👻 pitṛtantra

The term pitṛtantra (for Tibetan pha’i rgyud or pha rgyud) is, in my view, a ghost word. This, however, does not mean that also Tibetan pha’i rgyud or pha rgyud is a ghost word. The Tibetan pha’i rgyud or pha rgyud is an abbreviated or elliptical expression for rnal ’byor pha’i rgyud and is actually a rendering of yogatantra. In Tibetan it would be quite legitimate to translate yogatantra as rnal ’byor pha’i rgyud especially when there is a need to distinguish it from yoginītantra, just as it is quite common to render bhikṣuvibhaṅga as dge slong pha’i rnam ’byed, which in turn has often be abbreviated as pha’i rnam ’byed.