Sep 17, 2008

Yoginī struggle (I)

I finally decided regarding the segment of Sanskrit literature I'll focus in the following months to be Yoginī tantras and related writings, namely commentaries, sādhana-s, dhāraṇī-s etc. I made this decision hoping that I'll get the help of some of the most advised scholars in the field, prof. H.I., I.S., S.D.V. and P.D.Sz.

The first attempt I made is to read Bhramahara nāma Hevajrasādhana by whose text is available on CTS website thanks to professor H. Isaacson.

The title means: "The practice of Hevajra named the removal of wandering".
padabharanamitorvīvegavikṣiptasindhu pralayaghanasamānair ānanair muktanādam|
Expanding it I get:
pada-bhara-namita-urvī-vega-vikṣipta-sindhu ......
feet/word-burden-bent-the wide one-agitated-river
The wide and agitated river bent by burden of words with the mouth like the army of universal dissolution uttered the sound(nāda).

Is this correct? I have no idea. I hope someone will help me.

Now the second phrase:
bhujavanapavanāstaprasthabandhaṃ girīṇāṃ bhavatu bhayaharaṃ vas tāṇḍavaṃ herukasya||
Here the same problem the long compound at the beginning. Is this an attribute for tāṇḍavaṃ? Let's see what are the parts of it:
bhuja-vana-pavana-asta-prastha-bandhaṃ
hand/trunk/coil-wood/abundance/distant-wind-...
I really need help on this. The phrase (?) continues :
...bhavatu bhayaharaṃ vas tāṇḍavaṃ herukasya||
This I took as a benediction:
may the frantic dance of Heruka remove your fear!

Again I'm waiting for some help. :-((

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The opening verse of benediction could perhaps be translated something like this:

May the wild dance of Heruka [i.e. Hevajra]
remove [all] dangers for you; [the wild dance]
in which the oceans are tossed up by the impetus of the earth, which is
made to bend down by the weight of [Hevajra's 4] feet; in which
a sound is emitted by [Hevajra's 8] faces, which resemble
the clouds at [the time of] universal destruction; and in
which the connection of the mountain-peaks is destroyed by
the wind from the forest of [Hevajra's 16] arms.

The slightly odd expression in the fourth quarter may be in part an echo of a verse in Kālidāsa's Meghadūta.

The word bhrama in the title of the text means 'error' rather than 'wandering'.

I am not quite certain that this text is the best place to start. If you do decide to try to read it now, perhaps I should point out that a commentary on the first part of this sādhana can be found in: Harunaga Isaacson: First Yoga: A commentary on the ādiyoga section of Ratnākaraśānti’s Bhramahara (Studies in Ratnākaraśānti’s tantric works IV). In: B. Kellner, H. Krasser, H. Lasic, M. T. Much, H. Tauscher (eds.): Pramāṇakīrtiḥ. Papers dedicated to Ernst Steinkellner on the occasion of his 70th birthday. Part 1. Wien: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien, Universität Wien, 2007. Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde 70.1. pp. 285–314.

AC said...

Thank you professor! I'm honored by your presence around.

I'll post your translation as an entry in the blog.