Page "Mahasiddha" Paragraph 17

According to Ulrich von Schroeder Tibet has different traditions relating to the mahasiddhas.

Among these traditions, two were particularly popular, namely the Abhayadatta Sri list and the so-called Vajrasana list.

The number of mahasiddhas varies between eighty-four and eighty-eight, and only about thirty-six of the names occur in both lists.

In many instances more than one siddha with the same name exists, so it must be assumed that fewer than thirty siddhas of the two traditions actually relate to the same historical persons.

In the days when the siddhas of the later Tibetan traditions flourished in India, i. e. between the 9th and 11th centuries, it was not uncommon for initiates to assume the names of famous adepts of the past.

Sometimes a disciple would have the same name as his guru, while still other names were based on caste or tribe.

In such a context the distinction between siddhas of the same name becomes blurred.

The entire process of distinguishing between siddhas with the same name of different texts and lineages is therefore to large extent guesswork.

The great variation in phonetic transcription of Indian words into Tibetan may partly be the result of various Tibetan dialects.

In the process of copying the Tibetan transcriptions in later times, the spelling often became corrupted to such an extent that the recognition or reconstitution of the original names became all but impossible.

Whatever the reasons might be, the Tibetan transcription of Indian names of mahasiddhas clearly becomes more and more corrupt as time passes.