The Treasury of Lives

Gorub Lotsāwa Chokyi Sherab (go rub lo tsA ba chos kyi shes rab) was born sometime during the beginning of the eleventh century, probably in central Tibet, where he completed his religious studies.

From several colophons we know that Chokyi Sherab was a monastic, though the details of his ordination are unknown.

He traveled extensively in Kashmir, Nepal, and India, where he met and studied with a long list of Buddhist masters. He worked with many of them on Tibetan translations, either in Tibet or abroad, according to the common practice of pairing a Tibetan translator with an Indian paṇḍit. The list includes Vinayacandra, Buddhākaravarman, Dulopa, Vajrapāṇi, Śraddhākarabhadra, Kanakaśrī, Munīndrabhadra, Abhiyuktaka Taraśrīmitra, Śāntibhadra, Suvajra, and Kṛṣṇa.

Among the authors that he translated are some of the famous Indian teachers of the time such as Atīśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna, Ratnākaraśānti, Kṛṣṇa, Bodhibhadra, and Jitāri.

Chokyi Sherab's translations include a mixture of Sūtra and Tantra, spanning different sections of Tengyur (bstan 'gyur), including Madhyamaka philosophy, Prajñāpāramitā, Letters, Praises, and Tantra.  He translated a significant number of texts connected with Mañjuśrī including the wrathful forms Yamāntaka, Yamāri, and Vajrabhairava. He was a lineage holder of the Mañjuśrīnāmasaṃgīti lineage that stemmed from Suvajra, with whom he translated related materials. He subsequently passed the lineage to his student Jangchub Lodro (byang chub blo gros). His translations in the Tengyur also include works related to Tārā, Hevajra, and other tantric deities.

He was additionally responsible for translating several systematic presentations of the "four schools" of Buddhist philosophy, such as Sugatamatavibhaṅgakārikā by Jitāri, Jñānasārasamuccaya-nāma attributed to Āryadeva, and the commentary to that text, Jñānasārasamuccaya-nāma-nibandhana attributed to Bodhibhadra. These treatises are Indian precursors to what would become an entire genre of literature in Tibet known as Tenets (grub mtha'). He also translated short and medium length texts giving introductions for beginners, overviews of the path, and instructions on meditation, such as Ādikarmikabhūmipariṣkāra by Jitāri, Samādhisambhāraparivarta-nāma by Kṛṣṇa Paṇḍitā, and Buddhānusmṛtyanuttarabhāvanā-nāma by Mahāmati.

In the Blue Annals and Dudjom Rinpoche's The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism we find a story of Gorub Lotsāwa Chokyi Sherab's encounter with the eminent scholar-yogi Rongzom Chokyi Zangpo (rong zom chos kyi bzang po). Chokyi Sherab reportedly was critical of Tibetan authors who wrote dharma texts without adequately studying the Indian sources. Included in his criticism was Rongzom, who wrote a multitude of independent texts and commentaries. However, when Chokyi Sherab read Rongzom's Introduction to the Mahāyāna System (theg mchog tshul 'jug) he was so impressed that he went to meet the great scholar, confessed his prior mistaken criticism, and became one of Rongzom's most ardent students.[1]

Another anecdote concerns Rongzom's teaching of The Secret Tantra of [Wrathful] Mañjuśrī. Coming to a problematic portion of the text, Rongzom suggested that the translation of the Tantra ought to be corrected in such and such a way, lamenting the absence of an available Sanskrit source text to verify his correction. Years later Chokyi Sherab is said to have studied texts on the same subject with Kṛṣṇa and found that the Sanskrit sources were in accord with Rongzom's explanation. He returned to Rongzom with the Sanskrit manuscript sometime later, offered it to his teacher, and received additional instruction.[2]

The story of the accomplished translator initially critical of native Tibetan compositions becoming a student of a prolific Tibetan author has a definite rhetorical thrust advocating for the harmony of the Old and New traditions. Rongzom himself was also known as teaching both Old and New translations. Chokyi Sherab can thus be considered an ecumenical bridge (at least, rhetorically) in an era of growing sectarian conflict. His identification as a monastic might have been particularly significant in this regard, given the emphasis on monasticism in the burgeoning New School traditions.

Chokyi Sherab's historical association with Rongzom is further corroborated by the colophon of a text the two of them translated together on grammar entitled Tripratyayabhāṣy, or Explanation of the Three Conditions by an Indian whose Tibetan name was Nyima Nyingpo (nyi ma nying po).[3]

Opinions seem to be divided about the dating of Rongzom's life, including one specific dating of 1012-1131[4] (with the length of his life matching Dudjom Rinpoche's report that he lived 119 years),[5] and another source stating that he was born as late as 1040.[6] In the absence of better evidence, some scholars have chosen to work from the presumption that "Rongzom flourished in the late eleventh century."[7]  It is possible that our research here into his purported student Chokyi Sherab can shed some light on the subject.

If we assume Rongzom was slightly older than Chokyi Sherab, as might be expected of a teacher-student relationship, or at least of roughly of the same age, we would be able to date Rongzom if we could date Chokyi Sherab. As mentioned above, we do have a source stating that Lotsāwa Chokyi Sherab was born at the start of the eleventh century, thus indicating roughly the same or a slightly earlier date for Rongzom. That source, however, does not name its sources, so while that is supportive evidence of such a date, it is not definitive.

One additional source of dating information for the pair can be inferred from Chokyi Sherab having translated Atīśa's Caryāgīti, or Song of Practice. We know that Atīśa and Naktso Lotsāwa (nag tsho lo tsA ba, 1011-1164) translated a commentary to this text together, while Chokyi Sherab and Vajrapāṇi translated the root text. Since Naktso left for India in 1037 (a date we can hopefully take as just about as firm as any we have) and worked with Atīśa until that master's death in 1054, obviously that would make 1054 the very latest possible date the translation of the commentary to Song of Practice. It seems highly unlikely that Naktso Lotsawa and Atīśa would have translated the commentary and not translated the root verses were this text to have been untranslated at that time. This implies a date prior to 1054 for Chokyi Sherab's translation of the root text with Vajrapāṇi. In all likelihood, Chokyi Sherab's translation would have actually preceded the association between Atīśa and Naktso Lotsāwa because it would seem quite odd indeed that a translation team of Chokyi Sherab and Vajrapāṇi would have been preferred over Naktso Lotsāwa and the author himself, the great pandit Atīśa. In other words, we can surmise that Chokyi Sherab and Vajrapāṇi worked on the Caryāgīti in India before 1037, when Naktso left Tibet to invite Atiśa.

If we allow Chokyi Sherab time to learn to read and write, study the Sūtras and Tantras in Tibet, and travel to Nepal, India, and Kashmir, it is hard to imagine him having been born less than twenty years prior to that. We might surmise, then, that he was likely to have been born in 1017 or before. This reasoning is supported by (and lends support to) the previously cited source that stated Lotsāwa Chokyi Sherab was born at the beginning of the eleventh century. Additionally, it makes plausible Leslie Bradburn's dates of 1012 for Rongzom's birthdate as referenced above. It would also seem to exclude or, at the very least, make much less plausible such dates as 1040 for Rongzom's date of birth.

A few other implications worthy of note are suggested by this line of argument. The first is that Atīśa and Naktso Lotsāwa must have thought highly of the translation work of Chokyi Sherab and Vajrapāṇi. Otherwise, one would assume they would have translated a version themselves or at least put out a "revised" version with some corrections. Many such revisions were done to even the work of famous translators. Secondly, though tangential to our focus here, it adds some evidence that Atiśa's work was indeed known in Tibet before Naktso's sojourn to India to bring him back to Tibet in person.