Gellner, David a Newar Buddhist Liturgy

8/14/2019 Gellner, David a Newar Buddhist Liturgy

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THE JOURN L

OF THE INTERN TION L SSOCI TION OFBUDDHIST STUDIES

E D I T O R - I N - C H I E FRoger JacksonDept. of ReligionCarleton CollegeNorthfield MN 55057

USA

o > l - I 1 < T -

\\ 0 3.

- VsIIIE D I T O R S

Peter N. GregoryUniversity of Illinois

Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USAAlexander W. Macdonald

University de Paris XNanterre, France

Steven CollinsUniversity ofChicago

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Ernst SteinkellnerUniversity of Vienna

Wien, AustriaJikidO Takasaki

University ofTokyoTokyo,Japan

Robert ThurmanColumbia University

New York New York USA

Volume 14 1991 Number2


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CONTENTS

I . ARTICLES1. Reflections on the M ahe sva ra Subjug ation M yth :

Indie Materials, Sa-skya-pa Apologetics,and the Birth of Heruka,xby RonaldM.Davidson 1972. A New ar Bu ddhist Liturgy: Sravakayanist Ritu al inKwa Bahah, Lalitpur, Nepal,byD.N. Gellner 2363. Ch inese Reliquary Inscrip tions and theSan-chieh-chao,byJamie Hubbard 2534. An O ld Inscrip tion from A m aravatI and theCult of the Local M onastic Dead in Ind ian

Buddhist M onasteries,by Gregory Schopen 281

I I . B O O K R E V I E W S1. Buddha in the Crown:Avalokitesvara in the BuddhistTraditionsof Sri L anka by Jo hn C lifford H olt(Vijitha Ra japakse) 3312. High Religion: A Cultural and PoliticalH istoryofSherpaR eligion by Sherry Ortner(AlexanderW.M acdo nald) 3413 . Mddhyam ika and Yogacara: AStudy ofMahayanaPhilosophies, by Gadjin M. Nagao(Paul J . Griffiths) 345

L I S T O F C O N T R I B U T O R S 349


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A Newar B uddhist L iturgy:Sravakayanist Ritual in Kwa Bahah,Lalitpur, NepalbyDavid N. Gellner

1.Introduction1

The rituals and other practices of the Buddhist Newars of theKathmandu Valley, Nepal, should be of particular interest toBuddhologists, since the Newars are the last surviving northIndian Mahayana Buddhists .2 There have been several interesting discussions of the symbolism and functions of NewarBuddhist ritual (e.g., Allen 1973, 1982) but the detailedanalysis of Newar Buddhist liturgy is still in its early stages. Itis true that Hodgson published one paper which evidently followed a liturgical text, and Wilson translated another, butthese were lone and isolated efforts until John Locke publishedhis pathbreaking workKarunamaya? Following his lead, I havemyself pub lished studies of the New ar Buddh ist m ona stic initiation ritual (usually known in scholarly works by its colloquialand non-honorific epithet,bare chuyegu) and of the^wrumandalaritual.4 Recently, both Locke and Lewis have published articleson the fasts or observances (vrata) of New ar Bu ddhists.5Related to these recent scholarly works in English, and oftenacting as the source for them , are two kinds of local literature :(i) handwritten ritual handbooks {paddhati) with instructionsin Newari and the liturgy itself in Sanskrit (many of these arenow available on microfilm, thanks to the Nepal-GermanM an usc ript Preservation Project); (ii) published p am ph lets byVajracarya priests which are in effect printed handbooks. Themost prolific author in this latter category is certainly BadriRatna Vajracharya of Kathmandu.

236


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A NEWAR LITURGY 237T h e present p ap er i s con cern ed w i th the l i turgy in onefair ly prec ise contex t: the sh rine of the m ai n deity of a N ew arBuddhis t monas te ry . Newar Buddhis t monas te r ies usua l ly cons is t of a rec t an gu lar c ou r ty ard , wi th the shr ine of the m ainde i ty on the g round f loor oppos i te the main en t rance . Them ain dei ty is , in the vas t major i ty of cases , Sa ky am un i B ud dh a.Th is de i ty i s known in Kathmandu as the kwdpdhdyah6 and inLa l i t p u r a skwdbdju, a t e r m w h ich m em b er s of K w a B ah a h an dtheir famil ies tend to use as the proper name of theirm o n as t e r ydei ty (a usa ge i l lus t ra ted in sect ion 2 belo w) . N ew ar Bu dd his tsof ten exp la in tha t the s t ru ctu re of the mo na s ter y ref lec ts thethree " w ay s" or "vehi c les " of B ud dh ism : the gro un d f loor, wi thi ts shr ine to Sakyamuni , i s the Sravakayana; the upper s ideroom , wi th it s sh r ine to A m og ha pa sa Lok esvara , is theMahayana; and the upper f loor hal l , wi th the esoter ic shr ine toC ak r a s am v a r a , Y o g am b ar a , H ev a j r a , o r o n e o f t h e o th e r t an -tr ie gods, is the Vajrayana. I t is indeed true that this scheme isref lected in the r i tuals and offer ings that are appropriate ineach sh r ine . T h u s , sacred space is org aniz ed so as to express

the h ie ra rch ica l s t ru c tu re o f t an t r i c B udd hism ; and th i s s t ructur e is i tself bo th a rep res en tat io n of, an d an ex pla na tio n of, thehis tory of tant r ic Buddhism, wi th the la tes t phase , the Vajrayana, being g iven the h ighes t value wi th in i t .7I t is an interest ing fact that the l i turgy used for theSa ky am un i sh r ine seem s to have escaped the codif ica t ion of theVaj racarya p r ies t s . Unl ike o ther Newar Buddhis t l i tu rg ies ,the refo re , one does no t find nu m ero us m an usc r ip t s tha t r ecordthe prescr ibed form used in par t icular p laces . Rather , eachmonas tery has i t s own ora l t radi t ion . As wi th wr i t ten l i turg ies ,these vary s l igh t ly f rom monas te ry to monas te ry . One accoun to f the morn ing l i tu rgy in a monas te ry Sakyamuni sh r ine , f romBhlche Bahah , La l i tpur , has been pub l i shed in Newar i by therespec ted loca l Buddhis t s cho la r , Hemra j Sakya .8M em be rsh ip o f New ar Buddh is t monas te r ies is res t r ic ted

to male Sakyas and Vaj racaryas . These two g roups a re subsections of a s ingle cas te, the V ajrac arya s ha vin g s l ightly h igh ers ta tus because they a lone may act as pr ies ts for o thers (purohit).With in the monas te ry , however , Sakyas and Vaj racaryas haveequa l s ta tus ; r igh t s and du t ies a re shared equa l ly . Membersh ipof a Ne wa r Bud dhis t m ona s te ry i s de t e rm ine d by p a t r i l inea l


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238 JIABS VOL. 14 NO . 2desce n t . On ly the sons o f m em be rs by fu ll -cas te m othe rs m aygo though the monas t i c in i t i a t ion r i tua l in the monas tery andthereby become members . In th i s way , they a l so becomehouseholder monks; that is to say, they fi l l the role of m o n k sand are t rea ted as monks by o ther Newar Buddhis t s on cer ta inspeci f ied occas ions , such as the annual Paficadan fes t ival . Byt rad i t ion , a l l Sakyas and Vaj racaryas a re supposed to beg a lmson th is day from at leas t seven di fferent houses , a l though todaymany fee l shame a t do ing so , and do no t par t i c ipa te . 9

T he con t ex t o f Ne wa r Budd h i s m in wh ich m ona s t i c va luesare s t ressed and acte d out i s label led S rav ak ay an a. I t is thes h r ine of t he m a in Sa kya m un i o f a m ona s t e ry com plex w h ich ,as we have noted, most obviously exempl i f ies th is context . Thedai ly l i turgy in th is shr ine is the duty of each of the monasterymembers i n t u rn . The mos t common s ys t em i s t ha t by wh ichtur ns pas s dow n the ros te r o f m em be rs from m os t sen ior tom ost ju n io r for a week , a for tn ig ht , or a m on th at a t im e.D epe nd in g on t he nu m be r of m em be rs and t he l eng th o f s er vice, one 's turn may recur once a year , once every few years , orlonger. In the case o f K w a B ah ah , to be cons idered p resen t ly ,one ' s t u rn comes once i n a l i f e t ime . In s ome Ka thmandu monas t e r i e s , t he members h ip has d i s pe r s ed t o many pa r t s o f t hec i ty an d b eyo nd , an d th ere is l it tl e cohes ion . T h e m on as te ry i ss imply the p lace where members mus t go th rough what i s , ineffect , their caste ini t iat ion ceremony. In these cases, i t is notuncommon for one man to spec ia l i ze in car ry ing ou t the da i lyl i turgy, and to do i t for o ther members for a smal l fee . Thisso lu t ion has no t ye t been adopted in the more t rad i t iona l , andle ss d i s ru p t e d m onas t e r i e s o f La l i t pu r an d Bh ak t ap u r , t heoth er tw o large cit ies of the K a th m a n d u Val ley .

The man or you th whose tu rn i t i s to t end the main shr ineis cal led the dyahpahldh. T hi s i s San skr i t i zed as devapdlaka,"guard ian o f the god ," though i t s Newar i meaning i s "he towhom the t u rn [ t o t end t he god ] has come . " In s ma l l monas te r i es he per forms the r i tua l himself, br ief ly and wi thout anaud ienc e , keep ing the shr ine open ju s t long enou gh for loca lw om en , mos t l y f rom the hou s eho lds o f m ona s t e ry m em be rs , t obring offer ings . In large monaster ies , however , the r i tual i sm uch m ore e labo ra te . In severa l o f the l a rge mon as ter ies o fLal i tpur a young boy , who mus t be an in i t i a ted member o f the


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A NEWAR LITURGY 239mo nas te ry , is chosen by the "g od -g ua rd ia n" to ca r ry ou t ther i tuals under h is supervis ion; he is ca l led the bdphdo r , ad d in gthe diminutive suff ix, bdphdcd

Kwa Bahah i s the l a rges t Newar monas te ry anywhere . I t sin i t ia ted membership is so large (around 3 ,000) that no one issure of i ts exact s ize. Here, tw osuch boy pr ies ts are ap po inte d;the younger one is the main one, the e lder h is ass is tant . Normal ly , the god-guard ian remains ou ts ide the sh r ine in o rder tooversee af fa i rs in the whole monas t ic temple complex and toavoid the s t r ic t ru les w hic h th e twobdphdha ve to follow, b ut th eg o d - g u a r d i an m ay h im s e l f b eco m e th e e ld e r bdphdif he w ishe sto or if he can f ind no one to do i t for him. The Kwa Bahahm ona s t ic co m po un d is a magn i f icen t t em ple complex en r ichedby numerous dona t ions over the year s . I t has become a focusfor Buddhis t devot ion f rom throughout the c i ty of Lal i tpur ,and it is a l so inc luded in T ib e ta n p i lg r im age rou tes . "

T h e t w o bdphd of K w a B a h a h m us t fol low a s tr ict set ofru les fo r one m on th , the du ra t io n o f the go d-g ua rd ia n ' s tu rn .The e lder one may no t l eave the monas te ry compound fo r thew hole m on th e xcep t to fe tch wa ter from the wel l in I la N an i ,an d h is wife , if he is m ar r ie d , ma y not enter i t . T h e yo un ge rbdphdleaves the com po un d twice a day in or de r to r in g a bellaround the local i ty of the monas tery . Nei ther may use soap fora month . They may eat only one cooked meal a day, in them orn ing , of pure food . Th is is p re pa red by a w om an des igna tedfor the pu rp os e , wh o mus t herse l f fol low m an y pu r i ty ru les . Shem ust s tay a t her n ata l hom e if she is m ar r ie d , a nd wh i le shecooks the m eal she mu st ch an ge ou t of her c lo thes in to a towelkep t in the monas te ry fo r the dura t ion o f the month . When shebr ings a por t ion of the meal to of fer to the Sakyamuni image,she must not be touched by anyone e lse , and a l l onlookers aremade to s tand wel l back to ensure tha t th i s does no t happen .In the af ternoon, the twobdphdea t only f ru i ts an d sw eets . H ow ever , when there is an esoter ic r i tual in the tantr ic shr ine , a tw hic h m eat , be an s , an d a lcohol m us t be of fered , and a sha rea l so t aken to Sakyamuni , then , and then on ly , the bdphd m ayco n s u m e w h a t h a s b een offe red. Th e m em b er s of K w a B ah ahexpla in the s t r ic tness of the ru les there , as compared to a l lo the r Ne w ar m ona s te r ies , by c it ing the p rese nce o f the tex t a ndg o d d es s , T h e P e r fec ti on o f W is d o m ( P r a jn ap a r a m i t a ) . T h i s


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240 JIAB S VOL. 14 NO . 2text is read on request by Newar Buddhists up to twice a day,almost every day at certain t imes of year. I t i s bel ieved to haveth e po w er to fulfil the vow s of dev otee s in t im es of gr ea t i l lnesso r danger . Many Kwa Bahah members a l so have the t ex t readat ausp ic ious t imes , such as weddings . 1 2

2. The dailyround in Kwa Bahah, LalitpurWhat fol lows is an account of the whole dai ly round in theSravaka yan i s t sh r ine of Kw a B ah ah . I t was wr i t t en by Bha i

R a tna V a j racha rya , a m em be r of Kw a Ba ha h w ho lives nea rby ,and spends every day there as a recept ion is t and photographer .T hi s desc r ip t ion w as w ri t ten in New ari in 1983 . I have t ra ns lated i t and added the punctuat ion, the references to fourwatches , and notes .

Rules Followed by the Temple Priests{bdphd)of Kwa Bahah (Hiranya vam am ahavihara), Lal i tpurby Bhai Ratna VajracharyaFirstWatchAt about 3 a.m., devotees come to Kwa Bahah to read theNdmasamgiti. After they have been reading for about fiveminutes, the older of the twobdphdgets up and batheshimself.He goes into the shrine of Kwabaju [spelt "Kwavaaju"] andbows down to the god. He removes the clothes of Kwabaju,takes a waterpot which is inside, and goes to fetch water fromthe well. Lampa, who lives and works in Kwa Bahah, goes withhim and clears the way so that no one will touch h im . T he elderpriest puts the pure water down at the shrine door and goes towash his face. Then he takes it inside, bows down to the god,rinses the Worship Plate (pujdbhah), waterpot, and silver plate(babhu),an d p uts them all in front of Balab hadra .14 He puts halfthe pure water into the Flask {kalasa), and then grinds yellowpowder (mhdsusinhah).As soon as he has finished this, he lightsa ghee lamp inside.By this time the Ndmasamgitiwill be half way thro ughbeing read; the younger priest comes into the shrine and bowsdown to the gods. The elder priest lights wicks along the bal-


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A NE WAR L I T UR GY 241cony outs ide . Then, whi le the younger pr ies t r ings a be l l , thee lder pr ies t pours water f rom the F lask onto the s i lver p la te ,takes the smal l f lask which s tands on i t , and washes the faces ,fir st of K w ab aju, then of B al ab h ad ra . Af ter th is , he do espujd tothe god s wh i le the you ng er p r ie s t shows the m i r ro r to Kw aba ju ,B a l a bh a d r a a n d , s t a nd ing a t t he doo r , t o S va y a m bhu [ t hee n s h r i n e d caitya in the cen tre of the co ur t ya rd w hic h is thel ineage dei ty of Kw a Ba ha h m em be rs] . T h e e lder pr ies t spr inklespu r e wa te r on S va ya m bhu a nd on t he wa i t i ng de vo t e e s. M e a n whi le , the younger pr ies t comes out wi th r ice and f lask in hand,and puts r ice and water in a circle on themandalaon the balcony.Nex t , the two pr ie s t s come ou t to bea t the ho l low wooden gon g{gawa)\ this ha s to be don e 108 t im es in al l . W h e n this is finished, the younger pr ies t r ings the bel l , and the readers comeup on to the ba lcon y be low the shr ine of Kw aba ju an d r ead the

Buddham trailokyandtham l5W h en this is over , the eld er pr iesttakes the yakta i l whisk and the younger pr ies t takes the s i lverwhisk with peacock fea thers , and the two of them r ing bel ls ,whi le the Ddnabalena is recited.16 T he n , the two pr ie s t s pu tyel low powder pas te (on the ir foreheads) , us ing the pas te f romthe worship of the gods, and give yellow paste and f lowers to thedevotees ou ts ide . O th er dev otees wi ll con t inue a r r iv i ng fo r wor ship unt i l about 8 a .m. or , on impor tant days ( ful l moon,samkrdntiIsdnhu, e igh th , an d new mo on day ) , un t i l 9 .30 a .m .SecondWatch

At this t ime, the person who prepares the pr ies ts ' food wil lcome; she is known as nikulimha. She goes in to the ki tchen andtakes of f a l l the c lothes she has come in and puts on purec lo thes . She f e tches pure wa te r , and then smear s cowdung onthe f loor ins ide and makes the cooking area neat and c lean. Shenext comes to the door of the main shr ine , and the e lder pr ies tpasses he r the Worsh ip P la te wi th one ghee lamp, wicks , and asmal l waterpot on i t . She takes these back to the ki tchen, l ightsthe ghee lamp, and cooks the pr ies ts ' pure food meal {paid).

As soon as i t i s 9 a .m. , the younger pr ies t goes of f r ingingh i s be l l t o Nhu B a ha h , Nya kha c ok , T a pa H i t l , Na g B a ha h , I l aNani , Sa rasva t l Nani , and back in the main door o f KwaBahah . He s tands a t the door o f the shr ine , pu t s down theth ings he has been ca r ry ing , and the e lde r p r ie s t sp r ink les h imwi th ho ly wa te r (Jal) a nd ha n gs up t he t h ings . T he youn ge rpr ies t washes his face and goes in to bow down to the gods . Thetwo of the m t he n be at the go ng 108 t ime s ag ain , an d whi le th e


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242 JIABS VOL. 14 NO . 2younger priest rings the bell, the Buddham trailokyandtham isread. O nce again, they bow down to the gods.After a little time has elapsed, the younger priest takes thesilver food carrier to the kitchen and puts it down outside thedoor. The cook washes it, puts food on three Worship Plates,puts them in the silver carrier, and places it back outside thedoor [of the main shrine]. The younger priest takes it inside theshrine, puts one plate before Kwabaju, one before Balabhadra,and the other he scatters to left and right for the mice. Then,the younger priest goes to eat; after a little while, the elderpriest does likewise. All food, other than milk, rice, green lentils,ghee , molasses, and ginger, is forbidden .After this, the priests may take a rest and if they are sleepylie down for an hour and ahalf,until noon.ThirdWatchThen they have to wash again, and may not touch anyone.At 3 p.m., the two priests go back inside the shrine and bowdown to the gods. The younger priest puts on the shoulderpiece (civara)and comes out w earing the m onastic san dals(kwdpdlhaka). The elder priest takes the gong outside, and theybeat [the go ng] 108 times ag ain. The y oung er priest goes insideand rings the bell while the Buddham trailokyandtham' is recitedoutside. At 4 p.m., the cook goes into the kitchen, takes ofFherclothes, puts on her pure set of clothes, and goes to fetch purewater. Then, she puts out beaten rice, molasses, cakes, fruit,and yoghurt for the priests. When it is ready, she goes and tellsthem, and they go to eat.Fourth WatchAfter eating, they take a short rest, and at 5.30 p.m. theywash again. The elder priest goes with two waterpots to thewell to take pure water, and L am pa follows him . H e puts waterdown o utside the shrine and goes to wash his face. T he n he goesin and bows down to the gods. The younger priest likewisewashes his face, sweeps the balcony, goes into the shrine, brin gsthe Flask outside, and pours water on the mandala there. Theelder priest takes the gong, the younger priest puts on theshoulder piece, and again they beat the gong 108 times. By thistime, it will be about 6 p.m., and the younger priest goes ofTringing the bell as before around the area. On returning, hetakes off the shoulder piece and bell, and comes out of theshrine. The elder priest stays inside for those who come to readin the evening.


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A NEWAR LITURGY 243At 7 p.m., the younger priest washes his face and comesinside the shrine. Th e readers come and take out the hym n book,

and the younger priest rings the bell in front of Balabhadrawhile they read the Buddham trailokyandtham. l W hen the reading is finished the priests stand on either side of Kwabaju andring bells and wave whisks, while the "Ddnabalena is read.When this is over, they light thedip jvdld lamp, and, ringing thebell in front of Balabhadra, they wave it around. Both prieststhen "take light," and so do those who have read. Then theyread more verses, while the younger priest rings the bell andthe elder priest waves the lam p(drati).W hen the reading is over, thedratiis put do wn , and the elderpriest takes the Worship Plate, worships Kwabaju with rice,applies yellow paste to him, and then also to Balabhadra andto the other gods around him. Then the younger priest takesyellow powder paste [for himself], then the elder priest [does],then they give it to the readers outside. When everyone hasplaced a spot of pa ste on their forehead the paste bowl is passedback inside. The e lder priest then covers Kwabaju with a specialcloth. The younger priest comes out with the key. The elderpriest puts the Flask and silver plate in front of Balabhadra, andthen pu ts out rice for the mice. H e puts th ree piles on the silverplate, and three at the legs of the Flask's tripod. Then he uncovers the pure waterpot, bows down to Kwabaju, and comesout. He locks the shrine door with an old metal lock, checkingall aro un d; the shutters and doors are all closed u p. T he n theygo to sleep (by this time it will be about 9.30 p.m.). With this,

their daily duties are over.

3. Themorningliturgy in Kwd BdhdhT h e fo llowing i s an a cco un t of the mo rn in g l i turgy der ivedfrom the above and checked wi th the Betaju (Ri tuals Off icer)o f K w a B a h a h , B h a i R a t n a V a j r a c h a r y a o f N y a k h a c u k ( n ore l a t i on o f t he Bha i Ra tna Va j r achar ya above) , who was appo inte d Be taju for his w ide ex pe r ien ce an d kno w ledg e of ritual.M y own obs e r va t i ons have a l s o been i nc orp ora t ed .( i ) The e lder bdphdw a s h e shimself, unlocks the shr ine , sweepsthe shr ine , p laces var ious conta iners out s ide to be washed, andremoves the covers which have been over the main de i ty andover B al ab h ad ra d ur i ng the n igh t . H e the n goes to fetch pu re


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A NEWAR L ITUR GY 245Yan mahgalam sakalasattvahrdisthitasyaSarvdtmakasyavaradharmakulddhipasyaNihsesadosarahitasyam ahdsukhasyaTan mahgalam bhavatu teparamdbhisekah.All the auspiciousness of the overlord of all the families of thebestdharma [i.e. , the Buddha], who is in the heart ofall beings,who is identical with everything, entirely free of all blemish,and supremely blissfulmay all this auspiciousness accrue toyou: this is the best consecration.21

The assembled devotees r ing a l l the bel ls in the cour tyard ,creat ing a deafening noise .(v ) T h e god ' s face has ju s t bee n "w ash ed " by po ur i ng wa te rover his ref lect ion in the mirror . This is the central act of ther i tual . 2 4 However , the wash ing i s now redup l ica ted . The e lderbaphatake s the sma ll Flask from thebabhu p la te , and mimes thew ash ing of the eyes of the m ain dei ty , an d of B al ab ha d ra inf ront ; and then a lso mimes drying them with a towel . They o u n g e r baphanow takes the mi r ro r an d sho ws it to the m aindei ty , and to Balabhadra . Al l th is mus t take p lace whi le thebel ls in the cour tyard are being sounded, for they only s topw h en th e bapha f inally ap pe ar s and show s the m ir ro r ou ts ideth e m a in d o o r , t o w ar d s t h e en s h r in ed S v ay am b h u caityao p p o s i te . " He moves the mir ror in a c i rc le three t imes for each. Theshowing of the mir ror outs ide is the crucia l moment as far asthe as sembled devo tees a re concerned . They emi t s ighs o f an t i cipation as i t is shown, and throw their offer ings of r icetow ards the ma in sh r in e . T h e m ir ro r is shown w i th the ver se :

Pratibimbasamddharma acchdhsuddhd hy and vildhAgrdhydanabhildpyds ca hetukarmasamudbhavdh.All things are like reflections in a mirror, transparent,pure, and uncontaminated.Th ey are un grasp able , inexpressible, and arise from causesand actions.26

(v i ) The e lder bapha touches the babhup la te , c on ta in ing theho ly wate r (jal), to the m ai n dei ty , then goes ou ts ide an dthrows the water , f i r s t towards Svayambhu, then r ight and lef ton the as sembled devo tees . Men somet imes shou t "Over here "


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246 JIABS V OL. 14 NO . 2if they have not felt spots of water falling on them. The priestsshould reci te :

Abhisekam mahdvajram traidhatukanamaskrtamDaddmisarvabuddhanam triguhydlayasambhavam.I give that consecration of all the Buddhas, which is thegreat adamantine [Truth], which is honoured in all threerealms of the universe, and is born from the realm of thetriple secret.

The r egu la r g roup who r ec i t e the Ndmasamgiti now reci te theTutam api verses.2 7 As soon as the w ater has been th ro w n,devotees begin to receive the yel low powder f rom members ofthe god-guard ian ' s fami ly s ta t ioned on the ba lcony , and thend e p a r t .

(v i i ) The younger bdphdpo urs r ice and pu re w ate r in a c ircleon the smal l \otus-mandala (dhdmanda) outside the door of theshr ine and reci tes:Protsdreh umsarvavighndn sdrehumvajrabhumehumvajralekhehumsulekhe sulekhe sarvatathdgataguru adhitisthantusvdhd.Remove HUM remove all obstacles HUM on thevajra-groundHUM which is written with thevajra HUM well written,well w ritten: M ay all the Attained O ne s, O hguru, be presentSVAHA.

(viii) Now the two bdphdcom e out w i th the long wood en gon g(gambhdsi, gawd or s imply gd\ Skt . dharmaganthi).28T h e y o u n g e rbdphdwear s m e ta l m onas t i c shoes (kwdpd lhaka) and takes thegong on h is r igh t shoulder . The e lder bdphds t ands beh ind h imand supp or ts i t. T he youn gerbdphdbeats th e gong 108 time s w itha w o o d e n h a m m e r (mugahcd). T he y shou ld reci te the Apa ram ita .dhdrani, w hic h h as 108 syl lables. W hil e the gon g is be ingbeaten, i t is forbidden to speak or move about in the monastery .T ho se devotees wh o have no t ye t le ft , o r w ho have ju s t a r r ive d ,stand still until it is over.( ix) Next, they offer worship of the Five Offerings (pancopacdra)to the deity, f inishing w ith rice. W ith eac h offering they s ho ulds a y om vajragandhesvdhd e t c .
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248 JIABS VOL. 14 NO . 2In spi te of these varia t ions , however, the dai ly l i turgy hasm an y s im ilar i t ies in d ifferent m on as ter ies . M ost of the e igh teen

m ain m onas ter ies of La l i tpu r perform the bea t ing of the wood engong, the waving of the yaktai l and of the whisk to the accomp an im en t o f t h e Ddnabalena the ba th ing wi th water , and theshowing o f the mir ro r . These r i tua l ac t s a re a l so per fo rmed toBuddha images wi th roya l connec t ions in Sr i Lanka (Evers1972: ch . 4) . Several of the large monaster ies of Lal i tpur have,l i k e Kwa Bah ah , a " y o u n g e r" bdphd to go rou nd the local i tyr ing ing a bel l twice a day . T h i s and the wo oden g ong no d ou b tmarked out the monast ic day at one t ime. Now, the bel l i s interpreted as g iv ing the s ignal to eat , and the wooden gong isbel ieved to be te l l ing the god that he may leave or enter (linjuye) the image .3 0

The p resen t paper by no means exhaus t s the top ic o f them o rn in g l it u rg y in New ar Bu d d h i sm . A m o re in -d ep th s tu d y,inc lud ing a su rvey o f m an y m ore mo nas te r ies a nd a sy s tem at icco m par i son o f the m , migh t l ead to som e qua l i f ica tions to w ha thas been asser ted here . I t i s poss ib le a l so tha t manuscr ip t ev i de nc e is in fact avai lable for th is typ e of r i tu al , an d th is w ouldgrea t ly increase the cha nce s o f essay ing som e conclus ionsab ou t the h i s to r ica l deve lopm ent o f such l i tu rg ies .

N O T E S1. T hi s article is ad ap ted and impro ved from a section of my thesis

(Gellne r 1987a), which was based on two ye ars ' f ieldwork in Lalitp ur, N epa l,f rom 1982 -4. Th is was funded by a Leverhulm e Trust Study AbroadStud entship . Fur ther research w as carr ied out in 1986 sup porte d by the Spalding Trust.

2. O n this point , see fur ther L ienh ard (1984) , Gellner (1989b) . O nNe wa r ethn ic identity see Toffin (1984), Qu igley (1987), and Ge llner (1991a);the relationship of Buddhism to it is specifically discussed in Gellner (1986).

3. Ho dgso n (1972 [1874] I: 139 -45 ), W ilson (1862: 1-39 . See Locke(1980: 74-121) for descriptions of theguru mandala r i tual , thekalasapujd and theFire Sacrifice.

4. O n th e former, see Gelln er (1988) and on the latter , Ge llner (1991b).Desc r ipt ions of other r i tua ls [acahluyegu, nityapuja, and, without liturgy, TantricInitiation) may be found in Gellner (1987a).


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A N E W A R L I T U R G Y 2495. See Locke (1987), Lewis (1989). For brief acco unts of the daily li turgy

in Newar Buddhist monasteries of Kathmandu, see Lewis (1984: 227-8) andS h i m a ( 1 9 9 1 : 13-15).

6. For a discuss ion of the possible etymology of this term , see Ge llner(1987b: 368, fn. 4).7. For this scheme as a key stru ctu ring feature of New ar Bud dhis m , see

Gellner (1987a, 1989a, in press a). On the Newar Buddhist monastery the indis-pensible source is Locke (1985), which lists every monastery, and provides aphotograph and avai lable historical information on each. For my interpretat ionof the use of space within the Newar Buddhist monastery, see Gellner (1987b).

8. For tran slat ion s of H . Sakya's acco unt (1973: 61-4) , see Gel lner(1987a: 559-61), and Locke (1985:4 8 9 - 9 1 ; 1989: 83 fn. 16).

9. T h e way in wh ich this mo nastic status was reflected in the ti tles usedby Saky as in the past (S aky abh iksu, Sa kya vam sa, and others) is discussed inGellner (1989b). Th ere is some evidence which may be interpreted as indicating that even traditionally Sakyas felt some ambivalence about their claim tomonast ic status.

10. T he etymology is unc ertain ; bapha may derive from "m onas tery-tu rnho lde r" (vihdrapluspahlahmha)or from "half- turne r" (bdpluspdhldhmha).

11. For Tib etan pi lgrim age in the K ath m an du Valley, see D ow m an(1981). For details of Kwa Bahah's shrines, see Gellner (in press a).

12. O n this pra ctice and its associated ritu al, see Ge llner (in press b) .13. In my experience, the Ndmasamgiti actua lly star ts betwee n 3.45 and4.00 a.m. in summer and later in winter.14. All main monastery deities have a small deity, a Buddha of some

kind, in front of the m . In Uk u B ah ah , he is identified as Ra hu la, Sak yam uni'sson. In Kwa Bahah he is thought to be Balabhadra, brother of Krsna. One ortwo info rm ants told m e that the statue is in fact of V ajra dha ra, and acc oun tedfor the identification with Balabhadra by saying that i t was a means of attracting Hindu devotees and increasing the god -gua rdian 's incom e, jus t as statuesof K rs na and Ba lab had ra are displayed during the Budd hist holy m onth ofGula. Locals often say that the statue of Balabhadra was placed there by thewife of th eT ha ku Ju ju (Tha kurl k ing) o f Nh u B ahah (a b ranc h of Kw a B aha h):he insisted on sponsoring Buddhism, al though she prefered Hinduism, and thiswas her way of getting even (the story occurs in the chronicle Wright had translated: Wright 1972: 174).

15. For this verse, see Ge llner (1988: 83) .16. For the Ddnabalena, see Locke (1980: 465).17. In addition to the praise verses me ntioned he re, the Snigdhanila (pro

nounced Sanidhani )is usually read , and at least one other op tiona l set of verses.18. Correc t ion ofdiksdntam.19. Variant : -sama-.2 0. Th is reading was suggested by Rich ard G om bric h. Of the two versions available to me, both were unmetrical here, one reading prasannas'dntam,the otherpras'amasdntam.21 . Varian t :dipadana-.


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25 J I A B S V O L . 14 N O . 222 . O n the cu lt s o f Ca kw ahd yah an d K aru nam aya , see Locke (1980) and

Owens (1989) .23. T his verse is often used in Ne wa r Bu ddh ist rituals of con secra tion. For

its use in monastic initiation, where it is expanded to three verses, one for eachof the Three Jewels, see Gellner (1988: 81). For its expansion to five verses for theFive Bu ddhas in tantr ic in i t ia t ion, see Kriy a Sam uccaya (C ha nd ra 1977: 34 1-2 ) .For its expansion to eight verses for the Eight Auspicious Signs, see R.K. Vaj-racharya (1980: 64-5). For another version, see Locke (1980: 218, fn. 21).

24 . O ne piece of eviden ce for this is the fact th at the m orn ing r itua l of adeity is called in Newari dekhe cdykegu, which derives from dyahydkhwd cdykegu,"to wash the god 's face" ( S. M . Jos hi 1983: 59) . Since the expression uses theold Newari khe,"face," i ts der ivat ion is proba bly op aqu e to most Ne wa rs.

25. Th is shr ine is norm ally known asdigu dyah,beca use it is the lineagedeity of al l m em bers of Kw a B ah ah .26. Th is is a com mo n verse in New ar Budd hist r i tual , wheth er of the

Sravakayan a, M ah aya na , or Vajrayana. O ne sometimes sees the readingsvacchdhforacchdh.

27. These are also known as the Dasabalastava Stotra (see Lo cke 1980:4 5 4 - 5 , and for edition and translation, Sharkey 1991).

28. Ed g e r to n (1953: s.v.) gives dharmagandv. "gong. . . ( f ig . the gong of thedharma);esp. as a sign of m eal -tim e." In his Kriyd Samgraha, Ku lad a t t a mak esvarious scholast ic correspondences between Mahayana concepts and the fourbea tings of the gong (R ani 1977: 2 4 6 -7 ); he also des cribes the rite for the firstbea ting of the gon g (ibid.: 2 4 7 -9 ). He m raj Saky a (1977: 16) exp lains the fourbeatings of the gong in terms of te l l ing the monastic community when to medita te , when to eat , e tc . ; but he does not ci te his source. A .K . Vajrach arya (1985:34) ar t iculates the modern interpretat ion, noting that , including om, there areexactly 108 syllables in the A pa ram ita dhdrani,and that the gong is beate n inorder to invite the god.

2 9. In the Kw a Ba ha h l i turgy ju st g iven, th is is so of the long m an tra ofsect ion (vi i) . T he l i turgies of Cik a B ahl and Bhiche B ah ah also include the recitat ion of the Puspaketu dhdrani. In addit io n, the Bhiche Ba ha h l i turgy prescribes the recitation of the Adya Mahddana which specifies the time, place,and identity of the ritual actor; then the worship of the conch shell; in the middle of the liturgy, the purification of the image with rice grains and the mantraom sarvatathdgata kdyavisodhane svdha. For all these details of the guru mandalaritual, see Gellner (1991b).

30. See n. 28 abov e.


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A N E W A R L I T U R G Y 251

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252 J I A B S V O L . 14 N O . 2(1989). " M a h a y a n a Vratas in Newar Buddh ism" Journal of theInternationalAssociationof Buddh istStudiesX I I : 109-38 .

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