A

Dunhuang Manuscript on Vajraklaya,"

by Robert Mayer and Cathy Cantwell
The Tibet Journal 19:1 (1994)

Reprint: A Dunhuang M"anuscript

on Vajrakflaya:*
[IOL MSS TIB J 754,

81-82]

Robert Mayer and Cathy Cantwell*'"

The manuscript presented here was recently identified among the

Stein Collection of the India Office Library, London, by Dr Kimiaki

Tanaka of Tokyo. This manuscript dealing with Vajrakilaya, like
several other Dunhuang Mss., is written on the back of some
apparently quite unrelated Chinese documents. Although the
handwriting is clear and confident, there are several corrections,
crossings out, and probable spelling errors in the text, which
perhaps indicate, as the brevity of the contents and the informal
page layout would further suggest, that the materials we have here
constitute a rough or hastily made aide-memoire intended for
personal use, rather than a complete text. The topics dealt with
include:

(1)

the dimensions of the material ki1a, i.e. the ritual object, and
the visualisations and hlantras to be employed in consecrat
ing it;

(2)

the practice of sgrol-ba, or liberating killing, in which

obstacles

are

simultaneously

destroyed

and

spiritually

liberated;

(3)
(4)

the practice of the Four Mudras according to Yogatantra;

the practice of sbyor-ba, or sexual yoga, in which sexuality is
taken up as a part of the spiritual path.

The Tibet Journal is reprinting this particular article due to errors

made in the first printing.

**

It is thanks to the kindness of Mr. Tanaka that we were [("Ide

aware of the existence of this text, as well as being furnished
with its precise catalogue details. Dr. Michael 0' Keefe and Mr.
Stuart May of the India Office Library generously supplied us
with inexpensive yet superbly clear photocopies, without which
this work would have been impossible.

REPRINT: DUNHUANG MANUSCRIPT

55

Apart from the first of these, the material insofar as it is

presented here, differs little from that of modern Vajrakilaya liter
ature, or from that preserved in such older collections as the

rNying-ma rgyud-'bum. However, as we point out in our

comments below, even the differences in the first topic might not
really be differences at all, if a simple scribal error can be admitted.
The second, third and fourth topics seem to be substantially similar
to the later tradition. Similar visualisations and meditations
continue to be used in the practice of sgrol-ba in the contemporary
Vajrakilaya tradition, while Yogatantra's Four Mudras of sku
phyag-chen, chos phyag-rgya, thugs-dam or dam-tshig phyags-rgya,
and las phyag rgya, are described in modern rNying-ma-pa works, such

as Dudjom Rinpoche's bsTan-pa'i rnam-gzllag. However, it is interesting to

note that the later tradition assigns Vajrakilaya predominantly to

Mahayoga, rather than Yogatantra; while another Dunhuang text, Pelliot

44, is understood by several distinguished scholars as indicating that

Vajraldlaya was at that time taught according to several different yanas.

Finally, the terse description of the practice of sbyor-ba given here does
not, as far as it goes, demonstrate any noticeable departures from later
tradition. It is equally noteworthy that the mantras found in this manu
script are not very different from those of the later tradition. As we point
out below, several of them occur but little changed, to perform similar or
identical functions, in texts from the rNying-ma rgyud-'bum, or by later
authors.
An interesting feature of this Ms is that while we have found that at
least some of the materials it contains are also found among the
voluminous Vajraldlaya scriptures of the rNying-ma rgyud-'bum, they are
not found in the short rDo-rje phur-pa rtsa-ba'i dum-bu, the sole
VajrakIlaya text contained in the Kanjur, and the most important text for
3
the Sa-skya-pa Kilaya tradition (although, of course, it must be pointed
out that the materials contained in the Sa-skya text itself are also all
contained within several of the longer rNying-ma-pa texts, from which

they appear to have been taken out as excerpts or key passages). In

addition, this Ms makes

reference to an un-named Vajrakllaya Tantra,

which apparently gives detailed instructions on how to make a kila, in its

familiar form with knots and a triangular blade. While such detailed
instructions are not found, as far as we know, in any Kanjur texts at all,
they are found among the scriptures from the rNying-ma rgyud-'bum. As
we describe below, the Phur-pa bcu-gnyis, for example, teaches how to

make such a kila in Chapter 10, and how to project visualisations upon it
and consecrate it, in Chapter 11, in terms remarkably close to those of the

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manuscript,

JOURNAL

including

the use of similar mantras. This might suggest that

at least some of the s crip tu re of the rNying-ma rgyud-'bum was already

in existence before this manuscript was written.

The manuscript bears many of the distinctive features of other early

Tibetan materials, be they Dunhuang Mss or ins c rip t i on s: the gi-gu is

often reversed, or used where we would nowadays expe ct a 'greng-bu,
and the ya-btags is added to words where we would no l onger apply it

An interesting feature of the orthogmphy is the haphazard appr oach to

the transliteration of Sanskrit mantras, suggesting that this text was

written before the standardisation of Sanskrit transliteration that took

place under Ralpachen had taken full effect. Hence, the name of the
consort of Vajrakilaya, Diptacav.r3, is transliterated, in one of the

consecration mantras, as "tib ta cag kra" - kilaya is sometimes, but nor

always, rendered as "kyilaya," and seed syllables like hum, oIp and phat
are represented in
a number of different ways in different places "
(although we have not always been able to convey this latter feature in
the transliteration).

Attached to this text is a reproduction of the manuscript, generously

provided by the kind permission of the British Library Board. We have

done what we can in the transliteration, preserving all the punctuation

and including words that have been crossed through or inserted

marginally by the author. Our attempts at translation are interspersed

within the transliteration, and our comments appear beneath each section.
Where the handwriting or vocabulary proved too difficult to read with
certainty, we have underlined the parts that remain doubtful.

TEXT AND TRANSLATION:

Idkon mchog gsum4 phyag 'tshal lol

Homage (to) the Three Jewels!

/ki la ya'i las5 bya ba nil

(In order to) practice the rites of Kjlaya:

bdag phyag rgya chen por gsal bar bsgoms del

dearly meditating upon oneself as the mahamudra,

/ki la ya'i rgyud brdags la mgo rgya mdud ma gdogs par bar/

Isor brgyad par bgyi/

6
keeping in mind (the instructions of) the KHaya Tantra, one makes (a kila
7
with a shaft) eight inches long up to and not including the head (and)

the knotted cords.

Izur bzhi rtse lOo zur gsum/

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REPRINT: DUN HUANG MANUSCRIPT

have) four sides, the point (shouid have) three sides,

It (sh ould
l
gzhan dum po

or o therwise be circular.

COMMENT

that the scribe here has mistakenly written sor-brgyad

It is not impossible
for zur-brgyad. If zur-brgyad was indeed intended, this would give us the
more immediately recognisable reading that the y.jla's shaft has eight

facets for its length in bebveen but not including the knotted cords and

the head. The zur-bzhi mentioned next would apply to the four-square
area around which the cords are knotted; rtse-mo zur-gsum would refer
to the triangular blade; and gzhan-zlum-po would mean that

mainder of the lOla, i.e. the head, is circular.

the re

This reading would bring

the description of the klla exactly in line with the descriptions found in
the surviving Kilaya tantras of the rNying-ma rgyud-'bum (for example,
8
Chapter 10 of the Phur-pa bcu-gnyis), or with the standard modem

Tibetan and Nepalese kllas, as well as bringing it closely in line with the

descriptions of kIlas given in the majority of Indk sources such as the

ilpaSastras. More importantly, it would also bring the Ms in line with
another Kilaya text from Dun huang, Pelliot 44, which seems to give the

kila's shaft eight spokes (rtsibs) 9 However, one does not want to
,

jump

to

con clusions too quickly.: eight inches is one of the few permitted lengths

for a kila, according to the Phurpa bcu gnyis Ch. 10 (p.l06, line
-

7),

and

kilas with round points are sometimes found in the Sino-Japanese tantric

traditions, although they are not usual in other Tibetan sources. This Ms
might simply mean exactly what it says!

/rgya mdud kyi steng du bdag gi Iha gang bsgom pa'i snying pol
One should individually establish the essence (syllable) for meditating on
the Lord's divine palace10 above the knotted cords;
/ngos bzhir rigs bzhi snying pol

the essence (syllables of) the fou r families (on) the four faces;

/zur bzhir yum b:c.hi snying pol

the essence (syllables of) the four femde consorts (at) the four sides;
ma zur bzhi la lha mo bzhi snying pol Iso sor dgo d/

and the essence (syllables of) the four goddesses (at) the four lower sides.
COMMENT

If this ManUSCript agrees with the later tradition, then the four families

mentio ned here would refer to those of Buddha, Ratna, Padma and

Karma,

w hose lords take up the four directions. The central family of

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THE TIBET

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Vajra occupies the hollow centre of the kHa, represented by the central
deity Vajrakllaya himself, in union with his consort. The four female
consorts mentioned next are perhaps those of the lords of the four
families. The four goddesses might be the well-known four female
gatekeepers or messengers who wield the iron hook, the noose, the chain,
and the bell (see below); however, there are also other sets of goddesses

in the later tradition, including those who are emanated to take the lives
of the enemies of the Dharma.

ki la ya byin kyis rlabs pa'i phyir/

In order to consecrate the klla,

skus byin kyis rlab pa'i snying pa'if

(one employs) the essence (mantra) of consecrating with (Buddha)
Body:

om tshin dha tshin dha da ha da ha ha na ha nal

tib ta cag kra hum phad/

01)1 chindha chindha daha daha hana hana

diptacakra hulP phat;

gsung gis byin kyis rlabi sngags dhri 5m bhur bu bal

the mantra to consecrate with (Buddha) Speech: dhri orp. bhur bhuva;

thugs kyis byin kyis rlab pa'i sngags;U

and the mantra to consecrate with (Buddha) Mind:

m badzra ra tsa hung!

om vajra raja hul1'.

snying po 'di mam Ian nyi shu tsa re re bzlaI

These essence (mantras) should each be recited twenty times.
COMMENT

Chapter 11 of the Phur-pa bcu-gnyis is devoted to methods of conse-

crating the klIa, the manufacture of which was described in Chapter 10.

Here, the mantra for bestowing the consecration of Buddha Body, "with

the bodhicitta of the yab and yum in union," is quite similar to that of the
12
Ms, as follows: 011' cindha cindha hana hana tiptacakra hurp.. To bestow

the consecration of Buddha Speech, however, the Phur-pa bcu-gnyis .

gives the more variant reading, badzra phur bu; 13 but this might well be

a corruption of the bhur bhu ba of the Ms, since the latter resembles a"
well-known Sanskrit mantra (the vyhriti mantra, alP bhur bhuva), while
the Tibetan word phur-bu, meaning a kilaka or small kTla, should not

...

REPRINT: DUN HUANG MANUSCRIPT

59

normally occur .in a Sanskrit mantra. To bestow the consecration of

Buddha Mind, the Phur-pa bcu-gnyis gives the approximately parallel

mantra, OIJl badzra sata radza hUI}'I.14

15
/lag pa g-yas ni thabs/ g-yon ni shes bar gnyis gyi bar du bcug ste/

T he right hand is means, and the left hand is wisdom; (the k!la) is
inserted in between the two of them,

/g@& la bya ba lal

(from) where the (following) activities (take place):

lcags skyu'i pho nyas bgyigs kyi snying po nas dran s tel

the messenger with the iron hook drags the obstacles 6 by their hearts;

'gugs thag gcad par bsaml

think (of them) as definitely summoned,

/mngon gsum dang 'dra bar dmyigs sti/

and then, concentrating

17

(on them) as though they were actually pre se nt,

/zhags pas cinw

meditate that (they) are bound with the noose,

leag sgrog tu bcugl

put in iron chains,

18
dril bus mnan par bsam!
and subdued by the bell.
COMMENT

This set of four messenger goddesses wielding iron hook (VajrMlkuI),

noose (Vajrapasi), iron chain (Vajrasrnkhala) and bell (Vajraghat:\ta),
continues to occur in exactly the same context in modem Vajrakilaya
smad-las rituals. For example, in the bDud-'joms gnam-lcags sp u gri, in the
-

section on sending forth the messengers (pho-nya btang-ba), which is part

of the "Generation and summoning of that which is to become the object

(of liberation)", (dmigs-bya bskyed 'gugs), preceding the actual liberating

killing (sgroI chog dngos), the four occur with the same implements and
19
functions.
The one exception is that, as in many other contexts where
the four are described, the activity of the fourth messenger is described

as myos-byed, to intoxicate or madden the hostile forces and obstacles,

rather than mnan, subdue, given in the Ms.

Ide nas kyi la ya dril ba'i tshel

Then comes the time to roll the kila:

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thabs dang shes rab zung du 'breI ba'i bar nasi

from in between the wisdom and means joining together

thugs rje chen po'i dbang las!

by the power of great compassion,
lye shes kyi 'ad zer byung ste!
rays of pdmordial awareness light arise;

!rul pa'l :e,hro'u sna !shogs

!iU

b5am!

t:..ink of them as the various projections of emanations.

/sngags ia om ga ga ga ta yaJ
With the mantra OIT! gha gha gM ta ya/
sa rba du stha na phad/
sarva dutan phat
/kyi

la ya kyi la yaJ

kHaya kilaya

sa rba pa pam na phad hulp hull' badzra ki la yaJ

sarva papm phat hurp. harp vajrakilaya
ba dzra da ro ad nya pa ya Ii bug d ta20 ba dzra ki la ya hurp. hulp phat
phat cis brjod zlas sti/
vajradhara ajnapayati P..Y.g dUa vajrakHaya hfull hurp. phat phat: reciting
this,

gdab!
Strike!

21
/khro bo'i spml pas bgig kyi Ius drul phran bzhin bshigs!
The Wrathful One's em anations will smash up the bodies of the obstacles
into dust,

/sems

mam

par thar pa'i rochog gi snying po Ia bgodl

22

while their minds will be established

in the supreme essence of complete

liberation.

24
rang bzhin mgos po 1as23 ci yang ma yin ba'i ngang du gyur par bsam/
Think of them as being transformed into the basic state which has no
own-being whatsoever.
COMMENT

The r olling (dril-ba) of the kIla between the left hand (visualised as

wisdom) and the right hand (visualised as means), followed by the

visualised emanation of KIlaya deities and the final climactic strike

REPRINT: DUNHUANG MANUSCRIPT 61

(gdab-pa) into the obstacles summoned into the lioga, remains to this day
of the rite of sgrol-ba as practi sed within the jI"-.1laya
the central feature
tradition. [nterestingly, the Phur-pa bcu-gnyis pre scrib es the following
mantra, par a l ie! to the one in the manuscript, for the moment of striking:
ot!l gha gIla ghataya

sarbadll;;tana maraya phatl kilikflaya sarba papam phatl

Tta1J'l hal!,! hu1J'l badzra kflaya /1adzndhara ajfiiipayatil kayavakcitta hadzra

kflaya ltil1!l phatP

According to the Phur-pa bcu-gnyis, this mantra is that of the emanated

!<Ilaya goddess rDo ry e sDer-mo, who se function is to destroy enemies and

ob stacle s. Hence, Chapter 20 of the Ph ur-pa bcu-gnyis tells us that th is

mantra must be recited fiercely either seven or twenty-one times, precisely
26
at the moment of striking the kila into the effigy to kill the enemy. The

later tradition retains the same theme as the rite of sgroI described in the
Ms: while the bodies of the obstacles are "smashed into dust" by the
"Wrathful One's emanations," their minds are simultaneously tran sfer red

to the state of complete liberation and highest bliss. Similar sentences

occur in innum er ab le later Kllaya rituals.

Ide nas phyogs mtshams rdo rje ra bas bead dol

Then, seal the boundaries with a vajra-enclosure.

/lus bsrung!
The body is (thus) protected.

/bgegs tshad gnan pa'i sngags shi ri he ru kha rna ha badzra sa rba du
stha pra ban ca ka ha na ha na hUIll phat ces zlasl
27
The mantra for punishing and suppressing the obstacles: sri
heruka mahavajra sarva dutan prabhailjaka hana hana hlu}1 phat; recite
this.

/di 'dra ba'i las la/ bdag yid hes par bgyi/28

One shoul d accomplish such act ivi ties with confidence.

COMMENT

In later VaJrakilaya literature, the sealing of the boundaries with

vajra-enclosure is normally done before beginning a ritual; however, after

cer tain smad-Ias rituals; the p rotec ti . e enclosure is recreated ag ain at the
end of the ritual, to protect the practitioner ag ai n st hannful counter

responses to his prac t ke. It is possible that this is what is being alluded

to here. We cannot at this stage locate the m antra in other sou rces. The

indistinct element pra ban 0 ka might refer to some word generated from

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the Sanskrit root bhaflj, meaning to crush, rout or defeat. A similar

mantra, for"all the Mothers," occurs in Chapter 6 of the Tattvasarn graha. It

/phyag rgya chen po bzhi lal

Regarding the four mahamudras: (they are)

/sku phyag rgya dang!

the (Buddha) Body mudra,

chos gyi phyag rgya dang!

the dhannamudra,

dam tshig gi phyag rgya dang!

the samayamudra,

las kyi phyag rgya'o/

and the karmamudra.

sku'i phyag rgya nil

As for the (Buddha) Body mudra,

bdag nyid yi dam gi lhar gsal bar bsgom ba la bya'0/

it is to clearly meditate on oneself as the yidam-deity.

/chos kyi phyag rgya ni thugs kar zla ba'i steng du sngags gyi 'bru bgod
pa 1a bya'o/
As for the dharmamudra, it is to establish

29

the mantric seed (syllables)

above the moon in one's heart.

/dam tshig phyag rgya ni pad rna la rdo rje gnas pa la30 bya'o/
As for the samayamudra, it is to make the vajra remain in the lotus.

/las kyi phyag rgya ni spa ra na pat dang sang ha ra na hum la bya'of

As for the karmamudra, this is doing (the emanating and reabsorbing of

light rays) with "spharaQa phat" and "sarpharal)a hurn".
COMMENT

This section corresponds very closely to the practice of the Four Mudras
according to Yogatantra, as described by modem authors such as Dudjom
32
Rinpoche and Mipham Gyamtso.
This is interesting, since the later
tradition classifies'Vajrakilaya as Mahayoga, rather than Yogatantra. It
should be noted that the better known four mudra system of the
Anuttarayogatantras, such as the Hevajra, is different. The Sanskrit

..

01'[1

heruka vajrasamnya sarvadu$tasamnyamudraprabhafijaka hUm pilat

Thanks to Professor Alexis Sanderson for this information.

REPRINT: DUNHUANG MANUSCRIPT

63

mantras of the karmamudra given in the manuscript are still used

in nlodern Vajrakilaya rituals while emanating and re-absorbing

light rays, for example to generate the deity from the seed syllable,
or to invite the jnanasattva and merge it with the samayasattva.
33
See, for instance, the short Sa-skya-pa liturgy Nges-don thig-le.
On Yogatantra's karmamudra as the emanation and re-absorption

of light rays, see H.V. Guenther, op.cit., pp.l84 and 190.

/dag pa roam gsum34 nes bdag pa dang! gzhan dag pa36 dang
sprul pa dag pa'ol
As for the Three Purities: these are the purities of oneself, of the
other, and of the emanations.

/bdag dag pa ni sku'i phyag rgya ched par bsgom ba la bya'o

As for the Rurity of oneself, this is to do the meditation on the
37
mahamudra of the (Buddha) Body.

gzhan dag pa ni sgeg

rna

dmyig gi yul tel mchod pa'i Iha mo la

bya'ol
As for the purity of the other, this is to make a seductive girl the
object of one's concentration, (seeing her) as an offering goddess.

/sprul pa dag pa nil de gnyis kyi bar nas 'phro zhing 'du ba la
bya'oll

As for the pure emanations, they are produced by the emanations

and re-absorptions from between these two.
COMMENT

The description of the practice of sbyor-ba, or sexual yoga, given

here, is too terse to permit detailed comparisons with later sources.
However, the basic three-fold structure described in this manuscript
is highly evocative of the basic structure of later rNying-ma-pa
accounts of sexual yoga: in Anuyoga, for example, there is a triad
of the male partner (Samantabhadra), the female partner (Saman
38
tabhadrt), and their son or emanation.

Notes
1. See Dudjom Rinpoche, The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism, trans.
Dorje and Kapstein, Boston, 1991, p.356. See also H.Y. Guenther,

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BlIddlzist Philosophy in Tlleory and Practice, Pelican Books, London,

1972, pages 184 and 190.

2. See "Padmasambhava's Invention of the Phur-bu Ms PeHiot Tibetaine

44" by F.A. Bischoff and Charles Hartman, Etudes Tibetaines dediees
Marcelle Lalou, Paris, 1971, pp.11-28; and R.A. Stein's further analysis
of this text, "A propos des documents anciens relatifs au phur-bu
(kHa)," Csoma de Karos Symposium, Bibliotheca Orientalis Hung., Vol
XXII, Budapest, 1978, pp. 427-444.
3. Peking Kanjur, Vol. 3, No. 78; sDe dge, Toh.439.
4. The particle "\a" which one would usually expect here has been
omitted.
5. There is a "pa" or "sa" here, which appears to have been crossed
out.
6. brdags
brtags?
7. gdogs
gtogs?
8. "Phur-pa bcu-gnyis," pp.1-199, Vol. 19 (DZA) of t.he Khyentse Edition
of the rNying-ma rgylld- '1111 In, Thimphu, 1973. All citations are from this
editon, unles otherwise stated.
9. See Bischoff and Hartman, op.cit., p.20, verse 21a.
10. lha-gang
lha-khang?
11. The head letter "sa" here has been written badly, almost appearing
like a "ma".
12. "Phur-pa bcu-gnyis," p.lll line 7 to p.112 line l.
13. Ibid., p.lll lines 5-6.
14. Ibid., p.l11 line 6.
15. The particle "la" has been written here, but crossed out.
16. bgyigs == bgegs?
17. dmyigs-sti
dmigs-te?
18. There is a crossed though letter "na" immediately precedi.ng the "m".
19. See The Collected Wcrks of H.H. I1Dud- 'joms Rin-po-che, n.d., n.p., Vol.
10, pp.457-458.
20. There is a crossed out gi-gu above the "ta".
21. The word Iflus" is written and crossed out here.
22. It seems that here, as below, bgod
dgod.
23. The particle "las" is written just below the line, with a mark to show
where it shouL! be inserted, as though it were initially omitted and
added later.
24. A letter 'nga" has been written and crossed through, immediatly
before the "ya".
25. "Phur-pa bcu-gnyis,1f Chapter 13, p.222 A, tine 3, sDe-dge N.G.B. Vol
PA. This mantra is, of course, well-known in the Guhyasam aja
literature.
-

REPRINT: DUNHUANG MANUSCRIPT 65

26. "Phur-pa bcu-gnyis," Chapter 20, p.172.
chad?
27. tshad
e
is
a punctuation mark here of three circles resembling the
28. Ther
" "
roman a, placed vertically one above the other.
dgod ?
29. bgod
gnas
!a pap la bya'a /. But it seems that the oIla pa" are crossed
Or
30.
gh
throu .
31. There is a punctuation mark here of two circles resembling the letter
" "
a , placed one above the other.
32. See note 2 above.
33. sGrub-thabs kun-btus, Vol. PA, pp.165-169.
34. A letter "rna" has been written and crossed through, between the
"ga" and the "sa" of "gsum".
35. The particle "ni" is written below the line, with a mark to show
where it should be inserted.
36. A single letter has been written here and crossed out, possibly
another "pa".
37. ched
chen?
38. See H.V. Guenther, op. cit., pp.207-208.
=

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Reproduced by kind permission of the British Library Board.

67