The Comparative Observation On The Earth Treatises Written By Tibetan And Mongolian Lamas

Abstract

Regarding literature, particularly doctrinal treatises, the three nations of India, Tibet, and Mongolia have been closely linked. In this, the treatises on the element take a large place. According to the tradition of creating the "Treatise on Wood", and "Treatise on Water" by the Tibetan scholar lama  Gungtang Konchok Tenpai Dronme, scholars and lamas from Tibet and Mongolia also wrote not only the "Treatise on Fire," "Treatise on Earth," "Treatise on Metal" and "Treatises on Wind," but also the "Treatise on the Sun," "Treatise on the Moon," and "Treatise on the Jewel". We will present a comparative observation on "Treatises on the Earth," written by Tibetan scholar Dharmasurya, and "Treatise on the Earth, " written by Mongolian scholar Lama Nangdze Agrampa, also known as YangchenZhepai Losal.Nangdze Agrampa, was a scholar lama living at the 19th and 20th centuries in the Setsen Khan Aimaq. He wrote four volumes of sumbum in astrology, biography, history, and linguistics. He wrote the “Treatise on the Earth” in Tibetan, and only one manuscript copy is kept in the National Library of Mongolia.

The treatise consists of 367 lines in total, with three, four, six, eight, ten, and twelve lines completely expressing the content, and most of them were divided into four-line stanzas. The nobility’s life and affairs are mentioned in the first half of the treatise, while the ordinary people’s lives and conditions are expressed in the second half. In the treatise, the word “the earth-sa” is written 64 times, while the words such as “bye ma-sand”, “ri bo-mountain”, “nor ‘dzin-the earth” are mentioned 2 times each, and the word “rdul phran-dust” is rhymed only once. Here, the word "Earth" is often written with several synonyms (mngon brjod ming) in addition to its ordinary meaning. Furthermore, the features of Mongolian society were sometimes reflected. The Tibetan scholar Lama Dharmasurya, also known as Chokyi Nyima, was the 9th Panchеn Erdene and lived between 1883 and 1937. He also composed “Treatise on the Earth,” a teaching poem of 90 stanzas and 360 lines. In the poem, he used the word “the earth-sa," which is written 46 times, while the words such as “g-yang sa-gorge” are mentioned 4 times, “gold-gser” is rhymed 8 times, “chintamani-nor bu” is expressed 4 times, “stone-rdo” is written 5 times, “mountain-ri” 3 times, “metal-lcags” 2 times, “dust-rdul” is written 2 times, and “crystal-shell” is mentioned only once.  All of them are words related to the earth or its synonyms.