Kanha

TARANATHA'S LIFE OF KRSNACARYA/KANHA .

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Translated by David Templeman

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Published by the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Dharamsala, H.P., India and printed by lndraprastha Press (CBl), New DeUti, India.

Contents

Foreword Introduction

vii ix

Part One-The Life Kf~I)acarya's Early Life and Relationship with his Guru Feats in Various Parts of India Events Surrounding Kf~I)acarya's Death Principal Male Disciples Principal Female Disciples Other Disciples

20 37 51 62 68

Part Two-The Supplement Supplementary Material Concerning Kf~I)acarya Stories of Subsequent Yogis of the Carya Lineage Notes List of Works by Kf~I)acarya Found in the Tanjur Bibliography Index of Sanskrit Terms Index of Tibetan Terms Index of English Terms

81 85 107 142 147 156 172 17 6

3

Foreword

Jonang Taranatha is one of Tibet's most repmed historians, whose writings are regarded as par:ticularly authentic and reliable. His work is of special interest with respect to the history of Buddhism in India. With the decline of Buddhist culture in the land of its birth, whatever historical records and oral traditions may have existed have largely been lost. Here lies Taranatha's great value, for, assembling material from both written and oral sources, he provides us with a remarkably clear picture of the later, specifically tantric, period of Indian Buddhism. His Life of K!~l'}licarya presents a portrait of one of the more colourful siddhas or tantric adepts, who was an active participant in many of the tantric lineages later brought to Tibet. The life of this charismatic yogi is typical of the unorthodox and free-wheeling siddha tradition to which he belonged. We are happy to be publishing David Templeman's third trar).slation from Tarapatha's works. Once again he has brought great enthusiasm and thoroughness to the task of making the great historian's writings accessible to non-Tibetan readers. In so doing he contributes to a growing understanding of the Indian roots of Tibetan Buddhism and an appreciation of Tibet's role as a repository ofliving Buddhist culture. Gyatsho Tshering Director, LTWA

Introduction

The historical and biographical works of Jo-nang Taranatha (1575-1634) are some of the most important sources for information on the growth and development of Buddhism in India. His historical works which were first translated into European languages in the last century and the early part of this century, namely Schiefner's translation of his History of Buddhism in India 1 and Griinwedel 's work on his seven transmissions\ have been extremely widely used by Scholars working in the field of Indian history and culture since that time. Although Taranatha's works must be used with some reservations when they refer to royal genealogy and political events, in general they are often able to shed light on the growth and diffusion of Buddhism in this confusing and little - known era. At times Taranatha's views on lineages of saints differ from the generally accepted view, and not infrequently he takes exception to other scholar's statements where they conflict with his own findings based on the direct evidence of his own teachers' statements. This should not suggest some obscurantist attitude, but rather that his particularly thorough mind was wen· able to evaluate and synthesise information from a particularly wide variety of sources, many of them unknown to other scholars, and .to draw them together into a cogent narrative. Some of those unknown sources make reading his works a most tantalising affair as one cannot, in any way, get an idea of IX

their nature except for the snippets Ta:ranatha gives us as evidence of his case. When one considers that his History of Buddhism in India was written at the extraordinarily young age of thirty-four years, one can do little but marvel at the colossal amount he had digested in those few years. Indeed in his early erudition he ranks with Bu-ston whose History of Buddhism3 was composed at thirty-three years of age. Sum-pa wrote his History• at forty-four years old, Padma-dkar-po composed his Historf at forty-eight years old, dPa'-bo-gtsug-lag-'phreng-ba commenced his History6 at forty-two, completing it at sixty-one years and 'Gos-lotsa-ba wrote his Blue Annals 7 between the ages of eightyfour and eight-six. All of the above is eloquent testimony to iaranatha's prodigious ability, both as a historian and as a direct partaker in many of the linea,ges he wrote about. Apart from the vast number of his writings on liturgy and specific doctrinal points, Ta:ranatha excelled in studies related to India, particularly siddha biographies, works relating to the lineages of the Indian masters and accounts of the diffusion of certain doctrines. It appears that in many of these later doctrino-historical works he was greatly aided by his close contacts with Indian masters within whose lineage he became established. They provided him with rare and invaluable oral records which he frequently testifies to in his writings. The sadhanas, homas etc., for Cakrasarp.vara were a very important part of the teaching Ta:ranatha had received and throughout his writings works on this practice are often found. Indeed, in the seventh volume of his Collected Works8 are found two sadhanas and a mar:t"alavidhi for Cakrasarpvara according to the tradition of Kr~r:tapada( = Kr~r:tacarya, = Kar:tha etc.) Taranatha's deep interest in Kr~r:tacarya and his X

teachings extended beyond biography. There exist in Taranatha 's Collected Works not only the abovementioned works on Cakrasarpvara according to the system of Kr~t:tacarya, but a commentary on his doha songs, a work on the four kramas and an explicatory text on Vasantatilaka according to Kr~t:tacarya's system, among many others. The present biography of Kr~t:tacarya would appear to fit into the group of texts eulogising Cakasarpvara. Taranatha notes in the colophon of the supplement to the biography, "This then is the supplement to the account of the acarya Caryapa, and in order to understand the origination and spread of Cakrasarpvara, I, rGyal-khamspa, Taranatha wrote these words." Kr~t:tacarya himself is said in the biograi?hY to have been preeminently associated with the cycles of Hevajra, Guhyasamaja and the Black Yamantaka, but he appears mainly linked with Cakrasarpvara practice. Although it is true that all these heruka forms certainly played important roles in his life, we must remember that in terms of the absolute truth, this diversity of means to enlightenment has no real value. iaranatha says of the siddhas," ... because they understood all the Tantra realisations, such things as a variety of divinities and a variety of Tantras no longer existed for them." ~t:tacarya is enumerated as one of the eighty-four siddhas, or Mahasiddhas, and a biography may be found in Robinson's work on them9 • It is however only a brief hagiography, as is that by Taranatha found in the work of GrUnwedel referred to in note 2. Notwithstanding his immense importance in the Buddhist Tantric tradition as the most renowned siddha of the Carya lineage, I am unaware of any other biographical material about him, save Xl

for a few passing references in Tibetan works. 10 Kr~t:tacarya comes to the attention of the student of Buddhism for two main reasons-firstly for his commentary on the Hevajra Tantra, which was used by Snellgrove in his translation of that tantra, and secondly for his mystic songs which occur in the collection of Bengali Carya songs known as the CaryagHi. These songs received much interest as far back as 1916, when Haraprasad Sastrt wrote his pioneering edition of the songs. Much later, that same interest was displayed in the works of Mojumder11 and Kvaeme12• Precisely because no biographical data had been presented to us in any of the above-mentioned works, I felt it worth the effort to try and present a translation of the biography of K~t:tacarya by Taranatha (written 1632 A.D.) and the supplement written some years later. As it turns out the biography and the supplement shed considerable light on the Carya trad_ition and Kr~t:tacarya's role in its diffusion, the lineages arising from him and his followers, the development and spread of the CakrasaJ!lvara teachings and the tradition of Indo-Tibetan biography. In the Indo-Tibetan tradition works such as the one at hand had several levels of interpretation and thus whichever was appropriate to the level of practice of the reader was the only one he was ultin!ately aware of. Many 'secret' biographies were indeed kept secret, and also many, such as the present one, were considered 'open', that is, of open access to all. However, much of the secret material was incomprehensible to the prurient and premature reader, who remained completely unenlightened, precisely because of the nature of the written words which were allusions rather than overt statements and also because the Gurus who had charge of the writings zealously guarded them against just such unwarranted

xii

readers. Although the present work is 'open' it does contain some sections couched in an enigmatic and hidden language where certain things are not intended for general consumption. Neverth~less it sets out a direct and charming narrative of the siddha's life, and follows this with biographies of his most renowned disciples and some who were on the fringe of the Carya sect. ~As mentioned before, hagiography in the Indo-Tibetan tradition functions at many levels-such a work may be seen as historical, inspirational, didactic or initiatic. The present work clearly has much to offer the reader at all these levels. Historically if fills gaps in important siddha lineages, gives insight into Carya activities as well as some hard data on Indian society at the time. Inspirationally, the tone of the work is sufficiently reverential to impel the reader to practise here and now and to grasp, as did Kr~Qacarya and his disciples, the reality which is in daily situations. As a didactic work it gives much direct instruction on the practice itself and the multiplicity of situations conducive to it. For students ' of certain practice cycles the data on li~eage and the transmission of those cycles (especially that of Cakrasaipvara) is of great help in clarifying the voluminous commentarial literature they are required to work with. The final level, that of the initiatic, is more difficult to deal with. Here, the biography of a spiritual predecessor may, for example, be given to a certain disciple by the Guru as a means of preparing him for some fonhcoming teaching or as a way of gently instructing him in some point of order in his ~ife which may be hindering his practice. It is not particularly necessary for those of certain Buddhist traditions to be familiar with the hagiographies of their predecessors, but at times and with the Guru's blessing such works can certainly take on an

xiii

initiatic quality in themselves, becoming powerful teaching tools. As Western readers, our purposes in reading such a work will perhaps be quite different to those mentioned above. I feel that the historical and inspirational qualities alone in the biography of Kr~l)acarya are very strong and the merely at these levels it survives magnificently outside its time and native culture. I further hope that readers enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed it_ and that in some way it tends to the alleviation of all suffering.

Notes to the Introduction 1.

2.

3. 4.

5.

xiv

Schiefner, A. 'Iaranatha's Geschichte des Buddhismus in Indien St. Petersburg 1869 Schiefner, A. iaranathae de Doctrinae Buddhicae in India Propagatione Narratie, Contextum Tibeticum (Tibetan Text) St. Petersburg 1868 Griinwedel, A. 1aranatha's Edelsteinmine, das Buch von den Vermittlem dem Sieben Inspirationen Bibliotheca Buddhica XVIII St. Petersburg 1914 Ot>ermiUer, E.History of Buddhism (Chos-hbyung) by Bu-ston 2 Vols. 0. Harrassowitz. Leipzig 1931/1932 Various editions of Sum-pa-mkhan-po's renowned History have been published, that of Sarat Chandra Das being the fli'St, but unuseable due to poor editing. A very good hand written copy was published in Delhi in 1969 in lithograph format, but has no publisher's name. Dr. Lokesh Chandra published the third part of it as Vol. 8 of his Satapitaka Series in 1959, and later it was published as part of the Collected Works of Sumpa-mkhan-po by Prof. Dr. Lokesh Chandra in 9 Vols. as Vol. 214 of the Satapitaka Series. As with Sum-pa-mkhan-po's History, so with that of Padmadkar-po whose History has been published several times. Perhaps the most readily available is the Tibetan Chronicle of Padma-dkar-po, published by Prof. Dr. Lokesh Chandra as Vol. 75 of the Satapita}ta Series. ·

6.

7.

8.

9. 10.

11. 12.

The wide-ranging History of dPa'-bo-gtsug-lag-'phreng-ba has recently been published by the late Karmapa Rang-byung-rigpa'i-rdo-rje at Rumtek in Sikkim. A convenient edition of 'Gos-lo-tsa-ba's famous work is published by Prof. Dr. Lokesh Chandra, as Vol. 212 of the Satapi~ Series. A translation by G. Roerich, entitled The Blue Annals has been reprinted by Motilal Banarsidass. The Collected Works of Taranatha are being printed in seventeen volumes, in Leh, Ladakh, as the Smanrtsis Shesrig Dpemzod series ... by C.Namgyal and Tsewang Taru. The edition is from the prints of the rTang-brtan Phun-tshogs-gling copy. Refer to the Bibliography for this work. For example, an attenuated biography consisting of chosen episodes is to be' found in dPa'-bo-gtsug-lag-'phreng-ba's work the Chos-byung-mkhas-pa'i-dga'-ston (See Notes to the Introduction, Note 6), Volume na. Folio 766, line 7-Folio 768, line 4. Refer to the Bibliography for this work. Refer to the Bibliography for this work.

Acknowledgements I wish to express my gratitude to Norbu Samphel of Melbourne for his assistance in checking my translation and to Lama Choedak of the Sakya Tenphel Ling Centre in Singapore, who ~ssisted me with a number of difficult passages. I also wish to thank Gyatsho Tshering for his steady encouragement and support of my work. I am grateful to Tsepak Rigzin and Jeremy Russell for their careful editing and to Jamyang Dakpa for the fine cover illustration.

XV

Part One

The Life

Kr~~acarya's

Early Life and Relationship with

His Guru

Namo Vajrasattvaya I offer these amazing accounts which are like the vast wisdom-brilliance of ten million young suns, beyond actual counting, and which illuminate the ignorance-gloom of sentient beings. These accounts move ste~dily in billowing oceans of ascetic practice, totally crush and are completely victorious over both Mara 1 and the Tirthikas. 2 I will briefly and with great care relate some of these accounts, which are widely renowned and are completely trustworthy due to their irrefutable origins. About one thousand five hundred years after the Fully Enlightened One appeared on earth, the Sidddvara Acarya Kf~I)acarya made his appearance. 3 The Acarya4 Nagarjuna5 had brought the eight Sri Mahakala Tantras from Sri Dhanyaka!aka, 6 and so the text known as the Nag-pochen-po-mngon-par- 'byung-ba, 1 which contained the essence of the other seven forms, was taught. It contained the mal)name in Pakistan, but see Majumdar, R.C. The History and the Culture of the Indian People, Vol.4, p.131, n.37. On the Guhyasamaja Tantra see n.142. If the Sambuti referred to here is a translator then it is possible that he is the same person as Sambu Lotsa:wa; see Roerich, G. The Blue Annals, p.712. Tib. rDo-rje-'chang/rDo-rje-'dzin Skt. Vajradhara A divine form of the Ultimate Reality. The lineage from Saraha .runs to Nagarjuna and thereafter becomes more complex. See Templeman, D. The Seven Instruction Lineages, pp.2-14. Savaripa, also known as "Saraha the younger", was a disciple

of Nagarjuna and the preceptor of Luyipa and of Maitripa. See the reference in Note esp. pp.S-13. On Luyipa see n.190 and on Maitripa see n.178. 196. Tib. sDom-pa'i-rgyud Skt. Cat;~4all Tantra I am unable to find a tantra of this name. Most tantras have alternate "short" titles of which this might be an example. Cat;~4ali is frequently referred to in the Hevajra Tantra and Carya songs and appears in the Ni~pannayogavali of Abhayakaragupta, edited by Bhattacharya, B. in the mat;~Qalas of Hevajra, Nairatma, Heruka, Yogambara and that of Pailca4aJ