1. Text number 

Drangsong 111

2. Text title (where present) in Tibetan

༄༅།།མི་ཁི[ཁའི]བོན་ཟབ་མོ་བཞུགས་པའི་དབུས་ཕྱོགས་ལེགས་སོ།།

3. Text title (where present) in Wylie transliteration 

Mi khi[kha’i] bon zab mo bzhugs pa’i dbus phyogs legs so/

4. A brief summary of the item’s contents

A ritual for the repulsion of gossip, personified as a demon, with a mythic narrative about its origins and the harm it causes.

5. Number of folios

9

6. Scribe’s name

None

7. Translation of title

A profound ritual (bon) for the repulsion of gossip

8. Transcription of colophon

ces rjod la/ mda’ ltar g.ya’ ’o/ mi dmigs pa’i rgyas ltabs[btab] cing bkra shis rjod[brjod]/ ’di ni mi kha khra ’debs dang/ dgra ’grub dang/ ’gron skongs dang/ dgra sgyur dang/ phyogs bzhi’i mi kha sgyur pa la sogs ’di dag skrun par bya’o/ lug ra g.yag po zhol chen/ mi khi [kha’i] gzungs [gzugs?] du ’ dzugs+ho/ dgra ’grub[brubs] rdzogs+ho/ dge’o/ bkra shis/ yag go/

9. Translation of colophon

Following the recitation, wave the beribboned arrow; affix the seal that is beyond concepts; recite the prayer for good auspices. This is the ritual for repelling gossip, burying enemies, appeasing guests, repelling enemies, and reserving gossip from all directions. Effigies of a sheep, a goat and a big bull yak should be installed as the physical forms of gossip. The ritual for burying enemies is complete. Blessings. It is good.

10. General remarks

Among the many Buddhist and Bon ritual texts relating to gossip, this one is quite special. It provides a very important narrative that recounts how gossip, the root cause of calamities in Tibetan society, arises, how it spreads, how it affects people’s lives, and how disasters resulting from gossip can be recognised and dealt with.

11. Remarks on script

dpe tshugs, ’khyug ma tshugs

12. Format

Loose leaves

13. Size

9 × 34 cm

14. Layout

15. Illustrations and decorations

16. Paper type

Woven (possibly nylon sieve), 1-2 layer, soft

17. Paper thickness

0.15–0.17 mm

18. Nos of folio sampled

f. 1

19. Fibre analysis

Daphne and Stellera sp.

20. AMS ¹⁴C dating

21. XRF analysis

Main elements: Ca, Fe, K, S

Trace elements: Ti, Ni, Zn, Mn, Si

22. RTI

23. GCMS