The Epic of Gesar of Ling

by Robin Kornman

  On that same day all four of the nāginī’s animals gave birth. The horse had a colt; the dri had a dri calf; the dzo had a calf; and the ewe gave birth to a lamb. At the same time, a dragon thundered in the sky, a rain of flowers fell, tents of rainbow light appeared, and many other astonishing signs occurred. In particular, there were rainbow clouds that appeared, connecting to the top of Gogmo’s tent. Gyaza became suspicious and went over by Gogmo to take a look. An enchanting boy had just been born and was sitting on her lap. Even though Gyaza’s mind vacillated between joy and sorrow, she said, “Let us bring him to Zhalkar,” and she carried the baby with Gogmo following behind her. When Zhalkar saw the boy, he felt immeasurable joy and asked, “What’s this?”

  Gyaza said, “Gogmo has given birth to this child. But who knows whether he will bring us benefit or harm.”

  Zhal-lu took the boy on his lap, “Ah, what joy! Now all my wishes are fulfilled. May all the buddha activity of this younger brother be perfectly accomplished! Although he was born just today, he has already reached the physical maturity of a three-year-old. In the lineage of Mukpo Dong, we have had child emanations of nonhumans before. They were suckled with the richest milk of the white snow lioness, and enfolded under the wings of white vultures. Here is another one like them. This child is like the garuḍa, who hatches from his egg already perfectly complete in all the six skills of a warrior. Such perfection will be ours as well; there is no doubt that whatever we two brothers do will bring us success on the path of our lives. Furthermore, as is said,

  Two brothers together are the hammer of the enemy,

  Two mares together are the seed of wealth,

  And two wives together are the ground and source of rumor.

  Right now I must offer him some clothing and pure clean foods of the three whites,” he said. He touched his head to the head of the child and put him down. The child sat up utterly alert, showing immeasurable love toward Gyatsha. “For the time being, I will call my younger brother ’Joru’ because he is so alert.” Then they offered him food of the three white substances as well as soft and comfortable silken garments that suited him well.

  Gyatsha felt very content as he spoke to Gogmo, saying, “You must take especially good care of him. But in any case, the signs and indications are clear—no one will be able to make obstacles for him; even my dreams have been excellent.

  Now I must meet with Chipön. According to our custom, the whole of Ling at large should celebrate his birthday party with songs, dances, and so on. Throughout Upper, Lower, and Middle Ling, whenever one of the three lineages of chieftains has a child, there is always a birthday celebration. But this situation is different from the others. Rather than follow the custom of the land, we should perform our observances at just the right time.

  Girl, your coming to the land of humans has achieved its goal. If you have dreams or any other sign about what is necessary for the child, you must tell me.” Saying that, he took Gogmo and her baby back to her tent.

  [Meanwhile Trothung was having a bad time.] For two nights he had many nightmares. Then he heard the story of how Gogmo had given birth to a son. He sat there thinking about this and became quite uneasy.

  Then Zhalkar and his body guard Midar Tag-lu [Full-Fledged Tiger] went before Chipön. Chipön and Gyatsha conferred for many hours, after which Gyatsha offered this song recounting the events that had occurred.

  The song is Ala Ala Ala,

  And Thala is the sound of the melody.

  All you guardians of the lore of the ancestral lineage:

  The chief drala Nyentag,

  The zodor Magyal Pomra,

  Auntie Nammen Karmo [White Sky Goddess], and so on,

  Lead Zhalkar today as he sings his song.

  This place is Trakhar Namdzong

  And I am dear little Zhalkar.

  Today the situation is just like this:

  The toil of the three months of spring

  Delights the mind with the ripening of the grain.

  The good ears of grain of the three months of fall

  Adorn the field like sparkling gold.

  Not knowing when to harvest, uncertainty arises.

  So it is you I ask, the astrologer who knows the three times.

  The practice of the two stages of the path, generation and completion,

  Delights the mind with the common and supreme siddhis.

  When your practice is perfect and you see the deity’s face,

  Not knowing what to say in supplication, uncertainties arise.

  So it is you I ask, the guru who has perfected the path.

  My first booty was the mother nāginī.

  Thinking she would give birth to a divine child, we prayed,

  And on the full moon day an astonishing divine son was born

  Who already had the fully developed body of a three-year-old.

  First of all, what rituals are necessary for him?

  Second, should there be an enthronement to establish his reputation?

  And especially, third, how should he be taken care of and brought up?

  I haven’t been able to decide what to do concerning these three matters.

  Therefore, in my opinion,

  This tribal lineage is like a white snow lion;

  The turquoise mane of our karma and authentic presence

  Will naturally surround him.

  If the closest ministers and relatives, who are like the snow mountains, do not revere him,

  And if the snow lion becomes disheartened,

  Then the snow mountain will be full of regret.

  This tribal lineage is like a brightly striped tiger;

  The tiger’s six smiles, the magical feats of the warrior,

  Will naturally surround him.

  If the fathers, uncles, and the jungle do not sustain him,

  The tiger will be disheartened, and the jungle will be full of regret.

  By the spiritual and worldly lore of the younger tribal lineage of the Bumpa clan,

  The authentic presence of the divine child’s holy person

  Naturally surrounds him.

  I, his older brother, will respect him as the greatest of chiefs.

  If he thinks this won’t happen, then I, the older brother, will be full of regret.

  Among the precious jewels in the depths of the ocean below

  Is the auspicious substance, the white conch that swirls to the right.

  If recognized, it is worn as the crown ornament;

  If not, then sadly it is passed around in the marketplace.

  From the jewel treasure gate of the craggy middle world,

  The yellow gold naturally forms elegant earrings.

  If you understand this, [you understand that] these are the goods of the nonhuman spirits;

  Not understanding this, you will regret it if it is melted and hammered.

  This fortunate son of the father Senglön, Gogmo’s child,

  If we give it some thought, has been sent from the upper realm of the divine.

  He is the heart essence of me, this leader of Bumpa.

  If the fathers and uncles of Ling disdain him, the Bumpa clan will regret it.

  Even if White Ling in general does not honor him,

  I of the Bumpa clan intend to enthrone him

  And make him the leader of the Lesser Lineage of Ling.

  I, Zhalkar, will take the first seat as his minister.

  So that he will develop vast learning in all intellectual subjects

  You, Chipön, without appointment, are naturally the one responsible to teach him.

  Within the clan of Bumpa, the one who qualifies as his personal minister

  Is Tshazhang Denma Jangtra [Uncle Northern Light], the son of the Den clan.

  Not only that, he will have all the uncles and brothers of the Lesser Lineage

  Who are perfect warriors, like sacks full of spears.

  Not only should he be the high lord of White Ling,

  But I think he cou
ld place the whole southern continent of Jambudvīpa beneath his lordship.

  Am I right, Chipön? Think it over.

  If you have understood my words, they are sweet to your ears.

  If not, there is no way to explain it.

  Chipön, keep this in your heart.

  Then King Chipön, the Uncle of Mukpo Dong, gave this much consideration, after which he offered to Zhalkar this song, which explains the predictions of the past accounts and gives counsel for the future.

  The song begins with Ala Ala Ala.

  Thala leads the melody of the song.

  Buddha is my crown ornament.

  The precious dharma is the ambrosia for my mind.

  The sangha is the field to which I direct my faith.

  Please be with me inseparably as I sing this song.

  This place is known as Chipön’s Falcon Castle, Trakhar.

  Listen, Zhalkar to what I, Chipön, sing.

  Even though I say “listen,” this is not an offering of the dharma.

  Nevertheless, it is a perfectly correct account of events.

  First, there are the original manuscripts of the Dong civilization.

  Second, there is the prophecy of the divine Uḍḍiyāṇa Padma.

  Third, there are the deluded dreams that I, Chipön, have had.

  Fourth, the signs of fortunate connection between the outer universe and its inhabitants.

  When these four merge at once,

  The divine child arises by the power of this merit.

  However, according to the ancient proverbs of the past:

  Even though the most delicious food is ghee,

  No one has ever heard of a starved stomach that could digest it.

  The mask of the awesome protector deities

  Will not bring wonder to an immature child.

  The essence of refined yellow gold

  Will not gild the surface of a stone or a horn.

  This son, who has been bestowed by the imperial gods above,

  If only his close relatives place him in a high position,

  Then all others will not show him respect.

  That lotus that is born from the filthy mire,

  If left until its form is fully developed,

  On the day that it blooms with an astonishing smile

  There is no need to clean off the mud;

  The lotus never forgets its earthly beginnings.

  Those cloud banks over the endless ocean,

  Let them be until they billow white.

  One day they will completely fill the sky,

  Never needing to turn to the great rivers for help.

  The clouds of the ocean will never forget where they came from.

  That divine child of the nāginī Gogmo from the Dong,

  Until the day that he can master the golden throne through his miraculous powers,

  We do not have to show him respect; if we just leave him alone,

  He will surpass even the mightiest

  Without needing the fathers and uncles to assist him.

  He must not forget his father’s clan, the Lesser Lineage of Dong;

  Moreover, having promoted the significance of the Lesser Lineage and the united inner ranks of the mighty warriors, chieftain, and ministers,

  We never considered that we would be unable to accomplish our actions.

  Since Mother Gogmo came to the Lesser Lineage

  We have already achieved a freedom and political power that reaches to the four corners.

  As long as fearless confidence is achieved in full measure,

  Then even if our activities are delayed, why be afraid?

  If with an unstable mind you drink the water of a coward’s speech,

  There is no choice but to engage in frantic activity.

  Not only that, but the original documents of the Dong say:

  “From the lair of the tiger, the six demons are subdued.

  Riding the dragon, the six grains are received.

  In the seventh year the Tigressk will wander as a vagrant in the nomad’s land of the northern reaches

  And become the lord of the castle.

  In the twelfth year he will summon the ornament of his horse by lasso;

  The prize will be secured like the sun rising from the peak of the eastern mountain.

  Until then keep the blue steel in its sheath.”

  These are the words of the unmistaken prophecy.

  Don’t let these words escape your lips.

  No one else knows this but I, Chipön.

  Until the son reaches age twelve,

  Aside from going along with whatever he does,

  We should not counsel him with other advice.

  Even if he calls forth the classes of enemies and demons,

  Even if he reverses earth and sky, there will be no problem.

  Of course you love him with all your heart, Chief Zhalkar.

  I, this old man, am now content.

  Chief Zhalkar and your brother, remain on your golden thrones.

  I, your uncle, will shepherd your intentions.

  Minister Denma will be the leader of the troops.

  The mighty warriors of Ling will line up before you precisely like rows of tigresses.

  Karma such as this is the gift of the past. Before long the sun of happiness will dawn.

  Were you listening, Zhalkar, son of the gods?

  Bumpa chief, hold this in your heart.

  When Chipön had finished speaking, Zhalkar slowly and carefully considered the outer and inner meaning of this advice and, in a state of delight, returned home.

  a. Yelga Dzeiden’s metaphor for her father.

  b. Henceforth, the term cakra will be anglicized as chakra.

  c. Dragon’s roar.

  d. The tribal leader.

  e. Who rules the people.

  f. The spelling of this name is also rendered as Ödtrung in the original Tibetan text.

  g. Avalokiteśvara.

  h. Female demons.

  i. In the original Tibetan text, this name is sometimes rendered as Drubpa’i.

  j. King Sadam is the king of Jang, one of the borderlands to be defeated in a future epic.

  k. Here Gesar is referred to as a tigress because he was born in is the year of the Tiger. Some accounts of the epic say that he went to the land of Ma [Golog] when he was seven years of age.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Trothung, evil-minded, becomes jealous and

  Tries to slay Joru with poison and magic.

  But instead, Joru

  Tames Amnye Gompa Raja.

  THEN KING TROTHUNG THOUGHT, “In my dreams this year, the signs for the fortune of Tibet at large have appeared both good and bad. Among those signs, the ones for Tag-ronga were nothing but bad. In the tribal lineage of Chöphen Nagpo, starting with Lhag Yagdar [Increasing Excellence] of Ser, there have been nine sons, like tigresses, who have descended as the Elder Lineage. Now, of the three lineages of Ling, the Elder, Middle, and Lesser, there is just a single government with no personal leader who rules. But now, since the birth of Zhalkar of Bumpa of the Lesser Lineage, the might of his paternal lineage has increased in power. The three brothers, Zhalkar, Nyibum of Serb [the Elder Lineage], and Anu Paseng [Courageous Youthful Lion] of the Middle Lineage, always back each other up. Because Chipön is so deceptive, and the other two brothers are too young, they both willingly follow whatever Bumpa [Zhalkar] says. Actually, it’s as if they don’t know how to be lords of their own domains. Now, this boy just born to Gogmo is the son of Senglön, the grandson of the nāga Tsugna, and the nephew of Gödcham Karmo [White Vulture Lady]. Even his mother can invoke the gods and summon the nāgas. His father is important; his mother is great. As if that’s not enough, she says that she belongs to Guru Uḍḍiyāṇa Padma. Whatever the case may be, I can’t tell for sure but it seems that this is a boy who seems to be half-human and half-demon. It’s uncertain what is to come of this! Therefore, if we want to do away with him now, there seems
to be a way to do that.”

  Three days later, in the morning, Uncle Trothung of Tag-rong mounted his horse Gu-gu Rogdzong [Black Fortress]. He brought along with him balls of white butter and honey cakes and many other sweet delicacies, all of which possessed the strong poison called Yumo Gug-gyel [Fells a Doe in Flight]. Having planted the poison in this way, he took it to offer as the child’s first butter to the mouth.c He went to see both Mother Gogmo and her son at Gogmo’s tent, where both valleys of Ci and Sug merge,d and he said, “Oh, what joy! Oh, Gogmo has a boy. He is Uncle’s nephew. Only three days have gone by, but already he seems to be three years old. Without a doubt, he is a son of the Mukpo Dong lineage. If his uncle gives him his first solid food, this will increase his authentic presence. Where is that deceiving, rotten-minded Chipön when we need him? As the proverb says:

  When you’re cold, your clothes have no weight;

  When you’re starving, your food has no nutrition.

  Uncle didn’t know about this [birth] until today. So now, on behalf of the Tag-rong clan, I must make this offering of the pure first solid food.” He gave him the butter balls, cakes, and so on, and the child ate every morsel. The food that Trothung gave him was so sweet and rich that even an adult could not have digested it, much less a child. Then he thought, “He surely will die now.” But Joru pushed all the poison out of his fingertips as he expelled his prāṇa.e Trothung thought, “This poison cannot harm him because his mother is a nāginī, and, since the bodies of nāgas are a mass of poison, it seems that poison cannot harm poison. In the valley of Ciphu Drag-nag [Upper Black Crag],f there is a shaman [Bön] black magician of Zhangzhung, who transgressed the command of the teacher Shenrabg and who uses the meditation and liturgies of his religion only for black magic. His name is Amnye Gompa Raja [Grandfather Meditation Prince]. He has perverted views about the dharma of Padma. He is totally habituated to a wrong approach to generation stage practice, so that the entire dark side of the eight classes has befriended him. In the daytime, with his black magic, he would take the lives of both Buddhist and Bönpo practitioners. And in the evening, gathering with the mamos, he would rob ordinary beings of their lives. I used to rely on his help, and he would do away with all my enemies. So now it will be easy for me to send for him.” Thinking that all other schemes had been exhausted, he said to Mother Gogmo, “It would be difficult for even the great covering of the sky to cover this boy. It would be difficult for even the great solid ground of the earth to hold him. You haven’t done any sort of long-life ceremonies for him, and so you really must invite a guru to confer the longevity empowerments. As for the offerings, I’ll take care of them. Make preparations by laying a clean cushion in this house.” He said that and went to the valley of Ciphu Drag-nag. Amnye that very night had many disturbing dreams, and so he was sitting there diligently doing reversal practices. Tag-rong Trothung made three prostrations to the guru Amnye Gompa Raja and sang this song about the reason why it was necessary to liberate the boy Joru by slaying him: