Introduction
The revered Mahāsiddha Virūpa (Tibetan: Biwapa) is honored as one of the principal Indian masters of the Path and Fruit (Lamdre) lineage of the Sakya school, a fully accomplished adept of Mahāmudrā. In the Prayer to the Eighty-five Mahāsiddhas, composed at Vajrāsana (Bodh Gaya), he is praised as:
“Able to reverse the mighty rivers,
Drink wine and halt the crimson sun,
Known by the name Virūpa,
To you, my venerable master, I bow in reverence.”
Birth and Early Life
Virūpa, also known as “the Deathless Body of Supreme Luminous Clarity,” was regarded as an emanation of Guru Padmasambhava. He was born into a noble family in 1020 years after the parinirvāṇa of the Buddha, during the reign of King Devapāla of ancient Bengal. His birthplace was in Tripura Province in eastern India. Though a prince of the Śākya kingdom, he regarded wealth, political power, and royal privilege as worthless.
Rejecting the throne, he took novice vows from Abbot Vinadeva and his ācārya, joining over 7,000 monks at the great monastery of Somapura (the “Moon City”) in eastern India. There, he contributed to the creation of numerous works of religious art and architecture. Later, at Nālandā Monastery, he received full ordination from Abbot Dharmamitra and was given the name Babichokzang (Skt. Virūpa).
Training and Study at Nālandā
Dharmamitra — also known as Dharmamītra — was a great master who traced his lineage back to Nāgārjuna, his disciple Āryadeva, and their successor, Śrībhadra. Under Dharmamitra’s guidance, Virūpa received empowerments of the Hevajra Tantra (Yamāntaka in some accounts), the Non-dual Guhyasamāja Tantra, and other profound transmissions.
He mastered both sūtra and tantra, becoming famed for his expertise in Yogācāra philosophy. Eventually, Virūpa rose to become the great abbot of Nālandā. By day, he debated, taught, and composed treatises; by night, he practiced secret meditation on the deity Hevajra (in some traditions Vajrayoginī, Cakrasaṃvara, Kālacakra, or Guhyasamāja).
Years of Practice without Signs
After receiving empowerment, Virūpa devoted himself to intense practice — twelve years according to some accounts, seventy years according to others. Yet he experienced no signs of accomplishment, not even a meaningful dream. Instead, he had inauspicious visions: the sun falling, the moon darkening, mountains collapsing, and oceans drying up.
Disheartened, he concluded that he had no karmic connection with the Vajrayāna. On the 22nd day of the last spring month, he cast his rosary into the latrine, resolved to abandon tantric practice, and decided to teach only the exoteric sūtras to the monastic community.
The Appearance of Vajra Nairātmyā
That night, as he lamented his decision, the goddess Vajra Nairātmyā — the Wisdom Consort of Hevajra — appeared before him, holding his discarded rosary. She placed it back in his hand and said:
“Noble son, do not act so. Take up your rosary, cleanse it, and resume your meditation. I am your destined yidam. I will bestow my blessings upon you. Abandon distraction and dualistic thought, and rest your mind free from conceptual elaboration.”
She then recited a verse:
“The nature of mind is originally pure,
So too is Vajra Varāhī.
She dwells naturally in your own mind —
Do not seek her outside.
Ignorance is like a child,
Mind’s nature is a wish-fulfilling jewel;
When all delusion is dispelled,
The supreme attainment is complete.”
The following night, Nairātmyā appeared again, within her maṇḍala of fifteen ḍākinīs, and granted Virūpa the four complete empowerments. Instantly, he attained the Path of Seeing of a bodhisattva on the first bhūmi. This marked the unbroken transmission of the Path and Fruit blessings from that time to the present.
With his obscurations naturally cleared, Virūpa gained direct realization of the body, channels, winds, and drops of the yidam, along with unwavering faith and devotion to Vajra Nairātmyā. By the 29th night, he had attained the sixth bodhisattva bhūmi, and after another twelve years, he reached the thirteenth bhūmi — the supreme non-dual realization of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa.
Controversy at Nālandā
Despite his realization, Virūpa remained at Nālandā and established many tantric observances. However, monks often saw him in the company of eight or fifteen women (ḍākinīs), and rumors spread. His eating of meat and drinking of wine further alarmed the monastic community.
When some monks accused him of killing pigeons for food, he was summoned before the sangha. Calmly confessing to their charges, Virūpa removed his robes, offered them to the Buddha image he had revered for twenty-four years, and formally relinquished his vows.
Leaving the monastery, he walked to a lotus-covered lake, plucked a lotus for offering, and miraculously walked across the water without sinking. When the monks saw this, they repented. He revealed that the slaughtered pigeons had been an illusion, revived them before their eyes, and refused to return to the monastery, warning:
“If in future anyone behaves as I do — drinking wine and eating meat — no monastery should retain them. Keep the vinaya of the exoteric sangha pure.”
Life as a Yogin and Miracles
Adopting the appearance of a tantric yogin, Virūpa wore only a short cloth and garlands of flowers. Traveling to Vārāṇasī, he found the Gaṅgā in flood. When the river goddess refused him passage, he ordered the waters to part and walked across.
In Vārāṇasī, the local ruler — hostile to Buddhists — tried to kill him by drowning, burning, and crushing him with stones, yet Virūpa appeared unharmed in the ruler’s palace. Overcome with faith, the ruler and his people embraced the Vajrayāna.
Later, when a ferryman refused to carry him across the Gaṅgā without payment, Virūpa offered him the river itself as payment, parted the waters once more, and restored them after crossing. The ferryman, named Dombipa, became his close disciple and attained the same realization.
One of Virūpa’s most famous feats occurred in southern India. After drinking vast amounts of wine at an inn, he pledged to pay when the sun crossed a line he had drawn on the table. By his power, the sun halted in the sky for over two and a half days, causing widespread panic until the local ruler settled his bill and begged him to release the sun.
Prayer to Virūpa
“You reversed the Gaṅgā and subdued cruel kings,
Held the sun in place while drinking among men,
Shattered the arrogance of a fierce queen,
Renowned for your mastery and freedom —
To you, glorious Virūpa, I bow in homage.”