Text 9.31 (Commentary)

[Guhyagarbha-Tantra, Text section 9.31]

Having perfected the five kinds of ritual.
If one perfectly endowed with the five requisites
And perfect in the five aspects of mantra
Perseveres to undertake (practice) without degeneration [31]

[Tibetan]

cho-ga lnga-ni rdzogs-byas-shing /
yo-byad lnga-ni rdzogs-par ldan /
sngags-kyi yan-lag-lnga rdzogs-pas /
ma-nyams 'jug-la rab-brtson-na / [31]

Commentary:

[The second section (of the result attained through the maṇḍala teaches the skillful means through which it is attained. (It comments on Ch. 9.31):]

One who has been accepted by a spiritual benefactor or guru who reveals the unerring path, who has obtained the empowerments from him, who has kept the commitments and vows, and who is learned in the esoteric instructions of attainment can attain (the result) by excelling in perseverence. Having (byag-shing) mentally perfected (rdzogs) the five kinds of ritual (cho-ga lnga-ni) through which accomplishments are attained, one who is perfectly endowed (rdzogs-par-ldan) with the five requisites (yo-byad lnga-ni) appropriate for attaining accomplishment, and who is perfect in (rdzogs-pas) the five aspects of (-kyi yan-lag lnga) attainment according to the secret mantra (sngags) will swiftly become accomplished.

Now, the five requisites are namely: to be without obstacles and to be in sympathy with the object of attainment: to have a female assistant with complete and auspicious characteristics; not to fall into the two extremes regarding the necessities of one's livelihood and to be without wrong livelihood; to maintain without degeneration the complete sacraments of accomplishment; and to accumulate and have as a support the sacraments of commitment. The five aspects of attainment according to the secret mantras are those which concern the real nature respectively of oneself, the deity, the secret mantra, the recitation, and the emanation & absorption (of light).^[1]

This accomplishment will occur if (na) one perseveres (rab-brtson) to undertake ('jug-la) and maintain one’s practice, without deseneration (ma-nyams) in the general view and commitments, and without degeneration in the particular provisions which are appropriate conditions for attainment, and provided that one has, by day and night, renounced lethargy and fatigue with respect to attainment. It is said that if one does not persevere there will be no accomplishment.

In some versions of the text, the words “by persevering” (brtson-pas) are found (instead of “if one perseveres”; brtson-na), in which case the general tenor (of this means for attainment) is explained, but (the opposite condition under which) there will be no accomplishment is not implied.^[2]

There are also some who hold the five kinds of ritual to be namely: the real nature, its universal appearance, its seedsyllables of buddha-speech, its hand-implements symbolic of buddha-mind, and the perfect buddha-body; the five requisites to be the possessions of food and drink, dance steps and gesticulations, song and verse, robes and ornaments, and "vowels and consonants"; and the five aspects of mantra to be namely: the visual creation of the limbs as a maṇḍala of fifty deities, the knowledge that their corresponding conceptual aspects are the forty-two deities, the subdivision of each of these deities into forty-two, the consecration of their buddha-body, speech and mind, and their empowerment which is conferred by the five enlightened families. However that opinion is unsuitable because it is exclusively biased in the direction of the creation stage. The real nature of the perfection stage, with the requisites of its locations and sacraments are incomplete.^[3]

The third section (of the result attained through the maṇḍala—is a description of the results accomplished by these skillful means. It comprises both provisional and conclusive results.

[The former (comments on Ch. 9.32):]

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Footnotes and references:

[1]:

This is the definition of the five kinds of ritual (cho-ga lnga), the five requisites (yod-byad lnga), and the five aspects of attainment through the mantras (sngags-kyi yan-lag Inga) which accords with the perfection stage (sampannakrama). For the enumeration corresponding to the creation stage (utpattikrama), see below, pp. 851-852.

[2]:

On these variant readings, see above, p. 220, note 72.

[3]:

This explanation of the five requisites according to utpattikrama is developed in Ch. 12, pp. 954-959: and on the five aspects of mantra. see Ch. 11, pp. 934ff. The definition of these categories according to sampannakrama has already been given, p. 850.