L. . Chandra Notes on Kuýjarakarna

In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 142 (1986), no: 4, Leiden, 399-406

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NOTES ON KUNJARAKARNA

VAIROCANA In the pantheon of Kunjarakarna (KK) is supreme. It is He who proclaims the after having attained enlightenment. In Esoteric there are three Vairocanas: 1. Rocana, in the Avatarhsaka text Gandavyüha; 2. Vairocana (with crown), in the Garbha of the carya-; 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 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- 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 — Dictionary and Mongolian Kanjur, vols. 1-108. Prof. Lokesh Chandra may be contacted at J22 Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016.

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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 , 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 , 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.com09/29/2021 05:03:47PM 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 " {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 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.com09/29/2021 05:03:47PM 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 (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'. Wairo- cana is the principal of Five Sugatas, hence he is Sugat-adhipa. The translation 'lord Buddha' is inappropriate, as he is simply Sugata. ; 16.2a 'soon they reached the stage illumined by what is termed sam- bodhi or immaculate enlightenment. This is to show that the gleaming stars and heavens which seemed to be on fire (16.1), were surpassed by the illumination of Sambodhi. 33.8c 'attained the enlightened mind'.

DIKPALAS Teeuw and Robson (1981:24) say that Canto 14 is 'the most explicit description of the 10 lokapala'. There are only eight dikpala in the KK., viz.: East Indra South-east Agni South South-west Nirrti (raksasadhipati) West Waruna North-west Wayu

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North Kubera (paramayaksaika) North-east ïsana (bhütendra). They are followed by the heavens of the trinity of Siva, Brahma and Visnu, in the middle of : Siwapada in the middle, with Brahma-swarga to the right (south) and Visnubhawana to the left (north). There is no reference to the Akanistha Heaven of Vairocana, who represents the transcendent stage (wihara) of supreme immaculate enlightenment. The editors have missed the meaning of Raksasadhipati = Nirrti ('The name of the deity of the SW, Nirrti, is not mentioned; the text twice calls her raksasapati' (Teeuw and Robson 1981:25). The translation of 14.2b is 'ïsana the lord of all bhütas', a class of beings. This is a common epithet of ïsana in ritual books. The occurrence of bhü- tendra 'as qualification for ïsana', which the editors of the KK remark on p. 26 'comes rather as a shock . . .', thus need no longer shock. The terms 'lokapala' and 'dikpala' have to be distinguished. There are four Lokapalas: Dhrtarastra (east), Virüdhaka (south), Virüpaksa (west), Vaisravana (north). They are more commonly known as Catur- maharaja, and show no variation. The dikpalas are eight, as enumerated above. There are series of eight or ten dikpalas with varying directional placements and other variations. Teeuw and Robson see 'a specification of the lokapala with their points of the compas' in Korawasrama (1936:48). Swellengrebel here points to some confusion. From the following enumeration it will be seen that these are not the eight dikpalas, but the manifestations of Siva with Brahma and Visnu. East Umapati (Isvara) SE Mahesvara, son of ïsvara South Brahma SW Rudra, son of Brahma CENTRE Sik West NW Saftkara, son of Mahadeva North Visnu NE Sambhu, son of Visnu.

BUDDHISTS, PASUPATA AND WISIKHI SAIWAS Kunjarakarna 23. ld-3 can be tabulated as follows: sogata rsi wiku Panca-buddha Panca-kusika Saiwa-pancaka (Panca-wisikki) Aksobhya Mahakusika ïswara Ratnasambhawa Garga Brahma Amitabha Metri Mahamara Rsi Kurusya Madhusüdana Wairocana Patanjala Bhatara Guru

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In Teeuw and Robson (1981:26) the presentation of the equivalent aspects of the three systems is not clear. The systems and names of pentads have been confused: 5 saugata 5 kusika 5 parïcaka Saugata is the Buddhist system, and its pentad is termed Panca-buddha: '5 saugata' is not correct. The expression '5 pancaka' is linguistically untenable. The term wiku refers to Saiva ascetics, and the connected pentad is called Saiwa-pancaka. Wiku is bhiksu. In the eulogy of Na- taraja at Chidambaram, entitled Tattvarya-stava, Mahesvara is referred to as a bhiksu: bhiksur mahesvaro 'pi (Sivaramamurti 1974:132). Bhik- satana-mürti of Siva is well-known (Sivaramamurti 1974:112), and a Bhiksatana-kavya is dedicated to this form of Him. The Five Kausika pertain to the Pasupata sect, and the Saiva-parïcaka may refer to another Saiva denomination of Wisikhins 'those without a topknot (of hair)', that is, without any hair on the head, in the style of Buddhist bhiksus or wiku. The word wiku seems to represent an ancient colloquial Tamil form. In Tamil, bh was written as v, as in tirivanki for tribharigï, or, to cite a modern example, vanki for English bank. The Pasupatas had matted hair and they used to tie their hair in a topknot. It seems that there was another Pasupata sect which shaved the head completely, like Buddhist monks, and hence was known as wiku. The word pahca-wisikhi rightly means 'the pentad of the Wisikhin sect'. The correlation of the Panca-Sugata with the pentads of the Pasupatas and Wisikhins is an expression of analogous thinking, in which corres- pondences are stressed. The correlations thus established are no indica- tion of any syncretistic tendency being at work. Doctrinal or numerical parallels are merely an aid to the comprehension of abstruse symbolism. In this light the translation of KK 23.3a, Yapwan pahcawisikhiyuktinira pahcasugata paramartha tan waneh, will have to be changed from 'As for the five Saiva deities, they are linked with the five , none other than the highest' (Teeuw and Robson), to 'The Pentad of the Wisikhin corresponds to the Five Sugatas; in quintessence they are not different'. 'Panca-sugata' is not 'five Buddhist deities', but precisely the Five Sugatas, namely Vairocana, etc. The reading of KK 7.7c as emended by Teeuw and Robson and its translation are: sah hyah sighra-n asanmate hhulun akon prapteh bhatar- Antaka, 'the Lord immediately favoured me and has ordered me to go to the Lord of Death'. The editors have added the following note on p. 177: 'The reading of the text is an emendation; the reading of the MSS. saii hyari sri Gana is incomprehensible; and the moving forward or backward of an r layar occurs frequently in Balinese MSS'. SrïGana may be Srlghana = Wairo- cana. Compare SHK 59a, were Amitabha is ghana (Kats 1910:113).

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THE CLOSE OF KK At the beginning of the kakawin the poet says with great humility that this composition follows the example of those who have won fame for their literary accomplishments, and begs to be forgiven by master poets (kawïsvara) for his.vain attempt to turn the tale of Kunjarakarna into verse (pddika, 1.5-7). In all modesty the poet requests the great to forgive him, though his effort will end up gaining him ridicule (hdsya, 1.6d). This is reminiscent of Kalidasa's Raghuvarhsa 1-3 mandah kavi- yasah-prdrthï gamisydmy upahdsyatdm, 'dull as I am, yet ambitious of poetic fame, shall I exposé myself to ridicule?' Had the poet of the KK, Dusun, read the Raghuvarhsa? The poet brings the kakawin to a close with the same sensibility, saying (41.16cd): ndonyd tan kawurdpus i hhulun ahuhsya paramapadandgawe hayulkahkën siddha manojhawah manah ilunya ri para kawi mitra susrama//. Teeuw and Robson have translated this as: 'The aim is that no attention be paid to my composition as I try to take in the Highest and to do good; If it be thought successful, I shall be pleased, as it would follow in the footsteps of the poets, stalwart friends.' The passage is better rendered as: 'The aim is that no heed be paid to my composition except as a means of striving towards the Highest Stage {parama pada) to do Good. It may be deemed to be successful if it is pleasing in diction (wan = wdc) and conceptualization (manah), and if I have trodden the way of friendly poets by dint of hard work' (susrama; and not from brilliancy or spontaneity). The phrase kawi mitra is signi- ficant. Affable friends were a source of inspiration, as was rampant in the world of poets, witness the following: dosdnvesanam eva matsara-jusam naisargiko durgrahah 'Sogar im schönsten Gedicht, an dem eine Schaar von Kennern immer und immer wieder Genuss findet, nur nach Mangein zu spuren ist ein verkehrtes Treiben, das neidischen Menschen von Natur eigen ist' (Böhtlingk 1863:119 st. 660). The last word of KK is susrama. It is reminiscent of the following passage of Ballaladeva's Bhojaprabandha: kavyam karomi ha hi cdrutaram karomil yatndt karomi yadi cdrutaram karomil 'I make a poem, but I do not compose a fine one. If I have to make a fine one, I have to make an effort' (Bhoja- prabandha 1955). Lest jealousy strike his poetic art, Dusun humbles himself by saying that whatever there may be in his poem is the outcome of laborious toil and strained struggle, not of spontaneity or ingenuity; hence there need be no apprehensions, no and no evil eye directed to the kakawin.

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LITERATURE CITED

Bhojaprabandha, 1955, Jagdishlal Shastri, Bhojaprabandha of Ballaladeva of Banaras, Patna: Motilal Banarsidass. Böhtlingk, Otto, 1863, Indische Sprüche, Theil I, St. Petersburg: Kaiserliche Akademie der Wissenschaften. Bonheur, Albert Ie, 1971, La sculpture indonésienne au Musée Cuimet, Paris: Presses Universitairesde France. Bosch, F. D. K., 1929, •Buddhistische Gegevens uit Balische Handschriften' (Buddhist data from Balinese manuscripts), Mededeelingen der Koninklijke Akademie van We- tenschappen 68, pp. 43-78; English translation in Selected Studies in Indonesian Ar- chaeology, The Hague; Martinus Nijhoff, 1961. Cleary, Thomas, 1984, The Flower Ornament Scripture, a translation of the Avatarhsaka Sütra, Vol. I, Boulder& London: . Edgerton, Franklin, 1953, Crammar and Dictionary, vol. II Dictionary, New Haven: Yale University Press. Hakeda, Yoshita S., 1972, Kukai: Major Works, New York: Columbia University Press. Japanese-English Buddhist Dictionary, 1965, Tokyo: Daitö Shuppansha. Kats, J., 1910, Sang Hyang Kamahayanikan, 's-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff. Korawacrama, 1936, J. L. SweHengrebel, Korawacrama, Santpoort: Mees. Lessing, Ferdinand D., and Alex Wayman, 1968, Mkhas grub rje's Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tantras, The Hague: Mouton. Raghuvamsa, 1915, M. R. Kale (ed.), The Raghuvamsa ofKalidasa, Cantos I-X, Bombay: The Standard PublishingCo. Sivaramamurti, C, 1974, Nataraja in Art, Thought and Literature, New Delhi: National Museum. Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro, and Hokei Idzumi, 1949, The Gandavyüha Sütra, Tokyo: The Society for the Publication of Sacred Books of the World. Teeuw, A.,andS.O. Robson, 1981, Kunjarakama Dharmakathana, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.

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