dharani

This is the first part of a long manuscript that is a collection ofdhāraṇīsutras spread across a number of classmarks (see in orderIOL Tib J 399,IOL Tib J 397,535,IOL Tib J 398,IOL Tib J 388, andIOL Tib J 394). The Tibetan pagination for the whole collection runs from 1-100 for each letter (ka-kha-ga), so the present item which starts fromka-10 (=177: 67b.3) represents the first work in the collection. For a brief summary of the content of this sutra see141. According to Skilling, the sutra was composed around an original kernal of a complete *Ratna-sūtra.

There are four sutras represented in the scattered folios that remain, and there is one sutra missing, which would have immediately followed the present item and coveredka-60 tokha-32. This missing sutra was almost certainly theMahāmayūrīvidyārājñī, as thisdhāraṇīcollection (gzungs 'dus) was a popular set known as thePañcarakṣā(listed in theLdan dkar macatalogue as theGzungs chen po lnga(nos.329-333). The present order of the five works matches that seen in the Tabogzungs 'dusmanuscript discussed in). Note too that these five works appear together, though in a slightly different order, in today'sbka' 'gyur(177,178,180,179, and181). In this regard we may also note that the length of the missing sutra roughly matches the length of theMahāmayūrīvidyārājñī. For more on thePañcarakṣā, see,and.

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