དགེ་ཆོས་ཀྱི་ནོར་འཁྲུལ་ཆེ་ཤོས་?

Hor-gtsang ’Jigs-med is a refreshing and critical Tibetan writer and thinker. His fearless and outspoken attempts to examine dGe-chos’s life and works with all their strengths and weaknesses are truly impressive. But one of the risks in trying to be too objective may be that one ends up being subjective! This seems to be the case when he, for example, states (Drang bden gyis bslus pa’i slong mo ba (p. 199) that one of dGe-chos’ greatest mistakes in life has been composing his Klu sgrub dgongs rgyan. But why? Because of the doctrinal controversiality of its content or the author’s ingenuity?

གཡུལ། ཡུལ།

According to the late rGan Padma-rgyal-mtshan, g.yul "battle" is derived from yul (initially a verb meaning "to move") and has a causative meaning "to cause to move around (i.e. to maneuver"). What about yul in the sense of "domain, field, land" or "object"? Perhaps a "domain where one moves"?

འགྱུར་ཕྱག འགྱུར་བྱང་། བམ་པོ།

Tshe-tan-zhabs-drung thinks that putting Sanskrit titles (in scriptures and treatises in translation) and obeisance by the translator ('gyur phyag), mentioning number of bam pos, and so on, are specific to the Tibetan tradition, not found in the Chinese tradition. See his Thon mi’i zhal lung (p. 35). One needs to check with the bam po indication. In Tibet too, it was introduced later during the time of Khri-srong-lde-btsan. Also putting translation colophon ('gyur byang) at the end is a Tibetan tradition. Chinese put it in the beginning.    

གི་གུ་ལོག་པ།

The use of inverted gi gu (i-vowel-sign) in Tibetan script can be quite baffling. There may be several explanation attempts but  I would like to briefly present here Tshe-tan-zhabs-drung's explanation, which seems to be the most convincing one. For him, Tibetan inverted gi gu sign is a remnant of the short Indian (e.g. Brāhmī or Devanāgarī) i-vowel sign placed over and towards the left side of the consonant character. Compare the signs for ti and tī in the image below. The function of ’a chung (in elongating the vowel) has rendered the distinction between the gi gu sign turned to the left and the one turned to right redundant. But Tibetans continued to use inverted gi gu signs until the practice was done away in due course. See his Thon mi’i zhal lung (p. 78.11-79.16). Indeed I think we can find several other examples of such remnants to support his theory.

Some scholars have apparently tried to make a difference in the pronunciation between the inverted and non-inverted gi gus (gi gu phyir log dang phyir ma log pa) but Tshe-tan-zhabs-drung criticizes by stating that it is a futile attempt like trying to differentiate between the two eyes of a son of a barren woman (mo gsham gyi bu).

I would like to thank Arno for his very informative and illuminative comments on the inverted gi gi, which reveal that scholars have reflected for this issue for quite sometime now. Instead of trying to argue for or against one given explanation, I would like to reproduce here Arno letter which, however, did not appear in the comments section. 

Dear Dorji,

I presume Tshe-tan-zhabs-drung is right when tracing back the inverted gi gu to the short Indian i, but what exactly is his explanation for its use if not a difference in pronunciation long ago? Waddell had already in 1909 (“Ancient Historical Edicts at Lhasa,” JRAS, pp. 923–952) suggested “an apparent differentiation between long ī and short i, in which the short i, following its Indian Devanāgarī prototype” reversed (p. 945). This distinction between long and short vowel was entirely rejected by Laufer in 1914, see his long note on pp. 53–54 of his “Bird Divination among the Tibetans (Notes on Document Pelliot No. 3530, with a Study of Tibetan Phonology of the Ninth Century),” T’oung Pao, 15. Further on in his article Laufer has somewhat convincingly shown (p. 85) by way of Chinese transcriptions of Tibetan words that the inverted gi gu seems to have “exactly corresponded to the plain, short Chinese I,” whereas the non-inverted form was apparently pronounced differently judging by its Chinese transcription. So, after all, there does seem to be some phonetical side to the matter. I personally cannot help but feel that in many of the later texts still showing an abundance of inverted gi gus they are used on any given page in quite arbitrary a fashion, without any deeper meaning. This is obviously the weakest explanation, but who knows.

All the best,

Arno

སྐྱོ་མ།

A thin porridge made of flour is called skyo ma. But is skyo derived from skyo ba "to be sad" or "to be bored." Is it because rich people eat skyo ma when they have no appetite, that is, when they are fed up of rich food, or, because it is the food of the poor and the wretched (skyo bo)?

གསེར་སྐྱེམས།

According to some, gser skyems (“golden drink”) is alcohol with gold in it. But Dung-dkar rejects this interpretation stating that gser is simply an honorific (zhe sa) and gser skyems means zhal skyems. As examples of the use of gser as honorifics, he mentions gser zhal (for rgyal po’i zhal) and gser yig (for bka’ yig). See the Dung dkar tshig mdzod (s.v. gser skyems). In English or German, too, one uses “golden” in a metaphorical sense as in “golden age” or “golden mean.” According to the Li shi’i gur khang, these are said to be loanwords from the Mongolian. But check! At any rate gser skyems and other words are discussed in Laufer 1916: 444–445.

See the gSer skyems kyi rabs in http://www.tibetarchaeology.com/april-2011/.

ཟིན་བྲིས་ཐོར་བུ།

It has been reported that a Sanskrit Ms. of the Guhyasamājatantra written on bark (shing shun) existed in Padma-rmad-byung-gi-gtsug-lag-khang. See Gangs-ri-ba Chos-dbyings-rdo-rje, mNga’ ris skor gsum gyi sngon byung lo rgyus =  Gangs ljongs bod kyi nub ngos mnga’ ris skor gsum gyi sngon byung lo rgyus  ’chi med rnga sgra. Lhasa: Bod ljongs mi dmangs dpe skrun khang, 1996, p. 266.23–267.1: dpal gsang ba bsdus pa’i po ti rgya gar gyi shing shun la bris pa rgya yig tu yod pa gcig bzhugs so ||.

The expression yum sras bco brgyad is employed here (i.e. instead of the usual yum sras bcu bdun).

ར་ས་འཕྲུལ་སྣང་གི་གཙུག་ལག་ཁང་།

Ra-sa-'phrul-snang-gi-gtsug-lag-khang:

Zhwa-sgab-pa, relying on the catalogue of the lHa-ldan Temple called the dKar chag shel dkar me long by the Fifth Dalai Lama, states that it is called so because it resembled a temple in an magical apparition ('phrul snang) and was built after erasing the lake by way of filling it with the soil (sa) carried on goat (ra) backs. See his Srid don rgyal rabs (vol. 1, p. 151). It is said to be modeled according to the Vikramaśīla temple.

མི་ཉག །

Mi-nyag:

Zhwa-sgab-pa wonders if the name of the place Mi-nyag (Tangut") is a corruption of mi nag "black people." See his Srid don rgyal rabs (vol. 1, p. 150, n. 16): ni nag zer ba la gra nyams te mi nyag tu 'gyur ba min nam snyam /.

ཁ་བཏགས་ཀྱི་སྐོར།

Types of Tibetan Ceremonial Scarf (Zhwa-sgab-pa, Srid don rgyal rabs, vol. 1, p. 53, n. 64)

Zhwa-sgab-pa's book contains so many interesting aspects of Tibetan culture and one often forgets to consult it. (But some Tibetans suspect that  Zhwa-sgab-pa’s Srid don rgyal rabs was based on a (stolen) work of dGe-chos. See Hor-gtsang, Drang bden gyi bslus pa’i slong ma ba, pp. 139–146).  As for the Tibetan tradition of kha btags (“ceremonial scarf”), it is said to be influenced by the Indian tradition of  honoring or welcoming someone by offering a shawl. The etymology of bka btags seems to be “something that is hung (btags) around someone’s frontage (kha) (i.e. neck).” It is also called kha dar (gSar.bsgrigs) and perhaps also dar dkar. One might add here mjal dar as its synonym. There are several types and qualities of kha btags. The variety of kha btags depends on the occasion, size, color, status, and so on. There is another article in Tibetan on kha btags. Here is a random list:

1. nang mdzod ma rig gnyid sangs ma

2. dkon mchog rin chen ma

3. bar thon nyin bde ma

4. ’dom ’khor ma

5. phyis thon ’phrin las dar rgyas ma

6. a she

7. bang mdzod

8. zub phyi

9. phyi mdzod

10. bsod nams kha btags

11. tsam pa kha btags? (not mentioned by Zhwa-sgab-pa)
12. zub she (Onoda 2000/12), cf. zub phyi
13. bsod btags (Onoda 2000/12)
14. rtags brgyad ma (Onoda 2000/12)
15. srid zhi bde skyid (Onoda 2000/12)
16. nyin mo bde legs (Onoda 2000/12)
17. tshe lha ma (Onoda 2000/12)

Dung-dkar, however, alludes to oral tradition according to which kha btags was originally auspicious white  lines (thig dkar) drawn on collars of clothes strewn with floor (rtsam pa). I hope I interpret him correctly. Later under the Mongolian rule, kha btags became what they are now. Dung-dkar notes that no written sources in Tibetan can be found on kha btags. He seems to have been unaware of Zhwa-sgab-pa's footnote. He mentions three kinds of kha btags:

1. kha btags skya chen
2. kha btags ’dom gsum ma
3. kha btags nang mdzod

Shunzo Onoda, “An Old Tibetan Kha-bTags Preserved at the Mampukuji 萬福寺 Temple in Kyoto.” Kyoto: Bukkyo University, 2000–2012. 

http://www.bukkyo-u.ac.jp/mmc01/onoda/works/paper/0409pekingpaper.html

Some kha btags related terms from the Tshig mdzod chen mo:

nang mdzod, a she, mdod she (To Lhasa and Beyond, p. 99).

kha btags (i.e. dar ram lha reg  nang gses su kha btags nang mdzod dang, a she, zub she, bsod btags sogs yod)

’jam dar (i.e. srin skud sogs las btags pa'i kha dar rigs shig)

dkyus btags (i.e. kha btags dkyus ma)

skyabs sgril (i.e. skyabs 'jug zhu ba'i yi ge sgril byed kyi kha btags)

skyel dar (i.e. skyel ma byed skabs ske la ga‑yog rgyu'i kha btags)

kha btags nyin mo bde legs (i.e. nyin mo bde legs zhes pa’i yi ge ’thag drub can gyi dar rigs shig)

kha phyi (i.e. kha btags spus zhan zhig)

kha bsod (i.e. bsod btags te, kha btags spus zhan zhig)

dga’ dar (dga’ ston gyi kha btags)

mgul dar (i.e. ske la ga‑yog rgyu'i kha btags)

sgang mdud (i.e. kha btags cha tshang ba gcig la brgyab pa’i srung mdud)

sgo dar (i.e. khang pa’i sgor btags pa’i kha btags)

sgron dar (g.yog bya’i kha btags)

chu ris ma (i.e. kha btags zub she chu ris ma)

mjal dar (i.e. mjal dus ’bul rgyu’i kha btags)

nyin mo bde legs (i.e. kha btags nang mdzod kyi bye brag cig kha btags nang mdzod las rtags brgyad ma, srid zhi bde skyid, nyin mo bde legs, tshe lha ma bcas rigs mi 'dra ba bzhi yod pa'i gsum par tshigs bcad sho lo ka bkod pa 'di lta ste, nyin mo bde legs mtshan bde legs, nyi ma'i gung yang bde legs shing, nyin mtshan ku tu bden legs pa, dkon mchog gsum gyi bde legs shog ces gsal yod)

snyan shal (i.e. snyan dar kha btags)

thugs gso’i mjal dar (i.e. sems sdug sel thabs su gtong ba'i kha btags)

dar dkar (i.e. kha btags dkar po)

nang mdzod (i.e. kha btags legs gras shig)

pur dar (yul) (i.e. phung po la ga‑yog rgyu'i kha btags)

bum dar (i.e. bum par ga‑yog bya'i kha btags)

tsha dar (i.e. me mda'i tsha kha lta ba dang, zhar 'phen glod de 'gran bsdur byed par rgyal kha lon mkhan la thob pa'i kha btags)

tshe lha ma (i.e. tshe dpag med kyi sku brnyan yod pa'i kha btags legs gras shig)

mdzod btags (i.e. kha btags yag po zhig)

zub she (i.e. kha btags kyi bye brag cig)

gzigs rten (i.e. zhu yig dang mnyam du 'bul rgyu'i kha btags dang dngos rdzas)

gzigs pa g.yo rten (i.e. zhu yig dang mnyam du 'bul rgyu'i kha btags dang dngos rdzas)

g.yang dar (i.e. g.yang mdar gdags bya'i kha btags, g.yang dar kha btags)

lag dar (i.e. kha btags mjal dar)

legs dar (yul) (i.e. legs pa'i rten 'brel mtshon byed kyi kha btags)

sems gso'i mjal dar (yul) (i.e. mi shi ba'i nang mi rnams la 'bul rgyu'i kha btags)

sog dar (i.e. sog lugs kyi kha btags sngon po zhig)

srid zhi'i bde skyid (i.e. kha btags led gras shig)

bsod btags (i.e. bsod nams kha btags zer ba'i kha btags zhan pa zhig)

lha gos (i.e. kha btags)

lha rdzas (i.e. kha btags)

lha reg kha btags

a she (i.e. kha btags legs gras gnyis pa) ()

Bibliography 

Zhwa-sgab-pa, Srid don rgyal rabs (vol. 1, p. 53, n. 64). 

Shunzo Onoda, “An Old Tibetan Kha-bTags Preserved at the Mampukuji 萬福寺 Temple in Kyoto.” Kyoto: Bukkyo University, 2000–2012. 

Sir Charles Bell, The People of Tibet. [First published in 1928. Reprint:] Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1994, pp. 248-252. [Very useful information can be found here].

བཀའ་བརྒྱད་སྐོར་དགུ།

bDud-’joms ’Jigs-bral Ye-shes-rdo-rje (1904–1988), for example, speaks of nine revealed cycles of Eight Pronouncements (gter byon bka’ srol):

Treasure Revealers  (dPal chen thugs thig, pp. 90.3–91.2)		Revealed bKa’-brgyad Cycles
1.	Nyang-ral Nyi-ma-’od-zer (1136–1204)	bDe gshegs ’dus pa
2.	Guru Chos-kyi-dbang-phyug (1212–1270)	gSang ba yongs rdzogs
3.	Rig-’dzin rGod-kyi-ldem-phru-can (1337–1409)	Rang byung rang shar
4.	Padma-gling-pa (1450–1521)	Thugs kyi me long
5.	bSam-gtan-bde-chen-gling-pa (15/16th cent.)	Yang gsang dregs ’dul
6.	rDo-rje-gling-pa (1346–1405)	gSang rdzogs drag sngags ’dus pa
7.	Rig-’dzin ’Ja’-tshon-snying-po (1585–1656)	dNgos grub snying po
8.	Rig-’dzin Klong-gsal-snying-po (1625–1692)	bDe gshegs yongs ’dus
9.	mKhyen-brtse’i-dbang-po (1820–1892)	Khrag ’thung bde gshegs ’dus pa

Of these, the first five are collectively designated Five Great Treasures of the Heart (thugs gter chen po lnga), and these are respectively described as (1) heart-like (snying dang ’dra ba), (2) cardiac-blood-like (snying khrag dang ’dra ba), (3) essence-like (dwangs ma dang ’dra ba), (4) life-force-like (srog dang ’dra ba), and (5) body-like (lus dang ’dra ba). The most influential cycles of Eight Pronouncement seem to be the bKa’ brgyad bde gshegs ’dus pa of Nyang-ral Nyi-ma’i-’od-zer, the bKa’ brgyad gsang ba yongs rdzogs of Guru Chos-kyi-dbang-phyug (1212–1270), and bKa’ brgyad rang byung rang shar of Rig-’dzin rGod-kyi-ldem-khru-can (1337–1409) simply designated the “Three Types of Eight Pronouncements” (bka’ brgyad rnam gsum).

x + བྱང་།

Here are some compounds in byang, which I have collected for a talk that I once gave on “Colophons in the Tibetan Textual Tradition.

1.	ming byang (“name tag”)
2.	mtshan byang (honorific, often “title of a work” )
3.	bzhugs byang (“title on the front page,” “table of content,” or “catalogue”
4.	kha/zhal byang (“address,” “a frontage label [consisting of written texts]”), “instruction manuals”
5.	yig byang (“name plate,” “address”)
6.	sgo byang (“inscription over a door”)
7.	them byang (“door-plate,” “catalogue” (= dkar chag)
8.	dur byang (“inscription on gravestone,” “epitaph”)
9.	gter byang (“guide to treasures,” “treasure-index” (but not “treasure colophon”!)
10.	shing byang (“wooden board”)
11.	shog byang (“cards,” “paper folios”)
12.	ras byang (perhaps identical with gdong dar, “[title or volume] tag made of cloth”)
13.	sdom byang (“mnemonic summary” or “synoptic verses”)
14.	thob byang (“records [of teachings] obtained”)
15.	las byang (“manual of [Tantric] activities” (mostly for common objectives)”
16.	bshags byang (perhaps “manual of confession ritual)”
17.	tho byang (= tho yig?) (“list of records”)
18.	zur byang (“addendum,” “supplement,” “margin title”
19.	brjed byang (“memorandum,” “mnemonic commentary)
20.	bskyud byang (“recollective notes”) = brjed byang (Li shi’i gur khang)
21.	mjug byang (“verse of epilogue”)
22.	mdzad/sbyar byang (“author’s colophon,” i.e. literally “composition colophon”)
23.	’gyur byang (“translation colophon”)
24.	dpar/spar/par byang (“printing/print colophon”)
25.	bris byang (“scribe’s/calligrapher’s colophon”), and its homophone
26.	bri byang (“drawing manual”)
27.	phrin byang (“letter”)

སྔ་དྲོ། ཕྱི་དྲོ།

snga dro, phyi dro:

The etymologies of "morning" or "forenoon" (snga dro) and "evening" or "afternoon" (phyi dro) seem obvious: "early [part of the] warm [day]" and "later [part of the] warm [day]."

xxx

ང་རྒྱལ།

nga rgyal:

Actually the etymology of nga rgyal (“pride” or “arrogance”) is quite obvious and self-explanatory. It clearly means an attitude of “self-triumphalism” or “I-triumphalism.”

ཇའི་སྐོར།

1. bod rgya
2. rgya ja (Bod.rgya, s.v. ja)
3. mar ja (Bod.rgya, s.v. ja)
4. tshwa ja
3. gsol ja
4. 'thung ja (as if there is also ja for not drinking) (Bod.rgya, s.v. ja)
5. mnar ja (ja mngar mo, Bod.rgya, s.v. ja)
6. mang ja (rDo.mkhar, Mi dbang rtogs brjod, p. 760)
7. rtse ja ("top tea"?) (rDo.mkhar, Mi dbang rtogs brjod, p. 760)
8. hu ja (?) (rDo.mkhar, Mi dbang rtogs brjod, p. 760)
9. bsrubs ja (= ja bsrubs ma) (Bod.rgya, s.v.)
10. rgyun ja (Bod.rgya, s.v. ja)
11. zhogs ja "morning tea" (Bod.rgya, s.v.)
12. ja dkrugs/dkrogs ma  (Bod.rgya, s.v. ja)


1. ja ma
2. ja ko
3. ja dkar
4. ja dkrug
5. ka skyems
6. ja khang
7. ja khab
8. ja khug
9. ja khra
10. ja rgod
11. ja sgam
12. ja mchod
13. ja thang
14. ja thebs
15. ja dam
16. ja 'dan
17. ja 'dren
18. ja nad
19. ja pa ti
20. ja phud
21. ja phogs
22. ja tshags
23. ja shing
24. ja sil ma


Not complete. Many more possible.

A Preliminary Survey of bKa’ thang Literature

A Preliminary Survey of bKa’ thang Literature

Dorji Wangchuk

(Hamburg)

Ø. Prologue

The genre (one can indeed call so) of bka’i thang yig or simply bka’ thang may be deprecated by some but its untold value cannot be denied, particularly insofar it discloses various facets of Tibetan civilization through the ages. For personal curiosity, I wish to gain an overview of Tibetan literature that is referred to as bka’ thang. The survey of each bka’ thang should try to address these seven points: (a) theme, (b) size (i.e. number of chapters), (c) discoverer, (d) place of discovery, (e) time (i.e. year) of discovery, and (f) available edition, (g) and some relevant sources of information. 

1. The Padma dka’ thang

The Padma bka’i thang thang yig or Padma dka’ thang (a) is supposed to be the Jātaka (sKyes rabs) and hagiography (rnam thar) of Padmasambhava. (b) It has 108 chapters. (c) It was discovered by U-rgyan-gling-pa (b. 1323) and his Treasure Assistant (gTer-g.yog) Hor-bsgom Shākya-bzang-po. U-rgyan-gling-pa is the counted as one of the Nine Gling-pas (gling pa dgu) among the treasure revealers (gte ston). (d) It is said to be discovered from the heart of the statue of Viṣṇu (Khyab-’jug), the door-keeping protector (sgo srungs) of Padma-shel-phug, at Yar-klung Shel-gyi-brag-rdzong. (e) The year of discovery is to be traced (if possible). (f) The modern edition (i.e. Padma bka’ thang. Chengdu: Si-khron-mi-rigs-dpe-skrun-khang, 1996)  in Chengdu is based on the sDe-dge xylographic edition. The Great Fifth, in his gSan yig (SB, vol. 4, pp. 351–352), lists the two alternative transmission lineages of the Padma bka’ thang.

2. bKa’ thang sde lnga

3. lHa ’dre dka’ thang

4. rGyal po dka’ thang

5. bTsun mo dka’ thang

6. Lo paṇ dka’ thang

7. bka’ thang bka’ ma (i.e. composed) (Blo-gros-rgya-mtsho, bKa' thang mtshams sbyor, p. 8).

8. bka’ thang gter ma (i.e. revealed) (Blo-gros-rgya-mtsho, bKa’ thang mtshams sbyor, p. 9).

There are said to be thousands of bka’ thang; some large, some small; some in verse, some in prose. Here are a few popular ones:

(1) bKa’ thang shel brag ma

(2) bKa’ thang bsdus pa

(3) bKa’ thang sde lnga

(4) bKa’ thangs zangs gling ma

(5) bKa’ thang ga’u ma

(6) bKa’ thang gser phreng

(7) bKa’ thang mun sel sgron me

(8) bKa’ thang yid kyi mun sel

(9) bKa’ thang dri ma med pa’i rgyan

Cf. gsar rnying bon gsum gyi bka’ thang (Blo-gros-rgya-mtsho, bKa’ thang mtshams sbyor, p. 10