By Saraha; Study, Translation, and Tibetan Critical Edition by Lara Braitstein

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H-Buddhism NEW BOOK> The Adamantine Songs (Vajragīti), by Saraha; Study, Translation, and Tibetan Critical Edition by Lara Braitstein.

Discussion published by Thomas Yarnall on Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Dear Colleagues -

The American Institute of Buddhist Studies (AIBS) at Columbia University is very pleased to announce the publication of the following title:

The Adamantine Songs (Vajragīti) -- by Saraha -- Study, Translation, and Tibetan Critical Edition by Lara Braitstein

Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences series

New York: The American Institute of Buddhist Studies, 2014. ISBN 978-1-935011-17-0 (cloth) • 256 pp. • $45.00 http://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-adamantine-songs-vajragiti/9781935011170

Presented here in English for the first time is a set of three of Saraha’s “Adamantine Songs” (Skt. Vajragīti; Tib. rdo rje’i glu), poetic works that play a central role in the Great Seal mahāmudrā( ) Tantric tradition of both India and Tibet. The Tantric adept siddha( ) Saraha was among the most notable figures from India’s late first millennium, a time of rich religious and literary activity. His influence on Buddhist practice and poetry extended beyond the Indian subcontinent into Tibet, where it continues to affect every tradition that engages the practice and philosophy of the esoteric Great Seal.

In these songs, Saraha’s views on the nature of mind are presented as both evocative poetry and theoretical exegesis. These songs offer a new perspective on the religious life of Buddhist India and the figure of one of its most famous adepts.

Braitstein opens the door to this important set of texts by Saraha through her elegant translation, critical edition of the Tibetan texts, and in-depth analysis of the three poems. She situates Saraha and his work both in the Tibetan Buddhist sphere and in a broader South Asian literary and religious context, closely treating the central themes in Saraha’s poems, highlighting the specific siddha worldview espoused in his oeuvre, and at the same time unpacking the cryptic references contained in the songs’ individual verses. With this book, Braitstein substantially increases the amount of Saraha’s poetry available to an English-speaking audience and contributes to the ever-increasing movement to explore the culture of the Tantric adepts.

Lara Braitstein is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at McGill University.

Citation: Thomas Yarnall. NEW BOOK> The Adamantine Songs (Vajragīti), by Saraha; Study, Translation, and Tibetan Critical Edition by Lara Braitstein.. H-Buddhism. 01-21-2015. https://networks.h-net.org/node/6060/discussions/58502/new-book-adamantine-songs-vajrag%C4%ABti-saraha-study-translation-and Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. 1 H-Buddhism

Further information regarding the Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences series may be found below, and at the following website:

http://www.aibs.columbia.edu/

- Tom Yarnall Associate Research Scholar and Adjunct Assistant Professor, Columbia University Department of Religion Executive Editor, AIBS

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TREASURY OF THE BUDDHIST SCIENCES series

Editor-in-Chief: Robert A.F. Thurman Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies, Columbia University President, American Institute of Buddhist Studies

Executive Editor: Thomas F. Yarnall Department of Religion Columbia University

Associate Editor: Paul G. Hackett Department of Religion Columbia University

Editorial Board: Ryuichi Abé, Jay Garfield, David Gray, Laura Harrington, Thubten Jinpa, Joseph Loizzo, Gary Tubb, Vesna Wallace, Christian Wedemeyer, Chun-fang Yu

The American Institute of Buddhist Studies (AIBS), in affiliation with the Columbia University Center for Buddhist Studies (CBS) and Tibet House US (THUS), has established the Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences series to provide authoritative English translations, studies, and editions of the texts of the Tibetan Tengyur (bstan ’gyur) and its associated literature. The Tibetan Tengyur is a vast collection of about 4,000 classical Indian Buddhist scientific treatises (śāstra) written in Sanskrit by over 700 authors from the first millennium CE, now preserved mainly in systematic 7th–12th century Tibetan translation. Its topics span all of India’s “outer” arts and sciences, including linguistics, medicine, astronomy, socio-political theory, ethics, art, and so on, as well as all of her “inner” arts and sciences such as philosophy, psychology (“mind science”), meditation, and yoga. Publications from this Treasury bring important Indic contributions into contemporary discourse, enriching and contributing to our global cultural, philosophical, spiritual, and scientific heritage.