The Epic of Gesar of Ling

by Robin Kornman

  95. “Think through their actual meaning” (Tib. don ’bras dpyod): The homonym spyod would make this “put their meaning into practice.”

  96. The Tibetan text here says ma go glu la ’brel ba med; literally this means, “If you did not understand [this discourse], there is no connection.” We have chosen to translate the final phrase as “there is no way to explain it.”

  97. What follows will be a detailed description of a tantric empowerment ceremony, with which the chapter ends. Many tantric practices require taking part in such a ceremony before one has the right to do the practices. Usually there is a mandala that represents the deities, the buddhas, and retinue, and that is involved in the practice. The mandala is represented as a palace with four gates and a center. On each of these five points sits or stands a particular buddha. Each of these buddhas grants empowerment to the disciple in the ceremony. In theory, these five actions repeat the ancient ceremony of coronation in which a prince is turned into a king.

  Generally the details of these ceremonies and the buddhas within them are quite secret. But here the compilers of the epic have obviously decided to teach the people the general principles of the empowerment ceremony, using the nonsecret buddhas of the five families. Thus, this is a sort of generic or, you could say, training abhiṣeka. Several verses that are found in the praise are taken from the Mañjuśrīnāmasamgiti, a text used to teach the poetic language used in tantric practices.

  98. “Additives” (Tib. kha tshar) are additional ingredients that perfect a medicine by changing its flavor or quality.

  99. Since the enemy is ignorance, it cannot be slain unless the warrior has compassion.

  100. In an ordinary empowerment the guru-preceptor blesses a scepter that represents the Buddha Vairocana and the enlightened principle of body. Then he or she touches the disciple with this scepter while uttering verses of empowerment. Here the scepter itself performs the empowerment, and the words are uttered magically without a speaker being present. The scepter of Vairocana is an eight-spoked wheel.

  101. He is like a child who throws a stone in the air not realizing where it will fall, and sometimes it falls on his own head. In other words, since he does not think of cause and effect, he does not pay attention to the inevitable result of mistreating his subjects. He enforces the law too strenuously, and they either revolt or the country suffers harm.

  102. “Disciple with no samaya” refers to a disciple who does not keep his vows and commitments to his guru—in other words, a disciple without proper devotion. The phrase “whose open mind shows him to be learned” is based on the Tibetan wording mtong rgya, which is literally “seeing widely.” It generally means having great vision or open-mindedness, but here it probably means being merely scholarly.

  103. “Great source of jewel wisdom, Ratnasambhava” (Tib. rin chen ’bhyung gnas): This, like many lines written into this empowerment ceremony, was taken from the Mañjuśrīnāmasamgiti.

  104. The order of these five empowerments is somewhat strange. Usually one begins with the body empowerment, and the order continues with speech, mind, quality, and finally action. Here he is empowered with the speech of the buddhas last, instead of second.

  105. “Support of the samaya of all the tathāgatas” (Tib. de bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi dam tshig gi rten): rten refers to “support,” an instrument used in a ritual to contain or receive spiritual energy. It becomes both the symbol and the embodiment of that energy, and thus we call them “symbolic supports.” So this vajra has become the support of the vows of devotion of all the buddhas. Presumably in holding it one holds all the power and virtue of each guru’s devotion to beings, their samayas, their intensity, and commitments.

  106. Here we have a classical list of the three levels of local spirits, corresponding to heaven, earth, and subterranean; also corresponding to sky, mountains, and streams. The triad is mentioned constantly. It is pronounced lha, nyen, lu, the lu being the nāgas or serpent spirits. See glossary: nyen and nāga.

  107. Yellow Hor: In the epic there are three brothers of the Hor clan to be subjugated by Gesar. They are Gurkar (White Tent), Gurnag (Black Tent), and Gurser (Yellow Tent).

  108. “Conquered by the logic of the learned” (Tib. mkhas pa’i grub mthas ma bcom na): Literally, “if he is not converted by a philosophical system put forward by a paṇḍit.”

  109. If he does not recognize his mistakes by immediately suffering personally the karmic result of his misdeeds, he will continue to torture and oppress the people.

  110. The skandhas, or five aggregates, are form, feeling, recognition, reaction, and consciousness. These are the five psycho-physical constituents of ego. Each of the five empowerments purifies one of the five aggregates, transforming it into one of the five wisdoms. Therefore this verse is a summary of the effects of the empowerment, for by destroying the five aggregates one destroys ego-clinging, and the five wisdoms emerge. See glossary: skandha.

  111. A complete abhiṣeka or empowerment is divided into four empowerments: outer, inner, secret, and the nature as it is. The first of these, the outer empowerment, sometimes called the vase empowerment, is divided into five sub-empowerments corresponding to the five buddha families of the five directions of the mandala. This first of the four was presented in complete detail. The rest are only mentioned in this sentence.

  112. The land of Ling has many epithets: White Ling, Divine Ling, Brilliant Ling, and Multicolored Ling, to name a few. There is no Black Ling and, although white is good in this system, black is not its opposite and is not evil. “White” when used refers not to the color, but to qualities of fighting the forces of evil.

  113. “Middle land of humans” (Tib. bar mi yi yul) refers to the three levels of native Tibetan cosmology: the heaven realm of the gods, above; the human realm, in the middle; and the realm of the water spirits, below. The water spirits are called klu (pronounced lu) in Tibetan or nāgas in Sanskrit, the familiar dragon spirits of East Asian culture. Sometimes the three levels are given as lha (upper gods), mi (humans), and lu (serpents), and sometimes just as three gods. In that case the human realm is replaced by the realm of the mountain gods, who are, after all, the original proprietors of most of the human inhabited land in this epic. Mountain gods are called nyen. Thus the famous triad would be lha, nyen, and lu, an expression that occurs constantly in epic discourse about the structure of the world. This triad matches in some ways the Confucian triad, which also describes the universe in three levels: Heaven, Earth, and Man.

  114. “Breathtaking to behold” (Tib. mthong ba kun smon): literally, “whose sight everyone aspires.” It is a term of Sanskrit court poetry indicating that the place is so beautiful, and possesses all positive qualities, so that everyone who came upon it would find it breathtaking, and would aspire to be in such a place.

  115. The Thirty Mighty Warriors are the main heroes of the epic. Later on, when Gesar together with these thirty conquers other kingdoms, there come to be eighty warriors. Those eighty are considered to be emanations of the eighty great mahāsiddhas of India.

  116. “In the sleep of luminosity” (Tib. ’od gsal gzim gyi srang lam na): that is, during a phase in his sleep of lucid dreaming. Great yogins are supposed to practice a kind of meditation that is done while they are asleep. This special sleep, in which one is aware of the state of sleeping, is called “sleep of luminosity” and is the dreaming that occurs in the early morning hours of sleep.

  117. Heavily ornamented ceremonial parasols are a symbol of kingship. A servant holds the parasol over the head of an official, high monk, or king and then turns the handle slowly in his hand, causing the parasol to slowly rotate.

  118. This describes the great yogin who founded Tibetan Buddhism, Padmasambhava. He is escorted in this case by the wrathful female buddha Vajrayoginī, who appears wearing the bone ornaments of a wild inhabitant of the charnel grounds.

  119. The three seed syllables or seed mantras, OṂ ĀḤ HŪṂ, represent the body, speech, and mind of th
e Buddha. The song has OṂ as an auspicious beginning, ĀH is in the middle as the speech of the Buddha, and it is sealed with the syllable HŪṂ, a sign that the commitment of the singer is unchanging. The eight meanings refer not to eight individual meanings, but to general auspiciousness.

  120. There are four orders, or lineages (Tib. rgyud), in the society of Ling. They express a matrilineal point that is difficult for Westerners to understand. Although they are called the Elder, Middle, and Cadet Lineages, they are not really a matter of age at all, but of families related to the founding mothers of the Mukpo clan, who were of three ages. For details see the Historical Introduction.

  The tribal group descended from the elder matriarch is known as the Elder Lineage and is also called the Order of the Garuḍa. The Middle Lineage is the Order of the Dragon. The Cadet Lineage is the Order of the Snow Lion. The people or masses (Tib. sde mangs) are the Order of the Tiger.

  121. “Smile-striped” refers to tigers in classical poetry and the fact that their stripes resemble six smiles.

  122. “Windhorse flag” (Tib. las dar; literally “action scarf”) refers to the special flag that is raised in this ceremony to invoke the dralas. It has the figures of a tiger, snow lion, garuḍa, and dragon in the four corners around a central figure of a horse carrying on its back a wish-fulfilling wheel.

  123. “Practice groups” (Tib. sgrub khag) refers to the custom of breaking up an assemblage into distinct groups, each of which practices a different deity invocation simultaneously, for increased effectiveness. So here the inhabitants of Ling are being ordered to divide into thirteen groups to simultaneously supplicate thirteen different wealth gods.

  124. “Summon prosperity” (Tib. g.yang ’bod) originates with the shamanist culture of ancient Tibet. Later this practice was incorporated into the Buddhist path by using different deities and mantras. This practice can invoke not only wealth but also prosperity and basically whatever enriching qualities may be desired.

  125. “What’s the point?” This is a traditional close to an epic song; the singer formulaically challenges the audience’s understanding of the song.

  126. “Slowly like the sun in springtime” because the days are long and the sun therefore moves slowly across the sky. For example there is the Tibetan proverb dpyid ka’i nyi ma lo red, meaning “one day in spring is like a whole year.”

  127. “Cursing”: The Tibetan words in the original, pha sha—literally “father’s flesh”—are the first words of a Tibetan’s famous curse, pha sha zo, “eat your father’s flesh.”

  128. Since he had neglected to put on his belt, his robe hung loose and he had to hold it together with his hands. He had to gather the front of his robe like the protective cloth that hangs in front of a thangka is gathered up by a ribbon in order to reveal the painting.

  129. The Jowo image of the Buddha in Lhasa is a universal object of devotion in Tibet.

  130. Image of the perfect Tibetan king: every morning he practices meditation and says a tremendous number of prayers before even rising from his bed. Actually, the custom among many Tibetan meditation practitioners is to make their meditation seat directly on their bed, instead of moving to another place to begin practice. The servant is thus surprised to see him out of his bed, not meditating at this hour of the morning. For ordinarily he does not open his cross-legged posture until he has finished meditating.

  131. The chieftain debates with himself whether or not it is necessary to perform the rituals designed to make the events in the dream come to happen, since they seem to be happening of their own accord.

  132. “Milk of the third summer” (Tib. sum yar ’o ma): In sgrong yig, village dialect, this is the very best milk. The first year that the female yak, the dri, suckles her calf, the calf is called a be-u and the cow a trid-ma. The second year the calf becomes a yar-ri and the cow a yarma. If the calf is weak and undernourished by the third summer, the cow may still provide milk even to this large a calf. That milk of the summer months of the third year is the richest and most potently flavorful milk, making the best butter available among the nomads.

  133. The lines of this proverb in Tibetan are as follows: sgo mo bde skyid ngag grol glu yi sgo mo de/ bkra shis byin chags rten ’brel mgo ma red. The two “go(s),” sgo mo and mgo ma, are pronounced alike and could mean, respectively “gateway” and “head” or “start.” They can be taken to mean practically the same thing in village dialect, with the ma ending being more usual.

  On the other hand, there is an interesting metaphorical message if their meaning is different. When song is a gateway to expression of an inner reality, it may be the beginning of good fortune: “There may be many people in a room, but they all have to leave by one door.” In the same way, there are many thoughts in the mind, but they all have to be expressed in this song via the one gate of speech (Tib. ngag). Thus, if one were not using speech, if one’s speech were not set free, then it would be as if the doors were closed; the gate would be closed and there would be no song.

  For example, inside the body there may be happiness and bliss. This sde skyid within is liberated through speech when we express it. As a result, it is through this gate of song that auspicious blessings or splendor (Tib. byin chags) are released, because this is the result, the auspicious connection or good fortune (Tib. rten ’brel).

  134. The “Auspicious-by-Day” scarf (Tib. dar nyin mo bde legs) is a special offering scarf inscribed with the eight auspicious symbols and a four-line poem that begins nyin mo bde legs, “auspicious by day.” The entire text on the scarf goes like this:

  nyin mo bde legs mtshan bde legs

  nyin mo’i gung yang bde legs shes (or shi)

  nyin mtshan rtag rgyu bde legs pa’i

  rkyabs gnas dkon mchogs gsum kyi bkra shi shog

  All is well by day and well by night

  All is well even before the dawn;

  Bringing continuous well-being both day and night

  May the auspiciousness of the Rare and Precious Three Jewels be present and everywhere.

  135. The cuckoo bird is considered the most melodious of all birds when he first appears at the onset of summer. Although the cuckoo’s song is the most haunting in the beginning of summer, as the season goes on it loses its appeal. Tibetans believe the cuckoo’s song is very special.

  136. “Sublime prosperity animals” (Tib. phugs g.yang; literally, “wealth-prosperity”) is a term referring to domesticated animals that are outstanding in fortitude, beauty, and character, so that they are spared from the ordinary drudgeries imposed upon other beasts of burden. For example, a yak that displays the signs of being a sublime animal will be referred to as a lha yak (Tib. g.yag), a yak of the gods. Some yaks have beautiful horns; some have beautiful fur. The broad chest and sturdy frame and long locks will be ornamented with bells and bangles and the beast; so ornamented, will be left to wander in freedom and its fur will not be shorn.

  This is similar to the expression g.yang mdzas (wealth substance), a material used in wealth ceremonies that is sometimes made from the skin of a baby yak that has good countenance. Sometime the wealth substance is made from beautiful silk brocade, etc.

  137. As the servants sing this song they make offerings to a shrine. This line of verse is chanted at the moment when they hold up butter lamps as an offering of light.

  138. The literal meaning of Ser (Tib. gser) is “gold.” This is the clan name attached to members of the Elder Lineage, based on the name given to the founding mother of this lineage, Serza, who established the homeland of this clan group in the highlands of the Machen Pomra region. She was given the name Ser because she found a golden yoke in Upper Ling as a sort of totemic magical object.

  139. Ombu means “son of Om.” Om (meaning “tamarisk”) is the name given to the founder mother of the Middle Lineage, Omza, who quested and later settled in the lands of middle altitude around Machen Pomra Mountain and found there a tamarisk tree as her totemic object.

  140. The Lesser, or Cadet, Li
neage was founded by a woman who was given the name Chang (“wolf”) and told to settle in the lowlands of the same region as her fellow wives. Her totemic quest object was a wolf ’s tail. The Mu (Tib. dmu) family is traditionally a group of priests of the native religion, people involved with the original descent of the Mu chord, linking heaven and earth. Members of that family are thus associated with shamanistic priestly matters. They are also involved through intermarriage with the Chang descent line of the Lesser Lineage of the Mukpos. Stein (1959) explains that Gesar is a member of the Mu within the Mukpo clan and therefore a member of the Cadet Lineage. Both clans are descended from the gods, who are considered in this tradition to have the divine color of dark brown (smug po).

  141. The metaphors here are based on an epic vision of the traditional provinces of Ling, which are grouped into districts with their respective tribes. They are the Eight Golden Brothers (Tib. gser pa mched brgyad) of Upper Ling, the Six Tribes (Tib. tsho drug) of Middle Ling, and the Four Districts (Tib. sde bzhi) of Lower Ling. The epic’s Thirty Mighty Warriors come from these provinces. The leaders of these three tribal regions were Nyibum Daryag of Serpa, Anu Paseng of Ombu, and Rinchen Darlu of Muchang. The first, Serpa was said to be like an eagle, perhaps referring to the arc of gold that his ancestress found. Ombu was like an offering wood, a reference to tamarisk. Muchang, in keeping with the matrilineal name, was said to be like a wolf.

  142. The six medicinal herbs are perfected or augmented by the six minor ingredients (Tib. bzang drug sman gyis kha tshar btab) The bzang drug, six precious ingredients, is either a list of substances such as myrobalan and musk, or a list of six culinary ingredients such as nutmeg, marigold, cardamom, and saffron. The kha tshar, minor ingredients, is yet another classical list of substances used to improve the flavor and appearance of medicines, and may be poetic license to claim this was all added to the tea. The six medicines (Tib. sman) are ka ko la (cardamom), cu gang (bamboo manna), sug smel (Himalayan cardamom), dza ti (nutmeg), li shi (caryophyllus, or wild carnation), gur gum (saffron).