242. Obviously one should cook an animal’s head first and only then remove the tongue to eat it. Furthermore, Tibetan dinners usually include a noodle soup. One should evidently eat the noodles before finishing the broth. “Ki! ki!” is a Tibetan shout equivalent to “hurray.” Apparently there is a proper way to do that, too.
243. “All this I need for my preparations.” Padma has given a list of the offering substances that must be collected to perform this part of the ceremony: offering water filled with medicines (that is, herbs), the kind of precious stones a nāga could acquire, five kinds of milk, a rare conch that swirls in the opposite direction from most, an offering cake made in the shape of a lotus, and two objects used for divination: a divination board and a ritual divination arrow. Some of these offerings are reminiscent of the special offerings made in ceremonies to pacify attacks by nāgas who have been infuriated by human pollution.
244. This ceremony has the form of a lhasang (Tib. lha bsang), a smoke purification practice. A white column of smoke is produced and used to purify objects that have been polluted with “obscurations.” The aim of the ceremony is to cure the nāgas of the poison that has polluted their realm. But in the ritual liturgy Padma chants, he allegorizes the impurity, the poisoning of their waters, so that the real poisons are the so-called poisons of the emotions, the kleśas.
245. When a disciple enters into a tantric practice often there is an empowerment, and as part of that ceremony one receives a tutelary deity, a form of the buddha with whom the disciple identifies. This deity is chosen seemingly by chance: The disciple throws a flower into a mandala of deities, and his or her tutelary deity will be the buddha on whom the flower falls.
246. Although the reference in the original is to the black-haired Tibetans (Tib. bod dbu nag), we have interpreted it to be a reference to the nāgas, since that is the context. Perhaps the bard made a mistaken reference to the Tibetans at the juncture.
247. They are laughing because the low-caste nāga was so bold. People always make fun of the low caste—this is the nāga equivalent of ethnic slur jokes.
248. “Slightly darker” (Tib. sha tsa sno shad): Literally, “tinged with blue,” but actually the phrase means almost “olive-complexioned.”
249. A Tibetan maiden wears her entire dowry on her body in the form of gold, silver, and precious stones. She dresses this way for special occasions and when she goes traveling to her new family by marriage. We see an example of this in volume 3, when Drugmo wears her wealth as she goes looking for Gesar, her fiancé.
250. Now Tsugna Rinchen is speaking prophetically with apparently full knowledge of the cosmic situation. The drala nyen who will be born among humans is Gesar, whose father is regarded as a nyen, a mountain god.
251. In some versions of Tibetan cosmology, the original kings of Tibet and the leaders of the Tibetan people descended from the Mu (Tib. dmu), primordial Tibetan sky gods. The first king was actually a god who was lowered to earth via a cord attached to the crown of his head, the mu cord. Since then the column of smoke that rises during a juniper smoke cleansing offering is called “the Mu cord.” Thus, “holding the celestial (Mu) cord” means that Gesar will be a divinely appointed king.
252. This refers to a symbolic field of protection that will surround her, and she will remain unscathed as though having donned armor.
VOLUME TWO. GESAR’S BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD
1. The Tibetan, ’jig tshogs lta ba, literally means “view of the transitory collection as real.” The transitory collection is the five skandhas, the components of self, which are, of course, impermanent and empty of self-nature.
2. In Buddhist mythology, the Sindhu River flows from Lake Anavatapta, or Manasarovar as it is also called. There Padmasambhava first tamed the nāgas. It is associated historically with the now-lost Saraswati River, which was an important part of the ancient Indus civilization in India.
3. These four lines signify that Gesar is an emanation of Guru Rinpoche [Padmākara], Trisong Deutsen [the king referred to as “the flower of the god Brahmā of the snow land of Tibet”], and the current king of the northern pure land Shambhala [Rigden Raudracakrin].
4. This is a story about a person who developed wrong view based on misunderstanding about authentic spiritual teachers and so took rebirth as a suffering nāga.
5. The rūpakāya is the enlightened body of form, which refers to the sambhogakāya and nirmanakāya, as these two kāyas appear according to the phenomena of beings. See glossary: bodies of the Buddha, three.
6. “Authentic historical accounts”: This could be an important claim for the oral sources of the epic. Here is the precise Tibetan: rtogs par brjod pa sngon gyi lo rgyus khungs can rnams la ji ltar grags pa bzhin—literally, “as I have proclaimed this avadāna just like the previous stories, which are original sources.”
7. In Tibetan there are actually four volumes or accounts of the epic that are being put together here in one book. Those four are the lha gling [Divine Land of Ling]. Combined together are the ’khrungs gling [Birth in Ling] and the rma sa bzung [Settling of Ma], which are really two separate volumes, and finally the rta rgyug [Horse Race].
8. “Intelligence and knowledge” (Tib. blo shes): This refers specifically to practical intelligence, what we call in our urban culture being “streetwise.”
9. “His was the final word” translates a colorful Tibetan expression, blo phug—literally, intellect’s (Tib. blo) cave or recess (Tib. phug); what we call “innermost mind.”
10. “General of all bandits” (Tib. jag gi dmag dpon): In the culture of the Golog region of northeastern Tibet, banditry is an honorable profession.
11. “Like a falcon” (Tib. rgya khra hor pa): Literally, it seems to say “like a Mongolian bird of prey,” taking rgya khra as “bird of prey” and hor pa as “Mongolian.”
12. An error in the original text here gives the Tibetan as sbom; it should be spom, to make the proper name Magyal Pomra.
13. An error in the original text here gives the Tibetan as ’phan (ribbon); it should be phan (benefit).
14. “White turquoise” (Tib. drug dkar): The highest quality turquoise. If you put a drop of milk on it, it turns the milk pink, which is a sign of its high quality. We don’t know what the other five orders of turquoise are.
15. The fish Trawa Kha comes up at different times during the epic and other ancient stories. It is uncertain how one can understand how this relates to the scarf, but it may be an item that is made from some parts of the fish guts. See next endnote.
16. According to the story, in the land of Hor there was a famous river called Khampa Zhungdrug [Murky River of the Six Districts]. There was a bridge across this river guarded by a fish named nya dpral ba kha che, which would give Trelwa Khache. The name of the fish is spelled both ways but the common one is nya dpral ba kha che [Huge Forehead and Gaping Mouth]. Here in the text we have spra ba kha, which is another, less common, spelling of the name of that fish and gives Trawa Kha.
17. We have added a few words to a cryptic passage. Chipön is explaining why the Mukpo clan is divided into three clans, which they call “lineages” (Tib. rgyud). The three lineages descend from the three wives of a single ancestor. They are distinguished as Lesser, Middle, or Greater based on their respective ages or it may be the order in which they were acquired in marriage.
18. “Harrying from behind”: The Tibetan ltag bdud is a colorful expression that literally means “nape demon”: a māra or demon who attacks from behind the nape of the enemy’s neck. It fits neatly with the previous epithet regarding a “yoke” (Tib. gnya’ non, “yoke that presses down”).
19. These three terms, masculine metal, feminine metal, and the metal of their offspring, are literal translations of the Tibetan (pho lcags, mo lcags, bu lcags), but also likely refer to different grades of iron used in fashioning sword blades. The masculine would be coarser less refined steel, the feminine finer and more ductile steel, and the offspring a combination of both the male and th
e female. A sword blade generally has a softer iron core, and a harder steel (iron forged with varying amounts of carbon) edge and point which, combined, give it flexibility as well as strength.
20. Tibetan has rlung khri “wind sword.” It could be a misspelling of klung khri which would mean “river blade.”
21. “Spoken of by the rest of the world”: The Tibetan, brgya sdes bshad, means literally “told by the hundred districts.”
22. Zhalkar is embarrassed by the beggar woman because his relatives could not bear to give him bad news. This is not unusual behavior among the nomads of northeastern Tibet, who live by word of mouth. The song with which Zhalkar attacks his uncle, Chipön, criticizes the tendency of political leaders to keep things secret, which he sees as a sign of corruption. On the other hand, the ability to keep a secret is a prime virtue in a culture whose principal religion is esoteric Buddhism.
23. Zhalkar refers here to events that preceded this chapter of the epic. Lenpa Chögyal is actually Zhalkar’s cousin, but he calls him his elder brother. Apparently he married a woman from one of the tribes of the Yellow Hor, Zima-tso, the daughter of one Künga. Zhalkar claims that this outlander brought bad luck into his family. He calls her a prostitute and demands that she be returned to Hor. Although marriages in the epic are nearly always exogamous, numerous rituals surround the importation of a wife from another clan. She may bring with her alien clan spirits, which function as demons in her new family.
24. “Ninefold revenge” (Tib. sha lan dgu skor len): The Tibetan sha lan literally means “flesh price.” It is the blood price extracted for personal injuries. A blood price is usually an amount of money or cattle given as restitution for an injury or injustice. Here it seems to be a matter of life for life. Zhalkar is demanding, metaphorically, that nine people die for the single death of his cousin. Actually, however, he is asking for more. The army of Ling has already killed most of the male population of Gog. Zhalkar is demanding that the rest of the people be killed. As Chipön is about to argue, it is an immoderate demand, but not totally outside the scope of punishment in nomadic law. Whatever injury or violation of treaty inspired the first Ling raid on Gog—that crime has been paid for with the death of the Gog warriors. In the process a Ling prince was killed. This, Zhalkar argues, is an additional injury and must be paid for with an additional sha lan.
25. Chipön’s speech to Zhalkar, which follows, is a classic example of a chief diplomatically moderating the hot blood of a young brave. He would rather not conduct another raid on Gog, a raid whose only aim would be to wipe out Ralo Tönpa’s village and the women and children of the eighteen tribes. But Zhalkar’s grievance is legitimate; he lost face because Chipön withheld vital information from him. Chipön’s compromise is to propose that the whole clan accompany Zhalkar on a second mission to Gog, but this time with no immoderate killing. Instead, he proposes that they kill no one, but rather that they rob Ralo Tönpa of his new wife and her magical dowry. He politically proposes that the theft be celebrated as Zhalkar’s maiden-raiding expedition. He backs up his argument with quotes from the Mukpo book of prophecies called the Mother Text, arguing that this less violent undertaking is fated and part of Zhalkar’s special destiny.
26. Chipön believes this cryptic couplet from the Mother Text is a coded prophecy about their upcoming raid on Gog. The “jewel” mentioned in the verse is the nāga princess. Nāgas possess a jewel in their forehead. “Victory banner” refers to Ralo Tönpa Gyaltsen’s full name; Gyaltsen means “victory banner.” The “pinnacle” refers to the fact that the nāga princess took with her the best of the nāga kingdom’s treasures. “Mouse” refers to the year of the Mouse—the year that Gyatsha will actually go and fight Gog and win the princess. “White” here refers to White Ling, whose wishes will be fulfilled by the raiding expedition, because on a raid on Gog they will gain the nāga princess, and she will give birth to the new king of Ling, Gesar.
27. The action here becomes somewhat complex, despite the compactness of the narrative. The young warriors find that Ralo Tönpa has hastily struck his tents and fled, leaving only cushions for seats and beds on the ground. Finding no loot, they think to return to Ling, but Chipön stops them, saying that Ling never returns empty-handed from a raid.
He then asks Senglön, Gesar’s future father, to do an arrow divination in order to determine their next step. Senglön’s reading is somewhat cryptic, but it seems to say that they should stay, for thus they will gain great wealth without even fighting. Trothung, as usual, misunderstands the prophecy and thinks it means that there will be no booty today, but in the long run the wealth of Ralo, including the nāga princess, will all fall to his clan of Tag-rong. He therefore proposes that Senglön be given whatever they find that day as his fee for the divination (thinking this will be nothing).
Chipön, who is of the Lesser Lineage of Mukpo just like Senglön, quickly accepts Tro-thung’s proposal, realizing that in this way the prophecies will be fulfilled, and his family will get Gesar and his mother’s wealth.
He therefore proposes that they continue to search for booty in Gog. He then orders Sengtag Adom, who serves as a priest for practices of the local religion, to perform a smoke offering and purification while they serve tea.
28. A support (rten) is an object that has a symbolic value and is the ritual basis for magical ceremonies. It is often a scepter or religious icon to which a spirit may be invited or in which a spirit may reside. Sengtag Adom is a rten mkhar, a castle (that is, a temple) which is a support for the dralas of White Ling. See glossary: support.
29. One of the functions of the dralas is to land on the head, shoulders, and heart of a warrior, strengthening his or her body and defending the body’s energy field. When the juniper smoke forms a white column rising into the sky, it acts to invite dralas, who descend down the column and take their positions as protectors on the bodies of the officiates. Thus all the soldiers of Ling will now perform together this lhasang, this smoke purification ceremony, in order to reinvest their persons with the blessings of the dralas.
30. Here the hearth is a metaphor for the female buddha of the element of earth (Buddhalocana). Having created a hearth with the goddess of earth and a liquid to be offered with the goddess of water (Māmakī), we place substances in the liquid and melt them down into further liquid with the goddess of fire (Pāṇḍaravāsinī). Samayatārā is the goddess of wind. The wind blows across the flames and kindles them to blaze higher.
31. This is a speculative translation: Literally the Tibetan seems to say that White Ling and the lha have mnyam chas, that is, equal appurtenances.
32. Here already she is given the name she will keep for the rest of the epic, Gogza, the wife from Gog. Even though they simply adopted her into their tribe, she is regarded as a family member now, meaning that when she marries Senglön, this will draw Gog, Ralo Tönpa’s homeland, politically closer to Ling again.
33. The idea here is that since she originates in the nāga country, this human realm is not her native home and the loyalties of humans for each other are not exactly her loyalties. So she might as well tell the truth, even if it betrays the Gog people.
34. “Went out for a stroll” (Tib. skyo sangs): an interesting expression that literally means a “sadness cleansing.” But here sangs stands for a break or a brief holiday. Sometimes in the winter, when Tibetans are feeling bored and claustrophobic, they will go out on a “sadness cleansing” walkabout or solitary hike. It may simply be leaving the house and walking around for a while or it may be a more extensive holiday walk.
35. Even though exogamous marriage is the custom, and wives tend to be from other tribes, there seems to be a culturally instilled distrust among nomads of these women—who come from other families and must switch their loyalties. In a country where neighboring pastoralist groups are constantly raiding each other, questioning whether a recent arrival from another family is good or bad is a conventional and sensible precaution.
36. The tent is n
amed sbris tshe bse ru ltag kha ma. The term sbris tshe means ’little tent’ and the term bse ru is based on the tent’s color which is dark brown like the horn of a rhinoceros. The term ltag kha ma means that the tent is pitched behind that of Gyaza, it is the tent that is to the back side. This name also evokes the jealousy that Gyaza feels for the new woman (the nāginī) who has arrived. The fact that the little tent was pitched to the back is meant to indicate that Gyaza is still the woman in charge of the household.
37. All along, Gyurmed Thubten Jamyang Dragpa, the Tibetan editor of the early woodblock edition that gave rise to this particular version, has had before him several different editions of this volume of the epic, his job being to choose among them the version he found most correct. At this point he has had to change the text so much that he feels at odds with the previous editions before him and feels compelled to correct them. But rather than starting new controversies by discussing the weaknesses of the other editions and his specific reasons for changing the edition, he will just present his corrected version and move on—for the epic is a dharma text, and he does not wish to create doubts in it that would put stumbling blocks in the way of the faithful.
38. “Their own karmic mandate” (Tib. rang gi bskos thang red): a karmically appointed naturally process, the same as las skal, the karmic portion that falls to an individual. It functions like the term “fate” or “destiny” in Western languages, but has a different material explanation, since one’s las skal is a certain way not because of the will of a higher being, and not as the result of natural physical processes, but as a result of previous karma.
39. “Another spin of his hapless brain” (Tib. klad gcig ’khor): A “spinning head” means a moment when a person does a foolish thing because they are distracted and duped. It is difficult to say why the nāga king suddenly makes these two finely honed critiques. Perhaps his point is that Gogmo should not seek to avoid her karmically mandated fate, the way a lama might sacrifice his comfortable situation in order to chase women or a warrior ignore the wealth he has inherited in order to steal a goat.
The Epic of Gesar of Ling Page 67