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MA GCIG LAB SGRON Ma’s Many LIvEs
zhig nam mkha’ rgyal mtshan, as he appears in different transmission lineages after
Bla ma rdo rje, in the Phung po gzan skyur gyi rnam bshad as sTong zhig nam mkha’
rgyal mtshan, in the Zhi byed chos ‘byung as Nam mkha’ rgyal mtshan.** According
to the Zhi byed chos ‘byung, admittedly a late text that, however, relies on earlier
sources, he was one of the Gangs pa masters™ and is the ninth in the Don brgyud
lineage of the Mo gcod transmission. If we count twenty years for one generation,
he would have lived in the 13" century. In this case, however, he cannot be the same
as the Shangs pa bKa’ brgyud pa scholar Drung chen Nam mkha’ rgyal mtshan
(1370-1433) with whom he is usually identified.*° As with many of these early gcod
masters, scarce or no data are available which renders the identification beyond
doubt extremely difficult. In the case of the transmission history of the rNam bshad
chen mo, the dGe lugs pa scholar Byams pa bsod nams rnam rgyal (1401-1475)
was responsible for the collection of donations for an earlier edition.” In the late
19% century, the woodblocks for the edition were commissioned by the dGe lugs pa
scholar Lho pa sprul sku Ngag dbang mkhyen rab bstan pa’i dbang phyug. The text
is included in the collection of three gcod texts entitled gcod kyi chos skor published
in 1974 at the Tibet House in New Delhi and is therefore easily accessible. Of this
text, a number of different editions circulate. I have in my possession the copy of
an anonymous blockprint of the rNam bshad chen mo acquired in the 1980s in
Northern India. Yet a third biography of Ma gcig lab sgron ma was published in Zi
ling in 1992 under the title Phags ma lab kyi sgron ma ii rnam thar, “Biography of
the Noble Mother Lab kyi sgron ma.””’ This work was composed, according to the
colophon which is partially identical to the text in the Ernst Collection, by Gangs
pa." To make things even more complicated, the colophon of this last mentioned
text contains a nearly identical title of the text of the Ernst Collection, Ma ‘ongs par
lung bstan pa dang bcas pa mdor bsdus pa tsam gyi rnam par bshad pa.
I compared the text of the Ernst Collection with 1) the text of the same title
available at the TBRC, 2) with the Tibet House edition of the rNam bshad chen mo,
and 3) with the modern text edition from Zi ling.
For comparison I chose three lengthy text passages which are important for the
narrative development of Ma gcig’s biography. The first passage deals with Ma gcig’s
33 Kollmar-Paulenz, K.: Schmuck, p. 256, 261.
» ‘Jigs bral chos kyi seng ge: Zhi byed chos ‘byung, fol. 65v. The Zhi byed chos ‘byung provides a short
biography of him (fol. 65v).
35 Edou, Jeröme: Machig Labdrön and the Foundations of Chöd. Snow Lion Publications, Ithaka, New
York 1996, p. 110; Sorensen, M.: Making the Old New Again, p. 90, note 212, also suggests that ‘Dong
zhig nam mkha’ rgyal mtshan and Nam mkha’ rgyal mtshan of the 15" century are the same person,
without addressing the time gap.
36 Sorensen, M.: Making the Old New Again, p. 262.
37 Gangs pa: ‘Phags ma lab kyi sgron ma’i mam thar. In: Chos kyi seng ge — Gangs pa: Pha dam pa
dang ma cig lab sgron gyi rnam thar bzhugs pa. mTsho sngon mi rigs dpe skrun khang, Zi ling 1992,
pp. 243-649.
38 Nam thar, p. 647: ma cig gi rnam thar bshad pa tshig mgo smos pa tsam dang/ khyad par lus mchod
sbyin byed pa’i tshul dang/ ma ‘ongs par lung bstan pa dang bcas pa mdor bsdus pa tsam gyi rnam
par bshad pa ‘di/ phyi rabs rnams la phan pa’i slad du/ le’u bcu’i tshul du byas nas gang pa bdag gis
yi ger bkod pa’i dge ba des.
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