I. Introducción
1.2. Trabajos previos
India, 1064 AD
A fter leaving Atishain the Nyang Valley, Marpa traveled two hundred lawless miles west to Khala Chela Pass. He climbed to its fifteen thousand foot summit, then descended toward India. Nalanda University was four hundred miles beyond.
Tibetans did not go straight there. They had learned not to, the hard way.
Almost no germs live in the cold, thin air of Tibet, so that Tibetans arriving directly in the lowlands had no immunities. Whole expeditions had perished within weeks of arrival on the hot plains.
On his first visit, Marpa had spent three years in Katmandu, which was half way down and temperate. This time Marpa was acclimatized from two previous journeys and in a hurry. He stayed only a few months. An old teacher and friend, Paindapa, agreed to join him. A year after Marpa had left the Lhotrak, Marpa and his companion reached Nalanda University.
Marpa and Paindapa had stayed healthy. But no one at Nalanda could tell them where to find Naropa. Marpa and Paindapa began to travel around, asking whoever they met if they’d seen Naropa. In most places they had heard of the mahasiddha Naropa and his miraculous disappearance. A few pretended to know where he might be, just to be friendly. This sent the pilgrims off in random directions, and saved them the trouble of deciding where to look.
A few months of wandering brought Marpa and Paindapa to an inn in some remote foothills east of Nalanda. Their hosts were enthusiastic. The mahasiddha Naropa had passed through, they told the travelers. He was headed east. Marpa and Paindapa made little of this. Everyone who misdi-rected them was enthusiastic. As a Tibetan, Marpa appreciated optimism.
But Marpa soon wondered if more than optimism was at work. Barely two hours from the inn, the pilgrims walked straight into officers of King Dakoiti. These stopped the pair, and invited them to an audience with the
The Bandit Kingdom
king in his palace. The two were made to understand it would be very unwise to insult the king by refusing this honor.
King Dakoiti had started as a bandit lord. In India, this was not unusual.
Marpa and Paindapa had been assured at the inn that King Dakoiti’s bandit days were long behind him. But to Marpa, it now looked like a set up.
Marpa was carrying a lot of gold for Naropa. They hadn’t told them that at the inn, of course, but everyone knew pilgrims often carried gold. Marpa had a bad feeling when Dakoiti’s officers separated him from Paindapa, the luggage, and the gold.
The audience hall showed that the old bandit chief had done well for himself. It dripped gold leaf and crystal. But his court also showed a lot of sophistication for this corner of India. Dakoiti’s guard, while more than adequate, had the dignity of a king’s retinue, not the swagger of a bandit’s men.
And you couldn’t miss the Lady Devata, Dakoiti’s queen. Very young, she had a beauty which promised to last like a stone carving. She’d dressed the other women of the court in a new style. It was the first time Marpa had seen Indian women wearing upper coverings in a formal setting. Only Devata bared her breasts. Two of the women, apparently Greek, looked at home in their blouses. The shoulders of the others were restless. They had to make a conscious effort to keep their arms at their sides.
The blouses and skirts were so sheer, it did not seem to Marpa to make much difference whether they wore them or not. It had taken him a while to get used to Indian courts. The higher her rank and the more formal the setting, the less an Indian woman wore. Some courts would give audience to a newly arrived Tibetan just to enjoy his openmouthed amazement at the dozens of women wearing only diaphanous skirts and jewelry. “The barbarians of Tibet do not know what women look like” was the saying.
A woman’s real clothing at court was her jewelry. Devata’s was all gold.
On her head was a diadem and large earrings. From her triple necklace, a fourth strand dropped between her breasts, divided over her hips and rejoined at her back. Her arms sported narrow bangles and thick armlets. A belt of three strands held Devata’s skirt. All that gold must have been heavy, but she didn’t seem to mind.
As the king questioned Marpa, Devata kept the silence of one accustomed to being heard when she chose to speak. When she took over the questioning, Marpa thought he recognized the accents of the Pala court. It was clear that she knew far more about Buddhism than anyone else in Dakoiti’s court.
∃
Marpa guessed that this beauty had not been raised among bandits, and did not care to be considered a bandit’s wife.
Satisfied, Devata turned to her husband the king. “This Tibetan is truly a great scholar and yogi. And I’ve heard of his teacher. He was one of the four gatekeepers at the university in Nalanda, but resigned to advance himself even further. Men like these are wish-fulfilling jewels.”
Marpa warmed to the beautiful queen’s praise. “Noble lord and lady, I have vowed that I will search for my teacher. You and all beings will benefit if I have your gracious permission to pass through your kingdom on my way east.”
“You say he has entered the Action?” Queen Devata asked.
“I am assured in Nalanda and Phullahari, by those who knew him, that he has.”
“And so he could appear anywhere.”
“Wherever the karmic connection is right, devout lady.”
“He could appear here, could he not, as easily as on some leech-infested trail?”
Marpa had no answer to this. Devata continued, “We need a high priest.
An accomplished yogi in our court would greatly benefit our subjects.”
The King looked thoughtful. “It would make our court the boast of these hills.”
“Indeed, my generous and loving Lord. And of more than these hills. In the court of my father in Gauda they will speak with envy of such a high priest.”
Marpa’s hunch had been right. The queen was from the great Pala court.
A princess, no less. He began to speak, but the discreet touch of a spear point in his back reminded him that this would be out of protocol. When the king and queen spoke with each other, the rest of the court was to listen.
“My husband and my lord, I feel we should have this holy man for our court. Highness, I beg this of you.”
“Beautiful queen, my concern for this kingdom would force me to grant your request if my love for you did not. Guards! Escort our new high priest to his rooms!”