Text 9.3 (Commentary)

[Guhyagarbha-Tantra, Text section 9.3]

Is the genuine maṇḍala of Buddha-mind.
It should be four inches (sor-mo) in its dimension. [3]

[Tibetan]

thugs-kyi dkyil-'khor dam-pa-ste /
sor-ni bzhi-yi tshad-du bya / [3]

Commentary:

[The dimensions of the maṇḍala:]

This is the genuine maṇḍala of (-kyi dkyil-'khor dam-pa-ste) the Buddha-mind (thugs) of all Buddhas, where pristine cognition and great bliss are indivisible. As for its measurement in inches (sor-ni), it should be (bya) four (inches) in its dimension (bzhi-vi tshad), indicative of the (four) delights, namely, delight, supreme delight, the delight which is free from delight, and the co-emergent delight.^[1]

Accordingly it says in the Tantra of Radiant Expanse (klong-gsal, NGB. Vol. 7):

The secret centre of the female consort
Is the secret and profound maṇḍala
Of all the Buddhas.
It indivisibly confers empowerment
Into the nature of the four pristine cognitions.

[The third concerns the pitchins of the lines. (It comments on Ch. 9.4):]

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Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Cf. Lo-chen Dharmaśrī, gsang-bdag dgongs-rgyan, p. 271, who clearly states the four-inch maṇḍala to be that of the vagina or "lotus" of the female consort (sor-bzhi-pa'i padma), and the finger-sized maṇḍala to be that of the penis or "vajra" of the male consort (mdzub gang-ba'i rdo-rje). On the four delights (dga'-ba bzhi). see below, pp. 899-914, 1011ff.