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1. Compilation of the Root and Condensed Tantra

Homage to noble Mañjuśrī, composite of the knowledge

and wisdom of every buddha.

Manifestation of unchanging and ultimate great bliss

in indivisible union with nonaspected wisdom,

arising from unchanging, immovable moon nectar

stacked in the skies of the central channel,

a supreme form, a mighty indranīla mountain

embraced by a few young clouds,

in empty-form aspect endowed with every attribute supreme,

embraced by the wisdom consort Viśvamātā:

to you I bow.

Not moving from realms of profound, unfathomable wisdom,

yet the untainted renown of your enlightened activity

in bringing the fortunate to the paths of ripening and freedom

dances before the ladies of the ten directions;

mighty conqueror, Losang Drakpa and your disciples,

I bow my head to your lotus feet.

From the great clouds of their knowledge

fall the rains of scripture and reasoning

to nourish the harvest of happiness.

Pens of wisdom have drawn in clarity upon their minds

precious pictures of the two types of knowledge.

By expounding the doctrine of the mighty dharma king,

you hold aloft a banner of stainless renown;

sublime masters, kindness without parallel,

remain forever upon the crown of my head.

[4] Here I will write a little on the Outer, Inner, and Other, which make up the three main themes of the glorious Kālacakra. There are four main outlines:

      1.  Introduction: How the Buddha taught the Kālacakra Root Tantra

      2.  The primordial mind and body: Principal themes of the highest yoga class of tantra

      3.  Explanations of the intentions of the highest yoga tantras

      4.  An exposition of the Outer, Inner, and Other: The three themes of Kālacakra

The first has three outlines:

      1.  How the Buddha taught the Kālacakra Root Tantra

      2.  Compilation of the Tantra

      3.  How the Root Tantra and the Condensed Tantra were taught by the dharma kings and the Kalkī¹ kings of Shambhala

How the Buddha taught the Kālacakra Root Tantra

Our teacher, Śākyamuni Buddha, actualized complete enlightenment in the noble country of India under the Bodhi tree in Bodhgaya and turned the wheels of dharma by teaching the perfections, particularly the perfection of wisdom, upon Vulture’s Peak. He traveled to the great stupa of Dhānyakaṭaka near Śrīparvata in southern India. Inside the stupa he emanated the mighty dharmadhātu speech mandala below and the glorious constellation mandala above.

In this perfect place, a place of great bliss, he sat upon a vajra lion throne in the great Vajradhatu mandala. There this perfect teacher, the lion of the Śākya, entered the meditative concentration upon Kālacakra and became the master of the mandala. Surrounding him was the perfect mandala entourage of buddhas, [5] bodhisattvas, wrathful protectors, gods, nāgas, and goddesses, as well as the entourage of the tantra requestor, King Sucandra, an emanation of Vajrapāṇi, who had traveled by miraculous powers from the kingdom of Shambhala. By requesting the tantra an audience gathered, consisting of the ninety-six kings of the ninety-six lands of Shambhala, many bodhisattvas, and countless fortunate gods and asura. There the perfect dharma of worldly and nonworldly initiations, followed by prophecies of enlightenment and the Twelve Thousand Kālacakra Root Tantra was taught. Here “twelve thousand” 27refers to the number of verses. In the Realms chapter of the Great Commentary, in the second summary it says:

As this quote explains, a verse in anuṣtubh meter consists of lines of eight syllables. Although the tantra taught in the Dhānyakaṭaka stupa was the Kālacakra Root Tantra, it is the assertion of the Kālacakra and its commentaries that every highest yoga tantra was being taught. The Later Kālacakra Tantra says:

This can also be known from the Sūryaśrī’s Drops of Nectar:

But when did our teacher teach the Root Tantra, and what are the dates of the Buddha? [6] This should be explained in detail. The words of the Root Tantra, “Six hundred years from this year” are explained by the Great Commentary in the ninth summary from the Realms chapter:

Therefore, approximately six hundred years after the Buddha taught the 28Root Tantra, the Kalkī king Mañjuśrī Yaśas appeared. The Great Commentary in the third summary from the Realms chapter says:

Therefore, adding the hundred years of Mañjuśrī Yaśas to the previous six hundred since the time of the Buddha totals seven hundred years. The Great Commentary in the ninth summary from the Realms chapter states:

Adding the above seven hundred years to these eight hundred years between death of Mañjuśrī Yaśas and the coming of the barbarians totals one thousand five hundred years. Adding fire, sky, and ocean⁸ years to the above makes 1,903 years. Therefore, from the time of the Buddha teaching the Root Tantra, up to the end of the 221 years of astronomy,⁹ 1,903 years elapsed.

The Condensed Tantra states, “The past years of prabhava¹⁰ and so forth are to be added.” The last of the 1,903 years, or the last year of the 221 years of astronomy, is established as the kṣaya Fire Tiger year.¹¹ Dividing 1,903 by sixty and working backward from Fire Tiger year in sixty-year cycles leaves a partial cycle of forty-three years. The first year of that forty-three, counting backward from the Fire Tiger year is the tāraṇa male Wood Monkey year. Therefore, that year is the first year of the 1,903, working backward from the last year [7] of the two 221 years of astronomy. It is also the first year of the six hundred years mentioned in the prophecy, “After six hundred years Mañjuśrī Yaśas will appear.” Six hundred years is an approximation because between the teaching of the Root Tantra and the beginning of the six hundred years, King Sucandra compiled the Root Tantra and composed a commentary. This would have involved one or two years. How many years exactly? The Great Commentary, in the third summary, says:

This quote explains that in the second year of his teaching the Root Tantra and the extensive commentary Sucandra passed away. This year counts as the year of his passing. Before that, compiling the Root Tantra, composing the sixty-thousand-verse Extensive Commentary, and so forth took two years. Therefore, from the time of Sucandra first teaching the Root Tantra and commentary until he passed away, three years must have elapsed. In the “easy to understand” verses from the Realms chapter, it says:

“Some days” is often explained as meaning three years and three fortnights,¹⁴ and the phrase “some days” in this quote is no exception. The three years of Sucandra are not included in the six hundred years because in the Great Commentary, immediately after the words “he entered into the saṃbhogakāya enjoyment body, source of the nirmāṇakāya emanated body,” it says:

Thus, the six kings each taught for a hundred years. Therefore, the three years of Sucandra and the year the Buddha taught the Root Tantra account for four years not included in the six hundred, and so in the quote that states that Mañjuśrī Yaśas will appear six hundred years after the teaching of the Tantra, the six hundred years are an approximation. Therefore, the actual first year of the six hundred years mentioned in the prophecy of 30King Mañjuśrī Yaśas would be four years before Wood Monkey year.¹⁶ This is Iron Dragon year and in this year on the full moon of the Caitra month the Buddha taught the Root Tantra. In the Gnosis chapter of the Great Commentary, in the Supreme Unchanging Gnosis summary, it says:

The passage also states that Mañjuśrī Yaśas will appear six hundred years after our teacher taught the Root Tantra. Therefore, the Root Tantra was taught in the year of Buddha’s passing.¹⁸ This means that the vikrama Iron Dragon year was the year in which our teacher taught the Root Tantra and was also the year in which he passed away. From his birth our teacher stayed for eighty years and in his eighty-first year on the full moon of Vaiśākha, he passed away. His eightieth year was pramathi Earth Rabbit year and, counting backward from that year, the forty-sixth year is jaya Wood Horse year, and that is the year of our teacher’s enlightenment. Using the same method, counting back from pramathi Earth Rabbit year, the eightieth year is rudra Iron Monkey year, which establishes it as the year of our teacher’s birth. Moreover, in the Abhiniṣkramaṇasūtra it says:

Counting forward from Iron Monkey year, the twenty-ninth year is sarvadhara male Earth Rat and that is the year of leaving the palace. Six years on from that year is jaya Wood Horse year, and that year is the forty-sixth year counting back from pramathi Earth Rabbit year. Therefore, in the Vaiśākha of Wood Horse year, the last of the spring months, on the full moon, in the last period of the night, at the onset of dawn, close to the beating of the drum, he became a complete and perfect buddha. [9] The Lalitavistarasūtra says:

In the first summary of the Initiation chapter from the Great Commentary it also explains that he became a buddha during Vaiśākha at the approach of dawn:

This Vaiśākha full moon corresponds perfectly to the Vaiśākha full moon of the jaya Wood Horse year, fifty years²² before the Water Sheep year, which is the year preceding the Wood Monkey year, the first year of the prophesied six hundred years, because of the following reasons. On the basis of the karaṇa²³ epoch data²⁴ that appeared at the end of the 221 years of astronomy and accepted as correct by all astrologers except for those of the Puṇḍarīka Transmission and the Elimination of Error Tradition,²⁵ calculating backward shows that on the full moon of that Vaiśākha, the planetary day was day one²⁶ and was forty hours old. The moon’s lunar mansion was sixteen and one hour.²⁷ The lunar mansion position of the face of Rāhu was sixteen and twenty-nine hours.

Using siddhānta astronomy epoch data from the Puṇḍarīka Transmission, the planetary day was day one and thirty-eight hours. The moon’s lunar mansion was sixteen exactly, and the face of Rāhu was also sixteen and twenty-nine hours.

Therefore, the claim that on the day the conqueror became a Buddha, at dawn the moon was held by Rāhu²⁸ is confirmed. How is such a claim made? A Vinaya passage states:

Also:

In the Abhiniṣkramaṇasūtra it says:

[10] If our teacher taught the Root Tantra when he was close to passing away, doesn’t this contradict the quote “Then in the twelfth month on the Caitra full moon…?” Doesn’t this line from the commentary explain that our teacher attained complete enlightenment on the Vaiśākha full moon and on the Caitra full moon of the following year he taught the Root Tantra? To avoid any contradiction that might arise on this point, the omniscient dharma master Butön and his followers hold that the quote “Then in the twelfth month on the Caitra full moon” and the prophecy that six hundred years after the Buddha passed away Mañjuśrī Yaśas would appear are both valid, and assert that our teacher taught the Root Tantra in the second year of his enlightenment. They present many reasons why the two commentary quotes are not contradictory. The Jonang dharma master Choglé Namgyal³¹ and his followers say that the quote beginning “Six hundred years after I have passed away… ” is merely a note in the margins of the Indian text and therefore is invalid. The Jonang followers assert that our teacher taught the Root Tantra in the second year of his enlightenment.

Such claims can be understood as being wrong. If they were correct, then consider this. When our Teacher attained complete enlightenment it was the full moon night of Vaiśākha, and the moon was held by Rāhu, the sutra reference of which has been explained previously. According to the above claims, the first year of the six hundred years mentioned in the prophecy concerning the coming of Mañjuśrī Yaśas would have been the male tāraṇa Wood Monkey year.³² Therefore, the preceding years would have been Water Sheep, Water Horse, Iron Snake, Iron Dragon, Earth Rabbit, and Earth Tiger. The following years would have been Wood Bird and so forth. If the above assertions were correct, then in one of those years, on the full moon of Vaiśākha there would have been an eclipse. However, the charts establish that there was no eclipse on the full moon of Vaiśākha of any of those years. This is because if a reverse calculation is made using karaṇa epoch data that arose after the 221 years of astronomy and accepted as being authentic during the time of karaṇa astronomy by all astrologers (except the Elimination of Error Tradition), then for none of those years is it possible 33to construct a chart in which Rāhu eclipses the full moon night of Vaiśākha. However, the Great Commentary says:

Doesn’t this indicate that the Root Tantra was taught in the second complete year of his enlightenment on the full moon of Caitra? Such a conclusion arises from holding Caitra always to be the first month in the Kālacakra tradition and Phālguna as always being the twelfth. The reality is that, in Kālacakra thinking, months are formed by being either “waxing-led” or “waning-led.”³⁴ On the basis of being waxing-led, Caitra is the first of the months and Phālguna is the twelfth. On the basis of being waning-led, Vaiśākha is the first of the months and Caitra is the twelfth. The reasons for designating months in this way is as follows. In Kālacakra thinking the beginning of the seasons is established by the sun entering Aries at the spring equinox during either the waxing or waning phases of the moon. The mean sun entering Aries will appear between the first lunar day and the empty-sky lunar day³⁵ of a waxing-led Caitra. When this mean sun appears between the first and the fifteenth of the month, Aries, as the beginning of the seasons, is assigned to waxing-led Caitra. When the mean sun entering Aries appears between the sixteenth lunar day and the empty-sky lunar day, Aries as the beginning of the season is assigned to a waning-led Vaiśākha month. In this case Vaiśākha is the first month and Caitra is the twelfth. In the Realms chapter, in the ninth summary, it says:

Generally, months were designated this way. Therefore, “Then in the twelfth month on the Caitra full moon,” from the quote above, is made on the basis of a waning-led Vaiśākha as the first month and Caitra as the twelfth month. The line “Then in the twelfth month on the Caitra full moon” and so on is commentary to “The end of Caitra is at the time of waxing,” and so forth. “The end of Caitra” and so forth explains the full 34moon of Caitra as being the end of the Caitra month. Immediately before the quote “Then in the twelfth month on the Caitra full moon” is the passage: [12]

This indicates that the end of the full moon of Caitra, which begins the days of waning, is the beginning of Vaiśākha and is the first month of the year. The quote beginning “Mañjuśrī also, six hundred years after I have passed away” can therefore be left as it is, and the above commentary quotes are freed of contradiction.³⁷ Therefore, as asserted by those of the earlier traditions of Ra and Dro, by Palden Lama Dampa,³⁸ and as explained by the Puṇḍarīka Transmission, the explanation that the Conqueror taught the Root Tantra on the full moon of Caitra as he approached his passing away can be seen to be correct.

To summarize, the focus of the doubts is whether our teacher taught the Root Tantra in the year in which he passed away or in the year following his enlightenment. If the second year of his enlightenment is posited as the year he taught the Root Tantra, an eclipse of the moon on the night of the full moon of Vaiśākha at the time of his enlightenment cannot in any way be constructed in the charts. Some (such as Jamyang Chögön)³⁹ have constructed a chart showing an eclipse on the full moon of Vaiśākha of the viśva Water Horse year just before the beginning of the prophesied six hundred years. This is a reverse calculation using karaṇa astronomy, but within this particular method of calculation there are many quantitative faults regarding the sun and the planets in the 1,682 years,⁴⁰ and so it is not valid.

Some (such as Chögyal Jangpa)⁴¹ have formulated an eclipse of the full moon in Vaiśākha of the vyaya Iron Snake year occurring in daytime. The way the chart was constructed is correct, but there is no terminology for Rāhu grasping the moon in the daytime. Moreover, the quote from the Abhiniṣkramaṇasūtra says:

This passage speaks as if the moon being held by Rāhu was actually seen by those around King Śuddhodana. Concerning the phrase “on that day,” the calculation of one complete day is referred to as the “calculation of a day.” Similarly, it is the complete day within which the eclipse occurred that is spoken of in the phrase “on that day.” [13]

Therefore, our teacher taught the Root Tantra on the full moon of Caitra just before he passed away. The time of his passing is established as being the final part of the Vaiśākha full moon of vikrama Iron Dragon year. Eighty-one years back from that year is the Iron Monkey year and is established as the year of our teacher’s birth. The month, the date, and planetary positions can be known by a thorough study of the Puṇḍarīka Transmission.

Compilation of the Tantra

This has two outlines:

      1.  Compilation of the Root Tantra

      2.  Compilation of the Condensed Tantra

Compilation of the Root Tantra

In the Realms chapter, in the third summary it says:

Our teacher taught the Root Tantra on the full moon of Caitra in the Iron Dragon year. King Sucandra memorized the text and returned to Shambhala. After our teacher passed away, he wrote down the Root Tantra as well as his own composition, the sixty-thousand-verse Extensive Commentary, in the language of Shambhala. These he taught to the ninety-six kings of the nine hundred and sixty million towns and to other fortunate beings for three 36years from the Iron Dragon year to the Water Horse year. Having completed his teachings in the Water Horse year, in the following Water Sheep year he created the Kālacakra mandala in order to bring about the causes of siddhi in others. There he displayed magical powers and passed away.

Where was this mandala created, and how was it created? South of the city of Kalāpa is the park of Malaya, twelve yojana across and of the same size as Kalāpa. There in its the center, built entirely of the five precious stones whose nature was that of gods and goddesses, stood the body mandala with four sides and four entrances. It was four hundred cubits wide, adorned by four portals and the eight cemeteries, enclosed by five walls, surrounded by the four mandala environments of earth and so forth and encircled by the vajra garland. [14]

Within the body mandala and of half its size was the speech mandala with four sides and four entrances, adorned by four portals and enclosed by five walls. In the center of the speech mandala and of half its size again was the mind mandala with four sides and four entrances, adorned by four portals and enclosed by three walls. In the center of the mind mandala and of half its size was the mandala of gnosis, beautified by sixteen pillars. In its center and of half its size was a lotus of eight petals. This mandala, with every feature complete, was created by the power of mind.

That Sucandra compiled the Kālacakra Root Tantra after our teacher had passed away is verified by the Great Commentary:

Compilation of the Condensed Tantra

After King Sucandra passed away, Sureśvara and the other five dharma kings taught the Root Tantra for the next six hundred years beginning from the Wood Monkey year, the first of the prophesied six hundred years. Then, as it says in the Realms chapter, in the third summary:

King Mañjuśrī Yaśas taught the Root Tantra for a hundred years. Then, with the power of the blessings of the Tathāgata’s prophecy as a cause, and knowing with his five kinds of clairvoyance that the minds of Sūryaratha and the other ṛṣi were fully ripened and would move to the perfect path, on the Phālguna full moon of the hundredth year, the rudhirodgārin Water Pig year, he gathered his intended disciples, Sūryaratha and the other thirty-five million Brahmin ṛṣi, in the mansion of the Kālacakra mandala created by King Sucandra. There he announced:

[15] As soon as he had spoken these words, the ṛṣi fainted from fear. Seeing that this teaching and the thoughts of the ṛṣi were in conflict, King Mañjuśrī Yaśas said:

And so on until:

These words of King Mañjuśrī Yaśas with his admonishment struck the Brahmin ṛṣi like thunderbolts, and they called to Sūryaratha:

Sūryaratha addressed the mighty Mañjuśrī Yaśas with words of praise for his qualities, beginning “O great king, supreme king,” and so on. He continued :

King Mañjuśrī Yaśas replied:

On the command of King Mañjuśrī Yaśas, the Brahmin ṛṣi all rose and left the city of Kalapa. On the tenth day they entered a forest. With his clairvoyant powers King Mañjuśrī Yaśas was aware of this, and with many reasons in mind he entered the [16] meditative concentration known as deluding the castes of Viṣṇu, Brahmā, and Rudra to temporarily bewitch the ṛṣi and to bring them back. By the power of that meditative concentration and the blessings of the gods, the ṛṣi were so spellbound that local hunters and others were able to capture them and carry them back to place them at the feet of mighty Mañjuśrī Yaśas. Once the ṛṣi were freed from the spell and saw the king, the mandala, and Malaya Park, they were amazed, and as they uttered words of astonishment, Sāgaramati, the king’s minister and an emanation, praised King Mañjuśrī Yaśas and urged the ṛṣi to petition the king for initiation into Kālacakra. By the power of these words and by the blessings of the buddhas, the dharma minds of Sūryaratha and the other ṛṣi were truly awakened. The ṛṣi urged Sūryaratha to make the request. In response, and together with all the ṛṣi, he prostrated to the feet of King Mañjuśrī Yaśas, offered a mandala made of jewels and gold flowers, and made his petition:

Mañjuśrī Yaśas listened to Sūryaratha’s plea, and because of the inclination of the Brahmin ṛṣi and the power of the Tathāgata’s blessings, he compiled the Condensed Tantra.

In what style was that accomplished? Sūryaratha and the others were adherents to good grammar, and to wean them away from their attachment to that the king employed “reliance upon meanings,”⁴⁸ whereupon some verses had bad grammar, some had poor line and word separation, some had no grammatical cases, while in others vowels and consonants were omitted. In some verses short vowels were long while [17] long vowels were short. Some that should have been in the fifth case were in the seventh, and some of the fourth case were in the sixth.

Therefore, encased in the sragdhara meter and consisting of 86,520 syllables, with each verse possessing eighty-four syllables, the twelve thousand verses of the Original Buddha were condensed into 1,030 verses and taught to the ṛṣi. This is mentioned in the Root Tantra, quoted in the Realms chapter, in the third summary:

However, in the current Jonang translations there are 1,042 verses, while in the Gyijo⁵⁰ and Ma⁵¹ translations there are 1,043. On top of that, there are two verses from the Gnosis chapter, quoted in the Great Commentary in the Supreme and Unchanging Gnosis summary, that are not found in these root translations.⁵² These are the 170th verse that begins, “Karma arises from disturbed states of minds, and from that comes suffering. Disturbed states of mind arise from one’s suffering,” and verse 182. Together these make up 1,045 verses. How is this to be explained? Thirteen verses, comprising ten verses beginning with verse 252 of the Gnosis chapter that begins, “The glorious dharma,” plus the last verse of the Inner chapter beginning, “You are the mother, you are the father,” as well as the ninety-fourth verse of the Realms chapter beginning, “Glorious Kālacakra,” and verse 149 of the Realms chapter beginning, “On the pure supreme foundation,” are the words of King Mañjuśrī Yaśas and Sūryaratha, and are not 40compiled from the Root Tantra. Also it is said that the ninety-fourth verse of the Gnosis chapter is not compiled from the Root Tantra. This clearly leaves one verse not compiled from the Root Tantra, and that is something to examine. [18] Apart from those fifteen, the remaining 1,030 verses have been compiled from the Root Tantra.

How the Root Tantra and the Condensed Tantra were taught by the dharma kings and the Kalkī kings of Shambhala

This section is divided into two:

      1.  The main explanation

      2.  The duration of these teachings and the duration of the Buddha’s teachings in general

The dharma king Sucandra taught the Root Tantra for three years. After he passed away, six dharma kings each taught the Root Tantra for a hundred years. These six kings are spoken of in the Root Tantra, which is quoted in the Realms chapter in third summary:

The text continues to explain who these kings were emanations of:

Sureśāna taught the Root Tantra for a hundred years. After him his son, Kalkī Mañjuśrī Yaśas, taught the Root Tantra for a hundred years. In the hundredth year in the male Wood Rat year on the Caitra full moon, he gave initiation to Sūryaratha and the other ṛṣi, compiled the Condensed Tantra, and passed away. In that male Wood Rat year, his son Puṇḍarīka composed the Vimalaprabhā or Great Commentary. From then on, for eight hundred years, Puṇḍarīka and seven other Kalkīs taught the Condensed Tantra together with its commentary, each teaching for a hundred 41years. In the Realms chapter of the Great Commentary, in the ninth summary, it says:

This teaches that eight hundred years after the passing of King Mañjuśrī Yaśas, the barbarians would enter the land of Makha. In the “easy to understand” verses of the Realms chapter it says:

“Hands” here means two and “time” means four. After eight Kalkīs comprising Mañjuśrī Yaśas, his son Puṇḍarīka, his grandson Bhadra, and the others have passed away, the barbarians will enter the land of Makha. Therefore, eight hundred years after the passing of Mañjuśrī Yaśas, the barbarians entered the land of Makha, and from his passing until that time, Puṇḍarīka and seven others appeared. This establishes that the eight Kalkīs from Puṇḍarīka to Subhadra each taught the dharma for a hundred years.

The nine Kalkīs from Mañjuśrī Yaśas to Subhadra are spoken of in the Root Tantra quoted in the third summary of the Realms chapter:

As soon as Subhadra passed away, the barbarians arrived, and Kalkī Samudravijaya ascended to the throne. Samudravijaya taught the dharma for 182 years. After him came Kalkī Aja, who taught the dharma for 221 42years. Therefore, the six dharma kings and twenty-three Kalkīs are similar in that they each taught for a hundred years. The reigns of Samudra vijaya an