Newman Vajrayana Deities in an Illustrated Manuscript

8/14/2019 Newman Vajrayana Deities in an Illustrated Manuscript

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THE JOURNALOF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF

BUDDHIST STUDIES

E D I T O R - I N - C H I E FRoger Jackson

Dept. of ReligionCarleton College

Northfield,MN 55057USA

E D I T O R SPeter N. Gregory

University of IllinoisUrbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA

Alexander W. MacdonaldUniversity de Paris X

Nanterre, FranceSteven Collins

Concordia UniversityMontreal, Canada

Ernst SteinkellnerUniversity of Vienna

Wien, AustriaJikido Takasaki

University ofTokyoTokyo,Japan

Robert ThurmanColumbia University

NewYork, NewYork,USA

Volume 13 1990 Number 2


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C O N T E N T S

I. ARTICLES1. A Lajja Gau rl in a Bud dhist C ontex t at Au ranga badby RobertL. Brown 12. Sa-skya Pan dita the Polemicist : A ncien t D eb ate sand Modern Interpretations byDavid Jackson 173 . Vajrayana D eities in an Il lustrated IndianM anu script of theAstasahasrika-prajhaparamitabyJohn Newman 1174. T h e Mantra Om mani-padmehum in an Early

Tibetan Grammatical TreatisebyP C Verhagen 133

II . B O O K R E V I E W S1. BuddhismTransformed:Religious Change in SriLanka,

by Richard Gombrich andGananath Obeyesekere (Vijitha Rajapakse) 139

2. The Emptinessof Em ptiness:An Introduction to EarlyIndian Madhyamika,by C. W. Huntington, Jr.,with G eshe Namgyal W angchen(Jose Ignacio Cabezon) 152

I I I . N O T E S A N D N E W S1. Notice ofThe Buddhist Forum(Roger Jackson)

E RRAT AL I S T O F C O N T R I B U T O R S

163

164165


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Vajrayana Dei t ies in an I l lus t ra ted IndianM an us c r ip t o f t heAftasdhasrikd-prajnapdramitd

byJohn Newman

Among the t reasu res con ta ined in Orientalia Iosephi TucciMem oriae D icata the thr ee volu m e collection of essays in ho no rof the la te Professor Giuseppe Tuccia brief ar t ic le bySadash iv Gorakshkar and Ka lpana Desa i dese rves the spec ia la t ten t ion of s tude nts of In di an Vajrayana B ud dh ism and i ts a r th is tory . Ent i t led An I l lus t ra te d M an us cr ip t ofA shtasdhasrikdPrajndpdramitd in the Asia t ic Socie ty of B om ba y (G ora ksh karand Desai 1987), the art ic le describes and discusses Asiat icSociety Ace. N o. 210, an d co nta ins ten bla ck- an d-w hite platesreproducing the manuscr ip t ' s e ighteen i l lus t ra t ions . No information is given about the Society 's acquisi t ion of the manuscr ip t , bu t i t u l t imate ly or ig ina ted in eas tern India a round theend of the 12th century: i t was produced srimad-govindapdla-devasyatitardjyasamvat39 i.e., in th e 39th ye ar sub seq uen t tothe be gin nin g of the defun ct reign of the Pa la king Go vin-dapala (rg. ca . 1161-65). 'This brief ar t ic le wil l not a t tempt to address al l of theissues raised by the manuscript and i ts i l lustrat ions, and wewill only be directly concerned with s ix of the eighteen i l lustrat ions . T h e eightee n i l lustrat ion s app ea r on the f irst two (f. 1re v .- 2 obv.) , m id dl e two (f. 106 rev .-10 7 obv.) and the last tw o(f. 221 rev .-2 22 obv.) folios (G ora ks hk ar an d D esai1987:562). The six we will discuss are on folios 106 rev. and 107obv., each of wh ich co nta in s thr ee i l lus t ra t ions . In o ther wo rds ,w hen folio 106 is turn ed we enc ou nte r tw o sets of thre e i l lustrat ions , one set above the other. The illustrations on 106 rev.de pic t m ale deit ies; those on 107 obv. po rtra y female deit ies .Upon c loser examinat ion i t becomes c lear tha t we are dea l ingwith three divine couples: a male deity on the viewer's left of

117


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118 JIAB S VOL. 13 NO . 2106 rev. above his female counterpart on the left of 107 obv., amale in the center of 106 rev. above his female counterpart inthe center of 107 obv., etc.Table A indicates the locations of the i l lustrat ions of thesesix f igures and their ident i f icat ions as proposed by Gorakshkaran d D esai (1987:563). Table B prop oses som e ref inements an dalternative identif ications that wil l be discussed below.

Folio 106 rev. 1.:Dvibhuja-SambaraT his form of S am b ar a is descr ib ed , for exam ple , in verses 4 - 7of theDvibhuja-sambaropadesa contained in theSadhanamdla:*

(v. 4) [Thesddhaka] should assume the form {dhdrayet [ofVaj-radaka] with [a diadem of] skulls placed at his forehead and ahalf-moon at his crown. He has the six mudrd,A a garland ofheads, the crossed-yq/ra [on hishead] ,and three eyes. (v. 5) Hisfeet are placed in the alidha stance.' He is surrounded by thesyllables of the universe, and mounted on Kalaratri togetherwith Bhairava. He is clad in a tiger skin, (v. 6) with Aksobhyaat his crest. He is dark blue [read krsnoforkubjo], endowed witha vajraand bell, and hair in twisted locks. T h at hero [isembraced by] Vajravarahi, who holds avajraand a skull full ofblood, (v. 7) She has akhatvdhga and amekhald. She is red, hasthree eyes, a garland of heads, and the fivemudrd? Her hair isfree-flowing; she is naked, and has a Buddha at her crest.{Sddhanamdla #255; 504.1-8; Bhattacharyya 1958:160-161; cf.deMallmann 1975:50, 187-189)/ '

T h e ma jo r d i sc repan cy be tween the m an usc r ip t i ll u s tr a t ion and the sddhana de sc rip tion is th at the i l lustra ted f igures tands in pratyalldha whereas the sddhanaprescr ibes alidha.1 Inal l o ther respects they are remarkably s imilar .8

Folio 107 obv. 1.: VajravarahiT h is form of V ajrav arah i is de scr ib ed, e .g . , in theVa jravdrdhi-sddhana of A dvay avajra :[The sddhaka]should think of himself as B hagava ti Vajravarahi, [red] like a pomegranate flower, with two arms. Sheappears to menace with thevajra in her right hand; she holds askullcup and khatvdhga in her left. She has a single face and


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VAJRAYANA DEITIES 119Table A

FOLIOPLATE

I.D.

106 rev. 1.Va

Vajrapani

106rev. c.Vb

Manjusri

106rev. r.Via

Nairatmya

FOLIO

PLATE

I .D.

107 obv. 1.

VU

SarvabuddhaDakini(Na romkha-spyod-ma) (sic)

107 obv. c.

VIL2

Female deitywiththesameattributesasManjusrI

107 obv. r.

VII*

Femalecounter-partofNairatmya

TableBFOLIO

I .D.

106 rev. 1.

Dvibhuja-Sambara

106 rev. c.

Pindikrama-Aksobhya

106rev. r.

Trailokyaksepa-Heruka/Hevajra

FOLIO

I .D.

107obv. 1.

Vajravarahl

107 obv. c.

Sparsavajra

107 obv. r.

Nairatmya


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120 JIABS V OL. 13 NO . 2three eyes; her hair is free-flowing. She is marked with the sixmudrd,and is naked. She consists of the five gnoses, and has thenature of connate joy. Standing in pratyalidha, she treads onBhairava and Kalaratri . Her body is ornamented with a garland of moist heads. She drinks a stream of blood.(Sddhanamala#217, 425.5-11; Bhattacharyya 1958:218; cf.Samvarodaya 13.22-24; de Mallmann 1975:77-79, 425-429,431-433) .

Again, the s ingle major discrepancy between the f igureand the sadhana de scr ip t ion is tha t the i r s tan ce s seem to beinver t ed .9 In the plate the khatvdhga is bare ly vis ible, bu t o neca n easi ly dis ce rn a s tr ea m of blood f lowing from the sk ullc upto V ajrav ara hi ' s l ips . H er h ai r fans out be hin d her , an d she isclad only in amekhaldFolios 106 rev. c. & 107 ob v. c :PindTkrama-Aksobhya a n dSparsavajra

These f igures are bes t t reated together . Iconographical ly theyare v ir tu al ly ide ntic al : on ly the bre as ts of th e f igure in 107 obv.c. distinguish it from the male in 106 rev. c.11T he se de i t ies a redes c r ibed i n Nagar juna ' s Pindikrama-sadhana vv. 27 & 30, 5 3 -54,107-110:madhyamandalake dhyayad atmanam mudraya yutam /trimukharn sadbhujakaram indran llasam apra bh am / / (27)sthitaiva sparsavajra tu vajra sattva sam ayu ta / (30cd)aksobhy anupravesen a trimu kharn sadbhujojjvalam /indranllaprabham dlptarn vajrasattvam vibhavayet / / (53)vajram cakram tatha padmam savyahastesu bhavayet /ghantam ratnam tatha khadgam vamahastesu bhavayet / / (54)svamantraksaranispannam tr ivajradhisthi tasvakam /padmamadhye tu nispadya dvesavajro bhavet punah // (107)vajrad hrgm antran ispann am pasyed aksobhyavajr inarn /jatamukutadharam natham aksobhyakrtasekharam / / (108)nrpavar takasamkasam krsnaraktas i tananam /sarvalahkarasampurnarn sadbhujarn tu vibhavayet / / (109)vajram cakram tatha padmam savyahastesu dharayet /ghantam cintamanim khadgam tasya vamesu bhavayet // (110)


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VAJRAYANA DEITIES 121(v. 27) [The sddhaka] should think of himself in the middlemandala, joined with [his] mudrd, in a three-faced, six-armedform having the radiance of a sapphire, (v. 30cd) ...and Spar-

savajra sits join ed with Vajrasattva . (v. 53) W ith the en tran ceof Aksobhya [into himself, the sddhaka] should imagine [himself] as Vajrasattva, three-faced, radiating six arms, blazingwith the radiance of a sapphire, (v. 54) He should imagine avajra, wheel, and lotus in his right hands, and a bell, jewel, andsword in his left hands, (v. 107) Having effected his completionof themantra syllables, and being blessed as the threevajras inthe middle of the lotus, [thesddhaka] should become Dvesava-jr a aga in, (v. 108) He should see Aksobhyavajrin produc edfrom the mantra vajradhrk. He should imagine [himselfas] thelord bearing twisted locks of hair and a diadem, with a crestformed by Aksobhya, (v. 109) resembling a king, with darkblue, red, and white faces, fully endowed with all ornaments,and six-armed, (v. 110) He should hold avajra, wheel, and lotusin his right hands, and imagine a bell, wishing-gem, and swordin his left hands.H ere V ajrasa t tva , Dv esavajra , an d Ak sobhyavajr in a re a l lna m es or ep i the ts of th is form of A ksob hya . T hi s des cr ip t io nfits the figure in 106 rev. c. precisely. We can glean additionalde ta i ls abo ut th is d iv in i ty f rom the Pinc l ik rarnok ta-aksob hya-m a n d a l a of A b h a y a k a r a g u p t a 'sNispannayogdvalT:

In the middle of thekutdgdra is Aksobhya: dark blue, wrathful,[left] face white, the right red, radiating a kula [i.e.,vajra],wheel, and lotus with his right hands, and a bell, wishing-gem,and sword with his left, embraced by Sparsavajra in his ownlikeness. {Nispannayogdvali 5.3-4; cf. English precis p. 35; seealso de M allm ann 1975:43,91-93 ;351-353).,2

Folios 106 rev. r. & 107 obv. r.:Trailokydksepa-HerukaIHevajra a n d NairdtmydAgain the male and female f igures depicted in these i l lustrat ions are vir tually identical: only the breasts of the female and,p er h ap s , the t rea tm en t of the faces serves to d is t ing uish the m .T hi s form of H e ru k a /H e v a jr a is ca l led Tra i lok yakse pa (cf.Hevajra I . i i .7 , I . i i i .1-16; Sadhanamdld 474.1, 476.16; Nispannayogdvali 1 4 .4 -7 ; B h a t t a c h a ry y a 1935; Bh a t t a c h a ry y a1958:157; de M a ll m a n n 1975:46, 48 , 182 -190, 380).


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122 JIABS V OL. 13 NO. 2Tra i lok yak sep a is desc r ibed in the Samksipta-dvibhuja-heruka-sddhana vv. 3-6:

(v. 3) [The sddhaka] should imagine himself as [Heruka],standing on a corpse in theardhaparyahka stance, well-clad in ahuman skin, his body smeared with ashes. He flourishes avajrain his right [hand], (v. 4) has akhatvahga with a waving banner[on his left arm], and a skullcup full of blood in his left [hand].He has a delightful necklace m ade from a ga rlan d of fifty he ads.(v. 5) He slightly bares his fangs, his eyes are red, he frolics, hishair is tawny an d stand s erect on his head. He has an Aksobhyadiadem, earrings, (v. 6) and he is decorated with bone ornaments. His head [is crowned] with five skulls. He bestowsBuddhahood, and protects the world from the Maras.{Sadhanamdld#2M, 473.10-17; Bha ttac ha ryy a 1958: 155-156).'3

N aira tm ya is descr ibed in theKevala-nairdtmyd-sddhana:Nairatmya stands dancing inardhaparyahka on the heart of a

corpse on a moon. She is dark blue, with one face, tawny hairflowing upward, an Aksobhya diadem, bared fangs, and a lolling tongue. She bears a cleaver [kartri]1* in her right [hand],and a skull andkhatvahga in her left [hand and on her left arm].She has three red, round eyes, and is adorned with the fivemudrar {Sadhanamala #230, 451.2-6; cf.Hevajra I.viii.18-19; deM al lm an n 1975:47, 271-272).''** * *

H av ing es tabl ished the ident i t ies of these six dei t ies , we cancons ider them and the i r iconographic conf igura t ion in moregenera l te rms . F i r s t , these a re worsh ipped de i t ies (istadevatd)ofth ree o f the mos t impor tan t anuttarayogatantra t rad i t ions : theS a m b a r a ( o r C a k r a s a m v a r a ) , G u h y a s a m a j a , a n d H e v a jr a tan-tras. All three of these tantrasare he ad ed by Ak sobh ya, chief ofthe vajrakula, bu t the G uh ya sa m aj a is c lass if ied as an updyatantra, a tantratha t e m ph as iz es the p rodu c t ion of themdyddeha,w h e r e a s t h e S a m b a r a a n d H e v a j r a tantras are the two m ai nm e m b e r s o f t h eprajhd tan t ra c lass tha t em ph as iz es the rea l iza tion of theprabhdsvara.^T h e Pindikrama-sddhana of Ary a Na ga r ju na teaches th eutpattikrama sddhanao f the A ry a t r ad i t ion o f G uh ya sam a ja p ra c -


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VAJRAYANA DEITIES 23t ice and exegesis . I t looks back to the explanations of theGuhyasamdja-tantrafound in the Vajramdld, a G u h y a s a m a j a vya-khyd-tantra (cf. Pindikrama-sddhana 230) . T hu s t he m an us c r ip ti l lus t rat ions of A ksob hy a an d Sp arsav aj ra de pic t a form ofG u h y a s a m a j a t h a t a sddhaka vi sual izes an d beco m es thro ug hthe Ary a t r ad i ti on p r ac t i ce of t he G uh ya s am aja utpattikrama.

Even a cu r s o r y exam ina t i on o f t he C ak r a s a m va r a andHeva j r a tantrasreveals tha t these two trad it io ns a re very closelyrelated.17 F ur the r s t udy may s how tha t Bha t t acharyya wasessen tial ly co rrect in his claim th at H e ru k a in no way differsfrom the famous Bu ddh is t de i ty H ev aj ra (B ha t tac ha ryy a1935:23); S a m b a r a . . . is only an oth er form of H eva j ra (Bhat t ach ary ya 1958:160) . T h e m an us cr ip t i l lus t ra t ions of thesediv in i ti es r epresen t sampannakramaform s.

I f we assu m e the six i l lus t rat ions as a gr ou p dep ict a h ierar chy we can hy po thet ica l ly rea d the tex t of this conf igurat ionas follows: In the cen ter is A ksob hy a an d h is con sor t Spa rsava j ra represent ing the utpattikrama of updyatantra. To their r ighta re S a m b a r a a n d V a jr a v ar a h i o f t h e C a k r a s a m v a r a tantra, andto thei r left are Tra i loky aks ep a an d N air atm ya of the He vajratantra these two pairs represent the sampannakrama ofprajndtantra. In other words , Aksobhya, the lord of the vajrakula, isflanked by his pro ge ny . If we follow this l ine of re as o ni ng on es tep fur ther , we can con jecture tha t the au tho r 1 8 of thisi conograph i c s cheme imag ined updya tantrain so m e sen se giving bi r th to prajnd tantra, s imi lar to the way the utpattikramagives bir th to thesampannakrama.

In this note we wil l not at tempt to discuss the role theseand s imi lar images played in Indian Vajrayana Buddhis t cul tprac t i ce . Al though grea t s t r ides have been made in the i conogr ap hi c an d s tyl i st ic cate go r izat ion of Va jrayana icons , thes tudy of thei r rel igious symbol ism and cul tural context lags iarbehind. Among the ques t ions tha t need to be addressed wem igh t pose the fol lowing: To w ha t exte nt is Va jrayana b u d dhism indebted to the c lass ica l ndtyasdstrat radi t ion? 1h at is,what does i t mean that erot ic blood-dr inking dei t ies such asS a m ba ra and Heva j r a a r e endow ed wi th t he n ine rasasofndtyar (Se e, e.g. , Samvarodaya 13.22; Hevajra I I .v .26; Nispan-nayogdvali2 0 .4 - 5 , 26 .9 . F or t he Gu hya s am aja ^guhyasamajap.29.17 and vv.10.13, 12.55; Pradi poddy otana 17, 90 , 9.5, m ;


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124 J I A B S V O L . 13 N O . 2W ay m an 1977:326-328 . ) An ear l ie r gen era t ion of W esternscho lars reac ted to the im age ry of V aj rayana B ud dh ism wi thhorror and d isgust . We should consider the poss ib i l i ty tha t theInd ian Buddh i s t s who p rac t i ced these t each ings had a moresoph is t ica ted aes the t ic appr ec ia t ion of the de i ties they cre a tedand s t rove to become. Indeed , as the s tudy of Vaj rayanaBuddh i sm p rogresses i t i s becoming eve ry more apparen t t ha twe must examine the re la t ionsh ip be tween aes thes is and gnosisth at lies a t the fou nda t ion of this m yste ry t ra di t io n.Gorakshkar and Desa i a re to be congra tu la ted for d i scovering an d pu bl is hin g these f ine rep rese ntat iv es of the onc ef lour ish ing t rad i t io n of In d ia n V aj rayana Bu ddh is t pa in t in g .These manusc r ip t i l l u s t ra t ions number among the few su rv iv ing Indian pa in ted images ofanuttarayogatantradeities.19As suchthe i r va lue to the s tudy of V aj rayana Bu ddh is t a r t h i s tory canhard ly be overes t imated . We hope these pa in t ings wi l l bereproduced again in the h igh reso lu t ion co lor en largementsthat are a necessary condi t ion for thorough study of their s tyl ist ic an d icon og rap hic conten t .N O TESThe author and editor are grateful to the Isti tuto Italiano per i l Medio cdEstrcmo Oriente for the photographs reproduced below, and to ProfessorsSadashiv Gorakshkar and Kalpana Desai , and the Asiat ic Society, Bombay, forpermission to reproduce them.

1. T he Sa nskr it is given following G ora ksh ka r and D esai (1987:562); afew of the aksaras and numbers in Plate la (which contains the colophon) arcdifficult to read. G ovin dap ala's reg nal period is given acc ord ing to D.C . Sirc ar(1977:968). Note that Asiatic Society of Bengal MS No. G.9989A is dated Gov-indap ala 18, which would extend Gov ind ap ala s reign (S araswa ti1977:LXXV).

2. T h i s sadhanais a sc ribed to M ah ap and i t a Ra tnaka ragu p ta in t hecolophon of theSddhanamaldtext , but a some wha t s horte r version is at t r ibutedto *SrI V ajra gh ant a (dPal rD o rje dri l bu) in the Tanjur(Pe king 2155; Toh.1438). I suspect Vajraghanta composed the basic sadhana, R a t n a k a r a g u p t aproduced a new redact ion, and the lat ter was then credi ted with composi t ionof the text by the textual tradition of theSddhanamald.

3. O n the sixmudrdsee Bhattacharyya (1935:24; 1958:438-439).4. Alidha and pratydlidha are tw o postur es use d in dhanurveda, ndiya,a n dmost importan t fo r our purposesiconography . These te rms havecreated confusion among students of Indian iconography, and i t is perhapsw orth w hile to review the issue. All agre e tha t both s tanc es entail one leg beingbent at the knee and the other held straight, but scholars have arrived at contrary conclusions as to which knee is bent in a particular stance (sec Harle


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V A J R A Y A N A D E I T I E S 1251971:10; cf. Bh at ta ch ar yy a 1958:432). T hi s prob lem is not new. Agnipurdna249.13 (treating dhanurveda clearly prescribes the left knee bent inpratyalidha,which is the invers ion (viparyasta)of th ealidha stance de scribe d in 249.12:

etad eva viparyyastam pratydlidkam Hi smrtamItiryyagbhuto bhavedvdmo daksino'p ibhavedrjuh 11 (249.13)

However, Ndtyasdstra 10.70cd-71ab (descr ibing ndlya stances) jus t as clearlyprescr ibes the opp osi te :

kuncitam daksinamkrtvdvdmampddamprasdrya ca11 (10.70cd)dlidhaparivartastu pratydlidkam itismrtamI 10.71ab)

In Ndtyasdstra 10 .67cd-68ab alidhais describe d as stretch ing the right leg outfrom the previously described mandala stance. [Note: Ndtyasdstra 10.68dprescr ibes alidha to depict vira and raudrabehav ior.] Th is obviously createsdifficulties for scholars attempting to identify images based on these stances.Fortun ately, for Vajrayana Bud dhist ima ges we are given som e help by the concise Tibetan glosses contained in the tantric terminology section of theMahdvyutpatti(#4 26 6 & 4267) :

dlidham: g.yas brkyang ba, r ight extend ed ; pratyalidham: g.yon brkyang ba,left extended.

In this essay we will follow the Ndtyasdstraand the Mahdvyutpattieven tho ugh ,as we will see, this creates certain problems. Abhayakaragupta 's Vajrdvali(f. 2 5 -26), discussing the stances portray ed in Vajrayan a iconograph y, agrees with theNdtyasdstraand the Mahdvyutpattiin its des crip tion of dlida and pratydlida.See7 ^ 9 ( 1 9 9 0 ) 7 2 .

5. For the fivemudrdse e Hevajra I.iii.13-14, I I .v .3 , I I .v i .1 -4 .6. My transla tion is indeb ted to the pione ering work of Benoytosh Bha t

tacharyya .7. See note 4. A Ti be tan sch olar, Gen Losan g Nam gya l, informs me that

V ajra gh anta wrote that both stance s are used, and th at this is connec ted w iththe relationship between the prajnda nd updya modes ofanultarayoga tantr ic practice. Note also that all the In dia n stelae and metal s culptu res of the 12-armedform of Sambara listed below are standing in alidha,i.e., left leg be nt , rig ht legextended.

8 . An other manus cript of the Astasdhasrikd,dated Go vinda pala 18, conta ins a s imilar i l lus tra t ion of what ap pea rs to be Dv ibhu ja-Sa mb ara s tand ingin pratydlidha (Sa rasw ati 1977:XCV, fig. 27 3). For a closely related six-a rm edform of Sa m ba ra (called H er uk a in the text) see Samvarodaya 13.15-22. Atwelve-arm ed form is described in the Nispannayogdvalts S a m b a r a m a n d a l a26 .3 -9 (cf. B hat tac har yy a 1958:161-162). Several Ind ian stelae of this twelve-armed form have been found: (1) Ratnagiri , Cuttack Dt. , Orissa (Chanda1930:12, plate IV fig. 3; Mitra 1960:43-45, plate I; Mitra 1981:429-430, plateC C C X X V I I A; Benisti 1981:116-117, fig. 139). (2) Cuttack Dt. [alm ost identical to (1)] (Banerji 1931:plate facing 409). (3) North Bengal (M aju m da r1937:80, plate X X IV,c;cf. M itr a 1960:46; M itra 1981:430, n.4 ). Several In dia nmetal sculptures of this form have also been found: (1) Patharghata, BhagalpurDt. , Bihar (Banerj i 1933:93, p la te X X X V II (c ) ; M itra 1960:45-46, p la tes I I &I I I ; H un tin gt on 1984:153, fig. 195). (2) N orth eas t In dia (U hli g 1981:140, fig.37) . (3) No rthea st I ndia [with con sort] (U hlig 1981:138, fig. 35). (4) K ash m ir(Pal 1975:173, fig. 64 a & 6 4b ; U hl ig 1981:120, fig. 16).


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126 J I A B S V O L . 13 N O . 29. See notes 4 & 7. As with S am b ar a ab ove, the seeming inversion of the

stan ce is pu zzlin g. T h e figure in folio 107 obv. I. is alm ost ide ntica l to the Na rom kh a' spyod form of rD o rje rnal 'byor m a (Nado dakinl-Vajrayog inf) (cf.Chandra, L. 1976:1333), which, to my knowledge, is only depicted in the alidhastan ce. T he only major icon og rap hic difference between the Vajrav arahl of theil lustration and sddhana and NadodakinJ is that the former wields a vajra in herright hand whereas the latter holds a cleaver.

10. An iconographica l ly ident ica l f igure appears in another Indianmanuscr ipt of the Astasahasrika(Pal 1988: 87, 89 , fig. 2 8a ). A stone stele of Vajrava rahl was found in C hau du ar , Oriss a : a two-arm ed goddess (14- 3/4 by 8 )s tanding in a rcher ' s a t t i tude [viz . alidha]with vajra in her r ight hand and a cup(up pe r half of a hu m an skull) held up by her left h an d (C ha n da 1930:22, plateV I I I , f ig. 1). A v er y sim ilar s tele was found in Biha r (Saras wa ti 1977:LX I, f ig.174).

11. In fact the treatm ent of the faces also ap pe ars to disting uish m ale andfemale, but the smallness of the plates makes it difficult to be certain.

12. Closer exa m inati on of a small s tone imag e found at Bod h Gaya (orNalanda?) may lead to i ts identif ication as Pindikrama-Aksobhya and Spar-savajra in the yuganaddha pose (Huntington 1984:101, f ig. I l l ; cf . Saraswati1977:LXII,f ig. 175).

13. Tra i lokyaksepa a lso app ears in ano ther In dian m anu scr ip t of theAstasahasrika (Pal 1988:85, pi. 18). Five stone stelae of this form of Heruka havebeen discovered: (1) Subhapur , Tipperah Dt . , Eas t Bengal (Sddhanamdld II .clxi-clxii, plate X ; Bh attasa li 1929 :35-37, plate X I I ; La d 1956:317, f ig. 37; H un tingto n 1984:172 -173, f ig. 215). (2) R atn agir i (C ha nd a 1930:12, plate V, f ig. 2;M itra 1981:443, plate C C C X X X V I B; U hli g 1981:115, f ig. 10). (3) Sar na th(Saraswati 1977:LVIX-LX, fig. 171). (4) Nalanda (Saraswati 1977:LX, f ig.172). (5) Amaravat i , Andhra Pradesh (Murthy 1988:37, 4 2 - 4 3 , pi . I I ) . Thesam e figure f il ls niches in two m ini atu re stiipas found a t Ratnagir i (Mitra1981:126, plate L X X I I I B; Benisti 1981:115, f ig. 138). T hr ee Ind ian m etalsculp tures of this form of H eru ka are known to exist: (1) Ach utrajpur, Or issa(Mitra 1978:85-86, f ig . 77) . (2) Unknown provenance , now apparent ly in theB a r oda Mus e um {Sddhanamdld Il .c lxi i i , pla te X I) . (3) Eas tern In dia (Sotheby's1985:lot #1 38 ). Several In di an scu lptu res of 16-armed forms of Hev ajra havealso been discovered: (1) Paharpur, Rajshahi Dt. , Bengal [stone, in the round,with Naira tm ya] (C ha nd ra , G.C . 1936: 122, pla te L V (c -d ) ; Uh l ig 1981:138-140, fig. 36; Huntington 1984:164, fig. 202). (2) Bengal [stone stele, with Nairatmya] (Lad 1956:314, fig. 97). (3) Bengal [metal lotus mandalasculptu re , wi thNa i ra tm ya] (Pa l 1978:96-97 , no . 57) . (4) D ha rm m an ag ara , T ip pe ra S ta te , Bengal [ inscr ibed meta l sculpture , 4- legged, wi thout Naira tmya] (Bhat tasa l i1929:270-271, plate L).

14. N ot e tha t the female figure in folio 107 obv. n, like the ma le in 106 rev.r ., appe ars to be hold ing avajra in her r ight ha nd , n ot a cleaver. Also, the iconography of Nairatmya fi ts a generic ardhaparyahkayoginil ddkini type : compareNa ira tmy a with the e ightyoginis sur roun ding the ex t raord ina ry Heva j ra -Na i ra t -m ya yuganaddha stele from Bengal (Lad 1956:314, fig. 97), and with theddkinisillustrated in the Bris sku mthong ba don Idan(C han dra , L . 1976:289, 291 -29 3,29 4-2 95 , 300 , e tc . ) .


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V A J R A Y A N A D E I T I E S 12715. A stone stele of N aira tm ya w as discov ered in Bi har ( 'Nalanda?)

{Sddhanamald Il.clxix-clxx, plate XV; Lad 1956:317, fag. 40; Saraswati 1977:LX,fig. 173). A figure in a man usc ript i l lustration a pp aren tly synthesizes icono-gr ap hi c features of N aira tm ya and Vajra vara hi (Pal 1988:72, pi. 11).16. Th is is according to m K ha s grub r je 's rGyudsdespyi'i m am par gzhagpa 260-266. Othe r T ibe tan schola r s subdiv ide the anuttarayogatantra classdifferently.

17. The archaeological evidence reviewed above indicates the Sambaraand Hevajra cults specially flourished in eastern India, i.e. , Bihar, Bengal, andOrissa. This coincides with the impression one gets from the contents of thesetantras, and f rom the ir Indo-Tibe tan hagiographies .

18. We assume this arrangement of these six deit ies is deliberate ,altho ug h we do not know when or by wh o it was originally devised.19. As noted above, there are quite a few Indian sculptures of anuttarayogatantra deities, but they invariably lack the coloration that is such animp ortant par t ofVajrayana symbo lism.

The corpus of Indian pa inted images ofanuttarayogatantra deities may beexp and ed if an i l lustrated m an us crip t of the Vimalaprabhd can be relocated. Them an us crip t , noticed by H.P. Shastri in 1897, was produ ced at the Sri D har-m a d h a t u vihdra in Nep al by tw o Be ng alis in th e ye ar 1818 of anirvana era (i.e.,ca. 1274 C E ). Shastri notes: T he re are nu me rou s i llustrations in this work represent ing Buddha as Upaya , as male , and Dharma, otherwiseprajnd, as female.The Kamakala is represented as producing the Samgha represented by thebodhisattvas.Th e MS . and the i l lustrations are in excellent prese rvatio n (Shastri1897:316). Unfortunately, this MS., a long with other i l lustrated MSS., is missing from the Na tiona l Arch ives in Ka th m an du (cf. Pal 1988:36, n. 32).

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28 J I A B S V O L . 13 N O . 2Ch a n d a ( 1 93 0) : Ra m a p r a sa d Ch a n d a , Exploration in Orissa(Calcu t ta : G overn

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130 JIABS VO L. 13 N O . 2

Folio 106 rev . 1.Dvibhuja-Sambara

(PR

Folio 107 obv. 1.VajravarahT

warn


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VAJRAYANA DEITIES i:u

Folio106 rev. c.PindTkrama-Aksobhya

Folio107 obv. c,Sparsavajra


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132 JIABS VO L. 13 NO . 2i

fepS

Folio106 rev. r.Trailokyaksepa-Heruka/Hcvajra

Folio107 ov. r.Nairatmya

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