Tattvasangraha 01

Author(s): Embar Krishnamacharya
Publisher: Central Library

Page 16

FOREWORD
XIII which he failed to identify. Waddell in his Lamaism' identified Za-hôr with Lahore but his query after the word indicates that the identification was uncertain. Zá-hôr, which must be situated in Bengal or more properly Gauda Bångala, may however be discovered in the Pargana of Vikrampur (Dacca District ) which was one of the greatest seats of Buddhism in Bengal in mediaeva) times, and which produced a great Buddhist reformer in Tibet in the person of Dipankara S'rijñâna or Atisa. The small village of Sâbhår in this Pargana bears a name which is a regular phonetic equivalent of Zà-hôr in Tibetan, and seems to be the place where S'ântarakṣita was born. Ruins of old palaces are still to be met with in this little village, and decorated bricks of charming workmanship from this place have found a resting place in many a museum in Bengal. The large number of Tântric Buddhist images discovered round about the place also lends support to this identification.
Further details about S'ântarakṣita come from another Tibetan source in connection with the legendary origin of Padmasambhava. The story states that when he was driven out by the people of Uddiyâna in spite of the attempts of the ruling king to save him, he went eastwards to Zâ-hôr, and married a sister of S'ântarakṣita who was much interested in him and brought him to Tibet in order to drive out the mischievous spirits of Tibet, and to assist him in his Buddhist propaganda work in that country." Now this little story links up S'ântarakṣita with an interesting series of scholars whose dates may be fixed fairly accurately.
From the reliable dates obtained from Tibetan sources we learn that S'ântarakṣita erected the monastery of Sani-ye, the
1. p. 379 ff. 2. Waddell. Lamaism, p. 379 et seq.
We have elsewhere identified this name. with Orissa. Vide-B. Bhattacharyga: Indian Buddhist Iconography intro, p. XXVII, and glimpses of Vajrayana (in the Proceedings of the Third Oriental
Conference ), p. 133ff. 4. See supra.