Tibetan 2012, Prophecy, Annotated Translation

You will recall our Stunning Mystery Lotsawa recently favored us with notes from the future past. Subsequently, this annotated revision was forwarded along, for the benefit of all sentient beings:

A prophecy of bLo gros rab 'phel,
an emanation of 'Jam mgon kon sprul blo gros mtha' yas

In the expanse of space, the realm of great space
A thousand lights blaze in the dot of great joy
In the spacious expanse of pure virtual reality
Resonate sounds of vision and void undivided.
The hidden facts of the future,
As vajra chains of empty awareness --
Chains of words everywhere --
Shine forth, vajra signs.

A blazing mass of flame is destroyed
By the saliva of a blue dragon.
Fiercely dancing on a mountain peak,
It is good to use golden ornaments. [1]

[If] on the seventeenth's stairs to be counted [2]
There is happiness at a restful place.
If in the West and Northwest flowers rain down
If held as an adornment above that is good.
Dark poison pounded in a deep hole billows, bringing darkness.

At the black castle's [2a] root six serpents coil;
The jewel [at their] head[s] has a ray shooting out.[2a.i]
The Candala envelops the great golden dome.[2b]
The ray-spikes could also be of clear light.[2b.i]

The neck of dharma-havens will wither and
[something] yellow that causes an increase of hunger[3],[3a]
Might be hit by the light from crystal that produces light.[4]

The rotten smell of an ocean of blood
Would be dried up by the point of a Kila, perhaps.

The rainbow-tiger[s] will fade in the sky. [4a]
The glorious vase will be consumed with poison.[5]
The edge of the fangs of an angry monster
Could strike the head of a lord. [6]

The eastern forests will be consumed by fire [7]
And a glorous flower could be born.

The Western Water-God's snake lasso, if placed
On a high throne of red lights, will dispel the darkness. [8]

The forests of Kong [po] will be destroyed by blades;
The hairy genital knots are surrounded by metal; [9]
Mountain boulders collect on the earth of Bon.

The stone enclosures are disturbed from within.
Leaves grow on the wishfulfilling tree.
If the ocean is struck by a golden ray,
Thirteen light phenomena could rise in the sky.

If the emissary dressed in a monkey-skin
Stays during the seventeen enumerated,
On the great snowy plains of the earth
The excellent Sal tree will reach for the heavens.
The ocean waves will mix with the clouds
The King of Mountains' peak will be stuck under the earth.
If one knows well how to plant spikes underground,
The white snows of the King of Mountains will blaze with light.
The Yaksha holding a wheel of iron
Grows in the great lotus garden to the South.
A rain of honey falls on the Naga Realm to the west.
In the south the tune of emptiness-Dharma resounds.

If the compassionate light Kalachakra finds good circumstances
It will remain for three hundred years,
Or at least for one-hundred eighty.

The sharpness of the teeth of the iron Wealth-Protector
With a poisonous breath -- how terrible!
The manifestations of compassionate light of Orgyen
Shall not deceive -- EMAHO.

The Queen of space Varahi has spoken
These secret signs of circumstance.

[1] Or, 'destroys [the fire] with its saliva'

[2] bgrang gya bcu bdun them skas. 'Seventeenth' is used here with the assumption that seventeen is not the number of the stairs to be counted, but of the seventeenth cycle of 60 years according to the Tibetan calendar (beginning with fire-hare in 1987).

[2a] 'Black Castle' (mkhar nag) may not be, as I recently suggested, a reference to India and China. According to the Rangjung Yeshe Dictionary, "mkhar nag rdo rje rgyal po - the vajra king of Karnak [local deity of Tsurphu]". This is obviously significant.

[2a.i] {mgo yi nor bu zer shig 'phro} 'The jewel of the head {mgo yi nor bu} emits {'phro} a {shig} ray {[g]zer} [of light]' On the other hand {mgo} means 'head'; {yi nor} could mean {yid bzhin nor bu} or HHDL; or perhaps a reference to the previous Karmapa. {bu} means 'boy'; {shig} means among many other things a unit of weight, so {bu shig} could mean 'consideration of the boy' or also, "destroy the boy!"; one meaning of {zer} is 'rumor' or 'emphatic statement' or 'expression of discontent or disapproval' 'gossip' or 'rumour'. {'phro} means 'radiate' {'tser ba} when juxtaposed to {zer} or {'od zer} but it also means by implication 'to speak, broadcast, shout' {'tser ba=zer ba}. The word {shig} here is possibly juxtaposed to the previous word {gzhig} 'to analyze' or 'be destroyed', e.g. the blue dragon. {shig} could easily be construed colloquially as the imperative of {gzhig} 'to investigate'. So {bu shig zer 'phro} has the sense of 'go and investigate/find the boy, alright already!'

[2b] Maybe not a reference to Islam after all. {g.yung po ba gam ser chen 'dril}, it says here. g.Yung po means, among other things, 'servants' or 'followers'. {ba gam} means 'dome' or 'multitiered palace'. {Ser chen} could mean 'large hail' but in context it easily suggests a gold-leaved chorten. {'dril} could mean to surround, etc., but also to "make round" or "bring together". Now I think it refers to the construction of a stupa.

[2b.i] {zer ma me 'od gsal yang srid} has a totally new sense taking {zer} as 'speech' and not as 'light[rays]', etc. Taking {zer} as 'statement', {ma me} as Sanskrit for 'mine' (surely the previous Kongtrul knew some sanskrit!) {'od gsal} simply as 'clear as day' and {yang srid} in its usual sense as "tulku", the line means something completely different than it would just reading it according to meter. It means, basically, 'A statement -clear as day-of my tulku'.

[3] /chos mtshams ske 'bri skem spel ser/ /'od byung me shel 'od 'phog srid/ Note that ser_ske is a type of yellow fly that is attracted to feces during monsoon acc. to TDC.

[3a] {chos mtshams ske 'bri skems 'phel ser} like the previous line should be read out of meter to make sense of it, with the first syllable being medium voiced and second emphasized, instead of the first strong and the second weak as would be customary. {chos} could refer to a lot of things, but it doesn't really matter here, it's a placeholder term anyway. Let us make it mean {chos gos} 'dharma robe' for the sake of argument. {mtshams ske} would then mean '[that which is  in] the gap [mtshams] between the neck [ske] and the robe'. In other words, the [in]famous letter. {'bri} means 'female yak' or 'declined, damaged' but also 'to write'. {'bri skem} means 'withered writing', 'damaged letter', or 'dried-out letter'. It's not a big stretch to make it out. {'phel} means 'increase' or here, 'incite'. {'phel ser} suggests increased envy {ser sna} or 'monks {ser, 'yellow' [robed people] incited to action {'phel}. We all know the story.

[4] {'od 'byung me shel 'od 'phog srid } Light {'od} of the element {'byung me} - passed through a lense or magnifying glass --normally called {me shel} 'fire crystal', but here simply as {shel 'od} preceded by {'od 'byung me}-could strike {'phog} or ignite it. The point is, close or forensic examination of the letter could ignite a whole host of additional conflict.

[4a] /stag gi 'ja' ris mkha' la yal/ Note that _'ja' ris_ is possibly synonymous with _rnam 'gyur_ ('display, transformation') which names the Metal-Tiger year (2010).

[5] /dpal gyi bum pa dug gis zin/ Referring perhaps to the poisoning of oceans and/or ground water; or to rain clouds. Also, _bum pa_ refers to the sign of Aquarius.

[6] /srin po khros pa'i mche ba'i zur/ /dbang po'i mgo la theb kyang srid/. _srin po_ or 'rakshasa' is the Wood-Hare (2035); _dbang phyug_ or 'Ishvara', 'Lord' is 1997. Cf. the similarity of these lines to the imagery of the Bhagavadgita: [ insert reference].

[7] /shar gyi nags tshal me yi zin/ possibly a reference to the Fire-Rat year (='dzin byed').

[8] /'od dmar khri 'phangs 'khod na thang/ Here is possibly a refrence to _'phang thang_, an ancient name of a former Tibetan capital at sne gdong rdzong.

[9] /spu yi sba bdud lcags kyi bskor/. 'spu yi sba mdud' or 'hairy genital knots' could be a reference to one of the monkey years, and 'metal' to metal years before and after, e.g., the Metal-Snake [2001] precedes Wood Monkey year [2004], after which the next metal year is Metal Tiger (2010).