A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s6.t5.72

v2.c19.s6.t5.72

The authors mentioned in the Sādhanamālā also appear in other places as authors of Tantras. One Sādhana (No. 159 which is dedicated to the worship of the Prajñā-Pāramitā, is attributed to Asaṅga. It is scarcely feasible, however, that Asaṅga himself should already have written Tantric works, though there seems to be a historical connection between the Yogācāra school and the rise of the Vajrayāna.²) The Nāgārjuna who is mentioned as the author of Sādhanas and numerous Tantric works, is not the founder of the Mādhyamika system, but a teacher, who probably lived about the middle of the 7th century. It is said of him that he brought a Sādhana from the land of Bhoṭa (Tibet ?). Many of his Tantric works are to be found in the Tanjur.¹ A great Tantra teacher, to whom a Sādhana is also attributed, is Indrabhūti (about 687-717 A.D.), the author of Jñānasiddhi and numerous other Tantric works.² He was a king of Uḍḍiyāna (Orissa ?) and father of Padmasambhava, the founder of Lamaism. Padmavajra,³ whose Guhyasiddhi has come down to us in Sanskrit, was a contemporary of Indrabhūti. In this work, which is written in the "Sandhā-language,"⁴ all the secret rites of the Vajrayāna are described and recommended. Lakṣmīṃkarā, who, in her Advayasiddhi, proclaimed novel, monistic doctrines, which were called Sahajayāna, and which are even at the present day prevalent among the Bāuls in Bengal, was a sister of Indrabhūti. She refutes asceticism, ceremonies and the worship of images, and recommends only meditation on the body in which all the gods dwell.⁵ Another prominent Tantra authoress is Sahajayoginī Cintā (about 761 A.D.), and indeed it is no rare thing to find women among the writers of Tantric works.⁶