Indrabhuti (Skt. Indrabhūti; Tib. རྒྱལ་པོ་ཨིནྡྲ་བྷུ་ཏི་, Wyl. rgyal po in+d+ra b+hu ti) aka Indrabodhi, plays a vital role in the tantra revelation myth of both Sarma and Nyingma schools. Indrabhuti can refer to several kings from Oddiyana or Zahor who were key figures in the early transmission of the Vajrayana teachings.
Although there are various tantra revelation myths, among them, the Indrabhuti myth became the most prominent. Among the Indrabhuti myths we find again different versions and Tibetan scholars have favoured one or the other depending on their own tradition.<ref name=“ftn1”>Wedemeyer, Christian K., Making Sense of Tantric Buddhism: History, Semiology, and Transgression in the Indian Traditions, (New York: Columbia University Press, 2013), 79 – 95. </ref> It appears that these myths were orally recounted, since they do not appear in the tantras themselves but first appeared in commentarial literature. Only later were they integrated into the tantras.<ref name=“ftn2”>The first tantra that includes the tantra revelation myth is the Düpa Do. See Dalton, Jacob P., The uses of the dgongs pa ‘dus pa’i mdo in the development of the rnyinng-ma school of Tibetan Buddhism, (Asian Language and Cultures: Buddhist Studies. The University of Michigan, 2002), 39 – 67.</ref>
One of the earliest of these tantra revelation myths is found in Jnanamitra’s commentary.<ref name=“ftn3”>This myth is found in his commentary (D 2647) entitled phags pa shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa tshul brgya lnga bcu pa'i 'grel pa (Skt. ārya-prajñāpāramitā-naya-śatapañcāśatikā-ṭīkā): “… sar ba buddha sa ma yo ga la sogs pa sde chen po bco brgyad phyag na rdo rje’i byin gyi rlabs kyis za hor gyi yul du gshegs pa dang ]] | 242 – 245.</ref> Accordingly, during the time of [[Buddha Shakyamuni, since there were no fit vessels to receive the tantric teachings, they were only taught in Tushita heaven. After the Buddha had passed away, due to the pure faith of the people of the country of Zahor, Vajrapani brought the tantric scriptures to Zahor. Though King Indrabhuti encountered scriptures, he could not make sense of them. And so he sent for the famous teacher Kukuraja and requested clarification. However, Kukuraja was unable to understand the teachings as well. In Kukuraja’s despair, Vajrasattva appeared to him in a vision and transmitted to him the meaning of all the tantric scriptures. In turn Kukuraja initiated the king Indrabhuti and the people of Zahor into the tantric teachings.
In the Narthang Kangyur and Peking Kangyur editions we find a total of 26 works attributed to an Indrabhuti. Only 22 of them are included in the Derge Kangyur, and all of those are also found in the others editions. The works are a variety of commentaries, praises, ritual manuals and sadhanas on the topics of Dakini Vajrapanjara (Skt. Ḍākinīvajrapañjara), Samputa (Skt. Saṃpuṭa), Chakrasamvara (Skt. Cakrasaṃvara), Hevajra, Vajrayogini, Sarvabuddhasamayoga, Vajrasattva, Kurukulle, Ganapati, Web of Magical Illusion | Mayajala , Guhyagarbha, Aparajita (Skt. Aparājitā) and other general topics. The colophons of the texts respectively state that they were composed either a) in the presence (Wyl. zhal snga) of Indrabhuti, b) by the great teacher (Wyl. slob dpon chen po) Indrabhuti, c) by the king (Wyl. rgyal po) Indrabhuti, d) at the feet (Wyl. zhabs) of Indrabhuti, e) by the middle (Wyl. ‘bring ba) Indrabhuti, and f) by the king Indrabhuti in/of Oddiyana.
If we consider these works in terms of their size or length, we could likely conclude that they were written by one Indrabhuti. However, given the different countries (Oddiyana and Zahor) as well as the different commentarial literature on earlier as well as later tantras attributed to Indrabhuti, which probably appeared over a period of at least more that 200 years, scholars have suggested that there was more than one author named Indrabhuti. In this respect, the most common proposition is that there were three:
The second Karmapa, Karma Pakshi was in favour of this “three Indrabhuti” model and he used it as a skillful way to explain the origin and spread of the Vajrayana teachings. In his works he relates the three Indrabhutis to the dharmakaya, sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya manifestations of Vajradhara and Vajrapani. Considered in this way, each manifestation of Indrabhuti was responsible for the propagation of increasingly profound levels of tantric teachings and practice.<ref name=“ftn4”>Van der Kuijp, Leonard W.J., On the Edge of Myth and History: Za hor, its Place in the History of Early Indian Buddhist Tantra, and Dalai Lama V and the Genealogy of its Royal Family, (Shanghai: Zhongxi Book Company, 2013), 122 – 123.</ref>
Dudjom Rinpoche adds to this debate on whether Indrabhuti was one or many by pointing out that the manifestation of sublime beings defies dualistic perception and cannot be assessed in an ordinary state of mind.<ref name=“ftn5”>Dudjom Rinpoche, The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its Fundamentals and History, (Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 1991), 459.</ref> Accordingly, then, if the manifestation of sublime beings cannot be fathomed, their activity as well as their dwelling places must equally defy our ordinary understanding of the world. For Tantra this does not constitute a problem, but rather is an intended situation that reveals a dimension which lies beyond our day-to-day experience. What Tantra then seeks to indicate is the infinite range of possibilities, manifestations and activity of enlightened beings.
King Dza or Ja (Tib. རྒྱལ་པོ་ཛ་, Wyl. rgyal po dza) of Zahor, the first human recipient of the Mahayoga teachings as well as an important figure in the transmission of Anuyoga, has been varyingly identified with either one of the first three Indrabhutis.
Dudjom Rinpoche writes: :Some say that King Ja was none other than Indrabhuti the Great, who had been empowered by Buddha Shakyamuni himself, but others maintain that he was Indrabhuti's son. Some even believe him to have been Indrabhuti the Intermediate. Therefore there are various seemingly contradictory opinions; but since the emanations of sublime beings are beyond the imagination of ordinary persons, perhaps they are all correct! And yet, upon examination of the chronology, we find he is described as a contemporary of master Kukuraja. For this reason, he may well be an intermediate Indrabhuti. Moreover, the great accomplished master Kambalapada and this king were contemporaries, whether or not they are in fact one and the same person. He also lived around the same time as Vidyavajra, Saroruha, and Jalandharipa.<ref>Ibid., 458-459.</ref>
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