Anaṅgavajra's Prajñopāyaviniścayasiddhi is less overt in its presentation of a dual
apotropaic-soteriological theory of embodied realization than Padmavajra's Guhyasiddhi, yet the text still shows traces of these two aspects of the tradition. There is strong evidence, for example, in Anaṅgavajra's explanation of the apotropaic function of consuming the samaya substances. Although relevant to the current discussion of adopting a demonological
paradigm to understand the implications of embodied realization in The Seven Siddhi Texts, this topic is addressed later in chapter four because of its direct relationship to the completion stage practices that the sādhaka performs outside of the protective structure of the maṇḍala.
The current treatment of embodied realization in Prajñopāyaviniścayasiddhi is concerned only with Anaṅgavajra's explicit use of terms that relate a yogin's successful practice to the attainment of a specific type of body.
The extant Sanskrit versions of the text open with a homage to the "indestructible being," or Vajrasattva, as "the stainless true nature of the Buddha that is the unequaled dharma body (dharmaśarīra)" that is "unsullied by the film of compounded false concepts wherever it is."185 Anaṅgavajra deviates from the standard term dharmakāya here, opting
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184!Wright,!"Piṇḍikṛtamsādhana,"!84.!Verse!55,!which!immediately!follows!the!selfmvisualization!as!the!
deity!Guhyasamāja,!reads,!!
"Then![the!yogin]!skilled!in!analyzing!the!psychomphysical!aggregates,!etc.,!should!place!the!mantra!
syllables![on!the!body]."!!
Sanskrit:!!
tato!nyāsam!prakurvīta!skandhādīnāṃ!vibhāgavit!!
185!Anaṅgavajra,!"Prajñopāyaviniścayasiddhi,"!in!Guhyādi\aṣṭasiddhisaṁgraha,!edited!by!Samdhong!
Rinpoche!and!Jaganath!Upadhyay!(Sarnath:!Central!Institute!for!Higher!Tibetan!Studies!Rare!Buddhist!
Texts!Project,!1987),!67.!!
instead to refer to the state of an indestructible being as a dharmaśarīra, and the decision has the effect of placing a greater emphasis on the physical, corporal body instead of the more intangible notions of embodiment that the term dharmakāya traditionally signifies. The connection that Anaṅgavajra's opening verse draws between the indestructible being (vajrasattva) and a body of dharma preconfigures the characterization of caryā and vrata practices elsewhere in the corpus of The Seven Siddhi Texts as components of the vajrasattva sādhana or the 'practice method of the indestructible being.'186
Anaṅgavajra's first chapter on his "Detailed Explanation of Insight and Method"
(prajñopāyavipañca) opens with twenty verses that move the reader through a series of statements on the definition of insight (prajnā), the definition of method (upāya) and the definition of the combination of insight and method that provide a foundation for
understanding the rest of the text. This detailed definition of the union of insight and method leads to the following verses, which outline a dual apotropaic-soteriological conception of embodied realization:
Devoid of apprehender and apprehended object, Free from the view of existent and non-existent, | Liberated from signs and signified objects, Pure, naturally stainless, || 1.19 ||
Not two and not non-dual, peace, The quiescence present everywhere— | That unwavering self-reflexive awareness
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yatrābhūtasamastakalpapaṭalāliptiṃ!svabhāvāmalaṃ!!
bauddhaṃ!dharmaśarīram!apratisamaṃ!saddharmavṛddhyāspadam!|!
sambhogaṃ!ca!vicitrarūparacitaṃ!sannirmitaṃ!jāyate!|!
prajñopāyam!ayaṃ!praṇamya!tadalaṃ!cetas!tad!evocyate!||!1.1!||!
!
Unsullied!by!the!film!of!all!conceptual!thoughts!wherever!it!is,!!
The!stainless!true!nature!of!the!Buddha!that!is!the!unequaled!!
Dharma!body,!the!abode!where!the!true!dharma!flourishes,!|!
The!perfect!enjoyment!arises,!constructed!and!made!up!of!various!forms.!|!
Having!bowed!to!this!insight!and!method,!I!shall!discuss!just!that.!||!1.1!||!
186!This!topic!is!introduced!in!the!conclusion!to!this!chapter!and!discussed!at!length!in!chapter!four.!!!
Is unconfused insight and method. || 1.20 ||
That is the supremely marvelous Abode of all the Buddhas, |
The divine state that brings the highest welfare That is called the phenomenal expanse. || 1.21 ||
It is the non-abiding nirvāṇa that is honored By the buddhas of the three times |
The delightful state of self-consecration,
The quiescence of the perfection of insight, || 1.22 ||
It is the three bodies and three vehicles,
The incalculable tens of thousands of mantras, | The unsurpassed circle of mudrās and maṇḍalas, That belong to [his particular] clan. || 1.23 ||
All of the gods, demigods, lords, and Humans who have arisen from that And others such as the ghosts, etc., Cease in that as well. || 1.24 ||
The entire world abides at all times Like a wish fulfilling jewel, |
As the perfect state of worldly enjoyment and liberation Through nature of insight and method. || 1.25 ||
The perfect Buddhas, and Sugatas of the past Arrived at this [realization] and |
Attained buddhahood in all cases.
Those who benefit the world shall be perfectly awakened. || 1.26 ||
Because it is the state of limitless bliss It is known as the glorious great bliss, | The foremost Samantabhadra
Who brings about perfect awakening. || 1.27 ||
The Lords of Sages taught an ultimate reality that is A body of supreme bliss [that benefits] oneself and others,
The equanimity of the unlimited mass of various objects of knowledge, | Of supreme intelligence joined with desire
Of unequalled compassion that is the unique activity
That brings ruin to all of the suffering of the three worlds. || 1.28 ||187
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187!Anaṅgavajra,!"Prajñopāyaviniścayasiddhi,"!69.!!
grāhyagrāhakasaṃtyaktaṃ!sadasatpakṣa!varjitam!|!
lakṣyalakṣaṇanirmuktaṃ!śuddhaṃ!prakṛtinirmalam!||!1.19!||!
The verses advocate for a synonymy between more exoteric terms for describing the nature of ultimate reality such as self-reflexive awareness (pratyātmavedya), the phenomenal expanse (dharmadhātu), the perfection of insight (prajñāpāramitā), and the three bodies and three vehicles (kāyatrayam triyānaṃ ca) with more explicitly esoteric terms such as the state of self-consecration (svādhiṣṭānapada) and the tantric ritual technologies of mantra,
maṇḍala, and mudrā. Then, in verse 1.24, Anaṅgavajra lists a number of apotropaic results of understanding the union of insight and method by arguing that it is both the source of all manner of human and non-human beings and the point in which all of these things cease.
Following the general rule of 'lords' and 'hordes,'188 the implication is that realization itself is able to provide protection from potentially harmful human and non-human beings. This level of realization is an embodied state that Anaṅgavajra describes as a body of supreme bliss (parasukhāṅghaṃ). Thus the realization of ultimate reality outlined in Anaṅgavajra's opening chapter correlates exoteric soteriological terms to esoteric methods that lead to a fully
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embodied realization, and the body that one wins through these esoteric methods performs an apotropaic function of bringing an end to all potentially harmful beings, both human and non-human.