Maitri-pa and Atisa

MARK TATZ (SAN FRANCISCO)

Prominent in Tibetan accounts of the life of Maitri-pa is a tale of how he was expelled from the
monastic university of Vikramasila by Atisa (Dipamkarasrijiiana). The story does not appear in any
non-Tibetan source. Nor can any Indian or Nepalese basis be identified for the contention of some
Tibetan scholars that Atisa received the text of the Mahayana-uttaratantra-sastra and/or instructions
on it from Maitri-pa. The two tales are broadly contradictory, for they place the two Indian masters in
opposite relationships of authority. Their use by Tibetan historians on apparently sectarian grounds
calls into question the validity of Tibetan historical tradition as it bears upon the later period of
Buddhism in India. Neither purported event is central to the spiritual career of either figure, and I
present a study of them here so as to exclude them from a later study of the hagiography of Maitri-pa.
In a Nepalese Sanskrit manuscript (designated Sham Shere) that may be the earliest witness to the life
of Maitri-pa,1 there is no hint of either tale. The absence is not of course decisive, because the
manuscript is not a complete "life": it traces the lineage of Maitri-pa's philosophic doctrine, called
Amanasikara, concluding in the middle of his life after Maitri-pa's spiritual quest and instruction under
Sabaresvara.
According to the Sham Shere manuscript, Maitri-pa is born a brahman named Damodara2 in the
Middle Country (madhyadesa). As a brahmanical renunciate named Martabodha,3 he is converted and
taught general Mahayana ("the way of the perfections") by Naropa; then Ragavajra teaches him tantra
("the way of mantras"). He then studies the nirakara philosophic system under Ratnakarasanti. The
sites of these studies are not named. Going to Vikramasila, he studies under Jiianasrimitra (an adherent
to sakara). From Vikramasila he proceeds to Vikramapura and is ordained a bhik~u in the Sammatiya (!) school, his name becoming Maitrigupta - hence the Tibetans' designation Maitri-pa, from the
honorific Maitripada. Dream-visions (svapna-darsana) of Avalokitesvara inspire him to remove himself to KhasarpaI).a, then to travel south in search of the siddha SabareSvara. He receives the name
Advayavajra in a waking dream that constitutes tantric initiation (~eka). (The name Avadhuti-pa,
known from Sanskrit colophons and Tibetan historical tradition, is not attested by this text.) The
account concludes with the last instructions and disappearance of SabareSvara. In Tibetan accounts
Advayavajra then returns to the gr~at monasteries of the Middle Country to teach.
Maitri-pa is contemporary with Atisa - the dating of ca. 986-1065 made by Hadano (293-294) will
suffice for this discussion - and they inhabited the same milieu.

2
3

See bibliography s. v. Sham Shere. The ms. is available only in transliteration, as Levi and Tucci made copies by hand; it is
palm-leaf (Tucci 138), and the script seemed to be "du moyen age nepalais" (Levi 417). The better copyist was Tucci.
Padma-dkar-po gives the name Dharma (287.2). Cpo also n. 3 below.
Cpo Padma-dkar-po: his later buddhist name Dharmabodhi (287.5). Comparison with Sham Shere makes clear that Padmadkar-po preserves some names that the other histories do not, but in corrupted forms and inaccurate attributions. See
Taranatha's stricture upon the Doha-histories that are sources for Padma-dkar-po: "The late, blabbering histories (to rgyus) of
the Doha-preachers of old, are hollow" (rGya-gar 217.18, tr. 304-305).

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Expulsion from Vikramasila

Reports of expulsions from monasteries of the period appear with such persistence in Tibetan histories
that one must believe that one such incident, at least, must actually have occurred. The earliest sources
for the story of the expulsion of Maitri-pa are probably the biographies of Atisa, of which the first may
date from as early as 1150. 4
The suggestion made by Chattopadhyaya (136) is convincing: the incident, or the connection of
Atisa to it, serves to explain certain evidences of bad karma that attended Atisa in Tibet (and the very
necessity to go from India to Tibet is regarded as evidence of bad karma!).5 In the same way, texts of an
earlier era explain that the Buddha was once stricken by a thorn in his foot as the karmic consequence
of having killed a man, in a past life, with a spear - the first of a set of "karmic connections" between
past-life misdeeds and calamities witnessed by his disciples. 6
The account reads (Eimer, section 194 end-l96):
He [Atisa] expelled some who indulged themselves/ and in so doing they functioned as misdeeds for Elder
Brother. [rGyas-pa version only: They said, "T':te hypocrite expells US.,,]8
In particular, 'fPrabhu (mna' bdag) Maitri-pa dwelt there [at VikramasIla] ... 9 This Maitri-pa did visualization
meditation (thugs dam) of [':-Vajra-]yogini (rnal 'byor may, for the purpose of which he kept some liquor (chan)
as pledged requisite (dam rjas) for her. One elder monk (bcun pay saw and reported this to the monastic
community. The monastics said, "Someone who has transgressed should be removed from residence." He
replied, "Do not make me leave by driving me out; there is no harm in this."IO They said, "There may be no
harm for you, but there is harm for others", and expelled him. He declared, "Someone who has transgressed
should not leave by the door," and departed straight through a wall.
Elder Brother wondered whether this had been the right thing to do. He made offerings that night to Tara,
and entreated her by reciting a praiseY Elder Brother had barely fallen asleep when a voice was heard to say,
three times: "The girl was all right!" He went outside but there was nothing to be seen. Returning indoors, he
entreated the deity. Lady Tara appeared in person. "May it please you, monk, but in regard to the expulsion,
':-Prabhu Maitri-pa is a bodhisattva who has generated the initial thought [of awakening]. A wrong done to a
bodhisattva has a very great karmic maturation", she declared.

The motifs of this story may be isolated as follows:

1. sins of wine and women,
2. spied by someone else,
3. expulsion with expressed justification ("What you have done is a bad example to others, if not
harmful to your own practice"),
4. justification for the misdeed by his own magical power (departure through a wall),12 and
5. justification for the misdeed by a deity.
The biographies tell what seems to amount to the same tale, mmus the woman,13 m regard to
Kamalarak~ita (Eimer 110, 24a.2f).

5
6

7
8
9
10
11
12

13

Eimer, personal communication, 23-August-1985.

The karmic consequences of Atisa's act of expulsion are specified at Eimer 195; see also Chattopadhyaya 135-136.
Upayakausalya-siitra, Otani 760: 38, 927, sec. 127-173, ed. & tr. forthcoming; see also Lamotte, Le Traite de la Grande
Vertu de Sagesse 1: 507-517 & refs. to Msv" Apadana, etc. (Louvain: Institut Orientaliste, 1949).
Not, as Das translates, someone "called by the name of Kirilsukha" (cited Chattopadhyaya 135).
Cpo dPa'-bo 290: 15: "Elder Brother expelled from residence some who indulged themselves."
Here is a sentence relating that Maitri-pa was criticized by Ratnakarasanti, yet succeeded in "dispelling his faults".
Read 'di for 'din, var. 'di san.
See T 3688 by Atisa. On Tara and Atisa see Beyer 11-12.
A monk who has been defrocked should be put over a wall, not allowed to leave by the gate; see n. by Templeman at
Taranatha, bKa'-babs, tr. 115-116.
Taking alcohol is not in itself an expulsable offence (parajika), as is sexual intercourse, but in the monastic view, intoxication
is followed closely by fornication.

Maitri-pa and Atisa

475

Two self-justifications are added:

4a) he transforms the liquor into milk, and
4b) he crosses the river on a mat.
Kamala - [var. Karma- ]rak~ita, the yogin of "Yamari, changed liquor into milk. [rGyas-pa version only:]
':'Yamari-yogin drank liquor, and was expelled. "It is not right to leave by the door, he declared, and went
straight through a wall. He spread a rug on the water and departed ... " (24a.6) He drank liquor and the
disciplinarian ('dul 'jin) said, "There may be no harm to you, but there is harm to other monks", and expelled
him from the congregation, whereby he grew weak. Then he dreamed that a deity said, "You are a bodhisattva
with one more lifetime." He begged forgiveness, and it declared, "You were without a mean thought." [End
rGyas-pa only.] A guru who is able to depart spreading a mat on the river Ganges has obtained most of the
benefit (bka' drin) of mantras. 14
All five motifs and additional self-justification 4b are present in the mKhas-pa'i-dga'-ston (written
A.D. 1565) by dPa'-bo-gcug-lag. The story is related twice in that history - in the chapter on the
bKa'-brgyud (at 370.11-17), and again in the chapter on the bKa'-gdams (290.15-24). The wording of
the bKa'-gdams version is strikingly similar to "the expulsion of Maitri-pa" in the Atisa biographiesY
The bKa' -brgyud chapter sees Maitri-pa cross the river, and then continues:
All the community wept, saying "the sun has set". Elder Brother circled him in a boat, asking him to hold on, so
he said:
"Nowadays, pandits living within the same walls are incapable of holding to each other. But I have dreamed
of meeting a holy guru, and if I meet him I will be held. Within my quarters is a painted image of Tara. Make it
your obligational deity (yi dam)."
The History by Padma-dkar-po (wr. 1575, revised 1580) contains all the elements of previous accounts.
Atisa's justification for the expulsion is that he fears "dissension in the order". He informs the king,
who puts Maitri-pa to a test (motif no. 4a). The result: "Because he practiced the oral instruction of
Hevajra, Maitri-pa vomited liquor on them [the other scholars], milk on himself" (297.2).
Taranatha, in the bKa'-babs-bdun-ldan (wr. 1600), includes all motifs save departure through a wall
(15.3-7). A novice spies Maitri-pa drinking liquor with a woman (who is in actuality Vajrayogini).
Then
... a dispute occurred in the assembly, but as it came to pass the teacher was made to vomit only milk, while the
novice vomited liquor on himself, and from someone vomiting liquor, no discussion was possible. Then again,
on one occasion the disciplinarian and others heard of it and disapproved. They said, "He has changed liquor
into milk, and made the woman invisible or changed her into a bell." They hid in ambush. There was no time
[for Maitri-pa] to effect 'a change by mantras, and the community expelled him.
The Blue Annals (by 'Gos locava gZon-nu-dpal, wr. 1486) does not mention the incident (but makes
reference to the controversy with Ratnakarasanti, ed. 746, tr. 842), nor does the History by Bu-ston
Rin-chen-grub (wr. 1347). The brief account of Maitri-pa by Sum-pa-mkhan-po in the dPag-bsamljon-bzan (18th cen., 118-119, LC 152.1-3) contains all motifs except no. 5.
As a whole, this story dramatizes a conflict between the orderly life of the monastic community and
an idiosyncratic path of tantric practice. The community elders acknowledge the legitimacy of the
"other path" when they say, "There may be no harm for you, but there will be harm for others." This
feeble justification for expulsion is furthermore demolished by the miscreant's show of siddhi departing through a wall and crossing the Ganges on a hide - and by the testimonial of a deity. That is
why in the full accounts the community signals regret for its action, despite the fact that it may have
been justified by the monastic code. 16

14

15
16

"Most ... benefit", but not the supreme siddhi of Mahamudra. More on Kamalarak~ita infra.
See n. 8 above.
From the point of view of the miscreant in this case, retreat from monastic and academic life is necessary for spiritual
development. But this is the subject of hagiography.

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Mark Tatz

These questions need to be addressed: whether such a conflict arose in India and, if so, who may
have been involved as expeller and expelled.
There is reason to doubt that this conflict, s.o highly dramatized by Tibetan sources, was played to
any great extent in India precisely because. it was so important in contemporary Tibet. Atisa was invited
to Tibet in order to reform a Buddhism allegedly corrupted by tantric rituals including sexual intercourse and murder (sbyor sgrol)Y In his Lamp for the Path (lam sgron) composed for the Tibetan king
Byari-chub-'od, Atisa explains that practices requiring uncelibacy are not for monks. is A corresponding work add~essed to the Indian king Nayapala (tr. Chattopadhyaya 520-524) shows no such reformist concern. Even in the Lamp, Atisa is not adamant: the line that follows (and concludes the work)
declares. "For someone who knows reality, there is no transgression" (ed. 654, cpo tr. 177), and it is
clear from the biographies that tantra was central to his own practice in India. 19
Furthermore, there are sources that insist that Atisa taught more in Tibet than some of his disciples
cared to admit. The Blue Annals says (232.6-233.3, tr. 261):
When Elder Brother came to Tibet, 'Brom-ston-pa [rGyal-ba'i-'byuri-gnas, A.D. 1005-1064] acted as his
administrator (bdag ner), and he [Atisa] was intimate only with him. During his residence at bSam-yas, he
bestowed upon 'Brom, at mChims-phu, many means for tantric practice, as well as profound instruction on
Doha and other [texts]. 'Brom made it his highest pri~rity to dissociate from Elder Brother those of coarse
behavior who practiced the tantras literally, so he said that he had never heard the profound [doctrines]. Even
the venerable Mid-Ia [Milarepa, A.D. 1040-1123] decried this on the occasion of his meeting with Dvags-po
lHa-rje [sGam-po-pa, A.D. 1070-1153] ... 20

The biographies attest Atisa's bestowal of instructions in tantra. 2i

With the story of "the expulsion of Maitri-pa", the biographies and later historians are projecting
onto Indian Buddhism a competition between monastic institutions for economic and political power
that took place in their own day. Accounts that introduce a king into the drama carry this process
furthest.
I have related in an earlier work, as an instance of how the bodhisattva's ethic may require him to
perform an act of banishment, a story that circulated in Se-ra monastery in recent times: Atisa expelled
Na-ro-pa from Nalanda for consorting with a q,aki'f}z.22 This tale must represent a corruption of "the
expulSIon of Maitri-pa" as known to bKa'-gdams-pa tradition, Na-ro-pa being now the better known
precursor of the bKa' -brgyud schooL No basis for it is found in the biography of Na-ro-pa (Guenther
24-28): his colleagues see him off with as great regret as do those of Atisa when he leaves for Tibet.23
To thus demonstrate the function of the story in Tibetan sectarian history does not; of course,
disprove its historicity. Taranatha, who is the historian with no axe to grind in this matter, seems to
accept it, although he casts doubt on the story of the controversy with Ratnakarasanti that is interpolated in the Atisa biographies. Of this, Taranatha says:
The purportedly historical accounts (10 rgyus 'chad paY of Tibetans - that he debated with Santi-pa - appear to
make no sense, and they have no counterpart whatsoever in the oral tradition of Aryadesa. Since it is so reported
in Tibet, I submit that bhotasvanavakya samaya-chotika siddhasadhaka kiyat [corrected; cpo Schiefner 25 n. 1,

17
18

19
20
21

22
23

See for ex. BA tr. 245, Chattopadhyaya ch. 30.

Lamp v. 64, ed. 649, tr. 173. See also Ruegg in Melanges Chinois et Bouddhiques 20 (1981): 214 n. 12 - these offences
attributed to "the red acarya".
E. g. Eimer 379.
See also BA cited below s. v. Uttaratantra; also 747.4-6, tr. 843-844.
E. g. Eimer 304.
Tatz, Candragomin and the Bodhisattva Vow. Doctoral dissertation, Universiry of British Columbia, 1978, p. 432 n. 113.
The person expelled by Atisa has been identified as various disciples of Maitri-pa as a result of Das' lack of clariry in the index
to his edition of the dPag-bsam-lfon-bian. Das is so taken by the story that he alludes to it under the entries for several of
Maitri-pa's disciples. So for example under Ramapala reads: "a prince disciple of a Brahman Buddhist of Vikramasila, who
was expelled from the monastery of VikramaSila by Dipamkara-srijiiana ... " This leads D. S. Sircar to believe that Ramapala
was expelled (fBORS 27: 3 [1941J: 388). A similar entry for Devakaracandra misleads t;p.e History of Bengal (1: 336).

Maitrt-pa and Atisa

477

Templeman 12J: "Tibetans snap their fingers at the pledges by yelping like dogs. 24 Who are the accomplished
ones versus the ordinary practitioners?" That is to say, the lies of Tibetan fools should be considered as
dramatization (16.5-7).

The inclusion by Taranatha of "the expulsion of Maitri-pa" does not necessarily indicate that it is
attested by contemporary tradition in India: he also identifies his sources (at the end of the bKa'-babs)
as the accounts of older Tibetan teachers "when they are credible".25 What Taranatha doubts in the
story is the role of Atisa. He says (15.6-7):
The disciplinarian at that time is said (skad) to have been Elder Brother. He purportedly (zer) came to Tibet as
purification of its [the deed's J karmic obstacle ...

According to Taranatha, Maitri-pa is spied first by a novice, then by the disciplinarian and others; the
community expels him.
To review the other versions on this point: In the Atisa biographies, Maitri-pa is spied by an elder
monk and expelled by the community led by Atisa; the story of the expulsion of Kamalarak~ita gives
no indication of the individuals who were responsible. The Life of Marpa reluctantly accepts Atisa's
role in the expulsion. 26 According to dPa' -bo-gcug-Iag, he is seen by Atisa as steward (ial ta) and
expelled by the community; the chapter on the bKa' -gdams-pa follows the Atisa biographies. Padmadkar po: He is seen by Atisa as disciplinarian (dge bskos), who is instrumental in the expulsion. Sumpa-mkhan po: He is expelled by Atisa as disciplinarian.
Tibetan historical tradition aims less often at preserving data than at portraying important figures
and their interactions. An expulsion first imputed to Maitri-pa would not later be imputed to a lesserknown Kamalarak~ita, but the reverse. So we may have in these accounts an incident deriving from the
life of Kamalarak~ita assigned to that of Maitri-pa and then, as the latter drops from prominence, to
Na-ro-pa.
The origins of "the expulsion of Maitri-pa" seem to lie in the biographies of Atisa. The later
historians - dPa' -bo and Padma - who treat the incident under the two headings, base both versions
upon the account given by the biographies, adding additional justifications to that of the bKa' -brgyud
chapter. The biographies of Atisa do not indicate at what point in the life of Maitri-pa this may have
occurred. (And the dates of Maitri-pa will not be determined with sufficient certainty to allow deduction of the answer from the dates of Atisa himself.) Generally, the assumption is made that the forced
departure is tied to his quest for SabareSvara and spiritual instruction. This discredits the departure on
quest, otherwise understood to be motivated by dream-vision. In addition, it disagrees with evidence of
the Sham Shere manuscript that Maitri-pa's stay at Vikramasila precedes a longer stay at Vikramapura,
after which he departs south through Bengal. Padma-dkar-po locates the expulsion incident, and also
the controversy with Ratnakarasanti, at a time that follows his studies with Sabaresvara and return to
the Middle Country (296.5-297.4); the expulsion prompts him to establish a hermitage with his
disciples. 27 This could explain why the incident, if it did occur, is not mentioned by Sham Shere: the
manuscript does not cover the post-Sabara period except to relate the guru's last instructions: to
publish the philosophy (of Amanasikara) and to practice the siidhana of Vajrayogini. Implementation
of these two injunctions could explain the controversy with Ratnakarasanti, his former teacher, as well
as illicit activity with a female yogin in his cell.
The connection of Maitri-pa with the cult of Vajrayogini, especially under his name Avadhuti-pa,
has been pointed out by Hadano (287-288, 295). The association is borne out by the Sham Shere
manuscript, in that it discusses - side-by-side - the lineages of Vajrayogini and Amanasikara. The
story of the expulsion may point to an attempt by academics to reject the practice. In another story told
by Taranatha (bKa' -babs tr. Templeman 70-72), the teacher Abhayakaragupta (ca. 1100) thrice refuses

24
25
26
27

A reference to the pledge (samaya) not to denigrate the guru, see e. g. Beyer 405 n. 1.
The BA is obviously held in high regard by Taranatha, see e. g. Templeman tr. 35- 36.
Life 260.4-6, tr. 77-78, Bacot 34.
Hadano draws a similar conclusion (292-293).

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Mark Tatz

to take siddhi from Vajrayogini (as a brahman, a monk, and a tantric), and for that reason fails to attain
liberation ("highest siddhi") in that lifetime. On the other hand, the story may illustrate prolepsis; even
Atisa is supposed to have accepted the blessing (byin rlabs) of Vajrayogini from a female yogin, one of
his twelve gurus (Eimer 012).
The biographies of Atisa have no clear conception of who the "Maitri-pa" expelled from Vikramasila
may have been. They do not tie "Maitri-pa" to one of his other names, nor even show an awareness of
the full name "Maitrigupta". The extended (rgyas paY version addresses the question at one point and
identifies the expulsed as ':-Prabhu (mila' bdag) Maitri-pa. But this title must derive from the histories:
according to dPa' -bo (371.10-13) it is given by a king for victory over Ratnakarasanti. At Blue Annals
746.2 (tr. 842) the title Victor (rgyal ba, "jina) is given; the Life of Marpa entitles him ':-jinaputra
(293.1). The rGyas-pa version may even be intended to clarify this last. Discussing "SuvarI).advipa
Dharmakirti, teacher of Atisa, it has this interpolation (Eimer 055):
[He] was also called Maitri-pa, because of his great lovingkindness (byams pa, ':-maitri). There have been three
Maitri-pas: ':-Prabhu Maitri-pa, whom Elder Brother expelled from Vikrama (!), the ':-jinaputra Maitri-pa or
reverend Maitreya, and this "Suvarn~dvipa, who acted out of maitri.

The confusion of "Maitreya" and "Maitri" was undoubtedly initiated by Tibetans, though probably
not by the translator Nag-cho, the source of the biographies. Hadano discusses a list of three Maitripas in which Maitreya is replaced by ':-Kalacakra[-pada], also known as Nepalese (bal po) Maitri (291),28
but that priority of that list cannot yet be established.
This Dharmakirti, concerning whom the Atisa texts give some biographical information further on,
is clearly not Maitri-palAdvayavajra. In searching further for Maitri-pa, designated perhaps by another
name, we come in the next passage to a teacher of Atisa named Jiianasri-maitri, presumably an error for
Jiianasri-mitra (Eimer 056 & n. 9). The error could be taken as repetition or conflation; the latter would
suggest that Maitri-pa was intended by some version. The name Jiianasri-maitri, however, is unlikely.
The next possibility is Kamalarak~ita, also a teacher of Atisa. Following the account of his expulsion,
the biographies explain that this teacher is also his student, in that Atisa converted him from Cittamatra-alikara (= nirakara) to the Madhyamika. Kamalarak~ita changed his view consequent to the
obtainment of Mahamudra, for which he had prepared with the practice of mantra (Eimer 111).
Rejection of nirakara as well as sakara does correspond to the mature thought of Maitri-pa (see for
example Tattvadasaka, v. 2). Likewise, the integration of siitric with tantric practices is regarded as
characteristic of his Mahamudra schooI,29 There is no other evidence, however, for an identification of
Maitri-pa with Kamalarak~ita.30
, The biographies give the following summary of Atisa's teachers, in four sets (Eimer 012-013, in
paraphrase) :
There were (1) twelve source (mula) gurus, including Bodhibhadra, Jetari, and Dharmarak~ita; (2)
three gurus who possessed higher knowledge eabhijiia), being Duhura-nag-po, Guptavajra, and "a
disciple of N a-ro-pa known as ':-Abhijiia" [of Bengal, see BA 360 - 361]; (3) two who had attained
Mahamudra, the highest siddhi, being A vadhiitipa and Kamalarak~ita - both of whom he attended in
person; and (4) ':-guru Suvamadvipa.
This statement may be the primary source, but since the list of twelve (in set one) is not complete,
two alternative traditions are inserted:
(a) Great Zul-phu-pa reports that there were twelve gurus who had attained realization (':-siddhi), two
gurus who had seen the truths, and one guru who was blessed by a low-caste yogin; and
(b) There were six, plus an additional six gurus" endowed with both transmission and comprehension
[of sacred texts]". The primary six comprise three male yogins - guru Avadhiiti-pa, the yogin of
28

Possibly the author of T 1363; see also Wylie, Nepal, 34 n: 107.

2' See for example the system ascribed to Mar-pa and Mi-la at BA 632, tr. 724.
30

Nor with Yamari-yogin or PailJ.c;\apatika, the other names of Kamalarak~ita; see Eimer, index s. v. PailJ.c;\apatika & refs., Ruegg
at MCB 20 (1981): 217-219.

Maitri-pa and Atisa

479

':-Yamari, and pombhi-pa - and three female yo gins (not named but described). The additional six
include "three who possessed ':-abhijiia", and three other female yogins, including the one mentioned above who bestowed the blessing of Vajrayogini.
Among those who might be Maitri-pa, Jetari/Jiianasrimitra and Kamalarak~ita/Yamari-yogin have
already been discussed. The yogic name Avadhuti-pa is also applied to Maitri-pa, as well as to others. 3 !
The biographies know two teachers with that name, which they designate "elder" and "younger". The
elder ordained Atisa a layman; the younger ordained him a monk (Eimer 024). In neither of these
passages, nor in those of the histories where only the named "Avadhuti-pa" is used, does it appear that
Maitri-pa is intended.32 The author of works attributed to "Avadhuti-pa" in the bsTan-'gyur will be
difficult to identify. Sarikrtyayana's identification of Maitri-pa as teacher of Atisa (fA 225 [1934]: 226)
on the basis of the name "Avadhuti-pa" must also be considered problematic.
On the other hand, there is no doubt that Nag-cho Chul-khrims-rgyal-ba, interpreter and translator
of Atisa, studied Amanasikara under VajrapaQ.i, a disciple of Maitri-pa. 33

Transmission of the Uttaratantra-sastra

Hadano concludes that Maitri-pa is teacher to Atisa (298) based on evidence given by the Blue Annals.
Perhaps as repartee to the story of the expulsion, 'Gos locava describes Atisa as first to disseminate
Maitri-pa's system of Mahamudra in Tibet (BA 747.4-6, tr. 834-844):
As to the first [spread of Mahamudra in Tibet]: The reverend Atisa 34 heard the text and commentary of the
"Mahayana-uttaratantra [a. k. a Ratnagotra-vibhaga] , along with the cycles of Doha and other texts, from
Maitri-pa. Later, during the period of his residence at bSam-yas, he went to [near-by] mChims-phu for a few
days and taught to 'Brom the cycles of Doha and grub-snin,35 as well as the method of practicing the ':-Samantabhadracarya. 'Bram refused to disseminate them, however, for fear that Tibetans would become coarse in
their behavior. There is, incidentally, an extant translation by 'Brom in the '"1nanasiddhi. 36 The translation of
the text and commentary of the "Mahayana-uttaratantra was done [by Atisa] at Yer-pa at the request of rNog
Byan-chub-'byun-gnas.

In its chapter on Atisa, the BA refers to his translation, in conjunction with Nag-cho, of the commentary ("by Asariga") at Yer-pa - posterior to his stay at mChims-phu (231.4-5, tr. 259). The biographies of Atisa do not mention it among works translated at the home of rNog (Eimer 339). They do
name the Uttaratantra (along with the Dharmadharmata-vibhaga, T 4023) among a set of works
translated with Nag-cho at Sol-nag Thari-po-che (Eimer 311).37 The parallel passage by dPa'-bo-gcuglag (305.13-14) says only that he taught "the latter three texts of ':-Maitreya" [of which the Uttaratan-

31

32

33
34

35
36
37

Maitri-pa is named "Avadhuti-pa" in Tibetan and Sanskrit sources: see Hadano 287-289, 295; Sadhanamala lxii, xci, 426;
Finot inJA 225 (1934): 5 n. 3 (a ms. believed to have been brought to China in A.D. 1057); colophons to Adv. works no. 1,3,
7, etc.; Life of Marpa 293.5, tr. 117; Bu-ston 1037: 1-2. According to Padma-dkar-po, Sabaresvara gave him the name
':-Advayavajra-avadhutipa (294.2). On "Avadhuti-pa" as a general designation for those who practice Yogatantra, see Hadano
287; also Eimer 1: 422; at Taranatha, bKa'-babs 63: 1 it is even applied to a brahmanical yogin. But many buddhist names
could be considered "generic", e. g. Kamalarak~ita.
In the histories, for example: Taranatha, bKa'-babs 85.2 etc. refers to the elder; Sum-pa-mkhan-po 119.1-2 to the younger;
BA tr. 390-391 to "Avadhuti-pa or PaiI;lQapatika the elder" who practices Vajrayogini but apparently is not Maitri-pa. The
name "Avadhuti-pa" at Atisa, Lamp tr. 173ff. is incorrect; it should be bhik~u PaiI;lQapatika.
See BA tr. 857, and their collaborative translations of works by Maitri-pa in the bsTan-'gyur.
Lit./o bo chen po r/e lha gag; "Elder Brother "Ekadeva". The epithet is also used by dPa'-bo-gcug-lag (370.12) in connection
with Atisa's function as monastic steward (ial-ta).
These constitute three related sections of the bsTan-'gyur; see Hadano 297.
On this lost translation see Hadano 298 & n. 42.
This Than-po-che is located in the Yar Valley, whereas Yer-pa is north of Lhasa; see Wylie, Geography 169 n. 507, 83 & 159
n.402-403.

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Mark Tatz

tra should be considered the last; see Ruegg 1969: 39 & n.]. Then again, the Yons-grags version of the
biographies (Eimer 380, n. 3) names the Uttaratantra among a set of works by Maitreya/Asanga that
were translated by Atisa and Nag-cho, some editions say at sNe Plain;38 dPa'-bo mentions "the texts of
Maitreya" (313.9).
Whether he translated the text (and commentary) or not, there can be little doubt that Atisa taught
the Uttaratantra in Tibet. The next question is whence he received it. The biographies do not mention
it among the lineages that came to him in India. (An intercpolation by the rGyas-pa says that the lineage'
of Maitreya ca~e from Kusulu the elder, Eimer 057.) According to 'Gos, the Uttaratantra had
disappeared for several centuries until Maitri-pa discovered it in a shrine.
In context of "the five texts of Maitreya", the BA says (308.4-6, tr. 347):
According to the history (10 rgyus) of the school of bCan [Kha-bo-che, b. 1021], the 'fMahayana-uttaratantra
and the *Dharmadharmata-vibhaga (T 4024-4025, 4023) were unknown to others 39 when the venerable
Maitri-pa saw a ray of light coming from the chink of a shrine (mchod rten, "stupa) and removed the two texts.
He then entreated Reverend 'fMaitreya (ma pham pa, 'fajita), who came through a gap in the clouds and
formally transmitted the two texts to him. Maitri-pa taught them to pandit Anandakirti, who went to Kashmir40
dressed as a beggar. Sajjana perceived Anandakirti to be remarkable, served him, and received instruction in the
. two texts. He copied the books and gave them to the scholar Jiianasri and others ... [Sajjana taught them to
bCan, and himself translated them with locava Blo-Idan-ses-rab, A.D. 1059-1109.]

Atisa is not part of the lineage of bean, but he is mentioned at the close of the chapter as having made,
in collaboration with Nag-cho, the first translation (of texts and commentary) in Tibet. In another
place (BA 242.7-243.3, tr. 271-272), the superiority of the Blo-Idan-ses-rab translation is acknowledged by the descendents of Atisa.
What importance the Uttaratantra may have to Maitri-pa's philosophy has yet to be established. The
work is not cited in the commentary by Sahajavajra to the Tattvadasaka (Adv. no. 20), Maitri-pa's
major statement of Amanasikara. 'Gos mentions it prominently (as cited above) in the chapter on
Mahamudra, and 'Gos holds the transmission of the TD itself (BA tr. 866), so the question should be
left open.
History by lineage, as the Tibetans inherited the genre from India,41 is unlikely to establish the
relationship of Atisa to Maitri-pa with clarity and objectivity, because it is inherently sectarian. The
histories often weave attributions that cannot be unravelled even by scholars of the century succeeding.
Any accurate description, therefore, must depend upon evidence internal to their works. The teachings
'Of Atisa are not important to the writings of Maitri-pa, unless like Kamalarakljita the latter was
converted by Elder Brother to Madhyamika. On the other hand, there is some reason to believe that
the works of Atisa, and his teachings, may contain influences not acknowledged by his bKa' -gdams-pa
heirs, and Maitri-pa may be among them. Although Atisa did not translate any works by Maitri-pa, his
disciple Nag-cho devoted considerable time and effort to doing so.

sNe-than on the east bank of the sKyid River, south of Lhasa; see Wylie, Geography 76, 147 n. 298.
'Gos later points out that Haribhadra does not cite the Uttaratantra in the Abhisamayalar'nkaraloka, although he utilizes
others among the five texts of Maitreya. See BA .308.4-310.3, tr. 347-349; also Ruegg 1969: 39 n. 1, Le Traite du
Tathagatagarbha de Bu ston Rin chen grub (Paris: EFEO, 1973): 20 n. 5.
40 This account, and what is known of the life of Maitri-pa, make it unlikely that the shrine was in Kashmir, as Ruegg suggests
(1969: 38).
41. See the remarks by Hoffmann in the Journal of Asian History 4: 2 (1979): 170.

38
39

Maitri-pa and Atisa

481

ABBREVIATIONS AND BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adv. = Advayavajrasamgraha, ed. Haraprasad Shastri. Baroda: Oriental Institute, 1927.
ATISA, Byan-chub-lam-sgron, ed. R. F. Sherburne, Ph. D. dissertation, Univ. of Washington, 1976. Tr. Sherburne, A Lamp for,
the Path and Commentary. London: Allen & Unwin, 1983.
BA = Blue Annals. See 'Gos lodiva.
BEYER, St., The Cult of Tara. Berkeley: U. C. Press.
Bu-sToN Rin-chen-grub, Chos-kyi-'byun-gnas. In: Collected Works, ed. L. Chandra. New Delhi: lAIC, 1971. Tr. E. Obermiller
as History of Buddhism, repro 2 pts. in 1. Tokyo: Suzuki Research Foundation, 1967.
CHATTOPADHYAYA, A., Attsa and Tibet. Calcutta: Indian Studies Past and Present, 1967.
EIMER, H., rNam-thar-rgyas-pa. 2 pts. Asiatische Forschungen, Band 67 (1979).
'Gos LOcAVA gZon-nu-dpal, Deb-ther-silOn-po. Ed. L. Chandra. New Delhi: lAIC, 1976. Tr. G. N. Roerich as The Blue
Annals, repro 2 vol. in 1. Delhi: Motilal, 1976.
BAnANO, H., "A Historical Study in the Problems Concerning the Diffusion of Tiintric Buddhism in India" in Religious Studies
in Japan. Tokyo: Maruzen Co., 1959.
History of Bengal, ed. R. C. Majumdar. Vol. 1. Dacca: U. Dacca, 1943.
Life of Marpa in bKa'-brgyud-gser-phren-rgyas-pa, vol. 1. Darjeeling: Kargyud Sungrab Nyamso Khang, 1982. Tr. Niilandii,
Boulder. Shambhala, 1982. Ed., tr. in part by J. Bacot, La vie de Marpa Ie 'traducteur'. Paris, 1937.
PADMA-DKAR-PO, The Tibetan Chronicle of Padma-dkar po. Ed. L. Chandra. New Delhi: lAIC, 1968.
dPag-bsam-IJon-bzan. See Sum-pa-mkhan-po.
DPA'-BO-GCUG-LAG, mKhas-pa'i-dga'-ston. Ed. L. Chandra. New Delhi: lAIC, 1959f.
RUEGG, D. S., La Theorie du Tathagatagarbha et du Gotra. Paris: EFEO, 1969.
Sadhanamala. Ed. Benoytosh Bhattacharya. 2nd ed. Baroda: Oriental Institute, 1968.2 vol.
Sham Shere manuscript (from the collection of General Kesar Sham Shere Jung Bahadur Ranii). Ed. S. Levi at BSOS 6
(1930-1932): 417-429. Ed. G. Tucci atJASB 26 (1930): 138-158.
SUM-PA-MKHAN-PO Ye-ses-dpal-'byor, dPag-bsam-IJon-bzan. Ed. S. C. Das. Calcutta: Presidency Jail Press, 1908. Ed.
L. Chandra. New Delhi: lAIC, 1959.
TARANATHA, bKa'-babs-bdun-ldan. In: Two Sources for the History of Buddhist Tantrism in India, Tibetan Craft Community,
1970. Ed. & tr. A. Griinwedel as Taranatha's Edelsteinmine. St. Petersburg, Bibliotheca Buddhica 18, 1914. Tr. by D. Templeman as The Seven Instruction Lineages. Dharmsala: LTWA, 1983.
-, rGya-gar-chos-'byun ('Phags pa'i yul du chos ji ltar dar ba'i chul). Sarnath: Tibetan Institute, n. d. Tr. by A. Chattopadhyaya,
repro Calcutta: Bagchi, 1980.
WYLIE, T. V., The Geography of Tibet According to the 'Dzam-gling-rgyas-bshad. Rome: ISMEO, 1962.
-,A Tibetan Religious Geography of Nepal. Rome: ISMEO, 1970.