Mandāravā

Mandāravā (T. ma da ra ba མན་ད་ར་བ་) was a princess of Sahor and close disciple of Padmasambhava. The kingdom of Sahor was located at modern day Rewalsar, Himachel Pradesh, India.

A traditional account of her biography states:

Born as the daughter of Vihardhara, the king of Zahor, and Queen Mohauki accompanied by miraculous signs, (and because of her great beauty), many kings from India and China vied to take her as their bride. Nevertheless, she had an unshakable renunciation and entered the gate of the Dharma.

Padmasambhava perceived that she was to be his disciple and accepted her as his spiritual consort, but the king, fearing that his bloodline would be contaminated, had the master burned alive. When Padmasambhava showed the miracle of transforming the mass of fire into a lake, the king gained faith and without hesitation offered his entire kingdom and the princess. When the king requested teachings, Padmasambhava showered upon twenty-one disciples the great rain of the Dharma by transmitting the tantras, scriptures and oral instructions of Kadü Chökyi Gyamtso, the Dharma Ocean Embodying All Teachings. Thus, the master established the king and his ministers on the vidyadhara levels. Guru Rinpoche accepted her as his consort and in Maratika, the Cave of Bringing Death to and End, both master and consort displayed the manner of achieving the unified vajra body on the vidyadhara level of life mastery.

Further reading:

• Mandarava, Rangjung Yeshe Wiki