Sanskrit Manuscripts : Buddhist Tantric Fragment (Piṇḍīkramasādhana?)

Nāgārjuna, Unknown

Sanskrit Manuscripts

<p style='text-align: justify;'> A palm-leaf fragment containing an unidentified Buddhist Tantric text. It begins with the first stanza of the <i>Piṇḍīkramasādhana</i>, traditionally attributed to Nāgārjuna, but composed between the 9th and 10th century. Originally, this text was thought to belong to the <i>Pañcakrama</i> corpus of Buddhist Tantric texts, but it is now regarded as a separate work. It deals with the "steps of generation" (<i>utpattikrama</i>): "The system of practice of the <i>Anuttarayogatantra</i> s well known to consist of the 'steps of generation (<i>utpattikrama</i>, <i>bskyed rim</i>) and the 'steps of completion' (<i>niṣpannakrama</i>, <i>rdzogs rim</i>). [...] the <i>Piṇḍīkramasādhana</i> represents the <i>utpattikrama</i>, the <i>Pañcakrama</i> represents the <i>niṣpannakrama</i>. Both texts, as fundamental treatises of the Ārya school (<i>'phags lugs</i>) of the <i>Guhyasamājatantra</i>, are considered to have been composed around the 9th or 10th century A.D." (Mimaki and Tomabechi 1994: ix). However the manuscript then continues with a different text than the one published in de la Vallée Poussin in 1896.</p>