“Listen, Vajrapāṇi, about the samaya that results In the accomplishments of a vajra master. Having prepared the Great Circle, which comes first, One should summon the heart maṇḍala. {10.1.1}

“Through one’s entering the first, the Great Circle, And performing there the elaborate ritual of initiation and so forth, One will attain the unequaled status Of a vajra master, there can be no doubt. {10.1.2}

“For by being devoted to meditation upon what was learned, One will attain the status of a vajra master. One will fully succeed after reciting The heart mantra of Vajrasattva, and so forth, 100,000 times. {10.1.3}

“Once one becomes a fully accomplished great master, One’s accomplishment will endure through all the ages. By this means sentient beings become the victorious buddhas — Can there be any doubt about this? {10.1.4}

“Those who make an effort to abide in nonduality Don their armor and adhere to reality. {10.1.5}

“Whatever female consort (mudrā) has been prescribed to whatever male By the omniscient ones based on the [buddha] family association of the two, Such a consort (mudrā) should be procured through the prescribed means Only by such a partner, who will practice only with her. {10.1.6}

“If he whose nature is delusion obtains the mother, Or a learned brahmin woman, Such a meditator, after purifying his delusion, Will in actuality become Vairocana. {10.1.7}

“The mother is the ultimate consort (vidyā), Especially if she was just before enjoyed by the father. She will definitely grant an accomplishment, As has been declared by the lord Great Bliss. {10.1.8}

“If he whose nature is hatred obtains An outcaste woman’s daughter, or a yakṣa girl, Such a meditator will, after purifying his hatred, Attain, in actuality, the state of Akṣobhya. {10.1.9}

“If he whose nature is passion obtains a dancer’s daughter, His own younger sister, or a nāga or asura girl, Such a meditator, after purifying his lust, Will become, in his nature, Amitābha. {10.1.10}

“If he whose nature is envy obtains A lovely apsaras, expert in crafts, or one’s own niece, Such a meditator will become, After purifying his envy, the hero Amoghasiddhi. {10.1.11}

“If he whose nature is arrogance obtains a king’s daughter, Or perhaps a daughter or a wife of a vidyādhara, Such a meditator will become, after purifying his arrogance, Ratnasambhava, and will join the jewel family. {10.1.12}

“Consorting with Locanā, he becomes Tathāgata Buddha; With Māmakī, he attains the state of Tathāgata Akṣobhya; With Pāṇḍaravāsinī, Amitābha of the lotus family; And with Tārā, he will attain the state of Amoghasiddhi. {10.1.13}

“Alternatively, he can become Ratnasambhava by consorting with Ratnolkā. In this way has the union of the two partners been taught. Through this union he can attain also the state of other deities, Such as wrathful deities or divine daughters of the victorious ones. {10.1.14}

“Wrathful deities can be accomplished by fierce rites; Peaceful deities, only by peaceful rites. Impassioned deities are accomplished by passionate rites; Haughty deities, by the rites of enriching. {10.1.15}

“Such methods, which are free of hardship, Have been praised by the omniscient and compassionate masters. These methods are for attaining extraordinary bliss, Without severe precepts or austere practices. {10.1.16}

“If someone, having obtained the taste of ambrosia in this way, Does not make effort for the sake of removing his afflictions, How would he be able to produce awakening By following precepts that are difficult to keep? {10.1.17}

“The fool who does not do anything for his own sake, After having found his personal easy practice, Where will he go next after departing from this life? He cannot know where he will be reborn again. {10.1.18}

“Genuine people, once they become realized through this practice, Will always see all activities and their effects as a dream or illusion. He who does not understand the Buddhadharma should do this practice Until he reaches the other shore of the ocean of saṃsāra.” {10.1.19}

“The following powers become unleashed When a man becomes accomplished through a consort (vidyā): The earth will shake in six different ways As the earth goddess will be filled with ecstatic happiness. {10.2.1}

“Overjoyed, she will make a sound like the bell-metal cymbals Produced in the country of Magadha. Meteor showers will fall throughout the ten directions, Resembling the fire at the end of an eon. {10.2.2}

“The oceans will roar with turbulence, And hurricanes will strike everywhere. Right there, the lights of gnosis will flare up, Resembling the fire during the final destruction. {10.2.3}

“All the worlds of the triple universe Will become the womb of the consort (vidyā). Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Varuṇa, Śakra, Rudra, Agni, the Āśvins, Bhānu and Candra, {10.2.4}

“The yakṣas, celestial siddhas, gandharvas, Kinnaras, nāgas, vidyādharas, Apsarases, and so forth, and those in other places, The gods residing in the Realm of the Thirty-Three, {10.2.5}

“Having come there, overjoyed, Will throw heaps of flowers in offering. Floating in the sky they will worship With the sounds of lutes, flutes, drums, {10.2.6}

“Madhurīs, conches, large drums, Piccolo flutes, kettle drums, and tambourines. The apsaras girls will dance and so too will All the young daughters of vidyādhara kings. {10.2.7}

“The kinnaras will sing songs And play various instruments. The yakṣas will shout, “Victory! Victory!” Playing around and making merry. {10.2.8}

“Rejoicing at this event, the celestial siddhas will extend their congratulations. The gods from the Tuṣita Realm, the most eminent gods from places near and far, the divine and semi-divine sons, the celestial vidyādharas—all will bow in reverence, filling space as far as the realm of Akaniṣṭha. {10.2.9}

“With great devotion they will offer heaps of different kinds of flowers, rains of different fragrances, and different kinds of prime quality incense. Of what need would a detailed description of other offered items be to you? Whatever articles are worth offering in the three realms for merit to be gained, they will offer them.” {10.2.10}

[The goddess asked:]

“Where does the man accomplished by means of a consort (vidyā) go, and where does he remain? I am not certain about this. Please tell me, O Great Bliss.” {10.3.1}

The Blessed One said:

“A man accomplished by means of a consort (vidyā) does not go anywhere, nor does he remain anywhere. He is the light of the triple universe, which is nondual and has no beginning, middle, or end. He is everywhere, he is omniscient, he is universal, and he is all things. He abides in the consciousness of all beings and is free of all negativity. Adorned with all good qualities, he is endowed with everything. He brings happiness, and is a peerless, perpetually arising lord and protector, free of conceptual thinking. Devoid of shape and color, he is the king beyond the purview of even the victorious ones. {10.3.2}

“Being unbreakable, he is the vajra. Free from the burning torment of afflictions, he is the cool-rayed moon. Free of doubt, he is like a lion. Difficult to fathom, he is like an ocean. {10.3.3}

“In this way he is described by yogins using the comparisons just given. He alone fulfills the interests of every sentient being. {10.3.4}

“Even though he is devoid of conceptual thought, he displays the great deeds, including (1) birth which is his final one, (2) leaving home, (3) the playful exploits of his childhood, (3) leaving his household, (4) the solitary peregrinations of a religious mendicant, (6) reaching the spot of the vajra seat, (7) defeating Māra, (8) attaining an unequaled state of perfect awakening, (9) giving instructions that constitute the turning of the wheel of Dharma, (10) enjoying the descent from the realm of gods, (11) performing a great variety of miraculous feats, (12) subjugation of the elephant Dhanapāla, (13) inducting virtuous people into purity, (14) refuting opposing doctrines, (15) blameless subsistence by the alms bowl, (16) taming the inhabitants of the triple universe, (17) becoming the crown prince of bodhisattvas, (18) fulfilling the great aim of parinirvāṇa, and (19) becoming the Dharma king of the three realms. {10.3.5}

“So it is, O sons of the noble lineage! He who is accomplished will in this way display, employing illusory forms, the marvelous play of a buddha for the benefit of all beings—the play extraordinary in many ways and said to be like a dream.” {10.3.6}

[The goddess said:]

“You have previously mentioned, O lord, a homa offering consisting of feces, urine, menstrual blood, fish, and meat. {10.4.1}

“How is it with regard to the wisdom beings, That their mouths should be filled with impurities? How is it that no nonvirtue is committed? Were one in fact nonvirtuous, what would the result be?” {10.4.2}

The Blessed One said:

“Beings who are deluded by not knowing, And deprived of gnosis and skillful means, Are strongly attached to external objects And are thus confounded by the mass of concepts. {10.4.3}

“To them, sin and merit Seem to be two separate categories. In truth, though, these phenomena are By nature pure—unarisen and without basis. {10.4.4}

“The buddhas taught the skillful means of merit In order to develop gnosis in beings. But if, in terms of the absolute truth, merit is to be abandoned, Why hold on to the concept of demerit? {10.4.5}

“Just as someone crossing to the other shore Of a river filled with water Will build a raft that floats on the surface By assembling logs of wood and bundles of straw, {10.4.6}

“But after having crossed the river clutching to it, He will discard it and walk on without difficulty, So too someone crossing to the other shore of saṃsāra Will ride upon the distinction between right and wrong. {10.4.7}

“Once awakening has been safely attained, It is free from the distinction between right and wrong. Consequently, he will develop in the profound Dharma Once he has discarded the network of concepts. {10.4.8}

“When traveling the path taught by the tathāgatas, The mantra adept should not entertain concepts, For concepts are great ignorance— They mire one in the ocean of saṃsāra. {10.4.9}

“He who abides in nonconceptual samādhi Will shine, stainless as the sky. When the vital powers of the coupling pair combine, Their bodies, speech, and minds likewise coalesce. {10.4.10}

“By this means they attain identity with the deity, Thus becoming reflections of the Victorious One, devoid of all forms. You should cause this gnosis to unfold, Becoming its adepts in this very life. {10.4.11}

“It has been taught that the bodies of women and men Are a complex result of their actions. One should not, out of ignorance, act waywardly— This is the samaya of vajra body. {10.4.12}

“One should not corrupt their minds By burdening sentient beings with various austerities That give rise to stressful conceptual thinking— This is the samaya of vajra mind. {10.4.13}

“One should not say words that are Slanderous, untrue, or harsh, But only those that are pleasant to the listener— This is the samaya of vajra speech. {10.4.14}

“The buddha who abides in the flesh element Is Vairocana, the seniormost of the five. Akṣobhya dwells in the marrow of the bones; Blood is the domain of Ratnasambhava, adorned with magnificent jewels. {10.4.15}

“Amitābha is the bones, Understood to be the compactness within all beings. Amoghasiddhi, the most eminent of sages, Sustains the network of sinews and tendons. {10.4.16}

“A secret will now be taught to you, The samaya for adepts in gnosis: {10.4.17}

“Using the vajra mind, the wise one Should always pay attention to and cultivate Desire, hatred, delusion, craving, And volitions, causing their increase. {10.4.18}

“These five have been taught by the buddhas, the most eminent of sages, as the fivefold effluence of feces, urine, semen, phlegm, and menstrual blood. He should observe the samayas through mental cultivation in full, based on embracing the four elements. He should always ingest these samaya substances. {10.4.19}

“Just as a lover delighting in young women’s talk Would extend an invitation to meet one of them for a chat And describe the path to take rather than obstruct it, So too is the excellent path pointed out to a yogin, in the like manner.” {10.4.20}

Then, everyone in the audience—the yogins and yoginīs, the eighty crores of ḍākas and ḍākinīs, many bodhisattvas and the numerous congregations of tathāgatas—pleased and with minds filled with joy, obtained the gnosis of all the tathāgatas completely. All the great bodhisattva beings, headed by Vajragarbha, and all the gods, nāgas, yakṣas, and gandharvas—the entire assembly—rejoiced at the words of the Blessed One. {10.4.21}

This king of tantras was translated by the paṇḍita Gayādhara and the great personage Drokmi Śākya Yeshé. Based on this, the venerable omniscient Butön subsequently [re-]wrote it by filling in the gaps and expertly revising it in consultation with Indian manuscripts of the basic text and commentaries.