New Areas of Research for Archaeologists and Buddhologists

7/28/2019 New Areas of Research for Archaeologists and Buddhologists

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THE JOURNAL

OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF

BUDDHIST STUDIES

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

A . K. Narain

EDITORS

Heinz Bechert Leon Hurvitz

Lewis Lancaster A.W. MacDonald

B. J. Stavisky A lex Waym an

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Stephen Beyer

Volume 1 Number 1 1978c/o Department of South Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison,

Wiscons in 53706


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CONTENTS

I . A R T I C L E S1. B udd hism and Pol i t i ca l Po w er in K ore an H is to ry , 9

by S. Keel2 . M a h a m a u d g a l y a y a n a ' s S e r m o n o n t h e L e t ti n g -i n a n d N o t 2 5

Let t ing- in (of Sens i t ive Inf luences ) , by E. Waldschmidt3 . T h e M a h a s a m g h i k a a n d t h e T a t h a g a t a g a r b h a , 3 5

by A . Way man

I I . S H O R T P A P E R S1. Va j rayana in G os tan a-de sa , by H. W. Bailey 5 32 . " O u r B u d d h a " i n a n A s o k a n I n s c r i p t i o n , by A. K. Narain 5 73 . The Story of Vyasa and KasTsundarT, by L. Zwilling 654 . New Areas of Rese arch for Arc haeo logi s t s and 71

B u d d h o l o g i s t s , by G. Tucci

I I I . B O O K R E V I E W S1 . A n A n t h o l o gy o f Bu ddh i s t Ta n t r i c Song s : a S t u dy o f 77

the CaryagTti , by Per Kvaerne2 . Ti b e t an M ed i c i ne : Wi t h Spec ia l Re f e r ence t o Yo gasa t aka , 81

by Vaidya Bhagwan Dash

I V . N O T E S A N D N E W SOn Bud dh i s t Te x t I n fo r m a t i on (B .T . I. ) o f t he In s t i t u t e 87

for Advanced Studies of Wor ld Rel ig ions ( IASWR),N e w Y o r k , by R. A . Gard

V . O B I T U A R YP. L. Va i dya , by P. V. Bapat 9 1


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New Areas of ResearchFor Archaeo log is t s and Buddholog is t sby G. Tucci

U p t o n o w t h e m o u n t a i n o u s a r ea o f t h e Pam i r s , t h e H i n d u k u s h ,t h e K ar ak o r u m an d Lad ak h , h as s t i mu l a t ed a l p i n e c l i mb er s t ou n d e r t ak e w o n d e r f u l an d ex t r e m e l y p e r i l o u s ex p ed i t i o n s . I t h i n ktha t now the a rchaeo log i s t s shou ld fo l low on the i r t r acks , becausether e is no d ou b t t ha t in the va ll eys enc los ed be t w ee n th e snow ypeak s an d the g l ac i er s m an y cu l tu r es dev e lop ed from anc ien tt im e s , and l a t e r o n Bu ddh i sm t oo sp read wide ly , as I ho pe to haveshown in an ar t ic le in East and West.1

B u d d h i sm , f ir st i n t r o d u ce d in U d d i y an a ( Sw a t ) an d A f g h ani s t an a t t he t im e o f A soka o r im m ed ia t e ly a f t e r h im , ex ten de d eas twards as f a r as Ladakh . The inhab i t an t s o f t hose p l aces eas t o fKaf i r i s t an we re main ly D ards o r peo p le speak ing Da rd ic d i a l ec tsw ho h ad s e t t l ed the re in s i tes wh ose p rev ious inh ab i t an t s have n o ty e t b een f i rml y i d en t i f ied . T h e i n t r o d u c t i o n o f B u d d h i sm i n t oBal t i s tan to ok p lace befo re the oc cu pa t ion o f La dak h by th escions of the Tibetan dynasty af ter the death of Glar i -dar-ma(842 A.D.) and the fo l lowing so-cal led second d i f fus ion of Buddhi sm in Guge ( l a t e 9 th cen tu ry ) . Buddh i sm was a l r eady f lour i sh ing in Ba l t i s tan in the e igh th ce nt u ry . In fact the re is a very impo r t a n t s t a t em en t o f t he Ch inese p i lg r im H ui -c h 'ao , t r ave ll ingab o u t 7 2 6 , w h o s t a t e s t h a t n o r t h o f K ash mi r t h e r e w as G r ea tP 'u - lu , Gi lg i t , and tha t t he peop le o f Bal t i s t an were Buddh i s t s andi n t h e i r l an d w er e t emp l es an d mo n k s . A t t h a t t i me t h e T i b e t an swe re no t Bu ddh i s t s , he says ; i n f act i n 72 6 Bu ddh i sm had no t ye tpe ne t ra t ed Tib e t on a l a rge sca l e , bu t it is ce r t a in tha t kno w ledg eof i t had reached some sec t ions o f t he soc ie ty and i t had a t t r ac t edi t s f i r s t fo l lowers . Sror i -b tsan sgam-po marr ied the Chinese pr incessWen-ch 'eng in 641 A.D. and Mes-ag- t som mar r i ed p r incess Ch in ch ' en g i n 7 10 A . D . Th e T i b e t an s h ad m ad e m an y i n cu r s io n s i n t oCen t ra l As ia ; a t t he end o f t he 8 th cen tu ry they "con t ro l l ed the71


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fou r ga r r i son s . " A t t ha t t i me r e le va n t c on t a c t s m us t ha ve t a ke np l a c e be t w e e n t he T i b e t a n s a n d Budd h i sm n o t on l y a s a r e li g ionbut a l so as an insp i r ing mode of l i fe . We know 2 t h a t m N a h - r i s ,no w W e s t e rn T i be t , i nc l ud e d som e d i s t r ic t s i n w h i c h Bu ddh i smw a s a c c e p t e d : s om e o f t hose d i s t r i c ts w e re L i (K ho t a n ) , G ru z a =Bru za 3 (Gi lgi t or L i t t le P 'u - lu ) , sBal- te (Ba l t i s ta n) . T he cap i ta l ofGrea t P 'u - lu was ca l l ed in Chinese Ye- to (o ld pronunc ia t ion ac c o rd i ng t o K a r l g re n ngiat-t'a): to my m ind th i s is the t ran sc r ip t io nof a local (Dardic?) word which is a t the basis of the Tibetan sKar-rD o . T ha t S k a rdo w a s a ve ry i m po r t a n t Bu ddh i s t c e n t r e is t e s ti f ie dby a f a mous book , t he Description of Li-yul ( K h o t a n ) ;4 in thisbo o k Sk ard o is sa id t o be n o t on ly a rea lm , b u t a lso th e cap i t a l o fm a ny r e a l ms ; t he re i s m e n t i o n in i t o f a do na t i on o f Bu ddh i s tbo ok s t o S k a rd o f rom K ho t a n . Th e f ac t t h a t S ka rdo e n j oye d g re a tp re s t ige a m on g Bu ddh i s t c o m m un i t i e s o f K ho t a n is t e s ti f ie d bythe s tory to ld in the same tex t o f how in a former b i r th Vimala -pr ab ha m ad e the vow to be reb or n in a fu ture l ife a s th e da ug hte ro f t he k i ng o f S ka rdo .

M ore ove r w h e n I w a s the re i n 1 9 3 0 I a dm i re d huge bou l de r son which were engraved most beaut i fu l bas- re l i e f s represen t ingrow s of Budd ha s a nd po r t r a i t s of don or s ; o t he r s c u l p t u re s w e resca t t e red on the roc ks . I a l so bo ug ht a smal l g i lt image of Lo kesv ara .I to o k ph o to s of th em as we l l as rubb ings of som e insc r ip t ion sn e a r b y ; 5 I pu t t h e rub b i ng s , t he p ho t o s a nd t he i ma ge i n a bo xwh ich fe ll in t o th e r ive r w i th the po n y wh o ca r r i ed i t . F r om th el i t e ra ry d oc um en ts a s we l l a s f rom the s ton e rel ie f s we may drawthe conc lus ion tha t Skardo i s a p lace which dese rves thorough inves t iga t ion ; the image I fou nd ha d a pecu l i a r loo k w hich c e r t a in lysho we d the in f luen ce of Ka shm ir a r t , b u t i t ha d a l so som e pecul i a r i t i e s o f mode l l ing which l ed me to th ink tha t in Skardo wereg i ft ed a r t i sans in f luen ced by th e a r t o f su r ro un din g cu l tu ra l a rea s ;t he l a t t e r pe rha p s fa ile d t o suppre s s c om pl e t e l y t he t r e nds a nd t r a d i t i ons o f t he l oc a l pe op l e . 6 W he n i nve s t i ga t ion is un de r t a ke n i nBa l t i s tan I su pp os e t h a t w e shal l be in a co n di t io n to col lec t r ichermate r i a l than tha t so ca re fu l ly s tud ied by Doc tor Pa l . 7

While the Bud dh is t a r t o f La da kh was m ain ly in f lue nce d byKa shm ir (and even by rea l Ind ian sch ool s such as th e pa in t ings ofM a ngna n g) , e spe ci a ll y a t t he t i me o f R i n - c h e n bz a h -po (95 8-1 05 5)and l a te r on by Nep a lese a r t i s t s , the B ud dh is t cu l tu re of Ba l t i s t anre a c he d t h i s c o un t ry n o t on l y f rom t he S o u t h (K a shm i r , v ia D ra s72


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etc . ) but a lso and especia l ly f rom the North, e .g . , Gi lgi t , andt h ro ug h G i l gi t from K ho t a n a nd Ea s t e rn Tu rke s t a n , in ge ne ra l . O fc our se Buddh i sm w a s no t t he on l y r e l i g i on w h i c h pe ne t r a t e d i n t otho se p a r t s ; in Gi lg i t som e insc r ip t ion s have be en fou nd w hicht e st ify t o t he p re se nc e o f H i nd u i sm t h e re ; t he y c on t a i n na m e s o fk i ngs w h i c h ha ve c e r t a i n l y no Buddh i s t l ook : A d i t ya va rma n , S u r -e n d r a d i t y a , M a k a r a ( p u r a ) , V i k r a m a d i t y a e t c . T h e d i s c o v e r y o fBuddhis t t ex t s by S i r Aure l S te in in Gi lg i t , and tha t o f the Sangha-bhedavastu wh ich I fou nd in Paki s tan and which ce r t a in ly com esf rom t he sa m e l oc a l i t y , i nd i c a t e s t he p re se nc e o f l e a rne d c o m m un i t i e s in Gi lg i t and Hunza . Nor do I exc lude the poss ib i l i ty tha tsom e s tu pas m ay s ti ll be d i scovered in Ba l t i s t an conta in in g o t he rbooks or a t l eas t ts'a-ts'a.

One may even ask i f the magni f i cen t t emple of Alch i , 8 w h i c hhas been t he o b jec t o f a ve ry de ta i l ed and mo st acc ura te s tu dy b ySne l lgrove , has prese rved , in some of i t s pa in t ings , examples of thelas t descendant s o f the Ba l t i s t an i Buddhis t a r t i s t s .

F o r t he se r e a sons , t he re fo re , I a m su re t ha t K a ra ko rum ,H ind uk us h , and the Pam irs rep rese n t a s ti ll un ex pl or ed f ie ld of re sea rch no t on ly for a rchaeologi s t s in te res ted in preh i s tory andpr o t o h i s t o r y , b u t a l so fo r t hose w h o a r e a nx i ous t o f ind ou t w h a ti s l e f t o f Buddhis t cen t res sca t t e red in tha t i so la ted and inaccessible par t of the world .

T he S aka i t inera ry f rom Gilgit to C hi las 9 ind ica tes tha t a longthe t rack f rom Gi lg i t to Chi las the r e were som e Sang hara m as:S a ra kug i ( a c c o rd i ng t o M o rge n s t i e rne : S a r i ko l ) ; I c a ha na ga r i , t h r e eS a ngha ra ma s ; a t S ya d i m ne a r t he Indus , t h r e e S a ngha ra ma s ; ne a rthe br idge on the Indu s , four Sa ng ha ram as; in Gid agi t t i (Gi lg i t:H a t un In sc r i p t i on G i l a g i t t a ) , f ou r s t one S a ngha ra ma s .

N O T E S1. "On Swat . The Dards and Connected Problems." East and West, N . S .

vol. 27, 1977 pp. 9 ff .2 . Tucci G. , Tibetan Painted Scrolls 1 9 4 9 , 1 , p. 252 , no te 2 .3 . But Bru za is better known as the place from which masters of Bon po

re l igion penetra ted into Tibe t .4 . Th om as F. W., Tibetan Literary Texts, L ondon 1955- 65 .5. Photo of some of these bas-reliefs can be found in Biasutt i R. and

Dainelli G., Spedizione Italiana de Filippi nelVHima laya, Caracorum e Turkestan. Bologna 1925.73


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6. I may call the a t te nt io n of the reader on the pain ted boo k coversfrom Gilgit pu blis he d by B anerje R . D. in Oriental Art, N .S . 1 9 6 8 .

7. Pal P., The bronzes of Kashmir, G r a z , 1 9 7 5 .8. Snellgrove D. an d Skoru psk i T., The cultural heritage of Ladakh, vol.I , W arminster 19 77 .9 . Bailey H.W ., "A n I t inerary in Kh otanese Sak a." Acta Orientalia,

XIV, 1936. Morgenst ierne G. , The Saka Itinerary, N .T .S . , 1 9 4 2 .

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New Areas of Research for Archaeologists and Buddhologists