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A STUDY ON SINO·TIBETAN ASTROLOGICAL SYSTEM AMONG TIlE GURUNGS OF GANDAKI REGION IN WESTERN NEPAL Jagman Gurung Land and People Belief, the conviction of the truth in some phenomenon, is accepted as intellectual assent after realizing it by perception, and such confidential faith has been applied to the actual customary practices. So the belief and practice ha ve played a vital role as cause and action, the two urging elements for developing the culture of a community. Among those beliefs and practices that affect the human culture, astrology has a strong hold in the daily life of human beings. Naturally the Gurung culture of Gandaki region in western Nepal also is not free from the influence of astrological beliefs and practices. In the words of D.R. Regmi (1969: 13), in the past for several centuries together Nepal was a smaller kingdom, which is its cl imax of glol)'. covered only the areas between the ri ver Gandaki and Tambakosi. The Gandaki region with prosperous cultural heritage is interesting for its geographical setting, people, language and cu lture. The Sapla Gandaki (the seven great ri vers in western Ne pal) has important val ues in the religious and cultural life of Nepalese people. An extensive part of the region the Galphu pass in Nuwakot to the east and the Salkot in Argha Khanchi to the ~e s t: similarly the Kore La pass in Mustang to the north and the Triveni in Nawal Parasi to the sOUlh, are incorporated in the Gandaki basin . Bhot, Shesant, Magarat and Tharuwan are the major geographical divisions of Gandaki region ; and each ethnic group inhabited in different parts of the region possesses own unique cultural fea tures with the variation of typical physical constructions. dress and orn aments, languages as well as beliefs and practices. The Puranic legends of Nepal present a glimpse of migration of the people in Nepal both from the north and the south. According to Daniel Wright's account (1972:78) the Buddhist scriptures of Nepal credited Bodhisatva Al)'a Manjushree from China for making the Nepal Valley fit for habitation. Similarly Hindu scriptures credit Lord Krishna from India for this feat (Yogi, 201 3: 352). These mythical legends indicate that Nepal is a meeting place of those specific culture of China and India, though Nepal has its own peculiar cultural heritage. The Gurungs of Gandaki region follow the Bon and Buddhist rituals ill their culluml life. Originally the Gurungs are the inhnbitants of the upper southern slope of the Annapuma mnge in Nepal Himalaya. The term Gurullg which is broadly used 10 Ihose people in these days has been recentl y applied to the Gurungs, because the Gurungs call themselves 'Tamu' in their indigenious language. The nick name of Changej Kh an. the Mangol ian Contributions to Nepalese Studies. VoL 34, No. 2 (J uly 2007), 221-234 Copyright © 2007 CNASlTU 222 CNAS Joumal, Vol. 34, No. 2 (July 2007) Chinese emperor. is Tamujin which means iron holder. So. the meaning of 'Tamu' is iron weapon holder warrior. According 10 the Gurung genealogy the tenn Gurung is derived from a place name Gurungdi in Syanja district (Gurung 2034:2). The meaning of 'Dj ' is water in the Magar language. The tenn Gurung needs a proper study to know its actual meaning. Generall y. this tenn indicates as the inhubitants of Gurungdi. The Gurungs had their own kingdom in Gandaki region. in western Nepal till 15th century A.D .. before the rise of Shah dynasty. the ruling family of Nepal (Gurung 1985: 145·155: Gurung 2006: 2). The Gurungs are not included in Varnavyavastha. the four principal classes of the Hindus. though Prithvi narayan Shah. the maker of the unified modem Nepal. had evaluated the Gurungs as the warlike people just like the Thakuris. Khasas and the Magars (Gurung 1984: 2 1·22). and in the civil code of Nepal. issued in the time of prime minister Jang Bahadur Rana in 1854 A.O.. the Gunmgs are labled as the Nall/lIS;1I1! Ma/mli JlII. the caste of which could not be spoilt from public law and order. and some of the statutori'll regulations of the Guruangs are same as the Kshetris and lllakuris. The language spoken by the Gurungs belongs to the Tibeto-Bunnan family, and it has a close resemblance with Tamang and Thakali languages. The primitive culture of the Gurungs was based o n animism. and they collected some manners of the Kirat people. when they migrated to the southern slope of the Nepal Himalaya. Since Padmasambhava. the lotus born teacher. had well developed the Lamaislic Buddhism in Tibet in 8th century A.D .. it has a strong hold not only among the Tibetan people. but also in the re ligious and cullurallife of the inhabitants of Nepal Himalaya. Having lIle ir settlement in the surrounding of the HimOl laya. the Gurungs of Nepal devoted to Lamaistic Buddhism. Then a class of LOIma. who teaches the Gurungs Buddhism. developed in the Guru ng community. The Gurungs were persuaded to follow the Hindu nlles. after they lost the ir kingdom in 15th cenlury A.D. The Gurungs had 10 survive in their region possessing the locOlI administrati ve power. OInd it was bare subsistence to the Gurungs to follow the Hindu rules 10 be fit for local administralOrs like Um(lm, the chief of the fort. and Ta/llkdar. an authorized landholder of a jurisdiction. So the Gurungs constrainedly adapted some Hindu manners and customs to gain the favour of lIle Hi ndu rulers because compar.lti vely they had no abilily to face the rising power. Thus the culluml dynamics of the Gurungs has been affected by Hindu beliefs and pmctices. which made the Gurung culture distinct from the culture of their neighbours of trans­ Himalayan people of Nepal in some aspects. The Gurungs of Gandaki region practise both systems of astrology - the Indian and the Sino-Tibetan. though the traditional astrological pmclice of the GUTUngs is based on Sino-Tibetnn astrology. There is a combination of two astrological systems in Tibetan astrology - dKar·rTsis. the aSlrology from A Study on Sino-Tibetan Astrological System 223 Gya-dKar or India. and Nag-rTsis. the astrology from rGya-Nag or China. iI is believed that the formu las of Sino-Tibetan astrology were manifested by Arya Manjushree in the fi ve peaks of the mountain in China. The Basic ASJK!(:ts of Sino-Tibetan As trology The .astrology which developed in China is known as sino-astrological system. This system of astrology spread from China to the several Asian countries: Mongolia. Korea, Japan, Taiwan. Vietnam, Laos, Kampuchea, Myanmar, Thil:lI1d, Tibet. Bhutan, Nepal and India. About 75% population of Asia uses this astrological system. Thi s astrological system entered Nepal via Tibet; hence, th is system is known as Si no-Tibetan astrology. The life cycle sacraments and ceremonies of all the higher Himalayan communities of Nepal: Limyal. Mugal. Dolpo, Loba, Nesyangba, Sherpa, Topkegola. Lomi etc. along with some lower Himalayan peoples: Thakali, Gurung, Tamang and Lepcha . is based on this astrological system. The Buddhist Newars of Ne pal also had the trJdition of consu lting Sino-Tibetan astrology un til the period of Pratap Malla. The symbols of the twelve animal s of Sino-Tibetan astrology carved in stone slabs and attached to the pedestal of the huge gilt bronze Vajra at Svayambhu Chaitya are the evidences of this astrological system related to the Newar cultural tradition. This huge Vajra with Dharnladhatu Mandala was offered and placed here by Pratap Malla in the eastern entrance of Svayambhu Chaitya on Ne pal Era 788 (1667 A.D. ). Similarly. the Hindu astrologers living in northem hills of Nepal usually use Indian aSlrolgical system for their Hindu c1ints, and also use this Sino­ Tibetan astrological system for their Buddhist cl ients. This fact shows the populari ty of Sin()-Tibetan astrological system in Nepal. The Sino-Tibetan astrology is regarded as the Buddhist astrological system which has mutual relation to Buddhism (Terbish 1990: 46), So th is system of astrology is the unseparative part of Buddhism as the Vedanga Jyotish of Hi ndu ism. Although the Sino-Tibetan school of astrology studies the effect of the stars and the planets on the earth. The main basis of this astrological system is Kan and Tschi . The Kan is considered as the heavenly steam. which has five major divisions: Mu-wood, Hucr Fire, Fu-earth, Kin­ metal and Schin·water: and the Tschi is the earthly branch with the symbolic fonns of the different twelve animals and birds (James 1953 : 83). The Sino­ Tibetan astrological system is one of the early systems of astrology. Hence. this astrological system is very natural. simple and practie:!l in common hu man use. Twel ve Lo, nine Meva :lIld eight Parkha are the basic :!spects of the Sino-Tibetan :!strology. Lo The literally llle'lIling of Lo is a year as well as the age of a person and the zodiac sign based on Sino-Tibetan astrological system. The twelve Los are 224 CNAS Journal, Vol. 34, No. 2 (July 2007) the twelve symbols which are named after the different twelve animals and birds li ke the twelve zodiac signs of the Indian and Greek astrological system. The Gunmg names of Lo and their meaning are slightly different from the original Tibetan Lo names. Both Lo names - Chinese, Japanese, Tibetan and Gurung - are as follows: Source: lames, 1953 : This cycle of twelve Lo is just like the twelve Rash;, the zodiacal signs of Indian astrology.

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