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Goddess Tārā: Silence and Secrecy on the Path to EnlightenmentAuthor(s): Susan S. LandesmanReviewed work(s):Source: Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, Vol. 24, No. 1 (Spring, 2008), pp. 44-59Published by: Indiana University Press on behalf of FSR, Inc.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20487912 .Accessed: 04/04/2012 09:14

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44 Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 24.1

many instances of both men and women healed and restored through the prac tice of haziri. However, the vital point for feminist scholarship is that hazir heals and restores by shifting the discourse surrounding the location of agency from person to place. What might feminist scholarship look like if this shift were incorporated into its critical apparatus creatively? In the case of the analysis of haziri, doing so has led us to a more accurate understanding of how agency ulti mately is restored to both its male and female practitioners. If the case of hdziri is any indication, in the South Asian cultural context, concern for the welfare of

women and scholarship that seeks to understand their lives are not always best served by an exclusive focus on women or on theorizing their subjectivity.

GODDESS TARA: SILENCE AND SECRECY ON THE PATH TO ENLIGHTENMENT

Susan S. Landesman

The enlightened mind that perceives reality from an ultimate viewpoint transcends notions of gender, according to the Buddha's teachings. Based upon a belief in life's fundamental impermanence, all phenomena are viewed as de void of permanent natures. From this perspective, dualistic conceptions of the body, including its male and female components, and the range of values associ ated with gendered identity, are not considered "intrinsic" to a person's being nor are they issues of concern in the process of realization, for "it is the stream of consciousness that becomes enlightened, having fully comprehended the sense objects."' Despite these philosophical ideals, socially engrained biases fa voring men still persisted within the early Buddhist monastic community. With an aim to challenge these views, Goddess Tara was promoted as one of the earli est enlightenedfemale role models within the Buddhist tantras.2

The major canonical source for the hard cult's formative period in India is the ritual compendium with the abbreviated title Tdrd-rmila-kalpa (Thra's Basic Ritual Text), hereafter referred to as the TMK.3 The Sanskrit text, believed

1 The Sanskrit reads: "visay?vabodh?d vijn?nam buddha ity upadisyate," from the

Lank?vat?ra-s?tra, v. 140.6, quoted in Alex Wayman, "Buddhist Dependent Origination and the

S?mkhya Gunas," Ethnos (1962): 14-22. The Lank?vat?ra-s?tra is believed to have been com

posed as early as the latter half of the fourth century. See Hajime Nakamura, Indian Buddhism: A

Survey with Bibliographical Notes, vol. 1, Buddhist Traditions Series (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass,

1987), 231. 2 The tantras comprise a body of esoteric teachings and practices, "emphasizing cognitive

transformation through visualization, symbols, and ritual," as noted in John Powers, Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism (Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 1995), 219. The earliest tantras were

composed between the third and sixth centuries. See Alex Wayman, "An Historical Review of Bud

dhist Tantras," Journal of Rare Buddhist Texts Research Project 20 (1995): 137-53. 3 The first English translation and analysis of this text is by Susan S. Landesman, The Great

Secret ofT?r?: T?r? and the Rise of Female Buddhas in India according to the T?r?-m?la-kalpa

Special Section: South Asian Religions 45

to have been composed in the seventh century, was translated into Tibetan in the fourteenth century by Bu-ston, classified as a kriyd tantra, and added to the Tibetan canon (bKa' 'gyur).4 Although the TMK's Sanskrit text is no longer extant, and its lineage of teachings appears to have been broken due to its lack of commentaries, the text's importance for scholarship remains. Analysis of the TMK's contents reveals the strategies through which female role models were promoted within early tantric Buddhist rituals, art, and thought.

The TMK features Tara as the central object of ritual practice and religious devotion, although her persona is promoted, in part, by adopting the epithets, iconography, and functions of enlightened male bodhisattvas and Buddhas as they have been portrayed in earlier Buddhist scriptures. This is not a particu larly feminist means of promoting a female figure. Still, Thra's status in the text underscores her importance within Buddhist tradition: she is the first female Buddha within tantric literature. Her epithet, Bhagavati, exclusively reserved for the most elevated among enlightened beings (tenth-stage bodhisattvas and Buddhas), underscores her enlightened status.

Tara follows a tradition of strong female role models, beginning in the ancient Vedic period (second millennium BCE), and sustained through early Mahayana times (0-400 CE). Many of these goddesses were and still are wor shiped for protection from danger.5 Others are revered as the embodiment of wisdom. For example, some of Tara's important functions can be traced to those of Goddess Prajiiaparamita, the personification of wisdom realizing emptiness, as delineated in the Perfection of Wisdom scriptures (Prdjnidparamitd-sdtras). Furthermore, Prajniparamita and Thra are both referred to as mothers of all Buddhas, since Buddhas are born from wisdom.6

Another rationale for the emergence of female role models within the Bud dhist tantras springs from the nature of tantric practice: deities whom ritual par ticipants emulated and worshipped were and still are envisioned in mother-fa ther pairs. These pairs are depicted with differing levels of desire, from gazing,

(Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2008). The Tibetan text that served as the basis for this study is en

titled Ral pa gyen brdzes kyi rtog pa chen po byang chub sems dpa' chen po'i mam par 'phrul pa le'u rab cbyams las bcom Idan cdas ma 'phags pa sGrol-ma'i-rtsa-ba'i-rtog-pa zhes bya ba (pub lished in The sTog Palace Manuscript of the Tibetan Kanjur, volume 107 [MA] [Leh: Smanrtsis

Shesrig Dpemzod, 1975-1980]). 4 Bu-ston was the celebrated editor of the Tibetan canon's first comprehensive and definitive

block-printed edition of commentaries, The Tanjur (bsTan cgyur) and translator of twenty-three commentarial works included therein. He may have also made important contributions to the edit

ing of the Tibetan scriptural collection The Kanjur (bKa' cgyur). See D. S. Ruegg, "The Life of Bu

Ston Rinpoche," Serie Orientale Roma 34 (1966): 18-35,181-85; and Helmut Eimer, "Ein Jahr zehnt Studien zur ?berlieferung des Tibetischen Kanjur," Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und

Buddhismuskunde 28 (1992): 1-202, esp. 176-78. 5 Landesman, Great Secret ofT?r?, chap. 3.

6 Ibid. The wisdom that provides direct insight into the true nature of reality is the wisdom that realizes emptiness (sunyat?), or life's fundamental impermanence, lacking intrinsic nature.


smiling, and touching to sexual embrace. Accordingly, these levels of desire cor relate with a practitioner's ability to harness desire and direct it toward the gen eration of a subtler and more powerful consciousness realizing the wisdom of emptiness (Sunyatd). The goals of tantric practice echo the opening statement of this essay: enlightened consciousness transcends dualistic thinking, includ ing the male-female dichotomy. Furthermore, since Buddhist teachings claim that all living beings contain the seeds of Buddhahood, and the potential for enlightenment, Buddhist enlightenment is not a distinctly feminist enterprise, although it can be construed as inclusive and supportive of feminist ideals.

A widely held yet unproven theory is that the veneration of Goddess Thra originated from an ancient star cult that guided seafarers across dangerous wa ters under a dark night sky.8 This theory may be based, in part, upon the mean ing of tara as "star," derived from the verb "tr" meaning to cross, as a star crosses

the night sky. An extension of Thra's hypothetical origin as a nocturnal celestial guide is her role in Buddhist sources as a protector of humans from various external dangers, such as ocean waves, floods, fires, epidemics, wild beasts, and serpents. Over time, Thra became renowned as a feminine symbol of the inner light of spiritual liberation, in which capacity she guided worshippers to over come inner obstacles to enlightenment, including the afflictive emotions of de sire and anger, as well as the fundamental cause of suffering: ignorance of the true nature of reality.9 The TMK elaborates these points.

Just as this mantra practice shall become the cause for the perfection of wisdom for sentient beings, so shall it dispel all dangers of quar rels, disputes, famine, disease, opposing armies, untimely rainfall, sin ful human and non-human beings, and wild animals.... Blessed Noble Tari, who assumes the guise andform of a woman, shall dispel robbers, floods, famines, and various injuries. She shall pacify all dangers [result ing from] kings, lions, tigers, buffalo, wolves, poison, robbers, humans, and non-humans. She shall also make all sentient beings who are skill ful in the ritual of reciting mantras fulfill [a desire for] various kinds

7 Tenzin Gyatso, The Kalachakra Tantra: The Rite of Initiation, trans. Jeffrey Hopkins (London: Wisdom Publications, 1985), 34-36.

8 Among the first to propound this theory were Godefroy de Blonay, Mat?riaux pour servir

a l'Histoire de la D?esse Buddhique T?r? (Paris: Library Emile Bouillon, 1895), 1-65, esp. 62; and

Hirananda Shastri, "The Origin and Cult of T?r?," Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of India

20 (1925), 1-27, esp. 5-7, 20. 9 Early sources for T?r?'s role as protector from external dangers are the sixth-century Vai

rocana-abhisambodhi-tantra and seventh-century T?r?-m?la-kalpa. The internal dangers are dis

cussed in a fifteenth-century commentary by the first Dalai Lama Panchen dGe 'dun grub entitled

Rje btsun bcom Idan 'das ma seng Ideng nags kyi sgrol ma la bstod pa mkhas pa'i gtsug rgyan zhes

bya ba, found in the Gsung thorbu, 238-243 (fols. 221v-24r) vol. ca, which is ultimately found in

the Phyag na pad dkar 'chang ba Thams cad mkhyen pa Rje Dge 'dun grub dpal bzang po'i gsung 'bum, 5 vols. (Tashi Ihunpo monastery, n.d.). The text is referred to orally by the first three words in

the text: "legs bris ma."


of sensual pleasures, such as medicines, flowers, flavorful fruits, drinks, clothes, places, beddings, and seats, etc. And she shall make all sentient beings-who wish for the Dharma [teachings]-apply themselves to the practice of the virtuous Dharma.10

In spite of the obscure beginnings of the Tard cult within Indian sources, a Tibetan legend records her rise to fame, with specific reference to her female embodiment.

Formerly, in beginningless time, in the world realm called "Manifold Light," there arose the Tathagata Lord called Dundubhisvara, Sound of the Drum. Also living there was the king's daughter called Jinanacandra,

Moon of Wisdom, who greatly revered the Tathagata's discourse. She worshipped the Buddha, together with his retinue, an infinite commu nity of Sravakas and Bodhisattvas, for hundreds of millions of years.... At that time, a group of monks implored her, "If you aspire to serve the teachings of the Buddha, due to your own roots of virtue, you will become a man in this very life. In order for it to turn out that way, it is proper to do so accordingly.""

After engaging in dialogue with these monks, the king's daughter challenged conventional social biases favoring men by offering a rationale for her necessity to remain in female bodhisattva form.

There is neither man nor woman nor self nor person-hood nor notion of such. Attachment to [the designations] "male and female" is mean ingless and deludes worldly people with poor understanding. She then vowed: Many desire enlightenment in a man's body, while not even a single [person] strives for the benefit of sentient beings in a woman's body. Therefore, I shall work for the benefit of sentient beings in a wom an's form as long as samsara has not been emptied.'2

Ancient Pali sources also provide controversial evidence regarding wom en's spiritual capacities. Although Buddha Sakyamuni is depicted rejecting his stepmother's requests that women join the monastic community (sangha), he

10 Emphasis added. TMK, 502b-2 to 503a-4, Hayagriva's Oral Mantra.

11 Blo-bzang Sbyin pa, Dkyil khang Mkhan Zur Blo-bzang sbyin pa, The Collected Works,

4 vols. (Delhi: Chos 'phel legs ldan, 1979), 1: fol. 522 (3a): "lus 'di nyid la skyes par gyur te." 12

Jaya Pandita, The Collected Works ofjaya Pandita (Blo-bzang hphrin-las), 4 vols., ed.

Lokesh Chandra (New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1981), 1: fol. 221b-3-5

(Sata-Pitaka Series of Indo-Asian Literatures, vol. 278). In contrast to the spirit of this vow, its

language employs three different words for gendered embodiment. The words for the male body

(skyes ba'i rten) indicate an honorific status, since this term is also used for representations of the

Buddha's body in paintings and sculpture. In comparison, the words for the female body (bud med

kyi lus) and female form (bud med kyi gzugs) are commonly used generic expressions.


also openly supported women's potential for enlightenment.'3 Despite extant records of these dialogues in various scriptural sources, Theravadin monks had already begun disputing women's potential for enlightenment only three centu ries after the Buddha's passage beyond suffering (parinirvana).'4 In response to such socially engrained gender biases within the monastic community, Princess Jnianacandra is portrayed in Tara's legend as the first woman to pursue enlight enment out of a profound sense of compassion to help others. Additionally, she undertakes the unique bodhisattva vow to remain in female form in all subse quent lifetimes-working to alleviate suffering. Thus, the princess drew upon conventional truth (in this case, gendered assumptions) to challenge gender biases, as well as "ultimate" truth to underscore the notion that gender lacks intrinsic value and is therefore unreal. Ultimately, the princess was able to actu alize her bodhisattva vow through daily efforts to liberate countless beings. Her success led to the prophecy that as long as she manifested unexcelled, perfect enlightenment, she would be referred to as Goddess Thra.'5

Tara's legendary past as a princess pursing enlightenment highlights the as

13 The state of spiritual accomplishment that the Buddha claims women are capable of reach

ing is that of the arhat, indicating one who has conquered the enemy passions and thus eliminated

defilements causing suffering. See Susan Murcott, First Buddhist Women (Berkeley: Parallax

Press, 1991), 16-17, quoting the Cullavagga, X.3.1. 14 A passage exemplifying developed Therav?da monastic thought appears in Buddha

datta Thera's fifth-century commentary on the Buddhavamsa (Lineage of the Buddhas) entitled

Madhuratthavil?sim (Clarifier of the Sweet Meaning), trans. I. B. Horner (London: Pali Text So

ciety, 1978), 132-33, v. 91.59. "The aspiration of one who is aspiring to Buddhahood succeeds . . .

only for one who is of the male sex. It does not succeed for women or for eunuchs, the sexless, or

hermaphrodites. And why is that? [It is] because there is no completeness of characteristics. Ac

cordingly, it was said in detail: 'It is impossible, monks, it cannot come to pass that a woman who is

an arhat can be a perfect Buddha.' Therefore, for one of the female sex, even though she may be of

human birth, the aspiration [for enlightenment] does not succeed." Yuichi Kajiyama discusses this

point in "Women in Buddhism," Eastern Buddhist, 2nd ser., 15, no. 2 (1982): 53-70, esp. 65-66, wherein the author proposes that Buddhadatta Thera is referring to the major characteristics of a

Great Person. The "Great Person" is a reference to a Mah?purusa, which refers to a Buddha, Siva,

Brahma, M?ra, etc.,] who displayed special marks or characteristics at birth. Among these char

acteristics, women lack "the male sexual organ hidden in recess" (kosopagatavastiguhya). In this

case, a "complete set" would imply that the male sex is a prerequisite for enlightenment; however,

Kajiyama reveals that monks never openly stated this point. 15

Although this legend is preserved in the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century writings of

T?ran?tha and Jaya Pandita, there are many earlier sources in which women undertake vows to

uphold and promulgate the Dharma teachings, aspire toward enlightenment, and guide others

toward the same goal. Earlier references appear in the third-century Buddhist source "Queen Sri M?l?'s Ten Great Vows and Three All-inclusive Aspirations," Lion's Roar of Queen Srim?l?

(Srim?l?dev?-simhan?da-s?tra), trans. Alex Wayman and Hideko Wayman (New York: Columbia

University Press, 64-68). See also Entry into the Realm of Reality: The Text [Gandavy?ha-s?tra] (trans. Thomas Cleary [Boston: Shambhala, 1987], 165), wherein the goddess Vasant? proclaims, "I

resolve that just as I liberate these sentient beings from the miseries of such bad behavior, so shall I

establish all sentient beings in the transmundane path of transcendence, make them irreversible in

progress toward omniscience, and lead them to omniscience by the great vow of universal good."


sertion of female identity within a social milieu favoring men. The princess's tri umph reflects a Mahayana critique of the orthodox Theravada tradition whose monks harbored attachments to notions of gender. Similarly, Tara's promotion within the early Buddhist tantras encountered an established predominance of male figures. However, the anonymous author of the TMK used this widely known male presence as a means of promoting feminine identity. Based upon textual evidence, just as Thra's major functions in the TMK can be traced to portrayals of Buddhist goddesses in third-century Buddhist sutras, her mode of presentation was heavily influenced by the earlier Buddhist tantras featuring male bodhisattvas and Buddhas.'6 Furthermore, why does Avalokitesvara (the bodhisattva of compassion) assume such a pervasive role in the TMK, even though Thra is the featured deity?'7 Is Thra merely modeled after enlightened male figures or is she assuming the status, functions, and iconography of her male counterparts on a new and independent basis? Evidence from three im portant tantras will be discussed below to show how they informed the compo sition of the TMK and the portrayal of Thra therein. In addition, a discussion of selected passages from the TMK will elucidate Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara's role in the text.

Tara and the Tara-mfda-kalpa

As mentioned above, the Tara-mula-kalpa (TMK), comprising approxi mately four hundred double-sided folios, is the largest tantric scripture associ ated with the Thra cult's formative period in India. As a ritual compendium, the TMK documents the multitude of Thra's earliest epithets, iconographic forms, and functions within the rites of the mandala, paintings on cloth (pata), and burnt offerings (homa). Thra's supreme status in the TMK as an enlightened female Buddha is inferred by her most frequently occurring epithet, Bhaga vati Arya Thra (Blessed Noble Thra). The name Thra indicates her impartial ity in taming all "motherly" sentient beings and her compassion in liberating them from the ocean of suffering.'8 As a noble one (arya), she has reached the

16 T?r?'s major functions have been traced to goddesses in the second-century Praj??

p?ramit?-s?tra and third-century Gandavy?ha-s?tra. For further discussion, see Landesman, Great Secret of T?r?, chaps. 2 and 3. As well, T?r?'s mode of presentation reflects aspects of

Ma?jusr? in the MMK and Vairocana in the VAT. The MMK, Ma?jusrT-m?la-kalpa, is a tantra re

vering the bodhisattva of wisdom Ma?jusr?, whereas the Vairocana-abhisambodhi-tantra is a text

featuring Buddha Vairocana. 17 I use the word deity here to refer to luminous beings that embody "the inalterable reality

of the mind of enlightenment." In the TMK, T?r? is simultaneously a tantric deity and a Buddha. 18

Blo-bzang Sbyin pa, Collected Works. Blo-bzang Sbyin pa was the head abbot (mkhan po) of the college dKyil Khang Grva Tshang. His commentary on a praise to the white T?r? by the first

Dalai Lama dGe 'dun grub, beginning on 1: fol. 520 (2a-4ff), reads: "Lus can sdug bsngal gyi rgya mtsho las sgrol zhing / ma rgan sems can thams cad la nye ring med par gang la gang 'dul gyi don

mnyam du mdzad pas na sgrol ma."


"path of vision," having eliminated nonvirtuous action and having transcended the fault of attachment to notions of samsara and nirvana.'9 As a Blessed One (Bhagavati), Tara assumes the spiritual status reserved exclusively for the most advanced bodhisattvas and Buddhas. The Tibetan rendering of the epithet Bhagavati (Tibetan: Icom Idan 'das ma) provides added meaning as one who has conquered (bcom) Mara,20 who possesses (Idan) all good qualities, and who has transcended ('das) suffering in samsara.21 As a Bhagavati, Tara is a female Bud dha who is "spontaneously present, . . . abiding in the naturally present, pristine cognition without the thoughts of the three times (past, present, future)."

Tara's association with Buddhahood is also supported by the role of sacred speech syllables (vidya, which I also define as a charm) used to evoke her pres ence. Throughout the TMK, Thra is popularly evoked by the essence incanta tion "Om. Tare tuttare ture svaha"(Om Tara, who rescues from suffering, the quick one we hail!). These ten Sanskrit syllables are praised for fulfilling "the purpose of the prosperity, happiness, and aims of sentient beings, and to show favor to gods and humanity." These syllables are also referred to as the "essence incantation of all the Buddhas promoted throughout the billion world galaxy."22 Thus, by evoking Thra's presence, they evoke all Buddhas in the same way that the Vedic goddess of speech Vac accompanies all the gods.23

Throughout the TMK, Thra's multiple aspects are visually portrayed in paintings on cloth (thangkas) and powdered colors on flat surfaces (mandalas). In these images, Thra assumes the form of a golden goddess who bestows pros perity and protects worshippers from various dangers, a white goddess who wards off military danger and disease, a green goddess who spreads compas

19 Ibid. Here the text reads: "de yang mthong spang me dge ba las ring du gyur cing / 'khor

'das kyi skyon las 'phags pas na 'phags ma." The implications of this statement are explained by the

following verse from the Abhisamay?lafikara, chap. 1, v. 11: "Due to wisdom, [the bodhisattva] does not abide in samsara, due to compassion, [the bodhisattva] does not abide in nirvana" (Skt.

prajnay? na bhave / krpay? na same; Tib. shes pas srid la mi gnas / snying rjes zhi la me gnas). 20 M?ra is the embodiment of death, and his name is derived from the verb root rar, "to die."

His role is to bind beings in samsara. In the visual image of the wheel of life, M?ra is depicted with

his hands tightly gripping the wheel, indicating his control over all who exist in the continual cycle of birth and death.

21 See Heart of Wisdom, trans. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso (London: Tharpa Publications,

1985), 4-6. 22 The word Tath?gata is an epithet for a Buddha. In Sanskrit, the word for "essence incanta

tion" is hrdaya-vidy?; in Tibetan, it is rig pa'i snying po. See TMK, sTog Palace Manuscript of the

Tibetan Kanjur, vol. 107 (MA), fol. 284b-lff. for the quote from the text. 23 The Rig Veda, trans. Wendy O'Flaherty (New York: Penguin Classics, 1981), 62-63,

v. 10.125. T?r?'s identity as Mah?vidy?-r?jm, sometimes translated as "Queen of Charms" or

"Best of Charms," further reinforces the continued importance of an ancient Indian reverence for

speech, especially within ritual context.


sion without partiality, and a black, wrathful protector who guards the entry to a mandala.24

Ma -njusri and the Manijustri-mfda-kalpa

Three noteworthy aspects of the tantra entitled Mafijusri-mala-kalpa (Mani jusri's Basic Ritual Text, MMK), apply to the study of Trar in the TMK. These include the MMK's role as the basis of the initial chapters of the TMK, its initial iconographic depictions of Tara as a golden protector from danger, and the de piction of Manijusrn as a golden bodhisattva of wisdom.

The first thirteen chapters (first layer) of the TMK are a virtual rewriting of the corresponding chapters from the MMK, a ritual compendium featuring the bodhisattva of wisdom Mafijusri. The anonymous author of the TMK replaced the major personages, place names, mantras, and mudrds (spiritual hand ges tures) of the MMK with personages, place names, vidyas, and mudras pertain ing to the cult of Thara. One may hypothesize that there was a deliberate attempt to substantiate the importance of the Thra cult and the TMK by having its initial layer modeled after a corresponding section of the MMK, or another unnamed text upon which both the MMK and TMK were based.25

The MMK contains one of the earliest descriptions of Tara as a golden protector from danger. Herein, she is referred to as Noble Thra (Arya Thra), the goddess who is the compassion of Avalokitesvara, who destroys obstacles and grants boons, and who is the mother of the resplendent Prince Man-jusrn.26 A nearly identical description of Thra is found in the TMK, with the exception that Thra is identified as a goddess who performs great rites associated with the illustrious bodhisattva rather than as Prince Mafijusri's mother.27 It appears that the TMK's author wished to emphasize Thra's compassionate bodhisattva

24 T?r?'s white form in the TMK reflects her later evolution as the popular white T?r? who

promotes health and long life. Her green form, which is a distinctly Buddhist conception, is the most frequently occurring aspect in the latter half of the TMK. See Landesman, Great Secret of T?r?, which surveys T?r?'s green forms (191-97). For her description as a black wrathful protector, see TMK, sTog Palace Manuscript of the Tibetan Kanjur, vol. 107 (MA), 482b-4ff to 483a-5.

25 Marcel Lalou, "The Manjusr?m?lakalpa et T?r?m?lakalpa," Harvard Journal of Asiatic

Studies (1936): 3-4, 327-47. 26

MMK, Sanskrit text entitled Mah?y?na-s?tra-samgraha, pt. 2, The Ma?jusri-m?a-kalpa, ed. P. L Vaidya, Buddhist Sanskrit Texts 18 (Darbhanga: Mithila Institute, 1964), 45, lines 20-31.

The text reads: "devlm?ry?valokitesvarakarun?m. . .

sarvavighnaghatak? dev? . . . varad?yik?m

. . .

kum?rasyeha m?t? dev? ma?jughosasya mah?dyuteh." The composition of the MMK was possibly

completed by the mid- to late eighth century, although its earliest layers of writing may have been

composed as early as the seventh century. 27

TMK, fol. 196a-l to 7. T?r?'s peaceful golden form is depicted as the goddess who is the

compassion of Avalokitesvara' ("lha mo spyan ras gzigs dbang phyug gi thugs rje"), who destroys obstacles and grants boons ("lha mo bgegs kun 'joms pa mo / mchog sbyin byed ma"), and who

performs great rites or activities ("lha mo las chen byed mo").


activity, reinforced by her relationship with Avalokitesvara, instead of her role as mother and progenitor of Ma-njusrn's enlightened wisdom.

An important iconographic parallel between Tara and Ma-njusri appears in the second chapter of their respective texts (TMK and MMK). Herein, each figure is featured in the center of an elaborate mandala, a sacred image made of powdered colors. They share many details of their attire and pose: both are seated on a lotus throne within a jeweled celestial palace; both hold a myroba lan fruit in the right hand and a blue lotus (utpala) in the left; and both are adorned with the ornaments of a youth.28 These shared features suggest that the TMK's anonymous author made a deliberate attempt to model Tara's initial iconographic depiction in the TMK after a formerly established and apparently well-known aspect of the male bodhisattva of wisdom, Manijusni. These visual parallels may have served as a means of promoting the worship of Thra within a growing tantric milieu through evoking visual memories associated with pre viously established male figures of worship. Further evidence to support this notion is presented below.

Vairocana and the Vairocana-abhisambodhi-tantra

Vairocana is one of the five primordial Buddhas associated with early tan tric ritual practice and the main deity of one of the earliest tantric scriptures, the Vairocana-abhisambodhi-tantra (VAT). The importance of this text to the study of the TMK is based upon the large number of deities (luminous enlightened beings) that it shares with the TMK and the iconographic parallels noted in a depiction of Vairocana (in the VAT) and Thra (in the TMK).

Alex Wayman first documented the close relationship between the VAT and the TMK, observing that the rituals in these texts contain many of the same enlightened Buddhist figures referred to as "deities." Wayman also maintained that Avalokitesvara's four female companions in the VAT (green Thra, Bhrkuti, PandaravasinT, and Yasodhara) should be considered "Thras," and that their wor ship eventually gave rise to the cults of the green, white, red, and golden Thrasr9 Evidence from the TMK supports this point.30

Parallels appear when one compares the initial iconographic descriptions

28 P. L. Vaidya, Ma?jusri-mula-kalpa (hereafter MMK), 29, lines 3-6. Also see TMK fol.

174a-2 to 6. 29 The Enlightenment of Vairocana, trans. Alex Wayman and R. Tajima (Delhi: Motilal

Banarsidass, 1992), 11-12. The VAT contains what is perhaps the earliest known depiction of the

green T?r? in the Buddhist tantras. Wayman has proposed a mid-sixth-century date for the VAT,

composed in the area of Maharashtra. 30

Landesman, Great Secret of T?r?, chap. 3.


of Vairocana (in the VAT) and Thra (in the TMK).3' Both are centrally located in their respective mandala palaces with their hair bound up and adorned with a jeweled crown. According to a commentary on the VAT by Buddhaguhya, "bound up hair" is an indication of a deity of the Akanistha heaven, and a "jewel in the crown" refers to the wearer's status as a "King of Dharma."32 These shared elements of iconography indicate that Tlrar is assuming the enlightened status of a complete Buddha in female form.

Avalokitesvara and the Tara-mfida-kalpa, TMK

The conception of Goddess T-ar as the female companion of Avalokitesvara (bodhisattva of compassion) spans the early phase of her cult in India from about the sixth through the eighth centuries CE.33 Avalokitesvara's role in the TMK provides the momentum for the development of the Tara cult: he is a main speaker in the text and a pervasive actor in its rites. The latter is evident in his role as intermediary in the ritual methods used to evoke Thra.

The close relationship between Tara and Avalokitesvara in the TMK is de fined as the "Great Secret." In conversation with the gods, Avalokitesvara says, "Listen to the secrets associated with the Great Secret of the Mother [Thra] who is the embodiment of enlightened awareness (Mahavidya)! I shall also explain the vidya for the rite that is performed to make her appear."34 In this passage, the word vidya refers to a sequence of sacred syllables (in other words, a charm) used to evoke Thra's presence, as well as the enlightened awareness that results from evoking her through concentrating exclusively on these syllables.

Before exploring the deeper significance of the term vidyd, it is important to understand the similarities and differences between the terms vidyd and

mantra. According to an eighth-century Sanskrit treatise, vidyas and mantras have similar functions, except vidyas refer to "a female [deity's] appearance and

31 Specific passages are found in the m?ndala rite from the second chapter of the VAT (EV,

101), and a m?ndala rite from the second chapter of the TMK depicting T?r? as Ekajat? (TMK,

174a-2to6). 32 Akanistha is the highest heaven in the form realm where the Sambhoga-k?ya Buddha

resides while teaching tenth-stage bodhisattvas. Wayman and Tajima, Enlightenment of Vai

rocana, 101, 146n41. Herein the author cites Buddhaguhya's commentary on the Vairocana

abhisambodhi-tantra entitled Vairocan?bhisambodhi-vikurvit?dhisth?na-mah?-tantra-bh?sya

(Peking Tanjur edition, vol. 77, fols. 139-4-4,140-4-5, and 140-5-8). T?r?'s aspect as Ekajat? has

partially bound up hair. The term that refers to her hairstyle (ral pa gcig ma) differs from that used

for Vairocana's bound up hair (thor tshugs 'chang ba). 33 This is noted as she is depicted within the early Buddhist tantras: the Ma?jusrT-m?la

kalpa (MMK), the Vairocana-abhisambodhi-tantra (VAT), and the T?r?-m?la-kalpa (TMK). 34 This passage occurs at the beginning of the uttaratantra, and is followed by a charm to

evoke T?r?'s aspect as Bhrkutl See the TMK (fol. 283a-2 to 5): "kye lha'i tshogs rnams rig pa chen

po gang ma mo'i gsang chen gsang pa rnams nyon chig / de skyed par byed pa'i cho ga'i rig pa'ang bshad par bya'o."


the utterance associated with her nature," whereas mantras refer to "a male [deity's] appearance as well as the utterance associated with that form."35 In other words, vidyas evoke female deities whereas mantras evoke male deities. This is substantiated by evidence found in the TMK and the MMK. When the anonymous author of the TMK composed the first layer of the text using the MMK as a basis of reference, all mantras used to evoke Maiijusri in the MMK's rites were replaced by vidyas used to evoke Tara in the TMK's rites.36 In the rituals that appear in the subsequent layers of the TMK, whenever Thard is to be evoked by a sequence of sacred syllables, they are prefaced by the term vidya.37 There are hundreds, if not thousands of vidyas in the TMK.38 The definition of mantra in The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism is pertinent to our discus sion, based upon parallel functions of mantras and vidyas in these early tantras. He defines mantra "as an attribute of buddha-body, speech and mind which protects the mind with ease and swiftness."39 Thus, by reciting a vidya, as one would a mantra, one protects the mind from discriminative thought, as well as activities of body and speech that depend upon the mind for direction.

When the term vidya is used to signify a deity's pristine awareness, it func tions as an aspect of enlightened mind. Accordingly, enlightenment can be found upon realizing the nature of this awareness through meditation, when obscurations covering the seeds of Buddha nature are removed.40 As an aspect

35 Padmavajra's Tantr?rth?vat?ravy?khy?na (Tohoku catalogue number 2502, vol. Hi, fols.

273b-2 to 3a,b), quoted in Mkhas grub rje, Introduction to the Buddhist Tantric Systems, trans.

Ferdinand Lessing and Alex Wayman (1968; reprint, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1983), 24-25nl3, 116nl8: "Rig sngags zhes pa ni mo'i gzugs dang tshul 'dzin pas gsungs pa'i tshig ste / sngags zhes pa ni pho'i tshul dang gzugs kyis smras pa'i tshig go." See also 176n24, which states that the Vidy?r?jm (Queen of Vidy?s) represents both the deity and the magical formula associated with that deity. 36 An example of this process is found when comparing TMK, sTog Palace Manuscript (fol.

160b-l-4) to the Ma?jusrt-m?la-kalpa, ed. P. L. Vaidya, Buddhist Sanskrit Texts 18 (Darbhanga: Mithila Institute, 1964), 17, lines 26-31. Here, the MMK text refers to ?rya Ma?jusn's basic mantra (mida-mantra), whereas the TMK's parallel reading refers to T?r?'s basic charm (m?la

vidya), also referred to as a root charm. 37

Landesman, Great Secret of T?r?, 147-52, 269-71. The TMK outlines the natures and

functions of all of T?r?'s vidy?s in the chapter entitled "Extensive Rite of the M?ndala," fols. 160b

1 to 162a-2, following the Sanskrit MMK text, 17. Herein, T?r?'s root charm (mida-vidy?), de

scribed as "the basic charm of the Blessed Noble T?r? . . . performs all rites, severs one from the

phenomena of the three worlds, and removes all bad destinies." The text continues with a discus

sion of T?r?'s charms: the essence incantation (hrdaya-vidy?), the near-essence incantation (upahr

daya-vidy?), and the most concise essence incantation (parama-hrdaya). 38 Two additional chapters in the TMK that comment extensively on the nature and functions

of T?r?'s vidy?s are entitled "Fifth Extensive Rite of the Painted Image" (TMK, vol. 107 [MA], 201a-3-205b-4) and "Charms for All Ordinary Rites" (TMK, vol. 107 [MA], 323a-5-387b-3).

39 Dudjom Rinpoche and Jikdrel Yeshe Dorje, The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism:

Its Fundamentals and History, vol. 1, trans, and ed. Gyurme Dorje with collaboration by Matthew

Kapstein (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1991), 31. 40 Lama Pema Wangdak (founder of the Vikramashila Foundation and Palden Sakya Bud

dhist centers), conversation with Susan S. Landesman, July 5, 2005, New York City Sakya Center.


of enlightened speech, a vidya serves as the means to evoke the deity through the repetition of sacred syllables. This is based upon the belief that a deity re sides within the subtle, unseen sounds used to evoke its presence. Ancient In dian philosophical schools contend that sound and vibration are the essential and basic constituents of reality.4' Thus, the goddess who abides within the vidya appears once the vidya is invoked, "it is her animating essence. "42

In the TMK, Thra is frequently referred to as the Blessed Queen of En lightened Awareness (Bhagavatli Mahavidyarajmii). Her identity as a Mahavidya in this Buddhist source is established many centuries before it is first used in Hindu sources (for example, the Mahabhagavata Pura@a) to identify a group of ten Hindu goddesses, including Kali and -ara. David Kinsley notes that these Hindu Mahavidyas function as mantras, whose importance "resides in the tan tric belief that mantras awaken consciousness.... [Mahavidyas are] the mantras by which knowledge is gained, awakened, or discovered within."43 Recognizing the syncretic nature of Hindu and Buddhist tantra, Kinsley provides a point of comparison: just as Hindu Mahavidyas function as the cause of inner awaken ing, so does the Buddhist Goddess Thra as Mahavidya personify the awareness capable of liberating the practitioner who identifies with her in meditation.

The dual nature of vidya as sacred speech and awareness appears in a pas sage from the TMK. Here, Buddha Sakyamuni discusses the Great Secret in a rite entitled "Perfecting One's Wishes" that features Avalokitesvara and Bhaga vati Thra. While envisioning Avalokitesvara, the practitioner may evoke Tara:

[The ritual] called "Perfecting One's Wishes" is victorious! It frees one from passion44 and mental darkness,4' as it pacifies attachment. Purified and perfected, one is released from non-virtue.[l]

In order to destroy the seeds of transmigration, Make salutations and worship the

Lama Pema points out that although wisdom (San. praj??; Tib. ye shes) can be discerned through

study, reflection, and meditation, the true nature of "awareness" (San. vidy?: Tib. rig pa) is ascer

tained through meditation alone. Also see Rinpoche and Dorje, Nyingma School, 1:27. 41 David Kinsley, Tantric Visions of the Divine Feminine: The Ten M?h?vidy?s (Berkeley and

Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1997), 58. 42

Ibid., 59. Within Hindu context, Kinsley notes that the term m?h?vidy? is used to refer to

transcendent knowledge and power, supreme knowledge or wisdom, as well as the mantra associ

ated with the deity's presence. This knowledge is accessed through the worship often goddesses

(M?h?vidy?s), whose liturgy is found in the Mah?bh?gavata Pur?na, composed in eastern India

after the fourteenth century. Herein, T?r? appears as one of the ten Hindu M?h?vidy?s. See Kins

ley, Tantric Visions, 22,57-60. 43

Kinsley, Tantric Visions, 60. 44 Passion refers to the Sanskrit term rajas. 45 Darkness refers to the Sanskrit term tamas.


All-Knowing Noble Avalokitesvara on a moon46 [disc].[2]

It is explained that by relying upon you [Avalokitesvara] to make [Tara] appear, She will appear again in the world. [3b] (Here, the practitioner intones a vidya to evoke Tdra's presence.) Salutations to the [goddess] who is entirely white!

White-limbed, white-armed, and white-garlanded! Salute [the Goddess] who Conquers, who is Victorious,

Who is Invincible, and who is Unrivaled!47

The nature of the Great Secret implies that the practitioner cannot evoke Tara directly, but must first worship Avalokitesvara as one's tutelary deity, either by visualizing him or meditatively generating oneself into him, before uttering Tara's vidya to evoke her presence. This ritual sequence suggests that Thra's charm must be spoken by Avalokitesvara rather than by an "ordinary" person, and that it must be uttered using "secret speech" rather than ordinary speech to evoke her. Two recurring motifs in the TMK reinforce this interpretation of the Great Secret. The first is the frequent depiction of Avalokitesvara engaged in meditative concentration prior to uttering Thra's charms. In the following passage, Avalokitesvara states, "I entered equipoise in order that I may explain the aims of evoking Blessed Noble Tara in that most excellent of ritual texts.... I shall also explain the vidya for the rite performed to make her appear."48 The second motif pertains to the many vidyas in the TMK used to evoke Thra that begin with an initial homage to Avalokitesvara:

Homage to the Three Jewels! Homage to Noble Avalokitesvara, the Enlightened Being, Great Being! Oh Tara, who rescues from pain! Oh quick one! Hail!49

Ultimately, the dynamics of Great Secret may be used to explain why Avalokitesvara plays such a paramount role in the TMK. First, he is the text's main speaker, and therefore, the primary figure to bestow the teachings. Sec ond, he serves as an intermediary in the ritual methods used to evoke Thra: his role reinforces the notion that the practitioner can only access Thra by first vi

46 The Wheel of Life (bhavacakra), symbolizing samsara, is grasped by M?r?'s claw-like

hands and feet. At the center of this wheel, desire, hatred, and ignorance are personified as the root causes for the rebirth of beings in any of the six destinies. The Buddha stands outside the

wheel, pointing to the moon as the path to liberation. The moon therefore signifies the peace of

mind achieved through surmounting the forces of desire, hatred, and delusion, which give rise to

the various sufferings experienced in samsara. 47

"Tadyath? / svete svete?ge sve[te] bhuje svet[e] / M?lyeralamkrte / Jaye vijaye ajite apar?jite sv?h?," in TMK, sTog Palace Manuscript of the Tibetan Kanjur, vol. 107 (MA), fol. 251a-5ff.

48 TMK282a-6,283a-4,5.

49 "Namo ratna tray?ya / ?amo ?rya Avalokitesvar?ya Bodhisattv?ya Mah?sattv?ya / T?re

tutt?re ture sv?h?," in TMK, 161a-2.


sualizing and evoking Avalokitesvara, or by going through Avalokitesvara. Third, he accompanies Tara in most of the TMK's pata and mandala rites, and, in cer tain contexts, may be identified as Tara's iconographic role model.50

Although the TMK clearly gives Avalokitesvara a prominent role, the text does not explain why this is the case or why the practitioner must generate him or herself into the male bodhisattva Avalokitesvara prior to evoking God dess Tara. Although speculation provides no definitive answers, one can explore this issue through three different lenses. First, Thra enters the Buddhist milieu by modeling herself after popular male figures, adopting their symbolism and functions, as well as an evocation process that follows similar guidelines. On the one hand, Tara can be accessed neither directly nor independently from Avalokitesvara. Rather, her presence and powers can only be accessed through him. On the other hand, one could interpret the evocation process as gender inclusive, whereby tantric ritual is efficacious only through the participation of male and female counterparts resulting in an androgynous state of equilibrium. In some texts, this state is envisioned as a male and female deity in embrace.

The Vimalakirti-sfttra substantiates this notion from a third perspective: "While [women] are not women in reality, they appear in the forn of women.

With this in mind, the Buddha said, "In all things, there is neither male nor female."'5' That is, the enlightened mind that perceives reality from an ultimate viewpoint transcends notions of gender. When sense objects are viewed as de void of any permanent natures, attachment to objects of the senses that nor mally gives rise to suffering is reduced.

As a lasting note, one may wonder why Thra, who is the featured deity of the text, is silent throughout the entire scripture, even though she is frequently referred to as a queen of sacred speech and enlightened awareness. Rather, her powers as the personification of speech and awareness are either spoken about (by Avalokitesvara and other figures in the text) or intoned as the sacred syllables that embody and manifest her presence. If Thra does not assume an ac tive voice in the TMK as promulgator of its teachings, what then is the source of her power?52 As noted by her epithet, Mahavidya-rajm7i, Thra embodies the state of conscious awareness that can liberate the practitioner who identifies with her in meditation.53 As the embodiment of liberative awareness, Tara may be

50 References to T?r? with her hair bound up (?rdhvajat?) (which is also the first word in the

TMK's title, ?rdhvajat?-mah?kalpa) appear more frequently in descriptions of Avalokitesvara than

T?r?. 51

Emphasis added. The Holy Teachings ofVimalak?rti, trans. Robert F. Thurman (Univer

sity Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1976), 62. 52 T?r?'s silence contrasts with the role of bodhisattva of wisdom Ma?jusr?, who functions as

one of the main speakers within the Ma?jus?-muta-kalpa. 53 The practitioner who identifies body, speech, and mind with T?r?'s (body, speech,

and mind) is empowered to realize the goals of the rites, whether worldly or supramundane

(enlightenment).


removed because she is completely enlightened, much like Buddha Sakyamuni in the Vimalakirti-sutra, seated on a lion's throne radiating beams of light.54 Tard's active potential is accessed by means of ritual speech. Many rites in the TMK require that the practitioner intone T-ar's vidyas in the presence of T-ar's image, in order to manifest her compassionate, protective power and presence. The following verses describing Tarai exemplify this point:

The Goddess is the destroyer of all obstacles, and superior in expelling danger. In order to protect the practitioner, one should depict the virtuous one with a boon-granting hand gesture. [54]

The Goddess who bears the form of a woman is the compassionate one, the daughter of [the Buddha] Dasabala, and the welfare of all creatures. She who bestows boons should be drawn.[55] In order to destroy all obstacles, the tantric practitioner implores the Goddess who performs great activities [associated with] the illustrious Bodhisattva.[56]55

Conclusion: Pioneering Efforts

When a group of monks exhorted Princess Moon of Wisdom to pray for a (new) male body, she initially responded by acknowledging the socially accept able path to enlightenment for men. However, in her next breath, she challenged the monks' attachment to notions of gender and asserted her female identity by vowing to pursue enlightenment in female form in all of her subsequent lives to alleviate the infinite sufferings of living beings.56 In a somewhat parallel fashion, one may argue that the earliest tantric rites used to worship T-ar did not begin as a feminist enterprise, since Thra was modeled after, accompanied by, and accessed through male bodhisattvas. However, these rituals did promote Thar's means of entry within the tantric milieu as a fully enlightened female Buddha (Bhagavati) with unlimited powers of protection, compassion, and wisdom. Ad

54 Thurman, Holy Teachings ofVimalahrti, 12.

55 Emphases added. Translated from a passage that appears in the Tibetan TPTMK on fol.

196a-6ff. 56 "There is neither man nor woman nor self nor person-hood nor notion of such. Attachment

to [the designations] 'male and female' is meaningless and deludes worldly people with poor under

standing. Many desire enlightenment in a man's body, while not even a single [person] strives for

the benefit of sentient beings in a woman's body. Therefore, I shall work for the benefit of sentient

beings in a woman's form as long as samsara has not been emptied" (Java Pandita, Collected Works, fol. 221b-3-5).


ditionally, such rites served as tools through which hara's independent status was eventually created.

Sometime after the seventh-century composition of the TMK, Tara wor ship became differentiated from Avalokitesvara and it was possible to evoke her independently as a practitioner's tutelary deity. In the eighth century, Tara's popularity gained momentum with an increasing number of followers in regions as distant from India as Java and Tibet.57 During this time, Candragomin's com mentary (Ekavims'ati-sddhana) on the twenty-one praises of Tara (Namastdre ekavims'atistotra-guwzhitasahita) played a role in Tara's differentiation from Avalokitesvara.58 By the eleventh century, Thara played a central role in the life of Master Atfsa (982-1054), for whom Tara served as tutelary deity and guide in his journey and transmission of Buddhist teachings from India to Tibet. Ac cording to the TMK's colophon, Atisa is credited with transporting the Tard muila-kalpa from India to Tibet in 1042.59 It was due in part to Atisa's pioneering efforts to promote the worship of Tara in Tibet that she eventually became renowned as the mother of the Tibetan people.

57 H. B. Sarkar, "The Origin of the Sailendra Dynasty of Java: A Reappraisal," in Amal?

Praj??: Aspects of Buddhist Studies, P. V. Bapat volume, ed. N. H. Samtani and H. S. Prasad

(Delhi: Indian Books Centre, 1989), 381-97. See also Marcel Lalou, "Les Textes Bouddhiques au

temps du Roi Khri sro? lde bcan," Journal Asiatique 241 (1953): 311-53, esp. 313-17,329. 58 Mkhas grub rje, Buddhist Tantric Systems, 126-27. A late seventh- to eighth-century time

frame for Candragomin is proposed, since the TMK does not contain rites to evoke the popu lar twenty-one forms of T?r?, which it would have included had they been popular in the time

and place where the TMK was composed. See Alex Wayman, Chanting the Names of Ma?jusrl: The Ma?jusri-n?m?-samgiti (Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1985), 5, and Wayman and

Tajima, Enlightenment ofVairocana, 36n26. Wayman notes that the Candragomin who wrote the

Ekavimsati-s?dhana probably lived in the eighth century and is not the same as the sixth-century

Candragomin who wrote a famous grammatical treatise that rivaled Candrakirti's. T?ran?tha, His

tory of Buddhism in India (ed. D. Chattopadhyaya [Calcutta: Humanities Press, 1981], 200-209),

places the latter Candragomin during the late eighth-century reign of the Pala King Dharmap?la (770-781 CE). Mark Tatz places Candragomin in the seventh century in "The Life of Candrago

min in Tibetan Historical Tradition," Tibet Journal 6, no. 3 (1972): 1-22, and Mark Tatz, "The

Date of Candragomin," Buddhism and Jainism, ed. Harish Chandra Das, Chittaranjan Das, and

Satya Ranjan Pal (Cuttack: Institute of Oriental and Orissan Studies, 1976), 281-97. 59 A translated portion of the TMK's colophon reads: "Having expended much effort to bring

Master Atlsa's book from Rva-sgreng, the S?kya monk Rinchen-grub completed the translation

on the fifteenth day of the [first] month of Great Miracles [under the lunar asterism] Asvinl in the

year o?plava." See TMK, sTog Palace Manuscript of the Tibetan Kanjur, vol. 107 (MA): fol. 532a

4-7: '"Di ni jo bo chen po at?sha'i phyag dpe rva sgreng ?as dka' thub chen pos gdan drangs nas /

sh?kya'i dge slong rin chen grub kyis 'phar ba'i lo / cho 'phrul chen po rta'i zla ba'i tshes bco Inga la

rdzogs par bsgyur ba'i yi ge pa ni."

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