The Treasury of Lives

Peljor Lhundrub (dpal 'byor lhun grub) was born in a town called Nyel (gnyal) in Lhoka (lho kha) in 1427, the fire-sheep year of the seventh sexagenary cycle. He started his education at Sangpu (gsang phu) studying under Drepung Choje Rinchen Jangchub ('bras spungs chos rje rin chen byang chub, d.u.) and then at Drepung Zurkhang ('bras spungs zur khang) under Lodro Rinchen Sengge (blo gros rin chen seng+ge, d.u.), the founder and first abbot of Sera Je College (se ra byes grwa tshang) who became his principal teacher.

At Sera Tekchenling (se ra theg chen gling) he enrolled in the Drati House (bra ti khang tshan). He also studied at Ganden Monastery (dga' ldan) under several teachers, including Baso Chokyi Gyeltsen, who served as the Sixth Ganden Tripa (dga' ldan khri pa 06 ba so chos kyi rgyal mtshan, 1402-1473), and Shartse Khenchen Sherab Jungne Lodro (shar rtse mkhan chen shes rab 'byung gnas blo gros, d.u.). He became recognized for his scholarship on the Abhidharmakośa, and is listed in the transmission lineage that passed from Tsongkhapa Lobzang Drakpa (tsong kha pa blo bzang grags pa, 1357-1419) to the Fifth Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobzang Gyatso (tA la'i bla ma 05 ngag dbang blo bzang rgya mtsho, 1617-1682). He was also known for his role in the transmission of the Ngok system (rngogs lugs) of the Prajñāpāramitā.

He received full ordination from a geshe (dge bshes) from Gyere Monastery (gye re), recorded in the sources only as Gyere Kazhipa (gye re dka' bzhi pa). Later, Gyere Kazhipa and his assistants also gave him many teachings, empowerments, and transmissions.

His first teaching post was as chenyenpa ('chad nyen pa), or master-teacher, at Ganden Jangtse Dialectics College (dga' ldan byang rtse mtshan nyid grwa tshang). He also taught at Sangpu Peser (gsang phu spe ser). He is remembered for his public debates with Paṇchen Shākya Chokden (paN chen shAkya mchog ldan, 1428-1507) and the Tse Nyakpa (rtse nyag pa, d.u.).

Lodro Rinchen Sengge gave him transmission and empowerments of the Hayagrīva cycles that he learned from his family, the Nine Deities of Tamdin Yangsang (rta mgrin yang gsang lha dgu'i chos skor) and Pema Yangsang (pad+ma yang gsang gi chos skor). Hayagrīva later became the main protector of Sera Je College.

He assisted his teacher Lodro Rinchen Sengge in the founding of Sera Je College and was one of its first teachers. He succeeded Lodro Rinchen Sengge as abbot, probably in 1467, and served in the post for fifteen years. During his tenure he taught extensively.

In 1481, at the age of about fifty-four, he was appointed abbot of Sera Monastery, the eighth man to hold the seat. He passed on the abbacy of Sera Je to Pelden Lodro (dpal ldan blo gros, d. 1514). He served as abbot of Sera until the age of eighty-eight. (According to Sumpa Khenpo's Chronological Table in the Wish-fulfilling Tree, he began his abbacy of Sera in 1467; this is likely a mistake, the date more reasonably being the start of his service at Sera Je.)

Peljor Lhundrub was a bold and skillful administrator, and apparently engaged in provocative displays of ritual power in order to increase his monastery's patronage. He is said to have threatened the Rinpung ruler Donyo Dorje (rin spungs don yod rdo rje, 1462-1512), then the ruler of Tsang, and the Garpa (sgar pa) official Garpa Chodrak Gyatso (chos grags rgya mtsho, d.u.), brandishing his kīla dagger in front of them and demanding they provide financial support to Sera. In another anecdote he is said to have told a local ruler who asked for a divination regarding his next birth that he would be a crocodile. The ruler quickly sponsored rituals to improve the quality of his karmic load. Sources also record several instances in which he employed Hayagrīva against enemies.

Among his students were Gendun Gyatso, posthumously known as the Second Dalai Lama (tA la'i bla ma 02 rgyal ba dge 'dun rgya mtsho, 1476-1542); Paṇchen Sonam Drakpa, who served as the Fifteenth Ganden Tripa (dga' ldan khri pa 15 paN chen bsod nams grags pa, 1478-1554); Jamyang Donyo Pelden, who served as the fourth abbot of Sera Je and the tenth abbot of Sera ('jam dbyangs don yod dpal ldan, 1445-1524); and Chokyi Gyeltsen, who served as the fifth abbot of Sera Je and the twelfth abbot of Sera (chos kyi rgyal mtshan, 1469-1544/46).

His compositions have been collected into one volume. They include the Lamp of Doctrine: A Commentary on the Critical Points of Elegant Sayings (legs bshad snying po'i dka' 'grel bstan pa'i sgron me), a survey of Madhyamaka based on that famous work by Tsongkhapa that was henceforth used at a textbook at Sera Je.

It appears that he passed on the abbacy to his disciple Pelden Lodro soon before he passed away in 1514, at the age of eighty-eight, but Pelden Lodro seems to have passed away the same year.