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226 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [April, 1907. 



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With reference to Kala Cakra Mula Tantra and fri-dhanya 



Kataka, the following extracts from a note in page 192 of Alexander 

 Csoma de Koros's Tibetan-English grammar may be i^ead with 

 profit. There is no mention of this important Tantra in the anci- 

 ent Buddhist woi'ks of India and in their Chinese translations, on 

 account of which theMahayana school of Buddhism of 'J'ibet differ 

 so greatly from that which obtains in China and Japan. It is very 

 probable that it was introduced long after the time of the Chinese 

 pilgrim Yuan Chuang. In his extensive travels all over India and 

 Ceylon, that scholarly monk never made mention of pridhanya 

 Kataka, althougli he paid visits to the sanctuaries of Orisa, and to 

 friparvata, tbe place of Nagarjuna's ascetical meditation and death. 

 That this was near Qridhanya Kataka is made clear by the text 

 quoted above. Regarding the Kala Cakra Tantra, Csoma de Koros 

 remarked: — 



** This system in fact was first introduced into India towards 

 the end of the tenth, century and afterwards via Kashmir into 

 Tibet. It is very curious that Ati9a, who flourished in Maga- 

 dha at the beginning of the llth century, should also not have 

 referred to the Kala Cakra Tantra in his extensive writings which 

 are preserved in translation in the iStangyur collection of Tibet. 

 It is, therefore, clear though it originated in f ridhanya Kataka 

 about the time he was born, it had not become known to the 

 Buddhists of Magadha and Tibet of his time. It is stated that 

 this system was introduced in India from Qambhala about the year 

 965 A.D.^' 



Now, it is necessary to ascertain where this fambhala was 



and if it can be identified with any place of modern India, or if we 

 should go to seek it in regions outside of India.. Csoma referring to 

 it has, in one place, said : " Qambhala, a fabulous country or city, in 

 the north beyond the Jaxartes,'* and, in another place, observed : " It 

 would be interesting to ascertain how the doctrine taught at Cuttack 

 in Orisa, was brought beyond the Jaxartes to f ambhala, or what 

 reason the Buddhists had for inventing the story.' ' . 



The Tibetan historians, who have written on this subject, 



invariably locate pambhala in Chinese Tartary in the valley of 

 the Jaxartes, which they identify with the river Sita mentioned in 

 Buddhist works. King Candra Bhadra, who was believed to have 

 been an incarnation oi - Bodhisattva Vajra Pani, in the volume 

 attributed to him called Mula Tantra, describes the country as 



