A Central Tibetan Thangka Portrait of a Joden Tsokpa Abbot  

While using Google Lens to search for similar images of a particular thangka painting, I was fortunate enough to come across this rare painting on Alamy (Fig. 1), which, according to its label at the bottom left, shows the  “Hierarchy of the Sa skya abbots” and might be held in the Ethnographic Museum, University of Zürich. However, contrary to what the label suggests, the painting  can be associated with one of the four Joden communities in the Vinaya tradition of Śākyaśrī (1127–1225), known in Tibetan as the Tsokde Zhi (Tshogs sde bzhi) or Joden Tsokpa Dezhi (Jo gdan tshogs pa sde bzhi): Tsamik Tsokpa (Tsha mig tshogs pa), Jedzing Tsokpa (Bye rdzing tshogs pa), Gendün Gangpa (dGe ’dun sgang pa) or Gendün Gang Tsokpa (dGe ’dun sgang tshogs pa), and Chölung Tsokpa (Chos lung tshogs pa). These ascetic communities were important centres of Vinaya practice and became a major source for the transmission of Śākyaśrī’s monastic ordination lineage, known as the Bardül or Middle Region Vinaya (bar ’dul; also kha che lugs or paṇ chen sdom rgyun).¹

The main figure of the painting depicts a monastic head or abbot of one of the four Joden communities with the two attributes of a vajra and ghaṇṭa resting on lotuses over his proper right and left shoulders, the stalks of which he holds in his hands performing the gesture of teaching (Fig. 2). Judging from the identity of some of the minor figures, the main figure might possibly represent a monastic head of the Gendün Gangpa.

Although the Jodan communities had small monasteries in Nyemo (sNye mo) and Nuprong (sNubs rong), they did not settle permanently in one place, but travelled around (as an encampment?), staying temporarily wherever a patron invited them or offered them a place to stay, for example to give ordinations or to hold the summer retreat. As for the Gendün Gangpa, from about the end of the 15th century onwards the local rulers of the Yargyab (Yar rgyab) family in Lhokha (lHo kha) became their main patrons and the community gradually settled on their estate of Gyelchen Ling (rGyal chen gling). After the Yargyabpa were defeated in 1610/11 by Püntsok Namgyel (Phun tshogs rnam rgyal), the new Tsang Desi (gTsang sDe srid), their estate of Gyelchen Ling was apparently granted to the Gendün Gangpa and the community converted the former palace (pho brang) of Gyelchen Ling into a monastery. As a result, Tibetan sources from around the 17th century begin to also refer to the community as Gyelling Tsokpa (rGyal gling tshogs pa).²

The Tibetan masters depicted as minor figures surrounding the main figure, some in groups of three, appear to belong to different Tibetan monastic traditions. Their depiction might have different functions such as teachers of the main figure, recipients of the lineage of monastic ordination of the community represented by the main figure, and as representatives of a particular lineage. Judging by the identity of some of the minor figures, the painting might possibly date from the late 16th or first half of the 17th century and originate from Lhoka in Ü (dBus) province of central Tibet.

Although all the figures are inscribed, many of the inscriptions are unfortunately illegible on the available image of the painting, including the main figure’s inscription. Nevertheless, the main figure and some of the minor figures can be identified as members of one of the four Joden communities by the specific monastic dress they are depicted wearing, or rather, by an element of it that they are not shown wearing, as I discussed in a previous post. Unlike in India, Tibetan monastics wear an additional sleeveless waistcoat or vest (stod ’gag) as an upper undergarment. However, the members of the four communities wore a specific monastic dress, and their depiction in art suggests that they did not wear the normal vest, but a more distinctive one that only partially covered the right chest and left the right shoulder bare. Some variations of the specific Joden vest more closely resemble a sleeveless piece of cloth draped around the torso, leaving the right chest and shoulder bare. This raises the question of whether this piece of cloth represents a vest at all, or whether it is an attempt to depict the uttarāsaṅga upper garment (bla gos), one of the three robes permitted for an Indian monk, and thus to portray the Joden monks as adherents to the dress rules of the Indian Vinaya.

The main figure is also shown wearing a very characteristic yellow paṇḍita hat with long lappets covering the ears and falling over the shoulders, but it is flat at the top and does not taper upward to a small or steep point, as is otherwise typical of a paṇḍita hat. Some of the Joden masters shown as minor figures also wear this type of hat, such as the one just above the head of the main figure or the patron in the lower left corner from the viewer’s perspective.

Some of the minor figures can be identified by inscriptions and shall be briefly described here. The minor figure in the upper centre (Fig. 3) might possibly depict Sakya Paṇḍita (Sa skya Paṇḍi ta, 1182–1251). The Sakya school preserved two distinct branches of Śākyaśrī’s ordination lineage: one that was transmitted directly from Śākyaśrī to his disciple Sakya Paṇḍita and another transmitted through the abbots of at least two of the four Joden communities, namely the Chölung Tsokpa and the Tsamik Tsokpa. Sakya Paṇḍita might therefore be a representative of Śākyaśrī’s transmission, which did not pass through any of the four Joden communities (sa paṇ sdom rgyun or sa skya lha khang chen po’i sdom rgyun). 

The next minor figures, representing Tibetan masters, are arranged in four groups of three figures, one group each to the upper right and left above of the main figure’s head, and one group each to the right and left of the main figure’s head.

Group A

The inscriptions of the three minor figures in the group in the upper left are only partially legible (Fig. 4). The first master on the right in partial profile is Drupchen Penden Lodrö (sGrub chen dPal ldan blo gros), about whom not much seems to be known at present. A little piece of information can be found in the biography of Yöl Khenchen Zhönnu Lodrö (Yol mKhan chen gZhon nu blo gros, 1527–1599/1600), who received teaching cycles of the Shangpa (Shangs pa) tradition from him at Zangpu Yugong (gZang phu g.yu gong) in the 1550s.³

The next master is shown in full profile wearing a hat characteristic of the Drukpa Kagyü (’Brug pa bKa’ brygud) tradition. A quick search reveals that some Drukpa Kagyü masters had relations with the Gendün Gangpa. For instance, the Drukchen Ngakwang Chögyel (’Brug chen Ngag dbang chos rgyal, 1465–1540) visited Gyelchen Ling in 1532 (chu mo ’brug) and met with the Gendün Gangpa abbot Khenchen Rinchen Tashi (mKhan chen Rin chen bkra shis).⁴

Similarly, Pema Karpo (Padma dkar po, 1527–1592) visited Gyelchen Ling in 1588 (sa pho byi)  and 1592 (chu pho ’brug) at the invitation of the Yargyab rulers. On his first visit he was ceremonially received by a procession of monks from the Gendün Gangpa, and on his second visit he met the abbot of the Gendün Gangpa, Khenchen Shākya Riwang (mKhan chen Shākya ri dbang).⁵ Some traces of the inscription of this figure suggest that it might begin with trülku (sprul sku) and end with norbu (nor bu). Thus it is possible that the depicted master could be Pema Karpo, who was the Fourth Drukchen (’Brug chen) and has norbu as the last syllable of some of his names.

Pema Karpo had also taken full monastic ordination in the lineage of Śākyaśrī, although it was not the lineage of the Gedün Gangpa but that of the Chölung Tsokpa that he had received. When, at the age of 17, he took full monastic ordination at Pelkhor Dechen (dPal ’khor bde chen) of Gyantse (rGyal rtse) in 1544 (mdzes byed kyi lo), his ordaining preceptor was Künga Tashi Namgyel Pel Zangpo (Kun dga’ bkra shis rnam rgyal dpal bzang po), whom he introduces in his autobiographical sketch as the abbot (mkhan po) of both Pelkhor Dechen and the Tsok Chölungpa (Tshogs Chos lung pa), which by then had established a monastic base at Pökhang (sPos khang), not far from Gyantse. Pema Karpo not only took full monastic ordination, but also took the upāsaka (dge bsnyen) and śrāmaṇera (dge tshul) vows at the same time, and received the name Ngawang Künga Namgyel Norbu Pel Zangpo (Ngag dbang kun dga’ rnam rgyal nor bu dpal bzang po). Moreover, from this time on, Pema Karpo adhered to a particular form of asceticism, the so-called ascetic discipline of the single mat with white (i.e., vegetarian) ingredients (rdor dkar stan cig pa’i brtul zhugs). This single-mat discipline required that food be eaten no more than once a day, with the whole day’s food being consumed in one sitting at noon. One finds this discipline included as the fifth of the Mahāyāna tradition’s “twelve qualities of a purified ascetic” (dvādaśadhūtaguṇāḥ, sbyangs pa’i yon tan bcu gnyis), as listed in the Mahāvyutpatti.⁶

Pema Karpo writes in his autobiographical sketch:⁷

རང་ལོ་བཅུ་བདུན་པ་མཛེས་བྱེད་ཀྱི་ལོ་ལ་ཆོས་གྲྭ་ཆེན་པོ་དཔལ་འཁོར་བདེ་ཆེན་དུ། དེ་ཉིད་དང་ཚོགས་ཆོས་ལུང་པའི་མཁན་པོ་བསྟན་པ་ཡོངས་རྫོགས་ཀྱི་དགེ་བའི་བཤེས་གཉེན་ཆེན་པོ་ཀུན་དགའ་བཀྲ་ཤིས་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་དཔལ་བཟང་པོས་མཁན་པོ་མཛད། ལས་སློབ་སྡེ་སྣོད་འཛིན་པ་དཀོན་མཆོག་རིན་ཆེན་པ། གསངས་སྟོན་སློབ་དཔོན་སངས་རྒྱས་ཡེ་ཤེས། གྲིབ་ཚོད་ཉང་རམ་པ། གྲོགས་དན་པ་དགེ་སློང་སངས་རྒྱས་ལྷུན་གྲུབ། དད་པའི་དགེ་འདུན་གྲངས་ཚང་བའི་དབུས་སུ། དགེ་བསྙེན། དགེ་ཚུལ། གསོལ་བ་དང་བཞིའི་ལས་ཀྱི་བསྙེན་པར་རྫོགས་པ་ཆིག་རྫོགས་སུ་ནོས། ངག་དབང་ཀུན་དགའ་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་ནོར་བུ་དཔལ་བཟང་པོར་མིང་བཏགས་སོ། །རྡོར་དཀར་སྟན་ཅིག་པའི་བརྟུལ་ཞུགས་ཤིན་ཏུ་དམ་པ་ལ་གནས། དྲན་ཤེས་བཞིན་བག་ཡོད་པས་སྤྱད་དོ།

rang lo bcu bdun pa mdzes byed kyi lo la chos grwa chen po dpal ’khor bde chen du| de nyid dang tshogs chos lung pa’i mkhan po bstan pa yongs rdzogs kyi dge ba’i bshes gnyen chen po kun dga’ bkra shis rnam rgyal dpal bzang pos mkhan po mdzad| las slob sde snod ’dzin pa dkon mchog rin chen pa| gsangs ston slob dpon sangs rgyas ye shes| grib tshod nyang ram pa| grogs dan pa dge slong sangs rgyas lhun grub| dad pa’i dge ’dun grangs tshang ba’i dbus su| dge bsnyen| dge tshul| gsol ba dang bzhi’i las kyi bsnyen par rdzogs pa chig rdzogs su nos| ngag dbang kun dga’ rnam rgyal nor bu dpal bzang por ming btags so| |rdor dkar stan cig pa’i brtul zhugs shin tu dam pa la gnas| dran shes bzhin bag yod pas spyad do|

In his discussion of abbatial histories, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo (’Jam dbyangs mKhyen brtse’i dbang po, 1820–1892) mentions that Śākyaśrī’s lineage of monastic ordination had spread in the Drukpa Kagyü tradition by way of the Chölung Tsokpa:⁸

ཕྱིས་མ་བྱོན་པའི་སངས་རྒྱས་གསུམ་པ་ཁ་ཆེ་པཎྜི་ཏ་ཤཱཀྱ་ཤྲཱི་བོད་དུ་ཕེབས་ནས་འདུལ་བའི་སྡོམ་རྒྱུན་གསར་དུ་བཙུགས་པ་ལས། ཚོགས་སྡེ་གྲངས་མེད་པ་ཞིག་འཕེལ་བའི་རྩ་བ་ལྟ་བུ་ནི། དགེ་འདུན་སྒང་པ། ཆོས་ལང་[= ལུང་] པ། ཚལ་[= ཚ་]མིག་པ། བྱེ་རྫིང་པ་སྡེ་[=སྟེ་]ཚོགས་སྡེ་བཞིར་གྲགས་པ་འདི་ཡིན་ལ། འདི་རྣམས་སུ་སྔར་འདུལ་བའི་བཤད་པ་ལག་ལེན་གཉིས་ཀ་ཁྱད་པར་ཅན་བྱུང་ནའང་། དེང་སང་ནི་སྤྱི་འགྲེ་ཙམ་ལས་དམིགས་བསལ་གྱི་ཁྱད་ཐོན་ཡོད་པར་མ་མངོན་མོད། འོན་ཀྱང་དགེ་འདུན་སྒང་པ་ལས་ཀར་ལུགས། ཆོས་ལུང་པ་ལས་འབྲུག་ལུགས་ཚལ་[=ཚ་]མིག་པ་ལས་ངོར་ལུགས་དང་། ས་ལུགས་སྔ་མ་རྣམས་ཀྱིས་མཚོན་སྡོམ་རྒྱུན་མང་དུ་འཕེལ་བས་ཕྱོགས་ཐམས་ཅད་དུ་འདུལ་བའི་བསྟན་པ་ཤིན་ཏུ་དར་ཞིང་རྒྱས་པར་གྱུར་ཏོ།

phyis ma byon pa’i sangs rgyas gsum pa kha che paṇḍi ta shAkya shrI bod du phebs nas ’dul ba’i sdom rgyun gsar du btsugs pa las| tshogs sde grangs med pa zhig ’phel ba’i rtsa ba lta bu ni| dge ’dun sgang pa| chos lang [= lung] pa| tshal [= tsha] mig pa| bye rdzing pa sde [= ste] tshogs sde bzhir grags pa ’di yin la| ’di rnams su sngar ’dul ba’i bshad pa lag len gnyis ka khyad par can byung na’ang| deng sang ni spyi ’gre tsam las dmigs bsal gyi khyad thon yod par ma mngon mod| ’on kyang dge ’dun sgang pa las kar lugs| chos lung pa las ’brug lugs tshal [= tsha] mig pa las ngor lugs dang| sa lugs snga ma rnams kyis mtshon sdom rgyun mang du ’phel bas phyogs thams cad du ’dul ba’i bstan pa shin tu dar zhing rgyas par gyur to|

The inscription of the third master in partial profile on the left is not legible on the available image.

Group B

The inscriptions of all three minor figures in the upper right are legible, and we find here a group of Karma Kagyü (Karma bKa’ brgyud) hierarchs (Fig. 5): the Fifth Zhamar Könchok Yenlak (Zhwa dmar dKon mchog yan lag, 1525–1583) in partial profile wearing a red hat, the Ninth Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje (Karma pa dBang phyug rdo rje, 1556–1603) in full profile wearing a black hat, and the Fourth Tsurpu Gyeltsap Drakpa Döndrup (mTshur phu rGyal tshab Grags pa don grub, 1547–1613) in partial profile wearing a red hat.

In general, successive Karmapa and Zhamar incarnations maintained a close connection with the Gedün Gangpa by taking their full monastic vows in the ordination lineage of this community. These incarnations included the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje (Karma pa Rang byung rdo rje, 1284–1339), the Fifth Karmapa Chöpel Zangpo (Karma pa Chos dpal bzang po) aka Dezhin Shekpa (bDe bzhin gshegs pa, 1384–1415), the First Zhamar Tokden Drakpa Sengge (Zhwa dmar rTogs ldan Grags pa seng ge, 1283–1349), and the Third Zhamar Chöpel Yeshe (Zhwa dmar Chos dpal ye shes, 1406–1452). Similarly, the three Karma Kagyü hierarchs depicted in the painting maintained a link with the Gedün Gangpa at Gyelchen Ling.

Fifth Zhamar Könchok Yenlak (1525–1583)
In 1542 (stag lo), the Fifth Zhamar Könchok Yenlak received full monastic ordination from the Eighth Karmapa Mikyö Dorje (Karma pa Mi bskyod rdo rje, 1507–1554) as ordaining preceptor (mkhan po, upādhyāya), and the role of “instructor in private” (gsang ston, raho’nuśāsaka) in his ordination ceremony was assumed by the Gendün Gangpa abbot Shākya Gyatso (Shākya rgya mtsho). The Eighth Karmapa himself had received full monastic ordination in the Gendün Gangpa lineage in 1527 from the abbot of the community, Chödrup Sengge (Chos grub seng ge, 1451–1528), and thus held and transmitted the ordination lineage of the Gendün Gangpa.

At the invitation of the Yargyab Pönchen and his family, the Fifth Zhamar Könchok Yenlak travelled to Gyelchen Ling and held a great prayer festival on the Tibetan New Year of 1570 (lcags po rta lo’i lo sar), at which time he also gave teachings and various types of monastic ordination to members of the Gendün Gangpa. Later, in 1581 (lcags mo sprul), when the Fifth Zhamar was again invited by members of the Yargyab rulers to Jamling (Byams gling) and Döl (Dol), he made a tea offering and spoke auspicious words (legs ja shis brjod) at the installation of Rinchen Sherap (Rin chen shes rab) as the new head of the Gendün Gangpa, and also gave teachings. Earlier in the year, he had done the same for the installation of Neten Jangzang (gNas brtan Byang bzang) as the new abbot of the Tse Tsokchen (rTse Tshogs chen) at Neudong (sNe’u gdong), the Tse Tsokpa (rTse tshogs pa) branch of the Tsamik Tsokpa (Tsha mig tshogs pa).⁹

Ninth Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje (1556–1603)
The Ninth Karmapa received monastic ordination at the Tibetan age of 24 (= 23), in 1579 (sa mo yos), from the Fifth Zhamar as ordaining preceptor, and the Gendün Gangpa abbot Khenchen Tönpa (mKhan chen sTon pa) functioned as time keeper (grib tshod pa) and “supplement of the ceremonial master“ (las kyi kha skong). As the Fifth Zhamar held the ordination lineage of the Gendün Gangpa, it can be assumed that he himself transmitted the ordination in this lineage to the Ninth Karmapa.

When the Karmapa visited the region in 1583 (chu mo lug) and 1589 (sa mo glang), the abbot of the Gendün Gangpa always paid his respects, and he and his community were among those who received teachings from the Karmapa. In 1594 (rta lo), when Khenchen Künlo (mKhan chen Kun blo) was appointed as the new head or abbot of the Gendün Gangpa, the Ninth Karmapa made a tea offering and sent gifts.¹⁰

Fourth Tsurpu Gyeltsap Drakpa Döndrup (1547–1613)
In 1566 (me stag), an unnamed abbot of the Gendün Gangpa participated in the full monastic ordination of the Fourth Tsurpu Gyeltsap with the Fifth Zhamar as the ordaining preceptor. As the Fifth Zhamar himself held the ordination lineage of the Gendün Gangpa, it is most likely that he transmitted this lineage to the Fourth Tsurpu Gyeltsap.¹¹

Group C

The three minor figures in this group are placed to the left of the head of the main figure, but as their inscriptions are not legible on the available image of the painting, they cannot be identified at present (Fig. 6). The name of the master on the upper left might begin with penchen (paṇ chen) and that of the one on the upper right with rinchen (rin chen). The third master at the bottom can be identified as a member of one of the Joden communities by the specific monastic dress and hat he is shown wearing.

Group D

The masters represented by the three minor figures in this group on the opposite side of Group C are all identifiable by inscription, although little is known about them (Fig. 7). The first master on the left is Khepa Künga Gyeltsen (mKhas pa Kun dga’ rgyal mtshan), the one to his right is Lechen Yeshe Lhündrup (Las chen Ye shes lhun grub), and the one below is Khenchen Künga Lekpa (mKhan chen Kun dga’ legs pa). Although nothing can currently be said about Khepa Künga Gyeltsen, Lechen Yeshe Lhündrup appears to be Sakya Lechen Yeshe Lhündrup (fl. 15th–16th century), who was a disciple of Shākya Chokden (Shākya mchog ldan, 1428–1507).¹²

Judging by his monastic dress and hat, and his title of a khenchen (mkhan chen), the master shown at the bottom right of the group, Künga Lekpa, was the head or abbot of a Joden community. A link between him and the single minor figure shown below this group (Fig. 8), which is also shown wearing the Joden monastic dress, can be established on the basis of some records of teachings received (thob yig, gsan yig). The inscription of the single minor figure begins with Khenchen Namse, and with the help of these records his name can be completed as Khenchen Namse Zangpo Pel (mKhan chen rNam sras bzang po dpal).

In the teaching record of the Fifth Dalai Lama (1617–1682), an alternative lineage is given for some instructions on mind training, as transmitted by the abbots of a Joden community, possibly the Gendün Gangpa, in which both masters appear:¹³

བློ་སྦྱོང་དོན་བདུན་མ་སོགས་བློ་སྦྱོང་ཁག་གི་ལུང་བརྒྱུད། འཇིག་རྟེན་དབང་ཕྱུག་བཟང་པོ་དཔལ་གྱིས་མཛད་པའི་བློ་སྦྱོང་དོན་བདུན་མའི་ཁྲིད་ཡིག་གི་སྟེང་ནས་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་བློ་སྦྱོང་ཉམས་འཁྲིད་དུ་ལེགས་པར་ནོས་པའི་བརྒྱུད་པ་ནི། … ཡང་ན་མཁན་ཆེན་ཀུན་བློ་བ་ནས། མཁན་ཆེན་ཀུན་དགའ་དཔལ་འབྱོར། གྲགས་པ་རྒྱལ་མཚན། མཁན་ཆེན་བཀྲ་ཤིས་རྣམ་རྒྱལ། མཁན་ཆེན་ཀུན་དགའ་ལེགས་པ། མཁན་ཆེན་དཀོན་ཅོག་རིན་ཅེན། མཁན་ཆེན་རྣམ་སྲས་བཟང་པོ། མཁན་ཆེན་ཤེས་རབ་རིན་ཅེན། སྤྱན་སྔ་ཀུན་དགའ་དོན་གྲུབ་མན་འདྲ།

blo sbyong don bdun ma sogs blo sbyong khag gi lung brgyud| ’jig rten dbang phyug bzang po dpal gyis mdzad pa’i blo sbyong don bdun ma’i khrid yig gi steng nas theg pa chen po’i blo sbyong nyams ’khrid du legs par nos pa’i brgyud pa ni| […] yang na mkhan chen kun blo ba nas| mkhan chen kun dga’ dpal ’byor| grags pa rgyal mtshan| mkhan chen bkra shis rnam rgyal| mkhan chen kun dga’ legs pa| mkhan chen dkon cog rin cen| mkhan chen rnam sras bzang po| mkhan chen shes rab rin cen| spyan snga kun dga’ don grub man ’dra|

Both also appear as master and disciple in the teaching record of the Sakya master Ame Zhap (A mes zhabs, 1597–1659). In the section of teachings that Ame Zhap received from Chenga Künga Döndrup (sPyan snga Kun dga’ don grub, fl. 16th century), they are recorded as lineage masters of the instructions for one of the five great systems of Avalokiteśvara practice, the system of Tsembuwa Darma Özer (Tshem bu ba Darma ’od zer):¹⁴

ཐུགས་རྗེ་ཆེན་པོའི་སྨར་ཁྲིད་ཚེམ་བུ་ལུགས་ཉམས་ཁྲིད་དུ་མནོས་ནས། དེའི་ཁྲིད་ཡིག་རྗེ་ཉིད་ཀྱིས་མཛད་པའི་ལུང་དང་བཅས་ཐོབ་པའི་བརྒྱུད་པ་ནི། རྡོ་རྗེ་འཆང་། རྡོ་རྗེ་རྣལ་འབྱོར་མ། ཚེམ་བུ་པ། བྱང་ཆུབ་ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས། ལྷ་བཙུན་དགོན་གསར་བ། ཀུན་སྤངས་ཞང་། གྲགས་པ་སེང་གེ ཐོགས་མེད་བཟང་པོ་དཔལ། གཞོན་ཚུལ་བ། རིན་ཆེན་རྒྱལ་མཚན། རྒྱལ་བ་ཕྱག་ན། བཤེས་གཉེན་བཟང་པོ་དཔལ། ནམ་མཁའ་ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས། ངག་དབང་ལྷུན་བཀྲས། གྲགས་པ་རྒྱལ་མཚན། བཀྲ་ཤིས་རྣམ་རྒྱལ། མཁན་ཆེན་ཀུན་ལེགས་པ་དང་། མཁན་ཆེན་རྣམ་སྲས་བཟང་པོ་དཔལ། དེ་གཉིས་ཀ་ལ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་ཤེས་རབ་རིན་ཆེན། སྤྱན་སྔ་ཆོས་ཀྱི་སྤྱན་ལྡན་ཀུན་དགའ་དོན་གྲུབ། དེས་བདག་ས་སྐྱ་པ་ངག་དབང་ཀུན་དགའ་བསོད་ནམས་ལའོ།

thugs rje chen po’i smar khrid tshem bu lugs nyams khrid du mnos nas| de’i khrid yig rje nyid kyis mdzad pa’i lung dang bcas thob pa’i brgyud pa ni| rdo rje ’chang| rdo rje rnal ’byor ma| tshem bu pa| byang chub tshul khrims| lha btsun dgon gsar ba| kun spangs zhang| grags pa seng ge| thogs med bzang po dpal| gzhon tshul ba| rin chen rgyal mtshan| rgyal ba phyag na| bshes gnyen bzang po dpal| nam mkha’ tshul khrims| ngag dbang lhun bkras| grags pa rgyal mtshan| bkra shis rnam rgyal| mkhan chen kun legs pa dang| mkhan chen rnam sras bzang po dpal| de gnyis ka la rin po che shes rab rin chen| spyan snga chos kyi spyan ldan kun dga’ don grub| des bdag sa skya pa ngag dbang kun dga’ bsod nams la’o|

The master represented by the minor figure on the opposite side of Khenchen Namse Zangpo Pel, to the left of the main figure, is another Joden master, judging by his monastic dress (Fig. 9). However, there are only traces of his inscription legible on the available image of the painting, which do not allow him to be properly identified (byang sems … dbang … ).

The next two minor figures, seated on either side of the main figure’s throne, are both shown wearing what appear to be eye protections (mig dra, mig ra, dom ra), although it remains unclear whether these are meant as a real protection from the sun or as an eye covering worn in meditation practice, thus identifying both masters as hermits or meditators (Figs. 10–11). The second figure on the right also appears to be wearing a meditation belt (sgom thag). Unfortunately, the traces of their inscriptions visible on the available image of the painting do not allow their identity to be established. 

Finally, there are three more minor figures that cannot be identified at present. The first figure shows a master placed directly above the head of the main figure, suggesting that he was his teacher (Fig. 12). He is shown wearing the characteristic Joden monastic dress and a hat (with lappets folded inwards). Another Joden master is shown in the lower left corner of the painting as the commissioning patron, and can most likely be identified as a disciple of the main figure (Fig. 13). The last minor figure is shown on the opposite side in the lower right corner, wearing a red paṇḍita hat (Fig. 14), and his name appears to begin with the syllable tsung (mtshungs).

As mentioned above, it remains to be seen when all the masters can be properly identified and their historical background further elucidated, what the relationship was between the main and minor figures and within the minor figures.

Mahāsiddhas and Deities

Additionally, the painting also depicts two tantric adepts from India and some deities, whose presence also remains to be clarified. There are two adepts in the upper left and right corners. While the one on the upper left is easily identifiable as Virūpa (Fig. 15), the one on the right is more difficult to identify, partly because his inscription is illegible in the available image of the painting. The adept is seated on some kind of animal skin, holding a ḍamaru drum in his raised right hand and what might be a ghaṇṭa bell in his left (Fig. 16).

Two deities are placed to the left and right of the head of the main figure. The one on the left appears to be a form of Kurukulla with a body red in colour, one face and four hands, the first two holding a drawn bow and arrow (Fig. 17). Her left leg is extended downwards, bent at the knee, and her right leg is raised in a half crossed-leg dancing posture. Her inscription is unfortunately illegible. The deity on the right is a form of Vajravārāhī, red in colour, with one face and two arms, standing in the same dancing posture as Kurukulla (Fig. 18). The inscription refers to her as Pakmo Sangdrup (Phag mo gsang sgrub).

In the lower centre there is a representation of a one-faced and six-armed form of Mahākāla with a body red in colour (Fig. 19), identified by the inscription as Cintāmaṇi Rakta Mahākāla (mGon dmar dbang gi rgyal po). In the lower right corner is another form of Mahākāla, maroon in colour, with possibly two faces (the second face appears to be a small dog face protruding from the proper left side of the main face) and four arms, riding on a horse (Fig. 20). The inscription identifies him as Yegön Trakshe Tuchen (Ye mgon trak shad mthu chen), possibly a form of Raudrāntaka Mahākāla.

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Inscriptions

These are the inscriptions of the main and minor figures, as far as they are legible on the available image of the painting.

Abbreviations: “A” stands for “adept,” “D” stands for “deity,” “L” stands for “lama,” and “MF” is short for “main figure”).

• MF: mkhan chen …
• A1: bir …
• A2: [illegible]
• D1: [illegible]
• D2: phag mo gsang sgrub
• D3: mgon dmar dbang gi rgyal po
• D4: ye mgon trak shad mthu chen
• L1: rje btsun kun dga’ rgyal mtshan
• L2: sgrub chen dpal ldan blo gros
• L3: sprul sku? … nor bu?
• L4: [illegible]
• L5: rgyal sras dkon mchog yan lag
• L6: sprul sku dbang phyug rdo rje
• L7: rgyal tshab grags pa don grub 
• L8: rin chen?
• L9: paṇ chen?
• L10: [illegible]
• L11: mkhas pa kun dga’ rgyal mtshan
• L12: las chen ye shes lhun grub       
• L13: mkhan chen kun dga’ legs pa
• L14: byang sems … dbang …
• L15: mkhan chen rnam sras …
• L16: [illegible]
• L17: [illegible]
• L18: mtshungs …
• L19: [no inscription visible]
• L20: [no inscription visible]

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Endnotes

1. On these communities, see Heimbel 2013. ↩︎
2. See See Czaja 2013: 306ff., Heimbel 2013, lHag pa 2022. ↩︎
3. See Blo gros rgyal mtshan, gZhon nu blo gros kyi rnam thar (fol. 12a4ff. / p. 273.4 ff.). ↩︎
4. See Padma dkar po, Ngag dbang chos kyi rgyal po’i rnam thar (fol. 41a5–b1 / pp. 191.5–192.1). ↩︎
5. See Ngag dbang bzang po, dPal ’brug pa thams cad mkhyen pa chen po’i rnam thar (fol. 40a1–2 / p. 79.1–2, fol. 58a6–b1 / pp. 115.6–116.1). ↩︎
6. See Sakaki (85–86, nos. 1127–1132). ↩︎
7. Padma dkar po, rGyal sras gzhon nu padma dkar po’i rtogs brjod (fol. 6b.1–5 / p. 160.1–5). Künga Tashi Namgyel is also given as the abbot of the Chöung Tsokpa by Künga Drölchok (Kun dga’ grol mchog, 1507–1566 ) in his biography of Shākya Chokden (Shākya mchog ldan, 1428–1507); see Caumanns 2015: 27, 305. Assuming that the Je Khenpos (rJe mKhan po) of Bhutan maintain the ordination lineage of Pema Karpo, Trülku Jikme Chödrak (sPrul sku ’Jigs med chos-grags, b. 1955), the 70th Je Khenpo of Bhutan, might have recently ordained the first bhikṣuṇīs in this lineage in 2022, thus providing a possible answer to the question raised in a blog post by Dorji Wangchuk.  ↩︎
8. ’Jam dbyangs mKhyen brtse’i dbang po, gDan rabs (fol. 103a3–6 / p. 205.3–6). ↩︎
9. For these and other references, see Si tu Paṇ chen Chos kyi ’byung gnas and ’Be lo Tshe dbang kun khyab, Karma kaṃ tshang gi rnam thar (vol. 2, fol. 15a7–b6 / pp. 29.7–30.6, fol. 37b5–7 / p. 74.5–7, fol. 40a6–7 / p. 79.6–7, fol. 56a7–b1 / pp. 111.7–112.1, fols. 64b5–65a1 / pp. 128.5–129.1). ↩︎
10. See Si tu Paṇ chen Chos kyi ’byung gnas and ’Be lo Tshe dbang kun khyab, Karma kaṃ tshang gi rnam thar (vol. 2, fol. 62a6–b1 / pp. 123.6–124.1, fol. 87a6–7 / p. 173.6–7, fol. 88b3–5 / p. 176.3–5, fol. 91a1–2 / p. 181.1–2, fols. 99b6–100a5/ pp. 198.6–199.5, fol. 110a1–2 / p. 219.1–2, fol. 115b4 / p. 230.4). For a relation of the Karmapa with the Chöung Tsokpa, see Si tu Paṇ chen Chos kyi ’byung gnas and ’Be lo Tshe dbang kun khyab, Karma kaṃ tshang gi rnam thar (vol. 2, fol. 119b1–2 / p. 238.1–2). ↩︎
11. See Si tu Paṇ chen Chos kyi ’byung gnas and ’Be lo Tshe dbang kun khyab, Karma kaṃ tshang gi rnam thar (vol. 2, fol. 53a5 / p. 105.5, fol. 72b4–5 / p. 144.4–5). ↩︎
12. See Caumanns 2015: 292–293, 338. ↩︎
13. See Ngag dbang blo bzag rgya mtsho, Zab pa dang rgya che ba’i dam pa’i chos kyi thob yig ganggā’i chu rgyun (vol. 1, pp. 40–42.19). ↩︎
14. See Ngag dbang kun dga’ bsod nams, Chos kun gsal ba’i nyin byed (p. 68.1–4). ↩︎

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Bibliography

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2 vols. New Delhi: D. Gyaltsan and Kesang Legshay, 1972.

lHag pa. Tshogs pa sde bzhi las rgyal gling tshogs pa dang tshong ‘dus tshogs pa’i skor la dpyad pa. rTser nyeg, vol. ? (2022.3), pp. 62–73.

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Czaja, Olaf. 2013. Medieval Rule in Tibet: The Rlangs Clan and the Political and Religious History of the Ruling House of Phag mo gru pa. With a Study of the Monastic Art of Gdan sa mthil. Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-Historische Klasse, Denkschriften 455; Veröffentlichungen zur Sozialanthropologie 20. Wien: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften.

Heimbel, Jörg. 2013. “The Jo gdan tshogs sde bzhi: An Investigation into the History of the Four Monastic Communities in Śākyaśrībhadra’s Vinaya Tradition.” In Franz-Karl Ehrhard and Petra Maurer (eds.), Nepalica-Tibetica: Festgabe for Christoph Cüppers. 2 vols. Beiträge zur Zentralasienforschung 28. Andiast: International Institute for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies GmbH, vol. 1, 187–242.

Sakaki, Ryōzaburō (ed.). 1987 [1916]. Honyaku myōgi taishū (Mahāvyutpatti). 2 vols. Tokyo: Kokusho Kankōkai.