The Treasury of Lives

Pelden Gyeltsen (dpal ldan rgyal mtshan) was born in 1535, the wood-sheep year of ninth sexagenary cycle, in Tsarong Dopel (tsha rong mdo spel), Shabto (shab stod), Tsang (gtsang). His father was named Pelden Kyi (dpal ldan skyid) and his mother was named Chokyong Dzompa (chos skyong dzoms pa).

At the age of nine Pelden Gyeltsen received upāsaka vows from Ngawang Drakpa Pelzang (ngag bang grags pa dpal bzang), and began his monastic training under the guidance of Shakya Zangpo (shAkya bzang po, b. 16th century). He later enrolled in Gangchen Chopel (gangs can chos 'phel), a Geluk monastery that was founded by Zangpo Tashi (bzang po bkra shis, 1410-1479). He studied there under the guidance of Jangchub Loden (byang chub blo ldan) for about three and half years.

Pelden Gyeltsen received his renunciate vows at the age of sixteen and was renamed Pelden Gyatso (dpal ldan rgya mtsho) at that time. When he received full monastic ordination he gained the name Pelden Gyeltsen. At the request of his father he began medical studies starting at the age of nineteen. He memorized three sections – root, explanatory, and subsequent (rtsa rgyud, bshad rgyud, and phyi ma rgyud) – of The Four Tantra (rgyud bzhi), the foundational text of the Tibetan medical tradition.

The following year his brother and sister received medical treatment from the well-known doctor Yonten Gyatso (yon tan rgya mtsho, 1516-1551). Following their recovery Pelden Gyeltsen began medical studies under Yonten Gyatso. He later accompanied Yonten Gyatso on a visit to Konchok Pendar (dkon mchog phan dar, 1511-1577) in Lato (la stod). Pelden Gyeltsen then studied under Konchok Pendar for three years. He eventually he became regarded as a primary disciple of Konchok Pendar, and obtained a considerable scholarly reputation in the field of Tibetan medical science.

In 1561, the iron-monkey year of ninth sexagenary cycle, Pelden Gyeltsen founded Menlung Trengbachen (sman lung phreng ba can), which he developed as a teaching institution of medicine. Pelden Gyeltsen also worked on a number of medical compositions dealing with a wide variety of subjects including pox diseases, fever, and tuberculosis. Desi Sanggye Gyatso's (sde srid sangs rgyas rgya mtsho, 1653-1705) Mirror of Beryl cites Tsarong Choje Pelden Gyeltsen's work Overview of Medicine, known also as the Lamp Dispelling in the Darkness: A New Tradition of Teaching. He also wrote a biography of Tsoje Zhonnu ('tsho byed gzhon nu). His nephew, Namkha Delek (nam mkha' bde legs, b. 16th century), was his chief disciple who continued the Tsarong medical lineage.

The date of Tsarong Pelden Gyeltsen's death is unknown.