82 - Discourses on Tantra Volume One

Chapter 21 Throughout the Ages (5)

Now let us consider the Buddhist Shiva. Just as Shiva was worshipped in the age of Jain culture and Jainism influenced Post-Shiva Tantra and was also influenced by it, the same thing occurred in the Buddhist Age.

The Buddhist Age and the Jain Age occurred simultaneously. Lord Maháviira was about fifty years older than Lord Buddha. There was a pervasive influence of Maháyána Buddhism in some parts of India, China and Tibet. At that time, the Maháyána branch of Buddhism split into two sections, both of which embraced Tantric culture. The Shiva of Post-Shiva Tantra was accepted in Buddhist Tantra, and the followers of the latter also preferred to worship the Shiva-liuṋga instead of worshipping idols of Shiva.

You should remember that there is no mention of the worship of Shiva-liuṋga in the dhyána mantra of Shiva. From this it is clear that the worship of Shiva-liuṋga was introduced much later.

Because of the vast popularity of Shiva, He could not be neglected even in the Buddhist Age, and the worship of the Shiva idol or Shiva-liuṋga was accepted, only with a little difference. Shiva was not accepted as a perfect god. He was accepted as a bodhisattva, and a small image of Buddha was affixed to the image of Shiva. In some cases, a small image of Buddha was attached to the head of the image of Shiva at the time of Shiva’s worship. The intention was to make it clear that Shiva was not a perfect god. He was a bodhisattva, and it was Buddha who was the goal of worship for Shiva. This kind of Bodhisattva Shiva became Bat́uka Bhaerava, then Boŕo Shiva, then Buŕo Shiva [Old Shiva], at a later time.

In the remote villages of Bengal, many temples of Buŕo Shiva are found. These images of Buŕo Shiva are from the Buddhist Age. The worship of this Buddhist Shiva was widely popular on the eastern side of the Himalayas, in Tibet, and in some parts of Bengal; it was introduced in Bengal during the days of Vajrayána Buddhism.

It would not be irrelevant to say that though Vajrayána was prevalent in India, Tibet and a considerable part of China, the centre or the controlling point of it was a village named VajraYoginii of Vikrampur of Dhaka district. A Chinese ácárya [spiritual teacher] of Buddhist Tantra lived there, named Pháhá-u-cá. This village and Vikrampur are still existing. The history of Vikrampur goes back much earlier than the Puranic Age. If I ever narrate the history of Baḿga-Dabák [southern Bangladesh], many things are to be said about this Vikrampur. In the age of Buddhist Tantra, the name of Vikrampur was Vikram Mańipur – not Vikrampur. Oṋḿ mańipadme hum was the mantra of Vajrayánii Buddhism. The name Vikram Mańipur has been derived from this Mańipadma Mantra.

Anyway, Shiva was worshipped as a bodhisattva in the Buddhist Age. At that time a small idol of Buddha was set on the head of the image of Shiva or on the Shiva-liuṋga. The acoustic root of this Buddhist Shiva, the Jain Shiva and the Shiva of Post-Shiva Tantra was aeḿ. This aeḿ is the acoustic root of speech and hearing, the root from which all knowledge springs.

Then came the Shiva Cult and Shákta Cult of the Puranic Age. In this age also, the worship of Shiva continued. The Puranic concept of Shiva was the consolidation of the worship of the twenty-two varieties of Shiva-liuṋga, including the jyotirliuṋga, the anádiliuṋga, the ádiliuṋga, etc., plus the Shiva-liuṋga of King Vána. But the interesting thing is that the Shiva of this Puranic Age was quite different from the Shiva of Jain, Buddhist, or Post-Shiva Tantra. Consequently the acoustic root of Shiva also changed from aeḿ to haoḿ. The acoustic root of the Puranic Shiva became Haoḿ Shiváya namah.

The concept of a deity must change if there is a change in its acoustic root. So Sadáshiva, the very shelter of human life for seven thousand years, and this Shiva of the Jain, Buddhist or Post-Shiva Tantra, are not the same person.