Chapter : The Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum 607 at Dags po in the East" (shar dags po mying bsgom bsod 1wms rin chen) It is notable that the colophon names B sod nams rin chen by his regular monastic name instead of employing an honorific epithet such as Dags po Iha rje, S gam po pa, or Zla 'od gzhon nu In fact, this is a feature that only is shared with the colophon of text DK.A.E, the Dags po thar rgyan All other colophons and passages in the corpus that mention B sod nams rin chen invariably refer to him by an honorific epithet, which may be less likely for a Tibetan monk to use with refe rence to himself Hence, there is a higher probability that the colophon of the present text may reflect the actual hand and authorship of B sod nams rin chen 260 Nevertheless, it should be remarked that the writing style of the text differs significantly from the styles attested in the other works of the Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum, which stylistically sets it apart Moreover, the treatise's opening passage mentions several times the sectarian name Bka ' brgyud (also in plural form), which is not a term that appears frequently elsewhere in the Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum These features might betray that the work is of l ater provenance, written by the hand of a Bka ' brgyud practitioner of a subsequent generation, who could have ascribed the overall message of the work to B sod nams rin chen in that the text was seen as representative of the intended thought of B sod nams rin chen's yogic transmission and style of practice A clear conclusion on this point, however, cannot be reached at the present stage of textual scholarship on the Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum 1259 The reading rnying bsgom should be emended to rnyi bsgom or rnyi ba bsgom Manuscript DK.D Chi 1 b3 reads rnyi sgom 260 This point has previously been argued in KRAGH (20 c : 8 ) 608 Chapter 5: The Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum: Eulogies (Bstod pa) Appended at the end of the miscellaneous works and before the corpus' two larger texts on the Stages of the Path (lam rim), the extant paper print of the 520 xylograph contains two eulogies (bstod pa) of S gam po pa and his two lineage-holder nephews Neither eulogy is marked by an alphabetical text-label , but the texts have here for the sake of reference been labeled DK.A * Ji and DK.A *Nyi It is possible that the two eulogies were added to the xylograph at a slightly later date, possibly in the latter half of the sixteenth century This may be indicated by their slightly differing page layout and the fact that these are the only two texts in the corpus lacking an alphabetical text label 262 According to its colophon, the first eulogy composed by Phag mo gm pa (DK.A *Ji) was printed in , i e , in the year leading up to the publication of the 520 xylograph 263 Yet, it remains unclear exactly when it was added to the Dags po ' bka ' 'bum xylograph It might have been added in 520 when the carved blocks of the corpus were ready to be printed or it could have been added at a later date, perhaps in the 60s or '70s when S gam po B kra shis mam rgyal, who according to the colophon sponsored the printing of the eulogy in when he was seven years old, was serving as the l Th abbot of the Dags Iha sgam po hermitage However this may be, it remains a fact that this particular eulogy was not included in the Mang yul gung thang xylograph (xylograph DK.B) produced in 572 having the 520 xylograph (DK.A) as its prototype ( Vorlage) The second eulogy (DK.A * Nyi) composed by Sgam po Bkra shis rnam rgyal ( 5 87) is undated It has a layout and printing style similar to the Shes bya ma eulogy (DK A * Ji) and may consequently have been printed at the same place and time, i e , in However, the colophon of the text gives the author's name by using his well-known nom de plume " S gam po pa manga la'i ming can , " meaning " the S gam po pa having the name Mangala" , where the S anskrit word maligala corresponds to Tibetan bkra shis, thereby referring to the author's monastic name Bkra shis rnam rgyal chos kyi dpal bzang If the eulogy were composed in or 520 when the author was merely seven or eight years old, it is not certain that he had already received his monastic name and it is conse quently not clear that he would already then be making use of this particular nom de plume The nom de plume i s a signature that otherwise only is known in the author's relative late works, e.g , in the colophon of his Mahiimudra work Phyag rgya chen p o 'i khrid yig chen 26 It should be noted that text DK.A *Nyi is reprinted in the later xylograph DK.B , where it has received the alphabetical text-label Of!1 (DK.B Om) Moreover, DK.B adds two other eulogies to the series (DK B Ah and DK.B Huryi) but omits the Sgam po pa eulogy by Phag mo gru pa (DK.A *Ji) These two are a short praise of the masters of the Bka ' brgyud transmission lineage within the Karma Ka111 tshang tradition, composed by the seventh Karma pa Chos grags rgya mtsho ( 454- 506), and a praise of the Dags lha sgam po hermitage entitled Ri bo sh an ti 'i gnas bstod 262 For the argument concerning the possible later inclusion of these texts , see the discussion of the printing of Phag mo gru pa's eulogy Shes bya ma in fn 3 263 For a discussion thereof, see fn 3 Chapter : The Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum 609 mo gnyug ma 'i de nyid gsal ba (TBRC W23 , pp 1 6- 1 ) Thus, the colophon's formulation seems to suggest a later composition date than or 520 In any case, like the Shes bya ma eulogy, the second eulogy might have been added to the Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum xylograph in 520 if it was written at such an early date, or at some later date It is at least notable that - unlike the Shes bya ma eulogy - the present eulogy was included in the Mang yul gung thang xylograph of 572 (DK.B) and consequently must have been included in DK.A by that year 7 DK A *Ji: What Should be Known (Shes bya ma bzhugs) folios , segment, colophon The first eulogy simply bears the title "What Should be Known" (Shes bya ma) This title actually just consists of the first two words (shes bya 'i) of the eulogy's first verse, to which has been added the nominal particle ma in order to render the words into a text title According to its colophon, it was composed by B sod nams rin chen's student Phag mo Gru pa ( 1 0- 1 70), although there may be doubt concerning the authenticity of the authorship 64 Segment DK.A.*.Ji : The segment begins (DK.A *Ji l l b ) : !shes bya 'i mkha ' la mkhyen rab dkyil 'khor rgyas/ It ends (DK.A *Ji 3b ) with the colophon : ces/ chos kyi rje dpa l ldan sgam po pa 'i rnam par thar pa la gsol 'debs yan lag bdun pa dang bcas pa 'di nyid phag mo grub pas gus par sbyar ba 'o// //'di 'i sbyin bdag rje sgam po pa 'i dbon po a bo rgya mtshos gung lo bdun pa 'i dus su/ Iha ri sgam par par du sgrubs pa 'o// chos dang bkra shis 'phel bar mdzad du gsol// 265 The text shall not be summarized here, as it is translated in full above ( see pp 22ff.) 38 DK A *Nyi: A Bouquet of the Fresh Blue Lotuses: A Eulogy to the Three Masters, the Uncle and His [Two] Nephews (Rje khu dbon rnam gsum la bstod pa utpal gzhon nu 'i chun po zhes bya ba bzhugs) folios, segments, colophon This is a short eulogy of B sod nams rin chen composed by S gam po B kra shis rnam rgyal ( 2- 87), the first Sgam po p a sprul sku of Dags Iha sgam po monastery, who served as the monastery's seventeenth abbot in the years 321 543 and again as its nineteenth abbot in 563/64- 66 Although the title of the praise, with the phrase " the uncle and his two nephews " (khu dbon rnam gsum) , also includes B sod nams rin chen's lineage-holder nephews Dags po Sgom tshul and Dags po S gom chung, these two successors are actually not specifically named or described in the text The eulogy makes no reference to any historical event or information, but is focused solely on 264 For a discussion of the authorship and the various prints of the text, see pp 22ff 265 Text DK.A *Ji has no correlated passages in any of the other Dags p o 'i bka ' 'bum prints For prints and reproductions of the eulogy in other Tibetan corpora, see fn 3 266 The abbatial number and dates are according to S0RENSEN & DOLMA (2007 :48-49) 610 Chapter : The Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum expressing poetic comparisons for S gam po pa's various spiritual qualities It only menti ons Sgam po pa, using that epithet, in its first verse Segment DK.A.*Nyi.1 : The segment begins (DK.A * Nyi l b ) : /rje khu dbon rnam gsum gyi bstod pa utpal gzhon nu 'i chun po zhes bya ba/ It ends (DK.A *Nyi 2&i) : /lun g rtogs chos kyi dags ston 'gyed gyur cigll shu warrtl 67 The first segment of the eulogy consists of verses, where each verse has four verse-lines with nine syllables in each line Verse one pays homage to S gam po pa, who is here j uxtaposed with the bodhisattva guardians (mgon po) of the three strata of existence (srid gsum), viz the bodh isattvas Mafi j usrl ( 'jam pa 'i dbyangs), Aval okitesvara (spyan ras gzigs) , and Guhyapati (bsang ba 'i bdag, i e , Vaj rapani ) Written in the typically ornate verse style of the Tibetan poetic traditi on (snyan ngag, *kavya) of the middle period of classical Tibetan literature, the next ten verses give a poetic description of B sod nams rin chen's accumulation of beneficence and knowledge, body, speech, mind, knowledge, observation of the three sets of vows (sdom gsum) , study of the various classes of B uddhist scripture (thos bsam bsgom pa) , Dharma activities of teaching, debating and composing texts ( 'chad brtsod brtsom pa) , and his spiritual j ourney of having traversed the five paths and the ten bodh isattva levels The two final verses express the wish that the positive action (dge ba) of having praised B sod nams rin chen's good qualities (yon tan) may lead all sentient beings to Awakening, and further state the wish that the author or the reader, without being separated from B sod nams rin chen (khyod, 'you') in all future rebirths, will receive ordination (rab tu byung) , obtain Dharma teachings, realize their definitive meaning (nges don), and benefit all sentient beings by teaching the Dharma Segment DK.A *Nyi.2: The segment begins (DK.A *Nyi.2.2as) : /swa stil /rgya chen gting zab yon tan rol mtsho 'i dbus/ It ends (DK.A * Nyi 2b ) : !lung rtogs bstan pa 'i bdag por bdag gyu r cig// shu walJv' The second part of the eulogy consists of nine verses, likewise having four lines with nine syllables in each line The first seven verses pay homage ( 'dud) to the master, presenting his spiritual qualities of pure conduct, practice, and realization through a series of metaphors Thus, he is compared to Mount Meru situated in the center of the cosmos, rain-giving clouds, a nectar-producing lotus flower, a ship, a mir ror, the sun, and a wish-granting j ewel The two final verses express wishes, in that verse eight dedicates the merit of the eulogy to the Awakening of all sentient beings, while the author in the ultimate verse prays that he in all future rebirths will gain the intelligence enabling him to teach the Dharma , debate its points and compose texts ( 'chad rtsod rtsom pa), practice meditation, gain meditative experience and realization, and thus become a master of the teachings of the scriptures and realization (lung rtogs bstan pa 'i bdag po) The verses not provide any name for the person being eulogized 126 Correl ated passages: DK.B Om b -2a4• The other Dags po'i bka' 'bum manuscripts and prints not contain this eulogy 26 Correl ated passage s : DK.B O m 2as-2bs Chapter : The Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum 61 S egment DK.Ao*Nyi.3: The segment begins (DK.A *Nyi 2b ) : lswa sti/ /shes bya ma [us mkhyen pa 'i 'od stong gang It ends (DK.A *Nyi a5 ) with the colophon : Ices pa 'di y ang sgam po pa mangala 'i ming can gyis sbyor ba 'o// shu WaJ?11/ 69 The final part of the eulogy consists of eight verses in the same meter Six verses venerate ( 'dud) the master, describing his qualities of Awakening, purity of conduct, perfection of Dharma training (bslab pa) , realization of Mahiimudrii, and his Awakened activities Once again, a number of metaphors in ornate style are used to present suitable literary analogies The two final verses contain prayers for the A wakening of all sentient beings and the wish that the author in all future rebirths will be able to hear the Dhanna being taught, understand its meaning without suffering from doubts, perfect it through meditation, and become a victory banner of the teachings by teaching and accomplishing it The eulogy ends with the colophon (cited in Tibetan above) : " This too was put together by the S gam po pa with the name Mwiga la ( " the auspicious one, " *bkra shis) , " thereby identifying the author as S gam po Blaa shis rnam rgyal 269 Correlated passages : DK.B Om 2bs-3 as ... the bodhisattva guardians (mgon po) of the three strata of existence (srid gsum), viz the bodh isattvas Mafi j usrl ( 'jam pa 'i dbyangs), Aval okitesvara (spyan ras gzigs) , and Guhyapati (bsang... (bsang ba 'i bdag, i e , Vaj rapani ) Written in the typically ornate verse style of the Tibetan poetic traditi on (snyan ngag, *kavya) of the middle period of classical Tibetan literature, the. .. plume " S gam po pa manga la'i ming can , " meaning " the S gam po pa having the name Mangala" , where the S anskrit word maligala corresponds to Tibetan bkra shis, thereby referring to the author's