. sources and inspirations 23
been included in several tantric practice systems, with a wide variety
of interpretations. Likewise, the Perfection of Insight in 150 Lines, the
Perfection of Insight in 700 Lines, and other forms became employed
in a variety of venues for tantric purposes, although none of these was
tantric in origin.
Outside of Buddhist and Śaiva/Pañcarātra literature, the greatest
influence on the formation of tantrism was from political sources,
including the rituals and ideology associated with kingship. These pro-
vided the basic model for earliest tantric system, that of the Ekāksara-̣
usṇ̣īsa-cakravartin (̣ Yizi foding lunwang ), the Universal
Emperor from the Buddha’s Usṇ̣īsa [assuming the aspect of ] a Single ̣
Syllable. The documents translated into Chinese, along with the sur-
viving Sanskrit and Tibetan corpus, delineate an emergence of tantric
materials out of the dhāraṇī literature, even while calling itself the
“dhāraṇī teaching” or the “dhāraṇī method” (tuoluoni jiao ,
tuoluoni fa ). However, it is clear that these documents
engage many practices foreign to normative dhāraṇī literature, and it
is also clear that normative Mahāyānist dhāraṇī literature continued
on to be developed along traditional, non-tantric lines over the next
two centuries, only peripherally influenced by the sudden and precipi-
tous emergence of tantric practices.
By this standard, the earliest surviving tantric documents are those
attributed to Atikūta (̣ ), who is said to have translated his
texts in the mid-sixth century. The most important works are those
dedicated to or at least included the emerging Usṇ̣īsa system, espe-̣
cially his Dhāraṇīsaṃgraha (T. 901, Tuoluoni ji jing , 654
C.E.), which was constructed by Atikūta working with his colleagues ̣
Kāśyapa, *Saṃghānandavimoksa, and others, most of whom were said ̣
to be from a monastery of Bodhgayā ([Mahā]-bodhivihāra). This is the
first document that brings together the essential ingredients: a candi-
date is consecrated with the abhisekạ ceremony into a mandala (a)
using homa ceremonies, mantras, and mudrās; (b) employing forms
of Buddhist meditation; and (c) enjoining the individuals to secrecy
following the ceremony. The ritual systems in the Dhāraṇīsaṃgraha
have thematic analogues in the abhisekạ rites used in kingship in
the sixth and seventh centuries, as well as with rituals drawn from
non-Buddhist practices, such as cults to Cāmuṇḍā and Hayagrīva, as
well as rites from the larger Pañcarātra and Śaiva world. The refer-
ence to the imperial metaphor is explicit in the Dhāraṇīsaṃgraha
(T. 901.18:897b13–14), as is the awareness that Buddhists were under
increasing duress, with non-Buddhist teachers challenging the Buddha