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Obscure Religious Cults as Background of Bengali Literature c7: Chapter I: Growth of the Sahajiyā Cult and Literature

Obscure Religious Cults as Background of Bengali Literature c7

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English

Contents

Chapter I: Growth of the Sahajiyā Cult and Literature

(i) Information about the Available Literature

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The earliest available literature in the Bengali language consists of a number of fifty songs¹ composed by different Siddhācāryas (i.e., preceptors who have attained perfection) belonging to the Buddhist Sahajiyā cult. These poems which are popularly known as the "Caryā-padas" (literally, verses on practices) were first published by MM. H. P. Śāstrī under the caption of 'Caryā-carya-viniścayaḥ', this being the title found in the Nepalese manuscript. MM. Vidhuśekhara Bhaṭṭācārya, however, suggested that the correct caption should be "Āścarya-caryā-caya" (a collection of verses on mystic practices), which is found in the commentary of Munidatta on the opening verse.² Dr. P. C. Bagchi has

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¹ These songs were first discovered by the late Mahāmahopādhyāya Haraprasāda Śāstrī in the Darbar Library of Nepal in 1907. They were edited by MM Śāstrī and published about ten years later under the auspices of the Vaṅgīya Sāhitya Pariṣad under the general caption of "Bauddha-Gān-O-Dohā." In the edition of MM. Śāstrī three songs, viz., the twenty fourth, twenty-fifth and the fiftieth songs are missing. Dr. P. C. Bagchi, M.A., Dr. es Lettres (Paris), has fortunately been able to discover from Tan-jur the Tibetan translation of all the fifty songs. (Vide Materials for Critical Edition of the Old Bengali Caryāpadas, Part I, reprinted from the J. D. L., Vol. XXX.)

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² Vide the note of MM. Bhaṭṭācārya in the Indian Historical Quarterly, 1928, Vol. IV, No. 2.

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Earliest literature in Bengali--the Caryāpadas.

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suggested another improvement on the title and according to him the correct title should be "Caryā-ścarya-viniścaya."'

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Though doubt has been cast from some quarters as to whether the linguistic character of the Caryā-padas is genuine Bengali,² Dr. S. K. Chatterji, after a thorough examination of the linguistic character of these songs, has emphatically expressed his opinion that "the language of the Caryās is the genuine vernacular of Bengal at its basis." Inspite of sporadic intrusions of a few Maithili and Oḍiyā forms, and also of the influence of Śaurasenī Apabhraṃśa, the essential linguistic nature of these songs cannot but be admitted to be Bengali.³ The language of the Dohās, which are published with the songs, is admittedly Western Apabhraṃśa. Many names will be found common between the authors of the Western Apabhraṃśa Dohās and those of the Bengali songs. The mere commonness of names in the list of authors does not, however, establish the identity of these authors, and we have no other positive evidence to be sure that the authors of the Dohās and those of the Caryā-padas, where common names are to be found, are identical. But a

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² Mr. B. C. Majumdar, M.A., emphasised the Oḍiyā nature of the Caryā-padas (see *History of Bengali Language*, by B. C. Majumdar, Lecture XIII, also a series of articles contributed by him in the Bengali monthly *Vaṅga-vāṇī*). Again Mr. Jayaswal, following R. Saṅkṛtyāyana, refers to the language of the Caryā-padas as old Bihārī in his presidential address to the seventh All-India Oriental Conference held in Baroda.

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³ The peculiar Bengali nature of the songs will be evident if we consider the peculiar forms of the language, e.g., the genitive in "-era, -ara," dative in "-re," locative in "-ta;" post-positional words like "mājha," "antara," "sāṅga;" past and future bases in "-il-, -ib-" and not "-al-, -ab" of Bihārī; present participle in "-anta," conjunctive indeclinable in "-iā," conjunctive conditional in "-ite;" passive in "-ia-," which is preserved as a relic in Middle Bengali; substantive roots "āch" and "thāk," and not "thik" of Maithili or "thā" of Oḍiyā; and a number of Bengali idioms. See *The Origin and Development of Bengali Language*, by Dr. S. K. Chatterji, Vol. I, p. 112.

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Linguistic character of the songs—essentially Bengali.

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The Dohās are composed in Western Apabhraṃśa.

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¹ Vide *Some Aspects of Buddhist Mysticism in the Caryāpadas* in the *Calcutta Oriental Journal*, Vol. I.

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comparison of the Dohās with the Caryā-padas will reveal the fact that in their religious attitude, in theories and practices and in the manner of literary representation, in imagery, phraseology and vocabulary they present a striking similarity, which warrants the belief that the authors of the Dohās and the Caryās, where common names are found, might have been identical;—we must at least admit that both the Dohās and the Caryās represent the same school of thought and they belong to the same literary school. The anomaly as to why the Bengalee poets,¹ composing songs in Bengali, should have composed songs also in Śaurasenī Apabhraṃśa on the same subject may be explained by referring to the prominence and popularity that Western Apabhraṃśa enjoyed during the period between the ninth century and the twelfth through the prestige of North Indian Rajput princes, in whose courts dialects akin to the later form of Śaurasenī were used, and whose bards spread and popularised such dialects in almost all parts of Aryan India, from Gujrat, and Western Punjab to Bengal.² But leaving aside the purely linguistic question, if we discuss the nature of these Dohās and songs from the religious, cultural and literary points of view, we shall find that they belong to no particular province of India, but may be regarded as representative of the earliest stage of Indo-Aryan vernacular religious poetry inasmuch as their influence in thought and presentation on a considerable portion of the mediaeval vernacular literatures of Western, Northern and Eastern India is palpable.

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¹ See infra.

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² Vide, *The Origin and Development of Bengali Language*, by Dr. S. K Chatterji, p. 113.

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Reasons for the linguistic anomaly.

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Investigation reveals the fact that many of the authors of these Dohās and Caryā-padas, besides a good number of writers of Buddhist Tāntric texts and commentaries, belong to the province of Bengal or to the close neighbourhood of Bengal.¹ Though with the insufficient data that are available about the authors of the Dohās and the Caryā-padas it is not possible to ascertain the exact time when these Siddhācāryas flourished and composed the Dohās and songs, we have reasons to believe that they flourished during the reign of the Pāla kings of Bengal, which extended from the eighth to the twelfth century A.D. Among the Siddhācāryas Lui-pā is taken to be the first.

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¹ Vide an article on *Buddhist Tantric Literature of Bengal*, by Dr. S. K. De in the *New Indian Antiquary*, Vol. I, No. 1. *Vide* also, introduction to the *Bauddha-Gān-o-Dohā*, by MM. H. P. Śāstri.

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Lui-pā and Dīpaṅkara Śrī-jñāna conjointly wrote a book named *Abhisamaya-vibhaṅga*. Śrī-jñāna was born in 980 A.D. and went to Tibet in 1042 A.D.;² he preached religion in Tibet for long fourteen years and died in 1056 A.D. So it may be supposed that *Abhisamaya-vibhaṅga* was written sometime by the first quarter of the eleventh century. Lui-pā was senior to Śrī-jñāna, and therefore, he may reasonably be supposed to have flourished sometime in the second half of the tenth century.³ Again, we find in the colophon of the commentary on the *Hevajra-tantra*, called the *Hevajra-pañjikā* or the *Yoga-ratna-mālā*, preserved in manuscript in the University Library, Cambridge,⁴ that the commentary was made or rather finished by Paṇḍitācārya Śrī-kānha-pāda in the thirty-ninth year of the reign of Govinda-pāla, who flourished in the twelfth century A. D. (1199 A. D). Dr. S. K. Chatterji thinks it possible to identify this Paṇḍitācārya Kānha-pāda with the Kānha-pāda of the Caryā-padas and thus to place Kānha-pāda of the Caryā-padas in the second half of the twelfth century.¹ Without entering into the historical controversies it may be held that these poets of the Caryā-padas and of the Dohās flourished sometime between the tenth and twelfth centuries A.D.

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² Vide an article by Mr. N. N Dasgupta in the *Vaṅgīya Sāhitya-pariṣat-patrikā* B.S. 1333, No. 2.

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³ The Presidential address of MM. H. P. Śāstri in the *Vaṅgīya Sāhitya-Pariṣad* in B. S 1329.

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⁴ See *Bāṅgālāra Itihāsa* (in Bengali), by Rākhāldās Bandyopādhyāy, p. 318. The colophon of the manuscript referred to here in this book of Mr. Banerjee is taken from a brief notice of the MS. in Bendall's *Catalogue of Buddhist-Sanskrit Manuscripts* in the University Library of Cambridge. The MS. is, however, available to the present writer in rotograph (MS. Add. 1699). There is also a copy of the MS. preserved in the R. A. S. B. (No 10745), but the colophon is missing there

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¹ The evidence on the strength of which Dr. Chatterji tries to establish the identity of the author of the commentary Hevajra-pañjikā with the author of the Caryā-padas and that of the Dohā-koṣa does not seem to be convincing. In the edition of the Caryā-padas published by MM. Śāstri the last couplet of the song No. 36 reads as follows :--

(ii) History of Buddhism in Bengal

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As we have already hinted, the Caryā-padas embody the religious tenets of Sahajiyā Buddhism, which was a later offshoot of Tāntric Buddhism. It will not be out of place here to say a few words about the nature and extent of the growth and spread of Buddhism in Bengal at the time of and before the rise of these Siddhācāryas. In all probability Bengal was outside the empire of Aśoka and

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The study of Sahajiyā Buddhism in Bengal necessitates the study of the history of Buddhism in Bengal.

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sāthi kariva jālandhari pātral
pākhi na rāhaa mori paṇḍia cāde ||

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The reading is evidently corrupted. The correct reading should, however, be

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śakhi kariva jālandhari pāe |
pākhi na cāhai (or cahaa) mori pāṇḍiācāe ||

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which means,--" I shall make Jālandhari-pā (reputed to be the preceptor of Kānha-pā) bear witness for me ; I do not find the scholastic preceptors (paṇḍitācārya) standing by my side (i.e., holding the same view with me)." Dr. Chatterji, however, interprets the lines in the following manner:--

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"I shall call to witness my Guru Jālandhari-pāda; my Paṇḍitācārya (i c, myself who am a great scholar) does not look at me." (*The Origin and Development*, etc., p. 122). With this interpretation of the couplet Dr. Chatterji thinks that the word "paṇḍitācārya" referred to here can very well be a reference by Kānha to himself. But the interpretation of Dr. Chatterji cannot be accepted without much twisting of the construction of the couplet, and the meaning derived thereby does not conform to the meaning that the commentary on the lines and the Tibetan translation yield.

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Buddhism could have no access to this province during his reign in the third century B. C. Mention is made of various centres of Theravāda Buddhism in India from which representative monks went to Ceylon to attend the ceremony of the consecration of the Mahā-stūpa erected by King Duṭṭhagāmaṇi in the second century B.C.; but though in the list of the centres we find mention of many places closely adjacent to Bengal, we find no mention of Bengal.¹ Traces of Buddhism as a religious faith in Bengal are, however, found from the time of the Gupta emperors. The Chinese pilgrim, Fa-Hien, visited India during the reign of Chandragupta II. Fa-Hien stayed in Tāmralipti (modern Tamluk in Midnapore) for two years, copying Sūtras and painting images. He noticed the existence of twenty-four Saṅghārāmas in the city, which were all residential seats for the Buddhist monks. It was also noticed by the pilgrim that Buddhism at that time began to command reverence with the public in general.

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¹ Religious Condition of Bengal other than Hindu, by Dr. B. M. Barua, M.A. D.Lit (Lond.) (unpublished).

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After Fa-Hien another renowned Chinese pilgrim, Hiuen Tsang, came to India during the seventh century A.D. in the reign of Harṣavardhana and visited Bengal. He found ten Buddhist monasteries with more than 1,000 monks residing in them in Tāmralipti, twenty Saṅghārāmas with some 3,000 priests who studied both the Little and the Great Vehicle in Puṇḍravardhana, thirty or so Saṅghārāmas with about 2,000 priests, all of the Sthavira school in Samataṭa, and ten Saṅghārāmas or so with about 2,000 priests studying the Little Vehicle of the Samataṭīya school in Karṇasuvarṇa. He also spoke of two most notable colleges, rather universities, of his time, one at Puṇḍravardhana and the other at Karṇasuvarṇa, both renowned as great seats of learning for the Eastern Buddhist scholars. I-tsing, another Chinese pilgrim, speaks of the University of Bhā-rā-hā in Tāmralipti and gives a vivid picture of its inner life, organisation, discipline, splendour and fame. While speaking of the four tracts of Bengal referred to by Hiuen Tsang, I-tsing referred to the great reverence of people in general for the Buddhist faith and for the monastic life of the Bhikṣus (monks living on alms). He also found an Aśoka tope and the vestiges of the four past Buddhas.

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A renowned Buddhist teacher of Bengal of the pre-Pāla age was Śīlabhadra of Samaṭaṭa. He was at first a disciple of Ācārya Dharmapāla of Nālandā and gradually became the head of that great Buddhist University. He was a friend as well as a preceptor of Hiuen Tsang who had deep reverence for the monk. Buddhabhadra, the nephew and disciple of Śīlabhadra, was also a devout Buddhist, and both the uncle and the nephew were reputed as great devotees and profound scholars. Buddhabhadra has been described as a specialist in Yogācāra Buddhism, and tradition says that he derived his inspiration from Avalokiteśvara, Maitreya and Mañjuśrī.

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One thing to be noticed in this connection is that the evidence of the Chinese pilgrims or of the epigraphical and archaeological records does not help us much in ascertaining the nature of Buddhism that was current in Bengal before the Pālas. We find mention of Mahāyāna Buddhism as well as of Hīnayāna. It seems, however, that in the historical evolution of Buddhism, Mahāyāna, with its more liberal policy and generous ideal of the final goal, could capture the mind of the public much more than Hīnayāna with its strict monasticism and ethical rigorism, and as a result Mahāyāna was fast gaining in popularity. During the time of the Pālas, however, a tendency towards esoterism was manifest and Buddhism very soon underwent another great change from Mahāyāna to Vajrayāna.

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Coming to the time of the Pālas, who were professed Buddhists, we find many Buddhist monasteries established in different parts of Bengal mainly through the patronage of these Pāla kings. The great Vihāra of Nālandā was enriched and repaired and some new land-grants were made to it by the Pālas, and it was made the meeting place of all sorts of Buddhist scholars from countries within and without India. On the evidence of Tāranātha we know that Gopāla I founded the Odantapurī or Uddaṇḍapura Mahāvihāra, while according to the Pag-Sam-Jon-Zang he was the founder of the monastery of Nālandā. Dharmapāla, the son of Gopāla, who himself bore the epithet of Vikramaśiladeva, founded the monastery of Vikramaśila which for some time rivalled the glory of Nālandā. An inscribed clay-seal discovered in Pāhāḍapura bears testimony to the fact that the Mahāvihāra of Somapura in North Bengal also was erected by Dharmapāla. Close to this important monastery was situated, in the eleventh century A.D., a temple of Khasarpaṇa Avalokiteśvara, in which was permanently deposited a manuscript of the Prajñā-pāramitā in a casket artistically executed by Vipulaśrimitra. On four sides of this big temple were built four alms-houses wherein images of the Goddess Tārā were installed. Another big temple of Tārā was built in Somapura to ‘dispel entirely the eight great dreads of the people.’ This monastery of Somapura and also the Vikramaśila monastery were probably brought to perfection by Devapāla, son of Dharmapāla. The Bstan-hgyur refers to another Vihāra of Vikramapurī, which was most probably situated in Vikramapura of East Bengal. Kumāra Candra, called Ācārya Avadhūta, wrote a Tāntric commentary in this monastery of Vikramapurī. Another Vihāra which was already in existence in Bengal during the time of Dharmapāla was the Traikuṭaka Vihāra, where Ācārya Haribhadra wrote his famous commentary on the Aṣṭa-sahasrikā-prajñā-pāramitā. Prajñā-varman,

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Buddhism of the Pāla period.

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called Ācārya, and his preceptor, Bodhivarman, are said to have hailed from Kāpatya of Bengal, which was either a monastery itself or a place having a monastery. There was probably another monastery in Devikot in North Bengal to which Advayavajra, the great Tāntric Buddhist scholar, as also Mekhalā, a nun, are said to have belonged. The Pag-Som-Jon-Zang mentions the Paṇḍita Vihāra of Chittagong, which was a great centre of Tāntric learning and culture, and with this Vihāra Tilipā as Tilopā or Tailapāda is said to have been associated. Tailapāda had a disciple of the name of Nāḍa-pāda, who again is said to have been the preceptor of the renowned Bengali Buddhist missionary who went to Tibet and preached Buddhism there for full fourteen years. Nāḍapā was the author of the commentary on the Vajrapāda-sāra-saṃgraha, which is said to have been composed by Śākyabhikṣu Yaśobhadra of Kāśmira at the demand of Vinaya-śrī-mitra and others belonging to the grand Vihāra of Kanakastūpa in the city of Paṭṭikeraka. This city of Paṭṭikeraka, frequently found in the ballads on King Gopīcānd or Govinda Candra as the city of Pāṭi-kāra, has convincingly been identified with the paragaṇā of Pāṭi-kāra, conterminous with Meherkul in the district of Tippera.¹

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¹ Mr. N. N. Das Gupta, M.A., *Buddhist Vihāras of Bengal*, *Indian Culture*, Vol. I, No. 2.

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In connection with the Buddhism of the Pāla period mention must be made here of Atīśa Dīpaṅkara, the great Buddhist scholar of Bengal. Of his life and activities in India and in Tibet we now know much, which need not be reproduced here.

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The grand Vihāra of Jagaddala, founded by the last great Pāla king, Rāmapāla, speaks of the last glory of Buddhism in Bengal. The king installed in this Vihāra images of Avalokiteśvara and Mahā Tārā. This great monastery was situated in a part of Rāmāvatī, the new metropolis founded by Rāmapāla at the confluence of the Ganges and the Karatoyā. Bibhūticandra and Dānaśīla were the two most reputed scholars of Jagaddala. Besides, Mokṣakaragupta of the same Vihāra was a good logician and composed in three chapters the *Tarka-bhāṣā*. Śubhakaragupta, who lived there for some time, wrote a commentary on the Tāntric text *Siddhaikavīra-tantra*. Dharmakara of the same monastery translated the *Saṃvara-vyākhyā* of Kṛṣṇa. Buddhists from Tibet flocked here to have Sanskrit texts translated into Tibetan.¹

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¹ *Ibid.*

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In the brief survey made above it must have been noticed that a good number of Tāntric scholars of Buddhism flourished during the period of the Pālas, and many of the authors of the Dohās and Caryās probably flourished during this time. The art and iconography of the same period will bear testimony to the fact that by this time Mahāyāna began to be eclipsed by Vajrayāna Buddhism. The icons of various Buddhist gods and goddesses of the period and also the representation of some of the gods (including the Lord Supreme as Hevajra or Heruka or Vajreśvara or Vajra-sattva, as he was variously called in esoteric Buddhism) with their respective female consorts in a state of union (*yuganaddha*) will indicate the introduction of the Śakti element in the Buddhist religion of the time.

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With this brief survey of the history of Buddhism in Bengal before and at the time of the advent of the Buddhist Siddhācāryas of the Sahajiyā sect, let us now turn our attention directly to the religious background of the Bengali Caryā-padas, which embody the religious doctrines and practices of the Sahajiyā Buddhists. This will naturally lead us to the question of the nature, origin and development of Tāntric Buddhism as a whole, of which Sahaja-yāna is a later offshoot, and also to the question of the relation and connection beteen the various schools of Tāntric Buddhism, *viz.*, Vajra-yāna, Kālacakra-yāna and Sahaja-yāna.

(iii) Origin and Development of Tāntric Buddhism

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The phase of later Buddhism, widely and roughly known as Tāntric Buddhism, may be said to be a popular development of Mahāyāna Buddhism through a gradual process of centuries having its fullest sway during the period between the eighth and twelfth centuries A.C. Mahāyāna or the ‘Great Vehicle,’ as contrasted with the ethico-religious rigorism of Hinayāna, or the ‘Little Vehicle,’ was a religion of progress and liberalism. In the *Mahāyāna-sūtrā-laṅkāra* of Asaṅga Hinayāna has been characterised as a very narrow system of religion,—narrow in its aim of self-liberation, narrow teachings to realise that aim, narrow method applied for this realisation, insufficiency of equipment and the shortness of time within which final liberation is guaranteed.¹ On the other hand, the Mahāyāna school represents the religion of the dissenters and the protestants and was always characterised by a broadness of outlook and deep sympathy for the suffering beings of the whole universe.

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¹ *Mahāyāna-sūtrā-laṅkāra*, Ch. I, Verse 10. Lévi's edition.

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Mahāyāna as contrasted with Hinayāna.

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Tradition says that after the death of Buddha there arose a great controversy among his followers as to the correct interpretation of the sayings of the master as well as about the rules of discipline indispensable for a monk. To settle these controversies great councils were held. It is said that in the second council held in Vesāli the controversy finally ended in a split among the Buddhists, and the dissenters convened another great assembly (Mahāsangha) to have a separate school of their own and they were known as the Mahāsānghika. In this way, as time passed, the controversy between these radicalists and the orthodox elders (thera) began to be more and more uncompromising and the points of dissension were also gradually increasing in number. This controversy between the elders and the radicalists finally resulted in the growth of the two separate schools within the province of Buddhism itself, the canonical tenets of the elders being styled as Hinayāna and the tenets of the radicalists as Mahāyāna.

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Among the radical changes in thought and outlook that we find in Mahāyāna, as contrasted with Hinayāna, the most important is the change in the conception of the final goal. Whereas the summum bonum of Hinayāna is to attain Arhathood or final liberation of the self from the whirl of existence through strict ethical discipline and the processes of ‘Jhāna’ (Sk. dhyāna, meditation), the final aim of Mahāyāna was to attain Buddhahood in and through different stages of Bodhisattvahood, which is a state of perfect knowledge about the void-nature of the self and the not-self mixed up with an emotion of universal compassion for the redemption of all the suffering beings. The conception of Bodhisattvahood, very important as it is in Mahāyāna Buddhism as well as in all forms of Tāntric Buddhism, requires some elaboration. The belief of the followers of Mahāyāna is that every man, nay, every being of the world, is a potential Buddha; he has within him all the potency of becoming the perfectly enlightened one (Samyak-sambuddha), which latent possibility can be made patent only through the attainment of perfect knowledge, associated with universal compassion, which prompts one to utilise that knowledge in missionary activities for the uplift of all beings. The ideal of missionary life was consequently preferred to the ideal of the attainment of final extinction (*nirvāṇa*). Bodhisattva-hood means the attainment of the Bodhi-mind (*Bodhi-citta*), which is defined as a unified state of vacuity (*śūnyatā*) and universal compassion (*karuṇā*).¹

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¹ *śūnyatā-karuṇā-bhinnam bodhi-cittam iti smṛtam* | Śrī-guhya-samāja-tantra (G.O.S.), p. 153.

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The other noteworthy departure in Mahāyāna was the development of the docetic conception of the three Kāyas (bodies) of the Buddha. The Hinayānists conceived the Buddha only as a historical personage in the life and activities of Śākyamuni; but with the Mahāyānists the Buddha is no particular historical personage, he is but the ultimate principle as the totality of things and beings in an unqualified state of all-existence. This ultimate principle has three aspects, known as the three Kāyas of the Buddha, *viz.*, the Dharma-kāya (*i.e.*, primordial element, or the ‘thatness’ underlying all that exists), the Sambhoga-kāya (the body of bliss, or the effulgent body in the form of the Bodhisattvas) and the Nirmāṇa-kāya (*i.e.*, the body of transformation, or the historical personage of Buddha).² With these fundamental changes in outlook and a predominance of philosophical thought and the culture of the supreme virtues (*pāramitā*) Mahāyāna Buddhism flowed on side by side with Hinayāna for centuries. But as, on the one hand, this freedom of thought, broadness of outlook and spirit of liberalism liberated Buddhism from the walls of narrow scholasticism and raised it from the selfish hankering of personal liberation to the sublimity of a religion for suffering humanity, it, on the other hand, contained the germs of indiscipline and the revelry of wild thoughts which reduced Buddhism to a body of unintelligible mutterings and a system of practices which are definitely unconventional. It should be observed that the pledge of Mahāyāna was the redemption of suffering humanity as a whole, nay, the liberation of all beings. With this end in view the apostles of Mahāyāna had to make their religion catholic enough to make it acceptable even to the most ordinary people of the society. In other words, Mahāyāna, as a religion for all people, had to make provision within its fold for people of widely different tastes and intellectual calibre. It is for this reason that heterogeneous elements of faith and religious practices began first to creep in and then to rush into the province of Buddhism.

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² Vide infra.

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Degeneration by too much popularisation. For ordinary people religion consists in the belief in innumerable gods and goddesses, in time-honoured customs, muttering of mystic formulas, and in the paraphernalia of rites, ceremonies and practices; when through the zeal of liberating all the beings from the bondage of existence Mahāyāna began to be too much popularised, all these popular religious elements of heterogeneous nature began to be incorporated into Buddhism. Though the general custom is to style this composite religious system of heterogeneous faiths and practices as Tāntric Buddhism, the raison d’être of Tāntric Buddhism is not to be sought in this popular phase of the religion. It seems that with the purpose of attaining the final state of Buddhahood a new school developed within the province of Buddhism itself with a more forward policy. This forward school introduced elements like the Mantras and the Dhāraṇīs into the province of this religion. It is for this reason that in the Tattva-ratnāvalī collected in the Advaya-vajra-saṃgraha (edited by MM. H. P. Śāstrī, G. O. S., No. XL), we find Mahāyāna sub-divided into two schools, viz., Pāramitā-naya and Mantra-naya. The principles of Mantra-naya are said to

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Rise of Tāntric Buddhism.

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be very deep and subtle and inaccessible to ordinary men; and though the ultimate purpose of the Mantra-śāstra is the same as that of other Śāstras, it is said to be distinctly superior to them because of the fact that it is free from delusions and is accessible only to people with a higher intellectual calibre.¹ This Mantra-naya or Mantra-yāna seems to be the introductory stage of Tāntric Buddhism, from which all other offshoots, like Vajra-yāna, Kālacakra-yāna, Sahaja-yāna, etc., arose in later times. In the Laghu-kāla-cakra-tantra-rāja-ṭīkā, entitled Vimala-prabhā² we find that the doctrines of the Pāramitā-naya are written wholely in Sanskrit, while those of the Mantra-naya are explained in Sanskrit, Prakrit, Apabhraṃśa and even in non-Sanskritic languages like those of the Śavaras and others.

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¹ Tattva-ratnāvali in Advaya-vajra-samgraha, p. 21.

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² MS., R. A. S. B., No. 4727.

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Tradition holds Asaṅga, the great exponent of the Yogācāra school, to be responsible for the introduction of Tāntricism in Buddhism; he again, in his turn, is believed to have been initiated into this mystic cult by Maitreya in the Tuṣita-heaven. Others, on the other hand, hold that Nāgārjuna, the renowned exponent of the Mādhyamika school, was the real founder of the esoteric school, and that he, in his turn, received the doctrines from the Celestial Buddha Vairocana through the divine Bodhisattva Vajra-sattva in the "iron tower" in South India.

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Apart from these traditions, some scholars are disposed to think that the Mahāyāna-sūtrā-laṅkāra of Asaṅga there are clear references to the sexo-yogic practice of the Tāntric Buddhists. In the Sūtrā-laṅkāra the word "parāvṛtti" occurs several times in connection with acts which constitute the supreme greatness of the Buddha. One of these verses runs thus, " In the *parāvṛtti* of sexual union supreme greatness is obtained, (namely) in the enjoyment of Buddha-happiness and in looking without impure thoughts at a wife."¹ Sylvain Lévi in translating this verse suggests that " *parāvṛtti* of sexual act " alludes to " the mystic couples of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas which have so much importance in Tāntricism." But Winternitz in his notes on the " Guhyasamāja Tantra and the Age of Tantra "² doubts this interpretation of Lévi and suggests that " *parāvṛtti* " means nothing but " turning aside, discard." The phrase " *maithunasya parāvṛtti* " may really refer to the Tāntric sexo-yogic practice through which there is the enjoyment of bliss similar to that arising from the sexual act,—and the significance of this mystic union and the consequent enjoyment of blissful union is given in the *Sūtrā-laṅkāra* itself.³ If this interpretation of the word " *parāvṛtti* " in the present context be accepted, it may be inferred that the Tāntric ideas were already prevalent in Mahāyāna Buddhism in the time of Asaṅga (4th-5th centuries A.D.), and the tradition of Tāntricism being introduced in Buddhism by Asaṅga himself becomes to a great extent significant.

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¹ *maithunasya parāvṛttau vibhutvam labhyate param | buddha-saukhya-vihāre' tha dārā' saṃkleśa-darśane ||*

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² *Indian Historical Quarterly*, IX. 1.

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³ *Studies in the Tantras*, Dr. P. C. Bagchi, p. 92.

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Some scholars are again of the opinion that the Tāntric elements were introduced into Buddhism by Lord Buddha himself as a mere provision for the laities whose intellectual calibre and moral equipment would not allow them to follow the path chalked out by him. Thus Dr. B. Bhaṭṭācārya says,—" Though Buddha was antagonistic to all sorts of sacrifices, necromancy, sorcery or magic, he is credited nevertheless with having given instructions concerning Mudras, Maṇḍalas and Tantras, etc., so that, by virtue of these, prosperity in this world could be attained by his less advanced disciples, who seemed to care more for this world than for the Nirvāṇa preached by him. India in Buddha's time was so steeped in superstitions that any religion which dared forbid all kinds of magic, sorcery and necromancy could hardly hope to withstand popular opposition. A clever¹ organiser as Buddha was, he did not fail to notice the importance of incorporating magical practices in his religion to make it popular from all points of view and attract more adherents thereby."' As a conclusive evidence of this inference Dr. Bhaṭṭācārya refers to Buddha's belief in the four "iddhis" (rddhi) or miraculous power obtained by the advanced disciples and also to a verse in the Tattva-saṃgraha of Śāntarakṣita and its commentary by Kamalaśīla, where Buddha himself is said to have prescribed Mantra, Mudrā, Maṇḍala, etc., for his lay disciples. But this view of Dr. Bhaṭṭācārya cannot be credited historically because of the fact that he has not demonstrated his view with sufficient evidence. The mere belief in the "rddhi" is no convincing proof of Buddha's sanction of Tāntricism, and the evidence of Śāntarakṣita and Kamalaśīla (which too is extremely insufficient by itself) cannot be credited much on the ground that they flourished about fourteen hundred years after the advent of Buddha. Of course, we find occasional references to Tāntric practices including the sex-element even in the time of Buddha,² but we find no conclusive evidence in any early record of Buddha's sanction to Tāntricism as the mere policy of a clever organiser. On the whole, we are loath to believe that Buddha, whose life and teachings were a direct revolution against the prevalent religious system of rites and ceremonies, should have himself made provision for Tāntric practices in his religion only to popularise it among the uncultured, superstitious laity though he himself never believed in the efficacy of any of these practices.

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¹ An Introduction to Buddhist Esoterism, by Dr. B. Bhaṭṭācārya, p. 48. See also the introduction to the Sādhana-mālā (Vol. II), by Dr. Bhaṭṭācārya, pp. xvi-xvii.

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² Dīgha-nikāya, Brahma-jāla-sutta; Kathāvatthu, XVII, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, XXIII. 2; Majjhima-nikāya, Pali Text-book Society's Edition, I, p. 305.

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A popular tendency is manifest among some of the scholars to determine the priority either of the Hindu Tantras or of the Buddhist Tantras. We have pointed out in the Introduction the truth, which we shall have many other occasions to repeat, that Tāntricism with its heterogeneous nature is neither exclusively Hindu, nor exclusively Buddhist in origin. It is an ancient religious cult of India manifesting itself sometimes as Hindu being associated with Hindu theology, thoughts and ideas and sometimes as Buddhist in association with later Buddhist theology, thoughts and ideas. In view of this fact it will not be sound to say, as has actually been said by some scholars, that the Hindu Tantras are later in origin and are derived from the Buddhist Tantras. We have seen that Asanga has traditionally been held to be the introducer of Tāntricism in Buddhism; but the tradition of the existence of a vast array of Āgamas during the days of Asanga or even in earlier times cannot altogether be neglected. These ancient Āgamic texts seem to be the source of all Tāntric texts. That an extensive Tāntric literature existed in the days of Somānanda and Utpala is well-known. Internal evidences show that most of these works, even as they were then known, were very old. Abhinava Gupta's (10 A.C.) compilation of *Tantra-loka* is based on many ancient Āgamas, which were accessible to him personally. A study of these will show that between the so-called Buddhist Tantras and Hindu Tantras there are numerous points of contact implying thereby that they had a common cultural background in the past.

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It will be very interesting to note that, apart from the theological speculations, which differ in details from one another in different religious spheres, the fundamentals of the Hindu Tantras and the Buddhist Tantras are the same. It is only the colour and tone that are sometimes different. As we shall have more occasions to refer to these points of similarity later on we do not propose to illustrate them here.

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The Mantra-element seems to have been introduced in Mahāyāna Buddhism first in the form of the Dhāraṇī, which literally means that by which something is sustained or kept up (dhāryate anayā iti), i.e., the mystic syllables that have got the capacity of keeping up the religious life of a man. In the Bodhisattva-bhūmi of Vasubandhu we find a discourse on the nature of the Dhāraṇīs and a philosophical explanation for the adoption of these unmeaning Mantras for the realisation of the ultimate truth.

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According to the Bodhisattva-bhūmi the Dhāraṇīs of the Bodhisattva are of four kinds, viz., Dharma-dhāraṇī, Artha-dhāraṇī, Mantra-dhāraṇī and the Dhāraṇī for the attainment of the transcendental merit of forbearance of the Bodhisattva (Bodhisattva-kṣānti-lābhaya ca dhāraṇī). The Dharma-dhāraṇī is composed of that kind of Mantras through the hearing of which (even though they are not explained in any Śāstra or by any preacher) the follower attains memory (smṛti), perfect knowledge (prajñā) and spiritual strength (bala). Artha-dhāraṇī is that type of Mantras through the mystic power of which the correct significance (artha) of the Dharmas (which significance is never explained in any Śāstra or by any preacher) is revealed to the follower in an intuitive way. The Mantra-dhāraṇī enables a man to attain perfection. The Dhāraṇī for the attainment of forbearance (kṣānti) is the Mantra through which the ultimate nature of the Dharmas is revealed to the reciter and through this realisation of the ultimate immutable nature of the Dharmas the follower attains generosity of heart which produces in him the merit of forbearance.¹

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¹ *Bodhisattva-bhūmi*. Ed. by Unrai Wogihara (Tokyo), pp. 272-74.

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In this connection, however, Vasubandhu gives a philosophical explanation of how the ultimate immutable nature of the Dharmas can be realised through the Mantras of unmeaning syllables, such as "iti miṭi kiṭi bhikṣāṃti padāni svāhā." He says that these syllables, viz., "iti miṭi kiṭi, etc.," have got no meaning whatsoever,—and the follower through concentration should realise the truth that these Mantras can have no meaning at all,—this unmeaningness is their real meaning. Through this absolute negation of all possible meanings to the Mantra, the real meaning of the Mantra as pure void is intuitively revealed to a man. Thus this realisation of the meaning of the Mantras (as pure negation) helps the man to realise in pure intuition the nature of the Dharmas as essenceless. But through this negation of all meanings to the Mantras a unique transcendental, immutable meaning is revealed to the heart of the Sādhaka; this immutable nature is the real nature of all things.² Closely associated with this Mantra-element is the Mudrā-element, which in Buddhism in general is but the different signs made by the particular position of the hands and the fingers.³ This Mudrā-element, however, with the Mantra-element and some other esoteric practices has a deeper significance

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² sa eṣāṃ mantra-padānāṃ evaṃ samyak pratipanna evam-arthuṃ svayam evāśrutvā kutaścit pratipadyati. tad yathā nā'sty eṣāṃ mantra-padānāṃ kācid artha-pariniṣpattiḥ. nirarthā evaite. ayam eva caiṣāṃ artho yad uta nirarthatā. ...... sa teṣāṃ mantra-padānāṃ artham samyak pratividhya tenaivārthā-nusāraṇa sarva-dharmāṇām apy artham samyak pratividhyati svayam evāśrutvā parataḥ | . . . . . yā punar eṣāṃ nirabhilāpya-svabhāvatā. ayam eṣāṃ svabhāvārthaḥ. Bodhisattva-bhūmi, p. 273.

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³ It should be noted here that the word Mudrā in the Tāntric and the Yogic literature has got different meanings. In the Tantras it often means the woman to

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Mudrā, Maṇḍala.

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in the Yogic Sādhanā of the Tāntrics, and as the Mantra-element contains all the secrecy of the potency of sound, the Mudrā-element contains all the secrecy of touch as associated with the potency of the physiological system. With Mantra and Mudrā the element of Maṇḍala or describing of mystic circles was also introduced.

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But once the portals of Buddhism were flung open to let in elements of esoterism, all the traditional beliefs in gods, demi-gods, demons and ghosts, magic, charms and sorcery with all their details rushed in and quickly changed the whole ethico-religious outlook of Buddhism. With these again were joined the elements of Yoga,—Haṭha-yoga, Laya-yoga, Mantra-yoga and Rāja-yoga. All these elements made for the growth of the elaborate system of Tāntric Buddhism.

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It is to be noticed that in the earlier phase of Tāntric Buddhism emphasis was laid generally on the elements of Mantra, Mudrā, Maṇḍala, Abhiṣeka (initiation and the ceremonies associated with it), etc.; but gradually the sexo-yogic practice also began to be referred to. In course of evolution, however, the sexo-yogic practice began to be held as the most important esoteric practice for the attainment of the final state of supreme bliss, all the other practices and

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be selected in the secret practice; in Haṭha-yoga it refers to practices including control of limbs, muscles, nerves and the vital breath-process. We have again different descriptions of four types of Mudrās associated with both processes of Yoga and meditation which are again associated with four types of realisation of bliss (vide Catur-mudrā of the Advaya-vajra-saṃgraha, G. O. S., XL). In the University Library of Cambridge there is a manuscript with the colophon “Śrī-mac-chākyarāja-sarva-durgati-pariśodhana-mukhā-khyāna-prathamā-diyoga-nāma samādhi” (MS. Cambridge, Add. No. 1278, available to the present writer in rotograph) with as many as one hundred and fifty-eight coloured illustrations of the different kinds of Mudrās. Of these some seem to be purely postures of the hands and fingers, some on the other hand illustrate the different manners of holding the thunderbolt (vajra), lotus, bell, sword, conch-shell, bunch of flowers, garlands, etc. Others again illustrate the manner of offering flowers, water, incense, lamp and other materials of worship. Some again illustrate the different manners of playing on the different musical instruments. All these are done with the aim of obtaining final purification and final deliverance from the miseries of life.

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ceremonies being held as preparatory accessories. The six kinds of ritual intended for the good or evil of anybody (*Abhicāra*) and the five accessories of wine (*madya*), meat (*māṃsa*), fish (*matsya*), woman (?) (*mudrā*) and sexual intercourse (*maithuna*) gradually made their way into Buddhism. This composite system of Tāntricism with the introduction of the sexo-yogic practice came to be known by the general name of Vajra-yāna or the Adamantine path.² Kazi Dawa-samdup in his introduction to the *Śrī-cakra-saṃbhāra-tantra* divides this Vajra-yāna into further parts, *viz.*, Kriyā-tantra-yāna, Caryā-tantra-yāna and Yoga-tantra-yāna; the last is again sub-divided into Mahāyoga-tantra-yāna, Anuttara-yoga-tantra-yāna and Atiyoga-tantra-yāna. The general custom, however, is to divide Vajra-yāna into four classes, *viz.*, Kriyā-tantra, Caryā-tantra, Yoga-tantra, and Anuttara-tantra. The first two classes are called ‘lower Tantras’ inasmuch as they are concerned with the rites, ceremonies, worship of gods and goddesses and other practices; and the latter schools are known as ‘higher Tantras’ inasmuch as they describe yogic processes for the realisation of the ultimate truth and also contain discussions on the nature of the ultimate reality.

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² The original name Mantra-yāna is also often found used in a general sense for later Buddhist Tāntric schools *Cf.* *Hevajra pañjikā*, MS. (Cambridge Add. No. 1699), p. 45(B); *Advaya-vajra-saṃgraha*, p. 54 (G. O. S.); commentary on the *Dohākoṣa* of Kānhapāda, verse No. 12.

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There is still another customary way of dividing Tāntric Buddhism into three schools, *viz.*, Vajra-yāna, Kāla-cakrayāna and Sahaja-yāna.¹ This division seems to us erroneous because of the fact that Kāla cakra-yāna and Sahaja-yāna seem to us to be schools within the fold of the general name Vajra-yāna. MM. H. P. Śāstrī speaks of Nāthism as another school of Tāntric Buddhism.² As we shall have to devote separate chapters to the problems regarding the nature, origin and growth of Nāthism the question of its relation to Tāntric Buddhism will not be discussed at this stage.³ The problem of Kāla-cakra-yāna, however, appears to us perplexing. About its nature Waddell says in his *Lamaism*,—"In the tenth century A.D., the Tāntric phase developed in Northern India, Kasmir and Nepal into monstrous and polydemonist doctrine, the Kāla-cakra, with its demonical Buddhas, which incorporated the Mantrayāna practices, and called itself the Vajrayāna, or the 'Thunderbolt-vehicle,' and its followers were named Vajra-carya, or, 'followers of the Thunderbolt.'⁴ In another place he says—"The extreme development of the Tāntric phase was reached with the Kāla-cakra, which, although unworthy of being considered as a philosophy, must be referred to here as a doctrinal basis. It is merely a course of Tāntric development of the Adi-Buddha theory combined with puerile mysticism of Mantrayāna, and it attempts to explain creation and the secret powers of nature by the union of the Kali, not only with the Dhyani Buddhas, but even with Adi-Buddha himself."⁵ The account and interpretation given by Mr. Waddell seem to us to be based on confused ideas about Tibetan Buddhism. We have not yet been able to discover the reason behind the general tendency of associating the name Kāla-cakra-yāna with the terrible aspect of Tāntric Buddhism. MM. H. P. Śāstrī, however, says on this point,—" What is Kāla-cakra-yāna? The word Kāla means time,—death and destruction. Kāla-cakra is the wheel of destruction, and Kāla-cakra-yāna means the vehicle for protection against the wheel of destruction."¹ But this explanation of MM. Śāstrī is not confirmed by any textual evidence.

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¹ We do not, however, find any direct mention of the “*Pañca-ma-kāras*” in the Buddhist Tantras; but we find sporadic mention of wine, fish, meat, etc., and much of Mudrā and sexual intercourse. We also find frequent reference to the Pañca-kāma-guṇa or five objects of desire through the enjoyment of which perfection can be attained.

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³ In this connection compare also four divisions in the arrangement of the Vaiṣṇava-tantras (found in the *Padma-tantra*), *viz.*, Jñāna-pāda, Yoga-pāda, Kriyā-pāda and Caryā-pāda. (See J. R. A. S., 1901, p. 900.)

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¹ See the introduction to *Sādhana-mālā*, Vol. II, by Dr. B. Bhaṭṭācārya.

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² See the introduction to *Modern Buddhism and its Followers in Orissa* of Mr. N. Vasu by MM. H. P. Śāstrī.

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³ *Vide infra*.

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⁴ *Lamaism*, by Waddell, p. 15.

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⁵ *Ibid*.

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¹ Modern Buddhism, etc., Introduction, p. 8

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The traditional view concerning the origin of Śrī-kāla-cakra-mūla-tantra, which is recorded in the Abhiniśramaṇa Sūtra² is that it was delivered by the Buddha at Śrī Dhanya Kaṭaka. Regarding this system Csoma de Körös says that it was introduced in India from Śambhala at about 965 A.C.

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² Pag Sam Jon Zang., p 37

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We have at our disposal a text of the Śrī-kāla-cakra-tantra³ a study of which does not substantiate the statement that Kāla-cakra-yāna is that school of Tāntric Buddhism, which introduced demonic Buddhas in it,—at least, it is not the main characteristic by which the school should be recognised. In the text at our disposal the Lord has explained how the universe with all its objects and localities are situated in the body and how time in all its divisions and sub-divisions (viz., day, night, fortnight, month, year, etc.) is within the body in the processes of the vital wind (prāṇa-vāyu). In the text Sahaja has been explained and also the details of the sexo-yogic practice for the attainment of the Sahaja. The only thing that strikes the reader is the stress laid on the control of the vital winds (prāṇa and apāna) and the results attained thereby. A study of the commentary on the text (Laghu-kāla-cakra-tantra-rāja-ṭīkā, entitled Vimala-prabhā) also reveals no fundamental difference between the tenets of Vajra-yāna Buddhism and those of Kāla-cakra-yāna. The stress on yoga seems, however, to be the special feature, if there be any at all, of Kāla-cakra-yāna.

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³ MS. Cambridge Add., 1364.

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It is interesting to note here that similar doctrines of Kāla-cakra are elaborately described and explained in a fairly old text like the Tantrā-loka of Abhinava Gupta. The sixth chapter of the Tantrā-loka (which is a fairly big chapter) is devoted to the exposition of the doctrine of Kāla (time) and the process of keeping oneself above the influence of the whirl of time. Time (Kāla) in all its phases (day and night, fortnight, month, year, etc.) has been explained here mainly with reference to the functions of the vital wind (mainly Prāṇa and Apāna) spread through the whole nervous system, and the process of controlling time is to control the vital wind in the nerves through yogic practices.

(iv) Mode of Transformation of the Main Ideas of Mahāyāna to those of Tantric Buddhism

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Before we pass on to the fundamental characteristics of Sahaja-yāna, on which the Caryā-padas are based, we deem it necessary here to make a very short survey of the mode of transformation of some of the philosophical ideas of Mahāyāna Buddhism into those of Tantric Buddhism. Tāntricism is neither Buddhist nor Hindu in origin: it seems to be a religious under-current, originally independent of any abstruse metaphysical speculation, flowing on from an obscure point of time in the religious history of India. With these practices and yogic processes, which characterise Tāntricism as a whole, different philosophical, or rather theological, systems got closely associated in different times, and the association of the practices with the fundamental ideas of Mahāyāna Buddhism will explain the origin and development of Tāntric Buddhism. Being associated with the Tāntric system the fundamental ideas of Buddhism underwent a great change; or it may also be that the transformation of the fundamental ideas by lay people, who were indiscriminately admitted into the school of Mahāyāna, facilitated the association of Buddhism with Tantricism. There seems to have been a mutual interaction between the cause and the effect in either case.

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In this mode of transformation the most important point is the transformation of the idea of Śūnyatā (vacuity) into the idea of Vajra, or the thunderbolt. The Śūnyatā-nature of the world is its ultimate immutable nature,—as immutable as the thunderbolt, and so it is called the Vajra. It has been said in the *Advaya-vajra-saṃgraha*,—" Śūnyatā, which is firm, substantial, indivisible, impenetrable, incapable of being burnt and imperishable, is called the Vajra."' This transformation of Śūnyatā to Vajra will explain the title Vajra-yāna and in Vajra-yāna all the gods, goddesses, articles for worship, yogic practices and elaborate rituals have been marked with Vajra to specialise them from their originally accepted nature. The supreme deity of Vajra-yāna is the Vajra-sattva (*vajra* = *śūnyatā* = vacuity; *sattva* = quintessence), who is of the nature of pure consciousness (*vijñapti-mātratā* of the Vijñāna-vādin Buddhists) as associated with Śūnyatā in the form of the absence of subjectivity and objectivity.² All the other gods of Vajra-yāna are generally marked by a miniature figure of the Vajra-sattva in the crest. This Vajra-sattva as the Lord Supreme has been described by and invoked with various attributes in all the Tantras belonging to Vajra-yāna.

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