Introduction

i.1Equal to the Sky is a commentarial tantra on the Cakrasaṃvara cycle of Yoginī Tantras, as evidenced by both its content and its location in the Kangyur. In the Kangyur the tantra is part of a cluster of texts known as the rali tantras (Tib. ra li; Toh 383–414) and, within that set, it is part of the class of “awakened mind tantras” (Tib. thugs kyi rgyud). According to its colophon, this text was translated by Drokmi Lotsāwa Śākya Yeshé and the Indian paṇḍita Gayādhara. These two were both active in the late eleventh century. Since the tantra seems to be informed by Kālacakra literature‍—which was in wide circulation in India by the early eleventh century‍—it is reasonable to posit that this text also circulated in India by the mid-eleventh century and was translated into Tibetan soon after.

i.2The text’s title, Equal to the Sky, likely derives from the mythic source text of the Cakrasaṃvara cycle. The Cakra­saṃvara­ Tantra is alternatively called the Laghusaṃvara, meaning “the light version of the Saṃvara,” because it is held to be a condensation of a much longer tantra that was not transmitted in full to the human realm. This mythic source text, which is said to be one hundred thousand verses in length, is only known by its title, the Khasama Tantra, the same title of the present work. By invoking this larger textual corpus, Equal to the Sky asserts itself as an authority for understanding the Cakrasaṃvara system as a whole, making it a very short text with very broad implications.

i.3The central concern of Equal to the Sky is to explain the nature of three types of ḍākinī: the sky dweller (Skt. khecarī), earth dweller (Skt. bhūcarī), and subterranean dweller (Skt. pātālacāriṇī). These three ḍākinīs are also the main audience for the tantra and are introduced after a preamble common to the Yoginī Tantras in which the discourse is located in the bhaga of the vajra queen. Equal to the Sky first introduces the three types of ḍākinī together (verses 2–3) and then proceeds to elaborate on their individual attributes in terms of physiology and yogic practice.

i.4Verses 3–17 describe the sky-dwelling ḍākinī, who corresponds to the division of winds in the subtle body (totaling twenty-one thousand six hundred), and their movements are discussed in terms derived from the first and second chapters of the Kālacakra Tantra. It is significant that this tantra references the Kālacakra system, suggesting an association‍—or, at the least, a theoretical alignment‍—between the rali tantras and the “three bodhisattva commentaries,” which interpret the Kālacakra, Hevajra, and Cakrasaṃvara tantras. These “bodhisattva commentaries” integrate the cycles of Hevajra and Cakrasaṃvara into the larger rubric of the Kālacakra system.

i.5The second section of Equal to the Sky (verses 18–27) discusses the earth-dwelling ḍākinī, primarily in association with the practice of inner heat (Skt. caṇḍālī ; Tib. gtum mo). Where the first section discussed winds, here the main focus is the seventy-two thousand channels of the subtle body. The third section (verses 27–37) discusses the attributes of the subterranean ḍākinī, focusing primarily on the white and red drops that are found at the crown and navel, respectively. Throughout these discussions, the text emphasizes the distinction between ordinary, karmic conditioned experience, on the one hand, and the pure unconditioned experience that comes about as a result of yogic practice.

i.6The next section of the text (verses 38–43) treats the sixfold system for interpreting tantric texts. Sönam Tsemo (bsod nams rtse mo, 1142–82) draws on this set for its unique method of interpreting tantric literature. He glosses the six as “(1) symbolic syllable (implicit), (2) characteristic (explicit), (3) special contextual means of expression, (4) general purpose, (5) hidden purpose, and (6) ultimate intent.” This text introduces these six as a set before treating them individually. The gloss of ultimate intent seamlessly transforms into a brief discussion of the divisions of tantra, with the Yoginī Tantras at the apex (verses 44–46) of what is a unique classification scheme: Action Tantra, Actionless Yoga, Inner Yoga, and Yoginī Tantra. It proceeds to offer a somewhat cryptic discussion of yogic practice (verses 47–49) before opening up to a discussion of twenty-four “jewels” (Tib. rin chen), which connect with the twenty-four sacred sites.

i.7The last major section of the tantra (verses 50–63) concerns the twenty-four sacred sites as presented in Cakrasaṃvara literature, describing them as places where the twenty-four ḍākinīs were entrusted with tantras associated with inner heat practice. Verses 63–65 conclude by admonishing the listener to serve the guru, and the final three lines of verse 65 admonish the audience (somewhat elliptically) to rely on the rali tantras together with the guru’s instructions. The text closes with a standard expression of the rejoicing of all who are present and concludes with a straightforward colophon.

i.8There is no available Sanskrit witness of this text, nor are there extant commentaries. The text’s relationships with the Kālacakra and Cakrasaṃvara literature have assisted in interpreting some difficult verses in this terse and enigmatic tantra. The lack of commentarial literature presents a further difficulty in parsing precisely thematic sections and individual verses. While the Tibetan translation is consistent in using quatrains, these are often forced. It is likely that the Sanskrit text used more than one meter, probably involving different numbers of lines per stanza.

i.9This English translation was based primarily on the Tibetan Degé edition in consultation with the Stok Palace Kangyur and the Comparative Edition (Tib. dpe bsdur ma) of the Degé Kangyur. This translation preserves the quatrain structure of the Tibetan text, but the reader should note that each stanza does not necessarily represent a single coherent idea. For example, major sections of the text describing the three ḍākinīs begin at the third, first, and fourth lines of their respective verses. The reader is therefore advised to attend to punctuation, as an attempt has been made to break themes and statements into discrete sentences.