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Śivasvāmin's Kapphiṇābhyudaya is a fascinating work of epic court poetry
(mahākāvya) from 9th-century Kashmir, a product of a highly-developed
intellectual culture. This poem builds upon a Buddhist theme, the campaign of
the southern king Kapphiṇa against his northern rival Prasenajit. The latter,
a Buddhist, calls the Buddha for help when his army is about to be defeated in
the decisive battle. The Buddha appears on the battle field, and magically
reverts the tide of the battle. Defeated, Kapphiṇa stands in awe and embraces
Buddhism.
The penultimate 19th canto of the poem is Kapphiṇa's praise of the Buddha. It
is composed using the device of Bhāṣāśleṣa, i.e. it can be read in two
languages simultaneously, Sanskrit and Śaurasenī Prakrit, with different
meanings. This feat requires the text to be highly artificial and enigmatic.
As so far no commentary on the poem had been available, it has been an unsolved
mystery, leading to different theories being proposed, such as being a
simultaneous Buddha- and Śivastotra. A manuscript of a commentary composed by
Bhikṣu Tathāgata Indrasiṃha, a Buddhist monastic, has survived in Tibet. Copies
of it have recently become available and the text is being edited.
In his treatment of the Sanskrit text of KA 19.11, discussing the word moha,
“delusion,” concepts discussed also in Pātañjalayogaśāstra 2.5, which deals
with avidyā, are being picked up by the commentator: The misconceptions of
eternality in the ephemeral, of happiness in suffering, of purity in foulness
and finally of the self in the non-self. Particularly the last two terms being
problematic in a Buddhist context. The paper will discuss the treatment of
these four sets in the commentaries to the PYŚ, among others Vācaspatimiśra's
Tattvavaiśāradī, and put them in relation to Buddhist doctrine.
Peter Pasedach is a research associate at the Indological department of Hamburg University.
Currently he mostly works on a DFG-funded project on the two mahākāvyas, works of epic
court poetry, surviving from 9th-century Kashmir, and their commentaries. Another area
of his work is yoga, where he commenced a new digital critical edition of the
Śivasaṃhitā and is in the preparatory stages of a project on the Tattvavaiśāradī,
Vācaspatimiśra's commentary on the Pātañjalayogaśāstra.
