Essay name: Svacchandatantra (history and structure)
Author: William James Arraj
The essay represents a study and partial English translation of the Svacchandatantra and its commentary, “Uddyota�, by Kshemaraja. The text, attributed to the deity Svacchanda-bhairava, has various names and demonstrates a complex history of transmission through diverse manuscript traditions in North India, Nepal, and beyond.
Page 96 of: Svacchandatantra (history and structure)
96 (of 511)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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Ká¹£emarÄjaá¸� argues that when Svacchandatantram enjoins the
master to use four colors on the ritual ground in order to
construct the matrix of Bhairava� and Bhairavi, it intends them
to be mixed and thereby repudiates differences in castes. 1 These
passages suggest that the SiddhÄntin commentators consistently
explained away Bhairava elements in the text not consonant with
their position. Thus, while Svacchandatantram shared many
rituals and practices with other ÄgamÄá¸� that could be used to
bolster the SiddhÄntin position, it nevertheless retained elements of
antecedent Bhairava traditions that Ká¹£emarÄjaá¸� could effectively
emphasize to undermine the general authority of the SiddhÄntin
interpretation.
1.2.2 Interpretation and Reinterpretation of Ritual
Both Ká¹£emarÄjaá¸� and the previous SiddhÄntin commentators,
therefore, had systematic prejudgments and prejudices that colored
their commentary on Svacchandatantram. Moreover, a cultural
and temporal hiatus separated them from the compilers and
redactors of Svacchandatantram. Depending upon the section under
consideration, therefore, the quality of their commentary,
consequently, may have ranged from biased falsification to literal
recording of a living tradition. Alongside his polemical and
expository intent, Ká¹£emarÄjaá¸� probably desired to offer a clear and
coherent guide to the ritual and practices surrounding the
scriptural cult of Bhairava�. The paradigm of this undertaking is
the digest (paddhati�) or handbook of later medieval authors
�
1 V. bk.1, p.24, vs. 28: to the verse's injunction:
“sitaraktapitakṛṣṇÄm bhÅ«miá¹� "Ká¹£emarÄjaá¸� comments:
"varṇÄnÄm brÄhmaṇÄdinÄm sveta ...iti bhedadarÅ›anavannÄtra
vibhÄga uktaá¸� samkirṇavarṇÄ� tu bhÅ«rvyacchinna.
�
