96 Kano
that Atiśa’s disciples, including Dromtön and Sharaba, and later scholars,
such as Butön and Tāranātha, accessed and utilised manuscripts in the col-
lection for their translations or revision of texts, such as the Aṣṭasāhasrikā
Prajñāpāramitā, Mahāsūtrasamuccaya, and Tārāmūlakalpa. From examples
(7) and (8) especially we learn that Retreng was still functioning as a Sanskrit
manuscript library (in 1361 and 1601) even after the Mongolian army’s attack
on the monastery in 1240.37 Finally, example (9) indicates the possibility that
Atiśa’s manuscripts were preserved not only in Retreng but also in other loca-
tions. In section 6 of the present paper, we will evaluate the historicity of these
examples. Further such examples arrived at in future studies will doubtless
enlarge details.
4 A Title List of the Manuscript Collection
From the abovementioned examples, we can conclude that Atiśa’s collection
of Sanskrit manuscripts was well stocked, but we still know quite little about
its contents. We can gain a better idea of them, however, on the basis of the
Catalogue of Retreng Monastery (Tib. Rwa sgreng dkar chag), compiled in 1989
by the Tibetan scholar Lhundrup chöpel (Tib. lHun grub chos ’phel). Though
it has appeared only recently, it contains old and reliable information, for it
is based on a manuscript of an anonymous old catalogue (Tib. dkar chag)
and was collated with information supplied from other sources.38 Lhundrup
37 ’Jam dpal dge ’dun’s Rwa sgreng lo rgyus, (p. 30) lists sacred objects of the monastery that
escaped damage from the fire in 1240, but refrains from mentioning Sanskrit manuscripts:
rab byung bzhi pa’i lcags byi ste spyi lo 1240 lor sog dmag gis rwa sgreng lha khang mer bsreg
kyang rten gtso ’jam dpal rdo rje dang / sgrol ma gsung byon ma gdung rten dngul gdugs
can che chung gnyis dang sku thang bris ma sum cu lhag mes ma tshig par bdud rtsi’i zil pa
khrom mer bzhugs pas kun gyi yid ches lhag par skyes zhing dad pa’i spu long dbang med du
g.yos /
38 lHun grub chos ’phel, Rwa sgreng dgon pa’i dkar chag mthong ba don ldan dge legs nor
bu’i bang mdzod [Treasury of Auspicious Jewels that is Meaningful Merely at a Glance:
Catalogue of Retreng Monastery] (Chengdu: Si khron mi rigs dpe skrung khang, 1994),
208–209: ces dpal gyi ’byung gnas rwa sgreng rgyal ba’i dben gnas dang gtsug lag khang gi
rten dang brten par bcas pa’i dkar chag mthong ba don ldan dge legs nor bu’i bang mdzod
ces bya ba zhar byung dang bcas pa ’di sa ’brug lor (= 1988) stong sku bzhengs pa po gtso
bor khur du bzung mkhan dge grags pa snyan grags lags dang / dge blo bzang brtson ’grus
rnam gnyis nas ’di lta bu zhig dgos zhes bskul ma yang yang byung zhing / rang nyid nas
kyang sangs rgyas dngos dang ngo bo dbyer ma mchos pa pha bla ma bka’ drin can de nyid
kyis lo mang chos dang zang zing gnyis kyi sgo nas spyan ’bras ltar bskyangs par bka’ drin