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Datura in Vajramahabhairava
Datura in Vajramahabhairava
16 (1993): 71 - 7 6
Summary
The occurrence of a plant known as da dhu ra is investigated in the pre-11th century Vajra-
mahabhairava-tantra, an Indian Buddhist tantric text existant in Tibetan translation. Internal
evidence from the texts, and linguistic evidence, identifying da dhu ra as Datura metel is
given despite current certainty of the New World origin of the genus Datura.
Zusammenfassung
Die als da dhu ra bekannte Pflanze taucht in einem Vajramahabhairava-Tantra aus der Zeit
vor dem 11. Jahrhundert (ein indisch-buddhistischer Tantratext) in einer tibetischen Uber-
setzung auf. Die Untersuchung des Textes sowie die linguistische Evidenz weist auf, daB da
dhu ra als Datura metel identifiziert werden muB, obwohl die landlaufige GewiBheit den Ur-
sprung der Gattung Datura in die Neue Welt verlegt.
by the Romani - all the way from India. suggested for this text based on the
In 1929 P. GRAEBNER thought the known dates of the compiler Buston
plants originated in Central Asia or (1290-1364), though doubtless the text is
Southern Russia (1929: 133), which view much earlier. The dates of the revealer of
harmonizes well with the idea of its im- the text, the pandit Lalitavajra, are much
portation into India by the Aryans. less certain, though the Tibetan historian
These views may well be mistaken in Taranatha writing in 1608 (CHATTO-
the case of D. stramonium which does PADYAYA 1970: 242) considered him a
seem to be genuinely American, while contemporary of the dialectitian Dharma-
the status of D. metel in the South-east kirti (fix. 650-700). A date of c. 600 is
Europe is open to question. In defence of accepted for the beginnings of Tantric
HAEGI and SYMONI it has to be written literature in India, so the emer-
conceded that a non-native genus natural- gence of the Vbt. can be dated to som-
ized in Europe shortly after Columbus' etime between the widely separated pair
discovery of the New World would seem of dates 650-1200.
to be a prime candidate for American im- The area of origin of the Vbt. accor-
port status, but perhaps the coincidence ding to its own colophon (148r3; trans-
of simultaneous importation of a Datura lated in SIKLOS 1990:123) and accor-
species from India by the Romani can be ding to the history of Taranatha (CHAT-
of the same exotic genus entering Europe TOPADYAYA 1970: 244) is the land of
at the same time from opposite points of Urgyan, the Tibetan equivalent of the
the compass2. Sanskrit toponym Oddiyana which is
usually identified with the present-day
Datura in the Vajramahabhairava-tantra Swat district of northern Pakistan. A
South Indian location for Oddiyana has
Datura metel, unter the name dhattura, also been suggested4, but either way the
has been known in India for centuries. Vbt. remains an essentially typical Indian
There are references to it in the Amara- tantric work.
kosa (100.78), Vatsyayana's Kamasutra
(VII. 1.24 and 2.42) and the Matsyapu- The Vbt. deals with the rituals of the
rana (95.24; cf. BANERJI 1980: 38), and wrathful Buffalo-headed deity Vajrabhai-
doubtless also in many more texts. The rava (a manifestation of the Buddhist
Vajramahabhairava-tantra rituals given in Bodhisattva Manjusri). Notable amongst
this paper are particularly useful as they these many and varied rituals are a set of
comprise connected rituals (rather than five, three from the 2nd chapter and two
just brief references) involving dhattura from the 4th. These all contain references
in typical magical uses. to a plant known in the Tibetan text as
da dhu ra. These references follow:
The Sri-vajramahabhairava-tantra (=
Vbt.) is an Indian Buddhist tantric ritual
A. Vbt. ii, 136 r.
text of which we possess versions des-
cended from a pre-13th century Tibetan Tibetan text:
translation of a lost Sanskrit (or Sans- ji Itar gsad par 'dod pa'i sngags pas dur
kritized Prakrit) original. The Sanskrit khrod kyi ras la / dug dang / khrag dang /
version was known to the compiler of the Ian tshwa dang / ske tshe dang / nim ba
Tibetan collection in which the Tibetan dang / dha du ra'i khu ba yis rdo rje 'jigs
translation of the Vbt. is included, hence byed chen po'i 'khor lo le tshe bcu drug
a latest possible date of c.1300 can be pa bya rog chen po'i sgro rtse'i smyu gu
Datura Rituals in the Vajramahabhairava-Tantra 73
'am / mi'i rus pa'i smyu gus gcer bu skra la / de'i thai ba blangs la yi ge bcu pa'i
bshig pas kha Ihor bltas te / ma he'i sngags bzlas nas bud med dang skyes pa
gdong gi sbyor bas bri bar bya'o // me gnyis kyi bar du thai ba bzhag na / de
gnyis kyi dbus su bsgrub bya'i ming dang skad cig gis 'byed par byed do//
bcas par gzhag la de yi ge bcu pas bskor
zhing hum brgyad bri // zur rnams su phat Translation: Also, for the rite of separat-
kyi yi ge rnams bri // bdag nyid tsha ba'i ion, he puts together the wings of a crow
mar gyis lus byugs la / thod pa gnyis kyi and an owl and the hair of a brahmin an
dbus su 'khrul 'khor rab tu bcug la sgyed an outcaste and kindles a fire of Datura
bu gsum gyi steng du bzhag nas dur wood. Burning these items in this smoke-
khrod kyi mgal pas me rab tu spar te / less fire he takes the ashes and, if he puts
rkang pa g.yon pas mnan la yi ge bcu pa'i the ashes in between a woman and a man
sngags bzlas so // de yis skad cig gis the after reciting the ten-syllable mantra,
tshom med par 'chi'o // they will instantly be separated.
wealth) will indeed become trifling. Datura metel, is given as the usual equi-
valent in the dictionaries (MONIER-
E.Vbt. iv. 144v. WTLLIAMS 1899: APTE 1959), and
while other solanaceous plants are
Tibetan text: de nas bya rog gi tshang possible confusion species, the identifica-
dang 'bras kyi phub ma dang lhan cig tu tion is well-established in the standard
dha du ra' i shing gis me rab tu sbar nas / sources (with other distinct Sanskrit na-
yi ge bcu pa'i sngags gang gi ming dang mes serving for other common Solana-
bcas par nam phyed na sbyin sreg byas na ceae).
/ nyi ma bdun gyis skrod par 'gyor ro //
The basic Sanskrit term dhattura- has
descendants in many Indian languages, in
Translation: all of which it means primarily D. metel.
Then, if he performs burnt offerings at These words have been placed in six
midnight with a crow' nest and rice husks phonetic categories by TURNER (1966:
using the ten syllable mantra along with 6714):
the victim's name after kindling the fire
in Datura wood, (the victim), will be dri-
1. Prakrit dhattura-
ven away within seven days.
Sina-dard ddturo- m.
Kashmiri datun m.
The identification of da dhu ra Sindhi dhaturo- m.
Panjabi dhaturd
The plant da dhu ra occurs only in these
Kumauni dhaturo
passages in the Vbt. Whilst passage A
Garigoi dhatur
might be the most interesting for students
Nepali dhaturo
of magic, passage C is more significant
Assamese dhaturd
for those wishing to identify da dhu ra
Qriya dhaturd
on the basis of its described effects after
Hindi dhatur, -a m
ingestion. A member of the Solanaceae
. (hence also
certainly suggests itself as a suitable can-
dhaturiya m
didate, but through lack of any physical
'poisoner')
description of the plant the quoted passa-
Marwari dhaturo
ges can at best only suggest the identifi-
Gujarati dhatur',
cation of da dhu ra as Datura metel on
dhdt- m.
the basis of toxic effects common to
other indian Solanaceae. Nonetheless the
2. Maithili dhathur
Vbt. occurrences at least provide a rough-
ly datable (and definitely pre-Columbian)
record of the word da dhu ra on the basis 3. Assamese dhiiturd
of which the linguistic evidence can be Bengali/Oriya dhulura
investigated. This evidence leads in- Hindi dhutura m.
escapably to the conclusion that it is in- Marathi dhutra,
deed Datura metel which is referred to in dhotra m.
Vbt. 4. Bengali dhuthura
Maithili dhuthur
The written Tibetan word da dhu ra
(met with in aspirated versions dha du ra 5. Oriya dudura
and da dhu ra) is a transliteration of the
Sanskrit dhattura. White thorn-apple, 6. Prakrit dhutta-
Datura Rituals in the Vajramahabhairava-Tantra 75
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