lower, right hands, and in the lower, then the upper left hands. The colors are assigned to the three faccs by the order—basic, right, left faces.


Ratnasambhava is yellow ; his faces (in order), yellow, black, and white; holds the gem, the vajra, wheel, bell, yellow lotus, sword. Amitabha is red; his faccs red, black, and white ; with his left hand, holds at his heart a staff having a red lotus together with a bell here following Tibetan ; with his right hand holds a full-blown lotus; and with his other hands, a vajra, wheel, ratna, and sword.

Ainoghasiddhi is green; has faccs green, black, white; holds the sword, the viSvavajra, the wheel, the bell, green lotus, and gem. Those five Tathagatas and the other deities to be described below, down to Samantabhadra are adorned with ja(ajB(a (twisted matted head hair), jewel diadem, and various jewels.


Locana is like Vairocana, but has a white utpala in place of the white padma.

Mamaki is like Aksobhya, but has a reddish-blue utpala in placc of the padma.

Pandara is like Amitabha.

Tara is like Amoghasiddhi and holds the viSvavajra, wheel, yellowish-blue utpala, bell, (mani-)jewel, and sword.


In the second circle, in the S. E. corner is Rupavajra, like Locana, but with her first two hands holding a red mirror. In the Southwest is Sabdavajra, yellow, with faces yellow, black, white; her first two hands playing a blue vt'nd; her remaining hands holding the vajra, blue utpala, ratna, and sword. In the Northwest is Gandhavajra, like Pandara; her first two hands holding a yellow perfumed conch-shell. In the Northeast is


Rasavajra dark blue, her faces dark blue, black, white; her two hands holding a red savory chest (rasa-bhanda); with the remaining hands, holding the vajra, wheel, ratna, sword.

In the third circle, on the Eastern pattika (strip) are (the Bodhisattvas) Maitreya and Ksitigarbha. On the Southern paffika are Vajrapani and Khagarbha. On the Western pattika are Lokesvara and Manjughosa. On the Northern paltika are Sarvanivaranaviskambhin and Samantabhadra. These eight are like the lords of their own families, but Maitreya's basic arm holds a Nagakesara flower along with its branch marked with a wheel.

At the gates of East, etc., and in the intermediate directions of Southeast, etc., also in the zenith and in the nadir are the 10 krodhas in sequence. Among them, Yamantaka is black his faces black, white, and red; holds a vajra club, the wheel, the vajra, at his heart a threatening gesture (tarjani) along with a noose, the bell, and axe.

Prajftantaka is white; faces white, black and red; holds a vajra, a white staff marked with a vajra, the sword, and at his breast the tarjani along with noose, the bell and axe.

Padmantaka is red; faces red, black, white; holds a red padma, a sword, club, bell, and axe.

Vighnantaka is blue; faces blue, white, red; holds the viSvavajra, wheel, club, tarjani along with noose, bell, and axe.

Acala is blue; faces blue, white, red; holds the sword, vajra, wheel, tarjani, and axe.

Takkiraja is blue; faces blue, white, red; with two hands he adopts the vajra-hiimkdra (gesture); with the remaining hands he holds the vajra, the sword, the noose, and the hook.

Nlladanda is black; faces black, white, and red; holds a blue staff marked with a vajra, a sword, a wheel, against the chest a tarjani along with noose, a padma, and an axe.

Mahabala is black; faces black, white, and red; holds a black staff marked with a vajra, a sword, and wheel, at the heart a tarjani along with noose, the padma and axe.

Usrtisacakravartin is black; faces black, white, and red; with his two basic arms grasps the ufnifa on his head; with his remaining arms holds the vajra, the padma, the tarjani, and the sword. His two hands execute the u}nifa-mudra callcd by some Samantavabha, called by some otherwise, made as follows :


the palms stretched out together facing upwards; the two thumbs hold on the nails of the two ring fingers; the small fingers to a point; likewise the nails of the two middle fingers together coming to a point; the two forefingers on the middle fingers, forming a cone.

Sumbharaja is black; his faccs black, red, white; holds a vajra, a wheel, a ratna, at his breast a tarjani along with a noose, a pailma, and sword. These (32) deities beginning with Aksobhya are three-faced, six-armed, all upon a viSvapadma, and individually seated in their respective order, on a (1-5) (the five Ruddhas, to wit;) five-pronged vajra; (goddesses, Locana, etc.) (6) wheel, (7) nine-faced emerald, (8) red lotus, and (9) viSvavajra; (goddesses, Rupavajra, etc. down to SparSavajra:) (10) wheel, (11) vajra, (12) padma( 13) viSvavajra, and (14) Nagakcsara flower; (eight Bodhisattvas, to wit :—) (15) wheel, (16) vajra, (17) ratna, (18 padma, (19) vajra, (20) viSvavajra, (21) vajra, and (22) staff; (the ten krodhas, to wit:—) (23) vajra , (24) red lotus, (25) viSvavajra, (26) staff with sword, (27) vajra, (28) blue staff marked with vajra, (29) black staff, (30) vajra, and (31-32) sun and moon each situated on a vajra.

Furthermore, they are composed of jewels coloured like their own deity (-progenitor). Among them, Vairocana, the goddesses, and the Bodhisattvas arc located on a moon. The others are located on a sun. (Tathagatas) such as Aksobhya are in vajraparyahka leg position). The Krodhas have their left leg extended, their right one rctractcd; on each face three eyes, each red and round; arc howling and blazing; have especially frightening forms, and are called the fearful rakfacakra ('protective circle').


Here only the mandala lord is together with his prajna (goddess consort). The other male deities, down to Sumbha-raja, are without prajna. Yamantaka and the others in the rakfdeakra are together with a prajiid looking like themselves (or : 'their own light', tvabha] in order:- 1) Vajravetali, (2) Apara-jita, (3) Bhrkuti, '4 Ekajata, (5) ViSvavajri, (6) Viivaratni, (7) Viivapadma, (8) Vi vakarma, (9) Gaganavajrini, (10) Dharanidhara. In the heart of Aksobhya is a 'Knowledge Being' (jnana-sattva), two-armed, with a red prajiid. In its heart is a black


Hum- Orp in that of Vairocana; Sva in that of Ratnasambhava; Ah in that of Amitabha; Ha in that of Amoghasiddhi : Lam Main Para Tam (respectively) in those of Locana and the other goddesses. (The officiant utters : ) Jah Hum Vam Hoh. Kham in that of Sparfavajra. Mai-thlim in those of the Bodhisattvas, Maitreya, etc. Om Om Om Hum Om Sam Hum in those of

the ten Krodhas. The heart mantras of the deities are stated in the Vajrdvali (another work by Abhayakaragupta). The kuleSa (family master) is the previously-mentioned Vajrasattva of Aksobhya and Samantabhadra, but holds a vajra, wheel, padma, bell, gem, sword, and embraces a Vajra-dhatvisvarl looking like himself.


Aksobhya belongs (as their essence) to the Tathagatas, MamakI, VajrapanI, Maftjughosa, Usrtisa-, and Sumbharaja.

Vairocana belongs to Locana, Rupavajra, Maitreya,

Ksitigarbha, Yamantaka, Acala.

RatneSa (— Ratnasambhava) belongs to Sabdavajra, Khagarbha, Prajnantaka, Takkiraja.

Amitabha belongs to Pandara, Gandhavajra, LokeSvara, Padmantaka, Niladanda.

Amoghasiddhi belongs to Tara, Rasavajra, SparSavajra, Vijkambhin, Vighnantaka, Mahabala.

So ends the Aksobhya-mandala stated in the Pindikrama.


The foregoing translation leaves some matters to be explained. The six hand symbols of Vajrasattva are set forth by Ratna-karaSanti in the Piriifikrta-sddhanopdyikd-vrtti-ratndvali (PTT. Vol. 62, p. 77-5) as the signs of the six families : "The vajra is the emblem of Aksobhya, being the intrinsic nature of contemplating the 'wheel of the doctrine* (dharmacakra). The red lotus (padma) is the emblem of Amitabha, being the intrinsic nature otprajnd not adhered to by the mud of lust, etc. The bell (is the emblem of Vajrasattva), being the intrinsic nature of prajiid that is the purity of gestation (bhava). The 'wish-granting gem' (cintdmani) is the emblem of Ratnasambhava, being the knowledge which fulfills all hopes. The sword is the emblem of Amoghasiddhi, being the prajiid (that severs) the corrupt practice. ( / de la rdo rje ni mi bskyod pahi phyag mtshan te /


ye ses Inahi ran bfin no / / hkhor lo mam par snari mdzad kyi phyag mtshan te / chos kyi hkhor lo bsgom pahi ran b2in no // pa-dma ni hod dpag tu mcd pahi phyag mtshan te / hdod chags la sogs pahi hdam gyis mi gos pahi ies rab kyi ran bfin no 11 dril bu ni srid pa rnam par dag pa Scs rab kyi ho bo Aid do I yid b2in nor bu rin chen hbyun Idan gyi phyag mtshan te / bsam pa thams cad rdzogs par byed pahi ye $es so // ral gri ni don yod par grub pahi phyag mtshan te / non mons pa spyod pahi ses rabbo/). That attribution of emblems to the individual Tathagata families plus important elements from the translation of the Aksobhya-mandala can be clarified with correspondential significance in tabular form, as in Table II.


Concerning the remark 'Vajrasattva of Aksobhya and Samantabhadra', Nagarjuna's Pindikrta-sadhana, 52B-53, states: "Then he should enterprise the Atiyoga : Following upon Aksobhya he should develop a Vajrasattva, three-faced, radiant with six hands, and shining with sapphire light" ( atha atiyogam samarabhet / aksnbhyanupravesena trimukham sad bhujojjvalain / indranilaprabham diptamvajrasattvam vibha-vayct I ). Nagarjuna, in the subsequent verses, shows that this

involves placing the Guhyasamaja deities in spots of the body mandala. Ratnakarasanti (op. cit., p. 77-4, 5) comments : " 'three-faced' because the purity of the three liberations; and 'six-handed' because the purity of the six perfections" (rnam par thar pa gsum rnam par dag pas 2al gsum pa / pha rol tu phyin pa drug rnam par dag pas phyag drug pa). (The three liberations are through voidncss, wishlessness, and signlessness; the six perfections arc giving, morality, forbearance, striving, meditation, and insight). It appears that Vajrasattva is the yogin possibility of a person, as the essence ofthe

Tathagatas, Aksobhya, and as their enlightenment-pledge, Samantabhadra; who has advanced, equivalent to the non-tantric progression of the Bodhisattva during the first seven stages, to the last three Bodhisattva stages, as indicated by his embracing Vajradhatvi-£vari ('Qjicen of the Diamond Realm'), who is drawn from the yogin's own heart, according to the verse cited under nidana verse 33.


Tathagata Families (with colors) Emblem Prajiia (and seat) 1 Vajra I (sense object goddess) Bodhisattvas Krodhas

Aksobhya (black) Thunderbolt (vajra) Mamaki \ Spargavajra Vajrapani and Manjughosa Usnisacakravarlin and Sumbharaja

Vairocana (white) Wheel (cakra) Locana (on wheel) Rupavajra holding mirror Maitreya and Ksitigarbha Yamantaka and 1 Acala

Ratnasambhava! (yellow) Wish-granting gem (cinta-mani) (Mamaki) (on nine-faced i emerald) Sabdavajra, playing a vina Khagarbha

Prajiiantaka and Takkiraja

Amitabha (red) Red Lotus (padma) Pandara (on red lotus) j Gandhavajra, holding a conchshcll LokeSvara 1 Padmantaka and Niladanda

Amoghasiddhi (green) Sword (khadga) Tara(on crossed thunderbolt, viSvavajra) Rasavajra, holding savory chest , Yiskambhin Vighnantaka and Mahakala


Vajrasattva Bell (ghatMa) Vaj radhatvisvari i Sainantabhadva


The utterances 'Jah, Hum, Vam, Hoh' also require explanation. They represent the four mantra stages of attracting toward the yogin, drawing in, and bringing about non-duality with the 'knowledge beings'. Cf. Sddhana-mala, No. 110, pp. 230-231; Om vajrarikusl akarsaya Jah, Om vajrapa'I praveiaya Hum, Orn vajrasphota bandhaya Vam, Om vajravese vaAikuru Hoh. "Om, May the diamond hook attract, Jah !" "Oip, May the diamond noose drawn in, Hum !" "Om, May the

diamond chain tie, Varri !" "Om, May the diamond bell subdue, Hoh !"

So far the data about the mandala has involved the deities

who arc the residents of the palace. Now I shall turn to the

theory of the Guhyasamaja mandala as the residence. An interesting statement about the symbolism of the Guhyasamaja mandala is presented in the Samdhivydkarana on Guhyasamdia, Chapter IV, verses 9-18, of which verse 9 is as follows :

dsadafahastam prakurvita cittamandalam uttamam / caturasram caturdvaram catuskonarrt prakalpayet 11 One should construct the supreme mandala of consciousness, measuring twelve hastas. One should imagine it with four sides, four corners, and four gates. On that verse of the basic Guhyasamaja-lanlra, the Pradipoddyotana cites this commentary as from thc'.Trya-tydkhydna', which in this case means the Samdhivyakarana :


athatah kathayisyami mandalam cittam uttamam / vajrajiianapratikdiam kdyavakcittamandalam // navatmakam idam (rtftham suniyuktam tathoditam / doividhagamam aiikitam supramanam tad ucyate II samvrti paramdrtham yad advayam iobhanam ma tam / prajna siitram idam tasySs tad upayanuvarttilam // brajiiopayaikauitrena dharmam sambhogam uttamam / sutritom mandalam caitam pratitya drdda<ar:gatah // I satyaryam caturasram sydd bralimai ihdrakonakah / I dvdrasamgrahavastvdkhyam pratyckam turyasamjiiakah // I dharmatattrdrtham ankitam cakrddyantaramandalam / I abhedyajiianacihnam tad vajrcndranilamudrakam // I partcakaraprabhedakhyam Siilam samsdrandiakam / I praktdd adartarupam lu cakrain jvaldrcibhufitam // I samanlasamaldjiidnam ratnam xdmyaikasamjAitam /


I pratyavekfanapadmakhyam padmardgdrcim paicimam //

/ uttarottaracittam yaj jagadvikalpaddlanam /

I krtyanuf thanakha dgam syad raSmijvaldsamaprabham 11

I agneyyaiji netrarn maitrim tu nilameghasamaprabham / / nairrtydm karunakhya syan mamakikulavajrakah //

I vdyavydm padmasamjiia tu muditdsusthitanand /

I aiSanyutpalam abhdti sopekfd nilasannibha 11

I danapunam tat ha dvare mudgaram kantisuprabham /

I tathaiva priyavadyakhyam dandam vajrdrcisuprabham //

I arthacaryam tu padmakhyam pakime hayakanthare /

I vajram samanacaryartham vajrakundalivajrinali 11

I tad ittham kathitam samyak mudravinyasalakfanam / / yathasamsthanatah pujd bhavet trividhabhavanaih /

I mahatvapurvakam tv etani mudrd mandalam ucyate // Translation (Mchan hgrel, pp. 40-41):


Now I shall relate the supreme mandala of consciousness, the mandala of Body, Speech, and Mind, resembling the (non-dual) Knowledge of Diamond. This best one, made of nine (five personality aggregates and four elements), thus expressed as well-constructed, is that one said to be of goodly authority marked by lineage of two kinds.

What as convention (samvrti = illusory body) andsupreme (paramartha=Clear Light) is the non-dual loveliness, that is this thread (for the mandala outline) as the insight of which it is applied by the means.

By the single thread of insight and means, there is the supreme Dharma (-body) (insight—Clear Light) and Sambhoga (-body) (means—illusory body), threaded as the mandala of mind by twelve members (— 12-hastas measurement) in dependence.

The Noble Truths arc the four sides; the Sublime Abodes (i.e. love, compassion, sympathetic joy, and impartiality), the corners; the articles of conversion (i.e. giving, pleasing words, acts in accordance, and exemplary conduct), the gates—in each case by fours.

The inner circle of wheel, and so on, symbolizes the meaning of dharma-rcality. The symbol of the indivisible knowledge is the diamond-sapphire seal. It has facets offive kinds ( = the five knowledges). The tip destroys (the habit-energy of) the phenomenal world. In the cast is the form of mirror (-knowledge), its disk adorned with blazing light.

The sameness knowledge all around is the jewel whose one name is 'southern'. West is the lotus of discriminative (-knowledge) with the light of a ruby. What is the best mind of the north destroys the discursive thought of living beings. The procedure-of-duty sword would have the same light as blazing rays. In the south-east is the 'eye' (-Locana) and love, with light the same as a blue cloud. In the south-west is compassion with the diamond of the Mamaki family.


In the north-west, there is the lotus, the unshaken face of sympathetic joy. The lotus of the north-east shines in blue fashion with impartiality. As the eastern giving at the gate is a mallet lovely in appearance, so also pleasing words are a staff (in the south) appearing with diamond light. Acts in accordance arc the lotus in the western horse-neck, and exemplary conduct is the (viSva-)vajra of the vajrin of diamond winding ('-ambrosia). The characteristic of placing seals is what has been thus rightly explained. By contemplations of three kinds (arcane body, speech, and mind) there would be the worship according to the proper place. This mudra preceded by greatness is said to be the mandala.

Besides, there are varieties of mandala. The Guhyasamajalantra, Chapter XVIII, verse 99, mentions three kinds : bhaga-mandala. bodhicitta-mandala, and deha-mandala. Tsoh-kha-pa, in his independent Don gsal ba commentary on the Guhyasamaja devotes individual sections to the three mandalas, keeping the terminology of'body-mandala' (deha-mandala), while substituting other names for the two other mandalas. In place of 'bhaga-mandala', he employs the term 'ulsarga-mandala' (emission m.')from the Pradipoddyotana on Chapter VII (equivalent to its terminology 'house-m.' puram mandalam, Pradipoddyotana MS., chapter one). Tsoh-kha-pa, following the Pradipoddyotana on chapter VII, replaces the 'bodhicitta-m.' with the expression paramartha-mandala. He makes it clcar that the thirty-two Guhya-samaja deities arc involved in all three of the above-mentioned


mandalas, which arc evoked in the order deha-mandala, uttarga-mandala, and paramartha-mandala. The deha-mandala is perfected in the phase of yoga callcd Aciyoga, and both the utsarga-m. and the paramarlha-m. belong to the phase of yoga called Maha-yoga, or Mahasadhana; and are respectively equivalent to the two sub-phases of Mahasadhana called'Victorious Mandala' (vijaya-mandala and 'Victory of the Rite' karma-i ijaya . So much for the terminological side.

What is meant, is that the 'body-mandala' of Atiyoga overflows into the bhaga, or mother-lotus, whereupon the latter becomes the bhaga-mandala. This phase is called 'letter placement' (akfara-nyasa)in the discussion of the fourthj'0£<? (cf. the section 'Four steps of yoga '); and this is the position of the Pradi-poddyotana (Documents)when in its treatment of the fourth member it refers to the instigation of the rajra and padma and then to the mantras (32 in

no.) Vajradrg, etc. This is also the phase discussed in the section 'Title of the work and nidana', where the quotation from the Devendrapariprcchu refers to the placement of the gods in the goddess (the karma-mudrd or jnana-mudra). The difficulty is that this proccss has several explanations going respectively with the 'Stage of Generation' and the "Stage of Completion'. The explanation that agrees with both Stages, is that this phase is the

demonstration of the mandala, the objective showing of the deity circle, cither in its restricted form as in Guhyasamajatantra, chapter one, or in the full 32-dcity group. Hence the Pradipoddyotana ('Documents') refers to this fourth yoga as 'accomplishment of the great aim of others'. The third mandala, thc paramartha-m., refers to the Guhya-samaja deities being drawn intoparamdrtha,or the absolute realm. Tson-kha-pa explains in his Mchan hgrel on Chapter VII that this means that the five personality aggregates (skandha , five elements (dhdtu), five sense organs (indriya), five sense objects (vifaya), and five knowledges (jnana), a total of 25, are successively drawn into the Clear Light (where, according to the Pradipoddyotana on Chapter eight, verse 7, they unite w ith the 425-ycar old girl').



A. The chapters of the Guhyasamajatantra and yoga

The Eighteen chapters are discussed here because, as will be soon demonstrated, chapters 2 to 17 arc divided into four groups with titles almost identical with those of the four sddhana steps.

The word for 'chapter' employed by the Guhyasamaja-tantra is pa(ala. The Pradipoddyotana, at the end of its commentary on chapter one, explains this word in two senses, going with pa[a- ('cloth') and -la ('grasping'):

I pato yathd damiamasakadyupadravam nivarayati / tathayam tantrarlhah kleiakarma janmadyupadravam nivdranat pa la iva pata{la)h / tam lati grhnatiti taddharako granthasamChafi patalah /

Just as a cloth covering (J>a(a) wards off the attack of gnats, mosquitoes, etc., so also, by warding off the attack of defilement, karma, and rebirth, 'patala' as the meaning of the Tantra, is like a cloth covering. Since it grasps and holds that (meaning), 'patala' as the collection of compositions, is its receptacle.

Also, at the end of its commentary on chapter thirteen, the Pradipoddyotana equates a patala with 'the collcction of compositions which teach it' Jatpratipddako granthasamiihah).

The following chaptcr titles as preserved in Sanskrit have varying relevance to the chapter contents. For example, ofthe two chapters translated in 'Documents', chapter six does adhere to indications of its title, while chapter twelve is scarcely described by its title.


1. "Blessing of the samadhi-mandala of all the Tatha gatas" (sarvatathagatasamadhimandaladhijthana).

2. "The Mind of Enlightenment" (bodhicitta).

138 YOCA OF THE GfHYASAMAJ ATANTRA

3. "Samadhi called 'Diamond Array' " (vajravyuho-nama samadhi).

4. "Secret mandala of Body, Speech, and Mind" (guhya-kayavakci t tamandal a).

5. "Best of all praxis" (samantacaryagra).

6. "Empowerment of the Body, Speech, and Mind" (kayavakcittadhisthiina).

7. "Praxis of mantras" (mantracarya).

8. "Pledge of consciousness" (citlasamaya).

9. "Pledge whose goal is the reality of the non-dual supreme entity" (paramarthadvayatattvarthasamaya).

10. 'Exhorting with the heart (mantras) of all the Tathagatas " (sarvatathagatahrdayasancodana).

11. "The highest vidyapurusa who has the mantrapledge and the reality-diamond of all the Tathagatas" (sarva-tathagatamantrasamayatattvavajravidyapurusottama).


12. "Instruc:'->n on the best evocation of the pledge (samayasadhanagranirdc£a).

13. "Revelation contemplating the meaning of the reality of the array of pledges" (samayavyuhatattvarthabha-vanasambodhi),

14. "Samadhi called 'King of sporting with attraction (of deities) by mantras' " (mantrakarsanavijrmbhitarajo nama samadhi).

15. "Source ofthe diamond whose essence is the pledge of all sentient beings" (sarvasattvasamayasaravajrasambhutir nama) (edited citta replaced by sattva).

16. "Revelation of the mandala-diamond of all siddhis" (sarvasiddhimandalavajrabhisambodhir nama).

17. "Blessing of the pledge—and—vow-diamonds of all the Tathagatas" (sarvatathagatasamayasambaravajradhis-thana).

18. "Blessing of the diamond knowledge which explains all the secrets (sarvaguhyanirdcSavajrajilanadhisthana).

The Pradipoddyotana commentary covers only the first 17 chapters, although it cites the 18th chapter ('Documents') ; while the 18th chapter itself has some separate commentaries preserved in the Tibetan Tanjur. The reason is that there is a block of verses in the 18th chapter (verses 25-31 in S. Bagchi's numbering) which group the previous chapters 2-17 in four sets.


Consequently, the Guhyasamaja tradition generally labelled the 18th chapter a 'Continuation Tantra' (uttara-lanlra). The fact that those sixteen intermediate chapters fall into four sets by authority of those verses is hardly noticed in the present edition of the text, because of corruptions which cannot be corrected without consultation of the Tibetan translation. Indeed, there are even two important lines missing from the current edition, which I

have restored along with the other corrections, with the help ofNagarjuna's commentary (AflddaSa-pa(ala-vislara-tya-khya, PTT, Vol.60,p. 4). The two lines were still part of the Guhya-samdja-lanlra when Ratnakara£anti composed his Kusumanjali-guhyasamaja-nibandha-ndma (PTT, Vol. 64), which explains how to pair the verses for translation purposes. What is presently numbered verse 30 is in fact the first line (hemistich) of one verse and the second line of

another verse. I have made two new ve.-scs numbered 30' and 30" in the following text of corrected Sanskrit. It can be speculated that factors in the gradual corruption of the lines are the original presence of 9-syllable pddas in some places, and the use of infrequent ordinal forms of numbers. The translation will follow the order in which the Sanskrit verse mentions the ordinal numbers, in the first-mentioned set, the fifth, ninth, seventeenth, and thirteenth (chapters).


paficamam navamam caiva daiasaptamam IrayodaSam / buddhdndm bodhisatlvdnam desanasddhanam mahai //25// caturtham sodaSam caiva aftamam dvddasam tatha / acdryakarmasdmdnyam siddhiS ca vratasambaram //26// faftham caiva dviliyam ca dasam caiva caturdaSam / hatliam anuraganam ca upasad/ianasambaram //27// saplamam ca trliyam ca ekadasam datapancamam / siddhikfetranimitlam ca sciasadhanasambaram //28// sarvatathagatakarma nigrahdnugrahdtmanam / ddnladaurddnlasaumyanam satlvandm avaldranam 1/29/1 utpattikramasambandhairi snavajravidhiS catuh / *sdmdnyasiddhisambandham agrabhutam ca granthanam //30'// *mandalavratasambandham dcdryasampalligranlhanam / gurundiji mantramdrgena Sisydnam paripdeanam // 30" // suvratasyabhifiktasya svaiifyasya mahatmanah / buddhamim bodliisallvdnam deSanaparimocanam 1/31/1


25, 31 : The fifth, ninth, seventeenth, thirteenth (chapters) have the great perfection of the teaching of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, to wit, liberating one's greatsouled disciple who is goodly vowed and initiated, by means of the teaching of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.


26, 30" : The fourth, sixteenth, eighth, and twelfth have the common acts of the acarya, occult powers (siddhi), and the Vratasambara, to wit, the compositions on the acarya's perfection, associated with mandala-rites, maturing the disciples by way of the guru's mantras.

27, 29 : The sixth, second, tenth, and fourteenth have the fierce act (hatha), attraction (of deity), and vows of the Upasadhana, to wit, all the Tathagata acts with the nature of taming and assisting, introducing the sentient beings whether tamed, obdurate, or mild.


28, 30': The seventh, third, eleventh, and fifteenth have the cause of the field of occult powers, and the Seva-sadhana-sambara, to wit, the four diamond rites of Seva, associated with the Stage of Generation; both the compositions associated with common siddhis and (those) which show the superior kind.


The tantric Nagarjuna in that commentary on the 18th chapter (op. cit., p. 4) briefly alludes to the contents of each chapter as he groups them by fours with titles : Mahasadhana chapters (5, 9, 13, 17):


Chap. 5 on the praxis (carya)

Chap. 9 on the yogasamadhi

Chap. 17 on samaya and samvara (pledges and vows)

Chap. 13 on extensive treatment of rites (karma) Vratasambara chapters (4, 8, 12, 16):

Chap. 4 on the citla-mandala

Chap. 16 on the kaya and vag-mandalas

Chap. 8 on the guhya-abhifeka

Chap. 12 on the change into the Mahamudrd Upasadhana chapters (2, 6, 10, 14) :

Chap. 6 on the adhiffhana of body, speech, and mind Chap. 2 on the bodhicitta

Chap. 10 on exhorting all the Tathagatas by their heartmantras

Chap. 14 principally devoted to mantras


Scva chapters (3, 7, 11, 15) :

Chap. 7 on special practices (carya)

Chap. 3 on the gods

Chap. 11 on the series of mantras and the knowledge body Chap. 15 on the illusory divine body


RatnakaraSanli's commentary (op. cit., PTT, Vol. 64, p. 98 and p. 201) mentions that chapter 1 is the goal-tantra (literally: 'the tantra of what is to be approachcd'. S. upeya-tantra, T. thabs las byui: bahi rgyud), while the chapters 2-17 arc the 'tantra of the approach' (S. upaya-tantra. T. thabs kyi rgyud), and that the chapter 18 is the 'continuation tantra' (uttara-tantra). Furthermore, each group of four chapters from 2-17 is also known by a numerical title. The Scva chapters are 'Trcta'; Upasadhana, 'Dvapara'; Vratasambara, 'Krta'; and Mahasadhana, possibly*'Nandin' (T. dgah ba can ). However, the words Scva, and so on. appear to be employed as categories rather than as steps, in which meaning virtually the same set of terms is employed below (sub-section C). Candrakirti's Pradipoddyotana differs from Ratnakara-Santi, by treating the first chapter as a basis for the remaining sixteen; and so. for example, includes the forty nidana verses in the commentary on Chapter 1.


There is a problem of how practical is that grouping by fours. There is some confirmation for the validity of the grouping in terms of the Mahasadhana and Vratasambara ( Sadhana) sets when these terms arc equated with the 'vajras', namely, Mahayoga and Atiyoga. As was shown, the 'body mandala' is associated with Atiyoga, and this is indicated by the Vratasambara chapters, namely, Chapter 16 (on the kaya-and vag-mandalas) and Chapter 1 2 (on the change into the Mahamudra). The samadhi 'Victory of the Rite', associated with Mahasadhana, is the topic of Chapter 13 (on extensive treatment of rites), and the utsarga-and paramartha-mandalas, while not explicitly stated for the Mahasadhana chapters, presumably go with Chapter 5 (on the praxis, carya) and possibly with Chapter 9 (on the yogasamadhi), while the paramartha-mandala also goes with Chapter 13. Even clearer is the consistency of the Upasadhana chapters (2, 6, 10, 14) with the equivalent 'vajra' callcd Anuyoga (as shown later) bccause this involves depositing mantras (parts of the bodhi-


cittta) in spots of the body. Also when Guhyasamaja, Chapter 18, associates 'the four diamond rites of Seva' with the Seva chapters (3, 7, 11, 15) this is consistent with my later

•grouping of the first six nidana syllables (for Evam maya Srutam) with Yoga (=Seva) because, as I later show, the four syllables E, VAM, MA, YA can indicate any four steps of yoga, and 'Srutam' means hearing or learning them. However, insofar as I have noticed cross-referencing in the Pradipoddyotana and its Mchan hgrel, the associations appear to be independent of such grouping. For example, the important verses on the meditation on the tip of the nose are found in Chapters three and six, which belong to two different groups. Perhaps because there was a question of the viability of this grouping, Ratnaka-raSanti composed his commentary (op. cit.) by first commenting on chapters 2-17 in the above grouping, and then commenting on each of the 17 chapters in their normal order.


Of those chapters, my researches indicate that the first twelve are the most important. This is indicated in part by the fact that the explanatory tantra Samdhivyakarana, which expands the Guhyasamdjatantra in chapter order, only goes up through chapter twelve. This set of chapters includes chaptcr 1, which is the'goal'or 'basis' chapter; chapter 2, with the allimportant topic of bodhicitta; chapters six and twelve with the steps of yoga; and chaptcr seven with the three kinds of praxis (caryd). Also, the theory that the chapters 2-17 arc grouped by fours in the scheme given above, acknowledges that the later chapters expand on materials of the earlier chapters rather than start completely new topics.


B. The two stages, initiations and the Clear Light

The Guhyasamdja, in common with other Tantras of the Anuttarayogatantra class, whether Mother or Father Tantras, is divided into two stages of application, the Stage of Generation (utpatti-krama) and the Stage of Completion (sampanna-krama) (or utpanna-krama). This is said in the Guhyasamdjatantra, Chapter XVIII (p. 157) : /kramadvayam upaSritya vajrinaip tatra deSana / kramam autpattikarp caiva kramam autpanna-kani tatha / "Taking recourse to two stages, the adamantine one have therein the instruction, namely, the Stage of Generation and the Stage of Completion." Also, the Paiicakrama


INTRODUCTION TO THE GUHYASAMAJA SYSTEM

(I, 2) states : /utpatti-kramasamsthanaip nispannakrama-kariksinam / u pay as caisa sambuddhaih sopanam iva nirmitah/ "The Complete Buddhas have formulated like a ladder this means for those well standing in the Stage of Generation and desiring the Stage of Completion." In terms ofyogins, Candra-kirti at the beginning of his commentary on Chap. XI, distinguishes them as the kalila-yogin ("imagining y.") and the nifpannayogin ("completed y."). In his Snags rim chen mo (f. 340a-5), Tsori-kha-pa illustrates the necessity to have the Stage of Generation precede the Stage of Completion, by citing Vajragarbha's commentary on the Hcvajratantra:


/mi yi skyc ba dag 2in la / / dmigs med sAiri rjchi sa bon ni/ Ibtab pas gaj'i phyir dc yi phyir / / ston Aid dpag bsam Ijon £Ln hbyuh / By reason of having cast the seed of aimless compassion into the pure field of human birth, there arises the 'wishing tree' of voidncss. Tsoh-kha-pa explains that the 'field' is 'purified' by the Stage of Generation; and that the 'seed' of aimless compassion attended with great ecstasy (mahasvkha) is cast therein by the Stage of Completion.


The Stage of Generation is conceptual, the Stage of Completion concrete. The reason the Stage of Generation must precede can be illustrated in terms of the theory of winds. In this first stage the candidate comes to understand the nature of the winds which arc not visible to the ordinary senses, and in the course ofthe yoga proper to this stage recites in accordance with the natural cycle of the winds. In the Stage of Completion he proceeds to combine those winds in extraordinary ways. Of course one must understand a thing (first stage) before one can manipulate it (second stage). It follows that unless one believes that there arc these mystic winds the Upanisads speak about and which arc so prominent in the commentarial literature of the Guhyasamajalanlra, he can see little point to having these two successive stages of yoga; and, in fact, there is little profit to his pursuing the system at any level of application.


Tson-kha-pa's remark, cited above, is clarified textually with such an expression as 'knowing the intrinsic nature' (soabh&vajiia) (see also, nidana verse 33), that is to say, knowing the natural cycle of the world in terms of the mystic forces, as


the achievement of the Stage of Generation, prior to the 'great ecstasy' (imahdsvkha) of the Stage of Completion. Here there are two passages that show what is meant. The first is in Aryadcva's CillaviSuddhiprakaraiia. verse 20, where 'intrinsic nature' translates svabhava :


bald rajyanti rupefu vairagyam yanti madhyamdh / svabhdvajnd vimucyanle rupasyottamabuddhayah Children delight in forms; the middle-aged pass to aversion. Understanding the intrinsic nature of form, those with best intelligence arc liberated (from it).


THfc second passage is from Saraha's Doha-kofa, verse 23 in Shahidullah's numbering, translated here from the Prakrit (given) and Tibetan text. While it does not have such a term as 'intrinsic nature', it seems to have the same message, jallai marai ubajjai [bajjhai] tallai parama mahasuha sijjahi. [Sarahe gahana guhira bhasa kahia pasu-loa nibboha jima rahia.]


Having taken which (jallai), one dies,

is reborn, and is bound;

Taking that very thing (tallai) one achieves the supreme 'great ecstasy'.

But Saraha speaks these inexplicable and profound words so this beastly world will not understand.


Interpreting Saraha's verse in the present context, in the Stage of Generation one contemplates those natural forces behind the cycles of birth, staying for a while, and dying, and the repetition of those three again and again, and then in the Stage of Completion, manipulates those same forces to achieve the 'great ecstasy'.


Both stages have their own forms of 'subtle yoga' (sdkftna-yoga) of prdndydma. The former stage is held to extend certain worldly magical powers (siddhi) to its successful candidates. The latter stage is held to confcr the supreme achievement of Complete Enlightenment, which is the goal of non-tantric Buddhism as well. In the commenlarial period, treatises were composed especially for one or other of the two stages. The most famous of such treatises, Nagarjuna's Paiicakrama, is devoted to the Stage of Completion but is also helpful for the prior stage.


This is because the treatise is first to be read or heard with conviction, and this conceptual reading is an elementary form of the Stage of Generation which is the conceptual preparation for the sccond stage.

The commentators of the 'Arya' tradition of the Guhya-samaja tried to combine this theory of stages with the well-known Bodhisattva stages of non-tantric Mahayana Buddhism, thereby clarifying the tantric version as the 'quick path'. These ten stages either fall into a 5-5 grouping or a 7-3 grouping. Both groupings are adopted in tantric literature, but the latter grouping was accepted for the correlation in this case, as is suggested by the Paiicakrama, 2d krama, verse 79: adikarmikayogena cdftamim bhumim apnuyat / alokatrayadarfi ca da(abhumyam pratifthitah //

By yoga of a beginner, he attains the Eighth Stage, and seeing the three Lights he is settled in the Tenth Stage. Tsori-kha-pa's Paiicakrama comm.. Vol. 159, p. 4-4,5, cites the view of Spyod bsdus (Aryadcva's Carydmclapaka)that one attains the Eighth Stage by the Stage of Generation. The implication is that the last three stages of the Bodhisattva Path constitute part of the Stage of Completion. Thereafter, the commentators difier along sectarian lines.

Commentators of Yoga-cara preference would combine this tantric theory with the terminology 'revolution of the basis' (dSraya-paravrtti) of the set of perceptions, especially the 'store consciousness' (dtayavij-iiana) often associated in that Yogacara literature with attainment of the Eighth Bodhisattva Stage. Madhyamika-type commentators would avoid the term 'store consciousness' in this connection. However, no attempt is made in these tantric correlations to make a full-scale dovetailing with the theory of ten Bodhisattva Stages, in the manner as these arc portrayed in great detail especially in the Daiabhumikd-sbtra.


The old theory of ten Stages implies an eleventh (the Samintaprabha , die stage of the complete Buddha. A further difficulty arose when thrceextra Stages (bhiimi), with varying names, were added to the traditional ten, with the previous name Samantaprabha moved to the thirteenth. For example, Alamkakalasa, PIT, Vol. 61, p. 182-2, explains the name 'Vajramala' as the Stage called Samantaprabha, and cites the verse (the original Sanskrit given under 'Bhagesu vijahara'),


including: "The Stage resorted to by all the Buddhas is the Thirteenth, and it is called the 'lady'." The two systems of stages, the ten plus one, on the one hand, and thirteen on the other, relate to two ways of assigning the initiations (abhi>eka) and mystical visions of the Guhyasamdjatantra.

I__According to the notes to Mkhas grub rje's Fundamentals

> of the Buddhist Tantras, initiations arc the means of attaining : power over nature. There arc two kinds, initiation simply in an honorary way, namely to the Buddhas; and initiation for the purpose of generating the power, namely to the Bodhisattvas. There are further varieties, such as those stated in the Guhya-samdja, Chap. XVIII, verses 111-112A:


abhifekam tridha bhedam asmin tantre prakalpitam / kalaiabhifekam prathamam dintiyai/i guhydbhifekatali // prajAajnanam trtiyarri tu caturtham tat punas tathd / A distinction of three initiations is prepared in this Tantra, to wit : initiation of the flask as the first; the second, as the secret initiation; insight-knowledge, the third; and the fourth, precisely the same (as the third).

The first initiation, that of the flask, is laid in the Stage of Generation, and is usually divided into five initiations of the flask, going with the five Tathagatas, and all accompanicd by sprinkling rites. An initiation of the hierophant (vajrdedrya) is laid in the transition to the Stage of Completion. The last three initiations, the 'secret', the 'insight-knowledge', and the fourth' are laid in the Stage of Completion. All those initiations are described at length in Mkhas grub rje's Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tantras; here some correlative materials are presented in order to clarify the role of the initiations in the Yoga of the Guhyasamdjatantra.

Candrakirti's Guhyasamajdbhisamaydlamkdra-vrtti (PTT,Vol. 62, p. 26-5) mentions three kinds of 'flask initiation' : outer, inner, and 'pregnant' (phyi dan nan dari sbas pahol. The outer kind uses a flask made of precious material for the five initiations of the flask. The inner kind also uses a precious flask for the five kinds of ambrosia, empowered by the Tatha-gatas. The 'pregnant' kind also has two varieties, 'means' {updya) and 'insight' (prajiid) flasks. The pregnant flask of means has the water from the mouth of the guru; the pregnant flask of insight has the water from the lotus of the prajfta lady.


The 'pregnant' kind of flask initiation appears to be the "unshared kind' (asadhdrana) involved with the Hicrophant's Initiation. In the latter initiation, the candidate is given the vidyd (goddess) called the "seal pledge' (mudrd-samaya) and made to enter the union 'bliss-void' (sukha-S unya) by embracing that vidyd.


Passing to the three initiations of the Stage of Completion, we note two ways of relating those initiations to the system as stages, as is set forth in Alamkakala£a's commentary on the Vajramdld (PTT, Vol. 61, p. 180-2, 3) :

I dehi phyir las dan po pahi rnal hbyor gvi ho bo slob dpon dan gsan balii dbari bskur ba dag ni sa brgyad pa fes bya ba rnam par b2ad go / / £es rab ye ses kyi dgu paho / /bii pa dpchi rnam pas ni bcu paho /...../ yah

na slob dpon gyi dbah ni sa brgyad paho / /gsah bahi dbah gis ni rnam pa gah gis rdo rje bzlas pa la brten nas dgu paho / / $es rab ye ses kyi dbah gis sems rnam par dag pahi hobo Aid kyi bcu paho / rah byin gyis brlab pa yah de Aid do / / bii pa Aid kyi mhon par byah chub pahi ho bo Aid kyis bcu grig paho / /mos pa spyod pahi sa dan bcas pa ni bcu gAis paho // zuh du hjug pahi rim pas ni bcu gsum palio /


Hence, the initiation of the hierophant (vajrdedrya) who is a 'beginneryogin' and the Secret Initiation are laid in the Eighth (Bodhisattva)Stage; the PrajAa-jAana initiation is on the Ninth; the Fourth Initiation, by form of example (i.e. taking the preceding initiation as example), on the Tenth In another way, the Hierophant's Initiation is on the Eighth Stage; the Secret Initiation for which one depends on Diamond Muttering (vajra-jdpa) on the Ninth; the PrajAa-jAana Initiation whereby there is cittavisuddhi is on the Tenth, as is also the svadhi-slhana; the Fourth through abhisambodhi is on the Eleventh; the Twelfth has the Adhimukti-carya Stage; and with the Yuganaddha-krama there is the Thirteenth.


The second type of correlation involves the five krama titles of Nagarjuna's Paiicakrama Vajrajapa, Cittavisuddhi, Svadhi-s(hana, Abhisambodhi, and Yuganaddha). The first type stems from Aryadeva's Carydnulipaka, in a passage cited in


the notes to Mkhas grub rje's work, pp. 312-3: (Tibetan omitted):

Moreover, Dbyahs-can-dgah-bahi-blo-gros, following the Arya school of the Guhyasamaja, writes in his Dpal gsaii ba hdus pa hphags lugs daii mthun pahi snags kyis lam mam giag legs bsad skal bzaii hjug nogs, folio 20b-1, f.: "The one who has arrived at the limit of the subtle and the coarse of the Steps of Production which conclude the maturation of the stream of consciousness, is associated with attainment of the eighth stage. Both' the arcane body and arcane speech of the Steps of Completion are associated with the latter part of the eighth stage as well as with the ninth stage. Both the arcane mind and the illusory body are associated with the first part of the tenth stage. Both the Clear Light and the coupling in the realm of learning are associated with the latter part of the tenth stage. The coupling beyond learning is posited on the eleventh stage, Samantaprabha. That is the purport of the Carydmelapaka (Toh. 1803.) "


Furthermore, there is a difference in where the initiations of the Stage of Completion are conferred. The notes to Mkhas grub rje's work show that the Secret Initiation is attained in the s relative bodhicitta-mandala Insight-Knowledge (prajiia-jhana)


one in the bhaga-mandala of the vidya, and the Fourth Initiation in the absolute bodhicitta-mandala. Comparing this terminology with the previous discussion of the mandala, it is easy to observe that the relative bodhicitta-mandala is the 'body-mandala* (deha-mai)dala), and the other two, the utsarga-mandala and the para-martha-mandala; while all three are understood in the present case with interpretations of the Stage of Completion. Also, these initiations can be stated in terms of the consorts {mudrd). Following the exposition of the Klon-rdol bla-ma as set forth in my "Female Energy..." article, the 'incantation-born female' is the yogini at the final limit of the Stage of Generation; hence is involved in the Mahasadhana phase of 'invariant (letter) placement' (in the samddhi 'Victorious MaijtJala'), and presumably is the vidya of the Preceptor's Initiation. The 'field-born female' enables one to attain the s. Symbolic Clear-Light with the arcane state of body, speech,

\ and mind; and so is the vidya of the 'Secret Initiation'. The


'together-born female' enables one to attain the Illusory Body and the Goal Clear-Light (or the Clear Light of the Absolute Entity); hence is the vidya of the Prajtiajnana Initiation; and since the Fourth Initiation is said to be just the same as the third, she is also the vidya or mudra intended here. Regarding the 'Sccret Initiation', the Pradipoddyotana in its chapter eight devoted to this initiation citcs the Tantra catalogued as Candraguhyatilaka ("yathoktam bhagavata guhye candratilake"):

utsrjya ratnojiala-'bodhicittam samSuskamurtirfl sakalam jinandm / abhifincya m urdhndmalaratnavaiair visuddhavajrodbhavajnana-toyaih 11 Having drawn forth the bodhicitta jewel-blazing of the Jinas, he sprinkles all the arid body by way of the head with knowledge drops issuing from the pure vajra, (drops) with the power of the immaculate jewel.


The context shows that the expression 'by way of the head* means that the candidate imagines that the substance flows down from the crown of the head and first stimulates the 'little tongue' (the uvula). For a clear statement of its further progress through the body, sec Sri Laksmi's passage presented under nid.'ina verse 'KA' (No. 22). For the reference to the


tongue, the Pradipoddyotana on chapter seventeen quotes the 'Miilatantra' (in fact, the Tattvasamgraha of the Yoga-tantra class): jihvdni talagatiim krtvd nasikagram tu cintayet / s uksmavajrasukhaspars'dd bhavet cittam samdhitam 11 Having placed the tongue on the 'roof of the mouth', he should contemplate the tip of the nose (of the face). From blissful contact with the subtle vajra (the little tongue), the mind becomcs stabilized. In the same placc the Pradipoddyotana cites a clarifying passage from the 'Prajiidsiilra' (which .Mchan hgrel identifies only as 'Mother Tantra'): dhdrdmrtamayi nityam yd murdhni varfate dhruvam / pitvd hayayogindrena jardmrtyuviiiaSakah // yathotpalandlena (lu) toyam dkarfate nara(t / evam upajivya jived yogi mahubala iti //

What consists of streaming ambrosia continually and


steadily rains in the head. Having drunk (that) with the 'yogi organ of a horse' (i.e. the stretched-out tongue curled back to the uvula) one destroys old age and death, (drinking) like a man sucks water through the stalk of an utpala-lotus. So having subsisted, the yogi lives with the name 'Mighty One'. Furthermore, according to that work of Candrakirti's, the vrtti (op. cit., p. 29-3), the place where the initiation is conferred is the disciple's tongue, of which there arc three: in the throat, the heart, and the navel, the placcs where he enjoys the substance. This refers to the downward passage of the white-and-red bodhicitta drop.


In the case of the third initiation, this is the 'knowledge based on the insight' (Candrakirti's explanation, the vrtti, p. 30-3, 4) as a definition ofprajrla-jiidna ('insight-knowledge'). According to Mkhas-grub-rjc's work, the Insight-Knowledge Initiation is associated with the passage of winds in the 'central vein' arousing ecstasies in four cakras. Hence it is understandable that definitions of mahdsukha are given in connection with this Initiation.

Thus, Tsori-kha-pa's Sr.ags rim chtn mo. in the Prajfia-jftana Initiation section, quotes Vitapada's Togasapta-ndma-caturabhifekaprakarana: "The distinction of whether there is or is not the great ecstasy (mahasukha) is accordingly the last of explanations. However, in the PrajAa-jAana the characteristic of mahdsukha takes shape. . . .'Because it is without place and without deception, it is explained as mahdsukha' " (sbyor ba bdun pa las kyan // bde ba chen po yin ma yin gyi khyad par de b£in du bSad pahi mthar / ho na kyan £es rab ye £es la bde chen mtshan Aid gzugs su gnas / 2es dan // mi gnas kyan ni mi sluhi phyir // bde ba chen po fes su bSad / ccs dbah gsum pa la ). Also, Tsoh-kha-pa's commentary on the "Six Laws ofNaro-pa,"(PTT Vol. 161, p. 8-2,3) states: "The main thing here is the requirement that the ecstasy of the Stage of Completion belong to the 'consubstantiality' (sahaja) arising from making the wind(s) enter, dwell, and dissolve in the 'central vein' " (/ hdihi yah gtso bo ni rlun dbu mar iugs gnas thim gsum byas pa las byuh bahi lhan skyes kyi rdzogs rim pahi bde ba dgos so / ). In Candrakirti's way of explaining (the vrtti, p. 30-3, 4) the initiation is conferred in the three series of caves or in the padma. Since the bodhicitta proceeds


downward in the 'ccntral vein' through four cakras, we may understand Candrakirti's remark as intending the upper three cakras as 'eaves' and the lowest cakra as the 'padma', where the bodhicitta should not 'fall out' or be released.

The Fourth Initiation, also callcd 'Initiation of the Name', is said to be just like the PrajAa-jAana one, meaning that the bodhicitta passes through the reverse order of the same cakras; and, according to the note in Mkhas grub rje's work, p. 36, upon reaching the forehead cakra, the small circle called urtfd-koSa, passes out into the ten directions like a lightning flash.

Furthermore, the theory of the Clear Light preceded or followed by three Lights, is related to the division into two stages. Now I shall present material from several works of Tson-kha-pa, leading up to a convenient table, after which some classifications in Tanjur works can be appreciated better. Tson-kha-pa, in his commentary on the Caturdcvipariprcchd labelled 'Biis ius' (PTT, Vol. 159, p. 97-4) writes: "That is the concise paramdrtha-mandala as the 'Clear Light of conviction' in the phase of the Stage of Generation, and is comparable to the four voids of which the Clear Light belonging to the Stage of Completion is the chief one" ( / de ni bskyed rimgyi skabs su lhag mos hod gsal du bsdus pahi don dam pahi dkyil hkhor daii/ rdzogs rim gyi hod gsal gtso bor byas pahi stoii pa bi< lta buho /). Restricting ourselves to this 'Clear Light of conviction' concerned with imagining the'basic time'—the cycle of life and death— we find that there are two kinds. There is a Clear Light of deep sleep which contrasts with dream, and a Clear Light of death which

contrasts with the intermediate state, as in this passage of Tson-kha-pa's Gsaii ba hdus pahi ial its yig chuA thor bu pa Vol. 159, p. 136-2 : "Since the Clear Light of deep sleep, and dream are controlled by the power of wind, there is the invariable accompaniment that the Clear Light of death, and the intermediate state arc controlled by the power of wind. In the same way, since the Clear Light of deep sleep, and dream are controlled by craving, there is

the invariable accompaniment that the Clear Light of death, and the intermediate state are controlled by craving" ( / gfiid kyi hod gsal dan / rmi lam rlun slobs kyis zin na , hchi bahi hod gsal daii / bar do rluh stobs kyis zin pas khyab / de biin du gnid kyi hod gsal daii / rmi lam hdun pas zin na / hchi batii hod gsal dan / bar do hduu


pahi zin pas khyab ciri /). According to this passage, the 'basic time' is controlled by wind and craving; deep sleep corresponds to death; dream corresponds to the intermediate state.

Turning to the 'time of the path' in the Stage of Completion, when the four voids are evoked concretely, there is also a terminology of two kinds of Clear Light, as in Tson-kha-pa's Gsal bahi sgron me (Vol. 158, p. 194-1) : "Moreover, at the conclusion of the Clear Light of the (Supreme) Entity, he accomplishes the Yuganaddha-deha (pair-united body); and at the end of the Symbolic Clear Light, he accomplishes the Illusory Body" (I de yah don gyi hod gsal gyi mjug tu zuh hjug gi sku dari / dpehi hod gsal gyi mjug tu sgyu mahi sku hgrub po /).


However, both the 'basic time' and the 'time of the path' are involved in the varieties of intermediate states and of births, as in that same work of Tsoh-kha-pa (his commentary on the PaAcakrama), first the intermediate states (bar do) (Vol. 159, p. 53-4); (1) bar-do of gestation (srid pa bardo), which agrees with (2) the bar-do of dream (rmi lam gyi bardo) according to the Mar-pa school—the two being the bar-do of the basic time (giihi bar do); (3) bardo of the path (lam gyi bardo). Next the births (Vol. 159, p. 53-5): (1) birth in a womb through intermedia testate of gestation; (2) birth through 'bar-do of dream' at the time of waking up to reoccupy the gross personality aggregates—the two being the 'birth' of the basic time (giihi skye ba); (3) birth of apprehending the gross personality aggregates by the bar-do of the illusory body (sgyu lus kyi bardo).


The above data can be clarified in tabular form, where the Clear Lights of deep sleep and death of everyday life correspond respectively to the Symbolic Clear Light and the Clear Light of the Absolute Entity. Now for the Tanjur classifications, of which a good start is Sakyamitra's (ikd on the Caryameldpakapradipa (PTT, Vol. 62, p. 300-5) : "The varieties are Clear Light of (1) training (taikfa), (2) beyond training (aSaikfa), (3) true mind (eiltaia), and (4) entity (artha). Nos. 3 and 4 in his classification seem to be the two mentioned by Sri Lak?mi (Vol. 63, p. 29-4): "The Clear Light is of two kinds, Clear Light of consciousness and Clear Light of intrinsic nature. Among those, the Clear


III. THE CLEAR LIGHTS

Basic Time (in Stage of Generation) Time of the Path (in Stage of Completion )

Clear Light Deep Sleep Death I Symbolic Supreme Entity (paramartha)

Intermediate State Dream Gestation Illusory Body (maya-deha) Yuganaddha-deha (pair-united body)

Birth Waking up Birth (exit from womb, or by some other means) (apprehending the gross personality aggregates-vipaka-kaya) (apprehending the world, in the Nirmana-kaya)


Light of consciousness is the (Yogacira's) 'representation* (vijAapti) without aspect (nirdkdra); and the Clear Light of intrinsic nature is universal void (sarvaJQnya) which is obtained at the fourth stage" (/ hod gsal ba ni mam pa gAis tc / scms kyi hod gsal ba dan / ran biin gyis hod baho / dc la scms kyi hod gsal ba ni mam pa mcd pahi rnam rig dan / ran b2in gyis hod gsal ba ni thams cad stoh pa stc rim pa bii pas thob par byaho/).


That i% to say, Sakyamitra's kind called 'true mind' would be the Yogacarin's 'representation without (external) aspect' : and the one of 'entity' (short for 'supreme entity') would be the universal void.

Nos. 1 and 2 of Sakya mitra's classification are explained in Candrakirti's Guhyasamdjabhisamaydlainl.dra-rrtti < PTT, Vol. 62, p. 35-3) in summary verses : "One should understand two Clear Lights by 'training' (Saik}a) and 'beyond training' (aiaikfa). The Clear Light of training is explained as (the dhydnas of) 'contraction' (pindagrdha) and 'expansion' (anubheda' . The one beyond training is non-discursive (mikalpa), not perceptively reached (anupalabdha), pure from the outset (adi-Suddha)." These two are respectively equivalent to the Symbolic Clear Light and to the Clear Light of the Absolute entity in the time of the path. Therefore, Sakyamitra's varieties (1) and (2) are respectively equivalent to his varieties (3) and (4). All of the above Tanjur classifications apply to "Time of the Path." The Clear Light of Deep Sleep appears mainly a matter of oral instruction.


Finally, there is the difficult but important topic of three caryds in relation to the two Stages. In his Mthah gcod, Tson-kha-pa points out that Aryadcva's Carydmcldpaka took account of the three caryds only for the Stage of Completion, but that the Pradipoddyotana on Chaptcr X (in fact the initial sentence) implies that both Stages have their version of the three caiyds. The three according to the Pradipoddyotana manuscript on Chapter VII are prapaiica-caryd, ni>prapai)ca-caiyd, and atyantanif-prapanca-caryd. Tson-kha-pa elaborately discusses these matters in his Pancakrama commentary (PTT, Vol. 159. pp. 67 to 78), the section cntitied "The caryd which is the means of issuing the profit in the two States" (rim gAis la bogs ft by in pahi thabs spyod pa); and has a briefer, but also complicated discussion in his Mlhah gcod on Chapter VII (PTT, Vol. 156, pp. 42 to 45).


The discussion shows that in cach case this is a caryd (advanced yoga technique) connected with the female element of the world. The word prapaiica has here the special meaning, "involvement with the five sense objects". In ancient Buddhist texts, these five arc callcd the pancakamaguna ("the five strands of desire"), and they promote development of the being, his taking a place in phenomenon (a more usual Indian meaning of the Sanskrit word prapaiica). The

addition of the word caryd serves for classifying the yoga techniques of this Tantric tradition. Candra-kirti's commentary on Chapter VII associates the three in the given order with three of the four ways of interpreting Guhyasamdjatantra passages, namely with the "shared sense," and "pregnant sense," and the "ultimate sense" (see my section "Seven ornaments and subdivisions"). In illustration, when one contemplates the deities in their proper dress, hence in their corporeal form, this is a case of prapaiica; however, properly speaking, the addition of the word caryd restricts this case to the five sense objects deified as goddesses (as in niddna verse 21). Again, in relation to the three Lights, the caryd would be of the "non-prapaiica" type; and in relation to the Clear Light, the caryd would be of the "extreme non-prapaiica" type. Hereafter, the term prapaiica will be left untranslated; 'caryd' is cither translated as 'praxis' or left untranslated.


Now that we have alluded to both superficial and profound aspects of the two stages, we should prepare for the separate discussion of the two stages by the verse cited in 'Documents' (Pradipoddyotana on XII, 60-64 :


By the distinction of 'shared' and 'superior',

one posits two kinds of service :

The 'shared' one by the four vajras, the 'superior'

one by members six in number.

This verse shows that the word 'Service' {scva) can be employed in generalized ways to indicate the entire praxis of the Guhya-samaja. Previously in section A, on the chapters, we have


translated that there arc four diamond rites of Seva associated with the Stage of Generation. Then the superior service is the six members of yoga in the Stage of Completion. To anticipate, the four diamond rites arc named 1. yoga, 2. anuyoga, 3. atiyoga, and 4. mahayoga. The six members of yoga have already been defined in 'Documents' :

1. pratyahara,

2. dhyana,

3. pranayama,

4. dharana, 5. anusmrti, and 6. samadhi.


What is meant by 'shared' service is that the terms 1. seva 2. upa-sadhana, 3. sadhana, and 4. mahasadhana, can be employed in one sense of the words as equivalent to the four vajras as named above, and can be employed in another sense as equivalent to the six members of yoga. In the latter case, seva

covers pratyahara, dhyana, pranayama, and dharana; upasadhana equals anusmrti; and both sadhana and maha-sadhana are included in samadhi. Moreover, as has been shown, sixteen chapters (2-17) of the Guhyasamdjatantra are labelled by these four generalized terms of service. It may be the intention of such labelling to indicate the shared aspects of the two stages insofar as these aspects can be assigned in four groups by those four labels of the chapters. However, the Guhyasamdjatantra has itself briefly defined the common elements indicated by the four vajras in its chapter XVIII, verse 137 : prathamarri SBnyatabodhim dvitiyam bijasamhrtam / trtiyani bimbanispattii caturtham nyasam akfaram // The first is the revelation of voidness; the second is the drawing together of germ syllables; the third is the perfection ofthe image; the fourth is the invariant ( — letter) placement. In order to apply to both stages, those four have to be explained with utmost generality. The first indicates the yoga of reaching up through the void or light stages to the Clear Light. The second is a descent of divine elements. The third is the consummation of the candidate. The fourth is the saintly re-involvement with the world.


C. The four steps of yoga and the three samddhis in the Stage of Generation

The four steps of yoga in the Stage of Generation are frequently referred to as the four steps of service (sevd) or of evocation (sddhana). They are presented this way in the Guhyasamdja, XVIII, p. 162:

yogalantrefu sane.ody, speech, and mind, he should contemplate the samadhi 'Conjunction to revelation' as constructed by mantra.


Candrakirti's comment on those verses implies a kind of sixmembered yoga amoni; them. 1. 'who has body as the mantra visualized'. 2. 'exhorted by speech in the mind'. 3. 'surpassing one'. 4. 'succcssful one'. 5. 'one satisfying the mind'. 6. 'beloved one'. There arc four states (avastha) to be achieved in the stream of consciousness of a yogin ( yogi-samlana) : 'surpassing one' because it outlasts diamond muttering (vajrajapad adhikalral); 'successful one', i.e.

the Svadhisihana (= mahtimudrd); 'one satisfying the mind' bccause it is the purification of the mahdmtidid (mahdmudid-iiSuddhikaralidl); 'beloved one', which generates the body of Mahavajradhara. And these four successive states are respectively, 'the selflessness of citta being visualized'; 'the contemplation of speech and body'; 'the triple conjunction' as the divine body made of mind (mano-maya-da-atdrfipam); and 'the abode equal to space'. Therefore, 'exhorted by speech in the mind' refers to the diamond muttering which is outlasted by the cilia visualized. This diamond muttering is preceded by an achievement referred to as 'body as the mantra visualized'. The 'body as the mantra visualized' must be the achievement of the Stage of Generation kept over for the Stage of Completion, because having already achieved that much, the practitioner will naturally carry over that bodily attainment to the next stage, that of Completion.


The 'self-existence of body-, spcech-, and mind-visualization' means the self-existence of the three lights, respectively prajfia, upaya, and upalabdhi, that is to say, 'the selflessness of citta being visualized'. That self-existence is not reached by the praxis of mantra-bodv, i.e. by having 'body as the mantra visualized', bccause, the foregoing mcmljcrs show that it is necessary to be 'exhorted by spcech in the mind'. On the other hand, without contemplation ('body as the mantra visualized') neither is revelation reached. Having appreciated this point, 'he should contemplate the samadhi "Conjunction to revelation" as constructed by mantra.'


While there are definitely six stages in that formulation, there is no expressed indication that the Guhyasamajalantra (first 17 chapters) has in mind here such a division—as the Uttara-tantra imposes, of Stage of Generation and Stage of Completion. It may have implied the two in the diandra of the tide, rahasyAti-rahasya. But our foregoing materials make it quite clear that


the 'body as the mantra visualized' is indeed the accomplishment of the Stage of Generation. If one leaves out that body, the remainder of the members in that passage of chapter 6 pertain to what became callcd the Stage of Completion. In

such a ease, the first member in this second scries is the one called 'exhorted by speech in the mind', that is to say, diamond muttering attended with prdndydma. Tsori-kha-pa's commentary 'Deciding the alternatives' for the chaptcr 6 (op. cit., Vol. 156, pp. 25-5 to 26-1) cites in this connection the Vajramdld explanatory tantra (actually in chaptcr 68, the last chapter):


I rdo rje bzlas par rab sbyor bas /

I rluii gi mtshan Hid Ses nas ni /

I mam rtog rlun mams mam par gcod /

I scms la dmigs pa Ihob par hgyur // / bdag la byin brlabs rim pas kyan / I dnos grub brgyad ni Ihob par hgyur I snaii ba la sogs dbye ba Ses / miion par byaii chub pa ni hlhob /

I zuit hjug rim pa la gnas pa /

I diios grub thams cad bsdus pa ni /

Ishe hdi did la hgrub hgyur bar /

I rnal hbyor pa yis the I shorn med 11


The one who by the praxis of diamond muttering understands the characteristic of the wind (s), destroys the vikalpa-winds and attains v isualization of the cilia. Then, by the Svadhisthana-krama he wins the eight siddhis. Knowing (already) the distinctions of light (dloka), etc. he gains the Abhisambodhi. Stationed on the Yuga-naddha-krama, the yogin doubtless accomplishes in this very life the sum of all siddhis.


Immediately after this passage, Tsoh-kha-pa points out that this is the source of the five kramas. It cannot be doubted that Nagarjuna based his Paiicakrama work especially upon the sixth chaptcr of the Guhyqsamdja and the explanatory tantra Yajramila. He has not altered the terminology in the names of the five kramas : 1. Diamond Muttering (\ ajrajjipa), 2. Purification of consciousness (CittaviSuddhi l, 3. Personal Blessing (Sva-


dhi?thana), 4. Revelation-Enlightenment (Abhisaipbodhi).

5. Pair-wise united (Yuganaddha;. Near the beginning of his first krama, he has this summary statement consistent with that sixth chapter and with the Yajramdld position :


4B. mantranidhyaptim agamya zajrajapah suiikfyatc

5. vajrajapasthito mantri cittanidhyaplim dpnuydt mdyopamasamddhislho bhUtakofyam samdiiitl

6. bhutakoteh samutti} fhann adiayajiianam apnuyat yuganaddhasamadhistho na kimcic chi^ale punah

Having understood the mantra-visualization, he trains himself with diamond muttering. Firm in diamond

muttering, the yogin achieves the citta-visualization.

Stationed in the illusory samadhi, he enters the true limit. Emerging from the true limit, he achieves the non-dual knowledge. Stationed in the pair-wise united samadhi, there is nothing more for him to learn.


That is to say, after one has gained the mantra-bodv (in the Stage of Generation) he proceeds to the Stage of Completion with that kind of body prepared by yoga (which therefore may or may not be counted as the initial part of the Stage of Completion). If the mantra-body in its developed status as an

"arcane body" is not counted in the numbering, then the first member is the diamond muttering. The yogin oudasts this with the state of visualizing the three Lights with their associated eighty prakrtis. Stationed in the illusory samidhi, to wit, with the Illusory Body, he enters the Clear Light in this stage


of Personal Blessing (siadhifthdna). In the stage of Abhisam-bodhi, by the reverse order of the Lights, he achieves the nondual knowledge. Finally, he attains the yuganaddha wherein


there is nothing further to learn (asaikfa-yuganaddha).

Now returning to our considerations of the six-mcml>crcd yoga on which Candrakirti wrote liis comments, it seems that the set of terms applies to the yoga praxis in a period prior

to this terminology of two main Stages. When it was decided (per Nagarjuna's system) to begin the Stage of Completion w ith the diamond muttering along widi prandydma, the third member of the other terminological system, it becamc a problem of howto define the first two members 1. pratydhdra and 2. dhydna in a manner applicable to the Stage of Completion. Nagarjuna evaded the issue in his commentary on the 18th chaptcr in w hich


the six-mcmbcred yoga was presented. The solution adopted by Tsori-kha-pa is that they represent the arcane body (kiya-viveka). With the help of Candrakirti's explanations ("Documents"), and availing ourselves of the preceding data, the rest of the correlation in terms of the Guhyasamaja cult can be set up as follows :


six-membered yoga fjve stages

3. Pranayama — 1. vajrajapa

4. dharana — f 2. cittavisuddhi

L 3. svadhisthana

5. anusmrti 4. abhisambodhi

6. samadhi 5. yuganaddha


It should be emphasized that such a correlation may help us to understand the stages of yoga in a terminological sense, and enable us to cross over from one system to the other one; and also that in practice authors settled on either set of terminology; and that either could be used by authority of the Guhyasamaja-tantra, which presents them in its Chapter VI and Chapter XVIII.


Finally, I wonder if this remarkable description of yoga is meant to duplicate the Buddha's feat in the celebrated account of the Parinirvana-sHtra. Here the Budcjha passed beyond the realm of desire up through the various divisions of the realm of form and then the divisions of the formless realm until he reached the cessation of ideas and feelings. He then reversed himself, going through the downward stages in order until he arrived at the lowest division of the realm of form. He then proceeded upwards again until he arrived at the top of the realm of form and then entered Parinirvana. Later, in Mahayana Buddhism, for example in the Lankdvatara-sutra, the place where he had entered Parinirvana was considered the place where one is initiated as a Complete Buddha.


E. Grouping the niddna karikds

The reason for including this topic under the general discussion of yoga, is that repeated consideration of these forty verses with great labor of collecting commcntarial materials for them, finally convinced me that they represent a sequence of yoga, and in that case the only yoga that can apply by authority


of the Guhyasamdjatantra toward any grouping is the four steps in the Stage of Generation and either the six-membered yoga or the five stages in the Stage of Completion.


But before we can take up this matter of grouping, it will be necessary to establish where to place what is called the "hundred lineages". This involves some disputed points about the "arcane body". Some authorities held that the "arcane body" was restricted to the Stage of Completion. In the course of

Tsori-kha-pa's lengthy discussion of this topic in his Paiicakrama commentary, he states (PTT, Vol. 158, p. 201-4,7,8) : "Since the Catydmeldpaka has stated the arcane body of one hundred lineages to three lineages and then compressed into one lineage, with the Stage of Generation as the basis of inclusion, they should be included there, and so (in that case) it is not proper to in- clude them in the Stage of Completion (rigs brgya nas gsum gyi bar gyi lus dben mams rigs gcig gi lus dben du sdud par spyod bsdus las gsuris pas / bsdu rgyu bskyed rim der de mams bsdus pa rdzogs rim du mi run bahi phyir ro/). When we know that


Tson-kha-pa held Aryadeva's Caryamelapakapradipa in highest esteem and drew from that work the entire material on the "hundred lineages" after comparing three versions of Arya-deva's text then extent in Tibet, we must conclude that Tsori-kha-pa gives his own position as far as the "hundred lineages" is concerned. Since Tsori-kha-pa refers to those "hundred lineages" as "arcane body", it is clear to mc that his "arcane body" annotations on niddna verses, starting with verse 14 in my third group, is his way of placing those verses in the set describing the Stage of Generation. Although the "hundred Uncages" stem ultimately from Aryadeva's work (in the Peking edition, PTT, Vol. 61, p. 295-5, line 7, to 297-5, line 8), I have taken them from the edited form in Tsori-kha-pa's Pancakrama commentary. Here, Tsori-kha-pa (PTT, Vol. 158, p. 201-3-7) mentions that when the "arcane body" is included in the Stage of Generation, it is placcd in the Atiyoga step, which is the third of the four steps. Ratnakara&nti also implies that the "arcane body" is located in the third step by our information included from his book that the blessing is of the sense bases, personality aggregates, the elements and the major and minor limbs. The "arcane body", which thus begins with yoga praxis in the third step, must continue through the fourth step for the simple


reason that it is present at the outset of the next stage, that of Completion. We shall see that this observation agrees with the three kinds of catya of the Stage of Generation, which are illustrated in the Tathagata verses (nidana verses 18-21). It thus becomes obvious that the niddna verses which invite commentary of portions of the "hundred lineages" belong to the Stage of Generation, and also obvious that the niddna verses beginning with verse 22, which speaks for the first time about the yoga of completion", belong to the Stage of Completion. All my further collcction of material confirmed this division and worked out with continual consistency.


Upon scanning the various commentaries on the Pradipoddyo-tana in the Tanjur, I find only one commentator who attempts to group the nidana verses. One reason for the general silence of the sub-commentators is that the commentarial flow is interrupted by stopping to comment in a completely different way, as would be necessary with arguments in the case of the nidana kdrikds, since Candrakirti had cited them only in a block without individual remarks or grouping suggestions. Thus, even presuming that these commentators had their own thoughts about grouping, ordinarily it would be only such an independent

commentary as the Dalai Lama referred to (cf. Preface) that would try lo explain the verses from all possible angles including grouping. By the one commentator I mean the Kumara whose Pradipoddyotana commentary was noticed in a preceding section. He is probably the same Kumara who is listed as a translator of Bhavyakirti's long commentary on the same Pradipoddyotana, so he may even have been a personal disciple of Bhavyakirti. His commentary is rather brief; he calls it a tippani-hrdayadarSa ('Annotation which is the Mirror of the Heart'), and so he concerns himself with what he considers the most important elements of the work he is commenting on, rather than commenting on everything. It is worthwhile to present his soludon, even though I do not acccpt it. He apparently followed this initial course of reasoning: At the end of the citation of the forty verses by the Pradipoddyotana, there appears Candrakirti's signal 'garbhyarlha' (T. sbas pa or sbas don). In a previous introduction, I have shown that Candrakirti's 'garbhyartha' has the three varieties of 'pregnant sense clarifying the doctrine of lust', 'pregnant sense revealing conventional truth' ( = Illusory Body), and 'pregnant sense considering the three jilanas'. Also Tson-kha-pa's Mchan hgrel mentions these three varieties when annotating that word 'sbas pa' at the end of the forty verses, so it was quite reasonable for Kumara to expect that the three varieties would be found presented among the forty verses. However, it is one thing to exemplify the three varieties somewhere or other; and another thing for the forty verses to fall into three groups, as Kumara forces them (PTT, Vol. 60, p. 219-5). His first group amounts to verses 1 through 9 : / E ni Ses rab dam pa iiid ces bya ba nas / rnam Ses Hid ni liia poho ies bya bahi bar gyis ni sems mam par dag pahi rim pa yin no 11 ye Ses gsum rnam par hbyed pa ni gcig tu sbas pahi don no /.


From, ' E" signifies the Noble Women Prajna,' down to 'perception (vijriana), the fifth', is the stage 'purification of the mind' (citta-viSuddhi). Analyzing the three gnoses (jHanalraya) is one kind of 'pregnant sense'. The second group constitutes verses 10-18 :


I miiam Hid so sor rtog pa daii ies bya ba nas / de dan der rigs las libyun ba / lha dan lha mo tha dad pa de ni yod min de med kyaA / hgro bahi don phyir ston pa yin ies bya bahi bar gyis ni I lhahi sku mam par dag pa mhon tu hgro bahi rdo rje bzlas palii rim pa bstan to I I dehi nan nas phyag rgya bii ni rgyas gdab cin ies bya bas ni sans rgyas spyan la sogs pa ham dgug pa dan iugs pa la sogs pa ham / las kyi phyag rgya la sogs paho / I de Aid hdod chags kyi chos ston pahi sbas pahi don gnis paho / From '(the knowledges) Equality, Discriminative.............' down to 'Of the different gods and goddesses generated by him and his family, neither the gods nor the goddesses exist, but are displayed for the sake of sentient beings' —shows the stage 'Diamond Muttering* (vajrajdpa) which brings direcdy the pure body of a god. Among those (verses) the phrase 'sealed by four seals' (verse 16) implies either Buddhalocana and the other goddesses; or attracting, drawing in, etc. (the four steps in bringing nonduality with the jnana-being); or the karma-mudrd, etc. Exacdy that is the other kind of 'pregnant sense' which teaches the doctrine of lust.


The third group includes verses 19-40 :

I fidi las gAis med mthori bahi ies bya ba nas / sbas paho ies


bya bahi bar gyi ni sgyu ma lla buhi tin iu hdzin bstan pa ste I de kho na raft byin gyis brlab pahi rim bstan paho / / kun rdzob kyi bden pa la de ma thag miion par byah chub pahi rim pa ni sbas pahi don gsum paho /


From 'Afterwards, who sees the non-duality' down to (the signal) 'pregnant sense'—teaches the illusory samadhi (mayopama-samadhi), and only that teaches the Svadhisthana-krama. Immediately after that 'conventional truth', there is the Abhisambodhi-krama. So the third 'pregnant sense'. The weakness of Kumara's solution can be judged from these viewpoints:

(1) It was reasonable for him to impose stagesfrom Nagarjuna's Paiicakrama, but he docs not adhere to the order of the kramas, interchanging the first and second—CittaviSuddhi and Vajrajapa. By applying these stages throughout, which are prevalent on the 'Stage of Completion' he leaves no group of nidana verses to depict the 'Stage of Generation', which belies Candrakirti's verse to the effect that the forty verses explain the Guhyasamdjatantra, which on the strength of Kumara's divisions has no Stage of Generation at all.

(2) It was reasonable for him to apply the terminology of three kinds of 'pregnant sense' but it is contrary to the obvious data of the verses to divide them into three consecutive groups on this basis. For example, the 'three knowledges (jnanatraya) kind of pregnant sense in fact covers the verses 1-7, 25-26, 30, 32, and 36-38. (3) His solution takes no account of the words of the niddna sentence, because his second group (verses 10-18) goes down to the first ta of tathdgata. He evinces no indication that he tried to relate the subject matter of the verses to the words which furnish the forty syllables. Having by those considerations eliminated the one classical attempt to group the verses, the way is clear to group them by appeal to the evidence of the verses themselves. The forty


verses divide into sets on the basis of the Stage of Generation and the Stage of Completion, as previously discussed. Verse 22 employs the expression nitpanna-krama ('Stage of Completion'). Therefore, the last nineteen verses arc devoted to the Stage of Completion. Then, within the two sets of verses some groups arc obvious and others require further justification. The most difficult group


in the first set is formed of the verses for Ekasmin Samaye, to which I assign the second vajra or step of service, anuyoga. The decision to make three groups out of the second set yields a solution compatible with the six-membcrcd yoga, the five kramas, as well as with the four steps of service as shared with the Stage of Completion. The full picture in each case is provided in the respective groups. Now I present the final arrangement with some minimal remarks :


I. The Stage of Generation.

A. Evam maya grutam. Yoga (- Scva)

B. Ekasmin samayc. Anuyoga (— Upasadhana)

C. Bhagavan Sarva. Atiyoga ( = Sadhana)

D. Tathagata. Mahayoga (= Mahasadhana)


II. The Stage of Completion.


E. Kayavakcitta. Pratyahara and Dhyana

( =kayaviveka)

Pranayama (=Vajrajapa); Dharana (= Cittavisuddhi and Svadhis(hana) —Scva

F. Hrdaya-vajrayosid. Anusmni ( = Abhisambodhi)—Upasadhana

G. Bhagesu vijahara. Samadhi (=Yuganaddha)—Sadhana and Mahasadhana


It might be objected that E-VAM applies to both Stage of Generation and Stage of Completion, and therefore it is improper to restrict it to the Stage of Generation, as in my solution. To this argument, one may respond that it is usual in the beginning of the path (e.g. the ten-staged Bodhisattva path, or the present Tantric path of two Stages) for the gum to tell the disciple the steps that lie ahead so that he may be realistic alxmt the course he is to follow with its expected fruits. Accordingly, it is quite proper for E-VAM, which condenses the entire path, to appear first and to head the Stage of Generation. This would be the E-VAM of the path of attainment, among the three kinds of E-VAM to be explained later.

Here also a few remarks arc in order regarding the correlation of the shared steps of service with parts of the Stage of Completion. Seva in the Stage of Generation is the conceptual reach up to the Clear Light. In the second stage, the yogin is held


to enter the Clear Light with a subtle body in the krama of Svadhis(liana. Therefore, all the members and kramas up to Svadhisthiina arc the superior kind of Seva. Upasadhana in the Stage of Generation evokes the 'primeval lord' {<idindtha) with a mantra-body (a kind of mahamudra). In the Stage of Completion, the Abhisambodhi-krama represents the emergence from the Clear Light with the Sambhoga body, a knowledgebody (also a kind of mahamudra). Therefore Upasadhana is the superior step in this case. The remaining correlation is by reason of the distinction in this literature of

'coupling in the realm of learning' (Saik;a-yuganaddha) and 'coupling beyond learning' (aSaikfa-yuganaddha). While there is a beginning of this Saikfa-yuganaddha in the Abhisambodhi-krama, both kinds of yuganaddha are proper to Yuganaddha-krama. Sadhana in the Stage of Generation accomplishes the body-mandala and one's own aim; therefore, in the Stage of Completion, it fulfills the Saikfa-yuganaddha of being a Buddha 'in this life' as the lord 'with eight gunas' (nidana verse 34). Mahasadhana in the Stage of Generation serves the aim of others; therefore, in the Stage of Completion it is the aSaik<a-yttganaddha, equivalent to the 'Nirvana of no-fixed abode', or the Complete Buddha (Sam-buddha or Abhisambuddha).


Besides, the basis laid in the Stage of Generation for the later accomplishment of the Stage of Completion can be treated in terms of Tson-kha-pa's correlation with the three Bodies of the Buddha.

The set "Thus by me it was heard" is associated with silence, death, and the Dharmakaya. For as Nagarjuna pointed out in his commentary on chapter 18, when the Bodhisattvas were reduced to silence it was because they heard the teaching and entered one-pointed concentration. Thus they became affiliated with the Mind of the Buddha.

The set "Upon an Occasion" is correlated with magical Speech, the intermediate state, and the Sambhoga-kaya, by evocation of the primeval lord. Then, the set "The Bhagavat—All" affiliates the yogin with the Buddha's Body, the Xirmana-kaya, or birth, as the fulfilment of the microcosm. The fourth set, "Tathagata", involves all the previous three, by imagining the Acts of the Buddha in projection upon the external world, the macrocosm.


• Then, in the direct order of the three 'doors', the yogin ex- periences the Body, the Speech, and the Mind, arriving at the supreme plane, the Clear Light. The Diamond Ladies of the Heart draw the yogin from the Clear Light. In the pregnant 'bhaga' they train him in the great attainment of the three mysteries of Body, Spcech, and Mind, through which he can dwell, beyond training, to inspire the later candidates.

Also there are technical and scholarly aspects. The principal authorities for that grouping and the consequent annotation of the forty verses are : Guhyasamdjatantra, especially chapters 6, 12, and 18; its explanatory tantras Vajramdla and Sar/tdhiiya-karana\ Nagatjuna's commentary on chapter 18, his Pindikrta-sddhana, his Paiicakrama and its commentary by Sri Laksmi; Aryadeva's Caiyamelapakapradipa; Candrakirti's Pradipoddyotana, especially on chapters 1, 6, and 12; and among native Tibetan works, Tson-kha-pa's Mchan hgrel on the Pradipoddyotana, his Gsal bahi sgron me on the Paiicakrama, and his Shags rim chen mo.


PART THREE


COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES

[[I. STAGE OF GENERATION]]

A. Evam maya irutam (Thus by me it was heard).


Those initial words of the Tantra can be treated in several different ways : (1) separate treatment of the expression 'Evam', (2) separate treatment of the expression 'Evam maya', and (3) treatment in terms of the six verses going with the words 'Evam maya Srutam'.


(1) For separate treatment of Evam, there is the Pradi-poddyotana (Mchan hgrel, p. 13) citation of the Devendrapariprccha. This appears to be the only original passage extant from this Tantra; the selection found in Subhdfila-samgraha is included within this longer selection.


/ uktar/i bhagavata / devendrapariprcchayam / Sakras aha / kim artham evam ity etat kasmad ada'u prayujyate / kim idam saugatam lakyam kim va irdvakabhdfitam / elan me samiayam sanam apanelu bhavantakah 11 irutva lakyam surapates saddharmagunabhdfilam / sadhukdram tato datvd bhagaidn idam abravit 11 ddav nam iti proktam yad arlham sarvadariina / tat Srnu tvani surapate yathavad anupSrvaSah // dharmaskandhasahasrdnam caturai itisamkhyayd / sanairayam

pitamata diyakfaram kathitam tatha // ekaras tu bhaven mala vakaras tu pita smrtah / bindus tatra bhaven yogah sa yogah paramadbhutafi 11 ekarah padmam ity uktarp vakare vajram eva ca / bindus tatra bhaved bijam tah prasMam jagat tray am // ekaras tu bhavet prajila vakdrah suratddhipah / bindui cdnahatam tatti am taj-jatany akfarani ca // yo vijanati tattvajno dharmamiidrdkfaradvayam / sa bhavet sarvasatlvdnam dharmacakrapravartakah // yo 'viditvd pat hen nityam akfaradvitayarp janah / sa bahyo buddhadhardnam dhanivad bhogavarjitah // evam dvir akfaram mdya sarvajiio 'Ira by avaslhitah / ddau saddharmaiaslrdndm lad evam praligiyate // tasmdt surddhipa iakra yadi eel SdSvatai/t padam / saddharmo guru kartavyah smara mayd dvir akfaram jjitij


It was said by the Lord in the Devendrapariprccha : Indra asked : Why the term 'evam'? Why is it placed first? Is this an expression coming from the Lord, or is it a comment by a disciple? May the destroyer of phenomenal life remove from me all this uncertainty ! Having heard this discourse of the master of the gods, concerning a merit of the Illustrious Doctrinc, the Lord then conferred a 'Sadhu' ('Excellent !') and spoke as follows :


For the purpose of seeing everything, the term 'evam' is stated first. Master of the gods, listen to that which, in regular order according to its full extent, has the count of 84,000 dharmaskandhas, namely, the two syllables, father-mother, the universal receptacle, which express the same. E is the mother; VA the father, the bindu (ni) there the union, and that union a marvel. E is said to be the lotus; diamond the meaning of VA; the bindu there the seed, and this engenders the three degrees of living beings. E is insight (prajria); VA the lord of pleasure; the bindu is the inviolable reality, and from that arise the letters (of the alphabet).


Whatever knower of the reality recognizes the two syllables as the 'seal of the doctrine', he becomes the setter into motion of the Wheel of the Law among all the sentient beings. Whatever person not knowing (the reality) would constandy recite the two syllables he, outside the Buddha-dharmas, would be like a rich man missing the enjoyment. The two-syllabled 'Evam' is illusion (maya); since omniscience is located therein, that 'Evam' is rehearsed at the outset of treatises of the Illustrious Doctrine. Therefore, Indra, master of the gods, if you would have (your) rank be perpetual, let the Illustrious Doctrinc be your master (guru). Remember that the two syllables are the may a !


Vajrayana ('the Diamond Vehicle') is summarized by the three meanings of E-vam—( 1) the fruit to be attained, (2) the path of attainment, and (3) the 'signs' guiding that path, for which there is Tsori-kha-pa's summary from his Mlhah gcod, as


presented in my "Female Energy and Symbolism in the Buddhist Tantras," p. 82 : 1. E is the secret place for teaching the doctrine (dharma), such as the sky, the bhaga ('female organ,' metaphorical), the dharmodaya ("source of natures'), the lotus, and the lion's scat. VAM is whoever the Tantra sets forth as the Teacher, be he Vajradhara, Hcruka, and so on, who dwells in the bhaga, lion's scat, and so on. (These deities symbolize the inseparable union of the void and compassion).


2. E. is 'insight' (prajna), 'voidness' (.(unyala). VAM is 'means' (upaya), 'great compassion' (mahdkaruna). Together they constitute the bindu (T. thig le).

3. E is the mother's bhaga place (adhara) (yum gyi bha-ga rlen). VAM is the father's vajra ('male organ,' metaphorical) placed (adheya) therein (de la brlen pahi yab kyi rdo rje). This again is of two kinds : (a) the external

E-vam as 'signs,' the union with the 'seal' (mudra); (b) the internal E-vam as 'signs,' the guiding agent for the path of piercing the vital centers of the cakras (the 'wheels' imagined along the spinal column). "Here, 'signs' means signs of the genitals in the sense of shape." These shapes associated with the cakras arc the triangle and the circle (in other texts, the four geometrical shapes associated with the four elements). These three meanings of E-vam arc cs|>ccially explained in certain verses. The E-vam of the fruit to be obtained is in verses


30-36 (Vajrayosidbhagcsu). The E-vam of the path of attainment is in verses I and 2 of the first group of verses. The E-vam of the signs guiding that path is in verses 37 and 38 of the last group of verses.

(2 The separate treatment of Evam mava is to indicate any four steps of yoga. The four syllables are given symbolic values in Nagarjuna's Seka-caluh-prakarana (PTT. Vol. 61, p. 284-5), where the four arc said to summarize the meaning of all the Tantras. For example, he says, "E is the voidness- Light; VAM the further voidness-Spread-of-Light; MA great voidness-Culmination-of-Light; and YA universal voidness- the single taste (.samarasa)" E ni snari ba ston pas ste/ /VAM ni mched pa gin tu stori/ MA ni ner thob chen po stori/ /YA ni ro mnam thams cad ston,' These values are immediately


applicable to the first four nidana verses since these serially introduce the four voids or four lights, the fourth light being called the 'Clear Light' (prabhasvara) in the verses, but callcd 'single taste' by Nagarjuna at this point. Another set he gives suggests the four steps of sSdhana in the shared sense : "E achieves the unachieved; VAM reveals the achievement; MA is the going successively higher; YA is the becoming of a Complete Buddha in this life"/ E ni ma thob thob par byed I VAM ni thob pa bstan par byed/ /MA ni gori nas goti du hgro , YA ni tshe hdir rdsogs saris rgvas/. We can associate the four steps of sadhana (generalised) with Nagarjuna's four values:


Syllable


E 1. The void palace Achieving the unachicvcd

VAM 2. Residents in the palace Reveals the achievement

MA 3. Perfection of the circles Going successively higher

YA 4. Entrance of the know- Buddhahood in this life ledge being

(3) When we treat the words Evam maya Srutam in accordance with the nidana verses, they refer to Yoga, the first of the four parts of sadhana in the sense of the Stage of Generation. As this part is discussed in my sub-section 'The Yoga of the Guhyasamaja', the performer must first make his consciousness soar to the realm of the void. According to Candrakirti'

comment ('Documents') this is done with the help of mantras, of which the most popular one is: /Om Sunyatajftanavajra-svabhavatmako 'ham/ "Om. I am the intrinsic nature of the knowledge diamond of voidness !" The occupation with the four voids corresponds conceptually to the mandala ritual Rites of the Site'. To prepare the candidate for the later praxis in which the yogin learns to live in those void realms, now he merely imagines in conformity. Since the subsequent praxis involves the ascent into the void stages callcd Light, Spread-of-Light, and Culmination-of-Light, followed by the Clear Light, the candidate engages his mind with those same mystical states, principally along intellectual lines, but making a break with his previous habits of thought. He divides up the elements of consciousncss into three groups. There arc 33 female ideas, obscuring the moonlight; 40 male ideas obscuring the sunlight; and 7 androgyne ideas obscuring the dark


light. He contemplates the flow of those 80 ideas in day and night, making a total of 160. Verse E introduces the female, VAM the male, and MA the androgyne. Then verse YA, names the Clear Light, the fourth light, the negation of the 160 ideas. Those groupings of female, male, and androgyne ideas may first give the impression that the discussion devolves about our ordinary consciousncss. On the contrary, they

establish a kind of archetypal world, because those ideas are deemed not to belong to us: they enter our minds. Then the verses SRU and TAM turn to the phenomenalization of that anterior world, as indicated by the phrases "The vijfldna heard here" and "the wind... operates in the world of living beings". //E// ekaro 'pi sati prajiid mramadikfanatmikd / clan mulam vinirdiffam parijiidnam bhavatraye //1 // "E" is the Noble Woman (sati) Prajfia, the moments of aversion, and so on. This root is designated as the experience in the three worlds.

Mchan hgrel (hereafter 'Mchan' when on the verses in their regular order': 'Aversion, and so on"—'the thirty-three ideas, from aversion down to jealous) .' 'Moments'—'the wink of an eye, etc.' 'Designated' - in the Tantras. 'The three worlds'—'of desire, etc.', i.e. realm of desire l.ama-dhatu), realm of form (rupa-dhatu), and formless realm mupa-dhatu).


Paiicakrama, II, 8-13: The thirty-three natures (prakrti) are night-time signs (niSd-samjiia) and female ideas (stri-samjiia), 'with full-blown form of the covering process' (samrrlisphu-tarupena), as follows Paiicakrama order and my own grouping):

1-3. (incipient) aversion, medium aversion, intense aversion (viraga, madhyama-viraga, adhimatra-viraga). 4-9. (thinking of) future, (thinking of) past (anagata, agata ; sorrow, of three degrees (Soka, madhyama-g, adhimatra-g) ; calnmcss (saumyam). 10-22. mental wandering (state of being scatter-brained) tvikalpa); fear, of three degrees (bhita, madhvabhita, atibhita); craving, of three degrees (trsna, madhya-t, ati-t); indulgence (upadana ; inauspiciousncss (nihgubham); hunger and thirst (ksut-trsa); feelings, of three degrees (vedana, sama-v, ati-v). I 186


23-30. intuition (vettivit); memory (dharartapadam) j discrimination (pratyaveksanam); shame of (lajja); compassion (karunyam); affection in three degrees (snehatas trayam), to wit: (a) protection of the object, (b) adoration of it, (c) over-possession of it (as of a son). 31-33. worry (cakitam); collecting (samcaya), of utensils, etc.; jealousy (matsarya).

The annotations of this nidana verse did not clarify the claim that this root is the experience in the three worlds. It may be intended that knowledge through experience is made possible by the degrees of aversion, which seems to be the psychological premise of the Apoha doctrine of Buddhist logic. In this doctrine a thing is defined by exclusion of what it is not. A 'cow' is the not not-cow. What might well be the explanation is that to have the concept cow in the mind requires that a distinct idea of cow be formed, the very clarity and determination of which invloves the removal (apoha) of all other non-cow entities. In this way, experiential knowledge (parijnana) occurs with the 'aversion' to everything inconsistent with and contrary to that knowledge. Understanding begins with a kind of retreat. One must neglect the rest in order to appreciate something; and that thing understood means that a faculty ofprajna has arisen which understands the rest.


Pancakrama, II, 29:

I afuasasas lu muhurtam syan nimtfo 'kfinimefanam,.

I matra tu hastatalam syat kfanadinam lu lakfanarn

The characteristic of 'moments' etc. is the short time of an inhalation, the wink of the twinkling eye, the brevity in a clap of hands. In the Vajrajiianasamuccaya (PTT, Vol. 3, p. 252-5), consciousness (citta), which is like a bright moon in the water, has the prakrtis, aversion, etc. "In convention (sarpvrti), it is symbolized by the directly manifested woman, the bhaga, the padma, and the host of goddesses." (kun rdzob tu ni miion sum kyi bu med dan bha-ga dan pad-ma dari lha mol.ii tshogs kyi brdaho/).

//VAM// varpias tad bhavad abhati argadiprasaianvitam' Slokabhasa-vijilSmm upaya ili samjililam //2// That Spread-of-I.ight vijUana called 'means' (upaya),


attended with begetting of desire, and so on, appears like an emerging bamboo.

Mchan: 'Desire and so on'—'the forty conceptions from desire down to dishonesty'.

Paiicakrama, II, 16-21: The forty natures arc daytime and male ideas or signs (diia-purufa-samjiia), as follows (Paiica-krama order and my own grouping): 1-7. desire (raga); attachment (raktam); joy, medium joy, intense joy (tustam, madhya-t, au-t); thrill (harsanam); bliss (pramodyam). 8-13. surprise (vismaya): laughter (hasitam); refreshment (hladana); embracing (aliriganam); kissing (cumbana); sucking (cusanam).

1*1-26. firmness (dhairyam); striving (viryam); pride (mana); getting things done (kartr); theft (hartr); strength (bala); enthusiasm (utsaha); daring, medium daring, super-daring (sahasam, madhyama-s, uttama-s); aggression raudra); coquetry (vilasa): animosity (vairam). 27-34. auspiciousncss ( *gubha; text reads 'labha') clarity ofspeech( v.ik sphu(a); truth(satyam): untruth (asatyam) certainty (niscaya): non-indulgence (nil upadana); giving (datrtva): exhortation (eodanam .

35-40. heroism £urata ; lack of shame (alajja !; deception (dhuria ; wickedness dusja ; oppression Aha(ha); dishonesty kutila'i. The 'Sprcad-of-Light' : rf.ana or means upaya), is symbolized by the form of the male.

I MA mahaiidya siayam millam avi<fyay& lilnmalah! aiidyaya bhavee cailal lasmad alnl.asambhaiah //3// In the reverse order, the threat Science (=\Visdom) is itself the root of nescience. And the ('Spread-of-I.ight') arises from nescience (aiidya) while from that ('Spread-of-Light') arises Light. Mclian: 'the great Science' 'the Clear Light' (prabhdnara, hod gsal) (to be specifically mentioned in verse 4). 'nescience'— 'the mixture of prajiid and upaya, thus of cilia and cailla, and generates the seven conceptions of prakrtis. indifference, etc.* (which are therefore androgynous ideas). Prakaiikd (by Bhavyakirti) on MA, p. 292-5; "The great science (mahdnidyA) is the Dharmadhatu-naturc. the Clear Light; and why ? As the verse says, it is the reverse of nescience (avidyd)" (rigs chen ni crfbs kyi dbyins kyi no bo ste hod gsal baho / / gan gi phyir fe na I ma rig pa ni bzlog pa yin ics smos te). Paiicakrama, II 24-25: The seven prakrtis are as follows (Paiicakrama order and my own grouping) :


1-4, indifference (madhyaraga) ; forgetfulness (vismrti); illusion (bhranti); speechlessness (tusnimbhava).

5-7. weariness (kheda); indolence (alasya); ambivalence (dandhata).

Vajrajilana-samuccaya (PTT, Vol. 3, 252-4) : "Here, the Clear Light is without location, without cessation or orgination, is Supreme Truth (paramartha-satya), and True End (bhutako(i). The dark light arisen therefrom is nescience (avidya)"\ de la bod gsal ba gnas pa med pa / hgag pa med pa / skye ba med

pa / don dam pahi bden pa / yan day pahi mthah ste /d e las

byuri bahi mun pahi snaii ba ni ma rig paho /. Guhyasamdjatantra (VII, verse 35):

/tatra katham anutpaddnusmrtibhavanaj

prakrtiprabhdsvaram sarvam nirnimittam nirakfaramj na dvayam nddvayam Sdntam khasadriam sunirmalam 11 Here, what is the contemplation, recollection of non-origi-nation ? The Clear Light with the intrinsic nature is completely signless, unlettered, neither dual nor non-dual, quiescent, spodess like the sky. Pancakrama, II, 53:

SiatyatrayavUuddhir yd prabhasvaram ihocyattj sarvaSDnyapadam tac ca jUanatrayaviSuddhitah 11 That purity of the triple void is here callcd Clear Light. And that is the plane of universal void through purity of the triple knowledge. Paiicakrama, II, 57-62:

57. tathd coktam mahdydnasQtre lalitavistare / abhisambodhikdmo 'yam Sdkyasimhas tathagatah //

58. mahdSDnyena buddhatvam prdpsydmity abhimdnatah / niranjandnaditire nifpddydsphdnakam gatah // ii»r


59. tilabimbiva sampumab kharajraslhd jinds (add / ekasvarena lam prahur acchalena jinaurasam //

60. aviiuddham idam dhydnam na cailad /,< takavaham / prabhdsiaram lu alambyam akdSalalavat param //

61. prabhasiarapade praptc srecchdriipas lu jdyase / sarvaiSvaryai/i tatlid prdpya vajrakaye pramodase //

62. evam Srulvd lu lam Sabdani visrjydsphanakam lalah / ni<drdhasamayc lallram dlambyaiva jinaurasah //


So it was said in the Mahayanasutra Lalitavislara:


The Lion of the Sakyas, the Tathagata, thought, "I shall attain Buddhahood through the great void;" and seated on the Xairanjana river bank, went into the Asphanaka-samadhi (the breath-holding concentration). Thereupon the Victorious Ones dwelling in the diamond of the sky and fulfilled like the sesame fruit, spoke to the Son of the Victorious Ones with a single sound by the snap of fingers. 'Impure is this meditation and non-conducive to the desired goal. Take as meditative object the Clear Light, beyond like the dome of the sky. When you have attained the plane of the Clear Light, you shall emerge with a gratifying form, in that way acquiring universal sovereignty in a delightful diamond body.' Having thus heard that sound, he abandoned the breath-holding concentration, and at midnight visualized reality—did the Son of the Victorious Ones.

Of course, the account as the tantric N'agarjuna states it, is not actually found in the I.alitavistara in those words. It appears to be one tantric interpretation of the purport of the Lalita-vistara, the Mahayana biography of the Buddha. Tson-kha-pa, when citing the same passage in his Paiicakrama commentary (PTT, Vol. 159, p. 59 states (ibid., p. 59-2) that the passage maintains that after coming to the limit of the Mahayana


path of the Paramita, one bccomcs a Buddha by the supreme path (anuttara-marga) (which of course is the Anullara-lanlra) (ces pha rol tu phyin pahi thcgchen pahi lam gyi mthar bla med kyi lam gyis htshari rgya tshul gsuris so /). Tsori-kha-pa goes on to point out that while the part about dwelling in the 'Motionless Samadlii' (dniiljya-samddhi) (apparently equivalent to the 'breath-holding, concentration") on the NairaAjana river bank is indeed in that scripture, the rest of the account


is not expressly stated in the Lalitavistara. Mkhas grub rje's Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tantras devotes its first chapter to the various theories of how Gautama become a Complete Buddha; and in the Tantras the main theories diverge between the Yoga-tantra and the Anuttarayoga-tantra specialists. Sri Laksmi's discussion in her Paiicakrama commentary (PTT, Vol. 63, p. 29) mentions that the 'single sound' (ekasvara) refers to 'Thus' (evam) 'on an occasion' (ckusmin


samaye) by purport of single meaning (/dc la dbyaris gcig ni don gcig la dgons nas dus gcig tu hdi skad gsui'is so /). She goes on to the two varieties of the Clear Light discussed previously in my introduction on this topic, and claims that the 'Clear Light of consciousness' is meant in the present account: "Here, according to what I heard from my venerable teacher, we maintain it is only citta-prabhasvara" ( / hdir rje btsun gyi ial sna nas kyis/scms kyi hod gsal ba kho no b2ed pa yin te/). Her statement implies the word 'prabhasvara' qualifying the word 'citta' in the Abhisambodhana chapter of the Lalitavistara,

where the word is employed three times for each of the three

watches of the night (an old division of time) during

which Gautama attained Complete Enlightenment. According to my introduction, the 'Clear Light of consciousness' is equivalent to the Clear Light of deep or dreamless sleep.


//YA// yati vijndnam adau tad dlokabhasa-samjiiitaml tan mahdiUnyatdm ya'ti sa ca ydti prabhdsvaram , 4.7 At first, that vijiidna (i.e. Light) passes to what is called 'Spread-of-Light'. That passes to the Great Void and the latter passes to the Clear Light. Mchan-. 'Passes to' in each case means 'dissolves in'.

This is the direct order, anuloma, of the three Lights leading into the fourth or Clear Light, the latter being mentioned in the niddna verses for the first time along with the terminology ofvoidness. For the sequence, cf. Paiicakrama, II, 4: "Void, further void, and great void, the third, as well as universal void, the fourth—by distinction of fruit (the succeeding one) and cause (the preceding one)" (/Sunyam ca atigunyam ca mahagunyam trtlyakam/ caturthamsarvaSunyam ca phalahetuprabhedatah//).


Besides the direct and the reverse order, there is the recitation order, frequently indicated by the Sanskrit words raga, dvesa, moha, as in Guhyasamdja (Chap. VIII, p. 32) :

COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 191 rdgadvtfamohavara vajrayanapradcSikal dkd<adhdtukalpdgra ghofa pujdm jindlaya/l "O, the best of lust, hatred, and delusion, explaining the Vajrayana; O, the best like the plane of the sky, the womb of the Victorious Ones, Pray announce the piija !"


Pradipoddyotana on the preceding: 'best of lust, hatred, and delusion', because the Vajrayana purifies lust, hatred, and delusion.' Mchan ligrel on Chap. VIII {PTT, Vol. 158, p. 62-2): The three 'poisons' or basic defilements—lust, hatred, and delusion arc associated with the three lights. 'Lust' stands for the 40 prakrtis covering 'Spread-of-Light'; 'hatred' for the 33 prakrtis covering 'Light'; 'delusion' for the 7 prakrtis covering 'Culmination-of-Light'. (The three terms 'lust', 'hatred' and 'delusion' are apparently to be understood in generalized senses, to wit, 'lust'—all attraction towards, desire, 'hatrcd'-all repulsion, aversion; 'delusion'—all intermediate and indecisive states, indifference). The following passages give further information on the direct order.

Pancakrama. II, verse 5: prajiwpdyasamdyogan ni>pannam upalabdhakam / upalabdhac ca nifpanndt sarvaSBnyarp prabhdsvaram // Through union of prajiid and updya, the Culmination (of Light) is perfected; and through Culmination perfected, there is universal void, the Clear Light. Sri-Laksmi comments Vol. 63, p. 23-3-4) :


/dan po Ses rab kyi ye Scs skvc ba dan/ de nas gftis pa thabs kyi ye Ses dan po las lliag pa skyc ba ste / de gnis ga sbvor ba las Tie bar thob pa ni ye ses gsum pa rd/.ogs par hgyur ro dc nas ttc bar thob pa rdzogs nas thams cad stoti pahi bod gsal ba ni ye Ses bi\ pahi hog nas bSad par hgyur bahi shags dan phyag rgyalii rim pas rnal hbyor pa la snaii bar hgyur ro/ First arises the Prajrta knowledge; then, sccond, arises over the first the Upiiya knowledge; from the union the third knowledge, which is Culmination (of Light), is

I 192



completed. Then, through the completion of the Culmination, the Clear Light, the fourth knowledge, which is universal void, manifests to the yogin by a sequence of mantra and mudra, as will be explained below (cf. Paiicakrama, II, 48-50, cited later). Nagarjuna's Pindikrta-sddhana, 43-44A (some additions from RatnakaraSanti's commentary, PTT, Vol. 62, p. 75-5) refers to the direct order with consideration of the body-mandala:

Urdhvadhahkrodhasamyuktam prakrtydbhdsam eva ca / vijilanaskandham ayati vijiianam ca prabhasvaram //' sanirvanam sarvaSunyam (ca) dharmakayaS ca gadyate / Precisely the Light (triad) with its (160) prakrtis, associated with the upper (i.e. Usnisacakravartin at the Brahmarandhra, the orifice at crown of head) and the lower (i.e. Sumbharaja at sole of feet) Wrathful (Kings; cf. niddna verse 17), passes to the aggregate of perceptions (vijiiana-skandha) (Aksobhya and Mamaki); and perception (passes) to the Clear Light, also called 'universal void with nirvana' and 'Dharmakaya'. //SRU// Srutam yad iha vijndnam abhasatrayalakfanamj prakrtinam idam mDlam sattvadhdtor atefatah //5//

The vijiiana heard here has the characteristics of the three lights. This is entirely the root of the prakrtis (natures) of the sentient-being realm. Mchan: "Heard here arc both the essential nature (no bo) and the sequence (go rims), meaning both the path and the four states (avasthd). First (the disciple) is taught how to dwell in the four, and then taught how to generate the path consistent therewith."


Tson-kha-pa's Mchan note about four states undoubtedly refers to the three lights and the Clear Light. The path doubles the (80) prakrtis by contemplation in both day and night, per Pahcakrama. II, 27: "Those subtle prakrtis proceed in both day and night, thus to total 160, by cause of wind-conveyance" (ctah prakrtayah suksmah satam sastyuttaram diva/ ratrau capi pravartantc vayuvahanahetuna//). But how should we understand the word 'vijhana' of niddna verse 5? Vajrajhdnasamuccaya (PTT, Vol. 3, 252-4): '.That vijhdna arisen from the Clear Light is called 'consciousness' (citta), 'mind' (manas), and 'perception' (vijhdna); and that is


entirely the root (muta, rtsa ba) of dharmas. Therefrom defilement and purification give rise to two false conceptions, that of 'oneself and that of the 'other'." (/gah hod gsal las byun ba mam par ses pa dc iiid sems dan yid dan rnam par ses pa ies bya la ' dc ni chos thams cad kyi rtsa ba ste / kun nas flon motis ba dan rnam par bvari bahi bdag nid de las rtog pa

gnis su gvur te bdag dan gian dag tuho/). Bu-ston (BSad

sbyar on §RU, f. 50a) says, "From the wind arises fire, from that water, from that earth; from that the personality aggregates, the elements, and the sense bases; (that is the meaning of the passage, to wit) 'from that, arise the three lights, and from that arise the 160 prakrtis.' From that arise the 98 defilements, the 62 false views, and so on. Because senuent beings arise with a birthplace by dint of the so-amassed karma, the text says 'this is the inexhaustible root of the sentient-being realm'." ( rlun las me / de las chu / de las sa / de las phun po khams dan skye mched hbyuh / de las snan ba gsum hbyun / de las ran biin brgya drug cu hbyun ho / de las non mons pa dgu bcu rtsa brgyad dan lta ba drug cu rtsa gnis la sogs pa hbyuh I des las bsags pahi dbah gis skvc gnas gfihi sems can hbyuh has sems can gyi khams ma lus pahi rtsa ba hdi yin no /). Besides, Tsoh-kha-pa, commentary on the Vajrajhi-nasamurcaya (PTT, Vol. 160, 154-3, 4), following the Madhya-mika point of view, insists that the vijndna meant by the three lights is manovijhana. Also, in his commentary on the Caturdevipariprccha (Lhasa Coll. Works, Vol. Ca, f. 37b-6 to 38a-l): "The three vijiianas proceed from the 18-fold dhar-madhatu which is the Clear Light of Death. They (the three) arc bodhicitta—the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra." Ibid. f. 37b-3: "The dharmadhatu is the source of the six outer sense bases, the six personal sense bases, and the six perceptions (;vijiiana), 18 in all." (The sixth perception is the manovijhina, the other five being based on the five outer senses). This use of the Bodhisattva name 'Samantabhadra' presumably stems from the Guhyasamaja, Chap. IV. p. 17 (Mchan hgrel, p. 38):


Sdntadharmagrasambhutam jiianacaryavUodhakam / samantabhadravacagryam bhafa mandalam uttamam // "Pray explain the supreme mandala having the best speech of Samantabhadra, arising from the summit of quiescent dharmas (= paramartha-satya) and purifying YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTTRA

(the 80 prakrtis) by the praxis of the gnoses ( =thc three lights)."

My "Notes on the Sanskrit term Jflana," p. 260, quotes from Tsori-kha-pa's commentary on the Vajrajiianasamuccaya (Lhasa ed., Vol. Ca) to the effect that the vijildna ('perception') arising from the Clear Light of dying from the Intermediate State (bar do) is the Culmination of Light; the manas ('mind') arising from that, is the Spread-of-Light; the cilia ('consciousness') arising from that, is Light. Observe that the order:

1. delusion ( —vijflana),

2. lust ( manas),

3. hatred ( = citta) is consistent with the order of appearance of the three 'poisons' in the Buddhist genesis legend, as discussed in my article "Buddhist Genesis and the Tantric Tradition."

But the tantric Nagarjuna, Sri Laksmi, Bhavyakirti, and some other Tanjur commentators, employ a Yogacara-type vocabulary, to wit: Slaya-vijMna, kliffa-manas, and pravrtti-vijhana. The following tabulation should make the difference clear:

Lights - Voids The Covering = 80 Prakrtis


Madhyamika terminology Yogacara terminology Terminology in common

The Clear Light = Universal Void Culmination- Perception Basic perception Nescience of-Light = Great Void (vijftana) (alaya-vijftana) (avidva)

Spread-of-light Mind Defiled Mind Mentals

- Further Void (manas) (kli$ta-manas) (caitta)

Light-Void Consciousness (citta) Evolving Perccp-tion (pravrtti-vijftana) Consciousness (citta) Therefore, when Bhavyakirti in his 'PrakiSika' (PTT, Vol. 60,


p. 293-1) comments on niddna verse 5, he first states 'vijndna' to be the three as previously explained, meaning the three Yogacara terms he has been employing for explaining the preceding niddna verses; and states these vijnanas to have the characteristic (lak/ana), i.e. the prakrtis of (covering) the three lights; and so those lights appear when those vijiianas cease. Then Bhavyakirti quotes two texts without naming their sources. The first is the celebrated verse of the Samdhinirmocana-sulra (which was translated by Etiennc Lamotte into French; and the verse is in Louis de la Vallee Poussin, Vijnaplimdlralasiddhi, I, p. 173): "The addnavijnana, profound and subtle, like a violent current, proceeds with all its seeds (bija). Deeming it

improper for them to imagine it as a self, I have not taught it to the immature auditors" (/ji skad du / len pahi rnam

par scs pa zab cin phra / sa bon thams cad chu bohi rgyun biin hbab / bdag tu rtog par gyur na mi run ies / ftan thos byis pa mams la nas ma bstan ' zes hbyun ba). The next one he quotes, is a well-known line from the Madhyanta-vibhaga (I, 8A; 20 in Gadjin M. Nagao's edition of the Bhdfya): "And the imagination of unreality (abhiitaparikalpa) is the three worlds with their cilia and caitta" (/ de biin du yah / yah dag ma yin kun brtags ni / sems dan scms byun khams gsum pa / ies hbvuh ho /). These quotations do not necessarily mean that Bhavyakirti makes the usual identification of addnavijndna with alayavijnana, which he equates with the avidyd having seven prakrtis; but it certainly means that he considers the 'vijndna' of niddna verse 5 to be this addnaiijiidna as well as abhii-taparikalpa; and so lie may understand by 'dddnaiijnana' all three vijnanas rather than simply alayavijhdna. Since his ala-yavijhdna is equivalent to verse 3's 'avidya', it is unacceptable to Tsoh-kha-pa, who rejects the equation in PTT, Vol, 159, p. 31-3. In fact, both Bu-ston and Tsoh-kha-pa in their annota

tion of the nidana verses agree in ignoring Bhavyakirti's commentary. This subject is resumed under niddna verse 7.

11TAM lam ekaikam arlhdbhasam vayus samgrhya dharayct/ vayuyuklam ca vijnanam SaSvaj jagali varlalc //6// The wind seizing, takes hold of that entity-light in each case, and vijiiana joined with tayu (wind) continually operates in the world of living beings.


Mchan-. " 'Entity-light in each case' means the five sense objects as manifested. They arise by the 'reverse order' of the three lights (vijftana-manas-citta) and dissolve by the 'direct order' (citta-manas-vijnana). Vijfiana ( the three lights or vijfiana, manas, citta) rides on the winds which seize their respective sense objects."

Paiicakrama, II, 32-34:

vayund sukfmarupena jhanam sammiSrahhn gatam / nihsrtyendriyamargebhyo vifayan avalambate j\ dbhasena yada yuklo veiyur vahanlani gatah / tada lalprakrldh sand aslavyaslah pravarlayel 11 yatra yatra sthito cay us lam prakrtim udvahetj ydvat samiranotpado nabhaso niicalo bhavct // When 'knowledge' (jnana — the three lights) becomes associated with subtle-formed wind, then issuing forth from the paths of sense organs it grasps ('hangs on to') the sense objects.

At whatever time the wind, having become a vehicle (for vijfiana), is yoked by the 'light', at that time all those prakrtis arc completely dissipated. At whatever (vein, natfi) the wind stops, at that one it sustains some prakrti (among the 80 prakrtis). As long as (the wind) stirs up, the 'light' is not steady.

Verses 33-34 mention the alternate conditions of the three gnostic lights (Light, Sprcad-of-Light, and Culmination-of-Light), namely (II, 33) when those lights arc free from the eighty prakrtis, and (II, 34) when they arc subjected to the eighty prakrtis in which event their 'light' is not steady. The Manimdld commentary on the Pahcakrama (PTT, Vol. 62, p. 188-3, 4) explains the second verse:

/ re fig rluri gi rnam lha dan rnam pa bcu yin par snar b$ad cin dehi gnas shin ga la sogs pahi gnas mams dan las kyi bye brag kyari bstan mod kyi lion kyan rangi ho bo dpyad na chos kyi dbyins kyi hkhor lo hod gsal ba las rlun byun ste / dchi phyir gYon dan gYas dan bar mahi rtsa gsum ni lam yin no / de bas na gan dan gah du ste gYon nam gYas sam dbus su rlun gnas pa ni rah bfin dedan de stc sems las byun bahi chos dc lta bu dah dc lta bu skyed par byed cin hbyun bar byed do / / de biin du


yari rtsa gVon pahi lam nas byun bahi rlun gi rab kyi no bo ran biin mams skyed par byed do / / gYas na gnas pas ni thabs kyi no bo mams so / / dbus na gnas pa ni ma rig palji ho bo rnams skyed par byed mod kyi hon kyan dmigs pa la bltos dgos te /...../ de ltar rtsalji bye brag dan rjes su mthun pahi yul hdzin pa las rah biin mams libyuh no /

Now the topic is the five kinds and the ten kinds of wind, as previously set forth, which are located in the heart and in the other places. While they are taught as the multitude of deeds ('perform all deeds'), if one ponders their intrinsic nature, they are the wind which arises from the Clear Light of the Dharmadhatu circle. Therefore their path is the three natfis, left, right, and middle. Hence, 'at whatever one,' left, or right, or middle, 'the wind

stops', it generates while arising there the comparable prakrti or sort of caitasika-dharma. Accordingly, the wind arising in the path of the left nidi generates the (thirty-three) prakrtis which have prajna nature; the one of the right, the (forty) prakrtis of upaya; and the one in the middle generates the (seven) prakrtis of aaidya. However, that needs dependence on a support of consciousness (alambana)___Thus, the prakrtis arise from apprehending a sensory object consistent with the basic multitude (of deeds).


The implication of the Manimild commentary is that as long as the winds arc correlated with external objects, the lights of the three ntidis are unsteady. Hence the yogin must close the sensory doors to dissipate the prakrtis associated with those nidis.SariidhivySkarana (PTT. Vol. 3, p. 236-2):

I byaii chub scms ni rluii gyur ciA /

/ nam mkhah la ni rnam gnas pa /

/ sems can kun gyi srog gyur gaA / I lAayi bdag Aid bcu miA can // / rten hbrel bcu gnis ies grags pa / I no bo Aid rnam gsum du gyur / I rlun ies bya bafii byan chub sems / I dban po kun gyi gtso hdi yin //


The bodhieitta which being wind and dwelling in space, then becomes the life wind of all sentient beings, is five and called ten. The bodhicitta called 'Twelvefold Dependent Origination' is the three natures; and called 'wind', governs all the sense organs. Pancakrama, I, 3 (and Sliags rim, 408b-5 and 440a-4, etc.): prdnabhutaS ca sattvin&m vayv-akhyah sarvakarmakrt / vijndnavahanaS caiva paiicdtma daSadha punah //

Being the life force of sentient beings, what is called 'wind' performs all deeds; and as the vehicle of vijnana is five, besides is tenfold. In the case of 'wind' as the vehicle of vijnana it is the five secondary winds, to wit:—


1. naga reveals forms through eye

2. kurma reveals sounds through ear

3. krkila reveals odors through nose

4. devadatta reveals tastes through tongue

5. dhanafijaya reveals tangibles through torso

In the case of 'wind' identified with prana itself, it is tenfold,


i.e. the five basic winds as well as the five secondary winds. Cooperating with vijndna the five basic winds perform all deeds and the five secondary winds perceive all things. Notice the respective approximation to the classical Samkhya karamendriyas ('performall deeds') and buddhindriyas ('perceive all things').


Regarding the 'all deeds' performed by the five basic winds, Shags rim (f. 439b-2) draws upon a citation in Caryameldpaka about the function of those winds:


1. Prana has the nature of streaming through the sense doors, coursing as the breathing and extending far ([prdna and ayama), and continually coursing.

2. The yogin will always understand apdna as (breaking) wind, expelling urine, excrement, and semen, and conveying downward.

3. Samana is so called because it is what is always concomitant with tasting, eating, licking, drinking, and sucking.

4. One understands udana to have the action of drawing upwards, eating food and enjoying it, associating with awareness.

5. Vyana has the function of filling, holding, (enabling) walking and returning, and of pervading all the joints. Paiicakrama, III, 19:

tad eva vayusamyuktaip vijii/lnatritayam punah / jayatc yogina murlir mayadehas tad ucyate 11 Besides, precisely that vijfiana-triad joined to the winds is engendered as a body by the yogin. That is called 'Illusory Body'. The conception of these winds is a topic in the Stage of Generation. Later, in the Stage of Completion, the yogin learns to control them to engender a body callcd 'Illusory Body*.


B. Ekasmin samaye (Upon an Occasion)

This group of verses represents the meaning of the Stage of Generation (utpattikrama) as ordinary generation, but with the 'climactic times' of birth, death, and intermediate state, which a theory (see verse 38 and annotation) correlates to the Bodies of the Buddha. The meaning of this group of verses is frequently referred to in Tibetan literature such as Tsori-kha-pa's writings as 'the basic time' (giihi dus) to contrast with 'time of the path' (lam gyi dus). In the path, the yogin seeks to evoke the entire cycle, passing through the portals of death as an experience of yoga and then returning to normal

consciousness. In preparation for the separation from the coarse body of a subtle body called the Illusory Body that takes place in the Stage of Completion, in the present phase the practitioner develops a body which is called the Mantra body. This takes place in the second sadhana called Anuyoga with depositing of germ syllables in spots of the body. It corresponds in external mandala ritual to the second part 'Rites of preparatory acts,' such as

pitching the lines with chalk and beseeching the gods. A similar result is obtained in the present instance if the practitioner, following through the suggestions of this set of verses, goes through the imaginative procedure of analyzing his make-up and then of identifying his personality aggregates with the five winds and so on. In short, the verses can be interpreted as doctrinal assertions, but above all they are directions for praxis in the form of imaginative identifications.


Concerning the present and the anterior conditions of 'ordinary generation', Kluhi-blo's Nagabuddhi s) Samaja-sadhana-vyavasthali (PTT, Vol. 62, p. 7-5, IT.) mentions the standard four birthplaces, to wit, birth from eggs, birth from a womb, birth from warmth and moisture, and birth through transformation; and then gives standard examples, as birds, etc. from eggs; cows, etc. from a womb; worms, etc. from warmth and moisture; and the gods, hell beings, intermediate state beings, and men of the first aeon, through transformation. All those beings are called sattva ('sentient being'). This work also gives

the tantric version of Buddhist genesis that was introduced into Tibetan literature such as Tson-kha-pa's writings. Kluhi-blo mentions, p. 8-4, that after the men of the first aeon tasted the amrta, and so on down to their partaking of the primeval grain, whereupon their bodies became heavy— the light disappeared, and a darkness ensued; and then the sun and moon appeared in the world. At this time, through the


separation of prajna and upaya, the beings became distinguished with the male and female organs. Gradually, mutual craving was aroused, whereupon these beings, known as gandharvas, experienced the three states (avastha), and entered into the wombs of 'mothers'. Then the women, without illness, began to have menses; and a 'father' and 'mother' through desire for each other, engaged in various sexual techniques. Seeing this, for the sake of 'indulgcncc-in-desirc', a vijhana-pati, as though riding on a horse ( the wind), left the intermediate state and entered (the mother) through the Vairocana-portal (i.e.

the crown of the head) (and then merged with the agglomeration in the womb). As to the reason these beings fell from the Clear Light (p. 8-2): "Although they possessed the gnosis body (jhana-dtha), they did not know the Illusory Samadhi, " (ye ses kyi lus can yin yah de mams kyis sgyu ma lta buhi tin he hdzin mi ics sin______).

Of course, that account has profound implications for the whole Guhyasamdja praxis. Tson-kha-pa's Don gsal ba commentary on the Guhyasamdjatantra combines Kluhi-blo's account with the abhidharma teaching of 'sentient-being worlds' (sattva-loka) and 'receptacle worlds' (bhajana-loka) as well as with the tantric idea of the 'primeval lord' (adinatha . The whole idea of transmuting the body into a palace containing


the thirty-two deities is to replace the impure receptacle worlds with a pure world, and this is founded on the evocation of the 'primeval lord' in the present (Anuyoga) phase. While most of the nidana verses in this group do not obviously show themselves as a phase of yoga, the last one, nidana verse 12, sets forth the praxis of pranayama, and pranayama is generally described as 'subtle yoga' (sukf ma-yoga). Pranayama is

accompanied by mantra-praxis, hence in this phase the yogin gains the 'mantra-dcha'. The school of Buddhajfianapada, especially in Buddha-srijfiana's Mukti-tilaka-nama, and its commentary Vitapada's MuktitUaka-nama-vySkhyana, discusses this situation using the terms 'the Profound (zab mo)' and 'the Bright' (gsal ba)'. Thus, in Vitapada's commentary (PTT, Vol. 65, p. 136), we read that the meaning of 'the Profound' and 'the Bright'


has been obscurcd for time immemorial by dint of habit forces (vasana), and because the ordinary persons do not understand those two, they arc plagued by the sufferings ofthe three realms. "What is the 'Profound' ?" In this regard, (BuddhaSrijfiana) states (the obscuration), 'discursive thought (vikalpa) ' That is to say, (the 'Profound') rightly and from the outset surpasses all forms of speech and conception because it is free from all forms of error (bhranti) What is the 'Bright' ? (He) states, 'the

Mahamudra.......' That is to say,... the unborn body which is like an illusion and shines like a rainbow ... The self-existence of the non-duality of the Profound and the Bright has the nature of pervading all states (bhava) and is not included in the dharmas of samsara; it is called Dharmadhiitu." Combining this terminology with the previous account, the sentient beings did not know the 'Profound' because they lacked the Illusory Samadhi. Therefore they gradually

lost the 'Bright', the Illusory Body. //E// efo vayur mahadhalur vijiianatrayavdhanah / tebhyah prakrtayah SaSvan nirgacchanli yatha yatha //7// This wind, the great element, is the mount of the three vijhdnas. By means of it, the prakrtis always proceed accordingly. Mchan: 'This wind' means die wind of action (cf. Pahcakrama verse cited under verse 6, wherein the wind is said to 'perform


all deeds'), and therefore is callcd 'great element' It is written in the Vajrajhana-samuecaya, "The wind is the mount of that vijnana. From the wind arises fire; from fire, water; from water, earth. From those, the five personality aggregates (skandha), the six sense bases (faddy alana), and the five sense objects;... and the prakrlis are generated by reason of the manifestation." In that Tantra, the three lights arc explained to arise from the Clear Light, and subsequently the wind, etc. arises. The mount of vijnana as imagination (parikalpa) arises from the ordinary 'lights' of the reverse order, which are the phase of rebirth by transmigration into the womb. The explanatory tantra Vajramali states further how that wind is responsible for generation. This passage inaugurating its chapter 32 is involved with Yogacara vocabulary; it is here translated with the help of Alamkakalasa's commentary (PTT Vol. 61, p. 251-4,5 to p. 252-i, 2):


1. Now listen to a further explanation and rightly understand concretely how the wind has the characteristic of generation and seeks the temporal opportunity.

/ dc nas gian yaii bSad kyis Hon I rlun skye ba yi mtshan hid ni / I dus kyi glags ni brtsal ba ni j I ji liar dnos suyan dag its

2. The mind defiled (kliflamanas) by habit-energy (ids and) sees its own (wind) nature as (though it were) another form. Not knowing the real state of affairs (the plana and apana winds), it is deluded by just wind alone.

/ bag chags hon mods can gyi yid j

I ran gi ho bo gzugs gian nit ho ft /

I don ni yod par mi ies Sin '

I rlun tfam gcig pus rmohs paho / j

3. Conjured up by dlayavijiidna, the habit-energies roatn around within. Vijhana is controlled by habit-energy through (death's )sequcnce of admixture with habit energy.

I kun gli rnam Ses bkug nas ni j

I bag chags nan du mam par spyod /

I bag chags kyis ni mam Ses bzuh ,

I bag chags dan hdres rim pa las

4. Then, by the infusion of inner habit-energy, at the time of (welling up) menses, it evolves in the mother's


channel as a diamond bindu of the melted semen and blood.

I not1 gi bag chags bsgos pay is /

I de nas zla mtshan dus su ni / / miial gyi rlsa la hjug pa ni / / rdo rje khu khrag iu Ihig le 11 5. It develops according to the admixture; vijhSna is aroused by the dlaya as though intoxicated by wine: from the habit-energies of dlayavijiidna the stream of vijnana arises.

I fidrespa ru ni gyur pa dan /

I kun gii las ni rnam Ses skye / / ji Itar chah ros myos pa biin / I kun gii rnam Ses bag chags las //

The verses 3-5 are the portion quoted by Tson-kha-pa in his commentary on the Vajrajiianasamuccaya (PTT, Vol. 160, p. 154-4, 5) with the remark, "The 'dlaya' and 'kliflamanas' mentioned in this Tantra (the Vajramala) arc the same terms explained in other texts but have different meanings" (/rgyud hdir kun gii dan non yid ces gsuns pa ni giuri gian nas bsad pa dan miri l.idra van don mi hdra ste). I have come to understand that by 'other texts' he means

the commentaries by the tantric Nagarjuna and Bhavyakirti, as well as Sri Laksmi among others, (hat insist on assigning the terms alayavijndna, klif/amanas, and pravrlti-vijhdna to the three sets of prakrlis, adding up to eighty, thereby equating dlayavijhana with the 'nescience* (avidya) of niddna verse 3. Tson-kha-pa's rejection of this application of Yogacara terms is consistent with how we may interpret those I'ajramdla verses in its chapter 32. That is because, in terms of Buddhist Dependent Origination, the Vajramala verses can be interpreted as setting dlayarijhdna equivalent to 3. vijhdna as a stream of consciousness which had undergone death's trauma and now (having 1. avidyd and 2. samskara, as 'conditions') with reviving habit-energy is attracted to a new birthplace offering a field for evolving perceptions. That phase of attraction to the womb is stated in terms of gandharva-consciousness in Tsori-kha-pa's Snags rim chen mo (f. 438a-4,5): I de las slon chen iter thoh sle dri zalii sems so /

/ de las lhabs snan ba niched pa hdod pa he bar len pahi sems so / I de las Ses rab snah ba sic skye ba gzuh bafii sems so /.


From that (Clear Light of Death) comes the great void,

• Cullination-of-Light, which is the "amrtarwz-conscious-ness. From that, comcs the means, Spread-of-Light, which is the indulgence-in-dcsire consciousness (*trfno-paddna-citta). From that, comcs the insight, Light, which is the seizing-of-birth consciousncss (*janma-grahana-citta).

The above passage has terminology associated with members 8-10 of Buddhist Dependent Origination: 8. craving (trfnd), 9. indulgence (upaddna), and 10. gestation (bhava). After considering the foregoing two selections from the I'ajrmali and the Siiags rim, it becomes credible that the three lights are the Guhyasamaja tradition of recasting the first three members of the 12-membered Buddhist Dependent Origination (pratitya-samutpada); while the same three lights interpreted to start with gandharva-consciousness are explanatory of members 8, 9, and 10 of that same Dependent Origination. To be explicit:—


Dependent Origination


1. nescience (avidya)

2. motivations (samskSra)

3. perception (vijhdna)

4. name-and-form (ndma-rupa)

5. six sense bases (faddyatana),

6. contact (sparSa),

7. feeling (vedana); then, Dependent Origination

8. craving (trfnd)

9. indulgence (upadana)

10. gestation (bhava)


Bodhicitta stages


Culmination-of-Light Spread-of-Light Light

Rebirth consciousness gandhari'a-consciousness indulgence-in-dcsire consciousncss seizing-of-birth consciousncss

11. birth (jiti), and

12. old age and death (jara-marana).


II KA II kah khalidhdtur apai ca tejo vdyus tathaiva ca / upadiya tu vijiidnarji jayate tribhavalayt //8// What be the solid realm and of water; likewise that of fire and wind—using these, vijhdna takes birth in the womb of triple gestation.


Mchan: "At the time of transmigration, the manovijhdna uses as base the four elements within the 'semen-blood' entity and thus takes birth in the abode of triple gestation—superior, middling, and inferior destiny."

The grammatical formation of the first sanskrit line, with ca. . . .lalhaita ca, pairs the four elements in a manner consistent with astrology, wherein earth and water (the hard and soft 'heavy' elements) arc mutually concordant, as arc fire and wind (the hot and cold 'light' elements). Furthermore, the order of elements in the verse is that in which the equivalent goddesses Locana, Mamaki, Pandara, and Tar a ask their questions in the explanatory tantra Caturdevipariprccha.


The four elements and their cvolutcs constitute the aggregate of form (rupa-skandha) among the five aggregates. Vijnana uses this aggregate of form to become embodied in the dlaya ('abode') which means the womb according to iMchan hgrel on the present verse. Hence, the verse practically defines the celebrated term alayavijiiana, which thus means 'vijnina in (or toward) the womb' as the 3rd member of Dependent Origination or a phase of that member. The location of vijiidna in the womb is understood to be the place which becomes the heart of the new being. Thus, in his Dkah gnad commentary on the

Guhyasamdja (Lhasa cd., Vol. Ca, 10a-l), Tson-kha-pa starts by quoting passages about the supreme A, the indestructible syllabic in the middle of the heart; and says, "In short, the very place where the vijiidna along with its 'together-born* (sahaja) wind enters amidst the 'semen-blood', is the heart. Also at the time of death it passes away from the heart when gathered in the expiring sequence" (/ mdor bsdu na dan por rnam par Scs pa lhan cig skyes pahi rluh dan lhan cig tu khu khrag gi dbus su gan J5ugs pa de nid sfiih ga yin la / hchi bahi tshe hah hbyuh ba rim gyis bsdus nas shin ga nas hchi hpho ba yin no /).


At that 'heart' site, according to the citations and discussion of Shags rim, f. 435a-2, If., first the three primary channels of right, left and middle, arc established. Then the five veins of the heart arc originated. These veins arc deified by goddesses, especially named in Mother Tantra tradition: Traivrtta is form (rupa), Kamini is sound (Sabda), Geha is odor (gandha), Canrjika is taste (rasa), and Maradarika is dharma.


Maradarika is in the middle and hence associated with the middle channel of Avadhuti; however, the five are separately counted to add up with the primary three to the total of eight, referred to as the eight petals of the heart. The other four goddesses are placed in the four directions and are said to be the self-existence of the four elements (dhatu-svabhava). As the other cakras are established these goddesses transfer their essence accordingly; so it is theoretically possible to identify the four goddesses of the directions with the four of the Guhyasamdja, Locana and so on. The numbers of petals in the other cakras

are multiples of the original four directional veins of the heart. In the full list, according to the Snags rim, f. 436b-4, quotation from Abhayakaragupta's Amnaya-mahjari, there are 4 petals at the U?Ai?a-cakra (crown of head at place of Brahmarandhra), 32 at the forehead cakra (sometimes misunderstood to be at the crown of the head because of the Tibetan word spyi bo), 16 at the throat, 8 as mentioned at the heart, 64 at the navel, 32 at

the cakra of the sacral place, and 8 at the 'tip of the gem' (root of the penis). However, the intrauterine order of establishing the element bases, according to the Shags rim discussion, shows reversal within the pairs of the niddna verse: 1st month 'water' vortex in heart; 2nd, 'earth' vortex in sacral region; 3rd, 'wind' vortex in navel; 4th, 'fire' vortex in throat (or neck). In the 5th month, 'akdSa' is invested throughout the body. The Snags rim (f. 438a-6) cites the Mahdmudralilaka, appa-rendy as Aryadeva's quotation in his Carydmelapaka, with a different order of the elements:


/ rnam Ses no bo la brlen nas I

I dan por hbyun ba bti po la /

I raA biin ties par bskrun pa yis /

I de (she ran gi gnas nas (him 11

I rnam Ses las ni rlun skye sle /

I dt las me ni yah dag bbyuri /

/ hdi las chu mams yah dag fibyun /

I de las sa niyaA dag hbyuh //

/ (idi mams las kyan phut) po fibyun /

I de las skye mched mams kyah fto //

I de las Ses pahi rah biin can /

/ drug cu Iftag pahi brgya rim pas /

I ji liar skyrs pa de liar lidir /

I lliim par fagyur ro rait biin las 11 les.


When initially the form of vijnana takes recourse to the four elements through the propagation of prakrti(s), at that time it passes away from its own abode.

From vijnana the wind arises; from that the fire; from the latter the waters arise, and from these the earth. From these ( four), in turn the personality aggregates (skandha) arise; from these the sense bases as well. From the latter, the holder of the prakrtis of consciousness, in a sequence of 160, dissolves here in the same way as it was born, from the prakrtis.

/ SM1N j asmirtiS ca pahca sambhutah skandhas samskrtilak-san&h I r Spavin nama samskard rijndnani caiva pancamam //9// And when this is present, the five skandhas arise with the characteristic of construction:—possessing 'form' is 'name'—the (three) samskaras, as is also perception (vijnana), the fifth.

Mchan : "As previously stated, when this—the four elements— is present, the five skandhas arise. Arising with the characteristic of construction, the five are form (riipa), feelings (tedana), ideas (samjhd), motivations (samskara), and perceptions (vijhdna)."

In the verse the word samskara stands for the three middle skandhas—vedana, samjhd, and samskara—and labelled 'name' (nama). The fact that in Buddhist Dependent Origination, the 'nama' of 'nama-rupa' stands for the three middle skandhas of vedand, samjha, and samskara, is an ancient teaching preserved in Buddhaghosa's Yisuddhimagga in the chapter on Dependent Origination, section devoted to ndma-ri/pa. On the other hand, when the term 'nama-rupa' is employed for the five skandhas in discussions apart from Dependent Origination, it is standard for 'nama' to include vijnana as well. Guhyasamdjatantra, Chap. XVIII, verses 45-47, with emendation of verses 45, 46 : vijhdnam dvc>arn akhyatam helukaryadvayair dvi>dl / rupam moham iti khydtam jaijabandhasiabhdvatah // vedand ghaftamdnakhyd ahamkdrasvabhdiatah / samjna sarjirdgam atmanam vaslutah Saktilakfanarp //


samskaras tu sada irfyd pratitya preranatmanam / svabhavam bodhicittam tu sarvatra bhavasambhavam 11 Vijfiana is called 'hatred' because it is hostile to both cause and effect. Rupa is called 'delusion' because its nature is insentient bondage. Vedana is callcd 'stirring pride* because its nature is egoism. Samjna is 'lust', having the character of attachment to things. Samskara is always 'envy', being the instigation in dependence. (Their) intrinsic nature is bodhicitta, the source of gestation everywhere.

Celu-pa's Ratnavrkfa-ndma-rahasya-samaja-vrtti (PTT, Vol. 63, p. 174-4) explains the attribution to vijhana :

I ic sdan ics pa ni rgyu hbras gftis dbycr mcd par thugs su chud pahi yc Scs te / gilis kyi rnam pa la sdan bahi phyir ro // ji skad du / rgyu hbras gnis la sdan bas na / rnam Ses ic sdari tcs su bstan }.cs so // de nid rigs te thog ma med pa nas rgyun chad pa med pahi phyir ro /. Called 'hatred' means it is the knowledge fully comprehending in an inseparable manner both cause and effect, because it hates the (separate) aspects of both. It is said, "Because it is hostile to both cause and effect, vijhana is called'hatred'." That is valid, bccausc it (i.e. vijhana) has been uninterrupted for immemorial time. The idea seems to be that the notions of causc and effect require discontinuity—the cause must end so the effect may begin. But the 'stream of consciousness' (citta-samtdna), here the 'oijhana', is continuous, not discontinuous. So it is said (metaphorically) to hate cause and effect. Without this plausible explanation by Celu-pa, I would have supposed that the reason vijndna is called hostile toward causc and effect is that the latter are inferred, not perceived, otherwise stated, vijhiina is the eternal present.


There is considerable commentarial material on the five skandhas, and since this topic is so important to the Tantras, more information is now given. There is (1 ) the order of treating the skandhas, (2) the locations attributed to the skandhas, (3) further explanation of the individual skandhas, and (4) the skandhas in the Intermediate State.

( 1 ) For the order of the skandhas, we may refer to Alamkaka-laSa's commentary on the Vajramala, the Gambhirdrtha-dipikd-


noma (Vol. 61, p. 204-4) : "The basic nature (ito bo Hid) of the five skandhas is as follows :—

Prana is vijftana-skandha;

Apana is vedana-skandha;

Samana is samjfia-skandha;

Udana is samskara-skandha:


Vvana is rupa-skandha." (This passage will be continued under the next niddna verse).


While the niddna verse calls vijnana the 'fifth', it is usual in 'pregnant embryology' of the Tantras to assign vijnana-skandha to the first lunar month, since in Buddhist dogmatics vijfiana is said to fall into the womb. The above passage from Alamka-kalasa's commentary states the traditional order of skandha-arising in the womb, namely during first through fifth lunar months. The old Buddhist order of stating the skandhas, to wit : rupa, vedana, samjhd, samskdra, lijhdna—is said by Buddhaghosa in Visuddhimagga (of course in terms of the Pali equivalents) not to be the order of arising, rather to be the order of explanation difficulty, starting from the easiest to explain, namely rupa. Hence, when it is a matter of giving definitions of the skandhas, that explanation order is followed.

(2) The locations of the skandhas is hinted at in a passage of the Guhyasamdjatantra, Chap. XVI, verses 66-67A, which I discusscd at length in my article, "The fivefold Ritual Symbolism of Passion," Part I. This is the passage :

khavajramadhyagatam cinlet mahjuvajram mahabalam / pahcabanaprayogena mukutagram tu samsmaret [ pahcasthanefu mantrajhah kruravajrena patayet / The knower of mantras should contemplate in the middle of the diamond sky Mafijuvajra/ ( = Mafiju£ri) of great power; he should recollect the crest pinnacle by the praxis of five arrows (which) he makes fall, by the diamond of ferocity, into five spots.

As that article explains, thc_)'ogi/i deposits five mantras in locations of the skandhas as targets for five arrows shot by a red Maiijuiri in the sky (the Clear Light) to instill the essence of the five Tathagatas, thus identifying the five skandhas with the five Tathagatas. Those five mantras as germ syllables, with the respective skandhas and Tathagatas, arc set forth in Nagaijuna's Pindikrtasddhana, verses 56-60.


Vairocaniyab ijam tv omkararfi Suklavarnakam / RBpaskandhasvabhavena nyasen murdhani mantravit // Ahkaram amitabhasya samjiiaskandhasvabhavakam / Raktavaniam mukhe dhyatva vagaiivaiyam avapnuyat 11 Akfobhyasya tu humkaram rajavartakasuprabham / Vinyased dhrdaye mantri vijhanaskandharupatah 11 Svakaram ratnanathasya vedanaskandharupatah / Pitavarnam nyasen nabhau vedana-Suddhihetukam // Padadvaye tu hakaram samskaraskandhabhavatah / Haritabham nyasen mantri karmanathasya tattvatah /'/ The knower of mantras will place at his head Vairocana's germ syllable Om of white color, bccause it is the intrinsic nature of the personality aggregate of form.


Having contemplated in the throat Amitabha's red Ah, pertaining to the intrinsic nature of the aggregate of ideas, he attains lordliness of speech. The mantrin should deposit in his heart Aksobhya's Hum, shining like the deep blue gem, as the form of the aggregate of perceptions. He should place at the navel a yellow Sva belonging to the Jewel Lord ( Ratnasam-bhava) and the cause of purifying feelings, because it is the form of the aggregate of feelings. The mantrin then deposits in both feet a Ha of green light, as the reality of the Karma Lord ( =Amoghasiddhi), because it is the nature of the personality aggregate of motivations.


(3) For further explanations of the skandhas, in fact there are many such in non-tantric Buddhist commentaries. Here it suffices to present the explanations in the Explanatory Tantra Vajramala, Chapter 23 (PTT, Vol. 3, p. 214-1,2) :

I phra rags la sogs dbye ba yis / / thogs bcas thogs mcd mtsham Aid dan / /hbyun ba chcn po bfihi dnos / / hdi ni gzugs kyi phuri por gsuns / / der ni rnam snan no bo dan I I thams cad spros par byed pahi rgyu / / bde dan sdug bsnal mchog tu ii / /gran dan dro ba mchog gi mchog I /gari gis sin tu rig pa ni / / de ni tshor bahi phuh por bsad / / rin chen hbyun Idan Aid kyi mtshan / / de biin gScgs pahi spros bdag Aid / / glan po bon bu Ice sbyan dan / /rta dan ri dags dan ni phag / / pha dan ma dan pha yi spun // mdzah bo snag gi gAen tshan sogs// gari COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 211

gis van dag scs pa ni / hdu scs phuri pohi mtshan ftid ni I dc biin gscgs pa hod dpag med / / de ni spros pa kun nas gsal / hgro ba khyab par yoris su Ses / / dge dan mi dgehi las hbras bu / / gian van lun du ma bstan min // de yi hdu byed du ni bsad jl don vod spro bahi rah biin can / /hkhor ba dnos dan dhos med sogs / / kun rtog hbyuh bahi bdag ftid can // rnam Scs ies ni rnam par Ses // mi bskvod spro bahi bdag Aid can / 1. The characteristic of being obstructing and non-obstructing by division into subtle and coarse, etc.. and the substance of the four great elements—this is said to be the aggregate of form (rupa-skandha). Therein is the nature of Yairocana and the basis of all manifestation. 2. Whereby one feels joy and suffering and the highest calm; cold, heat, and the furtherest supreme—that is explained as the aggregate of feelings (vedana-skandha). It has the character of Ratnasambhava and the egoity of Tathagata manifestation. 3. Whereby one recognizcs a cow, an ass, a jackal, a horse, a deer, a hog; father, mother, brethren on the father's side; friends, relations on the mother's side, etc.— that characteristic of idea aggregate (samjha-skandha) is the Tathagata Amitabha and that clarifies the manifestation. 4. The thorough knowledge pervading the world, the fruit of good and evil deeds, besides being named the indeterminate (avyakrta . what is explained as their motivations samskira-skandha is Amoghasiddhi, the ownbeing (svabhaia) of the manifestation. 5. The perception of presences and absences of samsara, etc.: what has the nature of vikalpa-arising, the (aggregate of) perceptions ; ijiiana-ikandha) is Aksobhya, the soul of the manifestation. The above is self-explanatory except in a few particulars which arc explained in Alamkakalasa's commentary (PTT, Vol. 61, p. 235-3). In the case of the samskara-skandha he says, "Besides being named the indeterminate means that its intrinsic nature is indeterminate, because it generates the realms of form, formless, and so on" (gian yah lun ma bstan mih ies bya ba ni / lun ma bstan pahi rah biin tc / gzugs dan gzugs med la sogs pa 21 2 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTTRA bskyed pahi phyir ro). In the case of the vijnana-skandha, he explains the 'presences' (bhava) and 'absences' (abhSva) this way : "A 'presence' has the nature of efficiency (arthakriyaki-ritua); an 'absence' is the reverse of that" (drios po ni don byed nus pahi bdag ftid can no / /dnos mcd ni de las bzlog paho). This explanation is consistent with Tson-kha-pa's explanation of Madhyamika philosophy in the vipafyana (discerning the real) portion of his Lam rim chen mo, where he defends the position at length that entities arise dependency, void of intrinsic nature but possessed of efficiency. An intriguing feature of the above Vajramala passage is that while it explains more about thc skandhas it is not directly explanatory of the Guhyasamajalantra; for example, it does not explain the passage about the skandhas in chapter 18 (the Uttara-Tantra), e.g. that vijhana is callcd 'hatred'. It docs set forth the standard correspondence of skandhas to Tathagatas, which is a matter of conceptual praxis in the next group of verses ('Bhagavan-Sarva'). This and other passages of the Vajra-mala suggest that its 'explanatory' nature consists in giving more information consistent with the Guhyasamaja. In the present case, once the skandhas are so identified, one can proceed to correlate that chapter 18 passage with the current information to associate the Tathagatas respectively with the defilements (kleSa), as follows : 'hatred'—Aksobhya,'delusion'—Yairocana; 'stirring pride'—Ratnasambhava; 'lust'—Amitabha; and 'envy'—Amoghasiddhi. (4) The skandhas in the Intermediate State arc already a teaching of non-tantric Buddhism in a scripture entitled Arya-nanda-garbhavakranti-nirdeia (in the collection callcd Ratnakuta) : I de la bar ma dohi phun pohi dbyibs de yah rnam pa gflis su gyur te/ kha dog sdug cih mdzes pa dan / kha dog mi sdug cih mi mdzes paho / / scms can dmyal ba mams kyi bar ma dohi srid pahi kha dog mi sdug pa yin te / hdi lta stc dper na sdoh dum tshig pa dan hdraho/'/dud hgrohi mams kyi bar ma dohi srid pahi kha dog ni hdi lta ste I dper na dud pa dan hdraho / / yi dag kyi bar ma dohi srid pahi kha dog kyan hdi lta stc / dper na chu dan hdraho / / lha dan mi mams kyi bar ma dohi srid pahi kha dog ni lidi lta ste / dper na gser gyi kha dog dan hdraho / / gzugs kyi bar ma dohi srid pahi kha dog COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 213 ni dkar por hdug go / / gzugs med pahi khams kyi lha rnams ni bar ma dohi srid pahi kha dog med de / hdi Itar dc ni gzugs med pahi phyir ro / Now, that form of the Intermediate-State skandha is of two kinds—of pleasant, lovely color; and of unpleasant, ugly color. The color of the Intermediate State of sentient beings who are hell beings, is unpleasant, in this way; for example, like the burnt stump of a tree. The color of the Intermediate State of animals is this way : for example, like smoke. The color of the Intermediate State of hungry ghosts (prela) is this way : for example, like water. The color of the Intermediate State of gods and men is this way: for example, like the color of gold. The color of the Intermediate State ofthe 'realm of form' (rupa-dhalu) is abiding white. The Intermediate State of the 'formless realm' (arupa-dhalu) gods, has no color, for the reason that it is formless (arupa) (i.e. since 'form' means shape, samsthana, and color, varna). The above description goes with the five-destiny list, omitting any reference to the asura destiny which in some lists brings the total to six. SA sam a In pratyavekfana krlyamiflhanam eva ca / adarso dharmadhatuf ca asmin rijnanapaiicakah //10// Just (the knowledges) Equality, Discriminative, Proce-dure-of-duty: as well as the knowledges) Mirror-like and Dharmadhatu. In this ( knowledge-pentad) is the vijnina-pentad. Mchan does not help here, but mentions the theory that the Dharmadhatu kind is the basis of the other four knowledges. The solution that is faithful to the expression 'tij/iana-pentad' should be the five proper functions of the sense organ of mind tbat correspond to the five knowledges as explained by Tsori-kha-pa, Pahcakrama commentary (Vol. 158, p. 204-5) : (1) the bright appearance of objects like the bright reflection on a mirror; 2) equality consisting in the unified experience ofthe three kinds of feeling i.e. pain, pleasure, and neutrality); (3) remembering the various names of beings, such as one's father and mother ; (4) remembering the deeds and needs of the world; (5) the transmutation (paravrtti) through elimination of impurity. Now, these arc obvious references I 21 4 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA to the five skandhas, and consistent with the fact that this niddna verse 10 groups apart the three middle knowledges on the first line (hemistich), comparable to the three middle skandhas being set apart in niddna verse 9. This suggests that the term 'fymina-pentad' means the five having vijhana as salient member. This would permit the Madhyamika type correspondence between the five skandhas and five knowledges. Thus, Alamkakalasa's commentary on the Vajramili (continued from citation under niddna verse 9) slates that when the personality aggregates (skandha) are pure, their equivalent winds correspond to the five knowledges as follows: Wind Skandha Knowledge Prana vijnana dharmadhatu apana vedana equality samana samjna discriminative udana samskara proccdurc-of-duty vyana rupa mirror-like Of course the term 'oijnana-pentad' can also mean the five vijhanas based on the five 'door' senses, that ride on the five ancillary winds, as is shown elsewhere. In this ease, the five vijhanas also correspond to the five knowledges by way of the five-Tathagata correspondence to sense objects, presented under niddna verse 21. For individual explanations of the five knowledges, among many such there is a fine statement by Sri Laksmi (Pahcakrama commentary, p. 29-1) : I hgyur ba med pa ni me Ion lta buhi ye ses te / dri ma med pahi me Ion biin du tha dad med pahi phyir ro / snan ba med pa ni mftam pa ftid kyi ye ses ste / ran dan gian gyi dbye ba so sor mi snan phyir ro / / gftid med ies pa ni so sor rtog pahi ye ses te / sgrib pa gflis rnam par dag pahi phyir ro / / mchog ni bya ba nan tan grub pahi ye Ses te / dmigs pa med pahi sbyor bas gian gyi don mdzad pahi phyir ro / / ii ba ni chos kyi dbyins kyi ye Ses te I bdag med pa gnis mtion sum du mdzad pahi phyir ro /. The mirror-like knowledge is unchanging, because there is no difference (i.e. it is a faithful reflection) in a clear mirror. The equality knowledge docs not appear, because it has no appearance separately of a division COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 215 into oneself and another. The discriminative knowledge does not sleep, because it is the purity of the two hindrances (of defilement and theknowable). The procedure- of'-duty knowledge is best, because it performs the goals of others by a praxis without aim. The Dharmadhatu knowledge is calm, because it produces in immediacy the two kinds of non-self (of pudgala and of dharma). II MA II manaayatanam caiva locane Sravanc tatha / ghranajihva tatah kayaS cety ayatanasambhavah I III 11 The sense base of mind, that of eye, so of ears, nose, tongue, then of torso—thus is the origination of the sense bases. Mchan : By the condition (pratyaya) of accomplishing 'name-and-form' (nama-rupa) in the womb, the six sense bases arise— thus the origination of the sense bases in the womb. Mchan alludes to the correspondence of ten lunar months to sequential development of five skandhas and then ayatanas in the womb. The sense base of mind arises in the fifth lunar month, then the five 'door' sense bases in the stated order of the verse during the lunar months sixth through tenth. In the traditional treatment, to the fifth lunar month are assigned both the rupa-skandha and the manaayatana. Chapter 32 of the Vajramala identifies the first five lunar months of the embryo with the first five Visnu Avatars along with the sequential emergence of the five basic winds, and the second five with the emcrgcncc of the five secondary winds (Alamkakalasa's commentary adds the second five Avatars). Table Xo. IV has some further data added from Rgyal-Tshab-Rje's Dpyid thig zin bris (Lhasa collected works, Vol. Ka, f. 7b-8a) /. ' In the explanatory tantra Caturdevatapariprccha, and accordingly in its commentary by Smrtijnanakirti, the UpadeSa-pauffika (PTT, Vol. 66, p. 160-1) the discussion about the embryonic states of mcr-mcr-po (S. arbuda), etc., is followed immediately by mention of the nine orifices of the body : I don de gsuris pa sgo dgu la ni kun tu hgro ies pa ste / spyi bo tsharis pahi bu ga dan / mig dan / rna ba dan sna dan / kha dan / sftiri ga dan / he ba dan / gsan ba dan I chu miri (sic. for chu mig) gi bu ga rnams dguho / / de rnams la byan chub kyi scms khyab par gyur to ies pahi tha tshig go / IV. INTRA-UTERINE CORRESPONDENCES A vast ha in womb Skandha and dyatana perfected Vi;nu Avatar Winds Base of Wind or Orifice 1. vijftana Fish prana heart 2. vedana Tortoise apana sacral region 3. samskara Boar samana navel 4. samjfia Man-Lion udana neck 5. rupa and mana-ayatana Dwarf vyana 12 great dlialu 6. locana Parasu-Rama naga eye 7. gravana The 2nd Rama kurma car 8. ghrana Krsna krkila nose 9. jihva Buddha devadatta tongue 10. kaya Kalki dhananjaya torso COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 217 The meaning stated as 'going every where in the nine orifices' is a reference to the bodhicitta's pervasion in those nine orifices, to wit : 1. brahmarandhra at the top of head, 2. eyes, 3. ears, 4. nose, 5. mouth, 6. heart, 7. navel, 8. the anus, 9. the urinary passageway. 11 TE 11 ye vai traidhaluke sattvah prdmiyiima-samaSrildh / rnantrarajarji japanty ajna dhyanadhyapana-varjit&l} //12// The beings in the three worlds taking recourse to prdnd-yama (breathing in and out) who recite the 'king of mantras' with ignorance, miss the 'mental reading'. Mchan : 'Three worlds' means earth and below (sa hog), above the earth (sa sleh), and the superior world (sa bla). Pranaydma means breathing in (prana) and breathing out (ayama). 'Mental reading' is the nitarlha kind of mantra reading (lies don gyi snags klog pa). 'King of mantras' means Om, etc. (i.e. Om, Ah, Hum). (Tson-kha-pa in his annotation also rejects a viewpoint of Skal-ldan-grags-pa that the 'pregnant doctrine of lust' (lidod chags chos sbas) occurs in the phase of 'diamond recitation' in the form of enjoying the consort). The epithet 'manlraraja' for the three heart syllables is found earlier in the Vajramald (PIT, Vol. 3, p. 211). According to the indications of Mclian hgrel, p. 51, the Om is recited for entrance of the breath, All for the time the breath is held within, and Hum for the outbrcathing. The 'mental reading' of course is the recitation within the mind. Smrtijnanaklrti's CaUndtiala-pariprkchd-vydkhydna-upadeia- pauflika (PTT, Vol. 66, p. 160-2): " 'Earth and below' means Jambudvipa (earth) downwards and hell upwards; 'superior world' means where the sun pervades; 'above the earth' means the peak of Mt. Meru" ( de la sa hog ni hdzam bu glin man chad dmyal ba yan chad do / / sa bla ni fti mas gar khyab paho / sa steri ni ri rab kyi rtse moho /). The niddna verse sets forth the praxis of prdndyama proper to the stage of Generation. In this case, there are two important verses of the Guhyasamdjaiantra : paiicavarnani mahdralnam sarsapasthalamatrakam / nasikagrc prayalnena bhavayed yogalah sada IJ III, 12 // He should imagine a great five-colored jewel, no bigger in area than a mustard grain, on the tip of the nose, through continual yoga zealously. 218 YOGA OF THE Ol'HYASAMAJATANTRA nasagrt sarfapam cinttl sat'a fit sacarac nrarr bhavaytt jhanapadam ramyam rahasyam jiicinakalpitam //VI,9 // He should imagine a mustard grain at the tip of the nose, and the moving (sentient beings) and non-moving (receptacle worlds) in the mustard grain. He should contemplate the joyful realm of jndna as the (highest) secret that is imagined by jiiana. The foregoing two verses are cited consecutively by Nagarjuna in his Pindikrtasddhana. verses l!»9-200. and in his Pancakrama, I, 10-11. The Pradipoddyotana and Mchan herd PTT. Vol. 158, pp. 36 and 37; ibid. p. 50) interpret them differently for the Stage of Generation and the Stage of Completion. In both cases, the enterprise is callcd 'subtle i suk>mayoga' and involves the reality of the wind and the reality of the mantra: and the five winds have the nature of the five knowledges anil the five Tathagatas. In the Stage of Generation the winds are the breathing in and out, as in niddna verse 12 and the 'tip of the nose' is on the face. In the Stage of Completion, the winds are made to enter the central 'vein', along which there are three kinds of 'tip of nose', detailed in my introduction. Concerning the recitation, Guhyasamaja, Chap. XVIII, p. 159, employs metaphorical language : pufpam ity abhidhiyanlt navayofitkhadhataiah kSyavakcittabhcdcna nydsam kurydt kulakramaih The nine'ladies' (yofit) and'realm of space' akdfadhdtu) arc called 'flower'. One should 'arrange it' bv division into body, speech, and mind in the order of the families {kula). Tsoh-kha-pa (Mchan hgrel, p. 20-2) explains that the nine vosits are the nine winds while the akasadhatu is the tenth wind, pydna: and that the verse refers to 'diamond muttering' of the three syllables (Om. Ah, Hum) of the three families (respectively Vairocana's Body. Amitabha's Speech, and Aksobhva's Mind) to cause the (five) basic and (five) secondary winds to enter, stay, and rise (for leaving) (hjug onas Idaii . In its discussion of the 'Stage of Generation' kind of'subtle yoga', the Pradipoddyotana on Chapter Six citcs the Sarndhiiyd-karana on Chaptcr Three (Mchan hgrtl, p. 51) : pindaradijapah proktah pahcai imSac chatadvaya caturbhir gunitarn samyak caturyogam Satam nava COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 219 navaSatam tu yad drffam caturvimSatparikramaih / pratyutpadat bhaict atra dvyayutam SatafodaSam // It is said that the rccitation of Pandara and the other goddesses involves 225 (wind recitations). When well multiplied by four (goddesses), the union with four is 900. Now that observed 900 by a series of 24 would increase here (for day and night) to 21,600. When this same passage from the Samdhivydkarana is quoted in Snags rim, f. 442a-1, Tsoh-kha-pa gives the explanation of the Amnaya-marijari, that when one is reciting the Pandara wind, which is the (fire) wind of the Lotus-lord (Amitabha), then there are 225 of fiery Pandara of fire, 225 of windy Tara of fire, 225 of earth Locana of fire, and 225 of watery Mamaki of fire. And one can understand the recitation of the other three the same way. The '24' comes from division of watches. (/ gos dkar la sogs ics pa ni pad ma mgon pohi rluh la mehi me gos dkar mo dah mehi rluh sgrol ma dan mehi sa spyan ma dan mehi chu Ma-ma-kihi rluh nis brgva ner lha re yod pahi dbah du byas la des gian gsum yah ses par byaho / hdi la thun phyed pa her b£i ies man sne las gstihs so / ). Since there are eight watches by day and night, the number '24' must result from multiplication with the three mantras. That this comes out commensurate with '24 hours' seems to be an accident. Dividing on this basis, we find that each shortest recitation takes 4 seconds. When one is reciting the wind of the Lotus-lord, he would recite first the fiery Pandara of fire for four seconds of Om, four seconds of Ah, and four seconds of Hum. He continues this fiery Pandara of fire recitation for 225 times (45 minutes) before going to the windy Tara of fire, and so on to the other goddesses for a total of three hours. Then the instruction states to go through the process similarly in the case of the other three elements. This remark is clarified by observing that the Samdhiiyakarana verses in question are quoted in the Pancakrama (krama No. 1; but the edited text by La Valine Poussin numbering them 45-46 does not notice these as continuation of quotation). The commentary by Sri Laksmi (PTT Vol. 63, p. 13) explains : / de la flin mo thun dah pola mgrin par gnas pahi padmabi mehi dkyil hkhor las snahi bu ga gYas pa las kha dog dmar pohi hod zcr hbyun ba ste / dehi tshe dbah gi las hgrub pa 220 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTTRA yin no/ thun gflis pa laltc bar gnas pahi rluri gi dkyil hkhor las I snabi bu ga gYon pa la kha dog srion pohi hod zcr hbyun ba stc / dehi tshc mrion spyod kyi las hgrub pa yin no / fli ma phyed las brtsams tc / thun gsum pa la gsan bahi padmar gnas pahi sahi dkyil hkhor las gnis ka la kha dog ser pohi hod zcr hbyuri ba ste / dehi tshe rgyas pahi las hgrub pa yin no / thun bii pa la sfiiri gar gnas pahi chuhi dkyil hkhor las / kha dog dkar pohi hod zer dal iin dman par rgyu ba gnis ka las hbyuri ba ste I dehi tshe £i bahi las hgrub pa yin no / mtshan mo yari de b£in du ses par byaho / Here, during the first watch of day, a light of red color issues through the right nostril from the fire circle of the lotus based in the throat; at that time one can succeed in the rite of domineering magic. During the second watch, a ray eolored green issues through the left nostril from the wind-circle based by the navel; at that time one can succeed in the rite of destructive magic. Starting at noon, in the third watch, a ray colored yellow issues through both nostrils from the earth-circle based in the lotus ofthe sacral place; at that time one is successful in the rite of prosperity. During the fourth watch, through both nostrils issues a slow and slight ray, colored white, from the water-circle based in the heart; at that time, one is successful in the rite of appeasing (the deities). The same order takes placc during the night (watches). Sri Laksmi continues with explanation that those descriptions show the dominant ray, but that the other three are represented fractionally. This agrees with the foregoing manner of recitation, which obviously involves a permutation of the goddesses in the order ofthe four watches ofthe day, repeated in the four watches of the night. The total of recitations for the eight watches thus amounts to 21,600. One may observe that these subdivisions are governed by the eight-watch system of classical times. There is evidence that in the B.C. period there was a system of six watches (three by day and three by night). This divided neatly with the muhiirta (48 minutes) unit; and recitation based thereon would be multiplied by five tattvas (or elements) in a pancikarana type of fivefold fractions similar to the above four-fold fractions. COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 221 Finally, Tson-kha-pa quotes niddna verse 12 in the course of a comment that clarifies the relation of the generation cycle to the system of praxis, namely, in his Pancakrama commentary (PTT. Vol. 158, p. 192-5 to 193-2): / hdi ni hchi bahi dus kyi rlun hjig tshul dris pahi lan yin la / de yah ji ltar mes bsrcgs pa na sin gi dnos po med par hgro ba biin du / hchi bahi tsheyan rluh rnams srog hdzin gyi bar du rim gyis thim nas hchi iih / yah Si bahi hod gsal las las kyi rluh sar te / de dah rnam Ses gfiis lhan cig tu hjig rten gsum du gnas pahi skye ba len no / / las kyi rluh de las kyah chags pa la sogs pahi kun rtog rnams skye la / des las bzan nan gfiis bsags nas yah hchi fin yah skye ba hkhor lo bskor ba biin du hgyur ro / / snon du bsad pahi rdo rje bzlas pa sogs rim pa lha ni gii dus kyi skye hchihi rim pa dehi dbye bar hgyur ro ies gsuns so 11 hgyur tshul ni / rluh hbyun hjug rgyun Idan du byed pa ni giihi rdo rje bzlas pa yin te / de ftid las / gan yah khams gsum sems can rnams / / srog dah rtsol ba la brtcn pa / / gsah shags rgyal pa zlas biin du / / mi Ses bsam gtan klog pa spans / / ics so / / dc ltar ftin mtshan kun tu rluh gi bzlas pa byas pahi mthar hchi ba ni / rluh phyi nan du rgyu ba log nas hbyun ba rnams rim gyis thim ste I snan mchcd thob gsum gyi flams hohar ba ni sems dben gyi rim paho / / ftcr thob kyi mthar hchi bahi hod gsal hchar ba ni hod gsal gyi rim pa ste giiho ohos sku ies kyah byaho / / hchi bahi hod gsal gyi mthar phun po rfiin pahi khrod na gnas pahi rluh sems tsam las lus rfiin pa las logs su bye nas bar dohi lus grub pa ni rgyu lus kyi rim pa ste giihi Ions sku ies kyah byaho / / gii la dag ma dag gi sgyu lus kyi rim pa so so ba gnis med kyah / hdis lam dus kyi sgyu mahi sku gnis ka mtshon nus pa ni hchad par hgyur ro / / giihi bar do Ions sku mig tha mal pa Sahi mig gi yul du mi mthon pa de / skye srid du skye ba blahs pa na mig dehi yul du hgyur ba ni giihi sprul sku ho / This (passage of the Vajramala) answers the question about the dissolution of the wind at the time of death. Thus, just as when burnt by fire, the substance of the tree is annihilated, so also at the time of death the winds sequentially dissolve up to prana (i.e. in the order, vyana, udana, samana, apana, prana) and one dies. Then, 222 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTTRA from the Clear Light of Death the 'wind of action' arises, and the pair consisting of the latter together with vijfidna, takes birth somewhere in the three worlds. From that 'wind of action' the (80) vikalpa-s of 'desire', etc. arise, and therefrom one amasses good and evil, and the wheel of death and rebirth is so-to-say turned. The five stages (pancakrama) of the aforementioned 'diamond muttering', etc. are said to differentiate the stages of birth and death pertaining to 'basic time'. The method of differentiating is as follows : The continuous activity of the wind's inhalation and exhalation is the'basic' (1) 'diamond muttering', as said in the same work (the Vajramali), "The beings in the three worlds taking recourse to pranayama (breathing in and out) who recite the 'king of mantras' with ignorance, miss the 'mental reading'." In that way, at the conclusion of the wind-recital during the whole day and night, 'death' occurs by the passage outward and inward of the wind being averted, followed by the serial dissolution of the elements, and then (2) stage of the secret state of mind (cittaviveka), wherein the three (gnoses)—Light, Spread-of-Light, and Culmination-of-Light, arise. The arising of the Clear Light of Death at conclusion of the Culmination-of-Light, is the (3) stage of Clear Light, also called 'basic Dharmakaya'. At the conclusion of the Clear Light of Death, a body formed of wind and mind-only emerges from the aged mass of personality aggregates (skandha), and from the aging of that body and consequent alteration the IntermediateState body is produced, which is (4) stage of Illusory Body, also called 'basic Sambhogakaya'. As far as the 'basic (time)' is concerned, there is no differentiation ofthe stage of illusory body into pure and impure. However, as will be explained, for the time of the path, it is ncccssary to posit two sorts of illusory body. The basic IntermediateState Sambhogakaya is not seen in the sense field of the fleshly eye, which is the ordinary eye. Upon taking birth through the birth process, what occurs in the sense field of that eye is (5) the basic (time) Nirmana-kaya. In that passage, Tsori-kha-pa shows how to relate the five kramas of the Stage of Completion, that is, in the 'time of the path', COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 223 with the sequence of ordinary generation in the cycle of death and rebirth, that is, in 'basic time'. The correspondence thus established can be listed as follows : Basic Time 1. Inhalation and Exhalation 2. Dissolution of the elements 3. Clear Light of Death 4. Intermediate State body 5. Birth Time of the Path Diamond Muttering Purification of Mind Personal Blessing Revelation-Enlightenment Pair-united C. Bhagavan sarva (The Lord—All) Candrakirti's Pradipoddyotana on Chapter XVII (Mchan hgrel, p. 152-5) cites this verse without identification : I sarvayogo hi bhagavan vajrasattvas tathagatah / I tasyopabhogam sarvam vai traidhatukam a Set at ah // For all yoga is the Bhagavat. The Diamond Being (vajrasattva) is the Tathagata. His whole enjoyment is the three worlds without remainder. Now the yogin advances to a more refined yoga, with minute partition of the world into partite realities (the 'hundred lineages') identified with the five Buddhas or Tathagatas. This is the Atiyoga, or stage of the bodv-mandala containing the bodies of all (sarva) the thirty-two deities emanated from the Lord (Bhagavat) as the bodhicittavajra. It corresponds in external ritual to the main part of the mandala rite during which one employs the five colored threads representing the five Tathagatas. The usual commcntarial explanations of the word 'Bhagavat', in both non-tantric and tantric Buddhist texts, refer to the six allotments (or good fortune, bhaga) and the defeat of the four Maras (temptors or metaphorical death). For the six allotments, there is the verse cited in SekoddeSafiki of Xadapada (Naropa), p. 3 : aiSvaryasya samagrasya rupasya yaSasah Sriyah / jhanasyarthaprayatnasya fauriar/i bhaga iti sinrtih // It is taught that his 'good fortune' is of the six : lordliness, excellent form, fame, prosperity, knowledge, and zeal of the goal. For the defeat of the four Maras, this tradition has special tm I 22 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA features such as explaining the defeat of the skandha-mara in terms of the body-mandala, as in Alainkakalasa's Vajramaln commentary, p. 164-4 : I de la bdud bzi bcom pa ham dbah phyug la sogs pahi yon tan drug dan Idan pas na ' bcom Idan hdas so ' ' de la stoh pa Aid bsgoms pas hchi bdag gi bdud bcom mo // lha sum cu rtsa gfiis kyi bdag fiid can gyi dkyil hkhor gyi hkhor lohi rnam pa rah gi lus la vons su scs pas phun po bdud bcom mo / /de b£in gsegs pa lhahi rnam pas Aon mons pa lha yohs su ses pas Aon mons pahi bdud boom mo I bgegs skrad pahi dus na dbah po la sogs pahi phyogs bcuhi hjig rten skyon ba la phur bus btab pas rnam par bcom pahi phyir lhahi buhi bdud bcom mo '. By reason of defeating the four Maras or of having the six qualities of lordliness, and so on, he is the Bhagavat. By contemplation of voidness he defeated the Mrtvu-mara ('Death' mara). By fully recognizing his own body as the circular form of the mandala having the embodiment of the thirty-two gods, he defeated the Skandha-mara ('Personality-aggregate' mara). By fully understanding the five defilements as the aspects of the five Tathagatas, he defeated the Klesa-mara ('Defilement' mara.. At the time of frightening away the hindering demons, because he defeated Indra and the other ten Lokapalas by applying the magic nail, he defeated the Devaputra-mara ('Son-of-the-gods' mara). Concerning the 'All' (sarva), Pradipoddyotana on Chapter XIII. first sentence, comments on the epithet muni : "He is callcd muni because he lives in the mind of all the Tathagatas" (sanatatha-gatamanovarttitvad munim). Besides, all the deities are an expression of the Buddha's 'mind of enlightenment' (bodhicitta), a term which also means the male-female bindu in the central channel and the mysterious substance tasted in the 'Secret Initiation' of the Stage of Completion. This 'alP-inclusive character of the bodhicitta is portrayed in some verses of Tson-klia-pa, in his "Rnal-hbyor dag-pahi rim pa" (PTT. Vol. 160. p. 85) : / g<"> Hg gzugs dan tshor ba hdu ies hdu byed dan / I mam par Ses dan skye mchcd dmg dan dbai) po drug / I sa ehu me dan rlun dan nam mkhah thams cad ni / COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 225 I by a A chub scms hdra rgya chen de la phyag htshal lo 11 I gii mug hes pa hdod chags rdo rje chos bcas gaA / I "g pahi sbyor ba lasbyun rlag lu rab hbrcl bar / I rnam pa sna Ishogs dgali bas myos pahi dnos gyur pa / I bya A chub sems hdra rgya chen de la phyag htshal lo // I sdud dan dgali dai) rnam pa de biin mi hgyur da A / I rgyu dah hbras bulii raA biin sems su rjes thogs chos / I rmofis dan ie sdan hdod chags sgrib pa rdo rje sle / I byah chub sems hdra rgya chen de la phyag htshal lo // I ies pas lha sum cu so ghis la phyag byaho /. • I bow to that expanse like bodhicitta—all that is rupa, vedanii, samjfia, samskara, and vijfiana; the six (external) sensory bases, and the six sense organs; earth, water, fire, and wind and spacc. I bow to that expanse like bodhicitta—any fault of delusion along with the nature of diamond lust; which by continual union arisen from association with the consort [[[vidya]]) bccomcs an element intoxicated by variegated ecstasy. I bow to that expanse like bodhicitta—the reunification, the ecstasy, the aspect, the unchanging Thusncss; the intrinsic nature of cause and effect as a nature afterwards obtained in the mind; the diamond obscuration of delusion, hatred, and lust. With those verses one bows to the thirty-two gods. In the first of those three verses, the five personality aggregates (rupa, etc.) are the five skandha-Tathagatas; the six (external) sensorv bases are the five goddesses called vajra and also sems ma (for the sixth sense object, some goddess would do double duty); the six sense organs arc six of the Bodhisattvas; the five elements (earth, etc.) arc the four goddesses Locana, etc. (the dhatu-mudra) and the Akasadhatn. That list includes all the deities which are subject to division into five aspects, namely : (a) five skandha-Tathagata (nidana verse 14). (b) four dhalu-mudra (verse 15), six mdriya-bodhisattva (verse 16), and (d) five vifaya-vajra (mdiina verse 20). Tsori-kha-pa explains (PTT, Vol. 158, p. 205-3) that the ten krodha or wrathful gods, in the ten limbs, and the bodhisattvas Maitreya and Samanta-bhadra, in the joints and veins, are counted among the thirty-two gods for the purpose of 'arcane body' (kaya-viveka), but are 226 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTTRA not each divided into five aspects bccansc they were not so indicated in the basic Tantra. The hundred subdivisions are listed by Aryadeva in his Caryameldpakapradipn (PIT, Vol. 61, p. 295-5, line 7, to 297-5, line 8). In my annotation I follow the subdivisions as presented in Tsori-kha-pa's Paiicakrama commentary Gsal bahi sgron me (PTT, Vol. 158 pp. 204 and 205) and a few differences with the lists in that Peking edition of Aryadeva's work may be due to the fact that Tsori-kha-pa employed all translations of this work in Tibetan, as I pointed out in "Notes on the Sanskrit Term Jhana" p. 267, note 59. Aryadeva, op. cit., p. 295-5, merely cites the Candraguhyatilaka (zla gsah thig le) as mentioning the term 'hundred lineages'. Tsori-kha-pa's exposition always uses the order Vairocana, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha, Amoghasiddhi, and Aksobhya; and means this order in many other places by saying 'Vairocana ctc.' This shows the Guhya-samaja traditional correspondences to the skandhas to agree with ihe old Buddhist statement of the skandhas (cf. nidana verse 9, above), and this gives rise to the table in Tucci (Tibetan Painted Scrolls, I, p. 240), where the standard jurisdictional activity of the Buddha families is given in the same order : moha (delusion), abhimana (pride), raga (lust), irsya (envy), krodha (wrath). While this work was being printed, the author temporarily in Japan heard that a scholar wondered about the consistency ofthe Guhyasamdjatantra to have Aksobhya as the chief deity and yet apparently in another placc assigning this role to Vairocana. But by reference to the Aksobhya-mandala translated above it will be noticcd that the placement of Aksobhya in the center gives Vairocana the assignment to the East. In this Tantra Aksobhya has the role of emanating, as though from above downwards, the whole mandala. The human candidate has to work from downwards upward and he docs this by the correspondences which start from the East, so there is no inconsistency. The subdivisions amounting to a hundred lineages as well as other lists in the annotation of these verses, arc somewhat tedious, unless the reader can sense the interesting sidelights on Indian civilization suggested by the way of sectioning the 'worlds' into these partite realities grouped under the five Tatha-gatas as 'building-blocks' of the world, which is made up of them COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 227 in various permutations and combinations. To help the reader to this point of view, four summarizing tables have been included under the respective niddna verses (Nos. 14, 15, 16 under 'Bhagavan sarva' and No. 20 under 'Tathagata'). Byway of easing the reading of this annotation set, I have omitted the Tibetan passages for the 'partite realities' and 'hundred lineages', since this subsection is already swollen with technical details. IIBHAH bhaviny asmin prakrtayn ragdrdgddikah punah / tdbhya(h) SubhdSubham karma talo janma-samudbhavah //13// In this gestation are the prakrtis desire, aversion, and so on; as a result of those, auspicious and inauspicious karma; therefrom the origination of (re)birth. Mchan : 'In this gestation' means the three lights. Auspicious karma leads to birth in a good destiny (sugati), inauspicious karma to birth in a bad destiny (durgati). Again, after amassing the two kinds of karma one experiences the Clear Light of Death, then undergoes the Intermediate State (antarabhava), and is reboin through a womb or by some other means of birth. In further explanation, after the amassing of karma, when facing death, earth dissolves in water, watei in fire, fire in wind, the wind which stirs up the ,80 vikalpa-s in Light, that in Spread- of-Light, that in Culmination-of-Light, and that in the Clear Light of Death. This sequence of dissolution is the direct order (anuloma-krama) and describes the 'secret state of mind' (citta-viveka, sems dben). Pahcakrarna, 2nd krama, 44-47 ; Sri Laksmi {op. cit.), p. 27-3, ff.: krtva SubhdSubhain karma bhramanti gatipahcake // anantaryddikani krtvd narake'u. vipa/cyote // Subham danadikam krtvd svargadifu mahiyate / anantajanmasahasram prdpya an: am punah punali // purvakarmai ipako 'yam iti Socati mohalah / prakrtyabhasayogena yena kliiyanti jantavah // jhatva tam eva nuuyante jridnino bhavapahjarat / prajnasvabhava evdyam < andramandalakatpand // Having done good and evil deeds they wander in the five destinies; liaving committed the sins of immediate retribution, they roast in the hells; having done die good deeds of giving and the like, they thrive in heaven and other (good destinies):--Again and again this happens during their uncountable lives. This maturation of former 228

YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJA TANTTRA

deeds distresses because of delusion; the beings arc tormented by way of the (eighty) prakrti lights. The knowing ones who know that, arc liberated from the net of generation. This intrinsic nature of prajna is (icprescntcd in the 'Stage of Generation' as) the imagination of the lunar disk. While the Mchan annotation and the above citation from the Pancakrama treat die entire cycle of karma and fruit in generalities, the nidana verse 13 in fact emphasizes birth or rebirth. This is consistent with the observation in the Introduction III, E. 'Grouping the nidana karikas', that the stage of Atiyoga, the body-mandala, corresponds to birth. This nidana verse therefore corroborates the remark in Tson-kha-pa's Don gsal ba on the Guhyasamaja (PTT, Vol. 160, p. 124-1, 2) that the Stage of Generation corresponds to the development of the men of the first aeon : first, a condition of 'death' corresponding to the generation of the palacc in Yoga; second, a condition of 'intermediate state' corresponding to the generation of the primeval lord in Anuyoga; third, a condition of 'birth' corresponding to the body-mandaia as though in the geneiation cycle of the womb during Atiyoga. According to Tsoh-kha-pa in that place, this 'birth' is illustrated by the descent from the Tusita heaven of the Bodliisattva for his last life. Referring to die correspondence of five stages at the closc of the preceding gioup of verses ('Ekasmin samayc'), 'birth' corresponds to the fifth krama, 'pair-united {yuganaddha), and so to the 'pair-united with training' {Saikfa-yuganaddha). This yuganaddha phase of course occurs in the Stage of Completion, not in the present Stage of Generation. II GA I/ galih sanibhavali skandhah pahcabuddhatmakah punah / paHcikarabhisambodhir iti nama pracoditah 11 14 // A skandha occurs as a destiny (gati), also as (one of) the five buddhas, and exhorted as (one of) the abhisai/ibodlii of five kinds. Mchan : 'As a destiny (gati)' means belonging to the six families {rigs drug gi). The contemplation of the skandli as as equivalent to the Buddhas is the 'arcane lxxly' (kdyarwtka). Tson-kha-pa's remark about 'destiny* means the standard Buddhist doctrine that the five skandhas can appear in any one of six destinies, those of gods and men; of asuras; and of animals, COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 229 hungry ghosts, hell beings. The correspondence of skandhas to Buddhas is standard (cf. Guiscppe Tucci.. Tibetan Painted Scrolls. I, p. 238) : rupa (Vairocana), vedana (Ratnasambhava), samjha (Amitabha), samskara (Amoghasiddhi), vijhana (Akso-bhya). The contemplation of the correspondences takes place in the Stage of Generation; the identification in fact is the achievement of the Stage of Completion. The five kinds of abhisambodhi mean here the five of the Stage of Generation rather than the five of the Stage of Completion (niddna verse 36). In the present case, fortunately we can use the correspondences from Mkhas grub rje's Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tantras, Chapter One. There the moon corresponds to Aksobhya, the second (the red moon) to Ratnasambhava, the germ syllable to Amitabha, the hand symbol to Amoghasiddhi, and the image to Vairocana. Since the five Tathagatas have already been indicated in terms of the skandhas, the five abhisambodhis of 'moon,' and so forth, are in turn made to correspond. In their undivided correspondence to the Tathagatas, the five skandhas arc said to have 'partite reality', in terms of their coires-pondence to the five defilements given above under 'Smin,' with rupa-skandha called 'delusion' (rnoha). Tson-kha-pa, "Rnal hbyor dag pahi rim pa" (Vol. 160, p. 91) : "Having purified 'delusion,'... Aetc.), one is transferred to the rank of Vairocana, etc.; thus the partite reality of the (respective) Tathagata (gSegs pa dbyuh ba hi de hid)." Thus the defilement (kleSa) brings the yogin to a particular Buddhahood, by his purifying that very defilement going with that Buddha. The authority for the 'hundred lineages' subdivisions of skandhas is Guhyasamdjatantra, XVII, p. 137 : I pancaskandhah samasena pahcabuddhdh prakirtitdh / The five skandhas arc proclaimed in short to be the five Buddhas. Tsori-kha-pa's Pahcakrama commentary (Vol. 158, p. 204) : "Among them, when dividing up the rupa-skandha = Vairo-cana,— (1) Shape, long and short, etc., whether inner, outer, or both; (2) aspect of oneself, other or both; (3) color, blue, etc., whether inner or outer; (4) lustre of sun, moon, etc., whether inner or outer; (5) form which lacks representation—have in the given order, the Yairocana, the Ratnasambhava, the 23 0 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTTRA Amitabha, the Amoghasiddhi, the Aksobhya—of Vairocana. "When dividing up the vedana-skandha Ratnasambhava (1) impartiality and indifference; (2) (feeling) arisen from bodily phlegm and wind; (3) joy and suffering; (4) (feeling) arisen from meeting (of perception, sense organ, and sense object); (5) feeling arisen from bile,—have in the given order, the Vairocana, etc., of Ratnasambhava. "When dividing up the sarpjhS-skandha Amitabha—(1) (ideas of) the non-moving and the unchanging; (2) (ideas of) the four-footed stage; (3) (ideas of) the footless stage; (4) (ideas of) the multiple-footed stage; (5) (ideas of) the two-footed stage—have in the given order, the Vairocana, etc., of Amitabha. "When dividing up the sarpskSra-skandha - Amoghasiddhi,— (1) (motivations of) the body; (2) (motivations of) the three realms; (3) (motivations of) speech; (4) (motivations of) liberation; (5) (motivations of) the mind—have in the given order, the Vairocana, etc., of Amoghasiddhi. "When dividing up the vijhana-skandha Aksobhya,— (1-5) the perceptions based on eye, etc. down to body—have in the given order, the Vairocana, etc., of Aksobhya." This multiplication of each Tathagata by each Tathagata yields the number 5 x 5 = 25, the number of twisted threads outlining the palacc in the mandala-ritc. Also, Tsori-kha-pa, "Rnal hbyor dag pahi rim pa" (PTT, Vol. 160, p. 89-2) states : "The five colors of the mandala arc the purity of the five skandhas" (phuh po lha rnam par dag pa ni dkyil hkhor kha dog lha). V. PARTITE REALITIES OF THE FIVE IN THE FIVE SKANDHAS Skandha (Tathagatas)' rupa vcdana samjfia samskara vijnana Vairocana shape impartiality of the inanimate of body eye Ratnasambhava aspect from phlegm and wind of the fourfooted of three realms TATHAGATAS Amitabha color joy and suffering of the footless of speech nose Amoghasiddhi lustre from sense contact of the multiple footed of liberation tongue Aksobhya (unrepresented) form from bile of the twofooted of the mind body I 232 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA II VAjV II vayus tcjo jalam (bhumir) locanadicatuffayam / jhdnatraydtmakajhcyam buddhabodhipradiiyakam // 15 11 Wind, fire, water, earth, arc the quaternion Locana and so on, which is to be known by one with the nature of the three gnoses as conferring the enlightenment of the Buddhas. Mchan : 'One with the nature of the three gnoses' means one who has experienced the three Light, Sprcad-of-Light, Cul-mination-of-Light in meditative attainment after being engaged in subtle contemplation ofthe 'lower orifice' (hog sgohi phra mo bsgoms pa). 'Which is to be known' means after having realized the inseparable 'bliss-void' (sukha-Sunya) one returns to experience of external objects along with the 'subsequent attainment' of knowing them in the manner of the three gnoses the three lights. This involves contemplating the five progenitor-Buddhas in each of the four elements. This is the 'arcane body' (kaya- viveka) in terms of elements (dhatu). The four goddesses arc assigned intermediate directions in the mantfala. South-east (dgneya), etc. are Locana, ctc. Thus, Locana, south-east; Mamaki, south-west; Pandara, northwest; and Tara, north-east. Since Locana, etc. means, in correspondential terms, earth, etc., niddna verse 15 states the goddesses in reverse order. The verse indicates that one must be cautious in interpreting the phrase 'Locana, etc.' sincc a series may be meant that does not really begin with the correspondence to Locana. This is also a problem in the respective jurisdiction of the goddesses, as follows : Tson-kha-pa, "Rnal hbyor dag pahi rim pa," (Vol. 160, p. 91): "The jurisdictional activity (sgos md^adpa)... ofthe four goddesses Locana, ctc. is in order : 1. Appeasing (Santika) the sentient beings tormented by illness and demons. 2. Protecting and making prosper (pauffika) those troubled by hindering elements. 3. Pacifying and guarding against the demons which oppress sentient beings. 4. Dominating (vaiikarana) all sentient beings. "Thus the partite reality ofthe (respective) Tathagata consort." According to the information presented under niddna verse 12, it is clear that the correspondence docs not take No. 1 as going COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 233 with Locana, despite the 'Locana, etc.' Indeed, the jurisdiction order is Mamaki for No. 1, 'Appeasing' (Sintika); Locana for No. 2, 'Prosperous' (patifl'.ka); Tara for No. 3, 'Overpowering' (abhicaraka); and Pandara for No. 4, 'Dominating' (oail-karana). At the beginning of Candrakirti's Pradipoddyotana on Chapter XIV, he mentions that one performs the appeasing rite (white), facing Xorth; prosperity rite (yellow), facing East; overpowering rite (black), facing South; and dominating rite (red), facing West. (Therefore, the jurisdictional order of the goddesses is clockwise in terms of the direction being faced.) Candrakirti goes on to cite an unnamed explanatory tantra: I yathoktam bhagavata vyakhyatantre / vajrapanir aha / adhvatmika vela iti bhagavan kim ucyatc / bhagavan aha / adhyatmika vela nama vajrapanc mahaguhyatiguhyam atisuksmam bodhicittadhisthitam jfianam moksaya sattvanam mantranam siddhisadhane santi-paustika- karma ca tatha vasyabhicarake / agrahyo bhagavan / santah cittadhatus tathagatah / yatha puspe bhaved gandhah tatha sattvahrdisthita vihared ardhayamika vela paripatya vathakramam / agnivayavyamahendra-varune pratimandale rakta kpsna tatha pita sita caiva samasata iti The following was said by the Lord in the Explanatory Tantra : Yajrapani said, "Lord, what is said to be the 'inner interval' ?" The Lord spoke, "Yajrapani, the 'inner interval' is among great secrets still more secret, highly subtle—the gnosis empowered by the bodhicitta for the liberation of sentient beings, and the rites of appeasing and prosperity, so also, of overpowering and dominating, in the accomplishment of siddhis going with mantras. The Lord is imperceptible, calm; the Tathagata is the realm of consciousness. As in the flower is perfume, so in the heart of sentient beings dwells the half-watch interval, in short, red, black, so also yellow, white, in sequence according to their order, in the several mandalas (cakras of the body), to wit, fire, wind, earth, and water. The meaning of 'half-watch interval' is clear by the data under niddna verse 12, that one recites each goddess in periods of 45 minutes. Therefore, the 'red, black' is two such periods or the I 234 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA hours constituting a half-watch; so also 'yellow, white'. It is of interest to observe that the sequence of jurisdiction by the goddesses over the four rites is the same order in which their respective elements are said to arise in lunar months in the information under nidana verse 8; and of course, the very reverse of this order is the recitation sequence of the four goddesses. The 'hundred lineages' authority for the four goddesses is Guhyasamajatantra, Chap. XVII, p. 137 : prthivi locana khyata abdhatur mamaki smrtri / pandarakhya bhavet tejo vayus lard prakirtita // Locana is earth; Mamaki, water; Pandara, fire; Tara, wind. Tsoh-kha-pa's Pahcakrama commentary (Vol. 158, p. 204) : "Among them, when dividing up the earth clement - Locana, by external and personal, (a) the personal are : (1) the essence of head hair, bone, excrement, liver; (2) the essence of body hair, nails, pus; (3) the essence of teeth, skin, flesh(?); (4) the essence of tendons, flesh, ribs; (5) the essence of filth, intestines, bile;...and, (b) the external are: (1) Mount Mcru; and (2-5) the South, West, North, and East Continents. The five personal and external groups have in the given order the Vairocana, etc. of Locana. (Vairocana, etc. means Vairocana, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha, Amoghasiddhi. and Aksobhya). "When dividing up the water element * Mamaki, (a) the personal are: (1) phlegm, along with tears; (2) menses and blood; (3)(semen); (4) lymph; (5) urine; and (b) the external are: (1) waterfalls; (2) rivers; (3) springs; (4) ponds; (5) oceans. Both groups have, in the given order, the Vairocana, etc. of Mamaki. "When dividing up the fire element Pandara, (a) the personal arc : (1-5) the heat of (1) the head, (2) the(secret) navel, (3) all the limbs, (4) the belly, (5) the heart (the chest?); and (b) the external are: 1-4 i fire from (1) stones, (2) burning crystal, (3) wood, and (4) forests: (5) fire placed in continual series (as in Divali?). Both groups have, in the given order, the Vairocana, etc. of Pandara. VI THE TWENTY PERSONAL-EXTERNAL PAIRS REPRESENTING PARTITE REALITIES OK TH E FIVE TATHAGATAS WITHIN THE FOUR ELEMENTS Element-Goddesses: Earth (Locana) Water (Mamaki) Fire (Pandara) Wind (Tara) Vairocana head hair, bone, excrement, liver phlegm and tears head heat \ van a Mount Merit waterfalls fire from stones upper winds Ratnasambhava body hair, nails, pus menses and blood heat of (secret) navel apana South Continent rivers fire from burning crystal south winds Amitabha teeth, skin, flesh West Continent (semen ) springs heat of all the limbs udana west winds Amoghasiddhi tendons, flesh, ribs lymph heat of the belly samana North Continent ponds forest fire north winds Ak?obhya filth, intestines, bile urine heat of the heart (the chest) ? prana East Continent oceans fire placed in continual series east winds 236 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTTRA "When dividing up the wind element = Tara, (a) the personal are : (1) vyana, (2) apana, (3) udana, (4) samana, (5) prana; and (b) the external arc: (1) upper, (2) south, (3) west (4) north, (5) east—winds. Both groups have, in the given order, the Vairocana, etc. of Tara. "Granted that if one counts separately the personal and external subdivision among the four elements it adds up to twice twenty. Nevertheless while thus dividing the earth element, etc. into personal and external elements, (for purposes of 'one hundred lineages') the total is taken as twenty." Besides the above materials, which draw out the implications •of nidana verse 15 in terms of ihe praxis in the Stage of Generation, that niaana verse requires further annotation to explain how those goddesses confer the enlightenment of the Buddhas as a conceptualization in the Stage of Generation and as an actual accomplishment in the Stage of Completion. Mchan's annotation suggests that the particular phase of the Stage of Generation in which such a conceptualization takes place is taught by nidana verse 19 which deals with the 'subsequent attainment*. There are two matters to be discussed : (1) the conferring of enlightenment, (2) Mchan's remark about 'subtle contemplation of the lower orifice'. (1) One explanation for the statement that those goddesses confer the enlightenment ofthe Buddhas is that the explanatory tantra Caturdevipariprcchii, in the commentary of Smrti (PTT, Vol. 66, p. 155-2), shows that the four steps of sadhana are identified with the four goddesses: 1. seva = Locana; 2. upasadhana— Mamaki; 3. sadhana » Pandara, 4. mahasa-dhana — Tara. However, the chief explanation would be in the Guhyasamdjatantra, Chap. XV, the chapter devoted to dreams and other auspices. Verses 32-34 can be understood as the auspice of the later role of the four goddesses to be treated in verse group 'Diamond Ladies of the Heart'; those three verses are here translated in Pradipoddyotana context (Mchan hgrcl, p. 123) : jhdnasattvaprayogena madhye bimhani prabhdvayct / catuhsthdnefu man t raj no yo/itaiji sthdpayct sadd 11 sarvdlaiikarasamp urriam sarvalakfanalakfitam / padmarfi prasaritarji krtvd idairt mantratfi vibhavayct // COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 237 II Hum II panearaimiprabham diptam bhavayet yogarp vajrinah / kdyavakcittavajrefu patayan bodhim apnuySt // By the praxis of the Knowledge Being, he should contemplate the image (of Mahavajradhara's Body appearing instandy) in the center (of the lotus). The mantraknower should always place the 'lady' (i.e. Locana, etc.) in the four spots (corners, i.e. intermediate directions) who has the full range of ornaments and who bears all the (ladylike) characteristics. HaiAjng made the lotus (of his own heart, svahrtpadma, and of the doors, mukha-kamala) wide-open, he should contemplate this mantra : II Hum I/ He should contemplate the blazing light of five rays as the yoga of the vajrin. Falling into the diamonds of his body, speech, and mind, it attains enlightenment. The actual experience so indicated belongs to the phase Stage of Completion with the praxis called 'without prapafica' (nifprapahca, T. spros bral), which involves the experience of the three light stages whether in the forward or reverse direction. (2) The 'subtle contemplation of the lower orifice' is discussed at length in Tsori-kha-pa's commentary on the Panca-krama called "Gdan rdzogs kyi dmar khrid" (PTT, Vol. 159, pp. 120 and 121). It is the 'arcane body' as a practice in the Stage of Completion: therefore it does not involve experience of the three Lights, which is callcd 'arcane mind' (ci/laviveka); rather, it is a preparation for that experience of the Lights. The 'lower orificc' refers to the lower orifice of the central vein (the avadhuti), which Tucci (Tibetan Painted Scrolls, I, p. 241) identifies as the perineum. In Tson-kha-pa's work (op. rit., p. 120-2) the 'lower orificc' sceins to l>c equivalent to die 'middle of the gem' (nor buhi dbus) or 'tip of the gem (nor buhi rtse). In the male this is the root of the penis. The 'subtle contemplation' (ibid., p. 120-4) involves contemplating at that spot a small solar disk and on it a 'drop' (thig le, S. bindu) of substance having three features : its color is blue; its shape is round; its size is no bigger than a tiny grain such as barley and seen as the form of one's presiding deity (adhideva) brilliantly shilling with five rays. In the basic Tantra, this contemplation is alluded to in Chapter Six, verse 15 ('Documents'). In Tsori-kha-pa's I 238 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA Mthah gcod on Chaptcr Seventeen (PTT, Vol. 156, p. 58-3), the same spot seems to he callcd 'site of the vajra' (rdo rjehi sa gii), which he explains as 'the lotus of the woman which is the basis of the vajra (i.e. penis) in the sacral place' (gsah gnas kyi rdo rjehi rlen yum gyi padma). In the light of this terminology, when the yogin imagines there a bindu as above described, it can be described mystically as depositing the seed in the 'woman'. Accordingly, one could expect some different terminology in the case of an actual woman. Such seems to be the implication of Tsori-kha-pa's citation from the VajramdlS (its chapter 16) in his commentary on the Vajrajhanasamuccaya (PTT, Vol. 160, p. 153-4, and p. 154-1). The verse citation as follows is not transparent : I biah sgo gsah bahi dbus na gnas / I mih ni nut skyes rtsa chen no j I de yah rnam Ses dah bral ba / I ye Ses lus ni bdag med fa / I der ni skye ba srog gi mchog / / srog chags rnams kyi mchog tu brjod I It is situated in the middle of the sacral place by the excrement orifice. Its name is 'Great Unborn Root*. It is free from vijhana. The Knowledge-Body, selfless, is the best of life born there, and is said to have the best of animated beings. Tsori-kha-pa's commentary (based on Alamkakalasa's) explains the 'Great Unborn Root' as the womb of the mother, the place where one takes birth. It is unconscious, insentient matter, hence free from vijhana. The Knowledge-Body of the Intermediate State, which is selfless because devoid of any ego substance that craves rebirth, so also devoid of the coarse body (the vipaka-kaya) that undergoes states, is the best of life born there, and rides on the />r<5na-wind which is the best of animated beings. (That discussion may point to the yoga-praxis of a woman as distinct from that of a man). II SA II sarvatathagalah kdyaS caturmudraya mudritah / cakfuradyatmand tatra kfitigarbhadijinaurasah // 16 11 Every Tathagata body is sealed by four seals. By means of the eye, etc. identifications, in that (body) are the Bodhisattvas Ksitigarbha, etc. Mchan : The four seals are the samayamudra of Mind, the COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 239 -dharmamudra of Speech, the mahamudra of Body, and the karmamudra of Action. The Bodhisattva Ksiiigarbha is imagined in the eye; Vajrapani in the ear; Khagarbha in the nose; Lokesvara (or : AvalokitcSvara) in the tongue; Sarvanivarana-viskambhin in the body surface; Mafijuiri in the mind (manas-indriya). This is kayaviveka in terms of the (six) sense organs (indriya). PrakaSika on SA, p. 293-4 : "The four seals (mudrd) have the characteristic of attracting from that (realm of light), drawing in, tying, and subduing. Some (Tathagata body) does the attracting, etc. of the knowledge being (jhanasattoa), Also, the four goddesses, Locana, etc. are the four seals" ( / de las dgug pa dari/giug pa dan / bcih ba dari / dbah du bsdu bahi mtshan nid can phyag rgya bii poho / / gan gis ye Ses sems dpah dgug pa la sogs bya baho / / yah na spyan la sogs pa bii po ni phyag rgya bii ste /...). Pahcakrama, II, 50 : prajhopdyasamayogdt jayate devatakrtih / caturmudrabhir amudrya devataganam udvahan // Through the union of prajna and upaya the configuration of deities is generated—scaling with by four seals, conveying the pride of divinity. The following directions arc assigned to the eight Bodhisattvas in the Akfobhya-mandala, translated previously : Maitreya and Ksitigarbha — Eastern pattika Vajrapani and Khagarbha — Southern pattika Lokesvara and Mafijughosa — Western pattika Sarvanivaranaviskambhin and Samantabhadra — Northern pattika The rite of imagining the Bodhisattvas in the respective places is depicted in the Guhyasamajatantra, first half of chapter 11, where the emphasis is on the Mahamudra, or body of deity. In regard to the 'four seals' of the niddna verse, the dharma-mudra, samayamudra, mahamudra, and karmamudra, are explained in these passages of Tsoh-kha-pa's Don gsal ba (PTT, Vol. 160, p. 141-4): "The syllables Hum, etc. are the dharma-mudra (seal of the law). The thunderbolt (vajra), etc. are the samayamudra (symbolic seal). Aksobhya, etc. constituting the circle of deities, are the mahamudra (great seal)." (Hum la sogs pa ni chos kyi phyag rgyabo / / rdo rje la sogs pa ni I 240 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA mtshan mahi phyag rgyaho / mi bskyod pa sogs pahi lhahi (tkhor lo ni phyag rgya chen poho / (According to one view :) "The wondrous action accomplishing the aim of all * sentient beings by diverse appearances of the gods—is the karma-mudra (seal of action)." (lha rnams kyi gzugs sna tshogs kyis sems can thams cad kyi don byed cin sgrub pahi phrin las ni las kyi phyag rgyaho/). Tson-kha-pa, "Rnal hbyor dag pahi rim pa," Vol. 160, p. 91-2: "The jurisdictional activity.. . .of the eight, Maitreya, etc., is, in the usual order, purifying the (1) veins; purifying (2-7) the sense bases of (2) eyes, (3) ears, (4) nose, (5) tongue, (6) mind, (7) body; and purifying (8) the joints—of all sentient beings. Thus the partite reality of the Bodhisattvas." (The order is seen by the assigned directions, above, or else by the mchan note). The 'hundred lineages' subdivisions in terms of the Bodhisattvas is based on Guhyasamajatantra, XVII, p. 137 : I uajra-ayatanany eva bodhisattviigrymnandalam iti j Precisely the adamantine sense bases are called 'best mandala of bodhisattvas'. Tson-kha-pa, Pahcakrama commentary (Vol. 158, p. 204-4) : "Among them, when dividing up the eye = Ksitigarbha,— (1) grasping the three kinds of form (cf. verse 19) by means of the eye; (2) the white part around the pupils of the eye; (3) form seen through a corner of die eye ; (4) movement of the eye; (5) an eye organ no bigger than a grape or corn—have in the given order the Vairocana, etc. of Ksitigarbha. "When dividing up the ear=Vajrapani,—(1) the intrinsic nature of the car; (2) grasping the three kinds of sound; (3) the ear orificc; (4) the ear root; (5) an car organ like a twisted, cut-ofT ravine—have, in the given order, the Vaitocana, etc. of Vajrapani. "When dividing up the nose = Khagarbha,—(1) the ownbeing of nose; (2) inside of nose; (3) grasping the three kinds of odor; (4) orifice of the nose; (5) nose organ like a thin spoon for antimony—have, in the given order, the Vairocana, etc. of Khagarbha. "When dividing up the Lokesvara of the tongue,—(1) the own-being of the tongue; (2) its root; (3) its tip; (4) grasping the three kinds of taste; (5) tongue sense organ shaped like a COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 252 half moon—have in the given order the Vairocana, etc. of Lokesvara. "When dividing up the body= Sarvanivaranaviskambhin,— (1) the sense organ of body; (2) the skeleton of the body; (3) the own-being of flesh; (4) the own-being of skin; (5) grasping the (three kinds of) tangible—have, in the given order, the Vairocana, etc. of Sarvanivaranaviskambhin. "When dividing up the sense organ of mind = Mafijusri, where is gathered the three, Light, Spread-of-Light, and Culmi-nation-of-Light—the five knowledges: (I) mirror-like, (2) equality, (3) discriminative, (4) procedure-of-duty, (5) dharma-dhatu—have the Yairocana, etc. of Maftjusri." VII. THE PARTITE REALITY OF THE FIVE TATHAGATAS WITHIN THE SIX SENSE ORGANS The Six Senses (Bodhisattvas) Vairocana Ratnasambhava Amitabha Amoghasiddhi Aksobhya eye grasping the three kinds of form white part around the pupil of the eye form seen through a corner of the eye movement of the eye eye organ no bigger than a grape car own-being of ear grasping the three kinds of sound ear orifice ear root car organ like a twisted cutoff ravine nose own-being of nose inside of nose grasping the three kinds of odor orifice of the nose nose organ like thin spoon for antimony tongue own-being of tongue root of tongue tip of tongue grasping the three kinds of taste I tongue organ j shaped like a half moon body sense organ of J body skeleton of body own-being of flesh own-being of skin grasping the three kinds of tangible mind mirror-like knowledge equality knowledge discriminative knowledge procedure-of- -duty knowledge dharmadhatu knowledge COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 243 II Rl'A II arvanti ye tu tufta vai kiodharajainahdbalih / tan digvidik-svabhiirefu bhujadyangefu lakfayet 11 17 // As for the mighty Fury Kings who run delighted, one should depict them in their natural abodes of the quarters and intermediate directions and in the limbs such as the arms. Alchan : 'Who run delighted* means that they subdue the hostile spirits. This contemplation is kiyaviveka in terms of the rakfi-cakra, the protective circle. The Fury Kings are ten in number, as named in the Vajra-mala, chaptcr 23. Their directions are stated in the Akfobhya-mandala, body positions given in N'agarjuna's Pindikrta-sadhana 66-67, taking Prajfiantaka Aparajita, Padmantaka = Hayagriva, Vighnantaka = Amrtakundali. Fury Kings Directions Position in Body 1. Yamantaka East Right arm (savya-bhuja) 2. Prajnantaka South Left arm (apasavya-bhuja) 3. Padmantaka West Mouth (mukha) 4. Vighnantaka North Face (vaktra) 5. Acala Agni (S.E.) Right side (daksina-bhaga) 6. Takkiraja Nairrta (S.W.) Left side (vama-bhaga) 7. Niladanda Vayu (N.W.) Right knee (daksina-janu) 8. Mahabala ISana (N.E.) Left knee (vamajanu) 9. Usnlsacakravartin Above Crown of head (inurdhan) 10. Sumbha(raja) Below Both feet (padanta- dvaya) Tsori-kha-pa, "Rnal hbyor dag pahi rim pa," Vol. 160, p. 91 : "The jurisdictional activity... of the ten. Yamantaka, etc., is, in the usual order, destroying (1) the demons of senses, etc. (2) the demons ofyama, ma-mo, etc., (3) the demons of song and genius loci, (4) the demons ofyaksa, ganapati, etc., (5) the demons of agni, (6) the demons of nairrta, (7) the demons of viyu, (8) the demons of iSana, (9) the demons of brahma and deva, I 24 4 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA (10) the demons of stationary and mobile poison (e.g. of herbs and of snakes, resp.), ndga, and genius loci. Thus the partite reality of the krodhas." D. Tathigata (Thus-Gone) The last stage of sddhana, the Mahayoga, includes the two samadhif called 'Triumphant mandala' and 'Victory of the Rite*. In the Guhyasamdjatantra (Chapter One), the 'Triumphant mandala' is the thirteen-deity mandala (Tsori-kha-pa, Don gsal ba, p. 144-1), bccause it is the revelation ofthe Buddha to the retinue of Tathagatas. Similarly in this phase the master reveals the mandala to the disciple, who is then initiated in it. In fact, the Tathagata verses fall into two of Tatha for the Triumphant mandala' and two of Gata for the 'Victory of the Rite'. There are two interpretations of Tatha (the same way): (a) displaying (the same way) for the sake of sentient beings (niddna verse 18); (b) 'afterwards ... should dwell' (the same way) (verse 19). There are also two interpretations of Gata (gone) : (a) gone (as a divinity) to sense objects (for supernormal faculties) (verse 20); (b) gone, rendered up to, the Tathagatas (verse 21). There arc five Tathagata families (Guhyasamdja, Chapter I, p. 6) : dtitfamohau tathi rigaf cintamanisamayas tatha / kuld hy ete lu vai pahcakdmamoksaprasadakah // Hatred and delusion; likewise lust, wish-granting gem, and symbol-pledge are the families. And they arrange the liberation in terms of the five 'desires' (sense objects). Mchan (igrel (p. 26-5) : "Hatred (dvefa) is Aksobhya's Family; delusion (moha), Vairocana's; lust (raga), Amitabha's; wishgranting gem (cinldmani), Ratnasambhava's; and symbol-pledge (samaya), Amoghasiddhi's. 'Liberation in terms of five desires (sense objects)' means the ultimate aksara-mahdstikha (incessant great ecstasy)." According to our earlier indications ('The two stages'), the verse can be understood to mean that the Tathagatas arrange in the Stage of Generation for the later liberation in the Stage of Completion. Also this literature attributes to each Tathagata a superintendence or empowering (adhiffhana), Vairocana of Body, Amitabha COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 245 of Speech, Aksobhya of Mind, Ratnasambhava of Merits (guna), and Amoghasiddhi (called the karmanitha) of Acts (karma). Following is a summary of the 'hundred lineages' in terms of the partite realities allotted to each Tathagata on three tables in the previous group of verse comments and here under verse 19 : Vairocana : Shape, impartial feeling, idea of the inanimate, motivation of body, eye perception—among skandha-Tathagatas. Head hair, etc. and Meru; tears and waterfalls; head heat and fire from stones, vyana and upper winds—among dhatu-mudras. Grasping three kinds of form; own-being of ear, of nose, of tongue, of body sense; and mirror-like knowledge—among six indriya-Bodhisattvas. Barely visible form, sound inside ear, diffuse odor, sweet taste, and tangible of sitting on mat—among five vifayavajris. Ratnasambhava : Aspect, feeling from phlegm and wind, idea of the four-footed, motivation of three realms, car-percep-tion—among skandha-Tathagatas. Body hair, etc. and South Continent; mchscs and rivers; secret navel heat and burning-crystal fire; apana and south winds—among dhatu-mudras. White part around eye-pupil, grasping three kinds of sound, inside of nose, root of tongue, skeleton of body, equality knowledge—among indriya-Bodhi satlvas. Form clung to, song, specific odor, astringent taste, tangible of embracing—among vifaya-vajris. Amitabha : Color, joy and suffering, idea of the footless, moti- vation of speech, nose-perception—among skandha-Tathd-galas. Teeth, etc. and West Continent; semen and springs; heat of all limbs and fire from wood udana and west winds—among dhatu-mudras. Form seen through eyecorner, ear orificc, grasping three kinds of odor, tip of tongue, own-being of flesh, discriminative knowledge— among indriya-Bodhisattvas. Form of three kinds, pleasurable, etc.; palatal, labial, and voiced sound; odor of three kinds; salty taste; tangible of kissing—among vifaya-vajrSs. Amoghasiddhi : Lustre, feeling from sense contact, idea of the multiple-footed, motivation of liberation, tongue- I 246 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA perception—among skandha-Tathagatas. Tendons, ctc. and North Continent; lymph and ponds; belly heat and forest fire; samana and north winds—among dhatu-mudras. Movement of eve, ear root, orifice of the nose, grasping three kinds of taste, own-being of skin, and proccdure-of-duty knowledge—among indriya-Bodhisatlvas. Form accomplishing duties, nature's music, savory odor, sour taste, tangible of inhalation— -among visaya-vajrSs. Aksobhya : Unrepresented form, feeling from bile, idea of the two-footed, motivation of the mind, and bodv-perccption —among skandha-Tathagatas. Intestines etc. and East Continent; urine and oceans; heat of heart and fire in series; prana and east winds—among dhatu-mudias. Eye organ size of grape, car organ like ravine, nose organ like spoon for antimony, tongue organ like half-tnoon, grasping three kinds of tangible, and dharmadhatu knowledge— among indriya-Bodhisattvas. Sensual form, incantations, foul odor, pungent and bitter taste, tangible of copula-tion—among vifaya-vajras. II TA II tattatkulasamndbhuta deva devyah prthagvidhah / na te santi na tah santi sattiartham pratidarsitah 18 / Of the different gods and goddesses generated by him and his family, neither the gods nor the goddesses exist, but are displayed for the sake of sentient beings. Mchan : They do not exist separately : all those gods and goddesses are unified in the family of Vajradhara. This is kiyaviveka in terms of Mahaguhya Vajradhara. The families are detailed at the end of the Akfobhya-manifala, previously translated, but I follow here Nagarjuna's commentary on the basic Tantra (Dergc, Sa, 30a-1, If.). The Tatha-gata families include the following deities : Tathagata Vairocana Family Mother Locana Sense Object Rupavajra Ratnasambhava Mamaki Sabdavajra Amitabha Pandara Gandhavajra Amoghasiddhi Tara Rasavajra Aksobhya (Mamaki) Sparsavajra Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha and Maitrcya Vajrapani Khagarbha Lokcsvara Sarvanivarana-viskambhin, MafijusrI, and Samantabhadra Krodha Yamantaka and Acala Prajnantaka and Takkiraja Padmantaka and Niladanda Vighnantaka and Mahabala Usnisacakra- vartin and Sumbharaja I 248 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA Those deities arc all involved in what Bhavyakirti calls in his commentary on the Pradipoddyotana (PTT, Vol 60, p. 275-2) the 'Tantric options' (hdam kha). citing in this connection Guhyasamdja. XIII, verse 56 second hemistich here considerably emended) : kayavdkeittavajrais tu svamantrdrthaguncna ; a—the ten krodhas starting from Usnisacakravaitin arc meant; and one applies their 'command circle'. Besides, the generation phase of nidana verse 18 can be illustrated both by the method of Chapter One and by the method of the master revealing to the disciple. In the first case, there is Guhyasamdjatantra, Chap. I, p. 3 : I atha bhagavan bodhicittavajras tathdgatah sarvalathdgatakdyaidkcittaiajrasamayodbhaia-iajram nama samadhim samapadycmdni mahavidydpuru>amurtim sarratathagata-sattiddhifthdnam adhisthdnam adhifthabayam dsal samanantaradhiflhitanidtre sa eva bhagavan bodhicittavajras tathigatas tiimukhdkdrena sarvatathdgataih samdrsyate sma 1 Then the Bhagavat, the vajra of bodhicitta, the Tathagata ('come' or "gone' 'the same way'), immersing himself in the samadhi named Diamond of the Body, Speech, and Mind of all the Tadiagatas and Diamond of symbolic COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 249 generation, blessed the body of the great incantation person to have the blessing of the salivas belonging to all Tathagatas. No sooner was that blessed, than the Bhaga-vat, the vajra of bodhicitta, the Tathagata, was seen by all the Tathagatas to have three heads. Mchan hgrel (p. 22-5)— 'Diamond of Body, Speech, and Mind,' means respectively the syllables Om, Ah, Hum. 'Diamond of symbolic generation' means deific generation through the five abhisambodhis, namely, generating from those three syllables the pair 'hand symbol' [[[Anuyoga]]] and 'finished body' [[[Atiyoga]]]. 'Great incantation' means the three syllables; and the body of a person of those syllables means a mantra-body. The method of generating is through the four yogas called (a) yoga, (b) anu-yoga, (c) atiyoga, (d) mahayoga, which goes up through the generation of the three sattvas. 'Seen to have three heads' means seen by all the candidates in the world. In the second case, there is Guhyasamdjatantra, X, p. 40; Mchan hgrel, Vol. 158. p. 73-4, 5 : svamantrapurufam dhydtvd catuhsthdncfu rupatah / trimukhakdrayngena trivamena vibhdvayet // Having meditated upon oneself as the incantation-person, one should contemplate in the manner of form (bodily color, hand symbol, ctc. of Yairocana, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha, Amoghasiddhi) in four places (the cardinal directions) by way of three-faced aspect (the three, lust, etc.; the three lights; and so on) and by means of the three syllables (Oin, Ah, Hum). The second passage makes it clear that the three heads can be understood as the white light, red light, and dark light respectively of Light, Sprcad-of-Light, and Culmination-of-Light. Concerning the 'sattvas' of the first passage, which Mchan hgrel expands as the 'three sattvas', there is this passage in Naga-rjuna's Pmdikrtasadhana Ratna karaganti's commentary, PTT Vol. 62, pp. 80 and 81): Om sarvatathagatakayavakcittavajrasvabhavatmako ' ham 91. adhisthayaivam atinanam sasimandalamadhyagam sadbhis cihnaih samayuktam cintct samayasattvakam 92. hrnmadhyasamsthitam suksmam jnanasattvam vibhavayet samadhisattvasamjiiam ca humkaram taddhrdi nyasct 250 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJ AT ANTRA 93. nispadyaivam mahayogam trisattvatmakam atmavan ancna vidhivogcna mahasadhanam arabhet "Om, I am the nature of the Body. Speech, and Mind diamonds of all the Tathagatas." Having in that way empowered himself, he should contemplate a Symbolic Being uimayasallra endowed with sis signs (vajra, etc.. as listed in the Aky<bhya-m :>i<lala] and located in the middle of a moon-disk. He should contemplate as stationed in the middle of its heart a tiny Knowledge Being, and should place in the lattei "s heart here, meaning first at the crown of head a Hum referred to as a Concentration Being samadhisattva . The self-possessed one in that way completes the Mahayoga identical to three salivas. With such a praxis of i i t • - he should enterprise the Mahasadhana. The contemplation ofthe three sattvas is stated briefly in Guhya-samaja, Chapter XII, verses 46-47 Documents' . Nagarjuna refers to this portion of Chapter XII in his Guhyasamaja-mahi-yoga-lantrolpallikrama-sadhana-sutramelapaka-nama (PTT. Vol. 61, p. 274-2) and continues with a citation from Guhyasamaja Chapter XI, which apparently justifies the verse 92 of his I'indikrla-sadhana. The Guhyasamaja verse is No. 16 in that chapter : khavajramadhyagam cinlet vajramaijdalam ullamam nispadya svamanlrapurufam Humkaram cittasamsthitam j He should imagine in the middle of the diamond sky thc supreme diamond mandala, and complete his Mantra-purusa as a Hum formed of cilia. In Mkhas grub ije's Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tantras, pp, 296-7 (footnote), there is the citation from Padmavajra's I'dhikafikd on the Sri-Dakarnava : "The Dharmakaya of the yogins is the Samadhi Being; the Sambhogakaya, the Knowledge Being; the Nirmanakaya, the Symbolic Being, bccause one creates (those Beings) in direct vision in this world by means of those Bodies that way." In his Dkah gnad, Tson-kha-pa Lhasa cd., Vol. Ca. f. 10a-6) shows the dissolution sequence of those same three sattvas, and uses the term 'article of purification' [tbyaA «':i) which means the affiliation to the three bodies of the Buddha as in the foregoing identification by Padmavajra : "In the time of contemplating the Stage of Generation, the arising of the 'articles of COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 251 purification' being consistent with the sequence of dissolution— the Samayasattva dissolves in the JAanasattva; the latter dissolves in the Samadhisattva, whereupon the yogin) enters the nada Clear Light, his gaze fixed thereon" ( / bskyed rim sgom pahi dus su sbyan giihi hbyun ba thim pahi rim pa dan mthun par dam tshig scms dpah ye ses sems dpah la thim / de tin he hdzin scms dpah la thim pa nas na-da hod gsal la iugs pahi bar yah gnas dcr dmigs pa gtod cih... ). Al.imkakalasa's commentary on the Vajramala (Dergc Kanjur, Gi, f. 166b-3) says, "The expression 'nada' means the aspect of the A-letter" (na-da ni ies bya ba ni A yig gi rnam paho). Thus, finally the yogin reaches the extreme non-prapahca (atyanta-nifprapahca) in the letter A, wherein neither the gods nor the goddesses exist. // THA II sthatavyam uifay'fv asmSd yoginSdvayadarSini / hinamadhyapramlefu jhanatrayanidarianat 11 19 11 Afterwards the yogin who sees the non-duality should be dwelling upon sense objects 'inferior', 'intermediate', and 'superior' by seeing the triple gnosis. Mchan : 'Sees the non-dualitv' means:—sees directly the nondual knowledge of bliss-void sukha-Sunya) while experiencing the three light stages. Each of the sense objects is of three kinds according to the Guhyasamajatantra. Chapter VII; sec B. Bhattacharyya's edition, pp. 27-8: rupam vijfiaya trividham pujavet pujanatmakah, etc. The three kinds are now to be stated as'inferior', 'intermediate' and 'superior'. The Mchan hgrcl on Pradipoddyotana, Chapter VII (Vol. 158, p. 56-1) mentions that rupa is of three kinds—pleasurable, repulsive or displeasing, and neutral. Thus, they correspond to the prakrtis of the three lights ( three jAanas), i.e. 'desire' —'lust' for pleasurable form; 'aversion'—'hatred' for repulsive form, while 'indifTercncc' is said to be 'intermediate'. Furthermore, ibid., p. 55-3, the 'superior' kind of the sense object is the one seen as its own Buddha Family, and one should have 'desire' for that kind. For example, the superior 'form' (rOpa) is Vairocana and the deities generated by him. The idea here is alluded to in the Guhyasamaja, Chapter XVIII, p. 158 (Sanskrit cited in history introduction): The 'desires' (i.e. the five strands of desire, pahcakdma- I 252 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA guna) 'form', 'sound', etc.—pleasurable, painful, and neutral—continually generate in the heart the source (respectively) of 'lust', 'hatred', and 'delusion'. Since the yogin experiences the three light stages, this is the second kind of carya, the 'non-prapanca' kind. The 'hundred lineages' subdivisions in terms of deified sense objects are based on Guhyasamdja, Chaptcr VII, verse 14 (edited text corrected by authority of both Tibetan and Chinese): \rupaiabdadibhir manlri devata bhavayet sadaj The mantrin should always contemplate as a divinity by means of form, sound, etc. Tsori-kha-pa, Vol. 158, p. 205-1, ff.: "According to that (Guhyasamdja) passage, the arcane basis (dben gii) of the kaya-viveka in terms of sense domains, is the five sense domains (themselves); and the contemplation of those five as the five diamantine goddesses (vajrd) is the kayaviveka (itself). "Among them, the rgyu ba wind, based on the eye, assists in seeing the five kinds of form; and when dividing up the visible form-=Rupavajra—when it (the wind) is based on the set of three conditions (pratyaya, rkyen), (1) the barely visible form; (2) that clung to; (3) that of the three kinds, pleasurable, repulsive, neutral; (4) that one accomplishing duties; (5) sensual form, namely, vulgarly carefree, playful, and coquettish—have in the given order the five families, Vairocana, etc. of the goddess Rupavajra. "The mam par rgyu ba wind, based on the ear, assists in hearing sound; and when dividing the heard sound = £abdavajra—(1) the sounds inside the ear, and those of the head and its hair, (2) the sounds of song and (tinkling) ornaments; (3) palatal, labial, and voiced sounds; (4) musical sounds of glades, rivers, claps of the palms, drums of earthen ware, etc., (5) mild and fierce sounds of syllables such as Hum —have, in the given order, the five, Vairocana, etc., of the goddess Sabdavajra. "The yah dag par rgyu ba wind, based on the nose, assists in the selection of odors; and when dividing up the smelt odor = Gandhavajra—(1) a general odor, (2) specific odors, (3) the three kinds of odor, (4) savory odor, (5) foul odor—have, in the given order, the five, Vairocana, etc., of the goddess Gandhavajra. COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 253 "The rab tu rgyu ba wind, based on the tongue, assists in enjoying tastes; and when dividing up the enjoyed taste = Rasavajra—(1) sweet, (2) astringent, (3) sally, (4) sour, (5) pungent and bitter, tastes—have, in the given order, the five, Vairocana, etc. of the goddess Rasavajra. '"The ha par rgyu ba wind, based on the torso, assists in enjoying tangibles; and when dividing up the enjoyed tangible = SparSavajra—(1) that of sitting on a single mat, (2) that of embracing, (3) that of kissing, (4) that of inhalation, (5) that of copulation—have, in the giver, order, the five, Vairo-cana, etc. of the goddess Sparsavajra." The five ancillary winds, mentioned above successively by their alternate names in Tibetan, are further treated under nidana verse 20. VIII. PARTITE REALITIES OF THE FIVE TATHAGATAS IN THE FIVE SENSE OBJECTS Sense Objects ('Goddesses) Vairocana Ratnasambhava Amitabha Amoghasiddhi Akyobhya Form barely visible clung to of three kinds, pleasurable, etc. that accomplishing duties sensual form Sound inside car of song palatal, labial and voiced musical sounds mild and fierce incantations' Odor diffuse specific three kinds savory foul Tasie sweet astringent salty sour pungent and bitter Tangible of sitting on ' a mat of embracing of kissing of inhalation of copulation COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 255 IIGAI! gacchann asty indriyas tat tat svayaqi svavi/ayaip pratij ahhdsamatrakam tat tad yad yad indriyagocaram //20// While each and every sense organ is going by itself toward its own sense objcct, whatever be the sense organ and its range, each of them is 'light only' [abhasamatra). Mchan : Each of them is light only* means that both the sense organ and its range (gocara) is merely the combination blissvoid along with the knowledge of the three lights. Cf. Guhyasamajatantra, Chapter XI (2nd half), beginning with text, p. 46, line 12; now text, p. 47, Mchan hgrel, p. 80-1-5: jtrivajrasamayadhyanena trivajraketusamo bhaved ity dha bhagavan ratnaketuvajrahj By the meditation consolidating the three vajras (here: odors—pleasurable, repulsive, and neutral) one would be equal to Three-Diamond Glory (Trivajraketu)'— so says the Lord Ratnaketuvajra. (Threc-Diamond-Glory is hence the Bodhisaltva Khagarbha generated in the nose by a Ratna-Om; compare nidana verse 16 above). (This meditation leads to supernormal faculty regarding odor). Likewise, Sanskrit text, p. 47: "By the meditation consolidating the three vajras here : the three tastes) one would be equal to Three-Diamond-Immcasurablc" (hence the Bodhisattva Lokesvara generated in the tongue by a Dharma Om, and leading to supernormal faculty regarding taste). Following is a summary of the five meditations that lead to supernormal faculty (abhijha) by consolidating the three vajras (Guhyasamaja, XI, p. 46. 12, flf., with corrections in names of the Om's : • Three Vajras of sense objects [i.e. pleasurable, repulsive and neutral) Bodhisattva or Buddha Om by which is generated the abhijha Organ in which it is generated Sound Vajrapani Jnana-Om ear odor Khagarbha Ratna-Om nose taste Lokesvara Dharma-Om tongue tangible Sarvanivarana- Sainaya-Oin body viskambhin (surface) form Vairocanavajra Trikaya-Om eye I 256 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA Pradipoddyotana and Mchan hgrel (p. 81.4) : "Previously, by the stage of generation (utpatti-krama) one placcs the seedsyllables and (merely) points to the accomplishment of the five abhijha-s, because the Stage of Completion (sampanna-krama) demonstrates the actual accomplishment." Guhyasamdja, Chaptcr XI, p. 48, and Mchan hgrel (p. 81-4) : paheaiulam mahdvajram pancajtalazibh ufilam pahcasthdnaprayogena pahcabhjhasamo bhavet By the praxis of the five abodes (the objects, form, etc.), the great thunderbolt (mahavajra) (which cannot be warded off) with five prongs (the five sense organs piercing their objects like spears) adorned with five flames (the five ancillary winds proceeding through sense orifices to objects and returning as vehicles of be tantamount to the five abhijha-s vijhana), would Ancillary wind Alternate name and color Passing through which orifice Piercing which sense object Naga rgyu ba, red eye form Kurma rnam par rgyu ba, biue ear sound Krkila yah dag par rgyu ba, yellow nose odor Devadatta rab tu rgyu ba, white tongue taste Dhanaftjaya • nes par rgyu ba, green torso (surface) tangible Note : In the foregoing table the order of the ancillary winds is the traditional order and the same in which they are supposed to arise in the intrauterine states, lunar months 6th through 10th. The five colors are given by Tson-kha-pa, Vol. 159, commentary on Pahcakrama, p. 7-5-5, and ascribed to a precept of Rje-hgos. According to Mchan hgrel on Pradipoddyotana, Chapter XV, verse 125, there is a dream auspice of the mundane siddhi : Isarvdlahkdrasampiiinam surakanyam manoramdml /ddrakam ddrikdm pafyan sa siddhim adhigacchati/j COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 257 When he sees the delightful daughter of the gods replete with all ornaments, the lad, (or) the maiden, He gains the occult power (siddhi). As lo where one practises those meditations:— Guhyasamiijatantra, Chapter XI, p 48 : /parvatefu viviklffii nadiprasravanefu cat ! (maSSnadifv api kBiyam idam dhyanasamuccayamU The set of meditations is done on lonely mountains, at flowing streams, and in cemeteries, etc. Piadipoddyolana on the above : In hinted meaning (ncyartha), 'lonely mountains' are mountain peaks graced with flowers and fruit;'flowing streams' are glades with flowing streams; 'cemeteries, etc.' means (for the 'etc.') isolated tree, empty house, temple, and so on. (Note that the three main categories go with three kinds of magical practice—a. appeasing deities, b. promoting prosperity, c. destructive magic). In evident meaning (nitartha), the 'lonely' of 'lonely mountains' means free from reliance by other men, and 'mountains' can refer to maternal women. 'Flowing streams' arc frequented by all men, and so arc the dissolute women. Worldly persons are like 'cemeteries', and so these are outeaste women, washerwoman, and so on. (Note that they arc the goddess in three forms : the mythological 'Mother', 'Whore', 'Devouring Earth'). UTAH tattadindriyamiirgena rifayam pripya sadhakah j tathagatebhyas sakalam prinaniya nivedayet //21// While the sadhaka is reaching the sense object by way of this and that sense organ, he should make offering completely satisfying the Tathagatas. Mchan : The verse indicates the secret state of body (kiya-viveka) consisting in contemplating the five sensory objects as the adamantine goddesses (vajrti). Tsoh-kha-pa, "Rnal hbyor dag pahi rim pa," Vol. ICO, p. 91 : "The jurisdictional activity.. . of Rupavajra, etc., is, in the usual order, purifying the longings for form, sound, odor, taste, (tangible); and then bring offerings to the Jinas as the pleasure of form, ctc. Thus, the partite reality of the sems-ma (the vajri)." Mchan hgrel, pp. 55 and 56-1, 2:—For example, when I 258 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA reaching the sense object 'forms' by way of the eye, he offers the lady Rupavajra, who is the ndAa-wind, completely satisfying Vairocana. An analogous offering is made in the case of the other sense organs and sense objects, i.e. Sabdavajra to Ratnasambhava Gandhavajra to Amitabha Rasavajra to Amoghasiddhi Sparsavajra to Aksobhya The goddesses arc also referred to as offering flowers in Guhyasamaja, Chapter VIII . p. 33 : padmam pancavidham jiidt'd utpalam ca ricaksanah jatikam trividham krtvd devatdndm nivedayct karnikarasya kusumam mallikdy uthikam tatha karavirasya kusumam dhydtvd piijdm prakalpayet A wise person, knowing the padma and the utpala, of five kinds; and having prepared the three kinds of jdti, should offer them to the gods. Having imagined the Karnikara, Mallika, Yuthika, and Karavira flowers, he should contemplate them as worship. Celu-pa's Samaja-vrtti (p. 185-4) explains that the five lotuses, utpala, etc. are the five goddesses of the senses, Rupavajra, etc.; that the three kinds of jdti are Dharmavajra who pervades the three birthplaces; and that Karnikara is Locana, Mallika is Mamaki, Yuthika is Pandara, and Karavira is Tara. The Pradipoddyotana on Chapter VIII [op. cit.), p. 64-1, explains that the five lotuses have the five colors going with the five Tathagatas, and that jdti is made into three colors. Among those words for flowers, jati is the Jasminutn grandiflower ; Karnikara, flower of Pterosperinum accrifolium (Hibiscus mutablis, with red flowers); Mallika, the Jasminum Zambac; Yuthika, a kind of Jasmine; and Karavira, the Oleander. II. STAGE OF COMPLETION E. haya.dkcitta (Body, Speech, and Mind) In the introductory discussion of the four Tantras, it was pointed out that the Anuttarayoga-tantra is preeminendy inner samadhi. This description is justified by the Stage of Completion, which begins with nidana verse 22. According to Guhyasamajalantra, XVII, p. 142: caityakarma na kurvita na ca pustakavacanam / mandalam naiva kurvita na trhajragravandanam // He should not engage in the rite of caitya, or in the recitation of books; he should not make a mandala, or praise the best of the three diamonds. On the preceding, Pradipoddyotana in Mchan hgrel edition says (PTT, Vol. 158, p. 160-3 : "This refers to the great yogin (Mchan : 'belonging to the Stage of Completion*). Regarding his secret body, speech, and mind :... he should not engage in the rite of caitya (e.g. circumambulation), including (preparation of) the site and (removal of) gravel, etc., because it is not right (Mchan : 'for a person on the Stage of Completion who himself is all Tathagatas') to have craving for caitya-wor-ship; he should not recite books, because it is not right for one who has aroused the spontaneous diamond recitation to lend his voice to a different (recitation); he should not make an external mandala, because when the mandala is one's own body, it is not a case of the (stationary) carth-mandala ; he should not worship the best of diamonds, namely, the Sr&vakas, pratyeka-buddhas (concretely or their images), or the (image of) Samyak-sambuddha, because it violates himself being all Tathagatas (in the steady state of comprehending bliss-void);........" In this phase there is also the practice callcd 'vidyS-vrata' (defined in Appendix III). The authoritative passage is in the Guhyasamajatantra, Chapter XVI : (Mchan hgrel, p. 147-2, 3): kayavikcittauajrunam kuyavtikcittabh&vanam / soar upenaiva tatkaryam evam siddhir avdpyate // 89 // tatredarji svakdyavctkcittavidyavratam / I 260 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA jafdmukuladharam bimbam sitavarnanibham mahat / karayet vidhivat sarvani mantrasamvarasa>)wrtam // 90 11 kandamulaphalaih sarvain bhojyam bhaksyarp samiicarct / 94A// The task is the contemplation of a body, spcech, and mind belonging to (i.e. issuing from) the Body-, Speech-, and Mind-diamonds and precisely like one's own appearance. Just so is the siddhi (of Maha-mudra) attained. Herein is the 'vidyavrala' of one's own body, speech, and mind. The Great One, white in color, his (divine) form (of Vairocana) bearing a crown of matted locks, practises everything in ritual manner, restrained by the mantra-vow. By means of bulbs and fruits, he subsists on all food and drink. In Tsori-kha-pa's commentary on the Pahcakramo (PTT, Vol. 159, p. 74-3, 4, 5), there is a lengthy discussion of what is meant by the phrase 'precisely like one's own appearancc'. This is frequently alluded to in Buddhist Tantra sadhanas by the term 'svabha' ('like oneself'). The solution appears to be that the consort is one of the goddesses Locana, ctc. having the same dress as oneself as the yogin of one or another Buddha. The consort is described in that Chapter XVI, verse 91, as the 'sixteen-yeared girl'. The meaning apparently is that the yogin is accompanied by a goddess-consort who has issued from his own body, speech, and mind which have been identified with the Body, Speech, and Mind of the Tathagatas. Tsori-kha-pa explains the phase as 'without prapaftca (nifprapaiica). Turning to the separate treatment of 'kaya', 'vak', and 'citta', according to previous indications the 'arcane body1 as pratyahara and dhydna among the six members of yoga, is treated under the 'Kaya' verses (see Sri Laksmi's comment under 'YA'). In that same Paiicakrama commentary (the "Gsal bahi sgron me"), PTT, Vol. 158, p. 205-4, Tsori-kha-pa continues his discussion of the 'hundred lineages' of 'arcane body' to show how to condense them into 'elements'. Among them, the 20 lineages belonging to the Vairocana-kula, that is, from the lineage of rRpa-skandha up to the lineage ofthe 'tangible diamond goddess', are condensed into the element of earth. Similarly the 20 parts of Ratnasambhava lineage are condensed into the element of water; the 20 of Amitabha lineage, into COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 261 fire; the 20 of Amoghasiddhi, into wind; and the 20 of Aksobhya lineage into the element of lijitdna. Tson-kha-pa mentions that the classification into five groups is further reduced into three 'secret' families by the method of including Ratnasam-bhava in the kaya-vajra family of Vairocana; Amoghasiddhi in the vSg-vajra family of Amitabha; and the 'sixth Tathagata* Yajradhara in the citta-vajra family of Aksobhya. The three families considered as three vajras when taken as indivisible, yield the sixth adhideva Vajradhara, which is the ultimate of kSyaviveka ('arcane body'). The 'arcane speech' as pranayama, third of the six members, is included in 'YAK.'. Nagarjuna starts his five stages here, with 'diamond muttering' (vajrajSpa). The praxis which begins with YAK is stated succinctly by Tsoh-kha-pa in his commentary on the Yajrajhanasamuccaya, Vol. 160, p. 159-3: "The generality in that regard is that the means of generating the three knowledges (j liana) has the inner (subjective) condition of contemplating prdnayama and the outer (objective) condition of resort to a mudra ('seal', partner)." He explains the first as the three kinds of pranayama based on three differently located bindus (sec under VAK), and the second as the generation of the four 'joys' (sec under VA, verse 30). Therefore, the goddess companion previously mentioned in connection with 'vidyavrata' has the function of helping the yogin generate the four 'joys'. The 'arcane mind' as dharana, the fourth member, is included in CIT-TA. Nag.irjuna's system is more explicit, because it allows a whole krama, the 'purification of consciousness' {ciltaviSuddhi), for CIT—the three light stages; and another whole krama, the 'personal blessing' (svadhifthana), for TA— entrance of the illusory body into the Clear Light. II KA H kiiyatrayam samuddiffaqi prthagbhavena tayina / ekakiiram pimar yali nifpannakramayogatah 11 22 // The Protector (i.e. the Buddha) well taught the three Bodies as being different. Moreover, their unity occurs through the yoga of nifpanna-krama. Mchan : (When the three bodies are taught to be different, they arc.:) (I) Dharmakaya associated in the Clear Light (of Death) with a goddess; (2) Sambhogakaya generated from the five abhisambodhi as the 'primeval lord' (adinalha); I 262 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA (3) the latter converted into the Nirmanakaya. This is taught in the Stage of Generation. Mchan: In the basic time, the unity occurs through accomplishing the primordial body adideha from wind-and-mind-only belonging to the Clear Light of death. Accordingly, in the time of the path, there is the sccrct of samvrti-mdyd- accomplishing the illusory body from wind-and-mind-only belonging to the Symbolic Clear Light [dpehi Imd gsal). Mchan-. In the case ofthe first krama the Stage of Generation , there is only a mental orientation to conviction, but the path is lacking because there is no yoga of the three bodies. In the case of the second krama. by yoga unifying the three bodies it is not a matter of figments of imagination. These remarks apply respectively to the two foregoing passages of Mchan annotation). This niddna verse ('KA' ; and the next one YA' continue and conclude the 'arcane body' (kaya;-i;cka) ofthe foregoing Stage of Generation. According to the Pradipoddyolana on XII, 60-64, and its Mchan hgrcl ('Documents' . the kind of 'arcane body' is called 'purification afterwards obtained'. This, then, is the reflex in the Stage of Completion of the preceding praxis. Hence the commentators are allowed the latitude of using the verse 'KA' and 'YA' to compare the two stages in the matter of the innate body, which is the basis of the present praxis rather than the coarse body seen by the eye of flesh. 'KA' can be understood as pratydhdra 'Withdrawal' . the first member. To show the continuity of the Stage of Generation into the Stage of Completion, Paiicakrama, 2nd krama, 48-50; Sri Laksmi, Vol. 63, p. 27-5, ff., has the following: citlam cram svayant palyct svam eva SaSibimbavat atha candram samdlambya vajracihnam prakalpayet updyas iicakam hy rlad vajradyutpattiyogindm candravajradisamyvgdc ciltacailasasamgama h prajhopayasamdyogaj jdyate devatakrtih caturmudrabhir dmudrya devatdgarvam udvahan He should so regard his own mind as itself like a moon-reflection; then, lie should imagine the vajra-sign taking its support on the moon. The (five)-pronged upaya belongs to the) ogins of (the Stage of) Generation of the vajra, ctc. From the Generation union COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 263 of the vajra, etc. and the moon there (results) the Completion combination of cilia ( - prajna) and cailasa ( = updya). From the union of prajna and upaya there arises the configuration of deity,—scaling with four seals, conveying divine pride. The meaning of 'vajra, etc.' is shown under nidSna verse 18, referring back to the six signs listed in the Akfobhya-mandala. Hence the above verses show the continuation of the Maha-sadhana phase of the Stage of Generation into the outset of the Stage of Completion. It is this union of prajna and upaya that unifies the three Bodies, according to Guhyasamdjatantra, IX, p. 36; Pradipodd-votana and Mchan hgrel, PTT. Vol. 158, p. 68-1 : dvayendriyaprayogena sarvams tan upabhuhjayet / idam tat sarvavajranam trikaydbhedyabhavanam // By the union of the two organs (that of vajra and of padma), he would enjoy all those (goddesses). This contemplation of the inseparable three Bodies (Dharma-, Sam-bhoga-, and Nirmana-kaya) belongs to all 'vajras' (sddhakas of Buddhahood). Furthermore, the Pradipoddyotana explanation of pratydhdra ('Documents') brings in the three kinds of each sense object, and so in turn, according to earlier explanations, is consistent with Pah-cakrama, 2nd krama, verse 37; Sri Laksmi, Vol. 63, p. 26-5 : ragaS caiva virdgaS ca dvayor antar ili trayam / dvindriyasya samapattya vajrapadmasamdgamdt // Desire ( = thc middle knowledge), aversion (-the first knowledge), and 'between the two' (the combination of the prior two)—are the three, (as symbolized) by union of the two organs and by combination of vajra and padma. But what is the meaning of having a mudrd or partner in this case ? Tsoh-kha-pa writes in his commentary on the Calur-devipariprccha (Lhasa cd., Vol. Ca, Biis ius, f. 25a-6) : I dgoiis pa luh ston las I I hdu Ses can dan hdu Ses med [ I sems can du b (r)tags hdi gnas pa / de rnams rlun las byuh ba ste I I rlun las slar yah hgag pa yin / ies gsuns so / gnis pa ni I I rlun dan sems kyis mohi gzugs dan phohi gzugs sprul nas gnas palii lhabs Ses mham par sbyor ba/ii rnal hbyor pa rnams la ni phyag rgya de hid bbe ba chen pohi go hphah mchog filhob pahi gnas su hgyur te / Mia I 26 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA It is expressed in the Samdhivydkarana (in fact. Chapter II, p. 236-1): "Those with iliis abode who arc imagined as ideational and non-idcational sentient beings, arise from wind and again pass away in the wind." Second : the yogins who by wind and tnind -only materialize the form of female and the form of male, and unite the means (upaya) and insight (prajiid) with abode, have as the abode that very mudrd which achieves the best station of great ecstasy (mahdsukha). Also, the resort to a partner points to a celebrated verse of the Paiicakrama, 2nd krama, verse 36: Sri Laksmi, Vol. 63, p. 26-3,4: sarvasdm tva mdyanam strimayaiva vi Hyatt / jiidnatrayaprabhcdo ;'yam sphutam alraiva lak,\yate // Of all illusions (mayd), the illusion of woman is supreme; just here the variety of three gnoses is differentiated clearly. According to Sri Laksmi, the verse conccrns differentiation of the three gnoses by sequence of 'partner' (mudrd) (phyag rgyalii rim pas) as contrasted with the differentiation by sequence of 'incantation' (manha) shags kyi rim pas . According lo Sri Laksmi, 'just here' (alraiva) means, according to the precepts (man nag)—in the time of the Secret Initiation (guhya-abhifeka), when the disciple is conferred the prajha by the guru 'Ses rab kyi dbah gi dus su bla mas ses rab sbyin pahi slob ma. . ..). First, the bodhicitta drips down from the brahmarandhra aperture in crown of the head); and, with non-apperception of the thirty-three prakrtis, there is an instant of the gnosis of Light, pure like moon-rays. Next, that bodhicitta pervades the elements (dhatu) of all the limbs ; and with non-apperception of the forty prakrtis, there arises the gnosis Sprcad-of-Light, like sunrays. Then, that bodhicitta, spreads to the 'tip', the center of the vajra (rdo rjehi dbus ma 1 rtse mor. ..) in the male, the root of the penis); and with non-apperception of the seven piakrtis, there arises the gnosis Culmination-of-Light, like twilight. Hence the word 'clearly' (sphutam) in the verse line, "Just here the variety of three gnoses is differentiated clearly." This graphic description by Sri Laksmi clarifies the Initiation in the conventional bodhicitta-mandala. According to the discussion under niddna verse 15 of the 'subtle contemplation of the lower orifice', when the bodhicitta arrives at the tip of the vajra' it is COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 265 in the 'lotus of the woman', which is the "woman' always in that spot of the yogin. However, according to Sri Laksmi, it is precisely here that arises the androgyne Culmination-of-Light, which is the 'dark light'. When the bodhicitta is in that spot, presumably that place is what is callcd the 'place of androgynes'. And if the preceding is not sufficiently mysterious, note the Guhyasamdjatantra, XVII, p. 141: dvayendriyaprayogena svaSukrddipaiigrahaih / pujayet vidhivat sarvdn buddhabodhim avdpnuydt // By the union of the two organs, and by conceiving their Sukra, ctc. ('etc.' rakta, etc.), one should worship all (the Buddhas) according to the rules, and may attain the enlightenment of the Buddhas. On the preceding, Pradipoddyotana, Mchan-hgrel ed., Vol. 158, p. 159-4, explains: This is the secret worship of the Body, Speech, and Mind of all the Tathagatas (sarvatathagata-kayavakcittapujdrahasya). The verse says, 'by the union of the two organs,' 'meaning, by the union of diamond (vajra) and lotus (padma) Mchan : through the realm of dcific brightness of 'Father-Mother,' yab yum gyis lhar gsal bahi nan nas). The verse says, 'by conceiving their Sukra, etc.', means that one conceives his own semen and the partner's (vidyd's) menstrual blood (rakta) becoming transformed into the (intrauterine) states mer-mer-po, etc. Mchan: the five states of the womb, which are the five progenitors - Tathagatas, and then giving birth to a son, nephew, etc.. which one protects, nourishes, and so on, according to the rules. Thereby one worships and obtains.) Having been brought into existence, they (the Tathagatas) are made to lose their individual life. They are said to have been engendered by sexual union and finally killed. This is the message of Chapter VII, context of verse 33, here translated from corrected Sanskrit with the help of Pradipoddyotana and Mchan hgrel, p. 59. tatra katham samayanusmrtibhdvand ? / samaydt kfarenduvidhina lidhivat phalakamkfinah / I marayet tathagatam vyuham sutardm siddhim apnuyat 11 And what is the contemplation with recollection of the union? In the manner of the rite of overflowing drop from the I 266 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA union, after desiring the fruit according to the rules, one should kill the Tathagata array and obtain the highest siddhi. According to the Pradipoddyotana, the diverse deities by the sequence of re-unification arc drawn into the Paramartha-mandala. But that union of prajha and upaya is not the union of the two sex organs. Indrabhuti writes in his Jhanasiddhi (GOS ed., p. 57): sukham dvindriyajam kecit tattvam ahur naradhamah tac cSpi mahasukham nail am pravadanti jinottamah pratityotpadasambh utatn na tattvam jayate kvacit / Some vile men say that the pleasure born from the two (sex) organs is reality (tattva). But the Buddhas deny that it is Mahasukha. Nothing engendered in Dependent Origination is reality. Along the same lines, it is said in the Hevajratantra (I, x, 40c-d; 41a-c): jtasmat saukhyam na tattvakhyam mahabhutam yatah sukham / I sahajatyam yad utpannam sahajarti tat prakirtitam I svabhavam sahajam proktam... Whenever pleasure is of the Mahabhuta sort (i.e. derived from the four elements), then the pleasure is not called 'reality'. Whatever (pleasure) arises in 'together-birth', that is called 'together-born'. The self-existent kind is said to be 'together-born'. The Shags rim chen mo, f. 288a-2., quotes the fifth mahjari of Abha-yakaragupta's Amnaya-mahjari : "Thus, the reality arising from the 'together-born' (pleasure)is the bodhicitta that is the inseparability of voidness (Sunyata) and compassion [[[karuna]])" (/de ltar lhan cig skyes pa las byun bahi de kho na ftid byari chub kyi sems ston pa ftid dan sftin rje dbyer mcd paho /). That terminology which seems to imply an external consort of a woman, and yet which is denied to so intend, is partially explained by Tson-kha-pa in his Pahcakrama commentary "Gsal batii sgron me" (PTT, Vol. 159, p. 77-4) : I phyag rgyahi khyad par ni spyod bsdus las / dc bas na phyi rol gyi bud med spans nas sftin khar gnas pahi ye ies kyi phyag rgya dan lha cig sftoms par hjug nas sin tu myur bar rdo rje hchari thob par Lbyaho snant du dmigs COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 267 tc I gcig pu kho nar spyocl pa bya bar gsuns pahi ye Scs kyi phyag rgyaho / The superior mudrS is the jhiinamudrS ('knowledge consort') referred to in the Caryiimeltlpaka (-pradlpa), when it says : Therefore, he bears in mind, that spurning an external woman and entering into union with the Jikanamudra located in the heart, he will speedily attain (the rank of) Vajradhara; so he is to practise in complete solitude. Mchan: Concerning that (unifying) path, the phase in which it occurs is now stated : ). I - )iit satyam samvrtih proktam buddhanam kayatakfanam / sa efo nifpannayoga(h) syat prabhasiaraviSuddheh //23// Whatever body characteristic of the Buddhas has been stated to be 'conventional truth' (samvrti-satya), the nifpannayoga would be it through purification in the Clear Light. Mchan: 'Whatever body characteristic' means:—body ornamented with the major characteristics and minor marks of Yajradhara. 'Stated to be conventional truth' means: — stated as the illusory body m!i\a-deha . That 'ni>par.nayoga' means: — that yoga unifying the three bodies, of the Stage of Completion (sarppanna-krama - ni^panna-krama. There arc two kinds of nuha to be considered in this case. The following passage < Unties that niddna verse 23 refers to the first kind of maya. Pahcakrama, 3rd ver«'» 2'>-27 with emendations); Sri Laksmi, Vol. 63, p. 38-4. 3 : iyam cva hi santlak.iyd m <i van irdtsatakfana / mayaiva samvrteh satyam kayah sambhogasyapi ca // saiia gandhanasattiah syad rajrakayah sa eia hi / cajrasattiah srayam tasmdt svasya pujam pravarlayct // For the characteristic describing maya is precisely a thing to be differentiated : that very maya as the truth of con- vention, and as the Body of Sambhoga. That very mava could be a gandhari asattia. as well as the 'diamond IKXIV' (vajra-kaya) . Therefore. Yajrasattva prompts by himself his own worship. Sri Laksmi (pp. 38-5 to 39-1 : Vajrasattva, being all the I 268 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA Buddhas, worships himself when those Buddhas honor him. "The worship (pOja) is to be conducted with pratydhdra and dhyana, and not with any other stages" (mchod pa ni yah so sor sdud pa dan / bsam gtan dag gis bya ba yin te / rim pa g2an gyis bya ni ma yin no). Tson-kha-pa discusses the differentiation of these two kinds of Wldya in his Mthah gcod on Chapter One (PTT, Vol. 156, p. 26-4, 5); and to get the point one should refer back to the table in our section 'The Two Stages,...'. On the line 'Intermediate State' under 'Time of the Path' there is Illusory Body and Yuganaddha-deha. The Illusory Body as the 'truth of convention' (samvrti-satya) is that 'gandharvasattva': and the Yuganaddha-deha as the Sambhogakaya is that 'diamond body'. In the first case, the state of 'maya' lacks the 'precepts' of skill in the means (thabs la mkhas pahi man nag) and so in the condition of gandharvasattva is headed for rebirth, i.e. rcoccupa-tion of five personality aggregates in the ordinary way. In the second case, the 'maya' is attended with the precepts of skill in the means involving the winds and mind-only, and so the diamond body can appear in the world as a Nirmanakaya. An important point about the terminology is that the illusory body can be called the diamond body when there is present the precepts of skill in managing the situation. Concerning the major characteristics and minor marks, I abstract these, with the latter commenting on the former— drawn originally from Sakyamitra's Kosalalamkara—as presented in my article "Thirty-two Characteristics of the Great Person," in most cases omitting the presumed original Sanskrit terms in the following: Associated with the characteristics (lakfana) 'each hair ofthe head curled to the right' (ekaikakeia pradaksinavarta) and 'having a proof of authority on the head' (ufnifa Siraskata) are the twelve secondary distinctions (anuuyahjana): head umbrellashaped, curly tips on the head hair, hair of head thick, hair of head black, hair of head fragrant, hair of head not disordered, hair of head not shaggy-, hair of head lovely, hair of head soft, hair of head glossy, hair of head regular, hair of head appearing like bees. Associated with the characteristic 'treasure of hair' (urnd-koia) are the eight secondary distinctions: forehead large, COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 269 forehead unwrinkled, eve-brows black, eye-brows like bows, eye-brows long, eye-brows of uniform hair, eye-brows of equal width ?), nose prominent. Associated with the characteristics 'eyes dark blue' and 'eye-lashes bovine', arc the five secondary distinctions : eyes as though smiling, eyes large, eyes clear, eyes long, eyes pure. Associated with the characteristic 'jaws leonine' arc the secondary distinctions : ears uniform, car flaps thick and long. Associated with the seven characteristics 'tongue long and slender', 'voice pure', 'teeth very white', 'teeth without gaps', 'teeth 40 in number', 'teeth equal in size', and 'taste perfect' are the six secondary distinctions : face sweet-smelling, face leonine, lips red like the Bimba fruit, eye-teeth regular, eyeteeth sharp, disk of face circular and broad. Associated with the characteristic 'shoulders gently curved' is the secondary distinction : throat like the neck of a flask. Associated with the eight characteristics 'standing, not bending himself, 'hands which hang low', 'skin dclicate', 'skin of golden hue', 'upper part of body leonine', 'broad-shouldered,' 'rounded like a Banyan tree", and 'seven mounds on his body', are the eighteen secondary distinctions : veins not showing, joints not showing, joints as strong as those of Xaravana, body clean, body not crooked, body regular, body well-rounded, body smooth, members and limbs well-proportioned, body well-controiled. body soft, whose signs arc consummated, abdomen well-rounded, abdomen without folds, belly slender, abdomen as though polished, body devoid of freckles or dark spots, ever beautiful. Associated with the characteristic 'secret of privities drawn into a recess' arc the three secondary distinctions: navel deep, navel well-rounded, recess of navel filled-up. Associated with the characteristic 'legs like those of an antelope' is the secondary distinction, knee-caps well-rounded and beautiful. Associated with the characteristic 'each hair of body turning to the right side' is the secondary distinction, each hair pore emitting delightful perfume. I 270 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA Associated with the characteristic 'fingers and toes long' are the six secondary distinctions: nails elevated, nails copper-coloured, nails smooth, fingers and toes well-rounded, fingers and toes full, fingers and toes regular. Associated with the six characteristics 'hands and feet marked by a wheel rim', 'feet well-planted', hands and feet soft and tender", 'webs joining the lingers and toes on his hands and feet', 'heels broad', and 'ankle joints inconspicuous', arc the seventeen secondary distinctions : lines in the hands non-intermittent, lines in the hands alike, lines in the hands deep, lines in the hands not crooked, lines in the hands glossy, palms and soles red like coppcr; on his hands, the lion's scat (sirjihdsana), fish (mina), banner of victory (•dhvaja), thunderbolt (vajra), the hook (arikuia), the flask (,kalaSa), the N'andya-vartta, the Srivatsa, the conch shell (afikha), the lotus (padma), and the Svastika. It is obvious that the characteristics and secondary distinctions (minor marks) as presented by Sakyamitra are ordered by starting from the top of the head and proceeding down to the legs, and showing last of all the pores, hands and feet. His minor marks go with a static figure and appear to suit the Buddha as a great yogin. I/VAKI! vdkpathasyaiva : if ayah kiyo jhanam-iyah prabhuh sarvasattvahituc capa drfyate Sakraciipavat 24 ' 'The speech-path's topic, (namely) the Lord — the body made of knowledge — is seen like a rainbow, as well as apart from the benefit of all sentient beings. Mchan : 'The speech-path's topic' means : - the topics of 'illusion' (miyd), etc. conveyed to the disciple. . . .Those remarks teach the 'illusory body' 'maya-dchn ; to be the body of Vajra-dhara, a rainbow body — the body of knowledge born from wind-and-mind-only of the Clear light. In regard to the words 'as well as apart' (ca-apa), which were not translated into Tibetan, cf. Guhyasamaja, Chaptcr XVII, p. 134; Mchan hgrel, p. 153-5: soabhdvaSuddhanairutmye dharmadhiituniralaye kalpanS vajrasambhuta glya/e na ca giyale ji The imagination arisen from the vajra (of Body, Speech, and Mind) expresses in the ease of the selflessness ( Clear Light) of the intrinsically pure (moving and stationary COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 271 life), and also does not express in the case ofthe full womb of dharmadhatu (with the vajra of bodhicitta). Pradipoddyotana and Mchan hgrel: — 'expresses' because it can appear like a rainbow, then teach the dharma; 'does not express' because discursive analysis does not reach reality. The above appears to explain the two alternatives of verse 24, to wit: (1) 'seen like a rainbow,' and (2) 'apart from the benefit'. Furthermore, since the 'illusory body' when purified in the Clear Light is the Sambhoga-kaya located in, or made to correspond to, the 'speech center' of the throat, verse 24 alludes to this by saying "the speech-path's topic, (namely) the Lord." The Guhyasamdjatantra, Chapter III, has two celebrated mantras which point to the rainbow body of Vajradhara. The first (III, p. 14) begins the chapter : atha bhagavan kayavakcittavajras tathagatah sarvatatha-gata-spharanameghavyuham nama samadhim sama-padyedam vajravyuham nama samadhipatalam udaja-hara / II om SCxyatajxA.xavajrasvabhavatmako 'HAM II Then the Bhagavat, 'Diamond of Body, Speech, and Mind', the Tathagata, immersing himself in the samadhi called 'array of clouds with the vibration of all the Tatha-gatas,' proclaimed this samadhi-mass named 'diamond array': "Om. I am the intrinsic nature of the knowledge diamond of voidness 1" The second (II, p. 15) runs as follows : atha bhagavan kayavakcittavajras tathagatah dharma-dhatusvabhavavajram nama samadhim samapadyedam kayavakcittadhisthanamantram udajahara / II OM DHARMADHATUSVABHAVATMAKO 'HAM // Then, the Bhagavat, 'Diamond of Body, Speech, and Mind', the Tathagata, immersing himself in the samadhi named 'intrinsic-nature diamond of the dharmadhatu ( = Clear Light)' proclaimed this mantra which blesses the body, speech, and mind : "Om. I am the intrinsic nature of the Dharmadhatu 1" In the 'evident meaning' (nitartha) interpretation of the Pradipo- I 272 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA ddyolana, both mantras incorporate the five Tathagatas and a sixth Buddha; in the former case, identified with the five winds by name, and the sixth (Aham) identified with Vajrasattva, who is the incessant bindtt of the heart .Mchan hgrel p. 35-4); in the latter case, identified with the five winds by the colors, constituting the rainbow of the verse. 'YAK.', and the sixth, (Aham) identified with Vajradhara, as the gnosis of the Supreme Entity. In illustration let me translate the second mantra, according to nitartha {Pradipoddyotana, Mchan hgrel edition PTT, Vol. 158, p. 36-2): Then the Bhagavat,'Diamond of Body, Speech and Mind' ( = Vajradhara), the Tathagata, immersing, himself in the samadhi (gazing at the Clear Light) named 'intrinsic nature diamond of the dharmadhalu ( Clear Light) proclaimed this mantra which blesses the body, speech, and mind : OM—(Vairocana as a blue-rayed wind serving as the mount of the gnosis of the Clear Light of the [Absolute] Object). DHARMA— (Ratnasambhava, as a yellow-rayed wind . DHATU—(Amitabha, as a red-rayed wind). SVABHAVA— (Amoghasiddhi, as a green-rayed wind). ATMAKO—(Aksobhya, as a white-rayed wind). AHAM—(Vajradhara, that gnosis itself of the Clear Light of the [Absolute] Objcct . Mchan hgrel on the preceding : "This mantra expresses both the gnosis of the Clear Light of the Absolute Objcct and the five rays of wind which arc its mount." Since 'VAK' refers in the praxis to the 'diamond muttering' a brief indication is given now about that. Mchan hgrel, p. 51-4-1, on Chapter Six ('Documents'), mentions that verses 15-18 concern the subtle yoga of the Stage of Completion, of which verse 15 is here repeated with Sanskrit : nilotpaladaldkdrain pahcaiiilam ; iituitah yavamalram prayatnena ndsikagre vie inlayet He should imagine with perseverance at the lip of his nose a five-pronged (thunderbolt) appearing like a blue lotus petal and in the advanced degree the size of a tiny-barley grain. The Pradipoddyotana and Mchan hgrel clarify that the tip of the COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 273 nose (among the three possible ones in the Stage of Completion) here meant is the one in the sacral place, now identified as the'tip of the gem', i.e. the root of the penis (the svadhi- sthana-cakra of the Hindu tantras). And in the advanced degree (viSefatafi), he reduces the lotus to the size of a tiny barley grain. According to verse 16, the yogin then imagines the red eight-petalled lotus of that cakra, no bigger than a chickpea, which is the lotus of the yogin's 'woman', his own dharmo-daya ('source of dharmas'). Verse 17 mentions the still more subtle contemplation of a wheel therein. Finally (verse 18), the yogin can draw forth the 'Dharma word marked with body, speech, and mind,' consistent with the nidana verse 'VAK'. The theory that the yogin's 'woman' is found at the base «of the penis seems parallel with the womb in the woman found at the end of the vaginal tube. The Buddhist Anuttarayoga-tantra seems concerned with the symbolism of that base in the male and that womb in the woman rather than with what respectively leads up to them. llCITII cittam caitasikavidyii prajmpiiyopalabdhikan. / SunyatiSunyamahasunyam iti capi pragiyatc //25// Thought {citta), thought derivative (caitasika), and ncsciencc (avidya) are also callcd respectively, Insight (prajha), Means {upaya), Culmination (upalabdhika); as well as Void (Siinya), Further Void (atiSBnya), and Great Void ynahaiunya). Pancakrama, 2nd krama. 7 : alokai iiinyam prajna ca cittam ca paratantrakam / Light is Void, is Insight, is thought, is dependence (paratantra). Ibid., 2nd krama, 15 : alokabhasam ity uktam aliiunyam upayakam / parikalpitam tatha proktam proktam caitasikam tathS // Spread-of-Light is Further Void, is Means, also called 'imagination' (parikalpita) and callcd 'thoughtderivative'. Ibid., 2nd krama. 23 : alokasyopalabdhil ca upalabdham tathaiva ca / parinifpannakam caiva avidyd caiva namatah 11 The Culmination-of-Light, likewise 'the culminated' also named 'perfection' {parinifpannaka) as well as 'nescience' (avidya). I 27 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA Tson-kha-pa's commentary on Pancakrama, Vol. 159, p. 31-2 Synonymous terms for the Three Lights: ... those three (i.e. prajna, upaya, and avidya); the three cilia, manas, vijndna; the three, parikalpita, paratantra, parinifpanna; the three, hatred, lust, delusion; and the three svabhavas. Among those, updya is Spread-of-Light, prajha is Light, the combination of those two as hermaphrodite (or androgyne) is Culmination-of-Light. Among the two, ecstasy and void, 'Light' is the preponderance of void mentality (buddhi); 'Spread-of-Light' the reverse thereof; 'Culmination-of-Light' those two (ecstasy and void) in equal parts. <Tsori-kha-pa's commentary on the Pancakrama callcd "Gsal bahi sgron me" (PTT, Vol. 199, p. 31-4) faces the prob- lem of why the three lights have as synonyms the terms pari' kalpita, paralanlra, and parinifpanna (which are the well-known three svabhavas or three lakfanas of Yogacara terminology). The following explanation may have been developed in Tibctau traditions : I rim lna las / snan ba gian dbah dah / mched pa kun brtags dah / fier thob la yons grub tu gsuhs la / de ltar bsad pa ni gzun hdzin gnis rgyarts ched du snan bahi snan gii ni gian dbah dah / dc ltar snan ba la brten nas gsun hdzin rjes tha dad par sgro btags pa kun brtags dah I hgyur ba med pahi yons grub mnon du byas pahi dor I kun brtags dah g his snan gftis kas dben pa biin du ston pa rnams kyi thog mahi gii snan ba dah / de la brtcn nas mched pa hbyuh ba dah / tier thob kyi tsho sna ma gfiis ka log nas thobs ses gnis ka log nas thabs Ses gfiis ka log nas thabs Ses mfiam par hjug pahi chos mthun la brten nas yin nam sftam stc dpyad par byaho / The Pancakrama says (respectively at II, 7; II, 15; and II, 23) that Light is paratantra ('dependent'), Sprcad-of-Light is parikalpita ('imaginary'), and Culmination-of-Light isparini}pannaka ('perfect'). One should ponder whether this is the explanation: The basic Light which shines when severing the distance between the thing perceived and the perceiver is 'dependent'. Having in that way taken recourse to Light, the subsequent difFcrcnce between, and affirmation of thing perceived and perceiver, COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 275 is 'imaginary*. The casting away of the two lights— 'imaginary' and the other light—has incessant 'perfect' immediacy. Therefore, according to the particular secret state: — Light is the initial basis of the voids; on that basis Spread-of-Light arises; and at the time of Culmination-of-Light, having averted the former two— i.e. having averted both 'means' and 'insight', one takes recourse to the common dharma of uniting 'means' and 'insight'. The three lights constitute the fourth of the five signs presented in the Guhyasamaja, Chapter XVIII and included in Candrakirti's comments ('Documents', PART ONE). The first sign, a mirage, manifests through dissolution of earth into water. The second, smoke, through dissolution of water into fire. The third, fire-flies, through dissolution of fire into wind. The fourth, a changeable lamp, through dissolution of wind into the three lights. Through sequential dissolution of the three lights, there is the fifth sign, the Clear Light like a cloudless sky. Vitapada, in his commentary Suhusuma-nama-diikrama-tattva-hhavana-mukhagama-vrlli (PTT, Vol. 65, p. 58-4, 5) explains the signs in accordance with the preceding pianayama involving the bindu: Now, what happens at first when that yogin turns back his discursive thought ikalpa) ? He should know that at first there is the sign which is a manifestation like a mirage. One should understand that phase this way: the rays from that bindu have a pattern both bright and not bright, appearing like a mirage. This is an illusory appcarancc allowed in one's stream of consciousness that should be warded off, because one is attached to it if he has the pride of thinking that he knows the sign. The same applies to the others. It is like smoke when brighter than the mirage, while lacking colors such as green, white, and so on. The 'fireflies' or lights in space, are brighter than the smoke and of different type. The sign 'shining like a lamp' is superior to the fireflies and of different type. Those are seen in the manner of rays, with each one brighter than the preceding one. Concerning the phrase, "like the meaning of non-duality of the profound and the bright," the body is considered to be like smoke, I 276 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA becausc it is not genuine. Moreover, what is the manifestation ? "Bright like a cloudless sky" means a cloudless sky that manifests with special brilliance. The above shows the difference between the 'Arya' and the •Buddhajfianap.ida' schools of the Guhyasamaja. The 'Arya' tradition understands the mystic signs to be related to sequential dissolution of the elements, and takes the fourth sign 'shining like a lamp, to stand for three light stages. The other tradition explains the signs as resulting from contemplation of the bindu, does not relate them to the elements, and does not subdivide the sign 'shining like a lamp'. A remarkable ability to describe the praxis is found in Arya-deva's CatySmclapaka-pradipa (quoted in Tson-kha-pa's Shags rim chen mo, f. 456b-4), where we read a most lucid statement of the sequence: I spyod bsdus las / /de nas skye ba gcig nas gcig tu goms pas bdag med pahi chos la bslabs pas rnam par dag pahi sbyor ba khon du chud nas rah b fin gyi snah ba dah gcig tu hdre bar bya stc rim pa hdts don dam pahi bden pa la dmigs par byaho / dehi rim pa hdi yin te phuh po la sogs pa ni khams phra ba la giug go / khams phra ba ni yah sems la giug go / sems ni yah sems pa la giug go / sems pa ni yah ma rig pa la giug ste dc ltar spyad nas gflid log par byed do / de la dus hdir ni scms dah sems pa ma rig pa la rab tu fugs pahi skad cig la dran pa brjod paho / phyis ni brjod pa yah mcd pahi ye ses kyi ho bo ftid ni hod gsal baho / yah grol ba na rluh gi rah biin rfted de gan gi tshe rmi lam gian dag hbyuh ba na ji srid du rnam par Scs pa mi gYo ba de srid du gftid log nas hod gsal ba la blta ste / de ni so sor rah g is rig pa lus dah hag dah bral balii don dam pahi bden pa nan gi mnon par by ah chub pa ies byaho / ies gsuns tc... Then, by meditative repetition from one life to the next, and by training in the self-less natures, he comcs to fully understand the right praxis: how to mix together with the Light of intrinsic nature; how to visualize the Supreme Truth (paramartha-satya) by this sequence. The sequence of it, is as follows : The personality aggregates (skandha) and so on, should be merged into the subtle clement (*sOkfma-dhdtu) (i.e. wind); the subtle element, in turn, COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 277 merged into consciousness (citta); consciousness, in turn, merged into mentals (caitta); mentals, in turn, merged into nescience (avidyS); and so practising he creates deep sleep (sufupti). Now, in this life, he expresses the truth at the instant when citta and caitta are absorbed in avidyi. At the next instant there is the Clear Light with the intrinsic nature of the inexpressible gnosis. Even when it is released, he has attained the intrinsic nature of wind; and at whatever time other dreams occur, then as long as his perception (vijnana) is immobile (acala) i.e. one-pointed, in samadhi, the deep sleep (sufupti) (is also present) and he sees the Clear Light. That introspection is called 'inner revelation of the Supreme Truth that is free from Body and Speech'. The meaning of this remarkable passage is exposed in Tsori-kha-pa's commentary on the 'Six Laws of Naro-pa' (PTT, Vol. 161, pp. 7-8 and p. 12). Here we learn a distinction between the Clear Light of the waking state (jagrat-prabhasvara) and the Clear Light of deep sleep (sufiipti-prabhasvara). The waking state Clear Light is also distinguished as subjective (vifayin), the Jnana-Dharmakaya, and the objective (vifaya), the unconstructed (asamskrta) Dharmakaya. The subjective type I understand by former terminology as 'Clear Light of True Mind' or Symbolic Clear Light of three gnoses or Jftana lights, namely, Light, Spread of Light, and Culmination of Light, referred to by Aryadeva as, respectively, citta, caitta, and avidya). The objective type is the Clear Light of the Absolute Entity. The Clear Light of deep sleep is similarly distinguished into the subjective deep sleep which is heavy [hthugpo) or light (srab mo), 'lost' (iiams) (to memory) or 'comprehended' (rtogs pa), and the objective 'ground' (g';i) Clear Light of death. In the waking state category is the 'son Clear Light' contemplated with praxis of 'bliss-void' (sukha-i unya) (bde ston sbyoryin bsgoms pahi buhi hod gsal) which is the Clear Light of the path. In the deep sleep category is the 'mother Clear Light' which is the 'ground' Clear Light of death (giihi hchi bahi hod gsal ni mahi hod gsal). As I understand this yoga praxis, the intention is to make the 'son' Clear Light break through to subjective waking state, and to make the 'mother' Clear Light break through to subjective deep sleep (sufupti) as a samadhi. Then the yogin should I 278 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA be capablc of mixing the 'mother" and 'son' Clear Lights (hod gsal ma bu ghis bsre /hub pa). All the preceding appears to be intended in Aryadcva's passage. Further details of the process are sketched in C. C. Chang's Teachings of Tibetan Toga, pp. 94-104. A fuller treatment is found in Tson-kha-pa's Mthah gcod on chaptcr seven FIT, Vol. 156, p. 45 )and in his Don gsal ba on the Guhyasamaja PTT Vol. 160, pp. 146 and 147 . This exposition by Tson-kha-pa, of the dharana-aiiga is based on the Samdhindkarana and Ptadi-poddyotana on Chapter VII. the Vajramala and its commentary by Alamkakalasa, and Aryadeva's Caryumelabaka-pradipa. Previously, under nidana verse 4, a passage was quoted from Nagarjuna's Pindikrla-sddhana 43-44A , which in fact stems from the Vajramala. The theory is to draw the 5 5 =25 entities into the Clear Light as the paramartha-mandala. There are five each of skandhas, dhalus, indriyas, vifayas, and jhanas. The first group to dissolve is of course the one with earth clement (dhatu) since this gives rise to the first sign, a mirage. With dissolution of the earth element, the entire body is desiccated (i.e. thirsts for water). Individual explanations are given for dissolution of the form-skandha (rupa-skandha), mirror-like knowledge, eyeorgan (indriya), form-object (vifaya). The second group includes the element of water, the dissolution of which, yielding the sign of smoke, involves the drying tip in one's body of spittle, perspiration, urine, menstrual blood, semen, and so on. Besides, the skandha of feeling, equalityknowledge, ear organ, and sense object of sound, are dissolved. The third group includes the element of fire, the dissolution of which, yielding the sign of fire-flies, involves loss of ability to eat, drink, and digest. Besides, the skandha of ideas, discriminative knowledge, sense of smell, and odors, are dissolved. The fourth group includes the clement of wind, the dissolution of which, yielding the sign of a changeable lamp, involves the transfer from their individual places of the ten winds, the prdna, etc. Besides, the skandha of motivations, the procedure-of-duty knowledge, organ of taste, and tastes, arc dissolved. Also, as Tson-kha-pa points out, at the time of dissolution of each group, the deities of the corresponding Tathagata family are drawn into the Clear Light together with the other members of the group. Thus, the 'Fury Kings' (niddna verse 17) and COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 279 other members of the family (nidana verse 18) are sequentially so drawn into the Clear Light of Death. In the case of the first group, Vairocana's family; sccond group, Ratnasambhava's family; third group, Amitabha's family; fourth group, Amogha-siddhi's family. Finally, there is the dissolution indicated by that passage of the Pindikrta-sadhana, i.e. of the upper and lower Fury Kings, of the twice-eighty prakrtis, and of Aksobhya's family; whereupon 'perception' (vijnana) passes "to the Clear Light, also called 'universal void with nirvana' and 'Dharmakaya'." IITAH tatakaryam prakurvita prakrtyabhasabhedaviI / karmakayam parilyajya vajradehatvam apnuyat //26// Then, knowing the differences of the prakrtis and the Lights, one should engage in the carya, (namely), abandoning the body of works (karmakaya), he would obtain the diamond body (vajradeha). Mchan-. Knowing the differences of the eighty prakrtis and the three Lights ( = three gnoses), the time has come for one to engage in the carya ('praxis') part of the Stages of Completion. He takes recourse to contemplation of the profound means of piercing the centers in the body. Then he takes recourse to experiencing the generation of the voids by the dissolution sequence of the winds. Thus he has certainty in the methods of arousing the three Lights and the (eighty) vikalpa-s. However, the verse takes for granted that one has achieved the Lights of'arcane mind' (cittaviveka . then alludes to the subsequent 1 ) carya for the aim of accomplishing the Illusory Body (;maya-deha), as well as to the (2) carya for the aim of Saik/a-yuganaddha after attaining the characteristics of the Illusory Body; but the verse does not allude to the (3) third carya for the purpose of afaikfa-yuganaddha after attaining the iaikfa-yuganaddha. (1) Thus the sadhaka engaged in the carya, abandoning the 'maturation' (vipaka) body propelled by former deeds (karma), obtains the illusory body callcd 'diamond body'. (2) Having obtained that, he attains the Saikfa-yuganaddha, wherein the 'diamond body' is uninterruptedly affiliated (rigs hdra rgyun mi hchad par rdo rje sku). This illusory body is a topic ofthe third krama of the Paiicakrama called Svddhif(hana-krama. The Pradipoddyotana on Chapter VI (Mchan hgrel, p. 53) quotes the Vajrahrdayalamkara-tantra I 280 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA evam samadhiyuktena nirvikalpena mantrinah / kalavadhirri parityajya priipyate 'nuttaram padam jj When one thus abandons the limitation of time by nondiscursiveness joined to the samadhi of a mantrin, he attains the incomparable rank. Here the expression 'limitation of time' (kalavadhi) seems to refer to the 'maturation body'. About that 'non-discursiveness', there is the important verse 3 in Chapter II of the Guhyasamajatantra-. abhave bhavanabhavo bhavana naiva bhavana / iti bhavo na bhdvah syad bhavana nnpalabhyate // When there is an absence, there is no contemplation (because there is nothing to contemplate). (But also,) a contemplation is not a contemplation (of reality). That being so, whether it be a presence (for contemplation) or an absence (for no contemplation), the contemplation is not perceptively reached. From the various interpretations in the Pradipoddyotana (Mchan figrel, pp. 31 and 32), we present here the 'pregnant sense': When there is an absence (because of dissolution in the central channel), there is no contemplation. The contemplation (of the impure illusory body = samvrti-satya) is not a contemplation (of the Clear Light). That being so, whether it be a presence (the illusory bod) ) or an absence (disappearance in the central channel), the contemplation (of the two truths, samvrti and paramartha) is not perceptively reached (in cither case). Tson-kha-pa quotes the above nidana verse 26 in his Panca-krama commentary. Vol. 159, p. 51-5, to emphasize that this carya is indispensable for becoming a Buddha in this present life. If there is this aim, one must apply himself to the caryd of the two dhyanas called 'contraction' (pindagraha) and 'expansion (anubheda), set forth in Paiicakrama, Abhisambodhi-k., IV,25-27: prSplopadeSakah Si/yo dvidha yoga athabhyaset / pitfdagrahakramenaiva tatha caivanubhedatah //25// Sirasah pad a to vapi ydvad dhrdayam agatah / bhutakofirji viicd yogi pindagriiha iti smrtah j j 26 / sthdvaram jahgamam caiva purvarn krtva prabhasvaram paicat kurydt tathatmanam anubhtdakramo hy arum // 27 The disciple who has secured the precepts then applies COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 281 himself unremittingly toyoga of two sorts : by the sequence of 'contraction' as well as by 'expansion'. Drawing (the winds) from head down, and from feet up, into the heart, the yogi enters bhUtakoli (the true limit): this is callcd 'contraction'. Having first rendered the stationary and the moving life into the Clear Light, he then renders that into himself: this is the stage of 'expansion'. Again, Tsori-kha-pa's Paiicakrama commentary, Vol. 159, p. 52-1 and p. 53-5, explains that those arc comparable to the (Mother Tantra terminology) 'yogas of transfer (hpho ba = S. samkranti) and entrance to the city (gron Iijug, S. purauatdra)'. Hence the praxis proceeds along two lines : the first involves the manipulation of winds to separate the five basic winds from the five secondary winds; the second involves a separation of 'mind-based perception' (manovijhana) from the five outersense based perceptions. Thus, the separation of the 'intrinsic body' from the 'body of maturation' has the aspects of wind and mind, aimed at separating the subtle from the coarse, to yield the body formed of 'wind and mind only'. Pahcakrama, Svadhisthana-krama, III, 19 : tad cva vdyusamyuktam vijiidnatritayarft pttnah / jay ate yogina mOrtir mdyddchas tad ucyate // Precisely that vijfiana-triad joined to the winds then arises as a body by a yogin. That is called 'illusory body'. Pahcakrama, 3rd krama, 23 : darpanapiatibimbena mdyadeliai/i ca lakfayct / varnan ittdrayudhenaiva vySpitvam tidakenduna // One characterizes the Illusory Body by the image in a mirror, the colors by a rainbow, the spread by the moon in the waters (Cf. Sri Laksmi's commentary, p. 35-3: the rainbow body means having the five colors). The Vajrajhanasamuccaya contains twelve similes of illusion concerning that body:—(1) phantom (sgyu ma), (2) moon in the waters (chu zla), (3) shade (migyor), (4) mirage (smig rgyu), (5) dream (rmi lam), (6) echo (brag cha), (7) cloud (dri zahi groii khyer), (8) hallucination (mig hphrul), (9) rainbow (hjah tshon), (10) lightning (glog), (11) water bubble (chuhi chu bur), (12) image in a mirror (me lot) gi gzugs brhan). Tsori-kha-pa's commentary on that Tantra, Vol. 160, p. 160-4, 5, is in this I 282 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA ease apparently based on the CarySmelapaka-pradipa : I. It is like a phantom (illusory man) because, although it has a full complement of main and secondary limbs when generated as the body of Vajradhara from wind and mind-only, it is nothing but wind and mind-only. 2. It is like the moon in the waters wherever it is spread. 3. It is like a shade, i.e. the shadow body of a man, because it lacks flesh, bone, and so on. 4. It is like a mirage, because it shifts by the instant. 5. It is like a dream body because, as a body accomplished from wind and mind-only, it is (similar to) a body in a dream which is imputed distinctions that differ from what it properly is. 6. It is like an echo, because, although it belongs to the same stream of consciousness as the 'maturation body' iiipaka-kaya). it appears elsewhere. 7. It is like a cloud, bccause that body possesses the mandala of residence (eidhara) and of residents {(idhey a). 8. It is like a hallucination, bccause being single it appears multiple. 9. It is like a rainbow, or Tndra's bow', since that body appears with five colors that arc unimpeded and unmixed. 10. It is like the lightning bursting from the cloud, from its location within the personality aggregates of the maturation body. II. It is like a water bubble in very clear water when it suddenly emerges from the realm of the void. 12. It is like the image of Vajradhara in a mirror, bccause of simultaneous completion of all the major and minor limbs. One ofthe problems ofthe commentarial tradition is to relate the theory of the two dhyanas known from the Pahcakrama back to the basic Guhyasamajatantra. Tsori-kha-pa. Paheakrama commentary, Vol. 159, p. 57-1, ff.. points out that regarding the contemplation (or cultivation) of the two dhyanas by way of the illusory body (sgyu lus pas bsam gtan ghis sgom pa la), the Mar-pa school docs not explain it in terms of piling up the three sattvas ofthe three vajras. Tsori-kha-pa goes on to highly approve the precept handed down from Hgos (hgos lugs , that the earyS of both dhyanas is indicated in Guhyasamajalantra, chapter eleven, verses 40-44 (with emendations): buddhamandalamadhyastham kaye vairocanam nvaset 1 Omkaram hrdaye dhyatra mantrarijiianam bhavaytt nirodhavajragatam citte yada tasya prajayate sa bhavec cinldmanih Sriman sarvabuddhagrasadhakah buddhamandalamadhyastham vajrakfobhyam prabhavayet COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 283 Humkiiram hrdaye dhyiitv/l cittam bindugalam nyaset / huddhamandalamadhyastham amildbliam prabhavayet // Ahk&ram hrdaye dhycVva vajram bindugalam nyaset // idam tat samaydgrdgiyani trivajriibhedyabhavanam / nirodhasamayajhdnam buddhasiddhim samavahel / / HP should place in (his own) body the Vairocana abiding in the middle of the Buddha-mandala. Having meditated on the Om in his heart, hd should contemplate the vijhana in the mantra. At the time lie engenders the state of cessation-vajra in his cilia, lie bccomcs the 'wishing gem', 'glorious one', best sddhaka of all the Buddhas. He should contemplate a diamond Aksobhya in the middle of the Buddlia-mandala. Hav ing meditated on the Hum in his heart, lis should place the cilia iu the form of a bindu. He should contemplate Amitabha stationed in the middle of the Buddha-mandala. Having meditated on the Ah in his heart, he should place the vajra in the form of a bindu. This, the chief of best pledges, the contemplation of the inseparable three vajras (of one's own body, speech, and mind), the knowledge of the cessation-pledge, brings the success of the Buddhas. Tson-kha-pa also mentions that some persons claimed that the above verses portray the dhyana of'contraction' while the subsequent Guhyasamaja verses (XI, 45-47) portray the 'expansion'. Tson-kha-pa denies this theory and states that both dhyanas are portrayed in the above verses, and that the following verses 45-47 simply expand on the same topic. In preparation for this carya, according to the indication of Mkhas grub rje's Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tantras, the candidate is conferred the'Prajfia-jnana Initiation'. This is the initiation concerned with the cakras or bhagas. These bhagas become the centers of associating four voids (the four lights) with four ecstasies. Abhayakaraguptapada's I 'tiadesamahjari-nama (PTT, Vol. 87, p. 82) associates the lights with ecstasies as follows : Light (aloka) with ecstasy (ananda); Spread-of-Light (alokabhasa) with high ccstasy (paramananda); Culmination-of-Light (aloko-palabdhi) with extraordinary ecstasy (viramananda); Clear Light (prabhasvara) with consubstantial ccstasy (sahajananda). The I 28 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA same identification is made in the MahamudratUaka-tantra, Chapter Five, according to quotation in Snags rim, f. 408a-5. Tsori-kha-pa's Paficakrama commentary "Gsal bahi sgron me" (PTT, Vol. 159, p. 2, 3, discusses this association of voids ( = lights) with ecstasies (ananda), and ibid, p. 2-4, citcs the Vajra-mdld for the direct order [rjes lugs hbyun) and reverse order (lugs Idog rim pa) of the four ecstasies. In the direct order Snanda starts at the Mahasukha-cakra of the head, down to the Sambhoga-cakra of the throat, where starts paramananda; that down to the Dharma-cakra of the heart, where starts viramd-nanda; that down to the jXirmana-cakra of the navel, where starts sahajdnanda (continuing down to the 'tip of the thunderbolt gem', already identified as the root of the penis, according to the Prajfia-jnana initiation as portrayed in Mkhas grub rje's-work). In the reverse order, there is ananda up to the Nirmana cakra; paramananda up to the Dharma-cakra; viramananda up to the Sambhoga-cakra; and sahajdnanda up to the Mahasukha-cakra. Again, according to Mkhas grub rje's initiation section, this reverse order is prepared for by the Fourth Initiation. F. Hrdayavajray of id (The Diamond Ladies of the Heart) In terms of six-membered yoga this is 5. anusmrti ('recollection') and in the Pahcakrama system, it is Abhisambodhi-krama, the fourth. Besides, according to the Pradipoddyotana it is included in yuganaddha, and therefore is the initial 'gaiksa-yuga-naddha' ('the pair-united where there is learning'). It is the ability to come forth from the Clear Light (equivalent to going through the portals of death) as a yogin in command of the situation. When the Illusory Body has been purified in the Clear Light and emerges to pass in reverse order through the three lights, it is treated by the simile of a fish, in Pahcakrama, 4th krama (Abhisambodhi), verse 31: yathd nadijaldt svacchin mina utpatilo drutam / sarvaiunydt tathd svacchdn mdydjalam udiryate 11 Like a fish quickly springing up from a clcar stream, so the net of illusion emerges from the clear universal void. For this phase there is the Fourth Initiation (there is no further one), which the Guhyasamdjatantra, Chapter XVIII, describes COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 285 as just like the Prajfift-jftana initiation. This is bccause here the yogin experiences the reverse order of the very same combination of voids with ecstasies. The activities and symbolism arc centered about the heart. Three nidana verses are devoted to this : HR, the place of aim and creativity; DA, the yield or accomplishment; YA, the afterrealization. Both the diamond (vajra) and the lady (jofit) symbolism arc associated with the heart in Indrabhuti's Jhina-siddhi: hrdayam jftanam tad eva vajrayosit ('theDiamond Lady is just that heart gnosis'). The diamond (or thundcbolt) has two aspects according to Guhyasamaja, Chap. XVIII, 39 (with considerable emendation suggested by Nagarjuna's commentary, PTT, Vol. 60, p. 7-5, which mentions the two syllables 'Va' and 'Jra'), that is, a destructive aspect of VA and a holding or positive aspect of JRA, paiicahcliS ca velili vajram ity abhidhiyate / jrakiro dhrgili khyato vijhanam vajradhrtimanah // 'Vajra' is defined as 'Va', namely the five prongs, and as 'Jra', explained as holding. 'Vijftana' is the mind which holds the vajra. The lady also has two aspects, YO, the automatic union taking place through 'recollection'; and SID, the othcrworldlincss of the act. The first or destructive meaning of vajra is that found in Alamkakalasa's commentary on the Sri-Vajramali (PTT, Vol. 61, p. 182-4), while expounding the 'unshared sense' of the Tantra: "So as to explain the word 'vajra', it is said 'The vajra and also the vikalpas,' because it destroys the set of natures, (prakrti ) amounting to one-hundred-sixty ( twice 80 vikalpas)" (rdo rjehi sgra bsad pahi phyir / rdo rjc de yah rnam rtog rnams ics gsuns te rah biin gyi tshogs brgya drugcu po rnams bcom pa nid kyi phyir ro). I'son-kha-pa's Rdor bzlas (Lhasa Collected Works, Cha, f. 24b-4, 5, 6)starts with the first meaning and then passes to the second or positive meaning of vajra : "When the 'wind-mind' dissolves there untying the knot of the heart nidi, it is the sublime place with cessation of the 160 ( — twice 80) vikalpas. Because it is not perturbed by discursive thought (vikalpa), it is explained as field of the (Buddha) Aksobhya (the imperturbable)'; therefore, one may also understand it as the narrow space laid in the heart of Aksobhya. That I 286 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA essential place is also callcd SukhavatI, since it is the supreme placc for generating great ecstasy' mahdsukha). The bodhi-citta (there), through cessation of death, is the Buddha) Amita-yus; and because the infinite light of prajiid arises therefrom, it is also called 'field of Amitabha sniri gahi rtsa mdud grol bahi gnas der rluh sems thim pa ni rnam rtog brgya rtsa dan brgya cu for drug cu] hgog pahi gnas dam pa yin pas / rnam rtog gis mi bskyod pas mi bskyod pahi f.\n du bsad de mi bskyod pa thug kar hgod pahi dog pahan des ses par byaho / gnad de bde ba can gyi iii\ duhaii brjod dc bde ba chen po skye balji gnas kyi mchog dan / byan chub kyi sems ni hchi ba hgog pas tshe dpag mcd yin la / de las byun bahi ses rab kyi hod inthah yas pahi phyir ro hod dpag mcd kyi f.in duhan gsuris so I ). The positive meaning of vajra is involved in the frequent discussions of the Jflanapada school about the 'inviolable drop' (*akfata-bindu; T. mi iigs pahi Ihig le) of the heart, for example, in Vitapada's commentary on the Muktitilaka (PTT, Vol. 65, p. 135-2), where the form of the 'inviolable drop* in the heart is said to be, for example, like a grain of mustard seed; and to be the non-prapaiica of any dharma chos thams cad kyi ma spros pa). Vitapada also mentions in the same place a theory about the three kinds of bindu that thev are identified with the three kinds of masters acatya), the 'causal master' (*hetu-acarya), the 'conditional master' (*pratyaya-dcarya), and 'co-natal master' (* sahaja-acarya); and that the 'inviolable drop' is the'co-natal master'. (Vitapada's passage is given in full and explained in A. Wayman, The Buddhist Tantras, pp. 49-50). The 'recollection' (anusmrti) takes place through the goddess (yofit) or 'perfection of insight' (prajha-paramitd ,. The Guhya-samdjatantra, Chapter VII, treats this 'recollection' with various examples. Perhaps the most important illustration involves verse 34 (translated in Pradipoddyotana and Mchan hgrel context): tatra katham prajhaparamitdsamaydnusmrtibhavana prakrtiprabhasvardh sarve anutpannd nirairaiah j na bodhir ndbhisamayo na dhdtuh na ca sambhaiah // And what is the contemplation with recollection of the Perfection-of-Insight pledge > All those with (entrance into, praveSa) the Clear Light and its (accompanying) prakrtis (numbering 160 by day and night), arc unborn (bccausc the body taken is illusory) COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 287 and without flux (because not mere appearance, nirdbhi^ satvdt) when there is no (i.e. no attention to) enlightenment, no understanding, no realm (i.e. receptacle, ddhira), and no emergence (of phenomenal abodes). The Pradipoddyotana at this point cites the Vajrofntfatantra (translated here with help of Mchan hgrel, p. 60-2): / mrtyuna *lu avikalpena prajhdpdramiti nayi / I prajhaparamita jatih prajhilparamild smrtih // I prajhaparamild bodhih prajhaparamita laya / I prajhaparamita muktili sarvdldparipuraki 11 The Perfection of Insight has the method (=» the means, upaya) by reason of non-discursive death ( — the Clear Light of Death). The Perfection of Insight has the birth ( = the Illusory Body emerging from the Clear Light) and the recollection (smrti^ anusmrti-ahga; for becoming a Buddha in the Intermediate State). The Perfection of Insight has the enlightenment ( = yuganaddha) and the merger (with the Clear Light). The Perfection of Insight has the liberation (from the two hindrances, of defilement and the knowable). (For those reasons) it fulfills all hopes. IIHRjl hrdi krtvdrthacarydm vai laukikim sa tathagatalf / nirmaya samvrlam kayam kamainS cared yathayatham //27// The worldling praxis of aim having been formed in the heart, he the Tathagata, creating a conventional body, practises desires exactly as he cares. Mchan: The praxis of aim on behalf of worldly beings having been posited in the heart of the sadhaka—the Tathagata, namely Vairocana, etc., transforming himself in appearance, i.e. creating a conventional body, practises in desire fields ( = the five sense objects) exactly in Tathagata correspondence (i.e. Vairo-cana in forms, etc.). The verse shows the engagement in the time of praxis. PrakaSika on Hr: 'Creating a conventional body' means emanating the mandala-cakra with the nature of Tathagatas, goddesses, Bodhisattvas, and krodhas. Bu-ston (BSad sbyar, Vol. Ta, f. 57a-b) on Hr cites Aryadeva: "The one dwelling in the circle of yo?its, with a single mudra, or with four mudras, should recollect the Svadhisthana. Even after the yogin has dwelt on the level of highest bliss, he should I 288 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA always enjoy pleasant forms, sounds, odors, tastes, and tangibles" (/ phyag rgya gcig daii Idan paham // van na phyag rgya bii dan ldan / /btsun mol.ii hkhor na biugs pas kyan / / bdag byin brlab pa rjes dran bya / I gzugs dari sgra dan de biin dri / /ro dan reg bya sdug pa rnams /bde mchog go hphari gnas nas kyan / / rnal hbyor pa vis rtag tu myan I ies so !). ' Concerning those four mudrds, i.e. the four goddesses, Locana, etc., they arc referred to as 'his enjoyments' in Guhyasamija-tantra, Chap. XVIII, p. 157 : tasya bhogdS catur j hey ah siadhifthanadibhis tatha / virdndm ekaiaktranam ekaikam murdhni sccanam // His four enjoyments are to be known by means of the Svadhisthana, etc. Accordingly there is the anointment one-by-onc on the head(s) of the one-faced heroes. In partial explanation of the passage just cited, Nagarjuna's AflddaSa-pafala-vistara-vyakhyd (PTT, Vol. 60, p. 10-2) states: " 'His four enjoyments' are the four goddesses, Locana etc." (Ions spyod bzi ni spvan la sogs pa bzi ste). Furthermore, we read in Guhyasamajatantra, Chap, XVIII, p. 166 (translation aided by Nagarjuna's vyakhya, p. 16-4-6): vidyarajhiti vikhyata caturbhoga mahardhika / sarvakameti vijiieya vajradhipatayas tatha // When the four enjoyments (= four goddesses, Locana, etc.) have the great magical powers (= five Tathagatas), they are callcd'Queen of Vidya' ( = Rupavajra, etc.). In the same circumstances, the Diamond Lords ( = the Bodhisattvas) are known as 'All desire' (<= Yamantaka, etc.). The mandala which the Prakaiika refers to has an alternate form according to Tson-kha-pa's Pahcakrama commentary (PTT, Vol. 159, p. 74-5 to 75-1) called a 'gana-cakra' (tshogs kyi dkyil fokhor). In its middle is the vogin skilled in the praxis. The first series is the four yosits which he placcs in the sequence of E, S, W, N, namely Bde mchog sgyu ma, E-ma-ho bde ba, Sgron ma, and SaSi. Those arc consorts (sahacari, 'wives') (lhan cig spyod pahi bud med), presumably to be identified with the four goddesses, Locana, etc. Other sets of four goddesses, totalling sixteen, arc disposed in outer circles and callcd 'female attendants' (anucarr, T. rjes su spyod pahi bud med). The names of those deities belong to Mother Tantra rather than Guhyasamaja tradition. COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 289 Furthermore, the phrase 'creating a conventional body* can be illustrated in the case of Sakyamuni with tantric reinter-prelation (sec the theory of the 'Way' ornament in the introductory treatment of 'The seven ornaments and subdivisions'). The Pradipoddyotana (Mchan hgrel, p. 12-5 to 13-1) has this passage: I uktam evaitad bhagavata / asadharanaguhyamahayoga-tantre / athaparam sarvajilaparivarasaijipatti(rp) prava-ksyami / tadvatha suddhodanamaharajomafijusrl bhavati/ mahamayadevi lokesvaro bhavati / yasodhara sridcvl rahulo vajrasattvah saradvatiputrah sarvanivaranavi?-kambhi bhavati / aryanandah sthaviras samantabhadro bhavati / devadattas sthaviro devendras srisakvamunis sainyaksambuddho mahavairocano bhavati I anena nyayena sarigitikara iti ' parsad iti adikarmikasattva-vataranaya buddhanatako 'yam pradarsitah / This was said by the Lord in the 'unshared' Guhyamaha-yogatantra [possibly the Yoga-tantra catalogued as the Vajrafekhara-mahaguhyayogatantra]: "Xow I shall also reveal the perfection of the retinue of omniscience, as follows: Manjusrl became the great king Suddhodana. Lokesvara became the queen Mahamaya. Srldcvi became Yaso-dhara; Vajrasattva, Rahula; Sarvanivaranaviskambhin, Saripntra; Samantabhadra became the 'elder' Aryananda. Devendra (i.e. Indra) became the 'elder' Devadatta, and Mahavairocana, the Perfected Buddha Srl-§akya-muni". According to that interpretation, what is called the 'compiler' and what is callcd the 'retinue' is revealed as this drama of the Buddha for introducing the beginner sentient beings (into the Doctrine). 11 DA/1 dadati prarthitain sarvam cinlamanir iuaparam / ha(ha (S) cahrtya kurute buddhSnSm api saippadam //28// Like the best wish-granting jewel, hatha grants everything desired, and seizing (by force) enacts even the success of the Buddhas. Mchan : 'Grants everything desired'means :—grants all mundane siddhis. 'And even the success of the Buddhas' means :— even grants the supramundanc siddhi, which is Buddhahood. Mchan hgrel, Vol. 158, p. 144-5 : the wish-granting jewel' (cintimam) grants youth, health, and happiness. I 290 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA The term ha/ha (fierce yoga) occurs in the GuhyasamSja-tantra, Chap. XVIII, verse 162: darSanam tu krte 'py evam sadhakasya na j/tyate i yada na sidhyate boithir hathayogena sadhayel '/ When one has performed that way and still the sadhaka's vision does not occur, nor is bodhi achieved, then by hafhr-yoga it is achieved. According to Nagarjuna's AUddaSa-patala-vistara-vyakhyd PTT,. Vol. 60, p. 15-4, 5 and p. 16-1. 2\ this involves a fiercer practice with success in fewer days. Explaining the 'six months' ummasa) of verse 161, he says (p. 16-1-5) "If it is not achieved in six months, two months, one. or a half month, then one should try to achieve it in seven days" (gati gi tshe zla ba dntg dan zla ba gnis dan gcig dan zla ba phved kyis hgrub par mi hgyur ni / dehi tshe fag bdun gyis bsgrub pa brtsam par bya stc The comments show that if success is not reached through the usual procedure of the three sattvas (samaya-saltvn. jhSna-sattva, and samadhi-sattva) in 'six months", then one applies the procedure through the jiiSna'Sattva with evocation of the kradha deity Sum-bharaja for success in 'seven days'. The explanation of hathayoga in Naropa's SekoddeSatika, p. 45 involves drawing the prana into the 'middle vein' (hathena pranam madhyamayam vahayitva). The general procedure of obtaining siddhis is through the 'burnt offering', as in the Guhyasamajatantra, XVI, p. 117 Mchan hgrel, p. 139-2): homam kurvita mantrajhah sanasiddhiphalarthinah ! vinm utramdmsatailadyair ahutim pratipadayet The knower of mantras desiring as fruit all ("mundane and supramundane) siddhis, should perform a burnt offering (homa). He should accomplish the evocation by an inner burnt offering, to wit:—) excrement, urine, flesh, oil, and so forth. Pradipoddyotana and Mchan hgrel (Vol. 158, p. 141-5): (The offerings of) 'excrement and urine' mean the five ambrosias (amrta); (of) 'flesh' mean the five kinds. (Ibid., p. 142-1): 'Great flesh' means the five kinds of lamps. (Ibid., p. 142-1): 'AH siddhis' means of mundane ones, the minor ones of Sdntika, etc., and the eight great ones of ri-lu, etc., called mahisamaya (Guhyasamaja, XVI, p. 117, line 17). The reference to 'five COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 291 ambrosias' is based on a passage in the Mahamudratilaka, cited in my essay, "Totcmic beliefs in the Buddhist Tantras," p. 91: "Ratnasambhava is blood, Amitabha is semen; Amoghasiddhi is human flesh, Aksobhya is urine; Vairocana is excrement. These arc the five best ambrosias." For the five kinds of flesh, Dharmakirti's commentary on the Hevajra-tantra callcd Spyan hbyed (PTT, Vol. 54, p. 135-3) contains the Sanskrit words in Tibetan transcription : .Ya means human flesh (nara); Ga means ox flesh (gaura); Ha means elephant flesh (hasli); final Sva means horse flesh (asva); initial Sva means dog flesh (Ivan). The list 'appeasing' (Santika), etc. is the four previously described (nidana verse 15) as the jurisdictional activity ofthe four goddesses, Locana, etc.; and they yield inferior mundane siddhis. The great mundane siddhis arc eight in number, referred to as 'ri-lu' etc., where ri-lu '('little ball') is a contraction of ril-bu. The list of eight siddhis is somewhat explained in the annotation to Mkhas grub rje's Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tantras. Here we need only list them : 1. "To walk in the sky" (khecara), 2. "To be swift of foot" (janghakari), 3. "To be invisible" (antardhana), 4. "To shape into a little ball" (pindar upa, T. ril-bu), 5. "To remove, blindness" (T. mig sman), 6. "To have the elixir of youth" (rasana), 7. "To be invincible in battle" (khadga\ 8. "To have dominion over the entities of the underworld" (patala). The following passage of the Guhyasam&jatantra, XVI, p. 124 (Pradipoddyotana and Mchan hgrel, p. 146-4, ff.) differentiates between superior and inferior mundane siddhi: kayavakcittasamsiddha buddhar upadharaprabha / jambunadaprabhiikara hinasiddhisamdSritah 11 antardhanadisamsiddhau bhavet lajradharah prabhuh / yakfarajadisamsiddhau bhavet vidyadharah prabhuh 11 She ( = Vajradakini) who shines with a form like the (respective) Buddha is the (superior) occult success of body (grasping various forms), spcech (grasping various sounds), and mind (gaining as desired). They ( = mundane fairies, dakini) who glisten on the Jambu river are the resorts of inferior siddhi. The lord Vajradhara would be in the (superior )occult success of 'invisibility' (•=• united with the Vajradakini, a 'together-born female'). The lord Vidyadhara would be in the (inferior) occult success I 292 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA of Yaksaraja, etc. ( = united with the mundane fairies, the 'field-born females' . Besides the distinction of inferior and superior kinds among the mundane siddhis, these siddhis themselves contrast with the supramundane siddhi, as differentiated in the Guhyasamaja-tantra, XVI, p. 117 (Mchan hgrel, Vol. 15, p. 142-1 : antardhanam balam viryam vajrakarfanam uttamam siddhyate mandate sarvam kayavajravaco yatha Everything is brought to success in the mandala, as from the word of the 'diamond of body' = Vairocana), namely: 'disappearance', 'strength', 'striving', and the 'ultimate diamond attraction'. Mchan hgrel: 'Strength (bala)' means mastery of vidyadhara; 'striving (virya)' means the power of the five abhijhd-s; 'in the mandala' means initiation, guarding of vows, and contemplation of the path in the mandala-, 'diamond attraction' means attraction of things difficult to attract. Tiie last named can be compared with the supramundane siddhi of Guhyasamaja, XII, verse 37 ('Documents'): 'the supreme Buddha attraction' (buddhakarsanam uttamam). The five abhijha-s of this tradition were previously detailed under nidana verse 20. Sec also Chaps. VI and XII ('Documents'). Finally, supramundane siddhi, here called 'supreme' can be given interpretive levels through Candrakirti's classifying terminology. Thus, Guhyasamajatantra, XIII, p. 62 (Praai-poddyotana in Derge Tanjur, Rgyud, Vol. Ha, f. 104a-4, fT.; Mchan hgrel, PTT, Vol. 158, p. 94-4, ff.): mohasamayasambhuta vidyarajano vajrinah / napumsakapade siddhan dadanti siddhim uttamdm // A. Translation with'invariant sense' (akfarartha): The vidyarajas and diamond-possessors, arisen from the Delusion-Symbol (moha-samaya) confer the supreme siddhi upon the adepts (siddha) at the place of androgynes. B. Translation with 'hinted meaning' (neyarlha): The (krodhas) Usnisacakravartin, etc. (cf. nidana verse 17) and (Bodhisattvas) Ksitigarbha, etc. (cf. nidana verse 16) arisen from (the Buddha) Vairocana (as progenitor of the Moha family), confer Englightcnment upon the adepts at (their reciting) the three syllables Om, Ah, Hum (in the Clear Light and in yuganaddha). COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 293 C. Translation with 'evident meaning' (nUSrlha): The 'men' and 'women' who have taken an 'aggregate of indulgence' (upadana-skandha) ( = a body), arisen from nescience (avidya), confer the extraordinary siddhi of mahamudra upon the adepts realizing at the Clear Light and at the Culmination-of-Light (having attained the Clear Light and yuganaddha). I/TAII yadyad icchati yogendras lal tat kuryad anavrtah / asamahitayogena nityam cva samahitah //29// Whatever the powerful one of yoga wishes, just that he would do without hindrance; and by means of the yoga of 'after'-stability, is continually stabilized. Mchan : The powerful one of yoga—the practitioner of the Satnpannakrama—whatever he may wish to practise of his own 'strand of desire' (kamaguna)—just that he would enjoy unhindered ; and by the yoga of such sporting in a 'strand of desire' in the time of after-attainment—the 'after'-stability, he is continually stabilized in the sense of inseparable ecstasy-void. Guhyasamajalantra, XVIII, p. 156: asamahitayogena nityam cva samahitah / sarvacittesu ya carya mantracarycti kathyatc 11 By the yoga of 'after-stability' one is ever stabilized. That practice in all thoughts is callcd 'practice of mantras'. Pahcakrama, 3rd krama, verse 36 (with emendations): yad yad indriyamargatvam ayas tat tat svabhSvatah / asamahitayogena sarvam buddhasamam vahet // Whatever the sense basis and whatever its path (= sense objcct), precisely that approach in its own-being leads to all Buddha-equality by the yoga of 'after'-stability. Sri Laksmi's Pahcakrama comm., Vol. 63, p. 50-5: "Among them, the samahita is the contemplation of as many as 38 samadhis starting from 'initial training' and going up to the division into the hundred lineages. Accordingly, the asamahita is the place in the intervals by means of'divine pride' (devata-garva). The two of them do not exist separately in the yuganaddha-krama because there is a single own-being of 'profound concentration' (samadhi) and 'straying of mind' (vik.sepa)" ( I dc la mfiam par bfag pa ni dah po sbyor ba la sogs pa nas / rig brgyahi dbye bahi bar du ji srid tin liehdzin sumcu rtsa brgyad sgom paho/ de biin du miiam par ma biag pa ni lhahi ha rgyal gyis bar I 29 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA mtshams rnams la gnas pa ste / grtis po hdi dag zun hjug gi rim pa la yod pa ma yin tc / tin he hdzin dah / rnam par gYeh ba dag rah bfin gcig yin pahi phyir ro . The Sri-Paramadya-lantra' s last chapter has some relevant verses (PTT, Vol. 5, p. 172-4 : I dbah po gait dah gaii lam gyur j I de dah de yi ho bor bya I mham par giag nas maI hbyor gyis I ran gi lhag pahi lha sbyor bya I de hid mal hbyor hdiyis ni I thams cad hid ni bsgrub par bye ' I satis rgyas kun dhos lhanis cad ni I rlag lu mthor. iih grub par hgyur Whatever the sense basis and whatever its path, he should act in the own-being of the former and the latter. By yoga after stability, he will unite with his own presiding lord (adhideva). By this very yoga he will accomplish everything. He will always sec and perfect all the Buddha natures. HVA/I vajrapadmasamayogdj jhanatrayavibhagavit / liplaliplamalis talra sukhena viharet sadd // 30// Knowing the portions of the three knowledges, through union of thunderbolt and lotus,—the defiled and the undefiled intelligence would dwell therein with bliss for ever. Mchan: Knowing well the portions of three knowledges—the three (Lights called) Light, Spread-of-Light, and Culmination-of-Light arising through the (sequential) dissolution of the winds, by the sidhaka's taking recourse to union of vajra and padma— both the defiled and the undefiled intelligence would for ever be stabilized therein with ecstasy combined with void. This refers to what is done by the possessor of discriminative intelligence distinguishing l>etwcen (a) the stream of consciousness defiled by the trouble of defilement (kleia) when uniting with a partner (mudrd) and acting that way, and (b) the stream of consciousness undefiled by the trouble of operating in the defiled path (in like circumstanccs). The Vajramdla has a brief chapter, no. 14 (PTT, Vol. 3, pp. 209 and 210), entitled, "Chapter Relating the Marriage of the Diamond and the Lotus" (rdo rjc padma yah dag par sbyor ba COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 295 bsad pahi Mm). This contains two verses cited here and translated with the help of AlamkakalaSa's comments (PTT, Vol. 61. p. 210-4, 5 and 211-1). The first verse at Vol. 3,' p. 209-5, brings in the non-tantric terminology of calming (famatlia) and discerning (vipaSyani), the two which should be combined in Buddhist non-tantric yuganaddha: ! pad-nut dc yi gnas de la ! I de yi sbyor Italian mchog tu gsal / / f i gnas pad-ma ies gsui'is la / I de la lhag mlhoi! rdo r jeho 11 And his union in that place of the padma is most clear when (the master) explains that the padma is calming and that the vajra there is discerning. The next verse at Vol. 3, p. 210-1, introduces the tantric terminology of male organ (liiiga) and female organ (bhaga): I bio Idan rnam rtog bral ba yi / I rdo rje lifi-ga ies ni bSad / / mam rtog bral bahi bio Idan gyis / I bha-ga pad-ma ies ni brjod // The lihga possessing intelligence (mati) and lacking discursive thought I vitarka) is callcd vajra. The bhaga lacking intelligence and possessing discursive thought is called padma. On the latter. Alamkakalasa comments (PTT, Vol. 61, p. 21 l-l): " 'Possessing intelligence' means: has the perfection of distinguished insight (prajha : 'lacking discursive thought' means free from all eighty vikalpas." bio Idan ies bya ba la sogs pas gsuris te khvad par can gyi ses rab phun sum tshogs pa dan Idan pa laho 1 rnam rtog bral bahi ies bya ba ni / rnam par rtog pa thams cad dan bral baho . When we add to this his comments on the former verse PTT, Vol. 61, p. 210-4, 5), it becomes possible to explain the two verses this way: Samatha, or onc-pointcdness of mind, temporarily clears the mind of defilements but docs not destroy them, since they remain in the periphery of consciousncss. So it is like the lotus (padma) which is not adhered to by the muddy water but is still surrounded by the muddy water (here the 80 vikalpas). Vipasyana, or discriminative analysis, is free from the defilements but is without location. So it is like the vajra which is the intelligence free from the 80 vikalpas, but not localized in a particular mind. I 296 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA The lotus and the diamond intuit that they complement each other: the lotus will prepare the pure spot such as the mandala of residence, and the diamond will introduce the divine intelligence such as the mandala of the residents. Their nuptials are celebrated; otherwise stated, the yogin (whether male or female)brings about their inseparable union with bliss for ever. IIJRA/1 jrmbhate sarvabhaviitma mayopamasamadhina / karoti buddhakrtyani sampraddyapadaslhitah //31// The universal self of entities sports by means of the illusory samadhi. It performs the deeds of a Buddha while stationed at the traditional post. Mchan : The universal self of inner-and-outcr entities sports by means of itself staying in the Illusory Samadhi: — Former teachers opined this to be the application to generating the gnosis (jhSna) of'arcane mind' (cittaviveka) in meditative attainment (samSpatti) through reliance on a partner (mudra); but that is not all it is ! One should understand it also to be the generating of 'arcane mind' in meditative attainment through continuous line by 'arcane body' (lus dben gyis rgyud nas) and concretely by 'arcane speech' (hag dben gyis dhos su); and we have already explained the method of contemplation at the time of emerging from the meditative attainment. By this is to be understood the pregnant exposition of the doctrine of lust, not only in the phase of the two carya-s (i.e. the first two, the prapahca-caryi and the ni}prapahca-carya, explained under nidana verse 26), but also the reliance on a partner (mudra). In their phase the multiple occurrence of the three jiianas is numerous in these phases of the Clear Light of the Supreme Entity and is the way of incorporating the universal void of the Symbolic Clear Light into the third void, the Culmination (-of-Light); hence, if one counts separately the Symbolic Clear Light, there are four voids. // One sees like that, itself appearing in the Illusory Body, as stated in the Pahcakrama (3rd, 20b): "Stationed in the Illusory Samadhi one sees everything that way." 11 It performs the deeds of a Buddha, i.e. performing the aim of sentient beings by various means, and so doing by means of this Illusory Body; while stationed in the Clear Light which is the 'traditional post', i.e. the Supreme Entity. PrakdSika on Jra (PTT, Vol. 60, p. 296-1) : 'Deeds of a Buddha' means that he performs teaching, maturation, and liberation (of the sentient beings); 'the tradi COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 297 tional post' is the siddhiinta (consummate end), the post bccause it does not shift; 'stationed' means resting there, (saris rgyas kyi bya ba ni bstan pa dari / / yoris su smin pa dari /rnam par grol ba la sogs pa byed pa ni mdzad paho / / gtan la dbab pahi gfi ni grub pahi mthah stc / dc Aid mi hpho bahi phyir gnas paho I I de las gnas pa ni rial so baho). Pahcakrama, 1 st krama, 2B : mayopamasamadhistho bhiitakofyam samaviSet / Stationed in the Illusory Samadhi lie enters the true limit. J bid., 1st krama, 58 : ancna vajrajapena scvam krtva yathavidhi / sadhayct sarvakaryani mayopamasamadhina // Having done the service by that diamond muttering according to the rite, he would accomplish all deeds by the Illusory Samadhi. Ibid., 3rd krama, 20 : tasmad cva jagat sarvam mayopamam ihocyate / mayopamasamadhif thah sarvam paSyati tadrSam //. Accordingly, all the world is here said to be illusory. Stationed in the Illusory Samadhi one sees everything that way. Ibid., 3rd krama (Svadhisthana), 29-30 : mantramudraprayogam ca mantjaladivikalpanam / balihomakriyam sarvam kuryin miiyopamam sada 11 Santikarii pauftikam capi tatha valyabhicarakam / dkarfanadi yat sarvam kuryad indrayudhopamam 11 He should engage in the training of mantra and mudra, in the imagining of mandala, etc., in the rites of bali and homa; and in each case, ever 'illusory-like'. He should engage in appeasing (deities), increasing (prosperity), dominating (the elementary spiritis), overcoming (inimical elements), and in whatever attracting (of dakini-s), and in each case, 'rainbow-like'. Tsori-kha-pa, Comm. on Pancakrama, p. 71-1, 2, in illustration of 'non-prapaiica praxis' (nisprapanca-carya) cites Anarigavajra's Prajnop&yavinikayasiddhi (V, last line of verse 45, and verses 46-47) : cittam caropya bodhau vifayasukharatah sidhyalihaiva janmani // anaspadah kalpanaya vimuktah svabhavatah Suddhatamah samastSh / 298 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJ AT ANTRA anatmasa mjhaiiiaydh prakrtyd svapnenarajalapratibhasalulydh 46// yadavabuddha niravagrahena ciitena sadbhir vipulafayais tu / tadabbibbUtah sahajavagatyd na badhandjdlamalibhavanli 47 <7 Having elevated the mind to enlightenment, he, enjoying ecstasy in sense objccts, is successful in the present life. The sense objccts, callcd 'non-self, by nature like dreams, rainbows, and reflected images, are all intrinsically immaculate, free from discursive thought and without abode. When illustrious persons of wide aspiration fully understand them with a non-apprehending mind, then those (sense objects) are overcome by together-born comprehension and no longer trap (those persons) in their net. II YOU yogoi caivdtiyogaS ca mahayogah svayam bkavel / vajri ca ddkini caiva tayor yogaS ca yah svayam !! 32 /;' Yoga, atiyoga, and mahayoga occur by themselves; also vajrin, dakini, as well as any union (yoga) of both, by themselves. Mchan :. 'Yoga' implies both yoga and anuyoga, and they plus atiyoga and mahayoga—the prathama-prayoga of four yogas—occur by themselves for mdyadehin. Also vajrin, who is chief of the vtjaya-mandala, plus the dakini, plus any yoga of both) occur themselves for mdyadehin. The two lines refer to the two samddhis o{ mdyadehin (possessor of Illusory Body,. PrakaSika on Yo (Vol. 60, p. 295-2): Those arc the four yogas of the 'Stage of Generation', whereby one accomplishes the samddhis of 'Initial Praxis', etc. In the present case, yoga is 'means' (updya), anuyoga is 'insight' prajha), atiyoga is entrance into their union; mahayoga is the attainment of great bliss (mahS-sukha) from their union, (bskyed pahi tim pahi rnal hbvor bii ste I gaft gis dan pohi sbyor ba fxs bya ba la sogs pahi tin ne hdzin hgrub par l.tgyur ro / / hdir rnal hbyor ni thabs so// rjes su rnal hbvor ni scs rab bo / / sin tu rnal hbyor ni dc dag gi sfioms par sugs paho / /rnal hbyor chen po ni sfloms par sugs pa las bde ba chcn po thob paho). Besides, we may interpret that the terms 'yoga', 'atiyoga', and 'mahayoga' of nidana verse 32, refer to the yoga mastery of the three lights, as is suggested by the synonyms of the lights in verse 25, sunya, atisunya, and mahasunya. Thus the yogin with such mastery can evoke automatically the dakini of Sunya (-prajfla), the vajrin of atisunya (Aupaya), or their commentary on the forty nidana verses 299 androgynous union. Notice also the scries of terms in the full title of the Guhyasamdjatantra : rahasya, atirahasya, mahaguhya, in which mahaguhya is understood to include both rahasya and atirahasya. The Guhyasamdjatantra, Chap. XVIII, verse 32, defines yoga as follows : prajhopdyasamapattir yoga ity abhidhiyatt / yo ni(h) svabhava s tah prajhd updyo bhd'.alakfanam 11 'Yoga' is defined as the equipoise of insight and means. Whatever is devoid of intrinsic nature, is 'insight'. 'Means' is the characteristic of modes. Nagarjuna's commentary, p. 5-2, 3, 4, 5, illustrates insight, means, and their equipoise, first for each of his five stages (the pancakrama); then for the terms cause, action, and fruit; next, for each of the six members of the }adahga-yoga. In the case of the six members, the explanations go as follows : 1. Insight is the sense organs and means is the sense objects. The yoga of their equipoise and enjoyment, is pratyahara. 2. Insight is the sense organs and means is the Tatha-gatas. The yoga as their equipoise, is dhyana. 3. Insight is paramartha-bodhicitta and means is sant"fti-bodhicilta. The yoga as their equipoise, involving the emanation and reunification of them in upper and lower sequence, is prana-Syama. 4. When insight and means aie as previous, the yoga of their equipoise, holding the bindu the size of a mustard grain in (or at) the three 'tips of nose', is dhdrand. 5. When insight and means are the Tathagatas embraced by the goddesses, the yoga of emanating into the sky, as their equipoise, is anusmrti. 6. When insight and means arc the Dharmakaya and the Sambhogakaya, the yoga of joining them with the Nir-manakaya as their equipoise, is samadhi. Now, although the nidana verse speaks of those yoga states as occurring by themselves for the possessor of the Illusory Body, the Guhyasamajatantra, Chap. XVII, pp. 145-6, employs mythological language representing the four goddesses as imploring the lord in the Clear Light to come forth and make love to them. The order of the goddesses is that in which they superintend I 300 yog a o f th e guhyasamajatantr a the four rites (of appeasing, etc.). The translation is somewhat expanded by the Pradipoddyotana and Mchan hgrel (p. 162): atha te sarve bodhisatti ah tBfiiim vyavasthita abhuvan / atha bhagavantah sarcatathdgatah sarvatathdgatakaya-tikciUavajrayosidbhage>u vijahdra / Then all those Bodhisattvas (their doubts dispelled) became completely silent. Thereupon the Bhagavat who is all (five) Tathagata (families) took abode in the bhaga-s (the Buddhadharmodaya = the Clear Light) of the (four) diamond ladies belonging to (Yajradhara, who is) the vajra of the Body, Speech, and Mind of all the Tathagatas. Then Mamaki, the wife of the 'mind of all the Tathagatas' (-Aksobhya), implored Mahavajradhara in these passionate terms : 'Tvam vajraeitta bhuvanelvara sattvadhato traydhi mam ratimanojiia maharthakamaih / kdmahi mam janaka sattvamahagrabandho yadicchase jivitam maiijunathah //' 'May you of adamantine mind, lord of the world, realm of sentient beings, save me with love of great purpose, O thou the gratifier of passion! O father, may the great supreme kin of sentient beings love me, if you, the mild lord, wish that I live.' Then Buddhalocana, the wife of the 'body of all the Tathagatas' ( —Vairocana), implored Mahavajradhara endearingly : 'Tvarri vajrakdya bahusattvapriyaiikacakra buddharthabodhiparamdrthahitanudarsi / rdgena rdgasamayam mama kamayasva yadicchase jivitani maiijunatha //' 'May you, the diamond body, the revolving wheel (aiika-cakra) that delights many beings, the revealcr of the benefit of the Buddha aim and the supreme-enlightenment aim, love me with passion at the lime for passion, if you, the mild lord, wish that I live.' Then the 'diamond eye of body, speech, and mind' ( Pandara), the wife of Lokesvara ( = Amitabha), suffused with passion toward Mahavajradhara, pleaded with him : 'Tvatfi vajravdea sakalasya hitanukampi lokdrthakdryakarane sadd sampravrttah / kdmdhi mdm suratacarya samantabhadra yadicchase jivitarp mahjundtha 11 COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA verses 301 'You, O diamond specch, have compassion for everyone's benefit, are always engaged in doing the needful for the world's aim. Love me, O entirely good one (Samanta-bhadra) with the praxis of ecstasy, if you, the mild lord, wish that I live.' Then the wife (- Arya-Tara) of the Samayavajra (- Amoghasiddhi) of the Body, Specch, and Mind of all the Tathagatas, exhorted Mahavajradhara to make love to her: 'Tvam vajrakama samayagra mahahitartha sambuddhavainsalilakah samalanukampi / kamahi mam gunanidhini bahuratnabhutam yadicchase jivilam maiijunalha //' 'O Diamond love, the pinnacle of the Samaya (family), whose aim is the great benefit; you have the mark of the Complete Buddha's family and arc compassionate with equality. Love mc who is the treasure of virtues made of many jewels, if you, the mild lord, wish that I live.' Thereupon, the Bhagavat, Vajrapani Tathagata, immersing himself in the samadhi called 'diamond glory partaking of all desires', remained silent, while making love to the wives of all the Tathagatas by means of the samoyacakra (atha bhagavan vajrapanis tathagatah sarvakamo-pabhogavajrasriyaip nama samadhim samapannas tarn sarvatathagatadayitam samayacak-rena kamayan tusnlmabhut / ). The Pradipoddyolana (FIT, Vol. 158, p. 163-4, 5) explains that the four goddesses, respectively representing the four Brahma-viharas, which arc friendliness (mailri), compassion (karuna), sympathetic joy (anumodana), impartiality (upekfa), succeeded in their love petitions because the Bhagavat, by virtue of the continuity of his previous vow (shon gyi smon lam gyi rgyun gi Sugs kyis)cmcrgcd from the voidness-_)'oga ( — the Clear Light) and entering the above-named samadhi, engaged in love with those goddesses by means of the samaya-cakra, which is the 8x8-= 64 kdma-katS, or love techniques. The rich symbolism of the Guhyasamaja account emphasizes the exhorting by the female clement, the winds, elements, Nature herself, for the Lord to emerge from the absolute plane as the compassionate teacher to show the path to others. For I 302 yog a o f th e guhyasamajatantr a this he must embrace Nature, the wife of others. And yet this takes place by itself. II SID II nifiddham api krtva vai krlyikrlya-vivarjitah ' na lipyate svabhavajhah padmapalram ivambhasd '33 Having done even the prohibited, he renounces both the proper and the improper act. The one knowing the intrinsic nature is not adhered to (by sin), any more than is a lotus leaf by water. Mchan : If one practises in the 'strands of desire' kamaguna -the five sensory objects) of the vidya trig ma), is this in conflict with the saying, "Desires arc like poisonous leaves" ? The verse) disputes this. 'Prohibited' :—this is the label which the other vehicle applies to desire for the 'strands of desire'. "Having done even the prohibited' with the skilful means (upayakausalya) of this (our) vehicle, 'he renounces' the discursive thinking (vikalpa) of'both the proper and the improper act.' He 'is not adhered to' in his stream of consciousncss by the trouble of committed desires, etc., which lead to an evil destiny (durgati), because he is 'one knowing the intrinsic nature' of the dharmas. According to the texts of 'Hphags pa yab sras' (i.e. the tantrics Nagarjuna and Aryadeva) there is also such a viewpoint in the lower vchicic (Hinayana), hence in both (vehicles) it reduces to the greatest absurdity that there is (unethical) permissiveness to take recourse to the 'strands of desire' (form, sound, ctc.) ofthe vidya. But. while the comprehension of reality is the main thing, it is ncccssary to fulfill the frequently-mentioned characteristic of both firmness in 'yoga of the deity' (devata-yoga) and non-regression (avaivarlika) ofthe Bodhisattva (on the 8th to 10th stages, or Stage of Completion). Because, while the lack of fault refutes the 'permissiveness', there is a difference in the respective candidates of the two (vehicles). The scriptural citation "Desires arc like poisonous leaves" is presumably taken by Tson-kha-pa from Bu-ston's Bind sbyar on §id (Ta, f. 57b-4) : "Mdo las / hdod pa mams ni dug gi lo ma lta buho fes hdod yon la sogs spyod bkag paho / ic na /". So far I only find a reference to the poisonous flowers, as in the passage "like the flower on the poison tree" (,vi/avrkfe yatha pufpani), in Dharma-Samuccaya, 2° Partie (Chap. IX), p. 280. Also, in the Udayanavatsarajapariprccha of the Ratnakuta collec- commentary on the forty nidana verses 303 tion (Dcrgc, Kanjur, Dkon brtscgs, Ca, f. 215a-4) there is the half-verse. / ha la ha lahi dug hdra bahi / hdod chags kyis ni de yah hkhrugs / "He is agitated by passion which is like the halahala poison." But this poison is produced from the roots of the plant of that name, and is also the poison churned from the ocean according to the Purana legend. PrakaSika on Sid (Vol. 60. p. 295-2): 'Prohibited' means action in violation of the world. For example, to harm those who do injury to the Three Jewels ; Buddha, Doctrine, and Congregation); to steal the goods of the miser; to deprive the lustful person of a family; to cut the pride of the proud; to speak harshly to the envious. When one docs such acts as those in violation of the world, and under control of 'skill in the means', he is not defiled, for by doing it under control of great compassion (mahdkarund), there is no obscuration (avarana). (dgag pa ni hjig rten dah bahi las so ' / dper na dkon mchog gsum la gnod pa can rnams la rnam par htshc ba dah / scr sna can la rdzas hphrogs pa dah hdod chags can bu sniad hphrog pa dah / ha rgyal can la ha rgyal gcod pa dah ' phrag dog can la rtsub mo smra ba dah / de la sogs pahi hjig rten dah hgal bahi las rnams thabs la mkhas pahi dbah gis byas te gos par mi hgyur te / shin rje chen pohi dbah gis byas par gyur na sgrib par mi hgvur ro/). In accord with the second half of the nidana verse, Aryadeva writes in his CittaviSuddhiprakarana, verse 115: pankajatam yatha padmam paiikadofair na lipyale / vikalpavasanadofais tatha yogi na lipyate // Just as a lotus sprung from mud is not adhered to by the faults of mud, so is the yogi not adhered to by the faults of discursive thought and habit energy. The phrase 'knowing the intrinsic nature', or a similar expression, especially occurs in the commentarial interpretations of Guhyasamdja passages. Let us begin with the lady (yofit) as portrayed in the last three verses (emended) of Guhya-samdjatantra, Chap. IV: fodaSabdikam samprapya yofitam kantisuprabham / gandhapufpam alamkrtva tasya madhye tu kamayet // adhifthapya ca tarn prajhah mamakim gunamckhaldm / srjed buddhapadam saumyam akasadhati alamkrtam // vinmutraSukraraktadin dtvatanam nivedayct / cvamtufyanti sambuddhah bodhisattva mahayafdh // I 304 yoga of the guhyasamajatantra Having obtained a lady, 16-yeared, lovely in appearance, having prepared a fragrant flower, one should love (her) in its center. The wise man, empowering that Mamaki girdled with merits, goes out to the calm Buddha plane adorned with the realm of space. He should offer to the gods excrement, urine, semen, and blood. In that way, the Complete Buddhas and the renowned Bodhisattvas are pleased. The Pradipoddyotana quotes the Samdhivydkarana expansion of those verses (Mchan (igrel, p. 41-2, 3, 4) : kfanddikalabhedciin samjhd sydl fodaSdbdika / anulpadofild idnli(r) yofila ili niScita // Sdnladharmdiiapelakhyii kdntisiiprabhodilS j pratityavasanagandham piispam jnSnavikusanam /,/ nihsvabhdvakule j hey am sarvajhdjhanamadhyamam j kamayed idriiin prdjho yof itam dharmadhdlukam // na cadhyatmam na bdhydnlani nobhayc 'nyalra samsthita / asthunasthitiyogah sydd alo mamaki maid // tat svabhavaikayogam tv adhiflhanam lad ncyate / dkaSaikatvasamvasah saumyam buddhapadatn bharel atah samharandn vif sydd vifayah parikalpildli mill ram jhanendriyam samslham Sukram visuddhidharmald < raktam sarvajhatiijhdnam ye dharmah parikalpitdli , la eva devatah khyatu nihsvabhavo nivedanam evam lufyanli te buddha jinaurasa viSefatah laukiki kalpana yefam lefdm eva yathoditam The peace abiding in the unborn, whose name would be 16-yeared by differentiation of time starting with a moment, is determined as the 'lady' (yosit). Possessing a calm nature, she is said to be lovely in appearance. The flower has the perfume of habit-energy in dependence and is full-blown with gnosis. The knowablc in the family devoid of intrinsic nature is centered in omniscient knowledge. (There) the wise man should love such a lady belonging to the Dharmadhatu. She who dwells neither within nor without, nor in both or elsewhere, would be the yoga whose station is without location. Accordingly is Mamaki understood. The singleness of intrinsic nature is what is referred to COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 305 as the empowerment. The cohabitation of oneness with space is the calm Bucldha plane. Thus, the excrement is the amassings as the imagined sense objects. The urine is the formation with sense organs (jhdnendriya). The semen is the true nature of purity. (Menstrual) blood is the knowledge of all knowables. Those imagined natures (personality aggregates, and so on) arc the deities. The offering is the lack of intrinsic nature. In that way, those Buddhas and their spiritual sons are especially pleased. Whoever have mundane imagination, for them it has been told as (above). The expression 'who knows the intrinsic nature' occurs in the interesting comment by Pradipoddyotana on Guhyasamaja-tantra, Chap. V, verses 7-8: mutrbhaginiputrimS ca kSmayed yas tu sadhakah / sa siddhiiii vipulam gacchet mahSyanagradharmatam // mataram buddhasya vibhoh kamayan na ca lipyate / sidhyate tasya buddhatvam nirvikalpasya dhimatah 11 The performer who loves the 'mother', 'sister', and 'daughter—achieves the extensive siddhi at the true nature of the Mahayana summit. Loving the Mother of the Buddha, who is the pervading lord, one is not adhered to (by sin). Buddhahood is accomplished for that wise man, devoid of discursive thought. The Pradipoddyotana (Mchan hgrcl, pp. 43-44) comments : buddhasya matam prajftaparamitam svahrdisthitam niscarya taya sahasamapattim kuryat / hrdayastha mahadevi yogino yogavahini / jananl sarvabuddhanam vajradhatvisvari smrtcti vacanat / kamayann id matr-bhaginlduhitrvaddhitaisinlbhih / samayajfiabhih/ jnana-mudraya ca paramanandasukham anubhavah/ na ca lipyata iti ragadiklcsair naiva sprsyate / na kevalam ragadidosair na lipyate / api tu sarvasampattim apadyata ity aha / sidhvata ityadi / tasya sadhakasya dhlh susiksita mudra / yasya tasya dhimatah /' nirvikalpasya svabha-vajriasya / buddhatvam inahavajradharatvam sidhyate svayam cva nispadyate / ncyarthah // punar arya-vya-khyanam ucyate / prajAaparamitaip prajnam dharmaka-yaikainatrkam / kiimaye(n) ni (h)svabhavakhyaip 306 yoga of the guhyasamajatantra tathatadvayayogatah // sambhogatulyatam jatam tam cva bhaginim matam / kamaycn mantramurtya tu svadhidaivatayogavan // sadhako bhavayct tarn tu putrim nirmanarupinim / kamayann idrsah yogi bhagi-nimatfputrikam / sa siddhim vipulam gacchen maha-yanagradharma (ta) m //nitarthah / / Having drawn forth the (lady) Prajfiaparamita (from the Clear Light) dwelling in his own heart who is the mother of the Buddha, he should engage in union with her, because it is said (in the Sarvarahasyatontra, verse 46): The great goddess dwelling in the heart, causing the yoga of the yogin, the mother of all the Buddhas, is callcd "Queen of the Diamond Realm'. 'Loving' means by those aware of the pledge, well-wishing, for such as mother, sister, daughter. Experiencing the ecstasy of supreme bliss with the 'knowledge seal', one is 'not adhered to (by sin)', i.e. is not contacted by the defilements of lust and so on. Not only is one not adhered to by the faults (bad destiny) of lust and so on, but also one attains all perfection, for which reason (the verse) says ' (Buddhahood) is accomplished' and so on. The wisdom (dhi — prajiid) of that performer is the well-trained mudra. For that wise man, who is 'devoid of discursive thought', i.e. knows the intrinsic nature, Buddha-hood, i.e, the state of Mahavajradhara, is accomplished just by itself, i.e. completed. Hinted meaning. Also, it is said in the 'Aiya-i ydkhydna' i the Samdhiiydkarana): He should love by the non-dual yoga of thusncss the Prajfla-woman, who is the Perfection of Insight callcd 'devoid of intrinsic nature', the 'Mother' (the Clear Light) identical to the Dharmakaya. He, equipped with the yoga of his own presiding divinity (ofthe Stage of Completion) should love just that one referred to as 'sister', cngendred equal to the Sambhogakaya (which has emerged as the yuganaddha-deha from the wind and mind-onlv of die Clear Light). But, by (his) incantation body (which has repeatedly contemplated the Clear Light), the performer should contemplate that 'daughter' with the form of the Ninnana(kaya) (of the various Tathagatas). COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 307 The yogin of this kind, loving the 'mother,' 'sister,' 'daughter,' attains the extensive siddhi, i.e. the supreme dharma-nature of Mahayana. Evident meaning. It should be mentioned that the Mchan hgrel identified both the Sarvarahasyatanlra (the verses of which I have numbered) and the Sai/idhivyakarana citations. Besides, the translation has been influenced by the expression 'idria' applied to the yogin. In order that he be 'of this kind' there should be a relevant statement in each of the three cases, i.e. for the 'mother' "by the non-dual yoga ofthusncss"; for the 'sister' "equipped with the yoga of his own presiding divinity"; and for the 'daughter' "by (his) incantation body". This consideration justifies taking the Sanskrit expression manlramHrlya ('by his incantation body') with the suggestion of lu . . . lu, to apply to the 'daughter' of the next verse. Otherwise, the yogin would be of two 'such kinds' for the 'sister' and of no 'such kind' for the 'daughter'. This also suggests the solution that the consort of the yogin in the Mahasadhana phase of the Stage of Generation is the 'daughter'; while his consorts during the Stage of Completion arc the 'sister' and the 'mother'. (Much information about this daughter,etc. symbolism is in my article "Female Energy..." reprinted with coriections in The Buddhist Tantras). But also, the Guhyasamajalantra, Chap. V, after those verses 7-8, portrayed the astonishment of the Bodhisattvas. So the Lord pronounced verse 9 : iyam sa dhannatd iudaha buddhanam siirajhaninam / saradharmarthasambhuta cfa bodhicaripadam 11 This is the pure true nature of the Buddhas who know the essential (the Nirvana of no fixed abode). That, having arisen from the nature of the essential (supreme truth) and the entity (conventional truth), is the plane of cnlightcnment-coursing (Mahavajradhara). Thereupon, according to Chapter V, the Bodhisattvas fainted. The Piadipoddyolana {Mchan hgrel, p. 44-4, 5 to p. 45-1) quotes again the Samdhivyakarana on this chapter: punar aryavyakhyanam ucyate / aspan (d)akatn idar/i guhyam sanlaikam sukham ultamam / sandhyaya katbilani cedam samyaksambodhiprapakal} //... akaSanantatayogad rupadinam anantata / I 308 yoga of the guhyasamajatantra te vai tathagatah prokta bodhisattvas tathaiva ca i... tat lu samgraham ivedam mantfalam yat svakayatah / kalpayantiha satkayah bodhisattva hi milrchitah / na jananli tadityante sukhenonmadacoditah / bodhisattvan mahasattvan uklan te miirchitdn Further, the 'Arya-Vyakhyana' is citcd (lor the 'evident meaning' ): Motionless is this secret (place), peaceful, unique, the supreme ecstasy. And this attainer of perfect enlightenment is stated in the manner of twilight. By the yoga (the two dhyanas) of space sunva) and infinity ( = mahasunya), there is infinity of form, etc. (the skandhas, the elements, the sense bases). Those are indeed the Tathagatas as well as the Bodhisattvas. Now, that is this comprisal, which is the man/Jala as the (yogin's) body. The Bodhisattvas imagine it in this world as their transitory bodies, so they swoon. Since they do not know that (truth, the intrinsic nature), when exhorted by ecstasy's frenzy, the Bodhisattva Great Beings are said to 'swoon'. Some other explanations of the seemingly immoral injunctions are made without resort to such interpretations, as above, of knowing the intrinsic nature. For example, the Guhyasamajatantra. Chap. XVI, p. 120, has a verse which stipulates conduct precisely the reverse of the Buddhist layman's vows: praninas ca tvaya ghatya vaktavyam ca tnifa vacah / adattam ca tvaya grahyarn sevanam yofitam api // You should kill living beings, speak lying words, take things not given, and resort to the ladies. The Pradipoddyotana (Mchan hgrel edition) does not comment on this verse, presumably bccause the subject already was treated in Chapter IX's commentary. So, Guhyasamaja, IX, p. 35: "He should kill all sentient beings with this secret thunderbolt : (anena guhyavajrena sarvasattvam vighatayct); Pradipoddyo-tana, PTT, Vol. 158, p. 66-5 : "He should destroy all sentient beings by rendering them into the Void (Siinya)" (sems can thams cad bsad cin ston par byas pas rnam par giig par byaho). Tantra p. 36: "He should contemplate the stealing of all materials with the triple thunderbolt' (haranam sarva-dravyanam trivajrena vibhavayet); PTf, Vol. 158, p. 67-2: COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 309 " 'stealing' means he summons the substance of all the Tatha-gatas" (phrogs pa ni dc biin gscgs pa thams cad kyi rdzas dgug Paho) Tantra, p. 36 : "There he should contemplate the conjunction of all of them to the aspect of a lady" (yosidakara-samyogam sarvesam tatrabhavayet); PTT, Vol. 158, p. 67-4, 5: " 'there', in that mandala, he should contemplate the conjunction with i.e. the transformation (of all other male deities) into, the appearance of goddesses" (dkyil hkhor der... bud med kyi rnam pa lta bur vons su gyur paho). Tantra, p. 36 : "He should contemplate all forms as the diamond expressions which are lying words" (mrsavadam vajrapadam sarvabimban vibhavayet); PTT, Vol. 158, p. 68-2: "He should contemplate all forms of sentient beings as lying words, since all dharmas are like illusions" (thams cad gzugs tc sems can thams cad...rdo rjohi tshig gi rdzun smra bas ics bya ba ni / chos thams cad sgyu ma lta bu yin pas). Of course, it is not such a terrible doctrine after all, if killing of living beings means only seeing them as void; telling lies, the working with dharmas that arc seen as illusions; stealing, the drawing into oneself of the divine substance of the Tathagatas; and uniting freely with the ladies, the imaginative transformation of mandala deities into goddesses. The Guhyasamaja in one place suggests that this 'renouncing the proper and the improper act' of the nidana verse is from the absolute standpoint while in conventional terms we must still make these value judgments. Thus, Chapter IX, p. 38: mahadbhutefu dharmefu akafasadrfefu ca / nirvikfllpefu Suddhefu samvrtis tu pragiyate // While the dharmas arc marvellous and like the sky, are free from imagination and pure—a convention is expressed. Another solution is to take 'sin as merit', according to Pancakrama, V, 34-35 : yatha saukhyam tatha duhkham yatha dus [as tatha sutah / yathavicis tatha svargas tatha punyam tu papakam // evam jhatva cared yogi nirvifahkas tu sarvakrt / pracchannavratam asadya sidhyante sarvasampadah // Having known suffering to be as happiness, the son as the despised person, heaven as the Avici hell, sin as merit, the yogin should do all deeds without fear. By his recourse to the private asceticism, all perfections are fulfilled. 310 yoga of the gt'hyasamaj atantra G. Bhage-fu vijahara (iVas dwelling in the bhagas) In the six-mcmbered yoga, this is the last member, Samadhi; and in the Pahcakrama system, it is the last krama, Yuganaddha, in fact continuing the iaik>a-yuganaddha and ending with aSaik}a-yuganaddha. BHA portrays the yogin as a Buddha in one or another of the five Buddha families: while GE portrays his 'home', where he is, being the female element of the world. The syllable SU is understood as the locative indication governed by the verb Vijahara. Therefore, the author of these verses starts his final aiaikfa topic with SU. The Vajrasattva yogin continues by duelling anywhere SU \ I-JA-HA-RA to instruct the advanced Bodhisattvas. What is the meaning of die word 'bhaga' ? The Vajramili Explanatory Tantra, Chap. 41 PTT. Vol. 3, p. 219-3) states : I chos dbyiits bha-ga ies ni brjod / I bha-ga rin chen za ma log ! gah phyir dbah phyug sogs yon Ian I Idan pa dc phyir bha-ga brjod I bha-ga chos rnams su yah bSad I dbyihs ni byah chub sems su gsuhs I khams gsum pa yi hgro ba yi I rgyu ni bha-ga ies byar biad The Dharmadhatu is called 'bhaga'. The bhaga is a jewelled basket ' karanda . Because it possesses the merits of 'lordliness' and so on, it is callcd 'bhaga'. The bhaga is also explained as the dharmas. The dhitu is said to be the bodhicitta. The cause of movement of the three realms is explained as 'bhaga'. The explanation by the Sandhiiyakarana Explanatory Tantra is cited by the Pradipoddyotana (.Mchan hgrel, p. 21-2) : yalhoktam bhagavata sandhyavyakarana-lanlre sarvabuddhofita yi vi bhumih syat sa trayodaSi si ca yofit samikhyati saddharmo bhaga ucyate As it was said by the Lord in the Sandhivyakaranatantra : The Stage resorted to by all the Buddhas is the Thirteenth, and it is called the 'lady". The Dharma of illustrious persons is said to be the bhaga. (.Mchan hgrel explains that the Tenth Stage has the three lights. The Illusory Body is the Eleventh Stage. The Clear Light is the Twelfth Stage. The Thirteenth Stage is the *Adhimukti-carya-bhumi (mos spyod kyi sa) [hence Anusmrti in the six-meinbcrccl yoga or Abhisambodhi ofthe Pancakrama]. Accordingly. a Fourteenth Stage is allotted lo Yuganaddha.) Candrakirti's Pradipoddyotana on Chapter Seven, verse 21, devoted to 'remembrance of the Buddha' (buddhanusmrti), comments on the words 'dvayendriyasamapattya buddhabim-bani vibhavavet' "With union of the two organs one should contemplate an image ofthe Buddha"), as follows : / bhagah paramarihasatyam / tasmin liyata iti lirigam / kim tat samvrti-satvam prati sthapya prabhasvare pravesya buddhabimbam mahavajradharam vibhavayet paramarthasatyad vyuttha- payed ity arthah ' "The bhaga is supreme truth. About the liAga. it is said, 'It lies therein'. And what is it ? Conventional truth. 'Placing it', i.e. introducing it into the Clear Light, one should contemplate an image of the Buddha, i.e. Maha-vajradhara. One should make it emerge from Supreme truth. That is the meaning." Mchan hgrel 'p. 58-1, 2) comments on the lihga in the sense nf Conventional truth that it is the Illusory Bodv ma hi >'.w .which ibid. p. 21-1-7; is golden. Earlier, in Pradlp ••!•!•; •!.:• "> comments on Chapter One Mchan hgrel, p. 21-3, 4 . the same topic was set forth as follows: atha prabha-svarapravesad anantaram bhagavan mahavajradharah sarva-tathagatakavavakcitiadhipatih sarvakulatmakam atmanam paramarthasatyad vvutthiiya bhavanii winaikarasasvabhavena sarvatathagatamahasamayamandalamadhve pratisthapayamiisa/ "Immediately after the entrance of the Illusory Body) in to the Clear Light, the Lord Mahavajradhara, master ofthe Body. Speech, and Mind of all the Tathagatas, arousing himself, who is all the families, from Absolute Truth paramarlhasatya), by the intrinsic nature of 'single essence' inseparability) ofthe phenomenal world the Illusory Body as samvrti-sotya) and Nirvana the Clear Lisjht gnosis as paramartha-salya) established himself in the center of the 'Great Pledge mandala of all the Tathagatas." This is the four-cornered dustless mandala. Those passages clarify the usage of the word 'bhaga' as Supreme Truth, the Clear Light, in the sense of what is entered. Hence, mystically, the word for 'female organ' is employed for this arcanum, which therefore can represent any cakra of the body with the stipulation that the yogin enters (with a subtle I 312 yoga of the guhyasamajatantra body) that cakra and realizes the Clear Light. The comment on 'bhaga' as 'destruction of defilement' (cf. the introductory secuon on the nidana) refers to the purifying function of the Clear Light, which is credited with converting the impure Illusory Body into the pure gnostic body as the Sambhogakaya. The explanation of Yuganaddha consistent with the aljove remarks is treated as follows in the Pahcakrama, 5th krama (Yuganaddha), verse 18 (Sri Laksmi, Vol. 63, p. 51-1, 2) : ragaragavinirmuktah paramanandam urtiman asamsararn sthitim kuryad y uganaddhaiibhai akah Possessing the (Illusory) Body in supreme ecstasy the Clear Light), which is free from 'desire' and 'aversion' (- the prakrtis associated with Spread-of-Light and Light), he should remain as long as docs samsara, contemplating yuganaddha. Sri Laksmi further explains that this verse portrays the state called 'Nirvana without fixed abode' (apratifthita-nirvana). This is referred to in Pahcakrama, 5th krama, verses 2, 25 : samsaro nirvrtiS ceti kalpaiuldvayavarjanat ekibhavo bhaved yalra yuganaddham tad ucyatc ,/ etad evSdvayajhanam apratiflhitanirvrtih j buddhatiam vajrasattvatvam sarvaiSvaryam tathaica ca Having eliminated the two imaginations 'samsara' and 'nirvana'—then wherein unification occurs, is called 'yuganaddha' (the pair united). Just that is the non-dual knowledge, the Nirvana without fixed abode, Buddha-hood, the state of Vajrasattva, as well as universal sovereignty. But the human inind prefers that a dwelling be localized somewhere. The Guhyasamajatantia, Chap. XVII, p. 139, has the passage : I atha tc sarvc mahabodhisativah tan sarvatathagatan evam ahuh / sarvatathagatakayavakcittasiddhini bhaga-vantah kutra sthitani kva va sambhtitaiu sarvatathaga-tafo prahuli / trikayaguhyam sarvatathagatakayavak-cittain vajracaryasya kayavakcittavajrc sthitam , inaha-bodhisattva ahuh / kayavakcittaguhyavajratn kutra sthi-tam I sarvatathagatah prahuh / akase sthitam ; maha-bodhisattvah prahuh / akasam kutra sthitam j sarvata-thagatah prahuh / na kvacit / atha tc mahabodhisattva ascaryaprapta adbhutapraptah tusnim sthita abhuvan / Then all those great Bodhisattvas spoke as follows to all the Tathagatas : "Lords, where dwell the occult powers siddhi) of the Body, Speech, and Mind of all the Tatha-gatas ? Where have they arisen ?" All the Tathagatas replied : "The secret of three bodies—the Body, Speech, and Mind of all the Tathagatas dwells in the diamond of Body, Speech, and Mind of the diamond hicrophant." The great Bodhisattvas asked : "Where dwells the secret diamond of his Body, Specch, and Mind ?" All the Tathagatas replied: "It dwells in the sky." The great Bodhisattvas asked: "Where dwells the sky?" All the Tathagatas replied: "Nowhere." Then those great Bodhisattvas in wonderment and amazement became silent. Another interpretation of the word 'bhaga' is found inCelu-pa'sRatnavrkfa-nama-rahasya-samaja-vrtli(PTT., Vol. 63, p. 174-1) "It is said : 'Because it makes known everything, the mind(citta) is callcd "bhaga of the lady". From that is born the Teacher.' " ( ji skad du thams cad ses par byed pahi phyir / thugs ni bud med bha-gaho fes so de las bvuri ba ni ston paho / ). However, the < ilia to which Cclu-pa refers is actually the bodhi-citta. There is a celebrated verse about this, which was pro- nounced by Yairocana in the Guhyasamaja, Chap. Two : sanabha; a; igatam skandhadhdli dyatanagrdhyagrdhakavarjitam / dharmanaiiatmyasamatayd siacittam adyanutpannam Sunyata-bharam // "My cilia is free from all modes-of-being; avoids the personality aggregates, realms, and sense bases, as well as subject and objcct; is primordially unborn, the intrinsic nature of voidness through the sameness of dharmanai-ralmya." There arc also some other explanations of yuganaddha. Thus, Pancakrama, 5th krama, verse 12, associates yuganaddha with the 'central vein' of the body : pindagrdhdnubhcdtibhyaifi pravcias lalhalalayt / utthanam ca lalv yalra samalad yuganaddhakam 11 By means of contraction (pindagraha) and expansion (anubheda)—die entrance, so in the abiding, and then wherein the rising—through equality (of the two), there is 'yuganaddha'. The Subhafita-samgraha (Part II. p. 421 quotes the Samvara-tanlra about yuganaddha: esa svSbhavikah kayah iOnyatdkarunddvayah / napumsaka iti khyato yuganaddha iti kvacit This Svabhavika Body, the non-duality of voidness and compassion, callcd the Androgyne, is sometimes said to be yuganaddha. Finally, Pancakrama. 5th krama, verse 26 (Sri Laksmi. p. 52-2,3) defines yuganaddha in terms of samadhi: oajropamasamadhis tu nifpannakrama eva ca ! mayopamasamadhii capy advayam tac ca kathyate For the Diamond-like Samadhi is precisely the ni/panna-krama; and the Illusorv Samadhi is the non-dual (knowledge). At this point, Sri Laksmi quotes a verse without naming the source : "With insight (prajiia) one docs not stay in samsSra; with compassion (karuni) one does not stay in (the quiescent) nirvina:—For a long time with not the means (upaya) and for the same long time with the means" ( / ses rab kyis ni srid mi gnas I I sftiri rjes mva nan hdas mi gnas ' / thabs mcd pa vis yun riri dan / / thabs kyis kyari ni yun rin Aid / ). Here 'insight' is not the 'means' and 'compassion' is. HBHAII bhavaty a/fagunaiS caryair upetali sarvavit svayam / vicarej jhanadehena lokadhator ase>atah //34/^' Equipped with the eight gunas to be practised, an omniscient being arises, and by himself wanders all over the worldly realm by means of the knowledge body. Mchan : 'Eight gunas' are subtle form, ctc. (sukpnarupddi) ; 'himself—the yogin. Pradipoddyotana on GuhyasamUja, Chap. XV, verse 51; Mchn hgrel edition, p. 124-4 : "Bccausc he has the eight guna-aiivarya he has glory (srimat)" ( / yon tan gyi dban phyug brgyad dan Idan pas na / de ni dpal Idan paho ' ). On this remark, Mchan bgrel comments in part that it is the faikfa-yuganaddha. Pra-kOSiki on Bha (Vol. 60, p. 295-2): 'Equipped with the gunas' means he has the lordliness of eight gunas of the subtle, etc. or has the lordliness of body, ctc.; 'an omniscient being arises' means that he knows the mental make-up of all sentient l>cings of past, present, and future, and knows their death, transmigration, and rebirth; also, for the sake of sentient beings he 'by himself wanders by means of the jhSna-deha\ that is to say, he wanders 'all over the lokadhatu' by the illusory aspect as well as through all the Buddha fields (yon tan ics bya ba la sogs pa smos te ' phra ba la sogs pa yon tan brgyad kyi dbah phyug gam skuhi dbah phyug la sogs pa dc daii ldan paho / / scms can thams cad rig hgyur / ies pa ni hdas pa la sogs pahi dus gsum gyi nan na gnas pahi scms can thams cad kyi sems kyi spyod pa dah hchi hplto ba dah skye ba la sogs pa ses par hgyur re / i de biin flu yah scms can gyi don bya ba phyir bdag ftid ye Ses lus kyi spyod j ces pa ni sgyu ma Ita buhi rnam pas hjig rten gyi khams ma lus pa ste / sans rgyas kyi iih rnams yons su spyod do . Pradipoddyotana on Guhyasamdja, Chap. XVII, p. 135 and verse 39; Mchan hgrcl edition, p. 154-3: — •i, Pradipnddyolana comment on the words trivajrah paiame-Svarah : "The three mjras are the diamond Body, Speech, and Mind; and he is 'supreme' ! pnrama' among them." "Furthermore. the eight arc : 1 lordliness (aikarya) of body, (2) lordliness of speech, i lordliness of mind, (4) of magical prowess rddhi . 3 omnipresent lordliness isanagataifvarya) (6) of wish it ha . 7 of creating [[[kartr]]), (8) lordliness of the gunas (guna ." b Mchan hgrel : The eight arc :) 1 ) ability to simultaneously display innumerable cor- poreal manifestations. 2 ability to simultaneously teach the dharma to the different classes of sentient beings in their own language. '3) unsullied omniscience. 4) display of innumerable magical feats. ,5) omnipresence in all realms (fifaya), times (kala), and states (avasthd). (6) ability to fulfil wishes as soon as wished. 7) creation of various forms, stationary or moving, exactly as desired. (8) having the gunas of the ten powers, etc. By 'ten powers, etc.' the reference is made to the ten powers (dala-bala) and other attributes of the Tathagata, such as the I 316 yoga of the guhyasamajatantra four confidences. According lo the Mahavyutpatti, Nos. 120-129, the ten powers are : 1. power to know the possible and the impossible (sthdnasthana), 2. power to know the maturation of karma, 3. power to know the various convictions (adhimukli), 4. power to know the various elements {dhatu), 5. power to distinguish between a superior and inferior sensory power (indriya), 6. power to know the paths going everywhere (sarvatra-gamini-pratipad), 7. power to know all accompanimcnt of meditation (dhydna), liberation (vimok;a), profound concentration (samadhi), meditative attainment (samdpatti), defilement (samkleia) and purification (vyavadana), 8. power to recollect former lives (purvanivisa), 9. power to know transmigration and rebirth (eyuty-utpatti), 10. power to know the destruction ofthe fluxes (asrava-kjaya). Also, the yogin who 'wanders by himself' in verse 'BHA'— despite the mysterious maidens (kanya) mentioned under 'GE' and in Guhyasamdja, Chap. XV—is in that chapter classified by different families, according to Pradipoddyotana (Mchan hgrel, p. 120-4, 5 and 122-2). So, in the Sanskrit text, p. 94, the phrase, 'He would shine like a Buddha' (bhaved buddhasama-prabhah) refers to the yogin belonging to Vairocana. 'The king who holds all dharmas' (sarvadharmadharo rajd) is the yogin of Amitabha. 'By the praxis of Vajrasattva' (vajrasattvapra-yOgatah) means Aksobhya's yogin. 'Shining like Vajrasattva' (vajrasattvasamaprabhah) refers to Ratnasambhava's yogin. And 'the one accomplishing the desire and the liberation' (kamamokfa-prasadhakah) is the yogin of Amoghasiddhi's family. Besides, text, p. 95, the 'one of diamond nature' (vajradharmdtman) is the superior yogin belonging to Amitabha. Gukyasamdjatantra, XV, 11, places this attainment on the Tenth Stage : "He would be Vajradharmatman, dwelling on the Tenth Stage, the king who holds the Vaksamaya, the Parame£vara who is supreme." (sa bhaved vajradharmatma daiabhumipratisthitah / vaksamayadharo raja sarvagrah paramesvarah). HGEII geharji tasydmbaraS caiia yatra sa carati prabhuh / tatraiva ramate nityam mahasukhasamadhina //35// His home is the sky wherever he the Lord docs roam. By the samadhi of great ecstasy he forever rejoices in that very place. commentary on the forty nidana verses 317 Mchan : 'sam/ldhi of great ecstasy* means the consubstantial bliss (sahajSnanda 1 'That very place' is the sky and is explained as paramdrtha-satya. Saraha's Dohd-kofa (verses 93, 96 in Shahidullah's numbering) as I translate from the Prakrit (given here) and the Tibetan texts reproduced in M. Shahidullah, Les Chants Mystiques de h an ha et de Saraha, was suggested for inclusion here by the citation in Tson-kha-pa's (Gsal bahi sgron me commentary on the Pahcakrama PTT, Vol. 159, p. 70-5 to p. 71-1): 93. ruanc saala bi jo naii gahai, kunduru-khanai mah.isuha sahal ? jima tisia tisittane dhabai mara sosc nabhajjalu kahi pabai. 96. kainala-kulisa bebi majjha thiu jo so suraa-bilasa, ko tahl ramai na tihuane kassa na puria asa ? At the moment of 'resin' (kunduru is twilight language for indefinable 'union'), does he gain the great ecstasy (mahasukha) who docs not know completely the true nature (rliana, *rupana, taken equivalent to svarupa) ? As one with avid thirst races for the water of a mirage and dies of thirst —how can he obtain the water of the sky ? That sport by pleasure located between the lotus and the diamond, if anyone could not take pleasure there, in the three worlds, whose hope could he fulfil ? PrakdSikd on Oc (Vol. 60, p. 295-3,4) : 'The sky' means the realm of space (akdia-dhatu or kha-dhdtu); 'the Lord who roams wherever' is Sri Vajrasattva, the Lord of the five who are Aksobhya, etc.:. . . 'By the mahiisukhasamadhi he forever rejoices in that very place' has as external meaning that by producing in immediacy the reality of the Clear Light he rejoices by rejoicing in emanating and reunification; ... as to 'wherever the Lord docs roam', he roams in whatever lotus of mudrd by tin: form of upper and lower bodhicitta of Sri Vajradhara, bccausc the Tantra says, 'Whatever the sky within the bhaga, it is ornamented with five skies';. . . this abiding in his own form of introspection is the inner meaning. Those remarks of the PrakdSikd introduce a number of difficulties, but also suggest the research to be brought up now. The nidana verse has the phrase 'his home is the sky'. Guhya-samaja, XII, verse 2 ("Documents') speaks of a spot of a great I 318 yoga of the guhyasamajatantra forest and in a secludcd mountain. The Pradipoddyotana on this verse first explains the verse according to its literal form in terms of a beautiful place for meditation, labelling this explanation the'hinted meaning' (neyartha). Then, to show the 'evident meaning' (nitartho), it cites some verses from the 'Arya-Yyakh-yana\ in fact from the Samdhiiyakarana PTT, Vol. 3, p. 242), translated with some remarks from Mchan hgrel, p. 83-2, 3 : akaSakalpandyogaih skandha mahafaii malili asthanasthitiyogena pradese mahadalaye sambhogakalpairkfe 'smin vividhe siddhipurfite nirmanaphalasamSobhe samyaksambndhipanate abhavavijane ramye sadhyaiii tad vajrasamjhakam By procedures of considering their sky ( the Clear Light), the personality aggregates arc claimed to be 'he 'great forest'. By the yoga of the place of no location (apratif /hitanindna), there are those 'flowers' of the various (supramuudanc) siddhis on the wishing tree ofSambhoga (the illusory body) in a 'spot' which is a great place. When there is the decoration of Nirmana 'fruit' on the joyous 'mountain' (Dharmakaya) of right completed enlightenment that is 'secluded' by lack of states, what is to be accomplished has the name 'vajra' (i.e. Vajradhara). Ratnakarasanti's Pindikrta-sudhannpdyika-L n.ti-ratndoali-nama PTT, Vol. 62, pp. 69-5 to 70-1) concerns itself with the same verse of Chap. XII, and adds further levels of interpretation following Candrakirti's classifying terms. Here, his 'Yatharuta* interpretation is most helpful : The 'great forest' is the sky of 'she who is love's umbrella'. The 'spot* is the sky of *Devadatta. 'Adorned with flowers, fruit, and so on' is the sky of the Moon Lady. The 'mountain' is the sky of the Tortoise Lady. 'Secluded' is the sky of *Dhanavijaya (Nor rgyal ma). Because it is said : "Whatever the sky within the bhaga, it is ornamented with five skies, beautified with eight petals and a nave with filaments. The ambrosia with the form of Sukra, thrre located, ever drips." The description of eight petals indicates either the heart-ca/tra, or the cakra which in the male is at the root of the penis; the latter seems meant here. Previously we took note that the he f 319 latter cakra constitutes the yogin's 'woman'. On the other hand, the remark in the PrakaSika on Ge, "by the form of upper and lower bodhicitta" suggests both cakras. The PrakaSika on Gc also says, "whatever lotus of mudrS," which refers to the families of goddesses respectively going with the five yogins mentioned under 'BHA', who, according lo the PrakaSika, abide in their own form of introspection. According to Klori-rdol-bla-ma, as cited in my "Female Energy ...", p. 94, the butcher maiden belongs to Aksobhya's family; the washerman maiden to Vairocana's; the necklace-siringer maiden to Ratnasambhava's; the dancer maiden to Amitabha's; the artisan maiden to Amoghasiddhi's. Also, there are 'ages' ascribed to various ones of those maidens. According to the Guhyasamdjatantra, Chapter Four, verse 19 (.Mchan hgrel, p. 40), and Chapter Sixteen verse 91 (Mchan hgrel, p. 147), the maiden belonging to Aksobhya's family is aged 12; the one of Vairocana's 16. The article "Female Energy... " shows that this is consistent with the sizes ascribed to mandalas of Body, Speech and Mind in the Guhyasamdjatantra. Its Chapter Four mentions (Aksobhya's) mandala of Mind to have twelve liastas; its Chapter Sixteen mentions Yairocana's mandala of Body to have sixteen hastas, and Amitabha's mandala of Spcech to have twenty hastas. On this principle, the maiden of Amitabha's family is aged 20. In that article, p. 103, I cited a passage from Saraha setting forth five ages, the cight-ycared Kumari, the twelveyear-old Salika, the sixtccn-ycarcd one called Siddha, the twenty-year-old *Balika, and the twenty-five-yeared *Bhadra-kapalinl. By implication, Ratnasambhava's and Amogha-siddhi's maidens, in whatever order, have the ages of 8 and 25. The Guhyasamdjatantra (Chap. 8, verse 7) mentions the age 25, but no age 8. Since this Tantra regularly has a four-fold correspondence in terms of the four goddesses, and hence to four Tathagatas, the basic three plus Amoghasiddhi (the 'karmanatha'), it follows that Amoghasiddhi's maiden is aged 25, but so far I find no passage to confirm this. In that article, p. 108, I included a quotation from the Mahamudratilaka : "If one docs not obtain a twelve-yeared, or sixtcen-yeared female, adorned with good features, long eyes, attractive figure and youth, then a twcnty-ycared one is proper. Other 'seals' I 320 yoga of the guhyasamajatantra (mudra) above twenty put the occult power far off. One should offer his sister, daughter, or wife to the 'master' (guru)." This passage is one evidence that the 'ages' refer to the length of time it takes the yogin to reach the siddhi. Other interpretations ofthe 'ages' presented in that article were, for the sixtecn-yearcd maiden, the sixteen voidnesses as well as sixteen vowels, the sixteen transits of winds and the sixteen digits of the moon. The twelve-yeared maiden can be interpreted as the twelve vowels by leaving out the 'two neuters' (r, }, j, and I) from the I6-vowel group, or as twelve transits by leaving out the last four transits. Besides, according to Guhyasamajatantra, Chap.XV. verse 51, the maidens can belong to eithert he realm of desire (kamadhatu) or the realm of form (ritpadhatu). According to the Pradipoddyo-tana on this, the ones in the realm of desire can be the daughters of the six passion families (the Tusita gods, etc., a standard category of non-tantric Buddhism), the ones called 'surabhoga' are the daughters of the Cakravartins; and the 'kulavrata' means they can belong to the families of gods, asuras, and soon. The ones in the realm of form have superior capacity (for siddhi). II $U II tfv evabhasabhedefu sandhya-ralri-dinesu ca vyavahdrah krto lokc jhanatrayanidarSanat // 36 11 A conventional illustration is made in the world regarding just these distinctions of lights as the twilight, the night, and the day—so as to see the three gnoses (jhana). Both Mchan and the PrakaSika have little to add here. These illustrations arc made to the disciple by a revered guru by way of Initiation (abhifeka). The Mani-mdld commentary on the Pahcakrama states (PTT, Vol.62, p. 208-1) : "The exalted deary a, by removal of the eye-veil (timira), reveals to the disciplc the outer abhisambodhis" (slob dpon mchog ni rab rib spans pas slob ma la ni phyi rol byari chub bstan). Therefore, in his Abhisambodhi-krama of the Pahcakrama, Nagarjuna precedes the actual delineation of the abhisambodhis with verses showing the disciplc's exhortation to the guru to reveal those abhisaipbodhis. tatsamaradhariaip krtvd varfarp masaip athdpi va / tasmai tuffdya gurave pSjam kurydt tu Saktitah // 3 // tatas tuffo mahayogi pahcakdmopabhogatah / dlokasyodayam kurydt samapattividhSnatah // 5 // he f 321 kalaSddau susamsthdpya bodhicittam prayatnatah / ardharatre cabhisihcel sutisyam krpayS guru It // 6 // abhiffkam tu samprapya pratyusasamaye punah / sampBjyaradhayet stotrair gurum Si/yah krtahjalih // 7 // druf/ukdmo 'bhisambodhim sarvaf unyasvabhavikdm / stutvii krtaiijalih Sisyo guriim samcodayet punah // 12 // prayaccha me mahdndlha abliisambodhidarSanam / karmajanmavinirmuktam abhasatrayavarjitam // 13 // evam aradliito yogi sadbhutagunakirtanaifi / iify e kdrunram utpadya kramam evam atharabhet // 16 // Having propitiated (the hierophant) for a month or even for a year, he should make offering as he is able to that pleased guru ....... Then the mahSyogi, delighted through enjoyment of the five pleasures, should arouse light by a rite of equipoise (samSpatti). By engaging the'mind of enlightenment' he well disposes the flask and so on; and at midnight the guru kindly initiates the good disciple. Having received initiation, the disciple at the time of dawn respectfully bows to the guru and pleases him with worshipful verses of praise__________When that discipic, desirous of seeing the abhisambodhi which is the intrinsic nature of universal void, had praised, then respectfully bowing to the guru, he should exhort him further : 'Oh, great lord, pray offer me the glimpse of abhisambodhi, liberated from karma and rebirth, and free of the three lights !' The yogi, thus gratified by the recital of holy qualities, feeling compassion toward the discipic, then begins the steps this way : Pahcakrama, 2nd krama, verse 30 : sai/willimatrakaiti jnanam akaSavad alakfanam / kini tu tasya prabhedo 'sti samdhyaratridivatmanah // The gnosis (jhana) which is purely introspective is characterless like the sky. But it has a division going with the twilight, the night, the day. Pahcakrama, 4th krama, 17 : aloko rStribhagah spliu(aravikirartah sydd awalokdbhdsah sai/idhyalokopalabdhab prakrtibhir asakrd yujyate svabhir etat I 'Light' is the (moon-rise) part of night. The day with its spreading rays of the bright sun is 'Spread-of-Light'. I 322 yoga of the guhyasamajatantra Twilight is 'Culmination-of-Light'. They work again and again by their own prakrtis. Therefore, the Clear Light, or universal void, is free of day, night, and twilight. These conventional illustrations also involve the distinction of inner and outer Abhisambodhis, as are explained by Aryadeva in his Carya-melapaka-pradipa (PTT, Vol. 61, p. 308-2), where we should observe that he employs the word 'nescience' (avidya) as in nidana verse 3 : I de la mrion par byari chub pahi rim pa ni rnam pa giiis te I hdi lta ste phyi dan nan giho / / de la dan por phyihi bstan par bya ste / tho raris kyi thun mtshams su ma rig pahi snari ba hdas na ji srid ni ma gsal bar ma gyur pa ste / hdi la ni hod gsal ba dri ma mcd pahi rnam pa gsal 2iri lus dan nag dan yid dan bral ba thams cad stori pahi mtshan riid can no / / fli ma gar ba ni snan ba mched paho / / fii ma nub pahi thun mtshams su ma rig paho / / zla ba sar bahi tshc ni snari baho / / de ltar stori pa Aid rnam pa b£i phyi rol ries par bstan pa bsad nas / da ni nari gi mrion par byari chub pa so so ran gis rig pahi mtshan nid can rim pa hdis bstan par bya ste / dari por smig rgyu lta bu la hod zer Iriahi tshogs dari Idan par mthori rio / / griis pa snari ba ste / zla bahi hod zer lta buho I I gsum pa ni snari ba mched pa ste / ni mahi hod zer Ita buho / / bii pa ni snari ba thob pa ste / mun pa lta buho I I dc nas mun pa dan bral bahi skad cig la hod gsal ba ste sin tu gsal brtag tu snari bahi mtshan nid can don dam pahi bden pahi rari gi mtshan nid ye scs kyi. mig gis mthori rio / Here, there are two kinds of Abhisambodhi sequences, namely, outer and inner. Of those, I shall first explain the outer kind. In the morning twilight, when the nescience light has passed away but still the sun is not bright— this characterizes the Clear Light, clear, of immaculate aspect, the universal void free from body, spcech, and mind. The rising of the sun is Spread-of-Light. The twilight of sunset is nescience. The time of moonrise is Light. Having in that way related the external illustrations of the four kinds of voidncss, I shall teach the inner Abhisambodhis by this sequence characterized by introspection : One sees first a mirage appearance with a commentary on the forty nidana verses 323 mass of five light rays. Second is Light, like moon-rays. Third is Spread-of-Light, like sun-rays. Fourth is Culmination-of-Light like darkness. Then, in an instant free from darkness, there is Clear Light, characterized by a very bright lasting light, the individual characteristic of Paramartha-satya, which one sees with the Eye of Knowledge. In that passage, Aryadeva presents four outer abhitaipbodhis (revelations), namely, natural phenomena revealing the voids or lights; and five inner abhisaipbodhis (also, revelations), namely, psychological states that are actually the voids or lights. The 'revealed' source for the Abhisambodhi illustrations is Guhyasamajalantra, Chap. XV p. 95 : aslamile tu vajrarke sadhanam tu samaiabhet / arunodgamavelayam sidhyate bhavanottamaih // When the diamond sun is setting, he should begin the sadhana. At the initial appearance of dawn he will succeed with the supreme contemplation. The Pradipoddyotana, Mchan hgrcl edition, on this (PTT, Vol. 158, p. 121-2), explains that the 'diamond sun' (vajrdrka) is characterized by the attainment of the 'means' gnosis (updya kind of j nana), hence Spread-of-Light. When this sets, there is the form of 'insight' iprajha). hence Light. Then before the Clear Light can emerge, that Light must pass into Cul- mination-of-Light, which is the initial appcarancc of dawn, or nescience (avidya). Then, on the basis of the three gnoses, namely, voidncss, further voidncss, and great voidness (Light, Spread-of-Light, and CuImination-of-Light), riding on the winds, the yogin soars to the Clear Light and perfects the maha-mudra ('great seal';. The success in the practice is indicated in the Guhyasamdja-tantra, Chap. XVIII, p. 162 : vajrapadmasamayogaj jvalya sanldpya yogina / udyate sphafikakaram jhdnasiiryam ivdparam // Through union of vajra and padma by the yogin, blazing, burning, The incomparable sun of knowledge rises with crystalline appearance. That description clearly points to the mysdeal experiences of Gautama Buddha under the Tree of Enlightenment during the I 32 yog f the guhyas night inaugurated by defeat of the Mara host at dusk, and finally Full Enlightenment at the flush of dawn—in the joy-faced night (nandimukhayam rajanyam), or night becoming rosy-colored, quoted from the Mahavaslu in my "Notes on the Sanskrit Term Jhana," p. 265. The follow-up to that early study is that the color of the sky represented the three lights by three natural features, the blackness of night (Culmination-of-Light), the red glow of the sun wishing to rise (Spread-of-Light), the setting full moon (Light), a sort of "three-in-one", the revelation of the Clear Light—in Aryadeva's language : "free from body, speech, and mind". II VIII vicitravyavahiiriis ca laukikaih fiarikalpitah / palhatrayavibliagcria jhanatrayasamudbhavih // 37 // Worldlings imagine the multiform conventions, which divided into three paths, originate the three knowledges. Mchan : 'The multiform conventions' are : male, female, neuter; right, left, middle; harsh, mild, medium; ctc. 'Three paths' means those leading to the Clear Light. The 'three paths' are probably the Body, Speech, and Mind referred to in the PrakaSika on Vi. I collected a number of these 'multiform conventions' in the articlc "Female Energy...," from which its Table 2 headed "The Great Time" is here reproduced : IX. THE GREAT TIME Om I Ah II urn Prajna, the form I Upaya, the form Androgyne of woman of man 8-petalled lotus 5-pronged thunder- bolt Moonlight Sunlight Fire Night Day Juncture of day and Left night Right Middle Waking Void Dream Further Void Dreamless sleep Great Void Light Sprcad-of-Light Culmination-of-light Body Speech Mind Vairocana Amitabha Aksobhva Birth Intermediate State Death Nirmanakaya Sambhogakaya Dharmakaya Tamas Rajas Saliva Head Neck Heart Inspiration Retention Expiration Indrabhuti presents another list of synonyms and correspondences in his commentary on the fri-sampula-tilaka callcd flkSsmrti-samdarSanaloka PIT, Vol. 55, p. 77-2): I shin stobs dah snah ba dah lus dah scms dah ston pa dah zla ba dah ies rab dah intshan ino dah gian dbah dah om dah ah ho dc biin du rdul dah snah ba mched pa dah hag dah scms las byuh ba dah / sin tu ston pa dah / hi ma dah thabs dah hin mo dah / kun brtags dah I a dah hri ho dc biin du mun pa dah snah ba thob pa dah yid dah ma rig pa dah stoh pa chen po dah sgra gcan dah yah dag par sbyor ba dah mtshams dah yons su grub pa dah hum dah phat ho / Sattva -guna . Light, Body, citta, Void, Moon, Insight prajha . Night, paratantra, Om and Ah. Likewise, rajas -guna), Spread-of-Light, Speech, caitta, Further Void, Sun, Means upSya), Day, parikalpita, A and Hri. Likewise, tamas (-guna), Culmination-of-Light, Mind, avidya, Great Void. R.ihu, samyoga (marriage), twilight, pari-nispanna, Hum and Pltat. A little further in the same work, Indrabhuti says (p. 77-5): Here, 'inferior' Jiina) means that by Om Aentrance (of the wind), he generates the fairies located in patila. Likewise, 'medium' (madhya) means that by Ah = staying (of ditto), he generates those located over bhumi. And, 'best' (pranita) means that by Hum—rising (of ditto), he generates those ranging in the sky (khecari). Likewise, in respective order, there are innumerable sets, including three mandalas, three paths, three eyes, three bodies (kaya), three liberations :imok<a), three worlds (toka), three gestations (bhaia), three realities (lattva), three times, three samdhya (dawn, noon, and dusk), threefirma-mcnts ? gagana . three creature worlds (jagat), the triple fortiheaton (Iripura), three germ syllables (bija), triangle (Irikona), three places (possibly three seats, pi/ha), three gunas, three letters (ak\ara). three lights (iloka). three characters (.siabhaca), three realms (dhalu), three faces (mukha), three hearths, three kinds of form (rupa). HJAjl janma ca slhilibhaiigena anlarabhavasantslhilih / yavanlyah kalpana lake citlavayu-vijrmbhila(i //38// (Namely) birth, and by loss of abode—formation of the I 326 yog a o f th e guhyasamajatantr a intermediate state. To the extent there is discursive thought in the world, so is there phenomenal projection of mind and (its vehicular winds. Mchan: The verse refers to birth, death, and the state between those two (the antardbhava). Just as in the case of the two preceding verses, this one presents synonyms of the three gnoses. So also earlier (nidana verse 25 citta, caitta, avidya; and soon. The synonyms are collected in the 2nd krama sems dmigs kyi rim pa) of the Pahcakrama. In the case of the intermediate state, this generates the Illusory Body inaya-dcha . The ultimate root is the extremely subtle wind and the mind mounted upon it. Discursive thinking (kalpand) phcnomenalizes that wind and its mounted consciousness. Prakasika on Ja PTT, Vol. 60, p. 295-4, 5) : 'To the extent there is discursive thought in the world* means the discursive thought going with the twelve-membercd Dependent Origination (ji shed hjig rten gyis brtags pa ' ies pa ni rten ciri hbrcl bar hbyuh ba van lag bcu gnis la sogs pahi rnam par rtog paho). In my article "Buddhist Genesis and the Tantric Tradition", there are various passages from the works of Tsoh-kha-pa to show that he laid great stress upon the concordance with the three things, birth, death and the intermediate state. According to Tsoh-kha-pa, contemplation of the Dharmakaya purifies death; of the Sambhogakaya, the intermediate state; ofthe Nirmanakaya, birth. Such contemplation takes place both in the Stage of Generation and in the Stage of Completion. HHAll hasyalasyakriyas caiva navanatyarasanvitah / mudramantravikalpai ca vajrasattvavicetfitam 39' Both the acts of laughter and accompanied dance with the nine sentiments of dramatic art. as well as mudra, mantra, and mental formation, are enacted by Vajrasattva (the tantric hierophant). Mchan : 'Laughter' and the mutual gaze at the time of the catyi (i.e. steps in divine courtship). 'Accompanied dance': a dance (lasya) accompanied with singing and instrumental music. 'The nine sentiments of dramatic art' : this refers to accomplishing the Illusory Body from the wind-and-mind-onlv belonging to the sadhaka"s innate body (nija-deha). 'Mudra' of body; 'mantra' of speech; 'mental formation' of binding (fchin ba). 'Enacted by Vajrasattva' : this furnishes the reason COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA verses 327 for the earlier statement that the one who knows the intrinsic nature is not adhered to by sin. Praka.tikA on Ha (Vol. <">0, p. 295-5) : 'Mental formation' means the various mentals, such as ouc-pointcdness; 'enacted by Vajrasattva' means that all those (acts) are enacted through the Illusory Samadhi (imiiyopama-samiidhi) (rnam par rtog pa ni sems las bvuii ba rtsc gcig pa la sogs paho / / rdo rje sems dpahi rnam hphrul its pa ni de dag thams cad sgyu ma Ita buhi tin he hdxiu las rnam par hphrul pa stc). Mndra, mantra, and mental formation (in samadhi) are coordinated respectively with the three mysteries of the Buddha his Body, Speech, and Mind. The first two are especially, credited with attracting the deities (the mental formation is also required for 'binding' them), as in the Guhyasamajalantra, Chap. XIV. p. 87 (Mchan hgrel, p. 115-5): mudrabhedena sarvefdm mantrahhedena sarvatha I akar>anafiadam prnktam na cen naSam avapnuyat 11 vajrasattvo maharajo codaniyo muhur muhuh !' sa eva sarvamnnhanam raja paramaliUvatali /,' By division of ' m.ih.i-' mudri into mantra-deha and jndna-deha ) of all the gods . and by division of ;diamond-) incantation into two kinds, in every case— the way of attracting is explained. If it were not so, that (way of attracting wo-dd be unsuccessful. Vajrasattva (the latter, the sixth, as the basis of the former five) is the Great King to be exhorted kept in mind) again and again. For.; just he is the ever-supreme king of all incantations. Vajrasattva's activities arc summarized in I'ahckrama, 3rd krama, verse 31: S.i Laksmi, Vol <">:!, p. 39-2, 3: Srngaradyupabhizam ca gUavadyadisevanam I kalasu ca pra: rttim ca kuryad udakacandravat 11 He should practise the experience of the 'erotic', etc. (the nine sentiments . the recourse to the three adamantine) songs and instrumental music (the four beginning with vina), and so on, as well as engagement in the (sixty-four) kala or kdmakald) (in each ease i in the manner of the 'moon in the water' (i.e. while in the Illusory-like Samadhi (mayopama-samadhi). In Indian dramatic theory, lasya is the sweet, gracefiil, and feminine dance. The nine sentiments are : erotic (Srngdra), I 328 yoga of the guhyasamajatantra heroic (vira), furious (raudra), humorous (,hasya), wondeiful (adbhuta), compassionate (karunya), disgusting (bibhalsa), frightful (bhayanaka); plus the ninth, tranquil (sanla) with indifference to worldly objects and pleasures. Two passages should clarify their tantric interpretation. The first is from Sri Rahugupta-pada's PrakdSa-nama-Srihevajrasadhana (PTT, Vol, 56, p. 132-1): Among those (nine sentiments), the 'single taste' (ekarasa) together with (the goddess) Nairatmya is the 'erotic'; the staying at the burning ground is the 'heroic'; the furried brow and bared fangs is the 'disgusting'; the blazing light is the 'furious'; the enhancement (exaggeration) of face is the 'humorous'; the garland of dripping heads is the 'frightful'; the consciousness of assisting sentient beings is the 'compassionate'; the illusory form is the 'wonderful'; the defilement of lust, etc. is the 'tranquil'. The second is from Sri Laksmi, Vol. 63, p. 39-2 : (They are) union with the partner (mudra) ('erotic'), staying in the burning ground, ctc. ('heroic')., enjoying the ambrosia ('furious'), rite of revived corpse (vetala-vidhi) ('disgusting'), holding of various emblems /humo-rous'), drastic rites (abhicara) ('frightful'), empathy with the great suffering of all sentient beings ('compassionate'), accomplishing enlightenment by the five great pledges, (samaya) in conflict with the world (i.e. the five that oppose the five layman vows) ('tranquil'), and the characteristic of having the Clear Light in immediacy ('wonderful'). The goddess Nairatmya of the former passage belongs to the Mother Tantra tradition; outside of this fact, the passag. is appropriate and helps explain Sri Laksmi's text, since she leaves out the titles 'erotic', etc. The three adamantine songs are very likely the group of three songs discussed in die Snags rim chen mo (I. 242b2, ff.): "The three songs arc the 'song of reality' (lattvagita), 'song of true nature' (dharmalagita), and 'song of mudra' (mudragila)" (glu gsum ni de kho na fiid kyi glu dan chos nid kyi glu dan phyag rgyahi gluho). By 'songs' are meant verses that art sung, namely, 'song of reality' means a verse for 'reality of intrinsic nature' (•svabhava-tattva, T. ran b£in gyi dc kho na nid), one for 'reality of mystic attainment' (*vibhuti-tattva, hkhor bahi de kho na iiid), and one for 'reality of purity' (visuddhi- commentary on the forty nidana verses 329 tattva, rnam par dag pahi dc kho na Aid). Then, a verse each for 'song of true nature'—referring to the pure dharmadhitu, and 'song of mudrd'—referring to the pride (garva) of body, make five verses in all, as presented and explained in Snags rim chen mo. The four kinds of musical instruments are personified as goddesses in the mandalas of the Mother Tantras Sampufatantra and Hevajratantra (Raghu Vira and Lokesh Chandra. A New Tibelo-Mongol Pantheon, Part 12), to wit: Vamsa, Vina, Mu-kunda, Muraja. Jalandharipada's Hcvajrasadhanasya-lippaifi-fuddhi-iajrapradipa (PTT, Vol. 56, p. 121-5) assigns colors to these goddesses as follows: the yellow goddess Vina, the red goddess Vamsa (bamboo flute), the smoky-colored goddess Muraja (barrel drum), the white goddess Mukunda (round drum) (/pi wan ma ser mo •'/ glin bu ma dmar mo / / rdza rna ma du bahi mdog can ma riia zlum ma dkar mo /). For the sixty-four kald, it should be observed that the list of hiimasutra begins with gita-iadya, so gitavadyadi ir the above Pahcakrama verse III, 31, can refer to the kalas in the ordinary meaning of the sixty-four worldly arts. However, Sri Laksmi's commentary also permits the interpretation of kald as kamakali. On p. 39-3, she states this particular list as beginning with 'embracing' {dlinganam, hkhyud pa; and 'kissing' (cumbana, ho byed), expressions which occur among the forty 'male natures (cf. under nidana verse 2;, but here obviously relate to kama-Sdstra terminology of catuhfoffi. Kloh rdol Bla ma, Vol. I, Section Ma, presents two versions of arriving at the number sixty-four (catuh>Pfli): the kiss • ho byed pa), the embrace (hkhyud pa), the bite so hdebs po), the fore-play (jad dag par bskyed pa), erotic crics (sid kyi sgra sgrogs pa), the male posture in coitus [skyes pahi bya ba . the woman s) getting on top (slen na hdug pa:, the eighth one not printed somehow, perhaps the 'oral intercourse' of A'amasulra); each one divided into eight varieties, yielding sixty-four. The alternate list amounts to eight varieties of the embrace, eight of the kiss, eight of the male posture in coitus, eight of the bile, eight of the scratch, eight of the forcplav, eight of erotic crics, and again, the eight of an omitted eighth one, perhaps the 'oral intercourse'), making sixty-four in all. Neither solution actually names the respective eightfold subdivisions, so this kama-kald terminology remains lexical as far as these tanlric texts are concerned, but creatcs I 330 yoga of the guhyasamajatantra mythologicallv salacious reading out of the four respective movements of the goddesses as elements (upwards, at acute angles, forward, and downward). I/RA11 ralnam any am na cistiha siadhi}thanad rlc mahal / prabhisvaraviSuddham ced vahnifuddho manir yatha //40// There is no jewel in this world so great as the Svadhisthana, if purified by the Clear Light like a gem cleansed by fire. Mchan : Svadhisthana = Illusory Body. 'No jewel in this world so great' because it can confer in this very life the goal of Buddhahood. 'No jewel* : no secret state. 'Purified by the Clear Light' : by entering the Clear Light. Prakasika on Ra (Vol. 60, p. 296-1): 'By fire", etc. means : if the Svadhisthana-body is purified by the Clear Light attained by the fourth stage, then, like gold cleansed by fire, it becomes immaculate and devoid of phenomenalization. Therefore, it is only known through contemplation of the fourth stage (mes 2es bya ba la sogs pa smos te / rim pa b£i pas tliob pahi hod gsal bas gal tc / bdag byin gyis rlob pahi sku dag par hgvur ra / dehi tshc mes sbyans pahi gser b£in du rnam par dag pa dri ma med cin spros pa med par hgyur ro / / dehi phyir rim pa b£i pa yah sgom par byed par rig pa kho naho). Following are some passages about the Svadhisthana'. Pahcakran.a, 3rd krama, 12 : svHdhi}\h6nakramam labdhvd sarvabuddhemayah prabhuh / janmanihaiva buadhalvam nihsamdeham prapadyate // He the lord, composed of all the Buddhas, having arrived at the stage of Svadhisthana, without doubt attains Buddhahood in this very life. Pahcakrama, 3rd krama, 25 : sarv&kir&varopeto asecanakavigrahah / dariayet laiji fuiifyaya svSdhifthanam lad ucyate // Endowed with the best of all aspects is the bodv which one never tires of seeing. (He) leveals that to the good disciple. That is called 'Svadhisthana'. Finally, Sri Laksmi, Vol. 63, p. 10-5 to 11-1, has this to say : I yah dag pahi mthah don dam pahi bden pa de yis rnam par sbyan ba ni sgyu ma lta buhi tin he hdzin mi snan bar byaho / / dc la dper na phyihi mnon par byah chub pahi rim pa ham / nan gi mnon par byah chub pahi rim pa ham I ril por hdzin pahi tin he hdzin nam / rjes su commentary on the forty nidana verses 331 giig pahi tin he hdzin gyis sgyu mahi sku hod gsal bahi bskal pahi me vis mi snah bar byas na rnam par dag par hgyur ro / / ji skad du / bdag la byin rlabs ma gtogs pahi / I rin chcn gian ni yod pa min / /gal te hod gsal dag hgyur na / /me yis dag pahi nor bu biin / /ies bya ba hbyuh bahi phyir ro /. The purification by that Paramartha-satya which is the true end (bhutako/i), would make disappear the Illusory Samadhi. Now, for example, the Illusory Body becomes purified when made to disappear by the 'fire of the aeon' of the Clear Light through the sequence of outer abhisam-bodhis, the sequence of inner abhisambodhis, the samadhi of'contraction' (pindagraha), or the samadhi of 'expansion' (anubheda):— because the text states : "There is no jewel in this world so great as the Svadhisthana, if purified by the Clear Light like a gem cleansed by fire." THE LANK A Y AT A R A -SUTRA AND THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA Here we shall treat some remarkable transitional yoga experiences that even promise to clarify the Buddhist "non-self" theory. The learned author Ratnakar.isanti makes a fascinating tie-up between the LankdvatSra and the Guhyasamaja in his Prajna-paramitopadesa [FIT, Vol. 114. p. 249-3, 4, 5 to p. 250-1 . In illustration of his preceding exposition of yoga in four stages, he cites the Lankdialara (Sagathakam, verses 256-258), but the verses in Tibetan reflect some minor variants (indicated here by underlining) of the Sanskrit text as presently edited by Bunyiu Nanjio : cittamdtrarn samaruhya bahyam arthani na kalpayet / tathatalambanc sthitia cittamdtram alikramel cittamdtram atikramya nirabhasam atikramet nirabhasaslhilo yogi mahaydnam sa paSyati anabhogagatih Santa pranidhanair viSodhita jnanam anatmakam Sref/harp mahdyancna paSyati The following translation incorporates some of Ratnakarasanti's comments : 256. When he relies on 'mind-only' he docs not imagine the external entity [2nd stage of yoga]. Being stationed in the meditative support of thusness, lie goes beyond 'mind-onlv' [3rd stage of yoga]. 257. Going beyond 'mind-only,' he goes beyond the non-appearance [of the sign-sourccs nimitta) of the external entity] Stationed in the non-appearance [of the sign-sources of both dharmas and dharmata] [4th stage of yoga] the yogin sees by the Mahayana. 258. His effortless going (andbhngagati [the effortless revelation of the supramundane stages] is peaceful [became these stages arc undcfilcd and non-discursive] and purified by his vows [that are not not aimed at the lower enlightenments, i.c.of iravaka and pratyckabuddha]. appendix iII 333 By means of the Mahavana, he sees the knowledge that is selfless [because utterly nonmanifest] and best [because free from defilements and habit-energy]. The author claims that the same is stated by the Guhrasamija in one verse (in Chap. XV, p. 109 in Bhattacharyva's edition): svacitlam eittanidhyaptau sarvadharmSh pratifthitih / khaiajraslha hv ami dharma na dharmii na ca dharmali // When one cxamircs the mind [with insight], [one concludes] that all dharmas arc located in one's own mind. [2nd stage of yoga]. These dharmas are located in the diamond of sky [3rd stage of yoga]. There is no dharma and no dharmala [4th stage of yoga], Ratnakarasanti's discussion of the four stages can be summarized as follows: 1 st stage of yoga: The meditative object on the pheno- menal limit of the entity. This is a kind of waking state. 2nd stage of yoga : All dharmas are 'mind-only'; still the phenomenal limit. This is a kind of dream state, because if all dharmas arc 'mind-only' they are all in the mind and not outside, a feature of the dream state. 3rd stage of yoga : Goes beyond 'mind-only'; the thusness end of the entity, or the non-appearance of phenomenal dharmas. This is a kind of dreamless sleep. 4th stage of yoga : Having gone beyond the sign-sources of natures (dharma), now goes beyond those of underlying nature (dharmala). This ushers in the Mahayana, i.e. the first bhimi callcd Pramudita. In further explanation, the four stages are referred to elsewhere as the four parts of niwedha-bhagiyo constituting in the Prajfiaparamita scriptures and AbhisamaySlamkSra digest, the Stage of Action in Faith (adhimukli-caiya-bhiimi) of the Bodhisattva. Obermiller, who so far has the best description,* points out that the four are given in the Mahaydna-Sulralarpkara, within XIV, 23-26 and the Sanskrit commentary thereon. In summary :

  • E. Obcrmiller, "The Doctrine of PiajiSi-paramitS as exposed in the Abhuamaja-tarflUra of Maitrcya," Ada Orienlalia, Vol. XI, 1932. At p. 37, he cites Haribhadra's Aloka commentary, including the term tattiinha-ekadtiapravifla.

I 334 yoga of the guhyasamajatantr 1. The state of warmth light (aloka) 2. The state of summits spread of light laloka-vivrddhi) 3. The state of forbearance — [directed only to the mcan-ing of reality (tatlvartha-ckadcSapravifla) \ 4. The state of supreme mundane natures (lauki- samadhi without interval (anantaiya-samadhi) kigradharma-avastha) The expression 'samadhi without interval' means that this state, while still mundane, leads directly to the supramundanc state, namely the first Bodhisattva Stage of the Mahayana. Now, it is striking that non-tantric Mahayana Buddhism allots to these states the terminology 'light' etc. that reminds us of the tantric vocabulary so important to the Guhyasamaja tradition about the three lights that lead up to the Clear Light. In our earlier section on the two stages (Stage of Generation and Stage of Completion) the Pancakrama was cited with translation, "By yoga of a beginner, he attains the Eighth Stage, and seeing the three lights lie is settled in the Tenth Stage." This shows that the tantric theory of the mysterious lights leading up to Buddhahood should not be confused with this Prajftapara-mita theory of lights leading up to the Bodhisattva career. However, there may have been an intention to establish a parallel of mystical experiences; and such parallels are consistent with my tentative dating of the Guhyasamajatantia and Explanatory Tantras in the 4th and 5th centuries, A.D. Besides, my discussion earlier in this book shows that the 'lights' also occur in mundane conditions. Now, returning to that verse of the Guhyasamaja, Chap. XV, the basic tantra already shows the context as 'dream examination.' Besides, we may consult the Pradipoddyotana commentary and its annotation (the Mchan-(igrcl) for further information about the verse in question. In the Pradipoddyotana (PTT, Vol. 158, p. 132-2, 3, 4), the parts of the verse can be understood as answering questions. Question 1: Where are die dharmas ? The verse, alluding to the dream state, replies : 'all dharmas' are located within one's mind. Question 2: Where is that mind? The verse, alluding to 335 dreamless sleep, replies: It is in the diamond of sky, to wit, the Clear Light. [Recall in this connection Table III of this book, "The Clear Lights," indicating the Clear Light of dreamless sleep. ] Questions 3 and 4: Suppose it be asked if there is a presence separate from the mind. The verse replies : There is no dharma, to wit : there is no self-nature of the entities. Suppose it be asked if there is sometimes (kada cil) an undcrlyinig nature (dharma ti). The verse replies : There is no underlying nature. Here the Pradipoddyotana cites two verses without identifying the sourcc (which the Mchan-hgrel traces to a citation in Spyod bsdus, i.e. the Caryameldpakapradipa, and states to be consistent with the Yajramala) : lathaiva dhiitvayatanendriyadau jhanadvaye lalra svsanilintt Insulin I Siinyt mahad-viiati yah prasnplah siapnarn prapafyet khalu vatam samSrayit // tuple prabuddhe cana ca ninyatedam samkalpayel svapna-phalabhila}i / svapnopamas te sarradharma mrfamrfai capi layor nbhaiah // In like manner, one is in deep sleep when he enters great in that void (Culmination of Light) wherein the pair of gnoses (Light and Spread-of-Light) arc gathered, in the elements (four, i.e. earth, etc.), the sense bases (four objects , the sense organs four, eye, etc.), and so on (the personality aggregates, i.e. the first four). Should one take recourse to the winds, surely lie will see a dream. The one wishing the fruit of dream ,i.c. good fruit from a good dream), should examine this non-difference, not even in sleeping and waking. All dharmas are like a dream. Moreover, falsehood and truth arc not present in the two .sleeping and waking). Apparently, the first verse is intended to amplify the answers to the first two questions, referring to the states of dream and dreamless sleep. The second verse should therefore be construed to amplify the answers to the third and fourth questions, explaining the denial of a dharma or dhannata. The logical distinction of truth and falsehood is not present. And yet there is no denial of the fruit of dream. If one compares this Pradipoddyotana explanation of the I 336 yoga of the guhyasamajatantra Guhyasamaja verse with what Ratnakarasanti said about it, there does not appear any essential disagreement, even though the discussion proceeds somewhat differently. Indeed, there is no disagreement as yet with those verses cited from tbc Laiika-vatara-sutra, where in the fourth stage the yogin sees the Mahayana; because in the second of the two verses edited and translated above, one realizes that "all dharmas arc like a dream," which is a frequent teaching of the Mahayana. Now, it is a striking feature of those stages of yoga, as Ratna-karasanti understands the Lahkaiatara verses, with the further corresponding statements drawn out above, that certain statements seem to conflict with others. That is to say, in the 2nd stage, it is said that all dharmas are mind-only. If that is what they are, then why in the 3rd stage does one go beyond mind-only to reach reality? And if one has reached reality, why should he go to a further state said to deny both the dharma and the dhamiald ? It seems to be the case that the individual statements constitute the mottos for a given level of yoga experience and for the yogins with that experience. But if this be granted, it denies that the same precept is given to all yogins. Now, it appears that this is the identical procedure of state- ment found in the old Buddhist classic, the Dhammapada (XX, 5, 6, 7), "All constructions are impermanent" (sabbc saiikhara anicca), "All constructions are suffering" (sabbe saiikhara, dukkha), "All dhammas arc non-self" (sabbe dhamma ana/la). In illustration, the first statement, "All constructions arc impermanent," is convincing on the intellectual level, and so is addressed to laymen, monks, and anyone else who will listen. But, having said this, the Buddha said something else about the constructed things, "All constructions are suffering," and this statement is not convincing on the intellectual level; it turns out to be the preccpt to the aryas, or {ravakas, the disciples of the Buddha who arc told to look upon suffering as suffering and upon happiness as suffering becausc it entails suffering or will lead to suffering. Furthermore, the Buddha said, "All dhammas (S. dharmah) are non-self," bringing into the discussion the celebrated teaching of Buddhism, the non-self (an-alman) theory that has always been characteristic of Buddhism. This state- ment is not convincing on the intellectual level, because dharmas appendi x ii i 337 such as love and hate arc understood by the intellect to require a self that loves and hates. Therefore, the statement cannot be made intelligently to everyone, but also it is not just the way the disciples should look upon constructed things, because in Buddhism the dharmas arc not only in the constructed category but also there is the unconstructed kind, for example, Nirvana. Nirvana is the goal of the path, for which it is necessary to follow the procedures of Meditation as a yogin. Therefore, it may be concluded along the same lines that the statement, "All dhammas are non-self," is the precept for the yogins. Then the question naturally arises, if the statement, "All dhammas are non-self," is a yoga precept, can it be placed among the stages of yoga that have been sel forth above on the basis of the Lankdnatara verses and Guhyasamaja verse ? This precept is immediately identifiable with the 2nd yoga stage, which is the stage that takes the 'self' out of "all dharmas." In explanation, the statement, "All dharmas are mind-only" refers to the dream state. In this state, the object (the world of dharmas) is paramount and the self is in abeyance; hence, "All dharmas arc non-sell " cf. the quotation of Anangavajra under the Nid.iu.i wise JRA Accordingly, one may also conclude that the l)humma/i<ida precept. All constructions are suffering." applies to the Ist stage of yoga, the meditadve object on the phenomenal limit of the entity, involving the phenomenal self that suffer, lu agreement the Buddha said [Dhammafiada. \\1 -12 . Ilie disciples of Gautama arc always well awake (fiahujjhanli ." Certainly yoga begins in the waking state. The above helps ns regarding the 3rd stage of yoga. This is said to go beyond mind-only the dream state) and to refer to dreamless sleep, with the non-appearance of phenomenal dharmas. It follows that this is the stage when the subject is paramount and the object is in abeyancc, and so one sees no dream. This conclusion forces the word dharmala (underlying nature; to apply to the subject. Having concluded that much, it is also possible to appreciate the meaning of the 4tli stage, when there is no dharma but also no dharmald. In short, "there is no dharma" denies a dream; and "there is no dharmala ' denies a dreamless sleep—thus denying both subject and object. This turns out, according to the 338 foregoing treatments, to l>c a climactic transitional state—in one case, leading immediately to the onset of the Mahayana; and in another case, to complete Buddhahood. Since this comparison of the Lahkdvalara verses with the single Guhyasamaja verse has been sufficiently exposed on its own terminological side, il should be of interest to sec to what extent this dovetails with Guhyasamaja yoga stages previously presented in this work. My subsection "The six members of yoga and the five kramas in the Stage of Completion" presented the commentarial exegesis of certain verses in the Guhyasamaja, Chap. VI, including verse 4 : He should accomplish the selflessness of cilia being visualized (cillanidhyaplinairalmyain), (then) the contemplation of speech (vaca) and body, (then) the triple conjunction, (finally) the abode equal to space. If one wishes to match these up with the stages already discussed in this appendix, it follows immediately that the "selflessness of cilia being visualized" is the 2nd stage of yoga : "all dharmas are located within one's mind" and this is the non-self of dharmas. Tnereforc, the preceding contemplation ('body as the mantra visualized') corresponds to the 1st stage of yoga. It follows, that this treatment does not allow the more generalized interpretation of yoga stages, as previously, to lead up to either the beginning ofthe bodhisattva path (Mahayana) or to Complete Buddhahood. Indeed, the context shows that the interpretation is fully within the Mahayana scopc, just as the four nirvedha-bhagiya were within the pre-Mahayana scope. In the present case, the "body as the mantra visualized" is the accomplishment of the Stage of Generation ( the first seven Bodhisattva stages), and "selflessness of cilia being visualized" is the beginning of the Stage of Completion ( - the last three Bodhisattva stages). Then, the comparison continues along the same lines, that the "contemplation of spcech and body" is the Maha-yftna version of the 3rd stage of yoga, the Svadhisthana, or initial Mahamudra, as the thusness end, or the non-appearance of phenomenal dharmas. Finally the "triple conjunction," or "divine body made of mind," is equivalent to the transitional 4th stage of yoga, which goes beyond the sign-sources of dharmas and dharmal/l presumably to be "purified by the Clear Light like a gem cleansed by fire" (Nidana verse RA). appendix iii 339 Finally, the "abode equal to space" which generates the lx>dy of Mahavajradhara has no equivalent in the four stages of yoga. Nevertheless, it is analogous to the further statement in the Lahkavatara verses : "His effortless going is peaceful and purified by his vows," except that now it applies to the Buddha stage rather than to the Bodhisattva stages. The foregoing rather neatly demonstrates a tie-up between the LahkavalSrasiitra and the Guhyasamajatantra-, and in the latter case, the consistency between the stages of yoga in its Chapter VI and the stages in that verse of Chapter XV. Besides, the material in this appendix will serve as an introduction to both the second and third appendixes. appendix iii 352 THE ARCANE-BODY CONTROVERSY My use of the word "arcane" and solution of the forty verses into two groups going with the Stage of Generation and Stage of Completion can l>c finally justified by consideration of what I term the "Arcane-Body Controvei --v." It is true that I have already presented some material about this matter in my Introduction to the Yoga of the Guhyasamaja-tantra. But this is an exciting topic about a Tibetan contro-versv that reaches back to important Indian theories of the fruits of yoga; as such it deserves a special treatment. Various forms of Indian philosophy take account of a subtle bodv - uk.ma-farira). However, it is only in such Tantric currents as the one presented in the foregoing work that a whole upward career is worked out for this subtle both . This kind of body is of course denied immediately by the materialistic person. Here I am not arguing for the existence of such a mysterious body, but simply reporting the facts of the Guhyasamaja system, which speaks of an "arcane body" which on the Stage of Completion is called the "illusory body" or "impure illusory body," that can emerge from the ordinary body. In fact, the theory is by no means original with the Guhya-samujalantra because ancient Buddhism already referred to it with the terminology of "mental body" or "body made of mind" {mnmmmya-kaya), lo which I have previously alluded. Here I should add that the Ijankavatarasiilra mentions three kinds of mental body, which combine well with the theory in the Arya school of the tantric Nagarjuna and Aryadcva that the Stage of Completion begins with the Eighth Bodiiisattva Stage. The first mental body, with stabilization in the pleasure of samOdhi (samSdhisukhasarndpalli-manoniaya), which according to that scripture is developed in the course of the first seven Bodlii-* sattva stages, therefore, belongs to the Stage of Generation. The second kind, which completely comprehends the intrinsic nature of the dharnm 11 dharmasvabhaoavabadha-manomaya) and which is said to proceed to all the Buddha realms necessarily would IK- placed in the Stage of Completion as the "arcane body" of that Stage. According to the Guhyasamaja tradition, that 353 appendi x iiI "arcane body" is succeeded by, or next subjected to, the "arcane speech" and then the "arcane mind." It is only at die phase of "arcane mind" that this mental or spiritual body "completely comprehends the intrinsic nature of the dhatmas," which means in Paiicakrama terminology that it completely understands the eighty prakrtis associated with the three Light stages, as experienced on the Tenth Bodhisattva Stage. The third kind of mental body, which performs the instigations natural to its class (nikayasahajasamskarakiiyii-manomaya), i.e. natural to the class of Buddhas, is the yuganaddha-deha of this Tantric tradition. At first glancc, a ccrtain verse of the Guhyasamajatantra does not seem related to the above, but I shall demonstrate the relevance of Chapter XV, verse 22, of that Tantra, as follows, which is almost the same as the last verse of Chapter XII ("Documents"): buddhn dharmadharv napi vajrasattvo 'pi va yadi j atikramed yadi mohatma tad antam tasya jivitam 11 If someone would go beyond whether as a Buddha, a holder of Dharma, or as a Vajrasattva; and if he is deluded, he would lose his life. Candrakirti's Piadipuddyutaca Mchan cd., p. 122-2,3) repeats substantially it-, comment on the Chapter XII verse, to wit, that the expression "Buddha" means "yogin of Yairocana," and so on. In this case, Celu-pa's liatnavrksa commentary on Chapter XV (FIT, Vol. 63, p. 211-5) is more helpful. It explains that "Buddha is the Diamond of Body ; "holder of Dharma" is the Diamond of Speech; and "Vajrasattva" is the Diamond of Mind (satis rgyas ni sku rdo rjeho / chos hdzin pa ui gsuri rdo rjcho / rdo rje sems dpah ni thugs rdo rjcho /). This comment immediately associates this verse with the expressions Body, Speech, and Mind that have such an important role throughout the Guhyasamajatantra as well as in certain nidana verses. In consideration that this Chapter XV has previously in its verse 11 referred lo the Tenth Stage (of the Bodhisattva), one may recall in this connection the rather remarkable statements about the last three Bodhisattva Stages (Eighth through Tenth) in the manual of the Tathagatagarbha theory, the liatnagotravibhdga (ed. of Johnston, pp. 3.21-4.6): I talra yalo 'staniyain bodhisattvabhumau vartamanah I 342 yog a o f th e guhyasamajatantr a sarvadharma-vasitaprapto bhavati tasmat sa bodhimanda-varagatah sarvadharmasamatabhisambuddha ity ucyate / yato navamyam bodhisattvabhumau vartamano 'nuttara-dharmabhanakatvasampannah sarvasattvasayasuvidhijiia indriyaparamaparamitapraptah sarvasattvaklcsavasananu-samdhisamudghatanakusalo bhavati tasmat so 'bhisam-buddhabodhih supravartitadharmacakra ity ucyate / yato dasamyiim bhumav anuttaratathagatadharmayauva-r&jyabhisekapraptyanantaram anabhogabuddhakaryapra-tiprasrabdho bhavati tasmat sa supravartitadharmacakro 'nantasisyaganasuvinita ity ucyatc Among those, for the reason (hat his attainment of power over all dharmas takes place on the Eighth Bodhisattva Stage, it is said (in the Dharaiiistarardjasulra), 'He, having proceeded to the best terrace of Enlightenment ( = the Tree of Enlightenment), was enlightened on the equality of all dharmas'. For the reason that his endowment of preaching the incomparable Dharma, his knowing of the good rules for the hopes of all sentient beings, his attainment of the highest perfection of faculties, and his virtue of anniliilating the continuance of defilement habit-energy in all sentient beings, take place on the Ninth Bodhisattva Stage, it is said, 'HE, with enlightenment fully awakened, has well set into motion the Wheel of the Dharma.' For the reason that immediately after receiving, on the Tenth Stage, the Crown-Prince consecration for the incomparable Tathagata-Dharma he is roused (apratiprairabdha) to the effortless Buddha duties— it is said, 'He who well set into motion the Wheel of the Dharma has well trained the innumerable host ofdisciplcs." That is to say, in this particular tradition, it is the Body of the Buddha sitting under the Bodhi Tree that occurs on the Eighth Stage, his Speech as the Wheel of Doctrine that is on the Ninth, his Mind roused to Buddha duties that is on the Tenth. In Tantrism, this Body, Speech, and Mind arc callcd the "three mysteries of the Buddha." This plausible explanation of the scqucncc 'Buddha', 'Dharma holder', and 'Vajrasattva' of the Guhyasamdja verse, still leaves unexplained the mysterious remark that the one who would go beyond in such status would lose his life if he be dc- appendix iiI 343 luded. However, this is a reasonable remark in the light of the Lankaeatara s second kind of "mental body," prevalent on the Eighth through Tenth Bodhisattva Stages, l>ccausc the Lanka-valara's claim that this body visits all the Buddha realms is a way of saying that it has emerged by yoga praxis from the ordinary body. If the yogin does not have skill in guiding his movements in these Buddha realms—whatever we may think them to be—he Could lose his life, because the separation of the "mental body" would be tantamount to dcadi's separation. This points to the importance of the first kind of "mental body," that immersed in samadhi, Ijecause presumably this is a necessary preparation for the dangerous trips of the subsequent second kind. If this sort of teaching has been derived from the life of the Buddha, one can promptly think of Gautama's celebrated austerities by the Nairanjana River when his body eventually became so wasted that viewers could not decide whether he was dead or alive. This extreme mortification immediately preceded Gautama's passage to the Bodlii Tree where, according to the tradition of the above Tathagatagarbha literature, he represented a Bodhisattva of the Eighth Stage. Indeed, the premise of such a "mental body" or illusory body as the "arcane body" of the Stage of Completion makes it clear why the great commentators on this Tantra, e.g. the Indian tantrics N.igarjuna and Aryadcva, and Tson-kha-pa in Tibet, again and again emphasized that the Stage of Generation must precede tin- Stage ol Completion. Any tantric who would try to practise the Stage of Completion without first having the Stage ol Generation, would be relying on instruction and precepts which demand that the body lie an "arcane body" in the sense of that advanced Stage, while in fact the person enterprising that Stage would only be starting with his ordinary human body that is not even a sanctified Ixxly in the worldly sense of withdrawal from certain foods, the opposite sex, and society generally -let alone "arcane" ill any way. All the above is necessary to appreciate Tson-kha-pa's insistence on an "arcane body" in both the Stage of Generation and Stage of Completion. Mis solution, as I have come to understand it, is easy to state: the "arcane body" of the Stage of Generation is the "hundred lineages" in the Atiyoga phase; and the "arcane body" ol tin- Stage of Completion is the first two members of the six-membcrcd yoga, namely pratyahara and dhyana. But while he expressly identified the second kind of "arcane body" in that manner, I never found him stating the first kind in such a simple manner : lie always wrapped the matter in complicated discussions, because ofthe controversy. In accordance with Tson-kha-pa's annotation of the Forty Verses and my grouping of those verses, I placed the minute correspondences called the "hundied lineages" (T. rigs brgya) in the first group of verses concerning the Stage of Generation, in fact beginning with the set which I associated with the division of uajra called Atiyoga. Then, more recently to my surprise, I could find no mention of these "hundred lineages" in a work by Tson-kha-pa's faithful disciplc Mkhas-grub-rje devoted to the topic of the Stage of Generation, namely the latter's work Rgy ud thams cad kyi rgyal po dpal gsan ba hdus pahi bskyed rim dnos grub rgya mtsho iesb ya ba . ("The 'Occan of Siddhis' about the Stage of Generation in the King of all Tantras, the Sri'Guhyasamaja"), wherein I find important points of Tson-kha-pa's position amplified and defended by Mkhas-grub-rje. His silence on the matter was confirmed when I perused a work by Blo-bzan-chos-kyi-rgyal-mtshan, the First Panchcn Lama, namely his Gsaii hdus gdams nag rim liia gsal sgron gyi siliil pohi gnad kun bsdus pa ("Concise statement of the essential points, clarifying the Pancakrama prccepts of the Guhyasamaja"). This work expressly states that the "hundred lineages" belong to the Stage of Completion, with the remark, "The contemplation in which there is the arising as the body of a deity involved with the illustrious 'hundred lineages' and so forth, is the arcane body of the Stage of Completion" (dam pa rigs brgya la sogs pahi lha skur sar bar bsgom pa ni rdzogs pa rim pahi lus dben yin tc). Accordingly, the author treats these "hundred lineages" in his work devoted to the Stage of Completion. Of coursc, I again referred to Tson-kha-pa's elaborate discussions of the "arcane body" problem to see if, after all I might have misunderstood his position. I could find no reason to change my conclusion. Besides, Tsoh-kha-pa, in his sadhana of the Guhyasamaja entitled Una I hbyor dag pahi ,i,n pa ("the pure stages of yoga") (PIT, Vol. 160, p. 89-4) states : "After generating in that way the thirty-two gods, he should iI 357 respectively contemplate them in sequence as the nature of the five personality aggregates, the four elements, the eignt consisting of eye, etc., the five sense objects starling with form, and the set of ten beginning with right arm; this is Aliyoga" (dc/ ltar lha sum cu so giiis po bskved pahi hog tu re rc nas rim pa bfin pliun po li'ia dah / khams b/i dah mig la sogs pa brgyad dah I gzugs la sogs pa lha dah / lag pa gYas pa la sogs pa bcuhi ho bor bsam par bya stc / sin tu rnal hbyor ro /V Our earlier discussions show that Atiyoga is the third of the four yogas in the Stage of Generation, callcd Yoga, Anuyoga, Ati-yoga, and Mahayoga. Tsoh-kha-pa's remark further confirms my division of the verses in which I assign Atiyoga to the third group of verses (Bhagavan S uva , because it is precisely in these verses that Tsoh-kha-pa begins his "arcane body" comments, starting with the verse about the five personality aggregates. Besides, Tsoh-kha-pa, when explaining the fourteen fundamental falls of the Yajrayana in his Dnos grub kyi she ma and grouping those falls (PTT, Vol. 160, p. 70-1,2) classifies as a fall in the Stage of Generation the fall No. 8, "to abuse the five sKandhas, for their nature belongs to the five Buddhas." Pursuant to tin ;i\-eii reason "their nature belongs to the five Buddhas ' . our <<>uld extend this remark about the pcrsonalitv aggregates ikandha) to the sense bases and so on, with which dcit\ is identified in the Atiyoga stage. Doubtless, Tsoh-kha-pa follows a tradition which places the "hundred lineages" in the Stage of Generation; and I need not speculate on the particular reasons lor latei luminaries of his school to have understood the matter differently. Still, it is possible to set forth the chief controversial aspect in the following manner. Tsoh-kha-pa has his most complicated discussion of the "arcane body"' controversy in his I'ahcakrama commentary, starting Vol. 1~>8, p. 201 and continuing for a number of pages in the photographic edition (each page with five folio sides). It so happens that Tsoh-kha-pa repeats much of the same discussion about tin- "arcane body" in a later work, his .Mthah gcod ("Deciding the alternatives") ou the individual chapters of the Gubyasamajatanha, namely, in his mthah geed of Chapter VI (PTT, Vol. 156, pp. 39 and 10). I have presented this Chapter in "Documents" and also treated the relevant verses (nos. 3-6) in my section "The six members of yoga and the I 346 yoga of the guhyasamajatantra five kramas in the Stage of Completion." Since Tsori-kha-pa's discussion here show's that the argument devolves about the expression in verse 3, "the one who has body as the mantra visualized" (mantranidhyaptikdyena), it is well to present Candra-kirti's commcnt on that verse 3, as I edit from the Pradipoddyotana manuscript and accordingly translate in Mchan hgrel context : I mantranidhyapti ityadi / mantra alikalijah / sarpadi-svabhavas tcsam strfpumnapumsakatvena tryaksaradhar [abhutja mantrah tryaksarani / tesain pravesasthiti-vyutthanasvabhavena parijrianam mantranidhyaptih / tatra purvakam kayena vajrajapasya sadhnnabhutcna nirmanasarirena vaca vajrajapenopalaksitah / manasi hrdi hrdisthito vajrasattvah coditah/yathabhutaparijiianena visayikrtah / bhavayed iti / yogisantanasya vakyama-nakiim catasro 'vastha nispadayet / kas ta ity aba / pravara ityadi /pravaramutkrstam cittavivckalaksanam vajrajapad adhikatvat siddhim iti /svadhisthanalaksanam mahamudra manah saiptosayatiti manahsamtosanam inahamudra-visuddhikaratvat / priyam is(am bhavasania-ckalaksa-nam mahavajradharamurtiin nispadayet / As to the verse "The one who has body as the mantra visualized...", 'mantras' arise from the 'sixteen) vowels and the (thirty-three or thirty-four) consonants and are constituted by such expressions as SARPA. Among them, when mantras have as basis three syllables by way of female (Ah), male (Om), and androgyne (Hum), they are the three syllables. The thorough knowledge of those (three) by way of inhalation (Om), holding of breath (Ah), and exhalation (Hunt) is the 'mantra visualized'. Here, the one who previously has the (arcane) body, that is, the body of hypostasis (by the five Tathagatas and so on) which arose through a sadhana of diamond muttering, should accomplish, i.e. intensely contemplate, exhorted by speech, i.e. by Diamond Muttering, in the mind, i.e. in (one's own) heart, that is, (exhorted) meaning 'distinguished' while the Vajrasattva dwelling in the heart (within the central 'vein' of the dhannacakra) is made the objcct (of cons- ciousness) by that thorough knowledge (of the three phases of the wind) as they really arc, that is (should appendi x iiI 347 accomplish) four states to be explained of the yogin's stream of consciousness. What arc those ? (The text) says: the 'surpassing one', and so on, namely (1) the 'surpassing one', i.e. outstanding one, with the character of'Arcane Mind', because it outlasts Diamond Muttering; (2) 'successful one', with the character of Personal Blessing, namely the Mahamudra; (3) 'one satisfying the mind', that is, "It brings satisfaction to the mind," because it purifies the Mahamudra; (4) 'beloved one', i.e. wished for, that is, he accomplishes the body of Mahavajradh.ua with the single character of the phenomenal world and the realm of quiescence. With that passage before us, it is easier lo sec how those who took C.andrakirti's commentary as the most authoritative one on the Guhyasamajalantra, would be troubled to determine by this passage which of the two Stages to assign the "arcane body". Candrakirti's subsequent commentary on Chaptcr VI shows that the contemplation of the winds by means of the three syllables can be understood either in the form appropriate to the Stage of Generation or to that appropriate to the Stage of Completion. Some persons could maintain that this verse of the Guhyasamajatantra refers to the five stages which Nagarjuna systematized in his Pancakrama, beginning with Diamond Muttering; for, as well known, the Pancakrama deals only with the Stage of Completion. On the other hand, some persons could point to the word 'pHrvakam' in Candrakirti's commentary to suggest that the "body as the mantra visualized" is a prior accomplishment, already at hand when the yogin is exhorted by Diamond Muttering of the Stage of Completion variety. Besides, Candrakirti did not help matters when, in his commentary on Chapter XII, 00-64 'see "Documents"), he explained the Stage of Completion, not with this terminology from Chaptcr VI, verse 3, but rather with the terminology of six-mcmbered yoga from Chapter XVIII. In the case of the six members, Diamond Muttering would have to be assigned to pranayama, the third member, leaving the first two members, pratyahara and dhyana, lo be argued about. No wonder there were disagreements over this "arcanc body" ! As I understand Tson-kha-pa's solution, it allows for both interpretations of the expression "body as the mantra 348 yoga of the gt'hyasamaj atantra visualized". This amounts to an admission that the two stages called Stage of Generation and Stage of Completion arc distinctions imposed upon the basic Tantra. If we decide upon the Stage of Generation, we can consult Candrakirti's commentary on Chapter XII, 60-64, to sec at once that in the • ase of the four steps, lie mentions that the three syllables of Om, etc. arc deposited in the body in the second step. I'pasadhana = Anuyoga. This agrees with our placing in the second group of verses the material on muttering by means of the three syllables, allotting four seconds to each nidana verse 12, VI. . This is held to generate the primeval lord (ddinulhn . However, in Tson-kha-pa's position, this body of the second step is still not the "arcane body". For the latter attainment the yogin must pass to the third step, the Atiyoga, in which there is the hypostasis of divinity into the body by such means as the correspondences established in the "hundred lineages". This body becomes callcd in the fourth step the "mantra-purusa", seen with three heads, etc. Then, if the same line of Chapter VI, verse 3, is understood to refer to the Stage of Completion, the "body as the mantra visualized" is the "arcane body" of the Stage of Completion, namely pralyahdia and dhyana, to which the two niddna verses t KA-YA, arc devoted. In such a case, the remaining four members, puiniiyama, etc., of the six-mcmbercd yoga, have to be equated with the five steps of the Pahcakrama. Because the above is itself so involved and technical, I have decided to forego any more of Tsori-kha-pa's portrayal of varying positions about this "arcane body". In summary, the "arcane body" of the Stage of Generation becomes that way because imagined to be invested with deities. But according to the theory of steps, the yogin should first pass through a kind of symbolic death through attainment of the void; then imagine himself in an intermediate state by thrcc-syllabled breathing; now he can pass to a symbolic birth wherein his body is inhabited by deities; and finally return to the world with transfigured consciousness. The yogin is now ready to embark upon the dangerous Stage of Completion, with the drawing forth of an advanced "arcane body," the Illusory Body. This Illusory Body the "arcane body" of the Stage of Completion—is the rccnactmcnt of the primeval androgyne. APPENDIX III THE PRAXIS ACCORDING TO ARYADEVA There arc many ways of setting forth the indications of practice that were touched upon in the foregoing introductions and annotation of the nidana verses. Perhaps the clearest statement of the practice in the Stage of Completion is that found in Aryadeva's Cmyumelapakapradipa, a work which has already contributed considerably (for example, the 'hundred lineages' stem from here). Aryadeva's passage happens to be extant in Sanskrit in Bendall's edition of the Subhafita-samgraha, Part II, pp. 33-35; but Bendall did not trace the Aryadeva work. The Sanskrit passage is found in the Tibetan translation in bits and snatches, and one section could not be traced at all. Unless the Stibha>ila compiler had a completely different recension of the Aryadeva text, he must have skipped around to piece together a running account; and my study of the context shows that he is faithful to Aryadeva's intention. The exact Tibetan equivalent begins in PTT, Vol. 61, p. 312-3, line 7, but the first words of the Aryadeva citation may be a paraphrase of p. 311-2. In the following reproduction of Bendall's edited Sanskrit, I shall insert the places of the Tibetan translation; and follow the text with my English translation and comments. pustake Aiyadeva-padair bhavanopadesah spastaksare-noktah (Possibly paraphrase of p. 311-2 :) udyane vijanc sravakadi-uktam sa-rahitc (p. 312-3, line 7:) paramarthasatyalambanapurvakain svadhiffhJna kramena vajrasattvarupam atmanam nispadya (p. 312-5, line 4:) prathamarupadi-trividhavisayam asvadva tad anu sodhanadividhina sarvaharam abhisamskpti-siddham adhyatma-kundam anusmrtyatmakrtim samadhisatt-vasya mukhe trisikhagnim juhomity ahaipkaram utpadyabhyavaharati / tatah sukhena parinamati rasa-yanam ca bhavati / evam kayavajram saijitarpya (portion not traced in Tibetan :) yam kamcit svabhaprajAarupena sarvalamkrtagatra trivali-tararigabharigabhirama atyan- 350 YOGA OF THE gt'HYASAMAJ ATANTRA takpSamadhyaromarajjv (sir. for rajy)-antaritavipula-gambhiranabhidesa jaghana-ghana-nitamba-stabdha$rngi-ra-lalita-kamalagati-sasmita-vadana saumyadrstya mahasukhanuraganataya (p. 315-5, lino 8:) 'like vyavasthita ! lato "mahasiddhim nispadavaml" ti drdha-hamkaram utpadyaliriganacumbanacusana- (p. 314-4, line 3 :) kucagrahana-pulakatadana-dasananakhadana-mardana- p. 313-1, line 1 :) sitkara-kokila-bhrriganada-nadisamcodanadikain krlva (p. 314-4, line 4:) suci-kurparadikarana-pramodanataya pracalitamuktahara- valaya-kataka-keyuranupura-(p. 313-1, line 2:) vajra-padmasamgharsanat prajnopava-samapattya skandhadi-svabhavat sarvatathagatanain murdhanam arabhya dvasaptati-nadisahasrani nirjharadharakaren-alikalidra / vibhtiya raga-viraga-madhyaraga-kramena tatah prajfta-paramitadi-svarupan pratyatmavedyan karoti / evam sri-Mahasukhasamadhim abhyasya praptotkarso yogi tatraiva ganamandalc nigrahanngrahena sail van paripacayet / (p. 314-1, line 8: ) evam puiiah puuar bhutakotim pravisya punah punar hy utthaya panca tatha-gatarupan panca kamagunau asvadayaii yatha na mlayate manah / (p. 314-2, line 5:) tato nirvikalpo mahayogi svat-manah sarvabhavasvabhava-pratipadanaya loke garhitarri visodhya pracchanne pradeSe sthitva 'bhyavaharati / tatha ca mudrabandho na mandalam na caityam na ca pustakavacanam na kayaklcsam na ]>atakasthapas;ina-pratimam pranamati na Sravaka-Pratyekabuddham na tithinaksatramuhurtakalapcksanam karoti / sarvam etad adhyatmenaiva sampadayati // (p. 314-5, line 8 :) vane bhikfam bhramen nityam siidhaku d> JhaniUnyah j dada (n)li bhayasamtrasta bhojanam dairyanuuiditam alikramet Iriiajratma naSam vajrakfaram bhavet surim narim (sic. for nagim) mahayakfim asurim manufim api 1 I prapya vidyavratam karyam trivajrajhanasevitam iti j (p. 313-4, line 1:) cvam laukikadhyanam apaniya manorajyam apahaya sadapraruditamana yoginibhih saha ramamano yatha raja Indrabhutis tadvat kalevaram pari-vartya vajrakavo bhutva 'ntahpurena sahantardhavasta-gunaisvaryagunanvito buddhaksetrad buddhaksetraip gacchati / vathoktam AfOlasutre / appendi x iii 351 sarvadevopabhogais tu srvyamdno (sic for-manair) yathdsukham / svadhidaivatayogrna svam iitmdnam (sic. for paratmiinau) prap ujaytt / / (Tibetan ends at p. 313-4, line 4). Translation In a book of Aryadeva the precepts of the contemplation are stated in lucid words: In a solitary glade, free as well from the words of Sravakas, (thej'OAM contemplates this way:—) Having first taken Supreme Truth as the meditative object, by the Stage of Personal Blessing (Svadhisthana-krama) he abides with himself as the body of Vajrasattva. First he experiences the three kinds of form and of the other sensory objects. After that, for the rites of purification and so on, upon all food—he recalls the inner hearth, whose shape is real, and arouses the pride, "I make a burnt offering in the three-tongucd dame which is the configuration of the self on the face of the Samadhi Being," and partakes ol food. Then it blissfully changes and becomes elixir (rasdyana). Thus (the performer having satiated the diamond of body (with elixir), (takes) some (consort, mudra), by way of form, a prajna like himself (or: his own light, srabha). She has a body with all ornaments, gratifying through the restless breaking ofthe three folds (at her navel), the placc of her wide and deep navel hidden by the streak of hair across her narrow waist; her massive hips with firm buttocks; her gait amorous, playful, and sweet; her face with smiles: pleasant to sec, and stationed in (the yogin's) proximity through the attraction of great ecstasy (mahasukha). Then he confirms his pride, thinking, "I shall accomplish the siddhi of Maha (mudra)." Having done the embracing, kissing, sucking, holding of breast, beating with bristling hair; the bite, the scratch, the bruise; erotic cries, cooing, humming of bees, calling through a tubular stalk (nadi), and so on— because she is thrilled by his (yogi) postures of luci, kOrpara. and so on, she shakes her string of pearls, armlet, bracelet of lower and of upper arm, and anklet. Then, through the friction of the diamond and the lotus, by union of prajnd and upaya, starting at the head since the intrinsic nature of skandhas I 352 YOgA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA belongs to all Tathagatas, the 72.000 nadis Income a fluid (dravibhuya) of vowels and consonants in the manner of a torrent, in the sequence of 'desire,' 'aversion,' and 'indifference'. Thus he introspects the true forms of Prajnaparamita and so on. In this way the yogin, practising the glorious Mahasukha-samadhi, rcachcs eminence, and matures the sentient beings by hindering and assisting in the (32-dcitv) group-maw</a/a. In that way, again and again he enters the true limit (bhulako/i); and having emerged again and again he experiences the five 'strands of desire' as the five Tathagata forms, so the (sublime) mind docs not fade. Then, the great yogin, discursivc thought lacking in himself, so as to teach the intrinsic nature of all entities, cleansing what is forbidden in the world, stays in a private place and enjoys, to wit :— he makes no mudras, mandalas, or cailyas, nor recites texts, nor mortifies the body, nor bows to images of cloth, wood, or stone, nor (takes refuge) in Sravakas or Pratyckabuddhas, nor depends on time in terms of lunar days, asterisms, or muhurtas. All that fulfils solely the inner nature. (Guhyasamaja, XVI, p. 126:) The sadhaka with firm resolve, always seeks alms in the glade. Trembling with fear they give food divinely prepared. Should the triple-diamond one go beyond, there would be loss and (then) the diamond syllable. Obtaining either a goddess, a ndga-lady, great yakfi, demi-goddess, or human woman, lie should engage in vidyarrala, relying on the knowledge of the three diamonds. In that way dispelling the worldly meditations, and abandoning the realm of fancy, with ever-ecstatic mind he rejoices in the midst of the yoginis, like King Indrabhuti, who transmuted his physical body (kalrvara) and bccamc a diamond body, whereupon he disappeared from the midst of his queens; and endowed with the merits of the eight guna-aifvarya, wandered from Buddha field to Buddha field. As said in the MtllasBlra (i.e. Guhyasamdja, VII, 2, with variant readings) : By recourses that enjoy all desires i deities) according to pleasure; and by the praxis of one's presiding lord one (respectively) worships others and oneself. So ends the Subhdfita-samgraha citation of Aryadcva's 'lucid words'. Fortunately, Aryadcva includes two passages from appendix iii 353 the Guhyasamaja, one near the beginning of Chapter Seven and the other near the end of Chapter Sixteen, which enable me to bring in some of the commentarial tradition. Besides, Sakvamitra's Caryamelapakapradipa-(ika in Columbia University's Narthang edition was consulted in the relevant section near the end, but proved of little value. In order to explain Aryadeva's account in the terminology already drawn from the Guhyasamajatantra and associated commcntarial literature, it is ncccssary to observe that he says, "Having first taken Supreme Truth as the meditative object..." and says in the next sentence in further explanation, "First he experiences the three kinds of form. ..." One can refer to the three kinds of each sense object (as in Guhyasamaja, Chap. VII) by desire, aversion, and indiflcrcnce, as does Aryadeva. Toga Stages 1 and 2 Body as the Mantra Visualized Selflessness of the Mind Visualized The account begins with the yogin located in a solitary glade. In this Connection Aryadeva cites Guhyasamaja, XVI, p. 126, "The sadhaka with firm resolve, always seeks alms in the glade. Trembling with fear they give food divinely prepared "* The Pradipoadyotana (Mchan hgrel, p. 148-1) mentions the unshared food but does not clarify who does the giving or why they are frightened. It converts the yogin's glade, to the 'great forest' (vane mahafavyam). Celu-pa's commentary, Ratnavrksa-nama-rahasya-samaja-vrtti (PTT, Vol, 63, p. 227-2), is more helpful, bccause it explains, "food not shared with men and having the hundred flavors" (mi dari thun mori ma yin pahi ia\ zas ro brgya dari Idan pa); and "those tree divinities frightened by the fiery nimbus (tejas) of his evocation power, give (it)" (siri la gnas pahi lha de dag sgrub dbari dehi g/.i brjid kyis skrag nas ster bar hgyur ro). This explanation immediately associates those Guhyasamaja verses with the episode •The verse is corrcclly given in Bhatlacharyya's edition to begin with tune, the second line to begin with dadanti; while Bagchi's edition incorrectly assigns the vane line to verse 98B, and starts verse 99 with dadanti. The Pradipoddyotana manuscript supports Bhaitacharyya here with the words vane'ity&di. of the Buddha's enlightenment under the Tree, which is callcd 'terrace of enlightenment' (bodhimanda) and has four 'divinities of enlightenment' (bodhideiata) (cf. my Buddhist Tantras, p. 186). It is obviously a development from the early Buddhist legend of the girl Sujata, who brought food in a golden bowl to the meditating Gautama who, after six years of fruitless austerity, decided on a middle course (cf. Edward J. Thomas, The Life of Buddha, pp. 70-71 ). As to who are those tree divinities, Tson-kha-pa (commentary on Pahcakrama, PTT, Vol. 159, p. 77-3) states the 'companion for accomplishing the food' (kha zas sgrub pahi grogs) to be the Yaksi, the Kimkara (servant), etc. (gnod sbyin mo mnag giug ma sogs) as the best. This explanation is consistent u ith the standard explanation of the female figure on the Sanchi gate as a Yaksi or Yaksini. Also, earlier in Guhyasamdja, Chap. XVI and its commentary, there are several mentions of the Yaksi lady; for example, Mchan hgrel, p. 146-2, identifies these yaksi-s as Vajradakini-s. Aryadeva's account starts with the yogin tantamount to the Body of the Buddha silting under the Bodhi tree. Hence the solitary glade is the yogin's own body as the mandala. It is the "arcane body" of the Stage of Completion, discusscd under the Nidana verses KA-YA, and is equivalent to the Eighth Stage of the Bodhisattva. Now, our earlier discussions have gone into the matter of how this "arcane body" is actually the accomplishment of the previous Stage of Generation and is brought forward into the Stage of Completion. This is now combined with a new stage of yoga; and as the first appendix showed, the new stage has been referred to as "the selflessness of cilia being visualized," a yoga state of dream. The two stages are suggested by the two celebrated gestures of the seated Buddha—right hand in the earth-touching gesture ('body as the mantra visualized'), and left hand level at the heart in the equipoise (samapatti) gesture ('selflessness of the mind visualized'). Toga Stage 3 The Svddhiflhana, or initial Mahamudrd Aryadeva has taken the first two yoga stages for granted and goes immediately to the 3rd stage, saying, "Having first appendi x iii 35 5 taken Supreme Truth as the meditative object, by the Stage of Personal Blessing (svddhifth&na-krama) he abides with himself as the body of Vajrasattva." Under Nidana verse CIT, Aryadeva's same work was already cited in a remarkable passage on how to visualize the Supreme Truth, in a process that leads to the yoga condition of deep sleep and the revelation of the Clear Light. In the present passage, observe that Arya-deva's expression atmakrti (configuration of the self) is consistent with the conclusion in Appendix No. 1 that in the 3rd stage of yoga, referring to dreamless sleep, the subject is paramount and the object is in abeyance—the subject now being indicated as "configuration of the self". Despite this condition of pure subjectivity devoid of dream object, the description emphasizes the extreme bliss, sincc the yogin dwells in the circle of the goddesses. One may refer to Nidana verse HR (no. 27) for more information; cf. there, Bu-ston's citation of Aryadeva. The present passage continues with the union of the male and female energies, and Aryadeva summarizes, "Thus he introspects the true forms of Prajnaparamita and so on." Tsori-kha-pa's commentary on Pahcakrama (PTT, Vol. 159, p. 75-5) treats this part of the account as illustrative of nisprapaiica-carya. Concerning the 'inner hearth,' Tsori-kha-pa (ibid., p. 75-3) states that the yogin "eats while contemplating a burnt offering offered to the face of the Samadhi-sattva" (tiri rie hdzin sems dpahi ia\ {lu sreg rdzas dbul pahi bsam pas bsah stc). Presumably, what the yogin now eats is the food "divinely prepared" which the tree divinities offered earlier. Furthermore, it is in this same connection that Aryadeva cites the Mulasiitra* On the verse as identified, the •There is no doubt thai Aryadeva means the Guhyasamijatantra (first seventeen chapters) by his citation from ihe •Mulasutra'. The verse has some variant readings nf Chapter Seven, verse 2, as well as some corruptions; but also the edited Sanskrit of llie Tantra has a corrupt reading in this verse. The Hernial I verse has the reading 'svam atmanam' where the published Tantra has 'parahgaii ca'. The Pradtpoddyotana manuscript (5B-3-4) expands: 'svatmanaip paraips ca'. The Pradlpoddyotana suggests that the original reading is 'svam pararps ca'. However, by my correcting principle of adopting a reading as close as possible to the edited Sanskrit when it is corrupt, I decided to correct the reading 'paraiigais ca' lo 'paratmanau'. The standard form of the verse should therefore read: tarvakimopaUugais lu uvyaminair yalhccchalah / llAdliidaiLiitayogcna parilmdnau prapujayel // I 356 yoga of THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA Pradipoddyotana explains how one worships oneself by the praxis of one's presiding lord, namely by the arduous ascetic practices called the twelve qualities of a purified man (dhutaguna). However, as the next Guhyasamaja verse (VII, 3) clarifies, it is by the worship and satisfaction of others, i.e. by offerings of the five deified sense objects (kdmaguna), that one speedily attains Buddhahood. Aryadeva thus points to this worship of others as the way in which King Indrabhuti transmuted his physical body. This is also the message of Chapter VI, 2 ('Documents'). About the vowels and the consonants in the nad'ts totalling 72,000, the Shags rim chen mo shows the way of conceiving them in the body. The placement of these vowels and consonants of course is done in the phase called the Stage of Generation, with the achievement of 'mantra body* (mantramurti). The fruition of this letter placement occurs in the Stage of Completion; and this constitutes another reason for requiring the two Stages in the given order. At f. 380b-6, Tson-kha-pa repeats the citation of some Tanjur authority, and mentions that the Sarpvarodayatantra and other Tantras are consistent regarding the placement of the sixteen vowels : The Lord said : The wise person should contemplate this way : A at the root of the thumb, A at the calf of the leg, I at the thigh joint, I at the private part (i.e. genitals), U at the root of the navel, 0 at the stomach, R at the middle of the breast, R at the hand, L at the neck, L at the lip, E at the check, A1 at the eye, O at the root of the ear, AU at the head, AM and AH in the body at the crown of the head. Such is the disposition on the 'white side' (left), so also on the 'black' (right) in reverse. This Vajrasattva is in women and also in men at all times. Notice that the name Vajrasattva is employed for a sexless (or else, androgyne) body that is the same for men and women, and is explained as a manfra-body. Hence, when Aryadeva The Bendall version substitutes Jei-a for kama, which in this case amounts to the tame meaning, because 'all desires' means 'all sense objects' and these •re identified with deities («/««). Again the substitution of \athdsukham for yathecchaiah hardly departs from the intention. However, the Bendall reading snyamino ought to be corrccted to seiyaminair. The verse with these modifications accounts for the translation adopted previously. 357 APPENDIX III said, "he abides with himself as the body of Vajrasattva," the remark can apply to either a yogin or yogini. So also it is possible to bring in the explanation presented in Appendix II that on the Bodhisattva's Ninth Stage he sets into motion the wheel of the dharma; that is to say, in the fruitional Stage of Completion the yogin sets into motion the wheel of mantras. To continue with Tson-kha-pa's exposition of letter placement:— The explanation of 'white side' as left and 'black side' as right (side of body), in the case A at the left thumb or right thumb, stems from the commentary on the Samvarodava-tantra according to Shags rim, f. 381a-4. The Snags rim, f. 381b-6, mentions that the consonants arc grouped under the elements, with certain consonants repeated according to the following break- down : akaSa : ka, na, fia, na, na, ma, ha, ksa — 8 wind : gha, jha, dha, dha (2), bha, ya(2), $a — 9 fire : ga, ja, da(2), da, ba, ra(2), sa — 9 water : kha, cha, tha, tha, pha, va(2) — 7 earth : ca, ta, ta, pa, la (2), sa — 7 40 Those syllables are held in this tantric tradition to give rise to the thirty-two characteristics and eighty minor marks of the Buddha's body cf. Nidana verse 23, YA). The Shags rim, f. 380a-6, cites in this connection Diparikarabhadra's Sriguhyasamdjamandalaiidhi known in Tibetan tradition as the Four Hundred and Fifty Verses, Bit brgya Ina bcu pa) for a hM-Sloka translated by indications in the commentary by Ratnakarasanti, the SriguhyasamSjamandalavidhi-fikS : I dbyaiis yig mtshan dan yah dag Idan / ka sogs dpe byad hod zer can / The (16) vowels arc the source of the (32) characteristics (aksana) The (34) consonants radiate the (80) minor marks (anuvyahjana). Snags rim. f. 380b-2, identifies the vowels as white in color, the consonants as red. The white vowels arc mystically called 'moon'; the red consonants, 'second moon' or 'sun'. Ibid, f. 380b-1, by dividing the vowels into two, ore makes a 'right' group (for the male upaya) of sixteen, and a 'left' group (for the female prajha), to yield the total of 32 for the characteristics. I 358 yog a OF THE GuHYASAMAJATANTRA Likewise, the consonants, classified as above with scries adding up to 40, arc divided into two for updya and prajiid to yield the total of 80 for the minor marks. The above data on the vowels requires some further clarification. The statement that the vowels on the 'black' (right) side arc in reverse means, according to that above-cited commentary on the Samvarodaya-tantra, that for that side one contemplates the vowel placement in the reverse order, i.e. starting from the AM and AH at the crown of the head. The vowel depositing constitutes the sixteen parts of the bodhicitta byaii chub kyi scms kyi cha bcu drug . At this point the Snags rim cites the Hevajra-tantra, Part I, Chap, viii (Snellgrove cd. : suk- rakaro bhaved bhagavan tatsukham kamini smrtam (50A) : "The Lord is the aspect of Sukra; Kamini is the ecstasy of that (bodhicilta)." Thus, the Lord, or Yajrasattva, who is in both men and women, is the Svkra ('semen'" white aspect, while the Goddess Kamini, presumably also in both men and women, is the ecstasy (sukha) red aspect of the sixteen parts of bodhicitia, yielding a total of 32 for the characteristics. Yoga Stage 4 The divine body made of mind The next problem is to determine who is 'the triple-diamond one'. The verse just preceding those cited by Aryadeva must be considered (Guhyasamdja, XVI, 97 :): svamudram va 'thava dated dhyanatryaksaravajrindm j pahcabuddhai ca sarvajhah prinante natra samsayah / Or he should contemplate his own mudrd belonging to the three-syllable vajrins of meditation. The omniscient Buddhas will be pleased; there is no doubt of it. Th"" Pradipoddyotana comments : / svatnudram ityadina jftanamudraya sahacaryam darsayati / svamudram lutiaya-stham vajradhatvisvarim tryaksaravajrinam vairocanadiyogi-naip bahyangananiiapcksinam dadyat / "By the words 'his own rrudrd' and so on, (the verse) shows the praxis together with the Jftanamudra. He should give (in marriage) his 'own mudrd', the 'Queen of the Diamond Realm' dwelling in the heart, belonging to the 'three-syllable vajrins', i.e. the yogins of Vairocana and so on, who have no eye to external APPENDIX 111 359 women." Earlier in his commentary on Chapter XII, 76, ("Documents"), Candrakirti explained the terms 'Buddha', 'Vajradharma', and 'Vajrasattva' as respectively the yogin of Yairocana, yogin of Amitabha, and yogin of Aksobhya. Regarding those females or mudri-s of the verse cited by Aryadeva, namely, the goddess, naga lady, and so on, Mchan (igrcl, p. I-18-2, mentions that she is the respecdve goddess of the three families, thus Locana for Yairocana's yogin; PanAara for Amitabha's yogin; and Mamaki for Aksobhya's yogin. 'Knowledge of the three diamonds' means knowledge of the diamond of Body, of Spcech, and of Mind. But then, why arc five females mentioned in the verse ? The Pradipoddyotana docs not help here. Possibly they stand for the mudra-s of five different ages, usually 16-yeared; that is, I presume that they are pseudonyms of the five, the 'butcher maiden' etc., listed under Nid ana verse GE (no. 35). What is meant by his going beyond ? The Pradipoddyotana manuscript explains: atikramcd ity adina carvaphalam aha / trivajratma yogi atikramet / m:\nusyabhavam abhibhavati / nasyati / uasaui prakrtam sariram tatparavrttya vajravad abhedyam aksaram avinasvaram bhavct "By the words 'Should he go beyond' the verse states the fruit of the praxis. Should the 'triple-diamond' yogin go beyond, he would overpower the human condition. The vulgar body with 'loss' is lost. Bv its transmutation, the 'syllable' inseparable like a 'diamond' would not be susceptible of destruction." The going beyond ofthe 'triple-diamond yogin' contrasts with the going beyond ofthe 'deluded self', which is the topic ofthe last verse in Chapter XII and with Chapter XV, verse 22 (see Appendix II . Regarding the vidyaviata. left in the original Sanskrit above as well as previously in my citation of verses from Chapter XVI in the opening material for the set of nidana ve. scs on Kayavak-citta Body, Speech, and Mind), the term is well explained by Buddhaguhya in his Dhyanottara-batala-ftka (PTT, Vol. 78, p. 80-4.5 and p. 81-1 . Tiayavrala' (rite of the vidya) means devata-yoga union with divinity), especially at the samdhis. Therefore, the Pradipoddyotana comments (Mchan hgrcl, p. 147-4 ' : vidyavrati tabhih sardham guhyapiijam samapattiin caluhsamdhyam kuryal ("The vidySvratin should 360 YOGA OF THE Gl'HYASAMAJATAXTRA engage in the secret-offering kind of equipoise together with those [goddesses] at the four junctures.") These are of course the morning, noon, sunset, and midnight observances.* It is well to point out one feature of Aryadeva's account that was not brought forward in our previous discussions of the Guhyasamaja yoga. He says, "In that way, again and again he enters the true limit bhutakoli): and having emerged again and again he experiences the five "strands of desire' as the five Tathagata forms, so the (sublime) mind does not fade." Sakyamitra says (N'arthang cd., f. 345b-7 : "The true limit is the Clear Light" (van dag pahi mthah ni hod gsal ba ste . This shows that the ultimate fruit promised for this yoga is not achieved simply by doing it once; but rather by repetition of entering into the yoga state of artificial dreamless sleep with revelation of the Clear Light, until the "diamond body" or purified "illusory body" achieves the independence to wander "from Buddha field to Buddha field." Then, as Mkhas grub rje's Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tantras suggests, the yogin is the Bodhisattva of the Tenth Stage, in the retinue of the Sam-bhoga-kaya. Still, perhaps the most significant finding of this appendix is the clear indicatior from Aryadeva's account that it is in the yoga artificial dreamless sleep that occurs the reintegration of male and female energies frequently referred to as yiganaddha. Hence, this is the intimation of what has been earlier referred to in this work as the Dharmakaya union with the goddess along with the Clear Light (of death . This suggests, as well, that in this theory the ordinary state of dreamless sleep (occurring every night or in each period of normal sleep) is such a reunion of male and female—mystically, death— from which comes the new life, the birth, i.e. the reawakening (see Table III, The Clear Lights). The yogin, by artificially evoking this state, seeks to capture, strengthen, and restore the androgyne. •Ratnakarasjntis Piikita-iidhop.Àyikd-nili-niin(!ush. vPTT, Vol. 62, p. 68-3) mentions three kinds of era/a. (1) ivjrauala, namely of the diamond, the "mind of enlightenment"; (2) eeryinata, namely of three kinds of engagement; and (3) Myiirala. APPENDIX IV GRADING OF THE FOUR-STAGE YOGA Previously (p. 163) it was noted from the Snags rim that for accomplishing the four steps of yoga there is a lesser, a middling and a great. Let us therefore, without introducing new material attempt a grading by way of this suggestion. A. The lesser four steps The lesser would certainly be the four-stage yoga pointed out by Ratnakarasanti (see Appendix I) to be shared between the Lankdiataras utra and the Guhyasamajatantra. He referred to a verse of Guhyasamaja, chap. XV, and I found it to be consistent with one way of understanding the stages of Guhyasamdja, Chap. VI. In this interpretation, the four-stage yoga is equivalent to the four ninedhabhagiyas that lead to the First Bodhisattva Stage. B. The middling four steps The middling would be the four stages that go with the Stage of Generation. These steps are clearly stated in Guhyasamdja, Chap. XII, and are well explained in Candrakirti's commentary see 'Documents'). The steps of Guhyasamdja, Chap. VI, can be understood this way; and the four steps, considered as .subjective yoga can be correlated with steps of external ritual, as was shown. Besides, the explanation of the four steps with the terminology of three samddhis is used to correlate the class of Yoga Tantra with the Stage of Generation of the Anuttara-yogatantra. C. The great four steps The great would be the interpretation of four stages as equivalent to the fadangayoga cf the Stage of Completion, also expressible in terms of five stages (Nagaijuna's Pahcakrama). This is also one way of understanding the stages of Guhyasamdja, Chap. VI in association with the Explanatory Tantra Vajramdla. 362 YOGA OF THE gt'HYASAMAJ ATANTRA The basic Tantra itself showed the higher interpretation of the four stages by identifying them, in chap. XV, with the four goddesses, Locana, etc., who confer enlightenment. On the terminological level, one may further interpret the four steps of yoga of Guhyasamaja, chap. XII, as applicable to the Stage of Completion. 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