ས་སྐྱ་པཎྜིཏ་ཀུན་དགའ་རྒྱལ་མཚན།

b.1182 - d.1251

Sakya Paṇḍita Kunga Gyeltsen (sa skya pan di ta

BDRC P1056 kun dga' rgyal mtshan), commonly known as
Sapaṇ was born in 1182, the son of Pelchen Opo
A U T H OR

Dominique Townsend (dpal chen 'od po, 1150-1203), who was the son
of Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (sa chen kun dga'
snying po, 1092-1158) and the nephew of Sonam
TR A D ITION
Tsemo (bsod names rtse mo, 1142-1182) and
Sakya
Drakpa Gyeltsen (grags pa rgyal mtshan, 1147-
O F F I CES HELD 1216). Sapaṇ's mother was probably Machik
Sixth Sakya Tridzin of Sakya Nyitri Cham (ma gcig nyi thri cham).
Monastery

TE A C HERS
Kunga Gyeltsen was the principal disciple of his
Śākyaśrībhadra uncle, the great master Drakpa Gyeltsen. His early
Drakpa Gyeltsen teachers also included Shuton Dorje Kyab (shu ston rdo rje kyabs, d.u.) of
sugatasri Sangpu Monastery (gsang phu), Tsurton Zhonnu Sengge (tshur ston gzhon nu
danasila seng ge, d.u.) and Jiwo Lhepa Changchub Wo (ji bo lhe pa byang chub 'od,
saM g+ha shrI d.u.), among others. In addition to training in the Sakya Lamdre and the
S T U D ENTS
Kadam traditions, he also studied Dzogchen, Zhije, and other systems. Starting
chos rgyal in 1204, at the monastery Chumik Ringmo (chu mig ring mo),
Pakpa Lodro Gyeltsen
Gar Dampa Chodingpa Kunga Gyeltsen became a close disciple of the Kashmiri teacher Śākyaśrībhadra
Rinchen Gyeltsen (1140-1225) and also studied under the Indian masters Saṅghaśrī, Danasīla, and
byang chub dpal bzang po Sugataśrī. He took full ordination with Śākyaśrībhadra in 1208, who trained
rig pa'i seng+ge him in the entire span of monastic education then current in the great
brtson 'grus rdo rje monasteries of India, including Abhidharma, Vinaya, Prajñāpāramitā,
shes rab dpal
Madhyamaka, logic and epistemology, grammar and poetics. Based on this
kun dga' dpal
'od zer shAkya
education he was instrumental in transmitting the Indian system of five major
Kyobpa Pel Zangpo and five minor sciences to Tibet.
lung phu ba
rgyal ba dpal Sakya Paṇḍita was known as a formidable
rin chen dpal philosophical debate in both formal public arenas and
shAkya grags in writing. In 1240 he traveled to Kyirong (skyid
chos kyi dbang phyug grong) where he famously debated and defeated the
Chokyi Gyelpo Indian scholar Harinanda. His compositions refuting
Yanggonpa Gyeltsen Pel doctrinal positions of the Kagyu and Nyingma
H I S TORICAL PERIOD
traditions continue to exert considerable influence.
12th Century He authored more than one hundred texts and was
13th Century also a prolific translator from Sanskrit. His major
works include Tshad ma rigs pa'i gter (Treasury of
IN S T ITUTION
Epistemology) Sdom gsum rab dbye (Clear
Sangpu Neutok
Kyangdur
Differentiation of the Three Vows), Thub pa dgongs pa rab
Samye gsal (Clarifying the Sage's Intentions), Legs par bshad pa rin pa che'i gter (Treasury
Sakya Monastery of Aphoristic Jewels), and Mkhas pa rnam 'jug pa'i sgo (Entrance Gate for the Wise).
His writings are among the most widely influential in Tibetan literature and
ROLE
prompted commentaries by countless subsequent authors. He taught widely
Translators
and became renowned across Tibet for his scholarship and skill in teaching.
Name variants:
Kunga Gyeltsen; Sakya
Paṇḍita; Sakya Pandita In 1244 Sakya Paṇḍita received an invitation to the court of the Koden Khan,
the son of the supreme Mongolian leader Ogodei and the Khan in charge of
the regions of the Mongolian Empire that bordered on Tibet. According to
Wylie: sa skya paN+Dita kun dga' rgyal some accounts, it was a Drigung lama who, declining the invitation to go to
mtshan
Mongolia, suggested Koden invite Sakya Paṇḍita instead. Mongolian contact
with Tibetan lamas had most likely begun with Chinggis Khan's conquest of
Tangut kingdom of Xixia in 1227, and deepened with his successors' invasions
of Sichuan and Yunnan regions. In 1240 Koden had sent a reconnaissance
mission to Tibet to locate authorities who could submit on behalf of Tibet.
Finding only large monasteries and family estates headed by charismatic lamas
(ordained or not), the Mongolians logically established relations with lamas.
Although these relations were almost certainly political in nature, Tibetan
histories, which foreground the religious motivations of the Mongolians in
inviting lamas to their courts cannot be entirely discounted, as many members
of the ruling families were apparently quite devout.

Sapaṇ, then aged sixty-three, made the journey to

meet Koden at Liangzhou, in the Kokonor region.
With him he brought his two nephews, the sons of
his brother Sonam Gyeltsen (bsod nams rgyal mtshan,
1184-1239). The two young men, Pakpa Lodro
Gyeltsen ('phags pa blo gros rgyal mtshan, 1235-
1280) and Chana Dorje (phyag na rdo rje, 1239-
1267), both later played important parts in the history
of Tibet, Mongolia, and China. The journey took
nearly three years since Sapaṇ stopped at various
locations to give Buddhist teachings en route. Some scholars have speculated
that Pakpa and his brother, the heirs to the Khon ('khon) family, accompanied
their uncle as hostages. However, it is more likely that they went along simply
as disciples and attendants to their teacher and uncle.

Sakya Paṇḍita reached Kodan's camp in 1246,

meeting with Koden the following year. Sapaṇ
purportedly provided a treatment that cured the
Khan's skin disease, possibly leprosy, which put
him especially good standing with the Mongols.
Sapaṇ aided his nephew Pakpa in developing a
script (called the Pakpa script) for Mongolian,
which was previously written in Uighur. Although
they were not the only Tibetans present, and
shared the religious stage with Christians, Muslims,
and Chinese of various traditions, Sapaṇ and his
nephews' presence at the court was a key factor in
the establishment of Buddhism in Mongolia, and
he successfully converted many members of the ruling house.

According to Tibetan histories, in 1249 Koden appointed Sapaṇ as temporal

ruler of Tibet, although this likely meant very little in terms of real power.
Sakya Paṇḍita is said to have sent a letter to other leaders in Tibet urging them
to submit to Mongol rule and pay tribute, but the letter seems to have been
largely ignored. Nevertheless, Sakya Paṇḍita's relationship with Koden is often
cited as a model for the later development of the so-called priest-patron
(mchod-yon) relationship between Tibet and its more militarily powerful
neighbors, most famously embodied by his nephew Pakpa and Khubilai Khan
 at the start of the Yuan Dynasty. Sapaṇ's ventures in Mongolian power also
helped lay the ground for the long standing tradition of linking Buddhist
authority and political rule in Tibet.
Sapaṇ died in Liangzhou in 1251.
Dominique Townsend is an assistant professor of religion at Bard College.
Published January 2010
Images
Damarupa
Damarupa and Avadhutipa,
two Indian Siddhas. On the
left is the siddha Damarupa
holding upraised in his right
hand a damaru drum and a
skullcup in the left. On the
viewer's right is Avadhutipa
holding a skullcup to the
heart with the left hand and
pointing downwards with
the right hand.
Ngorchen Kunga
Zangpo
Drakpa Gyeltsen and
Sakya Pandita
Drakpa Gyeltsen and
Sakya Pandita, uncle and
nephew, teacher and
student surrounded by the
lineage Kings of
Shambhala. This
composition belongs to a
larger set of paintings
depicting the Lamdre
Lineage of the Sakya
Tradition in a two figure per
composition configuration.
Jetsun Drakpa
Mahakala -
Gyaltsen
Panjarnata
Drakpa Gyaltsen and
Panjarnata Mahakala is the
Sakya Pandita, uncle and
protector of the Hevajra
nephew, teacher and
cycle of Tantras. The
student surrounded by the
iconography and rituals are
lineage Kings of
found in the 18th chapter of
Shambhala. This
the Vajra Panjara (canopy,
composition belongs to a
or pavilion) Tantra, an
larger set of paintings
exclusive 'explanatory
depicting the Lamdre
tantra' to Hevajra itself. It is
Lineage of the Sakya
dated to the late fourteenth
Tradition of Tibetan
or early fifteenth century.
Buddhism in a two figure
per composition
configuration.
Mahakala -
Panjarnata
Mahakala surrounded by
the stylized flames of
pristine awareness and
emanating forth from the
licks of flame are
messengers in the shapes
of various animals, black
crows, black dogs, wolves,
black men and women.
Sanggye Sengge
 Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo, Sakya Pandita Kunga Sanggye Sengge, the
the founder of the Ngor eleventh throne holder of
Gyaltsen
Branch of the Sakya Ngor Ewam Monastery.
tradition.
A Sakya lineage painting.

Bibliography Davidson, Ronald. 2005. Tibetan Renaissance. New York: Columbia University
Press.

Grags pa 'byung gnas. 1992. Gangs can mkhas grub rim byon ming mdzod.
Lanzhou: Kan su'u mi rigs dpe skrun khang, pp. 1723-1724.

Dungkar Lobzang Khrinley. 2002. Dunkar Tibetological Great Dictionary (Dung

dkar tshig mdzod chen mo). Beijing: China Tibetology Publishing House.

Gold, Jonathan. 2008. The Dharma's Gatekeepers: Sakya Paṇḍita on Buddhist

Scholarship in Tibet. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Jackson, David. 1983. “Commentaries on the Writings of Sa Skya Paṇḍita: A

Bibliographical Sketch” in The Tibet Journal Vol VIII no 3.

Jackson, David. 1987. The Entrance Gate to the Wise (Section III): Sa-skya
Paṇḍita on Indian and Tibetan Traditions of Pramāṇa and Philosophical Debate.
Vienna: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien.

van der Kuijp, Leonard. 1983. Contributions to the Development of Tibetan

Buddhist Epistemology from the Eleventh to the Thirteenth Century. Weisbaden:
Verlag.

Ngor chen kun dga' bzang po. 1968. Chos rje sa skya paNDi ta chen po'i rnam
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Tshad ma rigs gter rtsa ba dang 'grel pa bzhugs, pp. 1-33. Chengdu: Si khron mi
rigs dpe skrun khang.

Roerich, George, trans. 1976. The Blue Annals. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas.

Sakyapa Ngawang Kunga Sonam. 2000. Sakya Dungrab Chenmo. In Holy

Biographies of the Great Founders of the Glorious Sakya Order. Trans and ed Lama
Kalsang Gyeltsen, Ani Kunga Chodron, and Victoria Huckenpahler. Silver
Spring, MD: Sakya Puntsok Ling Publications.

Sakya Paṇḍita. 2002. A Clear Differentiation of the Three Codes: Essential

Distinctions among the Individual Liberation, Great Vehicle, and Tantric Systems.
Jared Rhoton, trans. New York: SUNY Series in Buddhist Studies.

Stearns, Cyrus. 2001. Luminous Lives: The Story of the Early Masters of the Lam
'bras Tradition in Tibet. Boston: Wisdom Publications.

Stearns, Cyrus. 2006. Taking the Path as the Result: Core Teachings of the Sakya
Lamdre Tradition. Boston: Wisdom Publications.
Yab rje skal ldan rgya mtsho. 1999. Kun dga' rgyal mtshan gyi rnam thar. In Mdo
smad sgrub brgyud bstan pa'i shing rta ba chen po phyag na padmo yab rje skal ldan
rgya mtsho'i gsung 'bum, vol. 1, pp. 256-264. Lanzhou: Kan su'u mi rigs dpe
skrun khang.

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