Dug gsum 'dul ba — A Dunhuang Verse
A ninth-century Tibetan didactic poem from the Mogao Caves at Dunhuang, preserved on Pelliot tibétain 37 — a booklet manuscript of twenty-eight leaves now in the Bibliothèque nationale de France. The text teaches the conquest of the three poisons of Buddhist psychology: desire, hatred, and delusion. It is remarkable for its extensive use of onomatopoeia — chem chem (crushing), khrum khrum (crunching), lam lam (blazing), yal yal (dissolving), mal mal (gently settling) — to depict both the violence of the afflictions and the force of the remedies.
The poem names three antidotes: the sharp sword of wisdom wielded from the precipice of emptiness; the diamond-point of loving-kindness that shatters the weapons of rage; and the Buddha as King of Physicians whose dharma-ambrosia heals the disease of anger. It concludes with an invocation of Avalokiteśvara and the mantra OṂ MAṆI PADME HŪṂ — binding the entire teaching to the compassion tradition.
PT 37 also contains a mandala purification ritual for the evil destinies (folios 3v–8v), a variant version of the guided path for the dead found in PT 239 (folios 8v–17r), a merit-dedication rite (folios 17r–22v), a short teaching on impermanence (folios 23r–23v), and illustration pages with mantra diagrams (folios 24r–28v). These untranslated texts await future sessions.
This is the first English translation. Translated from the Old Tibetan critical edition on the Old Tibetan Documents Online (OTDO) database, maintained by the Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA), Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.
[The manuscript opening is damaged.]
The naraka — the scorching of the hells —
Is equal to the demon of all deadly poisons.
If the great myriad poisons are not conquered,
One is cast down from the heights of Trāyastriṃśa heaven.
The root in the world is destroyed,
The path is blocked, the gate of fear stands open —
The fruit falls into the places of evil rebirth.
This is the great antidote:
The sharp sword of wisdom —
It cuts the great myriad poisons from the root.
From the precipice of emptiness:
Chem chem — pounding them to pieces, crushing and smashing,
Khrum khrum — breaking them to fragments, shattering and scattering.
The fire of hatred strives and blazes —
Lam lam — burning everywhere, spreading far,
Ljib ljib — creeping everywhere, growing unchecked.
By the great waves of equanimous compassion,
The cooling elixir of antidote is raised,
And hatred's fiery sparks are quenched.
Yal yal — dissolving gently into freedom,
Mug mug — the murky darkness is pacified forever.
By this excellent method of dharma,
The disease of exhausted hatred is healed,
The harmful mind of conflict is uprooted at its root.
The sharp weapons of fierce, terrifying rage —
The tools of hatred and conflict clash.
Dmyal dmyal — fragments smashing into destruction,
Shag shag — stripped from the root, torn bare.
By the diamond-point of loving-kindness,
The weapons of fierce hatred are destroyed.
Khong khong — emptied within, blown away, contemplated,
Khrum khrum — by the power of loving-kindness, crushed.
By this excellent method of dharma,
The weapons of exhausted hatred are laid down.
The poisoned arrows of anger strike as enemies,
Fierce poisons spread as disease,
Intoxication and confusion triumph like sorcery.
Thum thum — clumped together, dying forever.
This is the remedy:
To the King of Physicians, the Buddha —
Take refuge and cultivate a virtuous mind.
The ambrosia of dharma is administered,
Endowed with healing mantras.
The accumulated poison of hatred is cleared,
The disease of fierce anger is conquered.
Mal mal — gently, the remedy settles on its own,
Sems sems — the root of the mind's poison is permanently purified.
By this excellent method of dharma,
The poison of fierce hatred is tamed.
By all the noble ones without exception,
With the excellent power and great might of loving-kindness —
Just as they uproot hatred from its very root —
By the blessings of truth:
At death's transition, hatred is destroyed from its root,
The body's final exhaustion is permanently healed.
The Sovereign Sage — Avalokiteśvara —
Whose liberation is the supreme of the wise,
The Great Purposeful Dharma King —
He suppresses harmful intention by his splendor.
OṂ MAṆI PADME HŪṂ
This is to be spoken for all people.
By the unsurpassed Three Jewels who accomplish perfection,
Having been blessed by their great, great power —
If the poison tree is uprooted forever,
The unsurpassed abode of the Buddha is attained.
Thus concludes "Overcoming the Three Poisons."
The Teaching on Impermanence
'Phrul gyi byig bshus — The Copied Magical Text
A brief verse teaching from the same manuscript (PT 37, folios 23r–23v), followed by illustration pages of protective mantras.
The human body is impermanent —
Sometimes present, sometimes absent.
The words and teachings of the gods say:
Obtaining a human body is extremely difficult.
Being born in a central land is rare.
In the time of having obtained a human body,
If you trust in the fruits of action and practice the dharma,
You will swiftly be freed on the good path to the gods.
From the three paths of sin there is no escape.
In the southern continent of Jambudvīpa, a land of suffering,
The cycle of flesh does not tarry —
Not even for the powerful and wealthy.
[The manuscript text breaks off here, followed by illustration pages with protective mantra diagrams.]
Colophon
Overcoming the Three Poisons (Dug gsum 'dul ba) is a ninth-century Old Tibetan didactic verse from Pelliot tibétain 37, a booklet manuscript of twenty-eight leaves from the Mogao Caves at Dunhuang, now in the Bibliothèque nationale de France. The manuscript also contains a mandala purification ritual for the evil destinies, a variant guided path for the dead (compare PT 239), a merit-dedication rite, and a short teaching on impermanence — all untranslated except the last, which appears above.
The poem is remarkable for its systematic use of paired onomatopoeia: violent sounds (chem chem, khrum khrum, dmyal dmyal, shag shag) depict the destructive force of the afflictions, while softer sounds (yal yal, mal mal, sems sems) depict the remedies taking hold. This sonic architecture — using the sound of the language itself as a teaching tool — is distinctive among surviving Dunhuang Buddhist literature.
The text treats hatred (zhe sdang) as the primary poison, addressing it through three lenses: the sword of wisdom and emptiness, the diamond-point of loving-kindness (byams pa), and the Buddha as King of Physicians (sman pa'i rgyal po) whose dharma-ambrosia (chos kyi bdud rtsi) heals the disease of anger. The concluding invocation of Avalokiteśvara and the mantra OṂ MAṆI PADME HŪṂ ties the entire teaching to the compassion lineage — suggesting this text may have been recited in a ritual context, perhaps funerary, given the manuscript's other contents.
The Old Tibetan orthography is archaic: zhe stang for zhe sdang (hatred), mye for me (fire), myi for mi (person/not), ched po for chen po (great), cen for chen (great). Several passages are damaged or have uncertain readings, marked with brackets in the source text. The scribe's corrections (marked with & in the OTDO critical edition) have been silently applied. Alternative readings noted by the OTDO editors are preserved in the source text below.
First English translation. Translated from Old Tibetan by the New Tianmu Anglican Church (Good Works Translation), 2026. Reference: the OTDO critical edition was consulted as the sole source. No existing English translation is known to have been consulted, as none appears to exist.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: དུག་གསུམ་འདུལ་བ།
Old Tibetan source text from the Old Tibetan Documents Online (OTDO) critical edition of Pelliot tibétain 37 (folios 1r1–3v6), maintained by ILCAA, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above. Editorial conventions: [ ] = uncertain reading; ( / ) = alternative reading; the ampersand corrections of the OTDO have been preserved as-is.
[dgra?] che ba // na rag ba / dmyal ba'i bshal dag ste / / 'gri[d] dug [k]un
gi bdud dang mtshungs / / dug stong ched po ma bcom na / / thor [to]
mthom tho ris gnam la snyongs / / rtsa ba 'jigs rten s[---] s[-]ol / /
lam dog yang ni dogs ma sgo / / 'bras bu ngan cong gnas su lhu[-]
/ [-]e [lti-]n po 'di lags ste / / ye shes ral gis rnon po si
/ / dug stong ched po tsa nas bcad / / stong po nyid gi
g.yang sa nas / / chem chem thun bu rtun dang sgong / /
khrum khrum dum bu 'khrum dang khri / / zhe stang mye ru 'bad la khad //
lam lam kun du bsrags du che / / ljib ljib kun du mched
du nyed / / nyoms pa'i s[ny]ing rje labs chen sa gyis / / bsil
ba'i chang dug lung bskye de / / zhe stang cha ba 'i mye bur dag //
yal yal thar gyis byings pa dang / / mug mug gtan du zhi bar
bya / / de 'i chos lu[gs] bzang po 'des / / zhe stang tha ba 'i
nad bsal ste / / 'khrugs ba'i gnod sems rtsa zhil ste //
khrog gtum rngam ba'i mchon ca rno / / zhe stang khrug pa'i lag
ca gtugs / / dmyal dmyal dum bu gtugs su che / / shag
shag rtsa nas shags la khad / / rdo rtse byams pa'i [b]e tsom gis / / zhe
stang rngam ba'i mtshon bcom ste / / khong khong [dil (/del)] bud [bsgong]
zhing [bsgom (/bsnom)] / / khrum khrum byams pa'i stobs gis [bgrum] //
de 'i chos lugs bzang po 'dis / / zhe sdang [tha] ba'i mtshon bzhag
'o / / khro ba'i [mad (/mda)] dugs dgra ru gnad / / [rngam] ba'i dugs
nad du che / / myos myogs 'phrul ru rgyal la khad //
thum thum gtan du grongs su che / / de 'i gnyen po 'di
lags ste / / sman pa'i rgyal po sangs rgyas la / / sgyabs
gsol dge ba'i bsems brtsags ste / / chos gyi bdud rtse
thun skyad ste / / sman sngags su ldan ba 'is / / zhe stang thun ba'i dug
bsal sde / / khro sem rngam ba'i nad bcom nas / / mal mal
gnyeng nyen por rang du rub / / sems sems dug rtsa yun bya[ng] / / de'i
chos lugs bzang po 'des / / zhe sdang rngam ba'i dug 'dul
'o / / 'phags pa ma lus thams shad gyis / byams pa'i stobs
bzang mthu cen kyis / / zhe sdang rtsa nas dbyung ba ltar / /
bden ba'i byin brlabs gyis / / tshe 'phos zhe stang rtsa nas
phung / / lus rches tha ba gtan nas bsal / / thubs bdag nyid
gyis spyan ra gzigs / / de 'i rnam thar rigs pa'i mchogs
/ / chos gyis rgyal po don cen gyis / / gnod sems gru
[z]ugs ni zil gyis mnan / OṂ MA MA NI PAD ME HUM myi
/ thams shad la gdab par bya 'o / / bzhin rjogs mdzad pa'i / /
bla myed dkon mchogs gsum po yis / / mthu cen cen byin gyis
brlabs nas su / / dugs sdong sdong gtan blangs na / / bla myed sangs
rgyas gnas su grub // // $ // dug sum 'dul ba
zhes bya ba rjogs so
Source Text: འཕྲུལ་གྱི་བྱིག་བཤུས།
Old Tibetan source text from PT 37, folios 23r1–23v3.
'phrul gyi byig bshus / / phyi ma myi la
bstan pa' mdo / / myi rtag pa bshad pa / /
myi'i lus kying myi brtag ste / / bar bar yod
la bar bar myed / / lha 'i tshig dang bka' na re / myi lus thob
pa shin tu dka' / / yul gyI dbus su skye bar dkon
myi lus thob pa'i tshe dus la / / bha la yid ches
chos byas na // // lha lam bzang por myur te thar /
sdig lam gsum las thar myi myong / / lho phyogs
'dzam grIng sdug yul na / / so sha 'khor ba
ring myi thogs btsan phyug
Source Colophon
Old Tibetan source text from the critical edition of Pelliot tibétain 37, as published on the Old Tibetan Documents Online (OTDO) database, Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA), Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. URL: archives?p=Pt_0037. The physical manuscript is held by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (Département des Manuscrits, Division orientale). Digital facsimiles are available through Gallica (gallica.bnf.fr) and the International Dunhuang Project (idp.bl.uk).
The OTDO critical edition provides a diplomatic transcription with editorial annotations: square brackets [ ] indicate uncertain readings, parenthetical alternatives ( / ) indicate variant possible readings, and ampersand (&) markers indicate scribal corrections where a character was written twice and the repetition canceled. These conventions have been preserved in the source text above.
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