Anupādaka
Anupādaka is a word used in the Theosophical literature derived from the Sanskrit anupapādaka, "parentless" or "having no material parent",[1] or aupapaduka, "self-produced". H. P. Blavatsky applied this term to the hierarchy of the Dhyāni-Buddhas:
“The one merged with the absolute,” can have no parents since he is Self-existent, and one with the Universal Spirit (Svayambhu), the Svâbhâvat in the highest aspect. The mystery in the hierarchy of the Anupadaka is great, its apex being the universal Spirit-Soul, and the lower rung the Mânushi-Buddha; and even every Soul-endowed man is an Anupadaka in a latent state.[2]
Misspelling of the original term
According to David Reigle's research, term anupādaka used by Mme. Blavatsky appears in Emil Schlagintweit's 1863 Buddhism in Tibet. This was miscopied by her from the anupapādaka present in Monier-Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary, which took it from Brian H. Hodgson, the first Westerner to gain access to the Sanskrit Buddhst texts, during his residency in Nepal. In its turn, anupapādaka seems to be a misspelling from the original aupapāduka or upapāduka.[3]
Notes
- ↑ Anupapādaka at Spoken Sanskrit Dictionary.
- ↑ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 52.
- ↑ Technical Terms in Stanza I by David Reigle, 7-9
Further reading
- Anupādaka at Theosopedia
- Technical Terms in Stanza I by David Reigle at Eastern Tradition Research Institute