Oriental Studies (Dec 2021)
Sūtra of Eight Khulils: Analyzing One Manuscript from Aldan-Maadyr National Museum of Tuva
Abstract
The article aims to introduce a manuscript of the “Sūtra of Eight Khulils” in Mongolian, part of the collection in Aldan-Maadyr National Museum of the Tuva Republic. The idea of eight khulils, or eight trigrams, which symbolize eight great elements (fire, earth, metal, sky, water, mountain, wood, and air / wind) and form the basis of the Tibetan-Mongolian astrological system may be traced back to ancient Chinese divinatory practices which one can find in Yi jing, or Book of Changes. Despite the title, the Sūtra has nothing in common with canonical Mahāyāna sūtras either in content or composition. No parallel work of the Tibetan canon identified as an original for the sutra in question, assumingly, it is either a translation from Chinese or of purely Mongolian origin. The body of the text is preceded by schematic pictures of eight khulils, supplied with indications of eight directions (life, health, luck, happiness, evil, illness, evil spirit and five demons), each direction having eight combinations that are differently positioned (south, north, east, west and four intermediary directions), depending on khulil. Then, there is a short instruction on what one should or should not do in these eight directions, as well as an explanation of negative consequences of abiding in each of the eight khulils and methods of their neutralization. This passage contains a list of places and situations that should be avoided, including demons (albin, aišiginar (Skt. piśāca), bug demons, demons of curses, etc.) that can do harm to humans, diseases, unfavorable objects, beings, types of food, as well as unfavorable directions and time periods. Also, Buddhist texts and various offerings needed for the ritual are mentioned, such as “Vajravidāraņa-dharaṇī”, “Sitātapatrā-dharaṇī”, “Sutra of Eight Luminous of Heaven and Earth”, and “Paňcarakṣā”. Of great interest are the respective lists of Buddhist ritual texts, dungli and kereg ritual offerings, classifications of Bon and Buddhist priests to perform such rituals, and lamas who can take donations; their further investigation may shed additional light on the Buddhist practices of the Mongolian peoples. The fact that the manuscript repository of the National Museum of the Republic of Tuva includes about sixteen texts devoted to eight khulils may indicate that khulil divination was quite widespread and popular in the local tradition of Tuvan Buddhism.
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