December 23, 2011

ལྷུར་བླང་།

lhur blang:

Perhaps lhur blang can best be translated as “to accept” or “to take on” (e.g. a duty). dGe-’dun-chos-’phel explains lhur blangs as lhu thog tu blangs pa “taken upon on one’s lhu.” See the dGe chos gsung ’bum (vol. 5, p. 74). But what is lhu? It is a “part, portion (of the body of an animal)” (Jäschke 1881: s.v. lhu). But this meaning requires disambiguation. In my view, lhu means “pieces” of the body (comparable to puzzle pieces) that are joined together, for example, by means of tendons or sinew. Therefore the verb lhu ’grig came to mean “to fit (together)” (heteronomous verb), just like puzzle pieces fitting together. Cf. lhu sgrig (autonomous verb). Obviously lhu and lhu tshigs seem to mean one and the same thing. Cf. also lhu mtshams (“joint”). Note that lhu lag seems to be understood as a synonymous of yan lag (“limbs”). In short, lhur blang seems to mean “to take on” (e.g. order or advice out of respect) upon oneself.

4 comments:

  1. I wonder how that relates to hur po.

    l[HUR PO]
    1) LHUR PO YANG ZER, BRTZON PA CHEN PO'AM DO KHUR CHE BA,...LAS ROGS HUR PO,...LAS KA LA HUR PO,...GZHAN DON HUR POR 'DZIN PA,...GRA SGRIG HUR SBYOR,...

    Achim

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  2. Perhaps lhur blang is not related to hur po. Dorji

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  3. Mahâvyutpatti no. 6772 has

    parama — lhur len pa.

    Does being paramount mean to take responsibility?

    One wouldn't always think so. Not in politics.

    Huh huh hah!

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  4. Thanks, Dan, for pointing that out! So we will have to consider all those words such as lhur len pa, lhur byed pa, etc. and their Sanskrit parallels (also now including the meaning suggested by Achim). Perhaps “X lhur blang/len/byed pa” = “to take/accept/consider X to be of paramount importance”?

    D.

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