A History of the Sadanga-Yoga of the Kalacakratantra and Its Relation to Other Religious Traditions of India by Vesna Wallace
6
A Histor y of the sad- ahga-yoga of th e Kdlacakratantra an d It s Relation to Other Religious Traditions of India A close look at the Kalacakratantra's six-phased yoga reveals its correlation and his- torical connectio n to earlie r forms of the six-phase d 3>oga , found in bot h Hin - duism and Buddhism. Moreover, it also reveals the uniqu e character o f the practica l applications an d implication s of the Kalacakratantra' s six-phased yoga. To the best of my knowledge, the earliest reference to a six-phased yoga is found in the MaitrayarSya, or Maitn Upanisad, whic h belong s to the branch of the blac k Yajur Veda and is con- sidered t o be the last of the classical Upanisads . The sad-anga-;yoga of the Maitrdyaruya Upanisad, Ch . 6 , v, 18, contains the following six phases: breath-control (f>raria;yarna) , retraction (prat^ahara) , meditative stabilization (dhyana), concentratio n (dharana) , contemplative inquir y (tarka), and samadhi. 1 It is taught in this Upanisad as a method for achievin g unio n wit h th e suprem e Sel f (paramdtman). I f we accep t tha t th e MaitrdyanTya Upanisad predate s Patanjali , w e ca n assum e that thi s six-phase d yoga also predates the eight-phase d ;yog a (astanga-^oga ) o f the classica l Yoga system. The fact tha t Patanjali never make s any reference to a six-phased yoga and that his Yo - gasutra never mentions contemplative inquiry (tarka) is not sufficien t evidenc e to re- gard the six-phase d ;yog a as a later revision of the eight-phase d ;yoga , as Giinter Gron- bold suggests. 2 Eve n i f th e sixt h chapte r o f th e Maitrdyaruya Upanisad, whic h incorporates a six-phased ;yoga, is a later interpolation, as Mircea Eliade speculates, 3 the antecedenc e o f the sixth-phase d yoga to the yoga of Patanjali is still quite plau- sible. The phras e "for it is said elsewhere," which often occurs at the beginning of the verses of the sixt h chapter, indicate s that the Maitrayaruya Upanisad draw s its yogic elements from the earlier yogic sources. Even though we are unable to determine th e exact source s of the yogi c elements i n th e Maitrdyanya Upanisad, i t i s obvious that different form s of its six-phased ;yoga have very early origins in India. The six-phase d yoga was later modifie d int o diverse forms of yoga with varying numbers of phases . 2 25
Transcript
A History of the sad-ahga-yoga of th eKdlacakratantra an d It sRelation t o OtherReligious Traditionsof India
Aclose look at the Kalacakratantra's six-phased yoga reveals its correlation and his-torical connectio n to earlie r forms o f the six-phase d 3>oga , found in both Hin -
duism and Buddhism. Moreover, it also reveals the unique character o f the practica lapplications an d implications of the Kalacakratantra' s six-phased yoga. To the bes t ofmy knowledge, the earliest reference to a six-phased yoga is found in the MaitrayarSya,or Maitn Upanisad, whic h belongs to the branch of the blac k Yajur Veda and is con-sidered to be the last of the classical Upanisads. The sad-anga-;yoga of the MaitrdyaruyaUpanisad, Ch . 6 , v, 18, contains the following six phases: breath-control (f>raria;yarna) ,retraction (prat^ahara) , meditative stabilization (dhyana), concentratio n (dharana) ,contemplative inquir y (tarka), and samadhi.1 It is taught in this Upanisad as a methodfor achievin g unio n wit h th e suprem e Sel f (paramdtman). I f we accep t tha t th eMaitrdyanTya Upanisad predate s Patanjali , w e can assum e that thi s six-phased yogaalso predates the eight-phase d ;yog a (astanga-^oga) of the classica l Yoga system. Thefact tha t Patanjal i never make s any reference to a six-phased yoga and tha t his Yo -gasutra never mentions contemplative inquiry (tarka) is not sufficien t evidence to re-gard the six-phased ;yoga as a later revision of the eight-phase d ;yoga, as Giinter Gron-bold suggests. 2 Eve n i f th e sixt h chapte r o f th e Maitrdyaruya Upanisad, whic hincorporates a six-phased ;yoga, is a later interpolation, as Mircea Eliade speculates,3
the antecedenc e o f the sixth-phase d yoga to the yoga of Patanjali is still quite plau-sible. The phrase "for it is said elsewhere," which often occurs at the beginning of theverses of the sixt h chapter, indicate s that the Maitrayaruya Upanisad draw s its yogicelements from the earlier yogic sources. Even though we are unable to determine th eexact sources of the yogi c elements i n the Maitrdyanya Upanisad, i t i s obvious thatdifferent form s of its six-phased ;yoga have very early origins in India. The six-phase dyoga was later modifie d int o diverse forms o f yoga with varying numbers of phases.
2
25
26 The Inner Kalacakratantra
For example, in one of the earlies t Puranas, the Vdyu Purdna, Ch. 10, v. 76,4 one en -counters a five-phased yoga, whose fifth phase i s recollection (smarana), correspond -ing in name to the fifth phase of the Kalacakratantra's six-phased yoga. In this Puranaas in th e Kalacakratantra, contemplative inquir y (tarka) i s replaced by recollection .Considering tha t the Purana s underwent man y revisions afte r th e majorit y of theirmaterial was composed during the Gupta reign (c. 32o-c. 500 CE), it is extremely dif-ficult to establish whethe r th e recollectio n phas e of yoga was established first in th ePuranic tradition or in the Buddhis t tradition, specifically , in the Guhyasamdjatantra,which som e scholars dat e a s early as the fourt h century C E an d som e as late a s th eeighth centur y CE.
Within later Hindu sources , a six-phased ;yoga is also mentioned in a number oftexts belonging to the Upanisad s of the Yog a class—specifically, i n the AmrtabinduUpanisad—and i n the Saiva Agamas, Saiva tantras, and some Dharma Sutras , wher ethere is a slightly different order of phases than that found in the six-phase d yoga inthe Maitrdyaniya Upanisad. Fo r example, i n th e Amrtabindu Upanisad, v . 6, the si xphases of yoga are retraction (pratydharo), meditativ e stabilization (dhydna), breath -control (prdnaydma), concentratio n (dhdrana), contemplativ e inquir y (tarka), an dsamadhi. This particular sequence o f the phase s o f yoga is almost identical t o that ofthe Kalacakratantra. The differenc e between th e tw o lies in the designatio n of thefifth phase of yoga as contemplative inquiry (tarka) instea d o f recollection (anusmrti).5
Even though contemplativ e inquir y is not explicitly mentioned amon g the six phasesof the Kalacakratantra's six-phase d yoga as a separate member , i t i s not absen t fro mthere. Rather, i t i s included within the phas e of meditative stabilizatio n (dhydna),along with wisdom (prajnd), analysi s (vicdra), jo y (rati) , and immutabl e bliss (acala-sukha).6 Contemplativ e inquir y as a constituent of the phase of meditative stabiliza-tion i s explained i n th e Vimalaprabhd a s the apprehensio n o f the phenomeno n o fempty form that is being observed or meditated upon during this phase.7 As such, i tis an indispensabl e elemen t i n the practic e o f the Kalacakratantra's six-phase d [yoga .Nevertheless, i t is not give n superiority over all other phases of the six-phase d yogaand their elements as it is in KasmTr Saivism—specifically, i n the Saivagamas and inthe work s o f Abhinavagupt a an d Jayaratha . Abhinavagupt a (975-1025 ) i n hi sParatrisikavivarana asserts that "among al l the light s of the component parts of [yoga,"contemplative inquiry (tarka) ha s already been determined in the earlier Mdlimvijaya"to be the brilliant sun by which one gets liberated and liberates others."8 When com-menting o n Abhinavagupta' s Tantroloka , Jayarath a (thirteent h century ) i n hi sTantralokaviveka mention s th e six-phase d yoga that ha s breath contro l (prdnaydma)as its first member and contemplative inquir y (tarka) a s its fifth member and exalts itas the highes t (uttama) phase. 9 Moreover, just as contemplative inquir y is includedin the six-phase d yoga of the Kalacakratantra, even though i t is not regarde d as a sep-arate phase, so too ar e meditative posture (asana) and restrain t (niyama) implicitl yincluded in this yoga. The vo/'ra-postur e (vajrdsana) i s often referred to as the postur ein which an adept of the Kalacakratantra does his meditative practice , whereas niyamais included in the observance of the Kalacakratantra's ethica l discipline, in the formof restraint fro m indulgin g in the five objects of desire and keeping the twenty-fiv etan trie precepts (vrata), whic h ar e deemed prerequisites for the successfu l outcomeof the practic e of the six-phase d ;yoga.10 The Vimalaprabhd define s niyama as a Bud-
A History of the sad-ahga-yoga of the Kalacakratantra 2 7
dha's command (buddhanujna) wit h regard to the twenty-five precepts.11 Since thesetwo prerequisites to th e Kalacakratantra's six-phase d yoga are present i n each phaseof the yoga as qualifying conditions , the y are not considere d to be separate phases.
Within later Hindu source s there are also those who speak of a six-phased yogathat doe s not includ e the phas e o f contemplative inquir y but include s meditativ eposture (asana ) a s the first phase. For example, some Yoga Upanisads—specifically ,the Dhyanabindu {Jpanisad, v. 41 and th e Yogacuddmaru Upanisad, v . 2—several textsof the GoraJcs a corpus (c. twelfth century), an d the Netratantra, cited in Ksemaraja'sVimarsini (eleventh century) commentary on the Siva Sutra 6, contain the followinglist of the six phases: posture (asana), breath-control (pramyama), retractio n (pratyahara),meditative stabilizatio n (dhydna), concentratio n (dhdrana) , and samadhi. This for mof the six-phase d yoga seems to be later than that found in the Guhyasamajatantraand later incorporated int o the Kalacakratantra. Thus, i t is most likely that the Bud-dhist six-phased yoga chronologically succeed s the six-phase d yogas containing con -templative inquir y (tarka) a s the fifth phase , whic h continue d t o be in practice i nlater times as well. However, it is more difficult t o determine with certainty whetherthe Buddhis t six-phased yoga precedes th e six-phase d yoga o f Kasmir Saivism thatcontains meditative posture (asana) as its first phase o r whether i t was contempora-neous with it. If one were to rely only on the extant Saiva texts that refer to the sixth-phased yoga having meditative posture as its first member, it would seem that the Bud-dhist sixth-phased yoga preceded that particular yoga of KasmTr Saivism. Consideringthe incompletenes s o f textual and historica l information, it i s impossible to recon -struct an accurate an d precise history of the six-phased yoga in India. Therefore, I of-fer her e only a limited comparative table o f the differen t type s of six-phased yogasthat were cited i n specifi c Saiva , Vaisnava, and Buddhis t texts. A s table 2.1 . indi -cates, not onl y teachers o f different religiou s traditions but als o various teachers ofdifferent school s withi n th e sam e tradition taugh t divers e forms o f the six-phase dyoga, according to their intended goals. Even though these diverse types of the six-phased yoga were couched withi n the differen t theoretica l an d practical frameworksof disparate traditions, they all share some commonalities. The mos t salient point ofcommonality is that each form of the six-phase d yoga is viewed within its own tradi-tion as inducive to the accomplishmen t o f both limited, or mundane, an d supremesiddhis. There are also certain commonalitie s in the mor e general interpretations ofsome phases of the divers e types of six-phased yoga, despite the clea r divergence i nthe manne r i n which particular phases are structured and practiced withi n th e dif-ferent traditions . Fo r example, in both KasmTr Saivism and Buddhism, the phas e ofbreath-control (pranayama) involve s bringing the prdnas int o the centra l nodi; th ephase of retraction (pratyahara) involve s the withdrawa l of the sense s from externa lobjects; and meditative stabilization (dhydna) implie s meditation o n a divine form ,and so on. Their interpretations also coincide to a certain degree with Patanjali's def-initions in the Yog a Sutras. For the variant listings of the six members of the saA-ahga-yoga within th e differen t school s o f the Hind u and Buddhist traditions see table 2.1.
Within th e India n Buddhis t tradition , teaching s o n th e six-phase d yoga ar efound withi n tw o Buddhis t tantric systems—th e Guhyasamajatantr a an d th e Kala -cakratantra. The Hevajratantra (Ch . 8 , vs. 21-22) als o mentions a six-phased yoga,but it does not list its members nor does it elaborate on it. Even though the six-phased
28 The Inner Kalacakratantra
TABLE 2.1 Th e Variant s of the Sadanga-yog a
The Tarka class of the Sadanga-yog aMaitrdyamya Yog a UpanisadsUpanisad, 16:1 8 Amrtandda, 6, etc.
yogas of the Kalacakra and Guhyasamaja systems accord in the names and in the se-quences o f thei r phases , the y diffe r i n thei r conten t an d practica l implications .Among the Indian sources of these two traditions, the majorit y of treatises and com'mentaries on the six-phased yoga belong to the Kalacakra corpus. According t o theBlue Annals, the six-phase d yoga of the Kalacakratantra wa s initially taught b y Vaj-radhara i n th e for m o f Avadhutipa t o Anupamaraksit a (c . eleventh-twelfth cen -turies), who passed it on to his friend Sridhara. 12 Two works on the six-phased yogaare traditionally attributed to Anupamaraksita: the Sadangayoga an d the Sadahgayo-gandma. The later Indian author Ravisrijnana (eleventh-twelfth centuries)—i n theintroductions t o hi s Gunabhararn, a commentar y o n th e Sadangayoga an d t o hi sSadahgayogatika, a commentary o n th e Sadahgayoganama—gives a brief account o fAnupamaraksita's revelatory experience.13 According t o the account s recorde d i nthe Gunabharara an d th e Sadangayogatikd, Anupamaraksit a studied Buddhism andother Indian systems of thought. Under the guidance of Srlkhasarpana, he practice dfor twelve years a meditation o n reality without an object and free of conceptualiza-tions, but was unable to gain a special insight. Depressed, he fell asleep, during whichVajrayoginT appeared to him, instructing him to go to Vikramapura, where he wouldattain tha t specia l insight . Afte r arrivin g at midnigh t i n Vikramapura—accompa-nied by his disciple, the grea t pandita Sridhara—Anupamaraksita received instruc -tion o n th e six-phase d yoga directly from the Buddh a i n the for m o f Avadhuta. By
A Histor y of the sad-angO'yoga of the Kalacakratantra 2 9
merely receiving the instruction tha t confirmed, "This is reality," he entered samadhi;and upon emergin g from hi s samadhi i n the earl y morning, Anupamaraksit a taugh tthis knowledge t o Sridhara.
With some variations, this story is repeated severa l times in later Tibetan chron -icles o f Buddhism an d th e lineag e o f the Kalacakratantra's six-phase d ^oga. 14 Apartfrom Padm a dkar po, who mistook Vikramapura for Vikramaslla monastery in Bihar,none of the source s specif y th e locatio n o f Vikramapura nor th e plac e fro m whic hAnupamaraksita wen t t o Vikramapura . I t i s likely that th e Vikramapur a to whic hRavisrTjnana refers is VajrayoginT village in contemporary Dacca, located in east-cen-tral Bengal, which is also thought t o be the birthplace o f AtTsa.15 This is perhaps th esame Vikramapura mentioned i n the inscription s foun d in north India . In th e in -scriptions relate d t o the ruler s of the Varma n and Vikramaditya dynasties of north-ern India, Vikramapura is mentioned as their capital during the eleventh and twelfthcenturies. Th e Varma n dynast y ruled eastern Benga l i n th e secon d quarte r o f theeleventh century , an d thei r Vikramapur a was eventually overtake n b y Vijayasena ,the greates t kin g o f the Sen a dynasty , in th e middl e o f the twelft h century . Thus ,Ravisnjnana, who , accordin g t o Taranatha' s History of Buddhism in India, lived dur-ing the reign of the Sena dynasty, coul d have been referring to that Vikramapura.16
Some inscriptions mention Vikramapura as a capital founded by Vikramaditya VI (c.1076-1126). His father, Somesvara I , reigned i n Magadha and eastern Bengal , andhe himsel f conquere d centra l Benga l shortly befor e 106 8 CE, afte r defeatin g Vigra-hapala III . According t o Taranatha' s History of Buddhism in India, Anupamaraksitalived during the perio d o f the Bhayapal a and Nayapala kings of the Pal a dynasty.17
Nayapala, th e fathe r of the mentioned Vigrahapala III , ascended th e throne in th eearly eleventh centur y and ruled the kingdom that extended on the west up to Biharand to the east to central Bengal. Taranatha's informatio n coincide s wit h 'Gos l o tsaba gzhon nu dpal's assertion in the Blue Annals that Anupamaraksita could not hav ebeen later thanNaro (956-1040 CE), since Naro cites Anupamaraksita's teachin g i nhis Sekkodesatika.16 Thus , whether Ravisnjnan a wa s referring to the Vikramapura ofthe Palas , Varmans , o r Vikaramadityas , accordin g t o Buddhis t tradition th e Kola-cakratantra's six-phased yoga was first disseminated in Bengal.
Anupamaraksita's name could have been easily related to the well-known Anu -pama monaster y (vihara) i n KasmTr , whic h produce d BuddhasrTjnana , Sarvajna -sriraksita, an d Sakyasrfbhadra , th e grea t early eleventh-century KasmT r scholars ofthe Kalacakratantra. His name also could have been related to Anupamapura, the seatof the tw o greatest Buddhis t center s o f learning i n KasmTr during the elevent h andtwelfth centuries—th e monasterie s of Ratnagupta an d Ratnarasmi . I n eithe r case ,Anupamaraksita coul d have come t o Bengal from KasmTr .
It is clear from the extant Indian and Tibetan sources that there were several lin-eages of the Kalacakratantra's six-phased yoga in India. As these sources indicate, th emost important amon g those lineage s was that of Anupamaraksita. I n the Gunabha-ran, RavisrTjnan a give s th e followin g lineage : Anupamaraksita 19—Srfdhara—Bhaskara—RavisrTjnana. The sam e lineage, bu t i n an extende d form , i s also givenin the Blue Annals, th e fifteenth-centur y Tibetan chronicl e of Buddhism in Tibet,which als o mentions th e famou s lineage s of Indian Buddhis t masters. According t othe Blue Annals, the mos t famous lineag e of the Kalacakratantra's six-phase d ;yoga in
30 Th e Inner Kalacakratantra
India begins with Anupamaraksita and ends with the Bengali mahd-pandita, Vanaratna(1384-1468). Vanaratna received the transmissio n of the six-phase d yoga from th emahd-siddha Savaripa , one of the eighty-fou r legendary mahd-siddhas o f India, and h etaught i t extensively in Tibet during the first half of the fifteent h century. 20 The ex-tended lineag e i s given a s follows: Anupamaraksita—Srldharanandana (Sadhupu -tra)21—Bhaskaradeva—Ravisrljnana (Suryasn)—Dharmakarasanti—Ratnaraksita —Narendrabodhi—Muktipaksa—Sakyaraksita—Sujata—Buddhaghosa—Va-naratna. The exac t same lineage of Indian masters i s also mentioned in Padma dkarpo's (sixteent h century ) Dpe med 'tsho'i lugs kyi rnal 'byor yan lag drug pa'i khrid rdorje'i tshig 'byed.22
Earlier Tibetan historian s o f Buddhism in Indi a an d Tibe t recorde d a shorte rbranch of Anupamaraksita's lineage i n India . In hi s Dpe med 'tsho'i sbyor drug gi brgyudpa, include d i n the Gsang sngags rgyud sde bzhi'i gangs'bum,23 Bu ston offers th efollowing list for the Indian masters following the lineage of Anupamaraksita: Anu -pamaraksita—Sndhara—Bhaskaradeva—Dharmakarasanti—Ravisnjnana—Ratnaraksita—Vibhuticandra. Thi s lin e o f India n Buddhis t master s end s wit hVibhuticandra (twelfth-thirteent h centuries) . Accordin g t o Padm a ga r dbang, 24
Vibhuticandra received hi s Kalacakratantra initiatio n an d teaching s fro m thre e In -dian scholars : Sakyasrlbhadra, the maha-pandita o f Kasmir,25 who was his principa lspiritual mentor, Vikhyatadeva , and Dharmadasa . In Nepal, he mastered th e Kdla-cakratantra under the guidance of Ratnaraksita, the Newari mahd-pandita, from whomhe received the teaching s of the six-phase d yoga of the Kalacakratantra i n the tradi-tion of Anupamaraksita. During his stay in Nepal, Vibhuticandra becam e an exper tin the Kalacakratantra and in the practice of the six-phased yoga. According to Padmagar dbang, 26 h e wrot e annotation s t o th e Kalacakratantra an d th e Vimalaprabhd,which influenced later Tibetan translators and commentators on the Kalacakratantra.As one of the India n mahd-panditas, Vibhuticandra visite d Tibet three times and be-came fluen t in th e Tibeta n language . He himsel f translate d hi s Sadangayogandma(Rnal 'byor yan lagdrugpa)27 int o Tibetan. According to the Tibetan six-phased yogatradition, the Sadangayogandma i s the direc t transmission of the six-phased yoga prac-tice tha t Vibhuticandr a receive d fro m Savarip a durin g hi s sta y a t Stha m Biha rmonastery in Kathmandu, upon which he attained dhdrond, th e fourth phase of thisyoga. In subsequent centuries, this text became one o f the mos t importan t and au-thoritative text s fo r the direc t transmission of the Kdlacakratantra's six-phase d yogain Tibet, especially in the Jonangpa tradition. According t o Taranatha,28 the teach -ings on the six-phase d yoga that Savaripa revealed to Vibhuticandra were based onthe dohas o f Saraha, an d Saraha' s yogi c practice itself was based on th e six-phase dyoga.
In th e Sbyor ba yan lag drug gi rdzogs rim gyi gnad bsdus pa, Tshong kha pa29 (four -teenth-fifteenth centuries) , followin g his teacher B u ston, cite s the India n lineag eof Anupamaraksit a i n thi s way : Anupamaraksita—Sndhara—Bhaskaradeva —Dharmakarasanti—RavisrTjnana—Ratnaraksita—Vibhuticandra.
