Text 1.6 (Commentary)

[Guhyagarbha-Tantra, Text section 1.6]

... [Therein,] ... is the Buddha-body without front or rear. in all directions his visage radiates penetratingly, and he is endowed with the major and minor marks. In every inconceivable (world-system) he appears universally as diverse Buddha-body, speech and mind. His two legs of skillful means and discriminative awareness assume the posture of the ascetic discipline of equanimity. His hands, which are the six pristine cognitions, are endowed with blazing hand-implements or seals of precious pristine cognition; and he has three heads, which are the inconceivable Buddha-body, speech and mind. [6] ...

[Tibetan]

sku mdun-dang rgyab-med-pa / thams-cad-du zhal thal-le-bar gsal-zhing mtshan-dang dpe-byad-du ldan-pa / bsam-gyis mi-khyab-pa thams-cad-du / sku-gsung-thugs sna-tshogs-par kun-tu snang-ba / thabs-dang shes-rab-kyi zhabs-gnyis mnyam-pa'i brtul-zhugs-kyis skyil-mo-krung-du bzhugs-pa / ye-shes drug-gi phyag ye-shes rin-po-che'i phyag-rgya 'bar-ba-can / sku-gsung-thugs bsam-gyis mi-khyab-pa'i dbu-gsum-dang ldan-pa / [6]

Commentary:

To Illustrate that the buddha-nature perceives all living beings continuously and is not indifferent. the buddha-body (sku) is present, outwardly and inwardly radiating its nature of clarity and light. Indeed it is not coarse. From whichever direction, zenith or nadir, of its nature of spirituality it is beheld, the visage appears to be revealed. It is without (med-pa) description in the words, “This is its front (mdun) or this is its rear (rgyab)”. such as are visible in the case of ordinary living beings. Frontally perceived among all retinues of the maṇḍala-clusters, the maṇḍala of his visage radiates penetratingly in all directions (thams-cad-du zhal thal-le-bar gsal).

And the buddha-body is also endowed with (du-ldan-pa) the thirty-two noble major marks (mtshan) and eighty noble minor marks (dpe-byad) to illustrate that it possesses pristine cognition and excellent enlightened attributes. Now the major and minor marks have both uncommon and common aspects: in the former case they comprise the thirty-two major marks, namely the sixteen male spiritual warriors who represent the energy of the sixteen pristine cognitions, along with the sixteen female spiritual warriors who represent the object of the former. the energy of the sixteen aspects of reality’s expanse. They also comprise the eighty minor marks, which derive from the sixteen male spiritual warriors, each of whom has five kinds of head-ornament corresponding to the five respective enlightened families and symbolising the five pristine cognitions. The sixteen objects (i.e. the female spiritual warriors) have no head-ornaments because they illustrate the expanse of reality. These (spiritual warriors) are established to be the major and minor marks in the sense that the nature of the central deity is beauteously arrayed and well endowed with the excellence of the retinue. Just as an array of flowers is adorned by the anthers and petals of its flowers.

In the latter case, there are both the common major and minor marks. Among them, the thirty-two major marks are enumerated as follows in the Ornament Of Emergent Realisation (T. 3786, vv. 1317):

His hands and feet are marked by (the lines of the doctrinal) wheel
And his feet are (firm) like those of a tortoise;
The fingers and toes of his hands and feet are Joined by webs;
His hands and feet are soft and supple;
His body has seven well-proportioned parts;
And his toes and fingers are long, his arches broad,
His body tall and straight;
His ankle-bones are inconspicuous, and his body hairs curl upwards:
His calves are like those of an antelope;
His arms long and beautiful;
His sexual organ is supreme in its contraction;
His skin has a golden complexion, and his skin is delicate;
His body-hairs are well-grown, each distinctly curling to the right;
His visage is adorned with a hair-ringlet (ūrṇakeśa).
His chest like that of a lion;
His shoulders are well-rounded, the flesh between his collar and shoulder bones broad;
To him even unpleasant tastes appear to be supreme tastes;
His body is symmetrical like a banyan tree;
On his head he has an uṣṇīsa protuberance,
His tongue is long and beautiful;
He has a Brahmā-like voice, and lion-like jaws;
His teeth are pure white, equal (in size), and close-fitting;
They are forty in number;
His eyes are sapphire blue, and his eyelashes like those of a supreme cow—
These are the thirty-two major marks.^[1]

The eighty minor marks are enumerated as follows in the same text (v. 21-32):

The nails of the sage are copper-coloured, glossy and elevated;
His toes and fingers are rounded, broad and tapering;
His energy channels are inconspicuous and unknotted:
His ankle bones are Inconspicuous, his feet equal (in size);
His stride is that of a lion, an elephant, a bird.
Or a lordly bull.
It is clockwise, elegant and upright;
His bodily form is lustrous, cleansed and proportionate;
It is clean, soft and pure;
His genitals are fully perfected:
The proportions (kho-lag) of his body are harmonious;
His gait is even; and both his eyes are pure:
His flesh is youthful; and his body unimpaired and broad:
His body is most solid;
His limbs are well-proportioned;
His vision is unobscured and pure;
His sides are round, firm, and do not bulge out;
His abdomen does not sag;
His navel is deep, and curling to the right;
From all sides he is pleasant to behold;
His conduct is clean, and on his body
There is no trace of black moles;
His hands are soft as cotton wool;
The lines on his hands are clear, deep and long:
His visage is not too long;
And his lips are red like the bim-pa berry;
His tongue is supple, slender and red.
And his voice is like thunder;
His speech is sweet and soft, his teeth round.
Sharp, white, equal (in size), and small;
While his nose is prominent:
His eyes are very pure and large;
While his eyelashes are thick;
And (his eyes coloured) like lotus petals;
His eyebrows are long, soft and glossy;
With hairs of equal length;
His arms are long and broad, his ears equal (in size)
And free from defects;
His forehead is well-formed and broad;
While his head is large;
The hairs of his head are black as a bee.
Thick, soft not shaggy, and not rough,
While it has a fragrant scent
Which captivates the human mind;
The glorious heart-orb (śrīvatsa) and the auspicious
Svāstika emblem (on his hands and soles)
Make up the eighty.
These are claimed to be the Buddhas’ noble minor marks.^[2]

From the glorious heart-orb downwards these marks are identical (for all buddhas), whereas the others (from the heart-orb upwards) differ (for each buddha).

In the expanse of reality, in space, and in every inconceivable (bsam-gyis mi-khyab-pa thams-cad-du) world-system which requires to be trained, he appears universally as the diverse buddha-body. speech and mind (sku-gsung-thugs sna-tshogs-par kun-tu snang-ba). which are spontaneously present inexhaustible wheels of adornment. When he appears as such in the Buddha-field of reality's expanse free from conceptual elaboration: the inexhaustible wheel of adornment of buddha-body is the male and female consort Samantabhadra, i.e. the buddha-body of reality transcending conceptual elaboration; the inexhaustible buddha-speech is inexpressible, inaudible and essenceless; and the inexhaustible buddha-mind constantly pacifies all conceptual elaborations, and is without partiality or bias.

In the Buddha-field of the spontaneous Bounteous Array which manifests in and of itself as the infinity of space: the in exhaustible buddha-body is equal to space and is adorned with the major and minor marks of perfect rapture; the inexhaustible buddha-speech comprehends its expressed meaning by emanating light from the maṇḍala of his visage; and the inexhaustible Buddha-mind is present in the character of the five pristine cognitions.

Then in the world-systems of the ten directions, the fields where living beings are trained and which are equal to the confines of space: the inexhaustible buddha-body comprises both the agreeable and disagreeable classes of beings who train each in accord with his or her needs, including buddhas, bodhisattvas, pious attendants, self-centred buddhas, ordinary persons, the aged, Invalids, deceased beings, gods, nāgas and animals, and it also comprises the benefits which emerge for sentient beings and their immeasurable forms, such as lotus flowers, wish-granting trees, boats, villages and meadows; the inexhaustible buddha-speech resounds as the various kinds of doctrinal speech because sound emerges from the languages of different living beings, and from lotus flowers, wish-granting trees and so forth: and the inexhaustible buddha-mind appears to act on behalf of living beings because it qualitatively knows (the view) and quantitatively knows (phenomena). It is impossible to consider Intellectually these acts of benefit as specifically this or that because they are performed by inconceivable emanations of the buddhas.

You may ask, on the other hand, why the inexpressible speech of the buddha-body of reality and the buddha-body of perfect rapture is in fact called speech. At the limit of sound and verbal expression there is Indeed nothing but the inexpressible to be understood; and through that very (Buddha-speech) the Inexpressible is actually understood. Similarly, all words are a gathering of syllables and these too are gathered in the unborn syllable A. Thus the nucleus of buddha-speech is the meaning of the syllable A, the most supreme buddha-speech of the Teacher himself.

There is a sūtra which accordingly says:^[3]

The sons of the conquerors say nothing at all.
They speak extensively that which is unspoken.

The sages endowed with the emanational body who appear to those requiring training seem to speak through intonations which have sixty aspects. These then appear as buddha-speech in the perception of those to be trained and through the amassed spirituality of the buddhas. However in the manner of an echo, nothing is actually spoken.

The Supreme Continuum of the Greater Vehicle (T. 4024) says:

Just as the sound emitted by an echo
Does accord with the perception of others.
But is non-conceptual and uncontrived.
So the speech of the Tathāgatas
Emerges according to the perception of others
But abides neither externally nor internally.

And in the Pagoda of Precious Gems (T. 45-93):

From the birth of the Tathāgata until he attained nirvāṇa in a full night, he did not utter a single syllable of doctrine through the appearance of words and letters, but that is what was understood in the perception of those to be trained.

There are some who disagree that this text is connected at all with the emanational body. They contradict the explanation (of this very text) that buddha-body, speech and mind appear in every inconceivable (world-system). The term “emanational body” is in this context applied to the six sages, so that it may be incidentally described as “an Introduction given by the six sages”. The statement that it is incorrect for a single teaching to belong to two teachers is an argument taken out of context. Here, there are not two teachers because the buddha-body of perfect rapture is the ground and the six sages are revealed as its retinue.

His two legs (zhabs-gnyis) are to symbolise that he possesses the pristine cognition of skillful means (thabs) or great compassion and discriminative awareness (dang shes-rab) or emptiness. Folded together, they assume the posture of (kyi skyil-mo krung-du bzhugs-pa) the ascetic discipline (brtul-zhugs) where all conflicting emotions are of the nature of equanimity (mnyam-pa'i) to symbolise that he does not abide in extremes of existence or quiescence, or the posture of indestructible reality, which symbolises that he remains in the essence of great pristine cognition.

There are some who incorrectly hold that the female consort has not actually been explained at this point. The genuine queen (Dhātvīśvarī) is in fact present as the expanse of this apparition.^[4]

Then there are his six hands (phyag) which are (gi) to Illustrate the six pristine cognitions (ye-shes drug). namely, the five pristine cognitions and the pristine cognition of the pure expanse. They are endowed with blazing ('bar-ba-can) limitless rays of light which emerge from their hand-implements or seals (phyag-rgya). including the vajra, as a symbol of (-'i) their precious (rin-po-che) nature. This is because various desired necessities emerge from that pristine cognition (ye-shes) where buddha-body, speech, mind, attributes and activities are without duality. These (implements) respectively symbolise that the six (defects of) envy, nonsensical morality, rage, idleness, distraction and nonsensical talk about discriminative awareness are subdued. It is not the case, as some hold, that the central deity has six hands and the others have two hands, because that is taught in the common (tantras alone).^[5]

Now, (the hand-implements in question) are the vajra, gemstone, wheel, lotus, crossed vajra, and bell. (The buddhas of) the different enlightened families each hold their own hand-implement in the right hand of their basic pair of hands, and in the corresponding left hand they wield the bell. These are held close to the heart, while the other (two pairs), grasping (their respective implements), are extended in different ways. Buddhaguhya further asserts that the six hands hold six gemstones which are blazing and eight-faceted.^[6]

He has three heads (dbu-gsum dang-ldan-pa) which are (-'i) to illustrate that he possesses the inconceivable (bsam-gyis mi-khyab-pa) inexhaustible adornments of buddha-body, speech and mind (sku-gsung-thugs). The basic visage of the central deity (i.e. Vairocana) is dark blue, his right one is white and his left one red. The basic visage of Akṣobhya is white, his right one is dark blue and his left one red. The basic visage of Ratnasambhava is yellow, his right one is white and the left one red. The basic visage of Amitābha is red, his right one is white and the left one dark blue. And the basic visage of Amoghasiddhi is green, his right one is white and the left one red.

The latter (see p. 405) is an explanation of the different male and female consorts which includes both an overview and an interlinear commentary.

i. The overview (80.3-85.1) is in two parts, the first revealing all things as the primordial maṇḍala of the deities and the second classifying them according to their enlightened families.

As to the first, there are those of the past who have questioned why (this text) does not mention by name (the deities) of the five enlightened families such as Vairocana but instead mentions them by the names of their five (corresponding) components—“the king of consciousness” and so forth. This (view) however appears to lack analysis. The deities are not mentioned by the conceptual names of the five components and so forth. The reality contained in the expression “king of consciousness” is revealed to surpass the five components, and is similar to that which is expressed in the term “great nirvāṇa”. This is because the buddhas are not described in terms of sorrow, and because their sublime reality is recognised.

Accordingly the Hevajratantra (T. 417-418) says:

“That which is in pursuit of great desire”
Describes the pristine cognition
In which bliss and emptiness are without duality.

The Guhyasamāja (T. 442-3) also actually reveals that expressions such as “indestructible reality of hatred” refer to the mirrorlike pristine cognition and so forth. One should therefore know that the term “king” refers to the greatness which is Vairocana and so forth, and that in the case of the retinue (the deities) are also described as “the great Bodhisattva of indestructible hearing” (i.e. Vajrapāni) and so forth. If (the deities) were described in conceptual terms, the word “consciousness” would not appropriately refer to “the king of the enlightened family”. The particularly sublime reality that is expressed (here) indicates that in the circumstances of saṃsāra consciousness abides as the seed or enlightened family of the Tathāgatas.

Although Buddhahood is naturally pure, during impure circumstances (the buddhas) appear as the five components of living beings, formed from the maturation (of deeds). When slightly purer than that they appear in the physical bodies formed from the aspiration of empowered beings and the like. And when utterly pure, they appear as the buddha-body and pristine cognition of the conquerors. For example, the identical element water is perceived by denizens of hell as fire, by tormented spirits as puss and blood, by human beings as something that is pure and desirable, by animals as a drink, by gods as nactar, by beings of the pure lands as a river of nectar, and by accomplished masters as Māmakī. Alternatively, this accords with the previous description given in the example of the element mercury (which appears differently when compounded and heated).

Now, in Impure situations, (the buddhas) appear as the five components, the eighteen sensory bases, the twelve activity fields and so forth;^[7] but when pure they appear as the maṇḍala which comprises the buddha-bodies of the five enlightened families and their retinue of male and female spiritual warriors, just as when one is afflicted by some phlegmatic eye disease a conch shell appears to be yellow but, when cured, the shell appears to be white. Moreover, just as the image or form of the conch shell is not abandoned when one is afflicted by some phlegmatic (eye disease), so during impure (perception) the reality of the buddhas is harmoniously present. And, just as the conch is actually white though it appears to be yellow, the outer and Inner phenomena along with their mass of conceptions all appear to be impure, and yet they are actually pure Buddha-fields and inexhaustible wheels of adornment. the buddha-body. speech and mind.

The second. i.e. the classification of the different (components or deities). is fivefold:

First, the component of consciousness has eight aggregates when classified. The consciousness of the ground-of-all is the basis on which consciousness arises. without proceeding to its object, as on the pure surface of a mirror. The consciousness of the intellect is that which refers to objects of general concept and which experiences objects through a subsequent intellectual appreciation. The intellect of conflicting emotions comprises the consciousness which applies proof and refutation; and the consciousnesses of the five senses are the five non-conceptual perceptions such as the vision of form.^[8]

The sensation-functions of sight. hearing and contact are non-conceptual. and the consciousness which differentiates them is the intellect. That which applies refutation and proof in relation to them is the Intellect of conflicting emotions. The consciousness of the five senses and the intellect alone do not accumulate deeds, but it is by the intellect of conflicting emotions that deeds are accumulated on the basis of the ground-of-all.

The ground-of-all which supports all these (aggregates of consciousness) is unconceived and unindicated per se. It is present, for example, in one's own consciousness when it is without Ideas or scrutiny and without radiance or clarity in respect of any object. As such it is universal. On the other hand, the consciousness of the ground-of-all refers to the circumstance under which consciousness is radiant and clear but does not proceed towards its object. The five senses clearly perceive the object, and the intellect is simply that which discernibly apprehends it. The Intellect of conflicting emotions generates proof and refutation in relation to it. in this context, the consciousness of the ground-of-all is recognised as the sublime reality or mirror-like (pristine cognition).

The component of feeling is threefold: in relation to objects, (feelings) may be pleasant and blissful, unpleasant and sorrowful, or neutral sensations which senerate equanimity. The component of perception is also threefold, comprising objectification which is extensive, minute or mediocre.^[9]

The component of habitual tendencies comprises the fifty-one mental events: There are relational propensities (ldan-pa'i 'du-byed) including the five ever present ones, namely contact, attention, feelins, perception and motivation; the five object-determined ones, namely inclination, adherence, recollection, contemplation and discriminative awareness; the eleven positive functions of every positive attitude, namely, faith, decorum, decency, carefulness, equanimity, non-violence, perseverance, lucidity, detachment, non-hatred, and non-delusion; the six basic conflictins emotions, namely, desire, hatred, arrogance, ignorance, view of mundane aggregates and doubt; the twenty subsidiary conflictins emotions, namely, jealousy, avarice, dishonesty, deception, pride, delusion, agitation, distrust, laziness, excitability, carelessness, forgetfulness, inattentiveness, mischief, indecorum, indecency, anger, malice, dissimulation, and spitefulness; and the four variables, namely, regret, drowsiness, ideas, and scrutiny. Apart from feeling and perception, the other forty-nine (mental events) among these, along with all the nonrelational propensities (mi-ldan-pa'i 'du-byed) including names and their symbolic representations, which actively create the dichotomy of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, are recognised to be the essence of the pristine cognition of accomplishment, the sublime reality of Amoghasiddhi.^[10]

The component of form, when classified, has fifteen aspects, namely, the four material elements of form—earth, water, fire and air; the five objects—form, sound, smell, taste, and contact: the five sense-organs of eye, ear, nose, tongue and body: and the imperceptible form (which is continuously present). Among these fifteen, the imperceptible form is recognised to be the pristine cognition of reality’s expanse, the particularly sublime reality subsumed in Akṣobhya, while the other fourteen kinds of form are subsumed in Buddhalocanā and so forth.^[11] ii. The Interlinear commentary (85.l-87.4) concerns both the central deities of the essential expanse, and their retinue which is not different in nature.

[The first (includes the male and female central deities, of which the section on the former comments on Ch. 1.7):]

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Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The phrase 'di-yi sku-ni bdun-dag mtho-ba-dang. “his body has seven well-proportioned parts”, indicates that the shoulders, trunk and backs of the four limbs are full and rounded. See also Har Dayal, op. cit. and E. Conze, Abhisamayālaṃkāra.

[2]:

“His sides are round...” (dku-zlum). sic! sku-zlum.

[3]:

N.L.

[4]:

As stated below, p. 421, Ākāśadhātvīśvarī represents the expanse of apparition (snang-ba'i dbyings) and Is the consort of the central deity.

[5]:

In accordance with Anuttarayogatantra, all the deities are multi-armed and in union with their respective consorts, except the six sages (thub-pa drug). This distinction between common and uncommon tantras is drawn by kLong-chen Rab-'byams-pa, grub-mtha'i mdzod. pp. 292-294, where it is explained that in Kriyātantra the deities regard each other. In Ubhayatantra they smile at each other, in Yogatantra they embrace, and in Anuttarayogatantra they are in sexual union.

[6]:

On the hand-implements held respectively by the central deities, see below. Ch. 6, pp. 649-651, Ch. 8, pp. 723-731.

[7]:

For enumerations of the five components (asamāsamapañcaskandha). see Mahāvyutpatti 104-108; for the eighteen sensory bases (aṣṭadaśadhātu), see Mahāvyutpatti 2040-2058; and for the twelve activity fields (dvādaśāyatana), see Mahāvyutpatti 2027-2039. English equivalents are given in NSTB, glossary of enumerations.

[8]:

I.e. consciousness of the ground-of-all (ālavavijñāna), consciousness of the intellect (manovijñāna), consciousness of the intellect endowed with conflicting emotions (kliṣṭamanovijñāna), and the consciousnesses of the five senses (pañcendriyavijñāna). See above note 17; also NSTB, glossary of enumerations; and on the purity of these eight aggregates of consciousness, see above, pp. 394-395.

[9]:

I.e. sukhavedanā, duḥkhavedanā. and samavedanā; apramāṇyasaṃjñā, parittasaṃjñā, and mahadgatasaṃjñā.

[10]:

On these fifty-one mental events (sems-byung lnga-bcu rtsa-gcig), see NSTB, Book 1, Pt. 3, pp. 68b-70a and glossary of enumerations; also Mi-pham rNam-rgyal, yid-bzhin mdzod-kyi grub-mtha' bsdus-pa. pp. 13ff.. and its translation in H.V. Guenther, Buddhist Philosophy in Theory and Practice. pp. 63-64. The relational propensities number twenty-three. See H.V. Guenther, op. cit., p. 64.

[11]:

Tibetan rnam-par rig-byed ma-vin-pa'i gzugs refers to imperceptible forms which maintain certain behavioural patterns throughout past, present and future. See Mi-pham rNam-rgyal, mkhas-pa'i tshul-la 'jug-pa'i sgo. folios 4a-b; also NSTB, Book 1, Pt. 3, p. 69a-b.