January 12, 2012

བདུད་རྩི།


bdud rtsi:

The Tibetan word for “nectar,” “elixir,” or “ambrosia” is bdud rtsi but what could be its etymology? I would like to speculate as follows: ’chi bdag gi bdud kyi gnyen por gyur pa’i rtsi yin pas na bdud rtsi zhes bya’o || “Because [it] is a potion (rtsi), an antidote to the Lord of Death, the Evil One (bdud), [it] is called “Potion of the Evil One.” Indeed, a sub-commentary of the Ngag sgron (p. 334), explains bdud rtsis as “death-destroying substance” (’chi ba ’joms byed kyi rdzas), where bdud is understood to be a metaphor for death. Cf. sbrang rtsi, dkar rtsi, tshon rtsi, dngul rtsi, etc.


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