Vajrayana Buddhism

Also called: Tantric Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Vajrayana, Tantrayana · Topic: Buddhism, Jainism and Heterodox Traditions · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 3 "Empires and Kingdoms: 6th to 10th Centuries"

Meaning

Vajrayana Buddhism is a later form of Mahāyāna Buddhism. It tries to reach enlightenment faster through secret rituals, mantras (sacred sounds), mandalas (sacred diagrams) and meditation, learnt directly from a guru. It grew in eastern India from about the 7th–8th century CE, had strong support under the Pala kings, and was carried to Tibet by Indian teachers such as Atisha Dipankara of Vikramashila. It is the root of Tibetan Buddhism, so it shows how Indian monasteries shaped the religion of the Himalayas and Central Asia.

Explanation

Background: from Mahāyāna to Vajrayana

• Early Buddhism taught self-effort. Each person had to work out their own release. The Buddha was seen as a human teacher, not a rescuer.
• Mahāyāna ("great vehicle") arose around the beginning of the Common Era and brought the idea of a saviour. [2]
• The bodhisattva (a compassionate being who delays nirvana, or freedom from rebirth, to help others) replaced the older ideal of the arhat (the perfected individual who wins release). [2]

• Images of the Buddha and bodhisattvas began to be worshipped.

• Vajrayana grew out of Mahāyāna. It kept the bodhisattva ideal and the worship of many buddhas. It added tantra, a set of secret methods meant to give enlightenment faster, perhaps even within one lifetime.

• Name: vajra means "thunderbolt" or "diamond". Both stand for a truth that cannot be broken. Yana means "vehicle". So Vajrayana is the "thunderbolt/diamond vehicle". Many Buddhists call it the third vehicle, after the older schools and Mahāyāna.
• When: most historians place its rise in c. 7th–8th century CE in eastern India (Bengal, Bihar, Odisha). The dates are approximate.

Main features

• Mantra: sacred words or sounds that are chanted, for example Om mani padme hum.
• Mandala: a circle-shaped diagram of a sacred world, used to focus the mind in meditation.
• Mudra: fixed hand gestures used in ritual and shown in images.
• Guru: the teacher is central. Secret practices are passed on only through initiation (a formal entry ceremony) by a guru.
• Many deities, including female ones: goddesses such as Tara (a female saviour figure), and fierce protector deities.
• Ritual objects: the vajra (a small thunderbolt sceptre) and the bell.
• Secret texts called tantras: for example the Guhyasamaja Tantra. They are written in symbolic language that only initiated students are meant to understand.
• Wandering teachers called siddhas ("perfected ones") spread tantric ideas, often through songs and poems.

How it worked and spread

• Pala patronage (eastern India):
• The Pala kings of Bengal and Bihar strongly supported Buddhism.
• Dharmapala founded the monastery-university of Vikramashila (Bihar) and the Somapura Mahavihara at Paharpur (now in Bangladesh).

• Nalanda, an older centre, also taught tantric Buddhism in this period.

• First wave to Tibet (8th century):

• According to Tibetan tradition, Padmasambhava (known in Tibet as Guru Rinpoche) went from India to Tibet in the 8th century and helped set up the first monastery at Samye.

• Tibetans treat him as the founder of the Nyingma school. Much of his story is legend.

• Second wave (11th century):

• Atisha Dipankara Shrijnana, a leading teacher of Vikramashila, went to Tibet in c. 1042 CE at the invitation of Tibetan rulers.
• He reformed monastic discipline and joined tantra to strict moral training.

• His disciples founded the Kadam school. The later Gelug school, headed by the Dalai Lama, developed from this line.

• Other routes: Vajrayana spread across the Himalayas (Ladakh, Sikkim, Bhutan, Nepal) and on to Mongolia. Mahāyāna in general was the main influence on Buddhist cultures of Central and East Asia by the 9th century CE. [2]

Results

• Tibetan Buddhism was born. Tibet took Indian texts, rituals and monastic life and made them its own.
• Indian texts were saved. Tibetan scholars translated thousands of Sanskrit works. Many of these survive today only in Tibetan.
• Art changed. Vajrayana gave rise to thangka paintings (scroll paintings), mandalas, and bronze images of many-armed and fierce deities. This art came from the Pala school of eastern India.
• The faith lives on in India's Himalayan regions. Monasteries in Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh follow this tradition.

Time, place and evidence

• Period: c. 7th–8th century CE onwards (approximate). It was strongest from the 8th to the 12th century in eastern India.
• Dynasty: the Palas of Bengal and Bihar were its chief royal patrons.
• Key sites:
• Vikramashila (Bihar), founded by Dharmapala.
• Nalanda (Bihar), an older centre that also taught tantra.
• Somapura Mahavihara, Paharpur (Bangladesh), founded by Dharmapala and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

• Samye (Tibet), the first Tibetan monastery according to tradition.

• Key people: Padmasambhava (8th century, by tradition) and Atisha Dipankara (went to Tibet c. 1042).

• How we know:
• The Tibetan translations of Indian Buddhist texts (the Kangyur and Tengyur collections).
• Tibetan histories, such as the account by the 17th-century Tibetan monk Taranatha.
• Archaeological remains of the Pala monasteries.

• Pala-period bronzes and sculptures of tantric deities such as Tara.

• Trade routes: the Silk Road carried monks and texts, not only goods. This is how Buddhist ideas moved north into Central Asia. [3]

Don't confuse with

• Mahāyāna: Vajrayana grew out of Mahāyāna. Mahāyāna is the wider "great vehicle" (from about the beginning of the Common Era) [2]. Vajrayana is its later tantric branch, which adds secret rituals, mantras and guru initiation.
• Theravāda / Hīnayāna: this is the older tradition, followed mainly in Sri Lanka and South-East Asia. [3] It does not worship the many buddhas and bodhisattvas [2], and it has no tantric rituals. Vajrayana belongs to Tibet and the Himalayas.
• Hindu (Shakta/Shaiva) Tantra: the two traditions grew side by side and shared methods such as mantras and mandalas. Hindu tantra aims at union with Shiva or Shakti. Vajrayana aims at Buddhist enlightenment.
• Nalanda vs Vikramashila: Nalanda is the older centre, linked to the Guptas. Vikramashila was founded by the Pala king Dharmapala and was Atisha's home monastery.

Prelims Hooks

• Vajra = "thunderbolt/diamond". Vajrayana is called the "third vehicle", after the older schools and Mahāyāna.
• Vikramashila was founded by Dharmapala of the Pala dynasty.
• Atisha Dipankara, a teacher of Vikramashila, went to Tibet in c. 1042 CE. His disciples founded the Kadam school, from which the Dalai Lama's Gelug school later grew.
• Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) took tantric Buddhism to Tibet in the 8th century, according to tradition. He is linked to Samye monastery and the Nyingma school.
• Somapura Mahavihara at Paharpur is in Bangladesh, not India. It was founded by Dharmapala and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• Correct order: Theravāda/older schools → Mahāyāna (c. beginning of Common Era) → Vajrayana (c. 7th–8th century CE).

Mains Points

• Continuity and change in Buddhism: Buddhism changed step by step.
• It began with self-effort and the Buddha as a human teacher.
• Mahāyāna brought the saviour idea and image worship. [2]

• Vajrayana added ritual, mantra and the guru, which made Buddhism look more like the tantric Hindu traditions of the same time.

• India's cultural reach beyond its borders:

• Pala-era monasteries such as Vikramashila and Nalanda worked like international universities.
• Teachers like Atisha and Padmasambhava shaped the religion, art and script-based learning of Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia.

• Tibetan translations now preserve Indian texts that were lost in India. This is a strong example of India's soft power and shared Himalayan heritage.

• Royal patronage and religion: Pala support shows that a religion's fortunes in early medieval India depended heavily on rulers and on large monastic centres. Note: the decline of Buddhism in India is outside these NCERT chapters, so treat that question with care.

Related concepts

• Mahayana
• Hinayana
• Bodhisattva
• Avalokiteshvara
• Maitreya
• Tara
• Nagarjuna
• Madhyamaka
• Yogachara
• Vasubandhu

Read more

• Later evolution: Mahāyāna and the changing religious landscape