of Bliss. When bringing all the dakinis of the charnel grounds under his command, he was known as Shantarakshita.
Padmakara returned to Uddiyana, to the island in the lake, where he practiced Secret Mantra and the symbolic language of the dakinis, through which he brought the dakinis on the island under his command. He then practiced in the Rugged Forest and was blessed with a vision of Vajra Yogini. He bound under oath all the nagas of the lakes as well as the planetary spirits and was invested with supernatural powers by all the dakas and dakinis. Thus he became renowned as Dorje Drakpo Tsal (Wrathful Vajra Power).
He then journeyed to the vajra throne in Bodhgaya, where he showed many miracles. People asked who he was, and when he replied that he was a self-appeared buddha, they did not believe him but instead defamed him. Seeing the many reasons to have a teacher, he went to Sahor, where he took ordination from Prabhahasti and was given the name Shakya Senge. He received the teaching on Yoga Tantra eighteen times and had visions of the deities. Then he went to the female master Kungamo, who was the wisdom dakini Guhya Jnana appearing in the form of a nun. He asked for empowerment, and she changed him into the letter HUNG, which she then swallowed and emitted through her lotus. Inside her body he was bestowed with the entire outer, inner, and secret empowerments and purified of the three obscurations.
Later he met the eight great vidyadharas and received the Eight Sadhana Sections. He received Maya Jala from the great master Buddha Guhya and Dzogchen from Shri Singha. In this way he studied and received all the sutras, tantras, and sciences from numerous learned and accomplished masters of India. He became adept by learning a topic just once and had visions of all the deities even without practicing. At this time he was known as Loden Choksey, and he displayed the manner of perfecting the vidyadhara level of maturation.
He then went to the country of Sahor, where he magnetized Mandarava, a qualified dakini who was the daughter of King Vihardhara. He took her as his sadhana support, and they practiced for three months in the Maratika Cave, after which Buddha Amitayus appeared in person, conferred empowerment upon them, and blessed them to be inseparable from himself. They were given one billion tantras on longevity and accomplished the vidyadhara level of life mastery. Having attained the vajra body beyond birth and death, they went back to teach the kingdom of Sahor. When begging for alms, they were arrested by the king and his ministers and burned alive. The master and his consort inspired faith by displaying the miracle of transforming the pyre into a cool lake, in the center of which they sat on a lotus flower. They caused all the people to embrace Dharma practice and established them in the state beyond falling back into samsara.
Padmakara then returned to convert the people of Uddiyana. While begging for alms, he was recognized and burned in a huge pyre of sandalwood. The master and his consort again appeared unharmed on a lotus flower in the center of a lake, wearing a garland of skulls to symbolize the liberation of all sentient beings from samsara. Because of showing this miracle he was then renowned as Padma Thotreng Tsal (Powerful Lotus of the Garland of Skulls). He remained in Uddiyana for thirteen years as the king’s teacher and established the whole kingdom in Dharma practice. During this time he gave the empowerment and teachings for Kadue Chokyi Gyamtso, the Dharma Ocean Embodying All Teachings, through which the king and queen as well as all the destined ones accomplished the supreme vidyadhara level. He was then known as Padma Raja (Lotus King).
In accordance with a prophecy in the Sutra on Magical Perception, Padmakara transformed himself into the monk Wangpo Dey in order to convert King Ashoka. Having established Ashoka in unshakable faith, during a single night he erected in this world one million stupas containing the relics of the Tathagata. He also subdued several non-Buddhist teachers and was poisoned by one king but remained unharmed. When he then was thrown into the river, he made the river flow upstream and danced about in midair. Through that he became known as Powerful Garuda Youth.
Moreover, Padmakara manifested himself in the form of Acharya Padmavajra, the master who revealed the Hevajra Tantra, as well as the Brahmin Saraha, Dombi Heruka, Virupa, Kalacharya, and many other siddhas. He practiced in the great charnel grounds, where he taught the Secret Mantra to the dakinis. He subdued the outer and inner mundane spirits and named them protectors of the Dharma. At that time he became known as Nyima Oser.
When five hundred non-Buddhist teachers were about to defeat the Dharma in debate at Bodhgaya, Padmakara challenged them and was victorious. Some of the teachers resorted to evil spells, but Padmakara scattered them by means of a wrathful mantra given by the dakini Tamer of Mara. The rest converted to Buddhism, and the banner of the Dharma was raised to the skies. At that time he became known as Senge Dradrok. At this point he had exhausted the three defilements and resided on the vidyadhara level of life mastery, the stage of having fully perfected the supreme path.
Proceeding to the cave of Yanglesho, situated between India and Nepal, he met Shakya Devi, the daughter of a Nepalese king, whom he accepted as his sadhana support and consort. While he was practicing Vishuddha Heruka, three powerful spirits created obstacles, preventing rainfall for three years causing disease and famine. Padmakara sent messengers to India asking his masters for a teaching that could counteract these obstacles. Two men returned loaded with Kilaya scriptures, and the obstacles were spontaneously pacified the very moment the men arrived in Nepal. Padmakara and his consort then attained the supreme siddhi and abided on the vidyadhara level of mahamudra.
Guru Rinpoche perceived that the practice of Vishuddha Heruka brings great accomplishment. But that practice is like a traveling trader who meets with many hindrances, whereas Kilaya is like an indispensable escort. Because of this coincidence Guru Rinpoche composed many sadhanas combining the two herukas. At this place he also bound under oath the sixteen mundane protectors of Vajra Kilaya.
Padmakara visited other ancient kingdoms where he taught the Dharma: Hurmudzu in the vicinity of Uddiyana, Sikojhara, Dharmakosha, Rugma, Tirahuti, Kamarupa, and Kancha, as well as many others. It is not sure when he went to the land of Droding, but the tantric teachings he gave there on Hevajra, Guhyachandra Bindu, Vishuddha, Hayagriva, Kilaya, and Mamo are still continued in the present day.
Padmakara is generally considered to have lived in India for thirty-six hundred years benefiting the teachings and sentient beings. But it seems that learned people accept that to be half-years and simply a generalization.
In order to convert people in Mongolia and China, Padmakara emanated in the form of the King Ngonshe Chen and the yogi Tobden. Moreover, he appeared in the country of Shangshung as the miraculously born child Tavi Hricha, who gave the instructions on the hearing lineage of Dzogchen and led many worthy disciples to the attainment of the rainbow body.
In this way Padmakara’s activity for bringing people to the path of liberation by means of appearing in various places, in various forms, speaking various languages, is indeed beyond measure.
Now I will describe how Padamakara came here to the land of Tibet. When King Trisong Deutsen, himself an emanation of Manjushri, was twenty years of age, he formed a strong aspiration to spread the sacred teachings of the Dharma. He invited Khenpo Bodhisattva2 from India, who taught about dependent origination and the ten virtuous actions. A year later the foundation was laid for a huge temple, but the spirits of Tibet created obstacles and prevented the building. In accordance with the Khenpo’s prediction, the king sent five runners to invite the great master Padmakara to come. Having foreknowledge of this, Padmakara had already gone to Mangyul between Nepal and Tibet. On the way to central Tibet he went via Ngari, Tsang, and Dokham and miraculously visited all of the districts, where he bound under oath the twelve Tenma goddesses, the thirteen Gurlha and twenty-one Genyen, as well as many other powerful spirits.
At the Tamarisk Forest at Red Rock he met the king of Tibet and proceeded to the top of Hepori to bring the gods and demons under his command. He laid the foundation for Samye and saw it through to completion, employing also the gods and demons who had earlier hindered the building. In five years the work was completed for the temple complex of Glorious Samye,
