Matangi's Origins: A Conversation (Part II)

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THE BUDDHIST MATANGI

 

(DEVI BHAKTA)

 

As for the legend of Maatangi as the daughter of the sage Maatanga,

see my (upcoming) post on Matangi as Meenakshi. In that legend,

Maatangi is a manifestation of Ambaal or Meenakshi -- or in any case,

an avatar of the Supreme Devi. But in my opinion, this is a later

Hindu reworking of a much earlier Indian Buddhist legend -- and in

many ways, it is an attempt to avoid the unpleasant issue of

Maatangi being an outcaste.

 

In the Buddhist version (which has been famously retold by the

Bengali Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, in his

story "Chandalika"), Maatangi is still the daughter of a great man

called Maatanga -- but here, Maatanga is not a Hindu sage, but an

outcaste tribal (Chandala) chieftain. In this primal legend, the

Buddha's disciple Ananda is said to have become thirsty when he saw

a girl drawing water from a well. He approached her and asked her

for a drink.

 

Maatangi replied, "My name is Prakriti [Nature]. I am a Chandala,

the daughter of Maatanga. Should I give you water?" Ananda said, "I

am not asking what your caste is, I am only asking for water." So she

gave him water, and watched the beautiful young man as he drank it,

falling in love with him.

 

To lure Ananda away from the monastic life, Maatangi asked her

mother, Mahavidya-dhari [is this name a mere coincidence?] to cast

a love-spell on him. Sure enough, Anada was lured to the lovely

Maatangi's bed, but at the last moment he prayed to the Buddha to

save him, and Maatangi's spell was broken.

 

Maatangi, outraged at her loss, went to the Buddha himself, and told

him that she still desired Ananda as a husband. To make a long story

short, the Buddha explained that her desire was a karmic attachment

(she and Ananda had been lovers in another life) and Maatangi

eventually became a Buddhist nun.

 

DKSESH ON THE BUDDHIST CONNECTION:

 

"To lure Ananda away from the monastic life, Maatangi asked her

mother, Mahavidya-dhari [is this name a mere coincidence?] to cast a

love-spell on him. Sure enough, Anada was lured to the lovely

Maatangi's bed, but at the last moment he prayed to the Buddha to

save him, and Maatangi's spell was broken."

 

I don't think its a co-incidence. :-) Regarding the buddist stories,

the Ananda, the maatangi, the daughter of maatanga, the maahavidya

all sound too much to be called a coincidence. I am sure it is more

symbolic a practicing saadhaaka on that particular path can explain

best.

 

DEVI BHAKTA ON BUDDHIST CONNECTION:

 

There is even more. The idea that Maatangi tried to force Ananda's

love by using a magic spell -- so powerful that it could only be

broken by the Buddha himself -- presages Maatangi's modern use by

lower Tantrics seeking siddhis [magical powers] from Her. She is,

after all, said to grant siddhis that enable Her devotees to control

others, particularly the opposite sex.

 

As for her mother the sorceress being being named "Mahavidya-dhari"

in the tale -- it certainly seems more than a coincidence that her

daughter would end up in Hindu form as a Mahavidya! But then again, a

legitimate translation of the mother's name would be simply "She who

is skilled in Great Mantras" -- which also fits the tale perfectly,

requiring no coincidences at all.

 

I, however, prefer to believe that there is a meaning behind almost

every coincidence!

 

The story I alluded is a VERY early Indian Buddhist legend (dating

from the first hundred years or so after the Buddha's death). In it,

we appear to have the first Sanskrit reference to an outcaste woman

named Maatangi, who possesses the power to control others. The

scholar David Kinsley speculates that this legend prefigures by 1,000

years or so the first appearance of a similarly outcaste Matangi as

one of Tantra's famous "Ten Mahavidyas" or "Ten Wisdom Goddesses."

It also suggests a possible continuity dating back to pre-Vedic or

pre-Aryan Indian Goddess cults.

 

In this legend, Maatangi identifies herself by telling Buddha's

disciple Ananda, "My name is Prakriti [Nature]. I am a Chandala

[outcaste tribal], the daughter of Maatanga [i.e. Maatangi]." Her

mother is called Mahavidyadhari.

 

For our members who are fans of the Bengali Nobel Laureate

Rabindranath Tagore, Tagore, in the early 20th century, reworked this

ancient legend into a nationalist-flavored play called "Chandalika"

(a feminine, diminutive grammatical form of Chandala). In this play,

the daughter is Prakriti (as in the Buddhist original), and the

mother is Maya.

 

DKSESH:

 

Is very significant. What it means is that the siddis are very

tempting. So a saadhaka could go very near to the extent of falling

into the trap. But then, the lord will bring in an awareness in the

saadhaka and the Ananda(also the joy) is saved by divine

consciousness. The mind with the power of siddi by itself also gets

purified by the goal and the path taken by the ananda. At the end the

maatangi and ananda are in the clear fold of Bhudda.

 

Assuming the bhuddist version is an extension/ corruption of the

vedantic version that existed before it, its quite significant and

quite true. So its not a co-incidence. Really. :-). The symbolism

could be more that what words can describe here. Since the tantra

does not differentiate between maya and brahman, then the perception

of the sadhaaka viewing traits varies a little from a vedanti. Was

trying to see how Maatangi fits into the whole picture and how the

One god concept is still retained.

 

Thanks again. I am of the view that all texts say the same thing. Its

just that the words differ and thereby the means appear to be

different. A vedantic on his nirvikalpa samaadhi will know that Maya

and brahman are teh same and also purusha and prakrithi are the same.

A tantrik at the end of his goal will also veer around the same

meaning and will know that it is the same.

 

To people who follow puranas to understand it, the maahishasura

mardhini story is very revealing. God emerge our of Durga and gods

merge in Durga. I am sure there cannot be a better example.

 

DEVI BHAKTA:

 

Just to further add to the Maatangi's "outsider" associations,

Kinsley notes as follows:

 

"In many festivals celebrating village goddesses in South India, a

low-caste woman called a 'maatangi' plays a central role. During the

festival, the 'maatangi' represents the goddess. Possessed by the

goddess, she dances wildly, uses obscene language, drinks

intoxicants, spits on spectators, and pushes people about with her

backside. She seems to take special delight in abusing members of the

high castes. During this festival an inversion of the usual social

codes and rules takes place. The 'maatangi' personifies social topsy-

turvy. Exactly what the connection might be between these low-caste

women and the goddess Maatangi is not clear."