An Old Uighur balividhi Fragment Unearthed from the Northern Grottoes of Dūnhuáng

Abstract

Photographs of the recto side of the manuscript fragment B121:38 in Old Uighur, which was excavated from the northern section of the Dūnhuáng Mògāo Caves, were published in the second volume of The Northern Grottoes of Mògāo Caves. Because the verso side, which contains essential information, remains unpublished—despite the publication of the recto—the manuscript’s typology cannot be fully comprehended, and it has consequently not garnered substantial scholarly attention. Through site investigation, transcription, English translation, detailed annotation, and comparative analysis with parallel Tibetan texts, B121:38 is confirmed to be a balividhi fragment of Tantric Buddhist literature. This fragment comprises three parts: praise for the five ḍākas, a transference of merits, and a mantra. The findings provide compelling evidence of the prominence of Tibetan Tantrism among Old Uighurs.

1. Introduction

From 1988 to 1995, the Dūnhuáng Academy conducted six archaeological excavations of two hundred and forty-eight caves in the northern section of the Dūnhuáng Mògāo Caves. These excavations provided valuable first-hand materials for in-depth studies of the caves that date to the Yuan Dynasty and related documents. Among them, fragments written in Old Uighur were fousnd in thirty-eight caves. One hundred and twenty-eight manuscripts were relatively intact, and some of pictures were reproduced in the three-volume study The Northern Grottoes of Mògāo Caves, Dūnhuáng 敦煌莫高窟北区石窟 (hereafter NGMD), which was compiled by Péng Jīnzhāng, Wáng Jiànjūn, and the Dūnhuáng Academy (Péng et al. 2000, 2004a, 2004b).1 Old Uighur tantric Buddhist literature was discovered in the caves B59, B77, B97, B121, B123, B157, B464, and others.

Fragment B121:38, the subject matter of this paper, was discovered in Cave B121 in the northern section of Mògāo caves, which is identified as a burial site from the Yuan Dynasty between 1305 and 1380 CE. It suggests that the deceased was a young woman of high status, possibly connected to the Bīn (豳) royal family, known for their Buddhist faith (Wú and Shā 2023, p. 77). The image of B121:38 was published in the second volume of the NGMD, and was numbered as “Plates. Sixty-one (LXI)”. Unfortunately, only the recto of the fragment is published in the book. In the book’s appendix, Professor Zhāng Tiěshān described the document as follows: “Specimen B121:38, a fragment in Old Uighur, cursive, soft pen writing. The script is blurred and illegible. Ten lines of Old Uighur are faintly visible. There are Brāhmī letters in the upper half between lines 3 and 4 and at the beginning of lines 5 and 6 of the remnant” (Zhāng 2004, p. 361).2 In a review of the Old Uighur literature unearthed from the northern grottoes, Abdurishid Yakup described B121:38 as “cursive, (size) 24.6 × 16.7 cm, 10 lines, Tantric literature with Tibetan, unpublished”, correctly identifying that the text belongs to Tantric Buddhism (Yakup 2006, p. 5).

On 8 June 2023, while visiting the Dūnhuáng Mògāo Caves, one of the authors had the honor of observing some of the Old Uighur and Tangut literature in the exhibition hall of the Dūnhuáng Academy. Mr. Liáng Xùshù 梁旭澍 took out from the storehouse a number of Old Uighur fragments unearthed from the northern section of the Mògāo Caves for the attending scholars to investigate, including B121:38. According to the image, the text of B121:38 is semi-cursive. The sheet is incomplete on all sides of the margins. The text on the recto is visible, but the verso is pasted onto another sheet; thus, the text on it cannot be seen with the naked eye. This may be the reason why the NGMD did not publish the verso image. Interestingly, when the staff held the sheet under the light, the text on the verso became clearly visible, suggesting the possibility of further study. Judging from the shape and the script, the fragment was originally bound as a pamphlet. The physical characteristics of the sheet are described as follows:

The recto: the yellowish hemp paper is slightly tattered. The text is written in half square. It measures 24.6 × 16.7 cm, with 10 lines of Old Uighur text remaining. The writing is neat. Cursive Tibetan characters, rather than some Brāhmī characters recognized by Zhāng Tiěshān, are interlined between the fourth and fifth lines (4th +) and between the sixth and seventh lines (6th +). The Tibetan text of the 4th + line སངས་རས (should be the abbreviation of རྒྱས)་ལ་བྱག་འཙལོ (read: ཕྱག་འཚལ་ལོ)།། (to revere Buddha). Also, རྒྱ་ཀར་(སྐད) (Indian [=Sanskrit] language) are annotations to the Old Uighur script, which could have been written by someone who is proficient in both Old Uighur and Tibetan. However, the Tibetan text in line 6 remains unclear and cannot be fully deciphered.

The verso: The basic qualities of the sheet, such as texture and size, are the same as those of the recto. There is a fray on the seventh line where the paper is torn, which tells of the paper’s texture, but the verso is pasted onto another piece of white paper, so the text on it can only be read through the light. The font and handwriting are also the same as those of the recto. It can therefore be concluded that the contents of the two sides are from the same manuscript. The text on the verso is well preserved. There are 9 lines of Old Uighur, with no interlinear Tibetan characters.

2. Edition of the Text

Due to the lack of in-depth research on fragment B121:38 in Old Uighur, we attempted to edit the text by transliteration, transcription, and translation; discovered the parallel Tibetan texts; and confirmed that the text was a fragment of a balividhi.

2.1. Transliteration and Transcription

• B121:38 Recto (Figure 1)
• 01 01 t’k’-q’///r-mn. wylkwl’nčsyz včyr wlwq ylyk ’d’rtsyz/čyr kwyk///
• 01 01 taka-ka [yükünü]r-m(ä)n. ülgülänčsiz včir ulug ilig adartsïz včir kök/////
• 02 02 ynṭyn qydyqynk’ t’km’kyk bwl/yš p’dm’t’k’qa ywyk///mn/////
• 02 02 ïnṭïn kïdïg-ïnga tägmäk-ig bul[m]ïš padma-taka-ka yük[ünür]-m(ä)n/////
• 03 03 č’//////bwrh’n alqw s’qynčl’ryq twlw twyk’l qyld’čy.///dy//’/////
• 03 03 č’ [ amogašidi ilig] burhan alku sakïnč-larïg tolu tükäl kïlṭačï. [čïnžu arïg süzük]dï[n]
• 04 04//šw/t’k’q’ ywykwnwrmn: vyšw’t’k’q’ ywykwnwp m/////y
• 04 04 [vi]šu-[a]-taka-ka yükünür-m(ä)n: višu-a-taka-ka yükünüp m/////y
• 04+ sangs ras la phyag ’tsalo || rgya kar (?skad) ||
• 05 05 s/////wlwq t’ngryl’r tyryn qwvr’ql’ry byrl’ s’kyz wlwq lwwl’r./yryn qwvr/////
• 05 05 s[äkiz] ulug tängri-lär terin kuvrag-larï birlä säkiz ulug luu-lar. [t]erin kuvr[ag-larï birlä yertinčüdäki säkiz]
• 06 06 kwys’//d’čyl’r. tyryn qwvr’ql’r byrl’. y’kl’r qwvr’qy q’lysyz/’k/’zl’r//////////////
• 06 06 küẓä[t]däči-lär. terin kuvraglar birlä. yäk-lär kuvrag-ï kalïsïz [r]ak[š]a[z]l[ar] [gandrvelar kuvrag]-
• 06+ sang. ? ??ga so
• 07 07 y q’lysyz. pyš’čyl’r qwvr’qy q’lysyz. wdm//y l’r qwvr’qy q’lysyz. ’p’/sm///
• 07 07 ï kalïsïz. pišači-lar kuvrag-ï kalïsïz. udmaḑa-lar kuvrag-ï kalïsïz. [a]pasm[ara]
• 08 08 qwvr’qy q’lysyz. t’k’l’r qwvr’qy q’lysyz m/////t’ wlwq/////
• 08 08 kuvragï kalïsïz. taka-lar kuvrag-ï kalïsïz t[a]kini ]-ta ulug/////
• 09 09 q’ly////mwnt’////p my///lk’rw ‘///ly//////l/r////l’r/////
• 09 09 kalïsïz munta kälip mi[ ]l-gärü a[ ]lï.[ ] l[ ]r. [ ]lar/////
• 10 10 /////

Figure 1. B121:38 Recto.

Figure 1. B121:38 Recto.

• B121:38 Verso (Figure 2)
• 11 01///////q wl wynki t’k’l’ryq bwltwrm’q qylyp////
• 11 01 [ ]k ol öngi takalar-ïg bulturmak kïlïp [ tolu tükäl kïlïp]
• 12 02/////sydyl’ryq m’nk’ byrwy y’rlyq’zwnl’r. t’nq’ryqlyql’r myny kwys’d///
• 12 02 [ alku] sidi-lar-ïg manga berü yarlïkazun-lar. tangarïg-lïg-lar mini küẓäd[ip ]
• 13 03 yyš twš bwlzwnl’r. wydswz wylwm byrl’ yk k’ml’ryk trs ’l’r…
• 13 03 iiš tuš bolzun-lar. üdsüz ölüm birlä ig käm-lär-ig t(ä)rs ’-l’r…
• 14 04 lr. y’vyz twyl byrl’ y’vyz b’lkwyl’ryk. y’vyz qylylmyšl’ryq ywq’dtwrz/////
• 14 04 l(A)r. yavïz tül birlä yavïz bälgü-lär-ig. yavïz kïlïlmïš-lar-ïg yokadturz[un-lar]
• 15 05 ’s’n qylyp twyš t’mlryq bwytwrm’k qylyp y t’ryql’ryq wyklydyp ‘syp
• 15 05 äsän kïlïp tüš tam-lar-ïg bütürmäk kïlïp ï tarïg-lar-ïg üklidip asïp
• 16 06 ’lqw ynč ’s’n bwlm’qyq bwyṭwrm’klyk kwynkwlt’ky ’lqw kwyswšl’ry////bwyṭ///
• 16 06 alku enč äsän bolmak-ïg büṭürmäk-lig köngül-täki alku küsüš-läri [kanzunlar] büṭ[zünlär ]
• 17 07 ’nt’ b’s’ d’rnyl’r wyn ’kẓykl’r byrl’ b’lyny t’šqwrw ws’ṭyp t’pyq dyr’vyl//
• 17 07 anta basa darni-lar ün ägẓig-lär birlä bali-nï tašguru ušaṭïp tapïg diravi-l[ar ]
• 18 08/////p v’m’p’d’ky hwng pt tym’k wyz’ ’ryṭyp wwm swv’p’p’ swtd’
• 18 08 [ ]p vamapadaki hong p(a)t temäk üzä arïṭïp oom suvapap-a sutda
• 19 09 ///////qwrwq s’qynyp qwrwqt’ t’pyq dyr’vyl’ryq ws’typ///////
• 19 09 [ ] kurug sakïnïp kurug-ta tapïg diravi-larïg ušatïp…

Figure 2. B128:38 verso.

Figure 2. B128:38 verso.

2.2. English Translation

01–04 …I Worship…the (Ratna)ḍāka. I worship Padmaḍāka, who is Vajrāmita, the king, and indiscriminatory Vajra space, who has reached the other shore (of desire). I worship Viśvaḍāka, who is the (Amoghavajra) Buddha (Tib: homage to the Buddha), who gratifies all wishes (and is born) from true purity. I worship Viśvaḍāka (Tib. in the Indian language). After worshipping Viśvaḍāka, (conduct the transference of merits).

05–09 …The Eight Celestial Kings and their retinues, the Eight Great Nāga Kings and their retinues along with the Eight Dharmapālas and their retinue, the whole bunch of yakṣas, (all the rakṣas, gāndharvas, and hungry ghosts) piśācas, insane ghosts, cretinous ghosts, all the ḍākas as well as ḍākinīs, all sentient beings as such, please come here, (bless me and take the offering bali, gtor ma).

09–17 May I get the ḍākas to grant me (serenity, spiritual success) and good karma. May those who keeping the vow guard me and bless me with (an encounter with all spiritual achievements). May violent death, diseases, (misfortune and obstacles be removed). May nightmares, bad omens and bad deeds disappear. May (all sentient beings) be settled, achieve spiritual success and produce bumper crops. May mental peace be realized and all their wishes be fulfilled.

17–19 After that, (take out and crumble) the offering while chanting the mantras, recite vamapadaki hong p(a)t to purify the offering gtor ma, (recite) oom suvapab-a sutda while observing the emptiness quietly, and crumble the gtor ma in the emptiness……

3. Commentary

01 taka < Skt. ḍāka = Chin. yǒngfù 勇父, Tib. mkha’ ’gro. It refers to the male sky traveller, also known as vīra, meaning a valiant and manly deity. Its Chinese parallel is yǒngfù 勇父, denoting a deity that enlightens practitioners. ülgülänčsiz včir ulug ilig could be translated literally as “the measureless great Vajra King”, which is parallel to the Tibetan rdo rje dpag med rgyal po che. It is the first line of praise for Padmaḍāka. Vajraḍāka is one of the five ḍākas, corresponding to the Buddha named Heruka. He has a dark blue complexion, wearing a garland decorated with skulls (kapālamālā). Each of his four arms holds a skull bowl (kapāla), a skull staff (khatvānga), a bow (dhanus), and an arrow (bāna). He has four faces, each with three flashing eyes. The remaining four ḍākas are Buddhaḍāka, white-complexioned, corresponding to the Buddha named Vairocana; Ratnaḍāka, yellow-complexioned, corresponding to the Buddha named Vajrasūrya; Padmaḍāka, red-complexioned, corresponding to the Buddha named Padmanarteśvara; and Viśvaḍāka, green-complexioned, corresponding to the Buddha named Paramāśva. The text is incomplete after adartsïz včir kök, which is parallel to Tibetan mi rtog rdo rje nam mkha’ ’dzin (see below). adartsïz corresponds to Tib. mi rtog. It refers to practitioners who have settled into non-conceptual awareness. Since they have abandoned all conceptual signs and realized the perfection of expedient means, they have no apprehension and are established in the non-conceptual realm. It also refers to the mind being free of discrimination when meditating on prajñā. včir kök is equivalent to Tib. rdo rje nam mkha’. There should have been the word kalïk in the mutilated space after kök (heaven).

02 ïnṭïn kïdïg-ïnga tägmäk-ig bul could be literally translated as “reaching the Other Shore”, meaning attaining Buddhahood. It is a modifier describing Padmaḍāka, corresponding to the Tibetan text ’dod chags pha rol phyin pa brnyes (attaining the opposite shore of desire). padma-taka < Skt. padmaḍāka = Tib. padma mkha’ ’gro = Chin. pàdàmà yǒngfù 帕达玛勇父 or liánhuā kōngxíng 莲花空行. padma < Skt. padma = Chin. liánhuā 莲华 (the lotus).

04 višu-a-taka < Skt. viśvaḍāka = Tib. sna tshogs mkha’ ’gro = Chin. zhūpǐn yǒngfù 诸品勇父.

04+ sangs ras la phyag ’tsalo means “homage to the Buddha”. The word rgyas is written in cursive Tibetan as ras. The term ’tsalo is a common contraction in cursive script, which is equivalent to ’tshal lo according to the current orthography. It is used to explain the Tibetan word sangs rgyas in 04, corresponding to don yod rgyal po rdzogs sangs rgyas (amoghavajra saṃbuddha), the first sentence of the praise for the Sna tshogs mkha’ ’gro (Viśvaḍāka; zhūpǐn kōngxíng诸品空行). There is a vague character after rgya kar. It might refer to skad, so the meaning should be a language of India, more commonly written as rgya gar. It indicates that the word višu-a-taka in 04 is Sanskrit.

05 s[äkiz] ulug tängri-lär could be translated literally as “eight great heavenly gods” = Chin. bada tian 八大天. There is only one letter s left in the first word. Considering the parallel Tibetan text of “the Eight Celestial Kings”, it has been reconstructed to s[äkiz], meaning “eight”. säkiz ulug luu-lar refers to “the Eight Great Nāga (-Kings)”, namely, Sāgara, Vāsuki, Takṣaka, Anavatapta, Manasvin, Utpalaka, Nanda, and Upananda. They showed up as part of the assembly in the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra (T 262 [IX], p.2a20-23).

06 küẓä[t]däči-lär could be translated as the “guardians”, referring to the Dharma Protectors. The text before it is missing. The Tibetan parallel refers to the Eight Dharma Protectors, namely Brahman (tshangs pa), Īśvara (dbang phyug), Viṣṇu (khyab ’jug), Śakra (brgya byin), and the Four Great Celestial Great Kings (rgyal chen bzhi). yäk < Skt. yaksa = Chin. yèchā 夜叉. The origin of the word can be traced in light of Skt. yakṣa/Sogd. ykš-/TochA. yakäṣ/TochB. yākṣe. In Tibetan, it is called ‘gnod sbyin’. According to the Tibetan parallel, the three following parts—Rākṣasas, bhūta, and the hungry ghosts—are incomplete. k’n, the only three remaining letters in line 6, could be restored as gan[drve] < Skt. gandharva, which is different from the Tibetan bhūta.

07 pišači < Skt. piśāca, one of the rākṣasa ghosts, also translated also as bìshězhē 毕舍遮, pìshězhē 毗舍遮, or bìshĕzhe 臂舍柘in Chinese, meaning a flesh-eating, energy-inhaling, or maniac ghost. The word after it is incomplete and written as wdm//y. A possible original form is wdm’dy, which can be transcribed as udmaḑe < Skt. unmāda = Chin. diān guǐ 癫鬼, a devilkin, also transliterated as yōumótuó 忧摩陀. In Old Uighur, there are examples of loanwords from Sanskrit where the nasal l is changed to the voiced consonant d, as in the case of kadasudur < Skt. kālasūtra = Chin. hēishéng dìyù 黑绳地狱. The word udmaḑe may have also undergone this in which the nasal n in Sanskrit changed to d in Old Uighur, but also needs further investigation. The change of the vowel a at the end of the Sanskrit word to e or i in Old Uighur is a regular phenomenon which is generally accepted by the academic community3, which needs no in-depth discussion here. [a]pasm[ara]: The word is seriously incomplete. According to the Tibetan parallel, it corresponds to Skt. apasmāra = Chin. hūnwàng guǐ 昏忘鬼, so it has been corrected.

12 sidi < Skt. siddhi = Chin. yuánmǎn 圆满, xīdì 悉地, or miàochéngjiù 妙成就, meaning spiritual fulfilment or achievement. tangarïg-lïg-lar is the literal translation of “those keeping vows”, corresponding to Tibetan dam tshig can (who hold a vow), which means the one who has made a vow (dam tshig, samaya) to make spiritual progress towards the liberating experience. The Buddha was worried that, during the Kaliyuga, someone would belittle the proper Dharma, so he sent for the four main disciplines and the sixteen Arhats to support and sustain the Buddha’s Dharmas. After hearing Dharma, Brahmā Celestial-king, Shakya-Devanam Celestial Emperor, the Four Great Celestial Monarchs, and the Twenty-eight Assemblages also vowed to support and sustain the proper Dharma. The team continued to expand, including the benevolent deities as well as the fierce and malignant forces. They are called those keeping vows for their vow to support and sustain Dharma.

15 tüš tam “fruit”, or “fruition”. tam in the word is written as t’m, in which “ ’ ” is generally pronounced as the front vowel ä, that is, tüš täm (Wilkens 2021, p. 776). However, in view of the additional element -ïg of the word, it should be pronounced as the back vowel, that is, tam.

17 bali < Skt. bali = Chin. jìpǐn 祭品 (ritual food offering); tapïg diravi, in which diravi < Skt. dravya means the offering or the sacrifice, corresponds to Chin. gòngwù 供物 (the gtor ma).

18 vamapadaki hong p(a)t is a variant of a mantra in Sanskrit oṃ vajra amṛta kuṇḍalī hana hana hūṃ phaṭ, which is recited at the offering ceremony to purify (bsang ba) the sacrifice (rdzas). oom suvapab-a sutda is also a mantra in Sanskrit. The script after it is illegible. According to the Vajrayāna literature, the original text is oṃ svabhāvaśuddhāḥ sarvadharmāḥ svabhāvaśuddho ’ham or ọṃ svabhāvaśuddhasarvadharmasvabhāvaśuddho ’haṃ.

19 kurug (emptiness) = Skt. śūnyatā = Chin. kōng 空. In this sentence, kurug sakïn- corresponds to “stong par bsgom mo (meditating on the emptiness) (Bsod nams rtse mo, p.236; see below)” in the liturgy, whereas kurug-ta tapïg diravi-larïg ušat- means “to crumble the offering while meditating on the emptiness”.

4. The Parallel Tibetan Text

In words such as bali (ritual food offering) and tapïg diravi (offering) at the end of the Old Uighur text above, it can be confirmed that this is an Old Uighur text belonging to the religious literary genre balividhi or gtor ma[’i] cho ga. This Old Uighur text can be roughly divided into three sections according to the contents of the manuscript:

A.

Verses of praise for the five ḍākas: lines 1–4;

B.

Transference of merit. B-1 to the deities and demons: lines 5–9; B-2 and to oneself: align 9–17.

C.

A mantra: lines 17–19.

Several Tibetan texts exist that partly parallel this balividhi fragment. Among them is one that bears a close resemblance in terms of content and structure, and that is the Tibetan Dpal dus kyi ’khor lo’i dbang gong ma’i cho ga, (Ritual Procedure for higher empowerments of Kālacakra (hereafter Dpal dus cho ga) (Tāranātha 1979–1981, pp. 107–8), which is as follows4:

A

mi bskyod rdo rje ye shes che || rdo rje dbyings ni mkha’(mkhas) chen po ||

rdo rje gsum mchog dkyil ’khor gsum || rdo rje mkha’ ’gror phyag ’tshal bstod ||

rnam par snang mdzad dag pa che | rdo rje zhi ba dga’ chen po ||

rang bzhin gyis ni ’od gsal mchog|| sangs rgyas mkha’ ’gror phyag ’tshal bstod ||

rin chen rgyal po rab tu zab || rdo rje nam mkha’ dri ma med ||

rang bzhin dag pa gos pa med || rin chen mkha’ ’gro(r phyag ’tshal bstod) ||5

rdo rje dpag med rgyal po che || mi rtog rdo rje nam mkha’ ’dzin ||

’dod chags pha rol phyin pa brnyes || padma mkha’ ’gro(r phyag ’tshal bstod) ||

don yod rgyal po rdzogs sangs rgyas || bsam pa thams cad rdzogs mdzad pa ||

dngos nyid dag pa nyid las byung || sna tshogs mkha’ ’gro(r phyag ’tshal bstod) ||

The Akṣobhyavajra, the supreme wisdom, Vajradhātu, the great intelligence, supreme three Vajras, three-fold maṇḍala, homage to Vajraḍāka.

The Vairocana, supremely pure, vajra peace, great joy, naturally supremely luminous, homage to Buddhaḍāka.

The Ratnarāja, profound depth, the vajra space without fault, the pure of self-nature, untainted, homage to the Ratnaḍāka.

The Vajrāmita, great king, without thought, bearer of vajra space, attaining the opposite shore of desire, homage to Padmaḍāka.

The Amoghavajra, the fully enlightened one, fulfilment of all hopes, born of intrinsic purity, homage to Viśvaḍāka.

B-1

lha chen brgyad po ’khor dang bcas || klu chen brgyad po (’khor dang bcas) ||

’jig rten skyong ba brgyad po dang || gnod sbyin tshogs rnams ma lus dang ||

srin po’i (tshogs rnams ma lus dang) || ’byung po’i (tshogs rnams ma lus dang) ||

yi dwags (tshogs rnams ma lus dang) || sha za’i (tshogs rnams ma lus dang) ||

smyo byed_(tshogs rnams ma lus dang) || brjed byed (tshogs rnams ma lus dang) || mkha’ ’gro’i (tshogs rnams ma lus dang) || ma mo’i tshogs rnams ma lus dang ||

de la sogs te ’byung po’i tshogs || ma lus ji snyed mchis pa rnams ||

’dir gshegs bdag la dgongs su gsol ||

The Eight Celestial Kings and their retinues, the Eight Great Nāga Kings and their align, along with the Eight Dharma Protectors and their retinues. The entire group of yakṣas, rakṣas, bhūtas, pretas, piśācas, unmadas, apasmāras, ḍākas, as well as ma mos.

All spirits as such, please come here to me.

B-2

mchod sbyin gtor ma ’di bsnams la ||

rnal ’byor bdag cag ’khor bcas la ||nad med tshe dang dbang phyug dang ||

dpal dang grags dang skal pa bzang || longs spyod rgya chen kun thob cing ||

zhi dang rgyas la sogs pa yi || las kyi dngos grub bdag la stsol ||

dam tshig can gyis bdag la srungs || dngos grub kun gyis stongs grogs mdzod ||

dus min ’chi dang nad rnams dang || gdon dang bgegs rnams med par mdzod ||

rmi lam ngan dang mtshan ma ngan || bya byed ngan pa med par mdzod || …

Please take this offering foods of gtor ma.

May we practitioners and our retinues live long and be free from disease!

May we be blessed with good name, good fortune, and great achievements!

Grant me the realization of the activities of pacifying, increasing, etc.!

May those who observe vinaya and rules bless me with accomplishments!

May there be no untimely death, sickness, misfortune, or obstacles!

May nightmares, bad omens, and bad deeds all disappear…

C-1

oṃ āẖ hūṃ hraḥ phaṭ |

C-2

ọṃ svabhāvaśuddhasarvadharmasvabhāvaśuddho ’haṃ | stong par gyur ||…

Section A consists of five verses praising the five ḍākas. The verses may have originally come from Guhyasamājatantra, where they are chanted to praise the Buddhas of the five directions rather than the five ḍākas so that the last sentences of each verse are not identical for the other parts they are basically as the same as B-1 (see above). Here, we s list the Tibetan version of Guhyasamājatantra as below:

mi bskyod rdo rje ye shes che || rdo rje dbyings ni mkhas pa che ||

rdo rje gsum mchog dkyil ’khor gsum || gsang ba gsungs khyod phyag ’tshal lo ||

rnam par snang mdzad dag pa che | rdo rje zhi ba dga’ ba che ||

rang bzhin ’od gsal chos rnams ni|| ston pa rdo rje khyod phyag ’tshal ||

rin chen rgyal po rab tu zab || rdo rje nam mkha’ dri med mkha’ ||

rang bzhin dag pas gos pa med || gsang ba gsungs shig khyod phyag ’tshal ||

rdo rje dpag med rgyal po che || mi rtog nam mkha’ rdo rje can ||

’dod chags pha rol phyin pa brnyes || rdo rje gsungs khyod phya ’tshal lo ||

don yod rdo rje rdzogs sangs rgyas || bsam pa thams cad yongs rdzogs mdzad ||

dag pa ngo bo nyid las byung || rdo rje sems dpa’ khyod phya ’tshal ||

(De bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi sku gsung thugs kyi

gsang chen gsang ba ’dus pa, p. 402)

The Sanskrit parallel reads as follows:

akṣobhyavajra mahājñāna vajradhātu mahābudha |

trimaṇḍala trivajrāgra ghoṣaguhya namo ’stu te ||

vairocana mahāśuddha vajraśānta mahārate |

prakṛtiprabhās varagrāgra6 deśavajra namo ’stu te ||

ratnarāja sugāmbhīrya khavajrākāśanirmala |

svabhāvaśuddha nirlopa kāyavajra7 namo ’stu te ||

vajrāmita mahārāja nirvikalpa khavajradhṛk |

rāgapāramitāprāpta bhāṣavajra namo ’stu te||

amoghavajra saṃbuddha sarvāśāparipūraka |

śuddhasvabhāvasaṃbhūta vajrasttva namo ’stu te ||8

(Fremantle 1971, pp. 372–73; cf. Matsunaga 1978, p. 96)

This five-fold set of praise verses is very popular in texts related to Guhyasamāja, albeit without five ḍākas, but leaves the central position for Akṣobhya and Vairocana, Ratnarāja, Vajrāmita and Amoghavajra around its four positions. More interestingly, in addition to Guhyasamājatantra, the exact verses of Section A appear in the text of Hevajra (Kye’i rdo rje) and Cakrasamvara (’Khor lo bde mchog) as well as in a series of maṇḍala rituals (dkyil ’khor gyi cho ga) and sādhana (sgrub thabs), such as in the Bde mchog gi dkyil ‘khor gyi cho ga (La ba pa 1996, p. 660).

Section B, the transference of merits, appears in the Dpal kye rdo rje’i gtor ma’i cho ga (p. 1324), and B-2 only appears in the Mgon po bya rog gdong gi gtor mdos (p. 637).

Moreover, judging from the remaining letters of Section C in the Old Uighur text, the first mantra also differs from that of C-1 recorded in the Dpal dus cho ga. It is more likely to be the mantra oṃ vajra amṛta kuṇḍalī hana hana hūṃ phaṭ, which is used to remove obstacles (see below).

As noted above, although each of the three parts appears separately in the Bstan ’gyur (the canonical collection of Tibetan translated treaties), the combination of the three parts appears only in the Dpal dus cho ga which is a text that is not included in the Bstan ’gyur. Moreover, according to the colophon, that document was written by Tāranātha (1575–1634), a lama-scholar of the Jo nang school. Considering the time span, it is unlikely to be the source text of the Old Uighur manuscript in question. However, in the Dpal kye’i rdo rje’i mngon par rtogs pa yan lag bzhi pa (The Four Branches of the Hevjra’s Realization) composed by Slob dpon Bsod nams rtse mo (1142–1182) (2007, pp. 219–81), the second patriarch Supreme Master of the Sakya School, another rite of Gtor ma btang ba (offering gtor ma), is introduced. Although in terms of its textual sequence, the mantra appears before Sections A and B, the specific text that needed to be chanted during this rite is identical to that of the Dpal dus cho ga.

According to the record by Bsod nams rtse mo, there are two ways to offer gtor ma: one is to offer it, respectively, to the deities (lha) and the spirits (’byung po), and the other is to scatter it as an offering for all of them, as is taught by Mahāsiddha Virūpa. The entire ceremony is composed of four subrites (cho ga), namely “Substances Concentration. (rdzas kyi ting nge ’dzin)”, “Guests Concentration (mgron gyi ting nge ’dzin)”, “Offering gtor ma and so on (gtor ma ’bul ba la sogs pa)”, and “The end of the rite (mjug gi cho ga)”.

The first rite, “Substances Concentration”, is divided into four steps and contains two mantras. According to Bsod nams rtse mo, the first mantra oṃ vajra amṛta kuṇḍali hana hana hūṃ phaṭ was for cleansing the offering substances (rdzas bsang ba), i.e., removing obstacles with the mantra. The second mantra ọṃ svabhāvaśuddhasarvadharmasvabhāvaśuddho ’haṃ is for purifying (sbyang ba) the offering substances, i.e., meditating on the emptiness by the mantra.9 The first mantra corresponds to the Uighur text Section C-1, and the second mantra corresponds to C-2. (Bsod nams rtse mo, p. 236).

The third ritual of “offering gtor ma and so on” is further divided into four steps:

(1)

Offering gtor ma (gtor ma dbul ba)

(2)

Worship (mchod pa)

(3)

Praise (bstod pa)

(4)

The transfer of merits (phrin las gzhol ba)

The praising words in (3) “to praise” correspond exactly to the “praising verses for the five Ḍākas” in the Old Uighur text A, and those in (4) “transfer of merits” correspond exactly to those in the Old Uighur text B. (Bsod nams rtse mo, pp. 243–44).

5. Conclusions

The above account of Bsod nams rtse mo further defines the nature of the Old Uighur fragment and explains how the text of balividhi is put into practice. In addition, considering the close connection between the Yuan and the Sakya school, it is very likely that this Old Uighur ritual text was inherited from the Sakya tradition. Moreover, considering the historical background of the time and the development of Tantric Buddhism in Dūnhuáng during the Yuan periods, this text is very likely related to the practice of Hevajra or Kālacakra. The Hevajratantra is at the core of the Sakya system of “The path and its Fruit (lam ’bras)”, which was taught by ’Phags pa Blo gros rgyal mtshan (1235–1280), the Sa skya school’s fifth patriarch, to Qubilai Qan in Liángzhōu (凉州), present-day Wǔwēi (武威). Texts closely related to the Sakya school, such as Sa skya legs bshad (Sakya Gnomic Verses) in Mongolian, have also been unearthed in Dūnhuáng. The Kālacakratantra appeared as late as the 11th century (Newman 1998, pp. 311–17), but the belief in the Kālacakra in Tibetan Buddhism became very popular during the Yuan Dynasty (AD 1271–1368). Although the Mongol imperial family may not have actually practiced Kālacakra, they did sponsor the block-printing of a number of manuscripts related to Kālacakra for the purpose of stabilizing the reign and uniting the people (van der Kuijp 2004, p. 53).

Tantric Buddhist themes appeared in the Dūnhuáng caves as early as the Sui and Tang periods, continued through the Five Dynasties and the Song, and ultimately flourished during the Tangut and Yuan dynasties. A variety of cultures are intertwined here, blending with each other. In the eighth year of Zhizheng, Yuan Dynasty (AD 1348), the Six Characters Tablet, written in Chinese, Brāhmī, Tibetan, Thangut, ‘Phags pa script, and Old Uighur, is the best proof of this. In the renowned Tibetan Buddhist monastery of the Yuan dynasty located in Mògāo Cave 465, murals of Hevajra, Guhyasamāja, and Cakrasaṃvara mandalas can be found (Péng 2003, pp. 241–55).

In fact, as mentioned above, many Old Uighur Tantric texts have been discovered in Dūnhuáng, including in the cave B121 where this fragment was found (Yakup 2006, pp. 4–8). In Cave B121, a variety of Buddhist texts in multiple languages were uncovered. Notably, B121:37, like B121:38, is an Old Uighur text exhibiting characteristics of the later stages of Uighur script development during the Yuan period (Zhāng 2004, p. 361). Additionally, the Mongolian Buddhist text Bodhicaryāvatāra, preserved in the cave, is estimated to have been copied between AD 1305 and 1312 (Otγon 2009, p. 13). The cave also housed Buddhist texts and a compilation of mantras in Tangut, particularly B121:30-2, which may have originated from Tibetan translations.

The presence of these texts suggests that Tantric rituals were frequently performed there centuries ago, with the Old Uighur balividhi ritual likely playing a role in these ceremonies. Given B121’s function as a burial site, some of these texts may have been integral to funeral rites, further highlighting the significance and acceptance of Tantric Buddhism among the royal family in Dūnhuáng during that era.