Aaa

Nagarjuna, in his Pindikrta-sadhana, is consistent with his employment of this terminology of yogas, starting with verse 44 (in La Vallce Poussin's numbering). We learn that in yoga there is the rite involving the recitation of the celebrated mantras, Otp Sunyatajftanavajrasvabhavatmako 'ham, and Om dharma-dhatusvabhavatmako 'ham. With verse 51, he mentions the

amtyoga and this culminates in the contemplation ofthe 'primeval lord' (adindtha). Then the atiyoga develops vajrasattva (the 'diamond being') as the progressed self of the yogin with his body as a mandala (the deha-mandala mentioned earlier in our mandala section). The mahayoga starts with verse 70 and involves the blessing or empowerment of body, speech, and mind, using the mantras of Guhyasamdja, chapter 6 ('Documents';.

Passing to some individual explanations for the four steps, especially as they apply to the Stage of Generation, we note that the Pradipoddyotana ('Documents') is helpful for clarifying the 1st step. It is neccssary to placc consciousness in samidhi. The practitioner then reviews the evocation "from the spot of earth, etc. up to the mandala circle." He then enters the realm

of the void through contemplating the mantra, "Om gunyata-jfianavajrasvabhavatmako 'ham" (Orp. I am the intrinsic nature of the knowledge diamond of voidncss). Hence in this step the officiant evokes the void mandala-palace, also called the 'perfection of Vajrasattva'. Commenting on the 'vajra-ayatana' of the second step of sadhana, namely upasadhana, Snags rim says (f. 363a-6 to 363b-l ): "Thugs-rje-iabs explains that vajra means the thirty-two deities from Vairocana down to Sumbharaja; while its base (dyatana) refers to the spots wherein are deposited the syllables of those (deities) in the aggregate of form all the way down to the soles of the feet." ( / rdo rje ni rnam snari nas gnod mdzes kyi bar

so gfiis so II debi skye mchcd ni gzugs phuri nas rkan mthil gyi bar yin te de dag gis yi ge hgod pahi gnas bstan par thug rje labs hchad do / ). This remark immediately shows the connection between the 'vajra-dyatana' of the second sadhana step with the second vajra, the 'drawing together of germ syllables' (bijasamhrta) (cf. preceding sub-section). This refers to the body-man (Jala where thirty-two syllables representing the thirty-two deities arc deposited in the appropriate spots of the body. But without this commcnt, the relation between the two second ones would not be clear. Also the comment clarifies the Si.ags

rim remarks (362b-6, ff. through 363a-l, 2, 3) that on the Stage of Generation the second sadhana yields the 'incantation body' (mantra-deha) while the same sadhana, interpreted on the Stage of Completion, yields the 'knowledge body' (jildna-kdya). This evocation of a sanctified body, which the Pradipoddyotana calls the "form of Mahamudra', is alluded to in Nagarjuna's Pinifihtasadhana (verses 51-52) :

.... anuyogam samacartt /tatas tryakfarasambhutam sitakundcndusannibham /ddindtham vicintya....

He should engage upon the Anuyoga. Then, imagining the primeval lord (adinatha) arisen from the three syllables like the white-Jasmine moon............ As to the three syllables, these can be either a, o, and ha, or they can be Om, Ah, and Hum. Thus Mchan figrel, PTT, Vol. 158, p. 14-3, states : "a, o, and ha are the three basic syllables...;

that means that from the thirty-two parts of the 'seminal drop' (bindu-bodhicitta) the three syllables become 32-fold and generate the gods on the lotus." This alludes to generation of the

thirty-two Guhyasamaja gods from germ syllables. Furthermore, Tsori-kha-pa's Rnal hbyor dag pahi rim pa (PTT, Vol. 160, p. 91-1), shows the process of imagining a single bindu (of

bodhicitta) as the syllable Bhrum and from its transformation generating the 4-cornered, 4-doored, etc. palace along with thrones (Step No. 1); and continues :

Then the single-part bindu becomes 32 parts upon the thrones, and from their transformation (there arise the syllables) Om, Ah, Hum. Then the incantation of each of the seed syllables Hum, etc. gives rise to 32 Jfiana-adhisthanas of the three vajras. Therefrom there arise 32 hand symbols of thunderbolt (vajra), etc. (Step No. 2). Therefrom one generates sequentially the bodies of the deities (Step No. 3) :—the foregoing is the 'way of generating'. In the case of the third step—generation of the bodies of the deities (especially within the practitioner's own body as a bodymandala) is presumably what the h'rfnayamaritantra (op. cit.) calls the perfecting of all the circles. The Mchan hgrel on

chapter XII (Vol. 158, p. 92-2, 3) adds information for the third step that the perfection here comes from the five abhisam-bodhis. In summary of N'agarjuna's text, Ratnakaraianti's Pindikrta-sadhanopdyikd vrlti-ratnavali-nama (Vol. 62, p. 62) places here the blessing of the sense bases (dyatana), die personality aggregates (skandha), the elements, the major and minor limbs, by the various 32 deities; and (ibid., p. 77) slates that by divi

sions of the skandhas, there are Vairocana and the other Tatha-gatas; and so on, down to Sumbharaja (in the feet). These are what the Guhyasamdja calls the 'lords of the mantras'. The Pradipoddyotana ('Documents') alludes to verses XII, 70-71 to explain the blessing, but thereby disagrees with both the Krfnayamaritantra and Nagarjuna's Pindikrta-sddhana which placc this blessing or empowerment of Body, Speech, and Mind in the fourth step.

The fourth step in the Pradipoddyotana treatment involves imagining the lord on the crown of the officiant's head, and the five Tathagatas on the heads of all the deities in their particular families. Mchan hgrel (PTT, Vol. 158, p. 92-2, 3) brings in the terminology of the fourth vajra, the 'invariant ( = letter) placement', and states that this refers both to letter placement of the samddhi-sattva (tin ne hdzin sems dpali) and to letter placement in the

body of the vidyd (rig mahi lus la yi ge hgod pa), hence to letter placement of vajra and padma (rdo rje dan pa-dmahi yi ge hgod pa ste), referring of course to the mention of vajra and padma in the Pradipoddyotana comment ('Documents') on this step. This would then be the 'overflow mandala' (utsarga-mandala) spoken of in our mandala section. As was mentioned, other sources placc here the empowerment of Body, Speech, and Mind.

Furthermore, the Pradipoddyotana ('Documents') clarifies that the Mahasadhana, which is the fourth step, is the accomplishment of the aim of others. This agrees with the Guhyasamdja-tantra's explanation of Mahasadhana as a title for chapters 5, 9. 17, and 13, that these chapters have the teaching that liberates one's great soulcd disciple. The Pradipoddyotana mentions that the Mahasadhana includes the 'best victorious mandala' and the 'best victorious rite'. In fact, these are the second and third of a well-known set callcd the three samadhis.

The set of three samadhis constitute a terminology in common between the Yoga-tantra and the Anuttara-yoga-tantra classes of tantric literature. Even though there are some differences in explanation of those three, there arc strong indications that the Stage of Generation of the Anuttarayoga-tantra is the portion of that kind of Tantra that has practiccs shared with the Yoga-tantra. The three samadhis arc callcd 'preliminary praxis' (prathamaprayoga), 'triumphant maijdala' (vijaya-mandala),

and 'victory of the rite' (karma-vijaya). Stags rim, f. 364a-1, 2, mentions as the implication of those remarks of the Prodi-poddyotana that the first three steps of service are the 'preliminary praxis' and amount to steps that accomplish one's own aim. The employment of two samadhis to cover the 4th step of yoga helps to resolve the several ways of explaining the 4th step as not constituting rival methods of conducting the rite of that Stage, but rather as suggesting the grouping into two phases. The 'victorious mandala' is the initiation phase of the Stage of Generation, involving the five vidyd initiations, as they are called. The 'victory of the rite' includes those rather strange rites filling up a number

of verses in both Chapter 6 and Chapter 12 ('Documents') about the ritual eating of different kinds of flesh, in fact the meditative eating of that flesh, credited with leading to supernormal powers (on which I once wrote an article, "Totcmic beliefs in the Buddhist Tantras"). The apportionment of rites between the three samadhis can be seen rather clearly by placing in concordance with the four steps the mandala rites of the Guhyasamaja which can also be

arranged in four parts following the classification of Mkhas grub rye's Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tantras, which in turn is based on the Snags rim. These two works enabled me to group the rites in Nagabodhi's Sri'guhyasamdja-mandaliipdyikdiimSati-vidhi-ndma (PTT, Vol. 62, pp. 12 to 18), where there arc actually twenty-one rites despite the 'vimSati' of the title. Admittedly, this correlation demands more justification than here given, and a study of the Mkhas grub rje context will provide some of the missing links, for example, that the 'rite of the site' also requires contemplation of voidness (as we saw in the case of the first yoga step).

(A) Rites of the site:

1. Clearing the site (sa sbvori ba)

2. Seizing the site (sa yoris su gzun ba )

3. Elimination of the obstructing demons (bgegs fle bar ii ba)

(B) Rites of preparatory acts :

4. Pitching the lines with chalk (thog le kor gyis thig gdab pa)

5. Preparing the flask (bum pa lhag par gnas pa)

6. Beseeching the gods (gsol gdab pa)

7. Preparation of the disciple (slob ma lhag par gnas pa)

(C) The main rite, beginning with construction of mandala:

8. The five colored threads (tshon sna lna)

9. Putting in the colors (tshon dgyed pa)

10. Invitation of the gods (spyan drari ba)

(D) Initiations of the flask :

11. Drawing the disciple into the mandala (slob ma g2ug pa)

12. Diadem Initiation (cod pan gyi dbah bskur)

13. Diamond Initiation (rdo rje dbah bskur)

14. Mirror Initiation (me Ion gi dbah bskur) ( = Water Initiation)

15. Name Initiation (mih gi dbah bskur)

16. Emblem Initiation (phyag mtshan gyi dbah bskur) (— Bell Initiation).

. Offerings:

. 17. Offerings to the gods (lha la yon hbul ba)

18. Offerings to the guru (bla ma la yon hbul ba) Permission and Unification :

19. Conferral of permission (anujiia) on the disciple (slob ma la rjes su gnan ba sbyin pa)

20. Unification (of the Guhyasamaja deities that are in various spots of the body) (ne bar bsdu ba)

Concluding Acts:

21. Release of the magic nail (phur bu dbyuh ba), i.e. dismissal of the deities, along with a burnt offering (homa). In summary, one can establish the first samadhi of 'preliminary praxis' to cover the three parts. A. Rites of the site, B. Rites of the preparatory acts, and C. The main rite, where

the three (as external ritual) are analogous to the first three steps of service (as internal ritual) which in both eases accomplish one's own aim. Then the second samadhi 'victorious mandala' covers the initiations of the flask for the benefit of the disciple, but since in reality these initiations are conferred by the goddess, the female element enters at this point. The third samadhi 'victory of the rite' covers the offerings, permission to the disciple (to repeat the ritual himself) and re-unification of the 32 deities into Bodhicitta, as well as concluding acts. This helps to clarify the Mahayoga as the second and third samadhi.

Also, it is becoming apparent that there are various ways of stating the four steps of service or yoga, and this may be the

implication of the remark in Snags rim, f. 364a-l, 2 that for accomplishing the four steps there is a lesser, a middling, and a great (churi hbriri rhen po gsum ga dgos pas).

Besides, there is Tsori-kha-pa's insistence on correlating tantric materials with the three phases, birth, death, and the intermediate state, which arc referred to in nidana verse 38, and those three with the three liodics of the Buddha. This is stressed among other places in his independent work Don gsal ba on the Guhyasamajatantra PIT. Vol. 160, p. 128). In this way, Dharmakava goes with death, Sambhogakaya with intermediate state, and Nirmanakaya with birth (cf. the table about the

three phases in the preceding section). There Tsori-kha-pa argues at length about the 'Adinatha' (which according to Nagarjuna is the germinal Vajradhara) to the conclusion that the generation of the 'adinatha' agrees with the intermediate state. In the foregoing discussion ofthe four yogas, the generation of the adinatha was placed in the second yoga called anu-yoga. In my article, "The Five-fold Ritual Symbolism of Passion," I showed Tsori-kha-pa's view that the contemplation of voidness is equivalent to death; and since this contemplation t akes place in the first yoga, this step can be correlated with death. That leaves the third step to go with birth, which is reasonable since it is the culminating step for one's own sake. We therefore have the following line-up of the steps :

1. Yoga — symbolic death - Dharmakaya

2. Anuyoga — symbolic intermediate state — Sambhogakaya

3. Atiyoga — symbolic birth — Nirmanakaya

Of course, such concordances arc not meant to suggest that the Yogin attains such bodies by following through with the several steps. Tsori-kha-pa makes it plain that this correlation is meant lo establish those steps as the causes in the "Stage of Generation' for the subsequent attainment of those Buddha bodies in the 'Stage of Completion'.

D. The six members of yoga anil the five kramas in the Stage of Comfiletion

The six members are stated in the Guhyasamdjatantra for the first time in chapter 10, which is generally regarded in commcn-tarial tradition as an Uttara-tantra 'continuation tantra' be-

A cause it includes verses grouping the preceding chapters 2-17. However, Candrakirti's Pradipoddyotana on Chapter 12 (see 'Documents') insists that verse 64 has the implication of these members, especially by the words sevajnanamrtena; and accordingly wrote in comment upon that verse a fairly lengthy account of the six members. This account, curiously, is almost identical with the work Sadahga-yoga (extant in Tibetan), attributed to Nagarjuna (in PTT Vol. 85). It may be that the comment

was a traditional one for that block of verses in chapter 18. The same verse block that Candrakirti quoted, plus some more, were later quoted by Naro-pa in his SekoddeSafika, a commentary on part of the Kalacakra-tantra. Xaro-pa devotes much of his subsequent commentary to aspects of those members, following the Kalacakra tradition. This shows that it was feasible to carry through the tantric praxis in terms of those six members; and the occurrence in the Guhyasamaja, chapter 18, indicates that this formulation was once a viable procedure in this tantric cult.

Of course, the names of the six members of yoga are ancient. They are almost the same names as the members of yoga in the Maitri Upanifad. However, over the centuries different interpretations have been made of the chief terms; and they do not always occur in the same order as in the Guhyasamdjatantra. Also, the order of the members in this Tantra, while standard in the Anuttarayoga-tantra, has occasioned some sharp disputes. Of course, Nagarjuna's commentary on the 18th chapter, where the six members are defined, was examined carefully by the commentators, but their silence regarding his commentary when they engage in disputes on these matters is due to Nagar-juna's way of commenting, which we might call 'around' and not 'to' the point. However, it is interesting to observe how he did proceed in his commentary, the AfiadaSa-patala-ristara-vydkhyd.

He found his first opportunity to go into the matter when commenting on chaptcr XVIII, verse 24 :

trividham kayavdkeittam guhyam ity abhidhiyaU / samajam milanam proktam san-abuddhdbhidhdnakam //

The three types, body, speech, and mind, arc explained as the 'secret'.

'Samaja' is said to be union, the definition of all the

Buddhas.

Using remarks based on those three, body, etc., he first explains the three samadhis, 'preliminary praxis,' etc.; then the Stage of Generation and the Stage of Completion; then his five kramas in order; the 'cause' (hetu), 'action' (karma), and'fruit' (phala); then the six members of yoga in order. Then he starts over again, with somewhat different remarks based on those three, bod)', etc., with which he first explains the three samadhis, then the two stages, then the five kramas in order, then those three, 'cause', etc., and finally the six members in order. His next opportunity presented itself when

commenting on the definition of Tantra (chapter XVIII, verse 33), in particular the expression 'asamhaiya' ('which cannot be led astray'). He says this means the Tantra of the Fruit, free from fear, wherein the achievement Vajradhara, and so on, is conferred by way of the yogin of subtle yoga in the Stage

of Generation or the Stage of Completion, or of (the five krama) 'Diamond Muttering, etc., or of the six members. By this comment he clarifies that his five kramas and the six members are alternate ways of expressing the tantric path (in fact, the Stage of Completion). Then in verse 35, still devoted to

definition of 'Tantra', the expressions 'pai\cakam trikulam caiva. . . ." gave him the opportunity to talk about five-fold sets, three-fold ones, and so on. His five kramas are such a five-fold set, so they arc mentioned, along with the three samadhis again; and he cannot mention those without alluding to the six members, so now (PTT. Vol. 60, p. 6-3) he gives a brief definition of each of the six members. When he comes to the block of verses on which

Candrakirti commented ('Documents') he has a rather lengthy treatment of the six members {op. cit., p. 14-3, 4, 5 and p.15-1 ) in a manner consistent with Candrakirti's statement, although having some other materials, and in particular agrees on the disputed point that the dhyana member has the five parts of non-tantric Buddhism and that these do reach up to the Spread-of-Light, Culmination-of-Light, and finally the Clear Light; while also placing the six members in the Stage of Completion. As though that were not enough, he continues (p. 15-1,2) with brief explanations of the benefit resulting from each member, for example, that dhyana yields the five supernormal powers (the teaching of non-tantric Buddhism). There can be no doubt that Nagarjuna gives the subject of the six members its proper due. He presents

considerable information, all taken together. But since he introduced his five kramas into this commentary when they were not mentioned in the original text of chapter 18, he could have been helpful to show the relationship between his five kramas and the six members, which he avoided committing himself upon. And so subsequent centuries of commentators had to dispute over what was meant. In the Guhyasamaja

cult, his Paiicakrama triumphed over the six-mcmbered terminology, for which we are fortunate to have Candrakirti's Sanskrit commentary. As we consider Candrakirti's comments, it seems that the first two members pratyahara and dhydna, amount to a summary of non-tantric Buddhist meditation. In standard meditation, first there is withdrawal of the mind from the multiplicity of external objects, with focussing upon one properly chosen meditative object, which is contemplated in the mind. This is close to the pratyahara of Candrakirti's explanation which, however, adds some tantric remarks. T hen the five parts to Dhyana are the traditional parts assigned to the dhyanas in non-tantric Buddhism which teaches that there are four Dhyana levels or heavens constituting what is called the realm of form (iupa-dhdtu), below which is the realm of desire (kama-dhdtu) and beyond which is the formless realm (at upa-dhdtu). While it is true that the

further explanations given by Candrakirti for the five parts of dhyana are not how those same words arc explained in the Abhi-dharma treatises, it is intriguing to notice his remark that the fifth part "is engendered as light-only and the ultimate that is one with universal void." This claim that dhyana reaches up to the Clear Light (of which 'universal void' is a synonym) practically admits that the Clear Light is an experience at the

top of the realm of form, which is precisely where Mahayana Buddhism places the Complete Buddha in a heaven callcd Akanistha with a body called Saipbhogakaya. But what sense is there to commenting that way, when dhyina precedes the next member, 3. pranayama, in which there is no mention of experience of the Clear Light, but which is a necessary preliminary of the next member 4. dharand which covers the mystic experience of entering the Clear Light ? It makes sense only if one takes into account the kinds of Clear Light as in the previous scction that summarized the varieties in a tabic. That is to say, the

Clear Light reached by the dhyana member is not the Clear Light of the 'Supreme Entity'; but, on the other hand, what is its Clear Light is not definite without further information about this member of yoga, especially since there was a controversy about the first two members. Tsori-kha-pa's commentary on Paiicakrama, PTT, Vol. 158, p. 196-4, savs : I sgron ma rab gsal las sor bsam giiis scms dben dan / srog rlsol rdor bzlas dan / hdzin pa hod gsal dan / rjes dran dan tin he hdzin zun hjug tu hdus par biad de / According to the Pradipoddyotana, (among the six members) pratydhdra and dhydna are incorporated in secret state of mind (citta-viveka); prdndyama in diamond muttering (;vajrajdpa) (i.e. secret state of speech, vag-vivekti); dharanH in Clear Light; anusmrti and samadhi in pair-united (yuga-naddha).

This Tibetan tradition then proceeded to rejcct a portion of Candrakirti's position, and by implication, Xagaijuna's commentary on the 18th chapter. This is made clear in Tsori- kha-pa's commentary Mthah gcod 'PIT. Vol. 156, pp. 50-52, 'Deciding among the alternatives' for chapter 12). He says (p. 51-2-4) : "According to the Pradipoddyotana, both pratydhdra and dhyana are the arcane mind (citta-viveka) (sor bsam giiis sems dben)_____" Later he says (p. 52-4-4): "In our school, if one treats the six members as six stages of the Stage of Completion, then we heartily endorse Sgra-dbyaris-bcu-gcig-pa (for his position) to treat both

pratydhdra and dhydna as the arcane body (kSyaviveka) (ran gi lugs kyis rdzogs rimgyi rim pa drug la yan lag drug sbyar na / sor bsam griis lus dben la sbyor ba sgra dbyaris bcu gcig pa ltar legs so / ). The mentioned author (*Ekdda(asvara) is the author of the Mahavajradharapathakramo-padeSdmrtaguhya (Tohoku catalog No. 1823) . What Tsori-kha-pa means by the words "if one treats" is that some authorities treated the first two members as part of the preceding Stage

of Generation. Thus, there arc three possibilities posited : 1. The first two members belong to the Stage of Completion as 'arcane mind'; 2. they belong there as 'arcane body'; 3. they belong to the Stage of Generation. A part of the dispute is exposed in Bu-ston's commentary BSad sbyar on the Pradipoddyotana (Collected Works, Ta, f. 172 b,

published in Part 9): "Here, the acarva Abhayakaragupta held that pratydhdra and dhyana belonged to the Stage of Generation; that prdnaydma is Diamond Muttering, dhdrand is the Illusory Body and the Clear Light, and that anusmrti and samadhi arc Yuganaddha. And the author Kumara claimed that pratya-hdra and dhydna are the arcane mind, and that anusmrti is the Illusory Body. Neither are correct" ( / hdir slob dpon a-bhyas/ sor sdud bsam gtan bskyed rim dan / srog rtsol rdo rjc bzlas pa dan I hdzin pa sgyu lus hod gsal daii / rjes dran tiii hdzin

zun hjug bstan / ies pa dari / ku-ma-ras / sor sdud bsam gtan sems dben / rjes dran sgyu lus su byed pa mi hthad dc /).

In the case of Abhayakaragupta, Bu-ston gives the obvious reason that the position is in conflict with the Uttara-tantra (as cited in 'Documents') which places all six members in the

superior category understood to be the Stage of Completion; but the reason Abhayakaragupta was forced into his position is that Nagarjuna's Pancakrama begins with Diamond Muttering ( — prdndydma, member No. 3). However, Bu-ston apparently believes that the refutation of Abhayakaragupta takes care of Kumara's position as well—presumably on the grounds that pratydhdra and dhydna cannot be arcane mind except in the conceptual meaning proper to the Stage of Generation; but, as we saw, Candrakirti may well have this position even though he places all six members in the Stage of Completion ('Documents'). Bu-ston continues by saying, "Some teach the caryd with pratyd-hdra and the arcane body with dhyana; that is most certainly wrong" ( I kha cig sor sdud kyis spyod pa bstan / bsam gtan gyis lus dben bstan / tcs pa Sin tu mi hthad de). By caiya' Bu-ston refers to the technical use of this term, of which there are three kinds alluded to in Tson-kha-pa's annotation of niddna verse 26 (which sec).

Although Bu-ston denies 'arcane body' to dhydna, he goes on to give his own position, "Hence, when one combines the six membered yoga with the five kramas, pratydhdra and dhydna arc included in Illusory Body" ( / des na sbyor ba van lag drug lam rim pa lhar sdud na sor sdud bsam gtan sgyu lus su l.idus te/). He also quotes approvingly that "one sees samvrti-satya with pratyahdra" (so sor sdud pas kun rdzob kyi lxlcn pa mthon babo). Although there may be a difference in usage of the term 'arcane body', it appears to me that Tsoh-kha-pa accepts Bu-

ston's position; and Tson-kha-pa's annotation of nidana verses 22-23 (on Ka-ya) seems indebted to Bu-ston's comment on this 'Ka' (op. cit., f. 55b). The solution was to call these two members the 'samvrti-maya' stages.

My own solution of the nidana grouping took account of the mention in verse 22 of the word nispanna-krama (Stage of Completion) and in verse 23 of the word nispanna-yoga (Yoga of Completion). Since these two verses go with the word 'Ki-ya', it is clear that the author of the nidana verses of the Vajra-mdla explanatory tantra understood the Stage of Completion to begin with an emphasis on 'body'. To deny that this is 'arcane body' but then to affirm that it is Illusory Body—as Bu-ston did—seems an unnecessary quibbling over words. The nature of this 'body' will become clearer as we proceed. Now, the Guhyasamdjatantra has an earlier treatment of yoga that seems to belong to the Stage of Completion, namely in its chaptcr 6 (see 'Documents'). Verses 3-6 constitute the important block, and we present them here again with the Sanskrit corrected and translated with the help of the Pradipoddyotana, Tsori-kha-pa's Mchan hgrel, as well as with the Samdhiiyakarana (PTT, Vol. 3, p. 239-3-8) for verse 5:

mantranidhyaptikayena idea manasi coditah / sddhayct praiardm siddhim manahsantofandm priydm //3// cittanidhyaptinairdtmyam lata kdyai ibhdvanam / nifpadayet trisamyogam akdSasamatalayam // 4 // kdyavdkcittanidhyapteh svabhavo nopalabhyate / mantramurtipiayogena bodhir lina ca bhavanam // 5 // vicaryedam samdscna kayaidkcittalakfanam / bhavayed bodhisamyogam samadhim manlrakalpitam // 6 // The one who has body as the mantra visualized should accomplish, exhorted by speech in the mind, the 'surpassing one', 'successful one", 'one satisfying the mind,' 'beloved one'. He should accomplish the selflessness of citta being visualized, (then) the contemplation of speech (tided) and body, (then) the triple conjunction, (finally) the abode equal to space.

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

Having pondered in brief this characteristic of l>ody, speech, and mind, he should contemplate the samadhi 'Conjunction to revelation' as constructed by mantra.

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

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

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

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

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

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

I rdo rje bzlas par rab sbyor bas /

I rluii gi mtshan Hid Ses nas ni /

I mam rtog rlun mams mam par gcod /

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

I zuit hjug rim pa la gnas pa /

I diios grub thams cad bsdus pa ni /

Ishe hdi did la hgrub hgyur bar /

I rnal hbyor pa yis the I shorn med 11

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

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

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

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

4B. mantranidhyaptim agamya zajrajapah suiikfyatc

5. vajrajapasthito mantri cittanidhyaplim dpnuydt mdyopamasamddhislho bhUtakofyam samdiiitl

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

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

muttering, the yogin achieves the citta-visualization.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

six-membered yoga fjve stages

3. Pranayama — 1. vajrajapa

4. dharana — f 2. cittavisuddhi

L 3. svadhisthana

5. anusmrti 4. abhisambodhi

6. samadhi 5. yuganaddha

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

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

E. Grouping the niddna karikds

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The third group includes verses 19-40 :

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I. The Stage of Generation.

A. Evam maya grutam. Yoga (- Scva)

B. Ekasmin samayc. Anuyoga (— Upasadhana)

C. Bhagavan Sarva. Atiyoga ( = Sadhana)

D. Tathagata. Mahayoga (= Mahasadhana)

II. The Stage of Completion.

E. Kayavakcitta. Pratyahara and Dhyana

( =kayaviveka)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PART THREE

[[I. STAGE OF GENERATION]]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(2 The separate treatment of Evam mava is to indicate any four steps of yoga. The four syllables are given symbolic values in Nagarjuna's Seka-caluh-prakarana (PTT. Vol. 61, p. 284-5), where the four arc said to summarize the meaning of all the Tantras. For example, he says, "E is the voidness- Light; VAM the further voidness-Spread-of-Light; MA great voidness-Culmination-of-Light; and YA universal voidness- the single taste (.samarasa)" E ni snari ba ston pas ste/ /VAM ni mched pa gin tu stori/ MA ni ner thob chen po stori/ /YA ni ro mnam thams cad ston,' These values are immediately

applicable to the first four nidana verses since these serially introduce the four voids or four lights, the fourth light being called the 'Clear Light' (prabhasvara) in the verses, but callcd 'single taste' by Nagarjuna at this point. Another set he gives suggests the four steps of sSdhana in the shared sense : "E achieves the unachieved; VAM reveals the achievement; MA is the going successively higher; YA is the becoming of a Complete Buddha in this life"/ E ni ma thob thob par byed I VAM ni thob pa bstan par byed/ /MA ni gori nas goti du hgro , YA ni tshe hdir rdsogs saris rgvas/. We can associate the four steps of sadhana (generalised) with Nagarjuna's four values:

Syllable

E 1. The void palace Achieving the unachicvcd

VAM 2. Residents in the palace Reveals the achievement

MA 3. Perfection of the circles Going successively higher

YA 4. Entrance of the know- Buddhahood in this life ledge being

(3) When we treat the words Evam maya Srutam in accordance with the nidana verses, they refer to Yoga, the first of the four parts of sadhana in the sense of the Stage of Generation. As this part is discussed in my sub-section 'The Yoga of the Guhyasamaja', the performer must first make his consciousness soar to the realm of the void. According to Candrakirti'

comment ('Documents') this is done with the help of mantras, of which the most popular one is: /Om Sunyatajftanavajra-svabhavatmako 'ham/ "Om. I am the intrinsic nature of the knowledge diamond of voidness !" The occupation with the four voids corresponds conceptually to the mandala ritual Rites of the Site'. To prepare the candidate for the later praxis in which the yogin learns to live in those void realms, now he merely imagines in conformity. Since the subsequent praxis involves the ascent into the void stages callcd Light, Spread-of-Light, and Culmination-of-Light, followed by the Clear Light, the candidate engages his mind with those same mystical states, principally along intellectual lines, but making a break with his previous habits of thought. He divides up the elements of consciousncss into three groups. There arc 33 female ideas, obscuring the moonlight; 40 male ideas obscuring the sunlight; and 7 androgyne ideas obscuring the dark

light. He contemplates the flow of those 80 ideas in day and night, making a total of 160. Verse E introduces the female, VAM the male, and MA the androgyne. Then verse YA, names the Clear Light, the fourth light, the negation of the 160 ideas. Those groupings of female, male, and androgyne ideas may first give the impression that the discussion devolves about our ordinary consciousncss. On the contrary, they

establish a kind of archetypal world, because those ideas are deemed not to belong to us: they enter our minds. Then the verses SRU and TAM turn to the phenomenalization of that anterior world, as indicated by the phrases "The vijfldna heard here" and "the wind... operates in the world of living beings". //E// ekaro 'pi sati prajiid mramadikfanatmikd / clan mulam vinirdiffam parijiidnam bhavatraye //1 // "E" is the Noble Woman (sati) Prajfia, the moments of aversion, and so on. This root is designated as the experience in the three worlds.

Mchan hgrel (hereafter 'Mchan' when on the verses in their regular order': 'Aversion, and so on"—'the thirty-three ideas, from aversion down to jealous) .' 'Moments'—'the wink of an eye, etc.' 'Designated' - in the Tantras. 'The three worlds'—'of desire, etc.', i.e. realm of desire l.ama-dhatu), realm of form (rupa-dhatu), and formless realm mupa-dhatu).

Paiicakrama, II, 8-13: The thirty-three natures (prakrti) are night-time signs (niSd-samjiia) and female ideas (stri-samjiia), 'with full-blown form of the covering process' (samrrlisphu-tarupena), as follows Paiicakrama order and my own grouping):

1-3. (incipient) aversion, medium aversion, intense aversion (viraga, madhyama-viraga, adhimatra-viraga). 4-9. (thinking of) future, (thinking of) past (anagata, agata ; sorrow, of three degrees (Soka, madhyama-g, adhimatra-g) ; calnmcss (saumyam). 10-22. mental wandering (state of being scatter-brained) tvikalpa); fear, of three degrees (bhita, madhvabhita, atibhita); craving, of three degrees (trsna, madhya-t, ati-t); indulgence (upadana ; inauspiciousncss (nihgubham); hunger and thirst (ksut-trsa); feelings, of three degrees (vedana, sama-v, ati-v). I 186

23-30. intuition (vettivit); memory (dharartapadam) j discrimination (pratyaveksanam); shame of (lajja); compassion (karunyam); affection in three degrees (snehatas trayam), to wit: (a) protection of the object, (b) adoration of it, (c) over-possession of it (as of a son). 31-33. worry (cakitam); collecting (samcaya), of utensils, etc.; jealousy (matsarya).

The annotations of this nidana verse did not clarify the claim that this root is the experience in the three worlds. It may be intended that knowledge through experience is made possible by the degrees of aversion, which seems to be the psychological premise of the Apoha doctrine of Buddhist logic. In this doctrine a thing is defined by exclusion of what it is not. A 'cow' is the not not-cow. What might well be the explanation is that to have the concept cow in the mind requires that a distinct idea of cow be formed, the very clarity and determination of which invloves the removal (apoha) of all other non-cow entities. In this way, experiential knowledge (parijnana) occurs with the 'aversion' to everything inconsistent with and contrary to that knowledge. Understanding begins with a kind of retreat. One must neglect the rest in order to appreciate something; and that thing understood means that a faculty ofprajna has arisen which understands the rest.

Pancakrama, II, 29:

I afuasasas lu muhurtam syan nimtfo 'kfinimefanam,.

I matra tu hastatalam syat kfanadinam lu lakfanarn

The characteristic of 'moments' etc. is the short time of an inhalation, the wink of the twinkling eye, the brevity in a clap of hands. In the Vajrajiianasamuccaya (PTT, Vol. 3, p. 252-5), consciousness (citta), which is like a bright moon in the water, has the prakrtis, aversion, etc. "In convention (sarpvrti), it is symbolized by the directly manifested woman, the bhaga, the padma, and the host of goddesses." (kun rdzob tu ni miion sum kyi bu med dan bha-ga dan pad-ma dari lha mol.ii tshogs kyi brdaho/).

//VAM// varpias tad bhavad abhati argadiprasaianvitam' Slokabhasa-vijilSmm upaya ili samjililam //2// That Spread-of-I.ight vijUana called 'means' (upaya),

attended with begetting of desire, and so on, appears like an emerging bamboo.

Mchan: 'Desire and so on'—'the forty conceptions from desire down to dishonesty'.

Paiicakrama, II, 16-21: The forty natures arc daytime and male ideas or signs (diia-purufa-samjiia), as follows (Paiica-krama order and my own grouping): 1-7. desire (raga); attachment (raktam); joy, medium joy, intense joy (tustam, madhya-t, au-t); thrill (harsanam); bliss (pramodyam). 8-13. surprise (vismaya): laughter (hasitam); refreshment (hladana); embracing (aliriganam); kissing (cumbana); sucking (cusanam).

1*1-26. firmness (dhairyam); striving (viryam); pride (mana); getting things done (kartr); theft (hartr); strength (bala); enthusiasm (utsaha); daring, medium daring, super-daring (sahasam, madhyama-s, uttama-s); aggression raudra); coquetry (vilasa): animosity (vairam). 27-34. auspiciousncss ( *gubha; text reads 'labha') clarity ofspeech( v.ik sphu(a); truth(satyam): untruth (asatyam) certainty (niscaya): non-indulgence (nil upadana); giving (datrtva): exhortation (eodanam .

35-40. heroism £urata ; lack of shame (alajja !; deception (dhuria ; wickedness dusja ; oppression Aha(ha); dishonesty kutila'i. The 'Sprcad-of-Light' : rf.ana or means upaya), is symbolized by the form of the male.

I MA mahaiidya siayam millam avi<fyay& lilnmalah! aiidyaya bhavee cailal lasmad alnl.asambhaiah //3// In the reverse order, the threat Science (=\Visdom) is itself the root of nescience. And the ('Spread-of-I.ight') arises from nescience (aiidya) while from that ('Spread-of-Light') arises Light. Mclian: 'the great Science' 'the Clear Light' (prabhdnara, hod gsal) (to be specifically mentioned in verse 4). 'nescience'— 'the mixture of prajiid and upaya, thus of cilia and cailla, and generates the seven conceptions of prakrtis. indifference, etc.* (which are therefore androgynous ideas). Prakaiikd (by Bhavyakirti) on MA, p. 292-5; "The great science (mahdnidyA) is the Dharmadhatu-naturc. the Clear Light; and why ? As the verse says, it is the reverse of nescience (avidyd)" (rigs chen ni crfbs kyi dbyins kyi no bo ste hod gsal baho / / gan gi phyir fe na I ma rig pa ni bzlog pa yin ics smos te). Paiicakrama, II 24-25: The seven prakrtis are as follows (Paiicakrama order and my own grouping) :

1-4, indifference (madhyaraga) ; forgetfulness (vismrti); illusion (bhranti); speechlessness (tusnimbhava).

5-7. weariness (kheda); indolence (alasya); ambivalence (dandhata).

Vajrajilana-samuccaya (PTT, Vol. 3, 252-4) : "Here, the Clear Light is without location, without cessation or orgination, is Supreme Truth (paramartha-satya), and True End (bhutako(i). The dark light arisen therefrom is nescience (avidya)"\ de la bod gsal ba gnas pa med pa / hgag pa med pa / skye ba med

pa / don dam pahi bden pa / yan day pahi mthah ste /d e las

byuri bahi mun pahi snaii ba ni ma rig paho /. Guhyasamdjatantra (VII, verse 35):

/tatra katham anutpaddnusmrtibhavanaj

prakrtiprabhdsvaram sarvam nirnimittam nirakfaramj na dvayam nddvayam Sdntam khasadriam sunirmalam 11 Here, what is the contemplation, recollection of non-origi-nation ? The Clear Light with the intrinsic nature is completely signless, unlettered, neither dual nor non-dual, quiescent, spodess like the sky. Pancakrama, II, 53:

SiatyatrayavUuddhir yd prabhasvaram ihocyattj sarvaSDnyapadam tac ca jUanatrayaviSuddhitah 11 That purity of the triple void is here callcd Clear Light. And that is the plane of universal void through purity of the triple knowledge. Paiicakrama, II, 57-62:

57. tathd coktam mahdydnasQtre lalitavistare / abhisambodhikdmo 'yam Sdkyasimhas tathagatah //

58. mahdSDnyena buddhatvam prdpsydmity abhimdnatah / niranjandnaditire nifpddydsphdnakam gatah // ii»r

59. tilabimbiva sampumab kharajraslhd jinds (add / ekasvarena lam prahur acchalena jinaurasam //

60. aviiuddham idam dhydnam na cailad /,< takavaham / prabhdsiaram lu alambyam akdSalalavat param //

61. prabhasiarapade praptc srecchdriipas lu jdyase / sarvaiSvaryai/i tatlid prdpya vajrakaye pramodase //

62. evam Srulvd lu lam Sabdani visrjydsphanakam lalah / ni<drdhasamayc lallram dlambyaiva jinaurasah //

So it was said in the Mahayanasutra Lalitavislara:

The Lion of the Sakyas, the Tathagata, thought, "I shall attain Buddhahood through the great void;" and seated on the Xairanjana river bank, went into the Asphanaka-samadhi (the breath-holding concentration). Thereupon the Victorious Ones dwelling in the diamond of the sky and fulfilled like the sesame fruit, spoke to the Son of the Victorious Ones with a single sound by the snap of fingers. 'Impure is this meditation and non-conducive to the desired goal. Take as meditative object the Clear Light, beyond like the dome of the sky. When you have attained the plane of the Clear Light, you shall emerge with a gratifying form, in that way acquiring universal sovereignty in a delightful diamond body.' Having thus heard that sound, he abandoned the breath-holding concentration, and at midnight visualized reality—did the Son of the Victorious Ones.

Of course, the account as the tantric N'agarjuna states it, is not actually found in the I.alitavistara in those words. It appears to be one tantric interpretation of the purport of the Lalita-vistara, the Mahayana biography of the Buddha. Tson-kha-pa, when citing the same passage in his Paiicakrama commentary (PTT, Vol. 159, p. 59 states (ibid., p. 59-2) that the passage maintains that after coming to the limit of the Mahayana

path of the Paramita, one bccomcs a Buddha by the supreme path (anuttara-marga) (which of course is the Anullara-lanlra) (ces pha rol tu phyin pahi thcgchen pahi lam gyi mthar bla med kyi lam gyis htshari rgya tshul gsuris so /). Tsori-kha-pa goes on to point out that while the part about dwelling in the 'Motionless Samadlii' (dniiljya-samddhi) (apparently equivalent to the 'breath-holding, concentration") on the NairaAjana river bank is indeed in that scripture, the rest of the account

is not expressly stated in the Lalitavistara. Mkhas grub rje's Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tantras devotes its first chapter to the various theories of how Gautama become a Complete Buddha; and in the Tantras the main theories diverge between the Yoga-tantra and the Anuttarayoga-tantra specialists. Sri Laksmi's discussion in her Paiicakrama commentary (PTT, Vol. 63, p. 29) mentions that the 'single sound' (ekasvara) refers to 'Thus' (evam) 'on an occasion' (ckusmin

samaye) by purport of single meaning (/dc la dbyaris gcig ni don gcig la dgons nas dus gcig tu hdi skad gsui'is so /). She goes on to the two varieties of the Clear Light discussed previously in my introduction on this topic, and claims that the 'Clear Light of consciousness' is meant in the present account: "Here, according to what I heard from my venerable teacher, we maintain it is only citta-prabhasvara" ( / hdir rje btsun gyi ial sna nas kyis/scms kyi hod gsal ba kho no b2ed pa yin te/). Her statement implies the word 'prabhasvara' qualifying the word 'citta' in the Abhisambodhana chapter of the Lalitavistara,

where the word is employed three times for each of the three

watches of the night (an old division of time) during

which Gautama attained Complete Enlightenment. According to my introduction, the 'Clear Light of consciousness' is equivalent to the Clear Light of deep or dreamless sleep.

//YA// yati vijndnam adau tad dlokabhasa-samjiiitaml tan mahdiUnyatdm ya'ti sa ca ydti prabhdsvaram , 4.7 At first, that vijiidna (i.e. Light) passes to what is called 'Spread-of-Light'. That passes to the Great Void and the latter passes to the Clear Light. Mchan-. 'Passes to' in each case means 'dissolves in'.

This is the direct order, anuloma, of the three Lights leading into the fourth or Clear Light, the latter being mentioned in the niddna verses for the first time along with the terminology ofvoidness. For the sequence, cf. Paiicakrama, II, 4: "Void, further void, and great void, the third, as well as universal void, the fourth—by distinction of fruit (the succeeding one) and cause (the preceding one)" (/Sunyam ca atigunyam ca mahagunyam trtlyakam/ caturthamsarvaSunyam ca phalahetuprabhedatah//).

Besides the direct and the reverse order, there is the recitation order, frequently indicated by the Sanskrit words raga, dvesa, moha, as in Guhyasamdja (Chap. VIII, p. 32) :

COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 191 rdgadvtfamohavara vajrayanapradcSikal dkd<adhdtukalpdgra ghofa pujdm jindlaya/l "O, the best of lust, hatred, and delusion, explaining the Vajrayana; O, the best like the plane of the sky, the womb of the Victorious Ones, Pray announce the piija !"

Pradipoddyotana on the preceding: 'best of lust, hatred, and delusion', because the Vajrayana purifies lust, hatred, and delusion.' Mchan ligrel on Chap. VIII {PTT, Vol. 158, p. 62-2): The three 'poisons' or basic defilements—lust, hatred, and delusion arc associated with the three lights. 'Lust' stands for the 40 prakrtis covering 'Spread-of-Light'; 'hatred' for the 33 prakrtis covering 'Light'; 'delusion' for the 7 prakrtis covering 'Culmination-of-Light'. (The three terms 'lust', 'hatred' and 'delusion' are apparently to be understood in generalized senses, to wit, 'lust'—all attraction towards, desire, 'hatrcd'-all repulsion, aversion; 'delusion'—all intermediate and indecisive states, indifference). The following passages give further information on the direct order.

Pancakrama. II, verse 5: prajiwpdyasamdyogan ni>pannam upalabdhakam / upalabdhac ca nifpanndt sarvaSBnyarp prabhdsvaram // Through union of prajiid and updya, the Culmination (of Light) is perfected; and through Culmination perfected, there is universal void, the Clear Light. Sri-Laksmi comments Vol. 63, p. 23-3-4) :

/dan po Ses rab kyi ye Scs skvc ba dan/ de nas gftis pa thabs kyi ye Ses dan po las lliag pa skyc ba ste / de gnis ga sbvor ba las Tie bar thob pa ni ye ses gsum pa rd/.ogs par hgyur ro dc nas ttc bar thob pa rdzogs nas thams cad stoti pahi bod gsal ba ni ye Ses bi\ pahi hog nas bSad par hgyur bahi shags dan phyag rgyalii rim pas rnal hbyor pa la snaii bar hgyur ro/ First arises the Prajrta knowledge; then, sccond, arises over the first the Upiiya knowledge; from the union the third knowledge, which is Culmination (of Light), is

I 192

completed. Then, through the completion of the Culmination, the Clear Light, the fourth knowledge, which is universal void, manifests to the yogin by a sequence of mantra and mudra, as will be explained below (cf. Paiicakrama, II, 48-50, cited later). Nagarjuna's Pindikrta-sddhana, 43-44A (some additions from RatnakaraSanti's commentary, PTT, Vol. 62, p. 75-5) refers to the direct order with consideration of the body-mandala:

Urdhvadhahkrodhasamyuktam prakrtydbhdsam eva ca / vijilanaskandham ayati vijiianam ca prabhasvaram //' sanirvanam sarvaSunyam (ca) dharmakayaS ca gadyate / Precisely the Light (triad) with its (160) prakrtis, associated with the upper (i.e. Usnisacakravartin at the Brahmarandhra, the orifice at crown of head) and the lower (i.e. Sumbharaja at sole of feet) Wrathful (Kings; cf. niddna verse 17), passes to the aggregate of perceptions (vijiiana-skandha) (Aksobhya and Mamaki); and perception (passes) to the Clear Light, also called 'universal void with nirvana' and 'Dharmakaya'. //SRU// Srutam yad iha vijndnam abhasatrayalakfanamj prakrtinam idam mDlam sattvadhdtor atefatah //5//

The vijiiana heard here has the characteristics of the three lights. This is entirely the root of the prakrtis (natures) of the sentient-being realm. Mchan: "Heard here arc both the essential nature (no bo) and the sequence (go rims), meaning both the path and the four states (avasthd). First (the disciple) is taught how to dwell in the four, and then taught how to generate the path consistent therewith."

Tson-kha-pa's Mchan note about four states undoubtedly refers to the three lights and the Clear Light. The path doubles the (80) prakrtis by contemplation in both day and night, per Pahcakrama. II, 27: "Those subtle prakrtis proceed in both day and night, thus to total 160, by cause of wind-conveyance" (ctah prakrtayah suksmah satam sastyuttaram diva/ ratrau capi pravartantc vayuvahanahetuna//). But how should we understand the word 'vijhana' of niddna verse 5? Vajrajhdnasamuccaya (PTT, Vol. 3, 252-4): '.That vijhdna arisen from the Clear Light is called 'consciousness' (citta), 'mind' (manas), and 'perception' (vijhdna); and that is

entirely the root (muta, rtsa ba) of dharmas. Therefrom defilement and purification give rise to two false conceptions, that of 'oneself and that of the 'other'." (/gah hod gsal las byun ba mam par ses pa dc iiid sems dan yid dan rnam par ses pa ies bya la ' dc ni chos thams cad kyi rtsa ba ste / kun nas flon motis ba dan rnam par bvari bahi bdag nid de las rtog pa

gnis su gvur te bdag dan gian dag tuho/). Bu-ston (BSad

sbyar on §RU, f. 50a) says, "From the wind arises fire, from that water, from that earth; from that the personality aggregates, the elements, and the sense bases; (that is the meaning of the passage, to wit) 'from that, arise the three lights, and from that arise the 160 prakrtis.' From that arise the 98 defilements, the 62 false views, and so on. Because senuent beings arise with a birthplace by dint of the so-amassed karma, the text says 'this is the inexhaustible root of the sentient-being realm'." ( rlun las me / de las chu / de las sa / de las phun po khams dan skye mched hbyuh / de las snan ba gsum hbyun / de las ran biin brgya drug cu hbyun ho / de las non mons pa dgu bcu rtsa brgyad dan lta ba drug cu rtsa gnis la sogs pa hbyuh I des las bsags pahi dbah gis skvc gnas gfihi sems can hbyuh has sems can gyi khams ma lus pahi rtsa ba hdi yin no /). Besides, Tsoh-kha-pa, commentary on the Vajrajhi-nasamurcaya (PTT, Vol. 160, 154-3, 4), following the Madhya-mika point of view, insists that the vijndna meant by the three lights is manovijhana. Also, in his commentary on the Caturdevipariprccha (Lhasa Coll. Works, Vol. Ca, f. 37b-6 to 38a-l): "The three vijiianas proceed from the 18-fold dhar-madhatu which is the Clear Light of Death. They (the three) arc bodhicitta—the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra." Ibid. f. 37b-3: "The dharmadhatu is the source of the six outer sense bases, the six personal sense bases, and the six perceptions (;vijiiana), 18 in all." (The sixth perception is the manovijhina, the other five being based on the five outer senses). This use of the Bodhisattva name 'Samantabhadra' presumably stems from the Guhyasamaja, Chap. IV. p. 17 (Mchan hgrel, p. 38):

Sdntadharmagrasambhutam jiianacaryavUodhakam / samantabhadravacagryam bhafa mandalam uttamam // "Pray explain the supreme mandala having the best speech of Samantabhadra, arising from the summit of quiescent dharmas (= paramartha-satya) and purifying YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTTRA

(the 80 prakrtis) by the praxis of the gnoses ( =thc three lights)."

My "Notes on the Sanskrit term Jflana," p. 260, quotes from Tsori-kha-pa's commentary on the Vajrajiianasamuccaya (Lhasa ed., Vol. Ca) to the effect that the vijildna ('perception') arising from the Clear Light of dying from the Intermediate State (bar do) is the Culmination of Light; the manas ('mind') arising from that, is the Spread-of-Light; the cilia ('consciousness') arising from that, is Light. Observe that the order:

1. delusion ( —vijflana),

2. lust ( manas),

3. hatred ( = citta) is consistent with the order of appearance of the three 'poisons' in the Buddhist genesis legend, as discussed in my article "Buddhist Genesis and the Tantric Tradition."

But the tantric Nagarjuna, Sri Laksmi, Bhavyakirti, and some other Tanjur commentators, employ a Yogacara-type vocabulary, to wit: Slaya-vijMna, kliffa-manas, and pravrtti-vijhana. The following tabulation should make the difference clear:

Lights - Voids The Covering = 80 Prakrtis

Madhyamika terminology Yogacara terminology Terminology in common

The Clear Light = Universal Void Culmination- Perception Basic perception Nescience of-Light = Great Void (vijftana) (alaya-vijftana) (avidva)

Spread-of-light Mind Defiled Mind Mentals

- Further Void (manas) (kli$ta-manas) (caitta)

Light-Void Consciousness (citta) Evolving Perccp-tion (pravrtti-vijftana) Consciousness (citta) Therefore, when Bhavyakirti in his 'PrakiSika' (PTT, Vol. 60,

p. 293-1) comments on niddna verse 5, he first states 'vijndna' to be the three as previously explained, meaning the three Yogacara terms he has been employing for explaining the preceding niddna verses; and states these vijnanas to have the characteristic (lak/ana), i.e. the prakrtis of (covering) the three lights; and so those lights appear when those vijiianas cease. Then Bhavyakirti quotes two texts without naming their sources. The first is the celebrated verse of the Samdhinirmocana-sulra (which was translated by Etiennc Lamotte into French; and the verse is in Louis de la Vallee Poussin, Vijnaplimdlralasiddhi, I, p. 173): "The addnavijnana, profound and subtle, like a violent current, proceeds with all its seeds (bija). Deeming it

improper for them to imagine it as a self, I have not taught it to the immature auditors" (/ji skad du / len pahi rnam

par scs pa zab cin phra / sa bon thams cad chu bohi rgyun biin hbab / bdag tu rtog par gyur na mi run ies / ftan thos byis pa mams la nas ma bstan ' zes hbyun ba). The next one he quotes, is a well-known line from the Madhyanta-vibhaga (I, 8A; 20 in Gadjin M. Nagao's edition of the Bhdfya): "And the imagination of unreality (abhiitaparikalpa) is the three worlds with their cilia and caitta" (/ de biin du yah / yah dag ma yin kun brtags ni / sems dan scms byun khams gsum pa / ies hbvuh ho /). These quotations do not necessarily mean that Bhavyakirti makes the usual identification of addnavijndna with alayavijnana, which he equates with the avidyd having seven prakrtis; but it certainly means that he considers the 'vijndna' of niddna verse 5 to be this addnaiijiidna as well as abhii-taparikalpa; and so lie may understand by 'dddnaiijnana' all three vijnanas rather than simply alayavijhdna. Since his ala-yavijhdna is equivalent to verse 3's 'avidya', it is unacceptable to Tsoh-kha-pa, who rejects the equation in PTT, Vol, 159, p. 31-3. In fact, both Bu-ston and Tsoh-kha-pa in their annota

tion of the nidana verses agree in ignoring Bhavyakirti's commentary. This subject is resumed under niddna verse 7.

11TAM lam ekaikam arlhdbhasam vayus samgrhya dharayct/ vayuyuklam ca vijnanam SaSvaj jagali varlalc //6// The wind seizing, takes hold of that entity-light in each case, and vijiiana joined with tayu (wind) continually operates in the world of living beings.

Mchan-. " 'Entity-light in each case' means the five sense objects as manifested. They arise by the 'reverse order' of the three lights (vijftana-manas-citta) and dissolve by the 'direct order' (citta-manas-vijnana). Vijfiana ( the three lights or vijfiana, manas, citta) rides on the winds which seize their respective sense objects."

Paiicakrama, II, 32-34:

vayund sukfmarupena jhanam sammiSrahhn gatam / nihsrtyendriyamargebhyo vifayan avalambate j\ dbhasena yada yuklo veiyur vahanlani gatah / tada lalprakrldh sand aslavyaslah pravarlayel 11 yatra yatra sthito cay us lam prakrtim udvahetj ydvat samiranotpado nabhaso niicalo bhavct // When 'knowledge' (jnana — the three lights) becomes associated with subtle-formed wind, then issuing forth from the paths of sense organs it grasps ('hangs on to') the sense objects.

At whatever time the wind, having become a vehicle (for vijfiana), is yoked by the 'light', at that time all those prakrtis arc completely dissipated. At whatever (vein, natfi) the wind stops, at that one it sustains some prakrti (among the 80 prakrtis). As long as (the wind) stirs up, the 'light' is not steady.

Verses 33-34 mention the alternate conditions of the three gnostic lights (Light, Sprcad-of-Light, and Culmination-of-Light), namely (II, 33) when those lights arc free from the eighty prakrtis, and (II, 34) when they arc subjected to the eighty prakrtis in which event their 'light' is not steady. The Manimdld commentary on the Pahcakrama (PTT, Vol. 62, p. 188-3, 4) explains the second verse:

/ re fig rluri gi rnam lha dan rnam pa bcu yin par snar b$ad cin dehi gnas shin ga la sogs pahi gnas mams dan las kyi bye brag kyari bstan mod kyi lion kyan rangi ho bo dpyad na chos kyi dbyins kyi hkhor lo hod gsal ba las rlun byun ste / dchi phyir gYon dan gYas dan bar mahi rtsa gsum ni lam yin no / de bas na gan dan gah du ste gYon nam gYas sam dbus su rlun gnas pa ni rah bfin dedan de stc sems las byun bahi chos dc lta bu dah dc lta bu skyed par byed cin hbyun bar byed do / / de biin du

yari rtsa gVon pahi lam nas byun bahi rlun gi rab kyi no bo ran biin mams skyed par byed do / / gYas na gnas pas ni thabs kyi no bo mams so / / dbus na gnas pa ni ma rig palji ho bo rnams skyed par byed mod kyi hon kyan dmigs pa la bltos dgos te /...../ de ltar rtsalji bye brag dan rjes su mthun pahi yul hdzin pa las rah biin mams libyuh no /

Now the topic is the five kinds and the ten kinds of wind, as previously set forth, which are located in the heart and in the other places. While they are taught as the multitude of deeds ('perform all deeds'), if one ponders their intrinsic nature, they are the wind which arises from the Clear Light of the Dharmadhatu circle. Therefore their path is the three natfis, left, right, and middle. Hence, 'at whatever one,' left, or right, or middle, 'the wind

stops', it generates while arising there the comparable prakrti or sort of caitasika-dharma. Accordingly, the wind arising in the path of the left nidi generates the (thirty-three) prakrtis which have prajna nature; the one of the right, the (forty) prakrtis of upaya; and the one in the middle generates the (seven) prakrtis of aaidya. However, that needs dependence on a support of consciousness (alambana)___Thus, the prakrtis arise from apprehending a sensory object consistent with the basic multitude (of deeds).

The implication of the Manimild commentary is that as long as the winds arc correlated with external objects, the lights of the three ntidis are unsteady. Hence the yogin must close the sensory doors to dissipate the prakrtis associated with those nidis.SariidhivySkarana (PTT. Vol. 3, p. 236-2):

I byaii chub scms ni rluii gyur ciA /

/ nam mkhah la ni rnam gnas pa /

/ sems can kun gyi srog gyur gaA / I lAayi bdag Aid bcu miA can // / rten hbrel bcu gnis ies grags pa / I no bo Aid rnam gsum du gyur / I rlun ies bya bafii byan chub sems / I dban po kun gyi gtso hdi yin //

The bodhieitta which being wind and dwelling in space, then becomes the life wind of all sentient beings, is five and called ten. The bodhicitta called 'Twelvefold Dependent Origination' is the three natures; and called 'wind', governs all the sense organs. Pancakrama, I, 3 (and Sliags rim, 408b-5 and 440a-4, etc.): prdnabhutaS ca sattvin&m vayv-akhyah sarvakarmakrt / vijndnavahanaS caiva paiicdtma daSadha punah //

Being the life force of sentient beings, what is called 'wind' performs all deeds; and as the vehicle of vijnana is five, besides is tenfold. In the case of 'wind' as the vehicle of vijnana it is the five secondary winds, to wit:—

1. naga reveals forms through eye

2. kurma reveals sounds through ear

3. krkila reveals odors through nose

4. devadatta reveals tastes through tongue

5. dhanafijaya reveals tangibles through torso

In the case of 'wind' identified with prana itself, it is tenfold,

i.e. the five basic winds as well as the five secondary winds. Cooperating with vijndna the five basic winds perform all deeds and the five secondary winds perceive all things. Notice the respective approximation to the classical Samkhya karamendriyas ('performall deeds') and buddhindriyas ('perceive all things').

Regarding the 'all deeds' performed by the five basic winds, Shags rim (f. 439b-2) draws upon a citation in Caryameldpaka about the function of those winds:

1. Prana has the nature of streaming through the sense doors, coursing as the breathing and extending far ([prdna and ayama), and continually coursing.

2. The yogin will always understand apdna as (breaking) wind, expelling urine, excrement, and semen, and conveying downward.

3. Samana is so called because it is what is always concomitant with tasting, eating, licking, drinking, and sucking.

4. One understands udana to have the action of drawing upwards, eating food and enjoying it, associating with awareness.

5. Vyana has the function of filling, holding, (enabling) walking and returning, and of pervading all the joints. Paiicakrama, III, 19:

tad eva vayusamyuktaip vijii/lnatritayam punah / jayatc yogina murlir mayadehas tad ucyate 11 Besides, precisely that vijfiana-triad joined to the winds is engendered as a body by the yogin. That is called 'Illusory Body'. The conception of these winds is a topic in the Stage of Generation. Later, in the Stage of Completion, the yogin learns to control them to engender a body callcd 'Illusory Body*.

B. Ekasmin samaye (Upon an Occasion)

This group of verses represents the meaning of the Stage of Generation (utpattikrama) as ordinary generation, but with the 'climactic times' of birth, death, and intermediate state, which a theory (see verse 38 and annotation) correlates to the Bodies of the Buddha. The meaning of this group of verses is frequently referred to in Tibetan literature such as Tsori-kha-pa's writings as 'the basic time' (giihi dus) to contrast with 'time of the path' (lam gyi dus). In the path, the yogin seeks to evoke the entire cycle, passing through the portals of death as an experience of yoga and then returning to normal

consciousness. In preparation for the separation from the coarse body of a subtle body called the Illusory Body that takes place in the Stage of Completion, in the present phase the practitioner develops a body which is called the Mantra body. This takes place in the second sadhana called Anuyoga with depositing of germ syllables in spots of the body. It corresponds in external mandala ritual to the second part 'Rites of preparatory acts,' such as

pitching the lines with chalk and beseeching the gods. A similar result is obtained in the present instance if the practitioner, following through the suggestions of this set of verses, goes through the imaginative procedure of analyzing his make-up and then of identifying his personality aggregates with the five winds and so on. In short, the verses can be interpreted as doctrinal assertions, but above all they are directions for praxis in the form of imaginative identifications.

Concerning the present and the anterior conditions of 'ordinary generation', Kluhi-blo's Nagabuddhi s) Samaja-sadhana-vyavasthali (PTT, Vol. 62, p. 7-5, IT.) mentions the standard four birthplaces, to wit, birth from eggs, birth from a womb, birth from warmth and moisture, and birth through transformation; and then gives standard examples, as birds, etc. from eggs; cows, etc. from a womb; worms, etc. from warmth and moisture; and the gods, hell beings, intermediate state beings, and men of the first aeon, through transformation. All those beings are called sattva ('sentient being'). This work also gives

the tantric version of Buddhist genesis that was introduced into Tibetan literature such as Tson-kha-pa's writings. Kluhi-blo mentions, p. 8-4, that after the men of the first aeon tasted the amrta, and so on down to their partaking of the primeval grain, whereupon their bodies became heavy— the light disappeared, and a darkness ensued; and then the sun and moon appeared in the world. At this time, through the

separation of prajna and upaya, the beings became distinguished with the male and female organs. Gradually, mutual craving was aroused, whereupon these beings, known as gandharvas, experienced the three states (avastha), and entered into the wombs of 'mothers'. Then the women, without illness, began to have menses; and a 'father' and 'mother' through desire for each other, engaged in various sexual techniques. Seeing this, for the sake of 'indulgcncc-in-desirc', a vijhana-pati, as though riding on a horse ( the wind), left the intermediate state and entered (the mother) through the Vairocana-portal (i.e.

the crown of the head) (and then merged with the agglomeration in the womb). As to the reason these beings fell from the Clear Light (p. 8-2): "Although they possessed the gnosis body (jhana-dtha), they did not know the Illusory Samadhi, " (ye ses kyi lus can yin yah de mams kyis sgyu ma lta buhi tin he hdzin mi ics sin______).

Of course, that account has profound implications for the whole Guhyasamdja praxis. Tson-kha-pa's Don gsal ba commentary on the Guhyasamdjatantra combines Kluhi-blo's account with the abhidharma teaching of 'sentient-being worlds' (sattva-loka) and 'receptacle worlds' (bhajana-loka) as well as with the tantric idea of the 'primeval lord' (adinatha . The whole idea of transmuting the body into a palace containing

the thirty-two deities is to replace the impure receptacle worlds with a pure world, and this is founded on the evocation of the 'primeval lord' in the present (Anuyoga) phase. While most of the nidana verses in this group do not obviously show themselves as a phase of yoga, the last one, nidana verse 12, sets forth the praxis of pranayama, and pranayama is generally described as 'subtle yoga' (sukf ma-yoga). Pranayama is

accompanied by mantra-praxis, hence in this phase the yogin gains the 'mantra-dcha'. The school of Buddhajfianapada, especially in Buddha-srijfiana's Mukti-tilaka-nama, and its commentary Vitapada's MuktitUaka-nama-vySkhyana, discusses this situation using the terms 'the Profound (zab mo)' and 'the Bright' (gsal ba)'. Thus, in Vitapada's commentary (PTT, Vol. 65, p. 136), we read that the meaning of 'the Profound' and 'the Bright'

has been obscurcd for time immemorial by dint of habit forces (vasana), and because the ordinary persons do not understand those two, they arc plagued by the sufferings ofthe three realms. "What is the 'Profound' ?" In this regard, (BuddhaSrijfiana) states (the obscuration), 'discursive thought (vikalpa) ' That is to say, (the 'Profound') rightly and from the outset surpasses all forms of speech and conception because it is free from all forms of error (bhranti) What is the 'Bright' ? (He) states, 'the

Mahamudra.......' That is to say,... the unborn body which is like an illusion and shines like a rainbow ... The self-existence of the non-duality of the Profound and the Bright has the nature of pervading all states (bhava) and is not included in the dharmas of samsara; it is called Dharmadhiitu." Combining this terminology with the previous account, the sentient beings did not know the 'Profound' because they lacked the Illusory Samadhi. Therefore they gradually

lost the 'Bright', the Illusory Body. //E// efo vayur mahadhalur vijiianatrayavdhanah / tebhyah prakrtayah SaSvan nirgacchanli yatha yatha //7// This wind, the great element, is the mount of the three vijhdnas. By means of it, the prakrtis always proceed accordingly. Mchan: 'This wind' means die wind of action (cf. Pahcakrama verse cited under verse 6, wherein the wind is said to 'perform

all deeds'), and therefore is callcd 'great element' It is written in the Vajrajhana-samuecaya, "The wind is the mount of that vijnana. From the wind arises fire; from fire, water; from water, earth. From those, the five personality aggregates (skandha), the six sense bases (faddy alana), and the five sense objects;... and the prakrlis are generated by reason of the manifestation." In that Tantra, the three lights arc explained to arise from the Clear Light, and subsequently the wind, etc. arises. The mount of vijnana as imagination (parikalpa) arises from the ordinary 'lights' of the reverse order, which are the phase of rebirth by transmigration into the womb. The explanatory tantra Vajramali states further how that wind is responsible for generation. This passage inaugurating its chapter 32 is involved with Yogacara vocabulary; it is here translated with the help of Alamkakalasa's commentary (PTT Vol. 61, p. 251-4,5 to p. 252-i, 2):

1. Now listen to a further explanation and rightly understand concretely how the wind has the characteristic of generation and seeks the temporal opportunity.

/ dc nas gian yaii bSad kyis Hon I rlun skye ba yi mtshan hid ni / I dus kyi glags ni brtsal ba ni j I ji liar dnos suyan dag its

2. The mind defiled (kliflamanas) by habit-energy (ids and) sees its own (wind) nature as (though it were) another form. Not knowing the real state of affairs (the plana and apana winds), it is deluded by just wind alone.

/ bag chags hon mods can gyi yid j

I ran gi ho bo gzugs gian nit ho ft /

I don ni yod par mi ies Sin '

I rlun tfam gcig pus rmohs paho / j

3. Conjured up by dlayavijiidna, the habit-energies roatn around within. Vijhana is controlled by habit-energy through (death's )sequcnce of admixture with habit energy.

I kun gli rnam Ses bkug nas ni j

I bag chags nan du mam par spyod /

I bag chags kyis ni mam Ses bzuh ,

I bag chags dan hdres rim pa las

4. Then, by the infusion of inner habit-energy, at the time of (welling up) menses, it evolves in the mother's

channel as a diamond bindu of the melted semen and blood.

I not1 gi bag chags bsgos pay is /

I de nas zla mtshan dus su ni / / miial gyi rlsa la hjug pa ni / / rdo rje khu khrag iu Ihig le 11 5. It develops according to the admixture; vijhSna is aroused by the dlaya as though intoxicated by wine: from the habit-energies of dlayavijiidna the stream of vijnana arises.

I fidrespa ru ni gyur pa dan /

I kun gii las ni rnam Ses skye / / ji Itar chah ros myos pa biin / I kun gii rnam Ses bag chags las //

The verses 3-5 are the portion quoted by Tson-kha-pa in his commentary on the Vajrajiianasamuccaya (PTT, Vol. 160, p. 154-4, 5) with the remark, "The 'dlaya' and 'kliflamanas' mentioned in this Tantra (the Vajramala) arc the same terms explained in other texts but have different meanings" (/rgyud hdir kun gii dan non yid ces gsuns pa ni giuri gian nas bsad pa dan miri l.idra van don mi hdra ste). I have come to understand that by 'other texts' he means

the commentaries by the tantric Nagarjuna and Bhavyakirti, as well as Sri Laksmi among others, (hat insist on assigning the terms alayavijndna, klif/amanas, and pravrlti-vijhdna to the three sets of prakrlis, adding up to eighty, thereby equating dlayavijhana with the 'nescience* (avidya) of niddna verse 3. Tson-kha-pa's rejection of this application of Yogacara terms is consistent with how we may interpret those I'ajramdla verses in its chapter 32. That is because, in terms of Buddhist Dependent Origination, the Vajramala verses can be interpreted as setting dlayarijhdna equivalent to 3. vijhdna as a stream of consciousness which had undergone death's trauma and now (having 1. avidyd and 2. samskara, as 'conditions') with reviving habit-energy is attracted to a new birthplace offering a field for evolving perceptions. That phase of attraction to the womb is stated in terms of gandharva-consciousness in Tsori-kha-pa's Snags rim chen mo (f. 438a-4,5): I de las slon chen iter thoh sle dri zalii sems so /

/ de las lhabs snan ba niched pa hdod pa he bar len pahi sems so / I de las Ses rab snah ba sic skye ba gzuh bafii sems so /.

From that (Clear Light of Death) comes the great void,

• Cullination-of-Light, which is the "amrtarwz-conscious-ness. From that, comcs the means, Spread-of-Light, which is the indulgence-in-dcsire consciousness (*trfno-paddna-citta). From that, comcs the insight, Light, which is the seizing-of-birth consciousncss (*janma-grahana-citta).

The above passage has terminology associated with members 8-10 of Buddhist Dependent Origination: 8. craving (trfnd), 9. indulgence (upaddna), and 10. gestation (bhava). After considering the foregoing two selections from the I'ajrmali and the Siiags rim, it becomes credible that the three lights are the Guhyasamaja tradition of recasting the first three members of the 12-membered Buddhist Dependent Origination (pratitya-samutpada); while the same three lights interpreted to start with gandharva-consciousness are explanatory of members 8, 9, and 10 of that same Dependent Origination. To be explicit:—

Dependent Origination

1. nescience (avidya)

2. motivations (samskSra)

3. perception (vijhdna)

4. name-and-form (ndma-rupa)

5. six sense bases (faddyatana),

6. contact (sparSa),

7. feeling (vedana); then, Dependent Origination

8. craving (trfnd)

9. indulgence (upadana)

10. gestation (bhava)

Bodhicitta stages

Culmination-of-Light Spread-of-Light Light

Rebirth consciousness gandhari'a-consciousness indulgence-in-dcsire consciousncss seizing-of-birth consciousncss

11. birth (jiti), and

12. old age and death (jara-marana).

II KA II kah khalidhdtur apai ca tejo vdyus tathaiva ca / upadiya tu vijiidnarji jayate tribhavalayt //8// What be the solid realm and of water; likewise that of fire and wind—using these, vijhdna takes birth in the womb of triple gestation.

Mchan: "At the time of transmigration, the manovijhdna uses as base the four elements within the 'semen-blood' entity and thus takes birth in the abode of triple gestation—superior, middling, and inferior destiny."

The grammatical formation of the first sanskrit line, with ca. . . .lalhaita ca, pairs the four elements in a manner consistent with astrology, wherein earth and water (the hard and soft 'heavy' elements) arc mutually concordant, as arc fire and wind (the hot and cold 'light' elements). Furthermore, the order of elements in the verse is that in which the equivalent goddesses Locana, Mamaki, Pandara, and Tar a ask their questions in the explanatory tantra Caturdevipariprccha.

The four elements and their cvolutcs constitute the aggregate of form (rupa-skandha) among the five aggregates. Vijnana uses this aggregate of form to become embodied in the dlaya ('abode') which means the womb according to iMchan hgrel on the present verse. Hence, the verse practically defines the celebrated term alayavijiiana, which thus means 'vijnina in (or toward) the womb' as the 3rd member of Dependent Origination or a phase of that member. The location of vijiidna in the womb is understood to be the place which becomes the heart of the new being. Thus, in his Dkah gnad commentary on the

Guhyasamdja (Lhasa cd., Vol. Ca, 10a-l), Tson-kha-pa starts by quoting passages about the supreme A, the indestructible syllabic in the middle of the heart; and says, "In short, the very place where the vijiidna along with its 'together-born* (sahaja) wind enters amidst the 'semen-blood', is the heart. Also at the time of death it passes away from the heart when gathered in the expiring sequence" (/ mdor bsdu na dan por rnam par Scs pa lhan cig skyes pahi rluh dan lhan cig tu khu khrag gi dbus su gan J5ugs pa de nid sfiih ga yin la / hchi bahi tshe hah hbyuh ba rim gyis bsdus nas shin ga nas hchi hpho ba yin no /).

At that 'heart' site, according to the citations and discussion of Shags rim, f. 435a-2, If., first the three primary channels of right, left and middle, arc established. Then the five veins of the heart arc originated. These veins arc deified by goddesses, especially named in Mother Tantra tradition: Traivrtta is form (rupa), Kamini is sound (Sabda), Geha is odor (gandha), Canrjika is taste (rasa), and Maradarika is dharma.

Maradarika is in the middle and hence associated with the middle channel of Avadhuti; however, the five are separately counted to add up with the primary three to the total of eight, referred to as the eight petals of the heart. The other four goddesses are placed in the four directions and are said to be the self-existence of the four elements (dhatu-svabhava). As the other cakras are established these goddesses transfer their essence accordingly; so it is theoretically possible to identify the four goddesses of the directions with the four of the Guhyasamdja, Locana and so on. The numbers of petals in the other cakras

are multiples of the original four directional veins of the heart. In the full list, according to the Snags rim, f. 436b-4, quotation from Abhayakaragupta's Amnaya-mahjari, there are 4 petals at the U?Ai?a-cakra (crown of head at place of Brahmarandhra), 32 at the forehead cakra (sometimes misunderstood to be at the crown of the head because of the Tibetan word spyi bo), 16 at the throat, 8 as mentioned at the heart, 64 at the navel, 32 at

the cakra of the sacral place, and 8 at the 'tip of the gem' (root of the penis). However, the intrauterine order of establishing the element bases, according to the Shags rim discussion, shows reversal within the pairs of the niddna verse: 1st month 'water' vortex in heart; 2nd, 'earth' vortex in sacral region; 3rd, 'wind' vortex in navel; 4th, 'fire' vortex in throat (or neck). In the 5th month, 'akdSa' is invested throughout the body. The Snags rim (f. 438a-6) cites the Mahdmudralilaka, appa-rendy as Aryadeva's quotation in his Carydmelapaka, with a different order of the elements:

/ rnam Ses no bo la brlen nas I

I dan por hbyun ba bti po la /

I raA biin ties par bskrun pa yis /

I de (she ran gi gnas nas (him 11

I rnam Ses las ni rlun skye sle /

I dt las me ni yah dag bbyuri /

/ hdi las chu mams yah dag fibyun /

I de las sa niyaA dag hbyuh //

/ (idi mams las kyan phut) po fibyun /

I de las skye mched mams kyah fto //

I de las Ses pahi rah biin can /

/ drug cu Iftag pahi brgya rim pas /

I ji liar skyrs pa de liar lidir /

I lliim par fagyur ro rait biin las 11 les.

When initially the form of vijnana takes recourse to the four elements through the propagation of prakrti(s), at that time it passes away from its own abode.

From vijnana the wind arises; from that the fire; from the latter the waters arise, and from these the earth. From these ( four), in turn the personality aggregates (skandha) arise; from these the sense bases as well. From the latter, the holder of the prakrtis of consciousness, in a sequence of 160, dissolves here in the same way as it was born, from the prakrtis.

/ SM1N j asmirtiS ca pahca sambhutah skandhas samskrtilak-san&h I r Spavin nama samskard rijndnani caiva pancamam //9// And when this is present, the five skandhas arise with the characteristic of construction:—possessing 'form' is 'name'—the (three) samskaras, as is also perception (vijnana), the fifth.

Mchan : "As previously stated, when this—the four elements— is present, the five skandhas arise. Arising with the characteristic of construction, the five are form (riipa), feelings (tedana), ideas (samjhd), motivations (samskara), and perceptions (vijhdna)."

In the verse the word samskara stands for the three middle skandhas—vedana, samjhd, and samskara—and labelled 'name' (nama). The fact that in Buddhist Dependent Origination, the 'nama' of 'nama-rupa' stands for the three middle skandhas of vedand, samjha, and samskara, is an ancient teaching preserved in Buddhaghosa's Yisuddhimagga in the chapter on Dependent Origination, section devoted to ndma-ri/pa. On the other hand, when the term 'nama-rupa' is employed for the five skandhas in discussions apart from Dependent Origination, it is standard for 'nama' to include vijnana as well. Guhyasamdjatantra, Chap. XVIII, verses 45-47, with emendation of verses 45, 46 : vijhdnam dvc>arn akhyatam helukaryadvayair dvi>dl / rupam moham iti khydtam jaijabandhasiabhdvatah // vedand ghaftamdnakhyd ahamkdrasvabhdiatah / samjna sarjirdgam atmanam vaslutah Saktilakfanarp //

samskaras tu sada irfyd pratitya preranatmanam / svabhavam bodhicittam tu sarvatra bhavasambhavam 11 Vijfiana is called 'hatred' because it is hostile to both cause and effect. Rupa is called 'delusion' because its nature is insentient bondage. Vedana is callcd 'stirring pride* because its nature is egoism. Samjna is 'lust', having the character of attachment to things. Samskara is always 'envy', being the instigation in dependence. (Their) intrinsic nature is bodhicitta, the source of gestation everywhere.

Celu-pa's Ratnavrkfa-ndma-rahasya-samaja-vrtti (PTT, Vol. 63, p. 174-4) explains the attribution to vijhana :

I ic sdan ics pa ni rgyu hbras gftis dbycr mcd par thugs su chud pahi yc Scs te / gilis kyi rnam pa la sdan bahi phyir ro // ji skad du / rgyu hbras gnis la sdan bas na / rnam Ses ic sdari tcs su bstan }.cs so // de nid rigs te thog ma med pa nas rgyun chad pa med pahi phyir ro /. Called 'hatred' means it is the knowledge fully comprehending in an inseparable manner both cause and effect, because it hates the (separate) aspects of both. It is said, "Because it is hostile to both cause and effect, vijhana is called'hatred'." That is valid, bccausc it (i.e. vijhana) has been uninterrupted for immemorial time. The idea seems to be that the notions of causc and effect require discontinuity—the cause must end so the effect may begin. But the 'stream of consciousness' (citta-samtdna), here the 'oijhana', is continuous, not discontinuous. So it is said (metaphorically) to hate cause and effect. Without this plausible explanation by Celu-pa, I would have supposed that the reason vijndna is called hostile toward causc and effect is that the latter are inferred, not perceived, otherwise stated, vijhiina is the eternal present.

There is considerable commentarial material on the five skandhas, and since this topic is so important to the Tantras, more information is now given. There is (1 ) the order of treating the skandhas, (2) the locations attributed to the skandhas, (3) further explanation of the individual skandhas, and (4) the skandhas in the Intermediate State.

( 1 ) For the order of the skandhas, we may refer to Alamkaka-laSa's commentary on the Vajramala, the Gambhirdrtha-dipikd-

noma (Vol. 61, p. 204-4) : "The basic nature (ito bo Hid) of the five skandhas is as follows :—

Prana is vijftana-skandha;

Apana is vedana-skandha;

Samana is samjfia-skandha;

Udana is samskara-skandha:

Vvana is rupa-skandha." (This passage will be continued under the next niddna verse).

While the niddna verse calls vijnana the 'fifth', it is usual in 'pregnant embryology' of the Tantras to assign vijnana-skandha to the first lunar month, since in Buddhist dogmatics vijfiana is said to fall into the womb. The above passage from Alamka-kalasa's commentary states the traditional order of skandha-arising in the womb, namely during first through fifth lunar months. The old Buddhist order of stating the skandhas, to wit : rupa, vedana, samjhd, samskdra, lijhdna—is said by Buddhaghosa in Visuddhimagga (of course in terms of the Pali equivalents) not to be the order of arising, rather to be the order of explanation difficulty, starting from the easiest to explain, namely rupa. Hence, when it is a matter of giving definitions of the skandhas, that explanation order is followed.

(2) The locations of the skandhas is hinted at in a passage of the Guhyasamdjatantra, Chap. XVI, verses 66-67A, which I discusscd at length in my article, "The fivefold Ritual Symbolism of Passion," Part I. This is the passage :

khavajramadhyagatam cinlet mahjuvajram mahabalam / pahcabanaprayogena mukutagram tu samsmaret [ pahcasthanefu mantrajhah kruravajrena patayet / The knower of mantras should contemplate in the middle of the diamond sky Mafijuvajra/ ( = Mafiju£ri) of great power; he should recollect the crest pinnacle by the praxis of five arrows (which) he makes fall, by the diamond of ferocity, into five spots.

As that article explains, thc_)'ogi/i deposits five mantras in locations of the skandhas as targets for five arrows shot by a red Maiijuiri in the sky (the Clear Light) to instill the essence of the five Tathagatas, thus identifying the five skandhas with the five Tathagatas. Those five mantras as germ syllables, with the respective skandhas and Tathagatas, arc set forth in Nagaijuna's Pindikrtasddhana, verses 56-60.

Vairocaniyab ijam tv omkararfi Suklavarnakam / RBpaskandhasvabhavena nyasen murdhani mantravit // Ahkaram amitabhasya samjiiaskandhasvabhavakam / Raktavaniam mukhe dhyatva vagaiivaiyam avapnuyat 11 Akfobhyasya tu humkaram rajavartakasuprabham / Vinyased dhrdaye mantri vijhanaskandharupatah 11 Svakaram ratnanathasya vedanaskandharupatah / Pitavarnam nyasen nabhau vedana-Suddhihetukam // Padadvaye tu hakaram samskaraskandhabhavatah / Haritabham nyasen mantri karmanathasya tattvatah /'/ The knower of mantras will place at his head Vairocana's germ syllable Om of white color, bccause it is the intrinsic nature of the personality aggregate of form.

Having contemplated in the throat Amitabha's red Ah, pertaining to the intrinsic nature of the aggregate of ideas, he attains lordliness of speech. The mantrin should deposit in his heart Aksobhya's Hum, shining like the deep blue gem, as the form of the aggregate of perceptions. He should place at the navel a yellow Sva belonging to the Jewel Lord ( Ratnasam-bhava) and the cause of purifying feelings, because it is the form of the aggregate of feelings. The mantrin then deposits in both feet a Ha of green light, as the reality of the Karma Lord ( =Amoghasiddhi), because it is the nature of the personality aggregate of motivations.

(3) For further explanations of the skandhas, in fact there are many such in non-tantric Buddhist commentaries. Here it suffices to present the explanations in the Explanatory Tantra Vajramala, Chapter 23 (PTT, Vol. 3, p. 214-1,2) :

I phra rags la sogs dbye ba yis / / thogs bcas thogs mcd mtsham Aid dan / /hbyun ba chcn po bfihi dnos / / hdi ni gzugs kyi phuri por gsuns / / der ni rnam snan no bo dan I I thams cad spros par byed pahi rgyu / / bde dan sdug bsnal mchog tu ii / /gran dan dro ba mchog gi mchog I /gari gis sin tu rig pa ni / / de ni tshor bahi phuh por bsad / / rin chen hbyun Idan Aid kyi mtshan / / de biin gScgs pahi spros bdag Aid / / glan po bon bu Ice sbyan dan / /rta dan ri dags dan ni phag / / pha dan ma dan pha yi spun // mdzah bo snag gi gAen tshan sogs// gari COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 211

gis van dag scs pa ni / hdu scs phuri pohi mtshan ftid ni I dc biin gscgs pa hod dpag med / / de ni spros pa kun nas gsal / hgro ba khyab par yoris su Ses / / dge dan mi dgehi las hbras bu / / gian van lun du ma bstan min // de yi hdu byed du ni bsad jl don vod spro bahi rah biin can / /hkhor ba dnos dan dhos med sogs / / kun rtog hbyuh bahi bdag ftid can // rnam Scs ies ni rnam par Ses // mi bskvod spro bahi bdag Aid can / 1. The characteristic of being obstructing and non-obstructing by division into subtle and coarse, etc.. and the substance of the four great elements—this is said to be the aggregate of form (rupa-skandha). Therein is the nature of Yairocana and the basis of all manifestation. 2. Whereby one feels joy and suffering and the highest calm; cold, heat, and the furtherest supreme—that is explained as the aggregate of feelings (vedana-skandha). It has the character of Ratnasambhava and the egoity of Tathagata manifestation. 3. Whereby one recognizcs a cow, an ass, a jackal, a horse, a deer, a hog; father, mother, brethren on the father's side; friends, relations on the mother's side, etc.— that characteristic of idea aggregate (samjha-skandha) is the Tathagata Amitabha and that clarifies the manifestation. 4. The thorough knowledge pervading the world, the fruit of good and evil deeds, besides being named the indeterminate (avyakrta . what is explained as their motivations samskira-skandha is Amoghasiddhi, the ownbeing (svabhaia) of the manifestation. 5. The perception of presences and absences of samsara, etc.: what has the nature of vikalpa-arising, the (aggregate of) perceptions ; ijiiana-ikandha) is Aksobhya, the soul of the manifestation. The above is self-explanatory except in a few particulars which arc explained in Alamkakalasa's commentary (PTT, Vol. 61, p. 235-3). In the case of the samskara-skandha he says, "Besides being named the indeterminate means that its intrinsic nature is indeterminate, because it generates the realms of form, formless, and so on" (gian yah lun ma bstan mih ies bya ba ni / lun ma bstan pahi rah biin tc / gzugs dan gzugs med la sogs pa 21 2 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTTRA bskyed pahi phyir ro). In the case of the vijnana-skandha, he explains the 'presences' (bhava) and 'absences' (abhSva) this way : "A 'presence' has the nature of efficiency (arthakriyaki-ritua); an 'absence' is the reverse of that" (drios po ni don byed nus pahi bdag ftid can no / /dnos mcd ni de las bzlog paho). This explanation is consistent with Tson-kha-pa's explanation of Madhyamika philosophy in the vipafyana (discerning the real) portion of his Lam rim chen mo, where he defends the position at length that entities arise dependency, void of intrinsic nature but possessed of efficiency. An intriguing feature of the above Vajramala passage is that while it explains more about thc skandhas it is not directly explanatory of the Guhyasamajalantra; for example, it does not explain the passage about the skandhas in chapter 18 (the Uttara-Tantra), e.g. that vijhana is callcd 'hatred'. It docs set forth the standard correspondence of skandhas to Tathagatas, which is a matter of conceptual praxis in the next group of verses ('Bhagavan-Sarva'). This and other passages of the Vajra-mala suggest that its 'explanatory' nature consists in giving more information consistent with the Guhyasamaja. In the present case, once the skandhas are so identified, one can proceed to correlate that chapter 18 passage with the current information to associate the Tathagatas respectively with the defilements (kleSa), as follows : 'hatred'—Aksobhya,'delusion'—Yairocana; 'stirring pride'—Ratnasambhava; 'lust'—Amitabha; and 'envy'—Amoghasiddhi. (4) The skandhas in the Intermediate State arc already a teaching of non-tantric Buddhism in a scripture entitled Arya-nanda-garbhavakranti-nirdeia (in the collection callcd Ratnakuta) : I de la bar ma dohi phun pohi dbyibs de yah rnam pa gflis su gyur te/ kha dog sdug cih mdzes pa dan / kha dog mi sdug cih mi mdzes paho / / scms can dmyal ba mams kyi bar ma dohi srid pahi kha dog mi sdug pa yin te / hdi lta stc dper na sdoh dum tshig pa dan hdraho/'/dud hgrohi mams kyi bar ma dohi srid pahi kha dog ni hdi lta ste I dper na dud pa dan hdraho / / yi dag kyi bar ma dohi srid pahi kha dog kyan hdi lta stc / dper na chu dan hdraho / / lha dan mi mams kyi bar ma dohi srid pahi kha dog ni lidi lta ste / dper na gser gyi kha dog dan hdraho / / gzugs kyi bar ma dohi srid pahi kha dog COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 213 ni dkar por hdug go / / gzugs med pahi khams kyi lha rnams ni bar ma dohi srid pahi kha dog med de / hdi Itar dc ni gzugs med pahi phyir ro / Now, that form of the Intermediate-State skandha is of two kinds—of pleasant, lovely color; and of unpleasant, ugly color. The color of the Intermediate State of sentient beings who are hell beings, is unpleasant, in this way; for example, like the burnt stump of a tree. The color of the Intermediate State of animals is this way : for example, like smoke. The color of the Intermediate State of hungry ghosts (prela) is this way : for example, like water. The color of the Intermediate State of gods and men is this way: for example, like the color of gold. The color of the Intermediate State ofthe 'realm of form' (rupa-dhalu) is abiding white. The Intermediate State of the 'formless realm' (arupa-dhalu) gods, has no color, for the reason that it is formless (arupa) (i.e. since 'form' means shape, samsthana, and color, varna). The above description goes with the five-destiny list, omitting any reference to the asura destiny which in some lists brings the total to six. SA sam a In pratyavekfana krlyamiflhanam eva ca / adarso dharmadhatuf ca asmin rijnanapaiicakah //10// Just (the knowledges) Equality, Discriminative, Proce-dure-of-duty: as well as the knowledges) Mirror-like and Dharmadhatu. In this ( knowledge-pentad) is the vijnina-pentad. Mchan does not help here, but mentions the theory that the Dharmadhatu kind is the basis of the other four knowledges. The solution that is faithful to the expression 'tij/iana-pentad' should be the five proper functions of the sense organ of mind tbat correspond to the five knowledges as explained by Tsori-kha-pa, Pahcakrama commentary (Vol. 158, p. 204-5) : (1) the bright appearance of objects like the bright reflection on a mirror; 2) equality consisting in the unified experience ofthe three kinds of feeling i.e. pain, pleasure, and neutrality); (3) remembering the various names of beings, such as one's father and mother ; (4) remembering the deeds and needs of the world; (5) the transmutation (paravrtti) through elimination of impurity. Now, these arc obvious references I 21 4 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA to the five skandhas, and consistent with the fact that this niddna verse 10 groups apart the three middle knowledges on the first line (hemistich), comparable to the three middle skandhas being set apart in niddna verse 9. This suggests that the term 'fymina-pentad' means the five having vijhana as salient member. This would permit the Madhyamika type correspondence between the five skandhas and five knowledges. Thus, Alamkakalasa's commentary on the Vajramili (continued from citation under niddna verse 9) slates that when the personality aggregates (skandha) are pure, their equivalent winds correspond to the five knowledges as follows: Wind Skandha Knowledge Prana vijnana dharmadhatu apana vedana equality samana samjna discriminative udana samskara proccdurc-of-duty vyana rupa mirror-like Of course the term 'oijnana-pentad' can also mean the five vijhanas based on the five 'door' senses, that ride on the five ancillary winds, as is shown elsewhere. In this ease, the five vijhanas also correspond to the five knowledges by way of the five-Tathagata correspondence to sense objects, presented under niddna verse 21. For individual explanations of the five knowledges, among many such there is a fine statement by Sri Laksmi (Pahcakrama commentary, p. 29-1) : I hgyur ba med pa ni me Ion lta buhi ye ses te / dri ma med pahi me Ion biin du tha dad med pahi phyir ro / snan ba med pa ni mftam pa ftid kyi ye ses ste / ran dan gian gyi dbye ba so sor mi snan phyir ro / / gftid med ies pa ni so sor rtog pahi ye ses te / sgrib pa gflis rnam par dag pahi phyir ro / / mchog ni bya ba nan tan grub pahi ye Ses te / dmigs pa med pahi sbyor bas gian gyi don mdzad pahi phyir ro / / ii ba ni chos kyi dbyins kyi ye Ses te I bdag med pa gnis mtion sum du mdzad pahi phyir ro /. The mirror-like knowledge is unchanging, because there is no difference (i.e. it is a faithful reflection) in a clear mirror. The equality knowledge docs not appear, because it has no appearance separately of a division COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 215 into oneself and another. The discriminative knowledge does not sleep, because it is the purity of the two hindrances (of defilement and theknowable). The procedure- of'-duty knowledge is best, because it performs the goals of others by a praxis without aim. The Dharmadhatu knowledge is calm, because it produces in immediacy the two kinds of non-self (of pudgala and of dharma). II MA II manaayatanam caiva locane Sravanc tatha / ghranajihva tatah kayaS cety ayatanasambhavah I III 11 The sense base of mind, that of eye, so of ears, nose, tongue, then of torso—thus is the origination of the sense bases. Mchan : By the condition (pratyaya) of accomplishing 'name-and-form' (nama-rupa) in the womb, the six sense bases arise— thus the origination of the sense bases in the womb. Mchan alludes to the correspondence of ten lunar months to sequential development of five skandhas and then ayatanas in the womb. The sense base of mind arises in the fifth lunar month, then the five 'door' sense bases in the stated order of the verse during the lunar months sixth through tenth. In the traditional treatment, to the fifth lunar month are assigned both the rupa-skandha and the manaayatana. Chapter 32 of the Vajramala identifies the first five lunar months of the embryo with the first five Visnu Avatars along with the sequential emergence of the five basic winds, and the second five with the emcrgcncc of the five secondary winds (Alamkakalasa's commentary adds the second five Avatars). Table Xo. IV has some further data added from Rgyal-Tshab-Rje's Dpyid thig zin bris (Lhasa collected works, Vol. Ka, f. 7b-8a) /. ' In the explanatory tantra Caturdevatapariprccha, and accordingly in its commentary by Smrtijnanakirti, the UpadeSa-pauffika (PTT, Vol. 66, p. 160-1) the discussion about the embryonic states of mcr-mcr-po (S. arbuda), etc., is followed immediately by mention of the nine orifices of the body : I don de gsuris pa sgo dgu la ni kun tu hgro ies pa ste / spyi bo tsharis pahi bu ga dan / mig dan / rna ba dan sna dan / kha dan / sftiri ga dan / he ba dan / gsan ba dan I chu miri (sic. for chu mig) gi bu ga rnams dguho / / de rnams la byan chub kyi scms khyab par gyur to ies pahi tha tshig go / IV. INTRA-UTERINE CORRESPONDENCES A vast ha in womb Skandha and dyatana perfected Vi;nu Avatar Winds Base of Wind or Orifice 1. vijftana Fish prana heart 2. vedana Tortoise apana sacral region 3. samskara Boar samana navel 4. samjfia Man-Lion udana neck 5. rupa and mana-ayatana Dwarf vyana 12 great dlialu 6. locana Parasu-Rama naga eye 7. gravana The 2nd Rama kurma car 8. ghrana Krsna krkila nose 9. jihva Buddha devadatta tongue 10. kaya Kalki dhananjaya torso COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 217 The meaning stated as 'going every where in the nine orifices' is a reference to the bodhicitta's pervasion in those nine orifices, to wit : 1. brahmarandhra at the top of head, 2. eyes, 3. ears, 4. nose, 5. mouth, 6. heart, 7. navel, 8. the anus, 9. the urinary passageway. 11 TE 11 ye vai traidhaluke sattvah prdmiyiima-samaSrildh / rnantrarajarji japanty ajna dhyanadhyapana-varjit&l} //12// The beings in the three worlds taking recourse to prdnd-yama (breathing in and out) who recite the 'king of mantras' with ignorance, miss the 'mental reading'. Mchan : 'Three worlds' means earth and below (sa hog), above the earth (sa sleh), and the superior world (sa bla). Pranaydma means breathing in (prana) and breathing out (ayama). 'Mental reading' is the nitarlha kind of mantra reading (lies don gyi snags klog pa). 'King of mantras' means Om, etc. (i.e. Om, Ah, Hum). (Tson-kha-pa in his annotation also rejects a viewpoint of Skal-ldan-grags-pa that the 'pregnant doctrine of lust' (lidod chags chos sbas) occurs in the phase of 'diamond recitation' in the form of enjoying the consort). The epithet 'manlraraja' for the three heart syllables is found earlier in the Vajramald (PIT, Vol. 3, p. 211). According to the indications of Mclian hgrel, p. 51, the Om is recited for entrance of the breath, All for the time the breath is held within, and Hum for the outbrcathing. The 'mental reading' of course is the recitation within the mind. Smrtijnanaklrti's CaUndtiala-pariprkchd-vydkhydna-upadeia- pauflika (PTT, Vol. 66, p. 160-2): " 'Earth and below' means Jambudvipa (earth) downwards and hell upwards; 'superior world' means where the sun pervades; 'above the earth' means the peak of Mt. Meru" ( de la sa hog ni hdzam bu glin man chad dmyal ba yan chad do / / sa bla ni fti mas gar khyab paho / sa steri ni ri rab kyi rtse moho /). The niddna verse sets forth the praxis of prdndyama proper to the stage of Generation. In this case, there are two important verses of the Guhyasamdjaiantra : paiicavarnani mahdralnam sarsapasthalamatrakam / nasikagrc prayalnena bhavayed yogalah sada IJ III, 12 // He should imagine a great five-colored jewel, no bigger in area than a mustard grain, on the tip of the nose, through continual yoga zealously. 218 YOGA OF THE Ol'HYASAMAJATANTRA nasagrt sarfapam cinttl sat'a fit sacarac nrarr bhavaytt jhanapadam ramyam rahasyam jiicinakalpitam //VI,9 // He should imagine a mustard grain at the tip of the nose, and the moving (sentient beings) and non-moving (receptacle worlds) in the mustard grain. He should contemplate the joyful realm of jndna as the (highest) secret that is imagined by jiiana. The foregoing two verses are cited consecutively by Nagarjuna in his Pindikrtasddhana. verses l!»9-200. and in his Pancakrama, I, 10-11. The Pradipoddyotana and Mchan herd PTT. Vol. 158, pp. 36 and 37; ibid. p. 50) interpret them differently for the Stage of Generation and the Stage of Completion. In both cases, the enterprise is callcd 'subtle i suk>mayoga' and involves the reality of the wind and the reality of the mantra: and the five winds have the nature of the five knowledges anil the five Tathagatas. In the Stage of Generation the winds are the breathing in and out, as in niddna verse 12 and the 'tip of the nose' is on the face. In the Stage of Completion, the winds are made to enter the central 'vein', along which there are three kinds of 'tip of nose', detailed in my introduction. Concerning the recitation, Guhyasamaja, Chap. XVIII, p. 159, employs metaphorical language : pufpam ity abhidhiyanlt navayofitkhadhataiah kSyavakcittabhcdcna nydsam kurydt kulakramaih The nine'ladies' (yofit) and'realm of space' akdfadhdtu) arc called 'flower'. One should 'arrange it' bv division into body, speech, and mind in the order of the families {kula). Tsoh-kha-pa (Mchan hgrel, p. 20-2) explains that the nine vosits are the nine winds while the akasadhatu is the tenth wind, pydna: and that the verse refers to 'diamond muttering' of the three syllables (Om. Ah, Hum) of the three families (respectively Vairocana's Body. Amitabha's Speech, and Aksobhva's Mind) to cause the (five) basic and (five) secondary winds to enter, stay, and rise (for leaving) (hjug onas Idaii . In its discussion of the 'Stage of Generation' kind of'subtle yoga', the Pradipoddyotana on Chapter Six citcs the Sarndhiiyd-karana on Chaptcr Three (Mchan hgrtl, p. 51) : pindaradijapah proktah pahcai imSac chatadvaya caturbhir gunitarn samyak caturyogam Satam nava COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 219 navaSatam tu yad drffam caturvimSatparikramaih / pratyutpadat bhaict atra dvyayutam SatafodaSam // It is said that the rccitation of Pandara and the other goddesses involves 225 (wind recitations). When well multiplied by four (goddesses), the union with four is 900. Now that observed 900 by a series of 24 would increase here (for day and night) to 21,600. When this same passage from the Samdhivydkarana is quoted in Snags rim, f. 442a-1, Tsoh-kha-pa gives the explanation of the Amnaya-marijari, that when one is reciting the Pandara wind, which is the (fire) wind of the Lotus-lord (Amitabha), then there are 225 of fiery Pandara of fire, 225 of windy Tara of fire, 225 of earth Locana of fire, and 225 of watery Mamaki of fire. And one can understand the recitation of the other three the same way. The '24' comes from division of watches. (/ gos dkar la sogs ics pa ni pad ma mgon pohi rluh la mehi me gos dkar mo dah mehi rluh sgrol ma dan mehi sa spyan ma dan mehi chu Ma-ma-kihi rluh nis brgva ner lha re yod pahi dbah du byas la des gian gsum yah ses par byaho / hdi la thun phyed pa her b£i ies man sne las gstihs so / ). Since there are eight watches by day and night, the number '24' must result from multiplication with the three mantras. That this comes out commensurate with '24 hours' seems to be an accident. Dividing on this basis, we find that each shortest recitation takes 4 seconds. When one is reciting the wind of the Lotus-lord, he would recite first the fiery Pandara of fire for four seconds of Om, four seconds of Ah, and four seconds of Hum. He continues this fiery Pandara of fire recitation for 225 times (45 minutes) before going to the windy Tara of fire, and so on to the other goddesses for a total of three hours. Then the instruction states to go through the process similarly in the case of the other three elements. This remark is clarified by observing that the Samdhiiyakarana verses in question are quoted in the Pancakrama (krama No. 1; but the edited text by La Valine Poussin numbering them 45-46 does not notice these as continuation of quotation). The commentary by Sri Laksmi (PTT Vol. 63, p. 13) explains : / de la flin mo thun dah pola mgrin par gnas pahi padmabi mehi dkyil hkhor las snahi bu ga gYas pa las kha dog dmar pohi hod zcr hbyun ba ste / dehi tshe dbah gi las hgrub pa 220 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTTRA yin no/ thun gflis pa laltc bar gnas pahi rluri gi dkyil hkhor las I snabi bu ga gYon pa la kha dog srion pohi hod zcr hbyun ba stc / dehi tshc mrion spyod kyi las hgrub pa yin no / fli ma phyed las brtsams tc / thun gsum pa la gsan bahi padmar gnas pahi sahi dkyil hkhor las gnis ka la kha dog ser pohi hod zcr hbyuri ba ste / dehi tshe rgyas pahi las hgrub pa yin no / thun bii pa la sfiiri gar gnas pahi chuhi dkyil hkhor las / kha dog dkar pohi hod zer dal iin dman par rgyu ba gnis ka las hbyuri ba ste I dehi tshe £i bahi las hgrub pa yin no / mtshan mo yari de b£in du ses par byaho / Here, during the first watch of day, a light of red color issues through the right nostril from the fire circle of the lotus based in the throat; at that time one can succeed in the rite of domineering magic. During the second watch, a ray eolored green issues through the left nostril from the wind-circle based by the navel; at that time one can succeed in the rite of destructive magic. Starting at noon, in the third watch, a ray colored yellow issues through both nostrils from the earth-circle based in the lotus ofthe sacral place; at that time one is successful in the rite of prosperity. During the fourth watch, through both nostrils issues a slow and slight ray, colored white, from the water-circle based in the heart; at that time, one is successful in the rite of appeasing (the deities). The same order takes placc during the night (watches). Sri Laksmi continues with explanation that those descriptions show the dominant ray, but that the other three are represented fractionally. This agrees with the foregoing manner of recitation, which obviously involves a permutation of the goddesses in the order ofthe four watches ofthe day, repeated in the four watches of the night. The total of recitations for the eight watches thus amounts to 21,600. One may observe that these subdivisions are governed by the eight-watch system of classical times. There is evidence that in the B.C. period there was a system of six watches (three by day and three by night). This divided neatly with the muhiirta (48 minutes) unit; and recitation based thereon would be multiplied by five tattvas (or elements) in a pancikarana type of fivefold fractions similar to the above four-fold fractions. COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 221 Finally, Tson-kha-pa quotes niddna verse 12 in the course of a comment that clarifies the relation of the generation cycle to the system of praxis, namely, in his Pancakrama commentary (PTT. Vol. 158, p. 192-5 to 193-2): / hdi ni hchi bahi dus kyi rlun hjig tshul dris pahi lan yin la / de yah ji ltar mes bsrcgs pa na sin gi dnos po med par hgro ba biin du / hchi bahi tsheyan rluh rnams srog hdzin gyi bar du rim gyis thim nas hchi iih / yah Si bahi hod gsal las las kyi rluh sar te / de dah rnam Ses gfiis lhan cig tu hjig rten gsum du gnas pahi skye ba len no / / las kyi rluh de las kyah chags pa la sogs pahi kun rtog rnams skye la / des las bzan nan gfiis bsags nas yah hchi fin yah skye ba hkhor lo bskor ba biin du hgyur ro / / snon du bsad pahi rdo rje bzlas pa sogs rim pa lha ni gii dus kyi skye hchihi rim pa dehi dbye bar hgyur ro ies gsuns so 11 hgyur tshul ni / rluh hbyun hjug rgyun Idan du byed pa ni giihi rdo rje bzlas pa yin te / de ftid las / gan yah khams gsum sems can rnams / / srog dah rtsol ba la brtcn pa / / gsah shags rgyal pa zlas biin du / / mi Ses bsam gtan klog pa spans / / ics so / / dc ltar ftin mtshan kun tu rluh gi bzlas pa byas pahi mthar hchi ba ni / rluh phyi nan du rgyu ba log nas hbyun ba rnams rim gyis thim ste I snan mchcd thob gsum gyi flams hohar ba ni sems dben gyi rim paho / / ftcr thob kyi mthar hchi bahi hod gsal hchar ba ni hod gsal gyi rim pa ste giiho ohos sku ies kyah byaho / / hchi bahi hod gsal gyi mthar phun po rfiin pahi khrod na gnas pahi rluh sems tsam las lus rfiin pa las logs su bye nas bar dohi lus grub pa ni rgyu lus kyi rim pa ste giihi Ions sku ies kyah byaho / / gii la dag ma dag gi sgyu lus kyi rim pa so so ba gnis med kyah / hdis lam dus kyi sgyu mahi sku gnis ka mtshon nus pa ni hchad par hgyur ro / / giihi bar do Ions sku mig tha mal pa Sahi mig gi yul du mi mthon pa de / skye srid du skye ba blahs pa na mig dehi yul du hgyur ba ni giihi sprul sku ho / This (passage of the Vajramala) answers the question about the dissolution of the wind at the time of death. Thus, just as when burnt by fire, the substance of the tree is annihilated, so also at the time of death the winds sequentially dissolve up to prana (i.e. in the order, vyana, udana, samana, apana, prana) and one dies. Then, 222 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTTRA from the Clear Light of Death the 'wind of action' arises, and the pair consisting of the latter together with vijfidna, takes birth somewhere in the three worlds. From that 'wind of action' the (80) vikalpa-s of 'desire', etc. arise, and therefrom one amasses good and evil, and the wheel of death and rebirth is so-to-say turned. The five stages (pancakrama) of the aforementioned 'diamond muttering', etc. are said to differentiate the stages of birth and death pertaining to 'basic time'. The method of differentiating is as follows : The continuous activity of the wind's inhalation and exhalation is the'basic' (1) 'diamond muttering', as said in the same work (the Vajramali), "The beings in the three worlds taking recourse to pranayama (breathing in and out) who recite the 'king of mantras' with ignorance, miss the 'mental reading'." In that way, at the conclusion of the wind-recital during the whole day and night, 'death' occurs by the passage outward and inward of the wind being averted, followed by the serial dissolution of the elements, and then (2) stage of the secret state of mind (cittaviveka), wherein the three (gnoses)—Light, Spread-of-Light, and Culmination-of-Light, arise. The arising of the Clear Light of Death at conclusion of the Culmination-of-Light, is the (3) stage of Clear Light, also called 'basic Dharmakaya'. At the conclusion of the Clear Light of Death, a body formed of wind and mind-only emerges from the aged mass of personality aggregates (skandha), and from the aging of that body and consequent alteration the IntermediateState body is produced, which is (4) stage of Illusory Body, also called 'basic Sambhogakaya'. As far as the 'basic (time)' is concerned, there is no differentiation ofthe stage of illusory body into pure and impure. However, as will be explained, for the time of the path, it is ncccssary to posit two sorts of illusory body. The basic IntermediateState Sambhogakaya is not seen in the sense field of the fleshly eye, which is the ordinary eye. Upon taking birth through the birth process, what occurs in the sense field of that eye is (5) the basic (time) Nirmana-kaya. In that passage, Tsori-kha-pa shows how to relate the five kramas of the Stage of Completion, that is, in the 'time of the path', COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 223 with the sequence of ordinary generation in the cycle of death and rebirth, that is, in 'basic time'. The correspondence thus established can be listed as follows : Basic Time 1. Inhalation and Exhalation 2. Dissolution of the elements 3. Clear Light of Death 4. Intermediate State body 5. Birth Time of the Path Diamond Muttering Purification of Mind Personal Blessing Revelation-Enlightenment Pair-united C. Bhagavan sarva (The Lord—All) Candrakirti's Pradipoddyotana on Chapter XVII (Mchan hgrel, p. 152-5) cites this verse without identification : I sarvayogo hi bhagavan vajrasattvas tathagatah / I tasyopabhogam sarvam vai traidhatukam a Set at ah // For all yoga is the Bhagavat. The Diamond Being (vajrasattva) is the Tathagata. His whole enjoyment is the three worlds without remainder. Now the yogin advances to a more refined yoga, with minute partition of the world into partite realities (the 'hundred lineages') identified with the five Buddhas or Tathagatas. This is the Atiyoga, or stage of the bodv-mandala containing the bodies of all (sarva) the thirty-two deities emanated from the Lord (Bhagavat) as the bodhicittavajra. It corresponds in external ritual to the main part of the mandala rite during which one employs the five colored threads representing the five Tathagatas. The usual commcntarial explanations of the word 'Bhagavat', in both non-tantric and tantric Buddhist texts, refer to the six allotments (or good fortune, bhaga) and the defeat of the four Maras (temptors or metaphorical death). For the six allotments, there is the verse cited in SekoddeSafiki of Xadapada (Naropa), p. 3 : aiSvaryasya samagrasya rupasya yaSasah Sriyah / jhanasyarthaprayatnasya fauriar/i bhaga iti sinrtih // It is taught that his 'good fortune' is of the six : lordliness, excellent form, fame, prosperity, knowledge, and zeal of the goal. For the defeat of the four Maras, this tradition has special tm I 22 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTRA features such as explaining the defeat of the skandha-mara in terms of the body-mandala, as in Alainkakalasa's Vajramaln commentary, p. 164-4 : I de la bdud bzi bcom pa ham dbah phyug la sogs pahi yon tan drug dan Idan pas na ' bcom Idan hdas so ' ' de la stoh pa Aid bsgoms pas hchi bdag gi bdud bcom mo // lha sum cu rtsa gfiis kyi bdag fiid can gyi dkyil hkhor gyi hkhor lohi rnam pa rah gi lus la vons su scs pas phun po bdud bcom mo / /de b£in gsegs pa lhahi rnam pas Aon mons pa lha yohs su ses pas Aon mons pahi bdud boom mo I bgegs skrad pahi dus na dbah po la sogs pahi phyogs bcuhi hjig rten skyon ba la phur bus btab pas rnam par bcom pahi phyir lhahi buhi bdud bcom mo '. By reason of defeating the four Maras or of having the six qualities of lordliness, and so on, he is the Bhagavat. By contemplation of voidness he defeated the Mrtvu-mara ('Death' mara). By fully recognizing his own body as the circular form of the mandala having the embodiment of the thirty-two gods, he defeated the Skandha-mara ('Personality-aggregate' mara). By fully understanding the five defilements as the aspects of the five Tathagatas, he defeated the Klesa-mara ('Defilement' mara.. At the time of frightening away the hindering demons, because he defeated Indra and the other ten Lokapalas by applying the magic nail, he defeated the Devaputra-mara ('Son-of-the-gods' mara). Concerning the 'All' (sarva), Pradipoddyotana on Chapter XIII. first sentence, comments on the epithet muni : "He is callcd muni because he lives in the mind of all the Tathagatas" (sanatatha-gatamanovarttitvad munim). Besides, all the deities are an expression of the Buddha's 'mind of enlightenment' (bodhicitta), a term which also means the male-female bindu in the central channel and the mysterious substance tasted in the 'Secret Initiation' of the Stage of Completion. This 'alP-inclusive character of the bodhicitta is portrayed in some verses of Tson-klia-pa, in his "Rnal-hbyor dag-pahi rim pa" (PTT. Vol. 160. p. 85) : / g<"> Hg gzugs dan tshor ba hdu ies hdu byed dan / I mam par Ses dan skye mchcd dmg dan dbai) po drug / I sa ehu me dan rlun dan nam mkhah thams cad ni / COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 225 I by a A chub scms hdra rgya chen de la phyag htshal lo 11 I gii mug hes pa hdod chags rdo rje chos bcas gaA / I "g pahi sbyor ba lasbyun rlag lu rab hbrcl bar / I rnam pa sna Ishogs dgali bas myos pahi dnos gyur pa / I bya A chub sems hdra rgya chen de la phyag htshal lo // I sdud dan dgali dai) rnam pa de biin mi hgyur da A / I rgyu dah hbras bulii raA biin sems su rjes thogs chos / I rmofis dan ie sdan hdod chags sgrib pa rdo rje sle / I byah chub sems hdra rgya chen de la phyag htshal lo // I ies pas lha sum cu so ghis la phyag byaho /. • I bow to that expanse like bodhicitta—all that is rupa, vedanii, samjfia, samskara, and vijfiana; the six (external) sensory bases, and the six sense organs; earth, water, fire, and wind and spacc. I bow to that expanse like bodhicitta—any fault of delusion along with the nature of diamond lust; which by continual union arisen from association with the consort [[[vidya]]) bccomcs an element intoxicated by variegated ecstasy. I bow to that expanse like bodhicitta—the reunification, the ecstasy, the aspect, the unchanging Thusncss; the intrinsic nature of cause and effect as a nature afterwards obtained in the mind; the diamond obscuration of delusion, hatred, and lust. With those verses one bows to the thirty-two gods. In the first of those three verses, the five personality aggregates (rupa, etc.) are the five skandha-Tathagatas; the six (external) sensorv bases are the five goddesses called vajra and also sems ma (for the sixth sense object, some goddess would do double duty); the six sense organs arc six of the Bodhisattvas; the five elements (earth, etc.) arc the four goddesses Locana, etc. (the dhatu-mudra) and the Akasadhatn. That list includes all the deities which are subject to division into five aspects, namely : (a) five skandha-Tathagata (nidana verse 14). (b) four dhalu-mudra (verse 15), six mdriya-bodhisattva (verse 16), and (d) five vifaya-vajra (mdiina verse 20). Tsori-kha-pa explains (PTT, Vol. 158, p. 205-3) that the ten krodha or wrathful gods, in the ten limbs, and the bodhisattvas Maitreya and Samanta-bhadra, in the joints and veins, are counted among the thirty-two gods for the purpose of 'arcane body' (kaya-viveka), but are 226 YOGA OF THE GUHYASAMAJATANTTRA not each divided into five aspects bccansc they were not so indicated in the basic Tantra. The hundred subdivisions are listed by Aryadeva in his Caryameldpakapradipn (PIT, Vol. 61, p. 295-5, line 7, to 297-5, line 8). In my annotation I follow the subdivisions as presented in Tsori-kha-pa's Paiicakrama commentary Gsal bahi sgron me (PTT, Vol. 158 pp. 204 and 205) and a few differences with the lists in that Peking edition of Aryadeva's work may be due to the fact that Tsori-kha-pa employed all translations of this work in Tibetan, as I pointed out in "Notes on the Sanskrit Term Jhana" p. 267, note 59. Aryadeva, op. cit., p. 295-5, merely cites the Candraguhyatilaka (zla gsah thig le) as mentioning the term 'hundred lineages'. Tsori-kha-pa's exposition always uses the order Vairocana, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha, Amoghasiddhi, and Aksobhya; and means this order in many other places by saying 'Vairocana ctc.' This shows the Guhya-samaja traditional correspondences to the skandhas to agree with ihe old Buddhist statement of the skandhas (cf. nidana verse 9, above), and this gives rise to the table in Tucci (Tibetan Painted Scrolls, I, p. 240), where the standard jurisdictional activity of the Buddha families is given in the same order : moha (delusion), abhimana (pride), raga (lust), irsya (envy), krodha (wrath). While this work was being printed, the author temporarily in Japan heard that a scholar wondered about the consistency ofthe Guhyasamdjatantra to have Aksobhya as the chief deity and yet apparently in another placc assigning this role to Vairocana. But by reference to the Aksobhya-mandala translated above it will be noticcd that the placement of Aksobhya in the center gives Vairocana the assignment to the East. In this Tantra Aksobhya has the role of emanating, as though from above downwards, the whole mandala. The human candidate has to work from downwards upward and he docs this by the correspondences which start from the East, so there is no inconsistency. The subdivisions amounting to a hundred lineages as well as other lists in the annotation of these verses, arc somewhat tedious, unless the reader can sense the interesting sidelights on Indian civilization suggested by the way of sectioning the 'worlds' into these partite realities grouped under the five Tatha-gatas as 'building-blocks' of the world, which is made up of them COMMENTARY ON THE FORTY NIDANA VERSES 227 in various permutations and combinations. To help the reader to this point of view, four summarizing tables have been included under the respective niddna verses (Nos. 14, 15, 16 under 'Bhagavan sarva' and No. 20 under 'Tathagata'). Byway of easing the reading of this annotation set, I have omitted the Tibetan passages for the 'partite realities' and 'hundred lineages', since this subsection is already swollen with technical details. IIBHAH bhaviny asmin prakrtayn ragdrdgddikah punah / tdbhya(h) SubhdSubham karma talo janma-samudbhavah //13// In this gestation are the prakrtis desire, aversion, and so on; as a result of those, auspicious and inauspicious karma; therefrom the origination of (re)birth. Mchan : 'In this gestation' means the three lights. Auspicious karma leads to birth in a good destiny (sugati), inauspicious karma to birth in a bad destiny (durgati). Again, after amassing the two kinds of karma one experiences the Clear Light of Death, then undergoes the Intermediate State (antarabhava), and is reboin through a womb or by some other means of birth. In further explanation, after the amassing of karma, when facing death, earth dissolves in water, watei in fire, fire in wind, the wind which stirs up the ,80 vikalpa-s in Light, that in Spread- of-Light, that in Culmination-of-Light, and that in the Clear Light of Death. This sequence of dissolution is the direct order (anuloma-krama) and describes the 'secret state of mind' (citta-viveka, sems dben). Pahcakrarna, 2nd krama, 44-47 ; Sri Laksmi {op. cit.), p. 27-3, ff.: krtva SubhdSubhain karma bhramanti gatipahcake // anantaryddikani krtvd narake'u. vipa/cyote // Subham danadikam krtvd svargadifu mahiyate / anantajanmasahasram prdpya an: am punah punali // purvakarmai ipako 'yam iti Socati mohalah / prakrtyabhasayogena yena kliiyanti jantavah // jhatva tam eva nuuyante jridnino bhavapahjarat / prajnasvabhava evdyam < andramandalakatpand // Having done good and evil deeds they wander in the five destinies; liaving committed the sins of immediate retribution, they roast in the hells; having done die good deeds of giving and the like, they thrive in heaven and other (good destinies):--Again and again this happens during their uncountable lives. This maturation of former 228