Princess Pemasel is said to have been a daughter of the Tibetan king Tri Songdetsen (khri srong lde'u btsan, 742–796/800). She was the daughter of Jangchubmen (byang chub sman) of the Drom clan (C11MS136 'brom). This might be the same person as Tri Gyelmotsen (khri rgyal mo btsan), the wife of Tri Songdetsen who is known as the patron of the bell at Trandruk Monastery (khra 'brug dgon), and whose late-life ordination name was Jangchub Je (byang chub rje). There is no record of Pemasel in the historical materials on early Tibet, which are known to rarely mention women.
According to legend, she died at the age of eight after being stung by a bee. Padmasambhava bathed her and inscribed the syllable nṛ on her chest in vermillion, which revived her. He then gave her the transmission of the Dzogchen cycle Heart Essence of the Ḍākinī, or Khandro Nyingtik (mkha' 'gro snying thig). Yeshe Tsogyel is said to have concealed the teachings as treasure and Padmasambhava prophesied that her reincarnation would discover it.
Scholar Matthew Kapstein surmises that the ancient story of Ba Selnang's daughter served as the basis for the legend of Pemasel. Found in the Testament of Ba (sba / dba' bzhed) an unnamed daughter of Ba Selnang (sba gsal snang, d. 862) is brought back to life by a Chinese monk. The monk places a pearl marked with vermillion in her mouth before her burial, and one year later a son is born to the queen with the pearl in his mouth. Within months the child remembers his life as the daughter.[1]
In the fourteenth century Pema Ledrel Tsel (padma las 'dral rtsal, 1291–1315), said to be Pemasel's reincarnation, discovered the Heart Essence of the Ḍākinī. Longchenpa (klong chen pa, 1308–1364), Pangangpa Rinchen Dorje (spang sgang pa rin chen rdo rje), and Pema Lingpa (padma gling pa, 1450–1521) are also considered to be her reincarnations.
[1] Kapstein, pp. 48–50. Wangdu and Diemberger, pp. 38–39.
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Bibliography
Wangdu, Pasang and Hildegard Diemberger. 2000. dBa' bzhed: The Royal Narrative Concerning the Bringing of the Buddha's Doctrine to Tibet. Vienna: Verlag der Österrichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
Dudjom Rinpoche Jikdrel Yeshe Dorje. 1991. The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its Fundamentals and History. Translated and edited by Gyurme Dorje and Matthew Kapstein. Boston: Wisdom Publications.
Kapstein, Matthew T. 2000. The Tibetan Assimilation of Buddhism: Conversion, Contestation and Memory. New York: Oxford University Press.
Karma mi 'gyur dbang rgyal. 1978. Gter bton brgya rtsa'i mtshan sdom gsol 'debs chos rgyal bkra shis stobs rgyal gyi mdzad pa'i 'grel pa lo rgyus gter bton chos 'byung. Darjeeling: Orgyan Kunsang Chokhor Ling. MW19709.