Dr. habil. Agata Bareja-Starzynska: On Abhidharma Literature in Mongolian

6 December 2017

With the dissemination of Buddhism among Mongols also Abhidharma literature was transmitted in the Mongolian language. Mongols started to practice Buddhism in the 13th century and this period up to the 14th century is called the first dissemination of Buddhism. There are not many traces of the very first Buddhist contacts of the Mongols, especially with Chinese Buddhism. However, starting from the time of the Mongol rule as Yuan dynasty in China, there is more evidence of Mongolian Buddhist contacts, especially with Tibet. One of the interesting tracks is the transmission of the Abhidharma treatise by ’Phags pa bla ma Blo gros rgyal mtshan (1235–1280) titled Shes bya rab tu gsal ba, “Elucidation of Knowable,” written in 1278 for the Mongolian prince Chingim, the son of Kubilai Khan. The text must have been translated into Mongolian already during the Yuan times, although a manuscript titled Medegdekün-ü belgetei-e geyügülügchi which survived until today was written only in the 18th century.

Interestingly, the cosmological description in the Shes bya rab tu gsal ba by ’Phags pa bla ma remained as one of the most repeated theme of Mongolian Buddhist literature. One of the very first among the Mongolian translations from the second dissemination of Buddhism among Mongols, which started in the 16th century, is a work by Shiregetü Güüshi Chorji (16th cent.). Most probably it is a translation of the Tibetan compilation in which the fragment on Abhidharma description of the world, based on the Shes bya rab tu gsal ba, plays a significant role (up to 40% of the text). The work was called Chiqula kereglegchi tegüs udq-a-tu shastir, “A Treatise Containing Entire/Full Meaning of the Most Important [Data] to Be Used [by a Buddhist].” A very similar in content is a text titled Üzeqser tusatai cuxula kereqtü, which was compiled by the Oirat Zaya Pandita Nam mkha’i rgya mtsho (1599–1662). It survived in its Mongolian and Oirat (Western Mongolian) versions. It also contains a fragment based on the Shes bya rab tu gsal ba. However, the Mongolian text seems to be a genuine work based on direct translations from Tibetan texts and is not related to the earlier Mongolian translations or compilations. In the 18th century the Mongolian translation of the Tibetan Tanjur was completed. The task was a significant enterprise which required several years of devoted work of a whole team of numerous translators working under the guidance of lCang skya Rol pa’i rdo rje (1717-1786) with the help of the earlier created Tibetan-Mongolian dictionary of Buddhist terminology titled Dag yig mkhas pa’i ’byung gnas (Mong. Merged garqu-yin oron). Among the Tanjur texts also the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya, the famous Commentary on the Treasury of the Abhidharma by the Indian Buddhist philosopher Vasubandhu (4th to 5th cent. C.E.) was translated from Tibetan to Mongolian. The 18th century Mongolian translation was again not related to the previous efforts of rendering Abhidharma literature in the Mongolian language. The lecture will provide main data about the above mentioned Abhidharma texts in the Mongolian language as well as a few examples of differences between them which will shed some light on the process of Buddhist dissemination among Mongols, with particular reference to the Buddhist translations.

• Click here to download the invitation [PDF]

December 6th, 2017 - 16.00h
Universität Hamburg,
ESA-Ost, Raum 120, Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1, 20146 Hamburg
Free Entrance.