From Chapter Nine: "Slander of His Dharma Teaching, and the Averting of Obstacles"

Then Vimalamitra, Humkara,
Shri Singha, and other pandits and siddhas
Said to him, "Vairochana, you are unlike others.
We have blessed you as the son of our hearts.
You have now received
All of the most profound instructions.
Keep them secret!

“When you return to Tibet,
Don't teach these instructions right away.
It would cause misunderstandings.
Why? Because this dharma
Does not easily fit into the intellect.
So teach the dharma of the sutras.

“A time will come for the teaching
Of these instructions,
But don't disseminate the essence of profound dharma
In the presence of the unreceptive.
Teach it only to those who earnestly seek it,
And not to those whose faith is just in the mouth.

“Don't exchange instructions and awareness
For illusory wealth and possessions.
Kings rule over everyone,
But they don't rule over dharma.

“Don't break the seal!
If you gain a reputation for learning,
Slander will come from India.
Don't proclaim your reputation!

“Say, 'I don't have it! I don't know!'
Since Tibet is a borderland,
A land of demons,
There will be much doubt.
Obstacles will come!

“However, if you possess instruction,
Wherever you go will be the realm of disciples.
Don't lose your dharma texts!
Always be ready to run!

“Don't forget your gurus!
Always pray from your heart!
If you keep your samaya,
You will be protected by our compassion."
Vairochana offered each of them
A measure of gold powder in gratitude.
Each of his masters gave him
A support for his practice.

“He prostrated to them in parting
And left for Tibet.
Because he had accomplished fleetness of foot,
He traveled as fast as a bird in flight.
Because he had accomplished invisibility,
No one saw him.

When he reached the barrier at the border,
Vairochana entered the samadhi
Of overpowering the experience of others.
He paid the border tax in gold powder
And was let through the barrier.

In one month he reached Tibet.
He met with the dharma king Trisong Detsen,
And the omniscient abbot and master.
A great feast was held with all gathered there.

Then the king invited Vairochana
To the upper story of the central temple
And asked him to teach dharma.
At first Vairochana taught
The Sutra on the Deeds of Awakening.
Then he taught the Vinayagama and so on.

He stayed there, turning various dharmachakras.
The Indians were displeased
And discussed him.
They decided to send three runners
To Tibet to spread slander.

Three atsaras were sent and reached Tibet.
They went into the crowd at a market
And said, "The king of Tibet is a fool!
He has been deceived!

“The man who calls himself Vairochana
Is a demonic evil magician!
He didn't bring back the authentic dharma for which he was sent!
He has brought to Tibet
A lot of ruinous, evil spells.

“If he is permitted to teach,
All Tibet will fall to ruin!
If he is prevented and killed,
Your land will be saved!
The dharmaraja of India is benevolent.
For Tibet's sake we three were sent."

The queen met with all the Bönpo ministers.
They said, "It is true!"
And rewarded the three atsaras.

They discussed the situation
And assembled before the king, saying,
"This Vairochana is a deceiver, a liar.
He did not get the holy dharma for which he was sent!

“He has returned with all sorts
Of ruinous, evil spells!
The king of India, in his supreme benevolence,
Knowing that Tibet would be ruined,
Sent messengers fleet of foot.

“They told us, 'This Tibetan boy didn't get dharma!
He learned evil spells!
Don't let this bringer of disaster live!
Kill him!'
As he will harm Your Majesty,
Pass sentence on him now!"

The king replied,
"None of this is true!
It is slander born of jealousy.
Arrest those three messengers!
Throw them into a dungeon!
Vairochana is my guru.
Whose law is it to punish the innocent?"

Furious, the king attacked his ministers with a cudgel.
They were shocked and, having no choice, they fled.
The Buddhist minister Dorje Trelchung gathered his men
And arrested the three atsaras.

They were cast into a dungeon
With fetters binding their limbs.
Under the king's authority,
They were left alone to suffer for seven days.

Then they were released,
Their mouths stuffed with ashes.
The queen and the Bönpo ministers were displeased.

They said to Dorje Trelchung, the minister from Tsang,
"You have concealed these demonic spells
And tormented those with good intentions!
If evil befalls all Tibet and our king,
You will be to blame!"

The minister replied,
"I have done what the king commanded.
I did nothing out of personal dislike.
If there is something wrong with obeying our king,
You must all be His Majesty's superiors!
I am not afraid of you, even if you kill me!
I am going to tell the king of all this."

The queen and all the Bönpo ministers conferred
And decided, "We will burn Vairochana alive.
If the king protects him, we will restrain him
And take our vengeance!"
The queen said,
"We must kill Dorje Trelchung!"
The other ministers said,
"It would be wrong to kill him.
He was telling the truth when he said
That he had just obeyed the king's command."

After coming to an agreement
They went into the king's presence and said,
"This Vairochana is a bringer of disaster.
There is no point in letting him live.
Kill him now!
Your Majesty, listen to us.
If you don't, great evil will ensue!
King, think about it!"

Trisong Detsen thought,
"There is no other way left to me.
I must lie to them, and say yes!"

He said, "If it is certain that he is a master of demons,
Place him in a sealed copper vessel
And cast it into the water!"

The queen and ministers were delighted.
They brought two large copper pots to the king
And said, "He must be cast into the water
At this very instant!"

The king replied, "Given that he is a caster of evil spells
That bring disaster, it would be more auspicious
To cast him into the water after sunset."

They all said, "It is so!"
They discussed it further among themselves.
When they had come to unanimous agreement,
The king consulted the Buddhist ministers
Takna Dongzik and Dorje Trelchung.

They captured through deceit a foreign beggar,
Gave him many precious things,
And made sure he would not die.
Vairochana taught him how to escape from the water.

They prayed for his well-being
And placed him in the copper vessel.
It was sealed with the royal seal
And made water-fast.
A great drum was beaten.
The queen and ministers gathered.

The king proclaimed, "We send off this bringer of disaster
With one-sided drums and thighbone trumpets,
With a ransom offering, ashes, and various grains!
Let him not remain!
Cast him into the water!"

Terrified, the beggar began to cry.
The queen, who knew the sound of Vairochana's voice,
Became suspicious and said,
"Before casting this copper vessel into the water,
We should open it and look within!"

But Takna Dongzik had great influence. He said,
"Vairochana was sealed in there this morning
Out of the fear that he might escape.
It is now evening!
If you wanted to look inside,
You should have come this morning.
But you didn't!
Fool, don't you recognize the magician's voice?
If we open it now,
He might cast all kinds of spells and escape!
It would be better to leave it sealed."

The king said to the queen, "You liar!
Your real purpose is to help this bringer of disaster,
This magician, to escape!
I am not going to bring disaster on myself,
So why do you doubt where there is no cause for doubt?
I swear to you, with Draktsen as my witness,
That this is Vairochana!"

Saying that, the king slapped the queen's face.
At that, everyone was sure it was Vairochana.
They dispatched the ransom offering,
Threw ashes, and gave a great cry.

The copper vessel, with the beggar inside it,
Was cast into the water.
Through the prayers of Vairochana and the king,
The copper vessel was carried by the current to Oka,
Where it came to rest on the riverbank.

Everyone from the area gathered.
They opened it and found within it the beggar,
Alive and very healthy.
He was taken out of the water,
Built his home there, and came to be known as
'The Merchant Brought by Copper in the River.'
The dharma king was clever.

From The Lotus Garden, A Biography of Vairochana, the ninth chapter:
“Slander of His Dharma Teaching, and the Averting of Obstacles.”

From Chapter Eleven: "Turning the Dharmachakra in Gyalmo Tsawarong"

Then the great translator Vairochana
Went to Gyalmo Tsawarong
Through his accomplishment of fleetness of foot.
In a valley filled with trees and flowers
A band of monkeys were gathered to play.
He came to that uplifting and delightful place.

For seven days he accomplished the goddess Kurukulle.
Birds and monkeys brought fruit,
Which they offered to the great master Vairochana.
He stayed there, teaching the monkeys
The Precious Ushnisha Tantra on Purifying Lower States.

The king of that region liked to capture wild animals alive.
Seven hunters appeared one day, chasing a deer.
They saw the monkeys listening to dharma
And offering fruit to Vairochana.

They tried to catch some of the monkeys
And present them to the king,
But Vairochana paralyzed the seven hunters.
Unable to move, they remained there.
That place came to be known as Paralysis.

At dawn, the seven hunters
Were able to return home.
They told the king what had happened.

He said, "He doesn't sound like a human being.
He might be our local deity, Yutse.
Go look for him and, if he's still there, bring him."

The ministers sent a hundred soldiers
Ordered to fulfill the king's command.
When they went to look,
They saw what had been reported.
They proclaimed the king's command
And told Vairochana that he must accompany them.

Vairochana said, "You are all
Deserving of compassion!
You cover your bodies with armor!
You hold stones and weapons in your hands!

“You take me to be your enemy,
Yet I am not afraid of you!
However, because there is a residue
Of karma from the past,
You may serve as my escort, not my enemies!
I will go to see King Doksher Nakpo."

He went with the soldiers.
That king's palace was called Blazing Agate.
It was vast and beautiful.
In it lived the ruler, Doksher Nakpo.
He had seven wives but no sons,
And was attended by a hundred junior ministers
And ten senior ministers.
He was very wealthy and powerful and had many servants.

They left Vairochana outside one of the palace gates,
And told the king what had happened.
He consulted his ministers.
He decided, "Whatever he is,
He is unlike others!
It is difficult to know whether he is good or bad.
First we must test him to find out what he is."

They cast him into a pit of lice
And left him there for three weeks.
Then they looked at him and found
That he had come to no harm.
He was radiant, healthy, and impressive.

They told the king of this. He said,
"He is amazing, superior to others.
I have no heir; perhaps he is my destined son.
Ask him his story and try to find out what he is."
The minister Ngawang Palden went to Vairochana
And asked him, "What is your name?
What is your family? From where have you come?
Where were you going? What do you want?"

Vairochana answered,
"My name is Vairochana. My family is Vairochana's,
The family of body. My clan is the Apo Dong.
I come from Tibet. I have nowhere else to go,
And there is nothing I want other than this:
This place is the realm of my disciples,
Because of previous karma.
I have come here to teach authentic holy dharma."
The minister told the king
What Vairochana had said.

The king said, "This man is greater than all others.
He is either a god or a magician.
Cast him into a pit of vicious frogs for seven days.
If he survives, he is my destined son,
And I will obey his every command
And carry him on my head!"

They cast Vairochana into the frog pit.
After seven days the king, queens,
And ministers went to look.
Vairochana's body was utterly unharmed.

The Buddha Vairochana decorated his head.
All the turtles faced away from him.
Amazed, they brought him out of the pit.
The king was remorseful and frightened.

He cried a great deal, saying,
"To have done such awful things
To an actual buddha, an emanation of Vairochana!
I have bad karma!"

He bowed his head to Vairochana's lotus feet,
And venerated him as his guru.
The king offered his crown, robes, and boots to Vairochana.
He invited him to the upper story of his palace
And served him all sorts of food.

On the eighth day of the month Saga,
The king, queens, ministers, and subjects assembled.
They offered a mandala of gold,
Silver, and various jewels.
They made this request for the teaching of dharma:

"Oh Vairochana! Oh supreme vidyadhara!
Had we tried to find you, we would have failed!
Yet through previous karma we have met you,
The greatest of men! We pray that you teach
Authentic, profound holy dharma;
That you ripen and free us all,
King, queens, ministers, and subjects;
And that for the rest of our lives you stay here
And never leave!"

The master answered, "King, ministers, and subjects, listen!
In my eighth year I went to Tibet.
In my fifteenth year I traveled to India.
I translated a lot of authentic, profound dharma into Tibetan.

“I thought that land would be steered by dharma,
But because the impure queen and ministers decided
That they liked Bön and disliked dharma,
They slandered me. I was banished.
If you will all not act like them,
I will ripen and free you with dharma.

“In the past, in this place,
I was born as an ascetic,
A pratyekabuddha called Purnajnana.
I placed my saffron robes in sunlight,
And allowed birds to eat the lice that emerged.

“As a result, I was cast into the louse pit.
When I was born as a foolish sheep,
I ate many of the frogs here alive.
As a result, I was cast into the frog pit.

“Karma, causation, doesn't just disappear!
Therefore, all of you, be very careful
In your actions, because of their results!"
Saying that and other things,
He taught a great deal about causation.

Then he recruited translators of dharma:
Yudra Nyingpo, whom he had predicted;
Yudra Paldrön, the king's daughter;
And other intelligent persons of good family.
Seven of the many assembled became translators:
Daö Zang, Tsewang Chögyal,
Mani Dönyö, Punapala,
Kunga Dvaja, Prajnavajra,
And Suryamanga, the son of a minister.

They trained as translators and became skilled.
At first they translated the Vinayagama,
The Vinayottara, the Purification of Lower States,
Emptying Hell to Its Depths, the Amoghapashatantra,
The Stainless Lotus Sutra, and innumerable other sutras.

They also translated secret mantra,
Including the Hundred Thousand Tantras,
Prana, chandali, and the great perfection
Of the mind class, the mother and son expanse class,
And much of the instruction class.

They translated seven types of rasayana,
A hundred types of instruction,
Forceful mantra, and magic.
All the men and women of Tsawarong assembled.
They praised and venerated Vairochana.