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L. . Chandra Notes on Kuũjarakarna In: Bijdragen Tot De Taal-, Land L. Chandra Notes on Kuýjarakarna In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 142 (1986), no: 4, Leiden, 399-406 This PDF-file was downloaded from http://www.kitlv-journals.nl Downloaded from Brill.com09/28/2021 06:17:46AM via free access LOKESH CHANDRA NOTES ON KUNJARAKARNA VAIROCANA In the pantheon of Kunjarakarna (KK) Vairocana is supreme. It is He who proclaims the Dharma after having attained enlightenment. In Esoteric Buddhism there are three Vairocanas: 1. Rocana, in the Avatarhsaka text Gandavyüha; 2. Vairocana (with crown), in the Garbha mandala of the carya-tantras; 3. Mahavairocana (with a crown of Five Tathagatas), in the Vajradhatu mandala of yoga-tantras. 1. The Gandavyüha (Suzuki and Idzumi 1949), 441-443, hasa long list of future Tathagatas, beginning with Maitreya and Sirhha as the first two, and ending with Abhyuccadeva or Rocama (sic). 'Rocama' is an erro- neous form, which was not recognized as such by the editors, Suzuki and Idzumi. The reading in Gandavyüha 443.16 is 'Rocama Tathagata', where m is an error for n. The two may be easily confüsed in the Nagari script. Edgerton (1953:457) has already pointed out that 'we should expect in place of the impossible Rocama the last name of the list, which is Abhyucca-deva in the text, intending Atyucca-deva'. It escaped Edgerton that the name might be 'Rocana', designating the trans-histo- rical, symbolical Supreme Being; 'The Buddha shifts from an individual to a cosmic principle'. Thus he is the highest (abhyucca) divine being (deva). There is no semantic difference between abhyucca and atyucca. Abhi is the intensifying prefix as found in abhi-dharma, abhisambodhi, and is parallel to 'meta-' in 'meta-physical'. It denotes evolving tran- scendance. So it is desirable to retain abhyucca of the manuscripts in preference to the efnended (and unattested) atyucca. The fact that Rocana and Abhy° are used synonymously points to an early stage when Rocana was evolving as the highest Tathagata. The English translation of the Avatamsaka sütra by Thomas Cleary (Cleary 1984:254) has the term 'Vairocana1. The word 'Vairocana' needs to be checked against the Chinese sütra itself. The Japanese- English Buddhist Dictionary (1965:242) makes it clear that Rocana (Rushana) and Vairocana are different: 'Rushana-butsu. Also Roshana- PROF. LOKESH CHANDRA, who took his degree at the University of Utrecht, is Honorary Director of the International Academy of Indian Culture in New Delhi. An authority on Buddhism, he has published a Tibetan — Sanskrit Dictionary and Mongolian Kanjur, vols. 1-108. Prof. Lokesh Chandra may be contacted at J22 Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016. Downloaded from Brill.com09/28/2021 06:17:46AM via free access 400 Lokesh Chandra butsu, Birushana-butsu. In the Tendai Sect, Rushana-butsu is differen- tiated from Vairocana (Birushana-butsu); the former is regarded as the sambhoga-kaya on the lotus-petal, whereas the latter is regarded as the dharma-kaya in the cosmic world. However, Rushana originally was merely an abridgement of Birushana.' The last sentence needs correc- tion. The name of the consort Rocana (Locana) comes from 'Rocana'. 'Rocana' is not an abbreviation of 'Vairocana', but an independent word reflecting the first stage in the evolution of the deity. As seen above, it occurs in the Avatarhsaka text Gandavyüha. 2. Vairocana (Mahavairocana) of the carya-tantras, with a crown and with both hands in the dhyana mudra, and in Tibetan referred to as Abhisambodhi-Vairocana. 3. Mahavairocana (Vairocana) with a crown of Five Tathagatas and distinguished by his unique bodhyagrïmudra. In KK 17. ld he is depicted as holding his hands in the bodhyagrï gesture viz.: hyah nih hyah tri- dasasuradi bhamita-n bodhyagri-mudradhara, which Teeuw and Rob- son translate as follows: 'The god of gods, of demons and so on, brilliant (?) and holding your hands in the Bodhyagrï gesture'. The reading should be corrected to tridas-asurddi-namita-n, so that the emended translation would read: 'the god of gods, venerated (na- mita) both by gods and demons, and in the bodhyagrï mudra'. The superiority of Vairocana among all the deities is pointed out in KK 23.4b, which calls him 'teacher of the whole world' (pinakaguru nihjagat kabeh). Statues of Vajradhatu Vairocana in the bodhyagrï mudra are well-known from Java (Bonheur 1971:125-131). The Vairocana of KK pertains to the Vajradhatu. BODHICITTA IS NOT A MONASTERY Teeuw and Robson (1981:21) point out: 'In his immaculate abode {wihara) Bodhi, or more commonly in this text Bodhicitta, the Lord gives instruction in the law. This is not known from elsewhere as the name of a wihara.' The editors state further on: 'The wihara occurs under various names . The name is usually preceded or followed by an epithet expressing purity . .' (Teeuw and Robson 1981:21). In the KK the translationsare: 1.7b Bodhiwihara nirmala, 'in the pure hermitage of Bodhi' 11.4b hüni hwah tumameh wihara waraBodhicitta wimala, 'Once, I visited the monastery of Bodhicitta the pure' 15.4a bhatara Sugatadhipa rih amrtaBodhi nirmala, 'Lord Buddha in pure Bodhi the divine' 16.2a sïghra prapten wihara prakasita maharan Sambodhi wimala, 'Soon they reached the famous cloister called Sambodhi the immaculate' 33.8c prapta rih Bodhicitta, 'arrived in Bodhicitta'. Vairocana entered a state of intense contemplation after completing Downloaded from Brill.com09/28/2021 06:17:46AM via free access Notes on Kuhjarakarna 401 the five Abhisambodhi, and became "sambhogakaya Abhisambuddha Mahavairocana" (Lessing and Wayman 1968:27): 'Having become a Buddha, he performed the four kinds of marvel (pratiharya). Then he proceeded to the summit of Mt. Sumeru and pronounced the Yoga Tantras. Vairocana, dweiling in the Akanistha Heaven, does not proceed elsewhere because he is the Sambhoga-kaya possessing the five certainties. But with the magical apparition (nirmita) of a Vairocana Nirmana-kaya having four heads, he proceeded to the summit of Mt. Sumeru and took his place in the eaved palace (kütagara) of precious thunderbolts.' (Lessing and Wayman 1968:215.) The abode of Vairocana is Akanistha Heaven on Mount Sumeru. No monastery or hermitage is associated with him. He is a transcendental being and has no earthly residence. In fact, he became Vairocana only after proceeding to Akanistha heaven: 'After spending six years there in practising austerities, he was equipoised in what is called "the great (part) of the great Fourth Meditation" (dhyana), the "unstirring samadhi" {anihjyo nama samadhi), and the "Space-filling samadhi" (yispharanaka- samadhi). At the same time, the Buddhas of all the ten directions as- sembled, aroused him from that samadhi by snapping their fingers, and said to him "You cannot become a Manifest Complete Bud- dha by this samadhi alone". "Then how shall I proceed", he implored them. They guided him to the Akanistha heaven. More- over, while his maturation body {vipaka-kaya) stayed on the bank of the same Nairanjana River, the mental body (manomaya-kaya) of the Bodhisattva Sarvarthasiddha proceeded to the Akanistha heaven.' (Lessing and Wayman 1968:27.) The statement 'bodhi nirmala should be added as the abode (pada) of Wairocana, although it is primarily the name of his earthly residence' (Teeuw and Robson 1981:16) needs to be corrected. The heaven of Vairocana is Akanistha, and not bodhivihara, vihara varaBodhicitta, Bodhi nirmala, vihara. Sambodhi vimala. ., and the like, as assumed by the editors of KK. 'The pure water of knowledge is mentioned as the only means of destroying the impurities keeping man from the road to release' (Teeuw and Robson 1981:18) does not refer to ritual. In a long eulogy of bodhicitta in Gandavyüha (Suzuki and Idzumi 1949) 494-496 it is stated that bodhicitta is the water that cleanses the impurities of all afflictions (494.3 vari-bhütam sarva-klesamala-nirdhavanataya). The word wihara has given rise to misunderstanding. It has been translated by the editors as 'monastery, cloister, hermitage'. The ex- pression wihara in the KK does not refer to a dwelling-place or monastery, but to a 'state of being, stage or condition of existence', as in brahma-vihara (Edgerton 1953:505). Gandavyüha 469.25 has a long Downloaded from Brill.com09/28/2021 06:17:46AM via free access 402 Lokesh Chandra list of formulae with compounds ending in -vihara-viharinam 'of those who dweil in the state of'. Brahma-vihara are four supreme states of maitrï, karuna, mudita, and upeksa (Dharmasarïgraha 16). Divyavadana 224.28 catvari brahma-viharan bhavayitva 'having meditated on the four brahma-viharas or brahmic states'. Thus the passages of the Kun- jarakarna will have to be re-interpreted in the light of the definition of Mahavairocana as 'the one whose own nature is the Dharmakaya, that is, the Body of Principle, which is intrinsic and original enlightenment' (Hakeda 1972:86, from Kobo Daishi's Introduction to the Mahavairo- cana-sütra/Dainichikyö Kaidai). In fact, the distinguishing feature of Vairocana is the gesture of supreme enlightenment (bodhyagrï mudra), which is also alluded to in KK 11.4b. Thus 'bodhi' and 'bodhicitta' in the KK refer to supreme enlightenment or the enlightened mind that Vairo- cana is. 'Bodhicitta' has two meanings: (i) the mind for enlightenment, the aspiration to attain enlightenment, and (ii) the enlightened mind (Hakeda 1972:96). In the KK 'bodhi' and 'bodhicitta' are 'the infinitely and gloriously adorned Body of the Diamond Realm (wajradhatu)' (Hakeda 1972:96). The KK applies two epithets to 'bodhi' and 'sam- bodhi': wara 'supreme' and nirmala 'immaculate'. Now let us re-translate the passages of KK cited earlier in the light of the foregoing: 1.7b 'when [Wairocana] had entered immaculate stage (wihara) of enlightenment' 11.4b 'in former times I had entered the stage of the immaculate su- preme enlightened mind' 15.4a 'Lord Wairocana in immaculate divine enlightenment'.
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