Text 17.4 (Commentary)

[Guhyagarbha-Tantra, Text section 17.4]

(Supported) by the talons of bull,
Buffalo, leopard, tiger, and fierce bear,
The mighty lords beginning with Mahādeva are in union. [4]

[Tibetan]

khyu-mchog ma-he gzig-dang stag /
gtum-pa dom-gyi sbar-bas-ni /
dbang-phyug lha-chen la-sogs zung / [4]

Commentary:

[The third concerns the distinctive features of their seats (It comments on Ch. 17.4):]

The wrathful deities are supported by (-bas-ni) the talons (spar) of (-gyi) the bull (khyu-mchog) who overpowers living beings, the buffalo (ma-he) who has great brilliance, the leopard (gzig-dang) who is most malicious, the tiger (stag) who is most courageous, and the bear (dom) who is naturally fierce (gtum-pa).^[1]

The explanation that these (talons) are claws with which Mahādeva "grasps" the ignorant is invalid. The male and female proud spirits are in fact spread out upon seats formed of those (animals). Upon those seats, the mighty lords (dbang-phyug) among proud spirits, beginning with Mahādeva (lha-chen la-sogs), are in union (zung) as husband and wife, and they are spread out. The term bzung, "to grasp", is a corruption in the text. These creatures (forming the seats) in fact manifest in and of themselves in order to symbolise the five pristine cognitions associated with Buddha-body, speech and mind.^[2]

The latter, the maṇḍala of the supported deities comprises both the presence of the central deities and the array of their retinue.

[i. The central deities have three aspects, of which the first concerns the colours of their bodies and the forms assumed by their faces and arms. (It comments on Ch. 17.5):]

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Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Cf. H.V. Guenther, Matrix of Mystery, p. 163. where khyu-mchog is rendered as Eagle (Garuḍa?) and dom as boar. Lo-chen, op. cit., p. 401, holds the central throne to be that of the bear. while the eastern throne in his view is that of the bull.

[2]:

Lo-chen, op. cit.. p. 401, reads gzung. In addition, he explains that Mahādeva and consort are prostrate on the central throne, Gandharvas are prostrate on the eastern throne, Yama spirits on the southern one, Rākṣasas on the western one, and Yakṣas on the northern one.