Here you will find an English interpretation of another beautiful doha, Achir Ikh Khangarid (Ачир Их Хангарид) by contemporary Mongolian scholar-poet Zava Damdin (b.1976-) along with some notes to support inter-cultural understanding. However, these are not intended to be definitive – given that we appreciate and read poetry from a different perspective and in different ways.
_______________________________________________
THE GREAT IMMUTABLE KHANGARID
When the Great Immutable Khangarid pauses beneath the summit of a sacred mountain
It is not from weariness or toil, but from the noble burden of aiding beings
When one of vast heart bows deeply before another
It is not from weakness, but from the noble burden of quiet cultivation and deepening insight
As the king of beasts, the snow-white lion walks with bowed grace
It is not from fear or cowardice, but from the noble burden of gazing deeply into others’ hearts
When a conscious, awakened being walks with humility
It is not to conceal faults, but from the noble burden of utmost respect for others
When a wise being enters the depths beneath the waves of a great ocean
It is not in retreat, but from the noble burden of knowing all things arise in dependence
When a supremely noble human being endures in silence
It is not from helplessness, but from the burden of understanding the causes of peace.
The boy who pleases Manjushri
Zava Damdin (b.1976)
24.12.2025
____________________________________________________________________
Translation is always an interpretation into another culture.
_____________________________________________________________________
АЧИР ИХ ХАНГАРИД
Ачир их Хангарди бээр сүмбэр уулын орой дор саатахуй ану
Алжааж цуцсандаан бус алив нэгэн бодгаль дор дэмнэхүйн ялдраа
Аху их сэтгэлтэн хэн нэгний өмнө ихэд мэхийвээс л инү
Алив чадал доройтсондоо бус эрдэм боловсролыг үл яндахуйн ялдраа
Араатны хаан арвист цагаан арслан бөхийн явахуй ану
Аюуж гирвэшсэндээ бус алив бусдыг гүн тольдохуйн ялдраа
Алимад нэгэн ухамсарт төрөлхийтэн мэхэсхийн алхахуй ану
Алдаа мадгаа нуух хэмээсэн бус бусдыг нэн хүндлэхүйн ялдраа
Анвад далайн давлагаа нөмрөхүй дор ухаант төрөлхийтэн шумбан орохуй ану
Айн сүрдсэндээн бус алив шүтэн барилдлагыг мэдсэний ялдраа
Арвист дээд хүмүүн зарим хэрэг дор хүлцэн өнгөрүүлэхүй инү
Арга мухардсандаа бус амар амгалангийн шалтгаан нөхцлийг мэдэхүйн ялдраа
Манзуширийг баясгагч хөвгүүн
24.12.2025
_______________________________________________
Notes
The following short three-part analysis of Ачир Их Хангарид focuses on Mongolian cultural symbolism, literary style, and the doha’s representation of ethical-spiritual practice.
I. Symbolism in Mongolian Cultural Context
The Khangarid (Хангарид) in Mongolian Gelug Buddhist culture is a mythical bird related to the Indian Garuda but reimagined as a fierce guardian and spiritual protector.
The imagery in Achir Ikh Khangarid reflects such deeply embedded symbols from Mongolian cosmology and heroic poetics, rather than from either Indian or Tibetan scholasticism. For example, the sacred mountain, snow-white lion, and ocean waves are not just metaphors; they are embodied elements in the Mongol imagination representing hierarchy, moral power, and existential vastness.
The sacred mountain (сүмбэр уул) symbolises not only the (metaphorical) ascent of spiritual cultivation but also proximity to the sky – a cosmological reference to the Mongolian omnipresent sky-father deity, Tengir (тэнгэр). Mountains are also where leaders fast, hermits retreat, and ancestral spirits dwell, thus placing the Great Vajra Khangarid (another translation) in a liminal realm of vision and choice, not of retreat.
The snow-white lion (арвист цагаан арслан) is an especially Mongolian image of nobility and restraint. Unlike in Tibetan Buddhist art where lions are often protectors of Dharma, in Mongolian epics and orature, a lion’s strength is recognised not in its roar but in its capacity for restraint, a being that chooses not to dominate. In this doha, the lion bows not from submission but from ethico-behavioural and principled discipline.
The ocean and its waves do not appear often in Mongolian steppe literature, yet in Buddhist-inflected Mongolian texts, the ocean becomes a metaphor for depths of karmic entanglement and vast perception. The wise being enters this ocean not out of fear but with an understanding of shütēn barildlaga (dependent co-arising), echoing Mongolian philosophical storytelling where heroes enter dangers knowingly.
As Tumenbayar (2021) notes in a study of Mongolian ethical narratives, such symbols serve to express action grounded in non-aggression and perspective shaped by vastness – not individualism, but voluntary immersion in moral complexity.
_________________
2. Literary Form and Style
Zava Damdin’s Achir Ikh Khangarid exemplifies a poetic form characteristic of modern Mongolian devotional verse, while retaining clear influence from Mongolian oral poetic structures. Each couplet is built on a call-and-response structure; the first line establishing a scene, the second line offering a clarification of motivation. This mirrors the Mongol tuuli (epic) rhythm, but in a didactic rather than heroic register.
The repetition of structures, such as “It is not from X, but from the noble burden of Y” forms a mantric rhetorical spine. This has both a mnemonic function (suitable for chanting or recitation of the Mongolian original) and a philosophical function (accessible in both languages): to refocus the reader from assumptions (e.g., fear, weakness) to refined insight (e.g., compassion, wisdom, reverence).
Moreover, Rinpoche’s language is so selective, sparse and clear, without ornamental complexity. As M. di Lauro (2016) observes in her analysis of Mongolian Buddhist poetics, this direct rhythm of reversal and elevation reflects a nomadic aesthetic – practical in sound, but rich in conceptual depth. Each image is familiar – the lion, the bow, the wave – yet reoriented toward interior cultivation rather than external conquest.
The stylistic dignity of the poem also arises from its refusal to dramatise. It does not narrate suffering; it narrates strength in containment, what some Mongolian people might call action without agitation (үйлдэлгүй үйлийн хүч).
_________________
3. Ethical Qualities of Practice
As a whole, this beautiful doha articulates a model of spiritual maturity grounded in restraint, clarity, and deliberate presence. Each stanza places the practitioner in a position of discretionary agency – pausing, bowing, diving, enduring – but choosing not to act from impulse. These are not images of defeat, but of voluntary engagement rooted in insight.
Importantly, the repeated term ялдраа, rendered here as noble burden from a long list of other options, I think captures the emotional and existential texture of ethical exertion. It’s not fatigue in a negative sense, but the felt consequences of walking a path responsibly. This connects with contemporary Mongolian Buddhist ethics, where practice is not heroic in the epic sense, but sustained, humble, unshakeable, and what Nyam-Ochir Choinkhor (2022) refers to as the slow work of inward loyalty. Such a beautiful description don’t you think?
In summary, Achir Ikh Khangarid is not a lament, nor a philosophical treatise. It is a concise ritual-poetic articulation of right orientation: to act without pride, bow without shame, speak through silence, and enter the waves not to flee, but to serve – not because one must, but rather because one is striving to see the bigger picture.
_________________________________________________________
If there are any errors of judgement in this article, they are of my own making.
For these I humbly apologise.
_________________________________________________________
Further Reading
Choinkhor, N. (2022). Ethics without Witness: Mongolian Monastic Practice in the Post-Socialist Steppe. University of Freiburg: Buddhist Studies Series.
•Di Lauro, M. (2016). Echoes of the Steppe: Poetic Structures in Mongolian Buddhist Verse. Journal of Inner Asian Literary Studies, 11(2), 77–101.
•Tumenbayar, B. (2021). The Lion Bows: Symbolic Ethics in Contemporary Mongolian Buddhist Literature. ANU Mongolia Research Papers, 18(4), 33–56.
•Sukhbaatar, L. (2019). Mountains, Skies, and the Dharma: Mongolian Cosmology and Buddhist Topography. Ulaanbaatar: Blue Sky Academic Press.
End of transcript.
Refer to the INDEX for other articles that may be of interest.
© 2013-2026. CP in Mongolia. “Mongolian Poetry 23: The Vast Immutable Khangarid” is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. ScholarGPT provided an additional channel for research. Documents linked from this page may be subject to other restrictions. Posted: 2 January 2026. Last updated: 2 January 2026.