The Sūtra on Timings for the Gaṇḍī

The Sūtra on the Timings for the Gaṇḍī is a short instruction given by the Buddha concerning the specific times at which the gaṇḍī is to be struck, depending on the month. The gaṇḍī is a long wooden beam1 that is ritually struck, in a variety of methods, on certain occasions in order to call monks to assemblies or meals, to alert them to gatherings, or to herald the beginning of a rite.2

Whereas the sūtra immediately preceding this in the Degé Kangyur, The Gaṇḍī Sūtra3 describes the construction, consecration, benefits, and symbolism of the gaṇḍī‍—the sound of which is said to quell conflict and symbolize the Perfection of Wisdom‍—the present sūtra is concerned exclusively with the times at which the gaṇḍī should be struck during the various seasons and months of the year. Two times are given per month, and the times indicated are before noon. The timings given in this sūtra may relate to the bi-monthly gatherings for the poṣadha or Restoration Rite held on the new moon and full moon of every month, at which monastics reaffirm their commitments.4 However this remains a conjecture since the gaṇḍī may be used on a variety of ritual occasions, and The Sūtra on the Timings for the Gaṇḍī does not specify what event the timings prescribed in the text relate to.

In ancient and medieval India, two principal methods for telling time were in use, namely the shadow clock (Skt. chāyāpramāṇa, Tib. grib tshod) and the water clock (Skt. nāḍikā, Tib. chu tshod). The timings prescribed in this sūtra relate to the former. We know that this method of determining time was widely used in the Buddhist monasteries of India during the seventh century ᴄᴇ, since it is described in some detail by the Tang-era Chinese monk Yijing (義浄 635–713 ᴄᴇ), who spent time at Nālandā monastery and gave an account of his experiences in An Account of Buddhism Sent from the South Seas (Taishō 2125, Nanhai ji gui nei fa chuan 南海寄歸內法傳).5

As described by Yijing, telling time based on shadow length was premised on the use of a long L-shaped stick or cane. The shorter, vertical length of the stick that casts the shadow was known as the “man” (Skt. puruṣa, Tib. skyes bu). This vertical portion corresponds to the gnomon of a sundial. The shadow cast by this “man” was measured along the longer horizontal portion of the stick. When the shadow was equal in length to its height, that measurement was also called one “man.” Not unlike how a sundial works, the length of the shadow cast by the gnomon was used to indicate the seasonal hour, a unit of time that varied between seasons.6

In this eleventh-century Tibetan translation of The Sūtra on the Timings for the Gaṇḍī, the units of measurement for the shadow are given in “feet” (Skt. pada/pāda, Tib. rkang pa) and “fingerbreadths” (Skt. aṅgula, Tib. sor). Typically in ancient and medieval India, twelve or fourteen fingerbreadths were equal to one foot.7 In The Sūtra on the Timings for the Gaṇḍī it is uncertain how many “feet” correspond to one “man.” Since the Sanskrit term pāda can also mean “a quarter,” it is possible that here four feet correspond to one man. All of these measurements would be scaled down in ratio according to the size of the gnomon or “man” in use. Yijing states that the gnomons he witnessed in use in India were four fingerbreadths in height.

In The Sūtra on the Timings for the Gaṇḍī, the Buddha gives a schedule of twenty-four bi-monthly readings which vary over the course of twelve months and four seasons8 to cover the entire year. In each case, he gives two shadow length readings which denote the times when the gaṇḍī is to be struck and when it is not. With a few exceptions, these readings are two feet apart. Since the length of the shadow shortens from the first reading to the second, we can infer that these times are in the morning, when the shadows cast by the sun progressively decrease. Hence, for each time of year, the Buddha provides a range from the earliest time at which the gaṇḍī may be struck until the time it may no longer be struck.

While the use of the gaṇḍī was widespread in India and continues to be used by monastic communities today, this sūtra does not appear to have survived in any Indic language.

The sūtra’s colophon states that it was translated into Tibetan by the Tibetan monk Gewai Lodrö (11th ᴄᴇ) and the Indian preceptor Dīpaṃkara Śrījñāna, more widely known as Atiśa Dīpaṃkara (982–1054), the great revitalizer of Buddhism in Tibet after the period of fragmentation. Atiśa and Gewai Lodrö worked closely together to translate a number of works. There is no mention of the sūtra in the catalogs of scriptures translated during the Imperial Period (629–841 ᴄᴇ), which suggests that Atiśa and Gewai Lodrö’s translation was the first time it was translated into Tibetan. Based on the dates recorded in Atiśa’s biographies, we can say with some certainty that this sūtra was likely translated sometime between 1040, when Atiśa first arrived in Tibet, and 1054, the year of his passing.

The present translation is based on the version found in the Degé Kangyur, in consultation with the variant readings recorded in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) and the Stok Palace Manuscript Kangyur.