co.

Table of Contents

s.

Summary

s.­1

As its title suggests, this tantra is specifically concerned with the proper interpretation, or “resolution,” of the highly esoteric or “secret” imagery and practices associated with deity yoga in both its development and completion stages as described in the Yoginītantra class of tantras. The work is organized according to a dialogue between the Buddha and Vajragarbha‍—the lead interlocutor throughout many of the Yoginītantras‍—and the Buddha’s responses give particular attention to the specifications of the subtle body completion-stage yoga involving manipulations of the body’s subtle energy channels, winds, and fluids in conjunction with either a real or imagined consort. The tantra sets its interpretation of these common Yoginītantra themes and imagery within the wider context of the four initiations prevalent in this class of tantras. In resolving the secrets connected with each initiation, the text elaborates the different levels of meaning connected with each initiation’s contemplative practices.

ac.

Acknowledgments

ac.­1

Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee. The principal translator for this text was James Gentry, who also wrote the introduction. Andreas Doctor edited the translation and compared it with the original Tibetan.

The Dharmachakra Translation Committee would like to thank Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche for suggesting this tantra for translation, and Khenpo Sangyay Gyatso for his generous assistance with the resolution of several difficult passages.

This translation has been completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.

Text Body

The Translation
The Glorious King of Tantras That Resolves All Secrets
1.

The First Secret

1.­1

The Blessed One said:

“ ‘Secret’ is fourfold.
First is the practice of the development stage
Related to the vase initiation.
I taught meditation on the support and the supported
So that practitioners might relinquish
Dualistic concepts of a universe and its inhabitants.
1.­2
“Its individual features all have an intended meaning.
Initially, in other tantras,
I taught about emptiness and so forth.
Among the particulars of the support and supported,
The first concerns the intention behind the support.
1.­3
“Imagine that, like one candle lighting another,
The syllable hūṁ at the heart
Projects a black-hued e,
Which forms a vast, deep triangle.
1.­4
“The three corners are enlightened body, speech, and mind.
This signifies the destruction of the three poisons.
The sides are the three liberations.
This signifies the destruction of the ten nonvirtues
That emerge from ordinary body, speech, and mind.
1.­5
“The dharma body is immaculate,
And therefore [F.187.b] naturally all-pervading.
This is the significance of vast.
1.­6
“Since even the noble listeners, solitary realizers,
And bodhisattvas as well
Do not realize the dharma body,
It is explained with intention as deep.
1.­7
“Then, again, the hūṁ at the heart
Projects a hūṁ syllable that forms into a vajra,
Which forms into a vajra tent.
1.­8
“There are two obstacles: first, to life,
And second, to liberation.
These are the two obstructing forces,
The outer and the inner.
1.­9
“The outer creates obstacles to life;
The inner creates obstacles to liberation.
The significance of the vajra tent
Is that it protects from these twofold obstructions.
1.­10
“Then yaṁ, just as before,
Projects a shape like a half-moon.
It provides control over the abandonment of conceptuality
And the dawn of nonconceptuality.
This is the meaning of domination.
1.­11
“Concerning the significance of the four flags,
I have taught that they signify all things
Present throughout the three times.
1.­12
“The triangular fire maṇḍala from raṁ
Signifies wrathful ritual.
The three-pronged vajra signifies the three buddha bodies.
1.­13
“The round water disk from baṁ
Is said to be the cessation of mental activity.
The vase is the four aspects of the dharma body.
1.­14
“The square golden earth from laṁ
Has the nature of prosperity.
The five-pronged vajra is the five gnoses.
The eight peaks of Mount Meru above that
Signify the eight liberations.
1.­15
“Symbolizing the absence of conceptuality about an ordinary universe and inhabitants,
The eight charnel grounds
Should be arranged to the left and right in order.
1.­16
“The concepts related to each feature, moreover,
Should be learned from a master’s oral instructions.
1.­17
“Symbolizing the power of the antidote fully developed,
Trees are continuously arranged in sequence.
The directional protectors are arranged as symbols
For the overcoming of concepts oriented toward the ten nonvirtues.
1.­18
“The eight nāgas are stationed
To destroy the wicked ones
Of attachment, hatred, and ignorance.
1.­19
“Rain clouds are arrayed
So that body and speech18 may act for the welfare of19 beings,
With divine pride in the two form buddha bodies
Endowed with great compassion. [F.188.a]
1.­20
“Inner and secret are the same.
Likewise, as for the ultimate, the fourth,
One should learn the oral tradition.
1.­21
“Then, inside, the celestial palace appears.
Bhruṁ creates an eight-spoked wheel.
The eight spokes stand for the eight consciousnesses.
1.­22
“The wheel transforms into the body of Vairocana.
Viewed from the outside, he is luminous inside.
Likewise, from inside out,
Meaning that all appears as one.
1.­23
“The five kinds of gems20 symbolize the five buddha bodies.
The five colors indicate the five families.
The four corners are said to be the four pure abodes.
1.­24
“The four sides are the four means of magnetizing.
The four gates are the four foundations of mindfulness.
The eight pillars are the eight liberations.
The four beams symbolize the four gnoses.
All the gate adornments, and so forth,
Are said to be the powers and the like.
1.­25
“Then, as for the seats inside the palace,
They are lotuses born from vowels as seed-syllables.
The lotus seat indicates not being stained
By the afflictions such as passion, and so forth.
1.­26
“The sun and moon atop the lotuses
Symbolize skillful means and wisdom.
The corpse is taught first
For the destruction of the self, or conceptuality.
1.­27
“The four-featured seat of the central deity
Is given as a seat to each member of the retinue,
Since they each are an aspect of the central deity.
1.­28
“That completes the supportive maṇḍala
Conjoined with its intended meaning.
1.­29
“Next, the deities are generated
According to the four types of birth.
1.­30
“The miraculous manner is to arise instantaneously,
Like a fish jumping out of water.
1.­31
“Birth from heat and moisture is to arise from conditions,
Like a lotus nurtured by the sun.
1.­32
“Birth from an egg happens through projection and absorption,
Like copper produced from stone.
1.­33
“Birth from a womb occurs from union,
Burned from above and formed from below,
Like a statue created from wax.21
1.­34
“Vairocana is completed with the palace.
Later, the Heruka is generated.
Conferring initiation is the Blessed One Akṣobhya.
Praise is Ratnasambhava.
1.­35
“Offering is Amoghasiddhi.
Tasting ambrosia is Amitābha. [F.188.b]
The accomplishments that emerge
From these six aspects are extraordinary.
1.­36
“Then, concerning the recitation, or meditation,
There are those of superior, mediocre, and inferior faculties.
It is said that superior ones
Are to meditate, or recite in full.
1.­37
“The mediocre should focus on the central deity in father-mother union.
The inferior are to apply themselves to the eyes of the central figure.
Having reached stability on the eyes of the central figure,
They are to meditate on the thirty-seven features in full.
The mediocre are to do likewise.
1.­38
“Located in the body are channels; circulating within them are winds;
Mounted on these is the mind‍—the inferior practice involves shape;
The more profound involve mantra and seminal drops;
And the ultimate involves dharma and the seven parts.
Teaching this way is exceedingly profound.
1.­39
“Everything taught above
Should also be understood as fourfold.
Each one, moreover, is fourfold;
The manifold manner is exceedingly profound.
1.­40
“Outer and inner is the meaning of mantra.
The maṇḍala image is the outer meaning.
Regarding the outer is the inner.
The secrecy of just that is the secret meaning.
Proficiency is the meaning of perfection.
1.­41
“The maṇḍala image is the outer meaning.
Inwardly, concerning the characteristics of the maṇḍala,
The aggregates, elements, and sense media
Are each transformed into a deity, either five, six, or thirty-seven;
Left, right, above, below, the gates, and so forth‍—
These should be understood from a master’s oral instructions.”
1.­42

Then Vajragarbha asked:

“What is the completion
Of the ‘thirty-seven’?
How are they ‘developed’?
What are their stages?
What is the supportive maṇḍala like?
And how are the sessions and breaks?
How are view and conduct united?
Tell me, O Spiritual Hero!”
1.­43

The Blessed One said:

“The thirty-seven, the pristine cause,
Give rise to nondual gnosis, the effect.
Therefore, the cause, which precedes the effect,
Is to become the principal deity.
1.­44
“Even in just becoming the Heruka
All causes are complete;
The twenty-four locations and so forth
Should be learned from a master’s oral instructions.
1.­45
“The effect does not come from a mistaken cause‍—
Barley does not sprout from a grain of wheat. [F.189.a]
Nor does it come from an incomplete cause‍—
There is no sprout from damaged grain‍—
Nor without a cause,
Like fragrance from a space flower.
The cause is not a cause without conditions,
Like a forest fire without wind.
The beginner thus endowed with these four parts
Will abandon concepts.
1.­46
“Development is said to be done
By one who adheres to deity practice.
Multiple aspects, external and internal,
Are explained as its stages.
1.­47
“The particular supportive maṇḍala
Is said to be of three types‍—
Without courtyard, without canopy, and with canopy‍—
According to inclination.
1.­48
“Due to the divisions of the four chakras,
Daily sessions are taught as four.22
Breaks should also be understood to be four.
1.­49
“It is taught that a practitioner who switches
To twenty-two and a half minute hours and meditates in eight sessions
Equalizes sessions and breaks.
1.­50
“During breaks, practitioners
Of mediocre and inferior faculties
Should project the deities in full
And properly perform offerings, and so forth,
Like one candle igniting another.
1.­51
“View refers to equipoise;
Subsequent attainment is explained as conduct.
1.­52
“When practicing the development stage,
One is permitted to observe the conduct of wearing the six adornments.
In connection with the secret initiation,
One is allowed to observe the conduct of adornments and ambrosia.
I have said that those of the vajra family, the ratna family,
The padma family, and the karma family are permitted to observe the conduct.
1.­53
“Those connected with the wisdom-gnosis initiation
Have in common what was taught above, and
In particular, are permitted to observe the conduct of the seal.
1.­54
“With either conduct devoid of view,
Or view devoid of conduct,
One transgresses the pledges of secret mantra
And takes birth as a hell-being in Endless Torment.
1.­55
“Therefore, conduct devoid of view should be abandoned;
It is the conduct of a hostile demon.
Likewise, view devoid of conduct is also to be abandoned;
Tormenting the body through austerities [F.189.b]
And despising the aggregates that are Vairocana and so forth
Is simply the work of a dry intellectual.
1.­56
“Consequently, view and conduct are to be unified‍—
When an elephant rises, it rises all together,
And when an elephant sits, it sits all together.”
1.­57

Vajragarbha then asked:

“What is meant by ‘ambrosia’?
What conduct is associated with it?
How do its qualities emerge?
Tell me, O Central Deity,
All the meanings of the adornments and the rest!”
1.­58

The Blessed One replied:

“Ambrosia is taught as threefold.
Firstly, one enjoys the outer ambrosia.
Arrange the five hooks
In the five ambrosias and the five meats.
This should begin on the eighth and fourteenth days of the month.
1.­59
“One should then gather silha wood, Akṣobhya, and dry manure.
This should begin on the twelfth and sixteenth days of the month.
1.­60
“One should then take Heruka, Vairocana, and essence of dry manure.
The eighth, fourteenth, and fifteenth days
Of the waxing and waning lunar periods
Are taught as auspicious times for everything.
1.­61
“The appearance of the lion should be white and excellent,
Its body and speech gentle and without any fault‍—
This is the basis for the formation of flesh.
As for ox, or elephant,
This should be the flesh of one from which musk and the like emerges
Based on the single material cause of it eating a ketaka flower.
Beef should be flesh that contains bile.
Horse meat should come from the king among horses,
Whose complexion is neither white nor red,
With flesh that neither changes shape nor color.
Human meat must be the flesh of a seventh-birth.
An adept should investigate his body, speech, and mind.
The food container should be a skull-cup in a single piece.
The ambrosia should be accomplished with the ingredients inside it.
1.­62
“Superior, mediocre, and inferior signs‍—
Blazing, wafting, and bubbling‍—
Are explained as pertaining to the external signs.
1.­63
“Furthermore, the point of signs having arisen is that old age is eradicated.
If sounds have not been heard there will be no accomplishment.
When sounds have issued forth one will become pure.
1.­64
“Inner ambrosia is self-arisen.
Having interrupted the flow of ambrosia dripping
From the nine orifices of the one with the bell,
It fills the body like sesame seeds.
Then, as the breath enters the avadhūtī
The circulation of the upper sixth is elicited.
1.­65
“When silha and camphor abide in the center, [F.190.a]
The lower sixth circulates.
This is the secret ambrosia,
Which vanquishes gray hair, wrinkles, and death.
1.­66
“The practice of conduct is twofold:
For superior and beginner persons.
The ambrosia of the outer sixth is bestowed
In order for them to adhere well to the development stage
And abandon fixation to caste.
1.­67
“Beginners have both outer and inner ambrosias,
Whose potencies are also manifold‍—
It renders them devoid of gray hair and destroys conceptuality.
It consecrates the four maṇḍalas.
1.­68
“It is taught that one will seize the sixth,
Which is situated at the center,
Four finger-widths above the upper tip of the relative,
Through gaining familiarity with the fifth.
1.­69
“Settling the breath at the location of the navel,
The upper sixth is seized.
Its potencies are also manifold.
One will be devoid of craving and feel buoyant.
Just like an eagle,
One will soar in the sky without plummeting.
1.­70
“It is said that the lower sixth is situated
At the center of the superior and disconnected ones.
It is taught to superior persons
And its potencies are also manifold.
It blocks the orifice of the one with the bell.
It destroys anger, the first of the adornments.
1.­71
“The stage of subjugating Rudra
In the great charnel ground of Śītavana
Is that conceptuality is destroyed with ambrosia.
The four enlightened activities are in common.
Through the seal, desire is purified.”
1.­72

Vajragarbha then asked:

“What is meant by ‘the sixth’?
What is a superior person like?
How is desire purified?
Tell me, O Spiritual Hero!”
1.­73

The Blessed One replied:

“From the four of right, left, above, and below
Emerges space, the fifth.
The fifth’s absence of nature
Is taught to be the sixth.
1.­74
“Preceded by joy, supreme joy,
Innate joy, and the freedom from joy,
Great bliss, the fifth, emerges.
Great bliss being pure, devoid of nature,
Is the sixth, pertaining to the lower door.
Therefore, even those who aspire for the sixth [F.190.b]
Meditate on the complete fifth,
Preceded by the fourth.
1.­75
“For example, when the power of alchemy
Is applied to a copper object,
The copper itself becomes gold,
And the gold itself comes from just copper.
Likewise, the Buddha does not teach
That the sixth appears from anything but the fifth.
1.­76
“Throughout a year, month, fortnight,
Day, night, and hour,
The sixth emerges for only a moment.
It is not the purview of beginners.
1.­77
“In the same way, a drop of ambrosia
Placed in a vessel of water
Is only experienced as water;
The ambrosia is not experienced.
1.­78
“Still, based on water,
The ambrosia is also caused to be experienced.
Likewise, based on the elaborate fifth,
The simple sixth emerges.
I have taught this in other tantras.
1.­79
“A person who has traversed the five signs, the eight flavors,
Or the eight levels, and has thus become clairvoyant,
Has fully relinquished the action seal.
1.­80
“One who engages in the great seal,
Adhering to a gnosis seal,
Is a superior person.
It is explained that he has seized the sixth.
1.­81
“Desire is cyclic existence;
Its purification is taught to be nirvana.”
c.

Colophon

c.­1

Translated by the paṇḍita Gayādhara and the translator bhikṣu Śākya Yeshé.

ab.

Abbreviations

C Choné Kangyur
D Degé Kangyur
J Lithang Kangyur
K Kangxi Peking Kangyur
S Stok Palace Kangyur
U Urga Kangyur
Y Yongle Peking Kangyur
b.

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84000. The Glorious King of Tantras That Resolves All Secrets (Śrī­guhya­sarvacchinda­tantra­rāja, dpal gsang ba thams cad gcod pa’i rgyud kyi rgyal po, Toh 384). Translated by Dharmachakra Translation Committee. Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024. https://84000.co/translation/toh384/UT22084-079-011-chapter-1.Copy
84000. The Glorious King of Tantras That Resolves All Secrets (Śrī­guhya­sarvacchinda­tantra­rāja, dpal gsang ba thams cad gcod pa’i rgyud kyi rgyal po, Toh 384). Translated by Dharmachakra Translation Committee, online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024, 84000.co/translation/toh384/UT22084-079-011-chapter-1.Copy
84000. (2024) The Glorious King of Tantras That Resolves All Secrets (Śrī­guhya­sarvacchinda­tantra­rāja, dpal gsang ba thams cad gcod pa’i rgyud kyi rgyal po, Toh 384). (Dharmachakra Translation Committee, Trans.). Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. https://84000.co/translation/toh384/UT22084-079-011-chapter-1.Copy
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