Guhyagarbha Tantra (with Commentary)
by Gyurme Dorje | 1987 | 304,894 words
The English translation of the Guhyagarbha Tantra, including Longchenpa's commentary from the 14th century. The whole work is presented as a critical investigation into the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism, of which the Guhyagarbhatantra is it's principle text. It contains twenty-two chapters teaching the essence and practice of Mahayoga, which s...
Text 17.5 (Commentary)
[Guhyagarbha-Tantra, Text section 17.5]
The terrifying Buddha-bodies are dark-brown.
Dark-blue, dark-yellow, dark-red, and dark-green,
With three heads, six arms, and four legs wide apart. [5][Tibetan]
smug-nag sngo-nag ser-nag-dang /
dmar-nag ljang-nag 'jigs-pa'i sku /
dbu-gsum phyag-drug zhabs-bzhir bgrad / [5]
Commentary:
[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):]
As to their body-colours, the central deity (Buddha Heruka) is dark-brown (smug-nag) because delusion is inherently pure. Vajra Heruka is dark-blue (sngo-nag) because hatred is pure. Ratna Heruka is dark-yellow (gser-nag-dang) because pride is pure. Padma Heruka is dark-red (dmar-nag) because desire is pure; and Karma Heruka is dark-green (ljang-nag) because jealousy is pure. The basic face (of each of these Herukas) is coloured in that manner.
The right faces of the four Herukas of the centre, east, west and north are white, while the right face of (the Heruka) to the south is blue. The left faces of (the Herukas) to the centre, south and north are red, while the left faces of those to the east and west are yellow. All of them are said to be "dark" (nag) because they indicate that the enlightened activity of wrath is perfected. Such utterly terrifying Buddha-bodies ('jigs-pa'i sku) are visible in the perception of the venomous beings to be trained.
As for the positions of their faces and arms, all of these deities are endowed with three heads (dbu-gsum) because they have purified the three poisons and possess the three Buddha-bodies. They have six arms (phyag-drug) because they have mastered the six pristine cognitions,[1] and they liberate the six classes of living beings through the six transcendental perfections; and they have four legs (zhabs-bzhir) which are wide apart (bgrad), either stretched out or bent inwards, in order to symbolise that they possess the four miraculous abilities and Instruct the four kinds of demons.[2]
[The second aspect concerns their ornamental garb and the display of their Buddha-speech. (It comments on Ch. 17.6):]
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Footnotes and references:
[2]:
The rdzu-'phrul bzhi are identical to the rdzu-'phrul rkang-bzhi enumerated above, Ch. 1, p. 385. On the "four demons" see also above, foreward and title, note 12.