In most instances, I provide the text and a translation of primary sources cited; some exceptions are made for readily accessible texts, especially if the passage is long, not especially problematic, and of no special consequence. When the length of a passage appears disproportionate to its relevance, I sometimes provide the text but forgo translation, especially if the source is well-known; also omitted are translations of some short passages that I paraphrase in the course of discussion. This approach, which I hope has helped curb the volume of annotation, has undoubtedly led to a number of inconsistencies.
Sources edited from manuscript appear with a critical apparatus; a list of the ab- breviations used has been provided after the table of contents. Part i of this thesis quotes substantially from the BraY¯a. In most cases, the quoted text is constituted based only on the readings of the oldest codex, National Archives of Kathmandu no. 3-370 (reported as “Bya”; see the introduction to part ii for a discussion of the manuscripts). I usually resist the temptation to comment upon the (sometime consid- erable) linguistic peculiarities of the passages cited, and upon some of the problems of interpretation. Such matters are, however, addressed in detail in the critical edi- tion (part ii). Passages quoted from the BraY¯a are cited by verse number rather than folio, while appendix A provides a concordance of the text’s chapters and the folio numbers in the oldest codex (Bya). Verse numbers from chapters not included in the critical edition are generally determined by mechanical division of the text into verses of four quarters (p¯ada), and it is likely that the numbering will change slightly in future editions. In very short quotations from the BraY¯a, an orthographic normal- ization (especially the correction of ´s to s and vice versa), a minor emendation (e.g. ¯a for o or vice versa), or the addition of an anusv¯ara (m.) or visarga (h.), is indicated by en-
closing the character in question in square brackets. A critical apparatus is provided for longer passages, and in cases where more significant emendations or conjectures are proposed.
Translations are the present author’s unless indicated otherwise. One undoubt- edly quirky convention adopted is the use of a pair of question marks, in parentheses, to mark the beginning and end of a translated passage in which I consider the degree of uncertainty concerning the text or its interpretation particularly high. The first of the pair is inverted—i.e. “(¿).” In quotations from commentaries, words from the text commented upon are set in bold typeface. Text citations are always from the edition or manuscript listed in the bibliography. In cases in which more than one edition or manuscript is listed, the source is specified. The Tantrasadbh¯ava, referred to frequently, is cited on the basis of the manuscript collation and draft edition gener- ously made available in electronic form by Mark Dyzckowski;91 in the few cases that I have consulted the manuscripts myself and differed in their interpretation, this is indicated.
91Available from the Digital Library of the Muktabodha Indological Research Institute,
early evidence for the cult of yogin¯is: the literary,
sculptural, and epigraphic sources
2.1 introduction: yogin¯is and mother goddesses
A variety of evidence documents what I have described as the ´Saiva Yogin¯ı cult in the early eighth century c.e. It had moreover almost certainly developed ear- lier; but there are difficulties in determining exactly when, for much of early tantric ´Saiva literature has been lost, and little has been dated with precision. For estab- lishing a plausible chronological framework, other types of data are thus crucial. In the present chapter, I review the early evidence available in non-tantric literary sources, and the epigraphic and art historical records. The emphasis is upon pre tenth-century sources, but important evidence from the tenth century and beyond is also reviewed—particularly the temples of yogin¯ıs, with which this chapter ends. In the subsequent chapter, the discussion will turn to tantric texts proper, both ´Saiva and Buddhist, reviewing the background of the Yogin¯ı cult in early tantric literature as well as actual tantras connected with yogin¯ıs. It will be seen that the balance of ev- idence points toward the existence of ´Saiva yogin¯ı traditions in the seventh century— certainly in the eighth—-and suggests that some of the extant Tantric literature was in circulation then as well, including the Brahmay¯amala (hereafter BraY¯a), although not necessarily in the form we have it today. Reaching back into the sixth and then fifth centuries, the evidence becomes increasingly tenuous, but nonetheless remains substantive.
Significant elements of the Yogin¯ı cult considerably predate its development. It has been widely acknowledged that yogin¯ıs have roots in early traditions of Mother goddesses, m¯atr.s or m¯atr.k¯as,1 whose qualities they inherit in no small measure. In seeking a genealogy of the cult of yogin¯ıs, the present chapter hence delves in some detail into the historical development of cults of Mother goddesses.2 A number of art historians and historians of religion have analyzed the textual, archeological, and epigraphic evidence for Indian Mother goddesses, including J. N. Tiwari,3 N. P. Joshi,4 Michael Meister,5 Katherine Harper,6 Shivaji Panikkar,7 and others.8 The present chapter reviews much of the same material, but also brings to bear upon the subject some of the rich evidence available in early tantric literature and the old Skandapur¯an.a, much of which has only recently become available or remains unpublished. The specific aim is to identify with greater precision the relationship of 1Authors of studies on the Mother goddesses have generally preferred the term m¯atr.k¯a, for reasons
unclear to me, possibly following contemporary usage or the usage of later Pur¯an.ic literature. Although both terms occur, ‘m¯atr.’ is far more common in the early sources and in tantric ´Saiva literature, and preferred accordingly in this study. I frequently use the English translation “Mother” or “Mother goddess” in precisely the same sense.
2Other feminine deities feed into the image of the yogin¯ı as well; noteworthy are the yaks.¯ı or yaks.in.¯ı, vidy¯adhar¯ı, and to some extent the apsaras. Perhaps even more significant are ´Siva’s gan.as: a horde or
male deities whose theriomorphic or otherwise bizarre forms, multiplicity, variety, and engagement in activities such as warfare are highly suggestive of yogin¯ıs. The most detailed attempt to trace the early roots of conceptions of yogin¯ıs is that of David G. White, Kiss of the Yogin¯ı: “Tantric Sex” in its South
Asian Contexts, 27–66. I discuss the role of the vidy¯adhar¯ı and to some extent yaks.¯ı later in this chapter,
in the section on the Br.hatkath¯a tradition, but do not otherwise delve in detail into this question; my concern is with the actual emergence of a tantric Yogin¯ı cult, rather than a genealogy of all concepts that went into forming the image of the yogin¯ı.
3Tiwari assembles much textual and other material concerning Mother goddesses in his commend-
able monograph, Goddess Cults in Ancient India: With Special Reference to the First Seven Centuries A.D.
4M¯atr.k¯as: Mothers in Kus.¯an.a Art. Joshi’s monograph offers a comprehensive evaluation of the Kus.¯a-
n.a-period Mother-goddess statuary.
5“Regional Variation in M¯atr.k¯a Conventions.” This important article analyses regional patterns
in the development of Mother-goddess iconography in central and northwestern India, tracing the depiction of the Mothers from their early shrines to the static temple door panels of the ninth century and beyond.
6Iconography of the Saptamatrikas: Seven Hindu Goddesses of Spiritual Transformation. An art historian,
Harper provides a comprehensive study of temples of the Brahmanical Seven Mothers through the seventh century, primarily.
7Saptam¯atr.k¯a Worship and Sculptures: An Iconological Interpretation of Conflicts and Resolutions in the
Storied Br¯ahmanical Icons. Panikkar’s work, published in 1997, carries forward scholarship such as
Harper’s on the Brahmanical cult of Mothers.
8Two works not specifically focused on Mother goddesses but nonetheless highly relevant, partic-
ularly concerning the early period, are the dissertations of Yuko Yokochi (“The Rise of the Warrior Goddess in Ancient India. A Study of the Myth Cycle of Kau´sik¯ı-Vindhyav¯asin¯ı in the Skandapur¯an.a”) and Richard Mann (“The Early Cult of Skanda in North India: From Demon to Divine Son”).
the cult of Mothers to Tantric ´Saivism and emergent traditions of yogin¯ıs.
While Mother goddesses are of considerable antiquity in India and undoubt- edly had non-elite, probably non- ¯Aryan roots, the Yogin¯ı cult appears to presuppose the crystallization of their “classical” Gupta-era form: a set of goddesses called the “Seven Mothers” (saptam¯atr.), six of whom are named after and iconographically mir- ror important Brahmanical gods, joined by a seventh, C¯amun.d.¯a—the independent goddess who is “leader of the Mothers” (m¯atr.n¯ayik¯a). The six normally consist of Brahm¯an.¯ı, M¯ahe´svar¯ı, Kaum¯ar¯ı, Vais.n.av¯ı, V¯ar¯ah¯ı or Y¯am¯ı,9and Indr¯an.¯ı, female coun- terparts of Brahm¯a, ´Siva, Skanda, Vis.n.u, Var¯aha or Yama, and Indra. Their numbers are however sometimes augmented by an eighth goddess, particularly Mah¯alaks.m¯ı, while in tantric ´Saiva sources, they often are joined instead by the supreme goddess herself, Bhairav¯ı, who thus usurps C¯amun.d.¯a’s position.10
Early ´Saiva treatises on “the characteristics of yogin¯ıs” (yogin¯ılaks.an.a)11 classify these goddesses according to clans (kula, gotra) that have the Seven or Eight Mothers as matriarchs, clan mothers in whose natures the yogin¯ıs partake as am.´sas, “por- tions” or “partial manifestations.” Tantric practitioners too establish kinship with the Mothers, leaving behind their conventional clan and caste identities and entering during initiation into what I refer to as ‘initiatory kinship’ with the deities.12 It is possible that the most fundamental initiation man.d.ala of the Yogin¯ı cult comprised 9Probably the most common variation in sets of the Seven Mothers, as described in texts, is the
alternation between Y¯am¯ı/Y¯amy¯a and V¯ar¯ah¯ı, the former a counterpart of the death-god Yama, and the latter of Var¯aha, avat¯ara of Vis.n.u. V¯ar¯ah¯ı dominates, however, in sculpted sets of the Mothers. Further research is needed to determine the significance of these variations. In the BraY¯a, Y¯amy¯a (also called Vaivasvat¯ı) features in all cases of ritual or doctrinal importance, V¯ar¯ah¯ı being mentioned only in sections of the text which might represent a later stratum. See the discussion on the BraY¯a’s structure in chapter 4, and the annotation on BraY¯a ii.16. In contrast, sets of eight m¯atr.s show more variation, both in text and image; see the section in this chapter on post-Gupta era m¯atr. shrines.
10See the discussion of post-Gupta era Mother-goddess shrines later in this chapter. On the Mothers
in tantric literature, see also chapter 3.
11These include Siddhayoge´svar¯ımata 29, BraY¯a lxxiii (edited and translated in the present disserta-
tion), and Tantrasadbh¯avatantra 16.
12A yogin¯ı of the clan of Br¯ahm¯ı/Brahm¯an.¯ı is said to be brahm¯an.yam.´s¯a, “an am.´sa of Brahm¯an.¯ı.”
Cf., e.g., Tantrasadbh¯ava 16.253cd. An initiate too is said to be “connected to” or “possess” (yukta) an
am.´sa of a Mother goddess; cf., e.g., BraY¯a lxxiii.47cd, brahm¯an.¯ıkulaj¯a devi sv¯am.´sasiddhiprad¯ayik¯a (“[She
is] a yogin¯ı of the clan of Brahm¯an.¯ı, O Goddess, who bestows siddhi upon those [s¯adhakas] of her own [Mother-goddess] am.´sa”).
Bhairava in a circle of the Eight Mothers. Note for instance that in the BraY¯a, while the Four Dev¯ıs and Four D ¯ut¯ıs form the primary man.d.ala’s inner circuit (¯avaran.a) of goddesses,13 surrounding Bhairava and Bhairav¯ı/Aghore´s¯ı, the initiatory clans re- main nonetheless those of Bhairava and the Eight Mothers. A concordance in BraY¯a iv provides the Mother-clan names associated with each of the eight Dev¯ıs and D ¯ut¯ıs, as though mapping the man.d.ala positions of the Mother goddesses they supplant.14 Initiatory kinship with the Mothers links male practitioners to the yogin¯ıs, their ini- tiatory sisters, seeking visionary, transactional encounters (mel¯apa) with whom they undertake powerful and radical rituals. Guided by knowledge of “the characteris- tics of yogin¯ıs” (yogin¯ılaks.an.a), as described in ´Saiva scriptural sources, they might also seek out clan sisters living among ordinary folk, looking out for behaviors and appearances associated with the Mother goddesses yogin¯ıs embody:
A woman dark and malodorous, who has a long neck and fingers, [whose] teeth have a very beautiful shine and whose eyes are very round, always fond of red clothing, draping a garment from her shoulders, always fond of scents and flowers . . . These are the characteristics of [yogin¯ıs] born in the clan of [the Mother goddess] Indr¯an.¯ı. After six months of worship, 13On the basic pantheon of the BraY¯a, see the section discussing the epithet nav¯aks.aravidh¯ana in
chapter 4.
14See BraY¯a iv.888–98, especially 890cd–894ab:
rakt¯ay¯as tu yad¯a p¯ato gotram. m¯ahe´svaram. hitam ! 890 ! kar¯al¯ay¯a yad¯a p¯ato brahmagotrah. sa ucyate |
kar¯aly¯ay¯a yad¯a p¯ato vais.n.av¯ıgotrako hi sah. ! 891 ! dantur¯ay¯a yad¯a p¯atah. kaum¯ar¯ıgotrasambhav¯a | can.d.¯aks.y¯ay¯a yad¯a p¯ato vaivasvatikulodbhav¯a ! 892 ! bh¯ımavaktr¯aprap¯atena m¯ahendram. gotram ucyate | mahocchus.m¯aprap¯ate tu carcik¯agotrako hi sah. ! 893 ! mah¯abal¯a yad¯a p¯atah. p¯uran.¯ıgotra ucyate |
891b◦gotrah. ] corr.;◦gotras Bya 892c can.d.¯aks.y¯ay¯a ] em.; can.d.¯aks.¯ay¯a Bya 893b m¯ahendram. gotram ] conj.; m¯ahendragottra (unmetrical) Bya
“When the [flower cast into the man.d.ala during initiation] lands on Rakt¯a, the clan of ´Siva [i.e. M¯ahe´svar¯ı] is enjoined. When it lands upon Kar¯al¯a, he is said to be of the brahm¯a-clan [i.e. the clan of Brahm¯an.¯ı]. When it lands on Kar¯al¯ı, he is of the clan of Vais.n.av¯ı. When it lands on Dantur¯a, she is born of the clan of Kaum¯ar¯ı. When it lands on Can.d.¯aks.¯ı, she is born of the clan of Vaivasvat¯ı [i.e. Y¯am¯ı]. By landing on Bh¯ımavaktr¯a, the clan of the great Indra [i.e. the clan of Indr¯an.¯ı] is enjoined. If it lands on Mahocchus.m¯a, he has the clan of Carcik¯a [i.e. C¯amun.d.¯a]. If its fall [indicates] Mah¯abal¯a, the clan of The One Who Completes [the Mothers] is enjoined [i.e. the clan of Bhairav¯ı].”
The gender shift with the feminine ◦sambhav¯a in 892b and 892b is suspect; most probably read
◦sambhavah.. Subsequent verses give a concordance of the Mother-clans and the Six Yogin¯ıs of the
successfully propitiated, they bestow an encounter (melaka). [The practi- tioner] traverses the entire world, working all [kinds of] wonders.15
Chapters from the BraY¯a concerning the classification of and encounters with yogin¯ıs are included in the critical edition, part ii of the present dissertation.
That Mother goddesses lie in the background of the Yogin¯ı cult is evidenced in a variety of other ways as well. Historical continuity is readily apparent through com- paring textual and sculptural representations, beginning, in the case of the Mothers, with the Mah¯abh¯arata and sculpture from the early centuries c.e. The present chap- ter begins with this early level of evidence, and then shifts to Gupta-era and early post-Gupta era sources. There we find our first glimpses of a tantric cult of Mothers and the emergence of yogin¯ıs as sacred figures. Their mutual association is close: for instance, the old Skandapur¯an.a, a text probably of the sixth or early seventh century (see below), speaks of “Tantras of the Mother Goddesses” (m¯atr.tantras) and identifies these with a list of ´Saiva y¯amalatantras that includes the extant BraY¯a, a fundamental text of the yogin¯ı cult. Examination of period sources helps establish an historical framework for discussion of the Yogin¯ı cult in early tantric literature, the subject of chapter three.