1881.] 
Sarat Chandra Das —Contributions on Tibet. 
199 
2nd Sub-stage, middle Gyur-Bon. 
During the reign of king Thi-sron de-tsan, an edict was issued requir¬ 
ing all the Bonpo to renounce their faith and embrace Buddhism. The 
Minister Gyal-vai chan-chhiib requested the Bon priest named Rin- 
chhen chhog to adopt Buddhism which he declined to do. Having been 
punished by the king for his obstinacy, he became greatly enraged, 
and, in company with some other Bonpo, secretly composed Bon scriptures 
by means of wholesale plagiarism from Buddhist canonical works. The king 
hearing that the excellent sayings of the Tathagata had been converted into 
Bon scriptures, ordered the priests to be beheaded. Many of the Bonpo were 
thus killed; the rest secretly multiplied their works and, through fear, 
concealed them under rocks. Afterwards they brought out their religious 
books from the various hiding-places, in consequence of which those books 
are called Bon ter-ma , or “ the hidden treasures of the Bonpo.” 
3rd Sub-stage, last Gyur-Bon. 
Subsequent to the overthrow of Buddhism by Landarma, two Bon 
priests named S'en-gyur and Dar-yul dolag, from upper Nan in Tsan, 
sitting in a solitary cavern in 17, consecrated as a place of Bon religion, 
altered many Buddhist works 10 by using an orthography and terminology 
different from those of the Buddhists. These they concealed under the 
rock of Tsho-na deu-chhun. Afterwards they brought the hidden books to 
light as if they were accidental discoveries. 
Afterwards Khyun-po and other Bon priests, in the same manner, 
converted other Buddhist works into Bon scriptures. 
These three stages of Gyurpa-Bon, viz., the first, the middle and the 
last, are designated by the name of Chhab-kar or Dapui-Bon, meaning “ the 
white-water (enlightened) or the resultant Bon.” 
The Bonpo are said to have got the counterparts of the Kah-gyur in 
general. The following are the names of their principal religious books 
and deities. 
Bon Religious Works. 
I Ta-ya-$ton-pai- Gs'u'n. Philosophy and metaphysical works. 
1. _Kdsogs-pa rin-chhen yser-gyi Aphren-va. 
2. AJtsa/jgrel Huii-gi spu gu. 
3. Man-nag Akhor-lo hod-ysal. 
10 The Buddhist scripture— 
Yum gya-pa was converted into, and given the Bon name of, Kham-chhen. 
Ni-shu napa ,, „ „ „ ,, Kham-chhun. 
Don-la bab-pa ,, ,, ,, ,, „ Bondo. 
Ssun de-ha „ „ „ ,, „ Lubum-kah. 
B B 
