“Embodiment of the three buddha families,
Through the compassionate light rays of Pema Totreng, you arose as the splendour of the world—
Supreme being, Great Lion, Norbu Dradul, to you we pray!
Grant us supreme and ordinary siddhis!”
–Mipham Gyatso Rinpoche
“In short, there is no doubt that Gesar is a wisdom emanation of the venerable hero Mañjuśrī—of this we can have complete and boundless certainty.”
– Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro
“When we talk here about conquering the enemy, it is important to understand that we are not talking about aggression. … Thus the idea of warriorship altogether is that by facing all our enemies fearlessly, with gentleness and intelligence, we can develop ourselves and thereby attain self-realization.”
–Chogyam Trungpa in his foreword to ‘The Superhuman Life of Gesar Ling”
Recently, I posted a new translation of Mipham Rinpoche’s Song of the Dzogchen view based on the teachings of the recently passed 9th Thrangu Rinpoche, downloadable as a pdf. Today, for the full moon commemoration of the parinirvana of Mipham Gyatso, I post this short research piece on a topic very close to the heart of Mipham, King Gesar and the Lingdro dance, revealed to him in a pure vision.
The article gives an overview of:
-the significance of ‘warrior’ King Gesar’s life and stories,
–the oral transmission and tradition of the Gesar-tellers, some of whom have memorised the 20 million words by heart and the banning of the text by the Communist Chinese during the Cultural Revolution.
–textual editions and western-language translations of Gesar’s life-story and texts written about him, including those by Mipham Gyatso, one by the 14th Karmapa and three by the 20th Century yogini, Sera Khandro (one of which I have translated into English here).
–previous Karmapas’ connection to King Gesar and a recent performance of the Lingdro dance by a descendant of Mipham Rinpoche, Tseyang Wangmo at the Kagyu Monlam for the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje and his own revival of the tradition.
Today, in Boulder, Colorado (10am), the Mipham Shedra are organising a commemoration of Mipham Gyatso with a Lingdro dance led by Tseyang Wangmo (for more details on that see below).
Music? Gesar Lingdro New Songs and Dance, I’ll Never Surrender by Shangri-la and Legends Never Die by Against the Current.
Written and compiled by Adele Tomlin, 17th June 2023.
The Epic of King Gesar of Ling – contents and transmission
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 UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The Epic is considered the longest literary work in the world, containing over 20 million words in more than one million verses, longer than the world’s other five great epics combined: The ancient Babylonian Gilgamesh (3,000 verses), the Greek Iliad (over 15,000 verses ) and Odyssey (12,000 verses), and the Indian Ramayana (18,000 odes with two verses each) and Mahabharata (more than 100,000 odes comprising over 200,000 verses).
A valuable historical source, it reflects two important periods in Tibetan social development, and includes depictions of almost 100 tribes, kingdoms, and regions. The epic is distinctly Tibetan in style, although the story includes early elements taken from Indian tantricism. It contains countless references to religion, ideology, and local customs, and incorporates many fairy tales, legends, poems, and proverbs from traditional Tibetan folk literature. Due to it being banned by the Chinese communists after their invasion, there are said to be around only one hundred Tibetans (Gesar-tellers) who can recite it from heart.
In this Lion’s Roar article (2013) about the Epic from Folk Hero to Deity by Gregory Samuel:
“Gesar of Ling, the legendary Tibetan ruler, warrior, and spiritual leader, is the central hero of a vast collection of stories that has been described as the world’s largest epic tradition. In European terms, we could say that Gesar is both King Arthur and Merlin. Like Arthur, he is the exemplary king and warrior who unites and defends his people in times of trouble and great danger. Like Merlin, he is a spiritual leader, but also a magician and trickster. In later centuries, he is also seen as a full-fledged tantric deity and important figure of the Dzogchen tradition.”
King Gesar of the Ling Kingdom was born in the 11th century as the son of the supreme god Indira. As a boy, he was very mischievous, but divine by nature and full of supernatural powers. His greatest enemy was his uncle – a cowardly, vain and pretentious man who hoped to rule the country. Although the hero and his mother were banished, Gesar’s exile enabled him to nurture his hidden strengths. He emerged victorious in a horse race to become king of the nation. King Gesar then began conquering the “kingdoms of demons” – the Jiang and Hor (northern Mongolian people) kingdoms. The war between the Ling and Hor kingdoms constituted one of the central parts of the story. It began with a beautiful girl, Qomu, who was King Gesar’s queen. The Hor king, also known as the “White Tent King,” heard about her beauty and sent for her. When his request was refused, he sent troops to attack the Ling kingdom. After several battles, another girl was sent to the Hor king in the place of Qomu. But once the truth was uncovered, the battles resumed. The Ling capital, along with Queen Qomu, was finally captured by Hor troops. But King Gesar organized all his troops with the help of an important Hor general, captured the Hor capital, killed the White Tent King and rescued his queen.
Gesar’s story is popularly read as an allegory, with Gesar representing the ideal of spiritual warriorship—that 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 our inherent dignity, confidence, and strength, subduing inner demons and claiming victory.
The epic incorporates both prose, and poems in a circular style from the Tubo period, with multiple paragraphs ending in the same sound. The six-word stanzas of Tubo songs and poems were replaced with eight-word stanzas, a form which has remained relatively unchanged since the 11th century, and which is widely used in Tibetan folk songs, narrative poems, lyrical poetry, and drama, as well as in the works of scholars and poets.
The epic is made up of three parts: The birth of Gesar; his expeditions against his enemies; and his return to heaven. The stories of his battles and exploits contain the most detail and shed the most light on Tibetan history and culture. The second part includes four subsections: Defeating Demons in the North, Battles Between Hor and Ling, Defense of the Salt Sea, and Battles Between Mon and Ling; as well as battles to conquer 54 zongs (minor kingdoms).
Various elements of the epic began to evolve between the third and sixth centuries, and were consolidated after the establishment of the Tubo Kingdom (mid seventh century–842). During the time of the second transmission of Buddhism to Tibet (marked by the formation of the Kadampa, Kagyu and Sakya schools), Tibetan Buddhist monks, particularly those of the Nyingma, began to participate in efforts to compile and popularize the story of the Life of King Gesar.
References to the Epic of King Gesar in the Rlangs kyi po ti bse ru, a centuries-old Tibetan text, show that the narrative was in something similar to its present form by the fifteenth century at the latest. The oldest extant text of the epic is a Mongolian woodblock print commissioned by the Qing Emperor Kangxi in 1716. None of the surviving Tibetan texts date from earlier than the eighteenth century, though they are likely based on older texts. In the late nineteenth/early twentieth century, a woodblock edition of the story was compiled by a scholar-monk from Lingtsang (a small kingdom north-east of sDe dge) with inspiration from the prolific Tibetan philosopher Ju Mipham Gyatso.
As Samuel (2013) writes:
“Countless places and natural features throughout Tibetan-speaking regions are associated with Gesar’s story, and the same incident can be narrated as happening in many different places. Nonetheless, it is Eastern Tibet (Kham and Amdo) that has the strongest associations with Gesar. The kings of Ling Tshang in Kham regarded themselves as descendants of Gesar’s adopted son, and many aristocratic families of Kham claim to be descendant from one or another of Gesar’s generals. In recent years, many of the episodes have been printed in and outside Chinese-controlled Tibet, and groups of Khampa men will gather together with a copy and read and sing through an episode.”
The ancient oral Tibetan tradition of ‘Gesar-tellers’ banned by the communist Chinese
A large number of variants of the oral tradition of the Epic of King Gesar have always existed, and no canonical text can be written. Each Gesar performer is familiar only with his regional version. Weeks are required to complete a full recitation of the Epic of King Gesar. Unlike other folk artists, performers of the Gesar epic do not pass their legacy from master to apprentice, or from father to son. Most Gesar narrators are illiterate and rely entirely on memory.
For example, here is a 2002 video report on Muji, a 78 year old woman from a ruling class family in Tibet who is able to recites the verses of the Epic from memory. The interviewer states he is sceptical that the old woman could have learned it so quickly simply by listening to the teller’s stories but that other ‘Gesar-tellers’ have been able to learn it from a dream or meditating in the wilderness. In the interview, her son also speaks about how after the Chinese communists invaded, her privileged status dramatically changed and she had to work from dawn until midnight in the fields, but still found time to tell the Gesar stories, but had to do it secretly because it was banned. Ten of Muji’s family members starved to death due to the ill-treatment of the Chinese forces.
These days, it is asserted that the Han Chinese now support the revival and preservation of Gesar and even as a counter-balance to the ‘religion’ of Tibetan Buddhism. There is a 200 year old temple in Lhasa, the Kwonti and Gesar Lhakhang that houses two statues, one of the general Kwonti in the Shu-Han Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280) and King Gesar known as the most famous hero in ancient Tibetan literature. This temple was renovated in 2016:
The Epic of King Gesar is also popular in Bhutan, Mongolia, the Tu and Yugu regions, and the Tibetan-inhabited areas in China, and have traveled as far west as the Caspian Sea, reaching Europe with the Kalmyk people. For more on its influence in Bhutan, see below.
Western-language translations and publications on Gesar of Ling
The first printed edition of the Gesar epic was published in Beijing in 1716 in a Mongolian version. It was this text which formed the basis for the first Western-language translation, a Russian version published by the Moravian missionary Isaac Jacob Schmidt in 1836. A German translation followed in 1839. Another Moravian missionary, August Hermann Francke, collected and translated a version from Lower Ladakh between 1905 and 1909. In 1942 George Roerich made a comprehensive survey of the literature of Gesar (Roerich 1942; 277–315).
Said to be the most accessible of the Gesar translations is that done by the explorer Alexandra David-Neel in 1933, La vie Surhumaine de Guésar de Ling le Héros Thibétain (The Superhuman Life of Gesar of Ling). The foreword to the 2004 publication of the book in English was given by Chogyam Trungpa, who writes that warrior-ship:
“..has for centuries been the heart of the lineage of Gesar of Ling, whose Tibetan descendants still exist today. Although it has been somewhat influenced by Buddhism, as has virtually all of Tibetan culture, basically the principle of warriorship stands on its own….When we talk here about conquering the enemy, it is important to understand that we are not talking about aggression. … Thus the idea of warriorship altogether is that by facing all our enemies fearlessly, with gentleness and intelligence, we can develop ourselves and thereby attain self-realization…Trungpa Rinpoche counted himself among the descendants of Gesar, and the Gesar tradition and its ideal of warriorship were central to his presentation of the Shambhala teachings. ”
For the influence of Gesar on Trungpa, read the account by Robin Kornman (2005) , his translator, called “The Influence of the Epic of King Gesar on Chogyam Trungpa”.
The first three volumes of the version known as the Lingtsang-Dege woodblock, which was composed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, were published with a very faithful though incomplete French translation by Rolf Stein in 1956. Stein followed this publication with his 600-page magnum opus on the Tibetan Epic entitled Recherches sur l’Epopee et le Barde au Tibet. This remains the most in-depth study of the Tibetan Gesar tradition.
A literal translation of these same woodblocks into English was published by Shambhala Publications in 2012 as The Epic of Gesar of Ling: Gesar’s Magical Birth, Early Years, and Coronation as King. translated by Robin Kornman, Lama Chonam and Sangye Khandro. See their short video about that book and translation, here.
Here is a short film from Mayul Lungngön monastery’s Ling Gesar cultural center made in Golok Gabde (Eastern Tibet) about the birth of Ling Gesar. Its realisation was directed by Tulku Humkar Dorje, a famous teacher of Ling sacred dances (cham) among numerous great lamas and bard singers flourishing in the region of Golok Gabde.
Mipham Gyatso, King Gesar of Ling and the Lingdro dance
In the 19th Century, great Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche (1846-1912) revealed eight chapters of the Gesar of Ling dance (Lingdro) that originated from the pure vision treasure-teachings. Mipham recognized King Gesar as the “Assemblage of the Three Roots” and king of the Dharma protector Drala Werma. Lingdro is one of the vital parts among numerous cycles of teaching and Sadhana practices of Mipham Rinpoche.
It was first performed and disseminated in the Dzogchen Monastery (one of the six main monasteries of the Nyingma tradition) in Dhokham. Later, the 5th Radreng Rinpoche (1912-1947), a regent of Tibet, composed an appendix and added several new chapters, after which time the Lingdro began to spread from Radreng monastery to central Tibet.
The painting above is called Gesar Norbu Dradul: A Single Painting Depicting the Forms of Gesar According to the Writings of Mipham Gyatso. According to Himalayan Art Resources: “The example of a single painting with many forms of Gesar is very important for the study of Gesar iconography because it follows exactly the textual descriptions as written by Mipam Jamyang Namgyal Gyatso (1846-1912). The forms of Gesar depicted in this composition are some of the best known and most popular in the 20th century religious practice and in the artistic representations – painting and sculpture.” The painting includes Manjushri, Padmasambhava, King Trisong Detsen, Krodha Vajrapani and Chaturbhuja Avalokiteshvara.
Texts composed by and about Gesar Ling by Mipham Gyatso, the Khyentse lineage and Sera Khandro
A whole series of texts written by Mipham Rinpoche (and offerings to Gesar composed by Jamyang Khyentse lineage) have been translated and published on the Lotsawa House website, here. Mipham Rinpoche also wrote a guru yoga for King Gesar in 1887, which has been translated here. There are also offerings to Gesar composed by 14th Karmapa (see below).
The 20th century yogini and female consort and master, Sera Khandro wrote three offerings and supplications to Gesar in her Collected Works[i]. These are:
- Concise Offering and Supplication to Gesar
- Offering and Supplication to Gesar that Swiftly Accomplishes All -Wishes
- Sang Offering to Gesar
The Karmapas, King Gesar and the Lingdro dance at the Kagyu Monlam 2012
As for the previous Karmapas’ close connection to Gesar, it is said that:
“Denma, the chief minister of Gesar, is considered an emanation of the Karmapa, and the Fourteenth Karmapa was born into the family lineage of Gesar. Both the Second and the Fourteenth Karmapas have composed purification and offering ceremonies based on Gesar.”
I was able to find an edition of the 14th Karmapa’s offering text on BDRC[ii], it is called The Victorious Jewel: Invocation, Reparation and Supplication Offering Torma that delights Gesar and his retinue. I could not read the text itself though as it is downloadable online.
This offering is also mentioned in a text by the 2nd Jamyang Khyentse, Chokyi Lodro called Concerning Offering Rites to the Great Lion Gesar, translated here, which says:
“There are also additional offering rites by the lord of the world, the Fourteenth Karmapa, as well as by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Kongtrul Yonten Gyatso and others. Perusing such works will yield at least a partial understanding of this great being’s liberational role.”
For research and translations on Jamyang Khyentse lineage, see here.
The 16th Karmapa enjoyed the legends of Gesar and wrote poetry in their style. There is a story told by Ngodrup Burkhar (an oral interpreter for the 17th Karmapa) about the 16th Karmapa when he was in his room alone, sewing, and he went in and the Karmapa started singing the Song of Gesar, in fact his own composition—he had a beautiful voice.
The 17th Karmapa has also supported the culture and dance associated with Gesar of Ling too. In 2012, as part of the commemoration of the Jamgon Kongtrul lineage, the Lingdro dance was performed in Bodhgaya, India during the 30th Kagyu Monlam Chenmo, under the supervision of the 17th Karmapa, see video here below:
The Kagyu Office report of the event states:
“For three intensive months, they had trained in these dances known as Lingdro Dechen Rölmo, (The Music of Great Bliss, the Dances of Gesar of Ling), and they moved with a precision and grace that was beautiful to watch. Their teacher was Tseyang Drolma, who holds the lineage of these dances, passed to her from her aunt and mother who learned them from the last lineage holder in Tibet. There in the nineteenth century, the dances appeared in a vision to Ju Mipham Rinpoche.”
Tseyang La as she is reverently called, is a direct descendant of Mukpodong Norsang, the esteemed Lingdro lineage holder. She authored the history of Lingdro Dance in Tibetan, published by the Amnye Machen Institute, under the direction of the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa. Here is a stunning painting of Gesar of Ling by the 17th Karmapa:
Regarding the dance performed at the Kagyu Monlam, the report states that:
“For Tseyang Drolma’s new book in Tibetan on the dances, the present 17th Karmapa wrote a long introduction detailing the lineage of the Lingdro, the connections to the Karmapas, and the profundity of the practice. The dances are considered Dharma practice as Gesar of Ling is an emanation of Guru Rinpoche as well as Manjushri, Avalokiteshvara, Vajrapani, and others. Before the performance, the dancers recite the Seven-Line Prayer to Guru Rinpoche, and then during the dancing, they practice through their body, whose gestures are mudras; through their speech, considered mantra; and through their minds, which clearly sustain a visualization of the deity. The benefit for the viewers is to bring them delight in the Dharma and to create positive connections so that the Dharma and the affairs of state will prosper.
This first dance invoked a shower of blessings, calling to the deities to come and be present for the ceremony. The singing passed back and forth between the men and women as they moved in circles. The men’s song called out to Gesar:
When we think of the Great Lion King,
Our legs dance and our hands swing to and fro,
Our voice comes in a clear and longing melody.
We call the celestial prince, bright sun of great knowing,
The lord of beings, full moon of love,
Great lion whose blessing is lightning swift.
And the women’s song called out to Tara:
Om. Goddess of Emptiness, Ocean of Dharma,
Gathering of the Great Mother and her retinue of dakinis,
Brilliant and magnificent, come gathering in clouds.
Create the left row of this celestial dance.
Bring down the beautiful blessing of the mother lineage.”
Bhutan and the Epic of Gesar and Lingdro Dance
The versions of the Gesar epic collected in Bhutan, in publication since 1979, are projected to run into some 31 volumes. His Majesty King Jigme Wangchuck, second Druk Gyalpo (Dragon King) of Bhutan, had individuals read the Epic of Gesar to him nightly.
In a 2017 paper By Francoise Pommaret and Samten Yeshi called, From Tibet to Bhutan: A note on the introduction of the dance of Gesar in Bumthang[iii], it speaks about the influence of the late Tibetan master, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche in preserving the epic and culture of Gesar:
“The figure of Gesar is well-known in Bhutan but, to our knowledge, there are no bards reciting the Gesar epic as they can be found in parts of tibet and Ladakh. however some lay people know portions of the text and are able to recite them. Between 1979 and 1985, the Bhutanese publishers Kunsang tobgyel (Kun bzang stobs rgyal) and mani Dorji (ma ni rdo rje) printed a version of the Gesar epic in 31 volumes in Western style, reproducing a hand written copy in Bhutanese script (mgyogs yig) of an eastern tibetan version. This handwritten copy is attributed to the great Bhutanese scholar Dasho Lam sangngag (Dra shos Bla ma gsang sngags, 1934–2007) and is believed to be the first Gesar epic written in Bhutanese script.
“It is difficult to know whether his cult existed in Bhutan prior to the 19th century, as we do not seem to have a mention of Gesar in the texts, but further research is needed. however Changchub tsöndrue (Byang chub brtson ‘grus, 1817–1856), who was the lama of the trongsa penlop Jigme namgyal (Krong gsar dpon slob ‘Jigs med nam rgyal, 1825–1881)— father of the first king, had received Gesar initiations before arriving
in Bhutan in the first half of the 19th century. he might have passed some initiations to Jigme namgyal. The watchtower of Trongsa, where Changchub Tsöndrue died, hosts a Gesar temple (lha khang) established in the 1930s. inside this temple, a three-dimensional mandala, residence of Gesar, was erected in 1975 following the instructions of Dilgo Khyentse (Dil mgo mKhyen brtse, 1910–1991) Rinpoche to protect the people of Trongsa and the royal family. The text used in his daily worship is the
Dordze chegye (rDo rje tshe rgyas?) attributed to Ju mipham.
The kings of Bhutan have a special connection to Gesar. it is said that after his cremation in Kuje (sKu rjes), Bumthang, the first king was seen ascending on a horse to the paradise of king Gesar. The second king, Jigme Wangchuck (’Jigs med dbang phyug, 1905–1952), was very fond of the Gesar epic and excerpts were read to him every day by his courtiers. in 1970, a Gesar Lungta temple was also built by the now Royal grandmother Ashi Kesang Choeden Wangchuck (a zhi sKal bzang chos srgon dbang phyug) on the advice of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, behind the Dechen Choling (bDe chen chos gling) royal palace in Thimphu (Thim phu).
There, in 1987, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche gave a series of Gesar empowerments, the reading transmission of Ju Mipham’s Gesar practices as well “as the reading transmission of his own writing on the Gesar sadhana cycle, burned offerings, wind-horse ransom rites, wind-horse prosperity propitiation rites”. These transmissions reinforced the spiritual connection of the royal family to Gesar as a protector. The fifth king’s name includes Gesar (spelt Khesar in english transcription), which shows his
significant connection with Gesar and a luck-propitiation palace (rlung rta pho brang) to Gesar was built for the king’s protection in 2011 at Tharpaling (Thar pa gling) in Bumthang.”
Mipham Gyatso Commemoration Day by Mipham Shedra – Colorado, USA, 17 June 2023
Today June 17th (10am Colorado time), the Mipham Shedra Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Center Presents a Day of Sacred Dance, and Prayer with Vegetarian Lunch (registration here). This day will also act as a fundraiser for the Mipham Shedra Temple Project concluding with a Lingdro Dance Performance to support the temple, dispel war and violence, and bring World Peace. The Mipham Shedra dancers will be led by Semo Tseyang Drolma, a lineage holder of the Lingdro dance.
Here are some photos of Tseyang Drolma rehearsing for the event from the Mipham Shedra FB page:
[i] Se ra mkhaʼ ʼgro kun bzang bde skyong dbang mo. “Ge sar gsol mchod bsdus pa.” gSung ʼbum kun bzang bde skyong dbang mo, Par gzhi dang po, vol. 3, Si khron dpe skrun tshogs pa si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2009, pp. 437–437. Buddhist Digital Resource Center (BDRC), purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW1PD108254_6F0C70.
“Ge sar gsol mchod ʼdod don myur ʼgrub.” gSung ʼbum kun bzang bde skyong dbang mo, Par gzhi dang po, vol. 3, Si khron dpe skrun tshogs pa si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2009, pp. 436–436. Buddhist Digital Resource Center (BDRC), purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW1PD108254_005422.
“Ge sar bsang bsdus bde legs ʼbyung gnas.” gSung ʼbum se ra mkhaʼ ʼgro bde chen bde baʼi rdo rje, vol. 3, Si khron dus deb tshogs pa si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2015, pp. 325–325. Buddhist Digital Resource Center (BDRC), purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW3CN8049_D9F656.
[ii] Karma pa 14 theg mchog rdo rje. Ge sar skye bu ʼkhor bcas dgyes par byed paʼi mchod gtor gsol bskang phrin bcol nor buʼi rgyal mtshan. Buddhist Digital Resource Center (BDRC), purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW0NGMCP40073. The Victorious Jewel: Invocation, Reparation and Supplication Offering Torma that delights Gesar and his retinue.
[iii] Francoise Pommaret and Samten Yeshi, From Tibet to Bhutan. A note on the introduction of the dance of Gesar in Bumthang, 2017, Musique et Epopée en Haute-Asie. Mélanges offerts à Mireille Helffer (see: https://www.academia.edu/35722958/From_Tibet_to_Bhutan_A_note_on_the_introduction_of_the_dance_of_Gesar_in_Bumthang)
Is there an ehglish translation of kagye deshek dupa drupchen text according to JKW please?
Thanks
alex