It will also be remembered that about A.D. 1000, Atisa though a Tantrist, studied in Burma and presumably came in contact with Pali literature.  Rockhill notes that the Tanjur contains a commentary on the Lotus Sutra written by Prithivibandhu, a monk from Ceylon, and Pali manuscripts have been found in Nepal.[985] It is possible that Sinhalese may have brought Pali books to northern India and given them to Tibetans whom they met there.

VI.  The sixth division is called Myang-hdas or Nirvana, meaning the description of the death of the Buddha which also forms a special section in the Chinese Tripitaka.  Here it consists of only one work, apparently corresponding to Nanjio 113.[986]

VII.  The seventh and last section is called rGyud[987] or Tantra.  It consists of twenty-two volumes containing about 300 treatises.  Between thirty and forty are prima facie identical with treatises comprised in the Chinese Tripitaka and perhaps further examination might greatly increase the number, for the titles of these books are often long and capable of modification.  Still it is probable that the major part of this literature was either deliberately rejected by the Chinese or was composed at a period when religious intercourse had become languid between India and China but was still active between India and Tibet.  From the titles it appears that many of these works are Brahmanic in spirit rather than Buddhist; thus we have the Mahaganapati-tantra, the Mahakala-tantra, and many others.  Among the better known Tantras may be mentioned the Arya-manjusri-mula-tantra and the Sri-Guhya Samaja,[988] both highly praised by Csoma de Koros:  but perhaps more important is the Tantra on which the Kalacakra system is founded.  It is styled Paramadibuddha-uddhrita-sri-kalacakra and there is also a compendium giving its essence or Hridaya.

The Tanjur is a considerably larger collection than the Kanjur for it consists of 225 volumes but its contents are imperfectly known.  A portion has been catalogued by Palmyr Cordier.  It is known to contain a great deal of relatively late Indian theology such as the works of Asvaghosha, Nagarjuna, Asanga, Vasubandhu, and other Mahayanist doctors, and also secular literature such as the Meghaduta of Kalidasa, together with a multitude of works on logic, rhetoric, grammar and medicine.[989] Some treatises, such as the Udana[990] occur in both collections but on the whole the Tanjur is clearly intended as a thesaurus of exegetical and scientific literature, science being considered, as in the middle ages of Europe, to be the handmaid of the Church.  Grammar and lexicography help the understanding of scripture:  medicine has been of great use in establishing the influence of the Lamas:  secular law is or should be an amplification of the Church’s code:  history compiled by sound theologians shows how the true faith is progressive and triumphant:  art and ritual are so near together that their boundaries can hardly be delimitated.  Taking this view of the world, we find in the Tanjur all that a learned man need know.[991]