Thank you very much, Dan, Heiner, and Matthew, for your replies. Dan, what the Dharmamitra.org site came up with is truly amazing. I had no idea that such a research tool existed. It greatly helped to explain why the various Tibetan translations of jagrī and plīhan are so mutually contradictory.

There is no doubt that jagrī is the correct word. We have very old palm-leaf manuscripts from near the time the Kālacakra-tantra and its Vimalaprabhā commentary were written, circa 1025-1040 CE, and they all agree on this spelling. This word must have been taken from some medical text then available.

The first Tibetan translation made, by Gyijo, as revised shortly thereafter by rMa lotsawa, translated jagrī as mcher pa, "spleen." The Rwa translation translated jagrī as skran, "tumor." The 'Bro translation as revised by Shong ston translated jagrī as dmu chu, "edema," and the Jonang revision of the Shong ston revision left this unchanged. The Sarnath Sanskrit edition of the Vimalaprabhā put yakṛt in parentheses after jagrī, thus thinking it means "liver."

The first Tibetan translation made, by Gyijo, as revised shortly thereafter by rMa lotsawa, translated plīhan, "spleen," as mchin pa, "liver." The Rwa translation translated plīhan as mchin nad, "liver disease." The 'Bro translation as revised by Shong ston translated plīhan as skran, "tumor," and the Jonang revision of the Shong ston revision left this unchanged. None of the four available Tibetan translations took plīhan as "spleen."

The Vimalaprabhā commentary has: jagrī-plīhārṣa-rogān api jalodarādīni, which seems to gloss jagrī as jalodara, "edema" (literally, "water belly"). There is no other occurrence of the word jagrī in the Kālacakra-tantra or Vimalaprabhā.

It would be very helpful to find what medical text the term jagrī was taken from.

With thanks and best regards,

David Reigle

Colorado, U.S.A.