Book Reviews

Author(s): J W De Jong
Publisher: J W De Jong

Page 19

REVIEWS
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should bring forth mentally (a state of samadhi) created by mantras, in conjunction with the proper rites". ch. VI, 19:atha vajradharah .... sarvacaryägrasambhūto bhāsate guhyam uttamam; Wayman takes sarvacaryāgrasambhūto as qualifying guhyam uttamam, which is not possible ("... expressed the sublime secret that issues from all the best praxis"). The translation must be, “Vajradhara, ... possessed of the best of all practices, explained the highest secret". ch. VI, 24: Wayman ("The wise bodhisattva becomes dear to the Buddhas") follows Bhattacharya's reading priyo bhavati buddhānam bodhisattvas ca dhimatām. I would prefer to follow Matsunaga, who reads bodhisattvänām. In no case can dhimatam (gen.pl.) qualify bodhisattvas (“The wise bodhisattva ..."). Hence I translate, "He becomes dear to the buddhas (and) the wise bodhisattvas ...". ch.XII, introductory line: srastā "creator" is not translated by Wayman. ch.XII, 11 rudranamaskytah is not "Having made the obeisance of Rudra", but rather "Having been saluted by Rudra". Likewise XII, 15 daityabrahmendranamaskytah is not “having bowed to Brahmā, Indra, and the Daityas" (Wayman), but on the contrary, "Having been saluted by Brahmă etc.". The adept is elevated above the gods of the three worlds referred to here; he is traidhātu kamahāvajro (11) and traidhātu kamahāpujyo (15). ch.XII,35: ekalinge sivälaye is translated by Wayman "an ekalinga, or in a calm place''; however, I wonder whether it is not a reference to "a temple of Siva, having an ekalinga"? ch. XII,37: väyavamandala is translated "the windy mandala", which is less than clear; is it a reference to an 'internal mandala', created by the internal 'wind'? line 6 ff.: Wayman translates bālā and madhyamāḥ as 'children' and 'middleaged' respectively. However, they represent levels of understanding, completed by uttama buddhayaḥ in the same verse, and not stages in the human life-cycle. XVIII,112 prajnajnanam as the third initiation is translated 'insight-knowledge'. For a discussion of this and related terms I refer to my article "On the Concept of Sahaja in Indian Buddhist Tantric Literature", Temenos, vol. 11 (1975), Helsinki 1976, pp. 88-135. line 13: yum gyi bhaga rten is rendered "the mother's bhaga place". However, it is quite certain that rten is simply a gloss on the Sanskrit term bhaga, thus, "E is the mother's bhaga, i.e. support". PK 11,58: abhimănatah is translated as 'thought'; however, abhimana is a conceited thought, a high opinion of oneself. Hence I would prefer to translate as follows: "The Tathāgata ... entered the 'breath-holding' concentration with the conceited thought, 'I shall obtain buddhahood by means of the 'Great Void". (The passage goes on to relate how the Tathāgata is corrected by all the Buddhas and hence abandons this samadhi). PK 11,32-34: there are a number of printing errors in the Sanskrit text not included in the list of Errata: vayunā, read vāyunā; vāhantām, read vāhanatām; tatprakstāḥ, read prakrtih; vāyus tam prakrtim, read vāyus tam tām prao. line 5: rca'i bye brag dan rjes su mthun pa is translated by Wayman "consistent with the basic multitude (of deeds)". However, rca here means 'vein (nādi)', and bye-brag is division (bheda)', thus, 'consistent with the division into veins', the reference being to the three veins dealt with in the same passage.
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Although dealing with detail, these notes are perhaps sufficient to show that fresh attempts at translating these tantric texts would be justified. This brings me, however, to a number of more general observations concerning the translation and interpretation of Buddhist tantric texts, Wayman makes very extensive use of texts which are traditionally styled 'explanatory