bhaTa and naTa

[Peter Wyzlic]

On Sat, Nov 13, 1999 at 03:26:56PM +0100, James Mallinson wrote:
>
> There is a section in the text which describes physical
> problems that may arise for the yogin who aspires to
> khecarIsiddhi. These are grouped into two types, those of
> bhaTa, "mercenary" or "soldier", and those of naTa, "dancer" or
> "actor". I have not found a similar pairing of these names
> "elsewhere.  They perhaps refer to the two different types of
> "sAdhaka to whom the problems can occur.
>
> Monier-Williams (1899: 525) lists naTabhaTikAvihAra and
> naTabhaTikA, both meaning "temple of NaTa and BhaTa'', as
> Buddhist terms, with NaTa and BhaTa being two brothers who had
> the temple built.
>
> In HindI, bhaT can mean "misfortune, curse" (McGregor 1993:
> 757) while the Sanskrit root naT can mean "to hurt or injure"
> (M-W ibid.).
>
> Does anyone on the list know more about M-W's two Buddhist
> brothers or have any other ideas about bhaTa and naTa?

For na.tabha.tikaa it seems Monier-Williams depends on
Böhtlingk/Roth's Sanskrit dictionary; in vol. 4, s.v. na.ta
you'll find some references.  For the Azokaavadaana reference
there see PaMzupradaanaavadaana, Divyaavadaana No 26 ed.
Cowell/Neill, p.  349: Mathuraayaam ... Na.to Bha.taz ca dvau
bhraatarau shresh.thinau bhavishyata.h | tau Rurumu.n.daparvate
vihaaraM pratish.thaapayishyata.h | tasya Na.tabha.tiketi
sa.mj~naa bhavishyati...
        Na.tabha.tikaa is mentioned again on p. 356 (same Avadaana)
and in the Ku.naalaavadaana, same ed., p. 385. See also Edgerton,
BHSD, s.v. na.tabha.tikaa.

Sujitkumar Mukhopadhyaya reads in his edition of the same in all
cases Urumu.n.da- instead of Rurumu.n.da- (The Azokaavadaana.
Ed. by S. Mukhopadhyaya. New Delhi 1963).

Na.ta and Bha.ta seem to be the founders of a monastery near
Mathura. Prima facie, I think, it will be difficult to connect
these names with the Hathayoga terms.

Peter Wyzlic

--
Peter Wyzlic
Indologisches Seminar der Universitaet Bonn
Regina-Pacis-Weg 7
D-53113 Bonn