Chapter : The Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum 207 56 'p hang myur thob shag// bkra shis// The segment first narrates the story of Mar pa It is told how he came to study with 'Brog mi Lots a ba S akya ye shes ( c 992/993- 043/1 072) an d thereafter went to Nepal and India to receive teachings Mar pa then returned to Tibet, where he taught a number of students, and the text narrates several different short stories of sp ecial events that took place in his life during this period Finally, a few notes are given on Mar pa's main student, Rngog Chos sku rdo rje ( l 036- 1 02), with whom the author of the text, Ye shes Bla ma, is known in his youth to have studied the Hevajratantra The text's story of Mar pa has been translated into French by Cecile DUC HER (20 1 : 8- 60) Thereafter follows the story of Mi la ras pa, whom the author of the text also is known to have met in person while studying with Mi la ras pa's main student Ras chung pa The narrative briefly tells how Mi la ras pa as a young man learned black magic It goes on to say that he then met a Rdzags chen teacher named Lha dga', whereupon he came to see Mar pa He served Mar pa for five years and Rngog Chos sku rdo rje for one year, before he finally was allowed to receive teachings from them After doing some meditation retreat, he went to visit his ancestral home only to find that it now lay in ruins He then started a prolonged meditation retreat in the wilderness of the mountains Since he had nothing else to eat but weeds, his skin acquired a greenish hue Different stories of his austerities then follow, as well as stories about the magical powers he displayed after the completion of his Buddhist practice The end of the text provides no independent colophon, given that the original work by Ye shes Bla ma continues with another hagiography, namely that of B sod nams rin chen, which in tum ends with a proper colophon stating the name of the author Thus, text DK.A.Kha simply ends by saying: "I have explained a bit about the actions and good qualities [ showing] how master Mi la became realized " 38 The text's story of Mi la ras pa has been translated into English by Andrew H QUINT MAN (2006 : 80-29 ) 53 QUINTMAN (2006 : 65) also notes that this Mi la ras pa hagiography served as the basis for a slightly later Mi la ras pa hagiography compiled by B l a ma Zhang g.yu brag pa B rtson 'grus grags ( 1 23 - 1 93 ) 540 As noted above, the S gam po pa hagio536 Correl ated passages : DK.a.Ka.7b - 2b , DK.B Kha b -6b1, DK.D.Kha b -7a3 , DK S Kha l l b - l l bs, DK.P.Kha 9bs- 5h DK.Q Kha l 8b4- l 2b , DK.R.Kha l b - l 0bs, DK.T.Kha pp 4-5 16 For further details and references, see footnotes 368 to 370 For a few other comments on the text, see S HERPA (2004 : ) 537 S e e Lho rang chos 'byung, Gangs can rig mdzod v o l 26, Beij ing : B od ljongs b o d y i g dpe mying dpe skrun khang, 994, p 1 61, and A Dictionary of Learned and/or Accomplished Beings who Appeared in the Snowy Land, edited Kozhul Dragpa Jungnay and Gyalwa Lozang Khaydrub, electronic version publ ished by Padma Karpo Translation Committee, 2006, lemma Khyung tshang ye shes bla ma 538 DK.A.Kha.6b _ : bla ma mi las ji !tar rtogs pa 'i yon tan dang! mdzad spyod zur tsam rnam par bshad pa 'o// 53 See also QUINTMAN's (2006 : 66-73) discussion of this text as a source for the later hagiographical tradition on Mi la ras pa QUJNTMAN's doctoral dissertation (2006) has now been published in a revised version (QUINTMAN, 20 3) 540 O n the l atter text, see QUINTMAN (2006 : 96- 1 ) 208 Chapter 5: The Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum graphy found in Bia ma Zhang's works is likewise an adaptation of Ye shes Bia ma's S gam po pa hagiography, which in ms DK.a follows directly after the present work DK.A Ga: The Best of Jewel Ornaments of Liberation Adorning the Banner of Pervasive Renown: A Precious Wish-fulfilling Jewel in the Form of a Hagiography of the Dharma Master, the Eminent and Great Sgam po pa (Chos kyi rje dpal ldan sgam po pa chen po 'i rnam par thar pa yid bzhin gyi nor b u rin po che kun khyab snyan pa 'i ba dan thar pa rin po che 'i rgyan gyi mchog ces bya ba bzhugso) 62 folios, two internal segments, one colophon This work is a Sgam po pa hagiography composed by the publisher of DK.A, Sgam po B sod nams lhun grub The text's colophon reads : I wrote down these [stories] purely with an attitude of faith by compiling the three longer and short hagiographies narrated the master himself and put together by his four Dharma assistants , his precious valet and others , and then written down by [Dags po] 'Dul 'dzin, 54 as well as [the text] known as The Large Hagiography writ ten by the master Mkha' spyod dbang po, 542 having added scriptural quotations from the precious siitras I bow down to Candraprabha Kumara, Who earlier was Supuspacandra, the supreme heir of the Jina, Here in Tibet born as the glorious Sgam po pa, [And who in the future will become] the best of Jinas, Vimala prabha Though [I was] looked after by him in [my] former times with great fortune, [My own] realization is limited by [my] inferior memory, intelligence, and meditative concentration Nevertheless, my writing of these beautiful banners adorning The wish-fulfilling rosary of stories about the bla ma's libera tion, Was accomplished by the power of the supreme protector's compassion May it remain forever and everywhere 54 These early hagiographical fragments seem to refer to the two 'autobiographical' segments (DK.A.Tha.3 and DK.A.Tha.5 ) along with the brief account of his death (DK.A.Tha.4) now found in the Dus gsum mkhyen pa 'i zhus Ian For a dis cussion of these references, see p The name 'Dul 'dzin refers to Dags po 'Dul ba 'Dzin pa ( 1 34- 8), the fourth abbot of Dags Iha sgam po mona stery See the abbatial list in S0RENSEN & DOLMA (2007 : 47) 542 This is Zhwa dmar pa Mkha' spyod dbang po's Sgam po pa hagiography discussed above Chapter : The Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum 209 For all sentient beings, like a medicine for their [spiritual] eyes May I in all times to come Strive towards the great bliss of a Bhagavan without ever being separated from you ! Relying on the good path of pombhi, the king of yoga ( *yogen dra), May I quickly become a guide for sentient beings 543 This text, The Best of Jewel Ornaments of Liberation Adorning the Banner of Pervasive Renown: A Precious Wish-fulfilling Jewel in the Fonn of a Hagiography of the Dharma Master, the Eminent and Great Sgam po pa, was made into a xylograph by Spyan snga chos kyi rj e Bsod nams lhun grub zla 'od rgyal mtshan dpal bzang po, a descendant of the venerable master, in the male iron dragon year, 2398 years after the teacher [ S akyamuni's] nirva(w, 442 years after the great protector [Sgam po pa's] birth, 367 years after his nirva1:1a, 544 on Mount S anti 545 with the aim of promoting the Bka ' brgyud teachings The scribe (yi ge pa) was Kun dga' rin chen from Bia 'bring in E, who is skilful therein 546 May the blazing splendor547 of auspiciousness [of having produced this text] adorn the world ! 548 543 Except for the short interpolated reference to Mkha' spyod dbang po's Large Hagiography, the entire colophon up to this point has been taken verbatim from the colophon of Mkha' spyod dbang po's own text with only very minor differences in the wording 544 Concerning this calculation of these dates and the Buddha's nirvii(W, see KRAGH (20 c : 374375) All the fix-points fo r the date of the composition can be determined as 520 CE, which is the same year that the first printed edition of the Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum was produced by the author of the biography, as stated in the colophon of the corpus' text DK.A.E (see KRAGH, 20 4c : 372-376) 545 Mount S anti , literal ly meaning " the mountain of peace, " employing the S anskrit word for peace (§anti, Tibetan shanti) , is a poetic name for Dags Iha sgam po hermitage or perhaps more broadly speaking for Mount Sgam po, the mountain on which the hermitage is located 546 The scribe (yi ge pa) mentioned here, Kun dga' rin chen, was also the scribe who copied the texts of two other works in the corpus , viz the large texts DK.A.E (Dags po thar rgyan) and DK.A.Varµ (Bstan bcos lung gi nyi 'od) In the colophons of those texts, he is identified as coming from the monastic house of A phyag (a phyag bla 'brang) ; see KRAGH (20 4c : 75-376) 547 The final phrase "May the blazing splendor , etc " is a little prayer that the publishers of ms DK.A appended at the end of several texts in the corpus 548 DK.A.Ga l br62a : 'di dag ni rje nyid kyis gsungs pa 'i rn a m thar rgyas bsdus gsum dang/ /nye gnas chos bzh i dang/ bran kha rin po che la sogs pa rnams kyis phyogs cig tu sgrigs pa dang/ 'du! 'dzin gyis zin bris su mdzad pa rnams dang/ rje mkha ' spyod dbang pos mdzad pa 'i rnam thar ch en mor grags pa rnams gung sgrigs tell mdo sde rin po che 'i lung khungs dang sbyar nas mos pa 'i blo gros nas yi ger bgyis sol me tog zla mdzes rgyal ba 'i sras po mchog/ /gang sngon zla 'od gzhon nu zhes byar 'gyur/ /gang ri 'i khrod 'dir dpal ldan sgam po pal /rgyal mchog dri med 'od la phyag 'tshal tel /gang gis skal mangs sngon nas rjes bzung yang/ /dran dang blo gros ting 'dzin dman dbang gis/ /ji bzhin rtogs te de !ta na yang 'dir/ /dpal ldan bla ma 'i rnam thar yid bzhin 'phreng/ /rah mdzes bkod pa 'i ba dan rnams mdzes pal /mgon mchog thugs rje 'i mthu las legs grub ste/ Ima !us bka ' 'bum 210 S gam po B sod nams lhun grub's S gam po pa hagiography commences with a series introductory verses (DK.A Ga I I b - ) expressing homage and prayers The hagiography then divided into two basic parts The first smaller segment contains a hagiography of nams rin chen' s past lives (sngon byung gi rnam thar) The second segment narrates Tibetan reincarnation as B sod nams rin chen, referred to in the text as "the hagiography the present time" (da ltar gyi rnam thar) Segment DK.A.Ga I : The segment begins (Dk.A.Ga I I b ) : Ina mo g u ru/ mkhy en gnyis yon tan mchog gi sku/ It ends (DK.A.Ga l 9ai) : phyi ma 'i dus dam pa 'i chos su skyong bar zhal gyis bzhes pa yin no/ Ide rnams ni sngon byung gi rnam thar ro// 549 The first segment containing the hagiography of B sod nams rin chen' s past lives provides slightly abridged reproduction of the 61h chapter of the Samadhiriijasutra telling the of the bodhisattva Supu�pacandra 55 The story is a tragedy illustrating how a true bodhi sattva is willing to undergo any kind of difficulty in his efforts to benefit others by preserving and teaching the Dharma The story goes that once upon time - uncountable aeons ago when human lifespans were incredibly long - a B uddha named " King Arisen like a Pure Jewel-Lotus-Moon" (Ratnapadmacandravi§uddhiibhyudgatarajan) appeared in the world and turned the wheel of the Dharma for the benefit of countless sentient beings At first, many practiced his Dharma with great diligence and attained liberation and realization Gradually, however, during the reign of King S uradatta, people stopped practicing, the Dharma transmission was broken, and much suffering arose At that time, the bodhisattva Supu�pacandra, who was a Dharma reciter (dharmabhiiftaka) , lived in the solitude of a forest, practicing meditation together with a band of other practitioners Realizing what had happened, he decided to leave his retreat in order to spread the Dharma again in S uradatta's kingdom Having gone there, the bodhisattva taught the Dharma to the people and thereby brought Dharma practice and Awakening to numerous citizens Thereupon, he went beam ldan 'das/ Ihde chen rab rtsol khyod dang mi 'bra[ zhing/ lrjombi rnal 'byor dbang po 'i lam bzangs las/ !'gro rnams yud kyis rnam 'dren nyid gyu r cig! /chos kyi rje dpal ldan sgam po pa 'i mam par thar pa yid bzhin gyi nor bu rin po che kun khyab snyan pa 'i ba dan/ thar pa rin po che 'i brgyan gyi mchog ces bya ba 'di nil rje nyid kyi dbon po spyan snga chos kyi rje bsod nams lhun grub zla 'od rgyal mtshan dpal bzang pas/ ston pa mya ngan las 'das na da lta 'i bar la/ lo nyis stong brgya go brgyad song zhing! mgon po 'di nyid bltams nas bzhi brgya zhe gnyis song la/ mya ngan las 'das pa na gsum brgya re bdun song ba 'i lcags 'brug gi lo la/ bka ' brgyud kyi bstan pa spel ba 'i slad du! ri bo shantir par du bgyis pa 'o// !!yi ge pa ni e yi bla 'bring nas/ kun dga ' rin chen shes bya 'di la mkhas// bkra shis dpal 'bar 'dzam gling brgyan du shag// 549 Correlated passage s : DK.B Ga l l b - 9�, DK.P.Ga l 6b -37a , DK.Q.Ga l 2b -30a , DK.R.Ga l l b -3 9b , DK.S Ga l l b -36a i , DK.T.Ga l pp l 4- l The text is omitted in DK.a and DK.D, which contain other S gam po pa hagiographies For additional prints and publications of the text in various other textual corpora, see fn 45 For some short remarks on the hagiography, see SHERPA (2004 : 2- 3 and ) 55 ° For the S anskrit edition o f the text, where the pertinent story is found i n chapter , see VAIDYA ( 96 : 232-25 ) Chapter : The Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum 211 S uradatta' s court to teach the Dharma there as well The entire entourage of the king atten ded his teachings, including S uradatta' s several wives and children They were all filled with great faith and prostrated themselves in front of the bodhisattva in the royal garden S uradatta himself, however, had not attended the teachings but happened to come b y at one occasion and then witnessed the scene of his court prostrating before the bo dhi sattva This made him very angry and he ordered that the bodhisattva should be arre sted and executed After the court executioner had killed the bodhisattva, many special signs appeared Notably, the corpse of the bodhisattva emitted a strange light and did not decompose The king realized that he had made a grave mistake, since the bodhisattva , in fact, was a genuine teacher who possessed the good qualities of Awakening S uradatta painfully regretted his misdeed and fearing that he would be reborn in hell , he then performed an elaborate funeral ceremony for the bodhisattva Thereupon, he renounced his kingdom in order to devote the rest of his life to practicing the Dharma The story ends by Buddha S akyamuni revealing that he in a former life was that king The bodhisattva Supu�pacandra had in the meanwhile been reborn as this young man, the most excellent lotus flower (padmottara , padma bla ma), namely the bodhisattva Candraprabha Kumara, who was present in the audience of the teaching and who had requested the B uddha to give the teaching of the Samiidhirajasutra, in which the story is found S gam po B sod nams lhun grub rounds off this part of the hagiography by referring the reader to the Sutra itself for the complete narrative and reminds the reader that the Buddha elsewhere predicted that Candraprabha Kumara in the future will protect the Dharma 55 The segment ends with a sentence stating, "These were the hagiographies of former times" (de rnams ni sngon byung gi rnam thar ro) Segment DK.A.Ga.2: The segment begins (Dk.A.Ga l 9a5 ) : da ltar gyi rnam thar nil It ends (DK.A.Ga.2 6a1) : 'gro rnams yud kyis rnam 'dren nyid gyu r cigl !chos kyi rje dpa l ldan sgam po pa ' i rnam par thar pa yid bzhin gyi n o r bu rin po c h e k u n khyab snyan pa 'i ba dan/ thar pa rin po che 'i brgyan gyi mchog ces bya ba 'di nil rje nyid kyi dbon po spyan snga chos kyi rje bsod nams lhun grub zla 'od rgyal mtshan dpal bzang pos/ ston pa mya ngan las 'das na da lta 'i bar la/ lo nyis stong gsum brgya go brgyad song zhing/ mgon po 'di nyid bltams nas bzhi brgya zhe gnyis song la/ mya ngan las 'das pa na gsum brgya re bdun song ba 'i lcags 'brug gi lo la/ bka ' brgyud kyi bstan pa spel ba 'i slad du/ ri bo shantir par du bgyis pa 'o// l!yi ge pa ni e yi bla 'bring nas! kun dga ' rin chen shes bya 'di la mkhas// bkra shis dpal 'bar 'dzam gling brgyan du shog// 55 The second segment of S gam po B sod nams lhun grub' s hagiography contains the actual life story of B sod nams rin chen, 551 It may be added that the Siitra at hand does not give any specific prophecy concerning Candraprabha Kumara being reborn in the north or in Tibet Such prophecies are in the Tibetan tradition drawn from other Sutras, notably the Mahakant l} iip w;.rjarfkasutra, as mentioned below 55 Correlated passages : DK.B Ga.2 l 9as-62a1, DK.P.Ga.2.37a - 86b4 , DK Q Ga a3-74h DK.R.Ga 9b - l a5 , DK.S Ga.2 6a - b , DK.T.Ga pp l r54n The text is o mitted in DK a and DK.D ... flower (padmottara , padma bla ma), namely the bodhisattva Candraprabha Kumara, who was present in the audience of the teaching and who had requested the B uddha to give the teaching of the Samiidhirajasutra,... spread the Dharma again in S uradatta's kingdom Having gone there, the bodhisattva taught the Dharma to the people and thereby brought Dharma practice and Awakening to numerous citizens Thereupon,... Candraprabha Kumara, Who earlier was Supuspacandra, the supreme heir of the Jina, Here in Tibet born as the glorious Sgam po pa, [And who in the future will become] the best of Jinas, Vimala