A Short Review on Tibetan Literature and its Mongolian Translations

Author(s): T. Damdinsuren
Source: The Tibet Journal , Autumn 1977, Vol. 2, No. 3 (Autumn 1977), pp. 62-66
Published by: Library of Tibetan Works and Archives

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/43299870

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 NOTES

A Short Review on Tibetan Literature and its

Mongolian Translations
T. Damdinsuren

SINCE Tibet
Tibethashasthe produced
produced Tibetan
a great written
number a great works
of literary languagein number first of literary appeared works in in the various 7th century fields
various fields
of knowledge. Though the main category of Tibetan literature belongs to
translations from Sanskrit, a wide variety of literature have been written
by Tibetans themselves. Besides the prevalence of religious books, numerous
secular works are also available. A certain portion of the works translated
into Tibetan from the Sanskrit were further developed in the Tibetan lang-
uage and acquired a distinct Tibetan character in accordance with the Tibetan
mode of life. Cases were not infrequent when Tibetan authors, imitating the
works translated from Sanskrit, rendered their own works to be replicas
of the Sanskrit model.
It should be noted that numerous temporal literature emanated from
religious literature and that folk-lore was widely used for the spread of
religious dogma. It becomes of necessity not merely to make a study of
translated literature (mostly religious), but special attention should be paid
to secular literature as written by the Tibetans. The purpose of this paper is
to give a brief synopsis of the value of Tibetan literature, and how it in turn
influenced Mongolian literary development.
The most noteworthy of Tibetan literature which has come to us is
the Gesar ( Ge-sar ). Besides the existence of Gesar in the form of written
volumes, it lived another life : it was spread through oral tradition all over
Tibet through the efforts of rhapsodists. Thus, Gesar reached us in two
forms; the oral and the written, and is one of the reasons why there are a
great many versions of the Tibetan Gesar. In the biography of Tsang-yang
Gya-tso ( Tsang-dbyangs rGya-mtso , 1683-1746), written by the Mongolian
Darja (Tib. Dar-gyä, Dar-rgyas) in 1757, it has been mentioned that
eighteen different anecdotes of Gesar Khan of Ling exist, the ideas and
artistic peculiarities of each version differing. The accounts clearly indicate
that Geseriada was under the influence of Buddhism and Bön (Bon). Not only
that, it may clearly be seen that notwithstanding the numerous versions,
Gesar expressed dreams and hopes of the common working people. The
Mongolian version of Gesar, though seemingly different from the original
Tibetan work, is undoubtedly connected with the Tibetan Gesar appearing
and developing under its influence.
The original variant of the Tibetan Geseriada was probably first devised
in the 11th century in either the north-eastern region of Tibet or in Am-do

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 A SHORT REVIEW ON TIBETAN LITERATURE 63

(A-mdo) by the poet Choi-beb ( Cho-i-beb ), Annal No. 250 is both an ancient
epic and historical monument which includes artistic stories, epic insertions,
songs, verses and legends. This annal was discovered by Pelliot and Stein
in Touen-Houang* at the outset of this century. Buddhist Sūtras, translated
from the Sanskrit were well-organised in the Tibetan language and compiled
into two collections: the Ka-gyur (bKď-'gyur) and the Tan-gyur (bsTan-'gyur).
These works of Indian origin which were entered into both the Ka-gyur
and the Tan-gyur have greatly affected Tibetan literary development. For
instance, twenty-three episodes on the incarnations of Dr'om-ton-pa
(' Brom-ston-pa) (Tibetan religious exponent of the 11th century) were based
on the principle of Jatakas (stories of Buddha's reincarnations). These were
all collected under one selection entitled The Book of the Son (Bu-chö,
Bu-chos). Dr'om-ton-pa compiled a selection of his Indian guru Atisa's
sermons and called them The Book of the Father (Pa-chö, Pa-chos). Com-
paring the teacher Atiša and his pupil Dr'om-ton-pa to be father and son,
Atisa's book was titled The Book of the Father , while Dr'om-ton-pas' was
named The Book of the Son . Both these volumes combined were known
as Precious Beads . The Book of the Son is of interest as it was written like the
Indian Jatakas. It was translated by Siregetü Guosi and published xylogra-
phically in Mongolia and later in the Buriat. The Book of the Father was
translated by Oirat Jaya Paņdita.
In the 11th century, Po-to-wa ( Po-to-ba ), (pupil of Atiša and Dr'om-
ton-pa) in order to render the sermons of his teachers simply and compre-
hensively to the common people, interjected his explanations with national
tales and legends and hence, made religious study accessible to the people
by translating them into the language of a tale. In particular, this method con-
cerns the book Jang-cKub Lam-dťon ( Byang-chub Lam-sgron ), in which Atiša
gave an account of the basic principles of Buddhism. The major books of
this genre are Selected Precious Tales (Pä-chö Rin-chen Pung-pa, dPe-chos
Rin-chen sPungs-pa), The Blue Note-book (Beu-bum Ngon-po, Bé'u-bum
sNgon-pó) together with the commentaries on them. These books are valu-
able literary monuments, which gave us hundreds of folk-lore, tales and
legends. Selected Precious Tales and its commentaries have been translated
into Mongolian and printed several times.
During the 1 1th century, it was the celebrated Tibetan poet, Mi-la-rä-pa
( Mi-la-ras-pa ) (1040-1123) who distinguished himself among the teachers of
Buddhism. Two volumes of his works, which involved his verses and his
biography spread all over Tibet and Mongolia. Both these volumes were
translated in the 17th century into Mongolian by Siregetü Guosi and printed.
The verses by Mi-la-rä-pa's pupil Ra-chung Dr'ag-pa Do-je ( Ras-chung
Grags-pa rDo-rje) (1084-1161) are also available in the Tibetan and Mongo-
lian languages.

♦Bacot, T., Thomas, F.W., Ch. Toussaint, Documents de Touen-Houng relatifs a l'histoire
du Tibet (Paris, 1940-46) pp. 93-170.

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64 THE TIBET JOURNAL

Tibetan King Tr'i-song-de,u-tsan's(ATAr/-^ro«^-/fife 9 u-btzan)reign(7 55-791)

saw the arrival in Tibet of the great Yogi Padmasambhāva from India. His
biography Pä-ma Ka-thang {Pad-ma bKa'-thang) and Five Dicta ( Ka-thang-de -
nga , bKa9 -thang-sde-lnga ) were among those works discovered in the buried
treasure. There is a legend that these books were written in the 8th century
and hidden in a cave which were found later in the 13th- 14th centuries.
Certain modern scholars believe these works to have been written between
the 13th- 14th centuries. Pä-ma ka-thang has twice been translated into
Mongolian. One of these translations by Sa-kya Don-dr'ub (Sa-skya Don-
grub) was printed xylographically. The other translation was made by an
unknown author and reached us in the form of a manuscript.
Among the books, which, according to legend were found among the
buried treasure, of some interest is the Ma-ni Ka-bum {Ma-ni bKď-bum)
or The Ten Thousand Maxims of King Song-tsän Gam-po ( Srong-btsan
sGam-po). Though Ma-ni Ka-bum is considered to be compiled by King
Song-tsan-gam-po in the 7th century, modern scholars consider the work
to be a creation of the 14th- 15th centuries. The main theme behind this work
is based on an eulogy to Bodhisattva Avalokitešvara. The Ma-ni-Ka-bum
says that the Bodhisattva Avalokitešvara was born to serve for the good
of all living creatures through the appearance of King Song-tsän Gam-po
in Tibet. The use of the formula OM MA-NI PAD-ME HUM is repeatedly
mentioned in the book. Despite the fact that the Ma-ni Ka-bum , as with all
literature of this kind, involved insertions that were remotely involved with
artistic literature, it contained a historical thread of Song-tsän Gam-po's
marriage to the princesses from China and Nepal. A Jataka of the former
births of Song-tsän Gam-po has also been included, as well as certain acts
and decrees of Song-tsän Gam-po. There are three translations of Ma-ni
Ka-bum in the Mongolian language, translated by Oirat Jaya Paņdita,
Siregetü Guosi and the third by Tsul-tr'im Lo-dr'o ( Tsul-khrims bLo-gros).
In the 13th century Tibetan scholar Sa-kya Paņdita Kun-ga Gyal-tsan
( Kun-dgď rGyal-tsan) (1182-1251). wrote The Treasury of Edifying Dicta
(Leg-par-sha-pa Rin-po-chei-ter, Legs-par-bshad-pa Rin-po-che'i-gter) which
consisted of 457 verses of a didactic character. It was during the same century
that Rin-chen-pal ( Rin-chen-dpal ) wrote commentaries to it and which
involved all the tales and legends mentioned in the verses. Another com-
mentary to this work also exists. The Treasury of Edifying Dicta and the
two commentaries to it are significant monuments of Tibetan literature.
Both works have been translated into Mongolian several times and printed
at the same time. Numerous commentaries to Kun-ga Gyal-tsan's work
written by the Mongols exist, using the Tibetan commentaries as a base.
Noteworthy among these are the commentaries by Tsakhar gebši Luvsant-
sultim (Lo-sang Tsul-tr'im, bLo-bzang Tsul-khrims) and.Rinchen Nomtoev.
Didactic verses known as A Bunch of White Lotuses (Pä-ma kar-poi
chun-po, Pad-ma dkar-po'i chun-po) were written by Panchen So-nam
Dr'ag-pa (bSod-nams Grags-pa) (1478-1554), imitating the Treasury of

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 A SHORT REVIEW ON TIBETAN LITERATURE 65

Edifying Dicta. In the 19th century Jang-ch'en Ga-wai-lo-dr'o, dByang-

can dGď-bďi-blo-gros) wrote A Commentary on the Bunch of White Lotuses
which included all the tales mentioned in The Bunch of White Lotuses . This
work has been translated into Mongolian and xylographed.
There are some Tibetan works which have been based on the Indian
Pancatantra and the Ramayana. Chief among them are such works as
Jewellery (Nor-bui-gyan, Nor-bui-rgyan), Sastra of King Ramana (Gyal-po
Ra-ma-na Tan-cho, rGyal-po Ra-ma-na bsTan-bcos ), which are all available
in Mongolian.
There are two collections of the Vétala tales (Ro-ngo-dr'ub-chen-gyi
tog-jo, Ro-dngos-grub-can-gyi rtogs-bchos ) all of which were written in
Tibet and based upon twenty-five Indian Vétala tales. One of them consists
of thirteen chapters, the other twenty-one. Since both these two versions
(Tibetan) of Vétala are mentioned in The Book of the Son (written in the
1 1th century), we may assume that they existed as far back as the 1 1th century.
The fact that the Tibetan tales of Vétala differ widely from their Indian
counterparts may possibly indicate that the Tibetan collection is an original
work rather than a translation. These tales have found their way into Mongo-
lian translations.
The 18th century saw the emergence of two outstanding poets in Tibet,
the Sixth Dalai Lama, Tsang-yang Gya-tso ( Tsang-dbyangs rGya-mtso)
(1683-1746); and Do^khar Tse-ring Wang-gyal ( mDo-mkhar Tse-ring
dBang-rgyal ) (1695-1763). Tsang-yang Gya-tso's lyrical verses The Songs
to the Beloved (gul-lu nyan-dr'ug mGul-glu sNyan- grugs) are extremely
popular among the Tibetan people. Do-kar Tse-ring Wang-gyal wrote
lyrical verses, prominent among them was a novel written in verse, The
Biography of Nor-bzang (Gyal-po Nor-bu-sang-po nam-t'ar, rGyal-po
Nor-bu-bzang-po'i rnam-thar ) and which was written under the pen-name
of Tse-ring Wang-du ( Tse-ring dBang-'dus). This same writer also com-
piled a biography of Pho-lha-pa So-nam Tob-gyä ( Pho-lha-pa bSod-nams
sTobs-rgyas), who governed in Tibet from 1735 to 1747.
In 1737 Tag-bu Lo-sang Tan-pai Gyal-tsan (sTag-phu * bLo-bzang
bsTan-pďi rGyal-mtsan) wrote in verse a novel entitled The Moon Cuckoo
(Dr'in-ngon da-wai tog-jo, mGrin-sngon zla-bďi rtogs-brjod). Utilising the
subject of this novel, an opera was composed by D. Rabdjai (Tib. Rab-gyä
Rab-rgyas) of Khalkhas which was staged in Gobi. The Tibetan
Moon Cuckoo was translated into the Mongolian and printed by Dai gousi
Agvandampil (Nga-wang Tan-pel, Ngag-dbang bsTan-pel) in 1770. Unlike
the novel by Tse-ring Wang-du, The Biography of King Nor-sang , which
is a secular work, religious motives are prevalent in The Moon Cuckoo.
Besides the existence of mystery plays staged in Tibet, musical plays were
also popular. Chief among these latter were : (1) The story of the prince who
was "Full of Purity" (Dr'i-me kum-dan, Dri-med kum-ldan ) which was
translated into Mongolian in verse form by Siregetu Gousi; (2) A Story of
a "Virtuous Girl" (Dr'o-wa bsang-mo, Gro-ba bzang-mo); (3) "A Story of a

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66 THE TIBET JOURNAL

Prince, Nor-sang"; (4) "A Story of Nang-sal" ( sNang-gsal ).

Tibetan literature as compiled and written by scholar-lamas are known
as "Sumbums". Among these, numerous works of art as well as biographies
exist. Though a biography cannot be considered a work of art, still, there
are biographies containing artistic descriptions of life. For the past several
centuries, scores of Mongolian scholars have mastered both the oral and
written Tibetan language and have contributed many works in Tibetan,
thereby adding to Tibetan literature. Important treatises of Tibetan literature
and history have also undergone translation and printing. Under the influence
of Tibetan literature and Tibetan culture, Mongolian literary achievements
were possible.

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