si tu paṇ chen, monastic ideals, and the buddha's biographies

Journal of theInternational Association

of Tibetan Studies

Issue 7 — August 2013

ISSN 1550-6363

An online journal published by the Tibetan and Himalayan Library (THL)

www.jiats.org

http://www.jiats.org

Editor-in-Chief: David GermanoGuest Editor: Karl Debreczeny

Book Review Editor: Bryan J. CuevasManaging Editor: Steven Weinberger

Assistant Editors: Naomi Worth, Ben Nourse, and William McGrathTechnical Director: Nathaniel Grove

Contents

Articles

• Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi ’byung gnas in History: A Brief Note (pp. 1-16)– Elliot Sperling

• Si tu paṇ chen and the House of Sde dge: A Demanding but BeneficialRelationship (pp. 17-48)

– Rémi Chaix

• The Prolific Preceptor: Si tu paṇ chen’s Career as Ordination Master in Khams andIts Effect on Sectarian Relations in Sde dge (pp. 49-85)

– Jann Ronis

• Purity in the Pudding and Seclusion in the Forest: Si tu paṇ chen, Monastic Ideals,and the Buddha’s Biographies (pp. 86-124)

– Nancy G. Lin

• Si tu paṇ chen and His Painting Style: A Retrospective (pp. 125-192)– Tashi Tsering

• Si tu paṇ chen’s Artistic Legacy in ’Jang (pp. 193-276)– Karl Debreczeny

• Mercury, Mad Dogs, and Smallpox: Medicine in the Si tu paṇ chenTradition (pp. 277-301)

– Frances Garrett

• Si tu paṇ chen on Scholarship (pp. 302-315)– Kurtis R. Schaeffer

• Notes Apropos to the Oeuvre of Si tu paṇ chen Chos kyi ’byunggnas (1699?-1774) (4): A Tibetan Sanskritist in Nepal (pp. 316-339) (forthcoming)

– Peter Verhagen

ii

Other Articles

• Arriving Ahead of Time: TheMa ’das sprul sku and Issues of Sprul skuPersonhood (pp. 340-364)

– Marcia S. Calkowski

• The Significant Leap from Writing to Print: Editorial Modification in the FirstPrinted Edition of the Collected Works of Sgam po pa Bsod nams rinchen (pp. 365-425)

– Ulrich Timme Kragh

• In the Hidden Valley of the White Conch: The Inscription of a Bhutanese PureLand (pp. 426-453)

– Bryan Phillips and Lopen Ugyen Gyurme Tendzin

Book Reviews

• Review of A Noble Noose of Methods, The Lotus Garland Synopsis: A MahāyogaTantra and Its Commentary, by Cathy Cantwell and Robert Mayer (pp. 454-464)

– Giacomella Orofino

Abstracts (pp. 465-469)

Contributors to this Issue (pp. 470-473)

iii

Purity in the Pudding and Seclusion in the Forest:-

Si tu paṇ chen, Monastic Ideals, and the Buddha’sBiographies

Nancy G. LinVanderbilt University

Abstract: In this article I demonstrate that close readings of Tibetan adaptationsof the Buddha’s life reveal a complex literary and artistic corpus. Such adaptationsserve as sites of discourse where the particular concerns and projects of Tibetanauthors and artists can be elicited within their religious and historical contexts. Iexamine two biographies of the Buddha Śākyamuni: a textual account by Si tu paṇchen chos kyi ’byung gnas (1700-1774) and a pictorial design preserved in twothang kas in the Tibet Museum (Bod ljongs rten rdzas bshams mdzod khang, Xizangbowuguan, 西藏博物馆) in Lha sa. I argue that themes of ascetic purity andseclusion are developed in these two works, expressing monastic ideals in dynamicresponse to sectarian politics and the changing character of monastic communitiesin Khams. By reading sets of adaptations together – with their sources and acrosstextual and visual media – I suggest that we can better recognize and analyze howthey shape cultural imagination.

IntroductionHow did the Buddha’s life story get retold in Tibet, and for what ends?1 Whatquestions open up when we take this process of adaptation as an object of studyin its own right? The life of the Buddha Śākyamuni (Shākya thub pa) appears tobe a familiar and innocuous subject – a story that has simply been borrowed fromIndia – and perhaps for these reasons it has not attracted much attention in Tibetan

1 I would like to thank Karl Debreczeny, David Jackson, Jann Ronis, and Kurtis Schaeffer for theiruseful and stimulating comments and papers, along with other participants of the 2009 Symposium onSitu Panchen at the Rubin Museum of Art and the panel on Situ Panchen, Tibetan Polymath of18th-Century Dergé at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Association for Asian Studies. I would alsolike to thank Patricia Berger, Jacob Dalton, Alexander Rospatt, and Hubert Decleer for their thoughtfulsuggestions on drafts of this article. In addition, I am grateful to the staff of the Asian Classics InputProject; while my citations reflect textual verification with the printed edition of the Sde dge Bka’ ’gyur,their digital input greatly facilitated my use of canonical references at the time that this research wasconducted.

Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, no. 7 (August 2013): 86-124.http://www.thlib.org?tid=T5750.1550-6363/2013/7/T5750.© 2013 by Nancy G. Lin, Tibetan and Himalayan Library, and International Association of Tibetan Studies.Distributed under the THL Digital Text License.

http://www.thlib.org?tid=T5750

http://www.thlib.org/tools/licenses.php#essay=/thl/text-license/

studies. In this article I demonstrate that close readings of Tibetan adaptations ofthe Buddha’s life reveal a complex literary and artistic corpus in response tomultiple sources. Such adaptations may be understood as sites of discourse wherethe particular concerns and projects of Tibetan authors and artists can be elicitedwithin the context of contemporaneous religious and historical developments.Specifically, the present article examines two biographies of the Buddha Śākyamuni:one is a textual account by the Eighth Tā’i si tu pa, Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi ’byunggnas (1700-1774), in his catalogue to the Sde dge Bka’ ’gyur (Translated Word[of the Buddha]), and the other is a pictorial design preserved in two thang kas inthe TibetMuseum (Bod ljongs rten rdzas bshamsmdzod khang, Xizang bowuguan,西藏博物馆) in Lha sa (Lasa, 拉萨). I argue that themes of ascetic purity andseclusion are developed in these two works, conveying a vision of ideal monasticlife that favors both scholasticism and celibacy. This vision may be interpreted asa dynamic response to sectarian politics and the changing character of monasticcommunities in Khams.

Si tu’s Bka’ ’gyur CatalogueEarly in 1731 Si tu undertook the editing of the Bka’ ’gyur.2 The formal requestof the Sde dge ruler Bstan pa tshe ring (1678-1738) is recorded in a biography ofSi tu by his contemporary, the Sde dge court physician (bla sman) and secretary(drung yig) Gu ru ’phel:

In the Iron-Pig Year the dharma king (chos rgyal, dharmarāja) of Sde dgeenjoined [Si tu]:

“The life-force of the Buddha’s teachings is the Translated Word [of theBuddha] and Translated Treatises (Bstan ’gyur).

Although they were already made with devotionInto print editions such as the Chinese, Dbus, and Li thang,3It seems that, thanks to confusions of word order, theymerely exist [withoutmuch use].

2 Si-tu Paṇ-chen Chos-kyi-’byuṅ-gnas, The Autobiography and Diaries of Si-tu Paṇ-chen, ed. LokeshChandra, for. E. Gene Smith, Śata-piṭaka Series 77 (New Delhi: International Academy of IndianCulture, 1968), 151.3-4.3 The Chinese edition likely refers to the Yongle edition together with the subsequent impressions

of Wanli and Kangxi. The Dbus edition may refer to the Them spangs ma manuscript copied widelyduring the reign of the Fifth Dalai Lama (1617-1682). In particular the Lho rdzong Bka’ ’gyur, adescendant of the Them spangs ma, was consulted in the making of the Sde dge edition. The Li thangor ’Jang sa tham edition – a descendant of the Tshal pa edition – was produced from 1609-1614 andserved as the base text for the Sde dge edition. In his Bka’ ’gyur catalogue Si tu refers to the Lho rdzong,Yongle and ’Jang sa tham editions. Helmut Eimer, “Some Results of Recent Kanjur Research,” inArchiv für zentralasiatischeGeschichtsforschung, ed. Dieter Schuh andMichaelWeiers (Sankt Augustin,Germany: VGHWissenschaftsverlag, 1983), 24; Kurtis R. Schaeffer, The Culture of the Book in Tibet(New York: Columbia University Press, 2009), 145. See also Paul Harrison, “A Brief History of theTibetan bKa’ ’gyur,” in Tibetan Literature: Studies in Genre, ed. José Ignacio Cabezón and Roger R.Jackson (Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications, 1996), 70-94; and Paul Harrison, “In Search of the Sourceof the Tibetan Bka’ ’gyur: A Reconnaissance Report,” in Tibetan Studies: Proceedings of the SixthSeminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Fagernes 1992, ed. Per Kvaerne, OccasionalPapers (Oslo: The Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture, 1994), 295-317.

87Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, no. 7 (August 2013)

Not only that, they can’t be trusted by all scholars.So that the banner of the Buddha’s teachings does not decline,[I ask] if you would be pleased to produce an edition of the Bka’ ’gyur.You are the crown jewel of Sanskrit-Tibetan scholars, andYour knowledge of the entire Bka’ ’gyur and Translated Treatises is vastand unhindered.

Hence, with the Dharma eye [you] possess, perfectly clarifyThe flawed translations, wrong words, and mixed-up orderIn the previous editions of the precious Bka’ ’gyur.”

At the inaugural celebration a large dkyil ’khor (maṇḍala) was offered.Then [Si tu] did the editing in stages and acquired assistants in accordance

with his wishes.4

Bstan pa tshe ring’s verses express high regard for Si tu’s abilities as a scholarwho could operate in Sanskrit and Tibetan languages and who had wide-rangingknowledge of the Buddhist canon. He suggests that previous editors had devotion(mos pa, adhimukti) to the buddhadharma (sangs rgyas kyi chos), but neverthelessdid not manage to produce perfectly correct texts. The need for dependablescriptures remains, since scholars reading these texts might harbor doubts aboutapparently unresolved issues in the Buddha’s teachings that are actually causedby textual corruption.

Mere linguistic aptitude, it is further suggested, may not be sufficient for thetask either. Bstan pa tshe ring attributes to Si tu the Dharma eye (chos spyan,dharmacakṣus), which, according to Sthiramati’s explication of the five eyes(pañcacakṣus, spyan lnga) “understands without impediment all the scripture,understands the stream of consciousness of persons... and see[s] dharmas in theconventional sense.”5 A sampling of Si tu’s impressive erudition and grasp of theBka’ ’gyur will be offered in the discussion below. However, despite the loftyrhetoric entrusting Si tu with this project, he was not to enjoy full editorial controlat its conclusion.

The following year, during the auspicious fourth lunar month of Sa ga zla bacelebrating the key events of the Buddha’s life, Si tu finished editing the Bka’’gyur. At the request of Bstan pa tshe ring, Si tu began composing a catalogue to

4 lcags phag chos rgyal sde dge’i bka’ bskul te// sangs rgyas bstan pa’i srog ni bka’ bstan ’gyur//de la mos pas rgya dbus li thang sogs// phyi mo par du bsgrubs zin ’dug na yang // brda chad go rim’khrul pas yin lo tsam// ma gtogs mkhas kun yid brtan mi nus kyi// sangs rgyas bstan pa mi nub rgyalmtshan du// bka’ ’gyur par zhig bzhengs par spro ba na// khyod ni rgya bod mkhas pa’i gtsugs rgyante// bka’ bstan kun la thogs med mkhyen pa rgyas// de phyir bka’ ’gyur rin chen phyi mo rnams// ’gyurnyes brda log go rim ’khrugs pa rnams// chos spyan ldan pas dag par gsal bar mdzod// dbu ’dzugsdga’ ston maṇḍal cher ’bul zhus/ de nas rim gyis zhu dag mdzad pa dang / zhar byung gdul bya’i reba skong bzhin du//. Sde dge’i bla sman gu ru ’phel, Rje btsun bla ma si tu chos kyi ’byung gnas kyirnam par thar pa dad pa’i sa bon skyed pa’i bdud rtsi’i zim char [Light Rain of Nectar Sprouting Seedsof Trust: Life of Jetsün Lama Situ Chökyi Jungné], in Dpal spungs thub bstan chos ’khor gling gi lorgyus [History of Pelpung Tupten Chökhorling], ed. Karma rgyal mtshan (Beijing: Mi rigs dpe skrunkhang, 2007), 86-87.5 Translated in Alex Wayman, “The Buddhist Theory of Vision,” in Buddhist Insight: Essays by

Alex Wayman, ed. George R. Elder (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1984), 156-57.

88Lin: Purity in the Pudding and Seclusion in the Forest

the Bka’ ’gyur. Like earlier Tibetan canonical catalogues, in addition to the index(bzhugs byang) it was to contain a lengthy introduction to Buddhism recountingŚākyamuni's path to liberation through the course of many lives, together with thesubsequent spread and preservation of Buddhism in India and Tibet, especially viathe formation and transmission of the canon.6 Si tu originally planned eight chapters,which, he noted, would match in number the eight auspicious symbols (bkra shisrtags brgyad, aṣṭamaṅgala). However, Si tu wrote, because some “disapprovingobjections from the great abbot (mkhan chen) were made that it was too long, andso forth,” the first three chapters had to be cut.7 The “great abbot” mentioned hereis most likelyMkhan chen rdo rje ’chang bkra shis lhun grub, the retired thirty-firstabbot of Ngor, who came to Sde dge in 1728 and was influential at court, notablyfor effecting the Sde dge printing of the Collected Works of the Sakya (Sa skyabka’ ’bum) in fifteen volumes.8 While we may never know what other objectionsmay have been raised, this rare instance of outspokenness in Si tu’s generally tersediary indicates his great disappointment at having to omit so much of his text fromthe final edition of the Bka’ ’gyur catalogue.

Si tu’s collected works, however, preserve a full eight-chapter edition of hiscatalogue.9 The full title of the catalogue may be translated as A Vine of YoungMoonbeams that Bring Jasmine Flowers – the Conviction of the Intelligent – intoFull Bloom: Fine Discourse on How the Collection of Previous Texts of the Sugata’sWords, Conveyed through the Language of the Snowy Land, Were Published in aBlockprint Edition – hereafter referred to as the “catalogue” or as Vine of YoungMoonbeams (Zla ’od gzhon nu’i ’khri shing).10 The work was completed in the

6 On the contents of Tibetan canonical catalogues see A.I. Vostrikov, Tibetan Historical Literature,trans. Harish Chandra Gupta, Soviet Indology Series 4 (Calcutta: R.D. Press, 1970), 205-15.7 Autobiography of Si-tu, 153.2.8 The invitation of Bkra shis lhun grub by Bstan pa tshe ring and his arrival in Sde dge are documented

in Zhu-chen Tshul-khrims-rin-chen [Zhu chen tshul khrims rin chen], The Autobiography ofTshul-khrims-rin-chen of Sde-dge and Other of His Selected Writings (Delhi: N. Lungtok and N.Gyaltsen, 1971), 400.3-5. Zhu chen later provides his titles and names in full as Sde dge’i mkhan chenrdo rje ’chang bkra shis lhun grub (1672-1739) (ibid., 472.2-3). For a brief biography of this figurementioning his activities in Sde dge, see Mu po, Lam ’bras bla ma brgyud pa’i rnam thar [Biographiesof the Lamdré Lama Lineage] (Beijing: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2002), 154-59. On his role in the Sdedge edition of the Sa skya bka’ ’bum, see David P. Jackson, The Entrance Gate for the Wise (SectionIII): Sa-skya Paṇḍita on Indian and Tibetan Traditions of Pramāṇa and Philosophical Debate (Wien:Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien Universität Wien, 1987), vol. 1, 232-36.9 Si tu further wrote in his diaries that the three omitted chapters dealt with “the three bodies (sku

gsum, trikāya) of the Buddha, the birth-stories regarding the way in which the Teacher himself generatedbodhicitta, and the demonstration of the twelve great deeds.” Autobiography of Si-tu, 153.2-3. However,in the eight-chapter version, the first chapter mainly treats the world with its environment and beings,and is so titled. Since Si tu discusses the three bodies in a systematic way in the first section of ChapterThree on the deeds of the Buddha, I suggest that Si tu composed a new chapter on the world andcombined his discussion of the three bodies with the chapter on the life of the Buddha. See also P.C.Verhagen’s discussion of these two differing versions. P.C. Verhagen, “Notes apropos to the Oeuvreof Si-tu Paṇ-chen Chos-kyi-’byuṅ-gnas (1699?-1774) 2: Dkar-chag Materials,” in Gedenkschrift J.W.de Jong, ed. H.W. Bodewitz and M. Hara (Tokyo: International Institute for Buddhist Studies, 2004),208.10 Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi ’byung gnas, Bde bar gshegs pa’i bka’ gangs can gyi brdas drangs pa’i

phyi mo’i tshogs ji snyed pa par du bsgrubs pa’i tshul las nye bar brtsams pa’i gtam bzang po blo ldan


first half of the seventh month of the female water-ox year (1733).11 The third andlengthiest chapter (seventy folios) reconstructs the biography of the BuddhaŚākyamuni from Bka’ ’gyur sources and is entitled Brief Explanation of the Deedsof our Teacher, the Excellent Guide, Lord of the Śākyas (Bdag cag gi ston pa rnam’dren shākya’i dbang po’i mdzad pa mdo tsam du legs par bshad pa).12 Si tu statesthat his narrative is “principally based on the Extensive Play (Rgya cher rol pa,Lalitavistara), and although it is supplemented with other Hīnayāna andMahāyānasūtras (mdo), it is compiled without mixing them.”13 That is, Si tu does not providea seamless and straightforward narrative of the Buddha’s lives as we find, forexample, in popular accounts of the Twelve Deeds [of the Buddha] (mdzad pa bcugnyis).14 Rather, in the catalogue he draws from multiple sources, juxtaposing andciting different versions of the same events. This scholarly method reveals themeticulousness of Si tu’s editing process, even as it draws attention to thediscrepancies between canonical texts.

By way of example, here I present differing accounts of the offering of milkpudding to the Bodhisattva (Byang chub sems dpa’), as given in Si tu’s Vine ofYoung Moonbeams. These occur at the conclusion of the six years of austerities,after the Bodhisattva understands that extreme asceticism is not the path to liberationand decides to eat substantial food again. Si tu includes three different summariesof this event, based respectively on the Sūtra on the Extensive [Account of theBuddha’s] Play (Rgya cher rol pa’i mdo, Lalitavistarasūtra), the Division onMonastic Conduct (’Dul ba gzhi, Vinayavastu), and the Sūtra of the GreatDeparture (Mngon par ’byung ba’i mdo, Abhiniṣkramaṇasūtra). Si tu’s firstsummary of the milk pudding episode is based on the Extensive Play:

In the morning he set out to the village for alms. Meanwhile, around midnighta god urged Sujātā (Legs skyes ma), “Earlier a resolution was made by you; make

mos pa’i kunda yongs su kha phye ba’i zla ’od gzhon nu’i ’khri shing [A Vine of Young Moonbeamsthat Bring Jasmine Flowers – the Conviction of the Intelligent – into Full Bloom: Fine Discourse onHow the Collection of Previous Texts of the Sugata’s Words, Conveyed through the Language of theSnowy Land, Were Published in a Blockprint Edition], in Tā’i si tu pa kun mkhyen chos kyi ’byunggnas bstan pa’i nyin byed kyi bka’ ’bum [Collected Works of Tai Situpa Künkhyen Chökyi JungnéTenpé Nyinjé] (Kangra, H.P.: Sherab Gyaltsen, 1990), vol. da [9], 1a-260a.11 Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi ’byung gnas, Zla ’od gzhon nu’i ’khri shing, 260a.4.12 yal ’dab gsum pa/ bdag cag gi ston pa rnam ’dren shākya’i dbang po’i mdzad pa mdo tsam du

legs par bshad pa/. Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi ’byung gnas, Zla ’od gzhon nu’i ’khri shing, 33a-102b.13 rgya che rol pa’i mdo gzhir bzhag nas theg pa che chung gi mdo gzhan nas kha bskang ba rnams

kyang ma ’dres par bkod pa las/. Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi ’byung gnas, Zla ’od gzhon nu’i ’khri shing,42a.1-2.14 On the canonized praise of the Twelve Deeds [of the Buddha] attributed to Nāgārjuna, see Lobsang

Dargyay, “The Twelve Deeds of the Buddha – A Controversial Hymn Ascribed to Nāgārjuna,” TheTibet Journal 9, no. 2 (Summer 1984): 3-12. On the development of the Twelve Deeds [of the Buddha]in Tibet, see Deborah Klimburg-Salter, “The Life of the Buddha in Western Himalayan Monastic Artand Its Indian Origins: Act One,” East and West (Rome) 38, nos. 1-4 (Dec. 1988), 208-209; ChristianLuczanits, “Prior to Birth II: The Tuṣita Episodes in Early Tibetan Buddhist Literature and Art,” inPramāṇakīrtiḥ: Papers Dedicated to Ernst Steinkellner on the Occasion of His 70th Birthday, ed. BirgitKellner et al, Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde 70 (Vienna: Arbeitskreis fürTibetische und Buddhistische Studien, Universität Wien, 2007), 498-502.


it happen!” Quickly she extracted the essence of the milk of a thousand cowsseven times. She poured it together with new rice into a new vessel, put it on anew hearth and boiled it.

In it auspicious symbols were seen such as the glorious knot [of eternity] (dpalbe’u, śrīvatsa), g.yung drung (svāstika), and lotus. She was certain that if theBodhisattva ate that food, he would obtain the nectar [of liberation]; an astrologeralso explained [that to be the case]. After boiling the milk pudding she spread itout and sprinkled flowers and scented water on it. Then she sent a maidservantnamed Uttarā (Gong ma) to invite a brahmin.

But because the gods concealed [all] others, though she looked in the fourdirections she could find no mendicants or brahmins other than the Bodhisattva.So she returned and said, “Wherever I go, there is no one other than the handsomemendicant.” [Sujātā] said, “That’s the one! Go call him!”

Then, since he was invited, he sat down in Sujātā’s home. Filling a great goldenvessel with honeyed milk pudding, Sujātā offered it. Stirred by compassion, heresolved, “Having eaten this, without a doubt I shall obtain the nectar [ofliberation]!”15

Si tu condenses the Extensive Play passage, but otherwise follows the Tibetantranslation of the Sanskrit text quite closely.16 Stylistically, the main effect is aquickening of the narrative pace, with the dialogue becoming more crisp andcolloquial. One notable change is that Si tu supplies the new phrase “stirred bycompassion,” a supplementary insertion that reiterates the Bodhisattva’scommitment to obtain liberation for the sake of others as well as himself. In short,Si tu’s strategies here are to summarize, clarify, and expand the text, strategies thatfeature in the conservative commentarial traditions of Tibetan Buddhism.17

15 snga dro grong du bsod snyoms kyi phyir zhugs pa na/ legs skyes ma la nam phyed tsam na lhassngon khyod kyis smon lam btab pa’i bya ba de gyis shig par bskul bas/ des myur bar ba stong gi ’oma lan bdun du nying khur byas pa blangs nas/ ’bras sar pa dang lhan cig phru ba sar par blugs tethab gsar par btsugs nas bskol ba na/ de’i nang du dpal be [read be’u] g.yung drung padma la sogspa bkra shis pa’i mtshan mthong nas/ byang chub sems dpas zas de zos na bdud rtsi thob par nges parnyed cing mtshan mkhan gyis kyang bstan to/ de nas ’o thug tshos nas thang la bzhag ste/ me tog dangspos chus gtor nas bran mo gong ma zhes pa bram ze mgron du ’bod par btang ngo / des kyang lharnams kyis gzhan dag bsgribs pas phyogs bzhir btsal kyang / byang chub sems dpa’ kho na las dgesbyong bram ze gzhan ma rnyed pas slar log nas smras pa/ gang du mchis kyang dge sbyong mdzespa las gzhan mi gda’o/ des smras pa/ de nyid yin gyi bos shig /de nas spyan drangs pas legs skyes ma’ikhyim du stan la bzhugs te/ legs skyes mas ’o thug sbrang rtsi can gyis gser snod chen po bkang stephul ba thugs brtse bas blangs te/ ’di zos nas the tshom med par bdud rtsi thob par bya’o snyam dudgongs so/ /. Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi ’byung gnas, Zla ’od gzhon nu’i ’khri shing, 79a.6-79b.4.16 ’Phags pa rgya cher rol pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo [The Noble Extensive (Account of

the Buddha’s) Play, A Mahāyāna Sūtra, Āryalalitavistaranāmamahāyānasūtra], in The Sde-dgeMtshal-par Bka’-’gyur: A Facsimile Edition of the 18th Century Redaction of Si-tu Chos-kyi ’byuṅ-gnasPrepared Under the Direction of H.H. the 16th Rgyal-dbaṅ Karma-pa (Delhi: Delhi Karmapae ChodheyGyalwae Sungrab Partun Khang, 1976-1979), vol. kha (46), 131b.5-132b.2. Cf. Shridhar Tripathi ed.,Lalita-vistara, Buddhist Sanskrit Texts 1, 2nd. ed. (Darbhanga: Mithila Institute of Post-graduateStudies and Research in Sanskrit Learning, 1987), 222.4-223.4. For canonical sources I cite the Sdedge edition because of Si tu’s responsibility for – and hence presumed familiarity with – this edition,but also cite from a Sanskrit edition when available.17 On the techniques, functions, and meanings of commentaries, as well as the doctrinal conservatism

of Tibetan Buddhist commentaries, see José Ignacio Cabezón, Buddhism and Language (Albany: State


Significantly, Si tu also uses the term “nectar” (bdud rtsi, amṛta) to refer to theBodhisattva’s impending liberation; in the Extensive Play the terms used by Sujātāand the Bodhisattva are “awakening” (byang chub, bodhi) and “unexcelled,complete, perfect awakening” (bla na med pa yang dag par rdzogs pa’i byangchub, anuttarāsamyaksambodhi), although the astrologer does refer to it as “nectar”in his confirmation of Sujātā’s knowledge.18 Si tu’s word choice plays on themeaning of amṛta as both the “deathless” state of liberation and as the ambrosialliquid which brings about that state. As we will see, this emphasis on the milkpudding and its role in the Bodhisattva’s liberation recurs in Si tu’s text.

The identity of the donor as the lady Sujātā is familiar to many Buddhists.However, Si tu follows his account based on the Extensive Play with anotherversion, citing the Monastic Conduct (’Dul ba, Vinaya) as its source:19

Two daughters of Sena named Nandā (Dga’ ma) and Nandabalā (Dga’ stobsma), due to a prophecy by a seer, had finished twelve years of ascetic practicesin order to become queens of the cakravartin youth Siddhārtha (Don grub). Theascetic fatigued by his austerities was about to arrive; in order to make him anoffering, they milked a thousand cows and fed [that milk] to five hundred. Milkingthose [five hundred], they fed it it to two hundred fifty, and so on down,concentrating it until there were eight cows. Milking those [eight], they fed thosesame [eight] sixteen times, and boiled the resulting concentrate in a crystal vessel.The gods of the pure abode (gnas gtsang ma’i lha, śuddhāvāsakāyikadeva) pouredin medicine called “Strengthening (mthu skyed pa, sadyobala).” Seeing auspicioussymbols in it, one named Upaga (Kun tu nyer ’gro) asked for it, but they wouldnot give it.

Śakra (Brgya byin) in the guise of a brahmin, along with Brahmā (Tshangspa) and the gods of the pure abode, came there. The [two daughters] poured themilk pudding into a precious vessel and offered it to Śakra. He would not acceptit, saying, “Brahmā is more distinguished than I.” So it was offered to Brahmā.However, he likewise [indicated] the gods of the pure abode. They also wouldnot accept it, indicating the Bodhisattva, so the two daughters went before him.

At that time, the Bodhisattva was bathing in the Nairañjanā (Nai ranydza nā)River. He could not cross [due to weakness], so he grasped a branch of the arjuna(a rdzu na) tree that was lowered by a god, and emerged. He put on Dharma robesand sat down, and then they offered the milk pudding together with the vessel.After he finished the milk pudding, he threw the vessel into the water. Anāga-serpent (klu, nāga) took it, but Śakra turned into a garuḍa-bird (mkha’ lding)and stole it.

University of New York Press, 1994), 71-87; and Georges B.J. Dreyfus, The Sound of Two HandsClapping: The Education of a Tibetan Buddhist Monk (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University ofCalifornia Press, 2003), 183-94.18 Rgya cher rol pa, 132a.3, 132b.2. Note that while the Tibetan translation gives byang chub in the

first instance on 132a.3, Tripathi’s Sanskrit edition contains the full phrase in the corresponding text,anuttarāṃ samyaksambodhiṃ. Tripathi, Lalita-vistara, 222.14-15, 223.4.19 ’di skabs su lung las ’di ltar ’byung ste/. Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi ’byung gnas, Zla ’od gzhon nu’i

’khri shing, 86a.5.


Although the two daughters had made a resolution to marry the youthSiddhārtha, he said that he had already renounced. So they offered [this verse]:

By whatever merit there may be from this fine offering,May the renowned Sarvārthasiddha (Don rnams kun ’grub pa) –Best among men, supremely intelligent –Swiftly accomplish all aims!20

This digest in Si tu’s Vine of Young Moonbeams indeed corresponds to theaccount in the Division on Monastic Conduct and is even more condensed thanhis previous digest based on the Extensive Play.21 Certain themes related to thefood offering recur in both of Si tu’s summaries. Themilk pudding is characterizedby purity: in Si tu’s Extensive Play digest this is achieved through the newness ofthe rice, vessel, and hearth, whereas in his Division on Monastic Conduct digestthe procedure of condensing the milk through the repeated feeding and milking ofprogressively fewer cows is enumerated in greater detail. The milk pudding is alsoprecious: in both cases auspicious signs are seen in the liquid, it is served in avaluable vessel, and gods intervene to ensure that no one other than the Bodhisattvacan drink it. It is also noteworthy that in both digests the food is offered by humanfemales.

However, there are several striking differences in the plot. First, in Si tu’sDivision on Monastic Conduct digest there are two sisters who prepare the milkpudding and participate in its giving, rather than the single maiden Sujātā. Nandāand Nandabalā did not know that the youth Siddhārtha had renounced and werebound up in the ulterior motive to marry him. The characters Nandā and Nandabalāthus introduce narrative tension into Si tu’s Division on Monastic Conduct digest,which is resolved at the end of the episode when they abandon their former

20 sde can gyi bu mo dga’ ma dang / dga’ stobs ma gnyis mtshan mkhan gyis lung bstan nas gzhonnu don grub ’khor los sgyur bar ’gyur ba’i btsun mo bya ba’i phyir/ lo bcu gnyis su brtul zhugs spyadnas de zin pa dang / drang srong dka’ thub kyis dub pa blo [read glo] bur ’ongs pa la sbyin pa’i cheddu ba stong bzhos nas lnga brgya la blud/ de bzhos nas nyis brgya lnga bcu la blud pa sogs rim gyisnyid khur byas te brgyad du gyur pa dang / de dag bzhos nas de dag nyid blud pa lan bcu drug tu byaspa’i nyid khu shel snod du bskol ba la gnas gtsang ma’i lha rnams kyis mthu skyed pa zhes bya ba’isman blug pa der bkra shis pa’i mtshan mthong nas kun tu nyer ’gro zhes bya bas bslangs kyang mabyin no/ brgya byin bram ze’i cha byad kyis dang / tshangs pa dang / gnas gtsang ma’i lha’ang der’ong nas ’dug pa dang / des ’o thug rin po che’i yos [read yol] gor blugs nas brgya byin la byin padang / des ma blangs te rang nyid las tshangs pa khyad par ’phags pa’o/ zhes smras pas tshangs pala byin no/ des kyang de bzhin du gnas gtsang ma’i lha la’o/ des kyang ma blangs te byang chub semsdpa’ bstan pas bu mo gnyis de’i drung du chas te/ de’i tshe byang chub sems dpa’ nai ranydza nār skubkrus nas rgal ma spyod par lhas a rdzu na’i yal ga smad pa la ’jus nas byung zhing chos gos mnabste bzhugs pa la ’o thug snod bcas phul zhing/ ’o thug gsol zin nas yol go chur dor ba klus blangs kyangbrgya byin gyis mkha’ lding du byas nas phrogs so/ / bu mo gnyis kyis gzhon nu don grub khyim thabtu smon lam byas kyang / de rab tu byung zin par gsungs pas/ bsod pa phul ba'i bsod nams ci mchispas/ grags dang ldan pa don rnams kun 'grub pa/ mi yi mchog gyur blo mchog ldan pa de'i/ don kunmyur du shin tu grub gyur cig/ ces btab bo/. Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi ’byung gnas, Zla ’od gzhon nu’i’khri shing, 86a.6-86b.5.21 ’Dul ba gzhi (Vinayavastu), in The Sde-dge Mtshal-par Bka’-’gyur, vol. nga (4), 26a.2-27b.6. For

the corresponding Sanskrit text, see Raniero Gnoli ed., The Gilgit Manuscript of the Saṅghabhedavastu:Being the 17th and Last Section of the Vinaya of the Mūlasarvāstivādin, part 1, Serie Orientale Roma49 (Rome: Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, 1977), 108-110.


resolution and dedicate the merit of their gift to the Bodhisattva’s aims. In contrast,Sujātā’s resolution in the Extensive Play is always pure from the beginning: beforeshe prepares the milk pudding, she resolves, “Eating my food, may the Bodhisattvaattain unexcelled, complete, perfect awakening!”22 Moreover, Sujātā offers thefood to the Bodhisattva inside her own home, while Nandā and Nandabalā go tomeet the Bodhisattva outside of town by the Nairañjanā River. Thus the Divisionon Monastic Conduct locates the Bodhisattva in the solitude of the forest, whilethe Extensive Play places him in a lay household in town.

Si tu was clearly aware that there were discrepancies between canonicalnarratives of the Buddha’s life. After his Division on Monastic Conduct digest heraises the issue directly:

[The version of] this passage from the Great Departure (Mngon ’byung,Abhiniṣkramaṇa) is mostly the same as this [version from theDivision onMonasticConduct]. However, in the former, after being urged by a brahmin named Deva(Lha) who had befriended the Bodhisattva, the village women gave boiled milkpudding to Śakra in the guise of a brahmin, to offer in the presence of theBodhisattva.23

Turning to the Sūtra of the Great Departure as preserved in the Sde dge Bka’’gyur, we indeed find significant plot variations.24 Below the version in the Sūtraof the Great Departure is translated and discussed in detail in order to unpack Situ’s reference to the text.

Then [the Bodhisattva] stayed on the banks of the Nairañjanā river near a towncalled Senāyanī (Sde can).25 A brahmin named Deva, who had earlier befriendedthe Bodhisattva, dwelled in the town of Senāyanī. Having seen [the Bodhisattva]perform austerities, [Deva] said to two town maidens Nandā and Nandabalā, “Iheard a prophecy by an astrologer that if the son of King Śuddhodana leaves offrenunciation because of you two, he will become a wheel-turning [king].”

22 bdag gi zas zos nas byang chub sems dpa’ bla na med pa yang dag par rdzogs pa’i byang chubmngon par rdzogs par ’tshang rgya bar shog. Rgya cher rol pa, 131b.7, cf. 129b.7-130a.1. Cf. Tripathi,Lalita-vistara, 222.6-7, cf. 220.19-20. Note that Si tu omits the content of this resolution, which in hisaccount is referred to by the god at midnight, in his Zla ’od gzhon nu’i ’khri shing account. It is possiblethat he did so to avoid inconsistency with the moment when Sujātā instructs her servant to find abrahmin, which suggests that Sujātā is not aware that this food must be given to the Bodhisattva.23 ’di skabs mngon ’byung las byung ba’ang phal cher ’di dang mtshungs na’ang / sngon byang

chub sems dpa'i grogs bshes su gyur pa'i bram ze lha zhes bya bas bskul nas grong pa'i bu mo dag gis'o thug bskol ba brgya byin bram ze'i cha byad can la byang chub sems dpa'i drung du bskur ba. Si tupaṇ chen chos kyi ’byung gnas, Zla ’od gzhon nu’i ’khri shing, 88a.4-88a.5.24 This sūtra is extant only in Tibetan translation. A different text of the same name was translated

into Chinese under the title Fo benxingji jing. The Chinese text narrates yet another version of thisepisode, featuring direct and repeated contact between the Bodhisattva and the two sisters. Jñānagupta[Shenajue Duo,闍那崛多], trans., Fo benxingji jing, T3.190.770a23-771a10. For an (at times patchy)English translation see Samuel Beal, The Romantic Legend of Śākya Buddha (London, 1875; repr.Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1985), 190-92.25 I reconstruct Sde can as Senāyanī based on the corresponding passage in the ’Dul ba gzhi. ’Dul

ba gzhi, vol. nga (4), 26a.2; Gnoli, Saṅghabhedavastu, 108.


Hearing that prophecy, the two made a prayer, saying, “If because of us hebecomes a wheel-turning [king], may we become his queens.”

The brahmin Deva said, “The great one, because his body is tortured byausterities, will emerge from his deprivation. When that happens, offer him hisvery first alms and you two will reap benefit and happiness for a long time.”26

The brahmin Deva, who does not appear in the corresponding Division onMonastic Conduct episode, acts in the Sūtra of the Great Departure as anobstruction to the Bodhisattva’s awakening.27 With his scheme to tempt theBodhisattva with two youngmaidens in his moment of vulnerability, Deva attemptsto derail the spiritual quest of one who has renounced household life. In the narrativelogic of the plot, Deva thus functions like the demon king Māra (Bdud). As for thetwo maidens, their self-serving resolution to wed the Bodhisattva is made explicit;as accomplices to Deva’s plan, they parallel the daughters of Māra, who are sentto tempt the Bodhisattva under the bodhi tree on the night of his awakening.

Similar to the Division on Monastic Conduct version, the two maidens thenprepare the milk pudding by condensing the essence of a thousand cows’ milk(here they stop at twenty cows) and boiling it in a crystal vessel. The Sūtra of theGreat Departure continues:

The brahmins thought, “It must be that there will be a wedding feast here.”Thinking this, many brahmins gathered. When the milk pudding collected froma thousand [cows] was boiled, the symbols of the auspicious vase, glorious knot[of eternity], and spiraling conch appeared. An ascetic named Upaga saw it andthought, “Whoever drinks this milk pudding will obtain unexcelled wisdom, sonow I will ask for it.”

Then Śakra thought: “Because of austerities, the Bodhisattva’s body isweakened and emaciated. He will be endangered by women when they offer milkpudding to the Bodhisattva; and when he realizes unexcelled wisdom, harm maycome to the Bodhisattva because these brahmins who are greedy by nature havegathered here.” He took divinemedicinal herbs fromMount Gandhamādana (Sposkyi ngad ldang), took the form of a very handsome brahmin, and standing overthe boiling milk pudding, the lord of gods, Śakra, poured in the medicine called“Strengthening.”

26 de ni grong khyer sde can zhes bya ba na nai ranydza nā’i chu bo’i ’gram na bzhugs pa dang /bram ze lha zhes bya ba byang chub sems dpa’i sngon gyi grogs bshes su gyur pa de sde can gyi grongkhyer na gnas pa dang / des byang chub sems dpa’ dka’ ba stod [read spyod] pa mdzad pa mthong nas/grong pa’i bu mo dga’ mo dang / dga’ stobs ma gnyis la smras pa/ khyed gnyis kyis rgyal po zas gtsangma’i sras mtshan mkhan gyis gal te rab tu byung bar ma gyur na ’khor lor ’gyur ro zhes lung bstanpa de thos sam/ de gnyis kyis smras pa/ bdag cag rnams kyis kyang gal te de ’khor los sgyur ba’i rgyalpor gyur na bdag cag de’i btsun mor gyur cig ces smon lam btab lags so/ /bram ze lhas smras pa/ bdagnyid chen po de ni dka’ thub kyis lus gdungs pas spong ba las bzhengs na khyed gnyis kyis de la thogma kho nar bsod nyoms phul cig dang / de khyed cag gnyis kyi yun ring po’i phan pa dang bde ba’idon du ’gyur ro/.Mngon par ’byung ba’i mdo, in The Sde-dgeMtshal-par Bka’-’gyur, vol. 72, 42b.3-7.27 A later episode in the ’Dul ba gzhi narrates the conversion of “a brahmin named Deva” (devo

nāma brāhmaṇaḥ), followed by a narrative of the conversions of Nandā and Nandabalā. ’Dul ba gzhi,vol. nga (4), 53b.5; Gnoli, Saṅghabhedavastu, 151.


Then Nandā and Nandabalā sweetened the milk pudding with honey and, afterboiling the [pudding] collected from a thousand [cows], they said to the lord ofgods Śakra: “Are you the son of King Śuddhodana?”

Śakra said, “He is my teacher, I am his student.” Then the lord of gods Śakratook the milk pudding sweetened with honey and collected from a thousand[cows].28

In this passage a new problem is introduced: a crowd of brahmins gathers,hoping to crash a wedding party. One in particular is named to introduce the threatthat brahmins will consume the food offering intended to nourish the Bodhisattvaback to health. Śakra worries about the worst possible outcomes: if the two womenare allowed to see the Bodhisattva, they may tempt him into marriage, and whenhe drinks the milk pudding, the jealous and greedy brahmins may attack him.Indeed, these two concerns for a renouncer – sexual impurity and lack of peacefulseclusion – are brought to a head in this scene as the maidens prepare to fulfilltheir resolution of marriage and the brahmins hover thirstily around the milkpudding, waiting for the Bodhisattva to arrive. Śakra’s solution is to manifest inthe form of an attractive brahmin, circumventing these possible outcomes bydrawing the attention of the two maidens, pretending to be a student of theBodhisattva, and claiming the milk pudding to deliver to the Bodhisattva.

With the food offering in safe hands, Śakra questions the two maidens beforesetting off:

Taking it, he said to Nandā and Nandabalā, “What do you two seek to gainwith this gift? To what end should the merit be dedicated?”

Those two said,

By whatever merit there may be from this fine offering,May the renowned Sarvārthasiddha –Best among men, supremely intelligent –Swiftly accomplish all aims!”

28 bram ze rnams kyis bsams pa/ ’dir nges par bag ma len tam bag ma gtong bar ’gyur ro snyamnas bram ze mang po ’dus par ’gyur pa dang / ’o thug stong du bsgres pa bskol ba na bum pa bzangpo dang / dpal be’u dang / g.yung drung ’khyil pa’i mtshan ma dag byung ba snang ba dang / kun turgyu nye ’gro zhes bya bas mthong nas bsams pa/ ’o ma’i thug pa ’di sus ’thungs pa des ni bla na medpa’i ye shes ’thob par ’gyur gyis ma la bdag gis bslang ngo snyam mo/ de nas brgya byin ’di snyamdu sems te/ byang chub sems dpa’ de ni dka’ thub kyis sku lus nyam chung zhing sku la sbrebs pa dang/ skye mas pas nyen pa yin la byang chub sems dpa’ ’o thug gsol na bla na med pa’i ye shes thugs suchud par ’gyur na/ bram ze ’di dag ni rang bzhin gyis brkam pa dag ’dir ’dus par gyur pas gal te byangchub sems dpa’ la gnod pa byed par ’gyur ro snyam nas/ ri spos kyi ngad ldang nas lha’i sman blangste de shin tu gzugs bzang ba’i bram ze zhig tu mngon par sprul nas ’o thug de skol ba’i steng du ’dugste/ lha’i dbang po brgya byin gyis der sman mthu bskyed pa zhes bya ba blugs so/ / de nas dga’ modang / dga’ stobs mas ’o thug sbrang rtsi ltar mngar ba stong du bsgres pa bskol nas lha’i dbang pobrgya byin la ’di skad ces smras so/ /khyod nyid rgyal po zas gtsang ma’i sras de yin nam/ brgya byingyis smras pa de ni nga’i mkhan po yin te nga ni de’i slob ma yin no/ / de nas lha’i dbang po brgyabyin gyis ’o thug sbrang rtsi ltar mngar ba stong du bsgres pa blangs so/ /. Mngon par ’byung ba’imdo, 43a.2-7.


…Then the lord of gods Śakra, knowing where the Bodhisattva was restingin ease, poured the milk pudding sweetened with honey and collected from athousand [cows] into a vessel and gave it to the Bodhisattva. It was taken by theBodhisattva, and the merit was dedicated.29

By identifying Sarvārthasiddha as his teacher, Śakra may be implying to thetwo maidens that the Bodhisattva has renounced and would no longer marry them.The dedicatory verse uttered by Nandā and Nandabalā – identical to the verse Situ cites in theDivision on Monastic Conduct digest – is phrased ambiguously suchthat it could apply to either outcome, i.e., the Bodhisattva’s awakening or histransformation into a wheel-turning king.30 In any case, the danger has passed:Sarvārthasiddha (an alternate name for Siddhārtha) remains near the bank of theNairañjanā River, never encountering the two maidens nor the brahmin crowd,and Śakra dedicates the merit of the food offering to the Bodhisattva’s goal ofliberation. The sexual purity and solitude of the Bodhisattva are undisturbed, andhe can proceed to the bodhi tree to accomplish his aim.

Si tu’s three narrations of the milk pudding episode from three separate Bka’’gyur texts call attention to common themes of purity and solitude as well asdiscrepancies in how these themes are challenged and resolved. The reader isinvited to mull over details that he or she might pass over more quickly in a unified,consistent, and uninterrupted narrative. Si tu’s use of this editorial strategy –juxtaposing divergent accounts of the Buddha’s biography in a single work – is adeparture from previous Tibetan accounts of the milk pudding episode such as thework of Bu ston rin chen grub (1290-1364), one of the most widely knownantecedents. In his History of the Dharma (Chos ’byung), Bu ston states thatalthough different accounts of the Buddha’s Twelve Deeds exist in the MonasticConduct, the Sūtra of the Great Departure, and the Extensive Play, he has followedthe Extensive Play for his account of the deeds, as well as the Minor Division onMonastic Conduct (’Dul ba phran tshegs kyi gzhi, Vinayakṣudrakavastu) for thefinal act of nirvāṇa (mya ngan las ’das pa).31 This statement is supported by his

29 blangs nas kyang dga’ mo dang / dga’ stobs ma gnyis la smras pa/ sbyin pa ’dis khyed gnyis cizhig don du gnyer gang gi don du yon bsngo bar bya/ de gnyis kyis smras pa/ bsod pa phul ba’i bsodnams ci mchis pas/ /grags dang ldan pa don rnams kun grub pa/ /mi yi mchog gyur blo mchog ldan pade’i/ /don kun myur du shin tu grub gyur cig /… de nas lha’i dbang po brgya byin gyis byang chubsems dpa’ bde bar bzhugs par rig nas ’o thug sbrang rtsi ltar mngar ba stong du bsgres pa yol gorblugs te/ byang chub sems dpa’ la bstabs so// byang chub sems dpas kyang gsol nas yon bsngo barmdzad do//. Mngon par ’byung ba’i mdo, 43a.7-43b.3.30 The same dedicatory verse appears in the ’Dul ba gzhi. ’Dul ba gzhi, vol. nga (4), 27b.5.31 Bu ston rin chen grub, Bde bar gshegs pa’i bstan pa’i gsal byed chos kyi ’byung gnas gsung rab

rin po che’i mdzod [A Treasury of Precious Teachings: History of the Dharma Elucidating the Sugata’sTeachings], in The Collected Works of Bu-ston, ed. Lokesh Chandra, Śata-piṭaka Series 64 (NewDelhi:International Academy of Indian Culture, 1971), vol. ya (24), 789.2-3=79a.2-3. For a translation seeBu ston rin chen grub,History of Buddhism (Chos-ḥbyung) by Bu-ston, Part II: The History of Buddhismin India and Tibet, trans. E. Obermiller (Heidelberg: Otto Harrassowitz, 1932), 72.


treatment of the milk pudding episode, which summarizes the Extensive Playversion in a more cursory fashion than Si tu does in his catalogue.32

Bu ston also wrote a separate biography of the Buddha Śākyamuni, this timestating that it is “written with the Division on Monastic Conduct as its source,without exaggeration or understatement.”33 As we would expect, in this work Buston’s treatment of the milk pudding episode indeed summarizes the Division onMonastic Conduct version, again more cursorily than Si tu’s digest.34 In both casesBu ston elides significant narrative elements found in Si tu’s Vine of YoungMoonbeams: Bu ston’s catalogue omits Sujātā’s resolution, his separate biographyof the Buddha does not mention the subplot about the two maidens hoping to wedthe Bodhisattva, and neither account identifies the location in which they offer themilk pudding. In short, Si tu employs a markedly different narrative strategy thanBu ston to tell the biography of the Buddha, and one of the results is that themesof sexual purity and ascetic solitude in the forest figure more prominently in hiswork.

A brief discussion of other well-known adaptations of the Buddha’s biographymay suffice to further illustrate Si tu’s distinctive narrative strategy in comparisonwith those of other prominent monastic scholars. TheHundred Jātakas (Skyes rabsbrgya ba) of the Third Karma pa rang byung rdo rje (1284-1339) includes as itsfinal narrative the life of the Buddha Śākyamuni. The Third Karma pa states simplythat his work “came from various sūtras.”35 He identifies Sujātā as the womanwho, prompted by Śakra, prepares the milk pudding and offers it to the Bodhisattva;other details found in the Extensive Play are included, such as extracting the essenceof the milk seven times and serving it in a golden vessel.36 One of the other majorTibetan adaptations of the Buddha’s biography is that of Jo nang Tā ra nā tha. Histreatment of the milk pudding episode is also a unified narrative but most closelyfollows the Division on Monastic Conduct version, with Nandā and Nandabalāmaking the offering directly to the Bodhisattva.37

32 Bu ston rin chen grub, History of the Dharma, 761.6-762.2=65a.6-65b.2. Cf. Obermiller trans.,34.33 lung las ’byung zhing sgro skur spangs te bri/. Bu ston rin chen grub, Ston pa sangs rgyas kyi

rnam thar dad cing dga’ skyed [Inspiring Trust and Delight: A Life of (Our) Teacher, the Buddha], inThe Collected Works of Bu-ston, Śaṭa-piṭaka Series 62, vol. za (22), 212.3.34 Bu ston rin chen grub, Sangs rgyas kyi rnam thar [Life of the Buddha], 296.6-297.2.35 mdo du ma las byung ba. Slob dpon dpa’ bo and Karma pa rang byung rdo rje, Skyes rabs brgya

ba, Gangs can rig brgya’i sgo ’byed lde mig 22 (Beijing: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1995), 727.36 de’i tshe brgya byin gyis bskul bas grong ba’i bu mo legs skyes mas ba stong gi ’o ma lan bdun

du nying khur byas pa bzang po sbrang rtsi ltar mngar bas gser gyi snod chen po bkang ste byangchub sems dpa’ la phul lo/. Slob dpon dpa’ bo and Karma pa rang byung rdo rje, Skyes rabs brgya ba,710.37 Jo nang Tā ra nā tha, Bcom ldan ’das ston pa shākya thub pa’i rnam thar [Life of the Blessed

Teacher Śākyamuni] (Xining: Mtsho sngon Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1997), 38-39. For a Frenchtranslation of Tā ra nā tha’s text see Jetsun Taranatha, Le soleil de la confiance: la vie du Bouddha,trans. Padmakara (Saint-Léon-sur-Vézère: Padmakara, 2003), 91-93.


In short, well-known Tibetan adaptations of the Buddha’s biography relyprimarily on either the Extensive Play or the Division on Monastic Conduct forthe milk pudding episode, and provide unified, continuous narratives. It is thereforesignificant that Si tu chose to compare accounts from three separate sources,juxtaposing variants of each episode of the Buddha’s life so that their differencesbecome clear. As the foregoing analysis has shown, Si tu’s account of the Buddha’sdeeds is extremely thorough and detailed, well beyond popular versions of theTwelve Deeds and even in this case more complex than the widely admired,scholarly work of Bu ston, the Third Karma pa, and Jo nang Tā ra nā tha. Si tu’swork discussed above is but one sample of his scholarly rigor and intimatefamiliarity with canonical scripture. As a whole, his Vine of Young Moonbeams isa tour de force compiling sūtra, Monastic Conduct and abhidharma sources fromthe Bka’ ’gyur. While a full discussion of Si tu’s catalogue is beyond the scope ofthis article, it is evident that by the end of his tenure as chief editor of the Sde dgeBka’ ’gyur, Si tu had achieved intimate familiarity with these sources andsynthesized them into a work of his own. The resultant image cultivated is that ofan erudite scholar who has mastered the vast Buddhist canon, attending even tosupposedly well-known topics such as the life of the Buddha with rare depth ofdetail.

Moreover, it is noteworthy that one of the sources Si tu relied on for hisbiography of the Buddha was the Sūtra of the Great Departure. The Sūtra of theGreat Departure version is the one in which concerns of purity and seclusionemerge most emphatically. Like the Division on Monastic Conduct, it emphasizesthe unique purity of the milk pudding itself by detailing the increasing refinementof the substance being prepared, as well as the precious nature of its container, thecrystal vessel.Moreover, like theDivision onMonastic Conduct it contains narrativetension threatening the Bodhisattva’s sexual purity. The Sūtra of the GreatDeparture goes beyond the Division on Monastic Conduct, however, by addingfurther narrative tension with the hungry brahmin crowd, and by placing Śakra asan intermediary so that the Bodhisattva’s purity, seclusion, and safely nourishedpassage to liberation are never compromised by direct encounters with desiringwomen, nor with envious brahmins. That these plot differences and their attendantthemes were considered significant is supported by a set of narrative paintings, towhich we now turn.

TheBuddha’sDeedsThang kas andMonasticDiscourse inKhamsIn the Vine of Young Moonbeams Si tu does not explicitly favor any of the threeBka’ ’gyur sources over the others, nor does he present a cohesive vision of thethemes of monastic purity and solitude that I have highlighted in the Buddha’sbiographies. This is not particularly surprising, since Si tu follows conventions ofTibetan commentarial literature in adhering closely to the presentation of root texts.Si tu may have not decided at the time of writing whether he preferred any of thethree sources; even if he had, he may have felt that the catalogue was not the venueto express such views, since this would have called into question the veracity and


status of the other canonical sources. The medium of text permits a multiplicity ofnarrative versions to appear within a single work, even if other major authors didnot exercise this option for the life of the Buddha as Si tu did. However, renderingthe Buddha’s biography in visual media demands that exclusive choices be made,at least within the conventions of Tibetan narrative painting. In this section I arguethat the same concerns of purity and seclusion that emerged in Si tu’s Vine of YoungMoonbeams are enacted more forcefully in a set of paintings of the Buddha’s life,thus contributing to discourses about ideal monasticism in eighteenth- andnineteenth-century Khams.

Figure 2. Episodes from the Buddha’s deeds.After Bod kyi thang ga, pl. 29.

Figure 1. Episodes from the Buddha’s deeds.After Bod kyi thang ga, pl. 28. Xizang ZizhiquWenwu Guanli Weiyuan Hui (西藏自治区文物管理委员会), eds., Bod kyi thang ga / Xizangtangka (西藏唐卡), 1985.

In the collection of the Tibet Museum in Lha sa are two thang kas from a setdepicting events of the Buddha Śākyamuni’s life (Figs. 1, 2). The set may haveoriginally included a third thang ka in the center, with the defeat of Māra as itsmain subject, now missing. A nineteenth-century thang ka, which appears to bean incomplete conflation of the same design as two Tibet Museum thang kas, isheld in the collection of the Rubin Museum of Art (Fig. 3). The missing scenes onthe Rubin thang ka further support the possibility that Si tu’s original designincluded a third thang ka, the scenes from which may have been combined withthe missing complement to the Rubin thang ka. Stylistic features of these Buddha’sdeeds thang kas comparable to the Wish-Fulfilling Vine of Bodhisattva Avadānas(Byang chub sems dpa’i rtogs pa brjod pa dpag bsam gyi ’khri shing,Bodhisattvāvadānakalpalatā) series of narrative thang kas designed by Si tu andcompleted in 1737 – including an unusual use of deep space, precisely rendered


miniature figures, landscapes in greens and yellows, the shapes of mountains andtrees, and the fine detailing of buildings down to the level of individual bricks –suggest that these two Tibet Museum thang kas were based on a design by Si tuor by someone following his style of painting, considered regional to Khams (Fig.4).38 While I have not seen any references to the making of Buddha’s deeds thangkas in Si tu’s diaries, Si tu was a prolific artist and did not always record or specifyhis paintings. Even if the Tibet Museum thang kas were not in fact based on adesign by Si tu, it will become clear in the ensuing discussion that the compositionsbelie a rare degree of familiarity with the Buddha’s life story, as well as with thethemes I have discussed in his Vine of Young Moonbeams.

Figure 4. Bodhisattvāvadānakalpalatā episodes100-105, from a set based on the design of Si tupaṇ chen. 19th century. Ground mineralpigments on cotton; 33 x 24 in. Collection ofShelley andDonald Rubin, New York. P1996.9.5(HAR 247).

Figure 3. Episodes from the Buddha’s deeds.19th century. Ground mineral pigments oncotton; 27 ½ x 17 ¾ in. Rubin Museum of Art,New York. C2006.66.489 (HAR 955).

A catalogue of Si tu’s monastic seat, Dpal spungs dgon pa, edited by Karmargyal mtshan, mentions thang kas of the Twelve Deeds kept in the Pema Nyinjé

38 The Dpag bsam ’khri shing [Wish-Fulfilling Vine] series and Si tu’s other artistic work have beenstudied previously by David Jackson. My dissertation includes further analysis of Si tu’s Dpag bsam’khri shing design and accompanying poetry. David P. Jackson, “Some Karma Kagyupa Paintings inthe Rubin Collection,” in Worlds of Transformation: Tibetan Art of Wisdom and Compassion, ed.MarilynM. Rhie and Robert A. F. Thurman (NewYork: H.N. Abrams, 1999), 75-127; David P. Jackson,A History of Tibetan Painting: The Great Tibetan Painters and Their Traditions (Wien: Verlag derOsterreichischen Akademie derWissenschaften, 1996), 259-87; David P. Jackson, Patron and Painter:Situ Panchen and the Revival of the Encampment Style (New York: Rubin Museum of Art, 2009).Nancy G. Lin, “Adapting the Buddha’s Biographies: A Cultural History of the Wish-Fulfilling Vinein Tibet, Seventeenth to Eighteenth Centuries” (Ph.D. diss., University of California, Berkeley, 2011),121-42.


Library (Padma nyin byed dpe mdzod), along with thang kas of theWish-FulfillingVine, Maitreya’s (Byams pa) lives, and other subjects.39 This suggests where suchthang ka sets may have been stored when not on display. As we know from studiesof Si tu’s other paintings, his work was frequently copied and the same was thecase with the Buddha’s deeds set in question, as the Rubin copy demonstrates (Fig.3).40 The Rubin Museum collection also includes another thang ka with the samenarrative design as the first Tibet Museum thang ka, although the Rubin thang kalacks inscriptions.41 The Tibet Museum thang kas appear to be a copy of an earlierdesign and exhibit several features from Chinese Buddhist painting, such as thealternating pink, yellow and blue colors of the rainbow body halo, the head shapesand sizes of the central figures, and the treatment of birds, flowers, and rocks tothe lower right of figure 2.

The scenes in the two Tibet Museum thang kas do not conform to standard listsof the Twelve Deeds in Tibet. In the first thang ka they most likely follow aclockwise sequence around the central figure, suggesting the devotional practiceof circumambulation.The narrative sequence in the second thang ka is more difficultto determine, but likely follows the clockwise pattern of the first thang ka.42 Briefinscriptions in gold lettering mark each scene; these are not legible in availableimages. I provisionally identify the scenes as follows, marking a separate scenefor each appearance of Siddhārtha/Śākyamuni:

1. Birth at Lumbinī (Lumbi nī’i tshal)2. Declaration of his last life3. Encounter outside the palace4. Departure from the palace5. Cutting off his hair6. Austerities7. Break from extreme asceticism8. Washing in a body of water9. Accepting the milk pudding (including the kneeling layman and the twowomen by the fire)

39 Karma rgyal mtshan, Dpal spungs kyi lo rgyus [History of Pelpung], 598.40 See Jackson, chap. 10 ofHistory of Tibetan Painting; Jackson, “SomeKarma Kagyupa Paintings;”

Jackson, Patron and Painter, 129; Karl Debreczeny, “Bodhisattvas South of the Clouds: Situ Panchen’sActivities and Artistic Inspiration in Yunnan,” in Patron and Painter, 223-51.41 HAR 65580. http://www.himalayanart.org/image.cfm/65580.html (accessed January 1, 2010).42 Possible variations are discussed below. Clockwise narrative sequencing was frequently employed

for the arrangement of Dpag bsam ’khri shing episodes in sets sponsored by members of the court ofPho lha nas bsod nams stobs rgyas (1689-1747). For a study of these sets see Lin, chap. 2 of “Adaptingthe Buddha’s Biographies.” A mural of the life of the Buddha Śākyamuni at Zha lu Monastery alsoemploys a clockwise sequence. Verena Ziegler, “A Preliminary Report on the Life of Buddha Śākyamuniin the Murals of the Circumambulatory of the Prajñāpāramitā Chapel in Zha lu,” in The Arts of TibetanPainting: Recent Research onManuscripts, Murals and Thangkas of Tibet, the Himalayas andMongolia(11th-19th century): PIATS 2010: Proceedings of the Twelfth Seminar of the International Associationf o r T i b e t a n S t u d i e s , Va n c o u v e r, 2 0 1 0 , e d . Amy H e l l e r ,http://www.asianart.com/articles/ziegler/index.html (accessed August 20, 2012).


http://www.himalayanart.org/image.cfm?icode=65580

http://www.asianart.com/articles/ziegler/index.html

10. Encounter with nāga-serpent4311. Turning the wheel of Dharma at Sārnāth

12. Visiting laypeople (including the building complexes on the right andleft)

13. Taming the elephant14. Descent from Trāyastriṃśa (Sum bcu rtsa gsum) Heaven15. Teaching at Sāṃkāśya16. Parinirvāṇa (yongs su mya ngan las ’das pa)17. Cremation18. Distribution of the relics

While for the sake of clarity I have enumerated a separate scene for eachappearance of Siddhārtha/Śākyamuni, it should be evident that (a) some scenesare visually clustered together but enumerated separately, (b) other scenes areenumerated together, despite being visually distinct, and (c) still others could beclassified together based on Twelve Deeds schema, regardless of their visualcomposition. For example, the first and second scenes form a single visual unit –with the baby Bodhisattva’s standing posture paralleling that of his mother Māyā(Sgyu ’phrul ma) – and also fall under the single deed of birth in the TwelveDeeds.44 The fourteenth and fifteenth scenes are proximately placed, and indeedin textual accounts the teaching at Sāṃkāśya immediately follows the descent fromTrāyastriṃśa Heaven; however, these are not counted as deeds in the TwelveDeeds. According to my provisional classification, the twelfth scene encompassestwo building complexes on opposite sides of the composition, since there is onlyone Buddha figure and he appears to travel from one complex to the other; however,it is possible to classify the building on the right as a separate scene, perhapssignifying the construction of Jetavana (Rgyal byed kyi tshal) or other monasteriesdonated to the Buddha. The fourth and fifth scenes both fall under the deed ofrenunciation according to the Twelve Deeds, but in the thang ka these are spatiallyseparated, communicating that a journey of some physical distance has been made.

In short, the scenes I have enumerated do not adhere to standard lists of theTwelve Deeds in Tibet. Rather, they belie an erudite familiarity with lesser-knowndetails and versions of the Buddha’s life story. The milk pudding episode is onesuch example. In the ninth scene, two maidens stand by the boiling milk pudding.

43 The sequence of the tenth (encounter with a nāga-serpent) and eleventh scenes (turning the wheelof dharma [chos kyi ’khor lo, dharmacakra]) might be reversed as the Buddha encounters nāga-serpentsboth before and after his first sermon; also, the scene with the nāga-serpent could be taken to refer tomore than one episode. However, it seemsmore likely that this scene depicts the Bodhisattva’s encounterwith the nāga-serpent Kālika (Dus can) – who heralds the Bodhisattva’s impending liberation with hismiraculously restored sight – thanwith the nāga-serpentMucilinda (Btang bzung), since the nāga-serpentis shown in a posture of veneration rather than sheltering the Buddha from a storm. Cf. Si tu paṇ chenchos kyi ’byung gnas, Zla ’od gzhon nu’i ’khri shing, 81a.2-3, 87a.1.44 Since there are varying lists of the Twelve Deeds [of the Buddha], I refrain from numbering each

deed here and instead simply refer to them as “deeds.” In addition to the list given in Lobsang Dargyay(n. 14), another list occurs in theUttaratantra. See for example E. Obermiller, trans., The Uttaratantraof Maitreya (Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1991), 254.


Above, a kneeling layman offers a bowl to the Bodhisattva. As we have seen inthe previous section, only in the Sūtra of the Great Departure does Śakra in theguise of a brahmin offer milk pudding to the Bodhisattva; in the Extensive PlayandDivision onMonastic Conduct the Bodhisattva receives the food offering fromthe laywoman Sujātā and from the laywomen Nandā and Nandabalā, respectively.The thang ka thus most closely follows the version of the Sūtra of the GreatDeparture for themilk pudding episode. As Deborah Klimburg-Salter and ChristianLuczanits have both noted, the Extensive Play and the Division on MonasticConductwere both important textual sources for pictorializing the life of the Buddhain Tibet.45 The specific correspondence of the Tibet Museum thang ka with theSūtra of the Great Departure for this episode, however, appears unusual.

Examination of other scenes in the Tibet Museum thang kas also suggest thatthe pictorial design corresponds more closely with the Sūtra of the Great Departureand the Division on Monastic Conduct than with the Extensive Play. In the birthscene, the Bodhisattva emerges from Māyā’s right side and is received in a clothby a woman. As Si tu notes in the Vine of Young Moonbeams, according to theExtensive Play the newborn Bodhisattva emerges from his mother’s right side asshe stands holding a branch of the plakṣa (plakṣha) tree and is received in a silkcover by two gods, Śakra and Brahmā.46 It has remained commonplace in Tibetanpainting from various regions to depict the Bodhisattva being received by Śakraand Brahmā, and this was the version selected for the widely copied wood-blockprints of the Buddha’s deeds produced by the Sde dge printing house (Par khang).47The popularity of this motif may also be attributed in part to the mention of thesegods in the canonized praise of the Twelve Deeds, which celebrates how Brahmāand Śakra bowed down to the Bodhisattva at his birth.48 However, as Si tu notes,in both the Division on Monastic Conduct and the Sūtra of the Great Departurethe newborn Bodhisattva is not received in this manner. Rather, it occurs to Śakrathat the Bodhisattva’s mother would be too modest to deliver her child whilesurrounded by a crowd of people, so he creates a fierce storm that disperses thecrowd. He then takes the form of an old midwife and receives the Bodhisattva in

45 Klimburg-Salter also cites the Uttaratantra as an important source. Klimburg-Salter, “Life of theBuddha,” 208; Luczanits, “Prior to Birth II,” 515.46 Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi ’byung gnas, Zla ’od gzhon nu’i ’khri shing, 55b.5. Cf. Rgya cher rol pa,

45b.1-2; Tripathi, 66.13-15. Note the Tibetan orthographical variations for “silk cover (kāśikavastra)”:kā shi kā’i sle mo and ka shi pa’i sleb mo.47 For examples see: Steven M. Kossak and Jane Casey Singer, Sacred Visions: Early Paintings

fromCentral Tibet (NewYork:MetropolitanMuseum of Art, 1998) fig. 27; Pratapaditya Pal,Himalayas:An Aesthetic Adventure (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2003), figs. 101, 121; Marylin M. Rhie andRobert A. F. Thurman,Worlds of Transformation: Tibetan Art of Wisdom and Compassion (New York:Tibet House, New York in association with The Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation, 1999), fig. 11.48 tshangs dang brgya byin gyis btud.Mdzad pa bcu gnyis kyi tshul la bstod pa [Praise of the Twelve

Deeds] (Dvādaśakāranāmanayastotra), in Bstod tshogs: The Collected Stotra and Stava in Praise ofBuddhas and Bodhisattvas, Sde-dge Bstan-’gyur Series ka (1) (Delhi: Delhi Karmapae Chodhey,Gyalwae Sungrab Partun Khang, 1982-1985), 82b.5.


private.49 The Tibet Museum thang kamore closely corresponds with this versionthan with the Extensive Play, in that the Bodhisattva is received by a woman withno other figures present.

The reliance of the pictorial design on the narrative tradition of the Division onMonastic Conduct and the Sūtra of the Great Departure rather than that of theExtensive Play is further evidenced by the sixth through eighth scenes, clusteredat the upper right of the composition (Fig. 1).While the depiction of the Bodhisattvaperforming austerities is common in Tibetan narrative painting, the other scenesof the Bodhisattva reclining on his side and dipping his hair into a body of waterare quite unusual. These scenes, however, can be explained by referring once againto the Division on Monastic Conduct and the Sūtra of the Great Departure.According to these texts, after the Bodhisattva realized that severe austerities wouldnot effect liberation and before his consumption of the milk pudding, he went toa large cemetery and, while lying on his right side with one foot on the other,entered into wakefulness meditation.50 He then washed in gently flowing waterbefore receiving the milk pudding.51 These episodes are narrated differently in theExtensive Play. The Bodhisattva goes to a cemetery to get a cloth with which tocover himself, but picks it up without lying down. Gods create a pond in which he

49 Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi ’byung gnas, Zla ’od gzhon nu’i ’khri shing, 58a.1-2, 58a.5. Cf. ’Dul bagzhi, vol. ga (3), 280a.5-7; Gnoli, Saṅghabhedavastu, 44;Mngon par ’byung ba’i mdo, 9a.7-9b.3.50 dur khrod chen por gshegs nas kyang mi ro dbu rten du bcug/ zhabs la zhabs bzhag ste snang ba’i

’du shes dang / dran pa dang shes bzhin dang / ldang ba’i ’du shes yid la mdzad pas glo g.yas pasmnal bar mdzad do/ /. ’Dul ba gzhi, vol. nga (4), 25a.3-4. Cf. Gnoli, Saṅghabhedavastu, 107; Mngonpar ’byung ba’i mdo, 40b.7-41a.1. TheMngon par ’byung ba’i mdo version does not contain substantivedifferences in this episode. This episode is passed over in the Zla ’od gzhon nu’i ’khri shing, furthersupporting the claim that the designer of this pictorial set was unusually well-informed. The meditationpractices listed in this passage might be performed while awake or asleep. As Takako Abe has noted,the Nikāya and Āgama literature refer to ālokasaññā (snang ba’i ’du shes, ālokasaṃjñā) as concentrationon an image of light, accompanied by sati (mindfulness, dran pa, smṛti) and sampajāna (awareness,shes bzhin, saṃprajāna), to counteract thīnamiddha (sloth and torpor, rmugs pa dang gnyid,styānamiddha). In the Śrāvakabhūmi, however, Abe argues that ālokasaṃjñā and the associated termjāgarikāyoga (yoga of wakefulness) refer to meditation while sleeping, specifically to reflect on objectspreviously memorized in a dream. Takako Abe, “Practice of Wakefulness: Ālokasaṃjñā in theŚrāvakabhūmi,” Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies 53, no. 1 (Dec. 2004): 478-80.

Two passages from the nikāya literature bear similarities with the episode as narrated by the ’Dulba gzhi. In the Udumbarikasīhanādasutta of the Dīghanikāya, an ascetic is described as finding asecluded dwelling such as a cemetery, sitting cross-legged, holding his body erect, and establishingmindfulness; to abandon sloth and torpor, he engages in the perception of light, mindfulness, andawareness. In theMahāssapurasutta of theMajjhimanikāya, various wakefulness practices are prescribedfor daytime and the watches of the night, as part of the general practices of a renouncer. In the middlewatch of the night one lies down on the right side in the lion’s pose, with one foot on the other, mindfuland aware, having set one’s mind on the perception of rising (utthānasaññā, utthānasaṃjñā); this lastitem may be interpreted as the time for rising from sleep, as the renouncer should not sleep in the otherthree watches of the night. Based on these passages and Abe’s findings, one may speculate that whenlying down as the Bodhisattva does in the ’Dul ba gzhi episode, the meditation is to be performed whileasleep. Udumbarikasīhanādasutta, in Dīgha-nikāya, vol. 3, ed. T.W. Rhys Davids and J.E. Carpenter(London: Pali Text Society, 1911), 50;Mahāssapurasutta, inMajjhima-nikāya, vol. 1, ed. V. Trenckner(London: Pali Text Society, 1888), 273-74.51 ’Dul ba gzhi, vol. nga (4), 25b.7. Cf.Mngon par ’byung ba’i mdo, 42b.2; Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi

’byung gnas, Zla ’od gzhon nu’i ’khri shing, 86a.6.


washes the cloth; he then steps in to bathe. However, Māra raises the banks of thepond, making it difficult to climb back out. The goddess of an arjuna tree lowersa branch so that the Bodhisattva can grasp it to climb out of the pond.52Given theseplot differences, the seventh and eighth scenes in the Tibet Museum thang kadesign must have been inspired by the narrative tradition of the Division onMonastic Conduct and the Sūtra of the Great Departure rather than by theExtensivePlay.53

Asmuch as the designer behind the TibetMuseum thang kas may have preferredthe Division on Monastic Conduct and the Sūtra of the Great Departure to theExtensive Play, this set of the Buddha’s deeds is not a mere recapitulation of anyparticular canonical source, nor of Si tu’s multiple – and discretely – sourcedcatalogue. Rather, through the deliberate process of rendering narrative in visualform, the pictorial designer has intensified the themes of purity and seclusion inthe forest that are more subtly implied in the Vine of Young Moonbeams. Readingthe ninth scene (Fig. 1) with the Sūtra of the Great Departure, we see that becauseŚakra has intercepted the milk pudding en route to the Bodhisattva, Nandā andNandabalā do not approach him directly with their hopes for marriage. However,in the pared-down visual composition the particular identities and subplots of thelayman and two maidens are not assigned importance; the crucial point beingcommunicated is that a man is making physical contact with the Bodhisattva, whiletwo young women stay far away.

This physical separation of the Bodhisattva from women is contrasted with thefirst scene of the birth. When one bisects the composition on a vertical axis, it maybe observed that the birth scene is the mirror opposite of the ninth scene involvingthe two maidens. On the viewer’s left, the newborn Bodhisattva is stuck in anintimate and vulnerable position between two women, physically emerging fromone and being caught by the other, both indebted to and dependent on women. Inthe temporal flow of verbal narrative this would last for only a moment, but in thepainting the moment of physical contact is frozen – an elegant portrayal of thehouseholder ensnared in relationships and obligations. On the opposite side in themilk pudding scene, the women are now at a safe distance, while the Bodhisattvastands confidently over a kneeling layman, appearing far more vigorous than textsmight have us believe. Indeed, he seems far more capable of giving to the humblelayman than the other way around. The birth scene thus serves as a foil, suggestingimpurity and entanglement in relationships in contrast to the ascetic chastity andrelative seclusion of the milk pudding scene on the right.

52 Rgya cher rol pa, 131a.1-131b.4. Cf. Tripathi, Lalita-vistara, 220.21-221.26.53 By way of contrast, another thang ka in the Tibet Museum collection depicts these two scenes in

accordance with the rgyal cher rol pa. The Bodhisattva is shown standing and holding a cloth wrappedaround a corpse, and shown again in a body of water with his right hand grasping a tree branch as thetree goddess gazes down. The thang ka is part of a set for which the Eighth Dalai Lama is said to havebeen the donor. Bod rang skyong ljongs rig dngos do dam u yon lhan khang, ed., Bod kyi thang ga(1985; reprint, Beijing: Rig dngos dpe skrun khang, 2007), fig. 38.


Reiko Ohnuma’s analyses of maternal imagery and discourse in Indian Buddhistliterature invite further comparison with the scenes of birth and receiving milkpudding in the Tibet Museum thang ka. Ohnuma argues that the BuddhaŚākyamuni’s indebtedness to his biological and foster mothers is offset in IndianBuddhist literature through strategies that distance or exclude mothers from theBuddha. Prominent among these is the reduction and erasure of Māyā to a fetalcontainer; she is removed once again by the walls of a jewelled palace inside herwomb, where the fetal Bodhisattva resides for the ten-month pregnancy. Ohnumafurther identifies Sujātā as a maternal figure in her role as a giver of milk, whichnourishes his passage into his new life as a fully awakened Buddha.54 Extendingher line of argument, the scene where Śakra acts as the intermediary for Nandāand Nandabalā may also be interpreted in terms of the tendency to distance orexclude maternal figures from the Buddha. However, Nandā and Nandabalā’smarital interest in the Bodhisattva constitutes a crucial difference between theirnarrative and Sujātā’s; they have an ambiguously dual status as maternal and wifelyfigures who both nourish with milk and aspire to wed. Broadly speaking, the goalof separation from women – and obligations to women – remains a key concernin the painting that is illuminated by the contrast between these two scenes. Thebirth of the Bodhisattva is presented in terms of undesirable intimacy with women,in opposition to the milk pudding episode later in his life, where we see the moredesirable outcome of ascetic chastity and solitude.

This mirroring device further advances the ideal of separation fromworldly lifein other scenes of the two thang kas. Continuing with the upper section of figure1, we see that the palace on the left serves as the foil to the forest on the right. Theforest with its river is placed higher than the palace, reinforcing the superiority offorest solitude over even the finest material comforts and pleasures that householdlife has to offer. Indeed, in figure 2 this household-forest opposition is revisited inthe form of town versus monastery, with the buildings of the town on the left placedlower than the buildings of the monastic complex surrounded by trees (the monasticcomplex is identifiable as such by the central great hall with a golden roofsurrounded by minor subsidiary buildings).55

54 Reiko Ohnuma, Ties that Bind: Maternal Imagery and Discourse in Indian Buddhism (Oxfordand New York: Oxford University Press, 2012), 69-78, 86-112, 135-39.55 Elsewhere I argue that Si tu uses vertical space in narrative painting of the Dpag bsam ’khri shing

to denote moral superiority. Lin, “Adapting the Buddha’s Biographies,” 130-37.


Figure 5. The Buddha’s deeds in a singlecomposition. Late 17th to mid-18th century.Pigments on cloth; 72.5 x 50.7 cm. Courtesy oftheDivision of Anthropology, AmericanMuseumof Natural History, Cat. No. 70.0/6532.

The themes of solitude and seclusionfrom worldly life are further developedthrough omissions in the pictorial design.In these two thang kas Siddhārtha/Śākyamuni never appears inside anybuilding or even within any enclosingwalls. His greatest proximity occurs inthe third scene of the encounter outsidethe palace – apparently with the old man,although this scene may also be taken asa metonymic representation of all fourencounters with old age, sickness, death,and renunciation – where he remainswithin the enclosing trees but outside ofthe palace complex. This scenemarks thetransition when household life is revealedto be less than perfect, and the possibilityof renunciation occurs to Siddhārtha.Everywhere else, we see him on emptyplains or in forest settings. The use ofdeep space and the illusion of distance,unusual in Tibetan paintings but liberallyemployed in Si tu’s style of narrativepainting, emphasizes this solitude evenmore acutely. In the twelfth scene at the bottom of figure 2, Siddhārtha appearshalfway between themonastery and the town; this underscores the simplewanderinglifestyle of solitary monks over the hustle and bustle of social life and the habitsof material comfort. Indeed, there are very few laypeople, even where we wouldexpect them according to both textual narratives and other Tibetan paintings ofthe Buddha’s deeds (Fig. 5) – in the palace, attending sermons such as the one atSāṃkāśya, and at his parinirvāṇa and the distribution of the relics. Where they doappear in the Tibet Museum thang kas, laypeople are rendered smaller and placedbelow the Buddha and his monks, reinforcing their inferiority; the twelfth sceneof visiting laypeople is the most exaggerated instance of this.56 As for the materialgoods in the painting, they can hardly be called luxurious: the stūpa by which hecuts off his hair, the bowl of milk pudding, and the reliquary vases are all lackingin ornamentation.

With the visual biography of the Buddha pared down to a few figures and noneof the opulence commonly lavished on this subject, what we are left with is anextreme economy of representation centered on the archetypal activities of a monk.

56 Christian Luczanits has noted a similar organizational principle in the life of the Buddha paintingsin the A lci gsum brtsegs, where “beings considered higher by Buddhists [are] placed above. Thusbodhisattvas are placed above gods, gods and nagas abovemonks, monks above sages and (brahminical)priests, and the latter two above lay people.” Christian Luczanits, “The Life of the Buddha in theSumtsek,” Orientations 30, no. 1 (1999): 39.


Amonk is born (first and second scenes), decides to go forth from his home (thirdscene), goes forth from home (fourth scene), and renounces (fifth scene). He isexpected to maintain a simple and meditative, but not severely ascetic, lifestylethat extends both waking and sleeping hours, as well as basic activities such aswashing (sixth, seventh, and eighth scenes).57 As the monk continues with otheractivities such as accepting food offerings (ninth scene) and teaching (eleventhand fifteenth scenes), he acts in the world without getting embroiled in the vagariesof household life (twelfth and thirteenth scenes). Both eremitic and cenobiticlifestyles are accommodated in this design, with the protagonist shown both alone(sixth through eighth scenes) and in the company of other monks (twelfth, fifteenth,and sixteenth scenes); however, communal activity in the monastery itself is notemphasized. Thus we can simply read these paintings as the particular life of theBuddha Śākyamuni, or we can also read them as the ideal life of an ordinary monk.

The pictorial design of the Buddha’s deeds in the two Tibet Museum thang kasthus communicates a vision of the ideal monastic in three related aspects. First,the decision to represent lesser-known variations of episodes from the life of theBuddha indicates an uncommonly thorough knowledge of Bka’ ’gyur texts. In thisregard the designer of the paintings conveys that the ideal monk should be wellversed in the fundamental sources of Buddhist knowledge. Second, by representingthese obscure textual details in the medium of painting he suggests that an idealmonk can express his understanding of the Dharma through fields of knowledge(rig gnas, vidyāsthāna) such as art, and hence that these are worthwhile endeavorsfor a monastic. Third, through selective choices and omissions the designer conveysthe reclusive, sexually andmaterially restrained lifestyle of an ideal monk, a lifestyleauthenticated as that of the Buddha Śākyamuni himself.

These ideals of monastic life, which are implied in Si tu’s Vine of YoungMoonbeams and in his work as a visual artist, are articulated more emphaticallyin this visual design of the Buddha’s deeds. While these ideals may seem ratheruncontroversial – and, at least in the third case, quite central to basic conceptionsof Buddhist monasticism – in Si tu’s religio-historical context each constitutedpoints of contention. The first two points may be treated together. Si tu and hislineage tradition, the Karma bka’ brgyud pa, were censured for focusing onconventional fields of knowledge (including poetics and art) rather than on the“inner” field of Buddhist learning proper.58 Si tu’s catalogue in particular wascomposed during an institutionally vulnerable moment: during this period the twochief hierarchs of the Karma bka’ brgyud pa, the Twelfth Karma pa and the Eighth

57 As related in Si tu’s catalogue, Śakra prepares to wash the Bodhisattva’s robes for him, but theBodhisattva declines in order to demonstrate that one who has renounced should wash his own robes.Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi ’byung gnas, Zla ’od gzhon nu’i ’khri shing, 79a.4-5.58 The Third Thu’u bkwan blo bzang chos kyi nyi ma (1737-1802) was a particularly vocal critic.

In future work I plan to elaborate on the sectarian politics of knowledge in eighteenth-century Tibet.Lin, “Adapting the Buddha’s Biographies,” 101-102.


Zhwa dmar, both passed away en route to Beijing.59 In the wake of this calamityit was left to Si tu, the most senior surviving hierarch of his lineage tradition, toassume institutional leadership until their reincarnations attained their majority.Si tu himself had moved to Sde dge only recently from his former monastic seatof Karma dgon in Chab mdo; Dpal spungs Monastery was completed andconsecrated in 1729.60 The erudite knowledge of the Bka’ ’gyur displayed in Situ’s Vine of Young Moonbeams and in the Tibet Museum thang kas – as well asthe affirmation of literature and art as appropriate media for conveying thisknowledge – may be interpreted as responses to such criticism that asserted thespiritual and institutional robustness of the Karma bka’ brgyud pa.

As for monastic ideals of sexual and material restraint, these were articulatedin a period when lay tantric communities were widespread in Khams. As JannRonis has shown, in the late seventeenth-centuryKaḥthogMonastery – an importantRnying ma center in Sde dge – changed from a monastic administration in thescholastic Bka’ ma tradition to a lay tantric administration in the treasure revelationtradition of Klong gsal snying po (1625-1692).61Ronis’ article in this journal issuefurther demonstrates that Si tu was preoccupied with the rise of non-celibate priests(’ban btsun) within monastic communities as a departure from orthodox tradition.Although Si tu accommodated their presence in his monastic customaries, he alsoaffirmed the virtue of celibacy and was engaged in widespread efforts to ordaincelibate monks across Khams and beyond. The issue of celibate monasticism versusnon-celibate priesthood was very much alive in eighteenth-century Khams, andhas continued to animate religious discourse in Khams to the present day.62 In aregion where non-celibate priesthood was perceived to be encroaching on celibatemonastic institutions, the Tibet Museum thang kas in particular make a distinctivestatement in favor of a strict renunciant lifestyle.

Far from being pedestrian rehearsals of Indic sources, Tibetan biographies ofthe Buddha often evince the erudition and ingenuity of their creators, as well astheir concerns and the social discourses of their time. Si tu relied on the Buddha’sbiographies as a site for authenticating his claims to Buddhist knowledge whileconveying his conception of exemplary personhood. Backed by canonical sourceson the original Buddhist monk, Si tu’s literary work presents the restrictive

59 Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi ’byung gnas and ’Be lo tshe dbang kun khyab, History of the KarmaBka’-brgyud-pa Sect (New Delhi: D. Gyaltsan and Kesang Legshay, 1972), 443.2-443.4.60 Autobiography of Si-tu, 141.5-147.5.61 Jann Ronis, “Celibacy, Revelations, and Reincarnated Lamas: Contestation and Synthesis in

Growth of Monasticism at Katok Monastery from the 17th through 19th Centuries” (Ph.D. diss.,University of Virginia, 2009), 70-84.62 For studies of more recent and contemporary figures in Khams grappling with this issue, see Sarah

Jacoby, “To Be or Not to Be Celibate: Morality and Consort Practices According to the TreasureRevealer Se ra mkha’ ’gro’s (1892-1940) Auto/biographical Writings,” in Buddhism Beyond theMonastery: Tantric Practices and Their Performers in Tibet and the Himalayas, ed. Sarah Jacoby andAntonio Terrone, PIATS 2003, vol. 10 (Leiden: Brill, 2009), 37-71; Antonio Terrone, “Householdersand Monks: A Study of Treasure Revealers and Their Role in Religious Revival in ContemporaryEastern Tibet,” in Buddhism Beyond the Monastery, 73-109.


parameters of renunciation – sexual purity and separation from household life –as the authentic and correct model for monasticism. At the same time, as animpressive work of investigation and synthesis, the Vine of Young Moonbeamsmodels the erudite scholasticism that Si tu also set forth as a monastic ideal. TheTibet Museum thang kas may well have been informed and inspired by Si tu’stext, as they convey a vision of monasticism in the Buddha’s life consistent withSi tu’s. At the same time, they achieve a rhetorical power of their own through thedevelopment of an elegant and arresting visual idiom.

Reading sets of adaptations together – texts with earlier textual sources, as wellas texts with images – yields more insightful analyses into objects and how theyshape cultural imagination. This intertextual approach can be particularly usefulgiven the rhetoric of conservatism and fidelity to tradition ubiquitous in TibetanBuddhism, where discursive moves are often made implicitly. Reading Si tu’s Vineof Young Moonbeams with the canonical sources on which it was based, as wellas with the Tibet Museum thang kas, facilitated my detection of themes beingdeveloped through Si tu’s juxtaposition and selective summarization of texts.Moreover, while the thang kas themselves strongly suggest themes of solitude andrenunciation in the forest, studying Si tu’s textual treatment of differing sourceson the Buddha’s life helped corroborate and further refine my identification andinterpretation of particular visual scenes. That is, the moves made in the work ofadaptation are often subtle enough that a combination of readings may be necessaryto clarify them. Multidisciplinary, intertextual approaches are thus useful forstudying Tibet – and in particular its culture of polymathic intellectuals – but alsomore generally for studying cultural production in the form of adaptations andcommentaries. They remind us that old texts can continually regain new life, andthat even the most innocuous objects can wield discursive power.


GlossaryNote: The glossary is organized into sections according to the main language ofeach entry. The first section contains Tibetan words organized in Tibetanalphabetical order. Columns of information for all entries are listed in this order:THL Extended Wylie transliteration of the term, THL Phonetic rendering of theterm, the English translation, the Sanskrit equivalent, the Chinese equivalent, otherequivalents such as Mongolian or Latin, associated dates, and the type of term.

Ka

TypeDatesOtherEnglishPhoneticsWylie

MonasteryKatokkaḥthog

OrganizationKarma Kagyüpakarma bka’ brgyud pa

MonasteryKarma Gönkarma dgon

EditorKarma Gyeltsenkarma rgyal mtshan

AuthorKarma Gyeltsenkarma rgyal mtshan

Personkarmapakarma pa

Person1284-1339Karmapa RangjungDorjé

karma pa rang byungrdo rje

TermSan. nāganāga-serpentluklu

Person1625-1692Longsel Nyingpoklong gsal snying po

TermSan. maṇḍalakyinkhordkyil ’khor

Title collectionTranslated Word[of the Buddha]

Kangyurbka’ ’gyur

Title collectionKamabka’ ma

TermSan. aṣṭamaṅgalaeight auspicioussymbols

trashi takgyébkra shis rtags brgyad

PersonTrashi Lhündrupbkra shis lhun grub

TermSan. trikāyathree bodieskusumsku gsum

TextHundred JātakasKyerap Gyabaskyes rabs brgya ba

Kha


PlaceKhamkhams

Termgreat abbotkhenchenmkhan chen

PersonKhenchen DorjéChang TrashiLhündrup

mkhan chen rdo rje’chang bkra shis lhungrub

TermSan. garuḍagaruḍa-birdkhadingmkha’ lding

Ga


SeriesGangchen RikgyeGojé Demik

gangs can rig brgya’isgo ’byed ldemig

PersonGuru Pelgu ru ’phel

TextSan. LalitavistaraExtensive PlayGyacher Rölpargya cher rol pa


http://www.thlib.org/reference/transliteration/#essay=/thl/ewts/

http://www.thlib.org/reference/transliteration/#essay=/thl/phonetics/

TextSan.Lalitavistarasūtra

Sūtra on theExtensive [Accountof the Buddha’s]Play

Gyacher Rölpé Dorgya cher rol pa’imdo

Nga


MonasteryNgorngor

TextSan.Abhiniṣkramaṇa-sūtra

Sūtra of the GreatDeparture

Ngönpar Jungwé Domngon par ’byungba’i mdo

TextSan.Abhiniṣkramaṇa

Great DepartureNgönjungmngon ’byung

Ca


TextLife of the BlessedTeacher Śākyamuni

Chomdendé TönpaShakya Tuppé Namtar

bcom ldan ’das stonpashākya thub pa’i rnamthar

Cha


PlaceChamdochab mdo

TermSan. dharmacakrawheel of dharmachökyi khorlochos kyi ’khor lo

TextHistory of theDharma

Chökyi Jungnéchos kyi ’byung gnas

TermSan. dharmarājadharma kingchögyelchos rgyal

TextHistory of theDharma

Chöjungchos ’byung

Ja


AuthorJonang Taranatajo nang tā ra nā tha

Title collectionJangsatam’jang sa tham

TextLight Rain ofNectar SproutingSeeds of Trust: Lifeof Jetsün Lama Situ

Chökyi Jungné

Jetsün Lama SituChökyi JungnekyiNampar Tarpa DepéSabön Kyepé DütsiZimchar

rje btsun bla ma si tuchos kyi ’byung gnaskyi rnam par thar padad pa’i sa bonskyed pa’i bdud rtsi’izim char

Nya


OrganizationNyingmarnying ma

Ta


PersonTai Situpatā’i si tu pa

TextCollected Works ofTai SitupaKünkhyen ChökyiJungné TenpéNyinjé

Tai Situpa KünkhyenChökyi Jungné TenpéNyinjékyi Kabum

tā’isi tu pa kun mkhyenchos kyi ’byung gnasbstan pa’i nyin byedkyi bka’ ’bum

DoxographicalCategory

treasure revelationtermagter ma


TextInspiring Trust andDelight: A Life of(Our) Teacher, theBuddha

Tönpa SanggyekyiNamtar DechingGakyé

ston pa sangs rgyaskyirnam thar dad cingdga’ skyed

Title collectionTranslated TreatisesTengyurbstan ’gyur

Person1678-1738Tenpa Tseringbstan pa tshe ring

Tha


Termtangkathang ka

Person1737-1802Tukwan LozangChökyi Nyima

thu’u bkwan blobzang chos kyi nyima

Title collection1431Tempangmathem spangs ma

TermSan. sadyobalaStrengtheningTu Kyepamthu skyed pa

Da


Termsecretarydrungyikdrung yig

TextBrief Explanationof the Deeds of ourTeacher, theExcellent Guide,Lord ofthe Śākyas

Dakchakgi TönpaNamdren ShakyéWangpö DzepaDotsamdu LekparShepa

bdag cag gi ston parnam ’dren shā kya’idbang po’i mdzad pamdo tsam du legspar bshad pa

TermSan. amṛtanectardütsibdud rtsi

TextA Vine of YoungMoonbeams thatBring JasmineFlowers – theConviction of theIntelligent – intoFull Bloom: FineDiscourse on Howthe Collection ofPrevious Texts ofthe Sugata’s Words,Conveyed throughthe Language of theSnowy Land, WerePublished in aBlockprint Edition

Dewar Shekpé KaGangchengyiDedrangpé ChimöTsok Jinyepa ParduDruppé TsülléNyewar TsampéTamzangpo LodenMöpé Kunda YongsuKhachewé DaöZhönnü Trishing

bde bar gshegs pa’ibka’ gangs can gyibrdas drangs pa’iphyi mo’i tshogs jisnyed pa par dubsgrubs pa’i tshul lasnye bar brtsams pa’igtam bzang po bloldan mos pa’ikunda yongs su khaphye ba’i zla ’odgzhon nu’i ’khri shing

TextA Treasury ofPreciousTeachings: Historyof the DharmaElucidating theSugata’s Teachings

Dewar Shekpé TenpéSeljé Chökyi JungnéSungrap RinpochéDzö

bde bar gshegs pa’ibstan pa’i gsal byedchos kyi ’byung gnasgsung rab rin po che’i

mdzod

Title collectionSan. VinayaMonastic ConductDülwa’dul ba

TextSan.Vinayakṣudraka-vastu

Minor Division onMonastic Conduct

Dülwa TrentsekkyiZhi

’dul ba phran tshegskyi gzhi

TextSan. VinayavastuDivision onMonastic Conduct

Dülwa Zhi’dul ba gzhi

PlaceDegésde dge


Person1672-1739DegéKhenchenDorjéChang TrashiLhündrup

sde dge’i mkhan chen

rdo rje ’chang bkrashis lhun grub

AuthorDegé LamenGuru Pelsde dge’i bla sman guru ’phel

Pa


BuildingPema NyinjéLibrary

Pema Nyinjé Pendzöpadma nyin byed dpemdzod

Buildingprinting houseparkhangpar khang

TextSan. KalpalatāWish-FulfillingVine

Paksam Trishingdpag bsam ’khri shing

MonasteryPelpungdpal spungs

TextHistory of PelpungPelpungkyi Logyüdpal spungs kyi lorgyus

MonasteryPelpung Gönpadpal spungs dgon pa

TextHistory of PelpungTuptenChökhorling

Pelpung TuptenChökhor LinggiLogyü

dpal spungs thubbstanchos ’khor gling gi lorgyus

TermSan. śrīvatsaglorious knot [ofeternity]

pel beudpal be’u

Pha


Person1689-1747Polhané SönamTopgyé

pho lha nas bsodnams stobs rgyas

TextSan. Āryalalita-vistaranāma-mahāyānasūtra

The NobleExtensive [Accountof the Buddha’s]Play, A MahāyānaSūtra

PakpaGyacher RölpaZhejawa TekpaChenpö Do

’phags pa rgyacher rol pa zhes byaba theg pa chen po’imdo

Ba


Person1290-1364Butönbu ston

Author1290-1364Butön Rinchendrupbu ston rin chen grub

TextChi. Xizang tangkaTibetan ThangkasBökyi Tangkabod kyi thang ka

BuildingChi. Xizangbowuguan

Tibet MuseumBöjong TendzéShamdzökhang

bod ljongs rten rdzasbshams mdzodkhang

EditorChi. Xizang zizhiquwenwu guanliweiyuan hui

Börang KyongjongRikngö Dodam UyönLhenkhang

bod rang skyongljongs rig dngos dodam u yon lhan khang

TermSan. bodhiawakeningjangchupbyang chub

TextSan.Bodhisattvāvadāna-kalpalatā

Wish-FulfillingVine of BodhisattvaAvadānas

Jangchup SempéTokpa JöpaPaksamgyi Trishing

byang chub semsdpa’i rtogs pa brjodpa dpag bsam gyi’khri shing


TermSan.anuttarāsamyak-sambodhi

unexcelled,complete, perfectawakening

lanamepa yangdakpardzokpé jangchup

bla na med pa yangdagpar rdzogs pa’i byangchub

Termcourt physicianlamenbla sman

PlaceÜdbus

Termnon-celibate priestbentsün’ban btsun

AuthorBelo TsewangKünkhyap

’be lo tshe dbang kunkhyab

Ma


PublisherMirik Petrünkhangmi rigs dpe skrunkhang

AuthorMupomu po

TermSan. adhimuktidevotionmöpamos pa

Tsa


BuildingGreat TempleTsuklakkhang ChenMo

gtsug lag khang chenmo

Tsha


Title collection1347-1351Tselpatshal pa

Dza


TermTwelve Deeds [ofthe Buddha]

Dzepa Chunyimdzad pa bcu gnyis

Zha


MonasteryZhaluzha lu

AuthorZhuchen TsültrimRinchen

zhu chen tshul khrimsrin chen

PersonZhamarzhwa dmar

Termindexzhukjangbzhugs byang

Za


Ya


TermSan. svāstikayungdrungg.yung drung

PublisherChi.Wenwuchubanshe

Rikngö Petrünkhangrig dngos dpe skrunkhang

Ra


TermSan. vidyāsthānafields of knowledgeriknérig gnas


La


TextBiographies of theLamdré LamaLineage

Lamdré Lama GyüpéNamtar

lam ’bras bla mabrgyud pa’i rnamthar

PlaceLitangli thang

Sa


Title collectionCollected Works ofthe Sakya

Sakya Kabumsa skya bka’ ’bum

NameSaga Dawasa ga zla ba

TextLife of the BuddhaSanggyekyi Namtarsangs rgyas kyi rnamthar

Person1700-1774Situsi tu

Person1700-1774Situ Penchensi tu paṇ chen

Author1700-1774Situ Penchen ChökyiJungné

si tu paṇ chen chos kyi’byunggnas

AuthorLoppön Pawoslob dpon dpa’ bo

Ha


PlaceChi. LasaLhasalha sa

Title collectionLhodzonglho rdzong

Title collectionLhodzong Kangyurlho rdzong bka’ ’gyur

A


BuildingAlchi Sumtseka lci gsum brtsegs

Sanskrit

TypeDatesSanskritEnglishPhoneticsWylie

Title collectionAbhidharmaChö Ngönpachos mngon pa

Title collectionĀgama

TermarjunaArdzunaa rdzu na

Termbodhicitta

Personbodhisattvabeing [directedtoward] awakening

Jangchup Sempabyang chub sems dpa’

Non-buddhistdeity

BrahmāTsangpatshangs pa

PersonBuddhaSanggyésangs rgyas

Termbuddhadharmabuddhadharmasanggyekyi chösangs rgyas kyi chos

Termcakravartinwheel-turning[king]

khorlö gyurwa’khor los sgyur ba

PersonDevaLhalha

Termdharmachöchos

Termdharmacakṣusdharma eyechöchenchos spyan

MountainGandhamādanaPökyi Ngedangspos kyi ngad ldang


Termjāgarikāyogayoga ofwakefulness

PlaceJetavanaGyeljekyi Tselrgyal byed kyi tshal

TranslatorJñānagupta (Chi.Shenajue Duo)

Non-buddhistdeity

KālikaNakponag po

Non-buddhistdeity

KālikaDüchendus can

Termkāśikavastrasilk cover

PlaceLumbinīLumbini Tsellumbi nī’i tshal

Buddhist deityMaitreyaJampabyams pa

Non-buddhistdeity other

MāraDübdud

PersonMāyāGyuntrülmasgyu ’phrul ma

Non-buddhistdeity

MucilindaTangzungbtang bzung

Termnāga

PersonNāgārjuna

RiverNairañjanāNairandzananai ranydza nā

PersonNandāGamadga’ ma

PersonNandabalāGatopmadga’ stobs ma

Termnirvāṇanyangenlé depamya ngan las ’das pa

Termpañcacakṣusfive eyeschenngaspyan lnga

Termparinirvāṇayongsu nyangenlédepa

yongs su mya ngan las’das pa

Termplakṣaplakshaplakṣha

PersonŚākyamuniShakya Tuppashākya thub pa

Non-buddhistdeity

ŚakraGyajinbrgya byin

PlaceSāṃkāśyaShangkashyashang kā shya

PlaceSārnāth

PersonSarvārthasiddhaDönnam Kündruppadon rnams kun ’grubpa

PersonSena

PlaceSenāyanīDechensde can

PersonSiddhārthaDöndrupdon grub

TextŚrāvakabhūmi

PersonSthiramati

Termstūpachötenmchod rten

Termśuddhāvāsakāyika-deva

gods of the pureabode

netsangmé lhagnas gtsang ma’i lha

PersonSujātāLekyemalegs skyes ma

Termsūtradomdo

PlaceTrāyastriṃśaSumchu Tsasumsum bcu rtsa gsum


PersonUpagaKüntu Nyerdrokun tu nyer ’gro

TextUpāyakauśalya-sūtra

Tapla Khepé Dothabs la mkhas pa’imdo

PersonUttarāGongmagong ma

TextUttaratantraGyülamargyud bla ma

Chinese

TypeDatesChineseEnglishPhoneticsWylie

PublicationPlace

Beijing (北京)

TextFo benxingji jing(佛本行集經, San.

Sūtra Collecting theBuddha’s Deeds

Abhiniṣkramaṇa-sūtra)

Title collection1684/92,1700,1717-1720

Kangxi (康熙)

Title collection1605Wanli (萬曆)

Title collection1410Yongle (永樂)

Pali


Termālokasaññā (San.ālokasaṃjñā)

Nangwé Dushésnang ba’i ’du shes

Title collectionDīghanikāyaLong Discourses

TextMahāssapurasuttaThe Great Sutta atAssapura

Title collectionMajjhimanikāyaMiddle-lengthDiscourses

Title collectionNikāya

Termsampajāna (San.saṃprajāna)

awarenessshezhinshes bzhin

Termsati (San. smṛti)mindfulnessdrenpadran pa

Termthīnamiddha (San.styānamiddha)

sloth and torpormukpa dang nyirmugs pa dang gnyid

TextUdumbarika-sīhanādasutta

Sutta of the Lion’sRoar to theUdumbarikans

Termutthānasaññā (San.utthānasaṃjñā)

perception of rising


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si tu paṇ chen, monastic ideals, and the buddha's biographies

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