REFLECTIONS ON THE MAHESVARA SUBJUGATION MYTHworld laughed, Mahdvara and his consort, Uma, were both dragged
stark naked feet first before VajrapaJ:!i, who stepped on Mahdvara with
his left foot, while standing on Uma's breasts with his right. Then he
uttered the mantra OM VAJRAVISA HANAYA TRAM TRAT and
Mahesvara started beating his own thousand heads with his own thou-
sand arms, while all his minions outside the palace gave a great roar of
laughter and said, "Look at our Lord being disciplined by this great
being!"
Then Vairocana took pity on Mahdvara and, with the mantra OM
BUDDHA MAITRl VAJRA RAKSA HOM, the touch ofVajrapaJ:!i's feet
became the consecration which allowed him to obtain the level of the
Tathagata. Abandoning his form of Mahadeva, Mahdvara passed
beyond countless world systems and was reborn into the world known
as Bhasmacchanna as the tathiigata Bhasmesvara-nirgho~a.^7
At that point, VajrapaJ:li commanded all the other gods, "Friends,
enter into the great circle of the adamantine assembly of all tathiigatas
and protect that assembly!" And they replied in assent, "As you inform
us, so we will perform!" Then all the gods and goddesses-Mahesvara,
Uma, and the others-were given new names and positions in the
mystic circle.This comical tale of direct competion between the Saiva and Bauddha tradi-
tions recognizes the homogeneous nature of many of their rituals and symbols.
As story, it was to prove extraordinarily successful: Mahesvara became one of
the great scapegoats of Buddhist Mantrayana literature, an evil buffoon like
Devadatta, the "gang of five bhib;us" in early Buddhist literature, and Mara in
virtually all strata of the literate tradition. Indeed, it is clear that Mahesvara
became the "Mara" of the Vehicle of Secret Spells, and the similarities between
the Buddha's conduct with Mara and the treatment of Mahesvara were quite
explicit, as we shall see.
How Heruka was born-Cakrasa,vara mythology
The success of this myth is reflected in the multiple versions that spread almost
as quickly as the Mantrayana itself. Approximately the same stratum of the myth
is found in the Trailokya-vijaya-mahiikalpariija, whose Chinese translation is
ascribed to Amoghavajra (705-774).^8 This version is more benign, ending with
the submission of all the divinities; it completes the story with the assurance that
the gods obtain amnesty from execution by their enunciation of a specific
mantra.^9 Alternatively, a longer rendering of the Tattvasal'flgraha version was
added to the Vajrasekhara-mahiiyoga-tantra, but without the frame story of
SarvarthasiddhiNajradhatu.^10 Presumably, these versions hearken back to an oral
epic, which continued to develop in association with the written forms. Beyond
this stratum was the rendition of the Candraguhyatilaka-mahiitantrariija, which