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The theoretical basis of the Tibetan epic, with reference to a ‘chronological order’ of the various episodes in the Gesar epic1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2009

Samten G. Karmay
Samten G. Karmay
Affiliation:
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris
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Extract

In the 1950s when Professor Stein was engaged in his research on the Gesar epic, he wrote: ‘If there ever existed a complete recension of all Chapters, they remain unknown to us. Neither written texts nor oral versions contain the totality of the epic story. And the ones that we know of at present, present themselves in the form of a literature that is still alive and mobile.’

Since then, the situation has totally changed with the publication of many previously unknown chapters, not only those that have come down to us from the past but also the new products of a literature that is still expanding, as Professor Stein so accurately observed. What I am concerned with here, however, is the theoretical basis which underlies the ordering of the episodes relating to the hero and his life, and the notion of a correct ‘chronological order’ which the tradition presents, however fictitious the events may be. It is the materials which existed before our time which are most pertinent here and which permit us to identify the theoretical basis of which I speak. That basis provides a perspective on the question as a whole, and a guide through the tangled structure of the Tibetan epic. We are now, as I said, in a better position than in the 1950s to make an assessment of the whole body of Tibetan epic literature.

Type
Articles
Information
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies , Volume 56 , Issue 2 , June 1993 , pp. 234 - 246
Copyright
Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 1993

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References

2 Recherches sur l'épopée et le barde au Tibet [hereafter Recherches] (Paris, 1959), 4. (The English translation is mineGoogle Scholar.)

3 Cf. Hermann, Silke, ‘Possibilities for a new perspective in epic research on the Tibetan Gesar’, in Uebach, H. and Panglung, J. (ed.) Tibetan studies (Studia Tibetica, Bd. II), Munich, 1988, 197–201Google Scholar.

4 ‘Gling ge sar rgyal po'i skyes rabs lo rgytu rags tsam brjod pa’ (Gling ge sar rgyal po'i shut rten gyi ngag rgyun ngo mtshar me tog phreng mdzes, Xining 1989), 1–17Google Scholar.

5 Stem, R. A. provides an edition of the lHa-gling and asummarised translation (L'épopée tibétainede Gesar dans sa versionlamaïque de Ling [hereafter Version lamaïque], (Paris, 1956), 19–39; 169–215. For recent publications of the same textGoogle Scholar, see lHa-gling gab-tse dgu-skor (Chengdu, 1980, 152 pp.)Google Scholar; (Lanzhou, 1982, 155 pp.). Another version of the same episode told by the bard Grags-pa has also been published (Peking, 1984), 84 pp.

6 These last three episodes are concerned with the ‘Khrungs-gling. Stein, R. A. has edited this text and made a summarised translation (Version lamaïque, 40–86; 216–74)Google Scholar. For a recent publication ofthe same work, see ‘Khrungs-skor (Lanzhou, 1981, 171 pp.)Google Scholar. For another, slightly different versionof the same text, see ‘Khrungs-gling me-tog ra-ba (Chengdu, 1980, 186 pp.)Google Scholar.

7 Tsha-ba mda'-rdzong (Lhasa, 1982, 213 pp.)Google Scholar.

8 There does not seem to be any text concerned with this episode.

9 The text on this period of Gesar's banishment is probably contained in the Bacot manuscript in Paris, but this still awaits study.

10 ‘Dan-ma’i nas-rdzong (Xining, 1989, 116 pp.)Google Scholar.

11 No text has so far been seen on this theme.

12 The connexion of the horse-race episode with the age of 12 by this author is a mistake. When Gesar is 12, the concern is with finding him a horse for the race, but the race itself is postponed until the following year, and therefore takes place when he is 13, see rTa-rgyug (Lanzhou, 1981), 12–14Google Scholar.

13 The text containing this episode is entitled rTa-rgyug nor-bu-cha-bdun. Stein, R. A. has edited it and provided a translation/summary (Version lamaïque, 87–140, 275–355)Google Scholar. The same text has also recently been published in other editions: sTa-rgyug nor-bu cha-bdun (Chengdu,1981, 258 pp.)Google Scholar, rTa-rgyug (Dharamsala, 1983, 185 pp.)Google Scholar, rTa-rgyug nor-bu cha-bdun (Lhasa, 1981, 173 ppGoogle Scholar.) and rTa-rgyugdpyid-kyi nyi-ma (Xining, 1981, 276 ppGoogle Scholar.). The songs in the episode of the horse race in the text published by Stein have been translated into French; see Helffer, M., Les chants dans l'épopée tibétaine de Gesar d'après le livre de la course de cheval(Genéve-Paris, 1977Google Scholar.)

14 rMa shel-brag (Xining, 1982, 202 ppGoogle Scholar.). The attribution of this event to the age of 13 is uncertain. The text mentioned gives the age as eight (p. 2) and uses the name Jo-ru as if the event wer taking place prior to the race.

15 –Dzam-gling spyi-bsang (Lanzhou, 1980, 196 pp.)Google Scholar.

16 bDud-'dul (Lanzhou, 1981, 201 pp.)Google Scholar.

17 Hor-gling g.yul-'gyed (Xining, 1980,vol. I, 562 pp., vol. II, 668 pp.)Google Scholar. The same version of events appears in vol. I of the edition published in Lhasa (1980, 441 pp.; I have not seen vol. II). Another, much shorter version is Hor-'dul-gyi rtogs-pa brjod-pa g.yul-rgyal lha'i ruga-sgra (Chengdu, n.d., 251 pp.)Google Scholar.

18 ‘Jang-gling g.yul skor (Delhi, 1965,382 pp.)Google Scholar: Gesar, ‘Jang-gling sgrung, by Ngag-dbang bsamgtanphun-tshogs (Gangtok, 1977, vol. I, 596 pp., vol. II, 607 pp.)Google Scholar.

19 Four long texts which are for the most part identical and have the same title, Mon-gling g.yul-gyed (Lhasa, 1980, 470 pp.; Chengdu, 1982, 519 pp.; Xining, 1982, 353 pp.; Lanzhou, 1983, 419 pp.)Google Scholar.

20 sTag-gzig nor-rdzong (Lanzhou, 1979, 443 pp.)Google Scholar. Another, slightly different version of the same work is published under the title sTag-gling g.yul-'gyed (Lhasa, 1979, 385 pp.)Google Scholar.

21 Kha-che g.yu-rdzong (Lhasa, 1979, 236 pp.)Google Scholar.

22 ? Mi-nub rma-bya (I have not seen this text).

23 Zhang-gling g.yul-'gyed (Lhasa, 1982, 143 pp.); Zhang-zhung mu-tig-rdzong (Lanzhou, 1984, 328 pp.)Google Scholar.

24 A-grags gzi-rdzong (Xining, 1985, 662 pp.)Google Scholar.

25 Gru-gu go-rdzong (Lhasa, 1988–1989, vol. i, 883 pp., vol. II, 246 pp.). The same work was published in Dharamsala (1982–83) in three volumesGoogle Scholar.

26 Me-gling gser-rdzong (Xining, 1983, 223 pp.); Me-gling g.yul-'khrugs (Lhasa, 1982, 328 pp.)Google Scholar.

27 sMyug-gu drel-rdzong (Lhasa, 1982, 662 pp.)Google Scholar.

28 Me-ri thog-rdzong (I have not seen this text).

29 mNga'-ris gser-rdzong (Chengdu, 1981, 233 pp.)Google Scholar.

30 Gangs-ri shel-rdzong (Chengdu, 1982, 377 pp.)Google Scholar.

31 Tsa-ri sman-rdzong, written by dBang-chen stobs-rgyal of mGo-log and completed in 1987 (Xining, 1990, 408 pp.)Google Scholar.

32 Bye-ri byur-rdzong (Xining, 1983, 518 pp.). Another text related to this episode is Ge-sar sgang-gling sgrung (Gangtok, 1977, 675 pp.)Google Scholar.

33 ? rGya-nag ja-rdzong (I have not seen this text).

34 ? Dung-dkar stag-rdzong (1 have not seen this text).

35 ? rCya-gar chos-rdzong (I have not seen this text).

36 ? Bal-ri 'bras-rdzong (1 have not seen this text).

37 ? Bhara lug-rdzong. At the second International Symposium of the Gesar Epic, held in Lhasa in August 1991, the bard bSam-grub recited an episode of the epic which he called Bal-ra lugrdzong. Cf. no. 15 in the list of minor texts.

38 Sog li-khri rta-rdzong, by sGrung-gter Nyi-ma rang-shar in mDo-smad (Amdo), (Chengdu, 1990, 254 pp.)Google Scholar. Similar but much longer texts include Sog-stod rta-rdzong (Dharamsala, 1982, 585 pp.)Google Scholar; Sog-smad khrab-rdzong, by Don-rgyud nyi-ma, the eighth Khams-sprul (b. 1931), (Dharamsala, 1985, 823 pp.)Google Scholar. For his other works on Gesar, see below.

39 Cf. n. 37.

40 It is not Zhang-zhung, but Shang-shang and is probably identical to the text entitled Shangshang sman-rdzong written by khyu-mchog, Grub-rigs (Lanzhou, 1984, part 1, 1–395, part 2, 396–638)Google Scholar. Another text related to this episode is mThing-gling g.yul-'gycd (Lhasa 1985, 241 pp.)Google Scholar.

41 To this list can be added several more texts that have appeared recently: Sum-gling g.yul'gyed or Sum-pa mdzo-rdzong (Lhasa, 1981, 135 pp.)Google Scholar; another version of the same episode and the same title (Chengdu, 1982, 204 pp.); Shan-'dan stag-seng kha-sprod(Chengdu, 1982, 244 pp.)Google Scholar; Ri-nub (a-dkar rdo-rdzong) (Xining, 1985, 176 pp.)Google Scholar; Byang sgo-ra rgyal-po'i tshva-g.yang, by rnam-rgyal, IHadge bDud-mdul (Dharamsala, 1985, vol I, 683 pp., vol. II, 284 pp.)Google Scholar; Ja-rong 'brurdzong, by Blo-bstan, Nang-so (Lhasa, 1987, 522 pp.)Google Scholar; rMi-li gser-rdzong, by 'IHa-dge, Brong-stod (Dharamsala, 1985, vol. I, 513 pp., vol. II, 808 pp.)Google Scholar;Glang-ru (Xining, 1985, 132 pp.)Google Scholar.

42 The bards (sgrung-mkhan) do not talk about Gesar's death because he ‘never dies’. However, the dMyal-gling episode is about his ‘departure from the earth’, see dMyal-gling rdzogs-pa chen-po ‘rediscovered’ by rdo-rje, Rig-'dzin drag-rtsal in mGo-log (The Epic of Gesar, Thimphu, 1977, vol. 31, 357 pp.)Google Scholar. There are other texts which have similar titles but contain different minor episodes: dMyal-ba'i le'u or dMyal-gling, by 'dbang-phyug, Dan Chos-kyi (Tibetan Bonpo Monastic Centre, 1973, 526 pp.)Google Scholar. This is concerned with Gesar's rescue of some of his cavalry who fall into hell after their deaths. A similar text is dMyal-gling mun-pa rang-gsal (Xining, 1983 109 pp.)Google Scholar, which deals with Gesar's rescue of A-stag lha-mo, demon Klu-btsan's sister, from hell, and Gesar's complicity. The dmyal-gling ordmyal-le types of text are therefore not always connected with his own departure for heaven, but with his actions spread over other periods of his life.

43 rTsa-ba'i rnam-thar, 1–44 (Gling-rje ge-sar-gyi rtsa-ba'i mdzad-pa mdor-bdus., Burmiok Athing Collection Series, vol. III, Dharamsala, 1981)Google Scholar. Other texts of the same type are: Gling gesar rgyalpo'I rnam-thar (Lhasa, 1989, 117 pp.)Google Scholar; 'Dzam-gling skyes-bu'i chos-sgrung sil-ma las gser-chos 'ogmin bgrod-pa'i them-skas gsang-ba'i rgya-can (Chos-sgrung dang bshad-pa mam-bdun, Chengdu, 1990, 1–87); Srid-pa Chags-lugs (Xining, 1987, 332 ppGoogle Scholar.) This last work deals with the hero's life only up to the horse race (rTa-rgyug).

44 IHa-gling (Lanzhou, 1982), 42Google Scholar; bDud-'dul (Lanzhou, 1980), 15ffGoogle Scholar.

45 Stein's, R. A. translation of the line mtha'-bzhi rgyal-klmg bco-brgyad as ‘Les ennemis humains venus des dix-huit royaumes des quatre confins’ is incorrect (Versīon lamaīque. IHagling. 195)Google Scholar; bDud-'dul (Lanzhou, 1980), 12Google Scholar.

46 Recherches, 254–61Google Scholar; Macdonald, Ariane, ‘Note sur le diffusion de la “théorie des Quatre Fils du Ciel” au Tibet’, Journal Asiatique. CCL, 1962, 531–48Google Scholar.

47 The bilingual inscription of the Sino-Tibetan peace treaty (Richardson, H., The corpus of early Tibetan inscriptions, London, Royal Asiatic Society, 112, 1. 37Google Scholar; 108, 11. 13–14); lHa-gling (Lanzhou, 1982), 79, 84, 87, 104Google Scholar.

48 Pelliot tibétain 958, fol. la-lb, Macdonald, A. and Imaeda, Y.,Choix de documents tibétains conservés à la Bihliothéaue Nationale, tome I (Paris, 1979), pl. 241–2Google Scholar: cf. also Macdonald, Ariane, ‘Note sur la diffusion ’, 532–5Google Scholar.

49 mKhas-pa Ide'us mdzad-pa'i rgya-bod-kyi chos-'byung rgyas-pa (Gangs-can rig-mdzod, 3, Lhasa, 1987), 220–26Google Scholar.

50 Stein, R. A., Recherches, 252–3 and ‘Une source ancienne pour I'histoire de I'épopée tibétaine: Le Rlangs Po-ti bse-ru’, Journal Asiatique, CCL, 1962, 85Google Scholar.

51 IHa-gling (Lanzhou, 1982), 15Google Scholar.

52 Lanzhou, 1980, 12, 83, 98, 108, 116, 119.

53 Ibid., 108.

54 rTa-rgyug (Lanzhou, 1981), 2, 238–9Google Scholar.

55 ibid.., 239.

56 See Mon-gling g.yul-gyed (Lhasa, 1980), 1–2.Google Scholar

57 Gesar rgya-gling sgrung or Nag-po rgya-gling (Gangtok, 1977, 527 pp.)Google Scholar. (da dgra-mtha' nagpo rgya-la gtad/ rgya-nag khrims-sgo phye-ran thai, 21).

58 They are sMan-lis. Tshe-lis and Hor-lis and belong to a large work of many more chapters, but the three named are the only ones to have reached Paris. The author of these chapters is dBang-chenNyi-ma, a Bonpo layman and chief of the dMar-ru region in Khams who lived around the beginning of this century. The French translation of these chapters is now complete and it is hoped that it will be published in the near future.

59 Written by sems-dpa', Byang-chub chos-kyi blo-gros, alias Don-rgyud nyi-ma, the eighth Khams-sprul (Lhasa, 1983, 448 pp.). His other works on Gesar are: U yan-gling (Palampur, H. P., 1974, vol. I, 659 pp., vol. n, 512 pp.). For other similar recent works, see also Karma rangbyung phrin-las (Kalu Rinpoche), dBus ‘chi-bdag cham-la phab-pa (Bir, 1975, vol. I, 870 pp., vol. II to appear)Google Scholar.

60 Written by pra-pa, Kha-tsha Ngag-dbang blo-bzang from Ri-bo-che in Amdo (Lhasa, 1986–1989, vol. I, 411 pp., vol. II, 761 pp., vol. III, 533 ppGoogle Scholar.; Bhe-gling g.yul-'gyed, another recent work, is by sNam-snang rdo-rje (Xining, 1989, 386 pp.)Google Scholar.