Zaya Pandita Luvsanperenlei (1642 – 1708)
A portrait of the 1st Zaya Pandita Luvsanperenlei painted in 1995, said to be based on a 1680 original
In 1642, a reincarnation of one of Buddha Shakyamuni’s disciples was born the son of a very poor herdsman in Mongolia. Gifted and recognized as a “khuvilgaan” or tulku at the young age of three, Luvsanperenlei would breeze through his local monastic education and later moved to Lhasa, Tibet to attend Drepung Monastery where he would receive his novice ordination from His Holiness the 5th Dalai Lama, who would also later recognize him as an incarnation of Zaya Pandita.
During his 19 years of study and practice in Tibet, he would also travel to Tashi Lhunpo Monastery to learn the great classics and where he met His Holiness the 4th Panchen Lama.
Zaya Pandita Luvsanperenlei was also a key disciple of Drepung Monastery’s Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen and is said to have mentioned in his Collected Works several of the prophesies of his teacher. Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen’s biography (rnam thar) was also preserved in Mongolian in Zaya Pandita’s works.
Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen was murdered in 1656 at a time when Zaya Pandita Luvsanperenlei would have been in Lhasa if not in Drepung Monastery itself. By karmic connection, it would be Zaya Pandita, the reincarnation of Buddha Shakyamuni’s disciple, pandita extraordinaire, one highly respected by the 5th Dalai Lama and Khalkha Jetsundampa Zanabazar, who would carry out the role as disciple, biographer and preserver of Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen’s teachings and lineage.
Son of a Destitute Herdsman
Zaya Pandita Luvsanperenlei was born in 1642, in the Water Male Horse Year of the 11th Rabjung according to the Tibetan Calendar, at a place called Mukhar Khujirt in what is now Arkhangai Province in Mongolia. According to local legend, he was the son of a very poor herdsman.
Some written accounts give the name of his parents as Suntar (or Suntor) and Orkhidai and note that he was the second of five children.
Other historical accounts maintain that he was the son of Tsesjav Khöndlön, himself the son of the nobleman Tümenkhen Sain Noyon. If this is the case he would have been, according to the written sources, a member of the so-called Altan Urag (Golden Clan) of Chinggis Khan.
Herding in Arkhangai Province, Mongolia
A Reincarnation of Buddha Shakyamuni’s Disciple
According to tradition, Luvsanperenlei was a disciple of Buddha Shakyamuni in one of his previous incarnations. After this life as the Buddha’s disciple, four more incarnations appeared in India, then three in Tibet.
Meeting His First Guru, Zanabazar
Luvsanperenlei was an extremely gifted child. According to legend, local lamas recognized him at the age of three as a “khuvilgaan” or reincarnation. Also at three, he received his preliminary ordination from a lama known as Lodoijamts Khutagt who had studied in Tibet.
By the age of five, Luvsanperenlei was learning to read and write Tibetan and Mongolian and was also trying his hand at poetry, painting and sculpture.
A thangka of Zanabazar, the 16th Jebtsundampa Khutuktu and the 1st Bogd Gegeen, supreme spiritual authority of the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia
In 1653, at the young age of 11, he met Zanabazar, the 16th Jebtsundampa Khutuktu and the 1st Bogd Gegeen or supreme spiritual authority of the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia, at Erdene Zuu Monastery. Zanabazar was then hosting a convocation of Mongolian nobility. It was then that Zanabazar accepted this gifted 11-year-old boy as his student and disciple.
Villagers from Luvsanperenlei’s birthplace say that he initially went to Tibet with Zanabazar on the latter’s first trip there in 1649 but this cannot be verified. There are some indications though that Luvsanperenlei stayed on in Tibet after Zanabazar returned to Mongolia in 1651.
According to a legend related by local monks in Mongolia, he studied at a monastery in Tibet attended by other Mongolian lamas, assumed to be Gomang College at Drepung Monastery near Lhasa.
Drepung Monastery, Tibet
However he did not spend much time studying the required sutras nor did he get along well with the other young monks. Because of this, a Mongolian ger was eventually set up near the monastery and the young Luvsanperenlei went there to live and study alone.
According to legend, one day a Tibetan lama came to the ger to check how Luvsanperenlei was doing in his studies. Instead, he found Luvsanperenlei playing a children’s game known as “Sheep and Wolves” with small figurines of sheep and wolves molded from dough.
When the lama scolded Luvsanperenlei for wasting his time, the figures suddenly sprang to life and began chasing each other around the table. The utterly amazed Tibetan lama pronounced,
“You are truly the Mongolian Zaya Pandita. It is not necessary for you to study sutras, since it is clear you already know everything.”
Studying in Tibet for 19 Years
His Holiness the 5th Dalai Lama
In 1660, when he was 18 years old, it is recorded that Luvsanperenlei did go to Tibet, where he would stay for the next 19 years.
He received his getsul (novice) ordination from His Holiness the 5th Dalai Lama in Lhasa and later traveled to Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Shigatse to study the great classics and met with His Holiness the 4th Panchen Lama. He also studied medicine and science and was known to be an excellent painter and poet.
Luvsanperenlei was also one of the key disciples of Drepung Monastery’s Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen and is said to have mentioned in his Collected Works several of the prophecies of his teacher Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen. Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen’s biography (rnam thar) was also preserved in Mongolian in Zaya Pandita’s works.
His Holiness the 4th Panchen Lama
In 1673, he and Zanabazar’s brother Chakhundorj received tantric teachings from lamas in Tibet. When Chakhundorj returned to Mongolia, he constructed the Dalai Lama Temple at Erdene Zuu to commemorate his trip.
In 1678, the 5th Dalai Lama recognized him as an incarnation of Zaya Pandita and conferred upon him the title. He was instructed to return to Mongolia and to spread the Dharma in the North.
Upon his return to Mongolia, Luvsanperenlei, now Zaya Pandita, was enthroned as the head of Zayain Khüree Monastery, which by that time had five temples and 200 monks in attendance.
According to one account, he lived in Mongolia practicing Yamantaka, Dukkar and Guhyasamaja.
Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen
His Works
Zaya Pandita wrote six important books (non medical) and had his own large library with works in Mongol, Tibetan, Sanskrit, Manchurian and Chinese. He translated many texts into the Mongolian language.
In his homeland, he also founded a monastery and four colleges. He also founded the first Medical College of Mongolia and was himself a major doctor. His work had a great influence on Mongolian medicine.
He oversaw the construction of many temples and introduced many of the practices he had learned at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Tibet.
Zaya Pandita was a prolific writer. At the age of 17, he had composed a book called Bogdiin Zalbiral (Prayer of the Bogd) and he wrote another book while in Tibet.
He went on to write numerous other works, including incense offering texts and prayers to the local deities of several prominent mountains, including Otgontenger in present day Zavkhan Aimag.
A famous work of Zaya Pandita is the Clear Mirror. He reportedly began the Clear Mirror in 1682 while living at Zayain Khüree. He continued to work on it during his exile in Doloonnuur and didn’t finish it until 1702, after he had returned to Zayain Khüree. He originally wrote it in Tibetan, but during his lifetime his student Vro Rabjamba Gungaajamts translated it into Mongolian and transcribed it using Mongolian vertical script.
Zaya Pandita also wrote a biography of the First Khalkha Jetsundampa Zanabazar.
Fleeing to Inner Mongolia
Emperor Kangxi
In 1688, the Oirat chieftain Galdan Bolshigt invaded Khalkh Mongolia. Zanabazar, other important lamas, and much of the Khalkh nobility along with many of their followers were forced to flee to Inner Mongolia. The record is unclear, but apparently Zaya Pandita left his monastery and accompanied this mass migration.
While Erdene Zuu, Khögnö Tarnyn Khiid, and many other monasteries were destroyed by the invading forces, Galdan Bolshigt spared Zayain Khüree Monastery. This was apparently because Galdan knew Zaya Pandita personally and thought of him as his guru.
Although there is no historical record of it, Galdan Bolshigt and Zaya Pandita are known to have met each other in Tibet. Galdan himself, before becoming the Zungarian Khan and warlord, had been a monk and had studied in Lhasa at about the same time that Zaya Pandita had been there.
Not only did Galdan refrain from destroying Zayain Khüree Monastery, he ordered that a new temple be built on a high knoll between the monastery and Altan Bulgan Uul. It was named the Galdan Zuu Temple, and reportedly Galdan installed in it a large statue of Maitreya.
By the 1920s, Zayain Khüree Monastery became one of the largest and most influential monasteries in Mongolia, with over 2000 monks attached to eight different colleges. The monastery was also famous for its cham dances, the last of which was held in July 1932.
Zaya Pandita was with Zanabazar at Doloonnuur in Inner Mongolia in 1691 when Zanabazar met with the Qing Emperor Kangxi, and he took part in the discussions which led to the Khalkh Mongols accepting the suzerainty of the Qing Dynasty.
Zanabazar eventually moved to Beijing, where he waited on the Qing Emperor Kangxi. Zaya Pandita’s movements at this time are uncertain, but apparently he stayed at monasteries in Doloonnuur for the next several years.
The stupa in which the remains of the 1st Zaya Pandita are entombed
After the defeat of the Oirat Mongols in 1696, the Khalkh Mongols who had fled to Inner Mongolia returned to their native land. According to one account, Zaya Pandita was back at Zayain Khüree Monastery by 1696.
Soon after his return, he began construction of the Güden Süm, which would eventually become his personal residence. Local monks insist that the Güden Süm was built in the early 1680s. If this is the case, the temple may have just been enlarged or remodeled in 1696.
In 1699, Zaya Pandita traveled to Khokhkhot (Hohhot) in Inner Mongolia and established a temple known as Buyaniig Iltgegch. He soon returned and resumed his role as leader of Zayain Khüree Monastery, a position he held until his death in 1715.
His mummified remains, sitting in the lotus position, were entombed in a stupa which can still be seen in the Güden Süm. Another source shows a picture of the mummified holy bodies of the 1st and 4th Zaya Pandita or Zayain Gegeen in Tsetserleg temple, Arkhangai Province, Mongolia. The temple is located next to the Zayain Gegeen Khüree museum.
Zayain Khüree Monastery
Addendum
This published thesis discusses the contents of a text known as “thob yig” in Tibetan, the word literally means “records of teachings received” and relates to teachings received by the Mongolian master Jaya Pandita Lobsang Trinley. Aside from the obvious topics discussed within the text as evidenced by its title, there are a number of cursory mentions of both Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen and of Dorje Shugden. Those who know Tibetan religious history will already know that Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen was the preceding incarnation of Dorje Shugden.
Please take note that names are spelt according to the Wylie transliteration system. Therefore, Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen is spelt “Sprul-sku Grags-pa rgyal-mtshan”, Panchen Sonam Drakpa is “Panchen Bsod-nams grags-pa” and Dorje Shugden is “Rdo-rje shugs-ldan”.
Sources:
- https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Zaya_Pandita
- http://www.dorjeshugdenhistory.org/among-shugden-texts-1642.html
- http://www.worldlibrary.org/articles/tulku_dragpa_gyaltsen#cite_note-20
- http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Oirats#cite_note-3
- http://www.doncronerblog.com/2012/10/mongolia-zaya-pandita-clear-mirror.html
- https://pbn.nauka.gov.pl/sedno-webapp/works/724008
- http://www.doncronerblog.com/2011/07/mongolia-arkhangai-aimag-zayain-Khüree.html
- https://talilandsmanart.com/2014/08/18/tsenkher-hot-springs-the-mummies-of-enlightened-masters-in-tsetserleg-getting-sick-terkhiin-tsagaan-lake-and-a-mongolian-folktale-about-why-the-earth-has-only-one-sun/
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Zaya Pandita was a Buddhist missionary priest and scholar of Oirat origin who is the most prominent Oirat Buddhist scholar. Zaya Pandita Luvsanperenlei was a disciple of the Sakyamuni Buddha. Zaya Pandita was indeed a gifted prolific writer , at the age of seventeen he already composing prayer books. He went on to write numerous other works, including incense- offering texts and prayers to the local deities of several prominent mountains . He was enthroned as the head of Zayain Khüree, which by that time had five temples and 200 monks in attendance. He oversaw the construction of more temples and introduced many of the practices . Zaya Pandita’s greatest written work of Buddhist texts had been translated from Tibetan language to the Oirat language. Interesting read of a great scholar.
Thank you Rinpoche and Seow Choong Liang for this sharing.
Zaya Pandita Luvsanperenlei a prolific writer was a reincarnation of one of Buddha Shakyamuni’s disciples and also a key disciple of Drepung Monastery’s Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen. He had composed books, wrote numerous texts and prayers. Even translated other works, Buddhist texts from Tibetan language to Oirat language while still serving the religious needs of the Oirat tribes in Dzungaria, Mongolia . Zaya Pandita spread Tibetan Buddhism to the Oirats, the Khalkha and even the Kalmyk people as far as in Russia. Zaya Pandita developed the Clear Script. He also wrote a biography of the First Khalkha Jetsundampa Zanabazar. Interesting read.
Thank you Rinpoche and Seow Choong Liang for this sharing.
The great Protector Manjushri Dorje Shugden depicted in the beautiful Mongolian style. I hope many Mongolians will print out this image and place in their houses to create an affinity with Dorje Shugden for greater blessings. To download a high resolution file: https://bit.ly/2Nt3FHz
The powerful Mongolian nation has a long history and connection with Manjushri Dorje Shugden, as expressed in the life of Venerable Choijin Lama, a State Oracle of Mongolia who took trance of Dorje Shugden among other Dharma Protectors. Read more about Choijin Lama: https://bit.ly/2GCyOUZ
The doctoral thesis by Sangseraima Ujeed of Brasenose College, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford, Trinity 2017, has a very nice summary in English of Zaya Pandita’s biography which I have hereby appended.
He was the student of many greats including Zanabazar, the great 5th Dalai Lama, the 4th Panchen Lama and was also close to the Kangxi emperor.
Hi Choong, thanks for the above link. Do you happened to have Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen’s secret bio? I’ve read it before but I couldn’t recall where did I download it. ?
I still remembers he has written a lot of the dreams or things that he personally encountered and that others couldn’t recognised it. Mmmm….
Zaya Pandita Luvsanperenlei was born a son of a very poor herdsman in Mongolia. He was a disciple of Buddha Shakyamuni in one of his previous incarnations. At a young age he was recognized as tulku, been gifted he studied under many masters. Later HH 5 th Dalai Lama recognised as an incarnation of Zaya Pandita. Amazing at a young boy he learn to read, write and even learning poetry, painting and sculpture. Later years as a young man he even studied medicine and science. He also studied medicine and science and was known to be an excellent painter and poet. An interesting life story of a great Lama. He was one of the key disciples of Drepung Monastery’s Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen. He also studied medicine and science. An interesting life story of a great Lama He was involved in the construction many temples, founded a monastery and four colleges which had a great influence on Mongolian medicine. Zaya Pandita was a excellent writer having wrote numerous books , texts, prayers and other works to date. He was one of the key disciples of Drepung Monastery’s Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen.
Thank you Rinpoche and Seow Choong Liang for this interesting read.
Thank you for making research and information so available and easily to find on this blog. It would’ve taken lots of work to research on Zaya Pandita Luvsanperenlei especially since his existence was over 340 years ago, and the preservation of their collected works and biography is not easily available to obtain online.
It is clear to see that lamas and practitioners come back life after life, with the same aim and mission, and proving reincarnation. They do not forget what they did in their previous life, but in their new incarnation, have imprints triggered opened which enhances the incarnate’s ability to learn/understand/study/help others more quicker and spontaneously. Because of humility, they do not show their attainments, but I am sure high lamas, Rinpoches, Tulkus, attained practitioners, can recall their past and see their past. Since they can remember what they learnt in their previous lives, whether as an ability or triggered through an imprint, then it is also possible to remember who they were in their previous lives.
Interesting to read about Zaya Pandita, and his links with Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen as well as Emperor Kangxi. All 3 great beings did so much to spread and preserve the BuddhaDharma for the benefit of others.
Thank you Choong for writing and sharing the article about Zaya Pandita Luvsanperenlei, who was a Mongolian high lama as well as a reincarnation of Buddha Shakyamuni’s disciple. Upon reading the article, I learnt that Zaya Pandita Luvsanperenlei was one of the key disciples of Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen and it was through Zaya Pandita Luvsanperenlei’s Collected Works, several of Tulku Drakpas Gyaltsen’s prophecies were recorded. Although all the background, works and records of Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen were completely destroyed by the government ministers of the 5th Dalai Lama during His death in 1656, Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen’s biography was preserved in Zaya Pandita Luvsanperenlei’s works and we should be thankful to Zaya Pandita Luvsanperenlei for passing on the biography of Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen until to our current generation.
Many monks and lay practitioners were benefited through the various Buddhadharma works and prayers texts written by Zaya Pandita Luvsanperenlei since the 17th century until the current age. The Buddhadharma works written by Zaya Pandita Luvsanperenlei are similar to our current Tsem Tulku Rinpoche’s blog as there are many categories of post in this blog that contain not only Buddhadharma and spiritual aspects but other interesting posts such as Big Foot, horoscope, science, mysteries, etc. that made available and accessible for all the people around the world in the form of digital technology.
May all the lineage masters live long with stable health to continue to turn the wheel of Buddhadharma until samsara ends.
Thank you with folded hands,
kin hoe
Thank you Choong for sharing this article with us. What is significant about Zaya Pandita is that he wrote the biography of his Guru Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen and thankfully his accounts still preserved till today otherwise we wouldn’t have known more about Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen. He is a well known Lama Master and also being recognised by HH the 5th Dalai Lama who would not have recognised someone who actually is a student of a so called spirit of Dorje Shugden (who emanated after Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen’s death). Forever thankful to Zaya Pandita because of his contribution towards Tibetan Buddhism and also of his work on Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen biography.
This is first time came to know the such a great master. Zaya Pandita Luvsanperenlei being a key disciple of Drepung Monastery’s Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen was very great. He is not only a great teacher, but also as a excellent painter ,poet and doctor. He also oversaw the construction of many temples and bringing in Tibetan Buddhism to Mongolia by introduced many of the practices he had learned at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Tibet. His great work was wrote the biography of Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen to prove that the lineage of the Dorje Shugden. Thank you for sharing this article.
I always find it very interesting reading the bio of a high lama, in this article is about Zaya Pandita, his relationship with Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen is amazing, it started from Buddha Shakyamuni time, from the time both of them are the disciple of Shakyamuni until becoming the student of Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen and then later he met Kangxi, they both seems to be connected lifetime after lifetime.
It is interesting to read that how he connected to the 2 most controversial Lama of that time, the student of Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen and being recognized by the 5th Dalai Lama, since Dalai Lama has recognized him as Zaya Pandita, and Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen can be his teacher, it means TDG is also a High Lama to have such connection with Zaya Pandita and it also means that a highly attained lama will never die and become a Spirit. Dalai Lama recognized a high lama who is a student of a spirit? no way….
While reading the bio of Zaya Pandita, I also noticed about his guru devotion, even Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen has passed away, but he still go all the way to Tibet and compose the Bio of his guru, his relationship with his guru is really amazing.
Thank you Choong for writing this amazing story of Zaya Pandita.
Great to know that enlightened beings are coming back continuously tirelessly to benefit all sentient beings. Hope Zaya Pandita Luvsanperenlei is already came back with another form and will not stop helping sentient beings who are in needs.
It is nice to know the spirituality relation of a high lama Zaya Pantita link with Buddha Shakyamuni and Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen. His work was much appreciated and upheld by many devoted practitioners till now. Thank you Choong, for this informative article.
The life of Zaya Pandita Luvsanperenlei is showing this extraordinary life starting from being one of Buddha Shakyamuni’s disciples to H.H. the 4th Panchen Lama and Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen.
Grace to Zaya Pandita Luvsanperenlei, who was Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen’s disciple, and he wrote TDG’s biography as well as he wrote down Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen’s teachings and lineage.
Thank you for researching and writing about this important person and his invaluable work.
Thank You Chong for this article, this article clear to written down the relationship about Zaya Pandita, Tulku Drapa Gyelsen and even back to Shakyamuni, and even Dorje Shugden practice enter to Mongolia.
Thank you Choong for a good write up on this learned scholar. It’s great that His works are not put to waste and still well preserved till now.
On another point, if the Tibetan Lama can pronounce that Zaya Pandita is truly who he is then it means that he is a highly realized being. And, Zaya Pandita should know if Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen is also another enlightened being or not. Else, why would Zaya Pandita study and refer to Him as His teacher. Zaya Pandita is even a biographer and preserver of Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen’s teachings and lineage. Good points to ponder.
This article has given spiritual insights of Mongolian-Tibetan Buddhism from the personal accounts of Zaya Pandita, and his relation as a student to the great lama, Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen. Thank you, Choong.
Zaya Pandita indeed an important Lama that had preserved Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen lineage and bring the teaching to Mongolia. Thanks a lot for this sharing and it is very beneficial for us to know that the great teaching still being preserved in Mongolia as nothing much we can find in Tibet after Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen being murdered by the assistant of His Holiness the 5th Dalai Lama.
Looking back at Jaya Pandita pervious incarnation which is extraordinary and having the karmic connection with Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen reincarnation. Very meaningful.
Thank you, Choong for this very educational article about the close relationships between the Tibetan and Mongolian erudite Lamas. It looked like it was borderless for highly attained reincarnations of erudite masters to have studied in Tibet and went back to Mongolia to propagate the Dharma.
It must have a great time in history where the Dharma was so supremely connected and spread in all directions.
It is very good to know that Zaya Pandita Luvsanperenlai was a student of Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen and kept a record of his Master.
Another impactful event was that Zaya Pandita met Emperor Kangxi who was also a reincarnation of TDG.
Thank you Choong for an interesting article on such a great Master like the Mongolian Zaya Pandita Luvsanperenlei.
Zaya Pandita Luvsanperenlei, son of a poor Mongolian herdsman, was a gifted child who was recognised as a Tulku at the age of 3. He “breezed through” his early monastic years. He was a brilliant scholar who did not have to spend much time in study. Interesting stories have been told to highlight this quality of Zaya Pandita.
This article shows us how Zaya Pandita found his way to Tibet and how he came to be closely connected to holy beings like Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen. At age 11, he met his first Guru , Zanabazar, the supreme head of the Gelugpa Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia, who accepted him as his student. There is a story of how he first visited Tibet with his Guru, which is difficult to verify.
However, in 1660, when he was 18 years old, he did go to Tibet, where he stayed for the next 19 years. At first he attended Drepung Monastery where he received his novice ordination from His Holiness the 5th Dalai Lama, who also later recognized him as an incarnation of Zaya Pandita.Then he moved to Tashi Lhunpo Monastery to learn the great classics and it was there he met His Holiness the 4th Panchen Lama.
Zaya Pandita Luvsanperenlei became a close disciple of Drepung Monastery’s Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen. Zaya Pandita will be best remembered for preserving Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen’s biography as well as recording in his Collected Works several of the prophesies of his teacher. When all of Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen’s works and the accounts about him were destroyed, it was Sakya Pandita’s works that became an authoritative source of information on Tulku Drakpa GYeltsen, his biography, his magnificent deeds and his works. When Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen was murdered and all his works and all information about him were destroyed , it was Sakya Pandita who would carry out the role “as disciple, biographer and preserver of Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen’s teachings and lineage”.
On another interesting note, Zaya Pandita was with Zanabazar in inner Mongolia in 1691 when Zanabazar met with the Qing Emperor Kangxi, and he took part in the discussions which led to the Khalkh Mongols accepting the suzerainty of the Qing Dynasty.
Zaya Pandita was a prolific writer. Among the books he wrote was one on Tibet. A famous work is the Clear Mirror which he took 20 years to complete. He wrote it through the years of his exile in Inner Mongolia.
Thank you so much to Choong for the great write, i have learn something new today.
Due to Zaya Pandita’s Collected Works, we are able to know more information about Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen (TDG). From the account, Zaya Pandita is very unusual and extraordinary. For Zaya Pandita to be able study under TDG and be the heart disciple, it also speaks much of the quality of TDG himself. Only a highly qualified attained master would able to guide someone like Zaya Pandita.
Dear Choong, you have done a very great job on this article! I love to read stories about high lamas and tulkus about their achievements and attainments. This is a very interesting one. And I love this part of the article, “However he did not spend much time studying the required sutras nor did he get along well with the other young monks. Because of this, a Mongolian ger was eventually set up near the monastery and the young Luvsanperenlei went there to live and study alone.
According to legend, one day a Tibetan lama came to the ger to check how Luvsanperenlei was doing in his studies. Instead, he found Luvsanperenlei playing a children’s game known as “Sheep and Wolves” with small figurines of sheep and wolves molded from dough.
When the lama scolded Luvsanperenlei for wasting his time, the figures suddenly sprang to life and began chasing each other around the table. The utterly amazed Tibetan lama pronounced,
“You are truly the Mongolian Zaya Pandita. It is not necessary for you to study sutras, since it is clear you already know everything.”
It made me laugh a bit because he sounds like a child genius who doesn’t need to study. But this one is actually a highly attained young lama. 🙂
Dear Anne, I’m glad you enjoyed the article.
Zaya Pandita “succeeded in his studies beyond anyone’s expectations, for in the year in which he took his Geshe exams in Tibet he was declared Lhasa’s Rabjampa, the best of all scholars in that year.
He was held in such esteem that in 1638 he served as one of ten official monks in the ordination of the twenty year-old Fifth Dalai Lama.”
From playful kid to Geshe Rabjampa. Now where did that all come from?
With warm regards,
Choong
Sorry Anne, the above is a quote about another Zaya Pandita Namkhaijamts (1599–1662) who is Oirat. He too was brilliant.
Zaya Pandita was a disciple of Tulku Dragpa Gyeltsen, he also met the Kangxi Emperor, the incarnation of Tulku Dragpa Gyeltsen. And, he preserved Tulku Dragpa Gyelsen’s biography in Zaya Pandita’s works, in Mongolian.
Without his works, as far as the world is concerned, Tulku Dragpa Gyeltsen may not even have existed. This is so pivotal.
A very informative article. It seemed a bit complex but was worth the time it took me to unravel the article.
Very good article about Zaya Pandita, glad to know another lineage master who could have been associated and known about Tulku Dragpa Gyeltsen, like they said you can never put a good thing down forever, like the peerless Tulku Dragpa Gyeltsen.
I believe Zaya Pandita also knew Emperor Kangxi, who happens to be one of Tulku Dragpa Gyeltsen’s incarnation. So there is no such thing as a coincidence.
Dear Choong,
Thank you for sharing about this great Mongolian disciple of Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen. From what I know, we owe a lot to this great scholar monk because of what we know about Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen is preserved by him, through is translations and teachings. Much of Tulku Drakpa Geyltsen’s writings and contributions have been wiped out in Tibet due to the machination of the Desi Sangye Gyatso and other jealous assistants of the Fifth Dalai Lama.
If it wasn’t for this great Mongolian lama, we would know even less of Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen as Jaya Pandita had brought them to Mongolia and thus, they are preserved for posterity’s sake. Aside from this, Jaya Pandita is an accomplished scholar and master of the highest caliber. From this article, it looks like the connection with Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen extends to the subsequently life as well – Emperor Kangxi. This has been an interesting read. Thank you.
I noticed that you mentioned Desi Sangye Gyatso in your comment Pastor David.
A correction – it was Desi Sonam Chopel in collusion with his brother, Depa Norbu, who murdered Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen.