Buddhist Goddess discovery in Andhra

sirensongs

Amaravathi - Archaeological explorations at a tiny village in Andhra Pradesh’s West Godavari district by the Archaeological Survey of India have led to a find that could have major implications for the study of Buddhism.

The ASI archaeologists have come across an inscription from the first century AD that makes a mention of the Dakiniyana (Dakini is the name of the goddess, yana means school). This is said to be the first mention of the school based on a goddess, predating other mentions by about 700 years.

Read full story here, Originaly from The Asian Age on Phayul.com.

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crvlvr

I am confused. Didn't Buddha simplify the complexities of hinduism and offer a simple path to nirvana? If that is the case, where is the room for gods and goddesses?

kidsan

well, it depends on what you mean by the buddha! There are many schools of buddhism and though fundamentally they believe in the same core principles, the forms of that understanding can manifest in what can seem very different and often quite contradictory ways.

The earliest main school of buddhism, known (though not by themselves) as the hinayana take their cue from the scriptures of the pali canon in which the buddha appears as the historical figure that most of us know of. (having said that, the realm of the gods does also appear in the pali canon where there are references to the Buddha teaching the gods as well as mankind.)


Later schools, particularly the mahayana, developed the teachings into a much more complex and mythic system of beliefs in which appear many many different buddhas and bodhisattvas.However, as Sirensongs says, these schools are thought not to have appeared until quite some time after the buddha's death (at least 1000 years or more) so a discovery such as this could really shake things up a little.


Hope that clarifies it a little

crvlvr

thanks for the clarification. Interestingly, even the earliest canons were written hundreds of years after the death of Buddha. I wonder if "gods & godesses" and such were thrown in to make the philosophy more palatable.

Is the difference between 13 centuries after Buddha and 5 centuries after Buddha really that significant?

http://www.buddhistinformation.com/b...ude_to_god.htm

Sama

Here is more information on Dakiniyana Buddhism.....

and more info here on this particular discovery.....

"'It was being hypothesised that the worship of goddesses in Buddhism was not seen till the 8th century AD. But this inscription shows that worship of goddesses was in place within five centuries after Buddha attained nirvana.'

Mr Babu said that Dakini is mentioned as one of the four principal mother goddesses in the Vajrayana (Tantrayana) in the 7th century. Dakini plays a major role in rituals of Vajrayana."

Vajrayogini initiation is a part of Vajrayana Buddhism. The expressions Tantric Buddhism and Vajrayana are not exactly synonymous, but they are often used interchangeably. The kind of Buddhism that is most often associated with the Vajrayana is Tibetan Buddhism.

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70s-80s overlander

Thanks for noting the article. A visit to Amaravati (Amaravathi) – the stupa ruins and the museum – and then maybe on to Nagarjuna Sagar (Vijayapuri) – the Nagarjunakonda stupa ruins and the museum [plus a tourist hotel & restaurant] – is already in the plans for my next trip.

Amarvati, meaning “Deathless Realm,” is ranked as 1 of the 4 primary Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India. [Amarvati is considered by the Shivites as the “capital of Svarga, a temporary paradise where the dead live,” so there is a Shiva shrine near the Buddhist stupa.]

My plan is take the train south from Kolkata to visit the Sun Temple at Konark, and then take the overnight train from Bhubaneswar down to Vijayawada, dropping my stuff off at a Motel Krishnaveni that is owned by the local tourist office. It is supposed to be a 1 hour bus ride (half-hour taxi ride) from there to the Amarvati ruins (probably via Guntur), then a 2.5 hour bus ride further to the Nagarjunakonda ruins, then another 2.5 hour bus ride back to Vijayawada. [Apparently when the Krishna River is high enough you can take a boat downstream, back to the tourist motel at Vijayawada.] A taxi for the day is quoted at Rs 1,000. From Vijayawada it is another 7 hours by train to Chennai.

There was a HUGE Buddhist gathering at Amaravati in January 2006.

Sama

when is this trip planned? would love to hear about it....

sirensongs

There's a great book called (I think) In the Footprints of the Buddha, a colour guidebook to Buddhist pilgrimage sites within India. I think it was written well before the discovery of the sculptures in Tamil Nadu. It was published c. 2002 or so.

for 70s Overland: I spent an unbelievable three weeks in Amaravathi this December at the Kalachakra. At that time it was transformed into a temporary Tibetan-Indian-Buddhist international township, so much fun. You can see lots of photos on my blog (URL below or go directly to the January pages).

This account includes my visit to Nagarjunakonda (disappointing, but worth seeing). BTW one of the govt. tourist boats got hijacked by the Naxalite Communists a few months ago (only govt. employees were on board I think).

Enjoy Amaravathi, it's a sweet little town. They might have even finished the Dhyana Buddha sculpture by the time you visit (it had to be consecrated half-finished when the Dalai Lama was there. They only had 2 years to get ready....).

Lugubert

It is impossible to judge from the article what the discovered text really says. If it refer to the school of one or more डाकिनी (Daakinii), 'demoniac and quasi-divine beings in Hindu tantrism and folklore', the Buddhism connection still is interesting. If it is a दक्खिनी (dakkhinii) southern school, it is just adding one more school to all those that have vanished, without adding information on it. Of course, "Dakini" might be a name, but it could then well be the name of a patron, not somebody who was worshipped.