206 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [N.S., XVIII, 
gion in Tibet knows of two periods of religious persecution 
and eclipse, the BVABINAA SST and the Aa AN’ 
ria’ssr The obscuration period of the (Buddhist) religion 
ae 
was under the reign of Langdarma, O|C°RR"S]" and the Bon- 
gn of Langdarma, AIES<’51, 
: aa a ‘ 
eclipse was under that of RNC Tisrongdetsan. 
In olden times the kings of Tibet had two ministers (or 
perhaps this was especially so for Tisrongdetsan and some 
others), namely a profane minister with nationalistic leanings 
in religion, a ‘‘bad’’ one, and a (Buddhist) religious one, or 
“good” one. The bad minister is called 4 <m°H5"_ the devil- 
* Selcuk 
minister, and Tisrongdetsan’s devil-minister was called yan 
marr The good minister is called the ANAS and the 
name given for Tisrongdetsan’s religious minister is q ta 
433° This is another th a ‘ e 
yt. another than the Sainte a Q35,, Gung Tl 
1 . . . . . 
Gung-btsan, whom S. C. D. in his dictionary mentions as the 
son and successor of Tisrongdetsan. 
first tried to encourage both and to let them flourish side by 
side. When, however, Padmasambhava and the “more than 
a hundred pandits ” with him, witnessed the bloody sacrifices 
of the Bon priests, they threatened to return to India and to 
cease their endeavours at converting the country if these 
sacrifices were not stopped. Padmasambhava made it clear 
same country was incompatible with the ethics of Buddhism, 
and he put the choice before him either to have “ one king and 
Buddhism _Whilst suppressing the Bon-pos. This was the 
second period of religious persecution in Tibet, but this time 
of the old religion of the country, the qq aarca'sa 
~~ 
The Bon-pos fled the country, in so far as they were not killed 


