1. Text number 

Drangsong 129

2. Text title (where present) in Tibetan

༄༅།།ནམ་མཁའ་དགུ་འཕར་ནད་བདག་འཇོམས་པའི་མདོས་བཞུགསྷོ།།

3. Text title (where present) in Wylie transliteration 

Nam mkha’ dgu ’phar nad bdag ’joms pa’i mdos bzhugs+ho/

4. A brief summary of the item’s contents

Elimination of all kinds of diseases and disasters brought about by demons by expelling a ransom effigy with nine thread crosses

5. Number of folios

6

6. Scribe’s name

Drangsong Khro bo

7. Translation of title

Rituals for the elimination of disease by means of a ransom with  nine thread crosses

8. Transcription of colophon

ces rjod la mdos brtsang par btong ngo/ mdos ’di ni ma mo’i lung mdos zhes skyang[kyang] bya/ nad bdag stobs ’joms zhes ksyang[kyang] bya/ byis pa ’khrus skyung byung na cod pa’i mdos legs so/ kho bo zhang ston gyi ska pa cad nas zhus pa’o/ ston pas rka[bka’] btsan par shog/ snyon pa khro ming pas bris/ bkra shis/ mangalȧ/ zhus dag/ dge’o/ shu bȧ/ sprang khro ming he/

gshen rab mi po’i/ sa bdag klu gnyan rnams kyis dug ’joms par bya ba’i phyir du/ su’i don du byed na/ mi ’i rigs zhi yi don du/ ston pa gshen rab kyis klu la bon gyis ’khor lo skor dus skabs de tsa na/ ston pa thugs bkyis dgongs nas/ spyan kyi rigs ste klu rnams kyis mi la gnod par gzigs nas/ ’gro la phan phyir ’di mdzad do/ bkra shis so/ sprang khro ming gi sor mo’i ’du byed ’o/ he/

dus ngan snyigs ma’i shog bu rtsub gin ’da’/ dus la dag pa’i rnag tsha chad gin ’da’/ blo yun thung ba’i lag pa gyogs gin ’da’/ rtsub gyogs chad 3 ’dzoms pa’i yi ge ’di/ khro ming zer pa’i ston pa kho yis bris/

9. Translation of colophon

In this way the cross-ransom ritual is thrown into the river. This ritual is also known as Ma mo lung mdos, a lung mdos ritual for the ma mo goddesses, or Nad bdag stobs ’joms, a ritual for the forceful conquest of disease. It is a mdos ritual for the elimination of vomiting in children, which I, Zhang ston, have obtained with difficulty. May the Buddha’s teachings grow in majesty! Copied by the madman Khro bo, may it be auspicious! Blessings. Edited. The one named Beggar Khro bo, he!.

For whom was this ritual performed in order for gShen rab mi bo to remove the infestation of the earth gods, the klu and gnyan deities? For the sake of the humans of the four clans. When sTon pa gshen rab was preaching among the klu, he thought in his mind and saw with his eyes that the klu were infringing on humans and he created this ritual text for the benefit of all sentient beings. Blessings. By the beggar Khro bo, he!

The paper of this degenerate age was rough, the ink was intermittent, and the handwriting was particularly quick because of impatience, and this text, which combines roughness, intermittency and impatience, was written by me, the one called Khro bo.

10. General remarks

It is clear from the colophon that this text was first copied or commissioned by someone with the title of Zhang ston), and that it was later copied by Khro bo who was from the Drangsong family. Zhang ston was the name of a famous Bon family, around the 15th-16^th, centuries in the area of sTod lung bde chen in Cenral Tibet, whose monastery (stod lung ’bri lung dgon) was destroyed by Mongol soldiers, probably in the 17th century.

The text begins with gTo tgyal ye mkhyen as the object of the prayer, seems to take this figure as  as the lord of all gto rituals. The identity of the past Buddha in the Yungdrung Bon tradition, and the narrative of the mdos ritual with thread crosses is not quite the same as they are here. This text is therefore a good reference for comparison with other texts of mdos rituals.

11. Remarks on script

dpe tshugs, ’khyug ma tshugs

12. Format

Loose leaves

13. Size

9.7 × 35.5 cm

14. Layout

15. Illustrations and decorations

16. Paper type

Woven, 1-3 layers, soft and smooth

17. Paper thickness

0.15–0.17 mm

18. Nos of folio sampled

f. 6

19. Fibre analysis

20. AMS ¹⁴C dating

21. XRF analysis

22. RTI

23. GCMS