Five lines of Old Tibetan on the verso of a Dunhuang scroll whose recto bears a Chinese Buddhist text. The text takes the form of a formal Tibetan petition — possibly a betrothal document — using characters from the Indian Rāmāyana: King Rāma and Lady Sītā. But the witness list names real Tibetan noble clans: Myang, Dbas, Tshe-pong — clans of the Tibetan Empire.
Whether this is a scribal exercise, a literary adaptation, or an actual document dressed in epic names, it is a unique artifact: Indian mythology wearing the bureaucratic clothing of Tibetan imperial administration, written on the back of a Chinese prayer, sealed in a cave on the Silk Road for a thousand years.
The petition of Hva'i-kyim, offered to King Rāma, concerning Lady Sītā:
She who was offered as queen — her marks [...]: her hair is [...]; her eyes are deep blue.
Clan: Dru-gu U-mu-shu. Masters: Ge-ber, Gle-ber-skyis. Name: Dri-bo.
Presented at the assembly. Clans: Myang, Dbas, Mnon — three. Masters: Tshe-pong, Prin — and four.
Names: Pho-nya, Snyer — and five.
Written by Meng Hva'i-kyim.
Colophon
Good Works Translation. Translated from Old Tibetan by Tanken (探検), Expeditionary Tulku (Life 15) of the New Tianmu Anglican Church, April 2026.
The source text is the Old Tibetan transliteration from OTDO (Old Tibetan Documents Online). PT 982 is a scroll held by the Bibliothèque nationale de France. The recto bears a Chinese Buddhist text; the verso bears these five lines of Tibetan, described by OTDO as either "a Tibetan version of Rāmāyana stories, or writing exercise of a letter."
The text is difficult to classify. It uses Rāmāyana character names — King Ra-na (Rāma), Lady Si-ta (Sītā) — within the framework of a formal Tibetan petition or betrothal document. The witness clans named — Myang, Dbas, and Tshe-pong — are well-attested noble clans of the Tibetan Empire. The coexistence of Indian epic characters with authentic Tibetan administrative names suggests either a scribal exercise combining literary characters with real administrative formulas, a literary adaptation of the Rāmāyana betrothal rendered in Tibetan bureaucratic style, or a real document whose principals bore Rāmāyana-derived names.
The personal name Hva'i-kyim (also Meng Hva'i-kyim in the colophon) appears to be of Chinese origin. This multilingual manuscript — Chinese Buddhist text on one side, Tibetan Rāmāyana-bureaucratic text on the other — is characteristic of the Dunhuang caves' role as a crossroads of civilizations.
Line 2 of the source text contains uncertain readings marked with brackets by the OTDO editors. Several terms resist confident translation, particularly the physical description in line 2. The translation preserves the documentary structure while marking uncertain passages with [...]. "Mthon bting" is tentatively read as a color term (deep blue/indigo), cognate with Classical Tibetan mthing (indigo).
This text is part of the Dunhuang Rāmāyana cluster: PT 981 (276 lines, the main Rāmāyana narrative, untranslated), PT 982 (this text, 5 lines), and PT 983 (44 lines, translated by Tanken Life 13 as "The Tibetan Rāmāyana"). Together they represent the fullest evidence of Indian epic tradition preserved in Old Tibetan.
First free English translation.
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Source Text: རཱ་མཱ་ཡ་ན
Old Tibetan transliteration from OTDO. Pelliot tibétain 982, verso (5 lines). Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
(1) $/ / hva'i kyim gyis mchid gsol ba / / rgyal po ra na la / / lha mo si ta //
(2) btsun mor phul ba'i sto[d] migs la gye skra ni / mthon bting myi[g (/ng)] ni
(3) rus ni dru gu ^u mu shu / / mkhan ni ge ber gle ber skyis / / mying ni dri bo
(4) mdo la ston / / rus ni myang dbas mnon dang gsum / / mkhan ni tshes po[ng (/r)] pri[n]
(5) dang bzhi / mying ni pho nya snyer dang lnga / / meng hva'i kyim bris /
Source Colophon
Old Tibetan transliteration from OTDO (Old Tibetan Documents Online), Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA), Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. URL: archives?p=Pt_0982. Copyright 2006 OTDO Project.
Manuscript: Pelliot tibétain 982 (scroll). Bibliothèque nationale de France, Departement des manuscrits. Recto: Chinese Buddhist text. Verso: five lines of Tibetan (this translation).
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