Luipa | |
|---|---|
_Luyipa_LACMA_M.80.97.1.jpg) | |
| Other names | Lauhityapada |
| Occupation | Litterateur |
| Known for | Charyapada |
Luipa orLuipada (c. 10th century) was amahasiddha siddhacharya from Eastern India.[1] He was a Buddhist saint from the Kãivartā community. He was a writer of a number of Buddhist texts and one of the early poets ofCharyapada, a lateApabhraṃśa collection of poems.
Although the Tibetan translation forLui is "the fish-gut eater" (Wylie:nya lto zhabs), the root of the word is probably Sanskritlohita which means "red" and the names like Luidhar, Luichandra and Luiya mentioned in theDharmamangals of the late medieval period originated from the same root.[2]
Ayyappapanicker & Akademi (1997: p. 599) amplify the view of prior scholarship in that the nomenclature "Luipa" is related to theBrahmaputra River:
Several scholars, such asK. L. Barua andDimbeswar Neog, hold the view that his poetic name is reminiscent of his earlier days spent on the bank of the Luit, i.e. the Brahmaputra. His vocabulary and diction are clearly old Assamese."[1]
Luipa appears inThe Legends of Eighty-four Siddhas (Wylie:grub thob brgyad bcu tsa bzhi'i lo rgyus), a Tibetannamtar detailing the lives of Indianmahasiddhas. It was written by theTibetan monk Mondup Sherab and was probably a translation of theChaturashiti-Siddha-Pravritti, based on what was narrated to him byAbhayadatta Sri ofChamparan (c. 12th century). In theChaturasiti-Siddha-Pravritti, Luipa is said to be the second son of a very rich king of Singhaladvipa, believed to beSri Lanka. However, several other regions were also known as Singhaladvipa, and one of them wasOddiyana, which other sources mentioned as the place of birth of Luipa.[3][page needed]
Luipa's father chose him as his successor, but he left his kingdom to achievebodhi, i.e.enlightenment. Luipa first headed forRamesvaram and then went to Vajrasana, known today asBodh Gaya, the place whereGautama Buddha achieved enlightenment. There Luipa received his first teaching from adakini. Later, when he reached Saliputra, orMagadha, aLoka-Dakini advised him to get rid of the slightest pride of his royal blood to achieve enlightenment by leaving aside all prejudices regarding the purity of foods. Following her advice, Luipa consumed only the guts of the fishes thrown away by the fishermen on theGanges for twelve years. This practice led to him being known as Lui, one who eats fish-guts.[citation needed]
Luipa also appears in theChaturashiti-Siiddha-Pravritti, where he meets the king ofMagadha, Indrapala and his Brahmin minister. These two became his disciples and were known asDarikapa andDengipa. Luipa initiated them into themandala ofCakrasaṃvara.
InButon Rinchen Drub'sHistory of Buddhism (Wylie:chos-'byung), Luipa is mentioned as the son of King Lalitachandra ofOddiyana. When the prince metŚabara, a disciple ofSaraha, he was immensely impressed by this great adept and begged him for instruction. He received initiation into thetantra of Cakrasaṃvara. The initial part of his penance was completed when he joined a circle of twenty-four Dakas and Dakinis in aganachakra in acharnel ground which climaxed in consumption of the corpse of a sage. With a final blessing from hisGuru he left Oddiyana and became a mendicant sage. The period ended when, feeling the need for sustained one-pointedmeditation practice, he sat down to meditate beside a pile of fish-guts by the banks of the River Ganges in Bengal, where he remained till he had attainedmahamudra-siddhi, the highest level of spiritual attainment inVajrayana Buddhism.
TheSakya school ofTibetan Buddhism records that Luipa was akayastha orscribe by occupation, at the court of Dharmapala, the emperor ofVarendra in northern Bengal. While begging for alms at Dharmapala's palace Savaripa recognized the scribe Luipa as a suitable recipient for his Samvara lineage; his extraordinary talent was evident in the versified letters he wrote to the king's correspondents, a task requiring a pointed concentration.[3]
The account of Luipa found in the work ofTaranatha, a scholar from theJonang school ofTibetan Buddhism, differs significantly from that found in Buton's work. Here, Luipa was a scribe to the King of Oddiyana and was initiated into theVajravārāhī mandala.[3]
The following poetic extract of Luipa is from his work,Kāā Tarubara, the firstpada of theCharyapada (c. 9-10th century) and rendered into English byMahendra Bora and cited in Ayyappapanicker & Akademi (1997: p. 599):
It is also notable to refer here that Luipa has also contributed to the 29th song/Raga/Hymn[4] of theCharyapada, the first discovered manuscript of Bangla Literature. This song is reads:-
The most significant information available from the legends of the Sakya school is that Luipa worked at the court of the Maharaja ofVarendra, Dharmapala. If this king is same as Pala EmperorDharmapala, then this identification places Luipa as a younger contemporary of Dharmapala (770 – 810 CE). If Luipa was initiated in his youth, his date of initiation must be at the end of the eighth century or the beginning of the ninth century.[3]
In theAbhisamaya-Vibhanga of theTengyur,Atiśa is mentioned as a co-author of the text along with him but it seems that actually Atisha had either completed his text or wrote aVibhanga (commentary) on hisAbhisamaya. So, it is more probable that he belonged to the 10th century.[2]
From Luipa's date, his guru Śabara's time can be fixed, along with the dates of his disciples Darikapa and Dengipa, and alsoDombi Heruka, whom Luipa taught. Since Kilapa was probably one of his descendants, his date can also be fixed.
Some scholars likePrabodh Chandra Bagchi have identified Luipa withMatsyendranath, theadiguru and the founder of theNath Sampradaya.[5] There are several similarities between them. Both of their names Lui and Mina mean fish.[5] In Sri Lanka and eastern India both of them were originators of yogini-tantra lineages (Luipa Samvara and Minapa Yogini-kaula). While Luipa was considered asadisiddha, Matsyendranath was known asadiguru.[3] Whereas other scholars like Rajmohan Nath considered Luipa and Matsyendra to be different persons.[6]
TheChaturashiti-Siddha-Pravritti begins with the legend of Luipa. This may be a reflection of the belief prevalent during the period of the narrator or the translator, that Luipa was the first siddha (adi-siddha) in terms of either time or status. The firstPada of theCharyapada was also attributed to Luipa and in its commentary inSanskrit, Munidatta mentions him as theAdisiddhacharya.[7] It is also an indicator of the contemporary belief. But some modern scholars likeRahul Sankrityayan claimed Saraha asadi-siddha. Luipa was definitely born after Saraha, since Luipa's teacher Savaripa was Saraha's disciple, but their lifetimes probably overlapped. Both Saraha and Luipa were originators of Samvara-tantra lineages, but it was Luipa who received the title of Guhyapati (Master of Secrets) in addition to his status of adi-siddha in the lineage that practiced the Samvara-tantra according to the method of Luipa. He received direct transmission from the DakiniVajravarahi. If Luipa obtained his original Samvara revelation in Oddiyana, the home of several of the wisdom (mother) tantras, he probably was one of the siddhas responsible for propagating this tantra in Eastern India. But whatever the tantra's provenance, Luipa became the great exemplar of Saraha's preachings, as confirmed in the Padas assigned to him inCharyagītikosha, and his sadhana (practice) became the inspiration and example for some of the most respected names amongst the siddhas,Kambalapa,Ghantapa,Indrabhuti,Jalandharipa,Kanhapa (Krishnacharya),Tilopa andNaropa all of whom initiated into theChakrasamvara-tantra according to the method of Luipa. Sakya tradition maintains that, three principalGuru Sampradaya (lineages of teachers) of the practice ofChakrasamvara-tantra are of Luipa, Ghantapa and Naropa.Marpa Dopa transmitted this tantra to Tibet, where it has continued as the principalyidam sadhana (practice) of theKagyu school till date.[3] Luipad waswell versed (siddha) inAghoritantra.[8]
In theBstan-'gyur, he has been mentioned as the author of the texts, theShribhagavad-Abhisamaya, theVajrasattva Sadhana, theTattvasvabhava-Dohakosha-Gitikia-Drishti-Nama, theLuhipada-Gitika, theShrichakrasamvara-Abhisamaya-Tika and theBuddhodaya. He was also mentioned as the co-author of theAbhisamaya-Vibhanga along with the great scholarAtisha. The Padas 1 and 29 of theCharyagītikosha (or theCharyapada) are also ascribed to him.[9]
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