1889.] Babu S. C. Das— Notice oftico rare Tibetan MSS. 11 



by the great Lochava (Rinchhen .Sssanpo) and tbe Dolunpa fatber and 

 spiritual son. It contains tbe substance of numerous Lam-rini works 

 (by different autbors) . Being possessed of all tbe requirements of tbe 

 "way" in a convenient manner, and tbere being no confusion in its 

 arrangement, tbis work was composed by tbe great renouncer and 

 S'ravaka S'ar Tsoiikbapa, jBLo &ssafi Grags-pa Dpal, the hermit of 

 tbe Mahayana doctrine of Himavat at the branch monastery of .Bgyal- 

 wa7d dWen gnus of Byah Ra-defL It was printed at the mountain 

 retreat of Brog Senge//i Shol, the writer being Bsod nams cZpal frssahpo." 



No. 2. The second work is the principal work on Tantrikism (as 

 adopted by the reformed or Gelug-pa School of Tibet, of which the 

 Dalai Lama is the head.) It is called IMorje fichhah Chhenpo/u Lam- 

 gyi-Riru-pa. In it is embodied the substance of the sixty volumes of the 

 Kahgyur collection, which treat of the Tantras and the esoteric cult of 

 the Northern Buddhists. This work is unique in its character, because, 

 as the Tantric works of Tibet are compared with the great oceans on ac- 

 count of their vastness and immensity, no work exists in Tibet in winch 

 one could find the real meaning of Tantrik doctrines and rites ex- 

 plained in a lucid manner. This work alone is able to give an idea 

 of the Tantrikism of Tibet and Magadha. I did not meet with such 

 a work in Tibet or Peking. I therefore congratulate you in the dis- 

 covery of a work in the temple of Bhotbagan which does not occur 

 in the Society's library or in tbe libraries of Europe. Lam-gyi Rim-pa 

 is a purely Tantrik work and treats of the Tantrik cult of the Gelug-pa 

 or yellow hat School, called the .Bdorje Theg-pa or the venerable 

 vehicle doctrine. In it are described the various mystic rites and 

 ceremonies for propitiating the tutelary deities, and also for entering 

 into what is called the direct and the shortest path to the state of 

 beatitude of the northern Buddhists. The blocks from which this work 

 was printed were engraved in Peking. Purangir must have brought it 

 from Peking when he returned to India after the death of the Tashi 

 Lama. This work will be of much interest to those who wish to inquire 

 about the esoteric part of the Gelug-pa Buddhist religion. 



The author, Tsohkhapa (called Lo-ssah tagpai pal or Sumati Kirti 

 S'ri), begins the work as follows : — " Whereas the power of the argu- 

 mentative philosophy of the " great doctrine " is not mean, the Protector 

 of the doctors of the Buddhist divinity, out of mercy for the common 

 people, with a view that they might be firm in their faith and that the 

 wicked, who are wandering in the world and to whom the liberation from 

 that state is most difficult, might in a short space of time attain to the 

 state of Buddha who alone is the object of universal refuge, has pro- 

 mulgated this shorter means of attaining Nirvana. It is for iliat reason 



