The Epic of Gesar of Ling

by Robin Kornman

  Appearances are not true, but an illusion

  And it’s difficult for the outer and the inner to match.

  Although the outer may seem good, it is false in three ways:

  The sheen of a peacock’s feathers may look good on the outside,

  But the peacock is unclean on the inside, filled with poison;

  A coward’s armor and weapon may look good on the outside,

  But inside he is gutless as though filled with the mind of a fox;

  The face of a bedecked beauty may be lovely on the outside,

  But on the inside she is as phony as a bogus treasure.

  Although harsh on the outside, there are three things that inwardly are pleasing:

  Outwardly rough, the conduct of a chöd practitioner67

  Is inwardly loving and compassionate;

  Outwardly harsh, the advice of fathers and uncles

  Is inwardly kind, for the betterment of the sons and nephews;

  Outwardly, sharper than a thorn, the husk of the grain in a good year

  Is inwardly blunted and filled with grain.

  I, faultless Joru, banished from this place,

  Do not deserve the reprimand of my uncle,

  Yet I have no choice but to accept this burden that is my previous karma.

  First I will accept the punishment of having broken the law,

  But whether my actions have been right or wrong will come out in the end.

  The uncles and fathers have been hard on me,

  So now I can no longer stay, I must go.

  Yet, white snow lion cousins and nephews of White Ling—

  When your mighty turquoise mane, Joru, is gone

  I wonder if the six provinces of Ling can find true happiness;

  If they are to be happy, then the six provinces must live contentedly.

  Wild striped tiger fathers and uncles

  When your six smiles, Joru, are gone

  I wonder if White Ling can keep its true splendor.

  If they are to be splendid, then the six provinces must remain with glory.

  Undulating fish mothers and aunts

  When your golden eyes, Joru, are gone

  I wonder if you’ll be able to glide with ease.

  To be at ease, the six provinces must live in peace.

  This boy Joru is like the crystal snow mountain;

  May the Ling warriors and the snow lioness naturally surround me.

  I, Joru, am as boundless as the sky;68

  May the southern clouds of the six provinces of Ling naturally surround me.

  Mother Gogmo is the treasury of wealth;

  May the prosperity of White Ling naturally surround her.

  If you have understood this song, it is sweet to your ears.

  If not, there is no way to explain it.

  Having sung this, he mounted his staff and departed for Upper Ciphu. All the lamas blew conches to expel him, but Joru and his mother heard the horns sounding clear and lovely ahead of them as if they were a welcoming party. The youthful tigers shot arrows at him, but no matter how strongly they pulled their bows, the arrows all fell into Joru’s hands as if they were offerings. In order to keep a fortunate connection with the warriors, he kept them all. No matter where they ceremonially tossed the barley flour, it descended directly on mother and son like falling snow. Mother Gogmo waved the longevity arrow and sang this song:

  Ho! Heed me!

  All the divine guardians who befriend and grant protection and refuge to mother and son such as:

  Guru Uḍḍiyāṇa Padma,

  Yidam Hayagrīva,

  Ḍākinī Yeshe Tsogyal,

  Auntie Nammen Karmo,

  Drubpa’i Gyalmo who sustains life,

  Sister Gödcham Karmo,

  Elder brother Dungkhyung Karpo,

  The drala Nyentag Marpo,

  Nāga king Tsugna Rinchen,

  Zodor Gedzo Nyenpo,

  Yulkyong Chi-gyal Tagri [Guardian of the Place King Tiger Stripe] and others—

  All the guardian deities who are the principal companions and refuge for us, mother and son,

  And especially the wealth energy of these three—

  The people, possessions, and livestock of White Ling.

  Just as rivers and tributaries flow into the sea,

  Foals follow the mares, and children follow their mothers,

  So may everything follow after mother and son, rushing and overflowing.

  Thus she called out to them three times as she twirled the longevity arrow. Once she did so, all the springs of the thirteen valleys on both the sunny and shady sides of the Ci Valley began to flow together in the direction of Joru and his mother, and the face of the mountain Ci-gyal Tag-ri also turned toward them. To this day they still face that way. Then Mother Gogmo and son passed through Upper Ciphu, and at the upper encampment of Kyalo they arrived at the home of Tönpa Gyaltsen of Kyalo. Joru magnetized the three doors of body, speech, and mind of Sengcham Drugmo and the auspicious coincidence of upāya and prajñā was then complete. Although Kyalo Tönpa Gyaltsen tried to offer them whatever they needed, they would accept nothing from him but a hoe to dig the earth. Although he asked them to stay a long time, they stayed only about a month and twenty days. At the time of the waxing December moon, they, both mother and son, set out again for Ma Valley.

  As they were traveling, Joru’s little sorrel colt was carrying a light load on its back, when suddenly without thinking he struck the pony with his staff, and the colt ran away behind a hill. Then Joru mounted his White Willow Staff and rode after the colt, speeding away to the other side of the hill. Gogmo pursued them as fast as she could but, as the proverb says:

  Could see nary a trace of a bird in the sky nor the track of a mouse on the ground.

  She went everywhere chasing them, and finally it fell dark and she found herself lost in a remote place. She thought, “I don’t know where to go. It seems better if I just stay here tonight.”

  As she dismounted her horse and prepared to rest, she saw a ball of still-warm tsampa and, knowing that Joru had put it there, she partook of it and had a pleasant sleep. Then she was awakened by a voice that said, “Mother, have some tea,” and she found that she was at Yulung Gadarf of Lower Ma.

  There in that place, right on the heart of the black demon, their little tent was pitched and the stove, fire, firewood, and all of it was perfectly arranged, as though they had been living there for several years already. Then Joru offered her some tea, and she felt very healthy and clear-minded. She sat there relaxing, with a mind free from elation and lethargy, and delighted in the feeling of joyful happiness. Then Mother Gogmo invoked the gods, and picked up the hoe and dug a little bit in each of the four directions. As an indication of being welcomed by the earth lords, from the east she unearthed a sweet yam the size of a horse’s head; from the south, one the size of a yak’s head; from the west, one the size of a dri’s head; and from the north, a yam the size of a sheep’s head. This was taken as a supreme auspicious indication of the way that the earth lords granted siddhi to Joru and his mother. It was then, on the fifteenth day of December at the end of the Water Sheep year and at the beginning of the year of the Wood Monkey, that Mother Gogmo and her son took over, first the Ma Valley, and then in Lower Ma, a place called Khenlung Ridrug [Six-Peaked Sage Valley]. Here the pika demons controlled the lands, the black earth of the mountain peaks had been turned over, the long grasses of the mountain slopes had been gnawed down, and all the herbs of the great plains had been devoured down to their roots. The people who had gone there were enveloped by dust storms; their livestock had died of famine. Joru realized that the time had come to liberate the pika demons, and he put three ewe-kidney-shaped god-demon life stones into his slingshot called Wazi Bitra [Brighter than Zi]. Preparing to empty their mountain hideouts, he sang this song called Swirling Melody of the North:

  It’s Ala Ala Ala.

  Thala leads the melody of the song.

  The buddha, dh
arma, and sangha and

  The guru, yidam, and ḍākinī,

  Deities who lead, protect, and guard,

  Today come and befriend me.

  Please help guide these pika demons to liberation.

  Now, you who are embodied as demon pikas

  Have completely turned over the earth of the great grassy plains,

  Scattered the flowers and leaves of the marshlands,

  Filled the air with the dust of the black earth of the mountain peaks,

  And mowed down all the fragrant grasses and trees that grow.

  As it is said in the proverbs of the ancient people of Tibet:

  It’s a pika that turns the earth to black and

  It’s a thief that turns the district black,

  And a deceitful woman who blackens the reputation of a man.

  These are the three harms.

  Without them, then this land will be filled with goodness;

  With them, the land will be known as an evil nest.

  You have been embodied as pika demons.

  Look, this is because, in times gone by, your negative karma produced this rebirth

  And now, once again your intentions are evil!

  First you delight in eliminating this great province,

  Ravaging the grass and foliage that sustain the inhabitants

  And destroying the herbs and flowers that are offered to the Three Jewels.

  You’ve stolen the happiness of these people and their green grassy meadows.

  In order to cut the flow of ripening of karma such as this,

  This very day, I, Joru, with my slingshot

  Will empty this realm of pika demons.

  May the divine Three Jewels lead them and show them the way;

  May the flow of their negative karma be severed;

  May the truth of the words of this boy Joru be accomplished.

  If my song causes confusion, I am at fault.

  If my speech has been in vain, I beg your forgiveness.

  Then, having made his prayers, he loosed his slingshot with the roaring sound of a thousand dragons, and the stone struck and killed all three: the pika king Big Mouth, Many-Eyed Pika, and the pika minister Green Ears. By the power of his prayers and compassion, all the other pikas’ eardrums burst with the piercing thunderous sound of the slingshot, and they died instantly, were sent to the higher realms, and their minds were placed in the state of liberation.

  Meanwhile, there were merchants from Ladakh of upper Tibet enroute to China with a team of some two thousand mules. The mules were carrying assorted loads of gold, silver, and precious silks. The leaders were Palden Jigme [Fearless Glory], Namchag Norzang [Excellent Wealth Meteorite], and Lhadag Chöga [Dharma Joy from Lhadag], with their seventy porters. On the flat colorful meadows of Achen Nawa Tralep [Flat Colorful Meadows of Achen], they were overcome by seven bandits, and Joru knew that the three divisions of Shenpa Meru [Blazing Fire Butcher], Langpo Trabar [Blazing Colorful Elephant], and Chonglha [Lunging God] must be bringing up the rear. Instantly through his magical powers Joru arrived nearby the merchants. All the servants had been beaten and bound and were sitting there sobbing. Joru told them, “Here, in this mind mandala of the divine valley of Ma, once you connect with Magyal Pomra and me, you should realize that I am the earth lord Joru. I wonder why so many of you have crowded here without a reason, making such a disturbance in Ma Valley. If you must cry, then go home and cry! Forget about crying, you’re not even supposed to laugh here. You must apologize to me, Chief Joru, and make offerings to the mountain Ma Pomra! If you don’t do this, right now, today, I will smash your bloody brains with my short slingshot.” Saying this, he loaded a stone the size of a sheep’s stomach [rumen] into his short, colorful slingshot.

  The three merchant leaders began offering him prostrations, saying, “O Joru, divine child Precious One, we are merchants from Ladakh.” And they told him in detail how robbers from Yellow Hor had overcome them and so forth. “Could you just help us to get back a few of the provisions we need to return to our homeland and we will do whatever you command of us?”

  Then Joru said, “Oh, what a pity! Since this land is my land, even the Lord of Death will not be allowed to come and pillage here. What’s the point in being so afraid of a few butchers from Hor? It’s possible to get back all of your possessions and wealth without exception. But from now on, whenever any merchant from Ladakh comes here, they must bring presents and offering scarves to me, Joru. Along with that, whatever I say that I need, they must promise to get. And if you do that, I myself will pursue them and get your things back from the bad men of Yellow Hor.” Even though they answered, ‘Yes, sir!’ the merchants still sat there thinking, “How could he ever get our things back?”

  Meanwhile those seven robbers had already arrived at Achen Thangpa Drushi [Square Plain of Achen] and had begun to divide up the booty of mules, boxes, and goods. Joru mounted his staff and, arriving there instantly, told them, “Hey, you seven thieves from Hor, I am Joru, and you had no call to raid my merchants. If I don’t get even with you for what you’ve done, I will be as good as dead.” As soon as they heard the sound of his haughty voice, the Butcher [Shenpa] said, “Oh, this is not good. We’re in real trouble now. Let’s go, it’s every man for himself!” As they ran off, cast out by three strikes from Joru’s slingshot, King Togtog Relchen [King Great Sword] was on the slope of the Nine-Pointed Vajra Mountain of Hor, where he was out for a jaunt with ninety-nine of his men, making a full one hundred in all. The three stones from the slingshot struck a crag above them, creating a rockslide that tumbled down and killed all two hundred, the men and their horses, leading their consciousnesses to the pure realm.

  Then summoning the dralas and wermas to help him, Joru snatched up the thunderbolt sword called Barwa Tsegu [Nine Blazing Points] and the thunderbolt copper vessel called Barwa Kholyong [Blazing Boiler] as well as most of their helmets, armor, swords, and other accoutrements.g He gathered up all of the Ladakhi golden boxes and mules without losing any and then, taking these as two separate loads, riding his staff, made a horse path through Tsara Padma Tongden [One-Thousand-Lotus Pasture]. Joru returned all the merchants’ possessions, horses, mules, wealth, and the lot and loaded his own newly claimed armor, helmets, weapons, and thunderbolt copper vessel on the backs of the mules; together with the merchants he went to Madro Lu-gu’i Khelkhung [Warm Ma Valley Lamb’s Belly] of Ma. The merchants were joyful beyond measure, and although they tried to give almost all their wealth back to him, he refused to take it. Some of the merchants said he must be Ma Pomra. Then Joru said, “Now all of you can take your time coming to Mamed Yulung Sumdo [Conjunction of Turquoise Valley at Lower Ma], for up to that place you need have no fear of enemies or robbers. I have something small that I would like you to accomplish for me when you arrive there. Then I will escort you through the territory of the marauding Yellow Hor bandits, until we reach the end of the Makhog Valley. Until then you are responsible for my armor and so forth; don’t lose anything!” and saying this he instantly departed for Lower Ma.

  By that time Nyima Legchen [Sun of Excellence], Dawa Zangpo [Excellent Moon], and Keltri Döndrub [Accomplishes Aims for Ten Thousand Ages], three merchant chiefs from Omi Shen [Omi Mountain] in China, were traveling with four hundred thousand bricks of tea and a thousand attendants on their way to the upper plateaus toward the west. As they passed through that empty land of Ma Valley, they were terrified of the Yellow Hor bandits. When they arrived at Yulung Gapa Tramo [Colorful Canyon of the Turquoise Valley], they dismounted and set up their camps. Joru transformed his little sorrel colt into his supreme steed Noble Mount, so magnificent that if it ran, it ran like a bird in flight, and it possessed the great confirmation of a steed, with vulture-down tufts on the tips of its ears and four hooves with wheels of wind. All the merchants stared distractedly at the horse as Joru led it right on into the encampment. Joru said, “It’s just me, King Joru, with only this horse, the excellent steed, Noble Mount. If I keep
it, the bandits of Yellow Hor will surely steal it, but yet there are no buyers in this vacant land. Because of the good fortune of you merchants, this valuable wealth has come to you without you even pursuing it. From the good fortune of you merchants, something of value that you have not pursued has come to you of its own accord. If you want to buy this supreme steed, I am ready to sell it.”

  Some of the merchants thought, “This can’t be true! It’s probably a magical apparition. Besides, even the Emperor of China doesn’t have an animal like this to ride.” Among them there was a skilled magician who was asked to examine the steed. After checking he said, “The characteristics of magic are not present here.” The chief merchant Dawa Zangpo spoke, “If it’s true that you are willing to sell this horse, I will give you whatever you want for it.”

  Then Joru replied, “This horse of mine is one of two brother supreme steed flying horses. Honestly speaking, its head is so fine, it is worth a hundred boxes of gold; its ears are so fine, they’re worth a hundred boxes of silver; the four hooves are so excellent, they are worth a hundred boxes of silk; the tips of the hairs on its coat are so fine, they’re worth a hundred mules; and the shaft of those hairs is so fine, it is worth a hundred dzomo; and the roots of those hairs are so fine, they’re worth a hundred ewes. On top of that, there must be a tip for the mother, as we must reckon up with the mare that bore this steed. And I will insist upon a fee for removing the halter, and the celebration we must have in my honor!”

  The merchant chief Nyima Legchen said, “This horse is a only little bit better than my horse, Yuja [Flying Turquoise], which I sold to the Tag-rong clan of Ling for a mere hundred pouches of gold and a hundred ingots of silver the size of a horse’s hoof. I didn’t ask for an arrangement of so many boxes of gold and silver. Not only that, even if each one of us completely gave all of our wealth to him, it wouldn’t even equal the worth of a hundred boxes of gold. This man is not only dishonorable, but he doesn’t seem to understand the value of horses, gold, and silver. Whatever the case, we can at least be sure he is not from Yellow Hor.”