Towards a Reassessment of Indrabhuti’s Jnanasiddhi

Authors

  • Torsten Gerloff University of Hamburg
  • Julian Schott University of Hamburg

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/bsrv.41247

Keywords:

Jñānasiddhi, Indrabhūti, mahāmudrā, Tantric Buddhism, Grub pa sde bdun, Indo-Tibetan Literature

Abstract

This article argues for the reassessment of Indrabhuti’s Jnanasiddhi in the light of newly discovered primary witnesses and previously unnoticed relations to other works. Presumably composed in the late eighth to early ninth century CE, it belongs to the earlier phase of Tantric Buddhism, a transitional period between the predominance of the Yoga- and Mahayogatantras to the later Yoginitantras, and relates to a variety of important scriptures of this formation. While this article briefly discusses the origins, authorship, contents and context of the Jnanasiddhi, including a brief overview of its modern scholarship, it also highlights its intertextual relations with and notable influences upon other tantric works of major importance. The Jnanasiddhi stands out as a tantric scripture of paramount importance, and we attempt to demonstrate the necessity of its reassessment with recourse to hitherto neglected but nonetheless vital sources that have only recently come to light.

References

Bendall, Cecil. 1905. Subhasita-Samgraha – An Anthology of Extracts from Buddhist Works Compiled by an Unknown Author, to Illustrate the Doctrines of Scholastic and Mystic (Tantrik) Buddhism. Leipzig: Harrassowitz.

Bhattachary(y)a, Benoytosh. 1929. Two Vajrayana Works: Edited with Introduction and Index. Baroda: Oriental Institute Baroda (Gaekwad’s Oriental Series 44).

Chattopadhyaya, Debiprasad & Lama Chimpa Alaka. 1990. Taranatha's History of Buddhism in India. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.

Dowman, Keith. 1985. Masters of Mahamudra: Songs and Histories of the Eighty-Four Buddhist Siddhas. Albany: State University of New York Press (SUNY Buddhist studies).

Gardner, Alexander. ‘Rinchen Zangpo’, Treasury of Lives, http://treasuryoflives.org/ biographies/view/Rinchen-Zangpo/10199 (20 June 2019).

Gerloff, Torsten. Saroruhavajra’s Hevajra-Lineage: A Close Study of the Surviving Sanskrit and Tibetan Works. Hamburg: Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Universität Hamburg (Indian and Tibetan Studies Series).

Isaacson, Harunaga & Francesco Sferra. 2015. The Sekanirdesa of Maitreyanatha (Advayavajra) with the Sekanirdesapanjika of Ramapala: Critical Edition of the Sanskrit and Tibetan Texts with English Translation and Reproductions of the MSS. Napoli: Universita Degli Studi Di Napoli “L’Orientale” (Manuscripta Buddhica 2).

Jackson, Roger R. & Matthew T. Kapstein (eds.). 2011. Mahamudra and the bKa’-brgyud Tradition (PIATS 2006: Tibetan Studies: Proceedings of the Eleventh Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Konigswinter 2006; Vol. 25). Konigswinter: International Association for Tibetan Studies.

Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye. 2007. The Treasury of Knowledge – Book Eight, Part Four – Esoteric Instructions: A Detailed Presentation of the Process of Meditation in Vajrayana. Ithaca, New York: Snow Lion Publications.

Jong, de J.W. 1998. ‘Notes on the Text of Indrabhuti’s Jnanasiddhi’. In Suryacandraya: Essays in Honour of Akira Yuyuma on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday (Indica et Tibetica vol. 35), ed. Paul M. Harrison & Gregory Schopen, 95–106. Swisttal-Odendorf: Indica et Tibetica Verlag.

Krug, Adam Charles. 2018a. ‘Tantric Epistemology and the Problem of Ineffability in the Seven Siddhi Texts’. In Buddhism and Linguistics: Theory and Philosophy, ed. Manel Herat, 149–184. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan (Springer International Publishing AG).

Krug, Adam Charles. 2018b. The Seven Siddhi Texts: The Odiyana Mahamudra Lineage in its Indic and Tibetan Contexts. Santa Barbara: University of California (Dissertation).

Mathes, Klaus-Dieter. 2011. ‘The Collection of ‘Indian Mahamudra Works’ (phyag chen rgya gzhung) Compiled by the Seventh Karma pa Chos grags rgya mtsho’. In Mahamudra and the bKa’-brgyud Tradition (PIATS 2006: Tibetan Studies: Proceedings of the Eleventh Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Konigswinter 2006; vol. 25), ed. Roger R. Jackson & Matthew T. Kapstein, 89–127. Konigswinter: International Association for Tibetan Studies.

Rinpoche, S. & V. Dwivedi. 1987. Guhyadi-Astasiddhi-sangraha. Sarnath, Varanasi: Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies (Rare Buddhist Text Series 1).

Robinson, James B. 1979. Buddha's Lions - The Lives of the eighty-four Siddhas. Berkeley: Dharma Publishing.

Sanderson, Alexis. 2009. ‘The Saiva Age’. In Genesis and Development of Tantrism, ed. Shingo Einoo, 41–349. Tokyo: Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo (Institute of Oriental Culture Special Series, 23).

Sferra, Francesco. 2006. The Sekoddesatika by Naropa (Paramarthasamgraha). Rome: Istituto Italiano per L’Africa E L’Oriente.

Shendge, Malati J. 1964. ‘Advayasiddhi’. In Journal of the Oriental Institute (The M.S. University Oriental Series 8: 1–30).

Szanto, Peter-Daniel & Arlo Griffiths. 2015. ‘Sarvabuddhasamayogadakinijalasamvara’. In Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism (BEB No. 1: 367–372). Leiden: Koninklijke Brill NV.

Szanto, Peter-Daniel. 2015. ‘Tantric Prakaranas’. In Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism (BEB No. 1: 755–761). Leiden: Koninklijke Brill NV.

Takahashi, Hisao. 1977. ‘The Fifteenth Chapter of the Jnanasiddhi, a Japanese Translation’. In Buzan Kyogaku Taikai Kiyo 5: 114(1)–99(16). Tokyo: Otsuka, Bunkyo-Ku.

Tanemura, Ryugen. 2015. ‘Guhyasamaja’. In Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism (BEB No. 1: 326–333). Leiden: Koninklijke Brill NV.

Templeman, David. 1989. Taranatha's bKa' babs bdun ldan - The Seven Instruction Lineages by Jo.nang Taranatha. Dharamsala: Library of Tibetan Works and Archives.

Timme Kragh, Ulrich. 2010. ‘On the Making of the Tibetan Translation of Laksmi's *Sahajasiddhipaddhati: 'Bro Lotsa ba Shes rab Grags and his Translation Endeavors. (Materials for the Study of the Female Tantric Master Laksmi of Uddiyana, part 1)’. In Indo-Iranian Journal Vol. 53: 195–232. Leiden: Koninklijke Brill NV.

Tucci, Giuseppe. 1949. Tibetan Painted Scrolls (2 vols.). Rome: La Libreria Dello Stato.

Published

2021-03-24

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Gerloff, T., & Schott, J. (2021). Towards a Reassessment of Indrabhuti’s Jnanasiddhi. Buddhist Studies Review, 37(2), 241–260. https://doi.org/10.1558/bsrv.41247