benoytosh bhattacharyya-introduction to buddhist esoterism-chowkhamba sanskrit series office (1964)

8/10/2019 Benoytosh Bhattacharyya-Introduction to Buddhist Esoterism-Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office (1964)

1/219


2/219

Publisher The Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, V ara na si-l

Printer : Vidya Vilas Press, Varanasi-1

Edition : Second, 1964. ( Revised )

Price : Rs.

(^) The Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office

Gopal Mandir Lane, Varanasi-1,

( IN DIA )

1964

P H O N E : 3 1 4 5


3/219

T O T H E S A C R E D M E M O R Y

O F M Y F A T H E R

j i r * r fo n :

3T^r ft*??: spcfofr

* 55^ ? n r r a ? r f f t n


4/219


5/219

( 2 )

Introduction to Buddhist Esotcrism 1932 ; Proceedings and Transa

ction s o f the Seventh Indian Oriental Conference 1935 ; Sudhana*

mala 1925, 1928, etc., also over 200 original papers and articles.

His natural aptitude to explore the hidden powers .o f Nature

for the service o f hum anit) developed in him an insight into the

therapeutic value of gems and magnets ; did extensive researches

in that field ; has published the results of his experiences in his

books, Science o f Cosmic Ray Therapy ; Gem Therapy, Magnet

Dowsing, Science o f Tridosha, etc. Has trained stu dW s on this

novel method o f curing ailments. A number of Tclcthcra j/' Centres

all over the world arc now functioning under his guidance.

After retirement from Baroda service in 1952, Dr. Bhattacharyya

is passing his days quietly at his country residence, Sastri-Villa ,

Naihati.


6/219

P R K F A C ! ;

An I nt roduct i on t o DmUlr ist Esot er i sn i was published through the

Oxford University Press, Bombay as early as 1032, hut as readers

were not interested then in the pub lication, the book became un

saleable and 1 gave up all hopes for il> future.

Later , in 1962 a Japanese translation of the book was published

by my esteemed friend Dr. Naknno of the Koyasan Univer

sity in the Wakayama Prefecture in Jap an. Thus full thirty years

elapsed before a mention o f the book could be found, or a hearing

cotild be obtained.

In recent years, however, there was a spurt in the demand for

the book, and the worthy proprietor of the Chowkhamba Sanskrit

Series at Varanasi wanted to publish a reprint of the book. As I

am always anxious to circulate original and p ractical knowledge

from Sanskrit to sch olars and students of Buddhism, I readily

agreed.

The Proprietor also wanted me to write a fresh Preface to this

reprint edition, and I d o so with great pleasure while thanking

the well-known Chowkhamba Publishing Organisation fo r their

courtesy. This gre at O rganisation has done wonderful service to

Sanskrit learning in all its phases through its numerous publica

tions. If Sanskrit ami Indian Cu)U i rc arc popular to-day in India

and abro ad, it is mainly due to the unceasing efforts of this mighty

organisation.

2


7/219

iXiritig the l;isi thirty years tun ;h original work has been done

and many new publications have made their app earance. The

Guhy asamja Tan t ro, the Bible of the Buddhist Ta ntr ics, was publi

shed in 1931, the Nispannayogaval i of Ahhnyakara Pundila in 1949

besides many other texts and treatises dealing with Buddhist Tantra

were published during the period. Th e Ind i an Buddhist iconography

passed through a second edition in 1958. Through these publica

tions our knowledge of the Buddhist Tan lra became much wider

and fuller.

Tantra and Science.Usu ally, it is the h ibit with uninformed persons to decry a thing

simply because it is not understood. The rule applies with equal

force to the science and pra ctice o f the Tantras o r the esoteric

doctrines contained therein. Many scholars have dubbed the Tantra s

as magic, black magic, necromancy , unscientific or pseudo-scientific,

and decried the teachings and findings of the Tantras as being

worthless and worthy o f nothing hut unqualified condem nation, on

this or that ground which is mostly cheap and frivolous, lacking in

serious consid eration o r thought. It will, therefore, lc a shock to

many to learn that the esoteric doctrines embodied in the Tantra s

arc based on solid scientific facts, and that their followers derived

and utilized cosm ic power of a subtle chara cter which is freely floa

ting around.

The Ta ntrics were conversant with the principles o f telecomm u

nication like radio and television and they cou ld transmit power of

sound through space without elaborate appliances. DuraSravana

( hearing distant sounds ), Diirudar&uia (seeing distant sights), Dflra-

4 PRKFAO:


8/219

cikitsfi i (Mst.mt healing , ami similar powers were liste! as Siddhis

f supernormal powers ) as a distinct outcome of esoteric practices .

In lle Taiilrio works th er ej s *a-clcar indication that the forces ol

heat ami cold could be Iransmilled through space to the desired

object or person, and influence it or him from a distance. The

p ro e m of Snti ( propitiation) could bo performed from a distance

for healing purposes.

Cosmic Colour.

[n the Tantras cosmic colours play an important p.m . livery

deity has an individual colour, every direction has a co lou r, every

Mantra has a colou r, every Bljumantra has a colour , and in fa ct ,

everything'tangible in the universe has a cosm ic colou r attached

to'it thereby making U cle ar that all tangible objects ar c nothing

but condensations of cosmic colours. No w this is u scientific fac t

and,will*havc to be accepted sooner or later. The Dhyfini Buddhas

wcrcnH associated with certain colours, and 'in the GithyasamajaTan t r a Chapter I, the origin of these Dhyni Buddhas is given at

length, to which attention is required to be paid by every student

of Buddhist esotcrism. The Tantras were conversant with the

powers o f cosm ic colours and employed them for multifarious pur

poses. The Tan trics of the Buddhist faith considered $finya as

the substratum o f the Universe, limitless, omnipresent and om ni

potent and the repository o f infinite wisdom, infinite knowledge,infinite sound and infinite lig ht The Tantrics intuitively knew that

the world o f matter in its ultimate state was nothing Hut rays and

rad iations, and this knowledge is reflected in lltcir writings and in

their many and varied practices of bewildering intricacy.

l 'KUACK 5


9/219

6 n < i . i A ( . t .

S'uoya the Ultimate Reality.

ftln ya in Ituddhist esoteric philosophy is the ultimate caus e of

everything. J:vc ry Nam e and Fo rm begins in Sfinyn, thrives in

Sfinya and ends in Snya. All Nam es and Form s have their root in $nya and so long a s they receive nourishment from Snya they

surv ive; and no soon er the nourishment is w ithdrawn they die out.

nya is thus the vast Co sm ic Light Ocea n from which all Nantes

and Forms derive their origin, nourishment and end.

The Buddhist Ta ntr ics formulated that all tellers, words and

sentences with or without meaning arc nothing hut &inya in essence,

that is to say, they are condensations ofSiiny a bristling with cosm ic

power o f a high ord er. These letters, words and sentences have a

certain rate o f vibration and these vibrations can be em ployed for

goo d as well as evil. Th e deities a rc the beings o f the invisible

world just as we arc th e beings o f the visible world. The deities

have their definite vib ratio ns b ecause tliey arc St mya in essence,

tha t is to say , con den sations o f ^tinya or* Ultimate Co smic Force .

M antra V ibrations .t

The M antras for deities have the same vibrations as (heir presid

ing deities, and the syllables have the power to att rac t the deities

and iTwkc them visible to the minds eye, and when Sdhana reaches

its final point they can make the Icily visible even to the naked eye .This is called the Realisation of the Deity ( dcvatii darsana ) when

the deity is identified with the worshipper who derives all divine

powers inherent in the deity realised. Th e worshipper and the deity

become on e by the pr oce ss o f identification. M antras become


10/219

powerful l>y con stan t meditation on the form or the letters of the

Mantra and continuous repetition. When repeated, the Mantras

release vibrations which reach the deity, and when they become

extremely powerful they arc able to attra ct the deity tow ards the

worshipp er. In the cosmic sphere there is no difference between

Name and Form , and whenever the Name is uttered the Form is hit.

The Mantras with the name o f the deity reach the deity of the

invisible world no sooner it is uttered, and when repeatedly uttered,

they arc able to attract the deity in a visible form which is descri

bed in the numerous Sdhanas in the Sfulhananu.

Personal Experience.

It is here 1 should like to relate my personal experience in visua

lising the deity. Before 1 took up a serious study of the Tantras as my

life work 1 wanted to test the efficacy of some of the Mantras myself.

First, 1 took up the Tra Mantra which is considered as a Siddha

M antra or a M antra for sure success. The M antra syllables are :

OM T RE TU TT R E T U R E SVSU R. Every night 1 startedrepeating the Mantra with full concentration and utmost devotion

in order to see whether I could get any new experience. F o r a

fortnight I went on repeating the Mantra vigorously whenever I was

free . I used to do the repetition with closed eyes in ord er that any

vision of an extra-ordinary ch ara cte r may not be missed and in

order that my attention may not he diverted. After a full fortnig ht

one day suddenly before my dose d eyes flashed forth strong whitelight, rather rem arkable, and within that light 1 cou ld see very

clear ly the figure of a goddess with green emerald colo ur so cxqui-

siiively beautiful in Ml limbs that it cannot be described in words.

I'KEI-ACK 7

4


11/219

The 'icily s;il in Lalils,ina on a il.mblc lotus and held in her left

hand some leaves mul in the right showed the Varada ( gift-bestow

ing ) Mudr with a gem of extrem e brilliance. The deity Stood

before my eyes for a few secon ds and disappeared into the white

light. I was satisfied with this my first experience and did not

pursue the matter fur ther, although even now I often repeat this

Mantra in my difficulties, without ever visualizing the deity for a

second time.

Goddess Tara, it may be remembered, is a benign deity. Next I

took up the Mantra of a fierce deity. It was Ugratr with the

powerful Mantra : HR lM S T RI M H UM PHAT. As before, I

started repeating this Mantra vigorously whenever I was free. While

going to office, while returning, when free in office, white at home

in the morning, evening and at night I went on repealing the Man

tra o f U gratr and at last afte r seven days at night at about 0 P .M.

before my closed eyes 1 saw strong blue light covering the whole of

the mind sky, and front its depths emerged the liefee deity Ugratr

dark collyrium colou r, extremely fearful and awe-inspiring in appea

rance with strong limbs, tall figure, completely nude standing with

feet on the floor and head touching the ceiling of the room in which

I was meditating. She had dishevelled hair which flew like a cloud

and covered the whole o f the ceiling on all sides. Her face, terrible

to behold, was full o f wrath with three protruding and blood-shot

eyes, and bare fangs. She held in her hands the fierce Karlri

(k n if e ) and Kapala ( skull-cup ) full of blood. Her chest was

bedecked with a garland o f skeleton heads which were making

harsh and fearful noise while knocking again st one another. The

very sight made me recoil with fear and 1do not know when I ceased

X WUACh


12/219

miilicring the Mantra. This vision barely lasted half a minute but

this period appeared to me to be very long, and I thought my end

was near. But when 1 stopped repeating the M antra, the deity gra

dually vanished into thin air, and I was able to open my eyes and

heave a sigh o f relief. I made up my mind never to disturb such

deities again in my life.

Th e above accounts I kept as a closed secret, and never divulged

it to any on e, n did I write anything about these unique experie

nces in any article or book. Thinking that to those who practise these

SiVlhanas fo r the realisation o f the deity my experience might prove

useful, I give an acco un t o f my experiences here. My impression

is that Fierce Fem ale deities can be visualized with little effo rt.

Benign Fem ale deities take a longer time for realisation, while the

Benign M ale deities take an extremely long time before they can

be visualized. I tried the famous Man tra OM MA NIP AD M E HOm

for the realisation of Av alok iteiva ra but my efforls proved entirely

futile.

T h o u g h t s a r e T h i n g s .

The Tantrics knew the power o f the mind which, acco rdi ng to

them, w a s flnya in essen ce. In other words they knew long before

our age that Thoughts are Things. The human mind has one peculiar

power and with the help o f this power the human mind adjusts

itself to the different vibratio ns and becomes one with them. In

modern scientific language the mind has the power to adjust itself to

the same wave-length as that of the deity or anything, high or low.

I.ow though ts lower down the wave-length o f the mind, while

higher thoughts raise the level. Even Sflnya, accord ing to them.

PREFACE 9


13/219

could be conceived and realised if the mind was properly attuned

to the highest wive-length of iinyu or n o Absolute Cosmic Subs*

tratum or the Co smic Light Ocean. Wise European scho lars trans*

late this Stlnya by the word Void*, and every one ca n see whether

they have understood the meaning of Snya.

Five Elements.

Fu rther, the Tan trics were acquainted with the fac t that certain

syllables have the same wave-length as those of the Five Skandhas

( Elements \ and that the utterance and repetition of t v* "uneclive

syllables gave rise to the same set o f vibrations as those of the Five Skandhas. Th e Five Skandhas, it may he remarked, ar c the cou n

terparts o f the Five Tan m tras ( subtle sub stan ces; as formulated

in the Snkhya System o f Philosophy. The Five Tan m tras are

enumerated in Snkhya as Fo rm , Tas te, Sou nd, Touch and Smell.

Behind the Dhyfu i Buddhas the embodiment o f the Fiv e Skandhas

or the Five Tanm tras arc the five cosm ic colou rs which by conden

sation give rise to the Fiv e Dh vni Buddhas and their offsp ring.

The Five Dhyftni Buddhas and the Five Skandhas along with their

original colours may be given here in tabular form thus :

10 PREFACE

Dhyni Buddha Skandhu Colour

1. Vairocana Rnpa White

2. Ratnasambhava Vedanfl Yellow

3. Amitbha Sui'njfla Red

4. Amoghasiddhi Sumskra Green

5. Ak$obhya Vijflna Blue

A grand acco un t o f the origin of the Five Dhyni Buddhas as

narrated in the Guhvasatnf i ja Tant ra will be found in my I nd i an

Buddhist I conography , second revised edition, pp. 45-46.


14/219

N:tmc an


15/219


16/219

and arn m gcm cnt o f cosmic rays which are Ihc beginning, middle

and end of all Names and Forms.

I'KKFACK 13

Sadhana.The method o f propitiation and realisation o f the deities o r the

radiant beings o f the invisible world was elaborated in a special

literature called the Sfnlhanas of which we have two large collec

tions as the SU uv um ua and the Siulhanasamttccaya. All the

Sd hanas found in these two works were embodied in my edition

of the S(n!li


17/219

and mannings simply by radiation of hoi and -.old forces of nature

On the subject of cosm ic ray therapy I have already written a book,

entitled. Th e Science o f Cosmi c Huy Therapy , published by Messrs.

Good Companions, Baroda.

Now will be described in detail the whole process as given in

the Sml hanamla . In the Mahkla Sdhana ii is said that in order

to influence a person at a distance an effigy o f K u i o grass should be

made for the person aimed at, and thereon the Mahkla Mantra

should be repealed continuously. Then mustard seeds and pungent

condiments like black pepper, dry ginger and PippaU should bepowdered, mixed and prepared into a paste. The paste should be

liberally applied to the effigy while repeating the Mahkla Mantra

all the time. Then on each and every limb thorns should be pierced.

Th ereafter, a fire should be m ade with KhatHra ( catechu ) wood

and on that fire thejefTigy should be baked while repeating the Mantra.

When this is done, the person aimed a t ( Sdhya ) is suddenly over*

taken by high fever, and his consciousness is lost.

When however, it becomes necessary to antidote the clfcct of the

process just described, the Sdhana adds that the effigy should be

removed from fire and it should be bathed in milk until the fever

subsides.

In terms o f modern science it can be easily undcrMood why

Mantras have to be repeated in ord er to bring the effigy in tunc withthe vibrations of the victim aimed a t Mantras arc repeated conti

nuously in order to raise the wave-length o f (he inanimate effigy

of Kusagrass to the level of the person to be influenced by word

vibrations. And unless the wave-length of both the effigy and the


18/219


19/219

P K l - . F A U l .

well without medicine or personal attend an ce. It is not possible

to prepare effigies lo r p articular persons and ra ise their wav e

length by continu ous muttering o f M antras , because that is a very

cumbrous and lime taking process n o w ^ the present century, when

photography is so well developed. It may be noticed that the pho tograph lias the same set o f vibrations as its ow ner, and there fore,

llsc wave-length of both the pho tograph and its owner is the sam e.

The cosm ic forces, because o f their power of omniscience, arc able

to recognise the identity of wave-length.

On the photograph certain gem vibrations arc released for several

hours a day , and this has yielded remarkable results in a number o f

chro nic and acute cases. The experience of the last ten years in

the line has show n great promise, and It is now possible for us to

foresee a time when the work of healing will be done from an office

or a laboratory. This method o f healing will be equivalent to the

Tn tric Method of Healing. It is also found by experience that

distan ce is no bar to treatmen t, and ailing persons can be treated

from here, even if they are in distant America.

Cosmic Rays.

Whether we like it or not we a rc , every moment of our life,

enveloped in cosm ic rays, cal l them by an y name we cho ose , the

Five Great Elements or the Seven Planets or the Seven Ray s o f the

Rainbow or the VIBGYO R colours. These cosmic rays are not at a

distance, they are right in the midst of our bodies and on our sense

org ans, the N ose, Ears, Eyes, Tongu e and Skin. This will be revea

led, when a person is examined through a prism by any com m on

inquirer. Th e nose tip, for instance, will show cosm ic Green, the


20/219

Tongue will exhibit cosmic Orange, the Skin will show cosmic

Violet, the eyes cosm ic Red, while the cavities will exhibit cosmic

ltlue.

When the cosm ic rays surrounding us become malefic illness

supervenes, and when their arrangement is altered or equilibrium is

restored, that illness disappears. In spite o f our researches into the

subject of origination of disease and its eradication, we have achieved

precious little, because as yet we do not realise that it is the cosmic

colou r hunger that is at the root o f every disease. Wo have not

yet been able to find out the true cause of even the principal diseases.

On


21/219

Ituligo and Sapphire is Violet. This is an important finding because

for generating the cosmic colours the gems have no parallel.

With the help o f the prism all the seven V1B GYOR co lours havebeen individualised, their powers o f heat and cold have been pretty

well determined. Thus the three colours Re d, Yellow and Blue are

the hot cosm ic forces, while Oran ge, Green, Indigo and Violet are

the cold cosm ic forces, These force s can be radiated to any one in

any part of the world in an instant. Th e way the Tn trics of

Buddhism showed centuries earlier.

Power of Gems.

The seven cosmic colours can be produced with the help o f gems

and n small electric motor, and transmitted through space to any

person over his photograph with gratifyin g results. Th e gems arc

cosmic colour concentrates they arc Sfmya in essence* and their

brilliance shows that they are not only rich in cosm ic colo urs but

also can readily discharge their rays when rotated on an electricmo tor. The rays, travel with the speed of thought, and they are,

like fsnya, omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. The gems,

when rotated, release hot and co ld vibrations and they know exactly

their mission, and unerringly reach their destination to start their

healing work. Their ways o f working are as inscrutable as those of

Sunya itself.

What is a M antra ?

In this connection it will be interesting to refer to a scries of

experiments made to ascertain the power o f the written Mantra. A

person may be asked to write a Mantra on a piece of white paper* of

18 PRF.FACF.


22/219

say, OM l'KE T U TT R E T1U- SVH in any alphabet and at

the same time examine will a prism the tellers that emerge ou t o f

the pen o f the scribe. Yo u will be surprised to see that every dot,

every line, every letter and every word is immediately cov ered by

the cosm ic rays o f different colou rs. This is because the new

writing becomes part o f crea tion , and as such, it must be enveloped

by cosmic rays. It is like Siinya covering all tangible creation in

one mighty embrace to claim it as Us Own.

The whole Vfantra may be written in Red ink on a circular

cardbo ard disc through the centre of which a hole is bored. Thedisc is then mounted to the shaft of a small motor. When the

motor is switched on and it rotates with a speed of say 1300/1 400

R PM the cosmic colo urs imbedded in the M antra are detnched from

it and start moving with the speed Of thought. Any photo graph, or

any name card or signature placed before the radiating motor

receives and carries the M antra vibrations to their ow ners in an

instant. The transmission of M antra power gives rise to variouskinds o f effects, one of them being the cure of the sick.

A silver disc may also be prepared on which different Mantras

may be inscribed and coloured Re d, and m ay be radiated in the

same mann er as before. Like this several M antras have been tried.

When the M an tra radiations fall on a photograp h, th e owner shows

change of colo ur on the face as seen through a prism. Other copies

of the same photograph placed near o r fa r, will also chan ge colo ur

likewise. This a sign that Man tra vibrations are having effect

on the owner o f the photograph. Thus it is a proven fact that

Man tras have power, they release power, and they transm it power

PRF.FAOfi 19


23/219

to anything or any person ;ti any distance the moment the Mantra

is rotated with speed. H must ho remembered tli.it the Mantras or

gems must remain in constant m otion Ix-forc they are able to release

their powers.

Testing o f M antras.

Each and every Mantra can be mechan ically radiated and tested

on a special device called the Vibrator. It consists o f a cone o f a

radio loudspeaker, fitted properly in a wooden cabinet. A Mantra

written with Red ink on a sheet of white paper may be fixed over

the cone o f the speaker, and a photo o f a person who wishes to

test the Mantra may be attached to the do or o f the Vibrator face

to face . Then the Vibrator should be set in motion by the line

current passing through a 2-volt transformer. When switch is applied,

the speaker will star t vibrating at the rate o f 3000 vibrations per

minute, each vibration being equal to one recitation of the Mantra.

The M antra ov er the co ne will be in constant motion and thus

vibrate its power to the photograph in front and envelope its owner

with the cos m ic colours released by the M antra. By giving a trial

to a M antra like this for a few days it will be possible for the person

to feel whether the Mantra has good or bad effect o r whether it is

altogether ineffective. By testing in this manner it will be possible

to recognise and adopt effective Mantras and discard the rest.

Vibrations, it may be remembered, arc the life of the Universe whichis constantly in motion. The Sun, Mo on and Stars release their

power by constant and perpetual motion. Even so, when Mantras

or gems ar c kept in constant motion they release their cosmic

colo urs in which their power resides. Those who have eyes to see

20 I'IU.IAOK


24/219

will understand and utiliic this great cosmic power which is

freely floating arou nd, while others will be in perpetual doubt and

will miss the opportunities thus provided by Nature.

Mantra Healing.

As 1 am interested in the healing part o f the power o f the

Mantra, I have seen Mantras removing fevers and other acute

diseases and bring about change in health. Thus 1 have tried the

Mantra of Tarn, of AvalokitcSvara, of Hindu Cmtmd and of

Tryam baka. Hut 1 found the most satisfactory result by radiating

the famous Hindu Mantra o f Tryam baka, also known as the

MaluimrtyuAjaya ( Great Conqueror of Death ) Mantra which even

now is repeated continuously in serious eases of ill-health alm ost all

over India. The radiation o f this M antra is curative in many acute

cases, and helps a great deal in serious ch ronic diseases where it

works as a protective. In some of our Hindu Tan tras it is said that

this Mantra is the last medicine in all fatal eases. If the Mantradocs not save a patient he is ripe for Death. In view of the great

importance of the Mantra the text of it is quoted below :

Om Tryamhakam yujmahc

sugandhiih pu$(ivardhanam I

UrvSrukanwva bandhanat

Mrtyor-mukslya nuVmrtt. 11

For healing purposes this M antra has no parallel. At least

that is the verdict o f the indigenous Vaidyas o f India and o f the

Saints including Swami Sivananda o f Hrisikesh in the Himalayas.

1 have given here an accou nt of the interesting experiments con duc-

1*KlvKAi:h 21


25/219

teil by me wiili the power of the Mantras in order lhal these may

inspire some one some day and lead him to make similar experi

ments and bring out the hidden power of the Mantras for the

benefit o f all humanity. Even if one person anywhere in the

world is benefited by these experiments, J shall fee] myself fully

rewarded.

Service o f the Ta ntras.

It is high time in spite of what the uninitiated or ignorant may

think o r write, to dire ct our clo se attention to the practical aspecto f the Ta ntras which ar c the repositories of higher scientific

knowledge. The Tan tras should not only be studied and treated

with the respect they deserve, but also scientific facts should be

gleaned from them, and put into practical use through scientific

institutions. Still there is much for modern science to learn from

the Tan tras. When knowledge o f the scientific aspect o f the

Tan tras becomes the comm on property o f mankind, the scientistswill co me face to fa ce with the real substratum o f the Universe,

call it Sunya or Brahm an, and start playing with the cosmic rays

even as the Great Firs t Creator does. When that stage is reached

the latest scien tific developments will pale into insignificance,

because as yet we ar e ignorant of the cosm ic elements, the cosmic

rays and the grea t cosm ic powers responsible for the origin,

maintenance and destruction of the Universe with its tangible and

intangible contents . When we in the present century come to

know what the Tntric s discovered centuries ago, the difference

between M agic, Philosophy and Science will disappear and they

will be knit into a harmonious whole.

22


26/219

The Tan'ra is one o f the greatest contributions of India to

world Culture. Instead of being ashamed o f our Tantras we

should be really proud that India made this gigantic contribution

witli lakhs of original manuscripts on the subject, and for thefirst time showed how the cosmic forces of all kinds could be

controlled by Man and transmitted by will through words,

thoughts, writings, prayers, Mantras and Tantras.

The New age that is com ing will be the Tan lric Age. We are

every day running towards that end. May the Esoteric know*

ledge embodied in the Tantras live for ever. Truth is God , and

God is Truth. Th e Ta ntra is true and the knowledge of the

Tantra is Divine.

Satyam JAnam-Anantam Brahma!

I'lOiKAflh 23

B. Bbattacharyya


27/219

CONTENTS

Chapter Page

I. Introdu ctory. 1

II. Origin o f Buddhist M agic. 10

III. Growth o f Buddhist M agic. 22

IV. Rise o f Vajrayftna. 32

V. Th e Place of Origin. 43

VI. Th e Tantras. 47

VII. The M antras. 55

VIII. Some Prominent A utho rs. 62

IX . Aims and Objects. 83

X . Leading Tenets. 93

X I. Procedure for W orship. 104

X U . The Deities. 109X III. Th e Pantheon. 120

X IV . Influence o f Buddhist Tantrism on Hinduism. 147

XV . Conclusion. 165

Index. 175


28/219

I LLUSTRAT IONS

Plate

I. Khasarpana Lokcvara.

11. Vajrsana

111. di-Buddlui Vajradhora

IV. ( a ) Aksobhya.

( b ) Vulrocana.

( c ) Locan.

( d ) VajradhlvlSvarl.

V. ( a ) Amitftbha.

( b ) Ratnasnmbhava.

( c ) Amoghasiddhi.

VI. ( a ) Pandora.

( b ) M a m ki.

( c ) AryalfuA.

VII. ( a ) Vajrasallva in Yab

( b ) Vajrasattva.

( c ) Vajrasattva in Yab

VIII. Nairlm.

IX. Muriel.

X. Simhanda LokeSvara.XI. Jambliala.

XII. ParnaSabarl.

facing page

Frontispiece

124

127

12

129

130

131

135

137

141

143

145


29/219


30/219

C l l A T I MR I

I N T R O D U C T O R Y

T A m k i s m origina l*crstitious awe and fe ar. In the

physical sphere they were greatly afraid of wild animals, snakes,

cala mi ties of nature, diseases, and so forth, which it was not in

their power to overcom e at all. T h e commo n people, afflicted

by these dange rs, docked around their sorcer er, who had gifts

sup erio r to the ordin ary folk. Hut the sor ce re r also Ircing an

ordinary mortal was not found always equal to the occasion;

ami thus the primitive people were inspired with greater awe and

fear. In the intellectua l sp her e, on the oth er hand, fear of death

and of spirits and ghosts exercised the minds of the primitive

people to a far greater extent than at present.

It is in this fear that ma gic, mysticism, sorcery and nec rom

ancy had their origi n. A s the primitive people began to he more

and mor e civ ilized, they wanted to do som eth ing to allay this

superstitiou s fe ar ; and in their a ttem pt to do this they laid the

foundation of magic, which in its turn gav e rise to the more

advanced sciences. T o protect themselves from wild animals

they had recourse to amu lets and c h ar m s; against snakes and

suukc-bitcs the sorcerers gave them charms and herbs; against


31/219

J r .i'-i*- thry d i s m v o u d ih r various crude drugs from plants,

k-av. Hul m in n a ls . U was in thi s way that the prim iti ve people

nti ; n d if proiect themselv es against their natural and super-

a.\ii.i . ' i enemies.

W he n the primitive inhabitan ts of India were developing a sortof nay.iral system, with a large nu mb er of magical prac tices , they

c.-.me in contact with the Aryans, who came from the west in

large numbers in several waves of migrations. T h ey had natural

advantages over the primitive inhabitants of India, because they

were stron g and intelligent and b ecause they carried with them

a so rt of civilization. It is difficult at this stage to dete rm ine

exactly the nature nf their civilization; but from the references

in their literature, which later on came to be regarded as thefour Ve das , it can be seen that they led a sort of nomadic life,moving about from place to place like the herds of animals.

As has been said already, there were several waves of migrations,

and the Aryan people involved in each migration penetrated

further and further towards the east, conquering the primitive

inhabitan ts and reducing them to the position of serfs. T he y

settled in the most convenient places, where there was enough of

water and food available, lived like lords by exploiting the labours

of the primitive people, and set up independent g ove rnm ents

run mostly on republican lines. O ne such m igration settled in

tin- Doab, between the Ganges and the Jumna, and developeda sort of social hierarchy and divided itself into four castes,

lirahmanns, Ksattriyas, Vaisy as and Su dra s. In stri king a line

of demarcation amongst the four castes the principle followed

was that of the division of labour. T h os e who had an intellectua l

bent of mind were regarded as B rh m an as; those who were strong,

heroic and of a-fighting nature were called Ksattriyas; those

who betook themselves to agriculture and commerce were called

Vaisyas; and the primitive people, who were content to serve

these three higher castes ungrudgingly and who followed the

2 Av ( \ ! KCM r e l 'K*N TO KKOTKKIKM


32/219

I N T R O D U C T O R Y 3

r u l e s and regulations laid down by the new society, were called

Sfidra s. Tri the co ur se o f time, when this experiment of caste

system' was well established, it was no longer considered as an

experim ent, but taken as a settled fact. T h e Ar yan s of previous

and later migrations were called Vratyas. T he se Vrtyas werem cal led bec au se they moved abou t in hordes or vr/ys,

in a primitive fashion; and resembled more or less the other

nomadic tribes. T h e orthodox Aryan s, who built up for the first

time a grand structure of social hierarchy, were nevertheless con

scious that the Vratyas were their brethren, and they felt a neces-

sitv for incorporating them into their own fold .3 In order to

accomplish their object, they convened large congregations of

people and performed certain sacrifices, called the Vratyastomas,in which large numbers of Vratyas were taken into the orthodox

fold on the simple condition that they should relinquish their

nomadic habits and dre ss and take to a settl ed form of existence.

The Aryan sett lers of India came with a large number of pre

conceived notions, dogmas, various philosophical speculations,

and ma gical practice s in the form of sa cr ific es ; and, because ol

these, they were able to exercis e a trem endou s influence on the

primitive inhabitants of the place.T h e primitive inhabitants, who were called Pa sy us by the

Ar yan s, and sometimes S d ras , also did not fail to exercise a

consid erab le influence over their white super iors. It is in this

way that one reacted o n the other, and both were benefited to

a certain extent and demoralized also to a certain extent, in

* Caste appears to be a purely Indian product. Had it been of stillearlier origin we should have expected some sort of caste system amongst the

Iranian ]>cople.

* Fo r this Vratya theory and the significance of tlx* Vratyasloma 1 am

much indebted to Min. Hnraprasd Sastri, with whom 1 have had several dis

cussions. Th e most illuminating paper on this subject has been published bythe same author in tlie Proceedings of the Asiat ic Society of f icngal , N.8.Vol. XVII, 1921, p. 3 A.


33/219

.\i*c


34/219

i N T K n i n u r r o R Y 5

amongst the Aryans, and they formed a class amongst themselves

as Urahmanas, who exerted a tremendous influence over the Hindu

community in those olden days and who continue to exert the

same kind of influence even at the present moment.We cannot call the performance of these sacrifices anything

like science, as results to be obtained therefrom were either not

obtained at all or were obtained by me re acci den t. N or was

this religion, because the sacrifices were a sort of revolt

against nature. W hen , in the ordinary course of events, for

instance, a king had no child even after many years, he directly

engaged a large number of priests, well-known for their abilities,

and on payment of fees requested them to hold the Pulrestisacrifice. H er e the sacrificer s were required to chan ge the natural

course of events, which was ordained by God, who is the very

essence of all religions. W he n a man, for instance, engage s

priests and requests them to perform a sacrifice so that he may

proceed t heaven on his demise, the process cannot but be

designated as a sort of sacrificial m yst icism ; because it is not

within human power to ascertain whether the given cause gives

rise to the expected result or not. T h e Aryan s, before formingthemselves into a well-organized caste system, brought with them

certa in chan ts and songs, mainly addressed to the elem ents of

nature or the supposed presiding deities of the different natural

elements. T h es e song s later on were sifted and arranged

into the four Vedas, which today stand as one of the earliest

monuments of ancient literature in the world. Th es e songs

were composed in a burst of ecstatic joy on the part of

persons who had the gift of composing such verses and forsinging these songs. T h e se composers of ve rses were later on

called Ris, from the word R s\ to see. T he y were regarded in

later times as Rsis or seers of the Vedas or Vcdic words, which

were considered eternal and indestructible. T h e theory of the

eternity of the Vedas gave needless importance to the arrange-


35/219

mcnt of words, lines, verses and Sk tas or songs. T h e meanings

of these words in course of time were rapidly forgotten; and

the sacrificers were fully satisfied with the mere skeleton

without the substance. W he n the songs were composed theywere never meant to be used for sacr ifice rs; neither were they

taken to be etern al, nor divine. Bu t when we find in later times

the frequent use of these mantras in the performance of all kinds

of sacrifices, and such words or their comb inations regarded as

eternal , 1 we cann ot but attri bu te some motive to the gua rdia ns of

the sacrifices. W as it because the Brh ma nas wanted to maintain

their superiority over all others in this fashion, or was it because,

by making the performance of sacrifices more and more difficultand technical, they wanted to keep off all other kinds of people

from attempting to follow their own profession, in much the same

way as the primitive sorcerer in an aboriginal tribe tries to main

tain his superiority by many an uncanny gesticulation and the

handling of many an awe-inspiring object, such as the human skull,

human bones, snakes, and so forth, and by his weird incantations?

W hen orthodox Bra hm ani sm , with its four castes, had grown to

be an institution on a more or less permanent basis, it was at oncedesignated as a divine institution,* and strict watertight compart

ments were made of the duties incum bent on each caste. It is not

difficult to understand that it was purely with the idea of self-

preserva tion and the preser vation of the com mu nity that the

institution was given out as a divine institution. T h e natural

1 This is the chief pivot on which the whole fabric of the Mimriisphilosophy revolves. The Mimarhsakas therefore take the greatest i>ains inestablishing the eternity of the Vedic words, and their divinity orcf., for instance, Sayana, Ft gveda. h$ya,Sanskrit Sahitya Parisad Series, No. 9, pp. 30 t!.; also Ja t m i n i Si l l r a ,1-1-27 and ff., and commentary by Sahara.

* cf., for instance, Manu 1-31, where the Brahman creates the four castes

from the four different lim bs: cjfafri 3 SjfVl W

^ ii

AN IN T R O D U C T IO N t o l i U D D I U S T K S O T K R I S M


36/219

eonsequrnro of tlii?* wa^ the rMablishmrnl of the theory of Karma,

o r what is known as act -for ce. ln ih r physical sph*ie. wo s ec all

ac ts as pure or impure, good or bad, producing good or bad

resu lts. If an offe nce is Committed against the com mu nity the

of fen de r is punished. Sim ila rly one who has always the good ofth e comm unity at heart is rewarded. Bad acti ons were designated

sin s and good action s merits. Hut there were many action s which

we 10 bad morally, but not so bad as to deserve any punishment nr

done in a way to escape dete ction. T h e question naturally arise s

as to whether the sin attached to actions of this nature incurs any

pun ishm ent or not, or whether it can be expiated, and how ? T h e

natural consequence of this is the theory of divine punishment or

divine rewards. T o b e logically consistent, a life after death hasto 1)0 postulated in the theory of transm igration of the soul. T h e

Bra hm an as postulated that the body is nothing but a tem|>orary ga r

ment within which the soul is co n ta in ed ; and, as a garme nt b ecomes

in course of time worn out and unfit for use, even so the soul leaves

the old decrepit body and seeks new shelters, after having

enjoyed the rewards of its good actions in heaven and punish

men t for bad action s in hell, befor e retu rnin g to ear th in a new

form. W e can thus see how the combined conceptions of thetheories of Karma and the transmigration of the soul produced

th e conc eption s of heaven an d hell. It is ne edless to f>oint

out that all these theories of Karma, transmigration of the soul,

and heaven and hell are no t proved by logic or by reason.

They were mere speculations to satisfy the curiosity of the

prim itive mind, to satisfy the vanity of the priestly class, and

to preserve society against disruptive forces. T h e Brah man as

wanted others to take th ese as divine mandates, wanted thepeople to regard the authority of the Vedas as absolutely

unqu estionab le, and the exis ten ce of God as a m atter fullyestablished.

It is in this way that the Brahmanas satisfied themselves and

IN TK ODl CTOK V 7


37/219

I N T K O h t ( T | ( i \ | ( U l M H t t S l K S O I T . K I S M

saii^i**cmi reasonable ex pla nation of asinan\ jiln sir iil and spiritual phenomena as they cou ld. T h e final

t


38/219

the sacrifices and the Vedas. T h ey formed themselv es into

manv dif fer en t philosophical scho ols, and we hear of as many as

>ixiv heretical teachers, each having a peculiar dogma of his own

and eat h having a large number of followers. T h e ma terialists

were the most bitter opponents of the orthodox Brahmanas. T h eBrahm anas used to say that the anim als immolated in the Jyoth tom a

sacri fice went U heaven ; the mater ialis ts ridicu led (h em, and said

that if the animal immolated in this fashion went to heaven why

should not the sacrificer immolate his father whom he was very

keen on sending to heaven .1 W he n the Brahm anas taught that the

present life is nothing and that emancipation is everything, they

ridiculed them and said, So long as you live, live ha pp ily; lake

much ghee even by running into debt. W h e n the body is reducedto ashes, where is the chance of its com ing bac k to life? 8 T h e y

characterized the authors of the three Vedas as cheats, rogues andniglu-revellers/ The Brahmanas retaliated against them by driving

them out of the orthodox community and put a ban on challenging

the authority of the Vedas and the Smrtis. which were a direct

outcome of the Ved as. In the M auusamhiU i it is said that if any

one of the orthodox community insults the Vedas and the Smrtis

by taking recourse to the science of logic, he should bo drivenout by good men as an atheist and a reviler of the Vedas.*

T3XT133 ere 3*31* U Sana -da ruxna -sa iH^ raha , BoinUiy

Govt. Or. (Hindu) Scries, No. J. p. J.'i.* W # T T H ?,\ \ frjf^ I

HnfhfTR V p t 33: II op. fit ., p. 14.

33??t i op. eit., p. 14.

* ih o i

il op. cit., IT. 11.

JNTKOIM ( TORY V

2


39/219

C H A P T E R l i

O R I G I N O P B U D D H I S T M A G I C

THK incorporation of the Vrtyas into orthodox society and

the growing restlessness of the unincorporated Viatyas, who

already occupied a position of importance by having set up inde

pendent kingdoms, produced a great intellectual ferment which

shook the very foundation of the orthodox community. T h e

unincorporated Vrtyas often catled themselves Ksattriyas and

in this respe ct they were more or less cor rec t, as they had to

lead the life of a warrior as a matte r of nece ssity. Buddha andMuhvira, and many other lesser celebrities, were a product of

this intellectual ferment. T h e y were the gre ates t repudialors

of orthodo xy and all that it had se t up to prese rve its cheris hed

institutions. Buddha challenged everything set up by the

orthodox comm unity: their caste system, their Vedas, their sacri

fices and their philosophical speculations.

It is difficult to dete rm ine whe ther Buddha was a mem ber

of the orthodox commun ity. In the traditional books giving an.account of the life of B ud dh a, he is gen era lly m entioned as a

Ksattriya . But he belonged to a place, namely, Kapilnvstu ',

which was quite outside the pale of orthodox influence and sur

rounded on all sides by territories setup by different Vrtya races.

This evidence leads us to think that the family in which Buddha

was born was really a Vrtya family, which was erroneously called

a Ksa triya family in olden lite rat ure . T o be a twicc-l>orn in the

orthodox sense is to have all the ten sacraments; but in theaccounts of the life of Buddha left to us we not only find no

mention of all the ten, but also no trace even of the most important

sacramen t of Upa nayana, or the investiture of a sacred thread.


40/219

O R I G I N O F B U U D H I S I M A G I C I 1

which primarily distingu ished a Vraty a from an or thod ox twice-

bin u. Bo r in the M an-tsam hit we find that if a m em ber of the

twice-born casic passed the maximum age-limit prescribed for

EJpanayana he became a Vratya, and he obtained a definitely lowerstatus in the commun:.6 ; ' T h es e considerations point to the fact

that Buddha was, in all'pro ba bilit y, an unincorporated Vratya,

though later writers consid ered him to be a K$attriya. T h e fact

that Buddha was an unincorporated Vratya is very important for

understand ing his teachings, his dogmas and his life-story inas

much as his Vratya-mind and Vrtya-philosop hy are traceable in

all his undertakings and actions.

If we are to believe in the life-story of Buddh a, as recorded,

for instan ce, in the Lal t l av i s f ara , we have al so to bel ieve that

Buddha was born of rich parents of the Skya race ruling in

KapiJavstu. Bu t it has to be pointed out here that the Buddhists

themselves do not consider him to be the first founder of the

Buddhist religion. Th ey formulate six past Budd has: Vipasyi,

Sikhi, Visvabhu, Krakucchanda, Kanakamuni and Kasyapa, with

Gautama Buddha as the seventh, and Maitreya Buddha as the

future Buddha, who will come down to earth full 4,000 years

after the Mahparinirvna of Buddha, which is believed to have

taken place in the year 483 B.C.

It is not an easy thing to come down to earth and obtain

enlighten men t, as Bu ddha did, in one b irt h; as a matter of fact,

the Buddhists formulated that Buddha was born and rc*born

several hundreds of times, and ^performed an act of great merit in

each of these births. T h e li terat ure which preserves the life-storics

of Buddha is now known as the Jtakas, and there are at least 550

storie s of his previous births recor ded in the Jta ka s. H e was

1 cf. op. eit., II, 39 :


41/219

12 .\N (NTKOIH'CTION TO ItCMDIIIST KSOTKUISM

Ixirn 83 limes as a sannyasin, 5S times as a king, 43 times as a

trw-god, 26 times as a preacher, 24 times as a minister, 24 times

as n priest , 24 times as an heir-apparent, 23 limes as a gentleman,

22 times as a scholar, 20 times as Ind.a, 18 times as a monkey,13 times as a merchant, 12 times as a pjVi man, 12 times as a hen,

1 0 times as a deer, 1 0 times as a lion, 8 times as a goose, 6 times

as an elephant, 5 times as a Garuria, 4 times as a horse, 4 times as

a tree, thrice as a potter, thrice as an untouchable, twice as a fish,

twice as an elephant-rider, twice as a rat, and once each as a car

penter , ironsmith, frog and hare. In each of these lives Gau tama

Buddha the founder of Buddhism did one o r more good

deeds of benevolence, renunciation, valour, wisdom, friendship,and charity, and, as a result of good deeds done in innumerable

lives in the past, he obtained enlightenment and freedom from the

cycle of Samsra.

Siddhartha,' as Gautama Buddha was called in his childhood,

was burn in the beautiful garden at Lumbini in the outskirts of

the capita) city of Kapilavastu , and h is moth er died seven days

after his birth. Soo n after, a Rsi cam e from the Himalaya s, and,

after examining the 32 principal and 80 minor characteristics,predicted that if the boy remained a householder he would be a

great em pe ror ; but if he renounced the world he would obtain

pci feet enlightenmen t. Som e time after, Sid dh arth a was sent to

the house of his preceptor, Visvamitra, who was surprised to find

that his pupil was proficient in as many as 64 d iffer ent scripts

more than the preceptor himself knew. T h e boy quickly mastered

the Vedas and Upanisads and learnt many other sstras of the

orthodox. He was subsequ ently brought to the capita! andmarried to Gop, daughter of Sa ky a Dandapni. T h e day the

first child was born to him, on that most aus pic iou s day, the

young and beautiful Sidd hart ha Gauta ma , prince and heir-apparent

' cf. N. J. Krom, T h e I A te o f Buddha . This account is a summary ofthe account as preserved in the La lUav i s t a ra.


42/219

O K K i l N O F B U D D H I S T M A O f C 13

to the throne, renounced the world, alone, unaccompanied, in the

search for eternal truth which m ay brin g salvation to mankind.

The immediate cause which led to this great renunciation is

related in the l alitavistara as fo l lows:One day the prince Gautama resolved to visit the

garden s in the neighbourhood of his father's city, desir ingto exam ine the beautiful trees and flowers. 'I'hen thereappeared before his eyes in one of the streets the form of adecrepit old man, his skin shrivelled, his head bald, his teethgone, his body infirm and bent. A s taff supported his totter*ing limbs, as he stood across the path of the prince's chariot.He asked his charioteer for explanation, and he explained

that old age was the common lot of all sen tient be in gs ; allthat was born must die.

Soon afterwards another strange sight presented itself a sick man, who was seen to tter ing on the road, pale andmiserable from disease and suffering, scarcely able to drawhis breath. T h e charioteer explained that this was a sick manand that such sickness was common to all.

Soon after, there passed before him a corpse borne ona bier. Siddhrtha asked his cha riotee r: 'W h o is this,

borne onwards on his bed, covered with stra nge garm entsand surrounded by people weeping and lamentin g?* T hechar iotee r said, 'T h i s , my lord, is called a dead body. Hehas ended his life. H e has no further beauty of form, nodesi res of any kind. He is one with the stone and the fallentree. H e is like a ruined wall or a fallen leaf. No more shallhe see his father and mother, brother or sister. H is body isdead, and your body must also come to this/

T h is was too much for the good prince to bear. He

exc la imed:

'hmi

TTTt? H I

f H


43/219

Jff-T H W T *R fllfy! 5 a!'

f ^ s^aflfaipJpRW Sl:

iq fiPi^M fa-^fv-2 1,1

Out upon youth, because old age is running after it.Out upon health, because health is endangered by variousdiseases. O ut upon life, for life is not per ma nen t. O u t uponthe wise, for they are always seeking for enjoy me nt. Ev enif there were no disease, old age and death, the five skandhaswill always cause great sufferings. W h a t wonder is there,therefore, if we always have old age. disea se and death as ourconstant comp anion s? T he ref or e, I must return home andfind out the means to relieve the distress of mankind.

Nex t day, when he was in this mood, he came acr oss aman m oving with measu red steps, with shaven head andmonk s robe, his ri ght should er bare, a staff in his righthand and the me ndi can ts alms-bowl in his left. T h is man,the charioteer explained, devotes himself to charity andrestra ins him self, his appetite and bodily desires. H ehurts nobody, but does good to all and is full of sympathyfor all. T h e prin ce asked the man to give an a ccoun t of

himself. T h e monk sa id : I am called a h omeless ascetic.I have forsake n the world, relatives and friends. I seekdeliverance of myself and desire the salvation of all creaturesand I do harm to no ne. T h e prin ce forthw ith returnedto the palace to ask his fathers permission to renouncethe world. ' I wish to beco me a wan derin g asce tic, Ofather, and to seek Nirv ana. Al l worldly things, O king,are changeable and trans itory. H is fath er was altogetheramazed to hear this strange request, and not only did he not

grant his request but also kept him under strict surveillanceand in very attractive circumstances, so that the youngpr in ce s mind might not brood over things spiritual. Bu t theprince possessed so much dete ruination that he renouncedthe world, leavin g his child, his wife, his father and his

1 La i i t a v i s t a r a , ed. Rajendralal Mitra, p. 2.10.

14 AN IN TK ( H r< TI ON M> W' I 1 HIST I . SO I hRI SM


44/219

n u ic . iv ui- isi iv M l is T M v c ir \>

relat ives. f


45/219

set the wheel of righ tem isn cs* iolll*K~ni the uo il d. A fterw ard

ho moved about throughout up|K.r India converting people to

Budd hism. ;mtl fonmled the o rde r of Bu ddh is t m onach ism.

JV o p Ir u o i c ad m itted in to th e S an g h a a fte r (h ey had re c ite d th e

t e n m i l a :^ flr *r=9ifh i>in suer i

5ir*t w ifa i

The Sangha was open to all, without distinction of caste and

creed, both male and female. Separa te m onasterie s were assigned

to monks and nuns; and there wore lots of householders as lay-

brethre n. T h e su ccess of Buddhism was due to the working out

of the idea of establishing a haven of rest to all.It has already been pointed out that Buddha was a product

of a great upheaval, and that he was a great repudiator of

Urahmanic orthodoxy. H is religion knew no caste bar. He disregarded Sans kr it and preached in the vernacular. He discarded

the authority of the Vedas , and God had no plac e in his religion.

His was a religion which knew no mandates and no divine

institutions. Y et , never theless, Badd ha was a product of his

particu lar age, and, therefore, he was not en tirely free from thesupers titious beliefs cu rre nt in his time, and the philosophical

speculations which were not entirely proved as purely logical

conclusio ns. H is religion was based more or less on a fairly

rational system. H e gave his disciples an opportunity of cha llen g

ing and examining his doctrines; ' and never threatened, like the

Brahmanas, to outcast those who would challenge the authority ofthe Ved as and all that was arbit rarily set up by them. Natu rally , the

Brahm anas and the orthodox community did not encou rage Buddha,and regarded him as, more or less, an enem y of orthodoxy. Buddha

I le used to say, as we learn from the TaUvasaiHuraha (sec Foreword,i.eiv): q/lvt fSnpft.sro mnfr * i

16 AN IN T U O nr C T IO N TO IH ' M D H I S T K S O TK U I S M


46/219


47/219

prac tisin g them. Buddha, as a clever organizer, could not fail to

notice this type of mentality amongst the masses, which were his

favourite field of action, and he did not venture to forbid magical

practices altogether in his religion, though it is difficult to say

whether he ever l>elievcd in their efficacy .* Moreover, to make hi s

religion perfect, the founder has not only to take into account the

mentality of the intelligentsia by giving them hopes for the next

birth and far-ofl salvation, but also of those who have no concep

tion of distant emancipa tion, or merits to be gained in th e next

birth, but are e age r to attain worldly prospe rities in this very

birth .2 It was to satisfy this second class of the laity that Buddha

had to incorporate some sort of mantras, Ohranis, Mudras and

Mandalas, so that those that might wish to have prosperity in the

piesent birth would fee) satisfied4 by practising them.

In the Ih tih m aja la StUP we find mentio n of a large number

of Vidys or esoteric sciences, which were current in the time of

Buddha and condemned by him as tiraechana> or crooked. It is,

therefore, easy to conceive that there were many more Vidy s

curre nt in his time which were not, in the opinion of Budd ha,

t i racdmna , or crooked, but free from all blame, and these he must

* In the D t gkani kya Buddha is represented as saying,' It is because Isee danger in the practice of these mystic wonders that 1 loathe and abhor and am ashamed thereof (T. W. Rhys Davidss Pa l i Engl i sh D i ct i ona ry ,p. 121). Beealso the enumeration of the ten kinds of Iddhis, ibid.

cf. /'adiasarhgraha,si. 3486:

II

* 7'attvasaiHgraha,si. 3487:

1 8 AN I N T R O J H CT K> N T O B U D D H I S T f c S O T K K I S M

4 P.T.S. ed., pp. 9 ff.


48/219

have im orporated into Ins religion, in the M ahjn srin tuhik atpa? whirl formed part of the extensive Vaipulyasutra literature of theBuddhists and was probably composed in the first century of the

Christian era, we find quite an astonis hing number of mantras,

Mudras, Mandata* am! Ph aranis , which must have taken theirorigin in the early centuries H.C., and probably trom the time of

Buddha himself. L a te r on, in the Giihyasamaja ,* which is con

sidered a: the first systematic Tntric work of the Buddhists, and

which was probably written in the third or the fourth century A.l>.,

we find Buddha saying to the congregation of the faithful, that as

the people were not sufficiently enlightened he did not preach theT n tr ic system when he was born as the Dipaftkara and Kasyapa

Buddha. In the Sadhanamala , a Tntric work containing about312 small works called Sdhan as, composed by distinguished

writers ot the third to the twelfth centuries A.B., we find mention

of a fairly large number of mantras originating from Huddha

himself .3 Is there, therefore, any room to doubt that the Ta nt ra sand mantras, Mud ras and Dhranis , were taught by Buddha

himself to the lay-brethren who believed in their efficacy? F r o m

the Pali literature it can be easily proved that Buddha believed

in the doctrine of Idd his, or supernatural powers, and he mentionedfour Iddhipadas: Chha ndo(w il}),Viriyam (effort), Cittam (thought),

and Vimariis (investigation), which were conducive to the produc

tion of superhuman powers .4

In the Vivaya Pitaka are recorded two stories which at once

show the popularity of the cultivation of magical powers amongst

Buddha s own disciples. One is the story of Bhradv ja, and

the other the story of a lay-householder, all of whose relatives

1 Published in three volumes in the Trivandrum Sanskrit Series.* The work is now published as No. LIU in the Gaekwnd.s Oriental

Series.* See infra, chap. VII.* R. C. Childers, D ic t i ona r y of the Pa l i L nnguuge,p. 157

OR IG IN ! J U 'U O I U S T MAGIC 19


49/219

knew Inm io peit*rtn nu uy miracles. Be low iS given a summary(i( ilr>o iwi from ihe l'inaya as they have a direct

I waring 'a iho sub;c i t-mallvr of this partiru l.tr chapter.

I. A t one lime the Sctl hi ' ( Kajagrha had acquired a blockof >:in


50/219

OU i t ; IN O F DII DDH IS T MAli lC 21

II . T h e second story' related to the miraculous powers of

ihe whole family of a layman. In the Bhaddiyanagara there wasa householder named Mendaka who, when he had bathed his head,

could fill the empty granary by making showers of grain fallfrom the sky.

When his wife sat down beside a pint pot and vessel for curry

and sauce, she could serve the serving men with food: and so

long as she did not get up it was not exhausted.

, T h e ir son could take up a bag conta ining a thousand coins,

and give to each serving man six months' wages: and so long as

as he held it in his hand it was not exhausted.When their daughter-in-law sat down beside a four-bushel

basket, she could give six months' rice to serving men: and so

long as she did not get up, it was not exhausted.When their slave ploughed the land with one ploughshare,

seven furrows were formed on the ground.The Magadha king Seniya Bimbisrn came to know about

the miraculous powers of the householder, and* wanted to know

the whole truth about it. H e called h is minis ter and asked himpersonally to go to the Bhaddiyanagara to test the truth of the

rumours. T h e minister accordingly went to the house of Mendakaand asked him to show his special powers and those of the

members of his family. Mendaka showed the identical feats men

tioned before, and satisfied the minis ter and K in g Bim bis ra about

the truth of his miraculous powers.

1 Vinaya Pi faka,S.B.E., Mahvagga*, VI, 34-1-2.


51/219

C H A P T E R U l

G R O W T H O F B H M U S T M A G I C

IN the previous chapter an account has been given of thestate of Buddhist magic, when it was in a more or less embryonic

condition. In the present cha pte r an attempt will be made to

show how the rudimentary form of magic in Buddhism developed

in later times owing to a variety of favourable conditions. T h e se

conditions comprise the enforcement of strict discipline amongthe monks, the gradual changes in the conception of emancipation

in the different schools of Buddhism, the enormous growth of

Buddhist literature, the introduction of the altruistic philosophyof Mahyna all these factors, though sublime by nature, exercised

a grea t influence on the ma sses and produced m ost baneful resu lts

which were quite unexpected. It would be reasonably expected

that the sublime Mahyna philosophy would lead the people to

happiness, prosperity and salvation; but, instead, it led them to

evil and culminated in T an tri sm , which may justly be called a

full-fledged esoteric system.

It will 1* remembered that from the very start of earlyBuddhism till the time when Mahynism sprang up with all its

brilliance, a very stri ct disciplin e was enjoine d on the follower s

of the faith. F or the Bh lksu s and the Bhiksu nis, who were

provided with a haven of rest in the shape of monasteries,

the rules were stri ctly put into operatio n. Men and women we re

very strictly kept apart; they were never allowed to have any

contact with each other. M en were enjoin ed to take a vow

I celib acy, and the women were asked ei th er not to marry orto abandon their husbands, relatives and children, if there were

any. All kinds of luxuries were forbidden, and vario us foods for

which man has a natural desi re were entir ely tabooed. W in e, fish,


52/219

t iK O W T II Ol- I.U I >1>H i.ST M AG IC 23

meat, appetisers, and many similar objects of enjoyment were

specially forbidden. T h e rules were indeed good, and were very

attractive in the time of Buddha, but as they were very unnatural

his followers could be expected to follow them only for a certain

time, but not for cen tur ies afterwards. It was wholly absurd toexpect obedience to such strict disciplinary measures from all

members of the Sangha even in Buddha's lifetime, to say nothing

of centu ries after his Mahparinirvna. Buddhas was a great per

sonality, and so long as he was alive the majority of his followers

dared not commit any offence by going against his wishes.

But all were not of the same men ta lity ; there were monks in

his own time who used to send, contrary to his specific injunctions,

wreaths of flowers to wives, daughters, young women and femaleslaves, to sit on one seat, lie on one bed, one mat, one coverlet,

with the wives and daughters and young women and female

slaves, to eat food at any time, to drink strong drinks, to dance, to

sing and play music, and all these together in every combination.

These monks must have considered in their minds what the result

would be by forgoing all the pleasures of life, by strictly following

the injunctions imposed on the San gha by Buddha. T h e piomise

of freedom from births and rebirths may be only a possibility,and success at best is very questionable. T h is particu lar set of

monks, therefore, instead of running after a deluding Nirvana,

violated the rules of discipline and took to worldly enjoyments.Buddha was very much perturbed when he heard of the infamous

conduct of his followers, and sent some of his trusted disciples

to carry out his order of expulsion from the Sangha against these

monks. .

Thus the members of the Sangha must have revolted fromtime to time against the unnatilral rules of discipline, and party

quarrels on such points were already in evidence in the second

1 S.B.E., Vol. X V II, p. 347 f.


53/219

14rc.1 t


54/219


55/219

find a glowing acc ou nt of Nirvana. Bu t there also we do not meet

with a rcfoience to the condition of the individual when he attainsNirvana. In the first centu ry A.D., Asvaghosa, in his S a u n d a r a -

n a n d o ' com pares Nirvana to the extinction of a flame as a

lamp goes out when the oil is exhausted, even so the individual is

extinguished when there is no more suffering, or Klesa, to his

credit. T h is is practically the last word of the H lnay nic

interpretation of Nirvana. W itji the Mah ynists the interpre ta

tion beca me different. T h ey were not satisfied with the mystic

silence of Buddha on the most important philosophical concept

promised to the followers as a reward for all the moral restrictions

practised by them in this life. T h ey wanted to specula te, and

formulated that Nirvana is nothing but Snya, which meant,according to the Madhyamaka conception, a condition about whichneither existence nor non-existence, nor a combination of the two,

nor a negation of the two, can be predicated.* T h is is the theory

of the great Na garjun a the founder of the Madhyamaka system of

Buddhist philosophy, who flourished in the second century A.D.*

But can this Sn ya, as defined by Nag arjuna, satisfy anybody,

even intellectual men, not to speak of the ignorant m as ses ? It is

a condition sim ilar to a transcendental co ndition, and. in fact, muchworse truth than the mystic silence of Buddha.

Th e Yogac ras, therefore, came to their rescue. Th ey

retained the term Snya; but formulated that it was not an

empty Sn ya, as proposed by the Madhyam akas, but a positive

Snya with a positive element of Vijnna .4 People heaved a sigh

of relief. On the atta inm ent of Nirvana, therefore, the individual

1 Ed. Mm. Haraprasad Sastn, in the Bibl iothrca /ud ica,p. 102, XVI, 28,29 .2 cf. Sa> vadar a}iasafH%rahayp. 23 : R

i Also Ad\ ayavaj rasathgraha, p. 19, 11. 21-22, G.O.S., No. XI

* Nagarjuna also explained Nirvana by six negatives, cf. MadhyamakaK ri k , chap. XXV, Krik, 3.

* Yumakami Sagen, Systems of B uddhi st Thou ght, chap. VI.

2 0 AN I N T R O D U C T I O N T O U l P D I D S T K SO TE KI .^ M


56/219

nei ther attains complete extinction , nor does he go out like a

lamp, nor pass into a condition which can no t be conceiv ed. T h e

Y og ac r a idea of emancipation satisfied the people for a time. Itis believed that Maitreya was the author of the Yogacra school of

thought.

Soon after, a time came when Vijnnavda also could not

satisfy all. So me greate r brains came forward with a new doctrine,

and introdu ced it into the concep tion of Yo gac ra. T h is new in-

troduction was known as the Mahasukhavada , 1 and the form

of Buddhism which was based on this Mahasukhavada was known

as Vajray na, or the adamant-vchicle. In Vajra van a Niivana had

three elem ents: Snya, Vijnna and Mahsitkha. T hi s triple

combination of Sunya was termed by them as Vajra; Ihmausc, asthey said, it is firm and sound, unchan geable, unpicrccaklc, im

penetrable, incombustible and indestructible.* Th ey formulated

that Sunya is Nirtm, and a goddess in whose eternal embrace

the individual mind, i.e. the Bodhicitta, or V ijn na, is locked, and

there remains in eternal bliss and happiness.

It was no fault of original Buddhism that its concept ion of

Nirvana should take so many shapes and culminate in Maha

sukhavada, which would considerably weaken the religion andplunge Buddhism headlong into the deepest abyss of degeneration.

The third factor which, though sublime in its conception,

brougnt about degeneration , is the evolution of the idea of Karun.

It must be remembered that Buddha advised his followers to

obta in Nirvana for themselve?^ by the ir own effo rts . T hey should

have nothing to do with others or their suffer ings or miseries. It

1 The character of Mahsukha is described in the Jhnasiddhi, chap. VII . Sec Tw o Vaj rayna Works, G.O.S., No. X LIV , p. 57. Also Advayavaj ra-sart igrai ia, G.O.S., No. XL, intro., p. xxxviii,and p. 50.

1 ^ wnrcihftf aifcnftr * Quoted from

the Yogarat naml in the Bauddka Gan O Doha,p. 8 ; also from Va j r o i t k ha r a

in the AdvayavajrasatHgraha,op. dt., p. 23 , 11 ,2 3- 4.

g r o w t h o f u u d d h i s t m a g i c 21


57/219


58/219

( i Ko vv ri i t u i n u D i u s r m . u ; h j l x)

alln onipa>sionatc Hodhisattva is sol up. who refused liis salvation ,

though fully entitled to it, until all creatures of the world were

in possession of the Hodhi knowledge and obtained freedom from

worldly miseries.

It is said that when Avalokitesvara Hodhisattva,1after obtaining Xirvuna, was about to merge himself in the eternal Snya

from the summit of the Sumeru mountain he heard an uproar

from a very remote qua rter and became remorseful, l i e sat there

forthwith in intense med itation, and immediately real teed that the

uproar was nothing but the waitings of the people at the dis

appearance of Avalokitesvara, the all-compassionate Hodhisattva.

In their utter helplessness at the prospect of losing the support of

Avalokitesvara, who was their only saviour from their worldlymiseries and sufferings, they rent the skies with their bitter wail*

ings. Av alo kite sva ra was deeply moved when he came to know

about this, and resolved within himself not to acc ept his well-merited

emanci pation so long as even as in gl e individual on ea rth remained

unemancipated. In the Kran$avyha we hear him saying that

he will live and act for the uplift of humanity till the end of

crea tion l>efore me rging himself in Snya . H e will take the form

of Visnu and impart lessons in Dharma to those who worshiphim; he will take the form of Siva in order to impart lessons to

those who worship him; he will take the form of Ganesa and

impart lessons to those who worship him; he will take the form

of a king in order to impart lessons to those who admire

and love their ki ng ; he will even take the forms of father

and mother, in order to teach Dharma to those who worship

them .2 T h is theory of Ka ru na was an outstanding feature in the

1 For an account of Avalokitesvara see the notice of the MS. i i una-krandavyt iha, in Rajendralal Mitras Sansk r i t Buddhi st L i t era t u re o f N epa l ,

p. 1*5.

8 Krand av y hayop. cit., pp. 2 1 - 2 2 ; also B. Bhattacharyya, I nd i an Bud

dhist I conography, pp. 32 ff.

I


59/219

Mahyana religion, and such a high ideal as A valokitesvara's isunpreced ented in the history any oth er religion of the world.

It was no fault of Buddhism that, though it set up such a high

ideal, the result was most disappoin ting. Buddh ism, we should

remember, both in its earlier and later stages of development,was mostly concerned with the masses and people of low castes

with lower deg ree s of intellectual development. T h e high ideal of

Kanina was too much for them; but every individual follower of

the faith had to associate himself with the theory of Karun in

some way or othe r. Day alter day, without rea lizing its impor

tance, they had to resolve that they would devote all their energies

and sacrifice everything dear to them for the uplift of humanity.

Day after day, they had to repeat this pious wish, till after a timeit became a mere convention entirely bereft of its import andimportance; and, what is worse, the priests found in this theory

of Karun an excuse for the grossest forms of immorality and

lawlessness . 1

In the course of time, the literature of the Buddhists of both

the Minayana and Mahyna schools had developed to such an

enormous extent that it had become almost impossible to give any

benefit from this literature to the lay-brethren, whose intellectualfaculties were mostly far below the ordinary. T h e priests

held that the perusal of the Bud dhist literature was capable

of confe rring great merits on the followers of the faith. T h e

perusal and th e han dling ol leng thy works were found difficult

even for those who possessed some intellectual superiority.

It was in response to popular demands that the priests had

to shor ten the b ooks to suit popular nerd s. T ak e, for example,

A stash asrikp ra jn p ram it , which is a fairly stupen dous

1 cf. Chi i taSodhanaprakarana, in J .A .S.B ., LX V II, p. 178:

f w h i t f r f l f i

fTtTTffcr II

3 0 AN I N T R O h l T T I O N I O I t l 11 >1)11 I S T K S O T K k I S M


60/219

and difficult work for a tolerably learned Buddhist to read

through and understand. It was there fore shortened into the

form of Sa/aS/ohi PrajKramit> in one hundred stanzas;

and the people were asked to read and mem orize it. F o r

many this, too, proved very trying, and it was soon reduced to

a P r o } iuif>aram ilaltrdayamtra a still shorter form. T h is was

further shortened into a P rajn p ara m i t D h rani > in a few

unintelligib le words, and this ultimately gave rise to the mantra

of l rajn apram it. It was given out to the people that ifeither the mantra, the Dhararn, the Hrd aya S tra or the longer

forms of the work were once recited, the merit to be gained by a

perusal of the com plete Pra jnpr am it was obtainable. In Ti b et

they made the process still shorter and easier. Th ey preparedprayer-whecls, in which were contained their favourite books,

sohlered up the covers, and went on turning the wheels round

and round. T h e ir belief was that by each turn of the wheel the

worshipper gained the merit of perusing the entire literaturecontained in the wheel.

What wonder is it that Buddhism should degenerate under

these unfavourable c ircum stance s, and people should grow more

superstitious by running after easier and cheaper methods forobtaining salvation 1

G R O W T H Ol- U l ' D D H I S T M A GI C 3 1


61/219

C l I A B I K K I V

K I S K O B Y A J K A Y A N A

I r Inis boon soon h ow prim itiv e Bud dh ism , as taught by

Buddha. passed through many changes and underwent degenera

tion owing to a variety of circumstances which cropped up in

later times. T h is degen erate d form of Buddhism is what is called

Yajrayana, or T an lri c Buddhism. W e have already mentioned

that Buddhism was a ch allen ge to, and a repudiation of, earli er

Brahm anism . It was now the part of T n tr ic Buddhism to

challenge the authority of Buddha and repudiate the original

Buddhism.

Buddha enforced a large number of unnatural and strict

rules for the gui dan ce of his followers. All kinds of worldly

enjoyments were forbidden, especially wine, women, tish, meat and

all kinds of exc iting food. All these the T n tr ic s of the later age

introduced into the ir relig ion in the form of live M akaras, and

they did so with a vengeance, and even went so far as to declare

that without these emancipation was impossible.W ith regard to Buddha, they said that he was only an ordinary

mortal Budd ha, and it was throu gh him that the eter nal truth of

Buddhism came to the world. T ru th is the all-important factor

in Buddh ism. Budd ha se rved only as a post-ofnee, as many

other Buddhas had done previously and will do in future.

benoytosh bhattacharyya-introduction to buddhist esoterism-chowkhamba sanskrit series office (1964)

Documents