Part 11
The following morning, the Master took the servant Lhalung Tshosher Nyenlek as a support and summoned an oracle, the goddess Mārīcī. The Master made the goddess speak through the servant. The goddess listed the names of all the evil gods and nāgas of Tibet. Amongst many things, she revealed, “Shampo washed away the Phang Thang temple in a flood, Tanglha struck Marpo Ri with lightning, the twelve tenma sisters spread diseases amongst humans and animals, and the nine nyen sent frost and hail to Tibet.” From that very morning, many children of good families became the oracles of the Four Great Kings, and the fire deities revealed themselves and described the names, places and activities of all the vicious gods and nāgas. To inspire faith among the king, ministers and many more, the Master then made some of the terrible gods and demons actually appear in front of everyone, for all to see. He frightened and suppressed them, then taught the Dharma and made them swear allegiance. The gods and demons offered their life-force mantras and petitionary rituals to the Master. To those who were still not tamed even by this, the Master applied various methods, such as the fire offering, and in this way he successfully subdued them. The Master performed this the rituals twice and said to the King, “From now on practise the Dharma as much as you can! Build the temple as you planned! For my part, although I have already bound the gods and nāgas under oath twice, I must do so one more time.”
The Master went to stay at the palace of Zurphü Kyangbu Tsal. While there, he tamed all the nāgas, including Maldro Zichen. Maldro Zichen announced, “Above ground, King Trisong Detsen is the greatest. Below ground, I am the greatest. We two should become allies. I shall offer fourteen mule-loads of gold dust to the king for the building of the temple and have ordered that it be sent from the gold mine of Lanpo Na.” It appeared exactly as he said.
The Master also tamed the gyalpo spirit Pekar. He created a maṇḍala for taming him and when Pekar came to look at it, the Master struck Pekar’s eyes with his kīla-dagger. When Pekar listened to the mantra the Master struck his ears. When Pekar mimicked the reciting of the mantra, the Master struck his tongue. When Pekar attempted to flee, the Master struck his four limbs and he was completely incapacitated. “Now,” the Master warned, “I will burn you!” at which Pekar became terrified and swore allegiance.
After this, the Master went to tame mountain spirit Yarlha Shampo. It immediately sent a deluge down upon the Master. So he took his vajra from his cloak and raised it aloft, sending the water back uphill, into the pool from where it came. The Master then threw his vajra into the pool, which made the water boil and melted one third of the snow on Shampo mountain. Yarlha Shampo, the spirit, standing on the summit, said, “What great trouble you have caused me!” The Master echoed his words, “What great trouble you have caused me! If you refuse to swear allegiance, I will have to burn you…” At this, Yarlha Shampo prostrated at the feet of the Master, swearing allegiance and saying, “I am of an evil race and unable to practise the Dharma, but from now on at least I will do no harm.” In this way, over a period of about six months, the Master brought under oath the majority of non-human beings.