Despite the rapid spread of Buddhism—especially the esoteric system of Tantra, one of its most popular yet most misunderstood forms—the historical origins of Buddhist thought and practice remain obscure. This groundbreaking work describes the genesis of the Tantric movement in early medieval India, where it developed as a response to, and in some ways an example of, the feudalization of Indian society. Drawing on primary documents—many translated for the first time—from Sanskrit, Prakrit, Tibetan, Bengali, and Chinese, Ronald Davidson shows how changes in medieval Indian society, including economic and patronage crises, a decline in women's participation, and the formation of large monastic orders, led to the rise of the esoteric tradition in India that became the model for Buddhist cultures in China, Tibet, and Japan.
- Contents
- Maps and Illustrations
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Pronunciation and Orthographic Guide
- 1. Introduction: A Plethora of Premises
- Habits of the Heart, Deductive Premises, and Buddhist Inhibitions
- Petrarch's Method: Artes Historicae in the Renaissance
- Tropes, Heuristics, and Other Dangerous Things
- 2. Prayers in the Palace, Swords in the Temple: Early Medieval India
- The Occlusion of the Medieval
- Early Medieval Political and Military Events
- The Culture of Military Opportunism
- Aesthetics and the Apothosis of Kingship
- Feudalization of Divinity
- Conclusion: Early Medieval Vitality
- 3. The Medieval Buddhist Experience
- Guilds, Commerce, and Political Legitimacy
- Politics, Patronage, and Ethics - the Loss of Kuntala and Andhrapatha
- Medieval Women's Buddhism - Hidden from View or Missing in Action?
- A Loss of Footing: The Agenda of Skepticism
- Looking Elsewhere for Direction: The Turn to Epistemology
- Big Important Monasteries - Administrators in Maroon Robes
- Conclusion: A Tradition Under Duress
- 4. The Victory of Esoterism and the Imperial Metaphor
- Chronology: The Seventh-Century Beginning
- Becoming the Rajadhiraja - The Central Mantrayana Metaphor
- Mandalas and Fields of Plenty
- Becoming the Institution
- Monks and Their Rituals
- Sacralization of the Domain
- Conclusion: Esoteric Buddhism as Sacralized Samanta Feudalism
- 5. Siddhas and the Religious Landscape
- Some Siddha Social Models
- First Moments in Siddha Identity
- Saiva and Sakta Ascetic Orders
- Marginal Siddha Topography
- Religious Relations: The Agonistic Landscape
- Buddhist Siddhas and the Vidyadharas
- Chronological Concerns and Saiva Exchanges
- Indian Sacred Geography
- Siddha Divinities - Bhairava and Heruka
- Kapalika-Buddhist Conversions
- The Other Saivas: The Psupatas
- Siddhas in the Tribal Landscape
- Conclustion: A Complex Terrain
- 6. Siddhas, Literature, and Language
- Regional Towns and the Lay Siddha
- The Hidden Scriptures
- From Transmission to Reception
- The Buddha's Talking Skull Excites Women, Kills Snakes, and Belches a Book
- Everything You Know Is Wrong
- The Magic Decoder: The Construct of Coded Language
- Coded Language as Secret Ritual Words
- Secret Sacred Sociolinguistics
- Extreme Language and Comedy in the Tantras
- Conclusion: The Literature of Perfection
- 7. Siddhas, Monks, and Communities
- Siddha Mandalas, Circles of Goddesses
- Siddhas in a Circle, Siddhas in a Line, Siddhas in a Mob
- Hagiographical Communities: Buddhajnanapada's Travels
- Gatherings and Ganacakras - the Ritual Community
- Rules of Order
- Self-Criticism and Correction
- The Imperial Metaphor Reconsidered: Becoming the Vidyadhara-Cakravartin
- Conclusion: It's a Siddha's Life
- 8. Conclusion: The Esoteric Conundrum
- Appendix: Probable Paupata Sites
- Glossary
- Notes
- Abbreviations
- Bibliography
- Index
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