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An Introduction to Tantric Buddhism c8.s2.t2: (B) General Characteristics of Vajra-yāna

An Introduction to Tāntric Buddhism c8.s2.t2

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(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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¹ The most general Mantras, as we have already noticed, are:--
(i) oṃ śūnyatā-jñāna-vajra-svabhāvā-tmako’ham|
(ii) oṃ svabhāva-śuddhāḥ sarva-dharmāḥ svabhava-śuddho’ham| In addition other Mantras like---
(i) oṃ sarva-tathāgatā-tmako’ham|
(ii) oṃ dharma-dhātu-svabhāvā-tmako’ham| etc. are also found.

Cites (8)