bE du rya

This is the RYI Dictionary content as presented on the site http://rywiki.tsadra.org/, which is being changed fundamentally and will become hard to use within the GoldenDict application. If you are using GoldenDict, please either download and import the rydic2003 file from DigitalTibetan (WayBack Machine version as the site was shut down in November 2021).

Or go directly to http://rywiki.tsadra.org/ for more upcoming features.

བE་དུ་རྱ
lapis lazuli [IW]

azure stone, lapis lazuli [RY]

Discussion

Vaidurya or blue obsidian. A transparent blue gemstone that is, according to Thrangu Rinpoche and Chinese sources, the color of the sky and transparent, like a diamond or crystal. It is said to be extremely pure inside and out. It is not opaque. In Chinese it is called "leu li" which may well be a form of obsidian: there is a very rare clear dark blue variety of obsidian. It may also be blue beryl. It is not, however, lapis lazuli, which is opaque. Since there is doubt as to what it actually is, it may make sense to use the Sanskrit word Vaidurya in translations, rather than blue obsidian.

IW and RY, as well as just about every other English source, incorrectly translate this as lapis lazuli or azure stone. DKC

Thank you for the interesting remarks. May I add a description from the site mindat.org which corroborates Thrangu Rinpoche and the chinese sources : "The name Lapis Lazuli has been used both to describe the blue mineral previously known as lazurite (but in most cases is actually a S-rich variety of Hauyne) and the rock that is made up predominantly of this mineral plus calcite, pyrite and other minerals. In general today the name Lapis Lazuli is used to describe the material used as a decorative stone (ie, the rock) rather than the mineral component."
Haüyne is a vitreous mineral, with colors from blue, white, yellow and green to pink.
Lazurite (mu men, Yeshi 2018) is resinous, with colors from ultramarine, midnight-blue to bluish-green.
The composite rock is completely opaque as is the mineral Lazurite. The mineral Haüyne corresponds, the photos fit the description, and if one srolls down on the site to the map, one finds an extraction site in eastern China. But the name of the mineral is completely unknown, so it's probably the best to stay with Vaidurya. Johannes Schmidt (talk) 16:57, 22 November 2021 (UTC)