Comparative analysis of the Oirat legend regarding the origin of vodka and the harmful effects of drunkenness within the context of the Tibetan-Mongol tradition

The relevance of this study is dictated by the insufficient study of Buddhist manuscripts in the Oirat language, which are in archival and private collections in Kalmykia. The key problem is the lack of their digitization and integration into scholarly circulation, which limits access to them by the global academic community. The novelty of the research lies in the scholarly analysis of the legend about the origin of vodka and the dangers of drunkenness, extracted from an anonymous Oirat collection. This collection was discovered by the author of the article in the fund of the Lagan branch of the N.N. Palmov National Museum of the Republic of Kalmykia. Stories about the origin of alcoholic beverages and their harmful effects are widespread in the world's oral and written traditions. Mongolian folklore and historical sources record an ambivalent attitude towards arak (dairy vodka): on the one hand, its use was integrated into everyday practice, associated with joyful events and religious rituals; on the other hand, it was condemned and banned in regulatory texts. The negative connotation of alcohol in Mongolian literature has been further reinforced by the spread of Buddhism. The legend under study is an abridged and unfinished translation of the work of the Indian preacher Padmasambhava, dedicated to the origin of vodka and the dangers of drunkenness. The originality of this text lies in the use of Tibetan character names, which allows us to hypothesize that it was translated from a Tibetan source. The discovery of the legend in the collection confirms its functional purpose in the preaching activities of Buddhist monks. The purpose of this study was a comparative analysis of the content of the legend about the origin of vodka and the dangers of drunkenness from the Oirat anonymous collection with other oral and written sources, aimed at identifying similarities and local features. The comparative method and synoptic analysis were used to study the preservation and variability of the plot. The results of the study showed that genetically related plots contribute to a deeper understanding of the content of the Oirat legend, which is characterized by the loss of essential compositional components. A distinctive feature of this text is its extreme conciseness and the absence of detailed descriptions. The identification of local differences in the Oirat legend allows us to reconstruct the genesis of the plot about the origin of vodka and the dangers of drunkenness, the origins of which can be traced in Indo-Tibetan literature. Prospects for further research include the introduction into scholarly circulation of the legend of the origin of vodka and the dangers of drunkenness from an anonymous Oirat collection, which, in turn, will significantly expand the understanding of Buddhist literature stored in the collections of Kalmykia.

The work was carried out within the framework of the project of the Foundation for the Promotion of Buddhist Education and Research No. 40/2026 “Buddhist manuscripts in the Oirat language in the collections of the eastern regions of Kalmykia: cataloguing, research and translation”

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