6. Nyatri Tsanpo as descendant of Theurang [Tib: The'u rang]

The spelling of Theurang is written differently as "The'u rang" in Nyang ral chos 'byung, "The brang" in lDe'u chos 'byung, "The'u brang" and "The rang" in Kachem Kakholma and Chab spel's work. We shall use "The'u rang" as in Nyang ral chos 'byung as the theory was said to be first found in writing in his work. Theurang theory was mentioned later works like: lDe'u chos 'byung, lDe'u jo sras, bLon po bka' yi thang yig, Yum bu bla sgang dkar chag bring po, bShad mzod yid bzhin norbu etc. Nyang ral has only made a fleeting remark about the existence of Theurang theory and concluded, "This is also not true".^[1] In lde'u chos byung, the theory of King's origin as descendant of Theurang was dismissed as making fun of Tibetan King. Yum bu bla sgang gi dkar chag bring po mentions about the theory along with other two theories of divine origin and Indian origin. Although the theory was found mentioned in these writings, it was included more as a part of the record and then as a possible option. bShad mzod yid bzhin norbu has the end remark as, "It is a secret criticism of the King, and should not be discussed"^[2]. But recent scholars like Chab spel tshe brtan phun tshogs has said that from the three theories of Bon lugs, Chos lugs and The'u rang lugs, the last one is more historical. He find mythical version of the king coming from heaven too unrealistic; and Indian origin as something not based on facts.

rGya bod kyi chos 'byung rgyas pa

rGya bod kyi chos 'byung rgyas pa by mKhas pa lde'u^[3] [12th century]: The text is popularly known by lDe'u chos 'byung. According to the text, in the sPu country [Tib:sPu yul], a lady named Mo btsun had nine The brang^[4] brothers. The youngest Ma snya au pe ra, who could cover his face with his tongue, and had hands with all fingers in a web, was very cruel and strong. Powerful Buddhist^[6] and Bon of the sPu country sent him to Tibet. Around that time the people of Tibet were looking for a king, and they met him they asked him who he was. Ma snya au pe ra said he was from the land of sPu and because of his strong magical power he has been banished from the land. The people were impressed and decided to make him their king. So the people lifted him on a throne on their necks and proclaimed him as their king.

This is how first of king of Tibet appeared according to The'u rang theory as noted in the lDeu chos 'byung. But the author is not happy with the account; he comments at the end that the theory is just to ridicule and cast aspersion on the king of the land.^[6]

bLon po'i bka' thang:

The text is a part of five chapters in bKa' thang sde nga by Guru Ao rgyan gling pa [b.1323 CE]. A brief mention is made on the The'u rang theory as "Ultra secret theory" known among the ministers and the public. To a woman Mo btsun gung rgyal of the land of sPu, nine The'u rang brothers were born. The King came from the youngest Au pe ra."^[7]

bShad mdzod yid bzhin nor bu

bShad mdzod yid bzhin nor bu by Don dam smra ba'i sen ge [A 15th century text ]. It has referred to this theory as Yang gsang mu teg lugs, meaning ultra secret tradition of mu tegs [nonbelievers]. In the land of sPo, a woman, Bya mo btsun gave birth to nine The'u rang brothers, the youngest Ma nya au be ra who had a strange face and his fingers were connected like webs, he was very cruel and powerful. The people decided to banish him, but his mother would not agree. But the people conspired and the powerful ban and bon^[8] of the land expelled him to Tibet.

Around that time, Tibetans were looking for a king. They met him at Byang lam gya' le gong. When they asked him about his identity, he said he was from the land of sPo and that he was going to Tibet. When asked if he was strong and powerful enough to be a king, Ma nya au be ra said because of his powerful magical feats, he had been sent away. He commanded the people to make a throne and carry him on their napes. The people named him gNya' khri rtsan po. The author concludes the statement by saying, "this is according to the Mu tegs tradition, it is an insult to the king's origin and should not be discussed.^[9]

Here the author has the land as sPo yul, where as others have used sPu yul. But sPo and sPu were known to be the same. The mother here is Bya mo btsun. In lDeu chos 'byung, it was Mo tsun and Mo btsun gung gyal in bKa' thang sde nga. Here, we find that Ma nya au bera, after explaining them about his power, ordered the people to carry him on a throne on their napes. Here also the text says "powerful ban bon of the land conspired and expelled him to Tibet"^[10]. But "ban" is a word used for Buddhist, so it is little difficult to imagine the presence of Buddhist around that time in Tibet.

Chab spel tse brtan phun tsogs:

In his article "gNya khri tsan po ni bod rang gi mi zhig yin"^[11], the author has discussed the four theories relating to the origin of the Tibetan kings. Apart from the three prominent theories of Yang, gSang and bsGrags, he included the account of 'Phan myi and his flight with his people from the east and establishing community in the land of 'Jang. The land was later known as Tu phad, and changed to Tu bhod. But this theory is rejected on the ground that there was no mention of 'Phan myi reaching Yar lung and his supposed flight also occurred around 414 CE only. This is according to the Chinese Annals as discussed in dGe 'dun Chos 'phel's White Annals.

Chab spel rejected Bon theory of a king from the sky to become human's king as a myth and fairy tale not worth verifying the authenticity. Buddhist theory of king coming from an Indian king of Shakya lineage was also rejected because it has no traditional, logical and historical basis and it is incoherent and not reliable^[12]. He endorsed the Theurang theory and says only this theory is realistic and historical. He identifies the land sPu as the sPo in the sPo me district in the present day Nying khri in Tibet. Many of the twenty-seven places through which Nyatri Tsanpo was said to have passed in Bon tradition to reach Yarlung, can be found from the sPu region to Kong po, Dagpo and Yarlung. He concludes with saying that the very fact that kings of Tibet are referred to as sPu rgyal, meaning King from sPu, is sufficient enough to prove that Nyatri Tsanpo came from the sPu region of Tibet.

The author has noted the above points in five paragraphs, and most of the points are valid and reasonable. But one unexplained fact here is how someone who was banished from his land because of his cruelty and mischief, be easily taken as king of some other land. Ma nya au be ra was supposed to have strange features: huge tongue to cover his face and hands with all fingers connected in web form. Conventional notion of Theurang is that they are of small in size, (therefore, the word "the'u" meaning thumb). So it is very unlikely that the Tibetans accepted a stranger and alien of such features banished from his own land for his cruelty there as the king of their homeland.

Bod btsan po'i rgyal rabs by 'Bri gung skyab mgon

Bod btsan po'i rgyal rabs^[13] is one of the most recent comprehensive books on the chronology of Tibetan kings based on Tunhuang manuscripts. The author has studied and reproduced the major manuscripts relevant to the origin and times of the early Tibetan kings. It contains original images of the Tunhuang manuscripts and has put the archaic language into more legible conventional language. According to the author, Nyatri Tsan po was born in the wood-bird year of 417 BCE to father Khri bar gyi bdun tshigs alias gTsug khri btsan po and mother sPu mi mo btsun in rKong po of sPu zhang dmu yul, also known as 'Brang lcang 'brang. He was said to be gDol pa sha za'i tribe or rGyal po gdong dmar race or the race of the owner of the snow land adorned by corals.

The author had Nyatri Tsanpo's time as 417 -345 BCE, and this was based on the two works of Sumpa Khanpo [Tib: Sum pa mkhan po] as mentioned in Dung dkar's encyclopedia. He refuted the theories that traced the origin of Nyatri Tsanpo to Indian kings of the Shakya lineage. "It all claimed that Nyatri Tsanpo belonged to the lineage of Shakya Licchavi [from where the Buddha came]. As Buddhism from India was respected and considered consistent, they even ascribed the King Nyatri Tsanpo's origin to the Shakya lineage."^[14] He favored the theory of king coming from the land of sPu in Tibet. He justified this with the lines in Tunhuang manuscript, P1038,0018^[15], wherein it was mentioned that the king's lineage belonged to sPu bod and named sPu rgyal, the king of sPu. While he refuted the Bon theory that the king came from the sky, he accepted the "twenty stages" mentioned in the theory about how the king descended and reached Tibet. Like Chab spal, he reasoned that many places mentioned in the theory can be identified even today in between Kongpo and Yarlung.

gNya'a khri'i btsan po zhib 'jug by g.Yang mo mtso [2016]:

This is also a great recent research work on Nyatri Tsanpo that I have come across. The author has not only referred the ancient and modern Tibetan works on the subject, she has gone through the works of the major foreign scholars too. Tunhuang manuscript and inscriptions on the pillars and obelisks were also dealt with. Having discussed all the theories pertaining to the origin of Nyatri Tsanpo, she favored the Theurang theory. She says, "gSang ba chos lugs and bsGrags pa bon lugs theories are, in principle, presentations made in great detail, but it is the third Theurang theory in brief which actually deals with Nyatri Tsanpo's origin and his journey from the land of Pobo [Tib:sPo bo] to Tibet [Bod ka g.yag drug]"^[16]. She dismissed the theory attributing king's origin to India as an attempt by the Tibetans to associate with the royal power in India. This is in tandem with what some other Buddhist nations like Shrilanka, Mongolia, Uyghur, Bhutan etc. have also done around the time in order to link their royal dynasties to India, the land of Buddha.^[17]

The Yarlung Dynasty by Erik Haarh^[18] [? -1993 CE]:

This may be the most detailed work by a westerner on the origin of Tibetan kings. The author has studied and presented the three theories of sGragps pa Bon lungs, gSang ba chos lugs and Yang gsang the'u rang lugs in great details. He has a new notion of sPu rgyal as king of the dead, reference is made to prince Bya khri coming from Kongpo. sPur in Tibetan is dead body. Haarh explains development of Yarlung dynasty in three stages: in the first part, Yarlung was ruled by a king of the Bya clan, later the Nya clan from Kongpo took over, and this taking over of Bya king by Nya king was later mythically presented.

He says,

"gNya khri btsan po is the later expression for the ancestor of Nya khri kingdom or Kong po, the royalty of which was introduced in Yarlung."^[19]

But in explaining the Theurang theory, the author has taken the Tibetan word "bShug pa drag" as "a powerful, terrible, wrathful incarnation", and "sPo bo'i yul gyi ban bon nus pa can rnams bsags nas" as "after all capable Ban (Bon) in the country of sPo-bo had been killed". Here, bShug pa drag, actually means "better to exchange or banish", and the next sentence should mean, "the powerful ban bon (Buddhist and Bonpo) conspired".

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Nyang ral, p-155

[2]:

"rGyal po ngan tshang gsang tshig yin pas gleng mi bya", bShad-mzod, p-159

[3]:

It is a 12th century text written by Geshe lDe'u, based on Rinchen pung pa, can lnga, lo rgyus chen mo by Khu ston btson 'grus of 11th century etc. It was edited and some commentary made by mKhes-pa Jonama and further explanation added by another scholar in early 13th century. This is reflected in the text and in Blue annals. [Khes-pa lDe'u, rGya bod kyi chos 'byung rgyas pa, page -xv, Institute of Tibetan Classics, 2013]

[4]:

The text has the speling of The'u rang as The brang

[5]:

Most of the The'u rang theory has "ban bon", meaning Buddhist and Bon. It is little strang to see Buddhist around that time. "sPu bo'i yul gyi ban bon nus mthu can rnams kyis the brang skyas 'debs byas nas bod du bshug"

[6]:

mKhas pa lde'u, p-143 "De ni rje'i rngan nam mtsang lags so"

[7]:

bKa' thang sde lnga, p-398

[8]:

cf footnote 76

[9]:

bShad mzod yid bzhin nor bu, p-159, "rGyal po ngan tsang gsang tshig yin pas gleng mi bya"

[10]:

1) lDe'u chos 'byung, p-143, "sPu bo'i yul gyi ban bon nus mthu can rnams kyis the brang skyas 'debs byas nas bod la bshugs", 2) bShad mzod, p-158

[11]:

Bod rig-pa'i ched rtsam ces bsdus, Bod ljongs midmangs dpe skrun-khang, 1987, p-1 ff

[12]:

"rGya gar gyi sha kya'i rgyal rgyud ls chad pa yin zer ba'i bshad tshul 'di ni lung dang rig pa lo rgyus kyi don dngos sogs gang la gzhigs kyang yid rton du rung ba'i rgyu mtshan m mthong", p-10

[13]:

Bod btsan-po'i rgyal-rabs, p-59

[14]:

'Bri gung skyabs mgon, p-70

[15]:

ibid, p-64 ff

[16]:

g.Yang-mo mtso, p-735

[17]:

g.Yang-mo mtso, p-733

[18]:

Erik Haarh, The Yar-lung Dynasty -A study with particular regard to the contribution by myths and legends to the history of Ancient Tibet and the origin and nature of its kings

[19]:

ibid, p-18