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A MODERN NEW AR GUIDE FOR
V AJRA Y ANA LIFE-CYCLE RITES
The Nepal Jana Jzvan Kriyii Paddhati
Todd T Lewis
Source: Indo-Iranian Journa/37 ( !994): l-46.I. Introduction: Newar Buddhist ritualism
Sugat Saurabh, modern Nepal's greatest epic poem in the Newari language, is
an account of Sakyamuni Buddha's life by Chittadhar Hrdaya (1901~1982), a
Newar lay Buddhist of Kathmandu's Uraya caste. Hrdaya's hagiography
(Hridaya 1948) draws upon Sanskrit and Newari literary traditions which
portray the Buddha in his early life and in previous births as a high caste house-
holder who participates in the ritual customs appropriate to his status (Lewis
1989c). For Newar Buddhists in similar stations, it is natural that such saltl-
skiiras (rites of passage) are integral to their lives as well.
This study examines the role of ritual in the Mahayana Buddhist community
of Nepal and presents a translation of a modern ritual guidebook, Nepiil lana
Jivan Kriyii Paddhati, that outlines Vajrayana Buddhist life-cycle rites.^1 The
Newar tradition represents a unique yet continuing survival of later Indian
Mahayana-Vajrayana Buddhism (Lienhard 1984), and this article is intended to
add to the documentation and description necessary for an emerging and import-
ant field within Buddhist studies (Gellner 1986, 1987, 1988, 1992).
The abundance of cultural vitality evident in the later Malia era (1482~1768)
that created the magnificent art and architecture in the Kathmandu Valley (Pal
1974; Slusser 1982) and established vast libraries of Buddhist Sanskrit manu-
scripts (Hodgson 1874; Burnouf 1844) was applied to other cultural domains as
well. Hindu and Buddhist Newars ~ kings, priests, merchants, commoners -
maintained an almost continuous yearly round of festival observances for their
society. Likewise, their priests arranged complex rites to mark all significant
events in an individual's lifetime. From conception to long after death, in cele-
bration and in mourning, rituals have long been integral to the Newar lifestyle.
The elaboration of Buddhist ceremonies in this community is truly immense: