The Charyapada (IAST: Caryapāda) is a collection of mystical poems, songs of realization in the Vajrayana tradition of Buddhism from the tantric tradition in Assam, Bengal, Bihar and Odisha.[1] [2]
It was written between the 8th and 12th centuries in various Abahattas that were ancestral to the modern Assamese, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Odia, Magahi, Maithili, Kurmali and many other Eastern Indo-Aryan languages. A palm-leaf manuscript of the Charyāpada was rediscovered in the early 20th century by Haraprasad Shastri at the Nepal Royal Court Library.[3] The Charyapada was also preserved in the Tibetan Buddhist canon.[4]
The rediscovery of the Charyapada is credited to Haraprasad Shastri, a 19th-century Sanskrit scholar and historian of Bengali literature who, during his third visit to Nepal in 1907, chanced upon 50 verses at the Royal library of the Nepalese kings. At that time, Shastri was a librarian of the Asiatic Society in Calcutta, and was engaged in a self-assigned mission to trace and track ancient Bengali manuscripts. His first and second trips to Nepal in 1897 and 1898 met with some success, as he was able to collect a number of folkloric tales written in Pali and Sanskrit. However, after he rediscovered the treasure manuscripts in 1907, he published this collections in a single volume in 1916.
The original palm-leaf manuscript of the Charyapada, or Caryācaryāviniścaya, spanning 47 padas (verses) along with a Sanskrit commentary, was edited by Shastri and published from Bangiya Sahitya Parishad as a part of his Hajar Bacharer Purano Bangala Bhasay Bauddhagan O Doha (Buddhist Songs and Couplets) in 1916 under the name of Charyacharyavinishchayah. This manuscript is presently preserved at the National Archives of Nepal. Prabodhchandra Bagchi later published a manuscript of a Tibetan translation containing 50 verses.[5]
The Tibetan translation provided additional information, including that the Sanskrit commentary in the manuscript, known as Charyagiti-koshavrtti, was written by Munidatta. It also mentions that the original text was translated by Shilachari and its commentary by Munidatta was translated by Chandrakirti or Kirtichandra.[6]
The poets and their works as mentioned in the text are as follows:
| Poet | Pada | |
|---|---|---|
| 1,29 | ||
| 2, 20, 48 | ||
| Virubāpāda | 3 | |
| Gundaripāda | 4 | |
| Chatillapāda | 5 | |
| 6, 21, 23, 27, 30, 41, 43, 49 | ||
| 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 24, 36, 40, 42, 45 | ||
| 8 | ||
| Dombipāda | 14 | |
| Shantipāda | 15, 26 | |
| Mahidharapāda | 16 | |
| Vināpāda | 17 | |
| Sarahapāda | 22, 32, 38, 39 | |
| Shabarapāda | 28, 50 | |
| Āryadevapāda | 31 | |
| Dhendhanapāda | 33 | |
| Darikapāda | 34 | |
| Bhādepāda | 35 | |
| Tādakapāda | 37 | |
| Kankanapāda | 44 | |
| Jayanandipāda | 46 | |
| Dhāmapāda | 47 | |
| Tantripāda | 25 |
The manuscript of the Charyapada discovered by Haraprasad Shastri from Nepal consists of 47 padas (verses). The title-page, the colophon, and pages 36, 37, 38, 39, and 66 (containing padas 24, 25, and 48 and their commentary) were missing in this manuscript. The 47 verses of this manuscript were composed by 22 of the Mahasiddhas (750 and 1150 CE), or Siddhacharyas, whose names are mentioned at the beginning of each pada (except the first pada). Some parts of the manuscripts are lost; however, in the Tibetan Buddhist Canon, a translation of 50 padas is found, which includes padas 24, 25, and 48, and the complete pada 23. Pada 25 was written by the Siddhacharya poet Tantripāda, whose work was previously missing. In his commentary on pada 10, Munidatta mentions the name of another Siddhacharya poet, Ladidombipāda, but no pada written by him has been discovered so far.
The names of the Siddhacharyas in Sanskrit (or its Tibetan language equivalent), and the raga in which the verse was to be sung, are given prior to each pada. The Sanskrit names of the Siddhacharya poets were likely assigned to each pada by the commentator Munidatta.
Haraprasad Shastri, who rediscovered the Charyapada, conjectured that it was written during the 10th century. However, according to Suniti Kumar Chatterji, it was composed between 10th and 12th century. Prabodh Chandra Bagchi upholds this view. Sukumar Sen, while supporting this view, also states that the Charyapada could have been written between the 11th and 14th centuries.[7] However, Muhammad Shahidullah was of the opinion that the Charyapada dates back to an even earlier time. He maintained that it was likely to have been composed between 7th and 11th century.[8] Rahul Sankrityayan thought that the Charyapada was probably written between 8th and 11th century.
Haraprasad Shastri, in his introduction to the Charyacharya-vinishchaya, referred to the enigmatic language of its verses as "twilight language" (Sanskrit: Sandhya-bhasha), or Alo-andhari (half-expressed and half-concealed) based on the Sanskrit commentary of Munidatta. Vidhushekhara Shastri, on the basis of evidence from a number of Buddhist texts, later referred to this language as 'Intentional Language' (Sanskrit: Sandha-bhasha).[9]
The padas were written by poets from different regions, and it is natural that they would display linguistic affinities from these regions. Different scholars have noted the affinities of the language of the Charyapada with Assamese, Odia, Bengali, and Maithili.[10]
Luipa was from Kamarupa and wrote two charyas. Sarahapa, another poet, is said to have been from Rani, a place close to present-day Guwahati. Some of the affinities with Assamese are:[11]
Negatives – the negative particle in Assamese comes ahead of the verb: na jãi (No. 2, 15, 20, 29); na jivami (No. 4); na chadaa, na jani, na disaa (No. 6). Charya 15 has 9 such forms.
Present participles – the suffix -ante is used as in Assamese of the Vaishnava period: jvante (while living, No. 22); sunante (while listening, No. 30) etc.
Incomplete verb forms – suffixes -i and -iya used in modern and Early Assamese respectively: kari (3, 38); cumbi (4); maria (11); laia (28) etc.
Present indefinite verb forms – -ai: bhanai (1); tarai (5); pivai (6).
Future – the -iva suffix: haiba (5); kariba (7).
Nominative case ending – case ending in e: kumbhire khaa, core nila (2).
Instrumental case ending – case ending -e and -era: uju bate gela (15); kuthare chijaa (45).
The vocabulary of the Charyapadas includes non-tatsama words which are typically Assamese, such as dala (1), thira kari (3, 38), tai (4), uju (15), caka (14) etc.
A large number of the Siddhacharyas who wrote the verses of Charyapada were from Bengal.[12] Shabarpa, Kukkuripa, Dipankar Srigyan and Bhusukupa were born in different parts of Bengal. The affinities with Bengali language are:[13]
Genitive -era, -ara;
Locative -te, -e/A;
Nominative -Ta;
Present participles – the suffix -ante and -anta is used in Middle Bengali;
Present indefinite verb -ai that transformed into -e in modern Bangla;
Second Person Suffix -asi/si that transformed into -is in modern Bangla;
Incomplete verb forms of participles – suffixes -i and -iya used in modern poetry and Early and Middle Bangla both
Post-positional words like majha, antara, sanga;
Past and future bases -il-, -ib-;
Nominative case ending – case ending in e is prevalent in many dialects in modern Bangla (even certain situations in standard Bangla) as well as middle Bangla;
Instrumental case ending – case ending -e;
Conjunctive indeclinable -ia;
Conjunctive conditional -ite;
Passive -ia-
Substantive roots ach and thak.
Future the -iva suffix: haiba; kariba.
Ekaso (100), Padama (Padma:Lotus), Chausatthi (64), Pakhudi (petals) Tahin (there, in that), Charhi (climb/rise), nachai (dances), Dombi (a Bengali woman belonging to the scheduled caste, Domi/Domni), Bapuri (a Bengali word for 'poor fellow'; 'বাপুর, বাপুড়া'[14])
The beginnings of Odia poetry coincide with the development of Charya Sahitya, the literature thus started by Mahayana Buddhist poets.[15] This literature was written in a specific metaphor named "Sandhya Bhasha" and the poets like Luipa or Luipada, Kanhapa, Sarhapa, Kambalamara etc. are from the territory of Odisha. The language of Charya was considered as Prakrit and its closely related to Prakrit languages spoken in the Eastern parts of India and Odra Prakrit is one the oldest among other Prakrit language spoken in Eastern India. In his book (Ascharya Charyachaya) Karunakar Kar has mentioned that Odisha is the origin of Charyapada as the Vajrayana school of Buddhism evolved there and started female worship in Buddhism. Worship of Matri Dakini and the practice of "Kaya sadhana" are the outcome of such new culture. Buddhist scholars like "Lakshminkara" and "Padmasambhava" were born in Odisha. The ideas and experience of Kaya sadhana and Shaki upasana (worshiping female principle) which were created by Adi siddhas and have poetic expressions are found in the lyrics of Charyapada. These were the first ever found literary documentation of Prakrit and Apabhramsa which are the primitive form of languages of eastern Indian origin. The poets of Charyapada prominently are from this region and their thought and writing style has influenced the poems in medieval Odia literature which is evidently prominent in the 14th-16th century Odia poetry written majorly in Panchasakha period. The ragas used in Charjyapada, especially in the songs written by Mahasiddhas whose origin has been described in Odisha (as per traditional biographies), bear great affinity with ragas used in the traditional of Odissi music, starting from the Gitagovinda in the 12th century and classical Odia literature from the 14th to 19th centuries.
Before each song in the manuscript, a Rāga is given to which it is to be sung. The complete set of rāga used in the Charyapada is list below.
| Pada | ||
|---|---|---|
| Patamanjari | 1, 6, 7, 9, 11, 17, 20, 29, 31, 33, 36 | |
| Gabadā or Gaudā | 2, 3, 18 | |
| Aru | 4 | |
| Gurjari, Gunjari or Kanha-Gunjari | 5, 22, 41, 47 | |
| Devakri | 8 | |
| Deshākha | 10, 32 | |
| Kāmod | 13, 27, 37, 42 | |
| Dhanasi or Dhanashri | 14 | |
| Rāmakri | 15, 50 | |
| Balāddi or Barādi | 21, 23, 28, 34 | |
| Shabari | 26, 46 | |
| Mallāri | 30, 35, 44, 45, 49 | |
| Mālasi | 39 | |
| Mālasi-Gaburā | 40 | |
| Bangāl | 43 | |
| Bhairavi | 12, 16, 19, 38 |