Saraha

Indian poet
the Swedish Tanzanian singer

Saraha, Sarahapa, Sarahapāda (or, in the Tibetan language མདའ་བསྣུན་, [danün], Wyl. mda' bsnun The Archer), (circa 8th century CE) was known as the first sahajiya and one of the Mahasiddhas. The name Saraha means "the one who has shot the arrow.". According to one, scholar, "This is an explicit reference to an incident in many versions of his biography when he studied with a dakini disguised as a low caste arrow smith. Metaphorically, it refers to one who has shot the arrow of non duality into the heart of duality." Saraha is considered to be one of the founders of Vajrayana Buddhism, particularly the Mahāmudrā tradition associated with the mind teachings of Tibet. Saraha was originally known as Rāhula or Rāhulbhadra and was born in Roli, a region of the city state of Rajni in eastern India, into a Shakya family and studied at the Buddhist monastic university Nalanda.

Saraha is normally shown seated and holding an arrow (Skt. śaru). It is from a mature nameless woman, often called the Arrow Smith Dakini or the Arrow Making Dakini, who was Saraha's teacher and consort, that the typical iconography of Saraha holding an arrow emerges. Some versions of their meeting say that Saraha saw the Arrow Making Dakini in a vision and thus was wandering here and there, searching her out. Some say they met at a crossroads, while other versions say that it was in a busy marketplace where she was selling her arrows. Whether they meet in a marketplace or a crossroads, it is this woman's intense concentration and spiritual instructions to Saraha that are transformative. When he finds her, Saraha inquires about what she is doing. Her reply to him is pith and direct: "The Buddha's meaning can be known through symbols and actions, not through words and books." The Arrow Making Dakini then explained the symbolic meaning of the arrow to him using the elusive tantric twilight language that is common to Dakini teachings. It is said, that in this moment, Saraha fully realized the state of mahamudra and at that moment he said the single syllable "da." This is a play on the sound of this word, which can mean either "arrow" or "symbol" (dadar or mda' dar in Tibetan). Saraha then recognized the wisdom Dakini in front of him, abandoned his studies and monastic vows, and moved to a cremation ground with her to practice

As an homage to the Arrow Making Dakini and Saraha and their great spiritual accomplishments, and to bring forth the blessings of these spiritual lineages, contemporary tantric communities are engaging in archery and arrow smithing as a form of spiritual discipline and practice.

The second nameless woman who was Saraha's teacher and consort is often called the Radish Curry Girl or the Radish Curry Dakini. Saraha met her when she was just 15 years old and it is likely she had been working as a servant. The story that provides this accomplished dakini with the epithet Radish Curry Girl also has several versions. One of the more well known ones states that Saraha asked this young woman to make him a radish curry one day. While she was doing this, Saraha fell into meditation. His meditative absorption was so complete that he remained in samadhi for twelve years. When he emerged from mediation, he asked the young woman if he could have some of the radish curry twelve long years later. Her direct replies to him are the teachings. She said: "You sit in samadhi for twelve years and the first thing you ask for is radish curry?" Saraha noted her wisdom and realized his own faults in meditative practice. He decided that the only way for him to make any progress on the spiritual path would be to move into an isolated mountain location, away from all distractions. Again, the Radish Curry Dakini offered pith instructions to Saraha: "If you awaken from samadhi with an undiminished desire for radish curry, what do you think the isolation of the mountains will do for you? The purest solitude," she counseled, "is one that allows you to escape from the preconceptions and prejudices, from the labels and concepts of a narrow, inflexible mind." Saraha was wise enough to listen carefully to the wisdom of this dakini in front of him, realizing that she was indeed not just his consort but also his teacher. From that moment forward, his meditative practices changed and he eventually attained the supreme realization of mahamudra. At the time of his death, both Saraha and his consort ascended to Dakini Pure Lands.

Luipa was a pupil of Saraha.