The Treasury of Lives

Sumpa Pelchok Dangpoi Dorje (sum pa 'pel mchog dang po'i rdo rje) was born in mid to late eleventh century in a small town called Sumpa in Amdo. Little is known about his life other than what can be drawn from his translation work, which earned him the title in Tibetan history as Sumpa Lotsāwa.

Sumpa Lotsāwa studied first in Tibet and then travelled in Kashmir, Nepal and India. He visited Bodhgaya and, most likely at Nalanda, studied various Buddhist scriptures under many distinguished scholars, primarily treatises on Tara, and received teachings on the oral tradition of mind-training from a teacher named Pakmo (phag mo). He is said to have gained mastery of Sanskrit and to have translated two texts into Tibetan while in India, possibly the two texts in the Tengyur for which he is credited: Establishing the Object and Subjects (chos dang chos can gtan la phab pa) and Understanding Through Reasoning for the Child-like (byis pa 'jug pa'i rtog ge)  (slob dpon chen po dgra las rgyal ba), both written by Jitāri and which he translated with the help of the Indian scholar Nāgarkśita.

Pelchok Dangpo Dorje then returned to Tibet taking with him a number of Buddhist texts including a Heruka scripture called the Demchok Khandro Gyatsa (bde mchog mkha' 'gro rgya mtsho). He is said to have helped spread a Yangchenma (dbyangs can ma) tradition transmitted by the Brahman Kila (bram ze phur bu).

His only known disciple was Drakpa Gyeltsen (grags pa rgyal mtshan, 1147-1216), an early Sakya patriarch, the son of Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (sa chen kun dga' snying po, 1092-1158) and younger brother of Sonam Tsemo (bsod nams rtse mo, 1142-1182).