The Legend of Dark/Junior Virūpa
Note:
In my article "Yoga Posture and Forceful Yoga: Tibetan Amṛtasiddhi Text by Amoghavajra,", I have discussed the existence of two figures known as Virūpa—Yogeshwara Virūpa (the senior Virūpa) and Dark Virūpa (the junior Virūpa). Among Tibetan scholars and masters, it is generally accepted that the source of the Amṛtasiddhi and the teachings of Chinnamastā Devī is Dark Virūpa, not the senior Virūpa, who is recognized as the source of the Sakya Lamdré teachings.
To date, I have not come across a biographical account explicitly linking Dark Virūpa to the Amṛtasiddhi. However, there is a brief hagiography of Dark Virūpa that portrays him as the chief disciple of Senior Virūpa, according to a text attributed to Tāranātha In the present context, the story of Dark Virūpa is recounted in association with the Tummo lineage masters.
Hagiography of Junior Virūpa
Dark Virūpa (Nagpo Virūpa) of Oḍḍiyāna was a disciple of Yogeshwara Virūpa. He was born into a Brahmin family, and at his birth, astrologers foretold that he would commit four grave sins. Because of this ominous prophecy, he was named Krishna or Kanha (meaning “dark” or “black”).
When he was around seven years old, his family sent him away from home, hoping that a life of wandering might prevent the predicted misdeeds. Many years later, after the death of her husband and in-laws, his mother—Lakṣmī, a Brahmin woman—also left her hometown and began to travel. She eventually settled in a place called Odiviśa in the East, where she ran a tavern selling wine.
By coincidence, her son Dark Virūpa eventually arrived in the same town and entered the tavern. Neither recognized the other, and unknowingly, they spent the night together. Later, he awoke thirsty and reached for an earthen pot, thinking it contained water—but it was filled with alcohol. In anger, he threw the pot, which struck and killed a cow. That same night, a jackal on the roof knocked down a pitchfork, which fatally struck a Brahmin who happened to be passing by.
Becoming increasingly uneasy, he spoke with people in the village and discovered that the woman he had slept with was, in fact, his own mother. In that single night, all four of the astrologers’ dire predictions had come true.
Afterward, he wandered far and wide in search of a way to purify his sins, but no one believed his story.
He then met Ācārya Jālandhara, who gave him the teaching of Vajravārāhī, telling him that this practice would purify his sins. Following his teacher’s instructions, he went to the Konkan region and remained submerged in water—up to his throat—for six months in intense practice. Despite his efforts, no signs of accomplishment appeared. Disheartened, he broke his rosary beads and threw them into the water.
He returned to Jālandhara for guidance. Jālandhara calmly told him, “Continue your sādhana a little longer—you will attain siddhi very soon.”
Encouraged, he resumed his practice with renewed determination. After seven days, at dawn, Vajrayoginī appeared before him in the form of a woman. She asked, “Did you come here to Konkan to die?”
At her words, Dark Virūpa placed his hand over his head and said, “Mother Vajrayoginī, I take refuge in you” (Ayi Mātā Vajrayoginī Terī Śaraṇa).
In that very moment, he attained supreme samādhi.
Then Vajrayoginī said to him, “The one with whom you share a deep karmic bond over many lifetimes is Virūpa. He is now in Mahārāṣṭra. Go and find him.”
