9. Zhangzhung sMar yig as the Source

Let us now examine what the Bonpo texts, scriptures and scholars had said about the existence of scripts in Tibet before Srongtsan Gampo.

According to mDo gzer mig, the middle version of Tonpa Shenrab's biography, hundred thousands of letters emanated from the mind of Sangs po 'bum khri^[1], the father of the universe. These were bestowed to the principal disciple of Tonpa Shenrab, Yidkyi Kheuchung [Tib:Yid kyi khe'u chung], who kept the letters intact in gTo yi bka' sgrom [a small chest]. Later, Demon King Khyapa Lagring, who has been creating obstacles and challenging the teacher, put the chest into fire. Yidkyi Kheuchung could save a fragment of the contents and presented it to Tonpa Shenrab, who found the five warrior seed syllables [Tib:dpa' bo 'bru nga] intact. These five syllables known as Five Warrior Seed Syllables were said to be the source of the early Zhangzhung letters from which Tibetan writing system was derived.

An extract from mDo gzer mig^[2] is translated in Namkhai Norbu's "The Light of Kailash" as follows:

The myriads of letters, quintessence of the Mind of Sangs-po 'Bum-khri, were bestowed upon Yid-kyi Khye'u-chung. They were placed in a still smaller gTo box of letters, and sealed there. The innermost [aspect] of Bon amount to that^[3].

The five warrior seed-syllables were: Om, ram, yam, kham and srum. These seed-syllables were supposed to represent the five natural elements of earth, water, fire, wind and space. From these five seed-syllables came eight letters each making it to forty, which was said to be the origin of forty consonants and vowels of Zhangzhung language^[4]. Based on these letters Tonpa Shenrab wrote down the Bon teachings of Five Doors and the Fifth Treasury [Tib:sGo zhi mzod nga] at gSas khang dkar nag bkra gsal for the benefit of the posterity.^[5]

Bonpo scriptures say that the Tibetan writing system came from the forty magical mTho yig [Tib:'phrul gyi tho yig] letters of Zhangzhung: thirty consonants, six vowels, and four punctuations. Categorization may differ in some texts but generally it is enumerated as above. Five warrior syllables [dpa'-bo 'bru-nga] are inspired by the five natural elements: earth, water, fire, wind and space. These five syllables and the corresponding elements are: Om -space; yam -wind; ram -fire; kham -water; and srum -earth. Srid pa Sangs po 'bum-khri and sTon pa gShen rab, the method and wisdom aspects of Bon doctrine were the architects of these letters. Tibetan grammars were explained in terms of these five elements and other three: wood, iron and rock, whereas in contemporary grammar it is explained through the categorization of male, female, neuter, barren and very-female [pho, mo, ma-ning, shin-tu mo].

The forty letters from which the Tibetan writing system was derived were: the thirty consonants of ka, kha, ga, nga. ca, cha, ja, nya. ta, tha, da, na. pa, pha, ba, ma. tsa, tsha, za, wa, zha, za, 'a, ya. ra, la, sha, sa. ha, aa. Six vowels are: i, u, e, o, bhi, and mhi], and four punctuations are: kasha, shta, aa and am. Thirty consonants and four vowels are same, vowel Bhi and Mhi were the source of mGo can and 'Dogs yig. Ra mgo, la mgo and sa mgo of mGo can; Ya btags, ra rtags and la btags of 'Dogs yig. Punctuation Kasha of Zhangzhung is Tibetan Yig mgo, Shta is shad, Aa is tseg and Am is klad skor. In this way the Tibetan writing system was established.

Bon grammar contends that generally all sounds and verbal expressions are result or product of natural elements. The six warrior seed-syllables also came from or inspired by the five natural elements. Accordingly the origin Tibetan script and its inflection are explained in two ways: 'Byung ba che ba [big elements] and 'Byung ba chung ba [small elements]. Big elements explain the origin of letters, small elements explains the pitch or tone of the letters^[6]. The big elements are: earth, water, fire, wind and space. Small elements are: earth, water, fire, wind, space, wood, iron and rock. How they are correlated is explained as: earth is male, water is neuter, fire is female, fire's fire is very-female, just fire is barren^[7]. Five prefix: ga, da, ba, ma 'a and ten suffix, ga, nga, da, na, ba, ma, 'a, ra, la and sa, are also categorized accordingly.

The origin of the forty letters from the six warrior syllables [om, ram, srum, kham, yam] is explained as follows.

From Om came the eight letters of space: "ksha, ka, kha, ga, nga, ha, aa, am" coming from throat.

From Ram came the eight letters of fire: "E, ca, cha, ja, nya, ra, bhi, shta" coming from palate/jaws.

From Srum came the eight letters of O, ta, tha, da, na, la, sa, mhing" coming from tongue.

From Kham came eight letters of water, "U, pa, pha, ba, ma, za, 'a, aa" coming from lip.

From Yam came the eight letters of wind, "I, tsa, tsha, za, va, ya, sha, zha" coming from nose.

In the normal Tibetan language text books, consonants, vowels, prefix and suffix are divided into gender aspect on the basis of inflection or pitch, i.e. male, female, neuter etc.. Whereas is Bon language text, use of natural elements like earth, water, fire, wind, space etc. are used instead of male and female aspects.

The forty consonants are divided into eight elements with five letters each and their outlet is explained as follows^[8] :

Elements	Wood	Fire	Earth	Water	Wind	Iron	Rock	Space	Pitch
Wind	ksha	e	o	u	i	am	aa	shta	loud
Earth	ka	ca	ta	pa	tsa	zha	ra	ha	strong
Water	kha	cha	tha	pha	tsha	za	la	a	average
Fire	ga	ja	da	ba	dza	'a	sha	bhi	low
Space	nga	nya	na	Ma	wa	ya	sa	mhing	soft
Origin	throat	palate	tongue	Lip	nose	teeth	crown	abdomen

To categorize the thirty consonants, usual Tibetan grammar rTags 'jug has:

ka, ca, ta, pa, tsa rnams pho [male, loud]
kha, cha, tha, pha, tsha ma-ning [neuter, average]
ga, ja, da, ba, zda, va, zha
za, 'a, ya, sha, sa rnmas mo [female, low]
nga, nya, na, ma, shin-tu-mo [very-female, soft]
ra, la, ha, aa, mo-gsham ste [barren]
Aa ni mtsan-med ces kyang bya [natural, asexual]^[9]

In Bon grammar text, it has:

ka, ca, ta, pa, tsa, zha, ra,
ha, brgyad sa-sde drag-po 'o [earth, loud]
kha, cha, tha, pha, tsha, za, la
aa brgyad chu-sde 'bring-po 'o [water, average]
ga, ja, da, ba, dza, 'a, sha
bhi brgyad me-sde zhan-pa 'o [fire, mild]
nga, nya, na, ma, wa, ya, sa,
mhing brgyad mkha' brgyad rngub-pa 'o [space, low]^[10]

Five prefix: ga, da, ba, ma 'a and ten suffix, ga, nga, da, na, ba, ma, 'a, ra, la and sa, are also categorized accordingly. The prefix ba is male, ga and da are neuter, 'a is female, and ma is veryfemale. Suffix ga, da, ba, sa four are male, nga, ma, 'a three are female, na, ra, la three are neuter. According to Bon grammar "brda-sprod nyer-bdun", prefix ba is earth, ga and da are water, ma is fire's fire and 'a is fire. Suffix ga, da, ba and sa are earth, nga, ma and 'a three are fire, na, ra and la three are water^[11].

Except in Bon monastic institutions, this tradition of studying Tibetan grammar based on the categorization of the letters in terms of natural elements rather than on gender is never or very rarely done in Tibetan community. If Zhangzhung is taken as the source of Tibetan writing system, then it is obvious that the Element system precedes the Gender system.

Now let us look at the physical appearance of Zhangzhung and Tibetan script and observe the similarity. The script is from Zhu Yogi Nyima Dakpa.

From the above Zhangzhung and Tibetan scripts, we can clearly see the similarity and these Zhangzhung scripts exist in the form of texts even today. We have Zhangzhung -Tibetan language dictionary^[12] and the script is still being used in Tibetan Bonpo monasteries. sMan ri monastery in Dolanji in Himachal Pradesh has an ancient seal of Zhangzhung King Ligmikya in Zhangzhung script, the inscription reads "Kha tshan pa shang lig shi ra tsa" meaning "All Powerful Universal King".^[13]

Tshe ring thar, an Amdo scholar, has discovered and studied several ancient texts in several old monasteries in Tibet. He has in his article, "Bod yig gi 'byung gzhir gsar du dpyad pa" [A New Analysis of the Original Foundation of the Tibetan Script]^[14], concluded that origin of Tibetan written language is Zhangzhung sMar chung. Below is the sample of Zhangzhung sMar chung and Tibetan dbu med scripts that he has reproduced.

Shar rdza bKra shis rgyal mtsan, in his work, "Legs bshad mzod" has noted, "From the pristine letters of god came the sPung yig script of sTag gzig, it evolved to Yig rgan script of Zhangzhung, and then to sMar sbrag script, this evolved to two scripts of sMar chen and sMar chung. dBu can came from sMar chen and 'Bru ma from sMar chung. Varied forms of scripts came from 'Bru ma.^[15]

He further noted that the Guru Padmasambhava has said:

When the Indian Dharma was translated into Tibetan, Indian language could not be transliterated or translated into the Tibetan. The thirty letters of ka, kha etc.. were adopted from the Tibetan's. Name of the deities were taken from the sounds of the natural elements, mantras were not translated and left as it is in Indian origin^[16].

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Sangs po 'bum khri is one the three main Bon-po triad known as "lha gshen srid pa gsum", [Samten Karmey, The Arrow and the Spindle, p-109

[2]:

mDo gZer mig, p-367, "Sangs po 'bum khri thugs kyi bud, yig 'bru 'bum dang khri yod pa, yid kyi khye'u chung la bskur nas, bto yi bka' sgrom yang chung du, tha ram rgya yis btab nas yod, Bon gyi phugs ni 'di la thug"

[3]:

Chogyal Namkhai Norbu, The Light of Kailash, p-152

[4]:

Khri g.Yung-drung, brda sprod gzi mig dgu pa, p-44 ff, "de la zhangzhung gi dbyangs gsal bzhi bcu tham pa'am nges pa'i tho yig bzhi bcu zhes kyang zer ro"

[5]:

mDo gzer mig, p-415

[6]:

Khri g.yung drung, brda sprod gzi mig dgu pa, p-61, "yi ge'i 'byung khungs 'byung ba che ba'i lugs, sgra gdangs drag zhan 'byung ba chung ba'i lugs"

[7]:

ibid p-181 "mdor na sa pho chu ma-ning, me ni mo-yig me yi me, shin-tu mo dang me-tsam ni, mo-gsham phantshun don gcig go" [brda sprod srid-sgron]

[8]:

Khri g.Yung drung, brda sprod gzi mig dgu pa, p-64

[9]:

Glang ri ba Thupten Jinpa, Bod kyi brda sprod gsar sgrig, p-428

[10]:

Khri g.Yung drung, brda sprod gzi mig dgu pa, p-63

[11]:

ibid, p-182

[12]:

1) Zhu rNal 'byor nyi ma drags pa, sGra yi don deb snang sel sgron me, India, 1965. 2) Erik Haarh's Zhangzhung Lauage, a grammar and dictionary of the unexplored language of the Tibetan bonpos. 3) Dan Matin's Zhangzhung Tibetan Dictionary

[13]:

1)cf Chapter 3 Zhangzhung Civlization, 2)Tenzin Namdak, sNga rabs bod kyi byung ba brjod pa, p-28, and 3) Chogyal Namkhai Norbu, The Light of Kailash, p-163

[14]:

Chogyal Namkhai Norbu, The Light of Kailash Vol-I, p-162

[15]:

Shar dza bKra shis rgyal mtshan, p-159. "dag pa lha'i yi ge stag gzig spungs yig tu bsgyur, de Zhang zhung gi yig rgan du bsgyur, de smar sbrag tu bsgyur, de smar che chung du bsgyur, smar chen dbu chen nam gzab tu bsgyur, smar chung 'bru mar bsgyur, yig sna 'bru ma las brtsam."

[16]:

ibid, p-160. "des na sLob dpon Pad me'i zhal nas, rgya gar chos rnams bod la bsgyur pa'i tshe, rgya gar yi ge Bod du bsgyur ma btub, ka kha sum cu bod la dpe ru blangs, lha yi mtshan rnams 'byung ba'i sgra las drangs, sngags rnams ma bsgyur rgya gar rang sor bzhag" It was in Dar rgyal gsal sgron text, p-56