Chapter 5 - The carving of the woodblocks

[Full title: The carving of the woodblocks (par du bsgrubs pa’i skabs. Chandra 964; Chengdu 1265; Roerich 1086).]

Now I shall give a chapter on the one who has laboured most for the sake of the present work. The patron (of his work) was the khri dpon^[1] of bya named bkra shis dar rgyas, endowed with the power of extraordinary fortune, adorned with wisdom, faith and generosity. Now I shall relate his story:

In general, in this country of Tibet, people call a country by the name of the clan which occupies the greater part of the region. For instance rod pa sa^[2] , dgyer pa sa^[3] . The borderland of ma yul rdzong in Lower yar klungs was called bya sa because most of its inhabitants belonged to the clan of bya.

In this country, filled with all kinds of wishes, lived two brothers named chos kyi ka ba, "Pillar of Religion" and his younger brother thod pa gyu'i smin ma can, "One with turquoise eyebrows". The younger brother had two sons -the upādhyāya yon tan mchog and bya sha ka.

The one named the upādhyāya yon tan mchog was ordained at 'bring sde, and acted as upādhyāya to others. He rebuilt the gangs par lha khang and took over the four monasteries: klogs in gye, sa mtha' in bya, dro mda' in dags po, stin mo mig in dmyal, and called them the "Four Sons of gangs par" (gangs par gyi bu bzhi). Bya sa ka had, two sons: rdo rje legs pa and rdo rje dbang phyug. In their lifetime they came to dmyal, and founded rgya mtsho grong mkhar.

The Son of rdo rje dbang phyug was rin chen 'od, the great teacher of bya nag (the bla ma bya nag chen po). At the age of 41, he met the mahā-paṇḍita of Kāśmīra (Śākyaśrībhadra), and obtained from him many doctrines, such as the twelve maṅḍalas of the Tantra^[4] , and others. He also followed on many holy men, such as rgyal ba thog dugs pa, skyo 'od 'byung, gzhang rta rmig pa, and others, and was learned in all branches of Science. He was adorned with spiritual realization. In particular, he was able to employ as his attendants the religious protectors of the Tantras, such as spu gri bskor gsum^[5] , and others. His fame encompassed the entire Snow Land (Tibet).

He had four spiritual sons: in Lower bya - mtshal sgom chos la dga' ba; at lo ro - rab dga' ba chen po; at dags po - ba tsho ras pa; at gtang - 'u yug pa, the Great.

The four "original monasteries" (rtsa ba'i sde bzhi): at dmyal - chos sgro gaong (% -this seems to be a mistake–mes) mkhar; at gye - se bo; at dags - na mo shod; at bya - rgya mtsho thug tshang.

The son of a mi bya nag chen po - bya jo sras. His son (was) bya mnga' bdag who had three sons: gcen pa dgesloi pa, bya rin chen, and chos rgyal dpal bzang. These three were known as the bya rigs gsum mgon po.^[6]

Dge slong pa’s sons were: rin chen dpal, dbang phyug rin chen, rin chen bzang po, and dags po pa, g. Ye, dags. Dmyal, bya, and lo ro were his dependencies, and he owned much landed property. Bya rin chen ruled over g. Ye, dmyal, bya, dags, and lo ro. He repelled the Mongol troops, and was recognised as chief of all the above localities. He and the mahāsiddha ur brgyan pa became priest and supporter. His son was kun dga" rin chen.

His descendants were numerous, and owned much landed property. This kun dga' rin chen met the great official (dpon chen) of sa skya - kun dga' bzang po. Bya chos rgyal dpal bzang made peace with the Mongols. At the age of 12, he met 'gro mgon 'phags pa. He requested shar pa kun bsod pa to become his teacher, and heard from him all the three Tantras (rgyud gsum) together with hidden precepts, etc. He built the vihāra of yangs rtse, and prepared a copy of the bka' 'gyur written in gold. He gathered the tax which consisted of the produce of the kingdom, and kept it at mdzod nag. He laid the foundation of the Royal law, and introduced perfect order in both religious and secular affairs, which excelled that of other (kings).

His sons were: kun dga'rgyal mtshan dpal bzang po, the mahā-upādhyāya spyil bu pa, mnga' bdag chos seng 'od, bya lkug pa dpal, and others. Kun dga rgyal mtshan proceeded to 'dam^[7] and requested the dpon chen 'od zer seng ge to grant him an official title. The latter bestowed one on him. The official chos rgyal dpal bzang of sgu rab pa also revered him. The incident of rta'u ra pa also took place in his time.

After him dpal mgon rdo rje and his son drun blo gros ruled over the region. After them, the son of kun dga' rgyal mtshan - rgya ma pa kun dga' bsod nams ruled over his and the monasteries' subjects.

After him mnga 'bdag chos seng, son of chos rgyal dpal bzang and the queen of 'bri khung, was appointed official of cya and dags by 'bri khung pa. His son was the mahā-upādhāya tshul khrims bzang po. When he was acting as abbot of zangs po che, at the unanimous request of the local inhabitants he mounted the throne of yangs rtse, and laboured for the good of the Doctrine, and the welfare of living beings. He took under his protection all the monasteries, their serfs and the local inhabitants.

After him, his son dkon mchog bzang po, the holder of the religious and secular domains, was appointed official by his father. His son bkra shis deal bzang studied in his youth at rtses thang. He held a perfect festival of preaching. Chos rgyal grags pa rgyal mtshan appointed him as khri dpon^[8] of bya pa.

His sons were: rgyal ba bkra shis, Śākya dpal mgon, thub pa rgyal msthan, and others. Rgyal ba bkra shis proceeded to sne gdong. He became an attendant of the superior grags pa (gong ma grags pa 'byung gnas). From sne gdong he was appointed khri dpon of bya pa. His younger brother Śākya dpal mgon was ordained by the mahā-upādhāya yon dbang, and conducted studies. Since the time of his appointment as abbot of zangs po che, he continued to perform virtuous deeds of benefit to the Doctrine of Buddha.

The sons of rgyal ba bkra shis were: bya bkra shis dar rgyas, pad ma bltams mchog rgyal po^[9] , the incarnation of sgo gcig pa, bya tshe dbang rgyal po, bskal bzangs chos kyi rgya mtsho bsod nams mang thos dbang po'i sde, and bya nor bu rgya mtsho. Bya bkra shis dar rgyas married the Princess named rdo rje gos dkar ma. Chos rgyal nor bu bkra shis mi 'gyur dbang po'i sde and his brother grags pa rgyal mtshan dpal bzang po were born to them.

Bya bkra shis dar rgyas legs pa'i rgyal po phyogs thams cad las rnam par rgyal ba dbang po'i sde: He was appointed khri dpon of lho rgyud^[10] after (the death) of his father by order of the king rdo rje rin chen dbang gi rgyal po of rtses thang. Again, from sne gdong^[11] he obtained the official title (bkos) of ja' sa^[12] and the official robe. He ruled over the bya pas. His deeds and fame were great in both the religious and secular spheres. Each of the khri dpons of bya pa were endowed with great fame. The king (sa skyong), who enjoyed both the religious and secular spheres, as he would a summer stream, at the suggestion of the dpal ldan lo tsa ba chen po bsod nams rgya mtsho’i sde, who was a great and all knowing Lord endowed with a perfect vision before which all the scriptures of the Jina were revealed, a siddheśvara who had realized the sahaja jJJ͂āna, arranged for the paying of expenses and labour in a way which did not contradict the Doctrine. In the beginning the copyists (par yig) were paid by dpal rdo rje bde ma who patronized impartially different religious sects.

In lhun grub lha rtse, a district of dbus, the holy kalyāṇa mitra dpal chos kyi rgyal mtshan, who was a follower of the teaching of the Venerable One (bsod nams rgya mtsho'i sde) and the mahā-sthavira dge legs dpal mgon, endowed with wisdom and characterized by strictness and propriety, corrected (the text), as desired by the Venerable great lo tsa ba. Shar dags po pa dpal phyogs thams cad las rnam par rgyal ba'i lha who was endowed with the faculty of giving a logical and free interpretation of all the vehicles of the Tantras and Sūtras, supervised the proper execution of the work.

The head copyist (yi ge’i rig byed pa) was nyi shar bkra shis, a native of dol, which was a source of knowledge (rig pa'i 'byung gnas). The chief block maker (brkos kyi rig byed pa) was one named grags pa rgyal mtshan. The dexterity of his and his disciples' hands showed itself in this virtuous work.

They started the work in the year Iron Female Ox (lcags mo glang 1481 A.D.), and completed it at the great Palace called chos rgyal lhun po in a district of dmyal, which was the essence of the land and a place where the streams of most excellent prosperity had merged into each other.

By virtue of this may the Precious Doctrine of the Jina live long!

May the Holy Men, holders of the Doctrine, live long!

May the monastic community observe the Holy Doctrine by day and by night!

May the supporters and their retinues rule according to the Doctrine!

May the kingdom live without internal strife!

May we in our next lives meet the Holy Men and the kalyāna-mitras!

May we labour extensively for the Doctrine of the Buddha!

The Chapter on the execution of the block-print edition (of the "BLUE ANNALS'').

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

officer in-charge of 10,000 families, corresponds to the Mongol tümen ü noyan (R).

[2]:

a country populated by the rog clan (R).

[3]:

the country populated by the dgyer clan (R).

[4]:

sbyon rgyud, a branch of the Yoga Tantra (R).

[5]:

three deities of the rnying ma school (R).

[6]:

the "Three Lords of bya" (R).

[7]:

near Tengri nür or gnam nitsho (R).

[8]:

official in charge of 10,000 families (R).

[9]:

also rta mchog rgyal po

[10]:

the Southern Region (R).

[11]:

name of the palace of the Tibetan kings (R).

[12]: