The Biographies of Rechungpa: The Evolution of a Tibetan ...

The biographies of Rechungpa 46
Sang-gyé Darpo: a heap of gems with a swirling
thousand lights: A Dharma History of the Kagyu,
[which] illuminates the teaching of the Sugata
(bDe-gshegs bs Tan-pa gSal-byed bKa-brgyud
Chos-kyi-′byung-gnas Rin-chen sPungs-pa ‘Odstong
‘Khyil-ba)
Author: Sang-gyé Darpo (Sangs-rgyas Dar-po). Date: 1544 (or 1568).
E.Gene Smith lists Sang-gyé Darpo as one of six authors who were in ‘the school of
Tsangnyön Heruka’ and ascribes to him a biography of Götsangpa Gönpo Dorje (rGodtshang-pa
mGon-po rDo-rje, 1189–1258), which was compiled from eight earlier sources
(one of which was the biography by Gyadangpa Dechen Dorje (rGya-ldang-pa bDe-chen
rDo-rje) in 1540. 201 In the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Centre database 202 it is said that
Sang-gyé Darpo wrote his biography of Götsangpa in 1540 and that in 1548 he requested
Pema Karpo to write a biography of Tsangpa Gyaré and the following year asked him to
write his autobiography, which seems somewhat suspect as then Pema Karpo was only
21- or 22-years old.
In the collection of E.Gene Smith, there is an unpublished text in eighty-seven folios
that we shall examine here. Only the first half of the title is clearly legible on the title
page, but the title reappears in the colophon. 203
The text commences with the history of Buddhism in India, and includes only brief
descriptions of the lives of Rechungpa and his followers. Sang-gyé Darpo appears to
identify himself as a Drukpa Kagyupa more than a Rechung Kagyupa, for he emphasises
Gampopa and the Drukpa succession over Rechungpa’s lineage, even though he repeats
passages verbatim from Tsangnyön Heruka’s Commentary and Outline for the
He quotes his principal sources in the concluding verses, 204 but owing to metrical
restriction, the titles are abbreviated and vague. In addition, they appear to have suffered
scribal corruption. They are:
1 The Blue Annals (Deb-ther sNgon) by Ebsang Tsewa (E-bzang rTse-ba). Perhaps
The Blue Annals (Deb-ther sNgon-po) of Gö Lotsawa Shönnu Pal (‘Gos Lo-tsā-ba
gZhon-nu-dpal).
2 A Dharma History (Chos-’byung) by Trupubu (Khru-phu-bu). Perhaps this refers to
Tropu Lotsawa’s (Khro-phu lo-tsā-ba) A Dharma History of (Thugs-rje
Chen-po’i Chos-’byung), which is listed as a source in the nineteenth-century A Dharma
History of Amdo (A-mdo Chos-’byung). 205
3 Opening the Eyes: A Dharma History of the Kagyu (bKa’-brgyud Chos-’byung Mig-
‘byed) by Chen-nga Sönam Gyaltsen (sPyan-mnga’ bSod-nams rGyal-mtshan). 206 This is
referred to in The Lhorong Dharma History (lHo-rong Chos-’byung) 207 and in A Dharma
History of Amdo (A-mdo Chos-’byung) as The Thousand lights that Open the Eyes: a
Dharma History by the twenty-second Chen-nga, Sönam Gyaltsen (sPyan-snga nyergnyis-pa
bSod-nams rGyal-mtshan gyi Chos-’byung mig-‘byed ‘od-stong). The Sang-gyé