Buddhism : Critical Concepts in Religious Studies, Vol. VI

AMBIGUOUS SEXUALITY

0 l)ombi, you have spoiled everything;

To no avail, the moon has been polluted.

This one and that may demean you;

But the wise don't relinquish your neck.

KiiQ.ha sings of the erotic CaQ.qall;

Than the l)ombl, there is no better whore.

[19] World and nirviil)a are tabor and drum,

Mind and winds are flute and cymbal.

'Victory, victory!'-sounds the kettledrum;

Kal)ha sets out to marry the l)ombl.

He marries the l)ombl, the feast is consumed;

The highest Dharma is the dowry.

Day and night pass in erotic play;

In a blaze of yoginls, night becomes dawn.

Those who enjoy the l)ombl' s embrace

Won't leave her for an instant-they're drunk on

Simultaneity.

What are we to make of all this? In particular, given the focus of this essay, how
are we to read Kal)ha's references to his sexual relationship to the l)ombl? It is
to the variant ways in which we might interpret the sexually references in
Kiil).ha's songs that we will tum next.

III. Interpretations

The question of interpretation is one that all religious traditions face. Religious
'texts' -whether spoken or written-most often originate at the ambiguous
intersection of the secular and sacred worlds. Since they have as one of their
purposes the linking of these worlds, religious texts - especially those of
expressive power and aesthetic subtlety - generally have built into them double
references, whether deliberate or unintended. Thus, even in their own time and
milieu, religious texts may be understood in different ways by different audi-
ences. The situation is compounded when the texts are interpreted by audiences
in different times or cultures. It may be that it is precisely, and only, because
they are ambiguous that religious texts can become 'classics', but the ambiguity
that assures their greatness also makes their comprehension by both scholars and
practitioners a vexing matter at best.
The general problematic affecting the interpretation of religious texts is
encountered in a particularly acute form when we seek to interpret tantric texts.
Tantra is, by and large, an esoteric tradition, requiring that its practitioners
receive initiation (abhi$eka) from a qualified guru. Buddhist theoreticians in
both India and Tibet have insisted that tantric texts are written in a kind of code,
referred to as 'international language' [or, alternatively, 'twilight language'