11.

Diaspora of Childhood-Spirit-Possession

pp. 416-470

11.1

Tantra-s & South Bharatiya Texts

418-21

11.2

Svastha-aves`a & the Prasena

421-7

11.3

Evidence for the Practice of Svastha-aves`a

427-9

11.4

Ritual of Svastha-aves`a

429-32

11.5

Spirit-Possession across the Himalaya-s

432-5

11.6

A-wei-s^e : Chinese Spirit-Possession

435-40

11.7

Svastha-aves`a in South Bharata

440-1

11.8

Mantra-maha-udadhi

441-3

11.9

Tantra-raja

443-4

11.10

A-wei-s^e & Aves`a : a Comparison

444-8

11.1

Tantra-s & South Bharatiya Texts

418-21

p. 418

“The Himalayan S`aiva and Buddhist Tantras that mention svasthaves`a … fall within a class called Siddhanta [Siddha-anta]… . Thus, the texts are the …

Jayad[-]ratha[-]yamala,

Tantra[-]sadbhava,

Sekoddes`a,

Nis`vasa[-]guhya,

Br.hat[-]kalottara, and

Cakra[-]samvara[-]pin.d.artha.

None of these except the Sekoddes`a has been … published; the remaining ones exist in manuscript only”.

p. 456, n. 11:4

“Jayad[-]ratha[-]yamala, National Archives, Kathmandu (NAK) 5-4650;

Nis`vasa[-]guhya, NAK 1-277;

Tantra[-]sadbhava, NAK 5-1985 …;

Br.hat[-]kalottara, NAK 1-273.

… the provenance of the two Buddhist manuscripts among them, the Cakra[-]samvara[-]pin.d.artha and the Sekoddes`a is probably eastern India.”

p. 420

“the most complete Sanskrit manuscripts on aves`a that I have thus far been able to locate … are in Telugu script and thus from Andhra Pradesh. The other relatively complete … manuscripts are in Grantha and Tamil scripts, thus from Tamilnadu.

The most important manuscript [ORI MS #548] … is a collection of aves`a sections in Telugu script culled from various Tantras. One section is titled Aves`a[-]bhairava[-]mantrah. and another is called Bhairav[a-]aves`ah. … Another section is described as the the tenth pat.ala of the Daks.ina[-]kalik[a-]agama, while another, titled Aves`a[-]kalika[-]mantrah., is recorded as the fifth pat.ala of the Vetala[-]tantra. An apparent addendum to this … is titled Bhut[a-]aves`a[-]kramah.”

“One of the Telugu manuscripts …, housed in the GOML, states in its colophon that it is the third chapter (pat.ala) of a text called Sudars`ana[-]samhita.”

“Of the remaining manuscripts …, the ORI catalogue lists three composed on palm leaf, one in Grantha, and two in Telugu script. … one of the Telugu manuscripts … is called Hanumad[-]dipa[-]vidhih. (Injunctions on the Light {Lamp} of Hanuman) and is identified [MS #51670], according to the colophon, as the twentieth pat.ala of the Sudars`ana[-]samhita.

An apparently related … third pat.ala of this text [the Sudars`ana-samhita], called An~janeya Avesa[-]vidhih. (Injunctions to Induce [Spirit-]Possession of {by} An~janeya) [MS #D7763] … is important to mention here, because Hanuman [p. 457, n. 11:22 : “An~janeya is another name of” Hanumant.] has emerged as one of the primary deities for spirit-possession in India, especially in his five-faced (pan~camukhi) form.” (cf. Lutgendorf 1994)

11.2

Svastha-aves`a & the Prasena

421-7

p. 421

“voluntary [spirit-]possession, particularly that with an oracular component, … was formalized through … the Vedic vidhana literature”. [p. 458, n. 11: “Cf. Bahulkar 1994, Bhat 1987”.]

p. 422

“svasthaves`a … is positive, oracular [spirit-]possession, a state of health (svastha) that by its very designation must be distinguished from negative, disease-producing [spirit-]possession. Svasthaves`a thus indicates voluntary or invited possession of {by} deities”.

“The word prasena … appears in the Sanskrit lexicons only as a proper name; never does it appear in its literal meaning”.

{The word /pra-sena/ ought literally to signify 'forth-army', perhaps an allusion to the divine army which issued forth from the body of the wish-cow Surabhi : “weapon-bearing Pahlavas then come from her udders, Yavanas from her vulva, S`akas from her anus; Mlecchas, Haritas, and Kiratas from the pores of her skin” (Rama-ayana 1:53-55 – RIO&CE, p. 458) at Arbuda (RIO&CE, p. 459), a Jaina religious-pilgrimage site.}

p. 422

“prasena is found in its Middle Indo-Aryan … variant, pas.ina, in the Paiasaddamahan.n.avo (Prakr.ta[-]s`abda-maha[-a]rn.avah., PS[`]M), a Prakrit … dictionary … .

p. 423

… The PS[`]M glosses pas.ina as “calling the deity into a mirror …,” citing the Jaina Ayaramgasutta (Acaranga Sutra) and T.hanamgasutta (Sthananga Sutra). …

The PSM also cites the term pas.inapas.ina … in the Jaina … . This term, which could be rendered in Sanskrit as prasena-pras`na (the art of resolving questions through the mediation of a prasena), is glossed in the PSM as “calling a deity in dream … .”

According to the Nis`itha Curn.i, a question is asked of a pas.ina, which has entered one's thumbnail (amgut.t.ha-pas.ina) or arm, the left-overs after eating a sweet called kamsara, a piece of cloth, a mirror, a sword blade, water, or a wall.

Pas.inapas.ina, according to this text, is also a kind of divination in which a question is answered by a pas.ina who appears in a dream … .

p. 424

… This pas.ina is called “dream deity” or “dream-divination” (suvin.a-pas.ina).”

“Br.hat[-]samhita 2.15 … : “One who is instructed through magic [kuhaka-], [spirit-]possession [aves`a-], or by any concealed being … should … be consulted; … not an astrologer … .” Utpala … {in his Vivr.tti (Commentary) on the Br.hat-samhita} glosses kuhaka- as indrajala- (Indra's net), a more common term for “sorcery” or “magic.” … Aves`a, he says, means “entrance of a body by a deity ...” (devata[-]didehapraves`ena). Concealed beings (pihita-) … speak with disembodied voices after they situate themselves in cavities of rocks, in walls, and so on. An entity that whispers in the ear, he says, is a karn.a[-]pis`aca (ear demon). [p. 460, n. 11:46 : “One … hears the voice of a relative, one's guru or guru's wife”.] Those who control karn.apis`acas are well known in the world, Utpala adds. … the karn.apis`aca will reveal to them anything they want.”

p. 426

“In a few esoteric Buddhist texts of the Kalacakra tradition, notably the Sekoddes`a … and Kalkin Pun.d.arika's Vimala[-]prabha on the Laghu[-]kalacakra Tantra, the term pra phab-pa, a translation of the Sanskrit pratisena (prognostic image), is attested in the Tibetan versions. ...

It [this meaning] also appears in chapter 43 of the Cakrasamvara-Tantra …, “... the mantra over a sword, water, one's thumb, a lamp or mirror, one will cause the descent of the

p. 427

divinatory image [“prasena”] by means of the yoga of oneself [“as the deity”].”

“Orofino has written [1994a] an … article on the Tibetan art of mirror divination, in which pratisena occupies a major place.”

“The commentator on the … Sekoddes`a … cites a text called the Pratisena[-a]vatara[-]tantra … which, he says, enumerates eight kinds of prognostication, all … varieties of svasthaves`a.”

11.3

Evidence for the Practice of Svastha-aves`a

427-9

p. 428

7^th-century Chr.E. poe:t Ban.a's “Hars.acarita (The Deeds of Hars.a) … includes the earliest mention of the term svasthaves`a, referring … to a kind of powder to induce it.”

p. 462, n. 11:66

“Another, later, mention of svasthaves`a is in the Katha[-]sarit[-]sagara, dated 1064 C.E. … (70.56) … . The purpose of this svasthaves`a was to enable the instigator of the [spirit-]possession …

to find magical herbs and ultimately the subterranean palace of a serpent king (nagendra {'dragon-prince'}-bhavanam)

{cf. the Sumerian subterranean trek of Bil-games^ and of En-kidu to abode of Zi-usud-ra in order to be gifted a magical herb which was later to be devoured by a serpent.}

in which he would obtain a magical sword that would enable him to become Lord of Siddhas … (… 70.61d).”

11.4

Ritual of Svastha-aves`a

429-32

“S`aiva and Buddhist Tantras … state that the prasena is a divinatory form massumed by a female deity (vidya) that appears before the practitioner during a ritual performed at a site sacred to Mahes`vara (rudra[-]sthana) or in a temple to the goddess (matr.[-]gr.ham). … As a result .., a conjunction (samyoga) is forged with a prasena, classified as a Vidya or Mahavidya goddess. This assumes a kind of communication, in which the mantrin … with the prasena … gains control of {cultivateth obsequious favor with} her. The JY [Jayadratha Yamala] declares that the mantrin possesses a special reverence, which is … properly performed on {devoutly and humbly dedicated to} this highest s`akti … .

In a statement reminiscent of later Tibetan esoteric Buddhist … practice, the JY states that

this s`akti arises in one's belly

{“at the root of the navel, is the shining Lotus of ten petals” (S.at.-cakra Nirupan.a, stanza 19).}

on the disk of the moon,

{This moon could be referred to the moon's 10 phases in <arabi calendar-reckoning.}

and it is here that the mantrin accesses her, in waves.”

p. 430

“the prasena … appears … on the surface of water, a metal pot, a sword-blade, in the flame of a lamp, in a mirror, the eye of a girl, … his own thumb smeared with oil, or … in the point of light between his eyebrows, and there reveals the answer he seeks. The answer may take the form of apparitional writing or a disembodied voice …;

or it may arise in the sadhaka's mind when he awakes

{as a hypnopompic image?}

after a night spent in a temple of the deity.

The Buddhist practice of pratisena, as noted by Orofino, requires … gaze at … a mirror, a sword, a thumb, a lamp, … water, and the eye, any of which can become a medium through which a pratisena appears.”

p. 431

“in Hemacandra's Yoga[-]s`astra (5.173-176) …, the deity is said to enter into an inanimate reflective medium, such as a mirror, after which a young girl picks up and passes on messages transmitted by the deity through the reflective surface. … Hemacandra says :

Upon being queried, a deity [“devata”], who has been made to descend into a mirror, a thumb, a wall, or a sword …, announces herverdict regarding time [“of death”]. … In this way, the deity, attracted by the virtues of a good sadhaka, herself speaks decisively on topics regarding the” three times (“past, present, and future”).

11.5

Spirit-Possession across the Himalaya-s

432-5

p. 433

“Iyanaga [1985] recounts the submission and conversion of Mahes`vara by Trai[-]lokya[-]vijaya according to Chinese and Japanese sources.

Stein [1995] tells of the conversion of Mahes`vara to Buddhism by Vajrapan.i, using several Tibetan tantric sources … .

Davidson [1991] employs Indic and Tibetan (Sa-skya-pa) sources to relate the tale of Mahes`vara's … rebirth as Heruka, “the cosmic policeman,” and analyze … doctrinal functions.”

“Snellgrove's [1987, p. 139] … Man~jus`rimulakalpa has … Vajrapan.i … formed a mudra with his fingers, after which Mahes`vara rose from the dead, imbued with the spirit of the Buddha, and made the world safe for mankind.”

p. 434

“Two forms of this conversion appeared in Tibet, [Mayer 1996, p. 116 :] “one Mahayoga concerning the converting of Rudra, and one Anuttarayoga dewscribing the converting of Bhairava.””

11.6

A-wei-s^e : Chinese Spirit-Possession

435-40

“the Chinese employ the word aweishe …, a direct transcription of aves`a, “to designate possession rites in which a spirit was invoked into the living body of a medium. ...”” (Strickmann 2002, p. 208)

p. 436

“the entry abisha the Japanese (the Japanese transcription of the Sanskrit aves`a) in Hobogirin (I:7ab) indicates that hashina, the Japanese term for the aves`a ceremony, may also be derived

p. 437

from the Sanskrit pras`na, again from the questions that are put to nthe medium by the performer of the ritual or his client.”

“Ucchus.ma, “the Crackler,” … in esoteric Buddhism glossed as “... of Impure Traces,” commands

a considerable host of spirit-soldiers.”

{“Spirit-soldiers” are prototypically Taoist.}

11.7

Svastha-aves`a in South Bharata

440-1

“(Vat.uka-)Bhairava … is, in a manuscript titled “Aves`abhairava S`arabhakalpe,” identified with the s`arabha, the ghastly eight-legged celestial beast brought into the realm of the gods by S`iva.” [p. 467, n. 11:121 : “The s`arabha rupa (monster form) .. appears to be conflated with the bhairava rupa (Virabhadra) in the Rajahmundry cult …, as indeed it is in the S`iva-Puran.a” ([Knipe 1989,] p. 153 n11).”

11.8

Mantra-maha-udadhi

441-3

Injunctions in the Mantra-maha-udadhi, “a popular and diffuse compendium of both daks.inacara and vamacara tantric practice composed during the sixteenth century by Mahidhara” : “mount a corpse either at a crossroad or a cremation ground [“s`mas`ana”] … . Then, in the middle of the night, … he should hear these distant words : 'Become transcendent and obtain complete perfection ...'””.

11.9

Tantra-raja

443-4

“the officiant recites the relevant [spirit-]possession mantras …, after which the officiant should burn a kind of incense called sarjjarasa. When she enters into [spirit-]possession , the girl is worshipped reverently with appropriate ceremony. … After being worshipped suitably, the deity becomes her” (Tantra-raja Tantra 9:76-78).

11.10

A-wei-s^e & Aves`a : a Comparison

444-8

p. 444

“Some compilations of Tang dynasty stories tell of children possessed by the spirits (shen) of learned men. Glen Dudbridge [1995, pp. 190-1 (##84-5)] explicates several such accounts from a genre called zhiguai (… tales of the marvelous)”.

p. 447

"Strickmann [1996, pp. 291 sq] discusses the nexus of dream, divination, and possession, showing their convergence within the realm of Tantra."

[quoted from Davis 2001, p. 136] “The style of these exorcisms appears to reflect … the Daoist rites of kaozhao [“kaozhao fa, “Rite of Summoning for Investigation””] … .”

“We know … from modern ethnographic accounts in India (including my own observations) that a strong and widespread tradition of therapeutic [spirit-]possession exists that is startlingly similar to the “ Rite of Summoning for Investigation,” … that the Chinese practice influenced the Indian one”.