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PREFACE
xxiii
Sarvāstivādạ school to which Asanga was previously related. Though it refers to the Sarvāstivāda doctrines in the preliminary stage preparatory to the acquisition of the Pratyekabuddha and Bodhisattva stages, its relation to the Mahāyāna doctrines can not be ignored. Abundant Yoga materials are also found in it.1 Cross references to the Pāli texts and other Buddhist works have also been located in order to demonstrate the doctrinal importance of the text. Similarly, corresponding references to Ayurvedic doctrines have also been traced in the body of the present text.
All the available studies and works have been fully utilised. Mainly 'An Analysis of the Srāvakabhūmi Manuscript by Prof. Alex Wayman (California University, 1961) has been of immense help to us, though we had reasons to differ from it in several respects, viz. in deciphering the text, historical aspects and doctrinal expositions. Nevertheless, we are indebted to this work which initiated our interest in a detailed study of the text and several references to the Sino-Tibetan and Japanese versions to which we were not so much familiar. This was the only study of the text in its linguistic aspect to which we had an access.
As basically required, a detailed study of the text in its various aspects has also been presented. Due to some unavoidable circumstances, this study in the form 1. On this point, vide our paper traTUTTTTFTTTUI S Y UT
**TT:', Yoga Seminar, Sanskrit University, Varanasi, 1971.
