The Episodes that Resemble the sBa bzhed Tradition: The King's Dream of bSam yas' Statues
by Lewis J.A. Doney
This episode is described in six sources: the dBa' bzhed (16b1-6), sBa bzhed G (42.14-43.10), sBa bzhed P (339.21-40.15), sBa bzhed S (64.1-65.2), MTNd (293.17-94.6) and MBNT (104a4-4b5). Every other episode in the MTN list, above, is omitted in at least one other text. In this episode, Khri Srong lde brtsan dreams that a guide shows him rocks on Khas/Has po ri Hill near bSam yas, which are in fact self-manifested statues of Buddhas and other deities. He awakes and transports the rock statues to bSam yas to be worshipped in its shrines. The dBa' bzhed, sBa bzhed G and P narrate
similar versions of this episode. MBNT instead resembles sBa bzhed S's version. For example, part of the dBa' bzhed description (16b3-4) reads: Upon arrival at Khas po ri [in the dream, his guide] let [[[Khri Srong lde brtsan]]] examine all the rocks and said that this and this were the tathagathas with such and such names and the bodhisattvas with such and such names. [He] was also shown all the wrathful deities.
.khas po rir phyin pa dang / brag kun ltar bcug pa dang / 'di dang 'di ni de bzhin gshegs pa'i mtshan 'di dang 'di zhes bya ba dang / byang chub sems dpa'i mtshan 'di dang 'di zhes bya ba dang zhes mtshan smos so // khro bo kun yang bstan
sBa bzhed G (42.20-43.1) and sBa bzhed P (340.3-6, in parentheses) add detail to the dBa' bzhed version (shown here in bold):
That [[[king]]] went to Has po ri; and after [the guide] let [[[Khri Srong lde brtsan]]] look at all the rocks, [he] said the names of all [the deities]: ‘These are the Buddha and such and such Bodhisattva.' There were nineteen deities. Being shown all the deities and (P: together with) the wrathful deities, the king laughed out of great joy.
de has po rir phyin pa dang / brag kun la (P omits la) bltar bcug nas / 'di ni sangs rgyas dang byang chub sems dpa' 'di dang 'di zhes kun gyi mtshan yang smos nas lha bcu dgu 'dug / khro bo dang (P adds bcas pa) kun bstan te / rgyal po dgyes ches nas he he byas
sBa bzhed S (35.1) omits much of the narrative featured in sBa bzhed G and P, including even those parts that sBa bzhed G and P share with the dBa' bzhed. sBa bzhed S therefore provides only a brief statement of the episode: ‘When that [[[king]]] went, there were 19 deities. [He] laughed out of joy' (de phyin tsa na lha bcu dgu 'dug / dgyes nas he he byas).
sBa bzhed S only shares one word (phyin) with the dBa' bzhed here. MBNT (104b1-2) agrees with sBa bzhed S almost verbatim: ‘When [the king] went there, there were 13 deities. [He] laughed with (?) joy' (der phyin tsa na lha bcu gsum 'dug / dges grogs he he byas).
It appears that MBNT follows sBa bzhed S, which has already removed much of the content included in sBa bzhed G, P and the dBa’ bzhed. This adequately counters any claim that the omissions in sBa bzhed S are the result of centuries of transmissional errors, since sBa bzhed S and MBNT were transmitted completely separately. The long, almost verbatim quotes from sBa bzhed S in MBNT suggest that sBa bzhed S was redacted before MBNT was written. There are, undoubtedly, some transmissional errors in sBa bzhed S. A close comparison of the sBa bzhed versions with MBNT would help to correct these. MBNT also differs slightly from sBa bzhed S. For example, it mentions thirteen deities in the quote above, whereas the sBa bzhed versions states that there were nineteen deities on the hill. This discrepancy may be the result of MBNT's compiler deciding to stray from his copy text, or a transmissional error.
MTN contains a short and confused narration of the same episode, based on the sBa bzhed tradition. It reads:
The king thought: ‘How should the statues (rten) in my temple be built?' Then in a dream a god from the intermedite space prophesied: ‘Since Your Majesty's tutelary (yid dam) deity stands in the place decided by the lowing of the red cow(?), invite [that deity] and ask it to reside in the monastery!' Having heard that voice, [[[Khri Srong lde brtsan]]] thought to decide the [the meaning] of the speech on the peak of Has po ri. Arriving at the peak of Has po ri and not seeing anything at all, the king thought ‘This is the [prophesied] spot.' Scratching [the earth] with his hand, the self-arisen rock-statue [of] Mahabodhi poked its top-knot [out of the earth]. [[[Khri Srong lde brtsan]]] invited and asked it to reside as the principal deity of [[[bSam yas]]] monastery in the lower, Tibetan-style chapel.
Unlike MBNT, MTN does not quote any extant sBa bzhed directly. This strengthens my hypothesis that MBNT is not based on MTN, even where it narrates the same episode. MBNT could not possibly have arrived at a version so close to sBa bzhed S by quoting MTN. MTN differs greatly from the sBa bzhed narrative's details, even in the truncated form that MBNT quotes. It does not mention nineteen (or even thirteen) deities, or the king's laughter. Nor does it mention Tathagathas, Buddhas or bodhisattvas; MTN speaks of a yid dam instead. The details are almost all different but structurally it is recognisably the same narrative. It also appears in the same place in the life of Khri Srong lde brtsan that the sBa bzhed positions the episode. Interestingly, MTN implies that the king discovers the means for his own liberation on Has po ri, since he finds there not merely statues, but instead his tutelary deity (yid dam).
The Prince's Speech Aged Five
In this episode, Khri Srong lde brtsan announces himself to be the son of the Chinese queen, Jincheng Gongzhu, in order to counter the claim of the sNa nam clan. The Old Tibetan Annals and Royal Genealogy make it clear that Khri Srong lde brtsan’s mother was born in the sNa nam clan.174
This tale is absent in the dBa' bzhed but in the sBa bzhed the prince is of Chinese descent: The sNa (r)nam queen, (b)Zhi steng(s) abducted Gongzhu’s (kong jo'i) son and said:
‘This [boy] was born to me.’ ... The prince said: ‘[I,] Khri Srong lde btsan, am a Chinese uterine decendant (rgya tsha175), whatever sNa nam Zhang [[[khrom]] pa] does.’ Then, since [he] went to the lap of the Chinese [[[Wikipedia:Queen consort|queen]], his] name itself was self- given.176
Kapstein proposes that this episode constitutes a rhetorical literary device. It perhaps reflects a later, Buddhist belief in Jincheng Gongzhu’s parentage of Khri Srong lde brtsan.177 MBNT (85a2-5) follows sBa bzhed S (4.5-10), though it diverges more than in the episode above. Its source is 174 See Dotson 2009: 123 and n. 313; also Bacot et al. 1940: 25-26 and 82.
175 I would like to thank Brandon Dotson for clarifying this point in the translation.
176 sBa bzhed G (4.16-5.2), with P’s (297.19-98.3) variations in parentheses, reads: kong jo'i bu sna rnam (nam) bza' bzhi (zhi) stengs kyis (steng gis) phrogs nas 'di (omits ’di) nga la skyes pa yin zer / der blon po kun
du bcug pas / kong jos sngon la zin pa bzhi stengs kyis zhi (reads zin pa sna nam bzas shi) na'ang shi snyam te (nas) phrogs pas / kong jos bu shi dogs nas lhod (inserts kyis) btang ste / yin dang nga'i yin te dri (gri) mo khyod zer nas btang (inserts bas) / bu kong jo'i yin par shes / lo gcig lon tsa na zhabs 'dzugs pa'i dga' ston byas te (ste) / sna nam pa rnams ber chung ngu re lag na thogs nas zhang po'i pang du shog zer (inserts bas) / rgyal bu na re / khri srong lde btsan rgya tsha lags / [5] sna nam zhang gi (gis) ci bgyi 'tshal / gsungs nas rgya'i spang (pang) du song bas / ming yang rang gis btags so /
sBa bzhed S (4.7: ...zin pa bzhi stengs...) agrees with G against P in the only major difference between the latter two here. 177The tale resembles that of Solomon’s judgement over two conflicting claims to ownership of a child. It is contained in the Mulasarvastivadin Vinaya, but may just as easily have come through Khotan from Judeo- Christian narratives passed along the silk-road. Kapstein, who has traced these influences, rightly notes that this story ‘appropriated a canonical Buddhist tale to justify a claimed Buddhist genealogy for a Buddhist king’ (Kapstein 2000: 36) rather than a pro-Chinese stance on the Tibetan line of kings.
evidently sBa bzhed S rather than G or P. It spells (Jincheng) Gongzhu's name ong jo rather than kong jo; and the lines that sBa bzhed S omits are also absent in MBNT.
MTN again differs from all sBa bzhed versions in its details:
When the prince reached the age of five, sNa nam Zhang khrom pa skyes and the sNa nam pa [[[Wikipedia:clan|clan]]] said ‘the prince Khri Srong lde btsan is our uterine descendant', they put great pressure on the Chinese queen [[[Jincheng Gongzhu]], and] arrived to abduct the prince. All the royal ministers assembled one day for a large festival and bothered the son-prince, asking: ‘Is your mother the Chinese queen or are [you] the son of the sNa Nam pa? Take sides!' The son, Khri Srong lde btsan, answered: ‘holding up [my] hand with a claim (gral rim), [I] Khri Srong lde btsan am a Chinese uterine descendant, whatever sNa nam Zhang [[[khrom]] pa] does.' He became famous for that claim.
MTN is similar to the sBa bzhed only when quoting the words of Khri Srong lde brtsan at the end of this episode. This latter part of the prince's proclamation is almost incomprehensible in the form it has come down to us; but MTN still quotes it verbatim. Unfortunately, this quote cannot be traced to any single sBa bzhed version against the others, since all sBa bzhed versions give the same quote here.
The evidence of this episode corroborates that of the episode above. sBa bzhed G and P tell largely similar tales, whereas sBa bzhed S is abridged and MBNT follows it against the other sBa bzhed versions. MTN gives a structurally similar account, but with different details. In the end, their characterisations of the Khri Srong lde brtsan in this episode are quite similar.
