Did Mar-pa’s son suffer from lice?
This is a
question raised by Yael with regard to Mi-la’s description of Mar-pa’s son
Dharma-mdo-sde: byis pa yid du ’ong la bzhin dang rgyan bzang ba | smra
lce bde ba | snum gyi ral ba shig ge ba zhig. According to the Tshig mdzod chen mo, which,
however, also records the same snum gyi ral ba shig ge ba from the biography, the answer
would be in the negative (at least not on the basis of this expression).
According to the same dictionary, shig
ge ba means “wriggling,” and
here perhaps “curly.”
Three
points seem worth making here. First, we have cases
of duplicating the preceding postscripts (rjes ’jug), adding e vowel + ba, and often having an
adjectival meaning (which can, of course, also be substantivized or made into
an adverb). See, for examples, q.v. -g
ge ba, -ng nge ba sogs.
Such a possibility would explain construction shig
ge ba. But what the hell does shig
ge ba mean? This brings us to
the second point that I want to make. Let us consider how shig ge ba is used in these few examples from the Tshig mdzod chen mo: mdog khra shig ge ba (“having colourful stripes, having
colours of bright stripes”), smug shig ge ba (“having a deep purple
colour”), lhug shig ge ba (“having a very loose or laxed
structure/stature”), and bde shig ge (ba)
(“having a very leisure mood/disposition”). In all of these examples, shig ge ba cannot stand alone and would makes
sense only with a preceding syllable or word. My attempt at explanation
would be shig ge ba in such contexts expresses a certain
kind of rasa (nyams) (as in Indian
rhetorics) both in its objective and subjective senses. That is, it expresses
not only the quality of certain objects but also certain feelings/sentiments
that these objects cause. For example, an “object” such as a creepy crawly
creature would cause a feeling of creepiness in the “subject.” Such an object
or sentiment may be described with the help of shig ge ba. By the way, I
think, shig ge ba in such a construction can be replaced
by shig shig. Consider the following examples: khra
shig shig, ’gul shig shig, stod lhod shig shig, dal shig shig, ’dar shig shig, dpung gdang shig shig, blo lhod shig shig, mer mer shig shig, yang shig shig, lhod shig shig, mig ’dzum shig shig, and so on.
The third
point concerns our shig ge ba in question, which seems to be used
slightly differently and only in the sense of “wriggling,” “curly,” or “wavy.”
Thus, ’bu srin shig ge ba may be translated as
“ wriggling/creepy worms,” lag
pa’i pags pa shig ge ba “wavy
lines of the palm (lit. skin) of the hand,” and ral ba shig ge ba “wavy/curly hair.”
I recall
that the interpretation of shig
ge ba (as in ral ba shig ge ba) is already a
vexed question. Maybe Dan, Rob, and others are right. Without holding on to my
position apodictically and dogmatically, I think we cannot rule out the
possibility that I suggested, especially in cases such as ral ba shig ge ba, which I
proposed to translate as “wavy/curly hair,” based on a lexically attested
meaning “a manner of movement of worms, and so on” (’bu sogs ’gul tshul zhig).
See the Tshig mdzod chen mo, s.v. shig ge ba. Note also that
the second meaning “wriggling patterns” or “patterns of fissures”) given in the Tshig mdzod chen mo (s.v. shig ge ba: lag pa sogs la ser ga
’gas tshul lam ri mo mngon tshul zhig | lag pa’i pags pa shig ge bar gas song |
de rnams kyi nang nas byis pa yid du ’ong la bzhin dang rgyan bzang ba | smra
lce bde ba | snum gyi ral ba shig ge ba zhig ’dug |). I see no indication
of anything “lustrous or luxuriant” about the things described here. If at all,
the meaning “lustrous or lustrously” might work only in cases such as khra shig shig or khra shig ge ba (not in cases such as ral ba shig ge ba or pags
pa shig ge ba) which may be translated as “lustrously/brilliantly
variegated.”
At least the Tshig mdzod chen mo (s.v.) seems to express the following patterns with the word shig ge ba:
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI am speaking from memory, and with age progressing the chance of being mistaken is growing, but for me shig ge (like in shig ge shig, I believe), was used in the rituals we practiced to describe the loose, unknotted hair of the daka or vira. I may have seen it in the ldang ba'i rnal 'byor practice (I believe written by Jamgon Kongtrul). I don't have it with me so I can't check it.
Joy
Dear J,
ReplyDeleteYes that would be a description of wavy/curly hair, I think.
Best,
D.
I think they're just lustrous or luxuriant locks. This does give me deja vus of Rob's blog some time back.
ReplyDeletehttp://blogs.orient.ox.ac.uk/kila/2012/07/11/did-vairocana-have-lice/