The Transmission Of Sanskrit Manuscripts 113
Pramāṇavārttikālaṃkāra (probably copied by Vibhūticandra) currently on
display in the museum in the great temple (Tib. lha khang chen mo) of Sakya
monastery.
In order to clarify the history of the reception and transmission of San-
skrit manuscripts in Tibet, one needed task is to identify previous owners of
the manuscripts. The manuscripts that were brought by individuals must
for the most part have originally been part of private collections88 before being
integrated into monastery libraries. The present paper is a case study under-
taken with this assumption and focusing solely on Atiśa’s Collection. The issue
in question can be cleared up only by investigating examples dealing with
other Sanskrit manuscript owners.89
Appendix I: A Chronological Table of Events Relevant to Retreng
Sanskrit Manuscripts
1040 Atiśa left Vikramaśīla, India
1041 Atiśa received Skt. mss. as gifts at Tham Vihāra in Kathmandu
ca. 1042–1045 Atiśa showed a Skt. ms. of his in Western Tibet
1047 Atiśa copied Skt. mss. preserved at Pekaling (Tib. dPe dkar gling) in
Samye (Tib. bSam yas)
before 1053 Dromtön (Tib. ’Brom ston) received Skt. mss. from the Translator
(Nag tsho?)
1054 Atiśa’s death; his Skt. mss. passed into the possession of Dromtön
Chagtrichog (Tib. Phyag khri mchog) sent some of Atiśa’s Skt. mss.
to India
1056 Dromtön founded Retreng, wherein he stored the mss.
1064 Dromtön’s death
88 Another important task is to systematically clarify how Tibetans have used Sanskrit man-
uscripts for scholarly or devotional purposes.
89 Owners’ names sometimes appear in Tibetan remarks written on Sanskrit manuscripts
in Norbulingka and the Potala. E.g. Luo Zhao, Luobulinka, 32 (’Gos lHas btsas etc.), 36 (Po
to ba), 38 (’Gos lHas btsas, Chag lo tsā ba), 96–97 (’Gos lHas btsas), 101 (dPyal lo tsā ba
Chos kyi bzang po); Luo Zhao, Budala gong, Sūtra, 55, 56 (’Gos gZhon nu dpal), 113 (Atiśa),
Śāstra, 57 (Grags pa rgyal mtshan), 62, 84, 118 (sTag lung cho rje rin po che), 138 (dPyal ston),
145 (Pad ma’i dbang po bzang po), 211–212 (Ga rod lo tsā ba), 244 (Zangs dkar lo tsā ba).
Cf. also Luo Zhao, Budala gong, Śāstra, 62 (bhoṭadeśīyalocayādharmasenasya pustakam
idaṃ gauḍīyāvadhūtayapravajreṇa likhitaṃ), 65 (likhāpitam idaṃ bhoṭadeśīyabhikṣuḥśrī-
akṣobhyavajraṇeti [sic]). See Appendix II below.