The Auspicious Agarwood: A Tibetan Scent Journey
Various Tibetan Buddhist traditions contain accounts of "agarwood utensils," including a passage depicting the Karmapa seated on a throne made of black agarwood, which showcases a blend of South Asian and East Asian techniques in both woodworking and incense-making. The earlier text advises that "during the warm season, one should reside in a fragrant and cool house," while the later passage recommends that "when autumn arrives, one should wear garments perfumed with incense.
According to legend, the distinguished physician Wu Jinba (ཨུ་རྒྱན་བསྟན་འཛིན་རྒྱ་མཚོ་), who was exiled to Bhutan during the late 19th century, is believed to have stated: "The name 'A' refers to agarwood," as the initial letter of the Tibetan word for agarwood is "A." The lines "ཕྱི་ནང་གསང་གསུམ་མནོལ་གྲིབ་བསལ། ཨ་མིང་ཅན་འདི་མཛེས་སྦྱིན་པ།" — translated as "Expelling impurities, both inner and esoteric, The one named 'A' bestows beauty" — are taken from a Bhutanese epic on medicinal plants, though the handwritten manuscript carries no fixed title.
Partial: Yellow Agarwood (ཨར་སེར་, Ar-ser) and Black Agarwood (ཨར་ནག་, Ar-nak). Partial: Before he passed, the revered Milarepa (1040-1123) shared out his possessions and gave supreme teachings; two walking sticks were among his relics, which he left to his two foremost disciples, Rechungpa (1085-1161) and Gampopa (1079-1153).
Where exactly did the black agarwood walking stick originate? This relic, which carries the same importance as the headscarf of the master Maitripa (མཻ་ཏྲི་པ་), was handed down from Milarepa to Gampopa. Together, these two objects are regarded by later scholars as embodying the very foundation of the core teachings of the Kagyu tradition. As for Maitripa, his standing as Marpa's root teacher makes his place in the Mahamudra lineage self-evident.
Tipupa (ཏི་ཕུ་པ་), an accomplished master, is often considered in the Kagyu lineage to be the rebirth manifestation of Marpa's son, Darma Dode (དར་མ་མདོ་སྡེ་), and therefore embodies the Dharma lineages of both South Asia and Tibet. As Rechungpa was preparing to return to Tibet from South Asia, Tipupa entrusted him with the black agarwood walking stick to present to Milarepa.
Agarwood is the finest among woods, and agarwood incense is the most supreme among fragrances; black agarwood is particularly regarded as auspicious (བཀྲ་ཤིས་ཅན་). This was the observation of Chöje Mönlam (གཡའ་བཟང་ཆོས་རྗེ་ཆོས་ཀྱི་སྨོན་ལམ་; 1169-1233), founder of the Yasa Kagyu tradition. As for the black agarwood walking stick, its significance has been extensively discussed by later generations, given that Gampopa was naturally considered by Milarepa to be the most fitting heir to his essential teachings.
In both an uncommon and favorable manner, agarwood gives off a lasting scent while holding the core of spiritual cultivation within, thereby combining wisdom with compassion. Included are two varieties: Agarwood "Bashi" (འབའ་ཞིག་) and Gray Agarwood (ཨར་སྐྱ་). Writings attributed to Padampa Sangye in certain sources praise the benefits of agarwood and its resin, citing such examples as "generating wisdom when encountering obstacles" and "superior in quality, black as a yogi's attire." It is recounted that he kept agarwood and other fragrant woods with him for his own spiritual exercises.
Despite the deep Buddhist associations of agarwood narratives in Tibet, agarwood had already entered royal courts through trade routes as early as the Tibetan Empire period. Sandalwood and agarwood rank as the most esteemed fragrances in the Tibetan context, and their trees are likewise the most commonly revered aromatic sacred trees in Buddhist cosmology.
Today, although there is a notion of "Tibetan agarwood," within the traditional Tibetan medical system, some trees that botanically do not belong to the Aquilaria or Gyrinops genera are nevertheless referred to as "agarwood" owing to their similar appearance and scent. In earlier times, Tibet's chief sources of agarwood were three regions: South Asia, East Asia, and Central Asia, and while the Arab world had no agarwood of its own, it was nonetheless a significant trading hub for the substance.
The Sanskrit word अगुरु is the source of the Tibetan terms for agarwood, which are generally ཨ་ག་རུ་, ཨ་ཀ་རུ་, or ཨ་གར་ (transliterated as "Agaru", with a few regional variants as well). According to South Asian tradition, agarwood's fragrance arises from insects living in the trees, and the trees themselves can be identified by their color. Agarwood is considered a fragrance source capable of delighting deities. In East Asian tradition, it is hailed as the "king of fragrances" and an essential medium for incense culture.
Tibet's understanding of agarwood draws on cultural viewpoints from both regions, shaped further through long-standing exchange—such as the black agarwood arhat statue presented by the Ming emperor to the Karmapa. Sandalwood is regarded as the scent of spiritual life, whereas agarwood is tied to authority, described as “beloved by rulers” or “fit for kings.” Together, they signify achievement and success. In local tradition, a fennel-scented sank appears on the left.
In the "Sandalwood Forest of Fragrant Aromas" (དྲི་ཞིམ་ཨ་གར་ཚལ་; interpretations may vary), which is believed to be the dwelling place of the healing, disease-eradicating Buddha Mother, six sandalwood trees of different colors grow. So what are the virtues of agarwood (and the agarwood tree)? Based on classical texts and legends, they fall into three layers: outer, inner, and secret.
There are three outer virtues of the tree: it is naturally and innately beautiful, its wood is dense and suited for crafting, and its flowers bloom to feed insects and ants.
Four inner virtues exist. As a medicine, it relieves pain and fever, embodying innate compassion. Its scent fills the three realms and ten directions, representing diligent effort. When blocked, it yields a fragrant resin, symbolizing focused meditation. And its potent aroma carries a feral, untamed nature, reflecting the demeanor of an accomplished being.
The mid-19th-century work "Assembly of the Buddha, Sixteen Arhats, and Four Heavenly Kings" (Four-in-One), from the Rubin Museum of Art collection, shows in part a disciple holding a suspended incense burner. In Tibet's classical period, agarwood's seven outer and inner virtues were believed to culminate in the secret virtue of enlightenment, which ultimately leads to Nirvana, the state of final perfection.