In this article I will try to review some of the known historical information about Udyana in an attempt to explore the main prevailing views regarding the location of Udyana. So far in our current times two theories circulate regarding the location of Udyana; one group argues that it was somewhere in eastern Pakistan in the Swat Valley region; the other group argues for Orissa and Bengal region. In the western circles that write and discuss this topic, it seems that the prevailing view being propagated, and that we find extensively in different publications, is that of the Pakistan location. I will try to explore this topic and offer some perspectives on why Orissa-Bengal is a very valid candidate as defended by many Indian scholars and archaeological evidence. Finally, and even though that will be a topic for another article, the exploration of the issue of the location and character of this ancient kingdom opens possibilities to further understand the development of several spiritual movements, from the Buddhist and Shaiva Tantra to Mahasandhi and the Siddha movement, allowing us for a deeper understanding of the original context and spirit of these traditions.
The Significance of Udyana
Udyana's role in the development of Buddhist and Shaiva Tantra, and also the Dzogchen tradition shows that it was a place of incubation of the highest spiritual teachings. This is also seen when we look at the Siddha movement and its profound connections to Udyana. Many important texts and Sadhana arise connected to Udyana, specially the Yogini Tantras, both Buddhist and non-buddhist. Several examples are still found today in the Tibetan Canon of Tantras and Sadhanas for which the original sanskrit still exist and that mention a direct connection to Udyana, like the Sadhanamala for example. In the Shiva cult Udyana is also mentioned as one of the sacred locations. In fact the founder of Krama Shaivism, the saint Jnanestra traveled to Udyana in the 9th century where he received a special lineage on non-dualist Shaiva Tantra, which became the Krama lineage of Shaivism. On this influence, Sanderson mentions the crucial similarity that both Atiyoga and Krama present awakening to be attained through cultivation of non-conceptual and non-dual pristine awareness. This view seems to be one of the crucial points most relevant to all this spiritual movements connected to Udyana.
"The documented history of the Krama begins with the story of a devoted spiritual practitioner and seeker of the truth, probably from Kashmīr, who in the mid-9th century made a pilgrimage to the small kingdom of Uḍḍiyāna(...)There he journeyed to a town called Mangalapura, in the heart of Uḍḍiyāna, where it is said nearly everyone was a practicing Tāntrika at that time."
- from An Introduction to the Tantric ‘Krama’ lineage of Kashmir by Christopher Tompkins and Christopher Wallis
An issue of Name?
When looking at this topic of Udyana, I feel its important first to define clearly what it is that we are looking for. I feel that this might be one of the points that creates some confusion and leads to assumptions. What I mean is that, are we searching for some old kingdom that had a name like Udyana, Odiyana, Uḍḍiyāna or similar, or are we looking for the ancient kingdom that was the source of Tantra and Dzogchen and was called as Oddiyan or Udyana? Even if multiple locations have the same, or very similar names, only one would be the right candidate for what we are searching.
As we look now at the candidates and arguments in favor and against each of them, it is important to remember this point! In fact throughout later history there are indications that the name of Udyana was mixed with other similar names of different locations, and even placed on locations based on other factors creating a confusion that makes it harder to determine what is what. So the approach to analyse the known historical information that its used here is that first we need to try to understand the most likely candidate to where Tantra, Dzogchen and the most important historical figures connected with that kingdom originate. On the basis of that we can look if such place could have been called Udyana or something similar. The issue of language and names of places is very complicated when looking so far back in time, and as languages evolve and change, the names that are given to places also evolve, mutate and change.
In fact several scholars have discussed this issue, for example Bhattacharyya (Bhattacharyya 1932: 44.) is of the opinion that there was a place in the Swat valley area that could be called Udyana, but he says that it is not the same Udyana that is mentioned in the Tantras as the original source of this teachings. He says that the Udyana from where Tantra appeared was most likely around East Bengal.
Another example can be found in the Tibetan sources that refer to Udyana, in this case several different ways to write the name are found, such as Orgyan, Urgyan, Odiyana and Odivisa. Some scholars have said that the name Odivisa is not connected to Udyana, however N.K. Sahu disagrees pointing out that all these names are not presented as being different in Buddhist Tantra literature, but are all referring to the same. Sahu also points out that in the Sadhanamala, Udyana also appears written as Odrayana, and in the Kalika Purana it appears in both the forms of Uddiyana and Odra, which would point to Odisha (orissa). (see Donaldson (2001: p. 11)
Udyana in the Swat Valley
The most commonly accepted view today is that Udyana was located in the Swat Valley region. I will attempt here to provide a short overview of the arguments used for this theory.
It was professor Tucci in 1940 that first proposed the idea that Udyana was in the Swat Valley. The main elements for this idea were the travel journals of two Tibetan pilgrims who reported to have traveled to Udyana, and whose route would have taken them to that region, even though at the time those pilgrims visited the region Buddhism had already been eradicated by invasions and war. However over time and due to lack of convincing archaeological evidence, the idea started to shift that perhaps Udyana was not just the area of the Swat Valley but a much wider area reaching to Ladakh. In fact despite the expected findings of an existing Buddhist culture and Mahayana related images and sculptures, still there was lacking a clear Tantric connection.
One of the important sources that is commonly used to place Udyana in the Swat valley is the travel journals of three Chinese pilgrims. In between the periods of the 4th to the 7th century there were several chinese pilgrims to have traveled extensively and wrote journals of their travels. Amongsts these there are three commonly referred to as a source of information about Udyana, they are Faxian, Song Yun and Xuanzang. In their journey they visited a place that they call U-Chang-na. Based on the account of their journey the location of U-Chang-na is in the Swat valley region. As the travel journals of these pilgrims are only written in their own chinese language, the only word used for this location is U-Chang-na. The connection to Udyana is made in modern times by trying to back-translate u-chang-na into sanskrit. In this case the argument is that u-chang-na is a very close form of Ujjana, which would be the Pali form to say Udyana. If we ignore the actual accounts of this travelers, which we will review later in this article, then it may seem likely to consider that u-chang-na is 'The Udyana', however if we review their account the situation seems less clear.
Finally, the piece of information that seems to have generated a fresh wave to the Swat Region theory was a new translation done of an inscription found in a statue of Ganesha near the site of Gardez, Davidson writes:
"Until 1991, the identification of Oddiyana with Swat could still have been questioned, albeit for increasingly obscure reasons. However, Kuwayama (1991) forever settled the question with the publication of a rereading of the Gardez inscription. The inscription, dated by Kuwayama to either 753 or 765 CE, indicated the dedication of a Ganesha statue by Khimgalala of Oddiyanasahi." (from Davidson, Reframing Sahaja, note 61)
A review of the Swat Valley Theory
As I mentioned at the start, the approach followed in this review of the existing information and theories, is that of searching for the cradle of Tantra and Atiyoga, the place from where Padmasambhava and Prahevajra came from, and the Mahasiddhas such as Luipa and others.
If we examine the evidence from this perspective it seems hard to justify the Swat region theory. The main issues are the lack of evidence for an established Tantric culture in that region in the relevant period. The same texts from the chinese pilgrims that on one hand, are used to justify the theory based on the name u-chang-na, are the ones that provide the information that clearly says there was no Tantric culture that they could see when they traveled through the region.
The Chinese pilgrim Xuanzan, who visited the region in the early 7th century, that he referred as the kingdom of U-Chang-na, reports :
"On both sides of the river Su-po-fa-su-tu, there are some 1400 old saṅghārāmas (temples and monasteries). They are now generally waste and desolate; formerly there were some 18,000 priests in them, but gradually they have become less, till now there are very few. They study the Great Vehicle; they practise the duty of quiet meditation, and have pleasure in reciting texts relating to this subject, but have no great understanding as to them. The (priests who) practise the rules of morality lead a pure life and purposely prohibit the use of charms.The schools of the Vinaya traditionally known amongst them are the Sarvāstivādins, the Dharmaguptas, the Mahīśāsakas, the Kāśyapīyas, and the Mahāsaṅghikas"
Earlier in the 5th Century, Faxian who also visited the same location writes of a different situation: "The religion of Buddha is very flourishing. The places where the priests stop and lodge they call saugharamas.In all there are five hundred haramas; they belong to the Little Vehicle (hinayana) without exception. "
Xuanzang also reports that: "They practise the art of using charms (religious sentences as charms)"
So the image these reports offer, is that of a thriving Buddhist culture in the 5th century, mostly associated with the early schools (hinayana), and later in the 7th century the situation shows a great decline, with many abandoned temples and monks that could not understand the teachings, but mostly upheld the Mahayana.
In fact Tucci writes: "It is not easy to explain the decrease of monasteries after Fa-hsien (399-414 AD) (1400 monasteries) and the fact that at the time of Hsüan-tsang (he travels from 629 to 645) many of them were in ruins,and monks were no longer interested in study and meditation but specially inclined to Tantric practices"
It has been said that this report of 'use of charms and sentences' that Xuanzan speaks about refers to practice of Tantra, and perhaps to some form of proto-Tantra. However from my point of view this is not a valid argument to justify this region has being the birthplace of Tantra. As Wallis states: "the so-called “Action Tantras” were composed from at least the beginning of the 3rd century ce. Indeed, the early “Action Tantras” are simply mantra-manuals (mantrakalpa) for achieving worldly ends, whether natural or supernatural. They contain no doctrine at all
The true advent of early Tantric Buddhism is in the late sixth century (Gray 1997: 1)
The Caryā Tantras begin at this period, with the other classes of text following rapidly after, with the Yoginī Tantras appearing starting in the early eighth century (Gray 2007: 2)"
So to find some practitioners engaged in the recitation of mantra around the 7th century is not at all unexpected, however, if Swat region was the birth place and the location where Tantra developed, then that development would have been happening at full force exactly around the 7th century, which does not match Xuanzan's experience of that region at the time.
The use of 'charms' and 'mantra' for many different purposes was around since at least the 3rd century. In fact not long after Xuanzan's visit, other pilgrim already report the presence of the Esoteric path of Tantra in northern India, which Xuanzan did not find in the Swat region, and he also clearly stated that Buddhism in the 7th century was in serious decline in the Swat valley region and most temples were abandoned.
It is well accepted today that the first known fully formed tantric text is the mahāvairocanābhisaṃbodhi-tantra which is dated to the 7th century.
Another chinese pilgrim, just 40 years after Xuanzan visited the Swat region, travelled to India and found the mahāvairocanābhisaṃbodhi-tantra, and reports of a 'new teaching' that is spreading in India, referring to Tantric teachings. But it is from the 8th Century onwards that we see the emergence of what we know today as Tantric Buddhism in its matured form. (see Tantra and the Tantric Traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism by David B. Gray)
It is generally considered that the proto-tantric movement was taking shape from around the 3th century, resulting in greater developments in the 6th and 7th century, and finally evolving into the matured Tantra from the 8th to 11th century period.
This begs the question: How could this be happening in a region where Buddhism is in so clear decline and where in the 7th century, as Xuanzan writes regarding the few remaining monks, they "have pleasure in reciting texts relating to this subject, but have no great understanding as to them" ?
Furthermore, if Padmasambhava was born in the kingdom of Udyana, where tantric Buddhism flourished, and also earlier Prahevajra, and others were natives of Udyana, one more problem arises in trying to match the Swat valley region to this kingdom of Udyana, because as for this same travel journals, we see that in the time of Faxian in the 5th century only Hinayana schools existed in that region, and in the 7th century according to Xuanzan, Buddhism is in serious decline.
When considering this information, and the fact that nearly no significant archaeological evidence is found to link the Swat region to the emergence of a developed Tantric culture in that period creates serious problems when trying to link Swat valley region to the kingdom described in the texts as being the birthplace of Tantra, and a kingdom populated by great Tantric adepts. Recent reports have shown that some rock carvings are found around the pilgrimage route in the Swat Valley, mostly of Avalokiteshvara and Maitreya, and a few of Vajrapani, mostly all from around the 7th century. Considering that Mahayana Buddhism was already present this carvings alone are not enough to support the idea of a dynamic and growing Tantra movement.
I will not here address in detail the travel journals of Urgyenpa, which is one of the arguments originally made for the Swat region. Urgyenpa wrote in his journals that he traveled to Udyana, which he placed around Eastern Pakistan in the 13th century. Urgyenpa's story is complicated and complex, and I feel these journals are not reliable historical markers because 1) they are too late in time as Urgyenpa lived in the 13th century 2) I could not find any reference or acceptable historical reference on how Urgyenpa knew that the place he traveled was actually the Udyana from Padmasambhava and so on - even though it seems clear from the journals that he did travel to the swat region, it was in the 13th century and he himself says that there is no Buddhism anymore to be found, and what we also cannot find is any reliable link to justify Urgyenpa's idea that Udyana used to be there.
The Ganesha of Gardez inscription
Finally we must look at what some consider to be the best evidence that proves that Udyana was in Pakistan region, which is the inscription of the Gardez Ganesha statue. Davidson writes:
"Until 1991, the identification of Oddiyana with Swat could still have been questioned, albeit for increasingly obscure reasons. However, Kuwayama (1991) forever settled the question with the publication of a rereading of the Gardez inscription. The inscription, dated by Kuwayama to either 753 or 765 CE, indicated the dedication of a Ganesha statue by Khimgalala of Oddiyanasahi." (from Davidson, Reframing Sahaja, note 61)
Reading Kuwayama publication in more detail we see that this issue is not that simple or clear, Kuwayama writes: "The inscription states, according to Tucci that this great and beautiful Mahavinayaka was consecrated by the renowned Sahi king,Tucci especially remarks that it is impossible to know to which era this inscription refers, but he thinks that the characters seem to be of the end of the fifth and beginning of the sixth centuries. Stimulating is his cautious reading of the name otyana (Uddiyana), attached to the name of the king Khirpgala in the last line. This is important not only as the first inscribed mention of Uddiyana but also the first mention of a king's name in that country. Tucci thinks the reading is not absolutely sure" (The Inscription of Ganesa from Gardez and a Chronology of the Turki Shahis, by Kuwayama)
Also in the same text, it is mentioned that D.C Circar also investigated the inscription and reached a different conclusion, disagreeing with Tucci, and made a different reading of the inscription, and the word that Tucci translated as Otyana was corrected to Otyata, giving a different meaning to the inscription. D.C Circar disagrees that there is any 'Udiyana' written in the inscription, and in fact Tucci himself from my understanding also did not make such claim either.
As for the new translation of the inscription that is being referred to as the final evidence, Kuwayama writes: "I rendered a copy of the rubbing to Prof. Hideaki Nakatani who provided the following detailed reading. His reading enabled us, against Sircar, to identify the name of the king as khimgalaudyana. He admits there are many mistakes in the inscription of either engraver or writer...".
From this we can see that this new translation was done based upon the view that the original engraver had a poor knowledge of sanskrit and did mistakes when writing the engraving, mistakes that had to be taken into account in order to make a translation today.
Without going into further arguments, we can simply agree that this is not such a clear cut evidence, it is a complicated matter, and from my point of view, the fact that this later translation is based on the argument that the original writer did mistakes leaves a lot of room for doubt.
The West Bengal and Orissa Theory
Several other scholars defend that the origin of Tantra is deeply connected to the region of Orissa and west Bengal. The basis of this view is connected to archaeological finds and some textual basis. In this case the strong point of this theory is that it is easier to see this region has the birth place of Tantra. Plenty of evidence shows that the region of Orissa and West Bengal played a key role in the early development of the Tantric and Siddha movement, both Buddhist and Hindu. So if we are looking for the place where Tantra really came to life, this would be a much natural choice, but was it called Udyana or Odiyana?
Archaeological basis
When compared to the rare and unclear rock carvings in the Swat region, in Orissa there is abundance of explicit early Tantric material such as depictions of mandalas, sculptures of Tantric deities, wrathful deities and so on. Also different forms of deities appear, such as Avalokitehsvara in various forms, Tara in various forms, Kurukulla and so on. As stated by Umakant Mishra in his publication "An alternative approach from the Archaeology of Buddhism in Orissa":
"While Vairocana image is found in many places including at Lalitgiri, Ratnagiri and Udayagiri, his prajna Locana is discovered from Ratnagiri, Gardeipancana and possibly a three-headed Devi image near the Raghunatha temple at Solampur. The three-headed Devi holds a lotus on her left and a sword on her right. Vairocana’s male emanations, Namasangiti is not found in Orissa. Out of eight goddesses of Vairocana family, six are found from Orissa. They are Marici, Usnisavijaya, Sitapatra Aparajita,Vajravarahi and Cunda."
The Indrabhuti and Siddhas issue
Indrabuthi is presented as the king of Udyana, and in fact in the life story of Padmasambhava is said that he was the son of King Indrabuthi of Udyana. In fact there were several Indrabhutis, even though some later writers seem to have mixed them as one single person.
In some important sources, such as the accounts of the 84 Siddhas, Udyana is said to have been divided in two kingdoms, Sambhala which was ruled by Indrabuthi and Lankapuri, ruled by Jalendra. Bhattacharya argues that on this basis the identification of Udyana is linked to the identification of Lankapuri. In his work Introduction to Buddhist Esoterism, Bhattacharya says that historicaly Lankapuri has been connected to Assam or Ceylon, but never to Swat.
In the same line he explains also that the mahasiddha Luipa is described in the textual sources as being from a fisherman caste who eventually became a scribe for the king of Udyana, and in the Tibetan Tangyur Luipa is listed as being a Bengali. And in fact Luipa has composed several songs (Dohas) in Bengali language.
N.K Sahu points also that some texts refer to Indrabuthi as the king of Odivisa, and other scholars such as Cordier also point to references placing Indrabuthi as the king of Orissa. One of the most important arguments that I have found so far relates to a text that King Indrabuthi wrote himself, the Jnanasiddhi. In the opening of the Jnanasiddhi King Indrabuthi pays homage to Lord Jaganattha which is a deity closely and directly connected to Orissa and is not found in other locations.
If the region of Orissa is considered to be Udyana on the basis of it being the most likely place for the development of Tantra, it still leaves the issue of the name.
N.K. Sahu on this topic is of the opinion that Oda, Odra, Udra, Odivisa and Odiyana are all variations of the same place, and also points out that in the Sadhanamala, Udiyana is also written as Odrayana while in the Kalika Purana it appears as Uddiyana or Odra.
When looking at the early days of Buddhist Tantra, names such as Saraha and Indrabuthi are crucial, also Nagarjuna (the second) and Luipa.
In the case of Saraha, the Tibetan Tangyur lists him as native of Oddiyana, and the Tibetan Historian Taranatha says he was a resident of Odivisa (Orissa). In fact the Blue Annals state that Indrabuthi of Udiyana received the Guyasamaja Tantra and then transmited it to Saraha. In the history of the mahasiddhas textual tradition Saraha is said to have been born in the eastern countries and studied at Nalanda, from where he traveled to Orissa to receive the Tantric teachings.
Donaldson states in his Iconography of the Buddhist Sculpture of Orissa, that there is more evidence, and refers to an inscription found in south India from the time of King Virupaska which clearly refers to Orissa as Udiyana. This inscription is from the 15th century, showing that in that region in the 15th century Orissa and Uddiyana were pointing to the same place.
"While the texts such as Mahavairocana Sambodhi , Jnanasiddhi ,Blue Annals
,Pag Sam Jom Zang, refer to Orissa as one of the earliest centres of Vajrayana Buddhism, archaeological, epigraphic and literary sources from China and Japan indicate that Orissa was one of the earliest centres of Vajrayana Buddhism." by Bimalendu Mohanty in An Alternative approach from the Archaeology of Buddhism in Odisha
This photo is from a recent discovery in Orissa, of a series of stone sculptures, as stated in the article of the Indian Times: "A rare Padmapani Boddhisattva image, another stone image of four-armed Oddiyan Kurukula and a presiding deity holding lotus and bow and arrow have also been found"
Finally I wanted to briefly talk about the references to Udyana as in relation to Lake Danakosha, which is one of the common pieces that seem to link Udyana to the Swat region. In the study of the life and journeys of the Tibetan Translator Vairotsana, who went to receive the Dzogchen teachings from Sri Simha, and found Sri Simha near a lake called Kosha, some sources have placed Sri Simha residency near lake Danakosha in Udyana. H.W Barber in his work on the life of Vairotsana shows in a very convincing way that in fact Vairotsana met Sri Simha not in the north-west near lake Danakosha, but south-east near a holy site called Sri Dhanya-Kota. In fact the mixing of the names Dhanya-Kota and Danakosha could very well be one the sources of confusion as to the location of Udyana.
After reviewing much of the material available on this topic, which I have tried to summarize in this article, it seems that the idea of Udyana as being in the Swat region is not really that clear. From my point of view I remain far from convinced. The situation becomes more delicate when we compare to the amount of information supporting the Orissa-Bengal region as the place where Tantra developed and the Siddha movement thrived. However this could be a case of naming confusion. Perhaps it could be the case as Bhattacharya suggests that even if there was a region in the Swat valley that was called Udyana (or something similar), that was not the Oddiyana that gave birth to Tantra. As I tried to suggest at the start of this article, the Udyana we are searching for is the place where Tantra appeared and developed, and a single inscription that could have the word Udyana (of which not all translators agree) in a statue, is not enough, specially when comparing side to side the options of the Swat region and Orissa-Bengal region it seems the current evidence leans heavily towards the East.
by Aja Das, 2019
