DRANGSONG MANUSCRIPTS

1. Text number

Drangsong 114

2. Text title (where present) in Tibetan

༄༅།།སན་ལྟོ་ཞུགསྷོ[བཞུགསྷོ]།།

3. Text title (where present) in Wylie transliteration

san[sen] lto[gto] zhus+ho[bzhugs+ho]/

4. A brief summary of the item’s contents

A ransom-ritual for a child in which a nail from the child’s right hand is clipped and placed in the ransom effigy, which is then dispatched to the demon that is menacing the child’s life.

5. Number of folios

6. Scribe’s name

Noe

7. Translation of title

Fingernail ritual

8. Transcription of colophon

bkra shis dpal ’bar ’dzam gling rgyan du shog/ bkra shis/

9. Translation of colophon

May glorious auspiciousness be the ornament of the world.

10. General remarks

In the context, the main reference is to the different demons that afflict different parts of the human body and the corresponding ransom-ritual methods of substitution, as seen below:

Demon’s Name	Human Body Part		Name of Ransom Statue
lHa bdud bu chung	tshogs ma/	Cranium	Ngar mi tshogs ma
Zor mo ’phan bzang	ol ko/	Throat	Ngar mi ol ko
Mi bdud bu chung	nu ma/	Breast	Ngar mi nu ma
Ma bdud khram mkhan	rtsi ma/	Rib	Ngar mi rtsi ma
mTha’ rgyal smu lams	mkhal ma/	Kidney	Ngar mi mkhal ma
Srin mo thabs mkhan	rgyu ma/	Entrails	Ngar mi rgyu ma
Ma bdud khra mo	tshang ra/	Pelvis	Ngar mi tshang ra
Nag mo thang yan	grod pa/	Stomach	Ngar mi prod pa
bTsan lga bdud chan	mkhris pa/	Gall	Ngar mi Khris pa
Gong rtsan rtsan pa	spyan mig/	Eye	Ngar mi spyan mig
Nag mo dbugs spyod	dbugs la/	Trachaea	Ngar mi dbugs la
Drang pa btsan zan	lag pa/	Hand	Ngar mi lag pa
‘Khar ba dkar chang	dpung pa/	Shoulder	Ngar mi dpung pa
Srin po rkyang thang	rus rkang/	Marrow	Ngar rus rkang ta
bDud chung mi srin	sogs pa/	Shoulder blade	Ngar mi sogs pa
Kha bdud khang pa	glo ba/	Lungs	Ngar mi glo ba
Shin bu ‘tsho mdzad	mchin pa/	Liver	Ngar mi mchin pa
Sri ti mgo yag	mgo bo/	Head	Ngar mi mgo bo
Ma no chen po	rkang pa/	Foot	Ngar mi rkang pa
mTsho bdud chen po	sen mo/	Fingernail	Ngar mi sem mo

Here, we note that in some places, before the ritual of discarding a substitute for the patient, the priest asks the patient to wipe various parts of his/her body with the dough used to make the ransom effigy and to call out the name of the demons that have attacked him or her, then use that tsampa to make the ransom effigy before discarding it. This practice may be related to this idea of the parts of the body and their corresponding divinities.

11. Remarks on script

dpe tshugs, ’khyug ma tshugs

12. Format

Loose leaves

13. Size

8.7 × 35.5 cm

14. Layout

15. Illustrations and decorations

16. Paper type

Woven, 1-2 layers, smooth

17. Paper thickness

0.12–0.14 mm

18. Nos of folio sampled

f. 1

19. Fibre analysis

20. AMS ¹⁴C dating

21. XRF analysis

22. RTI

23. GCMS