Gdams ngag mdzod Research Department Report
This is still in development and not ready for consumption --Marcus 00:53, 14 August 2010 (UTC)
Overview of the གདམས་ངག་མཛོད་ Shechen Edition, 1999
- Statistics:
- 18 Volumes, ka through tsha
- Three printings, 1971-1972, 1979-1981, 1999.
- dbu chen script
- Average pecha pages per volume: 267.83
- Average Western pages per volume: 535.67
- Largest Volume: shangs pa bka' brgyud Volume 12 (na) - 774 pages, 387 folios
- Smallest Volume: sa skya lam 'bras Volume 6 (cha) - 424 pages, 212 folios
- Average lines of text per pecha page: 7
- Total # of texts: 393 headings, closer to 420 texts
- Largest text: 257 pages. zhi byed snga phyi bar gsum gyi dbang chog rnams phyogs gcig tu bsgrigs pa bklags pas grub pa by smin gling lo chen d+harma shrI. Volume pa (13), pages 39-297.
- Smallest text: 1 page. Three texts are one page in length, each in different volumes (nya, da, tsha): bde mchog gi skyabs sems, khrid brgya'i brgyud 'debs kha skong, rje btsun ras chung pa nas brgyud pa'i phyag rgya chen po yan lag bdun ldan gyi khrid yig.
- Largest section: Volumes 7-10 mar pa bka' brgyud (ja, nya, ta, and tha) 2106 pages.
- Smallest section: Volume 15 dus 'khor dang o rgyan bsnyen sgrub (ba) 626 pages.
- Percent of all 18 volumes with content acceptable for public: ?
Table Showing Relative Size of Volumes
| Volume # | Pages | Folios | Relative Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vol 1 | 478 | 239 | 14th |
| Vol 2 | 497 | 249 | 12th |
| Vol 3 | 544 | 272 | 6th |
| Vol 4 | 646 | 323 | 3rd |
| Vol 5 | 506 | 253 | 11th |
| Vol 6 | 424 | 212 | 18th-smallest |
| Vol 7 | 542 | 271 | 7th |
| Vol 8 | 486 | 243 | 13th |
| Vol 9 | 526 | 263 | 9th |
| Vol 10 | 552 | 276 | 5th |
| Vol 11 | 530 | 265 | 8th |
| Vol 12 | 774 | 387 | 1st-largest |
| Vol 13 | 454 | 227 | 16th |
| Vol 14 | 446 | 223 | 17th |
| Vol 15 | 626 | 313 | 4th |
| Vol 16 | 510 | 255 | 10th |
| Vol 17 | 470 | 235 | 15th |
| Vol 18 | 630 | 315 | 2nd |
The 18 volumes in nine sections:
- gsang sngags rnying ma
- bka' gdams
- sa skya lam 'bras
- mar pa bka' brgyud
- shangs pa bka' brgyud
- zhi byed dang gcod
- dus 'khor dang o rgyan bsnyen sgrub
- Volume 15 བ་ (626 pages, 313 folios)
- khri skor sna tshogs
- jo nang khrid brgya dang dkar chag brgyud yig
- Volume 18 ཚ་ (630 pages, 315 folios)
Introduction
The gdams ngag mdzod is available in three printings:[1]
- Gdams ngag mdzod Kundeling Printing - W21811 in 12 volumes in Delhi by Ngawang Gyaltsen and Ngawang Lungtok, 1971-1972. There were a few texts and pages missing from this edition.
- Gdams ngag mdzod Dilgo Khyentse Printing - W20877. 18 volume pothi format edition published in Paro, Bhutan, 1979-1981. This contained several of the rare texts missing from the Kundeling printing.
- Gdams ngag mdzod Shechen Printing - W23605 in 18 pothi volumes was produced in 1999 under Tsadra patronage. This is the most complete and contained the few missing pages and texts that had been found since the 1979-1981 version. Produced in manuscript.
As a survey of the gdams ngag mdzod has been compiled by Person:Brunnhölzl, K. already, this report will summarize those findings and supplement them with statistics from a complete catalog of the gdams ngag mdzod, created by the Tsadra Foundation Research Department durring the months of May, June, July and August of 2010. This report will also review some of the problems with cataloging the gdams ngag mdzod and describe Tsadra's catalog in some detail by referring to the Gdams ngag mdzod DPL, a set of sortable tables of information pertaining to the catalog.
The 18 volumes of the gdams ngag mdzod are divided into nine sections corresponding to the "eight great conveyances that are lineages of attainment" (sgrub brgyud shing rta chen po brgyad) plus a volume of Jo nang pa texts. All of the previous catalogs of the Shechen and Paro editions of the gdams ngag mdzod record 392 or 393 text titles with page numbers for each particular volume (i.e., not sequential throughout the 18 volumes). However, upon further inspection, many of these are simply section headings and the number of texts is closer to 420. This number cannot be made precise at this time because of the difficulties discussed below.
The first thing to note about the content of the gdams ngag mdzod as a whole is that each section begins with the core root texts of a lineage and then proceeds with commentaries, pith instructions, liturgies, and empowerment manuals. The majority of texts are of an esoteric nature specific to advanced practitioners of each of the nine unique lineages represented in the mdzod. Many of the texts are such that only a very unique set of circumstances would arise in which one would refer to the texts, such as the many empowerment manuals, while a small percentage are more general texts fit for translation for a wider audience. The gdams ngag mdzod is an amazing collection; however, it is not really a general collection of texts relating to the eight great lineages. If one looks at each pair of volumes associated with a lineage, one sees a collection of technical manuals relevant only to specialized populations.
In a best case scenario, one would need a specialist from each tradition to catalog each section of the mdzod, because only those scholars would be able to untie the knots of complexity that are the provenance of each text. Although at first glance it appears that most texts in the mdzod have clear title pages, the fact is that many texts lack both title pages and clear colophons ending the text. There are likely some texts that escaped the notice of Tsadra catalogers because they may have had little or no heading at all to signify their start or end. However, the main issue encountered by catalogers of the mdzod was the lack of clarity in the colophons and difficulties arising from attempts to detail the authors and contributors to the texts. While the first text in a volume might be obvious, the next might simply provide a list of lineage holders at the end without comment as to who actually composed the text. Many texts have no colophons at all and in those instances, other specialists have to be consulted as to the author's traditionally attributed. Furthermore, some texts are well known to scholars and there is debate as to who actually composed the text (which was noted in the catalog when found). Our small group of three graduate level Tibetologists were simply not up to the task of divining the information for some of the texts in the mdzod. However, the overall benefit of the current catalog is that it far surpasses any other catalog in detail, and also provides a space for each text and each section to be examined by anyone who wishes to study the content of the mdzod. We have also managed to pull together a partial list of translations of texts in the mdzod. Furthermore, the catalog is an editable document. One that specialists from the field can modify as needed. Publishing the catalog as a wiki allows for collaboration that should overcome any mistakes and problems in the catalog over time. There is even space in the wiki for discussion of each text and it is hoped that people might use the catalog itself as a place to start research, discussion, and translation of texts in the gdams ngag mdzod. Furthermore, this model, should it prove fruitful, is one that could be easily modified for use in future projects.
Karl Brunnholzl's Survey of the gdams ngag mdzod
Chokyi Nyima Report on the gdams ngag mdzod
Chokyi Nyima (Richard Barron) PDF OF REPORT
Notes
- ↑ E. Gene Smith. Personal communication, January 25, 2010.