Mongolian Poetry 52: Above the Tsaidam Plain

A devotional doha by the Mongolian scholar-poet Zava Damdin (b. 1976).

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Plate Note: Tsaidam / Qaidam Plain (Mongolian: Цайдам): an AI-generated monochrome pen-and-ink vision of the vast high-altitude basin landscape of present-day Qinghai, lying at approximately 2,600–3,000 m above sea level and enclosed by the Altun / Altyn-Tagh Mountains to the northwest, the Qilian Mountains to the northeast, and the Kunlun Mountains to the south. Traversed by historic Inner Asian routes linking Mongolia, Tibet, Central Asia, and China, the region has long formed part of the cultural and spiritual geography of Inner Asia. Co-composed through human-guided AI image generation and compositional editing. C. Pleteshner, 17 June 2026.

Plate Note: Tsaidam / Qaidam Plain (Mongolian: Цайдам): an AI-generated monochrome pen-and-ink vision of the vast high-altitude basin landscape of present-day Qinghai, lying at approximately 2,600–3,000 m above sea level and enclosed by the Altun / Altyn-Tagh Mountains to the northwest, the Qilian Mountains to the northeast, and the Kunlun Mountains to the south. Traversed by historic Inner Asian routes linking Mongolia, Tibet, Central Asia, and China, the region has long formed part of the cultural and spiritual geography of Inner Asia. Composed through human-guided AI image generation and compositional editing. C. Pleteshner, 17 June 2026.

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ABOVE THE TSAIDAM PLAIN

(English Translation)

Far away across ten thousand lands
Beyond a thousand rivers
In the midst of the snowy mountains
Upon a green carpet of grass

In that wondrous palace of Dharma
From my venerable Bogd of the heart
I learned the profound teachings
And trained my wayward mind

He cared for me with a mother’s heart
He strengthened me with a father’s firmness*
He showed me that which lies beyond the teachings
He revealed that which is beyond their meaning

When I wandered the world
He taught me the meaning beneath its surface
When I sat alone in meditation
He made me steadfast, untouched by loneliness

My Bogd of the heart
Is no longer beside his son*
Yet now, little swallow that I am,
The courage of a garuḍa has settled within me

The venerable elder
Is no longer beside his son
Yet in me, a small wolf cub,
There is the gall of a white wolf

My Bogd, guide of future generations
Abides far away in the eastern realm
Yet in me, so small and limited,
There is the roar of a lion

My great father, the Bogd
Dwells in the realm of Agniṣṭha
Yet in me, his humble son,
There remains a fragment of thunder

Across the vault of the hazy blue sky
White silk curtains are drawn
Above the Tsaidam Plain*
A dense mist-frost settles

Though people may bring me sorrow
I shall regard them as sun-maidens
Though I, his son, may yearn for him
My Bogd will never abandon me

Within the lake of my breast
There is a white lotus
At its centre I have forever enshrined
My most venerable Bogd

A song composed in remembrance of my teacher, the Venerable Bogd Gevsh Tüvden Perenlei. Concerning his deeds, they are difficult to describe; concerning his renown, impossible to exhaust. Sung on the fifth day of the first month of Spring in the Year of the Mouse.

Delgertsogt Mountain

28.02.2020

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Translated by C.Pleteshner
English interpretation 18.06.2026 from the original Mongolian 28.02.2020

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ЦАЙДАМ ТАЛЫН ДЭЭ

(Original Mongolian)

Tүмэн газрын алсад
Мянган мөрний чандад
Цаст уулсын төвд
Зүлэгт ногоон дэвсгэрээ

Гайхамшигт номын өргөөнд
Зүрхний өвгөн Богдоосоо
Гүн номлолд суралцаж
Өвч сэтгэлээс дассансан

Эхийн сэтгэлээр асарч
Эцэг мэт хатуужуулав
Номын цаадахыг үзүүлж
Утгын цаадахыг таниулав

Ертөнцийг бэдэн явахад
Ерөнхий утгасыг зааж
Гагцаар диянчлан суухад
Гансрал үгүй хатангатгав

Гагц зүрхний Богд минь
Хөвүүний дэргэд үгүй
Эдүгээ бялзуухай над
Гарьдын зориг суув л

Өвгөн буурал тэр бээр
Хөвүүний дэргэд үгүй
Бяцхан бэлтрэг над
Цагаан чонын цөс бий л

Ашдын өрлөг Богд минь
Алс дагшинд залраастай
Өчүүхэн мөхөс над
Арслангийн уулга бий л

Агуу эцэг Богд минь
Агнистын оронд саатаастай
Адаг хөвүүн над
Аянгын хэлтэрхий бий л

Хөхүмдэг огторгуйн мандалд
Цагаан торгон хөшиглөж
Цайдам талын дээр
Хүдэн манан жаварлав

Хүмүүн намайг гуниглуулавч
Наран дагина болгооно
Хөвүүн би санагалзавч
Богд минь намайг орхихгүй

Өвчүүн нууран дотор
Цагаан лянхуа бий л
Өвгөн Богдыгоо төвд нь
Өнөд онголон тахив би

Хулгана жилийн хаврын эхэн сарын шинийн таванд алдрыг нь өгүүлэхүйеэ бэрх, хэргийн тухайд өгүүлбээс Өвгөн Богд Гэвш Түвдэн Пэрэнлэй багшийгаа санан дуулсан дуулал.

Дэлгэрцогт уул

28.02.2020

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NOTES

  1. The terms эцэг (“father”) and хөвүүн (“son”) are used throughout the poem in the traditional Buddhist sense of the teacher-disciple relationship rather than indicating a biological kinship.
  2. I do not ordinarily accompany my translations of Zava Damdin Rinpoche’s dohas with artwork of my own choosing, preferring to leave the reader free to encounter the poem on its own terms. In the case of On the Tsaidam Plain, however, I have included a visual rendering of the Tsaidam / Qaidam Basin, whose vast landscape forms the geographical setting of the poem. The illustration is intended only as a point of orientation for readers unfamiliar with the region, and not as an interpretation of the poem itself, whose deeper meanings belong to the reader’s own encounter with the text.

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Translation of Buddhist poetry (doha) is always an interpretation into another culture. Any errors in this regard are entirely my own, and for these I humbly apologise.

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End of transcript.

Please refer to the INDEX for other poems and articles that may be of interest.

© 2013-2026. CP in Mongolia. “Mongolian Poetry 52: Above the Tsaidam Plain” is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Documents linked from this page may be subject to other restrictions. Posted: 18 June 2026. Last updated: 20 June 2026.