History of Chemistry in Ancient and Medieval India, Incorporating the History of Hindu Chemistry by Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray c17.27

c17.27

We are now in a position to trace some of the Tantric treatises from their Tibetan translations recorded in the great Tibetan scriptures, Kanjur (*Kang-gyur*) and Tanjur (*Stan-gyur*), the Tibetan equivalent of the Buddhist *Tripitika*. Buddhism was formally introduced into Tibet by Buddhist scholars from Bengal in the beginning of the 8th century A.D., and several of the Tantric treatises were gradually imported into Tibet from this time onwards by Indian scholars. Kanjur and Tanjur represent immense collections of works translated primarily from the Sanskrit and subsidiarily from the Chinese languages, between the 7th and the 13th centuries. These collections are of considerable value, as most of their Sanskrit originals are either lost or now unavailable. The faithful accuracy of these translations and their fidelity to the original enable us often to reproduce the Sanskrit texts and thus provide us with valuable historical data.