Demons and Demonesses
It is said that Buddha Drukpa Kinlay, one of Tibet’s foremost saints and an enlightened Master of Tantrism, came to Bhutan and traveled widely, successfully subjugating various demons and demonesses in Bhutan. We are told that the saint did not go beyond Pele La, which is the pass in the chain of mountains that divides the country into east and the west. The demons and the demonesses on the eastern side of the Pele La thrive and prosper to this day. How this came about is told in the following story. The lama happened to be travelling in the Pele La region one day. When he arrived at the pas he could not decide whether he should go further east or not. Just then an old man carrying a heavy load came along. Drukpa Kinlay asked the old man what villages he would find down in the valley. The old man replied, “First Rukhubji, then Chendibji, and then Tangsibji.”
At this the saint, in his usual facetious way, said, “I don’t think I will go to the valley of the three bjis” and returned the way he had comes.
Thus the demons and demonesses on the eastern side of Pele La escaped Drukpa Kinlay’s subjugation. Famous among the demonesses is the dermo or demonesses of Nyala Lungma.
By: Kunzang Choden