Oddiyana

Udiana shown with the name of Uddayana in Medieval India, 100 BC

Udiana[1] (also: Uḍḍiyāna, Uḍḍāyāna, Udyāna or 'Oḍḍiyāna'),[a] a small region in early medieval India, is ascribed importance in the development and dissemination of Vajrayāna Buddhism.[3][4][5] Tibetan Buddhist traditions view it as a Beyul (Tibetan: སྦས་ཡུལ, Wylie: sbas-yul), a legendary heavenly place inaccessible to ordinary mortals. Padmasambhava, the eighth-century Buddhist master who was instrumental in the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet, was believed to have been born in Oddiyana.[6] The Dzogchen Siddha Garab Dorje is likewise attributed to this region.

It is ascribed importance in the development and dissemination of Vajrayāna Buddhism. The region was also an important place for the practice of Śaivite Hinduism. It is seen as the homeland of the Mahārtha (aka Krama Kalikula) lineage of Śaiva Tantra. The first Mahārtha Siddha, Jñānanetra Nātha (ज्ञाननेत्र नाथ), is said to have awakened and taught in this country.[7] It was also called as “the paradise of the Ḍākinīs”.[8]

  1. ^ Loewenthal, the Rew. I. (1864). "On the Antiquities of the Peshawar District". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. XXXII (I of 1863). C.B. Lewis, Beptist Mission Press, Calcutta: 17.
  2. ^ Monier-Williams, Monier (1899). "Sanskrit-English Dictionary". Clarendon Press. p. 191. उद्यान/ उद्-यान n. N. of a country in the north of India.
  3. ^ Joshi, Lal Mani (1977). Studies in the Buddhistic Culture of India During the 7th and 8th Centuries A.D. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. pp. 258–259. ISBN 978-81-208-0281-0.
  4. ^ ‘Uḍḍiyāna and Kashmir’, pp 265-269 ‘The Śaiva Exegesis of Kashmir’, in Mélanges tantriques à la mémoire d’Hélène Brunner. Tantric Studies in Memory of Hélène Brunner, Collection Indologie 106, EFEO, Institut français de Pondichéry (IFP), ed. Dominic Goodall and André Padoux, 2007.)
  5. ^ Wedemeyer, Christian K. (2014-05-06). Making Sense of Tantric Buddhism: History, Semiology, and Transgression in the Indian Traditions. Columbia University Press. p. 229. ISBN 978-0-231-16241-8.
  6. ^ Keown, Damien (2003). A Dictionary of Buddhism (1 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 203, 208. ISBN 9780198605607. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  7. ^ Wallis, Christopher D. (2013). Tantra Illuminated: The Philosophy, History, and Practice of a Timeless Tradition. pp. 211-282. Mattamayura Press.
  8. ^ Shah, Bipin. "Ancient Uddayana-the land of Buddha at Rajgriha, prior to establishment of Patliputra in Ganges Doab". Research gate. Retrieved 3 February 2021.


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