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]

Tsam mask in a performance in Ulan-Ude (2011)

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]

Citations

↑ 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.
↑ Chiodo, 2000, p.149
↑ Pegg, Carole. Mongolian Music, Dance, & Oral Narrative, 2001, p.158
↑ Pegg, 2001, pp.158–159
↑ 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.
↑ Chiodo, 2000, p.149, footnote 11
↑ 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

Chiodo, Elisabetta (2000). "The Mongolian Manuscripts on Birch Bark from Xarbuxyn Balgas in the Collection of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences". Asiatische Forschungen. 137. ISBN 9783447042468. ISSN 0571-320X.
Pegg, Carole (2001). Mongolian Music, Dance, & Oral Narrative. ISBN 9780295981123.

External links

[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.

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