Sakya Pandita

Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyeltsen or Kunga Gylatshan Pal Zangpo (1182–1251) was a Tibetan spiritual leader and Buddhist scholar and the fourth of the Five Venerable Supreme Sakya Masters of Tibet.Cite web|url=http://www.tibet.com/Buddhism/sakya.html|title=The Sakya Tradition|accessdate=2006-08-25] Kunga Gyeltsen is generally known simply as Sakya Pandita, a title given to him in recognition of his scholarly achievements and knowledge of Sanskrit. He is believed to have been an incarnation of the Bodhisattva Manjushri, the embodiment of the wisdom of all the Buddhas. [ [http://www.chogyetrichen.com/English/othermasters/index2.html His Eminence Chogye Trichen Rinpoche] ]

He became known as a great scholar in India, China, Mongolia and Tibet and was proficient in the five great sciences of medicine, grammar, dialectics and sacred Sanskrit literature as well as the minor sciences of rhetoric, synonymies, poetry, dancing and astrology. He is considered in Tibet to be the fourth "Great Forefather" and sixth Sakya Trizin, and one of the most important figures among the Sakya lineage.

He was born at Sakya of the noble family of Jam-yan-gon. [Penny-Dimri, Sandra. "The Lineage of His Holiness Sakya Trizin Ngawang-Kunga." "The Tibet Journal", Vol. XX No. 4, Winter 1995, p. 71.] His father was Palchen of Öpochey. Sakya Pandita was the nephew, and became the principal disciple of Jetsun Dakpa GyeltsenThe Government of Tibet in Exile. [http://www.tibet.com/Buddhism/sakya.html The Sakya Tradition] . Retrieved September 26, 2007.] or Drakpa Gyaltsen (1147-1216).

He is best known for his works such as the "Treasury of Logic on Valid Cognition (Tsod-ma rigs-gter)" and the "Discrimination of the Three Vows (sDom-gsum rab-dbye)". He also wrote a collection of moral precepts in verse which was imitated by others and translated into Mongolian. [Stein, R. A. (1972) "Tibetan Civilization", p. 268. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-0806-1 (cloth); ISBN 0-8047-0901-7 (pbk)] He focussed on doctrine and logic "basing himself upon the "Pramanavarttika" of Dharmakirti" and was very interested in rhetoric.

After the death of Genghis Khan in 1227, the Tibetans stopped sending tribute. As a result, in 1240, the grandson of Genghis Khan and second son of Ögedei Khan, Prince Kadan (sometimes written "Godan"), invaded Tibet killing some 500 monks and destroying and looting monasteries, villages and towns. Prince Godan asked his commanders to search for an outstanding Buddhist lama and, as Sakya Pandita was considered the most religious, Godan sent a letter of "invitation" and presents to him.

In 1244 he left for Prince Godan's royal camp with two of his young nephews, the ten year-old Phagpa and six year-old Chhana, who later published a collection of Sakya Pandita's writings. As he continually preached sermons along his way he did not arrive at Prince Godan's camp until 1247 where he gave religious instruction to the prince and greatly impressed the court with his personality and powerful teachings. He is also said to have cured Prince Godan of a serious illness and, with the help of his nephew, Phagpa, he adapted the Uighur script so that the Buddhist Scriptures could be translated into Mongolian which, until that time, was an unwritten language. [Norbu, Thubten Jigme and Turnbull, Colin. Tibet: Its History, Religion and People, p. 195. Chatto & Windus (1969). Reprint: Penguin Books (1987).] In return, was given "temporal authority over the 13 myriarchies ["Trikor Chuksum"] of Central Tibet."

Thus began a strong alliance and the capital of Sakya, gDan-sa, became the capital of Tibet. This lasted until about the middle of the 14th century. During the reign of the 14th Sakya Trizin, Sonam Gylatsen, the Central Tibetan province of U was taken by the Myriarch, marking the "beginning of the end of the period of Sakya power in Central Tibet." [Penny-Dimri, Sandra. "The Lineage of His Holiness Sakya Trizin Ngawang-Kunga." "The Tibet Journal", Vol. XX No. 4, Winter 1995, pp. 71-73.] [Shakabpa, Tsepon W. D. "Tibet: A Political History" (1967), p. 86. Yale University Press, New Haven and London.]

Sakya Pandita died in 1251, at the age of seventy in the city of Gyu-ma. As he did not marry he chose his brother's son Chogyal Phagpa as his heir and nominated him before his death as his religious authority by giving him his conch shell and begging bowl. [Shakabpa, Tsepon W. D. "Tibet: A Political History" (1967), pp. 62-63. Yale University Press, New Haven and London.] After his death Phakpa continued his mission. [Stein, R. A. (1972) "Tibetan Civilization", p. 106. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-0806-1 (cloth); ISBN 0-8047-0901-7 (pbk)] In the lineage of the Tibetan Panchen Lamas there were considered to be four Indian and three Tibetan incarnations of Amitabha Buddha before Khedrup Gelek Pelzang, who is recognised as the 1st Panchen Lama. The lineage starts with Subhuti, one of the original disciples of Gautama Buddha. Sakya Pandita is considered to be the second Tibetan incarnation of Amitabha Buddha in this line. [Stein, R. A. "Tibetan Civilization", (1972) p. 84. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California. ISBN 0-8047-0806-1 (cloth); ISBN 0-0847-0901-7.] [Das, Sarat Chandra. "Contributions on the Religion and History of Tibet" (1970), pp. 81-103. Manjushri Publishing House, New Delhi. First published in the "Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal", Vol. LI (1882).]

ee also

*Brian Cutillo's "Illuminations of Sakya Pandita"
*Drogön Chögyal Phagpa

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.chogyetrichen.com/English/othermasters/index2.html H.E Chogye Trichen Rinpoche's website]
* [http://members.tripod.com/~shugden/sakya.html Includes a short account of his life.]
* [http://www.lotsawaschool.org/sakya_pandita_quotes.html Some famous quotations of Sakya Pandita]