Katherine Anne Harper - The Roots of Tantra

The Roots of Tantra

SUNY Series in Tantric Studies

Paul E. Muller-Ortega and

Douglas Renfew Brooks, editors

The Roots of Tantra

Edited by

Katherine Anne Harper

and Robert L. Brown

State University of New York Press

Published by

State University of New York Press, Albany

2002 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The roots of Tantra / edited by Katherine Anne Harper and Robert L. Brown.

p. cm.(SUNY series in tantric studies)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-7914-5305-7 (alk. paper)ISBN 0-7914-5306-5 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. TantrismHistory. I. Harper, Katherine Anne. II. Brown, Robert L., 1944 Oct. 6

III. Series.

BL1283.83 .R66 2002

294.5514dc21

2001054184

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Cover: A. P. Gajjar, Yoniand Lingam, 1975. (Private collection) 1. Buddha flanked by skull tappers. Gandhara, Pakistan. Ca. first-second century C.E (Courtesy of The Russek Collection) 12

2. Stone disk with Mother Goddesses. Patna, Bihar. Third century

B.C.E (Courtesy of the Archaeological Survey of India) 43

3. Ring Stone with relief of a Mother Goddess. Ropar, Punjab. Third century B.C.E (Courtesy of the Archaeological Survey of India) 44

4. Steatite stone tablet. Rajgir, Punjab. Third century B.C.E (Courtesy of the Archaeological Survey of India)

45

5. Anantasayin Vi.s.nu in yoganidra. Bhitargaon. Fifth to sixth century

C.E (Courtesy of the Archaeological Survey of India) 49

6. ryantra

51

7. Klyantra

54

8. Indus Valley seal impression Mohenjo-Daro, showing motif of symmetrically flanking goats with feet on central tree and mountain. (Courtesy of the Archaeological Survey of India) 100

9. Summerian cylinder seal showing symmetrically flanking goats with hooves on tree and/or mountain. Uruk Period. (Line drawing courtesy of Joyce Burstein)

100

10. Indus Valley seal impression showing dompteur motif. Mohenjo-Daro. (Courtesy of the Archaeological Survey of India) 101

11. Achaemenian seal showing Sumerian dompteur motif with central male figure flanked by griffenlike composite monsters. (Courtesy of The Morgan Library)

101

12. Indus Valley painted potsherd showing lion attacking bull.

Mohenjo-Daro. (Courtesy of Arthur Probsthain Publisher) 102

vii

viii

Illustrations

13. Sumerian cylinder seal impression showing lion attacking bull from behind. Uruk period, ca. 3000 B.C.E (Line drawing courtesy of Joyce Burstein)

102

14. Indus Valley seal impression showing a goddess in a tree with a bull god and seven vegetation spirits. Mohenjo-Daro. (Courtesy of the Archaeological Survey of India)

103

15. Sumerian cylinder seal impression showing a goddess in a tree with a horned god. Third millennium B.C.E (Line drawing courtesy of Joyce Burstein)

103

16. Babylonian seal showing entwined serpent pair homologized to human body. ca. 2000 B.C.E (Courtesy of Princeton University Press)

105

17. Indus Valley seal impression. (Courtesy of the Archaeological Survey of India)

106

18. Mlbandhsana. (Digital art courtesy of Joyce Burstein) 107

19. Yogsana Vignana demonstrated by Shirendra Brahmachari.

(Courtesy of Probashi Publishing Company)

108

20. Australian aboriginal ritual view. (Couretsy of International University Press)

109

21. Saptamt.rk Panel. Exterior of Cave 4. Udayagiri, Bhopal. Early fifth century C.E (Photograph by Katherine Anne Harper) 120

22. Detail of emblematic banners, Saptamt.rk Panel. Exterior of Cave 4, Udayagiri, Bhopal. Early fifth century C.E (Photgraph by Katherine Anne Harper)

120

23. Saptamt.rk Panel. Exterior of Cave 6, Udayagiri, Bhopal. Early fifth century C.E (Photography by Katherine Anne Harper) 121

24. Detail of emblematic banners, Saptamt.rk Panel. Exterior of Cave 6, Udayagiri, Bhopal. Early fifth century C.E (Photograph by Katherine Anne Harper)

121

25. Detail of emblematic banners, Saptamt.rk Panel. Exterior of Cave 6, Udayagiri, Bhopal. Early fifth century C.E (Photograph by Katherine Anne Harper)

122

The study of Tantrism as a specialized academic field has been a relatively recent phenomenon, perhaps stretching over only the last three or four decades; and, in the last few years, specialized studies dedicated to this often misunderstood subject have been published and received with increasing enthusiasm. This book is an initial study addressing origins in that it attempts to seek out and understand some of the nascent forms and sources of Tantrism in ancient India. The volume grew out of two conferences held in the greater Los Angeles area in October 1989 and March 1995 that were devoted specifically to fleshing out the meager evidence on early Tantrism. It is a matter of great satisfaction that so many scholars have worked to address questions concerning the origins and have shaped careful and detailed responses, particularly given the paucity of material remnants, both archaeological and textual, known at this time. The reader will encounter various approaches to the general topic concerning roots and origins; the diversity is the result of specific disciplines and backgrounds, each scholar bringing unique insights to the general topic. By no means does this volume attempt to be comprehensive; the problems involved in uncovering inchoate elements giving rise to Tantrism and its early manifestations are far too broad to be bound in a single volume. What we hope to accomplish is to pose a body of new questions and stimulate new dialogue and research in the field of Tantric studies.

The editors wish to thank the many participants for their excellent contributions and their great patience. In addition, we would like to thank the Society for Tantric Studies, Loyola Marymount University and the University of California at Los Angeles for various forms of support along the way.

Katherine Anne Harper

ix

Robert L. Brown

Stellas personal spiritual teacher was a wandering aivite Tantric monk who belonged to the Aghori orders... He tested her through a drastic aiva experience in which she was to follow him to the Kalighat temple, where he had her ascend a funeral pyre and sit on a corpse that was about to be cremated.... Then he told her to gather the ashes, take them home, and rub them on her body.

Barbara Stoler Miller, Exploring Indias Sacred Art Barbara Miller describes an experience in the life of Stella Kramrisch that took place sometime in the 1920s or 1930s in Calcutta. A pioneer in Indian art history, her volumes on the Hindu temple and studies of iva have defined the field. Miller goes on to say, Throughout the entire happening she [Stella] had implicit faith in its validity as a ritual that confirmed her in her fearlessness and let her understand life with a lightened heart.1 I bring up this incident because it appears rather outside the bounds of Tantric research and scholarship. It is so highly idiosyncratic and unusual2 that it causes one to wonder if it actually happened. It fits, however, with the individualistic and personalized nature of Tantric practices. No one would find it hard to identify the episode as Tantric, despite difficulty in associating it with a specific ritual or text. What Kramrisch derived from the experience was a sense of power and a feeling of well-being, both Tantric goals.