The Short Commentary on the
Tantra of Twenty-one Homages to
The Treasure Vase of
Benefit and Happiness
Namo Guru Lokeshvaraya!
The Lord of Three Kayas[1],
Treasury of activities of
all the Victorious ones.
Ultimately, you are unelaborated
great bliss: Samantabhadri.
I bow to you, the fearless
swift mother of the Victorious ones,
As I briefly explain the verses of praise with devotion.
Venerable noble mother Tara is Kuntuzangmo,Tib Samantabhadri,Skt in the sphere of the dharmakaya[2], Dorje Phagmo,Tib or Vajravarahi,Skt in the sphere of the sambhogakaya[3], and Arya Tara in her nirmanakaya[4] form. Dorje Yangchenma, Tib and Lhamo Palchenmo,Tib are among her many other manifestations; each has a different name and form. In the Land of Snow, (Tibet) in particular, beings are benefited by her other inconceivable manifestations, specifically, Yeshe Tsogyal,Tib or Jhana Dakini[5].Skt Just by praying to her, with the help of her swift action, we can spontaneously accomplish the two purposes[6]. Therefore, it is of great benefit to persevere in this practice.
There are many different Indian and Tibetan traditions explaining
this “tantra[7] of
praise”. Motivated by devotion, I will
explain this tantra in accordance with “The Treasure Vase of Essential Great
Bliss of Inner Practice”, which is the profound mind-treasure[8]
teaching of the omniscient Rigdzin Jigme Lingpa. Each of the twenty-one verses is praise to
twenty-one manifestations.
Homage
to mother
Born from the blossoming stamens
Of the lotus face of the Lord of Three Worlds.
The first praise is to Nyurma Palmo,Tib the “Fearless Swift Lady”. Here we pay homage to the lady of activity who liberates beings from the temporal and perennial sufferings of samsara[9]. She is called “Swift Lady” because her impartial compassion[10] benefits beings without even an instant’s delay. She is the “Fearless Lady”, because she has the unhindered power to subdue demons, as well as the afflictions of beings. She protects beings from all fears. Her wisdom eyes move like the flash of lightning as she fully cognizes all phenomena. The lady endowed with omniscience, compassion, power, and activity was born from “the teardrops of the stamen-like eyes of the fully blossomed lotus-like face of Avalokiteshvara[11], the Savior of Three Worlds”. The three worlds are the sub-terrestrial, terrestrial and celestial realms, (the worlds of nagas[12], humans, and gods, respectively).
Homage to you whose face is like
The gathering of a hundred full moons in autumn,
Shining resplendent light
In the perfect, spacious constellation of a thousand stars.
The second verse is homage to Yangchenma,Tib the “Treasure of Wisdom”. The “Lady with a shining face like an array of hundred autumn full moons,” means her face is a hundred times fairer and more beautiful than the moon. Her right hand holds a mirror, which is like a full moon engraved with an HRI[17] syllable. The “perfect spacious constellation of a thousand stars,” refers to the field of her wisdom, which is abundantly spacious, and vast, like the countless, resplendent rays of the full moon. This light clears the darkness of the ignorance of practitioners, which is the cause of dullness, disease and possession by evils. It opens the door to the treasury of knowledge by illuminating the light of the four specific perfect understandings. These are the perfect understanding of the Dharma[18], (teachings) the perfect understanding of the definitive meaning, perfect confidence (in the doctrine) and the perfect knowledge of the Victorious Ones, (brilliance). According to a tantra, the inner meaning is “to serve the mother of the sphere” which means emptiness or the nature of mind. In order to look at our innate self, the face of the ultimate Vajravarahi, we must accumulate merit[19] and purify our mind-streams[20], so that they are like an “array of a hundred pure white moons.” Because of these practices, the door to her blessing will be opened by our true inclination. In that way, we can see ultimate luminosity and ignite our dynamic wisdom.
Homage
to you, the golden lady
Whose
hand is adorned with a blue lotus,
You
are the lord of the domain of the activities of generosity,
Diligence,
austerity, tranquility, patience and meditation.
The third praise is to Sonam
Thobkyedma,Tib the “Yellow Lady of Good Fortune”. She is beautiful; her skin is the color of
pure gold glittering in the early morning sun.
Her left hand is adorned with a blue lotus, upon which sits a gem that
bestows all wishes. She is the lord of
the Bodhisattvas’[21]
sphere of activity, which encompasses the transcendent perfections of
generosity, patience, diligence, ethics, tranquility, wisdom, and
meditation. Austerity, (in this context)
is ethics, and tranquility is wisdom and meditation. We pay homage to the unchallengeable lady who
has the ten powers: the power over life, the power over mind, the power over
wealth, the power over action, the power over birth, the power over
inclination, the power over aspiration, the power over miracles, the power over
primordial wisdom, and the power over dharma.
The outer meaning is that she has attained the completion of the six
perfections, in just one meditation. The inner meaning is
that her singular meditation is like a lotus, free from the flaw of
adherence to subject and object, and is endowed
with the completion of the six perfections.
Homage to you born from the Tathagata’s crown
Who enjoys boundless total victory,
Relied upon by the Sons of Conquerors
Who have achieved perfection.
The forth praise is to Namgyalma,Tib the “Victorious Lady”, the “One Who Has Accomplished Immortality.” The “Wisdom Goddess” of wisdom mantra, who emanates from the crowns of the Tathagatas[22], enjoys total victory over the boundless disruptive forces. Her complexion is golden, and she holds a vase of longevity. Bodhisattvas who have achieved the ten bhumis[23], the essence of the ten transcendent perfections, without exception, rely on her guidance as their spiritual mother. She enriches practitioners by dissolving the fourteen subtle essences of the animate, inanimate, and other subtle essences of samsara and nirvana[24]. In reality, she has achieved the sacred, unchanging body of eternity through the intention of Atiyoga[25], the crown of nine yanas[26].
Its Aspect and Space with TUTTARA and HUNG syllables,
You trample the seven worlds with your feet,
You have the power to command all forces.
The fifth is the praise to Rigyed Lhamo,Tib the
“All-Knowing Lady” who has the quality of magnetizing[27]. This red
There are a number of different identifications of the seven
worlds. Jetsun Drakpa Gyaltsen points
out they are the five goers, and the two upper realms, which makes seven. Drolgon Zhab says the seven worlds are the
realms of the nagas, pretas, asuras, humans, vidyadharas[30],
kinaras and gods; the seven realms with power.
In the commentary by Gedun Gyatso, the seven realms are comprised of the
six realms: (the realms of the gods, jealous gods, humans, animals, hungry
ghosts and hell-beings), and the realm of the bardo, (which is also known as
the intermediate state).
Others write that the seven worlds are: the sky, the form and
formless realms, and the worlds of ten directions. Rigyed Lhamo magnetizes and leads beings to
the path of the three yanas. The
ultimate meaning is that through practice, when non-conceptual neutral alaya’s
clarity is cognized, the formless realms dissolve. When the simple pure luminosity of the
undiscriminating clarity of alaya-vijnana[31],
or “base of consciousness” is cognized, the form realms dissolve. When mental consciousness is free from
delusion and the five sensory cognitions, the desire realm ceases. These cessations are the abiding purity, or
the fruition of purification. At this
stage of awareness, the seven worlds are the seven cognitions, where all the
concepts of desire and the other three realms without exception dissolve into
dharmadatu[32].
Homage
to you, who is worshipped by Indra,
Agni, Brahma, Vayudeva, Visvakarman
and Ishvara,
And
praised in your presence,
By a
host of spirits, zombies, gandharvas and yakshas.
The sixth homage is to Jigyed Chenmo,Tib the dark red “Great Terrifying Lady”, who holds a phurba[33] sparkling with HUNG syllables that destroy all evils. Indra, the king of gods; Agni, the sage; Brahma, the creator; Vayudeva, the wind god; the great Ishvara and all the great ones of the world, and the main guardians of the directions worship her. In front of her kneel a host of evil spirits who harm beings by their misguidance. There are spirits who cause insanity and memory loss, and spirits who turn corpses into zombies. There are gandharvas[34] of the bardo and the realm of Yama; yakshas like Semo, who deceive by seducing; king spirits who makes beings crazy and angry; and pishaca demons that eat flesh. All these evildoers await her orders with humility and respect. Homage is paid to Tara who crushes the heads of those difficult to tame, and makes them faint into the state of dharmadhatu. The inner meaning of this is that Indra and the other gods are the personification of five elements[35], and the spirits are the personification of the five aggregates[36]. Their reverence symbolizes the purity of the elements and aggregates, which are the base of the male and female Buddhas[37].
Homage
to you, who destroys malefic magical wheels,
With the
sounds of TRAT and PHAT
And
tramples with right leg outstretched and left leg drawn in
Dazzling
amidst whirling flames.
The seventh
homage is to Tumo Zhenge Methubma,Tib
the “Unchallenged Furious Lady”, who averts wars, lightning and hailstorms by
intoning TRAT and PHAT, which in Sanskrit means to tear and cut. These syllables thwart the magical wheels of
the intentional evil deeds of the eight classes of spirits. They avert lightning strikes and hailstorms,
and destroy cannons and other weapons of war.
To depict that she has gone beyond of the extremes of samsara and
nirvana by her compassion and realization of emptiness, her right leg is
outstretched and her left leg is drawn in, and tramples on malignant
beings. She conquers all fears of
nirvana and samsara with her power of
realization of emptiness and compassion.
She is black, and sits amidst flames.
Her wrathful wrinkles whirl like
ocean waves. Homage is paid to
the lady who wields a mystically blazing sword held atop a blue lotus that
burns all foes to ashes. The inner
meaning of her outstretched and drawn in legs is the sensory cognitions; when
the sensory cognitions perceive and harmonize the sensory objects, the samsaric
wars arise. By saying tear and cut, she
severs attachment to sensory objects and purifies them. This is the base of the male and female
Bodhisattvas.
Homage
to TURE, the great terrifying lady,
Who
defeats the champions of demons.
Your
frowning lotus face
Slays
all foes without exception.
The
eighth homage is to the dark red frowning lady, Zhen Megyalvai Palmo,Tib the “Invincible Fearless Lady”. We praise the lady who averts criticism and
other harms, which are the source of humiliation caused by our afflictive
emotion of pride. Her hand implement is
a vajra[38]. By reciting the mantra TURE, which means
“Swift Lady”, another of her names declaiming her swift compassionate action,
she arises in wrathful form from the tranquil dharmadhatu, and subjugates the
demons difficult to tame: the afflictions, the aggregates, the lord of death,
and the maras[39].
She transforms her blossoming lotus-like peaceful face into a wrathful, scowling face, and destroys the evil mind of outer enemies. She eliminates those who hate and abuse the dharma and its upholders, those who cause obstacles for practitioners, and those who harm sentient beings. In reality, she executes all foes without a trace: the afflictive obscurations that are the foes of liberation, and the knowable obscurations that are the foes of omniscience. The definitive meaning is that the base of the wrathful male and female deities, (the serving faculties) are the pure abiding nature of the four attributes of body, and the four classes of illusory conceptions. They eliminate the foes of omniscience: the knowable obscurations, and the foes of liberation: the obscuration of afflictive emotions.
In the
mudra symbolizing the Triple Gem at your heart.
Swirling
masses of light adorn you,
Permeating
every direction in beautiful circles.
The eight kinds of fears are:
1.
The fear of elephants represents the power of
ignorance. When ignorance grows strong,
one ignores the law of cause and effect, indulges in alcohol, (here the use of
alcohol is a symbolic of wrong view) and becomes crazy.
2. The
fear of iron chains symbolizes habituation to lust and desire that bind
together the senses and their objects.
3. The fear of pishaca demons signifies the doubt that steals the life force of nirvana, as it moves in the sky of ignorance, and the doubt that harms the understanding of ultimate meanings.
4. The fear of rivers (floods) is a symbol of desire, acting savagely. By the possession of spirits, the current of desire carries beings towards samsara in its tumultuous waves of birth, sick, aging and death caused by karmic wind.
5.
The fear of fire represents the power of anger that burns the forest of
virtue. Anger is the cause of anxiety,
which in turn causes quarrels, disputes, and partialities.
6. The fear of robbery corresponds to the wrong views that steal the treasure of the supreme goal. This causes one to wander aimlessly in the barren ground of wrong view, (and to) believe in extremes and low ascetic practices.
7. The
fear of reptiles represents jealousy, the poison of intolerance of another
person’s prosperity. Jealousy results in
everything becoming a cause for agitation.
8. The fear of lions. Signifies pride, the conceit of holding high ones own views and conduct. Pride causes one to (metaphorically) develop claws as sharp as a lion’s to belittle others.
These
and their casual factors are the eight fears.
Another set of eight fears, which are
the fruition of secondary afflictions are:
1. The
fear of punishment by kings caused by self-infatuation and harming others.
2. The fear of foes is caused by
hypocrisy, gloom, sloth and excitement.
3. The fear of evil spirits is caused
by dishonesty and deceit.
4. The fear of leprosy is caused by
lack of shame and dread of blame.
5. The fear of being lonely is caused by disbelief.
6. The fear of poverty is caused by
stinginess.
7. The fear of thunder is caused by
anger and enmity.
8. The fear of failure is caused by
indolence and carelessness.
Homage
is paid to the lady who protects us from these two sets of fears. The inner meaning is that her wheel of the
three primordial wisdom-minds, (the wisdom-minds of emptiness, clarity and
compassion, illustrated by the mudra symbolizing the Triple Gem) eliminates the
nine bonds and other afflictions, which is a cause for accomplishing the
fearless vajra of self-cognized luminosity.
By your
piercing laughter of TUTTARE,
You
subjugate the world and maras.
The tenth homage is to Jigten Sumgyal,Tib “Victorious Over Three Worlds”, who subjugates worldly beings. She is red and holds a victory banner. Multi-colored lights radiate from her crown, giving perfect joy and fulfilling the temporal and ultimate wishes according to the desires of beings. By saying the TUTTARE mantra melodiously with the eight attributes of laughter, (of the wrathful deity) she confuses and subjugates the demonic lords of the (sensory god realm), who are known as the “Controllers of Other’s Emanation”. She also subjugates kings, ministers, sorcerers, and wealthy householders and leads them to the path of liberation. In the root text, “the outer phenomena change only when self-appearances transform.” Therefore, subjugation is possible if the intention of the spiritual mother (non-dual emptiness-compassion) is attained, and there is no alternate method. The inner meaning is the four joys subjugate demons and afflictions. The subjugation of the three doors by blissful primordial wisdom is subjugation of the three worlds.
Homage
to you,
Who can
summon hosts of the protectors of earth.
By your
frowning movements and HUNG syllable,
You
bring freedom from all poverties.
The eleventh homage is to Thronyer Chenma,Tib the “Frowning Lady” who bestows wealth and dispels poverty. She summons the goddess of earth, the nagas, the god of wealth, yakshas and other lords of ten directions and their retinues to serve her activities. She is holds a treasure vase, and is orange in color. She is majestic, with a scowling face and a furrowed brow. Light radiates from the HUNG syllable at her heart, drawing in the wealth and prosperity of gods, nagas and humans. She showers the poor and needy with wealth, satisfying all their needs and freeing them from their sufferings. The inner meaning is that by purifying the earth-like ignorance that supports the world, the primordially perfect great merit is revealed, clearing samsara and nirvana of all poverty. This also indicates the Secret and Wisdom path.
Homage
to you, whose diadem is a crescent moon,
All your
adornments dazzle brightly.
From Amitabha at your
topknot.
The
twelfth homage is to Tara, Tashi Dongyed Dolma,Tib the “One Who
Bestows Auspiciousness” who brings timely rain, helps with childbirth, and
makes places auspicious. This golden
Homage
to you, who dwells amidst garlands
Blazing like the fire at the
end of an eon.
With
your right leg outstretched and left leg drawn in
Your
joyful turning destroys enemy forces.
The
thirteenth homage is to Drapung Jomma,Tib the “Tara Who Averts
War”. She averts wars and obstacles, and
leads beings to victory in the war with form and formless enemies. She is red in color and dwells amidst
garlands of wisdom fire swirling like the fire at the end of an eon. Her right leg is stretched out and left leg
is drawn in. Sparks of fire fly from the
prongs of the vajra she brandishes, subduing all harmful enemies. She comforts them by gathering them under the
vajra-tent that protects them from their own evil. With every skillful means[42],
she turns the wheel of dharma, according to the disposition of the beings to be
tamed. She makes them content and
joyous, and subdues the malefic forces of the two obscurations. The inner meaning is that this indicates the
realization that “exhausts all phenomena”.
Just as the fire at the end of the eon consumes the world, when the
primordial wisdom swirls in dharmadhatu, the outer earth and stones, the inner
animate body, and the secret conceptions are also exhausted. So the foes of the two obscurations[43]
are subjugated, and the joy of the great tranquility of the core of inner
clarity of primordial wisdom[44]
that does not dwell in the extremes of samsara and nirvana is experienced.
And
stamps upon it with your feet.
With
wrathful grimaces and HUNG syllable,
You
scatter the seven underworlds.
The
fourteenth homage is to Thronyer Chenzed,Tib the “Wrathful Wrinkled
(Frowning) Tara” who subdues the eight classes of harmful spirits and nine
malignant spirit brothers. She is black
like a dark night, and holds a wooden pestle upon a blue lotus. She makes the world tremble and quake by
striking the mountains and islands with the palms of her hands and stamping
upon them with her feet. By the power of
her regal frowning, the resounding vibration of HUNG, and the glare from her
radiant vajra light, which is like a fire-shower, she shatters the hearts and
heads of all malignant spirits: samaya[45]
breakers, demons and others from the seven underworlds and above, and makes
them faint into the state of dharmata[46]. The seven underworlds, which are like layers
of seven roofs, are: the abodes of demons, the general base, the higher base,
the baseless, the specific base, the base of essence, the perfect base, and the
pure base. In reality, the two soles
striking symbolize striking the crucial point of the path of the non-duality of
pristine wisdom and the basic sphere, which uproots the seven latencies or
seven cognitions with their objects.
Homage to you, who is blissful, virtuous and tranquil,
And enjoys the domain of peaceful nirvana
With (mantra) endowed perfectly with SVAHA and
You destroy all awful non-virtuous karma.
The fifteenth homage is to Rabtu Zhima,Tib the “Perfect Pacifier”, who pacifies the obscuration of negative
karma[47]. She sits on blue lotus, and is peaceful. Her color is white like a crystal moon and
she holds an anointing vase. She is free
from the fruition of suffering, and as a result, she is blissful She has
eliminated non-virtue, and as a result, she is virtuous. Her afflictions have ended, and
as a result, she is tranquil. She has gone beyond
the sufferings of the two obscurations and she enjoys and abides in the sphere
of sublime tranquility. By her power of
compassion, and power of reciting perfectly in accordance with the sadhana[48]
her twenty-three or eighteen syllable mantras, the five heinous negative karmas[49]
that make beings fall into the lower realms, and other karma that generates
great sufferings are uprooted and purified.
The mantra includes the additional syllables,
Homage to you, who is surrounded by joyous ones
Who completely scatter the bodies of enemies.
You liberate all with your speech, adorned with ten syllables
And HUNG: your pristine awareness.
The sixteenth homage is to Drolma Barvai Odcan,Tib the “Tara Who Averts the Enemies and Mantra’s Spell,” who is red
like the fire at the end of eon, sits on blue lotus, and holds a crossed
vajra. She is surrounded by a host of
vidyadharas and mendicants who have accomplished the practice of mantra and
power of truthful speech and are endowed with perfect joy of samadhi. Their radiance
scatters the bodies of the foes and overcomes the power of magical spells and
the power of sorcery, destroying them without a trace. By reciting her mantra arrangement of the ten
syllables, OM TARE and so on, she At the heart of the wrathful lady, awareness
rests in the form of a HUNG radiating light that clears the outer, inner, and
secret obscurations of the beings to be tamed.
The ultimate meaning is that by subduing the foe of the impure
appearance of our body, the awareness body of the Mother of the Victorious Ones
is accomplished: the unchanging great blissful body endowed with the ten
powers.
Homage to you whose seed syllable is HUNG
Who utters TURE and stamps your feet.
Causing Meru, Mandhara and Vindhya mountains
And the three worlds to tremble.
The seventeenth homage is to Dolma Pagmed Nonma,Tib the “Unfathomable Suppressor”, who averts harm from hunters,
thieves, robbers and enemies. She is
orange like saffron, sits on a blue lotus and holds a stupa[50]. By saying TURE, stamping on the ground, and
the radiating seed syllables from the HUNG at her heart, she shakes all the
abodes of the great gods, including
Homage to you, holding a hare-marked full moon,
Shaped like the god’s ocean of nectar
By uttering TARE twice and PHAT
You dispel all poison without exception.
The eighteenth homage is to Maja Chenmo,Tib the “Great Peahen”, who averts and pacifies poison. She is as white as the moon, and sits on a
blue lotus. In her left hand, she holds
a full moon marked with a rabbit, which is the shape of the ocean of nectar of
the god realm. With her radiance and her
chanting of the mantra, OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SARVA VETRA TARA PHAT SVA HA,
which has two TARES and a PHAT syllable, she clears all poisons, both animate
and inanimate, without a trace.
Generally, all obstacles arise from poisons, and the base of all the
animate and inanimate poisons is our afflictions. She clears all the poisons of sentient beings
without a trace with the medicine of the truth of reality.
Homage to you, on whom kings, congregations of gods,
Minor
gods, and kinaras rely.
Your armor of magnificent joy
Dispels all disputes and bad dreams.
The nineteenth is homage to Mipham Gyalmo,Tib the “Undefeated Queen”, who averts conflicts and bad dreams. She is white and holds a white umbrella. Indra, Brahma, gods of the desire and form realms, demons and local gods who harm beings, and the gods of mountains, lakes and trees who help beings, honor her without exception. In general, by the mantra that is blessed by her and the visualization of her body as armor, all conflicts and bad dreams can be averted. In particular, the multi-colored vajras and the sparkles they emit avert religious and political critics, and make their statements powerless.