My, what loose robes you have

bhikṣo kanthā ślathā te nanu śapharavadhe jālikaiṣātsi matsyāṃs 
te 'mī madyāvadaṃśāḥ pibasi madhu samaṃ veśyayā yāsi veśyām | 
dattvārīṇāṃ gale 'ṅghriṃ kimu tava ripavo bhittibhettāsmi yeṣāṃ 
cauras tvaṃ dyūtahetoḥ katham asi kitavo yena dāsīsuto 'smi || 

(Subhāṣitāvali 2404)

Vilāsavajra's Jñānapāda quotation traced

This has been giving me headaches for a while. As already noted by Anthony Tribe in his thesis (The Names of Wisdom. A Critical Edition and Annotated Translation of Chapters 1-5 of Vilāsavajra's Commentary on the Nāmasaṃgīti, with Introduction and Textual Notes, Oxford 1994), Vilāsavajra quotes Jñānapāda in his Nāmamantrārthāvalokinī, but the verse - to the best of my knowledge (but I'm woefully behind with secondary literature) - remains untraced. Here is the śloka in question (given by Tribe on p. 16 from his Ms. B = NGMPP E 360/16, f. 58r):

tathā coktaṃ Jñānapādaiḥ | 

sambodhicittam utpādya mahāmaitrīprayogataḥ | 
sarvadharmā nirātmāna iti jñātvā vimucyata iti ||

A slight correction based on the Cambridge ms. (Add. 1708, f. 81v): mahāmaitrī- rather than mahāmaitrīṃ . 

I have browsed through most of Jñānapāda's works, but could not find this verse. Well, it turns out I was looking in the wrong place. This is not from Jñānapāda's Tantric works, but from one placed among the Madhyamaka texts in the Tibetan Canon, the Mahāyānalakṣaṇasamuccaya (Tōh. 3905). This is actually the opening verse:

byang chub yang dag sems bskyed pa'i |

byams pa chen po'i sbyor ba ste |

chos rnams thams cad bdag med pa'i |

zhes bya ye shes mngon par brjod || 

Something has gone terribly wrong with the fourth quarter, but on the whole I would call this a good match.


UPDATE: a fragment of the Mahāyānalakṣaṇasamuccaya is extant in Sanskrit, see Yoshiyasu Yonezawa, "Sanskrit Fragment of the Mahāyānalakṣaṇasamuccaya". In: Journal of Research Society of Buddhism and Cultural Heritage No.7, 1998, 36-65. The Japanese scholar notes that the verse was already noted and transcribed by Sāṅkṛtyāyana (1937:40, n. 4). The reading adopted in these publications is iti jñātvā 'dhimucyate. (Thanks to Harunaga Isaacson and Ryugen Tanemura for the article.)

Tsong kha pa's definition of man ngag (upadeśa)

Ever wondered what those mysterious "oral teachings" are? Are they things that are never ever revealed anywhere in writing? Apparently not, at least that is what Tsong kha pa seems to think.


de'i phyir man ngag ni | rtsa rgyud rnams kyi don bshad rgyud kyi rjes su 'brangs nas phyin ci ma log par bshad de slob ma'i rgyud la go ba bde blag tu skyed pa'i thabs la zer bas zhal las shes lugs kyang de ltar du go bar bya yi | rgyud rnams su bri bar phangs nas de dag tu ma bkod par rna khung du rim pa bzhin brgyud pa la mi gzung ngo ||

Sngags rim chen mo (Mtsho sngon ed., p. 436)

Ganden (Dga' ldan) in 2006

Indian Buddhist Biographies (1)

This very interesting blog entry posted on earlyTibet kickstarted some thoughts about Indian Buddhist biographies. I could not come up with that many off the top of my head, so Sam's assertion, namely that:

"The vast amount of biographical and autobiographical literature produced in Tibet over the centuries is an interesting phenomenon. For a culture so pervaded by the Buddha’s teaching of non-self, there is an awful lot of writing about the lives of individuals. And, interestingly, this is something that was not done to the same extent in India, the primary source of Tibetan Buddhism."

is probably correct. Note, however, that he did say "to the same extent in India". Indeed, "biographies" of Indian Buddhists do exist and some of them are absolutely fascinating. True, there are not that many. Here is one of my favourites from the time of Devapāla (most likely around 810-840 CE). The inscription is usually referred to as the Ghosrawa inscription. It celebrates the life, endowments, and career of one Vīradeva, a native of Nagarahāra (Nangarhar in today's Afghanistan).

Copy of an estampage as published in the Gauḍalekhamālā.

The text is remarkably rich in biographical details. We come to know that Vīradeva's father was one Indragupta, who became a confidante of the king (who is unfortunately not named). He had a faithful wife, Rajjekā (or perhaps: Rajjokā). Their son proved to be a very intelligent boy and he displayed lack of interest in this-worldly affairs from a very early age. After his Vedic studies he went to the Kaniṣka monastery (in today's Peshawar) and became a student of one Sarvajñaśānti. At some point he came to Mahābodhi to bow to the Vajrāsana. After he had done so he went to meet his compatriot monks at the Yaśovarmapura monastery (this toponym to my knowledge is still unidentified). He became so famous that he was venerated by Devapāla himself. Later on he was appointed to a high office at Nālandā and became a munificent donor for several important buildings.

(For editions see Kielhorn in Indian Antiquary vol. XVII - which I do not have at hand now -; the Gauḍalekhamālā, and Tsukamoto's wonderful collection of Indian Buddhist inscriptions. Here I tried to follow the estampage as much as possible, but several problems remain. Bear with me until I get hold of Kielhorn's article.)


@ śrīmān asau jayati sattvahitapravṛtta-
sanmānasādhigatatattvanayo munīndraḥ| 
kleśātmanāṃ duritanakradurāsadāntaḥ 
saṃsārasāgarasamuttaraṇaikasetuḥ|| 1


asyāsmadguravo babhūvur abalāḥ saṃbhūya hartuṃ manaḥ 
kā lajjā yadi kevalo na balavān asmi trilokaprabhau| 
ity ālocayateva mānasabhuvā yo dūrato varjitaḥ 
śrīmān viśvam aśeṣam etad avatād bodhau sa vajrāsanaḥ|| 2


asty Uttarāpathavibhūṣaṇabhūtabhūmir 
deśottamo Nagarahāra iti pratītaḥ| 
tatra dvijātir uditoditavaṃśajanmā 
nāmnEndragupta iti rājasakho babhūva|| 3


Rajjekayā dvijavaraḥ sa guṇī gṛhiṇyā 
yukto rarāja kalayāmalayā yathenduḥ| 
lokaḥ pativratakathāparibhāvanāsu 
saṃkīrtanaṃ prathamam eva karoti yasyāḥ|| 4 


tābhyām ajāyata sutaḥ sutarāṃ vivekī 
yo bāla eva kalitaḥ paralokabuddhyā| 
sarvopabhogasubhage 'pi gṛhe viraktaḥ 
pravrajyayā sugataśāsanam abhyupetum|| 5 


vedān adhītya sakalān kṛtaśāstracintaḥ 
śrīmatKaniṣkam upagamya mahāvihāram| 
ācāryavaryam atha sa praśamapraśasyaṃ 
Sarvajñaśāntim anugamya tapaś cacāra|| 6 


so 'yaṃ viśuddhaguṇasaṃbhṛtabhūrikīrteḥ 
śiṣyo 'nurūpaguṇaśīlayaśo'bhirāmaḥ| 
bālenduvat kalikalaṅkavimuktakāntir 
vandyaḥ sadā munijanair api Vīradevaḥ|| 7 


Vajrāsanaṃ vanditum ekadā'tha 
śrīmanMahābodhim upāgato 'sau|
draṣṭuṃ tato 'gāt sahadeśibhikṣūn 
śrīmadYaśovarmapuraṃ vihāram|| 8 


tiṣṭhann atheha suciraṃ pratipattisāraḥ 
śrīDevapālabhuvanādhipalabdhapūjaḥ| 
prāptaprabhaḥ pratidinodayapūritāśaḥ 
pūṣeva dāritatamaḥprasaro rarāja|| 9 


bhikṣor ātmasamaḥ suhṛd bhuja iva śrīSatyabodher nijo 
Nālandāparipālanāya niyataḥ saṅghasthiter yaḥ sthitaḥ| 
yenaitau sphuṭam IndraśailamukuṭaŚrīcaityacūḍāmaṇī 
śrāmaṇyavratasaṃvṛtena jagataḥ śreyo'rtham utthāpitau|| 10 


Nālandayā ca paripālitayeha satyā 
śrīmadvihāraparihāravibhūṣitāṅgyā| 
udbhāsito 'pi bahukīrtivadhūpatitve 
yaḥ sādhu sādhur iti sādhujanaiḥ praśastaḥ|| 11


cintājvaraṃ śamayatārtajanasya dṛṣṭyā 
Dhanvantarer api hi yena hataḥ prabhāvaḥ| 
yaś cepsitārthaparipūrṇamanorathena 
lokena kalpatarutulyatayā gṛhītaḥ|| 12 


tenaitad atra kṛtam ātmamanovad uccair 
Vajrāsanasya bhavanaṃ bhuvanottamasya| 
saṃjāyate yad abhivīkṣya vimānagānāṃ 
KailāsaMandaramahīdharaśṛṅgaśaṅkā|| 13 


sarvasvopanayena sattvasuhṛdām audāryam abhyasyatā 
saṃbodhau vihitaspṛhaṃ saha guṇair visparddhivīryaṃ tathā| 
atrasthena nije nijāv iha bṛhatpuṇyādhikāre sthite 
yena svena yaśodhvajena ghaṭitau vaṃśāv Udīcīpathe|| 14 


sopānamārgam iva{ṃ} muktipurasya kīrtim 
etāṃ vidhāya kuśalaṃ yad upāttam asmāt| 
kṛtvāditaḥ sapitaraṃ guruvargam asya 
saṃbodhim etu janarāśir aśeṣa eva|| 15 


yāvat kūrmo jaladhivalayāṃ bhūtadhātrīṃ bibharti 
dhvāntadhvaṃsī tapati tapano yāvad evograraśmiḥ| 
snigdhā lokāḥ śiśiramahasā yāmavatyaś ca yāvat 
tāvat kīrtir jayatu bhuvane Vīradevasya śubhrā|| 16 

Mahāpratisarā Mahāvidyārājñī (Hidas 2011)

After many years of work, the critical edition of the Mahāpratisarā ("The Great Amulet, Great Queen of Spells") is finally out as the 636th volume of the Śatapiṭaka series.

Papers of Brian H. Hodgson

A wonderful, much-awaited catalogue. 

Lost and found

[Make sure you read the UPDATE below] First of all, a small rant. Why can we not have something like this for Sanskrit manuscripts? Hats off to Prof. Witkam, especially since he scanned this book as well: The Art of the Book in India (you will have to scroll down the list to 'Jeremiah P. Losty'). The introduction of this very nice publication has a few things to say about copper plates as well and it is there that we find the image on the left of this text on p. 11. The caption reads: "Single copper plate issued at Monghyr in c. AD 854, with Pāla seal riveted on. Iveagh Bequest." 

Get the book if you want to read some of the text, this image is not very good. On and off some akṣaras are legible on the paper version. For now you will have to believe me that the seal reads śrīdevapāladevasya. Yes, this seems to be the Monghyr copper plate of Devapāla, "the first Sanskrit inscription that was ever brought to the notice of European scholars" as Kielhorn says (Indian Antiquary, September 1892, p. 253 ff.). This issue of the IA is available at DLI, you can check the references given there for the first publication and other studies. 

What is interesting here is that as of 1892 the plate got lost (again paraphrasing Kielhorn here, perhaps the plate was lost even earlier). Apparently it somehow made it into the Iveagh collection, where it was photographed by Losty. Why on earth would this collection of paintings (famous Rembrandts included) and other things have the Munghyr copper plate, I have no idea. But it seems to be there, just a few dozen miles away from me, at a place called Kenwood House in Hampstead. Stay tuned for more. 

Meanwhile, to modestly celebrate the resurfacing (at least for me) of this inscription, here is one of my favourite verses from the edict: 

bhrāmyadbhir vijayakrameṇa karibhiḥ svām eva Vindhyāṭavīm 

uddāmaplavamānabāṣpapayaso dṛṣṭāḥ punar bāndhavāḥ | 

Kambojeṣu ca yasya vājiyuvabhir dhvastānyarājaujaso 

heṣāmiśritahāriheṣitaravāḥ kāntāś ciraṃ vīkṣitāḥ || 

And here is Kielhorn's translation (1892): 

"In the course of conquest his elephants, roaming over their own Vindhya forest, met again with their kindred who shed plentiful tears (of joy); and, after he had crushed the power of other kings, his young chargers in Kamboja at last saw their mates, and it was a pleasure to hear them loudly neigh at each other."

And that of Wilkins (Esq.) (1799):

"He who, marching through many countries making conquests, arrived with his elephants in the forests of the mountains of Beendhya, where seeing again their long lost families, they mixed their mutual tears; and who going to subdue other princes, his young horses meeting their females at Komboge, they mutually neighed for joy."

Crying elephants: that sounds familiar.

UPDATE: Ok, forget about the whole thing. The plate was known to have resurfaced, cf. Bhandarkar's list and EI XVIII, pp. 304 f. and Pl.