[...]... exaggerations but also on account of the extravagance in the praise of bhakti,” parts of the Mahåvastu, a non-Mahåyåna work describing the life and past lives of the Buddha, as well as Mahåyåna s£tras such as the Saddharmapu¶Âarƒka and the Kåra¶Âavy£ha itself, “remind us of the sectarian purå¶as.”11 He might, too, have added that the use of stories and myths in works such as the Lalitavistara, the Mahåvastu... instance, presents a Íaivite version of the teaching In the s£tra, the cosmic form of the Buddhist ƒßvara is expressed anew in Mahåyåna terms The amazing attributes of Avalokiteßvara’s body mimic those of Samantabhadra, the great bodhisattva of the Avataµsaka S£tra, a debt that the Kåra¶Âavy£ha explicitly acknowledges by alluding several times to Samantabhadra and even, at one point, describing a kind... of the bodhisattva, from his first appearance under the original name of Avalokitasvara as an attendant of the Buddhas Amitåbha and Íåkyamuni, to his emergence as the supreme Buddhist ƒßvara Chapter 4 examines the similarities—and differences—between the treatment of Oµ Ma¶ipadme H£µ in the Kåra¶Âavy£ha S£tra and the treatment of Nama˙ Íivåya in Íaivite texts (principally the Skanda Purå a and Íiva... strongly apparent in the s£tra Third, as we shall see, the s£tra gives Avalokiteßvara some of the characteristics of Samantabhadra,51 the great bodhisattva of the Avataµsaka S£tra, a work whose origins are associated with the Central Asian regions bordering Kashmir.52 Finally, it is not very far from Kashmir to Khotan, from whence the Kåra¶Âavy£ha S£tra may first have reached Tibet.53 Scholars working in the. .. Bhagavadgƒtå There, Arjuna “sees” (paßyati) a cosmic form of the ƒßvara K®˚ a that contains the whole universe and is then taught the doctrine of bhakti as a means of making this experience his own By the time the Kåra¶Âavy£ha S£tra was constructed, of course, the theology of the Bhagavadgƒtå was common to both the Vai˚¶avite and the Íaivite tradition alike The so-called Ïßvaragƒtå of the K£rma Purå a, ... kind of duel a samådhi Introduction 7 contest (samådhivigraha)—between the two bodhisattvas, which Avalokiteßvara, naturally, wins Just as the Bhagavadgƒtå promotes bhakti, through the use of the Vedic pra¶ava Oµ, as a means of entering the vision of the Vai˚¶avite ƒßvara, so the Kåra¶Âavy£ha promotes the nåmånusm®ti of the Buddhist pra¶ava Oµ Ma¶ipadme H£µ as a means of entering the vision of the Buddhist... Kåra¶Âavy£ha reflects a close interaction between Buddhism and Íaivism The use of Vårå¶asƒ, the great Íaivite city, as the backdrop to the drama of the s£tra, may surely be seen simply as a symbolic means of acknowledging the confluence of the two traditions Similarly, the use of Magadha as a location for the action of the s£tra may merely be a way of linking the activity of Avalokiteßvara to the holy land... the Pali jåtakas, as part of the Mahåvastu and as part of the Divyåvadåna.12 The same basic theme is also reproduced in the Saddharmapu¶Âarƒka S£tra, where those who have set off onto the ocean in search of treasure and who have been blown onto the shore of råk˚asƒs are among those who are said to be protected by calling on the name of Avalokiteßvara.13 Another chapter in the Kåra¶Âavy£ha, however,... occurrences of the myth, twenty-four of which are taken from thirteen different purå¶as The remaining six come from the great epics: three from the Mahåbhårata, one from the Råmåya a and two from the Harivaµ a, the long poem that is regarded as a supplement to the Mahåbhårata, describing the life of the Vai˚¶avite avatåra K®˚ a. 19 Approximately half of all these are really only allusions to the story,... gang ba cig snod du babs pa).15 There is no such thing, surely, as a “basket” made of crystal The Kåra¶Âavy£ha S£tra, then is a “casket” containing the “magnificent array” of the manifestations and works of Avalokiteßvara The implication of this title is that the s£tra is comparable, in its function, to a relic casket, which may then be made an object of homage This is consistent with the fact that the . Avalokiteßvara’s body mimic those of Samantabhadra, the great bodhisattva of the Avataµsaka S£tra, a debt that the Kåra¶Âavy£ha explicitly acknowledges by alluding several times to Samantabhadra and. the evolution of the bodhisattva, from his first appearance under the original name of Avalokitasvara as an attendant of the Buddhas Amitåbha and Íåkyamuni, to his emergence as the supreme Buddhist ƒßvara. Chapter. the time the Kåra¶Âavy£ha S£tra was constructed, of course, the theology of the Bhagavadgƒtå was common to both the Vai˚¶avite and the Íaivite tra- dition alike. The so-called Ïßvaragƒtå of the