Azfar Aziz is a poet, musician, writer, translator, and journalist. He is also a seeker of truth and an avid reader of philosophies and theologies including Sufism, Buddhist Sahajiya, Vaishnav Sahajiya, Nathism, Baul movement, yoga and tantra.
IntroductionThe great Siddha Yogi Kanipa was one of the most remarkable personalities amongst the Mahasiddhas of the Tantric traditions of India and Tibet. In different stories he appears under various names, such as Kṛṣnacharya, Kṛṣnapada, Kanhupada, Kanpha, Kanha-pa, Kanha, Acharya Charyapa, Kaniphanath, Kanari-nath, Kanupa and more. He was the chief disciple of Natha Siddha Jalandhari Nath and a contemporary of the famous Sidhacharya Goraksh Nath, whom he had met a few times.
Kanhupada is considered a highly influential Yogi in the Indian Saiva tradition of Nath Yogis as well as in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of Vajrayana. Both the traditions agree that he was a prominent Siddha Yogi and, at the same time, a most erudite man having a large number of disciples.LegendsThere are three main legends circulating about him, each considerably different from the others. One of them is an oral tradition coursing as folklore amongst the Natha Yogis. The second legend was presented in the book Chaturasiti-siddha-pravṛitti, where he is listed as the 17th of the 84 Mahasiddhas. The third variation of his biography was presented by Lama Taranatha in two of his books -- ‘The Seven Instruction Lineages’ and ‘The Live of Kṛṣnacharya/Kanha.’
In the Natha version of his story he is shown as being a very powerful but arrogant Natha Yogi, who on a few occasions contradicts the highly revered master Goraksh Nath.
In the second tradition, Kanupa is shown as a Vajrayana Siddha and a disciple of Jalandharipa, who initiated him into Hevajra Mandala Sadhana. By practising it, he attained extraordinary Yogic powers that made him a little arrogant and prone to show them off indiscriminately. At the end, he was punished for his arrogance by a Dakini, whose fatal curse caused him to die. There is no mention of Guru Goraksh Nath in this second tale. Both these stories differ in some aspects while having some common elements. .BiographyAs is common with the most Siddhas, there are few reliable sources of information about Kanhupada’s birth place and family. According to the book Chaturasiti-siddha-pravṛitti, he was born to a Brahmin family at a place called Soma-puri. His spiritual journey began as a monk at Somapuri Vihara (modern Pahaṛpur in Rajshahi) built by King Deva Pala. Later, he was initiated into the Hevajra Mandala Sadhana by Jalandharipa. It is said he practised the Hevajra Mandala Sadhana for more than 12 years before achieving success. He had a large following and thousands of disciples whom he initiated ‘into the mysteries of Varahi without head,’ or Vajra-varahi with her consort Sri Heruka.
The second geographical marking is found in the same book, where he undertook a missionary travel to Sri Lanka, accompanied by three thousands of his disciples. After this, he went to a place called Salaputra, in accordance with the text, ‘the place of Jalandhara, where King Dharmapala ruled.’ About his death, it is told that he died at the house of Dakini Mandhe in a city about a hundred Yojanas east of Somapuri.
The most extensive account of his life was given by the famous Tibetan historian Lama Taranatha in two of his works -- ‘The Seven Instruction Lineages’ and ‘Live of Kṛṣnacharya/Kanha,’ which vary in details from what we have read above. In the book the Seven Instruction Lineages, the author says, according to the popular belief of the Tibetans of his time, Kanhupada aka Kṛṣnachari was born in the country called Karna, while in accordance with the oral tradition of Natha Yogis of that time, he was born in the city of Padyanagar, also called Vidyanagar or Vijayanagar. “Furthermore, as Vidyanagar is quite close to Karna, the early Tibetan accounts appear to be quite similar to the Indian oral accounts.”
While in the Natha folklore Kanipha is not as greatly venerated as Gorakshnath due to his theological strife with the latter, the Vajrayana tradition of Tibet and Sahaja tradition of Bengal place him quite high on the list of their Acharyas (literally principal professors) and reverently called him ‘Panḍit-acharya’ and 'Acharya Charyapa.' In some regional legends, he is even shown as superior to Goraksh Nath.
His name stands at least on two important lists of Vajrayana Acharyas in line of ‘transmission of knowledge,’ -- one is associated with the initiation in Saṁvara and the other into Hevajra lineages. The first list mentioned in the book ‘History of Buddhism in Tibet’ by Sumpa-mkhan-po-Yeshes shows the lineage of transmission which was accepted by the Sakyapa Sect of Tibetan Buddhism. In accordance with it, Dorje Chang, also known as Deity Vajradhara, tops the list. After him comes Vajrapani, who is another celestial guru. Then comes Mahasiddha Saraha, followed by Nagarjuna, Savari, Lūipa, Vajraghanta, Kacchapada, Jalandhara, Kanha, Guhya, Vijayapada, Tilopa, Naropa, Phum-mthing the elder, Ngag-dVang-Grags-pa or Ngag-dVang-Phyūg, Ngag-gi-dVang-phyug, gLag-Skya-Shes-rab-brtregs, and Sakyapa Hierarh Phag-pa.
There exists one more variation of the list, according to which Mahasiddha Saraha comes first, followed by Nagarjuna, Savari, Lūipa, Darikapa, Vajraghanta, Kurmapa, Jalandhara, Kanha, Guhyapa, Vijaya, Tilopa, Naropa, Santipa, Maitripa, Pham thing, Bodhibhadra, Vagisvarakirti, and Marpa. This list of succession was adopted by Sakyapa Hierarh Phags Pa and identified in the Blue Annals as Saraha’s Samvara lineage of Mar mdo.
In the lineage of Hevajra transmission, in accordance with Taranatha, first comes Sakyamuni, then Indrabhūti, Mahapadmavajra, Anaṅgavajra, Saroruha, Indrabhūti younger, Jalandhara, Kanha, Bhadrapa, Tilopa, and Naropa.
The name of Kanhapa also appears in a few more lineages of transmissions of the Tantric traditions of Vajrayana where the names of such great Siddhas as Tilopa and Naropa follow his name on the list of great Siddhas and Acharyas recognized amongst the founders of another sect of Tibetan Buddhism -- Karma Kagyu.Kanhupada as a poet and writerIt is believed that he authored a number of books on Tantra, and according to Tibetan sources his name is usually closely associated with the Chakrasamvara Tanra, about which it is said that it was lost and later recovered by Kanhupa. Both he and his guru Jalandharipa have their respected places in the lineage of the gurus in the Tibetan Tantric tradition as exponents of the Hevajra Sadhana, an important element of the Vajrayana tradition. As it was mentioned before, according to the Chaturasiti-siddha-pravṛitti, Kanhupa was initiated into the Hevajra Mandala Sadhana by Jalandharipa. Jalandharipa, it is said, wrote at least two commentaries on Hevajra Tantra called Hevajra-sadhana and Shuddhipradip. Kṛṣnacharya or Kanhupa is credited with the composition of many more books among which Hevajra-pañjika and Yoga-ratnamala are the most famous. There are a few more of his works collected in the Tanjur part of the Tibetan cannon. They are Hevajranamaha-tantrarajadvikalpa-maya-pañjika smṛtinibandha, Hevajra-ṣoḍaṣa-bhuja-sadhana, Sri Hevajraikavirasadhana, Hevajra-sadhana-tattvodyotakaranama, Sri Hevajra-sastra-vṛtti-manḍala-bidhi, and Hevajra-homa-bidhi.
It is said that in the Tibetan book collection called Tanjur there are six works on philosophy and 74 on Tantric subjects attributed to Kṛṣnacharya or Kanhupa. Most of those books were written in Sanskrit and six in old Apabhraṁsa dialect. Those which are written in Apabhraamsa are Kanhapadagitika, Mahaḍunḍanamūl, Vasantatilaka, Asaṁbanddha Dṛṣṭi, Vajragiti, and a few songs in Doha Koṣa.
Kanhupa, under the name Kanhupada, also has a prominent place in the Sahaja tradition of Bengal as one of its Siddha Acharyas who are considered the first poets who wrote in old Bengali (Apabhraṁsa dialect). His Dohas found in the book Charyapadas or Charyagiti are believed to be one of the oldest books in Bengali, amongst compositions of other Siddha Acharyas. Out of the 50 Dohas/Charyas included in the Charyagiti, the highest number, 13, were composed by Kanhupa. Those Dohas are now widely accepted as original and written personally by him, encoding various aspects of his theological and spiritual teachings.Yab-YumKanhupada advocated the doctrine of the male-female union called Yuganaddha (in Tibetan Yab-Yum) in the Tantric Vajrayana tradition. It seems that he was one of the pioneers who were trying to introduce the Saiva idea of the union of Siva and Sakti in the Buddhist circles for which it was known at that time as Yuganaddha (union) of Sri Heruka and Vajravarahi or Prajña and Upaya.CharyagitiAs songs of realisation, the charyas were intended to be sung. These songs of realisation were spontaneously composed verses that express a practitioner’s experience of the enlightened state. Miranda Shaw describes how 'songs of realization were an element of the ritual gathering of practitioners in a Ganachakra: “The feast culminates in the performance of Tantric dances and music that must never be disclosed to outsiders. The revellers may also improvise "songs of realisation" (Charyagiti) to express their heightened clarity and blissful raptures in spontaneous verse.
Here follows three samples of Kanhupada's poetry translated by this writer.Charya 10Raag Deshakh
Outside the village, O Dombi, lies your hut.
You go merely touching the shaven-headed Brahmins.
But O Dombi, I will make love to you,
For Kanhu, a naked Kapalik, has no revulsion.
There is a lotus of sixty-four petals.
On it dances the Dombi.
O Dombi, let me ask you a question in earnest:
On whose boat do you come and go?
You neither sell fabric nor the basket,
While you spread a bamboo mat for me!
For you I have discarded my box of props.
You see, Dombi, for your sake
This Kapalik has worn a necklace of bones.
You drive into the lake and eat lotus roots.
I shall kill you, O Dombi, and take your life.Charya 19Raag Vairab
Samsara and Nirvana are the tabor and the drum,
The mind and the breath are the flute and the cymbal.
To the rhythm of Dunduvi, rises the cry of bravo, bravo,
Kanhupa is going to marry the Dombi!
By wedding the Dombi, he has become twice-born,
And for a dowry he has received the unparalleled abode.
Now, days and nights pass in love making,
And nights are spent in the circles of Yoginis.
Any Yogi who loves the Dombi, the Sahaja-mad,
Never leaves her, even for a moment.Charya 36Raag Patamanjori
The void is my home,
There my store of illusions is all destroyed by sword.
He sleeps without considering self and non-self,
Naked Kanhu sleeps in Sahaja.
Senses are not, neither is pain,
Achieving everything, he sleeps happily.
I dreamt that the three worlds are empty,
The cycle of coming and going has stopped.
I shall hold Jalandharipa as my witness,
As the pundits can’t see me as free of fetters.
