History of Chemistry in Ancient and Medieval India, Incorporating the History of Hindu Chemistry by Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray c17.13

c17.13

It might be recalled that from the time of Nagarjuna onwards, as Buddhism began to decline in India it appeared to be tinged more and more with Brahminical bias. A notable and decided step in this direction, it appears, was taken by Asamga, a monk of Gandhara, who composed the Yogacharabhumisastra, in which, by assimilating the doctrines of Patanjali, he paved the way for the growth of Tantras. Asamga seems to have lived about 400 A.D. (*cf.* Takakasu, *J. Royal Asiatic Soc.*, 1905). The absorption of the *yoga* ideas into Buddhistic doctrines made the alliance of Buddhism with Saivaism easy and thus favoured the growth of Buddhistic Tantras. The Mahayanists not only set up their own deities, but borrowed copiously from the pantheon of the Hindus. A picture of the religious and cultural background of the development of Indian alchemy at this period and afterwards is best presented with an extract from the work of an eminent scholar of Buddhistic literatures: