1

THE LITERARY HERITAGE OF TIBET, WEEK 7

TUESDAY MARCH 3RD, 14:00-15:00, ORIENTAL INSTITUTE, LR2.

THE EXTANT NGB EDITIONS

Robert Mayer

HANDOUT
EAP = Endangered Archives Project (British Library)
NGMPP = Nepal-German Manuscript Preservation Project
TBRC = Tibetan Buddhist Resource Centre
THL = Tibetan and Himalayan Library

The extant editions of the Old Tantra Collection (Rnying ma'i rgyud 'bum):

[1] Bhutanese recension in 46 volumes, with six extant manuscript

witnesses:
(1) Mtshams brag
The Mtshams brag manuscript of the Ri ma rgyud 'bum (rgyud 'bum/
mtshams brag dgon pa). 1982. Thimphu: National Library, Royal Government
of Bhutan. Forty-six volumes. An electronic version made from the paper
publication is available from the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Centre
(http://www.tbrc.org), under the title, rnying ma rgyud 'bum, mtshams brag
dgon pa'i bris ma (W21521).
It is also available online, linked to its detailed catalogue by THL, at
http://www.thlib.org/encyclopedias/literary/canons/ngb/catalog.php#cat=tb
More recent colour images are available from the British Library Endangered
Archives Research Project 310/4/1/1 - 4/1/47, a digitization project by Karma
Phuntsho.
http://eap.bl.uk/database/overview_project.a4d?projID=EAP310;r=20825
(2) Sgang steng-a
The first of two Rnying ma'i rgyud 'bum manuscript editions preserved by
sGang steng monastery, Bhutan. Forty-six volumes. Digital images were made
by Karma Phuntsho as part of the British Library Endangered Archives
Research Project EAP039, 2005, and preserved in the British Library, in the
National Library and Archive of Bhutan, and at Gangtey Monastery, but their
widespread distribution remains forbidden by the monastery.

(3) Sgang steng-b

The second of two Rnying ma'i rgyud 'bum manuscript editions preserved by
Sgang steng monastery, Bhutan. Forty-six volumes. Digital images of Sgang
steng-b were made under an AHRC funded project at Oxford University in
2004 by Karma Phuntsho, Cathy Cantwell and Rob Mayer, but their
distribution remains forbidden by the monastery.
A title catalogue of Sgang steng-b is available in Achard et. al., 2006.
(4) Dgra med rtse
Rnying ma'i rgyud 'bum manuscript editions preserved by Dgra med rtse
monastery, Bhutan. Forty-six volumes. Digital images were made by Karma
Phuntsho as part of the British Library Endangered Archives Research Project
EAP105, and are available for free download at
http://eap.bl.uk/database/results.a4d?projID=EAP105;r=41
(5) Dpa' sgar
Rnying ma'i rgyud 'bum manuscript editions preserved by Dpa' sgar
monastery, Bhutan. A full set of colour digital images were made by Karma
Phuntsho in January 2012, jointly by CSMC, University of Hamburg in
cooperation with the Bhutanese NGO Preservation of Bhutans Written
Heritage, just prior to the destruction of the monastery by fire in February
2012 (Almogi, In Press), but have not been made available for distribution.
(6) Sangs rgyas gling
Rnying ma'i rgyud 'bum manuscript editions preserved by Sangs rgyas gling
temple, Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh.
Digital images were made in 2013-4 by Ngawang Tsepag and Rob Mayer, and
are in process of being made available from the Bodleian Library, Oxford, and
from the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Centre (http://www.tbrc.org).

[2] South-Central Tibetan recension in 33 volumes, with two extant

manuscript witnesses:
(7) Gting skyes:
Ri ma rgyud 'bum Reproduced from the MS preserved at Gti-skyes Dgonpa-bya Monastery in Tibet, under the direction of Dingo Khyentse
Rimpoche, Thimbu, 1973. An electronic version is available from the Tibetan
Buddhist Resource Centre (http://www.tbrc.org), under the title Rnying ma
rgyud 'bum, gting skyes (W21518). It is also available online, linked to its
detailed catalogue by THL, at
http://www.thlib.org/encyclopedias/literary/canons/ngb/catalog.php#cat=tk


A detailed print catalogue was published in Roman Wylie transcription with
Japanese discussion (Kaneko 1980).
(8) Rig 'dzin Tshe dbang nor bu:
The Rig 'dzin Tshe dbang nor bu edition of the rNying ma'i rgyud 'bum.
Twenty-nine volumes are held at the British Library, with the pressmark,
Or.15217. Volume Ka is held at the Bodleian Library Oxford at the shelfmark,
MS. Tib.a.24(R). Microfilm is available from The British Library, and the
Bodleian Library for Volume Ka. Title folios to Volume Ga and Volume A
are held at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Accession no.s: IM 318-1920 and
IM 317-1920. A detailed electronic inventory was made by Cathy Cantwell,
Michael Fischer and Rob Mayer, originally on ngb.csac.anthropology.ac.uk,
but currently in process of transfer to the University of Vienna's Resources for
Kanjur and Tenjur Studies
https://www.istb.univie.ac.at/kanjur/xml3/xml/index.php

[3] Tibetan-Nepalese borderlands recension in 37 volumes, with two

extant manuscript witnesses (but many of its texts descend from the same
exemplars or near-ancestors as texts from the South-Central Tibetan Tradition,
so from a text-critical perspective one can sometimes more fruitfully regard it
as a sub-branch of the South-Central Tibetan Tradition; see Cantwell and
Mayer 2007 pp 70-78, and Almogi in press):
(9) Nubri: Manuscript edition of the Rnying ma'i rgyud 'bum from the Nubri
area, held by the National Archives, Kathmandu. Monochrome microfilm was
made by the Nepal-German Manuscript Preservation Project (NGMPP) in
1993., and can now be digitised to order. NGMPP Reel Nos. L 426/4L 448/1.
(10) Kathmandu: Manuscript edition of the Rnying ma'i rgyud 'bum from the
Khumbu region, held by The National Archives, Kathmandu. Microfilm is
available through the Nepal Research Centre of the Nepalese-German
Manuscript Cataloguing Project. The short title is Rnying ma rgyud 'bum, Ms
no.22, running no.17, reel AT12/3 AT13/1.

[4] Sde dge xylograph in 26 volumes (a conflated single witness):

(11) Sde dge: The Sde dge edition of the Rnying ma'i rgyud 'bum. Twenty-six
volumes, Ka-Ra, plus Dkar chag, Volume A. Sde dge par khang chen mo.
The original woodblocks survive and are still in use. Hence numerous prints
are available around the world. A digital catalogue is available from THL at
http://www.thlib.org/encyclopedias/literary/canons/ngb/catalog.php#cat=dg

[5] Gdong dkar la manuscript, from Bhutan, in 28 volumes (single witness):

(12) Gdong dkar la : Manuscript edition of the Rnying ma'i rgyud 'bum from
Gdong dkar la Temple, Bhutan; said to be 17th century, and to have originated
in East Tibet.
Digital images were made by Karma Phuntsho and Orna Almogi as part of the
British Library Endangered Archives Research Project EAP570, and are
currently in process of being made available
http://eap.bl.uk/database/results.a4d?projID=EAP570;r=41
[6] Gzhi chen dgon manuscript, from Gzhi chen dgon in Gandze, in 33
volumes (possibly a composite collection):
(13) This dbu med manuscript has recently been discovered by the TBRC field
team working in Khams. It has been digitised at their offices in Chengdu, and
its title list is in process of compilation (personal communication, Jeff
Wallman). There appear to be mixed folios from possibly more than one ms
without a uniform dkar chag (personal communication, Michael Sheehy).
Details will eventually become available at TBRC Resource ID W2PD17382.