Padampa’s Animal Kingdom Part 2

Animal Kingdom

Part II (Commentary) 

You are advised to read Part I before looking at this.

INSECTS, WORMS, SPIDERS

WOODWORM

425.4

1.  Pe ta means a kind of worm.[1]  If people want to fool it, they put sweet smelling stuff such as herbs in milk.  They dig a hollow in the cracks of the hollow log in which it stays and call out "Good! Good!"[2]  It pokes out its head and they offer it the milk.  Then a perfect large number of worms come into the milk.  After performing the procedures for multiplying worms (?), they kill them.  In a similar way, one is fooled by 'flour-scattering' (phye [g]tor, obsequious praise) about being good.

LEECH

432.4

2.  Leech — The worm known as the leech[3] is found in narrow places in swamps all over Mon and India.  It drinks the blood it sucks from the feet of humans.  Until it has had its fill you can't remove it.  Then it's exhausted, and won't even go after meat that's [been placed] in the water.  Likewise when you have ceased the outflows (prapañca) of a mind that has cultivated learning, reflection and meditation, a sense of ease appears.[4]

SPIDER

452.7

3.  Do like the spider in the cracks of the tree bark.  Don't do like the ant, people say.  Likewise, expunge desire for food and clothing and make do with what there is.[5]

FLY

418.6

4.  Yaktail fan[6] — In hot parts of India there are various grades of yaktail fans.  Those who have yaktail fans, and do not wave them, are foolish.  Likewise, although one has realized the very mind as Dharma Body, when this is not made use of, one is left to ordinary subject-object [duality].

BEE

458.3

5.  After swallowing a wild bee, thinking there will be no result is very foolish, they say.  Likewise, when you put into practice the virtuous disciplines (dge-sbyor), there will be various diseases and sufferings.

FISH & SEA CREATURES

MAKARA

420.2

6.  Stuffed into the mouth of the Makara —  Inexperienced sea captains who haven't first prepared well and who haven't done the checking of the signs get stuffed into the mouth of the Makara, this being the very emblem of regret.

OYSTER

454.2

7.  Pearl — The oyster[7] eats pieces of la-'ab (?), they say, and on each of them a piece of pearl forms.  They can eat one piece a day, they say.  Similarly, in the unbroken rosary of siddhas, one must rely on the guru, do the practices, and benefit others.

LIZARDS

SNAKE

8.  No comment.

450.7

9.  When a rope is seen as a snake, the rope is perceived and the delusion is reversed.  Similarly if your own delusory conceptualizations dissolve, then external appearances dissolve on their own ground.

10.  No comment.

11.  No comment.

POISON SNAKE

420.4

12.  {{In some border regions of countries like India, when they are traveling in places where there are poisonous snakes... [trouble translating the rest; try again].}}

431.1

13.  When a venomous snake appears on your lap, that's the time to be careful — You may have some other thing in your hand, but you have to put it aside and get rid of that snake, it's said.  Likewise, the three poisons of lust, hatred and bewilderment, and the like, the kleśas which resemble venomous snakes, are gotten rid of with skilful means, so you don't get caught up in the ordinary state of affairs.

432.1

{{A snake that drank priyaṅku, its flesh then being beneficial for health (not translated, since anyway it's more about the medicinal than it is about the snake).}}

441.3

14.  Leaving behind — The snake each year exchanges its skin without having any thought of attachment.  Likewise you shouldn't get attached to your own meditative experiences.

443.2

15.  A venomous snake, a wild pig and an elephant, each one with a power greater than the others, stayed separately in three different valleys.  But there was a place where the three valleys joined and, when they met there, one competed with the others to no avail.  Without being able to flee, they stayed there together and finally all three died untimely deaths from hunger.  Likewise in your own mental continuity are kleśas, troubling conceptualizations.  First look at them nakedly.  Then look back on the looker itself, and realize that they have no roots.

TURTLE

420.5

16.  Turtle — When you are working with materials such as turquoise, pearl or crystal, the fine details are done using diamond.  But if you're working with diamond, you do it with the stomach [shell] of the turtle.  This is quite amazing.  Likewise, there are a few persons with high estimations of their own status and goodness who don't seem to take the authentic guru's precepts seriously, but nevertheless free their own minds and turn out to be talented.  This is quite amazing.

426.1

17.  Unable to go — If you place a turtle in a brass basin, it tries to climb out, but at the very first step it loses its footing.  Likewise, no matter how high or low something may appear, the mind never moves from its empty nature.  It falls back on it.

426.7

18.  The fifteenth of the month — The turtle and other animals may be produced (born) in the waning phase of the moon, but as long as the full moon is not complete they do not mature.  They could be produced on the thirteenth or the fourteeenth, but they mature only on the evening of the full moon.  Similarly, you may have practiced the teachings for a long time, but without realizations benefits for others do not occur.  If you yourself have realizations, benefits for others occur.

429.4

19.  Moistureless turtle — It cannot live in a dry place such as a bronze basin.  It must live in a swamp or in the great ocean.  Other land that is dry is not good for it.  Likewise Dharma practitioners, too, shouldn't live amid the distractions of towns and so forth.  They need a solitary place like a mountain valley or forest.

431.6

20.  When a turtle has withdrawn its limbs within [the shell] it has no enemies on the outside.  Likewise, when you first of all give up the affairs of the world, and keep your thoughts inside in samādhi, all comfort and happiness comes to you as a result.[8]

441.2

21.  The turtle was produced from the moisture, but doesn't therefore get tired of it, and when it sees the ocean, it [certainly] doesn't get tired of it.  Likewise you should never tire of teachings that are put into practice.

447.4

22.  These turtles, when they squint their eyes, they see clearly without moving them.  Likewise in this case, one must not move from settled meditation.

453.2

23.  As there is even no basis for the existence of hair on a turtle, there is no way to find out its special color.  Likewise, since your own mind in reality has no color and so forth, you should understand as well that meditative experiences can't be awarded existence.

459.5

24.  This design on the back of the turtle, wasn't drawn by any maker.  It produced itself.  Likewise your own mind is also produced by itself.

25.  No comment.

26.  No comment.

BIRDS

418.7

27.  Thunderclap — The peacock may have eggs in every season, but until there is a thunderclap, the chicks will not form.  Likewise your very mind may be coextensive with Dharma Body, but without the direct introduction and precepts of the guru, you won't see it.

422.4

28.  On top of the upper terraces of the highest mountain of Magadha (Dbus) is said to live the Full Knowledge Garuḍa.  In the lower [terraces] is the Karma Garuḍa which is said to eat nāgas.  Even lower down is the bird called the kekeru (ke ke ru).[9]  Its chicks receive from their mother a single diamond without getting any other food at all, and later on they need no other feed at all.  That single [food] is enough for them.

There are also many birds in the seven golden mountains.  Some of them are said to eat pearls (mu tig) and lapis lazuli (mu men).[10]  Some eat crystal.  With these and other types of feed, some can go for a year, and others for two or three years.  Some are able to go for a whole month.  Like them you shouldn't be too concerned about food.

425.6

29.  'The chick' and 'formed armor on its body' — At first without any feathers or down, it appears rather blue (?).  For so long as it has grown no down its mother keeps it covered.  This is called rnong (moulting?).  After its down has grown, it is okay if it isn't covered.  Likewise until the student gains independence, the guru's protection is necessary.  When able to act independently, it is as if the time of moulting (snong) has arrived, and the student is sent off freely.[11]

427.4

30.  The kalaviṅka bird —  On top of the Wishgranting Tree it is said to have a fine song.  The reason its song sounds so fine is that [1] it comes from the best family, [2] there is a treasure at the base of the Wishgranting Tree, and [3] it's shouting from the top of the Wishgranting Tree.  It's similar when talk of true teaching reaches your ears.  When it comes from the depths of experience it's still more sweet sounding and does nothing but good for your heart.

431.5

31.  The foolish bird, the pigeon,[12] flustered by fear, walks onto the snare.  The peacock is clever.  It steps once, testing (?), onto the trap, and later on doesn't return to it, it's said.  Likewise, having given up the activities of this life, later of another... [seems unfinished][13]

434.6

32.  Wanting to be beautiful and attractive, the peacock preens its feathers.  One should do just like that.

435.5

33.  The khyu mchog[14] — This means the garuḍa (khyung). A man who drank lion's milk and is full of energy rides on the back of a garuḍa and circles the highest mountain in an instant, they say.  Likewise who has the talents of learnedness together with the talents of realization is comparable to none.

440.5

34.  The chick that's inside the egg — From the very first it looks to the sky, it's said.  In the same way, the practicers of Dharma, with their eyes raised upward, learn from the biographies of the past gurus.

441.1 

35.  The peacock food — Its food is the poisonous aconite.  Not so for other birds.  Even so, the Messenger Path of secret mantra is for those of the best faculties, and not for the followers of lower Vehicles.

442.5

36.  The egg-born — It is clear that other birds must roost (or cover) the chicks in their nests.  The cuckoo bird however abandons its chicks in their nests, so it doesn't need to roost or feed them.  After their nanny has raised them, in the harvest time they fly away, they say.

447.2

37.  The ship's crow — Meditative experiences and realizations are to be recognized as like the ship's crow.  Following after objects of the visual sense can cause great problems.

452.2

38.  For example, a peacock whose eye-like spots had grown felt pride on their account.  It was so preoccupied with them that it died of hunger, it is said.  Likewise, if attached to this world there is suffering, so the person who practices the teachings doesn't move from samādhi.

39.  No comment.

454.5

40.  The nest of the waterfowl (chu bya) is made in the rock.  Its chick, inside the egg, turns its beak upward and thinks it sees the ocean.  In that way, those who have the Great Vehicle's family and activities should give rise to visions of perfection from the very start.

455.2

41.  The goose[15] is called the King of Birds.  Its beak has an essence, so when it is in the lake or river (rtsang po), it collects something [in the water] that resembles milk and then drinks it.  Likewise if you have a trusting attitude, you can gather the essence of the guru's blessings.

456.5

42.  Since Mount Meru's color is blue, the peacock's feathers become indistinguishable from it.  Likewise, you need confidence that the guru's heart and your own realization will mix indistinguishably.

459.1

43.  The kya kra[16] is a type of heron.  This [bird], when it has food in its crop goes to sit in a high place in the mountains.  It lets out three calls, and everything that flaps its wings in the sky gathers there to kill it.  Likewise, wherever there is Enlightened Mind, others gather around.

459.7

44.  A heron catches a fish and his companions rob him of it, it is said.[17]  It if lets go of the fish it has no fear of opponents.  Therefore let go of attachments to things and meditative experiences.

422.1

45.  The byi khra,[18] among many small birds, will [always] kill the weakest one.  The guru, also, out of many followers, will seek out the most fortunate one.

MAMMALS

DOMESTIC MAMMALS

GENERAL

456.7

46.  In India, they might give leaves of the gold-transformation herb to some animals,[19] and to others give grass, but to the animals the two are indistinguishable, unrecognizable.  Likewise, to the persons who are like these animals, not being able to distinguish the deep and not deep teachings, there's no reason to give them the deep ones.

DOG

450.1

47.  {{In its place — If a dog stays in its sitting place,[20] others won't throw stones [at it].  Since it cannot sit, it runs to the place where the stone was thrown, that being his own response, they say.  Likewise, your own suffering is a response to the accumulation of bad karma.}}

HORSE

434.6

48.  The best horse — A man, wanting to stand out from the crowd, discards all thought of life and limb, and enters the race competition.  Likewise, one should do the practices without regard for life and limb.

WILD MAMMALS

GENERAL (carnivores & game animals)

423.7

49.  In the trap — In some border countries they make a small hut and inside it they place some kind of meat, tying a rope to it.  This they attach to a slate above the door, so that when a carnivore wanting meat goes inside, it pulls on the meat and the slate above the door cuts off the exit.  There it is killed, they say.  Likewise, it is important not to pursue desirous thoughts.

460.6

50.  Struck by a weapon in a vital spot — Inferior game animals[21] are said to be isolated from the herd.  Likewise, for doing the practices, one must practice in isolation, alone.

RAT

424.6

51.  Rat poison means the poison of the water rat.[22]  When this poison [first] takes hold, the cause of the pains that accompany it is just not there.  Later on, with a contributing cause, then the pain comes.  [However] if it is immediately treated, there will be no difficulty.  Likewise if at the very start one is made afraid of the poisonous kleśas, one is liberated from the lower rebirths (durgati), but regret at the point of death has no effect.

BAT

445.1

52.  The bat[23] and the hyena[24] had a duel.  The bat was more mobile, while the hyena had greater strength, they say.  Likewise, even though you have the guru's precepts, you might lack determination, so what is required is mastery of both precepts and determination.

RABBIT

423.5

53.  The rabbit[25] staying in the cemetary or sepulchre directs its eyes toward the moon and stays there.  The mind fixed, there is no other aid for samādhi.

54.  No comment.

MONKEY

423.1

55.  The vineyard — A monkey went to eat grapes in a vineyard.  He didn't pick them with his hand and put them into his mouth.  Instead he opened his mouth and shook the vine, hoping they would get into his mouth.  But without going into his mouth, they fell and the brook carried them away.  He couldn't stand this and followed after them, but the grapes were caught in cracks on the banks, and on the path back to the vineyard he died of hunger, it's said.

438.3 

56.  {{All the animals that go into the borax[26] ocean rot and disappear, they say.  A turtle that appears on the surface of the water later on doesn't appear at all.  In the case of the monkey paw, it doesn't rot.  It [the turtle?] goes with the hamstring.  Then, in the forest cleans the paw, and it is no contradiction that it eats it in borax water. Sensual qualities are like the borax, in turning into virtue through skilful means.}}  [This is clearly not a workable translation; the text uses some very rare vocabulary items.]

WILD PIG

438.5

57.  The wild pig[27] listens from the center of its heart whether there are creatures under the ground or not, and thereby knows, they say.  Likewise you must find out through your own meditative experience whether or not something will be beneficial to beings.

58.  No comment.

FOX

59.  No comment.

JACKAL

445.7

60.  The jackal's[28] eye can see regardless of day or night.  It doesn't need to do or not do things in day or night.  Likewise when the precepts have pierced the vital points, not giving up discursive thoughts is supreme.

61.  No comment.

HYENA

See under 'bat'.

BLACK ANTELOPE

62.  No comment.

BEAR

435.3

63.  Cubs — In Mon there are bears[29] who stay among the rocks.  If a drop of honey were to fall on top of a bear's tongue, it will crave its taste, even forgetting its cubs.  Between its heart and its taste is no communication, and it dies from the knife of appetite.  Likewise we are never satiated by sensual things.

64.  No comment.

TIGER

65.  No comment.

66.  No comment.

67.  No comment.

LION

68.  No comment.

417.1

69.  The child who sees the man [in] the lion suit — There are three ways of seeing: [1] The young child seeing the costume without reflecting on it, [2] seeing the costume after reflection, and [3] accustomed to seeing it, changing his mind.  In a similar way, there is the fool who doesn't known virtue from sin, one slightly perceptive who worries about causes and results [of actions], and finally the one who has disentangled the grasper and grasped (subject/object) into the continuity of mind proper.

70.  No comment.

430.3

71.  The lion's eye — It is said that in general all animals have eyes that are rounded, [long and] narrow or the like.  But the lion, they say, has the letter 'A' for its eyes.  When it looks afar, it even sees the shape of the 'A' in its path.  Similarly, all sentient beings abide in every meaning of non-production which it [the letter 'A'] indicates.  But they are veiled by conceptual thoughts and don't realize it.  In this case, the guru points out your own mind as being unproduced, and when you look at it that way, you put it into practice without getting distracted.

439.1

72.  Lion skin pouch[30] — This is to be recognized as the three:  beginner, somewhat experienced, and completely accomplished.[31]

73.  No comment.

439.7

74.  Lion's milk can be kept only in a vessel of precious metals, not in clay or wooden bowls.  Likewise for the precepts it's of greatest importance to be a suitable vessel.

444.1

75.  It's like seeing a man dressed up in a lion suit.[32]  First you must recollect the sufferings of saṃsāra, then understand or lighten (loosen) up, and finally, realization.

445.4

76.  Lion milk is the drink of such as elephants and athletes.  They say that if you are afraid of vomiting, you can apply paste to your lips and then you won't vomit.  Like this, the profound precepts should be kept secret.

449.3

77.  The heart-blood of the lion means lion milk.  If the likes of athletes or elephants drink it when they're thirsty, it makes them strong, they say.  Likewise if you make great efforts in the practice based on the lion milk-like precepts, you will be beyond compare.

461.1

78.  If you want to know how it is that the planets dawn in the sky, dress your body in a lion pelt and you will realize how.  Similarly, in recognizing the qualities of the guru, you will know whether you have qualities or not.

462.1

79.  The lion carnivore has a precept to stay always among the rocky mountains.  That is the metaphor.  Similarly, when doing the practices, benefits for beings occur with force [even] in the fastness of mountain and forest.

RHINOCEROS

441.6

80.  The only wild game animal with dirt spots (sme ba) on its body is the lone rhinoceros,[33] and they say that in its horn is rhino scent.[34]  Among them are some called spotted tsab ru[35] which has much more rhino scent than the others, so he doesn't stay in crowds of other animals but lives in the mountains on the side facing north.  The other game animals stay on the sunny side.  On the north east of that mountain is a waterhole where all of them drink.  The spotted rhinoceros, when it drinks, goes straight there.  Likewise those involved in virtuous practice should live alone.

ELEPHANT

81.  No comment.

419.4

82.  The elephant — The elephant is greater in its body and strength, etc., but if you catch it with the hook, it will go wherever you desire.  Likewise, when the essential precepts pierce the vital points, your own mind will go wherever you want.

425.1

83.  Putting pressure on the lion's teat, they milk the lion's milk, then give it to the elephant which is raised on it.  When this happens, the lion is never recognized by the elephant as it is coming of age.  But then when the elephant sees a lion, it recalls the kindness of the milk it drank, and even if it doesn't recognize the lion, the elephant weeps, they say.  Likewise just seeing the meaning of reality one abandons fondness for judgments.[36]

429.2

84.  Mastery at birth — In general what's needed is a mastery of causes and conditions.  In the present case, the mighty elephant who has mastery over causes and conditions was raised on lion's milk which gave it its strength which none can match.  Likewise, Dharma practitioners need to be of good family, a royal family or the like.  If they then receive and put into practice the precepts of a qualified guru, they will be unmatched.

426.6

85.  Of gold — When taming an elephant, you tame it by piercing its ear with a golden needle.  But if it sees [the needle] later on it runs away, they say.  When the precepts have been made part of your life (rgyud la goms nas), merely recalling them is automatically liberating (rang grol).

427.7

86.  Kings of such countries as India have many elephants.  For each of them they need a hundred measures of grain, and a hundred of wine.  Of all elephants the very best is the six-tusker.  The wise six-tusker has no desire for the grape.  Because it is wise, it doesn't want it, knowing that it cannot help it obtain what is necessary.  Likewise, people who practice a bit of austerity when they first turn to the teachings will be criticized by the others.  [See no. 88, below.]

87.  No comment [but see following].

436.3

88.  The experienced tamer approached the elephant with barley soaked in grape wine.  The elephant that fled through the sugarcane fields is the pea brain.[37]  Don't be conned by desire like that.

439.3

89.  The elephant of India, when it's tortured by thirst and sees some water it goes there, whatever may be in its mouth falls out, and it drinks the water without thinking about anything else.  Similarly, those who trust in the reliable guru and the teachings should not think of other things.

445.2

90.  Strong wine — For example, you have a very strong elephant, on top of that a mad one [or, one in must], and one that drank strong wine.  When it goes on a rampage, there is nothing to do, but if you let it be as it is it will be pacified, they say.  Likewise it won't do to pressure the types of persons who are difficult to tame.  But if you leave it to nature, they will be subdued.

452.1

91.  The wooden man kills an elephant.  Similarly the full knowledge that comes from realization kills ignorance.

455.1

92.  The six-tusker elephant of India is raised on lion milk, so it remembers [the lion's] kindness and looks on its face, they say.  Likewise, recollect the kindness of the guru.

457.1

93.  {{Caravan leader loading elephants.  Not translated.  Evidently the first line refers to a kind of contraption used to load elephants, but the explanation is not clear to me.  This one is unusual in that the analogy extends through two lines.}}

461.7

94.  At the very time Indian kings go into battle, they attach a sword to the neck of the elephant.[38]  If it is attached ahead of time, it will be harmful to its life.  Similarly, first make efforts in the practice for oneself, and only then practices beneficial for others.

95.  No comment.

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 1999  The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra: A Mahāyāna Text, Motilal Banarsidass (Delhi), first published in 1932.

Tibetan Medical Paintings

 1992  Yuri Parfionovitch, Gyurme Dorje & Fernand Meyer, eds., Tibetan Medical Paintings: Illustrations to the Blue Beryl Treatise of Sangye Gyamtso (1653-1705), Harry N. Abrams (New York).

Wink, André

 1997  Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World, Volume II — The Slave Kings and the Islamic Conquests, 11th-13th Centuries, Brill (Leiden).

Zurchungpa

 2006  Zurchungpa's Testament: A Commentary on Zurchung Sherab Trakpa's Eighty Chapters of Personal Advice by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, based on Shechen Gyaltsap's Annotated Edition, translated by the Padmakara Translation Group, Snow Lion (Ithaca).  For the Tibetan text I made use of Zur chung shes rab grags pa'i gdams pa brgyad cu pa, Pema Thinley, Sikkim National Press (Gangtok 1999).

[1] Srin bu, Skt. kṛmi.  I am not certain which (or if) 'woodworm' is really intended by pe ta, but derive this from the context.

[2] Skt. bhadra, which generally means simply 'good,' as a vocative, could mean 'Good sir!" a very cordial way of summoning the worms.  But then again, this may well be a clue to the identity of the "unknown term bhadrapīṭha," a word that occurs in The Small Clay Cart by Śūdraka, one of the most famous Sanskrit dramas, in a very humorous scene in which a burglar in the course of a breakin makes use of various tools of the trade, including a moth which he sends into the house to put out the flame of the night lamp (Karttunen 2002-3: 304).  This moth is once referred to as bhadrapīṭha, a name that might be translated as 'auspicious seat,' or 'auspicious place' (Sastri & Parab 1902: 39 in the endnotes).  Skt. pīṭha is a sufficiently close match to Tib. pe ta.  That the name of what would appear to be a kind of worm in the Padampa text could be the name of a moth in the drama presents no insurmountable problem.  The 'worm' could be the larval form of the moth.  To underline this a bit, it would seem that a Padampa text could shed light on the meaning of a word that today presents a mystery to Indologists.

[3] Pad pa, Skt. jalauka; Mvy. no. 4855.  It might seem to be a borrowing of an Indic term like *pādapa, 'foot-drinker' (but this word does not appear in dictionaries with the meaning 'leech,' but rather means 'tree').  Sometimes pad pa is 'corrected' to padma, which is the most ordinary word for 'lotus' [in both Sanskrit and Tibetan], although pad pa is indeed the spelling used repeatedly in Tibetan-language Vinaya texts (here its medicinal usage is known).  An interesting listing of the names for the leech is found in a mid-15th century vocabulary work:  Sne-thang Blo-gros-brtan-pa, Mngon brjod kyi bstan bcos tshig gi gter zhes bya ba'i 'grel pa rgya cher don gsal ba (Gangtok 1977), at p. 284: 

"10.  Names for the leech [padma]:  Blood drinker (khrag 'thung) and dza-lo-ka; water louse (chu shig-pa), but here padma.  Some say 'creature padma' [to distinguish from the lotus].  It is called blood drinker because it pierces people with its lips and drinks their blood.  It is called dza-lo-ka because it never lacks water.  Water louse is also numbered among its names.  Here in Tibet we call it padma, although the pearl is also called 'creature padma'."

[4] For an Upaniṣadic and Buddhist use of the leech as a metaphor, which appears to have nothing to do with Padampa's, see Hosoda 2004.

[5] This contrasts markedly with the Solomonic wisdom, "Go to the ant, thou sluggard.  Consider his ways and be wise" (Proverbs 6:6).  Indeed, the diligence and teamwork exemplified by ants would not be regarded as a virtue by Padampa.  Likewise the smallness of the ant is not at issue here.  On Islamic ant lore, see Seyed-Gohrab 2000.

[6] This is interesting, since although it is obviously a Tibetan product, the tail fan's use is much better known in India.  Skt. cāmara (Mvy. no. 3052).

[7] Nya-phyis, Skt. suktikā or śukti; Mvy. nos. 599, 9015.

[8] For the turtle's withdrawal of its limbs into the shell as a metaphor for meditative withdrawal from sensory stimuli, see for example Deleanu (2000: 115).  It is rather commonplace in Buddhist literature.

[9] Mvy. no. 5949: ke ke ru, Skt. karketana, or karkatna, name of a precious stone of white colour.

[10] mu men might be used to translate Skt. vairāṭa.  Some want to understand mu men to be a type of sapphire, or an inferior grade of diamond.

[11] Jackson, 'Birds in the Egg', p. 99, translates the word gnongs, with a questionmark, as meaning "incubation [or fertilization?]."  Here the same word is spelled in two ways, rnong and snong.  The meaning of this unusual archaic word requires more thought.

[12] phug ron; Skt. pārāvata; Mvy. no. 4902.

[13] Compare Bødker 1957, no. 144, in which the peacock is able to avoid the snare with the help of a magical spell and its cleverness.

[14] Skt. ṛṣabha, 'leader of the pack,' generally used for the bull.  Mvy. no. 19, has it as an epithet of the Buddha.

[15] bya ngang pa, Skt. haṃsa.  Its ability to extract milk from a mixture of milk and water is quite well known in early kāvya works (see Rau 1986: 195 no. 19).

[16] Better spelling: rgya-khra: C skya-bkra.  With the spelling skya-khra, it is defined a large hawk (or perhaps better, 'falcon'; Tibetan Medical Paintings, p. 213, does in fact identify the rgya-khra as a falcon) which eats pigeons and rabbits (obviously this is not a heron).  Perhaps skya-ga, also spelled bya-khra, is the bird intended here.  It is said to be black with a white chest, and it is known to kill other birds.  Note that while these spellings appear very different, they sound the same or quite similar when pronounced.

[17] The fact that birds often steal food out of the mouths of other birds is made the subject of some Indian folk stories.  See Bødker 1957, no. 1250 for some examples.

[18] The variation between byi-khra ('mouse hawk') and bya-khri ('bird hawk') is notable, but I suggest that bya-khra is intended (see a preceding note).

[19] Dud-'gro, 'traveling bowed over,' sometimes is used to denote the entire animal kingdom, but like Skt. tiryañc, which it generally translates, it may more specifically apply to the four-legged creatures, whether domestic or wild.

[20] Drang sa, =brang sa.

[21] Ri-dags or ri-dwags, in translation literature, is most likely to stand for Skt. mṛga.

[22] Chu-byi, =Arvicola terrestris.  There is also an interesting metaphor employing the 'rat of poison' in Ālokamālāprakaraṇa (Snang ba'i phreng ba zhes bya ba'i rab tu byed pa), Tôhoku no. 3895; Derge Tanjur, vol. HA, folios 51r.6‑62r.4, at fol. 55: ri dvags me mdag mi za zhing // dug gi byi ba dug gis ni // srog ni mtha' ru byed pas kyang // de ni 'chi bar 'gyur ma yin.  "The wild deer does not eat glowing cinders, but while the rat of poison might be brought to the edge of its life through poison, it will not die."

[23] Pha-wang, Skt. titīla, or, carmacaṭaka; Mvy. no. 4913.

[24] Dred, Skt. tarakṣu [Monier-Williams, 'hyena']; Mvy. no. 4782.

[25] Ri-bong, Skt. śaśa; Mvy. no. 4800.

[26] Ba-tsha-can.  This word may be used in a less specific sense to mean simply 'salty' or 'brackish.'

[27] Phag-rgod, Skt. araṇya-varāha; Mvy. no. 4795.

[28] Ce-spyang, Skt. śṛgāla, or, sṛgāla; Mvy. no. 4784.

[29] Dom, Skt. ṛkṣa; Mvy. no. 4780.  Or, bhalluka [bhallūka]; Mvy., no. 4781.

[30] Slud-pu, same as blud-pu, rlid-bu.

[31] This doesn't make much sense to me yet.  The three categories here may allude back to those in no. 69, above.

[32] We might understand it like this:  Fear accompanies the first sight, thinking it is a lion, then you see that it is a show, and finally you realize there is a man inside the suit making it move.

[33] Bse-ru, Skt. gaṇḍa, or, gaṇḍāra; Mvy. no. 4793.  While many languages have a name for the rhino which could translate something like 'nose horn,' the Tibetan word would seem to mean 'leathery horn.'

[34] Bse-dri, a dated word referring to underarm odor in general, which would mean either 'leather odor' or possibly 'rhino odor.'

[35] Evidently their horns produce the rtsabs-ru salts, an extract from animal horns used in medicine.

[36] Padampa's metaphoric usage of lion-elephant metaphors are rather obscure and confusing.  In general in Sanskrit poetic literature (Daalen 1992: 71 et passim), the lion and elephant are rivals, even enemies, probably because both are strong candidates for   the position of king of beasts in the wild. 

[37] Srad-ma-can.  An outdated word, it would seem to derive from the word for 'pea' or 'bean.'  One passage equates it with 'ja'-ti (different spelling for the 'dza-tri used in the Root Text); ZC, vol. 1, p. 630.  I believe 'ja'-ti is a borrowing from Sanskrit jaḍī or  jāḍya, 'dullness, insensibility,' etc.  It seems that elephant trappers would place their traps in sugarcane groves, as this would be a logical place since elephants are fond of sugar and can be quite destructive of sugarcane crops.  The Mātaṅgalīlā by Nīlakaṇṭha devotes its tenth chapter to methods of capturing elephants, and some of these methods involve the use of sugarcane as bait (on traditional modes of trapping elephants, see Edgerton 1985: 16-22, 87-91; Banerji 1980: 111-112).

[38] I could locate an account of Indian elephants going into battle with swords upon their tusks (and here even the rhinoceroses have three-pronged weapons attached to their horns).  See Hobson-Jobson, p. 363.