Freda Bedi Cont'd (#3)

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Part 1 of 3

Frederick Eden Pargiter
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 6/7/21

Frederick Eden Pargiter: Excerpt from The Puranas, by Ludo Rocher

The most important names in this period, from a methodological point of view, are Frederick Eden Pargiter -- whose historical evaluation of puranas has been admired and criticized, but never ignored -- and Willibald Kirfel -- whose strictly philological approach created a true school of purana scholars, especially in Germany.21 [21 Cf. Hermann BERGER (rev. of Losch's Rajadharma, ZDMG 113, 1963, 390): "Seit die in der Indologie etwas stiefmutterlich behandelten Puranas durch W. Kirfels bahnbrechende Arbeiten erstmals eine systematische Behandlung erfahren haben, beginnen immer mehr Indologen diesen fur die indische Geistesgeschichte so grundlegenden Texten ihr Interesse zuzuwenden." [Google translate: Since the Puranas, treated somewhat stepmotherly in Indology, were groundbreaking by W. Kirfels, Work for the first time have received systematic treatment more and more. Indologists wrote these texts, which are so fundamental to Indian intellectual history to turn their interest.] Their contributions, as well as the reactions they provoked, will be analyzed elsewhere in this volume....

1.4.1 The "Ur-Purana"

On the basis of the indices which Wilson prepared from various puranas, he could not fail being struck by the fact that individual puranas have numerous topics in common. When comparing the parallel passages in the Brahmaº and the Visnuº, he proposed, cautiously: "they appear to have been taken from some older work or works, from which the present Puranas are, probably, in part at least derived."1 [1 JRAS 5, 1839, 66.] One year later, the Preface to the translation of the Visnuº, subsequent to the discussion of the sectarian character of the puranas, states more boldly:

"The identity of the legends in many of them, and still more the identity of the words -- for in several of them long passages are literally the same -- is a sufficient proof that in all such cases they must be copied either from some other similar work, or from a common and prior original."2 [2 WILSON 1840 = 1961: IV.]


Lassen, as always, echoed Wilson, but he referred unequivocally to the fact that, as far as the corresponding passages in individual puranas are concerned, the texts "have made use of a common prior source."3 [3 LASSEN 1847: 480.] In 1905 4 [4 In 1897, LUDERS applied a similar method to the legend of Rsyasrnga; see references sub Padmaº Patalakhanda.] A. A. Macdonell stressed the same idea more specifically with regard to what is supposed to be the main topic of the puranas, pancalaksana: "In that part of their contents which is peculiar to them, the Puranas agree so closely, being often verbally identical for pages, that they must be derived from some older collection as a common source."5 [5 1900: 299.]

Pañcalakṣaṇa, occurring in the Amarakośa and in various Purāṇas, enumerates creation (sarga), recreation (pratisarga), genealogy (vaṃśa), cosmic cycles (manvantara) and accounts of royal dynasties (vaṃśānucarita) as five characteristics of a Purāṇa, but many of the extant Mahā-purāṇas and almost all the Upapurāṇas do not follow this definition. They have rather become “Codes of Hindu rites and customs by including chapters on varṇāśramadharma, ācāra, śrāddha, prāyaścita, dāna, pūjā, vrata, tīrtha, pratiṣṭhā, dīkṣā, utsarga etc.”

-- The Nilamata Purana: A cultural and Literary study of a Kasmiri Purana, by Dr. Ved Kumari


By that time the idea of a common origin of all puranas had obviously fully taken root, for in the same year A. M. T. Jackson6 [6 1905: 67-77.] wrote an article "to enquire whether we can fix approximately the scope and date of composition of this original." He came to the conclusion that "the original purana may be regarded with some probability as a work of the 4th century B.C." He even decided that it was a Saiva work, and continued:

"It is quite possible that the genealogies and the lists of rivers and tribes were originally drawn up in prose. At some date, which is at present unknown, the original purana was re-written in verse, while the original chronology gave place to the system of Kalpas, and the history subsequent to the great war was thrown into prophetic form. This second version was the common source of the extant puranas."


Three years later Blau applied the comparative method to the legend of Saranyu -- and spoke, for the first time, explicitly of an "Ur-Purana" as the common source of the extant puranas "in ihren echtesten Partien." [Google translate: in their most genuine parts]7 [7 August BLAU: Puranische Streifen. I. Der Itihasa von Saranyu in seiner Fortbildung durch die Purana [Google translate: Puranic Stripes. I. The Itihasa of Saranyu in his further training through the Purana], ZDMG 62, 1908, 337-357 at 337. Blau also saw another reason why it is important to determine the oldest parts of the puranas: "Denn so wenig die Massenhaftigkeit der puranischen Produktion und der z. T. hochst unerfreuliche Inhalt dieser Literatur zu naherer Beschaftigung mit ihr einladen mogen, so ist es gerade darum um so wunschenswerter, dass das Ursprungliche und Alte in den einzelnen Purana herausgehoben und miteinander verglichen werde." [Google translate: Because so little the masses of puranic production and the content of this literature is partly extremely unpleasant invite you to take a closer look at it, it is precisely for that reason that it is all the more desirable that the original and the old are emphasized in the individual Purana and compared to each other.]

The first application of the principle on a large scale came from Frederick Eden Pargiter. In an article, in 1913, on "Visvamitra and Vasistha," he defined his methodology as follows: "The texts for each story are cited. They are all obviously based on a common original metrical tradition, and by collating them a revised text may be framed. This I have done, and I give the collated version here with such variant readings only as are material."8 [8 JRAS 1913, 885-904 at 885.] Far more important was the publication, in the same year, of The Purana Text of the Dynasties of the Kali Age. In it Pargiter reconstructed the original puranic account of the dynasties that reigned in India during the Kali era, based on editions and manuscripts of the Matsyaº, Vayuº, Brahmandaº, Visnuº, Bhagavataº, Garudaº, and Bhavisyaº. A more general volume on Indian history, based on the same principles, appeared in 1922: Ancient Indian Historical Tradition. Once again Pargiter clearly stated his methodology:

"In examining the genealogies it is of little profit and is likely to be misleading to deal with the accounts of the several Puranas separately. The only trustworthy course is first to collate the texts that generally agree and ascertain as far as possible what original text they indicate, and then construct the genealogy therefrom. By this method individual corruptions and errors can be corrected, losses and omissions remedied, and interpolations and alterations detected with reasonable confidence; and thus a text may be framed which approaches as nearly as is possible to the common original on which all those texts were based."9 [9 PARGITER 1922: 82.]


The merits of Pargiter's methodology in reconstructing the early history of India on the basis of the puranas will be examined later in this volume (see 2.2.4). At this point I merely want to stress the emergence of the concept of reducing parallel accounts in various puranas to one single original. In Pargiter's case this concept was so successful that, from then onward, many historians of India were to base their research and their writings directly on Pargiter's reconstructed text rather than on the more cumbersome editions of individual puranas.10 [10 E.g., K.G. SANKAR (Some Problems of Indian Chronology, ABORI 12, 1931, 301-361) uses PARGITER 1913 "throughout this article." According to Ferdinand BOCK (Die puranas als Geschichtsquelle [Google translate: The puranas as a source of history], WZKM 29, 1931,97-133), "Die neue PARGITERSCHE Ausgabe der Puranas [emphasis added], die ich allen Zitaten zugrunde lege, zeigt dem Philologen auf den erst en Blick so viel Auffallendes, dass eine genaue Prufung des Ganzen unerlasslich erscheint" [Google translate: The new PARGITER edition of the Puranas [emphasis added] on which I base all quotations shows the philologist so much striking at first glance that a thorough examination of the whole seems indispensable.] (p. 98). Occasionally, the puranic lists of dynasties have been emended, starting from Pargiter's text. E.g., V. V. MlRASHI (The puranas on the Successors of the Satavahanas in Vidarbha; Pur 18, 1976, 88-92) proposes to correct the unknown Maunah (at PARGITER 1913: 46) into Maundah.]...

2.1.3 Different Recensions of Puranas

The existing editions of individual puranas exhibit a wide range of discrepancies, from minor variant readings to the inclusion or exclusion of entire chapters or sections. The latter situation applies, for instance, in the case of the Padmaº: "The present Padma, which is the result of several recasts, has come down to us in two distinct recensions -- North Indian (Bengal) and South Indian."1 [1 HAZRA 1940: 107. In the case of the Padmaº this distinction was already made by Luders (Sage von Rsyasrnga, 1897, ref. sub Padmaº), including the statement that the Bengali version is the older one (p. 94 n. 1). Cf. WINTERNITZ 1907: 452.] This statement by Hazra reflects the traditional interpretation of the major discrepancies, especially those between the Vangavasi editions1a [1a Even though, in the particular case of the Padmaº (see there) the Vangavasi ed. too, reproduces the "Western" Padmaº.] on the one hand and the Venkatesvara and/or Anandasrama editions on the other. Haraprasad Shastri formulated the general principle as follows:

"They represent the different provincial recensions and that means collation of different classes of manuscripts ... By a cursory view of the two sets, one can at once come to know ... that some khandas of the Puranas are popular in one province and unknown in another and so forth."2 [2 HARAPRASAD SHASTRI: 1928b: 327-328.]


Elsewhere the editions are much closer to one another, as in the case of the Brahmaº: "The AnSS ed. is chapter by chapter the same as the Vanga ed. There are occasional variations in readings and number of verses in the corresponding chapters, but these variations are not many and important."3 [3 HAZRA 1940: 145 n. 163.] We might be tempted to conclude from statements such as this that there are also puranas without major, regional differences, were it not that we know that the Vangavasi editions and the Venkatesvara and/or Anandasrama editions are not always as independent of one another as the geographic distance between Calcutta and Bombay or Pune might make us believe. Thus, in the preface to the Vanga edition of the Skandaº the editor explains that he took the Venkatesvara edition as his basis, and merely added to it chapters and verses he found in the Bengal manuscripts.4 [4 Pp. 10-11, quoted at HAZRA 1940: 157 n. 176.] And with regard to the Vamanaº editions Hazra surmised with good reasons: "The Vanga ed. is the same as the Venk. ed. Both consist of 95 chapters. The variations in readings in these two editions are so small in number that one seems to be a reprint of the other."5 [5 HAZRA 1940: 76 n. 1. Cf. PADOUX (Agniº 1978: 58) on the Agniº: "each new edition seems to make it a point to reproduce faithfully even the most obvious errors of the previous ones."]

A good example to show that corresponding chapters in different regional editions of a particular purana do not warrant any conclusion as to the original organization of the text, is provided by the Agniº. Hazra adds the usual note: "The Vanga. ed. is chapter by chapter the same as the AnSS ed. There are, of course, occasional variations in readings and number of verses in the corresponding chapters."6 [6 HAZRA 1940: 134 n. 122.] Gyani agrees, and further specifies: "These editions do not much differ from one another. All the editions contain 382 chapters but the Venkatesvar edition has got one chapter in excess. The Chapter 135 entitled Atha Sangrama Vijaya Vidya cannot be traced in other editions."7 [7 GYANI Agniº 1964: 3 n. 1.] Not only has the additional chapter unostentatiously been inserted in more recent Anandasrama editions, but, more importantly, the apparently uniform division of the Agniº in 382 is, in reality, not a very ancient one. It was the work of its first editor, Rajendralala Mitra [16 February 1822 – 26 July 1891], who used eleven manuscripts, and described their relationship and arrangement as follows: "Of these, eight codices correspond very closely, and give the same number of chapters; two Nos. I and VII are incomplete, wanting several chapters at the end; and one, No. III, has several chapters at the end, and 4 chapters on pilgrimage in the middle the counterparts of which are not to be met with elsewhere. The chapters are not regularly numbered in any of the MSS., and in several no number is to be met with. For the sake of convenience of reference the serial number has been introduced by me, and the total I arrived at from the eight MSS. which correspond is 382".8 [8 Agniº ed., 1873-79, pp. xxxvii-xxxviii.]


What I would like to suggest is that, even when different editions of a particular purana correspond in their general arrangement, this does not mean that we are in the fortunate position of possessing the text of that purana. On the contrary, there are reasons to believe that, irrespective of whether or not the printed editions exhibit major differences, all titles of puranas have been -- and are -- used to cover a variety of materials which do not appear in our editions. Some of these materials may still be available in -- numerous -- manuscripts which have never been consulted by purana editors; others may have existed in manuscripts which are now lost; others again may have been included in the recitations of individual sutas without ever having been committed to writing.

As early as 1890 Buhler showed that al-Biruni's quotations from "the Visnudharma" are, in fact, from two different versions of the Visnudharmottaraº. One of his conclusions was that "it is evident that in the beginning of the eleventh century two works with the title Vishnudharmottara or Vishnu-Dharma existed, and that both were considered to be canonical by Biruni's Pandits who, one and all, were Vaisnavas."9 [9 Book-notice on Sachau's Alberuni, IA 19, 1890, 381-410 at 407.]

On numerous occasions scholars have taken notice of the existence of manuscripts the contents of which did not correspond to those of any of the published versions. According to Burnell, "eighteen Puranas are mentioned everywhere; but they are often by no means the same works, though under one name."10 [10 1880: 187. Cf. p. 189, on Brahmaº, etc.] In Haraprasad's catalogue of the purana manuscripts at the Asiatic Society in Calcutta one comes across several statements, similar to the one on a Bhavisyaº manuscript: "it does not agree with any of the recensions of the purana known."11 [11 HARAPRASAD SHASTRI 1928a: 424. Cf. p. (Varahaº), p. 647 (Vamanaº), p. 784 (Nilamataº), etc.] R. N. Mehta came to the conclusion that "under the title of Nagarakhanda several works exist."12 [12 Nagarakhanda -- A Study, JUBar 17, 1968, 106.] Bonazzoli refers to the existence of five different Bhavisyaºs.13 [13 BONAZZOLI Bhavisyaº 1979: 26-27.] Even for a purana for which most editions correspond, such as the Devibhagavataº, Lalye saw a manuscript which is totally different.14 [14 LALYE Devibhagavataº 1973: viii.]

Equally revealing for the existence of different texts with identical titles are certain statements in the dharmanibandhas. Besides the puranas with these names which he did consult (pp. 2-3) Ballalasena refers in the Danasagara to "another" (apara) Brahmaº, Agniº, Visnuº, and Lingaº which he did not use (p. 7). Inasmuch as the contents of these "other" puranas, as indicated in the Danasagara, do not correspond to those of the extant puranas, the conclusion was drawn that in addition to the latter -- which are spurious by definition (see 1.3) -- there was for each of them at least one other spurious text.15 [15 E. g., HAZRA 1940: 95 n. 40 (Lingaº), 151 n. 168 (Brahmaº).] Similarly, Narasimha Vajapeyin's Nityacarapradipa distinguishes between two different Brahmaºs, one of which is quoted in Laksmidhara's Krtyakalpataru, the other in the works of Hemadri; the text labels the latter an upapurana.16 [16 BI work 160, 1903-28, 1.19.] Ballalasena (p. 7) also refers to a few puranas which were useless for his purpose, since they do not contain rules on gifts (danavidhisunya); one of these is the Brahmandaº. Not only does the extant Brahmandaº contain such rules; Hemadri's Caturvargacintamani, attributes to it many other verses on the subject which do not appear in our editions. This shows "that the text of the 'Brahmanda', used by Hemadri, was in many ways different from that of our present edition as well as from that of the Brahmanda known to Ballalasena."17 [17 HAZRA 1940: 19.]

The Kalikaº is a title which has created problems for several scholars. Raghavan was the first one to suggest the existence of at least three versions: the one represented by most manuscripts and editions, comprising from 90 to 93 chapters; L. 370 of Aufrecht's Catalogus Catalogorum, which Rajendralala Mitra himself calls Candiº; and the India Office manuscript, a later and different text.18 [18 RAGHAVAN Kalikaº 1938: 331.] The editor of Laksmidhara's Krtyakalpataru, K. V. Rangaswami Aiyangar, came to the conclusion that "it has been ... difficult to find any of the quotations from Kalikapurana in any of the printed editions of it. The existence of Kalikapurana in more than one recension, and the radical differences between rival versions of it, might justify the suspicion that we do not now possess it in the form in which it existed in the 11th and 12th centuries."19 [19 RANGASWAMI AIYANGAR Nandiº 1941-42.: 159.] On the basis of the India Office catalogue19a [19a EGGELING 1899: 1193-1198, no. 3344.] Hazra accepts the existence of another Kalikaº, also called Kaliº and Satiº, which is quite different from "the present" Kalikaº.20 [20 HAZRA 1963: 259.] Elsewhere Hazra mentions that Raghunandana's Durgapujatattva (pp. 8-9) quotes ten verses which are introduced as dusprapakalikapuranantare 'pi. It shows "that Raghunandana knew another Kalika-p. which was different from the present one profusely drawn upon by him in his Tattvas."21 [21 HAZRA 1963: 236.]

Raghunandana was born at Nabadwip, to Harihara Bhattacharya. He was a pupil of Srinatha Acharya Chudamani. His writings mention Rayamukuta (1431 CE), and are mentioned by Viramitrodaya of Mitramisra (early 17th century). Thus, it can be inferred that Raghunandana lived around 16th century CE.

-- Raghunandana [Raghunandan Bhattacharyya] [Raghunandana Bhaṭṭācāryya], by Wikipedia


Notice also that Nilakantha's [Mimamasakabhatta's] Vyavaharamayukha, after quoting three stanzas from the Kalikaº, says that they do not deserve absolute confidence, "for they are absent from two or three manuscripts of the text."22 [22 Ed. P. V. KANE, Bombay: NSP, 1926, p. 114.]

The introductory verses in the mss. of all the Mayukhas present a perplexing problem. Hardly any two mss. of the same Mayukha contain the same introductory verses. For example, one of the three mss. of the Samayamayukha in the Bhau Daji collection of the Bombay Royal Asiatic Society has only one introductory verse2 [[x].]; while in the other two that verse does not occur at all. In one of these two latter there are four introductory verses and in the other there are five, the Benares edition agreeing with the last. The Benares edition of the S'antimayukha (of 1879) contains fourteen introductory verses, nine of which (from the second) give the genealogy of the family of Bhagavantadeva; while one ms. of the S'antimayukha in the Bhau Daji collection has only one introductory verse which is not found in the Benares edition; and another ms. of the same in the same collection has three verses, only one of which is found in the Benares edition. In the same way the printed editions of the Prayas'cittamayukha and the Acaramayukha (Benares, 1879) contain fourteen introductory verses each; while mss. of these two Mayukhas in the Gattulalji collection in Bombay have only two and three verses respectively. This perplexing variance in the number of introductory verses cannot be satisfactorily explained by supposing that in all cases of such differences the scribes of the mss. and others introduced unauthorised interpolations. The hypothesis which, after a careful consideration of all the introductions, seems most probable is that Nilakantha himself (or probably his son) from time to time revised his works, recast the introductory verses, added to them and also made slight alterations and additions in the body of the works.

Some of the Mayukhas such as the printed editions of the S'anti, Prayas'citta, S'raddha and Acara Mayukhas contain the genealogy of the family of Bhagavantadeva. The genealogy is more or less mythical, but there are no weighty reasons to suppose that the verses are spurious and not from the pen of Nilakantha himself
1 [The verses are: -- [x]. Vide also Aufrecht's Bod. Cat., p. 280. No. 656 and I.O. Cat. part III, p. 429, No. 1444 and Mandlik's Introduction LXXVII.]. The genealogy is: from Brahma was born Kas'yapa, whose son was Vibhandaka, whose son was Rsyas'rnga. In the family of the latter was born S'rngivara, after whom the family came to be known as Sengara. King Karna was born in that family. Then follows a line of eighteen kings, the last being Bhagavantadeva.

-- The Vyavaharamayukha or Bhatta Nilakantha, With an Introduction, Notes and Appendices, by P.V. Kane


A most interesting case is presented by the Agniº. Gyani23 [23 GYANI Agniº 1964: 1 n. l.] lists five editions which "do not much differ from one another," and he therefore restricts himself to using one edition: Venkatesvara. Yet, ever since the publication of the catalogue of Sanskrit manuscripts of the India Office Library23a [23a EGGELING 1899: 1294-1298, no. 3582.] the existence of a Vahniº -- "different from the work usually designated by that title" -- was known.24 [24 Cf. WINTERNITZ 1907: 473 n. 2; at 1963: 496 n. 2 it is called an upapurana. In fact, Buhler's Report for 1872-73 to the Director of Public Instruction mentions: "Among the puranas the Vahnipurana is new to me. It is not identical with the Agnipurana" (extract at IA 2, 1873, 304). Cf. WILSON 1840 = 1961: xxxviii.] Only at the end of his treatment of the Agniº Hazra25 [25 HAZRA 1940: 139-140.] briefly refers to this manuscript: "Besides the extant Agni-p., Mss. have been found of another work called 'Vahni-purana.'" A little over ten years later Hazra had an opportunity to study the manuscripts of the Vahniº; he concluded: "With the spread of Tantricism this spurious work [= the present AgniP] attained great popularity, and the genuine Agneya-purana [= the earlier Agni-p.] had to save itself from extinction by assuming a different title, viz., 'Vahni-purana.'"26 [26 Discovery of the Genuine Agneya-purana, JOIB 5, 1956, 411-416 at 411; also, Studies in the Genuine Agneya-purana alias Vahni-purana, OH 1, 1953, 209-245 [contents at 218-224]; 2, 1954, 77-110.] He rightly points out that what makes a mahapurana is its being well known; that what is less well known becomes an upapurana. "As modern scholars did not know the real nature of this 'Vahni-purana' occurring in Manuscripts, they took it to be an Upapurana of minor importance." Although Hazra twice uses the expression that it is the Vahniº rather than the Agniº that "is identical with" the genuine Agneyaº, the absence in it of the Isanakalpa -- here too, even as in the extant Agniº! -- and various other arguments make him admit that, once again, this Vahniº has lost many chapters of the original Agneyaº; they have been replaced by passages drawn from other sources, and the whole assumed a "Vaisnava form." In short, this is a unique case in which one "extant" purana has actually been replaced with another, at least by one scholar. Yet, in 1964 Gyani continued to analyze the Venkatesvara edition; his sole reference to Hazra's article appears in six lines of the conclusions.


Vaishnavism is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. According to a 2010 estimate by Johnson and Grim, the Vaishnava tradition is the largest group within Hinduism constituting about 641 million or 67.6% of Hindus. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the Supreme Being. Its followers are called Vaishnavas or Vaishnavites (derived from IAST: Vaiṣṇava), and it also includes some other sub-traditions like Krishnaism and Ramaism, which consider Krishna and Rama as the Supreme Being respectively...

Key texts in Vaishnavism include the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Pancaratra (Agama) texts, Naalayira Divya Prabhandham and the Bhagavata Purana.

-- Vaishnavism, by Wikipedia


Modern scholarship noticed all these facts. It recognized "that the extent of the genuine Agneya-purana was not the same at all times and in all places and that it varied with the difference in time and locality."27 [27 HAZRA, JOIB 5, 1956, 414-415.] It realized that of the hundreds of verses attributed to the Deviº, which are not traceable in our text, some were quoted by certain nibandhakaras, some by others. "This shows that the text of the Devi-p. was not the same everywhere but differed considerably in different provinces."28 [28 HAZRA 1963: 193-194.] Yet, one failed to draw the logical conclusion: besides the version or versions of puranas that appear in our manuscripts, and fewer still in our editions, there have been numerous other versions, under the same titles, but which either have remained unnoticed or have been irreparably lost.

The danger I want to point out here is that those readings and arrangements of a particular purana which happen to have been included in the printed edition or editions, have automatically been considered as representing "the" purana -- be it only the less valuable extant one --, whereas all variant readings and arrangements exhibited in manuscripts which were not used by the editors, have been generally overlooked or neglected. These latter materials never -- or very rarely -- come to the notice of those doing research on the puranas; and if they do, they are invariably treated as less valuable or negligible deviations from the standard text.

One scholarly publication in which, besides editions of puranas, manuscripts have been used quite extensively, is Pargiter's Purana Text of the Dynasties of the Kali Age. The author made a conscious search for as many manuscripts as he could possibly find (see his account, pp. xxix-xxxiv), and the variant readings found in them are carefully noted in the critical apparatus. Occasionally, however, even Pargiter cannot help giving more weight to the printed editions than to handwritten materials. For instance, in the Bhavisyaº the text on the dynasties of the Kali age occurs in the Venkatesvara edition, whereas "I have examined the following MSS, but none of them contain anything about these dynasties" (p. xxx); these manuscripts are ten in number, and Pargiter therefore concludes that the passage in the edition is "not genuine." A similar situation presents itself in the Brahmandaº: none of the five manuscripts which Pargiter consulted contains the passage as it occurs in the Venkatesvara edition which "professes to be based on several MSS, yet gives variant readings only rarely, and leaves on my mind the impression that it has been silently emended at times" (p. xxx). Yet, in this case Pargiter failed to draw the same conclusion he drew in connection with the Bhavisyaº.

No one has probably consulted as many purana manuscripts as R.C. [Rajendra Chandra] Hazra; no one was more acutely aware of the problems they raise than he was. Yet, although he points to the existence of a manuscript of the Vamanaº which "seems to differ much from our printed editions," he too, cannot help basing his discussion of the nature and contents of "the extant Purana" on the printed editions only.

Other scholars did not use manuscripts to the extent Pargiter or Hazra did.29 [29 HAZRA 1940: 76-77.] The manuscripts were, in most cases, inaccessible to them, or too voluminous to handle. In fact, most scholars who wrote on puranas did not even have access to all existing editions.30 [30 The editions in Telugu script are, in many cases, the earliest ones; yet they have remained practically unknown and unused. The editions in Bengali script, especially those of the Vangavasi Press, have been used more often, but in general only by Bengalis. Most purana studies, by Indians all over the subcontinent and by non-Indians, are based on the devanagari editions, especially the Venkatesvara and Anandasrama editions, the latter being even more widely available than the former. E. g., "Reference is made here only to the texts that have appeared in Devanagari" (PUSALKAR 1968: 692); "Unless otherwise indicated, the texts are those of the Anandasrama Series" (W. JAHN: Uber die kosmogonischen Grundanschauungen im Manava-Dharma-Sastram [Google translate: About the cosmogonic Basic views in the Manava-Dharma-Sastram], Leipzig: Drugulin, 1904, p. 20).] Their conclusions are based on those editions which happened to be available to them; in many cases this just meant one single edition. Kirfel's Purana Pancalaksana, for example, uses a single manuscript of the Brahmandaº, in addition to its Venkatesvara edition; for the Visnuº it uses one edition from Calcutta and one from Bombay; for the Padmaº it uses two editions from -- at that time -- Bombay Presidency; and for all other puranas it relies on single editions. Kirfel was aware of the problem; he confessed facing the alternative of making purana studies progress with incomplete materials, or postponing publication of his research indefinitely, and he decided in favor of the former.31 [ 31 "Wenn im Vorwort zum Puranalaksana gesagt wurde, dass zur Aufhellung mancher textlicher Verderbnis oder Abweichungen noch eineAnzahl alter und guter Handschriften hatte herangezogen werden mussen, so gilt dieses auch fur den vorliegenden Band. Es besteht aber auf absehbare Zeit nicht die geringste Aussicht, an jene heranzukommen. Aber selbst wenn dies der Fall ware, wurden sich doch nicht alle Textverderbnisse berichtigen lassen, wie die in Poona erscheinende kritische Ausgabe des Mahabharata beweist. Zudem wurde es sich bei den vielen hier in Betracht kommenden Purana's um eine so grosse Anzahl von Handschriften handeln, dass die Drucklegung des durch so umfangreiche Kollationierungsarbeiten ubermassig angeschwollenen kritischen Apparates schon aus praktischen Grunden scheitern wurde. Dies hiesse zugleich, die mit der riesigen purana Literatur verknupften Probleme auf unabsehbare Zeit zuruckzustellen; dies ware ein Verfahren, das mit den Prinzipien von Forschung und Wissenschaft nicht mehr recht vereinbar ist" [Google translate: If in the foreword to the Puranalaksana it was said that for enlightening some textual corruption or discrepancies still a number of old and good manuscripts had to be used, this also applies to the present volume. But there is no prospect of getting hold of them in the foreseeable future. But even if that were the case, not all text corruptions would be corrected as the critical edition of the Mahabharata published in Poona shows. In addition, it became one of the many Puranas under consideration here. Large number of manuscripts act that the printing of the by so extensive Collation work on excessively swollen critical apparatus already done practical reasons would fail. This would also mean the one with the huge purana literature postpone linked problems for an indefinite period of time; this would be a procedure that is no longer quite compatible with the principles of research and science." ] (KIRFEL 1954: XI-XII).] Abegg's Pretakalpa is based solely on Jibananda's edition of the Garuda -- the editions of which are very different indeed.32 [32 "Neben dieser in der Einleitung S. 2 allein angefuhrten Ausgabe ist noch eine von Pancanana Tarkaratna, Calcutta 1891 erschienen, sowie eine in Bombay; beide waren mir nicht zuganglich" (Pretakalpa des Garuda-Purana, 1921, p. VIII n. 1). [Google translate: In addition to this edition, which is only cited in the introduction on p. 2, there is also one of Pancanana Tarkaratna, Calcutta 1891, and one in Bombay; both were not accessible.] A study such as Hohenberger's "Das Vamanapurana"33 [33 HOHENBERGER Vamanaº 1963.] which uses the Venkatesvara edition of the text only, cannot claim to be more than a study of that particular version of the Vamanaº; it is not an analysis of the Vamanaº as a whole. Surabhi H. Trivedi34 [34 TRIVEDI Brahmaº 1968-69.] lists four editions of the Brahmaº (p. 75), but uses nothing else than the Anandasrama edition. V. S. Agrawala based his study of the Markandeyaº, in Hindi, on Jibananda's edition and Pargiter's English translation.35 [35 AGRAWALA Markandeyaº 1961.]

In short, the existing editions, useful as they may have been in making the puranas available in print, have done a definite disservice to scholarly research, in that they have accidentally raised one or two versions of each purana to the rank of the purana. By doing so they have obliterated all other versions which might be equally or, eventually, more important than the published ones.36 [36 E. g., Sylvain LEVI (1905: 210) noted the existence of not less than five versions of the Svayambhuº: Svayambhumahaº (12 chapters), Svayambhu-utpattikatha or Madhyamasvayambhuº (10 ch.), Brhatsvayambhuº (printed in the BI, 3000 lines in ms.), Mahatsvayambhuº (2000 lines), and Svayambhucaityabhattarakoddesa (250 lines). He considered the first one to be the best; as opposed to the printed one with its "style barbare et metrique abominable." "Il est regrettable que la Bibliotheca Indica ait imprime de preference cette derniere recension, et que l'editeur du texte ait cru devoir farcir a plaisir de barbarismes et de solecismes le sanscrit macaronique de son auteur; il n'est pas conforme au 'fair play" meme entre brahmanes et bouddhistes, de choisir, comme de parti pris, les lecons les plus incorrectes et d'eliminer les autres" [Google translate: "barbarian style and abominable metric." "It is unfortunate that the Bibliotheca Indica has preferably printed this last review, and that the editor of the text thought it his duty to stuff barbarisms and solecisms the macaronic Sanskrit of its author; he does not comply to 'fair play' even between Brahmans and Buddhists, to choose, as if by bias, the most incorrect lessons and eliminate the others."] (p. 212 n. 1).] As a result they have made purana research based on them one-sided and, therefore, inaccurate.37 [37 Cf. Albert B. LORD (The Singer of Tales, Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1960, pp. 124-125): even though one or more versions of oral poetry become eventually fixed, this does not in any way affect the singer or his audience. The singer "continued, as did his confreres, to compose and sing as he always had and they always had"; the audience "thought in his terms, in the terms of multiplicity."]

These facts have been recognized. Kane discusses the unfortunate situation that most editions of puranas are based on one manuscript or on a few manuscripts selected at random. "Many conclusions, therefore, drawn from the current printed editions of the Puranas or from mss. of the Puranas, must be regarded. as merely tentative and as likely to turn out to be wrong."38 [38 KANE 1962: 838.] Haraprasad Shastri used a presidential address at the All-India Oriental Conference to stress the fact that "in the matter of the Puranas every manuscript has a peculiar feature, and so, all manuscripts are important from the point of view of a collector and a scholar."39 [39 AIOC 5 (1928), 80. Cf. DAS (1924: 119): "One might almost say that no two manuscripts of any Purana are exactly the same."].

Yet, scholars continue to quote and draw conclusions from the Visnuº, the Matsyaº, etc. Sten Konow,40 [40 Note on the Andhra King Candasata, ZDMG 62, 1908, 591-592.] for example, while discussing the name of the last but one Andhra king, relies heavily on the puranas to defend the form Canda rather than Vincent Smith's Candra.

"The forms of the name given in the puranas are not at all in favour of this supposition. Candra, it is true, occurs in THE Visnu and Bhagavata Purana, but THE Matsya has Canda and THE Vayu Danda, and this last form cannot well be explained as a corruption of Candra. I therefore think that Canda is the correct form of the word."41 [41 Ibid., p. 591 (emphasis added). Konow's argument is even less convincing, since he draws these forms, second hand, from R. G. Bhandarkar's Early History of the Dekkan (2nd ed., 1895, p. 164), where the sources used for the puranas are not even specified.]


In connection with the different versions of puranas reference should also be made to titles of puranas to which adjectives such as Brhad-, Laghu-, Vrddha-, etc., have been prefixed. They have laid to confusion and misinterpretation.42 [42 The confusion existed already in the Sanskrit texts. For instance, the Ekamraº distinguishes between a principal Narasimhaº and an upapurana called Brhannarasimhaº. Gopalabhatta's Haribhaktivilasa also quotes verses separately from Narashimhaº (ca. 100) and Brhannarasimhaº (63). The Caturvargacintamani, on the other hand, ascribes the latter to Narasimhaº. HAZRA (1958: 356) concludes that either Hemadri considered the two works to be identical, or the verses occurred in both. They do not, however, appear in our printed Nrsimhaº.] Winternitz,43 [43 WINTERNITZ 1907: 466-467.] for example, confused the Naradaº and Brhannaradaº in the original, German Geschichte; the confusion has only been partly eliminated in its English translation.44 [44 WINTERNITZ 1963: 489-490.] Both in the German and English editions the Brhannaradaº is called "the great Purana of Narada," whereas the much longer Naradaº, the edition of which is not even mentioned, is called an upapurana. Similarly, when Winternitz45 [45 Ibid., p. 478; cf. HAZRA 1958: 353-356.] assigns an early date to the Visnuº because few mahatmyas [Māhātmya can be translated as “glory” or “greatness”, and is also a term for a text genre.] claim to be part of it, he adds the following note: "Nevertheless it is noteworthy that Matsya- and Bhagavata-Purana give the number of slokas of the Visnu-purana as 23,000, while in reality it has not quite 7,000 verses, and that also a 'Great Visnu-Purana' (Brhadvisnupurana, Aufrecht CC I, 591) is quoted." He thus seems to equate the larger version of 23,000 verses with the Brhadvisnuº. In reality, here as elsewhere in Sanskrit literature46 [46 Compare the many smrtis to which the same adjectives have been prefixed. On the status of such texts, see J.D.M. DERRETI: Dharmasastra and Juridical Literature, [part of vol. IV in this series,] Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1973, p. 40.] we should expect Brhad-, Laghu-, Vrddha-, etc., to refer to compositions which are secondary as compared to the corresponding titles to which these adjectives have not been prefixed....
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Re: Freda Bedi Cont'd (#3)

Postby admin » Tue Jun 08, 2021 6:50 am

Part 2 of 3

Frederick Eden Pargiter: Cont'd from The Puranas, by Ludo Rocher

2.2.2 Dating the Puranas

It should come as no surprise that, as soon as Westerners came in contact with the puranas, they raised the question of the dates of these texts. The initial reaction was to assign late dates to the puranas generally. Bentley, for example, held that "many of the Purans" are more recent than Varahamihira,1 [1 John BENTLEY: On the Antiquity of the Surya Siddhanta, and the Formation of the Astronomical Cycles therein Contained, As. Res. 7, 1799, 537-588 at 574.] and, more specifically, that the Visnudharmottaraº borrowed from Brahmagupta.2 [2 A Historical View of the Hindu Astronomy, from the Earliest Dawn of the Science in India, down to the Present Time, Calcutta: Baptist Mission Press, 1823, p. 86.]

Brahmagupta (c. 598 – c. 668 CE) was an Indian mathematician and astronomer. He is the author of two early works on mathematics and astronomy: the Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta (BSS, "correctly established doctrine of Brahma", dated 628), a theoretical treatise, and the Khaṇḍakhādyaka ("edible bite", dated 665), a more practical text.

Brahmagupta was the first to give rules to compute with zero. The texts composed by Brahmagupta were in elliptic verse in Sanskrit, as was common practice in Indian mathematics. As no proofs are given, it is not known how Brahmagupta's results were derived.

-- Brahmagupta, by Wikipedia


Far more influential, of course, was [Horace Hayman] Wilson's opinion. I have already referred to the place which he assigns the puranas in the general development of the Hindu religion (see 1.3.1). He felt that none of the present manifestations of popular Hinduism can be older than Sankara, "the great Saiva reformer," and, on the Vaisnava side, than Ramanuja, Madhva, and Vallabha.

Every date in ancient Indian history, except that of the invasion of Alexander (326 B.C.), is controversial, and Sankara’s date is no exception. Max Muller and other orientalists have somehow fixed it as 788 to 820 A.D., and Das Gupta and Radhakrishnan, the well-known writers on the history of Indian Philosophy, have accepted and repeated it in their books. To do so is not in itself wrong, but to do it in such a way as to make the layman believe it to be conclusive is, to say the least, an injustice to him. It is held by the critics of this date that the Sankara of 788-820 A.D. is not the Adi-Sankara (the original Sankara), but Abhinava Sankara (modern Sankara), another famous Sannyasin of later times (788-839), who was born at Chidambaram and was the head of the Sankara Math at Kanchipuram between 801 and 839. He was reputed for his holiness and learning and is said to have gone on tours of controversy (Dig-vijaya) like the original Sankara.

It is found that not only modern scholars, but even the authors of several Sankara-vijayas have superimposed these two personalities mutually and mixed up several details of their lives. The author of the concept of adhyasa himself seems to have become a victim of it! The cause of much of this confusion has been the custom of all the incumbents of the headship of Sankara Maths being called Sankaracharyas. To distinguish the real Sankara, he is therefore referred to as ‘Adi-Sankara' an expression that is quite meaningless. For, Sankaracharya was the name of an individual and not a title, and if the heads of the Maths of that illustrious personage were known only by their individual names like the heads of religious institutions founded by other teachers, probably much of this confusion could have been avoided….

Ullur S. Parameswara Iyer has pointed out in his great work that the sole support for the modern scholars’ view on Sankara’s date as 788 A.D. is the following incomplete verses of unknown authorship: "Nidhi nagebha vahnyabde vibhave sankarodayah; Kalyabde candranetranka vahnyabde pravisad guham; Vaisakhe purnimayam tu sankarah sivatamagat." Here the words of the first verse are the code words for the year 3889 of the Kali era, which is equivalent to 788 A.D. (It is derived as follows: nidhi: 9; naga: 8; ibha: 8; vahni: 3. Since the numbers are to be taken in the reverse order, it gives 3889 of the Kali era as the date of Sankara’s birth, its conversion into Christian era being 788 A.D. Kali era began 3102 years before the Christian era….

Traditional Indian dates are suspect because of the multiplicity of eras, of which about forty-seven have been enumerated by T. S. Narayana Sastri in his book, The Age of Sankara. So unless the era is specifically mentioned, it is difficult to fix a date in any understandable way. Two of these eras are famous—the Kali era, which started in 3102 B.C., and Yudhishthira Saka era which started 37 years after, i.e., in 3065 B.C. The calculation according to the latter era is, however, complicated further by the fact that, according to the Jains and the Buddhists, the latter era started 468 years after the Kali era, that is, in 2634 B.C.

Sri T. S. Narayana Sastri, in his book, The Age of Sankara, argues the case for the traditional date, on the basis of the list of succession kept in Kamakoti Math and Sringeri Math, and what he has been able to gather from ‘mutilated copies’ of Brihat-Sankara-vijaya, Prachtna-Sankara-vijaya and Vyasachallya-Sankara-vijaya. Until authentic copies of these works are available, the information they are supposed to give is not acceptable…

44 B.C., the supposed date of the birth of Sankara according to Sringeri Math, might have been the result of the confusion of eras and calculations based on them. 2625 of the Kali era, the date of his death, must have been taken as referring to Buddhist-Jain era and then converted into Kali era by adding 468 to it, thus arriving at 3093 of Kali era (9 or 10 B.C.) as the date of Sankara’s death….

as stated in T. S. Narayana Sastri’s work, in the Kamakoti list Sankara occupied that Gaddi for three years (from 480 B.C. to 477 B.C.) and was followed by Sureswara for 70 years (477 B.C. to 407 B.C.), the Sringeri list maintains that Sankara occupied that Gaddi for six years (from 18 B.C. to 12 B.C.), and was followed by Sureswara for 785 years (from 12 B.C. to 773 A.D.)… The record of the Sringeri Math says that Sankara was born in the 14th year of the reign of Vikramaditya. Compilers wrongly referred this to the era of Vikramaditya of Ujjain, which was originally called Malava Samvat and later in the eighth century A.D. called the Vikrama Samvat. This took Sankara to the first century B.C. and necessitated the assignment of around 800 years to Sureswaracharya to agree with the later dates. Mr L. Rice points out that the reference is not to the Vikramaditya of Ujjain but to the Chalukya king Vikramaditya who ruled in Badami near Sringeri. Historians opine that Chalukya Vikramaditya ascended the throne during the period 655 to 670 A.D….

Such unbelievable inconsistencies have made modern historians totally reject the evidence provided by the chronological lists of the Maths. So Sri Ullur Parameswara Iyer, himself a pious Brahmana, maintains in his History of Kerala Sahitya (Vol. 1 p. 111) that it is easy to prove that most of these Math lists have been formulated so late as the 16th century A.D.

But a still greater difficulty posed for such an early date as 509 to 476 B.C. for Sankara is the proximity of this to the generally accepted date of the Buddha (567-487 B.C.). Sankara has criticised Buddhism in its developed form with its four branches of philosophy. A few centuries at least should certainly be allowed to elapse for accommodating this undeniable fact. Sri T. S. Narayana Sastri is, however, remarkably ingenious, and his reply to this objection is that the Buddha’s date was certainly much earlier. Vaguely quoting Prof. Wheeler, Weber and Chinese records, he contends that the Buddha must have flourished at any time between the 20th and the 14th century B.C. He challenges the fixing of the date of Buddha on the basis of the dates of Kanishka or of Megasthenes.3a [Kanishka’s date is variously stated as 1st century B.C., 1st century A.D., 2nd century A.D. and 3rd century A.D. The relevancy of his date to the Buddha’s date is that Hsuan Tsang, the Chinese traveller, states that the Buddha lived four hundred years before Kanishka. Some historians try to fix the date of the Buddha on the basis of this information as 5th century B.C. This view is not currently accepted, and the Buddha’s date is settled on other grounds as 567-487 B.C. It is fixed so on the basis of Asoka’s coronation in 269 B.C., four years after his accession. According to the Ceylon Chronicles, 218 years separate this event of Asoka’s coronation from the date of the Buddha’s demise. Thus we get 487 as the date of the Buddha’s demise, and as he is supposed to have lived 80 years, the date of his birth is 567. According to R. Sathianatha Ayyar, the date of 487 B.C. is supported by “the dotted record” of Canton (China); The traditional date according to the Buddhist canonical literature, however, is 623-543 B.C. Megasthenes comes into the picture, because he was the Greek Ambassador of Selukos Nickator at the court of Chandra Gupta Maurya (325 B.C.), who is described by him as Shandracotus. Now Sri T. S. Narayana Sastri, with a view to push back the Buddha’s date, challenges this identification, and opines that this reference could as well be to Chandra Gupta or even to Samudra Gupta of the Gupta dynasty (300-600 A.D.), in which case the Mauryan age (325 to 188 B.C.) will have to be pushed further back into the 7th to 5th century B.C. and the Buddha (567-487 B.C.) too, into the 9th century B.C. at least. But Sri Sastri forgets that these contentions cannot stand, as the date of Megasthenes and of Chandra Gupta Maurya have necessarily to be related to the firm and unquestionable date of Alexander’s invasion of India (326 B.C.) Megasthenes was the ambassador at the Pataliputra court sent by Selukos Nickator (305 B.C.), the Satrap who succeeded to the Indian region of Alexander’s empire, which he had to give up to Chandra Gupta by a treaty. T. S. Narayana Sastri’s attempt to shift the Gupta period of India history, to the time of Alexander’s invasion (326 B.C.) by equating Shandracotus with Samudra Gupta of the Gupta period, is a mere chronological guess-work without any supporting evidence, as against several historical synchronisms which compel the acceptance of the currently recognised chronology. For example, the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Fahien was in India in the Gupta age, from 399-414 A.D., and his description of India can tally only with that period and not with the Mauryan period. Besides, the Hun invasion of India was in the reign of Skanda Gupta, about 458 A.D., and this event cannot be put on any ground into the B.C.’s when Mauryans flourished, even with an out-stretched poetical imagination. So we have got to maintain that the Shandracotus who visited Alexander’s camp (326 B.C.) and who later received about 326 B.C. Megasthenes as the ambassador of Selukos Nickator, the successor to Alexander’s Indian province, can be none other than Chandra Gupta of the Mauryan dynasty (325 B.C. to 188 B.C.) Further, historical synchronisms, the sheet-anchor of the chronology of Indian history give strong support to the accepted date of Asoka (273-232 B.C.), the greatest of the Mauryan Emperors. His Rock Edict XIII mentions, as stated by Sathianatha Ayyar, the following contemporary personalities: Antiochus Teos of Syria (261-246 B.C.); Ptolemy Philadelphos of Egypt (285-247 B.C.); Antigonos Gonates of Macedonia (278-239 B.C.); Magas of Cyrene (285-258 B.C.), and Alexander of Epirus (272-258 B.C.). They are referred to as alive at the time of that Rock Edict. In the face of such historical synchronisms all attempts to push back the time of the Buddha by several centuries in order to substantiate the theory of 509 B.C. being Sankara’s date, is only chronological jugglery. So the Buddha’s date has to remain more or less as it is fixed today (568-487 B.C.). Sankara came definitely long after the Buddha.] The reference to Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador, who refers to the ruler to whom he was accredited as Shandracotus, need not necessarily be to Chandragupta Maurya but to the king of the Gupta dynasty (300-600 A.D.) with the same name, or even to Samudra Gupta. If this line of argument is accepted, the present dates of Indian history will have to be worked back to about three to four hundred years, which will land us in very great difficulties, as shown in the foot note….

there is another opinion that assigns Sankara to the 1st century B.C. This view is held by Sri N. Ramesam in his book Sri Sankaracharya (1971). His argument is as follows: Sankara is accepted in all Sankara-vijayas as a contemporary of Kumarila. Kumarila must have lived after Kalidasa, the poet, because Kumarila quotes Kalidasa’s famous line; Satam hi sandeha padesu vastusu pramanam antahkaranasya vrittayah. Now Kalidasa’s date has not been firmly fixed (first half of the 5th century A.D. according to some), but it is contended that it cannot be earlier than 150 B.C., as Agni Mitra, one of the heroes in a famous drama of Kalidasa, is ascribed to that date. So also, it cannot be later than the Mandasor Inscription of 450 A.D. So on the basis that Sankara and Kumarila were contemporaries and that Kumarila came after Kalidasa, we have to search for Sankara’s date between 150 B.C. and 450 A.D. Now to narrow down the gap still further, the list of spiritual preceptors that preceded Sankara is taken into consideration. Patanjali, Gaudapada, Govindapada and Sankara— form the accepted line of discipleship. Patanjali, Sri Ramesam contends, lived in the 2nd century B.C., a conclusion which, if accepted finally (?), gives much credence to his theory. Now, not less than a hundred years can be easily taken as the distance in time between Sankara and Patanjali in this line of succession, and thus we derive the time of Sankara as the 1st century B.C., which has the merit of being in agreement with the Kumarila-Sankara contemporaneity and the Kumarila-Kalidasa relationship. The 1st century hypothesis has also got the advantage of tallying with the Sringeri Math’s teacher-disciple list, according to which, as already stated, 12 B.C. is the date of Sankara’s demise. Sri Ramesam finds further confirmation for his theory in the existence of a temple on a Sankaracharya Hill in Kashmir attributed to Jaluka, a son of Asoka who became the ruler of Kashmir after Asoka’s demise, according to Rajaiarangini. Asoka passed away In 180 B.C. and it is very credible that Jaluka could have been in Kashmir when Sankara visited that region, provided Sankara’s life is fixed in the 1st century B.C. Further, Cunningham and General Cole are stated to assign the temple architecturally to the times of Jaluka…

Sri Ramesam also refutes the modern scholars’ view of Sankara’s date being 788-820 A.D. on the ground that this has arisen due to confusion between Adi-Sankara and Abhinava-Sankara (788-840 A.D.)… its credibility depends largely on the theory of 200 B.C. being the time of Patanjali and the acceptance of the Kumarila-Kalidasa relationship. If these are questioned, the whole theory falls. This is the case with most dates in Indian history, where the rule is to fix the date of one person or event on the basis of the date of another person or event, which itself is open to question….

Dr. A. G. Krishna Warrier, Professor of Sanskrit (Rtd) in the Kerala University, in his learned Introduction to his translation of Sankara’s Brahma-sutra-bhashya into Malayalam… states that the Buddhist author Kamalasila has pointed out that Sankara has quoted in his Brahma-sutra-bhashya (B. S. II. 2-28) the following passage from the Alambanapariksha by Dingnaga, the celebrated Buddhist savant: 'Yadantarjneyarupam tat bahiryadavabhasate’. Dingnaga’s date, which Dr. Warrier links with those of Vasubandhu (450 A.D.) and Bhartrhari, is fixed by him as about 450 A.D. But that is not all. The following verse of Dingnaga’s commentator Dharmakirti is quoted by Sankara in his work Upadesa-sahasri: Abhinnopi hi buddhydtma viparyasitadarsanaih grahyagrahaka-samvitti bhedavaniva laksyate (ch. 18, v. 142). This reference is from Dharmakirti’s Pramana-virtischhaya. Dr. Warrier points out that Dharmakirti is described as a ‘great Buddhist logician’ by the Chinese pilgrim-traveller, It-sing, who was in India in 690 A.D. The implication is that Dharmakirti must have lived in the first half of the 7th century or earlier, and that Sankara came after him. It means that Sankara’s date cannot be pushed back beyond the 5th century A.D., or even beyond the 7th century A.D., if the Upadesasahasri is accepted as a genuine work of Sankara. As in the case of most dates in Indian history, the credibility of the view, too, depends on the acceptance of the dates of Dingnaga and Dharmakirti as 5th century and 7th century respectively, and that Upadesasahasri is really a work of Sankara, as traditionally accepted. Fixing dates on the basis of other dates, which are themselves open to question, can yield only possibilities and not certainties.

Probable dates suggested by other scholars are also the 6th century and the 7th century A.D. Sankara refers in his writings to a king named Pumavarman who, according to Hsuan Tsang, ruled in 590 A.D. It is, therefore, contended that Sankara must have lived about that time or after. Next Telang points out how Sankara speaks of Pataliputra in his Sutra-bhashya (IV. ii. 5) and that this will warrant Sankara having lived about a century before 750 A.D., by which time Pataliputra had been eroded by the river and was non-existent. Such references to names of persons, cities, rivers, etc. in philosophical writings can also be explained as stock examples, as we use Aristotle or Achilles in logic, and need not necessarily have any historical significance. Dr. T. R. Chintamani maintains that Kumarila lived towards the latter half of the 7th century A.D. (itself a Controversial point) and Sankara, being a contemporary of his, must have lived about that time (655-684 A.D.). It is also pointed out by him that Vidyananda, the teacher of Jainasena, who was also the author of Jaina-harivamsa (783 A.D.), quotes a verse4 ["Atmapi sadidam brahma mohat parosyadu sitam; Brahmapi sa tathaivatma sadvitiyatayesate."] from the Brihadaranyaka-vartika of Sureswara, disciple of Sankara. This is impossible to conceive without granting that Sankara and Sureswara lived, about a hundred years earlier to Jainasena who lived about the second half of the 8th century A.D.

Thus vastly varied are the views about Sankara’s date, ranging from 509 B.C. to 788 A.D., i.e., more than a millennium and a half…

Under the circumstances, all these complicated discussions of Sankara’s date culminate only in a learned ignorance. We have to admit that we have no certain knowledge, and it is, therefore, wise not to be dogmatic but keep an open mind….

-- Sankara-Dig-vijaya: The Traditional Life of Sri Sankaracharya, by Madhava-Vidyaranya, Translated by Swami Tapasyananda


"The Puranas seem to have accompanied or followed their innovations, being obviously intended to advocate the doctrines they taught. This is to assign to some of them a very modern date, it is true; but I cannot think that a higher can with justice be ascribed to them."3 [3 WILSON 1840 = 1961: ix-x.]


Notwithstanding Kennedy's claim that "the eighteen Purans must have been committed to writing in times considerably remoter than the era of Vicramaditya, or 56 A C.",4 [4 Asiatic Journal 1837, 246. Yet, since India has no real historiography, "it must be obvious that there are no means available, by which the date or probable period when each of the Purans was composed can be determined" (ibid., p. 243).] Wilson's late dating was followed by Burnouf,5 [5 Bhagavataº 1, p. CI, especially the Bhagavataº, on account of Vopadeva's authorship.] Lassen,6 [6 LASSEN (1861: 599): between the middle of the 8th cent. (Markandeyaº) and the 13th cent. (Bhagavataº).] Macdonell,7 [7 India's Past, 1927, p. 90: "Deriving their subject matter from the epics, the earliest of them cannot be older than the sixth century A.D."] etc.

Bentley was aware though, in 1799, that his late dating contradicted the traditional belief about puranas, "which through the artifices of the Brahminical tribe, have been hitherto deemed the most ancient [books] in existence."8 [8 As. Res. 7, 1799, 574.] Leaving aside isolated voices claiming that the puranas were in existence in the prehistoric period,9 [9 B. N. REU: Hindu Puranas, their age and value, NIA 2, 1939-40, 302-306 at 303.] or that they came into existence more than five thousand years ago,10 [10 NARAYANA SWAMI AIYAR 1914: 22] there are indeed those who believe that the puranas go back as far as the Vedic period. The concept of a Puranaveda, and arguments in favor of the existence of puranas as a literary genre, from the time of the Atharvaveda onward, have been discussed earlier in this volume (see 1.2.1). There seems to be a widespread agreement that the original puranas existed, "long before the beginning of the Christian era."11 [11 HAZRA 1962: 240; MEHENDALE 1970: 297.]

To be sure, nearly everyone agrees that the composite nature of the puranas implies that "there is a good deal in the puranas that ... must be admitted to be very ancient; while undoubtedly also there is a great deal in them that is very modern."12 [12 K. T. TELANG: Bhagavadgita, 1875, p. 14. Cf. HAMILTON and LANGLES' (Catalogue des manuscrits samskrits de la Bibliotheque Imperiale, Paris: Imprimerie bibliographique, 1807, p. 6) objections to Bentley's theory that the puranas cannot be older than the Muslim period, since they include the names of Muslim princes.] Most of the secondary literature starts from the idea that there was first "the old purana" (see 1.3) which, from a certain time in history onward, began to be re-modeled.13 [13 For more complex developments, in four stages, see Sita Nath PRADHAN: Chronology of Ancient India. From the Times of the Rigvedic King Divodasa to Chandragupta Maurya, With Glimpses into the Political History of the Period, Calcutta University, 1927, pp. xii-xiii. Also S.D. GYANI: Date of the Puranas, NIA 5, 1942-43, 131-135, and The Date of the Puranas, Pur 1, 1959-60, 213-219; 2, 1960, 68-75.] On the time when the re-modeling began, and on the question whether the re-modeling went on indefinitely or came to an end at a certain moment, opinions vary. For instance, the transition from the puranas as pure chronicles to the puranas as veritable encyclopedias began about 500 B.C. , for Apastamba could quote them as sources for acara.14 [14 B. K. GHOSH: Review of Meyer's Gesetzbuch und Purana [Google translate: Law Book and Purana], IHQ 5, 1929, 367-375 at 368-369.] Or, the re-modeled puranas are described as "part of the machinery devised by orthodox Brahminism in [its] onslaught against Buddhism",15 [15 V. VENKATACHALLA IYER: The Puranas, QJMS 13, 1922-23, 702-713 at 703.] or, more broadly, as a reaction against both religious -- Buddhism, Jainism, etc. -- and political -- the invasions of the Sakas, Hunas, etc. -- dangers, implying thereby that some of the extant puranas were composed in the first centuries A.D.16 [16 KANE 1968: 411; also Paurana-dharma, Gode vol. (1960), 3.70-82 at 71.] According to others, for some of the puranas at least, the recasting period came to a close -- they "received their final form" as part of the textbooks of Smarta Hinduism -- during the Gupta period.17 [17 ELIOT (1921: l.xxxviii; 2.187) mentions explicitly the Matsyaº, Markandeyaº, and Visnuº. KANE (The Tantravartika and the Dharmasastra Literature, JBBRAS n. s. 1,1925, 9 -102 at 102) concludes that some of the extant puranas were composed several centuries before Kumarila. Cf. also W. CROOKE: Hinduism, ERE 6, 1914, 695.] On the other hand, even though Bhandarkar assigns a specific terminus a quo -- the time of Wema Kadphises, ca. A.D. 250 -- to the recasting process, he adds that the process went on uninterruptedly ever since.18 [18 R. G. BHANDARKAR: A Peep into the Early History of India from the Foundation of the Maurya Dynasty to the Fall of the Imperial Gupta Dynasty (B.C. 322 -- circa 500 A.D.), JBBRAS 20, 1900, 356-408 at 404.]

The idea of recasting, which in the minds of most means gradual deterioration (see 1.3.6), often goes hand in hand with the assumption that the texts were subject to continuous inflation and that they became more and more unwieldy in the course of the centuries. This assumption, in turn, has been used as a criterion to establish at least a relative chronology for the puranas. The principle is this: "The more boundless the exaggeration is, the more modern the Purana is; this can be taken as a general rule."19 [19 CHAUDHURI Agniº 1928-29: 133 n. 9. The quotation is nearly identical with WINTERNITZ 1963: 465.] The author who made this statement applied it to the Agniº: the Agniº "boundlessly exaggerates the description of Heaven and Hell;" hence "there can be no doubt that the Purana is modern, absolutely modern."20 [20 Ibid., p. 133.] As an extreme application of this expansion hypothesis I may refer to the decision that the Vamanaº is more recent than the Matsyaº, based on the fact that the period during which Aditi practised asceticism is a thousand years in the latter, whereas the former "expands" this period to a myriad of years.21 [21 HOHENBERGER Vamanaº 1963: 6.]

Even though the expansion hypothesis appears quite often in purana studies, it has occasionally also been reversed, and replaced by the belief that the opposite is rather true. Not only is Agniº 236.24-66 -- on warfare -- a later, abbreviated version of Visnudharmottaraº 2. ch.177 (quoted in Hemadri's Caturvargacintamani) but, more generally, "puranas at the time of Hemadri and earlier, rather than being shorter than today, were in most cases longer.22 [22 J.J. MEYER: Textchronologie aus Schreibfehlern in Indien [Google translate: Text chronology from spelling mistakes in India ], ZII 10, 1935-36, 257-276 at 273.]
 

Rather than proclaiming expansion or retraction of the puranas the sole possibility to the exclusion of the other, I agree with the more cautious and open-minded approach, that "when a series from simple to complex is considered providing the chronological framework, a counter argument that with the passage of time, the same complex situation would get simplified also requires to be carefully considered."23 [23 R.N. MEHTA: Puranic Archaeology, JUBar 20-21, 1971-72, 5-15 at 6.]

Faced with the endless speculations on the dates of individual puranas a number of scholars realized that there are serious limitations to our ability to date puranas in their entirety; S. G. Kantawala went as far as to say that "one will have to assign separate dates to sections, chapters or even stanzas of the Puranas."24 [24 The Puranas and Epics as Sources of Religious, Social and Cultural History of India, JUBar 19, 1970, 46-58 at 50, quoting more or less literally WINTERNITZ 1963: 469, on the Mahabharata. Cf. DIMMITT and VAN BUITENEN 1978: 5; BIRWE: JAOS 96, 1976, 396; R. C. MAJUMDAR, in a postscript to MEHENDALE 1970: 298.] Yet, as I said at the beginning of this section, nothing was more natural than that Western scholars wanted to give the puranas generally and each purana in particular a definite place in history; it was equally natural that, once the process had started, Indian scholars joined in. The result is that even those who do realize that dating a particular purana is highly speculative if not impossible, nevertheless propose more or less specific dates, as the following few examples will illustrate.

Hazra studies the smrti chapters in the puranas and assigns dates to them, but from these dates more often than not he also derives dates for individual puranas as a whole.25 [25 Dates proposed by Hazra for individual puranas will be mentioned at the appropriate places in Part II.] Kane not only quotes approvingly a statement on the Mahabharata by Winternitz -- comparable to Kantawala's above --; he also adds that it "applies with equal (or perhaps greater) force to the Puranas."26 [26 KANE 1962: 838.] Yet, in the same chapter he assigns dates to most individual puranas. According to Wendy O'Flaherty,27 [27 O'FLAHERTY 1975: 17-18.] "the dating of the Puranas is ... an art -- it can hardly be called a science -- unto itself;" nevertheless broad dates such as "Bhavisya: 500-1200" or "Brahmavaivarta: 750-1550", alternate with very precise ones: "Agni: 850", "Bhagavata: 950", "Brhaddharma: 1250", etc. More specifically, the Visnudharmottaraº enumerates nine rasas, and is therefore dependent on the santi section of the Natyasastra "not before Anandavardhana;" since the third book of the Visnudharmottaraº is not older than Anandavardhana, the Visnudharmottaraº belongs to the tenth of the first half of the eleventh century.28 [28 SHIMIZU Visnudharmottaraº 1969.] The Agniº is difficult to date for "no particular and pointed date can be applied;" its alamkara section seems to belong to the period between A.D. 750 and 850; "this may be regarded as an approximate date of the Purana."29 [29 CHAUDHURI Agniº 1928-29.] The Devimahatmya is earlier than the seventh century. It must have been inserted in the Markandeyaº before that time. Hence the Markandeyaº is even older than that.30 [30 WINTERNITZ 1907: 472 n. 3.] The dynastic lists of the Vayuº date from the first half of the fourth century; therefore the Vayuº in its present form came into being in the first half of the fourth century.31 [31 V. A. SMITH: The Early History of India, 41924, p. 32 n. 1.] On the basis of seven -- rather six -- verses on landgrants which appear in the Padmaº, Brahmaº, and Bhavisyaº, Pargiter decided that these three puranas existed long before A.D. 500; and, since they are not early puranas, he concluded that "the Puranas cannot be later than the earliest centuries of the Christian era."32 [32 Note on the Age of the Puranas, JRAS 1912,254-255. Against Pargiter, on the basis of astronomical passages which cannot be earlier than A.D. 600, J.F. FLEET (A Note on the Puranas, JRAS 1912, 1046-1053), with an emendation for the Padmaº (The Puranic Order of Planets, JRAS 1913, 384-385), and one for the Visnuº (The Vishnu-purana and the Planets, JRAS 1913, 1066).]


In view of what has been said earlier in this volume, both on the transmission of puranic materials and on the role of the "mini-puranas," I submit that it is not possible to set a specific date for any purana as a whole. Dates proposed by others will be reported in Part Two. It will become clear, at that point, that even for the better established and more coherent puranas -- Bhagavataº Visnuº etc. -- opinions, inevitably, continue to vary widely and endlessly....

2.2.4 The puranas as Historical Documents

"The most systematic record of Indian historical tradition is that preserved in the dynastic lists of the Puranas. Five out of the eighteen works of this class, namely, the Vayu, Matsya, Vishnu, Brahmanda, and Bhagavata contain such lists. The Brahmanda and the Vayu, as well as the Matsya, which has large later additions, appear to be the earliest and most authoritative ... Modern European writers have been inclined to disparage unduly the authority of the Puranic lists, but closer study finds in them much genuine and valuable historical tradition."1 [1 Vincent A. SMITH: The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 4 1924, pp. 11-12.]


Given the paucity of materials with which to reconstruct ancient Indian history, it was inevitable that scholars attempted to make use of the puranic king lists -- vansanucarita,2 [2 TANDON 1952: 8.] one of the pancalaksanas -- exhibited in the puranas.3 [3 E.g., Ernst WALDSCHMIDT (Geschichte des indischen Altertums, in: Geschichte Asiens, Munich: Bruckmann, 1950, p. 19) speaks of "die fur uns wichtige 'Geschichte der Konigsgeschlechter.'" [Google translate: (History of Indian Antiquity, in: History Asia, Munich: Bruckmann, 1950, p. 19) speaks of "the history of the Royal families.'"]

The puranas derive all dynasties from the mythical Manu Vaivasvata. One of his sons was Iksvaku who became the ancestor of the Aiksvaka dynasty of Ayodhya, also known as the Solar Race. Another son, Ila, turned into a woman, Ila, and became the mother of Pururavas, the progenitor of the Aila race of Pratisthana, also known as the Lunar Race. The various dynasties which derive from these two races are described up to the time of the Great Battle between the Pandavas and the Kauravas.4 [4 On the problems connected with the Bharata war, see the proceedings of a seminar held at the University of Calcutta, and edited by D. C. SIRCAR: The Bharata War and Puranic Genealogies (Calcutta University, 1969). The volume contains contributions by Sircar ("there was no 'great war' and it is impossible to determine its date," p. 5); by R. C. MAJUMDAR ("in spite of the defective nature of the Purana accounts, scholars should not reject or ignore them in a hurry," p. 8); and others.] The period after the Bharata battle, corresponding to the evil Kali age, is then related in the form of a prophecy.5 [5 The idea of describing history in the form of a prophecy also appears in Buddhist literature; cf. the Manjusrimulakalpa, ed. T. Ganapati Sastri, TSS 70, 74, 76 (1920-25). See 2.1.5.] It is generally accepted that the recording of dynastic history in the puranas came to an end with the early Guptas.6 [6 PARGITER 1913: xii-xiii. Cf. HAZRA 1962: 252. The view that the puranas do not describe any important king or dynasty of the late Gupta era or the post-Gupta period has been challenged by A. B. L. AWASTHI: History from the Puranas, Lucknow: Kailash Prakashan, 1975.]

As pointed out by Vincent Smith quoted above, opinions on the trustworthiness and usefulness of these lists vary. Initially Westerners7 [7 Cf. Al-Biruni: "Unfortunately the Hindus do not pay much attention to the historical order of things; they are very careless in relating the chronological succession of their kings, and when they are pressed for information and are at a loss, not knowing what to say, they invariably take to tale-tellings" (SACHAU 1888: 2.10-11).] expressed skepticism about the puranas as historical sources; in the words of an anonymous contributor to the Edinburgh Review:

"The Puranas appear to be extravagant romances, which, however amusing as poetical compositions, can furnish no addition to authentic history, whatever portion of it they may be supposed incidentally to contain. When we find gods and heroes mingling in doubtful fight; events natural and supernatural succeeding each other indifferently; a fact probably historical, followed by another evidently allegorical, -- the only rational conclusion is to consider the whole of these poems as works of imagination, and to appreciate their merits by the rules applicable to similar compositions amongst other nations."8 [8 Ed. Rev. 15:29, 1809, 176. The author is Alexander Hamilton, both according to the Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals, and Rosane ROCHER: Alexander Hamilton, New Haven Conn., 1968, pp. 98-99.]


Similar skepticism reveals itself in statements by William Ward;9 [9 "No doubt, there is much real history in the pooranus; and, if it were possible to obtain any sober historical work among the numerous Hindu writings, the real facts might be separated from the many fictions with which the pooranus are filled. Till some such clue, however, can be obtained, I am surprised and sorry, that any person should attempt to illustrate authentic history, and even the divine writings, from these works, which, in their present state, deserve no better name than entertaining romances" (WARD 1811: 2.37-38).] he even generalizes: "As writers of history, the Hindoos deserve the severest censure for mixing their accounts with so much fable."10 [10 WARD 1811: 1.193. Yet, in a later edition (1820: 3.vi-vii) Ward expresses "his earnest wish that some Sungskritu scholar would devote his leisure to a work on [Hindoo history], drawn entirely from Hindoo sources; persuaded as he is, that the pooranus, if thoroughly and judiciously examined, would afford ample materials for a succinct history of India, or supply numerous fragments of the most interesting and important nature."] Vans Kennedy, in whose opinion the puranas are, and always were, purely religious books, of course refused to detect the slightest historical element in them.11 [11 "... neither the Vedas, the Upanishads, nor the Purans, profess to be historical compositions; and the ascribing this character to the latter, in particular, is a most erroneous opinion, for, with the exception of the genealogies of the princes of the solar and lunar races, the Purans contain nothing which has the slightest semblance of history ... It is true that each Puran contains a description of the division of time according to the Hindu system; but the chronology of no event is fixed more precisely than by referring it generally to such a Kalpa, or Manvantara, or Yug, as the particular year is never mentioned. The attempting, therefore, to extract either chronology or history from such data, must be an operation attended with equal success as the extraction of sunbeams from cucumbers by the sages of Laputa" (KENNEDY 1831: 130).]

In the meantime James Tod obtained puranas from the library of the Rana of Udaipur, in view of his Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan (1829). He came to the conclusion that the various accounts were "borrowing from some common original source;"12 [12 2Madras: Higginbotham, 1873, 1.18 (orig. 1829).] even though that source may have been important, he had serious doubts about the present state of the accounts.

"Doubtless the original Poorans contained much valuable historical matter; but, at present, it is difficult to separate a little pure metal from the base alloy of ignorant expounders and interpolators. I have but skimmed the surface: research, to be capable, may yet be rewarded by many isolated facts and important transactions, now hid under the veil of ignorance and allegory."13 [13 Ibid., p. 23.]


Vincent Smith was one of the first, in 1902, to show, in the specific case of the Andhra dynasty, that the list of kings and the duration of their reigns, as preserved in the Matsyaº, are basically correct. Admitting that "the historical passages in Puranas were liable to receive additions," be nevertheless concluded:

"The near approach to accuracy attained by the Matsya Purana (Radcliffe ms.) in the list of the later Andhra kings shows that the compiler had access to good authorities for the history of his dynasty, and raises a presumption in favour of his information about the earlier kings, although it cannot be controlled by the evidence of coins or inscriptions except to a slight extent."14 [14 Vincent A. SMITH: Andhra History and Coinage, ZDMG 56, 1902, 649-675; 57, 1903, 605-627 at 654. Approved by RAPSON 1922: 267.]


The real champion for the puranas as texts worthy of the attention of historians of ancient India was, of course, Frederick Eden Pargiter. He explained -- and defended against criticism -- his opinions in a number of articles; his two books15 [15 See PARGITER 1913 and 1922.] on the subject have become classics in the history of Indian scholarship.

According to Pargiter it is not possible that the memory of important kings of ancient times would have been totally lost; therefore "the presumption is that ancient tradition about kings is prima facie deserving of attention;" It is possible that good things of the past have been magnified, or unpleasant things suppressed; it is also possible that the king lists as we have them contain mistakes and corruptions. However, "false genealogies presuppose and imitate genuine genealogies;" besides, "there appears to have been a sufficiently strong body of traditional knowledge in North India to prevent false particulars from being successfully introduced to any serious extent." Therefore, acknowledging their limitations "is not the same thing as to declare that these traditional genealogies are unworthy of any trust whatever."16 [16 Quotes are from Ancient Indian Genealogies -- are they trustworthy?, R. G. Bhandarkar vol. (1917), 107-113.]

Pargiter's work undoubtedly raised the status of the puranas as historical documents, and even the status of the puranas generally.17 [17 For a good survey of reactions to Pargiter, see U. N. GHOSHAL: Studies in Indian History and Culture, Bombay: Orient Longmans, 1965 ed., pp. 37-48: The Historical Traditions in the Puranas.] Again and again one comes across statements to the effect that the puranas, as sources of history and otherwise, have been neglected and underestimated so far, but all that has changed now, thanks to Pargiter.18 [18 S. BHlMASANKARAO: Historical Importance of the Puranas, QJAHRS 2,1927-28, 81-90, who pleads for a renewed study of the puranas to arrive at a reliable history of Andhra.] In fact, "with the publication of Mr. Pargiter's [Purana Text of the Dynasties of the Kali Age] a new development in Pauranic studies may be said to have been started."19 [19 N.K. SIDHANTA: The Heroic Age of India. A Comparative Study, London: Kegan Paul, 1929, p. 31. "Though the imagination of an age devoid of the proper historical sense may have confused fact and fiction, it is nevertheless possible to disentangle the two threads and build up a history of the past on the basis of the Puranas" (ibid.). Cf. Nripendra Kumar DUTT: The Aryanisation of India, Calcutta: Mukhopadhyay, 2 1970, pp. 131-146: Pargiter's Theory.] From now onward "the Puranas represent an authentic historical chronicle."20 [20 V. R. RAMACHANDRA DIKSHITAR: The Puranas: their historical value, PO 2, 1937-38, 77-83 at 77.] They give us "a complete picture" and "a trustworthy and. accurate account" of the various periods in ancient Indian history.21 [21 K.P. JAYASWAL: History of India 150 A.D. to 350 A.D., Lahore: Motilal Banarsi Dass, 1934, pp. 122, 154.] Even in the deteriorated, extant puranas "there are various indications which show definitely that particular care was taken in early times to study and preserve correctly the dynastic lists and accounts, which later came to be recorded more or less systematically in the Puranas."22 [22 HAZRA 1962: 264.] Also, "whatever those ancient authors did or wrote, they did it with sincerety and accuracy;" as a result "the Puranic lists of dynasties of kings and kingdoms furnish details of dates to an extent that even in days of historical records may be surprising."23 [23 KRISHNAMACHARIAR 1937: xliii.] Special mention may be made here again of Vincent A. Smith, who used the puranic king lists repeatedly in his authoritative Early History of India.24 [24 E. g., 4 pp. 31-32 (Magadha 6th cent. B.C.), 41-43 (Nandas), 51 (Saisunagas and Nandas), 230 (Andhras); he regrets that the puranas pay little attention to South India (p. 467).] The most recent follower25 [25 And also his defender against criticism: "The only valuable work on [the purana], by Pargiter, was treated with an unwarranted rudeness, especially by Keith, under the influence of the XIX century principle that because an oral tradition has been handed down, it was probably wrong. If the trend of recent work on our own dark ages, or on the Greek and Roman, has been to rehabilitate tradition, it is quite wrong to refuse that benefit to the Indian: that Indians should have been inaccurate is not impossible, but to say that they told nothing but lies is to make high demands on credulity ... We therefore believe that the a priori case for belief for Pargiter and the Purana has far more rational support than that for scepticism" (JAOS 77, 1957, 116).] of Pargiter is R. Morton Smith. In three articles and one book26 [26 On the Ancient Chronology of India, JAOS 77, 1957, 116-129, 266-280; 78, 1958, 174-192; -- Dates and Dynasties in Earliest India, Translation and Justification of a Critical Text of the Purana Dynasties, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1973.] he not only applied Pargiter's methods, but further expanded them, and applied them to a longer period of history.27 [27 "The advocates of Traditional History cannot claim to be heard with respect till [a critical text of the relevant passages of the purana] has been made; once it has been, it will be seen that the purana makes good historical sense, consistent with the data of archaeology" (1973, p. v).] He established the chronology of all kings, both prehistoric and historic, from about 1800 B.C. until A.D. 249 (the death of king Pulomavi III of Andhra).28 [28 For a description and critique of Smith's book, see P.H.L. EGGERMONT, IIJ 18, 1976, 284-287. Eggermont notes that some inconsistencies in Smith's chronological system result from "the author's confidence in the existence of a single universal chronology of a supposed original Purana, which he shares with Pargiter and his school. In my opinion it is, on the contrary, evident that there must have existed a great many Puranic chronological systems belonging to various periods of India's history, and supplying a great variety of data and dates which have coalesced into the attractive collections we have at our disposal at present."]

This is not to say that the puranas have been universally accepted by historians as documents that could be fully relied on.29 [29 See WINTERNITZ' review of PARGITER 1913, WZKM 28, 1914, 302-307. According to V.S. SUKTHANKAR (On the Home of the So-called Andhra Kings, ABORI 1, 1918-20, 21-42 at 28), "a glance at the formidable list of variae lectiones published with the text of extracts collected by Pargiter ... will convince anyone of the futility of trying to get a reliable and in every way satisfactory text." Cf. N. SUBRAHMANIAN (Historiography: India and the West, Bulletin of the Institute of Traditional Culture, Madras, 1962, Part II, 253-308): The Pauranika, like the historical novelist, allows fiction to dominate facts. So they lack credentials from the point of view of the historian" (p. 259); " ... it is not [the Pauranika's] fault that he confounds the historian; for he never professed to serve the purposes which a modern scientific historian keeps in view; but it is the historian's misfortune that he has to depend on the Pauranika" (p. 260).] Pargiter immediately met with criticism from A.B. Keith.30 [30 For the controversy between Pargiter and Keith, see below. Some Indian scholars, even though they had their own doubts about the puranas, felt it necessary to defend them against Keith. E. g., Hemchandra RAYCHAUDHURI: Political History of Ancient India, Calcutta University, 41938, p. 6; Vidya Dhar MAHAJAN: Ancient India, Delhi: S. Chand, 4 1968, pp. 12-13.] A.L. Basham expressed skepticism about using the puranas for the reconstruction of ancient Indian history: the king lists do provide information on some historical kings, but, in general, they "are corrupt and, as far as we can see, unreliable."31 [31 A. L. BASHAM: The Puranas and Indian History, Prachya Pratibha 1,1973, 18-31 at 25.] It also comes as no surprise to see D. D. Kosambi refer to "the endless insipid drivel of medieval Sanskrit Puranas."32 [32 D. D. KOSAMBI: Ancient India: A History of Its Culture and Civilization, New York-Cleveland: The World Publishing Co., 1969, p. 174. Besides, "brahmin indifference to past and present reality not only erased Indian history but a great deal of real Indian culture as well." Cf. also Kosambi's The Study of Ancient Indian Tradition, in Indica (Bombay: St. Xavier's College, 1953), pp. 196-214 (pp. 199-203: Pargiter's Theory).]

In any case, scholars have used puranas to reconstruct Indian history, more or less cautiously and critically, with greater33 [33 PUSALKAR (1968: 708-709), writing about himself, says that "in the Vedic Age, Pusalker has attempted to give a connected history of ancient India from earliest time to the period of the Buddha."] or lesser34 [34 D. R. BHANDARKAR (Lectures on the Ancient History of India, on the Period from 650 to 325 B.C., Calcutta University, 1919), in the chapter on "Political History," quotes puranas repeatedly, obviously without enthusiasm.
For the period of the Buddha, "The only chronicle that is relied on for this period is the Puranas, but it is a hopeless task to reduce the chaos of Puranic accounts to any order. Some attempts no doubt have recently been made to deduce a consistent political history from these materials, but without any success as far as I can see" (p. 58). The attempts referred to are S.V. VENKATESWARA AYYAR: The Ancient History of Magadha, IA 45, 1916, 8-16, 28-31, and K.P. JAYASWAL: Saisunaka and Maurya, JBORS 1, 1915, 67-116 (see there, pp. 67-68, for a number of specific rules on how to use the puranic lists.)] enthusiasm, being aware that "the Puranas are often surprisingly right in their statements; but not seldom they are equally mistaken."35 [35 L. D. BARNETT: Political History of India, CR 3rd ser., vol. 10, Jan.-March 1924, 249 (review of H. C. Raychaudhuri: Political History of Ancient India, 11923). Similarly, WINTERNITZ (1963: 1.464): "The puranas are valuable to the historian and the antiquarian as sources of political history by reason of their genealogies, even though they can only be used with great caution and careful discrimination," with a footnote: "As historical sources they surely do not deserve such confidence as is placed in them by F. E. Pargiter." Cf. also GYANI Agniº 1964: 2-3; P. C. JOSHI et al.: Ancient Indian History, Civilization and Culture, Delhi: S. Chand, 1968, pp. 16-17.] One characteristic feature of recent historical research is the search for extraneous evidence which corroborates the data contained in the puranas, and, as a result, is considered to lift the suspicion which these data might otherwise be regarded with.36 [36 PARGITER himself (1913: xxii) indicates that he corrected puranic names "by reference to other books or to inscriptions." According to A. A. MACDONELL (India's Past, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1927, p. 246) the statements of the puranas "cannot ... be treated as historical without a good deal more corroborative evidence than has yet been forthcoming." Cf. R. C. MAJUMDAR (in Sircar: Bharata War, p. 8): "If any Puranic account gets support from any other source, then that account may be regarded as historical;" Romila THAPAR (A History of India. Volume One, Pelican Books,1966, p. 28): "Had this literary source [i.e., the puranas] been the only one available the basis for discussion of the beginning of Indian history would have been limited."] This extraneous evidence can take multiple forms. One of them, Vedic literature, will be discussed separately. Other means of checking puranic data include epigraphy and archeology, 37 [37 H.C. RAYCHAUDHURl (Notes on Certain Post-Mauryan Dynasties, AIOC 10, 1941, 390-395 at 390) objects that the puranas fail to mention many ruling families known from archaeological evidence, and suspects a number of puranic royal lineages which are not confirmed by inscriptions.] popular sources,37a [37a Ruprecht GEIB (Indradyumna-Legende. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des Jagannatha Kultes, [Freiburger Beitrage zur Indologie 7,] Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1975) uses, among other things, popular Oriya sources to check the data of the Vaisnava puranas on the Jagannatha cult and the Indradyumna legend. The popular -- and pre-Vaisnava Saiva -- sources have the advantage that they originated from parties whose interests were diametrically opposed those who produced the Vaisnava sources.] Buddhist and Jaina literatures generally,38 [38 R. C. MAJUMDAR (Sources of Indian History, HCIP I, 1951, ch. II, pp. 47-65 at 49): they are "a valuable supplement and corrective," after the 6th cent. B.C.] and the Sinhalese chronicle Mahavamsa39 [39 According to D. R. BHANDARKAR (Lectures, pp. 67-68), the Mahavamsa is more reliable, though neglected, for the rulers of Magadha than the puranas. W. GEIGER (Mahavamsa tr., PTS 1912, pp. xlii-xliv) did not hesitate to give preference "wholly and unreservedly" to the Sinhalese chronicles over the puranas. Against Geiger, and in defense of the puranas, see Narendra Nath LAW: Presidential Address 19th Indian History Congress 1956, IHQ 32, 1956, suppl. p. 10.] and the Jaina puranas in particular.40 [40 Prahlad C. DIVANJI (Historical Value of Pauranic Works, JGRS I, 1939, 102-105 at 108): by comparing the Vaisnava and the Jaina puranas "the religious colouring given by any of them or both can be eliminated."]


The puranic king lists have become the object of many -- often highly imaginative - calculations in connection with early Indian chronology. E.g., K.P. JAYASWAL: Chronological Totals in Puranic Chronicles and the Kaliyuga Era, JBORS 3, 1917, 246-262. D. R. MANKAD'S chronological system, which is closely related to his ideas on yugas and manvantaras, will be referred to in that context. Some scholars were indeed convinced that the puranic data for the earliest -- "pre-Bharata war" -- period were as reliable as those for later periods. Cf. A. S. ALTEKAR: Can we re-construct pre-Bharata-war History?, JBHU 4, 1941, 183-229; also R.M. SMITH: Dates and Dynasties in Earliest India, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1973, p. 1. According to some "the first great landmark in the Puranic history is the Great Flood" (Jwala Prasad SINGHAL: Some Lights on Ancient World History from the Puranas, IHQ 3, 1927, 24-27). One author divided the earliest Indian history -- 132 reigns from Manu Vaivasvata to Mahapadma Nanda -- into five periods starting in 7350 B.C. (Gulshan RAI: Five Periods of Traditional History in the Vedic Age, IHC 4, 1940, 101-116). Expectations were also raised that the early genealogies might solve the problem of the origin and identification of the Indus Valley civilization (K. P. JAYASWAL: Presidential Address, AIOC 7, 1933, lix-lxxxvii at lxii; approvingly, A.D. PUSALKER: Presidential Address, IHC 13, 1950, 19-29 at 26); these efforts were countered by the argument that archeology "consigns the early part of the traditional account firmly to the realms of mythology" (Romila THAPAR: A History of India. Vol. 1, Pelican Books 1966, p. 29).

Examples of studies using puranic data for the reconstruction of India's earliest history are: A.D. PUSALKER: Genealogy of the Solar Dynasty in the Puranas and the Ramayana. A Critical Study, Pur 4, 1962, 23-33; Ronald M. HUNTINGTON: The Legend of Prthu. A Study in the Process of Individuation, Pur 2, 1960,188-210; Rai KRISHNADASA: Ikshvaku Genealogy in the Puranas, Pur.2, 1960, 128-150; M. RAJA RAO: The Puranic Date of the Mahabharata, JGJRI2, 1944-45, 125-143; D.S. TRIVEDA: The Intervening Age Between Pariksit and Nanda, JIH 19, 1940, 1-16; D.R. MANKAD: Chronological Distance Between Rama and Kr~I)a, JOIB 14, 1964-65, 1-13.

Other scholars, who do believe in the trustworthiness of the puranic genealogies, prefer to rely on data for the historic period only. Cf. R. C. MAJUMDAR: Sources of Indian History, in The Vedic Age, Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1965 ed., pp. 47-65 at 48; also Oxford History of India, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1958, p, 61.

For the early historical dynasties, up to the Mauryas: P. L. BHARGAVA: Mauryan and Pre-Mauryan Chronology according to the Puranas, JlH 27,1949, 171-178; id.: Pre-Mauryan History according to the Puranas, IHQ 28, 1952, 232-:-239; H. G. SHASTRI: The Puranic Chronology of the Mauryan Dynasty, JOIB 9, 1959-60,387-392; S.N. Roy: Textual and Historical Analysis of the Purana-Commentary Relating to the Maurya Dynasty, Pur 14, 1972, 94-106.

For the post-Maurya dynasties: S.N. Roy: Historical Analysis of a Puranic Verse Relating to the Sunga Dynasty, pur. 11, 1969, 67-72; K.P. JAYASWAL: The Yaunas of the Puranas and the Last Kushana Emperor in India, JBORS 18, 1933, 201-206; S.A. JOGLEKAR: Satavahana and Satakarni, ABORT 27, 1946, 237-287; P.L. BHARGAVA: The Satavahana Dynasty of Daksinapatha, IHQ 26, 1950, 325-329; Sidhakar CHATTOPADHYAYA: Home of the Satavahanas, JIH 41, 1963, 749-755; id.: The Puranic Account of the Satavahanas, JIH 44, 1966,359-365; id.: A Note on the Satavahanas, ABORI 48-49, 1968, 375-381.

For the Guptas: D. R. PATIL: Gupta Inscriptions and the Puranic Tradition, BDCRI 2, 1940-41, 148-165 + Appendix (59 pp.); B. BHATTACHARYA: New Light on the History of the Imperial Gupta Dynasty, JBRS 30, 1944, 1-46; R. C. MAJUMDAR: A Forged Purana Text on the Imperial Guptas, IHQ 20, 1944, 345-350; D. C. GANGULY: The puranas on the Imperial Guptas, IHQ 21, 1945, 141-143; Dasaratha SHARMA: The puranas on the Imperial Guptas, IHQ 30, 1954, 374-378; S.N. Roy; Some Notes and Observations on the Puranic Account of the Imperial Guptas, Pur 12, 1970, 265-285; D.R. MANKAD: Samudragupta in the Puranas, AIOC 13 (1946) 1951, 2.417-422; A.D. PUSALKER: Vikramaditya in the puranas, BhV 8, 1947, 129-134; S.N. Roy: On the Identification of the Puranic King Pramati, VIJ 7, 1969, 109-118 [Pramati= Candragupta II Vikramaditya].
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Re: Freda Bedi Cont'd (#3)

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Part 3 of 3

Frederick Eden Pargiter: Cont'd from The Puranas, by Ludo Rocher

One last point in connection with the puranic king lists ought to be mentioned here. Arrian's Indike (9.9), quoting Megasthenes, states that "from Dionysus to Sandracottus the Indians counted a hundred and fifty-three kings, over six thousand and forty-three years."41 [41 Loeb, tr., E. Iliff Robson, p. 333.] Similarly, in Pliny's Natural History (6.59): "From the time of Father Liber to Alexander the Great 153 kings are counted in a period of 6451 years and three months."42 [42 Loeb, tr. H. Rackem, p. 383.] Classical scholars have wondered about these figures, not to mention the intriguing discrepancy.43 [43 E.g., Pierre CHANTRAINE: Arrien. L'Inde, Paris: Belles Lettres, 21952, p. 35. For a different type of speculation, identifying Sandracottus with Candragupta I Gupta -- rather than Maurya -- who would have been enthroned in 325 or 324 B.C., and on the Indian identity of Father Bacchus, the kind of chronology handed Megasthenes; etc., see K.D. SETHNA: Megasthenes and the Indian Chronology as Based on the puranas, Pur 8, 1966, 9-37, 276-294; 9, 1967, 121-129; 10, 1968, 35-53, 124-147.] More important is the fact that, at least from Megasthenes' time onward, Indians had puranic lists of kings, some of which came to the notice of the foreign visitor.44 [44 Cf. L. ROCHER: The Greek and Latin Data about India. Some Fundamental Considerations, Zakir Husain vol. (1968), 34. Also KANE 1962: 849.]

It seems impossible to doubt that Prithu Vainya at the commencement and Chandragupta I of the Imperial Guptas at the termination are what the Indian informants of Megasthenes intended when they spoke of a king-series from Dionysus to Sandrocottus. Through Megasthenes the Puranic chronology of the rise of the Imperial Guptas in c. 325 or 324 B.C. appears to be completely vindicated.

-- Megasthenes and the Indian Chronology As Based on the Puranas, by K.D. Sethna, Purana VIII, Bulletin of the Purana Department, Ministry of Education, Government of India, 1966


4. Vide K.D. Sethna -- "Megasthenes and the Indian Chronology as based on the Puranas" in Purana VIII.1 pp. 9-37 and in the same journal VIII.2. pp. 276-294. Sethna concludes that Candragupta I of the Gupta dynasty was crowned in 325 or 324 BC. He follows up his theory and shows that Xandrames of Greek writers is Candramsa of Naga dynasty (Purana IX.I. pp. 121-139). Also vide, R.D. Karamarkar -- "The First Greek conqueror of India" ABORI [Annals of the Bhandrakar Oriental Research Institute] XXXI-i-iv pp. 238-249.

-- Vayu Purana, from Ancient Indian Tradition & Mythology, translated by A Board of Scholars, edited by Dr. G.P. Bhatt


Ferdinand Bork45 [45 Die Puranas als Geschichtsquelle, WZKM 29, 1915, 97-133 at 125.] drew attention to an important concept for a correct evaluation of the puranas as sources of Indian history: one should, above all, not overlook the goal of the puranas. According to Bork the composers of the puranas were, in no way, motivated by the need to preserve things historical, but solely by the desire to comprehend, from a religious point of view, the great world creation and destruction. In the puranas, as elsewhere in Indian "historical" writings, "ist es ... weniger ein historisches, als vielmehr ein zyklisches Denken, das hier die Grundlage bildet." [Google translate: It is ... less a historical than a cyclical thinking that forms the basis here.] 46 [46 Ulrich SCHNEIDER: Indisches Denken und sein Verhaltnis zur Geschichte [Google translate: Indian Thought and Its Relation to History], Saeculum 9, 1958, 156-162 at 160. Cf. LEVI (1905: 199), on the Nepal Vamsavali, which "n'est qu'un rameau de la litterature des puranas;" [Google translate: is just one branch of purana literature] also Henry R. ZIMMER: The Hindu View of World History according to the puranas, The Review of Religion 6, 1941-42, 249-269. Although not specifically dealing with puranas, see Hermann GOETZ: Die Stellung der indischen Chroniken im Rahmen der indischen Geschichte, Ztschr. f. Buddhismus [Google translate: The position of the Indian Chronicles in the context of Indian history, Ztschr. F. Buddhism] 6, 1924-25, 139-159 at 159. The importance of motives and intentions in "historical" documents has been stressed, in connection with the Javanese chronicles, by C. C. BERG: Javanese Historiography. A Synopsis of its Evolution, in D. G. E. HALL: Historians of South Asia, London: OUP, 1961, pp. 13-23 at 18, and The Javanese Picture of the Past, in SOEJATMOKO: An Introduction to Indonesian Historiography, Cornell UP, 1965, pp. 87-117 at 90.] The puranas are, indeed, one of the principal sources for the Indian system of cyclical time. According to Kirfel47 [47 1959: 9.] many puranas, after removal of later insertions and additions, still clearly show that they begin with the creation myth and end with the destruction of the world. The Indian system of cyclical time has been described so often48 [48 E.g., John MUIR: Original Sanskrit Texts, London: Trubner, 1890, 31, pp. 43-49: Account of the System of Yugas, Manvantaras, and Kalpas, according to the Vishnu Purana, and other authorities; HOPKINS 1896: 418-422; H. JACOBI: Ages of the World (Indian), in ERE 1, 1910, 200-202; P. E. DUMONT: Primitivism in Indian Literature, in A. O. LOVEJOY: A Documentary History of Primitivism and Related Ideas, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1935, pp. 433~443 (= 2 1965); W.N. BROWN: Man in the Universe. Some Continuities in Indian Thought, Berkeley-Los Angeles 1966, pp. 79-80; A. S. GUPTA: The Puranic Theory of Yugas and Kalpas. A Study, Pur 11, 1969, 304-323; Cornelia D. CHURCH: The Puranic Myth of the Four Yugas, Pur 13, 1970-71, 151-159 [p. 152 n. 2: a list of puranic passages]; Adalbert GAIL: Zur Entwicklung des Manvantara Abschnitts im Rahmen der alter en Puranas [Google translate: To develop the Manvantara section as part of the alter en Puranas ], Deutscher Orientalistentag 18 (1972) 1974, ZDMG Suppl. II, 321-330. D.R. MANKAD used the yugas and manvantaras to work out his own system of chronological computations. His publications on this subject include: The Yugas, PO 6, 1941-42, 206-216; Manvantara, IHQ 18,1942, 208-230; Manvantara Caturyuga Method (as employed in Puranas for chronological computations), ABORI23, 1942, 271-290; Chronology of the Kali Dynasties, PO 8; 1943-44, 87-99, 177-187; Some Traditional Chronological Considerations. Puranic, Buddhist, Jain, BhV 10, 1949, 19-34; Puranic Chronology, Anand: Gangajala Prakashan, 1951; Solar Genealogy Reconsidered, JOIB 15, 1965-66, 350-373.] that a few general remarks can suffice here.

The basic idea of the Indian system of cyclical time is that four periods (yugas) succeed one another within a caturyuga or mahayuga. The names of the yugas are identical with those of the throws of dice, from best to worst: krta (or satya), treta, dvapara, and kali. The puranas provide long descriptions of the perfect state of things during the krtayuga and even longer descriptions of the terrible evils of the kaliyuga, in which we now live.49 [49. See KIRFEL 1959.] It is said that, in the krtayuga, dharma -- often represented as a bull -- had four legs: tapas, sauca, daya, and satya. In each subsequent yuga one leg was lost. In these days only satya is left, and even that Kali is trying to destroy.50 [50 E.g., Bhagavataº 1.17.24-25.]

One feature that sets the yugas apart from similar systems in other civilizations is that, in India, the world ages have been assigned specific durations. The four yugas extend over periods of 4000, 3000, 2000, and 1000 years. Each of these is preceded by a dawn (samdhya) and followed by a twilight (samdhyamsa) equal to one tenth of the duration of the yuga proper. The figures for the yugas which appear most often in the puranas are, therefore, 4800, 3600, 2400, and 1200, the caturyuga being equal to 12,000 years. More often than not these years are said to be divine years. To convert them into human years they have to be multiplied by 360, i. e. 1,728,000 + 1,296,000 + 864,000 + 432,000 = 4,320,000.

Although some texts refer to a world destruction at the end of the caturyuga, in a majority of sources one thousand caturyugas follow each other without interruption. They make up one kalpa or day of Brahma, and end in a total destruction introducing a night of Brahma, of equal duration. The night of Brahma comes to an end at the time of a new creation. The entire system of days and night of Brahma is repeated again and again, for the entire duration of Brahma's life: one hundred years. If we add to this that the present Brahma was preceded by and will be followed by numerous other Brahmas, the Indian system of yugas and kalpas is without beginning and without end.

Alongside the yugas and kalpas runs another system which plays a prominent role in the puranas. Each kalpa is divided into fourteen manvantaras "Manu intervals," each of which is presided over by a different Manu. It is obvious, for arithmetical reasons, that manvantaras and yugas cannot originally have been together within the same system. The puranas normally fix the duration of a manvantara at seventy-one yugas, but this leaves six yugas unaccounted for within a kalpa of one thousand. As will be seen in the description of some puranas later in this volume, the present Manu, Vaivasvata, is the seventh in the ongoing Varahakalpa.

The system -- or systems -- of cyclical time play an important role in puranic cosmogonic myths. In fact, "any cosmogonical story is invariably accompanied by an enumeration of the time units ... Time is cyclical, rather it is without a beginning or an end; its structure is one of a series of cycles."51 [51 Madeleine BIARDEAU: Etude de mythologie hindoue. Cosmogonies puraniques, [Google translate: Study of Hindu mythology. Puranic cosmogonies.] BEFEO 54, 1968, 19-45 at 21; 55, 1969, 59-60. See also A.D. PUSALKER: Puranic Cosmogony, BhV 2, 1940-41, 177~191; A.P. KARMARKAR: Puranic Cosmogony (Its Proto- Indian Origin and Development), Radha Kumud Mookerji vol. (1945), 1.323-332; Catarina CONIO: Mito e filosofia nella tradizione indiana. Le cosmogonie nei Mahapurana, [Google translate: Myth and philosophy in the Indian tradition. The cosmogonies in the Mahapuranas.] Milan: Mursia, 1975 [rev. Bonazzoli, Pur 18, 1976, 103 -107]; id.: Relationship Between Symbols and Myths in the Cosmogonies of Mahapurana, Pur 19, 1977, 257-282.] One important aspect of puranic cosmogonic myths is the role played in them by Samkhya concepts, to such an extent that one has been able to speak of a "puranic Samkhya."52 [52 Wilhelm JAHN: Uber die kosmogonischen Grundanschauungen im Manava-Dharma-Sastram, [Google translate: About the cosmogonic basic views in the Manava-Dharma-Sastram.] Leipzig: Drugulin, 1904. [Provides a useful survey of earlier scholarship on "puranic Samkhya," pp. 3-11, and compares Manu 1.5-20, 27 with twenty puranas.] Hacker53 [53 The Sankhyization of the Emanation Doctrine shown in a Critical Analysis of Texts, WZKSO 5, 1961,75--112, reprinted: Pur 4, 1962,298-338. Cf. also his Two Accounts of Cosmogony, Nobel vol. (1963), 77-91.] proposes some very specific dates for the "samkhyization" of puranic cosmogony. The earliest text is in the Markandeyaº, around A.D. 300. It was followed by the Vayuº-Brahmanaº (shortly after A.D. 335), the Padmaº, the Visnuº (ca. A.D. 500), and the Kurmaº (7th or 8th century). About the account in the Lingaº one can only say that it is later than that of the Vayuº-Brahmandaº.


In connection with the puranas as sources of Indian history, and Pargiter's role in establishing them as such, a few words must be said about a basic concept which became even more controversial than the results derived from it. From an early article onward54 [54 Ancient Indian Genealogies and Chronology, JRAS 1910, 1-56.] Pargiter assigned the puranas to the class of "ancient ksatriya literature."55 [55 The idea that ksatriyas had achievements of their own in Indian literature and civilization was not new. In an article first published in Nord und Sud (1893) and reproduced, with additions in response to criticism, in Beitrage zur indischen Kulturgeschichte, Berlin 1903 (pp. 1-36: Die Weisheit des Brahmanen oder des Kriegers?), Richard GARBE stated: "So viel steht doch fest, dass die grossten geistigen Taten oder vielmehr fast alle Taten von menschlicher Bedeutung in Indien von Mannern der Kriegerkaste vollbracht worden sind" [Google translate: So much is certain that the greatest spiritual deeds, or rather almost all deeds of of human importance in India, were by men of the warrior caste.] (p. 30). He listed the following as being of ksatriya origin: the atman-brahman theory, Buddhism, Jainism, and Bhagavatism. For bibliography on the controversy, see HORSCH 1966: 427.] This literature, originating from court bards and court priests, "grew up in virtual independence of brahmanical literature," which was the concern of the rsis; only at a much later stage "was it taken over by the brahmans as a not unworthy branch of knowledge. It was then that it was arranged and augmented with stories and discourses fashioned after brahmanical ideas."56 [56 Ancient Indian Genealogies and Chronology, p. 4.] Not only does this ksatriya literature provide better historical data about ancient India than the brahmanical literature; it is the only historical literature worth considering. "The reproach that there was no historical faculty in ancient India is true only as regards the brahmans. The ksatriyas did display almost as much of that faculty as could be expected in such ages in the appreciation bestowed on the dynastical genealogies and ballads of royal exploits."57 [57 Ibid., p. 5.]

The existence of a ksatriya literature -- the puranas -- independent of and different from the brahmanical literature -- the Vedas -- has found acceptance with several scholars.58 [58 E.g., RAPSON 1922: 265; S. BHlMASANKAMRAO: Historical Importance of the Puranas, QJAHRS 2, 1927-28, 81-90 at 82-83; N.K. SIDHANTA: The Heroic Age of India, p. 30; WINTERNITZ 1963: 457 (with restrictions; Winternitz, WZKM 28, 1914, 306, also does not agree with Pargiter that the puranas originally contained lists of kings only). WALDSCHMIDT (Geschichte des indischen Altertums, p. 18) casually speaks of "eine weltlich- hofische Oberlieferung, die in den Kreisen des Kriegeradels zuhause ist." [Google translate: a worldly Court tradition that is at home in the circles of the warrior nobility.]] But it has been opposed far more often than it has been agreed to. It immediately got Pargiter involved in a prolonged controversy with A.B. Keith, leading to a series of articles in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.59 [59 In addition to Pargiter's 1910 article, mentioned earlier, there. are the following: PARGITER: Visvamitra and Vasistha, 1913, 885-904; KEITH: The Brahmanic and Kshatriya Tradition, 1914, 118-126; PARGITER: Earliest Indian Traditional 'History,' 1914, 267-296; PARGITER: Brahmanic and Kshatriya Tradition, 1914, 411-412; KEITH: The Earliest Indian Traditional History, 1914, 734-741; PARGITER: Earliest IndianTraditional 'History,' 1914, 741-745; KEITH: The Age of the Puranas, 1914, 1021-1031; PARGITER: Irregularities in the Puranic Account of the Dynasties of the Kali Age, 1915, 141-147; KEITH: The Dynasties of the Kali Age, 1915, 328-335; PARGITER: Irregularities in the Puranic Account of the Dynasties of the Kali Age, 1915, 516-521; KEITH: The Dynasties of the Kali Age, 1915, 799-800; PARGITER: Visvamitra, Vasistha, Hariscandra, and Sunahsepa, 1917, 37-67.] Also, many of those who agreed with Pargiter, against Keith, on the subject of the historical value of the puranas, sided with Keith, against Pargiter, on the concept of a separate ksatriya literature.60 [60 V. R. RAMACHANDRA DIKSHITAR: The Puranas, Their Historical Value, PO 2, 1937-38, 77-83 at 78-79; according to the same author (1951-55: 1.xii), "the Puranas are the fifth Veda, and those who follow it are followers of the Vedic school." Also PUSALKER: Were the Puranas Originally in Prakrit?, Acharya Dhruva vol. 3 (1946), 101-104; HAZRA 1962: 242-244.] According to them, "there have never been in India two such water-tight compartments as the Brahmana and the Ksatriya tradition ... Both are Brahmanical traditions, though produced under different environments and with different aims and objectives."61 [61 PUSALKER: Historical Traditions, HCIP I, 1951, pp. 269-333 at 309; also The Brahmana Tradition and the Ksatriya Tradition, Hiriyanna vol. (1952), 151-155 at 153. Cf. U. N. GHOSHAL: The Beginnings of Indian Historiography and Other Essays, Calcutta: Ramesh Gopal, 1944, p; 51 n. 13.] It is also not true, they argue, that historical sense was a monopoly of the ksatriyas,62 [62 PUSALKER: HCIP I, p. 310. Cf. KEITH: JRAS 1914, 118-126.] and, consequently, that the puranas are the sole trustworthy sources for Indian history. In fact, the Vedic data have definite advantages over those of the puranas. Besides having been transmitted far more faithfully, they are older and, therefore, much closer in time to many of the events of which the puranas had only "faint and inaccurate memories."63 [63 PUSALKER: HCIP I, p. 312 ("The details of the Dasarajna as given in the Rgveda no doubt are a first-hand contemporary account"). Cf. RAYCHAUDHURI: Political History, 4 1938, p. 7.] The puranas represent "centuries of manipulation, of corruption, of reconstruction, and to evolve a ksatriya tradition from this mass of priestly lore and to claim for it superiority to the incidental notices of the Vedic text is surely a tour de force."64 [64 KEITH: JRAS 1914: 741. Cf. K.M. MUNSHI: The Early Aryans in Gujarata, Bombay University, 1941, pp. 6-7, 16-17.] The ideal solution consists in harmonizing the data from the Vedas and the puranas.65 [65 G. S. GHURYE: Some Problems of Indian Ethnic History, AIOC 9 (1937) 1940, 911-954 at 954.] Whereas some doubted whether that is at all possible,66 [66 RAPSON 1922: 273.] P.L. Bhargava's India in the Vedic Age tried to show that "in reality the Vedic and Puranic traditions are in agreement and ... the joints which connect the historical matter of the Puranas with mythology are too loose to hinder the attempt of gleaning history from these works."67 [67 2 1971, p. 5. Cf. PUSALKAR COB 12, 1964, 45): "The proper procedure for the writing of traditional history is to base the account on the joint testimony of the Vedic texts and the Puranas wherever available, to bring harmony into the conflicting texts as far as possible, and to give a very careful consideration to the evidence of the Puranas before rejecting it." See also PUSALKAR 1955: lxiv-lxv, lxvi-Ixvii. V.G. RAHURKAR'S article Devapi and Santanu in the Rgveda, Gode vol. (1960), 3.175-180, is an effort "to show how the Vedic, the Sautic and the Puranic sources can be correlated." Cf. id.: The Role of Agastya in the Vedic and Post-Vedic Literature, PO 22, 1-2, 1957, 40-50, and GONDA'S (1975: 28) criticism.]

Another problem connected with the puranas, even if it has little to do with history, is so closely linked to Pargiter's name -- and to the discussions surrounding the brahman/ksatriya literatures -- 68 [68 Several articles listed in note 59 above also deal with this problem.] that it better be treated here. The question whether the epics were originally written in Prakrit was not a new one;69 [69 H. JACOBI'S chapter on "Die epische Sprache" [Google translate: The epic language.] (Das Ramayana, Bonn: Friedrich Cohen, 1893, pp. 112-119) was discussed in reviews by A. BARTH (Revue de l'histoire des religions 27, 1893, 287-290 = (Euvres 2, 1914, 151-154) and G. A. GRIERSON (Indian Epic Poetry, IA 23, 1894, 52-56); they both were favorably inclined toward a Prakrit original. Barth even made the general statement: "tout ce qui a ete populaire dans l'Inde, en dehors, bien entendu, de la litterature sacree et scolastique des brahmanes, a commence par le pracrit et a fini par Ie sanscrit." [Google translate: all that has been popular in India, outside, of course, the sacred and scholastic literature of the Brahmans, began by pracrit and ended up in Sanskrit.] Their thesis was rejected by JACOBI (War das Epos und die profane Literatur Indiens ursprunglichin Prakrt abgefasst?, [Google translate: Was that Epic and the profane literature of India originally written in Prakrt?] ZDMG 48, 1894,407-417), with the caveat: "es moge dahingestellt bleiben, wieweit davon auch die Puranen beruhrt werden." [Google translate: it remains to be seen to what extent they too Puranas are touched.] WINTERNITZ (1963: 1.449) rejects the idea that the epics were first composed in popular dialects, and only later translated into Sanskrit.] Pargiter also made the question bear on the puranas, and defended in great detail their Prakrit originals.70 [70 PARGITER 1913: xvii-xviii, 77-83; 1922: 5-14.]

Pargiter's thesis has found some following. Some fully agree with it.71 [71 V. VENKATACHALLA IYER: The Puranas, QJMS 13, 1922-23, 702-713; N.K. SIDHANTA: The Heroic Age, p. 31; V. V. MIRASHI: The Puranas on the Successors of the Satavahanas in Vidarbha, Pur 18, 1976, 88-92 at 92.] Others restrict its applicability to a limited number of puranas only,72 [72 S. BHIMASANKARARAO (Historical Importance of the Puranas, QJAHRS 2, 1927-28, 84): "There are clear indications that some of the puranas, Matsya, Vayu, and the Brahmanda were originally composed in Prakrit but were subsequently sanskritised. The Vishnu, Bhagavata and Garuda were composed directly in Sanskrit."] or they refuse to accept Pargiter's idea that the Prakrit puranas were originally written in Kharosthi script.73 [73 WINTERNITZ (WZKM 28, 1914, 305, review of PARGITER 1913): " ... vertritt Pargiter mit guten Grunden die Hypothese, dass diese ein Prakrit war. Weniger gut begrundet scheint mir seine zweite Hypothese, wonach die Schrift, in der dieser Bericht ursprunglich geschrieben war, Kharosthi gewesen sei." [Google translate: "... represents Pargiter hypothesized that this was a prakrit with good reason. Less well founded seems to me his second hypothesis, according to which the writing in which this report was originally was written that was Kharosthi."]] On this point again Pargiter's main critic was Keith. He reasoned that, "if a man could write good Sanskrit, it is absurd to suppose that he would be so helpless as to write bad Sanskrit or bad metre merely because he had a Prakrit original text to render." According to Keith,

"What we have in fact to recognize is that epic Sanskrit, and still more Puranic Sanskrit, are not good Sanskrit in the grammatical sense; that Sanskrit is essentially more popular and more tinged with vernacular than the Brahmanical Sanskrit proper, but to accept the obvious fact that the vernacular influence existed is one thing, to believe that the epic or dynastic account is a translation is quite another."74 [74 KEITH: JRAS 1915, 332, 333. Cf. Sten KONOW'S review of PARGITER 1913, IA 13, 1914, 195-196.]


Among those who reject Prakrit as the original language of the puranas, some suggest that the so-called prakritisms in the texts have been introduced there at a later stage only, under the influence of popular speech,75 [75 PUSALKAR: Dhruva vol. (1946), 3.101-104.] or they assume that there existed some parallel genealogies in Prakrit, elements of which became incorporated in the Sanskrit accounts.76 [76 A. S. GUPTA: Puraanesv apaniniyaprayogah, Pur 4, 1962, 277-299, rejected by HAZRA 1963: 187 n. 362a.] Hazra, on the other hand, comes closer to Keith, except that he posits the existence of a "synthetic Sanskrit," influenced by Prakrit and Apabhramsa, as a medium of expression in religious and social matters in quite early days. Both the epics and the puranas, "aiming at religious synthesis as well as mass enlightenment," absorbed many of the characteristics of this language. Many of these have been expurgated by copyists and editors, but a number of them have been preserved.77 [77 HAZRA 1963: 186-187. These remarks were made in connection with the language of the Deviº. Hazra also maintained that it was as a reaction against the spread of "synthetic Sanskrit" that Panini and others wrote their grammatical treatises.] Suniti Kumar Chatterji speaks of a "Vernacular Sanskrit," a form of Prakrit "within the same linguistic orbit" as the language of the two epics and of Buddhist Sanskrit.78 [78 Foreword to SATYA VRAT: The Ramayana, A Linguistic Study, Delhi: Munshi Ram Manohar Lal, 1964, pp. xv-xvi. Elsewhere CHATTERJI (Purana Legends and the Prakrit Tradition in New Indo-Aryan, BSOAS 8, 1935-37, 457-466) pleads for a comparative study of the sanskritized place names in the puranas and their surviving forms in the vernaculars. This might teach us much about the earlier existence of puranic legends, their regional origin, etc. On the language of the puranas, see also V.S. AGRAWALA: Important Words from the Puranas, Pur 2, 1960, 307-312; -- Adam HOHENBERGER: Metren der Kunstdichtung in den Puranen, [Google translate: Meters of the Art poetry in the Puranas.] WZKSOA 9, 1965, 48-97; tr., Metres of Classical Poetry in the Puranas, Pur 11, 1969, 20-66; -- R.A. PATHAK: Some Linguistic Peculiarities in the Puranas, Pur 11, 1969, 119-126; -- Vinapani PATNI: The Elements of Poetry in the puranas, Pur 15, 1973, 178-200.]

An interesting, but less often mentioned, offshoot of Pargiter's belief in the puranas as true historical records, is his theory about the aryanization of India. According to Pargiter the original home of the Aryans -- i. e., the puranic Ailas or Lunar Race -- was the mid-Himalayan region. They entered India, from the North, about 2050, settled in Madhyadesa and conquered most of North India, and, from about 1600 B.C., started to spread outside India toward the northwest. This move "may have led to the Genesis of the Iranians," and accounts for the appearance of Aryan gods in the treaty between the Hittites and the Mitanni (ca. 1400 B.C.).79 [79 PARGITER 1922: ch. 25, pp. 287-302.] Even one century after comparative philology had established that the Aryan Indians populated the subcontinent from the northwest, Pargiter's theory gained considerable success. India as the homeland of the Aryans was a theme that appealed to many Indian scholars.80 [80 Narayana TRIPATHI; Puranic Traditions (about earlier homes and migrations. of the Indian Aryas), IHQ 9, 1933,461-469, 880-885; 10, 1934, 121-124; -- Raj Bali PANDEY: The Puranas on the Original Home of the Indo-Aryans, IHC 10 (1947), 128-137 = The Puranic Data on the Original Home of the Indo-Aryans, IHO 24, 1948, 94-103; -- PUSALKER: Aryan Origins According to the Puranas, Siddheswar Varma vol. (1950), 2.269-272; Literary and Archaeological Evidence on the Aryan Expansion in India, Pur 6, 1964, 307-332; Pre-Harappan, Harappan and Post-Harappan Culture and the Aryan Problem, Quart. Rev. Of Historical Studies 7, 1967-68, 233-244; Rgveda and Harappa Culture, Renou vol. (1968), 581-594; Jaya Chamaraja WADYAR: Puranas as the Vehicle of India's Philosophy and History, Pur 5, 1963, 6-10.] Those who reacted against it based their arguments on Vedic data,81 [81 Gordon CHILDE (The Aryans. A Study of Indo-European Origins, London: Kegan Paul, 1926, p. 32): the Veda "carries conviction precisely because the historical and geographical references in the hymns are introduced only incidentally and in a thoroughly ingenious manner."] or on ethnological82 [82 J. KENNEDY: The Puranic Histories of the Early Aryans, JRAS 1915, 507-516 at 509-510.] or archeological83 [83 H. D. SANKALIA: Traditional Indian Chronology and C-14 Dates of Excavated Sites, JIH 42, 1964, 635-650 at 650. Sankalia (Puranas and Prehistory in Bihar, JIH 48, 1970, 461-468) believes that the various dynasties mentioned in the puranas and later Vedic hymns might refer to peoples who have been shown by archeology to have lived in Bihar, U.P., and W. Bengal, from the time of the stone age.] evidence.

Closely related to the puranas as historical and cosmogonic documents is their role as source materials for early ideas on cosmography and geography. A few words on this subject may be added here as an addendum.

The puranas generally conceive the universe84 [84 On Indian cosmography generally, see Willibald KIRFEL: Die Kosmographie der Inder, nach den Quellen dargestellt, [Google translate: The cosmography of India, according to the sources.] Bonn-Leipzig: Schroeder, 1920 [reprint Hildesheim: Olms, 1967]. Also, by the same: Das Purana vom Weltgebaude (Bhuvanavinyasa). Die kosmographischen Traktate der Puranas. Versuch einer Textgeschichte, [Bonner Orientalistische Studien, N.B. I,] Bonn: Selbstverlag des Orientalistischen Seminars. [Google translate: The Purana of the World Building (Bhuvanavinyasa). The cosmographic treatises of the Puranas. An attempt at a text history, Studies, N.B. I, Bonn: Self-published by the Orientalist seminar. ] 1954.] as having the shape of an egg (anda), with a horizontal diameter of 500,000,000 yojanas. Vertically the cosmos is subdivided by a number of parallel planes. Below the earth (bhurloka) are the seven patalas (under worlds) and -- also usually seven -- narakas (hells), the residence of the demons and the place of punishment for the wicked, respectively. Upward from the earth are six tokas: bhuvar-, svar-, mahar-, janar-, tapo-, and satya- or brahma-. The earth85 [85 V. VENKATACHELLAM IYER: The Seven Dwipas of the Puranas, QJMS 15, 1924-25, 62-75, 119-127, 238-245; 16, 1925-26, 116-124, 268-283; 17, 1926-27, 30-45, 94-105; Ramji PANDEY: The Concept of Earth in the Puranas, Pur 12, 1970, 252-264.] itself is represented as consisting, first, of a central circular mass of land, Jambudvlpa, with a diameter of 100,000 yojanas. Jambudvlpa is surrounded by a concentric ring of water, Lavanoda. This is again surrounded by a ring of land (dvipa) and a ring of water, and so on, up to a total of seven continents86 [86 A number of texts represent the earth in the form of a lotus, with mount Meru in the center as the pericarp of the lotus and just four continents around it as its petals. Cf. K. NILAKANTA SASTRI: Caturmahadvipas, JIH 20, 1941, 61-64; Rai KRISHNADASA: Puranic Geography. Chatur-dvipa and Sapta-dvlpa, Pur 1, 1959-60, 202-205; D. C. SIRCAR: Catur-Dvipa and Sapta-Dvipa Vasumati, JIH 46, 1968, 19-26.] and seven oceans, the width of each succeeding pair being double that of the preceding one. The whole is finally surrounded by yet another continent, Suvarnabhumi, said to be the playground of the gods, and a mountain range, Lokaloka, which separates the world from the non-world.

Jambudvipa is divided into seven parts (varsa) by six parallel mountain ranges running from west to east. From north to south the mountains are called Srngavat (or Srngin), Sveta, Nila, Nisadha, Hemakuta, and Himavat (or Himalaya). The names of the seven varsas are: (Uttara)kuru, Hiranmaya, Ramyaka, Ilavfra, Harivarsa, Kimpurusa, and Bharata. Only the central varsa, Ilavrta, with mount Meru in its center, is again subdivided, by two north-south mountain ranges (Gandhamadana and Malyavat), into three sections: besides Ilavrta in the center, Ketumala in the west and Bhadrasva in the east.

Bharatavarsa,87 [87 W. KIRFEL: Bharatavarsa (Indien). Textgeschichtliche Darstellung zweier geographischen Purana-Texte nebst Ubersetzung, [Beitrage zur indischen Sprachwissenschaft und Religionsgeschichte 6,] Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1931. Bharatavarsa is, again, most often subdivided into nine sections, called khanda, bheda, but also dvipa. Cf. Sashibhushan CHAUDHURI: The Nine Dvipas of Bharatavarsa, IA 59, 1930, 204, 224-226. There is a tendency among certain scholars to identify these dvipas of Bharatavarsa, not with parts of India but of Greater India. E. g. , Surendranath MAJUMDAR: Notes on Puranic Nine Divisions of Ancient India, JBORS 8, 1922, 41-45 [reprinted in his edition of Cunningham's Ancient Geography of India, Calcutta: Chuckervertty, Chatterjee & Co., 1924, pp. 749-754]. Cf. also Ordhendra Coomar GANGOLY: Discovery of Indian Images in Borneo, Rupam 7, 1926, 114; id.: On Some Hindu Relics in Borneo, Journal of the Greater India Society 3, 1936, 97-103; Buddha PRAKASH: The South East Asian Horizons of the Geographers of the Puranas, BhV 20-21, 1960-61, 242-273; Om PRAKASH: An Inquiry after South-Eastern Asia in the puranas, JBRS 52, 1966, 96-107 = Pur 7, 1965, 306-319. -- Sometimes Bharatavarsa is represented as a tortoise -- rather the back of a tortoise -- resting on water: Markandeyaº ch. 57 is called karmavibhaga (even as Varahamihira's Brhatsamhita, ch. 14). Cf. C.A. LEWIS: The Shorter Kurma-vibhaga Texts of the Puranas, Pur 9, 1967, 84-97. ] i.e. India, is different from all other sections of the bhurloka, in that it, and it alone, is karmabhumi.88 [88 E. g., Visnuº 2.3.2: karmabhumir iyam svargam apavargam ca gacchatam.] It is also different for another reason: mountains and rivers which the texts locate in other varsas and even dvipas are imaginary, whereas the numerous peoples, rivers, mountains, and cities of Bharatavarsa, even if they cannot always be identified, may be assumed to reflect some degree of positive information or recollection. As early as 1885 Burgess89 [89 J. BURGESS: On the Identification of Places in the Sanskrit Geography of India, IA 14, 1885, 319-322 at 319.] called on scholars to pay attention to the geographic lists of the puranas. Ever since the puranas have been -- and still are -- one of the most important sources for our knowledge of the pre-modern geography of India.90 [90 Most studies on Indian geography make use of the puranas. The following are a few examples directly related to puranic data: D. C. SIRCAR: Text of the Puranic List of Peoples, IHQ 21, 1945, 297-314; id.: Text of the Puranic List of Rivers, IHQ 27, 1951, 215-238 [both articles are included in Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1960,21971]; Shashi Bhusan CHAUDHURI: Ethnic Settlements in Ancient India (A Study of the Puranic Lists of the Peoples of Bharatavarsa). Part I Northern India, Calcutta: General Printers & Publishers, 1955; C.A. LEWIS: The Geographical Text of the puranas. A Further Critical Study, Pur 4, 1962, 112-145, 245-276 [compares and improves on the texts established by Kirfel and Sircar]; V. S. AGRAWALA: Bhuvanakosa Janapadas of Bharatavarsa, Pur 5, 1963, 160-181 [comments on Lewis' readings and identifications); D. C. SIRCAR: Cosmography and Geography in Early Indian Literature, ISPP 7, 1965-66, 231-234 (+ 7 plates), appendices 353-407; M. R. SINGH: The Relative Chronology of the Janapada Lists of the Puranas, Pur 9, 1967, 262-276; id.: Geographical Data in the Early puranas, Calcutta: Punthi Pustak, 1972.].


Frederick Eden Pargiter
Born: 1852
Died: 18 February 1927 (age 75), Oxford, United Kingdom
Occupation: civil servant, judge, antiquarian

Frederick Eden Pargiter (1852 - 18 February 1927) was a British civil servant and Orientalist.

Born in 1852, Pargiter was the second son of Rev. Robert Pargiter. He studied at Taunton Grammar School and Exeter College, Oxford where he passed in 1873 with a first-class in mathematics. Pargiter passed the Indian Civil Service examinations and embarked for India in 1875.

Pargiter served in India from 1875 to 1906 becoming Under-Secretary to the Government of Bengal in 1885, District and Sessions Court judge in 1887 and a judge of the Calcutta High Court in 1904. Pargiter voluntarily retired in 1906 following the death of his wife and returned to the United Kingdom.

Pargiter died at Oxford on 18 February 1927 in his seventy-fifth year.

In his Ancient Indian Historical Tradition, taking the accession of Chandragupta Maurya in 321 BC as his reference point, Pargiter dated the Battle of Kurukshetra to 950 BC assigning an average of 14.48 years for each king mentioned in the Puranic lists.[1]

Works

• Pargiter, F. E. (1904). The Markandeya-Puranam Sanskrit Text English Translation with Notes and Index of Verses. The Asiatic Society (57, Park Street).
• Pargiter, F. E. (1920). A Revenue History of the Sundarbans from 1870 to 1920. Calcutta: Bengal Board of Revenue.
• Pargiter, F. E. (1922). Ancient Indian Historical Tradition. London: Oxford University Press.

Notes

1. "F. E. Pargiter".

References

• F. W. T (April 1927). "Mr. F. E. Pargiter". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (2): 409–411. JSTOR 25221169.
• "F. E. Pargiter". British Museum.
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Chanakya
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 6/9/21

Image
Chanakya
Chanakya, artistic depiction
Born 375 BCE, Chanaka village in Golla region (Jain legends);[1]
or in Takshashila (Buddhist legends)[2]
Died 283 BCE, Pataliputra, Maurya Empire
Occupation Teacher, Philosopher, Economist, Jurist, advisor of Chandragupta Maurya
Known for Prominent role in the foundation of the Maurya Empire & Arthashastra, Chanakyaniti

Chanakya (IAST: Cāṇakya, About this soundpronunciation (help·info)) was an ancient Indian teacher, philosopher, economist, jurist and royal advisor. He is traditionally identified as Kauṭilya or Vishnugupta, who authored the ancient Indian political treatise, the Arthashastra,[3] a text dated to roughly between the 4th century BCE and the 3rd century CE.[4] As such, he is considered the pioneer of the field of political science and economics in India, and his work is thought of as an important precursor to classical economics.[5][6][7][8] His works were lost near the end of the Gupta Empire in the 6th century CE and not rediscovered until the early 20th century.[6]

Chanakya assisted the first Mauryan emperor Chandragupta in his rise to power. He is widely credited for having played an important role in the establishment of the Maurya Empire. Chanakya served as the chief advisor to both emperors Chandragupta and his son Bindusara.

Background

Sources of information


There is little documented historical information about Chanakya: most of what is known about him comes from semi-legendary accounts. Thomas Trautmann identifies four distinct accounts of the ancient Chanakya-Chandragupta katha (legend):[9]

Version of the legend / Example texts

Buddhist version / Mahavamsa and its commentary Vamsatthappakasini (Pali language)
Jain version / Parishishtaparvan by Hemachandra
Kashmiri version / Kathasaritsagara by Somadeva, Brihat-Katha-Manjari by Ksemendra
Vishakhadatta's version / Mudrarakshasa, a Sanskrit play by Vishakhadatta


The Mahavamsa first came to the attention of Western readers around 1809 CE, when Sir Alexander Johnston, Chief Justice of the British colony in Ceylon, sent manuscripts of it and other Sri Lankan chronicles to Europe for publication. Eugène Burnouf produced a Romanized transliteration and translation into Latin in 1826... Working from Johnston's manuscripts, Edward Upham published an English translation in 1833, but it was marked by a number of errors in translation and interpretation, among them suggesting that the Buddha was born in Sri Lanka and built a monastery atop Adam's Peak. The first printed edition and widely read English translation was published in 1837 by George Turnour, an historian and officer of the Ceylon Civil Service…

Historiographical sources are rare in much of South Asia…

The Mahavamsa has, especially in modern Sri Lanka, acquired a significance as a document with a political message. The Sinhalese majority often use Manavamsa as a proof of their claim that Sri Lanka is a Buddhist nation from historical time…

Early Western scholars like Otto Franke dismissed the possibility that the Mahavamsa contained reliable historical content…

Wilhelm Geiger was one of the first Western scholars to suggest that it was possible to separate useful historical information from the mythic and poetic elaborations of the chronicle…. Geiger hypothesized that the Mahavamsa had been based on earlier Sinhala sources that originated on the island of Ceylon. While Geiger did not believe that the details provided with every story and name were reliable, he broke from earlier scholars in believing that the Mahavamsa faithfully reflected an earlier tradition that had preserved the names and deeds of various royal and religious leaders, rather than being a pure work of heroic literary fiction. He regarded the early chapters of the Culavamsa as the most accurate, with the early chapters of the Mahavamsa being too remote historically and the later sections of the Culavamsa marked by excessive elaboration.

Geiger's Sinhala student G. C. Mendis was more openly skeptical about certain portions of the text, specifically citing the story of the Sinhala ancestor Vijaya as being too remote historically from its source and too similar to an epic poem or other literary creation to be seriously regarded as history. The date of Vijaya's arrival is thought to have been artificially fixed to coincide with the date for the death of Gautama Buddha around 543 BCE. The Chinese pilgrims Fa Hsien and Hsuan Tsang both recorded myths of the origins of the Sinhala people in their travels that varied significantly from the versions recorded in the Mahavamsa…

The story of the Buddha's three visits to Sri Lanka are not recorded in any source outside of the Mahavamsa tradition. Moreover, the genealogy of the Buddha recorded in the Mahavamsa describes him as being the product of four cross cousin marriages. Cross-cousin marriage is associated historically with the Dravidian people of southern India -- both Sri Lankan Tamils and Sinhala practiced cross-cousin marriage historically -- but exogamous marriage was the norm in the regions of northern India associated with the life of the Buddha. No mention of cross-cousin marriage is found in earlier Buddhist sources…

The historical accuracy of Mahinda converting the Sri Lankan king to Buddhism is also debated. Hermann Oldenberg, a German scholar of Indology who has published studies on the Buddha and translated many Pali texts, considers this story a "pure invention". V. A. Smith (Author of Ashoka and Early history of India) also refers to this story as "a tissue of absurdities". V. A. Smith and Professor Hermann came to this conclusion due to Ashoka not mentioning the handing over of his son, Mahinda, to the temple to become a Buddhist missionary and Mahinda's role in converting the Sri Lankan king to Buddhism, in his 13th year Rock Edicts, particularly Rock-Edict XIII. Sources outside of Sri Lanka and the Mahavamsa tradition do not mention Mahinda as Ashoka's son….

The Mahavamsa is believed to have originated from an earlier chronicle known as the Dipavamsa... The Dipavamsa is much simpler and contains less information than the Mahavamsa and probably served as the nucleus of an oral tradition that was eventually incorporated into the written Mahavamsa. The Dipavamsa is believed to have been the first Pali text composed entirely in Ceylon.


-- Mahavamsa, by Wikipedia


His [Hemachandra's] date of birth differs according to sources but 1088 is generally accepted...

Probably around 1125, he was introduced to the Jayasimha Siddharaja (fl. 1092–1141) and soon rose to prominence in the Chaulukya royal court. According to the Prabhavakacarita of Prabhācandra, the earliest biography of Hemachandra,...

Prabhācandra (c. 11th century CE) was a Digambara monk,grammarian,philosopher and author of several philosophical books on Jainism.

Prabhachandra was a Digambara monk who flourished in 11th century CE. He denied the possibility of any genuine intensity of action, whether good or bad, on the part of women.

According to him, Kumarapala converted to Jainism and started worshipping Ajitanatha after conquering Ajmer.

-- Prabhācandra, by Wikipedia


Multiple legendary biographies by medieval Jain chroniclers present him [Kumarapala] as the last great royal patron of Jainism.

Sources of information

Kumarapala was well known for his patronage of Jainism, and several medieval Jain scholars wrote chronicles about him. These scholars include Hemachandra (Dvyashraya and Mahaviracharita), Prabhachandra, Somaprabha (Kumarapala-Pratibodha), Merutunga (Prabandha-Chintamani), Jayasimha Suri, Rajashekhara and Jina-Mandana Suri, among others. Of all the Indian kings, the largest number of chronicles have been written about Kumarapala. However, these chronicles differ substantially in important details about his life...

According to Merutugna, Kumarapala was a descendant of Bhima I through Haripala and Tribhuvanapala. Haripala was a son of Bhima and a concubine named Bakuladevi. Merutunga's genealogy seems to be historically inaccurate, as the fragmentary Chittorgarh inscription corroborates Hemachandra's genealogy. However, historian A. K. Majumdar notes that the voluntary rejections of thrones are very rare, and therefore, Hemachandra's claim of Kshemaraja having voluntary give up his throne is doubtful. Hemachandra, who was a royal courtier, probably invented a fictional narrative to avoid mentioning the illegitimate son Haripala. This also explains why Karna's son Jayasimha Siddharaja hated Kumarapala....

Kumarapala's contemporary chronicler Hemachandra does not mention anything about the king's life before his ascension to the throne. This is unusual, because Hemachandra's narratives about other kings of the dynasty describe their early lives. Historian Ashoke Majumdar theorizes that this might be because Hemachandra played a significant role in Kumarapala's early life, as mentioned by later chroniclers. Yashahpala, another contemporary writer, provides a hint about the king's early life in his drama Maharaja-Parajaya. In this play, a character states that Kumarapala "wandered alone through the whole world", suggesting that the king spent his early life wandering away from the royal court.

Prabhachandra provides the following account of Kumarapala's early life: One day, Jayasimha Siddharaja learned through divination that Kumarapala would be his successor. This made Jayasimha very angry, because he hated Kumarapala. Fearing for his life, Kumarapala fled the kingdom in form of a mendicant. Sometime later, Jayasimha's spies told him that Kumarapala had returned to the capital disguised as an ascetic. Jayasimha then invited 300 ascetics to a feast, and washed their feet in order to identify Kumarapala (who had royal marks on his feet). Kumarapala was recognized, but fled to Hemachandra's house before he could be arrested. Jayasimha's men followed him, but Hemachandra hid him under palm leaves. After leaving Hemachandra's house, Kumarapala was similarly saved by a farmer named Āli. He then went to Khambhat, accompanied by a Brahmin named Bosari. There, he sought shelter with a rich man named Udayana, who turned him away to avoid enmity with the king Jayasimha. Fortunately for Kumarapala, Hemachandra had also arrived at a Jain monastery in Khambhat. Hemachandra gave him food and shelter, and predicted that he would become the king after 7 years. The Jain scholar also took 3,200 drammas (gold coins) from a Jain layman, and gave them to Kumarapala. Subsequently, Kumarapala spent years traveling as a Kapalika ascetic, before being joined by his wife Bhopaladevi and their children. When Jayasimha died, Kumarapala returned to the capital and met Hemachandra. The next day, he arrived at the royal palace, accompanied by his brother-in-law Krishna-deva, who commanded 10,000 horses. There, he was proclaimed as the new king after two other claimants were rejected.

Merutunga mentions a similar legend...

The historicity of these legendary narratives is debatable...the greater part of the legendary narratives appears to be fanciful...

The Jain chroniclers provide highly exaggerated accounts of the territorial extent of Kumarapala's kingdom. For example, Udayaprabha claims that Kumarapala's empire included Andhra, Anga, Chauda, Gauda, Kalinga, Karnata, Kuru, Lata, Medapata, Maru, and Vanga. Such claims are of little historical value....

Kumarapala waged war against a ruler of Saurashtra. Later chroniclers such as Merutunga, Jayasimha Suri and Jina-Mandana state that Kumarapala's army was led by Udayana, who was mortally wounded during this campaign. However, this claim appears to be incorrect, as the earlier writer Prabachandra states that Udayana died fighting Navaghana of Saurashtra during the reign of Jayasimha Siddharaja.

The later writers seem to have confused Jayasimha's Saurashtra campaign with that of Kumarapala. Kumarapala's Saurashtra campaign was probably against the Abhiras....

The historicity of these legends is doubtful, as they claim that Hemachandra had the supernatural power to...

However, these accounts do not appear to be historically accurate. Ajayapala was a follower of Brahmanism, because of which the later Jain chroniclers portrayed him in a negative light....

While several legendary chronicles state that he met the Jain scholar Hemachandra early in his life, the historical accuracy of this claim is doubtful...

The later legendary accounts of Kumarapala's conversion to Jainism are too fanciful to be true. For example, Merutunga claims that Hemachandra made the god Shiva appear before Kumarapala at the Somanatha temple. Shiva told Kumarapala that Hemachandra was an incarnation of all the gods....

The Jain chronicles state that Kumarapala banned animal slaughter, alcohol, gambling and adultery after his conversion to Jainism. However, no extant inscriptions issued by the king announce any such ban....

Although Jain accounts unanimously state that Kumarapala converted to Jainism, none of the king's extant inscriptions invoke Jain deities....


-- Kumarapala (Chaulukya dynasty), by Wikipedia


Jayasimha spotted Hemachandra while passing through the streets of his capital. The king was impressed with an impromptu verse uttered by the young monk.

In 1135, when the Siddharaja conquered Malwa, he brought the works of Bhoja from Dhar along with other things. One day Siddhraja came across the manuscript of Sarasvati-Kanthabharana (also known as the Lakshana Prakash), a treatise on Sanskrit grammar. He was so impressed by it that he told the scholars in his court to produce a grammar that was as easy and lucid. Hemachandra requested Siddharaja to find the eight best grammatical treatises from Kashmir. He studied them and produced a new grammar work in the style of Pāṇini's Aṣṭādhyāyī. He named his work Siddha-Hema-Śabdanuśāśana after himself and the king. Siddharaja was so pleased with the work that he ordered it to be placed on the back of an elephant and paraded through the streets of Anhilwad Patan. Hemachandra also composed the Dvyashraya Kavya, an epic on the history of the Chaulukya dynasty, to illustrate his grammar.

-- Hemachandra, by Wikipedia


Somadeva was an 11th century CE writer from Kashmir. He was the author of a famous compendium of Indian legends, fairy tales and folk tales - the Kathasaritsagara.

Not much is known about him except that his father's name was Rama and he composed his work (probably during the years 1063-81 CE) for the entertainment of the queen Suryamati, a princess of Jalandhara and wife of King Ananta of Kashmir.

Ananta or King Ananta, also known as Anantadeva, was a king of Kashmir who reigned for 40 years from 1028 to 1068 CE. He belonged to the Lohara dynasty.

At a young age, Ananta succeeded his close relative — who possibly ruled the region for less than a month — on the throne of Kashmir. According to the Kashmiri historian Kalhana...


-- Ananta (king), by Wikipedia


Kalhana (sometimes spelled Kalhan or Kalhan'a) (c. 12th century), a Kashmiri, was the author of Rajatarangini (River of Kings), an account of the history of Kashmir. He wrote the work in Sanskrit between 1148 and 1149. All information regarding his life has to be deduced from his own writing, a major scholar of which is Mark Aurel Stein. Robin Donkin has argued that with the exception of Kalhana, "there are no [native Indian] literary works with a developed sense of chronology, or indeed much sense of place, before the thirteenth century".

Kalhana was born to a Kashmiri minister, Chanpaka, who probably served king Harsa of the Lohara dynasty. It is possible that his birthplace was Parihaspore and his birth would have been very early in the 12th century. It is extremely likely that he was of the Hindu Brahmin caste, suggested in particular by his knowledge of Sanskrit. The introductory verses to each of the eight Books in his Rajatarangini are prefaced with prayers to Shiva, a Hindu deity. In common with many Hindus in Kashmir at that time, he was also sympathetic to Buddhism, and Buddhists tended to reciprocate this feeling towards Hindus. Even in relatively modern times, Buddha's birthday has been a notable event for Kashmiri Brahmins and well before Kalhana's time Buddha had been accepted by Hindus as an avatar of Vishnu.

Kalhana was familiar with earlier epics such as the Vikramankadevacharita of Bilhana, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, to all of which he alludes in his own writings. However, his own writings did not employ what Stein has described as "the very redundant praise and flattery which by custom and literary tradition Indian authors feel obliged to bestow on their patrons". From this comes Stein's deduction that Kalhana was not a part of the circle surrounding Jayasimha, the ruling monarch at the time when he was writing the Rajatarangini.

-- Kalhana, by Wikipedia


Rajatarangini (Rājataraṃgiṇī, "The River of Kings") is a metrical legendary and historical chronicle of the north-western Indian subcontinent, particularly the kings of Kashmir. It was written in Sanskrit by Kashmiri historian Kalhana in the 12th century CE....

Although inaccurate in its chronology, the book still provides...

Kalhana's work is also full of legends and inconsistencies...

Historical reliability

Despite the value that historians have placed on Kalhana's work, there is little evidence of authenticity in the earlier books of Rajatarangini. For example, Ranaditya is given a reign of 300 years. Toramana is clearly the Huna king of that name, but his father Mihirakula is given a date 700 years earlier. Even where the kings mentioned in the first three books are historically attested, Kalhana's account suffers from chronological errors.

-- Rajatarangini, by Wikipedia


The queen was quite distraught as it was a time when the political situation in Kashmir was 'one of discontent, intrigue, bloodshed and despair'.

-- Somadeva, by Wikipedia


The Kathāsaritsāgara ("Ocean of the Streams of Stories") is a famous 11th-century collection of Indian legends, fairy tales and folk tales as retold in Sanskrit by the Shaivite Somadeva.

Kathāsaritsāgara contains multiple layers of story within a story and is said to have been adopted from Guṇāḍhya's Bṛhatkathā, which was written in a poorly-understood language known as Paiśācī. The work is no longer extant but several later adaptations still exist — the Kathāsaritsāgara, Bṛhatkathamanjari and Bṛhatkathāślokasaṃgraha. However, none of these recensions necessarily derives directly from Gunadhya, and each may have intermediate versions.

-- Kathasaritsagara, by Wikipedia


The Mudrarakshasa, The Signet of the Minister) is a Sanskrit-language play by Vishakhadatta that narrates the ascent of the king Chandragupta Maurya (r. c. 324 – c. 297 BCE) to power in India. The play is an example of creative writing, but not entirely fictional. It is dated variously from the late 4th century to the 8th century CE.

-- Mudrarakshasa, by Wikipedia


Vishakhadatta (Sanskrit: विशाखदत्त) was an Indian Sanskrit poet and playwright. Although Vishakhadatta furnishes the names of his father and grandfather as Maharaja Bhaskaradatta and Maharaja Vateshvaradatta in his political drama Mudrārākṣasa, we know little else about him. Only two of his plays, the Mudrārākṣasa and the Devichandraguptam are known to us. His period is not certain but he probably flourished in or after the 6th century CE. Some scholars such as A. S. Altekar, K. P. Jayaswal and Sten Konow theorized that Vishakhadatta was a contemporary of Chandragupta II, and lived in late 4th century to early 5th century. But this view has been challenged by other scholars, including Moriz Winternitz and R. C. Majumdar....

Alternative theories

The name Vishakhadatta is also given as Vishakhadeva from which Ranajit Pal concludes that his name may have been Devadatta which, according to him, was a name of both Ashoka and Chandragupta.

-- Vishakhadatta, by Wikipedia


In all the four versions, Chanakya feels insulted by the Nanda king, and vows to destroy him. After dethroning the Nanda, he installs Chandragupta as the new king.

Buddhist version

The legend of Chanakya and Chandragupta is detailed in the Pali-language Buddhist chronicles of Sri Lanka. It is not mentioned in Dipavamsa, the oldest of these chronicles.[10] The earliest Buddhist source to mention the
legend is Mahavamsa, which is generally dated between 5th and 6th centuries CE. Vamsatthappakasini (also known as Mahavamsa Tika), a commentary on Mahavamsa, provides some more details about the legend. Its author is unknown, and it is dated variously from 6th century CE to 13th century CE.[11] Some other texts provide additional details about the legend; for example, the Maha-Bodhi-Vamsa and the Atthakatha give the names of the nine Nanda kings said to have preceded Chandragupta.
[10][12]


Jain version

The Chandragupta-Chanakya legend is mentioned in several commentaries of the Shvetambara canon. The most well-known version of the Jain legend is contained in the Sthaviravali-Charita or Parishishta-Parvan, written by the 12th-century writer Hemachandra.[1] Hemachandra's account is based on the Prakrit kathanaka literature (legends and anecdotes) composed between the late 1st century CE and mid-8th century CE. These legends are contained in the commentaries (churnis and tikas) on canonical texts such as Uttaradhyayana and Avashyaka Niryukti.[13]

Thomas Trautmann believes that the Jain version is older and more consistent than the Buddhist version of the legend.[13]


Kashmiri version

Brihatkatha-Manjari by Kshemendra and Kathasaritsagara by Somadeva are two 11th-century Kashmiri Sanskrit collections of legends. Both are based on a now-lost Prakrit-language Brihatkatha-Sarit-Sagara. It was based on the now-lost Paishachi-language Brihatkatha by Gunadhya. The Chanakya-Chandragupta legend in these collections features another character, named Shakatala (IAST: Śakaṭāla).[14]


Mudrarakshasa version

Mudrarakshasa ("The signet ring of Rakshasa") is a Sanskrit play by Vishakhadatta. Its date is uncertain, but it mentions the Huna, who invaded northern India during the Gupta period. Therefore, it could not have been composed before the Gupta era.[15] It is dated variously from the late 4th century[16] to the 8th century.[17] The Mudrarakshasa legend contains narratives not found in other versions of the Chanakya-Chandragupta legend. Because of this difference, Trautmann suggests that most of it is fictional or legendary, without any historical basis.[18]


Identification with Kauṭilya or Vishnugupta

See also: Arthashastra § Authorship

The ancient Arthashastra has been traditionally attributed to Chanakya by a number of scholars. The Arthashastra identifies its author as Kauṭilya, a gotra or clan name, except for one verse that refers to him by the personal name of Vishnugupta.[19] Kauṭilya is presumably the name of the author's gotra (clan).[20]

One of the earliest Sanskrit literatures to identify Chanakya with Vishnugupta explicitly was the Panchatantra.[21]


The Panchatantra is an ancient Indian collection of interrelated animal fables in Sanskrit verse and prose, arranged within a frame story. The surviving work is dated to roughly 200 BCE – 300 CE, based on older oral tradition. The text's author has been attributed to Vishnu Sharma [Vishnugupta Sharma] in some recensions and Vasubhaga in others, both of which may be pen names. It is classical literature in a Hindu text, and based on older oral traditions with "animal fables that are as old as we are able to imagine".

It is "certainly the most frequently translated literary product of India", and these stories are among the most widely known in the world. It goes by many names in many cultures. There is a version of Panchatantra in nearly every major language of India, and in addition there are 200 versions of the text in more than 50 languages around the world. One version reached Europe in the 11th century. To quote Edgerton (1924):

...before 1600 it existed in Greek, Latin, Spanish, Italian, German, English, Old Slavonic, Czech, and perhaps other Slavonic languages. Its range has extended from Java to Iceland... [In India,] it has been worked over and over again, expanded, abstracted, turned into verse, retold in prose, translated into medieval and modern vernaculars, and retranslated into Sanskrit. And most of the stories contained in it have "gone down" into the folklore of the story-loving Hindus, whence they reappear in the collections of oral tales gathered by modern students of folk-stories.


The earliest known translation into a non-Indian language is in Middle Persian (Pahlavi, 550 CE) by Burzoe. This became the basis for a Syriac translation as Kalilag and Damnag and a translation into Arabic in 750 CE by Persian scholar Abdullah Ibn al-Muqaffa as Kalīlah wa Dimnah. A New Persian version by Rudaki, from the 3rd century Hijri, became known as Kalīleh o Demneh. Rendered in prose by Abu'l-Ma'ali Nasrallah Monshi in 1143 CE, this was the basis of Kashefi's 15th-century Anvār-i Suhaylī (The Lights of Canopus), which in turn was translated into Humayun-namah in Turkish. The book is also known as The Fables of Bidpai (or Pilpai in various European languages, Vidyapati in Sanskrit) or The Morall Philosophie of Doni (English, 1570). Most European versions of the text are derivative works of the 12th-century Hebrew version of Panchatantra by Rabbi Joel. In Germany, its translation in 1480 by Anton von Pforr has been widely read. Several versions of the text are also found in Indonesia, where it is titled as Tantri Kamandaka, Tantravakya or Candapingala and consists of 360 fables. In Laos, a version is called Nandaka-prakarana, while in Thailand it has been referred to as Nang Tantrai.

Author and chronology

The prelude section of the Panchatantra identifies an octogenarian Brahmin named Vishnusharma (IAST: Viṣṇuśarman) as its author. He is stated to be teaching the principles of good government to three princes of Amarasakti. It is unclear, states Patrick Olivelle, a professor of Sanskrit and Indian religions, if Vishnusharma was a real person or himself a literary invention. Some South Indian recensions of the text, as well as Southeast Asian versions of Panchatantra attribute the text to Vasubhaga, states Olivelle. Based on the content and mention of the same name in other texts dated to ancient and medieval era centuries, most scholars agree that Vishnusharma is a fictitious name. Olivelle and other scholars state that regardless of who the author was, it is likely "the author was a Hindu, and not a Buddhist, nor Jain", but it is unlikely that the author was a devotee of Hindu god Vishnu because the text neither expresses any sentiments against other Hindu deities such as Shiva, Indra and others, nor does it avoid invoking them with reverence.

Various locations where the text was composed have been proposed but this has been controversial. Some of the proposed locations include Kashmir, Southwestern or South India. The text's original language was likely Sanskrit. Though the text is now known as Panchatantra, the title found in old manuscript versions varies regionally, and includes names such as Tantrakhyayika, Panchakhyanaka, Panchakhyana and Tantropakhyana. The suffix akhyayika and akhyanaka mean "little story" or "little story book" in Sanskrit.

The text was translated into Pahlavi in 550 CE, which forms the latest limit of the text's existence. The earliest limit is uncertain. It quotes identical verses from Arthasastra, which is broadly accepted to have been completed by the early centuries of the common era...


Content

The Panchatantra is a series of inter-woven fables, many of which deploy metaphors of anthropomorphized animals with human virtues and vices. Its narrative illustrates, for the benefit of three ignorant princes, the central Hindu principles of nīti. While nīti is hard to translate, it roughly means prudent worldly conduct, or "the wise conduct of life"...

Modern era

It was the Panchatantra that served as the basis for the studies of Theodor Benfey, the pioneer in the field of comparative literature. His efforts began to clear up some confusion surrounding the history of the Panchatantra, culminating in the work of Hertel (Hertel 1908, Hertel 1912a, Hertel 1912b, Hertel 1915) and Edgerton (1924). Hertel discovered several recensions in India, in particular the oldest available Sanskrit recension, the Tantrakhyayika in Kashmir, and the so-called North Western Family Sanskrit text by the Jain monk Purnabhadra [???] in 1199 CE that blends and rearranges at least three earlier versions. Edgerton undertook a minute study of all texts which seemed "to provide useful evidence on the lost Sanskrit text to which, it must be assumed, they all go back", and believed he had reconstructed the original Sanskrit Panchatantra; this version is known as the Southern Family text.

-- Panchatantra, by Wikipedia


K. C. Ojha proposes that the traditional identification of Vishnugupta with Kauṭilya was caused by a confusion of the text's editor and its originator. He suggests that Vishnugupta was a redactor of the original work of Kauṭilya.[3] Thomas Burrow suggests that Chanakya and Kauṭilya may have been two different people.[22]

Identity

He is generally called Chanakya, but in his capacity as author of the Arthaśhāstra, is generally referred to as Kautilya. The Arthaśhāstra identifies its author by the name Kautilya, except for one verse which refers to him by the name Vishnugupta. One of the earliest Sanskrit literary texts to explicitly identify Chanakya with Vishnugupta was Vishnu Sarma's Panchatantra in the third century B.C.E.

A prior time-limit for the Tantrakhyayika may be determined by a reference which it makes to Chanakya. Its author, at stanza 2, pays homage to six authors of hand-books for princes, among them to "Chanakya, the great," whose Artha-sastra, very recently found and published, was known to the author of our text and used by him. Chanakya, otherwise known as Kautilya or Vishnugupta, was the prime-minister of the first king of the Mauryan dynasty, king Chandragupta or [x] of Pataliputra or [x] 821-297 B.C., at whose court Megasthenes lived as ambassador of Seleukos Nikator. The earliest time-limit for the Tantrakhyayika would accordingly be about 800 b.c.

-- The Panchatantra: A Collection of Ancient Hindu Tales In Its Oldest Recension, The Kashmirian, Entitled Tantrakhyayika, by Dr. Johannes Hertel, 1915


"0" references to "Chanakya", "Chana", "Artha," or "Kautilya.

-- The Panchatantra of Vishnu Sharma, English Translation, by Arthur W. Ryder, 1925


Not every historian accepts that Kautilya, Chanakya, and Vishnugupta are the same person. K.C. Ojha suggests that Viṣṇugupta was a redactor of the original work of Kauṭilya, and that the traditional identification of Viṣṇugupta with Kauṭilya was caused by a confusion of the editor with the original author. Thomas Burrow suggests that Cāṇakya and Kauṭilya may have been two different people. The date of origin of the Arthahastra remains problematic, with suggested dates ranging from the fourth century B.C.E. to the third century C.E. [700 years] Most authorities agree that the essence of the book was originally written during the early Mauryan Period (321–296 B.C.E.), but that much of the existing text is post-Mauryan.

-- Kautilya, by New World Encyclopedia
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Legends

Image
Dhana Nanda's empire, circa 323 BCE

Buddhist version

According to the Buddhist legend, the Nanda kings who preceded Chandragupta were robbers-turned-rulers.[10] Chanakya (IAST: Cāṇakka in Mahavamsa) was a Brahmin from Takkāsila (Takshashila). He was well-versed in three Vedas and politics. He had canine teeth, which were believed to be a mark of royalty. His mother feared that he would neglect her after becoming a king.[2] To pacify her, Chanakya broke his teeth.[23]

Chanakya was said to be ugly, accentuated by his broken teeth and crooked feet. One day, the king Dhana Nanda organized an alms-giving ceremony for Brahmins. Chanakya went to Pupphapura (Pushpapura) to attend this ceremony. Disgusted by his appearance, the king ordered him to be thrown out of the assembly. Chanakya broke his sacred thread in anger, and cursed the king. The king ordered his arrest, but Chanakya escaped in the disguise of an Ājīvika. He befriended Dhananada's son Pabbata, and instigated him to seize the throne. With help of a signet ring given by the prince, Chanakya fled the palace through a secret door.[23]

Chanakya escaped to the Vinjha forest. There, he made 800 million gold coins (kahapanas), using a secret technique that allowed him to turn 1 coin into 8 coins. After hiding this money, he started searching for a person worthy of replacing Dhana Nanda.[23] One day, he saw a group of children playing: the young Chandragupta (called Chandagutta in Mahavamsa) played the role of a king, while other boys pretended to be vassals, ministers, or robbers. The "robbers" were brought before Chandragupta, who ordered their limbs to be cut off, but then miraculously re-attached them. Chandragupta had been born in a royal family, but was brought up by a hunter after his father was killed by an usurper, and the devatas [deities] caused his mother to abandon him. Astonished by the boy's miraculous powers, Chanakya paid 1000 gold coins to his foster-father, and took Chandragupta away, promising to teach him a trade.[24]

Chanakya had two potential successors to Dhana Nanda: Pabbata and Chandragupta. He gave each of them an amulet to be worn around the neck with a woolen thread. One day, he decided to test them. While Chandragupta was asleep, he asked Pabbata to remove Chandragupta's woolen thread without breaking it and without waking up Chandragupta. Pabbata failed to accomplish this task. Some time later, when Pabbata was sleeping, Chanakya challenged Chandragupta to complete the same task. Chandragupta retrieved the woolen thread by cutting off Pabbata's head. For the next seven years, Chanakya trained Chandragupta for royal duties. When Chandragupta became an adult, Chanakya dug up his hidden treasure of gold coins, and assembled an army.[24]

The army of Chanadragupta and Chanakya invaded Dhana Nanda's kingdom, but disbanded after facing a severe defeat. While wandering in disguise, the two men once listened to the conversation between a woman and her son. The child had eaten the middle of a cake, and thrown away the edges. The woman scolded him, saying that he was eating food like Chandragupta, who attacked the central part of the kingdom instead of conquering the border villages first. Chanakya and Chandragupta realized their mistake. They assembled a new army, and started conquering the border villages. Gradually, they advanced to the kingdom's capital Pataliputra (Pāṭaliputta in Mahavamsa), where they killed the king Dhana Nanda. Chanakya ordered a fisherman to find the place where Dhana Nanda had hidden his treasure. As soon as the fishermen informed Chanakya about its location, Chanakya had him killed. Chanakya anointed Chandragupta as the new king, and tasked a man named Paṇiyatappa with eliminating rebels and robbers from the kingdom.[25]

Chanakya started mixing small doses of poison in the new king's food to make him immune to poisoning attempts by the enemies. Chandragupta, who was not aware of this, once shared the food with his pregnant queen, who was seven days away from delivery. Chanakya arrived just as the queen ate the poisoned morsel. Realizing that she was going to die, Chanakya decided to save the unborn child. He cut off the queen's head and cut open her belly with a sword to take out the foetus. Over the next seven days, he placed the foetus in the belly of a goat freshly killed each day. After seven days, Chandragupta's son was "born". He was named Bindusara, because his body was spotted with drops (bindu) of goat's blood.[25]

The earliest Buddhist legends do not mention Chanakya in their description of the Mauryan dynasty after this point.
[24] Dhammapala's commentary on Theragatha, however, mentions a legend about Chanakya and a Brahmin named Subandhu. According to this account, Chanakya was afraid that the wise Subandhu would surpass him at Chandragupta's court. So, he got Chandragupta to imprison Subandhu, whose son Tekicchakani escaped and became a Buddhist monk.[26] The 16th-century Tibetan Buddhist author Taranatha mentions Chanakya as one of Bindusara's "great lords". According to him, Chanakya destroyed the nobles and kings of 16 towns and made Bindusara the master of all the territory between the eastern and the western seas (Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal).[27]

The German translation of Lama Taranatha's first book on India called The Mine of Previous Stones (Edelsteinmine) was made by Prof. Gruenwedel the reputed Orientalist and Archaeologist on Buddhist culture in Berlin. The translation came out in 1914 A.D. from Petrograd (Leningrad).

The German translator confessed his difficulty in translating the Tibetan words on matters relating to witchcraft and sorcery. So he has used the European terms from the literature of witchcraft and magic of the middle ages viz. 'Frozen' and 'Seven miles boots.'

He said that history in the modern sense could not be expected from Taranatha. The important matter with him was the reference to the traditional endorsement of certain teaching staff. Under the spiritual protection of his teacher Buddhaguptanatha, he wrote enthusiastically the biography of the predecessor of the same with all their extravagances, as well as the madness of the old Siddhas.

The book contains a rigmarole of miracles and magic….


"He acquired all Siddhis: the globule Siddhi, the eye-ointment, the sword-Siddhi, further all power to destroy and again to revive to life, and got complete power over all superhuman Yaksas and Nagas and especially received a Vajra-body which was created for him by the elixir of life. He became a giant on magic power and supernatural knowledge….

The king received the elixir of age and the Yaksas as his servants. He built five hundred temple-cloisters as the resting-place of the preachers. Later, he (acarya) dwelt on the Sriparvata for two hundred years long, surrounded by the Yaksis and remained there practising the Tantras till his subsequent beheading by the grandson of the king Udayana called Susukti or the mighty prince...

He was shown a mirror in which he saw himself roasting in hell-fire…

Then he asked a ferryman on the shore of the Ganges to take him to the other side; but it happened so that, he having no fare for the ferry, showed his pointing finger to the Ganga and the Ganga stood up straight. Thus he came to the other side. Then in Odica, he demanded brandy from a wine-selling woman and as this one said he must pay the bill, he began to chase the shadows of a sun-dial from the fields but which did not go away from there, so he pointed his finger towards the sun and held it as with a nail and drunk brandy. As he did not want to set it free, the clocks and the guards made mistake. The king who knowing that the Yogi wanted to show his power, gave the price for the brandy and prayed to him to let the sun loose…

As now the self-erected stone image of the Chandika slightly shaking began to move, there with a blow on the head, he went with head on her breast to the womb. People say that he is still there, kneeling in straight position, but his pair of ears are only to be seen…

This Yogi could not be destroyed in water, fire, by weapons and by poison…

Once seeing him in the company of a common woman of the temple, the king ordered them to be burned. But out of the ashes, he reappeared as Heruka with gakti in a halo of brilliant rays.…

The boy and the girl changed themselves into Vajra and Ghanta, he took hold of them and flew to heaven…

There was a certain Mantravati experienced in the Mantras of Sahajasiddhi and magic-powers, she was a Hexe (witch). She wanted to destroy the acarya and his followers and attempted to seize him; but could find nothing but a piece of woollen-cloth (Kambala) on the spot where the acarya sat. The witch saw that this was a magic work of the acarya that he had transformed his own body into a woollen-cloth! ‘That must be torn off and everybody must eat a piece of it.' With these words she tore off the cloth and everybody (of her following) ate off a piece. Thereupon the acarya made himself again visible and cursed them all, and five hundred witches with Mantravati became five hundred sheep-headed Matrkas."…

But the Tirthikas scolded the king, who ordered his men to cut off his head. But they could not do damage to the acarya inspite of their all sorts of weapons. Then, as the acarya clapped both of his hands, the palace broke into pieces, and he with his exorcising look made the people of the king benumbed and stiff…

One morning his mother saw the acarya in the king's fruit-garden. He was sitting at the foot of the trees and uttered the words: ‘Narikela Bhiksavo' and the fruits of the tree came by themselves to him. After having drunk the cocoanut water, he spoke: ‘Narikela Uparajahi’ and the fruits went up as before…

The king dug a groove in the earth and filled it with thorn-bushes, elephant and horse dung and threw the acarya there and covered him up. So the acarya showed a double function of his body: in Jalandhara he was wandering to work for the salvation of beings, and at the same time taught in Bengal…

Once during swimming he was eaten up by a fish, but having meditated the Mandala of Heruka he came out without any harm…

A Tirthika Yogi let two meteors fall from heaven. Both were black, and in the shapes of houses but with human heads. Acarya knowing these to be eye-illusions muttered Dharanis to annul them and both of them transformed themselves in little pieces of coals; then some of the Tirthikas showed a piece of art — as flames from the fire coming out of the body. But he put water on it and extinguished the fire. Thus all the attacks were parried each time and juggling works were defeated by the juggling works. In the end, the four leading teachers of the Tirthikas, by the magic-power of the acarya, were transformed into cats. Now the Buddhists increased very much in this country….

He lived two hundred years…

With the words: 'Go to Udayana' went up magically the acarya in heaven…

He disappeared again through the door of benediction of acarya Nandapala and emerged up in two and a half hundred years in the south…

Then the Castellan smote him with a batan. The acarya blew a horn, thereby the stone statues of the temple of Jagannatha lost their extremities and organs and their former wonder powers…

There appeared the acarya magically doubling his body four times and consecrating simultaneously in all four temples.…

He needed CandaIa girl ([x]) for the support of his magic, and got one by giving her parents gold procured miraculously as high as her stature. He reached the highest state of Mahamudra-siddhi. After he had written many text-books, bodily he flew up to the heaven like a Garuda-prince to the Ksetra of the Buddha-Aksobhya…

He was threatened by a Tirthika king who wanted to break his head. His head was cut off, but he put on a buffalo-head on his shoulders. He went to Harikela to preach. There exorcised a cat, hence he was called Bhiradi or Birali…

'He lived with Vajrayogini who looked like a she-dog before the world. Hence he was called Kukuri. This acarya took as a Yogi of Srivajrabhairava, the pose of a destroyer, and there was a history that a king of the Tajiks (Persian) with his elephants were reduced to dust…

In dream AvaIokitesvara said as he had broken the order of his Guru, he would die within three years of an infectious disease and would go to hell, he got very much frightened, cut himself off from his family and took vows. But the prophesy was fulfilled, after three years he got the contagion and died. There his acarya saw in his mind, how he was taken away by the beadles of the Yama, but five gods and Hayagriva with Aryavalokitesvara at their head struck the hell-beadles and Aryavalokitesvara shed tears and ran towards him to bring his body back. And while he was brought back visibly to the Parivara of the Arya, he came back to life again.…

Nagarjuna holding himself on the Dharanis of the 'air-wanderers' (Dakinis), brought two shoes from the tree-leaves which enabled him to go through the air. The one he concealed, he put on the other and flew to Vyali through the air. As he now demanded that the acarya must give him the gold-essence, Vyali answered thereupon: 'Give me thy shoe, that will be the worth of the gold-essence that I give to you!' Then many Upadesas for Quicksilver-essence, many hundred thousands, aye many millions of methods of Elixir and beyond it, the power of exorcism to make gold, he gave to Nagarjuna, and he gave him for it a shoe. Then he put on the hidden shoe and went to India through the air and furthered there very much the Upadesas of Life-elixir. In the country of Gandhara in the north was a mountain called Dhinkota in the district called Munindra. He wanted to change it into gold and silver, but Aryatara who knew that would bring the future generations to fight amongst themselves, prevented it and by her blessing changed it to salt. And today it is known by the Gandhara country Lati.1 [Perhaps the salt-range of western Punjab is meant here.] …

As the fisher was in deep contemplation, he had thrown out his angle and drew it, but the fish drew him in its interior and swallowed him. As he was meditating deeply over the power of Karma, he did not die. As the river Rohita that today in Tibetan called gTsan-po, had reached Kamarupa, there lay a small hill called Umagiri, while there Devesvara zealously gave the Upadesas to the penitent Uma, and the fish swam in that water. The fisher, lying in the belly of the fish, heard that, meditated over that Upadesa and had great benefit. As a fisher again caught that fish and killed it, a man was there. Earlier he died there as a king; thirteen years had just past that formerly a son was born to him. In the belly of the fish he had spent the rest twelve years….

At one time the acarya ordered that he had got appetite for flesh and spirituous things. As the disciple went to the town to buy flesh and brandy, a woman had exhibited six pieces of pork and six flasks of brandy. She said: 'As price I demand your right eye, I will not be drawn into any other bargain.' Then the disciple in order to bring the offering to his acarya, took out the right eye and gave it to her. Thereupon he brought the flesh and the brandy to his acarya. On query he narrated the matter to the acarya. The acarya then demanded the left eye which was given. Thereupon the acarya blessed him and in three years he got back his eyes like before. And in the same period he became a Mahasiddha….

As regards the Siddha Nago, he was called the naked because he did not have a thread as cloth on his body. When he stayed in the south, he came in the social-circle of the first wife of the king and gave her the Upadesas. The king was angry, cut off the five limbs of the acarya, and threw them off towards the sky. But these limbs came back again and were fitted in the body. As this happened seven times, the acarya in the end gave out a curse and the king's five limbs fell off by themselves, and then he died. But after a prayer for it he came back to life. Thus he showed his power. Then he disappeared towards the mountain Bhindapala and there he is still living without throwing off his mortal body…

By making a vow on Mahabodhi, they received the answer that the time was proper to act, in order to accomplish the tasks of terror. This was met by the acarya and his four companions at Jarikhanda. They revolved the wheel of Yamantaka; then within six months the Pathans and the Mogols were innerly shaken and in the east all the followers of the religion of the Turuskas were slain in battle. The Hindu king Manasing was taken prisoner…

In the interior of the palace there was a Linga terrible to look at, and it was established from the time of Arjuna. He treaded and danced on it and so his foot-prints were stamped on it. At this the king out of anger let six elephants be excited. In spite of the number of the elephants being six, who seized him with their trunks, he was not to be moved. As he threateningly raised his finger the stone image of the Chandika, which once was of great miraculous power, melt away just like a lump of butter in the heat of the sun. Still now this figure remains there without becoming a mass. Then the king recognised, that he had acquired the Siddhi, and threw himself on the ground….

His body was changed into rainbow colours and his Jnanakaya clasped the heaven….

But this great Acarya brought in fourfold forms his tasks to end magically: Only through the word what he said took place, through the four glances of exorcism, in the midst of little refined congregations astonishment, and wonder-signs appeared on their faces and that he (in the Ganacakra) by the power of magic created thither flesh-balls, liquids, brandy and blood and the fruits of the woods…

Man appointed time which was the fruit of the previous birth, lotus flowers and wheels (Cakras) came out in her hands and feet and thus as she was furnished with Laksanas, a prophesy came about her that when she could dwell, she would acquire Mahatmya. She heard that in a city of Marahata near Cavala dwelt the Mahacarya Santigupta. As soon as she heard his name, she felt a need for Samadhi and as soon as she saw his face, plunged into the complete Samadhi….By the Yoga, her power over the air became unparalleled. She could ascend up the sky for miles….

Here is written only on the basis of that which anywhere to be perceived from the histories prepared in India, and at that which is given in Tibet by the believing people, that was present from old times."


-- Mystic Tales of Lama Taranatha: A Religio-Sociological History of Mahayana Buddhism, by Lama Taranatha, Translated into English by Bhupendranath Datta, A.M., Dr. Phil.


Jain version

According to the Jain account, Chanakya was born to two lay Jains (shravaka) named Chanin and Chaneshvari. His birthplace was the Chanaka village in Golla vishaya (region).[1] The identity of "Golla" is not certain, but Hemachandra states that Chanakya was a Dramila, implying that he was a native of South India.[28]

Chanakya was born with a full set of teeth. According to the monks, this was a sign that he would become a king in the future. Chanin did not want his son to become haughty, so he broke Chanakya's teeth. The monks prophesied that the baby would go on to become a power behind the throne.[1] Chanakya grew up to be a learned shravaka, and married a Brahmin woman. Her relatives mocked her for being married to a poor man. This motivated Chanakya to visit Pataliputra, and seek donations from the king Nanda, who was famous for his generosity towards Brahmins. While waiting for the king at the royal court, Chanakya sat on the king's throne. A dasi (servant girl) courteously offered Chanakya the next seat, but Chanakya kept his kamandal (water pot) on it, while remaining seated on the throne. The servant offered him a choice of four more seats, but each time, he kept his various items on the seats, refusing to budge from the throne. Finally, the annoyed servant kicked him off the throne. Enraged, Chanakya vowed to uproot Nanda and his entire establishment, like "a great wind uproots a tree".[29]

Chanakya knew that he was prophesied to become a power behind the throne. So, he started searching for a person worthy of being a king. While wandering, he did a favour for the pregnant daughter of a village chief, on the condition that her child would belong to him. Chandragupta was born to this lady. When Chandragupta grew up, Chanakya came to his village and saw him playing "king" among a group of boys. To test him, Chanakya asked him for a donation. The boy told Chanakya to take the cows nearby, declaring that nobody would disobey his order. This display of power convinced Chanakya that Chandragupta was the one worthy of being a king.[1]

Chanakya took Chandragupta to conquer Pataliputra, the capital of Nanda. He assembled an army using the wealth he had acquired through alchemy (dhatuvada-visaradan). The army suffered a severe defeat, forcing Chanakya and Chandragupta to flee the battlefield. They reached a lake while being pursued by an enemy officer. Chanakya asked Chandragupta to jump into the lake, and disguised himself as a meditating ascetic. When the enemy soldier reached the lake, he asked the 'ascetic' if he had seen Chandragupta. Chanakya pointed at the lake. As the soldier removed his armour to jump into the lake, Chanakya took his sword and killed him. When Chandragupta came out of the water, Chanakya asked him, "What went through your mind, when I disclosed your location to the enemy?" Chandragupta replied that he trusted his master to make the best decision. This convinced Chanakya that Chandragupta would remain under his influence even after becoming the king. On another occasion, Chanakya similarly escaped the enemy by chasing away a washerman, and disguising himself as one. Once, he cut open the belly of a Brahmin who had just eaten food, and took out the food to feed a hungry Chandragupta.[30]

One day, Chanakya and Chandragupta overheard a woman scolding her son. The child had burnt his finger by putting it in the middle of a bowl of hot gruel. The woman told her son that by not starting from the cooler edges, he was being foolish like Chanakya, who attacked the capital before conquering the bordering regions. Chanakya realized his mistake, and made a new plan to defeat Nanda. He formed an alliance with Parvataka, the king of a mountain kingdom called Himavatkuta, offering him half of Nanda's kingdom.[30]

After securing Parvataka's help, Chanakya and Chandragupta started besieging the towns other than Pataliputra. One particular town offered a strong resistance. Chanakya entered this town disguised as a Shaivite mendicant, and declared that the siege would end if the idols of the seven mothers were removed from the town's temple. As soon as the superstitious defenders removed the idols from the temple, Chanakya ordered his army to end the siege. When the defenders started celebrating their victory, Chanakya's army launched a surprise attack and captured the town.[30]

Gradually, Chanakya and Chandragupta subdued all the regions outside the capital. Finally, they captured Pataliputra and Chandragupta became the king. They allowed the king Nanda to go into exile, with all the goods he could take on a cart. As Nanda and his family were leaving the city on a cart, his daughter saw Chandragupta, and fell in love with the new king. She chose him as her husband by svayamvara tradition. As she was getting off the cart, 9 spokes of the cart's wheel broke. Interpreting this as an omen, Chanakya declared that Chandragupta's dynasty would last for 9 generations.[30]

Meanwhile, Parvataka fell in love with one of Nanda's visha kanyas (poison girl). Chanakya approved the marriage, and Parvataka collapsed when he touched the girl during the wedding. Chanakya asked Chandragupta not to call a physician. Thus, Parvataka died and Chandragupta became the sole ruler of Nanda's territories.[31]

Chanakya then started consolidating the power by eliminating Nanda's loyalists, who had been harassing people in various parts of the kingdom. Chanakya learned about a weaver who would burn any part of his house infested with cockroaches. Chanakya assigned the responsibility of crushing the rebels to this weaver. Soon, the kingdom was free of insurgents. Chanakya also burned a village that had refused him food in the past. He filled the royal treasury by inviting rich merchants to his home, getting them drunk and gambling with a loaded dice.[31]

Once, the kingdom suffered a 12-year long famine. Two young Jain monks started eating from the king's plate, after making themselves invisible with a magic ointment. Chanakya sensed their presence by covering the palace floor with a powder, and tracing their footprints. At the next meal, he caught them by filling the dining room with thick smoke, which caused the monks' eyes to water, washing off the ointment. Chanakya complained about the young monks behavior to the head monk Acharya Susthita. The Acharya blamed people for not being charitable towards monks, so Chanakya started giving generous alms to the monks.[31]

Meanwhile, Chandragupta had been patronizing the non-Jain monks. Chanakya decided to prove to him that these men were not worthy of his patronage. He covered the floor of the palace area near the women's rooms with a powder, and left the non-Jain monks there. Their footprints showed that they had sneaked up to the windows of the women's rooms to peep inside. The Jain monks, who were assessed using the same method, stayed away from the women's rooms. After seeing this, Chandragupta appointed the Jain monks as his spiritual counsellors.[32]

Chanakya used to mix small doses of poison in Chandragupta's food to make him immune to poisoning attempts. The king, unaware of this, once shared his food with Queen Durdhara. Chanakya entered the room at the instant she died. He cut open the dead queen's belly and took out the baby. The baby, who had been touched by a drop ("bindu") of the poison, was named Bindusara.[32]

After Chandragupta abdicated the throne to become a Jain monk, Chanakya anointed Bindusara as the new king.
[32] Chanakya asked Bindusara to appoint a man named Subandhu as one of his ministers. However, Subandhu wanted to become a higher minister and grew jealous of Chanakya. So, he told Bindusara that Chanakya was responsible for the death of his mother. Bindusara confirmed the allegations with the nurses, who told him that Chanakya had cut open the belly of his mother. And enraged Bindusara started hating Chanakya. As a result, Chanakya, who had grown very old by this time, retired and decided to starve himself to death. Meanwhile, Bindusara came to know about the detailed circumstances of his birth, and implored Chanakya to resume his ministerial duties. After failing to pacify Chanakya, the emperor ordered Subandhu to convince Chanakya to give up his suicide plan. Subandhu, while pretending to appease Chanakya, burned him to death. Subandhu then took possession of Chanakya's home. Chanakya had anticipated this, and before retiring, he had set up a cursed trap for Subandhu. He had left behind a chest with a hundred locks. Subandhu broke the locks, hoping to find precious jewels. He found a sweet-smelling perfume and immediately inhaled it. But then his eyes fell on a birch bark note with a curse written on it. The note declared that anybody who smelled this perfume will have to either become a monk or face death. Subandhu tested the perfume on another man, and then fed him luxurious food (something that the monks abstain from). The man died, and then Subandhu was forced to become a monk to avoid death.[33][34]

According to another Jain text – the Rajavali-Katha – Chanakya accompanied Chandragupta to forest for retirement, once Bindusara became the king.[35]

Kashmiri version

The Kashmiri version of the legend goes like this: Vararuchi (identified with Katyayana), Indradatta and Vyadi were three disciples of the sage Varsha. Once, on behalf of their guru Varsha, they traveled to Ayodhya to seek a gurudakshina (guru's fee) from king Nanda. As they arrived to meet Nanda, the king died. Using his yogic powers, Indradatta entered Nanda's body, and granted Vararuchi's request for 10 million dinars (gold coins). The royal minister Shakatala realized what was happening, and had Indradatta's body burnt. But before he could take any action against the fake king (Indradatta in Nanda's body, also called Yogananda), the king had him arrested. Shakatala and his 100 sons were imprisoned, and were given food sufficient only for one person. Shakatala's 100 sons starved to death, so that their father could live to take revenge.[36]

Meanwhile, the fake king appointed Vararuchi as his minister. As the king's character kept deteriorating, a disgusted Vararuchi retired to a forest as an ascetic. Shakatala was then restored as the minister, but kept planning his revenge. One day, Shakatala came across Chanakya, a Brahmin who was uprooting all the grass in his path, because one blade of the grass had pricked his foot. Shakatala realized that he could use a man so vengeful to destroy the fake king. He invited Chanakya to the king's assembly, promising him 100,000 gold coins for presiding over a ritual ceremony.[36]

Shakatala hosted Chanakya in his own house, and treated him with great respect. But the day Chanakya arrived at the king's court, Shakatala got another Brahmin named Subandhu to preside over the ceremony. Chanakya felt insulted, but Shakatala blamed the king for this dishonour. Chanakya then untied his topknot (sikha), and vowed not to re-tie it until the king was destroyed. The king ordered his arrest, but he escaped to Shakatala's house. There, using materials supplied by Shakatala, he performed a magic ritual which made the king sick. The king died of fever after 7 days.[37]

Shakatala then executed Hiranyagupta, the son of the fake king. He anointed Chandragupta, the son of the real king Nanda, as the new king (in Kshemendra's version, it is Chanakya who installs Chandragupta as the new king). Shakatala also appointed Chanakya as the royal priest (purohita). Having achieved his revenge, he then retired to the forest as an ascetic.
[37]

Mudrarakshasa version

According to the Mudrarakshasa version, the king Nanda once removed Chanakya from the "first seat of the kingdom" (this possibly refers to Chanakya's expulsion from the king's assembly). For this reason, Chanakya vowed not to tie his top knot (shikha) until the complete destruction of Nanda. Chanakya made a plan to dethrone Nanda, and replace him with Chandragupta, his son by a lesser queen. Chanakya engineered Chandragupta's alliance with another powerful king Parvateshvara (or Parvata), and the two rulers agreed to divide Nanda's territory after subjugating him. Their allied army included Bahlika, Kirata, Parasika, Kamboja, Shaka, and Yavana soldiers. The army invaded Pataliputra (Kusumapura) and defeated the Nandas.[38] Parvata is identified with King Porus by some scholars.[39]

Nanda's prime minister Rakshasa escaped Pataliputra, and continued resisting the invaders. He sent a vishakanya (poison girl) to assassinate Chandragupta. Chanakya had this girl assassinate Parvata instead, with the blame going to Rakshasa. However, Parvata's son Malayaketu learned the truth about his father's death, and defected to Rakshasa's camp. Chanakya's spy Bhagurayana accompanied Malayaketu, pretending to be his friend.[40]

Rakshasa continued to plot Chandragupta's death, but all his plans were foiled by Chanakya. For example, once Rakshasa arranged for assassins to be transported to Chandragupta's bedroom via a tunnel. Chanakya became aware of them by noticing a trail of ants carrying the leftovers of their food. He then arranged for the assassins to be burned to death.[41]

Meanwhile, Parvata's brother Vairodhaka became the ruler of his kingdom. Chanakya convinced him that Rakshasa was responsible for killing his brother, and agreed to share half of Nanda's kingdom with him. Secretly, however, Chanakya hatched a plan to get Vairodhaka killed. He knew that the chief architect of Pataliputra was a Rakshasa loyalist. He asked this architect to build a triumphal arch for Chandragupta's procession to the royal palace. He arranged the procession to be held at midnight citing astrological reasons, but actually to ensure poor visibility. He then invited Vairodhaka to lead the procession on Chandragupta's elephant, and accompanied by Chandragupta's bodyguards. As expected, Rakshasa's loyalists arranged for the arch to fall on who they thought was Chandragupta. Vairodhaka was killed, and once again, the assassination was blamed on Rakshasa.[40]

Malayaketu and Rakshasa then formed an alliance with five kings: Chiravarman of Kauluta (Kulu), Meghaksha of Parasika, Narasimha of Malaya, Pushkaraksha of Kashmira, and Sindhusena of Saindhava. This allied army also included soldiers from Chedi, Gandhara, Hunas, Khasa, Magadha, Shaka, and Yavana territories.[41]

In Pataliputra, Chanakya's agent informed him that three Rakshasa loyalists remained in the capital: the Jain monk Jiva-siddhi, the scribe Shakata-dasa and the jewelers' guild chief Chandana-dasa. Of these, Jiva-siddhi was actually a spy of Chanakya, unknown to his other spies. Chandana-dasa sheltered Rakshasa's wife, who once unknowingly dropped her husband's signet-ring (mudra). Chanakya's agent got hold of this signet-ring, and brought it to Chanakya. Using this signet ring, Chanakya sent a letter to Malayaketu warning him that his allies were treacherous. Chanakya also asked some of Chandragupta's princes to fake defection to Malayaketu's camp. In addition, Chanakya ordered Shakata-dasa's murder, but had him 'rescued' by Siddharthaka, a spy pretending to be an agent of Chandana-dasa. Chanakya's spy then took Shakata-dasa to Rakshasa.[41]

When Shakata-dasa and his 'rescuer' Siddharthaka reached Rakshasa, Siddharthaka presented him the signet-ring, claiming to have found it at Chandana-dasa's home. As a reward, Rakshasa gave him some jewels that Malayaketu had gifted him. Sometime after this, another of Chanakya's agents, disguised as a jeweler, sold Parvata's jewels to Rakshasa.[42]

Sometime later, Rakshasa sent his spies disguised as musicians to Chandragupta's court. But Chanakya knew all about Rakshasa's plans thanks to his spies. In front of Rakshasa's spies, Chanakya and Chandragupta feigned an angry argument. Chandragupta pretended to dismiss Chanakya, and declared that Rakshasa would make a better minister. Meanwhile, Malayaketu had a conversation with Chanakya's spy Bhagurayana while approaching Rakshasa's house. Bhagurayana made Malayaketu distrustful of Rakshasa, by saying that Rakshasa hated only Chanakya, and would be willing to serve Nanda's son Chandragupta. Shortly after this, a messenger came to Rakshasa's house, and informed him that Chandragupta had dismissed Chanakya while praising him. This convinced Malayaketu that Rakashasa could not be trusted.[42]

Malayaketu then decided to invade Pataliputra without Rakshasa by his side. He consulted the Jain monk Jiva-siddhi to decide an auspicious time for beginning the march. Jiva-siddhi, a spy of Chanakya, told him that he could start immediately.[42] Jiva-siddhi also convinced him that Rakshasa was responsible for his father's death, but Bhagurayana persuaded him not to harm Rakshasa. Shortly after, Chanakya's spy Siddharthaka pretended to get caught with a fake letter addressed to Chandragupta by Rakshasa. Wearing the jewels given by Rakshasa, he pretended to be an agent of Rakshasa. The letter, sealed with Rakshasa's signet-ring, informed Chandragupta that Rakshasa only wished to replace Chanakya as the prime minister. It also stated that five of Malayaketu's allies were willing to defect to Chandragupta in return for land and wealth. An angry Malayaketu summoned Rakshasa, who arrived wearing Parvata's jewels that Chanakya's agent had sold him. When Malayaketu saw Rakshasa wearing his father's jewels, he was convinced that there was indeed a treacherous plan against him. He executed his five allies in a brutal manner.[43]

The rest of Malayaketu's allies deserted him, disgusted at his treatment of the five slayed allies. Rakshasa managed to escape, tracked by Chanakya's spies. One of Chanakya's spies, disguised as a friend of Chandana-dasa, got in touch with him. He told Rakshasa that Chandana-dasa was about to be executed for refusing to divulge the location of Rakshasa's family. On hearing this, Rakshasa rushed to Pataliputra to surrender and save the life of his loyal friend Chandana-dasa. When he reached Pataliputra, Chanakya, pleased with his loyalty to Chandana-dasa, offered him clemency. Rakshasa pledged allegiance to Chandragupta and agreed to be his prime minister, in return for release of Chandana-dasa and a pardon for Malayaketu. Chanakya then bound his top knot, having achieved his objective, and retired.[43]

Literary works

Two books are attributed to Chanakya: Arthashastra,[44] and Chanakya Niti, also known as Chanakya Neeti-shastra.[45] The Arthashastra was discovered in 1905 by librarian Rudrapatna Shamasastry in an uncatalogued group of ancient palm-leaf manuscripts donated by an unknown pandit to the Oriental Research Institute Mysore.[46]

Formerly known as the Oriental Library, the Oriental Research Institute (ORI) at Mysore, India, is a research institute which collects, exhibits, edits, and publishes rare manuscripts written in various scripts like Devanagari (Sanskrit), Brahmic (Kannada), Nandinagari (Sanskrit), Grantha, Malayalam, Tigalari, etc.

The Oriental Library was started in 1891 under the patronage of Maharaja Chamarajendra Wadiyar X... It was a part of the Department of Education until 1916, in which year it became part of the newly established University of Mysore. The Oriental Library was renamed as the Oriental Research Institute in 1943.

From the year 1893 to date the ORI has published nearly two hundred titles. The library features rare collections such as the Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics by James Hastings, A Vedic Concordance by Maurice Bloomfield, and critical editions of the Ramayana and Mahabharata. It was the first public library in Mysore city for research and editing of manuscripts. The prime focus was on Indology. The institute publishes an annual journal called Mysore Orientalist. Its most famous publications include Kautilya's Arthashastra, written in the 4th century BC, edited by Dr. R. Shamashastri, which brought international fame to the institute when published in 1909.

One day a man from Tanjore handed over a manuscript of Arthashastra written on dried palm leaves to Dr Rudrapatnam Shamashastry, the librarian of Mysore Government Oriental Library now ORI. Shamashastry's job was to look after the library's ancient manuscripts. He had never seen anything like these palm leaves before. Here was a book that would revolutionise the knowledge of India's great past. This palm leaf manuscript is preserved in the library, now named Oriental Research Institute. The pages of the book are filled with 1500-year-old Grantha script. It looks like as if they have been printed but the words have been inscribed by hand.
Other copies of Arthashastra were later discovered later in other parts of India.[1]

In this context, my mind remembering a day which was the His Excellency Krishnaraja Wodeyar went to Germany at the time of Dr. R. Shamashastry were working as a curator of Oriental Library, Mysore, The King sat in a meeting held in Germany and introduced himself as the King of Mysore State. Immediately a man stood up and asked, "Are you from our Dr. R. Shamashastry's Mysore?" Because the Arthashastra edited by him took a fame worldwide. The King wondered and came back to Mysore immediately to see Dr. R. Shamashastry, and also Dr. R. Shamashastry appointed as Asthana Vidwan. Sritattvanidhi, is a compilation of slokas by Krishnaraja Wodeyar III. Three edited manuscripts Navaratnamani-mahatmyam (a work on gemology), Tantrasara-sangraha (a work on sculptures and architecture), and Vaidashastra-dipika (an ayurvedic text), Rasa-kaumudi (on mercurial medicine) all of them with English and Kannada translation, are already in advanced stages of printing.

Oriental Research Institute

The ORI houses over 45,000 Palm leaf manuscript bundles and the 75,000 works on those leaves. The manuscripts are palm leaves cut to a standard size of 150 by 35 mm (5.9 by 1.4 in). Brittle palm leaves are sometimes softened by scrubbing a paste made of ragi and then used by the ancients for writing, similar to the use of papyrus in ancient Egypt. Manuscripts are organic materials that run the risk of decay and are prone to be destroyed by silverfish. To preserve them the ORI applies lemon grass oil on the manuscripts which acts like a pesticide. The lemon grass oil also injects natural fluidity into the brittle palm leaves and the hydrophobic nature of the oil keeps the manuscripts dry so that the text is not lost to decay due to humidity.

The conventional method followed at the ORI was to preserve manuscripts by capturing them in microfilm, which then necessitated the use of a microfilm reader for viewing or studying. Once the ORI has digitized the manuscripts, the text can be viewed and manipulated by a computer. Software is then used to put together disjointed pieces of manuscripts and to correct or fill in any missing text. In this manner, the manuscripts are restored and enhanced. The original palm leaf manuscripts are also on reference at the ORI for those interested.

-- Oriental Research Institute Mysore, by Wikipedia


• The Arthashastra, which discusses monetary and fiscal policies, welfare, international relations, and war strategies in detail. The text also outlines the duties of a ruler.[47][unreliable source?] Some scholars believe that Arthashastra is actually a compilation of a number of earlier texts written by various authors, and Chanakya might have been one of these authors (see above).[9]
• Chanakya Niti, which is a collection of aphorisms, said to be selected by Chanakya from the various shastras.[45]

Legacy

Arthashastra is serious manual on statecraft, on how to run a state, informed by a higher purpose, clear and precise in its prescriptions, the result of practical experience of running a state. It is not just a normative text but a realist description of the art of running a state.

- Shiv Shankar Menon, National Security Advisor[48]


Chanakya is regarded as a great thinker and diplomat in India. Many Indian nationalists regard him as one of the earliest people who envisioned a united India spanning the entire subcontinent. India's former National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon praised Chanakya's Arthashastra for its precise and timeless descriptions of power. Furthermore, he recommended reading of the book for broadening the vision on strategic issues.[48]

The diplomatic enclave in New Delhi is named Chanakyapuri in honour of Chanakya. Institutes named after him include Training Ship Chanakya, Chanakya National Law University and Chanakya Institute of Public Leadership. Chanakya circle in Mysore has been named after him.[49]

In Popular Culture

Plays


Several modern adaptations of the legend of Chanakya narrate his story in a semi-fictional form, extending these legends. In Chandragupta (1911), a play by Dwijendralal Ray, the Nanda king exiles his half-brother Chandragupta, who joins the army of Alexander the Great. Later, with help from Chanakya and Katyayan (the former Prime Minister of Magadha), Chandragupta defeats Nanda, who is put to death by Chanakya.[50]

Film and television

• The story of Chanakya and Chandragupta was portrayed in the 1977 Telugu film entitled Chanakya Chandragupta. Akkineni Nageswara Rao played the role of Chanakya, while N. T. Rama Rao portrayed as Chandragupta.[51]
• The 1991 TV series Chanakya is an archetypal account of the life and times of Chanakya, based on the Mudrarakshasa. The titular role of the same name was portrayed by Chandraprakash Dwivedi
• Chandragupta Maurya, a 2011 TV series on NDTV Imagine is a biographical series on the life of Chandragupta Maurya and Chanakya, and is produced by Sagar Arts. Manish Wadhwa portrays the character of Chanakya in this series.
• The 2015 Colors TV drama, Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat, features Chanakya during the reign of Chandragupta's son, Bindusara.
• Chanakya was played by Chetan Pandit and Tarun Khanna, in the historical-drama television series Porus in 2017–2018.
• Chanakya was played by Tarun Khanna, in the historical drama TV series Chandragupta Maurya in 2018–2019.

Books and academia

• An English-language book titled Chanakya on Management contains 216 sutras on raja-neeti, each of which has been translated and commented upon.
• A book written by Ratan Lal Basu and Rajkumar Sen deals with the economic concepts mentioned in Arthashastra and their relevance for the modern world.[52]
• Chanakya (2001) by B. K. Chaturvedi[53]
• In 2009, many eminent experts discussed the various aspects of Kauṭilya's thought in an International Conference held at the Oriental Research Institute in Mysore (India) to celebrate the centenary of discovery of the manuscript of the Arthashastra by R. Shamasastry. Most of the papers presented in the Conference have been compiled in an edited volume by Raj Kumar Sen and Ratan Lal Basu.[54][55]
• Chanakya's Chant by Ashwin Sanghi is a fictional account of Chanakya's life as a political strategist in ancient India. The novel relates two parallel stories, the first of Chanakya and his machinations to bring Chandragupta Maurya to the throne of Magadha; the second, that of a modern-day character called Gangasagar Mishra who makes it his ambition to position a slum child as Prime Minister of India.
• The Emperor's Riddles by Satyarth Nayak features popular episodes from Chanakya's life.
• Kauṭilya's role in the formation of the Maurya Empire is the essence of a historical/spiritual novel Courtesan and the Sadhu by Mysore N. Prakash.[56]
• Chanakya's contribution to the cultural heritage of Bharat (in Kannada) by Shatavadhani Ganesh with the title Bharatada Samskrutige Chanakyana Kodugegalu.[57]
• Pavan Choudary (2 February 2009). Chanakya's Political Wisdom. Wisdom Village Publications Division. ISBN 978-81-906555-0-7., a political commentary on Chanakya
• Sihag, Balbir Singh (2014), Kautilya: The True Founder of Economics, Vitasta Publishing Pvt.Ltd, ISBN 978-81-925354-9-4
• Radhakrishnan Pillai has written a number of books related to Chanakya — "Chanakya in the Classroom: Life Lessons for Students",[58] "Chanakya Neeti: Strategies for Success", "Chanakya in You", "Chanakya and the Art of War", "Corporate Chanakya",[59] "Corporate Chanakya on Management" and "Corporate Chanakya on Leadership".[60]

See also

• Rajamandala

References

1. Trautmann 1971, p. 21.
2. Trautmann 1971, p. 12.
3. Mabbett, I. W. (1964). "The Date of the Arthaśāstra". Journal of the American Oriental Society. American Oriental Society. 84 (2): 162–169. doi:10.2307/597102. ISSN 0003-0279. JSTOR 597102.
4. Transaction and Hierarchy. Routledge. 9 August 2017. p. 56. ISBN 978-1351393966.
5. L. K. Jha, K. N. Jha (1998). "Chanakya: the pioneer economist of the world", International Journal of Social Economics 25 (2–4), p. 267–282.
6. Waldauer, C., Zahka, W.J. and Pal, S. 1996. Kauṭilya's Arthashastra: A neglected precursor to classical economics. Indian Economic Review, Vol. XXXI, No. 1, pp. 101–108.
7. Tisdell, C. 2003. A Western perspective of Kauṭilya's Arthashastra: does it provide a basis for economic science? Economic Theory, Applications and Issues Working Paper No. 18. Brisbane: School of Economics, The University of Queensland.
8. Sihag, B.S. 2007. Kauṭilya on institutions, governance, knowledge, ethics and prosperity. Humanomics 23 (1): 5–28.
9. Namita Sanjay Sugandhi (2008). Between the Patterns of History: Rethinking Mauryan Imperial Interaction in the Southern Deccan. pp. 88–89. ISBN 978-0-549-74441-2. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
10. Trautmann 1971, p. 11.
11. Trautmann 1971, p. 16.
12. Trautmann 1971, pp. 18.
13. Trautmann 1971, p. 29.
14. Trautmann 1971, p. 31–33.
15. Trautmann 1971, pp. 41–43.
16. Varadpande 2005, p. 223.
17. Upinder Singh 2016, p. 30.
18. Trautmann 1971, p. 43.
19. Trautmann 1971, p. 5:"the very last verse of the work... is the unique instance of the personal name Vishnugupta rather than the gotra name Kautilya in the Arthashastra."
20. Trautmann 1971, p. 10:"while in his character as author of an Arthashastra he is generally referred to by his gotra name, Kautilya."
21. Mabbett 1964: "References to the work in other Sanskrit literature attribute it variously to Vishnugupta, Chanakya and Kautilya. The same individual is meant in each case. The Panchatantra explicitly identifies Chanakya with Vishnugupta."
22. Trautmann 1971, p. 67:"T. Burrow ("Cāṇakya and Kauṭalya", Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute 48–49, 1968, p. 17 ff.) has now shown that Cāṇakya is also a gotra name, which in conjunction with other evidence makes it clear that we are dealing with two distinct persons, the minister Cāṇakya of legend and Kauṭilya the compiler of the Arthashastra. Furthermore, this throws the balance of evidence in favor of the view that the second name was originally spelt Kauṭalya, and that after the compiler of the Arth came to be identified with the Mauryan minister, it was altered to Kauṭilya (as it appears in Āryaśūra, Viśākhadatta and Bāna) for the sake of the pun. We must then assume that the later spelling subsequently replaced the earlier in the gotra lists and elsewhere.'"
23. Trautmann 1971, p. 13.
24. rautmann 1971, p. 14.
25. Trautmann 1971, p. 15.
26. Trautmann 1971, p. 28.
27. Upinder Singh 2016, p. 331.
28. Kallidaikurichi Aiyah Nilakanta Sastri (1988). Age of the Nandas and Mauryas. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 148. ISBN 978-81-208-0466-1.
29. Trautmann 1971, p. 22.
30. Trautmann 1971, p. 23.
31. Trautmann 1971, p. 24.
32. Trautmann 1971, p. 25.
33. Motilal Banarsidass (1993). "The Minister Cāṇakya, from the Pariśiṣtaparvan of Hemacandra". In Phyllis Granoff (ed.). The Clever Adulteress and Other Stories: A Treasury of Jaina Literature. Translated by Rosalind Lefeber. pp. 204–206. ISBN 9788120811508.
34. Hemachandra (1891). Sthavir̂aval̂i charita, or, Pariśishtaparvan. Translated by Hermann Jacobi. Calcutta: Asiatic Society. pp. 67–68.
35. Rice 1889, p. 9.
36. Trautmann 1971, p. 31.
37. Trautmann 1971, p. 32.
38. Trautmann 1971, pp. 36–37.
39. Varadpande 2005, pp. 227–230.
40. Trautmann 1971, p. 37.
41. Trautmann 1971, p. 38.
42. Trautmann 1971, p. 39.
43. Trautmann 1971, p. 40.
44. Kautilya's Arthashastra (PDF). Translated by Shamasastry, R. 1905. Retrieved 23 August2020.
45. Sri Chanakya Niti-shastra; the Political Ethics of Chanakya Pandit Hardcover. Translated by Miles Davis and V. Badarayana Murthy. Ram Kumar Press. 1981. Archived from the original on 16 July 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
46. Srinivasaraju, Sugata (27 July 2009). "Year of the Guru". Outlook India. Retrieved 17 March2018.
47. Paul Halsall. Indian History Sourcebook: Kautilya: from the Arthashastra c. 250 BC Retrieved 19 June 2012
48. "India needs to develop its own doctrine for strategic autonomy: NSA". The Economic Times. NEW DELHI. Press Trust of India. 18 October 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
49. Yelegaonkar, Dr Shrikant. Chanakya's Views on Administration. Lulu.com. p. 8. ISBN 9781329082809.
50. Ray, Dwijendralal (1969). "Bhumika: Aitihasikata" [Preface: Historic References]. In Bandyopadhyay, Sukumar (ed.). Dwijendralaler Chandragupta [Chandragupta by Dwindralal] (in Bengali) (4th ed.). Kolkata: Modern Book Agency. pp. Preface–10–14.
51. Chanakya Chandragupta (1977), 25 August 1977, retrieved 24 May 2017
52. Ratan Lal Basu & Rajkumar Sen: Ancient Indian Economic Thought, Relevance for Today, ISBN 81-316-0125-0, Rawat Publications, New Delhi, 2008
53. B. K. Chaturvedi (2001). Chanakya. Diamond Pocket Books. ISBN 978-81-7182-143-3. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
54. Raj Kumar Sen & Ratan Lal Basu (eds): Economics in Arthashastra, ISBN 81-7629-819-0, Deep& Deep Publications Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 2006
55. Srinivasaraju, Sugata (27 July 2009). "Year of the Guru". Outlook India. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
56. The Courtesan and the Sadhu, A Novel about Maya, Dharma, and God, October 2008, Dharma Vision, ISBN 978-0-9818237-0-6, Library of Congress Control Number: 2008934274
57. "Bharatiya Samskrutige Chanakyana Kodugegalu Part 1 – Shatavadhani Dr.R.Ganesh — Spiritual Bangalore". spiritualbangalore.com. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014.
58. "Chanakya in the Classroom: Life Lessons for Students". Rupa Publications. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
59. Sethi, Vinay (December 2015). "Corporate Citizen". corporatecitizen.in. Retrieved 6 February2021.
60. "Books - Radhakrishnan Pillai". http://www.crossword.in. Retrieved 6 February 2021.

Bibliography

• Mookerji, Radha Kumud (1988) [first published in 1966], Chandragupta Maurya and his times (4th ed.), Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-0433-3
• Rice, B. Lewis (1889), Epigraphia Carnatica, II: Inscriptions and Sravana Belgola, Bangalore: Mysore Government Central Press
• Singh, Upinder (2016), A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century, Pearson Education, ISBN 978-93-325-6996-6
• Trautmann, Thomas R. (1971), Kauṭilya and the Arthaśāstra: a statistical investigation of the authorship and evolution of the text, Brill
• Varadpande, Manohar Laxman (2005), History of Indian Theatre, Abhinav, ISBN 978-81-7017-430-1

External links

• Kautilya Arthashastra English translation by R. Shamasastry 1956 (revised edition with IAST diacritics and interwoven glossary)
• Chanakya Nitishastra: English translation by Miles Davis.
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Re: Freda Bedi Cont'd (#3)

Postby admin » Thu Jun 10, 2021 7:50 am

Part 1 of 4

Mystic Tales of Lama Taranatha: A Religio-Sociological History of Mahayana Buddhism
by Lama Taranatha
Translated into English by Bhupendranath Datta, A.M., Dr. Phil.
1944
Ramakrishna Vedanta Math

Highlights:

The German translation of Lama Taranatha's first book on India called The Mine of Previous Stones (Edelsteinmine) was made by Prof. Gruenwedel the reputed Orientalist and Archaeologist on Buddhist culture in Berlin. The translation came out in 1914 A.D. from Petrograd (Leningrad).

The German translator confessed his difficulty in translating the Tibetan words on matters relating to witchcraft and sorcery. So he has used the European terms from the literature of witchcraft and magic of the middle ages viz. 'Frozen' and 'Seven miles boots.'

He said that history in the modern sense could not be expected from Taranatha. The important matter with him was the reference to the traditional endorsement of certain teaching staff. Under the spiritual protection of his teacher Buddhaguptanatha, he wrote enthusiastically the biography of the predecessor of the same with all their extravagances, as well as the madness of the old Siddhas.

The book contains a rigmarole of miracles and magic….


"He acquired all Siddhis: the globule Siddhi, the eye-ointment, the sword-Siddhi, further all power to destroy and again to revive to life, and got complete power over all superhuman Yaksas and Nagas and especially received a Vajra-body which was created for him by the elixir of life. He became a giant on magic power and supernatural knowledge….

The king received the elixir of age and the Yaksas as his servants. He built five hundred temple-cloisters as the resting-place of the preachers. Later, he (acarya) dwelt on the Sriparvata for two hundred years long, surrounded by the Yaksis and remained there practising the Tantras till his subsequent beheading by the grandson of the king Udayana called Susukti or the mighty prince. As it is related, it took place, in his seventy years of age, when the 71st year was not complete as it was only half-year. The mother of the prince asked his son to beg of the head of the acarya as his father and acarya possessed magic by which his age would be as long as the acarya, and as the acarya had a Vajra-body he would not die. The mother wanted it for the good of the son. The prince went to Srlparvata and begged of the acarya for it. The head was cut off by a Kusa-stalk. A word was heard: 'I go from here towards Sukhavati, but will come back again and will rejoin the body.' Thereupon there were earthquake and famine for twelve years…

He was shown a mirror in which he saw himself roasting in hell-fire…

Then he asked a ferryman on the shore of the Ganges to take him to the other side; but it happened so that, he having no fare for the ferry, showed his pointing finger to the Ganga and the Ganga stood up straight. Thus he came to the other side. Then in Odica, he demanded brandy from a wine-selling woman and as this one said he must pay the bill, he began to chase the shadows of a sun-dial from the fields but which did not go away from there, so he pointed his finger towards the sun and held it as with a nail and drunk brandy. As he did not want to set it free, the clocks and the guards made mistake. The king who knowing that the Yogi wanted to show his power, gave the price for the brandy and prayed to him to let the sun loose…

As now the self-erected stone image of the Chandika slightly shaking began to move, there with a blow on the head, he went with head on her breast to the womb. People say that he is still there, kneeling in straight position, but his pair of ears are only to be seen…

This Yogi could not be destroyed in water, fire, by weapons and by poison…

He gave Siddhi to all men, and from animals to worms and disappeared in the Rainbow-body…

Once seeing him in the company of a common woman of the temple, the king ordered them to be burned. But out of the ashes, he reappeared as Heruka with gakti in a halo of brilliant rays. Thus, the people were surprised and became converts to Vajrayana…

He meditated and attained deep Samadhi on the bright Ray, built a hut near a door of a city in Udayana and worked jugglery with the king. He disappeared in celestial region by magic…

The boy and the girl changed themselves into Vajra and Ghanta, he took hold of them and flew to heaven…

There was a certain Mantravati experienced in the Mantras of Sahajasiddhi and magic-powers, she was a Hexe (witch). She wanted to destroy the acarya and his followers and attempted to seize him; but could find nothing but a piece of woollen-cloth (Kambala) on the spot where the acarya sat. The witch saw that this was a magic work of the acarya that he had transformed his own body into a woollen-cloth! ‘That must be torn off and everybody must eat a piece of it.' With these words she tore off the cloth and everybody (of her following) ate off a piece. Thereupon the acarya made himself again visible and cursed them all, and five hundred witches with Mantravati became five hundred sheep-headed Matrkas."…

As he showed his index-finger to the Linga, its head fell down to the foot, and as he looked at it, the body broke up in many pieces. Then, the whole world recognized that he had acquired Siddhi; and they trampled the idol on foot…

But the Tirthikas scolded the king, who ordered his men to cut off his head. But they could not do damage to the acarya inspite of their all sorts of weapons. Then, as the acarya clapped both of his hands, the palace broke into pieces, and he with his exorcising look made the people of the king benumbed and stiff…

Later he with five hundred peoples went to heaven…

One morning his mother saw the acarya in the king's fruit-garden. He was sitting at the foot of the trees and uttered the words: ‘Narikela Bhiksavo' and the fruits of the tree came by themselves to him. After having drunk the cocoanut water, he spoke: ‘Narikela Uparajahi’ and the fruits went up as before…

The king dug a groove in the earth and filled it with thorn-bushes, elephant and horse dung and threw the acarya there and covered him up. So the acarya showed a double function of his body: in Jalandhara he was wandering to work for the salvation of beings, and at the same time taught in Bengal…

In midnight appeared the man-eating Dakinis and Raksasas, everyone bound the body of a man and taking him away, put him before the shrine of the Matrkas, and made themselves ready to devour them. But as the monastery steward uttered the word: ‘Phat’ ([x]) and made dancing movements, the Dakinis and Raksasas became senseless and fell to the ground. The shrine of the Matrkas fell down into three pieces….

After religious discourses Jalandhari gave him a skullcup full of light…Finally he told them: 'Keep everything in the secrecy of your memory for three years, after it bring all the Tantra powers in function and you according to your wish will have holy life! And all will acquire the Siddhis.' Saying this he became invisible…The six Yogis received the Siddhi of immortality. …

All men were in doubt when once in a city of Bengal assembled hundred thousand men to see him, the acarya appeared with the Sakti pounding Sesame in the air above the ground about a man’s height. And as people asked him different questions, he gave answers in a song of his experience. It is narrated that the assembled people understood the sense and acquired the Siddhi. Thus he became famous as Siddha Tilli. After working for the salvation of all creatures for a long time, he went bodily to heaven….

Once during swimming he was eaten up by a fish, but having meditated the Mandala of Heruka he came out without any harm…

A Tirthika Yogi let two meteors fall from heaven. Both were black, and in the shapes of houses but with human heads. Acarya knowing these to be eye-illusions muttered Dharanis to annul them and both of them transformed themselves in little pieces of coals; then some of the Tirthikas showed a piece of art — as flames from the fire coming out of the body. But he put water on it and extinguished the fire. Thus all the attacks were parried each time and juggling works were defeated by the juggling works. In the end, the four leading teachers of the Tirthikas, by the magic-power of the acarya, were transformed into cats. Now the Buddhists increased very much in this country….

He mastered Tantras and collections over Sambara, Hevajra, Bhairava and four thrones. He lived two hundred years…

With the words: 'Go to Udayana' went up magically the acarya in heaven…

He disappeared again through the door of benediction of acarya Nandapala and emerged up in two and a half hundred years in the south. There he met acarya Asitaghana. This one was on the border of his second hundredth years when he met the acarya. Thereupon began the acarya to work with activity…

Then the Castellan smote him with a batan. The acarya blew a horn, thereby the stone statues of the temple of Jagannatha lost their extremities and organs and their former wonder powers…

There appeared the acarya magically doubling his body four times and consecrating simultaneously in all four temples. The Tirthikas came to confuse them (inmates of the convents), but they were defeated by greater exorcism…

He needed CandaIa girl ([x]) for the support of his magic, and got one by giving her parents gold procured miraculously as high as her stature. He reached the highest state of Mahamudra-siddhi. After he had written many text-books, bodily he flew up to the heaven like a Garuda-prince to the Ksetra of the Buddha-Aksobhya…

He was threatened by a Tirthika king who wanted to break his head. His head was cut off, but he put on a buffalo-head on his shoulders. He went to Harikela to preach. There exorcised a cat, hence he was called Bhiradi or Birali…

'He lived with Vajrayogini who looked like a she-dog before the world. Hence he was called Kukuri. This acarya took as a Yogi of Srivajrabhairava, the pose of a destroyer, and there was a history that a king of the Tajiks (Persian) with his elephants were reduced to dust…

On his way back to Jambudvipa the sea became stormy and thieves came there. Muttering the Dharanis [incantations] he threw down a handful of sand offering, brought the robbers and thieves in his power and the sea became calm…

Vikrtideva was a well-informed Bengali-Pandita. He went to Nalanda and busied himself much about Dharma and all the Upadesas. Though, when he left his motherland, he promised his original Guru to be a monk, he did it later, as he had desire of the flesh, took a wife and had three children: One boy and two girls. But in dream AvaIokitesvara said as he had broken the order of his Guru, he would die within three years of an infectious disease and would go to hell, he got very much frightened, cut himself off from his family and took vows. But the prophesy was fulfilled, after three years he got the contagion and died. There his acarya saw in his mind, how he was taken away by the beadles of the Yama, but five gods and Hayagriva with Aryavalokitesvara at their head struck the hell-beadles and Aryavalokitesvara shed tears and ran towards him to bring his body back. And while he was brought back visibly to the Parivara of the Arya, he came back to life again. As he had seen the face of Avalokitesvara, he had greater power, gained success in his spiritual dignity and the Siddhi…

Nagarjuna holding himself on the Dharanis of the 'air-wanderers' (Dakinis), brought two shoes from the tree-leaves which enabled him to go through the air. The one he concealed, he put on the other and flew to Vyali through the air. As he now demanded that the acarya must give him the gold-essence, Vyali answered thereupon: 'Give me thy shoe, that will be the worth of the gold-essence that I give to you!' Then many Upadesas for Quicksilver-essence, many hundred thousands, aye many millions of methods of Elixir and beyond it, the power of exorcism to make gold, he gave to Nagarjuna, and he gave him for it a shoe. Then he put on the hidden shoe and went to India through the air and furthered there very much the Upadesas of Life-elixir. In the country of Gandhara in the north was a mountain called Dhinkota in the district called Munindra. He wanted to change it into gold and silver, but Aryatara who knew that would bring the future generations to fight amongst themselves, prevented it and by her blessing changed it to salt. And today it is known by the Gandhara country Lati.1 [Perhaps the salt-range of western Punjab is meant here.] …

When the others had gone, the acarya came there to beg of his food. She brought all food to him and the acarya said: 'When thy relatives do not get irritated then give me much food till tomorrow morning, so that you can remain; but if you are angry, then tarry now while I put fire in the surrounding woods, then fly and come to me!' She took her little child and flew. As she arrived at the place of the acarya, he gave her the Elixir of life. Thereby she received a Vidyadhari-body and doubled motherhood. Thus she received in quick succession a large number of children. The acarya gave the Elixir to them also, and there arose three hundred descendants with Vidyadhara-bodies…

As the fisher was in deep contemplation, he had thrown out his angle and drew it, but the fish drew him in its interior and swallowed him. As he was meditating deeply over the power of Karma, he did not die. As the river Rohita1 [Is it the same as the river Lauhitya which now-a-days is called Brahmaputra?] that today in Tibetan called gTsan-po, had reached Kamarupa, there lay a small hill called Umagiri, while there Devesvara zealously gave the Upadesas to the penitent Uma, and the fish swam in that water. The fisher, lying in the belly of the fish, heard that, meditated over that Upadesa and had great benefit. As a fisher again caught that fish and killed it, a man was there. Earlier he died there as a king; thirteen years had just past that formerly a son was born to him. In the belly of the fish he had spent the rest twelve years….

As concerns the Siddha Karnari, he had been the king in the country of Mewar. Some years had passed that he took a beautiful wife with the name of Pingali. She was very dear to the heart of the king. In order to examine her, once he went alone to a wood and let the false news to be spread, that he had been eaten up by a tiger and thus had met his death. The queen Pingali died from grief, and her dead body was brought to the burning-place. The king did not go back to the city, but standing by the side of the dead queen he constantly wept: 'Alas, alas Pingala!' Thus eight years, thus twelve years had passed. Then came there Siddha Goraksa. Inadvertently he let an earthen vessel (Dipi) fall down from his hand and he broke it. Then he began to lament and remained standing with the complaint: ‘Alas, alas Dipi.' Then spoke the king: 'What for this foolish Yogi makes such a lament when his water-vessel is broken?' Then to make it clear that it deals about a stroke that contains an allusion upon the other, spoke the acarya: ‘There thou art a fool, as regards my broken pot, it remains to me indeed as my property. Stop your lament over Pingala who is no longer present as she is reduced to dust.' Then he recognized him as the acarya Goraksa and prayed to make him his disciple. He spoke to him: 'Throw away the kingship from you!' As he put away his kingship, he followed him as a disciple. At one time the acarya ordered that he had got appetite for flesh and spirituous things. As the disciple went to the town to buy flesh and brandy, a woman had exhibited six pieces of pork and six flasks of brandy. She said: 'As price I demand your right eye, I will not be drawn into any other bargain.' Then the disciple in order to bring the offering to his acarya, took out the right eye and gave it to her. Thereupon he brought the flesh and the brandy to his acarya. On query he narrated the matter to the acarya. The acarya then demanded the left eye which was given. Thereupon the acarya blessed him and in three years he got back his eyes like before. And in the same period he became a Mahasiddha….

As regards the Siddha Nago, he was called the naked because he did not have a thread as cloth on his body. When he stayed in the south, he came in the social-circle of the first wife of the king and gave her the Upadesas. The king was angry, cut off the five limbs of the acarya, and threw them off towards the sky. But these limbs came back again and were fitted in the body. As this happened seven times, the acarya in the end gave out a curse and the king's five limbs fell off by themselves, and then he died. But after a prayer for it he came back to life. Thus he showed his power. Then he disappeared towards the mountain Bhindapala and there he is still living without throwing off his mortal body…

Later on, during the occasion of his stay in the south there lying the mountain Khagendra, the king named Ramacanda of the country of Bhirva came out for a hunt. He saw a Gazelle staying on the corner of the mountain. He followed its tracks and when he had arrived at it, the Gazelle changed itself into a tiger. As he was startled a little, the animal emitting forth sparks ran away to a hut of leaves. As the king went there to search about it, there was a bright splendour of a shining Bhiksu. On the question: 'Who art thou?' and being asked twice, the acarya did not give any reply. In answer to the third time he said: 'Thou king of bad character, what sayest thou? I am a Yogi.’ Now he overcame him with three magical-looks. The king became an extraordinary believer and fell to his feet. Then the king’s companions came and they also fell to the feet of the acarya. He made them glad by preaching Dharma, and after he had allowed a young Brahmana to have a look in his heart, who produced many songs and dances and then became invisible… The disciple meditated and within a short time won the Siddhi of 'seven miles-boot.'..

By making a vow on Mahabodhi, they received the answer that the time was proper to act, in order to accomplish the tasks of terror. This was met by the acarya and his four companions at Jarikhanda. They revolved the wheel of Yamantaka; then within six months the Pathans and the Mogols were innerly shaken and in the east all the followers of the religion of the Turuskas were slain in battle. The Hindu king Manasing was taken prisoner…

In the interior of the palace there was a Linga terrible to look at, and it was established from the time of Arjuna. He treaded and danced on it and so his foot-prints were stamped on it. At this the king out of anger let six elephants be excited. In spite of the number of the elephants being six, who seized him with their trunks, he was not to be moved. As he threateningly raised his finger the stone image of the Chandika, which once was of great miraculous power, melt away just like a lump of butter in the heat of the sun. Still now this figure remains there without becoming a mass. Then the king recognised, that he had acquired the Siddhi, and threw himself on the ground….

Further was the Turuska king from the country of Canka. He went on the street near the place where the acarya sat. As he used many abusive language to the acarya and this was heard by one of his disciples, he gave out the curse: ‘You all be dumb.' And the king and his people became dumb on the very spot. Then they were frightfully afraid and prayingly applied themselves to the acarya. Then he said: ‘To testify the power of the Bauddhas, all without exception you can speak again.' And thus it happened…

his body was changed into rainbow colours and his Jnanakaya clasped the heaven….

But this great Acarya brought in fourfold forms his tasks to end magically: Only through the word what he said took place, through the four glances of exorcism, in the midst of little refined congregations astonishment, and wonder-signs appeared on their faces and that he (in the Ganacakra) by the power of magic created thither flesh-balls, liquids, brandy and blood and the fruits of the woods…

At first he saw the face of Avalokitesvara and of that Hayagriva, then that of Manjusrl and Yamantaka, thereafter of Hevajra and of Kurukulli. He made Mahakali completely his servant, and he received everything what he ordered from the Six great Yoginis….

Man appointed time which was the fruit of the previous birth, lotus flowers and wheels (Cakras) came out in her hands and feet and thus as she was furnished with Laksanas, a prophesy came about her that when she could dwell, she would acquire Mahatmya. She heard that in a city of Marahata near Cavala dwelt the Mahacarya Santigupta. As soon as she heard his name, she felt a need for Samadhi and as soon as she saw his face, plunged into the complete Samadhi….By the Yoga, her power over the air became unparalleled. She could ascend up the sky for miles. She also acquired the four magical looks….

Here is written only on the basis of that which anywhere to be perceived from the histories prepared in India, and at that which is given in Tibet by the believing people, that was present from old times."


-- Mystic Tales of Lama Taranatha: A Religio-Sociological History of Mahayana Buddhism, by Lama Taranatha, Translated into English by Bhupendranath Datta, A.M., Dr. Phil.


Lama Taranatha:

Tarantha, son of Namgyal P'un-ts'ogs. was born in Tsang on the 8th day of the pig-male-tree year, corresponding to 1573 A.D. and was called Kun-dgah SNyinpo, or "The essence of happiness". He studied in the Jonang monastery, north of Sakya under the religious name Taranath, an din his forty-first year built himself a monastery in the neighbourhood, which he named rTag-brten, and filled it with many images, books, and caityas. He laterly proceeded to Mongolia at the invitation of the people of that country, and founded there several monasteries under the auspices of the Chinese Emperor. He died in Mongolia, and was canonized under the title of "The Reverence Holiness," Je-tsun-dam-pa." -- From L. Austine Waddell: The Buddhism of Tibet or Lamaism (1899), p. 70


Contents:

• SUBSTANCE OF INTRODUCTION
• PREFACE BY THE ENGLISH TRANSLATOR
• FOREWORD
• PUBLISHERS NOTE
• INSPIRATION I
• INSPIRATION II
• INSPIRATION III
• INSPIRATION IV
• INSPIRATION V
• HISTORY OF THE CONSECRATION OF VIKRAMASILA
• HISTORY OF CONVERSION IN NALANDA
• INSPIRATION VI
• INSPIRATION VII
• APPENDIX I
• INDEX

SUBSTANCE OF INTRODUCTION
by Gruenwedel

The German translation of Lama Taranatha's first book on India called The Mine of Previous Stones (Edelsteinmine) was made by Prof. Gruenwedel the reputed Orientalist and Archaeologist on Buddhist culture in Berlin. The translation came out in 1914 A.D. from Petrograd (Leningrad).

The German translator confessed his difficulty in translating the Tibetan words on matters relating to witchcraft and sorcery. So he has used the European terms from the literature of witchcraft and magic of the middle ages viz. 'Frozen' and 'Seven miles boots.'

He said that history in the modern sense could not be expected from Taranatha. The important matter with him was the reference to the traditional endorsement of certain teaching staff. Under the spiritual protection of his teacher Buddhaguptanatha, he wrote enthusiastically the biography of the predecessor of the same with all their extravagances, as well as the madness of the old Siddhas.

Prof. Gruenwedel said that the folklore exploited for this work is not small; it is especially noticeable in the text of the occasional news about the old ruins, temples and religion, about the destruction wrought by the followers of Islam, further the occasional informations about the relations between the Brahmanical gods and the Buddhist Bodhisattvas and divinities. Also, there are some informative mentioning about Further-India and the manifestation of Virupas in China. Perhaps here lies before us the ioonographic agreement of the Indian Siddhas with the Sen-nin representations.

As sources of Taranatha, he mentioned the Magadha-Panditas Indrabhadra, Indradatta and Bhataghadri instead of Bhataghati, the last two he mentioned at the end of History of Buddhism where Indrabhadra corresponds with his Ksemendrabhadra.

It seems Taranatha was much dependent on the Tibetan recipients regarding language, it is especially noticeable in connection with the proper names.

The English Translator

***

PREFACE BY THE ENGLISH TRANSLATOR

The book of Gruenwedel contains 212 pages of which 146 pages only cover the text. The English translation is an abstract of the text with the informative notes taken from the German translator. None of the names of the Siddhas mentioned in the text has been left out. The book contains a rigmarole of miracles and magic. Hence the important parts of the stories about the Siddhas have only been selected, else there is a repetition of the same nature. The English translator has tried to be literal, only in a few places where abstract and free translations have been made he has marked it within brackets as —('Translator)'.

The book is translated into English in an abstract form as in these days of reawakening of Indian culture, the Indian historian and the sociologist may find information in Taranatha's books regarding Buddhist India. By perusing the Tibetan books translated into English and German it seems to the translator that all the Tibetan writers on India have used common source for their informations regarding Indian history. And in some of these books, the authority of the Indian book Aryamanjusrl-Mulakalpa (translated by K. P. Jayaswal as An Imperial History of India) is quoted viz. the age of Panini is given as contemporaneous with Mahapadmananda of Magadha.

FOREWORD

In going through Taranatha's books it becomes evident that he never came to India. His knowledge of Indian geography was not clear, he made mistakes about the names of persons, geographical positions of different places etc. Further, it is clear from his writings that much of what he called Siddhis were knowledge of alchemy, witchcraft and Blackmagic.

Again in perusing this book one will find out the process by which Mahayana Buddhism has gradually amalgamated itself with the Brahmanism of later days which will account for the disappearance of the former from India. Indeed the Siddhis, the Sadhanas and the beliefs mentioned in his writings are still extant amongst the Hindus of present day.

The abstract translation is presented to the public sp that the research student may gather some informations which may throw some further light on the history and sociology of India of that time. Again, the book containing some Indian words expressed by the Siddhas may help the philologist in his investigation regarding the languages of the period. As regards the sociological and other information culled out from this book the following are pointed out:

(1) That India had connection with the outside world at the period dealt by Taranatha.

(2) The sorcery practised in India and Europe had common forms.

(3) The nature of the story of seeing in magic-mirror was common in both the places.

(4) Pa is the Tibetan contraction of the Sanskrit word Pad or Pada.

(5) Karmaru is the Tibetan contraction of the Indian name Kamarupa.

(6) Odivisa is Orissa, Otantapuri is Odantapuri. Udyana or Udayana is Udyana (today's Cabul and Swat valley).

(7) Some of the Buddhist Siddhas carried Jata (long matted hair) on their heads.

(8) Taranatha spoke of the existence of Citizens'—‘Gild’ of that period.

(9) The use of sun-dial existed in that period.

(10) Women used to sell brandy in those days.

(11) The book contains instances of inter-caste marriages.

(12) The wretched condition of the field-worker (peasant) in India was notorious even in those days and known to the outside world.

(13) The word 'Dinar' the Indian form of the Roman coin 'Dinarius', which was used in Sanskrit literature, still persisted in the time when Taranatha wrote this book.

(14) The book mentions a Ksatriya-Pandita as a purohita (priest) of a king. This reminds us of the practice of the Vedic age. It lends further strength to the proof that the priesthood has not always been the sole monopoly of the Brahmanas.1 [(1) The investigators say that in some parts of India non-Brahmanas still act as priest (vide N. N. Vasu: The Ethnology of the Kayasthas)]

(15) The book mentions the employment of Tajik (Persian) soldiers in the service of a Raja of Maru (Rajputana).

(16) From the list of the names of the Siddhas it will be found out that some of them were of so-called low castes.

BHUPENDRANATH DATTA
3, Gour Mohan Mukherjee Street,
Calcutta, April 1944

THE PUBLISHER'S NOTE

For the first time this book is now translated into and published in English from German. Originally this book was written in Tibetan by Lama Taranatha and translated into German by the great scholar Prof. A. Gruenwedel. Dr. Bhupendranath Datta, the eminent research scholar in the fields of the Comparative History and Anthropology, has spared no pains to present to the reading public an English rendering from its German version. Besides being wonderfully proficient in the World History and Anthropology, his intimate knowledge in German, French and some other languages of the Continent is well-known to the learned section in India and abroad. We have no hesitation to believe that this faithful English translation from the gifted pen of Dr. Datta will be appreciated by all readers. This book opens a sealed chapter on the religio-sociological history of Buddhist India. We offer our sincere thanks to Dr. Datta for giving us kind permission to publish this important volume.

We would express our gratitude to Swami Sadananda Giri for allowing us to print the pictures of Bodhisattva, Bhairava, Ganesa and Prajnaparamita in this book. These were published in his valuable book: Javadwipa. We are also greatly indebted to Sj. Ajita Ghose for lending us two other blocks of Vajra-Sarasvati and Atisa Dipankara. The pictures are arranged in the first page in this order” (1) Vajra-Sarasvati (A Tibetan painting) and (2) Atisa Dipankara, and in the second page (1) Boddhisattva, (2) Bhairava, (3) Ganesa (Tantric), and (4) Prajnaparamita.

15-8-44
Ramakrishna Vedanta Math
19B, Raja Rajkrishna Street,
Calcutta

MYSTIC TALES OF LAMA TARANATHA: INSPIRATION I

"Here follows a narration, which is equal to a precious jewel as it is rich in wonders, and which is endowed with seven holy inspirations, while the Jatakas contains the list of former teachers.

I bow to the feet of my holy teachers. After testifying my reverence to the bands of the Gurus who following one after another exercised the life-bringing path of Vajradhara to all living beings, it was my task to glorify their lives-career as far as possible in a Sutra. For although itself a perfect one, the tongue of which had the power to work wonders, it would be impossible to execute the fame of these men in hundred ages, yet at the command of my Guru this book is written.

As I through the presence of our teacher, the holy one, who carried the name of Buddhaguptanatha, and in remembering the Bauddhas of three ages, was entrusted with the task to unite properly all words from prose and verse in the sea of theme-building; while I tried to keep myself everywhere within the jurisdiction of his power, where it was only possible on the power of his holy words, and there also preceded the presence of my great Siddha Guru himself, who through his holiness is a root-Guru, thus the people will be properly informed of the power, also of incorporeal power of commission of even of this man who himself has the fame to be graced with the seven inspirations of beatitudes. (P. 9).

What concerns the first inspiration was the Mahanmudra-Revelation. Its adept was Mahacarya Brahmana-Rahulabhadra born in the country of Odivisa. By caste he was a Bhahmana and from childhood was confided with the Vedas and with Vedangas. Going to Madhyadesa, he professed the doctrine of Buddha and gradually became a great Tripitaka-knowing Bhiksu. The teacher of this acarya was Sthavirakala, whose teacher was named the honoured Asvaghosa. Though the Gurus say that the teacher of the last had been Upagupta, yet it is difficult to make a judgment over the correctness of the ancient teacher-generations. But it is extolled in the context of Tibetan lists that he was the corporal student of the son (of Gautama) of Rahulabhadra. So it is sufficient to note here without further examination. Later, he became an abbot in Nalanda. Lastly he went to the south. Thus, in the country of Mahratta he saw the Yogini of the sphere of his work in the form of the daughter of an arrowsmith, who could extinguish the essence of his ego-existence. He knew Dharma thoroughly, gave at once the Mudra to the daughter of the arrow-smith and prosecuted the work of arrow-making while wandering in many countries. When his wisdom began to grow more, he received the name of Saroha, i.e., who is met with the arrow. Thus, came innumerable men with the king at the head, to see him, and they derided him. There in the posture of a Brahmana, the acarya sang 'ah hurra, indeed I am a Brahmana, I live with the daughter of an arrowsmith—caste or no caste, there I do not see any difference; I have taken the sworn vow of a Bhiksu, I go a-begging together with a woman—sin or no sin, I do not see any distinction.' 'Here is an impurity', thus doubted men amongst themselves, but could not recognize that the man is poisonous as a serpent. But after he had sung the Doha-Vajra songs the five times hundred thousand men with the king acknowledged excellently the aim of his action. As he now acquired a Vidyadhara-body, magically he went to heaven and finally became invisible." (pp. 10-12).

Here, the author states that this Brahmana Kahula and Sthavira Rahula are two different persons.—(Translator).

"His pupil was the acarya Nagarjuna. He was born in the south in Vidharbha, by caste he was a Brahmana. Finally he came to Nalanda. As his teacher Rahulabhadra advised him to mutter incessantly the Dharanis of the Amitayus so it was possible for him to live in peace. He became a monk there. There was nothing for him to learn, as neither Mahayana nor Hinayana-pitakas remained strange to him. Therefore, he exercised the Mahamayuri, the Kurukulli, the nine Yaksinis and the Mahakalas; he acquired all Siddhis: the globule Siddhi, the eye-ointment, the sword-Siddhi, further all power to destroy and again to revive to life, and got complete power over all superhuman Yaksas and Nagas and especially received a Vajra-body which was created for him by the elixir of life. He became a giant on magic power and supernatural knowledge. In various places he performed Siddhis of the sword and quicksilver-Siddhis. For the Sangha he created food materials as well, when the abbot Rahulabhadra was busying himself with the exorcism of Aryatara, Nagarjuna came to the abbey at that time. During this period there was a famine in Magadha for twelve years. Acarya performed a gold-tincture (Siddhi), and as far as this gold-tincture reached, the cornfields changed and there was no famine, hence the Sangha was not without bread.

Then he worked on many heretical handbooks viz. those which belonged to Veda-class; and fought with all enemies of Mahayana viz. Samkara, with the Bhiksus etc. refuted them, and as well as many dialectical polemical literature written by the Saindhava Sravakas. He collected all the copies and buried them under the ground. Later, once he fought with five hundred Tirthikas in the city of Jatasamjaya, lying in the south, he defeated them and won them over to the religion. Thus he made the Mahayana as brilliant as the sun. Then he wished to change the Ghantasaila and many mountains lying on the north viz. Dhinkota etc. into gold. Aryatara dissuaded him from it as it would bring quarrel over it in future. But it is said that many gold-mines are present there, and at least the stones show the colour of gold. Later, while journeying northward he seeing many boys playing, prophesied that a boy would be a king. Twelve years later, coming back to Jambudvipa from Uttarakuru he saw one of the boys as a king named Udayana who made reverences to him. As a consequence the king received the elixir of age and the Yaksas as his servants. He built five hundred temple-cloisters as the resting-place of the preachers. Later, he (acarya) dwelt on the Sriparvata for two hundred years long, surrounded by the Yaksis and remained there practising the Tantras till his subsequent beheading by the grandson of the king Udayana called Susukti or the mighty prince. As it is related, it took place, in his seventy years of age, when the 71st year was not complete as it was only half-year. The mother of the prince asked his son to beg of the head of the acarya as his father and acarya possessed magic by which his age would be as long as the acarya, and as the acarya had a Vajra-body he would not die. The mother wanted it for the good of the son. The prince went to Srlparvata and begged of the acarya for it. The head was cut off by a Kusa-stalk. A word was heard: 'I go from here towards Sukhavati, but will come back again and will rejoin the body.' Thereupon there were earthquake and famine for twelve years. As the prince was afraid of the rejoining of the body he threw the head many miles distant from the place of beheading. A Yaksi took up the head, and the Yaksi Ksitipati built a temple over the head and body. My Lama has seen and narrated the following: This temple whose walls are formless and seem to be like rocks is a wonderwork. The outside of it is steep and there is no way to it. (pp. 14-19).

His disciple was Mahasiddha Savaii. When Nagarjuna was staying in Bengal, a dancing-master brought there children (brother and sisters) from the east. He called them and showed the figure of Bodhisattva Maharatnamati. As the dancing-master wanted to see also, he was shown a mirror in which he saw himself roasting in hell-fire. He wanted to be saved and was asked to meditate on Sambara. After his meditation, he recognized the original cause of his soul and recognized the face the Bodhisattva Maharatnamuni. Then Nagarjuna told him that as he now got power he should go to the south (Sriparvata), live the life of a hunter and create the good of the creatures. The both sisters Logi and Guni got their Mudra names as Dakini Padmavati and Jnanavati. He lived with them outwardly a sinner. He got the grace of Vidyadhara and became famous as Savarl.

This acarya is also called the younger Saroha. The disciple of this acarya was Lui-pa (Luipada) whose disciple was Dombi, whose was Tilly, his Naro, his younger Dombi, his Kusalibhadra (pp. 19-20). There were series of schools, Luipa, Darika and Antara built also another series which began with Tilo.

Luipa was a writer of the king of Udayana in the west named Samanta Subha. Once he met Mahasiddha Savari who together with him sang a song, and received Abhiseka and Tantras from the latter. Once he went to a cremation place (lit. field of corpses), sat himself in the rows of the Dakinis and made himself master of the inn (lit. a publican) and therefrom he distributed the flesh of seven corpses. As he had now received Vajravarahi in exorcism-Mandala of Abhiseka, he said: 'Kicking with outstretched foot I destroy the slavery of Samshara, Vajrasattva is a greater king, more and more again one should set himself to business.' Later, he perceived that it would be necessary to meditate without disturbance. On that account, he went to the east, to Bengal, and when he saw on the bank of the Ganges, a hill made of heaps of fish-entrails, he meditated there for twelve years, ate the fish-entrails and acquired the Mahamudrasiddhi.

He also converted miraculously the king and minister of Orissa. Thereupon, the king got the name of Darika or Dari, the servant of Hetaera, the minister, the name of Denki (rice-husking mill). He worked on the Denki of a brandy-selling woman, (pp. 19-23).

Another disciple of Savari was Maitri or Maitrigupta. He was a Tirthika-Pandita and a Brahinana. Later he met Naro and himself joined with the Bauddhas, received Abhiseka and Upadesa and became a monk of Nalanda. Getting instructions from many great and learned Gurus like Ratnakarasanti, he became a great Pandita and dwelt in the monastery of Vikramasila. Though he carried on the profession of a Pandita and practised no exorcism, he beheld Vajrayogini personally. Once as he did not properly recognize his own nature he got a prophesy. Consequently he went to Siparvata to see Savari. In his journey towards the south he met the prince Sagara. Both went, towards Sriparvata and asked everybody where was the old Siddha Savari. They travelled for a half-year in this way. But as the head hair (Jata) of Savari was lousy and possessed by nits, both the Saktis were busying in removing these things. Maitri for a moment was staggered, but the prince fell down at his feet. As the words resounded: 'Aya Jara Valahu,’ Maitri became at once free, received a rainbow body and faith arose in his heart. But as again he saw that both the women were killing swines, roes and peacocks, he again became a little unbeliever; but with the snapping of the fingers everything disappeared. Now he was given Abhiseka, all the Upadesas and commenting advices being bestowed, the wisdom of knowing the region of his work dawned to him. He became the master of a number of Suras and Dakinis, won the eight Siddhis, the sword-Siddhi etc. But as Savari again demonstrated to him some jugglery, he cried out; 'why must you make these jugglery, rather explain to me the basis of the region of my work' and went at once back to Madhyadesa.

People say that he came to Tibet. It is clear that the Tibetans are not oriented over the mainpoints of his life."

Here follows discussion over the Tibetan tradition—(Translator).

"In his seventieth year of age he left his body after receiving the Mahamudra in the meantime. In the time when acarya Naro had left the body, he had appeared as the leader of the healer of the souls. People owe him still greater advancement than equalling him with the greatest. As in Aryadesa at that time there was no aim which the people could follow, he worked in the northern countries of Nepal and Tibet with greater success. He had four great disciples: Sahajavajra or Natekana, Sunyatasamadhi or Devakara Candra, Ramapala, and Vajrapani known also as 'Indian Pani'. The first two and the fourth received corporeal Vidyadharis. Ramapala of the school of Nandapala who made commentaries on the books on Abhisekas was born in Karnata as a Brahmana. He knew the Vedas. Maitri taught him for twelve years. He had in his possession a goddess or a Yoginl who possessed the power of a Sakti. To him prayed acarya Kusalibhadra the younger and Asitaghna for Mahamudra instructions.

Here closes from the history which is equal to a mine of precious stone the first chapter over the occasion of Mahamudra-Tradition." (pp. 23-28).

INSPIRATION II

"Now comes the second inspiration which comes from the goddess Chandika, but as there was no Upadesakas of Chandika, the inspiration worked magicaliy.

One of the Siddhas was Virupa. There is no proof to show that he had a Guru by a separate person. He applied himself one day personally to Vajrayogini when this acarya Panditabhisu was in Nalanda. He allowed himself the pleasure of drinking brandy, cohabited with a woman and was driven out of the monastery by the Sangha. Then he asked a ferryman on the shore of the Ganges to take him to the other side; but it happened so that, he having no fare for the ferry, showed his pointing finger to the Ganga and the Ganga stood up straight. Thus he came to the other side. Then in Odica, he demanded brandy from a wine-selling woman and as this one said he must pay the bill, he began to chase the shadows of a sun-dial from the fields but which did not go away from there, so he pointed his finger towards the sun and held it as with a nail and drunk brandy. As he did not want to set it free, the clocks and the guards made mistake. The king who knowing that the Yogi wanted to show his power, gave the price for the brandy and prayed to him to let the sun loose. Three days after he went away in the morning.

After that, as the sacrifice festival of a king of Trilinga was being made, he consumed the first offerings of the Tirthikas, but he made no reverence thereby. As the king and his people protested to him, he bowed but all the statues of the gods of the Tirthikas broke into pieces. There the prince of the gods was a Linga form, a limb consisting of four faces called Visvanatha, established by the people of the citizen-gild, and this one was also broken into four pieces. After that, he went to Dakinipatha in the house of the Tirthika-Ganas. Though lots of persons were there, the Trisula was held by him as the main-article for slaughter and the witches already built Ganas to the flesh (offering?) of Siva, there the acarya clapped his hands and the Trisula broke. As now the self-erected stone image of the Chandika slightly shaking began to move, there with a blow on the head, he went with head on her breast to the womb. People say that he is still there, kneeling in straight position, but his pair of ears are only to be seen. He ordered her, not to bring any living being to destruction.

Now it is onesided opinion of the Tibetans, that this Dakinipatha lay in the south, but it seems that, it was in eastern India. Further it is also said that the converter of the goddess had been Goraksa.

"As after that he went to Sorasta, there was a self-erected (Sayambhu?) stone image of Mahesvara called Somanatha, very strong in miracles. As he thereby did not wish to break it, he with his pointing finger proved that the figure of Avalokitesvara had appeared on the statue. Some say that it has been the figure of Marichi." Then followed further miracles.—(Translator).

"Sometime later as he lived in the time of king Ramapala and carried the name of Siro, he rendered all possible help to the living creatures in Madhyadesa. As he washed his own feet, Vanvadala, the elephant of king Ramapala drank the water, then went to the battle and was victorious over a hundred Mleccha-princes."

Later, once in the country of Gaur stood a Yogi over the pillows of a Tajik prince, when he awoke. This Yogi could not be destroyed in water, fire, by weapons and by poison. Then the king recognized that he had acquired the Siddhi and asked him: 'Who art thou?" He answered: 'I am Virupa'. Then he gave instructions to some who acquired lower Siddhis. In Bengal he stayed for four months enjoying all Siddhis; but where he went afterwards no body knows. There is an especial instance when he appeared magically in China. People say that Virupa appeared thrice in the human world. This acarya was named by the people, as Sri-dharmapala. but he was not identical with Sthavira Dharmapala who was an abbot of Nalanda. (pp. 28-31).

His disciple was the man who appeared in Odiyana as Kalavirupa. He was scarcely born in the Brahmana caste, when the Brahmana astrologers told his parents that he would commit four mortal sins. Later, he committed four sins: murder of a Brahmana, killing a cow, sleeping with mother, drink which degrades a Brahmana. Then he wandered in all Brahmana and Buddhist temples and cloisters, but could not be absolved of sin. Then he met Jalandhari, and getting precept from Vajravarahi was absolved of his sin. (pp. 31-33).

With Virupa the younger was Vyadhali. He was originally of the bird catching family (Vyadhali). He received Mudrasiddhi in twelve years, (pp. 33-34).

He taught Kusalibhadra, he was Chandrika Tantrika, Further Virupa gave instructions to Dombi-Heruka. It is known in Tibet that he is identical with the acarya of this name. But, it seems he was a king in the eastern laying country of Tripura (p. 34). The acarya went and gave Abhiseka and Upadesa to the king who meditated on his Tattva and got the second grade of knowledge. He recognized that he could make exorcism and as a proof worked on a Mudrika who was of the Hetaera class. She become his Padmini. This became known to the public who said the king's family was disgraced. He was driven out of his kingdom by the minister and subjects. As he practised Vidya-asceticism, wandered in woods and fields and therefore got the name of Dornbi. Thus, Dombi is one who goes with a Hetaera. Later, there was famine in the kingdom, and the virtuous king with her Sakti riding as a tigress standing on a She-Yak and himself sewed with poisonous snakes came there. The people recognized that he had become a Siddha. They became his disciples. They became Tantrikas and acquired Siddhis (pp. 34-35).

Further, in a country called Radha commonly called Rada, there lived a king who did lots of injury to the religion of Buddha, but was very much afraid of tigers and serpents. The acarya worked wonders and told him: 'If you do not yourself accept the religion of Buddha, then I will bring to you these poisonous snakes.' And all accepted the religion of Buddha. Thus he made an end of the continuation of the Tirthika-religion in the country of Rara.[ Lastly, he went to sleep in his corporal form in heaven. (pp. 36-37).

His disciples were the Yoginis of the Dombi-system. Acarya Alalavajra, Hemalavajra and Ratavajra were from Madhyadesa. There were also others: Krsnacari, acarya Garvari, Jayasri, and Durjayacandra. (pp. 37-38).

Rahubhadra and others touched the feet of this acarya and acquired subtleties of Siddhi. Thus Mahasiddha Dombi taught a Hetaera, and this one to Ratavajra, and he to Krsnacari, and this is a Tantra school. (pp. 38).

Rahulavajra was a Ksatriya and Vikramabhiksu Pandita. He meditated on the Guhya (esoteric) Tantras. (p. 39).

Here closes from the history which is equal to a mine of precious stone, the second chapter: the occasion of Inspiration series of Candika." (p. 40).

INSPIRATION III

'Here follows the third Inspiration, the Karma-Mudra. The great king Indrabhuti was master in Guhya-Tantra.1 [1. Mahapandita Rahula Saukrtyana who is a great scholar of Buddhism tells the translator that there had been only one king Indrabhuti who was of Orissa (Odivisa). In that case Taranatha must have made a mistake in calling him the king of Udayana.] He was the king of Udayana who saw the materialized face of Buddha. He saw the Rsis, who formed the surroundings of the master, going and coming but forming no halting places. In answer from his minister he heard that they were the Sravakas of the great Rsi Buddha the Tathagata. The king wishing to realize Buddha, gave up the enjoyment of his five senses with his wives. Miraculously before him appeared an endless Mandala and the king received the Abhiseka. Tathagata gave him all the Tantras. He taught all population of Udayana and wrote the Tantras in book forms. He left the company of his wife and his own over-sensuous body and travelled from one Buddhaksetra to another. He gave Siddhi to all men, and from animals to worms and disappeared in the Rainbow-body, (pp. 40-42).

There was a dancing-girl from Srimat Sukha, who later became a Dakini, saw her (materialized) face again. She was called the Sahajasiddhi dancing-girl. (This Sahajasiddhi dancing-girl is identical with Sukhilalita in Taranatha's History of Buddhism pp. 210, 17). According to the commentary of Sahajasiddhi, she was the daughter of a king of a part of Udayana. When she grew up, once she went with a group of five hundred girls to a garden. There appeared Bodhisattva Vajrapani in a magic form of a Rsi. As he was seen by the girls, they raised a cry and ran away, taking him to be a demon on account of his Rsi's hair-dress (matted hair). But the dancing-girl said: 'Don't you fear' and she having a look at him went into Samadhi. Then she and her five hundred maidens bowed to his feet and he blessed them by putting his hand on their vertex. Then he preached to them with the words: 'May you all be Yoginis.' They, according to their Tattvas, attained the ten Sarvadarsana-dharmas. (pp. 42-43).

After she preached to Mahapadmavajra, this one to Anangavajra, and to the swine-keeping woman, this one to the Padmavajra Saroruha the junior, this one to Indrabhuti the junior, this one to Krsncari, this one to Kalyananatha, this one to Amitavajra, this one to Kusalibhadra. (p. 43).

Mahapadmavajra was born in a Brahmana caste in the western country of Maru. After knowing the Tripitakas and all the teaching books he went to Udayana, and saw the (materialized) personal face of Vajrasattva. In order to get Abhiseka he went to the divine dancing-girl. There he wrote many Tantras for the mystery of Guhya collections and informations on four Mudras. He also wrote a manual called Guhyasiddhi. (pp. 43-44).

Now follows Anangavajra. He belonged to a caste of a low occupational order. He meditated for twelve years on the Kotamba mountain according to the advice of his teacher Padmavajra. The advice he got from his Guru was: Put yourself in touch with the swinekeeping woman by keeping swine and then step by step you will be a Vajrasattva.' He began to keep swine in a city of north Udayana, healed many persons and became famous as the holy swine-keeper. (p. 44).

His disciple was the acarya Saroruha belonging to the Kstriya caste. As he was a great Pandita and knew the sciences and many Guhya-Tantras, he became the sacrificing priest (Purohita) of the king. Once seeing him in the company of a common woman of the temple, the king ordered them to be burned. But out of the ashes, he reappeared as Heruka with gakti in a halo of brilliant rays. Thus, the people were surprised and became converts to Vajrayana (cult). The king also with five hundred people acquired the Siddhi. Later the acarya went in the neighbourhood of Maru. Seeing the miraculous power of the acarya, the king professing the Tirthika religion accepted the religion of Buddha. A temple of Heruka was built, and it was solemnly predicted of him that if he gave up his vows and wanted to see the veiled figure, he would die by spitting blood. But when later, he wanted to destroy it with his Tajik (Iranian) soldiers, twelve Tajik cavalrymen fell down at the same time and he became insane. But the acarya brought immense blessing to all creatures and acquired the Siddhi of Hevajra. (pp. 45-49).

His disciple was king Indrabhuti the junior. But as he himself ordered to narrate the burning of the acarya, his life-history was not completely described. It was written as an occasional comment on the margin of the history of Kambala."

Here closes from the history which is equal to a mine of precious stone, the third chapter on the occasion of information of hundred Karma-series." (p. 49).
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Part 2 of 4

INSPIRATION IV

As regards the Inspiration of bright Rays, it was acarya Vajraghanta who in Udayana worshipped personally Vajrayogini and her suit. And concerning the old series of teachers, it was Mahacarya Asvapada who reached the Mahamudrasiddhi.

He meditated and attained deep Samadhi on the bright Ray, built a hut near a door of a city in Udayana and worked jugglery with the king. He disappeared in celestial region by magic. (pp. 49-50).

Now prayed the king and his people to his disciple Vinapada for Upadesas. This acarya originally was of royal descent. He acquired immense Siddhi. (p. 50).

His disciple was the brandy-selling woman Vilasyavajra. As the king was a believer in Tirthika-doctrine, she advised the acarya Dombi-Heruka to convert the king by threatening him with snakes. The serpent surrounded the palace of the king, and said to the king: "As the Tirthika acarya cannot protect thee, thou seekest the help of Dombi-Heruka." The acarya drove away the poisonous snakes under the earth. The king and his surrounding people began to believe on the Buddhas. As Dombi and Vinapada both saw that the brandy-selling woman was a worthy subject to be a disciple, they gave her Abhiseka and Upadesas. She acquired powers and honour of a Yogini. The Queen Laksmikara gave her Mahasukha-Upadesas. As she served the living beings in innumerable ways, she became famous under the name of Yogini Cinta. (pp. 50-51).

Vajraghanta also got learning from her. This acarya was of royal blood from a country name Odivisa and became a monk in Nalanda. He received the name of Srimatigarbha. Later he became a great, scholar, destroyed the opposition of the Tirthikas and became famous as 'Deva who triumphs over the enemies.' Once he had a high rank as an abbot of Nalanda, there he met Siddhi Darika.

After acquiring Siddhi he went to Udayana where he met the Yogini Vilasyavajra who had taken the form of a swine-keeper. She showed him the incomprehensible way of Mahamudrasiddhi. He inculcated all Tattvas and meditated in a thick forest near Odivisa. For a time, he took as his Mudrika a brandy-selling woman who possessed all the signs of a Padmini. After twelve years of meditation, the acarya received the honour of an adept of the highest Mahamudrasiddhi.

In order to keep the unbelievers at a distance and to determine the sphere of virtuous merit for the future creatures he put up a stone image of Avalokitesvara and to circulate further the Guhya-Tantras, he exorcised once a son and a daughter. Hearing this, the king ordered the brandy-selling woman to bring the acarya, As the acarya entered through the east door of the city, magically the acarya with Sakti appeared as Heruka with Sakti. The boy and the girl changed themselves into Vajra and Ghanta, he took hold of them and flew to heaven. This acarya had spread Vajrayana in all institutions of every country and had innumerable disciples who acquired Siddhi. (Pp. 51-53).

He gave lesson to Kambala. This acarya was a son of a king. His mother-country was in Udayana region, some say he had been from Odivisa. When he grew up, he became a monk in a temple-monastery and became learned in Tripitakas. Later, once he went towards the east, there he met acarya Vajraghanta. There he received the Abhiseka in Cakrasambhara and the Mandala of his accompanying gods. Then he reached the highest Prajna. As he went in the west in the country of the Dakinis, the Tirthika-Dakinis gave a flower-garland in his hand. As he took it, the Bauddha-Dakinis said: ‘O son, it was not good that thou hast taken the garland, they are Tirthika-Dakinis; as thou hast taken the flower-garland, thou must belong to them.’ Thereupon he said: Then you must give attention to it'. Then a settlement was made between the Tirthika and Bauddha-Yoginis that from whose flowers anybody would be hit first, to them would belong the concerning person.”

Then followed lots of magic wonders. — (translator).


“The attention of the Dakinis could not damage him. After that, the time came for the acarya to practise on the field of dead bodies; he went in the Smasana of five hundred Mantra-holding (Dakini-) princesses in the country of Udayana. There was a certain Mantravati experienced in the Mantras of Sahajasiddhi and magic-powers, she was a Hexe (witch). She wanted to destroy the acarya and his followers and attempted to seize him; but could find nothing but a piece of woollen-cloth (Kambala) on the spot where the acarya sat. The witch saw that this was a magic work of the acarya that he had transformed his own body into a woollen-cloth! ‘That must be torn off and everybody must eat a piece of it.' With these words she tore off the cloth and everybody (of her following) ate off a piece. Thereupon the acarya made himself again visible and cursed them all, and five hundred witches with Mantravati became five hundred sheep-headed Matrkas."

The transformed witches complained to the king, but the acarya made them disgorge the woollen-cloth. — (translator).

“As they ate up his body, he became known under the honourable name of Kambala. Then he gave Abhiseka to king Indrabhuti, who acquired Siddhi.
Here closes from the history which is equal to a mine of precious stone, the fourth chapter on the narration of the working of brilliant Rays.” (Pp. 53-58).

Acarya Indrabhuti and Acarya Kambala both prayed with Siddha Jalandhari for the beatitude of the brilliant Rays.

As regards his country, he was born in a low-class in the city called Thatha, in Sindhu, in the country of the west. By the power of the reward of his virtues, he was rich in earthly pleasures. Later, he became a Bhiksu of a temple-monastery. Once as he was in contemplation over the Upadesas which he had received from acarya Kambala from his prayer, came a voice from the heaven: ‘Go thou to Udayana and meditate there; there willest thou acquire the eagerly desired Siddhi.’ Thereupon he went to Udayana, got lessons from the king Indrabhuti, the godly-lady Laksmikara and from the acarya Kacapada instructions in all Tantras; then for the period of meditation extending to ten days, he went to the Smasana, received open entrance to the Mandala of Sri-Heruka and Abhiseka from four Dakinis, and arrived at once at the grade of Mahamudrasiddhi. Thereafter, he engaged himself in every way for the salvation of living creatures whilst he was living in this country for a long time.

After this, the acarya lived in the country of Jalandhara, at the place where fire comes out between water and stones (Jvalamukhi in Kangri valley). As he lived there for a long time he received also the name of the country and was called as Siddha Jalandhari.

Once he was in the neighbourhood of Nepal, near a place where from a self-sprung Stupa a very miraculous Linga of Isvara has arisen; he built a hut and prayed there. This Isvara was possessed with supernatural eyes, and worked magically for the exhibition of his power by many small strokes and through acts of brutal cruelty, also he Kucalanatha, king Lilacandra further Amitavajra, prince Lavaji and others became indescribable lordly Yogisvaras and as they met later the Brahmana Sridhara and his followers, they acquired the Siddhi. Acarya Bhadra gave his teachings to Antara, he to the man who enjoyed the fame to be he appeared as the destroyer of the religion of the Bauddhas. To make him tractable, the acarya went there. At that time, three kings had assembled there for the worship of this Linga. The acarya went in the middle of hundred thousand men, and as he showed his index-finger to the Linga, its head fell down to the foot, and as he looked at it, the body broke up in many pieces. Then, the whole world recognized that he had acquired Siddhi; and they trampled the idol on foot.

Then, he went once to the country of Camparna. There was a king who wanted to destroy the monasteries. There appeared a Vina-player at the gate of the palace who wished to see the king. He was let in and he commenced to play in Vina and sang. As the king and his surrounding were amused at it, the Vina-player transformed himself into a Yogi. As the king noticed that he would be a Buddha who appeared as such (as he wanted) to cheat with his magic, the acarya spoke out the Bauddha-Tantras. But the Tirthikas scolded the king, who ordered his men to cut off his head. But they could not do damage to the acarya inspite of their all sorts of weapons. Then, as the acarya clapped both of his hands, the palace broke into pieces, and he with his exorcising look made the people of the king benumbed and stiff. The king fell at the feet and asked him praying: ‘What shall I do?’ The acarya answered: ‘In order to be free from your former sins, you must do something more, so that where there was one monastery, two must be established and must allow the local monks’ community to be doubled. And as long as you live, make an endowment to the Sanghas which would be sure for seven generations and make a copper plate grant to this purpose. The king acted accordingly.

Again, in the country of Malava was a king called Bhartahari, nowadays in people's language called Bharthari. He possessed eighteen thousand horses and ruled over wide territories; he also had a thousand wives. The acarya knew that the time has come to convert the king, he put him up in a place not far from the city."

Then followed a miracle. — (translator).

"The king asked the acarya to make him his disciple. He answered: ‘You leave your kingdom, make Avadhuti, then I can give instruction to you.' The king gave up everything, followed the acarya and received Upadesas, and shortly became a Yogesvara. Later he with five hundred peoples went to heaven.

As regards the former emanations the acarya had procured a boyish spirit, therefore, he was also called Balapada. As he wished once to convert the countries in the east, he took the figure of a Hadi — of a man who sweeps the streets in the city of Catigrama in Bengal. In this country the young king Gopicandra sat (on the throne) not very long ago. As he was very handsome, he was given himself much to the women. One morning his mother saw the acarya in the king's fruit-garden. He was sitting at the foot of the trees and uttered the words: ‘Narikela Bhiksavo' and the fruits of the tree came by themselves to him. After having drunk the cocoanut water, he spoke: ‘Narikela Uparajahi’ and the fruits went up as before.

As the mother of the king saw him doing this, she recognized that he has acquired the Siddhi. Then she considered that this would be the time to convert the king. Once in the presence of her son, tears came into her eyes. The king said: 'Oh mother! is there anything that can be done to thee?' She answered: 'When thou hast acquired ten times the umbrella ([x]) the power and clever understanding of your father, yet thou hast not got the law for escaping from death, that makes you clear that thou art self perishable'. Then the king answered: 'Is there no remedy for death?' Thereupon the mother said: 'Our street-sweeper possesses it.' Then went the king to the street-sweeper: 'Thou must give me the instruction so that no one must die.’ Then what he answered was: ‘When thou dost not give up thine throne, thou can never reach it.' Thereupon the king answered: 'As I have first prayed for instruction, later I will give up the kingdom.’ Then both of them went to a wood. There the acarya gave the king an empty earthen pitcher and said: ‘Put thine hand into it,' and as he put his hand into it, the acarya said: ‘Now tell me quickly what is there?' As the king answered that nothing was there, the answer he got was that the road to immortality was just like that. As the king asked three times and every time the acarya gave him the same information, the king was put out of temper and took him to be a cheat. The king dug a groove in the earth and filled it with thorn-bushes, elephant and horse dung and threw the acarya there and covered him up. So the acarya showed a double function of his body: in Jalandhara he was wandering to work for the salvation of beings, and at the same time taught in Bengal. Later, thereupon came the acarya Krsnacari to Kadaliksetra which in people’s mouth is called Kacali; as amongst the disciples of the acarya Krsnacari there were many who were Yogis, they gave opportunity to all with the words: ‘Awake, awake, it is the time to become the Siddha-disciples of Krsnacari'. Many acquired Siddhi there, but the Siddha Goraksa has already achieved his Siddhi. As the acarya came there, he begun a conversation with Goraksa. Occasionally in answer to Goraksa he said that his Guru was Jalandhari. But now twelve years have passed since Jalandhari has been put into a grave under ground, he went himself there, surrounded by four times hundred thousand Mimansakas towards the east. Full of rancour he sat himself on the palace door of Gopicand. There, the music did not have tune any more. Horses and elephants did not eat, little babies did not suck milk. Then the king recognized that thing was due to the power of the acarya, and being overcome, he spent a little in alms and invited the acarya and his followers to dinner. As the acarya said that he had four times hundred thousand men with him, he could not possibly satiate them; but the king answered that when he was in a position to supply constantly the food of many ten thousands of soldiers, why he could not feed the acarya and his followers. Thereupon, the acarya said: 'I have two disciples: Mahila and Bhadali, first you feed them with satisfaction.' Following this conversation, the king let cook rice for five hundred people. Then came both Mahila and Bhadali, poured the whole food in a gourd made into two shells (Kamandalu?), and as it was not filled the king was surprised. Therefore, the king went to the acarya and prayed: 'I pray for the means to avoid death.' Then the acarya received all belongings for a Mandala, and he gave Abhiseka to the king. And as he gave him the same lesson as the former street-sweeper, the king said that he had heard all these before and narrated to him the former affair. Thereupon, the acarya said: 'How can you now acquire Siddhi to avoid death as this one was my teacher Jalandhari’? ‘Out of fear that he would get a curse from the Siddha' the king begged of the acarya to find out a means. Three statues of the king were made of copper mixed with eight precious metals. Then Krsnacari and his disciples removed all dirt, earth etc. and brought a statue of the king on the edge of the hole and put it on the feet of the Siddha Hadi. Then came out of the mouth of the Guru the words: 'Who art thou?' and the answer came: 'I am king Gopicandra', the Guru said: 'Thou art the carcase for a jackal to make multure, become dust', and the figure fell down as dust."

The other statues underwent the same fate. — (translator).


“Thereupon the heart of the king and his followers was almost broken. Again, came the acarya to the king and induced him to apologize. Then came a word from Siddha Jalandhari: 'Mine son Kahna, thou willst take him as thine disciple', but as this one put himself before the acarya, already one thousand four hundreds were there, the acarya said: 'You are there, therewith I have innumerable grand-children, but as I have not eaten and drunk for twelve years, I am hungry and thirsty, in the meantime when the dinner will be ready, two must take care of me as I bathe.' In the meantime the seventy new disciples prepared the bath and others were allowed to leave the bath, and as only Dhamma and Dhuma remained, they were asked to attend Jalandhari; there he cut with a curved knife the flesh from the limbs of them and entwined it in his body. As they said: 'As the Guru has wished it, he is making himself strong with it’, then broke out the Siddha Jalandhari into endless laughter: ‘Ha, Ha! as I hold fast to my vow, wherefore I eat human flesh?' Then all disappeared as an illusion of the eyes. As both Dhamma and Dhuma had put their hands on their heads, they acquired the highest Siddhi. As the king and the acarya were long time together as disciple and teacher all the spots were gradually cleansed from the king's character. After the end of six month's Ganacakra Jalandhari taught Doha-songs to the king and as the king began to live in peace of soul with a thousand following, he became a greater Yogi. The king Bhartahari was the uncle of the king Gopicandra.

Further in a later period in a wood near Ramesvara in the south was a self-made shrine of the Matrkas. There assembled many Dakinis and Pisacas and used to fall upon all people who came to the south in that road. Once five hundred merchants and a Yogi travelled in this region; some Brahmans with their wives put themselves up there and said: 'As you must stay here in the woods, there is an abundance of trees and roots; besides, there is nothing to fear from the wild beasts.' As these people put up themselves there, two strange women appeared and said: ‘You remain here? You do not know what will put (come) in here?' Answering that they do not know, they said: 'There are the Dakinis and Raksasas, you will be bound by them; they would come to eat you up to night, therefore think of remedy against it.’

The accompanying Yogi belonged to the school of Jalandhari; this one directed his prayer to his acarya Jaiandhari, and there he (Jalandhari) put himself up as a monastery steward in the first watch of the night without saying a word to the Yogi. In midnight appeared the man-eating Dakinis and Raksasas, everyone bound the body of a man and taking him away, put him before the shrine of the Matrkas, and made themselves ready to devour them. But as the monastery steward uttered the word: ‘Phat’ ([x]) and made dancing movements, the Dakinis and Raksasas became senseless and fell to the ground. The shrine of the Matrkas fell down into three pieces.
The acarya gave them the order not to injure any living being any longer; then it followed that the steward was the Siddha Jalandhari himself. And the five hundred merchants became Yogis and meditated and all acquired the Siddhi. Thus it is narrated. The acarya stayed in the south for three years and worked for the salvation of living creatures. And it is evident that there were a lot of Upadesas which he gave in that time.

Again, in another time there lived in the western country of Maru an acarya named Jnanagupta. As he once was preaching a great sermon, there came in a wonderful Yogi at that time. In answer to the question who he was, he said that he was Jalandhari. After religious discourses Jalandhari gave him a skullcup full of light. Acarya Jnanagupta took it without consideration and in the same time extinguished the light. As the members of the Sangha repeatedly prayed him to remain, he gave Upadedas for three months to them. Finally he told them: 'Keep everything in the secrecy of your memory for three years, after it bring all the Tantra powers in function and you according to your wish will have holy life! And all will acquire the Siddhis.' Saying this he became invisible. Once in the eastern country he received the cry from six Yogis: ‘Jalandhari come here and teach us the Dhamma!' As they went to the temple, acarya indeed came, but he did not show himself up there. After they had built a prayer-house and prayed there, he showed his face six months later and gave them essential instructions. In the course of a week there came a Saindhava-Sravaka. He is said to have told him: 'You shall learn nothing of Tattva, who rejoices himself on some dialectic has became an inveterate Bhiksu and to him it has became old' and he disappeared. In this cloister now came many Saindhava-Sravakas and lived there. The six Yogis received the Siddhi of immortality. The oldest of them seemed to have been Vibhuticandra. He came to Tibet and Bu-Ston-Rin-Po-Che prayed him for instruction. Now, the acarya appeared in the world for four times. Among the disciples of the teacher, the first place belonged to Krsnacari, the second Buddhajnanapada, besides Mahasiddha Tanti, the younger Virupa, the kings Bhartahari and Gopicandra etc. Under these circumstances, who was the best disciple, the prophesy said that he could carry the name 'Black'; he would consequently after Khatvaga (Satavanga) follow Kalacakra, and carried ornaments of bones and a Damaru in the form of a brandy glass. (Pp. 58-69).

As regards the life-history of Krsnacari the tradition of the old Tibetans is that he was born in the country of Karna, while the oral tradition that exists amongst the present day Indian Yogis is that he was born in the city of Padyanagara which is also called Vidyanagara (Vijayanagara). When it is narrated that he was of the Brahmana caste that agrees with the old tradition of the Indians, and when the old Tibetans say that he was of Arya family that accords with the Doha of the acarya himself: 'Wrestling and striving forward-going is the son of the Brahmana.’ Thus he was a man who shining in the Brahmana-caste, advanced the aim of the Bauddhas, but remained outwardly harmonising with the heterodox people. There existed already a prophesy from Buddha for the country of Uruvica, which is according to my Guru is meant Odivica, which touches Bengal, and this prophesy refers to the appearance of Krsnacari. According to the translation of Sesrab from Rva-Sgren, which reports freely over the manifestations of the Natha, this identity with Odivica is evident. 'The son born there will be provided with great bravery and grown to the order of Ramana will receive all Siddhantra, as the only Yogesvara will carry a name, which touches a little on N to the fourth (consonant) of the seventh line, provided with the first vocal with first (consonant) of the first line, he did not appear in Jambudvipa, therefore he will not appear here also. His six disciples will throw away the existence of their bodies and attain Mahamudrasiddhi.' Thus, his motherland, his mame, his Siddhi and his disciples are previously pointed out. As regards the life-history of this acarya, one should examine the especially published rNam-t’ar. The six of the disciples of this acarya prophesied by Buddha were: Bhadrapada, Mahila, Bhadala, the cramanera called Tailor, Dhamma and Dhuma. Others say that Bhadala, Bhadra or Bhadrapada were identical and do not count him separately; in his place they take Eyala or also the Yogini Mekhala and Kanakhala or Bandhe etc. At the time when the acarya lived himself the following persons received the highest Siddhi: minister Kusalanatha, king Lilacandra further Amitavajra, prince Lavaji and others became indescribable lordly Yogisvaras and as they met later the Brahmana Sridhara and his followers, they acquired the Siddhi. Acarya Bhadra gave his teachings to Antara, he to the man who enjoyed the fame to be the younger Krsnacari, this to Bhuvari, this one to Tibetan-born Bhuva bLo-ldan and he preached to Kusalibhadra, thus this is a school. Further, preached Krsnacari also to Bhadrapada who is famous under the name of Guhya. He must have preached to acarya Tilli. In Tibet they say that the above-mentioned Guhya (Bhadrapada) preached to Antara, and this one to TilIi.

This Mimansaka preached also to Kusalanatha. As this one gave up the post of a minister, meditated and gained somewhat clairvoyance power. (Pp. 69-72).

As regards acarya Tilli, he was born in the Brahmana caste in the eastern city of Catighavo, when he grew up, he learnt all the text-books of the Brahmana religion, while wandering as a mendicant, he came finally to a temple-monastery and seeing the members of the Sangha leading an unattached life, he became a believer, put on the monk's robes and learnt the Tripitaka. He received the Abhiseka to Mandalas, grasped the Upadesas etc., meditated and became participant of all knowledge. He saw the immeasurable face of Magic-Purusa. He also saw constantly the face of Sri-heruka and of the Dakiniganas. As he united himself with a maiden Yogini of his Ksetra who founded Sesame, he was driven out of the cloister by the members of the Sangha. Then, he busied himself with the founding of Sesame in the city, and as he, a former Brahmana-Pandita Bhiksu did not succeed to became a man of honour and rank, he received the name Tilli, i.e. who pounds Sesame, and he was the husband of such a woman. After he had worked in different Ksetras, he received all instructions from the Dakinis of the countries beginning from Udayana. As he now pushed the teachings of his Guru bodily also to the highest point, he succeeded to get the knowledge of Sahajavidya by experience, and thus reached the highest Siddhi. With the intention of showing his knowledge to others, once he sang the songs of his knowledge to the assembled people of the market of the city. All men were in doubt when once in a city of Bengal assembled hundred thousand men to see him, the acarya appeared with the Sakti pounding Sesame in the air above the ground about a man’s height. And as people asked him different questions, he gave answers in a song of his experience. It is narrated that the assembled people understood the sense and acquired the Siddhi. Thus he became famous as Siddha Tilli. After working for the salvation of all creatures for a long time, he went bodily to heaven. (Pp. 72-73).

His disciples were Lalitavajra and Naro. A report on the first person does not exist. It is clear that what appeared Maitriyogidharmacakra ([x] ) is connected with him and in the legend of the younger Lotsaba-collection of Mar-do and Pu-rang on Sambara and in the legend on Hevajra from dPyal, he as a Gautama-Sisya was made as the best disciple. (Pp. 73-74).

As regards Naro, he was born in a Brahmana family in Kasmira. As in his youth he was a Tirthika-Pandita, he practised all the Tantras of the Tirthikas. As an ascetic of the Brahmana caste he made Avadhuti. Once, he came in the house of a brandy-selling woman, there was an unimportant Bauddha-Pandita. This one could not bear the magnificence of Naro, then he ran away from there. As Naro found there the beginning work of a Sutra-copy he rejoiced himself very much on the religion of the Buddhas. Then, he went to Madhyadesa, declared himself for the teaching of the Bauddhas and became a greater Pandita. Then he became the northern door-keeper of Nalanda and Vikramasila. Later, to enfeeble the Tirthikas he delivered many sermons and afterwards meditated on Cakrasamvara. During this time when a large number of Dakinis showed him their faces he received the exhortation: 'Go to Tilli, who now dwells in the east, there you will acquire the Siddhi."

After a miraculous meeting Naro met Tilli and became his disciple.
— (translator).

‘But he having nearly violated the order of the teacher, did not attain the highest Siddhi in his lifetime. He died a natural death. (Pp. 74-78).

As regards the disciples of this acarya they were the door-keepers: Pandita as Santi, experienced in disputes; superior Atisa and also other disciples for uncommon things — of them four were acquainted with the preached Dharanis for the Pitr-Tantras, and four for the Matr-Tantras. The first four were: Krsnabhayavajra, Pi-to-ha-nu, Jayakara, the Kasmiri Akarasiddhi; the second four: Manakasri, Dharmamati, the great Guru from P‘am-tin and Prajnaraksita. Thus they were people who had acquired magic-powers. Some count Pi-to-ha-nu and Dharmamati to be the same person, whereby then Jnanagarbha comes in the group of first four. Again, there were other four disciples who had acquired magic-powers: Sridombi, Riri, Kanta and Kasori; these all had acquired the Siddhi. (Pp. 78-79).

Sridombi was originally a shepherd, keeping a flock of cattle of a king. He had no schooling. He got the Abhiseka to Hevajra-Mandala from Naro. Once during swimming he was eaten up by a fish, but having meditated the Mandala of Heruka he came out without any harm. As it appeared to him to be necessary to write many text-books, he again entered schools and refuted the criticism of the Tirthikas and Bauddha-Panditas through words of Dharma. The neighbouring world was filled with his fame. He was Atisa's Guru. As regards his personal collaboration with Atisa, according to the Tibetans, the latter put down the true and unchangeable sense in four texts-books with commentary from Atisa. I myself have seen in the hands of my teacher Nirguna a Sanskrit-copy divided in chapters which harmonises with that of the Indian savant. ( Pp. 79-80 ).

To the acarya Dombi the younger prayingly solicited also the younger Kusalibhadra (for discipleship). This acarya born in Mewar which is in western India. From his youth he knew many Vedas. As he prayed to a great Tirthika-teacher that he might convert (take him to discipleship) him, this one declined it.

As he conceived that he must criticise the Tirthikas he went to Vajrasana, (Bodh-Gaya) became a monk and studied and knew all the Pitakas. Later, dressed as a Brahmana he went to Kamaru (Kamarupa), studied with at least six Brahmanas and Tirthikas all their magic-books and he was trusted by them. Then he appropriated to himself all the magic-tricks of Kamaru, many Tantras of Vijigiri sect, many had Tantras of the Dakinis, and many methods of exorcism of Syan-nari and he practised them. Then he returned to the above Tirthika-Pandita. There was king Karna who gathered two thousands of Bauddha Yogis and Panditas and eight thousands of Tirthikas and held a discussion. Then came the disputes. A Tirthika Yogi let two meteors fall from heaven. Both were black, and in the shapes of houses but with human heads. Acarya knowing these to be eye-illusions muttered Dharanis to annul them and both of them transformed themselves in little pieces of coals; then some of the Tirthikas showed a piece of art — as flames from the fire coming out of the body. But he put water on it and extinguished the fire. Thus all the attacks were parried each time and juggling works were defeated by the juggling works. In the end, the four leading teachers of the Tirthikas, by the magic-power of the acarya, were transformed into cats. Now the Buddhists increased very much in this country.

But he knowing this to be unreal and jugglery, became an a-begging Yogi and applied himself to Sridombi. He was given the Abhiseka with the Mandala of Sambara and Hevajra. Then he went to Devikote in the east and meditated without food and drinking only water; a Bhut (an evil spirit) was his servant. (Pp. 80-83).

His disciple was Asitaghana. He was originally a Tirthika Yogi and was born in Prayaga. He got from god Mahesvara enchanted quicksilver. As he practised his jugglery on an a-begging Yogi, he lost his magic-powers of quicksilver; then he became a believer of Buddha and applied himself to Pandita Prabhavarman, Mahacarya Ratnaraksita, Vibhuticandra, Devakara and other Upadesakas. He mastered Tantras and collections over Sambara, Hevajra, Bhairava and four thrones. He lived two hundred years. He wrote small books on Tantra and he taught Jnanamitra. (Pp. 83-84).

Jnanamrita was a low caste man from Tripura. He became a monk of Jagaddali; then he became a much respected head of monastery. The Vinaya was his method, also he knew the Abhidharmapitaka; he understood well the text of Mahayana; further, he had many acaryas with him who were especially entrusted with the Guhya-Tantras; he learned profoundly the collections on Yamantaka, Sambara and Hevajra, Guhya-Candratilaka, Mahapanitilaka and the Kalacakra. He belonged also to the succession of the school of Dharma and with him who was also an a-begging monk, he prayed on ‘four thrones’ and Mahamaya. As he meditated on these teachings, he met Siddha Asitaghana. This one gave him the Upadesas on the three Inspirations. As he became completely gifted with the knowledge of Sampannakrama and as he stood praying, the Guru said: "Now in twelve years an acarya with Gnana endowment will come to Candradvipa, go a-begging with my Upadesas, take my Upadesas as basis, then you will acquire the Mahamudra-siddhi. With the words: 'Go to Udayana' went up magically the acarya in heaven. Then, in the middle of twelve years he became a man of sublime spiritual acquisition. With the idea that he must be active as the preponderance of the Tirthikas and may harm the religion, he withdrew himself from it. As he wanted to go to Candradvipa emerged up acarya Nandapala from the earth by the door of benediction. He came to this Dvipa (island) and met him. Then he prayed to him for the four Mudra-Upadesas, on an occasion of the other three Mudras Nandapala preached to him the Upadesa: 'I see myself great in spirit' and thereupon the Mahamudra that he saw on the Vidyadhara-body of this Guru, annulled all doubts and reached the ground of all Dharmas.

He disappeared again through the door of benediction of acarya Nandapala and emerged up in two and a half hundred years in the south. There he met acarya Asitaghana. This one was on the border of his second hundredth years when he met the acarya. Thereupon began the acarya to work with activity.

Once he was in Odivisa (Orissa) country where is the self-built stone image of the god Visnu in the Tirthika-temple named Jagannatha, which is extremely rich in miracles. There the Acarya sat at the foot of the door with four Yoginis and asked for entry to the Castellan.
As this one spoke with a Tirthika Guru who said he wouId be fit to be the master of the temple, the Castellan answered it is doubtless that 'This Bauddha does not believe in all our gods, but it appears that he is a house-holder Arya, he may be allowed to visit knowing that he has before him the god of the country.’ Then the acarya entered the temple and stood long in respectful position. Then the Castellan smote him with a batan. The acarya blew a horn, thereby the stone statues of the temple of Jagannatha lost their extremities and organs and their former wonder powers. As there was no member of the old Buddhist convents, there was a new spreading of Buddhism in the course of hundred years while there kings reigned. Even now there are few Bauddhas. He acquired the Sunyata ([x]). Finally, he acquired the highest Siddhi. Acarya Dharmakara who acquired the rainbow-body in Amradvipa, the Yogini Candraprabha and the Yogini Bhajaduru were his three older disciples and later Mahasiddha Santigupta the fourth disciple.

Here closes the fifth chapter on the combined narration of four Inspiration" (Pp. 88).

INSPIRATION V

The fifth Inspiration follows now.

In Madhyadesa in the district of Khabi was the city of Taksasila (Tavila). There was a Brahmana acarya, who became a monk in Nalanda of Mahasanghika school and received the name of Buddhasrijnana. Some say, he was of Ksatriya caste and reader of the king. He learned Mahayana and Hinayana Pitakas, texts and commentaries with acarya Sinhabhadra, and as one Gunamitra asked him, he wrote many text-books, especially a complicated commentary on Prajnaparamita, This Gunamitra’s name is to be found in Tibetan Paramita-tradition, and seeing the commentary it is proved that he was no Bhiksu.

As Buddhasrijnana went to west towards Udayana he prayed with acarya Lilivajra and Yoginl Guneru about many heterodox and Buddhist Dhirani-learnings. In the north of Udayana there was a Candalla girl by the name of Jatijala. With this holy queen, for eight months he gave himself up to some Tantras and as he had received a prophesy from Jambala, he got Vidya-Tantra immediately with it. (Pp. 87-89). As regards the history of offerings at Vajrasana, it is thus: As once the acarya sat in his hut which he has built near Vajrasana, there came king Dharmapala to give alms to Vajrasana. All the Bauddha-acaryas came to the gift. As he saw the acarya not taking part in it, the king thought that he wanted to humiliate him. Now as he entered the hut of the acarya, he saw that the acarya was not there, but a statue of Manjusri. Then he looked around and asked his companions. With their answer: 'But he is here' he re-entered and the acarya became visible."

Then followed a miracle.— (translator).

'The king became a believer and prayed for Abhiseka and as he had no more gift to give, he bound himself and his wife to be his servants; in the meantime he brought gold from his palace as high as his stature and that of his wife as ransom money. (P. 92).

Here follows the history of the consecration of Vikramasila:

There were four temple-monasteries, these were separated by spaces covering distances of many days. Now, as regards Vikramasila, it was newly built, Somapuri restored, and while many new temple-buildings were in the courses of construction, the king ordered their consecration. There appeared the acarya magically doubling his body four times and consecrating simultaneously in all four temples. The Tirthikas came to confuse them (inmates of the convents), but they were defeated by greater exorcism. They came every year even in those days and could do no harm. (Pp. 92-93).

History of conversions in Nalanda:

The great acarya was the president of Nalanda and Vikramasila, At that time when the acarya was dwelling in Nalanda, the Saindhava Sravakas in Otantpuri (Odantapuri) who were monks, had gone astray through doubt and had become degraded, declared and maintained Buddhajnana without discipline as becoming improper to the abbot of the Sangha, and disgraced the Tantras. In Vajrasana, many Saindhava and Singhala-Bhiksus destroyed the silver-moulded image of Heruka and made profit out of it. And for that reason the king1 [The king must have been Dharmapala.— (translator).] killed many of the Sinahala Bhiksus, but the great Acarya out of his great mercy sheltered them from their extinction by the king. He (acarya) lived for more than eighty years. (Pp. 93-94).

He had eighteen disciples, the prominent of them were: Dipankara-Sribhadra, Prasantamitra Mahasukha, Padmakara and Ksatriya-Rahula. (P. 94).

Dipankarabhadra was born in western India. After learning the Vedas, he became later either a monk of a temple-monastery or the president of Mahasanghika Sangha. He met the great acarya Buddhajnana in Nalanda. He was killed by a Tirthika king in Sindhu who always used to harm the disciples of the acarya. Some histories mention him as the Turuska king Bhusana, but there were no Turuskas in Madhyadesa at that time. (Pp. 95-96).

In Malwa, the Tirthika king worshipped Mahavisnu and destroyed many temples of the Buddhists. He drove out the Bhiksus from Madhyadesa and injured the Upasakas. The acarya worked exorcism, the king and the queen fell sick and the king died. The threatening minister was made cold by Dharanis. (Pp. 96-97).

Sagaracandra was an acarya of the Tirthikas. He practised exorcism of the Hexen and damaged the Bauddhas. One day he met the acarya in a street and said: 'If you do not die tomorrow morning, then our religion is false’ and made exorcism. But the Tirthika died at midnight. (P. 97).

Vaidyapada was a disciple of this acarya. He was a Brahmana, born in a frontier place. He needed CandaIa girl ([x]) for the support of his magic, and got one by giving her parents gold procured miraculously as high as her stature. He reached the highest state of Mahamudra-siddhi. After he had written many text-books, bodily he flew up to the heaven like a Garuda-prince to the Ksetra of the Buddha-Aksobhya.

Acarya Hunkara, as mentioned in rNin-ma-pa, was identical with him. If it be so, then Nepal should be his birth-place and people know that he came to Tibet in the time of king Sad-na-legs.


Acarya Avadhuti got instruction from him; from him Ratnakara Santi, from him Vajrasana the senior. Further, from him Kusali and thus it is said was a succession. Further, when Vaidyapada became the prince of Inspirations the Udayana-acarya Buddhasrisanti prostrating himself prayed to him; from him again Vajrasana the big, from him either Vajrasana from the country of Sauri or also Ratnakaragupta: Vajrasana the younger. Further, Mahacarya Buddhajnanapada preached to the acarya Padma-'byuri-gnas. He was also called as the later Padmavajra or the small one. The name 'the big senior and the junior Padma' was related only to their earlier or later appearance.

Acarya Vaidyapada taught Avadhuti Yogi Ratnasila of Kamaru. The Kayastha-Vrddha or the 'old-writer' of Dharmapala learnt from him too. He was eighty years old, and became a monk at Nalanda."

By showing a miracle— (translator) "he became the Guru of king Mahapala. This acarya built many temple-cloisters for the Guhya-Tantrikas. It was he who wrote the Hevajra-commentary Suvicadasamputa about which, it is said that Tankadasa had written it. But as in this commentary 'the former foolish Yogi' prayed, therefore, according to the inscription-page of the translation of Glan-Dharmamati, the author would be the Kayastha-Vrddha. In the translation of bLo'brtan of Son, the composition-element contained, the name of the one and the same acarya. As regards the commentary, one must considered that it might be written by a disciple in succession of teaching of this acarya, which in this case acarya Bhavaskandha would be understood. (Pp. 97-100).

This acarya taught Durhari, this one to the former Vajrasana. The younger Vajrasana prayed for instruction from him. Now as regards Mahavajrasana he was born in the country of Malwa. He completed the Veda-schooling of the Brahmana caste, later he became a monk in Nalanda. Also, he knew profoundly all the Brahmanas and Bauddha-Tantras; he was great especially in Upadesas. At the time, when Atisa appeared, he exercised his power as the abbot of Vajrasana, later he became also the abbot of Vikramasila. His disciple was Vajrasana the younger or Ratnakaragupta. (Pp. 100-101).

This one was born in the eastern country of Gaura in the Brahmana caste. From his youth he knew the Sutras and Tantras profoundly, took five vows on himself, and took Vajrasana as his acarya, but he remained as a believing Upasaka. As many Bhiksus crossed the country and preached in Madhyadesa, a believing minister of a king told him that he might become a Bhiksu, otherwise the religion would be injured when Tripitaka-holding Bhiksu would be denied by a Upasaka. Thereupon he answered that he had got to support an old mother, as a Bhiksu he could not do it; then the minister gave him sixty gold coins for the support of his mother. Then he became a monk in Vikramasila. Therewith the Upadesas of the Pandita and Yogi reached a high degree. Later on, the acarya in consideration of his great heart remained in Sauri; thereupon he received the name of 'the man from Sauri.'

Subsequently, he reached the goal of the Utpattikrama, viewed the faces of many protecting gods and made the Upadesas very successful in the country of India. The Upadesas he gave to the acarya Abhayakara, this one to Subhakaragupta, this one to Dasabala, this one to Yogi Vajrasri. This one to Dharmabhadrasri famous as the most clever amongst all the acaryas in the case of disputes; this one to Buddhakirti, this one to Ratnakirti, this one to Ratigupta. For a long time, legends of the above-mentioned persons, were not handed down.

Here closes from the history which is compared to ‘a Mine of Precious Stone' the sixth chapter of the presentation of Utpattikrama-tradition." (Pp. 101-102).

INSPIRATION VI

"As regards the sixth Inspiration which refers to the tradition of the texts, therewith the Tantrikas were meant who explained the Tantras when they represented the tradition of the texts.

It was a difficult task with Naro and Maitri to comment a great mass of Tantras, some had been delivered by Nagarjuna to Aryadeva, who to Rahula, and he to Candrakirti, who to Prabhakara, and this one to Jnanasakti, and he to Santi.

Further, lots of Tantra-commentaries had been handed over by Manjusrimitra to Brahmana Jnanavajra, and this traditional materials with that of Bodhivajra-Srijnanapada had subsequently to Prasantamitra.

The latter taught four disciples: Srisena, Silu, Krsnajata Vaidyapada. Manjusrijnana learnt with the latter, from him the great Amoghavajra, Siddhivira with the latter, from him Atisa Mitraguhya also sought teaching of him.” (Pp. 103-104).

While the series runs further there was a large number. In opposition to them, acarya Lalitavajra brought a large number of Tantras from Udayana and delivered them to acarya Lilavajra. This one delivered them to Manjusrijnana. Also the ascetic and Brahmana acarya Sridhara acquired the Mahamudrasiddhi. He was a good-lecturing and Tripitaka-knowing Bhiksu of Vidharbha in the southern country. He was threatened by a Tirthika king who wanted to break his head. His head was cut off, but he put on a buffalo-head on his shoulders. He went to Harikela to preach. There exorcised a cat, hence he was called Bhiradi or Birali. (P. 104).

Further, there were some Tantras written by Kukuri. He was born in the east in the country of Bengal. He became a Bhiksu-Pandita in Nalanda."

A miraculous story is narrated here. — (Translator).

''He lived with Vajrayogini who looked like a she-dog before the world. Hence he was called Kukuri. This acarya took as a Yogi of Srivajrabhairava, the pose of a destroyer, and there was a history that a king of the Tajiks (Persian) with his elephants were reduced to dust. He was the same person who gave teaching to Amoghavajra. (P. 104).

He brought many Tantras from the world of the Dakinis and taught them to Padmavajra, this one to Tilli, this one to Naro, and this one to Santi. (P. 105).

Santi was born of Brahmana caste in Magadha. He studied profoundly the Vedas and the Vedangas from his youth. Some say that he was a Ksatriya. He became a monk in Otantapuri, comprehended in his spirit the whole Tripitakas of the Sravakas, then he went to Vikramasila, heard many Mahayana-Sutras and text-books with many learned men as the great Jetari, and became a great Sthavira-acarya. He was ordained as the abbot of Somapuri and stayed there for many years. There he attached himself to many Gurus viz. Ratnakirti, Kalasamayavajra and Thagana and heard hundred Tantras and impressed them upon his spirit. Then he went to Malwa where he observed a vow for seven years, finally he saw the face of Manjughosa, Tara and Ajitanatha (Maitreya) and enjoyed the Amrta (nectar) of the holy religion. The acarya received in dream the order of Arya-Tara: 'Go to Sinhaladvipa', and the king of Sinhala also received the order in dream; 'In Jambudvipa there is an acarya Ratnakarasanti, bring him here, he shall spread Mahayana (doctrine) in thy country.' In the same time the acarya and the messenger of the king came to Bengal. He brought two hundred Mahavanasutras with him and preached for seven years in Sinhala. There arose five hundred Mahayana Sanghas, and the Sutra-schools spread extraordinarily. When it is also sure that old Sinhala has given many Siddhas, so it is clear that still there are Sravaka-Sanghas.

On his way back to Jambudvipa the sea became stormy and thieves came there. Muttering the Dharanis [incantations] he threw down a handful of sand offering, brought the robbers and thieves in his power and the sea became calm. Then he passed through some countries of south India and reached Vajrasana (Boda-Gaya). As the acarya came in the morning, the king prayed him to stay in Vikramasila. That time, he became the eastern door-keeper of Vikramasila. In some histories it is said, that this king was Mahipala, in others it is said that this was his relative king Canaka. Of these two views the last is surely correct.

There, sooner or later he fought with two hundred Tirthika-Panditas and overcame them; his fame spread in all countries. He had no rival amongst the Bauddhas, he was respected as the Guru of the king. In the time of a dispute he received the by-name Sarvajna. After becoming hundred and eight years old, he left the body. As his disciples were busy in burning his dead body in Citavaha, the body became invisible as soon as fire was lighted. (Pp. 105-109).

Further was there the king Indrabhuti the junior. In the name of Kukuraraja he preached Dharma in the day to a thousand dogs and in the night he lived thoroughly according to his vows. It is sure that there are many Tantras from him, and he taught some of them as acarya Padma'byuri prayed for it, but these texts are no longer in use. And many books that will be narrated in the history of Atisa, have not been preserved. (P. 109).

There are a large number of Tantrik-books of KaIacakra and books connected with it. Pito received a commission from Vajrapani, to acquire virtue, went to Cambhala magically, brought many Tantras with him, and in Ratnagiri taught many students. Pito himself acquired first the Siddhi of invisibility. Out of his six disciples, three received Vajra-body and became invisible. Bhiksu Avadhuti, Bodhisri and Naro propagated further. Thus, Avadhuti delivered to Sauri. To him Pito, who came in the time of king Mahipala, gave up the superiority of the Tantras of Abhiyuktakas and all their whole tradition. Thus, the whole tradition of the learned texts of the different Gurus came in the possession of the great acarya, the Buddha of the setting time Abhayakaragupta. (P 109).

Acarya Abhayakaragupta was born in Jarikhanda, which lies near to the country of Odivica in the south. His father was a Ksatriya, his mother a Brahmani. From his youth he was well-read in the Veda and Vedangas, well-built in language and dialectic; as adult, he learnt all the text-books and Tantras of the Tirthikas. As he sat in a garden uttering Tantras, there sat a beautiful maiden by his side. She said: ‘I am a Chandala-maiden, and would like to remain with you.' But he said: 'How that can be possible? I belong to a higher caste, it would be a dishonour to me.' Therewith he obtained vision that she had disappeared. Then he understood that she could be only a goddess or Yaksini, therefore he asked his brother of the order, a Bauddha Yogi. He said: ‘That is Vajrayogini and it is not good that you have not taken the Siddhi from her; you are destined to the religion of the Bauddhas, go to the east and become a Bauddha.' And he did that accordingly. He studied in Bengal to become versed in all the Sutra-Tantras and he prayed to many acaryas for the Abhiseka. As he became a great Pitaka-knowing person, he became famous as acarya of all Vinayadharas.

Once, as he was sitting in the court of a temple-cloister, there appeared a young maiden who dragged on a piece of beef near to him which was dripping in blood, shoved it to the acarya and said: 'I am a Candala-maiden, but eat what is slaughtered for you.’ But he answered: 'I am a Bhiksu of purer order, how shall I eat meat which is extraordinarily offered to me?' But she sank back and disappeared in the court below. That was again Vajrayogini who gave him the Siddhi, but he did not take it. In order to learn further, he stayed at Nalanda."

Later when Vajrayogini told him that thrice she offered him the Siddhi and he did not receive it, the best he had not acquired in his life. Now he should write books, teach the Dharma and before death would reach the highest.— (translator).

"From there he began to wander in different burning-places (Sasmana) to meditate, but as the wife of the king Ramapala built and presented the temple-cloister of Edapura, he dwelt there in contemplation.”

After performing some miraculous acts — (translator), "he became the abbot of Vajrasana. Later, he became the abbot of Nalanda and Vikramasila and the king honoured him as his Guru. Induced by the prayers of his disciples he began to write the commentary on Prajnaparamita containing the eight thousand verses ([x]). As he worked on three Mala-divisions of Vajravalinamamandala, fell a shower of flowers-rain, and in the time when he worked on the Upadesamanjari, Sambara, Hevajra and Kalacakra who lived in three highest regions, glorified him in bliss, and his fame and glory filled all the world. Besides these, he wrote the Sakyamatalankara for the Prajnaparamita, the Lokasanksepa for the Abhidharma, the Bhiksuvidyatika for the Vinaya with the explanation of the Vinaya the Madhyamamanjuri for the Madhyama-teaching; for the Yoga and for these Tantras no commentaries were present. He made some Tikas: the four famous books of exorcism-methods, the Buddhakapalatika, commentaries of many Matrka-Tantras in the form of a Sutra of Abhayamarga-krama, the Pancakramatika, the Ganavatara and commentaries on and explanations to Kalacakra. He wrote also many small text-books and gave many subtle, innumerable exorcism-methods, and arranged the compilations of different exorcism-methods.

In India and in Tibet there are large numbers of his disciples. All the Indian teachers of Mahayana who came after him, openly accepted him as the standard, and so did Subhakaragupta. He taught Dasabala, and Dasabala taught Vikrtideva. (Pp. 109-114).

Vikrtideva was a well-informed Bengali-Pandita. He went to Nalanda and busied himself much about Dharma and all the Upadesas. Though, when he left his motherland, he promised his original Guru to be a monk, he did it later, as he had desire of the flesh, took a wife and had three children: One boy and two girls. But in dream AvaIokitesvara said as he had broken the order of his Guru, he would die within three years of an infectious disease and would go to hell, he got very much frightened, cut himself off from his family and took vows. But the prophesy was fulfilled, after three years he got the contagion and died. There his acarya saw in his mind, how he was taken away by the beadles of the Yama, but five gods and Hayagriva with Aryavalokitesvara at their head struck the hell-beadles and Aryavalokitesvara shed tears and ran towards him to bring his body back. And while he was brought back visibly to the Parivara of the Arya, he came back to life again. As he had seen the face of Avalokitesvara, he had greater power, gained success in his spiritual dignity and the Siddhi.

He taught the Kashmira-Pandita Sakyasribhadra, Buddhasribhadra, Ratnaraksita. Munisribhadra prayed to him; to him Karunasribhadra for teaching. This one taught Sakyaraksita, this one to Sujatavarman, this one to Kimpila Pandita Mukta-deva, this one to Jnanagupta, this one to Ratigupta, this one to Santigupta who was free of rivals in this present-day world. (Pp. 114-115).

Here closes from the history, which is a equal to a ‘Mine of Precious Stone’ the seventh chapter, which narrates the origin of the Tantra-commentaries." (P. 115).
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Part 3 of 4

INSPIRATION VII

''Now the eighth chapter follows the Inspiration of various sorts of individual Upadesas. The Mahasiddha Goraksa-Inspiration of the Upadesas concerns the narration of the Yogis of twelve schools. Mina had held himself to Mahesvaradeva, acquired lower Siddhis from him, got the Upadesas of the highest step of breathing exercises ([x]) prayed to Goraksa, and then meditated. He advanced further as he entered the self-growing Jnana of Mahamudra.

As there are lots of such and unfounded histories, some are here omitted. What is narrated of such things, the authority of the Panditas like Mahasiddha-Santigupta has not agreed; that is the same with our Guru Buddhagupta, who has met personally many Siddhas and is a true treasure of unlimited teachings of Goraksa; as correct — while also the three disciples following Goraksa; Tirthanatha, Kalanatha and Brahmanatha thoroughly harmonize with his claims. (P. 116).

In western India was an acarya Vyali. He mixed a large number of drugs together and sought for twelve years long to win Quicksilver-Elixir; but as there was no sign of success and his materials ran out, he threw the book on Quicksilver-method in the Ganges and went out a-begging. At an opportune moment, when he came to Odivica, he found the same book while bathing in a river, absolutely unspoiled. He recognized thereby that it was a sign to win the Siddhi, and returned to his mother-country. There the Quicksilver rolled towards the right and a distinguished tune was brought out. As now the members of the house saw a rain of flowers falling, they asked, what was that? But nobody knew anything about it. Now a somewhat dull-brained girl seemed to have said; 'Here in the room I am strewn over with a powder.’ As she was told that she might wash herself, it followed consequently this also: The remark on the uncertainty of the question — what was that, gave rise to introspection; as he did not know the character of the red Myrabolan, which proved to be the same in the case of the dust fallen on the girl, he attained at nothing, besides he added a simple red Myrabolan in it, but when blood-drops appeared at the time of washing, the success of the Quicksilver-essence was there. Thereafter, for six months he made an abundance of Quicksilver-preparation. Then Vyali and his wife, his son and daughter and daughter-in-law ate of it; thus five persons and the sixth creature his horse, came in the possession of the ingredients.

As he did not impart the Siddhi to anybody, he sat himself on a big stone and began to think to give to others the Quicksilver-essence and the stuff of making gold, and as he now had acquired the Siddhi, made exorcisms by supporting himself on the Tantras of the Mahakala.

But acarya Nagarjuna heard about it. Nagarjuna holding himself on the Dharanis of the 'air-wanderers' (Dakinis), brought two shoes from the tree-leaves which enabled him to go through the air. The one he concealed, he put on the other and flew to Vyali through the air. As he now demanded that the acarya must give him the gold-essence, Vyali answered thereupon: 'Give me thy shoe, that will be the worth of the gold-essence that I give to you!' Then many Upadesas for Quicksilver-essence, many hundred thousands, aye many millions of methods of Elixir and beyond it, the power of exorcism to make gold, he gave to Nagarjuna, and he gave him for it a shoe. Then he put on the hidden shoe and went to India through the air and furthered there very much the Upadesas of Life-elixir. In the country of Gandhara in the north was a mountain called Dhinkota in the district called Munindra. He wanted to change it into gold and silver, but Aryatara who knew that would bring the future generations to fight amongst themselves, prevented it and by her blessing changed it to salt. And today it is known by the Gandhara country Lati.1 [Perhaps the salt-range of western Punjab is meant here.] But Vyali knowing that his envy had no meaning any longer returned to India. He became bodily a Vidyadhara though he did not have the lowest rank of Bauddha-knowledge; it was he, whom the acarya Carpati who reached the highest Mahamudrasiddhi, prayed for the Upadesa. Vyali gave Carpati all the Upadesas of his Elixir of life in the form of a thank-certificate.

After this Guru had made a little experiment of Quicksilver-elixir of life, it succeeded at once. As he wanted it to be enjoyed by many beings, he came where there was a large number of nomads. There was a substantially propertied nomad who possessed many thousand buffaloes, buffalo-calves, cattle, horses and sheep. He had provided a wife to his son to whom a small child was born. Occasionally in this neighbourhood there was a festival where the daughter-in-law with her child were present. When the others had gone, the acarya came there to beg of his food. She brought all food to him and the acarya said: 'When thy relatives do not get irritated then give me much food till tomorrow morning, so that you can remain; but if you are angry, then tarry now while I put fire in the surrounding woods, then fly and come to me!' She took her little child and flew. As she arrived at the place of the acarya, he gave her the Elixir of life. Thereby she received a Vidyadhari-body and doubled motherhood. Thus she received in quick succession a large number of children. The acarya gave the Elixir to them also, and there arose three hundred descendants with Vidyadhara-bodies. The king of Campa heard it and the acarya came with these descendants."

There was a miraculous story in connection with the visit of the acarya to the king — (translator), (Pp, 116- 120).

"His disciple had been the Siddha Kakkuti. When it is said that he received the Brahmanical Abhisekas from the Mahacarya Lui-pa, yet it is not sure that he lived in the same time with Lui-pa. Later, after receiving the Upadesas and the connected learning from the Siddha Carpati, he completed the practice in burning-places (Sasmanas); but he went home and became a house-father; when he came in a town where twelve castes had their seats. He was known as Kukkuti. A Kukkuta is not identical with him, there were two persons. (Pp. 116-120).

"His disciple was Mina. He was a fisher in the east of India, in Kamarupa. As the fisher was in deep contemplation, he had thrown out his angle and drew it, but the fish drew him in its interior and swallowed him. As he was meditating deeply over the power of Karma, he did not die. As the river Rohita1 [Is it the same as the river Lauhitya which now-a-days is called Brahmaputra?] that today in Tibetan called gTsan-po, had reached Kamarupa, there lay a small hill called Umagiri, while there Devesvara zealously gave the Upadesas to the penitent Uma, and the fish swam in that water. The fisher, lying in the belly of the fish, heard that, meditated over that Upadesa and had great benefit. As a fisher again caught that fish and killed it, a man was there. Earlier he died there as a king; thirteen years had just past that formerly a son was born to him. In the belly of the fish he had spent the rest twelve years. Now, the father and the son took themselves to Carpati, prayed for the Upadesas and performed meditation. And both acquired the Siddhi. The father became famous as the Siddha Mina, the son as the Siddha Macchindra. The disciples of Siddha Mina were: Hali (a peasant), Mali (a gardener), Tambuli (a tooth-painter).1 [Perhaps a mistake is there. In present day Bengal, a Tambuli is called a Betel-leaf seller.] These were the three Siddhas. The disciples of Macchindra were Caurangi and Goraksanatha. (Pp. 120-121).

Of these both the first was a son of a king. Once as the king went to another country, the second wife of the king passionately loved the handsome prince. She always waited on the prince, and as he (the prince) did not join in her desire, she became enraged, and as the king came back, she tore off her clothes, put ashes on her head and lay there as if blood would be coming out of her limbs. Then asked the king: 'What has been done to you?' She said:' That has been done by the son of the king, he came to me to satisfy his desire, and as I did not agree to it, he has thus treated me.’ Then without further examinations let the king his guiltless son’s arms and legs be cut off and he be thrown in a deep lying place at the foot of a tree in the midst of a much frequented street. Macchindra came there. As the prince narrated his history, this one answered: 'When I am in the position now to furnish you with food, would you be in the position to make twelve years long meditation?’ As the prince said that he could do it, there the acarya Macchindra who himself had a cow-herd as a disciple told this one: 'Under the tree that covers him, lies a man with limbs cut off, furnish him with food for twelve years.' And this one did likewise. After twelve years have passed, at night came many merchants on the street. Caurangi asked them, who they were. Fearing that he would be the tax-gatherer of the king, they gave out that they were the coal merchants. Then he said: ‘All your wares would be coals.’ When the merchants came to the market and put out their wares, all wares have became coals. Then they asked here and there what had passed, and when they considered, thereby they recognized the power of the word of Caurangi. All the merchants came there, prayed for pardon from Caurangi and offered him alms. Then said Caurangi: ‘Now all shall again become as before.' As the merchants after going back home saw the wares in their former condition, they now recognised that it had happened through the grace of the acarya, they wanted to distribute a sacrifice-gift for their life. The acarya did not accept it, but gave it back to them. And after he had said there; ‘Also these limbs may become as before!' this also happened. Later, after doing all possible good to the living beings, and wandering he went up to heaven.
(Pp. 121-122).

Women falsely accuse men of sex crimes. That’s why it’s a “very scary time for young men in America,” President Trump has said.

Women misidentify the men who attack them. So said Senators Joe Manchin, Lindsey Graham, and Susan Collins as they tried to have it both ways: claiming they believed Christine Blasey Ford was assaulted — but certainly not by Brett Kavanaugh, the man their votes put on the Supreme Court...

“I don’t think I ever had a case where I even suspected a woman was making a false accusation,” said former Suffolk County sheriff and prosecutor Andrea Cabral.

According to Suffolk County District Attorney John P. Pappas, the problem with sexual assaults is underreporting, “because victims fear they won’t be believed. The overwhelming majority of such allegations are grounded in truth.”…

Bottom line: There’s no epidemic of false charges or mistaken identities but, rather, of attacks on women. Just in the few days surrounding the Kavanaugh hearings, the Globe reported on a Harvard diving coach allegedly sending pictures of his penis to female athletes; a Salisbury man accused of raping and plotting to murder two teenage girls; an Acton man arrested for stabbing his girlfriend and killing his father when he tried to intervene; and an Allston man held for choking and attempting to rape a woman he dragged into a Brookline alley.

-- The myth of ‘false accusations’ of sexual assault, by Margery Eagan


The Siddha Goraksa was that cow-herd who brought the food. He had received the Upadesa-Yoga of Macchindra; after performing all outward duties, he meditated and acquired all the magic-skills and Siddhis. Then he reflected that he must give out his spiritual acquisitions to others, and in this matter he gave lessons to many men in all countries, and saved them. He made the solemn vow that he would not go to heaven before he had saved ten millions of living beings. And thus he brought the salvation of innumerable men.

A complete all-embracing history of this man was not written.
As he had doubtless twelve prominent disciples, so the Inspiration had been effective there. (Pp. 122-123).

As concerns the Siddha Karnari, he had been the king in the country of Mewar. Some years had passed that he took a beautiful wife with the name of Pingali. She was very dear to the heart of the king. In order to examine her, once he went alone to a wood and let the false news to be spread, that he had been eaten up by a tiger and thus had met his death. The queen Pingali died from grief, and her dead body was brought to the burning-place. The king did not go back to the city, but standing by the side of the dead queen he constantly wept: 'Alas, alas Pingala!' Thus eight years, thus twelve years had passed. Then came there Siddha Goraksa. Inadvertently he let an earthen vessel (Dipi) fall down from his hand and he broke it. Then he began to lament and remained standing with the complaint: ‘Alas, alas Dipi.' Then spoke the king: 'What for this foolish Yogi makes such a lament when his water-vessel is broken?' Then to make it clear that it deals about a stroke that contains an allusion upon the other, spoke the acarya: ‘There thou art a fool, as regards my broken pot, it remains to me indeed as my property. Stop your lament over Pingala who is no longer present as she is reduced to dust.' Then he recognized him as the acarya Goraksa and prayed to make him his disciple. He spoke to him: 'Throw away the kingship from you!' As he put away his kingship, he followed him as a disciple. At one time the acarya ordered that he had got appetite for flesh and spirituous things. As the disciple went to the town to buy flesh and brandy, a woman had exhibited six pieces of pork and six flasks of brandy. She said: 'As price I demand your right eye, I will not be drawn into any other bargain.' Then the disciple in order to bring the offering to his acarya, took out the right eye and gave it to her. Thereupon he brought the flesh and the brandy to his acarya. On query he narrated the matter to the acarya. The acarya then demanded the left eye which was given. Thereupon the acarya blessed him and in three years he got back his eyes like before. And in the same period he became a Mahasiddha. He is called also Vairaginatha. (Pp. 123-124).

His disciple was Nago. Many Yogis regarded Karnari as identical with the king Bhanari. But they made a great mistake. As regards the Siddha Nago, he was called the naked because he did not have a thread as cloth on his body. When he stayed in the south, he came in the social-circle of the first wife of the king and gave her the Upadesas. The king was angry, cut off the five limbs of the acarya, and threw them off towards the sky. But these limbs came back again and were fitted in the body. As this happened seven times, the acarya in the end gave out a curse and the king's five limbs fell off by themselves, and then he died. But after a prayer for it he came back to life. Thus he showed his power. Then he disappeared towards the mountain Bhindapala and there he is still living without throwing off his mortal body. (P. 124).

His disciple was the representative of the school of younger Virupa Golennatha. As in the beginning he was confused on account of many Vinaya-laws, he withdrew himself and put himself in a big earthen pot. As it was not enough for him to acquire the Siddhi, he practised meditation by putting himself in one position (Asana) and acquired the Siddhi in twelve years. Then he preached all sorts of Upadesas to all who could understand them and went where Guru Nago dwelt and disappeared. (Pp. 124-125).

His disciple was Onkaranatha, a son of a Ksatriya from the country of Madhyadesa. In his childhood he lost his father, and was brought up in the house of an elder brother. There Golennatha gave him a method to exorcise a Yogini. Besides this, he did not learn in eighteen years anything of science. Therefore, his brother and his wife drove him out with the words: ‘You stupid, for what are you at all useful?’ Being embittered he went in a strange country, lived on begging and began to exorcise the Vajrayogini. He passed sixteen years on it, and a blessed voice arose in him and thus he came in the western country in the temple of Hingataksidevi Uma. As he sat for six months contemplating on the stone-image of the Devi, and spread out a bright light from his body, the goddess became frightened and said: ‘Oh Yogi, the fire of thy magical body is burning.’ But he replied 'What shall I do with the magical powers or with the finding of a treasure? Surely I will take it when the Siddhi of the Vidya is given to me; but it is not in the power of the goddess to give me the Siddhi, therefore, I must receive it from Goraksa.’ Then he sought out Goraksa in the south and got the Siddhi. He gave his Upadesas to the Mahapandita Ratigupta. (Pp. 125-126).

Ratigupta was born in south India. By caste he was a son of a merchant. As he grew up he was converted to the teaching of the Bauddhas. He learnt with the representatives of all the schools and also was well-acquainted with the heterodox sciences. As he wanted to learn the Dharma of the Vajrayana of the Guhya-Tantras, he visited the eastern countries and the islands of the sea, also he went in many western places. He prayed to Mahacarya Ratnakirti, to Mahacarya Jnanagupta in the country of Ra-K'ang and to the Nepali Pandita Dadabala Lavinha for the Abhiseka.

Once in a locality in eastern India there was a great festivity. There appeared a person carrying the hair-ropes like a Tirthika-Yogi and speaking suitably, he asked who he would be. The answer was: 'I am Asitaghana.' From him he learned the magic-Upadesa for a month. Also he heard the numerous Upadesas from the Siddha Onkaranatha. Then he dwelt permanently in the three temple-cloisters in the south Viten, the country of Tarlarati. He was firmly based on the Utpattikrama and knew the fifteen Tantra-schools. (Pp. 126-127).

Here closes from the history, which is compared to a 'Mine of Precious Stones' the eighth chapter which narrates the tradition of various secret learnings." (P. 127).

"As regards the great Mudra-possessor Santigupta, who was a master of the magic-powers of these discoveries, was born in the city of Jalamandala which is in the south. As belonging to the Ksatriya caste, from his youth he learned all the arts of his caste. He studied the dialectic with its complementary subjects (Angas) and the language and was familiar with magic, as already his father had seen in dream the face of Bhattarika-Tara. He received also the Abhiseka of Tara and learned the methods of exorcism. When he was twenty-two years old, there was in the country of Konkuna (Kankana?) on the bank of the sea, a cloister-institution called Suvarnadhvaja, which in former times was a good place for the religious people, and the religious schools were extended, but there were only fifty Bhiksus. The laity in total was perhaps one thousand, when exactly the largest member met together. The foundation for Ratigupta was inaugurated by them. First, he studied that the Pitakas of the Sravakas, then with the aim of being versed in the original sources in the sense of Madhyama-doctrine, further he preached in the sense of holy texts. Then he gave presents to his abbot, and as he began to be a respected and honoured man, he went to Sinhaladvipa. There he acquired innumerable honour and respectability. There he preached the Dharma and prosecuted a little study of the Tantras in the method of Mahakala. Then he took seven kinds of precious metals for his Guru and presented them to him. After he had prayed to him for the Abhiseka-instructions, he received all lower magic-powers and detailed statement over fifty Dharanis, but he did not receive the extraordinary Abhidekas and instructions. As he then worked as a house-servant of his Guru, he presented to his Guru all his belongings with the exception of three monk's clothings, and got his food by begging from the street. Then after six years he received from the Guru the extraordinary higher Abhisekas, various sorts of distribution of benedictions and instructions. While he thus meditated, his Guru left his corporeal body and he was made the head of all belongings of the temple. Thus for nine years he was the Sthavira of the Sangha. He used to sit whole night in meditation and in day used to perform his Sangha-duties. But the acarya recognised that the Jnana could not be grown. He took brandy, and later he tried to get it through the Sangha, but did not get it. On the streets of the city he began to sing songs with different bon-mots of his making and continued to dance from door to door. Then the members of the Sangha said: ‘It is not becoming to punish an abbot who knows so many religious books, so we put you out to live where it may please you.' Then he reflected that he must try to attain all methods. He crossed many countries, and then made exorcisms in a house by the side of a city in the country of Cevala for three years. Then he went to Udayana and lived there for three years. Once on the banks of a river were bathing what seemed to him three Hataera. By chance they went under a wall. Then he thought: ‘What may these maidens speak?' and he began to hear. There in the form of discourses one was giving six Upadesas to the other as if these were answers to the questions. As they all disappeared in a wonderful way, Vajrayogini and her companions made him a partner of it, and his Jnana rose higher and higher. The place of his Tattva he did not know as yet; but the disposition of his soul was towards such an acarya, so that Tattva could appear to him. Therefore, he came at the door of a brandy-selling woman. But she took the form of a Vajrayogini and said: 'In the southern country there lives an acarya Jnanamitra by name; he will grant you the desired Siddhi.'

So the acarya went to the south on foot and asked everybody but nobody could answer him.— (translator).

"Once he met a man with the appearance of a householder Arya who said that he himself was on the way to him; that he lived in the city of Tipura which lay east from there. He asked him to lead him there. He said: ‘If you have got the strength to tow all my belongings that are in the wood I will take you there.’ He took the heavy load and the householder Arya showed him the way. On the way Santigupta was captured by the robbers. As they wanted to divide the load, it became stone. Thereby the robbers became angry and repeatedly stroke him so that he might fall on the ground like a dead man. Then appeared the Acarya again. He washed him with water and entered into conversations with him. Then he was refreshed and started again. As he came to Tipura, he prayed him to show the Guru, and when he was taken to the Guru to the bank of a small lake, his own picture appeared and said: ‘That is Jnanamitra.' As he stood before him he got into a splendid Samadhi. When he prayed that Jnanamitra might take him as his disciple, this one answered: ‘Thou art a shameless fellow that without money and honour, thou askest me to take thee as a disciple!' And becoming angry, he stroke him many times. As the former one said: ‘If I work with a rich man for thee then how much will I have thee.' Then he said: ‘Give one gold-dinar everyday!' Thus he worked for a year long. People say that the field-worker in India is treated in especially wretched condition. Then followed various miraculous sufferings of the disciple Santigupta and deliverance. Both of them sailed for Ra-khine (Arakan?), and later came back by ship.— (translator).

"As the Guru from the beginning gave him no Upadesas, he now prayed to give them to him and said: 'Gold and honour have I not, but let me follow you!' But the other said: 'Before a man, who poses as a rival and considers himself to be more than or at least equal to his Guru, Mahasrivajrasattva himself was terrified. Thus one must express himself!’ Saying this, he showed much anger and went away.”

Despairingly Santigupta sought death and threw himself from a stone but got no injury. Then he went to the place where the Sakti was bodily present. — (translator).

"She said: ‘The Guru came to my house, stopped here for a few days and has just gone to Nepal.' With these words the woman completely disappeared. Then he brought himself to Nepal. At last the sacrificing priest of the temple of Mahakala in Jambu said that he had been here; he had made stone stupid things and then had gone towards Kamarupa. At once he started his journey towards Kamarupa. Finally, in the city of Garudaghata in Kamarupa he came to the place, where the acarya had been with great joy. He made some hundred thousand prostrations by throwing himself on the floor. Then said the Guru: 'As you are desirous for the Upadesas, here is the place from where my Guru Asitaghana went up to heaven; there is the peak of the rock named Heramba, you make a Stupa of bricks there as high as five men's height".

Then followed further miraculous trials till he found himself as a prisoner in the country of king Mukundadeva by his order. There were further trials till he found himself in a prison. — (translator).

"Then Jnanamitra went to the door of the prison, threw dust on the warders and thereby all became lame. The door was opened by itself, Santigupta and more than five thousand prisoners became free. Then he followed the acarya and came in a country called Trilinga (Trikalinga?). Scarcely had he come in the city when the Guru gave him lots of the Upadesas. After two years said the Guru: 'Now is the time to give you the Abhiseka. In the house lying on the other side of the river, there lives a lady who is fit to be prepared for all methods of the Tantras; bring her to me.' Swimming in the evening he came to that house. It was the elephant-house of a Ksatriya king, in the city of Langakara. The girl belonged to the master of the house, as she was well-protected she could not be overpowered. The acarya bound her by the magic-Dharanis, so that the woman might not speak a word. He put her on his shoulders and came away, and brought her before the Guru. The Guru said; 'Now it is the time,’ and on the morning he gave him the Abhiseka. For seven days long he gave him blessings and the uncommon oral Upadesas. At that time their dwelling place was on a small hill. Formerly, the acarya Nagarjuna lived there. The people of the elephant-house who followed him, believed that both of them had been carried away by the water and did not come further. There he became the Mahesvara of the Yogis. And this woman became a Yogini. She followed the school of the Mimansakas and became famous as Yogini Menaka. Her knowledge was as high as heaven, and later she acquired the Siddhi.

Then said the Guru Jnanamitra: 'Oh Santigupta, I have made you know all the Upadesas, you have the great ideal before you. Now you go to Sorasta and work in the beginning without activity; then in hiding, then in coming out, try to make it with activity so that an event may take place. In this time you work actively. Exactly in this time you will acquire the rank of Mahavajradhara."

After a further talk the Guru became invisible. (translator).

"He served the Guru for ten years long. Then he (Santigupta) slowly went to Sorasta in western India, bringing out deep thought in his longing songs, finally, sat in a place in deep meditation by giving up speech. It happened that the Tajiks and the Mongols during their march were throwing the stone and wooden idols in the fire, after they had burnt the cut-off hands and feet. He preserved as if without any feeling, and when a Hindu cavalryman, who was a believer, threw a mass of gold and silver-flowers, he remained as before as if without any feeling. Out of the mouth of my teacher came to me the information: 'It is not worthwhile to be seated stationary without any movement, but it is worthwhile to contemplate the Sunyata ([x]). when the question was far two years, that have been passed, so it will be two and half years; the practices that are still necessary, I must make them up in six months'. Thus he practised that vigorously without activity. After he had absolved that, he went through the cities and wards and there he secretly worked a little, for six months he carried the work of an Avadhuti, for six months a work of the children of the woods like that of a fool. In the meanwhile he preached Dharma also to the people of the city who regarded him as a man rich in knowledge, brought him gifts of various sorts. But in this country there was a king by race a Tajik; in the beginning he had only worst expropriations for the Bauddhas. But as there were a few Bhiksus in this country, he believed later in the pious conduct of the Bhiksus. But as the acarya exercised the Tantric practices, he did not like it. For that reason, he went to the acarya and said; 'You fellow! do you speak lies or better speak the truth! would you bring the Bauddha-converts in disgrace?' Then the acarya answered: 'On the face of the profits of these that we have perceived, we cannot change our character.' 'That you will just prove', said the king and let the acarya be brought in the palace. There he sat completely alone on a high place, without food and no room to hide the utensils. The men, who watched him there, sat in a circle day and night near him. After seven days had passed without food and drink being given to him, and the condition of his body remained as before. The king let the beautiful girls come there from all over his country, thousands and perhaps more. Others say: Five hundred, came together and handed them over to the acarya: ‘As you know the practices of the Tantras, so try to practise with them for a day.’ Now the acarya comprehended that according to the prophesy of the Guru the opportunity to work the practices of the Tantras with activity has come. He practised all the arts of the Saktis with them and to show his power, he changed them all into dry skeletons. Being endowed with a glance like the sun, as the second sun directly arose from the height of the palace casting forth its rays far and wide, he went magically on the sky and put himself down in a distant park.

As the country became the best field of work, and there were many Hetaera in the country, he practised for six months long with activity, especially in Gana-meetings. In the time of his stay in the hill called Ghirnari (Girnar?), the honours of the Siddhi of the highest Mahamudra came over to him. As these came in the time of early morning, there was a great earthquake, sweet smell filled everywhere, showers of flowers fell down, people heard music and singing from the sky. All men perceived that he saw the face of the Buddha of the tenth worldly region. At the same time, different protecting-gods and all the magicians appeared and sang blessing songs. Seven days long the superhuman beings of the three worlds brought the Viras and Dakas with incomprehensible thoughts and inexhaustible alms. On this he sat further for six months in deep meditation without token.

Later on, during the occasion of his stay in the south there lying the mountain Khagendra, the king named Ramacanda of the country of Bhirva came out for a hunt. He saw a Gazelle staying on the corner of the mountain. He followed its tracks and when he had arrived at it, the Gazelle changed itself into a tiger. As he was startled a little, the animal emitting forth sparks ran away to a hut of leaves. As the king went there to search about it, there was a bright splendour of a shining Bhiksu. On the question: 'Who art thou?' and being asked twice, the acarya did not give any reply. In answer to the third time he said: 'Thou king of bad character, what sayest thou? I am a Yogi.’ Now he overcame him with three magical-looks. The king became an extraordinary believer and fell to his feet. Then the king’s companions came and they also fell to the feet of the acarya. He made them glad by preaching Dharma, and after he had allowed a young Brahmana to have a look in his heart, who produced many songs and dances and then became invisible.
The name of this Brahmana was Janmadeva and it was for him the beginning to receive the exorcisms as a disciple of the acarya. There was also a young monk named Gambhiramati. He went to the acarya, and bound himself by duties to him. Again being a staunch believer and a disciple he remained there. As the acarya saw that he was acquainted with the Pitakas, he gave him the Abhiseka and the Upadesa. The disciple meditated and within a short time won the Siddhi of 'seven miles-boot.'

As now the acarya went to the country at Maru, he by his magical look made the Tirthikas, Turuskas, Mohammedans and Tajiks 'frozen,' and like fate fell to the army of the king of the country which he thus overthrew.
He treaded the land for a long time so that the knowledge of the people would be increased by the preaching of the Dharma, and as in that country the number of the Bauddhas was very little, he brought into existence the flourishing Sanghas. He had six disciples who received the uncommon Upadesas: Pandita Vimalasahya, Candrakara, Ratnakara, these three were the Bhiksu-Panditas and further three were Upasaka-Pandita Sugata, the Yogini Umapati and the Yogini Tarika. Thereby the first three had in their possession the Sampannakrama. They had the power to give out curses and to create truth-attestations; these three had personally seen the face of Vajrayogini. The Upasaka Sugata acquired without hindrance the magic-powers and the four Karmas.

As the acarya and these four went out together to visit the countries of the east where the people of a Mohammedan Pathan [Aghan] had brought a whole circle of countries in dire misery. The temple-cloisters of the Brahmanas and the Bauddhas all had been destroyed, especially many Bauddha-cloisters on the mountain Devagiri on the sea-coast were turned into ashes. The temple of Khasarpana was set on fire, but it did not burn. As the acarya and his spiritual brothers came there, he let them put in prison with the words: 'In my country such shaven-heads with red coats had not been before, so it is also completely superfluous that you get yourselves settled here.' He let the hangman come as he wanted to kill them. But the other threw white mustard on the hangman and the prison-warders. Who as thereby then became mad and senseless, they flew and came from there. By making a vow on Mahabodhi, they received the answer that the time was proper to act, in order to accomplish the tasks of terror. This was met by the acarya and his four companions at Jarikhanda. They revolved the wheel of Yamantaka; then within six months the Pathans and the Mogols were innerly shaken and in the east all the followers of the religion of the Turuskas were slain in battle. The Hindu king Manasing was taken prisoner.

Umapati attained a rainbow-body. The Yogini Tarika worked with the four exorcism-glances without opposition. Then he cheated the Yogis and the Yoginis who followed the acarya as disciples, all being twenty.
After that he stayed in the south in Karnata. The king of this country was a Tirthika. In order to convert him, he took him to his palace. In the interior of the palace there was a Linga terrible to look at, and it was established from the time of Arjuna. He treaded and danced on it and so his foot-prints were stamped on it. At this the king out of anger let six elephants be excited. In spite of the number of the elephants being six, who seized him with their trunks, he was not to be moved. As he threateningly raised his finger the stone image of the Chandika, which once was of great miraculous power, melt away just like a lump of butter in the heat of the sun. Still now this figure remains there without becoming a mass. Then the king recognised, that he had acquired the Siddhi, and threw himself on the ground. After the news were spread on all sides that the acarya possessed the Siddhi, the members of the Sangha of Marahata and Konkuna invited him and there he visited all their temple-cloisters. There he dealt out the Abhisekas and the Upadesas and made the teachings of Vajrayana very bright whilst he analysed the Tantras etc. Thirty Panditas and besides others, sixty in total, joined together as the four Parivaras, had only eleven men from the city not more as the perfect ones; the others were mostly in higher contemplation, and it happened that as soon as they attained the highest Siddhi, they became invisible.

Then the king of Bhandva invited him and gave him alms for a long time. He made also all the Bhiksus assembled there from Suvarnadvipa, Dhanasridvipa, Paigudvipa, Ra-Khan, Pu-Khan and other distant islands, and again from Jambudvipa all the Panditas as many as there were. He gave them all alms for three years. About three thousand Buddhist converts consisted of the Upasakas and the Upasikas, again some hundred thousand of Yogis from the four corners of the world prayed for the exorcism-method; others about the Upadegsas, some others performed the prayers for the Abhisekas and blessings, others again awaited with folded hands before the feet of the acarya for the effect that would arise out of the changes. There were from the south the great Kalinga-Panditas Vaidatiksna Sanghasila, from the country of Matyara the great acarya Virabandhu and Asangabodhi, from the country of Pancadharavali, the acaryas Anantamati and Vedananda, from the country of Re-khan the great savants Dharmaksaghosa and Parahitaghosa and the men from Vajrasana Sumegha and others; these prayed to the Mahacarya himself, with the Yogini Dinakara and with the spiritual sons of the Mahacarya viz. Mahacarya Gambhiramati for the profundity of the Tantra-books. Thus through the grace of the acarya all those who confessed to Buddha from the Sanghas of Aryadesa took part in the grace of the Vajrayana. But as in Vapadvipa, Suvarnadvipa, Tamradvipa etc. the Sanghas contained only the Sravaks and Saindhavas, they did not comprehend the word of the acarya though he gave it.

During the time when the Guru from the eastern region of Nirvanasri found himself with the acarya, the Mahacarya stopping in a big bazar in Trilinga, while some hundred thousands showed him respect. There were many Bhiksus from the islands, who came back from a visit from Mahabodhi. They spoke badly about all the secret Tantras, and they refused to honour the Mahacarya. Now, there was a king in Trilinga, who held it necessary that many men, five thousand buffaloes, several thousands of birds, goats, sheep should be slaughtered as a sacrifice for Natha Vikata. In order to make the preparation, he gathered hundred thousands of the Tirthikas and the Brahmans. As all these living beings were bound, there came the acarya. It is incomprehensible by which way his magic-look was cast over all Brahmanas and Tirthikas and they became benumbed and stiff. Being astonished the king came there. Then the acarya spoke: ‘If you kill all these living beings you will die at once, but after the death you will be born again in hell. So set them free.' Now as soon as they were set free the acarya at once put his hand on his head and he was free from attacking; thereupon the people of the king became not less than the Yogis and were completely endowed with the Vidya.

Further was the Turuska king from the country of Canka. He went on the street near the place where the acarya sat. As he used many abusive language to the acarya and this was heard by one of his disciples, he gave out the curse: ‘You all be dumb.' And the king and his people became dumb on the very spot. Then they were frightfully afraid and prayingly applied themselves to the acarya. Then he said: ‘To testify the power of the Bauddhas, all without exception you can speak again.' And thus it happened.

Further, in Baranasi in Madhyadesa there was a Tirthika-Pandita Madhusudana Vasti who wanted to pass as a possessor of the Jnana. In the midst of a large congregation he sat on a high throne; there the acarya raised the fore-finger towards him and he fell down from the throne.

In the district of Mathura there was a man who was called Mukundavarti. Formerly this one was a little bit of a Bauddha-Yogi. Later he became a Tirthika-Yogi. He exorcised the Ahuthacandali and it was glorified by it. He brought it to finish as he had brought many people within his power. By the glances of exorcism he destroyed them. As once the acarya as a teacher with the disciples came to the city of Mathura, he met together Mukundavarti and his followers who also went there. As thereby innumerable people from the city had assembled, the watchword was: 'But we will once see the magic-experiments of the both.’ This Mukunda who practised the magic-art of mass-hypnosis, had found believing followers in the kings of the Tajiks, Hamehunbaca (Humayun Vadshah?) and his son Akbar. But this time on account of the power of contemplation of the acarya, he could not carry out any hypnosis. As soon as the acarya had seen him with the glances of exorcism, he became mad, ran here and there shouting ha! ha! For seven days he could not become conscious and owing to the prayers of the acarya he found himself normal again.

As the above-mentioned king of Bhandva died by this time, his son Balabhadra built before the door of the cavern, a big temple-cloister in which the acarya had lived from time to time, and he presented it to him. He made a gift to him again with five hundred houses for the temple-slaves and during the time when five hundred Yogis and Yoginis were assembled, Ganacakras in big circumferences were made by them, while the king supplied the necessary things during three months. Few disciples were there at that time, and their spiritual bonds were loosened. From the first greeting with the Guru from the south (Nirvanasri) this fifth assembly was also the last.

Then he as a teacher became accessible to all, and thus passed seven years. While his oldest and best disciples had no connection with him, his body was changed into rainbow colours and his Jnanakaya clasped the heaven.

As regards him there are differences of opinions in general between the Tibetans and the Indians. Now what concerns Tibet the opinion of those who critically work and give him the honourable title of a Siddha, would prove thereupon that he had acquired magical powers and the Karmacakri. Then the magic-power and clear insight (Abhijnas) of all sorts as well as, all possible Dharmapalas as protecting gods he had seen. His spirit had needed a little light, and it was sufficient for his good consideration over the Sampannakrama. And in India, though they confess that he had been a Siddha as far as he confined himself to the Siddha-signs, yet they deny that he possessed Karmasiddhi. Then his Siddhahood was confined to that much, that he had been a moderate Vidyadhara for the lower Siddhis, that he had been a pious Tantrika, but it is confessed that he was no Siddha.

But this great Acarya brought in fourfold forms his tasks to end magically: Only through the word what he said took place, through the four glances of exorcism, in the midst of little refined congregations astonishment, and wonder-signs appeared on their faces and that he (in the Ganacakra) by the power of magic created thither flesh-balls, liquids, brandy and blood and the fruits of the woods.
As he, therefore, appeared as the only guide of these things on the earth, they all praised him with the great name Srisattvanatha with the words: 'Arya has my teacher along with the Indians; three in all have heard the Dharma at the same time. Now it is sure that the Guru from the south (Nirvanasri) became the best Dharmaputra, so these especial teachers have received extended prophesies yet with the Mahacarya, the same with the acarya Gambhiramati and with the Mahelvari of all the Yoginis Dinakara; with these both had often got blessings and instructions. (Pp. 127- 148).

As regards the 'Driver of frights', it is doubtless that he was was one of the ten main disciples of the acarya. As now in a Sutra the development of history of this group of disciples is collected, therefore we shall mention him first.

In the country of Gujuratha Ghagha the intelligent son of a Ksatriya was born. He prosecuted the studies of Language, Dialectic with the Angas in the temple-cloister of Abhu. He was converted and received the name of Gambhiramati. He knew completely the religious texts of the Tripitakas. Then as a novice he came to the teacher at the age of nineteen years. When he became accomplished in the Tantras the Guru gave him the Abhiseka and the Upadesas. Two years later he raised himself on the sure ground of the Sampannakrama stage and he received all possible knowledge for the highest stage. In order to earn riches and honour the acarya acquired the Siddhi of 'seven miles-boot’ for immediate exorcism. Entrusted with the methods learnt by the Guru, he received all the Abhisekas and the Upadesas of his acarya. At first he saw the face of Avalokitesvara and of that Hayagriva, then that of Manjusrl and Yamantaka, thereafter of Hevajra and of Kurukulli. He made Mahakali completely his servant, and he received everything what he ordered from the Six great Yoginis. (P. 149).

As regards the Yogini Dinakara, in the city of Cambhadatta in the south, there was a young prince named Harirasmi of the family of Pisila. He had a sister who from her youth was very intelligent and rejoiced herself in serving virtues. After nine years, there appeared at the door a handsome bright Bhiksu to collect alms. As she felt pain, he (the Bhisku) like those who were in want, begged for alms, and then said: 'As I am not unhappy, you are suffering yourself. It is said that anybody in the circle of Sansara is bound to make mistakes, and it is also shown many possibilities of moral deficiencies of the Sansara.’ As she now prayed from him the means of the deliverance, she arrived directly at the main point of the Bodhisattva-conduct, and on the method to make ready the spirit of contemplation. As she comprehended it well and ten years have passed over it, she became the wife of a vassal prince of Ksatriya-blood of the country of Cavala, and for thirteen years she knew the aim and the sense of the Sansara. To her husband and the parents-in-law she always said words like the following: 'Why it is now then possible that I sit meditating on in my wide woods; let it be permitted!' And in order to bring her from this, she was put at the head of household affairs. ‘What for then to be a beggar where all things are staying in plenty at your commands?’ thus said the people of the house and the relatives. But she became an admirer of the people who went about a-begging. After it she showed herself as one crazed in mind, performed various asceticism, and put herself in a lonely place with a lady's maid. She overdid her former stupidities and separated herself from her husband. Man appointed time which was the fruit of the previous birth, lotus flowers and wheels (Cakras) came out in her hands and feet and thus as she was furnished with Laksanas, a prophesy came about her that when she could dwell, she would acquire Mahatmya. She heard that in a city of Marahata near Cavala dwelt the Mahacarya Santigupta. As soon as she heard his name, she felt a need for Samadhi and as soon as she saw his face, plunged into the complete Samadhi. During this time she had completed her twentieth year. Though a woman, she was of sharp intelligence, she knew the Candravyakarana complete, the Abhidhanas the medicine and Dialetic of all forms. Through the inclination coming from such age she retained the seven hundred strophes and three hundred strophes of the Prajnaparamita through the simple recitation of the verse of the compendium. She understood well when she was asked about the aims to which a Bhiksuni and to which a Upasiki arrived at. The acarya gave her the Abhisekas and the Upadesas. For seven years she heard in the presence of the Mahacarya the discourses on Vajrayana. By the Yoga, her power over the air became unparalleled. She could ascend up the sky for miles. She also acquired the four magical looks. Then from the mouth of the Guru came the prophesy: ‘From twenty years hence you will be equal to me.'

Once she went from Khagendra to the place called Ranganatha by magic-powers. There were two temples: one belonged to the Brahmanas and the other to the Bauddhas. There was a Mahesvara-Janghama famous for his exorcism of the Bhairava. He knew the magic-power of the exorcising glances and destroyed the Bauddha-Yogis. His name was Bhingadeva. As he directed his exorcising glance on the YoginI, it did not injure her, but on the other hand when she looked at him, he fell down and became breathless. When his health was restored again by a magic-glance, he became a believer in the religion of the Bauddhas.

Further, she met a Yogi named Ghamalavarma in Odivisa, who formerly could perform something, but later his vow was broken. He belied that he was a Siddha. By her magic-glance he got dysentery and vomited blood. Thus she destroyed the vow-breaker.

As soon as she wished she could see the faces of Sri-Heruka, the ten anger-gods and thirty-seven Vajrayoginis,
yet she did not attain the Siddhis of the highest kind.

This is thus the detailed news on acarya Santigupta and on his two main disciples. The third one was his Guru. From him he had acquired the grace to hear the Upadesas on the Vajrayana.

In India at first there had been hundred thousand sources which contained the knowledge of the Guhya-Tantras, but when Sri-Saraha appeared, they became comprehensible. The time till the death of king Dharmapala, there came a period when continually many Siddhas appeared, and the succession of the Siddhi followed without any interruption. Also, the succession of the Siddhas did not stop till the death of Abhayankara. In the time afterwards there came a change as there was no more activity amongst those who came later on. Further, as regards the long period, in which alone and without companions appeared the later Siddhas and there were only Jnanamitra and Onkaranatha; they brought great help to the teaching of Buddha. Eighty years after the passing of Onkaranatha, Santigupta yet acquired the Siddhis. When one ceased looking of the great or small advancement of especial kind that, after the time of appearances of innumerable or smaller number of the Bauddhas, this acarya Santigupta in a special, small or big advancement was equal only with Naro, and therefore had the highest rank.

Here closes from the history which is equal to a 'Mine of Precious Stone', the ninth chapter containing miscellaneous over a question that how the Inspirations have come down." (Pp. 127-153).

"In this book of seven Inspirations only a guiding-line for the blessing through the dealt out Siddhi is given, and only sixth chapter contain the main topic. One can experience in this writing the incomparable genealogy of the Gurus in the spheres of their subtle teachings, when I received the proposal to write on the endless redemption, only a part has been completed herewith, as I have not said about the redemption of many Tantra-Gurus. Here is written only on the basis of that which anywhere to be perceived from the histories prepared in India, and at that which is given in Tibet by the believing people, that was present from old times.

Now, elsewhere will be narrated other sorts of history of redemption in connection with the Mahayana-believers in India.


“If I have acquired reward by praising the Jatakas of the Gurus, many thereby the living beings, the incorporeal beings also became the Bauddhas. I and all families and all, who always are at the service of all Gurus of this succession, may comprehend the secret of the soul.” “There is present the wonderful path of the Vajradhara in seventh Inspiration, and a large number of his serving mankind in all worlds, and as this Yana of the Atman(-spirit) is costly the teaching also may be capable of being redeemed, and the three worlds be freed of its wants.

Blo-Idan Kun-dga rnam-rgyal, is the reviser, who has edited in rNam-rgyal rabtan neighbouring the temple-cloister dPal-sTag-hin-t’an the excellent work completed by Taranatha in his twenty-second year when he was the youngest servant of the order of his holy Lama, the work entitled the 'History Equal to a Jewel-mine'. That contains astonishingly wonderful Jatakas of seven Inspirations following one after another." (P. 153-154).
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Re: Freda Bedi Cont'd (#3)

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Part 4 of 4

APPENDIX I

Notes by A. Gruenwedel


Mountain: Compare: Pancasirsaparvata, Sriparvata, Ghantasaila, Devagiri, Khagendra, Dhinkota, Ghirnari, Umagiri, Phullahari, Kolamba, Heramba, I,loi.

Demons: Com: Amanusya, Raksasa, DakinI, Sura, Bhuta, Ahuthacandali, Vikata.

Fish: Com: Mina, Macchindra, Tilli, Kingara, Sisumara.

Flesh; Com: Beef offered through Dakini, pork flesh; human flesh. Compare Mahamansa, flesh delivered in monasteries, flesh cut off from living body. Com: Dhama, Dhuma.

Gods: Brahmanical: Uma, Hingalaksmi Uma, Candika, Visnu, Mahavisnu, Jagannatha, Somanatha, Siva, lsvara, Linga, Kalidevi, Devesvara, Mahesvara, Vairava, Yama, Vasundhara, Visvanatha.

Tantra-gods: Hevajra, Cakrasamvara, Candika, Vajravarahi, Vajrayogini, Bhattarika-Arya-Tara, Manjuvajra. Karmavajra, Hunkara, Marici, Mahamayuri, Jambhala, Srivajravairava, Hayagriva, Vajradhara, Vajrasattva, Heruka, Sri-Heruka, Kurukulli, Mahakala.

Heterodox Brahmans: Drunk brandy, Lui-pa derided the Brahmanas; Brahmanas who became Bauddhas: Saroha, Maitri, Kalavirupa, Mahapadmavajra, Krsnacari, Sridhara, Tilli, Naro, Jnanavajra, Vaidyapada; Brahmana-Tirthikas overcome by Dombi-Heruka, Naro was a Tirthika before.

Witches: Com: Dakini, Vajrayogini, Vajravarahi.

Further-India: Ra-Khan, Pu-Khan, Paigu-Dvipa, Dhanasri-Dvipa.

Caste: No difference between higher and lower castes; twelve castes. Com: Dombi, Candala-girls.

Cloisters: Vikramsila, Nalanda, Edapura, Abhu, Suvarna-dhvaja, Somapuri, Taksasila, Vajrasana, Otantapuri, Dharmankuraranya, Jagaddala, and Devikota.

Monk: Com; Bhiksu, Sravaka, Saindhava, Sangha, Hinayana, Pitaka, Tripitaka, Vinaya, Brahmana-bhiksu, Sramanera.

Statue: Com: Stone figure. Statue of sandal of Tara, Statue of Heruka, of copper, Silver statue of Heruka, of Somanatha, Avalokitesvara over it, of Avalokitesvara, of Visnus, of Manjusrl, of Uma, Statues of gods fetched, Statue of Candika.

Dance: Dombi-dances, dancing-girls of the gods; dancer and singer, mystic dance of the Tantrikas.

Temple: Nagas built temple, dedication of temple, Temple-priests. Heterodox temples: Jagannatha, Somanatha.

Mirror: Rock-mirror, Hell shown in mirror, mirror in Harem, of Antarabhava.

Transformation: In a jackal, in a horse. Com: Asvapada; in stone, in cats, statues transformed themselves in dust. Com; Gopicandra, water in a drink, Gazelle in a tiger, dog in a woman, Brahmanas and Brahmanis in witches, Vajrayogini in Candala-girl, Yoginis in bathing-hetaera, woman in a clock, son and daughter in thunderbolt and clock, heads of the Dakinis in sheep-heads, sesame in melting-butter.

Woman: As: Mudra, Sakti, Vidya, Yogini, Sakti as good, and as the Guru. Women for the function of a Yogi, woman stolen for Guru, Candali-woman to the Ganacakra, sandal-rubbing women as Padminl, Sakti of Manjusri. Com; Padmini, Hetaera, Dinakara, Tarika, Menaka, Guneru, Jatijala, Bhajaduru, Candraprabha, Laksmikara, Vilasyavajra, Cinta, Mekhala, Kanakhala, Sahajasiddhi-girls, Subhoga, Gangadhari, Padmavati or Logi, Jnanavati or Guni.

Magic: Magic-circle (Mandala) of Aryatara, of Vajravarahi, of Cakrasamvara, of Heruka, of Samvara and Hevajra, of Manjuvajra, of Manjuvajrasamaja, all Tantras, Naro's blood-mandala; magic-glances, four glances, magic-body. Com: Vajra burnt a goddess; magic-words, magic-formulae: Dharanis, a woman bound through Dharani, set aside jugglery of the heterodox persons, heterodox and Bauddha- magic, Dharanis of the Dakinis; of Guhya-Tantras, of Mahakala, of Kurukulli, of Mahamayuri, of Pitr- and Matr-Tantras, Matrkadharanis, mass-hypnosis by the heterodox Dharani, heterodox Dharani bring rain, magic-benediction of Nagarjuna and Udayana. Magic-texts; Tantra-magic which do not contradict the Pitakas, Tantra-handbooks, Tantra-commentaries, Tantras of the south, Vijegiri-Tantra, Dakini-Tantra, Vidya-Tantra, Tantras of the Mahakala, of Guhyasamaja, Guhya-Tantras, Tantras of Nagarjuna, of Lui-pa, of Maitri, of Dombi, of Laksmikara etc, of ludrabhuti and Padma, bad Dakini-Tantras, Tirthika-Tantras; Magic-powers, Magic-influence on wood, Magic-sleep, small Siddhis, great Siddhis; magician accomplished Tantrika-Siddha.

Mahasiddha: The names of the following Mahasiddhas are given in Grub t’ob (Tanjur Fol. of the Tantras, which are numbered there, are put down below; the names and legends sometimes differ): Lui-pa (1), Virupa (3), Dombi-pa Taranatha. Dombi-Heruka, (4), Savari-pa (5), Saraha-pa (6), Mina-pa (8), Goraksa (9), Tsanranga-pa (10), Vina-pa (11), Canti-pa (12), Tanti-pa (13), KLu-sgrub; Nagarjuna (16), Nag-po-spyod-pa, Krsnacari (IF), Karnari-pa (18), Thagana (19), Naro-pa (20), Tillo-pa: Tilli (22), Bhadra-pa (24), Kambhala: Kambala (30), Dinka-pa: Dinki (31), Bhande-pa (32), Kukkuri-pa (34), Dharma-pa (36), Indrabhuti (42), Kotali (44), Jalandhara-pa: Jalandhari (46), Ghanta-pa: Vajraghanta (52), Tsaluki-pa: Cilu? (54), Carpati-pa: Tsa-pa-ri-pa (64), Mekhala (66), Kanakhala (67), Dharika-pa; Darika (77), Laksmikara (82), Vyali-pa (84), Nirguna: Naguna? (57), Saroruha: Sagara, Sakara (74).

Lui'pa: Lui-pa is the Tibetan abbreviation of Indian Lui'pada. In the Grub t'ob the legend of Lui'pa is narrated in a different way; the reason why he ate fish-entrails is given there. Originally he was a prince. He had still the caste-pride remaining in him because when a Dakini gave him bad food, he threw it away. He recognized this hesitation and scruple to be hindrances to his Bodhi, therefore, he atoned with such bad food.

Virupa: The goddess Candika rescued him from the Ganas by absorption, who wanted to kill and consume him first out of a mass of human-sacrifices. Compare the similar situation with William Taylor: Oriental Manuscripts in the Government Library, Madras II, (1860, p. 887). According to Grub't'ob where he appears in No. 3. He first rescued a young Brahmana from the flesh-eating Dakinis thereby, as he gave him the blessing.

Bhanvadala: The name of the elephant of king Ramapala is also to be found in Sum-Pa-Khan I-Poh, p. 104.

Tilli: Regarding the appearance of Tilli as a dark-skinned man frying living fishes in the kitchen, it is enough to remember the well-known story in "Thousand and One Night."



Nagarjuna: Regarding the tree-leaves shoes of Nagarjuna it is to be remembered that Vararuci also possessed such shoes. Vide Translation of Taranatha by Schiefner, P. 55.

Chaurangi: Com: Mollesworth Marathi English Dictionary P. O Chaurangi and the words derived from it. It means as ‘a man who is bundled on a stool' as his hands and feet are cut off.
Com. Sanskrit Pitha, Sarpin and Jataka (Ed. Fausboell, VI, 4, 14, 5, 12); a parallel appearance is the 'Schameler' in 'Spielmanusepos' [minstrel epic] of the middle ages of Europe.

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And with this I punish my erring arm.

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-- Satyricon, directed by Federico Fellini


Jambala: A Yaksa.

Jalandhari: Com: Sarat Ch. Das: 'A Note on the Antiquity of Chittagong, Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, LXVII, 1898, No 1, P. 20ff quoting Sum-pa-khan-Po 1, 109, line 9 ff where it is said: 'Jalandhari or Balapada was born in the Sudra caste, in the western country of Sindhu, in a city which was called Nagara Thatha.'

Sarorupa: A Ksatriya and as Pandita who became the Purohita of a king.

INDEX

Abhayakara, 44, 79.
Abhiseka, 11, 12, 13, 16, 21, 22, 28,
33, 35, 37, 41, 49, 56, 62, 63,
66, 69, 71, 72, 76, 78.
Ajitanatha, 47.
Akarasidahi. 35.
Akshobhya, 42.
Alavajra, 17.
Amitavajra 19, 33.
Amitayu 9.
Amoghavajra, 46, 47.
Anangavajra, 19.
Anantamati, 72.
Arangabodhi, 72.
Aryadesa, 1, 3.
Aryadeva, 46.
Aryatara, 9, 10, 55.
Asitaghana, 13, 37, 61, 65.
Asvaghosa, 8.
Atisa, 36, 44, 46, 48.
Avadhuti, 26, 43, 49, 67.
Avalokitesvara, 15, 51, 76.

Balapada, 26.
Bhadali, 28.
Bhadrapada, 32, 33.
Bhandva, 71, 74.
Bhartahari, 25, 31.
Bhattarika-Tara, 62.
Bhusana, 42.
Bodhisattva, 11, 77.
Buddhaguptanatha, 9.
Buddhajnana, 41, 42.
Buddha jnanapada, 31, 43.
Buddhakirti. 45.
Buddhasrisanti, 43.
Buddhasrijnana, 40.
Bu.ston'rin-po-che, 31.

Cakrasambhara, 22, 34.
Candrakara, 70.
Candrakirti, 46.
Candika, 14. 15. 17, 71.
Candratilaka, 37.
Carpati, 55.
Cavala, 77.

Dasavala, 44, 51.
Dakini, 11, 13.
Dakinipatha, 14.
Darika, 11, 12.
Dharmabhadrasri, 44.
Dharmaksaghosa, 72.
Dharmamati, 43.
Dharmapala, 16, 40, 41, 43, 79.
Dharani (s), 9, 36, 40, 42, 48, 66.
Dhinkota, 10.
Dinakara, 72, 76.
Dipankara, 42.
Dohavajra, 9.
Durhari, 44.

Gambhiramatl, 69, 72, 75.
Gautama, 8.
Ghagha, 76.
Ghamalavarma, 76.
Ghantasalla, 10.
Golennatha, 60.
Gopicandra, 26, 28, 29, 31.
Goraksa (natha), 15, 29, 53, 59.
Guhyasiddhi, 19.
Gunamltra, 40.
Guneru, 40.
Guni, 11.

Harirasmi, 96.
Hayagriva, 51, 96.
Hemelavajra, 19.
Heruka, 19, 21, 22, 24, 33, 35, 41, 98.
Hetaera, 12, 16, 63, 68.
Hevajra. 20, 35, 38, 43, 53, 96.
Hunkara, 43.

Jalandhari, 16, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30,
31.
Jambala, 40.
Jatasamjaya, 10.
Jatijala, 40.
Jnanagupta, 30, 31, 52, 61.
Jnanamitra, 37, 63, 65, 66, 79.
Jnanasakti, 46.
Jnanavajra, 46.
Jnanavati, 11.

Kacapada, 24.
Kukkuti, 56.
Kalacakra, 31, 37, 48, 50,51.
Kalyananatha, 19.
Kamaru (Kamarupa), 36.
Kambala, 22, 23, 24.
Kanakhala, 33.
Karnari, 58, 59
Khatabhanga, 31.
Kusalibhadra, 11, 13, 16, 19, 33, 36.
Krisnacari, 17, 19, 27, 28, 31, 32, 33.
Krisnajala, 46.
Kstipati. 11.
Kusalanacha, 24, 33.
Kusali, 43.
Kurukulli, 9, 76.

Laksmikara, 21, 24.
Lilacandra, 24, 33.
Lilavajra, 40, 46.
Logi, 11.
Lui-pa (Luipada), 11.

Macchindra, 56, 57, 58.
Madhusndana Vasti, 73.
Madhyadesa, 8, 13, 15, 17, 35, 42,
60, 73.
Mahakala, 9, 54, 65.
Mahakali, 76.
Maharatnamati, 11.
Maharatnamuni, 11.
Mahamudrasiddhi, 12, 22, 24, 32,
42, 46, 55.
Mahapadmavajra, 19.
Mahamaya, 39
Mahala, 28.
Maitri, 12, 46.
Maitrigupta, 12.
Mahamayuri, 9.
Mahavisnu, 42.
Mahasrivajrasattva, 65.
Mahipala, 48.
Maitreya, 47.
Manjughosa, 47.
Manjusri, 40, 76.
Manjusrijnana, 36.
Manajusrimitra, 46.
Mansing, 71.
Marichi, 15.
Matrika, 23, 29, 30.
Mekhala, 33.
Menaka, 66.
Mina, 53, 57.
Mukundavarti, 73, 74.

Nagas, 9.
Nagarjuna, 9, 11, 46, 54.
Nago, 59. 60.
Nandapala, 13.
Natekana, 13.
Naro, 11, 13, 35, 46, 47, 49, 79.
Natha Vikata, 73.
Nirguna, 36.
Nirvanasri, 74.

Odivisa, 18, 21, 32, 53, 78.
Onkaranatha, 7, 61, 79.

Padma-byuri-gnas, 43, 48.
Padmakara, 42.

Padmavajra, 19, 43, 47.
Padmavati, 11.
Parahitaghosa, 72.
Pingala, 58, 59.
Pito, 49.
Prabhakara, 46.
Prabhavatman, 37.
Prajna, 22.
Prajnaiparamita, 40, 50, 78.
Prasantamitra, 42, 46.

Rahula, 9, 42, 46.
Radulabhadra, 8, 9.
Ranulavajra, 17.
Rampala, 13, 15, 50.
Ratnakara, 74.
Ratnakarasanti, 12, 43, 47.
Ratnarakista, 37.
Ratnakaragupta,
Ratnakirti, 45, 47, 61.
Ratnasalla, 43.
Ratavajra, 17.
rNlm-ma-pa, 43.
Ratigupta, 45, 52, 61, 64.

Sad-na-legs, 43.
Sagara, 12.
Sahajasiddhi, 23.
Sahajavajra, 13.
Samanta-Subha, 11.
Sambara, 11.
Samkara, 9.
Samghabhadra, 40.
Santigupta, 39, 52, 58, 61, 64, 65,
66, 67, 77, 78, 79.
Saroha, 11, 79.
Saroruha, 19.
Savari, 11, 12, 13.
Sravakas, Saindhava, 9.
She-yak, 17.
Silu, 46.
Srisena, 46.
Somanatha, 15.
Srimatigarbha, 21.
Sthavirakala, 8,
Sugata, 70.
Sukhakaragupta, 44, 51.
Sukhavati, 10.
Sumegha, 72.
Sunyata, 39. 66.
Sunyata-Samadhi, 13.

Tankadasa, 43.
Tathagata, 18.
Tara, 47.
Tarika, 71.
Tilli, 11, 35, 47.
Tilo, 11.
Tirthika, 12, 14.
Trilinga, 14.

Udayana, 10, 11, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23,
24, 40, 43, 46, 63.
Umapati, 70, 71.
Upadesa, 12, 13, 16, 21, 24, 26, 30,
33, 44, 51, 53. 54, 55, 56, 58,
60, 61, 63, 64, 69, 70, 71, 72,
76, 78, 79.
Upagupta, 8.
Uruvicha, 32.
Uttarakuru, 10.

Vairaginatha, 59.
Vajradhara, 7, 80.
Vairaghanta, 1, 22.
Vajrapani, 13, 18, 49.
Vajrasattva, 12.
Vajrasana, 36, 43, 44, 48, 50, 72.
Vajrasri, 44.
Vajravarahi, 11, 16.
Vajrayogini, 12, 49, 50, 60, 63, 65,
70, 78.
Vedananda, 72.
Vibhuticandra, 33, 37.
Vldharbha, 9.
Vldyadhara, 9, 11.
Vidyadhari, 13.
Vldyapada, 42, 43, 46.
Vilasyavaajra, 22.
Vimalasya, 70.
Vinapada, 21.
Viravandhu, 72.
Virupa, 14, 15, 16, 31, 60.
Vyali, 55.

Yaksas, 9, 10.
Yaksinis, 9.
Yamantaka, 37, 70, 76.
Yogini, 8, 13.

CORRECTIONS

Page / For / Read


9 / Arytara / Aryatara
10 / Arytara / Aryatara
11 / Guni / Guni
11 / Lui'pa (Luipada) / Lui-pa (Luipada)
11 / Darika / Darika
12 / Pandit / Pandita
12 / Naro / Naro
12 / Naro / Naro
13 / Orrisa / Orissa
16 / Virapa / Virupa
24 / Kucalanatha / Kusalanatha
31 / Tantra / Tantra
31 / Khatavaga / Khatavanga
38 / Gnana / Ghana
41 / Sravakas / Sravakas
49 / Odivica / Odivisa
53 / Odivica / Odivisa
63 / Hataera / Hetaera
75 / Ganacakra / Ganacakra
79 Sri-Saraha / Sri-Saroha
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Re: Freda Bedi Cont'd (#3)

Postby admin » Sun Jun 13, 2021 2:33 am

Rudrapatna Shamasastry
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 6/13/21

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Rudrapatna Shamasastry FRAS (1868–1944) was a Sanskrit scholar and librarian at the Oriental Research Institute Mysore. He re-discovered and published the Arthashastra, an ancient Indian treatise on statecraft, economic policy, and military strategy.

Early life

Shamasastry was born in 1868 in Rudrapatna, a village on the banks of the Kaveri river in what is today the state of Karnataka. His early education started in Rudrapatna. He later went to the Mysore Samskruta Patasala and obtained his Sanskrit Vidwat degree with high honours. In 1889, Madras University awarded him a BA degree. Impressed by his ability in classical Sanskrit, Sir Sheshadri Iyer, the then Dewan of Mysore Province, nurtured and helped Shamasastry, making it possible for him to join the Government Oriental Library [Oriental Research Institute] in Mysore as librarian. He "had mastered Vedas, Vedanga, classical Sanskrit, Prakrit, English, Kannada, German, French and other languages."[1]

The discovery

The Oriental Research Institute was established as the Mysore Oriental Library in 1891. It housed thousands of Sanskrit palm-leaf manuscripts. As librarian, Shamasastry examined these fragile manuscripts daily to determine and catalogue their contents.[1]

In 1905, Shamasastry discovered the Arthashastra among a heap of manuscripts.

Formerly known as the Oriental Library, the Oriental Research Institute (ORI) at Mysore, India, is a research institute which collects, exhibits, edits, and publishes rare manuscripts written in various scripts like Devanagari (Sanskrit), Brahmic (Kannada), Nandinagari (Sanskrit), Grantha, Malayalam, Tigalari, etc.

The Oriental Library was started in 1891 under the patronage of Maharaja Chamarajendra Wadiyar X... It was a part of the Department of Education until 1916, in which year it became part of the newly established University of Mysore. The Oriental Library was renamed as the Oriental Research Institute in 1943.

From the year 1893 to date the ORI has published nearly two hundred titles. The library features rare collections such as the Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics by James Hastings, A Vedic Concordance by Maurice Bloomfield, and critical editions of the Ramayana and Mahabharata. It was the first public library in Mysore city for research and editing of manuscripts. The prime focus was on Indology. The institute publishes an annual journal called Mysore Orientalist. Its most famous publications include Kautilya's Arthashastra, written in the 4th century BC, edited by Dr. R. Shamashastri, which brought international fame to the institute when published in 1909.

One day a man from Tanjore handed over a manuscript of Arthashastra written on dried palm leaves to Dr Rudrapatnam Shamashastry, the librarian of Mysore Government Oriental Library now ORI. Shamashastry's job was to look after the library's ancient manuscripts. He had never seen anything like these palm leaves before. Here was a book that would revolutionise the knowledge of India's great past. This palm leaf manuscript is preserved in the library, now named Oriental Research Institute. The pages of the book are filled with 1500-year-old Grantha script. It looks like as if they have been printed but the words have been inscribed by hand.
Other copies of Arthashastra were later discovered later in other parts of India.[1]

In this context, my mind remembering a day which was the His Excellency Krishnaraja Wodeyar went to Germany at the time of Dr. R. Shamashastry were working as a curator of Oriental Library, Mysore, The King sat in a meeting held in Germany and introduced himself as the King of Mysore State. Immediately a man stood up and asked, "Are you from our Dr. R. Shamashastry's Mysore?" Because the Arthashastra edited by him took a fame worldwide. The King wondered and came back to Mysore immediately to see Dr. R. Shamashastry, and also Dr. R. Shamashastry appointed as Asthana Vidwan. Sritattvanidhi, is a compilation of slokas by Krishnaraja Wodeyar III. Three edited manuscripts Navaratnamani-mahatmyam (a work on gemology), Tantrasara-sangraha (a work on sculptures and architecture), and Vaidashastra-dipika (an ayurvedic text), Rasa-kaumudi (on mercurial medicine) all of them with English and Kannada translation, are already in advanced stages of printing.

Oriental Research Institute

The ORI houses over 45,000 Palm leaf manuscript bundles and the 75,000 works on those leaves. The manuscripts are palm leaves cut to a standard size of 150 by 35 mm (5.9 by 1.4 in). Brittle palm leaves are sometimes softened by scrubbing a paste made of ragi and then used by the ancients for writing, similar to the use of papyrus in ancient Egypt. Manuscripts are organic materials that run the risk of decay and are prone to be destroyed by silverfish. To preserve them the ORI applies lemon grass oil on the manuscripts which acts like a pesticide. The lemon grass oil also injects natural fluidity into the brittle palm leaves and the hydrophobic nature of the oil keeps the manuscripts dry so that the text is not lost to decay due to humidity.

The conventional method followed at the ORI was to preserve manuscripts by capturing them in microfilm, which then necessitated the use of a microfilm reader for viewing or studying. Once the ORI has digitized the manuscripts, the text can be viewed and manipulated by a computer. Software is then used to put together disjointed pieces of manuscripts and to correct or fill in any missing text. In this manner, the manuscripts are restored and enhanced. The original palm leaf manuscripts are also on reference at the ORI for those interested.

-- Oriental Research Institute Mysore, by Wikipedia


He transcribed, edited and published the Sanskrit edition in 1909. He proceeded to translate it into English, publishing it in 1915.[2]

The manuscript was in the Early Grantha script. Other copies of the Arthashastra were discovered later in other parts of India.

It was one of the manuscripts in the library that had been handed over by 'a pandit of the Tanjore district' to the Oriental Library.[3]

4 Rao (1958: 1, 3) considers Shamasastry the discoverer of the Arthasastra: ‘With the discovery of Kautilya’s Artha Sastra by Dr. R. Shama Sastri in 1905, and its publication in 1914, much interest has been aroused in the history of ancient Indian political thought; [p. 1]. . . . The Artha Sastra ¯ . . . is a compendium and a commentary on all the sciences of Polity that were existing in the time of Kautilya. It is a guidance to kings. . . . Artha Sastra ¯ contains thirty-two paragraphical divisions [Books]. . . . with one hundred and fifty chapters, and the Sastra is an illustration of a scientific approach to problems of politics, satisfying all the requirements and criteria of an exact science’ [p. 3]. But going back to the preface of the standard work and translation by Shamasastry (1967: vi), it is revealed that the manuscript of Kautilya’s Arthasastra ¯ was actually discovered by a person described merely as ‘a Pandit of the Tanjore District’ who handed it over ‘to the Mysore Government Oriental Library’ of which Shamasastry was the librarian.

-- Review and Extension of Battacharyya's Modern Accounting Concepts in Kautilya's Arthasastra, by Richard Mattessich


Saraswathi Mahal Library, also called Thanjavur Maharaja Serfoji's Saraswathi Mahal Library is a library located in Thanjavur (Tanjore), Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the oldest libraries in Asia established during 16th century by Nayakas of Thanjavur and has on display a rare collection of Palm leaf manuscripts and paper written in Tamil and Sanskrit and a few other languages indigenous to India...

The Saraswathi Mahal library was started by Nayak Kings of Tanjavur as a Royal Library for the private intellectual enrichment of Kings and their family of Thanjavur (see Nayaks of Tanjore) who ruled from 1535 CE till 1676 CE. The Maratha rulers who captured Thanjavur in 1675 promoted local culture and further developed the Royal Palace Library until 1855. Most notable among the Maratha Kings was Serfoji II (1798–1832), who was an eminent scholar in many branches of learning and the arts.
Serfoji II

Thuljaji was succeeded by his teenage son Serfoji II in 1787. Soon afterwards, he was deposed by his uncle and regent Amarsingh who seized the throne for himself. With the help of the British, Serfoji II recovered the throne in 1798. A subsequent treaty forced him to hand over the reins of the kingdom to the British East India Company, becoming part of the Tanjore District (Madras Presidency) [Presidency of Fort St. George]. The district collectorate system was installed thereafter to manage the public revenues. Serfoji II was however left in control of the Fort and the surrounding areas. He reigned till 1832. His reign is noted for the literary, scientific and technological accomplishments of the Tanjore country.

-- Thanjavur Maratha kingdom [Tanjore], by Wikipedia

In his early age Sarfoji studied under the influence of the German Reverent Schwartz [Christian Friedrich Schwarz], and learned many languages including English, French, Italian and Latin. He enthusiastically took special interest in the enrichment of the Library, employing many Pandits to collect, buy and copy a vast number of works from all renowned Centres of Sanskrit learning in Northern India and other far-flung areas.

-- Saraswathi Mahal Library, by Wikipedia


Until this discovery, the Arthashastra was known only through references to it in works, including those by Dandin, Bana, Vishnusarma, Mallinathasuri, Megasthenes, as well as others.

The prelude section of the Panchatantra identifies an octogenarian Brahmin named Vishnusharma (IAST: Viṣṇuśarman) as its author. He is stated to be teaching the principles of good government to three princes of Amarasakti. It is unclear, states Patrick Olivelle, a professor of Sanskrit and Indian religions, if Vishnusharma was a real person or himself a literary invention. Some South Indian recensions of the text, as well as Southeast Asian versions of Panchatantra attribute the text to Vasubhaga, states Olivelle. Based on the content and mention of the same name in other texts dated to ancient and medieval era centuries, most scholars agree that Vishnusharma is a fictitious name.

-- Panchatantra, by Wikipedia


Megasthenes (/mɪˈɡæsθɪniːz/ mi-GAS-thi-neez; Ancient Greek: Μεγασθένης, c. 350BCE– c. 290 BCE) was an ancient Greek historian, diplomat and Indian ethnographer and explorer in the Hellenistic period. He described India in his book Indika, which is now lost, but has been partially reconstructed from literary fragments found in later authors. Megasthenes was the first person to describe ancient India, and for that reason he has been called "the father of Indian history".

Biography

While Megasthenes's account of India has survived in the later works, little is known about him as a person, except that he spent time at the court of Sibyrtius, who was a satrap of Arachosia under Antigonus I and then Seleucus I. and was an ambassador for Seleucid king Seleucus I Nicator and to the court of the Mauryan King Chandragupta Maurya in Pataliputra (modern Patna). Dating for his journey to the Mauryan court is uncertain.


-- Megasthenes, by Wikipedia


This discovery was "an epoch-making event in the history of the study of ancient Indian polity".[4] It altered the perception of ancient India and changed the course of history studies, notably the false belief of European scholars at the time that Indians learnt the art of administration from the Greeks.[1]

The book was translated into French, German and many other languages.[1]

Other work

He started his career as Librarian, Government Mysore Oriental Library. From 1912–1918, he worked as Principal at the Sri Chamarajendra Samskrita Maha Patashala in Bengaluru. In the year 1918, he returned to the Government Mysore Oriental library and joined as Curator and later Director of Archeological Researches in Mysore, where he would continue to work until his retirement in 1929. Apart from discovering Kautilya's Arthashastra, he pursued his research in the Vedic era and Vedic astronomy, making valuable contributions to Vedic studies. The following are among Shamasastry's works:

1. Vedangajyautishya – A Vedic Manual of Astronomy, 8th Century B.C.
2. Drapsa: The Vedic Cycle of Eclipses – a key to unlock the treasures of the Vedas.[5]
3. Eclipse-Cult in the Vedas, Bible, and Koran – A supplement to the Drapsa. It is this Cult that has given rise to epic and puranic tales in India. The mathematical aspect of eclipse-cycles is treated at great length and eclipse-tables have been appended. Dr. E. Abegg, Professor, University of Zurich, Switzerland, stated- 'I see with admiration that R Shamasatry, a thorough scholar in the difficult problems of Vedic Astronomy and Calendar, things of which European Indianists have very rarely a true Knowledge' [6]
4. Gavam Ayana- The Vedic Era- is an exposition of a forgotten sacrificial calendar of the Vedic poets and includes an account of the origin of the Yugas.[7]
5. Evolution of Indian Polity. This book is a compilation of Ten lectures delivered in Calcutta University. Sir Asutosh Mookerjee, Vice-chancellor of Calcutta University, personally invited Sastry to deliver these discourses. In this work, the ancient Indian administrative systems and various levels of administrative set-up are critically examined, on the basis of Vedas, legends, Arthashastra, Mahabharata, Jainagama works etc.[8]
6. The Origin of Devanagari Alphabets.[9]

All his works received great attention from many great Scholars around the world, particularly European Indianists.

R. Shamasastry also edited many Kannada Texts. Some of the important works he published are:

• Rudrabhaṭṭa's Jagannāthavijaya (1923)
• Nayasena's Dharmāmṛta (part I in 1924 & part II 1926)
• Lingannakavi's Keḷadinṛpavijaya (1921)
• Govindavaidya's Kaṇṭhīravanarasarajavijaya (1926)
• The Virāṭa Parvan of Kumāravyāsa's Karnataka Mahābhārata (1920)
• The Udyoga Parvan of Kumārayvāsa's Karnataka Mahābhārata (1922)

Awards

Shamasastry's work was acclaimed by Ashutosh Mukherjee, Rabindranath Tagore, and others. Shamasastry also met Mahatma Gandhi in 1927 at Nandi Hills.[2] The discovery brought international fame to the institute.[10]

Outside India, Shamasastry's discovery was hailed by Indologists and Orientalists such as Julius Jolly, Moriz Winternitz, F. W. Thomas, Paul Pelliot, Arthur Berriedale Keith, Sten Konow and others.[1] J. F. Fleet wrote of Shamasastry: "We are, and shall always remain, under a great obligation to him for a most important addition to our means of studying the general history of ancient India."[2]

Shamasastry was awarded a doctorate in 1919 from the Oriental University in Washington D.C. and in 1921 from Calcutta University.[11] He was made a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and won the Campbell Memorial gold medal.

Several titles were also conferred on him, including Arthashastra Visharada by the Maharaja of Mysore, Mahamahopadhyaya by the Government of India and Vidyalankara and Panditaraja by the Varanasi Sanskrit Mandali.[12]

Recognition in Germany

An often-told anecdote involves the visit of the then-king of Mysore, Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV, to Germany. When introduced as the king of Mysore, he was asked by the vice-chancellor of a German university whether he was from the Mysore of Shamasastry. On his return, the king honoured Shamasastry and said "In Mysore we are the Maharaja and you are our subject, but in Germany, you are the master and people recognise us by your name and fame."[1][2]

Later life

Shamasastry continued his research work on Indological problems.[1] He later became the curator of the institute.[2] As Director of Archaeology of Mysore State, he discovered many inscriptions on stone and copper plates.[1]

His house Asutosh, in the Chamundipuram locality of Mysore, was named after Sir Asutosh Mookerjee.[2]

Notes

1. Prof. AV Narasimha Murthy (21 June 2009), "R Shamasastry: Discoverer of Kautilya's Arthasastra", The Organiser
2. Sugata Srinivasaraju (27 July 2009), "Year of the Guru", Outlook India
3. Richard Mattessich (2000), The beginnings of accounting and accounting thought: accounting practice in the Middle East (8000 B.C. to 2000 B.C.) and accounting thought in India (300 B.C. and the Middle Ages), Taylor & Francis, p. 146, ISBN 978-0-8153-3445-3
4. Ram Sharan Sharma (2009), Aspects of political ideas and institutions in ancient India (4 ed.), Motilal Banarsidass Publ., p. 4, ISBN 978-81-208-0827-0
5. R. Shamasastry (1938), Drapsa: The Vedic Cycle of Eclipses : a Key to Unlock the Treasures of the Vedas, Sri Panchacharya Electric Press
6. R. Shamasastry (1940), Eclipse-cult in the Vedas, Bible and Koran: A Supplement to the "Drapsa", Sri Panchacharya Electric Press
7. R. Shamasastry (1908), Gavam Ayana the Vedic Era, R. Shamasastry, 1908
8. R. (Rudrapatna) Shama Sastri (2009), Evolution of Indian Polity, HardPress, 2012, ISBN 9781290797320
9. R. (Rudrapatna) Shama Sastri (2009), The Origin of the Devanagari Alphabets, Bharati-Prakashan, 1973, ISBN 9781290797320
10. A monumental heritage, The Hindu, 27 October 2001.
11. "Annual Convocation". University of Calcutta. Archived from the original on 28 May 2012.
12. "Annual Convocation". Karnataka Samskruta University.

External links

• Texts from Wikisource
• Data from Wikidata
• Text of 1915 Shamasastry translation
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