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The System of Pītha in Hindu Tantra and its transformation into Vajrayāna Literature

Bang Junglan 1

1동국대학교

ABSTRACT

The main academic aim of this paper is that the attempt to trace the evidence that Hindu tantra and Vajrayāna literature share the system and notion of sacred places, pīthas, especially through the textual comparison and editing texts. As several great scholars pointed out, one of the valuable sources which can be found more earlier original list of pīthas in Vajrayāna literature is the Hindu tantric text, the Tantrasadbhāva(hearafter TaSa), belongs to Śaiva Trika. The 16th chapter of the TaSa explains the list of sacred places Pīthas, where yoginīs abide and assemble or in further, a practitioner should be consider a certain part of body as a divine part. First of all, the notion of Pītha is related to the famous Daksa myth in Pūrāna literature such a Mahābhārata, even from the Śatapathabrāhmana to the kāvya Kumārasambhāva and so on. The story is briefly that Śiva and his wife Satī was insulted by her father Daksa, not invited them to the sacrifice. Then, Satī was exasperated and burned herself by yogic power. Having heard his wife’s dead, Siva becomes furious and killed deities being in Sacrifice including Dakṣa. And he started to dance to destroy the Universe with putting her body on his shoulder. In order to stop him, Viṣṇu entered into the dead body of Satī and spilt bit by bit into parts. It aimed to stop the destruction of Universe by Śiva. The places where pieces of Satīs dead body fell are said to have become Pīthas. Therefore, holy seats are regarded as female goddess’s abode and the place for union of yogins and yoginīs as if Śiva and Satī met again. In Vajrayāna literature, the myth is transformed and superimposed by buddhist own episode. The story summarized that twenty four pīthas stayed by Śiva and his retainers are captured by Buddhist samvara deities who are transformed from Samyaksambuddha in order to purify those place from the depravity. This is the new interpretation of the Pītha according to the perspective of Vajrayāna. We interestingly can find almost corresponding name of TaSa’s Pīthas in Vajrayāna literature, the Cakrasamvaratantra(hearafter CaSa). The 41st chapter of CaSa is named ‘Caturvimśaty-akṣara-mandala-vinyāsa-vidhipatala’. CaSa, the earlierst text of Samvara cycle, has a similar pīthas order to TaSa. But later texts of Samvara like the Saṃvarodayatantra(SaUd) show the reversed order of CaSa’s list of Pītha. Moreover, the Hevajratantra and its commentaries also attest similar pītha categories with Śaiva literature, but interpret them as dwelling places of Bodhisattvas including the daśābhūmi system. Through these examination through the comparison lists of pīthas in Hindu tantras and similar lists of it in Samvara Literature, I would like to shed a light on providing new materials for Tantric studies and evoking the interest of related topics.

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