Journal of Archaeological Studies in India Vol. 1, No. 1, 2021, pp. 165-175 © ARF India. All Right Reserved URL: http://arfjournals.com/jasi Interpreting Caryā No. 2 Composed by Kukkuripā and its Association with the Legend of Kānhapā Aparna Bhogal Alumna of Deccan College Post- Graduate and Research Institute, Pune. Curator (Archaeology), CSMVS, Mumbai. Received : 27 May 2021 Abstract: Caryās are mystical verses written by or sung by some of the eighty four Mahāsiddhas. Composed in dialects, predecessors of Oriya, Bengali, Magadhi Revised : 31 May 2021 or Maithili, they were, and are sung by itinerant yogis, even today. These songs Accepted : 2 June 2021 have double meanings and are full of similes and metaphors. It is believed that Published : 4 August 2021 a sādhaka or practioner can perceive the real meaning. An attempt is made here to interpret one caryā of Mahāsiddha Kukkuripā, which possibly alludes to an episode in the life of Mahāsiddha Kānhapā or Kāniphnāth, as he is popularly TO CITE THIS ARTICLE: known in Maharashtra. The scenes depicted on the walls of numerous temples in Aparna Bhogal 2021. Interpreting th th Maharashtra confirm that the event was well known by the 12 -13 centuries. I Caryā No. 2 Composed by Kukkuripā have linked this caryā with sculptural representations of Mahāsiddha Kānhapā and its association with the legend of and also with a 13th-century Mahānubhāva text: ’Līlacharitra’. His own caryā Kānhapā. Journal of Archaeological given here (presumably written during the last few days of his life) emphasizes Studies in India, 1: 1, pp. 165-175 that in this world, no one actually comes or goes; all these are mental images or perception of the mind. Kānhu yogi likes the idea that soon he will be part of this voidness that constitutes ultimate reality. This event concluded tragically; nevertheless, Kānhapā will always remain in the hearts of the populace, including scholars, for generations. KeyWords: Caryā, kānhapā, Medieval marathi, Translation, Yoga. Caryās are mystical verses written by or sung by some of the eighty four Mahāsiddhas. These verses were composed in different languages, ancestors of modern Oriya, Bengali, Magadhi, or Maithili. The collected Caryās are known as ‘Caryāpāda’. Itinerant yogis, it seems, travelled from village to village, from town to town, singing, playing a simple instrument, and dancing to these songs just like our Baul singers of West Bengal. These songs have double meanings and are full of similes and metaphors. The words and descriptions are given in such a way that the uninitiated take one meaning. Still, the initiated could take another secret meaning often related to the sādhanā or practice. In the context of Buddhism, the 166 Journal of Archaeological Studies in India word ‘caryā’ may actually stand for a code of conduct or rules and regulations, e.g., Caryāpiṭaka. Pāda means verses which can also be sung (Chaturvedi 1969: 9, 10). We are discussing here caryā no. 2, one of the caryās of caryāpāda. It was composed by Kukkuripā. He appears in at least four contexts in the lineal history of the Siddhas. In the Nyingmapa anuyoga lineage, he is believed to be a transmitter of the Dupaido, a text that he received from Indrabhūti I and taught to Garab Dorje; this would have been in the eighth century. Then he is identified as the Guru of King Dza of Zahor (8th century), a disciple of Lilavajra and a guru of Kambala and Indrabhūti the Younger (late 9th century), the Guru of Minapā (early 10th century), and the mother-tantra teacher of Marpa (11th century). While all these references point to Eastern India and Tibet, one source that identifies Kukkuripā with Jñānagarbha from whom Marpā received the Guhyasamāja-tantra is linked to Western India. Marpā also refers to Kukkuripā as Śāntibhadra. Jñānagarbha lived at Talakshetra in Western India, and most of the contexts in which we find Kukkuripā relate to western India and to the North-west and Oddiyana in particular. He flourished in c. 11th century C.E. (Dowman and Tenzin 1986: 202, 203). Ancient Oddiyana has generally been associated with Swat my most scholars. The spread of the network of these traditions in Western India and up to Swat is not the concern of the present study. I intend to focus instead on the meaning of one particular caryā, to improve upon various translations of caryā available online and also Nilratan Sen’s ‘Charya Gitikosha’, Acharya Parashuram Chaturvedi’s Hindi book, ‘Bauddha Siddhonke Charyapada’. This essay is an outcome of my interpretation of the caryā under discussion. In order to do this, I will first present the caryā and move on to the lineage of its writer to establish that he was commenting on references and ideas he had received from his preceptors. I will then contextualize this verse within the wider style of this poet to show that he makes particular and repeated references to specific sexual kriyās in his work. This makes it appropriate to situate this verse within the context of the discussions on the vajroli mudrā and a narrative of a competition on the retention of sexual fluids by the yogī and yoginī to keep the listener enraptured by the idea about who can derive the bliss and power of nothingness. (The wider context of vajroli is a subject that is less well-known outside the circle of scholars on tantra and the Nātha siddha-s, and will therefore be explained in the following pages.) ogefue ogefn efHeìe OejCe ve peeDe~ ©Kesj lesvleefue kegÀcYeerjs KeeDe~~ Dee*ieCe IejHeCe megve Yees efJeDeeleer~ keÀevesì ®eewjer efveue DeOejeleer~~ megmegje efveo iesue yengæ[er peeieDe~ keÀevesì ®eesjs efveue keÀe ieF ceeieDe~~ efoJemeF yengæ[er keÀeGF [js YeeDe~ jeefle YeFues keÀeceª peeDe~~ DeFmeve ®e³ee& kegÀkekegÀjer HeeSB ieeFæ[~ keÀeæsef[ SkegÀ cee PesB efnDeefnB meceeFæ[~~ ®e³eeæ& 2 (®elegJexoer: 128) It is translated by Prof. Nilratan Sen, as follows: Milking the she tortoise (it) cannot be contained in a pail. The crocodile (alligator) eats tamarind off the tree. Oh learned woman, listen, the courtyard is towards the house. The thief has taken away kanet (ear-ring) at midnight. The father-in-law fell asleep; Bahuḍi (daughter-in-law) was awake. The thief has taken away kanet- the ear-ring; going where can it be asked for? In daytime Bahuḍi (the daughter-in-law) is afraid of a crow, Aparna Bhogal : Interpreting Carya No. 2 Composed by Kukkuripa and its Association... 167 When it is night she goes to Kamaru (amorous Kamarupa, the land of love). Such a caryā is sung by Kukkuripā; Which enters in to the heart of one among ten millions (Sen 1977: 129). Scholars so far could not decipher the real meaning in this caryā probably because all of them tried to seek its meaning in the metaphysical or spiritual context. Instead the present writer believes that this caryā makes allusion to the legend of Kānhapā and a yoginī (ḍākinī) called Bahuḍi. Let us now consider Kānhapā a 10th century Sahaja Siddha who is also known as Kānhu, Kṛṣṇapāda, Kāniph, Kānanīpā in literary and spiritual tradition. He was a disciple of Jālandharipā or Jālandharanāth. An episode from Kānhapā’s life is depicted on the exterior of cave 14 at Panhale Kaji (1st register of the panels on the right side of the entrance) in Maharashtra * (Sarde 2018: 3). (Figure1). It is a synoptic and symbolic representation of the story of Kānhapā and yoginī Bahuḍī. According to the Tibetan version of the story, once, while travelling, Kānhapā reached the outskirts of the village Bhadhokora. There, he met a young girl beneath a tree laden with ripe fruit. He requested for permission to pick some ripe fruits from the tree. The girl did not allow him to take any fruit which enraged the proud siddha and with his powerful gaze he plucked some fruits from the tree. The girl was actually the ḍākinī Bahudi who sent the fruits back to the tree with her equally powerful gaze. When the ḍākinī revealed herself, both were engaged in the competition of ritualistic gaze. Soon both the adversaries cursed each other. The ḍākinī started bleeding heavily, but after the request of the villagers, Kānhapā reversed his curse. But the curse of the ḍākinī made Kānhapā vomit and bleed. Kānhapā could not get the medicine he needed due to the trick of the ḍākinī and in the end, he prepared himself for death. The ḍākinī Bahudi was also punished, later, by Bhānde, Kānhapā’s faithful ḍākinī (Dowman: 127). Cakradhara, the guru of the Mahānubhāva sect (c.13th century C.E.), narrated the episode to his disciples with additional information (Līlācaritra Uttarārdha, a Maharastrian vernacular text in Marathi, a biography of Cakradhara Swāmi): The incident happened under a coconut tree (in the sculptural art of Maharashtra a coconut tree is depicted wherever this legend is delineated). (Figure: 2, a narrative sculptural panel from the Vishnu temple at Palasdev, Maharashtra, c. 14th century C.E.) (Sarde 2019: 104, 105). When the coconuts were stuck back to the tree, the enraged Kānhapā challenged the yoginī (ḍākinī) Bahuḍī for a sexual competition (the one who retains sexual fluid wins). ³ee : legcnæer Deecner mebieW petbPee W: ceer DeeHegues Jeer³ex KejeW vesoer : keÀeb letb DeeHegueW Jeer³e& KejeW vesoer : In the first attempt, she was defeated as he absorbed sexual fluid from her vagina, but thenyogini Kāmākhyā advised Bahuḍī to insert a diamond in her vagina. jceleeb jbOe´eR nerje Oeefj DeeefCe peeRkeÀmeer : When the diamond got stuck in the penis of Kānhu it caused health problems (Joshi 1977: 517, 518). Kukkuripā captured this event in sāndhyabhāṣā –an enigmatic language. ogefue ogefn efHeìe OejCe ve peeDe~ ©Kesj lesvleefue kegÀcYeerjs KeeDe~~ Milking the tortoise cannot fill a pail.