रूपमण्डन एवं देवमूर्त्ति-प्रकरणम् (मण्डन सूत्रधार - प्राचीन मूर्तिकला एवं देव-प्रतिमा लक्षण सटीक)

( 33 )
from loss of traditions in North India, the Āgneya list
of the Pāñcarātra Āgamas is conclusively proved to be
authentic.
“Now, in the case of the Pāñcarātra, tradition mentions
one hundred and eight Saṃhitās, and in a few, texts about this
number are actually enumerated. Such lists, coquetting with the
sacred number 108, are, of course, open to suspicion.”
“The fact, however, that none of the available lists of
Saṃhitās, including those which pretend to give 108 names,
actually conforms to this number but all of them enumerate either
more names or less, is one thing telling in their favour ; and when,
as is the case, it can further be shown that a respectable number of
the texts enumerated are still available, while not a few of the
others are found to be quoted or summarised in the later literature,
and that a number of Saṃhitās which are not included in any of
the lists, are either extant or quoted—then the value of the latter
can no longer be denied. We have, consequently, collated those
lists, four in all, and with them a fifth list found in the Agni-
Pūrāṇa, and as a result offer the...table in which all the names...
have been arranged in alphabetical order.”
“The Kapiñjala list...comprises 106 names, the list of
Pādma Tantra...112, that of Viṣṇu Tantra...141, that of Haya-
śīrṣa Saṃhitā...34, and that found in the 39th adhyāya of Agni
(Āgneya)-Purāṇa only 25.
A still shorter list, namely that of the apocryphal Nāradīya,
has not been taken into account.”
The literature of the Pāñcarātras, like other sectarian
literatures, falls into two broad divisions comprising respectively
of works of inspired or divine origin and of human authorship
The latter class,...treats chiefly what are called vidhi and prayoga
and consists of digests, commentaries, extracts and studies on
special subjects, and the like. The former class,...consists of the
Saṃhitās or “compositions” (compendia), that is, metrical works
D—5