英文摘要 |
The Tibetan state oracle gNas chung undoubtedly has played a significant role in modern Tibetan history. Starting from the seventeenth century, gNas chung has been transmitting messages from the guardian deity Pehar that had often influenced the decisions of the Dalai Lamas and the administrative assessments of the Tibetan government. Past researches on Pehar laid particular emphasis on the activities of gNas chung oracle. Few studies have investigated the role of Pehar in the Tibetan history. This article examined and analyzed the depictions of Pehar in the Tibetan historical and religious literature as well as in related stories from folklore. According to narrations in the Tibetan literature, the origin of Pehar has nothing to do with Tibetan Buddhism. In the Tibetan literature between the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries Pehar is usually described as a being that is able to transform itself and very often plays a role of misleading the practitioners. This being with evil nature will bring harm when being offended. Around the end of the thirteenth centuries Pehar was regarded as a guardian deity of Buddhism. Nevertheless, before the seventeenth centuries, Pehar was not yet generally recognized by the Tibetan intellectuals as the most important guardian deity of Buddhism. At the time of the fifth Dalai Lama Pehar moved to the monastery gNas chung and became the state guardian deity. After the time of the fifth Dalai Lama many significant personages successively composed eulogies and ritual texts for Pehar, which brought about a popular cult of Pehar. The change of the role of Pehar in the Tibetan history demonstrates the compatibility and flexibility of Tibetan Buddhism in accommodating indigenous deities and popular cult. |