Chapter 40 Outline
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 10.2. The chapter on subjugating the five classes and serving the great seal
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 10.2.1. The promise to explain
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 10.2.2. The promised import explained
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 10.2.2. 1. Outer and inner fire sacrifice
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 10.2.2. 2. The number relative to each [type of] victim
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 10.2.2. 3. The benefit doing so
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 10.2.3. Showing the name of the chapter
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 10.2. The chapter on subjugating the five classes and serving the great seal
The second part, subjugating the five classes and serving the great seal, has three sections: (1) the promise to explain, (2) the promised import explained, and (3) showing the name of the chapter.
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 10.2.1. The promise to explain
Since we have arrived the occasion of explaining the fortieth chapter, now I will explain. What will be explained? It will explain abiding by the procedure of Heruka’s yoga and the subjugation of people who are mortals etc. by the appropriate fire sacrifice [undertaken] by the hero who has repeated Heruka’s yoga and the eight-line mantra (40.1).
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 10.2.2. The promised import explained
The second part has three sections: (1) outer and inner fire sacrifice, (2) the number relative to each [type of] victim, and (3) the benefit doing so.
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 10.2.2. 1. Outer and inner fire sacrifice
One prepares a lamp,497 that is, flesh, since it illuminates accomplishment. In the Lochen and Mardo solo translations there are “intoxicants” (smyo byed), while the dual translation and Mal have [the variant spelling] (myos byed). If we explain here in accordance with the latter, it means with intoxicants, namely, beer, together with the flesh of fish. The lord of heroes together with his retinue, due to the adept’s (40.2) dedication to the performance of inner and outer fire sacrifices for subjugation in three sessions [per day] over seven days in all circumstances, grants, that is, bestows, the great power of subjugating those who are to be subjugated.
Regarding night, in accordance with [the statement] “the yoginī is said to be the night,”498 one should perform fire sacrifice (40.3a) being equipoised with the yoginī. One thus engages in both outer and inner fire sacrifice. One should also perform the inner fire sacrifice of enjoying food and drink.
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 10.2.2. 2. The number relative to each [type of] victim
If one prepares subjugation fire sacrifices at the three divisions of the day consisting of, i.e., having, one hundred and eight fire sacrifices (40.3b–d) [in each session], within seven days one will subjugate a king together with his army. With half of one hundred and eight, i.e., fifty-four, one [subjugates] a great hero, i.e., a town chieftain, and with half of that — fifty-four, hence twenty-seven — a minister (40.4) [is subjugated]. Through the process of making fire sacrifice thirty-two [times], a vassal lord, i.e., regional lord etc., is subjugated.
For a brahmin, one should sacrifice twenty [times] in three daily sessions over seven days (40.5). Likewise, one should do seven fire sacrifices for kṣhatriyas, five fire sacrifices for a vaishya, three fire sacrifices for a shūdra, and one fire sacrifice for the lowest,499 chaṇḍāla and so forth (40.6). Thus [the text reads] the hero through the stages of the social classes for one month, but as this does not accord with all of the previous [statements] of seven days, it is as occurs in the Indian text and the commentary, “resorting to a single session.”500 So, the partners resorting to a single session or seat, the adept equipped with mantra will summon all beings (40.7) of the five classes, such as brahmins and so forth.
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 10.2.2. 3. The benefit doing so
If the hero, i.e., the adept, adheres to the procedure for subjugating whichever victim he desires to subjugate, depending upon sensuous pleasures such as sights, sounds, and so forth, with the previous procedure, that is, with the preliminaries of deity yoga and fire sacrifice, he will attain the subjugation. He will be like a lord of love on earth, that is, like Maheshvara, and will have the glory of merit, and will be born with the great fortune of an [attractive] form and so forth. Have no doubt that the adept will be pleasing to the ḍākinīs (40.8).
In this chapter are ritual practices for subjugating and so forth when one has reached stability in the perfection stage. Examining whether they are accomplished or not within seven days, it is seems that they are accomplished, this reveals an indication that one will rapidly attain the power of the great seal. The past sages intended that one examine thus once one has reached stability in the creation stage as well.
3.3.3. 2.2.2. 10.2.3. Showing the name of the chapter
In the Concise Shrī Herukābhidhāna Tantra, this is the fortieth chapter on subjugating the five social classes such as the kṣhatriya and so forth and the five classes of seals, and, depending on that, cultivating the great seal. This is the explanation of the fortieth chapter in the Illumination of the Hidden Meaning, A Detailed Exegesis of the Concise Saṁvara Tantra Called “The Chakrasaṁvara.”
_______________
497. Tsong Khapa comments on the Tibetan translation sgron ma, which usually means “lamp.” However, in this case it is an unusual translation of the Sanskrit piśitam, which means butchered flesh or dressed meat. The Tibetan translation appears to be an obscure translation based upon the root meaning of piśita, deriving from √piś, “hew, carve, prepare, make ready,” and the meaning of the Tibetan verb sgron, “to set, lay out.”
498. Tsong Khapa quotes this line rnal ’byor ma ni mtshan mor brjod without indicating the source. What appears to be a slightly different translation of the same line, rnal ’byor ma ni mtshan mor bshad, is quoted in Vṛddhakāyastha’s commentary on the Kiss Tantra, the Very Clear Commentary on the Kiss [Tantra] (Suviśada-saṁpuṭaṭīkā) (Tōh. 1190), fol. 14a.3. This text also quotes the line without indicating the source. It does so in the context of commenting upon a similar line in the Kiss of the Four Yoginīs Tantra (Caturyoginīsaṁpuṭatantra), namely, “It’s said the day’s the lord Vajrin, and the night’s the wisdom consort” (Tōh. 376, 45b.4: nyin mo bcom ldan rdo rje can / mtshan mo shes rab tu ni brjod).
499. The Sanskrit reads antyaja, “outcaste,” while the Tibetan reads tha ma, “lowest, last,” evidently reading antya.
500. Tsong Khapa here refers to the text zla ba gcig tu. While the Sanskrit for this verse is lost, Bhavabhaṭṭa’s commentary, to which Tsong Khapa refers, points to an alternate reading. Bhavabhaṭṭa reads, “Resorting to a single session means that one has resorted to Shrī Heruka” (Pandey 2002, 545: ekam āsanam āśritya iti śrīherukam āśritaḥ).
The Tibetan translation zla ba gcig tu may be a misreading of the Sanskrit ekam āsanam.