Svayambhupurana- Translation of Svayambhu Caityabhattarakoddesa

Introduction The Svayambhupurana is a work of seminal importance for the Newar Buddhist tradition. At a time when Buddhism had all but vanished in the Indian Buddhist homeland to the south, the Purana offered a new vision of Buddhism and its history, with the historical Nepal at its center and India (and 'Great China") at its periphery. Its key point is to eulogize Nepal and render it independently from India as a sacred Buddhist land. The principal narrative device for achieving this is the Svayambhu myth. It relates that in prehistoric times, Nepal was a sacred lake on which the primordial Buddha principle (dharmadhātu) manifested (bhu) itself spontaneously (svayam) in the form of a light or luminous caitya on the pericarp of a lotus blossom. Next, the Svayambhupurana describes the draining of the lake by Manjusri (who came from 'Mahācina' in the form of Mañjudeva and took up residence in Nepal), the subsequent settlement of the Kathmandu Valley, its sanctification by tirthas, and other holy places and shrines, as well as the eventual encasement of the self-arisen dharmadhatu inside the physical Svayambhu Caitya. By incorporating the tantric goddess Khaganana of the Cakrasamvaramandala in the narrative and identifying her with.

**Contents and Sample Pages**