Luipa

Luipa or Luipada (c. 10th century) was a mahasiddha siddhacharya from eastern India. He was a poet and writer of a number of Buddhist texts.

The following poetic extract of Luipa is from his work, Kāā Tarubara, the first pada of the Charyapada (c. 9-10th century) and rendered into English by Mahendra Bora and cited in Ayyappapanicker & Akademi (1997: p. 599):

The body is a gentle tree with its branches five in number,
Into the stuff of unsteady mind enters Time the wrecker.
Get your mind steadied and enjoy the bliss never-waning,
Lui counsels, know it from your teacher just by asking:
Why all these modes of meditation one should toil and try,
When going through joy and sorrow all must one day die?
Ignoring this bond of deception, trust in sense-perception,
Riding on the wings of pure void, make her your companion.
Lui testifies, I have seen her clear in my meditation,
Seated on twin mats doing inhalation and exhalation.

In the bStan-‘gyur, he has been mentioned as the author of the texts, the Shribhagavad-Abhisamaya, the Vajrasattva Sadhana, the Tattvasvabhava-Dohakosha-Gitikia-Drishti-Nama, the Luhipada-Gitika, the Shrichakrasamvara-Abhisamaya-Tika and the Buddhodaya. He was also mentioned as the co-author of the Abhisamaya-Vibhanga along with the great scholar Atisha. The Padas 1 and 29 of the Charyagītikosha (or the Charyapada) are also ascribed to him.

Shabaripa

Kanhupa

Kanha or Kanhapad or Kanhupa was one of the poets of Charjapad, the earliest known example of Assamese, Odia and Bengali literature. He was a tantric Buddhist and his poems in Charjyapad are written in a code, whereby every poem has a descriptive or narrative surface meaning but also encodes tantric Buddhist teachings. Some experts believe this was to conceal sacred knowledge from the uninitiated, while others hold that it was to avoid religious persecution.

 

In one of his poems, Kanhupa wrote:

 

Your hut stands outside the city

Oh, untouchable maid

The bald Brahmin passes sneaking close by

Oh, my maid, I would make you my companion

Kanha is the kapali, a yogi

He is naked and has no disgust

There is a lotus with sixty-four petals

Upon that the maid will climb with this poor self and dance.

The language of Kanhupa’s poetry bears a very strong resemblance to modern Odia. For example,

Ekaso padumo chowshathi pakhudi

Tahin chadhi nachao dombi bapudi

Padumo (Padma:Lotus), Chaushathi (64), Pakhudi (petals) Tahin (there), Chadhi (climb/rise), nachao (to dance), Dombi (an Odia woman belonging to scheduled caste), Bapudi (a very colloquial Odia language to apply as ‘poor fellow’ )

or

Hali Dombi, Tote puchhami sadbhabe.

Isisi jasi dombi kahari nabe.

Narayan Das Abadhutananda Swami