The All Making King’s Earliest Fragment

 

Scanned leaf from Matho, BDRC no. W1BL9, vol. 405 (click to enlarge)

ཀུན་བྱེད་རྒྱལ་པོ་, the All Making King, is difficult to talk about. Let’s start with the end of his name. As you may notice, if not right away later on, his gender identity and preferred pronoun can be an issue, although we’ll follow the grammatical clue of the final syllable and use him. The word king might seem to lend him a governing or ruling function, just that his kingdoms and governments tend to dissolve away. He may look like a creator god, a highly intriguing point for followers of monotheistic creationism,* although some may need reminding we’re not in the Middle East exactly, and All Making is an epithet of the Hindu (and yes, sometimes showing up among Buddhists) god Brahma. In Hindu religious contexts less a creator than a re-creator, he has a quite different image in Buddhist accounts of what does indeed look like creation. But creation of what by what from what? is the question we ought to be asking.

(*I can tell you, but only in a footnote, that this thoroughly Buddhist text puts forward the carrot of creationism only to pull the rug out from under the feet of foundationalism. For more on the issue of creationism in Bon, Buddhism and Tibetan myth, see Martin and even better, Reynolds.)

Have you ever found yourself in the deep of the night veering in and out of sleep when suddenly it occurs to you that you’ve been ignoring or denying some deeper need, and that life as you have been living it is not as it should be, maybe even naught but a superficial unfulfilling sham?  Did the message ever come to you in a direct way, as if a pipe were conveying the sound directly from your heart into your ear canal loud and clear as day? 

I’m trying to convey a taste of what it’s like to engage in a slow contemplative reading of the All Making King. You could say it’s a work of soaring poetic beauty. That it is, without the least doubt, but the syntax often doesn’t make its case immediately, it forces you to concentrate more deeply until its elements either do or do not fall in place and make clear sense. It can be at times as if your own mind were informing itself about itself, and really, that’s the whole point. Does that strike you as totally perplexing or impossible?

Needless to say this makes translation that can reproduce the experience difficult. Today I won’t even try, I’ll just refer you to English translations that have been done already (readers of Tibetan can get a taste of it in the text transcription, appended below). 

Anyway, let me tell you about an amazing find in the old Chortens of Matho in Ladakh. Some years back a Rinpoche of the Sakya school ordered a group of Chortens taken down. In the process a large number of old manuscript fragments were revealed. I’ll have more to say about it in upcoming blogs, just to point out that this represents a manuscript cache from early times quite comparable in significance to the Dunhuang manuscript cache of still earlier times. The Matho texts all seem to date prior to the time the Chortens would have been closed, around the year 1200 CE (a few decades later is a possibility that might be considered, but no later than that; Helmut Tauscher has written about the dating, and what he says is surely correct). 

Only two damaged leaves of the All Making King are there. There is no title or colophon present, and nothing better for identifying what it is than the name of the All Making King right there in the first surviving line, as you might see in our frontispiece. Using 21st-century digital search capacities, it was a simple matter to assign the first leaf to Chapter 17, and the second leaf we can see contains significant parts of Chapters 15-16 (and what looks like it ought to be the very beginning of Chapter 17).

So let me underline the significance of this manuscript treasure finding. I believe that with only one very small exception, this is the oldest textual testimony for the words of the All Making King.  The only thing that tends to spoil this conceit is the presence of the Cuckoo of Awareness among the Dunhuang documents (see Dalton's entry listed below).  Why?  Because the Cuckoo of Awareness, extremely brief as it is, is one of the five Earliest Translated Atiyoga Mind Class texts that were somehow absorbed into the increasingly voluminous All Making King (see Derbac).

How is it useful for Dzogchen studies to have this early example of the text? Well, for one thing it can help us understand how the Mind Class scriptures may have been welded and melded together over time. This has been made an issue in a number of recent academic studies. Here we present a further example from our Matho fragment: In the 2nd leaf (verso, line 3) you can see a dividing mark in the form of a double staff with two dots in the middle. It is at this point that the Gting-skyes edition of the Old Tantra Collection ends its Chapter Fifteen. The Matho text has no indication of chapter division, no mention of a fifteenth chapter. It does continue on with the content of the 16th chapter, but minus the three introductory lines reminding us that it is a dialogue with Sems-dpa’-rdo-rje (Sattvavajra?). Future students of Dzogchen manuscriptology will need to continue this work of comparison, as there are other surprising textual differences (an important hint they may find useful:  Just reverse the order of the two scans, placing the 2nd folio before the 1st, then go to work. Don’t do it backwards as I did).

To sum up this one text-critical point in order to finally put this up on the web. Like the other Matho manuscripts it surely dates before 1200 CE. The earlier limit may not be all that clear, but I’d guesstimate as old or even older than 1000 CE (it is, after all a fragment of a booklet that may have required time to fall into pieces and eventually get placed in the Chorten at its consecration). It appears that the All Making King scripture found in Matho didn’t yet have chapter divisions, and that chapter endings with their chapter ending titles and introductions may have been composed later on. Really and truly, I see no problem in making text-critical observations so long as they don’t pretend to erase the poetry along with the experiential realizations the poetry was created to convey, regardless of any chapter divisions.

Afterthought after afterthought

Did anyone notice there in our Matho fragment the triad of dpe, don and rtags? Instance (similitudes / similes / examples), meaning (intended purposes, aims) and sign (marks that provoke recognition)?  There is a note on this in Drenpa's Proclamation, a book that came out quite recently. This triad is found in some early Bon texts (mostly also pre-1200). What may seem like a scholastic schema is quite the contrary, a way of speaking about esoteric precepts, or what is in Dzogchen spoken of as a direct introduction, something that may not involve any words at all. It does seem to me that the phrase dpe don rtags gsum is more often encountered in Bon writings,* while in non-Bon writings it is nearly always invoked in relation to the All Making King, where the first one, the instance, is bound to be space itself.

(*I believe I could, if pressed to do so, come up with at least twelve Bon texts that make use of this expression, but bear in mind that the Bon texts are not so well represented among the 15 million searchable pages scanned in BDRC.)

But then again in context of strictly rule-governed logic, rtags can mean the third term of the syllogism, the reason, so some whiff of scholasticism may be intended there after all. Asia never quite shared the Euro-split between Platonism (dialogue and mystical speculation) and Aristotelianism (logic and natural science), although a somehow comparable split might be, in Tibet, the one between Candrakîrtianism and Dharmakîrtianism. Now I’m sorry I brought that up, because the differences are also glaring at me. (Read the book by Dreyfuss to see how Dharmakîrtianism had no real adherents in Tibet, but its ideas were much debated.)

Hmmm. Doesn’t Peircean semiosis work with an interacting triad of the Sign, the Object and the Interpretant? Indeed it does, but don’t press me to tell you how that is the least bit relevant, that is unless Peirce was inspired by the All Making King! It’s true that the pre-modern Tibetan scripture and the [post-]modern semiotician both share a preference for triplets and triads over those dueling dyads and binaries that rule in our computers and our politics today, and I do wonder what the deeper background for this similitude could possibly be. I leave it for sharper and more penetrating minds than my own, but I do think even if their individual parts are only partially and not perfectly matching, the Dzogchen and Peircean triads, as wholes, extend over the same territory.

§  §  §

Some English-language literature on logic, and on the All Making King & its translations

Note: There is no complete translation so far as I know, but see Namkhai Norbu’s and Dargyay’s partial translations marked with the ★.

Thomas Cattoi, “Ground and Manifestation: A Christian Reading of the Kun-byed Rgyal-po in Conversation with Origen's De Principiis,’ contained in: Acts of the October 2014 Minzu University Conference on Interreligious Dialogue, Minzu University (Beijing 2015), pp. 15-27. Not yet seen, I saw the reference at the author’s faculty page.

Jake Dalton, “IOL Tib J 647,” contained in: Jacob Dalton and Sam van Schaik, Tibetan Tantric Manuscripts from Dunhuang: A Descriptive Catalogue of the Stein Collection at the British Library, Brill (Leiden 2006), pp. 292-293.  This on the Dunhuang text of the Cuckoo of Awareness, in only 6 lines of verse, that was incorporated into the All Making King. Some rare references to Atiyoga may be found in Dunhuang, and this catalogue is the place to look for them.

Eva K. Dargyay, “A Rnying ma Text: The Kun byed rgyal po'i mdo,” contained in: Barbara Aziz and Matthew Kapstein, eds., Soundings in Tibetan Civilization, Manohar Publications (Delhi 1985), pp. 283-293.

Eva K. Dargyay, “The Concept of a ‘Creator God’ in Tantric Buddhism,” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, vol. 8 (1985), pp. 31-47.

★E.K. Neumaier Dargyay, The Sovereign All Creating Mind: The Motherly Buddha, SUNY (Albany 1992). If you do not find a way to hold the book, an odd digitized version can be found here. This is in a certain sense a complete translation, because it ends at Chapter 57 of the 84-chapter text, but at what it seems might be the final chapter. For the translation of Chapter 17 (the only English translation of it there is as far as I know), look on pp. 98-99 of the print edition, and notice the illusion of gender bending going on in it. On the triad of "simile, quintessence and characteristics" (translation choices I would not have used), see especially p. 127 (part of her translation of Chapter 34).  But then look at her p. 97 (part of Chapter 15) where we see “simile, meaning and investigation.” Reviewed by J.W. de Jong in Indo-Iranian Journal, vol. 38 (1995), pp. 200-203; by Kerry Martin Skora in Philosophy East and West, vol. 46, no. 1 (January 1996), pp. 107-116.

Mihai Derbac, The “Five Early” (sNga lnga) Texts of the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition rDzogs chen Sems sde: A Historical, Literary and Textual Study with Critical Edition and Translation of the Tibetan Texts, PhD dissertation, University of Calgary (2019), downloadable from the PRISM Repository of the University of Calgary. I list this here not just because it is something I've been reading recently, but because it contains a very useful bibliography of relevant books and essays (and discussions about the same) saving me the duty of listing all those things here.

Georges B.J. Dreyfus, The Sound of Two Hands Clapping: The Education of a Tibetan Buddhist Monk, University of California Press (Berkeley 2003), pp. 206-208. This is the perfect proof text for my belief that, in the language of logical argumentation, dpe and rtags can name two specific parts of the five-fold Indic syllogism (five in contrast to the three-fold Aristotelian). Both would seem to be direct translations for Sanskrit terms, as Dreyfus indicates.

Shoryu Katsura & Ernst Steinkellner, eds., The Role of the Example (Dṛṣṭānta) in Classical Indian Logic, Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde series vol. 58, Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien, Universität Wien (Vienna 2004). This other article published in Pacific World may be better for providing background on Buddhist logic.

Per Kværne and Dan Martin, trs. and eds., Drenpa’s Proclamation: The Rise and Decline of the Bön Religion in Tibet, Vajra Books (Kathmandu 2023). The relevant footnote is no. 947, located at pp. 275-276.

Kennard Lipman and Merrill Peterson, You Are the Eyes of the World, Lotsawa (Novato 1987).  Translation of Klong-chen-pa’s commentary on the Kun-byed Rgyal-po. Reviewed by Georgios Halkias in Tibet Journal, vol. 29, no. 2 (Summer 2004), pp. 117-119. Kennard Lipman is the best when it comes to making Dzogchen shine brilliantly through English.

Dan Martin, “Creator God or Creator Figure?” Lungta [an annual publication of the Amnye Machen Institute, McLeod Ganj, India], vol. 16 (Spring 2003), pp. 15-20. See Reynolds for his fantastic job of countering the naively creationist reading of the All Making King.

Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, Rigbai Kujyug, the Six Vajra Verses: An Oral Commentary by Namkhai Norbu, December 1985, Merigar, Italy, ed. by Cheh-Ngee Goh, Rinchen Editions (Singapore 1990. Translation and teachings based on the Cuckoo of Awareness. Newer editions may be available.

★Chögyal Namkhai Norbu and Adriano Clemente, The Supreme Source: The Fundamental Tantra of the Dzogchen Semde Kunjed Gyalpo, Snow Lion (Ithaca 1999), translated from Italian by Andrew Lukianowicz. A set of chapter summaries and excerpts, this is again not a complete translation of the All Making King, but I do believe it is the best.

John Myrdhin Reynolds, “Kun byed Rgyal po: The Principal Dzogchen Tantra,” contained in: John Reynolds, The Golden Letters: The Three Statements of Garab Dorje, the First Teacher of Dzogchen, together with a Commentary by Dza Patrul Rinpoche Entitled, “The Special Teaching of the Wise and Glorious King,” Snow Lion (Ithaca 1996), pp. 236-248.

Jim Valby, “Five Principles of rDzogs chen Transmission in the Kun byed rgyal po,” Revue d'Etudes Tibétaines, vol. 24 (October 2012), pp. 157-164.

Jim Valby, tr., Ornament of the State of Samantabhadra: Commentary on the All-Creating King of the Pure Perfect Presence of the Great Perfection, in 6 volumes. A translation of Gzhan-phan-’od-zer, Chos Thams-cad Rdzogs-pa-chen-po Byang-chub-kyi Sems Kun-byed Rgyal-po'i 'Grel-pa Kun-bzang Dgongs-rgyan (Lhasa 2006), in 2 vols.  I have not seen either publication, although I would like to.

•  •  •

The fragments in Matho W1BL9 vol. 405 transcribed

What we have are two leaf fragments, inscribed on both sides. There are no page numbers given. The two leaves are given here in the order of the scan. Both leaves once formed part of a booklet, bound into a signature on the left-hand side (just like so many other Matho fragments were). The text of the first leaf doesn’t seem to continue on the second, and on closer study we find that it does not.  Only the first leaf recto is illustrated above, for the rest you should go to BDRC Work RID W1BL9, then locate vol. 405.

• One rare feature of the manuscript is that it allows single Tibetan syllables to be split between two lines. Hardly ever seen outside the Matho fragments, it feels like a violation. Also, rules governing the use of the syllable dividing dot (tsheg) before the staff (shad) punctuation were not known to the scribe, if they even existed then. The use of tsheg and shad has been somewhat regularized in our transcription, although this hardly makes any difference.

This text edition was made by Michael Walter, and double checked for accuracy.

X = illegible graph  _ space within word  × apparent strike through

[1 recto]

... ston pa’i kun byed rgyal po lags |

sku gdung ring srel rtag tu zung shig pa | sku ni rgyal ba gang dang gang gi sku | sku ni rgyal ba gang dang gang gi sku | gsung ni dus gsum sangs rgyas gang dang  gang gi gdung |

ring srel zhes ni ci lta bu la bgyi | sku ni nga sdang rgyal ba sagsum gi sku | gdung ni dus gsum rgyal ba’i gdung | dus med rtag tu sems la ’di ’chang na | dus gsum sangs rgyas kun kyi mchod pa’i rten | sku gdung ring srel zhes ni de la bya |

sku gdung ring srel de ltar lags na yang  | de la dus gsum sangs rgyas ci ltar mchod | |

chod pa la ni yon tan ci zhig mchis | nga’i sku gdung ring srel de ni | dus gsum sangs rgyas rtag tu sems ltas mchod | de’i yon tan myi ’bral de thob nas | chos rnams kun gyi rgyal por nus par gyur |:|

snang srid snod bcud thams cad kun | snang ni nga’i ngo bor snang | dag ni chos kyi dbyings su dag | ’dul ba rnam pa sna tshogs la | …[6-7 syllables?] 'i | theg pa gsum gyi ngo yang …

[1 verso]

’das pa yul la myi ltos pas | rgyu la mi bsgrub ’bras myi ’dod | ’dod pa med pa’i dgos pa des | rang bzhin ˘˘lhun˘˘ gyis grub par gyur || ye nas yin la bya mi dgos | 

nga las byung ba’i ston pa sku gsum gyis | bstan pa’i theg pa rnam × gsum bstan pa ni || ston pa gsum gyis ma brtsal grub pa’i lung ma bstan ||

kun byed nga yis theg cig bstan pa ni | brtsal bas grub pa’i lung du ngas ma bstan | kun byed byang chub nga’i rang bzhin las | ma brtsal rang bzhin lhun gyis grub pa ni | rgyal ba kun gyi snying po sku gsum ste | nga’i rang bzhin ma bcos chos skur grub | nga’i ngo bo ma bcos long spyod rdzogs ||

nga’i thugs rje mngon ’phyung sprul sku sum brtsal nas grub ba ’bras bu bstan pa myed || sku gsum kun byed nga ru bstan pa ste | ji ltar snang ba’i chos rnams thams cad kun || rang bzhin ngo bo thugs rje ma bcos gsum | X sku gsum nga’i de bzhin nyid du bstan | nga dang nga’i de bzhin nyid las ni || sangs rgyas zhes bya’i yon tan sgos [~sgros?] kyang med | sems can … [few legible letters on following line, mostly torn off]

[2 recto]

brtsal bsgrub myed pas ye nas che[?] bar bshad | 

bdag nyid chen po sangs rgyas che bar [bshad] | ma skyes spros bral mngon du ’phyung ba ’di | ye nas gzung ’dzin ____ chos kyi dbyings | bya myi dgos pas ye nas sangs rgyas yin | rtsal bsgrub myi dgos ye nas che bar bshad | chos nyi[d] sangs rgyas che bar bshad pa yin ||

nga’i nges par mngon du phyung ba ’di | dpe’ don rtags ni rnam pa gsum bstan te | chos nyid don la nam mkha’ dpe’ bstan te | byang chub sems kyis rtags kyi nges par du | the rtsom za ba rnams la nges pa du | dpe’ don rtags kya[ng] de yin sangs rgyas bstan ||

nga’i rang bzhin de bzhin nyid ’di ni | su la mngon du phyung ba ni mi snang bas | de ni ma nor ba’i rang bzhin la | bzhin ni ma bcos pa’i rang bzhin te | nyid ni ngo bo nyid la brtags pa yin | de bzhin nyid kyi rang bzhin de nyid la | du[s?] gsum sangs rgyas

[2 verso]

yod pa’i bsgos myi ’dogs | khams gsum sems can med pa’i skur myi ’debs | rtog dpyod bsam ba ci yang dgongs myed pas | sangs rgyas myed pa’i che bar nga’is bshad |:|

nga ni ye nas kun byed rgyal po yin | bston pa bstan pa ’khor dus ngas byas nas | ston pa’i bstan pa yang ni nga yis byed || bstan pa’i rang bzhin de bston la || ’khor yang nga’i ngo bo de phyung nas | dus gnas pa’i rang bzhin ni | kun byed nga’i rang bzhin bstan pa las || nga myin chos ni cig kyang bstan pa myed || 

sems dpa’ chen po rdo rje khyod nyid kyang || kun byed nga’i rang bzhin bstan pa’i phyir || khyod kyang nga la nga yis phyung ba yin | kun byed nga ni chos kyi snying por zhog || 

dus gnas phun sum tshogs pa thams cad kun | kun byed rgyal po nga yin byang chub sems |:|

sku gdung ring srel rtag chang na | rgyal ba’i yang mes kun mes nga dang mnyam | ston XX  ... ... ...

•

For the complete Tibetan text in 84 chapters, I suppose I ought to recommend this one:  Chos Thams-cad Rdzogs-chen Byang-chub-kyi Sems Kun-byed Rgyal-po containing 84 chapters, found in  the Gting-skyes edition, vol. 1, pp. 1-220.  Following is chapter 17 only of the Gting-skyes manuscript set of the Old Collection of Tantras (blank verse format added, double-checked for [my] errors):

Chapter Seventeen: Handing Down Relics

དེ་ནས་བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སེམས་ཀུན་བྱེད་རྒྱལ་པོ་དེས།

ཉིད་ཀྱི་སྐུ་གདུང་འདི་ཟུང་ཅིག་པར་གསུངས་སོ།།

de nas byang chub kyi sems kun byed rgyal po des | 

nyid kyi sku gdung 'di zung cig par gsungs so ||

 

ཀྱེ་སེམས་དཔའ་ཆེན་པོ་འདི་ཟུང་ཤིག།

སྐུ་གདུང་རིང་བསྲེལ་རྟག་འཆང་ན།།

རྒྱལ་བའི་ཡང་མེས་ཀུན་བྱེད་ང་དང་མཉམ་ཞེས་གསུངས་སོ།། [fol. 33v - p. 66]

kye sems dpa' chen po 'di zung shig ||

sku gdung ring bsrel rtag 'chang na ||

rgyal ba'i yang mes kun byed nga dang mnyam zhes gsungs so || [p. 66]

དེ་ནས་སེམས་དཔའ་རྡོ་རྗེས་ཞུས་པ།

ཀྱེ་དུས་གསུམ་སངས་རྒྱས་ཀུན་གྱི་ཡང་མེས་པོ།།

སྟོན་པའི་སྟོན་པ་ཀུན་བྱེད་རྒྱལ་པོ་ལགས།

སྐུ་གདུང་རིང་བསྲེལ་རྟག་ཏུ་ཟུང་ཅིག་པ།།

སྐུ་ནི་རྒྱལ་བ་གང་དང་གང་གི་སྐུ།།

གདུང་ནི་སངས་རྒྱས་གང་དང་གང་གི་གདུང་།།

རིང་བསྲེལ་ཞེས་ནི་ཇི་ལྟ་བུ་ལ་བགྱི།། ཞེས་ཞུས་སོ།།

de nas sems dpa' rdo rjes zhus pa | 

kye dus gsum sangs rgyas kun gyi yang mes po || 

ston pa'i ston pa kun byed rgyal po lags | 

sku gdung ring bsrel rtag tu zung cig pa || 

sku ni rgyal ba gang dang gang gi sku ||

gdung ni sangs rgyas gang dang gang gi gdung || 

ring bsrel zhes ni ji lta bu la bgyi || zhes zhus so ||

 

ཀྱེ་སེམས་དཔའ་ཆེན་པོ་ཉོན་ཅིག།

སྐུ་ནི་ང་སྲས་རྒྱལ་བ་གསུམ་གྱི་སྐུ།།

གདུང་ནི་དུས་གསུམ་རྒྱལ་བ་ང་ཡི་སེམས།།

དུས་མེད་རྟག་ཏུ་སེམས་དཔའ་འདི་འཆང་ན།།

དུས་གསུམ་སངས་རྒྱས་ཀུན་གྱི་མཆོད་པའི་བརྟེན།།

སྐུ་གདུང་རིང་བསྲེལ་ཞེས་ནི་དེ་ལ་བྱ།།

kye sems dpa' chen po nyon cig || 

sku ni nga sras rgyal ba gsum gyi sku ||

gdung ni dus gsum rgyal ba nga yi sems || 

dus med rtag tu sems dpa' 'di 'chang na | 

dus gsum sangs rgyas kun gyi mchod pa'i brten || 

sku gdung ring bsrel zhes ni de la bya || 

ཀྱེ་སྟོན་པའི་སྟོན་པ་ཀུན་བྱེད་རྒྱལ་པོ་ལགས།།

སྐུ་གདུང་རིང་བསྲེལ་དེ་ལྟར་ལགས་ན་ཡང་།།

དེ་ལ་དུས་གསུམ་སངས་རྒྱས་ཇི་ལྟར་མཆོད།།

མཆོད་པ་ལ་ནི་ཡོན་ཏན་ཅི་ཞིག་མཆིས།། ཅེས་ཞུས་སོ།།

kye ston pa'i ston pa kun byed rgyal po lags | 

sku gdung ring bsrel de ltar lags na yang | 

de la dus gsum sangs rgyas ji ltar mchod | 

mchod pa la ni yon tan ci zhig mchis | ces zhus so ||

ཀྱེ་སེམས་དཔའ་ཆེན་པོ་ཁྱོད་ཉོན་ཅིག།

ང་ཡི་སྐུ་གདུང་རིང་བསྲེལ་དེ་ལ་ནི།།

དུས་གསུམ་སངས་རྒྱས་རྟག་ཏུ་སེམས་ལྟས་མཆོད།།

དེ་ཡི་ཡོན་ཏན་མི་འབྲལ་དེ་ཐོབ་ནས།།

ཆོས་རྣམས་ཀུན་བྱེད་རྒྱལ་པོར་ནུས་པར་འགྱུར། ཞེས་གསུངས་སོ།།

kye sems dpa' chen po khyod nyon cig | 

nga yi sku gdung ring bsrel de la ni | 

dus gsum sangs rgyas rtag tu sems ltas mchod | 

de yi yon tan mi 'bral de thob nas | 

chos rnams kun byed rgyal por nus par 'gyur | zhes gsungs so ||

བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སེམས་ཀུན་བྱེད་རྒྱལ་པོ་ལས།

སྐུ་གདུང་གཏད་པའི་ལེའུ་སྟེ་བཅུ་བདུན་པའོ།།

byang chub kyi sems kun byed rgyal po las | 

sku gdung gtad pa'i le'u ste bcu bdun pa'o ||

__________

PS: I sent a pre-post draft of this blog to F, and in response to his response, I wrote an email I never sent to him criticizing myself in a rather defensive manner.  Here it is:

Dear F,

Yes, I guess it’s true what you say, the blog is after all full of lazily abductive reasoning based on a weak coverage of material not sufficiently represented in its full glory.

But I guess my aim is served, that others will notice the similarities and put things together in a way that can be better pinned down.

One kind of Peircean (but even more Emersonian) idea is that words/concepts have pressure release valves. It’s as if they are always vulnerable to invasion or loss in at least one compass direction. Poets celebrate this malleable quality of words and bend them around into magnificent sculptures, which is great.  But without stone-stable concepts/definitions to work with syllogisms aren’t going to march on to find victory in well established truth the way they’re supposed to do.

I’m not going to go into piddling details, no time or energy for it.

That’s my "pragmatic" approach at work.  You do know the Americans.  If they think at all, they tend to be pragmatic, thinking it makes them more scientific, so will most likely turn to the pragmatist school for help and inspiration.  Myself I’ve always been more inspired by Emerson, who although called a transcendentalist is also often tied into the group of Peirce and James, and I suppose they even had direct contact with each other, didn’t they?

The real abduction will happen when some semioticians grab ahold of our dear Kunjé and paint him into their corner, making him their kind of pragmatist thinker, perhaps a precursor. It would be horrible to see him taken captive that way.  But better them than those monotheistic creationists.

I actually kind of like it when pre-modern and post-modern ideas are brought close enough to touch each other despite their mutual abhorrence. The fireworks can be amazing.  Or not.

I piddled around and tried to fix the blog a bit, and will try to work it through some more.  So much of it was created in the course of writing, it’s more a journey than a destination, that’s for sure.

Yours, D

This only makes me feel more fondly for the early days of our millennium. I miss the inspiration and instigation that emerges out of dialogue. In years gone by Tibeto-logic used to have all that before it, along with all the other blogs, was abandoned for FB and Twitch, and now X. Please, please comment and have your say if you can hack your way through the Captchas.

•

ངས་ཁྱོད་ལ་འགྲེལ་བཤད་རྒྱག་མི་ཐུབ་པའི་བྱ་བ་ཞིག་བཤད་པར་ཡིད་ཆེས་བྱོས་དང་། ངས་ཁྱོད་ལ་ནམ་ཡང་ནོར་བ་ཞིག་མི་བྱེད།

Can you guess which Beatles song these words come from? 

• Translated by Monlam AI, something I’m trying to test myself with.  (Thank you K.K. for sharing the link.)

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.)

- - -

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?

   ReplyDelete
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/

   ReplyDelete
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
   

•

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.

•

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.