Datura Rituals in the Vajramahabhairava-Tantra

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Datura Rituals in the Vajramahabhairava-Tantra1

Bulcsu Siklos

S u m m a r yThe occurrence of a plant known asda dhu ra is investigated in the pre-11th century Vajra-mahabhairava-tantra, an Indian Buddhist tantric text existant in Tibetan translation. Internalevidence from the texts, and linguistic evidence, identifyingda dhu ra as Datura metel isgiven despite current certainty of the N ew World origin of the genusDatura.

Z u s a m m e n f a s s u n gDie als da dhu ra bekannte Pflanze taucht in einem Vajramahabhairava-Tantra aus der Zeitvor dem 11. Jahrhundert (ein ind isch-buddh istischer Tantratext) in einer tibetischen Uber-

setzung auf. Die Untersuchung des Textes sowie die linguistische Evidenz weist auf, daBdadhu ra als Datura metel identifiziert werden muB, obwohl die landlaufige GewiBheit den Ur-sprung der Gattung Datura in die Neue Welt verlegt.

Sch lagw orte r: Indien, Tibet, Datura, BuddhKeywords: India, Tibet , Datura, Buddhism,

To demonstrate the endemicity to the Indian Subcontinent of Datura metel, anynative Indian text containing convincingreferences to D. metel and datable to pre-colum bian t ime s would be sufficient .This pap er at tempts to provid e formal

evidence for the endemicity of D. metelto the Old World firstly by presenting theDatura r i tuals of the Vajramahabhairava-tantra having dated and localized thistext , and secondly by glancing at thehistory of the Sanskri t worddhattura 'D.metel' and i ts descendants in modemIndian languages .

The presentat ion of such evidence isonly necessary because current botanicalresearch insists that allDatura species inthe Old World are post-co lumb ian impor t s f rom the New. SYMON s ta tes :"There is no convincing evidence of their(Datura's) establishm ent in the O ldWorld prior to the (European) discoveryof America .. . Datura should be removedfrom any l is t of cosm opoli tan gen era "(1991: 142) . Or aga in , SYMON andHAEGI are almost as defini te: "In Asia,as in Europe, the total absence of Daturaamong the numerous recognizable de-

ismus, EthnobotanikEthnobotany

scriptions and illustrations of a wide range of plants in many and varied works argues strongly against its origin in the OldWorld" (1991: 202) . And, concern ingDatura in India, they say: "Original Hindu and Sanskrit literature has not beenava i lab le to us . LANCASTER (1965) records D. metel amongst the sacred flowers used by the Hindus. As many otherflowers of undoubted American origine.g. Tagetes, Polianthes, Magnolia gran-diflora L. and Mirabilis are so honouredof the rapid adoption of attractive exoticp l a n t s " (1991: 2 0 1 ) .

Such attitudes contrast with those ofearl ier European scholars who were convinced - as far as Datura stramonium inEurope was concerned - ofDatura's O ld

World origin. The Afro-Asian origin ofDatura i s ment ioned in LIN NA EU S(1753), with the plant having apparentlyalready been introduced by the Romaniinto North Germany in the 16th century(VAN DIEKEN 1971:73). 19th and early20th century works retain and reinforcethis view. The Pallas Lexicon of 1896(XII: 396) is certain of the plant's importat ion into the Kingd om of Hun gary


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by the Romani - all the way from India.In 1929 P. GRAEBNER thought theplants originated in Central Asia orSouthern Russia (1929: 133), which viewharmonizes well with the idea of its importation into India by the Aryans.

These views may well be mistaken inthe case of D. stramonium which doesseem to be genuinely American, whilethe status of D. metel in the South-eastEurope is open to question. In defence ofHAEGI and SYMONI it has to be

conceded that a non-native genus naturalized in Europe shortly after Columbus'discovery of the New World would seemto be a prime candidate for American import status, but perhaps the coincidenceof simultaneous importation of aDaturaspecies from India by the Romani can beof the same exotic genus entering Europeat the same time from opposite points ofthe compass2.

Datura in the Vajramahabhairava-tantra

Datura metel, unter the name dhattura,has been known in India for centuries.There are references to it in the Amara-kosa (100.78), Vatsyayana's Kamasutra(VII. 1.24 and 2.42) and the Matsyapu-rana (95.24; cf. BANE RJI 1980: 38), anddoubtless also in many more texts. TheVajramahabhairava-tantra rituals given inthis paper are particularly useful as theycomprise connected rituals (rather thanjust brief references) involvingdhatturain typical magical uses.

The Sri-vajramahabhairava-tantra (=Vbt.) is an Indian Buddhist tantric ritualtext of which we possess versions descended from a pre-13th century Tibetantranslation of a lost Sanskrit (or Sans-kritized Prakrit) original. The Sanskritversion was known to the compiler of theTibetan collection in which the Tibetantranslation of the Vbt. is included, hencea latest possible date of c.1300 can be

suggested for this text based on thknown dates of the compiler Busto(1290-1364), though doubtless the text much earlier. The dates of the revealer othe text, the pandit Lalitavajra, are mucless certain, though the Tibetan historiaTaranatha writing in 1608 (CHATTOPADYAYA 1970: 242) considered him acontemporary of the dialectitian Dharmkirti (fix. 650-700). A date of c. 600 accepted for the beginnings of Tantriwritten literature in India, so the eme

gence of the Vbt. can be dated to sometime between the widely separated paof dates 650-1200 .

The area of origin of the Vbt. accoding to its own colophon (148r3; translated in SIKLOS 1990:123) and accoding to the history of Taranatha (CHATTOPADYAYA 1970: 244) is the land oUrgyan, the Tibetan equivalent of thSanskrit toponym Oddiyana which usually identified with the present-daSwat district of northern Pakistan. A

South Indian location for Oddiyana haalso been suggested4, but either way thVbt. remains an essentially typical Indiatantric work.

The Vbt. deals with the rituals of thwrathful Buffalo-headed deity Vajrabharava (a manifestation of the BuddhiBodhisattva Manjusri). Notable amongthese many and varied rituals are a set ofive, three from the 2nd chapter and twfrom the 4th. These all contain referenceto a plant known in the Tibetan text a

da dhu ra. These references follow:

A. Vbt. ii, 136 r.

Tibetan text:ji Itar gsad par 'dod pa'i sngags pas dukhrod kyi ras la / dug dang / khrag dangIan tshwa dang / ske tshe dang / nim bdang / dha du ra'i khu ba yis rdo rje 'jigbyed chen po'i 'khor lo le tshe bcu drupa bya rog chen po'i sgro rtse'i smyu g


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Datura Rituals in the Vajramahabhairava-Tantra

'am / mi'i rus pa'i smyu gus gcer bu skrabshig pas kha Ihor bltas te / ma he'igdong gi sbyor bas bri bar bya'o // megnyis kyi dbus su bsgrub bya'i ming dangbcas par gzhag la de yi ge bcu pas bskorzhing hum brgyad bri // zur rnams su phatkyi yi ge rnams bri // bdag nyid tsha ba'imar gyis lus byugs la / thod pa gnyis kyidbus su 'khrul 'khor rab tu bcug la sgyedbu gsum gyi steng du bzhag nas durkhrod kyi mgal pas me rab tu spar te /rkang pa g.yon pas mnan la yi ge bcu pa'isngags bzlas so // de yis skad cig gis thetshom med par 'chi'o //

Translation:The mantrin who desires to kill should, inunion with the Buffalo-headed One (= thedeity Vajrabhairava), naked, with dishevelled hair and facing south, draw thesixteen-section wheel of Vajramahabhai-rava (= Vajrabhairava) on a shroud in venom, blood, salt, black mustard,nimba(Azadirachta indica) and Datura juiceusing a pen made from a raven feather orfrom human bone. When he has placed itin between two fires along with the nameof the victim of the rite, he surrounds itwith the ten syllables and writes eightHUMs. In the comers the syllable PHATis to be written. Anointing himself withwarm butter he places this magical device within two crania. When he has placedit above three hearths, he should kindle afire with cremation wood. Then hetramples it with his left foot and recitesthe ten syllable mantra. By this means the

victim will doubtless die instantly.

B. Vbt. ii. 137v.

Tibetan text://gzhan yang dbye ba'i rab tu sbyor ba nibya rog dang 'ug pa'i gshog pa dang /bram ze dang gtum po mams kyi skragcig ty byas la / dha du ra'i shing la merab tu sbar te / du ba med pa'i mes bsregs

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la / de'i thai ba blangs la yi ge bcu pa'isngags bzlas nas bud med dang skyes pagnyis kyi bar du thai ba bzhag na / deskad cig gis 'byed par byed do//

Translation: Also, for the rite of separation, he puts together the wings of a crowand an owl and the hair of a brahmin anan outcaste and kindles a fire ofDaturawood. Burning these items in this smokeless fire he takes the ashes and, if he putsthe ashes in between a woman and a manafter reciting the ten-syllable mantra,they will instantly be separated.

C.Vbt. ii. 138 v.

Tibetan text: // de nas sngags pas smyobar bya bar 'dod na dha du ra'i 'bras bublangs la / sha chen dang lhan cig tushing srin gyis zos pa'i phye ma dangbsres nas bza' ba dang btung ba la nisbyin no // sngags kyang bzlas pa bya ste/ de skad cig gis smyo bar 'gyur zhingzhag bdun gyis 'chi'o //

Translation: Then, if the mantrin wants todrive someone insane, he takesDaturafruit and, mixing it with human flesh andworm-eaten sawdust, offers it in food ordrink. He recites the mantra and that person will instantly go insane and then diewithin seven days.

D.Vbt. iv. 144r

Tibetan text:

de nas nor nor ma yin par bya bar 'dod na// ras bal gyi me la dha du ra'i 'bras budang bcas par mtshan mo yi ge bcu pa' isngags brgya rtsa brgyad sbyin sreg byasna shin tu chud zos par 'gyo r ro //

Translation: Then if, wanting to turnwealth into poverty, he performs a hundred and eight burnt offerings at night ina fire of cotton using Datura fruit, (that


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wealth) will indeed become trifling.

E.Vbt. iv. 144v.

Tibetan text: de nas bya rog gi tshangdang 'bras kyi phub ma dang lhan cig tudha du ra' i shing gis me rab tu sbar nas /yi ge bcu pa'i sngags gang gi ming dangbcas par nam phyed na sbyin sreg byas na/ nyi ma bdun gyis skrod par 'gyo r ro //

Translation:Then, if he performs burnt offerings atmidnight with a crow' nest and rice husksusing the ten syllable mantra along withthe victim's name after kindling the firein Datura wood, (the victim), will be driven away within seven day s.

The identification ofda dhu ra

The plant da dhu ra occurs only in thesepassages in the Vbt. Whilst passage Amight be the most interesting for studentsof magic, passage C is more significant

for those wishing to identify da dhu raon the basis of its described effects afteringestion. A member of the Solanaceaecertainly suggests itself as a suitable candidate, but through lack of any physicaldescription of the plant the quoted passages can at best only suggest the identification of da dhu ra as Datura metel onthe basis of toxic effects common toother indian Solanaceae. Nonetheless theVbt. occurrences at least provide a roughly datable (and definitely pre-Columbian)record of the wordda dhu ra on the basisof which the linguistic evidence can beinvestigated. This evidence leads inescapably to the conclusion that it is indeed Datura metel which is referred to inVbt.

The written Tibetan word da dhu ra(met with in aspirated versionsdha du raand da dhu ra) is a transliteration of theSanskrit dhattura. White thorn-apple,

Datura metel, is given as the usual eqvalent in the dictionaries (MONIERWTLLIAMS 1899: APTE 1959), awhile other solanaceous plants possible confusion species, the identifition is well-established in the standasources (with other distinct Sanskrit mes serving for other common Solaceae).

The basic Sanskrit termdhattura- hadescendants in many Indian lan guagesall of which it means primarilyD. met

These words have been placed in phonetic categories by TURNER (196714):

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

PrakritSina-dardKashmiriSindhiPanjabiKumauniGarigoiNepaliAssameseQriyaHindi

MarwariGujarati

Maithili

AssameseBengali/OriyaHindiMarathi

BengaliMaithili

Oriya

Prakrit

dhattura-ddturo- m .datun m .dhaturo- m.dhaturddhaturodhaturdhaturodhaturddhaturddhatur, -a m

. (hence alsodhaturiya m'poisoner')dhaturodhatur',dhdt- m .

dhathur

dhiiturddhuluradhutura m.dhutra,dhotra m .

dhuthuradhuthur

dudura

dhutta-


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Datura Rituals in the Vajramahabhairava-Tantra

It is immediately apparent that theconsistency with which the word is preserved in the meaning ofD. metel in allmajor Prakrit-based (and thus Sanskrit-based) Indian languages makes a transferin meaning from an indigenous Sola-naceous (or any other) plant to a supposed post-Columbian import very unlikely indeed. Sanskrit dhattura simplymust mean the same as its many descendants listed above. The distance inspace and time which separateslanguages such as Gujarati and Assamesealso positions the word dhattura clearlyin the vocabulary of ancestral Prakrit dialects which precede any seaborne contacts mediated by Europeans with theNew World. The word also seems to beoriginal Aryan and not a loan from Dra-vidian, this having been observed in 1891by DYMOCK, WARDEN and HOOPER(II: 585) who consequently also thoughtthat D. metel might be an import fromCentra Asia .

Conclusion

There may be other evidence whichcould be adduced in support of OldWorld Datura but any position arguingfor the endcmicity to the Americas of theDatura genus in general, and the speciesD. metel in particular, must be insecurepurely on the basis of the above rituals.The Indian lexical evidence also meansthat any botanist wishing to argue againstthe endemicity of Datura in India needsto:

1. disprove the well-established equationof Skt. dhattura to Datura (and therebycontradict all lexical sources).2. explain the improbable switch inmeaning from a Skt. word dhattura notmeaning Datura to words based on theSanskrit dhattura in modem Indian vernaculars meaning Datura.

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3. identify the original Sanskritdhatturabearing in mind that distinct names forother common solanaceous species existin Sanskrit.

All three tasks are probably impossible,an impossibility which can lead only toone conclusion - D. metel was present inIndia prior to European contact with theNew World. Any such conclusion necessitates the revision of current botanical opinion regarding the origins of thegenus Datura in general and the speciesD. metel, D. ferox and D. leschenhaulti inparticular.

Notes1 This paper is one ofthe results of a year's study trip to India on a Leverhulme Trust StudyAbroad Studentship. The author wishes to thankthe trustees ofthe Leverhulme Trust for makingthis and related research possible.2 Extra research, both botanical and linguistic, isneeded to shed light upon the complex situationin Europe, and especially upon thestramonium/metel duo in Eastern Europe andWest Asia.3 References are to the Peking Blockprint of theTibetan Bka.gyur (catalogue: Ui 1934) and toSIKLOS 1990.4 Lokesh CHANDRA has argued fora South Indian location for Oddiyana(1980).5 It might be worth checking (earlier) CentralAsian etymologies forD. metel, though precisely locating the home ofD. metel is not necessaryfor arguing against its American origin. In latereras theoretical knowledge of the ritua l andtoxic uses ofDatura spread to the Lamaist landsof Central Asia since Tibetan, Mongolian andManchu translations of the Vbt. all exist, and itis possible - though not proven - thatDaturaseeds could have been traded throughout the Lamaist world just as many other Indian ritualplants were.6 Daiura metel, regarded as native to the Americas, has never been found in a 'native' wild statethere. The issue of the lack of a wild type forD.


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meiel in the Americas is avoided by calling theplant "essentially a collection of cultivars",these cultivars supposedly originating in pre-Columbian America rather than in Europe (SYMO N and HAEG 1 1991: 205).

BibliographyAPTE, Vaman Shivram 1959. The Student's

Sanskrit-English Dictionary. DelhiBANERJI, Sures Chandra 1980.Flora and Fau

na in Sanskrit Literature. Calcutta.CHA ND RA, Lokesh 1980. Oddiyana: A New

Interpretation. In: Tibetian Studies in Honourof Hugh Richardson feds . M. ARIS & AUNGSAN SUU KYI). Warminster.

CHATTOPADYAYA, Debiprasad 1970. Tara-natha's History of Buddhism in India. Calcutta .

DYMOCK W., WARDEN C.J .H. & HOOPERD . 1891. Pharmacographia Indica I-Il: AHistory of the Principal Drugs of VegetableOrigin met with in British India. London/Bombay/Calcutta.

GRAEBNER P. 1929. Lehrbuch der allgemei-nen Pflanzengeographie. Leipzig .

LINNAEUS C. 1753:Species piantarum. Hol-

miae .MONIER-WILLIAMS M. 1899. A Sanskrit-

English-Dictionary. Oxford.(PALLAS LEXICON I-XVI) 1896: Budapest.SIKLOS, B. 1990: The Vajrabhairava-Tantras.

Tibetan and M ongolian Texts with introduction, translation and notes. Unpublished PhDthesis, University of London.

SYMON D.E. 1991: Condwanan Elements ofthe Solanacea e. In: Solanacea e III; Taxonomy, Chemistry, Evolution. (Eds . HAWKES,LESTER, NEE & ESTRADA). Kew.

SYMON D.E., HAEGI L.A.R. 1991. Datura(Solanaceae) is a New World Genus. In:Solanaceae III: Taxono my, Chem istry, Evolution.(Eds . HAWKES, LESTER, NEE & ESTRADA). Kew.

TURNER R. 1966. Comparative Dictionary ofthe lndo-Aryan Languages. London.

UI H. , SUZUKI M. , KANAKURA Y. TADAT.1934. A Complete Catalogue of the TibetanBuddhist Canons (bka' 'gyur and bstan 'gyur).Sendai.

VAN DIEKEN J. 1971. PJlanzen im ostfriesi-schen Volksglauben und Brauchlum. Aurich.

Manuscript received march 1993.

Dr. Bulcsu Sik7 St . James ' Mansions , West End L

London NW6 2AA,

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Datura Rituals in the Vajramahabhairava-Tantra