Loden Chogsey (Padmasambhava) then contemplated, “By Secret Mantra, I will now accomplish the vidyadhara level of longevity beyond birth and death. I must cause all the people of Uddiyana and India to enter the Buddhadharma.”
In order to practice the Secret Mantra, one must have a genuine spiritual consort, so he went to the country of Zahor. Here Vihardhara, the king of Zahor, had a daughter called Mandarava Flower, a sixteen-year-old maiden endowed with the qualifying marks. Master Padma magnetized her and took her along as his mudra, a spiritual consort and support in practice.
South of Mount Potala, the palace of noble Avalokiteshvara, lies the cave known as Maratika. It faces south and a rain of flowers constantly falls. Enveloped in a dome of rainbows, the scent of incense permeates the air. It has a grove of sandalwood trees and is blessed by the Lords of the Three Families. The master and his consort went to this place and, disclosing the mandalas of Buddha Amitayus, they performed the practice of vidyadhara longevity.
After three months, they had the vision of Amitayus. He placed the nectar-filled vase of immortal life upon the heads of Master Padma and his consort, and by pouring the nectar into their mouths, their bodies became vajra-bodies beyond birth and death. He blessed Master Padma to be the daka Hayagriva and the consort to be Vajra Varahi. Thus, they reached the attainment of vidyadhara life.
From the introduction to The Lotus-Born: The Sanglingma Life Story of Padmasambhava.
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