The Lineage of Spiritual Succession of the First Bogd Gegen of Mongolia Zanabazar (1634–1723) in His Secret Namtar and on the Thangka

Abstract

Abstract The author compares the data of written and pictorial sources related to the most intimate aspect of the life and work of the great Buddhist master Jebzun Damba Khutukhta Undur Gegen Zanabazar. This is the text of his secret namtar, which in Mongolian is usually called “Prayer for the Links of Rebirth” (Mong.: töröl üye-yin jarbiral). The example of this xylograph is kept in the National Library of Mongolia. The basic source for its creation, obviously, was “Jataka mala sugitikatha”, the Tibetan text on the successive line of Tarantha (1575–1634). And the rarest example of Buddhist Mongolian painting of the 17th century is thangka by Zanabazar “The Perfection of Trikaya”, which was kindly provided to the author by the owner of a private collection, B. Amarsana. The thangka is describing for the first time. A detailed analysis of the characters on the painting with the ritual tradition of the Vajrayana reveals the mysterious details of the spiritual practice of Undur Gegen and sets before us new horizons and questions for an in-depth study of Mongolian Buddhism. A comparative study of visual and verbal sources allows us to speak about the Practice of Long Life by the method of the White Chakrasamvara in the tradition of yogini Niguma by Undur Gegen Zanabazar along with the practice of long life by the method of Buddha Amitayus.