Chapter 28 Outline
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 5.2.2. The procedure of the inner fire sacrifice together with one clan
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 5.2.2. 1.1. The procedure of inner fire sacrifice
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 5.2.2. 1.2. Showing the difference between appropriate and inappropriate actions
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 5.2.2. 2. Heteropraxy and the one clan procedure
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 5.2.2. 2.1. Heteropraxy
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 5.2.2. 2.2. The one clan procedure
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 5.2.2. 3. Showing other procedures of fire sacrifice
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 5.2.2. 4. The one clan procedure together with its benefit
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 5.2.2. 5. Showing the name of the chapter
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 5.2.2. The procedure of the inner fire sacrifice together with one clan
The second part, the procedure of the inner fire sacrifice together with one clan, has five sections: (1) the inner fire sacrifice along with sections on what should and should not be done, (2) heteropraxy and the one clan procedure, (3) showing other procedures of fire sacrifice, (4) the one clan procedure together with its benefit, and (5) showing the name of the chapter.
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 5.2.2. 1. The inner fire sacrifice, along with sections on what should and should not be done
The first part has two sections: (1) the procedure of inner fire sacrifice, and (2) showing the difference between appropriate and inappropriate actions.
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 5.2.2. 1.1. The procedure of inner fire sacrifice
“Moreover,” occurring as “now” in the commentaries,191 having shown the conduct, observances, etc. in the twenty-seventh [chapter], now the inner fire sacrifice and so forth are shown. Having been with the previously explained messenger, one is worthy of worship, meaning that one’s reality or nature is purified due to undertaking the aim of unexcelled worship. Nirvana is the state of natural, supreme joy; coming forth from that, i.e., after the conclusion of that, applies to [the text] one should worship the hero (28.1ab) and yoginīs.
In this way, through the outer and secret worship one worships oneself, and through that one is worshipped as a buddha. Buddha, etc. (28.1cd) implies the worship of all bodhisattvas. One should worship all heroes and yoginīs, and all inanimate environments and animate [beings] (28.2ab), such as humans etc. They are worshipped visualized as Heruka, whose nature is great bliss. It seems that Lochen’s translation lacks “etc.,” which is good.192
Regarding brothers with whom one listens to the Dharma and “heroes,” with respect to whom “companions” [also] occurs,193 they have purified dispositions and practice yoga together. The term and [indicates that] they should worship (28.2c) the yoginīs. This is because one will not attain the perfection of a yogī without worshipping them.194 What are the “brothers” and so forth like? They are yogīs and yoginīs who stay together in the confluence of the activities of soma (28.2d), of alcohol and great bliss. This shows the mandala of the yogīs and yoginīs who are equal in number to the deities. Their worship, by drinking soma and so forth, is the practice of the inner fire sacrifice. Assembling them and undertaking the extensive elaborations of song and song response etc. is undertaking the elaborate practice. Performing them setting aside these elaborations is the unelaborate practice.
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 5.2.2. 1.2. Showing the difference between appropriate and inappropriate actions
One should not disclose the gnosis of the great seal, mantra and the binding of seals, or the mandala or tantric feast (gaṇacakra, tshogs kyi ’khor lo), due to being overpowered by attachment to brothers, sons, etc., who arise along with, i.e., together with, oneself and all happiness and suffering (28.3). Nor should they hear the adamantine songs (vajragīta, rdo rje’i glu). Likewise, it is said that they should not be revealed to those who deprecate commitments, repudiate the master, and harm beings. If they are revealed to them, they will go to hell. On account of that, the spirit of awakening of the other beings with whom they associate is tarnished.195 Another translation also has “harming [one’s] mother and all [others].”196
Regarding one should eat the purifying charu [oblation], it is explained that “having overpowered them, the unfit vessels, one should eat the charu together.197 Devagupta states that “having done thus, one should always observe the commitments (28.4).”198 Others say that the commitment is observed by eating purifying food.199
One should not give the mantra, i.e., the consecration and so forth, on account of greed etc., to anyone whatsoever, that is, kings and so forth. The oral instructions should not be revealed (28.5ab). Lochen’s translation has “the oral instructions should not be revealed.”200 Bhava[bhaṭṭa] explains that nor should one destroy the oral instructions means that one who has been solicited once should never bestow the consecration and so forth, due to avidity.201
In that case, to whom should they be given? It is said that the oral instructions should be given appropriately to those who have received consecration and who abide by the commitments (28.5cd). [The text also] states that one should not, deluded by lust, abandon one’s committed messenger and consort with another desirable one (28.6ab). Someone explains that the path of the messenger suddenly purifies the afflictions and bestows vajradharahood in this very life. The fool who, desiring all powers, casts that aside and relies on other yogas, such as those of the disciples, the action and practice [tantras], and so forth, will have neither success nor happiness, like one who has lost a kingdom, since he lacks faith in the supreme path.202
If that is so, how should it be done? [The text] states that if one is always attached to, relies passionately upon, the messenger, there is liberation (28.6c), i.e., one will be liberated.203 Bhava[bhaṭṭa] quotes [the variant text] “[if] the messenger is always protected there is liberation,” which means producing the protective armor for the messenger, i.e., the actual seal. Thence all [states of] possession are pacified. Moreover, by subjugating the messenger, not going to another is the protection of the messenger.204 It is said that should one lack a well-educated consort, even if [one] has transgressed, then one should prepare and enjoy a fortunate woman.205 One should endeavor to be accepted by a messenger who is “fortunate,” i.e., committed, and who is has “transgressed” (28.6d), i.e., is powerful.
Regardless of whether or not one’s actual seal is of great or lesser birth, if she does not have the perfect qualities of a messenger, she is of lesser birth. With respect to being preoccupied with her, the reverential (28.7ab) worship of her should be done since she has the complete qualities. But it should not be done for that [reason] alone. According to Kambala, while it is not the case that one who has feted the messenger endowed with the [requisite] qualities should only, or just, do reverence, he should be equipoised, as he states, “She who lacks the aim of reverence desires sexual intercourse. Thus, one should embrace, obtaining the impassioned [woman]. Otherwise there will be no happiness.”206
Those of lesser birth are of the vajra clan and so forth, and the term “and” implies the highest birth of the brahmin class etc. They should always be worshipped in the position of a messenger with an especially tender state of mind, overcome by extreme attachment, as if they were one’s mother, sister, daughter, and wife (28.7cd). If one denigrates her, and practices asceticism with an inferior attitude, one will destroy all of one’s perfections, and you will exhaust all of the powers, that is, virtues, accumulated in reliance on meditation on the mandala’s wheels (28.8ab), in the manner previously explained. “Or thus the powers of the wheels” occurs in Devagupta’s commentary, which is excellent.207 If one impairs one’s commitment in this fashion, the procedure for rising up from that, and the meditative practice (sādhana) and [mantra] repetition for the restoration of one’s commitment is explained in Kambala’s and Devagupta’s commentaries.208 In the manner of [the text] one should draw forth together with the ultimate (28.8c), one should not conceptualize in the rite of drawing forth soma together with the ultimate messenger.209 If one enjoys food together with [her], one is purified, since one has undertaken the performance of the commitment.210 Many texts quote [this line] as “draw forth together with the ultimate and the lowly”;211 the ultimate and inferior [here] should be applied to the messenger. Regarding depending upon that sort of fluid,212 it explained that this is the determination (28.8d) of the ultimate, or the determination of the buddhas, which is like that.213 Kambala explains that the ultimate is the natural (sahajā/lhan cig skyes ma) [messenger], the middling is the womb-born (kṣetrajā, zhing skyes ma), and the lowly is the mantra-born (mantrajā, sngags skyes ma).214 That which is drawn forth through union with them is the [fluid] that arises from all faculties inserted in the generative channel. That sort of fluid should be incited.215 This is the meaning of the [alternate translation] “draw forth together with the ultimate, middling, and lowly.”
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 5.2.2. 2. Heteropraxy and the one clan procedure
The second part has two sections: (1) heteropraxy, and (2) the one clan procedure.
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 5.2.2. 2.1. Heteropraxy
[The text] states that [in] the world the yogī always engages in heteropraxy; briefly stated, the yogī is always heteropraxic. What is this heteropraxy like? When moving, one advances with the left foot forward. In actions involving the hand, one proceeds with the left hand forward, that is, one acts with it, indicating with it and so forth. One worships with the left hand, showing respect by employing the left hand (28.9). One embraces the consort with the left hand forward. One presents libations to the deities and eats with the left hand. Practicing this sort of sinister behavior216 does not destroy but fulfills [this] observance (28.10).
At the end of an extensive elucidation of sinister behavior, the Origin of Heruka states:217
I have said much about heteropraxy,
And I have left unsaid a little bit
On Shrī Heruka’s heteropraxy.
Its practitioner will achieve power
From the left on the earth and underworld,
Even without repetitions and vows.
For what reason is sinister behavior praised as the means of achieving power? The very statement in the root tantra, the Discourse Appendix, and so forth that all animate and inanimate beings arise from the left is the reason for undertaking sinister behavior. The Vajraḍāka states that:218
Arising from the left are all beings,
The animate and the inanimate,
So, one should eat and imbibe with the left.
The Discourse Appendix states:219
Heteropraxy is wisdom,
As a result, the right is art.
One should thus know that among the two, the left and the right, the left is said to be wisdom.
Regarding wisdom, all things, through the establishment by their own nature, are realities which are empty. There are two [types of] wisdom, that which is taken as the object of wisdom, and that which realizes the import of that. If you take it in terms of the first of those, it is establishing all functions of animate and inanimate beings, established by that reasoning. Since no functions whatsoever are suitable with respect to the establishment by their own nature, and since all activities are suitable with respect to the emptiness of things established by their own characteristics, it is said that all animate and inanimate beings arise from the left. And since the left is said to exist in women, all things arise from them, and all things arise from the white element that arises from the left channel. While it is not the case that all things arise from the left hand, many tantras do state that everything arises from emptiness. Just as it is said,220 “generation, destruction, and self-existence: these are just the gnosis of emptiness,” it is the very spontaneous great bliss that inseparably produces bliss and emptiness. It is the agent that emits and reabsorbs the two pure and excellent habitat and inhabitant mandalas. Thus, the statement that all animate and inanimate beings arise from the left should be understood via both of these interpretive strategies.
Taken in this manner, the wisdom that is illustrated by the left is the accomplisher of all powers, which means that one performs heteropraxy because it brings together in the present time the auspicious coincidence that gives rise to the extraordinary gnosis of that path. This gnosis that perfectly comprehends the characteristics of reality with wisdom is common to the other vehicles and other classes of tantras as well. With the other paths, incalculable eons are needed to achieve awakening. Its attainment in this very life on this path is due to the meditation on reality by the spontaneous bliss that is the subjective supreme bliss, even though it is not distinctive with respect to objective reality. Since many of the messengers of the ḍākinīs delight in heteropraxy and are engaged by that activity, they are made happy by behavior that accords with heteropraxy.
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 5.2.2. 2.2. The one clan procedure
The adept’s own activity is exertion in yoga, which is practice with a committed clanswoman. One eats and practices together with her. Practice with a committed one is also practice in the five classes of seal (consorts). Furthermore, the jewel (ratna) clan can also be subsumed into the immovable (akṣobhya) clan, so that they can be analyzed into four classes (28.11). They too can be subsumed into the three clans of body, speech, and mind, and those three into the one clan of Vajradhara, the great secret, practice in which is revered by the successful yogī (28.12ab), who accords with it.
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 5.2.2. 3. Showing other procedures of fire sacrifice
In order to vanquish those who would harm the three jewels and so forth, an array of ritual actions was taught. With the rites taught via the methods of undertaking fierce fire sacrifice, one makes a triangular mandala (28.13a) as a hearth and makes a fire with the requisites for violent fire sacrifice, namely mustard oil etc. Visualize that Khaṇḍarohā is inserted into one’s right nostril and emerges from below. She holds an adamantine iron hook and a hooked knife. Visualize that the victim is summoned, naked and delirious, and is partitioned. Visualize that the beef, horse meat, dog meat, and various others’ [meat] (28.12cd), i.e., peacock meat and chicken meat is the victim’s flesh. If one performs the fire sacrifice with the pride of a great fierce one, with the root mantra [augmented with] “Kill so and so!” even the Buddha will be definitely destroyed (28.13b), i.e., will die. What need is there to speak of others when such an eminent one is mentioned?
Someone interpreted this in an inner and not an outer sense.221 Others have done the opposite of that. Kambala seems to have explained both the inner and outer meanings, which is excellent.222 Fearing prolixity, I will not write more about this.
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 5.2.2. 4. The one clan procedure together with its benefit
Just as the hero who is furnished with an outer yoginī well-instructed in seals and mantra is praised, so too is the enjoyment with the seal (consort), that is, the hero (28.13cd) who prepares the feast. Shrī Heruka is non-dual seminal essence, and his emanation is the yoga of becoming Heruka. Service means practicing with devotion to him. All treatises refer to other bad texts such as the Vedas etc. They are abandoned,223 i.e., cast aside. If this service is always retained and the commitments protected, when one undertakes all desired ritual actions (28.14), they are accomplished just as one desires without obstruction. “Here they are not achieved whatsoever.” In another translation it occurs as “For this there are no others.”224 Regarding the meaning of this, as previously explained it means that [this accomplishment] “does not occur in the awakening of the disciples and so forth.”225
The adept, together with his messenger, who is supreme, i.e., utmost,226 and divine, is energetically (28.15), i.e., without laziness, motivated toward attaining power. Having found one like her, through union with her there will be the enjoyment of impassioned sex.227 The yogic fluid is the seminal essence, the ambrosial alchemy that proceeds to omniscience. That which is incited by that is the conferral of the fruits of both special pleasure and liberation.
Once one has attained and meditated on the guru’s instructions, if one cultivates awakening with constant joy and reverence, one will attain buddhahood in this very life. If a yogī has not attained it in this life due to insufficient zeal, he will acquire his desired aims like the wealth giver (28.16) until he attains awakening.
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 5.2.2. 5. Showing the name of the chapter
In the Concise Shrī Herukābhidhāna Tantra, this is the twenty-eighth chapter on the procedures of the inner fire sacrifice of the enjoyment of eating and drinking with the messenger, and of the worship of the messenger having taken all of the messengers’ clans as one clan of Vajradhara. This is the explanation of the twenty-eighth chapter in the Illumination of the Hidden Meaning, A Detailed Exegesis of the Concise Saṁvara Tantra Called “The Chakrasaṁvara.”
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191. Tsong Khapa is commenting here on the text gang yang, an awkward translation of the Sanskrit tataḥ, which occurs in the PM and SM translations. The SL translation has the better translation de nas, as do commentaries such as Bhavabhaṭṭa’s (Pandey 2002, 640), as noted. See Gray 2012, 163, 341, 452, 531.
192. Tsong Khapa here addresses the line 28.1d; all of the revised translations contain the text sogs.
193. Tsong Khapa is explaining the various translations of CT 28.2c; most of the Sanskrit sources indicate the compound bhrātṛcārās, “brothers’ course,” although Tsong Khapa prefers the reading preserved in the SL translation and Kambala’s commentary, “brotherly companion,” or “brothers and companions,” bhrātricārakaḥ, spun dang sdug (see my translation of this passage below). The other Tibetan translations, however, read “brothers and heroes” (PM, SM: spun dang dpa’ bo), a reading unattested elsewhere. See Gray 2012, 163, 341, 453, 531.
194. Tsong Khapa here closely paraphrases Kambala’s commentary. It reads as follows: “Worship . . . brothers and companions refers to disciples endowed with purified dispositions who are focused on the practice of a single yoga. The term and includes the yoginīs. This is because one will not be perfected without them” (K 46b.7–47a.1: pūjayet bhrātricāraka iti saha śrāvakāḥ śuddhā[ś]ayasaṁpattyaḥ / ekayogakṛtaniścayāḥ / tuśabdāt yoginīnāṁ saṁgrahaḥ / yasmāt tābhir vinā na saṁpadyate tataḥ; SN 48b–49a: spun dang sdug pa’ang mchod par bya ste zhes bya ba ni lhan cig tu mnyam pa dang bsam pa dag pa dang nges par sbyor ba dang nges par sbyor ba dang gcig tu byas pa’o / ’ang gi sgras ni rnal ’byor ma nges par bzung ste / gang gi phyir de rnams ma gtogs par de’i phun sum tshogs par mi ’gyur ro).
Note that the term mnyam pa in the Tibetan translation is almost certainly corrupt and should be read as mnyan pa.
195. Tsong Khapa here closely paraphrases Kambala’s commentary, which occurs as follows: “Regarding along with one’s brother or son, the sons of masters who are commitment violators, repudiators of the master, and despoilers of all beings, due being overcome by attachment, are instructed in mantra and seal, shown the mandala and gaṇachakra, and [allowed to] listen to the adamantine songs, without having given rise to the spirit of awakening. On account of that they go to hell. This is because their spirit of awakening is tarnished through association with other beings” (K 47a.2–4: bhrātṛputraikasārdham iti / snehava[ś]y[ā]d bodhicittotpādavinā mantramudrādeśanāt maṇḍalagaṇacakrayor darśanāt / vajragītaśravaṇāt / samayacchidrakaḥ / ācāryapratik-ṣepakaḥ dūṣakaḥ sarvasattvānā[ṁ] / tasmād ācāryaputrāḥ narakaṁ vrajanti / apare ca sattvāḥ saṁgamena tasya bodhicittamalinatvāt; SN 49a: spun dang bu dang lhan cig tu / zhes bya ba la brtse gdung gi byang chub tu sems bskyed pa ma gtogs par bya ste / sngags dang phyag rgya mchod cing dkyil ’khor dang tshogs kyi ’khor lo bstan pa dang rdo rje’i glu yang thos pas dam tshig la skur zhing slob dpon la smod dang / sems can thams cad sun ’byin par byed pa de’i phyir na rdo rje slob dpon gyi bu dmyal bar ’gro bar ’gyur zhing / de’i ’dus pa’i sems can gzhan yang byang chub kyi sems dri ma can du ’gyur ro).
196. This line, ma dang thams cad sun ’byin byed, is not found in the PM or SM translations. A close variant, ma dang thams cad spun ma yin, does occur in the SL translation, which is likely the basis for this comment. See Gray 2012, 453.
197. Tsong Khapa again paraphrases, with slight elaboration, Kambala’s commentary. A number of other commentators also follow Kambala’s comments here, but none make the same elaborations as Tsong Khapa here. Kambala’s commentary reads as follows: “Overpowering them, one should eat the caru oblation is relevant [here]” (K 47a.4: tān parigrahya caruṁ bhakṣayed iti saṁbandhaḥ; SN 49a: de rnams yongs su gzung ba’i phyir zas la spyad par bya ba zhes bya bar sbyar ro).
198. Tsong Khapa quotes Devagupta as follows: de ltar byas na rtag tu dam tshig la spyod par ’gyur ro. A close variant of this occurs in his commentary as follows: de ltar na ni rtag tu dam tshig la spyod par ’gyur ro (SS 121a.3).
199. Tsong Khapa here paraphrases Butön’s commentary. Note, however, that all editions of Tsong Khapa’s commentary read here dad par byed pa’i zas, which should be corrected to dag par byed pa’i zas, given the fact that the “food” (zas) or caru oblation is described as such (pavitra, dag byed) in the root text. Butön’s commentary here reads dag byed kyi zas (NS 179a).
200. This translation, man ngag rnam par bstan mi bya, appears as if it were based on a hypothetical Sanskrit text upadeśaṁ na vidarśayet. However, the extant Sanskrit actually reads upadeśaṁ na vināśayet, and two of the revised translations reflect this reading (SM: man ngag rnam par gzhom mi bya; SL: man ngag rnam par nyams mi bya). The PM translation preserves a reading that differs from both of the above variants (man ngag nyams par sbyin mi bya). See Gray 2012, 164, 341, 453, 531.
201. This passage occurs as follows in Bhavabhaṭṭa’s commentary: upadeśaṁ na vināśayed iti / sakṛd upayācito na tṛṣṇayā sekādikaṁ dadyāt / (Pandey 2002, 499); / man ngag rnam par nyams mi bya / zhes pa ni lan cig tsam gsol ba btab pa la sred pa’i dbang gis dbang bskur ba la sogs pa mi bya ba’o / (2002, 645).
202. Tsong Khapa here abbreviates a longer explanation contained in Butön’s commentary. (NS 179b). Butön, however, closely paraphrases the following passage in Kambala’s commentary: “Regarding messenger, etc., her path is like a path, the path to awakening, which purifies the origination of endless afflictions, due to the adventitiousness of the afflictions, since it clears away mere confusion, like the sky [cleared of] clouds, fog, and smoke. One thus may become Vajradhara in this life. Should one deluded with lust for power renounce this and rely upon another yoga, be it the practice of the disciples or that which is taught in the action and practice tantras, etc., he will not have power or happiness, since he lacks the treasure of faith, like a man who has lost a kingdom” (K 47a.5–b.1: dūtītyādi / mārgam iva mārgam bodhipathā / anantakleśotpādanaśodhinya / kleśā-nām āgantukatvāt / abhranīhāradhūmram ivākāśo bhramamātravikāśanāt / vajradharatva ihaiva janmani bhavet / tāṁ parityajya anyayogaṁ samāśrayet / śrāvakācāra-kriyācaryātantrādiṣu yathoditaṁ siddhikāmavimohitaḥ / na tasya siddhir na ca saukhyaṁ syāt / rājyabhraṣṭanarā iva / aśraddha[dha]natvāt; SN 49a–b: pho nya zhes bya ba la sogs lam dang ’dra bas lam ste / byang chub kyi lam mo / de yang mtha’ yas pa’i nyon mong dang skye ba sbyong ba ste / nyon mong pa glo bur pa nyid kyi phyir nam mkha’ sprin dang khug rna dang du ba dang ’khrul pa tsam zhig bsal bas tshe ’di nyid la rdo rje ’dzin par ’gyur ro / de bas na de spangs nas rnal ’byor gzhan la brten par ni / nyan thos kyi spyod pa dang / kri ya dang spyod pa’i rgyud la sogs pa rnams su ji skad bshad pa’i dngos grub thams cad ’dod pa de dag rmong pas dngos grub med cing bde ba med par ’gyur ro / rgyal srid shor ba’i skyes bu bzhin / dad pa’i nor dang phral phyir ro).
203. Tsong Khapa here comments on the challenging line, dūtīraktaḥ sadā mokṣaḥ. Kambala unpacks it elegantly: “He who is attached to the messenger is liberated” (K 47b.1: dūtīrakto yaḥ sa muktaḥ).
204. Tsong Khapa here paraphrases the following passage in Bhavabhaṭṭa’s commentary: dūtīrakṣā sadā mokṣa iti / dūtyā bāhyāṅganāyā rakṣā kavacanam / tayā sarvagrahaṇa-praśamaḥ / athavā vaśīkaraṇena dūtyā ananyagamitā kāryeti dūtirakṣā (Pandey 2002, 500); pho nya mo bsrung rtag thar pa/ zhes pa ni pho nya ni phyi rol gyi yan lag can no / bsrung ba ni go cha bya’o / de yis thams cad mngon par zhen pa zhi bar bya ba’o / yang na pho nya dbang du bya ste / gzhan la mi ’gro bar bya’o zhes pa ni pho nya srung ba’o (2002, 646).
It should be noted that this variant reading, dūtīrakṣā sadā mokṣaḥ, is only found in Bhavabhaṭṭa’s commentary. The AU parallel passage and Jayabhadra’s and Kambala’s commentaries read dūtīraktā sadā mokṣaḥ. See Gray 2012, 165.
205. Tsong Khapa here follows Jayabhadra, who wrote: “Should enjoy [liberation], even if he has transgressed means that, should she not be well educated, then one should prepare and enjoy a good and fortunate woman” (Sugiki 2001, 129: atikramo ’pi bhojayed iti yady atiśayasuśikṣitā bhavet subhagā bhadrāṅganā tāṁ saṁskṛtya bhojayed ity arthaḥ; CP 59b: bda’ ba yis kyang longs spyod bya / zhes bya ba ni shin tu legs par bslabs pa med na skal ba bzang por gyur ba de legs par sbyangs la longs spyad par bya’o).
Note that I have followed the Tibetan reading of shin tu legs par bslabs pa med na rather than the Sanskrit atiśayasuśikṣitā bhavet.
206. This passage does indeed occur in Kambala’s commentary, as follows: “Reverence should not be done means those [women] who have the aim of reverence are eager for sexual intercourse. For that reason, one should embrace, obtaining the impassioned [woman]. Otherwise there will be no happiness” (K 47b.2–3: satkāraṁ naiva kuryād iti / tataḥ satkārārthinyaḥ suratasaṁgamotsukāḥ / tasmād āliṅgayet / prāpyānurāgavatī / anyathā saukhyaṁ na syāt; SN 49b: bsnyen bkur kho na bya ba min / zhes bya ba la / bsnyen bkur gyi ni don can min / chags pas ’dus par dga’ ba ste / de phyir ’khyud par rab tu bya / rjes su chags dang ldan pas ’thob / gzhan du bde bar mi ’gyur ro).
Note that the Sanskrit satkārārthinyaḥ lacks the negative contained in the corresponding Tibetan text, bsnyen bkur gyi ni don can min. I followed the Tibetan reading in my translation in the main text, and the Sanskrit reading here in the note.
207. Tsong Khapa here comments on the translation of 28.8b contained in Devagupta’s commentary, ’khor lo grub pa’ang de bzhin du’o (SS 121b). Tsong Khapa’s commentary closely follows Devagupta’s here.
208. See SN 49b–51b, and SS 121b–23b.
209. Tsong Khapa here follows Jayabhadra, who wrote, “Regarding one should draw forth together with the ultimate, conceptual thought should not be produced in the procedure of drawing forth soma” (Sugiki 2001, 129: ākarṣayec cottamaṁ sārdham iti somākarṣavidhau vikalpo na kartavyaḥ).
210. Tsong Khapa appears to be following Butön here (NS 180b), who, in turn, is quoting the Tibetan translation of Jayabhadra’s commentary (CP 59b). The extant Sanskrit, however, does not contain any text corresponding to this comment.
211. This textual variant for 28.8c, mchog dang tha ma lhan cig ’gugs, is not found in any of the revised translations, but is quoted in several commentaries, such as Jayabhadra’s (CP 59b) and Bhavyakīrti’s (BC 29b). Note that the Tibetan translation of Jayabhadra’s commentary, the extant Sanskrit, quoted above, contains no text corresponding to the Tibetan tha ma, and thus matches the translation preserved in two of the revised translations (PM: mchog la lhan cig dgug par bya; SM: mchog dang lhan cig dgug par bya; Gray 2012, 342, 531). A third variant is preserved in the SL translation, “draw forth together with the ultimate, middling, and lowly” (mchog dbus tha ma lhan cig ’gugs; Gray 2012, 453); this reading is also found in Devagupta’s commentary (SS 123b) and is implied by Kambala’s (SN 51a–b). This is quoted and discussed by Tsong Khapa at the end of this section below.
212. As I noted in my translation of the root text (Gray 2007, 286, n. 17), in the context of this passage I translate the term dravya/rdzas as “fluid” rather than “substance,” since it designates here, according to many of the commentators, sexual fluids generated by union with the messenger.
213. Tsong Khapa here paraphrases Bhavyakīrti’s commentary, at BC 29b.
214. See Tsong Khapa’s discussion of the three types of messenger in section 3.3.3. 2.1.1. 3.1.2 in chapter 1 of this work; see Gray 2017, 125–27.
215. Tsong Khapa summarizes a longer explanatory passage in Kambala’s commentary; see SN 51b. The corresponding Sanskrit to this passage would have occurred on K fol. 49, which unfortunately is lost.
216. My translation “sinister behavior,” vāmasamācāra/g.yon pa’i kun spyod, is intended to evoke the original meaning of this term, namely, relating to the left-hand side. In the West as in India, the left side was seen to be inauspicious, hence terms relating to the left, like sinister, often had negative meanings. I do not think that is wise to try to avoid the use of such terms, for they were clearly used intentionally by the author(s) of this text, who recommend that the yogī cultivate what is clearly an unconventional code of conduct.
217. This passage occurs at the end of chapter 16, which treats this topic in depth. It differs slightly from the text as quoted by Tsong Khapa, which is: g.yon pa’i kun spyod mang du gsungs pa’i mthar / cung zad gsungs dang ma gsungs pa / dpal ldan khrag ’thung g.yon pas spyod / sgrub po sa steng sa ’og na / bzlas dang brtul zhugs bral bas kyang / g.yon pas dngos grub ’gyur ba yin. The canonical text occurs as follows: g.yon pa’i thar pa’i mtshan nyid de / cung zad gsungs dang ma gsungs pa / dpal ldan khrag ’thung g.yon la spyod / sgrub pos sa stengs gnas nas ni / bzlas dang brtul zhugs bral byas kyang / g.yon pas dngos grub ’gyur ba yin (HA 13a).
218. Tsong Khapa here quotes three lines corresponding to VD 1.49d–1.50b. They occur as follows: vāmatarpaṇabhakṣaṇam / vāmodbhavaṁ jagat sarvaṁ sthāvarādy ā sajaṅgamam / (Sugiki 2002, 91); brtan pa dang ni g.yo ba yi / ’gro kun g.yon las byung bas na / g.yon gyis bzas zhing g.yon mchod bya (VD 4a).
219. This passage occurs as follows in AU ch. 3: g.yon pa’i spyod pa shes rab ste / g.yas pa de bzhin thabs yin no/ (AU 252a).
The Sanskrit text here reads: vāmācāraṁ bhavet prajñā upāyaṁ tu dakṣiṇaṁ tathā (H 9b.3–4; I 535b.2: vātācāraṁ bhavet prajñā upāyaṁ dakṣiṇair na vā; J 15.4: vāmācāraṁ dakṣiṇāṁcārabhmaṁ prajñā upāyaṁ dakṣiṇaṁ na co).
220. Tsong Khapa does not indicate the source for this quotation.
221. The “someone” here appears to be Sachen, who briefly discusses the text here before segueing to a discussion of the inner fire sacrifice. See PG 343.4 ff.
222. Tsong Khapa here summarizes Kambala’s much longer presentation of this rite; Kambala gives much more information concerning its actual performance. See SN 52a–53b.
223. Tsong Khapa, naturally, follows the Tibetan translations, all of which here read spangs, “abandoned.” All of the extant Sanskrit sources, however, read vilakṣita, “noted,” which makes more sense in this context.
224. The former translation, ’dir ni ’gar yang ’grub ma yin, occurs in the PM and SM translations, but doesn’t make much sense, which is probably why Tsong Khapa quotes the alternate translation, ’dir ni gzhan dag ’gyur ma yin, which makes more sense and accords with the extant Sanskrit. Tsong Khapa doesn’t identify this translation, but I suspect it is the original unrevised Rinchen Zangpo translation. The SL translation preserves a close variant, ’dir ni gzhan du rtogs ma yin. See Gray 2012, 343, 453, 532.
225. Tsong Khapa here quotes Kambala; see SN 55a. This is actually a gloss of the quoted text. A full translation of Kambala’s comment would be “This yogī’s [accomplishment] is not achieved whatsoever in the awakening of the disciples and so forth” (K 53a.4: na kaścit pratipadyata iti śrāvakādibodhau tasya yoginaḥ).
226. The Sanskrit here, parā, is translated as mchog in the translations of the root text, and gzhan in Kambala’s commentary (SN 55a). Tsong Khapa here glosses the former term with the latter.
227. Tsong Khapa here glosses the prefix anu/kun nas from the word anurakta/kun nas chags as shin tu “extremely.”