Eye Spoon to Open up Historical Vision

The 2nd from top is called the ‘easy-to-use eye spoon’
as one item from a set of Tibetan surgical implements

 

The aim of this brief blog is just to make available an until recently lost (or rather unknown) Tibetan history book for the benefit of the Tibetan-reading public. Even though the translator was unaware of this text when his translation of the long Deyu history* was published, you may want to read the introduction to that publication for background. And for an introduction to the Eye Spoon text itself, see this blog posted a few months ago: “Mystery Histories - 6½ Including the 5 Chan.” There we found it especially useful for thinking about the meanings of the names of those fascinating texts preserved for us from the early 9th-century reign of Relpachan.**

(*This means the anonymously authored commentary on the Deyu verses completed in 1261 or shortly after — A History of Buddhism in India and Tibet: An Expanded Version of the Dharma’s Origins Made by the Learned Scholar Deyu, The Library of Tibetan Classics series no. 32, Wisdom Publications (Somerville, 2022). **If you are curious to know what’s out there, history-wise, in Tibetan literature, have a look at Tibetan Histories in its latest 2020 edition, containing references to over 1260 books of historical genres, and no, to answer your next question, the Eye Spoon isn’t listed among them, not yet.)

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Here are the bibliographic details to what is to the best of my knowledge the only published version of the Eye Spoon to appear so far:

Chos-'byung Gsal-byed Mig-thur-gyi 'Grel-pa. Contained in: Rje-btsun Grags-pa[-rgyal-mtshan] et al., Rgyal-rabs Gsal Me sogs, Sa-lugs-kyi Mkhas-pas Mdzad-pa’i Bod-kyi Lo-rgyus Rnam-thar Phyogs-bsgrigs series no. 1, Bod-ljongs Bod-yig Dpe-rnying-khang (Lhasa 2019), pp. 356-368.*

(*Perceptive readers will note that it is published in a collection of historical works composed by scholars of the Sakya School, even though there isn’t the least indication that its anonymous author was in any way affiliated. Most likely, like the other Deyu authors, he would have belonged to esoteric currents of the Zhijé and Nyingma traditions.)

What we have here in this Eye Spoon is a previously unknown third commentary, likely written in around 1200 CE, on the verses by the Zhijé (ཞི་བྱེད་) Master Deyu (མཁས་པ་ལྡེའུ་), written in around 1180 CE. We know for certain that it is earlier than the small Deyu (ca. 1220) because it is mentioned by title within that work (for more on this, see that just-mentioned earlier blog of ours).

Now, before going on to represent the manuscript, I know that some of my readers are going to be curious about what “eye spoon” means. First of all, it doesn’t have to look like a spoon. Tibetan surgical implements are mostly called spoons (thur-ma) where in other parts of the world they are more likely to be called knives and needles. It’s a rather generic term. But how did Tibetan medicine use eye spoons? There were certainly advances in eye surgery in Tibet during the Fifth Dalai Lama’s time, but in common with western Eurasia until well into the 19th century one of the main ways of dealing with cataracts was to skillfully handle an implement to push the cataract away from the visual field in a process called ‘couching.’ For more on the Tibetan traditional practice, most accessible and recommended is the section in Pasang Yontan Arya, “External Therapies in Tibetan Medicine,” contained in: Theresia Hofer, ed., Bodies in Balance, University of Washington Press (Seattle 2014), pp. 64-89, at pp. 86-88.

°

The manuscriptum unicum, the 9-folio cursive text (so far as I know still not published in facsimile) has a few insertions and corrections placed below the relevant lines and written in a headed script. These have simply been incorporated into the text without any notation or comment.* However, I have tried to indicate [1] erasures with dotted underlinings and [2] cancellations (indicated in the text by one dotted line above) by strike-throughs.  I have left the letter ’a as it is, even where it is now regarded as unnecessary.  I have adhered to the spellings of the unicum rather than standardizing them (but sometimes insert square-bracketed ‘equivalents’ or my own ‘corrections’ headed with the mathematical symbol for congruence, ~, which may be here translated ‘read as’ or ‘fix to’).

(*That means I accept them as corrections done by a proofreader, and not as interpretive glosses or ‘footnote’ annotations added by a later reader. The fact that both can be done in the same way leads to misunderstandings and what are often mistaken for interpolations with the motive to deceive.)

The text that follows is supposed to adhere 100% to the only available 9-folio manuscript (made available to me by S.P.), but the page nos. of the just-mentioned publication are inserted here in the form of square brackets, while folio nos. of the unicum are inserted in square brackets, too, only with the addition of the ‘r’ standing for recto, and the ‘v’ for verso.

Note that this text only once quotes directly from the root verses, introducing them with the words “gzhung du” in the manner of the (later) long and small Deyu histories (in subsequent lines it quotes lines from the same passage again, each time ending with “skad pa”).

Even though the shelving numbers on the title page, “phyi / ra / 188” make us think so, it isn’t sure if this was taken from the Arhat Temple of Drepung Monastery.  This number couldn't be located in the published catalogue.

In the published version, there is an added modern comment after the title that basically warns us that, because of later loss, the colophon information is unavailable. It isn’t possible to know if the author left the work incomplete, or if it suffered from loss later on in its historical transmission. Still, I suspect the latter, so hopes of a complete version appearing in the future may not be misplaced.

[Ka 1r]

phyi

ra

188

Chos 'byung gsal byed dmig thur gyi // 'grel pa zhes bya ba bzhugs.ho //

[356]

[Published version only:] Chos 'byung gsal byed mig thur gyi 'grel pa zhes bya ba bzhugs so // rjes brlags pas mdzad byang ma gsal /

[1v] na mo 'ghu ru /

dam pa chos kyi byung tshul bstan pa 'di la spyi don rnam pa lngas ston te //

1. yang dag par rdzogs pa'i sangs rgyas shag kya thub pa 'di sangs ji ltar rgyas pa'i rgyas lugs bstan pa dang gcig //
2. des chos ji ltar gsungs pa'i gsungs lugs bstan pa dang gnyis //
3. sdud pa pos ji ltar bsdus lugs bstan pa dang gsum /
4. des mi yul du snang lugs bstan pa dang bzhi /
5. zhar la thang khob [~mtha' 'khob] bod yul du byon lugs bstan pa dang lnga las /

da ni thang khob [~mtha' 'khob] bod kyi rgyal 'khams su chos byon lugs ston pa ni mnga' bdag btsan po'i drin gyis byon pa'i phyir // gdung rabs dag la brten te brjod par bya //

zhes pa bshad par dam bca' ba gnyis thal na / gdung rabs sngos [~dngos?] bshad pa ni /

spyir na rgyal po la yang gnyis su sdud /

sum brgya' drug bcur phye nas gsum du gleng //

gdung rgyud rgyal po spyi don bdun du bshad //

bkos [~bskos] pa'i rgyal po bkos lugs rnam pa bzhi //

de bsogs [~sogs] gnad ni sum bcu sum bcus ston //

glo bur rgyal po gleng tshig phyed dang bdun //

zhes pa la[ ]sogs pas ston te / de yang spyi don bdun  bstan te / 

1. rgyal po rnams kyi gdung rabs brtsi' ba dang /
2. dam pa'i chos rnams dar lugs bstan pa dang / 
3. sde pa'i me ro bla [~slang] lugs dang /
4. rnying ma'i 'gyur bzhug [357] chad [~zad?] lugs dang [2r] /
5. gsar ma'i 'gyur 'go [~mgo] btsugs lugs dang / 
6. bstan pa'i 'phel 'grib ji ltar byung ba bstan pa dang bdun no //

rgyal po'i gdung rabs brtsis pa la dgos pa ci yod na / bod du chos byon pa 'di mnga' bdag byang chub sems dpa' rnams kyis ring la byon pa yin pas / drin dran par bya ba'i phyir gdung rabs la brten dgos pa'o //

bkos [~bskos] glo 'ur [~glo bur] gdung rgyud gsum la / da ni glo 'ur rgyal po bshad pa la / gleng pa'i don phyed dang bdun gyis ston / can lnga lo rgyus chen po dang / gab pa yang chu[ng] [?] phyed du btsa' ba yin //

de la stod lha rabs / bar ma mnga' dar /

smad ni gyes mdo bsil chad ston pa /

can lnga ni 

1. yo ga lha gyes can /
2. stab ma dgung rtsegs can /
3. zis po 'go sngon can dang / 
4. gsang ba phyag rgya can dang /
5. zags ma bzhugs rabs can dang /

de ltar can lnga lo rgyus chen po dang drug ste / gsang ba yang chung bang so'i rabs yin pas de la phyed du 'jog pa lags so skad /

pha ba bon pos brtsams pa yo ga lha gyes can [/]

yab 'bangs kyis brtsams pa zang ma bzhugs rabs can /

kyi nam gyis brtsams pa bzings pa 'go sngon can / 

zhang blon gyis brtsams pa stab ma dgu rtsegs can / 

rje nyid kyis mdzad pa gsang ba phyag rgya can dang lnga / 

de dge' bshes khu ston brtson 'grus kyis brtsams pa log non chen po 'am / lo rgyus chen po zer / [2v]

gsang ba yang chu[ng] phyed du bzhag pa ni / rje drongs [~grongs] nas gshin bang so btab pa'i rabs yin pas phyed du 'jog pa yin no //

de la spyir mnga' ris bod kyi rgyal khams 'dir /

mi rigs mi gcig pa drug stong bzhi brgya / 

skad rigs mi gcig pa sum brgya drug bcu'i ya [?] gcig yin pas / bod gla glo'i [~kla klo'i] skad du smra ba bya ba yin la / thang la dgu bcu rtsa gcig gi ya gcig yin pas / thang khob bod kyi rgyal 'khams 'dir ces pa'o //  [358]་chos med pa'i dus la dgongs pa'o // 

—

dam pa chos kyi byung tshul bstan pa ni / 

zhes pa ston pa'i zhabs kyis dam [~ma] bcags kyang gsung gis khyab pas de skad do //

mnga' bdag btsan po ni rigs gsum gyi sprul pa / me[s] dbon rnams dang / mnga' ris btsan po rnams kyi sku drin yin pas de skad do //

gdung rabs dag la brten te brjod par bya zhes pa'o //

spyir na mnga' ris zhes pa tshig drug gis snya khri btsan po [~gnya' khri btsan po] ma byon pa'i gong du / rgyal bran [~rgyal phran] rnams kyis dbang mdzad lugs ston te / dang po gnod sbyin nag pos dbang byas te / yul gyi ming bzang yul rgyan med bya bar btags / lag char mda' gzhu' thogs pa de nas byung /

gnyis pa ri ste 'gong yag bdud kyis dbang byas te / yul gyi mi[ng] bdud yul gling dgu zer / lag char sta ri dang dgra sta byung /

gsum pa snyan rings phrag med srin gyis dang byas te / yul gyi ming yang [3r] srin yul nag po rgu sum zer / lag char mdung lcags srin mo rkang dang sgyogs gnyis byung /

bzhi pa lha dmar 'dzam zhes pas dbang byas te / yul gyi ming yang lha yul gung thang zer /

lnga pa dmu yis dbang byas te / yul gyi ming yang rmu yul nga 'brang cang 'brang cang zer /

drug pa 'dre srog trog (?) gyis dbang byas te / yul ni lang ta ling ta zer /

bdun pa ma sangs rgyu dgus dbang mdzad / yul gyi ming bod 'khams g.yas drug zer / 

brgyad pa klu yis dbang byas klu yul gling dgu zer / 

dgu pa mi ma yin gyis dbang byas / ngam yul nag po zer /

bcu pa za hrid bu pos dbang mdzad / yul gyi ming stong sde bc[o] brgyad du btags /

bcu gcig pa rgyal phran bcu gnyis kyis dbang mdzad / yul gyi ming rong kha brgyad du btags / 

kun gyi tha mar rgyal sil ma bzhi bcu rtsa [g]nyis kyis dbang mdzad / yul gyi mi[ng] rong kha [359] brgyad du btags /

de ltar dbang mdzad rim par byung yang / phyogs bzhi'i dgra ma thul skad pa // 

phyogs bzhi'i dgra ni / rgya gar rgyal po sbrul 'dra rtag tu 'khri / rgya nag rgyal po lug la spyang khu 'jab pa 'dra // stag gzigs rgyal po bya khyur khra zhugs 'dra / ge sar rgyal po shing rte 'tshab 'dra / bod yul dbus na rma bzhi phyogs bzhi'i rgyal po kha drag pas / bsdos pas ma thub dogs nas brag ri btsan po 'dzin /

de nas rje gnya' khri btsan po spyan drangs pa la / 

gzhung las de nas snya khri btsan po byon pa la / [3v]  

gleng lugs mi [m]thun gsang bgrags yang gsang zer //

gang ltar 'then kyang snya khri mthun pa ste //

de yang sgrags pa'i lugs kyis lha las chad par 'dod /  

lha rabs mched bzhi mched bdun tshigs gcig rmu yul bshugs te khri ni rgyal ba zer /

de'i bu ni snya khrir btsan por grags / snya khri de yang gung las dog la gshegs / zhes pas ston te /

de yang gong gi rgyal phran rnams kyis rjes ma byung / bod mngar ma 'dus nas yab 'bangs rus drug gam / shes pa mkhan gyi mi bcu gnyis kyis rje btsal nas spyan drangs pa la //

de la yang byon lugs ma mthun / gsang pa rgyal po las chad pa chos lugs su gleng pa / bgrags pa lha las chad pa bon lugs su gleng pa / 

yang gsang the brang las chad pa 'tshang lugs su gleng pa / gsum lags skad //

gang ltar 'then kyang snya khri btsan por mthun skad pa /

gang ltar chad kyang snya khri btsan po yin paso //

de la gsang po rgyal po las chad pa chos lugs su thal na / bskos glo 'ur gdung rgyud gsum / mang pos bskur pa'i rgyud la tshang skad pas / gdung brgyud rigs gsum / che ba shag kya chen po / 'bring po li tsha byi / chung pa shag kya ri brag pa las chad pa ste / rgyal po rmag brgya pa'i [~dmag brgya pa'i] bu chung dag rgyal pu ru la skyes las chad par [360] 'dod pa'o // [4r] 

yang gsang ni the brang las chad par 'dod pa ste / yul spu yul na spu'i bu mo / mo btsun gung rgyal bya ba gcig gi rum nas the brang spun dgu byung ba'i bu chung dag / the brang ma rje (?) u pa ra las chad par 'dod paso // 

de ltar yin kyang rje'i mtshang ngam sngan du 'gro bas 'bangs kyis gleng bar mi rigs pa lags skad / 

des na sgrag pa'i lugs kyis lha la[s] chad pa la ji ltar chad na / dang po phyi snod kyi 'jig rten 'di skal pa ma skal / srid pa ma srid tsam na / phya mi mkhyen dgu mkhyen ba gcig srid pa phya yis bskos te byung // 

de nas gnam sa rims kyis srid de / srid pa rims gyis [b]skos nas / srid pa'i lha gnam then chen po bya ba srid // 

de'i sras gung then che / de'i sras sprin chen / de'i sras zin then che / char then chen / bal then che / de'i sras 'da' then che la sogs pa then dgu srid /

de'i sras mong then che / de dang [d]byal bya ma ting du spyos pa'i sras / yab stag tsha yal yol / de dang yum mdze gza' khyad khyud bshos pa'i sras / srid pa'i lha rabs mched bzhi 'khrungs / yab lha bdal drug / phywa lha bram chen / rgya lha 'bro nam / 'od de gung rgyal lo //

yab lha bdal drug dang rmu btsun chu dri sman du bshos pa'i sras / lha rabs mched bdun 'khrungs / yar gyi cen gsum la/ lha ro rong rtsol po / khri la stag gzig / [4v] than tsho zo 'brang / mar gyi chud gsum la / lhe rje yang dkar / lhe rje mang dkar / lhe rje gung btsan no //

'bring po khri rgyal ba / sring mo thang nga lha mo thong / then dgu mched bzhi mched bdun zhes pa'i don no //

bdun tshig[s] zhes pa khri rgyal ba'o // bdun tshig tu gyur pas / yar gyi can la rngod / mar gi cung la rngod pas / gnam sa bcu gsum gyi steng nas / gnam rim pa lnga'i steng du zhang po rmu yul bshugs pas / khong 'gror ma btub nas yab yum gyi skor cha mang du [361] byin nas bshugs / 

de'i bu ni snya khri btsan por grags zhes pa / khri rgyal ba dang / dre rmu dre btsan mo bshos pa'i sras / zla ba nya'i nub mo ma'i 'gul [~mgul] gyi snya ba[~gnya' ba] nas skyes pas snya khri btsan po zhes kyang bya /

zla ba nya'i nub mo btsas pa nya khri zhes kyang bya / de ltar bu de gnam gung nas sa dog la byon pas / snya khri de la yang gung nas dog la gshegs skad do //

de nas gdung rabs nyi shu rtsa gcig tu bod la chos med mun pa'i smag rum 'dra / chab srid sgrung lde bon dang gsum gyis btsas skad / dus de tsa nas bod la rgyal phran bcu gnyis kyis dbang byed kyang / phyogs bzhi'i rgyal po chen po bzhi ma thul / kho rang tsho che ma 'chams nas yod pa'i dus su / zhang gsum [b]lon dang bzhi / yab 'bangs rus drug / shes pa mkhan mi bcu gnyis kyis rje btsal bas / [5r] rje dkar ma yo bde'i zhal nas / gnam rim pa lnga'i steng nas / rje snya khri btsan po bya ba lha'i sras po rmu'i dbon po gcig yod pas de spyan drangs ma byas na / 

rtsibs kyi lha dkar ma yo ldes smras pa / rje snya khri btsan po yul sa ka dog drug ma ki na yul na rje med de kha dod kun kyang rje / gnam la g.yag med de / ru thogs kun kyang ru / rta la rkyen ma mchis ngam drog phyar phyug tsam / dog sa yab kyi rjer gshegs 'tshal / zhes zhus pas /

snya khri btsan po'i zhal nas ma ki la rku yod / sdang yod / dgra yod / g.yag yod / dug yod / byad stems yod zer nas / 

kar ma yo ldes smras pa / rku la lan yod / sdang la byams yod / dgra la snyen [~gnyen] yod / g.yag la mtshon yod / dug la sman yod / byad stems la dgrol thabs yod do //

'o cag gnyis kyi mi mes po nya shing se ba bshan / gos g.yang bal dro / sha rus thogs zhim / zhes brjod nas zhang pos sngan [?rngan] la byin pa / rmu phub gong khra / rmu gri tsag kra / rmu khrab shol mo / rmu [362] mdung drang chags / sder ma rang 'dren / rang thag rang skor / me rang 'bud / chu rang len / rmu skas rim dgu / rmu 'breng zangs yag rnams byin nas / dog sa steng du ma 'gu na rmu 'breng zang yag la phyag 'jus / [5v] rmu skas rim dgu la zhabs bstan nas / zhang po'i yul du yar la 'ongs pas chog byas pas [/] rje snya khri btsan po de dang po bzhugs pa'i yul bzang ste / gung sngon gyi steng na bzhugs / sku'i lha bzang te / ya bar bdun tshigs / gshegs pa'i phul bzang ste / gung sngon gyi stengs / gnam gyi sgo phye / sprin gyi mthongs spral nam mkha 'phrul tsam du gshegs / sku'i rgyan bzang ste 'phrul cha[s] sna dgu mnga' / gshegs pa'i gnas bzang ste / sa rin po che rgya mdud gyi steng / gling bzhi snying po gangs ri rgyud kyi ra ba / chu bo chen po bzhi'i 'dus sgo / rtsang po gzhung gsum gyi ldad / gangs ti se shel gyi mchod rten dang / mtsho ma 'phang g.yu'i ma 'dal gyis mtshon pa / ri mtho' la sa gtsang pa'i gnas 'dir / ri rab lhun po'i 'dzam bu gling / shing 'dzam bu prin shas don mtshon pa / skal pa bzang po'i byang chub sems dpa' stong yang sangs rgya ba'i sa / mi las sangs rgyas sgrub pa dam pa'i chos dang / mi chos rgyal khrims kyang gling 'dir 'byung ba'i gling gi snying po / yul gyi mchog / nam mkha' lha'i khangs bzangs gis brgyan pa / sum cu rtsa gsum lha'i lus dang dbyibs mthun pa / dus gsum gyi sangs rgyas thams cad bzhugs pa'i gnas / rdo rje gdan drung ni gling 'di'i rgyan du che // shar phyogs rgya nag ri bo rtse lnga ni 'od 'bar / lho phyogs ri bo de shan kun tu bzang mo'i [6r] pho brang ni lhun stug / nub phyogs ri bo po ta la spyan ras gzigs kyi pho brang ni dbyibs legs / byang phyogs ri bo kye shan dgra bcom pa mang po'i bzhugs gnas 'di'i rgyan du che/ yul ba ra .na se 'phrog grong khyer ser skya / [363] ri bya rgod spungs pa / gnas kyi lha mtho' ba yang / bsod nams kyi ma che ba / dud 'gro spu mdzes / 'dab chags skad snyan / gos kha dog ldan / zas ro mchog dang ldan pa'i gling 'di na / gling chen po bu gnyis / yul gru chen po bcu drug / thang khob dgu bu rtsa gcig / yang 'khob nyi[s] brgya lnga bcu / 'bab chol gyi mi sde bco' brgyad / 'big sum cu rtsa drug / mi rigs mi gcig pa sum brgya' drug cu / skad rigs mi gcig pa drug stong bzhi brgya / lus mi mthun pa bcu bdun / thabs mi 'dra ba bzhi bcu tham pa / yi ge mi 'dra ba drug cu rtsa bzhi / chos med pa'i gang zag khri chig stong / yul phran du ma dang bcas pa'i gling / de las kyang bod gangs ri rgyud kyis skor ba    _ 'di rgyal 'khams gzhan las khyad par du 'phags te / rgyal 'khams gzhan na mi rje mis mdzad pas ya mtshan che rgyu med la / bod yul 'di ni mi rjes lhas [~mi rje lhas] mdzad pas gzhan las khyad par du 'phags skad /

de lta bu'i yul 'di'i rjer snya khri btsan po gshegs te / dang po 'bangs [6v] slob bu rin chen mched bdun dang chas nas / nam mkha' 'phrul tsam nas [b]ltas pas / ri gzigs kyi nang nas lha ri gyang mtho las mtho ba ma mchis / chab gzigs kyi ni [~nang] nas rtsang chab sngon mo las rtsang zhing che ba ma mchis / dbye gzigs kyi kyi nang nas sko shul se mo gru bzhi las rgya che ba zhing bsham legs pa ma mchis nas mgu bar byung nas / dung 'phar po 'phar byung chung gyis sngon du sgra bsgrags klu glang ru dkar gyis ru'i sbal bdar / sku srung glo'u rin mched bdun gyis gos gon mtshon thogs / mtshi mi gshen gyi rmu rgyal tshas / dbu' la mtshe btsugs / gco'u gshen gyis phyag 'khar tshas phyag tu 'khar ba btad / rmu 'breng zang yag la ni phyag mjus / rmu skas rim dgu la zhabs brten nas / lha ri gyang mtho'i kha nas mar byon pas / ri [364] mtho'i gangs dkar gyis phyag btsal te dgu dang dud dud / shing snyan sdong pos phyag btsal te 'ba['?] dang ding ding / chab snyan lu mas phyag btsal te snyir (stir?) dang sib sib / gor snyan pha bong gis phyag btsal te 'dar dang gong gong ngo // 

de nas gshegs rabs nyi shu rtsa bdun gyis byon nas / yar lung sogs ka zhabs kyis bcags te / 'go nag mi'i rjer gshegs / gdugs su gdugs bdal / de nas yam bu bla sgang du gshegs te / ye nas mtho ba la [7r] phyag tshang yab 'bangs rus drug gis bteg nas 'phyis/ stag rtser gshegs pas / dar dkar gyi yol ba dgu rim bgyis nas bla'i rkyen ya rabs rnams kyis bskor te bzhugs so //

khri bdun legs drug stod gi steng gsum dang skad pa / rje snya khri btsan po dang gnam mug tu bshos pa'i sras khri btsan po / de dang sang ding ding gi sras ding khri btsan po // 

de nas so so tham tham gyi sras po khri btsan po / de dang dog mer mer gyis sras med khri btsan po de dang sdags [~gdags] kyi lha mo'i sras gdags khri btsan po / de dang sribs kyi lha mo'i sras sribs khri btsan po //

de rnams la gnam gyi khri bdun zer te / sras chibs la thub nas yab gung du gshegs te / rmu skas la zhabs brten rmu 'breng la phag mjus nas thams cad kyis mngon par gung du gshegs pas nam khri bdun zero [~zer ro] //

de sa la leg drug [~sa la legs drug] byung ste / de gnyis kyis bar na stod kyi stengs te / yab steng dang sras ltengs [~sdings?] so / de ya [~yang?] sribs khri btsan po'i sras rgyal gri gum btsan po / btsas pa'i dus ma ma gro zhal gyi skyi mthing ma la 'drir phyin pas / 'brog yang mes tshig gam ma tshig / mtsho bla mtsho mer ba skams sam ma skams / brag gnyan brag brag dmar po ral lam ma ral zer bas /

spang skyang [~kyang] mes ma tshig / mtsho yang ma skams brag kyang ma nyil byas pas / mo rna ba 'on pas log par thos nas [7v] spang ya[ng] tshig / mtsho' yang skams / brag kyang nyil bya bar thos nas /

'o na 'di mtha' bzhugs gri ru 'gum pas gri gum btsan p[o] bya bar thogs shig / zer bas /

de nas gri gum btsan po'i zhal nas / nga la ming 'di tsug 'dogs pa tsug yin zer bas / 

ma mas mtha' ma dri rum du 'gum [~dri 'gum?] zer nas btags pa yin byas pas / 

'o na dri ru 'gum na nga lo ngam dang 'thab zer nas / mtshan thugs su gsol nas / gdon mkha' 'gro legs snying du zhugs nas / long ngam dang 'thab pa la / nyan rna gsang nyan du btang pas / long ngam gyis tshor nas nas log par smras te / g.yas su spre'u khrid na nga re 'jigs / g.yon du byi la khrid na nga re 'jigs / ral gri slad [~klad] la skor gyin byung na nga re 'jigs / ba mar glang dmar brgya la thal sgro bskal nas nga re 'jigs //

rgyal po'i spral du me long btags nas byung nga re 'jigs / byas pas /

nyan srna gsang gis de skad zer zhing 'dug byas pas / 'o na de tsug byed dgos zer nas /

g.yas su spre'u khrid pas pho lha yar // g.yon du byi la khrid pas mo l[h]a yar / ral gri slad la skor bas rmu skas rmu 'breng chad // ba dmar glang dmar 'drogs pas thal tshub khengs nas ma mthong pas / rgyal po'i dpral gyi me [8r] me long la gtad nas brgyab pas mda' spral du brgyab nas bskrongs nas / spur zangs su bcug nas rtsang spu [~chu?] la bskur bas / skong po'i yul klu lcam bye ma lags rings kyis bzung / sras gsum gyis lhe glang ru kar la bcibs nas / bros nas / sha khri nya por gshegs // nya khri skong por gshegs / bya khri spu'o [~spu bo] yul du gshegs / sras mo la chung ma byas / mi sring bzhi'i ma mo phyugs 'tshor bcug pas / mtsho kha [~la?] cig tu gnyid du song pa'i rmi lam du / glang dmar po gcig gis skal ba dmigs pas / zla dgu ngo bcu na khrag glang lag sgo tsam pa byung nas / gso ru yan lag dang kha dmigs med / bor du rang la skyes pas ma phod nas / g.yag ru cig tu bcug nas g.yas rnam gyi nang du drod la btsas pas / khrag glang rdol nas khye'u gcig byung pas / ngar las skyes kyis yul la brten bya bar btags /

der cher skyes sras kyi go bcad yab kyi sku 'tshal gnyer te / klu lcam bye ma lag rings la spur 'dur bcug byas pas / klud mar gzhan mi 'dod / mi'i bu mo la bya mig ltar mas gyis 'khebs pa gcig byung nas sbyin zer nas / btsal ba gang bar yur 'og na pha mtshar la rba then bya ba dang / ma kha za phug mo bya ba gnyis la / bu mo de 'dra gcig 'dug [8v] nas nyon pas ma ster / gri gum btsan po'i spur la mtshal gyi lcag rgya tham pa rgyag tu chug zer nas / de khas blangs nas klu lcam bye ma lag ring la spur blus nas / mtshe mi dang lco mis gri btul bas ma thul nas / 

de nas yar la spyan drangs nas / drang mo drang chung gyi zom gser gnam thig la dur btab / sras kyis go bgyis nas yab kyi sku mtshal de ltar snyer / yab kyi god bgyis nas lha sras rgyal sar btsud de / sras bya khri spu'o yi yul nas spyan drangs nas mtshan pu te gung rgyal du btags nas rgyal sar bcug go //

gcen sha khri skong po'i yul bzhugs te / zhal ngo brgya tsam bdog skad / cung nya khri nyang po'i rgyal po mdzad de zhal ngo bcu tsam bdog skad /

de nas rgyal po lo ngam rta rdzi la pha'i mi sha brlan te / nyang ro sham po'i khar gyi pha ga na bya rgod tshang yod pas / shing rta bya rgod kyi gsob tu bcug nas bya rgod du brdzus nas / sham po 'khar rtse nas phab te / lo ngam pho brgya glang nga brang la spub nas bsad / lo ngam mo brgya' zang ru 'go la spub ste bsad / che smon chung smon chung pas khu smon gzungs bya bar btags so //

de ltar yab drongs [~grongs] nas sras rgyal sar ma tshud par stengs pas stod kyis stengs gnyis so //

de nas sa la leg[s] drug ni spu the gung rgyal gyi sras the sho legs / de'i sras e sho legs / [9r] de'i sras de sho legs /de'i sras gor bur legs / de'i sras de 'brum bzhi len / de'i sras a sho legs so //

de rnams drongs pa'i dus su yur [~spur] rtse mthon por bskyal bas sa la legs drug zer ro //

logs la lte bdun zhes pas / a sho legs kyi sras kying rgya za nam zin te / de'i sras lde 'phrul po gnam gzhung btsan / de'i sras sde snol nam / de'i sras bse snol nam / gse' sde snol rnam / sde rgyal po  / bse' lde rgyal po / de yan chod yum klu sman dang bshos pas / lha klu gnyan pas yum gyi mtshan ma smos pa'o //

gdung rabs nyi shu gcig bod la chos med mun pa'i mun pa'i rmag rum 'dra / chab srid sgrung de lde bon dang gsum gyis btsas skad pa /

sde snod gsum 'byung ba'i lnga [~snga] ltas su bon dang sgrung dang lde'u byung pa'o //

de nas tshigs la btsan bdun ni bsil sde rgyal po'i sras rgyal po srin btsan / de'i sras lto re long btsan / de 'bangs dang sku snyen pa la snga bas dogs sa la rten rten pa'i rgyal po zhes bya'o //

de dang rma gza' klu rgyal gyis sras khri btsan nam / de dang khri rgyal ngan chung gyi sras khri sgra sgrungs btsan / de dang rma gza' klu stengs kyis sras khri thog rje thog btsan / de dang ru yo gza' stong rgyal mtsho'i sras lha tho tho re snyan btsan / de'i ri[ng] la dam pa chos kyi dbu brnyes te / lha tho tho re snyan btsan de sangs rgyas 'od srungs kyi sprul pa ste / sku 'khar yun bu bla sgang na bzhugs pa'i dus [9v] su gser skya gyi spang kong phyag brgyangs pa dang / g.yu'i mchod rten ba' [~bang] rim bzhi pa gnyis bdun gyis namkha' nas phyag tu babs te / gnyan zhing dod par mkhyen cing yidu [~yid du] 'ong par gzigs kyang / chos su ngom [~ngo ma] shes gser skyems dang sha khrag gis mchod pas / lo dus su bka' rtags kyi phyag rgya bzhi yang byung pas / de la rmu'i bon po skyong nge mtshar bya man* / rgyal po'i mchod gnas su yod pas / sku srung pa'i ya gnyen po yin pas / khong na re 'di bon dar 'ong pa'i ltas yin pas / yar bzhugs gshang dang sha khrag gis mchod cig zer nas / sems can bsad nas srog sbugs kyis mchod pas / mu ge dang lo nyes dang than pa byung pas / bkra ma shis / 

(*Rather than bya man, the text reads bya ba cig, with thanks for J.B. for the correction.)

der rgyal po'i rmi lam na 'di chos 'byung pa'i snga ltas yin pas / spos dang me tog dang mar me'i mchod pa phul / rgyal po nyid kyi 'og tu sprul pa'i rgyal po yang 'byung ngo // zhes lung [b]stan pas / rgyal pos chos lugs su mchod pas / sku tsho [~tshe] ring zhing lo brgya lon nas slar so'u skyes / rna ba lha'i rna ba bzhin shal la byung pas / lha tho tho ri snyan shal du grags skad //   //    

[Here we arrive at the end of the incomplete text. It appears to be a secondary copy of an exemplar that was already missing its ending. One clue: What should have been the seventh line of the page is here left blank.]

Addons:

1. DanThursday, April 20, 2023

   Hmmm. I was just thinking that the full title “Chos-’byung Gsal-byed Mig-thur-gyi ’Grel-pa” in fact is saying to us that it is ‘Commentary of (on) the Eye Spoon to Open up Historical Vision.’ That would seem to indicate that “Eye Spoon to Open up Historical Vision” is in fact the title of the verse text that serves as root text for all the (now three) Deyu histories, and that all of them are in varying degrees acting as commentaries on those verses... I’d never before imagined that a title for the verse work could ever be known, but I could be wrong about that, couldn’t I?

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2. 
   DanThursday, June 01, 2023

   I wasn't paying close enough attention to the World Wide Web, so only today a fairly new Tibet-inspired journal opened up to me. It's mainly on modern art including literary arts, and I believe it is entirely in English. Go have a look at it here: https://yeshe.org/

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3. 
   DanSaturday, August 19, 2023

   Another small essay about the [two] Deyu histories on the WWW popped up before my eyes today, and it was so short I read it immediately. The link is here: https://bodrigpa.org/archives/2707. It's dated August 21, 2022, entitled “Bod-kyi Lo-rgyus Dpe-rnying Lde'u Chos-'byung Gnyis-kyi Ngo-sprod dang Dpyad-bsdur-gyi Rags-zin” — བོད་ཀྱི་ལོ་རྒྱུས་དཔེ་རྙིང་ལྡེའུ་ཆོས་འབྱུང་གཉིས་ཀྱི་ངོ་སྤྲོད་དང་དཔྱད་བསྡུར་གྱི་རགས་ཟིན།, and written by Logzha — གློག་ཞགས།. That name means Lightning Lasso, and in parenthesis it adds ཨ་རི་. I'm not sure if that means the author •is• American or is *in* America. Whichever. It's a shortened version of A-me-ri-ka[-pa] — ཨ་མེ་རི་ཀ་[པ་]. It represents yet another attempt to come to grips with who the authors of the small and long Deyu histories might be, how their works compare, which was first, and so on. Ciao for now! -D
   

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Even before Logzha’s essay, in August 9 (2022?), was posted a brief piece by someone named Dbang-chen (དབང་ཆེན་) entitled “Mkhas-pa Lde'us mdzad-pa'i Rgya Bod-kyi Chos-'byung Rgyas-pa Ji-ltar Byung-ba'i Skor” — མཁས་པ་ལྡེའུས་མཛད་པའི་རྒྱ་བོད་ཀྱི་ཆོས་འབྱུང་རྒྱས་པ་ཇི་ལྟར་བྱུང་བའི་སྐོར།. It's mainly on the authorship issues for the small and long Deyu histories. It does have some valuable points to make, but overall I don’t feel I have much to say about it.

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Dated October 14, 2022, is a fairly long work by Lcags-mo-rgyal entitled “Lde'u Chos-'byung Rgyas Bsdus Gnyis-kyi Snga-phyi'i Lo-tshigs Gshib-sdur” — ལྡེའུ་ཆོས་འབྱུང་རྒྱས་བསྡུས་གཉིས་ཀྱི་སྔ་ཕྱིའི་ལོ་ཚིགས་གཤིབ་སྡུར།. It was published on p. 20 of a print newspaper called Mtsho-sngon Bod-yig Gsar-'gyur, or Blue Lake Tibetan-Letter News. From its title we would expect the article to be mainly on the subject of which was written first, the small or the long Deyu histories. Like the Rasé essay (see the following), it believes the long Deyu manuscript would have ended up in the Drepung collection in the time of the Fifth Dalai Lama (sometime after 1642), and that this manuscript would have been made in the 14th century on the basis of an earlier one made in preceding centuries.

•

I had also, until now, overlooked the existence of this essay, posted on January 23rd, 2023.

It is entitled “Lde'u Chos-'byung Rgyas-pa'i Rtsom-pa-po dang Brtsams-pa'i Dus” — ལྡེའུ་ཆོས་འབྱུང་རྒྱས་པའི་རྩོམ་པ་པོ་དང་བརྩམས་པའི་དུས། — and authored by Rasé Könchog Gyatso (ར་སེ་དཀོན་མཆོག་རྒྱ་མཚོ་), a modern scholar I admire a great deal.

It is about the composer and time of composition of the long Deyu history, and indeed has things of great interest to add to the discussion. Most remarkably, Rasé tells us that the recently published Kālacakra history by Chag Lo-tsā-ba Rin-chen-chos-rgyal (ཆག་ལོ་ཙཱ་བ་རིན་ཆེན་ཆོས་རྒྱལ, (1446-1484 CE), at p. 86, has Yu-mo Mi-bskyod-rdo-rje (fl. late 11th century) studying the Practice Side (སྤྱོད་ཕྱོགས་) in Central Tibet with one named Khams-pa Lde’u-pa (ཁམས་པ་ལྡེའུ་པ་) when he first heard about the Kashmir teacher Somanātha staying in Tibet, at Skar-chu. 

The likelihood is good that this Khams-pa Lde’u-pa would be the same as our Mkhas-pa Lde'u (in my assessment author of the root verses, and not the long Deyu itself), they are close enough spelling-wise that we might tend to put the differences down to scribal deformations. And then the timing in the late 11th century may be somehow amenable (our dates for Yu-mo are hardly well established enough to judge right now). For another thing, the mention of the Practice Side for our purposes is synonymous to the Cutting Practice (གཅོད་), and this brings us close enough to the Zhijé teachings that by this time were in any case often brought together. The Cutting practices emerged out of the Middle Transmissions of Zhijé in one way or another, but then a few centuries later on they turned around and took over their parent’s territory. This argument of Rasé is worthy of close consideration, to see if it leads somewhere.

•

I managed to download yet another thing of relevance from the internet — a fascinating interview with the founder of the Dpal-brtsegs ancient manuscript publication group by the name of Kawa Sherab Zangpo (ཀ་བ་ཤེས་རབ་བཟང་པོ་).  The interviewer, named Konchok, tells us he was one of the persons who worked on the 2013 Chinese-language translation of the long Deyu. 

Here are the details:  Lde'u Chos-'byung-gi Rtsom-pa-po dang Dpyad-gzhi'i Rin-thang sogs-kyi Skor-la Gleng-ba Zhu-ba — ལྡེའུ་ཆོས་འབྱུང་གི་རྩོམ་པ་པོ་དང་དཔྱད་གཞིའི་རིན་ཐང་སོགས་ཀྱི་སྐོར་ལ་གླེང་བ་ཞུ་བ།, an interview with Kawa Sherab Zangpo, conducted by Tsha-bar-kha-ngag Dkon-mchog (ཚ་བར་ཁ་ངག་དཀོན་མཆོག), a PDF in 12 pages (date of posting unknown, and the link is presently unfindable).

There are a lot of interesting discussions on issues surrounding the Deyu histories, but for myself it is most fascinating to learn that the small Deyu was, according to Kawa, originally discovered in the 1980's (I think more like the late ’70’s) in the Sikkim Library (surely he means the Sikkim Institute of Tibetology in Gangtok), and then made into a blue mimeograph (done by the Social Science Institute in Lhasa; I have a scan of it) that then served as the basis for the 1987 Lhasa publication. All this I knew, except for the information that it was first found in Sikkim. But Kawa also tells us that it had once belonged to a collection of texts in the personal library of Kaḥ-thog Rig-’dzin Tshe-dbang-nor-bu (1698-1755) until it was, at some point in the 17th or 18th centuries (I guess he means 18th or 19th centuries), moved to Sikkim. These particular details that concern manuscript provenance, too, are new to me.

Turning from page 4 to page 5, Kawa tells us that the long Deyu had originally been kept in the Drepung Arhat Temple collection, as it bears the cataloging markings typical of that collection. This must be so even though the shelving number on the title page of the book is not listed in the published catalog (the manuscript would have been removed before the catalog was made). Kawa judges that the manuscript that is still accessible to us today was a secondary copy made from an earlier one scribed in the 13th or 14th centuries (we can trust his highly-trained judgement on the codicological niceties). The interview ends on p. 12 after a brief discussion about the Nine Regalia. Okay, enough fun for today, so let’s call it a night!

•

With the single exception of the essay by Lcags-mo-rgyal, none of these essays posted or published since the middle of 2022 show any awareness of the discovery of the Eye Spoon, and not even one is cognizant that an English translation of the long Deyu had appeared in print. Seriously, this is not meant as a criticism, just an observation. I realize it can take some time before publications have an effect on what is said in still other publications...  Some say that in the field of Humanities, the gap is likely to be somewhere between 10 and 20 years. That may not be an exaggeration. Besides, the language gap has to be figured into it.

This Is That Long Lost Buddhist History

Buddha Miniature from the Gondhla Kanjur

I hope to better demonstrate the truth of it to you if you have a little time for it, but I can tell you one thing right away. I am ready to swear that the lion’s share of the over-600-year-old history composed by Üpa Losel (Dbus-pa Blo-gsal / དབུས་པ་བློ་གསལ་), has at long last emerged into the public record and is available to readers of Tibetan language. It should prove to be of use to all who ever felt the need to make histories out of the histories of the past. I guess that means historians, or them primarily. So if that label in some way fits you let’s get straight to it. Well, as straight as possible and with a straight face.

Just this year a very interesting set of 10 volumes was published. It may be a set, or it may be a series — books published in the PRC often seem to defy those distinctions. I’ll give the details later on. Its second volume bears the cover title Rgyal-rabs Chos-'byung Khag Drug, རྒྱལ་རབས་ཆོས་འབྱུང་ཁག་དྲུག, or “Six Distinct Dynastic and/or Buddhist Histories,” and it is here among those six things we must look to find it. One drawback: it has no title page as the first parts of the work are missing. Another drawback: in place of the final colophon identifying the author that we hoped to find, the editor copied only the first and last few words of it, and then comments that of the words that come in between the only thing legible is the name Üpa Losel.*

(*You have to bear in mind that this is an edited version of the text, in computerized script, and not a facsimile, as this may prove worth knowing for other reasons.)

All this is discussed by the editor in his introduction to the volume, and I can’t really add to it. Or if I can, I guess it would be by looking at the end of the chronological section near its end, where the author seems to identify himself as well as the date of his work.

The recent Tibeto-logic blog on chronology has had (according to Blogger's own inbuilt statistics) the lowest number of readers ever, so it looks as if I may be digging my own blog grave by doing it, but here goes :

Although he mentions other ideas, Üpa appears to go along with the idea found as well in the anonymously compiled Khepa Deyu (མཁས་པ་ལྡེའུ་) history of 1261* that Buddha Dharma will endure for 5,000 years (meaning 10 periods of half a millennium each) starting from the Parinirvana date. 

(*I’m happy to report that an English version will appear in print in May July of next year. I see it’s already listed at this commercial site as forthcoming.)

He starts the discussion with Chömden Rigral (Bcom-ldan Rig-pa'i-ral-gri / བཅོམ་ལྡན་རིག་པའི་རལ་གྲི) who 

in a Hen year said that 2,093 years had passed since the passing of the Teacher according to the Kālacakra system.*

(*This must mean Rigral's 1261 history with the title Flowers Ornamenting the Sage’s Teachings [ཐུབ་པའི་བསྟན་པ་རྒྱན་གྱི་མེ་ཏོག], a work dated to 1261, an Iron Hen year. It is known to exist in manuscript form, but has not been published to the best of my knowledge, not even in his published collected works. Check BDRC to be sure, since there are by now at least three published sets of his compositions.)

(It is important to note that I follow Schaeffer & Kuijp’s dates for Rigral, meaning 1227-1305, and these agree with those supplied by BDRC, person ID no. P1217. It is clear that copies of his history work have been made available to some people somewhere. For a solid clue, try this link for example.) 

Then, in the Fire Female Pig year, Sönam Tsemo (Bsod-nams-rtse-mo / བསོད་ནམས་རྩེ་མོ་) did his calculations at Na-la-rtse Gnas-po-che saying that 3,300 years had passed.*

(*This must refer to the chronological section that ends Sönam Tsemo's most famous work, Entrance Gate to the Dharma, dated 1167, a Fire Pig year.)

Then, in a Fire Mouse year, at the death of the Great Jetsun (Rje-btsun Chen-po / རྗེ་བཙུན་ཆེན་པོ), Sakya Pandita (Sa-skya Paṇḍi-ta / ས་སྐྱ་པཎྜི་ཏ་) claimed that 3,347 years had passed.*

(*This means Sapan's calculation done upon the death of Dragpa Gyeltsen [Grags-pa-rgyal-mtshan / གྲགས་པ་རྒྱལ་མཚན་] in 1216.) 

Then, in the time of the rainy season retreat at Sakya Monastery, Śākyaśrī made his calculations in an Iron Male Horse year in which he said that according to the Sen-dha-pa system, 1,753 years had passed.

And in the Fire Female Ox year the Lama Chökyi Gyelpo (Bla-ma Chos-kyi-rgyal-po / བླ་མ་ཆོས་ཀྱི་རྒྱལ་པོ་) did calculations at Long Spring (Chu-mig Ring-mo / ཆུ་མིག་རིང་མོ་) in Tsang Province concluding that 3,110 years had passed. 

Hmm... That's a very interesting reference to the meeting known to history as the Dharma Convocation at the Spring (Chu-mig Chos-'khor / ཆུ་མིག་ཆོས་འཁོར་) that Pagpa ('Phags-pa / འཕགས་པ་) presided over in 1277 during his 2nd return visit to Tibet. Now I’ll understand if you need to check to make sure, but 1277 was in fact a Fire Ox year, so there is no reason for doubt, and the Lama Chökyi Gyelpo isn’t really a name but a respectful epithet used for Pagpa during his lifetime, usually in the slightly longer form Lama Dampa Chökyi Gyelpo, ‘Holy Lama Dharma King.’

Okay, I’m having fun with this, but it’s becoming evident from the look on your face that you are not. So despite myself I’ll stop here although I have to say, the list does keep getting so much more interesting with complications galore. That way we can jump forward two pages to the bit that is most relevant to us at the moment (starting at p. 225, the final paragraph):

Then, in the Iron Male Dragon year, in the Great Dharma College of Chomden Raldri (Bcom-ldan Ral-gri, i.e. Rigral), Üpa Losel did calculations finding that 3,316 years had passed. That means 1,680 years remain, and we are in the 500-year period of mere tokens.*

(*Earlier on in Üpa’s text as well as in the long Deyu history “mere tokens” (རྟགས་ཙམ་) means the 10th and final of the 500-year-long phases in Dharma's decline, at the end of which human lifetimes will be 50 years, and thereafter continue to decrease. Üpa had detailed this prophetic setup immediately before (at pp. 222-223), so it's a mystery why he thinks mere tokens is the phase he finds himself in, when it seems obvious that he is writing in what he himself ought to regard as the phase of Abhidharma (མངོན་པ་), the 7th of the 10 phases.)

Right now the Dharma phase is the one in which the life expectancy of the inhabitants of Jambu Island is 60 years, and in the phase of 50-year life expectancy the holy Dharma will decline, it is taught.

This means Üpa in his dating of Buddha’s death way back in 1977 BCE, was agreeing to disagree with Śākyaśrī, subject of that widely unread Tibeto-logic blog we mentioned before. Leaving the mildly complicated discussion aside for now, we take Üpa's dates to be ca. 1265-1355, so we have little choice but to date the history he wrote to the Iron Dragon year of 1340, even if the modern author of the introduction to the published volume, in his preface (p. 6), gives it a date of 1280. Your older hands in the realm of Tibet Studies will right away recognize how it is that this 60-year difference tends to happen with some regularity.

Now the updated Tibetan Histories book posted for download just before the holiday season last year needs updating now that this date is known. Finally, I have to say, if any readers have followed along this far, I commend your patience and admire your assiduity. As for me, it’s way past time for lunch.

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Literature

It’s important to remember that the title given it in the book is not an actual title of the history, it’s simply descriptive. With neither title page nor colophon we cannot know what the title was intended to be:

Dbus-pa Blo-gsal, “Chos-’byung Skabs-bdun-ma” [‘Dharma Origins History in Seven Chapters’], contained in: Hor-dkar No-mo (Hor-shul Mkhan-sprul Dge-dpal), chief editor, Bod Rang-skyong-ljongs Rtsa-che’i Gna’-dpe’i Dpar-mdzod [‘A Print Treasury of Highly Esteemed Ancient Texts in the Tibet Autonomous Region’], Bod-ljongs Gna’-dpe Srung-skyob Mu-’brel Dpe-tshogs (Lhasa 2017), in 10 volumes, at vol. 2 (Rgyal-rabs Chos-'byung Khag Drug), pp. 175-227. 

Üpa Losel’s very valuable list of archaic words, with the title Brda Gsar-rnying-gi Rnam-par Dbye-ba, has been studied in two important articles by Professor Emeritus Mimaki Katsumi, a member of The Japan Academy:

Mimaki Katsumi, “Index to Two brDa gsar rñiṅ Treatises: The Works of dBus pa blo gsal and lCaṅ skya Rol pa'i rdo rje,” contained in a special issue of the Bulletin of the Narita Institute for Buddhist Studies (Naritasan Bukkyôkenkyûjo kiyô), vol. 15, no. 2 (1992), pp. 479-503. 

Mimaki Katsumi. “dBus pa blo gsal no "Shin Kyu Goi Shu" — Kôtei bon Shokô [The brDa gsar rñiṅ gi rnam par dbye ba of dBus pa blo gsal — a First Attempt at a Critical Edition],” contained in: Asian Languages and General Linguistics, Festschrift for Prof. Tatsuo Nishida on the Occasion of His 60th Birthday (Tokyo 1990), pp. 17-54.  Contains a critical text edition in Roman transcription (with numbers inserted so that one may first locate words in Mimaki's alphabetic index, and then locate them in the critical text edition).

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Two volumes worth of Üpa Losel's works have been made available, with public access, by BDRC. Have a look and if you can find the history book anywhere among them do let us know.

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David Wellington CHAPPELL, “Early Forebodings of the Death of Buddhism,” Numen, vol. 27, no. 1 (June 1980), pp. 122-154. 

This discussion can help people who have trouble imagining how much Buddhism’s sense of history turns around its inevitable decline and disappearance. Of course differing dates and rates of decline do  provoke discussions and continuing differences. If today there are some who would call themselves Buddhist progressivists, that would just serve as another sign of decline, am I right? I’m asking.

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Dan MARTIN in collaboration with Yael Bentor, Tibetan Histories: A Bibliography of Tibetan-Language Historical Works, Serindia Publications (London 1997).  

This by now out-of-print bibliography listed the then-lost history like this:  

 

-80-

mid 1300’s ?

Dbus-pa Blo-gsal, Chos-’byung. Evidently a history of Buddhism. Ref.:  MHTL, no. 10845.  K. Mimaki, “Two Minor Works Ascribed to Dbus-pa Blo-gsal,” contained in: S. Ihara and Z. Yamaguchi, eds., Tibetan Studies, Naritasan Shinshoji (Narita 1992), vol. 2, pp. 591-598, at p. 592. On the author, see Blue Annals, pp. 337-338.

The revised and expanded version of the book, dated December 21, 2020, may be freely downloaded here. Its entry no. 127 looks like this:

 - 127 - 

mid 1300’s ?

Dbus-pa Blo-gsal (ca. 1265-1355), Chos-’byung. Evidently a history of Buddhism. Bio.: On the author, see Blue Annals, pp. 337-338. TBRC no. P3090. Lit.: Another work by this author is subject of Katsumi Mimaki, Blo gsal grub mtha’: Chapitres IX (Vaibhāṣika) et XI (Yogācāra) édités et Chapitre XII (Mādhyamika) édité et traduit, Zinbun Kagaku Kenkyusyo, Université de Kyoto (Kyoto 1982). Ref.: MHTL, no. 10845. K. Mimaki, ‘Two Minor Works Ascribed to Dbus-pa Blo-gsal,’ contained in: S. Ihara and Z. Yamaguchi, eds., Tibetan Studies, Naritasan Shinshoji (Narita 1992), vol. 2, pp. 591-598, at p. 592. See BLP no. 102. BLP no. 0421 lists what is apparently a description of the contents rather than a particular title for this work: Glang-dar-mas bstan-pa bsnubs rjes slar-yang bstan-pa dar-tshul, ‘The Way the Teachings Spread Once Again after Glang-dar-ma Put Them into Decline.’ BLP no. 1991 gives an even longer description: sangs-rgyas bstan-pa bod-du byung-tshul le-tshan gnyis dang glang-dar-mas bstan-pa bsnubs rjes slar-yang bstan-pa dar-tshul. Dung-dkar, pp. 164-165, identifies this as a rare Bka’-gdams Chos-’byung. This history is mentioned in Khri-chen Bstan-pa-rab-rgyas, Sog-yul Sogs-nas Mdo-sngags-kyi Gnad-rnams-la Dri-ba Thung-ngu Byung Rigs-rnams-kyi Dri-ba dang Dri-lan Phyogs-gcig-tu Bsdoms-pa, contained in: Blo-bzang Dgongs-rgyan Mu-tig Phreng-mdzes, Drepung Loseling Educational Society (Mundgod 1999), vol. 35, pp. 24-41, at p. 32: “Dbus-la Blo-gsal-gyi Chos-’byung-na / sngon-gyi rgyal-po-rnams-kyi mtshan / Deng-khri-btsan-po sogs rgyal-po mang-po-zhig-gi mtshan yang / deng-sang-gi Bod-skad-du ci zer?”

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Kurtis R. SCHAEFFER and Leonard W.J. van der Kuijp, An Early Tibetan Survey of Buddhist Literature, the Bstan pa rgyas pa rgyan gyi nyi 'od of Bcom ldan ral gri, Harvard Oriental Series, Harvard University Press (Cambridge 2009). 

This book is all about a canon catalog with a historical preface by Rigral. Although said to be known by the alternative title Bstan-pa Rgyas-pa Rgyan-gyi Me-tog, I do not believe it can be identified with the similar title given above, Thub-pa'i Bstan-pa Rgyan-gyi Me-tog (observe that almost all of Rigral's titles end with the same ‘poetic’ ending Flowers Adorning...). The most important information for us at this moment is found on p. 93 of Schaeffer and Kuijp’s book, where we see that the Thub-pa'i Bstan-pa Rgyan-gyi Me-tog (or a very similar title) exists in three (?) manuscript copies kept in various libraries and archives.

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