Perhaps nothing special but still here are three kinds of “being remote or far removed” (bskal pa chen po gsum) mentioned (RZ 2: 203):
(a) rang bzhin gyis bskal pa “far-removed by nature [from the domain of cognition],” e.g. “hungry ghost (ltog ’dre)
(b) gnas kyis bskal pa “spatially far-removed [from the domain of cognition],” e.g. Brahmā (Tshangs-pa)
(c) dus kyis bskal pa “temporally far-removed [from the domain of cognition],” e.g. not given there.
Compare the idea of “four causes of non-cognition” (mi shes pa’i rgyu bzhi) explained in Kun-dpal, ’Jam dbyangs bla ma’i zhal lung (p. 143):
(1) gnas kyis bskal pas mi shes pa (i.e. non-cognition of a knowable due to its spatial remoteness)
(2) dus kyis bskal pas mi shes pa (i.e. non-cognition of a knowable due to its temporal remoteness)
(3) rgyu thug med kyi ’bras bu thug med mi shes pa (i.e. non-cognition of a knowable due to its subtlety/detail/minuteness?)
(4) sangs rgyas kyi chos rab tu mang po mi shes pa (i.e. non-cognition/non-possession of a knowable due to its transcendentality?)
The texts reads gnas/dus kyi instead of gnas/dus kyis.
Compare the idea of “four causes of non-cognition” (mi shes pa’i rgyu bzhi) explained in Kun-dpal, ’Jam dbyangs bla ma’i zhal lung (p. 143):
(1) gnas kyis bskal pas mi shes pa (i.e. non-cognition of a knowable due to its spatial remoteness)
(2) dus kyis bskal pas mi shes pa (i.e. non-cognition of a knowable due to its temporal remoteness)
(3) rgyu thug med kyi ’bras bu thug med mi shes pa (i.e. non-cognition of a knowable due to its subtlety/detail/minuteness?)
(4) sangs rgyas kyi chos rab tu mang po mi shes pa (i.e. non-cognition/non-possession of a knowable due to its transcendentality?)
The texts reads gnas/dus kyi instead of gnas/dus kyis.
I.e. (to give them in the order usually found in Indian texts, corresponding to your b, c, a) deśaviprakarṣa/deśaviprakṛṣṭa, kālaviprakarṣa/kālaviprakṛṣṭa, and svabhāvaviprakarṣa/svabhāvaviprakṛṣṭa. See e.g. Pramāṇaviniścaya, prose ad 2.34: trividhā hi viprakarṣiṇo deśakālasvabhāvaviparkarṣaiḥ ...; several other passages in Dharmakīrti (probably earlier sources can be found; incidentally the same classification seems to be widely accepted by non-Buddhist thinkers as well).
ReplyDeleteDear Haru, Many thanks. Indeed very useful references! We shall put them up in our ITLR. D
ReplyDeleteI still remember my consternation at first learning that bskal-pa, a word that simply MUST be read as meaning aeon or Kalpa (or so I thought), could have yet another (old) usage as a kind of verbal form that means being cut off from something, deprived of something, or even devoid, or devoid of existence. This happened when I was trying (as I still am) to understand the cosmological text of Bon, the Mdzod-phug.
ReplyDeleteDear Dan, if to judge by use of the expression “x+ gyis bskal nas mi shes pa,” bskal ba in the sense of “to be far-flung” can be said to be very much in vogue even today. Best, D.
ReplyDeleteDear Dorji,
ReplyDeleteActually, in the one passage in the Mdzod-phugs where it's most plain (there are more), it uses the genitive as well as the conjunction dang, and finally the instrumental once:
rin chen gten [~gter] ni sa yi bskal /
dmu long lta bu mdog dang bskal /
gsang ba 'on can sgra dang bskal /
lkug pa kha med tshig dang bskal /
gti mug rang reg 'thibs kyis bskal /
I leave off the Zhang-zhung.
Do you think their is some way to understand a connection between the kalpa-eon and this bskal-pa? The Mdzod-phugs seems to play around with their similarity.
I just noticed that the Bya-tshig Tshig-mdzod (p. 36) gives four examples of usage:
dus yun ring pos bskal ba /
bar thag ring pos bskal ba /
dus dang gnas kyis bskal ba /
lkog tu gyur pas bskal ba /
Yours,
D
Dear Dan,
ReplyDeleteObviously the author of the mDzod phugs saw no problem in construing “x dang bskal” (in the sense of “x dang bral”). For me it is very odd. I cannot see or feel the connection between bskal pa in the sense of “aeon”) and bskal pa in the sense of “to be far-flung.” The attempt made in the Bya tshig tshig mdzod is commendable but is not at all thought through: The third says what the first and second also say. The fourth is strange because “to be lkog tu gyur pa” is de facto “to be bskal pa.”
Regards,
D.
D, Why couldn't bskal-pa mean a 'wide temporal separation' and therefore mean kalpa the eon?
ReplyDeleteI admit that asking the question makes me confused, and it probably isn't asked correctly. I mean, bskal-pa is just a phonetic borrowing of Skt. kalpa, surely!
The Sanskrit word kalpa has to come out of the root klp (with a dot under the 'l' of course), which mostly means to be in order, follow the correct order and the like, right? So where's the connection? Something seems out of order.-D
Dear Dan,
ReplyDeleteIt is quite a while since you posed and posted this question and apologies for not responding. Being receptive and sympathetic to your ideas, I thought of making some speculations. First, bskal pa ("aeon”) and skal ba “share/fortune” (as in bgo skal and skal ldan) in Tibetan may be cognates. Second, are these somehow linked with Sanskrit kḷp? There are so many meanings of kḷp most of which seem so remote from the meanings of bskal and skal, except perhaps:
(a) “to be fit for (locative)” or “to partake of (dative),
(b) “to fall to the share, be shared or partaken by (locative, dative or genitive),” and
(c) “to trim, cut.”
A feeling that one gets when one considers Tibetan skal ba is that it a “share” that one is “worthy of” and can “partake of” (and hence it is one’s “fortune.” To “share” something fairly, one has “to cut or divide” in a suitable way or into appropriate portions. So a wild fantasy would be could bskal ba (“aeon”) mean a “a long temporal segment/division/share/portion”? And also could the verb bskal ba (as in x gyis bskal ba) mean “to be cut/separated by x”? In the light of such an explanation attempt your interpretation of bskal pa as “wide temporal separation” seems to make some sense.
I must sleep.
Best,
D.
Dear D,
ReplyDeleteYes, I think I get what you're saying. I think there is some sense to be found in and around this discussion. I may not be fortunate enough to ever deserve a share of real understanding, but I will be satisfied with all the bits that come my way. Unlike St. Paul on the road to Damascus, no sudden illuminations are falling all over me. Not yet. Wish I were young and fortunate enough to be able to take a gap year to think about it. A kalpa is a long time to wait, let alone three measurelessly long ones.
Nice dreams meanwhile.
-D