Mahadev ’s Debatable ‘Citizenship’: Indian, Tibetan or Chinese?

In previous editions, we’ve explored the remarkable similarities between Indian tantra and Vajrayana Buddhism, particularly the connections between Hindu goddesses like Kali, Tara, and Chamunda. In this article, an eminent Buddhist scholar from Sikkim grapples with a quirky question: Is Mahadev Chinese, Tibetan, or Indian? Hindu or Buddhist?

In 2008, while volunteering in Nepal with the Himali indigenous people and the Buddhist community, I had many intriguing experiences, especially regarding the status of Buddhism under 240 years of Hindu rule. One evening, a particularly memorable discussion took place, and I’d like to share a part of it here.

On a Shivratri day, my friend, a Janjati Sabhasad (Member of Parliament), invited a group of his political colleagues to his house for a tea party. He also invited me to join. My friend, who belongs to a left-wing political party, was in a jubilant mood because their party had just toppled the right-wing government and formed a new government only three days prior. This tea party was, in part, a celebration of their victory, and naturally, everyone was in high spirits.

My friend asked me to sit next to a very senior and elderly politician, an advisor to the party and a scholar in his own right. Upon introduction, the elderly politician greeted me and proclaimed: “Sikkim was historically a part of Nepal, so we are the same.”

I had the option of crossing him, but decided to remain quiet, agree, and be socially polite, since I was the only outsider in the gathering. However, my conscience urged me to respond. Softly, I said, “Sir, historically, Sikkim was a Buddhist kingdom for 360 years, while Nepal was a Hindu kingdom for only 240 years. Both countries lived peacefully until confrontations began during the Rana regime in the 17th century, affecting all borders, including Sikkim and Tibet.”

The elderly politician seemed uncomfortable with my response and shifted the topic from history to politics, asserting that Tibet is part of China. He lamented that Tibetans in Kathmandu were causing disharmony between Nepal and China. Sensing potential conflict, my friend pinched me, signalling me to stay quiet. Reluctantly, I complied and redirected the conversation, asking the elderly politician about the significance of the day’s festival.

The Great Debate!

Composing himself, he spoke with authority: “Today is Shivratri, the day Lord Shiva visits all the temples where he is worshiped.” So, I asked him: “You mean to say that Lord Mahadev visits all the temples once a year on this auspicious day?” He nodded. I then asked him, very gently: “So where does Mahadev live during the rest of the 364 days?” With much pride, he replied: “Mount Kailash!”

I quipped: “That means he is a Chinese, isn’t he.” He quickly retorted: “No, no, he cannot be Chinese.” I then added: “Then he must be a Tibetan, since Mt. Kailash is in Tibet.” This elicited laughter from everyone, and the discussion ended as we got up for tea and samosas.

My reaction was spontaneous. Two years later, Amish Tripathi published his book, The Shiva Trilogy, “The Immortals of Meluha,” where he described Shiva as a Tibetan immigrant invited by Suryavanshi Brahmins to Bharat to  defeat the Chandravanshis.

Interestingly, Lord Shiva is also revered in Tibetan Buddhism as an important protector deity, known as Lha Chenpo or Mahadev. There is an invaluable hagiographical account of the founder of Vajrayana Buddhism, Guru Padmasambhava. Close to the end of the 8^th century, or the very first years of the 9^th, the closest of the Indian Tantric master’s five consorts, Yishey Tsogyal wrote the ‘Pemakathang’.

Mahadev in Vajrayana

It has 108 chapters, said to have been written under the guidance of the Guru himself, and the writer Khando Yeshi Tsogyal buried the text in a cave in Shelkar district of Tibet and entrusted its protection to Lhachen Wangchuk, a Tibetan term that means Mahadeva Shakti. The Pemakathang is written in Sanskrit, though there are misconceptions that it is written in Dakini Code.

I recently copied or had written the entire Pemakathang in a scroll, which is 35 metres long, so that I could digest every word of it. Khando Yeshi tsogyal wrote saying that this biography is written in samtita (Sanskrit) text, buried in cave Shelkar, entrusted its care to Mahadeva till such a time a terton revealer comes.

Now Pemakathang is simply a biography and not a tantric sacred text. Therefore, it must have been written in Sanskrit. At that time there were many scholars of Tibetan as well as Sanskrit, such as Lichen Vairochana, Kawa Peltsik, Chokru Lue Gyaltsen, etc. In fact, the Samye monastery, founded by Guru Padmasambhava in Tibet was actually a translation institute.

Dakini script or Khando Dayig (Dakini Code) is based on Devnagari alphabets and the 30 consonants and four vowels are the same, but  styles are  different.

There is an entire Mahadev Sadhna, a puja in the Kagyu Tradition of Vajrayana Buddhism, where in the middle of the torma offerings (or the flour-cake idols used for Vajrayana rituals) a decorated linga actually assumes the centrestage. Mt Kailash is considered by Tibetans as Gang Rinpoche, the most sacred abode of Mahadeva. (Just as it is also in the Hindu tradition.)

I was once reading a Nepali version of a Sadhna of Mahadev, and going through all the different names such as Shiva, Triloknath, Nilkantha, etc., and I suddenly found a name familiar in Vajrayana Buddhism: ‘Vajrapani’. Vajrapani is a tantric deity. Blue in colour, wrapped around the waist in a tiger skin, and a snake around the neck.

There is indeed lots of similarities in this Vajrapani image and the traditional depiction of Mahadev in Hinduism; or perhaps they must be one and the same!

See Also

Confusion Over Sikkimese Dance Festival, Pang Lhasol

Sanskrit and Vajrayana

There is something more that may baffle new comers, and that is the use of Sanskrit in Vajrayana Mantras. Tibetans believe that the tantric mantras have the power of ethereal sounds, and therefore, they cannot be translated into Tibetan but recited on their Sanskrit versions. This is also similar to Mahadev being the origin of Tantra as spoken to Parvati from peaceful mantras to wrathful forms spreading out in four directions.

Now the question is, why as Yishey Tsogyal instructed by Guru Rinpoche to hide such scriptures? This is because the Guru foresaw that because of the lack of collective merits, his dharma will degenerate and there will be no takers for his teachings for three to four hundred years in Tibet.

However, he knew there will be revival of Buddhism in Tibet and neighbouring countries, which includes Sikkim, and his 25 lineage holders will need those teachings. Therefore, his teachings were either buried in caves (earth treasures); in the sky (sky treasures); in water bodies or sacred mountains. In today’s terms, Kandro Yeshey Tsogyal ‘uploaded’ those secret prescriptions in celestial icloud, which transcends time and space, to be finally down loaded by a designated terton or treasure revealer.

Since many of the sacred tantras can be passed only to the empowered initiated ones, they have to be kept secret and hence, they were written in a secret language called the Dakini Codes. Interestingly, while the Vajrayana term Dakini also originates in Sanskrit, our Vajrayana Dakinis are twofold. Some are the terrible negative feminine powers; but the others are very powerful embodiments of some deities. For instance, the extremely knowledgeable Yishey Tsogyal is revered as the Knowledge Dakini, an emanation of Goddess Saraswati.

Yeshi Tsogyal wrote the ‘Pemakathang’. She was exceptionally talented and possessed the power of ‘Me jepai sung’, the Tantric mantra equivalent to artificial intelligence, granted by Guru Rinpoche. Pemakathang was revealed by Terton Orgyen Lingpa ( AD 1323 – 1360) and wrote in Tibetan.

Abodes: Main and Subsidiary

So where does Mahadev, Lord Shiva live, what is the significance of Mount Kailash, and why does Mahadev need to visit his other temples? I would like to wind this essay up by quoting a top lama: the 8^th reincarnation of Chokyong Palga Rinpoche (a rinpoche is a a high lama, the word meaning “the precious one”).

Answering an interviewer’s question, this high ordained lama from Leh says: For Vajrayana Buddhists Mount Kailash has two significances. From the spiritual point of view, it is the abode of Chakrasambhara and Vajrayogini. It is the male and female deities (of what are also called Shiva and Parvati). And the historical significance is the great Tibetan Buddhist saint, Milarepa once fought a duel up there in Mount Kailash.”