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Utopian Thought in Tibetan Buddhism:
A Survey of the Sambhala Concept and its Sources
Karenina Kollmar-Paulenz
Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität
Bonn, Germany
TojibKO saipoio ropamie bgkh -PaĚCKHe po3H, paflcKne pexa . . . ľne-to nanewe,
Kai  B 3aÖHTbH,
HexHHG peuH
PaflCKOß 3MGH,
H y3Haß, ľpycTHaa Ebb HapcKoe npeBo, B KpyrnoM paio.
MapHHa UßeTaeBa
The Concept of the Hidden Kingdom of Sambhala
Sambhala, the "source of happiness",1 has long been known to scholars of Tibetan and Mongolian culture. The hidden kingdom of Sambhala is first mentioned in the letters of the Jesuits Stephen Cacella and John Cabral, who heard about a country called Xembala in Bhutan.2 The story of Sambhala is closely connected with the history and teaching of the K&lacakra-tantra, a topic which I shall not treat here. The aim of the present article is not to give a detailed description of the kingdom of Sambhala or to deal with the legend in all its different aspects. After a short introduction to the idea of Sambhala and its eschatological horizon I shall draw a connection from the idea of Sambhala to similar European ideas of paradise on earth. In this respect the idea of Sambhala will be elucidated in terms of modern European philosophy, more precisely the philosophy of Utopian ideas which
sambhala is also called bDe 'byuh in Tibetan.
2Cf. C. Weasels, S.J.JZarly Jesuit Travellers in Central Asia 1603-1721, The Hague: Martinus Nyhoff, 1924, pp. 147-8.
Ernst Bloch developed in his monumental, Das Prinzip Hoffnung.3 Secondly I present a bibliography of Tibetan and Mongolian texts on Sambhala which are available in European, Russian, and Mongolian libraries. This list of works on Sambhala is probably far from complete, but at least it will give a survey of the literature available.4
One of the earliest Tibetan texts which deals with the kingdom of Sambhala, the sDom pa gsum gyi rab tu dbye ba of Sa skya pandita Kun dga' rgyal mtshan, describes it thus:
From the glorious Kalacakra:
"It is said that to the north of the river Si ta
There are snow-mountains.
Near to these mountains lies Šambha la.
[It has] ninety-six million cities,
Therein is the highest palace of the king,
Named Ka la pa.
The kings, who for the sake (of all beings)
have attained an apparition-body, Preach the dharma for 800 years.
In [Sambhala] there are various kinds of woods and groves, And many fruit-bearing trees.
At the time of the degeneration (of the dharma), áryadeáa
Will be filled with the religion of the Kla klo.
Then by the magic power of the Kla klo
An army will be conducted to Šambha la.
At that time the king named Drag po,
The apparition-body of Phyag na rdo rje,
Will conquer all the Kla klo.
Thereafter even in the middle of aryadeša
The teaching of the Buddha will spread. So it is said."6
The Kalápávatára, which dates back to the eleventh or thirteenth century,6 deals with the spiritual qualities of the place itself:
3E. Bloch, Das Prinzip Hoffnung, 3 vols., Frankfurt 1977.
4I would be grateful to the reader for any references to additional material not considered here.
5fol. 32a,6-32b,3: dpal Idan dus kyi 'khor lo las | chu ho si tai hyaň phyogs na \ ri bo gaňs can yod par gsuňs \ de yi 'gram na šambha la | groň khyer bye ba dgu bcu drug | de na rgyal po'i pho braň mchog | ka la pa žes bya ba yod | don sprul pa'i rgyal po rnams | lo graňs brgyad brgyar ckos gsuň ňo | de na nags tahal sna tshogs daň j bza' áiň rab tu (du?) ma yod | snyigs ma'i dus su 'pkags pa'i yul | kla klo'i chos kyis gaň bar 'gyur | de nas kla klo'i rdzu 'phrul gyis | šambha la ru dmag "dren 'gyur | de tshe phyag na rdo rje yi | sprul pa drag po žes bya ba'i | rgyal pos kla klo kun bcom nas | 'phags pa'i yul gyi bar du yah | sans rgyas bstan pa spel bar gsuňs I
sCf. the discussion about the dating of the Kalápávatára by Bernbaum, The Mythic Journey and its Symbolism: A Study of the Development of Buddhist Guidebooks to Sambhala in Relation to their Antecedents in Hindu Mythology, Ph.D. thesis, University of California (Berkeley) 1985,
SCEAR 5/6 (1992-3): 78-96
80 Karinina Kollmar-Paulenz
Concerning the place where the master of compassion
With the body of three eyes dwells,
It is well-known as Sambha la,
Because it is marked with his dwelling.
Where marked by Sambha la,
The victory-banner that is marked with a lion
Is like the well-known victory-banner of the lion,
That is called the country of Sambha.
Where there are no Kla klo,
Where truth is spoken [and] lies do not exist,
Where the power of nothingness has grown weak,
Where the power of compassion has increased in excellence.7
These two descriptions of the land of Sambhala give us not only information about the geographical circumstances of Sambhala, but also tell us something about its spiritual virtues. This mythical country lies somewhere north of the Himalayas and north of the river Site.8 The country has the form of an eight-petalled lotus, which is surrounded by two ranges of snow mountains.9 The capital of the kingdom, Kalapa,10 is usually described in full detail, and the authors of the various guidebooks to Sambhala elaborate on its palaces of gold, silver, turquoise, pearl, moonstone, etc. South of Kalapa is a sandalwood pleasure grove named Malaya. East of the grove is a miniature Mi pham lake, and west of the grove is a white lotus lake. The sandalwood pleasure grove lies between the two lakes, and in the middle of the grove is the famous Kalacakra-Mandala that Sucandra, the first king of Sambhala, built.11
pp. 129-33, and the criticism of his theory by J. R. Newman, The Outer Wheel of Time: Vajrayána Buddhist Cosmology in the Kálacakra tantra, Ph.D. thesis, University of Wisconsin (Madison) 1987, pp. 201-i.
7gaň la snyiň rje'i bdag pa ni | mig gsum gzugs kyis gnas pa te | de yi gnas kyis mtshan (mchan) pas na | sambha la žes rab tu grogs | gaň la sambha las mtshan pa | sen ges mtshan pa'i rgyal mtshan ni | sen ge'i rgyal mtshan rab grogs liar | eambha'i yul žes de la brjod | gaň na kla klo med pa daň | bden smra brdzun pa ma yin daň | min pa'i stobs ni nyams gyur la | snyiň stobs yon tan rgyas pa yin | cf. also Bernbaum's translation of the same verse section in The Mythic Journey and its Symbolism, p. 69.
8The Síta River seems to be the Tarim River in Eastern Turkestan; cf. J. R. Newman, "A Brief History of the Kalachakra", in: Geshe Lhundub Sopa, R. Jackson and J. Newman, The Wheel of Time: The Kalachakra in Context, Madison, WI: Deer Park Books, 1985 [pp. 51-90], pp. 54, 83-4, and n. 4.
9According to Bernbaum, The Mythic Journey and its Symbolism, p. 110, this lotus form is first mentioned in the thirteenth century guidebook by Man lun pa. Bernbaum found a copy of this important text in Zanskar, but so far it has not been published.
,0Kalápa is often described rather as a palace and not a city. The Kalapavatara focusses more attention on Kalapa than on Šambhala itself. The latter is only mentioned three times in the text.
"Newman, "A Brief History of the Kalachakra", pp. 54-8, gives an excellent description of Šambhala with full details.
Utopian Thought in Tibetan Buddhism 81
Within each of the eight lotus petals of Sambhala are 120 million villages, altogether, then, 960 million villages. Ten million villages are governed by one satrap. Altogether there are ninety-six satraps who all, like the Kalki of Sambhala, teach the Kalacakra. In Sambhala no evil is known. The people of the kingdom are naturally virtuous and good. Most of them obtain buddhahood during their life in Sambhala. They all listen to the Anuttara Yoga tantras, such as the Kalacakra, the Hevajra or the Guhyasamaja. Once somebody is born in Sambhala, he will never be reborn into a lower form of existence.
The kingdom is ruled by the Chos rgyal and the Kalkis of Sambhala. The history of the country comes into light only with the emergence of the first Chos rgyal, Sucandra. It was Sucandra who together with his satraps came to Dhanyakataka in India to listen to the Buddha's teaching of the Paramadibuddha, the precious Kalacakra. After the Buddha's teachings Sucandra and his satraps returned to Sambhala, where the king composed a commentary on the Paramadibuddha. Sucandra also built the Kalacakra Mandala south of Kalapa. The seventh Dharma-king and first Kalki12 of Sambhala, Yaias, taught the inhabitants of the kingdom the
12For a discussion of the term rigs Idan, which by western scholars is usually translated Kulika, cf. Newman, "A Brief History of the Kalachakra", p. 83, n. 4. Newman draws a connection between the Hindu Kalki of Sambhala mentioned in the Mahabharata and the different Puranas. He tells us, The Vimalaprabha even refers to the Kalkipuranam, probably the latest of the upapuranas" (p. 83). This statement he does not prove. Newman is certainly correct to connect the Buddhist Kalki with the Hindu avatara Kalki. But as far as I know, the dating of the Kalkipurdna is still uncertain. R. C. Hazra believes it to be written in the seventeenth or eighteenth century, whereas A. C. Sistri tells us, "in all probability the Kalki-Purana may have been composed during the ninth and tenth century A.D." (A. C. Sastrf, Kalkipuranam. for the first time critically edited by Prof. Dr. Asoke Chatterjee Sastri, Saras vatlbhavanagranthamala, Vol. 103, Varanasi 1972, p. iii). The Kalki of the Hindu myth is bom in the village (grama) Sambhala (Kalkipuranam, Dvitlyodhyayah, 4). At the end of the kaliyuga he will destroy the forces of the barbarians with his great army. Kalki is often presented as a theriomorphic figure, as an avatara in horse-form (cf. E. Abegg, Der Messiasglaube in Indien und Iran, Berlin 1928, pp. 39—144, for a discussion of Kalki in all his forms, and his function). The connection between the last Kalki of Sambhala, Raudracakrin, and the horse, has already been discussed, cf. R. A. Stein, Recherehes sur I'epopee et le barde au Tibet, Paris 1959, pp. 524-8). This reminds us of the "samadhi of the best of the horses" (smra mkkas Ha mchog tin 'dzin, Grub mtha' sel gyi me Ion, Hot li sambha la rnams su grub mtha' byun tshul, fol. llb,4) which Raudracakrin possesses. The connection between the Kalki and his horse is also significant in the Mongolian context, where the idea of the last battle against the Kla klo had political connotations as well. Like the Buddhist Kalki Raudracakrin, the Hindu Kalki is an eschatological figure. M. Hulin characterizes him thus: "Kalkin est une figure complexe et, a certains egards, encore aujourd'hui mysterieuse. II se presente comme un brahmane guerrier. ... L'imagerie religieuse populaire le fait apparattre dans leg nuees, montant un cheval blanc et brandissant un glaive etincelant. ... Kalkin va done prendre la tetc de la petite troupe de ceux qui sont restes purs, qui sont demeurcs sourds a l'appel des sircnes bouddhistes. II afronte l'armee des mediants commandee par un certain Kali (en fait, le kaliyuga personnihe) au cours d'une grande bataille escha-tologique* ("Decadence et rcnouvellement: la doctrine des ages du monde dans l'Hindouisme", in: Eranos, Vol. 54 (1985) [pp. 177-208], pp. 202-3).
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laghutantra (abridged tantra) called £rl Kalacakra, which has come down to us, whereas the Paramadibuddha Sucandra allegedly composed is lost.13 The son of Yasas, Pundarika, wrote the most important commentary on the $n Kalacakra, the Vimalaprabha. Both texts, the Sri Kalacakra and the Vimalaprabha, have come down to us in the original Sanskrit versions. Especially the Vimalaprabhd is extremely important for our understanding of the Kalacakra system.
The Kalacakra system was first introduced into India in the beginning of the eleventh century A.D.14 From then onwards the history of Sambhala seems to have been uneventful. It gradually turned into a hidden country which only a few, spiritually highly developed persons could find and enter. Some Tibetan texts give the accounts of pilgrims who went in search of the hidden land.15 In the early texts about Sambhala, for example Man luri pa's guide-book, the pilgrims do not face any obstacles on the journey to the kingdom. The pilgrims physically go there. In later works the theme of the journey to the hidden land develops more and more into a topic of its own. The journey becomes difficult and dangerous, and only a selected few are able to reach the country. A shift from a physical to a spiritual journey takes place.16
In the Kalacakra texts Sambhala seems to be a remote, but nevertheless
13Cf. J. R. Newman, "The Paramadibuddha (The Kalacakra Mulatantra) and its Relation to the Early Kalacakra Literature", in: Indo-lranian Journal, Vol. 30, No. 2 (1987), pp. 93-102.
14 For a brief history of the Kalacakra system cf. Newman, "A Brief History of the Kalachakra", pp. 65-78.
15Cf. Bu ston rin chen grub, Dus 'kkor chos 'byuň, 56-7. mKhas grub rje's account of the Panditas' journey to Šambhala (Dus 'khor tik chen, 167-8) is based on Bu ston. dPa' bo gtsug lag phren ba also gives an account of Tsl lu pa's and other Panditas' journeys to Šambhala (mKhas pa'i dga' ston, Chinese edition, 1485-93). E. Bernbaum, The Mythic Journey and Us Symbolism, pp. 39—42, gives a translation of Bu ston's and mKhas grub rje's accounts (based on G. N. Roerich's The Blue Annals, Delhi 1979).
16'Cos lo tsá ba gives the following account of Kalacakrapada's journey to Šambhala: "After he had acquired all the 'lower perfections' (eight in all), the Venerable One once told him: 'In the Northern Šambhala there exist many Tantras and commentaries taught and prophesied by the Buddha. Go in search of them and listen to them!' He then thought of going there. In the opinion of some scholars he had joined a caravan of merchants, and proceeded there. Some said that he was guided there by a phantom monk. Again some said that the Venerable Tara herself helped him. Again some said that when he decided to proceed to Šambhala, and was preparing (for the journey), he visited Šambhala in his vision, and obtained the doctrines from Árya Avalokitešvara himself (Rigs-ldan Pad-ma dkar-po). This last statement should be accepted" (G. N. Roerich, The Blue Annals, pp. 756-7). (thun mohgi dňosgrub mtha'dag brnyes pa zig yin pa las | dus lan cig gi tshe na | rje btsun ma'i £al nas | byaň phyogs éambha la na saňs rgyas kyis gsuňs iiň lun bstan pa'i rgyud grel maň po béugs pas de tshd žiň nyan du son zig gsuň nas \ der bind par dgohs pa daň \ de'i tshe kha cig na re \ tshoň pa daň sdebs nas géegs so íes zer \ kha cig na re sprul pa'i dge sloň cig gis khrid do žes zer ziň | kha cig ni rje btsun ma nyid kyis rjes su gzuň žes zer ziň smra'o | kha cig na re I der baud par béed nas chas pa daň dag pa'i snaň ba la éambha la nyid du byon nas spyan ras gzigs dňos la chos mams zus so ies gsuň ba'i béed pa tka ma 'di gzuň ňo | ; Deb ther sňon po, Chinese Edition, Beijing 1985, 888, 19-889, 8.)
real country. In all probability the Indian Uttarakuru, the northern country which is the abode of the blessed, provides the stereotype on which the description of Sambhala is based.17 Later on, after the thirteenth century, the idea of Sambhala is influenced by the Buddhist conception of a buddhaksetra. It symbolizes the ksetra of the adibuddha in the person of the Kalacakra deity. The description of Sambhala shows similarities to the description of Sukhavati and Potala. But the idea of Sambhala differs in one important point from other Buddhist conceptions of a buddhaksetra or even a sbas yul, a "hidden region" or "valley". From Sambhala in the future, when Buddhism has degenerated in the world and the religion of the mlecchas18 has become strong, a powerful army will emerge under the leadership of the last Kalki, Raudracakrin.19 In an apocalyptic battle20 Raudracakrin will destroy the forces of evil and restore the Buddhadharma in the world. The victory over the barbarian forces will mark the beginning of a new krtayuga, the age of perfection. The Buddhadharma will once again spread in aryadeSa, human lifespan will increase, and the paradisiac conditions of Sambhala will extend to the whole world.21
Sambhala is valued in the Tibetan and Mongolian context as a kind of paradise, but geographically located within the confines of the world ("somewhere to the north of Tibet"). Moreover, its relation to eschatological notions in Tibet and Mongolia has been used to carry political, prophetic connotations. This twofold aspect of the idea of Sambhala alludes to two different
17Cf. G. Tucci, "Buddhist Notes", in his, Opera Minora, Rome 1971, Part II I pp. 489-527], pp. 507-9. For a detailed analysis of the relation between Uttarakuru and Sambhala, see Bernbaum,77ie Mythic Journey and its Symbolism, pp. 155ff.
18For a discussion of the mlecchas, who in the Kalacakra-tantra and the Vimalaprabha are synonymous with the Muslims, cf. H. Hoffmann, "Kalacakra Studies I: Manichaeism, Christianity, and Islam in the Kalacakra Tantra", in: CAJ 13 (1969), pp. 52-73, and "Kalacakra Studies I: Addenda et Corrigenda", in: CAJ 15 (1971-2), pp. 298-301.
,9J. R. Newman, "A Brief History of the Kalachakra", pp. 78-80, describes the future battle and the ensuing "Golden Age" in detail.
20The Vimalaprabha and later texts locate the place of this last battle near the river Sita, whereas the Third Pan chen bla ma specifies it in the vicinity of Rum (Turkey or Persia) (Sambha la'i lam yig, fol. 46b). Rum (here Byzantium) is also the place where Damdinauren locates one of his four suspected Sambhaias, cf. Ts. Damdinsuren, "NeskolTco slov o Kalacakre", in: Proceedings of the Csoma de Koros Memorial Symposium held at Mdtrafured 1976, Budapest 1978 [pp. 59-63], p. 63.
21 The judgement of G. Tucci leaves aside this eschatological aspect of the idea of Sambhala: "... the Yellow sect composed its guides to Sambhala, viz. to the Kalacakra-paradise, which had, in the meantime, become a supreme ideal for most of its followers, in order to possess the counterpart of the holy O rgyan of the rival schools. The country itself was no longer a geographical reality to be exactly located in some part of the world; it was somewhere in the north, but as to where, that was practically a mere hypothesis" ("Travels of Tibetan pilgrims in the Swat valley", in his, Opera Minora, Part II, o.v. I pp. 369-418], p. 371). The conception of the apocalyptic battle against the barbarians, who are most often identified with the Muslims (cf. Vimalaprabha, 132, 3), includes the geographical reality of the kingdom of Sambhala, although this geographical reality is merely speculative.
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conceptions of Utopian thought in the European context. Ernst Bloch, in his Das Prinzip Hoffnung, tells us about geographical Utopias ("geographische Utopien") comprising the extremes between El Dorado, the place of everlasting material wealth, and Eden, the spiritual heaven on earth. The idea of Šambhala covers both elements. The country is described as extremely wealthy, its inhabitants as spiritually highly advanced. In the Mongolian chronicle Bolur toli (nineteenth century) we read,
The physique of the people born in that country is very beautiful. Their food, drink, clothing, and ornaments are very rich. Even people considered indigent have nearly a hundred treasure-houses of jewels. They live under kind laws. There is no killing or beating, no sickness or cattle pestilence. They are of a straightforward character, mentally alert, and fond of virtue. They all pay attention to the deep teaching of sutras and dharanis. When they die, they are reborn in a pure land, and not one goes to a bad destiny. Their noble king is supposed to bestow the empowerment of Kälacakra on the 15th day of the third month of every year and to teach the Kálacakratantra to all the blessed.22
The pilgrims who set out to reach this promised land have to cope with many perils on their journey. The way to the paradise on earth is arduous and perilous.23 This aspect the Tibetan conception has in common with Western ideas of paradise, where the paradise is always located close to a terrible place which brings disaster to those who dare to approach it. It is obvious that "die Angst dem Glück hier besonders benachbart ist".24 In the Tibetan
»C. B. Bawden, The Wish-Prayer for Shambhala Again", in: Monumentu Serica, 36 (1984-5) [pp. 453-510], p. 463.
23In the Rin spuňs hag dbaň 'jigs grogu kyis raň gi yab la phul ba'i zu phrin rig pa 'džin pa'i pho nya, the way to Šambhala is described as follows: "Du wirst schmalen Pfaden folgen müssen, die sich nach Norden durch ein Labyrinth verräterischer Bergketten winden, Viele dieser Pfade enden in Tälern, aus denen es kein Zurück mehr gibt. Wenn du dem falschen Pfad folgst, wirst du dich hoffnungslos verirren ...; vor dir liegen viele Tage einer anstrengenden Reise durch einen düsteren und schrecklichen Wald. Rotten von Raubtieren mit feuerspeienden Augen und zottigen Mahnen aus blutigem und verfilz tem Pelz durchziehen diesen Wald, nach dem Fleisch und Blut ihrer Opfer dürstend. Wenn du den Wald durchschreitest, wirst du sie überall knurren hören und vernehmen, wie sie die Knochen ihrer Opfer zerknacken. ... Aus der Dunkelheit werden von beiden Seiten Dämonen mit kupferroten Augen auf dich spähen. Tagsüber erscheinen Hexen in Menschengestalt, doch des Nachts nehmen sie die Gestalt von Löwen und Tigern an. Wie Boten des Todes werden Horden von geisterähnlichen, menschenfressenden Nachtwanderern versuchen, von deinem Fleisch zu naschen" (translation by E. Bernbaum, Der Weg nach Shambhala. Auf der Suche nach dem sagenhaften Königreich im Himalaya, Freiburg 1988, pp. 208-9).
24E. Bloch, Das Prinzip Hoffnung, Vol. 2, p. 884. Cf. also K. H. Börner, Auf der Suche nach dem irdischen Paradies. Zur Ikonographie der geographischen Utopie, Frankfurt 1984, p. 32, who writes about Hesiod: "Selbstverständlich liegen hier Glück und Angst nah beieinander: Elysium und Selige Inseln liegen erstens jenseits der Grenzen der bekannten Welt, jenseits
and Mongolian contexts only a few try to reach Sambhala, whereas the Western search for the promised land, where not only never-ending wealth, but also eternal peace is found, led to the great discoveries of the fifteenth century which changed the face of the known world. In contrast to early Greek and Western conceptions of Paradise, the legend of Sambhala accentuates the spiritual assessments which are necessary for the quest. In this respect the idea of Sambhala can be compared with the myth of the Holy Grail. Only a spiritually advanced seeker is able to find the mystical chalice of the Eucharist, which is filled with the blood of Christ.25 In the Tibetan Buddhist context the sädhaka acquires "perfections" (siddhi) on his journey to Sambhala, just as in the quest for the Holy Grail the hero has to undergo certain rites of initiation which have their origin in the Celtic mythology.26 The journey itself also represents a kind of initiation. Moreover, the Holy Grail is connected with the Isle of Avalon,27 a mystic island far out in the Western Ocean, to which, after King Arthur's final battle on the river Camlan, King Arthur was magically carried away.28
In European thought we find many different legends and myths about legendary lands, paradises or islands somewhere in the unknown ocean, "the limits of the world", and we always find someone who tries to get there, in spite of all the perils he may encounter on his journey. For example, the Irish monk Brendan undertook a voyage on the Atlantic Ocean in order to find the Christian paradise.29 The legend tells us that in the end, after manifold adventures, Brendan found the island of paradise.30 The element
der Säulen des Herkules, und ihnen ist zweitens der westliche Ozean vorgelagert, der graue
und grauenhafte Atlantik, in dem die Sonne untergeht und stirbt____       Außerdem werden die
goldenen Schätze, etwa die Äpfel der Hesperiden, von schlängenhaften Dämonen bewacht. Das irdische Paradies bleibt trotz aller Schrecken eine über alle Ängste triumphierende Verlockung."
^The eschatological notions of Sambhala are also reflected in the legend of the Holy Grail. As R. F. Treharne points out, "The Holy Grail, the sacred cup used by Christ and the Apostles at the Last Supper, and subsequently hidden and lost to human ken, became the ultimate objective of a quest in which all of the knights of Arthur's Round Table were engaged. It was a quest which would continue until at length one of Arthur's knights, the only utterly pure and faultless man among them, should discover the Grail and so ... bring about the millennium in which all Christian souls would at last turn wholly to God" (The Glastonbury Legends, London 1975, p. 90).
^Cf. M. Eliade, Das Mysterium der Wiedergeburt, Zürich 1961, pp. 211-13. 27Cf. Treharne, op. cit., p. 68.
28 Around the year A.D. 1200 Robert de Boron wrote a long epic poem called Joseph d'Arimathie, in which he tells how the Holy Grail, the chalice of the Eucharist, reached the British Isles. At the end of the poem he tells us that the Holy Grail will one day be brought to the western land of Avaron; cf. W. A. Nitze (ed.), Robert de Boron. Le Roman de l'Estoire dou Graal, Paris 1927, p. 112.
28For the first time in European thought Brendan's Nauigatio combined the motifs of the island and of paradise, cf. K. H. Börner, op. cit., p. 54.
MCf. the Nauigatio Sancti Brendani Abbaus, one of the most famous books of the Middle Ages. The text of this search for paradise dates back to the eleventh century or even earlier; cf. R. Henning, Terrae Incognilae, 4 vols., Leiden 1944, 1950, 1953, 1956, Vol. II, pp. 99ff. Cf. also W. H. Babcock, Legendary Islands of the Atlantic. A Study in Medieval Geography, American
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of anticipation in these Western Utopian phantasies seems to be so strong that attempts are constantly made to reach the geographical space of desire.
Other elements in the idea of Sambhala remind us of similar oriental conceptions. The outer appearance of Sambhala, its snow-covered mountains, forests, and the miraculous groves are similar to the concept of the paradise in form of a garden31 which we already find in the Old Testament. The river Slta, which marks the border to the hidden kingdom, serves as a line of demarcation between the outer world and Sambhala, the spiritual "heaven on earth". The image of the river as border between two worlds is often used in mythology. One only has to think of the Greek Acheron, which has to be crossed in order to reach the Greek underworld.32
Early texts, like the Vimalaprabha or the Lam yig of Man lun pa, do not describe Sambhala as a paradise on earth. They rather stress the spiritual qualities of the country and its inhabitants. Later works, especially the smon lam, the most popular texts on Sambhala among the Tibetan and Mongolian Buddhist lay people, concentrate on the paradisiac nature of the hidden kingdom. In the words of Gar-je Kham-sprul Rin-po-che, the people of Sambhala "have great wealth, happiness and no sickness. The crops are good and everyone passes their time with Dharma. As all the kings are religious ones, there is not even a sign of non-virtue or evil in these lands. Even the words 'war' and 'enmity' are unknown. The happiness and joy can compete with that of the gods."33 These characteristics are also mentioned by Ovid, who describes paradisiac existence in similar terms.34
As stated above, the idea of Sambhala provided the background for political connotations as well. In the late nineteenth century the Buryat monk Dorjieff talked the Thirteenth Dalai Lama into believing that Sambhala was Csarist Russia and the Csar, the ruler of Sambhala. The Kalmyk Lama Dambo Ul'janov even suggested that Kalapa was to be Moscow.35 He also
Geographical Research Series, No. 8, n.p., 1922 (reprint 1975). T. Severin demonstrated the probable historical reality of Brendan's journey, cf. his account in: The Brendan Voyage. The Greatest Adventure of the Sea since Kon-Tiki, London 1979. For a description of Brendan's journey, cf. K. H. Börner, op. cit., pp. 54-6.
31 The Greek word paradeisos denotes a grove or pleasure-garden; cf. Börner, op. cit., p. 17.
32Tucci, "Buddhist Notes", p. 506, also draws attention to the Cinvat bridge of the Iranian tradition as a line of demarcation.
33Gar-je K'am-trül Rinpoche, "A Geography and History of Sharnbhala", in: The Tibet Journal, Vol. 3, No. 3 (1978) [pp. 3-11], p. 7.
34Cf. Ovid, Metamorphoses, w. 89ff: Aurea prima sata est aetas, quae vindice nullo, spontc sua, sine lege, fidem rectumque colebat. Poena metusque aberant; nec verba minacia fixo Aere legabantur, nec supplcx turba timebat iudicis ora sui, sed erant sine vindice tuti. Nondum caesa suis, peregrinum ut vise ret orbem, montribus in liquidaa pinas desccnderat undas; nul-laque mortales praeter sua litora norant. Nondum praesipites eingebaut oppida fossae; non tuba directi, non aeris cornua flexi, non galeae, non ensis erat, sine militis usu mollia securae pcragebant otia gentes.
^Cf. V. A. Aldosin, "Legendy o strane Sambala", in: P. C. Bitkeev (ed.), Filologiceskie issle-dovanija staropis'mennych pamjatnikov, Elista 1987 [pp. 19-33], p. 28.
Utopian Thought in Tibetan Buddhism 87
drew a connection between the Buddha and the Romanovs.36 As is well known, the Thirteenth Dalai Lama inclined rather towards the Russian than to the English side, an inclination which shaped the destiny of Tibet at the beginning of the twentieth century.
The political impact of the idea of Sambhala was even more utilized by the Mongolians. In the Mongolian chronicle Bolur toli,31 the genealogy of Činggis Qan is traced back to the lineage of the Indian Sákyas, from whom the first king of Sambhala, Sucandra, also descends. Sucandra and Činggis Qan are both incarnations of the Bodhisattva Vajrapáni. Because of this relationship between the reigning dynasty and the chos rgyal and Kalkis of Sambhala the notion of the apocalyptic battle at the end of this Kaliyuga was employed during the struggle for independence in Outer Mongolia. Sukhe Bator, the Mongolian National Hero who in 1921 founded the Mongolian People's Republic, composed a marching-song for his troops in which he told his soldiers to be reborn as the warriors of the king of Sambhala.38 Even the Communist party made use of the myth of Sambhala to justify their resolution not to install the ninth incarnation of the rJe btsun dam pa Khutukhtu:
The Jebtsundamba Khutukhtus have deserved extremely well of our Mongol religion and state, and when it came to the Eighth Incarnation, he freed Mongolia from Chinese oppression and laid the foundation for it to become a state. .. as there is a tradition that after the Eighth Incarnation he will not be reincarnated again, but thereafter will be reborn as the Great General Hana-mand in the realm of Sharnbhala, there is no question of installing the subsequent, Ninth Incarnation.39
In the 1930s, during the occupation by the Japanese, the Mongolians were told to search for Sambhala in Japan.40
From the examples offered above, we may conclude that a certain shift in emphasis has taken place, from a geographical utopia to a political one. The mechanism behind the Utopian concept of paradise on earth implies in fact a contradiction: on the one hand it indicates a longing back to paradisiac
36 Cf. D. Ul'janov, Predskazanie Buddy o dome Romanových i kratkij oierk moich putešestvij v Tibet v 1904-1905gg., SPB, 1913. Unfortunately, this book is not available in German libraries. So far I have not been able to obtain a copy of it. Bembaum states that in this work the lineage of the Romanovs is traced back to King Sucandra of Sambhala; cf. Bembaum, Der Weg nach Sharnbhala, pp. 25, 280, n. 12.
37fol. 13r ff.
^Cf. Bembaum, Der Weg nach Sambhala, pp. 25-6. For a description of the political situation in Mongolia in the early twenties of our century, cf. Bawden, The Modem History of Mongolia, London 1968, pp. 238ff.
39Cf. Bawden, The Modern History of Mongolia, pp. 262-3.
40Cf. Bawden, op. cit, p. 262. For a discussion of the Utopian element in the establishment of the Manchukuo state, Cf. McCormack, "Manchukuo: Constructing the Past", in: East Asian History, No. 2 (1991), pp. 105-24.
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roots, while at the same time it entails conceptions of the future. These two aspects are inherent in the Tibetan Buddhist idea of ^ambhala.
The Sources
Many works, belonging to different literary categories, deal with Sambhala. The overwhelming majority of them are written in Tibetan, but we also find a variety of texts in the Mongolian language. These texts may be divided into the following nine literary categories.41
I. TEXTS IN TIBETAN
1. Canonical works42
1.1. Parama-adibuddhoddhrita-šrí-kalacakra-náma-tantraraja. (Short title: Kůla-cakra-tantrarůja). Tibetan title: mChoggi daň po'i saňs rgyas las phyuň ba rgyud kyi rgyal po dpal dus kyi 'khor lo žes bya ba.43
1.2. Vimalaprabhů-nůma mulatantranusariní dvadaéasahasrika-laghukůlacakra-tantrarája-tiká. (Short title: Vimalaprabhá). Tibetan title: bsDus pa'i rgyud kyi rgyal po dus kyi 'khor lo'i 'grel bead rtsa ba'i rgyud kyi rjes su 'jug pa ston phrag bcu gnyis pa dri ma med pa'i 'od ces bya ba.u
41In the following I do not enumerate texts which deal only in passing with the kingdom of Šambhala or just mention its name.
42Also common to the three works listed in this category is the fact that they were originally written in Sanskrit and later translated into Tibetan. We have therefore two versions of these works.
43Translated by SomanStha around A.D. 1026, bKa' 'gyur, rgyud, No. 4. Mongolian title: Angqan-u degedii burqan-aca aťfajsan coj-tu čaj-un kiirdun neretii dandaris-un qďfan (L. Ligeti, Catalogue du Kanjur Mongol Imprimé, Vol. I: Catalogue, No. 3 (3), Bibliotheca Ori-entalis Hungarica HI, Budapest 1942-4, p. 2). The Sanskrit and the Tibetan versions are extant; cf. Raghu Vira and Lokesh Chandra, Kálacakra Tantra and Other Texts, Pt. l. Šata Pitaka Series, No. 69, New Delhi 1956. The first chapter, the Lokadkátupatala, contains a short description of Šambhala, its history and the eschatological prophecies connected with the kingdom. Newman, The Outer Wheel of Time, gives a translation cum annotation of the verses relevant to our theme (Sri Kálacakra 1.150-70, pp. 578-655). He also uses Bu ston's, Pad-minfs (Padminl-náma-panjika, bsTan 'gyur, No. 2067) and mKhas grub rje's commentaries in his notes to the translation.
44bsTan 'gyur, No. 2064. The Vimalaprabhá is supposedly composed by Pundartka, the second Kalki of Šambhala and son of Yaéas, who according to legend composed the Kalacakra-tantrar&ja. It was allegedly translated by Somanatha in the eleventh century. The Vimalaprabhá describes Šambhala in detail, including the two Mandalas the kings of Šambhala built.
1.3. Kaldpávatára. Tibetan title: Ka la par jug pa.*5 2. Commentaries on the Kalacakra-tantra
2.1. mChog gi daň po'i saňs rgyas las phyuň ba rgyud kyi rgyal po chen po dpal dus kyi 'khor lo'i bsdus pa'i rgyud gi sla'i mchan bcas. Author: Bu ston Rin chen grub (1290-1364).46
2.2. 'Jig Hen khams kyi le'u'i 'grel bead dri ma med pa'i od mchan bcas. Author: Bu ston Rin chen grub.47
2.3. dPal dus kyi 'khor lo'i 'grel chen dri med pa'i 'od gyi rgya cher bead pa de kho na nyid snaň bar byed. (Short title: Dus 'khor tik chen). Author: mKhas grub dge legs dpal bzart po (1385-1438)'.48
2.4. Dus 'khor spyi don bstan pa'i rgya mtsho (1467). Author: sTag tshan lo tsá ba Šes rab rin chen.49
2.5. Dus kyi 'khor lo'i lo rgyus daň sambhala'i žtíi bkod bcas. Author:
Kloň rdol bia ma Ňag dban bio bzaň (1719-18G5).50
2.6. rGyal ha tsoň kha pa'i lugs daň mthun pa rnams phyogs gcig tu btus pa'i dpal dus kyi 'khor lo'i miň gi mam grans. Author: Klon rdol bia ma Ňag dbart bio bzart.51
45This guidebook, preserved in the bsTan 'gyur, No. 149, to the capital of Šambhala, Kalapa, was translated in the 17th century from the original Sanskrit into Tibetan by the famous Taranatha. The Sanskrit original is lost. The Kalápauatára presented the most important source for the Šambha la'i lam yig of the Third Pan chen bia ma Bio bzaň dpal Idan ye áes. Bernbaum, The Mythic Journey and its Symbolism, pp. 42-81, gives a translation of this work. For discussion of the dating of the work, see above, p. 80, n. 6.
46In: Lokesh Chandra (ed.), The Collected Works of Bu-ston, New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1965, Pt. 1, pp. 1-299. This work, which was very influential on later authors of Kálacakra texts, comments on the Kálacakratantra-rája.
47In: Lokesh Chandra, op. cit, pp. 301-603. The work concentrates on the first chapter of the Vimalaprabhá, the Lokadkátupatala.
48In: The Collected Works (Gsung 'Bum) of the Lord Mkhas-grub Iije Dge-legs-dpal-bzang-po, repr. from 1897 Lhasa Dga'-ldan-phun.tshogs-glmg blocks (New Delhi: Mongolian Lama Gurudeva, 1980), 2:97-1114. The text was written in 1434; for a discussion of the date of composition, cf. Vostrikov, Tibetskaja IstoriSeskaja Literatura, Moscow 1962, p. 239, n. 363. It is a very detailed commentary on the Vimalaprabhá, which "in addition to extensive discussions of the history and prophecy of Šambhala ... includes important accounts of legendary journeys of Indian pandits to Šambhala in search of the Kálacakra teachings" (Bernbaum, The Mythic Journey and its Symbolism, p. 29).
49sTag tshaň lo tsá ba Šes rab rin chen, Dus 'khor spyi don bstan pa'i rgya mlsko, řep. Trayang and Jamyang Samten (New Delhi: Trayang and Jamyang Samten, 1973). The author gives a general description of Šambhala and tells us the legend of Šákya Šambha, a relative of the Buddha who according to a widespread legend founded Šambhala.
^In: Tibetan Buddhist Studies of Klong-rdol bla-ma Ngag-dbang blo-bzang, ed. Ven. Dalama (Musaorie: Ven. Dalama, 1963), 1:125-52. The text contains the Sambha la'i smon lam of the Third Pan chen bla ma.
51op. cit., 1:152-81. Bernbaum (The Mythic Journey and its Symbolism, p. 30) characterizes the two works of Klon rdol bla ma (2.5. and 2.6.) as follows: These commentaries on the Kálacakra and Šambhala present a good compilation and summary of earlier works on the subjects in a particularly clear and easy-to-read style. Together they provide a detailed description and history of the kingdom."
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3. Histories of Religion
3.1
52
sDom pa gsum gyi rab tu dbye ba. Author: Sa skya pandita Kun dga' rgyal mtshan (1182-1251).53
Dus 'khor chos 'byuň rgyud sde'i zab don sgo 'byed rin chen gus pa'i Ide mig. Author: Bu ston Rin chen grub.64 Dam pa'i chos kyi 'khor lo bsgyur ba rnams kyi byuň ba gsal bar byed pa mkhas pa'i dga' ston. (Short title: mKhas pa'i dga' ston). Author: dPa' bo gtsug lag phreň ba (1503-65).55 Chos 'byuň bstan pa'i pad ma rgyas pa'i nyin byed ces bya ba (1575). Author: Padma dkar po.56
dPal dus kyi 'khor lo'i chos skorgyi 'byuň khuňs nyer mkho. Author: Táranatha.57
dPag bsam Ijon bzaň (1748). Author: Sum pa mkhan po Ye áes dpal 'byor.58
3.7. Yoňs 'dzin dam pa rje btsun bio bzaň tshul khrims dpal bzaň po'i gsuň las rgyan drug mchog gnyis kyi mam thar daň grub mtha' bii so so'i lugs kyi gži lam 'bras gsum gyi rnam giag le tshan chos 'byuň | rigs Idan drag po 'byon tshul. Author: Bio bzaň tshul khrims alias 'Bron rtse yorts 'dzin.59
3.8. Grub mtha' thams cad kyi khuňs daň 'dod tshul ston pa legs bead šel gyi me Ion (1802). Author: Thu'u bkvan Bio bzaň chos kyi nyi
3.2
3.3
3.4.
3.5
3.6
52This survey of doctrinal histories does not contain the Deb the.r snon po, because Gos lo tsá ba in his chapter on the Kálacakra-Doctrine (Dus kyi 'khor lo'i skabs, 885-982 in the new Chinese edition of the Dei ther shon po, Beijing 1985) does not give a description of the kingdom of Šambhala. He only mentions the journey of some Panditas to the kingdom.
53In: The Complete Works of the Great Masters of the Sa Skya Sect of the Tibetan Buddhism, cd. Bsod-nams rgya-mtsho (Tokyo: Toyo Bunko, 1968), 5:297-320. The relevant passage about Šambhala is on fol. 32a,6-32b,3.
54in: The Collected Works of Bu-ston, Pt. 4, pp. 53ff. Bu ston records the journeys of Indian Panditas to the hidden kingdom of Šambhala in order to acquire the Kálacakra teachings. mKhas grab rje's account of the Panditas'journeys is based on Bu ston's description.
^In section 5, chos byuň mkhas pa'i dga' ston gyi yan lag lna pa yul spyi daň bye brag ma phye bar šes bya'i gtso bo rig gnas lna ji I tar byuň tshul bead pa, pp. 1485-93 of the Chinese edition, Beijing 1986. dPa' bo gtsug lag phren ba describes the outer appearance of Šambhala, and he gives a brief account of its history. He even mentions the tale of Šákya Šambha ka, after whom the kingdom was given its name. The description of the last battle between the Kla klo and the forces of the Kalki Rudracakrin is given in detail (pp. 1489-91). dPa' bo gtsug lag also tells us of the journey of Tsi lu pa and other Pandits to the land of Šambhala.
^Lokesh Chandra (ed.), Tibetan Chronicle of Padma-dkar-po, New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1968, pp. 205-26. Padma dkar po depicts the history of Šambhala and the eschatological ideas which are connected with the kingdom.
R7In: The Collected Works (Gsuň 'Bum) of Jo-naň Rje-btsun Kun-dga!-snyiň-po (Táranatha). Reproduced from the Rare Pre-19th Century Prints from the Rtag-brtan Phun-tshogs-gliň blocks belonging to the Stag Palace Collection, Ladakh: C. Namgyal and Tsewang Taru, 1984, Vol. 2, pp. 1-43.
^Sumpa Khan-po Yece Pal Jor, Pag Sam Jon Zang (Dpag bsam Ijon bzang), ed. Sarat Chandra Das, Calcutta: Presidency Jail Press, 1908. The Re'u mig of the same author lists the kings of Šambhala and the years in which they ascended to the throne.
59I have not been able to consult this work. It is described in Shastri, Catalogue of the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Vol. II, S. No. 119 (LTWA No. Pa-2103), pp. 114-15. According
ma.
60
4. Autobiographies
4.1. rGyal khams pa tá ra na thus bdag nyid kyi rnam thar nes par brjod pa'i deb gter šin tu éib mo ma bcos Ihug pa'i rtogs brjod ces bya ba bžugs. Author: Author: Táranatha.61
5. Lists of the Kalki-kings of Šambhala
5.1. Rigs Man grags pa'i rtogs pa. ... Kyil ba'i zla ba.62
5.2. Šambha lar chos rgyal rigs Idan rnams byon tshul daň bstan pa'i gnas tshad bcas legs par bead pa bio Idan rna bar mňar ba'i bdud rtsi žes bya ba. Author: Bio bzaň dam chos rgya mtsho.63
5.3. bsTan pa'i sbyin bdag byuň tshul gyi miň gi graňs. Author: Kloň rdol bia ma Ňag dbaň bio bzaň.64
5.4. Daň po'i saňs rgyas dpal dus kyi 'khor lo'i lo rgyus daň miň gi rnam graňs. Author: Kloň rdol bia ma Ňag dbaň bio bzaň.65
5.5. Šambha la'i chos rgyal bdun daň rigs Idan nyi šu rtsa lna ste sum
cu rtsa gnyis. Author: Kah thog Tshe dbaň nor bu.66
6. Guides (lam yig) to Šambhala
6.1. Kaläpävatära
67
to Shastri the text contains a list of the Kulika kings of Šambhala.
^In: gSuň 'bum of rJe btsun bia ma dam pa Thu'u bkvan bio bzaň chos kyi nyi ma dpal bzaň po, Vol. 2 (kha), Chapter 12: Hor li šambha la rnams grub mtha' byuň tshul grub don bšad pas mjug bsdu ba daň bcas pa bžugs so, foli. 9v-13r.
61 In: The Collected Works (Gsuň 'Bum) of Jo-naň Rje-btsun Kun-dga snyiň po (Táranatha), Vol. 1, pp. 682,5-683,1.
62This text has not been available to me. It is listed in Waddell, "Tibetan Manuscripts and Books", No. 346, p. 109, under the description, "Tale of Kulika [Manjuárí] klrti, King of Shamb-hala [1 vol., B. M., T, 118 (2)] ... T. Rigs Idan grags pa'i rtogs pa ... Kyil ba'i zla ba, Pr.; ff. 3."
^The work was published in New Delhi by Ngawang Sopa, 1975, and described by Shastri, Catalogue of the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Vol. II, p. 114.
64Cf. Smith, Tibetan Catalogue of the University of Washington, Vol. I, Seattle, n.d., p. 37. On foil. 18r-19r we find a list of the Kalki Kings of Šambhala.
65In: Tibetan Buddhist Studies, 1: 232-82. The text is described by Smith, Tibetan Catalogue, Vol. I, p. 28: "Contents: (I.a) The universe and its makeup according to the Kálacakra (ff. lv-3v); (b) The mystical realm of Š. and its kings (ff. 3v-Sv); (c) The promulgation of the Kálacakra doctrine in Š. (ff. 8v-9r).*
^In: Collected Works of Kah-Thog Tshe-dbang Norbu, Vol. IV, Dalhousie: Damcho Sangpo, 1977, pp. 641,1-642,5.
67The Kalápávatára is described above under 1. Canonical works, entry 1.3., p. 88.
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6.2. Šambha la pa'i lam yig. Author: Man lun pa.68
6.3. Sam bha Iďi žiň bkod pa. Author: unknown.69
6.4. Rin spuňs ňag dbaň 'jigs grags kyis raň gi yab la phul ba'i žu phrin rig pa 'džin pa'i pho nya. Author: Rin spuňs Ňag dbaň 'jigs
_.__„ 70
grags.
6.5. Grub pa'i gnas chen po sambhala'i mam bead 'phags yul gyi Hogs
brjod daň bcas. (Short title: Sambhala'i lam yig). Author: Third Pan chen bia ma Bio bzaft dpal ldan ye ses.71
6.6. Šam bha la'i groň du rgyas [?] mdzad pa.72
7. Astrological Texts
As already noted by Bernbaum, astrological and medicinal texts often belong to the Kalacakra teachings, and therefore they refer to Šambhala "as a means of establishing their own authority and legitimacy."73 The most outstanding work of this category is surely the Vaidurya dkar po of the regent Saňs rgyas rgya mtsho. In the introduction to his work the author gives a short description of the Kalacakra and a list of the kings of Šambhala.74 Saňs rgyas rgya mtsho seems to have been particularly interested in questions concerning Šambhala, because in the gSuň 'bum of Sum pa mkhan po ye
^Man luns pa was born in 1239. The date of his death is unknown. The famous Šam bha la'i lam yig of the Third Pan chen bla ma is based upon his work. Berthold Laufer translated a portion of this, probably the oldest guidebook to Šambhala in his, "Zur buddhistischen Litteratur der Uiguren* (Toung Poo 8 (1907), pp. 391-^09). Bernbaum tells us that he found a copy of this text in Zanskar. It is an anonymous, undated manuscript of twenty folios (cf. Bernbaum, The Mythic Journey and its Symbolism, pp. 37-9, 87-8, nn. 63-80).
69The text is not available. Roerich, "Studies in the Kalacakra I", JUHRS, Vol. 2 (1932), p. 15, tells us that this text is found in the Tibetan Collection of the Library of the Himalayan Research Institute. In his opinion, this was written somewhere in western Tibet and is based on the 'Grel chen of mKhas-grub-rje and the first Pan chen Bio bzaň chos kyi rgyal mtshan.
70Rin spurts Ňag dban 'jigs grags, Rin spuňs ňag dbaň 'figs grags kyis raň gi yab la phul ba'i zu phrin rig pa 'tizin pa'i pho nya. 39 folio, reprod. and publ. in Dharamsala 1974 (LTWA). This poem has been partially translated by Bernbaum, Der Weg nach Shambhala, pp. 207-13.
71 This most famous of all guides to the kingdom of Šambhala has been translated by A. Grünwedel in his, Der Weg nach Šambhala (Shambha la'i lam yig) des dritten Gross-Lama von bKra shis Ihun po bLo bzang dPal Idan Ye shes aus dem tibetischen Original übersetzt, und mit dem Texte herausgegeben, Abhandlungen der Königlichen Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 29, ??: n.p., 1915. Grünwedel also published the Tibetan text in Latin transcription. His translation cannot be recommended, and unfortunately many scholars who dealt with Šambhala relied heavily on his erroneous translation. For my research I consulted the manuscript of the Sambhala'i lam yig, which is preserved in Budapest and of which Professor Uray-Köhalmi kindly sent me a Microfilm. The manuscript is described in detail by Tersék, Collection of Tibetan MSS and Xylographs of Alexander Csoma de Koros, Oriental Studies, No. 3, Budapest 1976, pp. 78-80.
72This text was brought to my attention by Dr. Rudolf Kaschewsky, Seminar für Sprach- und Kulturwissenschaften Zentralasiens, Universität Bonn. It is preserved at the Lindenmuseum Stuttgart (Inv.Nr. 72 184).
73Bernbaum, The Mythic Journey and its Symbolism, p. 32.
74 T. TSEPAL TAIKHANG (ed.), The Vaidurya dkar po of Sde-srid Sangs-rgyas-rgya-mtsho, 1, New Delhi: T. Tsepal Taikhang, 1972, pp. 5-10.
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šes dpal "byor we find that he and Saňs rgyas rgya mtsho exchanged some letters about problems concerning the kingdom of Šambhala.75
8. Prayers (smon lam) for Rebirth in Šambhala
8.1. Šam bha lar skye ba'i smon lam rig 'džin groň du bgrod pa'i them
skas Zes bya ba. Author: Roň tha Bio bzaň dam chos rgya mtsho.78
8.2. Šam bha lar skye ba'i smon lam. Author: Third Pan chen bla ma
Bio bzaň dpal ldan ye šes.77
8.3. rJe btsun bio bzaň dpal ldan ye šes kyis mdzad pa'i šambha la'i smon lam gyi bgrel pa rigs ldan žal bzaň blta'i šel dkar me loň žes bya ba biugs so. Author: Bio bzaň dpal ldan bstan pa'i nyi ma phyogs las rnam rgyal dpal bzaň po.78
8.4. Tshe rabs rjes 'džin daň šam smon zim 'brel stoň gzugs rol gar la gsum. Author: Sixth Pan chen bla ma Bio bzaň thub bstan chos kyi nyi ma (1883-1937).7'9
8.5. Šam smon 'gyur med bde ba la gnyis. Author: Sixth Pan chen bla
ma Bio bzaň thub bstan chos kyi nyi ma.80
8.6. Šam smon dag žiň bgrod pa'i pho nya la gnyis. Author: Sixth Pan
chen bla ma Bio bzaň thub bstan chos kyi nyi ma.81
8.7. Šam smon bde chen dpal 'bar la gnyis. Author: Sixth Pan chen bla ma Bio bzaň thub bstan chos kyi nyi ma.82
8.8. Šam smon rnam kun mchog ldan mar gnyis. Author: Sixth Pan chen bla ma Bio bzaň thub bstan chos kyi nyi ma.83
8.9. Šam smon rigs ldan žal bzaň bita ba'i me loň la gsum. Author: Sixth Pan chen bla ma Bio bzaň thub bstan chos kyi nyi ma.84
75This letter exchange is found in Vol. 8 of the gSuň 'bum of Sum pa mkhan po.
76In: The Collected Works (Gsung 'bum) of Blo-bzang-dam-chos-rgya-mtsho, Rong-tha Che-tshang Sprul-sku, repr. by Ngawang Sopa. New Delhi: Ngawang Sopa, 1975, Vol. 6, pp. 462-8. The work, which was composed after 1595, is written in a very poetic style. It describes the kingdom of Šambhala in detail and also gives an exposition of its history and the eschatological expectations which are centred on Šambhala.
77This, the most famous and influential prayer for rebirth in Šambhala, was written around 1775. It is quoted in Kloň rdoi bla ma Ňag dbaň bio bzan's Sambhala'i íin bkod (Tibetan Buddhist Studies, ed. Ven. Dalama, Mussoorie 1963, 1:150-1). D. P. Jackson, The 'Miscellaneous Series'of Tibetan Texts in the Bihar Research Society, Patna: A Handlist, Tibetan and Indo-Tibetan Studies, 2, Stuttgart 1989, No. 1471-2 (B. No. 565), p. 212, describes a xylograph of the prayer, an edition from Kun bde gliii.
78This work has not been available to me. It is preserved in the collection of V. L. Uspenskij (rukopis' no. 47 iz sobranija V. L. Uspenskogo).
™gSuň 'bum. Vol. I, pp. 247-52.
mop. cit., pp. 243-6.
8,op. cit., pp. 253-6.
82op. cit., pp. 257-60.
Mop. cit., pp. 266-8.
84op. cit., pp. 275-9.
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Utopian Thought in Tibetan Buddhism
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8.10. Šambha la'i smon tshig bde chen dpal 'bar žes bya ba Mugs. Author: Sixth Pan chen bla ma Bio bzan thub bstan chos kyi nyi
85
ma.
8.11. Šambha la'i žiň bkod daň chos rgyal rigs Idan gyi bla ma'i rnal 'byor rjes 'dzin gsol 'debs 'chi kha'i gdams pa smon lam bcas la gsum. Author: the Sixth Pan chen bla ma Bio bzan thub bstan chos kyi nyi ma.86
8.12. Šambha lar skye ba'i smon lam dag žiň bgrod pa'i pho nya žes bya ba hžugs so. Author: Sixth Pan chen bla ma Bio bzan thub bstan chos kyi nyi ma.87
8.13. Šiň bzďpandi ta ho thog thun bžus dor stsal ba'i šam smon rigs Idan žal bzaň Ita ba'i me Ion. Author: Sixth Pan chen bla ma Bio bzan thub bstan chos kyi nyi ma.88
8.14.89 Šam bha la'i žiň du skye pa'i 'dzin pa'i smon lam.90
8.15. Šam bha la yi smon lam bžugs .so.91
8.16. Šambha lai smon lam bžugs so.92
8.17. Šambha-la-hi-Smon-Lam-hgrel-Ba. Author: Bstan-Pahi-nima.93
8.18. Ka la par 'jug pi smon tshig mgyogs 'gro'i pho nya žes bya ba daň rdza rtsi gi gtam rgyud bcas bžugs so. Author: 'Broň rtse yens 'dzin bio bzaň tshul khrims.94
9. Geographical texts
9.1. 'Dzam glih rgyas bead. Author: sMin grol no mo han alias Bla ma
V cit., pp. 257-60. 86op. cit., pp. 238-42. B7op. cit., pp. 253-6. 88op. cit., pp. 275-9.
89The entries 8.14.-8.18. cannot be specified further. The texts are not available in the Library of the Seminar für Sprach- und Kulturwissenschaft Zentralasiens, Universität Bonn. For the sake of completeness I nevertheless mention them here.
"MS., 4 foil., in: Helmut Eimer, Tihetica Stockholmiensa. Handüste der tibetischen Texte der Sven-Hedin Stiftung und des Ethnographischen Museums zu Stockkolm [materials from the period 1972-8, n.d., n.p. given, but in fact Bonn, 1986,], p. 216 (H. 6037.0).
91 MS., 5 foil., in: R. de Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Catalogue of the Collections of Tibetan Blockprints and Manuscripts in the National Museum of Ethnology (Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde), Leiden - Holland, Leiden 1953, Inv. No. 2740/M 49, No. 1491, p. 254.
924 foil., two copies. In: Nebesky-Wojkowitz, op. cit., Inv. No. Br.79/H 330 and 2740/H 425, No. 725, p. 184.
MNo. 556, in: Gopi Raman Choudhary (comp.), The Catalogue of the Tibetan Texts in the Bihar Research Society, ed. Aniruddha Iha, Patna: Bihar Research Society, n.d., Vol. I, p. 93. Choudhary describes the text as follows: "Lines 6, letters 77, leaves 10a. Block: Bkra-shis-lhun-po."
94The text is described by Smith, Tibetan Catalogue, Vol. I, p. 96-7. It consists of 26 foil. The second name of the author is Bya bral ba Ma ti shl la. He lived in the 18th century and was a pupil of the Third Pan chen bla ma and probably the tutor of the Fourth. Two copies of the same text are listed in Nebesky-Wojkowitz, op. cit., No. 2, p. 1 (Inv. No. 2740/H 269 and H 527).
btsan po (died 1839).95 9.2. A Geography and History of Shambhala. sprul Rin po che.96
Author: Gar rje Kham
There also seems to exist an oral tradition about the kingdom of Sambhala. Bernbaum97 states that folktales about sambhala are popular in Tibet, but he does not give a concrete example of such a tale, as he apparently did not collect these folktales. If the assumption of the existence of an oral tradition proves to be correct, then this material must be collected as soon as possible, because this tradition is vanishing quickly. Finally, we have to mention the paintings of the kingdom of Sambhala and its kings in mural paintings and than ka.98 They were very popular in Tibet before the Chinese occupation.
II. TEXTS IN MONGOLIAN
1. Histories of Religion
1.1. Sambala-yin qayan-u udir."
1.2. sambala-yin 25-duyar qayan-u lalo-nar-i nomuyadqaqu teiike.100
1.3. Bolur toll. Author: Jimbadorji.101
2. Prayers for Rebirth in Sambhala (irugel)
96This work, which was composed in 1820, has incorporated a lot of geographical information from western sources. It mixes the idea of Sambhala with Christopher Columbus who according to the text came from Genoa in the country of Sambhala (cf. also the article by T. W. Wylie, "Was Christopher Columbus from Sambhala?", Bulletin of the Institute of China Border Area Studies [Taipei], No. 1 (July 1970), pp. 24-34). The 'Dzam glih rgyas bsad has been translated by Wylie in: The Geography of Tibet according to the 'Dzam-gling-rgyas-bshad. Text and English Translation, Rome: IsMEO, 1962. The passage concerning Sambhala is on Foil 144b-146a.
96This small work, which I know only in English translation, was translated by Sherpa Tulku and Alexander Berzin, in: The Tibet Journal 3 (August 1978), pp. 6-8.
97Bernbaum, The Mythic Journey and its Symbolism, pp. 35-6.
98Cf. G. Tucci, Tibetan Painted Scrolls, Rome 1949, Tanks no. 178, plates 211-13, and Bernbaum, op. cit, p. 36.
"This text is listed in the Catalogue of the State Library, Ulan Bator, 1937 (P. 175). It is a manuscript and consists of 51 foil. As, unfortunately, I do not have the opportunity to examine the text, I have to infer from the title that the work may deal with the history of the kingdom of Sambhala and its kings. The length of the text also suggests a kind of religious history.
100 This manuscript of 18 foil, is also preserved in Ulan Bator (cf. Catalogue of the Stale Library, Ulan Bator, 1937, P. 175). As can be seen from the title, the work contains a list of the twenty-five rulers of Sambhala and their teaching of the dharma to the Unbelievers.
101 Only the third book of this Mongolian chronicle has been published, cf. W. Heissig (ed.), Bolur Toli "Spiegel aus Bergkristall" von Jimbadorji (1834-1837), Buck III: Gesckichle der Mon-golen, Monumenta Linguarum Asiae Maiores, Series Nova, Vol. Ill, Copenhagen: Ejnar Munks-gaard, 1962. See also Ts. Damdinsflren, "Ulger domgijnjargalant oron Shambal" [Sambhala, the Happy Land of the Legends], in: Zentralasiatische Studien, 11 (1977), pp. 351-87. Puckovskij, in his Mongol'skie, Burjat-Mongol'skie i Ojratskie rukopisi i ksilografy Instituta Vostokovedenija, Vol. I, Istorija, pravo, Moscow-Leningrad 1957, pp. 60-8, gives a detailed description of the text (F 305); in Vol. 3, p. 63, he mentions Sambhala.
96
Karénina Kollmar-Paulenz
2.1. Umaratu iambhala-yin oron-a tordkii iriiger oroSibai. Author: Third Pan chen bla ma Bio bzah dpal Idan ye ses.102
2.2. Sambalayin irugel.103
2.3. £ambala-yin oron-u jokiyal.104
2.4. Sambala-yin oron-u jokiyangyui bayidal ba qayan-u iiye daraya nuyud-un nom.105
2.5. Nemeju jokiyaysan &ambhala-yin siliig. Author: Sixth Pan chen bla ma Bio bzan chos kyi nyi ma.
2.6. Ka-la-pa-yin jalbaril oroSiba.106
,02Heissig, in Mongolische Handschriften, Blockdrucke, Landkarten. = Verzeichnis der orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland, Vol. I, Wiesbaden 1961, item 483, p. 259, describes the work in detail. The irügel is listed as HS. or. 265 of the PrSB, Berlin. The Seminar für Sprach- und Kulturwissenschaften Zentralasiens, Universität Bonn, also has a copy of the text (classmark: X 15/44).
103I cannot specify this irügel further, because it is not available to me. It is listed in the Catalogue of the State Library, Ulan Bator, 1937 (P. 192) and consists of 5 foil. 104 A manuscript of 7 foil., listed in the Catalogue ofthe State Library, Ulan Bator, 1937 (P. 187). 106 Also listed in the Catalogue ofthe State Library, Ulan Bator, 1937.
,0S2 foil. The prayer is found in the work, Dbus-yin nom-un aimayyeke ba-a nujud-tur nomla"fsan-u nom-un yabudal-un Jerge sayin qubiian-u qoyulai-yin čimeg kemegdekü, in Tibetan, dBus 'gyur chos sde che chuň rnams su gsuň ba'i chos spyod kyi rim pa skal bzaň mgrin rgyan žes bya ba biugs. The text is described in Farquhar, Mongolian Manuscripts and Xylographs in Washington, No. 27, p. 194.
"Being5* and "Non-Being" in Ancient India and China
Leon Hurvitzf University of British Columbia Vancouver, B.C., Canada
"Where did it all come from?" At some time in his life everyone must surely ask himself this. At some point in their history, societies ask themselves the same question. The answers, as it seems, fall into two types: (1) in one form or another, "it" was always here; (2) nothing existed prior to the presence of "it". Thus, in the former case, the present objects of common experience are the product of change; in the latter, of creation, whether spontaneous or intentional. In the ease of India,1 the original idea seems to have been that summarized in (2), but to have been developed by Sankara (c.7th c.) to resemble (1).
The case of China is more complex. For, whereas in Sanskrit the key words are the n.s.n. of the pres. pcpl. of the verb asti, "is", viz. sat, and a negation of the same, viz. asat, hence "being" and "not being" (or, less literally but more accurately, "something that is" and "something that is not"), the Chinese
•The present article is one of several pieces of work which the late Professor Hurvitz left to the SBS for publication as we saw fit. This task has become especially poignant since the sad passing, after a period of poor health, in the autumn of 1992 of this scholar, whose work did much to further the study of Chinese Buddhist materials in particular. Leon Hurvitz will be mostly remembered for his translation ofthe Lotus Sutra (The Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma (The Lotus Sutra), New York: Columbia University Press, 1976), his pioneering work on Zhiyi (Chih-i (538-597): An Introduction to the Life and Ideas of a Chinese Buddhist Monk, Melanges Chinois et Bouddhiques, Vol. XII, Bruxelles: Institut Beiges des Hautes Etudes Chi noises, 1980), and his translation into English and adaptation of Tsukamoto Zenryu's history of early Chinese Buddhism, which appeared as A History of Early Chinese Buddhism: From its Introduction to the Death of Huiyiian (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1985). It is to be regretted that his own extensive work on Huiyuan could not be completed before his death.
For the purposes of publication in this journal, a certain amount of extraneous material has been omitted, including verbatim quotations from Sanskrit sources which are readily available in reliable editions, and a long extract from the Shi ji, already translated by Burton Watson in his Records of the Grand Historian of China, 2 vols., New York and London: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 368-87. (Hurvitz' version differed basically in that he. translated wang as "prince* rather than "king".) We also regret that full references to some works have not been supplied, but trust that the reader will be able to locate the quoted material. —(The Editors]
1See, for example, Taittiriyasamhita 6.5.6.1 f, 7.1.1.4ff; Satapathabrahmanam 2.1.4.1 Iff, 6.1.2.11, 7.5.2.6, 14.4.2.1, 14.4.2.23^ 10.1.3.1; Taittirlyabrahmanam 2.2.9.1ff, 2.3.8.1, 3.12.9.2, all translated in Vol. 1 of J. Muir's Original Sanskrit Texts on the Origin and Sources of the Religion and Institutions of India, 2 vols., London: Williams and Norgate, 1858-63. See also pp. 25-55 of W. D. O'Flaherty (tr.), Hindu Myths: A Sourcebook, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1984.
SCEAR 5/6 (1992-3): 97-121