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Obscure Religious Cults as Background of Bengali Literature c8: Chapter II: The General Philosophical Standpoint of the Caryā-padas

Obscure Religious Cults as Background of Bengali Literature c8

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English

Chapter II: The General Philosophical Standpoint of the Caryā-padas

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The general philosophical standpoint of the Caryā-padas, as that of Tāntric Buddhist literature in general, represents unsystematised notions of Mahāyāna philosophy including the negativistic tendency of the Mādhyamikas and the positivistic tendency of Aśvaghoṣa and of the Vijñānavāda school led by Maitreya, Asaṅga and Vasubandhu. The influence of monistic thought is not also negligible.¹ In many places the Buddhist Tantras, Dohās and songs have frankly accepted the monistic standpoint of the Upaniṣads and the highest reality, either in the form of the Vajra-sattva or the Bodhi-citta or the Mahā-sukha or the Sahaja, has been conceived exactly in the line of the Upaniṣadic Brahman. It may be observed in this connection that scholars have often discovered something behind the nothingness (śūnyatā) even of Nāgārjuna, who has described the reality as neither existent, nor non-existent, nor a combination of both, nor the absence of both; it is but what transcends the four logical categories (catuṣkoṭi). Again, it may be pointed out that the Abhūta-parikalpa (the increate) or the Vijñapti-mātratā (pure consciousness) of the Vijñāna-vādin Buddhists approximates the Vedāntic conception of the Brahman in a striking manner. Of course, subtle points of difference there are, but they can very easily be, and have often actually been, missed by the untrained mind of ordinary thinkers. It is for this reason that the Mahāyānic ideas have frequently been confused or blended with the Vedāntic ideas; and we shall see that there is practically no difference between the Vedāntic idea of the reality and the idea of the Sahaja as conceived by the Sahajiyās. Kāṇha-pāda says in a song that it will be a gross mistake to think that everything ends with the decay of this body. "My Citta," says the poet, "is perfect in vacuity; don't be sorry at the disappearance of the *skandhas* or the five elements. Say, how it can be that Kāṇha is no more,—for he is throbbing for ever pervading the whole universe. Only foolish people are sad at the sight of the decay of the perceivable; —can the flow of waves dry up the whole sea? Foolish people do not see people who are existent (in their subtle Sahaja form), as they do not find the cream that remains pervading the milk. Here, in this world, entities neither come nor go, yogin Kāṇha revels in these thoughts."'

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¹ For a detailed discussion on the philosophical position of the different schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism and its re'lation to the Vedāntic thoughts, and also for a detailed study of the philosophical standpoint of Tāntric Buddhist literature in general reference may be made here to the study of the subject in the work Introduction to Tāntric Buddhism by the present writer.

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Caryā songs represent a mixture of the Mādhyamika, Vijñāna-vādic and Vedāntic thoughts

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bhaṇa kaise kāhnu nāhi |
pharai anudina tailoe pamāi ||
mūḍhā diṭha nātha dekhi kāara |
bhāga-taraṅga ki soṣai sāara ||
mūḍhā acchante loa na pekhai |
dudha mājheṃ laḍa acchante na dekhai || etc.

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Song No. 42.

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As for the reading of the Caryā-padas the writer has generally accepted the readings suggested by Dr. P.C. Bagchi with the help of the Tibetan translation (J.D.L., Vol. XXX); but he has often differed from Dr. Bagchi, and the points of difference with reasons and the suggested improvements have appeared in an article of the writer in the Bengali Monthly *Srī-bhāratī*, (Vol. I, No. 7). Dr. Bagchi's readings have, therefore, been accepted with the improvements suggested therein.

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The dominating philosophical note of the Caryā songs is, however, of an inherent idealistic vein as associated with the various theories of illusion. As this idealism, associated with the theories of illusion, is common to the Mādhyamika and Vijñāna-vāda Buddhism as well as to Vedānta, we shall find a mixture of the philosophical views of these schools in the songs of the Buddhist Sahajiyā poets.

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The first song of the Caryā-padas begins with the assertion that our mind (citta) is solely responsible for the creation of the illusory world. "In the unsteady mind"—says Lui-pā in one of his songs,—"enters Time,"¹ i.e., the disturbed mind is the cause of all our spatio-temporal experiences and the disturbance of the mind is due to the defiling principle of nature (prakṛty-ābhāsa-doṣa-vaśāt cāñcalyatayā, etc.—comm.). The notion of difference proceeds from the notion of existence (bhava). It is said, "They are three, they are three—the three are held different;—Kānhu says,—all (differences) are limitations due to the notion of existence."² The world of our experiences is only provisional (saṃvṛti-satya) and the provisional nature of the world is revealed to us when we see that every thing that comes also invariably goes,—there is nothing permanent; all is an eternal flux of coming and going. It is said,—"Whatever came also went away; in this (rotation of) coming and going Kānhu has become convinced (of the unsubstantial nature of the fleeting world)."³ But everything is pure in the ultimate nature. Neither existence nor non-existence is impure in the least; all beings, produced in the six ways (ṣaḍ-gatikā), are pure by their ultimate nature.¹ The empirical world is like a dramatic device (naṭapeḍā, Skt. naṭa-peṭikā = basket for holding dress, etc. for the performance of drama) with nothing real in it,—it is merely an artifice of the mind. By pure knowledge the mind must first be tranquillised and when it becomes perfectly controlled all the forces of the illusory world are subdued.² In that ultimate stage external objects of smell, touch, etc., remain as they were, but the perceptual knowledge of the whole world appears to be just like the perception of objects in a waking dream, *i.e.*, the whole universal process seems to be a great dream, though we remain with our outward eyes open.³ In one song of Bhusuka-pāda, the mind (*citta*) has been compared to a fickle rat and it is said to be closely associated with the vital wind. It is said,—"Dark is the night and the play of the rat begins."⁴ The dark night is the darkness of ignorance in which the function of constructive imagination goes on. It is further said,—"Kill, O Yogin, this rat of the vital wind, whereby you will escape coming and going. The rat causes existence and makes holes; this fickle rat remains inactive only when skilful devices are employed. This rat is Time or death itself (*i.e.*, the fickle mind constructs all temporal existence),—but in it there is no colour. When it rises to the void it moves there and drinks nectar. The rat remains restless (as long as it is not pacified by the instructions of the preceptor); pacify it through the instructions of the wise preceptor. Bhusuka says,—when the activities of the rat will be destroyed, all bondage will also be destroyed."

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¹ cañcala cie paiṭho kāla || Ibid., Song No. 1. This line has been explained in the commentary in an esoteric sense. Vide, Infra.

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² te tini te tini ho bhinnā bhaṇai kāhnu bhava-paricchinnā || Ibid., Song No. 7

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³ je je āilā te te gelā | avanā-gavaṇe kāhnu bimana bhailā || Ibid.

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¹ chaḍagai saala sahāve sūdha | bhāvābhāva balāga na chudha || *Ibid*, Song No. 9.

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² matiem ṭhākuraka parinivitā | avaśa kariā bhava-bala jitā || *Ibid*, Song No. 12.

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³ gandha parasa ṛasa jaisom ṭaisom | nimda bihune suinā jaisom || *Ibid.*, Song No. 13.

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⁴ nisi andhārī musāra cārā | *Ibid.*, Song No. 21.

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In another song of Bhusuka-pāda the mind has been compared to a deer. The song goes thus:—"Near whom and with whom are you living and in what way!—a clamour is rising around from all the four quarters. The deer has become the enemy of all because of his own flesh. I see, the hunters do not leave Bhusuka (who is like unto the fickle deer) even for a moment. The deer does not touch the grass nor does it drink water; the abode of the doe is not known to the deer. The doe says to the deer, hearest me, thou deer, leave this forest and become mad. While running in haste the hoofs of the deer are not seen,—Bhusuka says,—it does not enter into the heart of the ignorant."¹

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¹ Ibid., Song No. 6. It should be noted in this connection that the story of the deer and the doe is very popular in old and mediæval folk-songs of the vernacular literatures. The saying that the deer is enemy to the world because of his own flesh is to be frequently met with in old and mediæval vernacular literatures. The Siddhācārya has here made use of the popular imagery to explain the religious theory.

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Here the deer represents the mind; due to the principles of defilement it is always surrounded by the hunters who are the miseries of life. As the deer is the enemy of all because of its own flesh, so also the citta itself is the cause of all its miseries; for, it itself constructs the world of miseries through its own activities. But when the deer citta is troubled thus amidst the miseries of life, then comes the doe,² or the goddess Nairātmā (essencelessness or perfect vacuity) to his help and she takes him away from this world beset on all sides with the hunters.

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² The word ‘hariṇī’ has been explained in the commentary in this way,— viṣapāna-bhava-grahān harati khaṇḍayati | hariṇī’ti sandhā-bhāṣayā saiva jñāna-mudrā nairātmā | Ibid., p. 13, Com., (Śāstri’s edition).

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It has been said in another song,—"Going on constructing for himself (the notions of) existence and extinction, for nothing does man bring him under bondage. We, the supralogical Yogins (acinta yoi), do not know how birth, death and existence come at all to be.

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Death is exactly the same as birth,—there is no distinction between being and dying. Let them, who are here afraid of birth and death, care for (the practice and ceremonies of) *rasa* and *rasāyana*.¹ Those who generally roam about (in the temples of) gods and goddesses become neither free from decrepitude, nor do they become immortal. It is not known whether there is *karma* due to birth, or there is birth due to *karma*; Saraha, however, says,—"unthinkable is that abode."² Due to the beginningless root-instincts (*vāsanā*) man falsely constructs the notions of existence and extinction and thus himself puts the fetters of bondage on his legs. When the *citta* becomes tranquillised there is no birth—no death,—no bondage—no liberation,—so all the differences between all theses and anti-theses vanish at once.

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¹ This evidently refers to the practice of the Rasāyana-school of yogins who tried to escape death through a yogic process akin to the process of Rasāyana (see infra). We may incidentally notice another practice held in the temple of the Lamas of Tibet. It has been said:—"Another service, known by the Mongolian name Tuiurgnikji has for object the preparation of the lustral water (rasāyana). It includes prayer, absolution of sins, a recital of all the ablutions made by Sakya-muni, and finally thanksgiving. Between the first and the second part of the rite is performed the preparation of the holy water. One of the priest's assistants raises a mirror so that it reflects one of the statues of the divinities ; another takes the vessel (kuje, Mongolian) filled with water and pours it upon the mirror. The water which flows off and is believed to have caught the image of the divinity is collected in a special dish (k'ris-gc'os—Tibetan) held by a third acolyte, while a fourth wipes the mirror with a silken napkin (Qadaq Mong.). Fifteen libations are made in this way and at the end of the ceremony the lustral water is poured off into a bum-pa and set on the sacrificial altar. Thereafter it is used for the aspersion of offerings and washing the mouths of the ' Lamas,' while among the laity it serves the same purpose as does holy water among Catholics." Introduction by J. Deniker to the Gods of Northern Buddhism—by Alice Getty, p. xi.

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² Song No. 22.

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In another place Lui-pāda says,—"Existence does not come, neither is there non-existence;—who does understand the truth in this way? Incomprehensible indeed is the nature of pure consciousness,—says Lui, in the three elements it sports but it itself is not known. How can the Āgamas and the Vedas explain that, whose colour, sign and form are not known? By speaking of what, should I give an exposition of truth? Just like the moon in water it is neither real nor unreal. How should it be thought of?—says Lui,—I do not see any magnitude or locality of what I am now (i.e., *mahā-sukha*).’¹ Here also the phenomenal world is described as neither existent, as we do not find any reality anywhere by analysing it,—nor is it non-existent, as non-existence itself is unreal (*asad-rūpatvāt*); it is not real as it has no ultimate nature (*paramārtha-satya*) neither is it unreal as it has got its provisional truth (*saṃvṛti-satya*);—it is just like the moon in the water. The ultimate truth, however, can never be explained,—for, there is no knower, no knowable—no knowledge in it,² the *citta* being perfectly tranquil there. It has been said,—‘ When one practises yoga with one’s mind fixed with pure wisdom, none can ascertain where the *citta* goes and where it remains.’³ It has also been said by Āryadeva,—‘ When the mind, the senses and the vital wind are all destroyed, I do not know where the self goes and enters. . . . . . As the moon manifests itself as the rays (so also the *citta* manifests itself in the various illusory constructions, *i.e., vikalpa*); but as the moon having set, all the rays vanish, so also when the *citta* is destroyed

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¹ *bhāvya-bhāvaka-bhāvanā-bhāvena kiṃ bhāvyam* | Ibid., Com., p. 46.

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² *cittaṃ niścitya bodhena abhyāsaṃ kurute yadā* | *tadā cittaṃ na paśyāmi kva gataṃ kva sthitaṃ bhavet* || Quoted in the Com., p. 46.

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*bhāva na hoi abhāva ṇa jāi* |
*aisa saṃboheṃ ko paiāi* ||
*lui bhaṇai baḍha dulakkha biṇāṇa* |
*tia dhāe bilasai ūha lāge ṇā* ||
*jahera bāṇa-cihna rūva ṇa jāṇī* |
*so kaise āgama beeṃ bakhāṇī* ||
*kāhere kisa bhaṇi mai divi piricchā* |
*udaka cānda jima sāca na micchā* ||
*lui bhaṇai mai bhāvai kisa* |
*jā lai acchama tāhera ūha na disa* || Song No. 29.

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all its modes and modifications vanish."' It is again said,—"The moon having set, all her rays vanish indeed; exactly in the same way, when the *citta* is merged in the Sahaja-bliss, all the impurities of false constructions are destroyed."'² Bhāde-pāda says in one of his songs,—"Uptil now I was absorbed in self-illusion,—but now I realise the truth through the instruction of my good preceptor. Now my great *citta* is not,—it has fallen down into the ocean of the void. I behold the ten quarters all void,—without the *citta* there is neither any merit nor any demerit. The wise preceptor has explained to me all the illusions and I have destroyed them all in the void. Says Bhāde,—Taking that which is indivisible (*i.e.*, non-dual), I have devoured the great mind."'³ The active mind brings in the question of morality; but when it is destroyed there is neither any morality nor immorality,—merit and demerit are all provisional.⁴ In another song of Saraha-pāda we find,—"O my mind, to drive away the impurities in the dream of ignorance the sayings of the preceptor are around you,—where shalt thou hide thyself and how? Curious indeed is the nature of illusion, through which the self and the not-self are seen; in this water-bubble of the world, the self is void itself in the Sahaja."'⁵

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¹ *jahi maṇa india pavaṇa ho ṇaṭhā |* *na jānami apā kahiṃ gai paiṭhā ||* *... ... ...* *cāndare cānda-kānti jima paḍibhasaa |* *cia vikarane tahi ṭali paisaa ||* Song No. 31.

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² *astaṃgate candramasī'va nūnaṃ* *nīrendavaḥ saṃharaṇaṃ prayānti |* *cittaṃ hi tadvat sahaje nilīne* *naśyanty amī sarva-vikalpa-doṣāḥ ||* Quoted in the Com., p. 49. (Śāstri's edition).

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³ *eta kāla hāmu acchile sva-mohem*, etc. Song No. 35.

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⁴ Cf. Mādhyamika-vṛtti. Ch. 1.

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⁵ *suiṇe ho avidāra are nia-mana tohore dose |* *guru-baāṇa bihāreṃ re thākiva tai ghuṇḍa kaise ||*

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In a song of Bhusuka-pāda the non-essential nature of the world and its illusory nature as mere subjective construction have been very nicely explained. It is said,—" Increate is the world from the beginning,—it is through illusion that it appears thus (in this form); but does a serpent actually bite the man who startles at the sight of the rope-snake? O wonderful yogin,—don't stain your hands with salt,—if you understand the world to be of this nature, your Vāsanās will be eradicated. It is like a mirage in the desert,—it is like an imaginary city of the Gandharvas,—it is just like the reflection in the mirror,—it is just like the water becoming condensed and solidified by the whirl of wind and thus becoming (solid like) stone: It is just like the son of a barren woman—sporting and playing various games,—it is like oil coming out of sand,—like the horns of the hare—like the flower in the sky. Rāuta says, or Bhusuka says,—Everything is of this nature, if you be a fool, ask your true preceptor for (the solution of) your doubts taking shelter at his feet."' The world is as increate as the locks of hair (gossamer) seen flying in the sky by a man with defective eyes,—it is a product of constructive imaginations, which are in their turn produced by the three-fold impurities of the citta.² It has been said,—

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² keśoṇḍukaṃ yathā'kāse dṛśyate taimirikair janaiḥ | tathā'lokādi-doṣeṇa bhāvo bālair vikalpyate ‖ Verse of Ācārya Nidattaka, quoted in the Com. Ibid., p. 63.

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adabhua bhava moha re disai para appaṇā |
e jaga jala-bimvākāre sahajem suṇa appaṇā ‖
Song No. 39.

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¹ āie anuanēṃ jaga re bhaṃtieṃ so paḍihāi | rāja-sāpa dekhi jo camakai yāre kiṃ taṃ boḍo khāi ‖ akaṭa joiā re mā kara hātha lohṇā | āisa sabhāveṃ jai jaga bujhasi tuṭai bāsanā torā ‖ maru-marīci-gandhanaarī-dāpaṇa-pativimvu jaisā | bātāvatteṃ so diḍha bhaiā apeṃ pāthara jaisā ‖ bāndhi-suā jima keli karai khelai bahu-biha kheḍā | bāluā-teleṃ sasara-siṃge ākaśa phulilā ‖ rāutu bhaṇāi kaṭa bhusuku bhaṇai kaṭa saala aisa sahāva | jai to mūḍhā acchasi bhāntī pucchatu sadguru pāva ‖ Ibid., Song No. 41.

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‘I am as much a product of the mind as magic or dreams are.’¹ As water solidifies itself into hard stones through the whirl of wind,² so also through the disturbance of Vāsanā voidness itself turns into all existence.³

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¹ yathā māyā yathā svapnaṃ tathā’smi, etc. Quoted in the Com. Ibid., p. 64.

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² yathā bātā-vartena nīram api prastaraṃ bhūtam, etc.—Com.

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³ śūnyataiva bhaved bhāvo vāsanā-vāsitā satī | vātā-varte dṛḍhibhūtā āpa eva ghano-palāḥ || Quoted in the Com. Ibid., p. 64.

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Bhusuka-pāda says in another song,—‘The great tree of Sahaja is shining in the three worlds; every thing being of the nature of void, what will bind what? As water mixing with water makes no difference, so also, the jewel of mind enters the sky in unity of emotion. Where there is no self, how can there be any not-self? What is increate from the beginning can have neither birth, nor death nor any kind of existence. Bhusuka says, or Rāuta says,—this is the nature of all;—nothing goes or comes,—there is neither existence nor non-existence there (in Sahaja).’⁴ Kaṅkaṇa-pāda says in a song,—‘When the void (i.e., the three-fold void of impurities) will merge itself in the void, (i.e., the fourth or the perfect void)⁵ the ultimate nature of all the objects will come within realisation. ……The bindu and the nāda do not enter the heart and by seeing one (viz., vacuity) the other (viz., mind) is destroyed. ……All clamour, says Kaṅkaṇa, merges into the roaring of Tathatā (thatness).¹ The *bindu* may be explained as the principle of subjectivity; the principle of objectivity is the *nāda*.² This conception of the Śūnyatā as the negation of the knower and the knowable is the same as is found in the doctrine of the Vijñāna-vādins. In another song of Kānha-pāda the mind has been compared to a tree of which the five branches represent the five senses, and hopes and passions are the innumerable leaves and fruits. Kānha says,—" Cut the tree down with the axe of the great preceptor's instructions so that the tree may not shoot forth any more. The tree grows up in the water of good and evil and the wise cut it down with the instructions of the preceptor. Those fools who do not know how to cut the tree and to split it, go astray and have to accept existence (and bondage with it). The tree is of the (defiled) void, and the axe is of the perfect-void,—cut the tree down, so that no root or branch be left."³ Our mind becomes deeply entangled in the notion of existence and all the impurities associated with it, and the notion of good and evil acts as the dynamic principle of disturbance behind the realm of the mind. In destroying this mind we should not try only to suppress the modes and modifications of the mind (compared to the branches of the tree), but the roots of the tree, *i.e.*, the Vāsanās should also be eradicated. Jayānandi-pāda says in another song that as we perceive in dream or in the mirror objects which have no reality in them, so also is the illusion of this world. When the mind is free from this illusion, all coming and going are stopped. At that stage none can be burnt, none can be wetted, none can be cut into pieces.¹ But alas,—inspite of all these, inspite of seeing this, foolish people firmly bind themselves to illusion;—they perceive it—yet they bind themselves to this self-created false world. It is indeed astonishing that people would discard milk and take poison.²

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⁴ sahaja mahā-taru phariae tiloe | khasama-sabhāve re bāṇata kā koe || jima jale pāṇia ṭaliyā bheḍa na jāa | tima maṇa-raaṇa re sama-rase gaaṇa samāa || jāsu nāhi appā tāsu parelā kāhi | āi-aṇuaṇāre jāma-maraṇa-bhava nāhi || bhusuku bhaṇai kaṭa rāutu bhaṇai kaṭa saala eha sahāva | jāi na āvai re ṇa tahīṃ bhāvābhāva || Ibid., Song No. 43.

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⁵ For threefold void of impurities and the fourth void see infra.

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¹ *sune suna miliā javeṃ* | *saala dhāma uiā taveṃ* || . . . *bindu-ṇāda ṇa hie paiṭhā* | *āṇa cāhaṇte āṇa biṇaṭhā* || . . . *bhaṇai kaṅkaṇa kalaala sādeṃ* | *sarva bicchorila tathatā-nādeṃ* || *Ibid.*, Song No. 44.

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² Com. *Ibid.*, p. 68.

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³ *maṇa taru pāñca indı tasu sāhā*, etc.

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¹ *Ibid.*, Song No. 46.

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² *āścaryam etaddhi manuṣya-loke kṣīraṃ parityajya viṣaṃ pibanti* || Quoted in the Com. *Ibid.*, p. 71.

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But the wise Kambalāmbara-pāda says in a song,—"I have filled my boat of compassion with gold (of void) and have left silver (of all false appearances) with the world."³ Kāmali (Kambalāmbara-pāda) is steering on towards the sky (void),—if once birth can be totally annihilated how can it recur again? I have (says Kambala) pulled the peg up and torn the rope of the boat,—and Kāmali is steering forward seeking at every step the instructions of the wise preceptor."⁴ Here the peg symbolises the impure principles of the active mind (*ābhāsa-doṣāṇi*—com.) and the rope is made of the thread of book-knowledge (*vidyā-sūtram*—com.). Thus, to proceed forward with the heart of universal compassion, the Yogin must first uproot all the principles of defilement in his mind and tear off the rope of scriptural knowledge. It has been

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³ There is a beautiful pun on the word *sona* and *rūpā* here. *Sona* may be derived from the Sanskrit word *svarṇa* or *suvarṇa* (gold) or from the word *śūnya* (cf. *sona*, verse 49), and *śūnya* may here be very happily compared to gold. Again *rūpā* may be derived from the Sanskrit word *raupya* (silver) and it may also be associated with the word *rūpa* (form) and silver may also be compared to the illusory form when gold is compared to the void.

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sone bharitī karuṇā nāvī |
rūpā thoi mahike ṭhāvī || (nāhika ṭhāvī Bagchi)
bāhatu kāmali gaana uveseṃ |
gelī jāma bāhuḍai kaiseṃ ||
khuṇṭi upāḍi melili kacche |
bāhatu kāmali sadguru pucchi ||

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declared by Saraha,—" The body is the boat, a pure mind is the oar—with the instruction of the wise preceptor take the helm (rightly). Make the mind quiet and then direct the boat on,—by no other means can one reach the other shore."'

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The Caryā-padas, following the Tāntric texts, often speak of four gradations in the doctrine of Śūnyatā. In the Pañca-krama of Nāgārjuna-pāda the four gradations have been arranged in the following manner:—the first is the Śūnya, the second Ati-śūnya, the third Mahā-śūnya and the fourth or the final is the Sarva-śūnya,—and these are all different according to their cause and effect.² The first stage Śūnya has been explained as light (āloka)³; it is knowledge (prajñā), and the mind (citta) remains active in it,—it is relative (para-tantra) by nature.⁴ In this state there are as many as thirty three impure functions (doṣa) of the mind; these are sorrow, fear, hunger, thirst, feeling (vedanā), sympathy, self-analysis (pratyavekṣā), kindness, affectionateness, fickleness, doubt, jealousy, etc.⁵ This mental state of Śūnya has also been called the woman (strī) and it has been said that of all illusions the illusion of the woman is the

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³ Cf. prajño-tpanna ālokaḥ prādurbhūtaḥ | Lalita-vistara, Ed. by Dr. S. Lefmam, pp.417-18.

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⁴ ālokaṃ śūnyaṃ prajñā ca cittaṃ ca para-tantrakam | MS., p. 20. In the commentary (Pañca-krama-ṭippanī by Paṇḍita-purohita-rakṣita-pāda, MS. B. N. Sans. No 65, 66) śūnya-prajñā has been explained as light (śūnya-prajñā āloka iti yāvat). MS., p. 43 (B).

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⁵ Pañca-krama. MS., p. 20(B).

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kāa ṇāvaḍi khaṇṭi maṇa keḍuāla |
soḍguru-vaaṇe dhara paḍavāla ||
cia thira kari dharahure nāhī |
āna upāye pāra na jāi ||
Ibid., Song No. 38 (1-4).

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śūnyañ ca ati-śūnyañ ca mahā-śūnyaṃ tṛtīyakam |
caturtham sarva-śūnyañ ca phala-hetu-prabhedaṭaḥ ||
Pañca-krama. MS., p. 20 (A).

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greatest.¹ It is also called the left (vāma), the lotus in the lunar circle,—and the first vowel. The second stage, viz., Ati-śūnya is said to be the manifestation of light (ālakā-bhāsa), which shines like moon-rays and proceeds from the former (i.e., āloka-jñāna). It is called the Upāya and is of the nature of constructive imagination (parikalpita). It is also called the right (dakṣiṇa), the solar circle (śūnya-maṇḍala) and the thunderbolt (vajra). Forty mental functions of defilement, such as passion, contentment, joy, pleasure, wonder, patience, valour, pride, energy, greed, etc., are associated with this state. The third stage, viz., Mahā-śūnya proceeds from the union of Prajñā and Upāya or āloka and ālokābhāsa, or Śūnya and Ati-śūnya,—and it is called the intuition of light (āloko-palabdhi) and is of the absolute nature (pariniṣpanna); and yet it is called ignorance (avidyā) and is associated with seven impure mental functions of defilement, viz., forgetfulness, illusion, stupor, laziness, etc. Thus āloka, ālokā-bhāsa and āloko-palabdhi—these are the three stages of the citta from which there follow the principles of impurities, numbering hundred and sixty in all.² They function throughout the whole day and night with the flow of the vital wind, which has been said to be the medium (vāhana) through which the impurities of nature function.³ It has been said, wherever there is the function of the bio-motor force or the vital wind, nature with all its impurities is also brought along with it, and so long as there is the function of this bio-motor force or the vital wind, the principles of impurity will not cease to function.

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¹ strī-samjñā ca tathā proktā mandā-kārās tathaiva ca || Ibid., MS., p. 20 (A). Also, sarveṣām eva māyānām strī-māyaiva viśiṣyate || Ibid., MS., p. 21 (A).

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² The total number of the principles of defilement (prakṛti-doṣa) are really eighty; (thirty-three in the first state of Śūnya, seven in the second and forty in the third state); but the number is doubled taking into consideration both day and night.

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³ etāḥ prakṛtayaḥ sūkṣmāḥ śatam ṣaṣṭhy-uttaram divā | rātrau cā'pi pravartante vāyu-vāhana-hetunā || Pañca-krama, MS , pp. 21(A)-21(B).

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The fourth stage, viz., Sarva-śūnya (all-void or perfect void) is free from the three-fold impurities mentioned above, and is self-illuminant. It is absolute purity obtained by transcending the principles of defilement. It is the purified knowledge, the ultimate truth, the supreme omniscience. It is a state which can be said to be neither without beginning, nor with beginning,—neither without middle nor with middle, neither without end nor with end. It is beyond the categories of either being or non-being, merit or demerit, or even a combination or the absence of both.¹

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¹ Ibid., MS., p. 30(A).

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This theory of the four Śūnyas, as expounded in the Pañca-krama of Nāgārjuna-pāda seems to be the reminiscence of a similar doctrine of Śūnyas expounded in some Hindu and Buddhist texts. An exposition of the theory of seven Śūnyas is found in the old Tāntric text Svacchanda, a theory which found its echo in many of the subsequent texts of the Śaiva and Śākta literature. The Svacchanda contends that there are seven kinds of Śūnya, of which the first six are impure and contain the seeds of phenomenalism,² whereas the seventh is the Supreme Reality itself, which is Pure Being and Consciousness and is free from all Vikalpas. The doctrine of sixteen or eighteen Śūnyas as ennumerated by Asaṅga or Diṅnāga (in the Madhyānta-bibhāga or the Aṣṭa-sāhasrikā-piṇḍārtha) and also by the Nātha writers is also of a similar character.

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² ūrdhva-śūnyam adhaḥ-śūnyam madhya-śūnyam tṛtīyakam | śūnya-trayam calam hy etad adho madhya ūrdhvataḥ || caturtham vyānī-śūnyam samanāyām ca pañcamam | unmanāyām tathā ṣaṣṭham ṣaḍ ete sāmayāḥ sthitaḥ || Ch. IV, verses (289-290) (Kashmir Series of Texts and Studies, No. XXVIII).

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The theory of the four Śūnyas was accepted both in the Dohās and the Caryā-padas. In a Dohā of Kṛṣṇācārya it has been said that in the abode of Mahā sukha there are four stalks and four leaves.¹ Here the four leaves are the four Śūnyas, and the four stalks are the four sources.² Sarva-śūnya is said to be the effulgent principle,—there is no higher truth than this.³ It is the abode of Avadhūtī (i.e., the damsel of the nature of perfect bliss), it is the abode of the Jinas.⁴

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¹ patta-cauṭṭha cau-mūṇāla ṭhia mahāsuha vāse | Verse No. 5, Dr. Bagchi's edition in the J D. L , Vol. XXVIII. 1935. ² śūnyā-tiśūnya-mahāśūnya-sarvaśūnyam iti catuḥ-śūnya-svarūpeṇa patra-catuṣṭayam, catur-ādi-svarūpeṇa catur-mṛṇāla-samsthitāḥ, etc., Com. ³ sarva-śūnyam prabhāsvaram ato nānyac chūnyam tattvam astīty arthaḥ | Com. This commentary on the Dohākoṣa of Kaḥna pāda is, however, different from the commentary discovered and published by MM. Śāstrī. It is found in a MS (B. N. Sans. No. 47, available in rotograph)., p. 43(A). ⁴ Ibid., MS., p. 57(A). ⁵ ṭāatal mora ghara nāhı paḍivesī | hāḍita bhāta nāhi niti āvesī || balada biäela gavıa bājmhe | piṭā duhiäi e tinā sājṃhe || Song No 33. ⁶ asadrūpam kāya-vāk-cittasya ṣaṣṭhy-uttara-śata-prakṛti-doṣam yasm(i)n samaye mahā-sukha-cakre layam galam tad eva mama gṛham., etc. Ibid. Com., p. 51.

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In the Caryā-padas and their commentary we find occasional reference to this theory of the four Śūnyas and the impurities of nature (*prakṛti-doṣa*), which are the cause of the cycle of birth and death and all the resulting sufferings, and they have always been prescribed to be eradicated. There is a song of Dheṇḍhaṇa-pāda, which may be literally translated thus,—“On a lofty height is situated my house; no neighbour have I. There is no rice in the earthen pot,—(guests) come every day. .....The bull has given birth, but the cow is barren. The milk-pot is being filled with milk thrice in the day.”⁵ The esoteric significance of the lines (in light of the commentary) is that when all the hundred and sixty impurities of nature pertaining to the body, word and mind all vanish away in the Mahā-sukha-cakra⁶ (which is compared to the house on the height), the neighbours, *viz.*, the sun and the moon are gone;¹ *i.e.*, with the destruction of the *prakṛti-doṣas* all the functions of the sun and the moon are also destroyed.² The mind with the three principles of impurity (*ābhāsa-traya*), compared, to the bull, gives rise to the notion of the external world, but barren is the non-essential void (compared to the cow).³ The Yogin always tries to destroy all these impurities (*pīṭa = pīṭhakam, ābhāsa-doṣam*).⁴ In another place Dārika-pāda says,—‘Dārika revels on the other side of the sky;’⁵ and this sky (*gaana = gagana*) has been explained in the commentary as the three-fold void or light discussed above.⁶ The final stage is the other side of the three-fold Śūnya. In one song of Kāṇha-pāda it is said,—“On the arm of the void I strike with the ‘thatness’ and I plunder the whole storage of attachment and take away (all it contains)”.⁷ The image may be explained thus:—The whole storage of attachment was in possession of the three-fold Śūnya; the arms of this three-fold Śūnya are struck with the perfect-void (*sarva-śūnya*) which is ‘thatness’, and the Śūnya is thereby undone; then the whole storage of illusory attachment is plundered and all that it contained is taken possession of. In the commentary this three-fold Śūnya has been explained as the storage of the Vāsanās,⁸ which are responsible for the illusory world. In another song of Kānha-pāda it is said,—‘ Split up the two ; O lord, you are also dead.’¹ According to the commentary the two refers to the first two principles of impure knowledge (ābhāsa-dvayam), i.e., Śūnya and Ati-śūnya; the lord (ṭhākura) represents the third stage of Mahā-śūnya or the ignorant mind (avidyā-citta). After splitting up or destroying the two principles of the defiled void, the third or the avidyā-citta is also to be killed. It is further said in the same song,—“ First I took the vaḍiā and killed it by a dash and then taking the great elephant destroyed the five.”² Here the esoteric doctrine is explained in terms of the game of chess. The vaḍiā in the game represents the infantry, but here it represents the hundred and sixty kinds of impurities.³ First the impurities must be shaken off and then raising the mind (gaavara = gaja-vara = citta-gajendra) the five Skandhas are destroyed. Again in a song of Śavara-pāda we find that he has awakened the Nairātmā damsel by destroying Śūnya, Ati-śūnya and also the adjoining house (i.e., Mahā-śūnya) by the stroke of the fourth Śūnya of his heart,⁴ and by the side of the adjoining house (i.e., Mahā-śūnya) shines another house lit with moon-rays, and when all the mass of darkness is driven away—the sky shines with lustre.¹ This last house is the Sarva-śūnya (all-void).

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¹ Cf. Com. *pārśvastha-candra-sūryau*.

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² *Candra-sūrya* may here imply subjectivity and objectivity,—or, the two nerves in the left and the right; about this we shall have detailed discussion later on.

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³ *balada i'yādi - balam mānasād deha-vigraham dadāti'ti baladas tad eva bodhi-citta(m) ābhāsa-traya-prastutam | Com. p 52. (Śāstrī's edition).*

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⁴ *dohanam iti niḥsvabhāvi-karaṇam kriyate | sandhyā-trayam iti ahar-niśam yogindreṇe'ti | Ibid., Com. p 52.*

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⁵ *bilasai dārika gaanata pārimakulem || Ibid., Song. No. 34.*

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⁶ *gaganam iti ālokādi-śūnya-trayam boddhavyam | Ibid., Com. p 53.*

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⁷ *suna bāha tathatā pahārī | moha-bhaṇḍāra lai saalā ahārī || Ibid., Song. No. 36.*

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⁸ *suna ity ādi śūnyam iti | āloko-palabdhi-sandhyā-jñānena vāsanā-gāram boddhavyam | Ibid., Com. p. 56.*

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¹ Dr. Shahidullah, however is disposed to explain madesi re ṭhākura as ‘don’t give the lord anything’ (mā = don’t, desi = give) ; (Cf. his pamphlet, Dacca Sāhitya-Pariṣad-granthāvali, No. 10) but mādesi may also be explained with reference to the Prakrita form madesi (< √mṛ) and the latter derivation gives a more suitable meaning. Dr. Shahidullah in his Les Chants Mystiques de Kānha et de Saraha (p. 113) takes the reading as—phiṭau duāra dekhi re ṭhākura (La porte est ouverte. Oh ! J’ai vu le seigneur Ibid., p. 119) Dr. P. C. Bagchi takes the reading as—phiṭau duā maresire ṭhākura. (Materials for, etc , Dr. Bagchi, p. 119). ² pahilem toḍiā baḍiā māriu | gaavarem tolia pāñcajanā ghāliu || Song No. 12. ³ vaḍiketi sandhyā-bhāṣayā ṣaṣṭhy-uttara-śata-prakṛtayaḥ, etc. Ibid., Com. p. 23 ⁴ gaaṇata gaaṇata tailā bāḍi heñce kurāḍi | kaṇṭhe nairāmaṇi bāli jāgante upāḍi ||

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¹ *tailā bādira pāsemra johnā bāḍī uelā |* *phiṭeli andhāri re ākāśa phuliā* || *Ibid.*, Song No. 50. ² Song No. 8. ³ *karuṇā pihaḍi khelahum naa-bala* | Song No. 12. ⁴ *nia deha karuṇā śūname herī* || Song No. 13.

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As we have seen, Mahāyāna Buddhism do not recognise Śūnyatā or the knowledge of the essencelessness of the world to be the highest truth,—the highest truth is a state where Śūnyatā and Karuṇā are united together. This element of Karuṇā or compassion is emphasised in all the Buddhist Tantras, and all the esoteric practices including the sexo-yogic practice are professed to be undertaken with the avowed intention of liberating the whole world. This emphasis on the element of Karuṇā side by side with the theory of Śūnyatā is found also in the Caryā-padas. We have seen that Kambalāmbara-pāda filled his boat of Karuṇā with the gold of vacuity.² In the song where Kānha-pāda explains the esoteric doctrine by the metaphor of the chess-game, compassion is made the play-board.³ In another song he says that he has realised his body (i.e., existence) in a non-dual state of compassion and vacuity.⁴ The commentary on the Caryās explains that all the Caryā-songs were composed by the Siddhācāryas only for the uplift and ultimate deliverance of the beings.

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The philosophical notions found in the Caryā-songs are of a general Buddhistic nature; but the Caryā-songs as a whole represent a special school of religious thought with distinctive features of its own. Let us concentrate our attention on the study of the special features of the school of religious thought, to which the Caryā-songs belong, viz., the school of Sahajiyā Buddhism.

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