nent in later works.
But the idea itself is old, for it is clearly the same that produced a
belief in the Brahmanic mantras, particularly the mantras of the
Atharva Veda, and early Buddhism did not reject mantras in their
proper place. Thus[126] the deities present themselves to the Buddha
and offer to teach him a formula which will protect his disciples from
the attacks of evil spirits. Hsuean Chuang even states that the council
which sat at Rajagriha after the Buddha's death compiled five
Pitakas, one of which consisted of Dharanis,[127] and it may be that
the collection of such texts was begun as early as the collection of
discourses and rules. But for many centuries there is no evidence that
they were in any way confounded with the Dharma.

The Mahayanist scriptures are so voluminous that not even the clergy
were expected to master any considerable part of them.[128] Indeed
they make no claim to be a connected whole. The theory was rather that
there were many vehicles plying on the road to salvation and many
guide books. No traveller thought of taking the whole library but only
a few volumes which suited him. Most of the Chinese and Japanese sects
avowedly base themselves upon three sutras, selected according to the
taste of each school from the hundreds quoted in catalogues. Thus the
T'ien-t'ai sect has for its scriptures the Lotus, the Nirvana-sutra
and the Prajna-paramita, while the Shin-shu sect admits only the three
Amidist sutras.

The following are the names of some of the principal Mahayanist
scriptures. Comparatively few of them have been published in Europe
and some exist only in Chinese or Japanese translations.

1. Prajna-paramita or transcendental knowledge[129] is a generic name
given to a whole literature consisting of treatises on the doctrine of
sunyata, which vary greatly in length. They are classed as sutras,
being described as discourses delivered by the Buddha on the Vulture
Peak. At least ten are known, besides excerpts which are sometimes
described as substantive works. The great collection translated into
Chinese by Hsuean Chuang is said to consist of 200,000 verses and to
comprise sixteen different sutras.[130] The earliest translation of
one of these treatises into Chinese (Nanjio, 5) was made about 170
A.D. and everything indicates that portions of the Prajna-paramita are
among the earliest Mahayanist works and date from about the first
century of our era. Prajna not only means knowledg