Shining Relics of Enlightened Body
# Shining Relics of Enlightened Body

Shining Relics of Enlightened Body (Tibetan: སྐུ་གདུང་འབར་བ, Wylie: sku gdung 'bar ba) is numbered amongst the 'Seventeen Tantras of Menngagde' (Tibetan: མན་ངག་སྡེའི་རྒྱུད་བཅུ་བདུན, Wylie: man ngag sde'i rgyud bcu bdun) within Dzogchen discourse and is part of the textual support for the Vima Nyingtik.

## Translation

Though no other predating version from the Tibetan is likely nor extant, the work is held to be a translation in the Nyingma Dzogchen tradition though no originating language is made apparent in the secondary literature. Martin (1994: p. 282) holds that Vimalamitra was assigned to the translation group that was responsible for this work:

   "The work was translated and verified by the Indian Master Vimalamitra and the Tibetan translator Ka-ba Dpal-brtsegs."

Ka-ba Dpal-brtsegs, important in the codification of the Tibetan Buddhist canon, is numbered as one of the 'twenty-five [principal] disciples' (Wylie: rje 'bang nyer lnga) of Padmasambhava.

## Relics

Sarira are generic terms for "Buddhist relics", although in common usage these terms usually refer to a kind of pearl or crystal-like bead-shaped objects that are purportedly found among the cremated ashes of Buddhist spiritual masters recovered from charnel grounds. Sarira are held to emanate or incite 'blessings' and 'grace' (Sanskrit: adhishthana) within the mindstream and experience of those connected to them.

## Overview

Martin (1994: p. 281) relates that this Tantra, "Blazing Remains", takes the form of a dialogue between Vajradhara and the Dakini 'Clear Mind':

   "We turn to the Nyingma tantra, the Sku-gdung 'Bar-ba ('Blazing Remains'). It belongs to the highest of three classes within the highest of the Nine Vehicles of the Nyingma school--the Precepts Class (Man-ngag Sde) of the Ati-yoga Vehicle. It is written in the form of a dialogue between the Buddha Vajradhara and the Skygoer (Mkha' - 'gro-ma) named Clear Mind (Gsal Yid)."
