Todaro, Dale 1985-An Annotated Translation of The Tattvasamgraha
Todaro, Dale 1985-An Annotated Translation of The Tattvasamgraha
Columbia University
1985
(£) 1985
Dale Allen Todaro
Yoga tantra in Tibet and Tibetan and Indian exegeses are used.
Japan the major commentaries are by Ennin and Donjaku. Part 2 ex-
plains the role of the sutra in Kukai's teachings. Two points are
made. First, it is well known that this sutra is the source for the
PART 2
PART 3
THE ANNOTATED, ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF PART 1
OF THE TATTVAS~GRAHA SUTRA
ii
DIAGRAMS
iii
~·····"'·
DIAGRAM 1
ii. JJ. *
Line Drawing of Vajradhatu Map~ala from Hasedera 1
1
shinko Mochizuki, ed., Bukkyo Daijiten, Vol. 2 (Kyoto: Bukkyo
Daijiten Hakkosho, 1932), opposite p. 1316. (This reduction is approxi-
mately one quarter the size of the drawing in the text.)
iv
1
INTRODUCTION
This thesis has two principle foci. First, the first annotated,
based on the title Kukai gives for this sutra written in the Siddham
1
script. Second, an explanation of the role of the Tattvasawgraha
Several reasons can be given for this. First, Kukai obtained on-
ly Chapter 1 of the text and he, as founder of the Shingon school, left
interpret the text but instead give more information about it from
other texts. Ennin, a Tendai monk, wrote the first major commentary
(T. 61, No. 2223) but this only treats part of Chapter 1. Donjaku, a
Shingi-Shingon monk, analyses (T. 61, No. 2225) only Chapter 1. In_~on
intrinsic value and his interpretation is revered aud relied upon for
ing a source for the doctrines of the Shingon school, it must not be over-
quotes, for him Lltey all belong to one school of thought and practice.
of a study of over sixty texts which has not yet been undertaken.
ples to study. This list contains 424 fascicles of texts. Kukai lists
lated all of these texts except ten. (See Appendix I for the
by Ryujun Tajima (Paris: Maisonneuve, 1936), pp. 142-46 and Yukei Matsu-
naga, ed., "Nihonjin no Mikkyo Kenkyu, Mikkyo Bunken Mokuroku," in Gendai
Mikkyo Koza, Vol. 8 (Tokyo: Daito shuppansha, 1976), pp. 270-76.
1T. 39, No. 1796. See Wilhelm Muller, Shingon Mysticism, ~ubha
karasiwha and !~sing's Commentary to the Mahavairocana-sutra, Chapter
One, an annotated translation (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms
International, 1976), order number BLK76-22210.
2Hakeda, Kukai: Major Works, p. 222 (T. 18, No. 865), p. 223 (T.
19, No. 957), p. 241 (T. 19, No. 1003), p. 242 (T. 18, No. 880) •
..,
JKCZ, Vol. II, pp. 168-82. Abbreviated Sangakuroku. Dated 823 A.D.
4
Ennin and Donjaku relied on T. 18, Nos. 870 and 871, both Tattvasawgra-
three mysteries of the body (mudras), speech (mantras) and mind (visual-
draw various ma~~alas, initiation into these ma~2alas and the powers
tioner who then in turn works out of compassion for the benefit of
clear.
Bearing in mind all the above factors this thesis has as its
the basis for the Vajradhatu ma~9a1a which often is so prominently dis-
1 and Chapters 6 and 7 of Part 2 are the basis for eight out of the
nine assemblies in the Vajradhatu mandala. .. For this thesis only Part
•.
the names of the deities, their places in the mandala, etc. For our pur-
poses it is enough to know that the first 7 Chapters are the major source
mitted in ~he Shingon tradition and these will be made clear below. 2)
The Tattvasawgraha will be shown below to be the source for the frame-
fur the Vajradhatu Recitation Manuals which are the major example of
see Part 2 below.) These Vajradhatu Recitation Manuals are based spe-
cifically on the Chin kang ting ching lien hua .£.!:! hsin nien sung .! kuei
(T. 18, No. 873) translated by Amoghavajra and which is listed by Kukai
these are ritual manuals which provided a basis for various rites in
listsin his Sangakuroku, and regarding it as the basic text of the Tattva-
2ror some of these rites see Shojaku and Shoe, Himitsu Giki Zui-
monki, Vol. I of the Shingonshu Zensho(hereafter abbreviated SZ)(T~kyo:
Shingonsi1u Zensho Kankokai, 1933-37); Shinjo, Himitsu Giki Denju Ku-
ketsu, Vol. II of SZ.
7
not all texts of the Tattvasawgraha lineage have been examined for this
thesis the role of all of these in Kukai's teachings and practices can-
not bP. completely explained. This would require many years of research.
basis of textual evidence and how Kukai may or may not have changed spe-
commentaries used in this thesis, the date of the sutra, etc. Part 2
discusses the role of the Tattvasawgraha and its lineage in both the
ship b~tween the Tattvasawgraha, the Vajradhatu ma~~ala and the Vajra-
tween the Vajradhatu ma~~ala and the Vajradhatu Recitation Manuals will
PART 1
The TATTVAS~GRAHA
tions of the Tattvasawgraha were first discovered only within the last
sawgraha was made by Sego (active in the late tenth and early eleventh
2
centuries) by 1015 A.D. or possibly the late tenth century but this
any part of the original Sanskrit text or a copy thereof nor did he in-
2T. 18, p. 445; Cf. Buddhist Text Informativn, No. 35, 1983, p. 5
and KZ>zen Takeuchi, "Sodai Honyaku Kyoten no Tokuchu ni tsuite," Mikkvl5
Bunka, No. 113, 1975, pp. 27-94 (Fu Sodai Honyaku Kyoten Hennen Moku-
roku). Jap. Sego:~f~! ; Sanskrit? (Danapala ?). Born in 09~iyana, India.
9
SANSKRIT EDITIONS
and Koyasan Daigaku Ronso (Vol. III) which was based only on Tucci's
Tattvasawgraha and it is his edition which served as the basis for the
in Appendix II.
teratures (New Delhi, 1981), pp. 3-151. This edited and romanized ver-
Yamada and Horiuchi note the equivalent sections in the Tibetan and
CHINESE TRANSLATIONS
A) _ghin kang ting i ch'ien ~ lai chen shih she ta hsien cheng
ta chiao wang ching, T. 18, No. 865, pp. 207a-223b, three chGan, trans-
B) !. ch' ieh ~ lai shen shih she ta ch' eng hsien cheng san mei
the late tenth or early eleventh century in thirty chuan. This is also
a faithful and complete translation of the Sanskrit text and was intro-
duced to Japan by the Japanese Tendai monk Jojin (b""£~n in 1081 A.D.
Part 1 in Sego's translation corresponds to pages 341-369 (according
to Sego's division, chuan no. one to chuan no. eight out of a thirty
C) Chin kang ting x!! ch'ieh chung lia ch'u nien sung ching, T.
chuan. 1 This text was probably brought· to Japan in the Nara period
greater detail how to make and enter the central assembly of the Vajra-
dhatu ma~~ala, how to perform a homa or burnt offering, etc. This text
and Amoghavajra's translation are the first two texts Kukai lists in
both of them. This text begins by saying "I. .. will briefly explain
sawgraha." Because there are many sections with the identical word-
translation, and because Ennin and Donjaku quote these sections along
analysis of the first chapter, this text cannot be ignored (e.g., the
9ala Ennin gives two variant translations of thi~ section of the Tattva-
pp. 152-206.
given below (p. 213b, 1.6ff.) the old sutra refers to the four ch~an
the six volume work. The latter (not found in the Taisho canon)· is.
the six volume translation of T. 18, No. 866 which, according to Annen,1
was revised to form the present day four chuan text. A copy of the six
September, 1981. The exact relationship between the four and six chuan
TIBETAN TRANSLATION
A) De bshin g~egs .E.§!. thams cad kyi de kho na nid bsdus .E.§!. shes
-
edition, Bka9 Vgyur Mdo Na (VIII), 1h1-162ba: Tibetan Tripifaka, No.
112, Vol. 4, pp. 217-83; Snar-than edition, Bka~ ~gyur Mdo Ja (VII) ,
Mikkyo Bunka Kenkyujo, 1965-67), pp. 690-712; KCZ, Vol. 2, pp. 255-278.
Bo~h these short commentaries discuss only the title of the Tattva-
Yukai says (p. 95a) there are sixteen different ways of interpret-
which are applied in pairs. Kukai uses many of these in his commentary.
meaning; 4) one letter uniting many and many letters returning to one;
5) one letter explaining many and many letters explaining one; 6) one
letter completing many and many letters completing one; 7) one letter
destroying many and many letters destroying one; 8) sequential order and
pp. 7-114. This has been translated into Japanese by Kyojun Shimizu-
tani in KIK! Kyoshobu, Vol. 16 (1938), pp. 35-350 (Vol. 17 in the 1981
lation by the Tendai monk Ennin was the only sizable commentary
and thus traditionally has been consulted by both Shingon and Tendai
edition, p. 115, section 209). Between 839 and 847 Ennin studied and
the oral tradition of Ch' uan ya ~ fi) of the K' ai yuan ( )i.ft'Cij jG ) tern-
ple who initiated Ennin into the rites of the various deities shown in
(Horiuchi's editon, section 11) 'li'hich basically repeats what Ennin says.
61, No. 2225. This is the most complete Japanese commentary covering
Vol. VIII, compiled by Hoshu Rase (Osaka: Kokiji, 1925), pp. 54-61.
364ff.)
into English by Alex Wayman. 3 Wayman writes "The history of this tantra
5)
-Anandagarbha, Tattvaloka, Tohoku Catalogue No. 2510.
century. These two works are often referred to by Horiuchi in his re-
mentioned above.
TIBETAN COMMENTARY
Mkas Grub Rje' s Rgyud sde spyi}Ji rnam par g{ag .F.! rgyas par brjad with
Motilal Banarsidass, 1978); Tohoku Catalogue No. 5489. Mkas grub rje
lived from 1384 to 1438. Chapter six concerns the Yoga tantras of which
tradition.
1) Chin kang ting ching ta _y!! ch' ieh .E.! mi hsia ti fa ~.! chueh,
translation above (T. 18, No. 866) as recorded by Amoghavajra. Only the
first chuan of an original three chUan work remains. This was brought
2) Chin kang ting ching ~ ch' ieh shi.h ~ hue chih kuei, T. 18,
No. 869, translated by Amoghavajra. This text gives the first outline
4) Liao shu chin kang y!!_ ch'ieh fen pieh wei hsiu cheng fa men,
5) Chin kang ting yg_ ch'ieh lian shu san shih ch'i tsun hsin ~·
been published and these are considered essential reading for this the-
ties found in the different ma~~alas described in the text and a compari-
son and clarification of the different part and chapter divisions in the
2
Tibetan and Sanskrit editions. Matsunaga has given fine introductions
to basically Chapter One and several important, related topics from the
Shingon school of Hakeda and the more recent work by Minoru Kiyota
and large the Chinese translations are faithful to the Sanskrit text
the footnotes every instance where either the Chinese or Tibetan trans-
lations differ from the Sanskrit the reader is referred to his work if
Chinese translation of the title which contains some words not in the
between the two Chinese translations will only be referred to. For
from the translation. Then a solid line separates the end of the
vidhi-vistarab.
~ lai chen shih she ta ch'eng hsien cheng ta chieh wang ching; Chapter
1: Chin kang E_hiai taman t'u lo k'uang ta.! kuei ~ (Sanskrit: Vajra-
~ekhara-sarva-tath~gata-tattva-sawgraha-mahayanabhisamaya-maha-kalpa-ra
~-sutr~; Vajradhatu-maha-map9ala-vidhi-vistarab.)
raja-kalpa.)
bhasita-sarva-tathagata-tattva-sawgraha-mahayanabhisamaya-samaya-maha-
6) Kukai, T. 61, No. 2221, p. 2b, 1.11. Kukai gives the title
Vajra-u§~I~a-sarva-tathagata-samaye mahavawdabhisafbodhi-mahahaw-raja-
follows: Vajra-~ekhara-~-tathagata-satya-sawgraha-mahayana-pratyu-
panna-abhisambuddha-maha-tantra-raja-sutram.
nyorai shinjitsu sho daijo gensho daikyo ~kyo. Part 1 (Ibid., 1.27ff.):
yuga-sarva-tathagata-tattva-sawgraha-mahayanabhisamaya-maha-kalpa-raja-
translation.
kalpa).
nama-mahayana-sutra).
and elsewhere. 1 The titles of Part 1 and Chapter 1 are found at the
end of Chapter 1 and the titles of the remaining chapters (Nos. 2-5)
of Part 1 are also found at the end of each chapter in both manu-
Sakano notes that in the Siddham title Kukai gives in his Kongo-
chogyo kaidai he leaves out the two words tattva and sawgraha. 2 Kukai
also adds samaye. In T. 61, No. 2222, he also adds the word~·
Kukai (T. 61, p. 1a, 1.24ff.), Donjaku (T. 61, No. 2225, p. 128a)
and Yukai in his commentary (p. 25) all state that Chin kang ting rl_
ch'ieh, based on T. 18, No. 869, .was a· title used to indicate the
entire supposed eighteen assembly text, notwithstanding each chapter
ha~ its own distinct title. The word~ (~ ch'ieh) 'given by Kukai
Kukai follows this usage. This word also indicates works dealing
of the title although Kukai mistakenly has u~Fi9a for ~ekhara (See #6). 2)
The words in the title Chin kang ting and Chin kang ting ~ ch' ieh are
Buddha bhasita from the titles given by Amoghavajra and Sego we arrive
obviously refer to Part 1. That is, the title and part headings have
ings. 5) The Tibetan translation gives the correct title of the San-
are named at the end of each chapter. The complete Chinese translation
of the Tattvas~graha made by Sego (T. 18, No. 882) also has twenty-six
twenty-six chapters into five parts which are clearly named. The titles
of these five parts and the chapters contained in each part are as
')
follows: ..
of Great Practices known as the Law Pledge of all the Tathagatas) Chap-
ters 15-18.
King of Great Practices known as the Action Pledge of all the Tatha-
Chapters 23-26. This title is the same as the title for the entire
stitra as well.
just four parts and this analysis is also accepted by Kukai ('.C. 61,
No. 2221, p. lb, 1.3). In this regard part five is the only part to
four parts, as suggested by the term kalpa, prescribe ritual and give
rules for various ceremonial acts. These initial four parts are corre-
.'
In each of the first four parts four mandalas are described in
accordan~e with the above family division. At the end of each part,
869). In each of the first four ma~~alas (except for Part 22) the
and the four Buddhas of the four directions (East - Ak~obhya; South -
goddesses of offering (puja; four inner and four outer), and four
Buddha families are discussed throughout the text, these are set
the ma~9alas (the five families are based in parL on the five skandhas).
The four Buddha families are correlated with four types of map9a1as
thirty-seven deities each are endowed with these ma99alas and know-
who realizes these also realizes the four types of Dharmak~yas, i.e.,
Both Isshi Yamada and Kanjin Horiuchi follow the above five part,
2on the four ma~9alas see Hakeda, Kokai: Major Works, pp. 90-91.
tion into two parts: a "preface" (Jap. Tsiijo -M) and "formal intro-
duction" (Jap. Betsujo - KlJfl ). 1
Ennin maintains the "preface" runs from the beginning of the text
Then from the word "Bhagavat"4 the body of the text begins.s Donjaku
agrees with this division. Jiun says only that the introduction runs
the formal introduction begins wfth the words "Atha Bhagavan Mahavai-
rocanap."8 and ends with the same passage as indicated by Jiun above.
sH., p. 22, section 17; Kyo .£ kyo shaku, in Jiun Sonja Zenshu,
Vol. 8, p. 54.
is a Sawbhogakaya.
Although Kukai was aware of and used the above threefold analysis
of the Tattvasafgraha.
as a Table of Contents.
who is dated from the end of the seventh to the first half of the eighth
tury A.o.,4 was aware of all five parts of the Tattvasawgraha in his
Tantrarthavatara and he quotes from part five. 1 The Chin kang ting
ching .lli ch'ieh shih e hue chih kuei (T. 18, No. 869) translated by
which are mostly Tattvasaqtgraha lineage texts, are thought to have been
South India and Ceylon in 741 A.D. and returned to China in 746 A.D.,
3
bringing these with him. The Chen yuan hsin· ting ~ ~.J!lli. lu4
India and studied the Tattvasawgraha for seven years. This would have
5
been in 701 A.D. The Chin kang ting ~ ch'ieh chung lioh chu nien
sung ching (T. 18, No. 866) was translated by Vajrabodhi in 723 A.D. 6
2 and 3 (T. 18, pp. 240-43) and describes in greater dt:!tail Lhau
The weight of the above evidence points to the late seventh cen-
tury1 or possibly the beginning of the eighth as the date for the
for the first time by Sego possibly by the late tenth century A.D. and
.
bushinkanwas drawn by ~ubhakarasimha 2 (637-735 A.D.) who entered
Vajrabodhi's translation.s
in the ma~9a1as. This makes it possible to date the text on the basis
traveled to Souti1 India and Ceylon ca. 741 A.D. in order to obtain
list of works thought to have been translated by him one of the main
them in the Tattvasawgraha lineage. 3 The Chin kang ting ching ta .1!!.
ch'ieh .E.! me hsin t i fa men_! chueh4 also states that the Tattvasaill-
graha was composed in South India and that Vajrabodhi brought to China
from the LaAkavatara sutra, also claims the secret doctrine came from
South India. 6
3T. 52, No. 2120, p. 839ff. 4T. 39, No. 1798, p. 808a,b.
5shoun Toganoo, "Himitsu Bukkyoshi," p. 36.
Buddhism in the seventh and eighth centuries A.D. The Pallava Kings
who had real hegemony over Southeast India from the mid sixth until
the late eighth centuries were known patronizers of the arts and men
centuries whose capital at Kanchi (near present day Madras) was known
tsang, traveling in India from 629 to 645 A.D., recorded that in Maha-
kosala (the territory later ruled by the Pallava Kings) Mahayana Bud-
Speculation has long been made also on the affiliation of the Tattva-
, ...
sa,graha lineage with the Tantric tradition of the eighth century Sr1-
vijaya Kingdom in the Malay archipelego and the mid-eighth century monu-
1R. C. Majumdar, ed., The History and Culture of the Indian Peo-
ple The Classical Age (Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1962), pp. 621,
258, 261. T. 51, No. 2087, ChUan #10.
2R. D Banerjee, History ,,f Orissa from the Earliest Times to the
British Period, Vol. I (Delhi: Bharatiya Publishing House, 1980), p. 142.
were connected with the ~ailodbhavas who ruled Oris~a before the
Karas from the late sixth until the mid-eighth century. Inscriptions
,
of both the Sailodbhavas and Pallavas have been discovered in the Ma-
lay peninsula. 1
India from the sixth century until the end of the eighth century.
the Bhakti literature from this period 11 is replete with the sense of a
great danger to the orthodox paths from the spread of the heretical
soon found its way from south India to that region. 3 In this regard,
to this temple has confirmed Toganoo's find and over-all ten mandalas
••
of the Tattvasa,graha lineage were discovered in this temple. Differ-
ing from the Japanese Vajradhatu ma~9alas, these include four types
,.,. . ..c.. ~··
sembling the Catur-mudra ma~9alas and one type resembling the Rishue
Based on the Tu ~ t 'o lo ni mu2 and the Chin kang ting ching ~
ch'ieh shih E.! hue chih kuei 3 , both translated by Amoghavajra, the
No. 869 (pp. 284-87) is the only text briefly describing the contents
No. 2221, p. 1aff.) and Kyo£ kyo kaidai (T. 61, No. 2222, p. 6c)
:ekhara is the Naya-sutra (T. 8, No. 244; Jap. Rishukvo) while the
fifteenth assembly is the Guhyasamaja tantra (T. 18, No. 885). How-
ever, based on the description ofT. 18, No. 869, it is clear the pre-
sent day Naya-sutra and Guhyasamaja tantra have been expanded. The
2T. 18, No. 903, p. 898c. 3T. 18, No. 869, p. 284c, 1.16ff.
4shoun Toganoo, "Himitsu Bukkyoshi," p. 36.
37
their ~ontents again are not identical with the description of T. No.
869. 2
has never been found. Because all available texts apparently belong-
ing to it have been expanded or altered, and based on the usage of the
tation manuals which were being written and/or expanded. That this
accepted. 5
IT. 18, Nos. 908 and 909; Tohoku Catalogue No. 480; T. 18, Nos.
883 and 887, respectively. Shinten Sakai, "Kongochoyuga Goma Giki no
Issetsu ni tsuite," Mikkyo Bunka, Vol. 19, 1952, pp. 1-12; Ibid.,
"Kongochokyo no Daisane ni tsuite," Mikkyo Kenkyu, Vol. 71, 1939, pp.
117-147; Ibid., "Kongocho Gozanze Kaigiki Ro-o-kyo Chu Kanjizai Bo-
satsu Shinshingon Issai Nyorai Renge Daimandarahin ni tsuite," Mikkyo
Bunka, Vol. 12, 1950, pp. 16-22; Ibid., "Kongochokyo no Daijusane ni
tsuite," Mikkyo Bunka, Vol. 32, 1956, pp. 34-41.
3This is evident from the appendage of the term yoga to the titles
of the texts in T. 18, No. 869.
4T. 61, No. 2225, pp. 124c-125a. He identifies, T. 18, Nos. 866,
867, 873, 876; T. 20, Nos. 1122, 1125, 1145, etc.
kang ting ching ta .Yli ch' ieh £!. me hsin ti fa ~.! chiieh. 1 Kaiun
of the ninth century first records that the shorter version consisted
of 4,000 ~lokas. 2 Again, the Tai tsung ••• chih chi 3 mentions the
• '9
hasn't translated the 100,000 ~loka text due to his old age.S
llokas in the "eighteen assembly" text but, instead, as with the Maha-
2T. 51, No. 2001, p. 784b. Sego tells us after his translation
of the entire Sanskrit text that it consists of 4,000 6lokas; T. 18,
No. 882, p. 44Sb, 1.2. As T. 18, No. 869, p. 287b,c, says this sutra
in eighteen assemblies has 4,000 6lokas or 5,000 or 7,000 or 100,000,
this would lend credence to the fact that texts were being assembled
along with the Tattvasa~graha and referred ~c collectively as the
Vajra~ekhara-~.
3T. 52, No. 2120, p. 846b. 4T. 18, No. 866, p. 233c, 1.12.
source of his own mind at which time the Shingon teachings appeared.
prets to mean the constant preaching of the Dharmakaya while the known
2.
Preface
myriads of Bodhisattvas.
Formal Introduction
because they are Bodhisattvas who nurture all Buddhas and raise the
Tathagatas of the three times • He also says they arise from the
six other works by Kukai. Since the Tokugawa period (1600-1867) this
compilation has been required reading for all Shingon monks. The
following quotation shows that the paramitas emerge from the Buddhas.
"The moon disc has sixteen divisions. These are
symbolized by the sixteen }iaha-bodhisattvas in the Yuga
(i.e., the Tattvasawgraha sutra) from Vajrasattva down
to Vajrasandhi. Among the thirty-seven deities the
Buddha ranks in the five directions each express one
knowledge. Akiobhya Buddha in t.he eastern quarter, by
perfecting the great, perfect mirror-like knowledge, is
also called thunderbolt knowledge. Ratnasa~bhava Buddha
in the southern quarter, by perfecting the equality
knowledge, is also called consecration knowledge.
Amitabha Buddha in the western quarter, by perfecting
the discriminative knowledge, is also called lotus
knowledge and also, knowledge that turns the wheel of
the teaching. Amoghasiddhi Buddha in the northern
" ••• Now, from the intrinsic nature of the Dharmadhatu which
has been sealed, there arise the four Buddhas. Each of the
Tathagatas in the four quarters is united with four Bodhi-
sattvas. Ak~obhya Buddha in the eastern quarter is united
with four Bodhisattvas: 1) Vajrasattva; 2) Vajraraja; 3)
Vajraraga and 4) Vajrasadhu ••• Ratnasa~bhava Buddha in the
southern quarter is united with four Bodhisattvas: 5) Vajra-
ratna; 6) Vajrateja; 7) Vajraketu; 8) and Vajrah~sa •••
Amitabha Buddha in the western quarter is united with four
Bodhisattvas: 9) Vajradharma; 10) Vajratik~~a; 11) Vajrahetu
and 12) Vajrabhasa ••• Amoghasiddhi Buddha in the northern
quarter is united with four Bodhisattvas: 13) Vajrakarma;
14) Vajrarak~a; 15) Vajrayakfia and 16) Vajrasandhi)j3
After the above sixteen Maha-bodhisattvas of the Law ma~~ala are de-
tradition that the devotee awakens the latent bodhicitta having these
cana, even meditation on just one of these deities can lead to en-
Section 1
1) The Five Stages of Realization (pa~cabhisawbodhi).
Safbhoga type bodies to teach the fjve stages. Having achieved en-
1Kcz, Vol. 2, pp. 98, 119, 540. 2rbid., pp. 438, 439, 622.
issues from his heart the deity in question as a mantra. These mantra
names as given above for the sixteen Vajrasattvas are regularly used
the same. First Vairocana enters a samadhi which has its origin in
issues from his heart a mantra described as the heart of all Tathaga-
cana. Then the Bhagavat (who is really the manifested form of the
vajra, hook, etc.) from the hearts of all Tathagatas and places it in
Vairocana's hand. From the object there are manifested countless Ta-
This is one way the sutra has of reminding the reader that, despite
the various deities manifested, they all have their origin in the
above names.1
mita. These take their place around Vairocana in the very ce~ter
1MJ, pp. 234, 236, 239, 593. In his Hokekyoshaku Kukai refers
to the Kongochokyo (T. 18, No. 866, p. 288a) which suggests that
"Samantabhadra Bodhisattva is the enlightened mind of all Tathagatas.
Also, Samantabhadra is the absolute Dharmakaya." KCZ, Vol. 2, p. 389.
In his Kongo hannya haramitsu kyo _kaidai Kukai also quotes the same
sutra (T. 18, p. 250b) which says "Samantabhadra Dharmakaya pervades
everywhere and he is the Lord of this world's beings. He is without
beginning or end and is neither born nor dies." KCZ, Vol. 2, p. 433.
46
of the mat;~ala.
of the paramita under discussion and issues a mantra from his heart.
the paramita and creates another object symbolic of the deity which
becomes the single body of the universe. The paramita then takes
,
her place in the mandala .
and finally utters a verse descriptive of her
nature.
Four inner pujas: Vairocana now creates four pujas who are
offerings the four Tathagatas present four outer offerings who due
honour to Vairocana. These pujas are called inner and outer because
the former are within the large central circle while the latter are
mandala.
•. Each is conceived of as an aspect of Vairocana's enlighten-
he changes into the four inner pujas who externally are offered to
the four directions. These four inner pujas are known as the four
realized knowledges. The four outer pnj~s are changed forms of the
la. 1
the four guardians of the portals. Their names are Vajr~nku~a, Vajra-
ians who have, among other functions, those of attracting, drawing in,
tying and delighting all Buddhas in the mandala. They also protect
••
the various virtues of the enlightened mind.
arises. Vajrapa~a binds all living beings and draws them to the seat
snap of his fingers. Both Ennin and Donjaku say all are assembled in
they utter a verse proclaiming the common origin of all Buddhas from
the mandala •
••
graha.
to writing in de~ail. All the main deities of the mandala have been
••
presented above.
are outlined.
ing to Donjaku and Horiuchi, although Ennin says the acarya consecra-
powers the disciple, the latter tosses a flower onto the mandala and
••
49
after having the blindfold removed, is given the secret flask
consecration.
Section 5
1) Now the various sets of powers attained by means of
the four thunderbolt mudras and the general way of achieving union
with Vairocana.
ing Buddhahood with this Very Body, Kukai comments on T. 20, No.