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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
2.

The Second Secret

2.­1
“Next is the second secret.
It is the profound meaning of dependent origination
In connection with the secret initiation.
2.­2
“First, give rise to the divine pride.
Know that the ḍākinīs are the channels.
Know that the ḍākas are the spirit of enlightenment.
Know the locations of the chakras, the chakras themselves,
And their related practices.
2.­3
“The distance from the chakra of great bliss
To the confluence of Brahma
Is forty-eight finger-widths.
Each chakra is three finger-widths,
And thus the nature of enlightened body, speech, and mind.
2.­4
“The locations of the initiations and the chakras
Should be learned from a master’s oral instructions.
An adept must determine whether the wind of the anus
Is three or four finger-widths from the fire of the Brahma confluence.
2.­5
“Three spaces is the secret location.
Likewise, three spaces marks the chakra of awareness.
Four finger-widths is the location of Hayagrīva. [F.191.a]
Eight finger-widths is the location of Secret Guardian of Bliss.
2.­6
“Based on the particularities of the bodily supports
Of male and female practitioners,
Forty-eight finger-widths can be divided.
In this way, at eight finger-widths is located the secret chakra.
The other chakras, located within forty finger-widths,
Should be learned from a master’s oral instructions.
2.­7
“An adept should determine all of them
As being inside or outside of the spinal column.
2.­8
“There are also two types of chakra.
First are the chakras themselves; second, the channels.
Chakras are also taught as fourfold:
Conditional, secret, natural, and empowered.
There are two conditional, four secret,
Sixteen natural, and two empowered chakras.
Caṇḍālī, twenty-four,
Are hidden in the four chakras.
2.­9
“If you turn away from the master in a gathering,
Spread his oral instructions or bandy them about,
Receive the concealed stage in order to indulge in desire,
Turn away from, or disparage the hidden points,
Obstruct the secret mantra, or insult other practices,
You will be reborn in the great hell of Endless Torment,
Until the thousand and one buddhas are all gone.
2.­10
“I have not said to keep concealed
Anything that is concealed in these chakras.
Thus, what in other tantras has been hidden,
In this tantra I explain in detail.
2.­11
“Thirty-two, divided into left and right parts,
Is concealed in the amount of sixty-four.
Thirty-two, paired,
Is concealed in the amount of sixteen.
2.­12
“Thirty-two, grouped according to cardinal and intermediate directions,
Is concealed in the amount of eight.
The crown chakra is concealed at the crown.
The Secret Guardian of Bliss is concealed at the navel.
2.­13
“Sixteen, paired,
Is concealed in the amount of eight.
Sixteen, divided into right and left parts,
Is concealed in the amount of thirty-two.
Sixteen, multiplied by four,
Is concealed in the amount of sixty-four.
2.­14
“At the throat, in the chakra of enjoyment,
One enjoys the six flavors.
Thus, Rasanā is concealed in the chakra of enjoyment.
The Hayagrīva chakra is concealed at the throat. [F.191.b]
2.­15
“Eight, divided into right and left parts
Is concealed in the amount of sixteen.
Eight, with right, left, top, and bottom,
Is concealed in the amount of thirty-two.
2.­16
“Eight divided into eight parts, with right, left, top, bottom,
And the four intermediate directions,
Is concealed in the amount of sixty-four.
The fire at the Brahma confluence is concealed in fire.
2.­17
“In the dharma chakra at the heart, all phenomena are known.
Therefore, awareness is concealed there.
2.­18
“Sixty-four, paired,
Is concealed in the amount of thirty-two.
Sixty-four, grouped in fours,
Is concealed in the amount of sixteen.
Sixty-four, grouped in eights,
Is concealed in the amount of eight.
2.­19
“The wind of the anus is concealed within wind.
The secret inner heat is concealed in the inner heat.
On each chakra there are four chakras
That externally clasp in the form of the life-force.
2.­20
“Even though waters, streams, and rivers
Are caused to flow in numerous ways,
In the ocean they become one flavor.
2.­21
“Playing at the navel is the enlightened body of great bliss
Endowed with the liberations and emptinesses,
And likewise the major and minor marks.
2.­22
“At the heart is the dharma body,
Likewise, with the liberations and so forth.
Similarly, the enjoyment body is at the throat and
The emanation body is at the chakra of great bliss.
2.­23
“The major marks above and emptiness below
Is the first union of great bliss.
The liberations above and the minor marks below
Is the second union of great bliss.
The others should be learned orally.
The pristine ten powers are the ten unions.
2.­24
“Wind is the essence of Tārā, in that
The nature of breath fills the six channels.
Fire is the nature of Pāṇḍara­vāsinī, in that
The three corner channels are filled with warmth.
2.­25
“Naturally present
Are eight and five characteristics.
The eight are the first eight vowels.
The five are the first five consonants, or
The five suffix endings, the palace of knowledge.
2.­26
“To the right and left of the vowel letter of Hayagrīva
Are two a syllables, at the perimeter of which are nine petals.
2.­27
“At the chakra of the Secret Guardian of Bliss,
In the center of the four neuter letters and two a syllables,
Are the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment.
2.­28
“Next, concerning the characteristics of the channels, [F.192.a]
Seventy-two thousand external channels
Are located in the flesh and give rise to fat.
One hundred and twenty internal channels
Are located in the fat and give rise to marrow.
2.­29
“Thirty-two secret channels
Are located in the bones and give rise to camphor.
The three suchness channels
Are located in the secret place and give rise to bliss.
2.­30
“There are seventy-two thousand houses.
Each house has a hundred thousand further houses.
The types of worms23 present in those houses
Are seventy-two thousand and their number
Should likewise be understood as multiplied by a hundred thousand.
2.­31
“It is taught that in the inner and secret channels
The types of worms also correspond in number.
Within the three suchness channels
Are nine worms that give rise to desire.
With the triad of day, night, and twilight,
These should be understood by the adept as nine.
2.­32
“The camphor located in those channels
Is the ambrosia emergent from union.
Ambrosia and so forth has already been explained.
2.­33
“Imagine that yaṁ becomes a maṇḍala of wind,
And raṁ becomes a maṇḍala of fire.
On top of this is the syllable a, which becomes a skull cup.
Then paṁ becomes an eight-petaled lotus.
2.­34
Imagine a moon disk inside of that.
Arrange the fleshes and so forth on it.
Conceived as four finger-widths, or a full thumb-length, above the central deity,
One should visualize the syllables in reverse order,
2.­35
“Blue, red, and white.
Imagine a hūṁ becoming a vajra.
Above, visualize the syllable maṁ,
Resting on a sun disk.
This is the union of ambrosia.
2.­36
“The five fleshes transform into the five seats.
The hooks transform into the five ambrosias.
The karmic winds fan the flames,
Which melts the moon, the central deity, and so forth‍—
This is ordinary ambrosia.
2.­37
“The three letters and the sun melt‍—
This is called divine ambrosia.
That which is summoned by light rays
I have taught to be wisdom ambrosia.
2.­38
“Circumambulating three times enlightened body, speech, and mind
Is the practice of blessing.
Tasting and offering the ambrosia
Is taught to be the practice of offering.
2.­39
“Then comes the practice of play, [F.192.b]
Which should be understood to mean the right and left.
Next, in the practice of melting,
The equalizing wind and the fire of inner heat
Transform the subtle body into the essence of the four wisdoms.
2.­40
“One part, Akṣobhya and Vairocana,
Is the flesh-eating ḍākinī, equanimity.
One part is concerted activity,
Which the worms, the action ḍākinīs, offer.
One part, wind and bile,
And through bile, phlegm, and so forth,
Should be learned from a master’s oral instructions.
2.­41
“The gnosis ḍākinī‍—the channels‍—
Offers discriminating gnosis.
One part, the lack of nature,
With mirror-like gnosis,
The vajra ḍākinī offers.
2.­42
“Winds are the vajra ḍākinī, and
Channels are the gnosis ḍākinī.
Camphor is the flesh-eating ḍākinī, and
Worms are the action ḍākinī.
2.­43
“Furthermore, all the particulars of the ḍākinīs
That dwell in the channels and elsewhere
Should be understood in the proper order.
2.­44
“Enlightened body is the action ḍākinī.
Enlightened speech is the flesh-eating ḍākinī.
Enlightened mind is the gnosis ḍākinī.
Great bliss is the vajra ḍākinī.
2.­45
“Furthermore, the particulars of the ḍākinīs
Should be understood with respect to the central chakra.
2.­46
“Joy is the action ḍākinī, and
Supreme joy is the flesh-eating ḍākinī.
Natural joy is the gnosis ḍākinī.
Great bliss is the vajra ḍākinī.
2.­47
“The ḍāka is the moon disk,
And the ḍākinī is the sun.
The caṇḍalī, twenty-four,
Are ascertained as the four chakras that conceal them.
2.­48
“The great bliss chakra is absorbed within the enjoyment chakra.
The enjoyment chakra is absorbed within the dharma chakra.
As for the sequence of absorption above,
Everything fuses into a seminal drop.
2.­49
“This is like how a single sun
Shines throughout the ten directions,
Yet its profusion of rays is fused with it.
It is also like the parasol of a universal monarch,
Which is an assembly of wooden machinery.
2.­50
“Moreover, once absorbed into the dharma chakra at the heart, [F.193.a]
In the center of the sun and moon disk, the size of a chickpea,
Is a seminal drop, the size of a mustard seed.
Around this, on the left and right,
Is a mantra garland as fine as a strand of hair.
The vowels and consonants enwrap the drop like a snake.
2.­51
“All that is the practice of the seminal drop.
Once the mind has become stable in this,
One may meditate on the subtle practice.
2.­52
“Imagine that the moon dissolves into the letters,
The letters dissolve into the sun,
And then the sun dissolves into the u vowel diacritic.
The u vowel diacritic and the rest then gradually dissolve.
2.­53
“The five limbs are the five gnoses.
That is the subtle practice.
Then, with one’s mind on the subtle nāda,
One is to meditate in stages.
2.­54
“Then comes self-aware gnosis,
In which all phenomena, being empty, are of one taste.
2.­55
“Moreover, the way in which
The dharma chakra and the emanation chakra
Drip and blaze
Should be learned from a master’s oral instructions.
2.­56
“External concepts are exertion.
Internal concepts are the wind of vitality.
At the central channel where both vitality and exertion are constricted,
Above the nose-tip of the relative,
At a distance of four finger-widths, the three channels converge.
2.­57
“Since this is the location where the breath is constricted,
Initially, one should hold it there.
Then, hold it in the place of emanation.
Alternatively, one should understand how to count it.”
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, 2025. https://84000.co/translation/toh384/UT22084-079-011-chapter-2.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, 2025, 84000.co/translation/toh384/UT22084-079-011-chapter-2.Copy
84000. (2025) 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-2.Copy
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