Edition and Translation of the Buddhakapālatantra and Abhayākaragupta’s Abhayapaddhati
The Buddhakapālatantra, an important text of the yoginītantra class, was at the height of its popularity in the 11th and 12th centuries. A special characteristic of this tantra is the prominence of gāruḍa, methods for curing snake-bite, recalling theGāruḍatantras of the Śaiva tradition. No edition of the Buddhakapālatantra has been published, and to date little research has been done on it.
Of the three known Indian commentaries on the Buddhakapālatantra, one of the most important is the Abhayapaddhati by Abhayākaragupta, the well-known twelfth-century Indian Buddhist master. This is one of only two direct commentaries on the basic tantras written by Abhayākaragupta.
A project to prepare the first critical edition of these two central yoginītantra works has been initiated as a cooperation between the China Tibetology Research Centre and the Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies at the University of Hamburg.
The manuscripts and sources employed in preparing the editions include:
- two MSS of the Buddhakapālatantra preserved in China
- two MSS of the Abhayapaddhati preserved in China
- an incomplete MS of the Abhayapaddhati preserved in Nepal
- an incomplete MS of the Abhayapaddhati preserved in Calcutta
- fragments of a MS of the Buddhakapālatantra kept at Cambridge University Library
- an incomplete MS of the Buddhakapālatantra reported in Dhīḥ 43
Work on this project is governed by the terms of an agreement between the China Tibetology Research Centre (中国藏学研究中心) and the Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies at the University of Hamburg.
The researchers working on the edition are: Mei Yang, Prof. Harunaga Isaacson,
Dr. Xuezhu Li (李学竹), Dr. Hong Luo (罗鸿), Prof. Sang Dhak, and Lumtsho.