Vac: The Concept of the Word in Selected Hindu Tantras PDF
Preview Vac: The Concept of the Word in Selected Hindu Tantras
The SUNY Series in the Shaiva Traditions of Kashmir Harvey P. Alper, Editor Editorial Board Edward Dimock Wilhelm Halbfass Gerald J. Larson Wendy Doniger André Padoux Navjivan Rastogi Ludo Rocher Alexis Sanderson Väc The CONCEPT OF THE WORD in Selected Hindu Tantras André Padoux Translated by Jacques Gontier State University of New York Press Published by State University of New York Press, Albany ® 1990 State University of New York All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address State University of New York Press, State University Plaza, Albany, N.Y., 12246 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Padoux, André. Väc, the concept of the word in selected Hindu Tantras/Andre Padoux. p. cm.—(The SU NY series in the Shaiva traditions of Kashmir) Bibliography: p. Includes index, ISBN 0-7914-0257-6. — ISBN 0-7914-0258-4 (pbk.) I. Tantras—Criticism, interpretation, etc. 2. Sanskrit language— Religious aspects—Tantrism. 3. Tantrism™ Doctrines. 4. Kashmir Saivism—Doctrines, L Title, II. Title: Word in selected Hindu Tantras. 111. Series. BL114l.27.P33 1990 294,5'95-dc20 89-11436 CiP Contents Preface j vii Introduction j ix Chapter One Early Speculations about the Significance and Powers of the Word 1 Chapter Two Tantrism—The Texts of Kashmirian Saivism 30 Chapter Three The Manifestation of Sound 86 Chapter Four The Levels of the Word 166 Chapter Five The Phonematic Emanation 223 Chapter Six The Sixfold Course (Çadadhvan) 330 Chapter Seven The Mantra 372 Conclusion / 427 Select Bibliography / 431 Periodicals and Collections Quoted in Abbreviated Form / 449 Index of Sanskrit Terms / 451 Preface This book is a complete revision of my main doctoral thesis, Recherches sur la symbolique et l'énergie de la parole dans certains textes tantriques, presented at the University of Paris in 1964. One of the few merits of that thesis, begun some thirty years ago, was that it was one of the first attempts at a systematic study of the subject. It was, however, very far from perfect. There were inaccuracies, mistakes and an inordinate number of misprints. In those days very little had as yet been written concerning the Word—väc—and the Indian cosmogonies related to it. A number of Sanskrit texts which are easy to consult nowadays were not accessible then. Such was the case with the manuscripts from Nepal, which have now been microfilmed under the Nepal-German Manuscript Preservation Project. In spite of its many shortcomings the original version was approved by some colleagues and deemed useful as a (somewhat heavy) introduction to the subject. A second edition, cleansed of most of the misprints and incorporating a number of minor emendations, was issued in 1975. But despite such corrections I still found the work very unsatisfactory, and would gladly have forgotten it, together with other sins of my youth. It so happened however that some Indologists and historians of religion (including Harvey P. Alper, of Southern Methodist University, Dallas) thought it was not all that bad and suggested I should make it available to a wider audience by having it trans- lated into English. With some misgivings I gave in to this suggestion, on condition that the text be entirely revised, corrected and expanded where necessary. This book is the result. VII viii Preface As the original title was both imprecise and too long, I have adopted one suggested by H. P. Alper but I have kept to the overall pattern of the original text. Chapters 1, 3, 4 and 5 have been reworked and supplemented, but incorporate no major changes: the plan is the same and some pages have been translated or transposed more or less directly into English. On the other hand, I have entirely rewritten chapters 2, 6 and 7. The reason for all these changes lies not only in the imperfections of the original but also, and sometimes mainly, in the progress made during the last thirty years in the field of tantric studies. My views on a number of points have been modified by these advances. Not only did I go on working on the subject, but Alexis Sanderson and Teun Goudriaan, to mention but two scholars, have opened up entirely new vistas in some of these fields. For example, no one could write nowadays what I wrote in the early sixties on the subject of tantrism or Kashmirian Saivism. On certain topics, also, new and reliable studies are now available, and there would have been no point in restating here what I or others have written elsewhere. Finally, on the assumption that some readers of this book might have read the original in either the 1963 or the 1975 edition, I have some- times rewritten a passage, not to correct it, but simply to include new material or quotations. Generally speaking, I quote more Sanskrit texts now than before. Since Harvey P. Alper was the first person to suggest this English translation—he also suggested that the SUNY Press might publish it—it is only fair that I should dedicate the present volume to the memory of this greatly missed friend. My thanks also go to William D. Eastman, director of SUNY Press, for undertaking to publish a work which has proved far from easy to translate and edit, and which is hardly likely to sell like hot cakes. It goes without saying that the bibliography and the foot- note references have been updated and adapted as far as possible for the use of English readers. Introduction My purpose in this work was to examine the speculations relating to the Word—vâc—such as found in various Sanskrit texts of Tantric character, with special emphasis on those relating to the power or the energy (sakti) of the Word. It is therefore a study concerned with Tantric conceptions about the Word and its powers. It cannot claim to be a general review. It deals only with a very limited sphere of the Indian religious and philosophical literature, and must necessarily leave aside various conceptions, however interesting. Since in this culture so much emphasis has been placed on the Word for over three thousand years, it was not of course possible to consider the subject in its entirety. It was not even possible to study all the available tantric scriptures in Sanskrit dealing with this topic. Therefore the work (as the title of my 1963 dissertation implied) is restricted to "selected Tantras," that is, chiefly to scriptures belonging to the nondualistic Saivism as it arose in Kashmir, probably in the early part of the ninth century A.D., and developed there before rapidly spreading throughout India. The reason for such a selection is understandable in that these traditions provide what is perhaps the most interesting and sometimes the most subtle, articulated, and reasoned developments on the subject. However, other non-Saiva or non-"Kashmirian'M works have also been consulted and will be cited occasionally. Resorting to !. I write "Kashmirian" because in the Kashmirian nondualistic Saiva tradition, the texts quite often do not originate from Kashmir but from elsewhere, particularly from South India.
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