The Indian Buddhist Iconography, Mainly Based on the Sadhanamala and Other Cognate Tantric Texts of Rituals c2: Preface to the Second Edition

The Indian Buddhist Iconography, Mainly Based on the Sādhanamālā and Other Cognate Tāntric Texts of Rituals c2

Language: English

Preface to the Second Edition

c2.1

The Mighty Gods and Goddesses of the Buddhist Pantheon wish to reveal themselves before the world once again through the pages of the Buddhist Iconography. Their Will is supreme. After overcoming difficulties, delays and obstacles, the Buddhist Iconography at last is presented to the scholarly world in a second edition after a lapse of full thirty-four years. It is pleasant to live these long years to see my favourite book pass through a second edition. This is an occasion when I should remember with gratitude two of my illustrious preceptors, Professor A. Foucher and my father Mm. Haraprasad Shastri both of whom are no longer in the land of the living. I believe in my heart of hearts that their invisible care and blessings are in a large measure responsible for this happy ending. It gives me immense satisfaction.

c2.2

When the first edition of this book was published in 1924, my studies were much hampered owing to paucity of material. But since then such a great volume of information has been published that it appears almost overwhelming. I never could think that it would be possible for me to handle such vast material in a manner befitting this serious subject. Thus the second edition goes to the world with all its imperfections of which I am conscious more than my critics.

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After 1924, the texts of the Sādhanamālā and the Niṣpannayogāvalī were published. Both these texts proved to be veritable mines of information on Buddhist gods and goddesses. Between the two publications, the edition of the Advayavajrasaṅgraha and the Guhyasamāja followed in rapid succession, and the information furnished in these two excellent texts not only added to my difficulties, but also changed materially the whole outlook underlying the classification and arrangement of Buddhist deities. These Sanskrit texts were published in the Gaekwad’s Oriental Series when I was the General Editor under my erstwhile Master, the late His Highness Maharaja Sayaji Rao III, Gaekwad of Baroda and his illustrious Dewan Sir V. T. Krishnama Chariar, now Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission for the Republic of India.

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Later, publications such as the Elements of Buddhist Iconography by Coomaraswamy, the second edition of the Gods of Northern Buddhism by Alice Getty, the *Iconography of Tibetan Lamaism* by Mrs. A. K. Gordon and the *Iconography of Buddhist and Brahmanical Sculptures in the Dacca Museum* by my friend and colleague Dr. N. K. Bhattasali, Curator of the Dacca Museum, made my work of revision still more difficult and embarrassing !

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Professor Walter Eugene Clarke of the Harvard University by publishing the two sumptuous volumes of the *Two Lamaistic Pantheons* served to put the proverbial last straw on the camel’s back. This book published for the first time photographs of an unbelievable number of Buddhist statuettes in the Royal Temple at Peiping in Manchuria. If the statues had been entirely Chinese in character it would not have affected me in the least, because I am connected palpably with the Indian branch of Buddhist iconography. But an examination of the published photographs showed that the Peiping collection was exclusively inspired by Indian tradition, depended entirely on Indian texts, and faithfully followed the directions given in Sanskrit texts such as the *Sādhanamālā* and the *Niṣpannayogāvalī*. The remarkable Indian character of the Chinese statuettes led me to include a large number of them in this book, and their study made the task of revision not only difficult but also delicate by forcing me to include Chinese specimens in a book which is chiefly concerned with the Indian branch of Buddhist iconography. I must thank the learned American author Professor Clarke for imposing on me this additional labour and responsibility !

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The study of the Buddhist branch of Indian iconography is one of the most interesting and fascinating of all studies. In Buddhist iconography the whole world is interested because Buddhism is not confined within the limits of India like Hinduism or Jainism, but travelled far and wide beyond the Himalayas to Tibet, China, Japan, Korea and Mongolia on one side, and to Indo-China, Siam, Indonesia, Burma and Ceylon on the other. In the time of the great Achaemenid Emperor Darius, Lord Buddha laid the foundation of a religion which was destined to be the religion of one third of the population of the globe. The fountain head of inspiration relating to Buddhist iconography was furnished by the ancient Sanskrit manuscripts of India, and the ideas and directions contained therein travelled to different countries, notably Tibet and China, where they were coloured by the art and culture characteristics of the respective peoples. We have now reached a stage where it is no longer possible to isolate Buddhist iconography of India from its developments in Tibet and China which were profoundly influenced by the Buddhist Tantras of India. And the chief need of the subject is the publication of a great volume of original and unpublished manuscript material that lies hidden in the archives of MSS Libraries throughout the world. When this huge material is published then alone the study of Buddhist iconography can be said to be complete.

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The second edition has been thoroughly revised and greatly enlarged. New chapters have been incorporated, old chapters have been redistributed. Many pictures have been deleted, and many new ones have been included in order to make the study as up-to-date as possible. In 1924, when the first edition was published, I could only see the material side of the problem. But with the availability of fresh material, the other side, namely the psychic side, also became apparent. Evidence of this change will be found in the introduction which is almost wholly re-written, as also in other chapters, notably on the Dhyāni Buddhas. I offer an explanation here lest my readers receive a shock while reading this book in a second edition. I may further point out that repetitions in a book of this kind can hardly be avoided, and deities have been repeated at different places for different purposes and in different contexts. My critics of the first edition will also notice how irregularities pointed out by them have been regularised in the second edition

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In preparing this edition I have received help from a number of persons. With their help I could complete the revision and place the book in the hands of scholars in its present form. First of all, it is my sacred duty to acknowledge the debt I owe to the late lamented Dr. N. P. Chakravarti, one-time Director-General of Archaeology in India, for graciously permitting me to reproduce all the photographs belonging to the Department as were included in the first edition. These photographs either purchased direct or reproduced from Departmental publications are shown in the list of Acknowledgements. It is hardly necessary for me to add that iconographic studies in India are not possible without the generous help of the Archaeological Department—help that is always given cheerfully as also gracefully.

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Shrimati Hansa Ben Mehta, the talented Vice-Chancellor of the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, has laid me under a deep debt of obligation by ordering a loan for the purpose of reproduction, of nine full-page blocks belonging to the University. As the Baroda Museum now belongs to this University I have to thank the Vice-Chancellor also for using the Baroda Museum specimens in this book.

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It is difficult for me to adequately express my gratitude and thankfulness to our worthy colleague and associate, Prof. Walter Eugene Clark, Wales Professor of Sanskrit in the Harvard University, who gave me permission to reproduce as many photographs as I liked from his monumental book: *Two Lamaistic Pantheons*. He made no conditions, and I am simply overwhelmed with his kindness and generosity.

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To my friend and colleague, Dr. Hermann Goetz, formerly Curator of the Baroda Museum, I feel very deeply indebted for allowing me to take a number of photographs of interesting Buddhist images deposited in the Baroda Museum years ago, for their eventual reproduction in this volume from my own negatives. All the statuettes belonging to the Baroda Museum and published in this book show the place of their origin at the foot of each and every such illustration. I have to thank the Baroda Musuem authorities and Dr. Goetz, the eminent art-critic, very heartily for the favours enumerated above.

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Pandit Siddhiharsha Vajrācāryya of Nepal, my friend, philosopher and guide, helped me at every step. He supplied copies of rare manuscripts and original Nepalese drawings of rare deities whenever there was need for them. The drawings of the Twenty-Five Bodhisattvas were all procured by him from Nepalese artists. Out of this number, sixteen were copied from stone images in one of the famous Caityas of Patan in Nepal. I am deeply indebted to him, as also to his son Dharmaharsha and his grandson Purnaharsha Vajrācāryya for their intelligent, prompt, active and effective co-operation. I am also grateful to my old artist of Nepal, Virman Chitrakar who supplied all the Nepalese drawings illustrated in the first edition.

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To Professor N. A. Gore I am indebted for three beautiful photographs: one of Gaṇapati (four-armed) and two of the rare deity Siṃhāsyā from originals in the collection of his father-in-law, Dr. H. G. Moghe, L. D. S., R. C. S. ( Eng. ) of Khar, Bombay. I express my gratitude to both while reproducing all the three photographs in this edition.

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I take this opportunity of once again recording my heartfelt thanks to Dr. W. Y. Evans-Wentz who allowed me years ago to reproduce some of the miniatures in his possession. His name is mentioned at appropriate places.

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My grateful thanks are also due to Miss Raihana Tyabji, the mystic daughter of the illustrious Indian leader, the late Shri Abbas Tyabji, for going through the first edition for the purpose of a detailed revision more than 15 years ago.

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I am also indebted to the Manager, Bomby Branch of the Oxford University Press for readily agreeing to have this second edition published through Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay. It was he who pursuaded me, much against my wishes, to revise the book for a second edition as early as 1949. I have many reasons to be thankful to him.

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It is my pleasant duty to express my indebtedness to the Curators, Keepers and Superintendents of Museums, Picture Galleries, image collections, and the rest, wherefrom images in metal, stone and paintings have been selected for reproduction in this volume. I am particulary grateful to the authorities of the Indian Museum, Calcuttta, the Museum and Picture Gallery at Baroda, the Provincial Museum, Lucknow, the Museums at Sarnath, Nalanda and Dacca, the Vaṅgīya Sāhitya Pariṣat Museum, Calcutta, and the Palace Temple Collection of images at Peiping in Manchuria. To all of them I tender my grateful acknowledgments.

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All those Universities of India which prescribed the first edition of the *Indian Buddhist Iconography* as a text-book for the M.A. Examination in Ancient Indian History and Culture, deserve my grateful thanks for selecting the book. It is hoped that the authorities will extend the same patronage to the second edition which is now published.

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My grateful thanks are due to Messrs. Ghosh Printing House Private Limited, Calcutta, especially Shri P. C. Basak, for exercising great care on the accurate printing and excellent get-up of this volume. In spite of our best efforts, however, a few errors have crept in, and for these I crave the indulgence of my readers. These are mostly minor errors and can be corrected with ease. Shri N. L. Dutt has also been very helpful, and I acknowledge my indebtedness to him.

Linked texts (4)

Sādhanamālā — Sanskrit
Advayavajrasaṃgraha — Maitrīpa, Sanskrit
Niṣpannayogāvalī — Abhayākaragupta, Sanskrit
Guhyasamāja — Sanskrit