མད་ཆན་པ་སྒྱ་མའ་དྲ་བ་ཞས་བྱ་བ intro.6

intro.6

More generally, the theme of a “net of illusion” (Skt. māyājāla, and here Tib. sgyu ma’i dra ba), figures widely in the Indian literature of many traditions, not just Buddhist. In the Buddhist canon, there is also a father tantra (pha rgyud) within the Unexcelled category with the Sanskrit title Māyājāla-mahātantrarāja (Tib. rgyud kyi rgyal po sgyu ’phrul dra ba, Toh 466) and an extensive cycle of Nyingma tantras of the Mahāyoga class known collectively as the Māyājāla (Tib. sgyu ’phrul dra ba or drwa ba) that includes the Guhyagarbha tantras (rgyud gsang ba’i snying po, Toh 832–834). However, the content of these tantric works has little in common with that of the Mahāsūtra presented here.