connects it with a country called Sambhala or
Zhambhala, translated in Tibetan as bDe-hbyun or source of
happiness. This country is seen only through a haze of myth: it may
have been in India or it may have been somewhere in Central Asia,
where Buddhism mingled with Turkish ideas.[1022] Its kings were called
Kulika and the Tibetan calendar introduced by Atisa is said to have
come from it. This fact and the meaning of the word Kalacakra (wheel
of time) suggest that the system has some connection with the Turkish
cycle of twelve animals used for expressing dates.[1023] A
legend[1024] states that Sakyamuni promulgated the Kalacakra system
in Orissa (Dhanyakataka) and that Sucandra, king of Sambhala,
having miraculously received this teaching wrote the Kalacakra Tantra
in a prophetic spirit, although it was not published until 965
A.D. This is really the approximate date of its compilation and I can
only add the following disjointed data.[1025]

Tibetan authorities state that it was introduced into Nalanda by a Pandit
called Tsilu or Chilu and accepted by Narotapa who was then head of the
University. From Nalanda it spread to Tibet. Manjusrikirti, king of
Sambhala, is said to have been an exponent of it and to have begun his
reign 674 years after the death of the Buddha. But since he is also the
second incarnation of the Panchen Lama and since the fourth (Abhayakara)
lived about 1075, he may really have been a historical character in the
latter part of the tenth century. Its promulgation is also ascribed to a
personage called Siddha Pito. It must be late for it is said to mention
Islam and Mohammed. It is perhaps connected with anti-mohammedan
movements which looked to Kalki, the future incarnation of Vishnu, as
their Messiah, for Hindu tradition says that Kalki will be born in
Sambhalagrama.[1026] We hear also of a Siddha called Telopa or Tailopa,
who was a vigorous opponent of Islam. The mythology of the school is
Vishnuite, not Sivaitic, and it is noticeable that the Pancaratra system
which had some connection with Kashmir lays stress on the wheel or discus
(_cakra_ or _sudarsana_) of Vishnu which is said to be the support of the
Universe and the manifestation of Creative will. The Kalacakra is
mentioned as a special form of this cosmic wheel having six spokes.[1027]

The peculiar doctrine of the Buddhist Kalacakra is that there is an
Adi-Buddha,[1028] or primordial Buddha God, from whom all other
Buddhas are derived.