Sakyong Mipham - The Epic of Gesar of Ling: Gesar’s Magical Birth, Early Years, and Coronation as King

The Gesar story is one of the Tibetan peoples most popular epics, its stories being enacted and sung at festivals and on important ceremonial occasions. By making the epic of Gesar available in English, the translators are offering the modern reader a chance to experience the particular character of this Tibetan tradition that has brought hope and fortitude to many generations across the Tibetan-speaking world.

from the foreword by His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama

The timing [of this book] could not be better. As our modern world experiences a loss of heart and humanity, and climactic changes and disasters occur, we need the compassionate, wise, and potent energy of Gesar more than ever.

from the foreword by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

ABOUT THE BOOK

The epic of Gesar has been the national treasure of Tibet for almost a thousand years. An open canon of tales about a superhuman warrior-king, the epic is still a living oral tradition, included on UNESCOs Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This book is a translation of the beginning portion of this enormous corpus, covering all the events from Gesars divine conception to his human birth and mischievous childhood to his coronation as king of Ling.

Born in the pure lands the son of two wisdom deities, Gesar takes rebirth in the human realm in order to defeat the demon kings who had taken over the empires of Asia and to thus liberate the people from suffering. His jealous uncle Trothung proves to be the first major threat to this goal, but Gesar outwits him every time using magic. In the last chapters of the book, he and Trothungs son face off in a high-tension horse race to decide who will win the throne of Ling and the hand of the coveted Princess Drugmo in marriage.

Gesars story is popularly read as an allegory, with Gesar representing the ideal of spiritual warriorshipthat is, fearlessness in the face of obstacles on the path to enlightenment. Just as Gesar rides his flying steed, we too can ride the energy of dignity, confidence, and power that is inherent to us, subduing inner demons and claiming victory.

ROBIN KORNMAN, SANGYE KHANDRO, LAMA CHONAM (19472007) is best known for his work as a Tibetan Buddhist scholar, as well as a founding member of the Nalanda Translation Committee. Up until his death, he spent many years working on this translation of the epic of Gesar. A longtime student of Chgyam Trungpa Rinpoche, he earned his PhD from Princeton University and was a professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.

SANGYE KHANDRO is an American woman who studied Buddhist philosophy and Tibetan language with Tibetan masters in India and Nepal. She has studied and translated many important Tibetan Buddhist texts. She is a cofounder of Light of Berotsana, a nonprofit organization for translators of Tibetan texts.

LAMA CHNAM CHYING NAMGYAL was born in the Golog area of eastern Tibet in 1964. His root teacher, Khenpo Munsel, was a direct disciple of Khenpo Ngagchung and was himself one of the great authentic Dzogchen masters of the twentieth century. Lama Chnam escaped Tibet in 1992 and later came to the United States, where he resides today. Over the past sixteen years, Lama Chnam has been teaching Tibetan language and the Buddhadharma. He is one of the founders of the Light of Berotsana Translation Group.

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THE EPIC OF

Gesar of Ling

GESARS MAGICAL BIRTH, EARLY YEARS, AND CORONATION AS KING

TRANSLATED BY

Robin Kornman, PhD

Sangye Khandro

Lama Chnam

Forewords by

His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama

Alak Zenkar Rinpoche

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

SHAMBHALA

Boston & London

2015

Shambhala Publications, Inc.

Horticultural Hall

300 Massachusetts Avenue

Boston, Massachusetts 02115

www.shambhala.com

2012 by Light of Berotsana Translation Group

Cover art by Rinjin Dorje Sherpa

Frontispiece Rinjin Dorje Sherpa

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUES

THE HARDCOVER EDITION OF THIS BOOK AS FOLLOWS:

Gesar. Volume 13. English.

The epic of Gesar of Ling: Gesars magical birth, early years, and coronation as king / translated by Robin Kornman, Sangye Khandro, and Lama Chnam; forewords by Alak Zenkar Rinpoche and Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

eISBN 978-0-8348-2750-9

ISBN 978-1-59030-842-4 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-61180-095-1 (paperback)

1. Epic literature, TibetanTranslations into English.

I. Kornman, Robin, 19472007. II. Khandro, Sangye. III. Chnam, Lama. IV. Title.

PL3748.G4E5 2012

895.41dc22

2011014496

CONTENTS

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THE EPIC OF GESAR OF LING IS A GREAT WORK drawn from centuries of oral tradition that combines cultural, literary, musical, and historical elements with Tibetan Buddhist values. The Gesar story is one of the Tibetan peoples most popular epics, its stories being enacted and sung at festivals and on important ceremonial occasions.

Many ancient peoples have recited epics as a source of inspirationthe renowned Mahabharata and Ramayana in India, the Hamzanama in Persia, and the Iliad and Odyssey in Greece, for example. Tales of the heroic feats of Gesar of Ling enjoy a similar status among the people of Tibet.

By making the epic of Gesar available in English, the translators are offering the modern reader a chance to experience the particular character of this Tibetan tradition that has brought hope and fortitude to many generations across the Tibetan-speaking world; we have sound reasons to be grateful to them.

AUGUST 14, 2012

Foreword by
ALAK ZENKAR RINPOCHE

IT HAS COME TO MY ATTENTION that Lama Chnam and Lotsawa Sangye Khandro have been able to successfully complete the English translation of The Events Leading to Gesars Incarnation in the Land of Ling, which are the first three volumes of the great epic of King Gesar of Ling. For those of us who are dedicated to the preservation of the Gesar epic, this great news, like the melodious beating of the drums in the heavenly realms, brings the epic one step closer to worldwide awareness and appreciation.