of the Sangs rgyas gling dgon pa edition of the rNying ma'i rgyud 'bum (43 of 46 volumes extant).
2 sample photos from vol. Ka below,
followed by Dr Mayer's introductory remarks.
To consult the text photographs, contact
the Tibetan & Himalayan Collections librarian, see link at
Oxford LibGuides - China & Inner Asia
Photos all made by Ngawang Tsepag.
 |
| NGB - from vol. Ka (Photo Ngawang Tsepag) |
 |
| NGB - from vol. Ka (Photo Ngawang Tsepag) |
from Dr Rob Mayer:
Sangs
rgyas gling manuscript of the
rNying ma'i
rgyud 'bum
Dedicated
to the memory of Michael V. Aris:
true
friend, wise mentor, generous colleague, and outstanding scholar.
This manuscript edition of the rNying ma'i rgyud bum (NGB)
from Sangs rgyas gling dgon pa, Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh, India, first came to
the outside world’s attention through the late Michael Aris, who knew of it as
long ago as the late 1970’s. As well as signalling the manuscript’s existence,
Aris also reported a local belief that the Sangs rgyas gling NGB manuscript was
copied from an exemplar (ma dpe) that had been transported to Tawang
from East Tibet. This belief is in fact still maintained by some local lamas.
However, to our present knowledge, this idea remains unproven. Tawang is the
corner of Arunachal Pradesh that borders Bhutan to its west and Tibet to its
north. Given the geographic proximity to Bhutan, it should come as little
surprise that doxographically speaking—in its numbering of volumes and ordering
of texts—the Sangs rgyas gling NGB in fact follows the standard Bhutanese
recension in 46 volumes, as most famously represented nowadays by the widely
reprinted mTshams brag NGB edition. Unless it proves to be the very earliest
example of the 46 volume Bhutanese recension, a greater likelihood would
therefore seem to be that the Sangs rgyas gling NGB was copied from a Bhutanese
exemplar. However, at this early stage, one must also sound a note of caution:
very few of the individual texts from the Sangs rgyas gling NGB have yet been
collated against their counterparts from the other NGB editions, so it still
remains to be seen how the individual readings of individual texts might
compare with those from other editions. As we have already demonstrated
elsewhere, it can prove rash simply to assume that the patterns of readings
within any individual NGB text will necessarily conform to the doxographical
affiliations of its host collection as a whole. As we have found elsewhere, NGB
editions can indeed be mixed, so that it is not by any means impossible that
some texts from the Sangs rgyas gling NGB might after closer examination
transpire to descend from East Tibetan exemplars, or perhaps from the tradition
of the 28 volume gDong dkar NGB, which was preserved in Bhutan but originated
in East Tibet.
The idea to make a digital copy of this endangered edition
was first suggested to us by our valued colleague, Mr Ngawang Tsepag, of the
Shantarakshita Library, Central University of Tibetan Studies, Sarnath, India.
Ngawang Tsepag comes from Tawang and is a keen conservator of its cultural
heritage. Before meeting us, he had already collaborated with some friends in
rehousing and providing new cloth wrappings for the volumes of the Sangs rgyas
gling NGB, which was at the time in danger of disintegration through years of
neglect. Ngawang Tsepag is also a keen amateur photographer, and proved
eminently capable of photographing all the volumes with a minimum of trouble or
fuss. We procured funding for the project from the Oxford University John Fell
Fund, who generously made available everything we needed. The actual
photography was completed at Sangs rgyas gling in the spring and summer of
2013.
Although the Sangs rgyas gling NGB originally had 46
volumes, over the course of time, three volumes have gone missing: volumes 11,
12, and 41. In addition, many volumes have suffered varying degrees of water
damage and worming, and much of the dkar chag has been lost.
Nevertheless, given the paucity of surviving NGB editions, the publication of
this easily accessible electronic edition in full colour is indeed a welcome
additional resource for all those engaged in the study of the rNying ma'i rgyud
'bum.
Robert
Mayer and Cathy Cantwell, Oxford, 2014.
