Ajitamitra’s Ratnāvalīṭīkā ad Ratnāvalī 1.62 reads (Okada 1990: 52): sgo ris dang ’dra bas na khud pa ste thun mong ma yin pa zhes bya’i don to || (Wylie is mine). This explanation is obviously a continuation of the explanation of dharmayautaka (chos kyi khud pa), and specifically yautaka (khud pa). Now note the remark in Okada 1990: 166 “sgo ris ist mir unklar.” Indeed, the word sgo ris does not seem to be recorded in any of the lexicons that I know of, not even in bTsan-lha’s brDa dkrol gser gyi me long. It is also not found in the OTDO. The only occurrence in the bsTan ’gyur seems to be our occurrence here. But we do see a couple of occurrences in the bKa’ ’gyur. In cases such as this, we have three issues. (a) What could be the meaning of the word? (b) What could be the Sanskrit word? (c) What could be the etymology of the Tibetan word? (a) As for the meaning of the word, Ajitamitra explains that it is something that is like yautaka (khud pa), which I already discussed on an earlier occasion (i.e., my blog on ltog mo). (b) The Sanskrit word for sgo ris cannot be yautaka for the former is used to explain the latter, although theoretically the construction “It is X because it is similar to X” is possible. For example, “Because he is similar to a pramāṇa, he is called a pramāṇa.” So, it seems that we cannot rule out sgo ris as a rendering of yautaka. If this is not possible, what could have been the Sanskrit word? Perhaps śulka? (c) When speculating about the etymology of sgo ris, we will have to assume that it is indeed an indigenous Tibetan word. If it is a loanword, any attempt to etymologize the word by assuming the components to be Tibetan would inevitably fail. To be sure, it does not seem to mean “drawing/painting on the door” nor a “door with paintings.” Let us look at some of occurrences. Notably, the word sgo ris occurs in two different contexts, namely, in (a) the Vinaya literature and in (b) the (rNying-ma) Tantric scriptures. (a) In the Vinaya context, Karma-pa Mi-bskyod-rdo-rje’s writings on the Vinayasūtra seem very helpful. In this regard, the expressions sgo ris su bcad pa’i dge ’dun gyi dngos po and sgo ris su ma bcad pa’i dge ’dun gyi dngos po should first be understood. The former seems to mean something like “property of the saṃgha that has been distributed [to its individual members],” and the latter something like “property of the saṃgha that has not [yet] been distributed [to its individual members].” Such issues in the Vinaya relate to transgressions pertaining to possession and ownership (’chang ’jog gi nyes pa) of properties/possessions. That sgo ris su bcad pa means “distributed/allocated” is corroborated by the expressions such as gang zag so sor bgos pa “divided among individual persons.” So, simplistically, sgo ris by itself seems to mean something like “an allocated share [of something],” “dividend,” “bonus.”
In the rNying-ma Tantric scriptures, the expression sgo ris so sor gcod pa seems to mean “to split up,” “to separate/divide.” Although there seem to several textual problems, I reproduce the passages containing sgo ris. Interesting is that also the word sho gam (for śulka) occurs in one instance.
(a) *Mahāvratasādhanatantra = brTul zhugs chen po bsgrub pa’i rgyud (Bᴷ, vol. 101, pp. 890.19–891.17): yang smra ba’i seng ges gsol pa | gang zag la la dag bdag nyid kyis tshogs skyong ba’i ’khor bla ma gzhan gyi dbang du ’gyur du dogs nas | dge ba’i sgo ’gegs pa dag mchis na | de’i rnam par smin pa ji lta bu zhig lags | gsang ba mchog gi bdag pos bka’ stsal pa | smra ba’i seng ge ’khor sgo rigs [= sgo ris] dang rkyen mtshan [= rkyang tshan? cf. below] so sor bcad cing | bla ma gzhan la nyon mongs pa’i sgo ’byed pa ni ngan song gsum gyi kha brgyud cing | sho gam gcan chen gyi rigs su skye bar nges so || de yang ji ltar yongs su shes par ’gyur zhe na | sngon ’das pa’i dus nga dran pa thog ma’i tshe | dge slong zhi gnas pa zhes bya ba’i tshom bu lnga brgya dang bcas pa | don dang mi ldan pa zhig shin tu gsang ba’i sngags pa spyod do zhes zer nas | dgon pa’i gnas bzung ste yul khams chen po de na gnas pa’i mi rnams kun ’dul ba’i dbang du spyod do || de’i tshe de’i dus su gzhan gyi sde par gyur pa’i dge slong grol ba’i blo gros zhes bya ba’i don dang ldan pa zhig yul khams de yang dag pa’i don la gzud pa’i ched du ’ongs nas | gsang ba’i theg pa’i don rgya cher bstan par bsams pa las | zhi gnas pa zhes bya ba’i dge slong des nyon mongs pa’i bsgo ba drag po byas te | ’khor ’di dag ni bdag gi zhing khams yin pas na | khyod ’di la ma rtog [= gtogs] shig ces bsgo ris [= sgo ris] so sor bcad pas de’i tshe dge slong zhi gnas pa’i tshom bu lnga brgya’i ’khor dang bcas pa nyon mongs pa ’khor ba’i lam du lhung ste | sho gam gcan chen gyi rigs su gyur to || de bas na de bzhin du shes par bya’o ||.
(b) *Yogasiddhitantra = rNal ’gyor grub pa’i rgyud (Bᴷ, vol. 102, pp. 113.16–114.8): rnyed dang bkur stis ’tsho ba’i ’khor || gzhan gyi dbang du gyur dogs nas || sgo ris rkyang tshan so sor gcod || ’khor ’di bdag gis smin bya yi || gdul bar bya ba’i zhing yin gyis || gang dag ’di dang ma ’brel zhes || nyon mongs tshig gis sgo byed nor || de yang ji lta bu zhe na || rnal ’byor na zhi gnas pa zhes || bya ba’i tshom bu lnga brgya zhig || shin tu gsang sngags spyod do zhes || dgon pa’i gnas su ’dug nas ni || yul khams chen po de dag gis || gnas par gyur pa’i mi rnams kun || gdul bar bya ba’i zhing du spyod || gzhan gyi sde par gyur pa yi || dge slong don dang ldan pa zhig || yul der ched du ’ongs nas ni || rnal ’byor nges pa’i lam mchog gcig || rgya cher bstan par bsams pa las || dge slong dgon par gnas pa des || nyon mongs tshig gi bsgo ba byas || ’khor ’di bdag gi zhing yin gyis || khyod ni ’di la ma gtogs zhes || sgo dang tshan dang ris bcad pas || nyon mongs ’khor ba’i lam du lhung || de ’dra’i tshul du ma spyod cig ||.
If to judge by the use of the word sgo ris, specially together with rkyang tshan so sor gcod pa, sgo ris seems to be analogous to phyogs ris. It appears that rkyang tshan so sor gcod pa and sgo ris so sor gcod pa are used synonymously, hence these may be understood as “to partition/split/cut/separate [something] (as if by means of sgo) into single/individual (rkyang) sections/units/shares/blocks/parts (tshan = ris).
Postscript: I would like to record here Professor Péter-Dániel Szántó’s suggestion that sgo ris may perhaps be a rendering of the Sanskrit dāyabhāga, i.e, “partition of inheritance” (MW).
Pratisaṃvid 