"

'

"The Two Other Homes Of Ati- Yoga In India"

by A.W. 'Hanson....Barber Ph.D.,'
Ati-Yog is a' unique, system of ,meditatiollaltechniques and 'philosophy now
s~hool

only preserved in the Nyingma

of Tibetan Buddhism.' However," as I have ,

shownelsewhere,2 it constituted a miDor trend in Tantric 'Indian BUddhism.' Further,
there are "certai~l' similarities to, Mahamudra "and the' system :0 ,zhi Byed, taught'
by the Ip,dianPandita PadampaSang rGya. 3 Thelatteronly being preserved in the
Tibetan traditiop,sand litel'ature as' weli;4
,

'

-----------~---------'---.--------------1.

The Bon or native religion of Tibet also has an Ati.:..Yoga lineage. However whether
or not' this is in fact derived from the Buddhist "is 'not 'conClusively , determiliea at "
I

this time. ,
..

2. 'This article is abstracted from my Ph. D. dissertation,' The, Life alid Teacbings of
, Vairocana,' disst. UniV; 6fWis ..:..Madis(m; 1984: seepp. 28ff.,'

3.. A c;Wcal study oj the reJatio~ship a/these

three . 9C1w~1$ /9 ,till walJli~g. However,
.
itseemsthattheym4Y, "hllVe all developed. out 0/ thepriinitive Sahaja movement:
Fitst the Ati-y~gli brokeofJ; , themilin line developed into Mahamudra and,ftnally~
the Zhi Byed' developed., In''fibet they merge again about the" time of, Klong . Chen
~.,'

pa,
"

4.

For a brief history and the philosophY of this' school.

the ZM byed." by N. Jay R. Weil. Madison, 1979~'

, Buddhist Hilnalaya

'

see.ttTh~Kvan'silistoryof , '
'" ,',

''
(4~)'.,

'

Historically, ail 'avaiiable sources state that the Ati-Yoga system's originaihome
syst~;m

was dOa' Rab rDo de

(~k .. Anandnvajl'a). e He was of the fC)yal house of Uddya1la and l'eceived these te~chings

. was UddYiuta. 6 The first huma1l transmitter of this

Jl'om the celestial Buddha Vajrasattva. He passed this sy'stem onto a' Jam' dPal 'bShes.
gNyep (sk. Manjusrimitta) in the 'Sitavana cemetery itl Magadha. a' Jam dPal h'Shes

gNyen in turn passed this system onto: Sri Simha.

.

The :confusiQi:l,
of: :the.
ge.ogJ;aphic 1ocation's "in regard
to
activities of Sd Simba
.
.
.
.
.
,

'.

'is where "this investigation' begin~. ACC01'dil1g to various native Tibetan. and Weste!l,l
sourCes,.7 the location of Sri Simha$s' activity. is to be found in China. However, as
will .b~ se.eIi~ .the r.eaI: !locatiqn 'of pis actlvity is in In~1i~:. Furtller, the ... whole connection
: of' Sri Shllh~ with Chin~ proper' win be di~puted. Then' it will be shown that the .
.

.J~q ,otber

J~~:

'

:li,o)lles of th~s~ystem :ar~ . l,l0dhgaya and more. :imp()rta1\t1y ~r~ p,hanyakat.

.. ""
. The s.ourc~s 'of' :iUfor.tnation for' this '. study ~.a1'e' the, hagiography: of: Sri. :Simba,~.

ithe :hag:iographyof VakQcana9 ,:and the.hagiogtaphyofVimalatnitra.10 The hagiograph.y

':o'f Sri, :Si~ha.js
rather~hortand.it
;dQes
not.provide,detailedinformation.This,.:
how.ever~
. . .
.
.
. .
.
.

."

is not uncommon. Ma1?-yof the early . Mahasiddhas . are .only:.known ,io .us through

such, sbort accounts. Be this as it may, the sources sur.veyed, do agreeo;n the essel1tial

6.. See Han90n-Barber~ A. W. "The Identification of 'dGa t Rab'rDo rJe. 1I JIABS vol 9t

. No.
'.. .2.1986.
.
.;'

,.'

7. Seet' Th~b "bsTan' Sh~f:.Ra~l r.Gpa '; uITsho ....~by: H~ H.)Judjom Ril1po clte. . 1977 pp.
130 ff. "Crystal' Mirror'/ vol V. pp. 188 ff. The. Rice . of Esoteric Buddhism in Tibet
:bY'$vam Dal'gye. i977p..21;
.
"
.

,,'

'8. ibid:' Dudjoin'

. Rtnpoche.' . ..:..
,~

"

..

: " ': ~.

,; (

.".

~ :..

"'..'

. '.

:.

.
:

.",

: ..
.'

"

"

9~'Han90~-Barber~'The":llre ':and1T~acbi~gs; of :Vairocann, Kh~t~n

,

"Sangpo. "Biogra~hical
Dictionary of Tibet and 'Tib~ian~ Buddhism'Dharamsala, 1973 vol. III pp. 61 "off.~
. "C;rx~t~? ~irror". v~l.
fP' .
,

'

..

:'

.' '... .. ..:',

.'

r.

.',

.20i!i<.
.'.:'
.. .
..
.

. '. . . ...

",.",.

"

~.

..

'

','.

.\:~

,.

'10. Chen, ..Dodrup

. .The' Biography ;:~r U.aba:.:Pandita
;;VUna13lhitr'a G.arigtDk ....:;1916
.
,.
. '

'"

"

..
'

..

"

' .

..

pointts';TIiis reads' ohe' to' believe, thai they may:' have", be~n drawn, Frontei:MmmOI1
SO'Ul;c:e. Bacha' the hagiographies ofVairocana' and.'Vi1l1alamitrat in fact" h~ve more'
details' 011 the' life, 'of Sd Simha.1;11is is the reason for, their utilization. hete. Both,'
Vairocana and Vhnalamitra were stl1del1ts of Sri Simha au~' both were instntmental
in the tnmsmissiouof Ati-,-Yogato' Tibet:i1'

'Sri' Silnha' was :born! in' the town'ofSb Kllyattis' i:n""Cllina"1~ to' VirtuOl.lSparetitsi
He' studied grammer and logic with Hai:ibhahi from the age Qf fifteen' for' three: years; .
He received a'visioh MArya Avalokiteshvat'1:t which toid' hini, t() 'go' to the' cremation'", '
ground So Sa gLing to study the Ati-Yoga, btlt he decided~, tQ' study the,Tantr'as'ati,
the five peaked mountain of Manjusri first. There he studied 'with Bhehikirti for ~even
years during which he became a ' monk. ,Having . r~ceived repeated prophecies from
Arya Avalokiteshvara) he, finally went to India to study the Ati-Yoga witha'Jam 'dPal
. bShes gNyen' in the cemetery So Sa 'gLing.
'

F~r twenty-five years he studied ., th~ 'Ati-Yoga, then. his teach~r

died. He devided .'

the teachings into four. groups :)11e ex,oteric; J~soteric, secret cycles and conceai,edtiiem '
at BodhgaYa. Then 'he departed to th~,':' cremation
ground
bSil13ying' 'al1d began his.
.
.
teaching career.13
'"::

"

. '

""

V~il'OCalla ,.was' born in' the' gTsaiig: dIstrict of Tibet, At the age' 'or" ~ight; ,:he .
went'to study with' Padmasainbhava and Shantakshiia. 'Un&~r'the'lattdt, ,he becanl'e"a
monk. At the age of fifteen, he left Tibet for India .
-.

",

....

'

.. ,.

'.~

. ; : ...

.,,,:

'

... , ,

-:- .. ,

'. T'

.1'

.b.J.~

11. The three' individualS': who are most' resp'onslbllliit, the ", 'trarilmissioii
Tibet
Vimalarnitra, .Vairocana ,and Padmasambhava.
,

are

"

dr Ati:" Yoga;' ((F'

12. I have used quotation marks here to 'denote ,the conlieritir/na1.translation' of' the"Ti'Jetan\"
itrGya Nag.," However, the actu.al. meaning of this (firm is take~, up below in this paper.
, " ,,

13, Hanson-Barbel'.

op. cit. pp. 34 If. and Dudjom J?inpoche; op;. cit. pp. 130:jJ::-

. Y,!r' ' It
BUd..Ah'
~ _J$ti~ltna a~';"

" 'In his' travels he wandered,to 'many places in eastern India, including Bodhgaya,.
Ayodhya, Kali'ngaand" so' forth.' After m~y ha~dships 'and ' months later,' he finally
ca~e 'to, the' Kota lake 'near the tempJe Dha He 1'fa. Th,is was the, residence of Sri "
Sitilha. At night he studied, the Ati-Yoga ,with Sri Simha and during, the day he
studied the Dharma ofcaus~ and effect ,wi~ other panditas. "
, Together
the teacher and the student
departed .for, Bodhgaya where the 'text of
. .
.
.

, "the Ati-Yoga had been concealed and returned to the temple. Vairocana, studied with
~e

Sri :Simha for' approaximately, twenty-two' years, in which,

received the' complete

transmission' 0(, the Atit-Yoga. After spending some ti~e traveling around' India.,

he

'returned to Tibet" and tallght the' king and others ',the Dharma beyond crinse and
effect14 (i.e.

theAti-Yoga)~

,The Hagiography of Vi~alamitra

,Vimalamiti'a was borni.in Wes,te.rn India. He studied' both the Hinayana and
'

':

the Mahayana doctrine with, learned scholars and later, studied ,the Vajrayana with
Acarya Buddhaguhya15
-

' and other scholars

and'yogis
received with
. .
. ,near Bocthgaya; He
.

'

' . '

his 'friend, Jnyanansutra,' a viiiion' of Vajrasattva J which told them' to depart for
, -"China" and: study the, Ail.Yoga ,With, Srf SiIilha,':' '
.

Vimalamitra., immediately departed for 'the Bodhi-tree' (sk. Bodhi-vrksa) templ~

in "China" where sri Simha was' residing. ,He 'studied

Vlith him for twenty years.
. .
,

'

,He ,the;o. returned ,to his home:,' Upon his retutI\.,he met, his friend, Jnyallasutra, and"
having ,related his experiences' with Sri, Siroha, the Jatter " departed to visit the
teacher. "
Du~ing the: tlme_, 'that, Jnyanasutra was' studying with, Sri Simhat ' Sri Simhadied. '

,.J~yanasutra ,then went to r'side1Ii

the cre~ation 'groundBha Shing in rn.dia~
,
,

'

, ' ,

..

' " ,

.15. 'Buddhaguhytt
Tantra~ ,

" ,(52), '

"

"

Vimalamitra,

..

'

.-

14. ' Hanson~iJarber. ibid.

"

'PP. 47 fj:,

<

,and fn. 9 ab'ove .

-rca. 8th C.' A. 'D.) involved' fIi'the ' iransm~sion' of ~he 'Gubyagarbba,
.

."

'. I

~.\ ..

, i

,,Buddhist ',Himalaya >'

receiving a prophe~y from a Dakiniand.' not having received

the 'tex:t' of the teachings, ..

wel:lt to .Bha Shing to' finish his course~f .study with Jny~asutra.
Having received the complete Ati-Yoga teaching.i and after the de8:th of Jnyanasutra,
VimaJamitra' went to reside in the temple . Simha Bhad);'a in the city

.of Kamalupa.

and later became the ch.aplait). to .the King Indl'abodhi in Kapal~vastu. . After' some
years, he departed to Tibet and transmitted the Ati-:.yoga teachings the.re. After teaching
.in Tibet for thirteen years, he departed for the ~ve-peaked' mountain of Manjusri
and. later d.ied.16
" ..

Probl~tnswith. the .Hagiography of Sri.' Simha .' .

. There are several items of in~erest . that . must .. be investigated in the above
,

. , " .

'

','

accollnt of Sri Simha. First,. the 10cation. of his birth, the. location. of the. cremation
,gro:und bSil Bying, ,and finally, the location of Sri Simha's residency." In

an

atte~pt .

to be thorough. the. dates of his birth and. death . wJll also' be ptesented.. Further.
.
. '
it)..0*4er to supplement the above information of Sri Sln1ha in the follo~ing' argumen~s,:'
" .infofmation .
be, uti1i~ed. from' the hagio graphy of Vaito cana and. to a lesser ~xtent.
:that.of . Vimala~itnl. ..
...,..
"
.'. ::

will

The BirthP.lace of. Sri' Simha ..

,',

"

"

. Acoording to the hagiography . given. ,above, .Sri .Simha w~s born' in "Chinal' .
.AlI: th~o~her' Tibetan sources agree . with this, . as do . the, 'Westernsourees;' However,
. thiscim',b~ . disputed 'by several arguments: .first, the. meaning, of the .,townna:meSo,

:sec~~d the .. Sanskrit .. names used. in the 'hagiog~a~hy;. thi.l'd~ "hi~ .kn9wledge.
ofh;brid,~u4dhist
San$krit;. and fourth the meaning of'. the Tibetan: term. :translated
.
..

'Kbyam;

'

. as: :"China~"
. "So;' here . should be takeD~s,II).eaningb~oor .lo~k. Qui, ,.guardt

'~khYa.ins~' :lllean:s ~ yard~

court

.......:..

,
'

..

spying, .etc.

ya:rd~ o~. hall. Toget~er th~Y .should . be. ,rendered. as

"'~g~~isoIl'~ Qt' . some such. equivale~t. .TInis; the to~n .

.,

name

is" in fact just ~ description

. '16.: .Abstr~ciedjrom. Dod'rup Chen .. op~ cit.: ' ... :", .. ' ' .

..
"

:,'

......
.

....

,'.

:' (53):' "..

of tbd", town"s'; function. However;:. if this" town' was;' in China .proper~ it, setmts llnllkely:
that it 'would ~ave' such a p,atnc; In' fac.t,. th~re' is' rio trace' of it town named. ~~garrisori""
in Chinese sources; but 'an area 'on the outskirts of the 'Chinese emph;e where there
. was' continuous'. trouble during' this time period was called . after - its f'llliction-. This~
.then ',would' moan that the" birth': place of'Sri Simha was: in Central' Asia and. not
in" .China. At. this time, China refeted to Central Asia as' the "four garrisons.'"

. More, w~j~ht is given:' to this' argument of' the Central Asian location by the;
fact tluit all t11e' names of

sil- Simha's teachers are 'given )n .transliterated ShnskriV

Further, Sri' Si:mha's' .owu name 'IS a proper. S'anskrit name; It i~un1ikely that a person
of Chinese' descentw'ould be'. given
,. a Sanskrit name ill allY area' that was . not influenced.
by the Sanskrit languange .arid Indian .culture, Again
one finds that it is in Central Asia'
.
where: Sanskdt and Indiah culture' 'have the most influence:,'
,

'Further; ~ere "do~s noti . seem:'to:; be' any record ,of, the teachers Haribhala or

.in.Chinese
.sources., As is'.. weH: known, ,the
'Chinese were quite 'meticulous'
'BhelaIditi
.
...
. '
in:: recording.
Indian; '
teacllers.
.
. who 'came to. teach in their country. These' individuals:
:were usuall)i:given gteat'respect artd' would' .have considerable influellce 011 both the
upperc]asses arid on some of the major monasteries' where' they; were rtotmally .
'

housed~

to

. Fin~Q.Y~ in the te.~ts . that have' come. down

us, which were authored by
Sri'Sirilha .and:: mostly ~anslated,bY:Y.airoc~na and, Vimalamitra,17 the author' shows
tha,t;'hehas cqmplete. command;6fthe Sanskrit language in itS" .classiea] hybrid Buddhist'
form; nO.ta: small . acomplishmept: fQt. a Chinesewh~' studied gramnler and 1ogi.c
_sim:ultkneously: : for, only:':three;:.years; . It. seems~o~e prudent . to think that, ini f~wt, ..
he was~' .probablYa: native' .speaker of.: Sanskrit ,or' some' close, derivative which' was .
.more' than common' in Central ' Asia. -.' .
Tfie'q'Ue'stion'ci'ln:' be':'raiSed'concetning" the" assoCi'ation of S:ri Simha with the
five~peaked~' niciuilt~iil.' pf "Manjl1:sdJ Traditionally; tliis is . ass'oeiated . with' Wu'Tai Shan

----------_____-...;,._. ._
......

~I..

1"-

17. Primarily jO,!tld. in TherNyiDginll. 'rGyud ~Bum, Vairo rGyud 'Bum, Viinala sNyillg.
Thig,"and some tt~e fo~md in' the Tibetan carmon. .

.(54)" "..
.

.'

in china, a very fanloUSmountaill. This~ however, does not have to be the c~se.
As with the home of Arya Avalo'kiteshvarathe Potala mountain, there may originally
,have .been' more than, one place that was identified with 'Manjusri. 'One must' keep
in mind that there' are numexous mOl1.utains in, g~eater India and one of these could
lbave ,well served the purpose. :We k~owthat there was a "five~peake(rmountairi"
in Tibet that was also associat~d ,with Manjusri. Further, it 'is not', inconceivable" that
a mountain in Nepal, a land that has a long histo:ry of being associated with Manjusri,
may have' had' s11.sh an associ~tion.'
The Tibetan term. "rGya Nag" is always translated c'China:"1SHowevei', aswUl
:he, seen just below,. this "term 'mus~ have taken" on this meariing1na i later period
thantluit ;of the. first transmission of the :Dharma ,to 'Tibet/'which is the 'source of
the .material under inves.tigation.

,In volunm: ,nine of the rNyillg' ma , ,rGyud'Bum,.'v'I{hicb : contains:the Tantdc'

texts of the first transmission of the ,Dharmajnto Tibet, ithere;isatext ,that Jists '
its title in several languages. 19 Tllis is.i commonfeatur~ for: mo.st T'ibetan 'te~ts.
bilt usually the languages are only Sanslqit and Tibetan.' 1.n 'tl1istext,thc. title js
given in the following language"s: Sanskrit; "Chinese~"; Tibe~an; the' 'language of Hwa
Shang; Ceylonese; the languages of the Mukuta or Maulipe'ople; and the ianguage
of the people of Bya I~a Ra Na. ~ There are two items that. are .of concern to ,us
,here.
.;

Fh'st,it
I,

..

'

sl~ould ,be noted that .the text :1ists .. sepanitely ;thc'" "Ghines,e" :title ',and

the title according to, Hwa Shang ,language . ,.Hwa Shang hi. Tibetan, has' basically two ,
meanings. The first is a name of, the infl:l.IDOS Ch'anteacher~ HwaSharig' Mahayana" '
who participated. in the debate of Lhasa. He bas been identified with

Ma HoYen,20

a .representative . of the Ch'an school, who was ~lso active ill TUng' Hwan. Second,
.....,.
. '.Jl

. . '

...

18. Candra, pas. A TlBET4N.E;nglisl!"DictioD~ry, J)elhi,lfJ79p.:'$DS; ,',

J9.rNyingma .rGyud ,'Bum Timbu,
' 1973. ' ~d. Khyentse, Dingo. vol.9p: . 468.
',.
..

20. OnMa hQ

Yen see Early' Ch'anBerkeley,

;Sud.dl#st, ,iji:Jllalft.y~ ,
. .

.'."'

"

1983~, t~fo1jgbout! '"

the termHw~ Shang can aho mean any representative of Ch'an doctrine. It woutct
seem logical that sinceHwa Shang Mahayana or Ma Ho

Yen ~as active in Tibet

at the. time that the text was translated arid he had gained considerable fame, the
.

'

' .

'

,text may here be referring to him' and, his language, although .this call not be .
conclusively proven. In either case, the language referred to here is that of the Ch'an
repre~entat~v~s" who were., Chinese.

Second, the title, given under the heading, so far translated HChinese" (tb. rGya
Nag po), is, transliterated as follows; ETa Dha, Ra Du Sa.

Although

the exact

. ,language or dialect is hard, to de~ermine from such a short citing, oue can immediately
.

,determine that it .is not Chinese, but is from au Indo-Aryan

language group. This
.
then "casts,'
considerable . doubt.
on, the
translation of the Tibetan term rGya Nag as
.
.
'
.

"

"

China, and again shows that the most likely inter-pretation ,is Central Asia. It seems
.

that rhis term may have in later times come to mean China, perhaps

because of

the eventual rule of China over these territories.

This fact, hOW'etver, was mised by
.
.

'

. both, later Tibetan' authors of history and

by the' compilers

of Tibetan-Eaglish

dictioilaries,thus, there was the false identification of Central Asia . locales with China,

from the earlier sources.

The Dates of Sri Simha

. Valrocana, one of the origiaal transmitters <?f the' Ati-Yoga system to Tibet~ ,

was a stUdent of StiSimha. There are considerable details given in 'his

hagiography~

,which allow for correct determination, of his dates 21 This in turn can be used to
determine' the dates' of Sri Simha.
. Vairocana was hom in the year of 750, A. D. In the year 765 t he departed
from. Tibet _and' went to India. He returned to Tibet several years befote the' debate
mentionedahove (792-4 A. D.). Thus, he spent appaoximately twenty-five

years in

,In4ia. It . should be further noted that he returned to Tibet befote. Sri Simha's death,
"

....

'

as this event is not mentionen in the. Yairocana hagi?graphy. However, Vairocana did

21. 'Haitson~Barbel'op, cit.pp.

., (56)

..,

E1MJ.-1

47 If.

&,

''

,Buddhist Himalaya

sl1ep.d the

not

entire amolJpt

Sri Simha~
From
the .hagiogr~phy of '
.
.

of, time ,with

..

. '.

Va~r()9ana~ we knQW that he, spent some' timpt as of yetund,etermined, b:u~ p~rhaps

,approxima.tely one year, in.yolved in othel activities after his departUre from Sri Shll.ha;
Fu.t;thet~ 9:o.~ h.a,s to, s~btra~t tra:v~Uing .tim~; thus'Vairocana was probably with Sri
Sjmb.~
for
a1?ou~
tw~nty-two
years
.
.
. -,
."
'.
.
:', ..
:[.,

"

,',

From the Vimalamitra hagiogl'aphy, we know that VimaJamitra studied with' Sri

Simha for twenty years. However"neither in the Vairocana hagiography nor in the
Vimalamitra hagiography is either student mentioned.

Thetefore~

one must' assume

that Vairocana and Vimalamitra studied with' Sri Simha separately and. did not meet
until both were" in Tibet., It can als,o be determined that' Vimalamitra probably studied "
with Sri Simha after the time Of Vairocana' and' that Sri Simha 'died shortiy , thereafter.22 Sri Simha' was twenty-five years old when he went to study with 'Jam dPal
bSh~s, gNyen.

He spe)),t tw~nty-five, years studying With him.,

\wenty-twoyeru:s

Sl,"i

S~m:ha
.

withVairo~ana' a~d twepw

wauld,have 'lived for'

' .

l1~v~ lived a

fill'" ,years
".

pas~

year.s 'with

Vimalamitra~ A~,ding'Jhis

approxim~tely
ninety~two.
.
.. , .
."',

,this because

" ,

He fUrther spent

,years.

,'Howev~;r,.

" ' ,

:up,
he ,must'
'

".

i,

Jnya~aslltra returned to stu,dy. wit:h hiil;l

'

'

"

' , J , ,',

after the departure of Vimalamitra; therefore~ I am allowing five more yearS. ~ ,h~~
death date wa~ in 815 ,A. D. (twenty-twoyear~ plus five after Vairocana's departure)~
then he was ,born, about 718 A. D.

,The Location ofhSilBying ,

In the h~giography of Vairocalla, it states that he studied, with S:d Simhain
rndia~ 'but the exact location is questionable; In the Vimalamitra, hagiogra'phy, it states '
,'that Vimalamitrall1etSti Simha' at ,the' temple Byang 'Chub 'Shing' (sk. Bodhivrk~a)
which the

te~ts' locate in China; ,'This' temple" ?-lso

is' mentioned in' the Vairocana

,hagiography an~ its location will be d~~lt with below. 'For

it is ,located

now let us assUme that

"

in' China.

22; S:i; Simha's ,deathls mentfoned in. the Vimalamitra, hagiography. This is the /)i1sic fqr.
'determining that' he studied with Sri Simha after Vairocan~.'
. ,

'

...

If the :Sodhi tree temple was 1ocate'd in ,China,' then

on~ would have 'to assume

that SrI' Simh, m~de the long arid ,ardUo'LiS 'trip from India to 'Chlna at the age of

seveniy-seve~. This, is his' approximate 'age of Vairocana's departw.~. It would be a'

considerable, accomplishment' f6r a man in: his seventies to walk thousands of miles
,

ovel' 'mountains

~nddeserts, confronting highway ,inen and dangerous animals. The~e

fore, ,the location of the temple in China is highly q'Ltestionable and could be ruled
out.
This then brings, Us to the location of the cremation grounds bSil Byings and
,the center. of Sri Simha's, activity. Howevcl', the loc~tionof thi~ cremation ground is

'an

extremely, "complicated, matter., ' Further, the location of bSil Bying is dependent
upo~ tbe correct identification a.nd location of several ,other locales. ,Each of these

will be investigated in turn. ,

;: The first locale that must be determined is the residence of Sri Simha :while
,vairocana was,' studying with ,hIm. Both the later Tibetan source~ and, .the Western'
:material h~ve, placed' this :in Udc1yana;23 However, this determination is incorrect and
, by, critical1y" evaluati,ng the hagiography of Vairocana, a completely different detel'mination

" As

seen' above,' the n~me of the temple where Sri, Simp was residing was
. Dha H,e N,a and was located near, a lake .nam~d either Kota ~rKosha~ ,In 'identifying
the places where Vairocane traveled, the locales that are positively identified are aU
24 It seems 'Quite strange that if Vairocana
. found in the eastern
sections of. India.
.
..
..
.

travelled ,to U ddyana, "some ,of. the famous places along his suppo sed route are' ,not
mentioned .. One can posit~vely place Vairocami in easterd India at the beginning of
his "travels. The.1ater
""

'.

Tib~tan texts ~ould

,

"

have

o~ebelieve 'that

. . .

he just miraculously
I

appeared, at Pl~ Dhanakosha l~kelo:cated, in Uddyana to study with Sri Simha. 2B

24.'There is P9sitive iij,mt.ifi~ation of the folloWi~g loeales: Kathmandu, Magadha, P~talaputra,

.. '. ' ',Kallnga and Bodhgaya.
.
.

'.. .

.'

.:',

~',

'. .

. '.

. ,

.".

','

"

)3uddhist' ~alaya

,.,

There is, however, a more acceptable explanation. This is that Vairocana actually
found Sri Simha residing at another famous Tantric locale; that of, Sri Dhanyakataka
Iocateo on the Krishna river. This town, Dhanyakataka, was also known by the name
.

Dharanikota and was not far from the famous haunt of Nagarjuna, Sriparvata and the
holy residency Of Arya Avalokitesvara, Mt. Potala. Sd'Dhanyakataka had revJved from the
, <

rather dilapidated state that Hsuan Tsang found it

in~

as is borne out, by the Tantr1c

artifacts unearthed in recent al'cheological excavations. 26

What seems to. have transpir~d in the 'later Tibetan 'accounts is that, in the "
transliteration of the town's, Sanskrit name, the native scholars transposed some of
the letters. That is they changed Kota to Kosha." Later ,Tibetan scholars, being
ignol'ant of many' forgotten' holy places in India~ accepted this identification with '
Uddyana where' a Dhanakosha lake is located.
There is even more weight added to
,
'

their mistake by the fact that Uddyana

wa~

,already'" associated with the Ati:-Yoga

teachings and by the fact that Uddyana iithe, Tantric country par excel~ence.
, SrI 'Silnha had concealed the texts of Ati~y'oga after receiving them from his
teacher. The
place'
names
where
the'se
texts
were,
concealed dare tb.Byang . Chub
Shin'g
"
.
.
.
".
,

ahd bKra' 'S~is 'Khri sOo.' According to later TIbetan sources, and according to the , '
hagiography ~f 'Vimalaniitra, these, places are to be lbcatedin China.' However, as '
seen above" the hagiography of Vairocana stated' that Sri Simha and Vail'ocana went
to, Bodhgaya to recover the hidden texts., Furth~r, in Sri Simha's hagiogniphy above,
it stated that he concealed the' texts at Bodhgaya. 27

'In Bodhgaya,
only a' few feet from the tree of ,enl1ghtenment un,derwhich,the
.
- .
....
.
\.

"

"

,;',

Buddha had sat, there isa 'templenowcaUed ,Mahabodhi. It seems reasonabje' that
this same temple or 'perhaps allothel' one nearby couldhave peen' called Bodhi-tree
temple (sk. BodhivrkSa).
-u~__~_______________________________ _
'.',

26. Ii is also' named as the place wh~re the" Bu'ddhatCtughtthe ", Kalacakra 'Tantra;
.,
~a]acakra and Other, Tantras ed. Viral Raghu. New Delhi/ 196~ p. 6,'
27. Ducljom Rinpoche

Buddhist

OPt cit.

l:Um~laya:,

..

..

The

hid

name

'Some tetts

bKra Shis Khri 'sOo is identified as a gateway where

Sri Simha

in one of the columns. This translated into Sanskrit could,

have

been 'Svastikayutapratihara. Althoug the exact 'location. iandt 'givtm, from the stntctute

6f the Tibetan sentence one can determine that' it is located near the abovementioned temple. Again at Boahgaya a gateway of this sort is' found within the
predin6ts of" the temple ground. This or another such structure could' have acquired

this name during the time period under inyestigation.

At'the 'end of Sri, Simha'shagiography,it 'states

that he departed for the

cten1'atioh ground bSi Byhig (cool.'blessing)" Also the Vimalamitra hagiography states
thai' Yiriiahimitra :roet Sri Simhaatthe cremation ground bSilBying, and locatesthis
iii'China: 2B 'However, in: The Life 'and :Liberatfonof.Padmasambbava}29 it. is reported that
.

:J.>admasambhava went to a cemetatY called "COoling" that, was located near Mt. Potala:.
This 'Mt: Potala lias he'en located by most spholars in southern India dot far f1'om
Sd Parvata(Nagru.'j'unakonda) at1d 'S'riDh'an'Yak~taka.30A
Therefore, the location of Sri S~mha's residency, Dhanyakataka~ the cemetery.
bSil Bying where much of, Sri Simha's activities took place, and the holy Mt. Potala
,~re all ,located in 'clo se proximity t(): each other. Further, Bodhgaya and Sri Dhanyakataka

,'must be, seen as a primary importance in the transmitioll of, the Ati-Yoga. '

Conclusion'
"
In th~ preceding, after stating that' the utilization of source material of the
hagiographies' of Sri 'Si'niha, Yairocana and. Vi:rrialamltra was the' be,st' .approach f6r
identifying'the locati'oll

of activities of Sri

28. Dargye~ ,op. cit. pp. 23-24.

Simha, and that it was the correct identi

'29. The Life and Liberation of Padmasambhava by Ye See mTsho rGyal. Emeryville; 1978 .
p.435.

30. On ,the location of Mt.'Potala see- Studies in the Buddhist Culture of India by Joshi,
La lmani. lJelhi~~1967 p.257,

fic'~tjo'ti of 'these loc~tions

,

which: was' cruclhlfor' the

ptoper'idiritiftdttton ''6p.;"ilie0tlf~r " '

home~ of Ati-Yoga, there was presented the aforementioned hagiogtaph~es in biiet

An argument against locating the birth place of Sri Simha . in China and an '
argument for placing it in Central Asia proceeded in four parts. In the fil'st,it, was
dete:rmined that the town name of ,his birth

place~

i. e. "Garrison/' would have been

a ratber incongruous town n:ame 'for a 'Chinese town alld thus waspl'obably a area
of Central ASia;, the trouble spot. for China at the time. 'In the', second, it was argued '
that the proper Sanskrit ' name "Sri Simha'~ ,would ,:have ,been all odd namefol: 'a
Chinese ,to have. Further,',that his first, two teachers also had Indian names and that
these names dqnot' se'em to have" been 'recorded ,iliany of the ,ChinesesOl.trces.,
Third, that in the texts authored 'by Sri Simha; lt0W preserved. in, Tibetall trans~ations",
the author shows that' he has complete

a close

Hinguage. This language, or

Sri Simha's native tongl1e. FimilIy,

command of the Buddhist hybrid Sanskrit

derivative' of Sanskrit; was argued' to ha~e, been

ir' Was

shown that in the early

Tibetantexts,th~

term rGya Nag' actually.meant Central Asia and only later carne tomeari'China.
,

'

It 'was' further' determined that' Sri Simha was bnrn in 718 A. D., approximately
and died in 'about 815 A. D. It was also shows that, after, spending, the, first 'twenty- '
five years studying in: Centl'al,
Asia, he'sided in India and never left. ,
,
.
' .

."

' . '

It' was further

determined,: that
the locale where
SriSimha taught
Vairocatia was
.
"
. ' : r "
.
not in Uddyana~

as

some autors have 'stated, but in'SriDh.anY~kataka~ located

the' Krishna river. Furthet~ the, location of' the ",crematioii

Sri ',Simharesided'aftel' hi~' teacher's de~thand

.

....

'.

.",

...:"'.

'.

"ground

DD.
bsn Bying'wherc

where muchlaterl1e'me{Vimalamhra
...",

."",

,'.

_"

"

":

. ,

-,

was located near' Mt.P.otala, not far, rrom' Sri Dhanyakataka.Thus,'by all accounts,',
the second hoine. of:the Ati-Yoga system' is .
'to 'he located in. india
at
.'
.

'.

SriJ)hany~.;
"

kataka and' the adjoining' area. Also,since Sri Simhabroughtb~th' Vairocana and
, Vhnalamitra to Bodbgaya and since alsohehadp~eviously c911ce~ied,th~texts there;
, this should be seen as the' third homeo!' tb.i~uniqlle' syst~rn~30*:'
''','

,There is, however, one last, question, to be. ~nswered.' This is; why did tIle "
, later Tibetan schoHu"s' allow the, 'association '~f'"
Ati:...Yo'ga." "systel11' with China,'

tile'

m"" __,.

SOb. Other teachers of the ~Ati~ Yoga system also', have close' assooiations with Bodhgaya;

B1:tddhist

Himalaya

,', '(61)

when. Chinese Buddhist traditions were so unpopular both politically and philosophi...
cally 1 . The answer to

this question ~ati at best o.nly ,be tentative and highly

speCUlative.
Firstt as already .m~ntioned, ,the later Tibetan scho.lars 'did not realize that the
term' rOya Nag. had changed' meaning, overtht} . years. Second, the Nyingma school,
. wherein one finds' preserved .the Ati-y.oya teachiJigs t did not feel as co.mpelled to
their vario.us teachings all come
'and had an assoCiation with India
that
..
.from
.
. as did" some .of the other Tibetan schools. They were quite willing to. accept as
.show
.

'

authentic. some. of the traditions that came out of China., This' is

attest~d

,to by the

fact that they accepted translations of Tantri~ scriptures: that stated they were o.riginally
.. of Chinese origin as mentio.ned above.
. ,.' Third" ,'it is almo~t . certain . that, after the time of. Vairocana. and hi some of
. the 'out~ying areas

wher~. he t~ught, the. Ati-Yo.ga system and the Ch'an t~achirigs

did, ,in fact, amalgamate. Thus

an ~ttempt to gain ~reater prestige fqr this
amalgatrtatedteaching by having it have a'greater antiquIty, associati~g it 'with
.. teache:r', who was beyonir ~epute, and, because of the' fact that Sri Simha had already .

in

becJ1, ~stake;oly associated "with China in his earlier days, he was, said' to have

returned there in .,hiSold age~

j

I have ~lrea~y, .shown else' :where that docttinally the early Ati-Yoga is coinp~etely .
fp-ounded ,in, the' Indian Ta:!ltric system::n In th'eabove, it has been . shown that

.~istoricallY; .
odgin: of~is "system is 'also 'to. be l()cated .in~ari~ .. o~y in, India.
The ,fact that later Tibetan' scholars h~we tried to' make an association, of this system
'China
probably
to. intem~l. developIIlent$ withIn' the NYing~a scho~l~

the .

.with.

This 'is

is'

due~ 'at

due

'least in

pa~t,

to ,the

aJllalga:matio~

of ,.'Ch':an

t~,achings' With,

the

~.'ti-Yoga system shortly .~ftei' jts ,. introductio~ . in ti1~e~ .,and seyetaJ mistakes made
'from, an uncritlcaJapproaQh:
to .,historical .pro
bleini ..
.
..
' . '
.'

" .

....

Me

31.' Hanson.-Barber O'p. ,cit. pp;274 if. and';N~Tiw'ught" i~Pao 'T':ang Ch'anand Early
"Aii-Yoga''',Banson9Jarbe~. .n.ABS 'yol.8No. 21985.
.

I"

!
"",

(62)

.....,.,

. :" ... ~.~:

. Bu4dhist Himalaya':

,',

. "I