The Epic of Gesar of Ling

by Robin Kornman

  If the flower is not destroyed by the frost,

  Then even if the herbs are lost, it is said there is no regret.”

  [The nāga child is dispatched and meets with Padma.]

  A wish-granting lapis vase and a cooling jewel that prevents fire were sent along with him as presentation gifts. Then the guru Lotus Born, knowing that the nāgas were inviting him, in an instant magically went to Ma Dentig Padma Shelphug [Lotus Crystal Cave of Ma Dentig], where he stayed. Through Padma’s blessings, even the nāga child Yerpa’i Trin-ga knew where to find him. The moment the child arrived in Ma Padma Shelphug, the Master pretended not to know him, and said, “You, young boy wearing silken clothes, with a clockwise swirling conch on the top of your head wrapped in a blue water-silk turban, mounted on a long-horned female antelope, holding in your hand a jewel and a vase: from which of the three races do you come: the gods, the nyen, or the nāgas, and for what reason have you come here?”

  The nāga dismounted from the antelope, and the lapis wish-fulfilling vase and the cooling gem that prevents fire were offered up before the guru. Then respectfully prostrating, the child said, “O undeceiving protector of this and all future lifetimes, I have come from the subterranean nāga realms, sent by the king Tsugna Rinchen to tell you our story.” Then he offered this song:

  OṂ This is the beginning of the auspicious song.

  Embodiment of the dharmakāya and the sambhogakāya,

  Lord nirmāṇakāya Lotus Born, I bow down to you.

  Please cleanse all impure obscurations.

  Of course you know all about a person like me.

  I am a boy from the untouchable class of nāgas,

  Impure, as I was born of the family of animals,225

  Pure, as I now see the lord Lotus Born.

  Sent by the nāga king Tsugna Rinchen,

  I am a just a courier, a messenger.

  This inexhaustible wish-fulfilling lapis vase

  And cooling fire-preventing jewel

  Are the mandala presentation offerings he has sent to you.

  All of us in the pure kingdom of nāgas

  Have been stricken by the obscurations of miasma and pollution;

  Many types of incurable diseases have arisen.

  The prognosticator Dorje Ngangkar from Mar Valley

  Received negative divinations and disturbing predictions,

  He said that the only remedy for this is to invite the Lotus Born Guru

  From the land of the humans in Jambudvīpa.

  Otherwise the kingdom of the nāgas will empty.

  According to the ancient proverbs which state:

  Whatever the divine guru intends, he intends for the benefit of others.

  In order to turn the six classes of beings to the dharma

  The guru meditates on love and compassion.

  Whatever a rich man intends wants, he intends for his own benefit.

  In order to be successful in one’s own business

  A person aims to secure profit.

  The purpose in craft of carpenters and blacksmiths is for tasty food.

  In order to always have meat to eat and liquor to drink

  Craftsmen work to be clever with their hands.

  Forgive my importunity, but this is how it is.

  You, Guru, please make haste and come.

  Free the race of nāgas from illness

  And establish the nāga realm in well-being.

  Whatever load you lay upon us we shall carry,

  Whatever you propose we will completely embrace.

  This request comes from all the five castes of nāgas;

  I swore to present it before you;

  Don’t disappoint me with your response.

  Lord Guru, bear this in mind.

  Thus he requested, and the Guru spoke, “I am here at the command of Avalokiteśvara.226 He can see many things with his thousand eyes. He can guide many beings with his thousand arms. When it comes to guiding sentient beings in the three worlds, just one or two make the difference between many or few. If you think you need help, rather than waste your time in senseless speech, chant maṇi mantras. Better to stamp out tsatsas than to have idle hands. Better to meditate on bodhicitta than to have a distracted mind. I will stay settled in this sacred place, for:

  The guru who pursues227 material gain,

  Scurrying around here and there, meets with sin.

  A selfish person

  Full of activities, meets with conflict.

  A rich person who is discontented,

  Carrying many wares to market, encounters enemies.

  That being so, these proverbs point out that one should not wander here and there. Furthermore, with respect to benefit for others, from the highest peak of existence down to the lowest hell, we must make unbiased prayers that include all beings in all directions by thinking that all sentient beings throughout space have been our mothers and fathers. Otherwise we would be like a beggar without food who tries to fill his cup wherever he goes. The inner message of this account should be understood as follows,” and he sang this sacred song:

  OṂ May the immutable resting place of the dharmakāya be achieved.

  ĀḤ May the pure realm of the sambhogakāya be accomplished.

  HŪṂ May the nirmāṇakāya which benefits others be accomplished.

  May I and all limitless sentient beings

  Be established in the state of buddhahood.

  Now then, nāga child listen here:

  The mere title guru doesn’t make a guru.

  Just saying other’s benefit doesn’t make it other’s benefit.

  It is through realization that the mind is set free.

  Attachment and ego-clinging must be cut.

  Just finding a needle and thread, and then supplicating the wealth god,228

  Just losing one’s shoelaces, and then calling on the oath-bound protectors,229

  Calling the acquisition of material goods the benefit of others;

  Are all just acts of outer ego-clinging.

  Not seeing one’s own faults, yet proclaiming those of others,

  Being biased about religion and individuals,

  Calling a philosophical tenet that which is really only meditation based on passion and aggression;230

  Are all just acts of inner ego-clinging.

  When meditating, to materialize the generation stage,

  When practicing, to arouse compassion with a biased mind,

  When training in the completion stage, to have a focal point;231

  Are all just acts of secret self-grasping.

  If craving for wealth and material objects can be abandoned,

  Then half of the path is accomplished!

  Seeking food, clothing, patrons, and fame,

  There is no greater demon than that!

  The one under the golden hat has a high view,

  But inside the brocade on his back is a show-off meditator.

  In the presence of patrons, he becomes careful of his conduct;

  Surrounded by wealth and endowments, his ability to benefit others vanishes.

  Still it is said that this is the brainless guru’s enlightened activity.

  The day conditions ripen to bring the Lord of Death,

  It is too late for strong remorse.232

  I, a lowly little monk, asleep in my rat hole,

  Have no hope of receiving wealth or extensive offerings from the nāgas,

  Still, it seems I must go to the land of the nāgas.

  Although I have no expectation for ordinary material wealth,

  You will have to make many promises difficult to keep.

  If you agree to this, then of course this guru will go.233

  If a great mountain is invited as the guest,

  There must be a great plain to be its host.

  Without that, why should the great mountain move?

  If the broad river must pass through a narrow channel

  There must be a golden canal to be its c
onduit.

  Without that there’s no way for the golden river to flow.234

  Nāga child keep this in your mind.”

  He answered, “I, a nāga child, came to the land of humans to accomplish a high mission. If I cannot succeed in my purpose, then the high promise I made will be meaningless.

  If the young tiger with his threefold panoplyg

  Does not get the great buck’s rack,

  Then it is meaningless for him to wear his hunting garb.h

  If the mothers and maidens carrying gilded pails

  Do not get the pure mountain water,

  Then it is pointless for them to carry their silver ladles.

  Guru, please come! All the castes of the nāgas from the nobility above to the commoners and untouchables below are of one mind, one counsel, one determination, and one voice, and as one community extend to you this invitation. In general, we are not like the class of humans, so we don’t have the custom to first make a decision and later change our minds. What the leader decides, the servant enacts. With us it’s not the case that the servant has the power of command, because the command is spoken only once by the king.”

  Then he began prostrating fervently, his hands pumping like bellows, whoosh, whoosh. Begging with thumbs sticking out as though beating a little drum and moving up and down, he looked like a man furiously bowing a biwa.i

  Then the Precious Master said, “Well now, you go on ahead of me and carefully make your report. I will follow after.”

  Now that it was decided that he would come, the nāga child Yerpa’i Trin-ga went back to the nāga king Tsugna Rinchen to report as follows: “This guru Master Padma may be as famous as the turquoise dragon, but he’s as feeble and unlucky as a flame in the wind. His name is great, like a white snow-lioness, but if you get near him you see he’s like a mangy dog. Well, he is just like a little white-faced monk and seems a bit stupid, but if he can cure the nāgas’ diseases, then we have him now. On the other hand, as the proverbs say:

  Don’t debate a stupid man.

  Don’t play with nettles with your hands.

  Don’t bargain with a stubborn man.

  Personally, I didn’t really get to know him. He insisted that we make impossible, impractical promises. When he spoke formally, he spoke about cause and result, but whenever he made conversation, he was a man who was trying to make a deal. Think about it: if he fails to benefit us, we’ll have more complaints than we can count. In any case, whatever he does, I’ve placed all our trust in his hands and promised to do whatever he says. You had better start making preparations.”

  Then the nāga king asked, “Did he mention if there were any articles we need to acquire?”

  “No, he didn’t say anything. But he said that when you invite a great mountain, you must lay out a great plain or that when you want to guide a swollen river, you need to make a golden canal for it to pass through. He also said these diseases are dangerous.”

  Then some other nāgas replied, “To put an end to the illness in this great district:

  As long as the great buck doesn’t roll off the mountain cliff,

  He can go wherever he wants.235

  As long as the snow on the upper highland is not melted by the sun,

  Then the colorful snowy crags can always appear.

  As long as the fish and otter do not end up on dry land,

  Then we can do whatever we want with the river and the river bank.

  The wealth that we lack is not difficult to acquire. So let’s do what he says with what we have.”

  [Padma and Tsugna Rinchen bargain over Padma’s fee.]236

  Then Guru Master Padma through his magical powers instantly arrived at the upper treasure gate of Lake Manasarovar in the land of the nāgas at Sidpa Yutso. There some of the sick nāgas were crawling on their right sides, sighing and groaning in pain; those crawling on their left sides were screaming cries of anguish. Some of the nāga serpents were lying spread on their backs shivering with their tails flopping back and forth, as they cried out in misery.

  In the nāga castle on Bendril Yutsei [Lapis Turquoise Peak], the nāga prince Legpa Charbeb [Excellent Rainfall] was afflicted with disease and writhed to and fro like an undulating fish. There they invited the Precious Master to be seated on a golden throne within the palace. The nāga king Tsugna Rinchen brought him a red pearl plate loaded with varieties of luscious ripe fruits and, carrying the precious vase that destroys poison, served the ambrosial tea of the quintessence of medicine. He said, “Gracious One, sole protector in this and future lifetimes, welcome! Are you exhausted from your journey?237 Gracious nirmāṇakāya! Listen; oh listen to the long white scarf of our speech as I offer this song, which is an account of the true story of what has happened here.”238

  OṂ MAṆI PADME HŪṂ HRĪH

  I bow down to the gracious Lord of Dharma,

  The guru who is the heart of all the buddhas,

  Who sounds the ambrosial melody of the sacred dharma,

  Who, as the nirmāṇakāya, is the embodiment of the sangha.

  The select offering of the three sweets from the quintessence of treesj

  Filling a plate made of red pearl,

  And within the precious vase that destroys poison

  Is the offering tea called quintessence of medicine.

  With reverence I offer these, please lovingly accept them.

  Just as the sun in the lofty firmament

  Nourishes the lotus in the mud,

  We in the realms of pretas and animals

  Ask you please to look down on us with your eyes of compassion.

  Here in our pure nāga kingdom

  Although the hunters have not scared off the mountain nyen,

  The zodor’s hailstorm239 is increasingly destructive.

  Although the nyen have not struck the nāgas with an avalanche,

  The sores and tumors on their limbs multiply.

  Although our offerings in temples have not ceased,

  The dharma protectors become increasingly irritable.240

  Just before midnight several days ago,

  Pestilential vapors descended into the heart of the nāga land.

  Unbelievable bad omens ensued and from that time on

  The pure land of the nāgas has been afflicted with obscuring pollution.

  All sorts of incurable diseases have arisen.

  The prognosticator Dorje Ngangkar said,

  “If you don’t obtain Master Lotus,

  The country of the nāgas will become nameless.

  If you don’t dig with a hard rock,

  Then you won’t reach the treasure that is deeply buried.

  If he doesn’t go to the steep face of the mountain,

  Then the hunter won’t reach the prize of the meat.

  If your precious treasure is not handed over for ransom241

  Then you won’t be able to buy your cherished life.”

  He [the diviner] cautioned us not to be attached to our wealth and valuables. So, Guru, that is why we have invited you.

  If the warmth and gentleness of the sun abound,

  There is no regret when the southern clouds disperse.

  If the land of the nāgas is restored to well-being,

  Then there is no regret if the prosperity of the nāgas is dispersed.

  Whatever command you give us and whatever path you send us upon,

  Whatever is to happen, it is in your hands now.

  You who have listened to this song of offering,

  Please keep this meaning close to your heart.

  Thus he requested, and Master Padma said: “According to the proverbs of worldly existence, if need be, then:

  To climb high up to the sky, hoist a ladder;

  To enter the dense earth, tunnel down deep;

  To carve hard rock, use a chisel;

  To cross a flowing river, use a boat or a bridge.

  And, as the proverb says, there are methods for curing the pain of illness:

&
nbsp; The medicine that restores the internal organs,

  The offered substances that please the godly demons,

  The rites that banish the great demonic forces.

  Although there are many considerations and techniques, given the way that these unlikely evil omens came to the land of the nāgas, the way that these incurable illnesses multiplied, and the way that the diviner had negative signs, wherever one looks:

  The patron’s obstacles are great,

  The puja master is pitiful.

  Therefore, as the proverb says:

  If you try to help others there is obviously some danger for oneself,

  Thus, wherever I point my finger, that is my offering. Just like:

  Whatever makes a beggar’s mouth water,

  Whatever a poor man’s stomach can take,

  That is the extent of what you should prepare.

  Will you give me whatever I say I want and keep track of it?”

  The nāga king and all the ministers thought, “What the messenger told us yesterday is certainly true. He’s the kind of man who

  Grabs the tongue before the head is cooked,

  Scoops out the noodles before slurping the broth.

  Cranes his neck even before he yells out, ‘Ki!’242

  Whether good or bad,

  If difficult feats are rare,

  Then any rarity must certainly be expensive.”

  Then the nāga king said, “Well,

  Before a conversation one should say, ‘Ki!’ and ‘So!’