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{{Short description|Secret language of tantric traditions}}
{{other uses|Twilight language (disambiguation)}}
{{Tibetan Buddhism}}
'''Twilight language''' is a rendering of the Sanskrit term ''{{IAST|sāṃdhyābhāṣā}}'' (written also ''{{IAST|sāndhyābhāṣā}}'', ''{{IAST|sāṃdhyabhāṣā}}'', ''{{IAST|sāndhyabhāṣā}}''; {{bo|w=dgongs-pa'i skad}}, [[THL Simplified Phonetic Transcription|THL]] ''gongpé ké'') or of their modern Indic equivalents (especially in [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Odia language|Odia]], [[Assamese language|Assamese]], [[Maithili language|Maithili]], [[Hindi]], [[Nepali language|Nepali]], [[Braj Bhasha]] and [[Khariboli dialect|Khariboli]]).

As popularized by Roderick Bucknell and [[Martin Stuart-Fox]] in ''The Twilight Language: Explorations in Buddhist Meditation and Symbolism'' in 1986, the notion of "twilight language" is a supposed [[polysemy|polysemic]] language and communication system associated with [[tantra|tantric]] traditions in [[Vajrayana|Vajrayana Buddhism]] and Hinduism. It includes visual communication, verbal communication and nonverbal communication. Tantric texts are often written in a form of the twilight language that is incomprehensible to the uninitiated reader. As part of an [[esotericism|esoteric]] tradition of [[initiation]], the texts are not to be employed by those without an experienced guide and the use of the twilight language ensures that the uninitiated do not easily gain access to the knowledge contained in these works.

The phrase "twilight language" has subsequently been adopted by some other Western writers. For example, according to [[Judith Simmer-Brown]]:

{{quote|As has often been said, tantric texts are written in "twilight language" (''sandha-bhasa'', ''gongpay-kay''), which, as the ''[[Hevajra tantra]]'' states, is a "secret language, that great convention of the ''[[yogini]]s'', which the ''[[Śrāvaka|shravaka]]s'' and others cannot unriddle". This means that the texts of Buddhist tantra cannot be understood without the specific oral commentary by authorized Vajrayana teachers.<ref>Simmer-Brown (2002), p.169</ref>}}

==Usage==

===In the Vajrayana tradition===
As Bucknell and [[Martin Stuart-Fox|Stuart-Fox]] state:

{{quote|In the Vajrayana tradition, now preserved mainly in Tibetan sects, it has long been recognized that certain important teachings are expressed in a form of secret symbolic language known as {{IAST|saṃdhyā-bhāṣā}}, "Twilight Language". ''Mudrās'' and ''mantras'', {{IAST|maṇḍalas}} and ''cakras'', those mysterious devices and diagrams that were so much in vogue in the Buddhist culture of the 1960s, were all examples of Twilight Language [...]<ref name="BSFvii" />}}

Numbers, numerology and the spirituality of numerals is key to the twilight language and endemic to Vajrayana, as it is throughout Indian religions. Numbers that are particularly frequent in classification are three, five and nine. As Bucknell and Stuart-Fox state:

{{quote|The fivefold classification presented in the ''tantras'' is remarkably comprehensive, embracing objects of every conceivable type; it includes the infamous set of "five Ms" (fish, meat, wine, ''mudrā'', sexual intercourse){{efn|On the "five Ms", see Walker (1968), p. 221}} and even a set of five "body fluids" (faeces, urine, blood, semen, flesh).{{efn|On the five "body fluids", see Elder (February 1976), pp. 241–242}} In addition it includes sets of doctrinal principles, such as the five ''skandhas'' (factors of existence), the four ''kāyas'' (Buddha-bodies) and the triad ''prajña'', ''upāya'', ''bodhicitta'' (wisdom, means, enlightenment-mind). For example, ''prajña'', ''upāya'', and ''bodhicitta'' are identified with the triads female/male/union, Amitābha/Akṣobhya/Vairocana, and so on, and are thus implicitly assigned to the water, fire, and space groups respectively.{{efn|See Wayman (1962), pp. 89-90; also Snellgrove (1964), p. 27}}|''The Twilight Language''<ref>Bucknell, Stuart-Fox (1986), p. 110</ref>}}

===In the Pali Canon===
Although twilight language is primarily a feature of esoteric traditions such as the Vajrayana, Bucknell and Stuart-Fox cite the Thai ''bhikkhu'' Buddhadasa as having explored "the importance of symbolic language in the [[Pali Canon]] ... in a number of lectures and publications."<ref name="BSFvii">Bucknell, Stuart-Fox (1986), p.vii</ref>

===In Sonepur literature===
Sonepur, Odisha and its literature is championed by such as Charyapada, [[Matsyendranath]], Daripada and other [[Nath]]s:

{{quote|The growth of literature at Sonepur can be traced to Charyapada, to Matsyendranath and Daripada of the Natha cult. They wrote esoteric poetry in language known as ''Sandhya bhasa''. The local idioms they used are still in currency in this area."<ref>Nayak (2006), p. 72</ref>}}

==Refutation of the translation of term as "twilight language"==
In 1970, [[Mircea Eliade]] presented evidence that the concept of "twilight" (or "[[wikt:crepuscular|crepuscular]]") language is based on a translation error. According to Eliade, in 1916 Haraprasād Shāstri proposed the translation of "twilight language". However, in 1928 Vidhushekar Shāstri debunked that translation, showing that the term is based on a shortened form of the word ''sandhāya'', which can be translated as "having in view", "intending", or "with regard to". Eliade concludes that: "Hence there is no reference to the idea of a 'twilight language'."<ref>Eliade (1970), p. 250 (see also pp. 249–253, 410–411)</ref> He continues by speculating on how the term came to be corrupted by scribes who read the familiar word ''sandhyā'' ("crepuscular") for the original ''sandhā''. Eliade therefore translates the phrase as "Intentional Language". Staal explains, "sandhā means esoteric meaning, as contrasted with [[prima facie]] or superficial meaning," and suggests to translate sandhābhāsā as "secret language".<ref>Staal (1975), p. 334</ref>

==See also==
* [[Conceptual metaphor]]
* [[Image schema]]
* [[Language of the birds]]
* [[Visual language]]
* [[Visual thinking]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==

===Citations===
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Sources===
*{{cite book |last1=Bucknell |first1=Roderick |last2=Stuart-Fox |first2=Martin |authorlink2=Martin Stuart-Fox |year=1986 |title=The Twilight Language: Explorations in Buddhist Meditation and Symbolism |publisher=Curzon Press |location=London |isbn=0-312-82540-4}}
*{{cite book |last=Eliade |first=Mircea |authorlink= Mircea Eliade |title= Yoga: Immortality and Freedom |year=1970 |edition=2nd |series= Bollingen Series, Vol. LVI |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton |isbn=0691017646}}
*{{cite journal |last=Nayak |first=Pabitra Mohan |year=2006 |title=The Literary Heritage of Sonepur |journal=Orissa Review |issue=May 2006 |pages=72–79 |url=http://orissa.gov.in/e-magazine/Orissareview/may2006/engpdf/72-79.pdf |accessdate=2015-03-21}}
*{{cite book |authorlink=Judith Simmer-Brown |last=Simmer-Brown |first=Judith |year=2002 |title=Dakini's Warm Breath: The Feminine Principle in Tibetan Buddhism |location=Boston, Massachusetts |publisher=Shambhala Publications |isbn=978-1-57062-920-4}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Staal |first1=Frits |title=The Concept of Metalanguage and its Indian Background |journal=Journal of Indian Philosophy |date=September 1975|pages=315–35 |volume=3 |issue=3–4 |jstor=23436906 |doi=10.1007/bf02629150|s2cid=171044871 }} {{Subscription required |via=[[JSTOR]]}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal |last=Bharati |first=A. |year=1961 |jstor=595657 |title=Intentional Language in the Tantras |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=81 |number=3 |pages=261–270 |doi=10.2307/595657}} {{Subscription required |via=[[JSTOR]]}}
* {{cite journal |last=Broido |first=Michael M. |year=1985 |jstor=23444081 |title=Intention and Suggestion in the Abhidharmakosa: Sandhabhasa revisited |journal=Journal of Indian Philosophy |volume=13 |number=4 |pages=327–381 |doi=10.1007/bf00160986|s2cid=170868443 }} {{Subscription required |via=[[JSTOR]]}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Bucknell |first1=Roderick |last2=Stuart-Fox |first2=Martin |jstor=1399377 |title=Response to Lou Nordstrom's Review of ''The Twilight Language: Explorations in Buddhist Meditation and Symbolism'' |journal=Philosophy East and West |volume=39 |number=2 |date=April 1989 |pages=191–196 |doi=10.2307/1399377}} {{Subscription required |via=[[JSTOR]]}}
* {{cite journal |last=Elder |first=George R. |jstor=1062526 |title=Problems of Language in Buddhist Tantra |journal=History of Religions |volume=15 |number=3 |date=February 1976 |pages=231–250 |doi=10.1086/462745|s2cid=162090864 }} {{Subscription required |via=[[JSTOR]]}}
* {{cite journal |last=Nordstrom |first=Lou |jstor=1398888 |title=''The Twilight Language: Explorations in Buddhist Meditation and Symbolism'' by Roderick S. Bucknell; Martin Stuart-Fox |journal=Philosophy East and West |volume=39 |number=1 |date=January 1989 |pages=104–106 |doi=10.2307/1398888}} {{Subscription required |via=[[JSTOR]]}}
* {{cite book |last=Snellgrove |first=D. L. |title=The Hevajra Tantra: A Critical Study |volume=(Vol. 1) |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1964}}
* {{cite book |first=Benjamin |last=Walker |title=The Hindu World: An Encyclopedic Survey of Hinduism |volume=(Vol. 1) |location=New York |publisher=Frederick A. Praeger |year=1968}}
* {{cite book |last=Wayman |first=Alex |title=Female Energy and Symbolism in the Buddhist Tantras |publisher=University of Chicago |year=1962}}

{{Buddhism topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Twilight Language}}
[[Category:Language and mysticism]]
[[Category:Semantics]]
[[Category:Tantra]]
[[Category:Vajrayana]]

Twilight language - Revision history

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