Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This commentary provides a technical analysis of the Condensed Essence of Vajra Words, focusing on the practical application of Hevajra tantra. The text functions as a manual for the practitioner, detailing the precise physiological and mental mechanisms required to achieve non-dual realization. It commits the reader to a rigorous system of yogic discipline, specifically the six branches of application: withdrawal, concentration, breath control, retention, recollection, and meditative absorption. The argument centers on the necessity of manipulating the subtle body—specifically blocking the lalanā and rasanā channels to force energy into the central avadhūtī path—to eliminate conceptual proliferation and afflictions. By synthesizing breath control (prāṇāyāma) with meditative absorption, the text asserts that the practitioner can transcend dualistic perceptions of existence and non-existence, eventually attaining the five superknowledges and the state of a Buddha, which is defined here as a wisdom free from anthropomorphic imputation.
Provenance
About this text
A commentary on the difficult points of the condensed essence of vajra words, the Vajrapadagarbhasaṃgrahanāmapañjikā belongs to the tradition of the Non-dual Tantra. The work is attributed to the Indian author Śākyaśrībhadra. It was translated into classical Tibetan by Śākyaśrībhadra and lo tsa ba dpyal chos bzang, and is preserved in volume ཕ of the Tengyur. The text enacts a technical system of yogic discipline centered on the six branches of application: withdrawal, concentration, breath control, retention, recollection, and meditative absorption. It argues for the necessity of manipulating the subtle body, specifically by blocking the lalanā and rasanā channels to direct energy into the central avadhūtī path. Through the practice of vase-breath and the movement of vital winds into the maṇḍalas of the five elements at the navel and heart, the practitioner seeks to transcend dualistic perceptions. A scholar or serious reader consults this four-page work today to understand the precise physiological and mental mechanisms required for the practical application of Hevajra tantra and the achievement of non-dual realization.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “A Commentary on the Difficult Points of the “Summary of the Essence of Vajra Words”” (Toh 1391), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1391
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant for its detailed preservation of the intersection between subtle body physiology and non-dual philosophy in the Hevajra tradition. For the modern reader, it illustrates the transition from ritualized practice to the internal psychological and somatic processes intended to trigger enlightenment.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introduction
Opening titles in Sanskrit and Tibetan and traditional prostrations.
2
The Six Branches of Application
Enumeration and definition of the six meditative stages.
3
Subtle Body Manipulation
Instructions on blocking side channels and utilizing the central path via vase-breath.
4
Results of Practice
Description of the attainment of superknowledges and the overcoming of afflictions.
5
Nature of Non-duality
Philosophical definition of non-dual wisdom as the absence of conceptual entities.
Themes
Yogic Physiology (2-3)
Non-dual Wisdom (5)
Spiritual Attainment (4)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaA Commentary on the Difficult Points of the “Summary of the Essence of Vajra Words”·
In the language of India: Vajrapadagarbhasaṃgraha-nāma-pañjikā. In the language of Tibet: The Commentary on the Difficult Points of the Condensed Essence of Vajra Words. Homage to the Blessed One, the Glorious Hevajra.
I prostrate to the glorious guru, who has perfectly realized the reality of the vajra, the supreme emanation of all buddhas, and the protector who is the nature of the five elements.
I prostrate to the Great Seal (Mahāmudrā), which is the nature to be realized through examples such as illusions and the like, and which is meditated upon without exception.
I prostrate to that goddess who is the culmination of the joy and so forth that arise at the limit of the vajra-jewel between the eyebrows.
Here, having thoroughly condensed the entirety of the teachings and tantras spoken by the glorious Vajrapāṇi—such as the stages of the tantra of the glorious Paramādibuddha and the Vajragarbha—for those who are terrified by the vastness, profundity, and difficulty of realizing the mudrās, maṇḍalas, mantras, homas, and collections of activities, I shall correctly summarize a portion of what is taught in many scriptures. Having received the vajra words of the Hevajra and obtained the stages of the pith instructions from sublime gurus, I shall write this down in order to refresh my own memory and so that students may understand it.
Now, the meaning of the phrase "meditating on the six-limbed yoga" and so forth is to be understood from the various tantras; this is the certainty of the Tathāgata.
Likewise, as taught in other tantras, one should meditate upon these very six branches of application: withdrawal, concentration, breath control, retention, recollection, and meditative absorption. These are asserted as the six branches of application.
Here, "withdrawal" means that the sense faculties, such as the eyes, and the consciousnesses, such as the eye-consciousness, do not engage with external objects like forms. Instead, the supreme sense faculties, such as the eyes, and the supreme consciousnesses, such as the eye-consciousness, engage intensely with internal objects. This "internal nature" refers to focusing on emptiness and seeing all phenomena without conceptualization, like a mirror shown to a young girl. This individual appearance of emptiness is called the branch of withdrawal because one sees the three realms as the individual reflections of the Buddha.
Then, "concentration" is the seeing of all phenomena as emptiness. "Insight" is the mind entering deeply into that. "Conceptualization" is the mind that apprehends the entity. "Discernment" is the thorough investigation of the meaning of that very entity. "Joy" is the state of bliss regarding all phenomena. "Bliss" is the unwavering state. "Unwavering" is the awareness of all phenomena as authentic bliss. These five aspects are described as the branches of concentration.
Then, "breath control" is...
By blocking the paths of the lalanā and rasanā on the right and left, one constantly applies effort to the central avadhūtī path. This practice of exhaling, the vase-breath, and inhaling is described as the branch of prāṇāyāma (vital wind control). Regarding that, "retention" (dhāraṇā) is explained as the vital winds entering the maṇḍalas of earth, water, fire, wind, and space at the navel, heart, throat, forehead, and uṣṇīṣa, so that they no longer circulate externally and the winds completely dissolve into the bindu (drop). Regarding that, "recollection" (anusmṛti) is explained as seeing one’s own yidam deity in a form free of conceptual thought and appearing as a reflected image; from that, many rays of light radiate, and within the projected maṇḍala of light, the various forms of the three realms are transferred—this is the branch of recollection. Then, "absorption" (samādhi) is the attainment of unwavering bliss from the passion for the yidam deities, through which the mind’s subject and object are abandoned; that mind which acts as a single unity is what the Tathāgata described as the branch of absorption. Here, the six branches of yoga are explained in summary; they should be understood in detail from the Śatasāhasrikā, the Paramādibuddha, and the oral instructions of the Guru. Regarding the yogi’s accomplishment of mahāmudrā, it is said in the Śrī Paramādibuddha: "Through withdrawal (pratyāhāra), the yogi is free from objects and remains perfectly established by the entire mantra."
The five superknowledges will be attained; the lord of men is purified through the application of concentration. By the purification of breath-control, the rabbit-marked [moon] itself is abandoned and honored by the Bodhisattvas. Having slain the afflictions, Māra, and so forth, one enters the ten powers through the power of concentration. One will also subsequently recollect the stainless reflection of wisdom, the maṇḍala of perfect light. Therefore, through pure concentration, in just a few days or nights, the wisdom-body itself is accomplished. Thus it is said.
There is no poetic arrangement of words; it is not the explanation of a non-Buddhist. Since it is explained by the speech of the Omniscient One, the wise should therefore grant it their forbearance. This concludes the work composed by the great Paṇḍita of Kashmir. It was translated in the presence of that very Paṇḍita by the translator Pyal Lo-tsā-ba.
There are ten types of signs for withdrawal: smoke, a mirage, clear space, a lamp, a blazing fire, the moon, the sun, Rāhu, the fire of time, and the vision of the drop. These are the aggregates of unexamined wisdom. From the Vajragarbha Commentary: "The Victor teaches the definitive meaning of the entire tantra, not the provisional meaning. If, for the sake of realization, a commentary clarifies the provisional meaning, the definitive meaning would become false." Furthermore: "Is the disease one thing and the medicine another, such that the medicine becomes something other than the complete destruction of the disease? The Sage’s meaning and so forth are the four reliances; they are not the reliances on the literal expression and so forth." Thus it is said. This is the perfect knower of the three times, like a mirror and a pratibimba (reflection).
"Whatever wisdom is free from the web of conceptualizing entities and non-entities is non-dual." Thus it is said. "These Buddhas, who are imputed with faces and hands, are certainly not the [true] Buddha." Thus it is said.