Some Remarks on the Textual Transmission and Text of Bu ston

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Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines
la sogs pa'i rigs ldan dgus rim pa bzhin lo brgya brgyar
chos bstan pa sogs rtsis pa las [read: lus] so // phyis gyi
mkhas pa kha cig ston pa lcags sprel la 'khrungs nas gya
gcig pa lcags 'brug la rtsa rgyud gsungs pa dang lo de nyid
la mya ngan las 'das par bzhed do //]
me rta yin pa'i bstan rtsis dang //
phal cher mthun shas che bar mngon //
de la bsams nas bdag gis ni //
chos 'byung yid kyi mdzes [b]rgyan du //
'di yi steng nas rtsis pa ste //
mkhas pa rnams kyis dpyad mdzod cig //
Despite the fact that the Teacher's birth year is unclear
From Mkhas grub's Ṭīk chen de nyid snang ba,
{gloss: Mkhas grub rje did a calculation at the age of
fifty in the wood-tiger year [1434]. Further, due the
fact that the Teacher pronounced the Kālacakramūlatantra
to Sucandra the year subsequent to his enlightenment,
he taught it for one or two years. 62 Thereafter,
one depends on the fact that each of the six religious
kings [of Sambhala] such as *Devendra etc. and each
of the nine Kalkin rulers [of Sambhala] such as Yaśas,
etc. respectively taught the tantra etc. for one hundred
years. <strong>Some</strong> later scholar[s] 63 averred (bzhed) that the
Teacher was born in the iron-monkey year [961 B.C.],
that he pronounced the Kālacakramūlatantra at the age
of eighty in the iron-dragon year [881 B.C.], and that
he passed beyond suffering in that very year.}
62
63
See Mkhas grub, Dpal dus kyi 'khor lo'i 'grel chen dri ma med pa'i 'od kyi rgya cher
bshad pa de kho na nyid kyi snang bar byed pa, 149-50. This point is quite controversial
and will have to be revisited on a future occasion. For now, see Sum pa
Mkhan po's lengthy discussion of Mkhas grub's work and the reactions engendered
by it in his 'Phags yul rgya nag chen po bod dang sog yul du dam pa'i chos
'byung tshul dpag bsam ljon bzang, 356-68 [= Chos 'byung dpag bsam ljon bzang, ed.
Dkon mchog tshe brtan, 539-59].
The gloss of unknown provenance refers here at least to Grwa phug pa Lhun
grub rgya mtsho'i dpal (ca.1400-60) and his 1447 study of Kālacakra computational
astronomy, which its colophon titles Dpal dus kyi 'khor lo las 'byung ba'i rtsis kyi
tshul la yang dag pa'i ngag sbyin pa legs par bshad pa padma dkar po'i zhal lung. For
the relevant passage, see Rtsis gzhung pad dkar zhal lung, ed. Yum pa (Beijing: Mi
rigs dpe skrun khang, 2002), 83-9 [= 1681 Dga' ldan phun tshogs gling print, 56b-
61b].