Vajrayāna and its Doubles: A critical historiography, exposition, and translation of the Tantric works of Āryadeva

Description

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. This thesis explores the historiography and contents of the esoteric Buddhist (Tantric) literature ascribed to Āryadeva and the school to which he belonged, the Ārya Tradition. Since the early nineteenth century, when modern Buddhist studies began, it has been maintained that this literature is spuriously attributed to this renowned luminary of the exoteric Madhyamika tradition. This essay takes as its point of departure a questioning of this almost universally-accepted view. It proceeds by examining the role of meta-historical narrative structures in the imagination of Indian Buddhist history. It shows that the common historiographical model of the organic life-cycle (birth-growth-maturity-decay-death), and the kindred association of this "decay" with sensuality (and the latter with "Tantra"), necessitated that Tantrism be conceived as "degenerate" and, thus, chronologically late. It then describes in detail the actual historical arguments advanced by scholars since the first studies of Buddhist Tantrism. These arguments are shown to be inconclusive and the establishment of "late Tantrism" to be based more on scholarly conservatism than actual evidence. To further establish the truth of this claim, the range of historical data--literary, numismatic, archeological, and art historical--is discussed and evaluated. The possible conclusions which could be reached given the nature of the evidence are considered and a prognosis for the future of Tantric historiography is briefly outlined. Attention is then turned in Part Two to the exposition of the literature itself. Chapter Six first comments on some methodological problems facing Tantric Studies. It then considers some evidence which makes the existence of Tantric traditions in the early first millennium plausible. Chapter Seven is a general overview of the Indian traditions of the Guhyasamāja and a close study of the Ārya literature. The scriptures and commentaries of the tradition are described and the works of Āryadeva are analyzed. The textual record is evaluated and suggestions given for future research. The final part, ''Texts," contains full, annotated English translations of the works of Āryadeva on the Guhyasamāja Tradition. These include Āryadeva's Caryāmelāpaka-pradīpa, Cittaviśuddhiprakaraṇa, Svādhiṣṭhānaprabheda, and Abhibodhikramopadeśa. Supplementary materials include supporting documents and a glossary of technical terms in English, Sanskrit, and Tibetan.