Text 17.6 (Commentary)

[Guhyagarbha-Tantra, Text section 17.6]

They wear various raw hides—
Snakes, skull-garlands, and garb of sun and moon.
They roar in a great voice, awesome and terrifying. [6]

[Tibetan]

ko-rlon gos-ni sna-tshogs gyon /
rngam-pa'i sgra-chen 'jigs-par sgrogs /
sbrul-dang thod-'phreng nyi-zla'i chas / [6]

Commentary:

[The second aspect concerns their ornamental garb and the display of their Buddha-speech. (It comments on Ch. 17.6):]

In the former case, they have eight kinds of glorious garb. They wear (gyon) various (sna-tshogs) raw hides (ko-rlon gos-ni)—upper garments of elephant hide to Illustrate that they possess the meaning of the greater vehicle, upper garments of human hide from the charnel ground which overwhelms the host of proud spirits, and skirts of tiger hide which liberate (beings) from extremes of the subject-object dichotomy. They have crown ornaments of white snakes (sbrul) representing the ruling class (kṣatriya), ear and throat ornaments of yellow snakes representing the artisan class (vaiśya), necklaces and shoulderbands of red snakes representing the priestly class (brahman), girdles of green snakes representing the unskilled class (śudra), and bracelets and anklets of black snakes representing the outcastes (caṇḍāla).^[1]

They have skull-garlands (thod-phreng) which Include crown ornaments made of dry human cranium, shoulder-ornaments of old decayed skulls, and necklaces formed of fifty-one fresh skulls. They have the garb of sun and moon (nyi-zla'i chas) disks which diffuse light from their right and left shoulders, symbolising that they are illuminated by skillful means and discriminative awareness.

Illustrated by these ornaments, the eight (kinds of garb) are completed by spots of dry blood, marks of grease, and mounds of human ashes. Thus the eight kinds of garb associated with the charnel ground are raw hides, snakes, skull-garlands, sunlight and moonlight, dry blood, grease, and ashes.^[2]

As for the display or roar of their Buddha-speech, they roar in a great voice, awesome and terrifying (rngam-pa'i sgra-chen 'jigs-par sgrogs), which is equal in extent to a thousand claps of thunder.

[The third aspect concerns their symbolic hand-implements, and the conduct of their queens. (It comments on Ch. 17.7):]

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Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Cf. H.V. Guenther, Matrix of Mystery. pp. 165-166, who explains how the position of these bodily ornaments corresponds to the status of the four classes of human beings recognised by traditional Indian society.

[2]:

dur-khrod chas-brgyad: raw hides (ko-rlon), snakes (sbrul), skull-garlands (thod-phreng), disks of sunlight (nyi) and of moonlight (zla), dry blood (rakta), grease (zhag) and ashes (thal-ba). As stated in Lo-chen, op. cit., p. 403, the spots of dry blood are between the eyebrows, the grease marks are on the throat, and the mounds of human ashes are on the forehead. Cf. H.V. Guenther, op. cit., p. 166.