The Treasury of Lives

Jocham Purmo (jo lcam phur mo) was born into the prominent Jetse (rje btsad) family, a clan from Tsamorong (tsha mo rong). She is also known as Machik Tsetsa. She was married to Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (sa chen kun dga' snying po, 1092–1158) with whom she had one son, Kunga Bar (kun dga' 'bar). Sachen later married Jocham Purmo's older sister, Machik Wodron (ma gcig 'od sgron), who was the mother of his three other sons.[1]

Kunga Bar traveled to India and distinguished himself as a scholar but died while on his journey home to Tibet. After his death, Jocham Purmo became a devoted practitioner. The Yumdonma (yum don ma), one of Sachen's eleven commentaries on the Vajra Verses (rdo rje tshig rkang) of Virupa, may have been composed for her benefit. Cyrus Stearns notes that there was some confusion as to the attribution of this commentary, which is focused on Cakrasaṃvara practice. A Derge edition suggests it was written for Sachen's mother, Machik Zhangmo (ma gcig zhang mo).

According to Cyrus Stearns, a eulogy to Sachen by his student Zhuje Ngodrub (zhu byas dngos grub) contained a list of eleven disciples: eight men and three women. The Twenty-First Sakya Tridzin, Lodro Gyeltsen (blo gros rgyal mtshan, 1444–1495), understood this to refer to the eleven commentaries, and Jocham Purmo is considered among one of the three female students of Sachen along with Jomo Auma (jo mo 'a 'u ma) and Jomo Mangchungma (jo mo mang chung ma). Later scholars, including Mangto Lhundrub Gyatso (mang thos klu sgrub rgya mtsho, 1523–1596) and Nesar Jamyang Khyentse Wangchuk (gnas gsar 'jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse'i dbang phyug, 1524–1568), based their lists of the eleven commentaries on this eulogy, although there are other lists, some of which only contain ten commentaries and recipients.^[2]

Learn more about the Women Initiative, an effort to add 100 new biographies of women by 2026.