The Treasury of Lives

Pang Lotsāwa Lodro Tenpa (dpang lo tsA ba blo gros brtan pa) was born in Tolho (stod lho) in 1276. As his mother passed away early, he had to live on the milk from a sheep, so he was nicknamed Lugu (lu gu) or "lamb." When he was five years old, he received his lay religious vows from a teacher named Janglingpa (spyang gling pa, d.u.) who gave him the ordination name Lodro Tenpa.

Khenchen Serkhangpa (mkhan chen gser khang pa) and Meyton Dulzin Pa (mes ston 'dul 'dzin pa) ordained him as a novice at the age of seven. He studied sutra under these two teachers until he was eleven.

At the age of thirteen he went and studied the Partse Ngonsum (phar tshad mngon gsum) and the Kālacakra with Takde Sengge Gyeltsen (stag sde ba seng+ge rgyal mtshan, 1212-1294). He studied with him for six years, until Takde passed away.

He then studied Kālacakra in the Shong (shong) tradition, the Kalāpa and Candrapa Sanskrit grammars, and the Mirror of Poetics (snyan ngag mi long ma) under Lotsāwa Lochok, Chokden Lekpai Lodro (lo tsA ba lo mchog mchog ldan legs pa'i blo gros, d.u.) in Mangkhar Tratsang (mang mkhar khra tshang).

He learnt Kālacakra in the Ra (ra) tradition from Rongpa Sherab Sengge (rong pa shes rab seng ge, 1251-1315) and the Hevajra Tantra, Pramāṇavārttika and Sakya Paṇḍita Kunga Gyeltsen's (sa skya paNDi ta kun dga' rgyal mtshan, 1182-1251) Treasury of Reasoning (tshad ma rig gter) from Jamkyawa Namkha Pel ('jam skya ba nam mkha' dpal, d.u.) at Sakya Monastery.

Having learned Sanskrit he served as an interpreter for empowerments and teachings given by Jamyang Zhitokpa ('jam dbyangs bzhi thog pa, d.u.). He thus became known as a lotsāwa.

At the age of twenty-one he made his first of many trips to Nepal where he received teachings on the Candrapa Sanskrit grammar from Paṇḍita Ramacārya and Mathanacārya.

Back in Tibet, having gone again to Sakya Monastery, he famously announced:

I have learnt the key to maxims of Shongton.
I have opened the treasury of Sanskrit language.
I have got the jewels of many traditions.
I own the celebration of maxims.

At Sakya he made draft translations of the Kalāpa Sutra while consulting expository writings by Durgasengha and the Peripheral Works of Kalāpa (kalapa'i si sogs kyi mtha'i bya ba) by Mañjuśrīkīrti.

He then went to Nepal again and received teachings on the Kalāpa Sanskrit grammar from his previous teachers and from Cuta Paṇḍita, who was from eastern India. When he returned to Sakya he was welcomed with a grand reception. Over the course of his life he returned to Nepal seven more times for further studies. Back at Sakya, he received many teachings from Jamyang Zhitokpa and Jamkyawa Namkha Pel.

At the age of thirty-two he started living at Tsel Gungtang Nepoche Monastery (tshal gung thang gnas po che), attracting many students including a lama named Gungtangpa Delo (gung thang pa bde blo). He taught Kālacakra in the summer and the Partse Ngonsum in the winter.

It is said that his fame even reached China and India, and that the Chinese emperor invited him to China; he politely turned down the invitation thinking it would interrupt his teaching activities at home.

In Lhasa and at monasteries such as Samye (bsam yas) and Reting (rwa sgreng) he taught Kālacakra, Śāntarakṣita's Madhyamakālamkara, Sanskrit, poetry, and other topics. At Nartang (snar thang) he taught poetry and the Abhisamayālaṃkāra to Chim Lobsang Drakpa (mchims blo bzang grags pa, 1299-1375), the twelfth abbot of the monastery. He is also reported to have taught Longchenpa, Drime Ozer ( klong chen rab 'byams pa dri med 'od zer, 1308-1384) and the Fourteenth Sakya Tridzin, Sonam Gyeltsen (sa skya khri 'dzin 14 bsod nams rgyal mtshan, 1312-1375).

Back at Sakya he translated several texts in the Tengyur (bstan 'gyur) and wrote an exposition of the Kālacakra (dus ’khor 'grel chen gyi bstod 'grel), the Exposition of Sanskrit Grammar Kalāpa (sgra ka lA pa'i 'grel pa), and the Exposition of the Mirror of Poetics (snyan ngag me long gi ’grel pa), among many other titles.

At the age of sixty-two he was enthroned as abbot of Bodong E (bo dong e).

He passed away in 1342 at the age of sixty-seven.