oDDiyAna

[Stephen Hodge]

In reply to N. Ganesan:

Lokesh Candra's theory about O.d.diyaana are appealing as the point in
the right direction but there are facts that he fails to take into
considerations.   I have been researching the O.d.diyaana problem on
and off for the past ten years, using Chinese, Tibetan and Sanskrit
materials.  In the course of this research I have compiled a large
amount of data which I intend eventually to publish.  I append a few
of these below:

1.    Though there was an Udyaana in the Swat Valley area, detailed
Chinese records for the 7th and 8th centuries concerning this region
fail to convince me that this area had any importance in the
development of the Buddhist Tantras.

2.    The location of O.d.diyana is vital for an understanding of the
development of later Buddhist Tantras.  In particular, the role of the
three Indrabhuti Kings, ho are said to have reigned there, cannot be
ignored.

3.    There is an overlap in accounts of O.d.diyaana and the place
known in Tibetan as "Sa-hor" which lead one to think that they are
actually the same place.  Various theories have been advanced for the
meaning and location of Sa-hor.  I believe it is derived from the name
by which Munda people in Orissa/ Bihar/ Bengal refer to themselves.

4.    The land of O.d.diyaana is frequently spoken of as the land of
the .daki.nikii -- whom may originally be considered as shamanesses or
witches.  What Lokesh Chandra surprisingly does not mention are the
Dravidian terms for a "witch".

o.t.tiyam T / o.d.de Tel / o.d.di K / o.diyam M = O.dra
o.t.tiyam: a kind of witchcraft; a treatise thereon
o.t.tiyan:  a native of O.dra; a sorcerer, witch

O.dra is, of course, the old name for a part of Orissa.

One could perhaps say that O.d.diyaana is a punning name: O.dra = the
land of the witches.

5.    Detailed lists of the Shakta pii.thas include O.d.diyaana among
other places in Orissa.  Sircar thinks that such mention is due to
scribal error since he is adamant that O.d.diyaana was in the Swat
Valley and thus refuses to consider that O.dra and O.d.diyaana are the
same place.

6.    Careful analysis of the Biographies of the 84 Siddhas also
points to Orissa as the location of O.d.diyaana.

I obviously have much more data but the above is enough for a start.


> Aside: 1500 yrs. old Tantric and Buddhist works exist in Tamil,
> though not well known to Indological scholarship. Not yet, at least.

I have been trying to track down concrete details about this -- it in
part lies behind my reecent requests for info about Classical Tamil.
I am told on good authority that there is definitely Buddhist Tantric
material in Tamil at Mysore University library quietly rotting away.
If true, it may be possible to interest, say, Japanese fund-holders to
help in the preservation and/or micro-filming of this material.

Best wishes,
Stephen Hodge