A Partial Genealogy of the Lifestory of Ye shes mtsho rgyal

Janet Gyatso
Harvard University

Abstract: This essay surveys the sources for the lifestory of Ye shes mtsho rgyal,
also known as Mkhar chen bza’. It considers references to such a figure in works
from Chronicle of Ba (Sba bzhed), Rnying ma bka’ ma materials on Vajrakīla
traditions, Nyang ral’s life of Padmasambhava, and other Rnying ma sources,
down to the well-known biography from the Treasures of Stag sham, as well as a
recent Bon po version of her life. It also considers what historical works do not
mention her, and raises the question of whether she was a historical person or not.
The heart of the essay provides detailed information on an important but
little-known long biography of Ye shes mtsho rgyal from the fourteenth century by
Dri med kun dga’ snying po, a work that is interestingly different from Stag sham’s
story but also clearly was a source for him. Among other things, this version of
the story makes no mention of any connection of Ye shes mtsho rgyal to the king
Khri srong lde btsan. Another intriguing suggestion concerns references to her by
Gu ru chos dbang, which hint that yet an older rendition of her lifestory might
have been preserved in his collected works which has either been lost or is still to
come to light. The essay considers the development of the role of Ye shes mtsho
rgyal as a female consort and especially the seemingly feminist figuration of her
by Stag sham. It also serves to illustrate the complex process of hagiographical
development known also for so many other saints in Tibetan religious literature.

Ye shes mtsho rgyal is the foremost female figure of the Rnying ma tradition.1 She
shares with Ma gcig lab sgron (tenth-eleventh century) the position of pre-eminent
female exemplar with whom Tibetan Buddhist women have been identified, but
she far exceeds Ma gcig in significance for Tibetan national self-conception. Her
legend has it that she became queen of the pivotal Yar lung king Khri srong lde

1
I am grateful to Amherst College for two Faculty Research Awards, which enabled my travel to
Tibet in 1996 and 1998 and my discovery and research on Dri med kun dga’s biographies described
herein.
Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, no. 2 (August 2006): 1-27.
www.thdl.org?id=T2719.
1550-6363/2006/2/T2719.
© 2006 by Janet Gyatso, Tibetan and Himalayan Digital Library, and International Association of Tibetan Studies.
Distributed under the THDL Digital Text License.
Gyatso: A Partial Genealogy of the Lifestory of Ye shes mtsho rgyal 2

btsan, only to be bestowed in turn as a gift to the Indian master Padmasambhava

in exchange for the master’s tantric teachings to the royal court.2 As consort of
Padmasambhava, however, Ye shes mtsho rgyal becomes a master in her own
right. In some versions of the story she achieves a veritable independence, in
addition to serving as a key mediatrix between Tibetans and their Indian guru in
the post-eleventh-century mythology surrounding Tibet’s transformation into a
Buddhist land.
For close to twenty years western readers have had the luxury of two English
translations (and more recently one in French as well) of a detailed and richly
interesting account of Ye shes mtsho rgyal’s life.3 Replete with stories of her
abduction by suitors, her Buddhist austerities, her eventual purchase of her own
male consort, and even her mastery of her own rape, the tale serves, among other
things, as a splendid tool for teaching college students about images of women in
Tibetan tantric Buddhism.
From a historical perspective, however, this hagiography of Ye shes mtsho rgyal
leaves some important questions unanswered. It is the work of Stag sham nus ldan
rdo rje (b. 1655), a visionary of the seventeenth century, and so was written some
nine-hundred years after Ye shes mtsho rgyal would have lived. What sources did
Stag sham draw upon in conceiving the narrative? Surely some earlier versions of
the story existed. But none are known to Tibetan historiography, and most Tibetan
scholars to whom I have ever posed this question had no clue either.
More basic yet is the question of whether Ye shes mtsho rgyal is a historical
figure at all. The problem is that none of the contemporary epigraphy ever mentions
a Ye shes mtsho rgyal, nor a Mkhar chen bza’ (her clan title), at least as far as we
know.
What follows summarizes my progress in attempting to address these questions,
the first in more detail than the second, given the paucity of historical evidence
about the eighth century in Tibet.4 In the course of this discussion I will also address
a third, larger question regarding the significance of the story of Ye shes mtsho
rgyal, both for Tibetan Buddhist narratives about the past more generally, and with
respect to the image of the female in Tibetan Buddhist practice. That significance

2
Mentioned in Clear Mirror Royal Chronicle (Rgyal rabs gsal ba’i me long), interlinear note (added,
according to Sørensen, soon after the author’s death): Per Sørensen, Tibetan Buddhist Historiography:
The Mirror Illuminating the Royal Genealogies (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1994), 369n1200,
373nn1229-30.
3
Nam mkha’i snying po, Mother of Knowledge: The Enlightenment of Ye-shes mTsho-rgyal, translated
by Tarthang Tulku (Berkeley: Dharma Publishing, 1983); Keith Dowman, Sky Dancer: The Secret Life
and Songs of the Lady Yeshe Tsogyal (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1984); and Gyalwa
Tchangtchoub and Namkhai Nyingpo, La Vie de Yéshé Tsogyal Souveraine du Tibet (Paris: Editions
Padmakara, 1995). The Tibetan text is Stag sham rdo rje, Mkha’ ’gro ye shes mtsho rgyal gyi rnam
thar (Chengdu: Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1989).
4
Much detail and documentation has been omitted from this paper because of limitations on length;
this data will be provided in full with my publication of the translation of the Dri med kun dga’
biography.
Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies 2 (August 2006) 3

has in turn some impact on our understanding of how the various versions of her
life developed.
Regarding first the most basic matter – is Ye shes mtsho rgyal a historical figure?
– we are still not in a position to assert without doubt that there was an early Tibetan
female master of tantric yoga called Ye shes mtsho rgyal or even Mkhar chen bza’.
I can say at least that there is consistency throughout the sources discussed below
in locating her birth date in a bird year and her birthplace in the district of Sgrags,
but there are discrepancies in these same sources concerning the names of her
parents and suitors. There is a brief mention of Mkhar chen bza’ mtsho rgyal in
some versions of the Chronicle of Ba (Sba bzhed). Interestingly, this work seems
itself to be responding to the historical question of why there are no inscriptions
about her by saying that she was one of the wives of Khri srong lde btsan who was
engaged in meditative practice and therefore left no legacy (phyag ris).5 However,
this statement is not to be found in the apparently earlier version of the Chronicle
of Ba recently published.6
Mkhar chen bza’ mtsho rgyal is in any event known to the historian Mkhas pa
lde’u (thirteenth century?) as one of eight ladies who did not hold political power
but who built royal tombs, and who received initiations from Padmasambhava
alongside the king.7 In addition there is a relatively early attribution of special
Vajrakīla virtuosity to Ye shes mtsho rgyal, as found for example in Rnying ma
bka’ ma materials,8 as well as in the Padmasambhava hagiographical tradition
beginning at least by the time of Nyang ral nyi ma ’od zer (1136-1204), who also
lists her as one of the queens.9 In general, the references to her aristocratic
affiliations in these sources fits with what is said about many other figures from
the same period who are also not mentioned in inscriptions but whose existence

5
Sba bzhed ces bya ba las sba gsal snang gi bzhed pa (Beijing: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1980), 54.
This statement is repeated by Nyang ral nyi ma ’od zer, Byang chub sems dpa’i sems dpa’ chen po
chos rgyal mes dpon rnam gsum gyi rnam thar rin po che’i phreng ba (Paro: Ugyen Tempai Gyaltsen,
1980), 228.
6
Pasang Wangdu and Hildegard Diemberger, dBa’ bzhed: The Royal Narrative Concerning the
Bringing of the Buddha’s Doctrine to Tibet (Vienna: Verlag der Osterreichischen Akademie der
Wissenschaften, 2000).
7
Mkhas pa lde’u, Rgya bod kyi chos ’byung rgyas pa (Lha sa: Bod rang skyong ljongs spyi tshogs
tshan rig khang, 1987), 379.
8
See especially Rdo rje phur pa’i bshad ’bum slob dpon rnam gsum gyis dgongs pa slob dpon chen
po padmas mkhar chen bza’ la gdams pa, in Two Rare Vajrakīla Teachings from the Miraculous
Lotus-Born Gu-ru Rin-po-che Padmasambhava (Gangtok: Gonpo Tseten, 1976), 20-22. [Also in Rnying
ma bka’ ma rgyas pa (Darjeeling: Dupjung Lama, 1982), 10:241- 245.] See also Sog zlog pa blo gros
rgyal mtshan, Dpal rdo rje phur pa’i lo rgyus chos kyi ’byung gnas ngo mtshar rgya mtsho’i rba rlabs,
in Collected Writings of Sog-bzlog-pa Blo-gros-rgyal-mtshan (New Delhi: Sanje Dorji, 1975), 1:133-145,
and ’Jigs med gling pa, Phur pa rgyud lugs las chos ’byung ngo mtshar snang byed, in Rnying ma bka’
ma rgyas pa, 7:5-14.
9
Nyang ral, Slob dpon padma ’byung gnas kyi skyes rabs chos ’byung nor bu’i phreng ba, in Slob
dpon padma’i rnam thar zangs gling ma (Chengdu: Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1989), 118. She
is also credited with the ability to raise the dead: Nyang ral, Chos ’byung me tog snying po sbrang rtsi’i
bcud (Lha sa: Bod rang skyong ljongs spyi tshogs tshan rig khang gi bod yig dpe rnying dpe skrun
khang, 1988), 342. See also Bla ma rgyud pa’i gsol ’debs, in Nyang ral nyi ma ’od zer, Bka’ brgyad
bde gsegs ’dus pa’i chos skor (Dalhousie: Damchoe Sangpo, 1977), 1:7.
Gyatso: A Partial Genealogy of the Lifestory of Ye shes mtsho rgyal 4

we do not doubt. Were it not for the enormous cult that has constellated around
Ye shes mtsho rgyal, there might be no particular reason to question the historicity
of a queen named Mkhar chen bza’. That cult is of course deeply indebted to the
story of her life; the rest of this essay will study the history and significance of that
story.
As for the history of narratives of her life, my most dramatic contribution is my
discovery of a full-length biography of Ye shes mtsho rgyal from the 1300s which
was almost certainly an important source for Stag sham. But before describing
that, the biographical fragments that are older yet should be summarized. As already
noted, she is mentioned in some versions of the Chronicle of Ba as one of the
queens of Khri srong lde btsan and a virtuoso of meditative practice. The so-called
“Mistress’ Way” (Jo mo lugs), “Lady’s Way” (Lcam lugs), and especially the
“Black Hundred Thousand” (’Bum nag) of the Rnying ma bka’ ma Vajrakīla
tradition preserves stories concerning Ye shes mtsho rgyal’s receipt of Kīla
teachings along with other aristocratic ladies such as Lcog ro bza’ and Ngam ’dre
gsal le. It also mentions Mtsho rgyal’s transmission of those teachings to her brother
Dpal gyi dbang phyug,10 and her display of mastery by, for example, controlling
a fire in the forests around ’Chims phu.11 Another episode in the Bka’ ma, known
also to Mkhas pa lde’u, occurs after her receipt of a Kīla initiation alongside Khri
srong lde btsan. When Padmasambhava pronounces her a ḍākinī, the king
skeptically questions her abilities by challenging her to travel to Akaniṣṭha and
other heavens to retrieve some of his family’s lost royal treasures, a test she can
pass only with the help of Padmasambhava.12 This interesting episode, which
disappears in the later hagiographies, suggests the king’s doubt or even jealousy
about Mtsho rgyal’s tantric practices.13
A further question about the place of Ye shes mtsho rgyal’s relationship with
Khri srong lde btsan in her hagiography concerns the fact that the earliest
biographical sketch of her that we have, which is in Nyang ral’s hagiography of
Padmasambhava, fails to mention her connection to the king at all. Nyang ral
describes her simply as the daughter of Mkhar chen dpal gyi dbang phyug.14 Nyang
ral states at the age of sixteen she was taken as a consort by Padmasambhava to
Ti sgro, Bsgrags, and Mchims phu bre gu dge’u for secret tantric practices, and
that she later achieved virtuosity in the Kīla sādhanas and could raise the dead.
She also attained the dhāranī of non-forgetting, for which reason she could record

10
See note 8 above and note 14 below.
11
Rdo rje phur pa’i bshad ’bum, 22 (245).
12
Mkhas pa lde’u, Chos ’byung, 347-48. See also Sog zlog pa, Rdo rje phur pa’i lo rgyus, 134-36.
13
As suggested also by Dri med ’od zer, Gter ’byung rin po che’i lo rgyus, in Snying thig ya bzhi
(Delhi: Sherab Gyaltsen Lama, 1975-79), vol. 7 (Mkha’ ’gro yang thig, part 1): 88. In this version
Mtsho rgyal stays in Akaniṣṭha for three years.
14
There seems to be some confusion about the identity of this figure. In some sources, e.g., Sog zlog
pa, Rdo rje phur pa’i lo rgyus, 143, this is Mtsho rgyal’s brother.
Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies 2 (August 2006) 5

the Treasure (gter ma) text of Padmasambhava’s life.15 But in other contexts Nyang
ral certainly does know Mkhar chen bza’ mtsho rgyal to be an imperial queen, for
example in his account of Tibet’s kings where he repeats the Chronicle of Ba
statement already mentioned.16 Nyang ral’s own autobiographical material even
claims that his wife Jo ’bum ma was an emanation of Ye shes mtsho rgyal, while
he himself was Khri srong lde btsan.17
That Ye shes mtsho rgyal’s story is important enough to Nyang ral that he deems
his own wife to be her emanation is in keeping with his keenness for the
Padmasambhava mythos, of which he was probably the principal architect. A key
element of that mythos is in fact its emphasis on heterosexual yoga, the principal
facilitator of which in the story is Ye shes mtsho rgyal herself. None of this
necessarily means that Nyang ral was a proto-feminist, however. Witness his
reference to his son ’Gro ba’i mgon po’s body with the honorific sku, but to the
body of his wife (and emanation of Ye shes mtsho rgyal!) with the non-honorific
lus, all in the same sentence.18
Gu ru chos dbang (1212-70), the next major contributor to the Padmasambhava
tradition, fares better. Gu ru chos dbang significantly enhanced Mtsho rgyal’s
status by converting the already-current phrase “lord and subjects” (rje ’bangs),
to a new compound “lord, subject, and friend trio” (rje ’bangs grogs gsum) – that
is, Khri srong lde btsan, Nam mkha’ snying po, and Mkhar chen bza’. “Lord,
subject, and friend trio” is Gu ru chos dbang’s recurrent gloss for the principal
recipients of Padmasambhava’s teachings.19 (“Friend” is a standard euphemism
for tantric consort.) In this, he put Ye shes mtsho rgyal at the same level as the
king and the nobleman who were Padmasambhava’s main students in the myth.
More significant yet is an important indication that Gu ru chos dbang may have
been the first author of a full-length lifestory of Ye shes mtsho rgyal. I will return
to this discovery below.
Ye shes mtsho rgyal continues to appear in the Treasure literature after Gu ru
chos dbang, although precious little is made of her elsewhere. She is entirely

15
Nyang ral, Zangs gling ma, 113. Regarding Jo mo mtsho rgyal’s attainment of the dhāranī of
non-forgetting, see the colophon, p. 193. Ti sgro is only mentioned by Nyang ral, Rnam thar gsol ’debs,
in Zangs gling ma, 198. See also Nyang ral’s question and answer text (zhus lan) between Mtsho rgyal
and Padmasambhava, which adds other places that Ye shes mtsho rgyal stayed, and states that she
became Padmasambhava’s consort at age 13: extracts from this work are translated in Yeshe Tsogyal,
Dakini Teachings: Padmasambhava’s Oral Instructions to Lady Tsogyal, trans. Erik Pema Kunsang
(Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1990).
16
See note 5 above.
17
He characterizes her as “sgrub rten du ye shes mtsho rgyal gyi sprul pa.” Nyang ral, Bka’ brgyad
bde gshegs ’dus pa’i gter ston myang sprul sku nyi ma ’od zer gyi rnam thar gsal ba’i me long, in Bka’
brgyad bde gsegs ’dus pa’i chos skor (Paro: Lama Ngodrup, 1979-80), 2:343-46. This text switches
back and forth between first person accounts told with non-honorific verbs (often in narratives of dreams
of meditative experiences) and third person narrative told with honorific verbs.
18
...mtsho rgyal gyi sprul pa/ jo ’bum ma’i lus la sku bltams/ spre’u’i lo la...sku ’khrungs so/: Nyang
ral, Rnam thar, 354.
19
As in Gu ru chos dbang, Bka’ brgyad gsang ba yongs rdzogs kyi dbang chog chen mo, in Bka’
brgyad bsan ba yons rdzogs (Paro: Ngodrup and Sherab Drimay, 1979), 2:398.
Gyatso: A Partial Genealogy of the Lifestory of Ye shes mtsho rgyal 6

missing from Bu ston’s history, and appears only to be mentioned once, and not
even by name, in the Blue Annals’ account of the Vajrakīla lineages. In contrast,
she figures fairly frequently in the Heart-Sphere of the Dakinis (Mkha’ ’gro snying
tig), a key Treasure cycle put together in the fourteenth century.20 Although this
cycle is officially preached to Lha lcam padma gsal,21 the resuscitated daughter of
Khri srong lde btsan, Ye shes mtsho rgyal shows up in a curious detail of the story,
when Padmasambhava summons her after the king faints upon learning of his
daughter’s death. The “poor-minded woman” Ye shes mtsho rgyal takes a white
scarf from her head and sprinkles sandalwood water which revives the king.22 This
is another isolated episode that does not appear in the major biographies of Ye
shes mtsho rgyal, and I wonder about its significance.
Ye shes mtsho rgyal’s main function in the Heart-Sphere of the Dakinis seems
to be, as it is elsewhere, the recorder of the Treasure. But a question and answer
text (zhus lan) included in the cycle does provide this striking statement about her
by Padmasambhava: “Mtsho rgyal... I have searched all over Tibet and you are
the only one I found who is keeping the tantric commitments (dam tshig).”23 This
is a rather strong claim, and the fact that it is the Heart-Sphere of the Dakinis that
makes it most appropriate. Although Ye shes mtsho rgyal is not herself the star of
this cycle, the Heart-Sphere of the Dakinis is precisely what makes way for her
cult to develop thereafter. By being one of the first places in which Great Perfection
and consort yoga are brought together and both attributed to Padmasambhava, this
cycle marks the inception of the full imperial reign of Padmasambhava over the
Rnying ma tradition. That in turn entails the momentous significance of
Padmasambhava’s own consort activity, especially with his Tibetan “friend,” Ye
shes mtsho rgyal.24
It is not surprising that Klong chen rab ’byams pa (1308-1363) appears to be
mentioned as one of the prophecied Treasure “holders” of Ye shes mtsho rgyal’s
biography, although I have not yet found any evidence that he did produce such a
work.25 He does provide a brief overview of her life, however, in one of his histories
of the Heart-Sphere of the Dakinis. This overview is fairly idiosyncratic in its
names for her parents and birthplace, suggesting that he was drawing on a
biographical source different than the ones I have identified so far. But otherwise,

20
I discussed the role of Ye shes mtsho rgyal in this cycle in “The Heart Sphere of the Ḍākinīs: The
Place of the Female in Tibetan Myth,” a paper delivered at the American Academy of Religion, 1995.
David Germano provides detailed information on the history of the Heart-Sphere of the Dakinis cycle
in his book manuscript Prophetic Histories of Buddhas, Ḍākinīs and Saints in Tibet.
21
Nonetheless, some texts in the cycle are addressed to Mtsho rgyal, such as ḍākki’i lam ’bras kyi
skor and the key text Zhus len bdud rtsi gser phreng.
22
Dri med ’od zer, Gter ’byung rin po che’i lo rgyus, 89-90. The phrase “poor-minded woman” (blo
dman bud med) is from a similar story in O rgyan gling pa, Padma bka’ thang (Chengdu: Si khron mi
rigs dpe skrun khang, 1993), 536.
23
Zhus len bdud rtsi gser phreng, in Snying thig ya bzhi (Delhi: Sherab Gyaltsen Lama, 1975-79)
vol. 11 (Mkha’ ’gro snying thig, part 2): 29.
24
This point develped in Gyatso, “The Heart Sphere of the Ḍākinīs.”
25
Dri med ’od zer is so prophecied in Dri med kun dga’, Mtsho rgyal dbu, f. 62a.
Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies 2 (August 2006) 7

Klong chen pa refers to the standard episodes about her beauty, the king’s gift of
her to Padmasambhava, her consort activity with Padmasambhava, her own tantric
virtuosity, and her participation in the recording of Padmasambhava’s teachings.26
Other fourteenth- and fifteenth-century Treasure sources show varying degrees
of knowledge about, and interest in, Ye shes mtsho rgyal’s life (I am setting aside
her frequent appearance in visions and sādhanas). She continues to be
Padamsambhava’s interlocutor in a question and answer text of the Treasures of
Rdo rje gling pa (1346-1405) and Sangs rgyas gling pa (1340-1396). The only
thing that Bsod nams rgyal mtshan’s (1312-75) Clear Mirror Royal Chronicle says
about her is to list her with the other consorts of Khri srong lde btsan.27 O rgyan
gling pa’s (c.1323-1360) Testament of the Queen (Btsun mo’i bka’ thang) also has
her as one of the five queens.28 O rgyan gling pa is another one of the prophecied
discoverers of Ye shes mtsho rgyal’s biography, but again, such a work by him is
not currently in evidence. However, his hagiography of Padmasambhava does
name her parents, and has a few lines summarizing her life as a self-effacing
devoted nun disciple of the master, adding she had no offspring.29
If neither Klong chen pa nor O rgyan gling pa have a full biography of our
heroine, another visionary active in approximately the same period, and the author
of the very prophecies of Klong chen pa and O rgyan gling pa just mentioned,
seems to represent a quantum leap forward in the fortunes of Ye shes mtsho rgyal.
His biography of Ye shes mtsho rgyal is my dramatic discovery that I alluded to
above. This work may well be the oldest full length story of her life that survives.
I discovered a blockprint edition of it in 1996 in Lhasa, with the help of Jake Dalton.
I later found other versions in Lhasa as a well. I am preparing a translation of the
text which I plan to publish; if I can obtain a copy of two other manuscript editions
of the text which I now know exist, I would like to publish an edition of the Tibetan
as well.
The work, usually entitled something like The Lifestory of Yeshé Tsogyel,30 is
the revelation of a lesser-known Treasure discoverer, Dri med kun dga’ snying

26
Dri med ’od zer, Gter ’byung rin po che’i lo rgyus, 86-90, 105, 109. See also Khro rgyal rdo rje,
Slob dpon rnam gsum gyi dgongs pa phur ṭī ka ’bum nag lugs kyi dbang chog lag len du bsdebs pa
mtsho rgyal zhal lung, in Rnying ma bka’ ma rgyas pa, 10:630, mentioning an important vision by
Ngag gi dbang po or Padma las ’brel rtsal (= Klong chen pa) of Ye shes mtsho rgyal and her consort.
27
The interlinear notes do add that she was offered by the king as a consort of Padmasambhava, at
which the ministers were displeased: see note 2 above.
28
O rgyan gling pa, Btsun mo bka’ thang yig, in Bka’ thang sde lnga (Beijing: Mi rigs dpe skrun
khang, 1986), 232-33. Also O rgyan gling pa, Rgyal po’i bka’ thang, in Bka’ thang sde lnga (Beijing:
Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1986), 128, knows her as one of the recipients of the Kīla teachings from
Padmasambhava.
29
O rgyan gling pa, Padma bka’ thang, 705. See also pp. 3-4.
30
I base the following on a block print of this text in 63 folia that was kept at the Public Library of
Lhasa, with a title page labelled simply Mtsho rgyal dbu. I was able to photocopy this text in 1996.
When I went back in 1998 I found that the first ten folia of this copy are now missing. I also saw two
cursive script (dbu med) manuscripts of the same work in Lhasa in 1998. One is entitled Mkha’ ’gro
ma thams cad kyi gtso mo ye shes mtsho rgyal gyi rnam thar (46 ff.) and the other is entitled Ye shes
mtsho rgyal gyi rnam par thar pa (so-called at f. 43a). I was only able to copy a few pages of the two
Gyatso: A Partial Genealogy of the Lifestory of Ye shes mtsho rgyal 8

po.31 He was born in a fire pig year,32 probably 1347.33 Curiously, his biography
of Ye shes mtsho rgyal seems to have been all but forgotten in recent centuries;
only one of the four summaries currently available of Dri med kun dga’s own life
even mention that he had a lifestory (rnam thar) of Ye shes mtsho rgyal.34 Nor has
a single Tibetan scholar whom I have queried orally about Ye shes mtsho rgyal’s
lifestory heard of Dri med kun dga’s writing about her. But it was certainly in
circulation at one time, as evidenced by the varying manuscript editions of the
work still extant in Lhasa. It was surely known to Stag sham, who names a kun
dga’ in the prophecy of the discoverers of Ye shes mtsho rgyal’s lifestory and
clearly follows Dri med kun dga’s story line in several of his own chapters of her
life, and it also spawned a partial paraphrase attributed to Padma gling pa as well
as a recent Bon po version.35 Moreover, one chapter from Dri med kun dga’s work,

manuscripts. The three versions of the text have interesting differences. Words and locutions are often
changed and one of the manuscripts even provides an entirely different name for the heroine’s father,
viz., Sangs rgyas ye shes.
31
He also has a Treasure cycle on Avalokiteśvara: Dri med kun dga’, Thugs rje chen po ye shes ’od
mchog, 2 vols. (Dalhousie: Damchoe Sangpo, 1978). He also wrote a biography of Mitrayogin called
Bstan pa gsal ba’i sgron me. Biographical sketches of him are as follows:

1. Mkhyen rab rgya mtsho, Sangs rgyas bstan pa’i chos ’byung dris lan nor bu’i ’phreng ba
(Gangtok: Dzongsar Chhentse Labrang, 1981), 391-93.
2. Kun bzang nges don klong yangs, Bod du byung ba’i gsang sngags snga ’gyur gyi bstan
’dzin skyes mchog rim byon gyi rnam thar nor bu’i do shal (A Concise History of the
Nyingmapa Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism) (Dalhousie: Damchoe Sangpo, 1976), ff.
129a-130b.
3. Gu ru bkra shis, Bstan pa’i snying po gsang chen snga ’gyur nges don zab mo’i chos kyi
’byung ba gsal bar byed pa’i legs bshad mkhas pa dga’ byed ngo mtshar gtam gyi rol mtsho
(n.p.: Jamyang Khentse, n.d.), 2:736-42.
4. Kong sprul blo gros mtha’ yas, Zab mo’i gter dang gter ston grub thob ji ltar byon pa’i lo
rgyus mdor bsdus bkod pa rin chen baiḍurya’i phreng ba, in Rin chen gter mdzod chen mo
(Paro: Ngodrup and Sherap Drimay, 1976), 1:529-532.

Dudjom Rimpoche’s (Bdud ’jom rin po che) history fails to give a biographical sketch of Dri med
kun dga’, although it does quote him (as does Kong sprul) on the question of how many Treasure
discoverers there will be: Dudjom Rimpoche, The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its
Fundamentals and History, trans. Gyurme Dorje and Matthew Kapstein (Boston: Wisdom Publications,
1991), 1:935. Note that the listing for “Trime Kunga” in the index of The Nyingma School (vol. 2)
refers the reader to Trime Lingpa (Dri med gling pa) but this identification is incorrect: it reflects a
contemporary tendency to confuse Dri med kun dga’ with Dri med gling pa, who lived in the eighteenth
century, and was a teacher of ’Jigs med gling pa.
32
Kong sprul specifies that this was a female year, while Gu ru bkra shis specifies a male year. The
other biographical sketches do not specify.
33
E. Gene Smith, introduction to Kongtrul’s Encyclopaedia of Indo-Tibetan Culture, Parts 1-3, ed.
Lokesh Chandra (New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1970), 12, gives Dri med kun
dga’s birth date as 1357, but this seems to be an error. We can assume he lived no earlier than the sixth
twelve-year calendrical unit (rab byung), since the prophecy in his Ye shes mtsho rgyal biography
mentions Dri med ’od zer, who we assume is Klong chen pa (1308-1363), and O rgyan gling pa (c.
1323-1360), and no later than Padma gling pa (1450-1521). He is regularly listed as one of “the three
Dri meds,” who seem to be rough contemporaries, and one of which is Klong chen pa, so it seems
likely that his birthdate is in the fourteenth century as indicated.
34
Kun bzang, Nor bu’i do shal.
35
I am preparing a separate article on an incomplete and simplified paraphrase attributed to Padma
gling pa. The Bon po rendition of Mtsho rgyal’s life is discussed further below.
Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies 2 (August 2006) 9

concerning Mtsho rgyal’s rescue of the evil Shita (var. Shantipa) from hell, was
published separately in its own block print edition, which I also found in Lhasa,
and reportedly there is another version of this smaller work in Lhasa as well.
The biographical sketches of Dri med kun dga’s life tell us little beyond the
facts that he was born in Grwa phyi mda’ khang dmar and studied at Grwa phyi
chu bzang. Later he went to Bsam yas ’chims phu where he had various Treasure
revelations, and finally stayed in Kong po lhun brag36 where he built a retreat center
for tantric practitioners (sngags pa).37 Why this particular figure was inspired to
write a full-length lifestory of Ye shes mtsho rgyal is far from clear. What is clear
is that he produced a considerable saga, with beautifully portrayed characters and
a sustained story line that are rare in Tibetan writing; the work is an interesting
precursor to such literary masterpieces as the fifteenth-century Gtsang smyon’s
biography of Mi la ras pa. In some ways reminiscent of the moving account of
emotional travails in Aśvaghoṣa’s Buddhacarita, Dri med kun dga’s tale nonetheless
mimics few of the Indic kāvya literary devices that we sometimes find in other
Tibetan Buddhist narratives. Rather he preserves what I would say is a distinctively
Tibetan aesthetic, for example in the clever and yet deeply-felt exchanges between
the courting Zur mkhar38 prince and the reluctant heroine, or in the preoccupation
with visionary journey and tests of skill and endurance, or in the dramaturgical
segways facilitated by magical skulls and flying carpets that transport the heroine
from one scene to the next.
Here is an overview of the story: After a brief description of her royal family
and birth in a village in Sgrags in central Tibet, the story begins in detail with the
events of her sixteenth year, when her hand is sought by a prince of the Indian
kingdom “Bhidzara” and by the Tibetan prince from Zur mkhar. She refuses both,
preferring to practice Dharma. After being roughed up by her father’s own ministers,
she is finally banished from the kingdom and takes up residence in a forest retreat.
The Tibetan prince pursues her there and attempts forcibly to bring her back to his
kingdom, but she prays to the deities, and is rescued by a youth with a topknot
who turns out to be Padmasambhava. The latter is almost always called “Oḍiyana”
(i.e., Oḍḍiyāna) in this work, as well as “Padmasambhava,” “Oḍiyana mkhan po
Padmasambhava,” or other variants on the name Padma, and occasionally “Gu ru
rin po che” in this work.
Padmasambhava/Oḍiyana gives her a magical ring to wear on her hand, and
the two escape to Bsam yas ’chings phu (i.e., ’Chims phu), leaving behind two
magical automatons for her frustrated suitors. In the second chapter,
Padmasambhava/Oḍiyana transmits Great Perfection teachings to her and instructs
her to practice in ’Chings phu for twelve years while he goes to India. After one
month, a white woman appears at the door of her hut and leads her on a long
visionary journey to Padma bkod (this is a notably early reference in Tibetan

36
Var. Kong po lhun grags.
37
This place was further established by his disciple Mtshan ldan gzhon nu sangs rgyas.
38
Vars. Zur mo mkhar, Zung mo mkhar, and Zungs mo mkhar.
Gyatso: A Partial Genealogy of the Lifestory of Ye shes mtsho rgyal 10

literature to this hidden land). Here she witnesses many frightening austerities, all
lessons to help her develop her own faith and diligence in practice. After succeeding
in a variety of feats, including beheading a tiger, she gains access to an elaborate
palace where she receives esoteric initiations from several vidyādharas and buddhas.
She returns to ’Chings phu and after a year is robbed by seven bandits whom she
then converts to Buddhist practice. She proceeds with the bandits on a magic carpet
to the place Oḍḍiyāna where they all receive peaceful and wrathful deity practice
(zhi khro) initiations from a vidyādhara, who gives her the secret name Mkhar
chen bza’ and cavorts in bliss with her. In the third chapter she returns to ’Chings
phu and finally meets Oḍiyana again who is back from India. A question and
answer (zhus lan) session ensues, which becomes the vehicle for the master to
expound on tantric and Great Perfection practice. The fourth chapter briefly lists
the many other places in Tibet where Padmasambhava/Oḍiyana gave her teachings
from the nine yānas. In the fifth chapter, she is joined by a slew of other aristocratic
women to receive more Great Perfection teachings, after which twenty-five women
become siddhas. She is then challenged to prove that she can help other beings by
descending to hell to rescue the evil Shita/Shantipa, which she does, receiving a
didactic message along the way about the inexorability of karma and its result. At
the close of the episode, the wrathful deity who challenged her to the test names
her Mkha’ ’gro ye shes mtsho rgyal, the first time this name appears in the work;
thereafter she is almost always called by that name instead of the title used up to
that point, “Lady” (Lha lcam). In the sixth chapter she receives teachings and
prophecies of her future emanations in Tibet, and is exhorted to hide
Padmasambhava’s Treasure texts. The final chapter elaborates that same prophecy
and the degenerate times that lie ahead. Here the five who will “hold” her biography
are listed. The reader is also told that the author of the biography is Bandhe sangs
rgyas ye shes, who hides it as a Treasure. Then Padmasambhava and Ye shes mtsho
rgyal spend another sixty years together taming beings, and he finally leaves. She
then becomes a buddha, just like Samantabhadrī.
Much of the basic outline of this story will be familiar to those who have read
the Stag sham version. There are, however, several salient differences. Most
noticeably, Dri med kun dga’ names his heroine Lha lcam padma lcam, or Lha
lcam for short, a title virtually unknown for Ye shes mtsho rgyal elsewhere, where
she is usually either Jo mo or Mkha’ ’gro. Furthermore, she only gets her
well-known clan title Mkhar chen bza’ at the end of the work, as a secret initiatory
name, and her most common name Ye shes mtsho rgyal also only appears at the
end.39 I wonder too about the signficance of making Sangs rgyas ye shes the imputed
original author of Dri med kun dga’s story, rather than Nam mkha’ snying po, who
tells Stag sham’s biography. There are other curious differences too, like the fact
that her first suitor is from India rather than the Dpal gyi gzhon nu of Mkhar chu
described by Stag sham. But perhaps the most significant divergence represented
by the Dri med kun dga’ biography is, again, the complete lack of any reference
to Ye shes mtsho rgyal’s marriage to Khri srong lde btsan. Rather, she goes

39
Dri med kun dga’, Mtsho rgyal dbu, f. 59a .
Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies 2 (August 2006) 11

immediately from her struggles with her suitors into the orbit of Padmasambhava.
More broadly, what this difference means is that Dri med kun dga’s story lacks
the leitmotif of the outraged Tibetan ministers, nor does it make the detour into
Tibetan history and competition with the Bon pos that Ye shes mtsho rgyal’s story
becomes the site for in Stag sham’s and other later versions of her life.
The stories are otherwise closely related, but quite different in style and structure.
Each version also gives very different weight to the many episodes that they share,
and narrates them with independent wording. It seems on reflection that they both
are dependent upon yet some other version(s). Stag sham knows of some incidents
in the life of Ye shes mtsho rgyal which he does not recount but only mentions
briefly, referring the reader to other sources for details.40 Some of these incidents
are indeed to be found in detail in Dri med kun dga’s biography, for example, her
extraction of Shita from hell, and her tour of various pure lands and sight of
gruesome self-mutilations. But other incidents that Stag sham mentions, like her
serving of many ḍākinīs, is not to be recognized in the biography by Dri med kun
dga’ either. Moreover, various passages in Dri med kun dga’ curiously seem to be
dependent upon certain elements in Stag sham, although this is impossible; rather
what is actually indicated is that Dri med kun dga’ summarizes a section of an
older source that Stag sham also drew upon but in more detail. For example,
although Dri med kun dga’ makes a lot of Ye shes mtsho rgyal’s rescue of
Shita/Shantipa, devoting an entire chapter to it, he fails to mention this evil minister
in the earlier part of the story, when he commits the very abuses of the heroine
that land him in hell in the first place. Stag sham, on the other hand, mentions
Shantipa several times in the early torture scenes, but later only refers with one
line to Mtsho rgyal’s rescue of him.
Further clues about the sources of Dri med kun dga’ and Stag sham’s biographies
might be had from their prophecies, placed in the mouth of Ye shes mtsho rgyal
herself, of future discoverers of her biographies: Dri med kun dga’s work provides
five names and Stag sham’s a full nine.41 As is well known, prophecies in the
Treasure literature often recount what has already happened, so we can presume
that these prophesied figures actually represent previous redactors of biographies
of the heroine upon which the present one draws. However, some of the names

40
Among the sources to which Stag sham, Rnam thar, makes reference for other accounts of the life
of Ye shes mtsho rgyal are a Lung byang chen mo (230); a purported record of teachings received (gsan
yig) (30 and 84); biographies of Padmasambhava (169); a longer account of her vision of pure lands
(89); longer accounts of her journey into hell and rescue of Shantipa (184); and longer accounts of her
serving many ḍākinīs and travelling through sixty-two pure lands (183).
41
Dri med kun dga’, Mtsho rgyal dbu, f. 62a, mentions these names: Chos kyi dbang phyug from
the area of Lho mon; Oṭiyana gling pa of Gra mo yar; Dri med ’od zer of Mon bu thang; Padma badzra
of Bkra shis gzhong lung; and Dri med kun dga’ snying po of Gra mda’ khang dmar (= Dri med kun
dga’). Stag sham, Rnam thar, 238, lists nine: Chos dbang; Bkra shis from La stod; Rdo rje who is called
Dpa’ bo from Lho rong (= Stag sham?); Ra dza from Sham po; Rdo rje from Spu bo; Kun dga’ from
the east (= Dri med kun dga’?); and finally three women. Stag sham’s prophecy also states here that
there will be three versions of the lifestory, a long one hidden at Zab bu ri rtse; a medium one hidden
at Lho rong Khams, which is Stag sham’s version; and a brief one hidden at Lho brag gnam skas can.
Gyatso: A Partial Genealogy of the Lifestory of Ye shes mtsho rgyal 12

provided may refer merely to hypothetical individuals; and in any case, all of the
names are abbreviated and therefore rarely definitive.
Nonetheless, there is exciting evidence that at least one of these names, a certain
Chos dbang, does indeed refer to an actual previous biographer of Ye shes mtsho
rgyal.42 One of the manuscript versions of Dri med kun dga’s biography quotes a
passage from what is called the Collected Works of Chöwang (Chos dbang bka’
’bum)43 in the course of describing Ye shes mtsho rgyal’s death (which, oddly
enough, is not described at all in the other versions of Dri med kun dga’s work44).
The quotation states that after Padmasambhava left for Rnga yab gling, Lha lcam
(Mtsho rgyal) lived and meditated in Lho brag mkhar chu for two more months.45
Then, on the morning of the tenth of the second month, she rode a sunbeam and
merged indistinguishably with Padmasambhava in a mansion of light. This
fortuitous interpolation provides definitive evidence of yet another biography of
Ye shes mtsho rgyal, otherwise unknown to us at present, from the oevre of one
Chos dbang. It is not certain that this person is the famed thirteenth-century Treasure
discoverer (gter ston) Gu ru chos dbang, but it is likely, for he is regularly referred
to as Chos dbang. In any event, this rendition of Ye shes mtsho rgyal’s life in the
Collected Works of Chöwang was still available when this particular version of
Dri med kun dga’s work was being copied. Hopefully the single quoted passage
is not all of the earlier text which survives now.
The simple account of Ye shes mtsho rgyal’s death from the biography of Chos
dbang probably represents an early moment in the development of the Mtsho rgyal
story. It certainly contrasts strikingly with the lengthy and glorified description of
her death in our most well-known hagiography of Mtsho rgyal by Stag sham. dri
med kun dga’s biography would seem to represent a middle point in this
development, focusing as it does upon the psychological and personal dimensions
of Mtsho rgyal’s story, cast largely as the drama of an individual woman on a
journey to enlightenment. By the time the story is told by Stag sham, virtually
every detail of Mtsho rgyal’s life has become an indication of her glorified sainthood
and her status as a key player in the grand drama of the conversion of Tibet to
Buddhism. This grand status is only further consolidated in a twentieth-century
Bon po version of Ye shes mtsho rgyal’s life, which has also come to our attention.
This rendition is part of a collection of biographies of female tantric masters,
studied recently by Donatella Rossi, which were revealed as Treasure by Bde chen
dbang mo in 1918 and included in the recent Ling shan edition of the Bönpo Canon

42
He is mentioned in both Stag sham, Rnam thar, 238, and Dri med kun dga’, Mtsho rgyal dbu, f.
62a.
43
From Dri med kun dga’, Mkha’ ’gro ma thams cad kyi gtso mo ye shes mtsho rgyal gyi rnam thar,
ff. 45b-46a: chos dbang bka’ ’bum las/ des slob dpon rnga yab la gshegs te/ lha lcam thugs skyo bas
ngang nas lho brag mkhar chur bsgrub pa la bzhugs pas/ zla ba gnyis song ba’i tshes bcu’i snga dro
nyi zer la chibs te slob dpon dang dbyer med ’od kyi zhal yas su gshegs so zer ba ’dug go/
44
This might indicate that the entire passage on her death is a later interpolation.
45
Like Dri med kun dga’, Chos dbang calls her Lha lcam.
Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies 2 (August 2006) 13

(Bon po bka’ ’gyur).46 Bde chen dbang mo’s version of Mtsho rgyal’s life sees her
story from the perspective of the hagiography of Padmasambhava, as already found
in Stag sham. But it goes way beyond Stag sham’s detour into the Buddhist-Bon
po contest under Khri srong lde btsan to insert into the narrative of Ye shes mtsho
rgyal’s life also a detailed Tibetan geography, a theogony, a royal history, and a
recap of virtually every major episode in the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet
and its interaction with Bon – all to serve the ecumenical New Bön (Bon gsar)
program for a Bon po-Buddhist reconciliation.
In the modern Bon po rendition it is clearer than ever how the king’s gift of Ye
shes mtsho rgyal to Padmasambhava as a sexual yogic consort is essential for
tantric religion to be brought to Tibet.47 It makes her the first (and virtually only)
Tibetan to receive Padmasambhava’s tantric transmission directly, as it were. And
it serves violently – but effectively – to disrupt the patriarchal propriety of the old
order. If these two points are at the heart of the Ye shes mtsho rgyal cult, as I
believe they are, we cannot help but notice how both are saturated with the
significance of her gender, that is, her female gender. I would like in conclusion,
then, to attend briefly to the influence of Mtsho rgyal’s femaleness on the
development of her lifestory.
We might first of all be tempted to ask, as many western adherents of Tibetan
Buddhism have done, whether Mtsho rgyal’s story evinces a proto-feminism in
Tibetan religion.48 The answer is mixed, at best. Yes, the needs of women are
served by the creation and presentation of a female heroine. Typically female
predicaments are dramatized in the story, and a female perspective is frequently
represented. In addition, such a heroine most certainly became a role model for
real, live women, and I suspect that creating such a female model was a motivation
for all of our biographers of Mtsho rgyal, at least in part. There can be no question
that the story of Ye shes mtsho rgyal not only provided for Tibetans a template for
the ideal female religious life, it also created a reference point for the identification
and legitimation of female hierarchs and masters. One of the few ways to recognize
a talented woman in Tibetan religious society has been to declare her an emanation
of Ye shes mtsho rgyal. Several such women are operative today in Tibetan religion.
But making a place for recognition does not eradicate misogyny. Our heroine
herself points to her inferiority to men on many occasions – as a woman, her birth
is low, her self-regard is great, and her wisdom is small, she avers.49 Feminine
weakness is even made to be intrinsic to her eminence: even the important Kīla

46
Bde chen chos kyi dbang mo, Mkha’ ’gro rgya mtsho’i rnam thar gsang ba’i mdzod, in the Bon
po bka’ ’gyur (Ling shan [Lixian] edition, c. 1985), 189: ff. 196b-278a. Rossi’s essay is due to appear
in the Proceedings of the Eighth Seminar of the International Association of Tibetan Studies.
47
See especially Bde chen, Rnam thar gsang mdzod, f. 224a seq. Alas, 224b is missing in the copy
of this text owned by University of Oslo!
48
See, for example, Rita Gross, “Yeshe Tsogyal: Enlightened Consort, Great Teacher, Female Role
Model,” Tibet Journal 12, no. 4 (Winter 1987): 1-18.
49
Dri med kun dga’, Mtsho rgyal dbu, f. 26b; many such statements can also be located in the Stag
sham version.
Gyatso: A Partial Genealogy of the Lifestory of Ye shes mtsho rgyal 14

traditions that are traced to Mtsho rgyal are said to have been created because she
asked for a teaching that would be appropriately brief for her poor female mind,
and would address the particularly female problem of exaggerated desire.50
The extended travails and self-denials of Dri med kun dga’s ascetic Mtsho rgyal
are explicitly designed as a corrective to the female tendency for weak endurance
and little faith.51 Here, so low is women’s esteem that their mastery of Buddhist
philosophy is taken as one of the signal markers of the degenerate age52 – ironically,
the very degenerate age that emanations of Mtsho rgyal are predicted to ameliorate.
These dismaying attitudes in the tradition of Mtsho rgyal are not surprising,
given the abundant misogyny in so much of Buddhist literature. However, they do
serve to make the several strikingly pro-woman statements in Stag sham’s version
all the more astonishing. In a much-remarked passage found so far only in Stag
sham, Padmasambhava counters Mtsho rgyal’s complaint about the difficulties of
being a woman with the assertion that ultimately a woman’s body is in fact superior
to a man’s for gaining enlightenment.53 Stag sham also makes the quite
unprecedented move of depicting in detail a rape scene, usually a taboo topic, and
rarely described in traditional Tibetan Buddhist literature.54 But Stag sham in
general is very candid about sex. Whereas Dri med kun dga’ alludes to Mtsho
rgyal’s coupling with several vidyādharas only elliptically, Stag sham depicts her
relations with Padmasambhava and others in exuberant prose. Most striking of all,
Stag sham has Padmasambhava insist that Mtsho rgyal must obtain her own male
consort, one of whom she famously buys in Nepal and then trains and uses in Tibet,
and another of whom she acquires in Tibet.55
Stag sham’s empowerment of a female figure is virtually unprecedented in
Buddhist literature, and it is intriguing indeed. In particular, his depiction of
female-dominant consort yoga provides a welcome development from the treatment
of consort yoga in the earlier Padmasambhava-Mtsho rgyal question and answer
literature, a good example of which is in fact to be found in Dri med kun dga’s
biography. There, Padmasambhava instructs Mtsho rgyal on how to recognize the
ideal female consort, apparently forgetting that Ye shes mtsho rgyal is herself a
female and would probably be more interested in recognizing the ideal male

50
Rdo rje phur pa’i bshad ’bum, 21. Cf. Sog zlog pa, Rdo rje phur pa’i lo rgyus, 138-39.
51
Dri med kun dga’, Mtsho rgyal dbu, f. 26b.
52
Dri med kun dga’, Mtsho rgyal dbu, f. 61b: lta ba skye dman mtho. On a trip to Tibet in 1998, a
learned male mkhan po who was the head of a academic college (shes grwa) for nuns opined that the
recent appearance of such institutions for women was a sign of degenerate times.
53
Stag sham, Rnam thar, 114: sems bskyed ldan na mo lus lhag.
54
Stag sham has some confusion here for in one episode seven bandits only rob her, but in a later
episode they both rob and rape her. Dri med kun dga’s story recounts only that seven bandits rob her.
Dri med kun dga’s version has Mtsho rgyal spending much more time rehabilitating the bandits than
in Stag sham’s story. Dri med kun dga’ has her eventually taking them to Oṭiyana (Oḍḍiyāna), which
is what she does in the Stag sham version for the seven rapists: Dri med kun dga’, Mtsho rgyal dbu,
ff. 43a-44b .
55
Dri med kun dga’ mentions “Atsarya sale” only in passing as one of the male siddhas at the end:
Dri med kun dga’, Mtsho rgyal dbu, f. 55b.
Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies 2 (August 2006) 15

consort.56 But instead, this and other question and answer texts seem to be using
Mtsho rgyal merely as a vehicle to convey teachings that are, as usual, tailored for
a male audience.57 I continue to try to locate other indications of woman-focused
consort yoga, as well as to search for the rest of the pieces in the history of the
lifestory of Ye shes mtsho rgyal.

56
Dri med kun dga’, Mtsho rgyal dbu, ff. 48b-49a.
57
I discuss this problem in “The Heart Sphere of the Ḍākinīs.”
Gyatso: A Partial Genealogy of the Lifestory of Ye shes mtsho rgyal 16

Glossary
Note: Glossary entries are organized in Tibetan alphabetical order. All entries
list the following information in this order: THDL Extended Wylie transliteration
of the term, THDL Phonetic rendering of the term, English translation, Sanskrit
and/or Chinese equivalent, dates when applicable, and type.

Ka
Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Type
kun dga’ Künga Person
kun bzang Künzang Author
kun bzang nges don Künzang Ngedön Author
klong yangs Longyang
kong po lhun grags Kongpo Lhündrak Place
kong po lhun brag Kongpo Lhündrak Place
kong sprul blo gros Kongtrül Lodrö Tayé Author
mtha’ yas
klong chen pa Longchenpa Person
klong chen rab Longchen Rapjampa 1308-63 Person
’byams pa
bka’ brgyad bde Kagyé Deshek Düpé Text
gshegs ’dus pa’i gter Tertön Nyang Trülku
ston myang sprul sku Nyima Özergyi
nyi ma ’od zer gyi Namtar Selwé Melong
rnam thar gsal ba’i
me long
bka’ brgyad bde Kagyé Deshek Düpé Text
gshegs ’dus pa’i chos Chökor
skor
bka’ brgyad gsang ba Kagyé Sangwa Text
yongs rdzogs kyi Yongdzokkyi
dbang chog chen mo Wangchok Chenmo
bka’ brgyad gsang ba Kagyé Sangwa Text
yongs rdzogs Yöngdzok
bka’ thang sde lnga Katang Dé Nga Text
bka’ ma Kama Text
bkra shis Trashi Person
bkra shis gzhong lung Trashi Zhonglung Place
sku ku Term
Kha
Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Type
khams Kham Place
khri srong lde btsan Tri Songdé Tsen Person
khro rgyal rdo rje Trogyel Dorjé Author
mkhan po khenpo Term
mkha’ ’gro Khandro Person
mkha’ ’gro rgya Khandro Gyatsö Text
mtsho’i rnam thar Namtar Sangwé Dzö
gsang ba’i mdzod
Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies 2 (August 2006) 17

mkha’ ’gro snying tig Khandro Nyingtik Heart-Sphere of the Textual

Dakinis Collection
mkha’ ’gro snying Khandro Nyingtik Text
thig
mkha’ ’gro ma thams Khandroma Text
cad kyi gtso mo ye Tamchekyi Tsomo
shes mtsho rgyal gyi Yeshé Tsogyelgyi
rnam thar Namtar
mkha’ ’gro yang thig Khandro Yangtik Text
mkha’ ’gro ye shes Kandro Yeshé Person
mtsho rgyal Tsogyel
mkha’ ’gro ye shes Khandro Yeshé Text
mtsho rgyal gyi rnam Tsogyelgyi Namtar
thar
mkhar chu Kharchu Place
mkhar chen dpal gyi Kharchen Pelgyi Person
dbang phyug Wangchuk
mkhar chen bza’ Kharchen Za Person
mkhar chen bza’ Kharchen Za Tsogyel Person
mtsho rgyal
mkhas pa lde’u Khepa Deu thirteenth Author; Person
century?
mkhyen rab rgya Khyenrap Gyatso Author
mtsho
mkhyen rab rgya Khyenrap Gyatso, Author
mtsho, ’dul ’dzin Dündzin
Ga
Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Type
gu ru bkra shis Guru Trashi Author
gu ru chos dbang Guru Chöwang 1212-70 Author; Person
gu ru rin po che Guru Rinpoché Person
gra mda’ khang dmar Drada Khangmar Place
gra mo yar Dramoyar Place
grwa phyi chu bzang Drachi Chuzang Place
grwa phyi mda’ khang Drachi Da Khangmar Place
dmar
’gro ba’i mgon po Drowé Gönpo Person
rgya bod kyi chos Gya Bökyi Chönjung Text
’byung rgyas pa Gyepa
rgyal po’i bka’ thang Gyelpo Katang Text
rgyal rabs gsal ba’i Gyelrap Selwé Clear Mirror Royal Text
me long Melong Chronicle
sgrags Drak Place
bsgrags Drak Place
Nga
Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Type
ngag gi dbang po Ngakgi Wangpo Person
ngag dbang blo gros Ngawang Lodrö Author
Gyatso: A Partial Genealogy of the Lifestory of Ye shes mtsho rgyal 18

ngam ’dre gsal le Ngandré Sallé Person

rnga yab Ngayap Place
rnga yab gling Ngayap Ling Place
sngags pa ngakpa tantric practitioner Term
Ca
Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Type
lcam lugs Cham Luk Lady’s Way Religious
Practice
lcog ro bza’ Chokro Za Person
Cha
Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Type
chos kyi dbang phyug Chökyi Wangchuk Person
chos dbang Chöwang Person
chos dbang bka’ ’bum Chöwang Kambum Collected Works of Text
Chos-dbang
chos ’byung Chönjung Text
chos ’byung me tog Chöjung Metok Text
snying po Nyingpo
chos ’byung me tog Chöjung Metok Text
snying po sbrang rtsi’i Nyingpo Drangtsi
bcud Chü
mchims phu bre gu Chimpu Dregu Geu Place
dge’u
’chings phu Chingpu Place
’chims phu Chimpu Place
Ja
Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Type
jo ’bum ma Jombumma Person
jo mo Jomo Person
jo mo mtsho rgyal Jomo Tsogyel Person
jo mo lugs Jomo Luk Mistress’ Way Religious
Practice
’jigs med gling pa Jikmé Lingpa Author; Person
rje ’bangs jé bang lord and subjects Term
rje ’bangs grogs gsum jé bang drok sum lord, subject, and Term
friend trio
Nya
Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Type
nyang ral Nyangrel Author; Person
nyang ral nyi ma ’od Nyangrel Nyima Özer 1136-1204 Author; Person
zer
nyang ral nyi ma ’od Nyangrel Nyima Author
zer, mnga’ bdag Özer, Ngadak
rnying ma Nyingma Organization
rnying ma bka’ ma Nyingma Kama Text
rnying ma bka’ ma Nyingma Kama Text
rgyas pa Gyepa
Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies 2 (August 2006) 19

snying thig ya bzhi Nyingtik Yazhi Text

snying ma bka’ ma Nyingma Kama Text
rgyas pa Gyepa
Ta
Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Type
ti sgro Tidro Place
gter ston tertön Treasure discoverer Term
gter ’byung rin po Terjung Rinpoché Text
che’i lo rgyus Logyü
gter ma Terma Treasure Term
stag sham Taksham Author; Person
stag sham rdo rje Taksham Dorjé Author
stag sham nus ldan Taksham Nüden Person
rdo rje Dorjé
bstan pa’i snying po Tenpé Nyingpo Text
gsang chen snga ’gyur Sangchen Ngangyur
nges don zab mo’i Ngedön Zapmö
chos kyi ’byung ba Chökyi Jungwa
gsal bar byed pa’i Selwar Jepé Lekshé
legs bshad mkhas pa Khepa Gajé Ngotsar
dga’ byed ngo mtshar Tamgyi Röltso
gtam gyi rol mtsho
Tha
Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Type
thugs rje chen po Tukjé Chenpo Text
thugs rje chen po ye Tukjé Chenpo Yeshé Text
shes ’od mchog Öchok
Da
Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Type
dam tshig damtsik tantric Term
commitments
dri med Drimé Name
dri med kun dga’ Drimé Künga Author; Person
dri med kun dga’ Drimé Künga Person
snying po Nyingpo
dri med gling pa Drimé Lingpa Person
dri med ’od zer Drimé Özer Author; Person
bde chen Dechen Author
bde chen chos kyi Dechen Chökyi Author
dbang mo Wangmo
bde chen dbang mo Dechen Wangmo Person
rdo rje gling pa Dorjé Lingpa 1346-1405 Person
rdo rje phur pa’i lo Dorjé Purpé Logyü Text
rgyus
rdo rje phur pa’i Dorjé Purpé Text
bshad ’bum Shembum
Gyatso: A Partial Genealogy of the Lifestory of Ye shes mtsho rgyal 20

rdo rje phur pa’i Dorjé Purpé Text

bshad ’bum slob dpon Shembum Loppön
rnam gsum gyis Nam Sumgyi Gongpa
dgongs pa slob dpon Loppön Chenpo Pemé
chen po padmas Kharchen Zala Dampa
mkhar chen bza’ la
gdams pa
Na
Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Type
nam mkha’ snying po Namkha Nyingpo Person
nam mkha’i snying po Namkhé Nyingpo Author
nor bu’i do shal Norbü Doshel Text
rnam thar Namtar Text
rnam thar namtar lifestory Term
rnam thar gsang Namtar Sangdzö Text
mdzod
rnam thar gsol ’debs Namtar Söldep Text
Pa
Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Type
padma bka’ thang Pema Katang Text
padma bkod Pema Kö Place
padma gling pa Pema Lingpa 1450-1521 Person
padma badzra Pema Badzra Person
padma las ’brel rtsal Pema Lendreltsel Person
dpa’ bo Pawo Person
dpal gyi dbang phyug Pelgyi Wangchuk Person
dpal gyi gzhon nu Pelgyi Zhönnu Person
dpal rdo rje phur pa’i Pel Dorjé Purpé Text
lo rgyus chos kyi Logyü Chökyi Jungné
’byung gnas ngo Ngotsar Gyatsö Balap
mtshar rgya mtsho’i
rba rlabs
spu bo Puwo Place
Pha
Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Type
phur pa rgyud lugs las Purpa Gyüluklé Text
chos ’byung ngo Chönjung Ngotsar
mtshar snang byed Nangjé
phyag ris chakri legacy Term
Ba
Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Type
bandhe sangs rgyas ye Bendé Sanggyé Yeshé Person
shes
bu ston Butön Person
Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies 2 (August 2006) 21

bod du byung ba’i Bödu Jungwé A Concise History Text

gsang sngags snga Sangngak of the Nyingmapa
’gyur gyi bstan ’dzin Ngangyurgyi Tendzin Tradition of Tibetan
skyes mchog rim byon Kyechok Rimjöngyi Buddhism
gyi rnam thar nor bu’i Namtar Norbü Doshel
do shal
bon po Bönpo Lineage
bon po bka’ ’gyur Bönpo Kangyur Bonpo Canon Text
bon gsar Bönsar New Bön Organization
byang chub sems Jangchup Sempé Text
dpa’i sems dpa’ chen Chenpo Chögyel
po chos rgyal mes Mepön Nam Sumgyi
dpon rnam gsum gyi Namtar Rinpoché
rnam thar rin po che’i Trengwa
phreng ba
bla ma rgyud pa’i Lama Gyüpé Söldep Text
gsol ’debs
blo dman bud med lomen bümé poor-minded Term
woman
dbang chog Wangchok Text
dbu med umé cursive script Term
’bum nag Bumnak Black Hundred Religious
Thousand Practice
sba bzhed Bazhé Chronicle of Ba Text
sba bzhed ces bya ba Bazhé Chejawalé Ba Text
las sba gsal snang gi Selnanggi Zhepa
bzhed pa
Ma
Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Type
ma gcig Machik Person
ma gcig lab sgron Machik Lapdrön tenth-eleventh Person
century
mi la ras pa Mila Repa Person
mes dpon rnam gsum Mepön Nam Sum Text
mon bu thang Mönbu Tang Place
Tsa
Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Type
gtsang smyon Tsangnyön Person
btsun mo bka’ thang Tsünmo Katangyik Text
yig
btsun mo’i bka’ thang Tsünmö Katang Testament of the Text
Queen
Tsha
Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Type
mtshan ldan gzhon nu Tsenden Zhönnu Person
sangs rgyas Sanggyé
mtsho rgyal Tsogyel Person
mtsho rgyal dbu Tsogyel U Text
Gyatso: A Partial Genealogy of the Lifestory of Ye shes mtsho rgyal 22

Zha
Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Type
zhi khro Zhitro peaceful and Religious
wrathful deity Practice
practice
zhus lan zhülen question and Term
answer
zhus lan zhülen question and Term
answer text
zhus len bdud rtsi gser Zhülen Dütsi Sertreng Text
phreng
Za
Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Type
zangs gling ma Zanglingma Text
zab bu ri rtse Zapbu Ritsé Place
zab mo’i gter dang Zapmö Ter dang Text
gter ston grub thob ji Tertön Druptop Jitar
ltar byon pa’i lo rgyus Jönpé Logyü Dordü
mdor bsdus bkod pa Köpa Rinchen
rin chen baiḍurya’i Baiduryé Trengwa
phreng ba
zung mo mkhar Zungmokhar Place
zur mkhar Zurkhar Place
zur mo mkhar Zurmokhar Place
Ya
Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Type
yar lung Yarlung Place
ye shes mtsho rgyal Yeshé Tsogyel Person
g.yag sde paṇ chen Yakdé Penchen Author
Ra
Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Type
ra dza Radza Person
rab byung rapjung twelve-year Term
calendrical unit
rin chen gter mdzod Rinchen Terdzö Text
chen mo Chenmo
La
Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Type
la stod Latö Person
ling shan Lingshen Place
lus lü Term
Sha
Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Type
sham po Shampo Place
shes grwa shedra academic college Term
Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies 2 (August 2006) 23

Sa
Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Type
sangs rgyas gling pa Sanggyé Lingpa 1340-96 Person
sangs rgyas bstan pa’i Sanggyé Tenpé Text
chos ’byung dris lan Chönjung Drilen
nor bu’i ’phreng ba Norbü Trengwa
sangs rgyas ye shes Sanggyé Yeshé Person
sog zlog pa sokdokpa Author
sog zlog pa blo gros sokdokpa Lodrö Author
rgyal mtshan Gyeltsen
slob dpon rnam gsum Loppön Namsumgyi Text
gyi dgongs pa phur ṭī Gongpa Pur Tika Bum
ka ’bum nag lugs kyi Nak Lukkyi
dbang chog lag len du Wangchok Laklendu
bsdebs pa mtsho rgyal Deppa Tsogyel
zhal lung Zhellung
slob dpon padma Loppön Pema Text
’byung gnas kyi skyes Jungnekyi Kyerap
rabs chos ’byung nor Chönjung Norbü
bu’i phreng ba Trengwa
slob dpon padma’i Loppön Pemé Namtar Text
rnam thar zangs gling Zanglingma
ma
gsan yig senyik record of teachings Term
received
bsam yas ’chings phu Samyé Chingpu Place
bsam yas ’chims phu Samyé Chimpu Place
bsod nams rgyal Sönam Gyeltsen 1312-75 Person
mtshan
Ha
Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Type
lha lcam Lhacham Lady Person
lha lcam padma lcam Lhacham Pema Cham Person
lha lcam padma gsal Lhacham Pemasel Person
lha sa Lhasa Place
lho brag mkhar chu Lhodrak Kharchu Place
lho brag gnam skas Lhodrak Namkechen Place
can
lho mon Lhomön Place
lho rong Lhorong Place
A
Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Type
atsarya sale Atsarya Salé Person
o rgyan gling pa Orgyen Lingpa c.1323-60 Author; Person
oṭiyana gling pa Otiyana Lingpa Person
Non-Tibetan
Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Type
San. Aśvaghoṣa Person
Gyatso: A Partial Genealogy of the Lifestory of Ye shes mtsho rgyal 24

San. Buddhacarita Text

San. dhāranī Term
San. kāvya Term
San. Kīla Deity
San. Oḍḍiyāna Place
San. Person
Padmasambhava
San. Deity
Samantabhadrī
San. sādhana Term
San. siddha Term
San. Vajrakīla Deity
San. vidyādhara Term
San. yāna Term
Chi. Beijing Place
Chi. Chengdu Place
Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies 2 (August 2006) 25

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