An Account of Padma-Bkod: A Hidden Land in Southeastern Tibet
by Hamm Sardar-Afkhami
Padma-bkod is the most famous of Tibets legendary hidden lands (sbas-yul). Located in a forgotten corner of south-east Tibet where the Brahmaputra River cuts a deep chasm towards the plains of northern India, this region is separated by mountains and dense forests. Surrounded by a formidable ring of high passes, the difficult journey to the sacred sites of this hidden-valley is possible only in late summer, when the blizzards briefly abate, and a path can be cut in the snow・
Over the centuries the inaccessible ravines of Padma-bkod served as an ideal refuge from the invasions and civil wars which shook Tibet. According to ancient prophecies attributed to Padmasambhava (8th cent.), the patron saint of Tibetan Buddhism, somewhere in this untamed wilderness Tibetans believed they would find an earthly paradise; a pure realm abounding in fhiits and self sown crops which would provide a sanctuary during the Buddhist dark-age. For the yogis of the Rnying-ina and Bka-brgyud orders who held the transmission lineage of these prophecies, the journey into the Brahmaputra gorge became an obsession・ Defying fierce tribes, wild animals, and a variety of tropical disease, they repeatedly entered this wilderness trying to open the doors to its earthly paradise.
The legends of Padma-bkod first spread in Tibet in the middle of the 17th century・ Guidebooks to the hidden land appeared in the prophetic revelations of the Rnying-ma-pa gter-ston Rig-^zin Ja-tshon- snyiiig-po (1585-
1656) who lived during the turbulent reign of the 5th Dalai Lama J For 'Ja' tshon-snying-po, Padma-bkod was the ultimate pilgrimage to undertake in this final dark age (kali yuga). Those who enter this,realm, he says, obtain the ^ajra-body1 2 and dissolve into rainbow light upon death・ Merely taking seven steps towards Padma-bkod guarantees rebirth in this pure realm after death. (Lam-yig: 13; 4-6). When the Qosot Mongols overran Central Tibet in the middle of the 17th century, J a-tshon-snjdng-po appointed his disciple Rig-*dzin pdud-^ul-rdo-rje (1615-72) to convert the aboriginal tribes of the Brahmaputra gorge to the Buddhas teachings and open the way to the hidden land.
Bdud-^ul-rdo-ije journeyed to the kingdom of Spo-bo, situated at the entrance to the vast wilderness of the Brahmaputra gorge. According to local tradition, he mapped a circumambulatory pilgrimage path around Padma-bkod, called lPadma-Sri\ This master in turn passed on his teachings to Stag-sham-pa
Nus-ldan-rdo-ije (1655-1708), a famed Rnying-ma-pa master from Kham who had settled in the kingdom of Spo-bo and discovered many hidden gter-ma teachings・ In the prophecies of the Rtsa gsum yi dam dgongs 'dus, Stag・sham・@a describes eight hidden lands which unfold like the pet^s of a lotus in Tibet, at the center of which he locates Padma-bkod, which he further subdivides finto the 12 outer territories, the 40 inner ravines, and the 16 secret territories.'?
During Stag-sham-pa^ time Padma-bkod was still an uncharted hunting ground inhabited by a fierce confederation of Mishmi and Abor tribes; vassals of the warrior Mngs of Ahom who had overran the Assam Valley and enslaved the N輻a (John 1933; 34-5). In his visions, Stag-sham-pa perceived this untamed wi^erness as the geographic representation of the goddess Vajravarahr； his own secret tutelary deity. The ritual pilgrimage through the
1 See Sbas yul P^idma bkod kyi lam yig dang sku tshab padma bshes gnyen 'gro dul dang skye bdwt dkar chags; in the eollection: Sbas yul padma bkod kyi lam yig ma %ngs lung bst^n sna tshogs phyogs gcig tu bsdus pu'i gsung pod. Tezu: 1974； Ms. 1-35. Also see Ehrhard, 1994, for discussion of material related to this hidden land in the gter-ma cycle called Rdo-rje khro lod rtsal gyi sgrub skor.
2 (Yi*dam:521). See also Ehrhard (1994) for further discussion of Stag-sham-pa Nus-ldan-rdo-rje^ guidebooks to Padma-bkod in the gter-ma cycles Yi dam dgongs 'dus rta mchog rol・pa, and the Rta-mgrin dgongs ldus. For a general discussion of Sbas-yul including Padma-bkod in the prophetic revelations of Stag-sham*pa see Bia ma rdo-rje gro lod kyi rnam tharf Delhi: 1985・
The great bend of the tsangpo River (View from Zachu/Pemako).
'cakras1 of her body followed tiie Brahmaputra river which symbolized her central channel, beginning from her head in Tibet and culminaMiig in Mer womb somewhere in the jungles of Northern India*3 The outer journey through the cloud direst became an inner journey seWdiscov^y, and the landscape itself became a reflection of the yogi's own *body^mandala, visualized in meditation. Stag^sham-pa's visionary guidebooks became the basis for the exploration of Padmarbkod and the identification of her fcakrasf at the tarn of the next century
When the Dzimgar Mongols sacked Lhasa in 1717, many familiar with tMe prophecies of Padmasambhava believed that the final wars signaling the decline of the Buddhist teachings were at hand^ According to Chos-ije-gling-pa alias >Dzam-gling-rdo-ije-rtsal9 (b. 1682), the aBboi of the Bka-brgyud cloister of Ras-chwig^phug in Yar・klimg, the time had come to escape to the hidden land of Padma-bkodL4 * * * *
Although this master was a remcamate lama of the arte, he was particularly drawn towards tiie teachings Mtiie Bnying^ma^pa ^hooL Early in his career €3ios-ije-giing^pa had already received a propheqr j^mn the Rnying・ma・pa gter-ston Stag-sham Nus-ldan*rdo*ije9 designating Hm as one who would open the doors of the hidden \w^JRnam-thar:325;5Y As the Dzungar armies carried their bloody campaign to the cloisters of scmtheastem
3 It is unclear when Padma-bkod was first identified with the body of the goddess Vajravarahi possessing 5 feakras\ Sle-lung bzhad*pafi rdo^ije (b・ 1697) while travelling to Padma*bkod in the 1729 already refers to sections of the Rta-mgrin dgongs-'dus of Stag-sham-pa which contained the description of Padma*bkod having 5 'cakras」see The Collected Works (Gsung ^Bum) of Sle^lung Rje^drung Bzhad-pai-rdo-rje. Vol. 8, Leh: 1984.
4 On the identification of this master as the reincarnation of the former abbot of RasYhung・phug, Zhabs-drung 'Chi-med-dbang-po see the Bod du byung ba'i gsang sngags snga *gyur gyi bstcm 9dzin skyes mch(^ rim byon gyi mam thar nor bu'i do shot. Dalhousie: 1976, fob 322; line 2. Of special interest is the account of Chos-ije-gling-pa's joufney to Central Tibet prior to his escape to Padma* bkod, during which he is hosted by both the Kar*ma-pa and Shwa-dmar-pa hierarchs, and is also counted as one of those present at the enthronement of the 'pseudo* 7th Dalai lama. He is also reported to have gained a personal audience with Lhazang Khan夕 the Qosot chieftan and the then de-facto ruler of Central Tibet.
Tibet, Ghos-rje-gling-pa and his followers fled to Padma-bkod from the high passes in the kingdom of Spo-bo:
[During] a time of great unimaginable persecution of the the 1 Ancient Teachings1 by the Dzungars, [who were} the manifestation of [the Mara] Kamadeva, this master set his mind for the departure to the hidden land called 'Lotus Grove* (Sbas-yul padma'i-tshal). Having arrived in Spu-bo> he endeavored towards opening the 爼oo* of the sacred place of Padma-bkod......having written clarifications and guidebooks, he put all his visions into writing. Bestowing the religious pronouncements onto the people of Klo who were like beasts, he laid down the inclination for religion. The Klo in turn paid homage and teverence according to the customs of the country .5
The career of this master in Padma-bkod was cut short when he suddenly contracted a sharp rheumatic attack and passed away in the damp cloud forests of the hidden land. But even after his death, Klo-pa hunters of pure1 disposition, reported seeing his emanational body surrounded by a retinue of female companions deep in the jungle slopes (Rnam-thar: 326; 1-2). lineage endured and became the bedrock of Buddhism in the Klo-pa iiihabited territories of Northern Padma-bkod.
Hisreincamatioii, Ehin-bzang-od-zerGar-bang-Chi-med-rdo*ije (b. 1763) was born into a Mon-pa family in Padma-bkod where he continued to develop and spread the teachings of his predecessor called the Immortal Heart-drop1 (Chi med thugs Like his fbrmer incarnation Kun-bzang-^d-zer showed a keen interest in mapping out the sacred geography of the hidden land. He is remembered as a skilled Buddhist wizard who Yeopened1 the head and throat fcakras* of the hidden-valley, and brought into his following the people of Klo
0 Gu bkhra-i Chas feyung, Smkiang> p. 415:^.dgal rab dbang phyug gi mam 'phrul r^izun gar bos mying bstan mtha\ dag dmigs med du rgyas 'debs pali tshe rje ldi nyid sbas yul padma 7 t$hai du phebs pa li thugs gra bsgrigs te spu bor phebs nas padma bkod kyi gnas sgo lbyed pali thugs rtsol gnang! rim gyis gnas
hang du phebs pas、・・・ggs kyi gsal cha d^ng lam yig sogs mdzad nas gzigs snang thams cad gtan la phab/ klo mi dud lgro 'dra ba de mains la'ng bka' chos bstsal nos chos kyi bag chags 'jog par mdzad/ kla mams kyi§ kydng dad gus dang zhabs tog yul lugs dang bstun pa'i bsnyen bkur bstabsf …and Mon 'by means of the four [pacifying, increasing, bewitching； and destroying! activities1 (Chos^byung: 529).
In the late 18th century, even after the fires of the Dzungar invasion subsided, the1 legendary land of Padma-bkod continued to attract maverick Tibetan yogis in search of 吠sion and adventure. The career of the 5th Sgam-po-pa O-rgyan^Gro-^ul-gling-pa (b.1757), the scion of the afttient I^a-rgya-ri family who ascended to the abbacy of Dvag-lha-sgam-po is a case in point.
Early in his career this Bka-brgyud master also showed a strong predeliction for the rediscovered gter-ma teachings of the Bnying-ma-pa school. He received initiations feam the ^er-ston of Padma-bkod Kun-bzang^^d-zer Gar-bang-Chi-med-r4o-rje, and further teachings from B4e-chen-rgyal-po the gfer-ston of ■
Brug-thang who further inducted the young 5th Sgam・po・pa into the apocalyptic ideology of the Rnying-ma-pa order. Initiated into the secret language of gter-ston^ tihe 5th Sgam-po-pa obtained specific instructions on the necessity to bpeX thfe door to the hidden land and perform fierce magic rituals to turn back military invasions which threatened Tibet (Rnam-thar: 341; 5・6)・
Then, when war broke out between Nepal and Tibet, several inauspicious omens appeared in the vicinity of Lhasa. People reported seeing a strange beast which was neither a tiger or a leopard, the cry of an elephant arose from the lake at ^am-ra, and the great flag pole at Dga-Idan fell down (Rnam-thar II:
197). At this time the 5th Sgam-po-pa travelled to the sacred shrines of Cental Tibet wMere he participated in rituals to repel the invading armies of the King of Garkha. He then returned to Spo-bo, and with the support of the local king, Nyi-ma-rgyal-po, he attempted further to open the hidden sites of Padma-bkod (Rnam-thar: 342-3).
Reunited with Kun-bzang-^d-zer, they became the principle recipients of the teachings of Rig-'dzin Rdo-ije-thogs-med (1746-97), called The Seven Profound Teachings of the Lumious Web Opening the Gate of the Hidden land (Tshe^grub 'od gyi 'dra・ba zab chos bdun pa sbas-yul gnas sgo byed). Collectively these three lamas became known in local Iradition as the ,ffhree
Vidhyadaras of the Hidden land1.6 7 Their teachings, especially the gter-ma cycle of the Luminous Web, spread among the numerous Mon-pa clans migrating tb Padma-bkod from Bhutan at the end of the 18th century.
After^ Rdo-ije-thogs・med's death, the 5th Sgam・po・pa ventured further down the Brahmaputra gorge to reveal the sacred s辻e corresponding to the Goddess1 heart・ At dawn, on the 9th day of the 5tK month of the Wood-Tiger year 1794, an acarya and a woman in ragged clothes appeared to him in a dream instructing him to build a temple on a nearby hill in the shape of a rice heap (Rnam-thar II: 722). Rising above the coidluence of Brahmaputra and Shumo
rivers this hill was located in the hunting grounds of the Klo-pa tribes ・ The tribal elders fearing that the dram-beating and conch-blowing of Buddhist monks would scare away the wild game, submitted an exorbitant list of demands, which included a gift of cows, yak half-breeds, pigs, chickens, wool cloth, swords, knives, axes, copper utensils, and silver ornaments (Rnam-thar II: 723V
6 For the list of ^bas-yul rig・'dzin rnam-gsum1 see Dudjoms Rinpoche (1991). For an sdtemative list see Spo-bo Iq rgyus.
7 While the conception of Padma-bkod as the geographic representation of Vajrayogini started to gain currency after the 17th century, there was not always agreement as to the topographical identification of her cakras. The Spo・ bo lo rgyus, quoted by Ehrhard identifies Bod-lung-pa as the heart of the Goddess arid Rin-chen spungs as the navel cakra ・ This identification also accords with information contained in G/ias gsol bar ched kun sei phrin las myur 'grub by the 2nd Chos^ije gling-pa, Kun-bzang，Od・zer Gar-dbang Chi-med Rdo-rje.
Scholars up to now were working under the impression that the 'cakras' of the Goddess represented precise topographical locations (see Stein 1988; Ehrhard 1991). What is interesting about Kun-bzang ,Od-zeiJs text is that it identifies the ^akras1 of the Goddess not with specific places but entire sections of
the Brahmaputra gorge. The throat cakray for example, not only covers Mngon-po gnas but extends all the way to Dga-lde. Similarly, the heart area comprises a vast region begining from Kong-yxil, passing through Bod-lung-pa and ending at Rin-chen-spungs, which is considered to be the begining of the navel cakra.
But it seems that there was not always an effort to correlate with past visions of the Goddess* 'cakras*. Instead, each lama seems to have identified the ^akras* of the Goddess with his own personal visual field of reference depending on where they settled in Padma-bkod. For a different topographical identification of the 'cakrsas' see Sle-lung Bzhad-pa'i rdo-ije, who following sections of Stagsham Nus-ldan Rdo-rje^ Rta-mgrin dgongs 'dus locates Rin-chen-spung at the
Surrounded on all sides by valleys which fanned out like the petals of a lotus, Rin-chen-spungs became tiie center of religious life in Padma-bkod. The guidebook of the Luminous Web describes the protector deity of the heart cakra of Padma-bkod as the Indian god Shiva Xdbang-phyug), and in the surrounding groves one is said to find a plethora of healing plants and wild fruits such as the delicious ^amanta1, which feeds up to five people (Lam-yig: 285).
In the gter-ma cycle of the 'Luminous Web* we also find what appears to be the first Tibetan discussion of hallucigenic plants. Near Rin-chen-spungs one is said to find a plant called the 'cutting of the kleshas'. By eating this 辻 is said that one forgets food, and the 'knots' (mdud) of the bodies subtle channels are untied producing visions of various Buddha fields.* * 8
Padma-bkod, with its perpetual rain, wild animals and fierce tribes may not have conformed to most peoples idea of paradise, but for the 5th Sgam-po-pa and his disciples it was the perfect tantric1 paradise. The journey through this untamed wilderness was heaven and hell at the same time, and as such 辻 became 玄 skillfull means for the testing and transformation of the human spirit in this dark age・ Comparing it to Devikota, one of India's legendary tantric assembly grounds, the 5th Sgam-popa says *the actions of whoever enters this place are beyond good and evil/9
heart, as does Rdo-ije Thogs-med in the Tshe sgrub 'od kyi dra ba'i lam byang rnying gi mun sei.
8 Ibid・ fols. 294-95: nyon mongs kun gcod rtsa mchog sus zes pa % rtsa mdud kun
grot shing khams sna tshogs mthong % bza' btung rtogs pa yid la mi skye zhing % tin nge ldzin rang ? rgyud la skye bar 'gyur % tshangs pa'i dbyangs Idan dus gsum mkhyen par 'gyur % A further description of these five special plants occurs in the Rtsa mchog rman pa Inga rtags thabs gsal baT me long; in Sbas yul padma bkod kyi lam yig ma longs lung bstan sna tshogs phyogs gcig tu bsdus pa 7 pod; fol. 250-63).
9 E.ma.ho/ dus gsum rgyal ba'i zhing mchog gnas kyi mchog! / o rgyan byin rlabs de wi ko ta'i sal I gangs can bod kyi Iho nub rgya bod mtshams! / gzugs can gang phyin las la bzang ngan med/ / .... from Sbas-yul padma-bkod kyi lam-yig, a handwritten text in cursive script on damaged rice paper signed by O・ rgyan Gro-'dul gling-pa. Photographed from the library of Ka-ba sprul-sku of Chamdo in August 1995 by the author. Deposited at the Sanskrit Library, Harvard University.
For the yogi initiated into the secret topics of the Mother Tantras, the physical landscape of Padma-bkod served as a geographical referent for deeper levels of meditative vision. The guidebook of the Luminous Web describe Rin・ chen-spungs as just a rock shaped like a 'pitched tent1, but on the Inner1 level it is said to be the temple of herukas. On the 'secrelevel the hill is described as the transformed mandala of emotions and thoughts represented by
the 100 peaceful and wrathful deities of the zhi-'khro tantra, and its Innermost secret1 reality is equated with the non・dual awareness mandala of the primordial Buddha Samantabhadra, the symbol of perfect realization (Lam・yig: 265-66).
For the ordinary pilgrim who could not directly experience these visionary levels, the physical journey through Padma-bkod became the ultimate excercise in pure visiom The warlike aboriginees were seen as the fierce human gatekeepers of the hidden land, venomous snakes on the.path were considered supports for
mindfulness, and the leeches were believed to be sucking away ones sins ・ Even the hunters inhabiting the Brahmaputra gorge saw their activity as a sacramental rite. Convinced that they live in the perfect 'tantric' paradise, they came to believe that the minds of the animals they kill are instantly liberated and the venison is 'tshog-sha1: the symbolic meat offering of a Buddhist tantric feast.10
Celebrating the paradoxical power of the hidden land in a spiritual song, Rdo-ije-drag-sngag-tsal, the 5th Sgam-po-pa^ fbremost disciple, calls Padma-bkod the paradise of the future Buddha Maitreya, praising her medicinal groves filled with rainbows and the sonorous voice of dakinis ・ At the same time, however, he describes 辻 as a gathering place of fierce btsan spirits, teeming with tigers, leopards, bears, and poisonous snakes baring their fangs.11
On several of my visits to Padma-bkod, our Monpa porters insisted on bringing their guns to hipit Takin (Budorcas taxicolor}. According to their oral tradition the 5th Sgam-po-pa permitted them to conceive of the hunt as a sacramental rite. According to a convenient legend this beast is a gter-ma created for the people of the hidden land by Padmasambhava as a source of food. I found no textual source which confirms this claim, but the Monpas tracked down
this bQast with impunity without fearing any karmic repercussions・ To justify their act they point to a little space between the horns of this magnificent beast to show wher^ the mind of the animal is automatically liberated after being killed. Ma bzhengs lun gyis grub pa'i rang byung padma bkod chert I ma dang mkha1 'gro rgya mthso snang stong、ja' W lkhyil ba'i! ma-'ong dus kyi tha ma las
The paradoxical power of the hidden land was probably best exemplified by the summer pilgrimage to the moimtain of Kun-^us rddrs*sems-pho^brang initiated by the 5th Sgam・pspa・ Perceived as the holy abode of the Buddhist deity Vajrasattva, the outer circumambulation route/of this mountain extended into the territory of the •black1 Klo-pa (jfeZo-na^), a ?term used to identify the unconverted Abor and Mishmi tribes still living beyond :the fray of Buddhism. For
the intrepid and often naive Tibetan pilgiini tile benefits of completing one round of this peak was said to equall 39 Visits to the ancient Jokhang temple in Lhasa (Lam・yig: 202-3). Risking theif4Jfiveis, every year pilgrims from various parts of Eastern Tibet attempted to circumambulate this mountain under the threat of Mishmi arrows.
The 5th Sgam-po-pa's principal gurus incarnated' as his sons and immediate disciples, continuing the missionary work mnohg the Mon-pa and Klo-pa populations of Padma-bkod.12 By the close of the 19th century, the Buddhist inhabitants of hidden land paid taxes to the kitig of Spo in butter and pelts, and he in return prelected their villages again旣 attacks from the
'phro 'jams pa'i gdan sat ma btsegs rdo rje bra dzongs dus gsum rgyal bat shing khams/ og min padma bkod chen bsam zhing snang ba'i skyid byung! rang sems mam par dag pa'i glu byangs mchod pa but lol gung sngort nam mkha'i lbyings nas 'ja' tshon sprin dkar khyug khyug! o rgyan, mkha' 'gro rgya mtsho zhal nyal gsung nyan lang Zang/.... From the O-rgyan Rdo-rje Drag^sngags kyis gsungs pa'i padma bkod kyis yon tan rdzogs pa’i glus byangs. Handwritten text -copied from the library of Phun-tshogs-rnam-rgyal of Padma-bkod^ in May 1996 by the author. Deposited at the Sanskrit Library, Harvard University.
12 Bde-chen-rgyal-po reincarnated as Sgam-po-pafs eldest son Rgyal-sras Bde-chen-gling-pa who established his seat at the village of Yid-^ng^phel on the right bank of the Brahmaputra opposite Rin・chen・spungs： From here he initiated the pilgrimage to the holy mountain of Buddha-tshe-phug. According to one local tradition Rdor-sems pho-brang and Buddha-tshe-phug are known respectively as the •father* (yab) and Mother* (yum) pilgrimage sites. The 2nd Chos-ije-
gling-pa, Kun-bzang-^d-zer reincarnated as another one of the Sth Sgam・po・pa's sons; Gar-dbang-Bstan・pa'i -nyi-ma. He continued to reside and teach at the village of Dga^lde, the traditional seat of the Chos-rje-gling-pa ^incarnations in Northern Padma-bkod. Rdo-ije-thogs-med was also recognized ias the 5th Sgam-po-pa*s disciple Rdo-ije«-drag-sngag-tsal . He continued to expand the gter-ma cycle of the Luminous Web brought to light by his previous incarnation.
- blaek' Klo^pa. For the Rnying^ma-pa order, Padma-bkod became not only a refage:fir她 fcreign invasions and reHg^Giis perseeution, but a testing ground 血 Buddhism as a Naming1 force・ The hidden land became the focus of an afchet^al encounter betweea the ,civilized, center and the 'barbaric' periphery.
Hie Tibetan% however, were net the only ones obsessed with entering this wild frontier・ For the last British imperial explorers Padma-bkod harbored one of Asia's last geographical riddles. It was into this nearly impenetrable region that the Tsang-p© River dissappeared from the Tibetan plateau, amid speculation that it eventually emerged in India as the Brahmaputra river.
In an effort to detennine whether the Tsang-po and the Brahmaputra were the same river, the Survey of India trained Tibetan speaking secret agents called 'pundits'. Equipped with dummy prayer wheels in which they hid their papet and tools, they were instructed to use their rosaries to count paces, a^d measure altitude by boiling water.13 * * * * 18
Hie 'pundit^ failed to 如low the entire course of the river from Tibet to India, due to the hostility of the Klo-pa tribes, but their accounts convinced many that the Ts?ing-po and the Brahmaputra rivers were indeed the same. There remained, however, a further unsolved riddle. The river lost so much
13 The bravest of these 'pundits1 was a Sikkimese man called Kinthup who along
With a Mongolian lama was sent to explore the Tsangpo gorge in 1880. He was
equipped with a dmnmy prayer wheel wntaiiung the paper and tools necessary for making a record of his journey and was to use his prayer beads to count distances in paces. Once in the gorge/he was to drill information into logs and release them into the river to be picked up downstream by the Survey in Assam. Having accrued a gambling debt along the way, the Mongolian lama sold Kinthup intx> slavery and was never heard of again.
Kinthup escaped into the gorge, until his masters envoys caught up with him at the village of Marpung, near Rin-chen-spungs, where he convinced the local lama to buy hitn as his own servant. Then, on the pretext of going on pilgriniag^, he' Uft several times to cut and release his logs. These went nnaotieed fer the Survey had already given up looking for them.
Unable to fbltow the Tsang-po River all the way from Tibet to India because of the hostility of the Abor tribes, Kinthup was forced to return home retracing his footsteps through Tibet. For the story of Kinthup see F・M・ Bailey, No Passport to Tibet, London: 1957.
An Account of Padma-Bkod: A Hidden land in southeastern Tibet / 13 altitude in such a short distance between Tibet and India, that many geographers speculated that the unobserved sections of the gorge harbored giant waterfalls, surpassing even those of the Niagara. In 1913, Captain Moreshead and Lieutenant Bailey, the first westerners to enter Padma-bkod, set off in search of the fabled waterfalls. Their journey began from Mipi, where they encountered a group of frightened Tibetans searching for the hidden land. Treating them for spear wounds suffered in a Mishmi ambush, BaUey writes:
Here in Mipi we had come upon these seekers for the ^promised land. But they had not found 辻・ The exact geographical position of Pemako was imprecise. All that was known was that somewhere on the Dihang-lohit watershed there was a hply mountain of glass and around this holy mountain lay fertfle valleys (Bailey 1957: 35-7).
The wounded Tibetans Bailey encountered were part of a wave of refugees from various parts of eastern Tib^t, escaping the depredations of the Chinese warlord Chao Erii-Fengi The first wave of about a hundred Tibetans entered the upper valleys of Padma-bkod over the passes at the head of the Dri, Matun
and Tsu valleys in 1902, where they settled among, the Chulikattas Mishmis from whwn they bought land. Then in the ftdlowing years about two thousand more Tibetans set out from Kham, Der-ge, Sjx)-bo and other places. Among this exodus many were the followers of Rje-drung-Jam-pa-byung-gnas, a Rnying-ma-pa gter-ston from Ri-bo-che, whose attempts further to reveal the sacred sites of the hidden land reached into India.
With the support of the king of Spo-bo, Rje-drung first settled in the Chimdro Valley in Northern Padma-bkod, from where he attempted to locate the geographical site corresponding to the womb cakra of the Goddess. His search led his party into the lands of the Chulikatta Mishmi in Arunachal Pradesh
where he built a temple near the village 詆 Mipi called Dkar-mo-gling. Somewhere in this wilderness supposedly lay the legendary Lotus Crystal Mountain, lPadma-shel-ri \ described as a ‘ snow mountain like a heaped mandala? Around this mountain Rje*drung describes 1 eight great valleys and many sub-valleys.
Some connect to this mountain, and some do not. There is room for two-thirds of the world's population. It is the thousand-petalled lotus island. It is the assembly which protects from evil invaders. It is the force that turns back disease, weapons and invaders. It is the weapon that kills the cause, the three poisons, and the fruit. It iS the all-encompassing glorious citadel? 14
Rje^drung was forced to interrupt his search for this legendary mountain when the armies of the Kuomintang attacked Spo-bo, forcing the local king to flee and take refuge with the British at Sadiya in Assam. Leaving his party behind in Padma^bkod, e-drung retnrhed to Kham to help rebuild his home city of Ri-bo-che after it was sacked by the Chinese. Upon arrival he was arrested by m址i&Ous Tibetan officials on trtiiriped up charges of section and imprisoned at Byang Stag-lung where he passed away shortly after.
Rje-drun^s followers in Padma-bkod were now left stranded in the wilderness of the Brahmaputra gorge without spiritual guidance or military protection against the Klo-pa tribes. According to bne account qumrels arose when the Tibetans began stealing from Mishmi grain stores.15 In the ensuing battle,
Bailey explains that although the Tibetans were armed, the reflections off their matci^ock rifles made them easy targets for the Misksii archers who picked them off with poisoned arrows.「Experts at jungle warfare/ the Mislimi laid ambushes and set traps on the jungle paths and attacked the Tibetans at every opportunity. They also set fire to the Tibetans1 houses and crops* (Bailey 1957: 35-37).
Failing to negotiate a lasting truce between the Tibetans and the Mishmi; the British expedition traversed the Yangyap-la and t^xe Pungpung-la, reaching the main Tibetan settlements in Northern Padma-bkod. From here Bailey and Moreshead entered the Brahmaputra gorge mapping the river upstream between the mountains of Gyala Pelri and Namche Batwa. Their expedition failed to discover any giant waterfalls, but they left roughly 30 miles of the river unobserved around the place called the 'great bend'.
Rtsa gsum yid bzhin nor bu'i chos sde las sbas yul lam yig gsal ba^i sgron me. FoL 235-6, 'di dang ^brel dang ma lbrel ba'i % lung chert brgyad lung phran mang% 'jam gling sum gnyis shong ba yod% snogs stong Idan padma gling% mtha' dmag gdug can srung ba7 gong% had ^mtshon mu ge bzlog pali dpung% dug gsum rgyu 'bras bead pa'i mtshon% kun 'dus dpai gyi grong khyer yin% in Sbas yul padma bkod kyi lam yig ma 'ongs lung bstan sna tshogs phyogs gcig tu bsdus pa'i gsung pod.
15 Oral account of the headman of Shinku village in Chimdrp (Northern Padma* bkod).
In 1924 the famous English plant collector Francis Kingdon Ward once again attempted to det ermine whether such water-falls existed in the Brahmaputra gorge, but he was also forced to turn back short of about 5 miles of the ^eat bend*. At this time Kingdon Ward observed, that many Tibetans from Kham and Spo-bo were still coming in search of the promised land. He writes:
...the only thing common to the whole region being perpetual rain; snakes and wild animals, giant stinging nettles and myriads of biting and blood-sucking ticks, hornets, flies, and leeches..-Why, it may be asked, this anxiety to settle in Pemako? 11 is because this is the promised land of the Tibetan prophecy. This prophecy was to the effect that； when their religion was persecuted in Tibet, the people should go to Pemako, a land flowing with milk and honey, where the crops grew of their own accord・ Most races have their promised land, and such legendary places must necessarily be somewhat inaccessible, hidden behind misty barriers where ordinary men do not go... (Kingdon Ward 1926: 110-11).
Not everyone was so impressed, however. In Tibet rival scholars sudi as Bje-btsun Shes-rab-rgya-mtsho (b.1884), the notorious polemicist of the Dge-lugs-pa order, denounced the Padma-bkod guidebooks as lies, accusing false Rnying-ma-pa and Bka*brgyud-pa gter^ston of leading people to their deaths.
The people of this land are, for the most part, of wild disposition. Dressing in ape-skins, [and] brandishing long swords they engage in the revelry of dogs, monkeys and the like..-..[the guidebooks] say whoever wishing to go takes seven steps towards this sacred place, even if he dies, he will be certainly reborn in this place. Ha Ha!16
16 22/e btsun shes rab rgya mtsho 'jam dpal dgyes pd'i bio gros kyi gsung rtsom pod gsum pa bzhugs so, p. 457:...yuZ de'i mi mams phal cher gtum po'i rang bzhin! sprel $log gyon zhing gri ring thogs nas khyi dang spre'u sags rol du khrid de.......gangs can bod kyi Iho nub rgya bod mtshams/ gzugs can gang phyin lus
la bzang ngan med! gnas der lgro ‘dod gom pa bdun bor na/ shi bar gyur kyang gnas der nges par skyei zhes smras/ hd hall Sties-rabs Rgya-mtsho himself was probably unaware that the spiritual patriarch of his own school, the 13th Dalai lama, had secretly dispatched a mission to Padma-bkod. According to Bha-ka sprul-sku these envoys were Dpal-*bar gter^-ston 'Gro-^ul-drag-sngags-gling-pa and Chamdo Phags-pa-la m eminent Dge4ugs-pa lama firom
Such derisory remarks, however, did not detract from the appeal of Padma-bkod・ When the Chinese Red Army forced the Dalai Lama to escape from Tibet in 1959, thousands of Tibetans again went in search of the ludden land. Confronted with the hazards of travelling to this cloud forest, many became
dissillusioned and headed south for India. Soon, Indian border posts were overrun by thousands of Tibetans on the brink of starvation^ relating gripping accounts of their search for a legendary crystal mountain in a region of dense jungle separated by snow covered mountains below the bend of the Brahmaputra River.
Interpreting the hardships as a test for the human spirit, some Tibetans remained in Padma-bkod. In 1956 Bkaf-gyur Rinpoche, one of Rje-drung^ disciples travelled into the uninhabited valleys below the mountain Kun-^us-rdor-sems-pho-brang. Here, according to local tradition, Bka-gjrur Rinpoche had many
profound visions・ On one occaision it is reported that he entered a waterfall emerging into a valley filled with the songs of dakinis. He interpreted this as the 'innermost secret place* (Yang-gsang-gnas), but Ms followers were apparently unable to 'enter* this visionary dimension of the hidden land・ Succumbing to the hardships of the physical journey, the party continued further south settling in Tuting, under Indianfjurisdiction.
A year later in 1957, Lha-brdong sprul・sku, another disciple of Rje-drung, travelled from Northern Padma-bkod with seven households to the uninhabited valleys south of the mountain Kxm-^us-rdors-sems-pho-brang, In these fertile valleys they herded yaks and cows, and successfully Cultivated barley. After three years they were spotted by an Indian helicopter gunship on border patrol. Indian commandos were sent up to relocate the Tibetans.17
Today many parts of Padma-bkod remain unexplored. Many Tibetans believe that the time to open the *innermost secret place' of the hidden land has not yet come・ Access to this area remains difficult, for on either side two of Asia's most powerful armies confront each other in a border dispute* As a
Chamdo. This mission reached as far as Kila-*gyu-rdzong, after which it returned・ At the moment, no further information concerning these personalities has come forth. It is hoped however, that sources will eventually be found to shed light on the 13th Dalai Lama's secret mission to Padma-bkod.
17 Lha^brdong sprubsku's family now lives in Tezu.
An Account of Padma-Bkod: A. Hidden land in southeastern Tibet / 19 hidden land, some would argue, Padma-bkod could not be more ideally located. AWreviations
Rnam・thar = Bod du byung ba'i gsang sngags snga 'gyur gyi bstan &询 skyes mchog rim byon gyi rnam thar nor bufi do shal. Author: Kun-bzang ages don klong yangs (19th cent.) Pub. Damchoe Sangpo: Dalhoyisie, 1976
Rnam-thar 27= The Autobiography of the Fifth Sgam・po Mchog-sprul of Diuags・ la Sgam-po O・rgyan 9Gro- 'dul l-gling-pa (b・ 1757) Pub・ Chopal Lama, Darjeeling, 1985.
Chos-byung = Bstan pa't snying po gsang chen snga 'gyur nges don zab mo'i chos kyi 'byung ba gsal bar byed pa'i legs bshad mkhas pa dga1 byed ngo mtshargtam gyi rol mtsho. Author: Stag-sgang mkhas-mchog Ngag-dbangblo-gros, Gu-ru Blora-shis (19th cenil). Sinkiang: Mtsho sngon mi rigs par khang, 1990. Sbas-yul = Sbas yul padma bkod kyi lam yig ma longs lung bstan sna t§hogs phyog^ gcig tu bsdus pa'i gsung pod. A Collection of Prophecies of Things to Come and Aceouats of Padma-bkod from the Library of Ri-bo*che iye-drun of Padma-bkodJ Published by Tseten Doiji, Tibetan Nyingmapa Monastary, Tezu, Aninachsd Pradesh, 1974,
Rtsa・gsum== HE匏 gsum yi dam dgongs 'dus. A Collection of Nyingmapa Teachings Redis^vered by Stag-sham Nus4dan-rdo-rje. W. L D. Gy^tsan and L・ L倉fcghay, New Delhi, 1972.
Bibliography
<poem>
Bacot, Jean, Le Tibet R^uolte: Vers Nepemako, la Terre Promise des Tibetains. Paris, 1912.
Bailey, Captain F.M., 'Reports on an Exploration of the North-East Frontier1, Dehradnn: Political Department and the Survey of India, 1913・ ____No Passport to Tibet, London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1957.
Blondeau, Anne-Marie, *Les pdlerinages tibetains1, in Sources Orientales 3, Paris: Editions du Seuil, 1960, 199-246.
Brauen-Dolma, Martin, 'Millenarianism in Tibetan Religion/ in Barbara Aziz and Matthew Kapstein, eds, Soundings in Tibetan Civilization, Delhi: Manohar, 1985.
Dudjom Rimpoche, Jigdrel Yeshe Doije (1904-1987), The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism ・ Transla ted by Gyurme Dorje and Matt hew Kapstein, Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2 vols., 1991.
Ehrhard, Franz-Karl, 'The Role of Treasure Disoverers1 and their writings in the search for Himalayan sacred lands1, The Tibet Journal 19 (3), 1994. Johri, Major Sitaram,W7iere India, China, and Burma Meet. Calcutta: Thacker Spink & Co., 1933.
Kingdon Ward, Francis, The Riddle of the Tsangpo Gorges. London: Edward Arnold & Co., 1926.
Stein, R. A... Grottes-Matrices et Lieux Saints de la Deesse en Asie Orientate^ Paris: Publications de FEcole Fran?aise dTxtreme-Orient 151, 1988, 37-50. Primary Sources arranged according to title
____0 rgyan Rdo rje drag sngags kyis gsungs pa'l padma bkod kyis yon tan rdzogs pali glus byangs. Handwritten text copied from the library of Lama Phun-tshogs Rnam-rgyal of Padma-bkod in May 1996 by the author. Department of Sanskrit and Tibetan Studies, Harvard University.
________ Spo bo lo rgyus, Xinhua: Bod-ljongs mi dmangs dpe-skrun khang, 1988. ____Gnas gsol bar ched kun sei phrin las myur 'grub. 2nd Chas-ije gling-pa, Kun-bzang*Od-zer Gar-dbang Chi-med Rdo-rje. Handwritten text copied from the library of Kha-ba sprul-sku of Padma-bkod in May 1996 by the author. Department of Sanskrit and Tibetan Studies, Harvard University^
An Account of Padma-Bkod: A Hidden land in southeastern Tibet / 21
____Sbas yul padma bkod kyi lam yig ma 'ons lun bstan sna tshogs phyogs gcig tu hsdus pa'i gsun pod ・ A Collection of Prophecies of Things to Come and Accounts of Padma-bkod from the Library of Ri-bo-che Rje-drun of Padma-bkod・ Published by Tseten Dorji, Tibetan Nyingmapa Monastary, Tezu, Arunachal Pradesh, 1974.
—Ma bigs lung bstan gsal ba'i sgron me. A Reproduction of a Manuscript from the Library of Basgo Tongpon in Ladakh Containing a Collection of Prophecies of Guru Padmasambhava (being chapters 89・108 Of the rnam-thar chen・mo mthong ba don ldan,) and Related Accounts of the Various Sbas-yul from the Rediscoveries of Rig」dzin Rgod-kyi-ldem-^hru-can and Others. Tondup Tashi, Leh, 1973・
Primary sources arranged according to author Kun-bzang nges-don klong-yangs (19th cent.)
____Bod du byung ba'i gsang sngags snga 'gyurgyi bstan ldzin skyes mchog rim byon gyi mam thar nor bu'i do shal. Pub. Damchoe Sangpo, Dalhousie: 1976 Sgam・po・mchog・sprul O・rgyan」gro-'dul・giing・pa (b. 1757)
_____ The Autobiography of the Fifth Sgam-po Mchog-sprul ofDwags-la Sgam・ po O-rgyan、Gro・ 'dul-gling-pa. Pub・ Chopal Lama, Darjeeling: 1985・ Stag-sgaiig mkhas-mchog Ngag-dbang blo-gros, Gu-ru Bkra shis (ISth ceat.) Bstan pa'i snying po gsang chen snga 'gyur nges don zab mo'i chos kyi 'byung ba
gsal bar byed pal legs bshad mkhas pa dga' byed n欝 mtshar gtam gyi rol mtsho. Sinkiang: Mtsho sngon mi rigs par khang,丄990. Rig-dzin Rgod kyi ldem-phru-can (1337-1408)
____Sbas yul spy Vi them byang , 17 fols., in Byang gter lugs kyi mam thar dang ma 'ongs lung bstan , Sherab Gyaltsen, Gangtok: 1983, Stag-sham Nus-ldan rdo-ije (b. 1655)
____Gu-ru rdo-rje grodod kyi rnam-thar, published by Ritul Rigzen Choegyal Rinpoche, Thubten Mindoling Monastary, Oriss& 1985.
