The Virtuous Activity of Publishing the Victorious One’s Teachings

The virtuous activity of publishing the Victorious One’s teachings will be explained according to the time of production, the process of collecting and editing the manuscripts, [F.106.a] and the practicalities of printing.

2.1 The Time of the Production of the Kangyur

2.1.1In general, this great Fortunate Eon is made up of three phases: the age of formation, the age of remaining, and the age of destruction. Within the age of remaining, there are twenty intermediate periods: the long decline, the long rise, and the eighteen cyclical periods between. Currently, we are in the later part of the long decline. In terms of the stages of the existence of the Sage’s teachings, which are divided into groups of three 500-year periods, we are now in the latter half.

2.1.2Learned people have come to many conflicting conclusions regarding the number of years that have elapsed since our Teacher, the Fourth Guide, the Lord of the Śākyas, displayed his emanation in our world. According to the tradition of The White Lotus Instructions , which is commonly used today, our teacher was born 2,689 years ago in the year of Raudra, the male iron monkey year (960 ʙᴄᴇ), on the seventh day of the month of Viśakhā, in the hour of Puṣya; he reached perfect awakening 2,655 years ago in the year of Jaya, the wood horse year (926 ʙᴄᴇ), on the fifteenth day of the month of Viśakhā; and, in that same year, on the fourth day of the month of Pūrvāṣādhā, he turned the wheel of Dharma for the five disciples. Then, 2,609 years ago, at midday on the day of the full moon, the fifteenth day of Viśakhā in the iron dragon year (880 ʙᴄᴇ), he displayed the reclining posture with his mind passing into the expanse of peace.

2.1.3Alternatively, the tradition of the Dharma Lord Sakya Paṇḍita holds that our teacher was born 3,861 years ago in the year of Vibhava, the earth dragon year (2132 ʙᴄᴇ), and passed away in the year of Sarvajit, the earth pig year (2039 ʙᴄᴇ). In the tradition of the Kashmiri scholar Śākyaśrī, our teacher was born 2,271 years ago in the female fire snake year (542 ʙᴄᴇ) and passed away in the fire mouse year (463 ʙᴄᴇ). According to the glorious lord Atiśa, the Buddha was born 3,864 years ago in the female wood ox year (2135 ʙᴄᴇ) and passed away in the wood monkey year (2056 ʙᴄᴇ).

2.1.4Regardless, the production of this Kangyur began seven years after the powerful sovereign, [F.106.b] the great, divinely mandated emperor Yongzheng, assumed the golden throne. This was when the Lord of Men, Tenpa Tsering, had reached fifty-two years of age. According to The Follow-Up Tantra to the Cakrasaṃvara , this year is called saumya, meaning “gentle.” In the eastern kingdom of China, it is called the year of the earth rooster, and in the Tibetan calendar, it is known as the female earth bird year (1729) in the first inner cycle, when three elements are in convergence, and when Jupiter is at its nadir.

2.1.5Furthermore, between the southward and northward declinations of the sun, this work was begun during the former. Among the four seasons of summer, winter, autumn, and spring, it was autumn, the season when all desirable things are in abundance. In the framework of the five seasonal periods of winter, spring, summer, short summer, and long summer, the production began in the last of those five. According to the Mongolian calendar, it was started in the seventh of the twelve months, while according to the Chinese tradition, it was in the first month of autumn, the month of the monkey.

2.1.6It was on the second day of the period when the moon was waxing in the constellation Droshin, which is known as Śrāvaṇa in the noble land of India. It was when Friday’s friendly smile was shining on the lotus face of the goddess of the constellation Anurādhā. The conjunction of the day was “immortality.”

2.1.7In the tradition of the Kālacakra , the vowel was o, the consonant was pho, the element was water, and the sense object was form. In the tradition of the Svarodaya , the vowel was e, the consonant was ra, the element was wind, the sense object was touch. It was a perfect time when all of these astrological signs appeared.

2.1.8This great ruler has accrued so many good deeds since beginningless time that their enormous power has come to fruition in the form of accomplishing the vast good deed of this endeavor, at which great joy swells like Somadarśana’s ocean. He was never discouraged by thoughts such as, “I cannot accomplish such a vast undertaking as this.” Nor did he entertain arrogant thoughts like, “This undertaking is so difficult that others would never be able to accomplish it. I am supreme while all others are mere insects.” He likewise did not have miserly thoughts such as, “This may be a worthy undertaking, [F.107.a] but it will drain my treasury and stores.” Having cast away such thoughts, he donned the armor of courageous spirit and, with the unrelenting resolve of his great intelligence, he initiated the work on this great project, heedless of the obstacles that Māra and his armies would erect, directly and indirectly, and the variety of methods they would use to cause delays.

2.2 The Manner in Which Source Texts Were Collected and Edited

2.2.1This great wheel of activity began with the collection and subsequent editing of authentic source texts. Currently, the editions that are most well known amid the snow mountains are those derived from the Tshalpa Kangyur and those derived from the Gyantsé Thempangma. Their provenance and the editing processes through which they were established are as follows.

2.2.2During the reign of the Dharma King Senalek Jingyön, in the period of the early spread of Buddhism, the translators Bandé Paltsek Rakṣita, Chökyi Nyingpo, Devendra, Palgyi Lhunpo, and others cataloged the scriptures housed in the monastery of Phangthang Kamé. Counting eight syllables as a line, four lines as a stanza, and three hundred stanzas as a fascicle, they were able to establish the length of given Dharma scriptures based on an accurate system of accounting. This became known as the Phangthangma catalog and is widely understood to be the first time that the translated words of the Victorious One were gathered into a single collection in this Land of Snows.

2.2.3Later, the translators Paltsek, Khön Nāgendra Rakṣita, and others collected those scriptures that had already been officially edited and housed in the great palace of Tongthang Denkar into a single collection, and they made a catalog that became known as the Denkarma. Following that, during the reign of the emperor Tri Desongtsen Ralpachen, in the nine-story palace with a pagoda roof at Önchang Do, the older translations of the Buddha’s words were emended to conform with the new lexical standards, and many scriptures were also newly translated. It states in The Two-Volume Lexicon : [F.107.b]

“It was instructed that preceptors from western lands such as Ācārya Jinamitra, Surendrabodhi, Śīlendrabodhi, Dānaśīla, and Bodhimitra; the Tibetan preceptors Ratnarakṣita and Dharmatāśīla; and the skilled translators Jñānasena, Jayarakṣita, Mañjuśrīvarman, Ratnendraśīla, and others write an inventory of the terminologies of the Greater and Lesser Vehicles as translated from Indic languages into Tibetan, and that ‘translations will never deviate from these conventions, which should be made so that they are suitable for everyone to study.’

2.2.5“Prior to this, during the reign of the father of the [present] Divine Son, Ācārya Bodhisattva, Yeshé Wangpo, Shang Gyalnyen Nyasang, the minister Trisher Sangshi, the translator Jñānadevakośa, Che Khyidruk, Brahmin Ānanda, and others, since the Dharma language was unknown in Tibet at that time, had assigned certain terms, some of which did not accord with the Dharma scriptures and some of which did not accord with Sanskrit grammatical conventions. So those terms that required correction have been corrected, and terms of critical importance have been added. These terms have thereby been brought into conformity with the way they appear in the scriptures of the Greater and Lesser Vehicles, the way they are explained by the great scholars of the past such as Nāgārjuna, Vasubandhu, and so forth, as well as the way they are presented in grammatical treatises.

2.2.6“Difficult terms have been divided into individual parts that have logical explanations and codified as such. Those simple terms that require no explanation and are suitable to be translated literally have been assigned direct correspondences. For other terms, it has been appropriate to assign a correspondence on the basis of meaning.

2.2.7“Then, the grand monk Yönten, the grand monk Tingézin, and others gathered before the emperor, and having submitted it to the lord and his assembled ministers, the methodology for translating the Dharma, and the Sanskrit-Tibetan correspondences, were finalized and issued as an official decree.”

2.2.8When these great inventories were being prepared, [F.108.a] the profound inner tantras of the Secret Mantra were not publicly recorded since they concerned esoteric practices.

On the Creation of the Narthang Kangyur

2.2.9During the period of the later diffusion of the teachings, the great emanated translators continued to translate many sūtras and tantras, adding to those that were already extant. For some time, however, there was no one to collate them and assemble a catalog. Later on, Jamgak Pakṣi, a student of the scholar Chom Ralpa, sent many of the necessary materials from the land of Hor for the creation of the Kangyur.

2.2.10The source texts for the Vinaya section were compiled by editing and collating the collection made by Chim Chenpo Namkha Drak and consulting the vinaya scriptures housed in the monasteries of Chumik Ringmo, Runglung Shödrok, and others. Chim Chenpo Namkha Drak had brought to Narthang monastery a complete edition of the four vinaya scriptures produced by the venerable Dharma Sengé at the monastery of Latö Olgö during the lifetime of the vinaya specialist of Gya. Dharma Sengé’s collection was prepared under the supervision of the vinaya specialist Shingmo Chepa Jangchup Sengé, who scoured the many monasteries of Ü and Tsang, such as Samyé Chimphu and so forth, and found incomplete versions of The Finer Points of Discipline in twelve volumes, The Preeminent Account of Discipline in twelve volumes, and two volumes concerning vows.

2.2.11The source texts for the Sūtra section were compiled by comparing a large number of well-organized sūtra collections, including the personal practice support of Drogön Chögyal Phakpa, known as The Supreme Ornament of Gods and Men ; the finest among the sūtra collections housed at Chumik Ringmo monastery in Tsang, such as the collections compiled by Geshé Darchar known as The Sūtra Collection of Darchar , The Drang Tsamphuk Chungma Collection , and The Blazing Joy Collection ; the finest among the sūtras housed at glorious Narthang monastery, [F.108.b] such as the practice support of Khenchen Chim, The Golden Scripture Sūtra Collection , as well as The Riches of the Victor Collection , The New Monastery Collection , and others; the practice support of Lama Drupang Tsawa called The Sūtra Collection to Adorn the World ; The Sūtra Collection in Sixty-Two Parts from Shokchung temple; the sūtra collection of Pünsum temple; the sūtra collections of the golden chapel of Zhalu known as The Essential Sūtra Collection and The Mönda Dho Collection ; and others.

2.2.12As for The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines , it is said that there were some six versions, which include The Red Manuscript and The Blue Manuscript at the time of Tri Songdetsen, and among others evolving from them The Long Imperial Hundred Thousand during the reign of Tri Desongtsen, Tri Detsuk’s Monochrome Imperial Hundred Thousand , Jingyön’s Innermost Hundred Thousand , Tsangma’s Demarcated Hundred Thousand , Ralpachen’s Six Volume Hundred Thousand , Prince Namdé’s Red-Faced Version , and Darma’s Yellow-Paper Version , as well as nineteen versions of the Hundred Thousand Lines produced by the king’s subjects. A great many collections descended from those without being degraded or corrupted in the intervening years. These source texts were compared and proofread by many scholars such as Üpa Losal, Lotsawa Sönam Öser, Gyangro Jangchup Bum, and others.

2.2.13The source texts for the Tantra section were numerous genuine, well-arranged, well-edited tantra collections of the Secret Mantra. These included the tantra collection of the great monastery of glorious Sakya, itself based on the tantra catalog composed by the great master Chökyi Gyalpo under the supervision of the great master Jetsun Drakpa Gyaltsen, as well as the tantra catalog composed by the master scholar Rikpai Raldri, The Flower Adorning the Collection of Tantras , and others. Additionally, the Narthang Kangyur tantra collection was based on the tantra collection edited, corrected, and arranged by the great vajradhara, monk of the Śākyas Serdingpa, which was later published by Geshé Kyemé Tönshé; [F.109.a] the tantra collection of glorious Tharpa Ling temple that was published by Geshé Darchar; Lama Drupang Tsawa’s handwritten manuscripts; the tantra collection housed at Öga Pünsum temple, and others.

2.2.14Additionally, source texts not mentioned above that were of excellent provenance and had been analyzed using the three kinds of reasoning were compared. In this way, at the great temple of glorious Narthang, the catalog produced by the monk of the Śākyas Jampaiyang came to be known as the Narthang Kangyur.

On the Creation of the Tshalpa Kangyur

2.2.15Using the Narthang Kangyur as the primary source text, Tshalpa Situ Gewé Lodrö produced at the Tsal Gungthang temple the collection that would come to be known as the Tshalpa Kangyur. Many scholars such as the Shöntsul Śākya Gyaltsen, Karmapa Chödrak Gyatso, the omniscient Mikyö Dorjé, Shamar Chenga Chökyi Drakpa, Gölo Shönu Pal, and others thoroughly scrutinized and examined this collection, made corrections, and added annotations. This collection thus became the supremely authoritative master copy of the Kangyur, surpassing all others in the land of Tibet. It is stored at Taktsé Palace in Chingwa.

On the Creation of the Lithang Kangyur

2.2.16Later, through the power of past meritorious deeds, the king of Jang, Karma Mipham Sönam Rapten, sent for the Tshalpa Kangyur and used it as the primary source text for the printing of a new edition. In particular, the tantra section for this edition was edited by the omniscient sixth Shamar, who compared it against the tantra collection from Taklung. Over time, it came to be housed at the monastic complex of Lithang Jamchen Nampar Gyalwa, and this [Degé Kangyur] is based on it.

On the Other Editions Used for the Degé Kangyur

2.2.17Additionally, [for the production of this Kangyur,] a number of other editions were sought, such as the authentic Kangyur that was the personal practice support of Anyen Pakṣi, [F.109.b] a Kangyur with minor corrections of addition and elision made by the eminent cleric Tashi Wangchuk, who had consulted several old recensions of reliable provenance, and the Lhodzong Kangyur. The Lhodzong Kangyur is a member of the lineage that descends from the Narthang Kangyur produced by the Dharma Kings of Gyantsé, during the establishment of which the omniscient one of these degenerate times, Butön Rinpoché, on the basis of a preliminary version made corrections to the texts using the three kinds of reasoning and compiled a catalog. Later, using that as a basis, the exalted world protector, knower of human deception, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso instructed the earthly Brahmā, Sönam Rapten, to produce an extremely accurate copy of that [Thempangma] Kangyur at glorious Thangpoché monastery, and have it sent to Lhodzong palace in Dotö. This was done to spread merit to all the beings throughout Greater Tibet and to remove the stains of mistaken judgements present in earlier versions of the scriptures.

2.2.18Once the editions mentioned above had been compared to each other, a group of learned scholars began the process of editing, by diligently making corrections in the few instances that required correction. Then, the Lord of Men issued me a firm command, as weighty as a bar of gold, and beginning on the third day of the month of Uttaraphalgunī in the year of Sādhāraṇa, the iron dog year (1730), I took up the responsibility of editing [this Kangyur edition].

2.2.19The Jang print of the Kangyur had been analyzed by many sublime beings as described above, so it is generally an extremely accurate base text. When it was put into print, however, the omniscient Chökyi Wangchuk had not finished proofreading the collection in its entirety. Furthermore, since the Dharma must be approached with extreme care and the previous managers’ inspections were not comprehensive, minor mistakes such as misordered pages, elision, and insertion became apparent. [F.110.a] These were all corrected on the basis of the Lhodzong Kangyur. We included some authentic sūtras and tantras that were not present in the Jang edition but could be found in the Lhodzong and other Kangyur editions. Some obvious omissions in The Finer Points of Discipline and other texts were amended according to the Thempangma after taking into account their respective commentaries.

2.2.20Particular to the Mantra section, we edited One Presentation of the Rites of Sarvadurgatipariśodhanatejorāja , the Guhyasamāja , the Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa Tantra , The Hevajra Tantra in Two Parts , The Smaller Śaṃvara , and The Tantra of the Arising of Śaṃvara against their Indic manuscripts. In cases where there were disagreements between the Indic manuscripts, a decision was made by consulting their respective Indic commentaries. Moreover, for the majority of texts that had an Indic commentary available, any questions that arose were resolved by consulting that commentary.

2.2.21For the secret mantras, those that could be found in mantra compendiums were brought into accordance with that. For those mantras that were not included in those compendiums, when they were in a language we could not definitively identify as Sanskrit, then we used whichever version was most common, whether it was in a language such as Drāviḍa, Paiśāca, Apabhraṃśa, secret symbolic language, or others. The mantras that were actually written in Sanskrit were brought into accordance with grammar treatises through our own understanding. Those that we could not discern were left as they were.

On the Editing of Orthography

2.2.22In the textual traditions of the past, there have been many dissimilar styles of orthography. It is said that Thönmi Sambhoṭa initially composed eight grammar treatises fundamental to the Tibetan language, yet during the later spread of Buddhism in Tibet only The Thirty Verses and The Application of Gender Signs remained. Later scholars [F.110.b] composed spelling treatises on the basis of those two texts and by consulting the ancient texts, but since they only had access to a trunk bare of its branches, certain topics were unclear or incomplete and they were not agreed upon in a definitive way. Instead, there were a variety of conflicting styles based on each scholar’s subjective reasoning. Within the Vinaya, Sūtra, and Tantra sections their own similar orthographic conventions were employed, but in their subsections there were also slight differences in orthography. Those variations that were deemed not to be erroneous were left as they stood. Thus, there was no attempt to create a singular uniform style. We eliminated any lapses into well-known dialects such as using mya for ma, stsogs for sa, and ral gyi for ral tri , and so on, because these are not accepted by scholars. Even though the da-drag post-suffix was part of the system of The Thirty Verses and The Application of Gender Signs , later scholars such as Loden Sherab treated it as if it were assumed [and omitted it], in order to simplify the language.

2.2.23The central Indic languages were all emended to accord exclusively with Sanskrit, while a few texts with Apabhraṃśa as their basis were left alone. When the names of places, flowers, and animals were given in Sanskrit, in some sūtras, the translators of the past had rendered Sanskrit words for ease of reading by Tibetans, for example writing go’u ta ma for Gautama, and so on. Elsewhere words were spelled precisely according to the Sanskrit. These were all left just as they appeared, though a few instances that could not be left uncorrected were corrected. In the tantric collections, that which could be analyzed was brought into conformity with Sanskrit.

2.2.24In brief, the Degé Kangyur was edited in accordance with texts such as the Mahāvyutpatti , [F.111.a] The Two-Volume Lexicon , Thönmi’s Thirty Verses and The Application of Gender Signs , The Weapon-Like Gateway to Speech , and other treatises on Sanskrit grammar composed by learned scholars. The [Tibetan] prefixes and suffixes were applied according to their function and the rules for their application. Criteria such the respective gender signs, the three tenses, transitivity, the general rules and their exceptions, the euphonic connection between phonemes, case declensions and their particles, and so forth were all employed just as they are prescribed.

2.2.25At this point, a number of intelligent people read the texts aloud many times as I had edited and arranged them, and they made some excellent corrections while I resolved any major questions myself. Because this scriptural collection is exceedingly large and the chief editor is of inferior intellect, like a butterfly trying to fly to the end of the sky, I am unable to say that this [Kangyur] is entirely free from misunderstandings or mistakes. Nevertheless, I do believe that it is superior in comparison to earlier editions, such as that printed in the land of China under the auspices of the great Ming emperor Yongle, and that produced by the King of Satham, which formed the basis for this, and others. Indeed, it should be considered trustworthy by discerning individuals.

2.3 The Practicalities of Printing the Kangyur

2.3.1As far as the practicalities of printing this Kangyur are concerned, all of the materials needed for printing, such as paper, ink, and so forth, as well as the wood for the printing blocks, far from being acquired from common people through the use of force or by levying taxes, were paid for in excess of current market rates. All materials were of high quality and were gathered in abundance. [F.111.b] Although in this Greater Tibet region there were no very well-educated scribes as careful as those of the past, as soon as the work began on this virtuous project, many scribes, bringing their own tools and materials of the highest quality, assembled without even being asked and were guests at this feast of merit.

2.3.2The Tibetan script first arose as an expression of the intellect of the emanation of Mañjughoṣa, Thönmi Sambhoṭa. Later, a tradition of script form was developed by Khyungpo Yudri and amendments were made by Rongpo. In this tradition, there are twenty-one feminine characteristics, sixteen masculine characteristics, and three general characteristics. By diligently studying this system, these scribes learned, and then mastered, all forty characteristics in a short amount of time.

2.3.3At the great monastic estate of Lhundrup Teng, more than sixty master scribes formed a workshop for inscribing the printing blocks and making templates for carving. There were also more than four hundred carvers, a council of ten editors, as well as carpenters, a master of paper, ink makers, paper makers, and others present. These workers labored without interruption in a process that involved a great number of important tasks. Once the editing was finalized and the templates written, each template was checked four times: twice by the scribe and twice by the editors. When that was completed, the templates were then distributed among the carvers and so forth.

2.3.4The two general supervisors of the project were the monk Karma Paldrub, a descendent of Drupwang Jangchup Lingpa, who is erudite in the practice of proofreading and has sharp eyes when it comes to reading scripture, and the close attendant of the Lord of Men himself, the secretary Tsering Phel, who is learned in writing, math, and the arts, and possesses the virtues of a nobleman such as being of an upright and steadfast character, having a big heart and an open mind, and keeping sight of the broader picture without getting lost in the finer details. [F.112.a]

2.3.5After five years of persistent, diligent work, from the year of the earth bird (1729) to the year of the water ox (1733), the project was completed.

2.3.6Over the course of those years, the total expenses incurred to produce one hundred volumes plus the three volumes of Old Tantras, such as the wages for each department‍—including the daily rations of food and drink, occasional feasts, and bonuses for their enjoyment, all of which was of high quality and bountiful beyond accounting‍—as well as the cost of the materials like woodblocks, was reckoned as 7,622 cases of good tea. This demonstrates how the outstretched hand of constant and unfailing great generosity rendered everyone happy, content, and joyful.

2.3.7After the wood blocks had been carved, they were checked many times and determined to be reliable. Immediately thereafter, the great scholar Maṅgala, present incumbent on the great lion throne of the omniscient Vajradhara Künga Sangpo, acted as the vajra master accompanied by many knowledge holders who were exceedingly proficient in the practices of deity, mantra, and samādhi. They invoked the presence of wisdom beings from the maṇḍala of glorious Hevajra and systematically repeated this consecration ritual many times with its stages of preparation, main part, and conclusion in their entirety and without confusing the order. With that, this unrivaled object of worship for all beings and gods, this great precious gem that grants an abundance of everything desirable and positive, the happiness of living beings, and the great roots and branches of the Buddha’s teachings, was complete.