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An Introduction to Tantric Buddhism c8: Chapter III. Schools of Tāntric Buddhism

An Introduction to Tāntric Buddhism c8

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English

Contents

Chapter III. Schools of Tāntric Buddhism

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In describing the schools of esoteric Buddhism the best thing would have been to trace historically the origin and development of the various schools with their particular faiths, doctrines and practices; but the data for such a historical survey is so scanty and confused that we do not venture to make such an attempt. Dr. Benayatosh Bhattacarya in his *Introduction to Buddhist Esoterism* has of course made an attempt at constructing some sort of a history of the Vajrayānist and the Sahajiyā preachers; but so vast and confused is the field and so scanty and doubtful are the materials that the structure does not seem to be very well built. The same remark holds good for the attempt made by Dr. Shahidullah in tracing the history of the Sahajiyā Buddhist School in his work *Les Chants Mystiques de Kanha et de Saraha*.

(i) The Evolution of Mantra-yāna

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In the *Tattva-ratnāvalī* (collected in the *Advaya-vajra-saṃgraha*) we find Mahāyāna sub-divided into two schools, viz., Pāramitā-naya and Mantra-naya. The principles of Mantra-naya are said to 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 others, it is distinctly superior to the other Śāstras, which prescribe many easier methods; the reason is that it (*i.e.*, Mantra-śāstra) is free from delusions and it is accessible only to people of higher intellectual calibre.¹ This Mantra-naya or Mantra-yāna school of Mahāyāna seems to be the introductory stage of Tāntric Buddhism from which all the other offshoots of Vajra-yāna, Kālacakra-yāna, Sahaja-yāna, etc., arose in later times. In the *Laghu-kāla-cakra-tantrarāja-ṭīkā*, entitled *Vimala-prabhā*, we find that the doctrines of the Pāramitā-naya are written wholly in Sanskrit, while those of the Mantra-naya are explained in Sanskrit, Prakrit, Apa-bhraṃśa and even in the non-Sanskritic languages like those of the Śavaras and others.¹

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¹ *ekā-rthatve' py asammohāt bahūpāyād aduṣkarāt | tīkṣṇendriyā-dhikārāc ca mantra-śāstraṃ viśiṣyate ||* Tattva-ratnāvalī in *Advaya-vajra-saṃgraha*, p. 21.

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¹ *saṃskṛta-bhāṣayā pāramitānayam | mantranayaṃ tantra-tantrāntaraṃ saṃskṛta-bhāṣayā prākṛta-bhāṣayā apabhraṃśa-bhāṣayā asaṃskṛta-śavarādi-mleccha-bhāṣayā |* Laghu-kālacakra-tantra-rāja-ṭīkā (MS. R.A.S.B. 4727), p. 30(A).

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Early Buddhism was a religion of rigorous moral discipline, practices and contemplation. But such a religion of purely ethical codes and deep meditation could not appeal to the masses and the systems of moral discipline and the methods of the *jhānas* were not acceptable to them. To the ordinary mind religion is something full of rites and ceremonies or other paraphernalia of esoteric practices. It is for this reason that for the sake of the common run of people the Mantras, the Mudrās and the Maṇḍalas (mystic circles) were introduced in Buddhism in course of time. These Mantra, Mudrā and Maṇḍala, etc., introduced for the realisation of the ultimate truth, gradually brought with them various other practices and thus Buddhism began to put on a different air, which is generally known as Tāntricism. We may recall in this connection the later Mahāyānic idea of *Trailokya-vijaya* or the religious conquest of the three worlds. The idea behind the whole drive was the idea of bringing people of all calibre within the Buddhistic faith by making Buddhism acceptable to all classes of people. With this end in view the Mahāyānic apostles had to incorporate all sorts of popular ceremonies and practices in their religion, and as a result the ethico-religious nature of Buddhism began to change rapidly.¹

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¹ *Vide Aśoka and His Inscriptions* by Dr. B. M. Barua, Part I, pp. 288, 312; also a lecture by Dr. Barua, named, *Role of Buddhism in Indian Life and Thought*, delivered at a symposium of the Indian Philosophical Congress, 21st Session, Delhi.

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Tradition holds Asaṅga, the great exponent of the Yogācāra school, to be responsible for the introduction of Tāntrism 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 he received the doctrines from the Celestial Buddha Vairocana through the divine Bodhisattva Vajrasattva at ‘the iron tower’ in South India.

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But apart from these traditions, some scholars are disposed to think that in the *Mahāyāna-sūtrālaṅkāra* of Asaṅga there are clear references to the sexo-yogic practice of the Tāntric Buddhists. As the point has been discussed by the present writer elsewhere, he need not repeat it here.² Dr. Benayatosh Bhattacarya is of the opinion that the esoteric elements were introduced into Buddhism by Lord Buddha himself as a provision for the lay people whose intellectual calibre would not allow them to follow the path chalked out by him.³ We on the whole are rather loath to believe that Buddha whose life and teachings were a direct revolution against the prevalent religious system of ceremonies and rituals should have himself made any provision for Tāntric practices of any kind in his religion only to popularise his religion among the uncultured and uneducated mass.⁴

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² *Vide Obscure Religious Cults As Background of Bengali Literature* (C.U., 1946) by the present writer.

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³ *An Introduction to Buddhist Esoterism*, p. 48: See also *The Introduction to the Sādhana-mālā*, Vol. II, pp. xvi-xvii.

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⁴ *Vide Obscure Religious Cults*, etc., pp. 18-20.

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When and by whom the Mantra element was introduced in Buddhism we do not know exactly; but it seems that with the rise of Mahāyāna with its pledge for delivering all the beings higher or lower, meritorious or vicious, the Mantra, Mudrā, Maṇḍala and such other popular religious practices began to make their way into Buddhism. The Mahāyānist preachers, with their pledge of universal redemption, could not do without these ordinary masses and for them they had to condescend from the prescription of strict ethico-religious practices to the sanction of the Mantra, Mudrā, etc. The innumerable Dhāraṇīs seem to be the original form in which the Mantra element first found its way in Mahāyāna. The word Dhāraṇī literally means that by which something is sustained or kept up (dharyate anayā iti), i.e., the mystic syllables that have got the capacity of keeping up the religious life of a man. In the evolution of some of the Mantras in the Dhāraṇīs there seems to be some sort of a history. It seems that the ordinary followers of Buddhism could not follow the original aphorism of Buddhism; for them it was necessary to shorten the sūtras into the Dhāraṇīs and the ordinary followers were enjoined to commit to memory and regularly recite these Dhāraṇīs with implicit faith, and it was assured by the Bodhisattvas that the recital of these Dhāraṇīs was capable of producing infinite merit in the reciters and of conferring immense benefit on them. Dr. B. Bhattacharya has traced some sort of a history of the bīja-mantra praṁ which symbolises Prajñā-pāramitā. The Aṣṭasāhasrikā-prajñā-pāramitā, a Mahāyāna work of stupendous volume, could hardly be expected to be read and mastered by any ordinary follower; it was therefore absolutely necessary to abridge these 8,000 stanzas into a few stanzas, which became known as the Prajñā-pāramitā-hṛdaya-sūtra, which again was further reduced to the Prajñā-pāramitā-dhāraṇī. From this Prajñā-pāramitā-dhāraṇī again evolved the Prajñā- pāramitā-mantra, from which again evolved the bīja-mantra in one syllable as praṁ, and it was believed that in response to the muttering of this bīja-mantra praṁ śūnyatā would transform herself into the goddess Prajñā-pāramitā, who is a ‘veritable metamorphosis of the Prajñā-pāramitā literature.’¹ These bīja-mantras are mono-syllablic Mantras symbolising some particular god or goddess. Thus ‘a’ represents Vairocana, ‘ya’ Akṣobhya, ‘ra’ Ratnasambhava, ‘ba’ Amitābha and ‘la’ Amoghasiddhi, ‘Huṁ’ is the bīja of Vajra-sattva.² The vowel ‘a’ being the first and the most independent sound, has been taken to represent Śūnyatā or Prajñā.³

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¹ Vide An Introduction to Esoteric Buddhism, by B. Bhattacharya, p. 56. ² About the allotment of the bījas to the different gods and goddesses there is no strict agreement among the Tantras. Thus in the Pañca-krama we find that ‘oṁ’ is the bīja of Vairocana, ‘āḥ’ of Amitābha, ‘huṁ’ of Akṣobhya, ‘svā’ of Rantranātha and ‘hā’ of Karmanātha. [MS. B.N. Sans. Nos. 65, 66, p. 4(B)]. ³ In the Mantra-paṭala of the Hevajra-tantra we find that the bīja-mantra of the Tathāgata is oṁ āḥ huṁ phaṭ svāhā; that of the goddesses kruṁ aṁ jiṁ khaṁ huṁ,—and that of Heruka is taṁ maṁ paṁ taṁ baṁ oṁ deva picuvajre huṁ huṁ huṁ phaṭ svāhā. MS. (R.A.S.B. No. 11817) p. 5(A). ⁴ Vide Tantrā-loka, also Vijñāna-bhairava (Kashmir Series of Texts and Studies). ⁵ śūnyatā-bodhito bījaṁ bījād bimbaṁ prajāyate| Advaya-vajra-saṁgraha, p. 50 (G.O.S.).

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This system of bīja-mantra is very common in the Hindu Tantras also, and they are even now prevalent in all the Hindu systems including Śāktaism, Śaivism, Vaiṣṇavism, etc. It has often been assured in the Buddhist Tantras that in response to the muttering of these bīja-mantras the ultimate void (śūnyatā) will transform herself into the particular form of god or goddess and confer infinite benefit on the reciter. The same belief is found in the Hindu Tantras.⁴ In the Mahāsukha-prakāśa of the Advaya-vajra-saṁgraha it has been said that the bīja proceeds from the śūnyatā-knowledge, and from the bīja proceeds the reflection or the form (of particular gods and goddesses).⁵ This kind of belief in a syllable representing a god or goddess is a very old belief current from the time of the Āraṇyakas and the Upaniṣads. In the Upaniṣads we often find that Brahman is to be meditated in the form of the syllable ‘om’; this ‘om’ is taken to be the representative of the Brahman. Even Patañjali in his Yoga philosophy accepts the praṇava (i.e., ‘om’) to be the representative of Īśvara.

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It must, however, be admitted that of these Mantras (which are many in kinds, such as Bīja, Hṛdaya, Upahṛdaya, Rakṣā, etc.) only very few can be historically traced back to some significant origin like the bīja-mantra pram. A noticeable thing in this Mantra element is the infusion of some particular significance into some sound or syllable, which now seems to us to be purely arbitrary; and often purely Sanskritic words have also been explained in that technical way. Thus, in the Manual of a Mystic we find, —“ In the word Arahan the first letter ‘A’ means the Treasure of the Law (Dharma); the second ‘Ra’ the Treasure who is the Buddha and the third ‘Hàn’ the Treasure of the brotherhood (Saṅgha)”.¹ In the Hevajra-tantra Śrī-Heruka has been explained in the following manner,—‘Śrī’ means the non-dual knowledge, ‘he’ means the non-causality, ‘ru’ means the nature as uncompounded and ‘ka’ means ‘not abiding anywhere’.² In the Śrī-cakra-sambhāra-tantra we find,—“ Let him imagine in the centre of his own heart the letter ‘A’ evolved from the experience which knows that forms are unreal. Or let him think of the clear lunar disc which symbolises world experience, and upon that Mantra ‘Huṃ’ which symbolises mind devoid of objective content. Of this ‘Huṃ’ the letter ‘u’ stands for the knowledge which accomplishes all works; the body of the letter ‘H’ for that knowledge which distinguishes, the top of the letter ‘H’ for the equalising knowledge, the crescent (candra) for the mirror-like knowledge; and the ‘Bindu’ above that for the changeless knowledge.”¹ This kind of interpretation of the Mantras is frequently met with in the Tantra literature in general.²

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¹ Manual of a Mystic (being the Translation from the Pāli and Sinhalese work entitled the Yogavachara’s Manual) by F. L. Woodward, M.A. (Cantab), p. 2.

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² śrī-kāram advayaṃ jñānaṃ he-kāraṃ hetuśūnyatā | ru-kārā-pagataṃ byūhaṃ kakāre na kvacit sthitam || Hevajra-tantra. MS. (RASB. No. 11817) p. 19(A).

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¹ *Śrī-cakra-sambhāra-tantra*, translated from Tibetan by Kazi Dawasamdup, pp. 5-6.

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² *akāras tala-cakrastho vārāhī sā vidhīyate* | *rephas tataḥ samudbhūto yā rekhā bahni-rūpiṇī* || *akāro vāvadhūtiti sarva-dharma-sukhaṃ hi sā* | *rekhā bahnimayī rekhā tadvartamāno carita (sati) (?) ||* *atrāpyakāro draṣṭavyaḥ prabhāsvara-sukhākṛti* | *dvayoḥ saṃyogato ceti madhya-varṇo yato bhavet ||* *hakāraḥ sukha-cakrastho lekhayāliṅgitam (?) tayā* | *tataḥ samplāvayan devīm ikāro vindurucyate ||* *tasmāt tu lokottarā kvacit lokottara-sukha-pradā* | *lakṣya-lakṣaṇa-vibhavā seyam ikāra-rūpiṇī ||* *etāṃ saptākṣarīṃ devis trailokya-jñāna-śuddhataḥ* | etc. *Marmakalikā-tantra*. MS. (B.N. Sans. No. 88) pp. 2(B)--3(A).

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On the whole it seems that most of the Mantras and Dhāraṇīs are composed of a string of syllables which have lost their etymological meaning or which had never an etymological meaning. Vasubandhu says in his *Bodhisattva-bhūmi* that this absolute meaninglessness is the real significance of the Mantras. A Sādhaka is to meditate on these Mantras as something absolutely meaningless and this constant meditation on the meaninglessness of the Mantras will gradually lead to a state of mind where it will be very easy for him to meditate on the ultimate nature of the *dharmas* as absolutely meaningless; this meaninglessness is the void nature of the *dharmas* and thus the meditation on the Mantras will gradually lead a Sādhaka to the realisation of the void nature of the *dharmas*.³

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³ Vide *Bodhisattva-bhūmi*—Ed. by Unari Wogihara (Tokyo), pp. 272-74. See also *Obscure Religious Cults*, etc. by the present author, pp. 21-22.

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Thus according to Vasubandhu in this absolute unmeaningness of the Mantra lies its real power which helps the Sādhaka in realising the nature of the universe as absolute void. The Mantras are thus taken only as a help for the realisation of the absolute void-nature of the universe. So in the hands of Vasubandhu the Mantras obtain a deeper significance than the mere invocation of any particular god or goddess who might confer mundane benefit on us or fulfil some of our selfish desires.

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Besides these unmeaning mystic syllables we find in later Buddhist Tantras that the letters (including all the vowels and the consonants) were transformed into Mantras. In this matter the Buddhist Tantras agree fully with the Hindu Tantras. It is a general custom with the Tantras to place these Mantras in the form of the letters in different parts of the body for the purification of the body, and there are often elaborate systems of the arrangement of the letters on the different plexus (cakras) situated within the body along the spinal chord.¹ The two sets of letters, viz., āli (the vowels beginning with the vowel ‘a’) and kālī (the consonants beginning with the letter ‘ka’) are often spoken of variously in both the Hindu and Buddhist Tāntric practices. It is therefore necessary here to say a few explanatory words about these Mantras as letters (varṇa).

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¹ Vide Vajra-jāpa-krama of the Pañca-krama. MS. (B.N. Sans. No. 65) pp. 4(B)—5(A). Also, Heruka-tantra, Bodhicitta-saṅkramaṇa-paṭala. MS. (R.A.S.B. No. 11279) pp. 74(A)—75(B).

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In this transformation of the letters into the Mantras, as Prof. S. N. Dasgupta explains in an article,² the Tantras seem to have adopted the Mīmāṃsā theory of śabda or sound. The Mīmāṃsakas hold that sound is eternal and is always in the form of the letters of the alphabet, and a word is also nothing more than the letters that compose it. The meaning of a word is absolutely independent of any human agency and belongs to the word by virtue of its very nature and some peculiar power is required for the realisation of this inherent meaning. The words themselves are also eternal, but they require the auxiliary agency of pronunciation to be cognisable to our consciousness. The Tantras accept this view of the eternal nature of the śabdas and further hold that “the movement that produced the world shows itself, or, is represented in us in miniature, in the production of the sound. The process of the production of the sound is the epitome of the notion as it were, of the cosmic process of creation.” This creative power, which is viewed as the mother of the universe in its aspect as identified with the varṇas is called the mātṛkā. Now śabda being of the nature of varṇa, the fifty varṇas from ‘a’ to ‘h’ are taken to be the totality of the presiding force over the śabda. The different varṇas therefore represent the different functions of the mātṛkās and these mātṛkās being parts of the creative forces are associated with particular conative, cognitive and emotional tendencies and are also naturally connected with corresponding physiological centres, which form the physiological data of these psychological functions. This seems to be the metaphysical ground on which this Mantra theory as the varṇas is based. In the Śrīsampuṭikā we find that whatever word proceeds from the mouth of man should be regarded as a Mantra, the sound (nāda) is the Mantra.¹ In the Vyakta-bhāvānugata-tattva-siddhi it has been said that whatever pure movements of the limbs, proceed forth from the Bodhicitta, which is Sahaja, should all be conceived of as the Mudrās, and whatever words proceed from it are all Mantras.¹

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² General Introduction to Tantra Philosophy, by Prof. S. N. Dasgupta, collected in his Philosophical Essays.

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¹ yaḥ kaścit prasaro vācāṃ janānāṃ pratipadyate | sa sarvo mantra-rūpo hi tasmād eva prajāyate || nādo hi mantra ity uktaṃ sarveṣāṃ tu śarīriṇām | etc. Śrī-sampuṭikā. MS. (R.A.S.B. No. 4854) p. 9(B).

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¹ *svabhāva-śuddha-bodhicittāt ye khalu sahaja-vinirmitā-ṅga-vikṣepās te sarve eva mudrā-kārāḥ/ye'pi vāg-vikṣepās te'pi mantra-prakārāḥ|* *Vyakta-bhāvānugata-tattva-siddhi.* MS. (C.L.B. No. 13124) p. 90(A). *Cf.* also the Bengali song of Sādhaka Rāmprasād,— *yata śuna karṇa-puṭe, sakali mār mantra baṭe,* *kālī pañcāśat-varṇamayī varṇe varṇe nāma dhare ||* “Whatever you hear with your ears are but the Mantras of the Mother; Mother Kālī is of the nature of these fifty letters, and she has her name in every letter.”

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Closely associated with this Mantra element of esoteric Buddhism is the Mudrā element which is generally taken to be signs made by the particular position of the hands and the fingers.² This Mudrā element, however, with the Mantra and some other esoteric practices has a deeper significance in the yogic Sādhanā of the Tāntrikas, and as the Mantra element contains all the secrecy of the potency of sound, the Mudrā element contains the secrecy of touch as associated with the potency of the physiological system. With Mantra and Mudrā the element of Maṇḍala or describing the mystic circles was also introduced. Though this Mudrā element with the Mantra element and some other esoteric practices may be traced back to the later vedic practices, we have reason to think that in the evolution of Mudrā in esoteric Buddhism the different postures of the hands and fingers of Śākyamuni have something to do, and some of these postures do allude to some of the incidents of his life. In the University library of Cambridge there is a manuscript with the colophon *śrīmac-chākyarāja-sarva-durgati-pariśodhana-mukhākhyāna-prathama-ādiyoga- n ā m a-samādhiḥ* with as many as hundred and fifty-eight coloured illustrations of the different kinds of Mudrās. Of these some seem to be purely the posture of the hands and fingers; some on the other hand illustrate the different manners of holding the thunderbolt (*vajra*), the lotus (*padma*), the bell (*ghaṇṭā*), the sword, the conch-shell (*śaṅkha*), 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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² This Mudrā should be carefully distinguished from the Mudrā or the Mahāmudrā who is the Prajñā or the great woman to be adopted in the Yogic practice.

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Once the portals of Buddhism were flung open to let in some elements of Tāntricism in the form of the Dhāraṇī, Mantra, Mudrā, etc., all the traditional beliefs in Magic and charms and sorceries with all their details rushed in and quickly changed the whole ethico-religious outlook of Buddhism; and with the forms and traditions of Buddhism and the materials of Tāntricism grew up the elaborate Tāntric Buddhist systems.

(ii) Vajra-yāna—The Most Common Name

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Once this esoterism could find admission into the Buddhist fold all sorts of popular beliefs and practices began vigorously to be incorporated in it. The six kinds of Tāntric rituals intended for the good or evil of anybody (generally known as *abhicāra*) gradually made their way in it, and the five accessories of Tāntric practices, generally known as the five ‘M’s (*pañca-makāras*) also found place in Buddhist esoterism.¹ But the aim of these practices is not always the fulfilment of some or other mundane desire (though instances of them are not altogether wanting), but these practices with their minutest details are said to be undertaken only for the attainment of the Bodhicitta, *i.e.*, for the realisation of perfect knowledge and for the uplift of all beings.

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¹ We do not find any direct mention of these *pañca-makāras* in the Buddhist Tantras; but we find sporadic mention of wine, fish and meat, etc., but more often we find mention of the *pañca-kāma-guṇas*, and it is often said that a Sādhaka placed in the *Prajño-pāya* can, without hesitation, enjoy the five objects of enjoyment for the attainment of perfection.

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This composite system of Tāntricism came to be known by the general name of Vajra-yāna¹ and from Vajra-yāna developed the Sahaja-yāna at a still later time.²

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¹ The original name Mantra-yāna is also sometimes used in a general sense for the later Buddhist Tāntric Schools. E.G., *mantra-mahāyāne tu anuvakṣyate*, etc. *Hevajra-pañjikā*, MS. p. 45(B). Also,—*mantra-yānā-nusāreṇa tad idaṃ vakṣyate'dhunā* | —*Advaya-vajra-saṃgraha*, p. 54. Also,—Comm. on the *Dohākoṣa* of Kānhapāda, Verse No. 12. —Dr. P. C. Bagchi's edition.

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² Kazi Dawasamdup in his introduction to the *Śrī-cakra-saṃbhāra-tantra* divides this Vajra-yāna into six sects. He says,—"The development or 'fruit' of the first three (i.e., Śrāvaka-yāna, Pratyeka-buddha-yāna and Bodhisattva-yāna) is the Vajra-yāna and Mantra-yāna which is divided into six parts or states; (4) Kriyā-tantra-yāna (Byavhi-rGyud-kyi-thegpa); (5) Caryā or Upāya-tantra-yāna (Spyod-pahi-rGyud-kyi-thegpa); (6) Yoga-tantra-yāna (rNal-hbyor-rg). The latter is again subdivided into three; (7) Mahāyoga-tantra-yāna (Maha-yoga or Ma-rGyud-kyi-thegpa); (8) Anuttara-yoga-tantra-yāna (Anuyoga or (?) Blamed-rGyud-kyi-thegpa); and (9) Ati-yoga-tantra-yāna (Ati-yoga hi-theg-pa)." From what source Kazi Dawasamdup described these subdivisions we do not know; the general practice, however, is to divide Vajra-yāna into four classes,—viz., Kriyā-tantra, Caryā-tantra, Yoga-tantra and Anuttara-tantra. Mr. Waddell describes the first two divisions as the "Lower Tantra" and the last two as the "Upper Tantra". (*Lamaism*—p. 152). The Kriyā-tantras and Caryā-tantras are concerned with the rituals, ceremonies, worship of gods and goddesses and other practices; but the Yoga-tantra and the Anuttara-tantra are much higher types of Tantras containing the Yogic processes for the realisation of the ultimate truth and a discussion on the nature of the ultimate truth. As a matter of fact if we go through the Buddhist Tāntric texts, we shall find that some of the texts contain nothing but the detailed description of the gods and goddesses and elaborate systems of worship and chantings—without having any element of yoga or philosophy in them. It is for this reason that to study the essentials of the Buddhist Tantras we should concentrate our attention more on the Yoga-tantras and the Anuttara-tantras and our study is generally based on them. But the fact is that it is often very difficult to arrange the Buddhist Tantras under the heading of these four classes,—for many of the Tantras contain a mixture of the different elements.

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The doctrines of the Kriyā-tantras and the Caryā-tantras were meant for the beginners for whom mere rituals and practices were prescribed; but the Yoga-tantra and the Anuttara-yoga-tantra are

(A) Kālacakra-yāna, Nāthism, etc.

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The Buddhist Tantras are generally divided into three schools, viz., Vajra-yāna, Kāla-cakra-yāna and Sahaja-yāna. We do not know on the authority of what texts this division of schools have been made. Of course, these names are often met with in the Tāntric texts, but the characteristics of the schools have never been sufficiently explained, Mahāmahopādhyāya Haraprasāda Śāstrī in his introduction to *Modern Buddhism and its Followers in Orissa* of N. N. Basu, speaks of Nāthism as another school of Tāntric Buddhism in addition to the three already mentioned above. This view of MM. Śāstrī seems to be based on a popular misconception.¹ The name of Kāla-cakra-yāna also appears to be perplexing. About it Waddell says in his *Lamaism*,—"In the tenth century A.D., the Tāntrik phase developed in Northern India, Kashmir, and Nepal, into the monstrous and poly-demonist doctrine, the Kāla-cakra, with its demoniacal Buddhas, which incorporated the Mantra-yāna practices, and called itself the Vajra-yāna or ‘Thunderbolt-Vehicle’, and its followers were named Vajrā-cārya or ‘followers of the Thunderbolt.’" ² In another place he says,—"The extreme development of the Tāntrika 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 coarse Tāntrik development of the Ādi-Buddha theory combined with the puerile mysticism of the Mantra-yāna, and it attempts to explain creation and the secret powers of nature, by the union of the terrible Kālī, not only with the Dhyāni Buddhas, but even with Ādi-Buddha himself. In this way Ādi-Buddha, by meditation evolves a procreative energy by which the awful Sambharā and other dreadful Dākini fiendesses, all of the Kālī-type, obtain spouses as fearful as themselves, yet spouses who are regarded as reflexes of Ādi-Buddha and the Dhyāni Buddhas. And these demoniacal ‘Buddhas’, under the name of Kāla-cakra, Heruka, Achala, Vajra-bhairava, etc., are credited with powers not inferior to those of the celestial Buddhas themselves, and with-al ferocious and blood thirsty; and only to be conciliated by constant worship of themselves and their female energies, with offerings and sacrifices, magic circles, special mantra-charms, etc.”¹

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¹ See *Obscure Religious Cults As Background of Bengali Literature* by the present writer.

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² *Lamaism* by Waddell, p. 15. meant for the advanced Sādhakas who would attain perfection (siddhi) through processes of Yoga. Prof. La Vallée Poussin has compared these divisions of the Buddhist Tantras with the arrangement of the Vaisnava-tantras (found in the *Padma-tantra*) as the (1) Jñāna-pāda, (2) Yoga-pāda, (3) Kriyā-pāda and (4) Caryā-pāda. (*J.R.A.S.*, 1901, p. 900).

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¹ Ibid., p. 181.

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From what is said here about the Kāla-cakra-yāna it seems that it is also a phase of Vajra-yāna with a predominance of the terrible gods and goddesses whom Waddell has styled as the ‘demoniacal Buddhas’. But we do not understand the relation of this terrible aspect of Tāntric Buddhism with the name Kāla-cakra given to it. The word Kāla-cakra means the wheel of time. Its Tibetan synonym “‘Dus-Kyi-’ K’or-lo” also means the circle of time. MM. H. P. Śāstrī explains the word in the following way:—“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.”²

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² Modern Buddhism, etc. Intro., p. 8.

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We have at our disposal a text of the title of Śrī-kāla-cakra-tantra.³ As far as our knowledge of the Buddhist Tāntric texts goes, we have not found any other text belonging to this Kāla-cakra class. A study of the text does not confirm the statement that Kāla-cakra-yāna is that school of Tāntric Buddhism which introduced the demoniacal Buddhas in its fold,—at least it is not the main characteristic through which the school should be recognised. In the beginning of the text we find that King Sucandra approached the Omniscient Lord Buddha with salutation and asked of him the yoga of the *Śrī-kāla-cakra* which is the way to salvation of all people of the Kali age.¹ Then the Lord replied that this secret of yoga is unknown to all, it is a system of Yoga which, with all its accessories of Maṇḍala (magic circle) and consecration (*abhiṣeka*), is explained within this very body, and the Lord then explained how all the universe with all its objects and localities are situated in the body and how time with all its varieties (*viz.*, day, night, fortnight, month, year, etc.) are all within the body in its processes of the vital wind (*prāṇa-vāyu*).² In the body of the text Sahaja has been fully explained and the details of the sexoyogic practices for the attainment of the Sahaja have also been described. The only thing that strikes the reader is the stress given to the control of the vital winds (*prāṇa* and *apāna*) and to the results attained therefrom; we find detailed discussions of how even the different diseases are to be cured by the control of this *Prāṇa* and *Apāna*. This theory of Kāla-cakra has very soundly been discussed in the sixth chapter of the *Tantrā-loka* of Abhinava-gupta and a perusal of the text will convince the reader that the explanation of Kāla-cakra as given in the *Śrī-kāla-cakra-tantra* is just the same as described in the *Tantrā-loka*. The whole chapter of the *Tantrā-loka* 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. Here also time (*kāla*) in all its phases (day, night, fortnight, month, year, etc.) has been explained with reference to the functions of the vital wind (*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.

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³ Preserved in the Cambridge University Library (Cambridge MS. Add. No. 1864).

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¹ MS. (Cambridge Add. No. 1864) p. 1(B).

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² *dehamadhye samastaṁ yogaṁ vyākhyāyamānaṁ śṛṇuṣva narapate maṇḍalaṁ cā’bhiṣekaṁ* || Ibid., p. 1(B).

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The nature of Lord Śrī-kāla-cakra becomes clear from the *Laghu-kāla-cakra-tantra-rāja-ṭīkā*, entitled the *Vimala-prabhā*. Here he is saluted as the nature of Śūnyatā and Karuṇā; in him there is the absence of the origination and destruction of the three worlds, he is an unification of the knowledge and the knowable; goddess Prajñā, who is both with form and without form, is embraced by him; he is bereft of origination and change,—he is immutable bliss bereft of all lower pleasure; he is the father of the Buddhas, possessing the three Kāyas, the knower of the three times (*i.e.*, the past, present and future), the Omniscient,—the ultimate and original Buddha—the non-dual Lord. By an examination of these descriptions of the Śrī-kāla-cakra it will be found that there is no difference between the conception of this Lord Śrī-kāla-cakra and the Lord Vajra-sattva described hereafter. Again the aim of the *Kāla-cakra-tantra* as professed here is no mundane benefit; on the other hand, like all other Buddhist Tantras it also professes the attainment of perfect enlightenment, not only for the self but for all the beings, to be the final aim.

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That the conception of Kāla-cakra is substantially the same as the conception of Vajra-sattva and that Kāla-cakra-yāna is not a distinct school of Tāntric Buddhism, but a particular name for the Vajra-yāna school, will be clear also from the text *Sekoddeśa-ṭīkā*,¹ which is a commentary on the *Sekoddeśa* section of the *Kāla-cakra-tantra*. There it is said that the ultimate immutable and unchangeable one, remaining in the sky-like *dharma-dhātu* (the element underlying all the *dharmas*) is called *Kāla*; it itself is the immutable knowledge. *Cakra* implies the unity of the three kinds of existence—the manifestation of *Kāla*. It (the *Cakra*) is the body of the Lord—point-like, containing the potency of the existence of the universe. Kāla-cakra, therefore, implies exactly the same as the unity of *Prajñā* and *Upāya*.¹

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¹ G.O.S.—Ed. by Mario E. Carelli, Dr. Litt.

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¹ *Sekoddeśa-ṭīkā*, p. 8. *Cf.* also,— karuṇā-śūnyatā-mūrtiḥ kālaḥ saṁvṛti-rūpiṇī | śūnyatā-cakraṁ ity uktaṁ kāla-cakro’dvayo’kṣaraḥ || *Ibid.*, p. 8.

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Every syllable of the word Kāla-cakra is said to be pregnant with a meaning. Thus, the syllable ‘kā’ means causality (*kāraṇa*), ‘la’ means ‘cosmic re-absorption’ (*laya*), ‘ca’ means the unsteady mind, and ‘kra’ means the series of event or the process.² *Kāla*, therefore, means the state of absorption in the original cause-potency, this is the state of *Śūnyatā*; it is the pure consciousness or the principle of subjectivity. *Cakra* on the other hand means the principle of knowability, or the cycle of the world-process (*jñeyā-kāraṁ jagac-cakraṁ jñeyaṁ traidhātukaṁ ananta-bhāva-lakṣaṇaṁ cakram*), which is also the principle of *Upāya*. Kāla-cakra, therefore, means the absolutely unified principle of *Prajñā* and *Upāya*.³ We shall presently see that the conception of the Lord Vajra-sattva, the Godhead of Tāntric Buddhism, is also exactly the same. Sometimes we find in the Kāla-cakra-tantra salutation to Lord Śrī-kāla-cakra in the very manner in which Lord Vajra-sattva, the Lord Supreme, is saluted in most of the Buddhist Tantras.⁴ This Kāla-cakra is the Bodhicitta; he is the ultimate immutable substance in the form of motionless great bliss (*acintya-mahāsukha*).¹

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² *kākārāt kāraṇe śānte lakārāl layo’tra vai |* *cakārāc cala-cittasya krakārāt krama-bandhanaiḥ ||* *Ibid.*, p. 8.

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³ As for the unification of *Prajñā* and *Upāya* see *infra*.

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⁴ *numas te kāla-cakrāya sarva-varaṇa- hānaye |* *paramā-kṣara-sukhā-pūrṇa jñāna-kāya namo’(a sic.) stu te ||* *śūnyatā-karuṇā-bhinnam bodhi-cittaṁ yad akṣaram |* *tena sekena me nātha prasādaṁ kuru sāmpratam ||* etc. *Sekoddeśa-ṭīkā*, p. 24.

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¹ Sekoddeśa-ṭīkā, p. 8, also, p. 8.

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The Sahajiyā school is an offshoot of Vajra-yāna. There is no exclusive literature belonging to Sahaja-yāna,—on the other hand, the Sahajiyā poets of the Dohās and songs recognise the well-known texts of Vajra-yāna as their authority. The exponents of the Sahajiyā school put the whole emphasis on their protest against the formalities of life and religion. Truth is something which can never be found through mere austere practices of discipline, neither can it be realised through much reading and philosophising, or through fasting, bathing, constructing images and worshipping gods and goddesses and the innumerable other paraphernalia of rites and rituals prescribed in Vajra-yāna; it is to be intuited within the most unconventional way through the initiation in the *Tattva* and the practice of yoga. This makes the position of the Sahajiyās distinct from that of the Vajra-yānists in general.

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The name Sahaja-yāna seems to be doubly significant; it is Sahaja-yāna because, its aim is to realise the ultimate innate nature (*sahaja*) of the self as well as of the *dharmas*, and it is Sahaja-yāna also because of the fact that instead of suppressing and thereby inflicting undue strain on the human nature it makes man realise the truth in the most natural way,—i.e., by adopting the path through which the human nature itself leads him. What is natural is the easiest; and thus Sahaja, from its primary meaning of being natural acquires the secondary meaning of being easy, straight or plain. As

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*namaḥ śrī-kāla-cakrāya śūnyatā-karuṇā-tmane |*
*tri-bhavo-ṭpatti-kṣaya-bhāvo jñāna-jñeyaika-mūrtaye ||*
*sākārā ca nirākṛtir bhagavatī prajñā tayā’liṅgitah |*
*utpāda-vyaya-varjito’ kṣara-sukho hāsyā-di-saukhyo-jjhitaḥ ||*
*buddhānām janakas tri-kāya-sahitaḥ traikālya-samvedakaḥ |*
*sarvajñaḥ paramā-dibuddho bhagavān vande tam evā’dvayam ||*
Beginning of the *Laghu-kāla-cakra-tantra-rāja-ṭīkā* (entitled *Vimala-prabhā*, MS. R.A.S.B. No. 4727).

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As for the salutations to Lord Vajra-sattva see *infra*, Ch. IV.

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the Sahajiyā school has been studied by the present writer in a comprehensive way in another work, entitled *Obscure Religious Cults As Background Of Bengali Literature*, he does not propose to deal with it into further detail here.

(B) General Characteristics of Vajra-yāna

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Vajra-yāna or the ‘Adamantine way’ is really the way or means for the realisation of the Vajra-nature or the immutable and impenetrable void-nature of the self as well as of the *dharmas*.¹ But the scope and characteristics of Vajra-yāna have not been satisfactorily explained in any of the Tāntric texts. The *Śrī-samāja*, which is credited by some to be the earliest authoritative text on Vajra-yāna, explains Vajra-yāna as the means which has recourse to the five families (*kulas*) of the Bodhisattvas, viz., *Moha* (presided over by Vairocana with his Śakti Vajradhātviśvarī), *Dveṣa* (presided over by Akṣobhya with his Śakti Locanā), *Rāga* (presided over by Amitābha with his Śakti Pāṇḍarā), etc.; but these *kulas* have always their foundation on the Vajra or the *śūnyatā*.² Thus, according to the *Śrī-samāja*, the school that grew with the system of the five families, the *Kulas*, of the Bodhisattvas is the Vajra-yāna school. In the *Sādhanamālā* we find some characteristics of Vajra-yāna explained in connection with the *Sādhanā* of Vajratārā. Here the *Sādhaka* takes the resolution before the *Cakra* of the goddess that he will remove all the evils (*pāpa*) in him—will hold in high regard all the merits (*kuśala*) of all the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, *Āryas* (the reverend) and of all the *Pṛthag-janas* (ordinary men)—will develop all his merits which will lead him to transcendental (*anuttara*) perfect enlightenment (*sambodhi); he will take refuge in Buddha, the supreme one of all men,—to Dharma including the whole Mahāyāna, to the Saṅgha,—the assembly of the immutable Bodhisattvas; he will attain transcendental perfect enlightenment for all the beings—for their good,—for their happiness,—for establishing them in the element of nirvāṇa and in the wisdom of the Buddhas,—and for all these he is going to adopt the path of transcendental perfect enlightenment,—and that path is the Vajra-yāna.¹ In another place also, the attainment of Bodhi through all the seemingly unmeaning practices, rites, ceremonies, mantras and meditation is professed to be the aim of Vajra-yāna.² In the Jñāna-siddhi of Indrabhūti it has been said that the Vajra-yāna has been explained in innumerable yoga-tantras, those fools who do not know of it whirl in the sea of existence.³ Vajra-yāna is compared to the raft by which one is to cross the ocean of existence, which is full of the snares of false subjectivity.⁴ In the Guhya-siddhi of Padmavajra Vajra-yāna is characterised as the transcendental path which is the unity of all the religions, the doctrines of Vajra-yāna are the most secret;—it is a religion of non-substantiality and purity,—it has got no parallel.⁵

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¹ *Vide infra*, Ch. IV.

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² *moho dveṣas tathā rāgaḥ sadā vajre ratiḥ sthitā | upāyas tena buddhānāṁ vajra-yānam iti smṛtam || Śrī-guhyasamāja-tantra*, p. 154.

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¹ eṣo'ham anuttara-samyak-sambodhi-mārgam āśrayāmi yad uta vajra-yānam| Sādhana-mālā, Vol. I, p. 225.

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² Sādhana-mālā, Vol. II, p. 421.

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³ Two Vajra-yāna Works, p. 31 (G.O.S.).

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⁴ kalpanā-jāla-pūrṇasya saṃsārasya maho-dadheḥ| vajra-yānam samāruhya ko vā pāraṃ gamisyati || Ibid., p. 68.

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⁵ . . . . . vajra-yānam anuttaram| sarva-dharma-samekatvaṃ yat tvayā bhāṣitaṃ prabhu || aho guhyā-tiguhyasya vajra-yānasya deśanā| niḥsvabhāvasya śuddhasya vidyate yasya no'pamā || Guhya-siddhi, MS. p. 6(A).

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But all these are mere cursory descriptions none of which suggests any correct definition of Vajra-yāna. In fact, Vajra-yāna cannot be defined; for it incorporated within it so many heterogeneous elements and practices that any attempt at strict definition must be futile. We occasionally find in it all the six Tāntric practices technically known as *abhicāra*, viz., *māraṇa* (i.e., killing), *mohana* (enchanting), *stambhana* (paralysing), *vidveṣaṇa* (rendering harm through animosity), *uccāṭana* (removing or driving away) and *vaśī-karaṇa* (subduing), carried on with the purpose of fulfilling the selfish desires. Again, there are the elaborate methods of worshipping the gods and goddesses, making their images or paintings, chanting of the *gāthās* (verses) and the Mantras, the culture of the *pāramitās*, the application of the Mudrās, and drawing the mystic circles, the practices of Haṭha-yoga as well as of the contemplative yoga-system found in the canonical texts like the *Visuddhi-magga*, etc., and last but not the least, the sexo-yogic Tāntric practices.¹ We need not here enter into the detail of these heterogeneous practices, the mere enumeration and illustration of which are not likely to throw any light of any kind. Let us only notice here how these innumerable practices have been given a Buddhistic colouring.

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¹ Often we find mention of the rules of strict discipline, the development of the *pāramitās*, but often the Vajra-yānists declare that there cannot be anything evil for the Vajra-yānist,—no work not to be done,—no food not to be taken, no woman not to be enjoyed. Often it is rather commended that a Vajra-yānist should steal the properties of others, always tell the lie, kill all the beings, eat everything, should enjoy all women, whatever relation she may be.

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In spite of this heterogeneity of elements the most striking feature of Vajra-yāna, which justifies the general name given to it, is the use and function of the idea of Vajra. Vajra, as we shall presently see, is the

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*para-sva-haraṇaṃ kuryāt para-dāra-niṣevaṇam* |
*vaktavyaṃ ca mṛṣā-vākyam sarva-buddhān ca ghātayet* ||
. . . . .
*gamya-gamya-vikalpan tu bhakṣyā-bhakṣyan tathaiva ca* |
*peyā-peyam tathā mantrī kuryān naiva samāhitah* ||
*Advaya-siddhi*, MS. (C.L.B. No. 18124) p. 86(A).
Cf. also *Śrīguhya-samāja-tantra*, p. 125, p. 98, p. 20 etc. (G.O.S.).
*Kṛṣṇa-yamāri-tantra*. MS. (R.A.S.B. No. 9964) p. 20(B), quoted in the *Catalogue of Sans.-Buddhist MSS. in R.A.S.B.*, Vol. I, p. 150.

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void (śūnyatā),—and in Vajra-yāna everything is Vajra—i.e., perfect void. In worshipping a god, the god is thought of as of the Vajra-nature, his image is Vajra, —the worshipper is Vajra, the materials of worship are Vajra, the mantras are Vajra,—the processes are Vajra and everything is Vajra. This Vajra, as we have already said, often serves as the stamp of the Vajra-yāna. In the Kriyā-saṃgraha-nāma-pañjikā the names of the goddesses are generally Vajra-rūpiṇī, Vajra-bhāskarī, Vajra-huṃkarī, Vajra-vilāsinī, Vajra-mohinī, Vajra-khecarī, Vajrāsanī, Vajra-rasanī, Vajra-trāsanī, Vajra-sparśinī, Vajra-cetanī, Vajra-virāsinī, Vajra-vikāśinī, etc.¹ It should also be noticed that the supreme goddess is also called Vajreśvarī, or Vajra-dhātviśvarī or Vajra-vārāhī. In the rites and worships we find mention of the articles incense, lamp, conch-shell, bell, perfumes, flowers, garlands, sisamum (tila), grains (yaba), seat (āsana), flag, jar, cloth, ornaments, fried paddy (lāja), unboiled rice (akṣata), offerings (arghya and añjali), the five preparations from cow-milk (pañca-gavya), the five sweets (pañcā-mṛta), etc., but all of them invariably bear the stamp of Vajra.² There is laughing (hāsya), artistic gesture and movement (lāsya), music, dancing, playing on musical instruments—everything of which is Vajra. We need not multiply the instances. If we examine the Kriyā-saṃgraha we shall find nothing there which has not the determinant Vajra before it. Almost same is the case with the Sādhanas of the Sādhana-mālā. It was the peculiar idea of the Vajra-yānists that anything that bears the epithet vajra before it, necessarily leads one to the realisation of the void-nature of the self and the dharmas. We have seen that even the woman to be adopted for the yogic practices was called the vajra-kanyā or the ‘thunder or, void girl,’ and so it is in the fitness of things that the vehicle (*yāna*) itself should be called the Vajra-yāna.

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¹ Ch. III. MS. pp. 20-21.

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² Vide Ibid., pp. 88-40, 49, etc. Cf. also Sādhana-mālā, pp. 18-19, 321-22.

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It is very interesting to note how in the popular practices and worship of gods, goddesses and even of ghosts and spirits the ideas of Mahāyāna Buddhism lie interspersed. Thus in the selection of the ground for a monastery, forty gods and goddesses are to be meditated on and worshipped in the four quarters. These are,—Pramuditā, Vimalā, Prabhākarī, Arciṣmatī, Sudurjayā, Abhimukhī, Duraṅgamā, Acalā, Sādhumatī and Dharmamegha (i.e., the ten Bodhisattva-bhūmis) in thè east facing th ewest ; again the ten gods of the nature of the ten pāramitās, viz., Dāna (charity), Śīla (good-conduct), Kṣānti (forbearance), Vīrya (energy), Dhyāna (meditation), Prajñā (wisdom), Upāya (means), Praṇidhi (concentration), Bala (strength) and Jñāna (knowledge) in the south ; again ten in the west facing the east, viz., Āyuḥ (life), Citta (mind), Pariṣkāra (cleanliness), Karma (deed), Upapatti (birth), Siddhi (perfection), Abhimukti (that which is facing perfection), Praṇidhāna (concentration), Jñāna (knowledge), and Dharma-vaśitā (control of the dharmas) ; and ten goddesses in the North facing the South of the nature of the ten Dhāraṇīs,—viz., Vasumatī, Ratnasthā, Uṣṇīṣa-vijayā, Māricī, Parṇa-śavarī, Anekamukhī, Jāṅgulī, Cundā and Prajñā-vardhinī, Sarva-buddha-kroṣaṭī.¹ In the description of gods and goddesses we find that as they hold Vajra (thunder), Khaḍga (sword), Pāśa (noose), Padma (lotus), etc., so also they hold Prajñā-pustaka (the book of knowledge), Bodhi-vṛkṣa (the tree under which knowledge was obtained), etc. In connection with making the bricks for constructing the house it has been said that the brick must be thought of as a mass of nectar and then it should be sprinkled with the auspicious water of the jar and worshipped with the five presents (*pañcopahāra) and thus it should be purified; and then they should be meditated on as follows:—" This whole world is of the nature of the Tathāgatas; the Tathāgatas are of the nature of essencelessness—and therefore, the whole world is also of the nature of essencelessness."¹

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¹ Kriyā-saṃgraha-nāma-pañjikā. MS. pp. 6-7.

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¹ tathāgato yat-svabhāvas tat-svabhāvam idaṃ jagat| tathāgato niḥ-svabhāvo niḥ-svabhāvam idaṃ jagat || Ibid., MS. p. 21.

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In the Sādhanas of the Kriyā-saṃgraha in the form of worship and the muttering of various Mantras the fundamental aim of producing the Bodhicitta and of relieving the whole world is not lost sight of. Here also we find that through all the Mantras, Mudrā and Maṇḍala and all other rites and ceremonies the Sādhaka is bent on realising the nature of his citta as luminous by nature (prakṛti-prabhāsvara), as the immutable void (vajra); after the realisation of the self as the void, he identifies himself with all the objects of the world and becomes one with all.² Even in constructing the image of a god and in establishing it with religious ceremony and in worshipping it with all the elaborate paraphernalia the aim is professed to be the attainment of the Bodhicitta.

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² Ibid., pp. 45-50.

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If we analyse the Sādhanas of the Sādhanamālā, we shall see that the ideas of Buddhism are interspersed with polytheistic idolatry. Let us, for instance, examine the Vajrā-sana-sādhanam. Here, first, the Lord Supreme should be thought of with the five Tathāgatas, and then flowers are to be offered. Then the five Tathāgatas and their Śaktis are to be saluted and flowers, incense, lamp, and other offerings are to be presented to them. Then the Sādhaka is to meditate on the four Brahma-vihāras, e.g., universal friendship (maitrī), universal compassion (karuṇā), self-contentment (muditā) and absolute indifference (upekṣā). Then he should think in his heart the lunar disc transformed into the letter ‘a’ and on that the syllable ‘hum’ of the colour of gold and then think of the Guru, Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas emanating from the rays of that ‘hum’. These Guru, Buddha and Bodhisattvas should then be worshipped; then follow the confession of sins and the acceptance of the merits; then follow the taking shelter to the three jewels, e.g., Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha, and the adoption of the path followed by the Jinas (the self-conquered) and then the production of the Bodhicitta. Then follows the meditation on the void (śūnyatā), and then the realization of the nature of all the dharmas as essence-less and the realization of the self as luminous, of the form of the immutable Bodhicitta; for the stabilization of this state the following Mantra should be chanted,—“Naturally pure are all the dharmas, and by nature pure am I!” After this follow the other details of the Sādhana.¹ This in general is the nature of many of the Sādhanas that are collected in the Sādhana-mālā. It is remarkable that many of the Mantras here are nothing but the well-known doctrines of *Mahāyāna* Buddhism with the addition of an ‘oṃ’ or ‘phaṭ’ or ‘svāhā’, etc.,¹ with them. Another remarkable feature of these *Sādhanas* is the construction of the mental images of the lunar and the solar discs with the scheme of the colours and the various lotuses often with full decorations forming the canvas, as it were, for the objects of meditation; this seems to be significant from the yoga point of view.

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¹ Sādhana-mālā, Vol. I (G.O.S.), pp. 18-19. In the Khasarpaṇa-sādhana we find that first of all Lord Khasarpaṇa should be saluted and worshipped; then the Sādhaka should confess his sin before the Lord and take the vow that he will follow the merits of the Buddhas, the son of the Buddhas (i.e., the Bodhisattvas), the reverend ones and others and develop them to perfect enlightenment; then as usual he takes refuge in the three jewels of Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha. Then he takes the resolution of producing the Bodhicitta for the well-being and deliverance of all, and adopts the path followed by the Sugatas and their followers. Then he should think of the world of static and dynamic as all void and place himself in the void with the Mantra, ‘oṃ I am of the nature of the immutable knowledge of the void.’ Then he should realise that all the dharmas are pure by nature and he too is pure by nature and then he should read, ‘Naturally pure are all the dharmas, pure am I by nature—amen!’ Then the Sādhaka should realise himself as pure consciousness (vijñāna-mātrā-tmaka) and then think of a lotus of the colour of the universe (viśva-varna-kamala) transformed as the syllable ‘paṃ’ and on that a clear lunar disc emanating from the letter ‘a’ and on that the syllable ‘hrīḥ’ which is radiating rays which cover the sky; and then see all these terms formed into a full-blown, variously decorated lotus with its seed within. Then the self should be meditated on as the transformation of all these and as the Lord himself; and then follows the list of the gods and goddesses with the detail of their descriptions and the order in which they should be meditated on by the either side of the Lord with their bījas and Mantras, etc.

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