Readings in the Jayottaratantra: Session One

Recently I have located a 14th century palm-leaf manuscript of Jayottaratantra in the National Archives, Kathmandu, and am preparing an edition of it. Previously, we had no access to this text though the title appears in the list of Āgamas found in the Pādma- and Pārameśvarasaṃhitā, and also in the Pañcarātrarakṣā of Vedāntadeśika. The Jayottaratantra, in fact, serves as the foundational layer of the Jayākhya-saṃhitā, one of the earliest available Vaiṣṇava Tantras. The Jayottaratantra is quite concise and contains approximately 400 verses. Unlike the printed version of the Jayākhyasaṃhitā that contains nearly 5000 verses, it is coherent and consistent. I will report on special features of this text along with those of other three early Vaiṣṇava Tantras from Nepal, in one of my lectures.

However, in these two seminars, I propose to read the ninth chapter that deals with Yoga from my edition of the text. We will interpret the text, occasionally discuss philological problems, and compare the text with the corresponding chapter of the Jayākhyasaṃhitā.