# The Life of Tilopa
© 2026 Konchok Gyurme Tenzin. Licensed [CC BY-NC-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/): share and adapt it with credit, never for sale.
*Marpa Chökyi Lodrö's life of the mahāsiddha Tilopa, written for their son, translated from the manuscript kept in the library of Apho Rinpoche ([BDRC W24891](https://library.bdrc.io/show/bdr:MW24891)). A folio number in brackets marks where each leaf of the manuscript begins. It opens that leaf in [the Tibetan](tibetan.md), and each folio and line number there opens [the scan of the leaf](scans.md). The names are in [the glossary](glossary.md).*
![[\[1a\]](scans.md#page-1a) The title leaf of the manuscript](https://empty.guru/books/marpas-life-of-tilopa/images/apho-1a-title-web.jpg)
*The title leaf: "Here's the life of the lineage, the wish-fulfilling jewel." The manuscript kept in the library of Apho Rinpoche, reprinted New Delhi, 1973 ([BDRC W24891](https://library.bdrc.io/show/bdr:MW24891), image 23).*
## 0 Homage, and the three jewels
*Folio 1b, the opening, in its double frame: the invocation and the homage (image 24).*
 
*Painted figures, a seated lama and a siddha raising a vajra, from the opening leaf of another manuscript of the same whispered lineage, kept at Shechen, which begins with the same invocation ([BDRC W1KG12707](https://library.bdrc.io/show/bdr:MW1KG12707), volume 1, image 142).*
*[\[1b\]](tibetan.md#page-1b) Namo guru deva ḍākinī. Samayam anusmara. Siddhyantu ye.*[^invocation]
The three bodies[^three-bodies] are beyond elaboration[^beyond-elaboration] and wide as the sky. They ripen those to be trained[^to-be-trained] in the nine moods of the dance[^nine-moods]. Like a great lake, still and a little clear, the three bodies have the ḍākinīs[^dakini] for their waves. From them came the lotus-born[^lotus-born], great bliss[^great-bliss], the fruition[^fruit] itself made manifest: Prajñābhadra[^prajnabhadra], the Protector of Beings[^protector-of-beings]. To Prajñābhadra I bow, and to the great paṇḍita[^pandita] Nāropa, who went through the twelve great hardships[^twelve-hardships].
*Meter*[^meter-4-5]
> Jewel of three bodies[^songs], sealed\
> from all those who don't know it:\
> [\[2a\]](tibetan.md#page-2a) ḍākinīs' own secret word[^secret-word]\
> is the key that shows three jewels[^three-jewels]:\
> introduction[^introduction], wishing jewel[^wish-fulfilling-jewel],\
> points the dharmakāya[^dharma-body] out;\
> in the flesh, the jewel of dream[^dream]\
> seats the saṃbhogakāya[^enjoyment-body];\
> and the jewel of lineage[^lineage]\
> shows the dharmakāya bare;\
> whispered lineage[^whispered-lineage] of ḍākinīs,\
> light the asura[^titan] named Rāhu dreads,\
> yet for Dode's sake I've written it.\
> Pardon me; your blessing[^blessing], please.\
> Lineage instructions[^instruction] aren't for all:\
> starving, you won't eat your parents' flesh;\
> greedy, you won't sell a poisoned brew,\
> nor, for show, reveal your inner magic.
[\[2b\]](tibetan.md#page-2b) This wonderful whispered lineage of the ḍākinīs has three parts. They're the marks of the teacher who teaches, the marks of the disciple being taught, and the nature of the Dharma[^dharma] that's taught. The first: a teacher of the lineage, with experience and realization[^experience-realization], compassion[^compassion] and the rest. The second: a disciple able to seek buddhahood[^buddhahood] in their own mind in this one life and this one body[^one-life], and the rest.
The third, the nature of the Dharma that's taught, is in three. Outwardly it's the instruction of the nirmāṇakāya[^emanation-body], which clears away false notions[^false-notions]: the wish-fulfilling jewel[^wish-fulfilling-jewel] of the lineage. Inwardly it's the instruction of the saṃbhogakāya, practiced in experience: the wish-fulfilling jewel of the path of ripening[^path-of-ripening]. Secretly[^secretly] it's the instruction of the dharmakāya, which points out: the wish-fulfilling jewel of the path of freedom[^path-of-freedom].
Of these, this is the instruction of the nirmāṇakāya, the wish-fulfilling jewel of the lineage. It holds two accounts: the account of the wisdom ḍākinī[^wisdom-dakini] of the dharmakāya, and the account of the lineage of the siddhas[^siddha] of the nirmāṇakāya. [\[3a\]](tibetan.md#page-3a) The first: as all the buddhas live as the three bodies, so this wisdom ḍākinī lives as the three bodies, as is told at length below.
The second is the lives of the lineage of the siddhas of the nirmāṇakāya. It begins with the life of Tilo, which has four parts. First, how Tilopa was known as a human. Second, how Tilopa was known as an emanation[^emanation] of Cakrasaṃvara[^cakrasamvara]. Third, how they were known as Cakrasaṃvara in person. Fourth, how they were known as the body in which all the buddhas gather.
*Folio 2a, the second leaf of the manuscript, still in its frame, opening "the key of the ḍākinīs' secret word" (image 25).*
## 1 Tilopa as a human
First, taken as a human, the great teacher Tilopa has four great qualities. First, in provisional meaning[^provisional], the ḍākinīs made prophecies about Tilopa, who looked for a guru[^guru] and practiced. Second, Tilopa overwhelmed the ḍākinīs and asked them for the Dharma. Third, in definitive meaning[^definitive], they were shown to have no human guru. Fourth, they showed their many emanations.
## 1.1 The child who herded buffalo
First, Tilopa. In the east of India, in the land of Zahor, was a city called Dzako. Three lived there: the father, the Brahmin[^brahmin] Salwa; the mother, the Brahmin Salden; and the sister, the Brahmin Saldrön. They had no son. They made offerings to every shrine, outer and inner, and prayed. Then a son was born. At that moment the whole east of India was filled with light, so the child was named Salö, Clear Light. [\[3b\]](tibetan.md#page-3b) Then the family asked a Brahmin who read the marks[^read-the-marks], and the Brahmin said:
*Meter*[^meter-4]
> Is it nāga[^naga] or a god[^god],\
> yakṣa[^yaksa], buddha? I can't tell.\
> Love and guard this holy one.
As the Brahmin said, the family cherished the child and guarded them. Once the father had gone out, and mother and son were alone. Something flickered. When they looked, there were many ugly women with the marks[^with-the-marks], puffing out their breath, limping and leaning on sticks. The mother thought, "Are they demons[^demon]? Will my child die?" and the women said:
> Guard and cherish all you like:\
> there's no land where no one dies.
So they said. The child's mother asked, "Then what can we do that'll help?" and they said again:
> Herding buffalo, they'll study;\
> ḍākinīs will prophesy.
With that, it's said, they vanished without a trace.
The child grew up, and the family set them to herd the buffalo, as the women had told them. While the child was herding, the women from before came again and asked the child about their country, their father and mother and the rest. The child said:
> I'm from Dzako, in the east;\
> Brahmin Salwa fathered me;\
> [\[4a\]](tibetan.md#page-4a) Brahmin Salden mothered me;\
> Saldrön is my sister, too;\
> and I'm Salö, Brahmin born.\
> This one is a sal[^sal] tree trunk.\
> Schooled, I practice Dharma now;\
> I herd buffalo for wealth.
When the child said this, the women, as though they were angry, said, "Child, you don't know:
> you're from Oḍḍiyāna[^oddiyana], west;\
> father's Cakrasaṃvara;\
> mother's Vajravārāhī[^vajravarahi];\
> sister's Giver of Bliss, too;\
> Pañcapana's[^pancapana] who you are.\
> Don't herd beasts like buffalo;\
> woods, tree of awakening[^tree-of-awakening]:\
> always herd experience."
So they said. The child said, "I don't know how to herd that," and they said, "Go to the charnel ground[^charnel-ground] of Sala Bhehara. A guru will show you." So they prophesied.
In the southern lands there's a charnel ground called Sala Bhehara, blessed by Maheśvara[^mahesvara]. When the outer and inner ḍākinīs were turning the feast[^feast] there, the Brahmin's child came and asked Caryāpa[^caryapa] for instruction too.
The great teacher Lawapa[^lawapa] sang:
> City crossroads: there I lay\
> fast asleep for twelve long years;\
> Mahāmudrā's[^mahamudra] siddhi[^siddhi] came.
When Lawapa said this, the child asked for luminosity[^luminosity].
The child looked for Nāgārjuna[^nagarjuna]. In that charnel ground, in the hut of someone of the lowest caste[^outcaste], a yogin[^yogin] who kept the yogic discipline[^discipline] sat meditating. "Nāgārjuna has gone to teach the Dharma to the ruler of the gandharvas[^gandharva]," they said. "I've been sent to take you into my care, good friend." The child offered them a maṇḍala[^mandala] and asked. The yogin called up before the child the maṇḍala of glorious Guhyasamāja[^guhyasamaja], gave them its empowerment[^empowerment] and explained its tantra[^tantra]. The child saw the nature of mind[^nature-of-mind].
In a temple there, the child's uncle was reciting the Prajñāpāramitā[^prajnaparamita] in a Hundred Thousand Lines. A woman came and said, "Do you know what this means?"
The child said they didn't.
"[\[4b\]](tibetan.md#page-4b) Then I'll explain it," the woman said, and explained its meaning. The woman gave the child the empowerments of Hevajra[^hevajra] and Cakrasaṃvara and explained their tantras. "This is what Lūhipa[^luhipa] meant," they said. "Meditate on it."
The child said, "My uncle keeps me reciting the Hundred Thousand Lines and won't let me meditate."
The woman said, "Cut the cord that ties the Hundred Thousand Lines[^pothi] and throw it from the temple door into the water. Pretend you've lost your mind, and meditate. I'll bless it, and nothing at all will happen to the Hundred Thousand Lines."
The child did as the woman said, and nothing at all happened to the Hundred Thousand Lines.[^hundred] "The child has lost their mind," people said, and locked them up. There they trained in the two stages[^two-stages], the essence of all the paths that shine clearly in the undivided mind of the Sugatas[^sugata].
Then came a prophecy[^prophecy]:
> In the east, in Bengal,\
> Pañcapana's marketplace,\
> Bharima, whose trade was sex:\
> serve them, and you'll be clean;\
> end the conduct[^conduct]; siddhi's yours.
So it was prophesied, and they went there. By night they did the work of bringing people in and seeing them out. By day they pounded sesame, so in the language of India they were known as Tilopa, and in Tibetan as Til Sungzhab, the Sesame Keeper.
Then they went to the charnel ground called Kereli, where they and Bharima delighted each other[^delighted] in the conduct of the Secret Mantra[^secret-mantra], and brought it to its end.
Then, back in that market, as they went on pounding sesame, they won the siddhi that's close to the supreme Mahāmudrā. The people of the city saw them in different ways: some saw a blazing mass of fire, and some saw fire blazing in their bone ornaments[^bone-ornaments]. The people asked Tilopa for instruction. Tilopa said, "Let the genuine nature[^nija] that has arisen in my mind enter the hearts of you who follow me." At once they were freed[^freed].
Then the ruler of that country came riding an elephant with their court to honor them. The Brahmin's child and Bharima, the two of them, sang a vajra song[^vajra-song] in a great voice like Brahmā's[^brahma]:
*Meter*[^meter-5]
> [\[5a\]](tibetan.md#page-5a) Hidden in the sesame is oil:\
> fools may know oil's in the sesame,\
> yet unless they know how links arise[^dependent-arising]\
> they can't get the essence out as oil.\
> So innate[^innate] and primal wisdom[^primordial-wisdom] lies\
> in the heart of every living thing,\
> known to none till gurus point it out.\
> Pounding sesame and clearing husks\
> brings the essence out as oil; just so,\
> leaning on the guru, suchness[^suchness] shows\
> in its signs[^signs], like oil from sesame:\
> objects merge, and can't be told apart.\
> Kye ho[^kye-ho]! What it means is vast and deep,\
> yet it's clear right now. How marvelous!
When they had sung this, all who were gathered there were freed. Here's the meaning of the song, untied. There's nothing out of keeping with the meaning to give up, and no remedy[^remedy], primordial wisdom[^primordial-wisdom], to bring about. There are no grounds and paths[^grounds-paths] to travel and no fruition to gain. Only as convention[^convention], in signs, must the guru show it. That's what it means. Then the people asked Tilopa who their guru was, and Tilopa said:
*Meter*[^meter-3]
> I have human gurus:\
> Nāgārjuna, Caryāpa, Lawapa,\
> Kalpa Zangmo, gurus all:\
> these, my four transmissions[^four-transmissions].
So they said. From Nāgārjuna they asked for the illusory body[^illusory-body], from Caryāpa for dream, from Lawapa for luminosity, and from the ḍākinī for inner heat[^inner-heat]. These are known as the four great rivers of the whispered lineage.
## 1.2 The ḍākinīs brought under Tilopa's power, and the jewels asked for
Second, how they brought the ḍākinīs under their power and asked them for the Dharma. Again the women came and said:
*Meter*[^meter-4]
> Whispered lineage, not penned,\
> held by stainless ḍākinīs:\
> take the wishing jewels, all three.
When the women said this, Tilopa said, "I can't receive them," and again the women said:
> Oḍḍiyāna's Gandhola,\
> prophesied, with samaya[^pledge],\
> one with fortune[^fortune] takes and gets.
When the women said this, Tilopa asked what was needed to receive them. [\[5b\]](tibetan.md#page-5b) The women told Tilopa, "Take a crystal ladder, a bridge of jewels and a pair of grass mice, and go to Oḍḍiyāna."[^ladder] Tilopa's father found these without trouble. Tilopa took them and went.
Now in the land of Oḍḍiyāna in the west, in the temple of Gandhola, lives the one called the wisdom ḍākinī of the dharmakāya. They live as a ruler, in the state where every reference point[^reference] has ended, in non-duality[^non-duality], dwelling in the manner of not dwelling. Beside them is the one called the ḍākinī of the five families[^five-families], the saṃbhogakāya. In a palace of jewels they keep the three precious wish-fulfilling jewels hidden, locked in with indestructible iron and sealed with seven seals. Ringed by a fortress, a moat and an iron wall, they live as a minister.
Beside them is the nirmāṇakāya, the ḍākinī of action[^dakini-of-action], the one who devours. To those with faith and devotion[^devotion] they give siddhis. Those without faith, and those whose samayas are broken, they cut down and devour. They live as a gatekeeper.
The Brahmin's child went to the temple of Gandhola in the land of Oḍḍiyāna in the west. The nirmāṇakāya, the ḍākinī of action, came at them with a voice to crack the earth, a voice like thunder in the sky:
*Meter*[^meter-5]
> Ḍākinī of action[^dakini-of-action] in the flesh,\
> I love human flesh and crave blood.
So saying, the ḍākinī came at the Brahmin's child, who said:
*Meter*[^meter-4]
> Many fearsome ḍākinīs\
> can't make me flinch at all.
So the child said, and overwhelmed the ḍākinīs with the yogic discipline of awareness[^discipline-of-awareness]. The child's body didn't move, their speech didn't falter, their mind didn't shrink. The child gazed at the ḍākinīs, and they fainted. When they came to, they said:
> Kye ma[^kye-ma]! As the lamp destroys the moth,\
> we who'd eat you, we're destroyed.\
> Holy one, do as you please.
So they said. [\[6a\]](tibetan.md#page-6a) Then the Brahmin's child said, "Let me in," and the ḍākinīs said:
> We're just servants, not in charge;\
> if the ministers aren't asked,\
> we eat flesh and we drink blood:\
> holy one, take this to heart.
The gatekeepers handed the child over to the ḍākinīs of the saṃbhogakāya. These said, "Your yogic discipline looks slight. We'll set you free: go up." The Brahmin's child laid the bridge of jewels across the moat and set the crystal ladder against the iron wall. They opened the gate with the pair of grass mice and went in, and the ministers said:
> Dreadful body, dreadful speech,\
> dreadful weapons in our hands,\
> we, from all five families,\
> ḍākinīs, love flesh and blood.
So they said, and again the Brahmin's child said:
> Many fearsome ḍākinīs\
> can't make me so much as flinch.
So the child said, and gazed at the ministers, who fainted. "Let me in," the child said, and the ministers said:
> Ministers like us are weak;\
> if the ruler isn't asked,\
> we're struck down by their decree:\
> holy one, take this to heart.
So the ministers said, and they prayed to the ḍākinī of the dharmakāya. The child went in. The wisdom ḍākinī of the dharmakāya sat ringed by heroes[^heroes] past counting, in a row on their right, and heroines in a row on their left. The Brahmin's child didn't bow to them, and their retinue said:
> Every buddha's mother, here,\
> our Blessed Lady[^blessed-lady], gets no bow:\
> why not crush this mocking one?
So saying, the retinue set about destroying the child, and then the ḍākinī of the dharmakāya spoke to their retinue:
> Every buddha's father, here,\
> this is Cakrasaṃvara:\
> rain your vajras from the sky,\
> how could you defeat them now?
[\[6b\]](tibetan.md#page-6b) So they said, and the retinue, as though they didn't know the child was Cakrasaṃvara, said, "Who sent you? Who are you? What do you want?" and the Brahmin's child said:
> Pañcapana's who I am;\
> Giver of Bliss sent me here;\
> view[^view], conduct, fruit, samaya,\
> I've come for three-body jewels.
When the child said this, the retinue laughed at them and said with one voice:
> Blind ones look and see no form,\
> deaf ones listen, hear no sound,\
> voiceless ones speak, none make sense:\
> fooled by māras[^mara], nothing's true.
To this the teacher answered:
> One whose faults are all used up\
> has no cause to tell a lie:\
> not a māra: ḍākinī!
When they said this, the wisdom ḍākinī gave the signs of the precious jewel. Of their body they gave a painted card[^painted-card]; of their speech, a syllable[^seed-syllable]; of their mind, a hand emblem[^hand-emblem]. And the Brahmin's child said:
> From the body's vault, appearance-emptiness[^emptiness],\
> I request the common jewel;\
> from the vault of speech, past words,\
> and the jewel of samaya;\
> from the mind's vault, free of thought[^free-of-thought],\
> and the jewel of how things are[^way-things-are].
When they said this, the wisdom ḍākinī said:
> For the common wishing jewel\
> use experience as key;\
> with no prophecy, it's shut.\
> For the jewel of samaya,\
> use the deep word-lineage;\
> with no remedy, it's shut.\
> For the jewel of how things are,\
> use deep wisdom[^prajna] as the key;\
> if not realized, it's shut.
So the ḍākinī said, and the Brahmin's child said:
> Secret word of ḍākinīs,\
> wisdom's lamp clears ignorance[^ignorance],\
> self-aware[^self-aware], self-born and clear:\
> mine's the key: experience;\
> [\[7a\]](tibetan.md#page-7a) mind itself[^mind-itself], that's never born,\
> in the dharmakāya, freed,\
> Mahāmudrā dawns, self-freed[^self-freed]:\
> mine's the key of samaya.\
> Bringing no object to mind,\
> letting no thought rise at all,\
> mind itself, the nature of things[^nature-of-things], dharmakāya:\
> mine's the key, the one that sees.
So they said, and the wisdom ḍākinīs of the saṃbhogakāya and the nirmāṇakāya, both together, sang this song with one voice:
> Father we all share, Blessed One[^blessed-one],\
> Buddha Tilo, beings' guard,\
> Cakrasaṃvara, great bliss:\
> we present three wishing jewels.
So saying, the ḍākinīs gave Tilopa the root tantra[^root-tantra] in fifty-one chapters with its explanatory tantras, and the whispered lineage. And from the mouth of the wisdom ḍākinī came this: "To accomplish my body, work at the stage of generation[^generation]. For my speech, work at the essence[^essence]; for my mind, in the stage of completion[^completion], Mahāmudrā. Go to the monastery of the Crown Jewel, and take Nāro, Riri and Kasori into your care."
With that the chief vanished. Tilopa was given the name Tilo Prajñābhadra, and they said:
> Like a bird across the sky,\
> so the luminous mind flies;\
> Prajñābhadra goes unchecked.
When they said this, the ḍākinīs of the saṃbhogakāya and the nirmāṇakāya said:
> Holy one, what are you like?\
> Please remain here for our sake.
When they asked this, Tilo said:
> As the chief had prophesied,\
> serving worthy vessels[^worthy-vessels] well,\
> now this yogin seeks Crown Jewel.
So they said, and on the road as they went, the nine cycles[^nine-cycles] of the Dharma of the bodiless ḍākinīs were given them out of the sky:
> Bodiless ones' vajra speech,\
> like the gandharvas'[^gandharva] sweet songs,\
> rang out from the empty sky:\
> Ripen, free: undo mind's knot.\
> Samaya: mind's mirror, look.\
> [\[7b\]](tibetan.md#page-7b) Turn the channels-and-winds[^channels-winds] wheel.\
> Hold great bliss, the jewel of speech.\
> Look: awareness[^awareness], wisdom's lamp.\
> Mahāmudrā, self-freed: look;\
> sacred substance[^sacred-substance]: insight's key.\
> Conduct: cut the stream with steel.\
> One taste[^one-taste]: outer mirror.
They heard these from the sky, and Tilo said:
> As the chief has shown the way,\
> in illusion's Gandhola\
> bodiless ones' secret lies,\
> locked by speech beyond all words,\
> and the mind's bright bird flies off.
So saying, they went to the temple of Aḍona, the monastery of the Crown Jewel.
## 1.3 No human guru
Third, that Tilopa had no human guru. Many people gathered there. Since Tilopa had won siddhi and received the Dharma at Gandhola, the people asked who their guru was, and Tilopa said:
> I've no human guru:\
> guru is All-Knowing One[^all-knowing].
So they said.
## 1.4 The eight tamings
Fourth, how Tilopa showed their many emanations. There are eight. Tilopa overwhelmed the yogin. They tamed the non-Buddhist[^heretic], the magician, the beer-seller, the singer, the butcher, the one who says karma bears no fruit[^acts-no-fruit], and the great sorcerer.[^order]
### 1.4.1 The yogin
First. In the south of India there was a ruler who loved their mother deeply and did whatever pleased them. "What good thing can I do to please you?" the ruler asked. "I'll do it."
The ruler's mother said, "Gather paṇḍitas, siddhas and ḍākinīs. Raise a maṇḍala of jewels in the sky, and hold a great empowerment and a feast. That would make me glad."
So the ruler sent a runner to each of the paṇḍitas who could do it, and one runner to the siddhas. They invited the paṇḍitas and the siddhas. The paṇḍitas performed the rite of the ground[^rite-of-the-ground] and the rest, and it was proclaimed that whatever these did would succeed.
[\[8a\]](tibetan.md#page-8a) Then an ugly woman with the marks came before the simple yogins[^kusali] and said, "Who'll lead your feast?"
A yogin called the Unrivaled said, "I will."
"You won't do," the woman said. "My brother will."
When the gathering asked where this brother was, the woman said, "In the charnel ground."
"Then go and fetch them," the gathering said. The woman went to fetch Tilopa and said that Tilopa would come.
At the very end Tilopa came and sat with the Unrivaled on two thrones. They debated by the logic[^pramana] that shows the contradictions and connections of word and meaning, and they were equal. They drew maṇḍalas in the sky and took turns making them vanish with rain and wind, and they were equal. They rode lions in a race to the sun and the moon, and again they were equal.
Then Tilo brought the sun and the moon down to the ground and rode a lion on them. They turned their body inside out. On each hair they called up a maṇḍala with its charnel ground. In each charnel ground was a tree, and in each tree they sat cross-legged at play. The Unrivaled couldn't do it. All were amazed. "E ma[^e-ma]! Where does such magic come from?
> Where's such conduct coming from?"
When the gathering said this, Tilopa answered in song:
> Kye ma[^kye-ma]! When I sit, it's in the sky;\
> when I lie, it's on spear-tips;\
> when I look, it's sun and moon.\
> Tilo saw the ultimate[^ultimate]:\
> every effort's gone from me.
So Tilopa said, and when they spoke of the nature beyond thought[^beyond-thought], all were freed. The yogin was given the name Mighty Intellect, and even now they live in Oḍḍiyāna without dying[^without-passing-away].
### 1.4.2 The tīrthika
Second, the taming of the non-Buddhist. At glorious Nālandā[^nalanda] there was a non-Buddhist teacher, a siddha. All, outsiders and insiders[^outsiders-insiders], had always to rise before them. Whoever didn't had to compete with them in power and in debate. [\[8b\]](tibetan.md#page-8b) Tilopa didn't rise, and the non-Buddhist said, "You seem to think yourself something in power and in debate. Let's compete." They set the ruler as judge. All the paṇḍitas, outsiders and insiders, gathered on the terms that whoever lost would join the fold[^sasana] of the one who won. In debate the non-Buddhist was defeated. Competing in power, they couldn't prevail against Tilopa either, and the non-Buddhist sent fire out of their mouth and said:
> I can make the three realms[^three-realms] shake:\
> who's the one not scared of me?
When they said this, Tilopa turned it back and answered in song:
> Look with blind eyes if you look;\
> drink mirages if you thirst;\
> sinking? Fill the vase[^vase] with wind:\
> Tilo's free from every fear.
So Tilopa said, and when they spoke of the nature of things beyond thought, all were freed. The non-Buddhist was given the name Black Virtue, and even now they live in Śītavana[^cool-grove] without dying.
### 1.4.3 The magician
Third, the taming of the magician. A magician was taking the ruler's country with an army of illusion. An ugly woman with the marks came and asked the ruler, "Who'll be your general?"
"This one and that one," the ruler said.
"They won't do," the woman said. "My brother will."
"Where's your brother?"
"In the charnel ground, on a sal tree a yojana[^yojana] high, they've tied a horse's tail. To it they've tied a corpse's legs, and to its arms five horses. They hold on to them and dance." So they said.
When the ruler heard this, the ruler said, "That woman has spoken of three things that can't be. Bring them here," and when the woman was asked, the woman said just what had been said before. The ruler sent people to look, and it was just as they'd been told. Then they invited Tilopa. Not knowing the army for an illusion, they were on the point of being routed, when Tilopa broke the illusion, killed some, and caught the magician. The magician said:
> You who lean on Dharma, say:\
> is it right to kill like that?
[\[9a\]](tibetan.md#page-9a) When they said this, Tilopa answered in song:
> When illusion armies fall,\
> mindless, there's no wrongdoing[^sin];\
> person of illusion[^person-of-illusion]: kill;\
> meditate like breath had stopped;\
> speaking? Use a voiceless tongue;\
> wanting? Use the letters up.
So Tilopa said, and when they spoke of things beyond thought, all were freed. The magician was given the name Deceiver Who Tells the Truth, and even now they live at Aṭṭahāsa[^attahasa] without dying.[^magician]
### 1.4.4 The beer-seller
Fourth, the taming of the beer-seller. Once, when a beer-seller was selling beer, a monkey and a cat that Tilo had sent forth drank the beer on credit, and the seller cried. People asked what was wrong, and the seller told them the tale. The people said, "Pray to that yogin themselves," and the beer-seller cried and said:
> All my living's been cut off:\
> with compassion, take me in.
When the seller said this, in an instant Tilopa filled every jar of beer with beer, and sang a song:
> Thirsty? Drink hot poisoned brew;\
> straying? Kill the monkey;\
> trust the meditating cat;\
> turn all to one taste, innate.\
> Beggar of the ultimate,\
> Tilo, yogin you've not seen.
So Tilopa said, and when they spoke of great bliss beyond thought, all were freed. The beer-seller was given the name Sunlight Lamp, and even now they live on the island of Sosa without dying.[^ifyou]
### 1.4.5 The singer
Fifth, the taming of the singer. There was a skilled singer. Tilopa sang a song of their own making before the singer. "Will you compete?" the singer asked.
"Let's compete," they said, and the singer said, "Teacher, take up a song."
"I'll sing after," said Tilopa. The singer sang their song through to its end. [\[9b\]](tibetan.md#page-9b) Then Tilopa sang, and the song had no end. The singer couldn't match Tilopa. The singer said:
> I'm a singer, and my song\
> shames the world of Brahmā[^brahma] too.
When they said this, Tilopa answered in song:
> Gandharva towns: look, if sad;\
> listen to the song of bees;\
> looking, look with eyes gone blind:\
> sounds are echoes, all of them.
So Tilopa said, and when they spoke of music beyond thought, all were freed. The singer was given the name Melodious Silent One, and even now they live in Nagara without dying.[^singer]
### 1.4.6 The butcher
Sixth, the taming of the butcher. A butcher, who had killed all the young of living beings, was raising one son of their own. They cooked the meat and opened the carcass, meaning to give it to their son. Then Tilo made the meat look to the butcher like the legs and arms of their own son. The butcher said:
> All the wrong I've done myself,\
> has it come back round to me?
The butcher was tormented with grief, and Tilopa said, "Then if you kill no others, your own son will come back."
"I won't kill," they said, and Tilopa answered in song:
> Open up the heart of oil;\
> burn: fire at the end of time[^fire-end-of-time];\
> draw the wind-mind[^wind-mind] through the crown[^crown];\
> wash away the stains of mind.
So Tilopa said, and when they spoke of the practice of killing beyond thought, all were freed. The butcher was given the name Bliss-Making Joy, and even now they live on the island of the rākṣasas[^raksasa] without dying.[^butcher]
### 1.4.7 The one who said karma bears no fruit
Seventh, the taming of the one who held that karma bears no fruit. A Cārvāka[^carvaka], who denied cause and fruit, said there's neither virtue[^virtue] nor wrongdoing. The Buddhists said there is, and they made the teacher the judge of their debate. The teacher said, "Those who hold that karma has causes and fruits win."
[\[10a\]](tibetan.md#page-10a) The Cārvāka said, "No one has seen it with their eyes." So the teacher led them off and showed them, by emanation, the gods and the hells[^hell] and all the rest. In one world of the gods there was a deity without a mate. When the Cārvāka asked who the deity was, the answer came: "Some non-Buddhist is doing virtue; this deity is to be that person's companion."
Then Tilopa led the Cārvāka to hell, where something was boiling in every copper cauldron. One had nothing in it. When the Cārvāka asked what was to be boiled there, the answer came: "All the non-Buddhists who say there's neither virtue nor wrongdoing are boiled here." The Cārvāka was terrified, they say, and said:
> Wrongdoing that karma heaps\
> turns to hell in your own mind;\
> and the virtue karma heaps\
> turns to higher realms[^higher-realms] inside.
When they said this, the teacher answered in song:
> Clinging? Go to charnel grounds;\
> low? Face victory banner's[^victory-banner] top;\
> discursive thought[^discursive-thought] is the nirmāṇakāya;\
> I've got nothing I could teach.
So Tilopa said, and when they spoke of the diversity beyond thought, all were freed. The Cārvāka was given the name Jinabodhi, and even now they live on Śrīparvata[^sriparvata] without dying.
Besides these, Tilopa taught the Dharma to those who did wrong by the bearing of their body. To an artisan Tilopa was a skilled artisan, to a great meditator a siddha. So they taught fishers, dog keepers and others without number. These people told Tilopa that they were fishers and the like, and then said:
> Tilo saw the ultimate:\
> virtue, wrong: the names are gone.
So the people said, and asked Tilopa for instruction.
### 1.4.8 The sorcerer
Eighth, the taming of the sorcerer. A sorcerer had been killing everyone with their black magic, and Tilo saw that the time had come to tame them. The two competed in cutting down, and they were equal. But of all who died, Tilo took up the dead; some, the women and others, Tilopa didn't take. [\[10b\]](tibetan.md#page-10b) Tilopa made the sorcerer themselves like an old tree stump, and said, "Now, if I raise your women up, will you give up your magic?" The sorcerer couldn't bear it and said:[^sorcerer]
> Conduct no one could survive:\
> isn't that a butcher's work?
When they said this, Tilopa answered in song:
> Look, look into your own mind:\
> gulp the mountain, all that's seen;\
> drink the ocean in one sip;\
> cut saṃsāra[^samsara] loose and leave.
So Tilopa said, and when they spoke of activity beyond thought, all were freed. The sorcerer was given the name Nyiimi, and even now they live at Kimitsikili.
## 2 An emanation of Cakrasaṃvara
The second general part: how Tilopa was shown to be an emanation of Cakrasaṃvara. In the east of India, on the bank of the Dukata, is the source of the river Khasu. There, in the charnel ground of the Masha Grove, is a monastery called Sorrowless. There Tilopa's uncle and mother, who was a nun, were their preceptor and teacher[^preceptor-teacher], and there they were ordained as a monk and named Kalapa. The others gave themselves to the three wheels[^three-wheels] of a monk's work, but Tilopa didn't keep the Dharma. They killed many small birds, and showed their head one way and their body another. Everyone mocked them.
Now those in charge of discipline talked it over. The provost[^provost], with the followers of the Dharma in general and the monks in particular, called an assembly of the Sorrowless monastery and brought Tilopa to account. The ruler of that country said:[^birds]
> You, dressed as a monk, who kill:\
> land? Preceptor[^preceptor-teacher]? Teacher? Who?
When the ruler asked this, Tilopa answered in song:
> Monastery: Sorrowless;\
> mother, uncle: both my guides;\
> Tilo is the monk you see.\
> For ten million eons[^kalpa] I've\
> walked a hundred buddha fields[^buddha-fields];\
> Nāgārjuna, Āryadeva[^aryadeva],\
> I've talked with them, buddhas too;\
> seen the thousand buddhas[^thousand-buddhas], too;\
> [\[11a\]](tibetan.md#page-11a) never killed a living thing.
When they said this, the birds, they say, flew up with a whir and were gone. All believed, and Tilopa was known as an emanation of Cakrasaṃvara.
## 3 Cakrasaṃvara in person
Third, how Tilopa was held to be Cakrasaṃvara in person. They went begging for food in the east of India. Going out, they set their feet down slowly, their eyes looked no farther than a yoke's length[^yoke] ahead, and they recited verses of poetry. Coming back, they spoke the auspicious verses of giving and receiving[^giving-receiving], and the people grew devoted to them.
The ruler of that country invited them all and honored them. Then the ruler said, "Let each of you bring forth a verse on giving and receiving. It must not go against the grammar of the grammarians, nor against logic, scriptural authority[^agama], instruction, experience, or the realization of those who've realized." They all did so, and each agreed with one side or two. When Tilopa's turn came, the teacher spoke. Their verse went against none of them and reached the final meaning of each, and the ruler wrote it down:
> Father? Mother? I have none:\
> Cakrasaṃvara, peak bliss.\
> My preceptor? Teacher? None:\
> I'm a buddha born of self.\
> Grammar? Logic? I have none:\
> from awareness, reason bursts.\
> Saṃvara and I: our three,\
> body, speech and mind are one;\
> I go on into great bliss.
So they said, and they were known as Cakrasaṃvara in person.
## 4 The body of all the buddhas
Fourth, how Tilopa was shown to be the body in which all the buddhas of the three times[^three-times] gather. Ruler Siṃhacandra invited many siddhas, honored them, and asked for empowerment. Tilopa raised a maṇḍala of colored powders[^colored-powders] in the sky, and each saw it differently. Tilo sang a song:
> [\[11b\]](tibetan.md#page-11b) Here, my body's Hevajra,\
> Mahāmāyā[^mahamaya] is my speech,\
> Cakrasaṃvara's my mind,\
> aggregates and elements[^aggregates-elements], the Guhyasamāja,\
> Black One, tantra of sound: limbs;\
> small limbs, Vajrabhairava[^vajrabhairava];\
> hairs: the buddhas of three times.
So they said, and Tilopa was known as the body in which all the buddhas gather.
By such acts, at the end, Tilopa set the beings of Zahor in the east on the path of ripening and freedom. A city of seven hundred thousand was emptied.
So ends the life of Tilopa, chief of yogins, who even the siddhas know as a nirmāṇakāya. It's the account of what they did by their own great qualities, told as it is and told in full.
Written down at the monastery of glorious Drowolung for my son Dode. It's complete. Maṅgalam[^mangalam].[^colophon]
*Folio 11b, the last leaf: Marpa's colophon, written at Drowolung for their son Dode, closing "Maṅgalam" (image 44).*
## Bibliography
*Bde mchog mkha' 'gro snyan rgyud (Ras chung snyan rgyud)*. Reproduced from a rare manuscript in the library of Apho Rinpoche. Compiled by Byang chub bzang po. New Delhi, 1973. Buddhist Digital Resource Center W24891. https://library.bdrc.io/show/bdr:MW24891.
*Bde mchog mkha' 'gro snyan rgyud (Ras chung snyan rgyud): Two Manuscript Collections of Texts from the Yig cha of Gtsang smyon He ru ka*. 2 vols. Smanrtsis Shesrig Spendzod 11–12. Leh: S. W. Tashigangpa, 1971. Buddhist Digital Resource Center W30124. https://library.bdrc.io/show/bdr:MW30124.
Das, Sarat Chandra. *A Tibetan-English Dictionary with Sanskrit Synonyms*. Calcutta: Bengal Secretariat Book Depot, 1902.
Mar pa Chos kyi blo gros. *Mar pa chos kyi blo gros kyi gsung 'bum*. Lhasa: Dpal brtsegs bod yig dpe rnying zhib 'jug khang, 2009. Buddhist Digital Resource Center W1KG12222. https://library.bdrc.io/show/bdr:MW1KG12222.
*Rangjung Yeshe Wiki – Dharma Dictionary*. Tsadra Foundation. Accessed October 20, 2026. https://rywiki.tsadra.org/.
*Rigpa Wiki*. Rigpa Shedra. Accessed October 20, 2026. https://www.rigpawiki.org/.
Shar kha Ras chen, Kun dga' dar po and Byang chub bzang po. *Brgyud pa yid bzhin nor bu'i rnam thar dang zhal gdams sogs*. Manuscript, sixteenth century. Buddhist Digital Resource Center W3CN15304. https://library.bdrc.io/show/bdr:MW3CN15304.
*Wikipedia*. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 20, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/.
## Notes
[^invocation]: The invocation is in Sanskrit, as the Tibetan writes it: "Homage to the guru[^guru], the deity, the ḍākinī[^dakini]. Keep the samaya[^pledge] in mind. May they be accomplished." See *Bde mchog mkha' 'gro snyan rgyud*, fol. 1b; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Samaya](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Samaya)."
[^three-bodies]: The three bodies (Sanskrit *trikāya*, Tibetan *sku gsum*) are the three ways a buddha is present: the dharmakāya[^dharma-body], awakened mind itself[^mind-itself], empty and without form; the saṃbhogakāya[^enjoyment-body], a body of light seen only by beings of great realization; and the nirmāṇakāya[^emanation-body], the form in which a buddha appears in the world. They're also three sides of the nature of mind[^nature-of-mind] in every being: everything that appears is nirmāṇakāya, its radiance saṃbhogakāya, its empty truth dharmakāya. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[sku gsum](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/sku_gsum)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 91; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Three kayas](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Three_kayas)."
[^beyond-elaboration]: Beyond elaboration (Sanskrit *niṣprapañca*, Tibetan *spros bral*): free of everything the mind builds about the nature of things[^nature-of-things], such as existing and not existing. It describes the dharmakāya[^dharma-body] and emptiness[^emptiness]; in Mahāmudrā[^mahamudra] it's also the second of the four yogas, between one-pointedness and one taste. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "[spros bral](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/spros_bral)," "[rnal 'byor bzhi](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/rnal_'byor_bzhi)."
[^to-be-trained]: Those to be trained (Sanskrit *vineya*, Tibetan *gdul bya*), or tamed, are the beings a buddha or a teacher can bring to awakening, those a Dharma[^dharma] is meant for; to ripen them is the work of the three bodies[^three-bodies]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[gdul bya](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/gdul_bya)."
[^nine-moods]: The nine moods of the dance (Sanskrit *rasa*, Tibetan *gar gyi nyams dgu*) are the nine the wrathful deities of the tantras[^tantra] show: charming, heroic and repulsive in body; laughing, fierce and terrifying in speech; compassionate, majestic and peaceful in mind. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[gar gyi nyams dgu](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/gar_gyi_nyams_dgu)."
[^dakini]: A ḍākinī (Tibetan *mkha' 'gro ma*, "one who goes in the sky") is a female embodiment of awakened energy: at the highest a wisdom ḍākinī[^wisdom-dakini], a fully awakened buddha in female form; below that, worldly ḍākinīs, spirits who carry out tasks and eat flesh. The ḍākinīs guard the secret Dharma[^dharma] and give it only to those fit to hold it, and they're one of the Three Roots, with the guru[^guru] and the deity. In this life they prophesy what Tilopa will do, test them and give them the whispered lineage[^whispered-lineage]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[mkha' 'gro ma](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/mkha'_'gro_ma)"; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Dakini](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Dakini)."
[^lotus-born]: "The lotus-born" is *chu skyes*, "born of water", a poet's word for the lotus: as a lotus rises from a lake, Prajñābhadra[^prajnabhadra], who's Tilopa, rises from the lake of the three bodies[^three-bodies]. Here it isn't the name of Padmasambhava. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[chu skyes](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/chu_skyes)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 414.
[^great-bliss]: Great bliss (Sanskrit *mahāsukha*, Tibetan *bde ba chen po*) is the bliss of awakening as the tantras[^tantra] teach it, never apart from emptiness[^emptiness]. It's also a name of Cakrasaṃvara[^cakrasamvara], whose Tibetan name, *bde mchog*, means "supreme bliss". See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "[bde ba chen po](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/bde_ba_chen_po)," "['khor lo bde mchog](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/'khor_lo_bde_mchog)."
[^fruit]: Fruition (Sanskrit *phala*, Tibetan *'bras bu*) is the result of the path, awakening itself; "the fruition made manifest" calls Tilopa awakening in person. The same word is the result an act brings, as in "karma bears no fruit[^acts-no-fruit]", and with view[^view], conduct[^conduct] and samaya[^pledge] it's one of the four things a practitioner holds. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "['bras bu](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/'bras_bu)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 929.
[^prajnabhadra]: Prajñābhadra, "Excellent Wisdom" (Tibetan *shes rab bzang po*), is Tilopa, by the name the wisdom ḍākinī[^wisdom-dakini] gives them in Oḍḍiyāna[^oddiyana] in 1.2. See *Bde mchog mkha' 'gro snyan rgyud*, fol. 7a.
[^protector-of-beings]: The Protector of Beings (Sanskrit *Jagannātha*, Tibetan *'gro ba'i mgon po*) is a title of a buddha, or of a teacher seen as one. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "['gro ba'i mgon po](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/'gro_ba'i_mgon_po)."
[^pandita]: A paṇḍita (Tibetan *mkhas pa*, "learned one") is a scholar of the Buddhist Dharma[^dharma] and the sciences of India, such as the great teachers of its monastic universities. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[mkhas pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/mkhas_pa)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 183.
[^twelve-hardships]: Nāropa, a great scholar of the monastic universities of India who left their seat to seek Tilopa, was Tilopa's chief disciple and Marpa's own guru[^guru]. The twelve great hardships (*dka' ba bcu gnyis*) are the twelve trials Tilopa put them through before giving Nāropa the Dharma[^dharma]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "[dka' ba bcu gnyis](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/dka'_ba_bcu_gnyis)," "[nā ro pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/nA_ro_pa)"; *Wikipedia*, s.v. "[Naropa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naropa)."
[^meter-4-5]: Trochaic tetrameter, then pentameter: four beats a line, then five, the rhythm of "Twinkle, twinkle, little star," then of "Polly wolly doodle all the day." Each beat is a stressed beat with a light one after it, and each English line is as long as its Tibetan line, so a line of seven or nine ends on its beat and a line of eight on the light one after it. See *Wikipedia*, s.v. "[Songs of realization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_of_realization)."
[^songs]: The songs are *mgur*, songs of realization, the verse in which the yogins[^yogin] of India and Tibet sang what they'd seen; Milarepa is the most famous Tibetan maker of them. The Tibetan counts each line in syllables[^seed-syllable]: seven to a line in most songs here, nine in some stanzas. Tibetan says them in pairs, each a beat, so a seven-syllable line has four beats, trochaic tetrameter, the rhythm of "Twinkle, twinkle, little star", and a nine-syllable line five, trochaic pentameter. The English keeps one line to each Tibetan line, as long as it, stressed and light in turn. See *Wikipedia*, s.v. "[Songs of realization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_of_realization)."
[^secret-word]: The ḍākinīs'[^dakini] secret word (*mkha' 'gro'i gsang tshig*) is their hidden, symbolic speech, the code in which the secret Dharma[^dharma] is kept, so that only one who holds its key can open it. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[gsang tshig](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/gsang_tshig)."
[^three-jewels]: The three jewels here are the three wish-fulfilling jewels[^wish-fulfilling-jewel] of this cycle of the Dharma[^dharma], named in the lines that follow: introduction[^introduction], dream[^dream] and the lineage[^lineage]. They're not the Three Jewels of all Buddhists, the Buddha, the Dharma and the Saṅgha. See *Bde mchog mkha' 'gro snyan rgyud*, fol. 1b.
[^wish-fulfilling-jewel]: A wish-fulfilling jewel (Sanskrit *cintāmaṇi*, Tibetan *yid bzhin nor bu*) is the gem of Indian legend that grants every wish; the Buddha, the guru[^guru] and the nature of mind[^nature-of-mind] are all called by its name. The Dharma[^dharma] of the ḍākinīs'[^dakini] whispered lineage[^whispered-lineage] is kept as three such jewels, and this life belongs to the first, the jewel of the lineage[^lineage]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[yid bzhin nor bu](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/yid_bzhin_nor_bu)"; *Wikipedia*, s.v. "[Cintamani](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cintamani)."
[^introduction]: Introduction (*ngo sprod*) is the pointing-out instruction[^instruction]: the guru[^guru] shows the disciple the nature of their own mind directly, as one introduces a person face to face. The guru who gives it is the disciple's root guru. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[ngo sprod](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/ngo_sprod)."
[^dharma-body]: The dharmakāya (Tibetan *chos sku*), the "dharma body", is the first of the three bodies[^three-bodies]: the empty, unconditioned truth of awakened mind, which no concept has ever entered. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[chos sku](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/chos_sku)"; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Dharmakaya](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Dharmakaya)."
[^dream]: Here dream (*rmi lam*) is the yoga of dream, knowing that one dreams and training the mind in the dream. It's one of the six dharmas of Nāropa (*na ro chos drug*), which English books often call "six yogas" or "six doctrines": inner heat[^inner-heat], the illusory body[^illusory-body], dream, luminosity[^luminosity], transference and the intermediate state. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "[rmi lam](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/rmi_lam)," "[na ro chos drug](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/na_ro_chos_drug)"; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Six Yogas of Naropa](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Six_Yogas_of_Naropa)."
[^enjoyment-body]: The saṃbhogakāya (Tibetan *longs sku*), the "enjoyment body", is the second of the three bodies[^three-bodies]: a form body of light, adorned with the major and minor marks, which appears only to bodhisattvas and from which the nirmāṇakāya[^emanation-body] arises. In the palace of 1.2 it's the rank of the ḍākinīs[^dakini] of the five families[^five-families]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[longs spyod rdzogs pa'i sku](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/longs_spyod_rdzogs_pa'i_sku)"; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Sambhogakaya](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Sambhogakaya)."
[^lineage]: A lineage (*brgyud pa*) is the unbroken line through which a Dharma[^dharma] passes, each holder receiving it from the one before. "The jewel of the lineage" is the account of that line, beginning with Tilopa's life. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[brgyud pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/brgyud_pa)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 342.
[^whispered-lineage]: The whispered lineage (*snyan brgyud*, "ear lineage") is Dharma[^dharma] passed only by word of mouth, from a teacher's lips to a disciple's ear. This one, the hearing lineage[^lineage] of Cakrasaṃvara[^cakrasamvara], came from the ḍākinīs[^dakini] to Tilopa, and through Nāropa and Marpa to Milarepa and Rechungpa. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "[snyan brgyud](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/snyan_brgyud)," "[bde mchog snyan brgyud](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/bde_mchog_snyan_brgyud)."
[^luminosity]: Luminosity (Sanskrit *prabhāsvara*, Tibetan *'od gsal*), or "clear light", is the bright, knowing nature of mind[^nature-of-mind]; in the opening song the whispered lineage[^whispered-lineage] is that light, as the sun is light. As one of the six dharmas of Nāropa it's the practice of recognizing it, above all in deep sleep. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "['od gsal](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/'od_gsal)," "[bka' babs bzhi](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/bka'_babs_bzhi)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 1120.
[^titan]: Rāhu is an asura (Tibetan *lha min*, "not a god"), one of the jealous "titans" or demigods who live inside Mount Meru and wage war on the gods[^god]. In Indian myth they swallow the sun and the moon, which is why they're eclipsed; the whispered lineage[^whispered-lineage], the light of the sun, dreads them as the sun dreads eclipse. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "[lha min](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/lha_min)," "[sgra gcan](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/sgra_gcan)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 331; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Demigods](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Demigods)."
[^blessing]: Blessing (Sanskrit *adhiṣṭhāna*, Tibetan *byin rlabs*) is the power of the buddhas, a guru[^guru] or the ḍākinīs[^dakini] passed into a practitioner, a stream of energy that makes realization ripen; to bless is to give it. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[byin rlabs](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/byin_rlabs)."
[^instruction]: Instruction (Sanskrit *upadeśa*, Tibetan *gdams ngag*, *man ngag*) is a teacher's own practical Dharma[^dharma] on how to practice, passed by word of mouth, as against the scriptures themselves. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[gdams ngag](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/gdams_ngag)."
[^dharma]: The Dharma (Tibetan *chos*) is what the Buddha taught and the truth it shows; "the holy Dharma" (*dam chos*, *saddharma*) is the same. English books often put it as "the doctrine" or "the teaching". See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[dam chos](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/dam_chos)."
[^experience-realization]: Experience and realization (*nyams rtogs*): experience is the passing states of meditation, such as bliss, clarity and stillness; realization is unchanging understanding of the nature of things[^nature-of-things]. A teacher of the lineage[^lineage] has both. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[nyams rtogs](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/nyams_rtogs)."
[^compassion]: Compassion (Sanskrit *karuṇā*, Tibetan *thugs rje*) is the wish that beings be free of suffering, and the ever-responsive energy with which an awakened mind acts for them. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[thugs rje](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/thugs_rje)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 579.
[^buddhahood]: A buddha (Tibetan *sangs rgyas*) is one fully awakened from the sleep of ignorance[^ignorance]; buddhahood is that state. The Buddha of history is one buddha among countless buddhas. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[sangs rgyas](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/sangs_rgyas)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 1265.
[^one-life]: "In this one life and this one body" (*tshe gcig lus gcig*) is the promise of the tantras[^tantra], that buddhahood[^buddhahood] can be won within a single lifetime. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[tshe gcig lus gcig](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/tshe_gcig_lus_gcig)."
[^emanation-body]: The nirmāṇakāya (Tibetan *sprul sku*), the "emanation body", is the third of the three bodies[^three-bodies]: a form body that appears to beings both pure and impure, to tame them, as a buddha, an artisan, a musician or anything that'll help. Tilopa's life is told as the life of a nirmāṇakāya; in Tibet the same word names an incarnate lama, a tulku. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[sprul sku](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/sprul_sku)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 812; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Nirmanakaya](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Nirmanakaya)."
[^false-notions]: False notions (Sanskrit *samāropa*, Tibetan *sgro 'dogs*), or superimpositions, are the ideas the mind lays over things that aren't in them, and the doubts that come with them; an instruction[^instruction] that clears them away does it by hearing and reflection. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[sgro 'dogs](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/sgro_'dogs)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 337.
[^path-of-ripening]: The path of ripening (*smin lam*) is the four empowerments[^empowerment], which ripen a disciple's being with the capacity to realize the bodies of a buddha. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "[smin lam](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/smin_lam)," "[smin grol](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/smin_grol)."
[^secretly]: Outer, inner and secret (*phyi nang gsang gsum*) are the three levels at which the Dharma[^dharma] is given, each deeper and more hidden than the last; here they match the three bodies[^three-bodies], from the nirmāṇakāya[^emanation-body] outside to the dharmakāya[^dharma-body] within. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[phyi nang gsang gsum](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/phyi_nang_gsang_gsum)."
[^path-of-freedom]: The path of freedom (*grol lam*) is the practice, after empowerment[^empowerment], of the guru's[^guru] oral instruction[^instruction], and above all of resting in the natural state of mind, Mahāmudrā[^mahamudra]. Together the two paths are "ripening and freeing" (*smin grol*). See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "[grol lam](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/grol_lam)," "[smin grol](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/smin_grol)."
[^wisdom-dakini]: The wisdom ḍākinī (Sanskrit *jñānaḍākinī*, Tibetan *ye shes mkha' 'gro ma*) is a fully awakened being in a pure female form, as against the worldly ḍākinīs[^dakini], who are spirits. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[ye shes mkha' 'gro ma](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/ye_shes_mkha'_'gro_ma)."
[^siddha]: The siddhas (Tibetan *grub thob*), the "accomplished ones", are the yogins[^yogin] of the tantras[^tantra] who've won siddhi[^siddhi], the supreme or the common; the greatest of them are the mahāsiddhas, and Tilopa is counted among the eighty-four. The paṇḍitas[^pandita] are the scholars. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[grub thob](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/grub_thob)"; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Tilopa](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Tilopa)"; *Wikipedia*, s.v. "[Mahasiddha](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahasiddha)."
[^emanation]: An emanation (Sanskrit *nirmita*, Tibetan *sprul pa*) is a form an awakened being sends out or takes on by its power, a body, a person or a whole scene; "an emanation of Cakrasaṃvara[^cakrasamvara]" is that deity appearing as Tilopa. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[sprul pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/sprul_pa)."
[^cakrasamvara]: Cakrasaṃvara, "Wheel of Supreme Bliss" (Tibetan *'khor lo bde mchog*), is a chief deity of the highest yoga tantras[^tantra] of the new schools, and of their mother tantras: a wrathful deity, usually blue, with four faces and twelve arms, in union with Vajravārāhī[^vajravarahi]. The whispered lineage[^whispered-lineage] is theirs. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "['khor lo bde mchog](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/'khor_lo_bde_mchog)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 669; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Chakrasamvara](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Chakrasamvara)."
[^provisional]: Provisional meaning (Sanskrit *neyārtha*, Tibetan *drang don*): a meaning that leads, one that needs interpreting; here, Tilopa's life told as though they were an ordinary human who needed gurus[^guru]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[drang don](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/drang_don)."
[^guru]: A guru (Tibetan *bla ma*, lama) is a spiritual teacher; in the tantras[^tantra], the vajra teacher who gives empowerment[^empowerment], keeps the samayas[^pledge] and has experience and realization[^experience-realization], and is regarded as a buddha. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[bla ma](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/bla_ma)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 900.
[^definitive]: Definitive meaning (Sanskrit *nītārtha*, Tibetan *nges don*): the real, final meaning; here, that Tilopa, being a buddha, had no human guru[^guru]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[nges don](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/nges_don)."
[^brahmin]: A Brahmin (Sanskrit *brāhmaṇa*, Tibetan *bram ze*) is a member of the priestly class of Indian society, the highest of the four classes, the keepers of the rites. Tilopa is born into a Brahmin family. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[bram ze](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/bram_ze)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 896; *Wikipedia*, s.v. "[Brahmin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmin)."
[^read-the-marks]: A reader of marks (*mtshan mkhan*) is one versed in the art of reading signs[^signs] and omens, here in a newborn child's body; the Tibetan names them a Brahmin[^brahmin] reader of marks. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[mtshan mkhan](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/mtshan_mkhan)."
[^meter-4]: Trochaic tetrameter: four beats a line, the rhythm of "Twinkle, twinkle, little star." Each beat is a stressed beat with a light one after it, and each English line is as long as its Tibetan line, so a line of seven ends on its beat and a line of eight on the light one after it, as "Glory, glory, hallelujah" does. See *Wikipedia*, s.v. "[Songs of realization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_of_realization)."
[^god]: A god (Sanskrit *deva*, Tibetan *lha*) is a being of the worlds of the gods: long-lived and happy but still mortal and still in saṃsāra[^samsara], and no creator. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[lha](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/lha)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 1331.
[^naga]: A nāga (Tibetan *klu*) is a serpent spirit of springs, lakes and the underworld, rich and magical, and the cause of certain illnesses when offended. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[klu](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/klu)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 45; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Naga](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Naga)."
[^yaksa]: A yakṣa (Tibetan *gnod sbyin*, "harm-bringer") is a powerful spirit of wealth and wild places, one of the eight classes of gods[^god] and spirits, now helping and now harming. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[gnod sbyin](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/gnod_sbyin)"; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Yaksha](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Yaksha)."
[^with-the-marks]: "With the marks" (*mtshan ma can*): bearing the defining signs[^signs] of a ḍākinī[^dakini], here old age and ugliness, the breath and the limping gait; the women who come to the child are ḍākinīs. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[mtshan ma can](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/mtshan_ma_can)."
[^demon]: The word in 1.1 is *'dre*, a harmful spirit of Tibetan belief, which has no Sanskrit of its own. One who doesn't know a ḍākinī[^dakini] may take them for such a spirit, as the retinue takes Tilopa's ḍākinī for a māra[^mara] in 1.2. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "['dre](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/'dre)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 697.
[^prophecy]: A prophecy (*lung bstan*) is a foretelling, by a buddha, a deity or a ḍākinī[^dakini], that directs a practitioner where to go and what to do; Tilopa's life moves from one prophecy to the next. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[lung bstan](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/lung_bstan)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 1216.
[^sal]: The Tibetan names the child's tree *sha ba*, a word the dictionaries know only as "deer"; the sal tree, sacred in India, is the likeliest tree meant. The same tree, "a yojana high", stands in the charnel ground[^charnel-ground] of 1.4.3. See *Bde mchog mkha' 'gro snyan rgyud*, fols. 4a, 8b; *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[sha ba](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/sha_ba)."
[^oddiyana]: Oḍḍiyāna (Tibetan *u rgyan*), the "land of the ḍākinīs[^dakini]", was a real place northwest of ancient India, which many scholars put in the Swat valley of today's Pakistan, and which tradition made a buddha field[^buddha-fields] where the tantras[^tantra] flourish. Almost every great teacher of the tantras is said to have gone there, in body or in vision. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[u rgyan](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/u_rgyan)"; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Oddiyana](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Oddiyana)"; *Wikipedia*, s.v. "[Oddiyana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oddiyana)."
[^vajravarahi]: Vajravārāhī, "Vajra Sow" (Tibetan *rdo rje phag mo*), is the partner in union of Cakrasaṃvara[^cakrasamvara] and the root of all the ḍākinīs'[^dakini] emanations[^emanation], a wisdom ḍākinī[^wisdom-dakini] shown red, with a sow's head beside their own. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[rdo rje phag mo](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/rdo_rje_phag_mo)"; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Vajravarahi](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Vajravarahi)."
[^pancapana]: The name isn't explained. It's nearly the name of the market town in Bengal where, in the prophecy[^prophecy] that follows, Tilopa is sent to serve Bharima. See *Bde mchog mkha' 'gro snyan rgyud*, fols. 4a, 4b.
[^tree-of-awakening]: The tree of awakening (Sanskrit *bodhivṛkṣa*, Tibetan *byang chub shing*) is the fig at Bodh Gaya under which the Buddha awoke; here the place where the child is to win their own awakening. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[byang chub shing](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/byang_chub_shing)"; *Wikipedia*, s.v. "[Bodhi tree](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhi_tree)."
[^charnel-ground]: A charnel ground (Sanskrit *śmaśāna*, Tibetan *dur khrod*) is where the dead were left, burned or cut up for the birds. Terrifying and lonely, it's where the yogins[^yogin] of the tantras[^tantra] practiced, and it stands for the death of clinging to this body and life; India had eight great ones. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[dur khrod](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/dur_khrod)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 630; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.vv. "[Charnel ground](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Charnel_ground)," "[Eight great charnel grounds](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Eight_great_charnel_grounds)."
[^mahesvara]: Maheśvara, "the Great Ruler" (Tibetan *dbang phyug chen po*), is the Hindu god[^god] Śiva; the eight great charnel grounds[^charnel-ground] are said to have grown up where the parts of Rudra's body fell. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[dbang phyug chen po](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/dbang_phyug_chen_po)"; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Eight great charnel grounds](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Eight_great_charnel_grounds)."
[^feast]: The feast (Sanskrit *gaṇacakra*, Tibetan *tshogs kyi 'khor lo*, "wheel of the feast") is a gathering of the tantras[^tantra] in which practitioners offer food and drink, meat, fish and wine among them, to the deities and enjoy them, to gather merit and mend their samayas[^pledge]. Its leader in 1.4.1 is the *tshogs dpon*, Sanskrit *gaṇapati*. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[tshogs kyi 'khor lo](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/tshogs_kyi_'khor_lo)"; *Wikipedia*, s.v. "[Ganachakra](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganachakra)."
[^caryapa]: Caryāpa, "the one of conduct[^conduct]", is a mahāsiddha of India; in this life they're one of Tilopa's four human gurus[^guru], who gave Tilopa dream[^dream]. See *Bde mchog mkha' 'gro snyan rgyud*, fol. 5a; *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[spyod pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/spyod_pa)."
[^lawapa]: Lawapa (Tibetan *lva ba pa*), or Kambalapāda, "the one with the blanket", is a mahāsiddha of the tenth century named for the woolen blanket they wore. One of Tilopa's four human gurus[^guru], Lawapa gave Tilopa luminosity[^luminosity]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "[lva ba pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/lva_ba_pa)," "[la ba pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/la_ba_pa)."
[^siddhi]: A siddhi (Tibetan *dngos grub*), an "accomplishment", is what practice attains. The common siddhis are eight worldly powers, such as clairvoyance, flight and invisibility; the supreme siddhi is complete awakening, Mahāmudrā[^mahamudra], and "the siddhi that's close to the supreme Mahāmudrā" is close to it. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[dngos grub](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/dngos_grub)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 359; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Siddhi](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Siddhi)."
[^mahamudra]: Mahāmudrā (Tibetan *phyag rgya chen po*), the "great seal", is the nature of mind[^nature-of-mind], the seal set on all things in saṃsāra[^samsara], nirvāṇa and the path, and the most direct practice for realizing it; it's the meditation tradition of the Kagyü, passed from Nāropa to Marpa. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[phyag rgya chen po](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/phyag_rgya_chen_po)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 831; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Mahamudra](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Mahamudra)."
[^nagarjuna]: Nāgārjuna (Tibetan *klu sgrub*), the great teacher of the second or third century who founded the Madhyamaka, is also counted among the eighty-four mahāsiddhas and stands in the Guhyasamāja[^guhyasamaja] tradition; here they're one of Tilopa's four human gurus[^guru], who gave Tilopa the illusory body[^illusory-body]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[klu sgrub](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/klu_sgrub)"; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Nagarjuna](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Nagarjuna)."
[^outcaste]: The lowest caste (Sanskrit *mātaṅga*, Tibetan *gdol pa*) stood below the four classes of Indian society, shunned by the others as impure; a yogin[^yogin] living in such a hut has set purity and impurity aside. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "[ma tang ga](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/ma_tang_ga)," "[gdol pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/gdol_pa)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 663.
[^yogin]: A yogin (Tibetan *rnal 'byor pa*, "one who has mastered the real") is a practitioner of yoga; here a practitioner of the tantras[^tantra] who lives apart, an ascetic given to meditation. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[rnal 'byor pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/rnal_'byor_pa)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 763.
[^discipline]: Yogic discipline (Sanskrit *vrata*, Tibetan *brtul zhugs*) is the unconventional conduct[^conduct] advanced practitioners of the tantras[^tantra] take up, "vanquishing ordinary behaviour", to deepen their practice and train their awareness[^awareness], as Tilopa's show of losing their mind does in 1.1. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[brtul zhugs](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/brtul_zhugs)."
[^gandharva]: A gandharva (Tibetan *dri za*, "scent eater") is a celestial musician who lives on scents, at the rim of Mount Meru; "the city of the gandharvas" is a mirage, castles in the air. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "[dri za](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/dri_za)," "[dri za'i grong khyer](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/dri_za'i_grong_khyer)"; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Gandharva](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Gandharva)."
[^mandala]: A maṇḍala (Tibetan *dkyil 'khor*, "center and surrounding") is either of two things. The maṇḍala of a deity is its palace and circle of deities, drawn in colored sand or visualized, into which a disciple is led at empowerment[^empowerment]. The maṇḍala offered to a guru[^guru] is the whole universe, visualized and set out in heaps on a plate. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[dkyil 'khor](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/dkyil_'khor)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 56; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Mandala](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Mandala)."
[^guhyasamaja]: Guhyasamāja, "Assembly of Secrets" (Tibetan *gsang ba 'dus pa*), is one of the major tantras[^tantra] of the new schools and its deity, a form of the buddha Akṣobhya. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[gsang ba 'dus pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/gsang_ba_'dus_pa)"; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Guhyasamaja](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Guhyasamaja)."
[^empowerment]: An empowerment (Sanskrit *abhiṣeka*, Tibetan *dbang*, *dbang bskur*) is the rite of the Vajrayāna that awakens the capacity for primordial wisdom[^primordial-wisdom] in a disciple and gives leave to practice; "without empowerment there is no siddhi[^siddhi]." See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[dbang bskur](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/dbang_bskur)"; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Empowerment](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Empowerment)."
[^tantra]: A tantra (Tibetan *rgyud*, "continuity") is a scripture of the Vajrayāna; the Guhyasamāja[^guhyasamaja] Tantra defines it as the continuity of ground, path and fruition[^fruit]. To explain a tantra is to teach it. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[rgyud](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/rgyud)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 318.
[^nature-of-mind]: The nature of mind (*sems kyi ngo bo*), word for word "the essence of mind", is what mind is in itself, beneath its thoughts; to see it is the aim of the pointing-out instruction[^instruction] and of Mahāmudrā[^mahamudra]. The Tibetan phrase has no single Sanskrit term of its own. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "[sems kyi ngo bo](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/sems_kyi_ngo_bo)," "[sems kyi rang bzhin](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/sems_kyi_rang_bzhin)."
[^prajnaparamita]: The Prajñāpāramitā (Tibetan *shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa*), the "perfection of wisdom", is the sūtras of the Mahāyāna that teach emptiness[^emptiness]; the longest of them is in a hundred thousand lines. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong phrag brgya pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/shes_rab_kyi_pha_rol_tu_phyin_pa_stong_phrag_brgya_pa)."
[^hevajra]: Hevajra (Tibetan *kye rdo rje*) is a chief deity of the highest yoga tantra[^tantra] and the tantra named after them, much practiced by the new schools. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[kye rdo rje](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/kye_rdo_rje)"; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Hevajra](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Hevajra)."
[^luhipa]: Lūhipa, or Lūipa, "the Fish-Gut Eater", a mahāsiddha of the tenth century born a royal child, is the first of the eighty-four mahāsiddhas in Abhayadatta's list; a ḍākinī[^dakini] told them to eat fish guts to purify their pride. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[lu hi pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/lu_hi_pa)"; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.vv. "[Luipa](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Luipa)," "[Eighty-four mahasiddhas](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Eighty-four_mahasiddhas)."
[^pothi]: A Tibetan book (Tibetan *dpe cha*) is a stack of long loose pages, unbound, as India's palm-leaf books were, so the child is told to cut the cord (*thag pa*) that holds the stack together. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[dpe cha](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/dpe_cha)"; *Bde mchog mkha' 'gro snyan rgyud*, fol. 4b.
[^hundred]: Once the manuscript calls the sūtra the Eight Thousand Lines (*brgyad stong pa*), a shorter one, and four times the Hundred Thousand Lines (*brgya stong pa*), one letter apart; the English keeps to the Hundred Thousand Lines. See *Bde mchog mkha' 'gro snyan rgyud*, fols. 4a, 4b; *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong phrag brgya pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/shes_rab_kyi_pha_rol_tu_phyin_pa_stong_phrag_brgya_pa)."
[^two-stages]: The two stages (Sanskrit *krama*, Tibetan *rim gnyis*) are the stage of generation[^generation], in which one imagines oneself as the deity, and the stage of completion[^completion], in which one dissolves it and works with the subtle body; together they're the meditation of the tantras[^tantra]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "[rim gnyis](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/rim_gnyis)," "[bskyed rdzogs](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/bskyed_rdzogs)."
[^sugata]: The Sugatas, "the Blissfully Gone" (Tibetan *bde bar gshegs pa*), are the buddhas, gone to bliss by a blissful path. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[bde bar gshegs pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/bde_bar_gshegs_pa)."
[^conduct]: Conduct (Sanskrit *caryā*, Tibetan *spyod pa*) is how a practitioner acts; in the tantras[^tantra], the unconventional conduct by which a yogin[^yogin] who has gained realization brings it to its end. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[spyod pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/spyod_pa)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 808.
[^delighted]: That Tilopa and Bharima "delighted each other in the conduct[^conduct] of the Secret Mantra[^secret-mantra]" means they practiced together as action seal (Sanskrit *karmamudrā*, Tibetan *las kyi phyag rgya*): a practice with a physical partner, joined with inner heat[^inner-heat], that turns passion into great bliss[^great-bliss] and the knowing of emptiness[^emptiness]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[las kyi phyag rgya](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/las_kyi_phyag_rgya)"; *Wikipedia*, s.v. "[Karmamudrā](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karmamudr%C4%81)."
[^secret-mantra]: The Secret Mantra (Sanskrit *guhyamantra*, Tibetan *gsang sngags*) is another name for the Vajrayāna, the path of the tantras[^tantra], secret because it's given only to those who've received empowerment[^empowerment]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[gsang sngags](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/gsang_sngags)"; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Secret mantra](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Secret_mantra)."
[^bone-ornaments]: The bone ornaments (*rus rgyan*) are the six ornaments of carved human bone worn by wrathful deities and yogins[^yogin]: for a male deity a crown of bone pendants, earrings, a short and a long necklace, a girdle, and bracelets and anklets. They stand for the six perfections. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[rus pa'i rgyan drug](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/rus_pa'i_rgyan_drug)"; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Bone ornaments](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Bone_ornaments)."
[^nija]: Genuine nature (Sanskrit *nija*, Tibetan *gnyug ma*), the "native" state, is the mind's own nature, never made or put on, as against what's artificial. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[gnyug ma](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/gnyug_ma)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 493.
[^freed]: To be freed (*grol ba*) is liberation (Sanskrit *vimokṣa*, Tibetan *thar pa*): release from saṃsāra[^samsara], or here the moment of realizing the nature of mind[^nature-of-mind]; throughout the book Tilopa's words free those who hear them. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "[grol ba](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/grol_ba)," "[thar pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/thar_pa)."
[^vajra-song]: A vajra song (*rdo rje'i mgur*) is a song of realization sung by a teacher; *mgur* is the song a guru[^guru] sings of realization or the Dharma[^dharma], as Milarepa's are. A vajra (*rdo rje*) is Indra's "thunderbolt" and the "diamond", in the tantras[^tantra] the sign of what can't be broken; "vajra" before a word makes it of that kind. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[rdo rje'i mgur](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/rdo_rje'i_mgur)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 282, 703.
[^brahma]: Brahmā (Tibetan *tshangs pa*) is the ruler of the gods[^god] of the form realm; a voice like Brahmā's is deep and moving, and the Brahmā voice is a mark of a buddha's speech. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "[tshangs pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/tshangs_pa)," "[tshangs dbyangs](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/tshangs_dbyangs)."
[^meter-5]: Trochaic pentameter: five beats a line, the rhythm of "Polly wolly doodle all the day." Each beat is a stressed beat with a light one after it, and each English line is as long as its Tibetan line, so a line of nine ends on its beat and a line of ten on the light one after it. See *Wikipedia*, s.v. "[Songs of realization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_of_realization)."
[^dependent-arising]: Dependent arising (Sanskrit *pratītyasamutpāda*, Tibetan *rten cing 'brel bar 'byung ba*) is the Dharma[^dharma] that things arise neither without a cause nor from a creator, but only where causes and conditions meet; its "links" are the twelve, from ignorance[^ignorance] to old age and death. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[rten cing 'brel bar 'byung ba](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/rten_cing_'brel_bar_'byung_ba)"; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Twelve links of dependent origination](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Twelve_links_of_dependent_origination)."
[^innate]: The innate (Sanskrit *sahaja*, Tibetan *lhan cig skyes pa*, "born together") is the awakened nature that arises together with mind itself[^mind-itself] and was never apart from it. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[lhan cig skyes pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/lhan_cig_skyes_pa)."
[^primordial-wisdom]: Primordial wisdom (Sanskrit *jñāna*, Tibetan *ye shes*) is the timeless awareness[^awareness] of the awakened mind, present from the beginning. Wisdom[^prajna] (Sanskrit *prajñā*), the other "wisdom", is the knowing that discerns. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[ye shes](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/ye_shes)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 1142.
[^suchness]: Suchness (Sanskrit *tattva*, Tibetan *de nyid*), or "thatness", is things just as they are, another name for emptiness[^emptiness] and the nature of things[^nature-of-things]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "[de nyid](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/de_nyid)," "[de bzhin nyid](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/de_bzhin_nyid)."
[^signs]: Signs (*brda*) are the gestures, symbols and words by which a teacher shows what words can't say; so in 1.2 the wisdom ḍākinī[^wisdom-dakini] answers Tilopa in signs. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[brda](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/brda)."
[^kye-ho]: Kye ho! is a cry of amazement that calls the hearer, "Behold!", often opening a song of realization. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[kye ho](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/kye_ho)."
[^remedy]: A remedy (Sanskrit *pratipakṣa*, Tibetan *gnyen po*), or antidote, is a practice that counters a fault; where all is the innate[^innate], the song says, there's none to apply. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[gnyen po](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/gnyen_po)."
[^grounds-paths]: The grounds and paths (Sanskrit *bhūmi* and *mārga*, Tibetan *sa lam*) are the ten grounds of the bodhisattva and the five paths, the stages by which most of the Dharma[^dharma] measures the way to buddhahood[^buddhahood]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[sa lam](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/sa_lam)."
[^convention]: Convention (Sanskrit *saṃvṛti*, Tibetan *kun rdzob*, "concealing") is the relative level of truth, where words and signs[^signs] work, as against the ultimate[^ultimate], which they can't reach. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[kun rdzob](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/kun_rdzob)."
[^meter-3]: Trochaic trimeter: three beats a line, the rhythm of "Ring around the rosie." Each beat is a stressed beat with a light one after it, and each English line is as long as its Tibetan line, six, so it ends on the light one after its last beat. See *Wikipedia*, s.v. "[Songs of realization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_of_realization)."
[^four-transmissions]: The four transmissions (*bka' babs bzhi*) are the four lines of the Dharma[^dharma] Tilopa received from their four human gurus[^guru]: the illusory body[^illusory-body] with transference, dream[^dream], luminosity[^luminosity] and inner heat[^inner-heat]. The name Kagyü is sometimes said to mean "the lineage[^lineage] of the four transmissions". See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[bka' babs bzhi](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/bka'_babs_bzhi)"; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Kagyü](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Kagy%C3%BC)."
[^illusory-body]: The illusory body (Sanskrit *māyādeha*, Tibetan *sgyu lus*) is the practice of knowing one's body and all things as an illusion; it's one of the six dharmas of Nāropa. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[sgyu lus](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/sgyu_lus)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 329.
[^inner-heat]: Inner heat (Sanskrit *caṇḍālī*, Tibetan *gtum mo*) is the yoga of kindling heat through the channels and winds[^channels-winds] until the winds enter the central channel and great bliss[^great-bliss] arises; it's the root of the six dharmas of Nāropa. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[gtum mo](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/gtum_mo)"; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Tummo](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Tummo)"; *Wikipedia*, s.v. "[Tummo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tummo)."
[^pledge]: A samaya (Tibetan *dam tshig*), a "pledge", is a commitment of the Vajrayāna taken at empowerment[^empowerment]: outwardly to keep harmony with the guru[^guru] and one's companions, inwardly never to stray from the practice. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[dam tshig](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/dam_tshig)"; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Samaya](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Samaya)."
[^fortune]: Fortune (*skal ba*) is one's karmic lot, the merit that makes one fit for a Dharma[^dharma]; one "with the fortune" is a worthy recipient. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "[skal ba](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/skal_ba)," "[skal ldan](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/skal_ldan)."
[^ladder]: The text doesn't say what the "pair of grass mice" are, a key or a charm; they open the gate. See *Bde mchog mkha' 'gro snyan rgyud*, fols. 5b, 6a.
[^reference]: A reference point (Sanskrit *ālambana*, Tibetan *dmigs pa*) is the mind's fixing on an object as this or that, its support; "where every reference point has ended" the mind grasps at nothing. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[dmigs pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/dmigs_pa)."
[^non-duality]: Non-duality (Sanskrit *advaya*, Tibetan *gnyis su med pa*) is the absence of two, of subject and object, saṃsāra[^samsara] and nirvāṇa, bliss and emptiness[^emptiness]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "[gnyis su med pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/gnyis_su_med_pa)," "[gnyis med](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/gnyis_med)."
[^five-families]: The five families (*rigs lnga*) are the five buddha families, buddha, vajra, jewel, lotus and karma, each with its buddha (Vairocana, Akṣobhya, Ratnasambhava, Amitābha, Amoghasiddhi), its wisdom and the poison of the mind it purifies. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[rigs lnga](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/rigs_lnga)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 1180; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Five buddha families](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Five_buddha_families)."
[^dakini-of-action]: The ḍākinī of action (Sanskrit *karmaḍākinī*, Tibetan *las kyi mkha' 'gro*) is a ḍākinī[^dakini] who carries out awakened activity, as against the wisdom ḍākinī[^wisdom-dakini]; the Nyingma speak of ḍākinīs of karma, of wisdom and of the world. Here they keep the gate. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[las kyi mkha' 'gro](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/las_kyi_mkha'_'gro)"; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Dakini](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Dakini)."
[^devotion]: Devotion (*mos gus*), longing and respect toward the guru[^guru], is what the Kagyü, "the Practice Lineage", stress with guru yoga and the transmission from teacher to disciple. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[mos gus](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/mos_gus)"; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Kagyü](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Kagy%C3%BC)."
[^discipline-of-awareness]: The yogic discipline of awareness (Sanskrit *vidyāvrata*, Tibetan *rig pa brtul zhugs*) is yogic discipline[^discipline] carried by awareness[^awareness]: Tilopa overwhelms the ḍākinīs[^dakini] by resting unmoved in body, speech and mind. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[rig pa brtul zhugs](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/rig_pa_brtul_zhugs)."
[^kye-ma]: Kye ma! is a cry of surprise and grief, "Alas!" See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[kye ma](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/kye_ma)."
[^heroes]: The heroes and heroines (Sanskrit *vīra* and *vīriṇī*, Tibetan *dpa' bo*, *dpa' mo*) are the deities of a maṇḍala[^mandala] of both kinds, the ḍākas and ḍākinīs[^dakini]; they ring the wisdom ḍākinī[^wisdom-dakini] as Cakrasaṃvara's[^cakrasamvara] retinue rings them. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[dpa' mo](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/dpa'_mo)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 788.
[^blessed-lady]: The Blessed Lady (Sanskrit *Bhagavatī*, Tibetan *bcom ldan 'das ma*) is the title Blessed One[^blessed-one] borne by a deity in female form. As "mother of all the buddhas" the wisdom ḍākinī[^wisdom-dakini] is the Prajñāpāramitā[^prajnaparamita], called the mother of the victorious ones. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "[bcom ldan 'das ma](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/bcom_ldan_'das_ma)," "[rgyal ba'i yum](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/rgyal_ba'i_yum)."
[^view]: View (Sanskrit *dṛṣṭi*, Tibetan *lta ba*) is one's understanding of how things are[^way-things-are]; with conduct[^conduct], the fruition[^fruit] and the samaya[^pledge] it makes the whole of a practitioner's way. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[lta ba](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/lta_ba)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 541.
[^mara]: A māra (Tibetan *bdud*) is a "demon" that harms practice; Māra, who tried to keep the Buddha from awakening, stands for a practitioner's own clinging to a self. The retinue says Tilopa is fooled by one, and Tilopa answers that the ḍākinī[^dakini] is no māra. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[bdud](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/bdud)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 697.
[^painted-card]: A painted card (*tsa ka li*) is a small painting of a deity, a maṇḍala[^mandala] or an offering, used in rites and empowerments[^empowerment]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[tsa ka li](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/tsa_ka_li)"; *Wikipedia*, s.v. "[Tsakli](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsakli)."
[^seed-syllable]: A syllable (Sanskrit *akṣara*, Tibetan *yig 'bru*) is a letter; as the sign of a deity's speech it's the seed syllable (Sanskrit *bīja*) from which a deity arises in the stage of generation[^generation]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[yig 'bru](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/yig_'bru)."
[^hand-emblem]: A hand emblem (*phyag mtshan*) is the object a deity holds, which identifies it and stands for its qualities. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[phyag mtshan](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/phyag_mtshan)."
[^emptiness]: Emptiness (Sanskrit *śūnyatā*, Tibetan *stong pa nyid*) is the lack of any fixed, independent being in anything, the illusory nature of all things; "appearance and emptiness" are things appearing while empty, never apart. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[stong pa nyid](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/stong_pa_nyid)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 552.
[^free-of-thought]: Free of thought (Sanskrit *nirvikalpa*, Tibetan *rnam par mi rtog pa*, *rtog med*) is the state of recognizing reality freed[^freed] of the distortions of discursive thought[^discursive-thought]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "[rnam rtog](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/rnam_rtog)," "[rnam par mi rtog pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/rnam_par_mi_rtog_pa)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 759.
[^way-things-are]: The way things are (*gnas lugs*) is the abiding nature of reality, things as they are. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[gnas lugs](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/gnas_lugs)."
[^prajna]: Wisdom (Sanskrit *prajñā*, Tibetan *shes rab*) is the knowing that discerns things as they are, the sixth perfection; it's told apart from primordial wisdom[^primordial-wisdom], the timeless knowing of the awakened mind. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[shes rab](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/shes_rab)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 1244.
[^ignorance]: Ignorance (Sanskrit *avidyā*, Tibetan *ma rig pa*) isn't recognizing the nature of mind[^nature-of-mind] and of things; it's the first of the twelve links of dependent arising[^dependent-arising] and the root of saṃsāra[^samsara]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[ma rig pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/ma_rig_pa)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 950; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Twelve links of dependent origination](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Twelve_links_of_dependent_origination)."
[^self-aware]: Self-aware (*rang rig*), self-arisen (*rang byung*) and self-luminous (*rang gsal*) describe primordial wisdom[^primordial-wisdom]: it knows itself, occurs of itself, and is clear by its own nature. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "[rang rig](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/rang_rig)," "[rang byung](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/rang_byung)," "[rang gsal](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/rang_gsal)."
[^mind-itself]: Mind itself (Sanskrit *cittatā*, Tibetan *sems nyid*) is the nature of mind[^nature-of-mind], a name for buddha nature, as against the thoughts that pass through it. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[sems nyid](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/sems_nyid)."
[^self-freed]: Self-freed (*rang grol*): a thought or feeling freed[^freed] by itself, unraveling of its own accord with no remedy[^remedy] applied. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[rang grol](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/rang_grol)."
[^nature-of-things]: The nature of things (Sanskrit *dharmatā*, Tibetan *chos nyid*) is the ultimate[^ultimate] nature of all that is, emptiness[^emptiness], which the song makes one with mind itself[^mind-itself] and the dharmakāya[^dharma-body]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[chos nyid](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/chos_nyid)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 431.
[^blessed-one]: The Blessed One (Sanskrit *Bhagavān*, Tibetan *bcom ldan 'das*, "the victorious one who has gone beyond") is a title of a buddha. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[bcom ldan 'das](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/bcom_ldan_'das)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 395.
[^root-tantra]: A root tantra (Sanskrit *mūlatantra*, Tibetan *rtsa rgyud*) is the chief scripture of a cycle, here the root tantra of Cakrasaṃvara[^cakrasamvara] in fifty-one chapters; an explanatory tantra[^tantra] (*bshad rgyud*) explains it. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "[rtsa rgyud](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/rtsa_rgyud)," "[bshad rgyud](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/bshad_rgyud)."
[^generation]: The stage of generation (Sanskrit *utpattikrama*, Tibetan *bskyed rim*), the first of the two stages[^two-stages], is the whole meditation from dissolving into emptiness[^emptiness] to the full image of the maṇḍala[^mandala] and its deities. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[bskyed rim](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/bskyed_rim)"; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Kyerim](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Kyerim)."
[^essence]: "The essence" (*snying po*) is most likely the heart mantra, the essential mantra of a deity, which is recited to accomplish its speech. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[snying po](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/snying_po)."
[^completion]: The stage of completion (Sanskrit *utpannakrama*, Tibetan *rdzogs rim*), the second of the two stages[^two-stages], is the dissolving of the visualization and the yogas of the channels, winds and bindus of the subtle body. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[rdzogs rim](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/rdzogs_rim)"; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Dzogrim](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Dzogrim)."
[^worthy-vessels]: Worthy vessels (*snod ldan*) are disciples open and fit to receive the Dharma[^dharma]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[snod ldan](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/snod_ldan)."
[^nine-cycles]: The nine cycles of the bodiless ḍākinīs[^dakini] (*lus med mkha' 'gro'i chos skor dgu*) are nine cycles of the Dharma[^dharma] of the whispered lineage[^whispered-lineage], given in the nine lines that follow, which Tilopa receives from ḍākinīs without bodies, out of the sky. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[lus med mkha' 'gro'i chos skor dgu](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/lus_med_mkha'_'gro'i_chos_skor_dgu)."
[^channels-winds]: The channels and winds (Sanskrit *nāḍī* and *prāṇa*, Tibetan *rtsa rlung*) are the subtle body of the tantras[^tantra], its channels and the energies that move in them, and the yogas that work with them in the stage of completion[^completion]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[rtsa rlung](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/rtsa_rlung)."
[^awareness]: Awareness (Sanskrit *vidyā*, Tibetan *rig pa*) is the knowing, awake quality of mind, mind's nature recognized; its absence is ignorance[^ignorance]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[rig pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/rig_pa)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 1178.
[^sacred-substance]: A sacred substance (Sanskrit *samayadravya*, Tibetan *dam rdzas*) is a substance blessed by mantra and taken as a samaya[^pledge]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[dam rdzas](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/dam_rdzas)."
[^one-taste]: One taste (Sanskrit *samarasa*, Tibetan *ro snyoms*), or "even taste", is the realization that everything has the same taste, the nature of mind[^nature-of-mind]; as *ro gcig*, one taste, it's the third of the four yogas of Mahāmudrā[^mahamudra]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "[ro snyoms](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/ro_snyoms)," "[ro gcig](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/ro_gcig)."
[^all-knowing]: The All-Knowing One (Sanskrit *Sarvajña*, Tibetan *thams cad mkhyen pa*) is an epithet of a buddha. The Kagyü say Tilopa received the Dharma[^dharma] directly from the primordial buddha Vajradhara, and they're also called Vajradhara's emanation[^emanation]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[thams cad mkhyen pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/thams_cad_mkhyen_pa)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 572; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Kagyü](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Kagy%C3%BC)."
[^heretic]: A non-Buddhist (Sanskrit *tīrthika*, Tibetan *mu stegs pa*), called a "heretic" in older English books, is a teacher or follower of one of India's other schools, Hindu, Jain or materialist. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[mu stegs pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/mu_stegs_pa)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 967.
[^acts-no-fruit]: Karma (Tibetan *las*), "action", bears fruit[^fruit], in the Buddhist Dharma[^dharma]: every act brings its result to the one who did it, the working of cause and effect (*las 'bras*). One who says karma bears no fruit denies it, and with it any reason for virtue[^virtue]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[las 'bras](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/las_'bras)."
[^order]: Other tellings tame them in another order. The lives of the gurus[^guru] of the whispered lineage[^whispered-lineage] in a later manuscript make the non-Buddhist[^heretic] the fifth and the beer-seller the seventh, and their beer-seller is tamed when Tilopa holds the sun in the sky until their credit falls due; Tsangnyön's *Gzhung 'brel*, in both manuscripts of the 1971 Leh reprint, makes the beer-seller follow the magician and has Tilopa come to them as a beggar; Marpa's collected works tame the magician, the beer-seller, a hunter, a non-Buddhist teacher, a sorcerer, the singer and a strong person. See Shar kha Ras chen et al., *Brgyud pa yid bzhin nor bu'i rnam thar dang zhal gdams sogs*; *Bde mchog mkha' 'gro snyan rgyud (Ras chung snyan rgyud): Two Manuscript Collections*; Mar pa Chos kyi blo gros, "Tai lo shes rab bzang po'i rnam thar," in *Mar pa chos kyi blo gros kyi gsung 'bum*.
[^rite-of-the-ground]: The rite of the ground (*sa chog*) takes hold of the site where a maṇḍala[^mandala] will be made. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[sa chog](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/sa_chog)."
[^kusali]: A simple yogin (Sanskrit *kusāli*, Tibetan also *ku su lu*) is a yogin[^yogin] of the simplest life, a beggar who does what comes naturally, as against the learned paṇḍitas[^pandita]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[ku su lu](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/ku_su_lu)."
[^pramana]: Logic (Sanskrit *pramāṇa*, Tibetan *tshad ma*), or valid cognition, is the Buddhist science of reasoning and knowledge, the means by which a thing is known for certain; to debate by it is to argue by its rules. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[tshad ma](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/tshad_ma)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 1023.
[^e-ma]: E ma! is a cry of wonder, "How wonderful!", and sometimes of grief. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[e ma](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/e_ma)."
[^ultimate]: The ultimate (Sanskrit *paramārtha*, Tibetan *don dam*) is ultimate truth, as against convention[^convention], the conventional truth of everyday appearance. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[don dam](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/don_dam)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 644.
[^beyond-thought]: Beyond thought (Sanskrit *acintya*, Tibetan *bsam gyis mi khyab pa*): inconceivable, unfathomable by ordinary thought: each taming closes with Tilopa speaking of the art of the one they tame as beyond thought, and all who hear are freed[^freed]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[bsam gyis mi khyab pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/bsam_gyis_mi_khyab_pa)."
[^without-passing-away]: Without dying (*'das grongs med par*, "without passing away"): each of those Tilopa tames lives on in a sacred place. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "['das grongs](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/'das_grongs)."
[^nalanda]: Nālandā, in today's Bihar, was the largest and most famous of the monastic universities of India, founded in the fifth century and still in use, though largely in ruins, when a Tibetan pilgrim studied there in 1235; "glorious" is a title of honor. See *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Nalanda University](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Nalanda_University)"; *Wikipedia*, s.v. "[Nalanda mahavihara](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nalanda_mahavihara)."
[^outsiders-insiders]: Outsiders and insiders (*phyi rol pa*, *nang pa*): the non-Buddhists[^heretic] and the Buddhists. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "[phyi rol pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/phyi_rol_pa)," "[nang pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/nang_pa)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 734.
[^sasana]: The fold (Sanskrit *śāsana*, Tibetan *bstan pa*) is the whole of a teacher's way, as a body that people enter and follow; whoever loses the debate must join the winner's. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[bstan pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/bstan_pa)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 560.
[^three-realms]: The three realms (Sanskrit *tridhātu*, Tibetan *khams gsum*) are the desire realm, the form realm and the formless realm: the whole of saṃsāra[^samsara]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[khams gsum](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/khams_gsum)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 142; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Three realms](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Three_realms)."
[^vase]: To fill the vase with wind is vase breathing (*bum pa can*, Sanskrit *kumbhaka*), the holding of the breath in yoga. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[bum pa can](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/bum_pa_can)"; *Wikipedia*, s.v. "[Kumbhaka](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumbhaka)."
[^cool-grove]: Śītavana (Tibetan *bsil ba'i tshal*), the "Cool Grove", is the first of the eight great charnel grounds[^charnel-ground], near Bodh Gaya. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "[bsil ba'i tshal](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/bsil_ba'i_tshal)," "[dur khrod brgyad](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/dur_khrod_brgyad)"; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Shitavana](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Shitavana)."
[^sin]: Wrongdoing (Sanskrit *pāpa*, Tibetan *sdig pa*), or misdeed, is a harmful act, which brings suffering to the one who does it; the opposite of virtue[^virtue]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[sdig pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/sdig_pa)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 714.
[^person-of-illusion]: The person of illusion (*sgyu ma'i skyes bu*) is a phantom, a person in a magical illusion, a stock image of the Dharma[^dharma] for beings that seem to live and are empty. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "[sgyu ma'i skyes bu](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/sgyu_ma'i_skyes_bu)," "[sgyu ma](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/sgyu_ma)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 329.
[^attahasa]: Aṭṭahāsa, "Loud Laughter" (Tibetan *ha ha rgod pa*), is one of the eight great charnel grounds[^charnel-ground]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[ha ha rgod pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/ha_ha_rgod_pa)."
[^yojana]: A yojana (Tibetan *dpag tshad*), a "league", is the Indian measure of a long distance, the way a yoked team walks in a day, reckoned in different books at between about four and nine miles; a sal tree a yojana high is a tree past all measure. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[dpag tshad](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/dpag_tshad)."
[^magician]: The magician's question and the first lines of Tilopa's answer stand also in Tsangnyön's *Gzhung 'brel*, in its Jatang manuscript: "sgyu ma'i skyes bu bsod … sems med phyir na sdig pa med", "the person of illusion[^person-of-illusion] … since they have no mind, there is no wrongdoing[^sin]". See *Bde mchog mkha' 'gro snyan rgyud (Ras chung snyan rgyud): Two Manuscript Collections*, 1:34.
[^ifyou]: The life in Marpa's collected works gathers lines from the songs of these tamings into one long song Tilopa sings to Nāropa: "if you thirst, drink the water of poison; / if you grieve, look at the city of the gandharvas[^gandharva]; / if you sink, fill the vase[^vase] with wind; / if you stray, chase the monkey and kill it; … / if you cling, go into the charnel ground[^charnel-ground]". See Mar pa Chos kyi blo gros, "Tai lo shes rab bzang po'i rnam thar," in *Mar pa chos kyi blo gros kyi gsung 'bum*.
[^singer]: The life in Marpa's collected works names the singer of Nagara "the Silent One with the Spear", *mdung can lkug pa*. See Mar pa Chos kyi blo gros, "Tai lo shes rab bzang po'i rnam thar," in *Mar pa chos kyi blo gros kyi gsung 'bum*.
[^fire-end-of-time]: The fire at the end of time (*dus mtha'i me*) is the fire at the end of the eon[^kalpa] that burns up the universe. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[dus mtha'i me](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/dus_mtha'i_me)."
[^wind-mind]: The wind-mind (Tibetan *rlung sems*) is the mind and the wind (Sanskrit *prāṇa*) it rides, which are closely joined. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[rlung sems](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/rlung_sems)."
[^crown]: To draw the wind-mind[^wind-mind] out through the crown is transference (Sanskrit *saṃkrānti*, Tibetan *'pho ba*), the ejection of consciousness to a buddha field[^buddha-fields] at death, one of the six dharmas of Nāropa. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "['pho ba](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/'pho_ba)"; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Phowa](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Phowa)."
[^raksasa]: Rākṣasas (*srin po*) are cannibal spirits, one of the eight classes of gods[^god] and spirits; their land is Laṅkā. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "[srin po](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/srin_po)," "[lang ka](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/lang_ka)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 1290; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Rakshasa](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Rakshasa)."
[^butcher]: The life in Marpa's collected works tells the butcher's story the same way: Tilopa hides the son and makes the meat in the copper pot appear as the son's flesh, and the butcher gives up killing. See Mar pa Chos kyi blo gros, "Tai lo shes rab bzang po'i rnam thar," in *Mar pa chos kyi blo gros kyi gsung 'bum*.
[^carvaka]: A Cārvāka (Tibetan *rgyang phan pa*), or Lokāyata, is a follower of the materialist school of ancient India, which trusted only perception. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[rgyang phan pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/rgyang_phan_pa)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 308; *Wikipedia*, s.v. "[Charvaka](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charvaka)."
[^virtue]: Virtue (Sanskrit *kuśala*, Tibetan *dge ba*), or the wholesome, is an act that brings happiness to the one who does it; the opposite of wrongdoing[^sin]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[dge ba](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/dge_ba)."
[^hell]: The hells (Sanskrit *naraka*, Tibetan *dmyal ba*), eight hot and eight cold, are the lowest realms of saṃsāra[^samsara]; a being is born there by its own karma, not by judgment, and stays only until that karma is spent. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[dmyal ba](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/dmyal_ba)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 983; *Wikipedia*, s.v. "[Naraka (Buddhism)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naraka_%28Buddhism%29)."
[^higher-realms]: The higher realms (*mtho ris*) are rebirth as a god[^god] or a human. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[mtho ris](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/mtho_ris)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 603.
[^victory-banner]: The victory banner (*rgyal mtshan*) is one of the eight auspicious symbols, the banner of the victory of the Dharma[^dharma]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[rgyal mtshan](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/rgyal_mtshan)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 313; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Eight auspicious symbols](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Eight_auspicious_symbols)."
[^discursive-thought]: Discursive thought (Sanskrit *vikalpa*, Tibetan *rnam rtog*) is conceptual thinking; that it "is the nirmāṇakāya" says thought itself appears, as a nirmāṇakāya[^emanation-body] does, from the nature of mind[^nature-of-mind]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[rnam rtog](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/rnam_rtog)."
[^sriparvata]: Śrīparvata (Tibetan *dpal gyi ri*), a mountain in the south of India, is where Nāgārjuna[^nagarjuna] spent their last days. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[dpal gyi ri](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/dpal_gyi_ri)."
[^sorcerer]: The Tibetan of this passage is hard, and the English gives its likeliest sense: the two are matched in killing; Tilopa takes up all who died but some, the sorcerer's women among them, and offers to raise those too if the sorcerer gives up their magic. See *Bde mchog mkha' 'gro snyan rgyud*, fols. 10a, 10b.
[^samsara]: Saṃsāra (Tibetan *'khor ba*, "circling") is the round of birth and death among the six classes of beings. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "['khor ba](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/'khor_ba)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 190.
[^preceptor-teacher]: The preceptor and teacher (Sanskrit *upādhyāya* and *ācārya*, Tibetan *mkhan slob*) are the two who give a monk their ordination; here Tilopa's own uncle and mother. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[mkhan slob](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/mkhan_slob)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 179.
[^three-wheels]: The three wheels (*'khor lo gsum*) of a monk's work are study, meditation and work. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "['khor lo gsum](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/'khor_lo_gsum)."
[^provost]: The provost (*dge skos*) is the monk who keeps discipline in a monastery. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "[dge skos](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/dge_skos)," "[dge bskos](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/dge_bskos)."
[^birds]: The word for what Tilopa killed, *cha ga ba*, isn't in the dictionaries; that they fly away at the end of the scene makes them small birds. See *Bde mchog mkha' 'gro snyan rgyud*, fol. 10b.
[^kalpa]: An eon (Sanskrit *kalpa*, Tibetan *bskal pa*) is the vast span in which a universe forms, lasts and passes. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[bskal pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/bskal_pa)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 121; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Kalpa](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Kalpa)."
[^buddha-fields]: A buddha field (Sanskrit *buddhakṣetra*, Tibetan *zhing khams*) is a buddha's own pure world, where buddhas teach in the saṃbhogakāya[^enjoyment-body]. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[zhing khams](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/zhing_khams)."
[^aryadeva]: Āryadeva (Tibetan *'phags pa lha*) was Nāgārjuna's[^nagarjuna] disciple and continued their Madhyamaka; they too are counted among the eighty-four mahāsiddhas. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "['phags pa lha](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/'phags_pa_lha)"; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Aryadeva](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Aryadeva)."
[^thousand-buddhas]: The thousand buddhas are the thousand who appear in this bhadrakalpa (Tibetan *bskal pa bzang po*), the "good aeon". See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[bskal pa bzang po](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/bskal_pa_bzang_po)."
[^yoke]: A yoke's length (*gnya' shing*) ahead is as far as Tilopa's eyes look as they walk begging for food. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[gnya' shing](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/gnya'_shing)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 491.
[^giving-receiving]: The auspicious verses of giving and receiving (*sbyin len gyi shis pa*) are words of good fortune[^fortune] spoken over gifts of food given and received. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "[sbyin len](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/sbyin_len)," "[shis pa](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/shis_pa)."
[^agama]: Scriptural authority (Sanskrit *āgama*, Tibetan *lung*) is the word of the Buddha and the authoritative treatises handed down; with logic[^pramana] and instruction[^instruction] it's one of the measures a verse must not go against. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[lung](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/lung)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 1215.
[^three-times]: The three times (*dus gsum*) are past, present and future. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[dus gsum](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/dus_gsum)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 635.
[^colored-powders]: A maṇḍala[^mandala] of colored powders (*rdul tshon*) is drawn on the ground in powdered stone for a rite. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[rdul tshon](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/rdul_tshon)"; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Mandala](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Mandala)."
[^mahamaya]: Mahāmāyā, "Great Illusion" (Tibetan *sgyu ma chen mo*), is one of the mother tantras[^tantra] of the highest yoga tantra. See *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Mahamaya](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Mahamaya)."
[^aggregates-elements]: The aggregates (Sanskrit *skandha*, Tibetan *phung po*) are the five heaps that make a person: form, feeling, perception, formations and consciousness; the elements (Sanskrit *dhātu*, Tibetan *khams*) are earth, water, fire, air and space. Each aggregate is purified as one of the five buddha families. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "[phung khams](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/phung_khams)," "['byung ba lnga](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/'byung_ba_lnga)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 824; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Five buddha families](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Five_buddha_families)."
[^vajrabhairava]: Vajrabhairava, "Vajra Terror" (Tibetan *rdo rje 'jigs byed*), a form of Yamāntaka, "Destroyer of Death", has a buffalo's face and many arms and legs; their tantra[^tantra] belongs to the father tantras. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[rdo rje 'jigs byed](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/rdo_rje_'jigs_byed)"; *Rigpa Wiki*, s.v. "[Vajrabhairava](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Vajrabhairava)"; *Wikipedia*, s.v. "[Yamantaka](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamantaka)."
[^mangalam]: Maṅgalam, Sanskrit for "auspiciousness" (Tibetan *bkra shis*), closes the book as a benediction. See *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.v. "[bkra shis](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/bkra_shis)"; Das, *Tibetan-English Dictionary*, 69.
[^colophon]: Marpa writes at Drowolung, their seat in the Trowo valley of Lhodrak, for their son Dode, Darma Dode. See *Bde mchog mkha' 'gro snyan rgyud*, fol. 11b; *Rangjung Yeshe Wiki*, s.vv. "[gro bo lung](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/gro_bo_lung)," "[dar ma mdo sde](https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/dar_ma_mdo_sde)."