THE DEMON SEER: RĀHULA AND THE INVERTED MYTHOLOGY OF INDO-TIBETAN BUDDHISM1 CAMERON BAILEY This article will examine how Tibetan Buddhists adapted, and structurally inverted, classical Indian mythological and cosmological paradigms, using the iconography and mythology of the protector deity (Skt. Dharmapāla, Tib. Chos skyong) Rāhula as a case study. I will argue Rāhula is an amalgam figure based mainly on the Indian eclipse asura Rāhu, but also subsumes other Indian deities, in particular Viṣṇu. Rāhula is one of the main protector deities of the Rnying ma school of Tibetan Buddhism, and most of my primary sources are drawn from Rnying ma scriptures, either treasure (gter ma) cycles or tantras from the Rnying ma canon (Rnying ma rgyud ‘bum). I will argue that Rāhula’s mythos is related to, but in key respects distinct from, that of the Rnying ma anti-Buddha Rudra, and that Rāhula’s iconography and origin story collapses the dualistic structures of classical Indian myths, as well as the symbolically polarized myths of the Buddha and Rudra. The Indian Rāhu The name “Rāhu” comes from the Sanskrit root rabh which means “to take hold of, to grasp.” It is very similar in meaning to the root grah “to seize, to grasp,” from which is derived the word graha.2 In early Sanskrit literature the term graha was applied generally to hostile spirits who 1 This article is a condensed version of my unpublished Master’s thesis “The Raven and the Serpent: ‘The Great All-Pervading Rahula’ and Dæˊmonic Buddhism in India and Tibet” (Bailey 2012). I have updated it with further primary and secondary source material and have adapted my conclusions somewhat. I would like to extend my thanks to Ulrike Roesler and Cathy Cantwell in particular for their numerous comments and help with editing this paper. 2 See Monier-Williams 1899: 867. JournaloftheInternationalAssociationofBuddhistStudies Volume 38 ӝ 2015 ӝ 33–72 ӝ doi: 10.2143/JIABS.38.0.3134537 34 CAMERON BAILEY would possess and sicken humans, usually children.3 Later, the term was applied mainly to the planets. Indian astrology, or Jyotisa (“the science of the lights”), generally recognizes nine main planets, the navagraha, which ‘grasp’ the fates of men, controlling (or at least presaging) their karmic destinies. These nine are likely based on Greek and/or Babylonian precedent, and are named Aditya (the Sun), Candra (the Moon), Budha (Mercury), Sukra (Venus), Kuja (Mars), Brhaspati (Jupiter) and Sani (Saturn), and two entities not recognized as actual celestial bodies in Western astronomy, Rahu and Ketu which, technically speaking, refer to the ascending and descending nodes of the moon, respectively.4 Mythologically speaking, the ascending and descending nodes, beginning in Babylonian astrology and cosmology, were envisioned as the head and tail of a cosmic dragon.5 These two beings (or sometimes one, Ketu envisioned as Rahu’s body or tail) are associated with a number of astronomical and meteorological phenomena. Most (in)famously, Rahu as the Lord of Eclipses is said to periodically devour, or ‘grasp,’ the sun and the moon. Eclipses, according to ancient Indian prognostic science, have usually very bad effects on people and conditions on earth generally. The sixth The word graha also denotes states of spirit possession of a distinctly negative or hostile variety (see Smith 2006: 14, 483–484). These grasper spirits, especially female grahīs, are said to particularly adversely affect children (grahapīda). For example, in the days, months, and years after a child’s birth, it is believed that particular grahīs will cause the newborn various kinds of diseases and afflictions which may kill him or her. For example: “On the second night after the birth of the child [a] female planet called Bhīsanī attacks it. Symptoms of the attack are coughing, deep breath and the shrinking of bodily organs,” (Mani [1975] 2010: 297). Fortunately, there are various remedies and rituals that the parents or other caretakers can use in order to ward off these attacks. Furthermore, in some contexts, female grahīdemonesses are considered the primary cause of disease. In certain Puranas a demon by the name of Grahi is considered the main cause of disease, destruction, and death (O’Flaherty 1976: 170). 4 The apparent orbital plane of the sun as it travels through the sky is called the ecliptic. When the moon crosses the ecliptic moving toward galactic north, this is referred to as the ascending node, and when it crosses back again moving to the galactic south, this is the descending node. 5 For more on Babylonian and Greek precedents to Indian astrology, see Beinorius 2008 and Pingree 1997. The ascending and descending nodes were known in Europe as CaputDraconisand CaudaDraconis,the head and tail of the dragon, respectively (Sanders 2011: 2). 3 THE DEMON SEER 35 century Brhatsaṃhita, which is a comprehensive guidebook to various astronomical and meteorological signs and portents, written by the court astrologer of Ujjain, Varahamihira (505–587 CE), records a number of negative omens related to Rāhu’s influence. Eclipses are considered to be one instance of so-called “planetary warfare” (grahayuddha), in which certain planets that are considered hostile to each other come into conflict. In chapter five of the Brhatsaṃhita, Varahamihira gives fairly extensive descriptions of different kinds of eclipses, based on how they initially enter the solar or lunar discs, what color they appear to be during the eclipse, and how the shadow begins to exit the disc once the eclipse ends. There are, Varahamihira explains, ten different kinds of eclipses based on how, and from which direction, the shadow enters the disc. Each different type of eclipse causes different effects on earth and specifically affects different groups or castes of people. Other details are also important for predicting the outcome of a particular eclipse, such as which zodiac sign the luminary is in when it is being eclipsed. Most of the potential effects are overwhelmingly negative and include, but are not limited to, floods, earthquakes, and famine. Eclipses are also regarded as particularly bad omens for kings, presaging their death.6 The earliest mythological account of the eclipse demon’s origin appears in the great Indian epic, the Mahabharata, and is further elaborated or retold in later puranic literature, such as the Bhagavata-, Brahmanda-, Skandha-, Siva-, Visnu-, Agni-, and Padmapurana.7 According to one version of the story Rāhu was born the son (or grandson) of the seer Kasyapa, one of the first people created directly by the demiurge deity Brahma (sometimes the seer is the grandson of Brahma), and the giantess Siṃhika.8 Siṃhika is said to have angered her husband when she asked for a child at the wrong time, and consequently gave birth to a son “who was dreadful like the God of Death.” As a child, Rahu is said to have gotten into a fight with a son of Aditi, the wife of Kasyapa who produced 6 See chapter five of the VVBS. For various puranicstories about Rahu, see Dimmitt and van Buitenen, eds. 1978: 46; O’Flaherty [1973] 1981: 281, 370, n. 172; Beer 1999: 69; and Mani [1975] 2010: 456, 500. 8 In Vedic mythology, Kasyapa and his thirteen wives are considered to be the progenitors of all living beings, each wife acting as the mother to a different type of being. 7 36 CAMERON BAILEY the devas, and lost. Embarrassed and angered by this humiliation, Rahu undertook severe austerities in the Himalayan Mountains for many thousands of years. When Brahma appeared before him to grant him a boon for his penance, Rahu asked to be granted immortality, to be made a planet, to have victory over the devas, and to be able to devour the sun and moon. Brahma had no choice but to grant him these wishes, but as is usually the case in these stories, the gods found a loophole in the ‘contract,’ and Visnu cut off Rahu’s head with his cakra weapon, making sure that, even though Rahu could swallow the sun and moon, they would quickly re-emerge from his severed neck. After beheading him thus, Visnu spoke to Rahu, telling him: “In your respective periods you may devour the two luminaries and thereby indicate the good and bad things in the world.”9 Rahu’s periodic, though ultimately fruitless, attempts to swallow the sun and moon are called, respectively, Sūryagrahaṇa (solar eclipse) and Candragrahaṇa (lunar eclipse).10 The most famous myth of Rāhu’s origin, however, is originally found in the Mahabharata, and is part of arguably the most well-known Hindu creation myth, the so-called “churning of the milky ocean”. This story, and Rāhu’s role in it, is succinctly summarized in the Viśeṣastavaṭīkā, a Buddhist text that appears in the Tibetan Bstan ’gyur: The gods churned the mighty ocean of milk until ambrosia appeared. However, it was stolen by the asura Rāhu, who began to use it. Visnu thought, “If he drinks it, even the gods will not be able to defeat him.” So with his mighty weapon wheel, he cut off Rāhu’s head, and the gods retrieved the nectar. However, some of the nectar had reached Rāhu’s throat, and although the body below his throat was dead, he was still alive, and he set off to wreak havoc among gods and men. From that time onward, he has eclipsed the sun and moon that light up the three worlds.11 Indian Buddhist scriptures, from the earliest period, have their own myths describing Rāhu’s cosmological importance and the origin of his eclipse-causing behavior. In early nikāya and Mahāyāna sūtras Rahu is 9 Bhat 1981: 42–43. For more details of Rāhu’s origins and genealogy, see Bhattacharyya 2000: 102–103 and Mani [1975] 2010: 500, 718. 11 Quoted from Desi Sangyé Gyatso 2010: 52. Contained in the Sde dge Bstan’gyur vol. 1, fol. 13a6. For a more detailed telling of this myth see O’Flaherty 1975: 277–278. 10 THE DEMON SEER 37 consistently mentioned as one of the most powerful lords of the asuras, second only to the supreme king of the asuras Vemacitrin, whom Rahu flees to for refuge when chased away from the moon and sun by the command of the Buddha in the Candima- and Suriyasutta of the Samyuttanikaya, respectively.12 Buddhaghosa, the renowned fifth century Theravadin monk-scholar, in his commentary on the Dīghanikaya tells a story of how Rahu, who was originally hostile to the Buddhist cause, was converted when the Buddha expanded his size, making Rahu seem a dwarf by comparison. Here, Rahu is described as being 4800 yojanas (“leagues”) tall, so tall that the deepest ocean only comes up to his knees.13 Descriptions of Rahu with ‘knees’ are unusual. Commonly in Indian sculptural and painted art Rahu is depicted as simply a disembodied demonic head, sometimes sitting on the back of a vāhana animal.14 Occasionally he is depicted as a head along with two disembodied hands with which he grips the sun and moon, and in other cases he is shown with a full therianthropic body with a humanoid head, arms, and torso, and a coiled snake tail.15 12 See SN pp. 50–51. Both Rahu and Vemacitrin are here called “lord of the asuras.” Vemacitrin is consistently depicted as Śakra’s (Indra’s) arch-enemy in several early Buddhist sutrasand other Buddhist literature. It is interesting that both figures are referred to as “lord of the asuras” when Rahu is clearly Vemacitrin’s subordinate. Rahu might be understood here to be acting in the capacity of Vemacitrin’s general or steward, in much the same way he is often depicted in puranicliterature as being the messenger or subordinate to a greater asuralord such as Jalandhara. For more on Vemacitrin and his conflicts with Śakra in Buddhist sutras, sutric commentary, and jataka stories, see Bhattacharyya 2000: 64–65. In a commentary on the Samyuttanikaya,Vemacitrin, Rahu, and another figure named Praharada are described as being the three main asuralords (Bhattacharyya 2000: 66). 13 Bhattacharyya 2000: 65–66. Bhattacharyya mentions that Rahu is identified as one of five causes of drought, similar to the ill effects attributed to the eclipse in the Brhatsaṃhita. Also, Rahu has several other names, including Rahubhadda and Veroca (a.k.a. Vairocana), who would become deified in Mahayana Buddhism as a cosmic buddha. Thus it seems that Rahu was one of the popular, trans-local Indian deities that early Buddhists actively worked to “[assemble] from across vast distances only to represent [them]...in positions of secondary importance...making a bold statement that challenged the very foundations of spirit-deity worship in India” (DeCaroli 2004: 76). 14 See Pingree 1989: 13. 15 See Pingree 1989: 6 for a description of a basrelief depiction of the planets found at the ruins of the Buddhist monastery at Vikramasīla in north India. Here, Rahu is depicted as having a full body, with the lower body of a snake. 38 CAMERON BAILEY Despite this draconic image, the image of Rahu best known in Indian (and Tibetan) poetry is simply that of the eclipsed sun or moon. In this capacity, Indian and (later) Tibetan poets consistently used the eclipse of Rahu as a powerful metaphorical trope, usually illustrating darkness, obscurity, obstacles, or general inauspiciousness. Various early life stories of the Buddha, however, including those found in the Vinaya of the Mulasarvastivadins seem to turn this trope on its head, with eclipses heralding the pivotal moments in the Buddha’s life. For instance, in Canto II of Asvaghosa’s Buddhacarita, Siddhārtha’s son is described as being born during an eclipse, and is consequently named “Rahula” or “the foe of Rahu,” because his face resembles the moon, which is here identified as the enemy of Rahu.16 The Buddha’s son is the first, but not the last, figure in Buddhist history and legend to bear the name “foe of Rahu.” Additionally, and more significantly, according to some versions of the Buddha’s life story, an eclipse also heralds Siddhartha’s renunciation as well as his enlightenment.17 One Tibetan account of the Buddha’s awakening makes the symbolic association with the eclipse explicit: As midnight passed, the indestructible reality [of the Buddha’s mind] became absorbed in contemplation and the moon was eclipsed by Rahu. A moment before the moon was released from Rahu’s grasp, as the dawn rose and the time approached to beat the victory drum, he became the manifestly perfect Buddha.18 A sign of malignancy is, in this case, distinctly (and even supremely) positive, heralding the Buddha’s victory over Mara’s realm.19 The question is, why would Buddhist authors use the trope of the eclipse in this way? 16 See Olivelle 2008: 51. The main Indian source for this tradition seems to be the MulasarvastivadinVinaya. See Strong [2002] 2008: 14. See also Roerich [1949] 1976: 20 for a Tibetan account of this event. 18 Dudjom Rinpoche and Gyurme Dorje 1991: 946. 19 There is also a relatively early legend associated with the paradigmatic Buddhist king Asoka in which an eclipse is regarded as a positive omen, though it is caused not by Rahu, but by the arhatYasas who, on an order from Asoka, eclipses the sun as a signal to yaksasall across India to simultaneously build 84,000 stupas in one day (Strong 1989: 115–116). 17 THE DEMON SEER Figure 1: Rahu. Made of stone (schist). Thirteenth century, Orissa, India. The British Museum (1951,0720.2AN170839). © Trustees of the British Museum. 39 40 CAMERON BAILEY One possible answer may relate to the Buddha’s association with the concept of the cakravartin (“universal ruler”). It is said that, at his birth, brahmin priests foretold that Siddhārtha would either become a great, world-conquering king, or a Buddha. As we have seen from the Brhatsaṃhita, eclipses were generally thought to be distinctly bad omens, especially for kings (often auguring their death). Thus we might perhaps understand the eclipses during the bodhisattva’s flight from the palace, and during his enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree, as signaling the ‘death’ of the possibility of Siddhārtha’s cakravartin-hood, and worldly power. Cosmic order is disrupted during an eclipse, thus making it a potent, and appropriate, symbol for the Buddha’s transcendence of saṃsāra. The Tantric Rāhu One of the most immediately striking features of the pan-Indian tantric movements that emerged in the late first millennium CE was the ritual and iconographic focus on ‘charnel ground culture’ and the valorization of wrathful, demonic beings and the fierce aspects of deities. Dangerous, potentially harmful beings that had been previously kept at the margins of Indian religion were now, in many cases, made the centerpieces of worship. Rahu was one such deity, and the association between Rahu’s eclipse and the Buddha’s enlightenment would end up being literalized in the correlative astrology, cosmology, and subtle-body soteriology of the last major Indian Buddhist scripture, the Kalacakratantra, and its related commentaries. According to the Kalacakra system, the four most important planets are the sun, moon, Rahu, and Kalagni.20 The first three are associated specifically with the three most important channels in the subtle-body, namely the lalana, rasana, and avadhuti nadīs. The lalana and rasana are in other tantras associated with the moon and sun (on the left and right sides of the body) respectively. To my knowledge, however, only in the Kalacakra is Rahu associated with the central channel, practically 20 Kalagni, which literally means “The fire [at the end of] time,” is another name for Ketu, usually understood to be Rahu’s tail. THE DEMON SEER 41 and soteriologically the most important element of the subtle body. 21 In tantric subtle body practice, the yogin is enjoined to control the “vital breath” by arresting its motion in the left and right (moon and sun) channels and moving it into the central, or Rahu, channel (also referred to in the Kalacakra as “the Darkness,” and envisioned as black, invoking the image of an eclipse).22 This practice thus symbolically mirrors an eclipse; the internal Rahu channel devours the vital essence of the sun and moon channels as the external planetary Rahu devours the cosmic sun and moon. In other words, the yogic attainment of Buddhahood is associated with the (usually malignant) astrological portent, or is literalized as the ‘inner version’ of an eclipse.23 Furthermore, elsewhere in the Kalacakra cycle, Rahu is specifically associated with the meditator’s transmigratory consciousness, while the sun and moon are associated with uterine blood and semen respectively. All three elements are understood to come together at birth to form the body-mind complex of a person.24 Thus the Kalacakratantra and its commentarial literature valorizes Rahu, associating him, in purified form, with the enlightened mind. This can be understood, on one level, as a unique example of the broader Buddhist tantric project of upending the traditional Hindu, or Vedic, pantheon and cosmology. Rahu stands alongside the likes of Vairocana and Sambara (another name for Vemacitrin25 who was later deified as Cakrasamvara)26 as traditional Indian demonic figures apotheosized in Buddhism. This literary and mythological phenomenon was concomitant with the demonization of the Hindu gods, most explicitly in the case of Maheśvara (a.k.a. Rudra or Bhairava).27 21 Kalagni is associated with the saṅkhini channel, which is the “tail” of the central channel that extends below the navel (Kilty 2009: 147). 22 Lesco 2009: 62. 23 Rāhu as a metaphor for accomplishment in yogicpractice is succinctly and poetically described in Abhayadatta’s Caturaśītisiddhapravṛtti(TheLivesoftheEighty-FourSiddhas) in the section on the siddhaRāhula (no direct relation to the Buddha’s son or the Tibetan deity), whose name Robinson translates as “He Who Has Grasped Rāhu.” After Rāhula practices on his guru’s instructions diligently, it is said “the moon of holding to duality was entirely devoured by the Rāhu of non-duality” (Abhayadatta 1979: 165). 24 Wallace 2001: 194. 25 Bhattacharyya 2000: 65. 26 Davidson 2002: 214. 27 Davidson 1991. 42 CAMERON BAILEY However, in the case of Rāhu and the Kalacakra, the valorization has less to do with Rāhu the mythological figure, but is instead related to his (outer and inner) cosmological role. Unlike Vairocana and Sambara, Rāhu, as a deity, never became the central focus of cultic worship in Indian tantric Buddhism. At best he appears as a retinue figure in the maṇḍala of a more important deity, for instance as Vajrarāhu in the maṇḍala of Mahāvairocana in the Sarvadurgatiparisodhanatantra, and elsewhere in the maṇḍala of Bhūtadamara Vajrapāṇi.28 In the Sadhanamala he appears as the charioteer of the astrological goddess Marīcī.29 In other tantric contexts, such as chapter eight of the Cakrasamvaratantra, Rāhu is mentioned as one among many potential spirit familiars with which an accomplished yogin can cause harm.30 This ‘black magic’ aspect of Rāhu would presage how he would go on to develop in the Tibetan cultural sphere. From Rāhu to the Tibetan Rāhula Since Rāhu was such a fixture of Indian cosmology and astrology and a relatively common tantric retinue deity, determining how and with what scripture Rāhu was first introduced into Tibet is difficult. Sørensen, citing Newman, argues that Rāhu was first introduced to the Tibetans via the Kalacakratantra, which is traditionally said to have been translated into Tibetan in 1027.31 I find this highly unlikely, given the appearance of Rāhu in the Sarvadurgatiparisodhanatantra. The Sarvadurgatiparisodhana was first translated in Tibet during the imperial period, sometime in the eighth century, and only became more established as a key funerary text as the centuries progressed.32 Thus, Tibetans certainly knew of Rāhu at least two centuries before the translation of the Kalacakra.33 28 Chandra 1999: 2774–2775, Bhattacharyya [1925] 1968. Sadhanamala section 134 (see Bhattacharyya [1925] 1968). Elsewhere in the Sadhanamala(sections 171, 172) Rāhu is depicted along with Kurukulla and Kamadeva as a trinity of deities associated with grasping and attachment. 30 Gray 2007: 200, n. 16. 31 See Sørensen 2000: 168 and Newman 1987: 433–435. For the dating of the Tibetan translation of the Kalacakratantra see Davidson 2005: 43 and Stearns 2010: 327, n. 98. 32 See Skorupski 1983, Bjerken 2005, and van der Kuijp 1992. 33 However, given the probable influence of Kalacakrathought on Rnying ma rdzogs chen(“Great Perfection”), of which Rāhula is considered a primary protector deity (see 29 THE DEMON SEER 43 Even more problematic in Sørensen’s analysis is his conflation of Rāhu and Rāhula as if they are one and the same deity.34 They are not, though they are related and continuous. Rāhula means “grasper of Rāhu,”35 and though the two names are occasionally used interchangeably in Tibetan texts, Rāhula subsumes the earlier deity. The name Rāhula is transliterated in Tibetan script as “Ra hu la,” but this same deity is often given the Tibetan name Khyab ’jug chen po, which translates as “the Great All-Pervading One.” This is the Tibetan translation of the Sanskrit Mahāviṣṇu. Indeed, the Tibetan name given to Viṣṇu, outside the context of anything related to Rāhu, is Khyab ’jug. Recall that, in the Mahābhārata myth, Viṣṇu defeats Rāhu and is thus “Rāhula,” Rāhu’s conqueror. Therefore, based simply on an etymological examination of Rāhula’s Tibetan name, it would appear that he is actually a Tibetan form of Viṣṇu.36 In appearance, however, the traditional Tibetan depiction of Rāhula has more in common with the form of Rāhu than Viṣṇu.37 In most Tibetan contexts, in texts or art, Rāhula is depicted as having a humanoid upper body and a snake tail, just as in some of his Indian depictions. The similarities largely stop there, however. The Indian Rāhu is only ever shown with one head, while Rāhula generally has nine, stacked in three rows of three, crowned by a miniature crow or raven head. According to Nebesky-Wojkowitz the three levels of the main heads represent Rāhula’s below), it is possible that Rāhu’s expanded role in the Kalacakrawas a source of inspiration for the Tibetan Rnying ma cult of Rāhula. See Hatchell 2014 for more on the influence of the Kalacakraon rdzogschen. 34 Sanders (2011) also incorrectly conflates the two. 35 Also rendered literally in Tibetan as Sgra gcan ’dzin. 36 Viṣṇu, it should be noted, also appears in the Mahāvairocanamaṇḍalaof theSarvadurgatiparisodhana,and thus may have been textually introduced into Tibet at the same time as Rāhu. In later texts, a deity named Rgod gza’ Bishnu Ra dza (“Savage Planet King Viṣṇu”) is identified as one of the retinue deities, or main emanated forms of, Rāhula (see DCTS p. 282). This is probably the same deity as “Byi nu rāja” or “Binuraja” whom Nebesky-Wojkowitz ([1959] 1996: 261) identifies as one of Rāhula’s emanated retinue deities. 37 However, it is a fixture of tantric subjugation narratives that the subjugating deity takes on the form of whatever demon he conquers. The best example of this in the Buddhist context is the myth of Rudra’s subjugation (see below), in which Heruka, the wrathful form of the Buddha, becomes identical in appearance to Rudra in order to defeat him. 44 CAMERON BAILEY control over the three levels of Tibetan cosmology and their spirit inhabitants. According to [one] source the three lowest heads of Rahu have the darkgreen faces of the gshinrje [death lords, minions of Yama]: their nine very angry looking eyes are cast downward. The middle row of the three heads has the blue-red faces of the bdud [maras], and their nine blood-shot eyes look into the space lying between the earth and the sky. The three uppermost heads have the faces of the lha type [devas]; one of them is green, the other red, and the third white. Their nine peaceful-looking eyes are turned skyward.38 The nine main heads are also explained as representing the nine planets in Indo-Tibetan astrology/cosmology.39 Thus Rāhula subsumes all the graha (Tib. gza’), including Rāhu, which is reminiscent of certain Hindu explanations that the planets are aspects of Viṣṇu’s incarnations.40 According to Sanders’ analysis of a Rnying ma rgyud ‘bum scripture devoted to Rāhula, the nine heads represent nine different aspects of Rāhula, each of which causes different catastrophic effects in the world. There is Vitripatra, who sends down violent hailstorms; Drang srong, who causes hail and thunderbolts; Sgra gcan ’dzin, who cuts the life-force of beings; Du ba mjug ring, who causes anxiety and the collapse of social order; Khyab ’jug chen po, who sends down gods and demons who cause misfortune; Bi nu ra ja, who causes sudden war; Caraka, who causes unexpected violence; Ljang sngon drag po, who also causes thunderbolts and hail; and finally the head of the black raven (Bdud po rog ti), who is the worst of all, causing earthquakes, bitter cold, the destruction of harvests, famine, and any other havoc and illness.41 38 Nebesky-Wojkowitz [1959] 1996: 260. Ven. Lama Rin chen Phun tshogs, personal communication, 11/28/2011. 40 For instance, this is explained in the Bṛhatpārāśarahorāśāstra, a seventh-to-eighth century astrological treatise (BPH). 41 Sanders 2011: 14 (my thanks to Lucia Galli for providing Italian translation assistance on this passage). See below for a fuller description of the source text, TheBlackNail Tantra, from the Rnyingmargyud’bumfrom which Sanders drew this information. See Table 1 for a full description of the retinue deities, also taking information provided by Nebesky-Wojkowitz ([1959] 1996: 261) and the DCTS (p. 282) into account. 39 THE DEMON SEER Direction Color Implements: Right Hand East Smokecolored Tiger-headed Makaraheaded banner banner War Speech South Dark yellow Snake-snare Banner Gods and demons of misfortune Ljang sngon drag po Mind West Dark green Snare Chain Thunder and hail Bdud po rog ti Activity North Dark blue Snake-snare Demon-snare Earthquakes, cold, famine, and disease Drang srong Activity Southeast Pale yellow Snake-snare Trident Thunder and hail Vitripatra Activity Southwest Red Snake Razor Hail Du ba jug ring Activity Northwest Dark blue Razor Skull-cup Anxiety and social collapse Sgra gcan ’dzin Activity Northeast Smokecolored Banner Flogging board Cuts life-force Caraka Quality N/A N/A N/A N/A Violence Name Emanation 45 Viṣṇu Rāja Body Khyab ’jug chen po Implements: Calamity Left Hand Table 1: Rāhula’s aspects/retinue deities according to the DCTS, NZNG, and Nebesky-Wojkowitz [1959] 1996. Rāhula is also commonly depicted with a face in his belly, and this is harder to explain, though it could be a remnant of Indian depictions of Rāhu as simply a disembodied head. The raven or crow head (which may or may not be counted as one of Rāhula’s nine main heads) is also somewhat puzzling,42 though I find it likely that this draws mainly on a very old Chinese symbolic association between the crow and the sun. There is an ancient Chinese myth which tells that originally there were ten suns, each carried across the sky by a different crow. One day, the ten suns 42 Laufer (1914: 45–46) has argued that the raven may, in certain contexts at least, be a mythological transformation of the Indian garuḍa bird, which is Viṣṇu’s vāhanaanimal, though I find this fairly unconvincing given that the Tibetans have a clear parallel to the garuḍa in the ’khyung“eagle”. 46 CAMERON BAILEY rose all together causing everything on earth to begin to burn up until the hero Yi shot down and killed all but one of the crows.43 The number ten is particularly interesting here because Rāhula, in his standard iconography, technically has a total of ten heads, counting the raven or crow head at the crown.44 It is certain that Tibetans were at least partially familiar with the Chinese mythology connecting a crow with the sun because Tibetan artists sometimes use the Chinese symbolic convention of representing the sun with a three-legged crow.45 Furthermore, one of Rāhula’s many epithets (and possibly his original name) is “Ki kang” which is apparently a Chinese term referring to his crow head (see below). Thus the Tibetan deity combines a number of elements not just from Indic mythology, but likely Chinese mythology as well. It should also be noted here that there appears to be a broad cross-cultural association between ravens and/or crows with eclipses,46 and the raven is also considered a messenger animal of the ubiquitous Tibetan Buddhist protector Mahākāla, who has a raven-headed form. Mahākāla is the patron deity of Bhutan, which is reflected in the Bhutanese monarchy’s raven-headed crown still used to this day.47 Rāhula is also usually depicted with four arms to Rāhu’s two, and his body is covered in eyes.48 The eyes are possibly the result of conflation 43 Yang and An 2005: 95–96. Recall that Varahamihira identifies ten different types of eclipses. 45 Beer 2003: 81. 46 Interestingly, a raven head is also associated with eclipses in Western alchemy. Both are symbols of the “nigredo” or putrefaction phase of the alchemical “magnum opus.” This stage of absolute physical and spiritual darkness was said to represent the dwelling place of the Devil and, paradoxically, the beginning of the ascent to God (see Sax 2003: 79). Sax also notes a Siberian myth in which “Raven Man” swallows the sun and a Japanese story in which a crow prevents a cosmic monster from swallowing the sun (Sax 2003: 83). 47 See Aris [1994] 2005. 48 Fabian Sanders has argued that the eyes covering Rāhula’s body may be related to his common epithet Drang srong chen po, which can be translated as “great seer,” although the Sanskrit word rṣi(which is translated by the term drangsrong) has nothing to do with seeing as such (my thanks to Ulrike Roesler for pointing this out).Sanders also argues his interpretation is further supported by the fact that Rāhu’s astrological symbol is an eye (Sanders 2011: 2), but this is incorrect. In Tibetan astrology, Rāhu is symbolized by a raven’s head, while the eye represents Mars whose Tibetan name is migdmar, literally “red eye” (see Cornu 1997: 144). 44 THE DEMON SEER 47 with other deities from the Hindu pantheon, likely Indra and/or Varuṇa. The latter is associated with the nighttime stars which are described as Varuṇa’s thousand eyes “thought to be the ‘spies’ (spasa) of the secretive and angry judge whose punitive weapons are the subtle ‘magic’ of tortured conscience, disease, and sudden death.”49 Rāhula (and Rāhu) is also said to cause sudden disease and death, particularly with brain diseases like stroke and epilepsy (called “planetary disease”) which are particularly associated with the planets in India and Tibet. Indra is also said to possess a thousand eyes all over his body, just as in the Tibetan depictions of Rāhula.50 Furthermore, Indra (and Varuṇa) in Vedic myth is a sky-god, particularly associated with controlling the weather. Rahula is effectively a sky-god (in the Tibetan context) and is probably the foremost weather-making deity. Indra is also associated with rainbows (which are called “Indra’s bow” or indradhanus), and Rahu, too, was thought to cause certain kinds of rainbows during the period of an eclipse at least as far back as the Brhatsaṃhita, and in Tibetan texts Rahula is also credited with causing rainbows.51 Furthermore, the primary weapon of Rahula is 49 See Sutherland 1991: 77–78. There are multiple stories explaining how Indra got these eyes. In one version, he finds his two eyes insufficient for enjoying the beauty of the celestial nymph Tilottama, and consequently multiplies his eyes (Mani [1975] 2010: 789). In another version of the story, Indra is cursed by the seer Gautama for having intercourse with his wife Ahalya, and a thousand vulvae appear all over Indra’s body. Gautama eventually shows mercy, however, and cures Indra’s humiliating appearance, transforming the vulvae into eyes instead (Feller 2004: 146–147). 51 See for instance DCTS p. 295. The association of Rahula with Indra may have a very old Indian precedent, as there is early textual evidence from the Atharvavedasamhita linking Rahu with Vṛtra, the cosmic serpent of darkness, whom Indra famously slays (Smith 2006: 484). There is also mention of an eclipse asura in the Ṛgveda, which Indra is also credited with killing, though here the demon’s name is Svarbhanu (see Bhattacharyya 2000: 49). It may be that the Mahābharata story of Rahu’s decapitation is a later elaboration of the Vedic myths of Vṛtra’s and/or Svarbhanu’s defeat, with Viṣṇu taking Indra’s role as cosmic sovereign and protector, in which case the Tibetan Rahula could be regarded as a tantric form of Indra as well as Viṣṇu. Interestingly, Viṣṇu is, at least in one telling of the story, credited with pursuing Rahu with the vajra weapon made from the bones of the seer Dadhici, which is what Indra is supposed to have used to kill Vṛtra. Thus there seems to be significant “mythological contagion” (for more on this term see Aptilon 2011) between Viṣṇu and Indra on the one hand, and Rahu and Vṛtra on the other, all four of which seem to have become merged together in the figure of Rahula. Rahula’s serpentine aspect may also be related to Śeṣanāga, the cosmic serpent servant of Viṣṇu. 50 48 CAMERON BAILEY a bow and arrow. In Rahula’s other two hands he usually holds a snake lasso and a makara-headed banner, reminiscent of Varuṇa’s noose and his vāhana, the makara. The lasso likely refers to the ‘grasping’ quality of the planets, and the banner symbolizes Rāhula’s status as one of the thirty generals with command over the dregs pa, or haughty, worldly spirits propitiated in the “worldly deities offering and praise” (’Jig rten mchod bstod) section of the eight-fold Rnying ma pa Mahayoga canon.52 The first Tibetan textual attestation to “Rāhula” of which I am aware is a gser skyems (“golden libation”) offering ritual to such worldly deities, in a text attributed to Gnubs chen Sangs rgyas ye shes (c. ninth–tenth century).53 This text is largely just a list of protector deities whom the performer of the ritual is meant to invoke during the propitiatory offering. Dan Martin has also argued that Gnubs chen was the original ‘discoverer’ of a cycle of black magic rituals called Yang bzlog me’i spu gri (Fiery Razor of [Magical] Redeflection), which was rediscovered by Dum pa rgya Zhang khrom (b. 1016), passed down to Gnubs chung Yon tan rgya mtsho (c. tenth–eleventh century), and then on to Mi las ras pa (1052– 1135).54 Mi las ras pa famously used the Yang bzlog rituals taught to him by Gnubs chung to invoke Gza’ gdong mar nag (the dark red-faced planet), seemingly an alternate name for or form of Rāhula,55 in order to 52 Chandra 1999: 2778, Kaschewsky and Tsering 1998: 98–99. Entitled Sdebrgyadbcosthabsgnubssangsrgyasyesheskyismdzadpa (“[Golden Libation Offering,] the Remedy (for disturbances of) the Eight Classes by Gnubs chen Sangs rgyas Ye shes”). I am indebted to Cathy Cantwell for informing me of this text and providing me with her unpublished translation of it. Regarding other possible early sources for the cult of Rahula, to my knowledge there is no mention of Rahu or Rahula in any Dunhuang text. Sam van Schaik has informed me he is not aware of any such text either (electronic communication 5/26/2015). 54 See Martin 1982, especially pp. 66–67, n. 31. Gnubs chen is a controversial figure, regarded by later Rnying ma pa with reverence as a defender and maintainer of Buddhism in Tibet during the ‘dark age’ of the tenth century, and as a corrupter of true Buddhism by certain Gsar ma writers. Both sides, however, agree that he was particularly adept at black magic. Gnubs chen is the first recorded ‘discoverer’ of texts associated with Rāhula, as attested in the polemical writings of Gsar ma authors who accused Gnubs chen of essentially making things up (see Dalton 2014: 150). Thus, it is tempting to speculate that Rāhula originated with Gnubs chen, and was an all-encompassing weaponized planetary deity built to suit Gnubs chen’s black magic needs. However, we need further evidence before this can be concluded. 55 Martin argues the maroon, or “red-black”-faced planet refers to the color of an eclipse, which can often have a reddish tinge. 53 THE DEMON SEER 49 Figure 2: Rahula mural at Bstan rgyas gling Monastery in Lhasa. Photo courtesy of Christopher Bell (2007). massacre the wedding party of his antagonist relatives by collapsing the house in which they were staying.56 Later, Mi las ras pa is shown to be particularly adept at calling hailstorms down on his enemies, presumably with the help of Rāhula, who is generally associated with bad weather, particularly hailstorms.57 56 See Tsangnyön Heruka 2010: 32ff. This seems to continue the Indic tradition, recorded in the Brhatsaṃhita,of associating eclipses with bad weather. 57 50 CAMERON BAILEY The Fiery Razor of [Magical] Redeflection ritual was eventually passed down to the head of the ’Bri gung Bka’ brgyud lineage, Rig ’dzin Chos kyi grags pa (1595–1659) in the early seventeenth century.58 Chos kyi grags pa’s predecessor in the line of ’Bri gung lineage holders, Rgyal dbang Rin chen phun tshogs (1509–1557), who was himself a treasure revealer, is said to have used gza’ sorcery (possibly from the same Razor cycle) to kill multiple throne holders of the Dge lugs Dga’ ldan monastery, forcing the Dge lugs pa to employ protective gza’ charms to stop the slaughter.59 Further, Chos kyi grags pa is said to have spread the Redeflection teachings “under the personal guidance of Yamantaka.”60 He also collated a series of gza’ rituals into a text entitled A Sequence of Ritual Acts of the Razor of the Poisonous Planetary Demon, the Vajra which Suppresses the Enemies of the Doctrine (Gza’ bdud dug gi spu gri’i las byang ngag sgrig bstan dgra ’joms pa’i rdo rje), which is sixty-four pages long in his Collected Works. Along with this is another text entitled the Sequence of Ritual Acts of the Wind Maṇḍala of the Planetary Demon (Gza’ bdud kyi rlung gi ’khor lo’i las byang. A “Wind Mandala” is also associated with Rahu in the Sadhanamala (sādhanas 137, 142, and 146).61 In any case, this ritual is a ten-page liturgical invocation and visualization of the deity in which Rahula is treated effectively as a meditational (yi dam) deity (in fact, the practitioner is enjoined to view Rahula as inseparable from his meditational deity), but the main goal of the practice is not to attain enlightenment, but to placate the deity with various offering substances and exhort him to destroy the enemies of Buddhism (the two goals of the practice are interrelated since the offering substances are, in large part, the dismembered pieces and bodily fluids of enemies). The ritual begins with visualizing Rahula emerging from a massive black cloud: In the center of a raging [storm] of hot and cold appears a dense black cloud, swirling like a blizzard of thunder, lightning, and hail... In the center 58 For a full transmission record of the Yangbzlogme’ispugriup to the seventeenth century see the Fifth Dalai Lama’s gsanyig, NBGB vol. 3, pp. 47.1–61.1. 59 See Sørensen 2000: 169, n. 5; and Dudjom Rinpoche and Gyurme Dorje 1991: 681. 60 This is according to ’Jam mgon kong sprul (1813–1899), as quoted by Martin (1982: 57). 61 In the Sadhanamala this is called the vāyumandala (Vāyu being the Hindu windgod) or the vayavyamandala (vayavya “related to the wind” also being the northwest direction presided over by Vāyu in Indian cosmology). THE DEMON SEER 51 [of this] resounds an unbearable, raging voice of booming thunder... On top of a cushion of [the bodies of] arrogant male and female rudras, suddenly appears the Supreme Gza’, Heruka Blood-Eye, composed of the five elements. His body is colored dark red, and his hair made of lightning sweeps upwards. He is endowed with intense wrath, courage and ferocity, sparks shooting from his eyes. The sound of thunder resounds from his ears. A dust storm swirls from his nose. He bares his fangs and wears a flayed human torso of an enemy; together with the enemy’s heart and lungs... In his lap is his consort, a demoness named Blood-Eye Demon Woman. Her dark red hair swirls like a storm. From her eyes, tears of blood shower the triple world. From her nose, a purple mist of diseases spews forth. She bares her fangs and wears the flayed lower body of an enemy, together with his entrails.62 Here, Rahula (or “Heruka Blood-Eye”) is presumably fully anthropomorphic and is described as being in union with a consort, both of which are rare in Tibetan and Indian depictions or descriptions of him.63 The various aspects of these two deities (the mist of diseases, the flayed skins, etc.) are all fairly standard in Tibetan wrathful deity depictions, as is the 62 The full description reads: ‘Khor lo dang gtor ma skad cig gis ’byung ba tsha grang’khrugspa’idbussu/sprinnaggigurkhangmunpa ltar’khrigspa’iklongdu/ ’brugdangglogdangthogdangserbabuyugltar’tshubcing/tshigsgradang‘ursgra/ thugchomkyisgraskaddragpo mibzodpa sgrogpa’idbussu/dgrabominoryulzhing mkhar khang dang bcas pa’i steng du dregs pa ru tra pho mo’i gdan la/ skad cig gis ’byunglnga’duspa’igza’mchogheru[375] kakhragmig/skumdogdmarnaggloggi ralpa gyendu‘khyugpa/shintukhrorngamdpa’gtumdangldanpa/spyannasme stag’phroshing/snyannas‘brugsgrasgrogpa/shangsnasrlungnag’tshubpa/zhal gdangsshingmchebagtsigspa dgrabo’irostodglosnyingdangbcaspa bsgradcing gsolba/phyagg.yassdigsmdzubkyischo’phrulsnadgudgrala’gyedcing/phyagg.yon pa yumla’khriltshulgyisdgrabo’iyanlagbrgyangspa/skulasgza’mda’me’itsha tshadmarpo skarltar’khrugspa/chibssudugsbrulnagpo mgodgula/[376] chibs nasdmigspa’idgrabogsodgcodkyilaslabrtsonpa/de’ipangduyumbdudmokhrag migmaskulasbdudkyimingrkun‘bumphrag‘proba/dbuskradmarnag‘tshubma ltar’khyilzhing/spyannaskhraggimchimasridgsumkunla’thorba/shangsnasnad kyidudpa sngodmar’thulba/zhalgdangsshingmchebagtsigspasdgrabo’irosmad nangkhroldangbcaspa’gradcinggsolba/RCGB pp. 374.2–376.3. 63 That said, Rahula is, in certain contexts at least, consistently understood to have a consort, even if she is rarely depicted. Nebesky-Wojkowitz notes another name given for her as Sa yi ’phung bye nag mo, who is described as an earth goddess, black and hideous in appearance, wielding a sickle and a sack of diseases (Nebesky-Wojkowitz [1959] 1996: 260). He also notes a story in which a Sikkimese princess, who murdered her half-brother in the early eighteenth century, is regarded as the incarnation of this goddess. 52 CAMERON BAILEY storm imagery, although this may be particularly highlighted here, given Rahula’s role as a weather-making deity. The cushion of rudras is also standard, referring to the foundational Rnying ma Mahayoga myth of Rudra’s subjugation.64 The name “blood-eye” is interesting, and Nebesky-Wojkowitz notes another Bka’ brgyud text which identifies the queen of the srin mo demons as “frog-head blood-eye.”65 The frog head reference will be significant when we examine Rahula’s mythological parentage below. Rahula seems to have a particular connection with the srin mo since, besides gza’, as we shall see, they are his most commonly depicted retinue demons. Lastly, I wish to point out the dark red (lit. “red-black”) coloration of Rahula described in the passage above. This may possibly link “Heruka Blood-Eye” with Mi la ras pa’s “dark red gza’.” What is notably absent in the above description is Rahula’s standard serpentine or draconic appearance. However, the author explains that his mount, rather than Rahula himself, is a nine-headed dragon: The Supreme Gza’ Rahula subjugates enemies and hindrances, his vicious countenance blazing like the fire at the end of time... From his body he emanates all the myriad spirits of demons. With a roaring voice he brings down epilepsy as swift as lightning. With mind emanations he sends forth various miraculous manifestations. He moves riding on a venomous serpent with nine blazing heads. With the speed of lightning he circles the entire 3000-fold world systems instantaneously. He rains down great epilepsy on all enemies. In blissful union with his consort, the Supreme Mother BloodEye, he acts as the commander of all the arrogant great magicians.66 As we have seen, there is some reason to believe that Gnubs chen Sangs rgyas ye shes was the first major Tibetan figure to produce a ritual corpus dedicated, at least in part, to a figure known as “Rahula.” Of course, as 64 See Mayer 1998 and Dalton 2011: 159–206. Nebesky-Wojkowitz [1959] 1996: 280. 66 Dgrabgegs’jomsmdzadgza’mchograhula/gdugpa’ibzhincanbskalpa’ime ltar’bar/khraggispyandmardgrabo’idusmthargzigs/skulasbdudkyiblarkun‘bum phrag ’phro/ [381] gsung gi nga ros gza’ nad thog ltar ’bebs/ thugs kyi sprul pas cho ’phrulsnatshogs’gyed/dugsbrulmgodgu’barbazhonpa’i‘gros/glogltarmgyogspas stonggsumyudkyisskor/khrospasgza’nadchedgudgrala’bebs/yumchenkhragmig dgyes sde chung mar ’khril/ mthu chen dregs pa yongs kyi dmag dpon mdzod/ RCGB 380.5–381.3. Interestingly the term mthuchen “magician” in the last line of this passage was a nickname for Mi las ras pa. At this time I am uncertain of the specific origin of the serpent-mounted form of Rahula. 65 THE DEMON SEER 53 is usually the case in the Rnying ma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, Gnubs chen’s texts are explained not as innovations, but as discoveries of the hidden teachings of Padmasambhava, the second Buddha for the Rnying ma pa. However, while rituals dedicated to propitiating and/or invoking Rahula appear in numerous treasure cycles of various Rnying ma gter ston, including Gnubs chen, the treasure revealer most closely associated with Rahula in the Rnying ma tradition is Padma las ’brel rtsal (late 13th century). Padma las ’brel rtsal is traditionally best known for being the immediate prior incarnation of arguably the greatest Rnying ma and rdzogs chen philosopher who ever lived, Klong chen rab ’byams pa (1308–1364), and also for discovering the Mkha’ ’gro snying thig (The Seminal Heart Essence of the Ḍakinīs), an important rdzogs chen cycle which first introduced Klong chen pa to Great Perfection thought. After reading this text, and after a number of purported visionary experiences, Klong chen pa would go on to become a prolific expounder of the Great Perfection, writing numerous commentaries and treatises on the subject, most importantly those compiled in the SevenTreasuriesofKlongchen pa (Klong chen mdzod bdun). Much of this collection was written while Klong chen pa was in exile in Bhutan, and according to popular Bhutanese legend, Rahula took the form of Klong chen pa’s human servant while he was staying there, only later revealing his true identity.67 Tibetan Myths of Rāhula Among Padma las ’brel rtsal’s other (attributed) revelations is a collection of texts focused on Rahula, entitled Drang srong gza’ rgod kyi sgrub skor (The Accomplishment Cycle of the Savage Planetary Seer).68 This cycle 67 See Penjore 2005, especially 64–65. Rahula is also famously said to have helped mix the ink for Klong chen pa while he was writing his rdzogschen works. In return for Rahula’s help, Klong chen pa built a temple dedicated to him, which Rahula helped design (ibid., 68–69). See also Nyoshul Khenpo Jamyang Dorjé (2005: 105) for other legends of Rahula’s interactions with Klong chen pa. At this time, I am unclear as to when Rahula was standardized, along with Ekajaṭī and Vajrasādhu (Rdo rje legs pa), as one of the three most important Rnying ma protectors generally, and rdzogschenprotectors specifically. 68 Hencefore DZGK. The term drangsrong,a common epithet for Rahula,is the equivalent of the Sankrit ṛsi, or “seer.” To call Rahula a ṛsi is rather odd, though in certain Tibetan contexts he is known to take on the form of a sagely older man. For instance, see 54 CAMERON BAILEY includes around 70 individual texts and over 600 pages of material, mainly devoted to propitiatory rituals and invocations of Rahula for various worldly ends such as gaining wealth, stopping hail, repelling enemies, and protection from gza’ disease. The last chapter in the edition of the cycle available to me contains several magic circles (cakras) and other drawings used in these operations.69 Included in this collection is the Drang srong gi lo rgyus, or the History of the Seer. This text gives the mythological origins of Rahula, with the narrator Vairocana (traditionally one of Padmasambhava’s main Tibetan disciples and his scribe) implying at the beginning of the text that this story is part of a larger cycle of teachings meant to protect people from disease caused by the planets (stroke and/or epilepsy). As is often the case in indigenous Tibetan (usually Rnying ma and Bon po) ritual texts, the DZGK includes a narrative that acts as a kind of ‘charter myth’ for the related ritual material.70 In the case of protector deities, their mythological origins are often placed within larger ritual cycles as a way of describing their qualities, even their personalities, in much the same way South Asian Buddhist jātaka literature has historically depicted the enlightened qualities of the Buddha through the virtuous acts of his previous lives. Tibetan protector deity origin myths, however, are the binary opposites and mythic inversions of the life stories of the Buddha.71 Rather than emphasizing virtue and purity of conduct, these myths emphasize the overwhelmingly sinful and malevolent behavior and nature of their subjects.72 Sørensen’s telling of the story of the Bka’ brgyud master G.ya’ bzang pa meeting and learning medicine from a rare peaceful form of Rahula (2000: 171). Similarly, according to Sde srid Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho (1677–1705), the legendary doctor and revealer of the FourMedicalTantras(Rgyudbzhi) G.yu thog yon tan mgon po (1126–1202) was taught how to treat planetary disease personally by Rahula (see Desi Sangyé Gyatso 2010: 205). 69 DZGK pp. 633–639. See fig. 3. 70 The Rudra subjugation myth being the most significant of these. For the importance of myth in Tibetan ritual more generally see Karmay 1998: 288ff. and Cantwell and Mayer 2009: 292ff. I am borrowing Mayer’s (1996) use of the term “charter myth” who in turn borrowed it from Bronisław Malinowski. 71 Here I am working off of Claude Lévi-Strauss’ structuralist concept of mythic inversion. 72 The heinous crimes that these narratives seem to revel in describing do not fit the same mold as the themes of necessary or justifiable evil found in certain Tibetan hagiographies of historical figures (like the infamous Rwa lo tsa ba, b. 1016), dealt with by Ramble (2010). THE DEMON SEER 55 By far the best source for these types of stories is the Dam can bstan srung rgya mtsho’i rnam thar (The Biographies of the Ocean of Oathbound Protectors),73 compiled in 1734 by Sle lung Bzhad pa’i rdo rje (1697–1740). This large work extracts scores of origin myths of a number of different protector deities, including Rahula, from a broad range of (mainly Rnying ma) scriptures. In the Rahula section, Sle lung draws on several sources, including Padma las ’brel rtsal’s revelations. The most interesting and extensive myth of Rahula’s origins reported by Sle lung is a jātaka-style story the textual origins of which he attributes to a text entitled Instructions for Rites Skillfully Curing Planetary Diseases (Gza’ nad gso thabs kyi ’phong gi man ngag) by Bya khyung pa Ngag dbang padma.74 However, this story is very similar to the lo rgyus of Rahula found in the DZGK, with some notable differences.75 The DZGK story is as follows. After paying homage to Vajrapāṇi, and mentioning that this is for the sake of protecting beings from gza’ disease, the narrator Vairocana begins the tale of Rahula’s immediate previous birth. He describes a valley near Mount Kailāśa (Tib. Gangs Ti se) where a family of gza’ live. A male gza’ spirit named Seer A bhan sha ya, and a female gza’ named Lustrous Golden Planet Woman (Gser gza’ mo ’od ldan) give birth to a 73 Henceforth DCTS. DCTS pp. 278–282. For a full translation of the Rahula chapter in the DCTS, see Bailey 2012: 140–162. See also Sanders 2011: 4–8 for an Italian translation of this story. Sle lung’s treatment of Rahula also includes detailed descriptions of his movements in the heavens, the different meteorological phenomena he causes (reminiscent of the descriptions of Rahu’s effects in the Brhatsaṃhita), his emanation of different types of worldly gods and demons at different times, and his relationship to different “earth lord” spirits (sa bdag) that dwell in the soil. Space does not allow a detailed discussion of these matters here, so I will limit my comments to the Tibetan understanding of Rahula’s mythic origins. Regarding Bya khyung pa Ngag dbang padma, not much is known about him, though he appears to have been in the lineage of Sangs rgyas gling pa (1340–1396) and wrote commentaries on his Bla ma dgongs ’dus treasure revelations, which contains rituals focused on Rahula (see Bailey 2012: 119–120). Bya khyung pa also appears to have been a key figure in the transmission of Rahula-related rituals to the Fifth Dalai Lama (see NBGB vol. 3, p. 442.6). 75 A comprehensive comparison of the two versions is also not possible here; however, it should be noted that in general, the Sle lung version is more detailed and has more narrative complexity and a fuller description of events than the one cited here. However, the theft of the ambrosia of the gods, the centerpiece of the following story, does not appear at all in the Sle lung version of this particular story. 74 56 CAMERON BAILEY Figure 3: Magical diagrams from the DZGK. The top page depicts amulets for protection against planetary disease, and the bottom page depicts effigies and other ritual materials to be used in hostile sorcery practices. single son, named Great Planet Man (Gza’ chen skyes po). In the DCTS version of the myth, both parents have dreams of mixed good and bad omens prior to the birth of their son, which a fortuneteller interprets as meaning the boy will practice the dharma, but will have a short life, and will ultimately bring harm to all beings.76 The son, apparently a faithful Buddhist, becomes a monk and: In the first half of his life he adopted the vows of a monk, practiced the dharma without transgression, and in a forest hermitage called “Mountain of Bliss” he dwelt in meditation in physical solitude. He was given the name “Great Seer” and dwelt [there]. Not far from there was a city called “Unsurpassed” [with] a King named “Good Intentions” [who had] four queens. One day the four queens went to the forest to gather flowers and relax. Having met with the seer they engendered faith and took temporary vows. Because the seer preached the dharma to them, they became disenchanted with cyclic existence. Then they went [back] to the palace and spoke to the king, applauding the seer’s virtues, and he was invited as royal priest to the palace.77 76 See Bailey 2012: 121. tshe stod la dge slong gi sdom pa blangs: dge sbyor chos dang mi ’gal pa bya zhingribobdeldancespa’inagskhrodna:lusdbenparyangdag’jogpa khonala 77 THE DEMON SEER 57 The seer presumably accepts this honor, and the king leaves to wage war and is gone for a year. During that time, a rumor begins among the people of the region that Great Seer is having an affair with the four queens. When the king returns and hears these rumors from his subjects and ministers, he is enraged and confronts the seer, calling him a fraud and a disgrace to the dharma. He then declares that the seer will be executed for his crimes. The king built a large pile of 100 loads of sandalwood. He poured three loads of sesame oil [on the wood] and set it on fire. Although the seer made a declaration of truth it was not adequate [for averting the execution]. In front of the great city, having scattered various grains amidst the assembly of all the people, taking in hand a golden razor and invoking the eight classes of gods and demons, he said: “You must be honest and be my witness!”78 Thus he said and cast a curse: “I, the young monastic seer, am unstained by corrupted vows and defilements. If I am pure, without sin, after I pass from this life, may I have the terrifying form of a yakṣa-rāksasa, spewing a breath of poison and disease. Those with evil thoughts, and who are hostile, greatly arrogant kings, whoever has the five poisons, women and those who are handicapped, [those] with a great desire for wealth, monks who break the rules of discipline, warlords who commit evil actions, officials who secretly take food bribes, destroyers of the laws of the land... may I be the master who takes their life-force. If, clothed in compulsions and habitual faults, I touched the bodies of the queens, having been born in the vajra hell, may I never escape! Also, the four queens of the king in every time and state, may they be inseparable from me! Acting as my servants and slaves, may [they] slaughter vow corrupters!” Having [cast that] curse, the seer jumped into the middle of the sandalwood fire and was burned up. The four queens, having made similar aspirations, simultaneously jumped into the middle of the fire and were all burned up.79 gnas shing: mtshan drang srong chen por btags ste gnas pa las: de’i thag mi ring ba zhigna:grong[497] kherblanamedpa cesbyabana:rgyalpo donbzangzhespa la btsun mo bzhi yod de: btsun mo bzhi po nyin cig nags khrod la me tog mthu ba dang skyobsangslaphyinpas:drangsrongdangmjalnasmospa byedcingbsnyengnaskyi sdompa blangs:drangsronggischosmangpo gsungspas’khorbalayidchungpar gyurto:denasphobrangduslebtergyalpo lazhuste:drangsronggiyontanbrjod pasblamchodphobrangdugdandrangspa’o:DZGK pp. 496.4–497.3. 78 Here I am reading spangs as dpangs. 79 rgyalpostsandangyishingkhurbrgyathampa brtsigs:tilmarkhalgsumblugs tebsregparbyaspas:denasdrangsronggibdentshigbrjodkyangmalobas:grong khyerchenpo’imdunnamithamscadtshogspa’idbussu’brusnatshogsgtornasgser 58 CAMERON BAILEY The scene of the story then shifts to a rāksasa, identified as Daśagrīva,80 who dwells on the peak of Mount Meru, and a nāginī named “Frog-Head Blood Eye,” who is bathing at the seashore at the base of the cosmic mountain.81 These two see each other, fall in lust, and have sex. gyi spu gri phyag tu blangs te: snang srid lha srin sde brgyad la bden pa brdar nas thamscadgzudangspangspo mdzodcig:cesdmodborbani:drangsronggzhonnu dge slong nga: sdom nyams dri mas ma gos cing: ma nyes mtha’ nas tshangs pa na: skyeba’di’phos’ogroldu:gnodsbyinsrinpo ’jigspa’igzugs:mthongdugregdugkha rlangdug:bsamngandugdangdugrnamskyis:rgyalpo dregpa chebadang:gang naduglngaragpa dang:budmedrnamsdanglusmithub:’dodchagskherngamche badang:btsunpa ’dulkhrims’chalgyurcing:sdiglasdmagdponbyedpa dang:gtso bomna’zanlkogrnganlen:yulkhrims’jigsdangbzhipo ’di’i:srogdbugslenpa’ibdag porshog:galtebagchagsskyongyisgos:btsunmo’iluslaregpa na:rdorjedmyalbar bdagskyesnas:namyangtharbamedparshog:rgyalpo’ibtsunmobzhipo yang:dus danggnasskabsthamscaddu:ngadang’du’bralmedgyurcig:[499]bka’nyanbralkhol byedpa dang:damnyamssroggcodbyedparshog:cesdmodpornastsandangyimeyi dkyildudrangsrong’phyongnastshigpargyurpa dang:btsunmobzhiposkyanggong bzhinsmonlambtabnasme’idkyildudusgcigtu‘phyongpasthamscad’tshigste:DZGK pp. 498.1–499.2. 80 Better known as Rāvaṇa, the villain of the Rāmāyaṇa, and the Buddha’s interlocutor in some Buddhist scriptures, notably the Rnying ma Dgongs‘dusmdotantra (see Dalton: 2011). 81 The name of Rahula’s mother here is similar to that of Rahula’s consort mentioned in the ’Bri gung bka’ brgyud text quoted above. Also, it should be pointed out that in the Sle lung version of the story, the rāksasafather is specifically identified as being of the essence of hatred, and the nāginīmother the essence of lust, two of the primary negative emotions in Buddhist doctrine that bind beings to samsaric suffering. Fabian Sanders, in his excellent article on Rahula, “Rahu, Il Divoratore di Luce,” makes the interesting argument that these two diametrically opposed emotional poisons are combined, reconciled, and effectively ‘cancelled out’ in the person of their child, Rahula. I do not entirely agree with this line of reasoning, and think it more likely that in this case, Rahula is being portrayed as the distilled essence of the main emotional poisons. That is to say, he is an embodiment of concentrated evil. But I agree with Sanders’ general point that Rahula symbolically resolves binary categories, expressed by the fact that his two parents come from the opposite ends of the Indo-Tibetan axismundi,the top and bottom of Mount Meru. Sanders also points out that Rahula’s humanoid body and snake tail also symbolizes this synthesis of opposites (see Sanders 2011: 9–10; my thanks to Charles Jamyang Oliphant for bringing Sanders’ work to my attention). I would only suggest that Rahula’s raven head perhaps provides a more fitting binary opposition to his serpentine aspect, representing the upper and lower worlds respectively. Rnying ma tantric deities in particular seem to have been intentionally constructed to iconographically resolve dualistic symbolism. For instance, the ubiquitous winged Herukadeities in Rnying ma Mahayoga reconcile the Tibetan symbolic dualism between winged and fanged creatures (see Cantwell and Mayer 2015). THE DEMON SEER 59 Then, in nine or ten months, the nāginī gave birth to a terrifying and dreadful son, with the upper body of a man and the lower body of a snake. He had four arms, and his head and body all covered with eyes. [The nāginī] called up from the seashore: “Father rāksasa, listen! A boy like this is very strange and can’t be anyone but yours. [He needs] food to eat, a place to live, and work for him to do!”...Thus she spoke and from the top of Mount Meru the rāksasa father spoke: “Listen here, luminous nāginī woman! If that boy is my son, all beings of the three realms will be his portion of food. In particular he should have power over kings, lamas, and great beings. For work, everywhere in the three realms, he should be an ally to those who keep their vows. He should cut the lifeline of those who violate their oaths. He should wander in the sky for three days. He should sleep in the depths of the sea for three nights. He should behave like that in the fortunate land.”...Then, by the power of the curse [made in] his previous life, having obtained the body of a great yakṣa, [Rahula] had blazing anger in his mind and sent the bad thoughts of a malevolent being in the ten directions. From the high gods of the Brahma heaven down to the tiniest insect, he subjugated [all beings].82 This monstrous creature then begins to steal the life-breath of all beings in the universe, killing them, and he is named Khyab ’jug chen po, or Mahāvisnu. The devas of the Heaven of the 33 are thrown into a panic, fearing that Mahāvisnu will steal their wealth, in particular the pot of ambrosia they possess. The gods plan to protect the nectar of immortality by posting a guard of 500 watchmen, led by an “Unborn Son” of the gods (lha’i bu ma skyes). In a complete inversion of the classic Mahābhārata Denaszlabadgudobcurlondus:klumolabu’jigspa:skyig.ya’ba:rostodmi larosmadsbrulduyodpa:lagpa bzhipa:mgolusthamscadmiggisgangbazhig btsasnas:rgyamtsho’i’gramnasyarboste:phacigsrinpo gsanmdzodcig:’diltar butshayamtshanche:khyodmingzhangyiselmedpas:’dilazaba’izascigdang:‘di lasdodpa’ignascigdang:’dilagnyergyilaskadgos:bdaggimgorgyantshurgtod la:duskyi’brasbusminparmdzod:cessmraspas:[500] yabsrinposrirabkyirtse nassmraspa:yumklumogzildantshurnyondang:nga’ibutshaskyespa na:khams gsumsrogschagsthamscadkun:de’izaskyiskalbagyis:khyadbarrgyalpo blama dang:michensrogchagsdbangbgyiscig:lassukhamsgsumthamscaddu:damtshig cangyistongsgrogsbgyis:damnyamssrogrtsachodpa bgyis:nyingsumnammkha’i khamslargyu:mtshangsumrgyamtsho’igtinglanyal:yulskaldelabgyisshigzer: gtsugrgyandangnorbutshurlagtad:denasskyebasngamadmodborba’imthus: gnodsbyinchenpo’ilussugyurnas:semslazhesdanggime’bar:gdugpa’ingansems phyogsbcurskyes:mthobatshangspa’ilhagnasnas:dma’ba’jagmiggisrinbuyan chaddbangdubsdusso:DZGK pp. 499.4–500.4. 82 60 CAMERON BAILEY myth, the Sun and the Moon, who are among the phalanx of guards, catch Mahāvisnu stealing the pot of ambrosia and raise the alarm.83 Mahāvisnu, enraged, swallows the Sun and the Moon, and spreads 18 kinds of contagious disease amongst the gods, killing the “Unborn” one. Because of this, Mahāvisnu gains the name “Great Planet Demon.” Mahāvisnu then swallows the nectar of immortality, but several drops spill from his mouth onto the human world, which become various kinds of medicinal plants, including myrobalan, nutmeg, and camphor.84 Indra, apparently alarmed by all of this, runs to Vajrapāṇi to tell him what has happened. Vajrapāṇi becomes enraged in turn and attacks Mahāvisnu, smashing his head into nine pieces with his vajra weapon. These nine pieces fly up into the sky as birds, but Vajrapāṇi prevents them from escaping by also transforming into a bird, thus apparently explaining that Rahula’s tenth head, which is a crow or raven head, is Vajrapāṇi in bird form.85 Again [Vajrapāṇi] struck with his vajra and smashed the body into eight pieces. They became the eight planets, and because [Mahāvisnu] had drunk the ambrosia, the body [parts] were not devoid of life. [Vajrapāṇi] put them in an iron net, fixed to a boulder of molten metal, and threw them into the depths of the seas and they became black with corruption and defilement, [with a] smoky color. After that throw the edges of the ocean everywhere churned and the three realms were overwhelmed. At that time, all of the nāgas named him “Long Smoke Tail” [Ketu]. Again he was pulled out of the ocean. Vajrapāṇi saw [him], and [Rahula] offered the essence of his lifeforce. Having offered it [with the mantra] Om ke ta ke ta hūṃ hūṃ dza 83 nyi zla gnyis kyi khyab ’jug tshe’i bum pa rku ru byung la ’ur shog byas pas: (501.1). This reading hinges on taking kyi as the agentive kyis. Otherwise the sentence makes no sense. 84 DZGK pp. 500–501. There is apparently a longstanding association between Rahula and healing and medicinal substances. In a Bon version of Rahula’s origin myth, after he has drunk the heavenly ambrosia, Brahmā cuts his head off and his blood falls to earth, giving rise to all good medicinal substances (see Walter 1986: 31). 85 This is my interpretation of the difficult linebyarurdzusstenamkha’labrospasma tharbarbya’imgodangbcurugyur:DZGK p. 501.4–5. My thanks to Ulrike Roesler for help with these difficult passages. This indicates that the raven head, in this context, is counted as a tenth head separate from the main nine, unlike in the texts discussed above where it seemed that the raven head was counted as one of the nine. The image of nine-plusone ravens or crows is reminiscent of the ten celestial crows that carry the ten suns in ancient Chinese mythology, discussed above. In both cases only one of the birds survives or persists. THE DEMON SEER 61 dza phaṭ ra hu la sa ya ma ya hrija, [he said]: “I will not transgress my promise and will abide by my vows. Please tell me what I should do.” [Vajrapāṇi] touched the crown of his head with the vajra in his hand, put ambrosia on his tongue, and gave him the secret name Great Blue-Green Bitripatra.86 Thus Rahula is established as a rdzogs chen protector, and Vajrapāṇi propounds eight root tantras related to the “Enraged Planet Demon.” The remainder of the text details Rahula’s retinue deities which include the planets and the four queens from his previous life,87 as well as the legend of how the scriptural teachings on Rahula were written down by ḍākinī scribes and hidden in the charnel ground of Sītavana, where they were eventually discovered by Padmasambhava who disseminated them.88 Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this story is the way in which it retells traditional Hindu mythology from a tantric Buddhist perspective. First, we can perhaps detect traces of Rahu’s puranic seer father Kasyapa in the figure of the seer A bhan sha ya. And Great Planet Man’s austerities as a good Buddhist monk may echo the puranic Rahu’s austerities which were eventually rewarded with control over the gods (see above). Of course, the theft of the elixir of immortality is obviously inspired by the famous Mahābharata myth,89 except that Visnu, the cosmic savior in 86 yangrdorjergyabpaslusdumbubrgyaddubtang:desgza’brgyaddusongbdud rtsibtungba’iyontangyis:lussrogdangma’bralbagyurpa’itshe:lcagskyidrabar bcug:khrochu’iphawangbtags:rgyamtsho’igtingduskyurbasnyamsgribkyinag por song ste dud kha ces pa’o: De’i mjug ma g.yug ste rgya mtsho’i mtha’ thams cad dkrugs pas: khams gsum dbang du bsdus te: de’i [502] tshe klu thams cad kyis du ba mjugringzhesbyabarbtagsso:yangrgyamtshonasyardrangsla:phyagnardorjes gzigs pas: rang rtags srog gi snying po phul ba yin: om ke ta ke ta hūm hūm dza dza phatrahulasayamayahrijacesphulnas:bka’lasmi’da’zhingdamlagnaspasci bgyisbka’stsaldugsol:cespa dang:phyaggirdorjemgothogtubzhag:amritalcela bzhag:gsangmtshanbitripa traljangsngonchenporbtagsso:DZGK pp. 501.5–502.2. Bitripatra, or “*Biksṭipatra” as it is listed in Nebesky-Wojkowitz [1959] 1996: 261, is apparently a fake Sanskritic epithet for Rahula, or one of his retinue deities who is located in the southwest of his maṇḍala,red colored, holding a snake and a razor. 87 While not explained in the DZGK version of the story, in the Sle lung version it is revealed that the four queens were reborn as Rahula’s main retinue deities, who are raksasīs(Tib. srinmo)with different animal heads (DCTS p. 282). 88 DZGK pp. 502.2–503.2. 89 Compare with the Mahābhāratamyth summarized above. It is uncertain exactly how early Tibetans would have known about the churning the milky ocean myth, though 62 CAMERON BAILEY the original story, is recast in Rahu’s role as the main villain. The savior role is instead, logically, given to the tantric Buddha, Vajrapāṇi.90 summaries of it are found in at least three texts in the Bstan ’gyur, the Viśeṣastavaṭīkā (quoted above), the Devātiśayastotraṭīkā(Sde dge Bstan’gyur vol. 1, fols. 45a–61a), and the Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā (Sde dge Bstan ’gyur vol. 198, fols. 44b–335a). See Desi Sangyé Gyatso 2010: 52–60 for various versions of the myth describing Rahu’s theft of the ambrosia and subjugation by Visnu, quoting from these texts. At one point Rahu is explicitly named the “king of the asuras” (60). In all cases, according to the colophons, these texts were translated with the help of Rin chen bzang po (958–1055). Thus Tibetans were aware of the Mahābhārata Rahu myth by, at the latest, the eleventh century. 90 In other versions of the myth, however, Mañjuśrī-Yamāntaka is Rahula’s subjugating deity. Sle lung references another story of Rahula’s theft of the divine ambrosia which comes from a Rnying ma text called Rinchengsalsgron(BrightLampofJewels, which I have been unable to locate). The narrator of this story is Padmasambhava himself, who is being questioned by Vairocana. In this version, Yamāntaka is actually Rahula’s father, and when the latter steals the ambrosia of the gods, he cuts him into eight pieces with an eight-spoked dharma wheel (reminiscent of Viṣṇu’s cakra weapon). The pieces are buried in different parts of the earth, but a year later they resurrect and reconstitute themselves as the protector Rahula based on a prayer made by Yamāntaka (DCTS pp. 285–286). Another very similar version of the story (though missing the theft of the elixir of immortality episode) is attested in a modern collection of protector deity myths extracted from the Rnyingmargyud’bum, the Rnying ma tantric canon, entitled Snga’gyurrgyud’bum lasbtuspa’igtamrgyudphyogsbsgrigs(GBTG). This collection reproduces a version of the origin myth which the editors attribute to a text called Laskyimgonpo byaroggdong girgyud(TantraoftheRaven-FacedProtectorofActivity). A text with a title very close to this (Laskyimgonpo byarogdgongcangyirgyud) which appears to be focused on the raven-headed form of Mahakala, is found in both the Mtshams brag (vol. 3, pp. 1–10) and Gtings skyes (vol. 33, pp. 1–10) editions of the Rnyingmargyud’bum. Neither witness of this text appears to contain the story from the GBTG. However, Sanders (2011: 10–11) translates part of an origin story which is identical to that found in the GBTG taken from an extensive text found at the end of the Mtshams brag edition of the Rnying ma rgyud‘bum (vol. 46, pp. 276–361) focused on Rahula, entitled Bdudbyarogmgobrtsegs gsangbasgrolbyedkyirgyalpo kikangrogta’imdosnyinggzernagpo’irgyudchen po (TheSecretDemon[with] LayersofHeads[including a] RavenHead,TheBlackHeart NailTantra[whichis] theEssenceoftheRavenKiKang,theKingofLiberation). A text with the same title appears in volume 24, pp. 256a.1–284b.3 of the Sde dge edition of the Rnying ma rgyud ‘bum. This text (which requires further study) is almost certainly the source for the GBTG, and may be the root tantra of Rahula in the Rnying ma tradition. In this version of Rahula’s origin story, Mañjuśrī emanates as Yamantaka, a.k.a. Mahabhairava. He then has sex with one of his consorts “Baitali” (probably Vetali, Yamantaka’s main consort) and together they summon the essence of the afflictive emotions of all beings. The essences of the five poisons are then condensed into a raksasa, who is the essence of hatred, pride, and envy, who dwells on a svastika seat on Mount Meru, and a nāginīwho is the essence of lust and ignorance who dwells in a boiling lake of “erotic blood” (’dodchagskyikhrag). These two make sounds of lust (like mating calls) at each THE DEMON SEER Rāhu Rāhula Steals ambrosia Steals ambrosia Caught by the Sun and Moon Caught by Sun and Moon whom he devours 63 Reported to Viṣṇu by the Sun and Moon Reported to Vajrapāṇi by Indra Decapitated by Viṣṇu Dismembered into eight pieces by Vajrapāṇi Remains alive due to ambrosia Reconstituted and empowered by Vajrapāṇi Table 2: Comparison of the key features of the Rāhu and Rāhula origin myths according to the Mahabharata and the DZGK. other so loudly that the universe shakes in fifteen different ways (as it is traditionally said to at the birth of a Buddha) and all the various classes of demons in existence are agitated, until they are subdued and dispersed by a roar from Yamantaka. Then, without physically touching, the raksasa and nāginī’s minds intermingle and they produce five children: Rahula, here called “Ki kang,” and four animal-headed sisters. According to Franz-Karl Ehrhard, the term “Ki kang” is Chinese in origin and denotes the crow or raven head (Franz-Karl Ehrhard, electronic communication 13/8/2015). Sanders argues “ki kang” is onomatopoetic for the disasters he causes in the world (Sanders 2011: 13). Interestingly enough, there is a Rnying ma form of Yamantaka named ’Char kha king kang (Bryan Cuevas, electronic communication 14/8/2015), thus further suggesting the close link between Rahula and Yamantaka. In any case, The Black Heart Nail Tantra’s narrative continues with Ki kang and his sisters eating all beings in the universe until Yamantaka (here, Rahula’s grandfather) throws a cakra weapon which cuts him into (again) eight pieces, which are buried in the different directions. Yamantaka-Mahabhairava then resurrects him and terrifies him and his sisters with tremendous displays of power, cowing them. They then, of course, surrender their life essences and pledge their loyalty to the Buddhist dharma, at which point Yamantaka-Mahabhairava gives them empowerment and vows (GBTG pp. 307–313). This version of the origin story is possibly earlier than the ones discussed above that appear in the DCTS, because the details of Rahula’s previous life and his theft of the ambrosia from the gods are missing. It is also possible that these versions of the myth that name Yamantaka as Rahula’s subduing deity (and ancestor) originally stem from Gnubs chen. As we saw above, Gnubs chen’s “Redeflection spells” dedicated to Rahula, passed down to Chos kyi grags pa, were part of a larger cycle dedicated to Yamantaka. This makes perfect sense given that Yamantaka was Gnubs chen’s main meditational deity. Perhaps related to this association between Yamantaka and Rahula is a legend (mentioned by Sørensen) in the biography of Rwa lo tsa ba, in which this tantric sorcerer uses the power of Vajrabhairava (who is effectively a particular Gsar ma form of Yamantaka) in order to subjugate Rahula, transforming him from his usual terrifying form into a submissive little white boy (see Ra Yeshé Sengé 2015: 132–133). 64 CAMERON BAILEY This cosmological-mythological inversion is actually quite reminiscent of the Rudra or Maheśvara subjugation myth found in various versions in a number of tantric Buddhist scriptures.91 In this case, however, the Hindu deity being subjugated is not a form of Śiva, but Visnu. The story of Rahula-Visnu’s previous life as a fallen Buddhist monk is also very reminiscent of the story of Thar pa nag po (“Black Liberator”) in the Rudra subjugation myth.92 Planet Man, however, unlike Black Liberator, is actually a pure, proper practitioner of the Buddhist dharma. It is only due to the tragic, ironic cruelties of saṃsāric fate that he comes to a terrible end. Unlike Black Liberator, his anger seems righteous, and it is only by the power of his previous virtue that he is able take arguably justifiable revenge against those who wronged him and those like them.93 Also, as in some versions of the Rudra subjugation myth, Rahula is chopped into multiple pieces and hurled in the various directions. And, like Rudra, though he is a demonic force, he is also sometimes identified as the main source of medicinal substances on earth.94 Thus, the Rahula myth shares many similar themes with the Rudra myth, but there are notable differences as well, such as the somewhat more sympathetic protagonist. Other protector deities in the Rnying ma pantheon are said to have virtually identical origins. For instance, Sle lung, in another section of the DCTS, reports a previous birth story of Rdo rje legs pa, who like Rāhula is one of the three main rdzogs chen protectors. Rdo rje legs pa, in his previous birth, is said to have been a brahmin seer named Putapa, who like Rahula practiced isolated meditation. Eventually 91 See Davidson 1991 and Mayer 1998. Thar pa nag po was the name of a previous incarnation of Rudra who was a Buddhist practitioner who woefully misunderstood the Great Perfection teachings and committed a series of terrible crimes, thus earning himself eventual rebirth as the monstrous demon (see Kapstein 2000). 93 The Sle lung version of the story is more explicit in saying that after rebirth as a demon he vows to ‘devour’ the king and the slanderous ministers who specifically wronged him. 94 See, for instance, the Rudra subjugation myth in chapters six through twelve in the Thamscadbdudrtsilnga’irangbzhindu’khrungsshingskyebarbyedpa’i’brasburin po che’i’odltarbstanpa’irgyudin the thirty-fourth volume of the Mtshams ’bragedition of the Rnyingmargyud’bum,pp. 714–808. In chapter nine, for instance, after Rudra is dismembered, his testicles are identified as the source of nutmeg. My thanks to Cathy Cantwell for this reference. 92 THE DEMON SEER 65 a slanderous rumor began to circulate that Putapa was practicing evil mantras. The local king grew afraid of him and decided to have him executed. The king thus sent his ministers to burn Putapa to death in his retreat hut and as he was dying, the seer vowed to take revenge by being reborn as a demon.95 Structurally, this origin story is virtually identical to Rāhula’s, and both protectors stand out in their origin myths as righteous figures from the beginning whose wrath, in typical tantric fashion, ends up being constructive in that it fulfills the vital function of punishing those who deserve it. Even Rāhula’s cosmic crime of stealing the elixir of immortality ends up having the positive effect of creating medicinal substances on earth. Rudra Rāhula Buddha Misinterprets Dharma Properly practices Dharma Properly practices Dharma Indulges in worldly sins Leaves spiritual life for as spiritual practice worldly life Leaves worldly life for spiritual life Unintentionally reborn as a monster (son of a prostitute) Intentionally takes rebirth as the perfect man (son of a queen) Intentionally takes rebirth as a monster Wrathfully subdued by a Wrathfully subdued by a Peacefully subdues Buddha Buddha Mara Table 3: Structural comparison of the key events in the myths of Rudra, Rahula, and the Buddha. (Sources: DCTS, DZGK, Dalton 2011, LVS) Rahula and Rdo rje legs pa thus stand in contrast to Rudra, and other protectors like Tsi’u dmar po, who are failures as Buddhist practitioners and truly were the apostate criminals that Rahula and Rdo rje legs pa were falsely accused of being.96 Kapstein and others have noted that the Rudra 95 See DCTS pp. 439–440. Though Rudra’s depredations can be interpreted as ultimately positive as well, in that they provoke the Buddhas to display the teachings of “secret mantra”. As for Tsi’u dmar po, in his previous life he is said to have been a monk who went on a raping and killing spree before finally being caught by a (in this case, righteous) king and executed for his crimes (see Bell 2006: 213). Regardless of the differences in moral valence between 96 66 CAMERON BAILEY subjugation myth underscores the tantric doctrine of universal salvation, imagining a universe in which even the worst, most cosmically sinful offenders like Rudra eventually gain enlightenment. But Rahula’s origin story (as well as Rdo rje legs pa’s) represents a further mythological development in (specifically Rnying ma) Buddhist thought. Not only does the Buddhist Rahula origin myth completely collapse the radical duality in classical Indian myth between deva and asura, but it also further collapses the duality between the Mara and Buddha archetypes even more thoroughly than the Rudra subjugation myth, in which Rudra’s enlightenment is assured, but deferred.97 Rahula, on the other hand, in his previous life, is an apparently already enlightened being, in the normative early Indian conception of an enlightened being as a peaceful sage.98 However, by the power of his virtue, in response to the depredations of benighted unenlightened sentient beings, he chooses to become a cosmologically supreme demonic entity, in order, it is implied, to prevent what happened to him from happening to other sincere practitioners of the dharma, by cutting down the sinful. Therefore, Rahula is a figure of ambiguous moral valence, halfway between the enlightened sage perfected in the figure of Śākyamuni Buddha, and the absolute evil of Rudra. This interpretation becomes more plausible when we recall the various aspects of Rahula’s mythology and iconography that are seemingly intended to resolve dualistic symbolism: the mixed omens presaging his birth; the parents who come from opposite ends of the cosmic axis; the avian head paired with the serpentine tail, etc. Much further research needs to be done on the various versions of Rahula’s origin myths, as well as the origin myths of the vast host of other protector deities in (mainly) Rnying ma (and also Bon po) literature. various protectors, it is worth noting that all these myths feature the trope of special, cosmological significance given to people who have died in some inauspicious, violent way, common in Indian religion (see Blackburn 1985). 97 Though, of course, from the rdzogs chen perspective, all beings, including Rudra are primordially enlightened (see Kapstein 2000). 98 The DCTS version of the origin myth makes Rahula’s fully enlightened nature more clear, as one of the queens perceives the peaceful, meditating seer as a nirmāṇakāya.The seer is also shown having great bodhisattva compassion by agreeing to become the king’s priest (against his better judgment) because he does not want the king to commit negative karmaby rejecting and persecuting Buddhism (DCTS pp. 279–280). THE DEMON SEER 67 Various aspects of just the few myths I have related here should be further analyzed and theorized. However, for now I will simply make a few preliminary observations. First, the Rahula myths and other similar protector origin stories were most certainly conscious responses to, and intentional inversions of, earlier Buddhist and non-Buddhist literature, be it jātaka legends or puranic myth. Secondly, the inversion, or even subversion, is such that the dualities inherent in the earlier literature were deliberately undermined in favor of the “‘coincidentia oppositorum’ which is so prevalent in...Tantric mystic thought.”99 Further, Rahula’s iconography and mythology combines a host of binary opposites, and was likely intentionally constructed so as to express the Buddhist philosophical truth of non-dualism, a phenomenon found in other protector stories such as those of Rdo rje legs pa, who is said to have taken on lupine and avian forms.100 Rdo rje legs pa, like Rahula, is also said to possess multiple animal aspects, having teeth like carnivorous mammals, claws like birds of prey, and horns like scorpions.101 Charles Ramble has pointed out that chimerical beings in (mainly Bon po) Tibetan protector rituals are used to simultaneously ward off bad omens from multiple sources.102 Which brings me to my final point; Rahula (and other protectors) are a potent source of power because of their chimerical nature, not simply because of the influence of Buddhist non-dual philosophy, but because hybrid beings that violate cultural categories are often given special consideration across human cultures. For example, see Mary Douglas’ discussion of the Lele pangolin cult.103 99 Sørensen 2000: 167. This collapse of duality is a feature of Buddhist considerations of Rahu, as well, especially, as we have seen, in the context of the Kalacakra subtle body system and practices. 100 See DCTS p. 434. This recalls the hawk-wolf hybrids of the Bon po BlackPillar Tantra(see Cantwell and Mayer 2015). And in chapter seven of this tantra, the authors of the text make an explicit connection between these hybrids and the realization of non-duality, thus deliberately encoding philosophy in mythology. 101 DCTS p. 436. This is parallel to Rahula’s simultaneous serpentine and avian aspects. 102 See Ramble’s article on this topic, especially his discussion of “Little Tiger-Bee the Vampire God” (Ramble 2014: 25–28). This likely explains why Rahula has different types of demon heads (see Nebesky-Wojkowitz’s description above) and why he embodies the combination of hatred and lust. 103 Douglas 1996: 170–175. 68 CAMERON BAILEY Given the relative paucity of Western scholarship that attempts to analyze Tibetan mythology beyond mere surface description, it is my hope that this article will help demonstrate the need for the further analysis of protector deity myths and their interconnection with ritual and philosophy. Bibliography PrimarySources Parāśara. Bṛhatpārāśarahorāśāstra. Ed. Devacandra Jhā. Vārāṇasī: Caukhambā Saṃskṛta Sīrīja Āphisa. 1973. BS Varāhamihira. Bṛhatsaṃhitā. Ed. Acyutānandajhā Śarmā. Vārāṇasī: Caukhambā Vidyābhavana. 1959. Bstan ‘gyur (Sde dge). Delhi: Delhi Karmapae Choedhey, Gyalwae Sungrab Partun Khang. 1982–1985. TBRC Resource ID: W23703. DCTS Sle lung Rje drung Bzad pa’i rdo rje. Dam can bstan srung rgya mtsho’i rnam par thar pa cha shas tsam brjod pa sngon med legs bshad. 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