All that is gold does not glitter.
JRR Tolkien Is the bustling streets of Kathmandu, circa 1995, I embarked on a casual stroll. Freshly appointed as a lecturer at the Nepal Sanskrit University, my return from India had brought with it a sense of homecoming. As I meandered through the vibrant city, an encounter awaited me that would resonate through time.
Amidst the numerous alleyways (gallis) and the chaotic symphony of the city, I stumbled upon a beggar, one among the many that inhabit the streets of Kathmandu. His presence was unremarkable amidst the sea of humanity, yet one thing set him apart the vessel he held out as he begged, a tarnished golden pot, the gleam of its purity now obscured by layers of dirt and grime.
Driven by curiosity, I approached the beggar, and with a compassionate smile, I inquired about the origins of his unusual beggar's bowl. The man's eyes, worn by life's hardships, held an air of bewilderment as he began to recount its story. It was a relic from his family, an heirloom passed down through generations, a vessel to which he had been tethered by fate. However, the beggar remained oblivious to its true nature, ignorant of the treasure that had been clutched within his soiled fingers.
Intrigued by his tale and sensing the potential value of this seemingly ordinary pot, I decided to act. With a gentle determination, I suggested that we pay a visit to a local goldsmith, a venerable craftsman skilled in discerning the authenticity and worth of precious metals.
At the goldsmith's humble workshop, the beggar relinquished his cherished pot. The old goldsmith, with an expert eye honed by years of discerning authenticity, meticulously examined the vessel. His verdict was unequivocal-the beggar's humble pot was indeed crafted from gold.
Stunned and overcome with emotions he had never known, the beggar's life was drastically changed. The golden pot, a silent testament to the legacy of his family, now held the promise of a better life. It was traded for a sum that the man had never ever dreamt of. With new found wealth, the beggar transitioned from the dusty, worn streets of Kathmandu to a life of comfort and security. He embraced opportunities that once seemed distant dreams, and in doing so, proved that fate, when coupled with unexpected kindness, could rewrite the chapters of one's life in the most remarkable ways. The begging pot, once understood to be gold beneath its layers of grime, had become the catalyst for an extraordinary transformation.
Now, the question naturally arises: why, at this particular moment, does this tale re-emerge from the halls of my memory? The answer, I dare say, lies in the very text that graces the pages of this volume, i.c. our Svayambhū Purana. It, too, languished in a condition akin to the beggar's pot, concealed and unimposing due to the veils of accumulated grime and neglect, at least in philology's eye. The manuscripts and their earlier Sanskrit renditions, tainted by layers and layers of textual inaccuracies and corruptions, rendered this inherently valuable text into an object seemingly bereft of literary value.
Yet, as fate would have it, our dearest friend from China, the esteemed Madam Dongmei Zhang from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences recognized the true gold concealed within those seemingly flawed verses of the text. She had understood that there lied an inherent value and richness in the text, and as such, her heart was set on unveiling its treasures to a broader audience through a Chinese translation.
The Svayambhu Purana and Its Date of Composition.
Tue Svayambhu Purana (henceforth referred to as the SvP) is a text of utmost importance in Nepalese Buddhism, focusing on the magnification of the shrine of Svayambhu, which serves as one of the central points of veneration for Buddhists in Kathmandu. Perched atop a hill west of Kathmandu, this majestic shrine draws thousands of worshippers who offer prayers and donations throughout the year.
Historians maintain that the Svayambhu shrine had acquired paramount importance among Buddhists by the onset of the Malla period in the thirteenth century. In fact, historical records indicate that even as early as 1041 CE, during the era of the renowned monk Atisa, the Svayambhu pilgrimage served as a compelling excuse for monks to depart from their monastic abodes and embark on a prolonged journey to the Nepal Valley. This attests to the enduring significance and allure of the Svayambhu as a sacred and revered pilgrimage site for at least the last 1,000 years. Given the millennium-long glory of the Svayambhu, it is safe to believe that there must have been various legends surrounding the revered shrine, most likely circulating orally for generations. However, a written form was needed to bestow the sanctity and authority of the Buddha's word upon the celebrated legends. This is where the Svayambhu Purana comes in, with its rich tapestry of local lore, religion and anthropology woven into a grand cosmic context.
This text of the Svayambhu Purana claims to have been delivered as a sermon by Sakyamuni Buddha on Manjusrī Hill. However, some scholars believe that it was actually written (or compiled) during the reign of King Yaksa Malla, at the beginning of the fifteenth century, shortly after Kathmandu became a separate city state. Others push the date of composition towards the sixteenth century, contextualizing the work against the backdrop of the Mughal invasion of India. They argue that, in the wake of the dissolution of Buddhism's Indian stronghold, the Nepal Valley (present-day Kathmandu) became a haven for the practice of Sanskrit-based Buddhism. Subsequently, Newars, the inhabitants of the Nepal Valley, were faced with the intricate task of localizing and recalibrating the grand Buddhist lineage, now severed from its Indian pilgrimage sites, erudite academies, maritime trade routes, and political patronage. Such an argument might simultaneously explain the Svayambhu Purana's raison d'être and its collocation in the time frame of the sixteenth century. An evidence in favour of this argument is the fact that the oldest extant copy of the text dates back to the 1558 CE. Nevertheless, no decisive answer has been provided to the elusive question of the Svayambhu Purana's date of composition.
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