The standard Buddhist account of cosmogony shows the world arising from the collective karma or actions of living beings in the form of a primordial wind (v\u0101yu). This account is based on the Buddhist s\u016btras, and was formulated in the Abhidharma texts. Another account, based on the Buddhist tantras, shows the world arising from the clear light or luminosity (prabh\u0101svara, \u2019od gsal), which is the nature of mind (citta-prak\u1e5bti). The Book of Dzyan is said to be the first volume of commentaries on the secret Books of Kiu-te (rgyud sde), i.e., the Buddhist tantras. So we might expect its cosmogony account to be closer to that from the known Buddhist tantras than to that from the Buddhist s\u016btras. In the Book of Dzyan (stanza 3, verse 3), the actual moment of manifestation is described with the words, \u201cdarkness radiates light.\u201d In the Buddhist tantras, too, the world arises from light, the clear light or luminosity (prabh\u0101svara). This cosmogony was concisely formulated by \u0100ryadeva in only four verses. These were often quoted in other tantric texts as what seems to have become the standard account of cosmogony and dissolution from the Buddhist tantras, specifically the so-called \u201chighest yoga\u201d tantras.<\/p>\n
\u0100ryadeva is regarded as the spiritual son of N\u0101g\u0101rjuna. N\u0101g\u0101rjuna wrote the Pa\u00f1ca-krama<\/i>, the \u201cFive Stages,\u201d describing the completion stage practices of the Guhyasam\u0101ja-tantra<\/i>. The Guhyasam\u0101ja-tantra<\/i> is one of the most central of the \u201chighest yoga\u201d tantras in Buddhism. The third of its five completion stage practices is called sv\u0101dhi\u1e63\u1e6dh\u0101na, \u201cself-blessing\u201d or \u201cself-consecration.\u201d On this, \u0100ryadeva wrote a short treatise called the Sv<\/i>\u0101<\/i>dhi<\/i>\u1e63\u1e6d<\/i>h<\/i>\u0101<\/i>na-krama-prabheda<\/i>, or just Sv<\/i>\u0101<\/i>dhi<\/i>\u1e63\u1e6d<\/i>h<\/i>\u0101<\/i>na-prabheda<\/i>. The four verses giving the Buddhist tantric account of cosmogony are verses 18-21 of this treatise. The original Sanskrit text of the Sv<\/i>\u0101<\/i>dhi<\/i>\u1e63\u1e6d<\/i>h<\/i>\u0101<\/i>na-prabheda<\/i> was found and was first published in Dh<\/i>\u012b\u1e25<\/i>: A Review of Rare Buddhist Texts<\/i>, vol. 10, 1990, pp. 20-24. It was reprinted along with its Tibetan translation in Bauddhalaghugrantha Samgraha<\/i>, edited by Janardan Pandey, Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, 1997, pp. 169-194. The four verses on cosmogony were quoted in the Sekodde<\/i>\u015b<\/i>a-<\/i>\u1e6d\u012b<\/i>k<\/i>\u0101<\/i>, a K\u0101lacakra work: 1941 edition by Mario E. Carelli, pp. 51-52; 2006 edition by Francesco Sferra, pp. 150-151. As there noted by Sferra, they were also quoted in the Am<\/i>\u1e5b<\/i>taka<\/i>\u1e47<\/i>ikodyota<\/i> commentary on the Ma<\/i>\u00f1<\/i>ju<\/i>\u015b<\/i>r<\/i>\u012b<\/i>-n<\/i>\u0101<\/i>ma-sa<\/i>\u1e43<\/i>g<\/i>\u012b<\/i>ti<\/i>, edited by Banarsi Lal, 1994, p. 165, and in the Pa<\/i>\u00f1<\/i>cakrama-<\/i>\u1e6d<\/i>ippa<\/i>\u1e47\u012b<\/i> of Muni\u015br\u012bbhadra, edited by Zhongxin Jiang and Toru Tomabechi, 1996, p. 58.<\/p>\n
From these texts I have prepared a Sanskrit edition of \u0100ryadeva\u2019s four verses on cosmogony, giving variant readings, and have translated these verses into English. They explain more fully what was said in a verse from the sv\u0101dhi\u1e63\u1e6dh\u0101na chapter of N\u0101g\u0101rjuna\u2019s Pa<\/i>\u00f1<\/i>cakrama<\/i>, which I cite and translate first. There are no variants for this verse in the three Sanskrit editions: the 1896 edition by L. de la Vall\u00e9e Poussin, the 1994 edition by Katsumi Mimaki and T\u014dru Tomabechi, and the 2001 edition by Ram Shankar Tripathi. It is Pa<\/i>\u00f1<\/i>cakrama<\/i>, chapter 3, verse 15:<\/p>\n
asvatantra\u1e43 jagat sarva\u1e43 svatantra\u1e43 naiva j\u0101yate |<\/p>\n
hetu\u1e25 prabh\u0101svara\u1e43 tasya sarva-\u015b\u016bnya\u1e43 prabh\u0101svaram ||<\/p>\n
\u201cThe entire world is dependent [on a cause], for something independent can never arise. Its [the world\u2019s] cause is luminosity (prabh\u0101svara); luminosity is the universal void (sarva-\u015b\u016bnya).\u201d<\/p>\n
\u0100ryadeva\u2019s four verses on cosmogony from the Sv<\/i>\u0101<\/i>dhi<\/i>\u1e63\u1e6d<\/i>h<\/i>\u0101<\/i>na-prabheda<\/i> that explain this more fully are:<\/p>\n
prabh\u0101svar\u0101n mah\u0101-\u015b\u016bnya\u1e43 tasm\u0101c cop\u0101ya-sambhava\u1e25 |<\/p>\n
tasm\u0101d utpadyate praj\u00f1\u0101 tasy\u0101\u1e25 pavana-sambhava\u1e25 || 18 ||<\/p>\n
18. From luminosity (prabh\u0101svara) [arises] the great void (mah\u0101-\u015b\u016bnya), and from that is the arising of means (up\u0101ya). From that, wisdom (praj\u00f1\u0101) is arisen. From that is the arising of air.<\/p>\n
pavan\u0101d agni-sambh\u016btir agne\u015b ca jala-sambhava\u1e25 |<\/p>\n
jal\u0101c ca j\u0101yate p\u1e5bthv\u012b sattv\u0101n\u0101m e\u1e63a sambhava\u1e25 || 19 ||<\/p>\n
19. From air is the arising of fire, and from fire is the arising of water; and from water, earth is born. This is the arising of living beings.<\/p>\n
bh\u016b-dh\u0101tur l\u012byate toye toya\u1e43 tejasi l\u012byate |<\/p>\n
teja\u015b ca s\u016bk\u1e63ma-dh\u0101tau ca v\u0101yu\u015b citte vil\u012byate || 20 ||<\/p>\n
20. The earth element dissolves in water. Water dissolves in fire, and fire in the subtle element [air]. Air dissolves in mind (citta).<\/p>\n
citta\u1e43 caitasike l\u012byet\u0101vidy\u0101y\u0101\u1e43 tu caitasam |<\/p>\n
s\u0101pi prabh\u0101svara\u1e43 gacchen nirodho \u2019ya\u1e43 bhava-traye || 21 ||<\/p>\n
21. Mind will dissolve in the mental derivatives (caitasika), and the mental derivatives in ignorance (avidy\u0101). This, too, will go to luminosity (prabh\u0101svara). That is the cessation of the triple world.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As may be deduced from the fact that these verses are given or quoted in \u201chighest yoga\u201d tantra texts, this account of the creation and dissolution of the world from and into prabh\u0101svara, luminosity or clear light, is correlated to advanced yogic practice. \u0100ryadeva\u2019s concise four verses provide what seems to have been taken as the most representative statement on cosmogony as understood in the Buddhist \u201chighest yoga\u201d tantras. This cosmogony was discussed further in a number of other tantric texts from the standpoint of tantric practice. Very few of these texts have yet been translated into English.<\/p>\n
The cosmogony account showing the world arising from the collective karma or actions of living beings in the form of a primordial wind (v\u0101yu), based on the Buddhist s\u016btras, and the cosmogony account showing the world arising from the clear light or luminosity (prabh\u0101svara, \u2019od gsal) that is the nature of mind (citta-prak\u1e5bti), based on the Buddhist tantras, need not be taken as conflicting alternative accounts. The latter account can be seen as simply going a little further back. According to Buddhism, karma is not just action per se but rather is volitional action, and there can be no volitional action without mind. So the nature of mind, luminosity, must be there for karma to occur.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, the tantric texts that discuss this cosmogony of the luminosity or clear light nature of mind normally do so in association with the subtle winds or airs. The teaching is that mind or consciousness rides on the winds as its mount (v\u0101hana). This is apparently the same teaching given in Book of Dzyan, stanza 5, verse 2: \u201cFohat is the steed and the thought is the rider.\u201d Fohat, the \u201cfiery whirlwind,\u201d is closely parallel to the primordial wind that forms the world in the karmic wind cosmogony. The two Buddhist cosmogony accounts appear to be the two parts of a single cosmogony, much like the one given more fully in the Book of Dzyan.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Variant readings:<\/p>\n
18b: \u015b\u016bny\u0101c for tasm\u0101c, S\u1e6c1, S\u1e6c2, AKU.<\/p>\n
18c: up\u0101y\u0101j j\u0101yate praj\u00f1\u0101, AKU.<\/p>\n
19b: ca is omitted, PK\u1e6c.<\/p>\n
19c: jal\u0101j j\u0101yate p\u1e5bthiv\u012b, S\u1e6c1, S\u1e6c2.<\/p>\n
19d: bhav\u0101\u1e45g\u0101n\u0101m aya\u1e43 naya\u1e25, AKU.<\/p>\n
20a: p\u1e5bthiv\u012b l\u012byate toye, AKU.<\/p>\n
20b: toyas tejasi, SP1, SP2.<\/p>\n
21a: citta\u015b caitasike, SP1, SP2.<\/p>\n
21ab: l\u012byed avidy\u0101y\u0101\u1e43, AKU, PK\u1e6c.<\/p>\n
21b: cetasam for caitasam, SP1, SP2, AKU.<\/p>\n
21c: so \u2019pi for s\u0101pi, SP1, SP2.<\/p>\n
Abbreviations:<\/p>\n
AKU = Am<\/i>\u1e5b<\/i>taka<\/i>\u1e47<\/i>ikodyota<\/i>.<\/p>\n
PK\u1e6c = Pa<\/i>\u00f1<\/i>cakrama-<\/i>\u1e6d<\/i>ippa<\/i>\u1e47\u012b<\/i> of Muni\u015br\u012bbhadra.<\/p>\n
SP1 = Sv<\/i>\u0101<\/i>dhi<\/i>\u1e63\u1e6d<\/i>h<\/i>\u0101<\/i>na-prabheda<\/i>, 1990 edition.<\/p>\n
SP2 = Sv<\/i>\u0101<\/i>dhi<\/i>\u1e63\u1e6d<\/i>h<\/i>\u0101<\/i>na-prabheda<\/i>, 1997 edition.<\/p>\n
S\u1e6c1 = Sekodde<\/i>\u015b<\/i>a-<\/i>\u1e6d\u012b<\/i>k<\/i>\u0101<\/i>, 1941 edition.<\/p>\n
S\u1e6c2 = Sekodde<\/i>\u015b<\/i>a-<\/i>\u1e6d\u012b<\/i>k<\/i>\u0101<\/i>, 2006 edition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The standard Buddhist account of cosmogony shows the world arising from the collective karma or actions of living beings in the form of a primordial wind (v\u0101yu). This account is based on the Buddhist s\u016btras, and was formulated in the Abhidharma texts. Another account, based on the Buddhist tantras, shows the world arising from the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-creation-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1089"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1089\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1091,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1089\/revisions\/1091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}