dakinis of bhuddist and hindu tantras

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The word dakini is translated as women who dance in

the sky or interpretable as women who revel in the

freedom of emptiness. Hence invariably their bodies

are depicted curved in sinuous dance poses.

 

Iconographic representations tend to show the dakini as a

young, naked figure in a dancing posture, often holding a

skull cup filled with menstrual blood or the elixir of life in

one hand, and a curved knife in the other. She may wear a

garland of human skulls, with a trident staff leaning

against her shoulder. Her hair is usually wild and hanging

down her back, and her face often wrathful in expression,

as she dances on top of a corpse, which represents her

complete mastery over ego and ignorance. Practitioners

often claim to hear the clacking of her bone adornments

as the dakinis indulge in their vigorous movement. Indeed

these unrestrained damsels appear to revel in freedom of

every kind.

Contemplation of the dakini icon makes one conscious that their

essential trait is dynamism. As

with all Buddhist imagery this too has to be interpreted in an

allegorical manner. The vigorous

restlessness of the dakini is nothing but the cyclical and rhythmic

vibrancy of Mother Nature herself. According to Iris Stewart,

noted scholar of feminine spirituality "The rhythms that make up a

woman's body are the same rhythms that make up the dance of the

Universe; when we feel the two as one, we know we are a part of

nature." As the seasons change, as the cosmos vibrates with

resounding resonance, giving rise to the energetic and active

intensity that characterizes the harmonies making up our existence,

so does a woman, the quintessential microcosm of the creative

aspect of the universe, rejuvenate herself through her monthly cycle

of periods.

It is in the same context that the dakini carries in her hands the

skull cup full of menstrual fluids. Often this cup is raised to the

level of her mouth, as if she intends to partake it.

This realization shocks us into the awareness of the severity of the

dakini's message, namely that

of negating the archaic customs which deem this female fluid as

polluting and taboo. The curved

knife she holds in the other hand is for annihilating these very

restrictive customs. What should be

an eternal reminder of the identification of the feminine with the

divine, through bodily processes

which are but natural to her, have been relegated to a degraded

status. Thus the wrath of this

primordial female figure must be grasped and understood not as a

retribution which inspires fear

and submission, but as a powerful and constructive force, a

facilitator for change and

understanding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buddhism is a positive religion, if ever there was one.

Though the graphic symbolism of the dakini jolts us into

a comprehension of the spiritual superiority of women,

nevertheless an important element of dakini iconography

subtly reminds us of the presence of the masculine in her

composite buildup. The tantric shaft, known in Tibetan as

the khatvanga, which she very conveniently tucks under

one of her arms, is a symbol of masculinity.

Thus the message is brought across that nature is complete when male

and female essences co-exist,

each is incomplete without the other. None of the two is an island.

An existence striving to

live in resonance with the harmonies of nature must accept this fact,

and bring about the necessary

transformations required, if they do not already exist, to achieve

this wholeness.

The preferred language of Tantric Buddhist scriptures is either

Sanskrit or Tibetan, both well

known and accessible. A particular class of texts said to have

emanated from the dakinis were

however guarded with great secrecy. Written warnings on the texts

ensured that access to these

kinds of teachings should be limited only to those able to understand

their meaning and to

maintain the required degree of discretion concerning their contents.

In fact, texts said to have

been revealed by dakinis, were believed to be written in the 'dakini

spirit,' a kind of secret

language, and these texts highly prized for their esoteric nature.

This language was referred to as the twilight language. Now twilight

is a threshold symbol, the

ambivalent region between one state and another. Thus we can be sure

that associating such a

language with the dakinis was done with a deeper motive. A majority

of scholars believe that the

use of such a mystical and secret language is parallel to the

identification of women with the

unknown in nature, and her body as a metaphor for the mysteries of

the world. They see woman

as the vessel of primary creative and spiritual powers. For the

revelation of this enigma man must

'penetrate' into its innermost essence. In other words, read the

truth written on the female body.

A profound application of these principles is found in the texts

written in the twilight language

and consisting of only a single syllable. Such texts could be grasped

by practitioners only through

the good offices of a guru trained in the lineage of that particular

tradition. The secret of the text

was transferred from the guru's mouth to the disciple's ear.

Essentially, the notion was of a

symbolic language, whose musical sound could not only be heard

mystically by advanced

meditators, but whose elaborate meaning could be condensed into a

single and mystical

hieroglyph. The Guru himself was believed to have received the sacred

texts through the

whispered voices of the dakini, known popularly as the Dakini's warm

breath.

The question here remains of the nature of this mysterious and sacred

language. The whole

concept of a kind of language which is associated in this way with

the sacred feminine, and which is both symbolic and indecipherable

in conventional terms is open to a number of interpretations.

A logical and coherent initiative is that of scholar June Campbell

who suggests that this language

is one which a child experiences inside the womb. Modern research has

shown that sound, and

especially the mother's voice, plays a very important part in the

development of a child. There is a

link too between the experience of sound which the baby has, not only

in the womb, but also in its

first year of life, through the closeness to the mother's actual

heart, where the sound of the

heartbeat is reminiscent of the sound of the drum, an instrument

closely associated with the

dakini. Campbell at the same place asserts that beyond our individual

experience as men and

women, there exists a unitary experience of humanity which does not

take into account sexuality.

We are in this primordial state while we float in the mother's womb,

and it is only after our

psychic separation from the mother are we initiated into the world of

duality. This state in other

words is the twilight state.

Indeed the actual physiology of a woman's body allows for a very real

kind of invasion of her

distinct physical boundaries, or the penetration of her mysteries,

through intercourse, pregnancy

and breast-feeding. These three physical functions give a woman a

unique experience of the

paradoxical relationship between subject and object. Through these

three archetypal acts of

intimacy she dissolves the very dualities of object and subject. Two

lovers engaged in the ultimate

union or the mother tending to her child are the ultimate acts of

fusion. Similar is the question of

her secret language often composed of only a single syllable as

mentioned above. In this language

there exists no duality. Linguistic duality is essentially composed

of word and its meaning. By

restricting her sacred language to a single syllable the dakini

annihilates with one quick

masterstroke the whole ambiguity inherent in conventional languages.

This is similar to the

dissertation which suggests that the first alphabet of the Rig Veda,

the world's most ancient text,

contains within itself the combined spirituality of the whole corpus

of Vedic literature.

The language of the dakinis help us escape the paralyzing

discourse of dualities, and recognize the fundamental

principle of the unity of all entities. In this manner does

the dakini makes us relate to her physical presence,

through a grounding in her bodily functions, which serve

to annihilate boundaries and elude the ordinary

constraints of gender. This is why she often carries the

tantric shaft with her. Though she is female, her

femininity is definable only in relation to the male, as his

masculinity is prescribable only in her context.

Having enlightened us thus the dakini nevertheless

continues her vigorous dance in the void or emptiness

characterized by the sky. While doing so her hands

spread out, engaged in various incessant and peppy

dance gestures. Doing so she maps out her own space

and domain, and carves out her own sacred mandala.

Thus asserting that though she confirms her identification

with the male of the species she is not be taken for granted nor

imposed upon, the blazing fires

behind her ever ready to consume the enemies of the Dharma.

 

 

This article by Nitin Kumar

Editor

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