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CHAPTER 7
Two Interesting References by Haribhadrasūri to Ambā-kusmāņdī-vidyā
U. P. SHAH
In his Lalita-vistarā-tīkā (LVT), which is the same as the Caityavandana-sūtra-vrtti, Haribhadrasūri (c. 550-625) writes:
aiyāvítta-karāṇāṁ pravacanārthaṁ vyāpstā-bhāvānām, yathā ambā-kuşmāņdī-ādīnāṁ; śānti-karāṇāṁ...!
The Ambā-kusmāndī-vidyā is also referred to by the same author in his gloss on the Avasyaka-niryukti-vrtti (ANV). The Anuyoga-dvāra-sūtra (AYDS), a Jaina canonical text has the following passage:
Teyasā lalaṁte iṁdassa vā khaṁdassa vā ruddassa vā sivassa vā vesamaņassa vā devassa vā nāgassa vā jakkhassa vā bhūyassa vā mugundassa vā ajjāe vā duggāe vā kotta-kiriyāe vā uvalekhana-samamjaņāsaņavarisana-dhūva-puppha-gamdha-mallāiyāīs uvvāvassayāim karesti / Commenting on this, Haribhadrasūri writes: Āryā praśānta-rūpā durgā, kotta-kiriyā saiva mahişārūdhā.
The Cūrņi on the above passage, possibly by Jinadāsa Mahattara (seventh century AD) reads: Durgāyāḥ pūrva-rūpam āmra-kuşmāņdi-vat (āmra-kuşmāndi-vat or āmra-kuşmāndi-vat?)
