Kukuraja was a

mahasiddha Mahasiddha (Sanskrit: ''mahāsiddha'' "great adept; ) is a term for someone who embodies and cultivates the "siddhi of perfection". A siddha is an individual who, through the practice of sādhanā, attains the realization of siddhis, psychic and ...

within the lineages of

Esoteric Buddhism ''Vajrayāna'' (; 'vajra vehicle'), also known as Mantrayāna ('mantra vehicle'), Guhyamantrayāna ('secret mantra vehicle'), Tantrayāna ('tantra vehicle'), Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, is a Mahāyāna Buddhism, Mahāyāna Buddhis ...

and he was contemporaneous with

Indrabhuti Indrabhuti (alternatively King Ja) is a name attributed to a number of individuals that have become conflated in Vajrayana Buddhism. One Indrabhuti, considered a Mahasiddha, was a disciple of Lawapa. Identities of the king Samten Karmay attemp ...

of Sahor (also known as King Ja) and Kambalapada (also known as Lawapa). Kukuraja interpreted Tantras for King Indrabhuti. Indrabhuti is held in some sources to be the father of

Padmasambhava Padmasambhava ('Born from a Lotus'), also known as Guru Rinpoche ('Precious Guru'), was a legendary tantric Buddhist Vajracharya, Vajra master from Oddiyana. who fully revealed the Vajrayana in Tibet, circa 8th – 9th centuries... He is consi ...

Instruction

According to Nyingma tradition, King Ja taught himself intuitively from "the Book" of the Tantric Way of Secret Mantra (that is Mantrayana) that magically fell from the sky along with other sacred objects and relics "upon the roof of King Ja" according to Dudjom (1904–1987),'' et al.'' (1991: p. 613 History) took place on the

Tibetan calendar The Tibetan calendar (), or the Phukpa calendar, known as the ''Tibetan lunar calendar'', is a lunisolar calendar composed of either 12 or 13 lunar months, each beginning and ending with a new moon. A thirteenth month is added every two or three y ...

year of the Earth Monkey, which Dudjom '' et al.'' identify as 853 BC Kukuraja received instruction drawn from "the Book" on what may be understood as the

Outer Tantras Classes of Tantra in Tibetan Buddhism refers to the categorization of Buddhist tantric scriptures in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism inherited numerous tantras and forms of tantric practice from medieval Indian Buddhist Tantra. There wer ...

from King Ja, then King Ja received instruction on what may be understood as the

Inner Tantras Classes of Tantra in Tibetan Buddhism refers to the categorization of Buddhist tantric scriptures in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism inherited numerous tantras and forms of tantric practice from medieval Indian Buddhist Tantra. There wer ...

from Kukuraja (Kukkuraja taught King Ja after Kukkuraja received a direct revelation of

Vajrasattva Vajrasattva (, Tibetan: རྡོ་རྗེ་སེམས་དཔའ། ''Dorje Sempa'', short form: རྡོར་སེམས། ''Dorsem'') is a bodhisattva in the Mahayana and Mantrayana/Vajrayana Buddhist traditions. In Chinese Buddhis ...

wherein Vajrasattva prophesied the imminent

esoteric transmission Western esotericism, also known as the Western mystery tradition, is a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas and currents are united since they are largely distinct both from orthod ...

Vajrapani (Sanskrit; Pali: Vajirapāṇi, 'holder of the thunderbolt', lit. meaning, "Vajra in ishand") is one of the earliest-appearing bodhisattvas in Mahayana Buddhism. The personification of Indra, the King of the Devas in the Hindu order, he is t ...

, the Lord of Secrets, to Kukuraja which was only made possible through the quickening of Kukuraja by King Ja with his intuitive knowledge drawn from "the Book") as Dudjom (1904–1987),'' et al.'' (1991: p. 460) of the principally

Nyingma Nyingma (, ), also referred to as ''Ngangyur'' (, ), is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The Nyingma school was founded by PadmasambhavaClaude Arpi, ''A Glimpse of the History of Tibet'', Dharamsala: Tibet Museum, 2013. ...

view relates:

Then King Ja taught the book to master
Uparaja Uparaja is a noble title reserved for the viceroy in India and the Buddhist dynasties in Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, as well as some of their minor tributary kingdoms. It is ultimately from Sanskrit उपराज ''upa- rāja'' equivalent ...
, who was renowned as a great scholar throughout the land of Sahor, but he could not understand their symbolic conventions and meaning. The king then taught them to the master Kukkuraja. He intuitively understood the chapter on the "Vision of Vajrasattva", from the ''Tantra of the Magical Net of Vajrasattva'' ylie: rdo rje sems dpa' sgyu 'phrul drva ba (also known as the Guhyagarbha Tantra)">Guhyagarbha Tantra">ylie: rdo rje sems dpa' sgyu 'phrul drva ba (also known as the Guhyagarbha Tantra) and practiced it, whereupon Vajrasattva revealed himself and predicted that the Lord of Secrets would reveal the meanings of this tantra thereafter. When he had practised more, the Lord of Secrets actually appeared and granted him [Kukkuraja] the complete empowerment of the authentic teaching and of all vehicles. Then he told him to request the verbal teaching from the Licchavi Vimalakirti. It is said that, following the transmitted precepts of the Lord of Secrets, master Kukkuraja divided Mahayoga tantras">Mahayoga#Mahayoga textual tradition">Mahayoga tantrasinto the Eighteen Great Tantrapitaka (tantra chen-po sde bco-brgyad) and taught them to King Ja.Dorje, Jikdrel Yeshe (
Dudjom Rinpoche Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche Jigdral Yeshe DorjeJoseph McClellan, "Dudjom Rinpoche Jigdrel Yeshe Dorje", ''Treasury of Lives'', February 2024 (, THL ''Düjom Jikdrel Yéshé Dorjé'') was known simply as Dudjom Rinpoche (10 June 1904 – 17 January ...
, author), & translated and edited:
Gyurme Dorje Gyurme Dorje (1950 – 5 February 2020) was a Scottish Tibetologist and writer. Early life In Edinburgh he studied classics at George Watson's College and developed an early interest in Buddhist philosophy. He held a PhD in Tibetan Literatur ...
and
Matthew Kapstein Matthew T. Kapstein is a scholar of Tibetan religions, Buddhism, and the cultural effects of the Chinese occupation of Tibet. He is Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Chicago Divinity School, and Director of Tibetan ...
(1991). ''The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its Fundamentals and History''. Boston, USA: Wisdom Publications. , p.460 History.

Notes

References

*Getty, Alice. ''Gaņeśa: A Monograph on the Elephant-Faced God''. (Clarendon Press: Oxford, 1936). 1992 reprint edition, . Individual chapters are devoted to individual countries and regions of the world.

External links

KukuRaja
{{Bodhisattvas Bodhisattvas Scholars of Buddhism from Tibet Tibetan Buddhist yogis Mahasiddhas Tibetan Buddhists from Tibet Buddhist yogis Tibetan Buddhists from India Indian Buddhist yogis Indian scholars of Buddhism