page_title: Epic of King Gesar
section_title: Tibetan versions
hierarchical_section_title: Epic of King Gesar / Growth of the Epic / Tibetan versions
caption_attribution_description: English: Monument of legendary tibetan hero Gesar of Ling in Yushu Ciity, Qhinghai, 2009 Italiano: Monumento del leggendario eroe tibetano Gesar di Ling a Yushu City, Qhinghai, 2009
context_page_description: The Epic of King Gesar, also spelled Geser or Kesar, is an epic cycle, of Tibet and greater Central Asia, believed to date from the 12th century, that relates the heroic deeds of the culture hero Gesar, the fearless lord of the legendary kingdom of Ling. It is recorded variously in poetry and prose, shuochang being the style of traditional performance, and is sung widely throughout Central Asia and North East of South Asia. Its classic version is to be found in central Tibet. Some 100 bards of this epic are still active today in the Gesar belt of China. Tibetan, Mongolian, Buryat, Balti, Ladakhi and Monguor singers maintain the oral tradition and the epic has attracted intense scholarly curiosity as one of the few oral epic traditions to survive as a performing art. Besides stories conserved by such Chinese minorities as the Bai, Naxi, the Pumi, Lisu, Yugur and Salar, versions of the epic are also recorded among the Balti of Baltistan, the Burusho people of Hunza and Gilgit and the Kalmyk and Ladakhi peoples, in Sikkim, Bhutan, Nepal, and among various Tibeto-Burmese, Turkic, and Tungus tribes. The first printed version was a Mongolian text published in Beijing in 1716.
context_section_description: Tibetan versions differ very greatly in details. Often Buddhist motifs are conspicuous, with episodes on the creation of the world and Tibet's cosmic origins. In other variants, Gautama Buddha is never mentioned, or a certain secular irony is voiced against the national religion. According to Samten Karmay, Gesar arose as the hero of a society still thinly permeated by Buddhism and the earlier myths associate him with pre-Buddhist beliefs like the mountain cult. In most episodes, Gesar fights against the enemies of dharma, an old warrior ethos, where physical power, courage, a combative spirit, and things like cunning and deceit prevail.
  Cosmic prelude and Tibet's early history: One motif explains how the world collapsed into anarchy; numerous demon kings (Wylie: bdud) had avoided subjection. As a result, hordes of cannibalistic demons and goblins, led by malignant and greedy rulers of many kingdoms, wreak havoc. Tibet's conversion from barbarity to Buddhism under the three great Dharma Kings often features. Episodes relate how Padmasambhāva/Guru Rinpoche subdued Tibet's violent native spirits.
  His miraculous or mundane birth: In one account, he was fatherless, like Padmasambhava, who assists his celestial creation by creating a nāginī who then serves the king of Ling, and is impregnated by drinking a magic potion, and is born from his mother's head, like Athena in Greek mythology. In another version he is conceived by his mother after she drinks water impressed with his image. Alternatively, he is born from the union of a father, who is simultaneously skygod and holy mountain, and of a mother who is a goddess of the watery underworld, or he is born, Chori, in the lineage of Ling in the Dza Valley, to the king Singlen Gyalpo and his spouse Lhakar Drönma of Gog.
  Relatives: He has a half-brother, and two uncles: one is the "old hawk" (Wylie: spyi dpon rong tsha), the wise elder of Ling, who supports the child; the other, the cowardly and greedy Khrothung, sees the child as a threat and tries to do him ill. Khrothung fulfils a comic role in the epic, but his role as provocateur is absolutely central.
  His early years: Gesar's mission as a divine emissary is to vanquish powerful demons on earth. Until his adolescence he is depicted as black, ugly, nasty, snotty.
  and troublesome. His paternal uncle, or the king's brother Todong, banishes both son and mother to the rMa plateau, where he grows up living a feral life, with the child clothed in animal skins and wearing a hat with antelope horns. He comes first in a horserace whose trophy consists of the kingship of Ling. His victory marks his coming of age; as consecrated king, he proclaims himself "the Great Lion, Wish-fulfilling Jewel, Subduer of Foes". He also assumes the name Gesar. Mounted on his miraculous steed Kyang Go Karkar, he subsequently wages military campaigns, together with 30 companions, against the frontier countries that represent evil.
  Horse race and kingship: When he is 12, a horse race is held to determine who will become the king of Ling and who will marry the beautiful daughter, 'Brugmo, of a neighbouring chieftain. Returning to Ling, Gesar wins the race, marries 'Brugmo, and ascends the golden throne. He thenceforth assumes the title "Gesar".
  The kidnapping of 'Brugmo: His first campaign as king is against Klu btsan, the man-eating demon of the north. While away, his wife is kidnapped by Gurdkar (literally: "white tent"), the King of Hor. On his return, Gesar undertakes a second campaign, and uses magic to infiltrate the king of Hor's palace, kills him and retrieves his wife.
  Two further campaigns: Gesar wages war against King Sadam of 'Jang (sometimes located in Yunnan), and king Shingkhri of Mon (Mon is often located in the southern Himalayas and remained the term for "barbarian borderlands" until recently).
  The 18 fortresses (Wylie: rdzong chen bco brgyad): Gesar sets out to conquer the 18 great forts (Wylie: rdzong). They are listed differently according to singers and texts, but these battles nearly always include Tajiks (Wylie: stag gzig)
  and Khache 
caption: Monument of Gesar of Ling, Yushu, Qinghai, 2009
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