Category: Anuvāda

नमः वज्रयोगिन्यै॥
Salutations to the Vajrayoginī!

Neither being remains nor non-being persists:
Who here indeed comprehends in such a way?
Lui says—that skilful wisdom free of such stains,
It sports with the elements, yet is found nowhere.
How would scripture and lore shine their lamps
Upon that which has no name, form, or colour?
What would I say to anyone if they were to ask:
Whether the moon on the waters is real or illusion?
Lui says—how does one think what is unthinkable?
No thought may ever reach the refuge I have taken.

— Mahāsiddha Luipāda, c. 8–10th c. CE, eastern India
(Caveat: See this note for this kind of poetic translation.)

नमः वज्रयोगिन्यै॥
Salutations to the Vajrayoginī!

Making and becoming amidst being and cessation,
Out of sheer folly do people bind themselves hither.
We—the bards of the unthinkable—do not know:
How things such as birth and death truly show.
Just as mysterious as birth, mysterious so is death;
For at the dust’s settling, they are but the same.
Whoever here was born and is stalked by death,
He keeps seeking the elixir that cheats mortality.
They who move across infancy, youth and old age,
Why do they not become free from age and death?
Is birth due to karma; or is karma due to birth?
Saraha says—that is the unthinkable dhamma.

— Mahāsiddha Sarahapāda, c. 8–10th c. CE, eastern India
(Caveat: See this note for this kind of poetic translation.)

नमः वज्रयोगिन्यै॥
Salutations to the Vajrayoginī!

Upon the higher mountains perches the Śabarī lass,
Poison-berries on her neck, wearing peacock plumes:
“O you mad Śabara, you drunken fool of a hunter!
Do not hunt me with your arrow like silly fowl;
Take this pretty lass rather for your loin’s fire!”
The many trees in bloom, the branches in the skies,
Through the forest, with thunderbolt and earrings,
The hunter now chased after the lone Śabarī lass!
A bed of the three—body, speech, and mind—
The Śabara laid out and in great joy bedecked;
Like a snake, the Śabara bit and coiled around,
And put his love’s venom in the lass all night.
His heart chewed the sweet betel & camphor,
While the soulless lass clung tight to his neck;
In that great bliss, he surpassed the long night!
“Bend the bow of your Guru’s word, O hunter,
And take aim with the arrow of your own mind:
In one supreme shot, pierce that great nirvāna!”
The Śabara is now with crimson passion aflame:
The hunter has disappeared into the highest peak,
So where and how will you find the Śabara now?

— Mahāsiddha Śabarapāda, c. 8–10th c. CE, eastern India
(Caveat: See this note for this kind of poetic translation.)

नमः वज्रयोगिन्यै॥
Salutations to the Vajrayoginī!

Mounting at the hip, Yogini, come to my embrace,
Closing the day at the lotus and thunder’s union!
O Yogini! I cannot stand a moment’s separation,
Longing to kiss you, to taste that honeyed lotus!
O maddened Yogini, yielding to no embrace:
From my navel, go sprint away to my heart!
Taking away my breath, locking down my chest,
O break asunder the sun and moon’s bridges!
Guṇḍarī says—”In fragrant union, I am victorious:
The man has in the woman made his place forever!”

— Mahāsiddha Guṇḍarīpāda, c. 8–10th c. CE, eastern India
(Caveat: See this note for this kind of poetic translation.)

नमः वज्रयोगिन्यै॥
Salutations to the Vajrayoginī!

To the mind that wanders, hither and thither—
Whose rosaries are but parchment and lore—
How can that wisdom be spoken to him, I ask,
Of the secret that unites body, speech, and mind?
The Guru comes and advises the disciple:
Of what is inexpressible, how shall I teach?
Whatever I tell you, you topple and distort,
The Guru sighs, for his disciple is like the deaf.
Kānha says: how do the conquerors speak of it?
Just like the mute Guru to the deaf disciple would.

— Mahāsiddha Kāhnupāda, c. 8–10th c. CE, eastern India
(Caveat: See this note for this kind of poetic translation.)