The Biographies of Rechungpa: The Evolution of a Tibetan ...

The biographies of Rechungpa 74
story-lines are parallel, The Life and Songs of Glorious Shepay Dorje’s narrative has on
the whole evolved further from the Gampopa/Lama Shang narrative base than
Gyadangpa has, though unlike that text, it retained in that episode the narrative unit of
mis-identification as an animal.
The number of songs in The Life and Songs of Glorious Shepay Dorje is far greater
than in Gyadangpa. The same episode has a few songs of a similar nature rather than just
one, while narrative passages without songs in Gyadangpa gain them here, however
unlikely it may be that individuals would break into song.
There are songs that are in both texts, though with expansion and variation in The Life
and Songs of Glorious Shepay Dorje. For example, when Milarepa discovers his family
home in ruins:
Gyadangpa (rGya-ldang-pa), 219:
I pay homage to the lord gurus.
Alas! Alas! There is no essence.
Generally, has no essence.
Always, always, without essence.
Changing, changing without essence.
rJe bla ma rnams la phyag ‘tshal lo/
Kye ma kye ma snying po med/
sPyir ‘khor ba’i chos la snying po med/
rTags [sic=rtag] shing rtags [sic] shing snying po med/
‘Gyur gyin ‘gyur gyin snying po med/
The Life and Songs of Glorious Shepay Dorje has a more polished, literary form:
(bZhad-pa’i rDo-rje’i rNam-thar 16a5)
Alas!
The phenomena of have no essence
Impermanent, impermanent, without essence
Changing, changing, without essence
Uncertain, uncertain without essence.
Kye ma
‘Khor ba’i chos la snying po med/
Mi rtag mi rtag snying po med/
‘Gyur zhing ‘gyur zhing snying po med/