Text 8.16 (Commentary)

[Guhyagarbha-Tantra, Text section 8.16]

The seals or hand-emblems of the wrathful deities
At the four gates are respectively
The cudgel surmounted by human skulls which is brandished.
The vajra which subjugates,
The skull with large snakes which subjugates,
The crossed-vajra which subjugates through activity.
The iron hook, the lasso, the iron chain, and the bell.
Abiding at the four gates,
These (deities) bow and embrace in the previous manner. [16] ...

[Tibetan]

sgo-bzhi'i khro-bo'i phyag-rgya-ni /
nṛ-mgo gdengs-dang rdo-rje gnon /
thod-sbrul chen-po gnon-pa-dang /
rdo-rje rgya-gram las-kyis gnon /
lcags-kyu zhags-pa spho-ṭa ho /
sgo-bzhir gnas-pa de-dag kyang /
'dud-tshul 'khril-ba gong-ma-bzhin / [16]

Commentary:

[Thirdly, there are the seals or hand-emblems of the male & female gatekeepers. (This comments on Ch. 8.16):]

Among the eight male & female wrathful deities (khro-bo) at the four gates (sgo-bzhi'i) of the maṇḍala, the seals or hand-emblems of (-'i phyag-rgya-ni) the four male consorts are as follows: The cudgel surmounted by human skulls which is brandished (nri-mgo gdengs), the five-pronged vajra (rdo-rje) which subjugates (gnon), the skull with large snakes (thod-sbrul chen-po) which subjugates (gnon-pa-dang) by ensnarement, and the crossed vajra which subjugates through activity (rdo-rje rgya-gram las-kyi gnon) emerge from the respective syllables HŪṂ (of Yamāntaka, Mahābala, Hayagrīva, and Amṛtakuṇḍalin). While the four (gatekeepers) raise these emblems with their right hands, and clasp their respective female consorts with their left hands, their index fingers are poised in the gesture of menace.^[1]

The seals of the female consorts, emerging from the four syllables PHAṬ (of Aṅkuśā, Pāśā, Sphoṭā, and Gaṇṭhā), are respectively the iron hook (lcags-kyu), the lasso (zhags-pa), the iron chain (lcags-sgrogs / sphoṭa), and the bell (ho / dril-bu). These are grasped with their left hands, while their right hands, clenched in an "indestructible fist", clasp their male consorts.

These (de-dag) male & female gatekeepers, abiding at the four gates (sgo-bzhir gnas-pa) are such that the female consorts bow ('dud-tshul) to their male consorts, and the male consorts are slightly tilting towards their female consorts. So the male & female consorts embrace ('khril-ba) in a disposition of non-dual reality, in the manner (bzhin) previously (gong-ma) revealed.

[Fourthly, there are the seals or hand-emblems of the six sages (which comment on Ch. 8.17):]

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Footnotes and references:

[1]:

"gesture of menace" (sdigs-mdzub-kyi tshul). On the application of this gesture, see also NSTB, Book 2, Pt. 5. pp. 290-300.