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Ducher, Building a Tradition: the Lives of Mar-Pa the Translator Ducher BUILDING A TRADITION collectanea himalayica Studies on the History and Culture of the Himalayas and Tibet Edited by Prof. Dr. Franz-Karl Ehrhard (Munich) vol. 1 (2007) Ralf Kramer, The Great Tibetan Translator: Life and Works of rNgog Blo ldan shes rab (1059–1109) vol. 2 (2008) Franz-Karl Ehrhard, A Rosary of Rubies: The Chronicle of the Gur-rigs mDo-chen Tradition from South-Western Tibet vol. 3 (2010) Anne Chayet et al. (éds), Edition, éditions: l’écrit au Tibet, évolution et devenir vol. 4 (2014) Nikolai Solmsdorf, Treasure-Traditions of Western Tibet: Rig-’dzin Gar-dbang rdo-rje snying-po (1640–1685) and His Activities in Mang-yul Gung-thang vol. 5 (2017) Cécile Ducher, Building a Tradition: The Lives of Mar-pa the Translator 2017 INDUS VERLAG · MÜNCHEN collectanea himalayica 5 Building a Tradition The Lives of Mar-pa the Translator Cécile Ducher INDUS VERLAG Cécile Ducher is a PhD candidate in Tibetan Studies at the École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris. Her current research focuses on the history and trans- mission of the Mar-rngog Bka’-brgyud lineage. Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek: Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über <http://dnb.dnb.de> abrufbar. Copyright © 2017 by INDUS VERLAG, München ([email protected]) All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher, except for the quotation of brief passages in criticism. Printed and bound in Hungary ISSN 1865-5327 (Collectanea Himalayica) ISBN 978-3-940659-04-0 For the masters of the Bka’-brgyud lineage, past and present Contents Abbreviations ........................................................................................................... 9 Preface...................................................................................................................... 13 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................ 19 1.1. Mar-pa’s life................................................................................................ 19 1.2. Mar-pa and his time.................................................................................... 22 1.3. What sources, for which historical reconstruction? ..................................... 23 1.4. Why are hagiographies written? .................................................................. 32 1.5. Why study Mar-pa’s life? ............................................................................ 38 2. Mar-pa’s Life Stories ............................................................................................. 45 2.1. The foundations: biographies of the 12th and early 13th centuries ............... 45 2.1.1. Major foundations.............................................................................. 46 2.1.1.1. Biography composed by Ngam-rdzong ston-pa Byang-chub-rgyal-po................................................................. 46 2.1.1.2. The Rngog biographies ............................................................. 54 2.1.1.2.1. Mar-pa’s collected works published in the ’Bri gung bka’ brgyud chos mdzod chen mo........................................ 56 2.1.1.2.2. Biographies composed by early Rngog clan members in the Mar pa lo tsā’i gsung ’bum....................................... 64 2.1.1.3. Biographies of the Aural Transmission...................................... 69 2.1.2. Minor foundations ............................................................................. 84 2.1.2.1. Biography attributed to Sgam-po-pa Bsod-nams-rin-chen (1079–1153) ............................................................................. 84 2.1.2.2. Biography composed by Bla-ma Zhang (1123–1193)............... 90 2.1.2.3. Golden rosaries of the ’Brug-pa lineage ..................................... 94 2.2. The ground floor: biographies of the 13th century....................................... 101 2.2.1. Biography composed by Don-mo ri-pa (b. 1203) [circa 1245]........... 101 2.2.2. Biography composed by Rgyal-thang-pa Bde-chen-rdo-rje [1258–1266] ...................................................................................... 105 2.2.3. Biography attributed to “U-rgyan-pa”................................................ 110 2.3. The walls: biographies of the 14th and 15th centuries................................... 116 2.3.1. Some short biographical passages ....................................................... 117 2.3.2. Biography in the Deb ther dmar po by ’Tshal-pa Kun-dga’-rdo-rje (1309–1364) [1346]........................................................................... 118 2.3.3. Biography composed by Mkha’-spyod-dbang-po (1350–1405) ......... 119 2.3.4. Opening Eyes, the religious history composed by Bsod-nams-rgyal-mtshan-dpal-bzang-po (1386–1434) [1418]........... 122 2.3.5. Mar-pa’s biography in two Rngog clan rosaries .................................. 124 2.3.6. The Lho rong chos ’byung, religious history composed by Rtag-tshag Tshe-dbang-rgyal [1446 (rev. 1451)] ................................................ 127 2.3.7. Religious history composed by Kun-dga’-dpal-’byor (1428–1476) .... 131 2.3.8. Biography composed by Mi-bskyod-rdo-rje [late 15th century] .......... 131 2.3.9. Deb ther sngon po, religious history composed by ’Gos Lo-tsā-ba Gzhon-nu-dpal (1392–1481) [1476] ................................................. 133 8 Contents 2.4. The roof: biography composed by Gtsang-smyon Heruka (1452–1507) [1505] ................................................................................... 136 2.5. Later developments: biographies written after the standard version............. 145 2.5.1. Biography from a rosary by Rgod-tshang-ras-pa (1482–1559) ........... 146 2.5.2. Biography from a rosary by Kun-dga’-rin-chen (1475–1527) [1508]. 147 2.5.3. Biographies composed by Dpa’-bo II Gtsug-lag-phreng-ba (1504–1566) ...................................................................................... 149 2.5.3.1. The Scholar’s Feast [1545–1565] ................................................ 149 2.5.3.2. The Venerable Mar-pa’s Hagiography, Expression of his Miraculous Deeds [1563]............................................................ 152 2.5.4. Religious history composed by Padma-dkar-po (1527–1592) [1575]................................................................................................. 158 2.5.5. Religious history composed by Ngag-dbang-rnam-rgyal (1571–1626) [1609] .......................................................................... 161 2.5.6. Comparative biography by Kaḥ-thog Rig-’dzin Tshe-dbang nor-bu (1698–1755) [1742 (rev. 1746)] ....................................................... 163 2.5.7. Rosary of Crystal Gems, religious history composed by ’Be-lo Tshe-dbang-kun-khyab and Si-tu 08 Chos-kyi-’byung-gnas (1700–1774) [1775] ......................................................................... 165 2.6. Conclusion.................................................................................................. 168 3. The Evolution of a Few Key Points in Mar-pa’s Biographies.................................... 173 3.1. Marks of the spoken word in the biographies.............................................. 173 3.1.1. Mar-pa’s songs.................................................................................... 173 3.1.2. Quotative verbs marking the author’s presence in the biography........ 185 3.2. Evolution of the characters.......................................................................... 195 3.2.1. The central character: Mar-pa............................................................. 195 3.2.1.1. Mar-pa as an emanation ............................................................ 195 3.2.1.2. The practice of entering another’s body (grong ’jug) .................. 200 3.2.2. Two secondary characters of importance ............................................ 209 3.2.2.1. Nāropā....................................................................................... 209 3.2.2.2. Gnyos ........................................................................................ 226 3.3. Conclusion.................................................................................................. 237 Appendices................................................................................................................. 239 Appendix 1: Diplomatic Edition of Ngam-rdzong ston-pa’s Biography of Mar-pa as Found in Mon-rtse-pa’s Golden Rosary.......................................... 241 Appendix 2: Translation of Ngam-rdzong ston-pa’s Biography of Mar-pa ............. 257 Appendix 3: Translation of Rngog Mdo-sde’s Biography of Mar-pa....................... 275 Appendix 4: Chart of Mar-pa’s Songs in the Biographies........................................ 295 Appendix 5: Mar-pa’s Dates.................................................................................... 301 Bibliography .............................................................................................................. 307 Primary sources: Mar-pa’s biographies in Tibetan .................................................... 307 Primary sources: other Tibetan texts......................................................................... 312 Secondary sources: Western-language books and articles.......................................... 314 Abbreviations BA The
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