Toh 245The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra “The Sections of Dharma”

Summary

In this sūtra some of Buddha Śākyamuni’s senior disciples request a teaching on
the nature of “the sections of Dharma.” The Buddha responds by first
delivering a teaching on the absence of birth with regard to phenomena, as an
antidote to the poison of desire. On that basis, the Buddha then presents a
longer explanation of the repulsiveness of the human body, and of the female body
in particular.

Acknowledgements

Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the supervision of
Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche. The translation was produced by Chloé Cramer, Ben Ewing,
Lowell Cook, and Oriane Lavole under the supervision of Catherine Dalton. The
translation was then checked against the Tibetan and edited by Andreas Doctor.
The translation also benefited from the contribution of Professor José Cabezón,
who generously shared his draft translation of the sūtra with the translators
and offered many helpful comments.

The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.

Introduction

The Sections of Dharma has a long history
as part of the Tibetan Buddhist canon. It was among the first texts brought
from India to Tibet during the Imperial period (seventh to ninth century ce)
where it was translated by the prolific Tibetan translator Yeshé Dé alongside
the Indian preceptor Prajñāvarman. Since it appears in both of the available Imperial
catalogs, which are the earliest records of Tibetan scriptural
translations, its existence in Tibetan translation can be posited as no later than
824 ce. Unfortunately, to our knowledge no version of the text is
extant in Sanskrit or any other language besides Tibetan (and Mongolian,
into which it was translated from the Tibetan), nor are there any known
commentaries. This greatly limits our knowledge of its precise origins and
context.

The title of the sūtra refers to the sections of teachings given by the
Buddha, which are traditionally said to number 84,000. The sūtra begins with
an inquiry by Śāriputra about the nature and number of the sections of the
Dharma, to which the Buddha answers with a teaching on the absence of birth
with regard to phenomena—a teaching that serves as an antidote to the poison
of desire. The beginning of the sūtra thus situates the text explicitly in a
Mahāyāna context, introducing as it does the notion that phenomena neither arise nor
cease. Indeed, in the manner of the teachings of the second turning, the text deconstructs the reality and identity of
objects of desire, thereby demonstrating that desires are mere fantasies
based on imaginary objects and are not to be indulged in by the wise.

This second-turning introduction to the problem of desire, however, leads to an
extensive discussion of a topic that, due to its emphasis on the elimination
of desire as such, would generally be considered a first-turning
teaching —namely, the
repulsiveness of the human body, and the female body in particular. In its
presentation of the female constitution, the sūtra in fact disparages women
in a way that most modern readers would find offensive—José Cabezón has
aptly described the sūtra as “one of the most misogynistic texts in the
Buddhist canon.” Nonetheless, recent research has shown that the repulsive
nature of the female body was in fact a common theme in early Mahāyāna
texts. In their studies of texts dating to the beginning of the common era,
Ulrich Pagel (1995), Jan Nattier (2003), and Daniel Boucher (2008) have
argued that one major strand of early Mahāyāna involved male monastics eager
to engage in demanding ascetic practices. The deprecatory descriptions of
the repulsiveness of women’s bodies that form the main argument of The Sections of Dharma might have served to
support such efforts of male monastics to attain the ideal of renunciation.
In this respect, Boucher and Nattier have noted how women were often
deprecated and represented as an obstacle to men’s practice in some early
Mahāyāna texts, and this very much accords with the tone of the present sūtra. In fact, according to these scholars, the early Mahāyāna
might even have seen a decrease in the participation of women in Buddhist
institutions, contrary to a popular modern understanding of the Mahāyāna as
a more egalitarian movement than the “mainstream” tradition. Nevertheless, although this
sūtra does in many ways seem to support this analysis, toward the end of the
sūtra the Buddha twice describes the intended audience as the fourfold
assembly of monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen. The sūtra itself, therefore,
professes to benefit not only male monastics with its message of the
repulsiveness of the human—and, more particularly, the female—body, but really
anyone, whether male or female, ordained or lay.

In spite of such calls for a broad audience, this approach is likely to have
resonated most clearly with male monastics, as it represents a Buddhist
perspective that runs right from the institutional androcentrism of early
monastic Buddhism to the valorization of ascetic discipline in the early
Mahāyāna.
The theme common to the present text and those studied by Boucher and Nattier
suggests that we might also locate this sūtra among the earlier strata of
Mahāyāna sūtras that emerged in the first centuries ce. An interesting difference, however, is
The Sections of Dharma’s explicit usage of
prajñāpāramitā themes
in its discussion of such concepts as the absence of birth and cessation
with regard to phenomena; such themes are absent from the texts studied by
Boucher and Nattier. The Sections of Dharma
therefore seems to belong to a different stream of early Mahāyāna texts: one
still centered on monastics, rather than lay bodhisattvas, yet
simultaneously inspired by prajñāpāramitā themes. This thematic duality is also
reflected in the fact that the early imperial catalogs categorized this
scripture as a Mahāyāna sūtra, yet the translation colophon in the Stok
Palace Kangyur notes that it belongs to the first turning of the wheel of
Dharma (bka’ ’khor lo dang por gtogs
pa’o). Indeed, though it does broach prajñāpāramitā concepts, the
sūtra is still very much set in the hearers’ monastic context, exemplified
by the fact that the Buddha teaches in the presence of worthy ones (arhants), and not
bodhisattvas. The sūtra’s concluding verse, which states that the Buddha did
not expound this teaching to spiritual practitioners, but only to those who
still indulged in desires, moreover suggests that the main body of the text
is a teaching of provisional meaning, which is meant for beginners on the
path and later to be superseded by more advanced teachings. Teachings of
provisional meaning are contextual and adapted to the spiritual capacities
of their audiences. Since they do not literally expound the ultimate
view, they require interpretation.

One additional theme brought up by this sūtra deserves to be mentioned here.
The modern reader may indeed be surprised by several passages describing how
various physical and mental ailments that afflict women are caused by
parasites (Tib. srin
bu, Skt. krimi/kṛmi) that subsist in different parts of their bodies.
According to the sūtra, such parasites are responsible for a host of
(mostly undesirable) traits in the female physique. For example,
some such parasites are said to live in the urinary tracts of women, where
they find nourishment by eating away at their host. The parasites are
described as causing women to become mentally disturbed, thus making them
engage in uninhibited sexual activity. Other parasites are said to gnaw away
at women’s brains, noses, throats, and so forth. The sūtra seems to describe the
presence of these parasites in the female body as also accounting for the
physical traits characteristic of women, such as their absence of facial hair,
bulging breasts, and smooth throats.

Although the descriptions of the parasites that live specifically in the female
body may be unique to this sūtra, descriptions of named parasites in the
human body in general—some very detailed indeed—are found in several other works in
the Kangyur,
and the belief that parasites are the cause of
various unpleasant physical conditions was already a well-established theory
in Indian medical literature at the time of composition of this text. This
notion, which perhaps developed from the observation of worms in decomposing
corpses, was already present in the earliest Indic scripture dealing with
cures and healing, the Atharvaveda, which
was composed sometime between 1200–1000 bce and
offers descriptions of various parasites, or, technically,
“worms” (krimi) that invade the human body. Moreover, Jain and Kāmaśāstra literature,
which are closer in temporal proximity to the present sūtra, both include theories
of vaginal worms—in the Jain texts these are said to be killed through
sexual intercourse, thus making sex an inherently non-virtuous act, and in
the Kāmaśāstra literature they are described as causing the “itch” of a woman’s
sexual desire. The sūtra thus offers a presentation
of the female physique that draws from a theory of parasites that must have
been aligned with commonly accepted notions of the human constitution in
India at that time. It should also be noted that this presentation is in
some ways reminiscent of the radical early Buddhist practice, familiar to
Buddhist ascetics, of contemplating the stages of decomposition of corpses.
That practice is well described in Buddhaghoṣa’s Visuddhimagga (ch. 6.88), for example, and may
have been current in Mahāyāna circles as well, as this sūtra suggests.
Buddhaghoṣa’s closing statements on this practice in fact parallel the
approach and aim of this sūtra when he addresses men’s unfounded lust for
women’s bodies. He writes that “…a living body is just as foul as a dead one,
only the characteristic of foulness is not evident in a living body, being
hidden by adventitious embellishments.”

This English translation is based on the Degé (sde dge) version of the sūtra, in consultation
with the textual variations recorded in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma). Additionally,
when the readings in the Degé and the Comparative Edition appeared
problematic, we consulted the Stok Palace manuscript. These variant
readings, when significant, are indicated in the endnotes.

Finally, our translation also benefitted from contributions by José
Cabezón, who generously shared his draft translation of the entire sūtra with
the committee and offered many helpful comments. Selected parts of Cabezón’s
translation of the sūtra have since been published in his groundbreaking
study on sexuality in Indian Buddhism, where the interested reader will find
further reflections on this sūtra, and the topics of gender and sexuality in
Buddhism in general.

The Translation

The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra

The Sections of Dharma

Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas!

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was dwelling in
Nyagrodha Park, in Kapilavastu, together with a great
saṅgha of five hundred monks. At
one point venerable Śāriputra, venerable Mahāmaudgalyāyana, venerable
Mahākāśyapa, venerable Ānanda, and venerable Rāhula all went to see the
Blessed One; they prostrated to him, placing their heads at his feet, and then sat to
one side. Sitting there, venerable Śāriputra asked the Blessed
One, “Blessed One, you have spoken of ‘sections of the Dharma.’
But what is the extent of those sections of the Dharma to which the Thus-Gone
One refers using that expression? How many such sections are there? What
are the sections of the Dharma?”

The Blessed One replied to venerable Śāriputra,
“Śāriputra, the Thus-Gone One
has taught that there are eighty-four thousand sections of the Dharma. Śāriputra, in this
regard, the birthlessness of all phenomena is the primary sense of a section
of the Dharma. Śāriputra, I do not claim that there is something called
phenomena, or that anything whatsoever is born or ceases. Why is that?
Śāriputra, it is because all phenomena are characterized as being unborn and
unceasing. For example, Śāriputra, paṇḍakas are not called men or women, and should indeed
not be said to be men or women. Why is that? Śāriputra, it is because they
cannot be designated as men or women. Likewise, Śāriputra, the Thus-Gone One
has attained unsurpassed awakening with respect to all phenomena, but one
cannot say that he therefore knows phenomena on account of phenomena.

“As an analogy, Śāriputra, neither paṇḍakas nor ṣaṇḍhas have abandoned passion, but they cannot
act on that passion. Śāriputra, when they see a beautiful woman, and
desire is aroused, most paṇḍakas and ṣaṇḍhas suffer pain in their ducts. Their ducts drip, their
ducts become like metal, and their faces become red. Śāriputra, why do you
think this is? These paṇḍakas and ṣaṇḍhas have not fainted to the floor;
their bodies have not been struck by weapons. Why do you think their ducts
are so painful?”

Venerable Śāriputra replied to the Blessed One’s question,
“Blessed One, paṇḍakas and ṣaṇḍhas are the guards
of ladies’ quarters. When they see beautiful women, they give rise to
desire. Their desirous minds make them boil with affliction and, boiling
with affliction, their bodies become engorged with semen. When they
are thus tormented by the pangs of lust, their ducts burst and their bodies
become ruined.”

Then the Blessed One said to venerable Śāriputra, “Śāriputra, few among
paṇḍakas or ṣaṇḍhas take rebirth in the world of the happy destinies of the
higher realms. Most of them are reborn as hell beings. Śāriputra, observe
the contrast with the sons of the Śākya ascetic, none of whom get carried away
by desire. Why is that? They know that the sense pleasures are without
substance. Knowing that the sense pleasures are impure, they are weary and
disenchanted with them. With this deep dislike, they observe celibacy, and
their complexions are bright.

“Śāriputra, evil men are unable to feel weary or disenchanted. Why is that?
Śāriputra, it is because evil men, thinking so much about objects of
desire as they do, are full of thoughts. Śāriputra, what are the thoughts of evil men?
They think of things that are non-existent. They think of the impure as
pure. They think of lack of perception as perception. They think of women as
women. They think of being desirous as being desirous. These, Śāriputra, are
the thoughts of evil men. Śāriputra, these are the actions of paṇḍakas and
ṣaṇḍhas who are gripped by desire; they are not the actions of holy beings.
Śāriputra, those paṇḍakas who thus entertain evil men’s
conceptions have the experience, ‘I am touching that,’ and thus
perceive the body with its nine orifices—this impure, leaking thing—as
clean. All these things should not be done. They are not the actions of holy
beings.

“Śāriputra, those ascetics and brahmins who do not recognize the flaws of the
sense pleasures for what they really are fantasize about women and cling to
certain features of their eyes, perceiving them to be like beryl. They do not see
them as bubbles of water. Śāriputra, compare this to the example of a jenny
or a sow that has just given birth. Her body is emptied by giving birth and
a filthy, excrement-like placenta, unbearable to look at, emerges from her
body. Śāriputra, eyes, too, ought to be described like that. The eyes resemble
the placenta of a jenny, a sow, or a bitch. The interior of the
eyeball is like a water bubble. That is why filth emerges from it, and it is
therefore disagreeable. Pus and blood ooze from it—it exudes filth.
Śāriputra, the bodily formation that leaks filth, pus, and blood, and that
leaks essential fluids, that thing is called the eye.

“Śāriputra, what is the reason for speaking of the eyes? What are the causes
and conditions for their being called eyes? They are the leaders of the body. Looking at form,
one is never satisfied—whether at first, in the middle, or in the end—and
therefore one physically engages in an ocean of non-virtuous deeds. Because
of that we speak of eyes. Why is that, Śāriputra? What are the
causes and conditions for speaking of eyes? It is because they are
disagreeable. Śāriputra, why are the eyes disagreeable? They see the absence
of form as form, the absence of sensation as sensation, the absence of
perception as perception, the absence of formation as formation, and the
absence of consciousness as consciousness. Again, what is the reason for
this? That is, what are the causes and conditions for speaking of eyes? They cause one’s virtuous conduct to degenerate, and
therefore we speak of eyes. They cause monkhood to degenerate, and therefore
we speak of eyes. Śāriputra, eyes are impermanent, unstable, and do not
endure. That is why they should be known as eyes.

“Śāriputra, skilled, well-learned, and dauntless monks relate to the eyes in
this way: eyes are not a woman, not a man, not a sentient being, not a life
principle, not a living being, and not a person. Likewise, Śāriputra, this
applies to the ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. They are also not a
woman, not a man, not a sentient being, not a life principle, not a living
being, and not a person. These all arise from being mistaken about the five
aggregates.

“Śāriputra, those ascetics and brahmins who do not correctly know the
shortcomings of the sense pleasures are tormented by lust. Their complexions
become poor and pale. Śāriputra, consider this analogy: When the leaves or
the ripe fruits of a big tree fall off, they lose their luster. In the same
way, Śāriputra, those among monks and nuns, and male and female lay
devotees, who do not correctly know the shortcomings of the sense pleasures
are tormented by lust. Their complexions become poor, their thoughts become
unclear, and their poor complexions become unpleasant to look at.

“Śāriputra, young monks who are ordained in the prime of their lives will
soon correctly know the sense pleasures, understanding that the sense
pleasures lack substance. Even if they have thoughts of desire, they quickly
pacify them, recognizing them as being non-virtuous. Śāriputra, that being
the case, once monks have seen the shortcomings of the sense pleasures, they
are disenchanted and free from desire. They then truly rejoice and practice
pure conduct. Their complexions become radiant.

“Śāriputra, consider this analogy: When pus develops in the body of a sick
person, eighty-four thousand sores open up on all of that person’s limbs and each open sore also
harbors eighty-four thousand swarms of parasites. These parasites have both beaks and mouths. No
matter how much they eat, they are never satiated. If that person sits near
a heap of embers, the
more those creatures are tormented by burning, the more they eat. Now, what
do you think about that, Śāriputra? As they consume that person, will those
creatures eat the person up, or not?”

Venerable Śāriputra replied to the Blessed One, “Blessed One, if even to hear this
makes my hair stand on end, it goes without saying how unpleasant it must
be for that person. Blessed One, that person will certainly be eaten up by
those varieties of creatures—nothing will be left uneaten. Those eighty-four thousand
creatures make the body itch and, in that way, give that person
no peace. They bring that person no happiness.”

“Śāriputra, what do you think? That person’s body leaks pus and blood—should
that state of affairs be despised?”

“It is indeed something to despise, it is indeed disagreeable, it is indeed
not something worthy of being looked upon.”

“Similarly, Śāriputra, skilled monks train correctly by contemplating as
follows: ‘The Blessed One has said that women are filthy, foul-smelling,
disagreeable, and not worthy of being looked upon. Women, boiling with afflictive
emotions, should not be kept company with. Desires too are foul-smelling,
disagreeable, and not worthy of being looked upon.’

“Śāriputra, women’s bodies harbor an additional five groups of parasites
that are different from those on men’s bodies. Śāriputra, these five groups
of parasites live in their urinary tracts. Each group of parasites has its
own respective eighty parasites that have both beaks and mouths. These
parasites constantly eat away at women’s bodies. That is why women, incited
by the afflictions, engage in sexual misconduct, and yet, when they engage in
their passions, they find no satisfaction.

“Therefore, Śāriputra, if one sees the sense pleasures as being ridden with faults, one
will be disenchanted and free from desire. One will then engage in pure
conduct with delight, and one’s complexion will glow. Śāriputra, this is the
Dharma teaching that begins with a section on the sense pleasures.
Śāriputra, one should be disenchanted with indulgence in passion.

“Now Śāriputra, what is defilement? Śāriputra, defilement is one’s own doing.
Śāriputra, what are purification and pacification? Śāriputra, purification
and pacification are also one’s own doing. Śāriputra, what is defilement and
what is one’s own doing? They are the obsession with perceiving things as
phenomena. What is the obsession with perceiving things as phenomena? It is
to be obsessed with perceiving things as being born and as ceasing, and
perceiving things as having a self, as not having a self, or as being the
self. This is the section of Dharma spoken by the Blessed One.

“Śāriputra, childish, ordinary beings are blind and thus conceptualize the
form aggregate. They also conceptualize the aggregates of sensation,
perception, formation, and consciousness. But conceptualizing is bondage.
Not to form concepts is to be liberated. Śāriputra, whoever conceptualizes
will take on the form aggregate.

“Śāriputra, there are ten misfortunes that befall someone whose
discipline has lapsed. What are the ten? Lapsed discipline will torment one at the time
of death. A monk whose discipline has lapsed will feel regret. Saying, ‘I am
going to go to the hell of unrelenting torment!’ the monk will be afraid to
stay among the assembly. The monk will think, ‘I am disparaging the
discipline! The buddhas have forsaken me, the hearers have forsaken me, the
gods have forsaken me!’ He will be fearful at death, go to the lower realms,
and a human body will be difficult to obtain. Śāriputra, these are the
misfortunes of a monk whose discipline has lapsed—one whose discipline has lapsed
will suffer torment at the time of death.

“Śāriputra, since that is the case, you should come to perceive sense
pleasures as ridden with faults. Śāriputra, that means that whether a monk dwells
in the forest, at the base of a tree, in an abandoned building, or out in
the open, he should train himself by thinking, ‘The sense pleasures are foul-smelling. The sense pleasures are disagreeable. The sense pleasures are like
an open wound. The sense pleasures are not worthy of being looked upon. The
sense pleasures are despicable. The sense pleasures are like a corpse filled
to the brim with excrement!’ The sense pleasures are objects of
excitement for the childish. Śāriputra, enough of enjoying women sexually
and pleasing them!

“Śāriputra, a woman’s body is completely filled with feces and spittle—who would
enjoy that? Śāriputra, their bodies are to be despised just like the rotten
corpse of an ordinary dog. Indeed, Śāriputra, as an analogy consider a
filthy, rotten, and foul-smelling corpse of a dog with repulsive, dark
bluish-green skin, completely full of maggots, lying on a roadside. Rain
falls on the corpse and the wind tosses it about. Then some people arrive
there, circling around the corpse, and catch a whiff of its smell. When that
happens, Śāriputra, what do you think? Will they sniff
at its stench or not?”

“O Blessed One, certainly not!” exclaimed Śāriputra.

The Blessed One then asked venerable Śāriputra, “So what do you think,
Śāriputra? If someone touched the
corpse of that dog, if he shook it, if he enjoyed himself with it, would he
be praised by many people?”

“Such a person would be difficult even to look
at—how could he ever be praised?” replied venerable Śāriputra.

The Blessed One then said to venerable Śāriputra, “Śāriputra, the thus-gone
ones might praise the person who embraces, shakes, and enjoys himself with
that dog’s corpse. However, they would not praise a person who, even with
just his toe, touches a woman, even if she is the beauty of the land,
sixteen years old, an excellent woman, with a beautiful form, who is lovely
to behold, with delightful full breasts, adorned with jewelry, youthful,
pleasant to touch, and free of disease. Śāriputra, a person who touches such
a beauty of the land with even just his toe is despicable, unlike the one
who embraces, shakes, and enjoys himself with that dog’s corpse. Śāriputra,
what do you think about this? By embracing or touching a dog’s corpse, will
sentient beings end up being born in the hell realms?”

“No, Blessed One, they will not.”

“Śāriputra, monks must develop the perception of the faults of the sense
pleasures in the following way. Śāriputra, how should monks develop the
perception of the faults of the body? Śāriputra, this body is very harmful
and troublesome. Śāriputra, women’s bodies have
twenty-five more groups of parasites that are not like the ones present in
men’s bodies. Śāriputra, there are masses of parasites in women’s brains.
Known as the robbers, they eat the brains of women. Śāriputra,
there are masses of parasites in women’s noses. Known as the mouth
terminators, they eat women’s moustaches, thus preventing them
from growing. Śāriputra, there are masses of parasites in women’s ears.
Known as the eaters, they eat and pierce the ears of women.

“Śāriputra, there are masses of parasites on the sides of women’s necks and
heads. Known as the yearners, they eat and pierce the ears of
women and make their eyes sharp. Śāriputra, they don’t prick the ears of men
but only those of women. Śāriputra, there are masses of parasites on women’s
bodies. Known as the obstructors, they incessantly eat women’s mouths. That is why the throats of
women are flat, unlike those of men. As soon as women put food or drink in
their mouths, the parasites are the first to eat. They then deposit their
waste inside women’s breasts, making their breasts hang down. Whenever women
become pregnant, the parasites also become pregnant. That is why there is so
much milk in women’s breasts.

“Śāriputra, inside the part of women’s bodies where the womb lies, there are
destructive parasites known as the mighty exterminators. They
kill and eat the parasites known as the lickers. If they cannot
find any of the parasites known as the lickers, they too will
die. Pregnancy comes about from the death, and thus the absence, of those
two types of parasites, in addition to the union of mother and father.
Śāriputra, in the birth canal inside women’s bodies, there are four hosts of
parasites that are known as the great lips, the lump concealers, the wind expellers, and
the desire catchers. They incessantly eat at the bodies of
women. Because of this, women are completely ablaze with afflictions, yet
are never satisfied by indulging in their desires. Consequently, knowing
that women have such great faults, the Thus-Gone One added additional rules
to the fundamental precepts.

“Śāriputra, you should teach this Dharma discourse on the sections of Dharma
over and over again to the four assemblies. Why? So that they will come to know that the body and
the sense pleasures are to be despised. Śāriputra, knowing this body to be a
fabrication, apart from immature, ordinary beings with no education, no one
would continue clinging to the sense pleasures—it would be impossible.
Śāriputra, that being the case, you should not be fond of this body. In
particular, do not be attached to it.” Thus spoke the Blessed One.

After the Well-Gone One had uttered those words, the Teacher continued, saying
the following:

“These bodies that arise from filth

Are always home to many creatures.

Filled to the brim with urine and excrement,

It is to these that immature beings cling.

“Monks and nuns,

Laymen and laywomen,

Upon hearing this, let go of their desire.

Free from desire, they are liberated.

“To practitioners of the Dharma

I did not teach these faults.

It is to whomever indulges in desires

That I explained these faults.

“Just as the Buddha has taught,

Once those who fantasize upon seeing women

Understand this genuine encouragement,

Those wise ones will no longer have such thoughts.”

After the Blessed One had spoken these words, venerable Śāriputra, together
with the whole world and its gods, humans, and demigods, rejoiced and
praised the teaching of the Blessed One.

This concludes the Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra “The Sections of Dharma.”

Colophon

Notes

Kangyur Editions:

D
Degé

KY

Yongle

J
Lithang

K
Kangxi Peking

N
Narthang

C
Choné

U
Urga

H
Lhasa (Zhol)

S
Stok Palace

Bibliography

Main Sources

Secondary Sources

lump concealers

gong bu sped
གོང་བུ་སྤེད།

desire catchers

’dod len
འདོད་ལེན།

eaters

za bar byed
ཟ་བར་བྱེད།

great lips

mchu mchog
མཆུ་མཆོག

lickers

rab tu ldag byed
རབ་ཏུ་ལྡག་བྱེད།

mighty exterminators

zad par byed pa dpa’ ba
ཟད་པར་བྱེད་པ་དཔའ་བ།

robbers

phrog byed
ཕྲོག་བྱེད།

mouth terminators

kha rdzogs
ཁ་རྫོགས།

wind expellers

rlung ’byin
རླུང་འབྱིན།

yearners

zhen byed
ཞེན་བྱེད།

Yeshé Dé

ye shes sde
ཡེ་ཤེས་སྡེ།