ABSTRACT
In considering the textual history of the MVT, we have seen that it is an product of the early tantric phase of Buddhism in India. In fact, I believe it is likely to have been one of the first, if not actually the first fully developed tantra to be compiled, that has survived in some form to the present day. Nevertheless, it appears to be a very sophisticated text both doctrinally and practically. As I have suggested earlier in this Introduction, there are a number of elements that are characteristic of all tantras. All of these elements are present in the MVT, with the exception of an overt interest in the feminine per se as in later tantras, although a large number of female deities are mentioned 22 . As we have also seen, these elements were at first fairly disparate and are encountered separately in texts that date several centuries before the MVT itself. Indeed some of them, such as the homa fire sacrifices, have their roots in the pre-Buddhist Vedic culture. Furthermore, apart from the specifically tantric elements which I have mentioned, there are many echoes in the MVT of earlier Mahāyāna teachings, which place it well within the mainstream of Buddhist tradition. Hence we can see clear links between the MVT and the Sad-dharma-puṇḍarīka Sūtra, the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, the Buddha-bhūmi Sūtra, as well as Yogācāra works such as the Mahāyāna-sūtrālaṃkāra and the Dharma-dharmatā -vibhāga. Unfortunately a full length treatment of all the sources of the MVT would probably require a book to itself, so for lack of space I must leave this for another occasion.
