Book Reviews

Author(s): J W De Jong
Publisher: J W De Jong

Page 38

224
REVIEWS
the fact that Sum-pa mKhan-po does not mention the secret life of the Sixth Dalai Lama may partly be explained by the short time-lapse - two years - between the "real" death of the Sixth Dalai Lama in 1746 and the writing of the Re'u-mig in 1748. However, in "The Annals of Kukunor”, completed in 1786, Sum-pa mKhan-po writes that Tshans-dbyans rgya-mtsho died in 1706 at Kun-dga'-no'ur. Sum-pa mKhan-po must have been particularly well informed about the history of the Kukunor region and Mongolia in the first half of the eighteenth century. If there is any truth in the story of the secret life of the Sixth Dalai Lama, one has to explain Sumpa mKhan-po's silence in this respect...
Klafkowski is rather critical with regard to the majority of existing translations from the Tibetan. According to him “it is possible to reproduce Tibetan in English with the word order fairly close to the original one" (p. 15). He prefers to preserve "the entire Tibetan flavor" in English and to translate, for instance, stobs kyi 'khor lo bsgyur not as "universal emperor" but as "the one who holds the wheel of force". He does not explain why he translates bsgyur as 'holds' and not as 'turns'. Alas, Klafkowski's translation is not always correct, and in some instances seriously distorts the meaning of the text.
Sections 46-50 are translated by him as follows:
(46)
(47)
(48)
Now (while talking) about these (things), some said many different things about Gyalwa Tshangyang Gyatsho, Pad-dkar 'Dzin-pa and Gyalwa Kelzang Gyatsho, that all the three of them lived at the same time and therefore they (i.e. the authenticity of their incarnations) were doubtful. There were many rumours concerning these (questions). However, in fact there were no doubts about them, which can clearly be demonstrated by the following (evidence): by the first Stage of Perfection [Tib. sa = Skt. buddhabhūmi), in an infinitely short time (skad cig ma gcig), each of them could be seen as a hundred Buddhas displaying a hundred bodies, each of these having one hundred disciples, totally twelve hundred different qualities. by the second Stage of Perfection, each of them could be seen as one thousand Buddhas, rest as above [bas de dag stor substitute a thousand everywhere) ;; by the third Stage of Perfection, each of them could be seen as one hundred thousand Buddhas, (all of whom) could make manifestations, give teachings . etc. If such high qualities can be reached by the three Bodhisattvas, there is no reason why Arya Avalokiteśvara (who is the essence of them all) should not have such qualities. Therefore, there were three different manifestations of the Great All-Knowing One (the Great Fifth Dalai Lama); moreover, there will be hundreds of thousands more. There are no objections to it, and there should not be.
(49)
(50)
The Tibetan text as romanized by Klafkowski is:
(46)
(47) (48) (49) (50)
(one syllable unclear) 'di la kha cig rgyal ba tshans dbyans rgya mtsho dan pad dkar 'dzin pa ye ses rgya mtsho/rgyal ba bskal bzan rgya mtsho gsum cig char du sdom (read: 'dzom, PK) pa'i don la rtogs pa byas te cal col sna tshogs smras kyan de'i skyon med del sa dan po pas skad cig ma cig la sans rgyas brgya mthon pa nas lus brgya ston pa/ lus re re la 'khor brgya ston pa sogs kyi yon tan brgya phrag bcu gñis dan/ sa gñis pa bas de dag ston dan/ gsum pa bas brgya ston 'gyur sogs kyi yon tan de dag thob na 'phags pa spyan ras gzigs la Ita ci smos pa'i phyir rol des na rgyal dban thams cad mkhyen gzigs chen po'i sprul ba gsum 'byun bar ma zad brgya ston sogs 'byun kyan 'gal ba (321) gcig kyan med dol.