4. India as the source (of Tibetan script)

There are many Tibetan texts and scriptures advocating Indic origin of Tibetan writing system. We shall study a few of these authoritative texts and examine if all these are in agreement with each other, and deliberate over the rationality of the theory.

Ma ni bka' 'bum [read Manikabum] and bKa' chems ka khol ma [read Kachem Kakholma] were the two ancient texts relied heavily upon by Tibetan scholars in explaining various aspects of Tibetan history, religion and culture. According to Manikabum^[1], King Srongtsan Gampo thought the need of writing system to introduce Buddhism in Tibet. He had the most intelligent Thonmi Anu's son Sambhota sent along with other sixteen intelligent young men to India. Thonmi Sambhota studied under Pandita Lha'i rigs pa sen ge. Coming back to Tibet, he designed dBu can script based on Lantsa, and dBu med based on Watu script. From the fifty Indian consonants and vowels, adding six letters: ca, cha, ja, zha, za and 'a [those not in Indian language/ rGya la med pa'i yi ge drug], he established thirty consonants and four vowels. He composed eight grammar treaties, translated scriptures like mDo sde dkon mchog sprin, za ma tog etc..

Kachem Kakholma^[2] notes that King Srongtsan Gampo was very powerful and popular and envoys from the neighboring countries paid respect and tributes to the King annually. But the King found that he has no means to express gratitude and further communicate with them in writing. Many intelligent Tibetans were sent to India to study languages, but they all failed in the mission. Then from the sixteen ministers, the King deputed Thonmi Sambhota. He went to India and met Bram ze Li byin ti ka, who knew twenty different scripts. Bram ze took Thonmi to a pillar at a beach where these twenty scripts were exhibited. Thonmi studied the languages and composed Tibetan alphabet. To translate Indian Ek [one], ca was created; for Dharma [religion], cha was created; from Loka [samsara], ja was created, Nam la [nama] zhe sa Zha came. To cover the short and long sound, 'a was added. The text mentions six and half sounds in Tibetan which were not in Indian language, but only four and half are mentioned. The sounds of the sNgags [mantra] were left as it were. In the following page^[3], the text says: Ca came from the land of Cog ro, Za came from Za hor, Zha came from Zhangzhung, 'a came from 'A-zha, cha and ja appeared in vision.

It should be noted that both the Manikabum and Kachen Kakholma were treasure texts discovered around 11th to 13th century CE and the works attributed to the scholarship of King Srongtsan Gampo. But we find contradiction between the two here and there, questioning the veracity of authorship. Allison Melnick and Christopher Bell have presented an informative research paper in understanding the contents and discovery of Manikabum^[4] in general. Pertaining to this subject, while Manikabum says it was Pandita Lha Rig pa'i Sen ge who taught Thonmi Sambhota, Kache Kakholma says it was Bram ze Li byin ti ka. Regarding the six letters [ca, cha, ja, zha, za, and 'a] not in Indian Language, the two differs in presentation. Be that as it may, but as observed by dGe 'dun Chos 'phel, ca, cha and ja sound and letters are already in Indian consonant, there was no need for Thonmi to wait for inspiration. Therefore, it does not make sense. Zha from Zhangzhung, Za from Za-hor and 'A for 'A-zha may make sense, because these sound or words are not in Indian consonant. But these sounds [sgra] are already in Tibetan language, and there was no need for the intelligent Thonmi Sambhota to seek Manjushri's prompting.

According to Nyangral [Tib:Nyang ral Nyi ma 'Od zer]^[5], King Srongtsan Gampo sent sixteen ministers to India to study scripts, but they were not successful. Later Thon mi bsam bu, a lad of eleven years old was sent along with sixteen others to Nalanda to study Indian scripts. Thonmi studied sound from Pandita lHa rig pa'i sen ge, and scripts from Bram ze Li byin in south India. There were some sixty four scripts in India at that time which can be summarized under three main scripts: Lan tsva, the letter of gods; Na ga ra, the letter of Nagas; and Bha dru ma, the letter of humans^[6]. Based on the forty six Indian letters of thirty two consonants and fourteen vowels, Thonmi composed thirty Tibetan consonants and four vowels. From Na ga ra came the dBu can script and from Bha dru ma came the dBu med script. Regarding the origin of letter ca, ja, cha, zha and 'a, Nyang ral noted that to translate Indian Ek [one] for Tibetan cig, ca script was adopted; to translate Indian Loka [universe] for Tibetan 'Jig rten, ja script came; likewise, for Indian Dharma [religion] to Tibetan Chos, cha; and Indian Preet [request] to Tibetan Zhu ba, Zha was adopted. As there was no sound to extend in Tibetan, 'a was added. Although Nyangral says there were six sounds in Tibetan, which were not found in Indian language [Tib:rGya gar la med pa'i yi ge phed drug], he has mentioned only five [ca, ja, cha, zha and 'a].

However, in the next pages^[7], Nyangral continued that the ministers discussed that from the Indian forty six letters, Thonmi Sambhota derived twenty four Tibetan letters only. He was confused and fell asleep. When he woke up, he saw an old man. Thonmi Sambhota asked him what was his tribe; where he was from; where he was headed to; how long was the journey; and what has he got to sustain the journey etc.. The old man said, he was of 'a zha tribe; he came from Zhangzhung, and going to Za hor. The distance was ci cha [don't know], and he has ja [tea] to sustain the journey, and the old man disappeared. He was said to be a manifestation of Manjushri. Thonmi Sambhota found sound 'a from 'a-sha, Zha from Zhangzhung, Za from Zahor, and Ca and Cha from Ci Cha, and Ja from the tea, adding these six to the twenty six letters from the Indian letters became the thirty Tibetan consonants. Here it should be noted that the Thonmi's question itself has the sound like 'a, ca and ja: gang nas 'aongs ['a], ci byed pa yin [ca], thag ji tsam yod [ja], there was no need to wait for the answers to get those syllables.

Other Tibetan authoritative works by scholars such as Bu ston, dPa' bo gtsug lags 'phreng ba, Don dam sma ba'i seng ge of bShad-mzod yid-bzhin nor-bu, and Sa skya bSod nams rgyal mtshan have the same interpretation along the line of Manikabum.

Let us compare the texts and see how they stand up to scrutiny.

SN	Texts	Teacher/s	Script based on:	Six letters added:
1	Manikabum	Lha rig pa'i seng ge	La'nya tsa / ba tu la	ca, cha, ja, zha, za, 'a
2	Kachem Kakholma	Li byin ti ka		ca, cha, ja, zha, 'a / 4 lands and 2 vision
3	Nyangral	Lha rig and Li byin	Nagara and bhadruma	ca, cha, ja, zha, 'a / old man
4	Bu ston	Lha rig seng ge	Kashmiri script
5	dPa' bo gtsug lag	Li byin & lha rig	Nagara / Khache / Laynatsa and wartu	ca, cha, ja, zha, za, 'a
6	bSod nams rgyal mtshan	Li byin and Lha rig	Lanyatsa and Wartu	ca, cha, ja, zha, za, 'a
7	dGe 'dun chos 'phel		Gupta script
8	Tsepon Shakabpa	Lipi kara and Lharig	Brahmi & Gupta

According to the table above, it is either Lha rig seng ge or Li byin or both of them who taught Thonmi Sambhota. The origin of the script and the interpretation on the additional six syllables are also not consistent. Bu ston writes that Thonmi studied under Pandita Devavidyasimha, and created Tibetan alphabet of thirty consonants and four vowels. The scripts adopted have the resemblance of Kashmirian characters. dPa bo gTsug lag phreng ba says Thonmi based his Tibetan script on the Nagara and Kache letter and from Lha yid Lan tsa, dBu chen was invented, and from Klu yig Watu, Zur can was invented. Sa kya bSod nams rgyal mtsan says that dBu can script was based on Lan tsa, and Zur can on Wa rtu [both dPa' wo and Sa kya have used Zur can as dbu med]. They both have Li byin and Pandita Lha rig pa'i sengs ge as the teachers. dPa' bo gtsug lag and Sa kya bSod nams rgyal mtsan followed Manikabum's statement that Thonmi added six letters: ca, cha, ja and zha, za, and 'a which were not in Indian letters [Tib:rGya la med pa'i yi ge drug].

Now let us examine further when and where exactly Thonmi Sambhota visited India, who were his teachers, and based on what scripts is he hypothesized to have invented the Tibetan writing scripts.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Ma ni bka' 'bum, stod cha, p-399

[2]:

bKa' chems ka khol ma, p-105. Authorship of the text is attributed to 33rd King of Tibet, Srongtsan Gampo, 7th century CE

[3]:

bKa' chems ka khol ma, p-107

[4]:

Allison Melnick and Christopher Bell, Mani Kambum, Tibetan Renaissance Seminar

[5]:

Nyang ral nyi ma 'od zer, chos 'byung me tog snying po sbrang rtsi'i bcud. P-169 ff

[6]:

In Tibetan: lan tsva lha yi yi ge, na ga ra klu yi yi ge, bha gru ma mi yi yi ge

[7]:

Nyang ral nyi ma 'od zer, p-171