tantric threads between india and china 255The ritual expression of empowerment and divine recognition
constituted not simply a “metaphorical” or “symbolic” but rather a
technically operative connection between (Tantric) Buddhist praxis,
political and promotional pragmatics. It was based on the practicing
subject that identi ed itself with divine power, structurally depicted in
maalas as enacted domains of power. The subject was conceived in
terms of corporal authority (the domains of power inhered by human
bodies) and recognition (as between authorities), i.e., as subject to a
system of attraction and capture complementary to the organisation of
the state apparatus. Its nal object, the awakening to buddhahood, was
understood as fundamental transformation of the self which implied a
self-rei cation of the absolute, the Buddha Vairocana ritually invoked
as bestowal of divine sovereignty, omniscience and omnipotence. The
mythic interlocutor Vajrapi became the eroticised Vajrasattva, as
the vajra—formerly Indra’s sceptre-symbol of the indestructible, abso-
lute force of divine kingship,^28 protector of the law (Skt. dharma)—
represented a sublimation of the phallus,^29 not merely as symbol of legal
power but also—and perhaps mainly so—as sign of desire for awaken-
ing (Skt. bodhi) and subjection to the cosmic Buddha Vairocana.
Tantric Buddhist scriptures of the late seventh and eighth century
such as the Sarvatathgata-tattvasa graha (Compendium of the Truth of
All Tathgatas) and Mahvairocana-abhisa bodhi (The Ultimate Awakening
of Great Vairocana), related treatises and commentaries, still referred
to central concepts of the Mahyna in so far as the hermeneutics^30
of elite monastic doctrinal and ethical thought had to be kept largely
intact as referential framework. But the rhetorics were part of a liturgy
of divine recognition, legitimising the use of spells and violence in
defence of the dharma.
Linked with the siddha gure, scriptures such as the Susiddhikara
(About what is Good in Producing Success) and Subhuparip cch (Ques-
tions of Subhu) introduced topics and narratives of transcended per-
sonality, expansion of power and bene t as inseparable from salvi c(^28) That is made explicit also in titles of scriptures which have a -rj or -rajñ added,
meaning “kingly.. .” or “king of.. .”. This convention is also preserved in many
Chinese translations belonging to the Vajraekhara (Vajra Pinnacle) texts by using the
designation wang jing (“kingly scripture”); see, e.g., T.865, T.874, T.882, T.883,
T.885, T.887, T.888, T.890, T.892.
(^29) Davidson 2002, p. 197.
(^30) The term “hermeneutics” here refers to a processual, discursive thinking and
systems of interpretation by which meaning is construed and validated, as for example
in exegetical writings.
HEIRMAN_f9_247-276.indd 255 3/13/2007 6:40:06 PM