5. Early Bon and Later Buddhist -Amalgamation

Now, there are several Bon and Buddhist texts which have the elements of both the native and Indian versions of the origin of the King of Tibet, i.e. Nyatri Tsanpo as descendant of Indian Shakya Kings and Bon deities. Notable Buddhist and Bon texts subscribing to this theory are:

King Srongtsan Gampo's Kachen Kakholma, Bon texts like Byams ma rigs kyi 'jigs skyob ma, Dar rgyas dsal sgron and Sharza Tashi Gyaltsen's Legs bshad mdzod etc. Kachem Kakholma speaks of a strange prince of King dMag brgya pa, who was named Rupake and cast into Ganges River. He fled to Tibet and ascended to the thirteenth stages of heaven, lived there and created genealogies of Bonpo gods and later descended to become the king of Tibet. It has both the Mahabharata and Shakya lineage theory combined and connected to the native theory of Bon deities and king descending from heaven. This can be seen as an effort to accommodate both the parties' versions and come up with one single version acceptable to all.

bKa chems ka khol ma:

The text [bKa chems ka khol ma] was said to be discovered by the great Indian master Atisha Dipamkarashrijana^[1] from the Lhasa gtsug lag khang Jokhang around 1049 CE. As some part of the manuscripts were lost in between, it was rewritten based on the memory of the monastery attendant^[2]. According to the text, King 'Char byed [Udayana] of Vatsa was the lineage holder of Shakya Ri brag pa. His son Shar ba had two sons: sKyabs seng and dMag brgya pa, they fought over the kingdom and the sKyab sengs won. The defeated dMag brgya pa, when he consulted the astrologer, he was told that he would have a son who would descend on Mount gLang ru of Snow-land, Tibet and become the king of the region. Soon the queen gave birth to a strange son with bird-like eyes, brownish hairs, turquoise eyebrows, conch-shell teeth and webbed hand like that of a duck. He was named Rubakye because of prophesy relating to the Mount gLang ru. The king took this as a bad omen and ordered the child to be killed. But the ministers could not bring themselves to harm the infant and they secretly cast him away in the Ganges River. A farmer in Vaishali [Tib:Yang pa can] found him and took care of him in the forest, where the prince grew up with the birds and the animals. When the lad grew up and came to know about his origin, he fled north and reached Mount lHa ri gyang mtho and Mount lHa ri yar po tse of Tibet. The gods in the sky lifted or pulled him up to the thirteenth stages of heaven.

There he was renamed lHa cig gnam gyi yab lha srid pa mgon btsun phyva'i lha. He, along with the youngest daughter of God Ri ti ri, Sha wa dung gi mgo can ma gave birth to gNam then chen po. gNam then chen po was the eldest of the successive nine gods by the name of Then. The son of the last Then god was sTag can 'al 'ol, and he along with Tshe'i gza' khyad khyud, gave birth to four sons: Yab lha bdal drug, brGam phya bram chen, rGya lha 'brong nam and 'O de gung rgyal. Therefore, Rubaskye was the ancestor of the nine Then gods and four divine brothers, [Lha rabs then dgu, lha rabs mched bzhi]. He further prayed for a long life and divine wisdom to see the world below. He saw Tibet and its nine regions, snow mountains like crystal stupas and temperate climate. The land was blessed and protected by Avaloketishvara, the natives were of the four Mi'u races born out of the mating of emanation of Avaloketishvara, monkey king Hanuman and the rock-ogress. He decided to become their lord and descended with the help of sMu rope from the crown of his head. Extending the divine dMu rope, he descended through nine steps to the peak of Mount lHa ri yor bo. Twelve wise Bon-pos [Bon bshes pa can bcu gnyis] saw him and asked him about his identity, Rubakye or the Phyva'i lha was said to have said:

"Lifted to heaven through sMu rope I ascended to the thirteenth stages of heaven, and was named Srid pa phyva yi lha. With the daughter of God Ri ti ri, princess Sha ba dung gi mgo can, we produced the divine genealogy of nine gods of Then. The youngest of the Then was sTag can 'al 'ol, with mTshe'i gza' khyad rgyud, they had four divine brothers of the universe. I was their ancestors. Praying to the Precious Jewel of the gods, I could see the wonderful land of Avaloketishvara's domain below. Extending the smu rope from my crown, holding the beam from the rope I descended." and pointed his finger to the sky.^[3]

The people saw a white sMu rope connecting him to the sky through the crown of his head. The Bonpos were impressed and they made a throne and took him on their napes to the town. They explained to the people that he came from the sky while they were propitiating the gods. The public were also greatly excited and said, "As the Bonpos have brought him on a throne on their nape, let him be our King and let his name be Nape enthroned King, gNya' Khri bTsan-po." As he descended from the sky like a bird, he was also known by Bya khri btsan po.

This was how the origin of Nyatri Tsanpo was described in Kachem Kakholma text. Here we find a theory where the bits and pieces of all three versions of Yablha Daldrug of Bon, Indian Shakya lineage and Mahabharata presented in one to explain the origin of the first Tibetan king. Shakya lineage is traced to Shakya Ri brag pa then to Kaurava of Mahabharata and to the Bon deities and to Nyatri Tsanpo as follows:

King Padma Chen mo of Shakya Ri brag-pa lineage → Mu khyud mtha yas → gTum po mtha yas → King 'Char byed of Vatsa → King Shar-ba → sKyabs seng and dMag brya pa → Ru ba skyes → nine Then gods → four divine brothers. Ru ba skyes descends and become gNya' Khri bstan po…

According to the text, Nyatri Tsanpo was the son of dMag rgya pa who disowned him because of his strange features. The son Rubakye fled to Tibet and was uplifted to the thirteenth stages of heaven, where he produced the genealogies of nine Then gods and four divine brothers. He descended to lHa ri yor bo and was proclaimed the first King of Tibet, gNya khri bstan po. There is an abrupt end at the point of four divine brothers, and Rubakye all of sudden reappears and descends to Tibet. In Bon narration, God Yablha Daldrug, one of the four divine brothers, was the grandfather of Nyatri Tsanpo.

We find many weak spots in this theory, firstly, King 'Char byed [Udayana] is contemporary of Buddha^[4], Pandava and Kaurava cannot be his grandsons, because Mahabharata precedes Buddha's time.^[5] Secondly, here it was the strange son of King dMag rgya pa, and that too after his defeat from sKyabs seng, who fled to Tibet. Here the king dMag rgya pa himself ordered the murder of the child. In most of the versions, it was the youngest son of the dMag brgya pa or a platoon commander, who fled from the victorious Pandava, and reached Tibet. Thirdly, such occurrences are not found in original Indian Mahabharata epic. Now in the Bon narration part, Rubakye was shown as the ancestors of all the Bon deities till the four divine brothers [lHa rabs ched bzhi]. However, here it was not the middle son of Yablha Daldrug whose grandson became Nyatri Tsanpo; it was the same Rubakye alias Phyva yi lha. But he was the ancestors of the nine Then gods and the four divine brothers. His sudden reappearance and descending to the earth after all those events is not coherent. Thus Kachem Kakholma, by attempting to integrate all the elements of the sGrags pa Bon lugs and gSang ba chos lugs in one theory, has rendered ample of space for the scholars to interpret what is best suited to their school of thought.

Dar rgyas gsal sdron:

sPa-ston bstan rgyal bzang po wrote the text [Dar rgyas gsal sdron] in 1300 CE^[6]. The author has referred Bon text Byams ma for origin of the King. It says the emanation of Srid pa sangs po 'bum khri, Ye rje smon pa's descendants, Yablha Daldrug and others are said to be the lineage holder of Mang po'i bkur ba'i rgyal po [Mahasammata].

In the beginning it was from Gods of light [Tib:'od zer lha] that the lineages came. King of gods Khong 'phrul che ruled all the beings in peace and prosperity. He was the first King elected by humans and he was named Tha tshan Hi sangs skyes. But when his time came to return back to heaven, he has no heir to lead the people. The neighboring twelve rouge states were very happy to see this situation and were planning to attack the land. People prayed to Goddess Byams ma for help, who blessed them with an udumbara flower of one thousand petals. Out of this flower was born a prince of high intelligence named Mi lus bsam legs. [The author traces this to the scripture Byams ma rigs kyi 'jigs skyob.] After many lineages of this king came King sKyabs seng.

sKyabs seng has no son. Leaving the kingdom to his brother and rival Yul 'khor skyong, he left for the forest with his queen. They came across sage Tsang stang dka' spyad pa, who was in deep fire-meditation^[7]. While serving the Sage, the queen's hand got burnt and she shrieked. The Sage got up, impressed with their service, he asked how he could help. They told the Sage about their not having any sons to continue the lineages. The Sage gave them Byams ma's mantra and a vase with an instruction that if they sprinkle the drops in the sky from the vase, gods of existence will appear. They sprinkled the water in the sky six times. The king of southern g.Yung drung Bon, brGya byin, Nyi ma, Tha skar, Yab bla and dBang phyug came and blessed the queen. The first son was born with a swastika mark on nose, bulging eyelid and fingers joined in web. He was put in a copper cauldron and was abandoned in Ganges River. A farmer found him and raised him. Later the boy went to Tibet and from lHa ri gyang tho he descended to Yar lung sog lkar. Twelve wise Bonpos [Tib:Shes pa can bcu gnyis] received him and he was proclaimed as the first of Tibet, gNya khri btsad po. mTshe mi dmu rgyal and gCo'u phyag dkar were his two Shen-priests.^[8]

This Bon version, although associated with Srid pa sangs po 'bum khri and Yab lha bdal drug, it does not talk of his middle son going to dMu country and fathering Nyatri Tsanpo. sKyabs seng, Pandava of Mahabharata is said to be the distant lineage holder of king Mi lus bsam legs. sKyabs seng not having son, and he and his queen going to the forest, and meeting a sage meditating on fire-god and queen burning her hand bear some resemblance with Mahabharata, but the story line is totally different. Here the first son born with strange feature was cast away in the Ganges River and he fled to Tibet and was proclaimed as king by the twelve wise Bonpos. Nothing is said about the other non-human sons of the sKyabs seng and the Mahabharata events. It tried to get an initial start from the Bonpo's Yablha Daldrug theory and concluded with one of the key players in Mahabharata without having to go into detail. We can see the efforts of the author to connect the Bon and Buddhist versions on origin of the first king of Tibet. sLob dpon bsTan 'zin rnam dag has said that Bon shes pa can bcu gyis could not be have received the prince at that time, because the Byams ma text itself says that rGyu bon shes pa can bcu gnyis was translated from Zhangzhung during Nyatri's time.^[9]

Legs bshad mdzod

Legs bshad mdzod by Sharza Tashi Gyaltsan [1857-1933 CE] is one of the top modern comprehensive texts on Bon religion and history. Samten Karmay has made a partial English translation of the text as "The Treasury of Good Saying, A Tibetan History of Bon". Like most of the Bon texts, the text describes how the universe came into existence due to Sangs po 'bum khri and Chu lcam rgyal mo. They had 18 sons and daughters. The eldest son, Srid rje 'brang dkar, and Lha za ngang grags ma had 18 sons and daughters. The eldest son Lha rabs gnyan rum rje was reincarnation of one of the highest gods. His son, gNam lha dkar po, produced the lineages of nine gNam 'then dgu. From the 'Then dgu came the dMu rgyal lineages and rGyal bon thod dkar, father of Tonpa Shenrab was one of them. The last of the dMu, 'Od gsal dmu la 'then [dMu then rje] had three sons: 'Phrul cha 'al 'ol, Khri cha 'al 'lo and sTag cha 'al 'ol. The eldest manifested millions of gods and became the galaxies [gza' skar]. Khri cha manifested in millions and went the realm of g.Yen khams. sTag chal Yab bla bdal drug had thirty three queens including mdZes ldan ma, who gave birth to seven sons. The three elders went to the realm of sam gtan above, the three younger brothers dispersed as part of the universe. The middle [Khri bar la bdun tshig] one called Lha rabs gnyan rum rje, was sent to earth and was proclaimed as popularly elected king [Tib:mang pos bkur ba'i rgyal po]. The author remarks that this was in conformity with other texts like sGra 'grel, Zhi khro rtsa 'grel and bsGrags byang^[10]. The time in the context was when people lived for eighty-thousand years. The middle one, as he was respected and elected by many, he was known as gTsug khri btsan po and also known by Mang pos bkur ba'i rgyal po [Mahasammata]. He was known to be the first king of humans. In the Zhangzhung language, he was known as Tha mtshan hi sangs skyes. In Tibetan it means, the first ever king [Tib:thams cad las snga ba'i rgyal po]. From him the lineages of Nine Legs [Legs dgu] continued, the youngest, sPrin mgrin lde, was followed by twenty eight single lineages [Lha rab nyi shu rtsa brgyad] and many others including seven thousand kings of Kalinga, eight thousand kings of sDra ngan and nine thousand kings of Thod pa can^[11]. The narrations are similar or abridged version of the Origin of Shakya lineage as described in Blue Annals.

Regarding the origin of the Tibetan king, the author says "the gods in sky came as a human king"^[12]. Through the blessing of Goddess Byams ma rigs kyi 'jigs skyob ma, the king came as one of the sons of the six deities of the universe. He came to the wife of sKyab seng. sKyab seng, who was the distant descendant of Mi lus bsam legs of Yab bla dal drug, the Bon deity. The version here is about sKyabs seng not having sons, and his queens getting a boon from a Sage. It's a little different from other versions of Mahabharata theories. But like, Kachem Kakholma, the queens had six sons. gNya' khri btsad po was the eldest son with strange features. He was discarded in Ganges and he went to Mount Lharigyatho, where the native enthroned him as their king. The next five sons of sKyabs seng is said to be the well-known Pandava. Here the prince was discarded not because of the Mahbharata war or the Pandava pursuing him, or by the order of the king. As the son was born with strange features, the queen was shy and nervous to show it to the king, so she cast the son into the Ganges River. This is what Kunti did with Karna in Mahabharata, but Karna did not have any strange features and the circumstance of the birth is also different.

Shar a Tashi Gyaltsan's theory can be seen as Bonpos' effort of what Kachen Kakholma was for Buddhists' to accommodate both Bon lugs and Chos lugs, yet claim its source as the original. While Kachem Kakholma tried to take Shakya prince Rubaskye to Bon heaven and made him creator of Bon deities, including Yablha Daldrug, and then descend to become the king of Tibet, Shar za tried to link the whole Shakya lineages of king Mahasammata [Mang po'i bkur ba'i rgyal po] and sKyab seng [Pandava] to Yablha Daldrug and gTsug khri btsan po of Bon tradition. According to the author, this gTsug khri btsan po [Zhang:Tha tshan hi sangs skyes] was the Mahasammata or Man pos bkur ba'i rgyal po, the progenitor of the Shakya lineage.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

A great Indian master [982-1054 CE] of Vikramshila, who was invited by Lha Lama byang chub 'od to revive Buddhism in Tibet

[2]:

It is a testament given by Songtsen Gampo 7th century AD. Text revealed by Atisha Dipamkarashrijana in 11th century. Pawo Tsuglag Trengwa has said that part of the original text was damaged or lost, amendment was made with what the kon ngyer of the monastery could remember in 13th century, therefore, inconsistency is bound to be there. [Dung lkar tsig mzod chen mo, stod cha, p-1]

[3]:

bKa' chems ka khol ma, p-81

[4]:

Upinder Singh, A History of Ancient & Early Medieval India, p-263

[5]:

Dr.P.V.Vartak, The Scientific Dating of the Mahabharata War, "The fifth century mathematician, Aryabhatta, calculated the date of the Mahabharata War to be approximately 3100 B.C."

[6]:

1) bsTan 'zin nam dak, sNga rabs bod kyi byung ba brjod pa, p-167, 2) Bon-sgo -1, page 27

[7]:

"Nags tshal dben par yab yum gnyis byon pas, byams ma la grub pa bsnyems pa'i drang srong Tshangs stang dka' spyad pa zhes bya ba, me'i ting nge 'zin l snyoms par bzhugs pa zhig dang mjal" Dar rgyas gsal sgron, p-152

[8]:

sPa ston bstan rgyal bzang po, bsTan pa'i rnam bshad dar rgyas gsal ba'i sdron ma, p-149 ff

[9]:

bsTan 'zin nam dag, sNga rabs bod kyi byung ba brjod pa p-58

[10]:

These are some of the authoritative Bon texts

[11]:

Shar rzda bkra bkra shis rgyal mtsan, p-20, the author refers to Zhi khro rtsa 'grel as the source of his information.

[12]:

"Nam kha'i lha las mi'i rje bor byon pa" Shar rzda bkra tshi rgyal mtsan, Legs bshad mzod, p-128