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many instances of both men and women healed and restored through the practice of h z i. However, the vital point for feminist scholarship is that h z i .a . ir .a . ir heals and restores by shifting the discourse surrounding the location of agency from person to place. What might feminist scholarship look like if this shift were incorporated into its critical apparatus creatively? In the case of the analysis of h z i, doing so has led us to a more accurate understanding of how agency ulti.a . ir mately is restored to both its male and female practitioners. If the case of h z i .a . ir is any indication, in the South Asian cultural context, concern for the welfare of women and scholarship that seeks to understand their lives are not always best served by an exclusive focus on women or on theorizing their subjectivity.

Goddess Ta ra : Silence and Secrecy on the Path to Enlightenment Susan S. Landesman The enlightened mind that perceives reality from an ultimate viewpoint transcends notions of gender, according to the Buddhas teachings. Based upon a belief in lifes fundamental impermanence, all phenomena are viewed as devoid of permanent natures. From this perspective, dualistic conceptions of the body, including its male and female components, and the range of values associated with gendered identity, are not considered intrinsic to a persons being nor are they issues of concern in the process of realization, for it is the stream of consciousness that becomes enlightened, having fully comprehended the sense objects. Despite these philosophical ideals, socially engrained biases favoring men still persisted within the early Buddhist monastic community. With an aim to challenge these views, Goddess Ta ra was promoted as one of the earliest enlightened female role models within the Buddhist tantras. The major canonical source for the Ta ra cults formative period in India is the ritual compendium with the abbreviated title Ta ra -mu la-kalpa (Ta ra s Basic Ritual Text), hereafter referred to as the TMK.3 The Sanskrit text, believed
 The Sanskrit reads: visaya vabodha d vija nam buddha ity upadis yate, from the . ka Lan vata ra-su tra, v. 140.6, quoted in Alex Wayman, Buddhist Dependent Origination and the . vata Sa m ra-su tra is believed to have been com. khya Gun . as, Ethnos (1962): 1422. The Lanka posed as early as the latter half of the fourth century. See Hajime Nakamura, Indian Buddhism: A Survey with Bibliographical Notes, vol. 1, Buddhist Traditions Series (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1987), 231.  The tantras comprise a body of esoteric teachings and practices, emphasizing cognitive transformation through visualization, symbols, and ritual, as noted in John Powers, Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism (Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 1995), 219. The earliest tantras were composed between the third and sixth centuries. See Alex Wayman, An Historical Review of Buddhist Tantras, Journal of Rare Buddhist Texts Research Project 20 (1995): 13753. 3 The rst English translation and analysis of this text is by Susan S. Landesman, The Great Secret of Ta ra : Ta ra and the Rise of Female Buddhas in India according to the Ta ra -mu la-kalpa

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to have been composed in the seventh century, was translated into Tibetan in the fourteenth century by Bu-ston, classied as a kriya tantra, and added to the Tibetan canon (bKa gyur). Although the TMKs Sanskrit text is no longer extant, and its lineage of teachings appears to have been broken due to its lack of commentaries, the texts importance for scholarship remains. Analysis of the TMKs contents reveals the strategies through which female role models were promoted within early tantric Buddhist rituals, art, and thought. The TMK features Ta ra as the central object of ritual practice and religious devotion, although her persona is promoted, in part, by adopting the epithets, iconography, and functions of enlightened male bodhisattvas and Buddhas as they have been portrayed in earlier Buddhist scriptures. This is not a particularly feminist means of promoting a female gure. Still, Ta ra s status in the text underscores her importance within Buddhist tradition: she is the rst female Buddha within tantric literature. Her epithet, Bhagavat i, exclusively reserved for the most elevated among enlightened beings (tenth-stage bodhisattvas and Buddhas), underscores her enlightened status. Ta ra follows a tradition of strong female role models, beginning in the ancient Vedic period (second millennium BCE), and sustained through early Maha ya na times (0400 CE). Many of these goddesses were and still are worshiped for protection from danger. Others are revered as the embodiment of wisdom. For example, some of Ta ra s important functions can be traced to those of Goddess Pra ja pa ramita , the personication of wisdom realizing emptiness, as delineated in the Perfection of Wisdom scriptures (Pra ja pa ramita -sa tras). Furthermore, Pra ja pa ramita and Ta ra are both referred to as mothers of all Buddhas, since Buddhas are born from wisdom. Another rationale for the emergence of female role models within the Buddhist tantras springs from the nature of tantric practice: deities whom ritual participants emulated and worshipped were and still are envisioned in mother-father pairs. These pairs are depicted with differing levels of desire, from gazing,
(Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2008). The Tibetan text that served as the basis for this study is entitled Ral pa gyen brdzes kyi rtog pa chen po byang chub sems dpa chen poi rnam par phrul pa leu rab byams las bcom ldan das ma phags pa sGrol-mai-rtsa-bai-rtog-pa zhes bya ba (published in The sTog Palace Manuscript of the Tibetan Kanjur, volume 107 [MA] [Leh: Smanrtsis Shesrig Dpemzod, 19751980]).  Bu-ston was the celebrated editor of the Tibetan canons rst comprehensive and denitive block-printed edition of commentaries, The Tanjur (bsTan gyur) and translator of twenty-three commentarial works included therein. He may have also made important contributions to the editing of the Tibetan scriptural collection The Kanjur (bKa gyur). See D. S. Ruegg, The Life of Bu Ston Rinpoche, Serie Orientale Roma 34 (1966): 1835, 18185; and Helmut Eimer, Ein Jahr zehnt Studien zur berlieferung des Tibetischen Kanjur, Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde 28 (1992): 1202, esp. 17678.  Landesman, Great Secret of Ta ra , chap. 3.  Ibid. The wisdom that provides direct insight into the true nature of reality is the wisdom that realizes emptiness (s unyata ), or lifes fundamental impermanence, lacking intrinsic nature.

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smiling, and touching to sexual embrace. Accordingly, these levels of desire correlate with a practitioners ability to harness desire and direct it toward the generation of a subtler and more powerful consciousness realizing the wisdom of emptiness (s unyata ). The goals of tantric practice echo the opening statement of this essay: enlightened consciousness transcends dualistic thinking, including the male-female dichotomy. Furthermore, since Buddhist teachings claim that all living beings contain the seeds of Buddhahood, and the potential for enlightenment, Buddhist enlightenment is not a distinctly feminist enterprise, although it can be construed as inclusive and supportive of feminist ideals. A widely held yet unproven theory is that the veneration of Goddess Ta ra originated from an ancient star cult that guided seafarers across dangerous waters under a dark night sky. This theory may be based, in part, upon the meaning of ta ra as star, derived from the verb tr . meaning to cross, as a star crosses the night sky. An extension of Ta ra s hypothetical origin as a nocturnal celestial guide is her role in Buddhist sources as a protector of humans from various external dangers, such as ocean waves, oods, res, epidemics, wild beasts, and serpents. Over time, Ta ra became renowned as a feminine symbol of the inner light of spiritual liberation, in which capacity she guided worshippers to overcome inner obstacles to enlightenment, including the afictive emotions of desire and anger, as well as the fundamental cause of suffering: ignorance of the true nature of reality. The TMK elaborates these points.
Just as this mantra practice shall become the cause for the perfection of wisdom for sentient beings, so shall it dispel all dangers of quarrels, disputes, famine, disease, opposing armies, untimely rainfall, sinful human and non-human beings, and wild animals.... Blessed Noble Ta ra , who assumes the guise and form of a woman, shall dispel robbers, oods, famines, and various injuries. She shall pacify all dangers [resulting from] kings, lions, tigers, buffalo, wolves, poison, robbers, humans, and non-humans. She shall also make all sentient beings who are skillful in the ritual of reciting mantras fulll [a desire for] various kinds
 Tenzin Gyatso, The Kalachakra Tantra: The Rite of Initiation, trans. Jeffrey Hopkins (London: Wisdom Publications, 1985), 3436.  Among the rst to propound this theory were Godefroy de Blonay, Matriaux pour servir a lHistoire de la Desse Buddhique Ta ra (Paris: Library mile Bouillon, 1895), 165, esp. 62; and Hirananda Shastri, The Origin and Cult of Ta ra , Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of India 20 (1925), 127, esp. 57, 20.  Early sources for Ta ra s role as protector from external dangers are the sixth-century Vairocana-abhisam ra -mu la-kalpa. The internal dangers are dis. bodhi-tantra and seventh-century Ta cussed in a fteenth-century commentary by the rst Dalai Lama Panchen dGe dun grub entitled Rje btsun bcom ldan das ma seng ldeng nags kyi sgrol ma la bstod pa mkhas pai gtsug rgyan zhes bya ba, found in the Gsung thor bu, 238243 (fols. 221v24r) vol. ca, which is ultimately found in the Phyag na pad dkar chang ba Thams cad mkhyen pa Rje Dge dun grub dpal bzang poi gsung bum, 5 vols. (Tashi lhunpo monastery, n.d.). The text is referred to orally by the rst three words in the text: legs bris ma.

Special Section: South Asian Religions

of sensual pleasures, such as medicines, owers, avorful fruits, drinks, clothes, places, beddings, and seats, etc. And she shall make all sentient beingswho wish for the Dharma [teachings]apply themselves to the practice of the virtuous Dharma.10

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In spite of the obscure beginnings of the Ta ra cult within Indian sources, a Tibetan legend records her rise to fame, with specic reference to her female embodiment.
Formerly, in beginningless time, in the world realm called Manifold Light, there arose the Tatha gata Lord called Dundubhisvara, Sound of the Drum. Also living there was the kings daughter called Ja nacandra , Moon of Wisdom, who greatly revered the Tatha gatas discourse. She worshipped the Buddha, together with his retinue, an innite commu ra nity of S vakas and Bodhisattvas, for hundreds of millions of years.... At that time, a group of monks implored her, If you aspire to serve the teachings of the Buddha, due to your own roots of virtue, you will become a man in this very life. In order for it to turn out that way, it is proper to do so accordingly.11

After engaging in dialogue with these monks, the kings daughter challenged conventional social biases favoring men by offering a rationale for her necessity to remain in female bodhisattva form.
There is neither man nor woman nor self nor person-hood nor notion of such. Attachment to [the designations] male and female is meaningless and deludes worldly people with poor understanding. She then vowed: Many desire enlightenment in a mans body, while not even a single [person] strives for the benet of sentient beings in a womans body. Therefore, I shall work for the benet of sentient beings in a womans form as long as samsara has not been emptied.12

Ancient Pali sources also provide controversial evidence regarding woma ens spiritual capacities. Although Buddha S kyamuni is depicted rejecting his stepmothers requests that women join the monastic community (sangha), he

10 Emphasis added. TMK, 502b-2 to 503a-4, Hayagr ivas Oral Mantra. 11 Blo-bzang Sbyin pa, Dkyil khang Mkhan Zur Blo-bzang sbyin pa, The Collected Works, 4vols. (Delhi: Chos phel legs ldan, 1979), 1: fol. 522 (3a): lus di nyid la skyes par gyur te. 12 Jaya Pan .d . ita, The Collected Works of Jaya Pan .d . ita (Blo-bzang h . phrin-las), 4 vols., ed. Lokesh Chandra (New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1981), 1: fol. 221b-35 ata-Pit (S .aka Series of Indo-Asian Literatures, vol. 278). In contrast to the spirit of this vow, its language employs three different words for gendered embodiment. The words for the male body (skyes bai rten) indicate an honoric status, since this term is also used for representations of the Buddhas body in paintings and sculpture. In comparison, the words for the female body (bud med kyi lus) and female form (bud med kyi gzugs) are commonly used generic expressions.

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also openly supported womens potential for enlightenment.13 Despite extant records of these dialogues in various scriptural sources, Therava din monks had already begun disputing womens potential for enlightenment only three centuries after the Buddhas passage beyond suffering (parinirvana).14 In response to such socially engrained gender biases within the monastic community, Princess Ja nacandra is portrayed in Ta ra s legend as the rst woman to pursue enlightenment out of a profound sense of compassion to help others. Additionally, she undertakes the unique bodhisattva vow to remain in female form in all subsequent lifetimesworking to alleviate suffering. Thus, the princess drew upon conventional truth (in this case, gendered assumptions) to challenge gender biases, as well as ultimate truth to underscore the notion that gender lacks intrinsic value and is therefore unreal. Ultimately, the princess was able to actualize her bodhisattva vow through daily efforts to liberate countless beings. Her success led to the prophecy that as long as she manifested unexcelled, perfect enlightenment, she would be referred to as Goddess Ta ra .15 Ta ra s legendary past as a princess pursing enlightenment highlights the as 13 The state of spiritual accomplishment that the Buddha claims women are capable of reaching is that of the arhat, indicating one who has conquered the enemy passions and thus eliminated delements causing suffering. See Susan Murcott, First Buddhist Women (Berkeley: Parallax Press, 1991), 1617, quoting the Cullavagga, X.3.1. 14 A passage exemplifying developed Therava da monastic thought appears in Buddhadatta Theras fth-century commentary on the Buddhavam . sa (Lineage of the Buddhas) entitled Madhuratthavila sin i (Clarier of the Sweet Meaning), trans. I. B. Horner (London: Pali Text Society, 1978), 13233, v. 91.59. The aspiration of one who is aspiring to Buddhahood succeeds... only for one who is of the male sex. It does not succeed for women or for eunuchs, the sexless, or hermaphrodites. And why is that? [It is] because there is no completeness of characteristics. Accordingly, it was said in detail: It is impossible, monks, it cannot come to pass that a woman who is an arhat can be a perfect Buddha. Therefore, for one of the female sex, even though she may be of human birth, the aspiration [for enlightenment] does not succeed. Yuichi Kajiyama discusses this point in Women in Buddhism, Eastern Buddhist, 2nd ser., 15, no. 2 (1982): 5370, esp. 6566, wherein the author proposes that Buddhadatta Thera is referring to the major characteristics of a iva, Great Person. The Great Person is a reference to a Maha purus a, which refers to a Buddha, S Brahma , Ma ra, etc.,] who displayed special marks or characteristics at birth. Among these characteristics, women lack the male sexual organ hidden in recess (kos opagatavastiguhya). In this case, a complete set would imply that the male sex is a prerequisite for enlightenment; however, Kajiyama reveals that monks never openly stated this point. 15 Although this legend is preserved in the fteenth- and sixteenth-century writings of Ta rana tha and Jaya Pan .d . ita, there are many earlier sources in which women undertake vows to uphold and promulgate the Dharma teachings, aspire toward enlightenment, and guide others toward the same goal. Earlier references appear in the third-century Buddhist source Queen r r S i Ma la s Ten Great Vows and Three All-inclusive Aspirations, Lions Roar of Queen S i ma la r (S i ma la dev-sim hana da-su tra ), trans. Alex Wayman and Hideko Wayman (New York: Columbia . University Press, 6468). See also Entry into the Realm of Reality: The Text [Gan ha-su tra] .d . avyu (trans. Thomas Cleary [Boston: Shambhala, 1987], 165), wherein the goddess Vasant proclaims, I resolve that just as I liberate these sentient beings from the miseries of such bad behavior, so shall I establish all sentient beings in the transmundane path of transcendence, make them irreversible in progress toward omniscience, and lead them to omniscience by the great vow of universal good.

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sertion of female identity within a social milieu favoring men. The princesss triumph reects a Maha ya na critique of the orthodox Therava da tradition whose monks harbored attachments to notions of gender. Similarly, Ta ra s promotion within the early Buddhist tantras encountered an established predominance of male gures. However, the anonymous author of the TMK used this widely known male presence as a means of promoting feminine identity. Based upon textual evidence, just as Ta ra s major functions in the TMK can be traced to portrayals of Buddhist goddesses in third-century Buddhist su tras, her mode of presentation was heavily inuenced by the earlier Buddhist tantras featuring male bodhisattvas and Buddhas.16 Furthermore, why does Avalokites vara (the bodhisattva of compassion) assume such a pervasive role in the TMK, even though Ta ra is the featured deity?17 Is Ta ra merely modeled after enlightened male gures or is she assuming the status, functions, and iconography of her male counterparts on a new and independent basis? Evidence from three important tantras will be discussed below to show how they informed the composition of the TMK and the portrayal of Ta ra therein. In addition, a discussion of selected passages from the TMK will elucidate Bodhisattva Avalokites varas role in the text. Ta ra and the Ta ra -mu la-kalpa As mentioned above, the Ta ra -mu la-kalpa (TMK), comprising approximately four hundred double-sided folios, is the largest tantric scripture associated with the Ta ra cults formative period in India. As a ritual compendium, the TMK documents the multitude of Ta ra s earliest epithets, iconographic forms, and functions within the rites of the man .d . ala, paintings on cloth (pat . a), and burnt offerings (homa). Ta ra s supreme status in the TMK as an enlightened female Buddha is inferred by her most frequently occurring epithet, Bhaga rya Ta vat iA ra (Blessed Noble Ta ra ). The name Ta ra indicates her impartiality in taming all motherly sentient beings and her compassion in liberating them from the ocean of suffering.18 As a noble one (a rya), she has reached the
16 Ta ra s major functions have been traced to goddesses in the second-century Praja pa ramita -su tra and third-century Gan ha-su tra. For further discussion, see Landesman, .d . avyu Great Secret of Ta ra , chaps.2 and3. As well, Ta ra s mode of presentation reects aspects of Majus r i in the MMK and Vairocana in the VAT. The MMK, Majus r i -mu la-kalpa, is a tantra revering the bodhisattva of wisdom Majus r i, whereas the Vairocana-abhisam . bodhi-tantra is a text featuring Buddha Vairocana. 17 I use the word deity here to refer to luminous beings that embody the inalterable reality of the mind of enlightenment. In the TMK, Ta ra is simultaneously a tantric deity and a Buddha. 18 Blo-bzang Sbyin pa, Collected Works. Blo-bzang Sbyin pa was the head abbot (mkhan po) of the college dKyil Khang Grva Tshang. His commentary on a praise to the white Ta ra by the rst Dalai Lama dGe dun grub, beginning on 1: fol. 520 (2a-4ff), reads: Lus can sdug bsngal gyi rgya mtsho las sgrol zhing / ma rgan sems can thams cad la nye ring med par gang la gang dul gyi don mnyam du mdzad pas na sgrol ma.

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path of vision, having eliminated nonvirtuous action and having transcended the fault of attachment to notions of samsara and nirvana.19 As a Blessed One (Bhagavat i), Ta ra assumes the spiritual status reserved exclusively for the most advanced bodhisattvas and Buddhas. The Tibetan rendering of the epithet Bhagavat i (Tibetan: lcom ldan das ma) provides added meaning as one who has conquered (bcom) Ma ra,20 who possesses (ldan) all good qualities, and who has transcended (das) suffering in samsara.21 As a Bhagavat i, Ta ra is a female Buddha who is spontaneously present, . . . abiding in the naturally present, pristine cognition without the thoughts of the three times (past, present, future). Ta ra s association with Buddhahood is also supported by the role of sacred speech syllables (vidya , which I also dene as a charm) used to evoke her presence. Throughout the TMK, Ta ra is popularly evoked by the essence incantation Om re tutta re ture sva ha (Om Ta ra , who rescues from suffering, the . Ta quick one we hail!). These ten Sanskrit syllables are praised for fullling the purpose of the prosperity, happiness, and aims of sentient beings, and to show favor to gods and humanity. These syllables are also referred to as the essence incantation of all the Buddhas promoted throughout the billion world galaxy.22 Thus, by evoking Ta ra s presence, they evoke all Buddhas in the same way that the Vedic goddess of speech Va c accompanies all the gods.23 Throughout the TMK, Ta ra s multiple aspects are visually portrayed in paintings on cloth (thangkas) and powdered colors on at surfaces (mandalas). In these images, Ta ra assumes the form of a golden goddess who bestows prosperity and protects worshippers from various dangers, a white goddess who wards off military danger and disease, a green goddess who spreads compas-

19 Ibid. Here the text reads: de yang mthong spang me dge ba las ring du gyur cing / khor das kyi skyon las phags pas na phags ma. The implications of this statement are explained by the . kara, chap. 1, v. 11: Due to wisdom, [the bodhisattva] following verse from the Abhisamaya lan does not abide in samsara, due to compassion, [the bodhisattva] does not abide in nirvana (Skt. prajaya na bhave / kr na s ame; Tib. shes pas srid la mi gnas / snying rjes zhi la me gnas). . paya 20 Ma ra is the embodiment of death, and his name is derived from the verb root mr . , to die. His role is to bind beings in samsara. In the visual image of the wheel of life, Ma ra is depicted with his hands tightly gripping the wheel, indicating his control over all who exist in the continual cycle of birth and death. 21 See Heart of Wisdom, trans. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso (London: Tharpa Publications, 1985),46. 22 The word Tatha gata is an epithet for a Buddha. In Sanskrit, the word for essence incantation is hr ; in Tibetan, it is rig pai snying po. See TMK, sTog Palace Manuscript of the . daya-vidya Tibetan Kanjur, vol. 107 (MA), fol. 284b1ff. for the quote from the text. 23 The Rig Veda, trans. Wendy OFlaherty (New York: Penguin Classics, 1981), 6263, v.10.125. Ta ra s identity as Maha vidya -ra j i , sometimes translated as Queen of Charms or Best of Charms, further reinforces the continued importance of an ancient Indian reverence for speech, especially within ritual context.

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sion without partiality, and a black, wrathful protector who guards the entry to a mandala.24 Majus ri and the Majus ri-mu la-kalpa Three noteworthy aspects of the tantra entitled Majus r i-mu la-kalpa (Ma jus r is Basic Ritual Text, MMK), apply to the study of Ta ra in the TMK. These include the MMKs role as the basis of the initial chapters of the TMK, its initial iconographic depictions of Ta ra as a golden protector from danger, and the depiction of Majus r i as a golden bodhisattva of wisdom. The rst thirteen chapters (rst layer) of the TMK are a virtual rewriting of the corresponding chapters from the MMK, a ritual compendium featuring the bodhisattva of wisdom Majus r i. The anonymous author of the TMK replaced the major personages, place names, mantras, and mudra s (spiritual hand gestures) of the MMK with personages, place names, vidya s, and mudra s pertaining to the cult of Ta ra . One may hypothesize that there was a deliberate attempt to substantiate the importance of the Ta ra cult and the TMK by having its initial layer modeled after a corresponding section of the MMK, or another unnamed text upon which both the MMK and TMK were based.25 The MMK contains one of the earliest descriptions of Ta ra as a golden rya Ta protector from danger. Herein, she is referred to as Noble Ta ra (A ra ), the goddess who is the compassion of Avalokites vara, who destroys obstacles and grants boons, and who is the mother of the resplendent Prince Majus r i.26 A nearly identical description of Ta ra is found in the TMK, with the exception that Ta ra is identied as a goddess who performs great rites associated with the illustrious bodhisattva rather than as Prince Majus r is mother.27 It appears that the TMKs author wished to emphasize Ta ra s compassionate bodhisattva
24 Ta ra s white form in the TMK reects her later evolution as the popular white Ta ra who promotes health and long life. Her green form, which is a distinctly Buddhist conception, is the most frequently occurring aspect in the latter half of the TMK. See Landesman, Great Secret of Ta ra , which surveys Ta ra s green forms (19197). For her description as a black wrathful protector, see TMK, sTog Palace Manuscript of the Tibetan Kanjur, vol. 107 (MA), 482b-4ff to 483a-5. 25 Marcel Lalou, The Majus r imu lakalpa et Ta ra mu lakalpa, Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies (1936): 34, 32747. 26 MMK, Sanskrit text entitled Maha ya na-su tra-sam r i-mu la-kalpa, . graha, pt. 2, The Majus ed. P. L Vaidya, Buddhist Sanskrit Texts 18 (Darbhanga: Mithila Institute, 1964), 45, lines 2031. The text reads: dev ima rya valokites varakarun m i dev i... varada yika m... tak .a . ... sarvavighnagha kuma rasyeha ma ta dev i majughosasya maha dyuteh . . The composition of the MMK was possibly completed by the mid- to late eighth century, although its earliest layers of writing may have been composed as early as the seventh century. 27 TMK, fol. 196a-1 to 7. Ta ra s peaceful golden form is depicted as the goddess who is the compassion of Avalokites vara (lha mo spyan ras gzigs dbang phyug gi thugs rje), who destroys obstacles and grants boons (lha mo bgegs kun joms pa mo / mchog sbyin byed ma), and who performs great rites or activities (lha mo las chen byed mo).

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activity, reinforced by her relationship with Avalokites vara, instead of her role as mother and progenitor of Majus r is enlightened wisdom. An important iconographic parallel between Ta ra and Majus r i appears in the second chapter of their respective texts (TMK and MMK). Herein, each gure is featured in the center of an elaborate mandala, a sacred image made of powdered colors. They share many details of their attire and pose: both are seated on a lotus throne within a jeweled celestial palace; both hold a myrobalan fruit in the right hand and a blue lotus (utpala) in the left; and both are adorned with the ornaments of a youth.28 These shared features suggest that the TMKs anonymous author made a deliberate attempt to model Ta ra s initial iconographic depiction in the TMK after a formerly established and apparently well-known aspect of the male bodhisattva of wisdom, Majus r i. These visual parallels may have served as a means of promoting the worship of Ta ra within a growing tantric milieu through evoking visual memories associated with previously established male gures of worship. Further evidence to support this notion is presented below. Vairocana and the Vairocana-abhisam . bodhi-tantra Vairocana is one of the ve primordial Buddhas associated with early tan tric ritual practice and the main deity of one of the earliest tantric scriptures, the Vairocana-abhisam . bodhi-tantra (VAT). The importance of this text to the study of the TMK is based upon the large number of deities (luminous enlightened beings) that it shares with the TMK and the iconographic parallels noted in a depiction of Vairocana (in the VAT) and Ta ra (in the TMK). Alex Wayman rst documented the close relationship between the VAT and the TMK, observing that the rituals in these texts contain many of the same enlightened Buddhist gures referred to as deities. Wayman also maintained that Avalokites varas four female companions in the VAT (green Ta ra , Bhr i, . kut . Pa n sin i, and Yas odhara ) should be considered Ta ra s, and that their wor.d . arava ship eventually gave rise to the cults of the green, white, red, and golden Ta ra s.29 30 Evidence from the TMK supports this point. Parallels appear when one compares the initial iconographic descriptions

28 P. L. Vaidya, Majus r i -mu la-kalpa (hereafter MMK), 29, lines 36. Also see TMK fol. 174a-2 to 6. 29 The Enlightenment of Vairocana, trans. Alex Wayman and R. Tajima (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1992), 1112. The VAT contains what is perhaps the earliest known depiction of the green Ta ra in the Buddhist tantras. Wayman has proposed a mid-sixth-century date for the VAT, composed in the area of Maha ra shtra. 30 Landesman, Great Secret of Ta ra , chap. 3.

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of Vairocana (in the VAT) and Ta ra (in the TMK).31 Both are centrally located in their respective mandala palaces with their hair bound up and adorned with a jeweled crown. According to a commentary on the VAT by Buddhaguhya, bound up hair is an indication of a deity of the Akanis .t . ha heaven, and a jewel in the crown refers to the wearers status as a King of Dharma.32 These shared elements of iconography indicate that Ta ra is assuming the enlightened status of a complete Buddha in female form. Avalokites vara and the Ta ra -mu la-kalpa, TMK The conception of Goddess Ta ra as the female companion of Avalokites vara (bodhisattva of compassion) spans the early phase of her cult in India from about the sixth through the eighth centuries CE.33 Avalokites varas role in the TMK provides the momentum for the development of the Ta ra cult: he is a main speaker in the text and a pervasive actor in its rites. The latter is evident in his role as intermediary in the ritual methods used to evoke Ta ra . The close relationship between Ta ra and Avalokites vara in the TMK is dened as the Great Secret. In conversation with the gods, Avalokites vara says, Listen to the secrets associated with the Great Secret of the Mother [Ta ra ] who is the embodiment of enlightened awareness (Ma ha vidya )! I shall also explain the vidya for the rite that is performed to make her appear.34 In this passage, the word vidya refers to a sequence of sacred syllables (in other words, a charm) used to evoke Ta ra s presence, as well as the enlightened awareness that results from evoking her through concentrating exclusively on these syllables. Before exploring the deeper signicance of the term vidya , it is important to understand the similarities and differences between the terms vidya and mantra. According to an eighth-century Sanskrit treatise, vidya s and mantras have similar functions, except vidya s refer to a female [deitys] appearance and
31 Specic passages are found in the mandala rite from the second chapter of the VAT (EV, 101), and a mandala rite from the second chapter of the TMK depicting Ta ra as Ekajat i (TMK, . 174a-2 to 6). 32 Akanis ya Buddha .t .ha is the highest heaven in the form realm where the Sambhoga-ka resides while teaching tenth-stage bodhisattvas. Wayman and Tajima, Enlightenment of Vairocana, 101, 146n41. Herein the author cites Buddhaguhyas commentary on the Vairocanaabhisam bhisam dhis tha na-maha -tantra-bha s . bodhi-tantra entitled Vairocana . bodhi-vikurvita .. . ya (Peking Tanjur edition, vol. 77, fols. 13944, 14045, and 14058). Ta ra s aspect as Ekajat i has . partially bound up hair. The term that refers to her hairstyle (ral pa gcig ma) differs from that used for Vairocanas bound up hair (thor tshugs chang ba). 33 This is noted as she is depicted within the early Buddhist tantras: the Majus r i -mu lakalpa (MMK), the Vairocana-abhisam ra -mu la-kalpa (TMK). . bodhi-tantra (VAT), and the Ta 34 This passage occurs at the beginning of the uttaratantra, and is followed by a charm to evoke Ta ra s aspect as Bhr i. See the TMK (fol. 283a-2 to 5): kye lhai tshogs rnams rig pa chen . kut . po gang ma moi gsang chen gsang pa rnams nyon chig / de skyed par byed pai cho gai rig paang bshad par byao.

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the utterance associated with her nature, whereas mantras refer to a male [deitys] appearance as well as the utterance associated with that form.35 In other words, vidya s evoke female deities whereas mantras evoke male deities. This is substantiated by evidence found in the TMK and the MMK. When the anonymous author of the TMK composed the rst layer of the text using the MMK as a basis of reference, all mantras used to evoke Majus r i in the MMKs rites were replaced by vidya s used to evoke Ta ra in the TMKs rites.36 In the rituals that appear in the subsequent layers of the TMK, whenever Ta ra is to be evoked by a sequence of sacred syllables, they are prefaced by the term vidya .37 38 There are hundreds, if not thousands of vidya s in the TMK. The denition of mantra in The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism is pertinent to our discussion, based upon parallel functions of mantras and vidya s in these early tantras. He denes mantra as an attribute of buddha-body, speech and mind which protects the mind with ease and swiftness.39 Thus, by reciting a vidya , as one would a mantra, one protects the mind from discriminative thought, as well as activities of body and speech that depend upon the mind for direction. When the term vidya is used to signify a deitys pristine awareness, it functions as an aspect of enlightened mind. Accordingly, enlightenment can be found upon realizing the nature of this awareness through meditation, when obscurations covering the seeds of Buddha nature are removed.40 As an aspect
35 Padmavajras Tantra rtha vata ravya khya na (Tohoku catalogue number 2502, vol. H . i, fols. 273b-2 to 3a,b), quoted in Mkhas grub rje, Introduction to the Buddhist Tantric Systems, trans. Ferdinand Lessing and Alex Wayman (1968; reprint, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1983), 2425n13, 116n18: Rig sngags zhes pa ni moi gzugs dang tshul dzin pas gsungs pai tshig ste / sngags zhes pa ni phoi tshul dang gzugs kyis smras pai tshig go. See also 176n24, which states that the Vidya ra j i (Queen of Vidya s) represents both the deity and the magical formula associated with that deity. 36 An example of this process is found when comparing TMK, sTog Palace Manuscript (fol. 160b-14) to the Majus r i -mu la-kalpa, ed. P. L. Vaidya, Buddhist Sanskrit Texts 18 (Darbhanga: rya Majus Mithila Institute, 1964), 17, lines 2631. Here, the MMK text refers to A r i s basic mantra (mu la-mantra), whereas the TMKs parallel reading refers to Ta ra s basic charm ( mu lavidya ), also referred to as a root charm. 37 Landesman, Great Secret of Ta ra , 14752, 26971. The TMK outlines the natures and functions of all of Ta ra s vidya s in the chapter entitled Extensive Rite of the Mandala, fols. 160b1 to 162a-2, following the Sanskrit MMK text, 17. Herein, Ta ra s root charm (mu la-vidya ), described as the basic charm of the Blessed Noble Ta ra . . . performs all rites, severs one from the phenomena of the three worlds, and removes all bad destinies. The text continues with a discussion of Ta ra s charms: the essence incantation (hr ), the near-essence incantation (upahr . daya-vidya . daya-vidya ), and the most concise essence incantation (parama-hr . daya). 38 Two additional chapters in the TMK that comment extensively on the nature and functions of Ta ra s vidya s are entitled Fifth Extensive Rite of the Painted Image (TMK, vol. 107 [MA], 201a-3205b-4) and Charms for All Ordinary Rites (TMK, vol. 107 [MA], 323a-5387b-3). 39 Dudjom Rinpoche and Jikdrel Yeshe Dorje, The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its Fundamentals and History, vol.1, trans. and ed. Gyurme Dorje with collaboration by Matthew Kapstein (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1991), 31. 40 Lama Pema Wangdak (founder of the Vikramashila Foundation and Palden Sakya Buddhist centers), conversation with Susan S. Landesman, July 5, 2005, New York City Sakya Center.

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of enlightened speech, a vidya serves as the means to evoke the deity through the repetition of sacred syllables. This is based upon the belief that a deity resides within the subtle, unseen sounds used to evoke its presence. Ancient Indian philosophical schools contend that sound and vibration are the essential and basic constituents of reality.41 Thus, the goddess who abides within the vidya appears once the vidya is invoked, it is her animating essence.42 In the TMK, Ta ra is frequently referred to as the Blessed Queen of Enlightened Awareness (Bhagavat i Maha vidya ra j i). Her identity as a Maha vidya in this Buddhist source is established many centuries before it is rst used in Hindu sources (for example, the Maha bha gavata Pura n . a) to identify a group of ten Hindu goddesses, including Kal i and Ta ra . David Kinsley notes that these Hindu Maha vidya s function as mantras, whose importance resides in the tan tric belief that mantras awaken consciousness.... [Maha vidya s are] the mantras by which knowledge is gained, awakened, or discovered within.43 Recognizing the syncretic nature of Hindu and Buddhist tantra, Kinsley provides a point of comparison: just as Hindu Maha vidya s function as the cause of inner awakening, so does the Buddhist Goddess Ta ra as Maha vidya personify the awareness capable of liberating the practitioner who identies with her in meditation. The dual nature of vidya as sacred speech and awareness appears in a pasa sage from the TMK. Here, Buddha S kyamuni discusses the Great Secret in a rite entitled Perfecting Ones Wishes that features Avalokites vara and Bhagavat i Ta ra . While envisioning Avalokites vara, the practitioner may evoke Ta ra :
[The ritual] called Perfecting Ones Wishes is victorious! It frees one from passion44 and mental darkness,45 as it pacies attachment. Puried and perfected, one is released from non-virtue.[1] In order to destroy the seeds of transmigration, Make salutations and worship the

Lama Pema points out that although wisdom (San. praja ; Tib. ye shes) can be discerned through study, reection, and meditation, the true nature of awareness (San. vidya : Tib. rig pa) is ascertained through meditation alone. Also see Rinpoche and Dorje, Nyingma School, 1:27. 41 David Kinsley, Tantric Visions of the Divine Feminine: The Ten Ma ha vidya s (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1997), 58. 42 Ibid., 59. Within Hindu context, Kinsley notes that the term ma ha vidya is used to refer to transcendent knowledge and power, supreme knowledge or wisdom, as well as the mantra associated with the deitys presence. This knowledge is accessed through the worship of ten goddesses (Ma ha vidya s), whose liturgy is found in the Maha bha gavata Pura n . a, composed in eastern India after the fourteenth century. Herein, Ta ra appears as one of the ten Hindu Ma ha vidya s. See Kinsley, Tantric Visions, 22, 5760. 43 Kinsley, Tantric Visions, 60. 44 Passion refers to the Sanskrit term rajas. 45 Darkness refers to the Sanskrit term tamas.

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All-Knowing Noble Avalokites vara on a moon46 [disc].[2] It is explained that by relying upon you [Avalokites vara] to make [Ta ra ] appear, She will appear again in the world.[3b] (Here, the practitioner intones a vidya to evoke Ta ra s presence.) Salutations to the [goddess] who is entirely white! White-limbed, white-armed, and white-garlanded! Salute [the Goddess] who Conquers, who is Victorious, Who is Invincible, and who is Unrivaled!47

The nature of the Great Secret implies that the practitioner cannot evoke Ta ra directly, but must rst worship Avalokites vara as ones tutelary deity, either by visualizing him or meditatively generating oneself into him, before uttering Ta ra s vidya to evoke her presence. This ritual sequence suggests that Ta ra s charm must be spoken by Avalokites vara rather than by an ordinary person, and that it must be uttered using secret speech rather than ordinary speech to evoke her. Two recurring motifs in the TMK reinforce this interpretation of the Great Secret. The rst is the frequent depiction of Avalokites vara engaged in meditative concentration prior to uttering Ta ra s charms. In the following passage, Avalokites vara states, I entered equipoise in order that I may explain the aims of evoking Blessed Noble Ta ra in that most excellent of ritual texts.... I shall also explain the vidya for the rite performed to make her appear.48 The second motif pertains to the many vidya s in the TMK used to evoke Ta ra that begin with an initial homage to Avalokites vara:
Homage to the Three Jewels! Homage to Noble Avalokites vara, the Enlightened Being, Great Being! Oh Ta ra , who rescues from pain! Oh quick one! Hail!49

Ultimately, the dynamics of Great Secret may be used to explain why Avalokites vara plays such a paramount role in the TMK. First, he is the texts main speaker, and therefore, the primary gure to bestow the teachings. Second, he serves as an intermediary in the ritual methods used to evoke Ta ra : his role reinforces the notion that the practitioner can only access Ta ra by rst vi 46 The Wheel of Life ( bhavacakra), symbolizing samsara, is grasped by Ma ra s claw-like hands and feet. At the center of this wheel, desire, hatred, and ignorance are personied as the root causes for the rebirth of beings in any of the six destinies. The Buddha stands outside the wheel, pointing to the moon as the path to liberation. The moon therefore signies the peace of mind achieved through surmounting the forces of desire, hatred, and delusion, which give rise to the various sufferings experienced in samsara. . ge s 47 Tadyatha /s vete s veten ve[te] bhuje s vet[e] / Ma lyeralam jite . kr . te / Jaye vijaye ajite apara sva ha , in TMK, sTog Palace Manuscript of the Tibetan Kanjur, vol. 107 (MA), fol. 251a-5ff. 48 TMK 282a-6, 283a-4, 5. rya Avalokites 49 Namo ratna traya ya / Namo A vara ya Bodhisattva ya Maha sattva ya / Ta re tutta re ture sva ha , in TMK, 161a-2.

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sualizing and evoking Avalokites vara, or by going through Avalokites vara. Third, he accompanies Ta ra in most of the TMKs pat . a and mandala rites, and, in certain contexts, may be identied as Ta ra s iconographic role model.50 Although the TMK clearly gives Avalokites vara a prominent role, the text does not explain why this is the case or why the practitioner must generate him or herself into the male bodhisattva Avalokites vara prior to evoking Goddess Ta ra . Although speculation provides no denitive answers, one can explore this issue through three different lenses. First, Ta ra enters the Buddhist milieu by modeling herself after popular male gures, adopting their symbolism and functions, as well as an evocation process that follows similar guidelines. On the one hand, Ta ra can be accessed neither directly nor independently from Avalokites vara. Rather, her presence and powers can only be accessed through him. On the other hand, one could interpret the evocation process as gender inclusive, whereby tantric ritual is efcacious only through the participation of male and female counterparts resulting in an androgynous state of equilibrium. In some texts, this state is envisioned as a male and female deity in embrace. The Vimalak irti-su tra substantiates this notion from a third perspective: While [women] are not women in reality, they appear in the form of women. With this in mind, the Buddha said, In all things, there is neither male nor female.51 That is, the enlightened mind that perceives reality from an ultimate viewpoint transcends notions of gender. When sense objects are viewed as devoid of any permanent natures, attachment to objects of the senses that normally gives rise to suffering is reduced. As a lasting note, one may wonder why Ta ra , who is the featured deity of the text, is silent throughout the entire scripture, even though she is frequently referred to as a queen of sacred speech and enlightened awareness. Rather, her powers as the personication of speech and awareness are either spoken about (by Avalokites vara and other gures in the text) or intoned as the sacred syllables that embody and manifest her presence. If Ta ra does not assume an active voice in the TMK as promulgator of its teachings, what then is the source of her power?52 As noted by her epithet, Maha vidya -ra j i, Ta ra embodies the state of conscious awareness that can liberate the practitioner who identies with her in meditation.53 As the embodiment of liberative awareness, Ta ra may be
50 References to Ta ra with her hair bound up (u rdhvajat ) (which is also the rst word in the .a TMKs title, u rdhvajat -maha kalpa) appear more frequently in descriptions of Avalokites vara than .a Ta ra . 51 Emphasis added. The Holy Teachings of Vimalak i rti, trans. RobertF. Thurman (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1976), 62. 52 Ta ra s silence contrasts with the role of bodhisattva of wisdom Majus r i, who functions as one of the main speakers within the Majus r i-mu la-kalpa. 53 The practitioner who identifies body, speech, and mind with Ta ra s (body, speech, and mind) is empowered to realize the goals of the rites, whether worldly or supramundane (enlightenment).

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a removed because she is completely enlightened, much like Buddha S kyamuni in the Vimalak irti-su tra, seated on a lions throne radiating beams of light.54 Ta ra s active potential is accessed by means of ritual speech. Many rites in the TMK require that the practitioner intone Ta ra s vidya s in the presence of Ta ra s image, in order to manifest her compassionate, protective power and presence. The following verses describing Ta ra exemplify this point:
The Goddess is the destroyer of all obstacles, and superior in expelling danger. In order to protect the practitioner, one should depict the virtuous one with a boon-granting hand gesture.[54] The Goddess who bears the form of a woman is the compassionate one, the daughter of [the Buddha] Das abala, and the welfare of all creatures. She who bestows boons should be drawn.[55] In order to destroy all obstacles, the tantric practitioner implores the Goddess who performs great activities [associated with] the illustrious Bodhisattva.[56]55

Conclusion: Pioneering Efforts When a group of monks exhorted Princess Moon of Wisdom to pray for a (new) male body, she initially responded by acknowledging the socially acceptable path to enlightenment for men. However, in her next breath, she challenged the monks attachment to notions of gender and asserted her female identity by vowing to pursue enlightenment in female form in all of her subsequent lives to alleviate the innite sufferings of living beings.56 In a somewhat parallel fashion, one may argue that the earliest tantric rites used to worship Ta ra did not begin as a feminist enterprise, since Ta ra was modeled after, accompanied by, and accessed through male bodhisattvas. However, these rituals did promote Ta ra s means of entry within the tantric milieu as a fully enlightened female Buddha (Bhagavat i) with unlimited powers of protection, compassion, and wisdom. Ad 54 Thurman, Holy Teachings of Vimalak irti, 12. 55 Emphases added. Translated from a passage that appears in the Tibetan TPTMK on fol. 196a-6ff. 56 There is neither man nor woman nor self nor person-hood nor notion of such. Attachment to [the designations] male and female is meaningless and deludes worldly people with poor understanding. Many desire enlightenment in a mans body, while not even a single [person] strives for the benet of sentient beings in a womans body. Therefore, I shall work for the benet of sentient beings in a womans form as long as samsara has not been emptied (Jaya Pan .d . ita, Collected Works, fol. 221b-35).

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ditionally, such rites served as tools through which Ta ra s independent status was eventually created. Sometime after the seventh-century composition of the TMK, Ta ra worship became differentiated from Avalokites vara and it was possible to evoke her independently as a practitioners tutelary deity. In the eighth century, Ta ra s popularity gained momentum with an increasing number of followers in regions as distant from India as Java and Tibet.57 During this time, Candragomins commentary (Ekavim ati-sa dhana) on the twenty-one praises of Ta ra (Namasta re .s ekavim atistotra-gun ra s differentiation from . ahitasahita) played a role in Ta .s Avalokites vara.58 By the eleventh century, Ta ra played a central role in the life of Master At is a (9821054), for whom Ta ra served as tutelary deity and guide in his journey and transmission of Buddhist teachings from India to Tibet. According to the TMKs colophon, At is a is credited with transporting the Ta ra mu la-kalpa from India to Tibet in 1042.59 It was due in part to At is as pioneering efforts to promote the worship of Ta ra in Tibet that she eventually became renowned as the mother of the Tibetan people.

ailendra Dynasty of Java: A Reappraisal, in Amala 57 H. B. Sarkar, The Origin of the S Praja : Aspects of Buddhist Studies, P.V. Bapat volume, ed. N.H. Samtani and H.S. Prasad (Delhi: Indian Books Centre, 1989), 38197. See also Marcel Lalou, Les Textes Bouddhiques au . lde bcan, Journal Asiatique 241 (1953): 31153, esp. 31317, 329. temps du Roi Khri sron 58 Mkhas grub rje, Buddhist Tantric Systems, 12627. A late seventh- to eighth-century time frame for Candragomin is proposed, since the TMK does not contain rites to evoke the popular twenty-one forms of Ta ra , which it would have included had they been popular in the time and place where the TMK was composed. See Alex Wayman, Chanting the Names of Majus r i: The Majus r i -na ma -sam i ti (Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1985), 5, and Wayman and . g Tajima, Enlightenment of Vairocana, 36n26. Wayman notes that the Candragomin who wrote the Ekavim ati-sa dhana probably lived in the eighth century and is not the same as the sixth-century .s Candragomin who wrote a famous grammatical treatise that rivaled Candrakirtis. Ta rana tha, History of Buddhism in India (ed. D.Chattopadhyaya [Calcutta: Humanities Press, 1981], 200209), places the latter Candragomin during the late eighth-century reign of the Pala King Dharmapa la (770781 CE). Mark Tatz places Candragomin in the seventh century in The Life of Candragomin in Tibetan Historical Tradition, Tibet Journal6, no.3 (1972): 122, and Mark Tatz, The Date of Candragomin, Buddhism and Jainism, ed. Harish Chandra Das, Chittaranjan Das, and Satya Ranjan Pal (Cuttack: Institute of Oriental and Orissan Studies, 1976), 28197. 59 A translated portion of the TMKs colophon reads: Having expended much effort to bring Master At is as book from Rva-sgreng, the Sa kya monk Rinchen-grub completed the translation on the fteenth day of the [rst] month of Great Miracles [under the lunar asterism] As vin i in the year of plava. See TMK, sTog Palace Manuscript of the Tibetan Kanjur, vol. 107 (MA): fol. 532a47: Di ni jo bo chen po at ishai phyag dpe rva sgreng nas dka thub chen pos gdan drangs nas/ sha kyai dge slong rin chen grub kyis phar bai lo/ cho phrul chen po rtai zla bai tshes bco lnga la rdzogs par bsgyur bai yi ge pa ni.