One Legend of Junior Virūpa
Junior Virūpa
It is clear that Junior Virūpa lived sometime between the reign of King Śrī Harṣadeva of Kashmir and that of Devapāla. In the region of Kutch in western India, a king named Vibharatta emerged. Devapāla later took Vibharatta’s daughter as his queen, and it is said that they had a son named Rāmapāla (Rasapāla). Junior Virūpa is believed to have appeared during the reign of King Vibharatta.
That king had a place of worship for both Buddhists and non-Buddhists (Brahmanists). While he himself developed faith in Buddhism, all his ministers remained devoted to non-Buddhist traditions. In constructing a new temple, he commissioned many life-size statues of both Buddhist and Brahmanical gods. The Buddhist adherents requested that separate temples be built for the Buddhist and non-Buddhist gods, while the non-Buddhists insisted on one temple. Ultimately, the ministers constructed the temple in accordance with the non-Buddhists' wishes.
For the consecration of the temple, they invited Junior Virūpa. Without performing any rites or rituals, he stood outside the temple and simply said, “Aisha, Aisha” (“Come here! Come here!”) to the statues. As he spoke, all the statues inside the temple miraculously walked outside. Then he said, “Sit down,” and they all settled on the ground.
Junior Virūpa gathered clean water in a vessel, and as he began pouring it over the statues one by one, all the Buddhist gods immediately stood up. Laughing aloud, they entered the temple and took their places inside. The Brahmanical gods were left behind in the veranda, with their heads bowed. This temple still exists today. Its name is Amṛtakumbha.
Note: This short story of Junior Virūpa is drawn from Tāranātha’s Tibetan text The History of Buddhism in India. Some Tibetan Buddhist masters attribute the Amṛtasiddhi teachings to Junior Virupa.