Comparative Study of Mantrashastra

Author(s): Mohanlal Bhagwandas Jhaveri
Publisher: Sarabhai Manilal Nawab

Page 97

Mantrayana-Vajrayana
And Tantrism Amongst Buddhists IN course of the foregoing discussion, we have dealt generally with
the Hindu Tantras of all sects of worshippers. We shall now deal with the Buddhist Tantras in particular as they are equally important in the History of Tantras and Mysticism and shall then describe Mysticism amongst Darvishes in a separate section. Finally we shall treat of Mantravāda amongst Jains in comparatively greater details and then in a separate part the contents of the work here published and notes and comments on the works in the appendices and the biographies of the authors thereof.
The Buddhists are divided into two principal sects viz, Mahāyāna and Hinayāna. The Northern Buddhists of Tibet, China and Japan belong to the former sect and they term those of the South i. e. Ceylon, Burma and other places 'Hinayānists' which term is not of a complimentary character. The Mahāyānists i. e. the followers of the Greater Vehicle are so called because they strive for the enlightenment of the whole universe, while the Hinayānists, i.e. the followers of the Lesser Vehicle are so called, because each of the followers seeks Nirvana and Arhatship for himself only. Vajrayāna or Mantrayāna is a development and a branch of the Mahāyāna. Vajrayāna is a form of Tantric Northern Buddhism. At first Buddhism was divided into three Yānas viz, (1) Shrāvakayāna (2) Pratyeka-Buddha Yana and (3) Bodhisattvayāna. With the advent of Padma-Sambhava (the son of the famous Indrabhūti who flourished in circa 717 A. D.) who was the founder of the Mantrayāna school in Tibet, Bodhisattvayāna developed according to Kazi Dawa-Samdup into Vajrayāna and Mantrayāna the same being divided further into the following main divisions: (1) Kriyātantra-Yāna, (2) Charyā or Upāya-tantra-Yāna (3) Yoga-TantraYāna, the last being further subdivided into three (4) Mahā-Yogatantra--Yana, (5) Anuttara-Yoga-tantra-Yāna, (6) Ati-Yoga-tantra