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KARENINA KOLLMAR-PAULENZ
smyon bsam grub,’ the “snowman residing at Sham po gangs.” It may be possible
that Gangs pa is the same person as Gangs pa rmug seng who figures prominently
in the gcod transmission lineages.'' It may also be that gangs pa denotes the famous
gcod adept Kun spangs brTson ‘grus seng ge who is also mentioned in the colophon.'?
We do not have his exact dates, but based on the one hand on the transmission linea¬
ges detailed in historical, biographical and ritual texts, and on the other hand on the
data provided in ‘Gos lo tsa ba gZhon nu dpal’s Blue Annals (Deb ther sngon po,
in short Deb sngon), we may put him in the 13" century." This is also congruent
with ‘Gos lo tsa ba gZhon nu dpal’s opinion that he was a contemporary of Yang
dgon pa (1213-1258).'* In most transmission lineages he appears as eighth or tenth
in the lineage.'® Kun spangs brtson ‘grus seng ge is known under yet another name,
Sangs rgyas ston pa or Sangs rgyas ston pa brTson ‘grus seng ge.'® His biography
is contained in the Blue Annals,'’ and also in the Zhi byed chos ‘byung, written by
Khams smyon dharma sengge aka ‘Jigs bral chos kyi sengge in the late 19" century
or at the turn of the 19"/ 20" century.'* brTson ‘grus senge belonged to the Shangs
Considered by numerous Tibetan authors (for example ‘Jigs bral chos kyi seng ge: Zhi byed dang gcod
yul gyi chos ‘byung rin po che’1 phreng ba thar pa’i rgyan. In: Chos kyi chos skor. Three Texts on the
History and Practice of the Zi-byed and Gcod Precepts. Reproduced from rare blockprints from the
Library of Tibet House. Ser phyin tshigs bead chen mo of Aryadeva, Phun po gzan skyur gyi ram
b$ad, Zi byed dan Gcod yul gyi chos ‘byun of ‘Jigs-bral-chos-kyi-senge. Tibet House, New Delhi 1974,
fol. 34r-34v) as one of Ma gcig’s sons. According to the Deb sngon he was her great-great-son, see
“Gos lo tsa ba gZhon nu dpal: Deb ther sngon po. Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, Chengdu 1984,
pp. 1144-1145.
“Gos lo tsa ba: Deb sngon, p. 1145: Sham po gangs la bzhugs pa’i gangs par grags.
For his biography see ‘Jigs bral chos kyi seng ge: Zhi byed chos ‘byung, ff. 63rv. The biography of the
Ernst Collection lists him as the third (after Ma gcig and Thod bsnyon bsam ‘grub) in the transmission
lineage of the rNam bshad chen mo, followed by Kun spangs brtson ‘grus seng ge, see Ma gcig lab
kyi sgron ma ‘i rnam thar, fol. 508v.
2 Fol. 508v: kun spangs brtson ‘grus sengge bas/sa pho ‘brug gi lo la shes rab gsal Idan gyis lung bstan
nas/ lha sa’i rkyang thang nas gdan drangs pa’o. The male Earth-Dragon year would be 1268.
'5 “Gos lo tsa ba puts his birth in a “year of the hare” (Deb sngon, p. 870.) which is probably 1207.
According to the Deb sngon, p. 873, he died in his 72™ year which is 1278. Following ‘Gos lo tsa ba
(but not quoting him as the source), the TBRC provides the dates 1207-1278.
“Gos lo tsa ba: Deb sngon, pp. 873-874. ‘Gos lo tsa ba explicitly remarks that even for him it is dif¬
ficult to establish a time-line for Sangs rgyas ston pa and his immediate predecessors (Deb sngon,
p. 873).
See, for example, ‘Gos lo tsa ba: Deb sngon, pp. 1148-1150. Some transmission lineages, however,
put him directly behind Ma gcig, which would make him her contemporary; compare ‘Jigs bral chos
kyi seng ge: Zhi byed chos ‘byung, fol. 67v.
Nam mkha’ bsam grub rgyal mtshan: Shangs pa bka‘ brgyud bla rabs kyi rnam thar. Bod ljongs mi
dmangs dpe skrun khang, Lhasa 1996, p. 263.
'7 ‘Gos lo tsa ba: Deb sngon, pp. 870-873. Roerich, George N.: The Blue Annals. Motilal Banarsidass,
Delhi 1979, pp. 743-746.
“Jigs bral chos kyi seng ge: Zhi byed chos ‘byung, ff. 56v-58r. For the bibliographical details see note
9 of this paper. A complete translation of this important work on the gcod tradition is provided by
Kollmar-Paulenz, Karénina: ‘Der Schmuck der Befreiung.’ Die Geschichte der Zi byed- und gCod¬
Schule des tibetischen Buddhismus. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1991.
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