Birtalan Ágnes: Kalmyk Folklore and Folk Culture in the Mid-19th Century: Philological Studies on the Basis of Gábor Bálint of Szentkatolna’s Kalmyk Texts.

ETHNOGRAPHICA CALMYCICA

corpse (Bálint yasain'i köndädek

, Kalm. yasig n' könddg),

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l too. [The monk] also designates the burial place (Bálint orosiülxu yazar, Kalm. orsälynä yazr), and further more instructs what kind of cloth [the corpse] must be dressed in.

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2 [Then tells] whether [the corpse] must be washed or not (Bálint uyaxu ese uyaxun'i, Kalm. uyäx es uyäx n'). Then he reads the blessing of intermediate state.

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,At that time a horse will be saddled and bridled. [182] That saddle does not have any saddle pillow.

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4 A silk gown will be fastened to the saddle thongs of the saddle with a rope

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5 and [the horse] will be tethered.

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0 Thereafter the j'angya

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7 and the danjik books

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8 are read above the corpse (Bálint vasa déren 7, Kalm. yasn dér n •)

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9 ofthat person. After finishing these books, if that person's brothers and [other] relatives are [born] of the same year (?),'

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U they ask about their year""'

1 from that man [i. e. that monk]. If he [i. e. the deceased] is told to be buried in a nice cloth, [the corpse] will be washed with hot water and a cloth worn by him when he was healthy will be put on [him]. If there is not a coffin (Bálint xäircäk, Kalm. xärcg)

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2 to put the corpse in, it will be put into a chest (Bálint abder, Kalm. awdr), then taken and buried. After the person was buried, a white kerchief of four spans size

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3 will be cut into four pieces and on each piece [Buddhist prayers] will be written. [Further] four [pieces] of wood will be punched out and the four pieces of kerchief [with the prayers on them] are bound one by one to [the pieces of wood]. These [pieces of] woods will be driven into the ground at the four cardinal directions around the corpse.

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4 These four [pieces] of wood with the kerchief are called mein 7' "prayer [woods]".

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5 For the merit

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6 that dead person his/her remaining family members offer [to the monks ?] much of livestock and money. After the monks have buried the corpse, they return and through praying purify (Bálint ariüldik, Kalm. arüldg)

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7 his/her home. Further the astrologer monk tells when the [so called] "period of the deceased" [up to the next ritual] will end.""'

8 Bálint yasaigi köndädek, cf. Kalm. köndéxe "bewegen, von der Stelle schieben od. heben; berühren" (R. 239); is a taboo expression for taking care of the corpse 10

5 Bálint yamärän xupcanäsu ümüskeküin 7. 103

1 Bálint züradin yöräl ungsidok, Kalm. zürdin yöräl, this refers probably also to Tibetan text-recitation as above in the case of The Book of the Dead, though Mongolian texts, as translations of the Tibetan origin (e. g. a Bardo prayer Nr. Mong. 64. referred by Kara: The Mongolian and Manchu Manuscripts, p. 88.) and more over folklore genres (Kalm yöräl) also existed, cf. BordZanova: Obrjadovaja poezija kalmykov. pp. 267. 284-285. 1,13

4 Bálint köpcök ügä. on the role of saddle pillow in folk customs, cf. Thirteenth Tale (13. Ulu lüli). "

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3 Bálint aryamlaji yäsa read Kalm. arymljäs (?). 105

6 Bálint sögäd orkodok: cf. Kalm. söxe (?) "ein Pferd festbinden, um es nach dem Ritte abzukühlen, od. um es für eine längere Reise zu trainieren" (R. 335). 103

7 Bálint jangya: Pallas provided a detailed description on the ceremony transcribed by him s Dshanga "Seelmesse" (Pallas II. p. 293), cf. Kalm.Ö. jangya "Glocke (Musikinsrument)" (R. 108). jangya refers probably on the texts recited during the above ceremony. '"

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< Bálint danjik gedek nom. this phenomenon needs further investigation; conceivably the referred texts might be in connection with the dansig-ceremony (Tib. brtan-bzugs, Mong. dangsuy. translated as balu orusil into Mongolian) the mandala-offering to the high ranked Lamas. In details: Pozdnejev, A.: Ocerki byta buddijskih monastyrej i buddijskogo duhovenstva v Mongolii v svjazi s otnosenijami sego poslednego k narodu. Sanktpeterburg, Tipografija Imperatorskoj Akademii Nauk 1

887. pp. 254-257. 105

9 Bálint vma déren 7 106

0 Bálint ötäyaboksan bolxulä, cf. Kalm. ö I. "Jahr. Jahrgang" (R. 303); 3. ölé kün "gewandter, geschickter Mensch" (R. 303); the translation of this expression is uncertain and needs further research. It is widely known that people born in certain years which do not fit the year of the deceased might not take part in the ceremony. ,0

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1 Bálint ögin 7 nomár surulji: cf. Kalm. surulx "zastavljat' spraSivat'. podvergat'sja oprosu" (Mun 463). ""'

2 Bálint üküsen kü täbidek xäircäk: lit "a coffin to put the deceased in"; as the lexeme xäreg has other meanings the informant explained the meaning for Bálint 10

6 Bálint kencir. Kalm kencr refer to the xadg (from Tib kha blags) ritual kerchif used in both Buddhist and shamanic offerings. I<l

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4 Bálint tere künä dörbön üzüklün 7, Kalm. ler künä dörwn zügl n', lit. "to the four directions [from] that person". 106

3 Bálint mán 7, Kalm. man ', commonly used expression among Mongolian folk groups in the sense of a "Buddhist prayer" form the Skr mani (lit. "jewel" from the mantra formula Om mani padme hüm). Here the word refers also to the "wind horse flag" (in detail cf. above, in subchapter Ber mörgülex), cf. Pallas II pp. 285, 304, Bergmann III. p. 157. Bálint künän 7 buyindu. Kalm. künä n ' buyind "for the merit of the [deceased] person". 106

7 Bálint ariüldik '""" Bálint önggöröksen kiln 7 xonokn 7 ke

zä kücükiiin 7, Kalm. öggrsn künä xong n' kezű gücx n' lit. "when the day[s] of the deceased will expire". 145