Siddhaṃ script

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A Siddhaṃ manuscript of the Heart Sutra. Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Siddhāṃ (C. Xitan; J. Shittan; K. Siltam 悉曇) is an Indian Brahmic script historically used for writing Sanskrit in China, Japan, and Korea. Originating in northern India, Siddham was used to write Sanskrit Buddhist texts from roughtly the 4th to the 12th centuries. As Buddhism spread to the East Asian countries of China, Japan, and Korea, usage of the Siddhāṃ script also spread to these countries.

At present, Siddham is used predominantly in Japan, where it is associated with the Shingon and Tendai schools of Japanese esoteric Buddhism (mikkyō).[1] It is now mainly used for ceremonial and ritualistic purposes, such as the copying of sūtras and the writing of mantras and “seed syllables” (bījāksaras) associated with esoteric Buddhist practices. It was also used for inscriptions on statuary, amulets, and other artefacts.[1]

Siddham inscriptions have been found on temple walls, stupas, and ritual artifacts across India, Japan, China, Korea, and other regions influenced by Indian cultural and religious practices.[2]

Etymology

The word Siddhaṃ means "accomplished", "completed" or "perfected" in Sanskrit. The script received its name from the practice of writing Siddhaṃ, or Siddhaṃ astu ('may there be perfection'), at the head of documents.

Alternate names for the script include:[3]

  • Siddham (C. xitan; J. shittan 悉曇)
  • "Siddhaṃ script" (C. Xītán wénzi 悉曇文字)
  • “Brahmā letters” (J. bonji; C. fànzì 梵字).
  • "Sanskrit script"

Siddhaṃ in India

Siddham is a Brahmic script, derived from the Gupta script and ancestral to Devanāgarī, the script which is currently used in India for writing Sanskrit and Hindi.[4]

The Siddham script gained prominence during the Gupta Empire (4th to 6th centuries CE), a period often referred to as the “Golden Age” of Indian civilization.[2] The script flourished as a medium for transcribing sacred texts, ritual formulas, and mantras in various religious traditions.[2]

Siddham was primarily used for writing Sanskrit texts, particularly those related to Buddhist scriptures and tantric rituals. It served as the primary script for many Mahayana Buddhist texts, including sutras, dharanis, and mandalas.[2]

From India, use of the Siddham script travelled to East Asia with the spread of Buddhism.

Siddham was used in India until 12th century CE.[5] By the 13th century, scripts such as Devanagari replaced Siddham for Sanskrit writing.[5]

Siddham is also known as "Siddhamātṛkā" in India.

Siddhaṃ in East Asia

The Digital Dictionary of Buddhism states:

The ritual use of Siddhaṃ scripts was central to the development of esoteric Buddhism in East Asia. These foreign scripts were applied in rituals as magical seed syllables 種子 for invoking buddhas, bodhisattvas, and deities of the esoteric pantheon.[3]

The Princeton Dictionary states:

Often in traditional sources, when an East Asian monk is said to know “Sanskrit” (Fanwen), what is really meant is that he is able to read Siddham and to recite correctly passages written in that script.[4]

Siddhaṃ in China

The Digital Dictionary of Buddhism states:

Two of the earliest mentions of siddhaṃ script in Chinese translations are Kumārajīvaʼs translation of the Prajñāpāramitā Sutra (摩訶般若波羅蜜經 T 223.8.256a) and Buddhabhadraʼs 佛馱跋陀羅 translation of the Avataṃsaka (大方廣佛華嚴經 T 278.9.765b-766) list 42 letters (not 47); their lists are different, e.g., Buddhabhadraʼs includes nine compound letters (ligatures) such as ska, kṣa, etc. (cf. Annenʼs summary of Buddhabhadraʼs list in Shittanzō 悉曇藏 T 2702.84.424–425). The full complement of 47 letters appear first in the two translations of the Mahāparinirvāṇa sūtra: (1) 大般泥洹經 translated in 416–418 by Buddhabhadra and Faxian 法顯, T 376.12.887b-888b), (2) [Sutra of the Great Decease] 大般涅槃經, T 374.12.413–414, translated by Dharmakṣema 曇無讖 sometime around 414–426. The Chinese characters used to transcribe Sanskrit sounds were never fully standardized, partially because Chinese sounds reflected different dialects that changed over time, and the pronunciation of missionaries from the West probably also varied over time. Also transcribed as 悉談 and 七曇.[3]

Siddhaṃ in Japan

Siddhaṃ scripts and their ritual application were transmitted to Japan in the ninth century, first by Kūkai and Saichō, and later by their disciples.[3]

Anshuman Pandey states:

Tradition states that the esoteric philosophy for Siddham was introduced in Japan in 806 by the Buddhist monk Kūkai (空海) (774–835), who learned the script in China from Prajñā (Sans. ा; Chi. 般若三藏 Bōrě Sāncáng) (734–c.810), a monk from Kashmir who served the Buddhist community of Chang'an (modern 西安 Xi’an) as an expert of Sanskrit and translator of Buddhist texts (van Gulik 1980: 114; Abe 1999: 117–119). Known better by his posthumous title Kōbō-Daishi (弘法大師), Kūkai was the founder of the Shingon (“True Word”) school. Another proponent of Siddham in Japan was Saichō (最澄) (767–822), also called Dengyō-Daishi (伝教大師), who was the founder of the Tendai school.

The Digital Dictionary of Buddhism states:

Starting from the eleventh century, there was a growing influence of Siddhaṃ on Japanese art. The initial Siddhaṃ vowel (A), was later used as the focal point of contemplation practice 阿字觀.[3]

Siddham calligraphy is practiced as an art form today in Japan.[6]

Siddham is said to have influenced the development of the indigenous Japanese kana writing system, which is associated with Kūkai.[4] The tabular presentation and dictionary order of the kana system is believed to be descended from Indic scripts.[6]

Regional forms of Siddham

Anshuman Pandey states:

There are several regional forms of Siddham. [...] In Japan, Siddham calligraphy is classified as ‘formal’ or ‘informal’ based upon the implement used for writing. The ‘formal’ script is written using a wooden stylus called bokuhitsu (木筆; Chi. mù-bĭ), while the ‘informal’ or ‘brush’ style is written using the common hair-tipped fude (筆; Chi. 毛筆 máo-bĭ).[1]

The forms of Siddham letters used in Korea differ significantly from those of Japanese and Chinese Siddham. However, the forms are closely related.[1]

Siddhaṃ alphasyllabary

For details on the vowels, consonants and other characteristics of this script, see:

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Pandey 2012, p. 2
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Siddham Script, Indian Encyclopedia
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 悉曇 xītán, Digital Dictionary of Buddhism (to sign in, see DDB sign-in)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Buswell & Lopez 2014, s.v. Siddham.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Siddham Script: Re-discovering the Forgotten Language of the Buddha, Forgotten Nexus
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Frellesvig, Bjarke (2010). A History of the Japanese Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 177–178. ISBN 978-0-521-65320-6. 

Sources

Further reading

Print publications:

  • Chaudhuri, Saroj Kumar. Sanskrit in China and Japan. New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture and Aditya Prakashan, 2011.
  • "Devanagari: Development, Amplification, and Standardisation". Central Hindi Directorate, Ministry of Education and Social Welfare, Govt. of India. 3 April 1977. Retrieved 3 April 2018 – via Google Books. 

Web publications:

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