A History of Sanskrit Literature c33.s7.39

c33.s7.39

The Stotras of Buddhism have already been mentioned; the Dhāraṇīs, spells of all kinds, appear to have been used early, for they occur in Chinese versions of the fourth century; sometimes they appear collected into groups as in the *Meghasūtra*. Even philosophic doctrines were condensed to this shape as in the *Prajñāpāramitāhṛdayasūtra*² preserved since 609 in Japan. In such uses we are in full touch with ordinary Hinduism and still more is the case with the Tantras which either deal with ritual and ceremony or with Yoga. The former are innocuous, and are comparable with Hindu ritual treatises; of this kind is the *Ādikarmapradīpa*.³ The latter include magic, eroticism, and mysticism in the usual Tantra manner; they include the *Kālacakra* which knows of Mecca; the *Mahākāla*, which teaches how to find hidden treasure, win a wife, make a foe mad, or kill him; the *Tathāgataguhyaka*, which enjoins even the eating of the flesh of elephants, horses, and dogs, and intercourse with Caṇḍāla girls; the *Mañjuçrīmūlatantra*, which prophesies the advent of Nāgārjuna, and the *Saṁvarodaya*, which is Çaiva in tone. To Nāgārjuna are actually attributed five of the six sections of the *Pañcakrama*,⁴ but, as one is ascribed to Çākyamitra, who is probably to be dated *c.* A. D. 850, we may reject the identification with the great philosopher. The form of these works is as unsatisfactory as their contents, but it is idle to deny their influence; the Shin-gon sect in Japan rests on Tantras.