The Epic of Gesar of Ling

by Robin Kornman

  40. The garuḍa is a giant magical bird who figures in the first volume of the Indian epic the Mahābhārata. His egg takes ages to hatch, but when it does, the garuḍa arises completely mature, possessed of all his powers. He is a symbol for enlightenment that arises not gradually but full-blown in the consciousness of a confused practitioner.

  In the Mahābhārata, the garuḍa’s mother has two children, both egg-born. She broods over both eggs, impatient that they may hatch so that she will have children to support her in a power struggle with her co-wife. She impatiently cracks open one of the eggs. It contains a powerful god, who would have been her protector if she had waited for him to mature in the egg. Instead, he is half-formed and departs for heaven. Having learned her lesson, she therefore waits for the other egg to hatch in its own time. It produces the garuḍa, a being powerful enough to fight all the gods at once.

  41. This line says that Gesar will not need the traditional ritual protections that mothers ordinarily undertake to ensure the well-being of their newborns. Literally it says that the three thoughts of “protection (Tib. srung), demons (Tib. sri), and modesty (Tib. ’dzem bag)” are a mother’s apprehensions.

  The word sri, pronounced si, in this context refers to a certain type of demon. Ordinarily si demons are murderous invisible spirits of various kinds, which visit their destruction cyclically. One kind of si acts as a family curse, visiting the same destruction generation after generation on descendants. See glossary: si demons.

  Tibetan mothers are sedulous to protect their children from such evil forces. The term ’dzem, refraining, and ’dzem bag, modesty, may refer particularly here to the activity of avoiding curses and pollution that might be spread by objects or by attracting to the child the wrong kind of attention from the spirit world. For example, articles of clothing that have been worn by an unfortunate person may be charged with negative energy of some kind, and so a mother would be careful not to allow her children in contact with such infected articles.

  42. In other words, forgo the usual birthday parties and special observances that would focus attention on the child.

  43. When a child or a foal is first born, it is given a morsel of warm butter to soften its palate.

  44. Because the guru has blessed her, she has no need of ordinary comforts and necessities, but wears instead, as they say, “the food and clothing of samādhi.”

  45. “Masang Norbu Dradül” (Tib. sku masang rdo rje dgra ’dul) is a name for Gesar. It literally means something like “the honorable Masang Jewel Tamer of Enemies.” (See glossary: Norbu Dradül.) In other words, while sleeping with her husband, Senglön, Drugmo dreamed that she spent the evening making love to a high status mountain deity named Gedzo, who thus became the spiritual father of Gesar in his human incarnation. Then Gesar “blessed her womb”—that is, resided there in her womb until he was born as a human child.

  46. It’s clear from the context that this means that Gesar had entered her womb and was now dwelling there. Therefore, Gesar has two parents in this situation: Senglön, his earthly father, and Gedzo, the father who made love to Gogmo in her dream. An “immeasurable palace” is the exalted dwelling of a deity in a Buddhist mandala.

  47. In other words, Gesar experienced in the womb the exact opposite of ordinary human experience, which, according to Buddhist texts, is excruciatingly painful. The Tibetan word we translate as “delighting” literally means that he “played” (Tib. rol pa) there, indicating the spontaneity buddhas experience and by which they live, in contrast to the conditioned state of suffering ordinary beings experience.

  48. Each of these ḍākinīs intentionally took rebirth in the different lands surrounding Ling. In that way they could assist the godling to accomplish his enlightened deeds once he became Gesar of Ling. His companions are Küntar, Chödrön from Hor, and Bumkyid from Düd. These are the lands that Gesar will conquer in future epics.

  49. This foreshadows an event in later volume of the epic that recounts the battles of Hor and Ling; after he returns from Düd and has defeated the evil king Gurkar, Gesar and his warriors place the golden saddle on Gurkar’s neck in order to humiliate this former king.

  50. This poison is a toxic alkaloid produced in the tuberous root of the wolfsbane (Aconitum vulparia) plant. It has cardiac and neurologic toxicity, causing cardiovascular depression, paresthesias, vomiting, and ultimately respiratory arrest.

  51. This refers to a proverb: When a lamb dies, it goes to the door of the wolves’ den. When a person dies, he or she will go to the door of the rākṣasas.

  52. The splendor of the torma is its power, which comes from the deities who guide the torma and go along with it when it is flung. Fire and wind refer to the natural power, which is instilled into the torma as the power of the elements—a result of the meditator’s practice focused on the torma.

  53. Since Trothung believes Joru’s disguise as Amnye, and then thinks that Amnye killed Joru, he wonders if the power (that is, the black magic) of the vengeful gods of Ling is affecting Amnye, and that’s why he seems different. If this were true, then soon this black magic power would cause Amnye’s death.

  54. The term “three skills” here does not refer to three specific skills but rather to the idea of fully developed maturation and power.

  55. “Ram grass” (Tib. ram pa), also called conch grass, is a short grass with a small fuzzy white seed-head that matures to red and then is filled with many tiny round seeds, resembling mustard seeds.

  56. At other times Atag Lumo is called Atag Lhumo. This is just a difference in spelling her name as a stag klu mo (nāginī) or a stag lha mo (goddess). She was a great archer and the foremost female warrior of Ling. She started out as an inhabitant of Düd but then became a warrior of Ling. She was a great hunter and a bodhisattva who could slay and liberate simultaneously. There are prophecies about her in the sutra of Lord Buddha concerning the Eighty Mighty Warriors. Atag Lhamo never broke samaya with Gesar even for a second; she was also a consort of Gesar.

  57. Mongolian: An error in the original text here gives the Tibetan as sogs (and so forth); it should be sog (Mongolian).

  58. Forest: An error in the original text here gives the Tibetan as nag (black); it should be nags (forest).

  59. This is the valley that Khenpo Jigme Phuntsog (1933–2004) recognized as the original site of Gesar’s palace, Sengtrug Tagtse, and now a Gesar shrine and Rigden temple have been built on this site which is nearby the Ma River (Yellow River).

  Khenpo Jigme Phuntsog was a Nyingma master with great realization and incomparable knowledge of dharma. Due to his efforts during his life the monastic traditions were revived and reestablished, particularly that of the Nyingma Order.

  60. Ibid., endnote 58.

  61. The ḍākinī is giving indications of what will transpire. The idea is that they will exile Joru to the Ma Valley as a form of punishment. In the three years that he will remain there, a great snowstorm will come to Ling forcing the inhabitants to move or else all people and animals will die. Because of these events all the inhabitants of Kham, where Joru was born, will be forced to move to the Ma Valley, where he has been exiled. Mention of the white conch stupa refers to Gesar and the adornment of the five-colored scarf refers to the warriors who will finally come there to join him. The term rong means “farmer” and this indicates that the inhabitants of his birth land were of the class of farmers who must then come to the land of nomads which is Ma.

  62. Saying “Gogmo’s Joru” is a way of insulting Joru, calling him a “mommy’s boy.” It is not that Chipön himself is insulting Joru, but he is taking on the tone of the villagers in referring to Joru.

  63. The names Yongdzom (Tib. yong ’dzoms, “gathering place”) and Yangdzom (Tib. yang ’dzoms, “meet again”) have similar meanings as a place where people gather, but Yongdzom refers to a place where people gather to see someone off and say farewell, whereas Yangdzom is more auspicious and implies a place where “we’ll meet again soon.”

 
64. “Rising patterns within a skullcup” refer to the river-like imprints that through the course of a lifetime are carved on the inside of the skull by blood vessels that traverse the dura mater, the outermost layer of the meningeal covering of the brain.

  65. In Tibet, a bride’s family does not give a dowry, instead the husband’s family gives gifts. After the marriage, the bride assumes control of her new household, and her life and its outcome are bound to that of her husband and his family.

  66. “Min-drug Dawa” (Tib. smin drug zla ba): Literally, smin drug is the “ripened six” and refers to the Pleiades, and zla ba is the moon. The moon of the Pleiades is the four weeks between the full moon of the ninth month and that of the tenth month—that is, the second half of the ninth month and the first half of the tenth month. In the lunar calendar, this is approximately late November–early December.

  67. In the practice called chöd or “cutting through,” the identification with the ego and body is meant to be severed as the view of emptiness is sustained and the consciousness ejected out of the crown aperture to become a wisdom kāya in the space in front. Then the corporeal body is blessed and offered, to become whatever is desired by those who will partake of it.

  68. An error in the original text here gives the Tibetan as kha, “mouth”; it should be mkha’, “sky.”

  69. In general, farmlands are less likely to be snow-covered.

  70. An error in the original text here gives the Tibetan as pho nga, meaning “weak”; it should be phong, meaning “no matter how many.”

  71. The slingshot is an important tool and weapon for the nomads of Golog. Here we see the significance in terms of how the original slingshots were made and kept sacred.

  72. We have adjusted the locations given in this and the following paragraph, as the geography is inaccurate in the Tibetan text.

  73. An error in the original text here gives the Tibetan as sen; it should be ser, meaning “golden.”

  74. An error in the original text here gives the Tibetan as brtse, “love, kindness”; it should be rtse, meaning “play.”

  75. The unusual agates that are to found here and there in the terrain are considered to be the playing stones of the godly-demons. If these stones are gathered up for one’s own purpose without asking permission from the local spirits then there could be dire consequences. Many nomadic parents will warn their children not to unearth or destroy the natural formation of the rocks as they play.

  76. An error in the original text here gives the Tibetan as dogs, “uncertainty”; it should be dog, “narrow.”

  VOLUME THREE. GESAR BECOMES KING

  1. In this chapter Drumo offers several aspiration prayers that represent the context of the horse’s gear: The first aspiration prayer is made when Drugmo offers the saddle blanket to Joru. She prays, “May you, Joru, be able to take your seat on the golden throne and become a sovereign of this earth.” The second prayer occurs when she offers him the golden saddle: “May you, Joru, be able to suppress the yoke of the perverted demons and become the patron for those sublime upholders of Buddha’s doctrine of scripture and realization.” The third prayer is made when she offers the golden bridal and girth and prays that “You, Joru, may be able to turn the minds of all those who are confused by the ignorance of their negative karmic accumulations so they never fall to the lower realms again.” For the fourth prayer she offers the fenders along with the front girth and prays, “May you, Joru, be able to perfect the four enlightened activities to work unceasingly for the benefit of beings.” For the fifth prayer she offers the reins and prays, “May you, Joru, become the protector of sentient beings and the leader of the White Ling.” For the sixth prayer she offers the whip and prays, “May you, Joru, become the dharma king who eliminates non-virtue and sets into motion the practice of virtue.” For the seventh prayer she offers a white scarf and prays, “May there be no obstacles to your life and through the power of your enlightened deeds may all beings’ minds be brought to the path of virtue.” For the eighth prayer when she captures the horse and then offers the horse to Joru she prays, “May you become the Lord of the Wealth of Kyalo Tönpa and the husband of Sengcham Drugmo.”

  2. “The Sevenfold”: (1) the Golden Throne called Subjugates the Three Realms [Ser-tri Khamsum Zilnön], (2) Sengcham Drugmo of Kyalo, (3) the Sevenfold Jewel of the Ancestral Treasury, (4) the twelve volumes of the One Hundred Thousand Verses of the nāgas, (5) Tingshog Gung-gu [Azure Nine-Panels] the little nine-partitioned blue tent of the nāgas, (6) the fortress Sengdrug Tagtse [Lion Garuḍa Tiger Peak], and (7) the twelve myriarchy districts of Ling.

  3. The three secrets are enlightened body, speech, and mind.

  4. An error in the original text here gives the Tibetan as brtser, “kindness”; it should be rtser “atop.”

  5. The eight extremes refer to origination, cessation, permanence, negation, going, coming, single identity, and separateness.

  6. The three sufferings are: the suffering of suffering, the suffering of change, and compounded suffering.

  7. These are the eight treasures of confidence: (1) The treasure of memory that does not forget; (2) The treasure of intelligence that discerns without mistake; (3) The treasure of realization that internalizes all meanings; (4) The treasure of total recall or retention that holds everything that has been heard; (5) The treasure of fearlessness due to the ability to satisfy all beings; (6) The treasure of holding the profound dharma that annihilates heretics; (7) The treasure of bodhicitta that holds the lineage of the Three Jewels; (8) The treasure of profound accomplishment that realizes the unborn nature of truth.

  8. The words in boldface indicate the title of this volume as The Account of the Horse Race of White Ling called The Sevenfold Jewel, and correspond to words marked in the Tibetan text as the words of Mipham Rinpoche whose Supplication to Gesar was received as mind terma. See Translator’s Introduction.

  9. This refers to the inexhaustible source of mind termas and does not necessarily refer to a category of mind terma that belongs only to Mipham Rinpoche. Mipham was not renowned for terma revelations, yet here it is clearly stated that his recollections of the Gesar epic originate from that source.

  10. (1) Partaking of the enemy’s longevity and merit satisfies the one who is liberating them; (2) partaking of the enemy’s flesh and blood that is transformed into wisdom nectar satisfies the wrathful deities; and (3) severing the continuity of the enemy’s negative state of mind and liberating them satisfies the object being liberated. These are the three.

  11. Gesar does not actually become the king of the entire world, but this implies that he has conquered so many kingdoms that his sovereignty is likened to a ruler of the world.

  12. This does not directly refer to the five paths and the ten grounds of the bodhisattva’s ascent to fully enlightened buddhahood, but it is metaphorically implied by the fact that the young Joru was able to jump to the finish line of the horse race instantaneously through his enlightened powers.

  13. The reference to capturing the steed with the lasso “of emptiness” implicitly suggests the fact that the horse can be captured only by the lady Drugmo, who represents the feminine principle of emptiness.

  14. Six smiles is an epithet for the tiger, which actually refers to Gesar and the fact that he will need to rely upon the mighty warriors to assist him once he becomes king.

  15. An error in the original text here gives the Tibetan as ’tshams, “necessity”; it should be mtshams, “retreat.”

  16. In the original text this place name appears as srib pa ’khor mo’i rong rdzong; however, it should read srid pa ’khor mo’i rog rdzong, which means “ancient black fortress.”

  17. These are the two phases of mantra recitation that occur during a deity sadhana practice.

  18. An error in the original text here gives the Tibetan as rogs, “friend”; it should be rog, “black”—here, “raven.”

  19. An error in the original text here gives the Tibetan gdong btsan snang du a pa
n as “du a pan,” which has no clear meaning; it should be gdong btsan snang ngu a dpal giving “Mighty Youthful Glory of the Tribe” (his correct proper name).

  20. An error in the original text here gives the Tibetan as pho ru; it should be phor yu, “cup.”

  21. This means that Denza can still stay there, but she will be reduced to the position of a cook in the kitchen.

  22. An error in the original text here gives the Tibetan as red, “is”; it should be ded, “chased by.”

  23. An error in the original text here gives the Tibetan as klung, “river valley”; it should be rlung, “wind.”

  24. The four stations are the propagation of the Buddha’s dharma, being endowed with wealth and prosperity, utilizing the five desirables, and achieving the state of quiescence in dependence upon the dharma.

  25. An error in the original text here gives the Tibetan as dar ’dzom; it should be dar ’jam (his correct proper name).

  26. This is a reference to the wisdom protector of the dzogpa chenpo (Tib. rdzogs pa chen po; the Great Perfection, or Dzogchen). He has no body, as his appearance is that of faces and eyes, and his lower torso is a serpent. See glossary: Rāhu.

  27. An error in the original text here gives the Tibetan as zho, “curd”; it should be ’o ma, “milk.”

  28. This is a reference to Joru, who is likened to the best grade of Chinese turquoise called the “milk drop.” A drop of milk is placed upon a piece of turquoise to indicate its grade. If the milk turns a pink color, this denotes the best turquoise.

  29. The Tibetan term that appears here, rkyal ba, refers to the material used for making butter in the nomadic culture. There are two ways to do this. One is to pour the milk into a large wooden container and churn the milk. The other way is to pour the milk into an animal skin bag and then to tie it and shake the milk until it turns to butter.