ssical Sanskrit
models and is not distinctly Buddhist although the prose version of
the Mahabharata states that it was written for Brahmans, Sivaites and
Buddhists.[424] Many other translations or adaptations of Sanskrit
work are mentioned, such as the Nitisastra, the Sarasamuccaya, the
Tantri (in several editions), a prose translation of the
Brahmandapurana, together with grammars and dictionaries. The
absence of dates makes it difficult to use these works for the history
of Javanese thought. But it seems clear that during the Madjapahit
epoch, or perhaps even before it, a strong current of Buddhism
permeated Javanese literature, somewhat in contrast with the tone of
the works hitherto cited. Brandes states that the Sutasoma,
Vighnotsava, Kunjarakarna, Sang Hyang Kamahayanikan, and Buddhapamutus
are purely Buddhist works and that the Tjantakaparva, Arjunavijaya,
Nagarakretagama, Wariga and Bubukshah show striking traces of
Buddhism.[425] Some of these works are inaccessible to me but two of
them deserve examination, the Sang Hyang Kamahayanikan[426] and the
story of Kunjarakarna.[427] The first is tentatively assigned to
the Madjapahit epoch or earlier, the second with the same caution to
the eleventh century. I do not presume to criticize these dates which
depend partly on linguistic considerations. The Kamahayanikan is a
treatise (or perhaps extracts from treatises) on Mahayanism as
understood in Java and presumably on the normal form of Mahayanism.
The other work is an edifying legend including an exposition of the
faith by no one less than the Buddha Vairocana. In essentials it
agrees with the Kamahayanikan but in details it shows either sectarian
influence or the idiosyncrasies of the author.

The Kamahayanikan consists of Sanskrit verses explained by a
commentary in old Javanese and is partly in the form of questions and
answers. The only authority whom it cites is Dignaga. It professes to
teach the Mahayana and Mantrayana, which is apparently a misspelling
for Mantrayana. The emphasis laid on Bajra (that is vajra or dorje),
ghanta, mudra, mandala, mystic syllables, and Devis marks it as
an offshoot of Tantrism and it offers many parallels to Nepalese
literature. On the other hand it is curious that it uses the form
Nibana not Nirvana.[428] Its object is to teach a neophyte,
who has to receive initiation, how to become a Buddha.[429] In the
second part the pupil is addressed as Jinaputra, that is son of the
Bud