Text 1.8 (Commentary)

[Guhyagarbha-Tantra, Text section 1.8]

... Also present was the genuine queen who is the expanse of apparition, the one who is the expense of solidity, the one who is the expanse of liquidity, the one who is the expanse of warmth, and the one who is the expanse of mobility. Without duality in respect of the host of such queens, they entirely and Infinitely pervaded the expanse of reality. Filling it, just as, for example, a pod of sesame seeds, they were pervasively present. [8] ...

[Tibetan]

btsun-mo dam-pa snang-ba'i dbyings-dang / sra-ba'i dbyings-dang / mnyen-pa'i dbyings-dang / dro-ba'i dbyings-dang / bskyod-pa'i dbyings la-sogs-pa btsun-mo'i tshogs-dang gnyis-su med-par chos-kyi dbyings kun-tu mtha'-yas-par khyab-pa-ni/ 'di-lta-ste/ dper-na/ til-gyi gang-bu bzhin-du gang-nas khyab-par bzhugs-so / [8]

Commentary:

[The section on the female central deities comments on Ch. 1.8:]

Present there also were the female consorts of these (Tathāgatas). These are given the title queen (btsun-mo) because they are the basis of enjoyable objects, because they are the female consorts of the central deities, and because they are revered as a royal family endowed with enlightened attributes; and they are described as genuine (dam-pa) because they surpass others. The nature of the celestial expanse is Ākāśadhātvīśvarī, who is mistress of the expanse (dbyings-dang) of space and the essence of apparition (snang-ba'i) because she clarifies without obscuration the vastness of reality and the expanse of enlightened attributes. Buddhalocanā is the one who is the expanse of solidity (sra-ba'i dbyings-dang) because, in the manner of earth which is supported and supportive, she supports the unchanging essence and its enlightened attributes. Māmakī is the one who is the expanse of liquidity (mnyen-pa'i dbyings-dang) because, in the manner of water which sustains human beings with its moisture, she mollifies the minds of living beings. Pāṇḍaravāsinī is the one who is the expanse of warmth (dro-ba'i dbyings-dang) because, in the manner of fire which burns and manifests, she burns conflicting emotions and clarifies all that is knowable: and Samayatārā is the one who is the expanse of mobility (bskyod-pa'i dbyings) because, in the manner of air which performs acts of movement and lifting, she is unobstructed for the sake of living beings and is the basis of their sustenance.

The Tathāgatas were present, sexually united with the entire host of queens (btsun-mo'i tshogs) of the enlightened families, such (la-sogs-pa) as these, without exception, none excepted, omiting none at all. They were without duality in respect of (gnyis-su med-par) of skillful means and discriminative awareness.^[1]

The nature, presence, number or enumeration of these (deities), which has been revealed, primordially pervades all apparitional existence without conjunction or disjunction. Here in particular, the appearances of the buddha-body of perfect rapture entirely and infinitely pervaded (kun-tu mtha'-yas-par khyab-pa) their object, the expanse of reality (chos-kyi dbyings), throughout the infinity of space, with the great appearances of buddha-body, speech and mind, the inexhaustible wheels of adornment. Filling it (gang) with the maṇḍala of buddha-body and pristine cognition so that there were no intervening spaces, just as a ('di-lta-ste) full-grown pod of sesame seeds (til-gyi gang-bu) for example (dper-na), they were pervasively present (nas khyab-par bzhugs-so) everywhere.

Although in general all phenomenal existence is primordially pervaded (by buddha-body, speech and mind), here it applies to the appearance of the sugatas alone. One should know they subsequently become radiant in all maṇḍalas including those of the higher male and female consorts of the five enlightened families (i.e. buddhas) and those of the lower male and female spiritual warriors (i.e. bodhisattvas).^[2] The wrathful deities are not however explained (at this juncture). If you ask why, it is because for a beginner they are hard to understand and little needed.^[3]

[The Excellent Retinue (87.4-94.4):]

Thirdly (see p. 357) there is the detailed exegesis of the retinue, which Includes both the natural retinue (of Samantabhadra) which has already been revealed and the retinue of spirituality. The latter is threefolds The male & female consorts who are the inner spiritual warriors (of the maṇḍala), the male and female consorts who are the outer spiritual warriors (of the maṇḍala), and the male and female consorts who are the gatekeepers (of the maṇḍala).

[i. The first of these has two aspects, of which the former concerning the four male consorts (comments on Ch. 1.9)]:

[Read next page]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Sanskrit prajñopāya. the male consort representing skillful means and the female consort discriminative awareness. On the phrase ma-lus mi-lus lus-pa med-pa. see above, p. 353.

[2]:

The present context is that of the Ghanavyūha realm, where the sambhogakāya is manifest in and of itself (rang-snang) and not that in which the five enlightened families become extraneously manifest to bodhisattvas, or that in which all phenomenal existence is pervaded by buddha-body, speech and mind.

[3]:

Tibetan phul-chung-ba 'i phyir. See above, p. 57, note 100.