The Epic of Gesar of Ling

by Robin Kornman

  The song begins with Ala Ala Ala,

  Thala is the melody of the song.

  O founding teacher of the Bön, Shenrab, look upon me.

  Wondrous Bön Taglha Mebar [Blazing Tiger God],h look upon me.

  Machig Sidpa’i Gyalmo [Sole Mother Queen of Existence], look upon me.

  Assist me, Tag-rong, in singing this song.

  In case you don’t recognize this place,

  It is the lower valley of Ciphu Drag-nag

  And this is the practice cave of Amnye Gompa.

  If you don’t know who I am,

  I am Mazhi Trothung of Tag-rong,

  I am the shepherd of the people of the poisonous boiling lake,

  I am the patron of the enduring Bön.

  Now let me tell you how it is.

  In White Ling, a land filled with the six grains,

  Grows the bud of the most deadly poison, the poisonous hala reed.50

  This is such a bad omen that, even if you cut it away, it cannot be eradicated,

  Therefore I can only look to you [Amnye Gompa], the sharpest among sickles.

  The vast plain of White Ling is filled with tigresses,

  But this one is ominous for it has a hairless tail nine arm spans in length.

  It is such a bad omen that, even if you chase it, it can’t be caught.

  That is why you are the crucial arrow that will stop him in his tracks.

  In White Ling, a land filled with the divine lineage,

  It is strange for there to be a bastard demon child such as this!

  I even gave him black poison and he didn’t die.

  Now, it’s only up to you to slay him with the power of your black magic.

  It seems that the white prosperity sheep are freely grazing here and there,

  But wolves have their dens on all the high mountains.

  If someone doesn’t splatter the wolf cubs’ blood and brains,

  It is certain that the sheep will never be at ease.

  On the patterned village fields,

  The green ears of grains are scattered about

  But clouds, filled with hail, have their dens in the high skies.

  If the eight classes are not bound by oath,

  The five types of grain will never be at ease.

  In this the colorful land of Ling,

  Both I, Chieftain Tag-rong, and you, patron and guru, are higher than the sky;

  This yoke is pulling us down from our high position.

  Unless we can permanently crush the enemy Joru,

  We gurus and chieftains will never be at ease with his troublemaking.

  Do you understand, honorable Gompa Raja?

  From the very day this boy Joru was born,

  He said that he wanted to kill the Bönpo

  And that he was the murderer who could slay you.

  He said that he would certainly bring trouble to Chieftain Trothung

  And that he must take control of the district of Tang-rong.

  He said that sorcery, thievery, and seduction, these three,

  Led the country into misery and suffering,

  And so he would not stay where he was, but that he would go to Ciphu

  To take your head and arms, Amnye.

  It is only thanks to dear warrior Zhal-lu that Joru has been delayed and distracted thus far.

  These words of mine are not baseless; they are the words of Gyaza herself.

  I couldn’t just sit through all of this, so I came here today.

  If we kill the enemy Joru today,

  First of all, it accomplishes the guru’s aims;

  Secondly, it accomplishes the aims of Tag-rong.

  It’s easy to extinguish a fire when it’s small.

  You don’t even need water; it can be snuffed with your thumb.

  It’s easy to subjugate an enemy when he is small.

  You don’t even need weapons; you can just wrap him in clothes.

  Through my cunning ruse, I’ve already got him fooled.

  They are actually inviting the guru to bestow long-life empowerment and bathe him.

  You must place the black magic tormai upon his crown,

  You must put the black magic substances into his mouth,

  And you must be the one to sever the stream of his life.

  You mustn’t stay here now, quickly depart.

  The innermost wealth of the Tag-rong clan

  Is the prosperity jewel called Phetse Nu-gu [Nine-Edged Little Sack],

  Which is the work of the nonhuman godly demons.

  It is a treasure source of all that is desirable

  And a jewel that fulfills all desires.

  It is the gift of prosperity and wealth

  Given to Chöphen Nagpo of Dong by Magyal Pomra.

  Once the guru fulfills the purpose of beings

  And after your work in this world for others is complete,

  Then we shall present this to you.

  When the guru’s work in this world is done,

  The personal wealth of Tag-rong will become ours again.

  This treasure of prosperity is no small thing;

  It is presented as an offering to you to fulfill a greater purpose,

  And both guru and chieftain will share in this gain.

  These words and this presentation

  Must be the inner jewel of conversation that’s kept “under the collar.”

  On the day of Joru’s demise,

  Guru, you must come to the house of Tag-rong.

  We will rejoice with song and dance

  Then guru, the prosperity treasure will be yours.

  If you understood this, it is sweet to your ears,

  If not there’s no connection to this song.

  Amnye, please keep this in your mind.

  Thus he offered this song full of lies and deceit. The guru gave it a lot of thought, and then he said, “Sometime back I began having signs both day and night, and not only that, these signs have accelerated over the last three days. If I analyze last night’s dream, there is no question that some strange demon has been sent on a mission to murder me. Since only three days have gone by since he was born, no matter what he tries to do, his power has not yet matured, and his windhorse has not reached its full measure. With my black magic even rocks that are like vajras can be destroyed, and it is even powerful enough to bring the turquoise dragon of the south down to the plains. There’s nothing I won’t be able to do, but as for the gift of the Tag-rong, I must accept it since the power of my evil mantras is so coveted.” Then he thought, “If I don’t complain to him about how difficult this feat is, and that he should be grateful for the favor, then he may not appreciate it.”

  So Amnye said, “Oh, yes, Chieftain Tag-rong, sir, it seems that this lowly servant must honor the command of the dear chieftain. If this job were a burden too heavy to bear, then your servant could not do it, and all hope would be lost. It seems the connection between guru and student is extremely profound for, if the samayas that have been proclaimed could not be kept, then the dharma would not be accomplished, and hell would be reinforced.” Saying this he raised this song:

  Ala Ala Ala begins the song.

  Thala leads the melody of the song.

  Rāhu, nāga, tsen, demons, mamos, and so forth—

  Powerful haughty spirits of the eight classes, look upon me.

  This place is Ciphu Drag-nag.

  This is the place where tsen and mamos bestow siddhis.

  This is the place where the’u rang demons were bound by oath.

  And this is my, Amnye Gompa’s, practice cave.

  Now listen, Chieftain Tag-rong,

  And I will tell you the way things are.

  The divine guru, wearing the golden hat,

  Seem to be gazing in space with his sparkling eyes,

  But there is a mass of darkness in his heart, focused on the valuable wealth.

  You can’t tell by looking, but if you check you will know.

  Those b
ound by marriage, tied together by their vows,

  Seem like dry, lifeless bodies lying in one bed,

  While the dark side of their minds is lost to the face of their lover.

  You can’t tell by checking, but if you listen you will know.

  The ax of the law of the dear imperial chieftain,

  Thought to be the pleasing speech of his country’s customs and laws,

  Lands the negotiations and the victories into the hands of the wealthy.

  You can’t tell by listening, but if you look closely you will see.

  According to the speech of the Mazhi King of Dong,

  You say that you, the chieftain, have come here for the purpose of Amnye,

  But your mind is focused on the politics of Tag-rong.

  By listening I couldn’t know, but I could tell by the offering.

  This boy Joru, the son of Mother Gogmo

  Even if he is my murderer, I, Amnye,

  Am not going to just walk up to the doorstep of the rākṣasas to end my life.51

  I, Amnye, will be the one man who can escape,

  For my guides are both the demons and the cannibal demons,

  And my friends the tsen and mamos keep me company.

  Before I know if I’m going to get the valuable wealth,

  What’s the point in exposing the target of my precious life?

  Chieftain Trothung, keep the likes of that in your heart.

  Then Trothung started prostrating profusely and said to the guru, “Between sky and earth, it’s impossible that your black magic would not be effective. By all means, come today and kill Joru, and I will definitely give you the Nine-Edged Prosperity Sack. Not only that, I swear on the One Hundred Thousand Verse Wisdom Sūtra of our fathers that the whole province of Tag-rong Dugtso Marpo [Tag-rong Red Poison Lake] will definitely support you all year round.”

  And then the guru replied, “Yes, well, all right then, I’ll just go right away and go ahead with your orders. This very night I will see if I can kill Joru, and tomorrow I will come to the tent of the Tag-rong family.” He also reminded him by adding, “Don’t forget to repay my kindness.”

  Trothung said, “Oh, yes, sir, yes, sir.”

  Then Trothung returned to Gogmo’s place and reported, “Today I was planning to go and see Lama Künga. But on my way passing through the lower valley of Ciphu Drag-nag, I met Amnye on the path. I asked him to do a divination, and he said that there is an obstacle that will last for three days and that, since Zhalkar and Gyaza had shown him great kindness, he felt he should protect them during this time. At the same time I requested him to give the long-life abhiṣeka.”

  Then Trothung thought, “It’s best that I leave now and stay away for three days, but not longer,” and he hastily ran away.

  At this time Joru did not yet have the actual support for the dralas such as the armor, helmets, weapons, and so forth, so he asked his mother, saying, “Mother, today the time has come for me to subjugate Amnye Gompa Raja. Could you please bring me four little pebbles?” She put four pebbles in his hand. He put one in front, one in back, and one to the right and the left. He visualized the pebbles as supports for the individual dralas, elder brother Dungkhyung Karpo, younger brother Ludrül Ödtrung, sister Thalei Ödtro, and Lord Nyen Gedzo, along with the nine brethren who were the best of the dralas, and the nine hundred conch-armored ones. The drala deities then dissolved into the pebbles and resided there.

  Around about that time, Amnye Gompa Raja departed from his practice cave and arrived at a distance about three fields of vision away. When Amnye shouted phat! the first time, all the gods in the sky disappeared but, because Elder Brother White-Conch Garuḍa, surrounded by the armored nine-hundred conch dralas, abided as one with the pebble, Joru was unharmed. Again, as Amnye got one field closer he shouted another phat! and all the nāgas below him disappeared. But the younger brother with his retinue of nine hundred remained firm. On seeing the tent, Amnye shouted another phat! and all the nyen in the middle realm were dispelled. However, Gedzo and his retinue of three hundred and sixty remained firm. At that time, Joru focused his mind and called to the gods, and all the dralas returned like a flurry of snow. There was a swirling blizzard of dharmapālas, and everywhere wermas appeared like flashing lightning bolts. At the moment that the heretic Gompa Raja arrived at the door, Joru quickly ran, scooping up the four pebbles, and threw them. According to Amnye, there was a man in white with nine hundred conch-armored ones, a man in blue with nine hundred turquoise-armored ones, a man in yellow with three hundred and sixty golden-armored ones, and an army of ḍākinīs nine hundred strong chasing him. Without looking back he fled as fast as he could.j

  Meanwhile Joru had sent an emanation to the heretic’s meditation cave, which went in and evaporated the spring and did away with any provisions. Another emanation pursued Amnye, who ran a bit faster and arrived at the river bank, where he pulled back his magician’s shade.k To this day that river bank is known as the river bank of the man who wore the Black Bear Shade [domra].

  Then Amnye saw that an army was approaching, so he thought, “I must throw the main torma to drive away the army.” Thinking that, he went into his practice cave. At that very moment Joru, through his magic, sealed off the door to the cave with a huge boulder the size of a yak, so that there was no place at all for Amnye to go. The perverted heretic Bönpo said,

  Joru, you demon cub, naughty boy,

  Listen with your ears and watch with your eyes.

  At a distance—magic; close up—needles.

  We will see who is the best at knives and needles.

  Great loving one Garab Wangchukl [Powerful One of Extreme Joy], look upon me.

  Sole Mother, Sidpa’i Gyalmo, look on me.

  Düdmo Trag-gi Relpa [Bloody Single-Tress Demon Woman], look upon me.

  Sog Düd [Life-Essence Demon], brothers, sisters and the rest,

  All the dralas to whom I continually make offerings,

  Dharmapāla guardians, be not meager in power.

  Eight classes of the dark side, don’t be idle!

  Saying this, he threw the great torma that had taken a day to empower. It hit the boulder and made it tremble. Then he took a torma that had taken a month to empower, and, intensely uttering his cursing incantations, he forcefully called upon the truth of his refuge and flung the torma so that it fractured the boulder, bringing down a torrent of meteorites, hail, and sparks outside of the cave. Joru assumed the form of Zilnön Padma Dragpo [Wrathful Lotus Who Quells with Splendor]. “Damn,” Amnye thought, “I still can’t beat him.” Then, as Amnye threw the torma that had been empowered for a year, Joru, visualizing the cave as a meteorite abode without fissures, forced the haughty worldly protectors inside and rendered them powerless to escape. Because of the godly demons and the splendid torma’s fire and wind,52 they could not escape; the power and strength of the guardians that accompanied the flying torma turned back on them, and so completely destroyed Amnye that his body was scattered like dust particles.

  At that time all the haughty worldly ones offered their life essence and promised to protect the Buddha’s doctrine and they swore never to harm living beings again. Amnye’s consciousness was separated from the murderous death spirits and led to the pure realm. Through his miraculous powers, Joru entered the cave and incinerated all the perverted black magic practice materials. As for Bloody Single-Tress Demon Woman and Life-Essence Demon, this brother and sister, he made a prayer that they would become the weapons that guard the doctrines of Buddhists and Bönpo and installed each one of them as a terma guardian. One emanation of Joru was still there with Gogmo. The people who were there had seen Gompa Raja run off, and most of them were wondering what was going to happen, but the mother knew that yesterday Amnye had seen that this boy had three eyes and that that was why he had fled. It became well known that, although he was only three days old, Gesar had tamed Amnye Gompa Raja.

  The next day Gesar woke up early. He said to his mother, “Today
I have an important matter that must be settled. Not only that, my protectors, such as the drala brothers and sisters, have already tamed Amnye, so today I must go to his deserted residence and gather up what remains.” Then he left.