Mk'yen-brtse's Guide to the Holy Places of Central Tibet

270 Pages·1958·15.388 MB·English

by  Alfonsa Ferrari

SERlE ORIENTALE ROMA
XVI
ALFONSA FERRARI t
MK.YEN BRTSE'S GUIDE TO THE
HOLY PLACES OF CENTRAL TIBET
Compl•r~.t and rdil•d by lr'itli the collaboration oj
LUCIA:-10 PET.t;CFI HUGH RICUARDSON
ROMA
ISTITUTO ITALIA '0 PER lL MEDlO
ED ESTRE.\10 ORIENTE
1958

MI('YEN BRTSE'S GUIDE TO THE
HOLY PLACES OF CENTRAL TIBET
ISTITUTO ITALIANO PER IL MEDIO
ED ESTREMO ORIENTE
SERlE ORIENTALE ROMA
SOTTO LA DIREZIONE
Dl
GIUSEPPE TUCCI
VOLUME XVI
ROMA
Is. M. E. 0.
19 58
SERlE ORIENTALE ROMA
XVI
ALFONSA FERRARI t
MI(.YEN BRTSE'S GUIDE TO THE
HOLY PLACES OF CENTRAL TIBET
Completed and edited by
LUCIAN 0 PETECH
With the collaboration of
HUGH RICHARDSON
ROMA
ISTITUTO ITALIANO PERIL MEDIO
ED ESTREMO ORIENTE
1958
TUTTI 1 DIRITTI RJSERVATI
Printed in Italy" Stampato in Italia
TipograDa 111 S. Giuseppe" - Rom a - Via G. lnduno. 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE OF THE EDITOR IX
ABBREVIATIONS XV
INTRODUCTION XIX
TEXT 1
TRANSLATION 37
NOTES 77
INDEXES:
TIBETAN INDEX 173
SANSKRIT INDEX 191
GENERAL INDEX 194
PLATES 201
MAPSA·B·C

PREFAOE OF THE EDITOR
Alfonso Ferrari (1918-1954), of Aquila, was one of the
best pupils of the Rome school of Buddhist studies, whose
guru is Professor G. Tucci. She studied Sanskrit with For
michi, and Tibetan and the religions of India- and the Far
East with Tucci, graduating at the University of Rome with
a thesis on the Arthavini~caya (1), a small Sanskrit text
which summarizes in short formulae the essentials of Ma
hayana. Afterwards she carried out post-graduate research
at the Oriental School of the University of Rome, at the end
of which she publis!ted a critical edition and translation of
the Paramitasamasa of Aryasura (2). In 1946 and again
in 1948 she won a scholarship for research in Paris, where
she worked with Bloch, Renou, Bacot and Lalou. In 1952
she was appointed teacher of Sanskrit at. the University of
Rome; but by that time she was already struggling against
the long illness which brought about her untimely end on
( 1) A:rthovin.iSC4ya ( T e3to e ver1ione ), in Atti della Reale Accademia
d'Italia, Memorie della Classe di Scienze morali e storiche, serie VIII, vol. IV
( 1944), pp. 535-625.
(2) ll « Compendio delle Perfezioni » di Aryasura, in Anna!i Lateranen~i,
X (1946),. pp. 1-101.
IX
the first day of 1954. We lost in her a very promising
junior scholar, whose strictly scientifical mind and methods
and whose habit of pitiless self-criticism may have been an
obstacle to a larger production, but ensured a high scholarly
level for the little she chose to publish.
In 1946, upon her first departure for Paris, Professor
Tucci advised her to undertake the edition of the small
guide to the holy places of Central Tibet by miCyen brtse.
She worked at it for some years, intending to present it
as a thesis for the Ecole des Hautes Etudes in Paris. But
afterwards her interest flagged, as her attention was drawn
away to other subjects and as her illness began preying upon
her vitality. I remember discussing with her several points,
but vainly endeavouring to persuade her to finish a work
which she had begun with such keenness and continued with
such competence and care. Practically she ceased working
at it after 1951.
After her sad demise, upon request by Professor Tucci
and with the consent of the family of our lamented friend,
l took upon me to prepare the little work for the press.
Dr. Ug o Ferrari, Miss Ferrari's brother, handed over to me
-all the papers she had left. When, after a long delay im
posed by other pressing duties, I examined them, I found
to my surprise much less than I had expected. There was
no question of simply preparing a work for the press,
as we had expected (1). For the larger part the book had
yet to be written, and I felt very much in doubt whether it
was possible, and indeed advisable, to do so. Eventually
I decided in the affirmative, because l felt it as a duty to
( 1) Professor Tucci had given expression to this hope in his obituary
notice of Miss Ferrari in Rivista degli Studi Orientali, XXIX (1954), pp. 158-159.
X