REFLECTIONS ON THE MAHESVARA SUBJUGATION MYTH
Synopsis: How Heruka Was Born^15
There are three parts to his story: I. the eulogy of the good qualities of
the teacher Sakyamuni, II. the manner of the emanation of Sri Heruka,
and III. how the tantra-riija has been uttered by him.
I. The Bhadrakalpika-Mahiiyiina-siitra relates how the teacher Sakya-
muni generated the thought of awakening and then perfected himself
for three incalculable aeons through the accumulation of merit and
knowledge. Overcoming the four Maras, he obtained complete awaken-
ing in the final reality (n!tiirtha) of Akani~tha, where he worked for the
benefit of bodhisattvas of the tenth level. At the level of provisional
meaning (neyiirtha), he emanated himself in different places and taught
diverse teachings to beings of disparate capacities. In particular, there
was his manifestation as Sri Heruka.
II. At the beginning of this Kaliyuga, beings started contending with
each other through their common animosity. As the bodies started
piling up from their mutual slaughter, they were removed to the various
directions and the eight great charnel grounds formed. From the corpses
ran blood, and as its vapor rose into the sky, the eight clouds evolved.
When the clouds gave off rain, the eight rivers developed, and in them
the eight divine snakes (niigas) arose. Mists came from the rivers and
the eight trees grew, each of them with its own protector.
Then, to the south of Sumeru, in the continent of Jambudvlpa,
Mahesvara's emanation arose. Now in the various directions, there are
twenty-four self-originated places. Within each of these, twenty-four
ferocities (bhairava) arose, each with his own consort:
A. The four chief gods (deva) and four attendant gods were emanations
from the mind of Mahe8vara and came to operate in Jambudvlpa from
out of the sky, thus identified as the eight sky-going ferocities (*aiita-
khecara-bhairava).16 They were blue because they represented a pre-
dominance of anger and were located in specific self-originated
places:^17
East-Pulllra Malaya
North-Jalandhara
W est-OcJcJiyana
South-Arbuda}
Places of the four gods.
In the language of the
gods, these places are
called p!tha.
SE-Godavari } The four attendant
SW-Ramesvari gods. In the language
NW-Devlkota of the genii (gandharvas),
NE-Malava these are called upapztha.
B. The two chief local spirits (ya/cya), the two attendant yalcya, the
two chief demons (rii/cyasa), and the two attendant rii/cyasa were