Mandarava is the great Indian princess and enlightened consort of [padmasambhava], revered alongside [yeshe-tsogyal] as one of his two principal consorts and as a fully realized master of the Vajrayana — a woman who renounced a royal marriage for the dharma, attained the deathless realization of the immortal life, and stands as a supreme female exemplar of the tantric path.
The Princess Who Chose the Dharma
Mandarava was, by tradition, a princess of Zahor (in northern India), a young woman of extraordinary beauty and intelligence sought in marriage by many princes. But she had no desire for worldly marriage; she longed instead for the spiritual path, and she renounced her royal future to become a practitioner of the dharma, entering retreat with her companions. Her beauty and her defiance of her father’s marriage-plans set the stage for her fateful meeting with the great Guru Padmasambhava.
The Fire That Would Not Burn
When Padmasambhava came to Zahor and Mandarava became his consort and disciple, her enraged father the king — believing his daughter dishonoured — ordered the master burned alive upon a great pyre. But Padmasambhava’s tantric power transformed the raging fire into a cool lake, and he was found seated, unharmed, upon a lotus in the midst of the water (the famous Tso Pema, “Lotus Lake”), with Mandarava beside him. Awed by this miracle, the king and his people were converted to the dharma. Mandarava continued as Padmasambhava’s consort and disciple, attaining the deepest realizations.
The Mistress of Immortal Life
Mandarava is especially associated with the attainment of the “deathless” realization — the practices of long life and immortality. Together with Padmasambhava she accomplished the practice of the deity of immortal life (Amitayus), attaining the “vajra body” beyond ordinary death; she is revered as a mistress of the long-life practices and as an emanation of the wisdom-dakini and of [white-tara]. A fully accomplished master in her own right, she is honoured throughout the Tibetan tradition (and in India and the Himalayas) as one of the great enlightened women. In Mandarava, Tibetan Buddhism honoured the princess who chose the path — the Indian consort of Guru Rinpoche who renounced a royal marriage for the dharma, whose love survived the fire that became a lake, and who attained the deathless realization, a supreme female master of the tantric way.