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Rāhula and the Inverted Mythology of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism1

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Rāhula and the Inverted Mythology of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism1 THE DEMON SEER: RĀHULA AND THE INVERTED MYTHOLOGY OF INDO-TIBETAN BUDDHISM1 CAMERON BAILEY This article will examine how Tibetan Buddhists adapted, and structur- ally inverted, classical Indian mythological and cosmological paradigms, using the iconography and mythology of the protector deity (Skt. Dhar- mapāla, Tib. Chos skyong) Rāhula as a case study. I will argue Rāhula is an amalgam figure based mainly on the Indian eclipse asura Rāhu, but also subsumes other Indian deities, in particular Viṣṇu. Rāhula is one of the main protector deities of the Rnying ma school of Tibetan Buddhism, and most of my primary sources are drawn from Rnying ma scriptures, either treasure (gter ma) cycles or tantras from the Rnying ma canon (Rnying ma rgyud ‘bum). I will argue that Rāhula’s mythos is related to, but in key respects distinct from, that of the Rnying ma anti-Buddha Rudra, and that Rāhula’s iconography and origin story collapses the dual- istic structures of classical Indian myths, as well as the symbolically polarized myths of the Buddha and Rudra. The Indian Rāhu The name “Rāhu” comes from the Sanskrit root rabh which means “to take hold of, to grasp.” It is very similar in meaning to the root grah “to seize, to grasp,” from which is derived the word graha.2 In early Sanskrit literature the term graha was applied generally to hostile spirits who 1 This article is a condensed version of my unpublished Master’s thesis “The Raven and the Serpent: ‘The Great All-Pervading Rahula’ and Dæˊmonic Buddhism in India and Tibet” (Bailey 2012). I have updated it with further primary and secondary source material and have adapted my conclusions somewhat. I would like to extend my thanks to Ulrike Roesler and Cathy Cantwell in particular for their numerous comments and help with editing this paper. 2 See Monier-Williams 1899: 867. JournaloftheInternationalAssociationofBuddhistStudies Volume 38 ӝ 2015 ӝ 33–72 ӝ doi: 10.2143/JIABS.38.0.3134537 34 CAMERON BAILEY would possess and sicken humans, usually children.3 Later, the term was applied mainly to the planets. Indian astrology, or Jyotisa (“the science of the lights”), generally recognizes nine main planets, the navagraha, which ‘grasp’ the fates of men, controlling (or at least presaging) their karmic destinies. These nine are likely based on Greek and/or Babylonian precedent, and are named Aditya (the Sun), Candra (the Moon), Budha (Mercury), Sukra (Venus), Kuja (Mars), Brhaspati (Jupiter) and Sani (Saturn), and two entities not recognized as actual celestial bodies in Western astronomy, Rahu and Ketu which, technically speaking, refer to the ascending and descending nodes of the moon, respectively.4 Mytho- logically speaking, the ascending and descending nodes, beginning in Babylonian astrology and cosmology, were envisioned as the head and tail of a cosmic dragon.5 These two beings (or sometimes one, Ketu envisioned as Rahu’s body or tail) are associated with a number of astro- nomical and meteorological phenomena. Most (in)famously, Rahu as the Lord of Eclipses is said to periodically devour, or ‘grasp,’ the sun and the moon. Eclipses, according to ancient Indian prognostic science, have usually very bad effects on people and conditions on earth generally. The sixth 3 The word grahaalso denotes states of spirit possession of a distinctly negative or hostile variety (see Smith 2006: 14, 483–484). These grasper spirits, especially female grahīs, are said to particularly adversely affect children (grahapīda). For example, in the days, months, and years after a child’s birth, it is believed that particular grahīs will cause the newborn various kinds of diseases and afflictions which may kill him or her. For example: “On the second night after the birth of the child [a] female planet called Bhīsanī attacks it. Symptoms of the attack are coughing, deep breath and the shrinking of bodily organs,” (Mani [1975] 2010: 297). Fortunately, there are various remedies and rituals that the parents or other caretakers can use in order to ward off these attacks. Furthermore, in some contexts, female grahīdemonesses are considered the primary cause of disease. In certain Puranas a demon by the name of Grahi is considered the main cause of disease, destruction, and death (O’Flaherty 1976: 170). 4 The apparent orbital plane of the sun as it travels through the sky is called the eclip- tic. When the moon crosses the ecliptic moving toward galactic north, this is referred to as the ascending node, and when it crosses back again moving to the galactic south, this is the descending node. 5 For more on Babylonian and Greek precedents to Indian astrology, see Beinorius 2008 and Pingree 1997. The ascending and descending nodes were known in Europe as CaputDraconisand CaudaDraconis, the head and tail of the dragon, respectively (Sanders 2011: 2). THE DEMON SEER 35 century Brhatsaṃhita, which is a comprehensive guidebook to various astronomical and meteorological signs and portents, written by the court astrologer of Ujjain, Varahamihira (505–587 CE), records a number of negative omens related to Rāhu’s influence. Eclipses are considered to be one instance of so-called “planetary warfare” (grahayuddha), in which certain planets that are considered hostile to each other come into conflict. In chapter five of the Brhatsaṃhita, Varahamihira gives fairly extensive descriptions of different kinds of eclipses, based on how they initially enter the solar or lunar discs, what color they appear to be during the eclipse, and how the shadow begins to exit the disc once the eclipse ends. There are, Varahamihira explains, ten different kinds of eclipses based on how, and from which direction, the shadow enters the disc. Each different type of eclipse causes different effects on earth and specifically affects different groups or castes of people. Other details are also impor- tant for predicting the outcome of a particular eclipse, such as which zodiac sign the luminary is in when it is being eclipsed. Most of the potential effects are overwhelmingly negative and include, but are not limited to, floods, earthquakes, and famine. Eclipses are also regarded as particularly bad omens for kings, presaging their death.6 The earliest mythological account of the eclipse demon’s origin appears in the great Indian epic, the Mahabharata, and is further elaborated or retold in later puranic literature, such as the Bhagavata-, Brahmanda-, Skandha-, Siva-, Visnu-, Agni-, and Padmapurana.7 According to one version of the story Rāhu was born the son (or grandson) of the seer Kasyapa, one of the first people created directly by the demiurge deity Brahma (sometimes the seer is the grandson of Brahma), and the giantess Siṃhika.8 Siṃhika is said to have angered her husband when she asked for a child at the wrong time, and consequently gave birth to a son “who was dreadful like the God of Death.” As a child, Rahu is said to have gotten into a fight with a son of Aditi, the wife of Kasyapa who produced 6 See chapter five of the VVBS. 7 For various puranicstories about Rahu, see Dimmitt and van Buitenen, eds. 1978: 46; O’Flaherty [1973] 1981: 281, 370, n. 172; Beer 1999: 69; and Mani [1975] 2010: 456, 500. 8 In Vedic mythology, Kasyapa and his thirteen wives are considered to be the pro- genitors of all living beings, each wife acting as the mother to a different type of being. 36 CAMERON BAILEY the devas, and lost. Embarrassed and angered by this humiliation, Rahu undertook severe austerities in the Himalayan Mountains for many thou- sands of years. When Brahma appeared before him to grant him a boon for his penance, Rahu asked to be granted immortality, to be made a planet, to have victory over the devas, and to be able to devour the sun and moon. Brahma had no choice but to grant him these wishes, but as is usually the case in these stories, the gods found a loophole in the ‘con- tract,’ and Visnu cut off Rahu’s head with his cakra weapon, making sure that, even though Rahu could swallow the sun and moon, they would quickly re-emerge from his severed neck. After beheading him thus, Visnu spoke to Rahu, telling him: “In your respective periods you may devour the two luminaries and thereby indicate the good and bad things in the world.”9 Rahu’s periodic, though ultimately fruitless, attempts to swallow the sun and moon are called, respectively, Sūryagrahaṇa (solar eclipse) and Candragrahaṇa (lunar eclipse).10 The most famous myth of Rāhu’s origin, however, is originally found in the Mahabharata, and is part of arguably the most well-known Hindu creation myth, the so-called “churning of the milky ocean”. This story, and Rāhu’s role in it, is succinctly summarized in the Viśeṣastavaṭīkā, a Buddhist text that appears in the Tibetan Bstan ’gyur: The gods churned the mighty ocean of milk until ambrosia appeared. How- ever, it was stolen by the asura Rāhu, who began to use it. Visnu thought, “If he drinks it, even the gods will not be able to defeat him.” So with his mighty weapon wheel, he cut off Rāhu’s head, and the gods retrieved the nectar. However, some of the nectar had reached Rāhu’s throat, and although the body below his throat was dead, he was still alive, and he set off to wreak havoc among gods and men. From that time onward, he has eclipsed the sun and moon that light up the three worlds.11 Indian Buddhist scriptures, from the earliest period, have their own myths describing Rāhu’s cosmological importance and the origin of his eclipse-causing behavior. In early nikāya and Mahāyāna sūtras Rahu is 9 Bhat 1981: 42–43.
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