394 klaus sagaster
The desire for a demanding explanation of the religion shows that the
Mongols were not only interested in Buddhism out of tactical-political
considerations. It can also be doubted that the translation activity that
started soon afterwards, was only rooted in the desire of the emperor
to acquire religious merit. Rather, there must have existed a genuine
interest in making the most important Buddhist texts also available
in Mongolian. The earliest transmitted Buddhist works in Mongolian
date from the end of the thirteenth and the rst half of the fourteenth
century.^67 Known by name and partly preserved are the translations
of a series of fundamentally important Buddhist prayers and doctrinal
texts. To these belong, e.g., a hymn to the tutelary deity Mah k l ,^68 the
“Heart Stra” (Prajnpramithdaya),^69 the dhra collection “The vefold
protection” (Pañcarak),^70 the famous doctrinal poem of ntideva “The
Entry into the Way to Liberation” (Bodhicaryvatra),^71 and, not least, the
“S tra of Golden Light” (Suvaraprabhsa, Mong. Altan Gerel),^72 a work
that up to the present day is highly esteemed by the Mongols and in
which, among other things, the duties of the king are elaborately dealt
with.^73 Already in the beginning of the fourteenth century, the famous
didactic collection of sayings of Sa-skya Paita was translated into
Mongolian.^74 The intellectual achievement that was attained by trans-
lators such as Chos-kyi-’od-zer^75 and Shes-rab-seng-ge^76 is admirable
and, considering the dif cult religious technical language, shows that
the technique of translating into Mongolian must have already had a
long history.
It is hardly improbable that all these texts, some of which are still
popular in present-day lay Mongolian Buddhism, were only circulating
(^67) Cërënsodnom 1987, pp. 233–244/Cërënsodnom 2002.
(^68) Cërënsodnom & Taube 1993, pp. 114–120.
(^69) Cërënsodnom & Taube 1993, pp. 106–108.
(^70) Cërënsodnom & Taube 1993, pp. 234–235.
(^71) Cërënsodnom 1987, p. 234/Cërënsodnom 2002, p. 264; Cërënsodnom & Taube
1993, pp. 75–95. For the edition of the Mongolian translation by Chos-kyi-’od-zer
(1305), see Vladimircov 1929.
(^72) Cërënsodnom 1987, p. 235/Cërënsodnom 2002, pp. 264–265. See also Cërën-
sodnom & Taube 1993, pp. 136–138.
(^73) Chapters 12, respectively 20 (depending on the version).
(^74) Cërënsodnom & Taube 1993, pp. 64–74; Cërënsodnom 1987, pp. 237–241/
Cërënsodnom 2002, pp. 267–271. For the edition of the Mongolian text (translation
by Sonom Gara), see Ligeti 1973.
(^75) Heissig 1954, p. 17; Cërënsodnom 1987, p. 234/Cërënsodnom 2002, p. 264;
Klafkowski 1987, pp. 376–377.
(^76) Heissig 1954, p. 17; Cërënsodnom 1987, p. 242.