Mahasiddha Dobhipa

༄The Mahasiddha Dobhipa (dho bi’ pa) — known in Tibetan as Shal-bé Drüpthob (bShal bas grub thob / བཤལ་བས་གྲུབ་ཐོབ་) the Realised Ornithological Launderer. Dobhipa was a dobhi-wallah (launderer) from a family of dobhi-wallas. He had spent the major part of his life washing clothes for Brahmin families.

He was a Shudra born in the hills above Parvasenpur. He was accustomed to the Brahmanical white clothing and their obsession with spotlessness.
He was not one of those curmudgeonly dobhi-wallahs who mutter ‘Vastrabhedin—vastrabhedin—vastrabhedin!’ (Tailor! Tailor! Tailor!) as they beat the fabric with stones in the river.

Muttering ‘vastrabhedin’ implied that the clothing would need mending from having been pounded as such manner. His work was therefore appreciated by those he served.
Dobhipa loved the river and enjoyed spending his days by the river in all its moods: the rushing torrents of the Spring; the swirling spate of the Summer – periodically thrashed in the cauldron of the greater and lesser Monsoon deluge; the quiet trickle of the Autumn, and the growing chill of the Winter flow.
It was cooler to be by the river when the sun was hot – and the sound of the water was both pleasant and tranquil. The river had a song that it sang for Dobhipa – and for him was it was equal of any music he had heard. He had no opportunity to hear music as a Shudra – because such things were for the higher varnas. Sometimes a shenai player would perform in the bazaar either to hypnotise a snake or simply to encourage donations by the quality of their music alone. These were always joyful events for Dobhipa – and he always looked forward to the next occasion when an itinerant musician would pass that way .
The Parvasenpur valley—surrounded by the Himalayas—has a much cooler climate than anywhere to the South or East which is in part due to its elevation . Parvasenpur straggled either side of the River Vyath which meanders through the valley into Dal Lake and the Hokersar wetlands – the destination of thousands of winter migratory birds from Siberia. Dobhipa loved to watch the birds as he cleaned clothes: the Tufted ducks; the Gadwall, Garganey, and Greylag Geese; the Mallards, Mergansers; Pintails; Common, Ferruginous, and Red-crested Pochards; the Ruddy Shelducks, Shovelers, Teals, and the Wigeons. These birds all sang for him –so his days were cheerful. He never tired of the work – nor did it bore him.
One day as he was inspecting clothes for stains – he caught sight of something he had never seen before: a rotund, callipygous, bathykolpian young lady dressed in white ragged clothing. She had a large musical instrument strapped to her back and she was skipping across the boulders and larger stones that lay in the path of the river. She seemed to be coming towards him and so he waited—as he worked—to see what would transpire. It might be pleasant to pass a few words with a passing pilgrim.
Mahasiddha Baruni eventually jumped to the bank and sat next to him “Tell me everything you know about washing clothes—if you would be so kind—but first I must tell you my name. I am Baruni and you may or may not want to speak with me. What is your opinion?”
Dobhipa was slightly startled by this approach “I am called Dobhipa – and I have no reason at all not to speak with you. Am I right in thinking that you are a Buddhist yogini?”
“I am as you guess me to be – and I guess that you will not mind explaining your washing art to me.”
“I shall be glad to tell you of my trade . . . ” smiled Dobhipa “ . . . for I would not call it an art.”
“Ah . . . there I would disagree. A trade is carried out for money – and your activity is not merely for money. You take pride in your work and you do not begrudge the wealth of those who pay you for your services – but that is not all I see.”
Dobhipa was intrigued “What else do you see reverend lady?”
“I see you as the audience of continual ragas: the ragas of the birds and wild fowl; the ragas of the winds; and, the ragas of the rushing waters.”
“This is true!” exclaimed Dobhipa “I had no thought of it – but what you say is true. These sounds are all music to me – which is one reason I am so happy in my work.
“Yes – and I would guess that your other reason is that you enjoy turning this clothing to the purity of whiteness which is demanded by your Brahmin customers.”
“This is true!” exclaimed Dobhipa “ . . . but how do you come to know so much about me?”
“I have watched you – and there is nothing I have said that cannot be seen by looking. Maybe I will tell you something else I see – but now is not the time. I shall stay by the river for some days – and over that time I shall be able to tell you many things that will interest you. But before you go back to deliver these clothes to your Brahmin customers – please tell me your method of washing as you said you would do earlier.”
“Well . . . I treat stains at home before I take clothes to the river. I soak the laundry in lye, cold or hot in order to get rid of the yellowing that spoils white cloth. Ashes and urine are best for mixing a good lye – but the Brahmins cannot know of this. Lye is excellent for removing grease and heavy stains. Then . . . I take tools with me to the river to help the work: like this washing-bat and this board that I use to scrub upon. I have this long thin washing-bat which—as you see—is not much more than a stick. I use it for moving clothes around in the water . . . and for beating the dirt out of them. This wooden board is the one I always take to the riverside, rather than using the rocks at the edge of the water – because it doesn’t damage the clothes. Many dobhis use rocks to pound the clothes – but although this is quick it ruins the clothes. I do not like to damage clothes because my clients trust me.” Dobhipa looked sheepish once he had finished his account “I am sorry if this has been tedious – and I’m affraid there is no more to say. This is all there is to my work.” Dobhipa then left for his home and Baruni—after bidding him adieu—sat and gazed at the water.
Dobhipa was glad to discover that Baruni was still there the next day when he brought more clothes to launder. He realised that he had been remiss in not offering the yogini alms.
“Good morning reverend lady. I must apologise, I should have offered you alms yesterday – but I was so taken with our conversation that the need for proper behaviour was forgotten.”
“That is no discourtesy—believe me—I have no current need of alms. If however, I may partake of a little of your lunch I would be more than pleased.”
“Certainly reverend lady – you are more than welcome. I have, in fact, brought a larger lunch than usual for that very purpose – but is there nothing I can offer you in addition to lunch?”
“No. A little lunch each day when we meet will suit my needs more than adequately.”
“May I then, offer to wash your clothes?” enquired Dobhipa, desperate to offer something more than his rather simple lunch.
“That I will accept gladly.” Baruni replied with evident pleasure “ . . . but first we shall talk as you begin your work.”
Dobhipa started laying out his clothes in the water to soak and Baruni commenced to give commentary on his situation “Do you not find it unusual that lye—which for a Brahmin is defiled by urine—is the very agent, which purifies these Brahmin clothes to their entire satisfaction?”
Dobhipa agreed that it was indeed unusual.
“Do you not also find it unusual that you—as the Shudra who purifies these Brahmin clothes—cannot enter a Brahmin house lest he defile it?”
“Yes . . .” Dobhipa concurred “ . . . it is indeed unusual – but . . . it is the order of life according to the varnas. And it does not trouble me that this is the view they hold. I bear no resentment for life being as it is. They were born to see me this way and I was born to be seen in this way. I am happy in my work and I enjoy to be by this river every day.”
“Seeing this as a Buddhist yogini . . . ” replied Baruni “ . . . I see you have greater purity than that of those who would feel defiled by your lye or by your presence.” Then she opened the emerald-green cloth bag in which she kept her surbdahar and sat with the instrument for some time before beginning to play. After some time she began to sing
“Holding others blameless for their views, without the stain of judgement, is pure of arrogance.
Being derided, without the stain of bearing resentment, is pure of anger.
Contentment with the beauty of this river, without the stain of ambition, is pure of obsession,
Accepting life as it is, without the stain of opposition, is pure of neurotic complication.
Joyfulness in being as you are, without the stain of retraction into despair, is pure of depression.
By this means you purify the five elements of earth, water, fire, air, and space
And tread the path of a yogi without effort or intention
But if you stray from this purity you will leave that path and fail to receive transmission.”

When she concluded her song she stood her surbdahar by a rock and observed Dobhipa – who had tears in his eyes. “I have never heard such beautiful music or such wonderful words – even though I cannot say I understand fully what the words mean.”
“They mean . . . that you have greater purity than the Brahmin families you serve – but there is an intrinsic purity which is as yet beyond you. If you were to experience this purity then everything you touch will be purified simply through contact with you.”
“How may I attain such purity . . . ?” Dobhipa exclaimed “I feel that I owe you more than I can ever repay simply because you have played music for me. I have never heard such music before.”
“As for your first question – you may realise your intrinsic purity through meditation. There you are fortunate because I can give you transmission for such meditation – if you will receive it.”
“I will receive your teaching with great gladness reverend lady – but I fear I may not understand your teaching because I am a Shudra and without education.”
“Education is not necessary for what I teach, Dobhipa. All that is necessary, is the purity of view you already have – and the dissolution of your remaining obstacles to the realisation of innate purity.”
“How may I dissolve these remaining obstacles, reverend lady? What do I need to do?”
“You simply need to be natural with whatever occurs – and not allow yourself to follow the dictates of conventionalism.”
“And you will help me in this task?”
“Yes . . . I will help you – but you may not experience it as help. Because you have ‘obstacles of conventionalism’ you may experience my help as an obstacle to receiving my teaching.”
“Then I shall overcome those obstacles!” cried Dobhipa with enthusiasm “When shall we begin?”
“We shall begin when you have finished your work for the day – but before you begin your work I must comment on your second statement: you owe me nothing for my playing. I love to play my surbdahar – and it is an even greater joy when it is appreciated. If you wish to pay me however – you may wash my clothes, as you first suggested – and once you have washed my clothes and laid them out to dry I shall begin giving you the teaching you requested.”
Dobhipa agreed delightedly and commenced his work for the day. As he washed the clothes Baruni simply sat and stared – either into the sky or into the flowing river. Between these periods she played her surbdahar. They broke for lunch and continued as before. Once Dobhipa had finished his work for the day he turned to Baruni and said “Now reverend lady I shall wash your clothes.” But he was shocked beyond speech when Baruni removed her clothes and handed them to him saying “I shall continue to play my surbdahar while you wash my clothes and when you lay them out to dry on the rocks I shall begin the teaching.” Seeing that Dobhipa was shocked by her nakedness she added “Of course, I have no other clothes than the ones I wear – I know it is unconventional to remove one’s clothes – but Buddhist yogis and yoginis do not accord with societal conventions. I trust this does not prove an obstacle for you?”
Dobhipa took her clothes with downcast eyes – so entirely embarrassed and ashamed to see her naked that he could not look at her. He washed her clothes—laid them out to dry—and went away keeping his eyes to the ground.
The next day he returned – and, somewhat relieved to find Baruni fully dressed, greeted her courteously as before “I have brought you lunch reverend lady – which I hope you will enjoy.”
“Thank you Dobhipa . . . I am sorry that I frightened you away yesterday – I had teaching to give and you missed it by leaving as suddenly as you did.”
“I am sorry reverend lady – but I could not look upon you naked, I was ashamed.”
Baruni shook her head “Ah . . . it is as I feared. The obstacle of conventionalism has proved difficult to overcome. That is no problem however – because I can also teach by following convention. I was never a Brahmin – but I know their conventions. We shall therefore proceed according to Brahmin convention and you may wash my clothes for me every day – and as I explained before, I shall teach you as my clothes dry. I shall be here every day for a week.”
Dobhipa squirmed uncomfortably. He agreed – but his agreement was merely a lack of disagreement. He knew that he had exclaimed ‘I shall overcome those obstacles!’ and felt ashamed of himself of his failure to live up to his assertion. How was he to have known that his obstacle would prove so difficult and that he would be so unwilling to face it?
He set about his day’s work as usual – but the sparkling of the river gave him no pleasure. He hardly saw the river for his internal turmoil. What would he do at the end of his day’s work? How would he react when Baruni removed her clothes again? He assured himself that he would remain – however uncomfortable he felt. Baruni—as was her wont—sat on the large flat rock that overlooked the river and stared into the flowing water – or alternately at the sky. Between these periods she played her surbdahar.
When Dobhipa stopped work to eat lunch with Baruni, she commented “Where is your joy of the sparkling river, Dobhipa? When we met, you had great contentment in the beauty of this river. Your simple enjoyment lacked the stain of myopic complexity. This enjoyment was pure of obsession – but now you are obsessed by thoughts. Is this not sad?”
Dobhipa began to weep “Yes reverend lady – it is sad . . . ”
“This sadness then . . . ” commented Baruni “ . . . is the current horizon of your purity. The innate purity of which I spoke sees no impurity in nakedness. The innate purity of being is in itself naked awareness. When you can look upon my naked form and the naked river as being one-undivided-nakedness you will experience the primal purity of being.”
Dobhipa thought about these words for a while and replied “I am struggling with my obstacle – and I find that it is more than I imagined. I am now ashamed that I said ‘I shall overcome my obstacles!’ I have failed at the first trial.”
“There is nothing of which to be ashamed in the enthusiasm of your statement . . . ” Baruni smiled “ . . . only your failure to carry it out – and even—that—is no more than a temporary obscuration if you see it as such – and from that obscuration you may learn how that obscuration may be dissolved.”
Dobhipa brightened at those words “How may I learn to overcome this obstacle of shame when confronted with nakedness?”
“By contemplation . . . ” Baruni answered “ . . . you should contemplate the reality that there was nothing to see that was more naked than the river – and you see that every day.”
Dobhipa could not respond easily – but sat staring into the water. After a while he asked “Can you teach me to understand the nakedness of the river?”
“Certainly – but as long as you have an idea in your mind that it is different from my nakedness or the nakedness of my music – you would not be able to understand it. You see . . . I live in a naked world where I am naked whether or not I am clothed – and where everything else, is nakedly just as it is.”
As Baruni spoke, Dobhipa sensed something that he almost understood “There is meaning in your words, reverend lady – that I understand in the same way that I understood the sound of the river – but I know this is nonsensical.”
“You have spoken well, Dobhipa. So, as you wash my clothes – dwell on the sensation of that understanding – without making any attempt to secure that understanding in words.”
Dobhipa did as he was instructed and eventually the time came when Baruni removed her clothing and handed it to him. He tried not to avert his eyes from her body – but could only do so with effort. The feeling of discomfort was intense – but he took the clothes and washed them as Baruni played her surbdahar. Once the clothes were washed he began laying them out to dry – all the while fighting with the feeling that he needed to flee once they were all laid out. It was all very well taking the clothes form Baruni – but to sit and listen to a teaching from a naked yogini seemed impossible. How could he simply sit there and pay attention to what she said? Once the clothes were laid out, he forced himself to sit – but could not raise his eyes to look at Baruni.
“I cannot teach you unless I see your eyes Dobhipa – or I will not know whether you understand. Understanding is seen in the eyes and through the eyes.”
Dobhipa raised his head and looked upon Baruni sitting on the rock and found his mind to be devoid of thought. It was then that Baruni commenced her teaching “Just as the impurity of the lye that removes the impurity of stains – so the lye of my naked form removes the impurity of the impure perceptual obscurations.”
With these words, Dobhipa suddenly found himself in a state of complete relaxation – and Baruni’s naked form became inseparable from the naked beauty of the landscape. Aware of his shift in perception, Baruni gave him the mere indications for practice – and he entered into the absorption in which mind and that which moves in mind are undivided. Observer and observed dissolved and Dobhipa remained in that awareness for several hours.
It was dark when he returned to the town – and he received complaints concerning his late delivery of clothes. He apologised – but his customers demanded the reassurance that it would not occur again. Dobhi was an honest man and could not give such an assurance – on the basis that he was studying with a yogini every day at the riverside. His Brahmin clients were incredulous – but he was unmoved by their suspicion telling them that, of course he would do his best not to delay the delivery of clothes. His clients told him they would be forbearing as they valued his work – but that he should consider that it was not the place of a dobhi-wallah to be receiving religious teachings. That was for Brahmins – not for Shudras.
They next day he returned to work and found Baruni there as before. He told her of the reprimand he had received from his Brahmin clientele and Baruni replied “Shakyamuni Buddha did not teach the varnas. The varnas are the teaching of duality – not of nonduality. Every being—whatever varna they are allotted by birth in dualistic society—is beginninglessly realised and each has the right to discover the innate purity of that recognition.”
The day then followed as had the day before – but Dobhipa was no longer bedevilled by perceptual confusion. Again Baruni gave teachings and again he was late with his delivery. Again he was admonished – and again he explained that he was receiving teachings from a yogini. Again they reprimanded him for having ideas beyond his station and warned that his lateness would not be tolerated. Then—with some unaccountable boldness—he asked “Is it that the clothes I wash are needed so early in the evening? Or are they required for some later time – perhaps tomorrow or the day after.”
The answer he received was that it was none of his concern. There was simply a time when they were expected – and that was the time when he had always previously delivered them. There would be no concession even for the short period that Baruni resided by the river – even were such a yogini to exist.
They next day he returned to work and found Baruni there as before. He told her of the reprimand he had received from his Brahmin clientele and Baruni replied “Where is the purity of routine? Does it lie in habitual procedures? Where is the purity of predictability? Can it be found in customary schedules? Where is the purity of addiction to dependency? Can it be found in monotonously invariable rituals? In what are these Brahmins pure other than their own concepts of purity? For Buddhist yogis and yoginis – all habituated rigmaroles are a stain of the space of nondual freedom.”
As Baruni was teaching—on her large flat rock—some of the Dobhipa’s Brahmin clientele came to see whether their dobhi-wallah’s account was true. They doubted the existence of the yogini – because she had not called on them seeking alms – as would have been expected. Why would a Buddhist yogini trouble herself with a Shudra menial? When they arrived however they were surprised. To see Dobhipa in conversation with a rotund, callipygous, bathykolpian woman dressed in spotless white. They enquired whether she was indeed a yogini and she replied “I have been described as such by your dobhi-wallah – so you may believe it to be true.”
“If you are a yogini – why do you waste your time and sully religious teachings by trying to give them to a Shudra?”
Baruni laughed heartily at this “If you are pure Brahmins why do you wear clothes that are cleaned with lye that is made from ash and urine?”
The Brahmins were aghast and asked Dobhipa whether it was true that he used such lye.
“I cannot lie about the nature of the lye . . . ” he replied “ . . . it is as the reverend lady has explained.”
The Brahmins were outraged and gave rise to a tumult of short-lived shouting – which, when it subsided, was replaced by Baruni’s unusually loud voice “If you are Brahmins, you will be educated – and if you are educated you will know the consistency of lye. You have all lived in pretended ignorance in order that your clothes can appear to be pure. If you wish to see real purity – I will display it for you in order that you need no longer live in confusion as to its real nature.”
At this Baruni removed her clothes and danced on the rock where she had been sitting. The Brahmins were contemptuous and left, informing Dobhipa that his services were no longer required. Baruni told him that she had not wished to cause him to lose his employment but Dobhipa smiled “I am glad to be finished with the hypocrisy of this trade. My work was good but my clients were unworthy of it. I see this now and will be happy to leave this place. All I shall miss is the river – but I believe the river exists elsewhere in the distance.”
Dobhipa then requested that Baruni accept him as a disciple and be allowed to travel with her. Baruni accepted him and they travelled following the river – practising as they journeyed along its banks. Dobhipa followed the instructions he was given and after a year gained nondual realisation. Thereafter, wherever he travelled he taught others the nature of purity through the analogy of impure lye removing the illusory impurity of stains. He had many disciples and many recognised the nondual state.