Notes

n.1For historical and ethnographical details concerning the gaṇḍī and its wide-ranging usage in Buddhist monasteries, see Helffer (1983), Hu-von Hinüber (1991), and Sobkovyak (2015).

n.2In The Pali Text Society’s Pali-English Dictionary, the term gaṇḍī is defined as “a shaft or stalk, used as a bar.” The related Sanskrit term gaṇḍi is defined in the Monier-Williams dictionary as “the trunk of a tree from the root to the beginning of the branches.” For a discussion of the various definitions and etymologies of the term, see Sobkovyak (2015), p. 689.

n.3As noted by ethnomusicologist Mireille Helffer, “The oldest writings on Indian Buddhism mention an instrument, the gandi, used to call monks to assembly. Recent observations show an instrument called gandi, or ganti, used similarly in Tibetan monasteries. Other recent texts confirm that the old gandi, like the modern version, is a phonoxyle; its shape is similar to that of certain wooden semanterions used in Greek Orthodox monasteries. The prescriptions of the canonical writings are still followed, and the Tibetan Buddhists, faithful to a tradition received from India, continue to build and use the gandi.” Helffer (1983), p. 112.

n.4This classification is given in the Poṣadhavastu , which comprises the second chapter of the Tibetan version of the Vinayavastu included in the Kangyur and corresponds to the Khandhaka section of the Theravāda Vinaya in Pāli. For a translation of this passage as it occurs in the Sanskrit Gilgit manuscript purported to belong to the Mūlasarvāstivāda tradition, see Hu-von Hinüber (1991), p. 746. The passage appears to distinguish five different kinds of gaṇḍī but more likely specifies five different ways in which the gaṇḍī is used in monastic life. Indeed, the Poṣadhavastu elsewhere specifies the different ways of striking the gaṇḍī beam in each of these five contexts. For details on these contexts as well as traditional classifications of its use in tantric practice, see Sobkovyak (2015), 690–93.

n.5Denkarma, folio 301.a.5. See also Herrmann-Pfandt (2008), p. 167.

n.6dkar chag ’phang thang ma (2003).

n.7Tib. ting ti sa ra. We could not find a botanical listing for this tree.

n.8We have followed Degé: shin tu brtan pa (“very stable”). Stok: shin tu bstan pa (“well revealed”).

n.9This is a tentative rendering of the line bskyed pa’i rim gyis brdung bar bya. According to Geshe Dorji Damdul (personal communication), the meaning of this phrase is that the gaṇḍī should be struck softly at first, then gradually harder, and finally the sound should decrease again. Sobkovyak’s conjecture that this refers to the developing stage (utpattikrama) of the Vajrayāna seems anachronistic. Sobkovyak (2015), 700.

n.10We are not sure what the seven nāgas refer to here. In some traditional representations of the Buddha, he is presented as sheltered by a seven-headed nāga, which refers to the nāga that sheltered him from the storm shortly before his awakening. Perhaps the mention of seven nāgas in this text is related to this?

n.11We have followed Degé: shang rtsa. Stok: shing rtsa (“tree root”).

n.12Perhaps this also refers to the gaṇḍī being sheltered by the seven-headed nāga in the same way that certain buddha statues are presented? See n.­10.