Essay name: Advayavajra-samgraha (Sanskrit text and English introduction)
Author: Mahamahopadhyaya Haraprasad Shastri
The Advayavajra-samgraha (sangraha) is a collection of approximately 21 works primarily authored by Advayavajra, an influential figure in Buddhist philosophy from the 11th century. These texts explore critical themes in Buddhism, particularly during a period that saw the transition from Mahayana to Vajrayana practices.
Sanskrit texts of the Advayavajra-samgraha
21 (of 114)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
Download the PDF file of the original publication
INTRODUCTION.
xxi
to the Punjab, to Southern India, to Western India, and
to some bordering countries. That was certainly not the
time either for the development of the Buddhist religion or
the Buddhist literature. The only isolated work of the second.
century is the Questions of Menander. It shows in some points
an advance from the Mah膩s膩nghika view. Other works are
non est. The Lankavat膩ra-sutra is sometimes attributed to this
century but it is in a language almost Sanskrit, and shows
an advance in some points.
Then comes the great Emperor Kani峁a. His conversion
to Buddhism is a great event in the first century A.D. He
held a synod of monks to which the primitive Buddhists
were not invited. So they do not acknowledge its existence.
Yuan-chwang says that in this synod a commentary was made
on all Buddhist works then available, inscribed in copper leaves,
and buried under a Stupa in K膩sm墨ra. Some Orientalists
still entertain the hope of digging out these copper-plates
and making use of their contents. In this synod the president
was P膩rsva, the then patriarch of the Buddhist church. P膩rsva
was succeeded by Punya-ya艣as. A艣va-ghosa was the successor's
successor of P膩rsva. A small body called Mah膩-y膩nists, were
present in that synod, they did not however succeed in making
much impression, but Asva-ghosa some time after the synod
took up their cause and wrote many works on their system.
One of his works is the Mah膩y膩na-艢raddhotpada-Sutra and the
other work is S奴tr膩lank膩ra. This has not yet been found either
in Sanskrit or in translation. The 艢raddhotp膩das奴tra though
not found in Sanskrit has been found in Chinese translation and
has been translated into English. It gives within a small
compass all the points in which the Mah膩y膩na excelled its
predecessors. All the twenty sects in A艣oka's time are indis-
criminately delegated to a lower position and called Hina-y膩na.
Asvaghosa wrote four other small works in Buddhist S奴tra
form; (1) on An膩tma-v膩da; (2) A s眉tra on ten Aku艣ala Karma;
(3) on the relation between the Guru and Sisya and (4) on
峁岣峠ati or the six stages of existence' in the world of desire.
All these works have their Chinese translations. I discovered
a second poem of his, Saundar膩nanda by name, which I have
edited in the Bibliotheca Indica.
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