Kanakavatsa, the Bihari Monk in Kashmir

14th century Thangka painting via: British Museum 

Kanakavatsa, the legendary figure from Buddhism, one among the sixteen Arahat of Indian origin from Buddha’s time, is believed to have been born in Bihar and lived with his 500 Arahats on the “Saffon Hill” in Kashmir under the patronage of the local King. In the the iconography of Kanakavatsa, a barbarian King is often shown kneeling before him worshipping. In the above image, an “an Indian adorant offers coral” while the ethnicity of Kanakavatsa by his color.

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Portrait of Pandit Shakyashribhadra



Kashmiri Pandit Monk Shakyashribhadra (1145-1244), about 1300, Shakya Monastery, Tibet. He went there in about 1204 after destruction of Nalanda, and returned after a decade to live another three decades in Kashmir. This is one of the rare portraits in which ‘Kashmiriness’ of his features is prominent. Came across it in the book “The Arts of Kashmir” Ed. by Pratapaditya Pal.


In Tibet he is known as Kha­-che-Pan-chen (‘The Great Kashmiri Pandit’)…where Kha-Che, the synonym for Kashmiris in Tibet, means ‘big mouth’.


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Previously: Shakyashri Raw Data in Hypertext

Kashmir in ‘L’espace bleu entre les nuages’ by Cosey, 1978

From personal collection

Kashmir in Jonathan series ‘L’espace bleu entre les nuages‘ (The blue space between the clouds) by swiss artist Cosey (Bernard Cosandey) for Tintin Magazine No.147, July 4, 1978.

The plot revolves around sale of rare European paintings meant to fund a militant movement run from Srinagar. The movement in this case happens to be a veiled reference to ‘Free Tibet’ movement whose main agents have taken refuge in Kashmir.

Much like the old European travellogues, Srinagar here is presented as the springboard to the roof of the world. The comic comes from a time when comics were art, this collection apparently is supposed to be read with the background score of Beethoven (Concerto No. 3 in C minor op. 37) and Chopin (Concerto No. 2 in F minor op. 21).


To get the art and feel of the place right, Cosey actually travelled to Kashmir and seems to have soaked it all in quite well. The issue also carried a brief piece by Cosey about his experience in Kashmir  (along with some photographs by Paquita Cosandey, who usually did script and design for him).

Tintin Magazine was meant to be a space where new and future comic works by various artists could be showcased. ‘L’espace bleu entre les nuages’ as a complete work came out later in 1980.

At that time the west seemed to be much taken by Tibet, in this particular issue of the magazine, I would find two more comics themed around Tibet.

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Previously:
Kashmir in Indian Comics

Shakyashri – the Great Kashmiri Pandit of Tibetans





An undertaking accomplished without analysis, 
But who would regard it as wise? 
After worms have eaten, 

Although a letter may appear, they are not skilled writers.


Sakya Pandita, student of Shakyashri 

http://nicbommarito.com/translation/sakyalegshe/sakyalegshe.pdf

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“Jagadhala, name of a place in Orissa where Sakya Sri Bhadra of Kasmir had taken refuge, after his flight from Odantapuri vihara when that place was sacked bv Bakhtyar Khilji in 1202 A.D.35”

The Indian Historical Quarterly – Volumes 30-31 – Page 144, 1954

books.google.co.in/books?id=A98BAAAAMAAJ

According to Taranatha, at Odantapuri the vihar was turned into a Tajik fort and pandits fled to other countries.9 Sakyasri went to Jagar- dala (Jagaddala) of Odivisa, i.e. in Orissa, and from there, three years after, to Tibet. Ratnaraksita went to 


Studies in Asian history: proceedings – Page 46 


books.google.co.in/books?id=2lrRAAAAMAAJ 


Indian Council for Cultural Relations 1969

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taranatha

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikrama%C5%9B%C4%ABla_University

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakhtiyar_Khilji

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Shakyashri Bhadra (1127­1225), whose immense learning was incomparable even in
India, who was head of the famed dharma universities of Vikramashila and Nalanda, and  who was continually blessed with visions of the mother of the buddhas, Arya Tara, was
the last of the great Indian panditas to visit Tibet. He is somehow less well­known to  Westerners than his two predecessors, perhaps because, unlike them, he did not compose
a major text of his own; yet his impact was immense. In Tibet, the name Shakyashri Bhadra, or Kha­che Panchen (‘the Mahapandita of Kashmir’), was known in the gompas of every tradition across the entire Himalayan plateau.

At Nyang, northeast of Sakya in Tsang, he was visited by the 23 year­old Khon lama and
future ‘Sakya Pandita’, Kunga Gyaltsen, whose knowledge of Sanskrit greatly impressed
the mahapandita. The descendants of Sachen had already inherited a vast ocean of
dharma, unrivalled by other institutions, of which the foremost were the tantric teachings
of the great lotsawas Bari, Drokmi and Mal.Through his studies with the mahapandita
and the junior panditas, the young Khon’s learning was increased yet more with works of
sutra, tantra and, importantly, classical secular subjects which were previously unknown3
in Tibet, brought from the now destroyed universities of India. Sapan returned to Sakya
to continue his studies with Sugatasri, one of the learned assistant panditas.

In 1214, after ten years in Tibet, he set out on the road back through Gungtang and Ngari
in the west of Tibet. Before departing Tibet, he donated his considerable remaining gold
to the astounded Trophu Lotsawa who had accompanied him that far. After a long but unmolested journey across the Himalayas by the now very aged mahapandita, he arrived  back in the luscious valley of his Kashmiri homeland, not seen since his youth. There, he
restored many viharas and greatly increased the teachings, as the sun of dharma was
setting on the country of the Aryas. Shakyashri Bhadra passed into nirvana in 1225. His
life was one of remarkable accomplishments, and great historical significance. For the
fortunate followers of Shri Sakya, the blessings of Shakyshri Bhadra endure in the precious jenangs and sadhanas held by contemporary Sakya masters.

http://www.dechen.org/resources/pdfs/shakyashri.pdf

Śākyaśrībhadra was born in Daśobharā, in Kashmir, in 1127 (some sources have or 1145). He had a brother named Buddhacandra. At the age of ten he studied grammar under the brahman Lakṣmīdhara. At the age of twenty-three, in 1149, he was ordained by Sukhaśrībhadradeva who gave him the name Subhadra.
At the age of thirty he went to Magadha where he received initiations from Ṥāntākaragupta, Daśabala, and Dhavaraka.
When Śākyaśrī was seventy-seven he was invited to Tibet by Tropu Lotsāwa Rinchen Sengge (khro phu lo tsA ba rin chen seng+ge, b. 1173) who went to the Chumbi Valley in search of him; they met in a town called Vaneśvara. Śākyaśrī was initially disinclined to accept the offer, as Tropu Lotsāwa was, at the time, quite young. Tropu Lotsāwa was able to ask questions on doctrine to each of the paṇḍitas in his retinue, and the following discussion impressed Śākyaśrī sufficiently to convince him to go to Tibet, arriving in 1204.
He was accompanied by several Indian paṇḍitas: Sugataśrī, an expert in Madhyamaka and Prajñāpāramitā; Jayadatta, in Vinaya; Vibhūticandra, in grammar and Abhidharma; Dānaśīla, in logic; Saṅghaśrī, in Candavyākaraṇa; Jīvagupta, in the books of Maitreya; Mahābodhi, in the Bodhicaryāvatāra; and Kālacandra in the Kālacakra.

http://www.treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/sakyasribhadra/2810

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Kha che pan chen (‘The Great Kashmiri Pandit“; Kha che, which literally means ‘big mouth‘, being the appellation by which the Tibetans refer to Kashmiris and Moslems). Kha che pan chen spent the years between 1204 and 1214 preaching
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 The Royal Chapel (Chogyel Lakhang) depicts clay images of the ancient kings. Images of AtishaKamalashilaPadmasambhavaShantarakshitaManjushri, eleven-faced Avalokiteshwara,Vajrapani and Shakyashri of Kashmir are also seen in this chapel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palcho_Monastery

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kha che – 1) Moslem. 2) Kashmir. 3) person from Kashmir, Kashmiri. 4) saffron
kha che skyes – saffron [lit. the produce of Kashmir]
kha che gur gum – Kashmiri saffron
kha che mchog – saffron [lit. the chief article of Kashmir]
kha che ‘dus bzang – Hinayana proponent
kha che pan chen – the great scholar of Kashmir, Shakya Shri
kha che paN chen – the great scholar of Kashmir, Shakya Shri
kha che pan chen zla ba mngon dga’ – Kachey Panchen Dawa Ngön-Ga. Same as {kha che pan chen}
kha che pan chen lugs – the tradition / system of {kha che pan chen}
kha che paN chen lugs – the tradition / system of {kha che pan chen}
kha che ba – syn {kha che bye brag smra ba}
kha che bye brag smra ba – the Kashmiri sub-school of Vaibhasheka
kha che bye smra – {kha che bye brag smra ba}
kha che dbang thang – wealth, possessions, property
kha che yul – syn {kha che lung pa} Mohammedan country, Kashmir
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‘grel pa zla zer – by the Kashmiri pandita {zla ba mngon pa dga’ ba} a commentary on {slob dpon dpa’ bo’i yan lag brgyad pa}
tsong kha brgyad bcu pa – Eighty Tsongkhas, eighty verses in praise of Tsongkhapa by the Kashmiri Pandita Punya Shri

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He: Sakya Pandita


A Treasury of Aphoristic Jewels: The Subhāṣitaratnanidhi of Sa Skya Paṇḍita in Tibetan and Mongolian

Sa-skya Paṇḍi-ta Kun-dgaʼ-rgyal-mtshanJames E. Bosson, 1969
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