| What is the Tathagatacintyaguhyanirdesa? It is one of the many texts which originated in India and were traditionally regarded as instances of the Buddha's speech or suttas/sutras in Pali and Sanskrit respectively. More specifically, the Tathagatacintyaguhyanirdesa falls into the category of "exposition" (niddesa/ nirdesa) and is part of a large collection of individual texts called Ratnakuta -the Heap of Jewels. |
| The Indian version of the Tathagatacintyaguhyanirdesa has long been lost. At present, at least, only one Tibetan and two Chinese translations are available if we disregard secondary renditions like those into Mongolian, Manchu, and Japanese. To the best of my knowledge, this scripture is hardly mentioned in academic discourse and remains so far untranslated into any modern language. |
| Deplorable as this might be, it is more the rule than the exception. A couple of years ago I had my students at the Chung-hua Institute of Buddhist Studies do research on another text of the Ratnakuta collection -the Svapnanirdesa or Exposition of Dreams. Despite the interest our daily inner night-life enjoys in the Western world, even this sutra remains practically untouched by academic circles. |
| The two Chinese renditions of the Tathagatacintyaguhyanirdesa were executed in vastly different environments although, by strange coincidence, both translators (or to be more excact: the monks who headed the respective translation teams) bore the same Chinese name -Fahu. The earlier Fahu, also known as "the bodhisattva from Dunhuang" or referred to by the ethnikon Zhi or Zhu, hailed from Central Asia, while the later came from India. |
| As to the quality of their work, despite a recent barrage of criticism levelled at Fahu the Elder he was, at least in my mind, a real master translator towering even over the highly acclaimed Tang Dynasty monk Xuanzang. For the younger Fahu, it's a completely different story. Rich imperial sponsorship notwithstanding, he and his contemporaries produced additions to the Chinese Buddhist canon which are only rightfully dreaded. |
| According to the earliest available information which is contained in Sengyou's masterful Chu sanzang ji ji, Zhu Fahu's translation of the Tathagatacintyaguhya-nirdesa came out on the 8th of the 10th lunar month in the Taikang period, i.e. 18.11.288 C.E. During the Tang Dynasty (618-907 C.E.), it was incorporated into the Ratnakuta collection where it now occupies fascicles 7 to 14. Unlike the second Chinese translation and the Tibetan rendition, this version is not divided into chapters. (For a list of the chapter titles, go to this page.) |
| Another of its peculiar features is the title which does not correspond to the Sanskrit, the Tibetan or the Chinese of the second translation. It rather refers directly to the protagonist of the text, Vajrapani, of whom David Snellgrove confessed that he found him "by far the most interesting divine being throughout the whole history of Buddhism" (see his Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, vol I [Boston: Shambhala, 1987] p. 134) -without mentioning the Tathagatacintyaguhya-nirdesa in this context. |
| Like so many other sutras, the Tathagatacintyaguhya-nirdesa offers a blend of stories and teachings and teaching through stories. On the Path page, one example of the teaching type is given, an explanation of the practical aspect, the realisation of the Mahayana ideal of becoming a fully awakened one or Buddha. |
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The students taking this course are required to write one academic paper on a topic related to the Tathagatacintyaguhya-nirdesa. Though some of them are still grappling with their final choice of subject, the range of their interests reflects the richness of the text. Proposals so far centre around
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This
page was last updated on March 14th, 2000.
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content ©Friedrich F. Grohmann, all rights reserved.
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