The Glorious Sovereign Tantra of Mahākāla
Chapter 1: An Elucidation of Ultimate Reality
Toh 440
Degé Kangyur, vol. 81 (rgyud ’bum, ca), folios 45.b–86.a
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Table of Contents
Summary
The Glorious Sovereign Tantra of Mahākāla consists of a dialogue between Mahākāla and the Goddess on a broad range of topics including the consecration rites, deity generation practices, and rituals for attaining various siddhis associated with the deity Mahākāla. The opening section of the tantra focuses on topics related to the Unexcelled Yoga Tantras (yoganiruttaratantra, bla na med pa’i rgyud kyi rnal ’byor), such as how one generates the deity, how the consecration rites are performed, and how the advanced practitioner manipulates the vital winds of the subtle body to attain perfect spontaneous union as Mahākāla. The conversation then turns to ritual instructions for the attainment of siddhis as it integrates mastery of the two-stage union practices associated with the Unexcelled Yoga Tantras with those rituals more commonly associated with the Action Tantras (kriyātantra, bya ba’i rgyud) and Conduct Tantras (caryātantra, spyod pa’i rgyud).
Acknowledgements
This publication was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The text was translated, edited, and introduced by the 84000 translation team. Adam Krug produced the translation and wrote the introduction. Ryan Damron edited the translation and the introduction, and Laura Goetz copyedited the text.
We would like to thank Paul Hackett for providing copies of the two Sanskrit witnesses of the Mahākālatantrarāja held at the University of Tokyo and Péter-Dániel Szántó for providing a copy of the twelfth-century Sanskrit manuscript discovered in Tibet by Rāhul Sāṅkṛtyāyana and for pointing us in the right direction to access additional Sanskrit witnesses located in the Royal Asiatic Society’s Hodgson Collection and the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Thank you also to Wiesiek Mical for kindly sharing his list of materia medica from his translation of The Tantra of Caṇḍamahāroṣana (Toh 431).1
The generous donation that made the translation work on this text possible was dedicated to DJKR, HH Dodrupchen IV, Khenchen Pema Sherab, Choje Togdan, Gyalse Tulku, Dagpo Tulku, Dorje Bhum, Khenpo Hungtram, and Gakar Tulku by the sponsors Herlintje, Lina Herlintje, Hadi Widjaja, Ocean, Asia, Star and Gold Widjaja.
Text Body
Chapter 1: An Elucidation of Ultimate Reality
Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was residing in the company of the goddesses. The Goddess asked him, “What method saves beings who are drowning in the ocean of cyclic existence, and how does the deity liberate them from cyclic existence?” [F.46.a]
The Blessed One replied, “I will address those points in terms of the means by which wisdom19 is present during the generation and completion stage yogas. Listen well, Goddess. The generation stage leads one to abide in cessation and reveals the correct path that grants the result. Then one should perform with certainty the type of consecration that involves the use of a consort. One should then practice the elimination of movement20 and then focus on that. The generation stage is endowed with the correct path through correlation with the physical person.
“Blessed One,” asked the goddess, “what is required to generate the vajra being, and why are the individual vases necessary?”
The Blessed One replied, “The fact of arising refutes nonexistence; this is the space vajra. It is utterly devoid of self and is the moment of bliss. It arises like the expansive feeling of happiness that arises when the entire population of a city that has been oppressed by force is released from bondage.”
“Blessed One,” asked the Goddess, “why is it necessary to stabilize the body?21 Is it not the case that it is no longer present after the blood and bodhicitta have combined in the pathway and one has been liberated from false appearances? Does it grant the result, or did you describe it in terms of practical application for those who wish to reveal it?”22
The Blessed One replied, “The body is called ‘vajra.’ This is similar to the correlation between the illusory being23 and the physical person. ‘The blood after it has combined in the pathway’ means that blood has combined in the vajra’s pathway at the time that understanding of complete equality dawns through the movement of blood in the five aggregates via the lalanā, rasanā, and avadhūtī. ‘The functional body’ refers to the body that moves, lacks endurance, and is subject to impulses. That is the functional body. I spoke of having performed a function for those who are confused about functionality.”
“What is the Dharma?” asked the Goddess. “What teachings have you given from the collection of Dharma? Was this done for the happiness and welfare of human beings, [F.46.b] for a specific purpose, or so that they might gain the desirable result of eliminating disease?”
The Blessed One replied, “I will explain how beings who have taken a human birth can easily attain the siddhis for whatever Dharma they practice. The eight great siddhis are the sword, collyrium, pill, and swift feet siddhis, together with rendering medicines effective, competence in mantras, and mercury and alchemy. In addition to attaining the eight great siddhis, a person can attain any other siddhi using the tantras of Mahākāla, and they will surely do so with ease.”24
The Goddess requested, “Please speak, however briefly, about binding the target when it is employed for the collyrium siddhi.”
The Blessed One replied, “Its concealing is widely described as an excellent means of protection and the proper way to conceal oneself, even from the drumming of horse hooves.”25
“Blessed One,” the Goddess asked, “how many channels are there in the vajra body, and how many moments of inhalation and exhalation are there?”
The Blessed One replied, “There are thirty-two channels. There is restraining inhalation and exhalation and releasing the breath that has arisen within the body, which is set in motion by the sun and the moon. To express the exact calculation, there are twenty-one thousand six hundred movements of breath, with a moment consisting of an inhalation and exhalation.”
“Blessed One,” asked the Goddess, “did you sanction what Kāmadeva revealed, the conditions that ensued26 when Nārāyaṇa, the fulfiller of desire, took on an illusory form and, for the sake of Lakṣmī and Sarasvatī, became a protector deity who delivered the destitute from darkness?”
“Goddess,” the Blessed One replied, “as the beings of Jambudvīpa cycle through cyclic existence, they give rise to delusion, desire, jealousy, and slander. Since that is the case, and since they have faith in what glorious Mahākāla has taught, [F.47.a] like Nārāyaṇa, I have taught the practice of generating Kāmadeva and his retinue of sixty-four ḍākinīs.”
The Blessed One replied, “The term mahākāla27 refers to the long duration of time that it takes to visualize and remain as Mahākāla, as well as the fact that one performs this every day and at the best time for doing so. Alternately, the term mahākāla refers to something that requires a long time, namely, performing the rites for Mahākāla in their entirety.”
The Blessed One replied, “Ma refers to the fact that he is a compassionate being, and hā refers to the fact that he possesses insight, and to insight itself. Kāla is a combination of two syllables that together mean ‘time’ and that signify method and insight in union as great compassion.
“There are eight yoginīs who appear in this tantra and are respectively identified as the queens of the yogas28 of paralyzing, expelling, paralyzing an army, and hostile rites. They are generated through the visualization of Caṇḍeśvarī, Carcikā, Kālikā, Kulikeśvarī, Khaṇḍaruhī, Dantotkaṭī, Pracālī, and Maheśvarī.
“Someone with insight into grasping, for whom time is essential,29 seeks liberation. For them, there is no meditator and no object of meditation. The visualizations are not produced by anything. Then, through mastery over the afflicted mind, the mind is freed of imputation. They can assume the form of Vetāli30 without generating it, and, when moving among the five families, they can accomplish any rite just as it was taught. They can pursue one after the other whether or not it is the appropriate particular lunar day, [F.47.b] guaranteeing the attainment of any siddhi. Such are the fruits of this Dharma instruction.”
This is the first chapter in The Glorious Sovereign Tantra of Mahākāla, “An Elucidation of Ultimate Reality.”
Colophon
This work was translated, edited, and finalized by the scholar Samantaśrī and the great editor and translator Ra Gelong Chörap, at the request of the at the request of the vagabond Pha in the miraculous great temple Ramoché in Lhasa.349
Abbreviations
| C | Choné (co ne) |
|---|---|
| D | Degé (sde dge bka’ ’gyur) |
| F | Phukdrak (phug brag) |
| H | Lhasa (lha sa / zhol) |
| J | Lithang (li thang) |
| K | Kanxi (kang shi) |
| N | Narthang (snar thang) |
| S | Stok Palace (stog pho ’brang) |
| Y | Yongle (g.yung lo) |
| BnFS 84 | Bibliothèque national de France (Mahākālatantrarāja) |
|---|---|
| BnFS 85 | Bibliothèque national de France (Mahākālatantrarāja) |
| ND 44-5 | NGMCP D 44-5 (Mahākālatantrarāja) |
| RASH 47 | RAS Hodgson (Mahākālatantra) |
| RST15 | Sāṅkṛtyāyana collection (Patna); Bandurski Xc 14/15 (Mahākālatantrarāja) |
| UTM 286 | Tokyo No. 286 (Mahākālatantrarāja) |
| UTM 288 | Tokyo No. 288 (Mahākālatantrarāja) |
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