The Treasury of Lives



Gonkarwa Dorje Wangchuk (dgon dkar ba rdo rje dbang phyug) was born into the Shen clan (gshen) and also known as Shen Gonkarwa. Note that his entry in the Religious History of Lhorong (lho rong chos 'byung) contains a spelling mistake, having "Sheg" (gshegs) in place of Shen. He was a student of Pakmodrupa Dorje Gyelpo (phag mo gru pa rdo rje rgyal po, 1110-1170)

Gonkarwa built a monastery in a place called Tsaipu (rtsa'i phu) called Ngamshod Mepa (ngam shod smad pa). The Blue Annals gives the place of the monastery as Tsainang (tsa'i nang). More information about it is not available.

A Sakya master Ngawang Kunga Lodro (ngag dbang kun dga blo gros) is listed as one of Gonkarwa's disciples. The Blue Annals (deb ther sngon po) also mentions him as one of the teachers of a man named Zhangtselwa (zhang tshal ba), who may have been Lama Zhang Yudrakpa (bla ma zhang g.yu grags pa, 1123-1193), although it would be unlikely, since, as a disciple of Pakmodrupa, Gonkarwa would have been much younger than Lama Zhang.

Alexander Gardner is Director and Chief Editor of the Treasury of Lives. He completed his PhD in Buddhist Studies at the University of Michigan in 2007. He is the author of The Life of Jamgon Kongtrul The Great.

Published June 2015

Bibliography

Gzhon nu dpal. 1984. Deb ther sngon po. Chengdu: Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, vol. 1, p. 665. TBRC W1KG5762.

Mkhas btsun bzang po. 1973-1990. Gshen dgon dkar ba. In Rgya bod mkhas grub rim byon gyi rnam thar phyogs bsgrigs, vol. 7, p. 366. Dharamsala: Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. TBRC W1KG10294.

Roerich, George, trans. 1996. The Blue Annals. 2nd ed. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas, p. 565.

Tshe dbang rgyal. 1994. Dgon dkar ba rdo rje dbang phyug. In Lho rong chos 'byung. Lhasa: Bod ljongs bod yig dpe rnying dpe skrun khang, p. 344. TBRC W27302.

View this person’s associated Works & Texts on the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center’s Website.