The Epic of Gesar of Ling

by Robin Kornman

  When he awoke he donned his clothes and shoes and went to see who would be at the door. In no time at all, a guru wearing the lotus hat and a beautiful girl leading a dri laden with her belongings arrived there. Wondering, “What’s this all about,” Tönpa Gyaltsen was astonished, because by the sight of his lotus hat the man at the door seemed to be a guru, but he looked like an ordinary man since he was leading a girl. Tönpa thought, “Perhaps this is what was predicted last evening.” In any case, thinking he wanted to question them, Tönpa Gyaltsen stooped down to greet them: “Well, well-accomplished yogin with consort, where have you been and where are you going? What are the provisions that you carry on the back of this dri? Come on in, take a seat, and let’s have a talk.”

  The Guru replied, “Ah yes, I have come from the continent of Cāmara and I’m planning to return there as well. I will depart to mingle awareness with the space of great bliss. I will depart to meditate on the wondrous bodhicitta, and I will depart to accomplish the profound benefit of others. I came here to see you, Tönpa Gyaltsen.” With the Guru having said that, at that moment the messengers of [the Guru’s] compassion overcame [Tönpa Gyaltsen’s] three gatesu and suddenly he remembered last night’s dream and became filled with devotion and pure view toward the Guru. He offered him tea, liquor, and tsampa mixed with butter and, showing boundless respect and devotion, requested protection and blessings. Then Uḍḍiyāṇa Guru Padmasambhava said, “Listen Gog Ralo Tönpa Gyaltsen, if my coming here does not achieve the benefit of beings, there’s no point in calling me a guru. If a monk dharma practitioner does not abandon the lower realms, then it is disheartening to have entered the path of the profound dharma. If a great meditator cannot traverse the bardo, then his meditation experience is like a bubble in water. Now the main reason for coming here is as follows and, having spoken, he raised this dohā:

  NAMO RATNA BUDDHA DHARMAYE

  Buddha Amitābha who abides in the pure land of Akaniṣṭha,

  With your undistracted enlightened mind consider the welfare of all beings.

  Lead them on the path to the land of Sukhāvatī.

  I am the guru Uḍḍiyāṇa Lotus Born.

  First I came from the continent of Cāmara.

  I came for the benefit of the beings of the three realms.

  Second I went to the country of the nāgas for the benefit of beings

  And saved them from the fear of the suffering of disease.

  They expressed their gratitude by offering me this nāginī maiden.

  Finally I came to Gog.

  This is the specific purpose of the interdependent connections:

  This nāginī Yelga Dzeiden

  Is to be your stepdaughter, Ralo Tönpa;

  This Turquoise Tent in Nine Partitions

  Is to be your prized treasure;

  This sixteen-volume nāga’s One Hundred Thousand Verse Wisdom Sutra

  Is your object of devotion, Ralo Tönpa;

  This nāga beast dri with turquoise horns

  Is the wealth of your livestock.

  Don’t let the children pick these flowers that have sprung forth in the field,

  Offer them to the gods.

  Receive these blessings, for they have great potential.

  Do not trade away these treasures of the wealth of the precious earth for profit;

  Keep them well and gradually realization will come to you.

  This nāginī maiden, Yelga Dzeiden,

  Do not betroth her to another, but keep her as your daughter for a long time.

  Ralo, you will rise in status.

  The district of Gog will expand and increase.

  Son of noble family, whatever you desire will occur.

  I cannot stay, for I must depart for the continent of Cāmara.

  If I don’t go, all the rākṣas will be out of control.

  Don’t waver! This is my heartfelt advice.

  When her true lord comes to claim her,

  That is the time that the wealth, the man, and the maiden should be joined.

  Until then, her happiness and sorrow are your responsibility.

  If you understand the meaning of this song, you will know the purpose of all of this.

  If you don’t understand the song, there’s nothing to explain.

  Ralo Tönpa keep this in your heart.

  Thus he sang, and Ralo Tönpa Gyaltsen said, “Oh yes, sir, as the proverb states:

  The merit of the colorful meadow

  Magnetizes the rain without invitation.

  The merit of the third month of spring Magnetizes the cuckoo without invitation.

  The merit of the irrigation ditches in the field Magnetizes the southern clouds without invitation.

  The merit of Ralo Tönpa magnetizes the uninvited companion, the nāginī maiden. This is how it has come to be. Listen, O listen to this song.” So saying, he [Ralo Tönpa Gyaltsen] offered this song:

  Ala leads the song through the mind stream of bodhicitta.

  Thala carries the path to liberation.

  I am Ralo Tönpa Gyaltsen,

  Ralo the head of all clans;

  The country of Gog is the origin of all counties.

  Greatly kind Lord Guru,

  I take refuge in you; hold me with your compassion

  In this life, the next, and the bardo, these three.

  You are my source of hope, O nirmāṇakāya.

  If you don’t fulfill my hopes, but break your promise,

  It will look like you, Guru, have abandoned saṃsāra

  While the undesired Lord of Death makes great obstacles.

  It will look like the husband has left for the mountain hermitage

  While the mistress of the house is left behind, full of agitation.

  It will look like the animals are grazing in higher pastures

  While they are only pulling hard against their nose rings.

  Although I shouldn’t be so bold as to speak like this, this is how it is.

  Therefore, I will make this nāga woman Dzeiden Ma

  The princess of the one thousand householders of the Ralo clan.

  I will make the sacred dharma my object of worship.

  We will care for this dri, the most cherished of all beasts.

  How could anyone dare to break the guru’s command?

  If the disciple breaks the guru’s command, then

  The samaya connection will be the cause for the hell realm.v

  If a servant breaks the command of his leader,

  He loses his chance for food and clothing.

  If children break the command of their parents,

  Then they waste the kindness with which the parents cared for them.

  I will ensure that her happiness is immutable, like an armored goddess.252

  I will make sure her happiness is immutable.

  I won’t let her be unhappy; I’ll care for her like my own parents.

  In the future when the guru returns,

  All the goods, the articles and possessions I will convey to their owner.

  I swear on the Three Jewels to the truth of this.

  If this oath is broken, may there be no liberation for me.

  If you have understood, then please accept this offering of song.

  If you don’t understand this, there is no way to explain it.

  Thus he spoke and the Guru himself replied, “So be it. As for me:

  If I entrust my possessions to someone, it would be to my disciples;

  If I entrust my son, it’s to someone with a loving mind;

  If I entrust my victuals, it would be to a person who has a sense of shame.

  The happiness and sorrow of this girl depends on you and this is what you need to know. I have nothing else to say.” Saying this he departed along with a ray of white light into the southwestern sky.

  The nāga maiden remained in the land of Gog for two years and five months. Finally, from the divine realm of the thirty-three, the divine child Thöpa Gawa knew that the
time had come to accomplish the benefit of beings, and he passed from that divine realm.

  Now the story of the way that he took birth in the land of humans in Jambudvīpa will follow in the sequel. The account up to here is called The Divine Land of Ling: The Nine-Squared Divination Board.w Since it is an auspicious coincidence and the original spiritual and historical account, the blessings it carries with it are profound. The first biographical account is now complete.

  From the vast ocean of this protector’s biography,

  This drop of purifying water of the nectar of excellent explanations has been sprinkled

  On the tip of the kuśa grass blade of faith, exertion, and analysis

  As an offering of the pure water of enjoyment to the buddhas and their heirs.

  By the virtue accumulated through this effort, may all sentient beings

  Utterly destroy the māras of perverted understanding—self-perception arising as the enemy—

  With the weapon of the primordial wisdom vajra,

  And may they achieve the invincible state of innate fearlessness.

  Of the many accounts of his life, this one is so genuine that many scholars and accomplished practitioners recommended it be carved into a woodblock. Accordingly it was carved and printed in the kingdom of Ling.

  May excellent virtue increase!

  SARVA MAṄGALAṂ.

  [Publisher’s note from the Chengdu edition:]

  These episodes were carved in Derge Lingtsang into woodblocks, and the print taken from that became the original which was the basis for this typewritten version produced by Thubten Nyima [Alak Zenkar Rinpoche] and others, who corrected, edited, and arranged the chapters.

  a. This is yet another name for the nāginī, Metog Lhadzei.

  b. This is another name for the diviner Dorje Ngangkar [White Vajra], and could be said to mean something similar, such as Vajra Domain.

  c. This is another name for the nāga child Nangwa Ziden.

  d. The cuckoo bird appears after winter to indicate that spring has arrived.

  e. The “divination ground,” or basis (Tib. lha gzhi), is a cloth or a board upon which the divination materials are laid or cast.

  f. This is the same place as the Blue Turquoise Plain of Ne’u Seng.

  g. Arrow, lance, and sword.

  h. Hunters’ accoutrements such as ivory rings for their braided hair, ivory bracelets, and thumb rings.

  i. A biwa is a Chinese bowed instrument.

  j. (Tib. shing bcud). A classical metonym for fruit.

  k. A ne’u is a lush green meadow.

  l. Ārya Siṃhanādais is actually a manifestation of Padmasambhava as a wrathful deity with a lion’s head. The name means “Lion’s Roar.”

  m. A dharaṇī (Tib. gzungs) is a mantric formula. Such incantations hold many powers and hence the term means to “hold or sustain.”

  n. For the identification of this and the following four Buddhas, see “buddha families, five” in the glossary.

  o. This refers to the same jewel previously called Ting-öd Münsel [Blue Light That Dispels Darkness].

  p. There is no seed by this name in Sanskrit. Generally, amra is “mango,” but it is hard to imagine that the serpent prince’s mala (string of prayer beads, like a rosary) had 108 huge mango seeds on it.

  q. This third and youngest daughter is actually Metog Lhadzei, but the people knew her by this other name as well. It is to show her insignificance among the three daughters.

  r. Sanskrit, wish-fulfilling jewel.

  s. For the urn can produce food magically.

  t. There are both twelve- and sixteen-volume versions of the collection of Prajñāpāramitā texts. This accounts for the variation in references in the epic; both are correct.

  u. Body, speech, and mind.

  v. Generally the pure samaya connection is the cause for liberation, but if this connection is defiled, it will be the cause for rebirth in the lower realms.

  w. The Events Leading to Gesar’s Incarnation in the Land of Ling, volume 1 of this edition.

  VOLUME TWO

  Gesar’s Birth and Childhood in the Land of Ling

  PROLOGUE

  NAMO GURU MAHĀ SENGHA MAṆI RĀJAYEa

  Although you are fully awakened, until the realms of beings are emptied

  You will continue to spontaneously manifest countless magical emanations

  To place limitless sentient beings in the state of the four kāyas—

  O Buddha Śākya Sengeib

  protect us!

  The treasury, profound and tranquil like nectar,

  Is called the dharma of sutra, vinaya, and abhidharma

  And is the wish-fulfilling power of śila, samādhi, and prajñā—

  May the precious jewel of the sacred dharma that bestows supreme liberation be victorious!

  Through the sharp weapon of prajñā that realizes selflessness

  The mountain of the view of materialism1 is utterly destroyed

  And the continuity of the suffering of saṃsāra is severed—

  Sovereign with the throne of the view, supreme assembly of āryas protect us!

  To Padmākarac from the island in the lake of the Sindhu River,2

  To the flower of the god Brahmā of the snow land of Tibet,

  And to the Rigden Raudrachakrin from the north,

  Who are indivisible from Gesar Jewel Tamer of Beings,3 I bow down.

  Your biography is like an ocean of milk

  From which this drop on the tip of a kuśa grass blade of discernment

  Is given as offering nectar to please the buddhas and their heirs

  And sprinkled to dispel the torment of perverted views.

  Eternally pervading and spontaneously present,

  This single biography manifests in myriad ways.

  When the sublime ones are presented from an ordinary perspective

  The ripening karma is like the story of the nāga Ehle’i Dab.4

  Nevertheless, the rūpakāya,5 like the full moon in the sky,

  Distinctly appears in the water vessels of beings’ minds according to their own devotion and longing.

  I have no interest in analyzing whether this is right or wrong;

  Whatever appears to one’s mind is the object of one’s devotion.

  Therefore, in the land of lapis lazuli called Thong Mön [Aspiration Upon Sight]

  Where his fame is as astonishing as the god Indra,

  The glory of his incarnation is so great that his biography is undiminished,

  As clear as if carved in stone.

  Therefore in Dzamling is this Great Lion among Men,

  The account of whose birth is renowned throughout Ling.

  The myriad flower-like arrangements of his miraculous emanations

  Are resplendent here, like viewing the beauty of a delightful garden.

  Having begun this biography with these words of auspiciousness, now concerning the enlightened deeds of the Vajra Lake-Born Lord of the Victorious Ones,d in order to tame the unruly in need of taming in the land of Tibet, he [the Vajra Master] actually appeared and sent forth emanations, instantaneously as well as gradually manifesting to enact the welfare of beings in multitudes of ways. Such spontaneous and effortless enlightened activity is the nature of all the victorious ones. It is proclaimed here that this account of the life of the Supreme Being of Jambudvīpa, Jewel Tamer of Beings, is in accordance with previous authentic historical accounts.6 The first part of the epic of Gesar can be divided into these three volumes: (1) The Divine Land of Ling: The Nine-Squared Divination Board, (2) The Birth in Ling: The Flower Garden, continuing with The Settling of Ma: The Knotted White Scarf, and (3) The Horse Race: The Sevenfold Jewel.7 Here is the story of his birth, explaining how he, a child, performed the benefit of formless beings in Dza, Dri, and Ma. The next part details how he engaged in fearless yogic conduct to settle the land of Ma, and the final account describes how he became the golden throne-holder of White Ling by manifesting his rūpakāy
a along with his miraculous manifestations.

  a. A Sanskrit mantra meaning “I bow to the Great Lion Jewel King.”

  b. Śākya Sengei means Lion of the Śākya and is the name of one of the eight aspects of Padmasambhava. In this form he appears as a Buddhist monk.

  c. Lotus Born, an epithet of Padmasambhava.

  d. An epithet for Padmasambhava.

  CHAPTER ONE

  While Gyatsha Zhalkara was drawing up an army to send to Gog,

  Trothung magically sent a secret message.

  Senglön performed a clairvoyant arrow divination

  And received Gogzab in gratitude as his share of the spoils.

  FIRST AMONG THE RETINUE of hundreds of thousands of enlightened beings surrounding the dharma king Indrabodhi was Padmasambhava, an emanation of Amitābha. King Indrabodhi and his entourage were all emanations from the same undifferentiated source. Through aspiration prayers and arousing bodhicitta, for the noble families the time had come to tame the māras and cannibal demons of Tibet, and resounding as self-arising formless sound from the sky was this song, which invokes the enlightened mindstreams [of all the sages]:

  E MA HO

  Unborn primordially empty dharmadhātu,

  Unobstructed ground for the arising of phenomena,

  The strength of emptiness free from the extremes of existing or not,

  Listen to this song, a self-arising spontaneously present song.