| Pemakarpo, HAR 65368 |
White Lotus Belles Lettres:
A Praise of the Holy Place Known as Caritra
Praise the name of glorious Caritra!
The learned are the ducks who find delight in their findings,
‘here in this wide and glorious lotus pond of utmost perfection,’
they’ve unfurled the broad white wings of their poetic arts,
and with slow drumbeats on their throat drums praised its wonders.
All-pervasive and subsuming all, as it was in the beginning,
never ever changing, the ultimate extinguishing of change,
this very same high peak as the Victors see it
paints its own painting, ‘The Field of Pure Dharmakāya.’
It all displays atop a single base as one great mandala,
the entire supreme array of peaceful, lustful and wrathful ones,
its each and every atomic particle displaying likewise,
here in this Sambhogakåya Field of visionary experience.
For personages defined as ordinary, medial and supreme
this watery moon dances its appropriate marvels as needed,
and the eye of divination descries in this crystalline Place
‘rulings’ of a country of miraculous Emanations.
To the south of the place where the Teacher taught those emanations,
this Great Cemetery is one of a group of twenty-four
that the multitude of unsurpassed tantra texts made out to be supreme Places,
one that has chopped off the tongues of philologers, Caritra.
The blood-thirsty Heruka, hero whose soles are soaked
in waves of red blood from the slaying of the frightful ones, is
there in union with the Ḍākinīs who purify the two obscurations
as the delusion-vanquishing Crystal Mountain, a caitya of Dharmakāya.
The twelve island lakes are the field of their deployment
together with the Vidyās and Messenger Women, the Place
where Pagsam Wangpo went to take the powerful siddhi substance,
a vowed substance subsuming them all, an icon of the Ḍākinīs.
It is a place the Karma Ḍākinīs, experiences of heat, do espionage
under varied guises of environments—mountains and lakes, trees and ravines—
a divination mirror for gauging the quality of prior cultivation,
it is a Place for Nirmāṇakāyas, so the less well endowed risk their lives.
Emaho!
Opening up the two folded hands of faith
these articles of offering scatter in its direction.
The doorlocks blocking the turnoffs of eternalism & nihilism
were cleared by the riverbank of swift causation.
When we inspect the tracks of those with robes of nonattachment
gotten by renouncing household life, this place with its great contemplative absorption in
circumambulation with one-pointedness and insight
brings down all those arrogant about their desire-free path.
Fully soaked by love in compassion’s wet meadow they are
expert in taking paces with wisdom and means paired together,
‘This is the heart of the Wisdom Gone Beyond,’
with this thought the favorably endowed advance very far.
For recipients of the commitments of this Place’s awesome guardians,
ushered through the door of the great Dharma-origin of Pölung,
the blessing descent, dawning of instantaneous spiritual experience
and realization, reveals all mandalas in that glorious forest.
Humans much darkened in sin, this vessel of cloud,
blocked at the time of waking the mists curl round its neck,
this descent of compassion streams bathe their bodies
making it pure, this being the empowerment of no turning back.
Descending within the Four Ravines and settling upon the Four Passes,
the solar and lunar transversals leave no chance for dreams;
it is solely the enjoyment of the secret assembly substance
that is known to the fortunately endowed ones as The Second.
Then imbibing the melt from the twelve island-lakes,
when climbing to the peaks of four mountains,
the darkness of thick sleep is vanquished and
consecration in the drop of space is what was named The Third.
Then journeying to the Four Caves, upon a lion throne
after settling the mind in high manifest Awakening,
dissolves into the four absorptions, and with the song of the goddess of Turquoise Lake,
arises as teacher of the Goal in the pass named Gayo.
Those who with care proceed living true to their commitments,
move into Bumdé, then cross the valley of Lachen pass,
are the ones who will protect the great treasure of renown
that forms the basis of benefit and comfort for all living ones.
Some beginners in the pilgrimage bear the mere signs,
while intermediate pilgrims are just borrowers of blessings,
while the advanced ones see everything in its full state of divinity
and so it is explained to travelers, “This is circled three times.”
In these words Vajradhāra revealed the secrets,
so when a grandchild of the Kagyü Lamas speaks them
may the lotus teeth in all the smiles of the Ḍākinīs
be tied as tightly around me as a turban.
The circumambulation of Caritra is symbolic of the gradual traversal of the Path of Great Secrets, and seeing it as such I thought to expand on it as a teaching made in offering to others, and this is why I composed this work called White Lotus Belles Lettres in the palace where the great Vajra Wielders stage their visible performances, the glorious forest of Chigchar.
Text edition (here my English translations and comments are rubrics in red font, while the Tibetan texts of Pemakarpo are in black).
A. Tāranātha [ascribed to], Tsa-ri-tra zhes-pa’i Gnas-la Bstod-pa Pad-dkar Legs-bshad, contained in: Rje-btsun Tā-ra-nā-tha’i Gsung-’bum Bris-ma, Dpal-brtsegs Bod-yig Dpe-rnying Zhib-’jug-khang (Lhasa 2008), in 10 vols, vol. 9, pp. 403-406, in cursive script. It has been very carefully proofread, but do note that abbreviated forms have been tacitly expanded. I cannot explain how this brief work ended up in this collection of Tāranātha manuscripts that were mostly drawn from the library of Arhat Temple in Drepung (we are told this in a preface). This particular title has no sign of a shelving number, so it is difficult to be sure if it was from the Arhat Temple. The texts before and after it all have colophons informing us that Tāranātha was their author, and some also have those telltale shelving numbers.
B. Variants are drawn from the “headed” block-letter text with identical title in the works of ’Brug-chen Padma-dkar-po, vol. 9, images 537-542, of BDRC no. W10736 (while most of the 24 volumes are made available on OCR, unfortunately the volume we require, vol. 9, doesn’t appear in that form). I give complete lines as variants to avoid impeding computer-based searches, although I have sometimes bracketed the syllable-final “s.” Pemakarpo wrote a much longer Guide entitled: Gnas-chen Tsa-ri-tra’i Ngo-mtshar Snang-ba Pad-dkar Legs-bshad, contained in the same edition of his collected works, in vol. 4, pp. 207-274. As part of this Guide is written as a commentary on the Praise (this same part is summarized in Huber’s book), I have quoted relevant sections of its OCR following the appropriate verse (but not for every verse; I give no page numbers on the assumption that you, too, can locate it in the OCR version).
tsa ri tra zhes pa'i gnas la bstod pa pad dkar legs bshad ces bya ba bzhugs so //
White Lotus Belles Lettres: A Praise of the Holy Place Known as Caritra.
na maḥ shrī tsa ri trā ya /
Praise the name of glorious Caritra!
phun tshogs padma can yongs dpal 'di zhes //
mkhas pa'i ngang pa dpyad pas yid mgu nas //
snyan dngags gshog yangs dkar po rab brkyang[s] te //
ya mtshan bstod pa'i mgrin rnga dal gyis brdungs //
mkhas pa'i dad pa dpyad pas yid mgu nas/_snyan ngag gshog yangs dkar po rab brkyang ste/_ya mtshan bstod pa'i mgrin rnga dal gyis brdung/
The learned are the ducks who find delight in their findings,
‘here in this wide and glorious lotus pond* of utmost perfection,’
they’ve unfurled the broad white wings of their poetic arts,
and with slow drumbeats on their throat drums praised its wonders.
(*The word pond isn’t physically present, and the poetic term padma-can can have a variety of referents, all sharing the same characteristic of having or holding [a] lotus. Taking the verse as a whole, however, there can be no doubt that the meaning of lotus pond is intended here.)
°
kun khyab kun tu bsdus yang Dang po'i tshul //
B: kun khyab kun tu brdzus kyang dang po'i tshul //
nam yang 'gyur med 'gyur ba zad pa'i mtha' //
rgyal rnams gzigs pa'i rtser 'thon nyid 'dis nyid //
dag pa chos sku'i zhing zhes ri mor byed //
kun khyab kun tu brdzus kyang dang po'i tshul/_/nam yang 'gyur med gyur ba zad pa mtha'/_/rgyal rnams gzigs pa'i rtser 'thon nyid 'dis nyid/_dag pa chos sku'i zhing zhes ri mor byas/_dpal bde mchog 'khor lo nyid dang gnyis su byar med pa/_/gsang ba mchog gi dkyes pa na/_/thams cad bdag nyid rtag tu bzhugs/_/zhes pa'i pho brang chen po ni 'di ste/_chos Thams Cad la khyab pas/_chos can gyi ngo nas dmar sbyar yang/_chos nyid kyi tshul nam yang 'gyur ba med pa sangs rgyas rnams kyi gzigs pas grub pa'i phyir ro/_/rgyu mtshan 'di nyid kyis nyid la gsang ba chos sku'i zhing khams zhes ri mor byas kyi/_gzhan gyi bsam pa dang brjod pa thams cad kyi ra ba 'gongs pas so/_/
All-pervasive and subsuming all, as it was in the beginning,
never ever changing, the ultimate extinguishing of change,
this very same high peak as the Victors see it
paints its own painting, ‘The Field of Pure Dharmakāya.’*
(*The word Pure [Dag-pa] here stoutly alludes to the name of Pure Crystal Mountain [Dag-pa Shel-ri], the central mountain of Tsari. The Crystal Mountain part of its name appears likewise embedded in a later verse where again it is associated with Dharmakāya. Victors is a commonly used epithet of the Enlightened Ones.)
°
gzhi gcig steng du ma lus dkyil 'khor che //
zhi chags khro ba rnam pa'i mchog thams cad //
ston la rdul rer rdul snyed de 'dra'i tshul //
'char ba'i snang ba longs sku'i zhing yang 'di //
B: 'char bas snang ba longs sku'i zhing yang 'di //
ngo bo de ltar yin pas/_gzhi gcig steng du ma lus dkyil 'khor che/_/zhi chags khro ba rnam pa'i mchog thams cad/_/ston la rdul rer rdul snyed de 'dra'i tshul/_/'char bas snang ba longs sku'i zhing yang 'di/_/ji ltar du mar snang zhe na/_gzhi gcig gi steng du rgyud sde rin po che rnams nas bshad pa'i dkyil 'khor gyi lha zhi ba dang/_chags tshul dang/_khro bo khrag 'thung chen po'i rnam pa thams cad ston pa'i zhing la khams gsum gyi yul ma yin pa'i 'og min stug po bkod pa zhes rnam par bzhag mod/_tshul de nyid kyis 'di'i rdul rer 'jig rten khams thams cad kyi rdul dang grangs mnyam pa'i gsang ba sngags kyi lha dang/_snying po dang/_phyag rgya thams cad 'char ba'i phyir na/_nang snang ba longs sku'i zhing khams su grub bo/_/
It all displays atop a single base as one great mandala,
the entire supreme array of peaceful, lustful and wrathful ones,*
its each and every atomic particle displaying likewise,
here in this Sambhogakåya Field of visionary experience.
(*We are used to mandala groupings of peaceful and wrathful deities, particularly in The Tibetan Books of the Dead, but the lustful group is less often mentioned. These are aspects in which these divine forms of Buddhas display to us, since we are the ones who are dominated by the Three Poisons that require transformation. We’ll leave the subject on this perplexing note. It is fascinating to see how the mandala stands for the holy Place as a whole, but also in fractal fashion it manifests in each atomic particle (the Tibetan rdul means both dust particle and atom, depending on context.)
°
tha ma 'bring dang mchog gi gang zag la //
ngo mtshar gang gi[s] 'dul de chu zla'i gar //
pra babs mig la shel mtshungs 'dir snang ba //
sgyu 'phrul sprul pa'i yul gyi gtan tshigs mthong //
des byed pa'i las/_mtha' ma 'bring dang mchog gi gang zag la/_ngo mtshar gang gis 'dul de'i chu zla'i gar/_pra babs mig la shel mtshungs 'dir snang bas/_sgyu 'phrul sprul pa'i yul gyi gtan tshigs mthong/_skal ba dman 'bring mchog gi gang zag rang rang ngo mtshar du 'dzin pa/_ri/_mtsho/_lung pa/_ljon shing/_srog chags/_lha'i gzugs brnyan/_lha tshogs sogs gang gis 'dul ba de dang der grub kyis/_gcig tu chad pa yin pa/_dper na pra babs pa la dpod mkhan gyi dbye bas/_mdun ngor shel gcig la mthong ba sna tshogs su 'gyur ba bzhin gyi phyi yul snang sprul pa sku'i zhing khams 'di shar ro/_/
For personages defined as ordinary, medial and supreme
this watery moon dances its appropriate marvels as needed,
and the eye of divination descries in this crystalline Place
‘rulings’ of a country of miraculous Emanations.
(This verse continues with the third Body of the Trikāya doctrine, making use of divination terminology, more particularly crystal scrying, seeing as the words pra-babs [scrying, although I translate it as divination] and gtan-tshigs [edict, logical proposition, although I translate it as rulings] are terms used in that art.
Oh, and notice where the Dharmakāya verse displayed high mountain imagery, this Nirmāṇakāya verse alludes to lakes. The mountain/lake dyad is a very strong feature of Tibetan folk religious symbolism since early times.)
°
ston pas sprul bshad mdzad de'i lho phyogs kyi //
dur khrod che 'di nyi shu rtsa bzhi'i gya //
bla med rgyud gzhung rgya mtshos gnas mchog tu //
bsgrubs pas rtog ge'i lce chad tsa ri tra //
To the south of the place where the Teacher taught those emanations,
this Great Cemetery is one of a group of twenty-four*
that the multitude of unsurpassed tantra texts made out to be supreme Places,
one known to chop off the tongues of philologers, Caritra.
(*The group of 24 Places of the Vajra Body appears in variant forms in both Buddhist and non-Buddhist tantras, a topic for another time. If you need a bibliography just tell me. I’ll quickly admit that the name of Tsari is a real puzzle, but I think it is best explained as a ’Tibetanizing’ transcription of the first two syllables of Caritra. If this holds true, then the Tibetan name only seems to contain the notion of “mountain’ in it, even if there is a common understanding that the name means Herb Mountain. But I value my tongue, so I won’t say more.)
°
'jigs byed bsad pa'i khrag dmar rba glong gis //
zhabs mthil bsgos pa'i dpa' bo he ru ka //
B: zhabs mthil bgos pa'i dpa' bo he ru ka //
sgrib gnyis dag pa'i ḍā ki dang lhan du //
bdud 'joms shel ri chos sku'i mchod sdong yin //
The blood-thirsty Heruka, hero whose soles are soaked
in waves of red blood from the slaying of the frightful ones, is
there in union with the Ḍākinīs who purify the two obscurations
as the delusion vanquishing Crystal Mountain, a caitya of Dharmakāya.
°
rigs ldan ma dang pho nya mor bcas dang //
kun tu spyod pa'i 'khor sa bcu gnyis gling //
dngos grub len la dpag bsam dbang po ni //
yongs 'du lta bu dam tshig mkha' 'gro'i [b]rten //
The twelve island lakes are the field of their deployment
together with the Vidyās and Messenger Women, the Place
where Pagsam Wangpo went to take the powerful siddhi substance,
a vowed substance subsuming them all, an icon of the Ḍākinīs.*
(*It demonstrates amazing prescience, if the verse is by Pema Karpo, that he would name by name his immediate reincarnation Drugchen V Pagsam Wangpo [འབྲུག་ཆེན་དཔག་བསམ་དབང་པོ་, 1593-1653]. For the story of his involvement with the ‘vowed substance’ or sacramental medicine, the Rainbow Light Pellet, see Martin’s essay. One of its main ingredients grew in the neighborhood of Chigchar, an herb named in the verse by the Sixth Dalai Lama mentioned earlier. Not only the fifth, but the fourth and sixth incarnates were all involved in its making.)
°
sna tshogs ljongs dang ri dang mtsho klung shing //
las kyi mkha' 'gro nyams drol nyul ba'i sa //
B: las kyi mkha' 'gro nyams drod myul ba'i sa //
las 'phro bzang ngan brtag pa'i me long 'di //
sprul sku'i gnas yin skal med srog la [~ma?] gtum //
In this place the Karma Ḍākinīs, experiences of heat, do espionage
under varied guises of environments, mountains and lakes, trees and ravines;
a divination mirror for gauging the quality of prior cultivation,
it is a Place for Nirmāṇakāyas — the less well endowed risk their lives.*
(*The words “experiences of heat” and the final word gtum both consciously allude to psychic heat or tummo testing, something Tsari was known for. See discussion in Huber's book, pp. 86-90. The phrase “risk their lives” isn’t literal, but ‘harsh on life-force’ is one way it may be understood.)
°
e ma ho /
dad pa'i snyim pa kha phye nas //
mchod pa'i yo byad 'di yi phyogs 'thor ba //
rtag chad lam gol [405] dgag pa'i sgo glegs zhes //
rgyu 'bras myur bu'i 'gram gyis gsal bar byas //
Emaho!
Opening up the two folded hands of faith
these articles of offering scatter in its direction.
The doorlocks blocking the turnoffs of eternalism & nihilism
were cleared by the riverbank of swift causation.*
(*This verse refers to the laypersons’ typical experience of pilgrimage, alluding to challenges to ordinary views and dangers (physical hardship in itself may purify negative karma; read Huber’s book, p. 151), just as the next verse refers to the monastics’. The author shows a lack of enthusiasm for the pilgrimage experiences of householders and monastics.)
°
khyim nas rab byung zhen med chas gos kyi //
sgrub pa'i [b]shul rjes blta ba'i shes rab dang //
rtse gcig bskor ba'i ting 'dzin chen po 'dis //
chags bral lam gyi khengs pa thams cad bsnyil //
When we inspect the tracks of those with robes of nonattachment
gotten by renouncing household life, this place with its great contemplative absorption in
circumambulation with one-pointedness and insight
brings down all those arrogant about their desire-free path.
°
byams pas rab brlan snying rje'i ne'u rdzab tu //
thabs shes zung 'jug gom[s] pa 'dor mkhas pa //
pha rol phyin pa'i snying po 'di yin zhes //
dgongs nas skal bzang yun ring de la bkris //
Fully soaked by love in compassion’s wet meadow they are
expert in taking paces with wisdom and means paired together,
‘This is the heart of the Wisdom Gone Beyond,’
with this thought the favorably endowed advance a long distance.
(Remember that Tsari is famously moist compared to other nearby valleys, which helps to explain its unique plant life. This particular verse emphasizes the Path according to the Great Vehicle, Mahāyāna. With the next verse we enter the more exclusive and esoteric realm of Vajrayāna, where we remain until the final verse.)
°
bod klung[s] chos 'byung chen po'i sgor bcug nas //
gnas srungs gnyan po'i dam tshig nod rnams la //
dpal gyi nags [~gnas?] su nyams rtogs cig 'char ba'i //
byin phab de la dkyil 'khor ma lus bstan //
For recipients of the commitments of this Place’s awesome guardians,
ushered through the door of the great Dharma-origin of Pölung,
the blessing descent, dawning of instantaneous spiritual experience
and realization, reveals all mandalas in that glorious forest.*
(*For an incident that occurred at Bod-klung [“phölung”], see Huber’s book, p. 64. I believe it is the centrally located valley where “Tibet Rock” [བོད་རྡོ་] is located. The ‘blessing descent’ indicates a phase in the sādhana practice. ‘Glorious forest’ looks like a name for Chigchar, and the name of Chigchar is concealed later in this same line. For proof of the identity of the glorious forest with Chigchar, see the colophon, below.)
°
yid can sdig la cher gnag sprin gyi bum //
sad pa'i skabs dgag na bun mgul dkris nas //
thugs rje'i chu rgyun phab 'dis lus bkrus pa //
dag byed phyir mi ldog pa'i dbang bskur yin //
phyogs thams cad sprin sngon po rab tu 'khrigs shing/_na bun 'thul ba/_char gyi rgyun mi zad par 'bab pa ni lus can rnams kyi sdig pa la cher gnag pa'i bum pa bzang po ras dkar gyi zur phud tsan nas bdud rtsi lnga'i rang bzhin gyi chab 'ongs te/_lus kyi thig le sad pa'i gnas skabs spro ba/_rags pa'i sdig sgrib 'khrud/_sku rdo rje'i nus pa 'jog pa bum dbang ngam phyir mi ldog pa'i dbang bskur ba ste/_bskur mkhan ni mkha' la spyod pa'i dbang mo rnams so/_/zhes pa'i brda'o/_/
Humans much darkened in sin, this vessel of cloud,
blocked at the time of waking the mists curl round its neck,
this descent of compassion streams bathe their bodies
making it pure, this being the empowerment of no turning back.*
(*I see a mountain here, for most part dark in color, but with a white turban on its top. The word 'vessel' points to the Flask Initiation. Starting with this one, each verse that follows is about one of the four empowerments.)
°
rong bzhi'i nang 'bab la bzhir 'dzeg pa yis //
nyi zla'i bgrod pas rmi lam skabs phral [~bral] nas //
gsang ba'i tshogs rdzas longs spyod 'di kho na //
snod ldan rnams la gnyis pa zhes bsgrags so //
rong bzhi'i nang 'bab la bzhir 'dzeg pa yis/_nyi zla'i bgrod pa la rmi lam skabs phral nas/_gsang ba'i tshogs rdzas longs spyod 'di kho na/_snod ldan rnams la gnyis pa zhes bsgrags so/_/rong chen po bzhir babs nas/_la chen po bzhi la 'dzeg la/_de dag tu tshogs kyi 'khor la du ma bskor ba 'di yang bla ma dang gnyis su med pa'i bcom ldan 'das kyi khu ba dang/_bcom ldan 'das ma'i rdul rtsa stong phrag bdun cu rtsa gnyis nas 'khor lo bzhi'i rong du 'bab pa dang/_de nyid slob ma rang rang gi 'khor lo bzhi'i lar 'dzeg pa/_gsang ba'i rdzas bdud rtsi lnga khar myong bas te/_ngag gi thig le rmi lam gyi gnas skabs skyed pa phra ba'i sdig sgrib 'khrud/_gsung rdo rje'i (20_na_39)nus pa 'jog pa'i dbang gnyis pa gsang pa'o zhes bsgrags so/_/
Descending within the Four Ravines and climbing the Four Passes,
the solar and lunar transversals leave no chance for dreams;
it is solely the enjoyment of the secret assembly substance
that is known to the fortunately endowed ones as The Second.*
(*On the Four Great Ravines and the Four Great Passes as well as the Twelve Lakes that follow, geographical features of Tsari, see Huber’s book, p. 101, for a passage in the long guidebook by Pemakarpo where all take part in an initiatory process.)
°
de nas bcu gnyis gling pa'i pad can gyis //
B: de nas bcu gnyis gling sa'i pad can gyis //
zhu ba 'thungs pa ri bzhi'i rtser son tshe //
gnyid 'thug mun pa 'joms pa nam mkha' yi //
thig ler rab gnas gsum pa zhes par btags //
de nas bcu gnyis gling gi pad can gyi/_khu ba 'thungs pa ri bzhi'i rtser son te/_gnyid 'thug mun pa 'joms pa nam mkha' yis/_thig ler rab gnas gsum pa zhes par btags/_de yang pho brang bcu gnyis la sogs pa'i mtsho'i chu 'thung zhing*/_ri bzhi'i rtser son pas nam mkha'i thig le nyi ma lta bur gsal ba nyid du gyur pa ni/_phyag rgya pad+ma can gyis bzhu ba'i byang chub kyi sems dkar dmar 'dres pa gsang ba'i sna rtses 'thung ba/_dus der sku gsung thugs ye shes kyi thig le 'dzag med du bsdam nus pas yid kyi thig le gnyid 'thug gam snyoms 'jug gi gnas skabs skyed pa shin tu phra ba'i sdig sgrib 'khrud cing*/_thugs rdo rje'i sa bon 'jog pa gsum pa shes rab ye shes/_'jig rten pa'i dbang bzhi pa'i mthar thug gi bar ro/_/
