Buddhist Studies

The present paper consists of a critical edition of the Sanskrit text of Śūnyasamādhivajra's Mṛtasugatiniyojana and critical notes on the edition. The Mṛtasugatiniyojana is one of the rare texts that prescribe the procedures of the funeral in Indian Tantric Buddhism. The Sanskrit text of the Mṛtasugatiniyojana has been transmitted in two manuscripts. Two Tibetan translations are preserved in the bsTan 'gyur section of the Tibetan canon. In addition, the whole of the Mṛtasugatiniyojana less the two colophonic verses are incorporated in Jagaddarpaṇa's Ācāryakriyāsamuccaya as its last chapter named Nirvṛtavajrācāryāntyeṣṭilakṣaṇavidhi. The critical edition is based on the following materials: 1. Sanskrit Manuscripts of the Mṛtasugatiniyojana. (1) Manuscript preserved in the Tokyo University Library, No. 307. (2) Manuscript preser ved in the Kaiser Librar y, Kathmandu, Access Number 494 = NGMPP, Reel No. C47/9. 2. Tibetan Translations of the Mṛtasugatiniyojana. (1) Tha ma'i mchod pa'i cho ga. Ota.2770, Toh.1908. (2) Ngan song thams cad yongs su sbyong ba'i rgyud las phyung ba spyan ma'i ngan song sbyong ba'i cho ga. Ota.2771, Toh.1907. 2. Sanskrit Manuscripts of the Ācāryakriyāsamuccaya. (In this edition, I have used the following three manuscripts.) (1) Manuscript preserved in the Kyoto University Library, No.7. (2) Manuscript preserved in the Kyoto University Library, No.8. (3) Kriya-Samuccaya: A Sanskrit Manuscript from Nepal Containing a Collection of Tantric Ritual by Jagaddarpaṇa reproduced by L. Chandra from the Collection of Prof. Raghuvira. New Delhi, 1977.

Padmaśrīmitra's Maṇḍalopāyikā, of which the codex unicus is preserved in the Tokyo University Library, prescribes the funeral rite in the last chapter Antasthitikarmoddeśa. This short paper mainly reports on the textual parallels between the Antasthitikarmoddeśa and the Nirvṛtavajrācāryāsatkārakrama, which is another funeral manual contained in the Vajrācāryanayottama. In addition to these textual parallels, from the facts that the Guhyasamāja and the Catuṣpīṭha are scriptural authorities for the Maṇḍalopāyikā and that the Vajrcācāryanayottama contains texts of important works of the so-called Ārya school of the Guhyasamāja, it may be inferred that the Antasthitikarmoddeśa is related to the system of the Guhyasamāja Ārya school.