Begtse

Begtse (Tibetan: བེག་ཚེ་, Wylie: beg tse chen lcam sring; "Begtse the Great Coat of Mail") is a dharmapala and the lord of war in Tibetan Buddhism, originally a pre-Buddhist war god of the Mongols.[1]

Name

The name Begtse is a loanword from Mongolian begder, meaning "coat of mail". He is also given the name and epithet Jamsaran (Tibetan: ལག་མིང་གསུམ་པ་, lCam sring), meaning "Great Coat of Mail", which is a translation of the Mongolian.[2]

Description

Begtse is depicted with red skin and orange-red hair, possessing two arms (as opposed to other Mahākālas, who have four or six), three blood-shot eyes, and wielding a sword in his right hand. In his left hand, he holds a human heart. His right arm also holds a bow and arrow and a halberd with a banner. He wears a chainmail shirt, which gave rise to his name, Jamsaran, and a Mongolian helmet adorned with a crown of five skulls and four banners at the back. He is accompanied by his consort, Rikpay Lhamo, and his main general, Laihansorgodog. Surrounding them are Jamsaran's satellites, the twenty-nine butchers.[3]

Culture

Jamsaran is represented in Mongolian, and to a lesser extent Tibetan, Cham dance.[4]

See also

Citations

  1. ^ Chiodo, Elisabetta. "The Mongolian Manuscripts on Birch Bark from Xarbuxyn Balgas in the Collection of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences." Asiatische Forschungen, 2000, p.149.
  2. ^ Chiodo, 2000, p.149
  3. ^ Pegg, Carole. Mongolian Music, Dance, & Oral Narrative, 2001, p.158
  4. ^ Pegg, 2001, pp.158–159
  5. ^ Yu, Congyu; Prieto-Marquez, Albert; Chinzorig, Tsogtbaatar; Badamkhatan, Zorigt; Norell, Mark (2020-09-10). "A neoceratopsian dinosaur from the early Cretaceous of Mongolia and the early evolution of ceratopsia". Communications Biology. 3 (1): 499. doi:10.1038/s42003-020-01222-7. ISSN 2399-3642. PMC 7484756.
  6. ^ Chiodo, 2000, p.149, footnote 11
  7. ^ Kuzmin, Sergius L. "Кузьмин С.Л., Митруев Б.Л. 2023. Барон Р.Ф. фон Унгерн-Штернберг как бог войны: исторические и религиозные основания (Kuzmin S.L., Mitruev B.L. 2023. Baron R. F. von Ungern-Sternberg as the God of War: historical and religious grounds)". Oriental Courier. doi:10.18254/S268684310028202-0.

General and cited references

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