A Bon Divination Manual from the Dunhuang Caves

Pelliot tibetain 1046 is a divination manual preserved in the sealed library cave at Dunhuang, dating to the Tibetan Empire period (7th-9th century CE). Eleven oracle entries survive, each preceded by dice throw markers on the manuscript and concluded with a verdict: bad (mo ngan), middling (mo 'bring), good (mo bzang), or excellent (mo bzang rab). The oracles speak in the voices of the gods — the Life-God, the Worthy God, Yarlha Shampo of the Yarlung Valley, and the seven divine daughters of Lhe'u-rje.

Mo divination — the casting of lots to receive an oracle from a deity — remains one of the most widespread religious practices in Tibet today. This manuscript preserves the form in its oldest attested state: no Buddhist framework, no lama intermediary, just the gods speaking through the fall of the dice. The verdicts are blunt — prosperity or ruin, go or stay. The proverbial wisdom woven through the oracles suggests that the boundaries between divination and wisdom literature were fluid in the pre-Buddhist Bon tradition.

Oracle I — The Mother of the Speechless One

Though what was needed was done,
to the hundred thousand there is no kindness.
Even if another's goodness is great,
kindness does not take hold.

Bad oracle.

Oracle II — The Diminished Life-God

From the mouth of the diminished Life-God:

Do not boast.
Do not always make your words fierce.
In hard times for the people, do not make trouble greater.
To those without power, do not speak harshly.
Though nurtured well by kinfolk and their care,
they do not listen.

Bad oracle.

Oracle III — A-ka-de-kha the Speaker

The face of A-ka-de-kha the speaker:

If divined for a swift horse — pleasant fame.
If cast for "will they come or not" — they will not come.
The horse-spirit considers:
what was lost shall be recovered.
Bear no malice toward friends.

Good oracle.

Oracle IV — The Worthy God

From the mouth of the Worthy God:

We siblings of the voice —
from lowliness, benefit shall come.
From poverty, wealth shall come.
From affliction and suffering, happiness.

Excellent oracle.

Oracle V — The Filthy One

The oracle of the filthy, evil one:

Not knowing purity, doing and doing —
because of filth, the supreme god is defiled and cast down.
In the heart of the best of men, no refuge.
From benefit, lowness shall come.
From wealth, poverty shall come.
The wife goes outside and all the gods are cast down.

Bad oracle.

Oracle VI — One's Own God

The fortunate one. From the mouth of one's own god:

If it falls upon a traveler — wealth will be found. Good oracle.

If cast for one sitting at home — quickly upon the long road. Middling oracle.

Oracle VII — The Rma-sha-ba

In the land where the sun rises, the sun rises.
In the land where the plain-tree grows, the plain-tree grows.
Without people, one is not honored.
Without livestock, one has no livestock.

Excellent oracle.

Oracle VIII — Seek

Seek!

In the shadow, the sun rises.
On a swift horse, ride with a Chinese saddle.
Goods weighed and measured, adorned with fine garments —
meeting the good lady, a face of joy.

If divined for a petition — quickly answered.
If cast for "will they come or not" — quickly they come.
If cast for friends — friends are many.
King of merchants.

Good oracle.

Oracle IX — Yarlha Shampo

From the mouth of Yarlha Shampo:

The bird that gladdens the heart —
the cuckoo, whose song is sweet.
Pleasant words.

Good oracle.

Oracle X — The Seven Divine Daughters

Of Lhe'u-rje-zin-dags:

The seven divine daughters —
like the eternal sun,
like light shining in the four directions.
Warmth to the people.
Home to the livestock —
all joy and happiness.

Good oracle.

Oracle XI — Go and Worship

Person — go!
Worship the gods!
The gods will consider:
whatever you seek shall be obtained.
If gone for yaks, they will be found.
If trading, victory shall come.

[Oracle verdict damaged.]

Colophon

Pelliot tibetain 1046. Old Tibetan divination manual (Mo text) from the sealed library cave at Dunhuang (Cave 17, Mogao Grottoes, Gansu Province). Written during the Tibetan Empire period (7th-9th century CE). Eleven oracle entries survive on a single manuscript leaf.

First English translation. Translated from Old Tibetan by NTAC (New Tianmu Anglican Church), April 2026. The English is independently derived from the Old Tibetan source text as published by the Old Tibetan Documents Online (OTDO) project, University of Tsukuba.

Translation notes: The marks preceding each oracle entry on the manuscript (represented as @@ in the OTDO transcription) are dice throw indicators. Their exact numerical or symbolic values are uncertain without direct inspection of the manuscript. They appear to represent a three-die system.

Several passages contain damaged text (marked [---] in the source), particularly in Oracles I, III, VI, VIII, IX, and XI. Translations of these sections are approximate.

"A-ka-de-kha" (Oracle III) may be a personal name, a mantra, or an alphabetic divination formula. The reading is uncertain. "Rma-sha-ba" (Oracle VII) may be a regional deity, an animal spirit, or a place name. "Lhe'u-rje-zin-dags" (Oracle X) may be related to the protector deity Pehar, who appears in later Bon and Buddhist sources as an oath-bound guardian.

Oracles IV and V are structural mirrors — the same formula of reversal in opposite directions. Oracle IV promises ascent (lowliness to benefit, poverty to wealth, suffering to happiness). Oracle V warns of descent (benefit to lowness, wealth to poverty, the wife departing and the gods falling). This structural opposition may reflect the Bon tradition's cosmological pairing of auspicious and inauspicious forces.

No previous English translation of PT 1046 exists. The Old Tibetan vocabulary was checked against the existing Bon corpus in the Good Work Library and standard Old Tibetan reference works.

Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Scribed by Tansaku, Expeditionary Tulku.

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Source Text: Pelliot tibétain 1046

Old Tibetan source text from the Old Tibetan Documents Online (OTDO) project, University of Tsukuba. Diplomatic transcription of the Dunhuang manuscript held at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.

(1) @@ @@ [---]@@@
(2) $ /:/ smra myi mkhan gyi ma mos / / m[kh]o[-] [---] bgyis kyang
(3) myI 'bum la drin ma mchis te / / my[i] khy[o]d gyang gzhan gyi leg[-]
(4) kyang / / drin myi chags ste mo ngan to / /
(5) @@ @@ @
(6) $ /:/ srog lha nyam can gyi zhal nas / myi kha ma che rtag du rta kha ma drag
(7) myi la ngan dus ma che / myi nus pa la kha ma drag / gnyen zhing sug pas legs par
(8) btams pa myi nyan te mo ngan to / /
(9) @@ @@@@ [---]@
(10) $ /:/ ^a ka de kha smra ba'i ngo / rta mgyogs [---] la btab na kha snyan [---]
(11) ngo / 'ong ngam myi 'ong ba la btab na myi 'ong / rta bla rmas pos thugs dgongs [---]
(12) rlag pa nI phyir rnyed / grogs la khong dku myi byed de mo bzang ngo
(13) @@ @@@@ @@@
(14) $ /:/ lha ryung ba 'i zhal nas / nged mched ngag 'i zhal te / rmang ba las phan bar 'ong ngo
(15) dbul ba las phyug por 'ong ngo / / nyon mos shing sdug bsngal ba las ni skyid par
(16) mo bzang rab bo / /
(17) @@ @@@@ @@
(18) $ /:/ lum rtsog ngan gyi mo phyon ma shes dag byed byed de brtsog pas lha 'o m[chog?]
(19) mnol te phang / myi 'o mchog gi snying du mi / phan ba las ni rmang du 'ong / [-]u[-]
(20) pa las ni dbul bar 'ong / chung mas phyi phyin te lha kun phang / mo ngan to / /
(21) @@ @@@@ @
(22) $ /:/ 'phyor pur te / lha rang rong gi zhal nas / lam du grong ba la bab na nor rnyed do /
(23) don mo bzang ngo / / khyim na 'dug pa la btab na smyur du lam ring por [---]
(24) ba la lta ste mo 'bring / /
(25) @@ @@@ @@@@
(26) $ /:/ rma sha ba'i / nye ma shar pa'I yul na ni nye ma shar / thang shing skyes pa['i]
(27) yul na ni thang shing skyes / myI myed pa'i ni myI 'phan / phyugs myed pa'i
(28) phyugs mo bzang rab bo / /
(29) @@ @@@ @@@
(30) $ /:/ 'tshol / grib ma la ni nye ma shar rta mgyogs pa la rgya sgas [b-] [---]
(31) zhon / bcal ba dang / gos gyis rgyan nas na cu[n] bzang mo dang phred de / kha ni [---]
(32) snying dga' ba 'i ngo ste / gsol ba la btab na smyur du chad / 'ong ngam myi 'ong ba la
(33) btab na smyur du 'ong / grog la btab na grog che / tshong rgyal te mo bzang ngo / /
(34) @@ @@@ @@
(35) $ /:/ yar lha sham po 'i zhal nas / / myi skyid bya khu byug zer na gdang snyan / myi khyo[d] [---]
(36) gtam snyan te mo bzang ngo / / / @@ @@@ @@[---]
(37) $ /:/ lhe'u rje zin dags gyi / lha 'i sras mo mched bdun g.yun drung gi nye ma bzhin
(38) / tha bzhir 'od snang ba dang 'dra / dro ni myi la dro / khyim ni phyugs la kun dga'
(39) zhing skyid do mo bzang ngo / / @@ @ @@@@
(40) $ /:/ myi khyod 'gro dang / lha la phyag 'tshol chig dang / lhas thugs dgongs mdzad de
(41) [---] [-]ng yang th[u?]b / g.yag la song yang sod / tshong gyed na yang rgyal bar 'ong gi [---]

Source Colophon

Old Tibetan diplomatic transcription from the Old Tibetan Documents Online (OTDO) project, hosted by the University of Tsukuba, Japan. The physical manuscript (Pelliot tibétain 1046) is held at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, in the collection of Paul Pelliot's Dunhuang manuscripts.

OTDO transcription conventions: $ marks the beginning of a new line on the manuscript. [---] indicates damaged or illegible text. [-] indicates a single damaged character. [x?] indicates an uncertain reading. @@ marks represent decorative or numerical indicators on the manuscript (here, dice throw markers). ^ indicates a superscript character. / / represents the Tibetan double shad, used to mark the end of a verse or section.

URL: archives?p=Pt_1046

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