The one whose nature is compassion-emptiness; the very essence of the three realms.
Brilliant like a universal blazing fire, to Vajrayogini, prostrate!
སྟོང་ཉིད་སྙིང་རྗེའི་བདག་ཉིད་ཅན། ། ཁམས་གསུམ་པ་ཡི་ངོ་བོ་ཉིད། ། བསྐལ་པ་མེ་ལྟར་འབར་བའི་འོད། ། རྡོ་རྗེ་རྣལ་འབྱོར་མ་ལ་འདུད། །
–Excerpt from Praise to Vajrayogini by Je Gampopa
For Dakini Day today, am happy to offer these two new translations of Vajrayogini from Je Gampopa’s Collected Works. I recently wrote here about the editions and outline/contents of Gampopa’s Collected Works and the oral transmission of them in Sikkim, India by HE 12th Gyaltsab Rinpoche.
On Day 5, the transmission included a compiled text from the Works providing an empowerment, a sādhana, and an offering ritual on the goddess Vajravārāhī. The texts are called Empowerment of the Great Mahāmudrā, Vajra Primordial Awareness (phyag rgya chen po rdo rje ye shes kyi dbang dang/), Text of Varāhi (phag mo’i gzhung mdo dang bcas pa)[i].
The colophons state that they were written down by Dagpo Gomtsul (Dags po Sgom tshul), Gampopa’s eldest nephew and abbot of the famed Daglha Gampo (Dags lha sgam po), where the first edition of Gampopa’s Collected Works was created and printed .
In the Vajravārāhī practices of the Karma Kagyu, there are Vajravārāhī generated from the seed letter HRIH (Hrikyema) and also from the seed letter, Vam (Vamkyema). This sadhana is from the the letter HRIH.
In this post, there is:
- Brief background and research on the origins of Vajrayogini/vārāhī, Tibetan Buddhist lineages and depictions,
- Information about the Je Gampopa Vajrayogini texts,
- Translations of the Praises to Vajrayogini and Sadhana of Vajravārāhī in Gampopa’s Collected Works
The short sadhana practice is unique in its visualization of Vajravārāhī’s body as holding and being the entire universal cosmos in the three syllables at the three places. The Praises is published one the website (see below), the sadhana will only be sent to those with the five-deity Vajravārāhī empowerment who request it here.
Music? Girl on Fire by Alicia Keys and 50ft Queenie by PJ Harvey, although in this case it should be ‘infinite Queenie’!
Written and translated by Adele Tomlin, 25th May 2022.
PART I: ORIGIN OF VAJRAYOGINI/VARAHI PRACTICE IN INDIA AND TIBET
Elizabeth English in Vajrayogini: Her Visualisation, Rituals and Forms (Wisdom Publications, 2002) has done the most extensive published scholarly research on Vajrayogini, it is worth citing some of her passages about the origin of Vajrayogini sadhana in India and then in Tibet, via Tilopa, Naropa, Marpa into the Karma Kagyu, Sakya, Gelug and Nyingma lineages. I have also given some detailed information about the sources of Vajrayogini here:
Vajrayoginī/Vajravārāhī, is a representation of complete buddhahood in female form. Classified as Wisdom or ‘Mother’ Anuttarayoga Tantra, the practices originate with the Chakrasamvara Cycle of Tantras. Vajrayoginī (rdo rje rnal ‘byor ma) /Vajravārāhī (rdo rje phags mo), as the consort of Heruka Chakrasamvara, is the very essence of the Chakrasamvara Cycle of Tantras. The Chakrasamvara Tantra was originally given on top of Mt. Meru in three versions: the expanded, the intermediate, and the abbreviated (which has 51 chapters). The source for Vajrayoginī teachings is said to be the 47th and 48th chapters of the Abbreviated Root Chakrasamvara Tantra.
Indian origins
English (2002) asserts that what is now known of her practice originated mainly in Tibetan Buddhism, and not in India though:
“In an index to the Kangyur (Bka’ ‘gyur) and Tengyur (Bstan ‘gyur) published in 1980, there are about forty-five sadhanas with Vajrayogini or Vajravārāhī in the title, very few of which have (as yet) been correlated with a Sanskrit original by the compilers of the index. The popularity of the Vajrayogini transmissions in Tibet is remarked upon in the Blue Annals (Roerich 1949-53: 390), which states, “The majority of tantric yogis in this Land of Snows were especially initiated and followed the exposition and meditative practice of the system known as [the Six Texts of Vajravarahi] Phag-mo gZhung-drug (p. 390). What is now known of her practice derives mainly from Tibetan Buddhism, in which Vajrayogini (Rdo rje rnal ‘byor ma) and Vajravārāhī (Rdo rje phag mo) are important deities.”
The Vajrayogini Lineages and the ‘Three Red Ones’
All the Nyingma and Sarma traditions have methods which comprise Generation and Completion Stages. Of all these lineages from Sarma traditions, there are three that are most commonly practiced:
–the Nāropa’s Vajrayoginī lineage, which was transmitted from Vajrayoginī to Mahasiddha Nāropa;
–the Maitripa’s Vajrayoginī lineage, which was transmitted from Vajrayoginī to Mahasiddha Maitripa; and
–the Indrabhuti’s Vajrayoginī lineage, which was transmitted from Vajrayoginī to Mahasiddha Indrabhuti.
These three Vajrayoginī practices are known as the Three Red Ones (mar mo skor gsum) in the Sakya tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. The Sakya Jetsunmas are also considered to be emanations of Vajrayogini, see here (https://atomic-temporary-176304690.wpcomstaging.com/2021/07/17/emanations-of-vajrayogini-the-sakya-jetsunmas/) As Elizabeth English points out (2002, p.386, fn. 10), these have been published in recent years by the Sakyapas in India in a six volume teaching on Vajrayoginī, called the Glorious Sakya tradition of Naro khacho (dPal ldan sa skya pa’i lugs nAro mkha’ spyod ma’i skor). They can also be found in the Compendium of sadhanas (sgrubs thabs kun btus) , the fourteen volumes of teachings on Vajrayana collected by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Jamgon Loter Wangpo published by the Dzongsar Institute for Advanced Studies, Bir, Kangra, H.P, India. There is also an initiation and sadhana of Vajravārāhī in the ‘One Hundred Sadhanas of Bari’ (in vol. 12 of sgrubs thabs kun btus) a collection of practices brought from India by the translator, Bari (1040 – ) that was transmitted onward through the Sakya master, Sachen Kunga Nyingpo.
Tilopa and NAropa
“Perhaps the main emphasis on forms of Vajrayogini/Vajravārāhī (the names often seem to be used interchangeably) is found in the Kagyu (bKa’ brgyud) schools. This lineage is traced back to the siddha Tilopa (c. 928-1009), who had many visions of the deity, and who passed on oral transmissions to his pupil, Nāropa (c. 956-1040).
Nāropa also had many visions of dakini forms, the most famous of which is recounted in his life story, dated to the fifteenth and sixteenth century, in which Vajrayogini appears to him as an ugly old hag who startles him into abandoning monastic scholasticism in favor of solitary tantric practice. However, this account does not appear in the earliest biographies (Peter Alan Roberts, personal communication: 2002). The form of Vajrayogini especially associated with Naropa in Tibet is Naro mkha’spyod; “Na ro [pa]’s tradition of the dakini” or “Naro’s khecari” (lit., “sky-goer”). “
Kagyu lineages – the 1st, 3rd, 6th and Guru Yogas
As I wrote here before:
“It is often incorrectly stated in some online accounts, that Nāropa did not pass his Vajrayogini lineage to his student, Marpa the translator. However as Chogyam Trungpa states, in The Heart of the Buddha Entering the Buddhist Path (pp. 117-121), the ‘long lineage’ tradition of Vajrayogini was passed from Tilopa (who received it directly from Vajrayogini) to Nāropa to Marpa (the first Tibetan holder of the lineage), then to Milarepa, Gampopa, First Karmapa, Drogon Rechungpa, Pomdragpa, Second Karmapa, then Orgyanpa who passed it to the 3rd Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje. It was the 3rd Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje, Rang byung rdo rje (b. 1284) (Trungpa 1982:150). who composed the written sadhana of the form according to Tilopa and the oral instructions of Marpa, that is still practised to this day.
When Nāropa transmitted these teachings to Marpa he told them should only be given on a one to one transmission for thirteen generations and then after that they could be more widely propagated to others. In the 1970’s the Nalanda Translation Committee first translated the Vajrayogini sadhana into English at the request of Chogyam Trungpa. Materials can be found here.
The yidam that a meditator identifies with when practicing the Six Yogas of Nāropa (one of the main practices of the Karma Kagyu) is Vajrayoginī. As Vajravārāhī, her consort is Chakrasaṃvara (Tib. Khorlo Demchog), who is often depicted symbolically as a khaṭvāṇga staff on her left shoulder. In this form, she is also the consort of Jinasagara (Tib. Gyalwa Gyatso), red Avalokiteśvara.”
English (2002) states that the 3rd and sixth Karmapas played an important role in creating sadhanas for the goddess:
“In the Karma Kagyu, the oral transmission was written down in the form of a sadhana by the third Karmapa, Rang byung rdo rje (b. 1284) (Trungpa 1982:150). However, it is a sadhana by the sixth Karma pa (mThong ba don ldan, 1416—53) that serves as the basis for the main textual source in this school. This is the instruction text composed in the sixteenth century by Pawo Tsuglag Threnga (dPa’ bo gTsug lag phreng ba (1504-66)).
Vajravarahi also appears in Kagyu versions of the guru yoga, in which the devotee worships his guru (in one popular system, Mi la ras pa) while identifying himself as Vajravarahi. Examples include the famous “four sessions” guruyoga (Thun bzhi’i bla ma’i rnal ‘byor) of Mi skyod rdo rje, the eighth Karmapa (1507-54), and the Lamp of Certainty (Nges don sgron me), a meditation manual by the nineteenth-century teacher Jamgon Kongtrul (Jam mgon Kong sprul (1977: H9ff.), itself based on a sixteenth-century root text, the Instructions on the Co-Emergent Yoga (Lhan cig skyes sbyor khrid) by the ninth Karmapa, Wangchug Dorje (dBang phyug rdo rje, 1556-1603). While Karma Kagyu lamas around the world today frequently give the initiation of Vajravarahi, they observe a strict code of secrecy in imparting the instructions for her actual practice; however, published accounts of some practices within some Kagyu schools are now available.”
Shangpa Kagyu and Niguma
English (2002) also mentions the Shangpa Kagyu lineage and that the Vajrayogini practices came:
“Through Khyungpo Neljor (Khyung po rnal ‘byor), founder of the Shangpa Kagyu (eleventh—twelfth centuries) apparently from Niguma (sometimes said to be Naropa’s sister). This complex matrix of lineages continued in Tibet within the various Kagyu traditions.
Sakya – Naropa’s Kacheri, thirteen Golden Dharmas and the Eleven Yogas
As for the Sakya lineage, English (2002) explains:
“Her practices were received into the Sakya tradition in the early twelfth century, during the lifetime of Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (Sa chen Kun dga’ snying po (1092-1158)), first of the “five venerable masters” of the Sa skya. Sa chen received from his teachers the initiations, textual transmissions, and instructions for three forms of Vajrayogini. The first is a form derived also from Naropa, and again called “Naro’s Khecari”(although it is entirely different from the Tilopa-Naropa-Marpa transmission of Vajravarahi in the Kagyu in that the deity has a different iconographical form with a distinct set of associated practices). The second is a form derived from the siddha Maitripa, known therefore as Maitri Khecari (Maitri mkha’spyod ma; see fig. 18). The third is derived from the siddha Indrabhuti, known therefore as Indra Khecari {Indra mkha’sypod ma). This form is sometimes also known as Indra Vajravarahi, although as a deity in her own right, Vajravarahi has received much less attention among Sakyapas than the Khecari lineages. These three forms are traditionally considered the highest practices within a collection of esoteric deity practices known as The Thirteen Golden Dharmas of Sakya (Sa skya’i gser chos hcu gsum), as they are said to lead directly to transcendental attainment. However, it was Naro Khecari who became the focus of most devotion in the Sakya tradition, and the practice instructions associated with her sadhana were transmitted in the form of eleven yogas drawn from the siddha Naropa’s own encounter with Vajrayogini.
The most influential exposition of this system of eleven yogas emerged in the sixteenth century; known as The Ultimate Secret Yoga, it is a composition by Jamyang Khyentse Wangchug (‘Jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse dbang phyug (1524-68)) on the basis of oral instructions received from his master, Tsarchen Biosel Gyamtso (Tsar chen Bio gsal rgya mtsho (1494-1560)). Since that time, the eleven yogas “have retained great importance in the Sakya spiritual curriculum” (ibid.). The practices have retained their esoteric status for Sakyapas, and are “secret” in as much as one may not study or practice them without the requisite initiations and transmissions.”
Gelugpa – Tsongkhapa and the 5th Dalai Lama
English (2002: Preface: xxv) explains how the practice entered into Gelug via the Sakya :
“In the eighteenth century, it appears that the Sakya transmission of Nāro Khecari and the eleven yogas entered the Gelug tradition. This seems to have occurred in the lifetime of the Sakya master, Ngawang Kunga Legpe Jungne (Ngag dbang kun dga’ legs pa’i ‘byung gnas)…The dGe lugs pa had originally focused upon VajrayoginI/Vajravàràhï in her role as consort to their main deity, Cakrasamvara, following the teaching of Tsong kha pa (13 57-1419).
Cakrasamvara was one of the three meditational deities, along with Yamàntaka and Guhyasamàja, whose systems Tsongkhapa drew together as the foundational practices of the Gelug school. In this context, Tsongkhapa’s explanatory text, Illuminating All Hidden Meanings (sBas don kungsal) is apparently the main source on Vajrayoginï and she has actually been described as Tsongkhapa’s “innermost yidam, kept very secretly in his heart”. This claim, however, was probably intended to bolster Vajrayoginï’s relatively
recent presence in the Gelug pantheon, as the Sakya tradition of eleven yogas was only popularized in the Gelug in the twentieth cenutury, by Phabongkha (1878-1941). According to Dreyfus (1998: 246),
“Pa-bong-ka differed in recommending Vajrayoginï as the central meditational deity of the Ge-luk tradition. This emphasis is remarkable given the fact that the practice of this deity came originally [i.e., as late as the eighteenth century] from the Sa-gya tradition and is not included in Dzong-kha-ba’s original synthesis.”
The Vajrayoginï practice passed on by Pha bong kha and his pupil, Kyabje Trijang, focuses on the set of eleven yogas; and despite their esoteric, and therefore highly secret, nature—and the absolute prerequisite of receiving correct empowerments—explanations of these practices have been published and are available in English.”
However, as I wrote here, English’s assertion that it entered Gelug in the 18th Century does not seem to be correct because:
“The Fifth Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobzang Gyatso, wrote a text, The Practice of the Eleven Deities of Naro’s Khacho’ written in 1671 with Rigje Ngawang Namkha (rig byed pa ngag dbang nam mkha’) as scribe[1], in instruction for the practice of both generation and completion stages of the Nāro Kacho system. In the colophon, he cites the Zurchen lamas of the essence of Vajrasattva, the Kagyu and Zhalupa as being the traditions he based it on.”
Nyingma – Padmasambhava, Yeshe Tsogyel as emanation of Vajrayogini, Longchen Rabjampa’s white and blue Varahis
I have written here before about Yeshe Tsogyel as an emanation of Vajrayogini, as well as about the twentieth-century yogini and treasure-revealer, Tare Lhamo, an emanation of Yeshe Tsogyel recognised by Dudjom Rinpoche, with the first translation of a supplication she wrote to Yeshe Tsogyel where she is referred to as Vajrayoginī. English (2002: Preface, xxv-xxvi) writes the following about Nyingma:
“The Nyingma has also drawn the practices of Vajrayogini/Vajravarahi into its schools. Her presence is read back into the life of Padmasambhava, the eighth-century founder of the Nyingma, who is said to have received initiation from Vajravarahi herself following his expulsion from the court of King Indrabhuti (Dudjom 1991: 469). Other important rNying ma lineage holders are also traditionally associated with the deity. For example, in the life story of Longchen Rabjampa (Klong chen Rab ‘byams pa (1308-63)), as given by Dudjom Rinpoche (1991), he is said to have received visions of both a white Varahl and a blue Vajravarahi, who foretell Klong chen pa’s own meeting with Padmasambhava {ibid.: 577, 581). It is also Vajravarahi who leads him to the discovery of the treasure text (gter ma), Innermost Spirituality of the Dakini ((Man ngag) mkha’ gro snying tig), the meaning of which is explained to him by Yeshe Tsogyel (Ye shes mtsho rgyal) {ibid.: 586). This identification between Vajrayogini/Vajravarahi and Yeshe Tsogyel is significant although Yeshe Tsogyel tends to be identified at different times with most of the major female deities of the tradition, such as Samantabhadrl and Tara (Dowman 1984:12; Klein 1995:17).
In the account of Yeshe Tsogyel’s life, a Termadiscovered in the eighteenth century (and now translated no fewer than three times into English), she is at times clearly identified with Vajrayogini/Vajravarahi (e.g., Dowman 1984: 38, 85, 178); indeed, her sambhogakaya is said to be that of the deity (e.g., Gyelwa Jangchub in Dowman 1984: 4-5, 224; Klein i99ji: 147; J. Gyatso 1998: 247). The identification of Yeshe Tsogyel with Vajrayogini/Vajravarahi is also suggested by Rigdzin Jigme Lingpa (Rig ‘dzin ‘Jigs med gling pa (1730-98)), whose Dakki’s Grand Secret Talk is revealed to him by a “paradigmatic” dakinl, whom J. Gyatso (1998: 247) concludes is Yeshe Tsogyel herself.
Various guru yoga practices within the Nyingma also formalize the connection between Yeshe Tsogyel and the deity. For example, in Jigme Lingpa’s (‘Jigs med gling pa) mind treasure, the Longchen Nyingtig (Klong chen snying thig), the devotee longs for union with his guru as Padmasambhava, while identifying himself (and his state of yearning) with Yeshe Tsogyal in the form of Vajrayogini/Vajravarahi. In other guru yoga practices, such as The Bliss Path of Liberation (Thar pa ‘i bde lam), the practitioner identifies directly with Vajrayogini, who becomes “the perfect exemplar of such devotion.”
Jomo Menmo, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Black Vajrayogini (Khrodali) and Dudjom Tersar cycles
English (2002: Preface xxvii) explains the later treasure-revelations of those such as Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Jomo Menmo:
“Over and above the deity’s ubiquitous involvement in guru yoga meditations (a feature, as we have seen, of many Tibetan traditions), her popularity as a main deity in her own right is revealed by the growing number of liturgies devoted to her practice in the later Nyingma (rNying ma) traditions. Robert Mayer (personal communication: 2002) mentions entire ritual cycles devoted to Vajravarahi, such as a volume entitled, Union of All Secret Dakinis (mKha’ ‘gro gsang ba kun ‘dus kyi chos skor). This was composed by the eminent nineteenth-century figure, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo (‘Jams dbyangs mkhyen brtse’i dbang po), who believed it to be the “further revelation” (yanggter) of a Terma (gter ma) dating back to the thirteenth century.
The original Terma (gter ma) revelation was by the famous female Nyingma Terton (gter ston) Jomo Menmo (Jo mo sman mo), herself deeply connected with Vajravarahi {ibid.; Allione 1984: 209-n). This volume is entirely dedicated to an important form of Vajravarahi in rNying ma practice, which is related to the Chod tradition, from Machig Labdron (Ma gcig lab sgron ma (1031-1129)) (Allione ibid.: 142-204). Here, the deity takes the wrathful black form of (ma cig) lKhro ma nag mo or Krodhakali, also sometimes identified as Rudrani/i (Mayer op. cit.). Patrul Rinpoche (1994: 297-98) describes an iconographical form that, apart from its color, is much the same as that of Indradakini (for a full tangka of Krodhakali with retinue, see Himalayan Art, no. 491). In full, however, this is an extremely esoteric practice and, in the case of the principal Dudjom Terma (bDud ‘joms gter ma) cycles at least, is regarded as “so secret and powerful that practitioners are often advised to either take it as their sole practice, or not seek the initiation at all” (Mayer op. cit.).”
PART II: THE VAJRAYOGINI TEXTS IN GAMPOPA’S COLLECTED WORKS
One of the compiled texts in Gampopa’s Collected Works provides an empowerment, a sādhana, and an offering ritual on the goddess Vajravārāhī. The texts are called Empowerment of the Great Mahāmudrā, Vajra Primordial Awareness (phyag rgya chen po rdo rje ye shes kyi dbang dang/), Text of Varāhi (phag mo’i gzhung mdo dang bcas pa. Here is a brief outline of the text:
Tantric Empowerment ritual
The first part contains a Tantric empowerment ritual (dbang bskur, *abhiṣeka). A [red] sindhura substance is [to be placed] in the maṇḍala of [the goddess] Vajra-Knowledge (Rdo rje ye shes, *Vajrajnāna), [who represents] Mahāmudrā (phyag rgya chen po rdo rje ye shes kyi dkyil ‘khor du sin dhu ra’i dbang bskur ba). This goddess is Vajrayoginī (rdo rje rnal ‘byor ma) or Vajravārāhī (rdo rje phag mo) having one face and two arms. She is surrounded by a retinue of four other goddesses.
Inner Offering to Vajrayogini
The second part of the text explains how to perform the inner offering (nang mchod) to Vajrayoginī. After visualizing Vajrayoginīin front and praying to her, the yogīvisualizes himself as Vajrayoginī having inside her body a small Vajravārāhī maṇḍalain the navel-cakra. Then he visualizes the inner offering in the form of a large kapāla filled with impure substances that are transformed into the wisdom nectar (ye shes kyi bdud rtsi, *jnānāmṛta). These visualizations are explained in some detail in the segment.
Sadhana Text
The third segment is a practice text (sgrub thabs, *sādhana) for the Generation and Completion stages of the goddess Vajrayoginī. It begins by briefly indicating the proper place of practice to be a place of solitude, such as a charnel ground or similar. Thereafter, it outlines in prose how the yogī should visualize himself as Vajrayoginī.
This part of the colophon is followed by a prayer in two verses and a colophon that states it was written by Dagpo Gomtsul, Gampopa’s oldest nephew.
Food Offering Ritual
The fourth part contains a food offering ritual (gtor ma, *bali) to Vajravārāhī, which the yogī optionally may perform at the end of a meditation session (thun mtshams su). The yogī visualizes himself as the goddess and then imagines the offering in front of himself in the form of a large skull bowl (thod pa, *kapāla). It contains a short colophon stating that “[this ritual] was written down according to the oral instruction of the precious bla ma” (bla ma rin po che’i zhal gyi gdams ngag yi ger bkod pa’o). The segment ends with a short colophon (quoted in Tibetan above): “This [instruction] from the mouth of the bla ma is [a ritual] for drawing the ritual food offering into Suchness (gtor ma’i de nyid bsdus pa). The ritual of the Vajravārāhī food offering is finished.”
Kragh goes into extensive detail about this empowerment and sadhana text (2015: 377-378). One should really only read this if one has the Varahi empowerment though.
PART THREE: PRAISES AND PROSTRATION TO VAJRAYOGINI by JE GAMPOPA
The final part of the text contains a short homage and praise to Vajrayoginī in six verses and with the colophon: “May the blazing splendor of auspiciousness [of this text] adorn the world!” According to Kragh (2015) “this is said to be the characteristic sign-off by the scribe Kunga Rinchen (Kun dga rin chen), who probably copied the text for the 1520 xylograph production”.
Here is my translation of the Praises (Kragh does not translate them in his book).
སྟོང་ཉིད་སྙིང་རྗེའི་བདག་ཉིད་ཅན། ། ཁམས་གསུམ་པ་ཡི་ངོ་བོ་ཉིད། །
བསྐལ་པ་མེ་ལྟར་འབར་བའི་འོད། ། རྡོ་རྗེ་རྣལ་འབྱོར་མ་ལ་འདུད། །
tong nyi nying jé dak nyi chen/ kham sum pa yi ngowo nyi//
kelpa mé tar barwé ö/ dorjE neLjorma la dü//
དཔལ་ལྡན་རྡོ་རྗེ་མཁའ་འགྲོ་མ། ། མཁའ་འགྲོ་མ་ཡི་འཁོར་ལོས་སྒྱུར། །
ཡེ་ཤེས་ལྔ་དང་སྐུ་གསུམ་ཉིད། ། འགྲོ་བ་སྐྱོབ་ལ་ཕྱག་འཚལ་འདུད། །
penden dor jé khandro ma/ khandro ma yi khor lö gyur/
yé shé nga dang ku sum nyi/ drowa kyop la chak tsel dü/
O Glorious Vajradakini (Dorje Khandroma), Empress [Chakravartin) of the dakini mandala,
The five primordial awarenesses and three kayas; to the refuge of beings praise and prostrate!
བདེ་བ་རང་བཞིན་མ་སྐྱེས་པ། ། ཇི་བཞིན་དུ་ནི་རྟོགས་གྱུར་པ། །
གཞན་དོན་མཐར་ཕྱིན་མཛད་པ་ཡི། ། རྣལ་འབྱོར་མ་ལ་ཕྱག་འཚལ་འདུད། །
dewa rang zhin ma kyé pa/ ji zhin du ni tok gyur pa/
zhen dön tar chin dzé pa yi/ neLjor ma la chak tsel dü/
The one who is the unborn, nature of bliss; the one who realized reality as it is,
The one who accomplished the benefit of others, to the yogini praise and prostrate!
གཡོན་པ་ཆགས་སོགས་ཁྲོ་མོའི་ཞལ། ། གཡས་པ་རྟོག་མེད་ཕག་གདོང་ཞལ། །
བདག་མེད་སྐྱེ་མེད་ཆོས་ཀྱི་དབྱིངས། ། རྣལ་འབྱོར་མ་ལ་ཕྱག་འཚལ་འདུད། །
yön pa chak sok thro mö zhel/ yé pa tok mé pak dong zhel/
dak mé kyé mé chö kyi ying/ neLjor ma la chak tsel dü/
The left wrathful face of lust and so on, the right sow-pig face of non-conceptuality,
The self-less, unborn expanse, Dharmata; to the yogini praise and prostrate!
ཇི་སྙེད་རྡོ་རྗེ་མཁའ་འགྲོ་མ། ། ཀུན་ཏུ་རྟོགས་པའི་འཆིང་གཅོད་ཅིང༌། །
འཇིག་རྟེན་བྱ་བར་རབ་འཇུག་མ། ། དེ་སྙེད་རྣམས་ལ་ཕྱག་འཚལ་འདུད། །
ji nyé dor jé khandro ma/ küntu tok pé ching chö ching/
jikten jawar rap juk ma/ dé nyé nam la chak tsel dü/
All that exists, Vajradakini, who severs the shackles of all concepts,
Who fully enters into worldly activities, to all that praise and prostrate!
བདེ་གཤེགས་སྐུ་ལ་གཉིས་མེད་འཁྲིལ། ། ཟག་མེད་བདེ་བ་སྐུ་ཉམས་བསྟར། །
ལྟེ་བའི་དབུས་ནས་འབྱུང་བཞི་འཕྲོ། ། ཆོས་དང་ལོངས་སྤྱོད་རྫོགས་པར་ལྡན། །
མཁའ་འགྲོ་མ་རྣམས་འདུད་མཛད་མ། ། ཕག་མོ་དེ་ལ་ཕྱག་འཚལ་བསྟོད། །
ཅེས་པས་བསྟོད་པ་ཡང་བྱའོ། ། བཀྲ་ཤིས་དཔལ་འབར་འཛམ་གླིང་རྒྱན་དུ་ཤོག། ༎
dé shek ku la nyimé tril/ zakmé dewa ku nyam tar/
tewé ü né jung zhi tro/ chö dang long chö dzok par den/
khandroma nam dü dzé ma/ phakmo dé la chak tsel tö
ché pé tö pa yang jao/ tra shi pelwar dzamling gyen du shok/
To the Sugata kaya, coiled around non-duality, in union with stainless, bliss kaya,
The centre of the navel radiates out the four elements
Endowed with complete Dharma and Perfect Resources
Homage to all the Dakinis, the Varahis praise and prostrate!
I will perform these praises; may the world be adorned with blazing glory and auspiciousness!
Translated by Adele Tomlin, 25th May 2022.
[i] There are three online editions of the Collected Works that contain this sadhana text, the 1976, 1982 and 2000 editions. I have used the first one for this translation. 1) “Phag moʼi gzhung mdo.” gSung ʼbum sgam po pa, vol. 2, Khenpo S. Tenzin & Lama T. Namgyal, 2000, pp. 498–514. Buddhist Digital Resource Center (BDRC), purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW23439_854FAD. 2) “Phag moʼi gzhung mdo.” gSung ʼbum sgam po pa, vol. 2, Shashin, 1976, pp. 67–74. Buddhist Digital Resource Center (BDRC), purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW23444_9DCFDC. 3) “Phag moʼi gzhung mdo.” gSung ʼbum sgam po pa, vol. 2, Kargyud Sungrab Nyamso Khang, 1982, pp. 246–58. Buddhist Digital Resource Center (BDRC), purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW23566_956D09.
Dakini Translations and Publications མཁའ་འགྲོ་མའི་ལོ་ཙཱ་བའི་འགྱུར་དང་འགྲེམས་སྤེལ། 