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An Introduction to Tantric Buddhism c9: Chapter IV. The Theological Position of the Tāntric Buddhists

An Introduction to Tāntric Buddhism c9

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Contents

Chapter IV. The Theological Position of the Tāntric Buddhists

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We have said in a previous chapter that the most important and the most interesting study in the Buddhist Tantras is that of the gradual transformation of Mahāyānic ideas into an esoteric theology and the association of the esoteric Yogic practices with them. We repeat here that it may not be a fact that the practices are there solely because of this theology; on the contrary we are inclined to postulate great influence of these practices in evolving the doctrinal theology through the gradual transformation of the Mahāyānic ideas. Let us now have some idea about the transformation of some of the main Mahāyānic thoughts into Tāntric esoterism.

(i) Vajra and Vajrasattva

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In the transformation of the ideology of Mahāyāna into Vajra-yāna the first thing to note is the transformation of the idea of Śūnyatā into the idea of Vajra. The word Vajra, commonly rendered as the thunderbolt, is taken here to connote the immutable adamantine nature of the *dharmas*. It has been said,—“Śūnyatā, which is firm, substantial, indivisible and impenetrable, incapable of being burnt and imperishable, is called Vajra.”¹ To realise the Vajra nature of things is, therefore, to realise the ultimate void nature of things. Some of the most important Mantras of the Vajra-yānists are,—“I am of the adamantine nature, which is Śūnyatā-knowledge.”² “All the *dharmas* are of the adamantine nature, I am also of the adamantine nature.”¹

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¹ *dṛḍhaṃ sāram asauśīryam acchedya-bhedya-lakṣaṇam | adāhi avināśi ca śūnyatā vajram ucyate ||* Advaya-vajra-saṃgraha, p. 37 (G.O.S.). Cf. *abhedyaṃ vajram ity uktam, Hevajra-tantra*, MS. p. 2(A). Cf. also,—*śūnyatā vajram ity uktam, Jvālāvalī-vajra-mālā-tantra* MS., B.N., No. 47, p. 1(B).

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² *oṃ śūnyatā-jñāna-vajra-svabhāvā-tmako’ham*

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¹ *vajrā-tmakāḥ sarva-dharmā vajrā-tmako'ham*| ² *vajreṇa śūnyatā proktā sattvena jñāna-mātratā*| *tādātmyam anayoh siddhaṃ vajra-sattva-svabhāvataḥ* || *Advaya-vajra-saṃgraha*, p. 24. ³ *śūnyatā vajram ityuktam ākāraḥ sattvam ucyate*| *tādātmyam anayor aikyam vajra-sattva iti smṛtaḥ* || *Jvālāvalī-vajra-mālā-tantra*. MS. B.N. Sans. No. 47, p. 1(B).

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We have seen before that the word Vajra-yāna, which is the name for Tāntric Buddhism in general, really means the Śūnyatā-yāna—the path of void which is the adamantine path. We have also seen that this Vajra served as the stamp, as it were, of the Tāntric Buddhists, showing thereby that the aim of the Vajra-yānists in and through all the paraphernalia of Mantras and Tantras was nothing but the realisation of the adamantine void-nature of the self and the not-self.

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Who is then the Vajra-sattva? He is the Being of adamantine substance—the ultimate principle as the unity of the universe. It has been said,—“By *vajra* is meant Śūnyatā, and by *sattva* is implied pure consciousness; the identity of the two follows from the nature of Vajra-sattva.”² Here it seems that the ultimate principle of the Vijñānavādins as pure consciousness (*vijñapti-mātratā*), which is pure knowledge and as such identical with Śūnyatā in the form of the absence of subjectivity and objectivity, is the Vajra-sattva. It has again been said, “Śūnyatā is said to be Vajra, and all manifestation in form is said to be *sattva*; Vajra-sattva implies the unity and the identity of the two.”³ In other words the Vajra-sattva is the *Abhūta-parikalpa* of the Vijñānavādins, where both Śūnyatā and the world-manifestation remain unrecognisably unified. But the fundamental departure of the Tāntric Buddhists from the standpoint of the Vijñānavādin Buddhists is that the ultimate principle of the Vajra-yānists, however negatively it might have sometimes been described, was tacitly conceived and more often frankly described as a Being—sometimes as the personal God, the Lord Supreme. Though the Vajra-sattva is free from all existence and non-existence, he, nevertheless, is endowed with the potency of all form and existences and is himself the embodiment of loveliness.¹

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¹ *bhāvā-bhāva-vinirmukto vajra-sattvah sucintitaḥ ||* *sarvā-kāra-varopetaḥ asecanaka-vigrahaḥ |* *Pañca-krama*, MS. p. 27(A).

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✓ This Vajra-sattva, as the Lord Supreme of the Tāntric Buddhists, representing a monotheistic conception of the Godhead, has variously been described in the Buddhist Tantras with all sorts of positive and negative attributes. He is the *Bhagavān* as he possesses all the six excellences; or he is called the *Bhagavān* as he possesses *bhaga* which means that which breaks or removes; Śūnyatā or Prajñā removes all afflictions and drives away the *Māra* and so śūnyatā is called the *bhaga*.² He is saluted as the Śūnyatā-essence, transcending all imagination, omniscient, embodiment of pure wisdom.³ He is the abode of all merits and is of the nature of all the beings.⁴ He is the Being without origination and destruction, the all-good, the soul-substance of all, the enlightened one—including in him all the static and the dynamic.⁵ Perfect knowledge is his only eye, he is the stainless embodiment of knowledge, pure, all-pervading, the subtle seed (of all creation), the immutable.⁶ He eternally belongs to all the elements, to all the beings—he remains pervading all the bodies in the form of the flow of consciousness (*citta-dhārā*) ;

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² *bhañjanam bhagam ākhyātaṃ kleśa-mārā-di-bhañjanāt |* *prajñā-bādhyāś ca tekleśās tasmāt prajñā bhago'cyate ||* *Hevajra-tantra*, MS. R.A.S.B.

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³ *Prajño-pāya-viniścaya-siddhi*, Ch. III, Verse 9.

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⁴ *Ibid.*, Ch. V, Verse 45.

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⁵ *Jñāna-siddhi*, p. 84.

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⁶ *jñānaika-cakṣur amalo jñāna-mūrtis tathāgataḥ |* *niṣkalaḥ sarvago vyāpī sūkṣma-vījam anāsravaḥ ||* Quoted in the *Jñāna-siddhi*, Ch. XV.

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he is immutable, unthinkable, pure, passionless, perfect void like the sky, free from existence and non-existence.¹ He is sometimes spoken of as of the nature of infinite bliss (*mahāsukha*); this, we shall see later on, is a great innovation which moulded the whole Tāntric system in a different form.²

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¹ Śrī-vajra-maṇḍalā-laṅkāra, quoted in the Jñāna-siddhi, p. 84. Descriptions of this type abound in the Buddhist Tantras. In the Vyakta-bhāvānugata-tattva-siddhi the Lord Vajra-sattva is saluted as the Lord to be realised by the individual soul, the Lord without parallel, all-moving, all-pervading, the only doer, the only destroyer, the Lord Supreme over the world, the revealer of potentialities.—

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² *sa caiva sarva-bhāvena sarvadā samavasthitaḥ* |

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The idea of the Dharma-kāya Buddha, discussed before, may be recalled in connection with this idea of the Vajra-sattva. The Dharma-kāya of the Mahā-yānists seems to have been replaced by this Vajra-sattva or the Vajra-kāya of the Vajra-yānists. The Vajra-kāya has often been identified with the Dharma-kāya,

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*pratyātma-vedyo bhagavān upamā-varjitaḥ* |
*sarvagaḥ sarva-vyāpī ca kartā hartā jagat-patiḥ* ||
*śrī-mān vajra-sattvo'sau vyakta-bhāva-prakāśakaḥ* |

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MS., C.L.B., p. 91(A).

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Elsewhere he is saluted as the Śūnyatā-essence, free from all constructive imagination, producing right knowledge; he is perfect wisdom personified, he is the remover of illusion, the preacher of the pure truth, born of the non-essential nature of the dharmas; he is Bodhi-citta, from him come all the perfectly enlightened ones, all the Bodhisattvas, all truth and all the highest moral virtues. He represents the three jewels, the great way to salvation, the reality in all the static and the dynamic, he is all that are the transformations of the three elements.—

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*namas te śūnyatā-garbha sarva-saṅkalpa-varjita* |
*sarva-prajñāna-sandoha jñāna-mūrte namas tu te* ||
*jagad-ajñāna-vicchedī śuddha-tattvā-rtha-deśakaḥ* |
*dharma-nairātmya-sambhūta vajra-sattva namas tu te* ||
*ratna-trayaṁ mahāyānaṁ tattva-sthāvara-jaṅgamam* |
*trai-dhātukam idaṁ sarvaṁ jagad-vira namas tu te* ||

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Sampuṭikā, MS. (R.A.S.B. No. 4854), p. 12(B). Cf. also,—*suviśuddha-mahājñānaṁ sarva-deva-svarūpakaṁ* |

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*vajra-sattva iti khyātaṁ paraṁ sukham udāhṛtam* ||
*svayambhū-rūpam etat tu dharma-kāya-svarūpakam* |
*tasyaiva sahajā prajñā sthitā tadgata-rūpiṇī* ||

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Ibid., MS. p. 48(B).

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*anādi-nidhanaḥ sattvo vajra-sattvaḥ paraṁ sukham* ||

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Quoted in the Jñāna-siddhi, Ch. XV. Cf. also,—*Advaya-samatā-vijaya*.

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but often this Vajra-kāya has been conceived as a fourth body added to the three kāyas of the Mahāyānists ; in the Sahajiyā sect, or the Sahaja-yāna, which is a mere offshoot of the Vajra-yāna, the Vajra-sattva or the Vajra-kāya has been transformed into the Sahaja-kāya, which is decidedly a fourth body conceived above the Dharma-kāya.

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A little thought over the nature of the Vajra-sattva discussed above will reveal that the conception of this Vajra-sattva is almost the same as the monistic conception of the godhead variously conceived in Hinduism. It is a well-known fact that Mahāyāna Buddhism was gradually coming closer and closer to the Upaniṣadic ideas and that many Vedāntic ideas were tacitly implied in the Śūnyavāda and Vijñānavāda doctrines. We have also hinted before how the Mahāyānic idea of the Dharma-kāya came nearer to the idea of a monotheistic godhead in popular faith. But what was tacitly implied in Mahāyāna was fully developed, consciously or unconsciously, by the Vajra-yānists. The monistic conception of the Brahman is already there in the conception of the Dharma-kāya Buddha, and this conception finds its full expression in the conception of the Vajra-sattva, who is pure consciousness purged off of all the impurities of subjectivity and objectivity ; he is pervading the whole universe—the inner principle of all dharmas—the unity in diversity ; he is a Being of infinite wisdom and merit, possessing universal compassion—he is the Lord Buddha.

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As a matter of fact, this Vajra-sattva is generally taken in the Buddhist Tantras as the Supreme Being and many of the Tantras begin with salutations to this Lord Supreme in terms which are equally applicable to the Brahman also.¹ It is also interesting to note that all the Buddhist Tantras of the Saṅgīti-type¹ open with a galaxy of the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and innumerable other heavenly, terrestrial as well as ghostly beings assembled to listen to the words of the Lord Supreme, who is none but the Vajra-sattva.²

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¹ Cf. the salutation at the beginning of the Pañca-krama:— trailokyā-cāra-muktaṁ gagana-samagatam sarva-bhāva-svabhāvaṁ durbodham durvicāraṁ sva-para-hitutamaṁ vyāpinam nirnimittam

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¹ The Saṅgīti is the type of Buddhist literature which invariably opens with an assembly of the faithful devotees to whom Lord Buddha would preach all truth, and this type of literature also invariably opens with a sentence like this:—evam mayā śrutam ekasmin samaye, etc. (Cf. Gandha-vaṃsa, Pali Text-book Society.) These Buddhist Tantras are called the Buddha-vacanas (or the sayings of the Buddha) and in Tibetan translations they form an important part of the Kangyur collection while the translations of the texts, which are composed by the Buddhist Ācāryas themselves, form part of the Tangyur collection.

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² Cf. śastā sarva-buddha-bodhisattvānāṃ sarva-tathāgatānāṃ ca sa eva bhagavān mahā-vajra-dharaḥ sarva-buddha-jñānā-dhipatir iti | Śrī-guhya-samāja, Ch. XVII.

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The most striking feature of Vajra-yāna associated with the conception of the Vajra-sattva is the importance attached to the self. According to the Upaniṣads, the Brahman, who is both immanent and transcendent, is to be realised within as the self. Brahma-realisation really means the realisation of the self as the Brahman. The Buddhist Tantras also say that the Sādhaka, who realises the Vajra-sattva, himself becomes the Vajra-sattva. To realise the Vajra-sattva is to realise that all existence is nothing but Śūnyatā in its pure nature; but once the Sādhaka becomes endowed with this wisdom through his realisation, he becomes the Vajra-

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śuddhaṃ śāntaṃ viviktaṃ parama-śivamayaṃ yoginām eva gamyam, etc.
Cf. also,—namo vajra-sattvāya |
praṇipatya jagan-nāthaṃ sarva-jinavarā-rcitam |
sarva-buddhamayaṃ siddhi-vyāpinam gagano-pamam ||
sarvadaṃ sarva-sattvebhyaḥ sarvajñaṃ varavajriṇam |
bhaktyā'haṃ sarva-bhāvena vakṣye tat-sādhanam param ||
Jñāna-siddhi, Ch. I, Verses 1-2.

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Cf. also,—the salutations at the beginning of Advaya-siddhi (MS. C.L.B. No. 13124), Tattva-siddhi (MS. C.L.B. No. 13124), Acintyā-dvaya-kramo-padeśa (MS. C.L.B. 13124), Catur-mudrā (MS. C.L.B: 13124), Vajrayāna-sādhanā-ṅgāni (MS. R.A.S.B. No. 4837), Ṣoḍaśa-mānasī-bhava-cakra (MS. R.A.S.B. No. 10741B), etc.

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sattva. He is also called the Mahā-sattva as he is full of the bliss of infinite knowledge; and as he is always engaged in the right method of religious observances (samaya), he is called the Samaya-sattva; as he is eternally associated with the disciplinary practices for the attainment of wisdom, he is called the Bodhi-sattva, and as associated with perfect wisdom, he is called the Jñāna-sattva.¹ It is emphatically said in the Jñāna-siddhi that our Bodhi-mind, which is of the nature of the Vajra, is itself the Buddhahood; so Buddhahood should be realised through conceiving all things as the self.² In such a stage a man realises himself in all things, everywhere, in all aspects, by all means and for all time, and he realises the universalised self as the universal perfectly enlightened one.³ This realisation of the self as the highest being is the realisation of the self as God (devatā) and the process is technically called the svādhi-daivata-yoga.⁴ It is frequently prescribed that the self should be realised as God and then it should be worshipped with all the usual rites and rituals.⁵ In the Prajñopāya-viniścaya-siddhi it is said that the Lord is of the nature of all existence in the form of the Bodhicitta; he is the Lord, the holder of the thunder, and this self verily is God.¹ It is found in most of these Sādhanas that gods and goddesses are first of all to be thought of on the solar or the lunar disc or on the lotus, but the whole group is then to be meditated on within as identical with the self. The Svādhiṣṭhāna-krama of the Pañca-krama gives a very clear exposition of this theory of self-worship. The Yogin is first of all to meditate on the nature of the world, and through deep concentration of the mind to realise the nature of the phenomenal world as purely illusory; then he is to realise the Vajra-sattva who is free from all the categories of existence and non-existence, who is endowed with all the forms, yet of whom no form can be conceived, and then it is added that to realise the self is to realise this Vajra-sattva. The self is described here as the all-powerful, the universal Buddhahood, and, therefore, it has been prescribed that with all care the self should always be worshipped.² All the Mantras and Mudrās and Maṇḍalas—everything should be applied to the worship of the self. The chapter concludes with the injunction that everything should first of all be realised in its Śūnyatā-nature and then should be thought of as the self.³ This realisation of the self in all as of the immutable and all-pervading nature is the svādhiṣṭhāna (affirmation of the self) and this svādhiṣṭhāna is the secret of all Yogas.⁴

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¹ *abhedyaṁ vajraṁ ity uktaṁ sattvaṁ tri-bhavasyaikatā |* *anayā prajñayā yuktaṁ vajra-sattva iti smṛtaḥ ||* *mahā-jñāna-rasaiḥ pūrṇo mahā-sattvo nigadyate |* *nityaṁ samaya-pravṛttatvāt samaya-sattvo vidhīyate ||* *bodhi-caryā-samāsena bodhi-sattvaṁ nigadyate |* *prajñā-jñāna-samāyogāt jñāna-sattvas tathāgataḥ ||* MS. (R.A.S.B. No. 11817) p. 2(A).

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² *bodhicittam idaṁ vajraṁ sarva-buddhatvam ātmanaḥ |* *tasmāt sarvātma-yogena sarva-buddhatvam āpnute ||* Jñāna-siddhi, Ch. XV.

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³ *sarvatra sarvataḥ sarvaṁ sarvathā sarvadā svayam |* *sarva-buddhamayaṁ siddhaṁ svātmānaṁ prapaśyati ||* Ibid., Ch. XV, Verse 52.

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⁴ *Cf. svādhidaivata-yogena sarvam ekaṁ vikalpayet.* Abhidhāno-ttara. MS. (R.A.S.B. No. 10789) p. 7(A).

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⁵ *sarva-bhogo-pabhogai (śca) sevyamānair yathāsukham |* *svādhi-daivata-yogena svam ātmānaṁ prapūjayet ||*

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¹ *sarva-bhāva-svabhāvo'yaṁ bodhicitta-svarūpataḥ |* *sa eva bhagavān vajrī tasmād ātmaiva devatā ||* Ch. V, Verse 33.

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² *ātmā vai sarva-buddhatvaṁ sarva-sauritvam eva ca |* *tasmāt sarva-prayatnena hy ātmānam pūjayet sadā ||* MS. p. 27(B).

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³ *bahunātra kim uktena vajra-yoge tu tattvataḥ |* *yad yad ālambayed yogī tat tad ātmaiva kalpayet ||* Ibid., MS. p. 27(B).

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⁴ *Ibid.*, MS. p. 28(B).

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With the evolution of the idea of the Vajra-sattva as the Lord Supreme there evolved a new pantheon in Vajra-yāna. The Vajra-sattva is the Primal Enlightened One—the Ādi-Buddha. This Lord Supreme possesses five kinds of knowledge which are like five attributes of the Lord. From these five attributes proceed five kinds of meditation (*dhyāna*) and from these five kinds of *Dhyāna* emanate five deities who are known as the five Dhyānī Buddhas. These Dhyānī Buddhas are the five presiding deities over the five *skandhas*, viz., *rūpa* (material element), *vedanā* (feeling), *saṃjñā* (conceptual knowledge), *saṃskāra* (synthetic compound mental states), and *vijñāna* (consciousness).¹ The deities are (1) Vairocana, (2) Ratna-sambhava or Ratna-ketu (*vide*, *Śrī-guhya-samāja*, p. 12), or Ratna-nātha (*vide*, *Pañca-krama*, Ch. I), (3) Amitābha, or Amitāyus (*vide*, *Śrī-guhya-samāja*, p. 12), (4) Amogha-siddhi, or Karma-nātha (*vide*, *Pañca-krama*) and (5) Akṣobhya respectively.²

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¹ In the *Śrī-cakra-saṃbhāra-tantra* these five deities are explained as the five aspects of wisdom coming from the unobstructed mind; they are the Dhyānī Buddhas, whereas the presiding deities over the five *skandhas* are Vairocana (*rūpa*), Vajra-sūrya (*vedanā*), Padmanarteśvara (*saṃjñā*), Rāja-vajra (*saṃskāra*) and Buddha Vajra-sattva (*vijñāna*). Ch. on ‘The good wishes’.

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² *rūpa-vedanā-saṃjñā-saṃskāra-vijñānam eva ca |* *pañca-buddha-svabhāvan tu skandho-tpatti-viniścitam ||* *Vajra-vārāhī-kalpa-mahātantra.* MS. R.A.S.B., No. 11285, p. 10(A).

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This pantheon of the five Dhyānī Buddhas seems to have evolved in later Buddhism with some influence from the Sāṅkhya philosophy. The five *skandhas* of the Buddhists were confused mixed up with the *pañca-bhūtas* (five material elements) of the Sāṅkhya, viz., earth (*kṣiti*), water (*ap*), fire (*tejas*), air (*marut*) and ether (*vyoma*). These five material elements, together with the five sense-organs, proceed, according to the Sāṅkhya, from the five *Tan-mātras* or potential elements or generic essences of sound, touch, colour, taste and smell. The word *Tan-mātra* may broadly be explained as that in and through which the unmanifested and unspecified reality (*tat*) is measured, *i.e.*, manifested and specified. In this sense the five *Tan-* mātras may remind us of the five kinds of knowledge of the Primal Lord which are popularly conceived as the five attributes of the Lord, and from these five attributes of knowledge follow the five kinds of Dhyānas, from which again proceed the five Dhyānī Buddhas, who are again the presiding deities over the five aggregates (*skandhas*). The nature of these five kinds of jñāna is not explained anywhere; but they seem to be five kinds of creative potencies in the ultimate nature of the Lord, which is pure consciousness.¹ We have seen before that in Vijñānavāda Buddhism the ultimate reality as the Abhūta-parikalpa, though bereft of all subjectivity and objectivity, possesses in it the potency of world creation. The nature of this creative potency is also knowledge and from five kinds of such knowledge there proceed five kinds of specification in the pure consciousness of the Lord and these five kinds of specification of consciousness are the five kinds of Dhyānas which are again the generic essences of the five skandhas.

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¹ The five kinds of jñāna, according to the Advaya-vajra-saṃgraha, are (i) suviśuddha-dharma-dhātu-jñāna producing (?) Vairocana, (ii) ādarśa-jñāna, producing Akṣobhya, (iii) pratya-vekṣaṇā-jñāna producing Amitābha, (iv) samatā-jñāna, producing Ratna-sambhava, and (v) kṛtyānuṣṭhāna-jñāna, producing Amogha-siddhi. The dhyāna for creation in general is known as loka-saṃsarjana.

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In the Tāntric literature these five Dhyānī Buddhas are described with their Śaktis or divine consorts. Each Dhyānī Buddha has got a particular consort, a particular colour, crest, Mudrā (posture) and Vāhana; each again has a particular Bodhisattva, a human Buddha, a bīja-mantra, a location, and each is again associated with a particular Kula or family; they are again associated with the pañca-bhūtas, and the five sense-organs of sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. They are again placed in different parts of the human body. The whole thing may be illustrated with the help of the table given in the next page (the controversies being ignored).¹

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¹ For this, see Śrī-guhya-samāja, Advaya-vajra-saṃgraha (Chs. on Pañca-tathāgata-mudrā-vivaraṇa and Pañcākāra), Hevajra-tuntra, Ch. IX, Sampuṭikā, Ch. I, Pañca-krama, Ch. I, The Gods of Northern Buddhism by A. Getty, Buddhist Iconography by Dr. B. Bhattacharya, pp. 1-8, and An Introduction to Buddhist Esoterism by Dr. B. Bhattacharya, Ch. XIII.

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These five Dhyānī Buddhas are also called the five Tathāgatas and in the hierarchy of the Pañca-tathāgatas Akṣobhya, the presiding deity over vijñāna is, often given the highest place and the first four Tathāgatas are generally marked by the miniature of the fifth Tathāgata Akṣobhya, and the latter again in his turn is marked by the miniature of the Vajra-sattva. The marking of the first four Tathāgatas by the miniature of Akṣobhya implies that the first four skandhas are nothing but modes and modifications of consciousness,² they are the constructions from the consciousness. But the vijñāna, as one of the aggregates³ is not the ultimate reality, pure consciousness which is absolutely free from the notions of the grāhya and the grāhaka is the ultimate reality, and this ultimate principle of void is the Vajra-sattva, and, therefore, even Akṣobhya is marked by the miniature figure of Vajra-sattva.

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² Pañca-tathāgata-mudrā-vivaraṇa in Advaya-vajra-saṃgraha. Cf. also,—rūpa-vedanā-saṃjñā-saṃskāra-skandhā-tmakā vairocana-ratna-sambhavā-mitābhā-moghasiddhayo vijñāna-mātratā iti pratipādanāya akṣobhyeṇa mudryante iti| Pañcākāra, Advaya-vajra-saṃgraha, p. 42.

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³ Vijñāna here seems to be taken in the sense of ‘awareness’.

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This Vajra-sattva is not merely of the nature of Śūnyatā, it is a non-dual state of Śūnyatā and Karuṇā; to imply that the void-consciousness is also of the nature of an identity of both Śūnyatā and Karuṇā, Akṣobhya is marked by the Vajra-sattva.⁴ Thus the Vajra-sattva is identified with the Bodhicitta. It is said that when Prajñā or the Śūnyatā-knowledge

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⁴ vijñānasya naiḥsvabhāvyasya śūnyatā-karuṇayos tādātmakatvam ca pratipādayitum akṣobhyo’pi vajra-sattvena mudryate. Ibid., p. 42.

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| Dhyāni Buddha | Skan-dha | Direc-tion | Colour | Śakti | Bodhi-sattva | Human Buddha | Kula (Family) | Mount | Posture (Mudrā) | Bija | Element (bhūta), sense-perception and sense-organ | Loca-tion in the human body |
| Vairocaṇa | Rūpa | Centre | White | Vajra-dhātve-śvari or Tārā | Samanta-bhadra or Cakra-pāṇi | Kraku-cchanda | Moha | Dragon | Dharma-cakra | “a” or “oṃ” | Vyoma (ether) Sound (śabda) Ear | Head |
| Akṣobhya | Vi-jñāna | East | Blue | Locanā | Vajra-pāṇi | Kanaka-muni | Dveṣa | Elephant | Bhū-sparśa | “y” or “huṃ” | Marut (air) Touch (sparśa) Skin | Heart |
| Ratna-sambhava | Vedanā | South | Yellow | Māmakī | Ratna-pāṇi | Kaśya-pa | Cintā-maṇi | Lion | Varada | “r” or “Svā” | Tejas (fire) Vision (rūpa) Eye | Navel |
| Amitābha | Saṃjñā | West | Red | Pāṇ-ḍarā | Padma-pāṇi, or Avalokite-śvara | Gau-tama | Rāga | Peacock | Samā-dhi | “b” or “āḥ” | Water (ap) Taste (rasa) Tongue | Mouth |
| Amogha-siddhi | Saṃs-kāra | North | Green | Ārya-tārā or Tārā | Viśvapāṇi | Mai-treya | Samaya | Garuḍa | Abhaya Viśva-vajra | “T” or “hā” | Earth (kṣiti) Smell (gandha) Nose | Legs |

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commingles with universal compassion, there remains no thinker, no thinkable, no thought: this is the state of non-duality, this is called the Bodhicitta—this is the adamantine truth—this is the Vajra-sattva—the perfectly enlightened one (*sambuddha*), this is perfect wisdom.¹ This Vajra-sattva (or Vajra-dhara, as he is sometimes called) is also described in the Tantras with his consort variously called as Vajra-sattvātmikā, Vajra-vārāhī, Prajñā, Prajñā-pāramitā, etc. and his *bīja-mantra* is *hum*.² This Vajra-sattva, the Lord Supreme of the Tāntric Buddhists, is found in the Buddhist Tantras bearing many other names of which the most important are Hevajra and Heruka.

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¹ *etad advayam ity uktaṃ bodhicittam idaṃ param | vajraṃ śrī-vajra-sattvaṃ ca sambuddho bodhir eva ca || Prajño-pāya-viniścaya-siddhi, Ch. IV, Verse 17.*

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² *Cf. tan-madhye tu huṃkāraṃ vajra-sattva-svarūpakam, etc. Heruka-tantra. MS. R.A.S.B., No. 11279, p. 28(A).*

(ii) Bodhicitta

(A) General Conception of Bodhicitta

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In the previous discussion we have seen that the self as the Vajra-sattva has often been said to be the Bodhicitta. The original meaning of the word Bodhicitta is *citta* or consciousness as *bodhi* or perfect wisdom. Now, in earlier Buddhism wisdom meant *śūnyatā-jñāna*—the realisation of the nothingness of the world; but we have seen, in Mahāyāna wisdom means *śūnyatā-jñāna* complemented by Karuṇā or universal compassion. Bodhicitta in Mahāyāna then implies the state of the *citta* where a perfect comming of Śūnyatā and Karuṇā becomes the very essence of our consciousness. In the Buddhist Tantras the word Bodhicitta, though sometimes used in its older sense of *śūnyatā-jñāna*,³ generally implies the Mahāyānic sense of the unification of the two elements of Śūnyatā and Karuṇā. Breathing the general spirit of Mahāyāna, Saraha-pāda says in one of his Dohās, "He who discards Karuṇā and sticks to Śūnyatā alone never have access to the right path; he, again, who meditates only on Karuṇā, is not liberated even in thousands of birth; he on the other hand, who can mingle Śūnyatā with Karuṇā, remains neither in bhava (existence) nor in nirvāṇa

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³ In the *Śrī-guhya-samāja* we have a detailed discussion on the meaning of the word Bodhicitta and though at the end of the discussion Bodhicitta is described as the unity of Śūnyatā and Karuṇā the earlier discussion is dominated by the older sense of the word as the

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realisation of the essencelessness of the dharmas. Here the Lord is approached by the Tathāgatas of the assembly to explain to them the nature of the Bodhicitta. The Lord does not make any direct reply, but asks them first to realise the oneness pervading the body, speech and mind. Through the realisation of the homogeneity underlying the body, speech and mind the Tathāgatas realise that all origination is talked of about what is essentially unproduced. The Lord then becomes absorbed in a special kind of meditation and exclaims,—

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abhāve bhāvanā-bhāvo bhāvanā naiva bhāvanā |
iti bhāvo na bhāvaḥ syād bhāvanā no'palabhyate ||

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The meaning of the verse, as explained in the Sekoddeśa-ṭīkā (G.O.S., p. 41), is that when existence is viewed from the perspective of the void (abhāva), no thought-construction remains a positive thought-construction, and existence also ceases to be existence.

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After this, Vairocana Tathāgata exclaims in his meditation on the nature of Bodhicitta,—'My citta is devoid of all (notions of) existence, it is unassociated with any skandha, dhātu, āyatana,—or with subjectivity and objectivity,—it is without origination and is of the nature of void as are all the dharmas by nature'. Akṣobhya exclaims in his own turn,—'All existence is without origination; there is no dharma, neither any essence of the dharmas; all this is essenceless like the sky,—this is the immutable bodhi'. We find an echo of the same truth in the exclamation of Ratnaketu (or Ratna-sambhava), who says,—'Unreal are all the dharmas,—for they (dharmas) have no definition (lakṣaṇa); everything originates from the essencelessness of the dharmas (dharma-nairātmya), and this is called the immutable bodhi'. Amitāyus (Amitābha) in his turn gives another description of the Bodhicitta; he says,—'All the dharmas being without origination there is neither any existence nor any notion of existence: existence of things is spoken of in exactly the same way as the existence of the sky.' Then comes the turn of Amoghasiddhi, who exclaims in his deep meditation that all the dharmas are effulgent by nature, they are perfectly pure like the sky. Then they all join in reciting the gāthā in praise of the Bodhicitta which is described here as of the nature of pure truth, pure entity (śuddhā-rtha), originating from the non-essential nature of things, filling the Buddhas with pure knowledge (bodhi), without thought-construction, without any support, good all round, benevolent, the inspirer of the bodhi-mind,—embodiment of the practices for the Bodhicitta, immutable by nature.

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(extinction)”¹. The Bodhicitta state of the self is thus a transcendental state—it is a state of supreme realisation transcending both *bhava* and *nirvāṇa*. The self in this state of Bodhicitta is the supreme reality—it is the Vajra-sattva. It is “without a beginning, without an end, quiescent, it is immutable in existence as well as in non-existence, it is the non-duality of Śūnyatā and Karuṇā.”[2] It is eternal resplendent, pure, the abode of all the Jinas, it includes all the *dharmas* within it, it is divine—the cause of the whole universe.”[3]

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¹ *karuṇā chaḍḍi jo suṇṇahi laggu|* *ṇaü so pāvai uttimu maggu ||* *ahavā karuṇā kevala bhāvai|* *jamma-sahassahi mokkha ṇa pāvai ||* *suṇṇa karuṇā jaï joünu sakkaï|* *ṇaü bhave ṇaü ṇivvāṇe thakkai ||* —Dr. P. C. Bagchi’s Edition, p. 29.

(B) Śūnyatā and Karuṇā as Prajñā and Upāya

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Śūnyatā and Karuṇā are widely termed as Prajñā and Upāya respectively in Tāntric Buddhism. Śūnyatā is called Prajñā simply because it represents perfect knowledge. So far as an individual Sādhaka is concerned, this perfect knowledge is rather a static or negative state of mind which separates the individual from the world of suffering beings; Karuṇā, on the other hand, acts in his mind like a dynamic force—the moral inspiration that prompts one to find oneself universalised in an emotion of deep compassion. This moral inspiration as purified by perfect knowledge induces a man to moral activities, which never bind the man, but liberates him as well as others. Prajñā is passive by nature, the religious inspiration is derived from the active emotion of compassion, which serves like the means or the expedience (*upāya*) for the realisation of the highest goal. Prajñā is the one universal principle, the oneness as the ‘suchness’ (*tathatā*) underlying the diversity of the phenomenal world, while the Upāya is the principle that brings down our mind again to the world of particulars. Through Prajñā one is purified, while Upāya draws one’s perfectly purified mind down to the world of particulars where the helpless beings are found suffering the miseries of life. This Upāya prompts man to benevolent activities for the removal of sorrow, but as already hinted, these moral activities are always associated with and guided by Prajñā, which is the ultimate principle of purification, and thus they cannot leave any good or bad impression as *saṃskāra* on the mind of a man, so that by these activities he is never again bound in the snare of *vāsanā* and *saṃskāra* and consequently in the cycle of birth and death. Further we have seen, Prajñā or Śūnyatā makes one view the whole of existence from the *pāramārthika* point of view where there is neither suffering nor happiness and consequently no scope left for the spirit of benevolence ; it is Upāya that draws our attention to the world of suffering and inspires one to sacrifice one’s salvation for the removal of the miseries of the suffering world.

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² *anādi-nidhanaṃ śāntaṃ bhāvā-bhāva-kṣayaṃ vibhum|* *śūnyatā-karuṇā-bhinnaṃ bodhicittam iti smṛtam ||* Śrī-guhya-samāja, Ch. XVIII. This definition of Bodhicitta has been commented upon in the Jñāna-siddhi, where it is said that by the epithet ‘without beginning and end’ is implied the absence of origination and destruction, and by that again is implied the all-pervading, unchanging and eternal nature of the Bodhicitta. It is quiescent because all the *kleśas* (afflictions) end here; it is the lord, because it performs all the mundane as well as supra-mundane duties. It is *śūnyatā* because of the essence-lessness of all the *dharmas*,—and it is *karuṇā* because of the resolution in it of elevating all the beings to the state of perfect wisdom, and helping them in attaining perfect peace. (G.O.S.) pp. 72-73.

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³ *nityaṃ prabhāsvaraṃ śuddhaṃ bodhicittaṃ jinā-layam|* *sarva-dharmamayam divyaṃ nikhilā-spada-kāraṇam ||* —Prajño-pāya-viniścaya-siddhi, Ch. II, Verse 29.

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The use of the term Prajñā for Śūnyatā is well known in Buddhist philosophy and literature, they are often treated as synonyms ; but the use of the term Upāya for Karuṇā seems to be somewhat technical. On the authority of Suzuki we find that these conceptions of Prajñā and Upāya are already there from the time of Aśvaghoṣa. It is said in his *Awakening of Faith in Mahāyāna* (*Mahāyāna-śraddhotpāda-sūtra*) that Enlightenment *a priori* has two attributes, viz., (I) Pure wisdom (*Prajñā*) and (II) Incomprehensible activity (*Upāya*? *Karuṇā*).¹ Later on the word Upāya is found widely used in Mahāyāna texts for Karuṇā.² In standard Mahāyāna texts Upāya has generally been used to indicate missionary activities mainly in the form of preaching the truth among lay people to remove their veil of ignorance and to enable them to realise the truth.³

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What is said above about Prajñā and Upāya and their union has variously been expounded in the Buddhist Tantras under various imageries. In the *Hevajra-tantra* Upāya and Prajñā have been described under the imagery of the Yogin and the Mudrā (the great woman to be adopted in Yoga-sādhanā), and the Bodhicitta is the perfect union of this Yogin and the Mudrā who stand for Karuṇā and Śūnyatā respectively.⁴ In all classes of Buddhist Tantras the most important thing is the stress on this union of Prajñā and Upāya, either

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¹ P. 66. Also *cf.*, p. 99. ² Nāgārjuna used the word Upāya for Karuṇā (*vide*, *Mādhyamika-vṛtti*, Lévi's edition, p. 2). ³ *Vide*, *Saddharma-puṇḍarīka-sūtra*, Ch. II, pp. 28-58, Bibliotheca Buddhica publication. In the *Bodhipakṣya-paṭala* of the *Bodhisattva-bhūmi* this *upāya-kauśala* is said to be of twelve kinds in all; six from the internal side concerning the adoption of the religion preached by Buddha, and six from the external side concerning the fruition of the essence. (Edited by Unrai Wogihara, p. 26.) For a detailed discussion on the divisions of *upāya-kauśala* see *Bodhisattva-bhūmi* (which is but the fifteenth section of the *Yogācāra-bhūmi* of Vasubandhu), pp. 262-72. ⁴ *kṛpo-pāyo bhaved yogī mudrā hetu-viyogataḥ |* *śūnyatā karuṇā-bhinnam bodhicittam iti smṛtam ||* —Paṭala X, MS. p. 30(A).

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The commentary says that the state of mind that feels the self-sameness in all the beings is compassion, and it is the ‘great means’ (*upāya*) as it is the means for attaining perfect enlightenment;—and that is also the Yogin,—for, that is the cardinal principle of a Yogin. The *mudrā* is the *prajñā*, for she is the *śūnyatā* in the sense of the non-production of all the *dharmas*,—and she is the in the philosophical sense or the esoteric yogic sense. The authority of renowned Buddhist Ācāryas like Ārya-vimala-kīrti and others have often been quoted, who are said to have stressed the truth that Upāya is bondage when unassociated with Prajñā, and even Prajñā is also bondage when unassociated with Upāya; both of them again become liberation when the one is associated with the other. Their commingling through the instructions of the competent teacher, like the inseparable co-existence of the lamp and the light, will conduce to success in realising the real nature of the self and the dharmas. Whatever practices there are, they should, therefore, be preceded by a knowledge or rather the realisation of the true purport of the union of Prajñā and Upāya.¹ The cardinal principle of Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha, says the Ḍakinī-vajra-pañjara, points to the state of citta shining in the unity of Śūnyatā and Karuṇā.²

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¹ Quoted in the Kudṛṣṭi-nirghātanam of the Advaya-vajra-saṃgraha, p. 2; also p. 55.

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² śūnyatā-karuṇā-bhinnaṃ yatra cittaṃ prabhāvyate | so hi buddhasya dharmasya saṅghasyā'pi hi deśanā || —Quoted in the Advaya-vajra-saṃgraha, p. 26.

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Upāya has again very nicely been compared to a boat in the Prajñopāya-viniścaya-siddhi. There it is said that compassion is called rāga (affection) as it affects or causes happiness to all the beings who are distressed with infinite sufferings. This compassion is like a boat which brings all beings to the favourable shore, and it is for this reason that it is called the Upāya. The com-

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non-production of beings because nothing can originate either from the self or from others or from the combination of both or from something other than their combination.

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kṛpe'ty ādi/sarva-sattvesu ātma-samatā-cittaṃ kṛpā saiva paramo-pāyaḥ/samyak-sambodhi-prasādhano-pāyatvāt/sa ca yogī/yoginām pradhāna-dharmatvāt/mudrā prajñā kāsāv ity āha/śūnyatā sarva dharmāṇām anutpādaḥ/kathaṃ anutpādaḥ śūnyatā/āha/hetu viyogataḥ svataḥ parata ubhayato'nubhayataḥ sarva-bhāvānām anutpatteḥ/anutpāda-lakṣaṇā śūnyatā/saiva paramā prajñā—Hevajra-pañjikā. MS. p. 41(B).

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mingling of this Prajñā and Upāya like the mixture of water and milk in a state of non-duality is called the *prajño-pāya*.¹ It is an absolutely pure state free from subjectivity and objectivity, free from the mud of reality and unreality—from the definition and the defined; it is neither duality, nor non-duality—it is quiescent—all good—all pervading, immutable and only to be intuited within; it itself is the wonderful abode of all the Buddhas—the divine *Dharma-dhātu*,—from it emanate all the three *kāyas*, the three *yānas*, innumerable *mantras*, *mudrā*, *maṇḍala*, *cakra*—all gods, demons, ghosts, men and everything else; it is like the wish-yielding gem (*cintāmaṇi*)—a combination of both enjoyment and liberation (*bhukti-mukti-padam*). In the chapter on the meditation on the ultimate truth (*tattva-bhāvanā*) of the *Prajño-pāya-viniścaya-siddhi* it has been said that the truth is both Prajñā and Upāya combined together; for, it is Prajñā as it is the absence of all phenomenalization (*niṣprapañca-svarūpatvāt*), and it is compassion, because like the wish-yielding gem it does everything for the good of the beings. Supportless is Prajñā, and supportless is the great compassion; they should be united like the union of the sky with the sky. In that stage there is no thinker—no thought—nothing to be thought of; there all seeing of sights, hearing of sounds,—

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¹ rañjaty aśeṣa-duḥkhaughā-nutthāṃs tu duḥkha-hetutaḥ | sarva-sattvān yatas tasmāt kṛpā rāgaḥ pragīyate upānayaty abhimataṃ yan naukevā’nukūlataḥ || sadā’nukūla-yogena saivo’pāyaḥ prakīrtitaḥ || ubhayor melanaṃ yac ca salila-kṣirayor iva | advayā-kāra-yogena prajño-pāyaḥ sa ucyate || —*Prajño-pāya-viniścaya-siddhi*, p. 5. For the first line, viz., *rañjaty aśeṣa*, etc. MM. Vidhuśekhara Śāstri suggests the following correct reading (with the help of the Tibetan Translation):— *rakṣaty aśeṣa-duḥkhaughād rāgeṇa duḥkha-hetutaḥ* | And for *yannaukevā’nukūlataḥ* he suggests *yallokābhimataṃ phalam*. —*Vide Modern Review*, October, 1930.

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muttering, laughing—enjoyment—doing of all deeds,—all become yoga for a man.¹

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¹ *Prajño-pāya-viniścaya-siddhi*, Ch. IV, Verses 10-16. Similar discussions on the nature of Prajñā and Upāya are found in many of the Tantras. In the *Subhāṣita-saṃgraha* we find a discussion as to whether Buddhahood is to be attained only through Prajñā or only through Upāya. The answer is that Buddhahood is to be attained neither through Prajñā alone nor through Upāya; but if the essence of both Prajñā and Upāya becomes of the same nature—if the two become inseparably connected—become united into one, then and then only a Sādhaka becomes entitled to the highest reality which is at once enjoyment and liberation. *idānīṃ vicāryate | prajñayā kevalayā kiṃ buddhatvaṃ syān na (no, sic.) ced upāya-mātra-karmeṇa’pi |* *uṣyate ce’dam, na kevalaṃ prajñā-mātreṇa buddhatvaṃ nā’py upāya-mātreṇa, kintu yadi punaḥ prajño-pāya-lakṣaṇau samatā-svabhāvau bhavataḥ etau dvayā-bhinna-rūpau bhavataḥ ekākārau bhavataḥ tadā bhukti-mukti iti.—Bendall’s Edition, p.. 82.*

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It is said in the *Citta-viśuddhi-prakaraṇa* that as by the rubbing of two logs of wood fire is produced which is pure in the beginning, in the middle as well as at the end, and which shows everything by its illumination, so also by the union of Prajñā and Upāya the pure and luminous wisdom of the Yogin is produced. The absolutely pure *dharma-dhātu*, that is obtained by properly churning the milk of Prajñā and Upāya, is the destroyer of both pleasure and pain.²

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² Verses 98, 97.

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It is further said that the *citta* (i.e., the Bodhicitta) is neither affected, i.e., pleased (*rajyate*) by affection (*rāga*) or compassion or the Upāya (*rāga = karuṇā = upāya*), nor is it displeased by indifference (*virāga = śūnyatā, or prajñā*); success is attainable only through the equalization of both *rāga* and *virāga*. It (*citta*) is of the nature of both Prajñā and Upāya,—and in the nature of the combination of both Prajñā and Upāya it attains the highest realization.

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*na rāgeṇa rajyate cittaṃ na virāgeṇa virājyate |*
*rāgā-rāgaṃ samaṃ kṛtvā mudrā-siddhis tu jāyate ||*
*cittaṃ prajñā-svarūpeṇa tathaivo’pāya-rūpakam |*
*prajño-pāya-svarūpeṇa sambitti . . . . . prajāyate ||*
—*Subhāṣita-saṃgraha.*

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It is also said in the *Śrī-kāla-cakra-tantra* that the Sahaja-body (*Sahaja-tanu*) or the *dharma-kāya* is neither Prajñā nor Upāya,—it is of the nature of them both.

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*na prajñā nā’py upāyaḥ sahaja-tanur iyaṃ dharma-kāyo babhūva*
*prajño-pāya-svarūpaḥ khalu vigata-tamo-jñāna-vijñāna-vedat |*
—*Śrī-kāla-cakra-tantra*, MS. (Cambridge, Add. 1864) p. 106(B).

(C) Cosmological and Ontological Aspects of Prajñā and Upāya

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We have hinted before that the conceptions of Prajnā and Upāya acquired a cosmological and ontological significance in course of time. Prajnā is the passive principle as the *dharma-kāya* or the ‘thatness’ (*tathatā*) with perfect purity and perfect knowledge in her ; but the whole world (i.e., the *sambhoga-kāya* and the *nirmāna-kāya*) is a display of the Upāya, and the world-process itself in the form of the *sambhoga-* and *nirmāna-kāya* is a means to lead all the sentient beings to the ultimate goal of perfect purification ; this principle of passivity and the principle of activity are then the two aspects of the one absolute reality.

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We have seen that the difference between *śūnyatā* and *kṛpā* is just like the difference between the lamp and the light and the unity of *śūnyatā* and *kṛpā* is also just like the unity of the lamp and the light. The import is that as light cannot exist without the lamp, so the lamp also is meaningless without light ; exactly same is the case with *śūnyatā* and *karuṇā* ; *karuṇā* which is existence cannot be there without the void or the reality ; but the *śūnyatā* also loses her meaning without there being the world of existence,—and so there is an inseparable connection between the two like the relation of any illusory effect with eternity.¹ The world-appearance as a result of dependent origination is the grand bridegroom ; had he not been there the bride *śūnyatā* would have been dead as it were. But, on the other hand, had this beautiful bride of *śūnyatā* been separated for any time from the bridegroom, he would remain eternally under bondage. So, the relation between *śūnyatā* and *karuṇā* is like the relation of inseparable conjugal love ; the love between them is the most natural love (*sahajaṃ prema*) and so it is inseparable.¹

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¹ *bhāvebhyaḥ śūnyatā nā'nyā na ca bhāvo'sti tām vinā| avinā-bhāvam iyat kṛtaka-nityayoriva ||* —*Advaya-vajra-saṃgraha*, p. 24.

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¹ Ibid., *Prema-pañcaka* (1-3). In the *Subhāṣita-saṃgraha* also we find that the nature of Prajñā is non-existence, whereas the nature of Upāya is existence; essencelessness is Prajñā and of positive nature is Upāya. So the whole truth will be the unity of both these positive and negative aspects. *atru evā'bhāva-lakṣaṇā prajñā bhāva-lakṣaṇa upāya iti |* *tathā co'ktaṃ, niḥsvabhāva-lakṣaṇā prajñā svabhāva-lakṣaṇa upāya iti tasmāt prajño-pāya-vidhānena coditaḥ |*—pp. 31-32 (Bendall's Edition). In another place it is said that Prajñā is of the nature of essencelessness while Upāya is the cause of all existence. *niḥ-svabhāva-svarūpeṇa prajñā-bhagas tu saṃsthitaḥ |* *upāyo bhāva-janako bhadrapādena desitaḥ ||*—Ibid., p. 70. In the Sanskrit portion of the *Ḍākārṇava* (edited by MM. H. P. Śāstri) Upāya and Prajñā have been spoken of as existence and extinction (p. 158).

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Goddess Vārāhī who represents Prajñā is spoken of as of the nature of knowledge, whereas god Heruka representing Upāya is spoken of as the knowable, and the *Avadhūti-maṇḍala* (the circle of perfect purification) is formed by the combination of both of this knowledge and the knowable.² From all these it is evident that Prajñā is conceived as the absolute knowledge which is negative and passive, whereas Upāya is the positive and active principle. Prajñā is conceived as the female element while Upāya is conceived as the male element.

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² *Ḍākārṇava* (Śāstri's Edition), p. 157.

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These conceptions of Prajñā and Upāya have important ontological and cosmological bearing on the four philosophical systems of Nepalese Buddhism.³ The Svābhāvika school holds that there is no immaterial ultimate truth in the form of the soul substance; matter is the primordial substance from which the world proceeds. This matter as the ultimate substance has two modes which are called *pravṛtti* and *nivṛtti*, action and rest, dynamic and static, concrete and abstract. Matter is eternal as a crude mass (however infinitely attenuated in *nivṛtti*) and so are the powers of matter. These powers are not only active but also intelligent. The proper state of existence of these powers is the state of *nivṛtti* or rest as the abstraction from all phenomena. When these powers pass from the state of rest into their causal and transitory state of activity the phenomenal world comes into existence and it again ceases to exist when the powers repass from *pravṛtti* to *nivṛtti*. This *nivṛtti* is the Prajñā¹ and the *pravṛtti* is said to be the Upāya.² Prajñā is said to be the abstraction from all effects while Upāya is the concretion of all effects or activities.³ In the Aiśvarika school these Prajñā and Upāya are deified as Ādi-Prajñā and Ādi-Buddha and the visible world is said to be created from the union of the two. According to the Prājñikas³ Buddha as the principle of active power first proceeds from *nivṛtti* or Ādi-Prajñā and then associates with her and from their union proceeds the actual visible world. The principle is symbolized as Prajñā being first the mother and then the wife of the Buddha.⁴ The well-known triad of Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha has often been explained as Prajñā (Dharma), Upāya (Buddha) and the world (Saṅgha) produced by their union. ‘Buddha’ generally symbolizes the generative power.

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³ The systems are: (i) Svābhāvika, (ii) Aiśvarika, (iii) Kārmika, and (iv) Yātnika.

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¹ Illustrations of the Literature, etc.—Hodgson, p. 149.

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² Ibid., page 148.

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³ A sub-division of the Svābhāvika school.

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⁴ Here it is interesting to compare with it the Śākta cosmological tradition of the Ādi-Śakti, who is the mother of Śiva and again the wife of Śiva in creating the world. The above principle has often been explained also by the analogy of the Yoni. It is said, ‘That Yoni, from which the world was made manifest is the *tri-koṇākāra-yantra*. In the midst of the yantra or *tri-koṇa* is a *bindu*: from the *bindu* Ādi-Prajñā revealed herself by her own will. From one side of the triangle Ādi-Prajñā produced Buddha and from another side Dharma and from the third side Saṅgha.’ (Quoted by Hodgson, page 126). It is also very interesting here to compare with it the well-known triangular *yantra* of the Hindu Tantras. *Cf.* also: *trikoṇākāra-sambhūto dharmodaya iti smṛtaḥ*—and from it originated the whole universe and all the gods and goddesses.—See *Acintyā-dvaya-kramo-padeśa*. MS. (C.L.B. No. 18124) p. 118(A).

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‘Dharma’ (or Prajñā) the productive power and their union produces Saṅgha.¹

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¹ Cf. ‘From the union of the essences of Upāya and Prajñā proceeds the world which is Saṅgha’. (Pūjā Khaṇḍa) quoted by Hodgson, p. 127. Also cf. The Gods of Northern Buddhism, by A. Getty, p. 11.

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This conception of the two counterparts of the ultimate reality has its correspondence in the conceptions of the Garbha-dhātu and the Vajra-dhātu of Northern Buddhism in general. The Vajra-dhātu or the ‘thunder-element’ is the immutable nature—it is, in other words, the tathatā element; while the Garbha-dhātu is the ‘matrix element’ or the phenomenal world corresponding to the tathāgata-garbha. They are the two parts of the Maṇḍala.² Their union is symbolized in Nepal by the flame arising from the lotus or the moon-crescent (the flame symbolizing the male element and the lotus or the moon-crescent symbolizing the female element) or by the flame arising from the kalaśa (jar); in Tibet the union is symbolised by the Aśoka branch in the ambrosia vase, and in both Chinese and Nepalese Buddhism by Yin-yang (the female and the male).³ There Yoga consists in the mystic union of this immutable element, or we may say, the ‘thatness’ of the dharmas with the active element as the material world. It is for this reason that the theory of Yabyum (the male and the female) could find so much prominence in Northern Buddhism, particularly in Nepal and Tibet where almost all the divinities are accompanied by their female counterparts in a state of close union.

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² Here the Maṇḍala is the circle with Buddha Mahāvairocana in the centre and with numberless manifestations of his body, such as Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and others, gathered round him.

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³ See The Gods of Northern Buddhism, by A. Getty.

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Getty interprets the Mudrā (the posture, generally of the hands) of Vairocana (the Lord Supreme of the Shingon Sect) as indicative of this mystic union. “As Dhyānī Buddha he has the Dharma-cakra-mudrā, which the Tibetans call Thabdong-shesrab, or the union of wisdom with matter.”¹

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