Kulayaraja Tantra

Kulayaraja Tantra (Tib. ཀུན་བྱེད་རྒྱལ་པོ་, künjé gyalpo, Wyl. kun byed rgyal po) or 'The All-Creating King Tantra' is the main tantra of the Mind category of the Dzogchen teachings. It is contained in the ancient tantras section of the Dergé Kangyur and is the very first text in the Nyingma Gyübum.

Structure

The main part of the text is in 57 chapters (mdo lung). Chapters 58-84 comprise what is known as the 'appended tantra'. The first 57 chapters were translated by Pagor Vairotsana and Shrisingha(natha).

Commentaries

English

• Longchen Rabjam, Jewel Ship (rin chen sgru bo), published as You Are the Eyes of the World, Lipman and Peterson (Ithaca: Snow Lion, 2000). The full Tibetan title is ‘byang chub kyi sems kun byed rgyal po’i don khrid rin chen sgru bo.

Lama Tharchin Rinpoche says of this commentary; "(In Jewel Ship, Longchenpa) gives the essential pointing-out instructions on the essence of mind, the ultimate Buddha, our own original abiding nature. It is called The Jewel Ship because it shows how to cross the ocean of samsara in one instant. (He) explains the extraordinary qualities of the Great Perfection among all Dharma teachings, gives a basic preparation for the path… then synthesizes all of the teachings of the view, meditation, conduct, and result of the Great Perfection.” [1]

Translations

• Erik Pema Kunsang, Wellsprings of the Great Perfection, Rangjung Yeshe Publications, 2006, pp. 46-50 (first chapter only)
• Chögyal Namkhai Norbu & Adriano Clemente, The Supreme Source: The Fundamental Tantra of the Dzogchen Semde, Kunjed Gyalpo, Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications, 1999
• E.K. Neumaier-Dargyay, The Sovereign All-Creating Mind: The Motherly Buddha, Albany, 1992

Further Reading

• John Myrdhin Reynolds, 'Kun byed Rgyal po: The Principal Dzogchen Tantra', in The Golden Letters Ithaca: Snow Lion, 1996.