Some Notes On Buddha Sahajayani Siddha Natha Tradition

Author(s): H C Bhayani
Publisher: ZZ_Anusandhan
Catalog link: https://jainqq.org/explore/269118/1

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Some Notes on the Bauddha Sahajayāni Siddha-Nätha Tradition
H. C. Bhayani 1. Saraha's मातृका-प्रथमाक्षर-दोहक in Apabhramsa
Mātrkā or Kakka (The Alphabet) has been a favourite type or genre in early Indian regional literatures. In 1997 we edited and published its earliest known instance so far, viz. Bārahakkhara-kakka of Mahacandra Muni. A paper mostly based on its Introduction was read at the Eighth International Conference on Early Indian Regional Literatures, held at Venice in 1996. Therein we had drawn attention to the fact that in the biography of Gautama Buddha given in the Lalitavistara it is stated that when the teacher began teaching the Alphabet to the boy Gautama, he immediately recited verses in which the first words began with the letters of the Alphabet in their traditional sequence.
Now the Bārahakkhara-kakka was in post-Apabhramsa language and although we had listed the Mātrkā poems known till now in Gujarati, Rajasthani, Hindi etc. no instance of an Apabhramsa Kakka was known. Somehow we missed one such Apabhraṁśa poem, that preceded Mahācandra's poem by several centuries and that was published as far back as 1957 ! Only quite recently I came to know about a Buddhist Sahajayāni Siddha's poem belonging to this genre. In his Dohākośa Rahul Samkrityayan has published (pp.129139), on the basis of the Tibetan Tanjur (Stan'gyur), that is an old collection of Tibetan translations of Indian texts, the

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Tibetan translation of Saraha's Ka-kha-Dohā (from the Tantra Section of the Tanjur). The original Apabhraṁsa text is lost. Samkrityayan has given the Tibetan text in Nāgari characters and has given its Hindi translation. Saraha's works are dated in the eighth century. I have no knowledge of Old Tibetan and I consider Samkrityayan's translation quite reliable.
Below I give some idea of Saraha's Mātņkā poem. Like many poems of this genre its original was in Dohā metre. The Hindi translation of the Tibetan Colophon reads as follows : sfa --G TITT HEMAT Î HER OTTENU सरहमुखोक्त समाप्त । कोसल देश-जन्मा महायोगी वैरोचनवज्र के ha afera 19-37%arg Il The poem had 34 Dohās. They covered the letters of to 81. In the introduction to the Bārahakkhara-kakka we have given information about the different alphabetical modes adopted by the various poems. Some follow the sequence of consonants only, others have verses beginning with syllables i.e. either each consonant followed by a and ā, while others have verses in which each initial consonant is followed in order by the whole series of vowels beginning with 37 and ending with 37:. The last type is known as बारह-अक्खरी. The earlier ones are known as a cheti in Hindi or 41%97-9971877-187 in Sanskrit. Saraha's poem was of the latter type. It seems to have each half of the Dohā in which the first word began with the consonants etc. in sequence. The contents of the poem

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N
M
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pertains naturally to the Sahajayāna ideas and beliefs and it is in the familiar Sahajayāni terminology.
In the Ka-kha-dohā in each half of the Dohās the first word after the particular letter seems to have begun with the same letter. 1. कक्का : (a) कमल ; (b) कुमारी. 2. खक्खा : (a) ख-सम ; (b) खाहि. 3. गग्गा : (a) गगण ; (b) गमणागमण. 4. घग्घा : (a) घणघण ; (b) घरिणी. 5. ङङा : (a) निज सहाव; (b) निरंतर. 6. चच्चा : (a) चउथ आणंद ; (b) चउ-खण. 7. छच्छा : (a) छड्डहो ; (b) छड्डि. 8. जज्जा : (a) जम्म-जरा ; (b) जसउ.
झज्झा : (a) झज्झ कुसुम (= बहु कुसुम) (?); (b) .... 10. xx xx xxxx 11. टट्टा : (a) (?); (b) टालमाल. 12. ठट्ठा : (a) ठवणि ; (b) 13. डड्डा : (a) डोंबी ; (b) डमरु. 14. ढड्डा : (a) ढलइ ; (b) ढलिअ. 15. णण्णा : (a) णिज-सहाव ; (b) णिज-घरिणी. 16. तत्ता : (a) ति-काय ति-गंथ ; (b) तुल्ल. 17. थत्था : (a) थिर करि ; (b) थाण. 1१ दद्दा : (a) दुइ सरह हो वाय ; (b) दुइ बिंदु. 19. धद्धा : (a) धोबी ; (b) धोबिणि. 20. नन्ना : (a) नाणा-पआर ; (b) नास-भअ. 21. पप्पा : (a) पंच अमिअ ; (b) पउम-पुप्फ.

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22. फफ्फा : (a) फडकार (?) ; (b) फडकार. 23. बब्बा : (a) बणह बंभपुफ्फ ; (b) बस-मज्झे. 24. भब्भा : (a) भग ही भग ; (b) भुंज. 25. मम्मा : (a) मइरा ; (b) मूल-चित्त. 26. यय्या : (a) जावहिं ; (b) जइसउ. 27. रर्रा : (a) रवि-ससि ; (b) रसणा. 28. लल्ला : (a) लेहु पवणहो ; (b) ललणा. 29. वव्वा : (a) वर वारि ; (b) वज्रजोइणि (?). 30. शश्शा : (a) सहाव ; (b) सरह. 31. षष्षा : (a) सहजे ; (b) सम-विसम. 32. सस्सा : (a) सम एउ सव्व ; (b) सहजाणंद. 33. हह्हा : (a) हास ; (b) हरहर. 34. क्ष-क्षा : (a) क्षले ; (b) क्ष-क्ष.
Saraha's Mātņkā poem provides us definite evidence of there being an early tradition of writing such poems in Apabhramsa.

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2. Were Santi and Bhusaka the same or
different ?
We know very well that regarding the identity, succession, chronology, life, authorship etc. of the Siddha-Năthas there is so much disagreement among various traditional lists and legendary accounts, that largely we have to depend upon speculation and guess-work to separate facts and beliefs.
With respect to śāntipāda and Bhusukapāda, we are faced with two problems : First, whether these were the names of the same person or of two different persons ? Second, who were they in their early life, prior to renouncing the worldly life ? In his treatment of śāntideva's Śikṣāsamuccaya and Bodhicaryāvatāra, Winternitz has touched upon these problems on the basis of the traditional accounts and views of earlier scholars. I quote him below :
‘As the most prominent among the later teachers of Mahāyāna Buddhism, who also shone as poets, we have to mention śāntideva, who probably lived in the 7th century A.D. According to Tāranātha, he was born in Saurāstra (in the present-day Gujarat) as a king's son, but was instigated by the goddess Tārā herself to renounce the throne, whilst the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, in the form of a Yogin, initiated him into the sciences. He acquired great magic powers, and was for a time the minister of King Pañcasimha, but finally he became a monk. He was a pupil of Jayadeva, the successor of Dharmapāla in Nālandā. Tāranātha ascribes to hiin

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the works Śikṣā-Samuccaya, Sūtra-Samuccaya and Bodhicaryāvatāra."
Now there are two pieces of evidence which so far have not come to the attention of the scholars, and which inditcate that there is some basis for the tradition that śāntideva was a prince in his early life and that he was the same person who was called Bhusuku in several Caryās as their author.
In Caryă no. 41 Bhusuka is referred to as 7371 = T4F) (37374 af 1 4013, verse no.5). The same is the case with Caryā no. 43 (475 / 137 4075).
In the 3790091 01 given in the fifth issue of Dhiḥ, published from Sarnath, there is cited an Apabramśa passage (p. 34) from the Sekoddeśa-Commentary in which twice the names of Bhusuka and Sänti occur and there is
1)
Taranátha, Geschichte des Budhdismus, übers. von Schiefner, p. 162 ff. The biography of Santideva, which Haraprasada Sastri (Ind. Ant.42, 1913, pp. 4952) found in a Nepalese manuscript of the 14th century, agrees in the main with Tāranātha. In this MS. Rājā Manjuvarma is mentioned as his father. It is said here that he had the additional name "Bhusuka", because he was well versed in the meditation called "Bhusuka". He is also said to have been the author of a Tantra, and Haraprasāda found works of the Vajrayana school and songs in the Old Bengali language, which are attibuted to a certain Bhusuka. This biography, too, speaks of three works of Santideva. The assumption of P. L. Vaidya (Etudes sur Aryadeva, p. 54) that by Siksa-Sainuccaya, the text of the Karikas is meant, and by Sūtra-Samuccaya thc conmentary containing the quotations from Sutras, is indeed very tempting : nevertheless, I regard it as far more likely that the statement about the three works of Santideva is merely based upon an erroneous interpretation of the versc) Budhicaryāvatāra V.105 f., where Santideva recommends the study of his Siksā-Sauccaya or the Sūtra-Samuccaya of Nāgārjuna; s. Winternilz is WZKM 26, 1912. 246 ff. Cf. also P L. Vaidya, I. c., p. 54 ff. and Kieth, HSL, pp. 72 f., 236.

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ao mention of Guru-siṣya relation between them, as for example we find in the case of Kṛṣṇapăda's Giti (Samkrityayan's Dohākośa, p. 369), wherein he specifically mentions Jālamdhari as his Guru.
These facts clearly point out that Santi was a Rājaputra and that Bhusuka and Śanti were probably different names of the same person.
One point, however can be looked upon as going against such a conclusion. In the Caryāgitikosa, Caryā no. 15 and 26 bear the name of Santi, while Carya no.6, 21, 23, 27, 30, 41, 43 and 49 bear the name of Bhusuka. This would clearly indicate that like other authors of the Caryās Santi and Bhusuka were different Siddhas. In the list of Saraha's Guru-parampară given by Samkrityayan on p. 21 of the Introduction Bhusuka bears the number 41, while Santi is numbered 12. Thus the problem of identification remains unsolved so far.

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3. One more instance of the Jhambadaka Song in
Apabhrāmsa
___ In my note on occurrences of the झम्ब डक - गीत (Anusamdhan, 4, 1994, p. 24-25; 5, 1995, p. 82-83 ; reprinted in शोधखोळनी पगदंडी पर 1997, p. 191-193), I had noted two instances, one from the प्रभावकचरित (1278 A.C.) and one from the विनोदकथासंग्रह (14th century), which is characterized by a ध्रुवपद (कहउं जि भरडइ जं जं किउ).
From the क्रियासमुच्चय the following passage is quoted in the अपभ्रशवचनसंग्रह (Dhih, p. 35) (the corrupt text is re. stored):
हुउ देखु घणु संसार-तरु । दंदालिंगण-जोग-धरु ॥
हेवज्र तुहुं तेन्नाहूं तेन्ना तें तें हूं ।।१ सुर-णर-वंदित-चरण-धरु । करु महु xx_xx तोसु करु ।।
__ हेवज्र तुहुं तेत्राहूं तेन्ना तें तें हूं ॥२ भाव-विमुक्क विसेस-गुण । xx xx णमु णमु हे ॥
* हेवज्र तुहं xx xx xx xx xx x ||३ This instance is noteworthy in that it has a musical ध्रुवपद with song syllables, which must have been characteristic of the Jhambadaka song. We have here the actual songform preserved.
In this connection it is significant to note that in

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Svayambhu's Apabhraṁsa epic Paumacariya (end of the ninth century) तेण तेण तेण चित्तें occurs as a ध्रुवपद with each Pāda of the Apabhramsa metre Jambhettiā (Sandhi 81, Kadavaka 1). This is similar to on etc. we find in the lines of the Jhambadaka song discussed here. I think these are instances of what is called at tilfe in musicological texts like the cast, and that mode of performance continues till today under the name of Trut in the North Indian musical tradition. (See, Bhayani, Indological Studies 1, 1993, p. 9599).

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4. On the Names of Some Siddha-Näthas
We have with us various published lists of the SiddhaNāthas, some partial and some complete, some comparatively early and some later and modernized. The traditional figure of eightyfour is quite obviously the result of frequent revisions and alterations. The forms of many names that figure in the lists are evidently corrupt and modernized. Even then, I think it is worthwhile to speculate about their linguistic sources.
A large number of the names are in Sanskrit. They are usually respectable and complimentary. To illustrate :
triga (91. 37vda), 00 (M. Tur), siel, prifcat (UI. 3quicy), TEFL, T , TETET (91. HTET),
HUMI, TEM, , Fifi (H. hifa), H474.
But several have Prakritic form and a number of them are of obscure origin. They are perhaps based on regional usages. It is proposed here to discuss a few of all the three types, because they have some significant social implications. ogia (abridged pac), pocit : He who wears a
woolen blanket. ( T. 9. 06. TAL. 2771, 2773 ). to of up : He who wears wristlet.
f : He who keeps a dog ( 67, . dog.
IAL. 3329 ). Isfi: He who lives in a tent ( 91. T$tent').

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घंटा : He who puts on little bells. चट्टिल : He who is fond of tasting. ( प्रा. चट्ट 'lick'. IAL
4573). चर्पट : Palm of hand; small flat piece of wood (• सं. चर्पट
IAL. 4696 ). Grci eft : He who carries a fishing net, a fisherman. डेंगी : A boatman ( * डेंग small boat, canoe. IAL. 5568 ). डोंबी : A man of the pomba caste ( सं. प्रा. डोंब IAL. 5570). ढेंढण : (?). तंती : He who plays on the lute or he who knows Tantras. ..
( Compare वीणापाद ). तेल्लो : An oilman ( सं. तैलिक, प्रा. तेल्लिअ. IAL 5963 ). भादे : सं. भद्रदेव (प्रा. भद्ददेअ > भद्ददे > भादे). The form be
longs to the post-Apabhramsa stage. भुसुक्क : Chaff (भुस + diminutive उक्क) ( सं. बुस, प्रा. भुस.
_IAL. 9293). मेखला : Girdle. लूई : सं. लूता 'spider ; a cutaneous disease.' IAL. 11093. विरूवा : Ugly ( सं. विरूप, प्रा. विरूव ). शबर : A man of the Sabara tribe ( सं. शबर , प्रा. सबर, सवर
___ a wild, mountainous tribe ). सरह : A wild animal ( सं. शरभ, प्रा. सरह, IAL. 12331 ). हालि : A ploughman ( सं. हाली, प्रा. हाली ).

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104 2. Remarks : 1. The names out and a 10146 indicate close associa tion with those musical instruments. $415, TSYG, घंटापाद, कंकणपाद, कंबलपाद, चर्पटपाद, मेखलापाद indicate characteristic association with those objects, things, etc. ofer 47 indicates a characteristic habit. जालंधरिपाद, डेंगिपाद, डोंगीपाद, तेल्लोपाद, हालिपाद indicate low caste professions. 46, Yay indicate the caste. ETIC (THC) is a flattering name like FHEGA, quuta etc. 641415, T 4 , T54G are obviously pejorative assumed names. 3. se w Of these the names of the first and second category were possibly given by the devotees and followers. The third and fourth categories are interesting in this sense that they suggest that the Siddhas were closely associated with the lower castes and tribals. Samkrityayan, Majumdar and others have made observations about the changed social mileu and the intimacy of the Siddhas with the lower stratum of the society. Names of the fifth category can be explained as either the childhood bye-names or more probably to show that they considered their worldly selves as of little value. WANN.