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Note to Users NOTE TO USERS This reproduction is the best copy available. ® UMI • Saraha's Adamantine Songs: Texts, Contexts, Translations and Traditions of the Great Seal Lara E. Braitstein Faculty of Religious Studies McGiII University, Montreal October,2004 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor ofPhilosophy. • © Lara E. Braitstein, 2004 Library and Bibliothèque et 1+1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l'édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 0-494-12812-7 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 0-494-12812-7 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l'Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, électronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriété du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protège cette thèse. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. ln compliance with the Canadian Conformément à la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privée, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont été enlevés de cette thèse. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page cou nt, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. ••• Canada Abstract • My dissertation is focused on a cycle of Saraha's Adamantine Songs and their relationship to the Great Seal. Belonging to a genre known as 'Adamantine Songs' - Vajra Gïti in Sanskrit, or rDo rje'i gLu in Tibetan - their titles are: "A Body Treaswy called the Immortal Adamantine Song"~ "A Speech Treaswy called the Maiijugho~a Adamantine Song" and "A Mind Treaswy called the Unbom Adamantine Song". The dissertation is divided into two parts: the tirst is the contextualization of a Great Seal (Sanskrit: mahiimudriï~ Tibetan: phyag rgya chenpo) root text by the adept Saraha~ and the second is a critical edition of the Tibetan text along with the tirst full translation of the text into English. The critical edition of the Tibetan is based on versions of the poems drawn from five different Tibetan sources - four scriptural (the sDe dge, Co ne, sNar thang and 'Peking' bsTan 'gyurs) and one literary (Mipham Rinpoche's 19th centwy collection 'phags yul grub dbang dam pa rnams kyi zab mo'i do ha rnams las kho la byung mu fig phreng ba or "Pearl Garland of the Profound Dohiis of the Noble Great Siddhas of India"). The first chapters of the dissertation explore the contexts of this song cycle, its author and traditions that relate to it, in particular the Karma Kagyü (karma bka' brgyud) school of Tibetan Buddhism. The tirst chapter is a discussion of the author, Saraha, the tales of whose many 'lives' pervade Tibetan Buddhist traditions to this day. Chapter 2 explores the broader context of South Asian siddha traditions, while Chapters 3 and 4 provide an analysis of the Great Seal both as it emerges through Saraha's work and as it exists as a living tradition in the Tibetan Buddhist context. As mentioned above, particular emphasis is given to the Karma Kagyü school. Finally, Chapter 5 provides an introduction to Tibetan poetics and the Sanskrit traditions that influence it. • • Résumé Le point central de ma dissertation se porte sur un cycle des Chansons adamantines de Saraha et de leur rapport avec le Grand Sceau. Appartenant à un genre connu sous le nom des «Chansons adamantines» - Vajra Gïti en sanskrit, ou rDo rje 'i gLu en tibétain - leurs titres sont: «Un trésor du corps surnommé Chanson adamantine immortelle» , «Un trésor de la parole nommé Chanson adamantine Maîijugho~», et «Un trésor de l'esprit connu sous le nom de Chanson adamantine qui est inaissable». Cette dissertation se compose largement de deux parties: la première est la contextualisation d'un texte de base «Grand sceau» (Sanskrit mahiimudrii; Tibetan: phyag rgya chenpo) par l'adepte Saraha; et la seconde est une édition critique du texte tibétain avec la première traduction complète du texte en anglais. L'édition critique tibétaine est basée sur des versions de poèmes issus de cinq sources tibétaines différentes - quatre scripturales (les bsTan­ 'gyurs du sDe dge, Co ne, sNar thang et Pékin) et une littéraire (la collection du 1ge siècle de Mipham Rinpoche 'phags yul gruh dbang dam pa rnams kyi zah mo 'i do ha rnams las kho la hyung mu fig phreng ha ou <<Rosaire de perles du profond Dohas du grand noble Siddhas des Indes»). Les premiers chapitres de la dissertation explorent les contextes de ce cycle de chansons, leur auteur et les traditions qui s'y rapportent, en particulier l'école de bouddhisme tibétain Karma Kagyü (karma hka' brgyud). Le premier chapitre est une discussion sur l'auteur, Saraba, dont les histoires de ses nombreuses vies imprègne les traditions bouddhistes tibétaines à ce jour. Le chapitre 2 explore le contexte plus large des traditions siddha de l'Asie du sud, tandis que les chapitres 3 et 4 offrent une analyse du «Grand sceau» non seulement tel qu'il apparaît dans le travail de Saraha, mais aussi comme une tradition vivante dans le contexte du bouddhisme tibétain. Tel que mentionné plus haut, un accent particulier est donné à l'école Karma Kagyü. Finalement, le chapitre 5 donne une introduction à la poétique tibétaine et aux traditions sanscrites qui l'influencent. • TABLE OF CONTENTS • ACKN"OWLEDGEMENTS ...................................... '" ................................ .i IN1'RODUCTION ................................................................................... 1 Outline .....................................................................................4 Methodological Issues ................................................................... 9 Sources ................................................................................... 14 A Note on Transliteration .............................................................. 14 PART 1: CONTEXTS CHAPTER 1: LOCATING SARAHA ........................................................... 16 Pasts .......................................................................................... 16 Presence ..................................................................................... 27 Conclusion .................................................................................. 39 CHAPTER 2: SIDDHA TRADITIONS ......................................................... .40 Non-Buddhist South Asian Siddha Traditions .......................................... 58 The Importance of the Indian Siddhas in the Tibetan Context ....................... 64 Conclusion .................................................................................. 66 CHAPTER 3: SARAHA AND THE GREAT SEAL .......................................... 68 Form ......................................................................................... 68 Formless ................................................................. , ................... 73 Çonclusion .................................................................................. 82 CHAPTER 4: TIBETAN TRADITIONS OF THE GREAT SEAL .......................... 83 The Nyingma and the Great Seal ............................ , ............................ 83 The Geluk Great Seal. ..................................................................... 85 Sakya and Kagyü: Great Seal, Great Controversy ..................................... 87 Kagyü: Path Mahamudra i. Introduction ..................................................................... 96 ii. The Four Yogas ................................................................ 99 Mahamudra / Phyag rgya Chen po: What's in a Name? i. Ground and Fruition Great Seal.. .......................................... 104 ii. Sütra, Tantra, Essence ...................................................... 110 View, Meditation and Conduct.. ....................................................... 113 • Conclusion .................................. , .............................................. 116 CHAPTER 5: GENRE AND POETICS: UNDERSTANDING ADAMANTINE SONGS Transmission and Tradition ............................ , ...... , '" ...................... 118 Tibetan Poetic Genres: an introduction ................................................ 124 • South Asian Literary Context of the Siddhas .. ....................................... 130 i. DoM ...... .................................................................. '" 131 .. C - _. 132 11. aryagztz ........................... '" ... '" ........................... '" ..
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