A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s6.t5.57

v2.c19.s6.t5.57

Mantrayāna and Vajrayāna are branches of the Mahāyāna, from which they are not separated by any hard and fast line of demarcation. Mantrayāna is the "vehicle" in which the Mantras, words and syllables of mysterious power, are the chief means of attaining salvation. Vajrayāna is the "vehicle" which leads men to salvation not only by using- Mantras, but by means of all things which are denoted by the word vajra. Now vajra is a word with many meanings. It means "diamond," and denotes everything which is hard and impermeable, which cannot be cleft, nor burnt, nor destroyed. Vajra also means the "thunderbolt," the weapon of the god Indra, who appears in Buddhist mythology as Vajrapāṇi, "he who holds the Vajra in his hand." It is also the name for the weapon of the ascetics and monks when fighting against hostile powers. Then again, the Sūnya, the indescribable absolute, which is taught by the Mādhyamikas to be the sole reality, and also the Vijñāna or consciousness, which according to the Yogācāryas is the sole reality,—both of these are described as being indestructible as a Vajra. Lastly, in the mystic language of some of the adherents of the Vajrayāna, and that of the Śāktas, Vajra also means the male organ, just as Padma, "the lotus," serves as a term to describe the female sexual organ. Furthermore the Vajrayāna teaches a monistic (Advaita) philosophy. All beings are Vajra beings (vajrasattva), and the one and only Vajrasattva is immanent in all beings. In addition to the "three bodies" (Trikāya) of a Buddha, the Śāktas have a fourth body, the "body of happiness" (sukhakāya), with which the eternal Buddha embraces his Śakti, Tārā or Bhagavatī. This "highest bliss" (mahāsukha) is attained by the adepts of the Buddhist Śākta religion, in like manner as the non-Buddhist Śāktas,¹ by a ritual connected with the enjoyment of meat, intoxicating liquors and sexual intercourse. Thus the Vajrayāna is a queer mixture of monistic philosophy, magic and erotics, with a small admixture of Buddhist ideas.