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8
The Life of Maitrīpā/Maitreyanātha
from a Thirteenth-Century Tibetan Hagiography
(MS 1095 of the Tucci Tibetan Fund)
MaRCO PaSSavanTi

8.1 Introductory Remarks

The following translation of the life of Maitrīpā is an excerpt from the Bla ma rgyud
pa’i rim pa (LGR), a thirteenth-century Tibetan hagiography on the Dohā lineage of
Saraha. The LGR is the first section of a manuscript collection of explanatory texts on
Saraha’s Three Cycles of Dohā (Do hā skor gsum) entitled Ū phyogs gzigs par źu’ | dpal sa
ra ha’i mdo ha’i grel [= ’grel ] pa lags. 1 in 2008 i published a diplomatic edition of the
manuscript copy of the LGR kept in the Tucci Tibetan Fund along with an outline of
the text. 2 The author of the LGR remains anonymous, but in the colophon he traces
back his lineage to Par phu pa Blo gros seṅ ge (mid-to late 12th cent.) who lived two
generations before him. 3 Thus, we can safely place the author of the LGR in the first
half of the 13th century. Unfortunately, the colophon does not mention the place
where the manuscript was written, nor we do know the place where Giuseppe Tucci
found the text.
The structure and the content of the LGR presents striking analogies with the frag-
ments of the Kaiser Library MS 142: both texts open with the legendary account of the
Buddha Śākyamuni travelling down south to expound the teaching on amanasikāra to a
vast retinue of disciples; in addition, both texts describe a dharmadhātumañḍala, and both
texts refer to the siddhas nāgārjuna, Saraha, Śabareśvara, and Maitrīpā. as to the hagio-
graphy of Maitrīpā contained in the LGR, it follows the general narrative structure of the
MS 142, but contains a more detailed account of his life: we find a long description of
Maitrīpā’s meeting with Śabareśvara, a precise reference to the sacred geography of Śrī-
parvata, and an account of Maitrīpā’s return to the Middle Country; furthermore, we
find five short songs ascribed to Śabareśvara and his two yoginīs. although these narra-
tive elements are found, with little variations, in the later Tibetan hagiographies, the
account of the LGR remains one of the most complete and detailed. 4

1
MS 1095 of the Tucci Tibetan Fund. For the cat-
aloguing of the text see De Rossi Filibeck (2003: 395-
396) and Passavanti (2008: 485-486). The collection is
divided into seven sections: the first section (text
1095.1) is the Bla ma rgyud pa’i rim pa, while the other
sections (texts 1095.2–1095.7) are six rare commen-
taries on Saraha’s Do hā skor gsum, authored by Par
phu pa Blo gros seṅ ge.
2
Passavanti 2008.
3
On the life of Par phu pa Blo gros seṅ ge (differ-
ently spelled as sPar phu ba Blo gros seṅ ge, sPa phu
ba Blo gros seṅ ge) see Schaeffer (2005: 64-65).
4
For further information on the life of Maitrīpā
according to the Tibetan hagiographical tradition see
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Marco Passavanti

8.2 Paleographic and Orthographic Remarks (fols. 7v1-12v9)

The LGR consists of 15 folios (1-15r), cm 31 × 10, with nine lines per page. The manu-
script is written in dbu med and is almost entirely legible and well preserved. apart from
several scribal errors, we find the following linguistic and orthographic pecularities:
1) Use of orthographic abbreviations (bsdus yig): thaṃd for thams cad; rdoe for rdo rje;
seṃn for sems can; seṃdpa’ for sems dpa’; khaṃsuṃ for khams gsum; yotan for yon tan; ’brus
for ’bras bu. Furthermore, the scribe employed the orthographic abbreviation bheṃ for
bhāvanā; to the best of my knowledge, this form is not attested in other sources. 5 i have
been able to reconstruct its meaning only by referring to the context in which this word
occurs.
2) We find a few examples of alternative spelling: luṅ stan for luṅ bstan; bslob dpon
for slob dpon; blo bur for glo bur ; ’jal for mjal; ’gur for mgur ; ’gon po for mgon po; gdam ṅag
for gdams ṅag ; gda’ for brda’ and mda’ ; rims kyis for rim gyis; ṅal so for ṅal gso; rka blas for
dka’ las.
3) Occasional use of the grammatical particle ba for pa: naṅ ba, phyin ba, etc.
4) Use of reversed gi gu, mainly for Sanskrit transliterations: pan bï ta, kha sar pa nï.
5) Use of da drag : pha rold du phyin pa, gyurd.
6) Palatalisation of ma in the negative particle mi, which is sometimes written with
the ya btags: myi.
7) Wrong transliteration of indic terms: pan bi ta, pañ bï ta, pañ pi ta, pan pi ta, pañ
bi ṭa for pañḍita; ’bhu ta, bhu ta for buddha; dha ma ru for ḍamaru; ma ’dal, ma dhal for
mañḍala; dho ha for dohā.
8) Use of numeral graphemes (1, 2, 3, 4): yul 1; 2 su; dus 3, etc. We find also the use
of numeral graphemes as homophones: lhan 1 skyes pa for lhan cig skyes pa; 1 car for cig
car ; 4n for bźin. Furthermore, the scribe employed the numeral grapheme 1 (gcig) with
the meaning of the imperative particle cig : soṅ 1.
9) Use of two logograms: one meaning med and one meaning sogs.
10) Employing of the anusvāra sign for the consonant m: yuṃ, thaṃs cad, seṃs, rnaṃs,
etc.
11) Final reduplication in ho: gsuṅs s.ho.
12) There is a pleonastic use of ’a: bcu’, bźi’, gti’ mug, bde’ ba, brda’, etc.
13) Contractions, such as lagso, yongsu, naṃkha’, are sometimes used.

Tatz (1987; 1988) and Brunnhölzl (2007: 125-131). rNam rgyal tshe riṅ, Bod yig skuṅ yig phyogs sgrig
5
Cf. bsDus yig gser gyi a loṅ. A handbook of abbrevia- (Chengdu, Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khaṅ, 1994).
tions (Dzonkha Development Commission, 2011,) and

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The Life of Maitrīpā from MS 1095 of the Tucci Tibetan Fund

8.3 Translation (LGR fols. 7v1-12v9)

The disciple of Śrī Śabareśvara(pāda) 6 was Maitrīpā, 7 the son of the victorious One.
He was born in india, in the Central Region, in the town of Kapilavastu, 8 by a temple
called Dza ya kar ni ka (sic). 9 He was the son of the Brahmin nānūkā 10 and of his wife
Sāvitrī. 11 His parents called him Dāmodara. 12 He remained with his father and his
mother until the age of eleven.
Then, as a non-Buddhist follower, he was called Sa ha na dzā a nan ta (sic). He took
up the life of a ‘Single Staff’ Brahmin (ekadañḍa) 13 and memorized all the grammatical
works and the traditional sciences of the non-Buddhists. Later he moved to the region
of varendhrā. 14 For one year he studied the grammar of Pāṇiṇi with a grammarian cal-
led Li kha. 15
He had no conviction in the philosophical tenets of the non-Buddhists. Thus, with
the help of an aunt who interceded for him, he requested religious instruction to the
venerable nāropā—a famous Buddhist scholar—who eventually granted it. [nāropā]
first cut his brahmanic rope, then gave him some liquor to drink, and finally empowe-
red him. He gave him the secret name of Rāgavajra. 16 For six years he studied Mantra
and Prajñāpāramitā, Madhyamaka and Pramāṇa.
He studied for three years the philosophical tenet of the nirākāra-Cittamātrins with
Ratnākaraśānti, the teacher who was the jewel among the pañḍita s.
Later he studied for two years the doctrines of the Buddhist and non-Buddhist vehi-
cles with the pañḍita Dzña na śi la (sic)17 of vikramaśīla.
Thereafter, he went to the monastery of vikramaśīla; 18 at the presence of the abbot
Śāntipā 19 he became a fully ordained monk. He studied the vinayapiṭaka for four
years. 20
as to the doctrine of the essential meaning, since he had not yet understood the
meaning of the Five Stages and the Four Seals—pertaining to the Lineage of Gradual
awakening—and the doctrine of the Brahmin Saraha—pertaining the Lineage of

6
dPal Ri khrod dbaṅ phyug. Throughout the text we of the tribal people in order to pursue their own
find the Tibetan translation of the indic name Śaba- specific religious purposes. For a discussion of the role
reśvara(pāda) (dPal Ri khrod dbaṅ phyug, Ri khrod of tribal and outcaste people in indian vajrayāna
dbaṅ phyug źabs), or the Tibetan transliterations of Buddhism see Davidson (2002: 224-234).
7
the indic names Śabara and Śavari(pā) (Śa ba ri dbaṅ Me tri ba in the text.
8
phyug, Śa ba ri, Śa ba ri pa, Sa ba ri pa). The enigmat- Ga bi la in the text.
9
ic figure of Śabareśvara is portrayed as a siddha who MS: Jhāḍakaraṇī.
10
retired on the mountain of Śrīparvata, assuming the Dha nu in the text.
11
customs of a Śabara hunter. in fact, the name Śavaripā Sa bi tri in the text.
12
is an etnonym which refers to a tribal group of South Dha ma ra in the text.
13
india, the Śabara or Savara, who have been identified The ekadañḍa s, probably a Śaivite group of asce-
with the modern Saora tribe of Orissa, Chattisgarh tics, are ridiculized in Saraha’s Dohākośa. Cf. Jackson
and Madhya Pradesh. The Śabaras and other outcaste (2004: 54). according to MS, Maitrīpā, as an ekadañḍa
groups are frequently found in Buddhist tantric liter- ascetic, was called Martabodha.
14
ature, where they embody an idealized state of free- Bha ri dha in the text.
15
dom and spontaneity. Such rhetoric of spontaneity, MS: Līkhaṭī.
16
which may sound like an indian version of the ‘good according to MS, Rāgavajra is Maitrīpā’s tantric
savage’, does not necessarily imply that the Buddhist teacher.
17
establishment effectively allowed individuals belong- MS: Jñānaśrīmitra.
18
ing to tribal groups to be part of the Buddhist commu- MS: vikramapura.
19
nity. it is highly implausible that those siddhas who Ratnākaraśānti.
20
called themselves Śabara did actually belong to tribal according to MS, Maitrīpa became a monk,
groups; it is more plausible, indeed, that those siddhas with the name Maitrīgupta, in the Saṃmatīya order.
appropriated the customs, rituals, symbols or lifestyles

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instantaneous awakening 21—he went to ali’i g.yu khang 22 to the north. While he was
staying there, he recited Tārā’s mantra for around ten million times. One night, in a
dream, he received a prophecy: ‘Kye! Pañḍita Maitrīpā! You do not belong to Śāntipā’s
spiritual family! as you belong to the lDong ra pa 23 family, give up this practice and go
to the temple of Khasarpaṇa 24 to the East doing whatever practice you like. There you
should pray the lord avalokiteśvara, and he will show you the meaning you are longing
for, just as it is.’
at dawn, he collected some flowers and offered a maṇḍala, and set forth to the tem-
ple of Khasarpaṇa. He remained there for one year. During that time he recited
avalokiteśvara’s mantra for around ten million times. One day, just about dawn, he met
avalokiteśvara in person who made him a prophecy: ‘Kye! Pañḍita Maitrīpā! at Śrīpa-
rvata in the South there are the Cittaviśrāma and the Manabhaṅga mountains: go there.
in that place lives Śrī Śabareśvarapāda. He knows the doctrine of the instantaneous
awakening, the knowledge of the awakened Ones of the three times. He will teach it to
you. Once you’ll have cut all the doubts of the state of confusion, all your desired aims
will be accomplished.’ Thus, after collecting some flowers and offering a maṇḍala, he
went to vajrāsana and recited the mantra for around ten million times.
Then he left the Eastern Land, and in about one month he reached a flatland with
no grass nor trees called O tra bhi sha (sic). Tormented by the heat, he took rest under
the shade of a tree, and a man coming from a far away mountain showed up before
him. The pañḍita asked him: ‘Where do you come from? Who are you?’ The man
replied: ‘i come from the land of ‘Da ta ri (sic), 25 i am the prince Sāgara. 26 Since
another kingdom has dispossessed me, now i wander about in this land. Who are you?
Where are you from? Where are you going now?’ The pañḍita replied: ‘i am a great
pañḍita, my name is Maitrīpā, i come from a temple called Dza ya kar ni ka in the
Middle Country. as to the place where i am going, i have been told that there is a
master called Śrī Śabareśvarapāda, i am looking for him.’ Sāgara said: ‘if that is so, i will
search this master with you, i will be your companion, we will be friends.’
The two became friends and traveled together across the flatland of O tra bhi sha.
When they reached the river called ‘The River of Misery’, they got off the ship. it took
about half a month to cross the swamp: [at times] they were about to sink, [at times]
they were knee-deep in water, [at times] they were ankle-deep in water.
They overcame all these [obstacles] and finally dwelled at the bottom of a mountain
for six months, circumambulating a big self-originated stūpa named Shri na da (sic).
Since [Maitrīpā] was reciting the mantra of Lady Tārā, one night, in a dream, she made
him a prophecy. a resounding voice said: ‘Kye! Pañḍita Maitrīpā! Go to the north
Western border. at about five days [from here] there is the holy being you long for. He
will cut all your doubts!’
The two proceeded together to the north Western border. On the fifth day they
came close to Śrīparvata. near that mountain they met many buffaloherders with their

21
On this topic see Passavanti (2008: 437-438).
22
Unidentified toponym. according to MS,
Maitrīpā recited ten million times the mantra of Tārā
in vikramapura.
23
The term lDong ra pa, for which i cannot pro-
vide a precise translation, may refer to the particular
group of ascetics to whom Śabareśvara and his two
yoginīs belonged. This term occurs again in line 10v6.
24
Kha sar pa ṇi in the text.
25
MS: Rāḍha.
26
Sāgara could be identified with the master
named Sāgarasiddhi who, according to ’Gos lo Tsā ba
(1392-1481), taught the symbols of Mahāmudrā to Pha
dam pa Saṅs rgyas (DThṄ: 1015; Ba: 809). Tatz (1987:
702) identifies Sāgara with the siddha *Sakara (Saro-
ruha) found in *abhayadatta’s *Caturaśītisiddhapra-
vr¢tti (see Robinson 1979: 227-230).

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buffalos. The two asked them why it was called Śrīparvata. They said: ‘Śrīparvata is a
general name. On top there are two [peaks]: Cittaviśrāma and Manabhaṅga.’ The two
further asked: ‘if that is so, that’s where Srī Śabareśvara lives! Have you ever heard of
him?’ They replied: ‘People say that he lives there, but we haven’t seen him. Once you
reach that place, [remember that] between the two peaks there is a poisonous river:
do not drink [that water]! You should [rather] drink that little of spring water that
pours out of the cracks in the rocks.’ 27 Since [the environment] was luxuriant, the two
sustained themselves collecting wild fruits. They spent about half a month offering
maṇḍalas of flowers and reciting prayers, but despite their effort, they couldn’t find
[Śabareśvara].
after some time the pañḍita thought: ‘i still haven’t met the master, the great holy
being; that’s because i am attached to the taste of food!’ Thus, he abstained from food.
The prince Sāgara said: ‘Great pañḍita! it’s very important that you sustain yourself
during your spiritual practice, so please do not abstain from food!’, but the pañḍita
didn’t hear [his advice]. He laid a black antelope’s skin on top of a flat rock and fasted
for seven days. The last night, during the early morning practice, he dreamed a short
dark man with bound matted locks and adorned with coloured pearls; the parts below
his waist were adorned with peacock feathers; in the right hand he was holding an
arrow, and in the left hand he was holding a precious vase right at his heart; he had a
bow on his shoulders; the upper and the lower parts of a slaughtered boar were han-
ging from the two ends of the bow; he was carrying on his back a quiver with two ope-
nings; in each opening there were five arrows; at his right Dzña na war ti (sic) was hol-
ding a crow, at his left Pad ma war ti (sic) 28 was playing a flute. 29 He dreamed that
[these three figures] were descending from the sky with a bodily form. When he woke
up he said to Sāgara: ‘Oh! The wind in my stomach has awakened due to the absten-
tion from food that i practiced on top of this rock! i have been looking in the ten direc-
tions with intense yearning, but i have not seen anything! Since there is nothing i am
attached to but my own life, i wonder if that is the reason why [i still have not found
Śabareśvara].’ He thought: ‘Since i am unworthy to meet him in this life, i should kill
myself. i should make prayers in order to meet him in the intermediate state or in a
future life.’ Thus, he took a razor and put it on the veins of his throat. The prince
Sāgara saw this scene, took the razor and threw it away.
[in that moment] the prince Sāgara saw [a man] like the one the pañḍita had just
dreamed about. He was descending from the sky with the rattle of a ḍamaru. Sāgara
said: ‘Kye! Pañḍita! The holy being, the master we are longing for, is coming from over
there!’ Sāgara ran to the feet [of the master], made a prostration with eight limbs and
circumambulated him. Śrī Śabareśvara said: “Prince Sāgara! You have been experien-
cing immeasurable suffering since you escaped from your kingdom. Do not conceive in

27
The MS does not speak of a river between the
two peaks, whereas Padma dkar po (1527-1592)
(BCB: 290.1) describes Śrīparvata as follows: | dbus ni
dpal gyi ri | g.yas g.yon yid pham pa’i ri daṅ sems ṅal gso
bar | bar na chu ’bab pa smyo chu daṅ dug chur yod pa la
riṅ du btsal bas ma rñed | ri gsum po de la gliṅ bdun yod
de | ‘[...] There was Śrīparvata flanked by Citta-
viśrāma and Manabhaṅga: in the midst of the three
mountains there were the waterfalls called Poisonous
Water and venomous Water. They searched there
for long time without any result. The three moun-
tains had seven islands.’
28
according to MS, Śavaripā’s yoginīs are named
Padmāvalī and Jñānāvalī. in the account written by
Tāranātha (1575-1634) (KBD: 371.2) they are named
Pad ma wa rti and Dzña na wa rti.
29
This description of Śabareśvarapāda and his
yoginīs matches in many details with an image depict-
ed on the first page of a Tibetan Dohākoṣagīti manu-
script of the 13th cent. studied by Linrothe (2006: 354-
355).

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your mind thoughts like ‘i am miserable’! Realize in your mind the meaning of the
Great Seal of non-mentation!’
as soon as the pañḍita saw him, he wiped off the blood [on his throat] and reached
him. He made a prostration of Dīpaṅkara 30 and, choked up with exultation, fell uncon-
scious. When he came back to consciousness, he seized the ankles [of the master] and
said: ‘Oh master, great lord! as i was going through all those hardships you did not allow
me to meet you, you did not look upon me with your kindness. What was my fault?’ [Śaba-
reśvara answered]: ‘Kye! Pañḍita Maitrīpa! You and i have been inseparable, we have
always been together! You did not see me because of the obscuration [created] by your
adventitious stains. Since you have gone through all those hardships, and because of your
intense yearning, the obscurations are now purified. now you see me, [but] do not think
that you are [actually] meeting me!” after saying that, he sang a song:

Seeing me will liberate you

not seeing me will liberate you as well!
Seeing me will fetter you
not seeing me will fetter you as well! 31

When [Śabareśvara] asked him about the hardships that he had gone through,
[Maitrīpā] told him about the hardships that he faced, first as a non-Buddhist follower
and then as a Buddhist follower. [Śabareśvara replied]: “Pañḍita! if you do not realize
that you have never lost the single essential meaning of non-mentation, all those hard-
ships will be meaningless!” Then [Maitrīpā] told him about the hardships he faced in
search of Śrīparvata, Manabhaṅga and Cittaviśrāma, and finally about the hardships he
faced when he arrived to Śrīparvata but could not find him.
[Śabareśvara] said: “it is called ‘Glorious’ (dpal : śrī) with regard to the gnosis of non-
duality; it is called ‘Mountain’ (ri : parvata) in reference to the unchanging nature of
things. Therefore, it’s called the ‘Glorious Mountain’ referring to the great renuncia-
tion. view, meditation, 32 conduct and result are the meaning of renunciation.
Your desperate search here on the peaks of Cittaviśrāma and Manabhaṅga [has the
following meaning]: it is called ‘Peak of Mental Tranquillity’ with regard to resting the
mind, and in reference to the whole aspect of means, which is related to the creation
stage and so forth, up to the point when discursive thought disappears in the Dha-
rmadhātu. [On the other hand,] it is called ‘Peak of Mind’s Defeat’ with regard to the
whole aspect of discriminating awareness, which is related to the cessation of the move-
ment of mentality that occurs when all dualistic discursive thought disappears in the
Dharmadhātu and the intellect is naturally purified.’ 33

30
mar me mdzad kyi rkyaṅ phyag pa: i cannot pro-
vide a precise explanation of this term.
31
This stanza is taken almost verbatim from the
stanza 15 of the Prajñāpāramitāstotra ascribed to
Rāhulabhadra: tvām eva badhyate paśyann apaśyann api
badhyate | tvām eva mucyate paśyann apaśyann api mu-
cyate || (Dutt 1934: 1-3). dPa bo gtsug lag (1504-1566)
(KhGT: 773) in his account of the meeting between
Śabareśvara and Maitrīpā quotes a similar couplet: |
ṅa mthoṅ bas kyaṅ ’chiṅ ba ste | ṅa ma mthoṅ yaṅ ’chiṅ par
’gyur | ṅa mthoṅ bas kyaṅ grol ‘gyur te | ṅa ma mthoṅ yaṅ
grol bar ’gyur |.
32
i read bheṃ as an orthographic abbreviation for
bhāvanā.
33
in Śabareśvara’s explanation of the esoteric
geography of Śrīparvata we find a series of homologies
between its two peaks, Cittaviśrāma and Manabhaṅga,
and the different aspects of the Buddhist path. Citta-
viśrāma is related to the aspect of means (thabs: upāya)
and, more specifically, to the tantric practices of deity-
yoga, which are articulated in the two stages of cre-
ation (bskyed rim: utpattikrama) and completion (rdzogs
rim: utpannakrama). On the other hand, Manabhaṅga
is related to the aspect of discriminating awareness (śes

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The Life of Maitrīpā from MS 1095 of the Tucci Tibetan Fund

The pañḍita made a maṇḍala offering, then made a full prostration with eight limbs
and asked: ‘Oh master, great lord! You possess the essential meaning of the instanta-
neous awakening, the knowledge of the mind of all the awkened Ones of the three
times. i request you to bestow it upon me.” [Śabareśvara replied:] ‘Pañḍita ! Look at the
upper and lower parts of this [slaughtered] boar: you do not understand their meaning
because, due to your great delusion, you know the boar as being nothing else than a
slaughtered corpse cut in an upper and lower part. actually, the boar is the symbol of
ignorance: the act of slaughtering it is the symbol of cutting ignorance at the root by
means of the holy master’s instructions; cutting it in an upper and lower part is the sym-
bol of the truth body, which is free from verbal expressions that could exemplify it.’
Then, on the peak of Cittaviśrāma, he bestowed upon him the empowerment that
arouses the mind of awakening, and granted him all the instructions on gradual awake-
ning, such as the Four Seals, the Five Stages and so forth. He cut off all his doubts.
The pañḍita and the prince Sāgara remained in that place. During that time they
made maṇḍala offerings and supplicated the master. On the fifteenth day, [Śabareśva-
ra] descended from the sky with the rattle of a ḍamaru and went to the Manabhaṅga
peak. The pañḍita and Sāgara ran there to meet him. One yoginī, having untied her
lDong ra pa 34 matted hair, was squeezing with her nails the lice and their eggs, while
[the other yoginī] was slaughtering a roaming antelope that she had just stroke with an
arrow. Seeing this scene the pañḍita thought: ‘Oh no! They do not have any compas-
sion at all ! Since they take the life of sentient beings, they rather belong to the spiritual
family of the non-Buddhists!’ One yoginī said: ‘alas! The pañḍita does not understand
symbols! as he conceives impious thoughts, he probably won’t attain any siddhi !’ The
pañḍita [replied]: ‘i am confused about the right behaviour!’ Śrī Śavaripā said: ‘Even if
you will attain the ordinary siddhi s, you won’t attain the Great Seal !’

Dzña na war ti sang a song as an offering to Śavari[pā]:

Kye ! nothing was born and nothing dies !

There is no bondage from existence nor liberation at all !
in the jungle of the three realms of cyclic existence,
Roams the antelope of subject and object.
i shot the single arrow of the essential meaning,
i killed the antelope of subject and object !
i ate its flesh: non-duality.
i drank its blood: absolute sameness.
i tasted its flavour: great bliss.
it is not an antelope, it is a magical illusion ! 35

also Pad ma war ti sang a song:

in the dark wilderness of ignorance roams the boar of delusion.

i shot the single arrow of non-mentation, 36

rab : prajñā) and to a state of bare non-conceptuality,
free from the movement of mentality (yid kyi ’gyu ba):
such state is the cornerstone of Mahāmudrā practice,
which in this context is seen as a separate path, supe-
rior to the upāyamārga.
34
See above LGR 8r2.
35
Padma dkar po (BCB: 291.5) quotes a shorter
but similar version of this song: | khams gsum ’khor ba’i
nags tshal na || gzuṅ ’dzin śa ba rgyu ba la || phyag rgya
chen po’i mda’ żig brgyab || gzuṅ ’dzin śa ba ṅa yis gsod ||
śa ni gñis su med par zos |.
36
On the concept of non-mentation (yid la mi byed

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i killed the boar of ignorance.

i ate its flesh: non-duality,
i drank its blood: absolute sameness,
i tasted its flavour: great bliss. 37

Then Dzña na war ti sang a song:

The deer roams on the mountain:

The mind roams in the various aspects of memory.
The deer dwells on the mountain:
The mind dwells in the dimension of non-memory. 38
Like a deer drinking a poisonous water,
The mind slowly dies.
Like a deer struck in the heart with an arrow,
The mind is lost in the dimension of the nature of mind.
Like a deer whose skin has been removed,
The mind is devoid of the notion of mind.
Like eating a deer’s flesh and drinking its blood,
The nature of mind is free from all conventional expressions. 39

Śrī Śavaripā gave them an oral instruction:

(The karmamudrā:)40
Two [drops] exceed, two flow out.
[One drop] arises from the vajra, [one drop] is touching the Lotus.
[The drop] arising from the vajra is akṣobhya.
[the one touching the lotus is vajrasattva]
The cause is sealed by the fruit, and the fruit is sealed by the cause.
This is the king of the great bliss.41

pa: amanasikāra) and its developments in indo-
Tibetan Buddhism see Higgins (2008) and Mathes
(2009).
37
Padma dkar po (ibid: 2913) quotes a shorter ver-
sion of this song: | khams gsum ’khor ba’i nags tshal na ||
ma rig phag rgod rgyu ba la || ye śes raṅ gsal mṅa’ źig brgyab
|| ma rig phag rgod ṅa yis gsod || śa ni gñis su med par zos
||. So does dPa’ bo gtsug lag (KhGT: 773-774): ’khor
ba’i nags tshol skyed med na || ma rig phag rgod rgyu ba la
|| śes rab gsal ba’i mda’ źig rgyab || ma rig phag rgod bdag
gis bsad | śa ni gñis su med par zos || ro ni bde ba chen por
myoṅ ||.
38
Higgins (2008: 278 n. 51) notes that in the con-
text of the amanasikāra teachings, memory (dran pa:
smr¢ti) refers to the aspect of ‘reflection’, in the sense
of mnemic reflection and thematic reflection, both
involving reflexivity, a reflecting on experience on the
basis of subjective demands. On the contrary, the
aspect of non-memory (dran med : asmr¢ti) refers to a
complete withdrawal from reflexivity.
39
in this account, the contaminating activities of
the Śabara hunters are treated as symbols of the yogic
path. The same motif is found in two cāryagīti s
ascribed to the siddha Bhusuku and commented by
Munidatta (Kværne 1977: 96-100, 171-174). according
to the latter’s commentary, the deer (hariña) is the
symbol of the mind; the doe (hariñī) is the symbol of
either the vital breath (pavana) or of illusion (māyā);
the forest (vana) is related to the body (kāya); hunting
the deer is the symbol of stopping the vital breath, and
eating its flesh symbolizes the experience of the fourth
bliss. Furthermore, the image of hunting wild animals
appears also in a short song ascribed to Ḍombīpāda
(Tōh. 2368) and in a vajragīti ascribed to virūpa (Tōh.
2356). Cf. Schaeffer (2005: 82-83). For an outline of
the hunting imagery found in the LGR see below,
Table on p. 442.
40
The words between parentheses (las rgya in
Tibetan) are an interlinear note in the manuscript.
41
These verses occur in a similar form in
abhayākaragupta’s Āmnāyamañjarī (D fol. 68r6): gñis
soṅ nas ni gñis gnas pa || rdo rje nas lhuṅ pa dmar reg ||
rdo rje nas lhuṅ mi bskyod pa || pa dmar reg pa rdo rje ste
|| ’bras bur rgyu yis rgyas gdab pa || ‘di ni bde chen rgyal
po’o ||. The same verses, with occasional differences,
are found in the Sekanirdeśapañjikā of Rāmapāla (see

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as to that ordinary awareness, 42

its manifold manifestations are the nirmāṇakāya.
its realization is endowed with the marks of the Sambhogakāya.
Being uncompounded, it is the Dharmakāya.
Being inborn, it is the Svabhāvikakāya.
now, as to this very gnosis, tell me! How is it ?
if you say it’s ‘such and such’ without having realized it,
| what [kind of] realization of suchness can it possibly be ?
First is vajrasattva; the memories are akṣobhya; the forms are vairocana.
The nature of beings is undefiled!

Thus he spoke. Then Pad ma war ti said:

Concerning the aspect of the antidote, do not create any meditation in your mind!
in this regard, do not cling to an ultimately existing mind! Kye !
On the path of the Great Seal of non-mentation,
| do not be attached to the hope for a result! Kye !
if you have an exaggerated approach 43 towards the authentic meaning,
| [think that] nobody has ever [really] taught the glorious Great vehicle! Kye !
On the path of the Great Seal of non-mentation,
| the totality of these three realms is the Great Seal!
accomplish it by means of the sacred commitment, through the maṇḍala,
| and by means of your energy centers! Kye !
On the path of the Great Seal of non-mentation,
| there is no distinction between the awakened One and the sentient beings!
The qualities of the victorious One are unconceivable! Kye !
On the path of the Great Seal of non-mentation,
Mind’s actual way of being, devoid of bondage or liberation,
| is a blank open space, you do not purify it.
Mind’s actual way of being is naturally and primordially pure:
Do not expect to accomplish it through conceptual meditation! 44

above p. 184), in the *Caturmudrānvayaṭīkā of *Karopa
(P fol. 332r2-3, D fol. 294v4-5), in the *Guruparamparā-
kramopadeśa of vajrapāṇi (P fol. 198v6-7, D fol. 176v2-3)
and in a shorter form in Maitreyanātha’s *Caturmu-
dropadeśa (see appendix 4 above). Since the text of
this quotation in the LGR is somewhat anomalous,
and quite probably corrupt in a few places (gñis ’das ni
gñis śor ba | rdo rje nas byuṅ pad mar reg | myi bskyod rdo
rje nas byuṅ ba | rgyu la ’bras bu brgyas btab ciṅ | ’bras bu
la yaṅ rgyus rgya btab || ’di ni bde’ ba chen po’i rgya |, ed.
Passavanti 2008: 473), the translation of this passage is
only tentative. For a more detailed discussion of these
verses see appendix 5 above. The fourth line (pa dmar
reg pa rdo rje ste) is missing in the LGR (perhaps due to
a scribal error), but has been included in the transla-
tion. The term bde’ ba chen po’i rgya should be emend-
ed to bde ba chen po’i rgyal (mahāsukharājaḥ) as attested
in all the other sources.
42
tha mal gyi śes pa : *prakṛtijñāna or *prākṛtajñāna:
this term refers to the original and fundamental
nature of the mind, a state of wakefulness and aware-
ness that remains unaltered, irrespective of the adven-
titious conditions of Saṃsāra.
43
sgro ’dogs : this term refers to an ‘exaggerated
approach’ towards something. in this case it may refer
to an eccessive attachment to a particular point of
view.
44
instead of the five songs found in the LGR, in
the MS we find only a short and cryptic song (see 2v3-
5). in the Tibetan Canon there is only one text
ascribed to Śavaripā together with his yoginīs (here
named *Padmalocanā and *Jñānalocanā), namely the
Phyag rgya chen po rdo rje’i glu źes bya ba (*Mahāmudrā-
vajragīti ; Tōh. 2287). although none of the five songs
that i translated here seems to bear any direct relation-
ship with this text, it deals with the same topic of the
LGR, namely the essential meaning (sñiṅ po’i don)
transmitted through the so-called ‘symbolic lineage’
(brda’ rgyud).

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Then [Śabareśvara] taught him the dohā s and the vajragīti s along with the related
oral instructions. He taught him all the instructions on instantaneous awakening
without any left.
at that time the prince Sāgara manifested his realization by means of the symbols of
the essential meaning: he dissolved his contaminated aggregates into the uncontamina-
ted body, and disappeared in the sky like mist, without leaving any aggregate behind. it
is said that the celestial beings made him numerous offerings of flowers. also the pañḍi-
ta understood the essential meaning of non-mentation.
Śrī Śavaripā said: ‘Kye! Pañḍita Maitrīpā! in this life you won’t attain the supreme
siddhi of the Great Seal, but you’ll achieve it in the intermediate state. Go back to your
country, explain and propagate the doctrine of the essential meaning, and perform the
activities of pacification and enrichment. 45 You’ve been staying [here with me] for one
year, and i promise you that from now on you will live for thirty-nine years. During this
time you should act for the benefit of sentient beings. at the very moment of your
death, you’ll see directly vajrayoginī with her threefold retinue, and the scriptures will
be taught to you. Know that she is me—the master—with the threefold retinue of atten-
dants.’
[Maitrīpā] left that place and slept for one night at the bottom of Śrīparvata. The
next day, when he got up from his rest, he found out that he had forgotten all the doc-
trines that he learned and all the instructions that Śrī Śavaripā taught him. [The
master] wasn’t there anymore. Feeling sad, he [tried to] recall them. in that moment
[Śabareśvara] came from the sky with the rattle of a ḍamaru and [asked him]: ‘Kye!
Pañḍita! Why are you unhappy?’ The pañḍita replied: ‘i am unhappy because i lost the
moonlight [of the teaching] and i forgot the doctrines!’. Śavari[pā] then sang a song:

Cakrasaṃvara is supreme bliss.

in the Dharmatā of which no one has spoken,
How could there be something called ‘forgetting’?
in dharma s that have not arisen,
How could there be something called ‘cessation’?
in elements that have never come together,
How could there be something called ‘separation’?
Due to memory there is a cause for forgetfulness,
With no memory there is no cause for forgetfulness.
Due to coming together there is a cause for separation,
With no coming together there is no separation.
The three realms are primordially pure,
The ‘i’ of ignorance obscures [them]!
advayavajra! avadhūtipā !

along with the blessing of the empowerment he attained the eye of gnosis.
By the grace of his master he impressed in his mind all the ordinary and extraordi-
nary instructions. after having fully understood all the views of [the master], he arrived
to his own country and said: ‘i have been to Śrīparvata in the South, and i have met the
hermit Śrī Śavaripā in person. now i have the instructions of the essential meaning that
he taught me !’ Since he had promised to hold Śavaripā’s [lineage of] instructions, he

45
according to the Hevajratantra, the fire-offering (catuṣkriyā : las bźi), namely pacification, enrichment,
ritual (homa : sbyin sreg) is related to four activities subjugation and killing. Cf. Snellgrove (1959: i, 88).

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gathered a retinue of disciples around him. at that time, all the non-Buddhist and
Buddhist pañḍita s started to say: ‘it is not true that this pañḍita Maitrīpa has personally
met with Śavaripā, the accomplished-one. if that was true, we should be unable to deba-
te [against him]. The truth is that he has [probably] met with somebody else, [maybe]
an idle hermit. We should debate with him!’ [Maitrīpā] debated with all those pañḍita s,
but none of them was able to defeat him.
Then a miraculously-born non-Buddhist pañḍita called naṭegana 46 said: ‘You are
incapable to [defeat him] because you are all of common birth. i am miraculously-
born, i will be able to [defeat him]. He should debate with me. i will challenge the lord
[Maitrīpā] with many questions.’ after having decided that [the loser] would follow the
teaching of the winner, they started to debate. Since the non-Buddhist pañḍita was inca-
pable to defeat him, the lord Maitrīpā was the winner. From there on, since he prevai-
led in every debate, he was famed as the ‘victorious Maitrīpā’. Later, when he was invi-
ted to the monasteries of Śrī nālandā 47 and vajrāsana and acted as the headmaster, he
was famed as the ‘Lord Maitrīpā’. it is said that he was known with seven different
names. 48 He had no rivals among all the pañḍita s of india. He was like the crown jewel
of all [the pañḍita s].
The general count of lord Maitrīpā’s life is seventy-nine years; after he met Śrī Śava-
ripā and received from him the instructions, he acted for the benefit of beings for
thirty-nine years. 49 During this time he taught the vast range of precepts of the Great
vehicle without exception.
in general the lord had many spiritual sons, in particular among them the four
noble sons are to be mentioned: Rāmapāla, naṭegana, Devacandra and the indian
vajrapāṇi. 50

46
na de gha na in the text.
47
Śri na len tra in the text.
48
Only six are the names that occur in the LGR:
Dāmodara, Sa ha na dzā a nan ta, Rāgavajra, Maitrīpā,
advayavajra, avadhūtipā.
49
’Gos lo tsā ba (DThṄ: 985; Ba: 841-842) affirms
that the followers of the upper tradition (stod lugs) of
Mahāmudrā mantain that Maitrīpā was born in 1007,
whereas the followers of Ras chuṅ pa mantain that he
was born in 1010 and that he passed away at the age of
seventy-eight. Therefore, if we accept the chronology
given in the LGR, Maitrīpā must have completed his
study under Śabareśvara around 1047/1050, when he
was forty years old, and must have died around
1086/1089 when he was seventy-nine years old. Several
Tibetan historical sources report two contradictory
episodes that place atiśa (982-1054) and Maitrīpā in
opposite relationship of authority: the first is the tale
of Maitrīpā’s expulsion from the monastery of
vikramaśīla by hand of atiśa; the second is the claim
that atiśa received from Maitrīpā the transmission of
the Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra and the related instruc-
tions (see Tatz 1988). Tatz notes that neither of the
two events is central to the spiritual career of the two
masters, and that the two episodes may have been fab-
ricated by the earliest biographers of atiśa, apparently
on sectarian grounds. as we have seen, neither of
these two episodes is mentioned in the account of the
LGR. in fact, if we are to accept the dating of Maitrīpā
given above, it would be quite problematic to prove
any relationship between atiśa and Maitrīpā following
the latter’s return from Śrīparvata (around
1047/1050), for we know that by that time atiśa was in
Tibet. Thus, if any relationship between the two mas-
ters ever took place, it must have happened in the
years before Maitrīpā’s departure to Śrīparvata, prob-
ably at the time when Maitrīpā was residing at vikra-
maśīla.
50
’Gos lo tsā ba informs us that Maitrīpā’s main
disciples were twenty-one, subdivided into the follow-
ing three groups: (1) the Four Great Ones (che bźi),
namely *natekara alias *Sahajavajra, Devākaracandra
alias Śūnyatāsamādhi, Rāmapāla and vajrapāṇi; (2)
the Seven Medium Ones (’briṅ bdun), viz. *Sāmavajra,
*atulyavajra, *Khavajra, *Lalitavajra, *Dhītiśrījñāna,
*abhiyukta and *Jagatpāla; (3) the Ten Little Ones
(chuṅ ba bcu), viz. *Skandhapā, *Megopa (*Meghapā-
da ?), Rwa cho rnal ’byor pa, Ti pu pa, *Śrī nālandāpā,
*Padmamālin, Go cha ma, Kr¢ṣṇa the younger, *Śrī
arṇapa and *Balin Ācārya. according to another tra-
dition recorded by ’Gos Lo tsā ba, Maitrīpa had four
spiritual sons (thugs kyi sras): *Karopā, vajrapāṇi, Mar
pa and the nepalese *Śīlabhāro (bal po Śi la bha ro).
Cf. DThṄ: 985-986; Ba: 842-843.

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Song 1: the antelope (śa ba: mr¢ga)
antelope
forest
arrow
eating flesh
drinking blood
tasting the meat’s flavor
Song 2: the boar (phag: varāha)
the boar
wilderness
arrow
eating flesh
drinking blood
tasting the meat’s flavor
Song 3: the deer (ri dwags: hariña)
the deer roaming on the mountain
the deer dwelling on the mountain
the deer drinking poisonous water
the deer struck by an arrow
the deer’s skin removed
eating flesh and drinking blood
Marco Passavanti
Table
the mind based on the notions of subject and object
(gzuṅ ’dzin : grāhyagrāhaka)
cyclic existence (’khor ba: saṃsāra)
essential meaning (sñiṅ po’i don)
non-duality (gñis su med pa : advayatā)
absolute sameness (mñam pa ñid : samatā)
great bliss (bde ba chen po : mahāsukha)
delusion (gti mug : moha) and ignorance (ma rig pa: avidyā)
ignorance (ma rig pa: avidyā)
non-mentation (yid la mi byed pa: amanasikāra)
non-duality (gñis su med pa: advayatā)
absolute sameness (mñam pa ñid: samatā)
great bliss (bde ba chen po: mahāsukha)
memory (dran pa: smr¢ti)
non-memory (dran pa med pa: asmr¢ti)
progressive dissolution of the mind (sems: citta)
mind vanishing in the nature of mind (sems ñid: cittatā)
mind devoid of the notion of mind (sems ni sems kyi ’du śes med )
the nature of mind as being beyond verbal expression
(tha sñad: vyavahāra)
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