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Rübel, a MythSource painting
Tibetan

Rübel

01Identity

Rübel in Tibetan tradition

In the Choné song preserved in Shépa, Rübel is a tortoise-shaped deity living beneath the sea. The song begins with Mañjuśrī above the water: he makes an arrow shaft, feathers it, and shoots it over the sea. He carries a double-edged sword and a lute, and the episode turns from this arrival into an encounter with the creature below.

Mañjuśrī plays the lute, and Rübel hears its sound and rises to the surface. A question-and-answer passage describes the taming as fierce. The sword strikes flesh and bone; Rübel is turned onto its back for good. The song then sets the tortoise’s head south, right side east, left side west and tail north. Shépa uses an antiphonal question-and-answer form; here, each exchange advances the action from Mañjuśrī’s descent to Rübel’s changed position.

SourceShépa: The Tibetan Oral Tradition in Choné: Rübel, selected song passage, pp. 308–321

Top questions

The quick answers

02The myths

The myths of Rübel

1 myth, with sources recorded for each.

Rübel Is Tamed and Turned Upside Down

Mañjuśrī comes down above the sea and makes an arrow shaft, fitting it with feathers before shooting it over the water. He carries a double-edged sword and a lute. The song then places him above the sea, where he plays the instrument. Rübel hears the sound below and comes up to the surface.

The encounter is told through questions and answers. Asked whether the taming is peaceful or fierce, the response is fierce. Mañjuśrī wears a double-edged sword at his waist; the song says its blade strikes Rübel’s flesh and bone. This is not a gentle summons: the music draws the tortoise up, but force decides the meeting.

The closing verses describe Rübel turned upside down for good. The head points south, the right side east, the left side west, and the tail north. The song attaches these directions to Rübel’s body after the turning. The final exchange asks what appears beneath Rübel’s head and right side.

Rübel Is Tamed and Turned Upside Down, a MythSource painting of the scene

16 sources· checked 2026-10-03

  1. 1Shépa: The Tibetan Oral Tradition in ChonéT1
  2. 2Shépa: The Tibetan Oral Tradition in ChonéT1
  3. 3Shépa: The Tibetan Oral Tradition in ChonéT1
  4. 4Shépa: The Tibetan Oral Tradition in ChonéT1
  5. 5Shépa: The Tibetan Oral Tradition in ChonéT1
  6. 6Shépa: The Tibetan Oral Tradition in ChonéT1
  7. 7Shépa: The Tibetan Oral Tradition in ChonéT1
  8. 8Shépa: The Tibetan Oral Tradition in ChonéT1
  9. 9Shépa: The Tibetan Oral Tradition in ChonéT1
  10. 10Shépa: The Tibetan Oral Tradition in ChonéT1
  11. 11Shépa: The Tibetan Oral Tradition in ChonéT1
  12. 12Shépa: The Tibetan Oral Tradition in ChonéT1
  13. 13Shépa: The Tibetan Oral Tradition in ChonéT1
  14. 14Shépa: The Tibetan Oral Tradition in ChonéT1
  15. 15Shépa: The Tibetan Oral Tradition in ChonéT1
  16. 16Shépa: The Tibetan Oral Tradition in ChonéT1