Royal Song of Saraha: Study in the History of Buddhist Thought

226 Pages·1973·11.245 MB·English

by  Herbert V. Guenther

Saraha, arrowsmith, songster, and sage
THE
ROYAL SONG
OF SARAHA
A Study in the History of Buddhist Thought
TRANSLATED AND ANNOTATED BY
HERBERT V. GUENTHER
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SHAMBALA Berkeley and London
SHAMBALA PUBLICATIONS, INC.
1409 Fifth Street
Berkeley, California 94710
and
Barn Cottage, Stert
Devizes, Wiltshire
Distributed in the Commonwealth and Europe
by Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd.
London and Henley-on-Thames
First paperback edition 1973
Copyright © 1968 by the University of Washington Press
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress 68-8512
ISBN 0-87773-042-3
Preface
The richness ofE astern thought and its influence in moulding
the life of the peoples in the Far East are still relatively little
known and appreciated. The vast field of Tibetan thought
and civilization is virtually unexplored. Too often, also,
thought and action have been presented as unrelated to each
other. The theme of this study of Saraha is the interrelation
between thought and action. It is not exhaustive, rather ex
ploratory, and attempts to show the significance of Saraha's
work for the development ofTibetan Buddhist thought and
ways oflife in the manner in which it was understood by the
Tibetans themselves, as illustrated by the two commentaries
translated here, one by the Nepalese scholar, sKye-med bde
chen (eleventh century), and the other by the famous bKa'
brgyud-pa Lama Karma Phrin-las-pa (fifteenth century). In
this respect, it is hoped, this study will destroy the long
cherished myth that the Tibetans merely translated mechani
cally from Indian sources and thus were little more than the
custodians of works unfortunately lost in India. There is
nothing to support this myth and it is about time to realize
that Indian Buddhist thought acted merely as a powerful
stimulus to an otherwise profound indigenous thinking
which could absorb and remodel new ideas.
v
In searching for expressions suitable for conveying the
meaning of the many technical terms, I have tried to remain
as close as possible to the associations these terms evoke in
spoken Tibetan and to the ideas they convey to the Tibetan
listener. It should be constantly borne in mind that in the field
of philosophical thinking the Tibetans made use of symbolic
etymologies distinct from the linguistic ones. In attempting
to convey what the Tibetans understood and what they lived
by, it is best to follow their example. Therefore, the transla
tion offered here is not a "crib" which, pretending to deal
with ideas, actually confuses irrelevant linguistic etymologies
with significant philosophical statements. Eastern philo
sophical texts, which in most cases are also psychologically
informative, must be dealt with from the viewpoint of
philosophy and psychology, not from that of exercises in
grammar and syntax.
No one can know better than I do that such a task is beset
with difficulties, so much more so because philosophy is not
something reducible to one or another" ism," but a perpetual
questioning. I am not thinking of this translation as a substi
tute for the original, because a translation worth the name is
more a commentary on the original than a cheap substitute
for it. Therefore, my aim has qeen not to give a complete
and unchallengeable answer to any problem that arises in the
texts, which would be impossible, but to give pointers in
what I believe to be the right direction and to arouse interest,
curiosity, and the desire to explore further.
I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness and gratitude to
Mr. K. Angrup, Lecturer at Panjab University, Chandighar,
India, who assisted me in procuring the rare blockprint of
Karma Phrin-las-pa's commentary on Saraha's Dohiis and in
having it copied; to Geshe Nagwang Nima (dge-bshes
Ngag-dbang Nyi-ma), formerly of Drepung monastery,
Vl
Tibet, and Research Fellow at the Sanskrit University in
Varanasi, India, now at Kern Institute in Leiden, Holland; to
Naynang Rinpoche (Gnas-nang dpa'- bo rin-po-che) of
Darjeeling, India; and to the Incarnate Lama TarthangTulku
(Dar-thang sprul-sku) at the Sanskrit University in Varanasi,
for their untiring help in deciphering the often illegible
blockprint and making the necessary corrections in the copied
text. All of them were always ready to discuss and elucidate
difficult passages.
My thanks are also due to Professors L. Miller, T. Y.
Henderson, and R. W. Krutzen of the University of Saskat
chewan, who read part of the typescript and made valuable
suggestions concerning the rendering ofp hilosophical terms.
To G.J. Yorke, I owe much for style and presentation.
I am especially grateful to the University of Saskatchewan
for making available a substantial fmancial contribution for
the publication of this book.
My wife has given unstinted help in proofreading and
indexing; and even more in the patience and understanding
she has shown when all my spare time was devoted to the
writing of this book.
H. V. G.
PREFACE Vll

Contents
PART I: TRADITION AND PHILOSOPHY
The Tradition about Saraha and His Works 3
of
The Teaching the Dohas 21
Existence versus Essence 42
PART II: THE ROYAL SONG OF SARAHA
The Song on Human Action-the Treasure ·of Dohiis 63
PART III: COMMENT ARIES
Commentaries by sKye-med bde-chen
and Karma Phrin:..las-pa 75
Selected Bibliography
205
Index
209