Aaa

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

• Arya' tradition of the Guhyasamaja cycle, Aryadeva gives the greatest literary impression of having actually 'done it'.

(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.<u Sasyate yogind sadd / sevdvidhanarri prathamarri dvitiyam upasddhanam / sadhanam tu trtiyarri vai mahasadhanarri caturthakam / The yogin always praises in all Yogatantra—the rite of

service as first, the ncar-cvocation as sccond, evocation as third, and great evocation as fourth.

These steps arc stated somewhat more fully in Ibid., XII, p. 58 (completely given in 'Documents') : "He should contemplate the samadhi-praxis of service (send) as the supreme revelation (ullama-bodhi)"__(scvasamadhisamyogam bhavayet bodhim

uttamam). " the deliberation on the 'base of vajra' (vajra-Syatana) when there is foremost success is the near-evocation (upasddhana)" (upasadhanasiddhyagre vaj ray atana vicaraijam). "The contemplation of the lords of the mantras stated to be the exhortation at the time of evocation (sadhana)" (sadhane

codanam proktam mantradhipatibhavanam). "At the time of great evocation (mahdsadhana), when he imagines the form of his own mantra-vajrin as the lord on the crown of the head, he is successful because of the jiiana-vajrin" (mahasadhanakaleju bimbam svamantravajrinah / mukuje 'dhipatim dhyatva siddh-yate jnanavajrinah).

Tson-kha-pa further clarifies the four steps by identifying them with the four yogas of the Krfnayamdri-tantra (presumably Tohoku No, 467) in this passage (Snags rim, f. 364b) :

, rdo rje sems dpah rdzogs pa ni \\ rnal hbyor yin par hdi Itar hdod I I de yi rgyu mlhun lha yi sku / rjes kyi mal hbyor yin par grags / / hkhor lo lhams cad yons rdzogs pa / Sin tu mal hbyoryin par hdod // sku daii gsuii daii thugs mams daii // lha yi mig sogs byin brlab daa . / ye ies hkhor lo giug pa daii // mchod dai: bstod pa chen poni / I mal hbyor chen po ies byafto / The perfection of Vajrasattva is thus held to be yoga. His affiliated divine body (*devatd-kaya) is known as anuyoga. The perfecting of all the 'circles' (cakra) is held to be atiyoga. The blessing (adhif(hana) of body, speech, and mind, and of the divine eye (divya-cakfus), etc.; the drawing in of the Jnana-cakra ( = knowledge beings, jhdnasattva), the great offerings and praises—is called mahdyoga.