Maps and Illustrations ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xv
Pronunciation and Orthographic Guide xvii
1 Introduction: A Plethora of Premises 1
Habits of the Heart, Deductive Premises, and Buddhist
Inhibitions 7
Petrarch’s Method: Artes Historicae in the Renaissance 15
Tropes, Heuristics, and Other Dangerous Things 22
2 Prayers in the Palace, Swords in the Temple:
Early Medieval India 25
The Occlusion of the Medieval 26
Early Medieval Political and Military Events 30
The Culture of Military Opportunism 62
Aesthetics and the Apotheosis of Kingship 68
Feudalization of Divinity 71
Conclusion: Early Medieval Vitality 74
3 The Medieval Buddhist Experience 75
Guilds, Commerce, and Political Legitimacy 77
Politics, Patronage, and Ethics—The Loss of Kuntala
and Andhrapatha 83
Medieval Women’s Buddhism—Hidden from View or
Missing in Action? 91
Contents
A Loss of Footing: The Agenda of Skepticism 99
Looking Elsewhere for Direction: The Turn to Epistemology 102
Big Important Monasteries—Administrators in Maroon Robes 105
Conclusion: A Tradition Under Duress 111
4 The Victory of Esoterism and the Imperial Metaphor 113
Chronology: The Seventh-Century Beginning 116
Becoming the Rajadhiraja—The Central Mantrayana Metaphor 118
Mandalas and Fields of Plenty 131
Becoming the Institution 144
Monks and Their Rituals 153
Sacralization of the Domain 160
Conclusion: Esoteric Buddhism as Sacralized Samanta
Feudalism 166
5 Siddhas and the Religious Landscape 169
Some Siddha Social Models 171
First Moments in Siddha Identity 173
saiva and sakta Ascetic Orders 177
Marginal Siddha Topography 187
Religious Relations: The Agonistic Landscape 191
Buddhist Siddhas and the Vidyadharas 194
Chronological Concerns and saiva Exchanges 202
Indian Sacred Geography 206
Siddha Divinities—Bhairava and Heruka 211
Kapalika-Buddhist Conversions 217
The Other Saivas: The Pasupatas 218
Siddhas in the Tribal Landscape 224
Conclusion: A Complex Terrain 233
6 Siddhas, Literature, and Language 236
Regional Towns and the Lay Siddha 237
The Hidden Scriptures 239
From Transmission to Reception 245
The Buddha’s Talking Skull Excites Women, Kills Snakes,
and Belches a Book 247
Everything You Know Is Wrong 252
The Magic Decoder: The Construct of Coded Language 257
VI ⁄ CONTENTS
Coded Language as Secret Ritual Words 262
Secret Sacred Sociolinguistics 269
Extreme Language and Comedy in the Tantras 277
Conclusion: The Literature of Perfection 290
7 Siddhas, Monks, and Communities 293
Siddha Mandalas, Circles of Goddesses 294
Siddhas in a Circle, Siddhas in a Line, Siddhas in a Mob 303
Hagiographical Communities: Buddhajñanapada’s Travels 309
Gatherings and Ganacakras—The Ritual Community 318
Rules of Order 322
Self-Criticism and Correction 327
The Imperial Metaphor Reconsidered:
Becoming the Vidyadhara-Cakravartin 330
Conclusion: It’s a Siddha’s Life 334
8 Conclusion:The Esoteric Conundrum 336
Appendix:
Probable Pasupata Sites 341
Glossary 345
Notes 349
Abbreviations 417
Bibliography 419
Indic and Ostensibly Indic Tibetan Sources 419
Chinese Sources 434
Indigenous Tibetan Sources 435
Archaeological and Epigraphic Materials 438
General Modern Sources 444
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